138 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



LEACHED ASHES. 



In 1833, a lot of land falling under my manage- 

 ment which had then recently been purchased at 

 $30 per acre, seven acres of it (and perhaps the 

 least valuable part, which, in my opinion, never pos- 

 sessed fertility, though it is usually called worn-out 

 land, being a sandy plain with gravelly subsoil) were 

 ploughed and rolled, in order to secure for the ben- 

 efit of the crop what little valuable matter might be 

 turned under ; about 1600 bushels of leached ashes 

 were spread upon the piece, and it was sowed with 

 ten quarts of millet and sixteen pounds of Southern 

 or small clover seed to the acre. The season proved 

 dry and the seed took badly : the crop of millet was 

 ten tons by estimation, and was sold for $180. Nine- 

 teen tons of clover were supposed to have been ob- 

 tained the two succeeding years at four cuttings ; 

 and this was sold for $316. The clover having 

 nearly all perished in the winter of 1835-6, it was 

 pastured the season following, and last year, 1136 

 bushels of ashes having been applied to it, it was 

 again sowed with millet, and stocked as before with 

 Southern clover, twenty pounds to the acre. The 

 product was thirteen tons of millet, for which I cred- 

 ited the owner $221, retaining it for my own use. 

 Like results have been obtained from similar treat- 

 ment of the same description of soil in various in- 

 stances ; this not having been selected because the 

 most striking, but because the amount for which 

 the crops sold fixes their value, without knowing 

 exactly the quantity produced, which in each case 

 has been supposed. The labour bestowed on the 

 lot was more or less Wended with other business of 

 the farm ; it is therefore difficult, a't this period of 

 time, to ascertain the amount. I believe, however, 

 it did not exceed the charge in the subjoined ac- 

 count. 



