400 [Assembly 



" As to the matter of burning the turf of certain soils, no doubt 

 it will prove beneficial, especially it there is a rich subsoil under it 

 I am of the opinion, however, that our new lands would produce 

 much more and last much longer if the timber could be taken off 

 without being burned on the soil, as the mould upon the surface serves 

 for a manure for several years, and fire, I am confident, injures in- 

 stead of improving it, or the soil, as a general thing. 



. " I once felled six acres of heavy timber on the richest portion of 

 my farm, and at a proper season set fire to it, and as we generally 

 term it, got a first rate burn, and if burning all off clean was a good 

 one, I had it. But you can imagine my surprise, when, after thor- 

 oughly fitting out and seeding it, I waited in vain for the harvest, 

 and never got half paid for putting in a crop on the six acres, until 

 I plowed it deep enough to bring up earth that had not been spoiled 

 by heat. 



"A friend residing several years in the north part of South Amer- 

 ica, says: ' Upon the Island of Marajo, the soil is a mixture of clay, 

 sand and lime, and during the wet season, is completely submerged, 

 (meaning the prairies of course,) and in the dry season becomes hard 

 an I cracks to a great depth, say 20 or 30 feet deep, spreading on the 

 surface to such a width that animals and men are in danger of get- 

 ting in.' 



^^Quere. Would burnt lime have any advantage over that existing 

 in the soil ? Some agree that it has. 



" The grazing land here, says my friend, produces abundantly, and 

 like our western prairies, are burned over once a year in order to 1 

 furnish pasturage for the cattle." ^ 



ON THE USE OF MUCK TO IMPROVE THE SOIL. 



Extracts from the remarks of Mr. Taylok, of Saratoga county ^ made 

 before the Farmers' Club. 



I have experimented with muck, and respectfully dissent from the 

 opinion generally held as to the use of lime, for when it is placed in 

 close contact with barn yard manure, it causes too great an evolu- 

 tion of the ammonia. I have used four thousand loads of muck on 

 my farm J I added one bushel of lime to each load of muck, having 



