66 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



tion of science to agriculture, the calculation was, 

 that if the farmer always sold his produce, his lands 

 ■\voukl become exhausted, unless he added something 

 to his farm to keep up the fertility. But it seems 

 that this Avas not the best calculation, for Mr. Brooks 

 has shown that the farmer has, on his own land, the 

 means to replenish the elements taken away in the 

 tTops, if he will collect all the materials he has, and 

 use clay as an absorbent. He said that the use of 

 plaster had been alluded to, and he would use it as 

 an absorbent in the stable ; but for other purposes he 

 should prefer charcoal, as more powerful. He was 

 much in favor of definite experiments, as had been 

 suggested, but it was very difficult making them. 

 That in Ohio, on the use of charcoal on wheat was 

 very definite, as alternate strips were manured with 

 it. Mr. T. made a few remarks on the value of 

 urine applied to agriculture, of general knowledge 

 among farmers, and the importance of the profession, 

 calling into action the varied powers of the mind, 

 and opening a wide field for research and investi- 

 gation. 



Mr. Buckminster, of the Ploughman, said, that ho 

 was glad that the attention of farmers was called to 

 this subject. We need something to hold manure 

 on our sandy soils. There is much sand in this state, 

 less in Maine. Charcoal wears out in the soil, but 

 clay is durable. 



Lieutenant-Governor Reed said, that he had not 

 sufficient practical knowledge to give information on 

 that subject, but he had listened with much interest 

 to the discussion, and he was astonished to leani the 

 great value of liquid manure, as had been shown in 

 the discussion. He had long been a close observer, 

 and he did not think that one fourth of our farmers 

 saved their liquid manure. He differed from those 

 who opposed deep ploughing. Ho thought that 

 manures generally wasted by passing upward. The 

 roots of plants run down low for food ; even the onion 

 extends down eighteen inches. He said, that some 

 rich men, who were called gentlemen farmers, ex- 

 pended much in farming, and they know not the cost. 



The president read a communication from Mr. Jo- 

 seph Breck, of Brighton, showing his experiments 

 on vitriolized bones. He prepared a cavity of loam. 

 He put in six barrels of bones, cost one dollar and 

 fifty cents per baiTcl, wet them, and put them into a 

 conical heap. In a few days they were hot. He 

 then spread them out, leaving a basin in the centre, 

 with loam around the edge, and added one carboy 

 of sulphuric acid, often called oil of vitriol, mixed 

 with an equal quantity of water. These operations 

 need great caution, from the powerful effects of the 

 acid. In half an hour the effervescence ceased. 

 Some of it was like paste. It was covered with coal 

 dust and ashes, about equal to the heap of bones. 

 He used this manure for various crops, with excellent 

 success. 



Samuel Walker, Esq., of Roxbury, said, that he 

 had been engaged in cultivation for forty years, and 

 his heart was with the farmer. He had used, for 

 manure, clay, peat, mud, ashes, charcoal, and lastly 

 virgin soil, which succeeded when other manures 

 failed. He had used large quantities of manures, tiU 



they ceased to have any effect. On some lands he 

 had used sand with success. To animal manure ho 

 adds sand, clay, or charcoal, to prevent its heating. 

 He then covers it up with clay, charcoal, &c. 



Mr. William Parker, of Boston, said, that some 

 were surprised at his stating that freezing manure 

 was injurious. One object of having a barn cellar 

 was, to save manure from waste by freezing. Ho 

 thought the loss in this state by leach from paper- 

 mills and soap manufactories was fifty thousand dol- 

 lars annually. A preparation of lye and peat makes 

 an excellent top dressing, for grass lands, without ani- 

 mal manures. AU animal substances are excellent 

 manures — the bones, horns, hair, hoofs, blood, &c. 



Mr. Horatio Mason, Mcdway, stated that, in 1840, 

 he burned ten coal-kilns on an acre of land, and all 

 the turf was taken off to cover the kilns. After 

 taking away the coal, a cord of fine coal or dust was 

 taken off and sold, and then the materials from the 

 pits were scattered over the lot. This rendered 

 the land very productive, and it had continued so 

 nearly up to the present time. He could not deter- 

 mine whether the benefit was from coal dust, ashes, 

 or burned turf. 



Mr. H. C. Merriam, of Tewkesbury, said, that 

 farmers in this state could not afford to raise common 

 crops. It costs a farmer from five hundred to one 

 thousand dollars a year for manure, and he can only 

 attend to horticulture, where the country was thickly 

 inhabited, with profit. He recommended one hun- 

 dred pounds of saltpetre and two bushels of salt to 

 the acre, especially for peach-trees. 



Mr. Brooks said, he thought that the gentleman 

 mistook as to profits. He could make money by 

 farming, the simple prose business, leaving out hor- 

 ticulture, or the poesy of cultivation. He could 

 make more in raising corn here, than that gentleman 

 could in Ohio. We do not want high manuring, 

 nor the great growth of trees, as we have heard, for 

 they are worthless, and this is the cause of so many 

 trees dying after being forced to a great and un- 

 hcalthful growth. Ammonia may produce a great 

 crop of straw, but not of wheat. 



Mr. Brigham, representative from Westborough, 

 said, that lime, plaster, and charcoal, and guano, were 

 all very good ; but he believed with the gentleman 

 from Princeton, that every farmer had the means of 

 improving his lands on his own farm. He made his 

 manure in his barn cellar, and his cattle had not lain 

 out a night for eight years. He used sand under his 

 cows ; plaster was good to fix the ammonia, and pu- 

 rify the air. He made inquiry as to the utility of 

 green crops for manure. 



Mr. Brooks said, that plants feed mostly on the 

 atmosphere ; they draw nutriment from the subsoil, 

 and by their application to the soil it becomes rich. 

 He thought a green crop might be applied every third 

 year, and keep up the fci'tility of the soil. 



Hon. John C. Gray said, that in Scotland it had 

 become an established principle, that it was moi-e 

 economical to let the crop pass through the animal, 

 and apply the manure then, than apply the crop to 

 the soil. 



Subject for next meeting, Farm Stock. 



