20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



.TTTI>Y 30, 1834. 



From the Cultivator. 

 COMPOSTS. 



Much hag been said and written in favor of 

 compost manures ; and under many circumstan- 

 ces they really afford a valuable accession to the 

 fertilizing materials of a farm. But when the ob- 

 ject to be obtained is not fully understood, they 

 cnmHtimRs occasion a useless expenditure of labor. 



imal (Inng, lime, 



-two or more 



in 



sometimes occasion a useless ex| 

 Composts are a mixture of ai 

 ashes, vegetable matter and earths 

 of them. The economy uf composts consists 

 first, saving the gaseous matter which escapes 

 froin manure while undergoing fermentation, and 

 the liquids which flow from the dung heap ; and 

 second, in rendering vegetable matter soluble, and 

 food for plants which was before inert and useless. 

 Thus if earth is mixed with and spread over a 

 pile of dung while it is fermenting, it imbibes the 

 volatile and liquid parts of the manure which 

 would otherwise be lost, and this becomes almost 

 as fertilizing as the manure itself. This fact 

 shows that manure loses much in fermenting, for 

 it loses all the earth gains. If peaty or swamp 

 earth is employed, a double object is gamed ; for 

 while it prevents waste in the manure, it is of it- 

 self converted into manure, (being composed of 

 vegetable matter,) by the process of fermentation. 

 But when the object is merely to prevent wast..' 

 in the dung, the process is most economically et- 

 fected in llie soil ; where both the gases and the 

 liquids will be retained, and by which the trans- 

 portation of the earth to and from the dung yard, 

 is saved. When the manure cannot he conveni- 

 ently used upon hoed crops before fermentation 

 then a bedding and covering of earth fur the i)ile 

 is a matter of economy and should not be omit- 

 ted. So if it is desired to convert the vegetable 

 deposit of swamps into manure, it may be readily 

 and profitably done by alternating it in layers witli 

 hot dung. In this case one part of dung to three 

 parts of swamp earth will suffice. A layer of 

 dung five or six feet broad, and as long as neces- 

 sary, is first deposited on a proper piece of ground, 

 then' a layer of earth over it, and in this way alter- 

 nate layers should be added until the pile is five 

 or six feet high. As soon as the mass gets into a 

 state of fermentation, which may be ascertained 

 by plunging into it a stick for a few moments, and 

 ascertaining thereby its heat, the compost is fit for 

 tise. This will require weeks or months accord- 

 ing to the temperature of the weather. 



It will be perceived that composts in which no 

 fermentation takes place, can be of little advantage. 

 There is no volatile matter to be given off, and 

 no tendency exists to break down and render sol- 

 uble ligneous and woody matter. Lime operates 

 more powerfully than dung in inducing fermenta- 

 tion in vegetable matter, though it is not prudent 

 to U30 it in combiimtion with stable dung ; I have 

 found by experience, that it causes a too violent 

 action, and dissipates nearly all its fertilizing prop- 

 erties. Composts are particularly adapted to all 

 the family of small grains, and for top-dressing 

 grass grounds, where this latter practice is tolerat- 

 ed. Mere earthy matters add nothing to the com- 

 post pile ; they merely prevent the waste of other 

 materials which compose it. In making composts 

 therefore, for field use, earths should be preferred 

 which abound in vegetable matter ; and the litter, 

 vegetable refuse, urine, soap suds, ashes &c. should 

 be added, which are ordinarily wasted, and 

 which form annually a large aggregate upon a farm. 



Time is the most valuable of all things. 



Frojn the Baltimore ATnericcin. 

 A SUBTERRANEAN INDIAN VII.I.AGE 



Has been discovered in Nacoochee Valley, in 



Georgia, by gold miners, in excavating a canal for 

 the purpose of washing gold. The depth to 

 which it is covered varies from seven to nine feet ; 

 some of the houses are embedded in a stratum of 

 rii-h auriferous gravel. They are 34 in number, 

 built of logs from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, and 

 from 10 to 12 feet in length. The walls are from 

 3 to G feet in height, forming a continuous line or 

 street of 300 feet. — The logs are hewed and not- 

 ched, as at the present day. The land beneath 

 which they were found, was covered, at its first 

 settlement by the whites, with a heavy growth of 

 timber, denoting a great antiquity to these buildings, 

 and a powerful cause which submerged ththi. 

 Cane baskets and fragments of earthenware were 

 found in the rooms. — The account is contained in 

 a letter to the Southern Banner, from which the 

 following further particulars are extracted: 



The houses are situated 30 to 100 yards from 

 the principal channel of the creek; and as no fur- 

 ther excavations have been made, it is more than 

 probable that new and more interesting develop- 

 ments will be made when the laud is worked for 



gold. 



A great number of curious specimens of work- 

 manship have been foimd in situations, which pre- 

 clude the jjossibility of their having been moved for 

 more than a thousand years. During my mining 

 operations last year, I found at one time, about one 

 half of a crucible, of the rapacity of near a gallon. 

 It was ten feet below the surface, and immediately 

 Ijeneath a large oak tree, which measured five feet 

 in diameter, and must have been four or five bun- 

 ded years old. The deposite was diluvial, or what 

 may "be termed table land. The stratum, of quartz 

 gravel, in which the vessel was embedded, is about 

 two feet in thickness, resting upon decomposed 

 chlorite salt. 



It is not difficult to account for the deposite of 

 those substances in alluvial soil, for the hills are gen- 

 erally very high and precnpitoiis, and from the im- 

 mense quantity of rain which falls, the streams are 

 swollen to a great height, sweeping every thing with 



CUIiTURE OF THE MUSHROOM. 



Towards the middle of October I em|)ty the 

 melon pits of the old dung, tan, or tree leavep, 

 reserving any that ap|)ears fresh, which I mix 

 with fresh stable dung, and return to the pitm, 

 first placing a layer of entirely fresh dung at the 

 bottom. I tread firmly as I proceed. When the 

 pit is quite filled, I put on the sashes, tilling them 

 to ju-event the escape of the steam. In a fortnight 

 or three weeks, the dung will have subsided, an«l 

 the heat will be suftii;iently abated. 1 then place 

 a layer of a few inches thick, of horse-droppings 

 from a stable where the horses are fed on hay and 

 oats only, and which drn[ipings must he well dried 

 previously to being used : this layer is to be tramp- 

 ed, and the spawn in lumps about the size of a 

 "oose's egg, is to be placed one lump in each area 

 of six inches, and covered with three inches fresh 

 loam, from a pasture, and beaten down well with 

 the hack of a spade. Dry hay is to be placed 

 upon the surface of the bed, and air admitted in 

 fine weather. The layer of droppings soon bo- 

 comes a continuous mass of spawn ; and tlie 

 quantity of mushrooms produced throughout the 

 winter and spring is truly astonishing. Water 

 will be required occasionally, particularly as tire 

 days begin to get warm in the spring. Towards 

 the beginning of May, when the pits are required 

 for other pur|ioses, abundant spawn may be pro- 

 served for future operations. — Irish Farmer''s and 

 Gardener's Magazine. 



them, and frequently forming a deposite of several 

 feet in thickness in a season ; but some of diluvial 

 laud is from 10 to 50 feet above the present level of 

 the streams. These deposites exhibit appearances 

 of IIS great attrition as those recently formed. 



There was a vessel, or rather double mortar, 

 found in Duke's Creek, about five inches in diam- 

 eter, and the excavation on each side was nearly an 

 inch in depth, basin like, and perfectly polished. It 

 was made of quartz, which had been semi-transpar- 

 ent, but had become stained wilh the iron which 

 abounds in quantity in all this country. In the bot- 

 tom of each basin was a small depression halfan 

 inch in depth and about the same diameter. — What 

 its use could have been, is difficult to conjecture. 

 Some suppose it was used for grinding paint, &c., 

 or in some of their plays or games. The high finish 

 and its exact dimensions, induce me to believe it 

 the production of a more civilized people, than the 



present race of Indians^ 



Mental Enjoyments. By reading we enjoy the 

 company of the dead, by conversation that of the 

 living, and by contemplation we may be happy in 

 ourselves. 



A great fortune in the hands of a fool, is a great 

 misfortune. The more riches a fool has, the 

 greater fool he is. 



ON "MARKING STICKS" FOR GARDENERS. 



Some things that are apparently very trifling 

 and insignificant at the first glance, may be worth 

 knowing ; and of this kind is the best method of 

 writing on soft wood witli a black lead penciL 

 Every practical horticulturist must have frequent 

 occasion to employ marking stieks. The value of 

 these are evident when we procure new seeds of 

 pi.ints, whose forms and figures "are unknown to ire. 

 Wiiliout something to point out their respective 

 localities in the garden, their names are in danger 

 of being lost, and even the plants themselves of 

 being eventually destroyed. At some of the pril>- 

 cipal nurseries, white paint is applied to small 

 strips of pine or other wood, and when it dries, 

 the trace of a black lead pencil will he retained 

 for a long time. Where less business is done, 

 however, as in many private gardens, sticks of 

 this kind are not always kept in sufficient numbers 

 for all occasions ; and something as a substitute 

 would be very convenient. 



If we write on a dry stick of soft pine, which i 

 has just been shaved smooth, black lead in most: 

 cases leaves a faint mark which soon becomes il- 

 h'L'ible ; but if we moisten the surface immediately 

 before we write, the trace is clear and plain. 

 Sli(dvs marked in this w.ny, and leaning thim a Ut- 

 ile tou'ards the plant, with the name underneath, 

 will not only point out its position, but will coD- 

 tinue legible for more than a year. — Genesee Far. 



EXERCISE 



Gives strength to every fibre, and energy to ail 



the vital powers. But exercise like most good 

 practices and habits may he carried to excess. 

 Extreme toil not only shortens life, hut brings less- 

 to pass than steady but moderate labor. It is not 

 therefore often advisable for farmers to undertakie> 

 to perform what are called great days' works, few 

 one day of over exertion may cause weeks of de- 

 bility, if not months of sickness. 



