26 



NEW ENGLAND EAUMER, 



ATOrST G. Ifi3*. 



quaiuity, mid with veiy inaiiil'est advantage. Tlicy 

 do not act so proin|)ily or so i)owerfiilly as the sea 

 weed, but are (iroljalily nioi-e peniiaiieiit in thoir 

 efl'ects. In conihination with sea icied and oilier 

 putrescent inanures, they have all the efl'ects of 

 mnrl in £ivin2 jiernianency to the improvement. 

 The late Mr. Ellyson Cnrrie of Lancaster, wlio was 

 the most zealons fanner of my acipiaiiitance, used 

 these shells very extensively ; and whenever I met 

 with him, he e.\patiated with delitrlit and enthusi- 

 asm on the great benefit derived froin them. He 

 used them, however, without a sufficient attention 

 to artificial grasses, and (irobahly without the ap- 

 plication of a due portion of putrescent manures ; 

 and the consecpience has been, as I have been in- 

 formed since his death, that i)arts of his farm now 

 exhibit the a|)pearances invariably produced by an 

 over-dose of calcareous matter, without a due ap- 

 plication of putrescent and vegetable manures. 



The value of oyster shell lime as a manure is so 

 generally understood, and has lately been so well 

 attesteil by the successful practices of Mr. Lewis 

 of Wyanoke, and other contributors to your Regis- 

 ter, that I deem it unnecessary to say much oji 

 that subject. I have applied it to some extent, 

 and witli obvious advantage, to wheat and clover: 

 but having a great abundance of other materials 

 ituich more accessible, I have not yet devoted much 

 attention to lime. I am now, however, about to 

 burn a quantity of shells, with the view of making 

 a compost of old corn cobs, marsh mud, stable ma- 

 nure and lime, hoping in this way to derive some 

 advantage from the corn cobs, which heretofore I 

 have found it almost impnssilile to reduce to the 

 food of plants. Under ordinary circumstances, 1 

 do not approve of expensive composts; but having' 

 all the necessary materials at hand, I shall form 

 my coin|)ost during wot weather, when the fields 

 will not bear carting over them, anil when my ma- 

 nuring force could not be profitably employed 

 about any thing else. In this way it will cost but 

 little. 



I have made sonic experiments with. mnrs/i mufl, 

 which at first promised to be very successful, but 

 I must confess that my expectations have lieen 

 somewhat disappointed. To apply it, requires 

 more labor, and that of a very disagreeable kind, 

 than either li.-mk shells or sea weeds ; and in my 

 hands it has proved less efficacious than either of 

 them. It is possible that 1 have committed some 

 error in applying it, as I have been assured by a 

 gentleman of high respectability, from ttie Eastern 

 Shore of Virginia, who had used it extensively, 

 that he would not exchange it, load fur load, for 

 the best stable manure. 1 entertain no doubt, that 

 when better materials are not to be had, it may be 

 used with very great advantage. 



The beds of fossil sliells, in this comilry, de- 

 nortdnated mart, may p<issibly be considered as be- 

 longing to the class of marine mctnvres ; as in all 

 lirobability they are of marine origin. But the 

 period of their connexion with the sea is so re- 

 mote, and the means by which they were trans- 

 ferred to their [iresent positions, so imlistinctly 

 " known to our iihilosophy," that I have not 

 thought proper to class them under this category. 

 It is not however, foreign to the purpose of this 

 essay to say n few words on this interesting sub- 

 ject. 



Your Essay on Calcareous Manures, and the ar- 

 ticles in the Ilcgister on that subject, have excited 

 great interest in the Northern Neck, ng well as in 

 other parts of the State. The subject is discussed 



in almost every company, and some of our practi- 

 cal farmers are already applying marl, and \niany 

 others are in search of it. It is a very fortunate, 

 and seemingly providential circumstance, that as 

 soon as we leave the flat lands of the rivers and 

 creeks, and come into the forest where marine ma- 

 nur^:s are not to be lia<l, marl is foiiml in abun- 

 dance. I have now in my posscssicm several spe- 

 cimens, some of them uncommonly rich, fnuiid 

 since the puI)rication of your book, in different 

 parts of the Northern Neck. You have just cause 

 to be in-ond of having conferred so great and last- 

 ing a benefit on your country. 



I cannot close this long, and I fear tedious com- 

 munication, without expressing the confident 0[)in- 

 ion, that the cultivation of artificial grasses, par- 

 ticularly clover, is absolutely necessary to secure 

 the full benefitof any system of manuring. I fully 

 concur with your correspondent, Mr. Archer of 

 Fort Monroe, that in Eastern Virginia we have 

 liave committed a great emu-, in supposing that 

 our lanils will not produce artificial grasses to ad- 

 vantage. My limited ex|)erience and observation 

 entirely confirm the view so well expressed by hiin. 

 It may be safely affirmed that there is not on the 

 face of the globe, (possibly with the exception of 

 China,) a highly improved and well cultivated 

 country, in which artificial grasses are neglected. 

 If China, be an exception, the peculiar condition 

 of that country will afford the best reasons for tlie 

 [iractices there adopted, whilst it should teach us 

 the impossibility of following the example. 



Whilst on the subject of grasses, I will inquire 

 f the question, whether plaster will act in the vi- 

 cinity of salt water, has yet been satisfactorily set- 

 tled by the experience of practical farmers? I de- 

 sign to miike some experiments with it in the 

 spring, and may possibly send you the result of 

 my observations.* 



I hope, sir, that you will receive this communi- 

 cation as an earnest of the zeal with which I de- 

 sire to co-operate in the noble cause of agricultural 

 improvement. I should be happy if I could bring 

 to your service, any thing calculated to give effect 

 to your labors. But I am well convinced, that 

 neither my skill nor success as an agriculturist, 

 give me the slightest claims to the confidence of 

 the public as a teacher of the science. 



VVlLLOUGIIBY NeWTO.N. 



Weslmoreland Co., Va. Dec. 16, 1833. 



age, and the dogs, are almost the only things we 

 have to dread. The scour is sometimes trouble- 

 some at the time of changing from^dry to green 

 food. Our cure is, about the bulk of a hen's egg 

 of chalk. From one to three doses seldom fail to 

 check the complaint. Unless it coniiiiues too long, 

 and makes them weak, we let il take its course. 

 Tlie cout'h and foul nose generally come together. 

 I am disposed to think they are both produced by 

 the same disease. When we notice them, we lose 

 no time in removing the sheep from the flock, anti 

 make free use of tar. It rarely fails to eflt-ct a 

 cure in a few days, unless the animal is old or un- 

 sound. J'he use of tar amnnrr sheep, is not duty 

 appreciated. Many fine rams have been lost by 

 maggots getting about the roots of their horns. 

 Two or three applications of tar during the warm 

 weather, will always prevent this. The ticks are 

 sometimes troublesome to the yearling lambs, An 

 ointment made of Scotch snuff and hog's lard or 

 train oil, will kill or banish them by one applica- 

 tion. One ounce of snufii" to a pound of lard is 

 about the proportion. 



"A few weeks ago, a respectabh; fiirmer of this 

 county related to me the following circumstances 

 which may be worthy of notice, as they furnish 

 hints that may lead to more important discoveries. 

 He stated that some years ago, a small log ca1>i7i 

 on liis farm, in which he kei)t his salt, was con- 

 sumed by fire. The sjjaces between the log.s were 

 filled with clay. The salt, the ashes of the burnt 

 loo-s, and the burnt clay, became a promiscuous 

 heap. The burning took place in April. This 

 salted heap of ruins .soon attracted the attention of 

 his flock of sheep. They visited it almost daily 

 during the summer. By the time cold weather 

 arrived, they had licked away the whole mass. 

 The farmer's own words to me were that he " ncf- 

 er Ixfore or since had so healthy and fat a flocti of 

 sheep." 



"A question here naturally presents itself, wheth- 

 er the benefit arose from the burned clay acting 

 upon an absorbent ? — from the alkali jiroduced 

 from the ashes? — from the sheep having salt at 

 will ? — or from a combination of the <lifi^erent arti- 

 cles ? The farmer attributed the advantage to the 

 lay." 



ON THE TREATMENT OP SHEEP. 



Wf. copy from the " Memoirs of the Pennsylva- 

 nia Agricultural Society," part of a letter address- 

 ed to the Corresponding Secretary of that institu- 

 tion, by Mexandcr Rccd, Esq. of Washington co. 

 in I'cnnsylvania. We have long been satisfied 

 that the use of Tar as a medicine or condiment 

 for sheep, has " not been duly appreciated." 



"As to the diseases incident to sheep, I am 

 happy to tell you that I have had but little experi- 

 ence. I have long entertained the opinion that 

 tlicy are more healtliy on the western llian on your 

 side of tite mountain. We know nothing; of tlie loni; 

 list of diseases mentioned by Engli.^h authors. Olil 



• VVc have no cxpccinioiilal liiiowlcdpc of gvpsani arllii^ 

 near sail water, but liavc liilly proved its efficacy on soils after 

 HKirlinc;. on which he/ore, ih-.n manure was lolally worlhless ; 

 ami lis. inertness even nciirlresh liilewaler has been generally 

 allribulcd to the sea air. Il'onr correspondeni will iry pypsuin 

 on clover where he 1ms already applied his oyster hank ma- 

 nure in ahiindance — or il he can cause the like experiment lo 

 be made on some of the land injured by Mr. Currie's exces- 

 sively heavy dressing, we enierlaiu but hllle doubt of liis suc- 

 cess.— -£ti. Far. Reg. 



burnt 



THE SEASOBI IN ENGL.AIVD, &c. 



TuE previous accounts of the prospects of good 

 harvest in England, were gloomy from all parts of 

 the country. Up to the 5th of June there was lit- 

 tle prospect of anything like a decent crop of any 

 sort of grain. Copious rains soon afterwanis fell, 

 which aiipear to have revived vegetation, and in- 

 spired new hopes to the husbandman. The Wor- 

 cester Herald, received by last arrivals says: 



" ^Ve gladly reiterate the same stalementsof our 

 contemporaries in the adjacent counties, as to the 

 auspicious appearance of the country at the present 

 season, and the promise that vegetation generally 

 holds out of a year of abundant produce. The late 

 warm and copious rains have covered the mead- 

 ows and pastures with grass, and this crop which 

 until the last fortnight appeared likely to be unu- 

 sually light and scanty, now justifies the hope of 

 yielding at least a fair average in bulk and quality. 

 The wheat plant, it is admitted on all hands, nev- 

 er looked belter, and the Lent grain is also going 

 on equally favorably and satisfactorily. AVith res- 

 pect to the orchards in this vicinity, pears are for 

 the most part a failure, although there are districts 

 in which a considerable quantity will he gathered ; 



