154 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOVEMBER SB, 1«.^4. 



From the InteUigsiicer and E.vpositor. 

 IMPROVEMENT OP SOIL,. 



If an iniiui.i"g "'"I'l ^^'1' S" ■"'° '''^ '''"'"''; 

 where ll.e soil is vvluU we tr.vm rich laiifl, aiu 

 view nature at work, in nature's own way, lie wiU 

 discover readilv, that lor a considerahlo depth this 

 rich soil is a composition of vcgetahle matter |.rui- 

 cipally, more or less deco,nposed,-in coni.noi, 

 lan.'ua-e well rotted. He will discover, that what 

 he applies the name of soil to is co.nposed, almost 

 entirely, of the decayed leaves of the trees with 

 weeds and grass, and rotten wood— perhaps the 

 production of centuries. But on a nice examina- 

 tion of this rich soil, he will he compelled to con- 

 clude, from evidence before his senses, mconlro- 

 vertihle, that decayed leaves, form the prmcpal 

 part If he wishes for conclusive corroborating 

 testimonv, he will heap up a mass of thein in a 

 pen, sprhikling the mass with lime, and he will 

 find after the process of fermentation, and decom- 

 po'^ition has done its office, that the product wdl, 

 on application to poor soil, produce the finest veg- 

 etation, and prove to his senses that it contams 

 the pabulum, or food of plants, in a high d,gree 

 l!v still going on with his experiment, he will hnd 

 ultimately, that leaves when decomposed, with the 

 aid of decomi.osing agents, produce an admirable 

 assistant to vecetation, and by forming a mass of 

 leaves, spriidding the leaves as he forms the mass, 

 with lime, and adding a small portion of rich 

 moist earth amongst the vegetable matter, he will 

 fiud on applying it to the earth for the purpose 

 of aiding vegetation, that he has got a l>ile ol ma- 



Fi'om this evidence before him he will readily 

 conclude, if capable of the operation of common 

 sense, that for the pm|)ose of littering animals, and 

 as an assistant, in forming a compost manure 

 leaves, especially if gathered while charged wul 

 their whole elementary principles, must be an ad- 

 mirable auxiliary, in the production of the dung- 

 stead, and worthy of being most assiduously col- 

 lected for th.at purpose. 



Amongst weeds, or green vegetable substances, 

 experiment has aml-ly decided, that those which 

 produced the most putrid and nauseous effluvia, 

 during fermentatiou, were found prodiicmg the 

 most active efieci on the growing crop. This fact 

 seems to settle, by positive proof, the correctness 

 of the theory of many pUmts feeding rapidly on 

 -asos, Evolved during the process of fermentation, 

 Through the medium of their leaves. As- it would 

 be highly desirable, previous to laying down any 

 plan for making miinnre, in the form of composi, 

 to have some idea of the relative value of dififereiii 

 ingredients, which present for that purp<ise, it may 

 bo" proper to have some facts placed bef.ire us. 

 Leaves piled up in a piui, with alternate thin strata 

 „r swamp mud, when partially decomposed are 

 found a superior prepanition for the Irish polnto 

 crop. I'llt around the roots of fruit trees, this 

 compost has been found to produce a In-allby aii.l 

 vi>'orou3 growth. Its operation has hern nmili 

 incHNised in its efficacy, by llie aibliiiou of lime to 

 the mass. The finest Irish potatoes that 1 have 

 seen produceil iu a sonlberu climate, were pro- 

 duced by the addition of this compost. 



A pen was made with small rails, a stratum of 

 leaves, trampled down to twelve inches in depth, 

 a spriukliug of lime added, after sprinkling the 

 leaves well wiih muddy wal.r three or fiuir inches 

 of swamp mud was then adiled, and this course 



This compost was made up iu the fall, on the first 

 fdliug of the leaves, and applied to the potato crop 

 in the spring. The effect on the following crop 

 of CORN, was all that could he desired. A second 

 pile was constructed with a stratum of leaves, two 

 feel thick, sprinkled well with lime, previously, 

 with muddy water— two carts came up, the one 

 loaded witli swamp mud, and the other with dung 

 —from opposite sides the throwing on commenced, 

 at equal pace, so as to mingle the two last well : 

 on the layer of mud and manure being completed, 

 *ay about four inches thick, another layer of leaves 

 was added— sprinkled witU water from a pond 

 then lime, mud and manure, and continued, until 

 the pile was about six feet in height— a little earth 

 was thrown on the top— I am satisfied the same 

 volume of dung, spread over the same surface, 

 would not have exceeded in production, euher m 

 Ihe potato or corn crop, that followed, and to 

 which the composition was applied, on planting. 

 In both cases the manure was applied in the drill, 

 hut plentifully. The fi.llowing crop on both 

 ..rounds was cotton— it was superior— the seed 

 was drilled in the ohl corn, and potato rows, open- 

 ed with a Scooter plough. The following year, 

 seed that came from the cotton, the year previous, 

 was applieil to a second corn crop, which nuich 

 surpassed the first, indeed was amongst the finest 

 corn crops to be fimnd— Wheat aud Rye followed 

 and were superior. 



1 give this detail to show that the efficacy of 

 leaves, is decided, iu their action on plants, as a 

 I manure, when decomposed, for iu the crops .above 

 Slated they were the basis of the manure that was 

 applied, it being jicrfectly impossible for nil the 

 dung, and liu.e, that was employed for the forma- 

 ti,m of the compost, to have produced halt the ef- 

 fect, when spread over the soil, or used as the 



composi was apidied. 



Planter. 



FASHION. 



Fashion rules the world, and a most tyrannhal 

 mistress she is— compelling people to .^nhniitto 

 ihe most inconvenient things imaginable, for lash- 

 ion's sake. 



She pinches our feet with tight shoes, or chokes 

 us with a tight neckhamlkerchief, or squeezes the 

 breath out of our body by tight lacing ; she mak.i 

 peoide sit up by night when they ought to l)e m 

 hed,andke.-psihem iu bed when they ought to bo 

 up and doing. She makes it vulgar to wait on ones 

 self and fenteel to live idle and useless. 



She makes people vksit when they would rather 

 stay at home, eat when they are.noi hungry, ami 

 drink when they are not thirsty. 



She invades "our pleasure, and iuterrupis our 

 business. 



She compels the people to dress gaily, whetin r 

 upon their own property or that of others, wheth- 

 er agreeable to the word of God or the dlclales. 



of piide. 



She ruins health and produces sickness— des- 

 I troys life and occasions premature death. 



She makes foolish parents, invalids of children 

 and servants of us all. 



She is a tormentor of conscience, despoiler o 

 morality, an enemy to religion, and no one can h. 

 her rouiliaiiioii aud enjoy either. 



She is a despot of the highest grade, full of m 

 trigue and cunning, and yet husbands, wi\es, lath 

 ers, mothers, sons, daughters, and serxanls, blac 

 and white, voluntarily have become her servant 

 and slaves, and vie with one another, to see wh 

 shall be most obsequious. 



ROUND SHOT. 



A correspondent in the United States Gazette 

 gives the following as the origiu of the discovery 

 i)[' making round shot : 



" My i'alber was a plumber in this city, and foi 

 a Ion" lime could think ui' nothing but how to makf 

 round shot. Round Shot was the hunhen of tin 

 ni<.ht as well as the day. One night he wa> 

 awikeiied by a blow in the back from my mother 

 who exclaimed, I have found out how to make 

 ,„,Mul sJ.ot. I dreamed I was going into a shop 

 to buy the child {myself,) a hal,^vhen, on hearing 

 a his>ing noise proceed from an inner room, I was 

 informed that they were making round shot : on 

 .r>,iu<' in, 1 looked up and saw n man pouring 

 melteil lead through a sieve at the top of the build- 

 in., which f.dl into a tub of water on the floor, 

 and' on taking some of the shot in n,y hand, 1 



f, I they w.u-e perfectly round ! Hly father ex- 



,.|;,i„„.,| i„ testacy, you have found it .ml— unmc- 

 ,|iately he set the melling pot to woik, and on 

 pouiiug smue of the h a,l fVomihe top .d' the stairs 

 he found the shot much rounder than any which 

 he had before made ; at .layligbt he poured some 

 from the top of the leaning tower in the city, suc- 

 ceeded much better; and on pouring some froui 

 Ihe shaft .da mine, he found that he had obtained 

 " round shot." 



Thus the discovery was made by Mrs. Watts, 

 and in justice it ought always to have been kuown 



ot sw.imn muu was loun .i,,.,»..,, „,■•. ,,■-. -i j . . , , 



cLtinued until Ihe pen was six feel iu height. I as Mrs. Watt.' patent shot. 



MAXIMS. 



ET GOETHE. 



A capital error, is that we think ourselves grea 

 er than we are, aud value ourselves at less than v 



are fully worth. 



Music, in the best sense is little iu want of n 

 velty; oi'i the contrary, the older it is, »n<l l 

 m.u-e'one is accustomed to it, by so much the grec 



er the effect. . 



The best which we have from history is the e 

 thusiasni it excites. 



Deeply and earnestly reflecting meu occupy 

 evil position as regards ibe public. 



If I am to assent to the opinion of another, 

 must be positively pronounced ; 1 have enough 

 llie problematical in myself. 



Literature is ihe fragu.iMit of fragments ; the le 

 of that which happeue.l aud has been said, has be 

 written : of what has been written the least \ 

 has survived. 



lie who is content with pure experience a 

 acts accordingly has trnib enough. The grow 

 child is wild ill this sense. 



Theory, in aud for itself, is nothing worth, 

 in so far as it makes us believe in the connect 

 of the phenomena. 



Certain books appear to be written, not that 

 may ham any thing from them, but that we i 

 know that the author knew something. 



The dust which is on the point of being laid 

 some lime to come, raises itself powerfully lor 

 last time before the storm. 



He who is ignorant of foreign languages is 

 uorant of his own. 



We do not possess what we do not understi 

 Foresight is simple ; retrospect, uniform. 

 Men need only grow old to become loleruiM 

 see no fault coininilled by royielf. 



