1170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECESIBGR 10, 1834. 



remailfo apply to all kinds of manure, as well as 

 to th:it of stable dung. 



Some are of the opinion that stable and farni- 

 jard manure ought always to be applied in a re- 

 «ent state, that is, previous to their rotting or de- 

 composition. In this case the manure tinist he 

 spread on the land as above directed, as new dung 

 ■will nut answer a good purpose to place iji the hill 

 for Indian corn ; and it is not so good on most 

 «oils for potato hills, as that which is somewhat 

 decomposed and rotten. Barn-yard dung may 

 profitably be applied, as before observed, in the hill 

 of corn and potatoes; and if so applied it should 

 not be applied iu a recent state. 



With regard to the quantity of manure to be ap- 

 plied to an acre of tillage, many circumstances 

 must be taken into consideration, such as the 

 Btrength of the soil, the kind of grain or produce 

 to he raised, (Indian corn requiring the largest 

 quantity) and the kind or quality of the manure to 

 be applied. The farmer, in making his calcula- 

 tions on this point, should not apportion his ma 



hurtful to vegetation. , A strong, clear, stony soil 

 receives but. little benefit by the application of 

 lime. When applied it should be spread and 

 ploughed into the soil. Its greatest eflect is on 

 wheat. But the large quantity of this article ne- 

 cessary to make a .perceptible improvement in the 

 texture or fruitfulness of the soil, renders it too 

 expensive a manure for the greatest number of our 

 farmers. On this subject the author of the Com- 

 plete Grazier observes: " Tlie general allowance, 

 in the estimation of experienced farmers, shoulil 

 be al least three or four hundred busliels an acre." 

 Burnt Clay is used as a manure by some farm- 

 ers with great success. The nature of clay is en- 

 tirely changed by the process of burning ; its te- 

 nacity and cohesiveness is destroyed, and is ren- 

 dered dry, warm and friable, and its cohesive 

 property cannot be restored by the application of 

 water ; hence it makes a good manure for all cold, 

 wet, compact, and jiarlicnlarly clayey soils, to 

 which in its natural state its application would have 

 been detritnental. Ten or fifteen' cart loads is suf- 



moisiure, it will, nevertheless, permit a more easy 

 percolation of fluid than any such compact materi- 

 al as a piece of broken pot. But this is not the 

 only adv.-mtage gained by its use. For rapidly and 

 luxuriantly growing plants, it is surely of some 

 consequence to be able to transfer then) from one 

 pot to another without injuring the roots, as is un- 

 avoidably the case when pieces of broken pots are 

 used. Moss, however, not only afibrds drainage, 

 but by its slow decomposition, a lasting, and per- 

 haps rich source of food to the plants growing in 

 it ; consequently, when the proper time arrives 

 for the |)lants to be re-potted or transplanted to the 

 flower-border, it will be unnecessary to remove 

 the moss, which will not only save time, which is 

 often wasted in picking out the broken pieced of 

 pot, but will prevent any danger of injuring tlie 

 roots. Thomas Parkins. 



Bure to tlie quantity of ground he may wish to(fieientfor an acre. It should be spread, and mix- 

 place under tillage; but should apportion his ed with the soil by the plough or harrow. It 

 ground to the quantity of manure he can command, makes a good top dressing for such cold, wet grass 



"Scanty dressings," as the term is, should ever be 

 ^ejected. " We till too much land," is an expres 



Sion m very common use ; 



but instead of being a 



vague speculation of the brain, it should be reduc- 

 ed to the actual practice of the hand. 



In the speculation of manure, the quality of the 

 soil aiul of the manure should be considered. A 

 cold, stiff, clayey, or wet soil requires a hot fer- 

 menting manure, and one not much decomposed, 

 and that too in considerable quantity ; that the 

 «old nature of the soil may be corrected by the 

 -iirarnjth of the dung ; on the contrary a dry, war^pi, 

 •Mndy soil requires dung more decomposed and 

 putrified, and a less quantity answers a good pur- 

 pose. On such soils a compost of dung and peat 

 moss, as before described, is a very suitable ma- 

 nure. 



Om the use and application of Fossil JManiires, 

 gypsum, lime, marie, clay, &c. much has been 

 said by many writers on agriculture ; but it is be- 

 lieved but little use has been made of their specu- 

 lations, in this part of the country, exceiit as it 

 relates to the use of gypsum. Gypsum does not 

 operate as an excessive stimulus to the soil, but as 

 direet food for the plants. It should be ground 

 fine before application, " the finer the better ;" it 

 J8 then called plaster of Paris. It is most benefi- 

 ■cinl to clover, and for this crop should be sowed 

 in April, broad cast, after the rate of four bushels 

 to llio acre. When applied to corn and potatoes, 

 it Bhould be put into the hill at the time of plant- 

 ing.. Warm, dry, sandy soils, receive the most 

 benefit by the use of plaster. Should the farmer 

 wish to try an experiment with this manure, a lit- 

 tle of it sown on such land newly stocki'd with 

 clover, will test its usefulness. If sowed in a wet 

 time, or just before a rain, the result is more per- 

 ceptible, as it reipiircs 500 times its weight of cold 

 water to dissolve or decompose it. 



lAmc, as Sir II. Davy remarks, when slacked 

 and exposed for some time to the air, becomes 

 combined with carbonic acid, and is then a useful 

 ingredient in soil. Lime should never be mixed 

 with stable or barn-yard dung, as it destroys much 

 of their nutritive qualities. Rich loams abounding 

 with vegetable matter, cold, boggy, swampy soils 

 are greatly improved by lime, as it accelerates pu- 

 trefaction, and removes every thing noxious or 



ands as cannot be jnofitably brought into tillage 

 by the plough. 



Should the farmer, like the professioiial man, 

 the merchant and the ingenious mechanic, bring 

 the reflecting powers of his mind to bear on his 

 liusiness and calling in life, ami reduce to practice 

 the theoretic investigation, which would be the 

 necessary result — a general system of neatness and 

 order would exist about our tlwellings, and our 

 fields wear the appearance of luxuriousness and 

 plenty. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 



ON I.IVE: moss. 



In p. 134, are recorded some experiments on 

 draining pots with coal cinders, accompanied by 

 some jileasing and useful remarks. The most 

 common method of draining jiots is, it is well 

 known, by using broken pieces of pot, or pot- 

 sherds ; which practice, there can be no doubt, 

 became general, from the circumstance of such 

 materials beiug always at hand. It is generally 

 diflicult to root out long-established practices, and 

 substitute new ones : 1, however, have been trying 

 if "living matter" would not answer for draining 

 pots ; and the success which has attended my ex- 

 [lerijueiits, enables me to recommend the practice 

 strongly. In the autumn of 1833, I received some 

 carnr.tiun layers, which had been taken up the day 

 before, and I potted them in the usual way. About 

 a monih after this, 1 received another set of layers, 

 wliiih had been brought nearly 200 miles across 

 the country, and which, consequently, hud been 

 out of the ground some time. The puts in which 

 these last were potted, were drained with live 

 moss, (Sphagnum L.) On turning the plants out 

 of the pots into the border, this spring, 1 found the 

 latter much superior to the former, being more 

 healthy and stronger plants ; which 1 attribute en- 

 tirely to moss being used as drainage, instead of 

 pieces of broken pots. About the same time, 1 

 potted some fine suckers, using moss for drainage ; 

 and at their removal, in March, I fomul the pots 

 full.of fine fresh roots. Tliese results have induc- 

 eii me to adopt the plan almost universally this 

 spring ; and all "the plants so potted, present a 

 most healthy and luxuriant appearance. Although 

 moss may be considered powerfully absorbent ol 



SEIiP-SHARPEKIKG PL.OIIGHSHARE ; 



— Richard B. Chenoweth, city of Baltimore, state 

 of Maryland, March 17. — The itnprovement is said 

 to consist in the form of the share, and the manner 

 of fastening it to the mould-board ; it is stated, that 

 the same mode of fastening was claimed by the 

 pateiuee in a former patent, but without a share 

 which admitted of a reversed application ; in the 

 present instance, the share embraces both the share 

 ami point in one, and is so made, as to be capable 

 of being reversed or turned bver ; when the wear 

 produces the proper sharpening for reversing again. 

 The share being properly fitted to the mould-board, 

 one bolt in the middle secures it in its place. • The 

 patentee claims "the form of the share, as em- 

 bracing both share and points, and susceptible of 

 a reverse application, and self-sharpening by the 

 reversion of such application ; with the manner of 

 fastening the share on the mould-board." 



As this mode of fastening has been previously 

 claimed, it is not a legal subject of claim in the 

 present patent, and would certainly vitiate it 

 The self-sharpening by reversion has been claimed 

 by more than one patentee, and cannot now be 

 sustained abstractedly, although it might possibly 

 stand as applied to a new and improved form of 

 s(iare. — Jour. Franklin Inst. 



I.OCUSTS. 



A friend brought to us on Saturday, a branch 

 from an apple tree, which he took from the or- 

 chard of Mr. W. Stokes, at Germantown, where 

 the locusts, early last summer, swarmed in great 

 abundance. The branch is completely perforated 

 from one end to the other, on both sides, where 

 the locusts deposited their eggs — and we learn thai 

 the young trees throughout the orchard were near 

 ly all killed by the process. About six weeki 

 since, the eggs hatched, and the young, in the forn 

 of a small woiin, fell to the ground. We believi 

 few persons are aware of the amount of injur; 

 which these locusts are cajiable of doing, an( 

 which they have done since last spring. — U. 

 Gazette. 



Cabbage Tree of Lapland. Can any of you 

 readers inform me where I could procure seeds c 

 this plant, which is said to be more hardy thaii th 

 nita biiga, and to grow to the height of four o 

 five feet ? My intention is to use it as winter foo 

 for sheep, on land to which 1 cannot aftbrd a sufli 

 cient (piantity of manure to grow turnips. JoH 

 Brown, Cots wold, Gloucestershire, Dec. 1833.- 

 Gard. Mag. 



