78 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. 14, IS36. 



sfiS'W mm<3^j»£it.^'i> s'i^.jESHsma 



nO.STON,\VEUNf:SRAY EVENINC. SEPT. 14, 1S3G. 



FARMERS' WORK. 



fQoncluded] 

 Composts. Mud fok Manure, &c. — "Sir John Sin- 

 clair observes that in making composts it has bften as- 

 certained by a number of experiments that two bushels 

 of unslacked lime are sufficient to each cubic yard of 

 earth of a medium quality, and as eighty cubic yards are 

 sufficient to manure an acre, one hund'-ed and sixty bush- 

 els is the quantity required." A less quantity, liowever, 

 wirt answer a valuable purpose, and no precise rules are 

 necessary j for a compost without lime, or lime not mix- 

 ed in compost is valuable for manure. 



DrDeane observeii that "a layer of mud will he no bad 

 ingredient in a heap of compost. But it should be con- 

 ligous to a stratum of lime, if that can be obtained. But 

 where this is wanting, new horse dung is the best sub- 

 stitute to excite a strong fermentation." And again, the 

 same writer asserts that *■ with respect to using mud as 

 a manure, the msritime farmer has the advantage over 

 all others. For the sea ooze, which appears on the flals, 

 and in creeks and harbors, along the shores of the sea, 

 has all the virtues of fresh water mud, with that of sea 

 salt superadded, vvliich is one of the most important in- 

 gre<lients in the composition of manures. I might add 

 that it abounds more than any other mud, with putrelifid 

 animal substances, fliuch of these are contained in the 

 ^ea itself: and innumerable are the fowls and fishes that 

 have perished upon flats since time began ; and the 

 component parts of their bodies have been inclosed by 

 the supervenient slime." 



The Albany Cuhivator asserts tliit " composts in which 

 no fermentation lakes place, can be of little adv.Tnl.ngo. 

 'There is no volatile matter given olT, and no tendency 

 exists to breali down and render soluble ligtieous or 

 woody matter. Lime operates more powerfully than 

 ilung in inducing fermentation in vegetable matter, 

 though it is not prudent to use it in combination with 

 Citable dung; 1 have found by experience that it causes 

 too violenl action and dissipates nearly iill ll)e putrefying 

 ,|>roperties. Composts are parlicul.irly .-idapleii lo all the 

 family of small grains, and fur tup dressing gr.issgrounds, 

 wheve this latter practice is tolnraled, mere earthy mat- 

 ters add nothing to the compost pile ; ihey nieiely pre- 

 vent the waste of otlier m.ttorials, whicii compose it. In 

 making composts, tlie'refbre, for field use, i^artiis should 

 ■be preferrfd, which abounds in vegetable matter; and 

 the litter, vegetable refu3c, urine, soap suds, .nsltes, &r., 

 should be addcJ, which are ordinarily wasted, and wllicll 

 form annually a largi' aggregate on ajfarm." 



The too common practice of spreading ban. }ard mar 

 nurc over mowing or meadow land is sery wasteful and 

 ■extravagant. Most people appear to think that they 

 have nothing more to do than to pile on barn yard ina^ 

 nure in great quantity on any Siul, a-ndfur each and ev- 

 ery sort of produce, and iheir crops and fortunes are 

 made. But the truth is that the application of unmixed 

 dung to land in tillage is sonu-times not merely useless 

 but absolutely injurious. We have the assertion of an 

 experienced cultivator that he actually nearly destroyed 

 his grass in a mowing lot by ppreadingon this soil in the 

 : spring a quantity of fresh dung takon i.roin the pig stye. 

 " The dung," he says, " was ol i«.j iiot a nature, and 

 caused the turf to be so much starched by the sun that 

 the grass was burnt up." It is true that Irc-^h dung ap- 

 plied to plough land does not often produce that etfect. 

 Hut the inaoure in that case, by mixing with the soil 



forms a comp'ist, and the dung is as :t were diluted with 

 earth. Still we bear farmers complain in dry seasons, 

 that the dung, which they apply to their soil does more 

 harm than good, by increasing the injurious effects of 

 drought But i( itwere well mixed before it was ap- 

 plied with two or three times its bulk of earth it wouid 

 preserve against drought instead of increasing it. A 

 plant will no better grow on a mucit heap than on a sand 

 heap ; and in .some cases pure sand would be a better 

 application to increase the fertility of a soil than unmix- 

 ed dung. 



Railwjiv ToNctJEs. — We have lately examined with 

 much pleasure and satisfaction an inventi in by Col. H. 

 SiRGENT, of Boston for guiding railway cars in turning 

 from one track to another. It consists of a tongue or 

 piece of timber fastened down at the place of turning 

 near the ciMitre of the rail road, which forces the car to 

 take the right direction. In order the belter to accom- 

 plish this a stout pin is firmly fixed in the axle tree of the 

 r.ail road car, in such a position that it will strike and rub 

 along the aide of the whole length of the tongue, and 

 thus by degrees, force the wheels of the car to alter their 

 course and move in lines parallel to the side of the 

 tongue against whicli the pin impinges. 



It was well observed with regard lo this invention, by 

 a wriier with the sign.nture " Franklin " in the New 

 England Palladium of the 2d inst. that "by having all 

 tuin outs on the right, or the left, the Engineer will have 

 no duty to perform in this respect after the first fixture 

 o( his directing pin. And the sanle position without al- 

 teration, would bring him back in a contrary direction 

 over the same route." 



We all know, as have read in newspapers, of the dan- 

 vers, as well as inconveniences attending the accidental 

 or designed removal, misplacing, or neglect to shift pro- 

 perly and in season, what is called the " switch rail " in 

 rail roads. By Col. Sargent's plan, if we rightly com- 

 prehend it, the switch rails may be made fixtures, and 

 ,he tongues and pins will prove infallible guides, save 

 labor, prevent accidents, and guard against the loss of 

 limbs and even lives, which sometimes has happened 

 under the old mode of transferring cars from one track 

 to another. 



A VALUABLE Book — Jfathaniel Greene, Esq. Postmas- 

 ter of Boston, has added to his efficient services to the 

 community in bis ofiiciul cap-icity, a work in the line of 

 literature for which he deserves well of the Kepublic of 

 Letters. Tlie production to which we allude is entitled, 

 " A Compendious History of Italy, Translated from the 

 Original Italian." In the preface the Translator ob- 

 serves " of the histories of Italy by Bossi and Botta, I 

 have yet seen no translation. It is from these two works, 

 principally, tiiat the " Compendious History of Italy " of 

 Siguore Sforzosi appears to have been compiled ; a work 

 remarkable for the elegance of its style, as well -as the 

 clearness and precision with which the events are sketch- 

 ed, and which 1 have here attempted to tranilate, for the 

 purpose of indicating rather than supplying a void, which 

 exists in English historical literature, and also of attracting 

 the attention of my countrymen to a portion of history so 

 replete with instructions, warnings and examples lo the 

 happy citizens of these United States " 



There is a pleasing conciseness without obscurity, a 

 felicity of condensation in ihis work, that distinguishes it 

 from ihe verbose details of some historians. We have on- 

 room for the following quotation, which indicates the 

 meaningof the Translator, when he adverts to history's 

 teaching by "warnings and examples." 



"The liberties of Rome being submerged in the bl»od 



of her citizens, we have henceforward but to witness ' 

 the wretched spectacle of the deep degradation into 

 which the greatest people that ever swayed the universe 

 were precipitated by their vices and depravity; affording 

 to every reflecting mind a terrible and decisive proof of 

 the insufficiency of the republican system for a society 

 debauched by luxury, chilled by selfishness, and whose 

 members are ready to male any sacrifice for the attain- 

 ment of individual wealth and personal aggrandizement. 

 In such evil times, however, some bright examples will 

 shine forth in the midst of universal corruption and sub- 

 serviency, as the lightning in a dark tempestuous night 

 Hashes an instant in the heaven, only to render more 

 sensible to the eye of the lost traveller the profound ob- 

 scurity which wraps the earth." 



MASSACHUSETTS IIORTICUI-TCRAI. SOCIETY. 



Saturday, Sept. 10, 1836. 



EXHIBITION OF FRUITS. 



Pears, by Mr Manning — An unknown variety, medi • 

 um size, and bright russet color, the flavor somewhat 

 resembling that of a Melon — maybe the "Poire du 

 Melon" ol European Cat. Also, Dearborn's Seedling, 

 a good pear and will probably become r Javorite. 



By Mr E. M. Richards — Pears, without a name. 



Apples, by Mr Vose, President of the Society — Lady 

 Haley's Nonsuch, a fine looking fruit. 



By Mr Richards — Lady Haley's Nonsuch, Summer 

 Gilliflower, Early Sweeting, Curtis' Early Striped. 

 Porter, (prematurely ripe). Wait's Early, Benoni, Shrop- 

 shirevine. Red and Green Sweeting (a baking fruit) 

 Early Harvest, Red Juneating, Early Bough, and the 

 American Summer Pearmain, a fine apple, also, two va- 

 rieties without names. 



From S. E, C'oues, Esq. Portsmouth — Specimens of 

 a native variety, much i:i appearancoand taste to the 

 favorite Porter a|)ple, but more acid. 



Plums, from Edward Cruft, Esq — A basket of Bol- 

 mer's Washington Plums, from his garden in Pearl st., 

 tlie unrivalled beauty of this specimen excited great ad- 

 mira'ion; they far excelled liII others which have been 

 shown on the Society's tables. 



By Mr Johnson — Bolmer's Washington, very large 

 and fine, Golden Gage and While, or Prince's Imperial 

 Gage. 



Bv Mr Vose — Bolmer's Washington, very fine. 



By Mr Manning — Bolmer's Washington, fine ; Bre- 

 voort's Purple Washington, handsome, and a preat 

 bearer, Grosse Reine Claude, Prince's Imperial Gage 

 and the Byfield Plum, (a native), small, but a beautiful 

 looking fruit, :: gre. t bearer, and is reproduced from the 

 stone. 



By Mr Pond — Magnum Bonum. Prince's Imperial 

 Gage, Pond's Seedling, Bolmer's Washington, Green 

 Gage, Smith's Orleans, and Duane's Purple. 



For tho Committee, P. B. HOVEY, Jr. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS 



The display of Dahlias today was very brilliant ; wc 

 have, at times, had a greater number of flowers on our 

 tables, but on no occasion do we recollect to liavi; 

 seen so many fine specimens. Messrs Hovey and Mr 

 S. Sweetser exhibited some new varietii^s of great ex- 

 cellence ; we noticed ten fine varieties by Mr Sam'l R. 

 Johnson, of Charlestown ; and about ihirty varieties by 

 Mr W. E Carter, of Cambridge. The Maid of the Mill 

 and Lady Campbell, in the stand of Mr Sweetser; ai;d 

 Messrs Hoveys' specimens of Hermione, Zurab, Venus 

 and Black Prince were very superior. S. Walker ex- 

 hibited fifteen varieties : among them the Beauty of 

 Cambridge, also, tw.i specimens of Mr Jno. Richardson's 

 seedling. This flower bids fair to rival all the seedlings 

 produced in this country. The color is not tqual to 



