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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBER 3. 1838. 



tempted experiments. It is as essential as it is to 

 be assured of successful results. All lend to in- 

 crease tlie store of general knowledge. All know- 

 ing wherein there has been a failure, and the course 

 pursued, we can then enter into an investigation of 

 tlie causes. Let no one be discourased because a 

 first or second effort is not crowned with success; 

 A farmer has this advantage, that he can experi- 

 ment on a small scale. The soiling system, as I 

 before remarked, has not been satisfactorily settled. 

 Its opponents contend — 



I. That the soiling of cattle m the house durinix 

 the whole of the year, is not only not beneficial, but 

 positively injurious. This position is maintained 

 by the fidlowing grounds: — 1. It is natural. 2^ 

 Animals, thus kept, are deprived of air and exer- 

 cise, and the selection of their food. In the expe- 

 rience of some farmers, cattle thrive mucii better 

 in the fields, or open air, than when housed. 



On the other hand, the advocates of this system 

 say — 



I. That it is a considerable saving of land, that 

 is, on»acre of cut grass soiled being equal to three 

 acres of the same field pastured. The grasses 

 grow much more rapidly in consequence of not be- 

 ing trampled upon. 



II. It is a f^reat saving of fond, for when, say the 

 compilers of the Complete Grazier, " animals are 

 suffered to go upon the field, many plants are nec- 

 essarily trodden under foot, and bruised, or partly 

 buried in tlie earth, in which state tliey are grently 

 disrelished by cattle, and are suffered to run to 

 waste ; a circumstance which never could occur, if 

 the practice of cutting were adopted." If the con- 

 sumption of plants is an object, that object is ob- 

 tained by soiling, for all who have paid attention to 

 the subject must have observed that cattle will 

 readily eat plants cut, and given to them when 

 housed, which they would discard in the pasture ; 

 yet, according to the authority above quoted, it is 

 known that they will feed, when thrown to them on 

 the ground, which they will reject when given in 

 the stall. Many of the grasses which are sweet 

 and succulent when young, and which cattle eat 

 with the greatest avidity, are quite offensive when 

 suffered to get into ear, and arc thereby lost; but 

 by this system of cutting, no loss can occur from 

 this quarter. Plants rejected by one class of ani- 

 mals, when presented to them, even when housed, 

 are not on that account less acceptable to others ; 

 indeed they appear to be eaten with greater avidi- 

 ty. "Thus grass, or other food, that has been 

 Mowed or breathed upon by any animal for a con- 

 siderable time, tjecomes unpleasant to other beasts 

 of tlie same species, but not so to a stock of anoth- 

 er class or variety ; for them, indeed, it appears to 

 acquire a higher relish." 



III. It is contended by the friends of the cutting 

 system, that the balance, so far as regards the health 

 and comfort of cattle, is decidedly in its favor over 

 that of pasturing. Cattle arc not only less liable 

 to accidents, but do not suffer the same inconven- 

 iences or annoyances to which they are subject, 

 when exposed to the sun in the open air — they suf- 

 fer much less from heat, flies, &c., and it is per- 

 fectly reasonable to suppose that tlioy take on flesh 

 more readily. Tranquillity and ease are essential ; 

 otherwise animals cannot thrive. An instance in 

 point was cited by one of your correspondents, (see 

 Cab. Vol. ii. page 205,) from which it appears that 

 animals housed for fattening, and well fed, did not 

 take on fat, owing to the circumstance of their be- 

 coming lousy, in consequence of fowls roosting over 



them. The reason why they did not thrive, is ob- 

 vious — when cleansed of the vermin they fattened 

 well. Heat, restlessness, the terrible annoyance 

 of flies, &c., when cattle are exposed, as they must 

 frequently be in pastures, operate against them. 



IV. The Complete Grazier asserts that the pro- 

 portioned increase of manure obtained by soiling 

 and stall feeding abundantly evince their superior- 

 ity over pasturing. " Manure is the life and soul 

 of husbandry ; and when tillage is an object of at- 

 tention, there can be no comparison between the 

 two modes of consumption, especially in regard to 

 manure obtained by soiling live stock during sum- 

 mer with green food, for in consequence of the in- 

 creased discharge of urine during that season, the 

 litter, of whatever substance it may consist, is 

 speedily converted into dung." — p. 81. 



Nicholson, in his Farmers' Assistant, refers to a 

 communication from Dr. Thaer, of Hanover, de- 

 tailing the result of the experience of Baron de 

 Bulow, and others : He lays down the following as 

 facts, which he says, are incontrovertible. 



" 1. A spot of ground, which, when pastured, 

 will yield only sufficient food for one head, will 

 abundantly maintain /our when left in the stable. 



" 2. Soiling affords at least double the quantity 

 of manure from the same number of cattle : for the 

 best summer manure is produced in tlie stable, and 

 carried to the fields at the most proper period of its 

 fermentation ; whereas, when dropt on tlie meadow, 

 and exposed to the action of the air and sun, its 

 power is much wasted. 



" 3. Cows which are accustomed to soiling, will 

 yield much more milk, when kept in this manner, 

 and fattening cattle will increase much faster in 

 weight. 



" 4. They are less subject to accidents and dis- 

 eases — they are protected from the flies which tor- 

 ment them in the fields during the warm weather ; 

 and they do not suffer from the heat of summer." 



Many other advantages are enumerated. Graz- 

 ing also has its advantages. Experiments, how- 

 ever, render it certain that soiling, under favorable 

 circumstances, is tiie most profitable. The Hon. 

 Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, ascertained about 

 1820, that seventeen acres of land, under the soil- 

 ing system, supported as much stock, and in as 

 good, if not better condition, as had previously re- 

 quired fifty ; and Sinclair states, that tliirtythree 

 head of cattle were soiled from the 20th of May to 

 the first of October, 1835, on seventeen acres and 

 a half, of which fifty yvete necessary in pasture. 

 The saving of land ivas consequently Ihirtytwo and 

 a half acres. From my own experience and obser- 

 vation, I am fully satisfied that there is no mode 

 by which cultivated grasses. will pay so well as by 

 soiling. With us Jersey farmei-s, w-ho can so rea- 

 dily derive the great advantage of top dressing by 

 marl, lime, &c. it is nevertlieless an object to turn 

 all to the best account. 



Burlington Co. July 23d, 1838. 



BONE MANURE. 

 Bones possess very fertilizing powers as a ma- 

 nure. In an experiment of Mr VVatson, of Perth 

 Amboy, with bone dust, who ajiplied it to corn, at 

 the rate of sixteen bushels to the acre, it exceeded 

 in its effects the highest manuring with yard ma- 

 nure or with fish. It does not in general, produce 

 much eflect the first year, unless it has been fer- 

 mented before the application to the soil ; tliis pro- 

 ess of fermentation is effected by mixing 25 bush- 



els of leached ashes with 40 bushels of bone dust, 

 moisten the whole with water, and at tlie end of 

 twentyfour hours, the heap will commence smoking, 

 when the whole sho ild be turned — after laying ten 

 days it will be fit for use. Bone dust is known to 

 be in fermentation by the heat, and the strong 

 smell ; before being fermented, it is white, or of 

 the color of bone ; after, it assumes a yellowish 

 cast. 



The (juantily of bone dust applied in ordinary 

 cases, is about 20 bushels per acre — if the bones 

 are coarsely broken, 40 bushels should be applied ; 

 but in this the farmer must be governed by the qual- 

 ity of the soil ; poorer lands requiring more, and 

 those in a higher state of cultivation, less. 



Bone manure should be placed within about two 

 inches of the surface ; and owing to the small 

 quantity used per acre, the seed should be brought 

 as near to it as possible, without immediate contact, 

 which it is thought better to avoid. In tlie prepa- 

 ration, a decided preference seems to be given to 

 bones broken small, and tlie half inch bones are 

 those most generally used. Mr Birks states, that 

 were lie to till for early profit, he would use bones 

 powdered as fine as sawdust ; if ho wished to keep 

 his land in good heart, he would use principally 

 half-inch bones, and would prefer some remaining 

 considerably larger. The reasons for which belief 

 are, that by using bones of a larger size with the 

 dust in them, there would be sufficient of the small 

 part'cles of the dust to set the (turnip) crop forward, 

 and sufficient of the large particles of the bonelefl, 

 to maintain the land in good condition for the next 

 crop — it is the small quantity needed to produce a 

 given effect, that renders manures of^ this class so 

 remarkable. , 



The soils to which they are best adapted, are 

 those of a light and warm nature, for upon wet or 

 cold ground, they have rarely been found to pro- 

 duce any sensible effect. On hea\7 loams and 

 clay, the accounts of their operations have been 

 almost invariably unfavorable, and it may be laid 

 down as a necessary qualification, in a soil fit for 

 the application of bones, that it should be dry. — 

 Salem Observer. 



Irrigation. — Irrigation is a pr-.ctice which has 

 not yet been introduced, to hardly any extent, into 

 agriculture in tliis country; but which would, in 

 most seasons and situations, abundantly repay the 

 husbandman for all tlie expense and labor attendant 

 on the practice. What an immense value in crops 

 might have been saved during the late drought, 

 had the watering of fields by artificial means been 

 in use to the extent to which it is susceptible ! — 

 There is always water enough in tlie bowels of the 

 earth ; and the drawing of it forth and diffusion of 

 it are not so difficult and expensive matters as might 

 at first be imagined. A common well sunk in a 

 favorable spot, with simple horse power applied to 

 a common pump, would in a dry time, be found of 

 great saving benefit even to acres. Many fields 

 are so situated tliat the springs in the neighboring 

 hills, with little ingenuity and not much expense, 

 might be made to difiuse their animating contents 

 over them, greatly to the advantage of any kind of 

 cro[). Artificial means of Avatering would be found 

 beneficial in most ordinary seasons ; but in times 

 of great drought, of incalculable benefit The most 

 flattering promises of abundant crops, have in many 

 cases, been destroyed by the recent hot and dry 

 time which has been experienced in this State and 

 elsewhere. 



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