m 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBER 3. lS3g. 



tempted experimrnts. It is as essentiiil as it is to 

 be iissiired of successful results. All lend to in- 

 crease the store of general knowledge. All know- 

 ing wherein there has been a failure, and the course 

 pursued, wo can then enter into an investif^ation of 

 the causes. Let no one be discouraged because a 

 first or second efTort is not crowned with success. 

 A farmer lias this advantage, that he can experi- 

 ment on a smalt scale. The soilino^ sy.stem, as I 

 before remarked, has not been satisfactorily settled. 

 Its opponents contend — 



I. That the soiling of cattle in the house during 

 the ii'hole of the year, is not only not beneficial, but 

 positively injurious. This position is maintained 

 by the following 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 much better 

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



On the other hand, thrf advocates of tliis system 

 say — 



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

 is, one ifere 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 great saving of food, 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 the earth, in which state tiiey are greatly 

 disrelished by cattle, and are sufl'ered 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 

 l;nown 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 tlie greatest avidity, are quite offensive when 

 suffered to get into ear, and are 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 

 blowed or breathed upon by aiiy animal for a con- 

 siderable time, becomes unpleasant to other beasts 

 of tiio 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 are 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 they take on flesh 

 more readily. Tranquillity and ease are e.ssential ; 

 otherwise animals cannot thrive. An instance in 

 point was cited by one of your correspondents, (see 

 ('ab. Vol. ii. page 29.5,) 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 consecjuence of fowls roosting over 



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

 vious — when cleansed of the vermin they fattened I 

 well. Heat, restlessness, tlie terrible annoyance 

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

 frequently be in pastures, operate against tliein. ] 



IV. The Complete Grazier asserts that the pro- 1 

 portioned increase of manure obtained by soiling 

 and stall feeding abundiintly evince tBeir superior- 

 ity over pasturing. " Manure is tlie 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 ho says, are incontrovertible. 



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

 will yield only sufficient food for one head, will 

 abundantly maintain /our when lefl in the stable. 



" 2. Soiling affords at least double the qnantity 

 of manure from the same number of cattle : for the 

 best summer manure is produced in the stable, and 

 carried to the fields at the most proper period of its 

 fermentation ; whereas, when dropt on the meadow, 

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

 power is much wasted. 



"3. Cows which are accustomed to soiling, will 

 yi^ much more milk, when kept in tliis 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 the most profitable. The Hon. 

 Josiah Q,uiiicy, 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 thirtytliree 

 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 were necessary in pasture. 

 The saving of land teas consequently thirlytwo 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 farmers, who can so rea- 

 dily derive the great advantage of top dressing by 

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

 all to the best account. 



Burlington Co. July 23rf, 1838. 



els of leached ashes with 40 bushels of bone dust, 

 moisten the whole with water, and at the end of 

 twentyfour hours, the heap will commence smoking, 

 when the whole sho dd 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 ; afler, it assumes a yellowish 

 cast. 



The quantity 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 w ithin 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 the prepa- 

 ration, a decided preference seems to be given to 

 bones broken small, and the half inch bones are 

 those most generally used. Mr Birks states, that 

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

 powdered as fine as sawdust; if he 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 he sufficient of the small 

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

 and sufficient of the large particles of the bone left, 

 to maintain tlie land in good condition for the next 

 crop — it is tlie small quantity needed to produce a 

 given effect, that renders manures of this class so 

 remarkable. 



The soUs to which tliey 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 heavy 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. 



BONE MANURE. 

 Bones possess very fertilizing powers as a ma- 

 nure. In an experiment of Mr VVatson, of Perth 

 Amboy, with bone dust, who applied 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 fisli. It does not in general, produce 

 much effect tlie first year, unless it has been fer- 

 mented before the application to the soil ; tliis pro- 

 ess of fermentation is effected bv mixing 25 bush- 



Irrigation. — Irrigation is a prr.ctice which has 

 not yet been introduced, to hardly any extent, into 

 agriculture in this 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 the 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 acre.s. Many fields 

 are so situated that the springs in the neighboring 

 hills, with little ingenuity and not much expense, 

 might be made to diffuse their animating contents 

 over them, greatly to the advantage of any kind of 

 crop. Artificial means of watering 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. l 



