1>4 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCTOBKR a*, 1838. 



WHAT QUANTITV OF MANURE SHOULD 

 BR APPLIED TO THE ACRE? 



The answer to this question involves many con- 

 siderations which precliiile a definite reply, such as 

 the condition of the land, the quality of the manure, 

 and the Uind of crop. Too nuich, as well as too 

 little manure, may be applied. Whit would be 

 beneficial for an autumn-ripening, or hoed ciop, 

 would be prejudicial to a small grain, or summer- 

 ripening crop, and more particularly if the manure 

 is applied in an unformented state, and be withal a 

 waste of ferlilizinsr matter. Twenty tons to the 

 acre would not be too much for corn, potatoes, ruta 

 baga, &c., if applied broad-cast, and ploughed in ; 

 hut if lon!T manure, and applied in the drill, or hill, 

 and a dry season should ensue, it might prove an 

 injury ; and if this quantity of long, or'evim sliort 

 manure, were applied to the acre of small spring 

 grain, it would probably cause a flush of straw, 

 likely to be affected with rust, at the expense of 

 the nKire valuable part — the grain. Dr Coventry, 

 late ])rofe.<.sor of agriculture in the University of 

 Edinburgh, whose business and study it was to col- 

 lect data, arid make correct deductions in this and 

 other agricultural matters, was of the opinion, that 

 from four to five tons are yearly requisite to keep 

 up the fertility of a soil of the kind usually denom 

 inatod spit, or totally rotted dung ; and this supply 

 he thinks a well managed farm may be made to 

 produce. To show how this quantity may be ob- 

 tained, and how it .should be applied, we quote 

 from Mr Vouatt, the writer of British Husbandry. 



" According to that calculation," says our author, 

 " it must be observed, that the course of crops is 

 supposed to consist — on light soils, of the alternate 

 plan of corn and green crops, (see New System of 

 Husbandry,) — on clays which do not admit of that 

 system, that the holding contain a proportionate 

 quantity of grass land ; and that the quantity of 

 manure should be supplied not in small quantities 

 annually, but in large ones, at intermediate distan- 

 ces of four, five, and six years. Light soils, in the 

 cominon course of husbandry, rarely require the 

 application of putrescent manure oftencr than once 

 in four years, and in all cases where tlie clover is 

 allowed to stand two seasons, it rnay be deferred 

 without disadvantage lor another year. Heavy 

 soils may rtm six years without it, provided that 

 the land be laid one year in fallow, and that there 

 be suflicient meadow to he reckoned at least one 

 crop in the course. It being, however, clearly un- 

 derstood, that — whether on light or heavy land — 

 nothing but grain, seeds and live stock is to be 

 sold off the farm, unless replaced with an equal 

 portion of purchased dung ; that the whole of the 

 green crops, the haulm of pulse, and the straw of 

 corn, be used in the most economical manner ; and 

 that some of the live stock be eitlier soiled or fat- 

 tened upon oilcake, which plan, if carefully pur- 

 sued on good soils, with capital sufficient to secure 

 an abundant working and fattening stock of cattle, 

 plight, under fair management, to furnish an ade- 

 quate supply of dung for any of the usual courses 

 of culture." 



Having thus submitted to our readei-s all that 

 occurs to us of importance on the subject of farm- 

 yard manure, we shall here recapitulate a summary 

 of the chief points which we deem particularly 

 wortliy of their consiileration : 



1. To bottom the farm-yard with furze, fern, (in 

 Yankee dialect, brake,) dry haulm, (stubble, &c.) 

 or any other loose refuse tliat takes the longest 



time to dissolve ; and over that to bed it deep with 

 straw. 



9 To occasiomlly remove the cribs of store 

 cattle to different parts of the straw-yard, in order 

 that their dung miy be dropped, and their litter 

 trodden, equally. 



3. To spread the dung of other animals, wlien 

 thrown into the yards, in equal layers ove;- every 

 part, 



4. To remove the dung from the yard at least 

 once, or oftener, during the winter, to the mixeu. 



5. To turn and mix all dung-hills, until the 

 woody or fibrous texture of the matter contained 

 in them, and the roots and seeds of weeds, be com- 

 ])letely decomposed, and until they emit a foul 

 putrid smell, by which time they reach their great- 

 est degree of strength, ■ and arrive at the state of 

 spit-dung. 



6. To keep the dung in an equal state of moist- 

 ure, so as to prevent any portion of the heaj) from 

 becoming fire-fanged. If the fermentation be too 

 rapid, heavy watering will abate the heat ; but it 

 will afterwards revive with increased force, unless 

 the heap be either trodden firmly down or covered 

 with mould to exclude the air. 



7. To ferment the dung, if to be laid upon ara- 

 ble land during the autumn, in a much less degree 

 than that to be applied before a spring sowing. 



8. To lay a larger quantity on cold and wet 

 lands than on those of a lighter nature, because the 

 former require to be corrected by the warmth of 

 tlie dung, while, on dry, sandy, and gravelly soils, 

 the application of too much dung is apt to burn up 

 the plants. Stiff land will also be loosened by 

 the undecayed fibres of long dung, which although 

 its putrefaction will thus be retarded, and its fer- 

 tilizing power delayed, will yet ultimately afford 

 nourishment. 



9. To form composts with dung, or other animal 

 and vegetable substances, and earth, for application 

 to light soils. 



10. To spread the manure upon the land, when 

 carried to the field, with the least possible delay ; 

 and, if laid upon arable, to turn it immediately 

 into the soil. 



11. To preserve the drainage from stables and 

 dung-hills in every possible way, and if not applied 

 in a liquid state, to throw it again upon the mixen. 



12. To try experiments, during a series of years, 

 upon the same soils and crops, with equal quanti- 

 ties of dung, laid on fresh, and afterwards rotted ; 

 in order to ascertain the result of their application 

 to the land. The whole quantity to be first weigh- 

 ed or measured, and then divided. 



The fermentation of farm-yard manure is, in fact, 

 a subject of far greater importance than is gene- 

 rally imagined, for on a due estimation of its value 

 mainly depends the individual success, as well as 

 the national prosperity of our agriculture. The 

 experiments to which we point, c.;nnot therefore, 

 fail to come home to the interests of every jnan ; 

 they may be made without expense, and without 

 any other trouble than tho mere exercise of coui- 

 mon observation and intelligence. Leaving, how- 

 ever, aside the discussion concerning the disputed 

 worth of fresh or fermented — of long or short dung 

 — let the farmer sedulously bend his attention to 

 the accumulation of tlie utmost quantity that it may 

 be in his power to procure. The manner and the 

 time of using it, in either state, must however be 

 governed by circumstances which may not always 

 be within his control ; and every judicious hus- 

 bandman will rather accommodate himself to tlie 



exigency of the case than adhere strictly to his 

 own notions of what he conceives to be the best 

 practice. In fine, whether favoring tlie one or the 

 other side of tlie question, let Kiin collect all he 

 can, apjily it carefully to his crops, and then trust- 

 ing to events, " let the land and the muck settle it." 

 — London Farmer's Magazine, Aug. 1838. 



ON THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF 

 RUST OR MILDEW. 



The Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, to which 

 we are indebted for much valuable matter to fill 

 our pages, has a lengthy article on smut, canker, 

 and rust or mildew. Having published in our two 

 last numbers, several articles on the causes and 

 means of preventing smut, we shall now give sti 

 much of the article from the Quarterly, as is dc- 

 scriptive of the rust or mildew, the ascertained 

 cause of the evil, with some suggestions for its 

 prevention, omitting the speculative opinions which 

 have prevailed on the subject, and their refutation 

 by Biodern writers and experience. 



DESCRIPTION OP RUST OR MILDEW. 



"Rust first makes its appearance on tlie upper 

 leaf, and then on the lower leaves and the stem, in 

 the form of small white spots, scattered irregularly 

 like spots made by rain on new cloth. These spots 

 gradually increase in size and number, and assume 

 a reddish tinge, and at length form a sort of dust- 

 looking powder, of an ochre or orange yellow, little 

 cohesive, and without smell or taste, and therefore 

 very different from canker or smut. It stains the 

 fingers yellow, as well as tlio clotlies of those who 

 walk among the affected corn. 



" The dust-like substance of the rust originates 

 beneath the outer bark or epidermis of the plant, 

 which it raises up, renders thin, and at length cracks 

 and bursts through. When examined by the mi- 

 croscope, it presents a congeries of egg-oblong 

 bodies, some of which have projections almost like 

 tadpoles or powheads, though they are not ani- 

 mated. 



" Wheat is attacked with the red rust at different 

 periods of vegetation, but more particularly when 

 in the ear. When the rust seizes young plants, 

 they are said to suffer less than when they are 

 more advanced, often recovering vigor before bloom- 

 ing ; whereas at a later period they sustain irrepar- 

 able damage, and crops which promise well aro 

 often in a short time rendered comparatively worth- 

 less. In this case the texture of the leaves is dis- 

 united, and presents only longitudinal fibres of a 

 brown color, while the joints and the tubes of the 

 straw between are blackened, as if they had been 

 scorched by fire, the growth ceases, a portion of 

 the ear becomes yellow, another portion remains 

 green, and the grain shrivels up in the husk with- 

 out attaining maturity. 



" The evil, however, is rarely carried so far aa 

 this, and the yellow spots of rust become chocolate- 

 brown or black, without disorganizing the portions 

 of the plants where they occur; and the Abbe 

 Tessier says he has seen, after heavy rains, the 

 clothes of the reapers stained witli this black sub- 

 stance of the rust as if they had been dipt in ink. 

 But though the plants are not disorganized, the 

 flow of the sap is interrupted, the ripening of the 

 grain is prematurely hastened, and it is hence light, 

 containing a small proportion of farina, while the 

 straw is bad. Sometimes the rust only lerves a 

 yellow powder on the husks and upper end of the 



