4U 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JULTI, 1840. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



Boston, Wednesday, July 1, 18 



EXPERIMENT WITH MARSH MUD. 



To the Editor of the New England Farmer : 



If not quite agreeable to one's own feelings to detail 

 experiments rjot iiltogether snccessfol, jet it may be of 

 considerable advantigi^ to others. Influenced by this 

 consideration, I will proceed to give ynu nn account good 

 and evil, of an e.xperiment wiih marsh rrmd. 



In 1838 I procured ne.irly forty Ions of this and had it 

 brought to my place, some twelve or fourteen miles fiom 

 the ocean. A part of it was put in holes .is a manure 

 for potatoes, on land plouijhed that spring, and which 

 had for several years been used a.s pasture, the soil be- 

 ing a mixture of sandy and slaly loam, of middling quali- 

 ty ; and a part on a small piece in another fielil of grav- 

 elly loam ; and from a comparison of the crops raised on 

 these pieces with those in other parts of the same fields 

 where common manure was used, and with the crops 

 in the vicinity both in quantity and quality, 1 think the 

 benefit was obvious. Most potatoes in this virinily that 

 year were of a poor quality and much injured by worms. 

 That portion of mine manured with this mud were un- 

 affected with worms, caraeout with smooth skins, when 

 cooked mealy, of a pleasant taste, and the yield cood. 



Another portion of the mud was spread upon land cul- 

 tivated with Indian wheat. This crop was not certain- 

 ly benefitted by it. The soil of this lot is a sandy loam, 

 mostly diluvial and rather dry. 



Some of it was used by a person who hired a piece of 

 land to cultivate. He tried it in the hills with corn: 

 most of the corn failed to come up; but he thought that 

 what did come up was helped by the application. The 

 corn was of good color and stout. 



A part was applied to land cultivated with beets, car- 

 rots, parsnips, onions, &c , all of which, but especially 

 the onions, (the greater part of which were what is call- 

 ed the potato onion,) were very evidently improved by 

 it in quantity and quality. 



In 1839 I planted one oftlie fields again with pota- 

 toes ". the crop w:is good, and being wiillout question 

 improved by the mud applied the year btffore. 



The other parts of the fields where the mud had been 

 used were also in 1839 planted with corn ; and from va- 

 rious considerations which it cannot be important to 

 state, it is rendered certain that the yield was con.^idera- 

 bly less than it would have been had none of ihis arti- 

 cle been spread upon the land. One circumstance, how- 

 ever, I will mention : a pari of the mud was kept in a 

 pile the first year ; was ofien and well worked over, 

 and mixed in part with some earth and a quantity of 

 lime, and I believe a little ashes. Some of this was 

 put in holes with the corn, and planted where the Indi- 

 an wheat was cultivated the year before. In this part of 

 the field the corn came up very badly, grew very slow 

 and remained extremely small thronnh the year, very 

 little if any ofit.ge(tingto he over two feet high, slender 

 in proportion, and the ears very small, where there were 

 any. White beans were planted in the hills wheie the 

 corn failed to come up, hui these flourished no better. 



This year the fields arc sown mostly with wheat, bar- 

 ley, oats and millet; those pans where the mud was 

 used in the largest quantily are occu[iied mostly with 

 wheat; and it is very apparent that just about in pro- 

 portion to the quantily of the mud is the unpromising 

 state of the wheat. The slocks are small and sickly in 

 their appearance, while the leaves die at the upper eFids 

 and sides, resembling in many particulars a field parch- 



ed up with excessive drought. The effect upon the 

 other grains is not yet so obvious, and indeed from the 

 parts of the ground which they occupy, it will not be 

 easy in the end to determina with so much clearness 

 how far they may be helped or injured by this (to me) 

 experimental manure. 



In my vegetable garden I continue to have satisfacto- 

 ry evidence of its beneficial effect. 



I am aware, Mr Editor, th.it these experiments h^ve 

 not been made in a very philosophical or farmer-like 

 manner, and therefore the results should not be allowed 

 to hnve great influence upon the opinions and practices 

 of others; and yet from their extent and the lime occu- 

 pied by them, they may be regarded as entitled to some 

 consideration ; and if they should be instrumental in 

 helping any brother farmers to raise larger crops of some 

 kinds and save them from partial losses in others, the 

 object of giving an account of them will be answered, 

 and a small return be made for the many helps I have 

 received from your highly interesting and useful publi- 

 cation, by the many successful experiments brought be- 

 fore the public. B. 



P. S. — Since writing this I have heard it observed 

 that the very neighbor who commenced a trial of the 

 mud about the time I did, sustained a similar f\ilure in 

 bis corn to that which 1 have mentioned, and that hav- 

 ing laid down his fields to grass, is likely to realise a 

 most entire failure in the crop this year: the grass (tim- 

 othy) being very smal', of sickly appearance, and the 

 leaves also turning black at the ends and sides. How 

 his experiments have resulted in other crops, I am not 

 able to state. ' 



EVERY THING IN ITS ORDER. 



Oxen and horses can do a great deal of work in a year 

 without much inconvenience, if they are wisely and 

 kindly treated. I am not Ebout to give a full lecture on 

 the subject of their treatment ; my remarks are intend- 

 ed to apply to a single point, which is that they should 

 not be kept unnecessarily for any time in harness. My 

 attention was directed to this subject by an incident 

 which fell under my observation some time since. A 

 farmer whose conduct fell under my observation, ob- 

 served to his sons that they might get the team out for 

 he was soing to plough (hat day. The oxen were soon 

 yoked and fastened to the cart in which they were to 

 take the plonnrh and other implements whicli would be 

 needed in the labor.< of the day. But when the plough 

 was brought out it was foimd that one of the handles 

 needed some repair; then a chain was discovered to be 

 missing; this was finally looked up. Now, said the 

 father, fetch the iron bar, for we shall want to dig the 

 stones which the plough may lay open. The iron bar 

 bad been lent a few days before to one of the neighbors 

 who lived across the street, who had neglected to return 

 it and was now from home. After hunting about his 

 premises awhile this was also secured. Now all things 

 seemed to be ready for a start; the oxen set forward, 

 when the squeaking of the wheels reminded the com- 

 pany th:il they had forgotten to grease them the night 

 before, as they had resolved to do. It will never do, said 

 MrL., to goto work with the wheels in such a condi- 

 tion ; so they set to anil finished this job. A full hour 

 and a half had passed away since the oxen had been tak- 

 en from the stall. Who can not see that under such 

 management, if the cattle of Mr L. perform the same 

 amount of work, they have a much more exhausting ser- 

 vice than those of his neighbor, Mr F., who when about 

 to uSH \\U team, gets every thing ready before they are 

 taken from the crib. I think it would not be overstat- 

 ing to say, that on the days when they are worked, Mr 

 L.'s cattle have upon an average two hours less time to 



feed and rest than those of Mr F. Who will be sur- 

 prised then to know, that though those of both are lib- 

 erally fed, the team of Mr S. always looks thin, dejected 

 and worn out, while tho.se of Mr F. are in good condi- 

 tion, sprightly, and strong for labor The last thing in 

 getting ready for the day's work should be to put in the 

 team ; ihe first thing after the labors of the day are over 

 is to lake ofl^ the yoke and set the faithful oxen free. 

 Wlioever will listen to this advice and conform to it, 

 will, whatever be his present sentiments, come to the 

 same conclusions. B. 



MAMMOTH EGGS. 



Among other remarkable productions of the day, we 

 have seen none more so than a couple of eggs — hena 

 eggs_in the office of J. S. & T. B. .Skinner, of this city, 

 (Baltimore.) They are from hens which cost five dol- 

 lars each, and which are, in the body, the size of the 

 cock of the common breed. Every egg is full of meat, 

 to a proverb — but the eggs of the Ostrich breed contain 

 more than double as much meat a< ihe egg of the com- 

 mon barnyard fowl. This is not stated at random. One 

 of e:ich was weighed in the Chesapeake Bank by troy 

 weight, on the 22d inst. The egg of" Speckle," of the 

 Ostrich breed, weighed 3 oz. 1 dwt. 17 grains ; whereas 

 the egg of the common hen weighed but 1 oz. 8 dwt. 14 

 grains. — American Farmer. 



MassRchuaettg Horticultural Society, 



EXHIBITIOS OF FLOWERS. 



Saturdmj, June ^Tth, 1840. 

 Dahlias, by Mr Elleiy, of Brookline. 

 Bouquets, by R. Howe, Jno. A. Kenrick, Wm. Ken- 

 ick, Jno. Hovey, Hovey & Co., A. Bowditch, and S. 

 Walker. 



Roses, by Messrs Winship, of Brighton, S. R. John- 

 son, Wm. Kenrick, (15 varieties), R. Howe, and S. 

 Walker. 



Pinks, by S. Walker. 



Cut flowers in variety from iMessrs V\ inship, Walker 

 Kenrick and Howe. Jno. A. Kenrick, 5 var. of honey- 

 suckle. 



For the Committee. 



S. WALKER. Chairman. 



[p'The Essex Agricultural Society hold their annual 

 CaLtle Show and Exhibition at Georgetown, on Wed- 

 nesday the 30lh of September next. We have received 

 the Society's List of Premiums, and will publish it in 

 our next. 



The communication of Mr Kenrick i« loo lengthy for 

 our columns this week. It shall be commenced in our 

 next number. 



The Philadelphia Ledger says that a Yankee has in- 

 vented a method of keeping hens from scratching in 

 gardens. The plan is to tie two of the toes of one foot. 

 The hen cannot scratch with the lied foot, and she can- 

 not stand on that foot alone to scratch with the other. 



This is the age of invention. 



The Hessian fly is doing extensive injury to the 

 wheat crops in several parts of Pennsylvania and Mary- 

 land. The southern papers complain also of the rava- 

 ges of a new species of fly upon the tobacco plant. What 

 a taste ihey must have. 



When plants are removed in sunny weather, it is of 

 great advantage to place a shingle or some such thing, 

 on the south side of the plant to shade it from the raid- 

 day sun. 



