1, 



AND HORTICULTURAL 



REGISTER. 



PUnLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH M.IRKET STREET, (Aoricoltuhal Warehohse.j-AL LEN PUTN A M, EDITOR. 



>l.. X\II.] 



BOSTON, WKDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 2fi, 1843. 



[NO. •• 



N . E . FARMER 



om Transaclions of ihe N. V. State Agiicullural Society. 



mzR 



ESSAY ON THE PREPARATION 

 AND USE OF MANURES. 



Br WILLIS GATLOr.D. 



.Inimal Miinnres.—A late British writer on ag- 

 ;iilturo says : " Tlie chief use of cattle on an nra- 

 e farm, besides those necessary for the opera- 

 jns of husbandry, is to produce irianiirc for the 

 nd. If the cattle repay their food and the ex- 

 ;nse and rislj attending their keep, the manure is 

 ifficient profit. Even with a moderate loss, they 

 nst be kept, when manure cannot be purchased, 

 he loss, if any, on tlie cattle, must be repaid by 

 e increase of tiie corn crops. Manure is to n 

 rm what daily food is to an animal ; it must be 

 •ocured at any sacrifice." Common barn-yard or 

 able mannro is the kind to which most farmers 

 ust look for the fertility of their farms. This 

 Dnsists of the droppings of the cattle, mi.ved with 

 le straw used for littering in stables or thrown 

 ito the yards for the animals to feed or lie upon, 

 ie coarser hay and weeds refused by the stock, 

 nd the urine of the animals kept in the stables or 

 ards. This is constantly trampled, is usually 

 epl moist if not wet, and is ' finally decomposed, 

 r converted into manure fit for the production of 

 rops. This is the most usual course, but it is evi- 

 ent that there must, in this method, be a serious 

 iss to the farmer, of the more valuable properties 

 f the manure. In this way, the decomposition is 

 ineriual ; a part will be converted into mould 

 i-hile the other will be scarcely acted upon ; the 

 alts and the more soluble parts of the excrements, 

 fhich are the most efficient ones, are dissolved by 

 he rains, and carried off by the drains, or lost in 

 he earth ; and where any considerable degree of 

 leat is evolved, as there will be when the decom- 

 )osition is rapid, or is going on in large masses, 

 ho escape of ammonia, so easily detected by the 

 iniell, shows that the nitrogen, so essential to the 

 growth and perfection of a grain crop, is rapidly 

 Tasting. 



Preparation. — To prevent these results, and se- 

 :ure the whole benefit of the maiuire, two methods 

 lave been adopted. The first consists in applying 

 the manure fresh, or in a long state, to the fields 

 it is wished to manure, without waiting for it to 

 decompose. In this way, the manure collected in 

 the yard^i during the winter, is removed in the 

 spring, and applied to such crops as require it the 

 most ; and as no fermentation ensues in ordinary 

 cases, until the commencement of hot weather, two 

 sources of loss at least are avoided — those of the 

 washing away of the solub'e parts, or their being 

 carried off in the shape of gas. Where there ex- 

 ists no necessity for retaining manures for other 

 than spring crops, and where the crops cultivated 

 ore sucli that long manures arc suitable for their 

 growth and tillage, this mode of dispusing of ma- 

 nures must be considered one of the best that can 

 be adopted. But in many closes the formation of 



manures in the yards and stables of the farmer, is 

 going on the whole year ; and preservation in 

 masses, or by being scattered in yards during the 

 hot months, would be to greatly lessen, if not most- 

 ly to destroy its value. Besides, there are some 

 crops, such as some of the root crops, in the culti- 

 vation of which experience has proved fully that 

 rotted or decomposed manure is far preferable to 

 long manure, as much of it is already in a soluble 

 siat'e, and is available to the plants at the time 

 they need hastening the most, which is the period 

 immediately after germination. 



Long or Rolled. — It is a question of considera- 

 ble importance to the farmer, and one which has 

 been much discussed, whether it was bettor to ap- 

 ply manure in its long state always, or always al- 

 low its full decomposition before using. From his 

 own experience, the writer has been led to doubt 

 the correctness of either of these positions. It 

 seems to be universally admitted that matter, to bo 

 efficient as a manure, must he soluble, and it is 

 clear that the more solid parts of farm-yard manure 

 require to be softened by putrefactive fermenta- 

 tion before they can bo considered in this state. 

 Where, then, the influence of manure is required 

 to be felt at once, as on the turnip, beet and carrot 

 crops, in order to push them forward at the first 

 start beyond the reach of insects, my experience 

 is, that the manure should be in a state reducible 

 to powder, in which condition a large portion of it 

 may be expected to be soluble, and of course at 

 once available by the plant. Wliere, during the 

 fermentative process, the mass has been reduced 

 to a black carbonaceous matter, it may be inferred 

 that the heat was too great, and the manure seri- 

 ously damaged ; on the contrary, if the mass, while 

 perfectly fine, dry and friable, still retains its dark 

 brown color, it will usually be fmind that none of 

 the good qualities have been lost by over-fermen- 

 tation. 



But where the manure is to be applied to crops 

 which do not require forcing forward in the early 

 part of their growth, but demand as much or per- 

 haps more nutriment at a late period of their vege- 

 tation to perfect their seeds or roots, then experi- 

 ence has shown that it is best to apply the manure 

 without any considerable fermentation lo the soil. 

 Indian corn, potatoes, and the grain crops gene- 

 rally, are of this class ; the two first particularly. 

 The time when corn and potatoes require the most 

 nutriment, is at the time when the ears and tubers 

 are forming; and when manures but partially fer- 

 mented, or used fresh from the yard or stable 

 are applied, the decomposition is comparatively 

 gradual, andlthe supply greatest when most ni'eded. 

 I cannot recommend the application of manures of 

 any kind directly to grain crops, as it has a ten- 

 dency to give straw at the expense of the grain ; 

 and wheat so manured, is far more apt to suffer 

 from mildew or rust, than when the manure, by ap- 

 plication to other and previous crops, has become 

 perfectly incorporated with the soil. In this state, 

 that rapid growth, which is the result of first fer- 

 mentation, 13 avoided by the wheat plant ; and the 



iiibstances necessary to perfect the berry are al- 

 ready prepared and within reach of the growing or 

 maturing plant. 



[To be continued.] 



ROUND, FLAT, OR ENGLISH TURNIPS. 



These roots, a few of which are urown on most 

 farms, are occasionally cultivated in considerable 

 quantities for stock. We think less well of them 

 for this purpose than any other root. 'i'hey aie 

 less nutritious than the others, and by mid-winter 

 they becimie corky and of little value. For these 

 reasons, we choose lo sow to carrots, beets, mangel 

 wurlzel and luta bagas, all the ground that is to be 

 appropriated to roots. But these must be sown as 

 early as the end of June, and some of them much 

 befiiro that time, and as they often fail to vegetate, 

 or are often thinned too much by the fly or other 

 devourers, there are frequently vacant spots that it 

 may be well ?ioj« to sow to the flat turnip. The 

 ground on which you have had early peas, and oth- 

 er similar spots, may be cleared off any time in Ju- 

 ly, and receive the turnip seed. By attention to 

 this, many bushels of turnips may be grown, for 

 which your cows will thank you in Decojnber. 



Sometimes it is recommended to sow the turnip 

 seed among corn — and in a few cases this will do. 

 Ifynuhave planted a small kind of corn wjiich 

 does not much shade the ground, turnips may grow 

 large enough to pay for harvesting. The same 

 will be the case when you have many missing 

 stalks — or when your rows are very wide apart 

 But with large corn, thick as it ought to be, the 

 turnips will not become large enough to be worth 

 collecting in the autumn. Moreover, if you have 

 the proper quantity of corn on the land, it is poor 

 economy to put on other crops to rob that of its 

 nourishment. This the turnips will do — if they 

 chance to grow. 



Turnips generally should be sown in July, 

 though they sometimes do well when the seed is 

 |)ut in the ground as late as the lOlh of August. — 

 Ed. N. E. F. 



A Gem. — Give us such boys as have been bless- 

 ed with the instructions of a pious mother. This 

 is a qualification for which no substitute can be 

 found on earth. Never would we despair of the 

 child who has been used in his infancy, to hear the 

 precepts of heavenly truth inculcated in the ac- 

 cents of maternal love. Truths thus instilled, 

 live forever in the memory. They are interwoven 

 with all the sensibilities of the soul. They are the 

 fortress of conscience; not impregnable, it is true, 

 but indestructible. They furnish the mind with 

 chords which, in later life, seldom fail to vibrate 

 to the touch of friendly expostulation. Tiiey are 

 as inextinguishable sparks, which being seemingly 

 smothered under a heap of corruption, may be 

 fanned by the breath of friendly counsel, into the 

 pure and genial flame of piety. — Selected. 



Pay your debts — keep your word — take the pa- 

 pers. — Pic. 



