OU. SXII. NO. II. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



85 



[Its from the privy, or 20 lbs. of horse manure. | fertility of the soil, they should be taken as much 

 X these injrrcdier.ts thoroughly with the liquid care of as money, fur tlicy are certainly most valu- 

 able. 



The following tabic contains a statement of the 



:lie vat, and if the vat contains one hundred bar 

 increase the above ingredients a hundred fold 



vill bo well to mix these ingredients a few days quantity of potash contained in some of the com- 



)re you lay up your heap, and stir them every 

 — but this is not essential. 



)m the upper side of the vat lay the foundation 

 the heap, by placing poles or rails, with one 

 to the vat, and the other extending from it, 

 ut two feet opart ; on these lay other poles 

 iswise, (precisely as we do the foundation for a 

 k of hay or grain,) to keep the straw from the 

 jnd, and that the liquid may flow freely be- 

 Ih. 



. Having everything prepared, commence lay- 

 up the heap, by placing a layer of straw, weeds, 

 ks, or whatever you have at hand, on the foun- 

 on of the poles, to the thickness of a foot. You 

 find great advantage from throwing materials 

 ou collect them, into the yard, and letting the 

 le tread on them, until they are thoroughly 

 .en and wet When the layer is a foot thick, 

 up the ingredients in the vat, and with a pail 

 ther vessel, thoroughly wet the layer on the 

 a. Place another layer on the first, of the 

 e thickness, wet as before, and thus continue, 

 I you have raised the heap as high as you wish 

 ly from six to ten feet. Be careful at every 

 ing to stir up the ingredients from the bottom 

 le vat. When finished, cover the heap with 

 jettlings in the bottom of the vat, or with any 

 T else at hand — common earth will answer. 

 If thp heap consist of straw, weeds, and the 

 it will require wetting every fourth day. If 

 have used much peat, muck, or earth, with the 

 ■V, water once a week. To water the heap, 

 e holes with an iron bar, or other instrument, 

 le top of it, from eight to twelve inches apart, 

 extending downward about to the middle ; then 

 the liquid in the vat, and pour it into the holes 

 1 the whole mass is saturated ; finally, close 

 fioles. At every watering make new holes, 

 ive the heap three waterings when made of 

 V, and it will be fit for nse in fifteen days from 

 ;ime of laying it up ; when much mud or muck 

 been added, thirty days. 



^heii it is desired to manufacture this kind of 

 ure in place.s where barn-yard liquid cannot 

 -■adily obtained, river, spring, or pond water 

 answer the same purpose for wetting the heaps 

 le barn-yard liquid, by increasing in a small 

 ortion the ingredients for the mixture, as giv- 

 1 section 3, and adding iheni to it." 



mon trees and plants: — 

 10,000 parts of Oak, 

 Elm, 



15 

 39 

 18 

 55 



7 



5.5 



C2 



]9(i 



730 



275 



aoo 



ODASMES, COAL-ASHRS, SOOT, PEAT 



ASHES, 

 ''ood-ashes contain, in a greater or less degree, 

 l.he more essential elements, or substances 

 h form the food of plants, except ammonia; 

 Ither all those which are not abundantly sup- 

 i by the atmosphere. The most abundant of 

 ; are polaah and earthy phosphates. The quan- 

 jf these, however, is very variable in the ashes 

 ifferent plan's. Those produced by beeeh- 

 I contain about one-fifth part of phosphates, 

 3 those of the oak yield scarcely any phos- 

 !S. The powerful elfect of wood-ashes in 

 oting the growth of clover of every kind, is 

 known. In Germany, no other manure is 

 for grass lands, and by these they are kept 

 e highest state of productiveness. Consider- 

 ow indispensable they are to keep up the 



" lieecli, 



" Vine, 



'■' Poplar, 



" Thistle, 



" Fern, 



" Cow-thistle, 



" Wormwood, 



" Vetches, 



" Beans, 



The ashes produced from the leaves of irees con- 

 tain much more potash than those of the twigs and 

 branches, and those of the latter more than those 

 of the trunk of the tree; while the ashes of the 

 two latter contain the most phosphate and carbon- 

 ate of lime. The quantity of potash in the leaves 

 varies very much with the season of the year, be- 

 ing greatest in the spring and least in the autumn. 

 In some parts of England it is the practice to 

 burn the stubble for the sake of the benefit afford- 

 ed to the succeeding crop by the ashes ; and it is 

 a very common practice upon the continent. Con- 

 sidering the value of straw for litter, this must be 

 a practice of very doubtful wisdom; and where 

 the stubble is not cut for litter, it must, when 

 plowed down, ultimately aflTord to the land all that 

 the ashes contain, and something more. 



Coal ashes are generally available to farmers, 

 and there are few situations in which they are not 

 beneficial, especially to clover and grass crops ; 

 and a consideration of the substances they contain 

 will readily account for the effect they produce. 

 Besides the earthy and imperfectly burnt coaly 

 matter of which they principally consist, they also 

 contain sulphate of lime, with some potash and so- 

 da, all of which are known, when applied separate- 

 ly, to produce a good effect on clover crops, and to 

 favor the production of white clover particularly. 

 They are, in fact, an important part of the food of 

 all grasses. 



Peat is often within the farmer's reach, and 

 whenever it is, may bo turned to very good account 

 either to burn for the ashes, to apply directly to 

 soils deficient in vegetable matter, or for the pre- 

 servation and augmentation of the compost heap. 

 The as/iei o/ ;ea< differ very much in value, as 

 they are poor or rich in saline matter ; and in some 

 situations they are the only manure used for the 

 turnip crop, at the rate of from thirty to fifty bush- 

 els per acre. 



Soot must have a powerful efl^ect as a manure, 

 from the large quantity of ammonia it contains. It 

 is extensively used as a top-dressing, spread by 

 hand, at the rate, on seeds and pasture, of twenty to 

 thirty, and on wheat, barley and turnips from forty 

 to fortyfive bushels per acre. It is, however, more 

 generally employed on wheat, and is considered 

 one of the most powerful top-dressings for that 

 crop with which we are acquainted ; and experi- 

 ments have shown its power to be materially in- 

 creased by an admixture of one-fourth of common 

 salt ; more particularly when laid upon pasture 

 land, the grass of which soon after assumes a 

 growth of much increased luxuriance. Though it 

 has almost always been used as a top-dressing, it 



is probable that it would have a greater effect if 

 used as a compost wrJi other substances by means 

 of the drill ; and has in that manner been success. 

 fully employed in the cultivation of potatoes, by an 

 eminent farmer in Gloucestershire, We perceive, 

 also, that, in a recent comparative experiment on 

 difl'crent manures for the growth of carrots, 54 

 bushels of soot and G of salt, produced larger crops 

 of both the Altringham and White Belgian sp.-cies, 

 than 24 tons of stable manure and 24 bushels of 

 bones — Falliner's Farmer's Manual. 



From the American Agriculturist. 



MILKING QUALITIES OF DURHAM COWS. 



Dear Sir — The following statement I am indue- 

 ed to communicate, to show the value of Durham 

 stock for dairy purposes. A gentleman in this vi- 

 cinity is the owner of two cows only ; one a full 

 blood Durham, seven or eight years old, and the 

 other a four-year-old, seven-eighths Durham heiter. 

 He informs me he kept an accurate account of 

 their produce in milk and butter for thirty days. 

 The result was as follows : 108 lbs. of butter, be- 

 sides supplying a family of five persons with new- 

 milk and cream for ordinary family use and nine 

 quarts of new milk daily for a calf. The average 

 weight of milk per day, from the oldest cow, was 

 68 lbs., and from the heifer 60 lbs., during the thir- 

 ty days. One of the cows the gentleman purchas- 

 ed from the writer of this article. This statement 

 may be relied upon as substantially correct. I he 

 cows were kept on pasture oii/y. 



This experiment was made at the suggestion of 

 a brother of the owner of the cow, who resides at 

 the east, when he waa visiting at his house, as he 

 had doubts as to the superiority of Durhams over 

 the native stock for the dairy. The result satis- 

 fied him that he was mistaken. 



Troy, July 17, 1S43. GEO. VAIL. 



^^verage Mortality of Mankind. — The population 

 of the whole earth has been variously estimated at 

 between eight hundred thousand and a million mil- 

 lions of souls. According to the English Pocket 

 Diary, if we fix upon an intermediate number, say 

 946,080,000, and assign 30 years for the continu- 

 ance of each generation, we shall find that the 

 " children of men " come into the world and go out 

 of it at the following average: 



Every second, 1 



" minute, fiO 



" hour, 3,600 



" day, 24 hours, 86,400 



" week, 7 days, 004,800 



" month, 30 days, 2,592,000 



" year, 3(i5 days, 32,530,000 



" generation, 30 years, 946,080,000 



It thus appears tliat every stroke of a pendulum 

 ushers a human being into existence, and heralds 

 the departure of another to " that bourne from 

 whence no traveller returns." 



Our ambassador, Mr Everett, in his speech at 

 the dinner of the Royal Agricultural Society, said, 

 " He believed that if one thousandth part of the en- 

 ergy, the skill and the treasure, that had been ex- 

 pended by rival nations in the deadly struggles of 

 what was called the field, had been expended in a 

 generous emulation to excel in the arts of peace, 

 the farmers would very soon drive the diplomatists 

 out of the field." (Cheers.) 



