'Ol.. XXII. SO. .13. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



261 



IS finMi the liills, and top-dressed with iiinntiro - the use of lime ns a ninniire, by way of comment 

 liiiio, they woidd form prrinaiioiit mid perm- I upon a coiimuinioation of n corresponilent of 

 clover fields. I tluit paper, over the fiifjnatiire of " C," I per- 



he eal.bugc and turnip family of plants, yield j «'>''' "'>' f^'C""' B"ckininster still jjoes '• drnd set" 

 hur upon analysis. And soils in.pregnateU | "?*'"=• ''"'^;, '',' '^ course of his rem.,rl<s he 

 ,, , i. , I I says, "that Dr. Jackson is but n theorist, nn<l thnt 



1 It, when well manured, are very tavnrnhio to i , , u . i ..i ■ .■ . i • r • i 



' ■' ' he has ifiven but littio satistaftioii to his friends 



{I'owtli of such crops, ns 1 know from experi- 

 t ; Imt lUey are very unfuvorahlo to a crop of 

 I, corrodinor or rusting the main root in its early 

 vtli. 



'Iiatever difFerence of fipinion there may bo in 

 minds of men, in respect lo the value of lime 

 igricultural purposes generally, I think there 

 be no doubt of its utility on lands that naturally 

 lain sulphur and iron in any quantity. Lime 

 led to such soils, combines with the sulphates, 

 neutralizes them ; the lime becoming gypsum, 

 the farmer possessing such lanils, by liming, 

 niannfacturc " home-inade gypsum," cheaper 

 1 he can obtain it from Nova Scotia, 

 here have been a great many theories in re- 

 t to the action of plaster. Prof. Liebig's, I be- 

 5, is the latest. He says its use is in fixing the 

 lonia that falls in the rains and snow. But 

 y object to this : they say if his theory wascor- 

 , )i~ action would ever be the same in all cases 

 id all soils, which every one knows is not the 

 ; for on many soils and crops, it has no per- 

 jble effect whatever. Possibly, such soils al- 

 ly contain a supply of gypsum, as it is quite 

 idant in many — so much so, that tea-kettles in 

 ch well water is boiled, are soon coated with a 

 k layer of it. I believe it is quite certain that 

 water does hold ammonia in solution ; for all 

 lying aninml and vegetable matter yields it, and 

 •n in a gaseous form, it is much lighter than 

 imon air, and will ascend ; and by a wise pro- 

 on of nature, water will absorb about 500 times 

 )wn bulk of it, and of course when the rains de- 

 fid, they bring down the ammonia with it. That 

 sum will fix the ammonia of putrid urine, I 

 e ascertained to a certainty. Liebig recom- 

 ids that stable floors and hovels be occasionally 

 ■well with plaster, to fix the ammonia. The 

 ity of this, is doubled by many in England and 

 6- But the (piestion will probably be settled the 

 ling season. Professor Henslow, of England, 

 the past summer induced some sixty farmers 

 nslitute a series of experiments to test the truth 

 .■rror of Liebig's theory. Each experimenter is 

 nake, or rather has made, two compost heaps of 

 nure and other materials, according to a fixed 

 3 (by weight and measure,) laid down by Prof. 

 The only difference is, that one of the heaps 

 o have the addition of a given quantity of gyp- 

 n, supposed to bo snflicieiit to fix all ilie ammo- 

 thai m.^y be generated during the fermentation 

 :he heap. These composts will be applied side 

 side, to various soils and a variety of crops, and 

 results and products will be carefully noted and 

 npared. These exjieriments will, I think, fix 

 iquestiuu one way or the other. 



8in<^e writing the foregoing, I have received 

 iin a friend, ii copy of the Mass. Ploughman, of 

 !20thiust. In some remarks by the editor on 



when he has endeavored to prove the importance 

 ol adding more lime to our New England soils." 

 Bui I shall not take up the cudgel in defence of 

 Dr. J., for he is every way competent to defend 

 himself whenever ho may deem any attack upon 

 him worthy of his notice. But 1 would remark, 

 that among the great variety of soils in New Eng- 

 land, we doubtless have ninny thai will corresjiond 

 with some of the soils in France, England, Scot- 

 land, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. And would not 

 the same kinds of manures, whether animal, vege- 

 table, saline, or mineral, produce equally good re- 

 sults in New England, on similar soils and crops, 

 that they do in the countries and Stales above 

 named. 



In France, lime is freely and abundantly applied 

 to their lands for manure, and yields most profita- 

 ble returns for the expenditure. In England and 

 Scotland, it is used in quantities that would startle 

 a Yankee farmer. Now is it possible that the 

 English and Scotch tenant farmers can so little un- 

 derstand their pecuniary interest, us to annually 

 throw away such large sums for lime, that does 

 not benefit their crops, nor yield any adequate re- 

 turns towards paying their rents .' If Mr Buck- 

 minster will look over the London Farmer's Maga- 

 zine, for 1S43, he may there learn from the farmers' 

 own statements, something of the amount they 

 apply to their lands, and the advantage they de- 

 rive from it. 



The disturbances the last year or two in Wales, 

 were almost wholly caused by the exorbitant tolls 

 the poor Welch peasantry had to pay upon the 

 turnpikes for the privilege of carting lime to be 

 used for manure. And of so much importance do 

 they consider it, that they jeopardized their necks 

 to obtain it for their crops. 



The shell marls of Virginia contain a very largo 

 per cent, of lime ; and any one that has ever read 

 Mr RulSn's work on the Calcareous iMarls of Vir- 

 ginia, must come to one of these conclusions — 

 either that by a judicious application of marl, the 

 worn out soils of lower Virginia may be soon 

 brought back to their original fertility — or, that 

 Mr Ruffin labored under a strong delusiim when 

 he wrote his valuable essay. 



1 he Hon. W. C. Rives, of Virginia, in an ad- 

 dress before the Albemarle Agriciiltinal Society, 

 in October, 1842, stated that ho had used about 

 12,000 bushels of lime on about 150 acres of land, 

 an average of 80 bushels per acre. He says, that 

 he has not perceived that it much benefited the 

 crop of corn or wheat that immediately preceded 

 the liming ; but this, he says, " was more ihan 

 compensated by the marked, unequivocal, and deci- 

 ded eflfect thai I have never failed to perceive, 

 from lime nlont in the clover succeeding the wheat 

 crop;" and he further says, "all my conclusions 

 in regard to lime, would lead me to the ofiinion, 

 that it is the most permanent of nil manures." 



I have used lime to some evlent, v'l?. : some 

 cartloads from the tanner's, after having been used 

 for liming hides, and some casks of fresh or quick 

 lime. The two kinds have been used in coiiiposis, 

 and also directly applied to the land, and its appli- 



cation has been attended wiih as marked and de- 

 cided good effect, as it has wiih Mr Rives. 



Yours, &c. LKVI B.ARTLETT. 



n'arner, jV. H., Jan. 30, 1844. 



MERCER OR CHENANGO POTATO. 



We have heard some complaints vrithin a few 

 years, thai iliis potato was not as good as it used 

 to be, or that ii had degenerated. The followin" 

 extract which we make from a .well written com- 

 munication in the Maine Farmer, agrees so well 

 with our experience and opinions, that we feel a 

 pleasure in laying it before the readers of the Cul- 

 tivator. The remedy he proposes will not fail. 



—Mb. Cult. 



" But has the Chenango degenerated? We an- 

 swer yes. The Chenango when first introduced 

 into this Slate, was a mixture of two distinct vari- 

 eties ; one kind is always very good, and always 

 produces its like, while the other is comparatively 

 bad, and yields after its kind. Every body knows, 

 for every body has eaten Chenangoes, thai some 

 of them when cooked, are while, dry, and good fla- 

 vored, while others are very dnrk blue through the 

 whole potato, watery and strong flavored. Thb 

 light kind is always fit for the fable, and the dark, 

 never. The light kind are the best formed and 

 yield the best. The dark kind does not ripen so 

 early as the light. In the raw state, it is difficult 

 if not impossible, to distinguish in all cases ihe 

 one from the other; but when cooked or cut, they 

 are easily distinguished. The dark variety has 

 increased upon the light, and being unfit for the 

 table, has caused the Chenango to be less esteem- 

 ed. As we planted this year but two acres, we 

 concluded to improvt the Chenango for our own 

 use ; and accordingly when cutting our seed, we 

 rejected the dark kind. The result is as we ex- 

 pected, and is satisfactory. We now know the 

 Chenango can be so improved in a single season, 

 as to be as perfect a variety as ever grew : that is, 

 that every potato of suitable size to cook, will be 

 g<iod when cooked." 



Dairying. — Phineas Hardy, of Jefferson co. in 

 this State, keeps 49 cows. He made, last year, 

 14,000 lbs. cheese, and 2000 lbs. butler. He rears 

 his cows. His cows gave an average of 14 to 15 

 quarts per day, on pasture ; in the best part of the 

 grass season, the best of them givo 20 (juarts per 

 day. He has tried a cross wiiii the Durham 

 breed, and is satisfied that it is an improvement; 

 prefers the /m//" bloods to those which have either 

 more or less of the Durham : says they are belter 

 milkers, keep easier, and hold out longer — that is, 

 their constitutions are belter. — Jill). Cult. 



Green Peas in Winter. — The editor of the Maine 

 Cultivator says he saw, not long since, "green 

 peas as succulent to all appearance as they were 

 when plucked from the vine some five or six months 

 before." The mode of preparing thorn, is to pick 

 when of the proper size for eating, shell, and care- 

 fully dry on cloths in the shii/le. All the care nec- 

 essary is, to prevent their moulding ; this done, 

 they will be fine and sweet. Beans may be pre- 

 served in the same way, and with perfect success. 

 If in addition, a stack of green corn is secured at 

 the proper time, as it may easily be, by scalding 

 on ihe coh when fit for roasting or boiling, shelling, 

 and carefully drying, a dish of all these luxuries 

 may be enjoyed in January or March. — lb. 



