AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aobicdltural Warehodse.) 



b. XAII.l 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 21, 1844. 



l\'0. 34. 



N . E. FARMER. 



For the New England Fanner. 



JME, ASHES AND SALT FOR LAND. 

 Mk li.iKCK — In your paper of the Slst of Janu- 

 , a correspondent over the signature of P. 11., 



" is about commencing fanning operations," 

 ihea for information in regard to the use of lime, 

 les and Ealt as manure for grass land ; what 

 .ntity sown broadcast per acre would be sutfi- 

 •nt, &c. &c. 



.laving used lime to some extent, I shall offer 

 -;\v remarks in reply to some of his queries, 

 t should not think it the most economical way 

 apply eitlier lime or ashes "broadcast," unless 

 lands contain a large per centage of sulphur 



1 iron, and that may be pretty well ascertained 

 hout a chemical analysis, from the nature of the 

 ks or stones, and its producing naturally sorrel, j 

 1 the running vme, brai<ible, or blackberry, which 

 ights in such soils. But it is a much better 



ly to mix fresh slacked lime with peat, swamp 

 •ck, or loam and turf; and the compost would be 

 ich sooner ready for use, and vastly more valua- 

 ^, if he can obtain animal matters to mix with 

 « heaps, such as fish, fish offal, or that from the 

 lugluer house; or the carcases of any "acciden- 

 ly defunct" animals, frnin an elephant down to a 

 lusc. Dr. Dana's rule is, 10 lbs. of carcass to 

 lbs. of peat, or vegetable mould. The limo, 

 d pt'at or mould alone, would slowly, but most 

 rely imbibe (rom the atmosphere nitrogen and 

 ygen in the right proportions, to form tlie ni- 

 iteoflime. But the animal matters contain ni- 

 igcn in a most concentrated form, and as soon as 

 composition commences in the animal matter, 

 e various elements cut loose from the compact 

 It was controlled by the living vital principle, 

 d are resolved into their pro.vimale or ultimate 

 inciples, or form new combinations. And it is 

 the precise moment of decumposition (in their 

 scent state) that they enter into new combina- 

 ms with the greatest facility ; and at this period 

 trie acid is generatc<l in large quantities, and as 

 has a strong affinity for the alkaline base of lime, 

 combines and forms nitrate of lime. 

 The experiments of hundreds of firmers in Eng- 

 nd, and some in this country, have proved to a 

 imonslration the value of nitrates upon grass or 

 eadow lands. But we will just look over the 

 impost heap, managed as above described, and 

 e whnt the farmer would get: — 

 1st, lie has a heap of compost from his earthy 

 aterials, neutralized by the alkaline qualities of 

 le lime, nearly equal to the same bulk of yard 

 ,anur°. 



2. A large amount of nitrogen and oxygen in a 

 mcontrated and soluble form, (two essential ele- 

 ents of vegetables and plants,) for when saltpetre 

 ■ anv other nitrate is dissolved in water, it is not 

 '.compastd, but is taken up in solution by the root- 

 its of plants, and by the sap vessels carried to 

 le leaf and decomposed, and assimilated, and 



made subservient to those laws that govern the 

 vegetable world. 



3. He has nearly the same amount of lime after 

 the acid has been dissolved, that ho would have 

 had if the lime had been sown " broadcast," except 

 the small portion that enters into the growing 

 plants, ns one of their inorganic constituenls. 



But the action of the lime has not yet ceased. 



If the soil contains sour vegetable matter, (and 

 all decomposing vegetable mutter does yield car- 

 bonic acid,) the lime will neutralize it. 



If it contains sulphuret of iron, it will combine 

 with the acid, and form gypsum. 



And if the land is well manured, it will in dry 

 warm weather, combine again with nitrogen, &c., 

 and form nitrate of lime, and hold it till dissolved 

 by the rains, or until it is needed by the plants. 



For some of the above reasons, ashes will bo 

 more profitable composted. And for several rea- 

 sons, they are more valuable than limo for agri- 

 cultural purposes. They contain a much larger 

 number of substances or salts, essential to the full 

 growth and developement of plants. Tliey have a 

 stronger atHnity for nitric acid, and more readily 

 form nitrate — a stronger alkaline property — and 

 consequently neutralize a larger amount of acid, 

 decompose silex, and render it soluble, for the 

 purpose of forming the outer coating or glaze on 

 the straw of grain and grasses, &c. 



The spent ashes contain a portion of insoluble 

 potash, which the water of the soapboiler will not 

 dissolve, but the skill of the chemist can. When 

 leached ashes are coniposled with peat or muck, 

 the action of the mould and air upon the insoluble 

 silicates is, to liberate the alkali, and render it sol- 

 uble and active. 



Your correspondent /iai7s from Gloucester: (Cape 

 Ann, 1 suppose) — if so, I should not think salt 

 sown " broadcast" would be an economical way of 

 using it; as, from the proximity of his location to 

 the sea, and the great distance inland the water of 

 the ocean is carried during heavy winds and storms, 

 I should think there could be no great deficiency 

 ofsaltinhis lands. However, if he can obtain 

 refuse salt at a cheap rate, and dissolve it in the 

 water, to be used in slaking lime, it m'lghl pny — 

 for in the operation of slaking the lime, double de- 

 composition would result. The quick lime would 

 unite with the muriatic acid of the salt, and form 

 muriate of lime — and the base of the salt (snda,) 

 would become carbonate of soda. These com- 

 posted would form a first rate dressing for grass 

 land, similar to that used upon Mr Ciishing's farm 

 at Watertown. 



In respect to the time it would require to make 

 the most of the compost. Dr. Dana says, two years. 

 But I think your querist would get a very good 

 compost, if made ns early in the spring as conve- 

 nient. If his land is level, it might be applied 

 late in autumn, but if liable to wash by heavy 

 rains, keep it till spring, and spread just as the 

 grass is starting. And in the meantime, let him 

 test, upon a smaJl scale, the coining spring, lime, 

 ashes, and talt, and the result will teach him the 

 expediency of using it in future. 



If you think any of the above facts or sugges- 

 tions will be useful to your correspondent P. H., or 

 others of your readers, they are at your service. 



Fth. St'h, 1844. B. 



Mr Colman. — It gives us pleasure to loaj-n, as 

 we do by the Mark-Lane (Ijondon) Express, of Dec. 

 ISth, that Henry Colman, Esq. had so far recovered 

 from his late injury as to be able to attend a spe- 

 cial Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, 

 held Dec. 7th, at which he called the attention of 

 the Council to the great inconvenience found at 

 present to arise in all comparative trials in agri- 

 cultural inquiries, from the want of an uniformity 

 of the weights and measures employed in ascer- 

 certaining the resulting produce, and a conven- 

 tional standard of comparison to which the terms 

 of every expression of value in these trials should 

 have reference. In travelling through England, 

 he irad himself t'ound it difficult to draw accurate 

 conclusions from the results communicated to him; 

 in some districts the load being said to contain 

 three, and in others five bushels — the bushel on 

 one occasion being estimated as equal to thirty- 

 eight quarts. In weight, on the other hand, ho 

 found the pound to be made up of sixteen, eighteen, 

 and twenty ounces, according to the custom of par- 

 ticular districts ; while in Cambridge, butter was 

 sold by the yard, and in Nottingham by the pint. 

 The Council concurred with Mr Colman on the 

 desirableness of an uniform system of weight and 

 measure in all comparative trials. The President, 

 Right Hon. Earl Spencer, suggested that it would 

 be found convenient if all results of measure were 

 expressed in bushels and parts of a bushel. 



Bfan Meal for Fatteni.n'g Pigs. — Sir — "A 

 Subscriber" wishes to know what is the best food 

 for fattening pigs. I liave myself tried nearly ev- 

 ery description of food, and have never found any 

 thing to produce so much weight or such fi;ie meat 

 in a given time, as bean-meal. Some pigs fed 

 with this food, mixed with a small portion of fine 

 toppings, weighed at six months old, twenty stones, 

 (dSO lbs.) and the pork was allowed to be extremely 

 tender. 



I last year tried to fatten them on grey peas 

 alone, giving ihern milk to drink; these also were 

 fat in an amazingly short time, but they did not 

 weigh so heavily as those fed on bean-meal. 



I have tried potatoes in every way, both boiled 

 and raw, mixed with meal and alone, but have 

 never found them answer. But let the food given 

 be what it may, plenty of it must be given, so as 

 to excite repose. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant. 



An Agriccltukal Experimentalist. 

 — Mark-Lane Express. 



We never knew a scolding person that was able 

 to govern a family. What makes people scold .' 

 Because they cannot govern others. They who 

 govern well are generally calm. They are prompt 

 and resolute, but steady and mild. — Exch. pap. 



