310 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



niAIiCK 27, Ig44. 



AND HORTICULTURAL RRGISTER. 



Edited by Joseph Brcck. 



Boston, Wedneshat, March 27, 1844. 



ON THK RIGHT USE OF MANURES. 



Mr Editor — After nil the conflicling nplniniis abiiut 

 the depth to which mnniires should be buried, if covered 

 at all ; and after all the conflicling opinions about the 

 time ic/ien manures should be buried, permit me to say 

 that, according to my experience, (lie deptli to which 

 manures are covered, ami tiie degree of rottenness which 

 manures should attain before ihey are used, should be 

 varied according to a number of different circumstan- 

 ces, as — 



Isl, The difierence in the component pans of the ma- 

 nures. 



2d, The differeac in the kinds of soil and subsoil to 

 which they are applied. 



3d, The difference in the kinds of crops which it is 

 designed should be benefiied by the manure; and ■ 



4lh, The ditlerence in the time when it is designed 

 that the manure should give forth its powers fur the 

 benefit of the crop. 



First There is a very considerable difference in the 

 component parts of manures. Some are vohitile, some 

 are fixed. All volatile manures should either be cotn- 

 postid, or else, ifil is practicable, they should be cover- 

 ed as soon as tliey are spread, in order to prevent them 

 from evaporating and flying into the atmosphere when 

 used. But it the volHlite parts <>f the manure are corn- 

 posted with peat, or other substances which are reten- 

 tive of moisture ; or if, according to Ute views of Lie- 

 big, the volatile parts are fixed by strong acids, or by 

 the sulphate of lime, they will not then require so deep 

 a covering as if they were not thus composted, or de- 

 prived of ibeir volatility. Composted manures do not 

 require to be plowed in as deep as those which are not 

 compcsted. And where farmers cultivate damp soils 

 and compost their stable and barn-yard mantires wiih 

 peat or swamp mud, we are assured that ilipy sometimes 

 succeed pretty well in the cultivation of grass, corn, 

 wheat and rye, by leaving the composted manure on or 

 near the surface of the soil. 



A^ain : manures which are not volatile, hut which 

 arc disposed to sink in the soil, such as lime, ashes, 

 marl, clay, sand, &c., should be left on or near the sur- 

 face of the ground. And those manures which natu- 

 rally collect moisture, may be left nearer the surface 

 than others. 



Second. Manures should be differently applied on 

 different kinds of soil and subsoil. Long manures 

 plowed into a stiff soil, tend to loosen it, so as to admit 

 more air and make it lighter. Manures should bo cov- 

 ered deeper on a dry gravelly soil than they should on 

 a damp one. On a soil which is decidedly wet, the sol- 

 uble and volatile parts of the manure, would be likely to 

 mix with the water, and to go off with it ; while on a 

 very dry and gravelly soil, there would be iri',re danger 

 of losing the volatile parts of the manure by rapid evap- 

 oration, unless the volatile parts of the iitanure were 

 fixed, or carefully covered. Volatile manures should 

 be composted with peal or swamp mud before beinf ap- 

 plied to dry gravelly soils. 



Third. Manures require to be buried deep or other- 

 wise, according to the sliafie of the roots of the plants 

 which it is designed should be benefitted by them. For 

 those |dants which send down long tap rool.i, the ma- 

 nure should be mixed with the soil, not only on iho sur- 

 face, but to a considerable depth below il A number 



of years ago, I look an e.^hausled spot of ground, with a 

 good, healihy, but exhaiisled subsoil, and after plowing 

 it deep, J gave it a good dressing ol compost, which was 

 left near the surface, and then I planted it wiih carrots. 

 They came up and grew, and promised to make a very 

 fine nop : ilio upper ends of the roots were large, but 

 when taken from the ground, the roots proved lo be 

 very much shorter than the same kind of carrots usually 

 were, when they grew in places where the soil was 

 more deeply manured. But where crops are to be cul- 

 tivated which send out their roots horizontally, as rye, 

 wheat, corn, &c , and do not send ihem deep, Ihe ma- 

 nure will produce more speedy effects, if it lies on or 

 near the surface. 



On a spot which 1 designed for corn, near my dwell- 

 ing, I plowed in a liberal dressing of fish offal, and lest 

 ihey sl.ould smell bad, 1 plowed Ihem in, with deep fur- 

 rows ; then manured the ground with barn-yard and 

 stable manure, and planted corn, and my crop was only 

 about the rate of 40 bushels of corn lo the acre, which 

 was nut more than I should have expected without the 

 fish. The fish offal was too low to be fed upon much 

 by the roots of the corn. The next year, however, I 

 plowed the same spot over again, with other deep fur- 

 rows ; this brought the remains of the fish again near 

 the surface, and where 1 then planted corn, it yi.lded a 

 luxuriant crop. In some places the corn yielded as 

 much as 15 ears lo the hill. 



Fourih. i.,ong manures which are covered in the soil, 

 decompose, and frequently give oui iheir slrength to pro- 

 mote the growth of corn just at the time when the corn 

 is making seed, and needs it most. In this case a little 



lid. 



couise, there was no expense for the cukivaiiL i after the 

 second crop. In the six years which we mowed the 

 grass, ihete was no expense but the expense of harvesl- 

 And to have ground so much like the t-arden of 

 en as lo bring forth rich crops spontaneously lor even 

 the limited period of six successive years, vvilliont any 

 other expense but harvesting, is not only a great advan- 

 tage, but to us it was viry pleasing. Had all this ma- 

 nure been lefi on the surface of the ground, v, e think it 

 would have destroyed the first crops in the course, and 

 and we tliink the manure would liave then evaporated 

 so as not to have malerially benefiied the last of these 

 crops. But to a tenant, who had a \e:,se for Imt one year. 

 It would probably have been more advantageous to have 

 left the manure nearer the surface, and to have spread 

 It out m.ire extensively; yet even then wcthinkhe 

 could not have realized any thing like the same amount 

 of net profit by iis use. 



Now then it appears to me, Mr Editor, that ?r, long as 

 the questions about long manure and short mnuure— the 

 degree of rottenness which manures should altain before 

 they are plowed in— and the depth to which liiey should 

 be coveted — so long as these questions nre stated in gen- 

 eral terms, without reference lo the ditferent kinds of 

 manures which are used — without relerepco to the dif- 

 ferent kinds of crops to be cultivated— and wiiliout refe- 

 rence to the differences of situation, circumstances, and 

 soil on which they are grown— the debaies on these 

 subjects, (which have been going ever since I fiist be- 

 came an agricultural reader,) may be uselessly contin- 

 ued, and a large amount of ink may yet he shed in the 

 ntroversy, without coming at all nearer to a settle- 



well rolled manure in the lull, to give the corn an early i ment of these mooted questions than at the commence- 



start, proves beneficial. But long and coarse manures 

 do not suit parsnips, beets and carrots, and according to 

 my experience, where parsnips, beets and carrots are 

 planted among coarse manures, instead of their growing 

 smoolh and handsome, their roots almost invariably 

 gro« prongy, and the crop is never large. Beets, car- 

 rots and parsnips require manure wliich is well rotted, 

 and ready lo give immediate nourishment to these crops. 



Where volatile manures are used with a view of ma. 

 terially benefiling crops which are to grow a number 

 of years after the manures are applied, the manures 

 should be worked in deep. A garden which has been 

 well manured and well dug, so as to work the manure 

 in deep, retains a portion of its fertility for a number of 

 years after the application of manure is suspended -. 

 while a soil manured with volatile manures, which are 

 lefl on the surface, is soon exhausted. 



A number of years ago, I buried a dead cat in a mow- 

 ing field, to the depth of perhaps 12 to 18 inches. The 

 first year, no increased fertility was observed about the 

 spot, but for several years alterwards, the grass grew 

 with increased luxuriance over the grave of the cat. 



This encouraged me to make another experiment. I 

 theiefore took an exhausted piece of land, which luid 

 lain in corn hills and sweet ferns, and'wi'hout manure, 

 for very many years. Into this wa then plowed white 

 fish, with good deep furrows, at the rate of 35,000 to 

 30,000 to the acre, and then planted potatoes. The next 

 year, we sowed it to oats and grass, and then mowed 

 the ground for six successive seasons next following. 

 During all these eight years the piops were improved, 

 and during the first seven years they were very conside- 

 rably improved by ihis one manuring. And these eight 

 crops, after deducting .ill expenses f,r rent and for culti- 

 valion, (except the expense of removing the stones from 

 the ground,) gave a net profit at the rate of about $100 

 per acre. Tliis net gain was in consequence of applying 

 the manure in such a manner as lo need but a small pro- 

 portional expense for the after cultjvatien. for, in this 



ment; — for, unless my experience is fullacious, the de- 

 gree of rottenness which manures should acquire before 

 being used — and Ihe depth to which manures aie plowed 

 in, may be varied, and ought to be varied, according lo 

 the various kinds of manure which are used, the various 

 situations and kinds of soil to which they are applied, 

 ihe vaiious kinds of crops intended ti be benerited by 

 Ihe manures, the length of time before ihe manures are 

 required to give forth their whole strength, and the va- 

 rious circumsiances of the culiivators. 



I remain, Mr Kditor, very respectfully yours, 

 And the public's very humble serv't, 



ASA M. HOLT. 

 East Haddam, Ct , March 15, 1844. 



Note bv the Editor. — When our correspondent says 

 that his eiuht crops (on the piece of exhausted land ma- 

 nurerl with fish,) six of which crops weia grass, yielded 

 him a wet profit of about $100 per acre, "does he state 

 what he intended to .' The amount naiiiMd as net profit 

 per acre, (considering that six of the crops xvere grass 

 alone,) seems to ns an over-estimate— unless in our cor- 

 respimdent's vicinity, hay has a higher value or yields 

 much more iibuiidantly ihan with us. We iliink lie 

 miisi have erred (uniiiientioniilly) in the slalement of 

 llie profit. Or do we misapprehend him .'—does he mean 

 Ihat $100 was the total, not the yearly profit ! 



(D=In the report of the Fruit Committee, in our last 

 number, the blank in the award for " the best gooseber- 

 ries," should have been filled by the name of E. E. 

 Bradahaw— and the premium for " the next best do. " 

 should have been to Otis Johnson instead of J. F.Allen. 

 [The printers " followed copy, " and arc, therefore, not 

 culpable in this case. J 



flCfThe atticleof our valued correspondent at Warner, 

 N. H, and the favor of "A Young Harvard Farmer," 

 are necessarily deferred until next week— as also the 

 continuation of Dana's Essay— and we withholil our own 

 editorial to give place to the valuable cornmunicaliou of 

 Mr Holt. 



