>!,. XVII, Na. to. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



817 



y dist»pp''nred. Tlie next year, the first crop 

 iqiially jjoml ; tlie second not so iar^o, tlioiigli 

 • ili;in iniddliii;,'. In subsequent years iho 

 ood rflocts bt;canie less and less obvious, but 

 visible at least len years." 

 le Proffssor says — " Another important char- 

 is, that when fresh dug, this substance al- 

 invariably jives out the odor of sitlphurelled 

 iffji ; ihiit is, an odor considerably reseniblinj,' 

 )f a i;un-barrol which has been (ired repeatedly 

 giinpowdor. Very frequently, also, there is 



plants, tliat probably sprani; from seed.-) in the ma- 

 imro; while upon llie other part of the fi''ld there 

 were but very lew. But ns I intended to sow the 

 whole field the following sfiring, pains were taken 

 to hoe them up. After cutting up the corn with 

 the sickle at harvest, there then was such an nbiin- 

 dance of clover and honeysuckle, that I had the 

 stubs of corn cut off with a scythe at the ground, 

 and the land harr<iwed over twice, to level the sur- 

 face, and nothing more via-t done to it till last 

 July, when I mowed a very heavy crop of clover 



from it a redish matter of the color of i and honeysuckle; and again about the l2th of 

 -U.St, and which indeed is the oxide of iron, September, another good crop was mowed. To 

 eding probably from the decomposition of the , niy view, the only way of accounting for this crop 



urct of iron, whereby the sulphuretted hydro- of clover, i.s by supposing that the low ground had 



s produced. I am inclined lo believe that i been ."aturated with the elements, or compounds of 



)d«r of the sulphuretted hydrogen is so con- ' 



^d with its fertilizing properties, that I doubt 



her any sand, not giving it out, will prove efli- 



|.us." 



"ter giving the analysis of a considerable nuiii- 



f specimens, accompanied by a page or two 



marks, he again says: " Nor should it be for- 



n, that in all cases when fresh dug, these 



I irive off the odor of sulphuretted hydrogen ; 



h probably proceeds from the decomposition 



Iphuret of iron, or some alkaline sulphuret. 



;e it is desirable not to use any — certainly not 



riv experiments — which does not emit the 



above named. And should only a small pnrt 



e fertilizing effect result from its use gcner- 



which the facts detailed would lead us to ex- 



I should still feel amply repaid for my labor 

 ted to the subject." 



ruin the above extracts from Prof. Hitchcock's 

 irt, in connection with Liebig's reasoning, I 

 i there can be no doubt of the great benefit 

 farmers might derive from the use of sand. 



h'tighl of Stooked Ears ptr Basktl. 

 No. 1, 79 Ibi!. 



a, 72 ' 



3, 74 ' 



4, (not full) (i7 ' 



Total, 292 lbs. 



Weight of Unstooktd do. 

 >, I, 7.') lbs. 



2, 73 ' 



3, 74 ' 



4, (not full} 19 lb. 13 oz. 



'j-otal. 241 lbs. 13 



the elomeiits, that furnish the peculiar food neces- 

 sary to its growth. Sulphuretted hydrogen, or 

 6ome other compound of sulphur, undoubtedly was 

 one of the efficient means of producing such luxu- 

 riant crops of clover. 



From the facts above, I think any soils or mucks 

 strongly impregnated with the odor of sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, would be more valuable for composting 

 with manure, than that not giving it out. 



Dr. Jackson, in his Geological Report of Rhode 

 Island, gives an account of a remarkable spring of 

 water, on the farm of Mr J. Harris, of Cranston : 

 "The spring gives rise to a little rill running 

 through the meadow. Along the banks of this 

 rivulet, and around the spring, clover grows spon- 

 taneously, and is very luxuriant, while it is want- 

 ing in other parts of the field. It is yet doubtful 

 whether this is owing to the minute quantity of 

 sulphate of lime or to the presence of the crenates 

 of lime and iron." 



" The above remarks are given I'or the purpose 

 of stimulating other persons to continue the se- 



1. muck, or pent, strongly impregnated with the . u .u .i r . 



' , ' i . , u .. 1 u 1 „„ .„,, 'searches, in ordir to learn whether the facts are 

 smellini; odor of sulphuretted hydrogen. And ' 



I some experience I have had while engaged 



igi;ing some hundred rods for ditches and un- 



iraining, 1 have but little doubt it may bo found 



nost farms, and from the fact of its being most 



ily favorable to the growth of clover, honey- 



ile, and roddtop grass, it would be a most v 



universal, and that the agricultural value of the 

 substances in question may be tested by experi- 

 ence." 



I have, Mr Editor, been induced to make these 



quotations and remarks, with the hope that it may 



stimulate farmers to study more into the means 



within their reach for the improvement 



le application for light dry land ; for the growth i they have 



lover to be plowed in, or to be fed off by ; of their farm and increasing their crops, and if thi: 



'p, as frequently practiced in England, prepara- 1 article in any measure has that effect, I shall " fee 



to a wheat crop ; and it might be a better ma- 

 3 for clover than gypsum. I believe it may 

 erally be found in wet grounds; where the 

 i.s upon the higher lands contain sulphur and 

 1, in quantities that will cause them to oxydize 



ciumble to pieces. 



n the fall of 1641, wishing to enclose about 

 ths of an acre of wet, springy land, which was 

 Lly surrounded by hills, from which water oozed 



impregnated with the sulphuret of iron, I dug 

 apen ditch upon the south side of it at the foot 

 he hill, and an under-drain through the middle, 



on the north side : the covered drains were 

 nt three feet deep. While digging the drains, 



soil emitted a strong odor, similar to that of a 



amply repaid for my labor.' 



LEVI BARTLETT. 

 Warner, JV. H., March 8, 1844. 



For the New England Farmer. 



STOCKING CORN. 



Joseph jBrfcft— Dear Sir— Last fall, before the 



lime for cutting stalks had arrived, I reserved 12 

 rows of nearly a square acre of corn, to test the 

 comparative utility of cutting (or topping) the 

 corn, and stooking — or cutting up stalk and butt 

 with the ear on. The rows were alternate ; thus — 

 No. 1, the easternmost row, was topped ; No. 2, 

 the second row, was stooked ; No. 3, topped ; No. 

 I gun. After draining, it was dry enough to be l^gjij^l^pj. No. 5, topped ; No. fi, stooked — thus 



' "'^ on to No. 12, inclusive. The stooked was bound 



with straw and carried out on the grass, when the 

 rest of the field was topped. All was harvested at 

 the same time. 



On November 2d, 1843, the corn was husked 

 into baskets holding 1 1-2 bushel of ears, and 

 weijrhed : 



wed, with two acres of dry land on the north 

 e, wiiich was about four feet higher than the 

 ir.ed part of the field. In the spring of 1842, it 

 3 manured upon the inverted sward, and pliinled 

 h Corn. That on the drained part was much 

 erior to the corn on the higher ground. Tlie 

 ole was twice well hoed. Upon the wet part 

 ire were myriads of clover and honeysuckle 



Balance in favor of stooked, by weight, 50 lbs. 3 

 Balance in favor of do. by measure, 3 pecks. 



On the 17th of January last past, both parcels 

 were shelled. The six stooked rows yielded three 

 and one half bushels of shelled corn. 



The six unstooked, yielded two bushels and three 

 pecks of shelled corn. 



Difference in favor of stooked, 3 pecks of shelled 

 corn. 



On weighing the shelled corn, the difforenco of 

 the stooked and unstooked, was, in favor of the 

 stooked, 47 lbs. G oz. 



On weighing the ears in Nov. last, Mr Wood. 

 (one of my men,) my brother and myself, observed 

 the stooked was not so dry ns the unstooked : con- 

 sequently the stooked weighed most and lost more 

 on tht cob than the unstooked : but the shrlled- 

 stooked corn more than held its own on the last 

 weighing. 



On using the stalks and butts of the stooked, 

 which were cut up in four inch pieces, by Hovey's 

 Spiral, both parts, or rather the whole, was found 

 equally sweet and green. 



If it is added, that the rows of corn were 3 feet 

 (i inches apart, and that the labor of harvesting the 

 stooked, was, in every stage, less than by the usual 

 mode, except in husking, you and your readers in 

 general, and our old Harvard farmers in particular, 

 will have all the elements necessary to make their 

 own calculations, and may draw such conclusions 

 as are warranted by the prc:mises, as well as (or 

 better than) A You.\r, Harvabd Farmer. 



Harvard, Mass., March 19, 1844. 



();J=This experiment appears to have been very 

 fairly conducted, and shows (if any further proof 

 were needed,) the better policy of cutting up corn 

 in preference to t ipping. VVe hope our corres- 

 pendent will undertake further experiments in oth- 

 er matters the present season, and furnish us the 

 results. We would name as interesting subjects, 

 the comparative merits of planting corn in drills, 

 in close order, and planting it, as most common, in 

 hills far apart ; — also, planting potatoes in furrows, 

 and covering them with the plow;— and soaking 

 turnip seed (of all kinds) in tanners' oil, to prevent 

 the depredations of the fly, so destructive to the 

 young plants. If he has not convinced himself 

 whether it is best to plant potatoes whole or cut, 

 an experiment on this point would perhaps be desi- 

 rable. We have taken the liberty to si ggest these 

 subjects for experiment by our correspondent, be- 

 cause they are interesting to us, and in the hope 

 that, as he is a i/ni.ng- farmer, and as he has shown 

 so much good judgment in the trial above detailed, 

 he may be induced to attempt others of equal im- 

 portance, and for the results of which we would be 

 greatly obliged to him. — Ed. 



