388 



N 



ii W ENGLAND FARMER, 



JTJSfE 5, 184 4. 



From llie Boston Cullivalor. 



IMPROVEMENTS—MANURHS. 

 Messrs. Editors — Your intelligent correspondent 

 " S. M. Stanley," has been pleased to give Ihroiio-h 

 your columns, some of the lesiills of his experience 

 to tlie uiirld, as respects the improvements which 

 may be made by small farmers, (usinnf the word in 

 Its po|)iilar sense) upon small farms. Now I con- 

 sider this to be a very important subject. The 

 <]ueBtion seems to be this. Can a man with a 

 small family, and possessinff only a good reputa- 

 tion and a small farm, of princii'ally poor, worn 

 out land, and but indifferently stocked, obtain a 

 comfortable living from such a farm, and still in- 

 crease the value and productiveness of the land ? 



To answer to this question coneerns, if I mis- 

 take not, the mnjorili) of our farmers. So far as 

 nny knowledge e.xtends. by far the greatest number 

 of farmers, consist of those living upon small farms, 

 and depending wholly upon their farms for a sup- 

 port. And a grc.it number of these, not to say the 

 most, only obtain a living by a course of ciiltiva- 

 lion which continually impoverishes the land. And 

 the result is, that while the land is decreasing in 

 value and productions, others by a more success- 

 ful course of cultivation, can raise produce cheap- 

 er, and they who live on poor farms are obliged 

 either to mortgage their fiirms, or to sell out and 

 remove to more fertile regions. 



Now, if any means can be ('evised by which 

 these small farmers, like myself, can obtain a sup- 

 port and still increase the fertility of the soil, an 

 iniportani object will be oljtained. That this can 

 be obtained, is becoming (,;ore and more evident 

 daily. 



The resiilis of Mr Stanley's experience arc di- 

 rectly to the point, and so far as my experience 

 goes, it confirms the same. People may sneer at 

 " book farming," and tell about these " new fangled 

 notions," but I firmly believe that when the dross i 

 and impurities are thoroughly sifted from them, 

 they form the only true basis on which Agriculture 

 can securely rest. 



But 1 sat down to write something about my 

 way of making and applying manure, not with the 

 mtention o'' intimating thnt my way is the best, 

 but because I believe it to be for the mutual benefit 

 of all, for each to communicate his method for the 

 eonsiduration of others. 



From October to June of the list year, our stock 

 consisted of four head of cattle, one horse and two 

 pigs. During that lime (eight months) we made 

 33 cords of manure. And now I suppose the 

 question will be asked, how we made it. In the 

 fall of 1842, we made a compost heap of about 40 

 loads. The loads 1 speak of, were horse-cart loads j 

 of 2-1 cubic feet each. We used in making this 

 heap, one cask of lime and about twelve bushels of; 

 ashes. Besides these, were put in hay, weeds, i 

 bushes, urine, chip-dirt, soil from under an old 

 wall — in fact, everything capable of being con. 

 verted into manure. This, as we shall afterward 

 see, was mixed up with the other manure. We 

 also carted mud into the barnyard and cellar in 

 the fall, which absorbed all liquid manure which 

 might be formed. From time to time, late in the 

 fall and early in the winter, we cartid in small 

 quantities of soil and mud into the cellar. In the 

 winter, the horse and cow manure wa.s thrown to- 

 gether and suffered to remain until fermentation 

 commenced, which was generally in a few days, 

 and then was spread upon the other mnnure and 



fresh porlions of horse and cow dung thrown to- 

 gether again. In this way, the hay in the manure 

 was partly decomposed, so that wh;n brought to 

 the air in the spring, it rotted very quick. 



The barn cellar is lined as a pig pen, and wo 

 find the snout of his hogship quite an efficient in- 

 strument 111 working over the manure. In the 

 spring, the manure was carted out into the barn- 

 yard upon the mud carried in in the fall, which 

 might be a foot thick. It was put in alternate 

 layers wuh the compost heap and contents of the 

 privy and sink-drain, to the depth of two or three 

 feet. In about ten days we pitched over this heap, 

 beginning at one edge and cutting it down lo the 

 soil, and of course throwing up the mud which lay 

 at the bottom, and in a few days caned it into the 

 field. This is the process we used in making the 

 manure, and I might also add that we made in the 

 cour.«e of the summer, with two cows and one 

 horse, put np only nights, 2 5-8 cords, making 

 35 5-8 cordd manure in one year. 



As respects the application of monure, we have 

 for the last few years plowed it in to the depth of 

 from 7 to 9 inches, and have invariably been satis- 

 fied, to say the least, with the results. When, 

 however, the soil has been very wet, we have 

 spread it upon the top, but in no case have we put 

 it into the hill. 



But last year, owing to circumstances beyond 

 our control, we weie obliged lo spread it upon the 

 surface. We plowed up two acres ol dry gravelly 

 soil, to the depth of 8 or i) inches, and carted on 

 about one hundred and twenty loads of manure, 

 and spread and harrowed it in. 



The land was for the most part completely worn 

 out, and part of it had not been mowed over for 

 several years. V\e planted about three-fourths of 

 an acre to corn, and harvested at the rate of forty 

 bu.shels to the acre, which is considerably above 

 the average yield of corn in this region. The po- 

 tatoes did not do so well, yiek'ing but about 120 

 bushels to the acre. 



The great principles which we have laid down, 

 are, to cultivate the soil ill such a manner as that 

 the fertility shall annually increase, and to culti- 

 vate no more land than we can manure ivtll. Ac- 

 cordingly we determine the extent of land to be 

 plowed, by the quantity of manure which we have, 

 and spread the manure upon the sod and turn it in 

 and plant and harvest without disturbing the sod. 

 The next spring we plow and harrow and seed 

 down generally with oats to be mowed green, and 

 plow up another piece of sward. In this way, each 

 field is plowed and manured every few years. 



Respectfully, yours, H. F. 



.1tlUhoro\ April 9lh, 1844. 



If some ascribe the fertility of the soil to the 

 presence of the alkalies in great abundance, others 

 to that of the phosphates, others to that of lime, 

 others to that of alumina, and ottiers, finally, to 

 that of vegetable matter in a soluble state — all 

 these extreme opinions are reconciled, and their 

 partial truth reeognized, in this general principle — 

 that a soil, 10 be fertile, must contain all the sub- 

 stances which the plant we desire to grow can only 

 obtain from the soil, and in such state as readily 

 to supply all its wants, whih; at the same time it 



must contain nothing hurtful to vegetable life 



^o/iris(on. 



Corn given lo fowls should be crushed and 

 soaked in water; this helps digestion. 



ENGLISH CAPITAL. 

 " Another marked distinction, already alluded to 

 between the condition of the proprietors of th( 

 soil here and with us in America, is in the amoun 

 of capital existing here. It is absolutely enor 

 mous. Let me mention some facts which havt 

 been stated to me on credible authority ; and lei 

 me premise that a pound sterling is about equal tc 

 live dollars United States currency. Under a law 

 of the present government here, levying a tax upon 

 every man's income, when it exceeds £150 a year, 

 persons liable to taxation are required to make n 

 just return of their income, under a heavy penalty 

 A confectioner in London, returned, as his annual 

 income, the sum of thirty thousand pounds sterlinffj 

 or one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or su 

 times as much as the salary of the President ol 

 the United Stales ; which showed, at least, how 

 skilful he was in compounding some of the sweets 

 of life. A nobleman, it is said, has contracted 

 with a ma-atcr builder to erect for him, in London, 

 four thousand — not forty, not four hundred, but 

 four thousand houses, of a good size for occupa. 

 lion. In some of the best parts of London, acres 

 of land, vast squares, are occupied with lar^e and 

 elegant dwelling houses, paying heavy rents, in 

 long rows, blocks, and crescents, and all belonging 

 to some single individual. One nobleman, whose 

 magnificent estate was left to him by his father, 

 encumbered with a debt or some hundred thousand 

 pounds, has, by limiting, as it is termed here, hi» 

 own annual expenditure to thirty thousand pounds, 

 well nigh extinguished this debt, and, in all human 

 probability, will soon have his patrimonial estate 

 free of encumbrance. The incomes of some men 

 in this country, amount to twenty, twentyfive, fifty, 

 one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, even 

 three hund ed thousand pounds annually. 



It is very difficult for New England men even to 

 conceive of such wealth. A farmer in Lincoln- 

 shire told me that the crop of wheat grown upon 

 his farm one year, was eighteen thousand bushels. 

 The rent annually paid by one farmer in Northum- 

 berland, exceeded seven thousand pounds, or thir- 

 tyfive thousand dollars. These facts, which have 

 been stated lo me by gentlemen in whose veracity 

 I have entire confidence, and who certainly are in- 

 capable of attempting any 'tricks upon travellers,'' 

 show the enormous masses of wealth which are 

 here accumulated. A gentleman of distinguished 

 standing in the community, has recently added to 

 his property, by the purchase of lands to the 

 amount of two hundred thousand pounds sterling, 

 that is, a million of dollars; and his estate, now in 

 cultivation, and under his own personal inspection, 

 and, with the exception of about fimr liundred 

 acres lying in one body, amounts lo six thousand 

 acres. Another gentleman of h!gh rank, who 

 to nn extraordinary brilliancy of talent and an ac- 

 complished edni-atim unites the most active spirit 

 of agricultural improvement, has, though not all in 

 his imrnediale occupation, yet all under his imme- 

 diate supervision, a tract of more than twelve thou- 

 sand acres in a course of systematic cultivation or 

 gradual improvement." 



Hedgts and Enclosnrts. 



'' The green fences in England, by which Ihe 

 farms are surrounded and divided, are often a beau- 

 tiful feature in the landscape. I shall hereafter 

 describe their cultivation and management. Where 

 they are complete, and neatly trimmed and formed, 

 with here and there a single plant lelt to rise above 



