404 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SALT AS A MANURE. 



At a late rneetinfr of the BronriFgrnve (Knij.) Far- 

 mers' Club, Mr H. F. Fartlun, stated somo inter- 

 esting; I'acts relative to the use of salt ns manure. 

 We copy from the London Gardener's Chronicle: 



" CiiMinion salt," he said, "has lately attracted 

 much attention as a manure, and upon light soils 

 it is very valuable. I have received two letters on 

 this subject, containinor the actual e.vperience of 

 two thorou(;hly practical agriculturists. The fol- 

 lowing are e.ttracts : " I have used salt for agricul- 

 tural purposes many years with success, and am 

 thoroughly convinced of its utility. I am now ap- 

 plying it for barley on all my lightest soils, con- 

 taining any considerable portion of vegetable, at 

 the rate of five to six c«t. per acre ; also on iny 

 wheat of the autumnal sowing on the same descrip- 

 tion of soils, and, at the same rate per acre. I did 

 BO last year with great success. I gave it, as in 

 other years, a fair trial, by leaving a strip in each 

 field without the salt, which in every case plainly 

 showed itself in the months of May and June, par- 

 ticularly in the wheat. Our wl^eat in the latter 

 part of May and the beginning of June, is very 

 much subject to the red rusl, a disease very detri- 

 mental here; but it is completely obviated by the 

 use of salt, and the sample is much finer, the yield 

 bfetler, and much freer from light or diseased grains 

 when salt is applied. I last year salted a twenty- 

 acre field of barley, at the rate of 6 cwt. per acre, 

 leaving a strip the whole length of the field with- 

 out salt ; at harvest, the greatest novice might 

 have discovered the diffcreAce, the salted being 

 very superior in sample and color. I last weelt 

 winnowed 300 bushels of it, without having a sin- 

 gle bushel of light — a circumstance which does 

 not occur with us this year where salt was not 

 used. This was grown on land which ten years 

 ago, was considered not worth cultivating, but be- 

 ing wonderfully improved by the use of bones and 

 salt, it now grows as good turnips and barley as 

 any land I have. I have also used salt very satis- 

 factorily for fixing the ammonia in manures." 



Mr Matthews, the other gentleman referred to, 

 writes as follows: " If salt were found only on the 

 shores of South America, and imported here at the 

 price of guano, I think it would be in more general 

 use than it is at present. Its value no one attempts 

 to question, but nevertlieless its application is very 

 limited. My experience of its eflx>cts is confined 

 to light s<iils ; and upon such, 1 know of no article 

 so beneficial. For turnips, barley, clover and 

 wheat, ; it is equally good, used either as a top. 

 dressing or worked inio and incorporated with the 

 Boil. Nor is It of value only as regards an in- 

 crease of produce, for I have always found the qtinl- 

 ily greatly improved where it has been used large- 

 ly. The fold-yard should have an abundant sup- 

 ply; it should be applied, at the least, once in 

 every week. Upon grass lands, whether upland 

 pastures or watered meadows, I have found its use 

 alike advantageous. I have generally applied it 

 in the form of a compost with soils, but J do not 

 consider this as necessary. Last spring I dressed 

 a meadow of five acres with salt and soil ; the ef- 

 feet was most convincing, both in the hay crop and 

 aftermath. Tlie sheep and cattle I turned into it, 

 had access to an adjoining meadow, and their prefe- 

 rence for that which had been salted, was really 

 ludicrous ; they could not be induced to leave it 

 when it was as bare as a common, while the other 

 meadow had abundance of grass upon it. Pray do 

 the community the good service of urging the! 



OrifE 19, 1814 



more general use of salt, especially on light lands. 

 I am satisfied that every man whom you can pre- 

 vail upon to adopt its use largely, will ultimately 

 thank you for the good you confer upon liim." 



" Theso letters," said Mr Fardon, " afford practi- 

 cal evidence o( the value of salt, and I hope far- 

 mers on light land will try it. Salt may operate 

 in fixing ammonia by converting the volatile car- 

 bonate of ammonia into the fixed muriate, being 

 converted itself into carbonate of soda, a valuable 

 constituent of manure. Salt may also benefit light 

 dry soils, by its attraction for water, and it has the 

 effi-ct of rendering herbage more palatable to stock. 



Mr Elliot considered that the chief merit of salt 

 as a manure, consisted in afl^'ording a supply of soda 

 to plants, rather than in fixing ammonia. He con- 

 sidered that plants had the power of decomposing 

 common salt and obtaining the soda, but this was 

 merely a supposition, which lie intended to bring 

 to the test of experiment. 



As to the quantity of salt that should be applied 

 per acre, it was contended that 5 to 6 cwt. was the 

 utmost that should be used. 



MODE OF APPLYING GUANO. 



Having prepared the accompanying directions 

 for using Guano, for the information of Sir Charles 

 Lemon's tenantry, it has occurred to me that tlieir 

 publication may be of service to others: 



L I: should never be applied in contact with 

 seeds, as it kills them as soon as they begin to veg- 

 etate. 



2. It should be mixed as equally as pos.^ihle, 

 with about four times its bulk of finely pulverizi-d 

 earth, or peat-ashes, (cold.) If sand is used, about 

 twice its bulk will be sufficient. 



3. The quantity per acre may vary from two to 

 four cwt., according to the nature and quality of 

 the land. Recent experiments have shown that a 

 quantity which proved highly beneficial in poor 

 soil, became deleterious upon land previously rich. 



4. The best time for applying it is shortly after 

 vegetation has commenced, and immediately before 

 rain, or during damp warm weather. 



5. The best mode of application is, to divide the 

 quantity per acre into two or three equal parts, and 

 sow them broadcast at iniervals of about ten days, 

 or a fortnight. 



6. For small allotments it may be more conve- 

 nient to use it in a liquid state — in which case, 

 mix 4 lbs of guano with 12 gallons of water, and 

 let it stand for 24 hours before being used. The 

 same guano will do for mixing again with the same 



quantity of water, after the first is drawn off. }V. 



B. Booth, in London Gard Cfiron. 



Mixlurc of Soils. — In many districts there are 

 varieties of land which, by an equitable exchange, 

 make each other productive, without the addition of j 

 manure. For instance, sand and clay : neither of j 

 these are so fertile by itself, as the two mixed to- 

 gether. All gardeners know the craving nature 

 of a sandy soil, and tlie almost impossibility of do- 

 ing anylliing with clay in its natural state ; yet 

 men ars found who obstinately toil on with each 

 separately, when they have both opportunity and 

 facility of bringing them together, thereby saving 

 both present and future outlay. — Lond. Gard. Chron. 



Guano for Canals. — One of your subscribers 

 asks if guano is a good manure for carrots. It is : 

 but it must be well worked into the soil, to render 

 It safe li/. 



SELECTIONS 



From the London ^Agricultural Gazelle. 



Vitrl and Rot in Potatoes. — I think the lol 

 and disappointment from both curl and rot may, 

 99 cases out of every 100, be prevented, by the e 

 ercise of a little care and common sense. To pi 

 vent the curl, it is important that " mealy" potato 

 be not used for seed. I knew a market.garden 

 near Edinburgh, who was famed for his early pot 

 toes. His practice always was to dig up and p 

 away sufficient for next year's seed, before thi 

 had completed their growth; they were full of s 

 and kept so. I have myself had early potato 

 so waxy in quality that they were not fit for the t 

 ble, but made very good seed. An old luoster 

 mine who had resided on the coast of Argylshii 

 told me the practice there was to dress the grou 

 intended for the following year's seed, with fuc 

 from the the sea-shore ; the quality of the produ 

 was exceedingly waxy and uneatable, but tl 

 made them all the better for seed— in fact, it w 

 done purposely. So much for curl. Now for r 

 A neighbor of mine, happened by chance to ha 

 a very good crop of potatoes that were planted lal 

 thinking the superiority of the crop was occasion 

 by late planting, it afterwards became a prncti 

 with him. My friend called me one day to lo 

 at his potato field, which had been dressed w; 

 farm-yard manure and well prepared, and in a d 

 appointed mood said to me, '• I wi.'ih you would e 

 amine these potatoes: they come up very bad, a 

 I do not know what is the matter." The fact wii 

 they had been stored away with a large mass i. 

 winter, and deprived of growths two to three i 

 ches long, before they were cut into sets for plat 

 jng. Their vitality was quite exhausted befc 

 they were put into the ground. Soils, manun 

 and seasons, no doubt, will affect a potato crop 

 various ways; but, in my opinion, w.ill indu 

 neither rot nor curl, if a little care is taken to pi 

 vent it. Seed potatoes should not be of a iiiea 

 quality, nor should they be stored whe-re thev w 

 heat; nor should the planting be protracted t 

 the potato has exhausted its vital powers ; n 

 should the potatoes be kept out of the grou 

 more than 24 hours after they are cut. Quercus 



Agricultural Experiment. — It would contribu 

 much to advance our knowledge of the action 

 artificial manures, if the experiments were conti 

 ued upon the same piece of land during successi 

 years. The problem would then be solved whet 

 er a plant can supply itself, year after year, wi 

 organic matter, when inorganic matter only is su 

 plied. I found that the ashes from 5 cwt. of dun 

 produced an equal weight of turnips as 5 cwt. 

 dungunburnt; but whether the succeeding cro 

 will be as good, remains to be proved The e 

 pense of carriage prevents the use of dung whi 

 accumulates in large towns, except by those fa 

 mers who live within a few miles; but if the ash 

 proved equally beneficial, the weight would be r 

 duced nine-tenths, and the expense of carriage t 

 most completely ren.oved J. B. Lawes. 



Old Mortar. — Soot and old lime will not act ' 

 each other, but each may be usefully applied. A 

 ply after the rate of 30 bushels of soot per act 

 and apply all the old mortar you have on yo 

 land, pounded small, at the rate ol ICO bushels p 

 acre, 'i ou may mix them or nol,just as you pleas 



To Preserve your Horse Dung, mix it with ve, 

 etalile mould, and cover it with the same. 



