228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May , 



Our agricultural societies pay hundreds of dol- 

 lars annually in premiums for the best animals of 

 different kinds, exhibited at our shows, but -what 

 we most need to know, is, how most economical- 

 ly to produce them. Premiums offered for good 

 animals, or crops, are but little benefit to the pub- 

 lic without this. 



I have not been able to ascertain that more than 

 one society in the State (the Hampshire, at Am- 

 herst.) has offered premiums for such experiments. 

 In that case, but two persons made a trial — 

 Messrs. Moxtague and IIubbakd, both of whose 

 experiments v.erc decidedly unfavorable to the 

 use of cooked food. I have recently seen the state- 

 ment that, from experiments conducted in Scot- 

 land, it would not pay to cook food for stock. In 

 view of these conflicting results from different ex- 

 periments, we need more light. Can you, ^Ir. 

 Editor, or any of your correspondents, shed any 

 upon the subjeet ? Elihu Sjuth. 



Sunderland, March, 1860. 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTUBAL 

 MEETING. 



[RBPORtlTD FOB, THE NEW ENGLAND FAaMEE BY ThOS. BeADLEY.] 



The eleventh meeting of the present series of 

 the Legislative Agricultural Society was held in 

 the Representatives' Hall at the State House on 

 Monday evening. Col. HEARD, of Wayland, oc- 

 cupied the chair, and announced the subject for 

 discussion to be "3Ianures." 



Mr. Spariiawk, of Charlestown, being called 

 upon, said it was well understood that the growth 

 of plants was produced by air, light and the sus- 

 tenance from the soil, and it was necessaiy that 

 the nature of the plant should be known in order 

 to know what sustenance it needs. It was an ac- 

 knowledged fact that the lands in Massachusetts 

 have very much deteriorated within thirty or fifty 

 years by constant cropping, and he was of opin- 

 ion, from what had been stated at the last meet- 

 ing, that the lands in Ohio would soon be in the 

 same condition, as he could only compare the 

 people tliere to buffaloes roaming in search of new 

 pastures, when they had used up all there was on 

 the old. The speaker said that in China, France 

 and England, the land, notwithstanding the heavy 

 draft upon it, has improved under scientific til- 

 lage, and this confirmed him in the opinion that 

 we must understand something of agricultural 

 chemistry to restore our lands. This is not so 

 much necessary on the rich lands, as on those 

 worn out, in order to bring them to their primary 

 condition. 



Alluding to the growth of plants, Mr. Sparhawk 

 said that when manure was thoroughly decom- 

 posed it was in its best condition for feeding, and 

 that green manure, unless plowed in deep, was not 

 so good, as the straw mixed with it acted as so 

 many syphons, carrying off the ammonia and oth- 

 er fertilizing properties. If green manure is ap- 

 plied to the surface, he contended that it must l^e 



that a great part of the organic matter is lost. 

 He considered it a great mistake to apply green 

 manure to the surface of grass lands, and so far 

 as his observation went, it had been particularly 

 injurious when applied to the roots of trees. There 

 was another objection to green manure, in the 

 fact that when applied it contained, necessarily, a 

 great mass of undigested matter, which not being 

 thoroughly decomposed, was, as he thought, the 

 means of drawing together and breeding worms 

 or insects injurious to crops. He claimed that to 

 avoid this, it should be diluted with carbon in the 

 cellar and mixed with muck. He did not wish to 

 be understood as saying that green manure well 

 plowed into arable land, Avhere it did not come in 

 contact with trees or grass, was not good, but he 

 considered that where manure was kept in the 

 cellar until spring, without absorbents, and then 

 carted to the field in a heap until used, it was a 

 loss. 



As a matter of economy, he said, no man can 

 afford to purchase foreign manures, such as guano, 

 &c., when better can be produced for much less 

 money on any farm in the State. It is as neces- 

 sary, said he, to study the wants of plants as that 

 of animals, and the value of our crops depends 

 upon the cultivation they receive, and the quality 

 of the crop will increase in the same proportion as 

 the quality of the land from cultivation. 



Hon. Amasa Walker, of North Brookfield, 

 being called upon, said he had come to the city 

 on another matter than that under discussion, but 

 one which he considered paramount to all others 

 at the present time — the disease among the cattle 

 in that portion of the State where he resided. 



On motion of Mr. Stoughton, of Gill, the sub- 

 ject under discussion was laid on the table and 

 that of the cattle disease taken up. 



Mr. Walker said that he considered the dan- 

 ger from the disease Avas a hundi-ed fold gi-eater 

 than it was two weeks ago, as the contagion had. 

 been found to be so rapid. It was well known 

 that the disease was considered to be incurable 

 in Europe, and he had been delegated by the se- 

 lectmen of North Brookfield to come to Boston 

 and urge upon the Legislature the necessity of 

 taking immediate action to check its ravages. He 

 alluded to the excitement existing in the towns 

 where the disease was, as well as those surround- 

 ing, and said that it was supposed it had spread 

 to Sterling, where four cows had been sold from a 

 herd that had been exposed, but which had not 

 yet shown symptoms of the disease. 



Mr. Stougiiton, of Gill, alluded to the resolve 

 before the Legislature, and said it provided that 

 when any person knew or suspected the disease 

 to be among his cattle, he should give informa- 

 tion to the Selectmen or Mayor and Aldermen. 

 He thought that where some men Avere only going 



