446 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMER. 



Oct. 



invariably shallow plowing, an artificial hard pan 

 has been formed within four to six inches of the 

 surface, through which the roots of the crops sel- 

 dom or never penetrate. By at once breaking 

 through this crust, bringing up the subsoil, and 

 exposing it to the atmosphere and to high cultiva- 

 tion, a remarkable freshness, mellowness and vig- 

 or is given to the land, the labor of the after-cul- 

 tivation is much lessened, the soil, thus deepened 

 and improved in mechanical texture, better re- 

 sists the effects of extreme drought or moisture, 

 the roots of vegetation having an enlarged range 

 for food, moisture, &c., the crops are thereby in- 

 creased, and when the land is again laid down to 

 grass, the sod does not quickly become bound, be- 

 cause the roots, having a deep range, do not so 

 soon web themselves together near the surface. 

 The writer has seen some fine illustrations ot the 

 advantages of this kind of cultivation, several of 

 which he has heretofore described in the Farmer, 

 and about others of which he will have something 

 to say hereafter. Notwithstanding that "tradition" 

 is against him, he will not let the subject rest. 



F. HOLBROOK. 



Brattleboro', August 10, 1860. 



VAIiUE OF TAWNER'S BARK. 



Seeking shelter from "a gust," the other day, 

 we entered the new and fine barn of Mr. Albert 

 Gates, of Stow, Mass., and after getting away 

 from the wind and rain, which were becoming a 

 little furious, about the first thing we noticed, 

 was, that the leanto floors were sprinkled with 

 dry tanner's bark, and that an ample quantity of 

 it was conveniently stored up for daily use. Mr. 

 Gates said, "most people look upon it as value- 

 less, that it possesses no fertilizing properties 

 whatever, and that the value of its mechanical in- 

 fluences upon the soil Avill not pay the cost of 

 carting and apjilication : but he thought differ- 

 ently. He had used it on sandy and gravelly lands 

 with good efl"ect, and he liked it on his leanto 

 floors in the summer." 



Though possessing some qualities capable of 

 rendering it highly efficient when appropriated to 

 purposes of enrichment, this article is yet rarely 

 applied in this country as a stimulant to growing 

 cropsl Large accumulations of spent bark may 

 be seen in the vicinity of most of our tanneries, 

 where it might be obtained in any desirable quan- 

 tities, and at a very low cost. 



The following remarks, which we copy from the 

 Mark Lane Express, (English,) relative to the 

 value of this agent, are deserving of some regard : 



"New Manure. — Immediately adjoining the 

 farm I occupy, is a tan-yard, with about twenty 

 acres of poor clay land attached ; it is so situated 

 that I can, from my own fields, survey the whole 

 at a single glance. A few years since I observed, 

 in the middle of one of the fields a small piece 

 which was at the time tilled to wheat, and look- 

 ing very luxuriant ; knowing that no manure heap 

 had been placed there, J went to examine the 



cause, Avhen the tanner, who is an experimental 

 farmer on a small scale, informed me that he had 

 taken from the yard, four or five barrels of waste 

 hair, and spread it upon this sjjot of about two 

 yards. He has likewise turned to account the 

 rotten tan from the yard by placing it thick in the 

 orchards, and seldom fails of a good crop of ap- 

 ples ; the trees look very healthy, and throw their 

 shoots very strong ; he is now drawing the waste 

 tan on the roads to be trodden up, preparatory to 

 its being used as a manui'e for land." 



The author of the foregoing is Mr. DoBLE, an 

 English gentleman, distinguished alike for his 

 high scientific attainments, and his warm attach- 

 ment to the farming art, which he has indefatiga- 

 bly labored to improve. 



Where pure tanner's bark is used as a manuri- 

 al application, it should be mixed with a consid- 

 erable quantity of lime in a caustic state, and 

 permitted to remain some time to rot, before be- 

 ing spread. In the foregoing case, the tan bark 

 was doubtless oak bark — the English tanners em- 

 ploying that article, exclusively, in the prepara- 

 tion of their leather for the market. By mixing 

 the refuse of the tan-yard with mould, muck, 

 lime, crude ashes, &c., and composting it, — tak- 

 ing care in all cases that the quantity of caustic 

 lime, or unspent ashes be sufficient to destroy 

 the remains of the tannin in the bark, it may, no 

 doubt, be made to contribute essentially to the 

 fertility of any soil to which it may be applied. 



In the centre of one of the pleasant villages of 

 New Hampshire, there is a piece of land that was 

 several years ago a mere tract of sand, that had 

 never been known to produce any green thing 

 upon it save here and there a half-starved running 

 blackberry vine, or a stunted product of some 

 hardy weeds. This land is now said to be the 

 most pi'oductive piece of land in town. The own- 

 er informed us that he brought it to its present 

 state of fertility mainly by the use of spent tan 

 — that he applied it plentifully at first, and plowed 

 it under ten inches deep, added a little manure 

 and planted the land. This course he continued 

 for several years, encouraged annually by the in- 

 creasing crops, until he brought the whole field 

 to its present high state of fertility. 



In many of our New England towns there are 

 large quantities of this material which may be 

 had at trifling cost, and the success of this exper- 

 iment may encourage others to make trial for 

 themselves. 



1^° The Country Oentleman says : We are in- 

 formed that the amount of butter sent from the 

 Greenfield station to Boston, for the year ending 

 July 1"), 1860, reached a total of 201,576 lbs., 

 100 1576-2000 tuns. The number of cars of stock 

 sent to Cambridge during the year was 242 ; of 

 which 142 were sheep, averaging 12,780 sheep; 

 100 were cattle, averaging 1500 cattle ; total, 

 14,280. 



