136 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



much of its fertilizing properties in the pro- 

 duction of the first crop of grass. It would not 

 surprise me on the return of the next season, to 

 find the green cov,' manure lot superior and 

 more reliable than either of the other fertilizers, 

 as a general dressing. Should the return of the 

 next year's mowing result as I anticipate, I 

 may possibly trespass upon your valuable paper 

 at a future day. Richakd S. Rogers. 



Oak Hill, South Danvers, Jan. 25, 18G1. 



Remarks. — "We hope Mr. Rogers will con- 

 tinue his valuable experiments and favor us with 

 the results. They are just what is needed. By 

 continuing them two or three years on the same 

 field, they will go far to settle the question of 

 comparative value between the different fertilizers 

 he has used. We shall be glad to hear from Mr. 

 R. on other topics. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 JETHRO TULIi OJNT STIKKING THE SOIL. 



It is now more than a century since Jethro 

 TuU undertook to show to the agricultural world, 

 that manure was unnecessary in practical hus- 

 bandry, and that the great desideratum was the 

 frequent stirring of the soil. But while he failed 

 in this, he proved that good tillage was very im- 

 portant, though it could not supply the place of 

 manure. 



Ml". Tull was an Englishman, and was educated 

 for the law ; but his health being poor, he trav- 

 elled on the continent. After returning, he set- 

 tled on a small, but poor farm, and while here, 

 his industry and mental activity made him more 

 famous than he probably would have been in his 

 original profession. He experimented and wrote 

 books upon agriculture. Having seen some 

 peasants on the continent frequently scarifying 

 the soil around their grape vines, while using lit- 

 tle or no manure, he assumed the hypothesis that 

 good tillage was the only thing needful. A very 

 unreasonable conclusion, indeed, but not more so 

 than many other professional men have had the 

 weakness to adopt at their sudden initiation into 

 agriculture. He not only spoke and wrote 

 against the economy of the use of manure, but he 

 ruthlessly assailed as nauseous all garden vege- 

 tables raised in it. This whim, however, has had 

 its counterpart in more modern times ; for I well 

 recollect that a member of an erratic Physiologi- 

 cal Society in Boston, some dozen years since, 

 placed a basket of potatoes, covered with a wire 

 gauze, on the sidewalk opposite his place of busi- 

 ness, labelled, ^'I'hi/siological Potatoes, raised 

 without manure!" So it is that men "play their 

 part in fortune's pageant," and in their persistent 

 pride of opinion, frequently cultivate a moon-lit 

 philosophy, which suddenly disappears in the 

 stronger rays of day. 



Mr. Tull used to say that "Plants are earth, 

 and they can't have too much of it." To well 

 comminuted soil everything else was secondary. 

 The truism, that 



"All forms that perish other forms supply," 



was so disregarded that he did not see that plants 

 and animal substances, in their decomposition, 

 furnish the only materials for new organizations. 



With a certain degree of success, however, he 

 pursued his starving system of tillage for a few 

 years, till at last all the available elements of his 

 soil being exhausted by repeated pulverizations, 

 he was obliged to resort to manure ! But so stub- 

 bonly wedded was he to his theory, and so un- 

 willing to admit the nutritive effect of manure, 

 that he then affirmed that the only benefit from 

 the fertilizers was the mechanical assistance which 

 they rendered to the soil in its development of 

 vegetable pabulum ! In other words, that the 

 manure simply assisted in the further divisions 

 of the earth, without adding anything of value. 

 Mr. Tull died in 1740. 



Whether the pulverizing system, if true, would 

 be economical, would depend upon the amount of 

 tillage it demanded. But as it is of only second- 

 ary importance, it is not worth while to calculate 

 it. Undoubtedly, the frequent stirring of the soil 

 makes it a more ready receptacle of the gases, 

 rains and dev.s, and these afford positive nutri- 

 ment. Besides this, the more a soil is pulver- 

 ized, the more readily it parts with the important 

 elements it may contain — whether organic or in- 

 organic — the more it will nourish plants, but the 

 sooner, of course, it will become exhausted of 

 what it possesses. And to prevent this barren- 

 ness, manure is the obvious remedy. 



West Medford, Jan., 1861. D. w. L. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ■WIN-TEEljXrO- BEES. 



In the Farmer of Jan. 12th, is an article on 

 wintering bees, that indicates that the writer has 

 had considerable experience and observation. — 

 The bee-keeper who winters his bees in the open 

 air, would do well to heed his advice. There is 

 one point, however, in which he is mistaken, that 

 I would correct. He says that "Quinby and 

 Langstroth state that they have wintered swarms 

 on four, five and six pounds of honey." In this 

 he must be mistaken, as far as I am concerned. 

 I really would not dare to advance any such idea. 

 In fact I do not believe that an ordinary sized 

 colony could be wintered on that amount. I 

 have weighed a great many hives, and the least 

 honey that a colony has consumed in six months, 

 from Oct. to April was fourteen pounds. I have 

 had others, at the sametime, that consumed 17,18 

 and one even 21 pounds. They will average 

 about 18. If the spring is unfavorable, a good, 

 large colony will consume, from the first of April 

 till they get a full supply from clover, as much 

 more, provided it is on hand — probably used in 

 rearing brood ; with but little honey, less brood 

 is reared. 



I am satisfied that bees consume less honey 

 when wintered in the house, than in the open air. 

 But in no case would I recommend risking a stock 

 with much less than 25 lbs. of stores, unless they 

 could receive attention in the spring, and be fed if 

 necessary. M. Quinby. 



St. Johnsville, N. Y. 



New Frtjits. — Among the new fruits we find 

 noticed in several of our exchanges are Moore's 

 Pear, which Ilorefs Magazine notices as one of 

 the most valuable of all varieties — larger than the 

 Doyenne Boussock. 



