206 



]st:w exglaxd farmer. 



Mat 



a useful example to others. I am •\vi]Iinj» to make 

 any judicious investments in the improvement of 

 the soil itself, that will, as a practical business 

 operation, pay a fair return. With this brief pre- 

 face, I would say that the tillage land of my farm 

 has been rather superficially cultivated, and the 

 surface soil is a good deal worn. I have not 

 much practical experience in regard to soils, but 

 it has seemed to me that the subsoil should be 

 taken into account in judging of the character 

 and capacity of land. I have examined the sub- 

 soil in various places, and find it to be mostly a 

 stiff and close brown or yellowish loam, and usu- 

 ally packed down hard. How shall I proceed 

 with this land, what kinds of plowing do I want, 

 how deep shall I plow, how cultivate afterwards, 

 and in short, what plan of improving husbandry 

 shall I pursue to make it productive ? 



4. I have thirty or forty acres of land near the 

 buildings, which I desire to convert into produc- 

 tive pasture, principally for milch cows. The 

 land is somewhat uneven, but sufficiently level 

 for plowing. It has been impoverished by occa- 

 sional grain crops, and in the intervals between 

 them by overfeeding with stock. The soil has 

 apparently never been stirred more than four or 

 five inches deep, but the subsoil appears to be 

 pretty good, and tolerably free from stone. How 

 shall I manage to make a good pasture of this 

 tract of land ? 



u. Can I make profitable use of Peruvian gu- 

 ano, either as a sole fertilizer of land, or as an 

 assistant to fertility on land otherwise well ma- 

 nured, and if so, to what crop or crops can it best 

 be applied, and in what quantity ? 



6. I have a lowland meadov/ of fifteen to twen- 

 ty acres, subject to overflow by freshets setting 

 back from the river. Though the flowing usually 

 occurs in spring, yet it sometimes happens in 

 summer or fall, and therefore grass is the only 

 safe crop to raise. The surface of the meadow is 

 nearly level, but in places there arc certain slight 

 depressions, and on these portions the water re- 

 mains so long after the subsi:lenco of the flood 

 that it stagnates upon and chills and poisons the 

 land. Coarse water grasses are therefore the only 

 product. The soil is a deep, stiff loam. It ap- 

 pears to me that the flooding of the meadow, to- 

 gether with the sediment brought on thereby, 

 would be beneficial, provided the surface water 

 could be disposed of quickly, or made to pass ofl" 

 ■with the falling of the stream. Now, if I have 

 succeeded in conveying an intelligent impression 

 of the lay and condition of this tract of lowland, 

 will you please advise mo how to proceed to make 

 it good sweet mowing land ? 



7. I have in another place a few acres of what 

 is called bog meadow, which I wish to improve 

 for mowing lands, it being desirable to make all 

 the hay crops I can for winter use. This piece of 

 meadow was imperfectly drained years ago, but 

 the muck being in some places quite deep, and the 

 cultivation difficult, the productions have now 

 become mostly the coarse wild grasses. I have al- 

 ready drained the meadow thoroughly, cutting off 

 the springs that flowed in from the higher land. 

 I now wish to introduce upon it a better quality 

 of grass. How shall I manage to convert this 

 land into good mowing by the quickest jirocess ? 



As I before remarked, I am sure that the in- 

 formation I am now seeking to obtain from you, 



would bo interesting and useful to many others, 

 who, like me, need advice. Therefore, if it would 

 be agreeable to you, I should be pleased to re- 

 ceive your reply through ihe New England Farm- 

 er, as I am a constant reader of that paper, but 

 in that case I should prefer to be ^'■incog." as to 

 name and residence, feeling too inexperienced in 

 farming pursuits to appear by name in print. 

 Very respectfully and truly yours, 

 , Feb. 11, 1801. — . — . 



To- 



il/^ Dear Sir: — I have your favor of the 11th 

 inst., and employ my earliest leisure to respond 

 to it in the way you request. Your interrogato- 

 ries embrace a wide field of farming, and certain- 

 ly evince a good deal of interest and enthusiasm 

 on your part in farming matters. I am led to 

 conclude that you will probably find success and 

 satisfaction in agricultural pursuits, for you evi- 

 dently have a decided taste for them. I have had 

 occasion several times, either by private or public 

 communications, or by both, to answer inquiries 

 similar to some you propose; but nevertheless, 

 your questions shall now bo ansAvered as well as 

 I am able to do it in the limited space of one or 

 two communications. Some of them might, singly, 

 well demand a whole article for an answer. I 

 have numbered them, for convenience of reply. 



1. It will work well to make the compost of 

 muck and manure on your intended corn field, as 

 you propose. Place the heaps at convenient dis- 

 tances on the field for the final distribution of 

 their contents upon the land, and put in all, say 

 thirty to fifty loads in each heap. The heaps 

 should be piled in alternate thin layers of each 

 material, say of four to six inches thickness — 

 thus more perfectly mixing muck and manure 

 than would be done by putting on larger quanti- 

 ties of each at a time. The piles should be laid 

 up as lightly as possible, and the height should 

 not be more than about five feet, lest the bottom 

 courses should be too much compressed to heat 

 and ferment well. The heaps may be of conve- 

 nient width, and of suitable length to contain the 

 desired quantity. The composting should be 

 done with system and nicety, so as to secure a 

 fermentation of the heaps that will cut down the 

 coarser portions of the manure as well as sweeten 

 and decompose the muck, and make it the fit food 

 of plants. A bungling workman could rapidly 

 tumble the muck and manure together at hap- 

 hazard, perhaps driving his team up on to the 

 heap, tipping up a load in a place, and treading 

 the layers down solid, but the result would be 

 that the desirable fermentation and decomposition 

 would not be secured, and the compost would not 

 be prepared for use between this and planting 

 time. But if properly laid up, the piles will soon 

 begin to heat, and in a few weeks may be shov- 

 elled over, and in a week or two after that, the 

 compost will be fit for spreading. The labor of 

 shovelling over will hs well repaid in the superi- 

 or fineness and effectiveness thereby imparted to 

 the manure. I have made up heaps of this kind 

 as late as the 10th or loth of April, overhauled 

 them in two or three weeks after, and had them: 

 fit for use by the 10th of May. 



With horse or sheep manure, or other strong 

 stable manure where grain or roots have been fed 

 to the stock, you may put at least two parts of 



