362 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



makes himself thoroughly master of, and conver- 

 sant with, the curriculum of knowledge, or to 

 maintain that a person cannot enjoy health, until 

 he is thoroughly conversant with a knowledge of 

 anatomy and physiology. Farming is an art, and 

 those who practice it as such, are they who have 

 been the best and most successful farmers, and 

 have accordingly made the most money. Let in- 

 telligent farmers beware of "professional igno- 

 rance," says one practical Farmer. 



THE VALUE OF COAL ASHES AND 

 CINDERS, 



Coal ashes are, as a general thing, thrown away 

 and thought a nuisance. But after some experi- 

 ence I am inclined to take a different view of the 

 matter. 



It may be, and undoubtedly is the case that 

 they are less valuable than those derived from 

 wood. The ash of coal contains gypsum, lime 

 and phosphoric acid, but its main bulk is com- 

 posed of insoluble silica. I have found coal ashes 

 to be very useful in the peach orchard ; in the fall 

 they should be spread around the root of the tree 

 at the rate of a good-sized wheelbarrow load to 

 each tree, and spread some five inches thick at 

 the trunk, and sloping off gradually all around ; 

 the ashes should be allowed to remain in this po- 

 sition until the tree is out in blossom, when they 

 should be spread over the orchard. I consider 

 that I have derived much benefit from this plan, 

 and would account for it in the following manner. 

 We all know by experience that a large pile of 

 coal ashes will retain the frost much later than 

 common soil — the ashes at the trunk of the tree 

 (as I have proven by experiments,) retain the 

 frost later in the spring, and prevent the ti-ees 

 from coming out in bloom too soon. Another 

 good effect is that ashes thus applied will keep off 

 the peach worm, which is often so destructive to 

 the trees. Besides these mechanical advantages, 

 coal ashes contain substances which are beneficial 

 to vegetation of all kinds. Last winter I kept a 

 portion of coal ashes under shelter until the ground 

 was well frozen, when they were spread as before; 

 if the effect should be thereby changed, I will re- 

 port at the proper season. This system will apply 

 as well to other fruits as to the peach. I have 

 tried it with the same success on apple, pear and 

 cherry trees. 



If coal ashes produced no other advantage than 

 the mechanical one of loosening the soil, they 

 would still be valuable. But the following anal- 

 ysis, by Prof. Norton, proves them to be valuable 

 as a manure. He found one hundred parts of ash 

 from white ash coal, without any wood ashes from 

 kindling, contained of 



Insoluble silica 88.68 



Soluble 0.09 



Alumina 3.36 



Iron 4.03 



Lime 2.11 



Magnesia 0.19 



Soda 0.22 



Potash 0.16 



Phosphoric acid 0.20 



Sulphuric acid 0.86 



Chlorine 0.09 



Those who advocate the application of iron to 

 peach trees will find another reason for my suc- 

 cess in the amount of that substance contained in 

 coal ashes. 



One of my neighbors has for many years ap- 

 plied coal ashes to his potato patch as a preven- 

 tive of rot, and has not since been troubled with 

 rotten potatoes. He retains the same piece of 

 ground several years in succession, and applies 

 coal ashes in large quantities each year. He at- 

 tributes his success to the loosening or mechani- 

 cal effects of the ashes, but I attribute his and my 

 own success in this line to early planting and early 

 digging. 



As to whether it will pay to buy or haul coal 

 ashes far, I cannot say, but by the above analysis 

 we see that nearly ninety pounds in every one 

 hundred is of no value as a manure ; that the 

 whole potash from one ton of coal ashes would 

 amount to but three pounds, which may be ob- 

 tained at a cost of twenty-five cents ; the sulphuric 

 acid w^ould amount to but eighteen pounds in the 

 ton, and would cost but about sixty-two cents. 

 Apart from the insoluble matter the ashes would 

 be as valuable as some of our patent fertilizers. — 

 Agricola, in Oermantown Telegraph. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 "SPREADIN'O MILK." 



Your New Hampshire correspondent "M." says 

 he has a valuable heifer whose milk spreads very 

 badly, and inquires whether there can be any rem- 

 edy. I have often heard of this imperfection, and 

 though I cannot call it a failing that should induce 

 a farmer to dispose of a good cow, as some have 

 done, it is surely a source of much annoyance to 

 the milker. 



There can be a remedy for this in most cases, 

 unless there is a natural imperfection in the orifice 

 of the teat, in which case it may possibly be out- 

 grown. I cannot tell what may be the cause in 

 this particular case, but I should advise our friend 

 "M," to make an examination, if he has not already 

 done so, and, if he can find out the cause of the 

 difficulty, it can, most probably, be reraided 

 Sometimes a disagreeable spattering is caused by 

 a scratch, or sore, on the end of the teat ; this can 

 be easily cured by a salve which almost every fam- 

 ily keeps in the house — Redding's Russia Salve. 

 This, by the way, I think is the best salve for fam- 

 ily use in the country. 



This spattering is also caused by a fault which 

 the milker is prone to get into, that of leaving the 

 cow's teats wet after milking. This seems to be 

 but a trifling matter, but in hot, dry weather it 

 has a tendency to dry up the teats, the orifice be- 

 comes partially filled up, and what "M." calls 

 "spreading" of milk follows. P. Paige. 



South Hampton, N. H., June 19, 1862. 



A Smuggler's Trick. — A novel way of smug- 

 gling is reported in the French papers. A watch- 

 maker of Alencon having lately offered some Swiss 

 watches at exceedingly low prices, was asked how 

 he could afford to sell them so cheap. "O, that 

 is simple enough," he replied ; "I bought them of 

 a wild beast showman who had just come from 

 Switzerland." Before leaving Geneva he bought 

 a quantity of watches, which he concealed under 

 the litter of his lions' cage. It is hardly necessary 

 to mention that the Custom House officers at the 

 frontier did not venture to search there for con- 

 traband goods. 



