1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



239 



WestboroHgh, Mass., to test the old ques- 

 tion whether seed from one part of the cob 

 was better than that from other parts. An 

 acre was planted in alternate rows with seed 

 taken from the buts, the middle and the tips 

 of the ears. Secretary Flint gives the result 

 of this experiment in his Report for 1858. 

 Estimating the sound corn at one cent a pound, 

 the soft at half a cent a pound and the stover 

 at seven dollars a ton, he presents the follow- 

 ing comparison : — 



Sound corn. Soft corn. Stover. Value. 



Seed from buts . 738 lbs. 77 lbs. 1360 lbs. $12 53 



" " middle, 663 " 164 " 1290 " 11 96 



" " tips, . . 747 " 53 " 1320 " 12 36 



The buts produced the most, the tips next, 

 and the middles the least money value. 



The tips produced the most, the buts next, 

 and the middles the least sound corn. 



The middles produced the most, the buts 

 next, and the tips the least soft corn. 



Secretary Flint remarks, "It is difficult to 

 determine, by this experiment, from what part 

 of the ear the seed should be taken. Proba- 

 bly a mixture of the grains of the whole ear, 

 being most natural, would be the best." 



For the Kew England Farmer. 

 SAVING AND APPLYING MANURE. 



There are no questions that so deeply inter- 

 est farmers as those which relate to the best 

 mode of obtaining and the most proper manner 

 of applying manure. By manure, I mean to 

 embrace all fertilizers in common use, of what- 

 ever name or nature. These questions enlist 

 the thoughts and pens of all our most promi- 

 nent agriculturists and our agricultural teach- 

 ers. 



Numerous and careful experiments have been 

 tested for the purpose of ascertaining what 

 combinations of manure are the best for given 

 crops, and how it is to be applied to accom- 

 plish the best results. Notwithstanding all 

 these experiments, most farmers are still grop- 

 ing their way in the dark, so far as their indi- 

 vidual practice or their exjjressed opinions at 

 their gatherings or through the press are an 

 indication. 



I suppose it is impossible to lay down rules 

 that will, imder all circumstances of the soil 

 and the seasons, be everywhere and always 

 applibable ; yet tliere are two fundamental 

 ones that inider any circumstances cannot with 

 prudence be discarded. 



The utmost exertion of every farmer should 

 be given to obtain all the manure he possibly 

 can, and in the best possible condition to nour- 

 ish the crops he proposes to feed with it. In 

 all the older States of our country the average 

 of our crops has been decreasing per acre for 

 many years past. This fact is sufficient to 



awaken anxious inquiry as to where it is to stop. 

 That it should stop, and soon too, there is no 

 doubt. We have no right to rob the comincc 

 generations of their birtln-ight. To put a stop 

 to this robbery we ought to feed our crops 

 more bountifully. We should accumulate all 

 the manure we can. Everything we can make 

 subserve as food for our crops should be de- 

 voted to that end. Not only this, but all our 

 manure should be so thoroughly disiiitegratei 

 as to be in a condition for being absorbed bv 

 the roots of growing plants that are to be fed 

 with it. Great waste often occurs from the 

 neglect of doing this, especially in dry seasons; 

 Not only is this a waste of the manure, but a 

 failure to secure as remunerative crops from 

 its application as we might, did we rigidly ad- 

 here to thorouglily pulverizing it before usino-. 



The mode of applying manure is also a mat- 

 ter of moment. Some contend for surface 

 application, while others adopt the opposite 

 practice and put all their manure under the 

 surface. All will admit that the character of 

 the seasons in a great degree modify both of 

 these practices ; a wet seasdn favoring the 

 first, while a dry one favors the last. Over a 

 large portion of our couniry the drought was 

 very severe the past season. Coarse manure 

 on the surface was of little worth to growino- 

 crops, save as a mulch. 



I saw a large field of corn manured with 

 coarse, lumpy manure in large quantities and 

 of great strength. The lumps dried up and 

 were laying undecomposed over the field at 

 liar vest time. Of course but little benefit to 

 the corn was derived from it, and much loss 

 resulted in the value of the manure for suc- 

 ceeding crops. 



I am aware of the claim that the soil will 

 absorb about all the fertilizing elements of 

 nianure in ordinary wet seasons ; yet I think 

 it must be conceded that when dry seasons 

 occur, it is best to be on the sure side and in- 

 corporate it with the soil, thus making the 

 absorption doubly sure. The incorporation 

 shoukl be uniform, so that the roots of the 

 growing crop must of necessity come in con- 

 tact with it, strike out in whatever direction 

 they may. Only by observing this method 

 can we hope to obtain the full benefit of the 

 application. 



Our market gardeners have learned the im- 

 portance of thus thoroughly mixing their ma- 

 nures with the soil, by their increased profits, — 

 not only from increase of crops, but from 

 earlier maturity. JThe crop has the food al- 

 ways at hand and does not have to seek for it 

 in isolated places and in undigested masses. 



I am aware that the cost of labor comes in 

 to modify in some measure the canying out 

 of the suggestions I have made, and that every 

 farmer should take that into account, and not 

 blindly expend more time and money in pre- 

 paring his soil and manure for a crop and in ■ 

 the care of it, than it will return to him in ■ 

 cash when disposed of. 



