652 



NEW ENGLAND FARlVrER. 



Dec. 



kept, of which 26 were milch cows. The av- 

 eratje yield of each cow durino; the year was 

 4,894 quarts, a daily average of ISA] qts. This 

 average is remarkably large— and of course 

 much above the general average of the coun- 

 try. The average yield of Dutch cows has 

 been given at 2,S:i5 to 2,940 ([uarts per year. 

 Prof. Cook speaks especially of the mar- 

 velous neatness of the cow stables which are 

 under the same roof and only separated from 

 the dwelling house by a partition and door. 

 They are not used in summer, and as soon as 

 the cattle are turned out to pasture in the 

 spring, the stables are washed out, the floors 

 either sanded or tiled. During the summer 

 they are sometimes used for cheese rooms. 

 During storms in spring or fall the cows are 

 generally covered with blankets while at pas- 

 ture. In winter the stables are frequently 

 thoroughly cleaned and washed, and the cows 

 are curried regularly.— irei-^ J^ural. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



COVE SEAWEED. 



I have a pile of some si.xty cords of cove sea- 

 weed and the mud which is attached to the roots of 

 the seaweed. VVliat material can be added to im- 

 prove the qualities of this collection, and what pro- 

 portions and maimer of composting' ? This "cove" 

 seaweed with the mud attached, is a verv different 

 thing, and much superior to ordinary shore sea- 

 weed, as large numbers of nunute animals are at- 

 tached to the weed. 



Last year I manured a piece of quite ordinary 

 soil with similar cove seaweed, composted bv ming- 

 ling twelve two-horse loads stable manurej twelve 

 loads frchh-water muck, that had been exposed to 

 the air and frost a year or two, and loO bushels of 

 ashes from Maine lime kilns, with about six cords 

 Of the seaweed. The result was the best crop of 

 corn I ever raised. I have seen statements that the 

 Imie a.-;hcs is of small value. Is it so ? 



iitomngton, Ct., 1871. c. P. w. 



Remarks.— The compost described above seems 

 to have produced highly beneficial results. All 

 the articles used were excellent as fertilizers. How 

 much influence may be imputed to each, it is im- 

 possible to tell. Nor can it be known whether such 

 a compost is profitable, unless we know what the 

 cost of the articles was, and how much land was 

 manured with them. In 150 bushels of lime-ashes, 

 there must have been sufficient alkaline matter to 

 have had a decided influence upon the crops grow- 

 ing on two or three acres of land, unless they were 

 adulterated to an inordinate degree. In listening 

 to a lecture on commercial fertilizers sometime 

 last year, Ijy Dr. J. R. Nichols, it is our impres- 

 sion that he spoke of a cargo of Hmc-ashes brought 

 from Maine. The cost, if we remember correctly, 

 he stated to l)e twenty-five cents per bushel in the 

 vessel at Boston, and that upon an analysis only 

 five per cent, of alkaline matter was found in them. 

 This cannot be the case, we think, with lime-kiln 

 ashes, as they may be gathered from the kiln. 

 We have supposed the wood ashes and the refuse 



lime mingled with them, to hare considerable value 

 as fertilizing agents. 



It would be hardly advisable to seek a new com- 

 pound for the seaweed, when it proved so success- 

 ful with the one already tried. 



From a pretty thorough examination of the 

 properties of seaweed, and the modes of using it 

 in this country and abroad, we are inclined to 

 think that it will prove most valuable to the soil 

 when ploughed under immediately after it is gath- 

 ered. 



Among some of our agricultural friends residing 

 near the sea coast in Essex county, it is a common 

 practice to place it in heaps and allow it to ferment 

 before it is used. Others strew it on the cattle 

 yards, in the pig styes, or wherever it will be likely 

 to be broken up. Those who have examined the 

 matter with care, state that this is wholly unne- 

 cessary, for there is no fibrous matter rendered sol- 

 uble in the process, and a part of the manure is 

 lost. The best cultivators use it as fresh as it can 

 be procured; and the practical results of this mode 

 of applying it are exactly conformable to the the- 

 ory of its operation. It seems that the Ciirbonic 

 acid formed by its incipient fermentation must be 

 partly dissolved by the water set free in the same 

 process; and thus become capable of absorption 

 by the roots of plants. The etfects of the seaweed 

 as manure, must principally depend upon this car- 

 bonic acid, and upon the soluble mucilage the 

 weed contains. 



From what we can leara aliout seaweed, it ap- 

 pears that its valuable qualities consist largely of 

 mucilaginous matter, and it is supi)osed that some 

 of this substance is destroyed by the process of 

 fermentation. 



In some experiments in England, where sea- 

 weeds were subjected to an analysis, no ammonia 

 was found ; the ashes contained sea salt, carbonate 

 of soda and carbonaceous matter. Digesting the 

 weed in boiling water, one-eighth o/ a gelatinous 

 substance was obtained. 



When ploughed under the sod, seaweed was 

 found to be a powerful fertilizer, but transient in 

 its effects, and did not last for more than a single 

 crop, which was accounted for from the large quan- 

 tity of water, or the elements of water, which it 

 contains. 



It is stated by Norton, in liis Elements of Sci- 

 entific Agriculture, that seaweed is usually ploughed 

 in green, or applied as compost. In either case it 

 decays very rapidly, unless extremely dry, and 

 produces most of its effects upon the first crop. 

 Many of the seaweeds contain much nitrogen ; and 

 this, while it adds greatly to their value as manures, 

 increases the rapidity with which they decompose. 



Upon the whole, then, it seems to us that the 

 cheapest and best way would be to i)lough the sea- 

 weed under in its fresh state, sow the ashes broad- 

 cast upon the soil, and compost the stable manure 

 with the old muck. Much cost would be saved in 

 manipulating, by disposing of the seaweed and 

 ashes at one handling, and the muck would oper- 



