No. 1. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



11 



it. The exiierimeius 1 made were under disodvnntn- 

 geouscircumstunccs, ciinvinrod mc perfectly. 1 ibiiik 

 1 hove beard you toy tbere nre some on tbe fiirm now, 

 look well 10 them this winter, nnd you will be con- 

 vinced of the justice of my reninrkg before many 

 months. You witl find that your flock is doubled 

 (with proper cnro and attention) tvcry year — that the 

 manuic will pay all the liouble and what it takes in 

 the way of fodder to support them. In tbe 8un\mer 

 tbey will live where nothing else can, and improve, 

 or rather give barren fields more than they take olT, 

 find the wool, in consequence, will be clear prolit— 

 thus:— Dll. 



inO sheeu cost, say $3 per head, $300 



Cll. 

 100 lambs worth to you .'ji:! per head, 300 



3 pounds wool each, 300 lbs. at 35c, 105 



One of the principal nia.\im3 as regards tbeec, as 

 well as cattle, is to have iboui well attended tu in 

 winter. Eoonomy, to say nothing of humanity, re- 

 quires if— lor if neglected at this time they got out of 

 condition, and it will take half the summer to restore 

 them to good order, and all the time they are recover- 

 ing, they are not profitable — hence the economy — for 

 Just so much lime is lost. The best plan to winter 

 cattle, is to get them into as good condition as possible 

 in the fall — wlien it costs comparatively little, for the 

 grass is then the strongest — keep them np in condi- 

 tion during the winter, and they enter spring profita- 

 ble at once, without loss of time or provender. 

 TarnipS) Rnta Baga and Beets. 



You will have to be careful to raise a crop of tur- 

 nips, for the fly is very severe on them when young. 

 Fine lime dusted over them is a great protection. — 

 For winter net I would not advise yi>u to d<5i)end on 

 them, as they do not keep good longer than Christ- 

 inoj ; after that they get watery and hollow. Ruta 

 Bagas are much better, and are siiund and good the 

 whole season. For cattie they are not so much liked 

 as beets, and are not near as prolitablo. I would ad- 

 vise you, by all means, to pny every attention to the 

 laltet — where tbere were potatoes last year, particular- 

 ly if it was well manured, is tbe very ground for them. 

 Have it well prepared — ploughed deep and well, to 

 make it fine — cultivate with the plough, keep the 

 weeds out, and you will be astonished at the result. 

 These, cabbage, ruta baga, and indeed nhnoet every 

 vegetable can be cultivated with tbe plough, not only 

 as well, but better than with the hoe, and at a great 

 saving of expense. 



Rlanuriiig Gardens. 



If your garden has been manured regularly with 

 Btable manure, as I suppose it has, you would find a 

 great advantage in trying lime and nshes — the lotttr 

 from the ley tub ore very good — and all the stable 

 manure you will want in tbe fall for tbe garden, should 

 now (April) be hauled into a snug pile ; you will find 

 it when wanted, rich and mellow. 



Farming Generally. 



The grand secret in farming, I am well satisfied, is 

 to be early in planting and having your ground in good 

 order — well ploughed and harrowed. 



Get your oats in as soon as the ground is fit for 

 ploughing — be sure to roll them when about two or 

 three inches high, and do it well, just before a shower 

 if possible. 



Finish planting your corn one day before any of 

 your neighbors, and if your hands or help are wet by 

 rain in covering the Inst hill, so much the better. 

 Keep working at it until it is above knee high, and you 

 will have no further trouble, except, perhaps, to en- 

 large your crib. 



IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. 



Messrs. Editous: — Some time since, you pubUsh- 

 cd air article from a French paper, on the subject or 

 process of self-manuring land, for grswiiig wheat. En- 



closed, ymi have ■■mother article front the same source, 

 on the sclf-mRnuring process for the Grape, which ex- 

 periment too has been trii'd, with complete sucCctjS. on 

 the continent of Europe. They are spoken of, not as 

 ex|x'rimenl.?, uNTiitun, but as pr.-ictical results. And 

 if there is any reliance to be plaewl on them, they are 

 invaluable, and well worth the attention of all — cs- 

 [wcially so, to our agricnlturaliBts. You will confer a 

 favor on the writer, and no doubt on all your readers, 

 by ftiving the enclosed as wide a circulation as po.ssiblc. 

 And let all who have an opportunity avail themr-elves 

 of an experiment so cheaji, and if found successful, so 

 beneficial, that is to produce an entire revolution in ai;- 

 riruKure througout the world. Nature si)eaks volumes 

 for it, and the ease and happiness of the human race, 

 invite all who have an op|)ortnnify, to text it. W. 



Discoveries in Astriciiltnre. 



A few months since we extracted from a Paris pa- 

 per, the Phuliinge, a statement to tbe efiect that tbe 

 straw of whcnt, sctittered over a field in which wheat 

 is sown, makes the best manure that can be procured. 

 The same paper furnishes us with what it considers 

 a parallel case, in-the mode adopted by certain vine 

 dressers of France, who cut off the leaves and twigs 

 of the vine, and mingle them with the earth about its 

 roots; and in that way, it is said, produce the moat 

 hardy prolific vines that are known. He quotes Irom 

 the ' Organic Chemiairy' of Docl. Liebig, one of the 

 most distinguished philosojihers of Europe, the follow- 

 ing remarks in relation to tlie subject : 



Tbe observations contained in tbe following pages 

 should be extensively known, because they furnish a 

 remarkable proof ol tbe principles which have been 

 stated in the preceding part of the work, both as to the 

 manner in which manure acts, and on the origin of 

 the caibon and nitrogen of plants. 



They prove that a vineyard may be retained in fer- 

 tility without the application of animol matters, v>l(en 

 {he leares and brandies jn'vncd from the vines are ctit 

 into svudl pieces and. used as a mrnimx. 



According to the first of the following stat»ments, 

 both of which merit conipKuo confidence, the perfect 

 fruitfulness of a vineyard has been maiiitoined ni this 

 manner for eight years, and according to the latter 

 statement, for ten years. 



Now, during this long period, i» carbon was con- 

 veyed to tbe soil, for that contained in tbe pruned 

 branches was the produce of the plant itself, so that 

 the vines were placed exactly in the same condition as 

 trees in a forest which receive no inanure. tinder 

 ordinary circumstances, a manure containing potash 

 must be used, otherwise the fertility oftbcsoil will de- 

 crease. Tiiis is done in all wine countries, ; fo that 

 alkalies to a very cjnsiderable amount must be ex- 

 tracted from the soil. 



When, however, the method of manuring, now to 

 be described is adopted, the quantity of alkalies ex 

 ported in the wine does not exceed that which the 

 progressive disintegration of tbe soil every year ren- 

 ders cnpable of being absorbed by the plants. 



[The author then proceeds to scientific calculations, 

 which will not interest the general render. AlUr 

 these we have tbe two cases alluded to, taken from an 

 article by M. Krebs, of Seeheim, in a German peri- 

 odical of July, 1840:—] 



"In reference to an article in your paper. No. 7, 

 1838, and No. 29, 18C9, 1 cannot omit the opportu- 

 nity of again calling the public attention to tbe fact, 

 that nothing more is necessary for the manure of a 

 vineyard, than the branches which are cut irom the 

 vines themselves. 



"My vineyard has been manured in this way for 

 eight years, without receiving any other kilWof ma- 

 nure, and yet more beautiful and richly laden vines 

 conld scarcely be pointed out. 1 formerly followed 

 tlie method usually practised in this district, and « os 

 obliged in consequence to purchase manure to a large 

 amount. This is now entirely saved, and my land is 

 in excellent condition. 



" When I see the fatiguing labor used in the ma- 

 nuring vineyards, horses and men toiling up the 

 mountains with unnecessary materials — I feel inclin- 

 ed to sny to nil, come to my vineyard and see how a 

 bountilul Creator has provided that vines shall ma- 

 nure themselves like trees of the forest, and even bet- 

 ter than they ! Tbe foliage falls from trees in a for- 

 est only when it is wilhercd, and it lies for years be- 

 fore it decays; but the branches are pruned from 

 the vino in the end of July, or the beginning of August, 

 whilst still fresh and mo;st. If they are then cut into 

 small pieces ond mixed with the earth, they undergo 

 putrefaction so completely, that, &a I have leornod by 



experienrfc, nt the end of four weeks not the small- 

 est trace of thehi'cnn be found." 



Tbe following remarks are by the editor of the pe- 

 riodical. Wc find the following notices of the saino 

 fact in Henderson's "History of Wines of the Old 

 and New Time : " 



" The best manure fiir vines is the branches prun- 

 ed from the vines themselves, cut into small pieces, 

 and inimediately mixctl with the soil. 



" These branches woie used as manure longsinco 

 in the Bcrgetrasse. M. FniicnlVhler soys : 



" ' 1 remember that twenty jeajs ago, a man colltd 

 Peter Wuller, had a vineyard Iwre which ho manured 

 with the branches pruned from the vines, and contin- 

 ued this practice for thirty years, ilia way of apply- 

 ing them was to hoe them into the soil, after having 

 cut them into sinnll pieces. 



"' His vineyard was always in a thriving condi- 

 tion ; so much so, indeed, that tbe peasants hero 

 speak of it to this day, wondr.rin<r that old Mnller hud 

 so ijood a vineyard, and yet used no manure.' 



"Lastly, Wilhelm Ruf, of Schriesheim, writes: 



"For the last ten years T have been unable to place 

 dung on my vineyard, because I am poor and can buy 

 none. Cut I was very unwilling to allow my vines to 

 decoy, as they wore my only source of support in niv 

 old age ; and I often walked very anxiously amongst 

 them without knowing what 1 sbnuld do. At last 

 my necessities became greater, which made me more 

 attentive, so that I remarked that the grass was longer 

 in some spots where the branches of tbe vine fell, than 

 on those where there were none : so I thought upon 

 the matter, and then said to iiiyscK^— ' If ihese branch- 

 es can make tbe grass strong and green, tbey must 

 also be able to make my plants grow better, and be- 

 come strong and green.' I dug, therefore, my vine- 

 yard aa deep as if I vi-ould put dung into it, ami cut 

 the branches into pieces, placing them in the holes 

 and covering them with earth. In a year 1 had the 

 very great sniisfaclion to see my barren vineyard be- 

 come quite beautiful, This plon I continued every 

 year, and now my vines grow splendidly, and remain 

 the whole summer green, even in the greatest heat. 



" • All my neighbors wonder very much how my 

 vineyard is so rich, and that I obtain so many grapes 

 from it, and yet they all know that I have put no dung 

 upon it for ten years.' " 



Here is the experience of thirty years, and yet it is 

 confined only to a few sensible individuals, who have 

 the resolution to innovate upon the wisdom of their 

 ancestors, as mature oge innovn"tes upon the wisdom 

 of infancy. The neighbors all wondered but did not 

 imitate. The husbandman is not a docile onimal ; he 

 is of Chinese extraction, and adheres to the 'good old 

 beoten track" of taielessnese nnd sloth, in defiance of 

 all the elements and laws of nature. The greoifouii- 

 rier of Chinese medicine, Shin-nuiig, lived before the 

 flood, and none of his followers have ever excelled 

 him. 



Nobody dare improve on such a raterable system; to 

 cure a man upon another principle would, no doubt, 

 couse wonder among the natives, but they would ncv 

 er think of adopting the new system. The good old 

 ways nre e;iabliebed creeds all over the woi Id. 



"Xew Discovery in ,4griCiiltnre." 



Respoctinir the article which wc published under 

 this head in our Nov. No., we find the following remarks 

 in the N. Y. Tribune. 



I observe ill the Tribune of the 22d ult.,an article 

 fiom a Paris paper, entitled " An impnrtani discovery 

 in A<rHcvUurc." If this is a discorery in France, tbe 

 fact is remarkable ; os it is, and always has been a 

 well known fact among our formers, that thi' leaves of 

 trees, and perishing vegetables on land constitute the 

 inonnre which tbe laws of nature hove provided for 

 sustaining fertility. So true is this, that when I was 

 a boy and a young man, before the revolution, (fori 

 W!is bred a farmer,) it was customary fi>r farmers to 

 let their land lis unlilled for one, or more years, for 

 the purpose of being enriched by tbe growth of grass 

 and weeds. This was the great defect in farming; 

 the cultivators relying wholly on this natural I'nanuie, 

 without ony rotation of crops. Before the Revolu- 

 tion 1 never knew an instance, in my native village, 

 of an attempt to fertalize land by green crops or ro- 

 tation. 



At this day, there are districts of land, within my 

 observation, which are, year after year, sowed with 

 rye, v\ithout any manure, except the stubble of tbe 

 former crop. In many places, this stubble is suffi- 

 cient to keep the land in good heart for rye, for any 

 pej'iod at pleasure. 



The esperimeuts, stated in the article above named, 

 are not in exact accordance with the practice of our 



