1134 APPENDIX A. 



place it in the mellowest condition for the crops which are to su» 

 ceed. Its results have been entirely successful, when steadily pur- 

 sued with a due consideration of the objects sought, and the means 

 by which they are to be accomplished, In many of our Eastern 

 States, lands which have been worn out by improvident cultivation, 

 and unsalable at $10 to $15 an acre, have, by this means, while 

 steadily remunerating their proprietors for all the outlay of labor and 

 expense by their returning crops, been brought up in value to $50. 



Ashes from Soil by Spontaneous Combustion. — Make your 

 mound 20 feet long and 10$ feet wid£. To fire, use 72 bushels of 

 lime. First a layer of dry sods or parings on which a quantity of lime 

 is spread, mixing sods with it, then a covering of eight inches of sod, 

 on which the other half of the lime is spread, and^ covered a foot 

 thick, the hight of the mound being about a yard. In twenty-fpur 

 hours it will take fire. The lime should be fresh from the kiln. It 

 is better to suffer it to ignite itself than to effect it by the operation 

 of water. When the fire is fairly kindled, fresh sods must be ap- 

 plied, but get a good body of ashes in the first place. I think it 

 may be fairly supposed that the lime adds full its worth to the 

 quality of the ashes ; and when limestone can be had, I would ad- 

 vise the burning of a small quantity in the mounds, which would be 

 a great improvement to the ashes, and would help to keep the 

 fire in. 



Substitute for Barn Manure. — Dissolve a bushel of salt in 

 water enough to slack five or six bushels of lime. The best rule for 

 preparing the compost heap is, one bushel of this lime to one 

 load of swamp muck intimately mixed, though three bushels to five 

 loads makes a very good manure. In laying up the heap let the 

 layers of muck and lime be thin, so that decomposition may be 

 more rapid and complete. When lime cannot be had, use unleached 

 ashes, three or four bushels to a cord of muck. In a month or six 

 weeks overhaul and work over the 1 heap, when it will be ready for 

 use. Sprinkle the salt water on the lime as the heap goes up. 



Ashes may be pronounced the best of the saline manures. They 

 are also among the most economical, as from our free use of fuel 

 they are largely produced by almost every household. Good 

 husbandry dictates that not a pound of ashes should be wasted, but 

 all should be saved and applied to the land ; and, where they can 

 be procured at a reasonable price, they should be purchased for 

 manure. Leached ashes, though less valuable, contain all the 



