THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



277 



to prevent its seeding the ground, and upon 

 which I would sow one bushel and a half of 

 corn per acre ; thus, in the same season, plough- 

 ing under a heavy coat of rye and corn, which, 

 in the short space of twelve months, will equal 

 if not surpass any benefit which can be derived 

 from clover in two years. 



Though last, not least, another important ad- 

 vantage to be taken into consideration is, that 

 by this double process your land is less exposed 

 to the deteriorating effect of the sun's rays, 

 when a rye crop is ploughed under in June and 

 corn sown broadcast, than when with corn alone 

 you would be compelled if sown early to plough 

 under in August, and consequently your land 

 would be left exposed to the scorching influence 

 of an autumnal sun. 



October 12, 1843. 



BOMMER'S MANURE METHOD PUT IN 

 PRACTICE. 



We extract the following certificate of the 

 value of the manure made by Bommer's process 

 from the last number of the Cultivator. We 

 have in our own possession the most satisfactory 

 testimonials of its efficiency in producing speedy 

 decomposition, and of the apparent value of the 

 manure. But nobody hereabouts has yet had 

 an opportunity of testing its effects upon a crop ; 

 although no one who has seen the manure after 

 it is made, seems to have any doubts upon this 

 point. As far as our information and experience 

 go, the time required to produce perfect decom- 

 position is rather underrated. Of course differ- 

 ent materials will be longer or shorter in rotting, 

 but we rather think that the average will re- 

 quire from four to six weeks. But our informa- 

 tion is drawn from experiments made during 

 the last summer, when the process was un- 

 doubtedly much retarded by the excessive rains 

 for which the season was so remarkable. 



"Messrs. Gaylord Tucker, — Being a sub- 

 scriber and constant reader of your valuable 

 agricultural publication, 1 frequently find there, 

 articles on 'Bommer's Method of Making Ma- 

 nure.' As these articles are chiefly from the 

 pens of agriculturists who have followed this 

 method with entire success, it affords me un- 

 feigned pleasure to be able, on my own behalf, 

 also to bear testimony to the value of this me- 

 thod, and through the medium of your paper, 

 to make the results of my experiments and 

 operations known to my fellow-citizens. This 

 I do, both for the sake of bringing before the 

 public the great advantages derived from using 

 the method spoken of, and the benefits insured 



me by its application, and at the same time in 

 order to render a deserved tribute to the truih. 



" On purchasing Bommer's method last 

 spring, I immediately prepared a heap in the 

 presence of a few neighbors. I followed strictly 

 the directions laid down in Bommer's book.— 

 After the lapse of a fortnight, the heap was 

 opened in the presence of a number of farmers, 

 and our astonishment cannot be conceived on 

 seeing the metamorphosis which had taken 

 place, as we found all those weedy and strami- 

 neous materials of which the heap had been 

 constructed, reduced to rich black manure, hav- 

 ing an ammoniac smell, much more pungent 

 than the best stable manure. Beholding so 

 surprising a result, the farmers present formed 

 themselves into a public meeting, and in that 

 capacity nominated a committee from their midst, 

 who were charged with the preparation of a re- 

 port of what we had seen, to be sent to the 

 agricultural press. 



" I ploughed in this manure into one-half of 

 a field intended for potatoes, and in order to in- 

 stitute a comparison of effects, I put the same 

 quantity of my best stable manure into the 

 ! other half of the field. The effect on the soil 

 was very nearly the same w 7 ith both these kinds 

 of manure ; but the vegetation on that part of 

 the field which had been furnished with Bom- 

 I mer's manure, was more luxurious and the fo- 

 liage of a deeper verdure, which I attribute to 

 the richness of the saline matter which it con- 

 tains, and which alone preserved the humidity 

 of the soil during the severe drought of this 

 last season. It is proper to remark also, that in 

 the composition of the ' Bommer manure,' I em- 

 ployed simply such doses of the ingredients as 

 were absolutely necessary to insure success in 

 the operation of making it, and if I had in- 

 creased these quantities, there is not the least 

 doubt that the result of the Bommer manure 

 would have been very far superior to that of 

 any horse manure. 



" Perfectly satisfied with my experiment and 

 its results, I have put up fixtures near my barn- 

 3^ard for the purpose of preparing large quanti- 

 ties of this manure ; and within the last two 

 months I have made three heaps, which have 

 yielded me between 200 and 300 loads of ex- 

 cellent manure. The last heap was composed 

 entirely of 100 loads of sedge grass, nearly dry, 

 with which I intermixed 40 loads of swampy 

 matter, such as exists on my farm. All my 

 outlay in purchasing ingredients to form the lye 

 for this last heap, amounted to between $20 

 and $30, and in disbursing this trifling sum, I 

 have made a heap of manure, which I would 

 not dispose of for $250. 



" I shall prepare other heaps of manure be- 

 fore the winter sets in, and those who may be 

 desirous to see me at work and to assure them- 

 selves of the truth of what I have said, need 



