98 



depend on many circumstances. This plan I 

 have not been able to carry out fully, owing to 

 a scarcity of labor. However, I am determined 

 for the future to take two of my hands out of 

 the crop, whose business it shall be to collect 

 materials and make manure in the way I have 

 mentioned above, through the year. I would 

 say something about hogs and sheep as sources 

 of manure, were not my communication already 

 longer than I intended it when I sat down. I 

 hope many of your readers will try the plan 

 recommended above and report their success 

 through the medium of your valuable paper. 

 Very respectfully, &c. 



Colonus. 



Cumberland, March 21, 1844. 



We have had some experience with the "pipe 

 clay," and our conclusion was, that it is the 

 most worthless and unmanageable of soils. It 

 is so tenacious and impermeable, that until its 

 texture is altered by a mixture of sand, it is al- 

 most impossible to drain it. It is probable that 

 where they can be had conveniently, coal ashes 

 would be found highly advantageous. Such a 

 soil is better adapted to the growth of herds- 

 grass than to any other vegetable with which 

 we are acquainted. There is a great deal of 

 such land in Virginia, and a good article upon 

 its management will be very acceptable. 



A strong box to hold his money, is not more 

 valuable to the farmer than the kitchen reservoir 

 recommended by our correspondent . Manure is 

 only a dirty kind of money. 



With respect to our correspondent's preference 

 for lime to plaster in his compost heaps, w r e can 

 only say, that the propriety of using lime in 

 this way is a mooted point, not only among 

 practical farmers, but amongst the most profound 

 chemists and philosophers of the day. Liebig 

 seems to prefer the plaster on account of its ac- 

 tion in arresting the ammonia, which, on the 

 other hand, the lime has a tendency to liberate. 

 C. W. Johnson, the author of the Farmers 7 

 Encyclopedia, says, " I have several times mixed 

 lime, in cases where I suspected the presence of 

 grub and the seeds of weeds, with farm yard 

 compost, but never successfully. Convinced of 

 the ill effects of the lime being thus mixed, I 

 have long since abandoned the practice. There 

 is in fact no beneficial effect to be obtained by 

 this mode. The natural well regulated fermen- 

 tation of the dung effects all that the lime can 

 do, and in a better manner ; for the lime dis- 

 solves, and, to a considerable extent, decomposes 

 the finer and richer portions of the compost; 



and it certainly renders the straw and other 

 coarser portions of manure drier and more diffi- 

 cult to dissolve in the soil. The practice, there- 

 fore, seems worse than useless." 



Our own inference is, that much depends 

 upon the state in which the lime is applied. If 

 it is used as quick lime, its chemical action is 

 very powerful in decomposing the organic mat- 

 ter within its influence ; producing great heat, 

 and expelling the most valuable properties of 

 the dung. On the other hand, if by long ex- 

 posure it has become a complete carbonate, it 

 has the property of other salts in arresting the 

 further decomposition of organic matter, and in 

 such a state may possibly be used with advan- 

 tage to prevent the " fire fanging" of stable 

 dung. As at present advised, we should prefer 

 the use of plaster to lime in the compost heap. 



FATTENING POULTRY. 

 From the American Agriculturist, whose edi- 

 tor is a connoiseur in such matters, we extract 

 the following directions for preparing poultry for 

 the table : 



"The fowls being in good condition a fortnight 

 to one month previous to the time they are 

 wanted for killing, shut them up in a roomy, 

 dry, well ventilated, and warm building, with 

 either a ground, stone, or plank floor, as is most 

 convenient. This should be cleaned every day, 

 and straw several inches thick spread over a 

 part of it, especially where geese and ducks are 

 shut up, for the purpose of giving them good 

 beds to sit in. As often as the litter gets soiled, 

 remove it, and put clean straw in its place. A 

 constant supply of food and water should now 

 be kept before them, allowing the fowls to eat 

 and drink as often and as much as they please. 

 Gravel is indispensable for their health, and 

 charcoal, together with a little lime or ground 

 bones, is beneficial. Fowls fat better when they 

 can get at their food as often as they please, and 

 are not so apt to gorge themselves and become 

 surfeited. 



£t For feed w T e prefer corn mostly : a little 

 wheat, rye, or barley, is also very well as a 

 change ; oats have rather too much husk about 

 them. In addition to these, boiled potatoes, 

 sweet apples, pumpkins, and sugar beet, are ex- 

 cellent food, especially when mixed with a due 

 proportion of mush or hasty pudding. Where 

 sweet potatoes abound, they are an excellent 

 substitute for the last. To the above, add daily 

 a little lean meat, that which is cooked is pre- 

 ferred ; and the last week of their fattening, for 

 a finishing process, rice boiled in milk and 

 sweetened with molasses, is very excellent. — 



