248 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



proceeded to dry off the dews, and as soon as 

 this was done formed the green corn into large 

 cocks, trampling it down close, although a fine 

 warm sun was pouring down its heat upon the 

 field. The cocks became heated, the corn-stalks 

 wilted, but were suffered to remain until the 

 next day, when towards afternoon the sky be- 

 coming clear, and a fine breeze blowing, the 

 heaps were thrown open, the stalks dried and 

 taken into the barn perfectly cured. It kept 

 well, and in the winter the cattle preferred it to 

 hay."-— Cultivator* 



ECONOMICAL MODE OF MANURING. 



We laughed a little while ago to see some 

 account of a German's pretending to make a 

 crop in the most barren soil by manuring the 

 seeds before they are planted ; but we find that 

 very grave pretensions are put forth to the merit 

 of this process, and it has actually formed the 

 subject of a pamphlet, in which there is some- 

 thing more of reason than we would have been 

 induced to expect from the apparent absurdity 

 of the proposition. The author's name is Vietor 

 and the principle upon which he proceeds is 

 that the actual consumption of the cultivated 

 plants constitutes a very small proportion of the 

 food that is given to the field in the ordinary 

 way of manuring; very little of it comes in 

 contact with the rootlets or mouths of the plant ; 

 that in fact very little is necessary, and that by 

 using a concentrated fertilizing article made into 

 a paste, enough may be made to adhere to the 

 seed to support the plant through the whole pe- 

 riod of its growth. The mixtures that he uses 

 for this purpose are the following as we find it 

 in the Farmers' Cabinet : 



1. Blood, in the liquid state, is mixed with 

 one-eightieth of its weight of glauber salts, dis- 

 solved in a little water; when thus mixed, it 

 may be kept for a long time in a cool place 

 without congealing or undergoing decomposi- 

 tion ; or clotted blood may be dried either alone 

 or mixed with a little earth or powdered clay, 

 and then reduced to fine powder. 



2. Wool, hair, parings of leather, horns, hoofs, 

 and bones, are charred in close vessels, until 

 they are capable of being reduced to powder. 



3. The dung of all animals is dried and re- 

 duced to powder. 



4. Fats and oils of all kinds are mixed with 

 so much earth, clay, or rye-meal, as will enable 

 the whole to be reduced to powder. Oil-cakes 

 are also powdered for use. 



Mode of using them. — He makes up a semi- 

 fluid mixture with which he mixes the seeds, 



and then he dries up the whole by the addition 

 of the powdered manures already prepared. His 

 semi-fluid mixture is thus prepared. For a 

 bushel of wheat or other grain, take 



20 to 30 lbs. of clay in fine powder. 



\\ lbs. of pounded sal ammoniac, or 3 lbs. of 

 common salt. 



3 to 5 quarts of whale, rape, or other cheap oil. 



15 to 20 quarts of fresh blood, or blood kept 

 in a fluid state by means of glauber salts, or, in 

 the absence of blood as much water. 



3 to 5 lbs. of linseed meal or pounded oil-cake. 



These are mixed together intimately, and wa- 

 ter added, if necessary to make a half-fluid mass. 

 The seed is then to be poured in and stirred 

 about till every seed is completely enveloped by 

 the mixture. A layer of one of the following 

 dry mixtures is then spread on the floor, over it 

 the manured seed, and then another layer of the 

 dry powder. The whole is then stirred together 

 and left to dry. 



Dry Mixtures. — Of these drying mixtures he 

 describes several, consisting chiefly of powdered 

 clay, mixed with one or other of the dry pow- 

 ders already mentioned. Thus he recommends 

 mixtures of 



1. 75 of powdered clay, 8 horn shavings, and 

 17 of bone dust. 



2. 85 of clay, with 15 of fluid, or 5 of dried 

 blood. 



3. 85 of clay, 5 of charred hair, and 10 of 

 oil-cake. 



4. 60 of clay and 40 of powdered dung. 



5. 70 of clay, 25 of charred leather, and 5 

 of bone dust. 



6. 80 of clay, 1 of fat, tallow, or oil, and 2 

 of powdered dung. 



These are all to be finely powdered and inti- 

 mately mixed. The principal alleged use of the 

 clay is, to make the other substances cohere to- 

 gether, and to attach them more strongly to the 

 grain. 



When the mixture of grain and manure is 

 dry, it is broken up with the hand and thrown 

 upon a fine sieve, which allows the loose powder 

 to pass through and the uncovered grains, and 

 then upon a coarser sieve, through which the 

 dressed seeds pass, leaving the lumps, in which 

 two or three seeds may be present, and which 

 are to be carefully broken up. He prescribes 

 further, that much caution is to be used in com- 

 pleting the operation so quickly that the grain 

 may not be permitted to sprout, and thus be- 

 come liable to injury during the succeeding ope- 

 rations. 



When it is wished to grow corn after corn in 

 fields manured in the usual way, Vietor recom- 

 mends mixing, for each bushel of seed, two to 

 three pounds of sal ammoniac, or four to six 

 pounds of common salt with ten to fifteen of rye- 

 meal, adding a little water, stirring the seed well 

 among it, and drying the whole in a stove. 



