216 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Juke, 
would give us the temjierature of the soil and 
state its character, -we should, I am persuaded, 
Booa be in the possession of facts of great value. 
Three years ago I found the temperature of the 
soil in the garden on the oOlhof April to be 53°; 
and on the 19lh of May 53°. The thermometer 
■was placed U|)right in the ground — the bottom 
being 13 inches from the surfiice, and the top of 
tlie hole being covered with a sod to keep out 
the air. I placed a thermometer, horizontally, 
two inches deep, and covered it with surface 
soil, and it marked 59° — showing that the sur- 
face soil was 6 degrees warmer than that a foot 
deep. I presume the surface soil, say half an 
iucU deep, would be warmer still. 
We are going to have an Agricultural School 
ia this neighborhood. The parties have bought 
one of the best farms in the town, paying over 
$135 an acre for it. They propose to teach the 
bojs the ordinary branches, and in addition 
show them how to perform agricultural ojiera- 
lions. They design to have them work on the 
farm three hours a day. I wish them the fidlest 
success, though I think that a farmer's boy can 
learn how to work at home as well as at an 
institution of this kind. For city boys who 
wish to become farmers, such a course of train- 
ing is all Yery well, but I should not be willing 
to pay much for their labor. On a farm, work 
must be done just at the right time, and it will 
not do to wait for the boys. Fancy a field of 
hay all ready to carry just as the bell rings for 
school, and the day's work of three hours is 
over ! If the i;irm manager could stand it, I 
should like to take a term with him myself to 
learn patience. 
The best article on American Agricultural 
Education I ever read, is in the Agriculturist for 
April. I do not know which of the editors 
wrote it, but whoever he may be, he exhibits 
far more practical knowledge and common sense 
than any other writer on this subject that I am 
acquainted with. The fact is, as he says, the 
real education of the future farmer must be ob- 
tained at home. Let him be encouraged to learn 
the use of mechanic's tools, so that he will not 
in after life be under the necessity of running to 
the blacksmith, the wheelwright or the saddler 
for every little repair that may be needed. 
I was examining my cultivators the other day 
to see if they were all in order, and while 
tightening the bolts, a former called with a 
package of marl in his hand that he wished 
analyzed. "I understand," said he, " tliat you 
are a chemist." — " Well not much of a one," I 
replied, " and I was j ust wishing, not that I had 
studied chemistry less but mechanics more. 
Here on the farm I find it more useful to know 
how to put a machine together than to take a 
marl to pieces— to repair a cultivator than to 
analyze a soil." And this is so. I would on no 
account give up my chemical training, but chem- 
istry is not, as some would have us suppose, the 
one grand thing necessaiy to make a farmer. 
Give a farmer's sou all the scientific education 
you can, but do not neglect to teacu him those 
things which he will most need when he comes 
to carry on the practical operations of agricul- 
ture. I think these things can not be taught 
him at an Agricultural College any better thafi 
at home. Let him have the best and most liberal 
education you can afford to give him, and above 
all let it be thorough. 
I was showing a farmer's son the other day a 
plan for a work shop. lie objected to it on "the 
ground that it was too large. " On (uu- farm," 
he said, " they would have it full of old harrows, 
ox-sleds and hay rakes before it had been built 
a week. I would have it so small that no one 
could get into it but myself." I told him that I 
wanted it large enough to draw in a wagon or 
a reaping machine. Bttt I am not sure that he 
is not right. A work shop ought to have a stove 
in it, and if it was too large it would be difficult 
to keep warm. Perhaps a better plan would be 
to have a small work shop with a very large 
ante-chamber. The latter if desirable might be 
merely a shed in which every thing that needed 
repair might be placed as soon as it was broken, 
and where it could remain till we had leisure to 
attend to it. Such work ought to be done in 
rainy weather; but the trouble, on ny farm at 
least, is that the things that you need are in dif- 
ferent i)laces, and you stand a chance of a good 
soaking before you can get them together. 
Now, if we had a large shed connected with the 
work shop and tool house in which we could 
keep plaidv, boards, slicks of timber, poles and 
every thing of that kind that is needed, many 
an hour that is spent listlessly hanging round 
the barn could be turned to good account. One 
corner of such a shed could be profitably oc- 
cupied as a receptacle of all the broken tools, 
machines, pieces of hard wood, etc. There are 
many such things that are now either burnt up 
or lost that would often prove useful, if the)' 
were kept where they could be easily found. 
I wish some one would get up a really good 
" tool chest " with an assortment of the neces- 
sary tools of the best quality. Those that are 
now sold are generally a miserable farce. There 
is plenty of varnish on the chest, but the tools 
inside are seldom what farmers need, and what 
there are, are of poor quality. I was talking to 
Mr. Judd on the subject a few months ago, and 
urged him toget up a really good chest, proper- 
ly arranged, with a choice set of tools. He ap- 
preciated the importance of encouraging farm- 
er's sons to learn the use of tools, and of having 
them so arranged in the chest that keeping them 
in their places, would do much to develope 
habits of order and system. His bo_ys have 
a complete tool chest, filled up with the best 
tools, which he says are far the cheapest in the 
end, though costing most at the start. No one 
else is allowed to touch these tools for any pur- 
pose, and the boys have a reward for keeping 
every tool in its place, from which a fine is de- 
ducted for every one found out of jjlaoo when 
not in use. He said it not only educates them 
in the use of tools and in keeping things in 
order, but also furnishes them much amusement 
and healthful occupation. Even the lads of 7 
and 9 years of age are quite expert in handling 
tools. — I reallj- wish he would get up such chests 
for the benefit of the young farmers of the coun- 
try, and put them on sale. 
I got a letter to-day from the agent of the 
" Boston Bone Flour." He does not like what 
I said in regard to the value of the article as a 
fertilizer. I should really be very sorry if any- 
thing I may have said should discourage the use 
of artificial manures. I had no such intention 
or desire. On the contrary, I would do all that 
I could to favor their'general introduction. To 
me farming would be stripped of one of its 
pleasures if I could not get artificial manures. 
I have used them more or less for over twenty 
years, and fully appreciate their value. I know 
also the difficulty of manufacturing a good ma- 
nure, and selling it at a price that formers can 
aff"ord to use it. I would encourage all honest 
etforts in this direction. I would pay more, and . 
would advise other farmers to pay more than 
the manures are actually worth for a year or 
two, in order to encourage their manufacture 
until the business gets thoroughly established. 
I would show no mercy to humbugs, but would 
extend the right hand of fellowship to all intel- 
ligent and honest manufacturers. They should 
understand what farmers want, and then devote 
their energies to supply it at the lowest cost. 
What we want in an artificial manure is am- 
monia and phosphates, and the more immediate- 
ly available these are, the better. The reason 
why we need these two ingredients more than 
any others is this : The main different between 
good and poor barn-yard manure is that the 
former contains more ammonia and phosphates 
than- the latter. I will not say that it would not 
be cheaper to make licher manure by feeding 
the animals more grain, rather tlian to buy am- 
monia and phosphates. That is not now what 
I am talking about. 3fy barn-yai'd manure is 
not as rich as it ought to be, and this has been 
the case on the farm for many years, and the 
quickest way I can make it rich is to use arti- 
ficial manures that will supply the deficiency. 
I received a letter on this subject a few days 
since from Mr. Thorne. He grows a great many 
roots for his thoroughbred cattle and sheej), and 
uses large quantities of artificial manures. He 
says : " I see j'ou were somewhat astonished, as 
well as myself, at the exorbitant price asked 
for the Boston Bone Flour. Bone dust reached 
such a price this spring, that I was forced to try 
and find a substitute, and have just ordered 
quite a large quantity of manure from Chicago, 
made from the carcasses of animals that die in 
the cars and otherwise, which, after being tried 
out, are ground up, flesh and bone together. 
This is mixed with an equal quantity made 
from blood and haslets obtained from the large 
packing houses. My own impression is, that it 
will prove a very valuable manure, though prob- 
ably not as lasting as pure bones, but quicker 
in its action. I remember to have seen some 
wonderful effects in England from the use of 
blood manure, and do not see -why this is not 
very much the same thing, with the addition of 
a certain percentage of bones. It costs me de- 
livered less than $40 per ton." 
The manufacturers of Bone Flour say, the 
reason why they have to charge so much for 
their manure is, that they have to pay $36 per 
ton for bones. The agent told me that they get 
their bones principally from Africa and from the 
Southern Slates. The question with formers is 
not what the bones cost the manufocturers, but 
whether they can afford touse the manure made 
from them. The price is higher now than a year 
or two ago, while farm produce is much lower. 
■\Ve cannot afford to pay as much for manures 
now as we could a year ago, and it is certainly 
very unreasonable to ask us to pay more. 
A day or two ago I got a couple of the re- 
volving laud-side plows advertised in the Agri- 
culturist for March. They were warranted to 
run easier and do better work than any other 
plow. I thought I would give them a benefit. 
I have ten acres of rough land that has not 
been plowed for ten years. It is so hard and 
stony that the previous owner of the farm had 
shrunk from attacking it. It did not pi'oduce 
grass enough for a good flock of geese, and 
when the rain stopped us from sowing barley, I 
concluded to see what could be done with this 
old grass field. Two of the men took the two 
new plows, and the other one of the best and 
strongest of (5ur old ones. After breakfast I 
went up to see liow they got along, anticipating 
