1869.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
215 
To abandon entirely Hie system of pasturing, 
and to adopt soiling in its stead, involves almost 
a revolution of tlie operations of the farm. In- 
terior fences may be dispensed witty fields 
thrown into better shape, weedy headlands and 
the frequent turning of plow teams avoided, 
and produce obtained more cheaply and much 
more certainly. The amount of manure pro- 
duced is enormously increased, and its quality 
is very much improved, enabling the farmer to 
raise more grain and roots for feeding and for 
sale. But, at the same time, more labor is re- 
quired, and also greater system in the manage- 
ment of the operations of the establishment. 
The increased amount of labor is due, not so 
much directly to the necessity for raising soiling 
crops, and for cutting them, and feeding them 
out, as to the requirements of the larger area of 
land devoted to other crops, and the larger 
amount of its produce. In all cases where it is 
possible to procure and to feed an additional 
number of men, any system that will allow of 
their profitable employment must be advanta- 
geous. The labor chargeable directly to soiling, 
which may be set down as the constant work of 
one man, and the occasional work of a team for 
every twenty cows, is more than paid for by 
the increased production of manure alone, to 
say nothing of the important advantages of a 
larger yield of milk, and the better condition 
of the herd ; -while, of course, the work ex- 
pended in cultivating more and richer acres, de- 
voted to the raising of crops for market, or for 
■winter feeding, cannot fail to be profitable. 
It would be impossible, within the limits of a 
single article, to discuss in full the manner in 
which soiling should be carried on. It involves 
many items, any one of which requires more 
than passing notice ; and it will be sufficient to 
say here that we arc convinced, both from out- 
own experience and that of others, that a farm 
of fifty acres of such land as is considered in 
New England to be of first quality, (hind which, 
with good manure, good care, and a good sea- 
■on, will produce seventy-five bushels of shelled 
eorn per acre) mav be made to produce the en- 
tire summer and winter food, grain and hay 
included, of fifty amply fed cows. Not that any 
land could be made to do this during this year or 
the next, but that in a comparatively few years, 
by forcing production to the highest point, the 
consumption of all produce on the farm, fre- 
quent plowing and cultivation, and the best 
management, it might be raised to such a state 
of fertility, that it would do it. This would im- 
ply the devotion of twenty-five acres to the 
production of summer forage, and twenty-five 
more to the production of hay, grain, corn- 
stalks, and large crops of roots for winter feed- 
ing ; and it would require all the land to be in 
sufficiently good condition to produce four tons 
of hay per acre in two cuttings, which, although 
an unusual, in fact an almost unknown yield 
In this country, is by no means impossible. 
Outlets for Duck Ponds. 
It is often desirable, where a small pond re- 
ceives occasional floods of drainage water, to 
carry away the exces3 through an underdrain. 
Indeed, unless the pond is part of a brook that 
it is worth while to presorve, it is always best 
to remove its overflow under the surface, in 
order to avoid the unpleasant gully that usu- 
ally follows the neglect of this precaution. 
The plan shown in the engraving is for the 
removal of overflow water through a standing 
pipe in the middle of the pond, or at least 
some distance back from its edges. This pipe 
may he made of wood or brick, or, still better, 
of large drain pipes, standing on end. The 
mouth of the pipe should reach exactly the de- 
sired level of the pond, at ordinary stages of 
water, and its summit should be covered with 
a dome of network, which may be made of 
galvanized iron, or copper wire, or even a cap of 
perforated boards will answer to prevent the en- 
trance of sticks, leaves, and other rubbish, that 
might obstruct the drain. The bottom of the 
standing pipe should terminate in a curved pipe 
or trough, leading directly to the underdrain ; 
and all of the joints below the surface of the 
water should be secured with hydraulic cement, 
or, what is quite as well for those under 
ground, with a covering of puddled clay. A 
sectional drawing of the pond is given, show- 
ing how the pipe and drain are constructed. 
This plan offers the best means for admit- 
ting accumulated surface water into trader- 
drains. The depth of water in the pond 
should be sufficient to quiet the flow received 
from higher ground, and thus cause a deposit 
of its silty contents, which it might be injuri- 
ous to admit into the drain; and it will be 
OCTLET TO A POND. 
a good plan to supply the standing pipe with a 
gated opening, near the bottom of the pond, by 
which, in summer, the accumulated water may 
be drawn off, so that the silt can be cleared out, 
giving the pond its full capacity for another 
season's use. Care should be taken, in this 
case, to prevent the entrance into the pipe of 
the mud at the bottom of the pond. 
How to Make a Ladder. 
In the January number we gave an article on 
ladders, and this elicited from "J. F." the descrip- 
tion of his way of making them, which, thOBgh 
it requires some little blacksmith work, is in 
some particulars superior to the way before de- 
scribed. He writes: "I take a young chestnut, — 
other wood may answer, but I prefer the chest- 
nut. When dry it is stiff, and light, too. For 
a thirty-foot ladder, I take a pole six inches 
thick, and work it down to five inches at the but, 
and three at the top. Then I strike a line on the 
side, and lay off the holes twelve inches apart 
for the rounds, and bore them. This makes the 
step twelve inches, which is high enough for 
carrying any tiling up or 
down the ladder. Then 
strike another line on the 
next side, and with a saw- 
rip the pole in two, and 
a little dressing up will 
make it ready for the 
rounds. I take for rounds 
good white oak wood ; 
split and shave them 
out eight-sided, a little 
heavier than they are wanted for the holes, so 
as to form a shoulder at each end. I prefer 
them eight-sided to round, as one is not so apt 
to slip on them. Then I have three half-inch 
iron rods made, one for the middle, and one for 
each end, longer than the width of the ladder, 
LADDER BKACE. 
with threads cut for two nuts at each end, one 
to go on the inside, the other on the outside of 
the ladder poles ; these can be screwed up just 
as tight as is necessary, and you have a'perma- 
neut ladder, without any broad or flat rounds." 
Gypsum or Plaster as Manure. 
- — o 
A young farmer at Hastings, Mich., asks us 
to tell him in what way plaster benefits crops, 
its chemical effects, etc. He must excuse us. 
It is one of the most difficult questions in agri- 
cultural chemistry. The general idea is that 
the plaster attracts ammonia from the atmos- 
phere. But this explanation does not meet all 
the facts of the case. Plaster has a more 
marked effect on clover and peas than on any 
other crop, and yet ammonia, when applied to 
these crops, has far less effect than it has on 
wheat, while plaster often fails to benefit 
wheat. Besides, it is doubtful whether plaster, 
in a dry or moist state, has such an attraction 
for ammonia as is usually ascribed to it. In 
solution, it will decompose carbonate of am- 
monia, forming carbonate of lime and sulphate 
of ammonia, but in the dry or merely moist 
state, it does not have this effect; or at least 
we have never been able to ascertain the fact, 
while it is well known that when carbonate of 
lime and sulphate of ammonia are mixed to- 
gether in the moist state, carbonate of ammonia 
is given off. And, in fact, we once mixed some 
wet guano with ordinary plaster, and it drove 
off some of the ammonia. This effect was due, 
of course, to the carbonate of lime in the plas- 
ter; but it at an}' rate shows that plaster has 
not a very powerful attraction for carbonate of 
ammonia, or it would not have escaped from 
the mixture. But whether we can or cannot 
explain why plaster acts beneficially on some 
pjants, the fact is well established. On nearly 
all dry, upland soils, it generally causes an in- 
creased growth of clover, more especially of 
the stalk. In our experience, too, it increases 
the growth of peas, or at least of the vines. It 
also frequently increases the growth of corn, 
especially of the stalks. And occasionally it 
acts very beneficially on potatoes. On low or 
wet land it is seldom of any use. But on 
dry upland, it is sometimes useful on all plants, 
and nearly always on those we have named. 
Mi-. Geddes informs us that Onondago Co. farm- 
ers frequently sow plaster on barley with very 
good effect. Personally, we have not tried it 
on this crop, but propose to do so. 
In regard to the time and manner of sowing, 
the practice is different in different sections. 
On clover it is usually sown early in the spring, 
although manj- farmers think it better to wait 
until the plants are a few inches high, contend- 
ing that the effect of the plaster is on the leaves, 
rather than on the roots. On corn and pota- 
toes it is usual to scatter about a teaspoonful on 
the plants in the hill before the first hoeing. 
But since the general introduction of plaster 
sowing machines, the plaster is sown broadcast 
on the fields, either before the corn is planted, 
or after it is up. The quantity sown varies 
from one bushel (90 lbs.) to three or four bush- 
els per acre. "When corn is planted three and 
a half feet apart, a teaspoonful on each hill 
would give about 200 lbs. per acre. 
As to whether plaster is more beneficial 
on sandy than on clayey land, and whether 
it ever proves injurious, we never heard ef its 
doing any harm on any soil, except that it 
sometimes produces rust in wheat. On dry, 
clay land, it is often as beneficial as on sandy soil. 
