EXPERIMENTS ON MR. PELL^S FARM. 
75 
small, shrivelled, and weighed 56 lbs. per bushel. 
The straw had lost its most nutritious substances, 
was much lighter than that cut earlier, and was con¬ 
sequently less valuable. Mr. Pell thinks that after 
the stem turns yellow near the ground (there being 
no connection between the root and the tassel), the 
kernel wastes daily. By early cutting, nearly all 
the saccharine matter is preserved in the straw, and 
it is thus rendered almost as valuable for fodder as 
hay. If the straw could be returned immediately to 
the field and plowed under, it would doubtless prove 
a more valuable manure than if concocted into excre¬ 
ment by passing through the animal, for this reason: 
by the analysis of Sprengel, it contains potash, soda, 
lime, magnesia, alumina with a trace of iron, silica, 
sulphuric acid, and chlorine. In passing through the 
animal it assists to form the whole animal economy; 
and as manure is devoid of a large portion of all the 
substances mentioned, the grain contains precisely 
the same substances, in different quantities. To prove 
this, Mr. Pell sowed some wheat on a pane of glass, 
and covered it with straw, not allowing any earth to 
come in contact with it. This grew as well as if it 
had been sown in earth, but unfortunately was de¬ 
stroyed by accident before it came to maturity. In 
France the same experiment was tried, and fully suc¬ 
ceeded. 
Third Experiment. —On the 9th of October, 1844, 
the tops from a potato field were gathered into a heap 
and burnt, and the ashes returned with a view of sow¬ 
ing wheat. The seed was then prepared thus : soak¬ 
ed four hours in brine that w T ould buoy up an egg; 
then scalded with boiling hot salt water mixed with 
pearl-ash passed through a sieve; distributed thinly 
over the barn floor, and a dry composition sifted on 
it, composed of the following substances. Oyster- 
shell lime; charcoal dust; oleaginous charcoal dust; 
ashes; Jersey blue sand ; brown sugar; salt; Peru¬ 
vian guano; silicate of potash; nitrate of soda; and 
sulphate of ammonia. After sprinkling this compo¬ 
sition on the wheat, the sun was permitted to shine 
upon it half an hour, when the particles became as it 
were crystallized upon the grain. In this state it 
was sown at the rate of 21 bushels per acre, directly 
on the potato ground, from which the tops only had 
been removed, and plowed in to the depth of five 
inches; harrowed once ; a bushel of timothy seed then 
sown to the acre, and harrowed twice. At the expi¬ 
ration of 15 days the wheat was so far above ground, 
as to be pronounced by a neighbor in advance of his 
which had been sown on the 1st of September, in the 
usual manner, without any preparation. Contiguous 
to this, prepared wheat was sown on carrot and tur¬ 
nip ground, the tops not having been removed, and 
plowed in together with like success. Another field 
adjoining, 3 bushels of wheat were sown per acre, in 
a dry state, on potato ground first plowed and har¬ 
rowed, and after sowing, twice harrowed. The first 
parcel, although plowed in to the depth of 5 inches, 
was 21 inches high before the last appeared above 
ground. 
The following composition of Mr. Pell’s own 
compounding was then spread by hand broad cast 
over the whole field, at an expense of $3 per acre: 
stable manure; dry charcoal dust; hickory wood 
soot; bone dust; oleaginous charcoal dust; oyster- 
shell lime; decayed leaves; leached ashes; unleached 
ashes; guano ; sal soda ; nitrate of potash ; fine salt; 
poudrette; horn shavings; refuse sugar; ammoniacal 
liquor; blood ; sulphuric acid ; magnesia; plaster of 
Paris; plaster from walls ground; decayed grass; 
decayed straw; decayed weeds ; fish ; refuse oil: 
sea weed; oxide of iron; and oxide of manganese. 
The object being to furnish food for the growing crop, 
every substance required for its sustenance was sought 
for in this composition. By Sprengel’s analysis, all 
cereal grain, peas, beans, carrots, potatoes, turnips, 
clovers, and grasses, contain chlorine, potash, phos¬ 
phoric acid, soda, sulphuric acid, lime, silica, magne¬ 
sia, oxide of manganese, alumina, and oxide of iron, 
with the exception of wheat, which has no oxide of 
manganese, and but a small portion of iron. 
Fourth Experiment. —On the 29th of October, 1844, 
eight bushels of wheat were sown to the acre on sod 
ground, and then plowed in beam deep and harrowed! 
four times. The result of this will be given next fall. 
If the two last above experiments should result 
favorably, the farmer will be enabled to use his corn, 
potato, and other root ground—which is always left 
in the best possible tilth by these crops—for wheat or 
rye, instead of allowing it to remain idle, as is the 
present custom, until the ensuing spring. 
Soiling. 
Treatment of Milch Cows. —During the summer, 
Mr. Pell’s cows are kept in the barn yard and soiled. 
They are fed three times per day, at stated hours, and 
in addition to their ordinary food, receive at 12 o’clock 
each day eight quarts of wheat bran, wet with water 
The general feeding is dry hay, green grass, green 
corn stalks, occasionally a few potatoes, and sail 
whenever the cows feel a disposition for it. Watei 
they have free access to at all times of the day and 
night, and should never be without it. An experi¬ 
ment was tried of giving the cows water only three 
times each day, immediately after eating their food, 
and they seemed satisfied. They were then constant¬ 
ly supplied, and drank freely nine times in one day, 
taking apparently as much at each draft as when 
allowed water only three times; so that, in reality, 
when permitted to drink only three times a day, they 
must have suffered much from thirst in the interims. 
When the weather is very hot or rainy, the cows 
have sheds made partially under ground, into which 
they can retire and ruminate undisturbed. With this 
treatment they constantly take on fat, and secrete 
twice the quantity of milk that they would if allowed 
to run at large. During the past summer the cows 
gave an average of 16 quarts of milk daily, and in 
the fall were fit for the butcher. In winter they are 
kept in stalls in a warm barn, littered freely, as occa¬ 
sion requires, and daily curried and rubbed. When 
the weather is fine, they are turned into the barn-yard 
for exercise in the middle of the day. Twice a day 
they are fed cut oat and wheat straw, with a small 
quantity of bran sprinkled over it, for the sake of 
which they eat their allowance entirely up, and once 
a day cut hay; they are salted four times a week, 
and have roots, such as beets, carrots, potatoes, or 
turnips once a week. By cutting the straw and hay, 
cattle are enabled to eat their meal in 25 minutes; 
whereas, if uncut, they are engaged in masticating 
their food half the night, the labor and fatigue of 
which deprives them of the necessary time required 
for their rest. 
Advantages of thus Soiling Stock. —Mr. Pell carted 
