WHAT ARE THE MOST ECONOMICAL MANURES ? 
45 
they lose the prize they are sure of by diving after 
the shadow. Give but a portion, of its own pro¬ 
duction back to. the soil, and it will continue to 
yield, while the earth shall. last, 4o the fullest 
measure of its capacity. 
What vegetable productions , then , are. best 
adapted to fertilizing the soil ? Universal practice 
gives the preference to clover , at the north; and 
the most respectable testimony assigns to the cow- 
pea the preference Tor the south. They are each 
admirably adapted to this “purpose. They are 
easily cultivated, by sowing broad-cast, harrowing, 
and rolling, and they require no subsequent atten¬ 
tion.. They are a sure crop-on nea'rly all soils in 
m good condition. They are easily turned under the 
surface, or, if required in part for the support of 
animal life, they are favorites, either green or dry, 
for nearly every quadruped of the farm. For a 
large portion oi the lands in this country'this is 
the only system that can be resorted to, with any 
hope of sustaining or augmenting their fertility. 
It is unquestionably true, that if all . the refuse 
vegetation raised on the farm, stubble, bad hay, 
straw, leaves, &c., together with the excrements i 
and remains of animals, which are simply the; 
ultimate products of vegetation, could be added to 
the land, which should, at the same time, be pro¬ 
tected from exhaustion, by washing nr otherwise, 
it would be in a continual state of improvement; | 
but as all these ate unavoidably subject to great 
waste, and we are constantly taking off what, by 
no possibility of means, can be again added to the 
land in an undiminished state, we must look to 
other sources of compensation,, if we would main¬ 
tain the just balance of things. 
Besides abundant and unquestionable proof, 
furnished by accurate experiments, which have 
shown the large proportion of material existing in 
every vegetable, which has been drawn exclusive¬ 
ly from the atmosphere, experience, for a series of j 
years, has shown, almost as conclusively, that by ! 
adding an occasional crop to the soil, its fertility is 
fully maintained, without the addition of any other 
substances, excepting in the most limited quanti¬ 
ties. A rotation, for instance, in which a second, 
third, or fourth crop added to the soil-, with scarce¬ 
ly an appreciable addition of gypsum, has been 
found to improve poor lands, and fully maintain 
good; enabling.them to part with all the interve¬ 
ning crops without deterioration. It is as clear as 
light itself, however, such a practice must have a 
limit ; that wheat, or any other crop containing 
principles not afforded by clover, can not be taken 
off the ground for an indefinite time, without re¬ 
turning to the soil where grown those identical 
principles, in some shape. Some soils will sus¬ 
tain this system longer, others shorter; ten, 
fifty, or it may be a hundred years—but it has a 
limit beyond which it will not go. Wheat lias 
been found a prolific and profitable crop in every 
section of the United States, when the land was 
first. subjected to cultivation; but in the older 
portions of them some essential ingredient has 
been exhausted, and the most careful manuring 
and husbandry have been found requisite to ensure 
a crop. At one time New England produced large 
quantities, and, as brought into successive cultiva¬ 
tion, the region bordering the Hudson, the valley 
of the Mohawk, western New York, and now 
Ohio, the prairies, and the illimitable region 
beyond. 
Iri adopting the above system, it is always ad¬ 
visable, whenever it can be economically done, 
that some- of the salts, as they are chemically 
termed, such as plaster, lime, potash, or ashes, 
salt, &e., should be applied to the growing crop, as 
they sometimes add a principle in which the soil 
is deficient, by which it is enabled to supply vege¬ 
tation till exhausted of s'omeof the other materials. 
Gypsum, when found to be especially beneficial, 
ought to be liberally applied; and oh clover, for 
which it is a food,' and over nearly all. the 
States remote from the seacoast, and in some 
instances near it, it is proved to contribute greatly 
to the growth of the crop, and frequently re¬ 
turns in the augmented product, 5, 10,-and even; 
20 times its cost. Lime, also, is of great benefit 
on every soil not already charged with it; and 
salt in small quantities is valuable in addition to 
its efficiency in destroying grubs, worms; and in¬ 
sects. The above applications, with many others, 
are frequently said to act as a stimulus' to vegeta¬ 
tion-; a. somewhat indefinite phrase, as we con¬ 
ceive it has a very different method of acting from 
the ropesend, applied externally, or the whiskey 
internally, as an excitant to a sailor’s strength. 
Gypsum furnishes food to many growing plants,— 
so does potash, salt, lime, soda, &c.; but they also 
help to decompose and liberate other principles 
held in excess in the soil, by which an equilibrium 
is restored, and vegetation has again a full supply 
of all its requisite materials. A slight addition to 
the foregoing may do much to prolong and even 
augment the fertility of soils which are dependent 
on crops alone for support. 
There are, however, large sections of our coun¬ 
try in the neighborhood of good markets, furnished 
by our larger cities and manufacturing towns, 
where the crops are too valuable to be thus ap¬ 
plied; or rather, the object can be effected with 
other materials at a cheaper rate. Here large 
amounts of excrementitious matters are collected, 
rich in every principle of fertility, and if properly 
husbanded, they can be supplied in quantities 
sufficiently abundant, to sustain a broad margin 
of circumference in the highest condition. Your 
worthy correspondent, Mr. Partridge, is showing 
to the neighboring farmers what will prove more 
valuable to them than the mines of Polos!; and 
he is an explorer on those- subjects, in whom full 
confidence may be placed; for, in addition to his 
qualifications as a practical farmer, most of the 
materials he describes have been the subject of 
repeated and strict analysis. Wherever any of 
these materials are furnished, as they frequently 
are through the country, by the manufacturers of 
any of the animal products, as wool, bones, horns, 
hair, hides, glue, or potash, glass, or some of 
the chemicals, they should always be carefully 
saved, and mixed with other ingredients for the 
benefit of the soil. Fish and sea-weed abound 
along our Atlantic coast, and whenever available, 
they should be skilfully compounded and applied 
to the contiguous land. 
