POTATOES AND SALINE MANURES. 
139 
to those who are acquainted with the nature of the 
sheep; while feeding about thin pastures, they 
are always on the move; the most active are for¬ 
ward, and they are no more inclined to feed nights 
than a drove of turkeys. 
To urge them along in the winter while snow is 
on the ground, one person must take a few and 
drive on ahead, those behind will follow on; but 
to get them along without fatigue, they must be 
allowed to string along the beaten-path for a rea¬ 
sonable distance. 
The shepherd-dog must be a valuable animal to 
a hock-master, in any situation, and it is a wonder 
that we have none of them in this sheepish state. 
In an especial manner when there are so many 
worthless animals reared among us. If any of 
your readers have an extra one to spare, I would 
give in exchange a valuable merino-ram for it; 
both parties could be thus mutually benefited. 
Solomon W. Jewett. 
Weybridge, Vi., Feb. 2m, 1844. 
POTATOES AND SALINE MANURES. 
We have repeatedly called the attention of our 
farmers to the necessity of using saline manures to a 
much greater extent than is now generally prac¬ 
tised. By saline manures, we mean all those sub¬ 
stances which enter into cultivated crops, which 
are called earthy or inorganic, and most of which 
are left in the form of ashes when these substan¬ 
ces are burnt. Thus we find that after drying and 
burning potatoes, we have left of ash, the follow¬ 
ing fixed or inorganic matters in the proportions 
specified:— 
Potato roots . 
Potato tops. 
Potash..... 
.40.28. 
.81.9 
Soda... 
.23.34. 
. 0.9 
Lime. 
Magnesia . 
Alumina. 
Oxide of iron. 
.32. 
.2 
Silica....,. 
..84. 
.49 4 
Sulphuric acid. 
Phosphoric acid.... 
Chlorine..,. 
These substances are just as essential to the for¬ 
mation and successful growth of potatoes, as the 
water, atmospheric air, carbonic acid, and ammo¬ 
nia, which enter into their composition, and are 
called the organic matters,—carbon, hydrogen, ox¬ 
ygen, and nitrogen—which make up the balance 
of the materials necessary to the perfection of the 
plant. Now, if we apply putrescent or barnyard 
manures in sufficient quantity to the land, we shall 
furnish to the plant all that it requires for its 
growth, as these manures being formed from ve¬ 
getables, usually contain all the required materials 
for the reproduction of vegetation. But there is 
frequently a deficiency of such manures, and far¬ 
mers are obliged to resort to muck, peat, sea-weed, 
fish, and other animal manures, as fertilizers; and 
these do not afford all the requisite materials. 
To remedy this deficiency, saline manures should 
be used to the utmost extent that they can be 
found profitable. 
Ashes, leached or ualeached, the latter much the 
most profitable, should be used freely. We know 
of no greater waste or worse management than for 
our farmers to sell their ashes, as they now too 
generally do. No price ever paid for them is any 
compensation for their loss. Every bushel of good 
ashes will yield about 20 cents worth of potash, 
which, in ail cases, is an essential ingredient in 
the farm-crops, and worth to them for this pur¬ 
pose, as much as to the manufacturers of potash. 
Yet we find the farmers trucking them off by loads, 
for a few bars of soap, or some other trifling equiv¬ 
alent, varying from 3 to 8 cents per bushel. It 
would be some compensation to their owners, if it 
were made a condition of the sale, that the ashes 
should be returned them after leaching, as they are 
then worth about half the price of the unleached 
for agricultural purposes. Yet in the face of these 
facts, perfectly well known to every intelligent far¬ 
mer, there are millions of bushels, annually thrown 
aside in the asheries scattered through the coun¬ 
try, especially at the west, which are used to fill 
up pond-holes or streets, or are suffered to be car¬ 
ried off by streams beyond the reach of any profit¬ 
able application. 
Lime is an important ingredient in soils, yielding 
a portion of its substance directly to plants, and 
especially useful in effecting changes in the con¬ 
stituents of the soil and preparing them in the 
most befitting form, and under the most advan¬ 
tageous circumstances, to be taken up by the grow¬ 
ing plants. 
Plaster of Paris is highly useful as a manure 
for plants when adapted to the soil and climate, 
serving both as food for plants in a large degree, 
and as producing changes in the available portions 
of soils for the benefit of the crops. 
Bone-dust is a necessary food for plants, and is 
peculiarly adapted as a manure for potatoes and 
turneps, containing as it does, great proportions of 
phosphate of lime and gelatine, the former of 
which, especially, enters largely into the compo¬ 
sition of those roots. This manure, indispensable 
in some shape, is now thrown away throughout 
most of the country, yet with the simple expense 
of grinding, it could be made of immense value to 
the farmer. 
Salt is an invaluable addition to most soils, both 
of its materials, chlorine and soda, entering large¬ 
ly into plants, besides combining to a great extent 
with the moisture of the atmosphere, as do each 
of the preceding, thus securing an unusual supply 
of this vital material for growing plants during a 
drought. It is also, in common with others, an 
important agent in the extirpation of worms and 
insects, so frequently destructive of vegetation. 
Saltpetre, though too expensive to be used pro¬ 
fusely, is a valuable and economical manure when 
applied as a soak for seeds, which protects them 
from the ravages of grubs, &c., or when placed 
immediately around the roots of plants; giving 
them an early, vigorous growth, which thereby 
frequently secures a large crop, that might other¬ 
wise be lost by drought, or cut off by an early frost. 
Nitrate and sulphate of soda, ammomacal 
liquor, and some other ingredients have a similar 
effect, and may be used with the same advantage 
as the preceding. 
