aBB8EE 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
147 
For tha American Ajrlculturial, 
KENTUCKY CORRESPONDENCE. 
FARMING AROUND LEXINGTON, &C. 
I have been stopping the last ten days in the 
“garden of Kentucky,” the vicinity of Lexing¬ 
ton, Fayette County, and have been able to see 
and learn much that has interested me, and 
which would also interest many of your readers, 
I presume, could they see the same. The read¬ 
ers of the Agriculturist in former years have 
been favored with some interesting accounts of 
this part of the State of Kentucky, and the fairs 
which have been held at Paris and Lexington, 
and your present readers might also be inte¬ 
rested to hear something more of this count}', its 
agricultural productions, stock, &c., &c. 
The soil of this region is exceedingly fertile 
and inexhaustable. I repeat it is inexhaustablc, 
else it had been long since ruined. It is of that 
variety of lime-stone which contains siliceous 
carbonate of lime in large quantities, yielding 
an abundance of food of the best kind for graz¬ 
ing, and for this purpose it is diligently im¬ 
proved. Stock of almost all kinds are here bred, 
probably in a greater abundance, and of a su¬ 
perior quality to any other State in the Union. 
No effort is left untried to procure the very best 
animals that can be found from which to breed, 
and when procured no pains is spared in keep¬ 
ing up and improving even upon these. I have 
had the pleasure of forming the acquaintance ol 
the best stock breeders of the country, and oi 
enjoying their hospitality, and can truly and 
cheerfully bear witness to their spirit of enter¬ 
prise, their pride of character, and to that large 
amount of those characteristics which make up 
the true Kentucky gentlemen. Some of them 
are not unknown to the readers of the Agricul¬ 
turist, nor to the most distinguished stock 
breeders throughout the country. 
Great attention is given here to the breeding 
of jacks and mules, some of the finest in tht 
country can here be found, and at the present 
time it is one of the most profitable branches ol 
husbandry pursued. I have seen several suck¬ 
ing mules for which from $80 to $100 dollar.- 
each had been paid as soon as they stood upon 
their feet; this, of course, is an extraordinary 
price for extra colts, but ordinary ones are high— 
and so it is with all kinds of stock, such as cat 
tie, horses, sheep, swine, &c., all of which kinds 
they have in abundance here, except perhaps 
sheep, which are more prized for the size of car 
case than tor the quality of wool—and of course 
the larger varieties are bred. 
The high prices which have been paid foi 
imporied stock by the farmers here, and also a 
which they hold animals which they have bred 
from them, would astonish many of our conser¬ 
vative farmers at the north, though but little 
thought of here. 
Tins part of Kentucky, to one who has so 
long lived in the woods as has the writer, ap¬ 
pears almost like a fairyland; exceedingly fair ai 
least. Every acre is brought under tribute. 
The forests are all in grass, and for grazing. 
The appearance of the country now is truly 
pleasing; the trees have put forth their foliage ; 
c over and other grasses, and the winter grain, 
of which latter but little is grown, cover the 
earth with their beautiful green. There is one 
thing, however, which rather surprised me, viz, 
the little attention given to the cultivation o' 
good fruit. Most of the orchards that I have 
seen are very old and are nearly worthless. J 
have seen but few young orchards, and find but 
little interest felt in fruit culture. This climate 
is undoubtedly favorable for fruit, and it musi 
be a want of enterprise in part, which causes 
this inattention to so important a branch of hus¬ 
bandry. 
I have many more things to write about, and 
more in detail, and will endeavor to do so 
soon at least, as I can do so authoritatively, 
and hope to give your readers something ol 
more interest. Josephus. 
Lexington , Jivril 28, 1854, 
For th® American Agriculturist. 
WHAT ARE WE TO DO FOR FENCE TIMBER ? 
Since I have been a subscriber to the Agri¬ 
culturist, I have derived much pleasure as well 
as instruction from the perusal of its pages. 
But there is one subject, second to none in im¬ 
portance, upon which but little has been said. 
I refer to the management of timber land. The 
question is often asked among farmers, what are 
we to do for fencing timber and fuel ? Land is 
becoming so valuable, that farmers are clearing 
out their woodlands as bare as possible, for all 
surplus forest land is considered dead capital. 
As for fuel, the increased facilities for transpor¬ 
tation will enable us, in a few years, to substi¬ 
tute coal for wood. But as yet there has been 
no material used for fencing, that seems likely 
to supersede the use of timber. 
The usual practice is to cut out the dying or 
best matured trees, and under this process our 
forests are becoming thinner every' year, as the 
stock ranging at large devour all the young 
sprouts, and prevent any new growth. 
Some advocate cutting all the timber, both 
large and small, as you go, and allow it to 
sprout up again. But even if this were better 
economy, which appears to me doubtful, it 
would be necessary to keep the woodland 
fenced off by itself—a very expensive opera¬ 
tion. 
Some suggestions from you or your corres¬ 
pondents on this subject, would be both inte¬ 
resting and useful to a Young Farmer. 
A good subject for some of our correspond¬ 
ents. See first article in No. 24 of last volume. 
-• O •- 
A WOMAN ON THE “BONE QUESTION.” 
Several papers have recently been discussing 
the question, “ Will ashes dissolve bones?” We 
gave our own opinion on page 9 of this volume, 
(No. 1.) The Country Gentleman recently 
published an elaborate article on the subject 
from the pen of Prof. Nash, which somewhat 
commends a process said to be practical. Miss 
Swisshelm pitches into the article after this 
fashion : 
The agricultural papers are positively discuss¬ 
ing the question, “ Will ashes dissolve bones?” 
A} e, and discussing it as gravely' as if it were a 
profound mystery. One agricultural paper says 
ashes will dissolve bones, and another says they 
will not; which only proves that every agricul¬ 
tural paper should have one housekeeper in itf- 
editorial corps, to keep them from being ridic¬ 
ulous occasionally. 
Any western farmer’s wife or daughter could 
answer this mooted question on the instant, ana 
would at once say, “that depends upon the 
ashes.” 
Any ashes that will make soap will dissolve 
Oones, if you put enough on; but when so dis¬ 
solved, they are rather an expensive manure. 
We should as much think of sending to the 
chandlers for a dozen boxes of soap, and put- 
ling a quarter of a pound on each hill of corn, 
as putting all the bones of one kitchen into hogs¬ 
heads, dissolving them with ashes, and using 
the mixture as did the writer in the Country 
Gentleman. 
His was rather an expensive economy. His 
manure was simply very strong, unrefined soap, 
which, with a very little difference in the man¬ 
lier of preparing, would have done all the wash¬ 
ing and cleaning in the family, when, in the form 
of refuse suds, it should have been poured on a 
bed of loam or clay to make manure for the 
cornfield, or around the roots of the grape vines 
and fruit trees, as a liquid manure. 
The only difference between the plans of 
making clean soap and the dirty mixture he did 
make, would be to empty the ashes into a hop¬ 
per, put the water on them there, iet it run off 
in the form of lye, pour this upon the bones, ana 
either boil them in it or let them stand in the 
sun. The bones would dissolve, the limey part 
settle to the bottom, and the animal, fatty, and 
glutinous matter unite with the lye to make the 
soap. 
One hogshead full of bones and good ashes, 
would make a full hogshead of soap, leaving the 
leached ashes and phosphate of lime from the 
bones, into the bargain. 
But quick lime used in this same maimer will 
dissolve bones until they are good food for 
plants, and this is cheaper than soap ashes. 
VALUE OF NITRATE OF SODA AS A MA¬ 
NURE. 
In very many sections of our country, this 
article is now extensively used as a stimulant 
for soils, and especially for those cultivated in 
grain and grass. In our late agricultural jour¬ 
nals of the better class, I have lately noticed 
some very interesting accounts, all going to 
confirm the fact that nitrate of soda is an econ¬ 
omical and efficient fertilizer, particularly when 
applied to the above crops. In a Liverpool pa¬ 
per, the following has lately appeared, and I copy 
it, in hopes that some who may have hitherto 
questioned the utility of this and similar appli¬ 
cations, may be induced to test its virtues for 
themselves, and thus be enabled to judge un- 
dcrstandingly whether it is capable of being 
made an economical adjuvant in the great 
and important process of vegetable nutrition, 
or not. 
“ On the 6th of May last,” says the writer, 
“ six alternate ridges of wheat, measuring one 
acre, two roods, and five perches, were sowed 
with five cwt. of nitrate of soda. In a few days 
the difference between the ridges with the ni¬ 
trate and the intervening ridges of the same 
size, could be discerned at a considerable dis¬ 
tance from the field, which difference continued 
throughout the summer. The two sorts have 
been reaped, threshed, measured and weighed 
•separately, and the following is a correct account 
of the produce: 
“ Nitrated wheat, 48 bushels, weight per 
bushel, 66 lbs. Of that portion of the field 
on which no nitrate was sowed, the produce 
was 23 bushels, weight per bushel 56 lbs. 
Straw of the same, one ton, five cwt., one qt\, 
two lbs. The quality of both is represented as 
inferior. 
“ It will at once occur to every reader, that 
the quantity applied in this case, was excessive, 
dad the application been limited to one-half or 
cwo-thirds the quantity, its action, on the crop 
would, in all probability, have been more effi¬ 
cient.” 
So far as my own observations extend, and I 
have made some few experiments with this ar¬ 
ticle, it appears to be a most valuable and effi¬ 
cient manure, and we have no doubt, that it will 
oo so regarded by all who try it, j udiciovsly, 
either on grain or grass. 
One great and important advantage resulting 
to the farmer from the use of these concentrated 
manures, is the ease and cheapness with which 
i,hey may be transported and applied. It costs 
but a mere trifie to dress soils with them, while 
the expense of manuring wholly with compost, 
or other manures, subtracts a large sum from 
the income of the most successful and lucrative 
crop. That a perfectly barren, or totally ex¬ 
hausted soil can be restored, and rendered pro¬ 
ductive in cereals, or even in the most valueless 
vegetables of the cultivated classes, without 
the joint and associated action of humus, no 
farmer whose experience, or whose knowledge 
of the practical sciences will gainsay. Its action 
even upon emasculated soils would no doubt be 
beneficial, yet it would not be sufficiently so, to 
insure the full development and perfect matura¬ 
tion of valuable grain. In conjunction with 
nuinus, or putrescent and rapidly-decomposing 
vegetable or animal organisms, it would tend 
powerfully to the protection of the great piirnal 
object of all agricultural enterprise—the wealthy 
development and perfection of the vegetable 
systems to which it is applied. As a top-dressing 
