1877 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4=59 
and chlorine compounds, which latter, though generally 
beneficial, may in certain cases be harmful. 
3. The higher grades will be, in general, most profita¬ 
ble for use in this country, because they furnish the most 
potassium with the least admixture of inferior materials, 
on which costs of freight and handling must be paid. 
The chlorides (muriates) with 80 to 81 per cent of chlor¬ 
ide,of potassium, corresponding to 50 to 52 per cent ac¬ 
tual potash, and the sulphates, with TO to 80 per cent of 
sulphate of potash, or from-38 to 44 per cent actual pot¬ 
ash, are to be especially recommended. 
4. For potatoes, sugar-beets, or tobacco, the sulphates 
are preferable ; for other crops, or on wet lands, the 
chlorides, which are cheaper, are equally good. 
5. Potash salts have proven especially useful for fod¬ 
der crops, as grass and rye: for leguminous crops, as 
clover, beans, peas, and vetches, and for corn, potatoes, 
roots, tobacco, and fruits. 
6 . Potash is most apt to be lacking in light, sandy, and 
calcareous (lime) soils, in those consisting largely of 
vegetable matters, like peat, muck beds, and moors, and 
in those where guanos, phosphates, bone, etc., which 
supply nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and lime, hut little 
or no potash, do not bring as large returns as formerly. 
7. In order to secure uniform diffusion through the 
soil, the potash salts should be applied as long as possi¬ 
ble before the crop is sown. It is weil to mix with earth, 
or to compost, before applying, especially if used shortly 
before sowing the seed, otherwise they may injure the 
crops. And. in general, potash salts are well adapted 
for composting with muck, earth, stable manure, phos¬ 
phates, fish, and the like. 
8 . The best results are generally obtained by using 
potash salts not alone, hut with other fertilizers, as su¬ 
perphosphates, guanos, and fish. Mixtures of these with 
potash salt form “ complete fertilizers.” The proper 
use of potash salts is as adjuncts to other feriilizers. 
9. From 200 lbs., to 4C0 or 500 lbs. per acre of the 
higher, and 300 to 600 lbs. of the lower grades, are appro¬ 
priate quantities. 
10. The question of the need of potash in a given soil, 
can he best decided by actual trial. It will be generally 
advisable to test the question by experiments on a small 
scale, before making large purchases. 
TV. O. Atwater. 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 
Ogden Farm Papers—Ho. 94. 
BT GEORGE E. WARING, JR. 
I will now take up the Live-Stock account of the 
farm, and show, somewhat in detail, what our trans¬ 
actions have been. During the whole ten years of 
our enterprise—from September 6,1867, to Septem¬ 
ber 6, 1877—the total footing of this account arc : 
All disbursements, including purchase of ani¬ 
mals, medicines, incidental expenses, etc.. .$20,551 05 
Receipts, including eggs, poultry, 
beef cattle, etc...$32,531 80 
Live stock on hand Sept. 6 , 1877... 13,339 00— 45,870 80 
Amount to credit of this account.... $25,319 75 
Several of the items are worth examining: 
1. Poultry —In this we have made a pretty uni¬ 
form failure, owing to the heavy (damp) condition 
of the soil. We have repeatedly tried to get some 
breed of fowls or other poultry that would thrive 
with us, but have come to the conclusion that, 
while our neighbors, whose land is dry, can make 
money in the poultry business, we cannot do-so. 
The account stands thus : 
Purchases of stock... $499 54 
Sale of eggs, dressed poultry, etc. 1,061 54 
Amount to credit of this account...... $562 00 
This is not enough to pay for food bought, to say 
nothing of building a poultry house. The failure 
is due to our trying to keep poultry on land en¬ 
tirely un suited to it—to bad judgment, in fact. 
2. Horses and Mules: 
Purchases have amounted to. $2,569 29 
Total sales. ...$1,731 50 ’ 
Stock on hand, September 6 . 1877.. 550 00 — 2,281 50 
Amount to debit of this account. $288 70 
This makes a cost of $28.80 per annum for the 
cost of teams, aside from the cost of keep, j It is, 
on the whole, less than we might reasonably have 
expected, but it is quite different from what we did 
expect. Indeed, it is not a fair showing, because 
the credit shows the whole amount received for a 
number of colts sold, and the debit does not in¬ 
clude the cost of raising these. We raised in all 
some 8 or 10 colts, every one of which cost more 
than he came to, and most of them a good deal 
more. Indeed, our experience indicates that in a 
region where feed costs so much as it does here, 
the raising of colts is a losing business. I think it 
is demonstrable that every colt well raised here¬ 
about to the age of four years and well trained, 
costs more than $200. It is only now and then that 
it can be sold at the age of four years for over $200, 
and the average price will often be less. The rais¬ 
ing of fancy horses may pay, but it requires a large 
investment in animals of a class which may well be 
called “ extra hazardous.” It is not a good branch 
of industry for an average farmer to engage in. 
3. Swine —In this item our experience has been 
more satisfactory, but still the result has not been 
very brilliant. The item of, feed has not been 
very serious (for a guess—we have not kept it sep- 
erate from our general feed account), because we 
have had an enormous amount of skimmed milk at 
all seasons, and could have made no other use of 
so much of it as has gone into the swill barrel. 
The total disbursements for pigs, etc., have been..$963 26 
The total receipts front sales of pigs, 
pork, breeding animals, etc., have 
been.. .$1,928 36 
Stock on hand Sept. 6 , 1877.. 134 CO— 2,062 36 
Amount to credit of this account.7$1,099 10 
We made the radical mistake at the outset of se¬ 
lecting the “ small white ” breed, which was not 
suited to our circumstances, and for the progeny 
of which we did not find a ready sale. For our 
first sow of this breed (imported), we paid $188, 
and we never got our money back from the sale of 
her progeny. Then we tried the “ Chester White,” 
with no better result. Then ■ we settled on the 
“ Essex,” which turned out very much better. In¬ 
deed, for the two or three years while pork was 
high, and while this breed was in favor, we did 
very well indeed—selling eight-weeks’ pigs readily 
at $25 each. I still have a good opinion of this 
breed, especially for crossing on coarse white sows ; 
but for profitable, thorough breeding, I think they 
are too late in coming to profit, and that they are 
not entirely free from the charge of “ shy breed¬ 
ing.” I question whether they will ever regain 
the high popularity they enjoyed six or seven years 
ago. For raising grade pigs, they are as good as 
can be asked, but what is especially needed is a 
breed that, as thoroughbreds, arc up to all the de¬ 
sired conditions. I question whether it will pay in 
the Long run to raise an improved breed of any race 
whose chief value is in its ability to produce a good 
race of grades. If I were going into the breeding of 
pure swine again, I should try to find some race 
which would be in demand among average farmers, 
rather for its own good qualities, than for the good 
qualities of its grade progeny. 
4. Beef Cattle —This has been with us a very inci¬ 
dental item. We have worked oxen to a greater 
or less extent, and have tried to buy such oxen as 
would improve in value in our hands. We should 
have had a very fine record under this head, had we 
not lost our own head at a time when beef was very 
high, and when store cattle could be bought for a 
moderate price. Our barn was full, and it seemed so 
clear that we could add very much to our product 
of manure, and somewhat to our annual return 
of money, that we spent over $1,500 in build¬ 
ing a long addition to the barn to house some forty 
head of beef cattle. We bought our stock cheaply 
enough, and we bought abundant feed for them. 
After keeping them eight months, on a falling 
market, we sold them for a round loss, and our 
shed has never been of any especial use from that 
day to this, except to shelter the barn-yard from the 
cold N. W. winds. Thus our speculation cost ns 
more money than any other losing one on which 
we ever ventured. But for this speculation, this 
item would have made a respectable appearance— 
for a small one. The actual figures are these : 
Total disbursements.$2,398 59 
Total receipts. 2.454 93 
Amount to credit of this account. $56 34 
6. Thoroughlrred Jerseys —This branch of our busi¬ 
ness we submit to public inspection with no little 
satisfaction. We took it up in the very first year 
of our enterprise, and have followed it persistently 
to the end, and are now going on with it as vigor¬ 
ously as ever. On full investigation of the ground, 
we decided that the Jersey was the coming farmers’ 
cow, and that, when this fact should come to be 
generally recognized, she would be sure to come to 
the front. Up to that time (1867 to 1868), she was 
generally considered as hardly more than a fancy 
animal, or a “ gentleman’s cow.” 
Our theory was that the Jersey must, before 
many years, demonstrate her economical value so 
clearly that the fancy demand would become 
insignificant as compared with the utilitarian de¬ 
mand. The event has already shown that this 
theory was well founded, and there is reason to be¬ 
lieve that ten years more will show that we had 
greatly underestimated the extent of the change. 
That we were practically correct so far as our own 
interests were concerned, is shown by these figures : 
Total disbursements for tbe purchase of thor¬ 
oughbred Jerseys.....$10,326 70 
Total receipts from sales of thor¬ 
oughbred Jerseys....$24,259 75 
Value of stock on hand Sept. 6,1877 12,635 00— $36,894 75 
Amount to credifof this account...$26,588 05 
It may be of interest to give the accounts for 
each year by itself: Purchases. Sales. 
Tear ending Sept. 6, 1863.$3,475 00 —— 
“ “ “ 1869 525 00 $300 00 
1870. 1.456 09 1,350 00 
11 “ “ 1871. 900 00 1.885 00 
“ “ “ 1872 645 09 3.670 00 
“ “ “ 1873 200 60 2,100 00 
“ “ « 18T4. 1,328 20 2.950 00 
“ “ | 1S75. 1,322 59 5.988 75 
“ “ “ 1S76. 425 09 2.830 50 
“ “ . “ 1877. 150 00 3,185 50 
The estimate of stock on hand is made at fair 
selling rates, much of it is growing in value, and, 
as a whole,It could all be cleared out within a year 
at considerably more than the estimate. 
In considering this result, we should not lose sight 
of the rather undue amount of misfortune that we 
have had. We lost by death two cows, for which 
we paid $700 cash, and calves of the value of at 
least $1,000. Then we have had some still-births 
at full period, and no less than fifteen abortions, 
costing us the value of the calf, and a great reduc¬ 
tion in the value of the dam. Indeed, it is well with¬ 
in bounds to say that the epidemic abortion from 
which we suffered in 1871-2 and 3, cost us $5,000. 
In one case an aborting cow failed to get with calf 
again and was slaughtered. We had refused 
$600 for her. In other cases we have, for the same 
defects, sold cows at very low rates to go to distant 
points where they have resumed breeding and have 
done well. “Big Duchess” cost us $400, and 
“Theresa” cost us $300. We sold the latter for 
$100, and the former for $50, to go to Illinois, where 
they both turned out well. 
On the whole our losses have been considerably 
more than I should expect to sustain in another pe¬ 
riod of ten years, partly because we have learned 
some things which we did not know at the outset. 
For example : I do not fear ever again to lose a co w 
by milk fever. Judicious starvation just before and 
just after calving seems a sure prevention of that. 
Collating the accounts as well as I can, I get the 
following result—which is practicably correct, al¬ 
though the buying and selling of occasional lots 
for a round sum makes it impossible to be quite ex¬ 
act. We have bought: 
23 males for an average of. $47 50 
46 females “ “ 190 25 
Wo have sold; 
60 males “ “ 98 75 
83 females “ “ 216 50 
During the last year we bought nothing. The sales 
were: 
3 males for an average of...... $170 00 
12 females “ “ . 241 25 
These averages cover a very wide range of prices. 
We sold a cow for $750, and a bull calf for $20. 
The grand result of our Jersey business has been 
entirely satisfactory, and, aside from the business 
aspect of the .ease, it is pleasant to see that the 
breed is now very generally recognized as a sine qua 
non, not only of the best butter-making, but for the 
most butter-making. It is conceded that no other 
animal, except a goat, will get so much butter out 
of a ton of hay as a good Jersey cow, and that no 
other cow will give the butter such good quality. 
Ten years ago the Jersey was high-priced because 
gentlemen wanted her for their lawns. To-day she 
is still higher priced, because she is recognized as 
the founder of the coming race of butterman’s cow. 
Ten years ago, high prices depended on deer-like. 
