286 
GREEN MANURES. 
—average value of each—comparative value for 
agricultural purposes—where is your market for 
them? 
Number of Horned Cattle in your state—average 
Value of, at three years old—where driven to mar¬ 
ket—cost of keep per head per year—which of the 
improved races is preferred ? 
Sheep Husbandry. —What the prevailing races— 
what the condition of this branch of industry— 
amount of wool clipped in the year, and average 
weight of fleece of different races—cost of keep¬ 
ing sheep through the year per head—where your 
markets—what your system of selling—have you 
wool depots, and are they found advantageous for 
wool grower and manufacturer—what number 
killed by dogs in your state ? 
Hogs. —Average weight at a given age—average 
weight consumed per head—proportion of live to 
net weight, and cost of production per pound. 
Rain. —Time and degree of highest and lowest 
range of thermometer, and the mean temperature of 
the year; also inches of rain water in each month, 
and aggregate for the year. 
Labor.— Cost of, with and without boarding, and 
cost of boarding. 
Tar and Turpentine. —Quantity and value of, 
produced per hand. 
Lime, Plaster , and Other Fertilizers. —If used as 
an improver in your state, how much is thought to 
be best per acre, and how often applied ? 
Orchards , Fruits , Transplanting of Trees , fyc .— 
Information on these and kindred matters, will be 
of universal interest. 
Cultivation of the Vine , Grapes , and American 
Wines. —Communications on this subject are par¬ 
ticularly solicited. 
Such of our readers as have it in their power 
will please to answer as much of this circular as is 
convenient, after procuring the requisite informa¬ 
tion, and before the 1st of December; and, in the 
mean time, please to name any one to whom the cir¬ 
cular may be sent in the hope of fuller information. 
GREEN MANURES. 
In practical husbandry, cases often occur where 
poor, light, and sandy soils, as well as meagre clays, 
may be enriched by cultivating cheap, quick-grow¬ 
ing vegetables, and plowing them under, instead of 
forming them into heaps near by, to be composted, 
with earth, muck, or lime, and then returned to 
the field at a considerable expense for working, 
carriage,&c. This is now commonly called “green 
manuring;” the principle being to enrich the soil, 
by setting a quick-growing plant to draw organic 
matters from the air, and inorganic from the sub¬ 
soil, below the reach of the roots of ordinary plants; 
and then plowing it into the soil. 
Peaty soils and lands newly cleared generally do 
not require this kind of manuring, as they are al¬ 
ready full of vegetable matter, and want only lime 
to neutralise the acids contained in them, and ni¬ 
trate of soda or sulphate of ammonia to supply 
them with nitrogen. Poor, clayey soils, however, 
are much improved by having their subsoil burnt, 
or rather charred, with peat, spent tan bark, saw¬ 
dust, or any other cheap kind of fuel. And as 
vegetable matters work sour, the land, before plow¬ 
ing them under, should receive cheap, inorganic 
dressings, such as salt, lime, plaster of Paris, marl, 
&c., which, when added, help the growth of the 
plants, and promote their drawing other matters 
from the air as well as the soil. 
The vegetables grown for the purpose of green 
manures should have the following properties:— 
They should flourish on poor soils; require little 
labor in cultivation; have cheap seed; be of quick 
and sure growth; stand the climate and vermin ; 
run their roots deep; bring up from the subsoil 
what the succeeding crops require; smother weeds; 
and produce a great quantity of stalks, or foliage, 
which will easily decay in the soil, without leav¬ 
ing any residue hurtful or pernicious to future 
growth. 
Among the plants best known for this purpose, 
and which appear to be most suitable for this 
country, we would note the following :— 
1. Red Clover. —This plant requires a rich, or 
moderately rich soil; little labor in cultivation ; 
seed cheap ; stands the climate and vermin well; 
is rapid in its growth; abundant in its yield, say 
from two to eight tons per acre, when green ; roots 
penetrate from eighteen inches to two feet and a 
half into the soil, and are equal in bulk to about 
one half of the stalks and leaves. Every 1,000 
lbs., when dry, contain 4 lbs. of potash, 1 T ^- lbs. 
of phosphoric acid, and 3§ lbs. of nitrogen. If 
plowed under, when in flower, as green manure, it 
is rapid in its decay. 
2. Rye. —This will grow on poor, dry, light, 
sandy or gravelly soils; is cultivated with little 
labor; seed cheap; stands the climate and vermin 
well; comparatively slow in its growth; abundant 
in straw; but its roots do not penetrate deep into 
the ground. Every 1,000 lbs. of the dry plant 
contain 4 lbs. of nitrogen, but no appreciable quan¬ 
tity of potash nor phosphoric acid. It may be 
plowed under late in the spring for fertilizing the 
soil. 
3. Buckwheat. —This plant will grow on a dry, 
sandy, gravelly, or peaty soil; requires little labor 
in cultivation ; seed cheap; stands the climate and 
vermin well; is rapid in its growth, particularly 
so in connexion with saltpetre and plaster of Paris; 
produces from two to four tons of roots and green 
herbage to the acre; but the roots do not penetrate 
deep into the soil. Every 1,000 lbs. of dry roots 
and tops, cut in full flower, contain 1$ lbs. of pot¬ 
ash, T \ of a pound of phosphoric acid, and 2 lbs. 
of nitrogen. Plowed under, as a green manure, it 
is somewhat rapid in its decay. 
4. Sparry. —This plant will grow on a poor, dry 
soil; requires but little labor in cultivation, and a 
small outlay for seed; grows in about two months; 
will yield about two tons of herbage per acre ; and 
its roots run about fifteen inches deep. Every 
1,000 lbs. of the roots and tops contain 9 lbs. of 
potash, 1\ lbs. of phosphoric acid, and 4 lbs. of 
nitrogen. When plowed under, as a green manure, 
it decays rapidly in the soil. 
5. White Lupin. —This plant has been exten¬ 
sively used in Italy, for plowing under, from the 
time of the Romans, and has been adopted with 
great success in Germany, for the same purpose? 
not only on poor lands, but on soils in high culti¬ 
vation. It is adapted to all soils except those 
which are limy; is cultivated with little labor; 
