SALT BITTERNS AS A MANURE. 
139 
plows; and, to acomplish this more effectually, 
let a second plow of suitable construction, fol¬ 
low each of the large plows, in the same furrow, 
so as to deepen the loose soil, and completely 
cover the clover. 
To facilitate this purpose, a brush drag should 
precede the first plows, so as to lay the clover 
in the same direction in which the ground is to 
be plowed. If this operation is well performed, 
the clover ley will be completely buried, and 
a deep, loose soil found, which may remain un¬ 
disturbed until near the time for planting corn, 
in April following, when the ground should be 
well harrowed, and checkered off very shallow, 
with light one-horse plows, and planted. In 
order not to disturb the clover beneath, the corn 
should be cultivated entirely with light one-horse 
harrows or cultivators, till about the first of 
July. By this time, the clover will probably 
have gone through the putrescent fermentation, 
and should now be well stirred with shovel 
plows, each way, and so deep as to scatter and 
bring near to the surface, a sufficient portion of 
clover seed to furnish the succeeding crop of 
clover. 
Early in September, the field should be sown 
in rye, and put in with the cultivator, or corn 
harrow, so as to leave a tolerable level surface, 
for the benefit of the succeeding crops of rye 
and clover, both of which are to be fed on the 
ground. If the corn, among which the rye is to 
be sown, in September, shall have been blown 
down, or tangled so much that the cultivator or 
corn harrow cannot be used, in putting in the 
^e, this operation must be delayed till the corn 
is cut up, and put in shocks. As it is important 
that the rye crop should be sown early, in or¬ 
der that it may furnish a good pasture the en¬ 
suing winter and spring, it is necessary that the 
corn crop should be planted early, so that it 
may be ready the sooner to cut off, in case it 
should be so tangled as to prevent the rj^e being 
sown among the standing corn. Besides, even 
if it can be sown, before the corn is cut off, it 
is important that this operation be performed 
soon after, as much benefit will thereby result 
to the rye crop, by affording it sun and air. 
The corn crop should always be cut up, when 
thoroughly ripe, as well for the purpose of prov¬ 
ender, as with a view to saving of manure. It 
should be fed to fattening cattle, in feeding pens, 
so situated as to be best adapted to the saving 
of manure, and convenience of hauling to the 
proper fields. That part of the fodder, from 
which the corn shall have been shucked, should 
be fed in the same manner, with a view to the 
same object. Judge Buel states that by pursu¬ 
ing the course recommended, “ ten or twelve 
loads of manure may readily be obtained every 
spring, from each animal wintered in the yard.” 
Prospect Hill , Ky . A. Beatty. 
Osage-Orange Sprouts for Walking Sticks.— 
The raising of these would doubtless be a 
profitable business, to sell to the walking-cane 
makers, as no other wood can surpass it for that 
purpose. A ready sale could be had in this city 
for a very large quantity. 
SALT BITTERNS AS A MANURE. 
In the Agriculturist for February, is an in¬ 
quiry as to the value of salt bitterns, (as the 
foreign ingredients in the salt water of the Onon¬ 
daga salines are called,) for manure. I have at 
this moment, no analysis of this substance be¬ 
fore me, to enable me to state with certainty of 
what it is composed, nor in what proportions; 
but it is generally understood to consist of lime, 
(the sulphate and carbonate,) with a little iron, 
and I think some magnesia. Of these, the sul¬ 
phate is in the largest quantity, but in the form 
in which it is thrown out of the works, it is also 
strongly impregnated with salt. 
Of this material, hundreds of thousands of 
bushels are heaped up about the salt works in 
this city, and are used for filling the streets, lots, 
&c. 
Perhaps any one familiar with the chemical 
character of the ingredients could determine 
whether they would be useful for manures, as 
well without a trial upon soil as with one. I 
have been 20 years a resident of Syracuse, and 
yet am unable to give the information sought 
for. There prevails here a vague idea, or a 
popular notion, that bitterns would serve a val¬ 
uable purpose, applied to the soil. I have heard 
numbers of persons remark that they have seen 
them tried, and know they produce a marked 
effect. In one instance, I remember a gentleman, 
resident here, told me that he was knowing of 
their application upon a considerable piece of 
land, and that the effect was observable for sev¬ 
eral years. I have also been informed, that 
where the salt water escapes from the State 
Aqueducts and saturates the ground, the grass 
springs up after a few years, with much greater 
luxuriance than before. But I have never wit¬ 
nessed an example of this sort, and I know of 
no one in this vicinity, who is accustomed to 
any regular or systematic employment of these 
bitterns for fertilising purposes. 
I am about to institute some experiments on 
this subject. Last summer, I paid $30 for haul- 
ing a quantity of this material about two miles, 
to my farm. It lies yet in a heap, in the field, 
but I shall this spring, begin to use it. I intend 
to apply some of it as a top-dressing upon a 
piece of meadow, and likewise, upon a low pas¬ 
ture, recently reclaimed, the surface of which is 
composed of two or three feet of peat, or muck. 
I am mostly engaged in growing fruit trees, and 
dare not apply bitterns very freely to them, for 
fear of the effect of the salt. But in a year or 
two, perhaps, by next fall, I shall be able to 
speak more confidently in regard to their merits. 
Mr. Spencer, formerly superintendent of the 
Onondaga Salt Springs, stated to me, (I believe, 
on his return from Saltville, in the southwest 
county of Virginia, where he was employed 
three or four years since, in the supervision of 
the salt manufacture at that place,) a fact that 
has some bearing upon this inquiry, and which 
I will repeat.. He said that in the immediate 
vicinity of the salt works, in that section, was 
formerly an open, barren field, of about forty 
acres in extent, lying in the form of a natural 
basin. When he went to Saltville, he noticed 
