202 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July. 
another twenty-five hundred dollar present. His name | 
will thus be long associated with those of other public 
spirited and wealthy Marylanders, who have so heartily 
united to encourage and support this valuable enter- 
prize. 
Mr. Calvert, with a view of accomplishing results 
of some practical value at as early a day as may be, 
has laid off three ranges of experimental lots, each 19 
in number, on one of which series corn is planted, on 
the second oats, and on the third potatoes. Manures 
of 19 kinds, including guanos of various sorts, the 
superphosphates of different manufactures, poudrette, 
&c., &c., are to be applied to the 19 lots devoted to 
each crop—each lot being precisely half an acre in ex¬ 
tent, and the amount of manure which each receives 
being regulated by their relative cost as follows:— 
Peruvian guano is applied to one at the rate of three . 
cwt. or $7.65 per acre, and as much of each of the 
other manures as the same sum .will purchase, shows 
the quantity of it to be used. The experiment is to be 
continued five years, under a rotation of crops from one 
set of lots to another, and the returns accurately mea¬ 
sured and noted down, as between the respective fer¬ 
tilizers, in the expectation of thus ascertaining more 
nearly than could otherwise be done, their comparative 
effects, not for one season only, but for a succession of 
years. 
Surface Application of Manures. 
While on the subject of manures, it may be men¬ 
tioned that Mr. Calvert is a strong advocate of the ap¬ 
plication of stable manures upon the surface , instead 
of plowing them in. He first became convinced of the 
superiority of this system, at least for his own lands, 
by some experiments conducted many years ago with 
a view of comparing the two ways—and he has ever 
since adhered to the conclusions then reached. The 
shading or protection of the land during the time it is 
covered until planted in the spring, is apparently' the 
source of the benefit, although in what way this bene¬ 
fit is produced, remains a mystery. A suggestion has 
been hazarded by a neighbor of Mr. C.’s—a gentleman 
of considerable scientific attainments — that the im¬ 
provement may perhaps be caused by the increase of 
animal life that takes place under such protection, 
which organisms in a state of decay operate in fertil¬ 
izing the soil that forms their burial place. It is well 
known how thick the “bugs” are under any chance 
shelter, such, for instance, as that afiorded by a stone 
or block of wood, and if they flourish to as great ex¬ 
tent beneath the clods of dung, it is argued that they 
may add materially to its manurial power. If the ob¬ 
servation of any reader should go toward a corrobora¬ 
tion of this idea, others would be glad to know it, and 
it is much to be hoped that the resultant discussion 
would throw some light on a subject of so great impor¬ 
tance. 
Importance of the Holler. 
An incident occurred in seeding to grass a portion of 
the lawn in front of Mr. Calvert’s mansion, from which 
he was disposed to derive a lesson of interest to every 
farmer. On some parts of it which had been trampled 
and driven upon during grading, the seed had taken 
much better than elsewhere, and he expressed no doubt 
that a similar compression of the soil after sowing, by 
a. free use of the roller , would be very promotive of 
success. This will probrably agree with the views and 
experience of others, but is worthy of mention as are- 
minder to most of our farmers of the neglect in which 
they too generally suffer this useful implement to re¬ 
main. A roller is as much to be expected in the es¬ 
tablishment of a thorough cultivator, as a harrow, and 
its agency in breaking up and bringing into contact 
the particles of soil, and in securing the germination 
and safety of the seed by the protection and sustenance 
thus afforded, can scarcely be too highly esteemed. 
The Hay Crop. 
Mr. Calvert’s main crop has been hay, of which 
he will cut some 300 acres out of the 2,000 that re¬ 
main in Riversdale since the disposal of a part of it to 
the Agricultural College. He expects this large sur¬ 
face will average from one to one and a half tons per 
acre—favored places yielding two—though the luxu¬ 
riance brought about by the wetness of the season was 
showing itself to the injury of the crop, both grass and 
wheat being already somewhat beaten down. For the 
last few years the price hay has commanded, and the 
diminished personal attention its production requires, 
together with a constant call upon his time in other di¬ 
rections, had led Mr. C. to enlarge his sales of this, and 
give up a portion of the stock to which most of the 
farm was formerly devoted ; and, although still con¬ 
tinuing to dispose of some milk and feed a few steers, 
the scale on which these operations have lately been 
conducted is much smaller than before, and under the 
present state of the markets, he had concluded that 
they might be again profitably extended. 
Tlie Millc Business. 
Mr. Calvert’s large, convenient, and most admirably 
ventilated cow house, heretofore described in the Co. 
Gent., (vol. 4, p. 108) is octagonal in form, 100 feet in 
diameter, and will accommodate 104 cows upon one 
floor. When built, he was in the habit of constantly 
milking about sixty fresh cows —the word fresh re¬ 
ferring to his system of continually adding cows in full 
milk, and parting with those that ell below the stand¬ 
ard of a fair profit. The cost of feed and attendance 
having been very nearly reckoned, the minimum 
amount of milk equivalent to a remuneration for these 
items of expense was easily ascertained—the manure 
produced being omitted in the estimate to cover any 
errors of calculation. Care was taken in selecting cows 
which had lately calved, to get those in best condition 
as well as the best milkers possible, and by the time 
that the quantity of milk yielded became smaller than 
would actually return a profit, an abundance of food 
had put the cow in fair condition for the butcher, and 
she would bring, when sold for beef, within ten or fif¬ 
teen dollars of her cost, with a calf six or eight months 
before—a result considered far more satisfactory than 
to continue to feed her through the remainder of the 
year, in which she could give a very small money re¬ 
turn or none at all. The price which the milk obtains 
is twenty cents a gallon. It is not difficult to get fresh 
cows of fair quality all the year round at the Wash¬ 
ington or Baltimore markets, although it might pay a 
very extensive milk producer to keep a man in the 
country for the purpose of picking out a still better 
class of animals, or to make an arrangement with his 
neighbors by which there might be had from them a 
succession of fresh cows, bred with a view particularly 
to this object under his own direction. 
Alderney Cattle—Improvement of Stock. 
Of the superiority of butter made from Alderney 
milk, Mr. C. was thoroughly convinced, and it was ow- 
