1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
191 
those above cited, and the machine shop turns out pro¬ 
ducts to the value of $1,000,000, employing capital to 
the amount of $350,000, and about 1,200 hands. 
The population of Lowell in 1820 was about 200; 
in 1846, 28,841; in 1848,'estimated 35,000. 
Preservation of Manure. 
S. A. Law, Esq., in his address before the Delaware 
county, (N. Y.) Agricultural Society, makes the fol¬ 
lowing sensible remarks in regard to the preservation 
of manures. 
“ While the full value of manures is admitted, how 
few farmers have their yards so constructed as to pre¬ 
pare and reserve the greatest amount of fertilizing 
compost. Instead of barn and stable yards made low¬ 
est in the middle to retain those liquids which chemical 
analysis and actual experience have shown to be more 
valuable, and to contain in a more concentrated form, 
the elements of vegetation than solid manure, most 
farm yards are on sloping ground, as if constructed 
purposely for waste—and not unfrequently with a rivu¬ 
let near by, to carry away all that may wash into it; 
instead of jards, in the fall of the year, filled with 
compost from the swamp, or from ditches, to be con¬ 
verted into manure, we see them empty, and usually 
provided with a ditch to carry off all moisture. Far¬ 
mers who mean to be economical—who indulge in no 
unnecessary expense—and who would hesitate to spend 
a shilling for the gratification of a depraved appetite, 
by such practices as I have referred to, throw away 
dollars. Swamp mud, turf, leaves, weeds, and in fine, 
all the refuse of a farm, useless as manure in a natural 
state, when placed in the barn* yard or pig-sty, and 
thoroughly incorporated with materials there, becomes 
the best of manure, amply repaying the farmer for the 
time spent in collecting them.” 
Tan-bark for Manure. 
I have been in the habit of supplying my hog-pen 
liberally with tan-bark, which enables the hogs to man- 
ufacture a large quantity of manure- The bark ab¬ 
sorbs the liquid part, and is also a mechanical benefit 
in keeping the manure open and loose, as it naturally 
has a tendency to harden and bake; and if put into the 
corn-hill without sufficient care in planting, sometimes 
proves a positive injury. A day or two before using 
the manure, I incorporate with it ashes and plaster; 
and by putting this mixture into a hill, I raise corn 
with good success. E. R. Hartwick , Otsego Co., 
March 12, 1848. _ - 
Phosphate of Lime. 
This substance'constitutes the basis or earth of bones. 
In some of the dairy districts of Britain, where the land 
has long been grazed, it is said the phosphates have 
been exhausted in a great degree, and that the appli¬ 
cation of bones, or phosphate of lime, as a manure has 
been found very useful. Plants consume or take up 
this element in the shape of phosphoric acid. Wheat 
and other grains require this kind of food. Urine con¬ 
tains it in considerable proportion, and this is consider¬ 
ed one cause of the great benefit of this substance as a 
manure for grain crops. 
Phosphate of lime is not common. It has been found 
in Estremadura, in Spain, in large quantities, and has 
been carried to England at great expense and applied 
to the soil as a manure, but with what precise effects 
we have not learned. 
We learn from Dr. Emmons that two localities of 
phosphate of lime have been found in this State; one 
near Hoosick-Corners in Rensselaer county and the 
other in Warren county. The proportion of phosphoric 
acid combined with the lime is said to be unusually 
large in both instances; and the highly productive cha¬ 
racter of the soils of those localities, especially for 
wheat, is said to have first attracted attention. 
Mr. J. C. Neseit states in a late number of the Mark 
Lane Express, that being on a visit to a farm near 
Farnham, his attention was called to a kind of marl, 
which was said to produce remarkable fertility when 
applied to the soil. On analysing this marl with great 
care, he found it to contain from four to five per cent 
of bone earth. 
The Salmon of Oregon. 
Lieut. Howison of the U. S. navy, in his report on 
Oregon, states that the Salmon enter the mouth of the 
Columbia in May, and make their way up the stream 
in immense shoals, for the distance of twelve hundred 
miles, being found in the month of September, at the 
very sources of the Columbia. The young fry pass out 
to sea in October, when they are nearly as large as 
herrings. Different families of salmon resort to differ¬ 
ent rivers, which empty into the Pacific on the north¬ 
west coast. The largest enter the Columbia, coming 
from the north. They average twenty pounds each, 
and some weigh forty pounds. 
These fish constitute the chief subsistence of many 
thousand Indians, who reside in the country watered 
by the Columbia, and its tributaries; and besides af¬ 
fording an abundant supply to all those and.'the white 
settlers of Oregon, eight hundred barrels a year are 
exported. 
Lieut. H. remarks that strange as it may appear ‘'none 
but Indians have ever taken a salmon from the waters of 
the Columbia; it seems to be conceded to them by an in¬ 
herent right which no white man has yet encroached on.” 
They are very superstitious respecting this fish. When 
they first appear they are permitted to pass on for seve¬ 
ral days unmolested, and for three weeks after their arri¬ 
val nothing can induce"an Indian to sell one. During the 
whole season, on catching a salmon, they immediately 
take out its heart and conceal it till they have an oppor¬ 
tunity to burn it; their great fear being that this sacred 
portion may be eaten by dogs, which they shudder to 
think would prevent the fish from coming in the river any 
other year. 
Potato Disease. 
We have received a letter from Mr. J. F. Simonds, 
of West Poultney, Vt., in which he gives some facts 
that have led him to the conclusion that a remedy for 
the potato disease is to be found in using small pota¬ 
toes for seed. We will not venture to say what caused 
the exemption from rot in the cases he mentions; but 
if small seed potatoes were any security against the 
malady, the crops of this vicinity for the last two years 
ought certainly to have escaped. But the loss by rot 
has, probably, been as great here as in most sections, 
notwithstanding a very large proportion of very small 
potatoes has been used for seed. 
But a theory still more novel than the above has been 
broached, viz., that the disease is attributable to the 
influence of a comet! A year ago, or more, we saw 
this conjecture put forth in a Massachusetts paper j and 
lately we noticed that the same idea has been advanced 
by a correspondent of the Monthly Visitor. The writer 
alluded to thinks “ it is possible, and even probable, 
that the comet which appeared in the month of Febru¬ 
ary, 1843, with such brightness and splendor as to be 
seen with the naked eye near the sun and about noon¬ 
day, imparted something to the earth directly or in¬ 
directly, which was deleterious to the potato plant.” 
But admitting the assumption that a poisonous 
principle was actually imparted to our atmosphere by 
the comet, it is certainly very singular that the potato 
