THE CULTIVATOR. 
29 
quire the most nutriment; and that previously to tins the soil is 
considerably consolidated by time, unless it has been kept open and 
mellow by the fermentation of the animal and vegetable matter con¬ 
tained in it, or consists principally of sand. In the latter case, the 
lack of animal and vegetable matter causes much injurious evapora¬ 
tion of moisture. This, if the season does not happen to be drip¬ 
ping, greatly reduces the product of the grounds.— lb. 
From the Northern Farmer. 
MANURES. 
Manures to a farm are what blood is to the human body. The 
first object of a farmer should be to obtain, and preserve in the best 
manner, all the animal, vegetable and compost manures, which can 
be made upon his farm, or procured elsewhere; but unless properly 
preserved, much of his labor is wasted and his lands are less pro¬ 
ductive. Fair experiments have clearly proved that the manure of 
cattle, preserved undercover or in vaults under barns, possesses a 
third more value at least, than the same kind which has remained 
exposed to rains and the action of the atmosphere. This will not 
be doubted by any one who has any correct information upon the 
subject, or has by experiment ascertained the difference. We can¬ 
not well explain the reason of this great difference, without adopt¬ 
ing the style and terms of the chemist; but as our object is not to 
enlighten the learned, we therefore reject technical terms, and use 
language more familiar. 
Vegetation is caused not so much by the quantity of manure mix¬ 
ed in the soil, as by its nutritious qualities. Should all farmers un¬ 
derstand the fact, that none of the earthy or solid part of manure 
enters into plants, or in other words, that it is only the liquid parts, 
or that portion of manure which combines or unites with water, which 
produces vegetation, or causes the corn to g row, they would then 
perceive the necessity of preserving animal manure in vaults, un¬ 
der cover. The only value which the earthy part of the manure 
has, is to keep the soil into which it is ploughed, in a loose, pulve¬ 
rized state, so as to render it capable of retaining, after rains, a 
greater quantity of moisture. 
Some farmers have expressed an opinion, that the urine of cattle 
promotes vegetation as much as their manure. But whatever may 
be the differences in value, it is surely very important that the urine 
should be preserved in vaults mixed with the manure. 
In the spring, when the manure is conveyed into the field, it should 
be ploughed in immediately, and spread no faster than becomes ne¬ 
cessary for ploughing; because at this season the warmth of the 
sun produces a rapid fermentation, the most valuable or liquid part 
of the manure escapes in the form of gas, as it is often expressed, 
by evaporation. 
Should a heap of manure at this season be covered with earth 
two feet deep, in a short period the whole mass of earth would be 
enriched by the gas, arising from the fermented manure. Hence 
the utility of covering fresh barn-yard manure with earth, straw, 
litter, weeds, street and door-yard scrapings, mud from swamps, 
and all kinds of decomposed vegetable matter. Skillful farmers will 
always make as large a quantity of compost manure as possible. 
It is a very certain way to enrich a farm and ensure abundant 
crops. If these truths are conceded, then it conclusively follows 
that the general practice of our farmers in respect to manure is in¬ 
judicious. They let the the manure lie in large yards, or the open 
field, exposed to heavy rains and the action of the atmosphere. A 
large portion of the nutritive qualities escapes in gas, or is washed 
away by the heavy rains. The greater the exposure to the atmos¬ 
phere, the greater the loss. Therefore the practice of carting out 
the barn-yard manure in the fall, and spreading it in small heaps up¬ 
on the soil intended for ploughing in the spring, is still more censu¬ 
rable. But the fall manure is often carted into the fields and depo¬ 
sited in one or two large heaps to rot, for the purpose of manuring 
the corn and potato hills in the spring; and strange as it may seem, 
many old farmers yet believe that old rotted manure promotes vege¬ 
tation better than fresh, or unfermented manure ! They appear to 
be ignorant of the fact, that the longer manure remains exposed to 
rot, the less nutriment, or food for the plants it retains; and the 
more it becomes assimilated to mere earth. 
To put either fresh or rotted manure in the hill, in the season of 
planting potatoes and corn, as a general practice, is injudicious. 
But half the quantity of fresh, unfermented manure, in the hill, well 
mixed in the soil, would afford probably more nutriment than double 
the quantity of old rotted manure. 
The moisture, necessary to vegetation, is conveyed to the roots 
of young trees, or the corn, or other plants, through the medium of 
earth. If any light or dry material is in contact with the roots, 
it tends to cut off the regular and natural supply of water, and the 
plant must either extend its roots through the dry substance to draw 
its supply of moisture or else become feeble, and perhaps perish. 
Hence, in a dry season, more paiticularly, manuring in the hill, of¬ 
ten proves Very injurious to the growth of plants, if manuring the 
corn hill is ever judicious, it is only on a cold, moist and sterile soil, 
or swarded land deeply ploughed, where a farmer has not a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of manure to mix in the soil. The surest method to 
enrich the soil for future years, is to plough in the manure. The 
roots of corn, extending several feet around the hill, will find what¬ 
ever nourishment the soil contains ; and it is far better to afford a 
sufficient supply when the corn is coming to maturity, than merely 
to force the kernel to vegetate a few days earlier by means of a hot¬ 
bed. 
Our preceding remarks show the importance of covering manure 
well with earth, previous to its fermentation. Hence the common 
practice of spreading the manure upon the surface, and “ harrowing 
it in,” is attended with great loss, as a large portion will remain 
dry upon the surface, and for no other use than to enrich the at¬ 
mosphere. 
Manure being the life of a farm, every exertion should be used to 
procure all kinds of it. Compost, soot, ashes, lime, gypsum, burnt 
clay or soft bricks pulverized, decomposed vegetable substances, 
weeds, leaves of trees, coarse grass, &c. &c. will all tend to ferti¬ 
lize the soil. None are ignorant that such as is taken from the 
vaults, afford the greatest quantity of nutriment to plants. On 
farms it ought never to be lost. The yards for swine ought always 
to be excavated, or be in the form of a basin, so that this manure, 
in richness next to the last, should be preserved in a moist state. 
The same remark applies to the barn-yard for other cattle, except 
that the latter ought to have a level and dry margin for feeding cat¬ 
tle occasionally. Soon after planting in the spring, a farmer ought 
to commence hauling into these yards the different substances we 
have enumerated, and any others within his reach, which can be 
converted into manure. These substances will become incorporat¬ 
ed with the manure of the cattle, and also absorb their urine, and 
the whole mass will be less liable to dry up and waste in the sum¬ 
mer season. 
A good farmer will be careful to yard his cattle at night as much 
as practicable through the warm, and in the day time, in the win¬ 
ter seasons. It has been found to be very beneficial to keep the 
cattle yards in a moist state by means of aqueducts, whenever prac¬ 
ticable. In fine, farmers should spare no labor or expense to obtain 
a plentiful supply of manure to fertilize the soil. The liberality to 
“Mother earth” will be repaid with equal abundance. 
In England nothing is lost, which can be converted into manure. 
And some English farmers fertilize their fields, in part, with the 
pulverized bones of animals; and for this purpose, have been ga¬ 
thered human bones from the plains of Waterloo. 
W. CLAGGETT. 
Portsmouth, January 16, 1834. 
From the Genesee Farmer. 
NAKED FALLOWS NOT NECESSARY. 
I am well aware that it is a hopeless task to undertake to per¬ 
suade many of my brother farmers, that naked fallows are in no 
case necessary, and generally prejudicial; but such being my be¬ 
lief, and I may add my experience, I shall endeavor to point out 
the benefits of fallow crops, and I trust there are some among the 
readers of the Genesee Farmer, who will be open to conviction. 
The principal reasons offered by farmers in favor of naked fallows, 
are, that weeds are thus more effectually destroyed; that the soil 
is sweetened by exposure to the sun and air ; and that it is more 
thoroughly pulverized. 
I shall undertake to show that they are mistaken in every point, 
and in so doing I shall state my own experience. 
In the autumn and winter of 1829, I had 13| acres ploughed to 
the depth of seven or eight inches. The work, owing to frost, was 
not completed till Christmas. In ploughing this depth, two or three 
inches of solid clay was turned up, which had never before been dis¬ 
turbed. My neighbors predicted that it would not produce a good 
crop of corn. In the spring of 1830, I found that the harrow com- 
