109 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
as'a certainty that the produce of American fanners, 
for 1854, will sell, according as the season shall be fruit¬ 
ful or otherwise, at remarkably high, or at least, at re¬ 
munerating prices. It is the manifest destiny of the 
farmers of this country, to feed thousands of Europeans 
in their own lands, and thousands more, who will come 
and eat their bread and meat on our shores ; and as 
now is the time for them, if they have not already done 
it, to lay their plans for the coming season, would it not 
be well for them to take these things into account, and 
see in what way they can Increase their productions 
above those of former years. 
Experiments with Superphosphate of Lime. 
the bag, there was the same marked difference. The 
part dressed with the phosphate never showed tho least 
difference from the lands left unmanured, and the lime 
and ashes gave a larger growth of straw and a much 
heavier crop of grain than the phosphate; in fact, the 
entire money paid for the phosphate was completely 
thrown away, as far as any increase of crop was con¬ 
cerned. To show you the result at harvest; we could 
not bind the oats grown on the phosphated acre, but 
the average length of the straw on the guanoed was 
over four feet by actual measure, and very heavily 
loaded with grain, giving, in the opinion of all who 
saw it, more than double over its phosphated neigh¬ 
bor ; and this was the result at threshing time. 
Messrs. Editors —Having been an old subscriber 
to your Cultivator from the year 1843 to 1850, and 
having recently subscribed again, including the num¬ 
bers for last year, 1853, I find upon reading the num¬ 
ber for May, that a correspondent who signs himself 
C. D. P., of Waterville, makes some inquiries of you in 
regard to the superphosphate of lime manufactured 
by “Professor” Mapes and Mr. De Burgh; and as 
you are unable to answer definitely as to the results to 
he obtained from its use, will yeu allow me, even at 
this late day, to state to your correspondent the results 
of my experiments of last year. 
I have been a regular subscriber and a firm believer 
in Mapes’ “ Working Farmer,” for tho last three years, 
and thinking him honest, when he tells us that it is 
cheaper to buy his phosphate at $50 per ton, than to 
have yard manure given us and cart it two miles to 
our farms, I bought about two tons last spring, a part 
from his agent, Mr. McCready, and tho balance cart¬ 
ed from his factory. Upon turning to my farm diary, 
I find that from the 26th to the 29th of March last, I 
sowed four acres to oats ; the two acres comprising the 
upper parts is gently sloping to the south-east, and on 
one acre of that I applied 600 lbs. of Mapes’ super¬ 
phosphate, and on the other acre, 450 lbs. of guano, 
composted with plaster. All was then thoroughly har¬ 
rowed and rolled in with the seed. The land was 
plowed 10 inches deep, and was in fine mellow condi¬ 
tion ; and moreover the season here was rather wet 
and favorable. Thus you see everything was in favor 
of the action of the superphosphate, (if it ever acts 
at all,) and I assure you I looked forward to at least 
one noble aere of oats. The balance of the field was 
limed with 100 bushels on one acre, and a part of the 
fourth had a heavy dressing of ashes, and a couple of 
lands were sown without anything. 
Now for the result. From the time the field began 
to show a green covering, you could see a marked dif¬ 
ference in favor of the guano, and none whatever in 
favor of the phosphate ; and at different periods until 
harvest, I have shown it to friends visitirig me, and as 
far as we could see the field, so far was the difference 
to be seen, that part guanoed being of a deep dark 
om six inches to a foot higher than any 
piece. A few handfuls having been scat¬ 
he last open furrow, being a little left in 
t 
I also used it upon corn, at the rate of 800 lbs. per 
acre, and side by side with ho-g manure plowed under, 
the ground being plowed 12 inches deep by a team of 
horses and oxen together; and the result was more 
striking if possible than with the oats. There was at 
least double, both of corn and stalks, where the hog 
manure was applied; and being nearer the house than 
the oats, I had the pleasure of showing it to more of 
my neighbors and friends. Both pieces were planted 
on the 2d of June, and where we gathered good, long, 
sound and ripe ears, from the manured part, we only 
got a moderate crop of nubbins and hog corn, as the 
result of nearly 600 ibs. of superphosphate 
I also applied it to cabbages, tomatoes and early 
sweet corn, and I assure you, on my honor as a man, 
that investment of about .f 100 in phosphate, including 
freight, cartage, &c., independent of spreading, has not 
benefited me $10. And I can name at least six of my 
neighbors who will give similar testimony; in fact, a 
neighbor who is uncommonly well posted up in all that 
pertains to farming, boldly asserts that any man with 
$10,000 over and above his farm, who strictly follows 
all the directions of the “ Professor,” will, at the end 
of five years, find himself minus all his cash; and I 
feel almost ready to endorse the assertion. 
I would rather pay $1,50 per load for good stable 
manure and haul it two miles, than give $10 per ton 
for Mapes’ phosphate and pay the freight or draw it 
from his factory. The fact is, ve farmers do not want 
men who sit all day in their office or sanctum to give 
us instructions in farming, but men who have at some 
time of their lives worked upon the farm and entered 
into the details of all its operations; but these men 
the “Professor” calls, very contemptuously, “mere 
laborers,” not scientific farmers. I have been to his 
farm at Newark many times, and never yet saw him 
outside of the office, all the farming operations being 
conducted under the direction of an intelligent fore¬ 
man, whom I consider much the best practical and sci¬ 
entific farmer of the two. 
Your inquirer will see by my experiments, that I 
applied the maximum instead of the minimum quan¬ 
tity of phosphate recommended by Mapes for field 
crops. I did so with a view to obtaining full results, 
and also to have the clover with which I seeded the 
oat ground, receive its share of benefit. 
