1854 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
151 
F. C. L. and Prof. Mapes. 
It will be seen from the following, that our corres¬ 
pondent, “ E. C. L.,” has deemed it proper to reply, un¬ 
der his own proper signature, to the characteristic re¬ 
marks of the editor of the Working .Farmer, to which 
we alluded last week. Mr. Frost will, we trust, ex¬ 
cuse us for omitting a portion of his letter relating to 
matters not strictly bearing upon the question of the 
value of the “ improved superphosphate of lime.” 
The “professor” has already more explanations to 
make, to place himself right before the public, than he 
is likely to attend to for some time to come; and we 
have no desire unnecessarily to add to the burden now 
pressing upon him :— 
Messrs. Editors— I should not have troubled you 
with any further remarks upon “Professor” Mapes’ 
superphosphate of lime, but for his unwarrantable at¬ 
tack upon you in his paper of the current month, which 
constrains me to reply to him under my own proper 
signature. 
In the first part of his article he very strangely ac¬ 
cuses you and Mr. De Burgh, of concocting and pub¬ 
lishing my former letter to you, containing the result 
of my experiments with his superphosphate of lime. 
Now I beg leave to assure you of the entire truth of 
all I said before, and that I “nothing extenuated, nor 
aught set down in malice,” although I do feel that my 
$100 was very poorly invested. Again, the “Profes¬ 
sor ” says that he cannot find any subscriber at Rah¬ 
way, bearing the initials of F. C. L.; but perhaps Mr. 
Me Cready can find that L. C. Frost did formerly sub¬ 
scribe to the Working Farmer; and that he also sold 
and sent to the same address, more thtin one lot of 
Phosphate. He also boldly asserts, that no one of 
those initials bought Phosphate from his factory. In 
reply I would ask the “Professor” if it is customary 
or necessary to keep there, a record of the names of 
all parties, who buy and pay for his manure, or are 
his books so kept that every cash customer’s name is 
entered? In my case there certainly was no such en¬ 
try made. The professor then quotes my experiment 
with his superphosphate, in comparison with guano 
and hog manure, on corn, made side by side, and the 
result of which I gave you in my first communication; 
but he very wisely abstains from making any reply, 
or attempting any contradiction. He likewise accuses 
me of not giving the names of my neighbors, whose 
experience coincides with my own. He can see that I 
am not ashamed to give my experiments under my 
own signature; but he must know that one naturally 
has some delicacy in dragging his neighbors into a 
public discussion; although the “Professor” himself 
is not much troubled with either modesty or delicacy, 
when he boldly asserts that I am guilty of writing 
you a “ vile tisue of misstatements,” nor does it savor 
much of the gentleman. That kind of argument is 
generally resorted to by lawyers in special pleading, 
when they have a very bad case, with but few facts to 
sustain it. 
The “Professor” also names some gentlemen, whom 
he facetiously calls neighbors of mine, occupying as he 
says the same kind of soil. One of these neighbors 
lives in Monmouth cb., 50 miles distant, one in Patter¬ 
son 20 miles, and other's at distances varying from 10 
to 20 miles from Rahway, and all of them with soils 
entirely dissimilar. I would inform the Professor, 
that our county is more thickly settled than he has 
any idea of; and these gentlemen do not live within 
visiting distance of me ; but I defy him to get one fa¬ 
vorable report from hny farmer within three miles of 
his factory, who has used the same kind of Phosphate 
he sells to the public generally—not from some friend 
to whom he has sent a few bags of genuine superphos¬ 
phate, for the purpose of getting his card to publish. i 
I refer him to vol. 1, page 17, of the Working Far¬ 
mer, where he calls a farmer, who has not a chemical 
education, a “ mere laborer” but not a farmer, and 
can also point out many other places in his own col¬ 
umns, where he asserts the same thing. 
In conclusion Messrs. Editors, I would again assure 
you of the entire truth of my former statements, and 
will say to the “Professor” that his long review and 
numerous letters do not and cannot disprove them; and 
he will bear in mind, that accusing you of concocting 
and publishing, and me of furnishing you with “ a 
vile tissue of misstatements,” will add nothing to his 
reputation as a scientific man, or as a lover of fair and 
open discussion upon the various humbugs of the day. 
As regards Mr. De Burgh’s Phosphate, I have never 
used any of it, and of course cannot speak of its mer¬ 
its. Yours truly, L. C. Frost. Rahay, N. J. 
You have mentioned that a compost made of turf, 
stable manure, and ashes, was good for young peach 
and apple trees. Will you please inform me how much 
should be used? also, when should it be put on? also, 
what are the best fall and winter apples? P. W. L. 
Hampshire county , Mass. 
Manures for fruit trees are best applied in autumn, 
the fertilizing portions soaking well through the soil by 
the commencement of growth the following spring. It 
is nearly as well to apply it early in spring, and much 
better than waiting till another autumn. The quantity 
must depend entirely on the degree of previous fertili¬ 
ty, and the size of the tree. On a tolerably rich soil 
in western New-York, we have applied a one-horse 
cart-load of such compost to a hole seven feet in diam¬ 
eter, before planting the young apple tree, and have 
had a very rapid and healthy subsequent growth in 
the tree. One or two ordinary cart-loads of well rot¬ 
ted compost worked into the soil at the residence of 
our correspondent, over a space of a rod or two in di¬ 
ameter for a large tree, or one half or one fourth that 
quantity for trees proportionately young, would, be by 
no means too much, and would doubtless greatly in¬ 
crease the quantity and quality of the crop. On richer 
soils, and under hotter suns, for instance in central Il¬ 
linois, such heavy manuring would probably be not on¬ 
ly unnecessary, but injurious.* Peach trees do not need 
so much manuring as apple trees, but depend more on 
keeping the soil clear and mellow by constant cultiva- 
Messrs. Editors —In the Country Gentleman of 
Feb. 9, “A New Subscriber” wishes to know whether 
steam power is in use in any of the large dairies, and 
what the opinion is in relation to its safety and utility 
as compared with other modes, cost, &q. In answer, I 
will say that I have used steam power for churning 
and other purposes, for two years. My engine, (made 
by Messrs. Hoard & Bradford, Watertown, N. Y.— 
2-horse power—price, two years ago, $160,) is amply 
sufficient for any amount of churning, with all the ease 
and safety of boiling a tea kettle in a common stove, 
requiring no large amount of steam; while it will saw- 
wood, thresh, cut feed, turn grindstone, turn washing 
machines, saw and bore fence caps, &c., &c., to good 
advantage. I have sawed a cord of soft wood in nine 
minutes, and 14 cords of hard wood in half a day— 
<kn thresh 250 to 300 bushels of oats per day, and oth¬ 
er grain in proportion. I had previously churned by 
horse power, (having no access to water power,) but 
consider the steam far preferable both for convenience 
and economy. Should not like to do without it. Gr. A. 
i Hanchet. West Stockholm , N. Y. 
Manuring Fruit Trees. 
Churning by Steam Power. 
