1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
91 
THE FARMER’S NOTE BOOK. 
Experiment in the Culture of Indian Corn.— 
Mr. Julius Hubbard, of Stockholm. St. Lawrence Co., 
informs us that by the use of a compost mentioned in 
the Cultivator for 1845, page 89, he raised last year as 
much corn from two acres as he has usually done from 
five; but he does not state the precise amount. The 
oompost alluded to, is described in a communication from 
Mr. Charles Colfelt, of Pennsylvania. We here¬ 
with republish the mode of preparing it: 
“ Twenty-five bushels leached and unleached ashes, 
ten bushels plaster, sixteen bushels lime, and about fifty 
bushels fine sheep manure, mixed the whole together on 
the barn floor, and dissolved the lime with beef and 
pork brine. After thorough mixing, the compost heap 
had the appearance of the grey plaster. I put one 
handful in a hill of corn, till I found I should not have 
enough to go over the whole field, when the quantity 
was reduced to a handful to two or even three hills.” 
The operation of this compost we have no doubt would 
be good; but it is questionable whether all the substan¬ 
ces of which it is formed, combine in such a manner as to 
produce the best results. For instance, lime and sheep 
manure are incorporated together. According to che¬ 
mistry, this is u against all rule.” The effect of the 
lime would be to dissipate the nitrogen of the manure, 
which is its most valuable principle. The nitrogen 
exists in the manure in the form of carbonate of ammo¬ 
nia. The lime, having an affinity for carbon, unites with 
the carbon of the manure and sets free the ammonia, 
which is thus lost. Hence it is an established rule that 
lime should not be mixed with animal manures. If any 
doubts remain in regard to the matter, we would recom¬ 
mend that those who use the compost should make a 
fair trial by applying to alternate rows of corn that 
which contains lime and that which has none, noting 
the growth of the crops and the product. 
Deep Plowing. —Extract from a letter to the Culti¬ 
vator, dated Zanesville, Ohio, Jan. 16th, from u J. L. 
C.” “ For the last few years, I have been trying to 
reclaim an old farm that had been pretty well 1 used up 5 
by shallow plowing. Some six years since, we plowed 
an old field, (giving it first a good dressing of manure,) 
about six or seven inches deep. It had previously been 
plowed about four inches, and some of our 1 knowing 
ones ’ told us we were killing it by turning up the yel¬ 
low clay; but nothing daunted—andXollowing the maxim, 
that if we try our own plan and fail, we h,ave no one else 
to blame for it, we persevered, and had a pretty good crop. 
Being encouraged by this, we made another trial, of a 
similar nature. The field had been much washed and gul¬ 
lied, it being more hilly than the former. After filling 
the gullies, and “ leveling up ” some of the deep hol¬ 
lows, and applying a dressing of manure, we plowed it 
in a simalar manner to the former, sowed oats, and had 
a tolerable crop; in the fall we plowed again, with three 
horses. This time the plow went some nine or ten 
inches deep, bringing up portions of manure with about 
three inches more of clay subsoil, and left the stubble 
some inches below the surface. It was harrowed well, 
and sowed to wheat: and I had about thirty bushels to 
the acre. This was the summer of 1845, when some 
of our neighbors did not get five, and but few got 
twenty bushels per acre. As we failed to get it in 
grass, we plowed again about twelve inches deep, with 
four horses, and sowed another crop of wheat, which 
last harvest averaged thirty-five bushels per acre. As 
was stated, the fields were very much washed and gul- 
lied, which, in part, I charge to shallow plowing, for 
when the ground is mellow, but a few inches deep, (ho 
rains soon saturate it, and it becomes so thin that 
it slips off almost bodily to the hard subsoil, or forms 
small gullies which soon run together and make large 
ones; but when plowed deep, the rain is taken up by 
the soil, which, being so much more mellow, it seldom 
has a tendency to run off, but is retained in the earth to 
give nourishment to the crop; whereas, in shallow plow¬ 
ing, if it does not wash off, the soil is so thin that a few 
hot days penetrate and dry up all the moisture. And 
farther, not one of the old gullies have washed out, al¬ 
though we have had some very hard showers, and where 
you could formerly bury a horse, now there is no trace 
of such a wash.” . 
Charcoal as Manure. —Mr. Johjj Moxon, of Mon¬ 
roe county, N. Y., wishes some information on this sub¬ 
ject. He says—“ Mr. Pell, of Ulster county, in the 
Cultivator for 1844, p. 183, says he obtained nearly 
eighty bushels of wheat per acre, by the use of fifty 
bushels of charcoal per acre. Not doubting its cor¬ 
rectness, I would remark, that such a result has doubt¬ 
less induced him to repeat the experiment. Two or 
three repetitions would establish it as a fact in cer¬ 
tain conditions of soil, and this fact would thus become 
the property of your readers, many of whom would be 
glad to avail themselves of it. What I wish particular¬ 
ly to know, is, the nature of the soil where the charcoal 
was used, whether light or heavy, and whether it had 
been manured within four years previous. I have got a 
pretty large pit of charcoal, and I am puzzled how best 
to pulverize and apply it. Perhaps Mr. Pell would take 
the trouble to state somewhat at length the mode he 
adopted, and thus oblige all your readers,* and confer a 
favor on myself for which I shall be thankful.” 
Sulphate of Iron. —It has been suggested that cop¬ 
peras, (sulphate of iron,) might be advantageously sub¬ 
stituted for gypsum, ( sulph. lime.) as a fixer for the 
volatile ammonia of dung-hills. I have studied the mat¬ 
ter a little, and if I do not err in my calculations, there 
would be no economy in using it for that purpose; for 
with a liberal allowance for impurities in the common 
plaster of commerce, the sulphuric acid of a definite 
quantity of it, will combine with at least three times as 
much ammonia, as that of an amount of copperas, 
which could be purchased for the same money, at the 
usual prices of both articles in the city of New-York. 
As, however, the copperas can be used in a state of so¬ 
lution, and so act more readily upon decomposing mate¬ 
rials, (sulphate of lime, being but very slighty soluble,) 
there are, probably, some situations in which it would 
be profitably employed. F. L. 0. 
The Cultivator for January. —On looking over 
your paper for January, I am induced to request the 
American press, generally, to copy your notice of the 
Veterinary School at Alfort, in France. It has a favo¬ 
rable influence there; but in this reading, inquisitive 
country, through the medium of the press, the benefits 
of such institutions would be immense. 
Your notice of the hay-fork induces me to say, that 
I have used Partridge’s manure and hay forks for fifteen 
years, and have not found their equal. They are cast- 
steel, and should be used as such. If there is any fail¬ 
ing in them, it is in the handle, which is not always 
right. My manure forks, which I have had in use these 
