304 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
I am of opinion, were the manufacturers of these 
northern hoes to make them somewhat larger and strong¬ 
er, with handles at least five feet in length, and introduce 
them in the south, that they would soon supercede in a 
measure, the heavy and clumsy ones there used ; and the 
light ones with long handles, take the place of the short 
at the north. Respectfuily, S. Tillotson. Canton, 
Conn., July 12, 1852. 
Production of Hay on tile Western Prairies. 
The natural prairie grass, although a great favorite by 
many, for the purposes of hay, is nevertheless very in¬ 
ferior, under the most favorable management, to timothy. 
Both timothy and clover flourish on the broken prairies, 
and are so easily cultivated that no reasonable excuse can 
be urged for using for hay the indigenous grasses. An 
unbroken prairie is perfectly level, and the soil is so easi¬ 
ly cultivated, that no exertion whatever is required to 
keep the surface smooth, so that when the land is seeded 
with the cultivated grasses, the original smoothness is re¬ 
tained without much effort. The vegetable mould ranging 
from one to two feet in depth on high rolling prairies,accom¬ 
panied with a rich and friable sub-soil, imparts to the cul¬ 
tivated grasses a luxuriance and rankness of growth, that 
can only be obtained in other countries by a very expen¬ 
sive process of cultivation. The cost of growing timothy , 
clover, and herds grass hay, on the valley of the Upper 
Mississippi does not certainly exceed one half what is 
necessary in a timbered country, and yet the cash value 
of hay, in the markets of the river towns and cities is 
fully as great as what is obtained in the interior cities of 
Kew-York and Pennsylvania. The average price of hay 
in St. Louis is $12 per ton, and in Kew-Orleans from $15 
to $20 per ton. The demand keeps pace with the sup¬ 
ply, and the present prospect is in favor of a continua¬ 
tion of high prices for all kinds of forage, as the demand 
in the lower Mississippi towns and cities increases quite as 
rapidly as the increase of the northern supply. 
At many points along the Mississippi a suitable quality 
of prairie land, for the production of hay. corn, and other 
spring crops, may be had for $5 per acre, which will yield 
in timothy, in an average of seasons two tons of superior 
quality of hay per acre. These lands may be had in any 
quantity within a distance of from five to ten miles of 
shipping points, on the river, and their fertility is such 
that for a long period of time they would yield in ave¬ 
rage of seasons, the above yield, without any apparent 
deterioration, requiring, however, to be occasionally bro¬ 
ken up and sown with oats or other crops, to be again re¬ 
seeded with grasses. 
The most extensive hay farm that has yet come within 
our observation, belongs to the Messrs. Bonnells, consist- 
ing of six hundred acres of a timothy meadow, made en¬ 
tirely on a rich prairie, and located in the upper part of 
Lee county, some fifteen miles from the river. This firm 
will ship this year from the port of Keokuk, Iowa, some 
seven hundred tons of timothy hay, which at this moment 
is packed away in one of the extensive brick warehouses 
of that city. It is packed in bales about the size of cot¬ 
ton bales, weighing each from 250 to 800 lbs. hay, and is 
put up in a suitable condition to ship to California or any 
other distaht portion of the world, if necessity should re- 
Sept. 
quire it. The press employed for bailing is worked by 
screws and lever, and cost $200, and four men with it 
and a horse will readily bail three tons of hay per day, 
including the preparation of the hoops, which is the con¬ 
stant work of one man to supply the hands whilst bail¬ 
ing. We know of but few branches of productive in¬ 
dustry that pays better than growing hay on the prairies 
for the southern markets, and at some other time a fur¬ 
ther discussion of the subject may be expected. W. G. 
Edmundson. Keokuk, Iowa. 
Management of Manures. 
Eds. Cultivator —I notice in the Cultivator for July 
some inquiries of K.” in regard to the preservation of 
manure, and as my attention has been of late much oc¬ 
cupied in observing the effect of different manures, I read 
his inquiries with unusual interest. 
I will now state how I have managed with portions of 
my manure, for a number of years, with good success. 
In dull weather in haying, I haul all the manure from 
my yards' and sheds to the field where I expect to use it 
the next season, and place in a pile as perpendicular as 
may be, and concave on the top. If muck or soil are at 
hand, I mix in an equal quantity or more, with the ma¬ 
nure-—and in all cases, I cover the sides and top of the 
pile with either muck, soil, or turf, grass side down. I 
suffer it to remnin till the frost is out of the sides and 
top in the spring, then shovel it into another pile, taking 
care to mix the muck or soil with the manure, uniform¬ 
ly through the heap. This is but little labor, as a man 
will work over forty or fifty loads in a day. He ought 
to commence the new heap very near the old, and so fol¬ 
low on till the whole is thoroughly composted. 
I have invariably found this to be the best of manure. 
I have had occasion to use stable manure in the same 
field, on the same crop, and without an exception, that 
part manured with the compost yielded the best crop. 
The manure “ K.” expects to use in August ought to be 
treated in the same manner—at least it should be cover¬ 
ed with soil or turf. I think the sooner he removes it 
from the cellar, the better ;• still it will not be as good as 
if it lay longer in the pile before being used. 
I manure my corn in the hill, or if not, I spread it on 
the top of the land, and harrow it in. I finished plow¬ 
ing under manure on sod or heavy land, some years 
since. I consider it half lost. Manure should not be 
used in a green state; and as a general rule, it is cheap, 
er to compost it in the field than in the yard. The com¬ 
post heaps should be so formed as to retain all the rain 
possible. J. O. Phelps. Simsbury, Ct., July 3, 1852. 
Ice-water in Wells. 
David Thomas, of Aurora, N. Y., informs us of a 
mode successfully adopted for having ice-water always 
at hand, without the trouble of preparing it as wanted. 
A large block of ice (some 15 or 20 lbs.) was thrown 
into the well, and in a day or two, or as soon as dissolved, 
a delicious coolness was imparted to the water, which re¬ 
mained for many days. The effect would be immediate 
if the ice were thrown in after being broken fine. To 
those who cannot have constant access to an ice-house, 
this would be a great convenience, and would save much 
labor in any case. 
