1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR 
203 
115 lbs. of green, dewey grass, and an adjoining 
unguanoed rod, 62 lbs. 
Exp. 5. Corn, sown in drills, bushels per 
acre—one portion with barn compost dropped in 
the drills, six loads (value $9) per acre; the other 
guano compost, 320 lbs. per acre (value $7)—the 
latter brought the plants up first, and maintained 
a decided superiority. A rod of the guanoed part 
cut and weighed green, weighed 450 lbs.; a rod of 
the other 365 lbs.—gain for guano, 85 lbs. per rod. 
- We have elsewhere stated that a hundred pounds 
of guano may generally be reckoned as worth one 
load of good stable manure,—in the above expe¬ 
riments it exceeded this, after allowing for half mix¬ 
ture in the barn compost. The most striking su¬ 
periority was in the application to grass, where 
the guano, no doubt, penetrated among the roots 
more readily than the fertilizing parts of the 
barn manure. Guano is often badly applied, and 
produces no valuable results, and spurious or 
worthless articles are sometimes sold under this 
name. 
In all experiments to test the comparative value 
of manures, the most clear and intelligible results 
are obtained, by measuring them out so as to give 
an equal cost of each, on equal portions of land— 
if for instance, 400 lbs. of guano cost $10, then ten 
loads of barn manure at one dollar per load, should 
be applied by way of a comparison of the results, 
which are thus placed in a distinct form before the 
experimenter. In such trials, it will be remem¬ 
bered that concentrated manures, such as guano, 
have a decided advantage in the diminished cost 
of spreading, which must be accurately taken into 
the account when comparing with more bulky fer¬ 
tilizers. ——* 
Agricultural Chemistry. 
Messrs. Editors —I notice by your paper of 
yesterday, that Dr. J. S. Houghton of Philadel¬ 
phia, is out against both you and me, on account 
of my chapter on “Practical Farming.-” 
I did suppose until recently, that chemists 
could ascertain by analysis, whether soils did or 
did not contain the ingredients necessary for the 
production of the different kinds of grain; but I 
now think very differently. I will state one fact 
which influenced this change of opinion. 
About three years since, a number of the best 
farmers in this county, were having their soils an¬ 
alysed, and I thought I would do the same. I se¬ 
lected my sample of soil from a forty acre field, 
from which I had taken a crop of Indian corn two 
years in succession, it having been highly manur¬ 
ed with barn-yard manure, the fall previous to the 
first crop. Both corn crops were good—the first 
the largest. I thought the whole field almost too 
rich for wheat, after fallow, and I had no doubt 
the analysis would make the field stand A. No. 1. 
But I was surprised, when I received the analy¬ 
ses, to find that it was deficient in many things, 
and almost destitute of other necessary constitu¬ 
ents of a fertile soil. The chemist, however, sent 
me a prescription, which I was to apply, and 
which he said “ would remedy the difficulty it 
was laboring under.” 
Now I knew it was not laboring under any dif- 
ficulty. I tilled the field well, sowed it to wheat, 
and it produced one of the best crops in all this 
wheat-growing district. I sold about 800 bushels 
of it to G. Markel & Co., of Waterloo, and Gen. 
Markel told many men, farmers and others, that 
he had not ground so good wheat in many years, 
and that he never saw a better quality of flour 
than was made from it. Neither Gen. M. nor 
any one else but myself, knew anything of the 
analysis of my soil, but he attributed the large 
crop and fine quality of the wheat, to the fact 
that the fielduvas under-drained. 
Every farmer knows, or ought to know, that 
barn-yard manure furnishes all the elements of 
nutrition that are needful fofc any grass or grain 
that is grown in the northern latitudes, and I pre¬ 
sume in southern also. It is true that if you ma¬ 
nure highly with barn-yard manure for a number 
of successive years, that the straw will grow soft 
and weak, and the grain shrink; but this may be 
remedied by the application of lime, at the rate 
40 to 80 or 100 bushels per acre. This will give 
a more elastic straw, and a brighter and plump 
seed. But to apply only three to six bush¬ 
els per acre, as recommended by some chemists, 
would be like giving a horse or an ox a gill of corn 
for a feed—its effect could not be perceived. The 
The application of a barrel of salt per acre, to 
lands thus highly manured for years, will produce 
a similar effect, rendering the grain plump, and 
the straw bright and elastic. 
Dr. Houghton may possibly think we were 
hoaxed, and that the gentleman who analysed our 
soils was not a chemist; but I know that he stands 
high as a chemist, and an agricultural chemist 
too, in the eastern cities, and if I am not mista¬ 
ken, he also lectures on agricultural chemistry. 
If these chemists will come among the farmers 
of Western New-York > and show us by the prac¬ 
tical operation of their prescriptions, that they 
can raise better crops than we do, I doubt not 
they would find plenty of employment; but until 
they can do this, or at least distinguish between a 
highly fertile and nearly barren soil, I would ad¬ 
vise farmers to rely more upon their own judg¬ 
ment and observation, than upon the results of 
their analyses. 
I have from my youth advocated “book farm¬ 
ing;” but books and papers have now become, 
like chemists, too plenty. Much is inserted in 
them, which is absurd to a common-sense farmer. 
Yours truly. John Johnston. Near Geneva , 
May 18. —-*»-— 
Treatment of Peat Swamps. 
Messrs. Editors —Isa clear peat muck soil well 
adapted for the growth of “ Osier Willow”? 
Would it after draining, produce clover, timo¬ 
thy, and other grasses well? 
In draining such a piece, say 40 acres, where a 
good outlet can be made, would I not be most 
successful by cutting the drain around the whole, 
(having proper descent of course to the outlet,) 
thereby preventing the constant feeding from 
springs in the surrounding upland? There are 
two or three places, where from holes two feet in 
diameter, boils up water from beneath the ground. 
The depth of these places has n«t been ascer¬ 
tained. A common-length rail will not reach 
bottom. Some say this soil is worthless without 
a mixture of sand. It has never been thoroughly 
tested, being too wet to receive a plow, except in 
very dry seasons. This muck is black, extending 
to great depth. I do not wish to expend money in 
its improvement, without some assurance of being 
repaid. Any information, therefore, which you 
or your experienced contributors may have on the 
above points, would be thankfully received through 
