270 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept. 
The London Times furnishes the following account of 
the extraordinary success which has attended an ex¬ 
periment of this kind, and which must undoubtedly be 
attributed largely to this simple supply of water, as 
well as to the fertilizing influence of the manure. The 
statement of keeping fifty sheep per acre—almost ten 
times as many as our farmers think of pasturing—would 
draw rather hard on our credulity, were it not otherwise 
corroborated, and had we not already some extraordi¬ 
nary facts at hand of the enormous growth resulting 
from similar treatment:— 
“ At Myremill, in Ayrshire, Mr. Kennedy feeds under 
cover in the summer months 220 large oxen, 460 sheep, 
20 horses, and 150 store pigs, on 90 acres of Italian rye 
grass. Last summer his house-fed sheep fattened bet¬ 
ter than in the field, and were kept on Italian rye grass 
for four months, at the rate of 56 head per acre ! They 
likewise received a daily supply of steamed food. But 
allowing for this, we find that on this farm each acre of 
grass keeps about four times as much live stock as the 
average of the cultivated land of similar quality in 
England. Mr. Kennedy has attained his high state of 
fertility by the use of liquid manure distributed over 
the farm in pipes, and applied to the surface by the 
force of steam in a jet-like shower of rain. To use Mr. 
Mechi’s graphic words, he can “ increase his wet days” 
as he finds it necessary, and when other people’s fields 
are parched with drouth, his are glistening with peren¬ 
nial verdure. Having an unfailing supply of water, he 
can either mix in his manure tank with a more enrich¬ 
ing substance, and so shower it over the land, or he can 
sow guano broadcast over the grass, and then wash it 
in dissolved, or if nothing but moisture is needed he ap¬ 
plies that only. No doubt such an apparatus requires 
a large stock both of capital and skill—the one to start 
it, and the other to conduct it. A most important ex¬ 
periment it is, however, and likely to lead to great re¬ 
results ere long.” 
This subject is yet in the infancy of its successful ap¬ 
plication,—a stage which every useful operation must 
first pass through before it can reach maturity. To 
what extent in practice it may yet reach, is hard to pre¬ 
dict ; but it would certainly be well worthy the efforts 
of enterprising men in and near cities, to provide tanks 
for the reception of the immense amount of wasted 
wealth in the form of sewage water, and pipes for its 
conveyance to the large plantations occupied as market 
gardens, where it is believed all judicious outlays would 
soon repay large dividends, in the fine and luxuriant 
growth they would soon occasion. 
Hoot Crops. 
A correspondent of Juniata eo., Pa., inquires cc the 
best time to sow carrots and ruta bagas; whether they 
are transplanted from a bed—and the time for gathering 
the crop.” 
Carrots should be sown as early as Indian corn is 
planted, or even sooner; if later, the crop is apt to 
come up unevenly from drouth. Ruta bagas should be 
sown early in summer. Both should be sown in drills 
where they are to remain, with a drill machine. If no 
drill machine can be bad, drills must be made with a 
hoe, and the seed dropped from a tin cup, nailed to the 
lower end of a stick as long as a cane, and a hole made 
in the bottom just large enough to let out a supply of 
seed into the drill, as the operator walks along it, and 
shakes the cup near the ground, by means of the stick. 
On heavy soils, an inch is quite deep enough to cover 
them; on light soils the depth may be one and a half 
inches or more. The great secret of success, is to have 
very rich ground, that has had all the seeds of weeds 
completely worked out by clean previous cultivation; 
and by destroying all weeds that may appear, when this 
has not been attended to, before they are an inch high. 
It is useless and very expensive to contend with large 
weeds. The crops should be harvested so early as to be 
just safe from all danger of injury by the freezing of 
the soil. A very slight crusting of the surface will not 
affect them; but an inch of frozen ground is very hurt¬ 
ful, particularly to ruta bagas. 
A novice in raising crops of the ruta baga, may be 
known by his leaving the plants so closely together that 
their size is not half developed. The drills should be 
two feet or more asunder, and the roots not nearer than 
ten inches in the drill; if the soil is very rich, not near¬ 
er than fifteen inches. Carrots may be more than twice 
as near together. —-«s»— 
Value of Manure from Cattle. 
Messes. Eds. —What is the estimated value of ma¬ 
nure, liquid and solid, dropped by a cow during the 
ordinary period of stabling ? Also, what proportion of 
the value thereof may be safely reckoned as lost when 
the manure is thrown out into the barn-yard and ex¬ 
posed to the weather. A Subscriber. Tarrytown , 
N. Y. July 24, 1853. 
The liquid portions of the manure from cattle are 
greater in bulk, and richer in quality, than the same 
from horses. The real money value of such manure 
must of course vary greatly with circumstances, such 
as the price of the crop raised, and the manner of ap¬ 
plying the manure. For example, a ton of manure 
converted into strawberries, selling at four dollars per 
bushel, would return more money than a ton converted 
into com at fifty cents, or ruta bagas at ten cents per 
bushel. Again—manure carelessly applied and badly 
mixed with the soil, will not yield one-third the return 
afforded from finely pulverised and thoroughly inter¬ 
mixed materials. Still further—the quantity and rich¬ 
ness of manure is much controlled by the age, nature, 
size, condition, treatment and food of the animal which 
yields it. 
In Flanders, where manures are well applied, and 
animals well fed, the urine of a single cow is reckoned 
at an average of $10 per annum—the solid parts are 
estimated at one-half to three-fourths of this sum. 
Taking the usual price of guano, $50 per ton, as the 
standard, the manure from a single cow, saved in the 
best manner, would be worth about $20. This is, how¬ 
ever, higher than manure is usually sold, and by the 
common management more than half is lost. 
No accurate estimate can, however, be made of the 
loss, when it is thrown into the barn-yard, and exposed 
to the weather, without knowing other particulars. As 
most farmers manage, by providing straw enough to 
absorb about one-fourth of the urine, from one-half to 
two-thirds are lost; a larger quantity of straw, in con¬ 
nection with leaves, peat, and an occasional layer of 
turf, the latter being the most valuable of all as an 
absorbent, would save nearly the whole, even if expos¬ 
ed to the weather. 
