8 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
tion of vegetable food, in the soil, ceases when the thermometer 
sinks below 40°, and is most active at the temperature of 80°. 
Neither lungs nor leaves can perform their office healthfully, 
without access to fresh air; nor can decomposition take place with¬ 
out air. 
.Water is a necessary solvent in the preparation of vegetable and 
animal food for the delicate mouths of the lacteals and spongeoles, 
and is no less indispensable as a medium of transmitting the food to 
the lungs and the leaves, and from thence through the animal and 
vegetable structures. 
After the blood of the animal has been perfected in the lungs, it is 
conducted, by minute arteries, to every part of the body, and is: 
transmuted into flesh, &c. After the sap has been elaborated in the 
leaves, it is conveyed, in like manner, to every part of the plant, arid 
is then converted into wood, fruit, &c. 
Vegetables, like animals, may be injured by an excess of food; 
and when food is too concentrated, or too rich, the lacteals and the 
spongeoles become clogged,-and unfitted to transmit aliment to the 
lungs or the leaves. 
A seed may be compared to an egg. One contains the germ of a 
chick, the other the germ of a plant. Nature has provided in their 
envelopes the food proper for both, in infancy, and until they can 
provide for themselves. Through the agency of heat and air, the 
chick becomes animated, grows, and bursts its shell; and' the seed 
germinates, grows, and bursts the earth. Both seem to require the 
exclusion of light. 
The elementary matters found in animals and vegetables are near¬ 
ly the same—the animal contains the most nitrogen, the vegetable 
the most carbon. Lime and iron are found in both. 
And in both, the power and the habit exist, of throwing off, through 
their excretory organs, matters, blended with their food, riot fitted 
to their wants, or not assimilating with the elements of their struc¬ 
ture. Plants often exhale, or give off, like some animals, a strong- 
odor. 
As weeds are more commonly natural to the soil than cultivated 
crops, they are grosser feeders, and consume more food than the 
latter. Hence they should not be permitted' to rob the crops. 
MANURE. 
HOW MUCH SHOULD A FA KM PRODUCE 1 
In estimating the value of crops, and of stock, to the farm, the 
European farmer asks, “ What manure will they give ?” as among 
the prominent matters of consideration; for manure there, as it is 
every where, is the prime source of a farmer’s profit. To induce 
our readers to think on this matter, for then they will act, we sub¬ 
mit some estimates of the quantity of manure which animals and 
crops are respectively made to produce. 
Dr. Coventry, late professor of agriculture, in the Edinburgh Uni¬ 
versity, estimated, that upon medium soils, and in ordinary years, 
the average weight of the straw of wheat, barley and oats, per acre, 
would amount to 21 cwt—rye from one-fourth or one-third more ;— 
“ that supposing this dry straw to be moistened and rotted, it would 
thereby gain an addition to its weight of at least two-thirds, or be¬ 
tween three-fourths and two-thirds of its gross weight—thus pro¬ 
ducing about 3 5 tons of manure; and admitting that some corn is 
consumed in the feed of horses, as well as that the refuse of the 
grain, the chaff and light corn, besides the straw, go ultimately to 
the dung heap, one cannot reckon the amount of putrescent manure 
gained from an acre of such produce at more than four toils.”— 
Though the Doctor’s estimate is judged rather high, when cattle are 
fed only upon dry forage, it appears from the estimates of many 
eminent farmers, that one ton of straw, when augmented in weight 
by the dung and urine oi turnip-fed stock, will, if properly managed, 
produce about four tons of farm-yard dung. A Berwickshire far¬ 
mer, as stated by Sir John Sinclair, gives a single cart load of tur¬ 
nips per day to eight or ten cattle in the straw yard. He finds that, 
on an average for three years, from 2| to 3 acres of straw will win¬ 
ter one of those oxen—no hay being fed—and in this way each aore 
of straw will produce about four cart loads of dung, each containing 
from 30 to 35 cubic feet. Meadows that cut 1| tons of hay, are es¬ 
timated to give 6 tons of manure per acre; clover, the first year, 6 
tons, the second year 5j tons; and that tillage and grass land, 
“ without assuming any extraordinary degree of fertility or manage¬ 
ment, should yield, upon an average, at least 4 tong of manure per 
acre ; to which, if be added the extraneous substances which may, 
with due care, be collected without expense from the roads, the 
ditches, the ponds, and from refuse of every kind about the house 
and premises, the acreable amount should be amply sufficient for a 
full supply of manure once during every course of the four year sys¬ 
tem of husbandry.” Dr. Coventry, in estimating the quantity, has 
reference to common farm-yard dung, embracing the litter from the 
different offices, so far rotted as to be easily divisible by the dung- 
fork, and so dry as to have in it moisture only about two-thirds, or 
perhaps a little more, of its whole weight, and to be immediately 
applicable to the land. 
“ When cattle are well littered, and fully fed with turnips, it has 
been usually found, that about twelve of them will yield a one horse 
cart load of dung within 24 hours; but that quantity will scarcely 
be produced by 16, or even 18, if kept only on straw, with a small 
allowance of turnips.” Here then is a fact worthy the farmer’s no¬ 
tice : the turnip crop adds one half to the meat, end one third to the 
dung, of the farm. “ It has been calculated that an acre of good 
turnips, with an adequate proportion of straw, will make upwards of 
16 cart loads of dung;” but considering 10 the average, two acres 
will suffice to manure one. Arthur Young, with 6 horses, 4 cows 
and 9 hogs, which consumed 16 loads of hay, and 29 loads of straw, 
obtained 118 loads of dung, 36 bushels each. The cows and lean 
swine ran loose in the yard, and were fed in cribs ; the horse stables 
and fat-hog sties were cleansed into the yards. Forty-five -oxen, 
littered, while fattening, with 20 wagon loads of stubble, are said to 
have produced 600 tons of rotten dung. The value of dung is al¬ 
ways in proportion to the nutriment contained in the food—the rich¬ 
est food producing the richest manure. 
We intend soon to notice the extraneous matters which are avai¬ 
lable to farmers for increasing their dung heaps, and to offer some 
remarks on its application to the soil. In the mean time we will 
close this article by giving the rule for depositing dung in the field, 
previous to its being spread, so as to equalize it according to the 
quantity applied. By calculating the solid contents of the manure 
in cubical yards, each containing 27 bushels, and dividing it by the 
number of heaps, the exact quantity to be laid in each heap may be 
correctly ascertained. As for example—we wish to apply 20 loads, 
of 27 bushels each, at 5 yards distance, the number of heaps, as in¬ 
dicated below, vrill amount to 193—divide the total number of bush¬ 
els—20+27=540—divide by the number of heaps,—193—and shows 
that each heap should contain 2.79 bushels. 
heaps 
at 5 
yds. 
193 
per acre. 
do 
5 i 
do 
160 
do 
do 
6 
do 
134 
do 
do 
6 i 
do. 
114 
do 
do 
7~ 
do 
98 
do 
do 
7 k 
do 
86 
do 
do 
8 
do 
75 
do 
BADEN CORN. 
We have received from H. L. Ellsworth, Esq. of the Patent Of¬ 
fice, Washington, a sample of corn, which is stated to produce from 
four to eight ears on a stalk. Tliis corn was raised by Thomas N. 
Baden, near Nottingham, Prince George, Md. Mr. Baden began 
twenty-three years ago, to select his seed from stalks bearing two 
good ears, arid he has continued to select from the best and most 
prolific stalks. For some years he did not discover much improve¬ 
ment ; at length the quantity and quality began to improve, and the 
improvement was then very rapid. The corn is planted five feet 
apart each way, and two stalks left to grow in a hill; and the pro¬ 
duct, thus planted, has amounted to 120 bushels on an acre. This 
variety cannot but be a great acquisition at the south; and it may 
be so in the north, though we doubt whether it will ripen early 
enough in this climate. Gen. Porter, of Black Rock, informs us, 
that he last year raised some, identical, we think, with that we are 
noticing, which did ripen. We intend to publish the letters of Messrs. 
Ellsworth and Baden in our next, if our limits will permit. 
The experiment of Mr. Baden is a strong corroborative proof of 
the correctness of the opinion of the late Joseph Cooper, that our 
farm crops may be improved upon the same principle that we im¬ 
prove our farm-stock —by using only the best seed. Many of our best 
varieties of grain have originated from a single stalk of superior'ex¬ 
cellence, saved by the careful farmer. This was the case with the 
Houpton oat; and we have just purchased a barrel of oats, weighing 
over forty pounds to the bushel, which have sprung from a single 
stem, grown in a field of barley, in Oneida. The difference in the 
varieties of grain, to the farmer, are immense. Had the corn crop 
