158 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
grounds, or the remains of aquatic plants, which have grown and decom¬ 
posed on the spot. They almost invariably constitute a valuable manure 
for up-lands, and may be rendered fertile in their place of deposite—when 
brought into a soluble state by fermentation, or reduced to ashes by fire. 
These deposites of vegetable matter are often the accumulation of cen¬ 
turies, and have been preserved from ordinary decay by the presence of 
too much water, and of too little heat and air, until they have become so 
antiseptic in their quality, as to resist putrefaction in many cases, even 
when laid dry, until they are brought in contact with fermenting sub¬ 
stances, or changed in their nature by the action of fire. These agents it 
is the province and interest of the farmer to apply. And to instruct him 
in the mode of employing these great auxiliaries of fertility, is the object 
of this article, and of other articles which we design to give in our future 
numbers. 
The first step in the process, is to drain well the ground where this 
earth is deposited, or has accumulated; or, if this is impracticable, to re¬ 
move the earth to dry ground. 
The second step is, if the change is to be effected by fermentation, to 
mix it with other substances which will readily ferment, or induce fer¬ 
mentation remotely. This may be done by top-dressing, or by compost's. 
The latter is employed when the object is to enrich up-land, and the for¬ 
mer when the intention is to render the drained marsh or swamp fertile. 
The best compost is made of one part unfermented manure, and three 
parts of swamp earth, placed in alternate strata, to the height of four to 
six feet. When the temperature of the centre of the mass has reached 
80 or 90 degrees, which may be ascertained by a stick shoved in, and left 
to acquire the temperature of the pile, fermentation has sufficiently pro¬ 
gressed, and the whole may be mixed and applied to the soil with certain 
advantage. 
Composts may in like manner be made with lime, green vegetable mat¬ 
ter and ashes, and the fermentation accelerated by urine, soap suds, 
sea-water, kitchen wash, &c. 
Fermentation may be induced by carting the earth to the cattle yards, 
and spreading it to the" depth of eight inches or less, to become incorpo¬ 
rated, by the tread of the cattle, with their dung, urine, and the liquids of 
the yard. And it maybe induced remotely, by spreading the swamp earth 
immediately upon the up-land, especially if sandy and dry, where it be¬ 
comes mixed with the vegetable matters of the soil, and with them un¬ 
dergoes the desired change. 
To induce fertility in a peaty soil, after it has been laid dry, a good 
dressing of long manure, or of lime, are effectual; and often a mixture of 
thiee or four inches of sand with the upper stratum, has proved highly ef¬ 
ficacious. Pairing and burningis anotbersure means of inducing fertility. 
In this operation, some inches of the surface, so deep at least as to em¬ 
brace the roots of aquatic and other growing plants, is pared off, dried 
and burnt, and the ashes spread and mixed with the soil. 
These operations may be carried on at any season when the ground is 
not frozen, and when the teams and hands on the farm find leisure. There 
are but few farms, and fewer districts, that do not abound in this element 
of fertility. 
Peat ashes constitute an article of commerce in Europe, and vast quan¬ 
tities are transported from Holland to Belgium and Flanders, to fertilize 
those highly cultivated districts. These ashes cost about $13 per ton. A 
bushel of the best sort, which are black and heavy, weigh about forty 
pounds, and the ton containing fifty-six bushels, the cost of manuring with 
them, at the rate of nineteen bushels the acre, would be about $4.50. 
These ashes, according to the analysis of Prof. Brande, contain, in 100 
parts, 
Ofsiliciuus earth,. 32 parts. 
Sulphate, and muriate of soda. 6 “ 
Sulp ate of lime,. 12 “ 
Carbonate of lime,. 40 “ 
Oxide ofiron,. 3 “ 
Impurities and loss,. 7 “ 
The mode of their application, in Flanders, is as follows: They are 
spread upon young clover, in the spring, in calm and hazy weather, at the 
rate of eighteen to twenty bushels the acre. They are also laid on pas¬ 
tures and on wheat, in March and April; on oats and beans in the begin¬ 
ning of May, and on rye in October and November. Their chief employ 
ment is, however, for green crops; it having been found, on comparative 
trials in Flanders, that top-dressed clovers, where the ashes were used, 
were much earlier, heavier, and superior in every respect, to those which 
had undergone a top-dressing of horse and cow dung. One of the best 
evidences of their utility, is the fact, that the clover crop never fails when 
they are applied. Besides improving the crop, they are also useful in pre¬ 
venting the injuries arising from insects, and when applied to pasture, 
they are highly serviceable in the destruction of moss. To numerous in¬ 
dividual declarations of their beneficial effects, Sir John Sinclair, to whom 
we are indebted for this part of our statement, adds the public declaration 
of eighty-three practical Flemish farmers, to the effect, that “ they know 
by experience, that when clover is not manured with Dutch ashes, at the 
rate of nineteen bushels per acre, the following crop is very bad, notwith¬ 
standing any culture that may be given to the soil; whereas they always 
have an excellent crop of wheat after clover, and, doubtless, in proportion 
to the quantity of manure thus used.” The farmers who signed this de¬ 
claration, in most cases carted the ashes forty and fifty miles by land, af¬ 
ter they had been transported by water from Holland. See Sir John Sin¬ 
clair’s account of the agriculture of the Netherlands; also Radcliff’s Flan¬ 
ders. 
But the use of peat ashes is not confined to the Netherlands. They are 
extensively used in Britain, and are produced in large quantities from 
what is termed the Newbury peat. We find in British Husbandry , the 
following description of the mode of burning the peat, and statement of 
the application and utilily of the ashes: 
“ The peat is cut, with a peculiar kind of spade, into long pieces, about 
three and a half inches broad every way, after which it is conveyed from 
the spot where it is dug, in wheel-barrows, to a short distance, where it 
is spread upon the ground in regular rows, until it be dried by the sun and 
wind. It is thus cut down until the gravelly bottom is reached, if it can 
be sufficiently drained; but although persons are employed to pump the 
water, that cannot always be completely effected. 
“ After having laid thus to dry about a week the pieces are turned, and 
this being three or four times repeated, a small round heap is made in the 
middle of the place where the peat is spread, and in the centre some very 
dry peat is put, which being lighted, the fire communicates slowly to the 
rest of the parcel. When it is completely lighted, an additional quantity 
is put upon the heap, and this is continued till the whole is consumed, 
which generally occupies one or two weeks, and sometimes still longer, 
as quick burning is not approved of, and the rain seldom penetrates deep 
enough to extinguish the fire. The heaps are commonly of a circular 
form, and raiher flat at top; at first very small, but gradually increasing, 
: until they sometimes becomes two or three yards deep, and six or seven 
yards in diameter. According as the peat is more or less dry, or contains 
more or less essential oil, or, as it is termed, is more or less fat—accord¬ 
ing as the weather is favorable or otherwise, and in proportion as the 
| heaps are more or less large, just so much a shorter or a longer time will 
it take to consume. A fire regularly kept up, but burning by slow de¬ 
grees, will retain more of the vegetable alkali in it than a more quick one; 
and in proportion to the heat of the fire the same quantity of peat will pro¬ 
duce more or less ashes: Thus it has been stated by Mr. Malcom, that 
in the parish of Frimby, in Surrey, three loads of dried peat, which is 
about the size of the usual heap, will yield from 6,000 to 7,000 bushels [of 
peat] which have been sometimes known to yield 2,400 bushels of good 
ashes; though the peat is generally so reduced in measure by combustion, 
that the ashes seldom yield one-fourth of its original bulk. The ashes be¬ 
ing riddled, are then conveyed away in covered carts, and.put under 
sheds to keep them from the wet until they are wanted for the land; for 
if kept under cover and dry, they are infinitely more strong and active 
than those which have been made some time, and have been exposed to 
the weather: the fresher they are, therefore, When used, the better. The 
usual time of applying them is in March and April, in the proportion of 
twelve to fifteen bushels per acre, according to soil and crop, as too large 
a quantity would be injurious, though, on meadow land, twenty bushels 
are often laid with advantage; and when not used as top-dressings, they 
are commonly spread at the same time the seed is sown, though for grass 
many people prefer the autumn. For corn crops, however, they are not 
in much estimation; but on turnips they are said to assist in checking the 
fly, and they are supposed-to increase clover nearly a ton of hay the acre 
beyond what it would have yielded without them. Their effect, however, 
is not calculated to last more than a couple of years, but they are of such 
benefit to that crop, and to the succeeding wheat, that when a tenant 
quits a farm on which ashes have been laid the preceding year, it is usu¬ 
ally customary to allow him one-half of the expense.” These ashes are 
sold at Newbery at about seven pence (a New-York shilling) the bushel. 
They are found to contain from one-fourth to one-third part of gypsum, 
and sometimes even a larger portion. t The other constituent parts are a 
little iron and common salt, with various proportions of clay, sand and 
lime. 
Our attention has been turned to peat earth and peat ashes, at this time, 
particularly, by a late visit to Staten Island, where we saw their utility, 
as fertilizers of the soil, favorably developed in the practice of a gentle¬ 
man, once distinguished in the business of the law, and now no less dis¬ 
tinguished for his enlightened and systematic practice in the business of 
agriculture. He showed us the beds of several ponds or marshes, which 
he had drained, containing vast deposites of peaty earth, large quan¬ 
tities of which he was converting into manure, by some of the processes 
we have detailed, and also about 5,000 bushels of ashes which he had 
made recently by burning peat. His mode of obtaining the latter was as 
follows: He drained off the water to about three feet below the surface, 
and when the latter had become sufficiently firm, he went on with a six 
ox team, and turned ten or a dozen prairie furrows upon the outer edge 
of the deposite. As soon as the turf had dried sufficiently in the sum¬ 
mer sun, he proceeded to construct the centres for his intended pits, by 
setting up a few sticks of wood and dry brush, at small intervals, around 
