THE CULTIVATOR 
147 
acre was 75 cents; plaster, &e., 50 cents; making $1.25. Profit, two loads ol 
hay, at $5 per load, $10; clear profit on this acre only $8.75. Difference of 
profit in one year in favor of the manured acre, $14.25. 
I have this year made three experiments in my wheat field, to ascertain what 
kind of manure is best suited for wheat. I applied barn manure to one spot, 
barn manure and lime mixed on another spot, and on a third spot, I applied 
lime alone. I have tried other experiments with barn manure, and from my 
experience I am fully persuaded, that, lime or calcareous manure is the best 
for wheat. I am about trying the efficacy of clover and buckwheat, ploughed 
down, as a manure. I intend sowing wheat in the clover, and rye in the 
buckwheat field. 
To furnish putrescent, or animal manures for all our worn-out fields, would 
require immense labor and expense. If lime will answer the same purpose— 
and I believe it will*—we should not much longer complain of poor land; for, 
in this conntry, we have an abundance of the best limestone and timber—and 
now, all that is wanting is knowledge and industry in the preparation and ap¬ 
plication of it to our lands; in both of these particulars, we must admit we are 
sadly deficient. We have but two alternatives, either to improve our lands, or 
to sell and go westward, where Providence has furnished a richer soil. 
Suppose, for a moment, my whole form to be as rich and as well cultivated 
as that one acre, (and I might have had it so if I had began to improve when I 
first purchased,) what would be the profit of it yearly? If on that one acre I 
make a profit of only $30, (and I am satisfied I will make more when the second 
crop is taken) my whole 225 acres would then yielded me a profit of $6,750, 
a sum greater than I can sell the form for, and more than I have ever made on 
it since 1 owned it. 
But suppose a clover crop to be twice as valuable as any other, I would still 
have $3,375. I will now deduct one-half of that amount for pasture land and 
failure of crops, &.C., and I would still have a profit of $1,687. I will now 
suppose that $687 will be required to defray the expenses of the form, I would 
still have a yearly profit of $1,000. 
I will now give you a short account of my profit and loss for a few years. 
Not being able to work myself, and having no force of my own, I am ne¬ 
cessarily compelled to have my work done by hired hands. After I became 
unable to labor myself, I found that my hired bands were sinking money for 
me. I then resolved to keep a strict account of all my forming operations. At 
the end of the first year, I found, on balancing the account, that I was $163 in 
debt. I examined the account, and endeavored to ascertain, if possible, w here 
the fault lay. I satisfied myseif sufficiently to make a second trial; according¬ 
ly, 1 dismissed my manager and some of the hands, and employed a more 
faithful and industrious manager, determined, if possible, to profit by past ex¬ 
perience. At the end of the next year, when my books were compared, I 
found I had made a profit of $93, a sum not half sufficient to pay the interest 
of the money I had laid out. A third trial is now going on, with the same ma¬ 
nager, but more immediately under my own supervision, aided by all the 
knowledge I have been able to acquire from agricultural papers and other sour¬ 
ces. I cannot yet make a fair estimate of the profits, but from present appear¬ 
ances, I think I shall realize near $500. Is it not astonishing to see the num¬ 
ber of persons who subsist by forming entirely, still continue the old land-kill¬ 
ing system, when such profitable results are to be expected from an improved 
mode of tillage ? 
Farming is bo'h a pleasant and profitable employment, if properly carried 
on. The experience of thousands have taught us this, and any thing I could 
say, would not make it more clear. 
I have been asked by some, “ what use have we for rail-roads ? our popula¬ 
tion can consume all the surplus which we now have.” I answer, if we had 
rail-roads, the amount would be increased to a vast extent; our interest would 
become more united, and the danger of a disunion proporlionably lessened. 
A few words more to my brethen of the plough in East Tennessee. From 
the great irregularity of our surface, we have a great diversity of soils and cli¬ 
mate, requiring the greatest agricultural skill, to ensure its full developments. 
Clover and lime, judiciously used, as a manure, will produce beneficial re¬ 
sults, for beyond the expectation ot those who have never tried them. Arouse 
then, brethren, to the improvement of your lands, and be assured, you will 
reap a reward, amply sufficient to compensate you for your labor. 
Tennessee Farmer. _ WM. PEEPLES. 
NEW APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY. 
We noticed not long since, in a foreign journal, a wager between a London 
scientific gardener, and a celebrated Cv,ok, that the former would produce a 
handsome salad of mustard and cress from the seed, before the latter could cook, 
in good style, a leg of mutton to be eaten with the salad. The wager was 
won by the gardener. The process was to immerse the seed for a time in 
oxymurialicacid, then sow it in a light soil, letting it be covered with a metal¬ 
lic cover, and bringing in contact with the whole an electrical machine. By 
the same agent ben’s eggs, which require twenty or twenty-one days to hatch 
by animal heat, have been hatched in a few hours. Water apparently free 
from any animalculae, in an hour can be rendered full of living insects. It has 
long been suspected that what is called electro-magnetism performed a promi¬ 
nent part in the formation and growth of animal and vegetable matter, and 
these experiments would seem to place the matter beyond a doubt. Should 
these results be confirmed by further experiments, a new era in physiology, 
both vegetable and animal, may be considered as commenced, and another 
step taken in drawing the veil which shrouds the mysterious operations in the 
inner courts of the temple of nature.— Gen. Far. G. 
* We would caution friend Peeples against an exclusive reliance on lime for 
manure, valuable as it unquestionably is. Nothing can justify the neglect of 
animal and vegetable manures, without the application of which, the perma 
nent fertility of land cannot be obtained—but when united with the use oi 
lime the effect will no doubt equal his expectation: but in both cases it must 
not be forgotten, that to insure profitable results, judicious tillage is indispensa! 
bla .—Editor Term. Far. 
MANURES. 
Manure is the wealth of the farmer. This proposition cannot be too often 
repeated and enforced, for on the full belief of this axiom, and a corresponding 
practice, the success of the farmer mainly depends. Manure, whenever it may 
be found on the form, is beneficial, but it never does all the good it might, un¬ 
less it is properly prepared and judiciously applied. Most farmers are content 
if they are able to empty their yards once in two or three years of the accumu¬ 
lated piles of straw and cattle manure, at a loss of nearly one-half its efficient 
qualities; and the exuberant fertility of our western lands has hitherto in part 
justified this careless management of this important item in husbandry. Com¬ 
post, or a mixture of earth with common manure, kept in a pile until the union 
and decomposition is perfect, is undoubtedly the best application that can be 
made to land. The efficient pow er is also greatly increased, as the earths em¬ 
ployed in making the pile absorb the gases produced by the decomposition of 
the vegetable and animal matter, and become nearly of equal value. The mud 
which accumulates in swamps and low lands, where it lies useless and unpro¬ 
ductive, may in this manner be converted into one of the most active restorers 
of exhausted soils. The yarding of cattle is to be preferred where practicable, 
to suffering them to run at large, and the additional quantity of manure made 
by stabling will, independent of the saving in fodder, nearly pay the expense 
of erecting stables for their accommodation. 
Common sense W'ould teach a farmer, that the sooner manure, when applied 
to the soil, can be put under the surface, the better the effect will be, and the 
less of its fertilizing qualities will be lost. Spread over the surface it certain¬ 
ly does good, but in a much less degree than when put under the surface. To 
this philosophical application of manure, much of success in the improved sys¬ 
tem of forming is owing, as it necessarily involves a rotation of crops, two 
principles of the first importance in ameliorating the soil, and advancing its 
products. Formerly the most of the manure was applied to the meadow lands, 
scattered over their surface, and these were allowed to remain in grass so long, 
that continued attention was required to produce ordinary burdens. It was 
erroneously supposed that the ploughing of lands intended for mowing would 
be destructive of grass crops, and their renewal as at present practised was not 
dreamed of. Now, where the soil is not so wet as to forbid it—and the sys¬ 
tem of draining leaves few pieces inaccessible to the plough—meadows are 
subjected to the same system of rotation as the rest of the form, and when pro¬ 
perly managed, no deficiency either in quality or quantity of hay need be ap¬ 
prehended. Experience here in the application of manure, is in perfect ac 
cordance with theory, and shows that when nature is properly understood, the 
way she points out will be found the easiest and most productive to the agri 
culturist. 
The manner in which manures perform the effects attributed to them, there 
is reason to believe, is at present very imperfectly understood. That they be¬ 
come accessary in some way to the growth ot plants is certain, and the gene¬ 
ral opinion seems to be that the decomposed matter is taken up by the roots, 
and again becomes incorporated in the new struc ture. Is it not possible, how¬ 
ever, that the electric or magnetic influence, which seems to pervade nature, 
and the activity of which every new discovery tends more fully to develope, 
has a more important agency in the growth of plants than has generally been 
admitted ? In the construction of the electric pile it is well known that alter¬ 
nate substances of metallic and animal or vegetable origin are employed, which 
seems to be precisely the condition in which the manures are the most effec¬ 
tive. Vegetation does not succeed in the pure minerals which form the founda¬ 
tion of the various earths, nor will it flourish where the richest, and of course 
purest, manure is alone employed. Is it not probable then that the mixture of 
these moistened with water, constructing a true voltaic pile, by exciting the 
secretory powers of the plants, gives it vitality, nnd the powers of aggregation 
or growth. We throw out these hints for the examination of the curious, mere 
ly adding, that in whatever may they operate, manures are indispensable to 
the success of the farmer.— Gen. Far. G. 
ECONOMICAL METHOD OF KEEPING HORSES. 
BY HENRY SULLY, M. D. 
Having received innumerable letters from gentlemen who keep horses, re¬ 
questing a description of my plan of feeding, I shall save much trouble both to 
others as well as myself, by laying my system before the public. Having pur¬ 
sued the plan above seventeen years, I am enabled to appreciate its full value, 
and, being perfectly satisfied of its superior excellence, I hope to continue the 
same as long as I keep horses. 
Most people who know me will allow, that horses in my employ enjoy no 
sinecure places, and few people can boast of their cattle being in better work¬ 
ing condition, or more capable of laborious undertakings, than mine. 
The loft above my stable contains the machinery for cutting chaff'and grind 
ing corn. From this loft each horse has a tunnel of communication with the 
manger below, and a tub annexed to each tunnel in the loft for mixing the in¬ 
gredients composing the provender. 
There should be no rack in the stable, because this may tempt the groom to 
fill it with hay, and thus by overloading the horse’s stomach, endanger his 
wind, to say little of its expense and waste, for it is a w ell known fact, that if 
a horse has his rack constantly replenished with hay, he consumes and spoils 
upwards ol thirty pounds per day. 
The manger with which the tunnel communicates, should have cross-bars, 
of firm oak, placed at the distance of ten or twelve inches from each other, to 
prevent the horse from wasting his provender in search of the grain it contains, 
and this space betw een the cross-bars, allows the horse plenty of room to take 
his food. 
The chaff-cutter I make use of, is manufactured by Mr. Wilmott, a very in¬ 
genious mechanic, who resides about five miles from Taunton, on the road to 
Wiveliscombe. He also provides corn bruisers, of the best construction, and 
any person keeping three or four horses, will save the prime cost of his machi¬ 
nery the first year of its trial, and the horses themselves, thus fed, to use the 
language of horse keepers, will always be above their work. 
