Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1850-11-15
Agricultural.
From the American Farmer.

shore, can be rendered aValiaDle as manure anu
you tell me THAT MIR. -, who has farm near
YOU has almost dsheartened you from making tri-
al of it. informing you that he had tried it and found
it of no uses
Tn the first place let me assure you that the mud
of which YOU speak can not only be rendered avail
able as manure but that, when properly managed
it will be found to be of the most available fer
tiliZers most enrichng substances, you could use,
and that, if prepared in the way shall lay down. it
will prove prompt and efficient manure with the
first crop, increasing its quantity and improving the
quality of its product, and that its effects will be
comparatively lasting. say this in despite OF the
opinion of your neghbor who without intending the
least dsrespect to him, must be permitted to ex-
press the belief, has not given to such material fair
trial To cart such mud upon field and plough it
in, without previous preparation-the which plan
presume is the one he pursued-cannOt fail to be
productive of disappointment Suffer not his exper-
iment to dishearten you but 20 to work, as soon a.
ter the first frost you spare the necessary force
and make composts after the manner shall prescribe
and promise YOU in all sincerity, that those dpos
its of mud, which present an unslghtly aspect
upon your shores, and which in autumn exert an I'M
friendly influence upon the health Of your family,
will prove prolific of fertilization to your
land and of profit to yourself.
From the examination made of the soil of your
several felds-from the quantity of decayng oyster
shells which found interInixed with the soil am
inclined to think that there is no present want of
lime therein and that for years to the supply
will be kept up by the progressive oxidation OF the
shells, which are now in state of heathtul decay
Almost everywhere, when | submit them to the pres
of the fingers and thumb they crumbled beneath
that pressure, thus proving they in condition
to yield up their mineral elements to the growing
plants. From the quantity found in your soil, es
innate the supply will be sufficient for from 10 to Is
years You have, therefore, one very essential ele-
ment Of fertility present already, but your soil lacks
those substances which 60 to form mould; and with
| out these no land can be highly productive. The
food of plants should consist of many things Analy-
sis assures us that their constituent elements are
varlous-that these elements arc alike the products
OF organic substances-of vegetable, animal mineral
and earthly bodies. Reasoning from the premises af-
forded by alysis, it should be policy, in the
manure may furnish to the SOIL to have it some
what of a hodge-podge or salmagundi mixture-to
have it somewhat Of the nature of the beverage soil
by the low hotel keepers of New York to the gutter
loafers, at penny glass under the un-cuphonious
but expressive Of " all soTts; fer it is made up
! of the DRAWINGS Of the tumJers of mutitudinous
kinds of drinks from rot-gut beer to old geneva and
brandy, not emitting the varied stufs which sold
in our country for wine, much of which are villain
Gus compounds, holding relationship to the pure
juice of the grape. Rest assured my dear young
friend that the more diversified the materials of
which your manure may consist the better and more
efficiently will it act upon your land, provided you
shall have the precaution to preserve it from the de-
teriorating effects Of sun and rain.
Ask your excellent and discriminating mind,
of what is barn-yard manure composed and it will
experience will disclose fruitful tale of products
wherever and whenever it may be udicously applied
and that its action is always the energetic when
has been taken to protect its volatile parts from
loss In calling your attention to the fertilizng eff
feet of barn-yard manure, have been Influenced to
do So to have the opportunity of assuring you that
the mud upon yo1r shore Just repiete ar the ete
nentS Of good manure as that IN you1 barn-ydrd But
that from the great length of time which it has lain
supersaurated in water portions of its elements have
gone into the acid state, and others, by remaining
long in dormant condition, Enacted upon by de-
composing agents, have been resolved into state of
insolubility. Now, then, this acidulOus condition
must be removed-must be neutralized-and this in
solubility by fermenting and alkaline agen
cies before the mud will be fit to be used as manure
with the prospect of prompt and salutary action.
Having made these preliminary remarks, l will
now direct your attention to the manner of treating
your "motd,' so as to render every pound of it
good much barn-yard manure.
At the time have suggested, dig up your mud.
put it in heaps the shore to drain that you
may not be taxed with the labor and expense of haul
ing the water it contains When the water has
drained off haul the mud to the places wherein you
intend to form your compost heaps then form OBJ
long squares of mud, say 10 feet wide and so long
8 or 10 inches deepen the top of each spread at
the rate of 16 bushels of ashes for every double
horse cart loads of mud then throw On or 10 inch
es Of mud-spread ashes as before and so continue
to build up your heaps until feet high, decreas
ing the width at the top until you get them into
TO nave the top OF cacn Gov
cred with mud some or 10 inches in depth In a.
bout weeks cut down your heaps and mix there
with at the rate of bushe of plaster to every 20
loads of the compost; then shovel the mass into
cOnica-shaped heaps and let them remain till next
spring when the manure will be fit for use, and
when. if you give to each that you may have in
corn from 20 to 80 double-horse cart loads of the
compost, you may promise yourself from 40 to so
bushels per acre. and from 20 to 80 bushels of wheat
should that be your succeeding crop But these re-
suits you can only promise YOURSELF condition that
you do full justice to your land, in poughing har
rowing, and rolling. All imperfections in the pre-
paraton of the land operate tax upon product.
Unless the plants have good thoroughly puverized
deep bed to uxurae in, their vegetation cannot be
full and perfect.
If you have barn-yard and stable manure for the
purpose. one load to every three of the mud will
make good manure either or horse dung a.
lone indeed it will last longer if you take the trou-
BILE to mix one bushe of plaster with every twenty
loads of the mass
There several other agents you might efectu-
ally use; among these, we will name Nitrate of Pot
ash and Nitrate Of Soda One hundred pounds of each
of these substances would convert ~ loads OF mud
into good manure. Ten bushels of lime intimately
mixed with 20 loads of mud, would neutralize its
acids and set the ammonia in motion, but such SOL
vent would act to drive off the greater part, if
not all the ammonia, and thus rob the mud of it's
greatest element of fertility A safe solvent think
might be found in this mixture 10 bushels of lime,
bushels of salt, and bushel of plaster. If this
were the of big of fish in every 1000
fish you would have an agency competent to convert
20 loads of mud into excellent manure-anto manure
better because lasting, than guuno-proviled you
mixed with that quantity b1shel of plaster so
would dead horse a perform the thing
= under a like treatment to plaster
notice your remark about the difficulty of pro-