The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1857-10-13

OF cultivation; but over a large portion oi
\ the country, all the fcrtilizing materials
which are available are required. In fact
1t is a constant inquiry, how more of these
materials can be obtained. To supply this
call, guano has been introduced, and va
| rious portable fertilizers have been manu-
factured. Peruvian guano has been APP
piled extensively in some sections, and in
many instances with advantage. Other
guanos have been more uncertain in their
effects, and The once vaunted Mexican and
the so-called Chilian, which ignorant or
u principled men so earnestly recommend
cd, are only remembered by the farmer for
the money they cost and the good they
have not done. Supcr-phosphate of lime
with its various prefixes of "improvcd,"
"nitrogcnizcd," "ammoniated," &c., has,
when honestly made "a qualification which
experience proves is necessary,) been ad.
vantageously applied. Several of these
substances are useful as auxiliarics to the
| ordinary manurcs Cf the farm. But the
| tue course of the farmer is, first to secure
| all the manures--soId ana lIquId-obtan-
auIe at nome, before spending his money
for others Of more doubtful effects Let
hlm not bo led astray by the specious ar
gument that he 'cannot afford to use barn.
yard manures," that he had "better burn
them up, or allow them TO be washed n
way" and buy Professor -----'s magic
compound for his field'sl
T The question as to the application of
maaaures to different crops, TO different
soils, and under various circumstances, o.
pens up too broad field to be fully ex-
amined here. In regard to one or two
points, however, passing word may be
allowed.
1t is subject of frequent discussion
whether ordinary yard manure should be
applied in fresh, or in fermented state.
1t is generally admitted that the nitrogen
of these manures constitutes their most
valuable constituent. We arc told by va
rious chemists that plants take up their nj
trogen mostly in the form Of ammonia;
and wo are further told by the same au-
thorties that ammonia is product of fer
mentation. If, then, ammonia possesses
the great value attributed to it, is it not
obvious that the manure should pass thro'
the process by which it is produced? Per-
haps it may be supposed 10y some that fer
mentation takes place in the manure when
IL is spread on and mixed with the soi.-
But the decay which takes place under
these ciicumstances-unlcs the quantity
of manure is much greater than is ordina-
rily applied-is not that which can proper
ly be called fermentation, but that more
slow and gradual decomposition which Lie
big termed crmancausis. So far, then rs
we can rely on the deductions of chemis-
try, the fermentation Of manure is the
best, if not the only mode Of developing
ammonia-the importance Of which, in
manures, is, with few exceptions, admit
ted by agricultural chemists. From the
use use Of Of the term fermentation, it should
heat is desired-this would produce waste
by throwing off the ammoniacal and other
gasses--it is only that degree of heat that
is sufficient to soften and rcak down fibrous
matter without consuming it, which is
wanted The practical observer soon learns
when the mass reaches this stagc.
Before leaving this part of our subject,
it should be remarked, as an additional ar
gument for keeping domestic animals, that
grass-especiallv when grazcd or pastured
-exhausts soil in general less than most
other crops--much less than grain crops.-
This is so well known IN some sections, aud
the advantages of stock-farming are so APP
preciated, that it has passed into an adagc:
"The more grass the more cattle, the more
cattle the more manure, the more u anure
the more grain"
Irrigation, as q means Of preserving
and even increasing the fertility Of The soil
is a a subject which demands more atten-
tion in this country than it has hitherto re-
ceived. Perhaps there is no country where
this source Of fertility is SO much neglected
as it is in ours. The question is worthy of
consideration, whether a system of artifi-
cial watering may not be advantageously
adoI ted in many instances. Although our
annual quantity of rain is comparatively
large, yet our climate is Enthusiastically
a dry one. Drouth is the greatest obsta
Gle our farmers have TO contend against
The remark will apply more particularly to
the level portions of the western States,
where rains are usually less frequent in
summer than in the hilly and mountainous
sections of the East.
The general circumstances of some Of
our western prairies seem not dissimiar TO
some of the celebrated plains Of The Old
Continent, which at different periods, thro'
the agency Of irrigation, have suppo ted
an immense population, and been regarded
us the granarics Of the world
In hilly sections, where springs and
streams abound, irrigation may be practic-
ed with comparative ease and cheapness.
Where these facilities arc not available,
different course must be adopted-what
one would in all respects be most successful,
can only be ascer'aincd 10y careful and thor
ough trial. In some cases, reservoirs
might be constructed in which water from
rain and snow might be secured at certain
seasons, and from which IL might be con.
uucted TO growing crops simply by gravi
tation. In other cases il might be necessa-
ry to raise water by machinery from streams
or natural lakes or basins, to such eleva-
tions as will admit of its proper disirbu-
tion. Wind, perhaps, may be advantage.
ously used as power for performing this
labor. IL is not necessary that the power
should he constant--if the reservoir is of