The Portland daily press., 1867-03-21
EscaPe of Mauure.

A correspondent OF the N Y. "T,,rf r,.,S
and Farm, writing from the farm of sanns,
A. Smith of Smithtown, Long Island, has
some ideas in relation to manures teaching
down and evaporating, also in regard to the
substantial value of sea weed dressing aud ar
tfcial fertilizers, which we present herewith fer
the purpose Ofmviting the attention of our
aH1cultural readers and writers upon these
SUBJECTS. After speaking of Mr.. Smiths sue
cess III moving large fields for several years
says: wy 'e' "0
ono is IsIoIV1 larin Is far specimen of much of
Long Island land, it goes far In conv;nca ma
,s, o"I 'nI ;"nu OF this neglected isle docs NOT
~ ,,,l';nh !. 70 .ne general impression abroad
and winch Is entertained oy manw of ap."ao' sh,
habitants. 1t has long been m;, =, .ne IN
that land cannot leach, or the filter;nn ,.e
through sand, charcoal, &c. could uo,p pioeess'
tanned; therefore, the sediment ren,o;., 70 sus-
create pure water, must be depos;ted .S "
this deposit must consist of fertilizers and
remains in the organized earth, thus IN ba
conveyed to the roots Of plants. This doc.
trine seems to me natural and substantial
and the constant cropping of Mr. Smith. as
above described, still more cOnvnces me of
the fact. How long such course can be
sustained remains to be proved. ..s
Again he says: rr a.
Too much of Long Island land has been
s1wed, and much more has been drained Of
Its substance by deceiving il with artificial
nanures, especially those of an ammoniacal
character and applied in small quantities,
winch releases the vegetable and mineral mat
ter IN the earth, so as TO gradually impoverish,
which I'M nf Il
not bear. Such land if kept up by stock,
more especially by sheep, is by nature equal,
u not superior, to any land in the world. and
shaI be able to show you in another article
| how the land on the "Nicol Neck. has been
| impoverished and made areceptacle for weeds.
| Dy constant cropping system, aided by sea
weeu anu artihcial manures, which has
orouSne macn OF that portion of the Island
| to the last extreme OF poverty. and II will
| cost more than 1t is worth to bring it back to
| its primitive state. On the other hand, / can
not believe in evaporation, and the nearer
you get your manure TO the surface of light
soils the better. 1t has long been my settled
opinion that none of the fertilizing qualities
OF the manure escapes in the atmosphere, or
the eminently successful practice of top
dressing grass lands, now generally resorted
to in England, could not be maintained, and
the further 1t is pursued the more the con-
verts are multiplied. Ft r..r tf-
We believe that real manure, the food of
plants, by a friendly law of nature, even In
porous soils, never teaches down below the
feeding roots of plants. If it did, it would
escape the purpose for which nature intended
it. 1T manures leached down by the force of
gravitatiOn, it would seem that somewhere in
the depths there would be found large and
generous deposit of it which the top of the
earth needs. Why in sinking shalt or dig
9lng well, even near barnyard, do the
| workmen never come to layer of manure
some feet below the surface9 If manures 90
down, they would certainly encounter them
somewhere. On the contrary, the earth Is
affected only a foot or two from the surface,
even In the richest and longest titled gardens
The truth is, the earth is purifier; the sand
answers as afilterer through which the watery
| particles alone pass down, catching and hold
| ing all manurial substances, and wisely keep
ing them near the surface where the roots of
plants grow and where they need them.
Then again. Do manuIes escape by evap-
Grafton? Most people believe they do; but
we suspect that the same law of nature
which would prevent manures finding their
home down deep in the earth, also provides
that neither shall they escape by evaporation
into the heavens, at least, not to much extent
True, the ammonia, during eflervescence, will
arise and impart disagreeable cdor to the
atmosphere; but if the air is thus manured.
and If this rich air is any aid to the growth of
the vegetable kingdom, we should like to
know why our neighbor's vegetation is not
enriched without expense to him by the ex-
halations from our own barnyard? We do
not believe nature enriches the soil in this
way; consequently we doubt there being any
such defect in natures law as would deprive
the soil, either by teaching, or by evaporation,
OF what it needs for the support of plants.
With regard to what the writer in the Turf,
Field and Farm says about sea dressing and
artificial fertilizers exhausting, rather than
supplying strength to the soil,-as ardent
spirits operate on the human system,-we
think this is matter worthy of very serious
consideration; ard we shall be happy TO hear
from some of our correspondents on the
subject. 7-f1I
aHt Dl t. -., .i.l9 9.H.H TRAx,