The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-06-30
Mnnnring for When,


Mnauring for When'.
NoTEs At THE FARM OF JOIN JonNsToN.
10 visit recently made 10 the vener.
able John Johnston, at Geneva, n. Y,
We gathered lew facts on the application
Of manures and he cultivation Of wheat,
that will be oil Interest to many Of our
readers. Mr.. Johnston came to Geneva,
from southwest Scotland, ffty.two years
ago. with but little capital, comparatively,
but having much Of the economy, energy
and thrift necessary to enable any one to
succeed in comparatively new country.
He is now, at the age Of eighty-iour,
hearty, vigorous farmer, able to oversee
his farm and farm hands, and apparently
as capable Of directing and conducting
all the operations necessary to making q
farm pay, as at any time during bis long
life {; and seems to enjoy the competence
he has secured, in n remarkable degree.
On being asked wherein lay the secret
Of his success, he replied, manure, sir,
manure, and plenty Of it," The one
main objecl 10 his farming has always
been to make all the boinyard manure
possible. He said that when he FIRST
went upon his farm his means were
limited, and he was obliged to borrow
money. In order that capitalists should
be willing to lend him the money needed
from time to time, he was compelled to
raise large crops of wheat, which was
then the staple crop in Western New
York. BY bringing the average yield Of
the farm up from twelve or fifteen bushels
per acre to thirty, and never allowing
crop to fail for want Of care, cultivation
or manure, he became celebrated as a
farmer that would be sure to have a crop
oe grain sufficient to meet all obligations
and moneycd men we're willing to lend
him all he needed. After some years he
purchased fifty acres adjoining his origin.
al farm, the original farm, the owner OF
which said that manure would do no good
on his land In the baruyard there were
three yonsr' manure accumulated, which
Mr. Johnston obtained with the farm.
He paid $500 for tho fifty acres, the
most of which be borrowed but, raid he,
"that manure paid every cent for the
farm"
One year he put in quite a large field
Of wheat on that lot, following
aud manuring heavily after he last
blowing and before sowing the wheat.
The next winter was a hard one for
winter wheat, and the best yield in that
section was only eight bushels per acre,
the average not being more than five
while the field SO thoroughly put in by
Mr.. Johnston averaged twenty.nino
bushels per acre.
He has always raised large quantities
Of corD-sometimes fourteen or fifteen
hundred bushels in single season
never selling bushel OF it except in the
shape Of mutton OF beef. The principal
means used in the production of manure
on this farm has been the feeding of sheep
for mutton. He has often fed nine
hundred or thousand sheep in single
winter buying in tho fall and selling
when fattened In addition to the grain
used, he has always fed considerable oil
meal, solely to increase the value Of the
manure, although he obtained the value
Of the meal in increase of flesh on the
sheep, thus getting back double pay for
his Investment.
Mr.. Johnston considers sheep manure
much more valuable than any other
iarmyard manure A. an instance CT
the lasting value Of this manure, Mr.. J
showed us a spot in a wheat field where
he had winterod flock Of sheep in q
yard around hay stack fify.onc years
ago Although not MANFRED since, the
wheat is thicker and larger where this
yard was located than in any other por-
ton of the field, which had been well
manfred. In another part of the same
field is plat which was MANFRED last
fall at the time Of sowing with a iertili-
ger from South Carolina. The wheat
looks well, and Mr.. Johnston thinks,
from the single trial. that the fertilizer
will prove to be worth the $50 per ton
asked for it. lie has never used com.
mercial fertilizers to any great extent,
depending mostly on farmyard manure.
Just now his farm is mostly ,eu:ed to
nurserymen, and he has no stock TO make |
manure; so he is trying some fertilizers.
Guano has sometimes increased a crop
largely, ard at others he could see no
returns FROM its use.
From long continued and thorough |
comparative trial he has found that the
application OF barnyard manure gives the
greatest retains when applied on the
surface. He has now ia the same Geld |
Of wheat above mentioned, plat Of an
acre or more on which the manure was
plowed under while the rest Of the field
is suriace.manured. He had got the
field all MANFRED and the wheat sown on
all except the small plat mentioned, when
very heavy rain stopped operations be.
fore the drilling was finished. AS soon
as the ground was fit to work, after the
rain, it was found so beaten down that
the ground was too hard for the drill to
work well. So it was plowed, throwing
the manure down under, and the wheat
sown. judging from appearances, the
yield will be from five to ten bushels per
acre moro than where the manure is on
the surface. a piece sowed week later
and surface MANFRED, looks much better
We have recently published accounts
OF experiments in the cultivation of grain
crops for twenty consecutive years on the
some ground. Mr.. Johnston showed us
a field upon which he has raised wheat
for more than thirty years every alter.
nate year, the average yield constantly
increasing. His plan was to falow.pow
about the middle of June; pillow again
about September first and top dress
heavily with manure and SOW wheat
Early the next spring he sowed on clover
seed and plaster, After harvest, if the
clover grew large enough to head out,
he pastured it more or less but if no
hloconp,s ANNA rod ba xrt No ,koaI- -