The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-04-20
agricultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN.
How a Farm was Recuperated.

COmIneTClh lertlllLeTS IL matter OF
much interest and importance to the
farmers of New England at the present
time. They are all very expensive,
and It is very important to know
whether or not it will pay to use them.
AS my views and experience in
relation to this matter have frequently
been solicited, l thought it might be
well to give the required information
through the CULTIVATION, that the
many readers CT that valuable paper
might have the benefit of my ex-
perience, If of any worth. Many old
farms, situated remote from cities and
villages where manure cannot be had
without the great expense for carting,
are in n rundown condition. 1t is more
generally believed that these farms
cannot again be made productive with
out great outlay. SO much so, that 1t
will not pay, and, therefore, they are,
many of them, turned to pasture,
occupants having moved off, and the
cummings WIN hON ~ vi iCiS W uCtdNs
regard this as sad mistake. l am now
living upon farm / purchased nine
teen years ago. At that time it was
run down to the lowest possible degree.
There were but from ten TO twelve
head of cattle, few sheep, and one or
two horses kept upon the farm, For
the past seven or eight years | have
wintered from eighty to one hundred
and ten head of cattle, from three to
seven horses, and from one to two
hundred sheep. / have not bought a
ton of hay nor bushel of grain that
was consumed on the farm. l have
bought no manure worth naming.
have, meanwhile, erected buildings, all
new, or nearly so. The barns are, one
of them one hundred and ten feet 10y
forty-one feet, the other seventy feet by
forty, with cellars, new grain barn,
all of which are clapboarded and paint
ed equal to the house live in. Three
years ago refused more than Sl1 ,00C
more than l paid for the farm, but
thought best not to sell, and what is
better still, this improvement has been
made from the income of the farm and
still better, there are more dollars in
the locker than when / moved upon
the farm. This looks like egotism, i
admit; l subject myself to this unfavor-
able impression for the purpose of re-
futing the false notion that Is prevalent
all over our New England, that farm
ing cannot be made In pay, especially
in New Hampshire.
For more than fifteen years | have
used more or less commercial fertilizers,
every year. This has not prevented
me from making all the manure j
could. For quite number of years /
have used superphosphate. 1 think
and know that this has rendered great
assistance in the recuperation of the
farm. AS have used comparatively
so little 1 don't think of itself it has
done very much in way of lasting i'm
provement; but it has enabled me to
raise better crops, and that increase of
crops has enabled me to keep more
stock, and that increase of stock has
continually been adding to the quantity
of manure. l make 1t rule to consume
all my hay and grain upon the farm.
Though l have occasionally sold q
little, hold that farmer cannot afford
to sell his hay and grain unless he can
make full return for the loss to the
manure heap in some way. A farmer
better leave his business at once if he is
not improving his farm herein lies the
great secret Of the farmers success. If
he improve his farm he is not only in
creasing his crops, but be is, also, at the
same time adding to his capital. l
think superphosphate has doubly paid
me the cost. 1t has not only given me
better crops but it has enabled me to
successfully cultivate larger number
of acres, growing crops per acre equal
to half the number of acres with the
same amount of manure without the
phosphate. The farmer that thinks he
can sell his hay and grain because he
has bought little phosphate, makes a
mistake. | predict he will soon have a
poor, unproductive farm and an empty
purse.
l think / have sufficiently explained
how phosphate can be made to pay. AS
to the kind of phosphate best to use,
there are as many opinions as there
are different varieties. For quite a
number of years I have used Bradley's
Nj. have used some others, some of
which at times have been equally good,
but none better. have as yet found
Bradley's Nj to be quite uniform in its
effects, and shall continue to use it as
long rs it is kept up to its past standard.
My method of using it may be of
some Importance to brother farmers, so
l will give it somewhat in detail per-
haps some of them may have better
method if so, should like TO hear
from them. | use more of it in the
raising of corn than any other crop.
use cask of plaster with every cask OF
phosphate and a cask of leached ashes
if they can be had / always use the
plaster with the phosphate, l am told
by chemists that plaster prevents the
ammonia from escaping; l am moi
enough of a chemist to see how the two
work together, but do know that the
two together make the corn, potatoes
and oats grow finely on my farm.
can see one important reason why the
phosphate does better for mixing with
some milder ingredient. If the phos'
phate be what it ought to be, it is toe
rank to come in contact with the seed
while terminating also too rank fol
the tender roots in its earliest growth
have seen corn stopped from germin.
ation by it. and have seen the main