Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-02-19
Reported for tho VERMONT FARMER.
Board Meeting at Plainfield.
Wednesday afternoon, DR.. Asa George
read the following paper:

Wednesday afternoon, DR.. Asa George
read the following paper
These are of the greatest importance to
the farmer. Without them his worn ont lands
will not pay for working. In these few lines
| do not intend to theoriZe on mnnures, or
give their chemical analysis, but merely my
own experience in their use. First OF all
strong and durable manures is that called
by farmers long stable manure. The next
is the barnyard manure. If the farmer has
enough of these he need not trouble himself
about other kinds. but unfortunately in most
eases there is great Lack of fertilizers and
the farmer must look beyond his barn and
yard for a supply of fertilizers. These are
numerous-guano. superphosphate of lime,
ashes, plaster, pOudrette, common salt,
muck, Stacked lime. and many other kinds.
The question is, Will they pay, and how
should they be used? Some are in the habit
of plowing their manure under; this mode
may do IL the manure is green. My expert
ence is that manure should be mixed thor
oughly with the soil, and us near the surface
AS can be conveniently done, except what
you place in the hill. Guano Is good fer
tilizer, but it does not pay well. Superphos-
phate of lime in the hill on good land will
produce good corn, but not equal to our barn
manure. Stacked lime is good manure for
sandy land or land inclining to sand but not
good for potatoes. If put in the hill it will
make the potatoes scabby and if considera-
BILE is used they will he worthless. Lime ap-
piled TO sandy land literally is of great inn
portance. 1t will kill out sorrel and bring
white clover. Plaster and ashes are good
manures and pay better than any other if
properly used. They may be spread on the
surface of moving ur pasture lands with adj
vantage if those lands ARE dry and inclining
to sand. loan or mari. Plaster and ashes
lrnnnaI in IN tuNa LII ,Io .
crop of potatoes. Plaster, lime and ashes
when sowcd on plowed lands for grain crops
should be narrowed in with the grain. Plus
ter. lime and ashes are the only mnnures
have been able TO make pay aside from barn
manure, except superphoSphate of lime in
the garden, and muck mixed with other
kinds, as ashes, lime and plaster.
My mode Of rnising potatoes is to turn over
sward land in fall, spread on u coat of loose,
coarse manure in the spring, and mix it
thoroughly with the soil. | then furrow out
and drop in seed, and drop the plaster and
ashes in the hill with tho seed. | select my
seed, cnt IL lengthwisc, and drop one piece
in each hill. ! have one kind that l have
planted AZ Years in succession, and it is worth
all your new varieties Salt and lime are
first rate nanures for onions. Ii the farmer
has good load Of muck ut hand he can
manufacture manure ut u moderate cost by
mixing il with his other manure or with
lime and ashes.
The value of bare statements to the ef-
feet that one article is good andIanother poor
as manure is very much impaired when the
facts from which these opinions are derived
are not also given. If man says a barrel
of lime is worth more than given quantity
Of manure, we want to know the condition
of his land, the time Of the trial, the wealth
er, the kind Of crop grown, &c. To say one
article is better than another for manure is
very much like saying it is more desirable
to thoroughly understand arithmetic than
grammar. If the student is to be book
keeper all his life, the statement may be
true, but if he is to be an author or an ora
tor the very reverse is true. Again, ifhe is
to be a school teacher he will be very likely
to need them both. 1t is precisely the same
with the science (for it is a science) of ma
nuring. One plant may require potash and
very little nitrogen, another nitrogen and
very little potash, while a third will require
large per eentage Of both. Hence, to
make statement of comparative values Of
different manures useful, we must know the
conditions under which they are used, as
we'll as the gross result. Ed. FARMER.l
DR.. George said by deeply plowing in ma.
nure be had nearly run out his grass crop.
He knew one man in the county who had
raised the old English White potatoes every
year since 1871, and they were as good as
any now. He showed several specimens,
one which he had raised AZ years and anoth-
er 20 years. Ashes were a valuable manure
for sandy land, though by putting it around
the bill it is apt to give more tops than bot
toms. Furrow shallow, for potatoes, and
cover fairly to set aud grow. SuperphOs-
phate does well in the garden, as it does not
carry in any weeds. Wants salt and lime
for onions. Believes the Mohawk and the
English White are standard varieties of po-
tatOes. The latter arc most liable to rot.
ID. B. Wheelock made some pertinent re.
marks on manure. We must depend on the
manure bank to be safe aud sure.
A. Il. Kinney, of Plain6eld, read paper
on "Sheep Husbandry."
+. d. Douglas said in Addison County it
was customary to feed sugar beets to breeding
ewes, and further that they should have daily
moderate exercise
Prof. Collier on "Priuciples of Fertiliza-
tion" occupied the rest Of the afternoon.
What is meant, he asked, by fertilization ?
1t is the bringing up Of the different forces