Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-11-09
" Who Shall Decide 2"

"WhO Shall Decide ~
Our good friend Cheever of the New Eng
land Farmer, in noticing our remarks upon
DR.. Nichols article on "The Muck Delu-
sion," asks Who shall decide when doc
tors disagree ?" This has also been fa-
vorite quotation Of Brother Tinkham when,
in his multitudinous illusions to us, he has
satirically professed to be "all-at-sea,"
{" three sheets in the wind and t'other fut-
tering," it seemed to us,) because some
other doctor of medicine did not concur
with us upon question of agriculture. we
confess that we never could quite see th e
pertinency of this quotation when made
by Mr.. Tinkham, nor do we see it in the
present case. We might ask with more
than equal reason, "Who shall decide when
plowmen disagree ?" while Mr.. Cheever
declares the swivel plow the coming imple-
ment of tillage, and neighbor, who is as
good dairyman as MIR. Cheever, asserts
that swivel plows never have been and never
can be made to do as good work as Landslide.
Nevertheless, we did not ask the question.
Though neighbor r. is a frst-class butter.
maker, we know very well that he has never
begun to make such study Of plows as
Brother Cheever, nor is he by any means a
good practical plowman. Consequently
we have had no more difficulty in deciding
when these plowmen disagreed than we
had in deciding between the authority OF
Professor johnson and that of DR.. Nichols
upon the question of the value of muck as a
fertilizer. Further than that, we know
something about both matters our own self
We have done good deal of plowing in oui
thirty years Of farm life, and we have dug
and used good deal of muck. We have
got some data of our own, therefore, to guide
us. And, by the way, we have noticed that
our all-at-sea" friend finds himself able
occasionally, to render decision between
discordant doctors of dairying, when il
comes to question of dairy cattle, or Of
dairy methods with which he is familiar
(He also claims to be qualified as an umpire
in pugilism, we believe.) The decision Of
all such questions and issues plainly lies
with the jury of intelligent practical men
who are interested in the matter. If they
are not able to make up their minds at once
then the question is challenge to them to
investigate and study until they can. The
fact that the verdict is rarely unanimous
need not disturb anybody. Where every
body can vote many will put in opinions
which no qualification of theirs entities
to weight. The votes of experts, practical
and scientific, are the only ones to b.
counted; and even among these few &c
centric and naturally contrary-minded
parties will have to be disregarded.
This question of the value of muck as Q
manure is just like every other question
about fertilizers. Disregarding the LITTLE
dust-clouds raised by the ignorant and thu
odd,-men who rise up to say that stable
manure is not worth drawing mile wher
somebody's special fertilizer can be had a
$50 ton or that no special fertilizer form
ula is of any value; or that guano ruins th'
land; or that ashes brings in moss instead o
grass; or that plaster is useless or tina
green manures are humbug; or that onl,
fools spend their time in advocating thu
saving of the liquids of the stable; or tina
nitrogen is not necessary in fertilizers !
leaving these agricultural "cranks ant
their talk all on the side-track, where the,
belong, to amuse one another,-we have 60
to arrive at the truth by study and expert
ment Intelligent, patient study, and wei
devised, carefully executed experiment.
We submit, as a matter of fact, in con
tradiction to both Nichols and Cheever, tina
it is an abuse of the intelligent farmers o
New England to say that they are unawar
of the difference that exists in the fertilizinI
value of different deposits of muck. w
have attended and reported for the press
great many agricultural meetings where tn
muck question was mooted, and have hel,
unnumbered conversations with practica
agriculturists all over the country on tn
subject, yet we do not remember of eve
finding one individual among them all VIII
was not aware, either by experience or heal
say, of the fact that while some muck
nearly as good as stable manure, whel
rightly prepared and used, other muck is O
little or no value except as an absorben
Most of them knew, also, that there ar
what Prof. johnson calls "vitriol mucks,
which poison the land and destroy vegeta
tion.
As to the practical value of good muc
as manure, we can hardly count up tn
instances where we have seen it tested an
proved. Within mile and half fror
where we sit writing there is muck bee
originally of four or five acres, which ha
been worked for many years and has great
aided to keep up the fertility of one of tn
best grass-farms in the town. This muck hs
now been about one-third used (the dept
in the middle of the basin being about fou
feet), and the owner will not sell a load {
it, believing it to be worth to him as niue
as all the rest of his farm. In the twent
years he has been using ii he certainly hi
had ample chance to make up his min
about it. This muck bed is hollow I
which little digging at the lower end gay
a natural outlet for the spriug-water thi
originally flooded it. Now carts can
backed up to the bank of muck, which
kept cut square up and down and acros
and is cleaned out down 10 the sand bottol