The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-05-07
derstand what 81, 900 is, but ten thousand
Thousand is the same as nothing to them
1T benumbs their brains entirely.
Improving a Farm with Fertilizers.

A Mendon, Massachusetts, correspond.
emit of the Ne,o England Farmer claims
TO have restored rundown farm by the
use of artificial fertilizers, and to have
done it with profit. He says:
Slight years ago 1 bought small
farm that was badly rundown, the hay
having been sold for over twenty years
it cut about seven tons of poor quality.
The pastures were grown up to brush and
wood, 80 much so that they furnished
considerable fuel. l was mechanic, and
continued working at my trade for three
years after purchasing the farm, doing
but little on the farm that would be called
improvements. Having but little manure,
l decided to put it near the barn, on lot
of about five acres, using fertilizers alone
on the other fields. l have p'owed,
planted and seeded nearly all of my NOW.
ing and pasture land, using very little
manure, except on the above five acres.
While am not believer in fertilizers,
like some who place them ahead of ma
nure, yet as am situated, with no chance
to buy except at great expense for cart
ing, do believe that they have been of
great advantage to me in retaining my
farm. As to bringing the farm up it
will speak for itself. cut last year about
twenty tons of first quality hay, raised
eight hundred and fifty bushels of pota-
toes, nearly sixty bushels of rye and about
four tons of straw. l seeded to grass,
last fall, about six acres, and if the coming
season is an average one, think it safe
to estimate my crop of hay for 1884 at
twenty.eight or thirty tons, while l shall
have nearly seven acres in hoed crops.
Now the important question is, has it
paid And in answer to this, will say
that, while l have not been systematic
enough in my bookkeeping to give exact
results, yet, from the accounts l have kept,
l am convinced that it has paid well, for
I consider my farm, for me to keep (per-
haps not to selD, is worth enough more
than it was when l bought it to pay for
all the fertilizers have used. The in
creased value of land, when improved,
whether by using stable manure or fertil-
izers, is very important item in estimat-
ing the profits of farming, for some of
my land that was worse than worthless
when l bought it is now paying me the
interest on $3.50 or more per acre for
raising nay Will lertiLzeTS dlOne' Do-
lieve farmers have made great mistake
in using fertilizers, by applying them too
sparingly; for, if they are honestly made,
think the same rule may be applied to
them as to manure-the last load pays the
most profit. l use about four hundred
pounds per acre for topdressing grass land,
and about twelve hundred pounds on corn
and potatoes, where have no manure.
Others have used larger quantities per
acre with profitable results. Mr.. A. A.
Fletcher of FRANKLIN, Mass, recommends
using one ton per acre. This is more than
have ever applied, but think I shall try
it another season."
Our Vermont readers must remember
that the first cost of fertilizers is less to
the farmers in Massachusetts than In Yer
mont, and that the prices received for po-
tatoes, hay, and most other crops is from
twice to thrice as much as we get. But
that farming can be successfully carried
on with fertilizers alone is indisputable.
The question is one of cost, and when we
can get fertilizers for what they are really
worth we can make money on them.