54 [Senate^ 



mixed with muck, or mold equal in bulk to the lime,) the chlorine 

 in the salt will leave the sodium or soda free, and unite with the lime 

 forming a soluble salt called chloride of calcium. Being soluble, 

 this salt will supply wheat and other plants with whatever lime and 

 chlorine they may need. In one hundred pounds of common salt 

 there are forty pounds of soda, which being set free by lime in a 

 moist soil, or compost, will combine with silica, (silicic acid,) and 

 and form a soluble salt called silicate of soda. The soluble silicates 

 of soda and potash are partly decomposed in the stems of grasses,, 

 leaving insoluble silicates. Leached ashes obtained from plants are 

 made up in a good degree of insoluble silicates of potash, soda, lime 

 and iron, with a little carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric acids. 

 The way that these insoluble leached ashes get into forest trees, and 

 all cultivated plants, should be studied by every one that expects tc 

 live and prosper by raising the organized fruits of the earth. It is 

 folly to throw away years of hard muscular toil, by working against 

 the unbending laws of nature. 



My observations in Oneida, Cayuga and Monroe counties, afford 

 abundant evidence of the great advantage of under draining in pre- 

 venting rust in wheat. The best field of this grain that I saw in Oneida 

 county was on the -farm of Mr. Nathaniel H, Wright, of Vernon,, 

 ft was nearly free from rust, although Mr. W. assured me that the 

 ground on which much of this heavy crop of wheat, then about ripe, 

 was standing, was so wet and miry a few years before that a yoke 

 of oxen could not be driven over it.. By under drains the excess of 

 water and the excess of mineral and vegetable acids, as well as the 

 excess of the salts of iron, alumine, and the like, were removed from 

 the soil. In Cayuga county, on a farm adjoining that of Mr. Thomas,. 

 in Aurora, I saw a belt of wheat some two or three rods wide, 

 through a field nearly free from rust, while on either side the grain 

 was nearly black with this disease. On inquiring of the owner, who 

 was cradling his grain, I was told that an under drain was made 

 through the field where there was so little rust. 



In Scipio and several other towns in Cayuga county, the wheat 

 crop suffered very severely from this blight. Thorough draining and 

 liming, wherever resorted to, have had the effect to abate, if not 

 prevent the evil. Land thus treated, becomes exceedingly produc- 

 tive of corn, oats, hay, and all- other crops, as well as wheat. In 

 no instance have J found a farmer that was dissatisfied with the result 

 of the time and money expended in draining his land. The best 



