No. 1. 



Jlgr'icuUural Chemistry. 



19 



could be found. He said the rod drew hard 

 and 'pointed strong to a particular spot, and 

 his opinion was that water could be obtained 

 by digging twenty- five feet. Then taking 

 the rod in my own hands, and pretending I 

 had the power of using it, but at the same 

 time knowing it to be a sheer hoax, I traveled 

 off about a hundred yards, and relaxing my 

 grasp, let the rod turn down. Here, said I, 

 you will find water by ^'^gging fifteen feet. 

 Keturning that way some months after, I 

 found the proprietor, having more faith in 

 my skill than in that of Dr. Colo, had sunk a 

 well on the spot pointed out by me, and found 

 water at the depth of about twelve feet. 



Now let us return to the poor dupe Lewis. 

 After selling his farm and getting the mo- 

 ney, he traveled over the counti-y, support- 

 ing the sharper who carried his rod, in search 

 of buried treasure. Sometimes it drew for 

 water, sometimes for lead, and at last for 

 gold. Well, hands were employed to dig, 

 but they soon came to a hard rock ; the rod 

 still pointed to the gold as lying underneath 

 the rock ; then they must get men to blast 

 and blow it to pieces; the hidden treasure 

 would tea times cover all expenses. The 

 rock was penetrated and rent asunder. The 

 hills reverberated with thunder-like blasts 

 of gunpowder, and poor deluded Lewis was 

 just on the point of seizing the iron pot of 

 gold, placed there before the flood, when the 

 guardian genii of the place caused it to dis- 

 appear from the astonished sight of the work- 

 men. What was now to be done? The 

 siiarper, never at a loss for stratagems while 

 the money of Lewis lasted, said a m.an lived 

 about furty miles off, who had found, in 

 ploughing an old field, once a battle ground, 

 a curious glass, which had the power of lay- 

 ing the evil genii of the golden treasure. 

 Away po.-ted our hero of golden dreams for 

 this wonderful glass, but it was found on 

 using it that its influence extended only to a 

 certain depth in the earth, and the pot of 

 gold was just two feet six inches hcloai its 

 power. The owner and operator of the glass 

 gave a history of the manner in which it was 

 prepared, and endowed with its power over 

 the evil genii. Thelndians, who inhabited this 

 coimtry before Europeans, had so far power 

 over these genii that once in a hundred years 

 they could kill one with an arrow dipped in a 

 certain stream, covered v/ith an oily sub- 

 stance which flowed into the Pacific ocean. 

 When one was killed, a glass must be laid 

 over his face as he lay in his grave, and 

 there lay one hundred years. After that 

 time the glass would possess power over the 

 genii of that place as deep in tiie earth as it 

 had lain for that period. Tlie golden pot lay 

 just two feet six inches lower than the glass 



had laid, consequently it had not power over 

 the pot of gold. 



VVith such tales poor deluded Lewis was 

 amused until he found his pockets empty; 

 but still believed all true as Holy Writ, 

 and took great pleasure in rehearsing his 

 golden adventure of an evening after a hard 

 day's work with his broad axe tor my father ; 

 for he was obliged to take up his trade of 

 carpenter, after having fooled away his farm. 



W. L. HORTON. 



Harford county, Md., June 24th, 1839. 



For the Farmers Cabinet. 



Agricisltural Cliemistry. 



The many very important facts and hints 

 contained in Sir Humphrey Davy's Agricul- 

 tural Chemistry, and the cogent arguments 

 on many interesting subjects with which it 

 abounds, renders it very important that it 

 should be introduced to the farmers of this 

 country; but the expense and difficulty of 

 disseminating it amongst our farmers, has in- 

 duced me to go over it, and cull from it va- 

 rious interesting matters that admitted of 

 separation, without injury to the sense; 

 these 1 have copied out and forwarded for pub- 

 lication in the Farmers' Cabinet, hoping they 

 may be useful to your numerous readers. 



Agricola. 



No manure can be taken up by the roots 

 of plants, unless water is present; and water 

 or its elements exist in all the products of 

 vegetation. The germination of seeds does 

 not take place without the presence of air or 

 oxygen gas. 



Plants are found by analysis to consist 

 principally of charcoal and aeriform matter. 

 They give out by distillation volatile com- 

 pounds, the elements of which are pure air, 

 inflammable air, coally matter, and azote, or 

 the elastic substance which forms a part of 

 the atmosphere, and which is incapable of 

 supporting combustion. These elements they 

 gain either by their leaves from the air, or by 

 their roots from the soil. 



All manures from organized substances 

 contain the principles of vegetable matter, 

 Vv-hich, during putrefaction, are rendered 

 either soluble in water or aeriform — and in 

 these states, they are capable of being as- 

 similated to the vegetable organs. No one 

 principle aftbrds the pabulum of vegetable 

 life ; it is neither charcoal nor hydrogen, nor 

 azote, nor oxygen alone ; but all of them to- 

 gether, in various states and various com- 

 binations. 



