118 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



and nerves strengthened by exercise and labor, 

 with the contentment of perfect independence 

 and freedom from worldly fern* and worldly care 

 — the Shakers, iu nine cases out of ten, live to a 

 mature and ripe age ; and vei^ seldom does the 

 commiuiity of between two and three hundred 

 persons have occasion to follow one of their num- 

 ber to an untimely grave. 



THE PROPERTIES OF SOILS, AS DETERMINED 

 BY CHEMICAl ANALYSIS. 



Presuming it is the desire of our readers generally to 

 study Agriculture as a great and useful acience, we extract 

 from Low's Elements — England's best work on Agricul- 

 ture — an essay on the properties of soils, which we com- 

 mend as very important to farmers. Those who wish to 

 commence at the root — the foundation of the science, 

 will find this is the very first lesson to be studied. — Ten- 

 nessee AgHcfdtttrist . 



" The soil has been said to be a compound of mineral 

 substances, mixed with a portion of vegetable and animal 

 matter. 



The vegetable and animal matter of the soil exists ei- 

 ther in a state of mixture, or of chemical union with the 

 minerals of the soil. 



The mineral matter of the soil forms greatly the larger 

 part of it, and necessarily consists of the same substances 

 which constitute the mountain rocks and mineral masses 

 which are found on the earth, and which form its crust or 

 covering. The hardest rocks break down by degrees, 

 and are decomposed by the iniluence of air and moisture. 

 Sometimes the decomposed matter remains upon the 

 rocky basis from which it had been derived, and there 

 forms a soil ; but more frequently the action of water has 

 mingled top;ether the different mineral masses and strata 

 which are found on the earth. 



The great body of the soil, then, is a mixture of the va- 

 rious mineral substances which are upon the earth, and is 

 resolvable into the same constituent parts. Now all the 

 rocks and other mineral masses which exist on the sur- 

 face of tlie earth, are found to consist of a few bodies, the 

 principal of which are four earths — silica, alumina, lime, 

 and maEinesia — oxide of iron, soda and potassa. In like 

 manner, the great mass of the mineral part of the soil is 

 resolvable into silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, oxide of 

 iron, soda and potassa. 



Tlie manner in which this compound body may be con- 

 ceived to exist is the following : — Let it be supposed that 

 the different minerals on the surface of tlie earth are more 

 or less decomposed, broken, ground down, as it were, and 

 mingled together. 



Some are in the form of stones, and are therefore mere- 

 ly varieties of the different rocks of a country. These 

 form loose stones and gravel, which we see accordingly to 

 be every where mingled with the soil, and to form often a 

 great proportion of it. 



A more minute comminution reduces these mineral sub- 

 stances to sand. This is the form in which the largest part 

 of all soils exists,and when it is in a very considerable pro- 

 portion to the whole, the soil is termed sandy. 



When the parts are more comminuted still, and reduced 

 by chemical means to powder, the soil appears to be in the 

 state most favorable to vegetation. All our finest soils 

 contain a lai^e comparative proportion of their parts re- 

 duced to this state of division ; and where none of this 

 finely divided substance, or a small quantity of it only, ex- 

 ists, the soil is barren. 



Of the substances which form the constituent parte of 

 minerals, the most widely diffused is silica. Stones in 

 which it exists in large quantity are usually very hard. 

 The sand of the sea-shore is mostly siliceous, and silice- 

 ous sand forms vast deserts in every part of the world. 



In quartz, and in felspar, silica exists nearly pure, and it 

 forms 1)8 parts iu 100 of common flint. It is from its a- 

 bundance in quartz, a mountain rock of universal diffusion, 

 and in felspar, which is likewise one of the most abund- 

 ant minerals in nature, that silica is important as forming a 

 principal constituent part of all the loose mineral matter 

 of the surface of the earth, and consequently of all soils. 

 Quartz is a rock of constant occurrence, and its disinte- 

 grated parts liave been.every where washed into the plains 

 to form an element of the soil. Quartz has been found 

 to consist of silica, alumina, and a small quantity of 

 oxide of iron. Quartz is also an integrant part of sand- 

 stone, and other rocks of general diffusion. It enters 

 largely into the composition of granite and other primary 

 rocks. It forms, in short, a part of the rocks in all the 

 series of formations which geologists enumerate ; and thus 

 silica is the most universally diffused mineral substance on 

 the surface of the earth, and forms a part, accordingly, of 

 every soil that is known to us. 



Alumina, next to silica, is the most generally diffused of 

 the earths. United with silica, it forms a great proportion 

 of all the rocks and mineral masses on the earth. It is 

 accordingly every where found ; and forms a part of every 

 soil not wholly barren. Kneaded with water it becomes 

 a ductile paste, and is the substance which chiefly gives 

 their plastic and ductile characters to the soils termed 

 clays. It retains water more strongly than any of the oth- 

 er earths. 



Silica and alumina, then, forming the largest part of the 

 rocks and minerals which exist upon the surface of the 

 earth, enter the most largely into the composition of soils; 

 and in these they arc found to exist, either as grains of 

 sand, or as gravel, or in the form of a fine powder. 



Lime, the next of the earths, is one which is of wide 

 extension, and performs an important function in the veg- 

 etable economy. In nature tnis mineral is usually found 

 in combination with acids. Combined with carbonic 

 acid, it constitutes the numerous varieties of marble, 

 limestone, and chalk. In this and other combinations, 

 it exists in rocks, in soils, in the waters of the 

 ocean, in plant;^, and in animals. It forms gieat beds, and 



numerous minerals in combination with silica and alumi- 

 na» 



It is chiefly from the carbonate that the lime used in 

 agriculture is derived. By exposing the carbonate to 

 strong heat, the carbonic acid is driven ofl', and that which 

 remains is the caustic earth, to which we give the name of 

 quicklime. Tliis substance has a strong affinity for water, 

 which it will absorb from the atmosphere. When the 

 water is applied in quantity, it is absorbed by the lime, 

 with a great evolution of lieat ; and this is the process of 

 slacking so well known. The lime thus combined with 

 water attf.icts carbonic acid, and again becomes carbonate 

 of lime ; although, in this state of carbonate, it presents 

 external characters entirely different from those which it 

 possessed in its original state of marble, limestone, and 

 chalk. Rut it is in external characters only, and in the 

 lesser degree of cohesion of its parts, that it differs, for 

 otherwise the substances are the same. 



By tiie minute division of its parts by heat, we arc ena- 

 bled to apply lime to the soil in a state of a finely divided 

 powder, and thus in the best form for improving the tex- 

 ture of the soil. It is from this cause doubtless, as well 

 as those important purposes which it serves as a manure, 

 that this earth is of such importance to the husbandman. 

 Could we apply the earths silica and alumina to the soil 

 in their pure state, or could we reduce them by mechani- 

 cal or chemical means to powder, we should be able to 

 apply them in a form calculated to improve the texture of 

 the soil. 



Lime exists in all soils formed by the decomposition of 

 rocks J but in soils formed wholly by the aggregation of 

 vegetables, as peat, it does not necessarily exist. It im- 

 proves the quality of all soils, whether they are formed of 

 sihca, alumina, or vesctable matter. 



Silica, alumina, and lime, forming the principal part of 

 soils, and, where any one of them prevails, giving its char- 

 acter to the soil, it is frequently convenient to distinguish 

 soils, as being Siliceous, Aluminous, or Calcareous. 

 Where silica prevails, as in the case of many sands, we 

 may call the soil aluminous ; and where lime exists in 

 quantity, as in the case of chalk, we may call the soil 

 calcareous. Thus, in addition to the less artificial division 

 of the farmer, derived from the texture and external char- 

 acters of liie toil, we may use those derived from its com- 

 position. 



Magnesia, in various states of combination, exists in 

 nature in considerable quantity. It is generally found in 

 combination with acids, as the carbonic. It exists along 

 with silica, alumina, lime, iron, and other substances. 

 The minerals of which it forms a part, generally feel soft 

 and unctuous. It is the principal constituent of various 

 mountain rocks, as serpentine and chlorate -slate, and thus 

 being an element in many rocks and minerals, it must form 

 a considerable part of soils. Magnesia, Iiowever, is less 

 generally diffused than lime, and may perhaps perform a 

 less important function in t\ c economy of vegetation. 

 When it exists in such quantity as to give a character to 

 the soil, we may term tlie soil Magncsi^n. 



The next substance that exists largely diffused in the 

 mineral kingdom, is oxide, or rather peroxide, of iron. 



Iron, as it is the most useful of the metals, so it is gen- 

 erally diffused on the earth. It is derived, for the purposes 

 of the arts, from a scries of minerals termed ores of iron. 

 It is found extensively in mountain rocks ; and it exists, 

 accordingly, in more or less quantity, in almost every soil. 

 Its precise effects, however, on the productive powers of 

 soils, have not been well determined ; some soils, where 

 it exists being extremely barren, while in some very fertile 

 soils, it exislsin large quantity. Soils which contain much 

 iron may be termed ferruginous. 



The alkalies, soda and potassa, are also found in soils, 

 being extensive productsof the mineral kingdom. They 

 are found in nature comlJinrd with various acids. 



Soils, then, consist chiefly of silica, alumina, lime, mag- 

 nesia, oxide of iron, potassa, and soda, together with a 

 portion of matter derived from organic substances. 



Fr»ni various experiments, it is known, that plants con- 

 sume in growing the decomposed animal and vegetable 

 matter %v'l)ich the soil contains. It is rendered probable 

 also by experiments, tliat a portion of the earthy matter 

 of the soil — the silica, the alumina, the lime, as well as 

 various saline substances contained in it — is absorbed by 

 the plant, though in minute quantity, as compared to the 

 animal and vegetable matter absorbed. 



Further, the medium of supply of the matter of nutri- 

 tion contained in the soil, may bo regarded as water hold- 

 ing in solution the vegetable, animal, and other matters 

 which pass into the roots of plants. The soil, then, may 

 be chiefly regarded — 



1st — As the instrument of fixing the roots of plants in 

 the ground ; and 



2d — As a medium for conveying \o them the water hold- 

 ing dissolved the different substances which pass into the 

 plant. 



The air may be considered as a vehicle for conveying 

 water to the soil. It is continually char<red with aqueous 

 vapor, wliich partly descends to the earth in rains, and is 

 partly deposited in dews, in the cool of the night. In 

 many countries it never rains at certain seasons, and the 

 whole moisture is supplied by tlie dew. In this case in 

 an especial degree, and in all cases in a certain desjrre, 

 the power of the earth to absorb moisture from the air, 

 may be regarded as connected with the means of the soil 

 to nourish plants. 



From the A^ashville Agnctiltnrist. 

 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 

 The Art of cultivating the soil or Agriculture is cer- 

 tainly the oldest of all arts. It was, according to the 

 eacred writings, the ©nly occupation of the Patriarchs. 

 The inhabitants of Mesopotamia and Palestine applied 

 themselves to the cultivation of the soil, in the most re- 

 mote antiquity. Osias, King of Jnda, had a great number 

 of laborers in his \'ineyards on Mount Carmcl. He pro- 



tected and favored in a particular manner those who cul- 

 tivated the ground and raised cattle j he himself occujjicd 

 mucli of Ids time ii'. tlie same pursuit. 



The Assyrians, the Medes, and the Persians cultivated 

 the earth. This art, according to Berosus, was amongst 

 the Babylonians of such great antiquity tlial they placed 

 its origin in the first century of their liistory. The pro- 

 gress of husbandry in those remote ages, when Arts first 

 bcg;ui to make their appearance, was slow and difficult ; 

 tradition was the only means by which observations and 

 discoveries were transmitted. 



The Egyptians, who, like many other people, pretended 

 to be of divine origin, and that they had received every 

 thing from the Gods, attributed the honor of the discove- 

 ry of wheat to Isis ; according to them, Osiris invented 

 the plough, and the culture of the grape. If we re- 

 fuse the honor of having created Agriculture to the 

 Egyptians, we must at least grant them the glory of hav- 

 ing improved that art and re-establishing it amongst the 

 people, when it had been brought into contempt by bar- 

 barity. The means which the Egyptians have used to 

 render their country fertile, to make agricuiture and com- 

 merce flourish, are equally marvellous as their monuments, 

 which will be always admired by the traveller. 



Egypt, notwithstanding its favorable situation and ex- 

 cellency of soil, would be but a dry and steril desert, ow- 

 ing to the excessive heat of the climate, if it was not wa- 

 tered by the inundations of the Nile. It is to tlie period- 

 ical inundations of this river that Egypt owes the prodi- 

 gious fertility of its soil ; rains are hardly known there. 

 But this fertility is less attributable to the fertilizing pro- 

 perties of the water of the Nile, than to the industry of 

 the inhabitants to profit by it. As the water of that river 

 cannot disperse itself everywhere in a just proportion, 

 nor to a requisite distance from its banks, the mhabitants 

 had constructed along the whole extent of its course an 

 infinite number of canals and ditches which distributed 

 the water wherever it was necessary. Each village had 

 its canal which was opened during the inundation j it was 

 to be closed at a limited time, in order to have the fertil- 

 izing property of the water equally distributed over the 

 whole. This multitude of canals united the towns togeth- 

 er, favored commerce, and defended the kingdom against 

 an invading enemy, so that the Nile did not only feed the 

 Egyptians, but it defended the country. The whole 

 country was inundated j the towns and villages being built 

 upon artificial elevations, were not subject to this submer- 

 sion and raised like islands in the midst of the water. 

 Egypt offered during two seasons, the most charming and 

 agreeable prospect to the eye. Placed during the months 

 of July and August on an elevated place, — a mountain or 

 the great pyramids of Alkahira, Ave would discover at :he 

 distance a vast ocean, from tlie bosom of which rose a 

 multitude of roads whicli served as the means of commu- 

 nication amongst the inhabitants ; along these roads rose 

 copses of wood and thickets of fruit trees, of which the 

 summits alone were visible, the trunks being under water ; 

 extensive forests and mountains limited like an amphithea- 

 tre the horizon at a distance. All these objects offered to 

 the view -'an ensemble" of scenery which had not its 

 equal in any country on the globe. During the winter, that 

 is during the months of January and February, the coun- 

 try in its whole extent appeared as an extensive meadov/ 

 embellished with the most brilliant flowers. Here we 

 perceived numerous flocks, peaceably feeding on the lux- 

 urious herbage; at other places numerous groups of labor- 

 ers were engaged in their rural occupations. The air, 

 perfumed by the blossom of the Orange, Citron, and other 

 odoriferous shrubs and trees, was at that season so pure, 

 that it invigorated and enlivened the whole population. 

 While in other couutries nature seemed dead, in Egypt 

 she seemed full of life to embellish their fields. 



The elevation of the water of the Nile was subject to 

 variation; it could rise to a height which was injurious. 

 The ancient Egyptians had foreseen this, and calculated 

 the inconveniences which could result from it. They had 

 prepared lakes to receive the stagnant and superfluous 

 water when it became too abundant or rose too high, dur- 

 ing these inundations — the great locks were then opened 

 or closed according to tiie stage of the water — by this 

 moans the country was not longer inundated than was 

 necessary to fertilize the soil. The famous lake Mceris, 

 wliich was of sufficient extent, was designed for that pur- 

 pose. The manner in wliich it was constructed, shows 

 not onlv ffreat industry, but the most enliglitened econo- 

 my. Not to lose by its location a natural fertile spot, it 

 was principally extended towards Libya, which was a dry 

 and steril country ; thus if a country in Egypt could net 

 be made productive by ordinary modes of cultivation, 

 other means were used for that pm-pose. 



As no people on the globe have surpassed the Egyp- 

 tians in indefatigable labor, industry and intelligence, so 

 there are few nations that have better understood the 

 sources of happiness and pro.sperity. They knew that 

 Agriculture was the most firm support of the government, 

 and one of the most essential means of su;>porting the 

 numerous population of their dynasties; so that Agricul- 

 ture with thcni formed a special and paramount object of 

 their government and their politics. At the commence- 

 ment of the Monarchy the land was divided into three 

 parts, corresponding witli t!ie three orders of the king- 

 dom. One belonged to the Priests, who employed the 

 revenues to the support of their families, and to the sac- 

 rifices and expenses of religious worship. The second 

 part was allotted to the King, to defray the expenses of 

 war, and keep up the magnificence and dignity of his el- 

 evated station, Tlie third was appropriated to the soldier 

 who exposed his life voluntarily to the defence of his 

 country. The members which composed these three 

 orders did not cultivate themselves the land which was 

 allotted to them. They had laborers who were solely oc- 

 cupied with rural pursuits, and who only received a reas- 

 onable part of the benefits. In order to retain this class 

 of men, the most beneficial for the government, in the 

 limits in which they wrre bmnt, they hrrd enacted Icnv3 



