672 



FARMERS' REGISTER— WilEAT SEEDLNG. 



mind. J. M. G. does not notice this — nor does 

 he atfempt to reconcile the admitted waste ol' 

 fertilizing principles which occurs, with his hy- 

 pothesis oi" the earth liaving power to attract and 

 combine with ail tlie products of lermentation. 

 He says else vvliere, and very truly, that no covenng 

 can confine tlic expansive forces of' gases. I readily 

 agree, that it" suddenly evolved, and in quantity, 

 they would scarcely require my "flues" lor their 

 passage to the upper air — and that his "elective 

 attraction" ol" tlie soil would as little serve to re- 

 tain their entire volume. But growing plants 

 would probably take up the earlier jjroducts of ler- 

 mentation, so as not to permit them to reach the 

 gaseous state — and even a very slow product ol' 

 gas might be retained in the soil either by me- 

 chanical or chemical means, until the growing 

 plants could use it as food. But without growing- 

 plants — and esj)ecially in case ot"suumier cow-pens 

 ■ — the retentive power ol" the earth would not suf- 

 fice for but a small part of the manure ploughed 

 in. On this subject, I beg leave to reler J. M. G. 

 to my j^revious explanation of such facts, in the 

 piece on which he has commented, (and his own 

 cases present by far the strongest and most satis- 

 factory examj.les,) and to examine whether my 

 theory oi"tiie loss of manure is not more accordant 

 with his facts, than his own view of the attracting 

 and retentive power of soil. 



In agreeing with J. JM. G. to the power of soil 

 to attract and combine with (not tlie whole but) 

 a certain amount of the matters left on, or plough- 

 ed under its surface, I must remark that I do not 

 arrive at that conclusion by the same course of 

 reasoning with himself. This however is enough 

 to say — lor it is not my object, nor wish, in this 

 reply to assail his positions, but merely to defend 

 my own. It is proper, however, that I should 

 state something of my reasons lor the waste of 

 fertilizing principles, even in the manuring pro- 

 cesses of nature, the deposite of leaves, and other 

 vegetable matters lelT to rot on the earth. J. M. 

 G. correctly traces the process of nature in restor- 

 ing lost fertility to the earth, to that limit where I 

 suppose that process to end, and that waste to 

 begin, which he absolutely denies, and the belief 

 in which he treats with ridicule. If my opponent 

 resides in, or near. Lower Virginia, I presume that 

 he either owns, or is acquainted with some bodies 

 of virgin wood land, which are too poor to be 

 worth clearing or cultivating. If he does not 

 know such land, many of your readers certainly 

 do. On the poorest of this wood land, the leaves 

 have been f dling and rotting lor 4000 years at 

 least — and nothing has been taken by man or beast 

 from the land, except scanty and rare crops of 

 acorns, by the hogs. Now according to J. M. G's. 

 theory of the manuring process of nature — and 

 the impossibility of any ol' her gifts being lost by 

 natural means, (which he treats more as a ques- 

 tion of morals than of chemistry,) 1 should sup- 

 pose that the inevitable result would be, that this 

 land would be as rich as the Mississippi bottoms 

 — or at least as rich as it is possible for dry land to 

 be made by putrescent manures — and as this is 

 directly contrary to the known facts, I should be 

 glad to learn how the facts and his theory can be 

 reconciled. I do not treat of the earth and atmos- 

 phere as "sentient and moral things," nor do I 

 decide by tl\e measure of the moral wrong — or by 

 the enormity of tlius pveferring against nature a 



"slanderous charge of grand or petty larceny" 

 committed on the earth. 1 simply refer to these 

 iiicts, of the annual additions (or countless ages of 

 teriilizing matter, and that scarcely enough has 

 been fixed in the soil to redeem it ti'om sterility. 



There is another point from w bich I inter (though 

 perhaps incorrectly) that J. M. G. thinks our 

 views opposed, viz: as to the jircpriety of apply- 

 ing manure to the surface. Though my expe- 

 rience of this mode of ajiplication to land under 

 tillage has not been altogether satisfactory, there 

 is nothing in the practice opposed to, and much in 

 support oi; my theoretical views formerly stated. 

 This certainly would appear from the reasoning 

 offered as to the ploughing of summer cow-pens 

 — and the consideration of surface manuring irom 

 the liirm-yard was not there considered, because, 

 though written out, my continuation of the subject 

 was j)ost|)oned for a future time, and to wait ibr 

 the views of others to be presented. I will merely 

 here observe, that I most decidedly approve, by 

 experience, of applying rotted manures on the 

 suriace of wdieat in the winter and spring, and of 

 unrotted manure to clover intended not to be 

 grazed or .mown. 



The experiment stated by J. M. G. on this sub- 

 ject, (of unrotted manure applied on the surface) 

 is more interesting and decisive than any that 1 

 could have ofi"ered, and it is gratifying that this 

 discussion has added that to the valuable facts on 

 this subject. If the propriety and economy of 

 surliK'e manuring can be established in all cases, 

 it will certainly serve to remove much the greater 

 part of the fears and the known waste from the 

 fermentation of manures. For though the fer- 

 mentation on the surface (soon or late) is as cer- 

 tain to occur, as below, or in the dung-hill — still it 

 would be slow, and its first soluble products would 

 be washed into the earth nearly as fast aslbrmed, 

 and used immediately, if growing plants were 

 present. 



J. B. 



For tlie Faimcrs' Ecgist-jr. 

 MEMORANDA OF THE LAST WHEAT SEEDIKG. 



A long periodical absence in the autumn, and 

 occasional absence at other times of the year, pre- 

 vent my keeping a regular journal, as do some of 

 my more systematic iiiends. The plan which I 

 have adopted does not secure all the advantages 

 which that presents, but it does secure some of 

 tiiem; and is convenient on the score of refer- 

 ence. I have a note book in which I make occa- 

 sional memoranda of the most interesting opera- 

 tions — the amount of crop produced and sold, and 

 other statistics ot" the larm; together with such re- 

 flections as may ofler Irom time to time. Thedit- 

 l(3rent subjects are entered in detached paragraphs, 

 and the heads are put opposite in marginal co- 

 lumns ruled on the left of each page. By passing 

 the eye hastily down these columns, the subject 

 souglit is easily found. 



For the perusal of young farmers, among whom 

 I am sorry I cannot now number myseltj I give 

 you, along with other matter, the substance of a 

 lew notes relative to the late rather ditficult seed- 

 time — late in more senses than one, and not a lit- 

 tle difficult in this neighborhood, to those at least 

 who had much low and moist ground, as was my 

 case. In the middle country; on the contrary, I 



