538 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 9 



hoe-crop, it would be much better to use it aa 

 top-dressings on grass. Thus employed, in dry 

 weather, instead of (ermenling as it would in a 

 bulk, it simply loses its moisture, and, in wet wea- 

 ther, its soluble matters soak into the earth, and 

 greatly benefit both the grass and the soil. 



U] however, manures are kept in heaps, in hot 

 weather, for the purpose of decomposing their 

 coarser materials, they should be largely mixed, 

 with common earth, sand, clay, or, which 1 think 

 much better, with the broken coal and burnt 

 earth, firom the sites of old coal-kilns. Such admix- 

 ture causes a more gradual and steady decompo- 

 sition, and prevents what the Scottish farmers call 

 ^'fire-fanging,''^ viz. : the moulding of the ma- 

 nure, which renders it so light, chaffy and worth- 

 less. If I have not been greatly deceived, in a 

 fimall experiment with the charcoal, it does vast- 

 ly more than this. It arrests and retains the vola- 

 tile effluvia of the manure, effectually removing 

 its scent, and forming a chemical compound, in 

 which both ingredients are fitted for the food of 

 vegetables. If any mode of rendering charcoal 

 soluble, could be discovered, it certainly would 

 constitute a fine food for plants, as they all contain 

 so much carbon. It appears to me, that no sub- 

 stance, so easily attainable among us, promises so 

 fairly to become a substitute for lime as charcoal. 

 They have both the same greedy appetence for 

 putridity, taking the smell out of every thing. 

 And while they both long retain the matters witTi 

 which they are combined, they may equally be 

 disposed to yield them, to the roots of plants, as 

 food. They both, certainly, enter largely into the 

 composition of vegetable matter. As 1 before 

 observed, my experiment with charcoal impreg- 

 nated with putrefying animal and vegetable mat- 

 ters was small. I intend to repeat it, with more 

 care, and I would thank any gentleman who will 

 give it a fair trial. 



While on the subject of manuring, it may be 

 well to remark, that although we cannot afford to 

 use lime largely, yet it might be profitable to 

 employ it on a small scale. A valued friend, 

 who is a member of this society, informed me, 

 that after washing his seed in brine strong enough 

 to float an egg, that the spelt, cockle, &c., might 

 be skimmed off, he rolled it in lime, and sowed it; 

 powing a stripe through the middle of the lot, 

 without lime. At harvest, in his own jud<?me:it, 

 and that of others, in whom he confided, the 

 wheat whose seed was limed, bore one-third more 

 crop than the other. In this experiment there 

 was one bushel of lime used, to ten of wheat. 

 The experiment is richly worth repeating, if we 

 t)nly aim to get rid of such nuisances as' cockle, 

 ^.heat and spelt— but the whole process is the best 

 that has been discovered, for preventing smut. 



Volumes might be written on the improvement 

 of agriculture, gentlemen, and I intended to touch 

 on many other branches of this subject, but hav- 

 ing already imposed a tax on your patience, and 

 being unable to furnish you "with any matter, 

 with which you are not already familiar, I must 

 conclude. 



There is, however, one subject, which I must 

 DOt neglect. One leading object of our aseoeia- 

 iion is, "to increase the ties of good feelinj?, which 

 Already so happily bind us together." If we at- 

 tain this we shall not have united together in 

 vmn. This seems to be, emphatically, the age of 



discord, and the fiiries seem to be let loose in the 

 hearts of men. The demon of party has enlisted 

 even the most peaceable, and has made veterans 

 of those who were once child-like. To what ex- 

 tent the fiery fanatical passions of men may rage, 

 is left in awful doubt. But there is much reason 

 to fear that new storms are rising, and wilt rage, 

 until all that is lovely and desirable among men is 

 destroyed. Be this as it may, the time is coming, 

 when he who can feel that he has honestly en- 

 deavored to promote "peace and good-will among 

 men" will possess a jewel of complacency in his 

 heart, worth more than all the diadems of all the 

 conquerors that have lived upon earth. May 

 every member of this society enjoy this blessed- 

 ness! And may we remember, that while the 

 first and great commandment is, to love God, "the 

 second is like unto it, namely, thou shall love 

 thy neighbor as thyself." 



AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROCK- 

 BRIDGE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, AT ITS 

 ANNUAL FAIR, OCT. IItH, 1838. 



By Geo. D. uirmstrnng, A. M., Professor of 

 Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, in Wash- 

 ington College, JLexington, Va. 



Communicated for publication in tlie Farmers' Ilcgister, by or- 

 der of tlie President and Directors of tlie Society. 



Gentlemen of the Agricultural Society, — The 

 subject which I have selected as affording a 

 theme suitable lor the present occasion, is — the 

 value of natural .science to the farmer. The prac- 

 tical rules of agriculture, and the best methods of 

 cultivating the great staples of our country, would 

 have afforded a more appropriate subject, had I 

 felt myself competent to the task. But with my 

 imperfect acquaintance with those matters, any 

 attempt to communicate information to the mem- 

 bers of this society, must have proved worse than 

 useless. The importance of agriculture to the 

 prosperity of our country, and the honor which is 

 due to the independent American farmer, would 

 have afforded a theme in the highest degree grate- 

 ful to my feelings ; but its discussion could not 

 have been of any real value. In such a country 

 and in such a state of society as ours, where the 

 farming part of the community are acknowledged 

 to be " the bone and sinew of our strength, " that 

 class upon whom more than upon all others, our 

 national prosperity depends, the poor tribute of 

 my praise, could neither make them more honor- 

 ed in fact, nor to feel themselves so. Precluded 

 as I am fi-om the discussion of either of these 

 subjects which would have been most appropriate 

 to the occasion, I will be pardoned for selecting a 

 theme, which in other circumstances I should have 

 lefi untouched. 



The system of agriculture pursued in this sec- 

 tion of country has, within a few years, undergone 

 a change for the better. Whilst a country is new, 

 presenting a deep rich soil, which has never been 

 vexed for the support of man, it makes compara- 

 tively little difference in what manner it is tilled. 

 All that is necessary is, to bury the seed in the 

 earth, and in due time to gather home the golden 

 harvest. But if a careless system of agriculture 

 be pursued for a time, the soil becomes gradually 

 exhausted. Instead of gathering an abundant 



