154 



FARMERS^ REGISTER. 



pemble each other. The soil of the Ni!c contains 

 2.8 per cent, oltlie carbonale and phosphate ol'linie. 

 The soil of the Mississijipi lias less iron and more 

 clay. 



'J'iie iniroduction of science into nfirictillure has 

 liiHMi ol iireai lienefii. How soils are to be render- 

 ed Irnile or liow correcied, have hitherto been mat- 

 ters ol' t'in()irit;i3rn. We t^iioiild desire to act un- 

 dersiaijdiiigly, not iynorantly. 



Tlic chanizes winch lake place in the progress 

 of ihe <rrowih of plants are remarkable. In the 

 •leriiiiiiaiion oflliesced, carbonic acid is i;iven out, 

 and oxy-^en al)P(jrbed. Alter the leaves are form- 

 ed, ihey absorb carbonic acici and uive out oxygen. 

 Vv lien ihe plant ri|)ens, they give out carbonic 

 acid and ubsurb o.xygen. Ail mannrrs act on the 

 loliage. ll'planis are oversi rained tliey fail to pro- 

 duce li-uit. It is important to find the proper point 

 or limit of manuring. A drstinguiohed gardener 

 engaged to protluce a geranium leaf as large as a 

 cabbage : it was eH'ected, but the plant perished in 

 Ihe eObrt. 



Eleaciiing powders or chloride of lime, are a 

 powerful manure, and produce astonishing effects 

 on vegetation. The ammoniacal gas or sal vola- 

 tile o|)erates powerfully upon plants, and this mat- 

 ter is produced by the liirmentaiion of barn ma- 

 nures. 



In soils which are porou.'?, it is advisable to use 

 manures in a long stale. The manures which are 

 obtainable are dilierent in diHerent places. Expe- 

 rimenis have been made with bone manure, lime, 

 jind ashes, and, as reported, with dilierent results. 

 There are, undoubie.lly, dilliirences in soils, which 

 affect iheir operaiion. These subjects deserve in- 

 quiry and observaiion. Agricultural observations 

 should be made exact and certain. As the pursuii 

 becon)es intelligent it rises in diLmity. Why 

 should liirmers be ignorant of their great art, when 

 it is the aim and boast of every other profession 

 and pursuit, to study theirart thoroughly? Agri- 

 culture maybe rendered scieniific ;' and science 

 well a|)plied must conduce to render it more profit- 

 able. 



Facts in these matters are of the highest import- 

 ance. In Maine ashes were thrown away. The 

 Long Island liirnters are willing to send to Massa- 

 chuseils 10 obtain them. The intrinsic value or 

 elTiciency of the material cannot be aH'ected by the 

 dilleretit esiiniaiion in vvhich they are held. Peat 

 we see in some places is highly esteemed as a ma- 

 nure. In many places it is utterly neglected ; and 

 this can arise only Irum iuriorance of ita value or of 

 the proper mode of applying it. 



Facts, he repealed, aVe of the highest import- 

 ance. Peat in a crude state, is not suited for ap- 

 plication to the land. Il must be decomposed, and 

 ils acidities corrected. A (iirmer in Rhode Island 

 has made much use of swamp mud compounded 

 with fish, the Menhaden, which are taken in their 

 bays in great abundance. To eight cart loads of 

 swamp mud or peat, he applied one barrel of fish. 

 This compost is denominated fish-pie. The rotting 

 of the fish decomposed the peat and the peat ab- 

 Borbed the ammoniacal gases, which escaped from 

 the decayed nsh. The litrmer deemed this mix- 

 ture of equal value with the best of unmixed barn 

 manure. On a level field, planted with corn at 

 right angles, every row manured with this compost 

 was distinctly observable, and was eight times as 

 large as that part dressed with hog manure. At 



the harvest the crop fi-om the rows manured with 

 this compost gave an increase over the other parts 

 ol'the field of fifty percent. Any decaying animal 

 substance, on being mixed with it, will produce a 

 decomposition of peat. 



The physiology of vegetation is a subject de- 

 serving of much attention. The mode in which 

 [ilants receive their nutriment from the soil is not, 

 as has been f?upposed, by capillary attraction, but 

 the vegetable Ibod in a liquid form is (breed into 

 the minute vessels of the plants by an electric or 

 voltaic agency. This is the discovery of a French- 

 man by the name of Detrochet, and is called by 

 him endosmose. [Dr. Jackson here illustrated this 

 matter by a small apparatus.] This operation is at 

 once suspended by the presence of certain sub- 

 stances, such as sulphuretted hydrogen or one drop 

 oflcecal matter in the vessel. Acids and alkalies in 

 their combination act as galvanic batteries, and for- 

 ward the process of vegetation. 



The physiology of plants should be studied by 

 the li\rmer. Innumerable, curious and wonderful 

 operations are continually going on belbie iiim. 

 No situation is more favorable than his to intellec- 

 tual and moral improvement ; and no employment 

 more interesting than the contemplation ol'the phe- 

 nomena ol'the natural world. 



The green sand spoken ol is as difficult of solu- 

 tion as the leldspar in granite. In Sweden the 

 carbonale of potash is used to decompose the ni- 

 trate of lime, vvhich is formed in their artificial 

 nitre beds, which are similar to compost heaps. — 

 Nitre is produced abundantly in our dung heaps. 

 Many other sails are produced by chemical 

 changes, which are continually going on inthecarth 

 an(i air. The putrefaction of animal and vegetable 

 substances is pruducliveol various changes, and of 

 substance useful in vegetation. The crenic and 

 apocrenic acids are always found in soils, and the 

 degree of their presence when ascertained, will in- 

 dicate the applications to be made to the land. 



The skeletons of all plants and animals have 

 lime lor iheir bases. Silex gets into plants in a 

 manner altogether mysterious. It is Ibund in all 

 plants with hollow stems, such as many o( the 

 gra.'^ses, in wheat and the cereal grains, in bamboo 

 and flrtgs. The crenic and apocrenic acids ope- 

 rate to dissolve silex. The absorption of plants is 

 not wholly by their roots, but by their leaves, which 

 are the lungs of plants and gather the carbonic 

 acid gas fiom the air, and its carbon is converted 

 into solid wood. Nature pursues her operaiion in 

 one eternal round, and all things combine mutually 

 to assist and modilyeach other. Plants are high'y 

 beneficial to lile and health, in absorbing and de- 

 composing the elements of the air, and returning 

 that portion which is necessary to respiration and 

 lile. 



Agriculture is yet to make great advances in 

 this country. The value of peat lands is very im- 

 perfectly understood. A farmer in the vicinity of 

 Boston, distinguished for his scientific and practical 

 skill, has obtained one hundred bushels ol corn to 

 the acre upon redeemed peat meadows; and ob- 

 tains from these lands an income of ten to twelve 

 percent, profit. Land might be cultivated with 

 much more skill and to much higher profit in pro- 

 portion 10 the skill applied. Liquid manures among 

 us are almost entirely wasted. Night soil is often 

 thrown away, and yet it is one of the most efficient 

 of taanures. With all our advantages, we bring 



