520 



F A R M E K S > R E G 1 S T E U . 



all the insoluble matter of a soil into {jeine.* To 

 Rccomplisii tills purpose, tlieaid ofur.ificial stimuli 

 is necessary. 



Tlie eoils of ihe Sfta I^^h1n(^3 are alluvial, or the 

 result of the dcposilion from river?. Tiie produc- 

 tiveness ofalluvium is ascribable to the finely divi- 

 ded matter of which ii is composed. By freely 

 admittinf^ air and nioislure, geine, which the 

 JMassachuseti's chemist maintains is ihe pabulum 

 of plants, is quickly produced. The ready solu- 

 biiiiy of organic substances in a sandy soil, from 

 the cause already assi<fned, is the reason why ma- 

 nures have so speedy an effect ; at the same time 

 it accounts for their evanescent character. Chemi- 

 cal tests, however, are not always infallible guides 

 for the cultivator. To perfect the work in which 

 science invitee him to engage, minute examina- 

 lions on his part are clearly called for. Successful 

 tillage is influenced materially by the depth of the 

 mould or crust of tlie earih, and the nature of the 

 subsoil. 'J'he cotton plant has a long tap-root, 

 which penetrates always, unless a vory wet sea- 

 son, or some obstacle intervenes, belmv the soil. 



It requires no arirumeni to show that, if the pro- 

 duct of a crop mainly d"|)ends on the quantity of 

 food with which it is supplied, the deeper the 

 mould, the great laboratory of nourishment, the 

 more abimdant will be the harvest. Again, two 

 soils may agree in every material pcin* in their 

 elementary jians, ypt, in production, will be very 

 dissimilar. The difference is traceable to the sub- 

 soil. By the iiifiuence of an absorbent, clayey 

 substratum, sandy lands are rendered prolific, 

 whilst without this mechanical assistance they 

 might have remained in comparative sterility. 

 So, the leriilily of a clay soil, obviously too reten- 

 tive of moisture, may be owing to the sand or 

 gravel on which it stands. Tlie soils which are of 

 a good depth, and rest on a clay foundation, are 

 decidedly prelt^rred for the cotton crop. The black, 

 or flat dark gray lands, as they are generally 

 wanting in one or both of these important agents, 

 cannot be relied upon. This is probably the true 

 explanation why F and D, under no system of 

 management, have yet repaid the labors of the 

 cultivator. Distinguished as 11 is in both of these 

 valuable properties of the best cotton lands, its 

 superiority is at once in part accounted for. In 

 fine, it would not be hazarding much to say, that 

 production, so far as the principle of mechanical 

 agency is involved, depends as much on depth of 

 soil, and the nature of its substratum, as upon the 

 proper admixture of the earthy parts of the soils 

 themselves. 



The samples analyzed are described as being 

 unilbrmly sand\', containing in one hundred grains 

 over ninety-one parts of silica. Although in 

 ihem there are only " feeble traces" of the carbo- 

 nate of lime and of the sulpliate of lime, yet, it 

 must be remembered, that a small fraction only ol 



*"Geine is the decomposed organic matter of the 

 soil. It results chiefly from vep;etable deeomposition. 

 Geine is either soluble or insoluble. Tfie latter is 

 converted into the former by the action of lime. Act- 

 ing neither as an acid nor alkali, it is converted into 

 a substance having acid properties by the action of 

 alkali, and in this state combines with earths, alkalies, 

 and oxides, forming neutral salts, which may be term- 

 ed geates. Soluble geine is the food of plants." — 

 AfU' Method of anali/zing Soils^ by Dr. Sam. L. Dans, 

 of Lowell. 



either enters into the composition of plants; and 

 that " a crop may fail from the want of a single 

 grain in a hundred of those elements."* The 

 amount of organic matter is small, though not re- 

 markably so, lijr all alluvial soils, it is believed, 

 are wanting in this respect. The almost entire 

 absence of calcareous earth was unexpected. In 

 the prosecution of their duty, having been led to 

 examine this suliject, the committee find what 

 indeed is a striking fact, that the soils of America, 

 unlike those of Euiofie, are very deficient in this 

 substance, some of the latter containing over 50 

 per cent, and neaily all of them a large per cent. 

 •'Out of one hundred and twenty-five specimens 

 of soils from all parts of Massachusetts, and several 

 of them Irom lime-stone reiiions, only seven," 

 says Edward Hitchcock, prolisssor ol chemistry in 

 Amherst college, " exhibited any ettervtscence ; 

 and even these, when analyzed, yielded but a very 

 small per cent, ofcarbonate of lime." The same 

 writer remarks, "I have recently examined five of 

 some of the richest soils of Ohio and Illinois, and 

 although I find calcareous matter in all of them, 

 yet the average quantity is not over 2 per cent." 

 A similar statement has been made refpeciing the 

 soils of Virginia, and of some ofthe we.s!ern states, 

 even in limestone regions, by Mr. Rulfin, the able 

 editor of the Farmer's Register. 



" May not the iieculiar Itjrtility of new Sea Is- 

 land cotton lands," asks Professor Shepard, " be 

 owing to the proportions of comminuted shells na- 

 tural 10 such soils, and the deterioration of these 

 lands under long cultivation, ascribable to the ex- 

 haustion of carbonate of lime?" To the latter 

 query the committee would answer, that chemical 

 tests prove that in the lormaiion of plants, as al- 

 ready noticed, Ihe quamity of lime taken up is 

 very inconsiderable. This, superadded to the ac- 

 knowledged fertility ofour western lands over those 

 of Europe, is strong evidence, that the produc- 

 tiveness of soils does not depend upon the amount 

 of calcareous matter, but that a small per cent, 

 only is necessary. The committee are unable to 

 see how any soil can be deprived of its calcareous 

 constituent, which does not at the same lime lessen 

 the quantity of all its earthy ingredients. Lime ia 

 one of the primitive eaiihs. It cannot, therelbre, 

 take a gaseous form, nor can its nature be changed. 

 If there was a time when our soils contained more 

 ofthe carbonate of lime than they do at piesent, it 

 follows that, as lime is indestructible, it must now 

 exist in some other slate of combination than the 

 carbonate : perhaps in that ofthe oxalate of lime, 

 a powerful promoter of vegetation. If so, the ex- 

 haustion ofthe carbonate of lime is not one ofthe 

 causes of the present deteriorated condition of the 

 Sea Island cotton lands. 



Acquainted as we now are with the main de- 

 fects ofour soils, the important question is present- 

 ed, how are they to be amended 1 Before an an- 

 swer is given, the committee would briefly advert 

 to two prominent errors in our system of husban- 

 dry, under which we have long labored, 



1. The keeping of large stocks. The planta- 

 tion? of the Sea Islands are small. About one 

 half ia cultivated annually — the remainder is allot- 

 ted to the support of domestic animals. In autumn, 

 looking only to th^ spontaneous production of the 

 earth, a cheerless waste is exhibited. As bounti- 



Aisertion cf the late Timothy Pickering.^ 



