FARMERS* REGISTER 



)25 



are drawn wholly dissimilar in many essential 

 respects. I and K were taken Irom the same bed, 

 and only a (ew teet apart, yel one has ingredients 

 of which ilie oiher is entirely defirieiit. As it is 

 inn)orlant to add to its liif^hly uaellil and efficacious 

 powers the desirable qiialiiy ol'contributing direct- 

 ly to nourish the cotton plant, the surlace oC the 

 mud bank only, containing as it does nuich vege- 

 table matter, should be dug. The more tenacious 

 the quality, known by its sirongly adhering to the 

 hoe, the belter, if its mechanical eli'ects are want- 

 ed ; the lighter, when dry, the greater is I he quan- 

 tity of vegetable aliment of which it is composed. 

 It is tor this reason that turl'-mud is as highly (if 

 not more) esteemed, as any other description, 

 except that periiaps in which comminuted shells 

 are ibund. Dry mud, although by exposure it 

 will lose its carbonic acid, which, however, is in 

 general very inconsiderable, has been experimen- 

 tally proved to be decidcdl}' more useful thiui when 

 wet or newly taken up. In the latter state, it is 

 incapable of intermixing with the soil. If the 

 lertility of earths depends on the fineness of their 

 particles, the fi^vorite theory of the celebrated 

 Tull, a mass of hard matter, though it be alluvium, 

 cannot contribute materially to the fructiricalion of 

 jilants. Of a very dry season, wet mud is known 

 to be valuable. This arises from its saline ingre- 

 dient, which keeps it always moist. 



It may here be appropriately observed, that if 

 the rotation system be a judicious means ol'improv- 

 ing lands (or cotton, the alternation of manures is 

 ecjually advisable in increasing the product of the 

 crop. The change from mechanical and stimulat- 

 ing to manures of nourishment, has given the 

 most favorable results. Tliere is no doubt that, 

 after perhaps the hrst year, when a cart-load of 

 mud to the task-row is necessarv, one-half of that 

 quantity will produce all the effects which would 

 be expected from the use of a larger amount. 

 Although it may not be true with regard to other 

 manures, yel it is undeniable, that lands seem to 

 tire oi' marsh-mud alter three or lour consecutive 

 applications. This probably ari.~es from the soil 

 possessing, at the end of that time, a sufficient por- 

 tion of all the nutritive properties, which, as liir as 

 this substance is concerned, are essential to the 

 procreative powers of tfie cotton plant. 'I'he addi- 

 tion of n)ore nujd is consequently not only una- 

 vailing, but perhaps from its very excess operates 

 disadvantageously. The generating cause of the 

 "blue disease" in cotton is unknown. The remedy 

 fortunately is no longer one of the arcana of nature. 

 Plantations, which at one time bid li^ir to impo- 

 verish their owners, are now, by the li'cc use of 

 mud, among the most profitable. ^The individual 

 who first in practice developed the fertilizing pro- 

 perties of this inexhaustible compound, is emiiled 

 to all the honors which are due to benelactoro of 

 their country. 



Salt. — Sir John Sinclair, in liis treatise on tliis 

 subject, says, "salt employed in large quantities, in 

 its natural state, is hostile to vegetation, yet it 

 operates advantageously in various ways when 

 judiciously applied to arable lands. In large quan- 

 tities it has a tendency, hke every other excessive 



stimulant, to disorganize and destroy the vegeta- 

 ble substances with which it conies in contact ; 

 but in moderate quantities, it promotes the growth 

 of vegetables.'' Author Young observes, "that 

 the application ofsea- water to vegetables generates 

 putreircent hepatic gas, caused by the mixture of 

 vegetable juices with the vitriolic neutral salts 

 contained in sea-water. Muriate of magnesia^ 

 lorms one-fourth of the saline maiter of sea-water. 

 Very considerable benefit has been experienced 

 from its use in promoting vegetation, vvlien mixed 

 with dung or compost dung-hills. It possesses 

 a septic power that promotes putreliiction." The 

 Chinese make use of sea-water as manure near 

 iheir coasts. In the interior they scatter salt ovei' 

 their fields before they are tilled. The same prac- 

 tice is pursued in Hindustan and by the Milanese. 

 From the time of Lord Bacon, sea-sand, the prin- 

 cipal value of which lies in the salt with which it 

 is impregnated, has been extensively used, where 

 obtainable, in nearly all the countries of Europe. 

 In 1819, it was given in evidence before a commit- 

 tee of the house of commons, that there is always 

 a violent strile among the farmers of Cornwall for 

 the largest share, whenever the refuse salt, used 

 in curing fish, is for sale. The money laid out in 

 Cornwall, and the adjoining counties, lor sea-sand, 

 amounted, one hundred and ten years ago, to 

 £32,000 : and so much has the practice increased, 

 says an English writer of 1820, that the expense of 

 1 Hid caniaue for sand, used as a manure in Corn- 

 wall alone, now amounts at least to £30,000 an- 

 nually. All the authorities to which the committee 

 iiave had access, unite in the following testimony. 



1. In small quantities salt has septic properties ; 

 in large quantities il is an antiseptic, or counter- 

 acts putrclaciion. 



2. Attracts and retains moisture. 



3. In relation to corn, Irish potatoes, barley, 

 hemp, flax, and many oiher crops, its beneficial 

 influence is beyond dispute. For grass lands, e>;- 

 pecialiy in dry and hot summers, no application is 

 represented to be better. It is a preventive to the 

 blight and mildew in wheat, and efiectually de- 

 stroys all noxious weeds, grubs, worms and in- 

 sects. As salt is a stimulant, it shouKi of course be 

 mixed with animal or vegetable substances, and 

 never used alone. It is known to the committee, 

 that if incorporated with the compost heap, or the 

 organic matter buried with the sward, it will not 

 only increase the productive power of cotton, but 

 preserve its health and bring it early to maturity. 

 The quantity successl'ully tried on this island, has 

 varied from one pint of clean Liverpool salt to a 

 quart, to the row, on the listing, or from two and 

 a half to five bushels to the acre. A larger 

 amount, checks the growtli of cotton, and hence 

 operates injuriously on poor soils. For grass- 

 lands, six bushels of foul salt to the acre are re- 

 commended ; and as one of the means of prepar- 

 ing grounds lor the usual crops in northern coun- 

 tries, sixteen bushels per acre, it appears, ouglic 

 to be used. When mixed with ashes, lime or 

 soot, its meliorating power is greatly increased. 



Aahnal manure. — The fullovving analysis, by 

 Kirwan, is worthy of especial notice : 



105 lbs. of Cow-dung, 

 " " Horse " 

 " " Sheep '« 



Charco.al. 



10.02 

 25.00 



Lime. 



1.20 



1.50 



10.2S 



Clay. Sand, 



0.15 



0.50 



29 00 



2.4 



.•5.0 

 29.0 



Fixed Salts. 



0.6 



0.21 



0.72 



Carb. IIvd., Caru. 

 Acid and Wateh. 



92.80 

 89.77 

 fi.S.OO 



