596 



FARMERS' REGISTEH. 



fresh pasture by the fxteneion of their leading 

 roots, US is the case, wiih all other perennial plants. 



But, nfer all, the question recurs — is this di- 

 veri_MMg lenilency ti natural law ol've^etatioii, or is 

 it liccause Hniece<lent proiiiiciioii cxhausisor poi- 

 eone tr:e soil, so as to rcinlcr it unlit lor the pur- 

 poses ol sutiseqiieni pinduiiioti^ 



We know thai newly Ijroke.n up land, whatever 

 its qualiiy may l)e, is alvvays more suitai^ile to any 

 crop ihan liiai ol tiiesame quality which has heen 

 long cuiiiviited ; siiowinjf that ii)ero is a something 

 in maiden suil which is I'ugiiive. What that sjine- 

 thitti^ is, has never lieen discovered by practical 

 men, nor has it been invesii^aied by the chemist, 

 ihough an object well worth ilie researches ot sci- 

 euce. 



'1 hat the fi:r(ility of exhausted land may be re- 

 newed by addiiions ol'manure, is well known; and 

 it seems that the dress restores that whicii has 

 been ahstracied by the prcviuus crops ; or, at least 

 eup|)liee a eubsliiule. On the knowledge ol' this 

 fact all our best sysicms of a;;ricuiture aie lound- 

 ed ; and whether buid be exhausted or poisoned 

 by previous cro[)ping can make no ditl'erencein ihe 

 culture, so thai the rules ol lotation, as established 

 by long experience, are strictly atiended to, and 

 no cross-cropping purt-ued, unless lor sume manl- 

 iest [jrospeciive ailviuiiage. 



That a .'Imnge ol'soil, and even a change of air, 

 ore beneficial to all kinds uT leirestrial jilaiiit^, are 

 well coi.linneil lacts ; and noilung ( omiuces so 

 much lo ihe advaniaiie, ol ihe laimcras a Irequenl 

 changeol'seed. ^i.JW, how a change ot'soil wiih- 

 oui I slicing ol betier ()ualiiy, and especially, how 

 a change of air, wi'liuut relerence to iis tempera- 

 tuie, can lie so exciting and congenial to Ibreign 

 or snange plants, is one ol' those mysteries in cul- 

 tivation whicli we cannot readily liitiiom. limusl 

 be observed, however, that such ehecis are only 

 seen between tiie Ibrlieth and sixtieth parallels ol 

 latiiude; because beyond those bounds an inter- 

 change would be too extreme; though iliereare 

 Boine excepiions to this rule, lor the JVlazagan 

 beans ol' Egypt do well in this country, and some 

 native |)lanis ol'Siberia do equally well in Britain. 

 But the larmer's range in making such changes 

 is confined to the seed of corn, grasses, {tolaioes, 

 &C. ; and next lo obtaining clean seed ol' the best 

 varieties, most suiiable lor his own land, is the 

 |)rocuiing them Irom tlie most distant parts of the 

 kingdom, or at least from sonae neighboring 

 county. 



RCPORTinG EXPEKIMENTS WITH AKTIFICIAL 



MANURES. 



Trum itie British Farmers' Magazine. 

 In all our agricultural publications now issuing 

 from the press, we ete many accounts of experi- 

 ments made ihr ascertaining the value of certain 

 substances recommended as manureis, either lor 

 top-dressing or ploughing in. Some of these ac- 

 counts are elaborately, and, no doubt, faithfully 

 written; and somelime.s favorable, or, as it may 

 happen, unliivorable. Somelimes, loo, we are told 

 ol' the same material having contrary effects on 

 land of precisely the same character, especially il' 

 situated in distant pans of the kingdom. Now, 

 these discrepancies may often arise Irom ignorance 

 or want of consideration of the peculiar edect or 

 action of the material employed. 



Besides the various substances which have been 

 used as manures from lime immemorial, there are 

 oiheis, chiefly minerals, which are brought into use 

 wiih vatious succ.efg. The rcporie of puch trials 

 aiY- not always uidlorm ; and delective in fo lar as 

 the character ol" the weather or season following 

 ihe iq'plicaiion isoiriiied to be stated. In my own 

 piaciice I have used soot extensively lor lop-dress- 

 ing wheat, and have harrowed and rolled il in; but 

 il'a dry spring and summer Ibllowed, the soot was 

 of no service. I have used chalk and lime as dress- 

 ings lor light gravelly land ; but if a wet season 

 succeeded, little or no immediate effect was obser- 

 vable. The same result Ibllowed the application 

 of salt, on the same description of land, under the 

 like circumstances of season. And the reason for 

 the non-efficiency of thcBe three last named sub- 

 stances was perlectly obvious : all three are ready 

 absorbents of water from ihe air, and in dry sea- 

 sons are eminently nseliji togrowing crops; where- 

 as, in a showery time, the crops need no such as- 

 sistance. 



Saltpetre and nitrate of soda are at present fash- 

 ionable to|i-dressings ; and those best acquainted 

 wiiii these substances affirm that they are often in- 

 jniliciously used. On wet tenacious land they can 

 never be so efficacious as on dry sandy or gravelly 

 soils ; nor in wet seasons so much as they certainly 

 musi be in dry. ifl be not mistaken in attributing 

 to them such effects, they will always be consider- 

 ed as doubtful Itirtilizers ; because they must be 

 used befure it can be ascertained, except by con- 

 jecture, what sort of season is to follow. 



JMr. Cuihbert Johnson observes, ihal "the agri- 

 cultural uses of saltpetre have not been examined 

 so carefully or generally as Ihey ought to have 

 been ;" and G. Kiinberley, Esq., of Trotsworih, 

 "regrets ihat it has been hastily adopted, without 

 reference, in manj'' cases, to season, soil, climaie or 

 quantity; and as a lew Ibrtunate experiments have 

 started into a liishion the use of these articles, so 

 one or two unseasonable or improper applications 

 have at once condemned them to neglect and obli- 

 vion." 



Such reports show decidedly how necessary it 

 is to know correctly the effects of those artificial 

 manures ; whether as the food of plants, or impro- 

 vers of the staple ; whether as exciters of vegeta- 

 tion or solvents of the nutritive matters already in 

 ihe soil ; and also under what circumstances of 

 weather or season ihey are most active, or aho- 

 cether neutral. These are questions for the agri- 

 cultural chemist to prosecute ; so that no larmer 

 need work in the twilight, or be in doubt concern- 

 ing the direct effects of any manure which cornea 

 recommended from competent authorities. 



And in all future reports of experiments made 

 with any of those uncommon articles of manure, 

 the reporter should not omit to state what kind of 

 weather has prevailed during theexperiments ; for 

 the effects, especially of saline substances, are 

 very much determined by the stale of the weather. 



J. Main. 



[Our respected correspondent is right. Much of 

 the success or otherwise of these, and many other 

 manures we could name, must depend on |)cculiar 

 circumstances ol soil and season. 'We have heard 

 saltpetre abused one year, and highly extolled in 

 another ; although tried on the same soil, the same 

 description ofcrop, and by the same person. — Ed.] 



