THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



347 



word (or our Indian empire too: Let the indigo .and direct to (he wisest, safest best and most 

 planters return the refuse of their leaves, when Hcoriomicai man-iirement on the part of the 

 their nidiiro is exiracied, to the fields from whicii breeder and feeder of cattle, as well as of the 

 they were jralhfre<), and we assure them Ironi ex- arable fiirinpr and apower of corn 



perience, liiat their lands will not (ail them hal 



60 soon. 



But luriher than this still the same chemical 

 doctrine goes, li has been (bund ihai (he ash ol 

 nearly all plants contains about eleven different 

 incombustilile substances, in f>reater or lesj quan- 

 tity, all of which can be derived liom the soil only. 

 To proiluce a healthy vegetation, iherelore, ihe 

 eoil niusi contain all these, and as Ihe most valua- 

 ble plants, those wn raise (or liaod, lake up these 



Space will not permit us lu dwell longer on this 

 subject, otherwise it would have l)fen "^curious to 

 follow the progress o( o[)iiiion in reirard lo the 

 uses oC the soil ; of wha' ii oughi to consist, and 

 on what its (tjriiliiy depends ; Irom tlie time vv'hen 

 hall a century ago, Ruckert g^ve forth the view* 

 "that a soil must contain all Hie substances which 

 are found in the decomposed plant, and that on 

 the presence of" these in the soil, its (ertjljiv must 



. . , -, in some measure depend ;" thtoui,'h those puerile 



eubsMn<-es in d.flerent proportions, some, lor ex- limes, during which the Berlin Acndemv Uve a 

 amp'e, requrmg more soda, o hers more poiash prize to one of iis members lor prov)7is tliat these 



lime, it is clear that to grow any of these 

 plants, the soil musi contain an especial supply ol 

 that substance, which the species we select may 

 happen lo require. A nd so, when we sow our se- 

 lected seed, we are sale so lar in adding to the soil 

 a portion of that substance, at the same time, 

 by way of a manure; and safer slill, if we have 

 previously ascertained the soil to be deficient in 

 tliat substance — while, on the other hand, if the 

 soil be desti nte of it, and we cannot obtain a sup- 

 ply, we need not sow our seed. If^ for example, 

 the soil contain gypsum, or sulphaie of soda, or 

 sulphate of magnesia, u will grow red clover; 

 if it contains none of these, we need hardly sow 

 our seed, unless we can add some sulphate or 

 oiher along with it. Tlie whole theory ofmineral 

 manures was first, we believe, systematically 

 treated by Lunpaiiius ; it was subsequently ex- 

 panded by S[)iengel, in oneof liis valuable works: 

 and though it has not yet generally diffused ilsell 

 every where, it is rapidly assuming the direclion 

 ol all agricultural iniprovernenis among ourselves, 

 and the works now belbre us will serve an im- 

 poriant purpose, in making generally known 

 among practical m^n the nature and important 

 praciical bearing of the now chemical agriculture. 

 Bat the consequences of ilie same chemical 

 doctrine, of the essential nature ol the incotnbusii- 

 ble constituents of plants, lead us still (ijriher, to 

 what appear more remote, yet are s'ill necrssarv 

 and very curious truths. The soil draws i s euj^- 

 plies Irom the manure that is added to ii — the 

 plant lakes ihem Irom the soil — ihe animal Irom 

 the plants it feeds upon — and if it inrre^ee neither 

 in s ze nor weight, it returns all the mineral mat- 

 ter to the soil again, in the (orni ofmanure. Heic 

 is a beautiful circle of natural operations, con- 

 neciing together the living and the dead — the 

 animate with the inanimate— tjie plant with the 

 animal, in one common and mutu d dependence. 

 Ttie theory, iherelore, that throws new l.ghi 

 npon one of these branches, will illumin i!e all. 

 ll I lie soil do not contain all that the plant requires, 

 either the ph.nt will die, or it will lead a sick'y 

 file. 1 1 the plants, again, on which it feeds be 

 deficient in some one siitisiance which is neces- 

 sary 10 builJ up Ihe various solid and fluid pans 

 0/ Ihe animal, it will also pine away, and sooner 

 or later die. Si that on the ronet'itution ol tfie 

 soil is dependent the healih and lile of all the 

 aniamis ihat are fed u,'ion its produce; in oilier 

 words, Ihe sanie chemical doctrine extends its 

 inHuence to ihe feeding of stock, and must in 

 luture (insensibly, it may be, but surely) modily 

 all our nolions regarding the feeding of animals, 



earthy and saline substances were actually form- 

 ed in and by the plant; to the very recent period 

 when Crome and Schubler aj^ain taught, that 

 the fertility of a soil depended mainly on" its phy- 

 sical^roperties. Bat there remain two or three 

 other topics to which we are anxious slill to ad- 

 vert, and we must, iherelore, content ourselves 

 with expressing our entire concurrence in the old 

 docirine of Ruckert, established, we may almost 

 say, by ihe experimental researches of Limpadius 

 and Sprengel, supported by the opinion of Liebig, 

 and fully and practically brought out by the auihor 

 of the works now be/ore us. 



The connexion of geology with agriculture, aa 

 we have already stated, was in some measure (ore- 

 seen and touchcti upon fiy D 1V3 . Ii h^s also 

 attracted the aitention ol some 0/ the Genuan 

 writers ; but in po fiiras we know, 11 is not treated 

 of in a systematic manner in any existing work, 

 either English or Ibreign, with ihe exce|^ion of 

 the lectures on ayriculiural .l"" olo<rv now belbre us. 

 There are considerable diffic.uUus in the way 

 of establishing a close connexion between the 

 soils of a couniry and ihe rocks of which its sur- 

 liice iscomjiosed, though there can be no doubt 

 that the general airricultural character of every 

 exiensive district is depeiiilent npon that of the 

 siraiified or unsiialitie*! deposites on which the 

 district rests. Thus al'er givjnir a detailed de- 

 scripiion of ihe nature o'' ihe soils iormed f om the 

 ftratifieil rocks o each geological period, aid of 

 the localities where such soils are seen iti our 

 islands, our author concludes with these observa- 

 tions — 



"The consideration of the fac's above stated 

 shows how very much the /eriility of each dis- 



irict is dependent upon iis ireolofical structure 



how mud; a previous knowledge of thai etruc ure 

 is fined lo enlitrhten us, in reaurd 10 the nature of 

 the soils to be expected in any district — to explain 

 anoinaliep also in regard to iht; unlike agricuhural 

 capabilities olsoils apparently similar— to indicate 

 to Ihe piirchiser where soiid or better lands are 

 to be expected, and to the improver, whether the 

 means of ameliorating his soil by limintf by 

 marline or hy other judicious fidniixture, are likely 

 o be within his reach, and in what direction they 

 are to be sought for." 



Ft is an opinion universally entertained amon^ 

 practical men. that taking animal manures in 

 yenerai, any given weight of them is more va- 

 luable in promoting the grnwih of a crop, than 

 an equal weight of the vegetable products on 

 which the animal has been fed. This is true 



