180 



NEVV K^^GliAND FAIi;\rEK. 



soils 'JsUt be foiiiul 10 be m>.re or le?? [.ro.liictivc 

 in proportion ;i« ihev are supplied with animal 

 and vegetable mailer. It is -wiih a reference to 

 this first (ruth of a:j,ricuUural economy, that the 

 hufhaniiman shoiilil make all his arrangements. 

 However incontrovertible Ibis trnth may ap- 

 pear, the common cultivation in our new conn- 

 tries, anri I be vo vnrommon usages of onr older 

 settlements, inciicate an unconscionsness ot its 

 importance. The cnltivalion ol' new countries 

 (and i wish it were confined to new lands)^ has 

 iiniformlv been on an exh.instin'^ system. The 

 pioneers" of our country's settleirenf, with that ^ 

 adventurous and reckle'ss spirit which may welL 

 characterize llie advance parties ot' an immense 

 marching population, hive squantlered the rich- 1 

 es of the soil and rillod the land of its fatnes--, ! 

 apparently unconscious of the very obvious tact, 

 that in the lapse of lime, a constant extraction 

 of the nutritious principles from the soil, with- 

 out afl'ordins: it commensurate mt^ans ot replen- 

 ishment, must impoverish, and finally exhaust it. 

 The science of agriculture has already so far 

 renovated our lands in New Englaml, that our 

 farmers of ordinary intelligence and mere limit- 

 ed means, are well satisfied, that it is better to 

 reclaim an old farm than to cipar up and ex- 

 haust a new one. The tide of emigration I'rom 

 New England is on its ebb. The Michigan fe- 

 »er (as it is most appropriately termed) only 

 rages in New York and Ohio, while the inlel- 

 lig'ent New England farmer contents himself 

 with the succpssl'ul results of bis renovating sys- 

 tem of husbandry, and cbecffu'ly deposits in the 

 heart of his tarm, ihe slow, hui sure accumula- 

 tions of his wealth. It is in the hte " lands of 

 promise,^' the promised land of New York and 

 Ohio, that the restless emigrant is anxious to 

 sell his land for half its value, that he may bavi> 

 opportunity to repeat in Michigan the ruinous- 

 process by whi.-Ji he has iiopovished himsell < 

 and farm where he now is. 



The true husbandry of New England must | 



have for its ba^is a system of renovation, »nd] 



agricultural operation should /enre the land in | 



baiter heart than it fin'h it. 'I'hat this may be j 



done, and still a prolit obriiued, i do not doubt. , 



It is for this pr.nlical inference that I have ven- 1 



lured to turn your attention to such principles ^ 



in the constitution an;' fertilization of c.iN. as; 



were necessardy connected with the iliu«ira- 



lionof the subject. The process of fertiliza-^ 



lion, which we have already observed in the e- 



" connray of our forests, may be much hislonpd, 



as weil as perfected, by th^ arts of cullivatinn. 



The primary principles of this art when once 



nnderslond. are readily applied to every case. 



Nor need chemical experiments u(ion soils, he 



made with scient.lic accuracy to ascertain the 



qualities or ikfuiencies that may atTwcl their 



fertility. Reflection and observation indicate 



the proper cuhivation, where the qualilies ol 



the soil are known. Excess of vegetable mil- 



. ter which ol'ten occuis in bogs, or swamps Ihat 



have been ilrained, may be easily delecti-d, and 



the remedy is obvious — buining or the addition 



of earthy materials. A deficiency of animil anil 



vegetalde matter must be .supplied by manure. 



Soils of app.irenlly good texture are sometimes 



sterile. In these cases Ihe application of the 



stimulant mau'iros, for experiment, may be 



made with very lillle expense, and Ibis loo, 



without any chemical anaiysi'^, although the aid 



of a chemist is very desirable, if it may be ob- 



tained. A lop dre^Mug of lime or ashes, or gyp- 

 sum or salt, to a rod or two of land, costs but a 

 trifle, and Ihe result of the experiment is more 

 Isalisfactory than it would have been iT it were 

 ! inferred from a chemical analysis. Sir Hum- 

 ! phry Davy.on washing a soil of api>arcntly good 

 i texture, which was remarkable for it= sterility, 

 1 found it to contain sails of iron or acid mailer; 

 ' hence he inferred that lime was Ihe proper rem 

 ledy. By its application, the soil was rendered 

 j extremely fertile. A farmer could have sown 

 lupon this' soil a peck of lime quicker than the 

 'chemist could wash a peck .d'earlh. and there 

 ' suit of the experiment would have been precise- 

 ly the same. 



' But the application of the stimulant manures, 

 or the mixlure of the earihs, are not very fre- 

 quently the remedies most neeiled for the ter- 

 tilizalion of our soils--the great .leliciency is in 

 veo-etable and animal mailer, and the great de- 

 sider-ilum in the present stale ■ f our agriculln- 

 ral knowledge, is that system of the manage- 

 ment of manure in its accumulation, pre.senM- 

 lion and application, which will most increase 

 its quantity ami enhance its quality. 



The accumulation of manuresns less under- 

 stood or attended to in this country than coub! 

 be imagined by anv one, who is lamiliar w^itii 

 this bnmch of "the European husbandry. The 

 ; price of labor does not permit, nor do the re- 

 Uonrcesof Ihe country e/./orce precisely the same 

 economy in the accumulation of manure, which 

 the den"sp population of older countries render- 

 ■ibsolutely necessary. House sweepings, tlie 

 dusts or powder of bones, furrier's and clolhier s 

 clippings, refuse of manufictured skins, shav- 

 intrs and turnings of horn, h.iir, woolen rags, 

 an'^l many other like articles which .are care- 

 t'ully saved and sold to the farmer of ibe olflei; 

 coiuilries, (vill not very s.->on become .■irticles ol 

 trade with "S. But aside from these articles. 

 which are made the means of subsisting a large 

 [popnl.ilion of the old world, we are in the habit 

 I of neglecting an immense amount of animal and 

 (vegetable matter, the value of which need not 

 j be"named. 1 would not rail at our negligencies; 

 but permit me to ask, how many farmers are 

 there in ibis assemblage, who cannot at this mo- 

 ment turn their attention to patches of plants, ol 

 !lhe gras-.es, or of oihtr vegetable gro\vlhs upon 

 'their farms, which niiglit be conveiled to val.i- 

 'able purposes in the accumula'ion of manure? 

 I What quantities of vegetable mould maybe 

 ! found in every district of New-Engl.ind, which 

 ifor ages have been sudered to accumulate and 

 i waste? I will add on this head the single re- 

 mark, that if Ihe farmer he once convinced. Ihiit 

 Ihe chief source of fertilization is to be sought 

 ill vegctahin ami animal matter, and that a nat- 

 urally good soil may soon be exhausted by an 

 unnatural cidlivation, lie cannot long neglect the 

 • esources which a bountiful Providence ha< 

 placed within his reach. 



Our errors in the preservation of manures 

 may be as murb attributed to negligence as In 

 want of knouledge. INlr Lorrain remarks, that 

 "allboiich 1 am on the vvnmg side of sixty, I do 

 not recollect to have seen but one yard which 

 ,did not admit the washing rains and melting 

 'snows to pass throusjh it." This remark may 

 inol be applied, with justice, lo the County of 

 'Berkshire; but inosl of our barn-yards receive 

 I and retain too much water. Where the yards 

 i wash, they of course are most wasteful. But 



[Jan. (.% 



even where ihey receive too much water, the 

 manure is injured. Sir Humphry Davy has 

 most clearly demonstrateil, Ihat excess of fer- 

 mentation destroys and dissipates the best parts 

 of manure. Ton much water in barnyards in- 

 duces f'ermentalion and exhausts the strength of 

 ihe m mure by exhalation. To amid this ef- 

 fect, 1 have built very cheap sheds contiguous 

 to my stables for its shelter, and also have con- 

 ilncted I'rom the yards much of the water that 

 ■.vnuld I'all I'rom the roofs of my barns. But as 

 the arguments which approve these (iractices, 

 ire als'i connected with the best application of 

 (he manure to the soil, I will assume them in 

 connexion ivith both 'objects. 



To no one practice can we attribute a great- 

 er waste of rnanure than to that uf " rotlmg it," 

 (.to use the common phiase) or of suti'ering it to 

 I'erinent in the yard nnlill the fibrous texture of 

 the vegetable matter is entirely broken down, so 

 ihat it becomes perfectly cold, and so short as 

 1 to be easily cut with the shovel. The vii>lent 

 1 fermentation which reduces manure to the con- 

 si*tencv of muck, occasions the loss not only of 

 'valnalde lluid, luit likewise of valuable matter. 

 Sir H. Daw i^ of opinion, that the manure is 

 : reduced from one half lo two thirds in weigbL 

 'and that the carbonic acid am 



ammoiia whic li 

 1 are disengaged, comprize a most valuable source 

 ! of veo-et.ible nourishment. Anolber disadvantage 

 ! occurs in I'le loss of heat, which, produced iu 

 i the soil by the application of long or unt'erment- 

 I ed mauuro,protnnles the germination of the seed 

 land cherishes the I'lant in the first and most 

 critical period of its growth. It is a principle 

 j In chemistry, that substances combine more 

 readily at the moment of their decomposition or 

 1 disengaijemeii?. Thus in formeiitaliou beneath 

 lJu> soil, vvbeie unfermenleJ manure is iutrodu.- 

 ed, the fluid inalter is applied immeiliately, 

 while it is warm, to Ihe crgans of Ihe plan'. 

 ,a;ul of course mnre readily taken up by ihem.— 

 ■ 111 OcUiber, I 308, Sir H. Davy made a very in- 

 jgenioiis experiment, by which he demonslraUs 

 ' concLisivehj Ihe correclness of this opinion. He 

 j filled a laiife retort with manure, in a state ol 

 fermentation. This he adapted to a leceiver 

 and pneumatic apparatu'*. Vv'ilhout giving the 

 details of the experiment, wbicli would only l^ 

 inleresling to the chemist, sutlice it to say, th .t 

 lie obtained a complete analysis of the variou* 

 mailer, which are given off' in the process ol 

 fermentation. These he considered so impoi- 

 tiiiilly concerned with the growth of plan!'', 

 that he made the experimenl in what 1 will call 

 the farmer's crucible. 1 mean the soil. He in- 

 serted iho beak of the retort filled as bef'ore 

 with termenting manuie, among the roots of 

 o-rass in a garden border, and this grass, the 

 roots of which were thus exposed to the matter 

 given ofl' by the process ol I'oi mentation, \ery 

 soon assumed a most luxuriant grow th. A slight, 

 incipient f'ermentation in the manure heap is 

 useful. This we cin c.mceive, for if coincides 

 with our practice of soaking seeds before »e 

 sow thein — time is gained. But it is better lo 

 have no ferment. ition ihan lo have too much. 



[To be continued. 



Pr'^ff■s?or .Vnlhon of N'cwYork ileclarrd lately in cue 

 of hi? Irctiires at the fcclle^e clmpel tli.it in Ids n< xt 

 lecture " tie would prove tliat Konuilus was not liip 

 foiimlci- of Rome ! and tbat the Eternal Cily existtJ 

 cciituiies prtvious to his birth.'' 



