584 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. la 



gust is speetl!}^ der.omposed, its fenclerness and 

 inoi?iure aidiiii.' the dissolniioii. liiii dry ptiil)t>le 

 and hu-k roois'are difliculily decoiiipcM-d, nar do 

 lliev produce so nuicli carbonic or coally inatier 

 in ilie soil, which cheiuisis say di^cmnposes th,' 

 water, and produces ilie air required to proniole 

 veireiMiion. As liie v'tu;eialiie is piudnced iioui 

 air'^aiid water, and [lol liosn earih, whicii seems 

 to be no more than a iaiujr.ilory where ihe pro- 

 cess of veireiation commences, and tin dly serves 

 as a iiiairix to hold one pari ol" the plant, while 

 ihe other |)arts are raised alofr, in quest ot supe- 

 rior aui, to complete the inscrutable vOperaiious oi 

 the vegetable labric. 



It has alsii been inquired, wili Hiis process ol 

 oat pasture lertilize every wheie? It is ai'isweied, 

 th.u where the sod and climate are the same, llie 

 elfects vviii be the same also. A description h:i3 

 been given of the sods, vvheie ihe experunents 

 were made, and arestdl going on. Ii experinients 

 of the same nature shall be made upon a dilleient 

 sod, arnl chmate, the result wdl be dilfereni, and 

 more or less lavorable, according to circumstances, 

 and tor wliich the practice now men ioned cannot 

 in justice be rendered accountable. If n)y shoe 

 fit my loot. I am warramed to say, it will suit a 

 foot of Ihe same size, and shape every where; let 

 no one conc'nde, that it will fit a foot of larger or 

 less size or did'erent li)i-m; but I must confess that 

 passing over thmirs e()ually obvious, I have run 

 into numerous and expensive errors. 



But when it s inquired upon ^vhat evidence it 

 is to be received— the reply is at h^'id, livuig evi- 

 dences, are at the command of every one who 

 chooses to make the (rial, ler him however, be on 

 his guaril, against suffering Inmself to tti''^'-- i^ ^r^^P 

 in place of ihe sprinif i)iisture oats. 



If ii sliall still be inquired, how does the oat pas- 

 ture lerliliz ? It may be also obsei'^ed that the 

 constant verdure and" gre-n herbage P'event ihe 

 r.iys o( the sun from parching the soil arid depn- 

 viiiLC it of its moisture and air, both of which are 

 highly necessary to vegetation. The double por-- 

 tion of juicy vegetable matter arising froai the 

 two crops ol" pasiure in ihe summer, bem^ every 

 where united wdh the common soil part'y 'i>e- 

 chanically and partly chemically, renders I'le soil 

 capable of retaining sufficient moisture and elastic 

 air, lo make it open and <varm, and by which the 

 soil docs not only become thicker by ircin<r tlown- 

 ward, but actually expands, or rises, so as togi^e a 

 furrow, considerably deeper than formerly, over im- 

 moveable rocks. Soni° years ago, a field m view 

 of the farm-house, marked Jlie broad rocks, during 

 the course ofevery crop; they are now covered wi'h 

 so much soil, that ihey are seldom observed. The 

 two plonghingsaiso contribute to the im-rease ofthe 

 the air in the soil, without which no soil can be 

 fruitful, there being no vegetation in vacuo. Tull's 

 horsc-hocing husbandry was introduced under the 

 idea, that lUe pabidum of plants was pulverized 

 earth; the fact daily before us is, that pulverized 

 earth retains the mnfsiu.re and a/r, as the hand- 

 maids of vegetation. Some experiments have lately 

 been made, the results of which iiivor these re- 

 marks, viz. "that, soils afforded qiianlilies o( air 

 by distillation, somewhat corresponding to the ra- 

 tios of their values.''' 



Inclos'^d I have sent soils in the state they were 

 found, before the courses mentioned were intro- 

 duced. 



No. 1. A sample of the unimproved soil about 

 three inches dt'ep. 



No. 2. A sample of !hesan)e soil (bur inches 

 deep, iniproved liy the limo compost ino years. 



No. 3. A sample two inches deep liom the field 

 iri its exhausieJ siaie. 



iNo. 4. A san)|)le three inches deep from the 

 same fii-ld, which was once sown in pasture oais, 

 and has been one year in grass sawn afier the 

 oats, which did not lake well, [)ar.ly owing to the 

 laie season wlnui it was sown, and partly owing 

 to the seed iiaving been injured, and the soil still 

 cold. 



No. 5. A sample two inches from an exhausted 

 fiel I. 



No. 6 A sample f()ur inches from the same 

 field after pnsture oats, which was followed by 

 wheat, a poor crop, succeeded l)y oats, a middling 

 crop, with clover which yielded a considerable 

 swath last season; when the clover is ploughed 

 in, it will be ibllowed by pasture oats.* 



HORSES SLABBEJIIIVG. 



Frniii the New England Farmer. 



Various opinions exist as to the cause of the ex- 

 cessive salivation ihai horses sometimes undergo, 

 and which must detractserioasly from theirsirengih 

 and ability lo labor, as well as liom their comlbrt. 

 Some have sup[)o-ed it to result from the second 

 gro\vth of grass that makes its apj)earance in July 

 or August, tlie euphorhia macalata ot tlie botan- 

 ist; some to the second lirovvth of red clover, some 

 to the web of the spicier that is spread so exten- 

 sively over the latter liied of summer, and some 

 to the action of ihe lobelia. We have had little 

 doubt thai it was to be attributed to this last cause, 

 always Itjeliug sali^; when our horses were in pas- 

 tures where no lobelia existed, and when afliicted 

 by it, (imiinir them t" be speed'y cured by removing 

 them Irom the fields in which it is to be found. In- 

 an Augusta (Ale.) paper we find the following, 

 which would seem to go far to confirm the belief" 

 that salivation is sometimes at least caused by this 

 pest of our meadows and pastures. 



''Our own fiiiiiily jade — a hearty kind old crea- 

 ture — has not enjoyed the luxury of grass lor three 

 years, and has always been kept in good trim on 

 hay, with very little provender. In July we had 

 the barn filf'd wiih her year's stock of hay, sweet 

 Irom the field. Soon afier the horse began lo eat 

 it, she commenced slabbering abundantly. Being 

 quite out of patience, we set our wits to work to 



* The samples of soils sent by Mr. Young, exhibi- 

 ted the most marked ditference. The progress Irom 

 absolute sterility, to rich mould, might be traced by 

 the appearance of color in the several parcels. 1 with 

 sreat pleasure bear testimony on the subject of Mr. 

 Young's imjaovements. In the years 1S06 and 1S08, 

 I saw catlle feeding in good pasture and good crops of 

 grain, and fjrass sowing in fields, wliich in 1814, I 

 tho'x'i^ totally irreclaimable from briers, garlick roots, 

 and "^original poverty of soil. Where manure is at 

 hand, and capital in the possession of the cultivator to 

 purchase it, any soil may be rendered fertile; but Mr- 

 Young affords the best example of good farming, viz. 

 enrichina: a naturally poor soil, and restoring fertility 

 to exhausted land, by returning thereto its own pro- 

 duce raised with the least possible expense. J- M. 



