690 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. II 



soil, but assuredly afier, ilB greatest use is as a 

 stimulant or solvent ol" the vegetable or animal 

 manures wiiliin the poil, and for whatever of pab- 

 ulum may be requisite to the fibre or rigidity ol 

 the plant in sustaiiiing itself against tlie influf^ice 

 of the winds while attaining its maturity. We 

 have a familiar exemplification of the action of] 

 lime on dried vegetable substances, on boards and 

 pickets. The minute splinters left in boards by 

 the teeth of the saw, if soggy or prone to rotting, 

 whitewashed, become hard and indurated, and 

 eeera checked in their progress to decay by the 

 lime, and the wood is perlectly solid. The same 

 result will be visible if it be applied while yet caus- 

 tic to dried hay or straw. When lime is brought 

 immediately in contact with animal substances, 

 as with oils, it corrodes and solidifies them; with 

 animal juices, it assails and operates similarly on 

 them, leaving nothing but ihe mere aqueous fluid ; 

 with animal flesh, it checks its putrefaciive pro- 

 gress, and as it were petrifies it; \vith efHuvia, it 

 absorbs it. The chemists say, probably with truth, 

 what the lime takes up, or renders insoluble, in 

 time it will give back again. This, though true 

 as to a. part of the substance imbibed, may or may 

 not be as to much of it j but if even so, it should 

 be recollected that the object of applying manure 

 is to benefit the first, as well as the future crops ; 

 and the first is dependent entirely, whatever may 

 be the supplj' put into the soil, upon that portion of 

 the manure which is immediately soluble; and if 

 that be held in suspense by the lime, the first crop 

 at least will suffer. This not unfrequently hap- 

 pens with the farmer as to his manure. For the 

 want of an admixture of a portion whicli is rea- 

 dily soluble, his crops come up ahead of the ma- 

 nure, and leave him to suppose it not so effectual 

 as he had anticipated ; an argument, by the by, 

 lor blending manure with ihe soil belore its mois- 

 ture is assailed and evaporated by the drying in- 

 fluence of the sun, and lor that humectation which 

 could be given lo it from a reservoir in or about 

 the barn-yard for the liquids, and an admixture of 

 it at the moment of taking it out for use. But 1 

 am digressing. To return: as to sea-weeds — 



1 would thenars/, use them green, as far as my 

 lijrming wants might require or permit. 



Next, if the supply be sufficiently extensive, 

 (with me it probably is 800 two-ox cart loads an- 

 nually,) I would use it liberally as litter in every 

 and any shape about my stables, cattle stalls, hog 

 pens, barn-yards and muck roads ; and that too 

 in opposiiion to common practice, as fiir as practi- 

 cable, while green ; because, it will be perceived 

 by those who use if, that as (with the wrack grass 

 more visibly) the weeds dry, a wliite efflorescence 

 of salt gathers upon the surface, which rains wash 

 away, an4 this salt is one of its most valuable 

 properties. !f, while passing li-om its green state, 

 its succulent, mucilaginous and saline properties 

 escape into the materials for manuring, which envi- 

 ron it, the vegetable remains of the weed, divest- 

 ed of its natural juices, will, in escaping, serve as 

 an absorbent of other useful liquids brought in con- 

 tact with it. 



A third, and very beneficial mode of using sea- 

 weed, is by incineration. Reduced to ashes, its 

 properties become concentrated, and it is both 

 powerful as a manure and useful commercially. 

 The carbonate of soda of commerce is obtained 

 by lixiviating the ashes of eea- weed. The best 



variety is known by the name of 6ari7Za ; an in" 

 ferior kind, known by the name of kelp, is pre- 

 pared from sea-weeds on the northern shores oV 

 Scotland, and may be so any where it is to be 

 Ibund. The purest barilla always contains polas- 

 sa and soda, and the chlorides of potassium and 

 sodium ; each of which, though perhaps most profi- 

 tably einployed in the manulaclure of soap and 

 glass, would if applied as a manure to the soil, 

 operate powerfully, and at the same time, from its 

 strong alkaline influence, serve as a solvent to 

 other manuring substances in the soil. 



I believe the sea-weed, though best in this point 

 of view if ploughed in rrreen, even in its dry state, 

 a corrective of the aciditj' ol" a soil. On a field, 

 the soil of which was probably the poorest of my 

 liirm, and in which I was preparing to put rye, my 

 carls had deposited some green sea-weed in heaps, 

 with the intention of spreading it before plough- 

 ing. A want of time prevented the execution of 

 this purpose in the way proposed, and it was thin- 

 ned with a fork around the small heaps as it lay, 

 afier it had become dry, and ploughed in witli the 

 manure for the field. As the crop grew, the grain 

 rose in its growth most visibly within the circum- 

 lerence of the sea-weed thus spread around the 

 heaps, and so much so as to be remarked by all 

 about the farm, and to leave no doubt of its influ- 

 ence. The next year, as the grass came in suc- 

 ceeding the rye, some sorrel was seen generally 

 over ihe field, but none was visible within the cir- 

 cumference of the sea-weed ; and the grass, in 

 comparison with the rest of the field, was visibly 

 improved, and yet continues so. The sea-weed 

 used on this occasion was of the species familiarly 

 known by the name of chowder ; a very thin leaf, 

 very a(|ueous, and prone to rapid decay. 



The principal kinds in use as a manuring ma- 

 terial on my shore, and generally in this vicini'y, 

 are the zostera marina above alluded to, (some- 

 limes called, here and in England, wrack grass;) 

 the chowder also before named, and rock weed. 

 There is also occasionally intermixed a dark brown, 

 broad, long and gelatinous leaf, the name of which 

 I do not know. 



Sea -weed, particularly the latter and rock weed, 

 are eaten with avidity by swine ; and where con- 

 tinual access is had by them to it, will promote 

 their growth and latten them, though the flesh is 

 (iir from palatable, if they are not liatted, for two 

 or three months belore killing, exclusively on other 

 Ibod better fitted lor putting good flesh on them. 

 Some larmers give them little else, up to vv'ithiii 

 that period of latling time. When thus permit- 

 ted, however, lo range lor Ibod on the sea-shore, 

 they feed exclusively on muscles and such shell- 

 fish as they can crush with their teeth, are fond of 

 fish generally, and particularly so of the descrip- 

 lion known as horsefeet. 



The wrack-grass sea-weed may also be used as 

 a thatch, and Ibrms a more durable defence against 

 the violent winds and heavy rains than si raw. 



The latler also is used as a substitute for horse- 

 hair in stuffing mattresses and furniture. For this 

 purpose, it is carefully washed twice in li'esh wa- 

 ter, and then dried quickly, the intermixture of 

 other sea grasses less fitted for the purpose being 

 picked out. 



It is very convenient and effectual for sheltering 

 a manure heap from the drenching of rains, and 

 protecting it from solar heat ; for covering plants 



