val|c immcL-'s illont!)!]) llisitor. 



21 



liuslicis — for irjaiigel wiiitzel, 1101 bushels — for 

 sugar bet'ls, G57 huslicls per acre. 



The niiif-t ccrlaiii laml;; for the |)roiluctioii nf 

 the cereal };rHiu<, as « hual, harlev, oal?. fee, Is 

 that of the .sci'oiiilary lorniatioii, ol' uliifh liiiii.'- 

 sloiic i:^ (he; hat^is. 'j'o the iim.-I casual ohsorver 

 (if soils who travels in clift'creui parts of the 

 country, the rt'asoji of the dilVcreuce is aiipareiit. 

 It is that (|uality of the soil, partakiui; of the na- 

 ture ol' liiiiestouf; niajl \shii!h t'H'n]vesci;s on the 

 appli<°aliou of vitriol or strong vinegar, ami wliicli 

 snells and lireaks upon the surfa(!e lioni the ac- 

 tion of liosl, that gives siahilily to the firowth of 

 the cereal grains. Great crops are pro(l(K:efl not 

 so unn-h from a mould of vegetahle richness — 

 not »o nnicli Iroin the application of stininlaling 

 vegetable manures, as from a pinvmling niincial 

 quality in the soil which imparts hardness and 

 vigor to the stalk, sustaining it until the growth 

 of tlie grain is perfected. It is this quality of 

 soil that gives the whole liiuestone region of the 

 South and West so great an advantajje over the 

 jjrimary rocky .soils ot' New Kugland. The same 

 diiiiireuce betvveen the secomlary and prim.-iry 

 formations makes tin.' vidley of the Connecticut 

 superior to the valley of the M(U'rimack and the 

 inounlain region of Vermont, quite to the tops 

 of the hills, better than the granite ridgi;s ol'New 

 llampslure. The cjcqis of grain in the seconda- 

 ry formations are much moie certain; for al- 

 tlKMigh the land itself may not be as fertile, nor 

 the crops of straw so large, it seldom (ails to 

 carry the growth of the grain lieymid the lime of 

 rust. 



We have seen a beautiful growth of spring 

 wheat or oats oil the well manured intervales of 

 Merrimack river. Tin; crop grew up to the time 

 of heading, raidi and vigorous, when just as the 

 grain vvasabont to eousuiinnate its perfect growth, 

 !i single heavy rain willi wind would lay the field 

 prostrate, and, for want of siamijia in the earth, 

 ii would never have strength to rise. A similar 

 beautiful growth ujion the limestone land would 

 rise up again, even if Imnt to the earth by rain 

 and wind; and from such afield maybe ri?alized 

 the crops such as those for vvffich the premiums 

 are awarded by the New York Slate Society. 

 Several years ago, on a piece of Merrimack 

 county intervale turned up with the plough 

 several inches deeper than it hud ever befiire 

 been turned, we raised niueiy bushels of oats 

 upon a sijigle acre, where the ground was not 

 highly manured. The crop stood up until llie 

 lime; of harvest; and we attributed this to the 

 circumslauce of sowiui; less seed ujion the acre 

 than had been usual. At another time, sowing 

 only one bushel and a bait to the acre, we raised 

 seventy-five bushels on each of a plat of foui' 

 acres. The .stalks were much increased in tnim- 

 ber from the thinness of sowing, and they seemed 

 to slauil up in nnich greater sirength. In the 

 groimd where limestone is absent, the blight and 

 rust much more generally )u-evail. 



We believe that geological research and the 

 application of seiiuice will ere long teach the 

 lariiiers of New Englauil how, at a trifling e.v- 

 ]iense, they may make such applications to their 

 soil as will enable them to produce crops of equal 

 profit to those of llie more lorlile regions of the 

 country. They "ill soon be able to learn practi- 

 cally what the soil reipiires and how the best 

 rotation of crops may be pursued. On some 

 lands a single bushel of gypsum will greatly in- 

 crease the ))rodnction of a single acre — on other 

 laiuls of ililli-rent ((uality, a bushel of pulverized 

 quick lime may do as much in aiil of the ordi- 

 nary manures. Flere leached ashes will effect 

 wonders — there the apjdi'-aliou of simple sand 

 or gravel will turn a barren wet soil to a great 

 antl profitable prodnclion. Let the demonstra- 

 tifuis of experience have their due weight; and 

 while our IJirmers are cautious in jumping at ex- 

 |)eriments where a failure may risque a whole 

 year's crofis, let them be careful to adopt all 

 improvements where there is moral certainty of 



ADDRESS, 



Before Ike Munioe County Jlgriciiliural Socieli/, id 

 Rochester, JY. Y., October, 1844, 6^ Dr. Daniel 

 Lee. 



JMr. President, anu Farmers of Mo.nroe :— 

 The tiict cannot have escaped your notice, that 

 com|)etition in growing breadstuff's, provisions, 

 wool, and otiicr agrienltiiiul products, is fast be- 



coming a matter of deep interest to those that 

 must live, and hope to prosper, by cultivating the 

 earth. This growing conqielilion is ipiite unii- 

 voiilable. The inlroihiction of labor-saving ma- 

 chinery into every branch of the ineehanic aris, 

 througliont tin; whole civilized world, is driving 

 millions from factories and workshops into rural 

 |iiirsnits, who, but for the invention of iron men, 

 that eat no bread, nor meat, nor vvejirany clothing, 

 had remained the good ciistniners ol' the farmers, 

 insteail of heconiing his active rivals, if not ruin- 

 ous competitors. Agriculture is tlie great busi- 

 iiess of civilized man; but, like every other 

 blanch of human industry, it Ifcis its tips and 

 downs, its .-unshine and iis storms. Its sunshine 

 is most enjoyed by those that avail themselves of 

 all snbslantial iinprovenieiits in the art and the 

 science of good husbandry. 'J'liese .■idvanlages 

 give to the; fiM'tunale lew, who are wise enough 

 to study and underslaiid them, a double capacity 

 lo supply the markets of the world, by increasing 

 to tlia I extent the productive power of I heir hands 

 and their fields. 



Think not that 1 have ii hobby lo ride in this 

 mailer. I fear bitter experience will soon, too 

 soon, demonstrale the truth of the remark, that 

 it is imsnfe for the fanners of Western New 

 York to despise the improvements oi' the age, 

 and the competition of the whole world beside. 



.'\t the Agricultural School near Dublin, the 

 pupils have raised, this season, a large field of 

 potatoes averaging T.'JO bushels per acre. With 

 a population of ten millions living on a territory 

 but little larger than this State, ami exporting 

 more bushels of grain than ,-dl the United States, 

 the fact hasalreoily been eslablisheil, that in s|iite 

 of your protective duty of ten cents a hust'el, 

 ii ishinei> can, and do, export potatoes to Boston 

 and New York, and sell them at a little over a 

 half cent a pound ! 



Farmers of ftlonroe 1 I declare to you, w itiiout 

 the fear of contradiction, that out of the Free 

 States of this republic, and excepling the British 

 provinces adjoining us, agricultural labor is every 

 where verj cheap, and likely to liill in price, with 

 the increase of our race, lo the lowest point that 

 will serve to keep soul and body together. Eu- 

 rope, at this hour, lias two huudred and fifty 

 millions of human beings, not one out of five of 

 whom has iiermission to eat, or ollierwise con- 

 sume, the entire friiiis of his own productive in- 

 dustry. 'I'he market value of the labor of two 

 hundred millions of people is continually forced 

 down, by circumstances over which they appear 

 to have no control. Nevertheless, their numbers 

 are rapidly increasing; and the most desirtible 

 outlet is to emigrate to this country, and settle on 

 the fertile lands of our vast public domain. An- 

 swer me this plain question : — 



If other men will work, thei\, and clothe the 

 human family cheaper than you can afford to, 

 what is to become of those who liave only their 

 labor to sell, and nobody will purchase it at a 

 price compatible with a full supply of the neces- 

 saries of life ? 



Profoundly impressed with the importance of 

 this truth, I desire that it may sink ileeply into 

 your minds: It is the fiict, that the discoveries 

 and iin|)iovenienis of every year depreciate more 

 and more the market vtdne of the mere mechan- 

 ical force of human bone and muscle. Thesame 

 causes serve to augment, in an equal ratio, the 

 value of cultivated intellect. 



It is in view of the competition of iron men 

 and iron women, moved with wouderfid precis- 

 ion by steam and water power — in view of the 

 coiniietiiion of starving millions, working each 

 fi)r a peck of potatoes a day — and sibove all, the 

 fearfiil competition of those that will soon pro- 

 duce two bushels of wheat, and two pomid.s of 

 wool, as cheaply as you now do one pound of 

 either — that I urge upon your attention the sci- 

 ence of agriculliire. "Science" is but annlher 

 name for knowledge; and knowh'dge is indis- 

 pensable lo the practical husbaudman, as a mat- 

 ter of self-defence. 



I h.ivc not the vanity to assume to be a teacher. 

 But since the worthy Pn.'sident of your Society 

 has honored me with an invitation to address you, 

 and having assumed the task, I will endeavor to 

 show something of the imporfance of science to 

 the practical agricullnrist. 



Noiliiiig is more probable than the supposition 

 that soma one of you has liarveste<l and brought 

 to this market 100 bushels of wheat from five 



acres of land. Let ine assume that the wheat 

 weighed (iO pounds to the bushel, or U,000 pounds; 

 and that tlie siravv weighed twice as much as the 

 grain— in all 1,-<,0I)() pounds. 



As ;i simple, practical question, tell me how 

 much of these 18,000 pounds of matter caiiie 

 from the soil .? 'Fell ine how much came from 

 the air? 



Conceding that what your cultivated plants 

 dravv from the ever-moving aiinosjihere, need not 

 be restored to the li.dds whence they were taketi, 

 can you say as much of the alkalies and other 

 (ninerals removed with your crops, from the soil 

 where they grew? Long experience answers 

 this qneslion in the neg;iiive. 



1 regard it as one of the greatest discoveries 

 of the age, that about 97 per cent, of the ingre- 

 dieiiis which make iq) the whole substance of 

 wheal, rye, corn, liarhy, oats, peas, and beans, 

 exist in the air in inexbansiihle qnaniilies. To 

 transmute these serial form bodies into the plants 

 above-named, and 'nilo grass and foot.s, at the 

 smallest expense, is the ofij-ect of nearly all your 

 hard work. 



If 1 were to burn in your presence 100 pounds 

 of wheat, including both straw and seed, you 

 would know of a cei lainly that this bread-bearing 

 plant might all be converted into air aim vapor, 

 except something h\-;s iban three pounds of ash, 

 which would remain. Now u ho among you that 

 loves good bread, and would be glad to produce 

 it as (!heapiy as any one, will refuse to learn how 

 Nature changes all the vegeiable matter tlirowti 

 into the air by combiislion, ferinentatiou, rotting, 

 and the respiration of all animals, back again 

 into grain, grass, and roots? Believe me. Nature 

 is quite as willing to give yon 40 bushels of 

 wheat to the acre, and from one bushel of seed, 

 as she is 20, if yon will only study and obey her 

 uniform laws. 



A wheat plant is a living being; and the num- 

 ber which may be grown and brought to fiill ma- 

 turity on an .acre depends on the quality and 

 (juantity of t'ond which you feed to them. It may 

 not be profitable to feed so high as to raise at the 

 rate of 3"20 bushels per acre, as one gentleman 

 in England professes to have done. But that 

 you may grow 40 busbels on an acre, at a less 

 price per bushel than with any less number, I have 

 no doubt. 



The raw materials to form 36,000 pounds of 

 ripe wheat plants are not exjjensive in this sec- 

 tion of country. Nor is the knowledge expen- 

 sive to combine and use these material.^, so as to 

 save a considerable portion of the ordinary cost 

 of producing 40 bushels of this grain. But to 

 render this information entirely satisfactory and 

 generally available, .an Exiierimental Farm is 

 needed, to demonstr:ile practically how much of 

 the ingredients contained in a field (i. e., what 

 per-centage) comes from the air, and what from 

 the soil. 



Although I have spent tnncli time il] investi- 

 gating this interesting subject, not only as re- 

 gards wheat, but corn, oat.s, and peas, yet I am 

 not prepared to speak very confidently at present 

 in the matter. IMy impression, however, is that 

 not more than ten per cent, of corn and twenty 

 per cent, of wheat, under the most favorable 

 circumstances, come from the earth. I will state 

 a few facts which form, in part, the basis of this 

 opinion. 



A few years since, the mayor of Albany 

 (Friend Humphrey, Esq.,) planted three acres in 

 Corn, on the poor sand plain near the city. The 

 quantity of vegetable mould, or organic matter, 

 in the soil was small. As an experiment, he 

 dropped in each hill on two acres, with the seed, 

 a few grains (or perhaps drachms) of horn shav- 

 ings. The other acre received nothing as a fer- 

 tilizer. On the former he harvested 60 bushels 

 per acre of shelled corn ; on the latter about 15. 



1 learn from the Southern Planter, that farmers 

 in thai neighborhood, as an experiment, have paid 

 so high as .*3 per 100 pounds for guano — the 

 price of good pork, in many places — to feed to 

 corn and other plants; and find the food not too 

 expensive for profit. Thousands of tons of this 

 fertilizer are annually consumed in Great Britain, 

 at the cost of 20 or more dollars per ton. 



The mere soaking of seeds in strong solutions 

 of common sal-ammoniac and saltpetre, of the 

 shops, enables plants to increase largely their 

 weight. Now, ihe question is — Do they derive 

 this additional nourishment, which, ns in the case 



