QL\)c laxmct's iitontl)lj) llisiitnv. 



143 



Wlien the soil was first reclaimed from ilie 

 fores!, the cro/is nht^iiiifd their food for a iiiiiiilinr 

 of years Iroiu the iiliiiiKliMu'e of vcgclitble iiuUIer 

 whii'h hud heoii acuiiiniilaliii^' in the soil. lis well 

 as tioiii the iiiorfraiiio s-iihslaiices w liieli had hcen 

 brought there l>_v natural causes. But in a few 

 years, liy a coustaut drain trpou the soil, wilhoiii 

 nialvin^ aiiv recouipeuse, this spontaneous food 

 whi'-h nature had provided, has liecoiue pririei- 

 pally exhausted ; and it is now as uiueh the in- 

 terest of the hu'nier to feed his crops as it is to 

 feed his aniiiials. 



" I do feed my crops," says the Practical Fann- 

 er — " 1 haul out stalile nianiu'e and straw, and I 

 sometimes plough in elover, and put my land in 

 first rate order hel()re I sow my crops." 



"Very well," says S'icnce, "this is all ri^ht, so 

 Hir as it ^oes, and I grant one in a hundred may 

 do this: hut I shouhl like to he aide to make this 

 slatemenl in ' inverse proportion,' that there shall 

 be hut one in a hundred who does not ilo it." 



^- Mat, y\\: Practical Fanner, there is another 

 matter connected with li'edinji' your crops that 1 

 wish to press upon your attention, which is this 

 — It is as im;iortanl to feed your crops with the 

 kind of food most suitable to their 'dii;eslive or- 

 gans,' as it is that of animals. Did yon evei' 

 think of this.' We <lo not feed hoj;s on hay ; — 

 neither do wc yi^'C pork to our hoises; hut we 

 are, nevertlieless, careful to give e»o»iJ-A to keep 

 them alive, an<l to cause the animals to thrive 

 and increase, and, at the same time, we avoiil 

 {living' them so mvch as to surfeit or founder 

 them." 



"After all the pains I take," says the Practical 

 Farmer, "I cannot raise j,'ood wheat; when J 

 sow it on my land without manine, it is struck 

 with rust; the berry shrivels, and I do not get 

 half a crop. And then 1 go to carting on ma- 

 nure, and my wheat all goes to straw, falls down 

 flat on the ground, anil has no grain worth the 

 labor of saving; and so I turn my hogs into the 

 field to get what few grains they can find. It is 

 useless forme to try to raise wheat on my fiirm ; 

 it is either too rich or too poor. If I put on ma- 

 nure the straw grows loo rank, and it is too weak 

 to stand up ; if 1 sow without iiianure, the heal 

 and moisture strike it with nist. I must go to 

 i-aising some other crop." 



" Slop, neighbor," says Srience, '■ here I have a 

 book that will tell you something about raising 

 wheat. 1 think it is probable that you have been 

 feeding your bogs on hay, or eL-c you have been 

 giving pork to your horses." 



Prac. Far. — Och ! go away with your book. — 

 Do you think I want any of your hook farming 

 about me? I have been a pritclical fanner all my 

 life, and in early times 1 usi:d to raise the best 

 wheat in ilie coiiiiiry, without manure or books 

 either. Do you tliinU that I don't know how to 

 raise wheat ? 



Science. — Will \oii read it.' 



Prac. Far.-No. It is so seldom I read that it 

 is quite a task for me (o re.id a book. 



Science. — Well, will you listen while I read ? 



Prac. Far. — I have not lime to stay long, but 1 

 have no objection to heariiig you retid a little ; it 

 won't cost amithing will it .' 



Science. — If you will listen attentively, T will 

 read you a few lines with pleasure: — "From 

 each acre yielding 25 bushels of wheal, there is 

 extracted from the soil, in the grain, 3.3 pounds 

 ol' potash, and in the straw 0.6 of a pound."* 



Prac. Far. — What! does wheat eoiitain pot- 

 ash ? 



Science. — Yes. And the 25 bushels of vvhe.it 

 will also take Irom the soil in the giain, 3..5 lbs. 

 of soda, and the straw 0.9 of a lb. 



Prac. Far. — .\h ! does wheat contain soda too? 



Science. — Such an acre of wheal will also take 

 from the soil in the grain, 45 lbs. of lime, and the 

 straw 7.2 lbs. 



frac. Far.— Oh, yes! 1 have heard of people 

 putting lime on their land, but I never thought 

 enough of it to try it myself. 



Science. — The 25 bushels of wheat also take 

 from the soil, in the grain, J.5 lbs. magnesia, and 

 in the straw 1 lb. 



Prac. Far. — Why, I have heard it said that 



>«£ 



*XoTE — The Weights here piven nre in pounds anil deri- 

 mal fractions, Uiiis: 3.:t is three pounds and three-tenths of a 

 pound, and 0.15 is fifteen-hundredlha of a poiiirj. It may al- 

 so he remarked, that the language here used is not taken frnin 

 the book alluded to hy the writer ; only the substance is ob- 

 'Hiiied therefrom. 



magnesia is injurious to crops, and that when 

 farmers apply lime to their land, tliey should be 

 careful to use that which does not contain mag- 

 nesia! I5ut go on; is there anylliing else in 

 wheat ? I can't stay much longer. 



Scieiice. — In an acre of wheat yielding 25 bush- 

 els, there is in the grain, (i lbs. Silica, and in the 

 straw 86 (eighty-six) pounds. 



Prac. Far. — Now I'm stumped! What on 

 eai ill is Silica ? 



Science. — The book says it is the substance of 

 Jlint or pure satid. 



Prac. Far. — What! the substance of flint or 

 sand in wheat! Pray, Mr. Science, how does it 

 get there ? 



Science. — You know that sand can be iiiidted, 

 as is done in the mannlactme of glass, by the 

 application of heat with soda and other chemical 

 substances; and this book tells us that it be- 

 comes soluble ill water by the aid of the potash 

 and soda before mentioned; and when thus dis- 

 sidveil, it is taken U]i by the roots of plants. — 

 But I have not yet got tluough with the cotnpo- 

 iieiit elements of wheal. 



One acre of wheat yielding 25 bushels, also 

 contains in the grain, J lb. of sulphuric acid, and 

 in the straw 1 lb. 



Prac. Far. — Why, that is oil of vitriol, isn't it? 



SciOtce.— There is also taken (iom the soil, by 

 25 bushels of wheat in the grain, 0.6 of a lb. of 

 phosphoric acid, and in the straw 5 lbs.: also in 

 the grain, 0.15 of a lb. o\' chlorine, niid in the 

 straw 0.9 of a lb. This is all, and you must re- 

 member these are inorganic substances, such as 

 do not grow like vegetables, and therefore they 

 must be extr.icted from the soil. The total a- 

 monnt of ihese inorganic substances taken from 

 one acre of groiiiid yielding 25 hiishels of wheat, 

 and including the stiMW, as it is usually cut by 

 the cradle, is 120 iiuuiids. Three-fomtlis of 

 this is silica, which is rendered soluble by the 

 alkalies, potash, soda and lime, thus showing the 

 great iiiipoitance of these substances in soils 

 producing wheat. 



Prac. Far. — Well, I decline I did not know 

 that wheat had so many things in it. 1 always 

 thought that wheat grew out ol' llie ground, and 

 got its food from the vegetable maiiuie that was 

 contained in it, or vv.is put there by the farmer. 



Scieiice. — Well, friend, you knew beliire by sad 

 experience, that vegetable manure nlone, would 

 not raise wheat; for voii say that when joii put 

 manure on )our land, your wheat all went to 

 straw, which was so weak that it fell down flat 

 on the ground, and bad no berry in the heads; — 

 and when you sowed your wheat without ma- 

 nure, it was struck with the rust, and the grain 

 shrivelled so that you uot no more than half a 

 crop. Now you see that this book has tokl you 

 some things that you did not know before, and 

 which perhaps you never would have liiiiiid out 

 by your own efforts, without calling in the aid of 

 science. 



Prac. Far. — Well, if the wheat plant contains 

 all these substances, and they are all extracted 

 from the soil, how are we practical farmers lo 

 know when they are not present in the soil? and 

 above all, how are we to obtain all this potash, 

 and sod.i, and lime, and Hint, and sulphuric acid, 

 and phosphoric acid ? 



Science. — The failure of your wheat crop for 

 a series of years is pretty good evidence that 

 some of these substances are wanting in the soil, 

 hut it will not decide which. The only way to 

 determine which one of the foregoing substances 

 may be wanting, is to call in the aid of science, 

 and have a correct analysis of the soil made. — • 

 Hut, nevertheless, by the nature of the disease 

 ihat afTects the erop.s, we may be able to judge 

 more correctly of the substance that may he 

 wanting. When the straw is weak and not able 

 lo stand erect, it may be certain that the alkalies 

 are wanting to produce the silicates which are 

 deposited in the stem, to give it strength and 

 firmness. This book, however, will tell what 

 siihsrances you must procure and apply to the 

 laud, which will sujiply the ingredients contain- 

 ed ill the wheat plant. 



Prac. Far. — I should like to hear something 

 more about these m.itters. 



Science. — This book gives an account of the 

 component ingredients of wood aahes. It says 

 that "ashes always consists of a mixture in varia- 

 ble proportions of carbonates, silicates, sulphates 

 and phosphorates of potash, soda, lime and mag- 



ticsia, with certain other substances present in 

 suuiller quantity, yet more or less necessary, it 

 may be presimnd, to vegetable growih." "Hut 

 they eoiiiain also, a greater or less quantify of 

 imperfectly burned carhonaeeous matter," of 

 charcoal. Here you will perceive that you have 

 nearly all tiie substances at once, of whii-h the 

 wheat plant consists. It would seem then, that 

 if ashes he mixed with the soil it will supply the 

 greater part of the substance of wiieat. Did 

 you ever think of this beliire? 



Prac. Far.— I have heard it casually remarked 

 that ashes were nseliil, sowed upon \vheat ; but I 

 liever gave thi; subject much refieclion, and there- 

 fore it did not strike me very forcibly. But does 

 your book tell anything about the aciion of lime? 

 I feel somewhat anxious to know this, liir 1 have 

 limestone on my farm and i have a mind to try 

 it. 



Science. — Yes, this book gives an interesting 

 account of the beneficial action of lime upon 

 soil.s, and sums u|) its conclusions as Ibllows : 



"Lime improves the quality of almost every 

 cultivated cro|)." 



" It su|iplies a kind of inorganic food, which 

 appears to be necessary to the healthy growth of 

 all cultivated plants." 



" It ueiiiralizes acid substances ivhich are nat- 

 urally found in the soil, and decomposes or ren- 

 ders harmless other noxious compoimils, which 

 are not iinfieqiiently within the reach of plants." 



"It changes the inert vegetable matter in the 

 soil, so as gradually to render it useful to vege- 

 tation." 



Prac. Finv— It appears then, that lime is useful 

 to vegetation in other respects than furnishing 

 this ingredient to the plant. 



iSWcncf.— There are a varieljj of other substan- 

 ces described in this book which are usefully ap- 

 plied lo vegelation, both in ameliorating the soil 

 and in furnishing specific substances to the 

 growing crops. Hut it will detain you too long, 

 I am afraid, to re.id all of these to yon now. 



Prac. Far.—Th-dt must be a good fiook fir 

 farmers, I should think. What is llie price of it? 

 Where did you get it? I will certainly have to 

 get me one. 



Science.— ll may be had at most of the book 

 stores in the State flir a few shillings, and the ti- 

 tle of it i.s, "Lectures on Airriciiliural ChemistHy 

 and Geolo2:y, bv James F. W. Johnston." 



D. L. 



Ml. Talbot, Champ. Co., 1845. 



Saving Seeds. 



It has often occurred lo me that sufficient euro 

 has not been exercised in saving seed of vegeta- 

 bles from the finest part of ihe crop. If wo 

 breed livestock, of whatever kind, we invariably 

 select the parents Irom the best of our Hock or 

 stud. So with regard to flowers: no one would 

 sow seed from inferior flowers, but would select 

 from the best specimens; and it is by follow in"- 

 lip tliis system, thai givat improvements have 

 been made. Thiiikiug the .s.ime effects would 

 accrue from a more careful selHciion of culinary 

 seeds, and thai a much greater degree of pioiluc- 

 liveness niig'it be attained, about three years a"o 

 I began an experiment with long-pod beans. I 

 careliilly selected the finest .-111(1 fullest pods for 

 seed, laking none with (i;wer than live beans in 

 each. Next year I had a good sprinkling of pods 

 with six seeds in each ; these were saved for 

 seed. Next year I had many six-seeded pods, 

 and some with seven. Follosving up the same 

 plan, I find this setison many tnoresixand seven- 

 seedeil pods, than of a less number, and some 

 Willi eight seeds ! There are still a few plants 

 which produce five-seeded pods, and it is worthy 

 of remark, that the five seeded plants have sel- 

 dom a si.\-seeded pod upon them, liutall fives; 

 on the contr.iry, a six-seeded plant has generally 

 all the pods bearing six beans or more. 



As the seed-.saving season has now come on, 

 perhaps these hints may induce others to adopt 

 the plan. If the same course were adopted with 

 our grain crops, I have no doubt more productive 

 varieties might be procured. — Corr. Ga. d. Chron. 



Henry (lay's Farm. 



A corresiiondent of tl.'e Cleveland Herald thus 

 describes Mr. Clay's residence: 



"The city of Lexingtmi, adjoining which is 

 Ashland, is a neat and floiuisliing inland town. 



r- 





f 



