Jfarm^rs JWautljlo ^isitwi 



CONDUCTED DY ISAAC HIIX. 



"ThCW»E who LaHOB I.N THK EARTH ARK THE CHOSEM fEOPLE OF GoD, WHU9E IIREA»T9 HE HA 



8 MADE HH fECULIAR DErO.ITt FOB SUBSTANTIAL AND QERUINE TIRTUE."— J^ferSOIl. 



VOL. 9. NO. 6. 



CONCORD, N. H., JUNE 30, 1847. 



WHOLE NO. 102. 



THE FA.RME:n*S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



V-t 8MSIIKU BY 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISSUED ON THE LAST DAV OF EVERT MONTH, 



At Athenian Building:. 



iKraBjicBAL AcE.xTJ.— II. A. RiLL, Keenc, N H.; JoH.i 

 SIarsh, Washinglon Si. Boston, Mass., Charles Warren, 

 Brililey Row, Worri'Stcr. Mass. ; Thostas Chandler, Dcdlord, 

 N. U. ' 



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From the Oenesee Farmer. 

 Study the Soil. 



There me many substtiiices in nil jjood soils 

 which every fiiririer onj;lit to study till lie Hilly 

 uiiilersiands their nature tind properties. Fiisi 

 iiinonf; these is the ahiiiiduiit iiiineral called silica, 

 or pure flint sand. This earth has many inter- 

 esting and iiiipurtunt pro|)eriies. It is "usually 

 from ten to filteen times more ahundaiil in all 

 soils than any other minend. After the organized 

 iiia'ter is removed from a soil liy liurninK it at a 

 rod lie.-it, it is not uncommon to" find nine-tenths 

 of the earth that remains, nolliiiijt but pure sili- 

 ca ; the other tenth bein<r alumina, iron, lime, 

 magnesia, soda, potash, maiioanese, anil carhonic, 

 sulphuric, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acids. 

 Pure siliceous sand is also an acid, havini; 52 

 parts of oxyfien united to 48 of a meliillic base 

 called silicivm or silicon. When (,'roiind down to 

 an impalpable powder, (as som e of it is in all 

 soils,) silica is sparingly soluble in water. If the. 

 water be warm like « summer shower, and espe- 

 cially if it contain a little potash or soda, or both 

 in solution, silica dissolves easier and more abun- 

 dantly. The qnaniily of dissolved flint that finds 

 its way through the roots of wheat, corn, timo- 

 thy, and other plants, into their stems, is much 

 larger than most gr.iin and grass-growers are 

 aware of Wheat straw usually contains about 

 67 per cent, of this mineral in ils ash. 



The most interesting practical question in re- 

 gard to silica (\r flint sand is the fact that, the al- 

 kalies potash or sod.i seem to be indispensable 

 to convert it into an available food for the growth 

 of plants. These alkalies exist more or less in 

 the ashes or earthy portion of all plants. Being 

 extremely soluble in sandy, pervious soils, thev 

 are apt to be le.-'ched out by tillage, and the laiiil 

 is rendered s'piile, iiiiless often laid down to grass, 

 and renovated by the applic.iiion of wood ashes', 

 sa//, gypsum, and lime, or their eipiivalenis in 

 stable inaiime. 



Mumina is the next most abundant mineral 

 usually found in all soils, Unlike silica, it has 

 alkaline properties, J, ike potash, soda, lime and 

 magnesia, it is the ojri'rfe of a metal, i, e, a metal 

 combined cbeinically with oxygen. The metal 

 is called nluminum, of which there is aliniit 53 

 pans to 4T oxygen in pine alumina, This earth 

 combines chemically with the aciti silica and 

 forms the pure porcelain day, liom which trans- 

 lucent china ware ia inanufaclined. Alum is a 

 compound salt formed by ihe union of sulphuric 

 licid (oil of vitriol) with alumina and potash. Al- 

 umina does not enter plants, niid form ;t necessary 



constituent in their organization. Only traces 

 of it have been Hiiind in their ashes. It < xercises 

 an important oftice, however, in all fertile soils, 

 by increasing their capacity to ab.sorb and retain 

 moisture ami nulriiive gases about Ihe roots of 

 vegetables. A soil that contained no alumina 

 would be radically delective. It gives adhesive- 

 ness and plasticity to all clays. Without it, the 

 valuable salts of potash, soda, lime, iron, &c. 

 would remain but a short time in the snrltice soil, 

 and within the reach of plants. Phosphoric acid 

 is often coinbineil with alumina. Throwing the 

 organic matter out of the account, and the eighty 

 or ninety specimens of soil analyzed in the labo- 

 ratory of the writer within the last year, have con- 

 tained on average from four to seven per cent, of 

 ibis mineral. 



The next most abundant substance in the soils 

 of Western New York after silica and alumina, 

 isiVoii, Like those just named, this metal is com- 

 bined with oxygen forming the red rust of iron. 

 This is called in the language of chemists, the 

 "/jer-oxiile of iron," When a liar of iron is heat- 

 ed in a blacksmith's (brge and hammered, the 

 thin scales that fly oft" are called the /woi-oxide 

 of iron. The dift'erence between these black 

 scales and the rust of iron is that the latter con- 

 tains tibout a third more oxygen than the former.* 

 When the oxide of iron unites with the oil of vit- 

 riol, it forms the well known salt called copperas, 

 (sulphate of iron.) 



Iron is found among the incombustible ele- 

 ments of all, or nearly all plants and animals, — 

 Thus iron is found in the blood of all red-blood- 

 ed animals, and of course must exist in their food. 

 This metal exerts a powerful, but not very well 

 understood function In the economy of vegetable 

 and animal life. It is believed by Mr, Downing 

 of the Horticulturist, to be si specific against the 

 "yellows" in fruit trees. Copperas water has 

 been thrown with a syringe over the leaves of 

 pear and peach trees thus affected, and it is said 

 with entire success. The application of old iron 

 about pear and other fruit trees, is strongly re- 

 commended. We have found from two to six 

 per cent, of the oxide of iron in the soils that we 

 have analyzed. In low land, there is apt to be 

 an excess of copperas, and other salts of iron. 

 Thorough draiiinig is the remedy for tlii.s. In 

 dry uplands, it is possible that old and long cul- 

 tivated fields may lack salts of iron. Very few 

 experiments have been made to test the value 

 of this mineral as a fertilizer fiir grain crops. 



Lime is the next most ahnndant ingredient in 

 the soils of this region. It is very seldom that 

 we find more than 2^ per cent, of this alkaline 

 earth in any soil. There are exceptions, howev- 

 er, where the proportion of lime increases till it 

 amounls to a calcareous marl. 



In 100 lb.'--, of pure coiiiinon limestone, irre- 

 spective of water, there are within a small frac- 

 tion 5t> lbs. caustic lime united to 44 lbs. of car- 

 biinic acid, This acid is expelled in burnin<; 

 lime in kilns. On long exposure to the air, ipiick 

 lime absorbs both moisture and carbonic acid, 

 and becomes a mild carbonate, such as is found 

 ill soils. 



It is an interesting fact that soils wliicb over-_ 

 lie a limestone rock, and that pretty near the sur- 

 face, are often greatly benefitted for producing 

 w heat by a top dressing of burnt lime of 50 Itush- 

 els per acre. Judge PoRTEU, of Niagara Falls, 

 has tried this practice on a large scale, w here the 

 lime rock was within two feet of the top of the 

 ground. It was followed by a marked improve- 

 ment in his wheat crop. On Gen, Harmon's 

 firm the application of lime seems to do little or 

 no good. If our memory serves us rightly, it 

 contains on an average less than 2 per cent, of 

 lime in its surface soil. Gypsum, however, (which 



f^rot-nxide of iron is foraied by Ihe union of on atom 

 of iron with an atom of oxygen. The per-oxide by the 

 unioh of ^ atoms of iron with 3 ol oxygen. 



is formed by the union of linie with oil of vitriol) 

 is of essential service. Pure quick lime is form- 

 ed by the union of 20i parts of u metal called 

 cnlciu:ii with 8 parts of oxygen. The most valu- 

 able compounds of lime are gy|isuiii and apatite, 

 (bone earth.) The former is a compound oi' sul- 

 phur and lime, and the \til\.e\ of phosphorus. Both 

 of these simple elementary bodies are of vital 

 importance in the growth of cultivated plants, 

 and the organization of all animals. Combined 

 with ox,ygeii they form strong mineral acids, 

 which are neutralized by reacjily uniting with 

 iron, alumina, lime, potasli, soda, and magnesia, 

 soils. Practical farmers have too long neglected 

 to study the economic value of the various com- 

 pounds of sulphur and phosphorus. Gypsum la 

 the only mineral, the impojlauce of which is ut 

 all appreciated. Its superiority over lime con- 

 sists in the (act that it furnishes clover, peas, 

 wheat, and all other plants, sulphur as well as 

 lime, A moment's reflection is sufficient to con- 

 vince any farmer that no animal can form its 

 bones without lime, .\nd if his soil wholly lacks 

 this mineral, bis crops cannot possibly create it 

 out of nothing. Nor could an ox or horse liuve 

 u particle of bone in its system if its food con- 

 tained no lime. But lime alone is not capable of 

 forming bone. Phosphoric acid is indispensable 

 for, that purpose, associated with lime. Nearly 

 alli that is taken from the soil in the kernels of 

 gi'iilii), is removed nexer to return, A great deal 

 of the phosphorus that escapes from the bodies 

 of animals in their liquid and solid excretions, is 

 lost to the fields that yield the daily food of these 

 animals. And yet pure phosphorus is so pre- 

 cious, that II pound of it is worth to-day three 

 dollai;s iji the city of Rochester! 



It is not book-iiirmers, but practical agricuitu 

 rists in Holland and Belgium that make money 

 by giving two pounds sterling for the urine of a 

 single cow a year. They estimate the surface by 

 the square yard which it takes to make a pound 

 of beef, butter or cheese. They feed their living 

 growing plants, as well as their living growing 

 animals. Wheat is now worth in this city $1,.50 

 a bushel, and yet not one farmer in ten can afford 

 to study, or let bis sons study, the things that na- 

 ture uses in forming 40 bushels of wheat on an 

 acre! Who cares whether the straw or stems 

 of this plant are hard, bright, strong, and glassy, 

 little liable to rust, or crinkle, by reason of its 

 containing a good deal of silica in its tissues ? 

 Science tells the wheat grower how to dissolve 

 fine atoms of sand at the roots of his grain, and 

 avoid the growth of coarsg, open, wettk, and 

 spongy stems, which will lu-eak down with an 

 ordinary shower and wind, and form a nidus for 

 the seeds and rapid maturity of parasite plants. 

 Study the soil and learn how to dissolve flint, and 

 form with it a covering to the steins of your wbeal 

 and other grain. 



Study the soil and imderstnnd the true value 

 of alinuiliai iron, lime, potash, soda, magnesia, 

 sulplmr, phosphorus, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, 

 aiui hydrogen. These are the ingredients that 

 Providence has ordained to form the bodies of all 

 that lives, whether vegetable or animal. 



When an impleinent is no longer wanted for 

 the season, lay it carefully aside, but let it be first 

 well cleaned, 



Obtain good seed, prepare your ground well 

 sow early, and pay very little attention to the 

 moon. 



It is better to cut grain just before it is fully r 

 dead ripe. When the straw immediately \ie\ovr 

 the grain is so dry that on twisting it no juice is 

 expressed, it should be cut, for then there is no 

 further circulation of juices to the ear. Every 

 hour that it stands uncut after this stage is attend 

 ed with loss. 



Never plough in bad weather, or when Ihe 

 ground is very wet. 



