260 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Cj!i 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE N. Y. STATE 

 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In the address of Professor Norton, of Yale Col- 

 lege, before the Seneca County Agricultural Soci- 

 ety, published in the "Transactions of the N. Y. 

 State Agricultural Society," for the year 1850, we 

 noticed at our first reading some weeks since, sev- 

 eral errors, which it seemed to us important to 

 have corrected. Professor Norton is a gentleman 

 of learning, and deservedly high reputation. His 

 contributions to the advancement of scientific ag- 

 riculture, and the interest he constantly manifests 

 in the good cause in which we labor, entitle him to 

 our respect. And it is because the results of Prof. 

 Norton's researches upon the subject of Agricul- 

 tural chemistry are generally received without ex- 

 amination or question, that we have thought it 

 proper to call attention to the mistakes which we 

 have observed. The subject of analysis of soils, 

 and of the grain, or other product desired, as a 

 means of directing our farming operations, is at- 

 tracting much attention. 



"We have a great curiosity to look into nature's 

 laboratory, and see how she combines her various 

 elements to form the plant and flower and seed. 

 We have become at last pretty well satisfied that 

 even nature works by means, and cannot form a 

 grain of wheat without making use of already ex- 

 isting particles of matter in its production. 



The address of Prof. Norton is upon the cultiva- 

 tion of wheat in New York, and especially on the 

 analysis of wheat soils, and of the grain and other 

 straw of wheat, with a view to a more intelligent 

 cultivation. 



Having given a table showing the "Composition 

 of the Grain and Straw of Wheat," and another 

 "Table to illustrate the Composition of Wheat 

 Soils," he proceeds to show, by mathematical cal- 

 culation, in how long a time the soil would be ex- 

 hausted of some of the essential elements of wheat. 



We first give his own language from the printed 

 report, page 593. 



"It is estimated that the weight of soil over an 

 acre, taking it at ten inches deep, varies little from 

 one thousand tons. In soil No. 2, there is about 

 one-fourth pound of phosphoric acid in every one 

 hundred pounds of, soil ; this would give five 

 pounds in each ton, and consequently, two and a 

 half tons to the acre, a very great quantity. 



"One hundred pounds of wheat, it will be re- 

 membered, contain about two pounds of ash; forty 

 bushels of wheat on the acre, weighing sixty 

 pounds per bushel, w r ould be two thousand four hun- 

 dred pounds , and this would contain one hundred and 

 twenty pounds of ash ; one-half or sixty founds of 

 this, would be phosphoric acid. Supposing the 

 grain to be sold off, and the straw only, or its 

 equivalent, returned as manure, it would take be- 

 tween eighty and ninety years ofunintcrmitted crop- 

 ping to exhaust this soil." 



According to our arithmetic, the latter part of 

 the above paragraph should be as follows : — 



One hundred pounds of wheat, it will be remem- 

 bered, contain about two pounds of ash ; forty 

 bushels of wheat on the acre weighing sixty pounds 

 per bushel, would be two thousand four hundred 

 pounds, and this would contain forty-eight founds 

 of ash ; one-half or twenty-four pounds of this, 

 would be phosphoric acid. Supposing the grain to 

 be sold off, and the straw only, or its equivalent, 

 returned as manure, it would take two hundred and 

 eight and one-third years, of unintermitted crop- 

 ping to exhaust the soil. 



The same error is found at page 599, where it 

 is said, "Forty bushels of wheat, it will be recol- 

 lected, carry off about sixty founds of phosphoric 

 acid." It should be twenty-four founds. 



On the former page, 593, we have it printed 

 thus — "Even of chlorine, which is but one-half of 

 a found in every hundred, or only one found in a 

 ton, there would therefore be one thousand pounds 

 or half a ton in an acre." Instead of "one-half of 

 a pound in every hundred," it should be, as we 

 understand it, one-twentieth of a found in every 

 hundred. 



The next paragraph in the same page is as fol- 

 lows : — 



"Of potash and soda, there are in the second 

 soil about three and a quarter pounds in one hun- 

 dred, or sixty-five pounds in one ton, .amounting to 

 thirty-two and a half tons per acre." 



By reference to Table 2 on the opposite page it 

 will be seen that in the "second soil" referred to 

 by Mr. Norton, the proportion of potash is set 

 down at 2.80, and the soda at 1.44, equal to 4.24, 

 or four and a quarter pounds in one hundred, or 

 eighty-five pounds in a ton, on forty-two and a half 

 tons per acre. 



In no spirit of cavilling or fault-finding, do we 

 call attention to this matter, but we do it, because 

 the adoption of these calculations as correct might 

 lead to further errors, almost interminable. It is, 

 in many soils, of vital consequence, whether a 

 crop of wheat takes 24 or 60 pounds of phosphoric 

 acid from each acre, although it is to be observed, 

 that every error which has been suggested, weak- 

 ened, instead of strengthening the learned Profes- 

 sor's argument! His positions would have been 

 stronger had his calculations been accurate. 



We commend the whole address to our readers, 

 for its plain and practical treatment of a difficult 

 though interesting branch of agricultural knowl- 

 edge. 



A mistake or two in his ciphering, by no means 

 affects Prof. Norton's high claims to our respect 

 and confidence. It would be strange, were there 

 not a little chaff in so much good wheat. It is an 

 old saying, that "the best sometimes err," and 

 the present instance only illustrates its truth. 



A Good Hint. — Always do as the sun does — 

 look at the bright side of every thing ; it is just aa 

 cheap, and three times as good for digestion. 



