78 



CHA 



CHA 



seed constitutes an exception, and 

 that it uniformly is improved by 

 change. It may be so ; it is im- 

 portant that this should be tested 

 by frequent trials — but we believe 

 that the best general rule is to se- 

 lect our best seeds and roots, or to 

 buy them of our successful neigh- 

 bours,rather than to rely on foreign 

 productions. 



CHARCOAL, wood charred, or 

 burnt with a slow, smothered fire. 

 The making of charcoal is a busi- 

 ness mostly performed by farmers. 

 And in clearing new lands, making 

 their wood into coals is better than 

 burning it to waste, unless the dis- 

 tance of a market for coals be too 

 great. One cord of wood will 

 make forty bushels of coals : And 

 those farmers who are not distant 

 from populous towns, or who are 

 near iron works, may turn their 

 coals to considerable profit. 



1 have long observed, that where 

 coal kilns have been burnt, the 

 ground has discovered a remarka- 

 ble fertility for many years after ; 

 and more especially when it has 

 been naturally a cold and wet soil. 

 The dust of the coals and that of 

 the burnt turf, have conspired to 

 produce this effect. Hence I have 

 concluded that small coals, or the 

 dust from coal kilns, spread over 

 sour meadow lands, would answer 

 the end of a good manure. Being 

 extremely porous, the pieces of 

 coal imbibe much of the superflu- 

 ous water, as well as increase the 

 heat on the surface, as all black 

 substances do. And when the 

 weather becomes dry, they dis- 

 charge the moisture, partly into the 

 soil when it grows dry enough to 



attract it, and partly into the air, 

 by the action of the sun upon it. — 

 Autumn is, on several accounts, the 

 best season for laying on coal 

 dust ; and I would recommend it 

 to all who have bottoms of kilns, to 

 make this use of the dust. 



1 have been confirmed in my 

 opinion, by reading in the Complete 

 Farmer as follows : " The dust of 

 charcoal has been found, by re- 

 peated experience, to be of great 

 benefit to land, especially to such 

 as is stiflfand sour. It is to be used 

 in the same manner as soot and 

 wood ashes." 



All sorts of glass vessels, and oth- 

 er utensils, may be purified from 

 long retained smells of every kind, 

 in the easiest and most prrfect 

 manner, by rinsing them out well 

 with charcoal powder, after the 

 grosserimpurities havebeen scour- 

 ed ofT, with sand and pot-ash. Pu- 

 trid water is immediately deprived 

 ofits offensive smell by charcoal. 



Meat which has been kept too 

 long in summer, may be deprived 

 ofits bad smell, by throwing into 

 the pot in which it is cooked just 

 before it begins to boil, a quantity 

 of live coals destitute of smoke ; 

 after a ievf minutes the water 

 should be changed, and if necessa- 

 ry the operation may be repeated. 

 See the article Meat. 



For a further account of the use 

 of coal in agriculture, see Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural Repository, 

 vol. in. pages 18, 19. 



CHARLOCK, Sinapis, a well 

 known and troublesome weed. It 

 is known also by the names chad- 

 lock, catlock, carlock, and white 

 rape. It is similar to radish. The 



