26 



(S;i)c iTarmei'ci iHcintl)li3 tlioitor. 



(i!:iiiiiria it li-eiiiiently fulls or lodgBS lii^Core it 

 lii;;i(lri cult, ;iii(1 when iii.idn into li;iy it will wriyli 

 ri::lit .•icronliii!! lo itslmlU: iiiiii'li ot" lliiji is ficrii- 

 siciiifd l)_v a ilctir.ii'iicv ol'silf.x. Tlii;s.uiic lesiills 

 me tVe(|iic;iilly (t.\liil)ili:cl on leclMiircLMl iiicjidiuvs, 

 \vln!re liiHi-e i* .-! irn-iil aiiintinl of di-LMviii" vuge- 

 tidile iiiiillBi'. A coiii|iostol'Miiiiiiiie, u itlj a l.iiye 

 niiMiifiiy of aslies and line sand, is llii; riglit drt-ss- 

 iui; for siicli spots. 



When llie primitive •jiowlli of wood on our 

 new lands is felled, and linnit ii|ion tlie <;ioinid, 

 and tliere is soinetinn's t.vo or lliree Innidrec! 

 cords |)cr ari'p and none of tlie iislies carried olf, 

 we ainiosi invarialilv ol>tain a lieavv ero|i l^f wliea! 

 or rM'. 1 have Uiiouii of more than 50 Imshels 

 of vvlieat, or GO hnshels of rye per aere on siieh 

 lands. The intense heat .shivers np the rocks: 

 the jrreat amount of alkali readily dissolves the 

 disintefjr.iled roek, and, in its soluble .state, it 

 lorms a stiff stalk, with a hard, liiick ^alaze upon 

 the straw, which prevents the rnptminir of the 

 sap vessels; the sap, inste.-id of oozing ont iipcui 

 the stalk and rnsfiii;;, is carried to the hea<l of the 

 fcrain and tills it with a heavy, phiinp kernel. — 

 The crops of frrass that follow for several ye.irs 

 correspond with the ^rrain cro|)s, l>iit nltirnat(dy 

 the ve^eiidile matter is used irpatfil nearly all the 

 soluble potash is iiseil np — .so that the farmer 

 iiMisl resort to the plough and iiiaruire to get a 

 fair crop ag.iin. 



Every praelical farmer who lias attempted to 

 raise wheat on hi:;iily manured land thai has 

 liecii loll!.- ciiltivati'il. knows that it is lialde to 

 lodiie, and very friMjiionlly rust or mildew. The.se 

 two evils mi;.'ht, 1 think, he nearly remedied hy 

 the appliiMtioii of the ri^ht amount of aslies— if 

 that r>!{ht anionnt could be nscerlained and obtain- 

 ed hv the firmer. As to the aiiioinit, he need 

 not fear of jieltiiig on too much, if he w ill just 

 reflect how iiiueli is left upon an acie of bninr 

 l.iiid where two or three hnndred cords of hanl 

 wood iscniiverled lo ashes; hiit in all prohaliil- 

 itv a vciij iiiuch less amount would an^wer. J 

 conceive there is Inn little ditficnity in any or ev- 

 ery farmer's ohtainiiii; his supply, hy ploughing 

 up a small patch of sandy or irravelly suard land 

 and leltinir the furrows remain till dry, iheii com- 

 mence a fire, with .a small quantiiy of wood, and 

 •.'r.idiially pile on the sods, and very large heaps 

 may thus he coiiveited to aslips. The vegelahle 

 matter would he burnt, the (larticles of ipi.ntz, 

 feldsp.ir and mica would he broken and shivered 

 and thereby rendered sidoble, and aft'ord those 

 verv sails so essenlial to a good growth of grain. 

 .After the mass had become c.iol enough lo be 

 removed ii should he put under cover, to be ap- 

 plied !o 111- "heal gionnd. alier being jjloiighed 

 in the spring'. In all probability tifo'eii or twen- 

 ty cart-loids would have the desired effect, and 

 the ijood (itti'Cts would also be lilt for several 

 years by the snceeeding cro|is. 



preipieiitly promising crops of wheat are al- 

 most entirely ilestroyed by rust. On highly iiia- 

 nined lainls, if there happens lo be a day or two 

 of warm, sti-aniy, good corn weather, in .July or 

 Aimnsi, at about the time wheat is in the milk, 

 the rush of sap is so great, that if it do not pro- 

 duce apoplexy, it does that which is ne.irly as 

 l):,d — it rnpliires the tender and inejideni coating 

 111 the sl.ilk ; the sap vessels hin>t ; the s.ap ex- 

 udes, and forms a coat of nist, and the crop is 

 nearly ruined. In some of the agricidtnral pa- 

 pers the lasi year 1 read an aecomit that wheat 

 never rusted w.ieie it was sowed upon an old 

 coal heath, and that grass and other cro|)s iil- 

 wa.s succeed well and were liixni iani. I think 

 this was attributed to the remains of the char- 

 coal ; but perhaps a part might be justly altribn- 

 led to some other cause — to its fnriii.shing a thick- 

 er coat of ijlaze to the grain, and presenting the 

 rii|ituiing of the sap vessels. 



I ml:;hl i-ile a great many more facts in aildi- 

 tion, to siiil>lV any one of the benefit of adding 

 to our cnltiv.ited soils, potash in a more soluble 

 stale than we find it, as locked np in sand,_grav- 

 e.l, stones or rocks. You will find some of llieiii 

 ill '.Mr. Colinan's 4ih Report, viz. .Mr. llaLmerton's 

 compost of peat and barilla ; Mr. .T.uvi-'s account 

 of glass factory manure; Mr. Whipple's state- 

 ments ill regard lo the value of salt petre or iii- 

 tio — that being about one-half potash ; 10'2 lbs. 

 of nitre conlains as much potash as 79 lbs. of pot 

 or peailash of commerce. He applies about 150 

 lb.-', to ihe acre. 



But asln-e are also iiteful in agriciilturi* for neu- 



tralizing aciilily in soils, and for the forinalion of 

 nitre or saltpetre (iir agricultural purposes. 



In the (lib mimber (.lime, 184'2,) of the Farm 

 <'r':i Monlhlv Visiior, there is taken fioiii the ".Ail- 

 baiiy CuhivMlor" all article or review of Dr. 

 D.uia's Mnik Manual. In this article there is a 

 statement made by the Doctor, .-ind another by 

 Ihe reviewer, which I think are calculated lo lead 

 to erroneous couclnsioiis. The Doctor says, his 

 first principle in agricultural cheinisliy is "one 

 rock and conseipienily one soil :''— from this he 

 lavs down his second priiici)de, " that rocks do 

 not affect the vegetation wnich covers ihein."^- 

 The ri'viewer .<a)s that "rocks certainly exert a 

 powerful iiitlnence on the soil that covers iheiii 

 in many cases," but ihi.s, lie says, •' is ov\iiig to 

 their /j/iysica.' condition, and i oi to their chtmiad 

 cousiiiu'iiou." Now 1 think, to the mind of ev- 

 ery liiiiner, the plain English of the above would 

 be this: All soils are derived from rocks: all 

 rocks are (diemieally the same: er^'o, the chemi- 

 cal constituents of rocks never affect vegetation. 



For the sake of many of our liirmers, I wish 

 the above was true ; but the weak ;ind sickly ap- 

 pearance, and light and short cro|)s of corn, we 

 every vear see growing upon soils coiilainiug 

 sulpiiiirale of iron— iron pyrites, or what farmers 

 more commonly call biiiii>toiie rocks, proves the 

 above dia-trine iinirne. There are»si.\ thousand 

 of acres of laud in this Stale, that once yielded 

 heavv crops of corn, that now with a dressing 

 of fifteen or twenty lo.ids of manure will not give 

 more than the saiiie number of bushels of com, 

 and without manure it would not yield five bush- 

 els per acre ; and this decrease in amount of 

 crop, is almost wholly in consequence of siil- 

 plmrous or sulplitiric acid in the soil, derived from 

 the disiutegraiioii of rocks containing sulphur 

 and iron, llundreds of onr fiirniers have dug 

 sofid and heavy rocks from the soil, and laid them 

 into wall, and -soon the oxygen of the air and 

 w.-iler (ombines with the iron, and it is decom- 

 posed and coiuerted loan oxide or rust ; this sets 

 the sulphur fic-e, and that combines with oxygen 

 and Ibriiis sul|iliurous or siil|)hiiric acid, accord- 

 ing to the amount of o.xysen in comliiuatiou with 

 the Milphnr. This renders the soil acid, and uu- 

 fortnnatolv the more this land is worked by the 

 plough and harrow, the worse it is, by ex|iosing 

 the stone inorc! and more to the action of the 

 osygeii and eliminating increased quantities of 

 sulphur. 



When corn is planted on lands, containing this 

 acid, derived from such rocks, it generally looks 

 well and piomisiiig lor a tew weeks, at least as 

 louL' as the pl.iiit draws its noiirishineiil from the 

 decomposing kernel. But after the rootlets on 

 the main roots are formed, and they begin to ful- 

 fil their office, by alisorbiug water from Ihe soil, 

 a re-aclion t.ikes place and the plant remains sta- 

 tionary tiir sever.d weeks — the leaves assume a 

 reililish purple color, the main root is cmroded 

 or rusted off, to the length of one or two inches, 

 and the firmer generally lays all the blame to 

 worms, when in'fact, there may not be a dozen 

 in uii ai-re. Afier a while a new set of roots 

 st.irt out at the lower joint, but so few and weak, 

 the crop is light, and .i largn porlion of the corn 

 ill attempting .o cut it, is pulled up at harvesting, 

 by Ihe .-iekle. 



1 think upon inquiry among farmers having 

 lands coutaioiii:; this kind of rock, you will fiiul 

 hundreds that will confirm my statement.s. Here 

 the inquiry may arise, is there any remedy ? Yes : 

 nnleached ashl's will neutralize the acidiiy of 

 such soils, (precisely as salaBralus does sour 

 dough.) by coinbiniug vvilli the free acid of the 

 soiland lin-ming a neutral sulphate of (xitash. — 

 But I li.ive my doubts about plaster of Paris l.eiii:: 

 iisetid on siii-h soils. ti>r it is composed of -10 

 parts su I ph uric acid, (oil of viiriol) and '28 of lime ; 

 but the aciil is neutralized by the lime, and there- 

 fire inert. But reasoning from chemical prin- 

 ciples ; if we apply to such soils, hydrate or 

 >lacked lime, it will rombine with the acid of 

 the soil, and the lime will be converted into sul- 

 phate of lime — plaster of I'aris— and thus re- 

 move the free acid from Ihe soil, in the ratio of 

 10 lbs. of aciil lo '2l? Mis. of lime. It can also be 

 remedied by vcrij heavy ilre.ssings of manure ; 

 lint lliat is not a'lw.iys within the reach of the 

 firmer. 



'• It is well :iscertaiiied that ilitferent soils have 

 dift'erenl properties; jMejiidicial lo the growth 

 of some plants, and lavorable to tie' pertcctitui 



of others ;" and it would be a most fbrtmiate cir- 

 cumstance if' these differeni'es in the properties 

 of Koils were better understood, and more gen- 

 erally acted upon by the irreat mass of fiirniers. 

 Notwithstanding die bad character I have given 

 soils containing sulphur in excess, lor growing 

 corn; and for many other crops, it is equally 

 prejudicial; yet it is peculiarly fiivoralile to the 

 perfHClion of others. In Jones's " Conversaiions 

 on Cheniislry," page 130, speaking of su'phur, he 

 say.s, "it exists in some ve^'elables, especially 

 those of u cnicifonn tribe" : that is. ihe tribe of 

 plants consisting of cabbage, tiiinip, miislard, 

 radish and cress, of every variety. In some re- 

 spects this fiinily of plains piKssesses peculiari- 

 ties coin. lined in no oiher Iriiie. 



Jn the Dceniber number of the Genesee Farm- 

 er, page 18.5. there is an extract copied from the 

 Farmer's Joiirual, Eng^., on soiks, hy Win. Chat- 

 terly, from which 1 make the following extract : 



" riiH state of chemical combinations, in which 

 the various ingredients of the soil are fiiinid, al.«o 

 materially injhiencfs its iinrtiliiy, though such 

 combination should (li(fl:r soiuew hut for particu- 

 lar crops: for instance, wheat requires that a por- 

 tion of 6'(7tra, should be in union with potash: 

 and fill- clover, iliat sulphur should exist in the 

 soil in the coudition of a soluble sulphate. In 

 eonfirmaiioii of the above theories, i will relate 

 a tew frhts lliat have come under my immediate 

 observation. In 1837, I came into po.^session of 

 an old firm that had not had a furrow ploughed 

 oil it for ".20 years In one of the fields there were 

 l-'2 or 15 acres that had been yearly mowed all 

 this time, and did not average 5 cwt. of hay per 

 acre. Many of the rocks and stones in the soil 

 were of the 'brimstone order.' That spring I 

 ploughed about all acre and a half— -being as fir 

 as I could judge, the best land of the field, nia- 

 niired with .iboiityO hiails of manure ; soinetliing 

 over an aere w.is pl.inted with potatoes, the rest 

 with corn. From the liiabh' appearance of the 

 soil and the long lime it had l.iid in grass, I ex- 

 pected to have raised a good crop, but in July 

 and August I observed many of the tops wilted 

 and dead. Upon e.xaminalion, 1 Ibnnd the stalks 

 from the surface of liie ground to their roots, 

 entirely corioded or rusted off tiy some cause to 

 me then inexplicable. I think the crop was less 

 than 80 bushels per acre. The part planted w itii 

 corn amounted to nothing except lor fodder. — 

 The next year, ('38) all except one-tenth of an 

 acre was sowed in oats — rusted bad. The tenth 

 of an acre was manured v\itli about fiiiir cart- 

 loads of coarse manure, ploniihcd twice, and 

 sowed v'itli riita baga ahoiit 'iOtii of June — har- 

 vested 1st of November, trimmed close, and ac- 

 curately measured, and the yield was 100 bushels 

 — or 1000 per acre. In '39, the ]iroduce of' tur- 

 nips was very good. The years '-10 and '41, in con- 

 seipience of drought, tlie turnip seed mostly 

 tidied to vegetate, and what few did, the insects 

 destroyed. The past season, ('4"2) I pl.inted three 

 small pieces of land with sijuashes and pumpkins. 

 They weic destroyed by the black bug : one of 

 the pieces was set out with rnta baga plants in 

 July; several very warm days succeeded, and the 

 tops were killed to the surfice of the ground ; and 

 it was piiaiiy days before they showed any signs of 

 life. When they were harvested in November, 

 many of them were the lamest turnips 1 ever 

 saw. The other pieces were sowed kite in July 

 with English turnip seerl by merely hoeing them 

 in, iind nollung farther was done to them till they 

 were harvested. The product was ne.irly tuenty 

 bushels of as fine turnips as ever I saw. I can- 

 not doubt hilt the sulphur in the soil exerted a 

 beneficial influence upon the growth of the tur- 

 iiip.s." 



My experience of four years in cullivaling clo- 

 ver upon this kind of land, fully confirm- Mr. 

 Chalterl\'s statements ; but from the length of 

 this paper I must forbear lo go into particulars. 



The opinions I have expressed in thiscommii- 

 nicalion, 1 tiiisl are correct; wlial I have staled 

 as fkcts. I believe are so, but if J am in an error, 

 1 sh;dl be happy to he set riL'lit, as I liiive no f;i- 

 vorite theories that I wish to establish at the ex- 

 pense of truth. LEVI BARTLETT. 



Warner, Feb. 1843. 



Live honestly, hurt nobody, and render to ev- 

 er*' one his flue. To these three generjd pre- 

 cepts Justinian has reduced the whole doctrine 

 of ]'d\v.—BI'Jckstonr. 



