^i)t im-nuv'0 ilUn\ti)ii) iluntor. 



41 



I ooiisider iieccasuy at |H'gsei\( can easily liu ae- 

 coin|iru>^li('cl. 



I jirii|i<)f--o that a " striiiilard oFliirtiliiy," wlj'urli 

 will also lie a "slamlar.l ol' qiialily" ol' soils, 

 slioulfl Cor tlie pi-oseiit l)« (biiiiclecl upon the pni- 

 portions o!'" line sand'' uutl "impalpable mat- 

 ter." 



It is the impalpahle matter that jrives the qual- 

 ity of heaviness or li;;litness to soils ; and it will 

 he ohservi-'d, hy glanciiig at llie geiK.'ral analysi.- 

 detailed above, that it contains the piineipai iu- 

 nrpiiiie and Terlilizin^ inirredienls in all suils. 



While, then, we only coiMinence oni' standard 

 fonnded npoii this well-Nnown };i'nerd division 

 of a soil, we jnn^t hope, as A^urienknral Chenjis- 

 try progresses and expejinients are njnliiplieil, ui 

 rarry onr investiiMlions further, and liiund a pur 

 feet standard npon a perfeet series of analyses. 



In all soils there is a variable unionnt of moist- 

 ure, whii-h can only he driven off by heal. This 

 property of retaining moisture is grealest in hea- 

 vy soils, or those in which ihej-e is the largest 

 portion of impalp.ible matter ; and the least in 

 light soils, where tliat innportion is less. Here, 

 then, we have oin- starling-point dependent npon 

 our standard ofiertility; for it is not necessary 

 for m:i to allude to the important hearing of this 

 quality of soils to its fejiiliiy. 



In heavy soils.'tlio anionnt of insensible moist- 

 ure may be tlxed as a rna.ximuin ill om.'-eighth of 

 the entire soil ; the loose gravel and imdecoiupos- 

 ed vegiitabh) fibre at one-eighth invire. 



Thus; if we take 400 grains, we shall have as a 

 niaxinnim in heavy soils 50 grains of moistine, 

 nnd 50 grains of loose gravel ar]<l inKlecomposeil 

 vegeialile libre. It will seldo/n exceed this pro- 

 portion, but will freipienlly be below it. We 

 shall now have 300 grains, which are divisible l;y 

 n very sitiiple procc.-ss into t\vo portions, a line 

 sand and an impalpable pi.nvder. The question 

 is now to decide what are the projioi tions of these 

 iwo substances— for this will fix the characti;r of 

 the soil. In ;i heavy len.acions soil which 1 le 

 cently examined, the result was JOS grains of ini 

 palpable powder, 187 of tine sand, 54 grains of 

 coarse gravel, 35 grains of moisture, ami the rest 

 vegetable and infimal matter and loss. This soil 

 the fill iner fohl me would grow good crops of 

 Corn, if lie could but " work it ;" but the difiieul- 

 ty in doing this was such, that he C(Uisiilered it 

 the worst field on his farm. Now it windd in)t 

 be sound to attempt to establish principles npon 

 n single experiment, hut as the result agrees ve- 

 ry innch with liie observations of olhins, and has 

 been, uilli liiile variation, cotifniried by other 

 experirnenis, I am induced to propose one part 

 of impalpable mailer in lour of the entire soil, to 

 he characteristic of a fair s|)eciinen of heavy soil ; 

 every five grains above this standard bringing it 

 nearer lo aiisolnte day, ami every five L'rains he- 

 low approximating it lo the atainlard i propose 

 to fix lor. 



Light Soils. — In an excellent light soil which I 

 examined, and which will be further allndeil lo 

 liereafter, I found the following i)roporti(ms in 

 400 grains:— 



Moisture . . . . -21 griins. 

 Loose t^ra^el . .27 ■' 



Fine sniid . . - . ^li) " 

 Impilp.ible matter . . 7.1 " 

 Loss . . , . .2.5 ■■ 



400 grains. 



Sir H. Davy, in an excellent Wheat-soil, foimd 

 three parts in five, fine sand, lie does not state 

 the pro[)oriion of imp.dpable matter, hut assu- 

 ming that one part was of moisture and coarse 

 gravel, his analysis would be — 



Moisture and coarse saad. Undecomposed fibre nnd 



loss ao 



Fine sind 2t0 



Impalpable matter 80 



400 

 fli.any good lertile light soils, particularly Tur- 

 nip-lands, have a nnich less pro[)oilion ofimpal- 

 pable inatter than stated here; but 1 think we 

 may fiiirly take the inoportions of (iij impalpable 

 matter to 231 of fine .sand, as a standard of good 

 light soil, lieitig as one in six to the whole soil. 

 When the proportion is as low as one p.ut o( 

 impalpable matter in ten of the entire soil, J 

 should denominate such a s il sandy, the fertili- 

 ty gradually decreasing as the proportitni of im- 

 palpable matter diminishes, until ahsolnte sterili- 

 ty is arrived .at, which, upon the anihority of Sir 

 II. Davy, we may fix at 20 in 400 gr.-.iii.s. nr one 

 in 20 of the entirii 90II. 



My standards would then come in the Ibiluw- 

 ing order — 

 Ij.irreu ; clay 



linpalp, matter. Fine sand. (.'oarFp env- 



oi iSL nil) uro. 

 I'Vrtile ; heavy Boils 100 or J of the soil "iOO JOG 



l-'crtMi; ; light soils . 66 or l-l> oltlie soil 234 100 



l^.-rtile; s.iiuiy . 40 or 1-10 oflhe soil 2150 100 



Uirreiijsnnd . . 20 ..r 1 .20ol ihe soil 2S0 100 



Beuveen these standards there will ofciurse 

 be a great many shades of difTerence, but the 

 character of the soil is easily determined by its 

 .ipjiroximalion to the above figures. Tims, if the 

 amount of inipalp,rble matter in 400 grs. he fiom 

 11:5 to 84 gr.--., tiie soils are varieties of heavy 

 soils ; if it vary from SI to 54 grs., they are vari- 

 eties of light soils; and if it he 50, or 30, or 25, 

 they would be Sjiecimens of s.-mdy soils. 



Tims we see how easily, with a liitit care and 

 attention to experiniciils, a seiies of standards of 

 the lerlilily ofsoils might be established. The 

 amount of cai-honate of lime indicalnig the for- 

 mer, and of vegetable matter the latter. Ifnl as 

 the greater expeiience of others will not fail to 

 sng^-est them, ! refrain from nieutiouing stan- 

 dards by which the lerlilily of these soils may be 

 easily fixed. The ferlihiy of all soils is relative. 

 One will produce a good crop of Corn, and a b.id 

 one of Turnips, and another vice versii. This dif- 

 ference is almost entirely owing to the dispro- 

 portion of impalp.-ible matter and siliceous sand, 

 and in many cases it is irremediable, except by a 

 very consiilerable onllay of capital. Tlius, in the 

 heavy soil which 1 h.ive mi.'ntioned above as con- 

 lainiiig 108 parts of impalpable matter to 187 of 

 sand, to make it a workable soil it would he ne- 

 cessary lo riMluce the 1(;8 by at least 10 per cent., 

 and r.iise the pioporlion of sand as mneli. 



How is this to he done .' exclaims the intelli- 

 gent ovMierof the soil. Where is the value ofa 

 science which describes to ine a disease, but liiils 

 to suggest a remedy ? in answer to these que- 

 ries 1 would observe, that the first step towards 

 the cure ofa dise.ise is to investigate its nature. 

 If the disease is beyinid remedy in its severe 

 forms, it ma/ he ipiiie m.inageabie in its milder 

 stages. So it is with Chemistry as applied to Agri- 

 cultm-e. Though it might be impossible in the 

 above case to carry on lo the land snflicient sand, 

 to raise the elements of the soil to workable anil 

 li'rlrlizing prc'pm-lions, it would be by no ineai's 

 difBcidl to do ,vo were the dincrence less, in dis- 

 tricts where the niatei iai could he obtained, it 

 is a well-known common practice to carry clay 

 on to figlit lauds where the impalpable m.ilter 

 which coi>taiiis the aluminous earlli is deficieiit. 

 The utility also of carrying marl on to heavy soil, 

 is well known. Now marl, which is an impure 

 curlionaie of lime, can only he of use in two 

 ways, either by rendering the texture of the soil 

 loo-ier — an important means of admitting moist- 

 ine and air into the interior of the land — or it 

 may be useful hy absorbing moisture which con- 

 tains ammonia, and thus indirectly contributing 

 to the siippnit and nomishmeiit of the plant. A 

 small amount only of ihe c-nbonate of lime 

 (clialk or mail) is absorbed by the roots of the 

 plant.=, and the experiments ofchemists have pro- 

 ved that the carbon necessary fiir the support of 

 plants is derived from the carbonic acid of the 

 atmosphere, and not fiom inoriianic matter in 



thl!SOll. 



On the contrary, silicate of potash or soda is 

 essentLil'to Ihe growth of Corn and rjrasse.s, so 

 that, when it is piaclic.ahle, much greater benefit 

 may he [iresumed to he ilerivahle from mixing 

 sand instead of chalk with heavy soils. Farmers 

 will soniefnnes go a long way for chalk, when 

 they could obtain s.ind niui-h more easilv. in 

 Horticulture the \i.^e of sand is well kniuvn — 

 why not atlcinpl to carry out the principle npmi 

 which it is used upon a iraiid scale? 1 ought to 

 mention that the whiter the sand the belter, as 

 the red saiiiis sometimes coulaiii i>.oi-e oxide of 

 iron than would he il.seful ; but this need not de- 

 ter any one fiom trying the exps-rjment, as clay 

 soils are generally dcHcient in oxide of iron, a 

 small portion of which is necessary to the growth 

 of plants. 



The importance, then, of olilaioinir, l»v correct 

 analysis, the propoitioii of .sand and impalpable 

 matter is very apparent : and this kiiowledt'e 

 may be obiaiued hy very simple means. I will 

 principally confiiie my observations on Ibis part 

 of the subject in detailing these means. Let Ag- 

 riciiltmistsonly acquire the habit of scientific in- 



quiry, and the more minute processes will be- 

 come ea.sy and liimiliar. 



I [iroceed then to d<'lail the method of distin- 

 gui.-hing the following pro|)eities in all soils: 



Fnsily — 'I'hi.ir reienlion of moisture. 



Secondly — The amount in a given qiiamilv 

 ol soil, of coarse sand and nndeeomposed \e"ti- 

 lableliliie. ° 



Tldrdly — 'I'lie prnpoition of fine sand. 



Fourthly — The proportion of impalpuhle mat- 

 ter. 

 The apparatus necessary for this analysis arc : — 



Isl. A pair ofsaiall scales and weights. 



2d. A spirit-lamp. 



3d. A [jiass iuniii-l and filterin;; paper. 



4lh. One or two I'orccliiil crucibles well baked. 



.5lb. An iron stand and ejass rod. 



6th. A small fiestle and mortar. 



7tli. A iiradualeci halt'-pinl ^lass measui'e. 



8tb. A phial ol niiiri itic acid. 



Any chemisl will supply the.se at a smtill cost. 

 They might be lined into a box and sold logeth- 

 er. 'J'lie operator must then proceed as liillows: 

 A portion of the soil to he examined must be ta- 

 ken from a few inches beneath Ihe surface, and 

 exjiosed lo the air in the sun until it.beemiies 

 sensibly dry. Four hundred grains, or any 

 convenient amount, must he now carefully 

 weighed, and exposed to the heat of the spirit- 

 lamp, a small piece of dry wood or chili lieiu'r 

 placed at the boltoin of the vessel. 



With his ylass rod the operator must stir the 

 soil about mild the chip becomes charred, when 

 the application of heat must be clisi'outinned. 

 'ihe crucible being allowed to cool, ihe soil is 

 now to be weighed and Ihe loss of wiright will 

 indicate the amount of moislme. 'I'liis is a very 

 imporlant chaiacterislic of soils, as their fertili- 

 zing inoperties are well known to he much influ- 

 enced hy their power of retaining nioistnre. 



HonsF.B.— (;. W. Gooch, of Virginia, wiitin:.' to 

 the editor of the Southern Planter, says: " I'lie 

 ordinary mi.'ai.s of |iiugiug a sick horse are so 

 slow in operating, that, in many cases, they do no 

 good, i send you a very simple recipe, with 

 which some of your readers may not he acquaint- 

 ed, which I have never known to liiil, and regard 

 as the hi'st and simplest, i saw it many years 

 ago in the American Farmer, and have tested it: 



"Take a piece of chalk ahoiu the size (d'a w.al- 

 nut, pound il in a mortar, or wrap a rag around 

 it and reduce it to poivder with a hammer or any 

 thing else; put the powder into a qii.ut bottle"; 

 poor common vinegar into liie boitle until the ef- 

 li.'rvesceiice prevents your pouiing in inon?, and 

 (having the horse rea(ly)dreiich him with it. J?nt 

 little vinegar can he got into the bottle the first 

 time, so that yon v\ill have to pour more into it 

 and drench a second time. Ordinarily n pint 

 will do. if il does not operate in five or ten min- 

 utes, persevere in Ihe dose, ;ind in a vei v short 

 time the animal will be well again." 



From the Albany (,'iiltivator. 

 Rearing Calves. 

 Messrs. Editoi-.s — I would beg leave to drop 

 a few remarks on the subject of rearing calves 

 bavin:; had considerable expeiience in that b.aneh 

 of riii-.d economy. When I first conimenei'd i'ann- 

 iiig i had to pay heavy rrnw rales every year, (.-is 

 the term w.as.) i never could get my calve.s ihrongli 



the first "winter wiihunt losing one or more. 



They would grow poor toward spriiiif — iheir 

 hacks would a.ssiinie the appearance of an arch 

 — the scotieis would set in, and they would die 

 in despite of ;dl my care and attention. Experi- 

 ence and rihservation have convinced me th.it /iVe 

 was the prim.ary e.iuse of all the diliicnlty ; and 

 for several years past I have adopted the practice 

 of destroying them in the fall, or finep.irt of 

 winter, since which lime i have not lost a oalf. 

 I h.ive tried many reniedie.-', lint the best thing I 

 have ever tried is sulphur, i take two parts rif 

 lard and one of snl(»lii^, melt the l.ird, an I when 

 nearly cold mix in the sulphur, and rub it Ihor- 

 nuglily on the p.ilts most li-equenled by these 

 troubli'some veiniin, and they will soon disap- 

 pear, il sticks close lo the hide and hair, and 

 eoiiliuues to scent until tlie-y shed their coat, and 

 prevents any more ll-om geitinj; on them from 

 other animals witb which they may chance to 

 come in cont.iet. 1 keep my calves hy them- 

 seUes, and have a wail" .shelter tiir them to "o 

 in when they choose, in adiliiioii to as much good 

 hay as ih-y ran snt. 1 i;i\e them each half ii 



