THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



15^ 



REMARKS ox SOME PORTION OF TIIK " PRIZ K 

 essay'' OF DR. WM. L. IIORTOiV. 



An essay on manure?, and oilier means of en- 

 richins; lamls, by Dr. Wm. L. [lorton of Ilarlord 

 county, JMd., was published in a late number ol 

 the 'American Farmer' in the imposing attitude 

 of having received the prize ottered by the pro- 

 prietor of that paper for the best essay, to be pre- 

 pared and ofTercd on that subject, and wiih that 

 view. The high ground thus assumed for this 

 communication, and which will probably cause it 

 to be republished and praised in many other 

 papers, makes it proper /or us to take some 

 notice oC it— instead of passing it unnoticed, as 

 would otherwise have been done, if judging it 

 upon its merits, instead of its pretensions. 



This essay is any thing but a practical guide to 

 agriculture. The opinions advanced and direc- 

 tions given do not appear to be the result of experi- 

 ence and practical knowledge. Wheiher prac- 

 tical or theoretical, there is but little in the es- 

 say that is either new or original, and that liitle 

 is worthless. Some of the things which we admit 

 to be both new and original, are the following opi- 

 nions on turnips and white clover: 



" As lo turnips, they area very worthless vegeta- 

 ble, and not worth the trouble of cultivation. Six 

 or eight bushels are as many as any former need 

 care about raising." 



" White clover bears the same rank, in the esti- 

 mation of the writer, among grasses, that the tur- 

 nips do among roots — " a very worthless kind of 

 thing" — I would never wish to see a spear of it 

 on a farm of mine. It is a cursed vine that runs 

 from Dan to Beersheba — It is a pest and intru- 

 der. We intend to serve it as others have served 

 the Canadian thistle— salt it." 



We deem no particular comment necessary on 

 this rare and sweeping sentence of condemnation. 



Of lime, as manure, the author speaks in very 

 high commendation, but with even less informa- 

 tion than on most other branches of his subject. 

 However, he rejects the different received opi- 

 nions of the mode of operation, and presents a 

 theory of his own, which, as we cannot pretend 

 to do justice to by abstract or abridgment, will be 

 copied at length in his own words. 



" It may be expected that we should offer our 

 views as to the modus operandi of lime ; this part 

 of the subject we approach with some diffidence, 

 and without any pretension to freedom from error; 

 but as we have embarked on the troublesome 

 ocean of philosophical speculation, we may, as 

 well as our compeers, hazard a conjecture, leaving 

 it to our readers to judge of its accuracy. 



" Lime cannot long remain in the soil as a calx, 

 calcium, or quick-lime ; but by its attraction of 

 carbonic acid from the atmosphere, it becomes a 

 carbonate. In this primary action of absorbirtg 

 carbonic acid, a portion is at the same time taken 



up by the plant. But why, it maybe aske<], ia 

 lime so durable in its eflecis upon the; Foil ? 'I'liat 

 lime has the effect of loosening a iieavy, cluyey 

 soil, is a point conceded by all who hnvf ufivd \t 

 on such soils. 1 do not believe, wiili Protestor 

 Ducatel and some other chemists, that the oxalic, 

 or any other /ree acid exists to any considerable 

 extent in any soil ; lime then is not necessary to 

 neutralize an acid in the soil. Calcium, or quick 

 lime, is more readily di^salved than the carbonate; 

 and as almost all plants, and particularly wheal 

 and oats, contain a portion of lime, they may 

 receive it as a part of their necessary food in this 

 way. Carbonate of lime, or lime-stone, requires 

 a much larger quantity of water to dissolve it ; 

 nevertheless it is while in the soil always under- 

 going a slow decomposition, and is thus taken up 

 by the plant. 



" h is admitted by all who have used lime on 

 such soils, that it renders clayey ones lighter, and 

 sandy soils more compact. The experiments of 

 the writer have been on a soil of ihe first descrip- 

 tion — argillaceous — and belbre he used lime he 

 had great trouble in pulverizing it. Land that 

 was limed five or six years ago is at this time 

 quite sufficiently pulverulent and friable. 



"How does lime produce this effect 7 Is it 

 merely such a mechanical division as is effected 

 on clay with sand, or is it something different ? 



" Certain bodies, although they may not enter 

 into chemical union, attract each other — repulsion 

 is a properly of other bodies. Let us take quick- 

 silver lor instance. The ultimate panicles of thia 

 metal have an attraction for each other, as may 

 be observed when violence is used lo separate 

 them, the)' form into innumerable sphericlcs, or 

 globules. With some substances it will enter 

 into chemical union — with others it will form no 

 such compound. We never see, nor hear of, a 

 carbonate of quicksilver. It will mix with some 

 metals as an amalgam. Tin, lead, silver, gold, 

 are of this cinss ; but it will not mix with iron. 

 There is such a powerful repulsion existing be- 

 tween turpentine and this metal, that the more 

 you'attempt to unite them, the more the metal ffies 

 into a million parts and utterly refuses an admix- 

 ture until it is reduced to an impalpable powder or 

 oxide. Honey of the same consistence will not 

 have any such effect. 



" Lime has a metallic base — calcium — and 

 Orfila says that clay or argil has also — aluminum 

 — others deny this to clay ; but it does not destroy 

 our hypothesis, which is this: — that lime and 

 clay are two distinct heteroiren*^ous bodies; and 

 that so far from having a chemical affinity, or 

 attraction for each other, they are decidedly re- 

 pellent, and that in atiemptini? to mix them they 

 not only refuse to come in contact, but ffy asunder 

 like the balls of an electrometer — or the dust froa> 

 sealing wax excited by electricity. 



"If it be said that the division is mcchanicaf, 

 and such as would be effected by sand, we deny 

 (he assertion, and can prove to the contrary in two 

 ways. 1st. We say that the same quantity of 

 sand will not have the same effect on clay. 2d. 

 That a solution of lime will cause clay to become 

 friable. Then beside the natural food which lime 

 affords to plants it loosens the stiff clayey soils, 

 and renders them permeable to their roots in 

 search of their necesary aliment. 



"If it be true, as is asserted by many, that lime 



