224 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



horn, and is used in ladies' smelling bottles. 

 The great object is to ffetierate or liberate this 

 under such circumslances ihat it shall pass into 

 muck and counteract its aid. 



But does not lime itself, when put into the 

 muck heap without dung, neutralize the acid? 

 It does, as I'ar as it conies in contact with the 

 muck. Why not then use muck and lime alone, 

 or muck and ashes alone, without putting in 

 dung 1 Because in such cases, the lime and 

 ashes act but little on any other parts of the muck 

 than those which touch the lime or ashes. There 

 is no steam — no gas — to penetrate the lumps and 

 do the work thoroughly. But put in the-dung — 

 raise the sleam — and the steam, if properly con- 

 fined by the outside coating of the heap, will 

 penetrate every lump and particle, and make the 

 whole good for nourishing plants. 



Urine will answer the same purposes of dung 

 in this process of neutralizing acid. Ashes will 

 answer in the place of lime. Loam my be sub- 

 stituted for muck, but is far less valuable. 



Again we urge It upon farmers to consider this 

 subject well ; for we are satisfied that the best 

 inanner of preparing ?ji«c& for use on our lands,' 

 is one of the most important practical questions 

 now agitated by our agriculturists. 



We will dismount now ; but it will not probablj' 

 be long before we shall bestride our hobby again. 



ON THE FAILURE OF NITRATE OF SODA AS 

 MANURE. 



From the London Fanners' Magazine. 



Sir, — Being a constant reader of your excellent 

 publicaton the " Farmers Magazine," and refer- 

 ring to a letter from David Barclay, Esq., in 

 numbers for November of this year, I cannot but- 

 express my surprise and disappointment, that with 

 so many very clever and well-informed agricultu- 

 rists in the Rape of Arundel, no one has stated, 

 to you the general failure and great bss sustained 

 by the use of nitrate of soda on wheat last sprino^, 

 in a district extending from the river Arun west, 

 to the Adur east, and from the sea-coast south 

 to the Weald of Sussex north, comprising every 

 sort of soil, management, and situation. 



I am a very bad hand witii my pen, and shall 

 therefore content myself with stating that the few 

 instances of success form the exception to the 

 general rule of failure. 



Hoping, if you insert this letter in your next 

 number, it may excite some more efficient person 

 to address you on the probable causes of the 

 failure 1 liave referred to, I am, sir, your obedient 

 servant, Ignoramus, 



Arundel, Sussex, December I9th, 1840. 



SEVENTH AGRICULTURAL, MEETING. 



{Feb. 25. — Mr. King in the chair.] 



The secretary announced the subject of discus- 

 sion — Soils and JVlanures. 



Mr. Teschemacher, Superintendent of the Bo- 

 tanic i&arden and Conservatory, in Boston, pre- 

 sented three pots of geraniums, one of which had 



been grown in the natural method, two by an ar- 

 tificial process. Mr. T. stated that he had re- 

 cently read Liebig's work on organic chemistry, 

 as connected with agriculture, and considered it a 

 valuable contribution to science. Liebig stood 

 very high in his profession as a chemist; and pre- 

 sented views in relation to soils and manures, 

 quite different liom those which are usually en- 

 tertained. Liebig supposes that plants, by de- 

 composing the air, receive a considerable propor- 

 tion of their nourishment from the atmosphere. 

 The plants which he presented to the meeting, 

 he called liis Liebigites, because they wore grown 

 under the application ofLiebig's principles, though 

 this was undertaken before Liebig's work had 

 been seen. The geranium grown in the common 

 way presented a leaf four inches across. The 

 geranium grown by the artificial process, was from 

 seed sown last September, and was potted last 

 December, and the leaf of it now was six and 

 one half inches broad. This was a remarkable 

 growth. He supposes the effect may be as great 

 in the flowers as in the foliage. If he is success- 

 ful in producinif flowers corresponding with the 

 size of the leaves, he will acquaint the public with 

 the process which he has adopted. The subject 

 has a direct bearing upon agriculture. What af- 

 fects one species of plants, will be as likely to af- 

 fect others. In this case there was no poudrette 

 used; and he considered the result remarkable and 

 encouraging. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson inquired whether these prin- 

 ciples are peculiar to Liebig; or are they well 

 known, and such as have been published in other 

 works. He thinks Liebig's discoveries not origi- 

 nal. The existence of ammonia in rain water is 

 not a new discovery. There was no doubt it 

 might always be found in rain water falling in 

 the vicinity of cities ; in such a situation Liebig 

 discovered it. Mr. Hayes, ol Roxbury, discovered 

 it in the rain water in V^ermont. 

 ■ Mr. Teschemacher inquired whether the dis- 

 covery had ever been made known before it was 

 made known by Liebig. It does not appear that 

 it has been. 



Dr. Jackson then proceeded, agreeably to ap- 

 pointment, to speak of Soils and Manures. 



He stated that he had had little leisure to pre- 

 pare himself lor the evening; and he must draw 

 upon his recollection for facts. He has devoted 

 many years to agricultural chemistry, with a view 

 to the advancement of agricultural science. He 

 wishes particularly to present some important 

 rules in the management of composts. 



His first remarks would have relation to soils. 

 All soils originate li'om the crumbling and disinte- 

 gration of rocks. Under the influence of air, 

 water, frost, and mineral substances in the rocks, 

 the hardest of them will be reduced to powder. 

 Soils vary according to the different characters of 

 the rocks from which they are derived. This is 

 distinctly shown in nature ; and it will be found 

 that gruups of plants are peculiar to certain soils. 

 Simple soils consist mainly of one mineral sub- 

 stance ; compound soils of several united. Allu- 

 vial soils which are formed by the flowing of wa- 

 ter, by which various matters are taken up and 

 deposited together, are of course compound soils, 

 as they embrace a variety of elements. Diluvial 

 soils are found in those parts of the country where 

 there are evident traces of a rush or flood of wa- 



