146 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct. 1845 



most cordially tcmlrred to the olTicers nnd supprintcudpnts of the 

 f ev( ral mil icmd coiiipiinies from Albany and Tmy to Buftalo, for 

 iheir liherality in transporting uninialt for tlic Fair free of charge, 

 atd vititors iit rcJueed prices. 



B. P. JOHNSON, Pres't. 

 L. Tucker, Sec'y. 



LECTURE BY THE EDITOR. 



We copy from the Onondaga Standard, the follow- 

 ino- synopsis of the Editor's remarks at a public meet- 

 inir in the village of Syracuse, made from memory, 

 by Mr. Cooper,becaiise, (what is very unusual in such 

 newspaper report?,) Mr. C. has happily given the 

 main points oi a discourse that occupied an hour in 

 the delivery. We shall take another occasion to 

 speak of "Union School/' its Chemical Laboratory, 

 and able Principal, as they deserve. Acting in con- 

 cert with that excellent, practical, and scientific far- 

 mer, Mr. Geo'. Geddes, Mr. Cooper has commenc- 

 ed a series of of experiments in the culture of corn, 

 which, ^\c trust Avill be extended to the culture of 

 Avheat and other plants, that promise the most use- 

 ful results. 



There are a few statements below, that require a 

 word or two of explanation. 



1st, "The 9 7 per cent of the constitutcnts of all 

 plants found in the air," would, perhaps, be better ex- 

 pressed, bj' saying that from 85 to 99 J per cent of all 

 plants is composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen 

 and nitrogen, which are aeriform bodies that abound 

 in the atmosphere. A potatoe has only one per cent 

 of mineral earthy matter in its composition. Ac- 

 cording to Sprengel, lOOlbs of wheat straw, perfect- 

 ly dry, contain 3| lbs. of ash or mineral matter, and 

 a like amount of dry wheat, 1 8-lOth lbs. Boussin- 

 gault, whom we regard as better authority, makes 

 the former 7 per cent, and the latter, 2, 4-lOth per 

 cent. The average of cultivated plants, is not far 

 from 3 per cent, as stated below . 



2d. Of the amount of Silica (flint sand) in lOOlbs. 

 of the ashes of wheat straw, Sprengel makes it 81 

 per cent. Boussingault 67 per cent. We average 

 the two, and call the proportion 75 per cent. 



From the Onondaga [Syracuse] Standard. 



Dr. Lee's Lecture 

 On the Science of Agriculture, delivered at the Con- 

 gregational Church, on the 22d inst., was one of 

 great interest and importance. His views upon that 

 subject were presented in a clear and lucid manner, 

 and should have been heard by every practical farm- 

 er in the county. 



He stated that mere physical labor is not suffi- 

 cient, but that a knowledge of the organization of 

 plants and their analysis and that of the soil, is re- 

 quired to enable the farmer to draw the greatest pro- 

 duct from the soil for a given amount of labor ; that 

 the art of plowing, sowing and reaping may serve 

 the purpose of wearing out a productive farm, but 

 more knowledge is retpiired to enable the owner to 

 return annually to its fields the substances removed 

 at harvest, at the least possible expense. 



Plants are living beings, and the number which 

 may be produced and brought to maturity on a given 

 amount of land, depends upon the quantity and qual- 

 ity of food given them ; and the quantity of food to 

 be s'lpplicd to yield the greatest profit, depends upon 

 the cost of the material and the value of the pro- 

 duct. 



The laws of nature are fixed and invariable. One 

 element is not changed to another, neither can it be. 

 Lime cannot be changed to soda, nor potash to iron. 



Organized bodies are constituted of certain elements 

 all of which are necessary to their organization. — 

 By analysis we may ascertain what those eleu ents 

 are, and the relative amoimtof each required in such 

 organization, and by a similar analysis of soils we 

 may ascertain whether these elements are found 

 there. It is important in this case to know how 

 much of the substance of plants is drawn from the 

 soil, and how much derived from the atmosphere, as 

 those found in the atmosphere, need not, necessarily 

 exist in the soil. 



By experiment and analysis it,has been ascertain- 

 ed that about 97 per cent of the constituents of all 

 plants is found in the atmosphere, in the elements 

 carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen; these are 

 constantly furnished by the burning of wood and 

 coal, the respiration of animals, the fermentation, 

 decomposition and decay of animal and vegetable 

 bodies. In wheat the remaining 3 percent is earthy 

 matter, drawn from the soil; and is found to con- 

 sist of 10 different substances, viz: silica, lime, pot- 

 a'^h, soda, magnesia, alumina, chlorine, sulphur phos- 

 phorus and iron. If there be a deficiency in any one 

 of these elements there must be a corresponding de- 

 ficiency in the product, and if either be wholly want- 

 ing, no perfect plant can be obtained. Nature is as 

 willing to yield 40 bushels of wheat per acre as 10, 

 provided there is no lack of material. [Here there- 

 porter should have added, that a large excess of any 

 one necessary ingredient, may be as fatal to the crop 

 as the perfect absence of such ingredient. This 

 was illustrated by saying, that to prepare human 

 food in the form of a good hasty pudding, we must 

 use a few drachms of salt to a few pounds of corn 

 meal. If we reverse this ratio, and make a pudding 

 by combining a few pounds of salt with a few 

 drachms of meal, no child can grow well on such 

 daily food. Young wheat plants are sadly injured 

 by feeding them with the proper things, in the most 

 improper proportions.] 



If wheat be burned, one hundred pounds of the 

 plant will produce about 3 of ashes, 75 per cent of 

 which is silica, (common flint or sand) and this be- 

 fore it can be taken up by the plant must exist in a 

 fluid state; but every one knows that flint is insolu- 

 ble in water, therefore in its imcombined or simple 

 state it is unfit for food for plants; some menstrum 

 must be at hand through whose agency it may be 

 rendered soluble. Silica is an acid, and when com- 

 bined with potash or soda, the potash or soda being 

 in excess, becomes soluble, and is then taken up, af- 

 ter which the vital energy of the plant disengages 

 a portion of the potash, and the siliceous matter be- 

 comes again insoluble, forming the substance which 

 gives to the straw a gritty feel. The liberatod pot- 

 ash returns to the root and assists in the solution of 

 another portion of silica, and thus a small amount 

 of potash becomes of great service to the plant, and 

 that small amount is as necessary to its devclope- 

 ment as the air we breathe to the continuation of 

 life. 



Farmtjrs have been looking for some great desid- 

 eratum which should render all soils equally produc- 

 tive, but no such thing has yet been found ; one soil 

 may show a deficiency of lime, another of potash, a 

 third of phosphorus, and the true object of the sci- 

 ence of agriculture is to ascertain how many, and 

 which of the necessary elements are deficient and 

 the cheapest means of supplying such deficiency. 



He spoke of the difference in value of the same 

 species of grass, grown upon soils constituted of 



