4(5 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AUGUST 21. 1833. 



NEW KNKLANU FARMER. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUG. 21. 1833. 



Superior Oats. Mr. Jacob Smith of Duxbury, 

 Mass. Ikis raised an unprecedented crop of oats. 

 Four fifths of ;m acre produced seventy fouk 

 bushels and three pecks ! and the average 

 height of the plants at the time of harvest was jive 

 jeet jour inches.' A sample of these oats, includ- 

 ing the stems, heads, &c. as they grew, may. lie 

 seen at the office of the New England Farmer, No. 

 52 North Market street. 



CULTURE OP WHEAT. 



Is remarks on this subject hi our last [p. 38] we 

 gave some facts anil arguments, which induced in 

 us an opinion that the want of lime, or some of its 

 Compounds, or of Some other alkaline substance in 

 the soil, was one cause, if not the most usual canst 

 of the failure of wheat crops in New England : 

 and if this natural deficiency in soils not capable ol 

 producing wheat were supplied by art, wheat might 

 be produced on lands, which without such supph 

 cannot mature that valuable crop. 



We agree in opinion with our able correspon- 

 dent, who with the signature "B" has so often 

 favored us and benefitted the community with valu- 

 able agricultural articles, that " the. true cause ol 

 the uncertainty of the wheat crop in New England 

 is a want of the specific food of the' plant — in the 

 soil."* But we apprehend that the article wanting 

 is lime not nitrogen.] 



The theory that animal manure is requisite for 

 the production of wheat, if not originated was ably 

 advocated by an English writer by the name ol 

 William Grisentbwaite. According to Loudon 

 [En. Agr. p. 1117] this author was an apothecary 

 of Wells, in Norfolk. His work, a 12mo., was 

 entitled, " A new Theory of Agriculture, in which 

 the Nature of Soils, Crops and Manures, is rx 

 plained, many prevailing prejudices are exploded, 

 and the application of Bones, Gypsum, Lime, Chalk, 

 &c. determined on scientific Principles." W'e have 

 not seen this work, but the following extract from 

 it, taken from " Memoirs of the Now York Board 

 of Agriculture," vol. iii. p. 339, will give an idea 

 of the "Theory" of the writer. 



" If we examine the straw of wheat, we shall 

 find it composed of what may be considered com- 

 mon vegetable matter, Or matter composed of oxy- 

 gen, hydrogen, and caibon, with a small quantity 

 of carbonate of lime ; so also if we examine the 

 constituents of the grain, we shall find them dis- 

 tinguished into starch and gluten ; and if we carry 

 our researches still further, we shall find that the 

 elements of the starch are precisely the same with 

 the elements of common vegetable matter; but 

 the elements of the gluten will be found analogous 

 to those of animals ; or, in addition to oxygen, 

 hydrogen and carbon, there will be found nitro- 

 gen. The production of this nitrogen, as has been 

 already observed, cannot be effected by mere com- 

 mon vegetable matter ; and, therefore, the manure 

 employed in the production of the straw and the 

 starch, could not produce the gluten also." * * * 



•dee page 1, of the current vol. of the N. E. Fanner. 



t Nitrogen isa gas, that is to say, an air-like or aeriform sub- 

 stance. This gas is fata! to animal life ami was on this account 

 named by Lavoisier, Azote or Azotic gus, from two Greek 

 words signifying without life. This being but a negative prop- 

 erty, was thought by later chemists an improper term, and ni- 

 trogen, from two Greek words, signifying to produce or gene- 

 fate nitre, was substituted. Nitrogen exists in a great number 

 of compounds, earths, &.c. Willi potash, it produces nilre or 

 saltpetre ; with oxygen, nitric acid or aqualorlis, &c. &c. 



"That the gluten ol wheat Hour may always he 

 present, it is necessary that a quantity of animal 

 substance should exist in the manure applied to 

 he land where the wheat crop is intended to In 

 aised. That a certain portion of such animal 

 substance is applied, is proved from the facl ol 

 glutetl being always found to exist in that grain ; 

 Mil it is highly prof-able, that the quantity is not 

 always sufficient ; and if not sufficient the crop 

 will be defective either in quantity or quality. II 

 we pursue our investigations a step farther than 

 we have done, We shall discover that phosphate of 

 lime* is as constant a constituent of wheat flour as 

 gluten itself. Phosphate of lime, therefore, is as 

 much needed for the production of a crop of wheal 

 as the substances which supply the starch and 

 gluten," &c. &e. 



According to this writer, lime is necessary to 

 furnish a constituent of wheat-flour; but it must 

 ne combined with phosphorus or phosphoric acid, 

 and thus become phosphate of lime, or it will not 

 answer that purpose. We, therefore, have three 

 elements of wheat which must be obtained, viz. 

 nitrogen, phosphorus and lime, and the absence ol 

 either would prove fatal to the perfection of the 

 wheal crop. We will then look out for supplies 

 of these iudispensables. 



1. Nitrogen, alias azote, wanted to make gluten 

 for wheat. This nitrogen, says Grisenihwaitc, may 

 iic loiuid in horn, bones, urine and some other 

 animal matters, used for manure. Very good ; but 

 Dr. Dwight, we believe correctly, slated in sub- 

 stance, that animal manure causes the vegetable 

 juice to ascend with such rapidity as to rupture 

 the vessels of the stock, and permit it to run out, 

 originating honey-dew, and finally rust or blast, 

 lodging or lying down of the grain, &c.f We must, 

 therefore, make shift without, or seek some other 

 source for our nitrogen. But why not let the wheal 

 plants help themselves to nitrogen ? Almost four- 

 fifths of the atmospheric air which surrounds vege- 

 tables as well as animals, and which is as necessary 

 for the existence of the one us of the other, is com- 

 posed of nitrogen. Bui, say the objectors, plants 

 are dependent altogether on their roots for nourish- 

 ment, and take nothing from the air, which goes to 

 their support or growth Sir l.en | luy Davy, 

 however, in speaking of nitrogen says, " as it is 

 found in someof the products of vegetation, it may 

 be absorbed by certain plants from the atmosphere."! 

 Earths of all kinds, taken from wells, ditches, &c. 

 will absorb nitrogen or nilre, from the atmosphere, 

 and why may not plants ? Not only plants, but 

 animals may receive nourishment by their pons. 

 .Sir Henry Steuart says, " Men, for example, have 

 been known to become so debilitated by age or 

 disease that they could receive no food by the ordi- 

 nary organ of the mouth. The consequence has 

 been that they were immersed in milk, and veal 

 broth baths, and fairly subsisted by means of ab- 

 sorption. 'Thus every one oj their pores became like 

 leaves j'ur the introsusccption (jj'ood. Some few 

 years since all instance occurred in a noble Duke 

 of spoiling notoriety, who was thus supported 

 during the last months of bis life."§ Again, 



Wanted, Phosphorus, one of the constituents of 

 Fhosphato of Lime, and necessary for the compo- 

 sition of wheat-flour. We are not positive, but 

 have little doubt but that phosphorus as well as 



* Lime, combined with phosphoric acid. 

 t See New England Farmer, vol. xi. p. 393. 

 f Elements ol Agricultural Chemislry, p. 147, Philadelphia 

 Ed. 

 vS Steuart'i Planter's Guide, p. 319, Thorburn's Edition. 



nitrogen exists in the atmosphere, though in such 

 minute quantities as not to be detected by common 

 chemical analysis. It is, probably, obtained from 

 air by chemical affinity, and becomes apparent in 

 putrescent substances, fish, flish, as well as in the 

 glow worm, the fire-fly, rotten wood, the will-o- 

 wisp, &.C. 



Wanted, lime or calcareous matter, as one of 

 the constituents of the wheat-crop, both sua w and 

 grain. It has been shown in a valuable work en- 

 titled " Essay on Calcareous Manures," by Edmdnd 

 Rufmn of \ irginia, that calcaieous eaitb, or lime, 

 does not exist in all soils. " Vegetable matter," 

 he says, "abounds in all rich land, it is admitted; 

 hut it has also been furnished by nature in quanti- 

 iii s exceeding all computation, to the most barren 

 soils v. e ov. n. 



"But there is one ingredient, of which not the 

 smallest proportion can be found in any of our 

 poor soils, and which wherever found, indicates a 

 soil remarkable for natural and durable fertility. 

 This is calcareous earth. These facts alone, if 

 sustained, will go far to prove that this earth is the 

 cause of fertility, and the cure for barrenness."* 



Nitrogen and phosphorus being gaseous or aeri- 

 form exist in the atmosphere, from which great 

 reservoir they may be abstracted for the use of 

 plants ; but lime cannot assume a gaseous form, 

 and therefore, cannot be found in the atmosphere. 

 Neither can lime be created by those plants for 

 whose use it is indispensable. "Even animals," 

 says Sir Humphry Davy, "do not appear to pos- 

 sess the power of forming the alkaline and earthy 

 substances. Dr. Fordyce found, that when cana- 

 ry birds at the time they were laying eggs, were 

 deprived of access to carbonate of lime, their eggs 

 had soft shells; and if there is any process for 

 which nature may be conceived most likely to sup- 

 ply resources of this kind, it is that connected with 

 ihe reproduction of the species." Wheat too, we 

 know is given to fowls in winter to furnish phos- 

 phate of lime for their eggs. 



We will finish this article, which is much lon- 

 ger than we had intended, by a summary view of 

 the facts and arguments which led to our tenets on 

 ibis subject. 



1. We believe that lime as an ingredient in soils 

 is necessary for the production of wheat because its 

 use as a manure has enabled fanners to raise it 

 on lands which without lime would uot produce 

 wheat. 



2. Lime is always found by chemical analysis 

 both in the straw and in the kernel of wheat; 

 therefore it must either exist naturally in the soil, 

 or be supplied by art, so that it may be absorbed 

 by the roots, or inhaled by the leaves of the 

 plant. ]t cannot be absorbed by roots if not in 

 the soil, nor inhaled by the leaves in any case, be- 

 cause its base is a metal, or earth, and it is never 

 found in a gaseous form. 



3. Those soils which contain every other re- 

 quisite for the production of wheat — which are 

 rub in vegetable and animal manure, will not 

 bring that plant to perfection without lime. 



4. From conversation with some of our best 

 Massachusetts cultivators, who tell us that they 

 cannot raise wheat without lime. 



We do not say that the want of lime is the sole 

 cause of the failure of wheat, but that warm and 

 wet weather, while the kernel is filling, as stated 

 by our able correspondent, H. C. page 25 of the 

 current volume of N. E. Farmer, as well as insects, 



Chap. iv. p. 42. 



