260 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



tue of the dominion given him over birds, beasts 

 and fishes, man may use these creatures in the 

 way that will benefit him most. It is no more 

 ■wrong to kill an ox for food, than it is to compel 

 him to draw a burden. Every one will allow 

 there is no wrong in killing a turkey or a chick- 

 en for food ; and what wrong is there in killing 

 a dozen robins for food ? None, because the end 

 in view is a useful one. So when these, or any 

 other birds, or animals of any other kind, become 

 so numerous as to be of positive injury to us, we 

 do no wrong in killing them, because by so doing 

 we find ourselves better off than we should be, if 

 we suffered them to live — in other words, because 

 our object is a useful one. 



It is pleasing to see the sprightly redbreast 

 hopping along the ground, or skipping among 

 the branches, and it is still more pleasing to hear 

 him at daybreak pouring forth his rich notes with 

 .so much animation, but if we are to have these 

 gi'atifications only at the expense of our cherries, 

 peaches and strawberries, it may be well to in- 

 quire whether we are not giving more than we 

 are receiving ? j. B. R. 



Concord, April \Qith, 1858. 



HOW DROUGHT BENEFITS THE SOIL. 



That a season of extreme drought — so often 

 occurring and so injurious to our summer crops 

 — should still prove beneficial to the soil, seems 

 strange, but chemical science shows that droughts 

 are one of the material causes to restore the con- 

 stituents of crops and renovate cultivated soil. 



Mineral matter is taken from the soil by the 

 crops grown upon it, and also carried away by 

 the surface water flowing into streams, and 

 thence carried to the sea. These two causes, al- 

 ways in operation, unless counteracted by other 

 influences, would in time render the earth a bar- 

 ren waste. The diminution which arises from the 

 first cause is in part restored by manures, but not 

 in all cases, and Providence has provided a way 

 of its own to supply lost mineral constituents 

 needed in the growth of plants. At intervals, 

 droughts occur to bring up from the deep parts 

 of the earth food for the use of plants when the 

 rains shall again fall. 



The manner in which droughts exercise their 

 beneficial influence is as follows : during dry 

 weather a continual evaporation of water takes 

 place from the surface of the earth, which is not 

 supplied by any from the clouds. The evapora- 

 tion from the surface creates a vacuum (as far as 

 the water is concerned) which is at once filled by 

 water rising up from the subsoil ; the water from 

 the subsoil is replaced from the next below, and 

 in th's manner the circulation of water in the 

 earth is the reverse of that which takes place in 

 w'et weather. This progress to the surface of the 

 water in the earth manifests itself strikingly in 

 the drying up of springs and wells, and streams 

 which are supported by springs. 



It is not, however, only the water which is 

 brought to the surface of the earth, but also all 

 the water holds in solution. These substances 

 are salts of lime and magnesia, of potash and so- 

 da, and indeed whatever the soil or top strata of 

 the earth may contain. The water on reaching 

 the surface, is evaporated, and leaves behind in 

 the soil its mineral salts, the chief of which are 



lime, magnesia, phosphate of lime, sulphate of 

 lime, carbonate and silicate of potasih and soda, 

 and also common salt — all indispensable to the 

 growth of the vegetable products of the farm. 

 Pure rain water, as it falls, will dissolve but a 

 very small portion of some of these substances, 

 but when it sinks into the earth it then becomes 

 strongly imbued with carbonic acid from the de- 

 composition of vegetable matter in the soil, and 

 thus acquires the property of read'ly dissolving 

 minerals, on which it before could have very lit- 

 tle influence. 



Several experiments tried by Professor Hig- 

 gins go to show this action of drought in bring- 

 ing matters to the surface of the soil. In one 

 case he placed a solution of chloride of basium in 

 the bottom of a glass cylinder, and then filled it 

 with dry soil. After long exposure to the rays 

 of the sun, the surface of the soil was tested with 

 sulphuric acid, and gave a copious precipitate of 

 sulphate of baryta. Chloride of lime, sulphate 

 of soda and carbonate of potash were experi- 

 mented upon in like manner ; and upon the ap- 

 plication of proper tests, the surface of the soil 

 showed their presence in large quantities, drawn 

 up the rising of water from underneatli, as in the 

 case of drought. 



The parched earth, every green thing dwarfed 

 in growth or withered by long continued heat, 

 seems suffering under an afflictive dispensation 

 of Providence, yet we should not murmur ; it is 

 a blessing in disguise. The early and the latter 

 rain may produce at once abundant crops, but 

 dry weather is needed to bring to the surface 

 food for future harvests from the depths of the 

 earth, where else it would lie forever unemployed. 

 It is a needed means of keeping up the fertility 

 of the cultivated soil. — California Farmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CXrTTrKTG BUSHES IN" PASTURES. 



Mr. Editor : — I feel inclined to say a few 

 words in answer to "Bush Whacker," about de- 

 stroying brush in pastures that are too rough 

 and stony to plow. I think that the best method 

 is to follow his occupation closely and keep 

 whacking them, and cut close, i. e., keep mowing 

 them, not once in two or three years, as is the 

 too common practice, but at least once every year, 

 and even twice a year, if they grow tall enough 

 to get hold of them with the scythe. 



Bushes, in common with all vegetation, draw 

 a share of their support from the atmosphere 

 through their foliage, and if constantly deprived 

 of their foliage, and consequently of their at- 

 mospheric support, they will soon die. There is 

 work in this, I know. But it is less work to mow 

 constantly for three or four years than to mow 

 them perpetually every second or third year, as 

 this latter process gives them time to recover, 

 and serves to spread the roots and increase their 

 number. 



"Once well done is twice done." After mow- 

 ing, rake clean and burn the bushes, and sow on 

 plaster and rake in hay-seed on the burnt spots ; 

 this gives the cattle a chance to browse or feed 

 them off and tread them down. Some say that 

 they cannot be killed by mowing, but such are 

 either mistaken or do not do it faithfully. 



Orafton, April, 1858. T. Leonard. 



