412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



July 11, 1S32. 



From the Farmer's iMag;i 



ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. 

 If a piece of limestone be weiglied bel'oie bmn- 

 iii" and affain after burning, it will be foiinti to 

 have lost considerably ; and the loss will bo in 

 proportion to (he purity of the limestone and the 

 accuracy of the burning process. The substance 

 expelled by means of the heat was first ascertain- 

 ed by Dr Black, to be fixed air or carbonic acid 

 gas ; and the quantity of it which escapes in the 

 burning limc,\vhen collected and weighed, is pre- 

 cisely equal to the difiference of weight between 

 limestone and quick lime. In one hundred parts 

 of pure carbonate of lime, the loss in burning will 

 he fortyfoiu-; and this having been determined by 

 the most accurate experiments, furnishes a crite- 

 rion which may be of the utmost advantage in ex- 

 amining the comparative purity of different lin)e- 

 stones. For instance, let a piece of limestone of 

 three himdred grains be weighed exactly, and 

 burnt in a strong fire ; let it be weighed again up- 

 on cooling, and if it has lost fortyfour per cent or 

 one hundred and thirtytwo grains, the limestone 

 is of the purest kind ; but as it never happens that 

 any of our limestones are so pure as this, in any 

 two given spcciinens, the one which has lost most 

 weight in burning, so as to cojne nearest to this, 

 is the purest, and the quarry from whence it may 

 be taken should be, preferred. Such accuracy 

 may be admissible in preparing lime for building 

 purposes; but for agricultural uses, the proportion 

 of siliceous sand or clay to be found in limestone, 

 deserves no consideration. 



There is another mode of examining substances 

 which contain carbonate of lime, wh ch is more 

 generally applicable, and is so simple that it may 

 be resorted to by persons almost entirely ignorant 

 of chemistry. The carhnnic acid, vvbieh, == I 

 have stated, escapes from lime in the process of 

 burninir, is so slightly united with it, that it piay 

 be separated by any of the mineral acids. Hence 

 when we suspect the existence of carbonate of 

 lime in any substance, if it is first powdered and 

 then a little spirit of sea-salt diluted with wa- 

 ter poured on it, the fixed air is disengaged, 

 and occasions a boiling motion called eflfervesccnce, 

 which is considered to indicate the jn-esence of 

 carbonate of lime. Any gentleman, particularly, 

 living in a limestone district, would do well to ex- 

 amine every substance resembling marl or gravel 

 by this criterion, by which a mine of wealth, hith- 

 erto disregarded, may be laid open to him. Vin- 

 egar would answer equally well for the purpose 

 of a test ; but if it is the farmer's intention to de- 

 termine the proportion of carbonate of lime in any 

 substance, he must have recourse to the muriatic 

 acid or spirit of sea-salt. The whole apparatus 

 necessary for this experiment, are a bottle of the 

 acid, a glass funnel, some filtering paper, a small 

 pestle and mortar, and a pair of accurate scales, 

 with ^series of weights descending from one hun- 

 dred to a single grain. Such gentlemen as ])OS- 

 sess scales for weighing gold, which have long 

 ceased to be of any use in their original destina- 

 tion, will do well to ap])ly them to this purpose. 



The filtering paper should be well dried, atid 

 formed with the hand so as to fit the inside of the 

 glass funnel. 



One hundred grains appear to be suflicient for 

 one experiment. 



Keeping stacks clear of rats and mice. — Take 

 one pound of nitre or saltpetre, and one pound of 

 alum ; dissolve them together in two pints of 

 spring or well water; get a firlot* of bran and 

 make a inash thereof, putting in two pints of the 

 above liqnid, and mixing all together. When you 

 build your stacks, every second course take a 

 handful or two of said mash and throw upon 

 them, till they come to the easing. Allowing your 

 stacks to stand twenty years, rats or mice will not 

 come near them. 



small laying between the hills brushwood, their 

 labor v.'oidd be richly compensated. 



CUCUMBERS. 



Although this is rather an article of luxury than 

 absolute necessity, yet it is one so easily obtainetl 

 by every person and consequently of so general 

 use, a few observations on its culture may not be 

 unacceptable to our agricultural friends. 



It can hardly have escaped the notice of the 

 most uuobserving, that during the fore ])art of the 

 season, many of the blossoms on cucuniber vines 

 are what are usually denominated " false blows," 

 which never produce fruit. We have seen it sta- 

 ted by a writer on gardening, that to prevent the 

 appearance of these, and greatly to increase the 

 productiveness of the vines when the j)Iants have 

 but two rough leaves, a stage to which they arrive 

 within a few days after they first come up, the 

 bud or top of the vine should be carefully cut ofl' 

 with a small knife or pair scissors, above these 

 rough leaves, but not too close to them. This 

 causes the plant to put forth runners sooner than 

 it otherwise would do, in greater numbers and 

 nearer the root of the plant; nrid thus it hocomrs 

 moi'e productive and at an earlier period than 

 those plants on which this operatioir i§ not per- 

 formed. 



AVhat the efTect produced by siich treatment is, 

 we cannot say from personal experience, but a 

 friend has informed us that he made the experi- 

 ment last year, and that its success far exceeded 

 expectation. The plants treated in this manner, 

 |)roduce fruit several days earlier and in greater 

 abundance during the whole season, than othei-s 

 which were planted at the same time and in the 

 same hills with them, which were not topped. 



It is a comnton error, not only in relation to cn- 

 cuiidicrs, but also as to almost all other veget.-djies 

 of this class, that too great a number are sufieied 

 to grow on a givctt quantity of ground. For in- 

 stance, it is not unusual to find on a square rod, 

 from one hundred to one hundred and fifty 

 plants, which is at least too great a number by 

 one half. 



The root of the cucumber extends many feet in 

 all directions; the fruits require, in order to be of 

 a good quality, a large quantity of jgices from the 

 vino ; and consequently, where too many plants 

 are suflered to remait), the earth cannot yield the 

 requisite supply, and instead of continuing vigor- 

 ous and productive throirgh the season, becomes 

 feeble and barren. 



Another corritiion error in the culture of this 

 vegetable, is suffering the vines to rest upon the 



BONE-DUST FOR GRAIN. 



The expoi-tation of 'bones from Germany to 

 England, constitutes a singular ejioch in the an- 

 nals of conmierce. Myriads of tons have been 

 already exported, without glutting the market or 

 causing a cessation of the demand. In the vicin- 

 ity of the North Sea, mills have been erected to 

 pulverize them. This bone-powder or bone-dust, 

 was long ago exclusively applied to the jimposes 

 of hot-houses, by German horticnltuiist.~ ; but the 

 English, emboldened by their riches, have extend- 

 ed its use to gener-al objects of agriculture, and fer- 

 tilize by these expensive means, their cold, huirrid, 

 and j)Oorest lands, bringing them to the highest 

 slate of cultivation. 



There is consequently a pr'overb, that " one ton 

 of German bone-dust saves the importation of ten 

 tons of Geruran corn." As Malta formerly cover- 

 ed her naked r'ocks with foreign soil, so does Eng- 

 bind now fertilize her clay and sandy heaths with 

 German bones. Near the sea shore, even the 

 church yards are robbed of their venerable relics, 

 which is only ironically excused by rendering the 

 German bone trade popular. 



Alt -agriculturist having instituted some exper- 

 iments to test the effects of this manure, obtain- 

 ed the following results: — 1st. That in respect to 

 the rpiantity of the corn, it effects a change as sev- 

 en to five ; in respect to quality, as five to four ; 

 in regard to the durability of the energy of the 

 soil, as three to two. 



It Itkewise yields the following collateral advan- 

 tages: — 1st. It destroys weeds. 2d. It diminish- 

 es the necessity of suffering the land to lay fallow. 

 3d. This concentrated munui'e or substitute for 

 manure, is more easy of conveyance, less labori- 

 ous to spread, and can with facility he ajrplied to 

 the steepest vineyards or other iiurcctssible lands, 

 either in mountainous counti'ies or in wet mea- 

 dow land. 4th. It renders agricultui-e practicable 

 without cattle, breeding, grazing, &c. 



" The acid should be diluted bv the addition of'i ^romu\. If instead of this, people would take the 

 two thirds of water. Substances intended to be \ tiotible of sticking them, or while the plants are 

 operated upon, should be dried in the air and kept 

 in bottles well corked. 



* The Scotch firlot varie?, but is generally somewhat 

 more than a Winchester bushel. 



ONIONS FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL. 

 To give some idea to those who have not 

 thought on the subject, of the effects of age upon 

 a cultivated soil, I shall here mention a fact that 

 struck me as being not a little singular at the time 

 it occurred. At Dunstafthagc, near Oban in Ar- 

 gyleshire, Scotland, which is a mountainous coun- 

 try'and naturally a barren soil, a small garden was 

 jiointcd out to me, on which was growing at the 

 time one of the finest crops of onions I had ever 

 seen. I look notice of it with some degree of sur- 

 jir-ise, because I bad seen no other crop of onions 

 in that district that was tolerable ; but my surprise 

 was a good deal augmented on being told, that the 

 present crop in that garden was by no nreans re- 

 markable ; that it had been cropped with"onioi)S, 

 year after year-, from time immemorial ; that the 

 |)iesKiit owner of it, who was a man above eighty 

 years of age, had never seen any other crop than 

 onions upon that ground ; and that the oldest per- 

 son alive, when he was a boy, had told him the 

 same thing, and the crop was always an excellent 

 one. DunstafJiiage was a royal palace, belonging 

 to the kings of Scotland at an early period of their 

 history almost beyond record, and there can be 

 little rea.son to doubt that this garden was brought 

 under cultivation at that time, so that it cannot 



