L849. 



TIIK GENESEE FARMER. 



'^77 



: PHILOSOPHY OF TILLAGE. 

 I, D, 



I 



mulate 



i meat in the Boil, like ■ mint 



tend] ed, a little faster than children mul- 



i Europe, to be fed. 



i ndant mineral in the earth is Hint or 



silica ms sand and will melt into gli 



; that is promoted by the combi- 

 ,- Sili 



■at in the stems of all cereal 

 , corn, &c. Pure silicious sand is 

 remai its insolubility. It is in truth an acid 



IS of 

 ■ . 

 lically with alumina, which is the next most 

 abudant mineral in nature, being the basis of elay. 

 Silicic aci.i also unites with iron, lime, potash, soda 

 and magnesia. Having a weak affinity for these al- 

 kalies, and alkaline earth, carbonic acid in water from 

 decaying mould, vegetables or manure, attacks the 

 insoluble silicates of potash la, and forms car- 



bonat ' ii''-. Th h, are 



! what is particularly worth}' of note, 

 they are capable of dissolving silica. Thus if we 

 boil finely powdered g !i is an insoluble sili- 



cate, a strong solution of potash, or of potash and soda, 

 thi? glass will be dissolved, and maybe applied to the 

 roots of corn or wheat in a way to enter their roots 

 - > to make the hard glassy covering on the stems 

 of those plants. It is curious that these soluabli 



which contain ai lid be 



changed into in ' ! :cates of potash or so 



nature' >ry within plants, by s< 



•sited intl The 



potas h to th'' soil and there dis- 



i 

 em of the plan': as bones cnablo ani- 



mals I irth. 



It is worthy of remark in this connection, that many 

 I, us in pari 



h 



To such soils, it 



leached or un- 



; 1 as the other earthy 



11 more potash to a soil th 

 ! 

 nent fertilizers, and of all cr 



\ vast 



litro- 

 ', 



animal s:; ; 

 comb 



.short 

 mineral acid i in r 

 by weiglit of o; 



f nitrogen, fifty-four 

 of aquafortis (nitric acid) are produced. This acid 



nitrate of 



well as ai 

 found in considerable quanl 



i.i hot 



that 



. 

 .11 all 



well drai 1 soils, nitre and all nitrab 06 to 



hed away. 

 Tv\ it; four parts of oxygen .hemically 



with si ulphur, and make forty of sulphuric 



acid, or oil of vitriol. Unlike nitric acid, this e 

 in granitic and other ' amon 



[1 m "-on-. ' 



bined with alumina and potash, it for with 



iron it produces copperas; with 



i salts; with co 

 vitriol: ..-, white vitriol; and with lime, 



Tli- sulphate of lim ir of Pari 



ib] i than th Is of sulphu- 



ric aci !, we usually find more of this mineral in 

 soils, — especially such as are properly drained, — than 

 alum, copperas, glauber or epsom salts. Sulphur 

 bei^g an indispensable element in all crops and all 

 flesh, [ attribute the value of gypsum mainly to the 

 sulphur which it yields to clover, peas wheat and other 

 cultivated plants. In 1"0 lbs. of wool or hair, there 

 are five of pu ir. ! fl he fo 



and other animals, contained not an atom of this in- 

 lient, how could their wool, hair, muscles, brains 

 and nerves all abound in this element: .Mi' 

 that contain sulphur should be well husbanded. All 

 sulphates are in volatile; but most of them are ex- 

 tremely soluble. 



Five atoms of oxygen combine chemically with 



one of phosphorus to make an atom of ; acid. 



The atomic number of pi is not clearly 



ts making it 31.4, and others 



alf that numl 



Phosphoric acid exii is in earths as a phosphate of 



alumina, iron, lime, magm . and 



S ime of ' 

 solu'v I not. Th te of lim . 



bone-earth, is the most important. Suppose- nature 

 should organize crops of grass, grain, potatoes, and 



without a 

 particle of bone-earth as with it? Living 

 milk, and other food alike 

 mineral, phosphate of lime, which alone run 

 ' ill '■ mid h - in. il i b »dy. 



l the i 



I 



i grow on 

 in the soil. Such f 



1 1' animals fail to find their 

 > i riment in on fives them p 



; -i to walk, fly or swim to 



■i a stalk of corn has 



of raw material fails, no n 

 sibly grow. Iftl 



i 

 be 1 1 1 i ■ ' eat for 



bodily 



In 100 pounds of dry common salt there are about 



green, and very pungent gas. Some 36 parts of this 



