116 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



be greatly increased, and the loss of these fertilizers 

 by respiration and perspiration, when they first pass 

 through the animal system, before their residuum is 

 given back to the soil, may be fully compensated. 



One exception is to be admitted of the tendency 

 of uncultivated fields to sterility. This is seen -where 

 they su.^tain a natural growtli of vegetation, such as 

 is exhibited in woodlands, prairies, and the sponta- 

 neous growth of other plants in tolerable profusion ; 

 for here the work of a self-sustaining fertility is con- 

 stantly in operation. In all other cases, the rule 

 holds true, and from this perfectly plain and obvious 

 ])rinciple. If the soil be upturned and exposed to 

 the sua, air, and rains, unsheltered by the kindly 

 protection of its natural covering of vegetation, the 

 oxygen from the air, and moisture it imbibes, stim- 

 ulated by the sun's rays, acts upon the carbon of the 

 soil, and converts it into carbonic acid ; and this, find- 

 ing no rootlets of plants to absorb and condense it, 

 speedily escapes to the surface, where it mingles with 

 the atmosphere, and is wafted thousands of miles 

 from the spot of its origin. As they become soluble, 

 the earthy salts, finding no plants to appropriate 

 them, are soon washed out of their naiivc bed. by the 

 drenching rains, and pass onward through rills, 

 brooks, and rivers, to the mighty ocean, hopelessly 

 beyond reach. Calcareous and aluminous soils are 

 partial, and only partial, exceptions to this general 

 result. The}' absorb a certain amount of these fer- 

 tilizing salts and gases, while all beyond pass off into 

 irreclaimable waste. 



The relevancy of these principles is shown, by the 

 devastations of numerous and once fertile cotton 

 plantations in our Southern States. It was not the 

 quantity of carbon and salts, (ash,) abstracted in the 

 comparativeh' small proportion of lint, (pure cotton,) 

 taken from the fields, although this, in a long series 

 of years, would be considerable ; but it is owing to 

 the necessarily cleanly cultivation required by this 

 crop, and the nearly naked fallotcs thereby exi^osed 

 to the drenching rains and an almost tropical sun. 

 No weeds nor grass must be suff"ered to grow where 

 a good crop is to be secured ; and the narrow strips, 

 (rows,) of vegetable growth, which alone are suff'ered 

 to usurp the field, except for the brief time when 

 the crop is in full foliage, gives every facility for the 

 escape of fertilizing matter through the action of the 

 elements. Added to this, is the too frequent waste 

 of the stalks, leaves, and seeds ; the two former 

 being often suffered to decay on the surface and 

 gradually disappear from rains ; and the latter suc- 

 ceeds, at a later period, the other portions of the 

 jilant ; or if fed to cattle or swine, their manure is 

 dropped in the roads or by the sides of gullies, where 

 it soon follows the same cliannels. 



A sirnilar effect is produced from the constant cul- 

 tivation of grain, tobacco, flax, and most other plants ; 

 and from their abstracting a greater amount of the 

 ii.rtiliz!ng elements to give them maturity, than are 

 taken out of the soil by cotton, this result is sooner 

 reached. 



What is tiie remedy for this ? is the very pertinent 

 inciviiry. There are but three, and one or more of 

 these must be applied, or sterility is inevitable. The 

 fields must have a frequent rotation of grass, clover, 

 or some of the forage plants fed off, where grown, by 

 animals, and their droppings left to fertilize the sur- 

 face ; they must be restored by green crops ploughed 

 in, as of clover, cow pea, or other crops, or they must 

 be manured from the cattle yard, or its equivalent in 

 mineral and vegetable manures. Each of these modes 

 lias b.ecn often treated of in our preceding volumes, 

 and they will continue to be noticed in all their vary- 

 ing phases and merits in the succeeding ones. — Am. 

 Agriculturist. 



He is unfit to rule others who cannot rule himself. 



USEFUL KNOWLEDGE IN AGRICULTURE. 



Every practical man well knov.-s that almost any 

 kind of soil, using the term soil as applying to single 

 farms or small patches of territory, bears a certain 

 kind of weeds, which tell, in. language not to be mis- 

 undarstood, whether the soil is stiff or light, wet or 

 dry ; whether it is easily or hardly tilled, what kind 

 of husbandry is suited to it, what kind has been 

 adopted. The lecturer could furnish a long list of 

 the names of plants going to prove this. Now, this 

 kind of knowledge comes directly home to every 

 practical farmer, and it can be shown in a brief man- 

 ner in what view this knowledge id most desirable to 

 him. The weeds determine the method of cultiva- 

 tion, from the ease or difficulty with which the fann- 

 er can remove or eradicate them. If they are annual, 

 once cutting them down will effect the desired object ; 

 if biennial, they must be frequently cut down ; once 

 or twice doing it -will not eradicate them. It is im- 

 jjortant, also, to know something of the nature of the 

 seeds ; whether they easily rot, or whether, being 

 covered with a scaly coating, they will retain the 

 principle of vitality for a long period. The farmer 

 must also ascertain whether thp -weeds are those 

 which propagate by their roots ; because, if they do, 

 merely tearing them from the soil will not destroy 

 them. 



Microscopic exanrination of plants is of the very 

 greatest importance to the agriculturist. Smut affects, 

 it is well known, many varieties of our grain now : 

 this smut is proved to be a minute vegetable sub- 

 stance, and this proof is obtained only through a 

 microscopic examination. Kye is affected with er- 

 got; growing with it and being ground vip with it, 

 it has caused, at times, the most alarming sickness, 

 and has resulted in death ; it is now used as one of 

 our most powerful medicines. It has been ascer- 

 tained recently, that the same fungus attaches itself 

 to different varieties of grass, and springs up under 

 much the same conditions that the ergot does upon 

 the rye. It makes its ai^pearance in cold, wet lands, 

 or when an excessively wet season is followed by a 

 hot, dry summer. AVlien this grass grows, it has 

 been long known that cattle will not thrive ; in some 

 seasons it has been impossible to raise a single calt 

 Attention was called to the grass from a knowledge 

 of the effects of ergot upon the system. Thus it will 

 be seen how important is a minute investigation of 

 matters pertaining to the art of agriculture. The 

 remedy in the case of grass would be to thoroughly 

 drain the soil, and thus to kill off the rank, coarse 

 vegetation. And this general remedy should be ap- 

 plied for the rust and mildew, though special rem- 

 edies may be adapted to special localities. Drainage 

 not only removes the water, but renders the air 

 drier. — Prof. Johnson. 



HOW TO SUBDUE A VICIOUS HORSE. 



The following fact occurred in the city of New 

 York a few days ago. A beautiful and higli-spirited 

 horse would never allow a shoe to be put on his feet, 

 or any person to handle his feet, without a resort to 

 every si^ecies of power and means to control him. 

 At one time ho was nearly crippled by being put in 

 the stocks ; he was afterwards thrown down and fet- 

 tered; at another time, one of our most experienced 

 horse-shoers was unable to manage him, by the aid 

 of as many hands as eoidd approach. In an attempt 

 to shoe this hor.je yesterday, he resisted all eiibrts, 

 kicked aside every thing but an anvil, and came near 

 killing himself against that, and finally was brought 

 back to his stable unshod. This was his only defect; 

 in all other respects he is gentle, and perfectly docile, 

 especially in harness. But this defect was just on 



