460 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



the cfeneration of air, a valve is fixed, which gives 

 way ^^'ith some difficulty, and lets no more gas es- 

 c;)pe than is necessary : the longer the manure is 

 kept the better, till four years, when it is in perfec- 

 tion ; it is taken out in the consistence nearly of 

 jelly, and a small portion buiied at the root of 

 every orange tree — the result being an uncommon' 

 ly great yield." A person hearing of the above fact, 

 and wishing to abridge the term of the preparation, 

 thought that boiling animals to a jelly might have a 

 similar if not so strong an effect. Accordingly, he 

 boiled several puppies, and applied the jelly to the 

 roots of a sterile fig-tree ; the benefit was very great 

 — the tree from that time for several years bearing 

 in profusion. Hints of this kind are well worth 

 preserving, for though an English farmer may nei- 

 ther have the apparatus of the Chinese, nor pupjnes 

 enough to become an object of attention, yet the 

 reduction of manure to a mucilaginous state ought 

 perhaps to be carried further than it is. 



CHEMICAL COMBINATIONS. 



Every farmer should know enough of chemistry, 

 to tell the combination that forms the different 

 vegetable creations. Every plant and vegetable is 

 formed of the same substances, only united in differ- 

 ent i)roportions. All, too, are formed of only 

 Jifteen elements. The names of these elements 

 we have often given ; but as a valued subscriber 

 has asked us, " What is the best way for a farmer 

 of limited means to acquire a knowledge of Agri- 

 cultural chemistry P" we Arill repeat what we have 

 often said, by recurring to the first principles of 

 chemistry; and if our "subscriber," of SulHvan, 

 will learn this lesson fully, he will be prepared to 

 l)e liis own teacher afterward, by experimental 

 training. 



The Jijleen simple elements are oxygen, hydro- 

 gen, nitrogen, chlorine, carbon, potash, soda, Hme, 

 alumina, magesia, iron, manganese, silex, sulphur, 

 and phosphorus. 



Some of these names may be better understood 

 by calling them differently. ' Thus, to call chlorine, 

 muriatic acid ; carbon, coal, or the part of a thing 

 that will burn ; alumina, clay ; and silex, sand — they 

 v.ill, perhaj)s, be better understood. The other 

 substances are probably understood by their chemi- 

 Cid names. 



Now, by different combinations of these substan- 

 ces, are all other substances formed. Thus, oxygen 

 and nitrogen form tlie air we breathe ; nitrogen and 

 hydrogen coml)ined form ammonia, or hartshorn ; 

 chlorine and ammonia combined form sal ammoniac ; 

 oxygen and. sulphur form sulphuric acid; sulphuric 

 acid and soda form glauber salts ; sulphuric acid 

 and magnesia combined form epsom salts ; sulphu- 

 ric acid and alumina, or clay, form alum ; sulphuric 

 acid and iron combined form green vitriol ; sulphu- 

 ric acid and zinc combined form white vitriol ; sul- 

 phuric acid and lime combined form "plaster of 

 Paris ; " oxygen and phosphorus combined form 

 phosphoric acid ; phosphoric acid and lime combin- 

 ed form bones, or phosphate of lime ; oxygen and 

 cuirbon combined form carbonic acid, (so fatal in 

 rooms where burning coals are kept;) carbonic 

 acid and lime united form chalk, and limestone, 

 adled carbonate of lime; potash and aquafortis 

 combined form salt])etre ; soda and chlorine com- 

 bined form common salt Potash, soda and ammonia 

 fere called alkalis, as they possess a sharp, burning 



tiste. Potash is derived from the ashes of land 

 vegetables ; soda from sea plants, and ammonia 

 from animal substances. 



Now, by these changes and combinations, all 

 plants and vegetables, as well as animals, are formed. 

 Thus, a stick of green wood is formed by the com- 

 bination of oxygen and hydrogen ; the sap, or water, 

 carbon, or coal ; and the ashes, or earthly matter, 

 are drawn from the earth. Bj- burning it, the water 

 is changed back into the two gases, and thrown off 

 into the atmosphere. You have the coal, or carbon 

 left. This, though apparently dry, still contains 

 water in the shape of oxygen and hydrogen disunit- 

 ed, and in a solid dry form. Burn the carbon, or 

 coal, and the balance of the oxygen and hydrogen 

 is driven off, and the remains are earth. Analyse 

 these ashes, and we shall find all of the fifteen ele- 

 ments, except the gasses, Avhich have escaped into 

 the atmosphere. To ascertain the amount of gas 

 in a stick of wood, weigh the stick, then char it in a 

 pit, and weigh again ; then reduce it to ashes, and 

 weigh then. In the first operation, you get the 

 weight of the gases united in the sap, which are 

 thrown off; in the second, the weight of the gases 

 uncombined, existing in a solid state. So in Hme, 

 which, united with carbonic acid, forms limestone. 

 A bushel of limestone weighs 142 lbs. ; burn it, and 

 it weighs only 75 Il)s., showing that 97 lbs. of car- 

 bonic acid and water have been thrown off; add 20 

 lbs. of water to it, and it will crumble into a dry 

 pov\der, weighing 93 lbs., showing that the change 

 of 20 lbs of water into solid, dry substances, has 

 been effected with a loss of only 2 lbs. 



In analyzing the ashes of wood, we find what 

 earth is used in forming the plant, or tree. The 

 apple tree shows a large proportion of all-iali and 

 lime ; the peach, iron ; potatoes, potash ; wheat, 

 phosphate of lime ; clover, lime ; and the cranberry, 

 of potash. 



When the farmer has got thus far, perfectly, he 

 knows what composes his crops, and that his apple 

 trees need ashes ; the peach, iron scales ; potatoes, 

 leached ashes ; wheat, bone meal ; and clover, lime. 

 When he has completely learned this lesson, we 

 mil, perhaps, give him another. — Ohio Fanner. 



BREAKING STEERS. 



In breaking a pair of steers, first confine one of 

 them in a yard 14 to 18 feet square, high and 

 strong enough to hold him ; then enter the pen 

 with a switch three or four feet long, and Avith your 

 pockets filled, not "with rocks," but with ears of 

 corn, ajjplcs, carrots. Sec. Tame the steer h\ feed- 

 ing him, and conAince him that you mean no harm. 

 Ha\ing done this, I introduce my business to him, 

 by getting him into a corner with as much gentle- 

 ness as possible. Here stroke him and pet him in 

 various ways, feeding him with a nubbin or two of 

 corn. 



Of course he must learn to haiv, — so I strike him 

 gently -on the off ear ■with my switch, and after 

 that with my l)ack towards him, twist his tail, (a 

 Httle twisting is better than more ;) I conduct him 

 again to his corner and order him to tvho — which 

 from the force of circumstances he is compelled to 

 do. Thus I teach him to stand as well as haw, and 

 in a short time he will obey the command in any 

 part of the jien. 



After sufficient practice in the pen, I let him out 

 into a large yard, and then drive him with equal 



