126 Important Discovery in Agriculture. — Compost Manures. Vol. VI. 



earth. It must be observed also, that there 

 was not the smallest particle of earth upon 

 the glass, and tliat the plants were left en- 

 tirely to themselves, without being watered 

 or attended to in any way vviiatevcr, from the 

 time of sowing to the time of reaping." 



The cause of this success, they think, may 

 be explained in tiie following manner. 



"Straw being a bad conductor of heat, and 

 a good conductor of electricity, maintains the 

 root of the plant in a medium temperature, 

 and prevents the earth from being deprived 

 entirely of moisture. The moisture of the 

 earth or the substratum, being continual, fa- 

 cilitates the gradual and constant absorption 

 of carbonic acid gas from the surrounding at- 

 mosphere, and hydrogen and carbon, the chief 

 elements of nourishment to vegetables, are 

 thus economized in regular supplies where 

 they are constantly required, and pass in 

 combination with oxygen from tlie roots up 

 to the stem and branches of the plants in 

 which they are assimilated, and the oxygen 

 throws off' in exhalation from the leaves. The 

 straw decays but slowly, and thus furnishes 

 its substance by degrees to the young plant 

 in due progression and proportion, (such as 

 the siliquous ingredients, for instance, of the 

 pod or capsule) so tiiat the decomposition of 

 the straw corresponds to the four phases of 

 fermentation in progressing from the saccha- 

 rine to the alcoholic, the acid, and the putrid 

 states, analogous to those ()[ infancy, budding, 

 youth and seeding of the plant. 



" We observe that our blades of wheat 

 have but a very few roots, and those are short 

 and hard, something like a bird's claw, and 

 this agrees witli the remarks of Mons. Ras- 

 pail, who states that the most healthy plants 

 in ordinary vegetation have the least exube- 

 rance of roots and fibres. 



"Another important observation also, is, 

 that weeds and parasitical vegetation are pre- 

 vented by this method, for the straw chokes 

 every other plant but that of its own seed. 

 Many other interesting observations might be 

 made on these experiments, but we refrain at 

 present, from obtruding on your readers; but 

 if any of them wisli for furtiier information on 

 this subject, wc shall willingly afford them 

 every facility. The importance of the general 

 result will easily become apparent without fur- 

 ther comment; and a revolution in the present 

 modes of agricultural labour is a necessary 

 consequence of this discovery. No tilhige will 

 now be required nor any artificial stimulants 

 in manure and other more or less expensive 

 combinations with regard to soil and culture. 

 In fact it would be tedious to enumerate the 

 various advantages that may result in practice 

 from this casual experiment, and therefore wc 

 proclaim it simply to the world that all may 

 profit by it."— iV. Y. E. Post. 



Compost Manures. 



As a general thing, our farmers do not ap- 

 pear to be sufficiently aware of the import- 

 ance of making and saving manure ; a subject 

 unquestionably of the very first magnitude, 

 as respects the advancement of our agricul- 

 tural prosperity, and in which every farmer, 

 however limited his circumstances, possesses 

 sufficient facilities to enable him to engage 

 with profit. Of these facts it is presumed 

 there can be no doubt. For many years, the 

 only manures made use of on my farm were 

 those accumulated in the yards and sties, and 

 without the slightest attention, on my part, 

 to the operation, and of those natural laws, a 

 knowledge of which has since enabled me, 

 with slight expense, not only greatly to aug- 

 ment the quantity, but the quality also, of 

 my manures. Nothing is more common than 

 to hear individuals complaining that their 

 farms are fast ^^ running oul" — that the soil 

 in their old fields has not sufficient depth to 

 sustain a crop, and is too poor to remunerate 

 them for the cost of cultivation. 



But why, if, as some contend, there is a 

 natural propensity in all soils to deteriorate, 

 or, as it is more popularly termed, to "rim 

 out," has the soil of^ Great Britain gone on 

 rapidly increasing in productiveness for the 

 last five centuries] Why is it that many 

 farms in Massachusetts, and even some few 

 in Maine, where the doctrine has numerous 

 supporters and abettors, have withstood the 

 drains upon their natural fertility, by con- 

 stant cultivation, for upwards of two hundred 

 years? Farms of this description are by no 

 means scarce in either state, and, although 

 cultivated for so long a series of years, are 

 now, instead of being worthless, and "run 

 out," like many of a more recent date, the 

 best and most productive in the land. The 

 fact is, nature in these instances has re- 

 ceived assistance, instead of being compelled, 

 as in the case of all worn-out farms, to do all 

 herself. For every crop taken from the soil 

 a prompt equivalent has been returned in fer- 

 tilizing manure, and the farm, instead of being 

 drained and exhausted of its energies, has ac- 

 tually received an increase of strength, and 

 gone on accumulating, from year to year, the 

 constituent elements of the food for plants. 

 Shallow ploughing and scanty manuring will, 

 in a short time, render the be.st land poor, 

 vvliile a contrary course, if judiciously pur- 

 sued, will as certainly make poor land good. 

 — Far. Journal. 



To our sense of comfort, the mind contri- 

 butes more largely than the body; the ex- 

 pectation of the day to come imparts more 

 satisfaction than the recollection of the day 

 that is past. 



