70 



Agricultural Reading. 



Vol. V. 



3d, The next step is to add to the fluid a 

 solution of oxalate of ammonia (to be pre- 

 pared by a druggist) as long as any precipi- 

 tate appears ; this is the lime, in combination 

 with the oxalic acid. 



4th, Lastly, having again filtered the solu- 

 tion, add a small quantity of carbonate of 

 soda, (commoh soda) dissolved in water; if 

 the former parts of the process have been 

 performed carefully, no precipitate whatever 

 will now appear, unless magnesia is present, 

 so that the quantity of this substance may be 

 judged by the proportion of this precipitate. 



Difficult as this process may appear to 

 those who have never performed any chem- 

 ical analysis, still, a very little practice will 

 make it quite familiar, and it is the only me- 

 thod by which the presence of magnesia can 

 be detected with unvarying certainty : at 

 least without making use of chemical tests, 

 which cannot be easily purchased, and are 

 very troublesome to prepare. Should any 

 one wish to render himself expert at the 

 above operation, I should recommend his 

 taking some specimens of limestones, and 

 repeating the process several times, until he 

 arrives at the same results by each experi- 

 ment. 



If the quantity of lime is wished, the pre- 

 cipitate of No. 3 must be carefully collected, 

 dried and weighed ; and then every 100 grains 

 will denote 34 grains of pure lime, or 61 

 grains of carbonate of lime in the original 

 specimen."-3/a<i^o«'s Ag. Chemistry. 



Agricultural Reading-. 



" If a man has but a single acre of land, a 

 garden, or even a cow, and can raise a single 

 dollar, he cannot put it to a better use than 

 to subscribe for an agricultural newspaper; 

 next to the Bible, such a work ought to be in 

 the hands of every farmei', or every person 

 who intends to become one. No man, in his 

 senses, ought to reject useful information re- 

 lative to the culture of the soil, if oifered by 

 those in the smallest decree competent to the 

 task ; and how much greater his advantage, 

 when the counsel and experience of practical 

 men, from all parts of the country, are thrown 

 together in the pages of an agricultural news- 

 paper and laid before him ; he here has the 

 wisdom of a multitude of counsellors, and 

 can listen to their interesting deliberations 

 every montii, and profit by them if he will. 

 There are, however, those who have an ho- 

 nest conviction against what they call ' book- 

 farming,' simply because they suppose it con- 

 sists of mere theory, and hence reject all 

 reading on the subject, as of that character ; 

 whilst others have proved their practical 

 utility, because they combine and illustrate 

 the experience of practical men — showing 



what has actually been done, and what can 

 and ought to be done. 



Amongst the best and most intelligent 

 farmers in the land are always found the best 

 patrons of agricultural newspapers ; go where 

 you will, through the best farming districts 

 of any state, where the land is in the highest 

 state of cultivation, and where the domestic 

 economy is all regulated in perfect order, and 

 you will invariably find agricultural newspa- 

 pers there, and intelligence to appreciate 

 them : but they are seldom met with, where 

 universal neglect and ignorance prevail ! 

 Now, this is not theory ; these remarks are 

 not based upon interest or mere imagination ; 

 they are the result of actual experience and 

 observation, derived from years of constant 

 travel, through a great portion of the United 

 States. 



There is not a subject, whether religious, 

 political, or commercial, that interests the at- 

 tention of men, which absolutely admits of a 

 greater improvement or a more boundless va- 

 riety, than the' cultivation of the soil: vast 

 improvements are in progress, and will yet 

 be made to an almost infinite extent; the 

 agriculturist is at this day only in the infancy 

 of his better plans ; but this can hardly be 

 said of any other enterprise in the country, 

 for all have outstripped the improvements of 

 husbandry ; the slumbering energies of the 

 farmer are, however, awakening up, and ag' 

 riculture, the broad foundation of a nation's 

 prosperity, is unmantling some of the bright- 

 est features of her hidden glory ! And, adopt- 

 ing the remark that ' knowledge is power,' 

 we apply it in the language of an able pen to 

 the concerns of the farmer. " Knowledge is 

 a species of capital, which is found of great 

 value in the absence of more available advan- 

 tages : some farmers may fail for want of suf- 

 ficient capital, but more, for want of suffi- 

 cient knowledge ; there is no class who place 

 more entire reliance on their skill than farm- 

 ers, yet they who know them best, will be 

 the most ready to admit that the greater 

 number are far from having acquired a cor- 

 rect knowledge of their business; and no 

 one, who is acquainted with the general agri- 

 culture of the country, will assert that it has 

 yet reached the degree of perfection of which 

 it is susceptible. Regarded nationally, the 

 intent of cultivation is to obtain the greatest 

 possible amount of produce from the soil; 

 the farmer's object being to raise it by such 

 means as will afford him the largest profit 

 with the least labour ; and there can be no 

 doubt, that the more scientifically he pro- 

 ceeds, the more effectually will both objects 

 be gained. 



Husbandry is an occupation of boundless 

 variety, extending to more objects, and fet- 

 tered by fewer positive regulations than any 



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