No. 2. 



Charcoal — Large yield of Potatoes. 



53 



The present season I have treated two 

 parcels in the same manner, except that I 

 have sown foul meadow with the herds ofrass 

 and red-top, and I have not sown rye, for I 

 find that ordinarily the grass will be forward 

 enough to mow the summer after sowing in 

 the fall. I had doubts of the expediency 

 of sowing so late as November, but my suc- 

 cess has encouraged me to repeat the expe- 

 riment. I have a compost of loam and stable 

 manure, which I intend to spread on my re- 

 claimed meadows. I consider them the most 

 profitable land for grass, and the toppings 

 removed, afford a rich contribution to the 

 barn-yard, pig-pen, and compost heap. 



The quantity of land on which I have 

 made experiments, exceeds three acres. 

 Respectfully submitted, 



Daniel P. King. 



Danvers, Mass., Nov. 1st, 1842. 



Charcoal. 



During the past year, various experiments 

 have been in progress to ascertain what ef- 

 fects would be produced upon plants by pot- 

 ting, or striking them, from cuttings, in char- 

 coal ; or by mixing it in various proportions 

 in the soil in which they are to be grown 

 From what has been published in Liebig's 

 Organic Chemistry, and elsewhere, I had 

 been led to expect some very decided re- 

 sults ; but atter varying the experiments in 

 many different ways, nothing has happened 

 vi'hich proves charcoal to be useful as a 

 chemical agent in the growth of plants. 

 When pounded and used by itself, it is very 

 apt to get too dry, and then runs together 

 and sets very hard. Some orchidaceous 

 plants, gloxinias and Cacti were potted in it, 

 but they did not succeed, evidently from 

 causes above mentioned. When mixed with 

 soil in the proportion of two-thirds of char- 

 coal to one-third of soil, and also in smaller 

 quantities, such plants as oranges, ipomsea 

 scabra, gesneras and Cacti, grew very well 

 in the mixture, but not better than others 

 which were treated in the conmion way. 

 Cuttings of the common Caper, Ficus elas- 

 tica, £uphorb2« .lacquin^p^oro, IpomfPfl, and 

 various other kinds, were planted both in 

 pounded charcoal, and in different propor- 

 tions mixed with sand; but the results were 

 not more favourable to the charcoal than to 

 the common sand usually employed for that 

 purpose. The caper rooted freely in both 

 ways, but the others did best in the sand. 

 Many cuttings, when planted in pine char- 

 coal, or even when that formed a principal 

 part of the mi,\ture, threw off their leaves 

 in a short time and rotted at the base. 

 From what has come under my observation 



during these experiments, I would not re- 

 commend this substance to be used by itself 

 for the growth of plants or for striking cut- 

 tings ; and if it does produce any good chemi- 

 cal effects when mixed with the soil, these 

 will probably depend in a great degree upon 

 the constitution of the soil, in the same way 

 as lime and chalk are only good manures 

 for certain lands. But it is very possible 

 that these effects are only mechanical, tend- 

 ing to keep the ground open in the manner 

 which renders ashes so very beneficial to 

 stiff soils. — London Horticultural Society. 



From the S. C. Planter. 

 Large yield of Potatoes. 



I HAVE delayed sending an account of my 

 last year's potatoe crop as I promised, until 

 the account kept by the boys who did the 

 work, is lost, so that I am unable to arrive 

 at the cost. The quantity of ground was 

 32 square rods of old and poor land, ma- 

 nured with stable manure and broke deep, 

 then furrowed off with a shovel plough, 

 about 21 inches apart, the furrows nearly 

 filled with barn-yard or long- manure, the 

 potatoes cut and dropped ; the pieces about 

 nine or ten inches apart in the furrows on 

 the manure, then slightly covered with a 

 hoe, leaving the surface smooth. The whole 

 was then covered with leaves and trash 

 from the woods, three or four inches thick, 

 then some heavier litter, such as drifted 

 brush from low grounds, sedge, cornstalks 

 and weeds, thrown on to prevent the wind 

 taking off the leaves. 



Here ended the tending, except where 

 the trash was not thick enough to prevent 

 weeds springing up, they were pulled out 

 by hand. The planting was done in the 

 latter part of the Third month last, the pro- 

 duct was 121^ bushels, being a fraction over 

 3| bushels to the square rod, or 607^ to the 

 acre. The planting was from the stock I 

 have had for several years past, and the 

 product quite as fine as I ever saw from the 

 mountains. Thomas T. Hunt. 



Sprinpfield. Guilford co., N. C, 

 Third mo. 1st, 1843. 



Any deviation from the most exact and 

 scrupulous sincerity, is repugnant to the 

 good faith that ought to prevail in contracts. 

 An}'' dissimulation concerning the subject- 

 matter of the contract, and what the oppo- 

 site party has an interest in knoioing, is 

 contrary to that good faith.^Po<A?er. 



Popular Errors. — That green or unsea- 

 soned wood is as good for making fires, as 

 dry or seasoned wood. 



That hot bread, or bread less than twenty- 

 four hours old, is wholesome. 



