69 



JigricuUure of the Ancienta — Formation of Coal. Vq-l. III. 



For the Fariiitrs" Cabinet. 



Agrriciiltttrc of the Auciciits. 



" Hate not husbandry, which the Most High hath or 

 dairied." 



Columella, who wrote an elaborate treatise 

 on husbandry, in twelve books, more than 

 18()0 years ago, and which was translated 

 and printed in England about a century since, 

 observes, "That the bodies of cattle ought to 

 be rubbed down daily, as well as the bodies 

 of men ;" and says, " it otlen does them 

 more goo<l to have their backs well rubbed 

 down, than their bellies well filled with pro- 

 vender." 



The work of Columella appears to us of 

 the present day as most extraordinary. It 

 treats most elaborately and sensibly of many 

 matters connected with husbandry, down to 

 the rearing of all kinds of poultry. The dis- 

 eases of animals engage a due share of notice, 

 and in regard to the care of sheep there is 

 scarcely any thing new could be written at 

 the present day. And what is remarkable, 

 many of the common practices, opinions, and 

 notions prevalent through the country at the 

 present time, are so accurately depicted in 

 his work, as to render it certain that they have 

 been handed down to us from that remote age 

 of the world. In regard to making hay, he 

 says, " But it is best to cut down hay before 

 it begins to wither ; for you gather a larger 

 quantity of it, and it affords a more agreeable 

 food to cattle. But there is a measure to be 

 observed in drying it, that it be put together 

 neither over dry, nor yet too green ; for in 

 the first case, it is not a whit better than 

 straw, if it has lost its juice ; and, in the other, 

 it rots in the loft, if it retains too much of it ; 

 and often, after it is grown Ivot, it breeds fire, 

 and sets all in a flame. Sometimes, also, 

 when we have cut down our hay, a shower 

 surprises us. But if it be thoroughly wet, it 

 is to no purpose to move it while it is wet; 

 and it will be better, if we suffer the upper- 

 most part of it to dry with the sun. Then 

 we will afterward turn it, and, when it is 

 dried on both sides, we will bring it close to- 

 gether into cocks, and so bind it up in bun- 

 dles; nor will we upon any account delay to 

 bring it under a roof; or, if we cannot con- 

 veniently either carry the hay into the ma- 

 nor-house, or bind it up in bundles or trusses, 

 it will certainly be proper to build it up in 

 ricks, whatever part of it shall be dried in the 

 manner it ought to be, and to form them into 

 very sharp points ; for thus the hay is com- 

 modiously preserved from rains; and, though 

 there should be none, yet it is not amiss to 

 make the foresaid rick, so that, if there be 

 any moisture in th.e herbs, it may sweat out, 

 and be dried up in tlie stacks." 



I have copied out the above to sliow the 



farmers of the present day what was known 

 IHOO years ago about making htiy, which you 

 may print in the Cabinet, if it is thought of 

 sufficient interest. C. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet 

 Formation of Coal— Coal Ashes^ 



Sir, — I perceive from the last paragraph 

 of the article on " Coal dust," at page 14 of 

 the third volume of the Cabinet, that the wri- 

 ter is of the almost universal opinion, that the 

 origin of coal is vegetable. I confess I am 

 not one of those who " know the woody fibres 

 of all plants is composed of the same elements 

 as the coal dust," or rather, I feel as con- 

 vinced as he, that it is no such thing. The 

 fact is, from many years of the closest inves- 

 tigation, aided by the most extensive means 

 offorminp-a judgment, both in this country 

 and in Europe, I have arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that tlie origin of coal is volcanic. And 

 my opinion has been strengthened by the cir- 

 cumstance, that neither it, nor the pure ashe5? 

 therefrom, contain any nutritive principle, as 

 the pabulum of plants — it might as well be 

 sought amongst the ashes of pitch, or of any 

 other bituminous substance. It is true, that 

 the growth of plants might be encouraged 

 and accelerated, by heaping coal dust about 

 them, as in the instance mentioned of the 

 blanching of the poke berry; and if "An- 

 thrax" will take the trouble to lay only a 

 heap of bushes on the surface of a meadow in 

 the spring, he will find that the growth of 

 grass is wonderfully quickened by it — but 

 upon the heaps of coal dust upon the wharves 

 may easily be discovered particles of the dung 

 of horses, as well as the oats with which they 

 had been fed, the latter growing without, to 

 an inexperienced observer, any soil. I am 

 free toatlmittlie beneficial effects of coal dust, 

 or its ashes, when applied to a stubborn and 

 retentive soil, but on such it operates merely 

 mechanicnlly, by loosening its te.xture; I 

 have no idea that it adds any thing in the 

 way of fertility. 



I am quite prepared to hear, and to be told 

 that coal carries in its very structure and 

 fibre, and in ten thousand instances, its woody 

 origin, almost unchanged — "that it must be 

 wood, and cannot be otherwise," &c. &c., 

 but to one, who has had such ample means to 

 form a judgment, and if you will bear with 

 me so fiir as to allow me to hope, to some- 

 wliat of purpose, the.^e appearances have been 

 met and accounted for in a way satisfiictory, 

 at least, to one mind. My theory, I will al- 

 low, is original, and as such miglit be met 

 with derision by many, but I shall awnit with 

 patience the further investijration of the sub- 

 ject; admitting, very freely, "there are so 

 many schemes radically absurd, and which 



