278 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH I,1S43. L ' 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



Boston, Wednesday, Mabch 1, 1843. 



The quantity of this silicate of poiash required by the 1 The be.t manures for corn are those that are full o 

 different plants, is very variable; plants of the same ammonia-as the dung of animals, flesh, &c. An ejl 

 kind do, according to the soil on which they grow, taUe periment of his own had shown that water m wh.ch ca,, 

 i-fl- „, „,n„nr.mn<, Mr Levi Barllett. of bonate of ammonia had been dissolved, gave vigorou. 

 It up in \ory oiHerent proportions, ivir ijevi uarueiL, ui . , ,. , . 



Warner, N.H., has learned and shown that „^r<z«es, growth to corn. Corn requires less lime than wheat. 



SIXTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT THE 



STATE HOUSE. 



The President, Mr King, in the chair. 



A communication from H. K. Oliver, Esq., of Salem, 



was road, signifying his willingness to l.cture to the 



meeting at some future evening, upon the Honey Bee. 



The thanks of the meeting were voted to Mr Oliver, 

 and Mr King was requested to invite him to come two 

 weeks from this evening. 



Subject for discussion— Mineral and Concentrated 

 Manures. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson said, that before entering upon the 

 regular subject, he would give by apparatus, an illustra- 

 tion of the mode by which sap ascends. The process 

 is called endosmose, or the passage of liquids through 

 membranes. By taking bladder or goldbeater's skin, 

 he showed that liquids heavier than water will be made 

 to ascend in a tube to the height of 30 feet or more. Sap 

 vessels have diaphrams, and by means of these they 

 send up sap by an impulsive force— not by mere capil- 

 lary attraction. The bladder or skin will cease to act 

 instantly, if a single drop of hydro-sulphate of ammonia 

 be put in the liquid, or if the least putrefaction has taken 

 place. The process has apparently some connection 

 with, or aid from, electricity. Before the meeting 

 closed, the liquid had been forced up in the tube about 

 6 inches ; and this by the action of the bladder. 



Dr. J. then said, that since he spoke there two years 

 a-'o many improvements have been made — many expe- 

 riments tried— some good books and many indifferent 

 ones had been published. While laboring in the coun- 

 try, he had found very many inquiring farmers— many 

 who wanted the light which science can give them. 

 Once, books upon farming were decried as unsafe 

 guides— and this not entirely without reason. The data 

 in them were limited — the conclusions not always 

 sound. But recently some improvements have been 

 made— many scientific men in Europe have been at 

 vfork upon Agricultural Chemistry — many practical 

 men have been experimenting both there and in this 

 country. He and others here, have been busy in the 

 same cause. Science is yet to do much for agriculture. 

 Chemistry must tell us what our crops lake from the 

 soil and what from the atmosphere. The crops them- 

 selves must be analyzed. Science must tell us what 

 change takes place in a barren soil when it becomes fer- 

 tile ; it must tell what kind of manure is best suited to 

 each particular crop. It will ask if there is any one 

 general compost, suited equally and well to all crops; it 

 asks too, if mineral manures are of any value. 



He would say something upon mineral manures. 

 Some of these, the soluble ones generally, are indispen- 

 sable to vegetable growth and health. The coating of 

 cane, corn-stalks, straw, &c., always contains silica, or 

 the matter of fine sand and of flint. This silica alone is 

 insoluble and will not act; but it is dissolved by potash 

 and combines with it, and enters into the plant in the 

 form of silicate of potash. It is this which gives strength 

 and firmness to the plant and its vessels. It is this 

 which holds up the wheat and keeps it from lodging 

 Where this is abundant the wheat will generally stand; 

 but where there is a large quantity of vegetable and ani- 

 mal manure, the stalks are soft and the grain lodges or 

 falls. To get a good crop and have it stand, you must 

 have much silicate of potash to strengthen the fibre. 



even, may have too much of this, so as'to become hard 

 and wiry. Where silex and poiash come together in 

 equal weights, the silex is soluble in water. 



A soil that has been tilled a long time, is liable to be 

 deprived, in a great measure, of its soluble silex. Here, 

 ashes is the best restorative. 



Alumina, which makes a part of clay, enters very 

 sparingly i?i(o;)?an<s; but the clay retains water and 

 gives tenacity to the soil. Burnt or baked clay is a very 

 valuable manure : the benefit of burning is in conse- 

 quence of the silicates in the clay being rendered solu- 

 ble hy the action of the fire. 



Magnesia, This has been abused ; in a pure state it 

 may be injurious to vegetation; but when oxidized, it is 

 good, and it enters in some fiirm, into most plants;— 

 phosphate of magnesia is in all the grains ; but magne- 

 sia should be used in compost, if at all ; for when ap- 

 plied alone, it makes a cemont. In compost with peat, 

 it is valuable. 



The proper management of lime is a delicate opera- 

 tion. Rightly used, it is valuable : in compost properbj 

 applied, Ur. J. never knew it to fail of doing good. It 

 is to the farmer the most valuable of all the mineral ma- 

 nures, because it can always and in almost all places be 

 obtained. But this should not be put in stable dung 

 and animal manures : there it would decompose and 

 weaken ; but it should be used in compost. 



A gentleman in Rhode Island was advised to put one 

 loadof night soil to six of peat. Thus mixed, the night 

 soil remained unchanged; but upon putting a cask of 

 fresh dry slaked lime to a cord, the night-soil soon lost 

 its offensive smell, and the heap became throughout 

 most excellent manure, and this in a few days. 



In much of the peat there exist alum and copperas ;— 

 here lime is a good top-dressing upon the peat meadow. 

 It forms, with the matters in the peat, a sulphate of 

 of lime— this is plaster. 



Potash and soda are efficient and valuable alkalies, 

 but they are too expensive for general use. In compost 

 they are good, but when applied in solution— that is, 

 when dissolved in water and sprinkled upon the soil, 

 they are sometimes found inert. 



Nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, and nitrate of soda, are 

 good in many places, and for some crops. Squashes, 

 pumpkins, melons, &c., contain them ; and this is the 

 reason why vines do so well where a barn has once 

 stood. These articles may be spread upon the surface 

 of the soil in small quantities. Should you put a small 

 lump or crystal of nitre by a hill of corn, that spot will 

 always be wet; and this might be a good way of apply- 

 ing it. 



Iron is found in many trees and in grains. Taken in- 

 to the animal system in the grains, the iron makes the 

 real globules of blood. 



[Here Dr. Jackson showed several drawings of Indian 

 corn, or sections of kernels of corn, showing that a 

 coating or thin sheet around the germ, is iron. In the 

 southern corn, the central and upper part is all starch, 

 while the sides, or the hard flinty part, contains oil. 

 The Tusoarora contains no oil, and will not pop. The 

 small flinty corns pop well because the oil extends all 

 around them. The examination of these corns he has 

 made in connection with Mr Hayes, who is one of the 

 best chemists in the Commonwealth. The Tuscarora 

 corn, as it contains no oil, is not so good for fattening 

 as others, but it cooks the more readily for being with- 

 out oil, and is good for puddings, &c.] 



Manganese is found in the ashes of many plants; ani ^ 

 it is abundant in most peats, and these peats are vegeta 

 ble products. 



Bones are good for many soils — they are among tb *' 

 best manures, where the soil is wanting in phosphates ^t 

 lime ; but where this abounds, they are of no value— « 

 is the case at Mr Cushing's, in Watertown 



Gypsum is a valuable mineral manure in the interioi 

 but near the sea-coast, the salt spray is supposed to hav 

 the same action, and to render the plaster inert. In th 

 interior of France, it is found that 300 pounds of salt ar 

 as valuable as one ton of plaster. (Wo areapprehensiv 

 that there was a slip of the tongue here, but perl 

 not. — Rep.) Gypsum acts unequally upon the differec 

 soils in the interior, and this is unfavorable to Liebig' 

 theory, that plaster acts principally by absorbing ammc 

 nia from the atmosphere 



Ashes are very good, generally, on light soils; an 

 here leached ashes are as good as any. He had suj 

 posed that repeated ashing will exhaust the soil of il 

 vegetable matters ; and yet it has been proved that o 

 Mr Anthony's sandy lands, in Rhode Island, the vege 

 table matters increase under the operations of ashin 

 and cropping. 



The value of any manure is in direct proportion 1 

 the nitrogen it contains — or that which makes ammoni: 

 The best manures, or strongest, therefore, are flesl 

 urine, dung, &c. Guano, the dung of sea-birds, brougl 

 from S. America, is exceedingly powerful : in srna 

 quantities it produces wonderful effects. 



Mr Teschemacher read an account of a wonderfi 

 discovery in Germany, of a mode of preparing seed, i 

 as to dispense with the use of all manures, and yet g' 

 most luxuriant crops of every kind. We wait for mo 

 light. 



The same subject will be resumed at the next mee 



ng. 



h 



Profitable Cow. — One of the cows at the State Lunat 

 Hospital, has given this year, one thousand and thirtei 

 o-allons of milk. The account has been kept by tl 

 farmer of the establishment, Capt. ChafEn. One oth' 

 cow is estimated to have done as' well, and a third h 

 fallen but little short of the other two. The cows are 

 common breeds, purchased of farmers in this tow 

 The milk of the one cow at four cents a quart, would I 

 worth $162 08. The keeping cost about $lo.— IVorct 

 ter Spy. 



Jl Good Tiling. — " Every fly, and every pebble, at 

 every flower, are tutors in the great school of nature, 

 instruct the mind and improve the heart. 



" Every man has in his own life follies enough — i 

 his own mind, troubles enough — in the performance 

 his duties, deficiencies enough— in his fortune, evi 

 enough — without being curious about the affairs of otl 



Facts. — Musty grain is made sweet by putting it 1 

 boiling water, (double the quantity of the grain,) lettin 

 it cool in the water, (skimming befi.re pouring off,) an 

 then letting it dry well 



Plowing heavy soils when wet, does more injury tha 

 if the team were standing idle. 



All grain fields seeded to grass, should be rolled.- 

 Phila. Musium. 



