286 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAECII8, 1843, 



ANn HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



BosTorr, Wednesdat, March 8, 1843. 



SEVENTH AGRrCULTURAL MEETING AT THE 



STATE HOUSE. 

 The President, Mr King, in the chair. 

 On motion of tlie Hon. B. V. French, the following 

 resolve was adopted : 



Resolved, That the fiirmers of this Commonwealth, 

 here assembled, and who have assembled weekly during 

 the present session of the Legislature, for the purpose 

 of discussing and considering subjects pertaining to ag- 

 riculture, have heard with pleasure, that their distin- 

 guished fellow-laborer, Rev. He.nrv Colman, late Ag- 

 ricultural Commissioner of the Commonwealih, and as 

 such, the Sinclair of America, intends visiting Europe 

 the coming season. Few in our country have advoca- 

 ted with more zeal and eloquence the farming interf;sts ; 

 few have collected such funds of agricultural statistics, 

 or been so industrious in dispensing the same for the 

 public good. Therefore, we most cheerfully recommend 

 him to the civilities and .kind attentions of European 

 agriculturists. 

 And it was 



Voted, That the above resolve, signed by the officers 

 of the meeting, be communicated to Rev. Henry Col- 

 man, and that such editors of agricultural papers in this 

 country, as may concur with us in sentiment, be re- 

 quested to publish the same. 



DANIEL P. KIJ^G, Presiderit. 

 Johnson G4rdner,),,- „ ., 

 Benj. V. French, 5 '^'" President,. 

 Allen Putnam, ") 

 S. W. Cole, I „ , . 



H. C. Merriam, \SecretaTies. 



Wm. BucKMiNSTER, J 



Dr. C. T. Jackson then resumed his remarks, saying 

 that last week he dwelt mostly upon organic manures, 

 but should this evening dwell more upon the mineral, 

 though the two are closely connected, and cannot be 

 separated. 



The minerals are decomposed by acids, alkalies and 

 earths. When thus decomposed, the plants take them 

 up ; you may with the microscope see the crystals in 

 the sap vessels of the plants. The plant takes up the 

 matters that come within its reach, and has not full pow- 

 er to expel such as are deleterious. Opium or arsenic 

 will kill a plant if taken into it. Generally, liowever, 

 the plant takes only what it needs. 



Carbon, in a moist slate, undergoes) a slow combus- 

 tion, and yields carbonic acid. The vegetable matters 

 during the changes which decay vyorks in them, first 

 become acid; then take oxygen from the air and from 

 water; then putrify— then form crenales, apocrenates, 

 &c. ; then oxidation comes, and carbonic acid follows. 



Animal matters first become alkaline, and give ammo. 

 nia; then they become a brown matter, containing nitro- 

 gen. When you mix animal andvegelahle matters, you 

 form a l.irge portion of neutral salts, and thus make most 

 valuable manure. A fallen tree, in its decay kills the 

 surrounding grass by an excess of acid ; a decaying ani- 

 mal carcass at first kills by the excess of ammonia ; but 

 when the excess passes off", the vegetable growth is more 

 vigorous. 



Acids decompose rocks and take out from them the 

 alkalies. The stone found in a peat-bog is always 

 white, because the acids of the peat have taken out the 

 alkaline coloring matters. A soil containing iron is 



much benefiied by an application of ashes, lime, or ani- 

 mal matter. The yellow color of subsoil is cau.sed by 

 iron. Bring this up to the surface, and by the action of 

 the air, the iron is oxidized and bl.ackened. n 



Plants contain ammonia — this is a new discovery of 

 science. But in the heart of Indian corn and of all 

 seeds ammonia exists. There is some of this ammonia 

 in the atmosphere, but not enough — the greater part 

 comes from the decomposition of animal matters in the 

 soil; and the value of a manure is in proportion to the 

 ammonia it will form. 



(Thus far in the lecture we toidt a few notes ; but be- 

 coming satisfied that we could do no justice to Dr. J in 

 an attempt to report him, we laid down the pen. He 

 was obliged to go over so much ground in so short a 

 time, that his statements were necessarily concise and 

 gave little more than results, without explaining the 

 steps by which they were reached. 



Last week we were far from confident that we gave 

 his views correctly, and now we are less confident thai 

 we can give a true account of his positions and teach- 

 ings. 



The lecture was interesting and instructive. The 

 meeting, we think, are under great obligations to Dr. J. 

 for his willingness to spend so much time and be at so 

 much trouble to give them information. We less rewret 

 our inability to report him, from the fact that we may 

 hope to find the results of his analyses, and an explana- 

 tion of his views, in his report upon New Hampshire, 

 which will probably be published next summer ) 



Johnston's Leitures on the application of chemistry 

 and geology to agriculture, now being re-published in 

 this country, by Wiley & Putnam, New York, and for 

 sale in Boston by Little & Brown, Dr. Jackson noticed 

 with high praise. He called it l/te liest book upon agri- 

 cultural subjects that has ever been published. One 

 thing there advanced. Dr. J. said he would draw atten- 

 tion to, without adopting it, viz : that a strong luxuriant 

 crop draws to itself the carbonic acid of the atmosphere ; 

 so that he who manures highly, draws to his field the 

 carbonic acid fjom his neighbor's poor field ;—makinir 

 good the scripture, that to him that hath, shall be given" 

 and he shall have abundance. 



In a few eloquent closing remarks, Dr. J. noticed the 

 growing attention of the world to agricultural science, 

 and the mutual aid which the practical farmer and the 

 chemist can give to each other. 



£rrote.— Last week, we made Dr. J. speak of magne- 

 sia as becoming "ra/rfize^i." It is an oxide in its com- 

 mon state; — the mistake was ours, and not Dr. J.'s. 

 His statement " that in the interior of France it is found 

 that 300 pounds of salt are as valuable as a ton of plas- 

 ter," which we thought might be a slip of the tongue 

 was what Dr. Jackson meant to say ; and Jie tells us 

 that if he had gone to the extent of iiis authority, he 

 might have said 300 lbs. salt were found equal to 5000 

 of piaster. 



Subject for next meeting — The Honey Bee. 



PLUM TREES. 

 The fruit-growers of ibis vicinity, as far as we have 

 conversed with them, do not think that Messrs. Prince's 

 pesition, in regard to varieties of plum trees, specified 

 in our last paper, as not liable to be atlackeil by insects 

 is of any value, so far as relates to the neighborhood of 

 Boston. 



(nrOiir thanks are due to Hon. D. P. King, Secretary 

 of tile Essex Agricultural Society, for a copy of the So- 

 ciety's Transactions for 1S42. It is unusually interest- 

 ing and valuable. 



GUANO. 



We visited the Conservatory a few days since, to wit- 

 ness the action of this manure (the duBg of sea-birds, 

 from S America,) upon several plants. Three smal 

 rose bushes, of equal size, were taken by Mr Tcsche 

 macher last June, and each was set in a pot; the pott 

 of equal size, and the soil the same in quality. To the 

 soil in two of the pots he added a tea-spoonful of guanc 

 for each. The rose bush which had no guano, is 

 about 8 inches high. One of the others is 3 feel high, 

 and the remaining one is 3 12 feet Upon geraniums 

 and japonicas, the efi'ect is almost equally wonderful. 



Tins article deserves the attention of the growers ol 

 flowers, and probably of other cultivators. Tiiere can 

 bo no question that it is more efficient in producing stem 

 and foliage than any other applicatic.n that has been 

 made in this vicinity. And from the fact that a japoni- 

 ca two years from the seed, to which guano was applied, 

 has a perfectly formed seed set, Mr T. infers that this 

 manure will prove good in forming fruit-for this plant, 

 (japonica) seldom forms seeds until it is f<,ur or five 

 years old. But its effect in producing flowers and fruit 

 is not yet clearly shown. ' 



It is said that a large quantity of this guano is now in 

 the English market. Wo know not what the cost gen- 

 erally may be, but in one instance nearly 10 dollars has 

 been charged for 200 lbs. in England. This will make 

 it expensive—and yet if its effects shall generally ba 

 such as are now to be seen at the Conservatory, it will 

 be economical. We advise those who may take any 

 interest in this matter, to visit the Conservatory, and 

 see for themselves what guano has done. 



INQUIRIES RESPECTING A COMPOST. 



Mr Editor— Late last fall, I carted about one hun- 

 dred loads of muck, peat, and peat with a mixture of 

 clay, which was thrown out in the early part of the sea- 

 son, into a heap. Then I drew ten loads from the hot- 

 torn of fresh burnt coal-pits, and added to the heap. 

 There was a good proportion of ashes mixed with the 

 coal-dust. As soon as the frost is out, I intend to add a 

 cask of quick lime, and ten loads of manure. 



Is this compost worth as much or more for top-dress- 

 ing grass land, as it is for a crop of grain ? 



Will this compost be sufficient manure for one acre of 

 corn ?— the soil was broken last full ; is a hard, gravelly 

 loam, and rather poor. 



How will this compost suit a root crop, on a light 

 loamy soil ? 



Respectfully, your ob'tserv't, H. D 



Douglas, March od, 1S43. 



It is difficult to tell any thing about the probable ac- 

 tion of a compost heap, from this general description of 

 its components. If the peaty matters are well rotted 

 and pulverized-if they are freed well from their acids, 

 the ten loads of manure and the cask of lime, with the 

 ashes already there, may be sufficient to make a good 

 compost. But we would rather recommend tliat the ma. 

 nure and lime should be put to half the heap than to the 

 whole, and would rather have the sixtyfive loads thus 

 prepared, for one acre of corn, than to have the hundred 

 and twenty proposed. The manure shruild be mixed in, 

 a fortnight before the lime is applied. The compost 

 will be good on sandy, gravelly, or warm loamy lands, 

 for any crop, if the proportion of peaty matter is not so 

 great that the ashes, lime and dung will not neutralize 

 the acids. Had we handled the peat, we could tell much 

 better than now, ho>v freely it may be used without in- 

 jurious effect. By careful measurement, we found that 

 six bushels of peat on a square rod was lees serviceable 

 than three. 



