VOL. XXI. NO. 4«. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



For the New England Fanner. 



ciu:m(cal salts as fertilizcus. 



Rfii PiT.NAM — Dear Sir — Will yon Imve the 

 goodness to invite some of your aHriciiltiiral frieiula 

 who an; desinms of proinotiiior tlio science ofagri- 

 cultural cheinislry, to make a series of cotjiparative 

 experioicnis with the following salts, which inny 

 be obtained at any dru^jirist's store. They may 

 be mixed with soil and applied in small quantities 

 around the youn;:: plants. Those marked with * 

 it is most desirable to have tried : 



*Carbonate of ammonia — alone and mi.xed with 

 swamp muck. 



•Sulphate of anmionia. 



'Muriate of ammonia. 



•Phosphate of ammonia. 



Phosphate of soda and ammonia. 



•Phosphate of soda. 



•Nitrate of ammonia. 



Nitrate of soda. 



Nitrate of potash. 



Nitrate of lime. 



Comparative experiments made with burnt bones 

 .nd ground bones, will also prove instructive. 



I should like, also, to see comparative experi- 

 nents made with sea salt and gypsum, especially 

 f made in the interior of the State, whore gypsum 

 xts more favorably than it does on the sea-coast. 



Phosphate of magnesia enters into the coniposi- 

 lion of many cereal grains, and it would be in- 

 itructive to have experiments made with the phos- 

 hate of magnesia and ammonia, 



I have made analyses of Indian corn, wheat, 

 lals, rye, beans, peas, chesnuts, and of the 

 Beds of many other plants both of the Monocotyle- 

 (onous and Dicotyledonous orders, in which I dis- 

 (overed the presence of phosphates of lime, mag- 

 "€sia and ammonia, which are always in the Coty- 

 dons. These salts, you are well aware, can 

 ome only from the soil, and their general presence 

 1 the Cotyledons of plants, seems to indicate their 

 nportance in the vegetuble economy. 



Their ;,ilue as necessary ingredients in the 



odies of animals, must be obvious to every 



^fleeting man. If vegetables did not contain 



hosphate of lime, it is clear that herbivorous ani- 



lals could not live, or that they would have no 



ones, and carnivorous animals who live on the 



srbivorous, would be equally destitute of them. 



The phosphate of ammonia, which is obtained 



om Indian corn, and from other plants, is also a 



\ jry important principle of animal nutrition. 



i The object of the above suggestions as to a 



tjmparative trial of some of the chemical salts, 



made with reference to the synthetical proof of 



leir value as fertilizers. The chemist may make 



aalyses in his laboratory, and show the presence 



certain matters in plants; — he may also find 



1 in the soil in small proportions ; but the far- 



s experiments in the field are required in or- 



. to render the proof of their value as certain as 



can be made by any Iiuman means. 



Let me now suggest some cautions as to the 



lanagement of saline manures. 



It is well known that every powerful manure if 

 Bed in too large quantities, will injure, or even 

 estroy vegetation. This is true as respects saline 

 nd mineral and animal manures, which have a 

 owerful action on plants. Saline matters, espe- 

 ially the carbonate of ammonia, should be used 

 1 very sparing quantities. If dissolved in water, 



379 



not more than 10 grains should be put into a gnl- 

 Ion of water, and the plants must not bo watered 

 with tliis solution more than once in a week. If 

 used too freely, the plant will run too umch to fo- 

 liage, or it may even be killed, exhibiting the ef- 

 fecls well known to farmers, but erroneously attri- 

 buted to the hciit of the manure. If used in a <!ry 

 slate, carbonate of ammonia may bo mixed witli 

 dry soil or peat, or with dry swamp muck, wliich 



30 doliquceccnt that it would not remain long in 

 the surface soil. 



In suggesting oxpcrimcnts with saline manures, 



I would remark that the expense of ths compari- 



tive trials cannot amount to much, for a few Bijuaro 



yards of soil would bo amply sulficient for each 



experiment, and but a very small quantity of each 



salt will be required, say I! or 1 ounces at the most. 



The economical application of such salts as 



may be spnringly applied around the young may be found to he advantageous to the crop, may 



phints. I know by my owji researches, that if be left for subsequent consideration. \Vc have at 



present only to determine their relative values, and 

 may find out cheap ways of preparing such as may 

 be desired hereafter. 



Thousands of tons of valuable salts are wasted 

 every year which might be saved and applied to 

 useful purposes, if a demand should warrant the 

 preparation of them for the market. 



The time may come when agriculturists will 

 look to the manufacturing laboratories for a supply 

 of many valuable manures. 



Respectfully, your ob't serv't, 



C. T. JACKSON. 



Boston, May 20, 1843. 



From the Farmer's Caliiuet. 



used properly it is one of the most valuable ma 

 nures. In I8;5I, I learned from Prof. Le Coq, in 

 Clermont Ferrand, in France, who has made the 

 best experiments on saline manures, that ho had 

 made successful use of carbonate of ammonia as a 

 fertilizer, but he then supposed it would prove too 

 expensive for general economical use. Consider- 

 ing the minute quantity required, and that it now 

 costs but 18 cts. per pound, and will be afforded at 

 a much lower rate when in greater demand, I have 

 no doubt but it will soon become an article of gen- 

 eral use as an ingredient of composts. 



Sulphate of ammonia I desire to have tried 

 against carbonate of ammonia, in order to test the 

 views of Lieliig as to the advantage of fixing the 

 ammonia as a sulphate. 



Muriate of ammonia is a common product of 

 European volcanoes, and is exhaled from their cra- 

 ters in enormous quantities. Now it is known 

 that those volcanic districts are remarkably fertile, 

 and it will be interesting to know how far this 

 salt afl^ects the fertility of the soil. It will proba- 

 bly operate best on calcareous or marly soils. 



Nitrate of ammonia is a comparatively high 

 priced salt, but if, as I anticipate, it should prove 

 a powerful fertilizer, it may he made at much low- 

 er cost than it is at present, its use being now so 

 limited that there are no large manufactories for 

 its preparation. 



Nitrates of soda and of potash are already pret- 

 ty well known as fertilizers, but it is still desirable 

 that they should be compared with the nitrates of 

 ammonia and of lime. 



Nitrate of potash I have found to be a common 

 saline ingredient in the juices of Cucurbitaccous 

 plants. It is readily obtained from the expressed 

 juice of the pumpkin vine by evaporation and crys- 

 talization. It is known, also, that nitre is abun- 

 dant under old buildings, and that pumpkins, 

 squashes, cucumbers and melons thrive remarkably 

 on such soils. A fine instance was mentioned to 

 me by the trustees of the community of Shakers 

 at Enfield, N. H., last summer, as confirmatory of 

 my views. 



Nitrate of ammonia is found in many of the 

 well waters of Boston, and it is probably formed 

 by the decomposition of animal matters on the sur- 

 face or in tho soil. 



Nitrate and the sesqui-carbonate of soda also 

 form in the soil, owing to the decompositicm of 

 sulphate of soda or of sea salt by carbonate of 

 lime and by animal matters. The sesqui-carbon- 

 ate you will find on almost any moist cellar walls 

 in our city. This salt forming by the action of 

 carbonate of lime on sulphate of soda, seems to 

 indicate one cause of the fertilizing agency of 

 those two mineral manures. Color of Plants.— Wheat, with the outward skin 



Muriate of lime is also a very abundant ingre- of a purple color, is more liable to be affected with 

 dient in our well waters, and it must have been rust and mildew, than the varieties with yellow 

 formed in the soil from sea-salts, in the manner straw. Russia yellow-top, and yellow flesh tur- 

 above mentioned. I do not know of any experi- nips, are found to be far superior to the purplo or 

 ments respecting its agricultural value, but it is green tops. — ^mer. JlgriciUt. 



REARING CALVES. 



At page 20 of the ■'Jth volume of the Cabinet, 

 there is mention made of a young farmer who nev- 

 er kept a cow that was not a god milker : there is 

 much in this, and I am led to believe that my 

 friend Johnson is right. He keeps a number of 

 cows for the use of the dairy, and in a late corres- 

 pondence on this subject, he thus expresses him- 

 self: "It is true, my cows are all superior — I nev- 

 er keep a bad one. Neither have I any that are 

 too young — I never rear a calf, which you will 

 think strange ; but I will let you into the secret, 

 and then you will be as wise as I am. My neigh- 

 bors, knowing that my cows are very great milkers, 

 are anxious to purchase my heifer calves for rear- 

 ing; they of course are ready to give me about 

 three times their value for the butcher, and take 

 them at two or three days old. I enter every pur- 

 chaser's name in a book, and never lose sight of 

 tliese calves, from which I select, at three years 

 old, the best; often at a price far less than it 

 would have cost me to rear them. My cows are of 

 all colors and breeds, as I have long been convinc- 

 ed that quality for tho pail is not confined to size, 

 breed or color; but much indeed to feed and age ; 

 so it is true, that ' a good cow cannot be of a bad 

 color.' 1 a.33 quite amused when I witness my 

 neighbors waiting until certain young heifers shall 

 come in, and certain old creatures go out, when 

 they expect to make their full compliment of but- 

 ter ; but this time never comes ; for a great pro- 

 portion of these heifers, as is the case with the 

 young of other animals, will prove quite inferior to 

 their parents, and not worth the cost of rearing." 



Now does not this look like common sense and 

 reason, and can we not profit by such a lesson ? I, 

 for one, mean to try. ZEBU. 



