262 



NE^V ENGLAND FARMER, 



FEB. 24:, 18:i6. 



sfas^Mr- m^^iL^i.'mm jf^msffijsma 



BO.STO.N, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEB. 24, 1836. 



(For the New England Farmer.) 

 I.I9IB FOR THE CULTURE OP COTTOIV, &c. 



Courtland, Ala. Jan. 29, 1836. 

 Dear Sir: — I have been reading Ihe Annalea de I'Ag- 

 ricullure Frangaise, of 1835, on the use of lime as a man- 

 ure, by the celebrated chemist, M. Puvls, as also your 

 invaluable book, the Complete Farmer and Rural Econo- 

 mist, ani have come to the conclusion that it maybe 

 adapted to the culture of Cotton. It is represented as 

 being permanent in its effects, vvhich is a great point it) 

 all stimalanls applied to the produce of Cotton. I sup- 

 pose you are aware of the fact that Cotton never matures 

 itself as a plant, at least in our latitude : the same weed 

 has on it the open cotton, the bloom, and all the incipi- 

 ent preparation fiir bloom, until this preparation is cut 

 short by the frost, and consequently has more and more 

 need of stimulating aid as it advances with'its fruits- 

 Evanescent manures, such as cotton seed, applied in the 

 Spring, give a momentary impulse to its growth, hut are 

 exhausted before the fruit is ripe, which is the time it 

 requires the most aid. Sucli manures suit well for In- 

 dian Corn, &c. In the treatise above alluded to, the 



author asserts the formation of lii 



IS an operation 



which employs all the forces of vegetation —and these 

 forces, directed to this formation have no energy left to 

 give a great developement to plants : but when the vege- 

 table finds the calcareous principles already formed in the 

 soil, it makes use of them ji and preserves all its forces to 

 increase its own vigor and size. He further adds, that 

 " lime modifies the te.xture of the soil — makes it more 



friable — invigorates.it — randers it mora permeable 



gives it the poiver to better resist moisture as well as 

 dryness — that, it produces in the soil the humate of lime 

 which. encloses a powerful means of fertility — that lime 

 increases much the energy of the soil and of plants to 

 draw from the atmosphere ihe volatile substances of 

 which plants are composed, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon 

 and azote — that the limed soil in furnishing to plants 

 the lime v?iiieh they need, relieves the soil and plants 

 from employing their powers to produce it — and finally 

 that lime promoies the formation of fixed substances 

 earthy or saline neceesary to vegetables." If the above 

 quotation be even partially true, it produces every effect 

 necessary to the successfol cultivation of cotton ; and 

 especially if jt will guard it in any good degree from the 

 sudden effects of too much moisture or drought. Cotton 

 is better quajified to accommodate itself to the exigencies 

 in which it may be placed than any plant witli which 1 

 am acquainted, provided it has time to prepare itself If 

 the season is dry, iis tap root will penetrate the clay in 

 search of moisture, to the depth of many feet, while its 

 feeders or side roots are near the surface to receive such 

 as may come witliin their range : the limbs or branches 

 are short and near each other, while the bolls are very 

 close to each other, or in other words, with crowded 

 fruit. If the season is a moist one, the tap root descends 

 but a short distance ; the branches are few and far be- 

 tween, and the fruit scattering. 



Being thus impressed with the importance of lime as 

 a manure, my attention has been drawn to its production. 

 The neighborhood in which ! reside abounds with grey 

 limestone, which upon being calcined makes very white 

 strong lime ; but we are altogether ignorant of the man- 

 ner of producing it, except in brick kilns, and on laro-e 

 og heaps upon which the rock is placed after it is broken 



in small pieces. I have searched your book in vain fiir 

 information on this subject; but have concluded, from 

 the situation which you hold as editor of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, the information was within your reach. 



In Mackenzie's " Five Thousand Receipts," page 323, 

 is an article headed "Method of burning Lime without 

 kilns," in which it is stated, they place the limestone in 

 large bodies, which are called coaks, the stones not being 

 broken small, as in the ordinary method, and calcine 

 these heaps in the way used for preparing charcoal. To 

 prevent the flnme from bursting out at the top and sides 

 of these heaps, turfs and earth are placed against them, 

 and the aperture partially closed, and the heat is so regu- 

 lated and t.-ansfused through the whole mass, that, not- 

 withstanding the increased size of the stones, the whole 

 becomes thoroughly calcined. Owing to my ignorance 

 of such things, the above conveys to my mind a very 

 indistinct idea of a coak. If I were altogether ignorant 

 of the nature of limestone,! should suppose the rock was 

 set on fire like wood. 



Will you, my dear sir, be so good as to give me such 

 information on this subject as may be in your power, a«d 

 particularly in relation to the construction of the coaks ; 

 their size at the base, the manner of communicating heat, 

 if by eyes, their breadth and height, how the heat is 

 transfused, if by flues, how they run and how formed, 

 and how many days it will require to burn one with 

 wood (of coal W9 have none) ; and how much lime a 

 given sized coak may be expected to yield If you are 

 unacquainted with the coak, please inform me of the con- 

 struction of the most economical and approved plan of 

 making lime. I have made one effort to make a kiln, but 

 have notsucceeded as well as I expected. It was twelve 

 feet at the base, with three eyes, about the size of those 

 in brick kilns, in the form of a cone abjiut 17 feet high, 

 covered with dirt near to tho top on three sides, and 

 daubed with mortar on the fourth, or side of the eyes; 

 we burnt it industriously seven days; but either from 

 misconstruction, or some other cause, the mass is not cal- 

 cined. Please let me hear from you on this subject as 

 early as possible, as also your views as to the time and 

 mode of application, and greatly oblige, &c. 



John F Moselv. 



B 11 the Editor. — The foregoirig presents fi)r inquiry an 

 important item in arts and rural economy. Directions 

 relative to the best and cheapest mode of converting lime 

 stone into quicklime, would be of great utility, and our 

 friends and correspondents would confer a great favor, bv 

 communications on that subject. We will advert to it 

 again as soon as time and room will permit, and do what 

 we can to meet the wishes of the respected writer of the 

 above article. 



STOKE COAL, IN MICHIGAN. 



We have been presented with a specimen of Stone 

 Coal, from a bed recently discovered on the banks of the 

 Shiawassee river. The specimen presented is evidently 

 of *tlie bituminous kind, and it is said the indications are 

 decidedly favorable toils being found in large quantities. 

 Should that be the case, it is unnecessary to do more than 

 allude to the immense benefits it will confer upon a 

 country, naturally somewhat destitute of fuel, and to the 

 great facilities that exist for its transportation, by means 

 of the river and neighboring lakes to any of the countries 

 lying upon their borders. The bed has been secured by 

 an enterprising gentleman of this village— .'Jren Arhor 

 State Journal. 



We understand that the tract of land of about 600 

 acres, which includes this bed within its limits, is situa- 

 ted on the south bank of the Shiawassee river, was re- 

 cently purchased by the gentleman above alluded to, for 



Ira A. Blossom and Elijali D. Efuer, Esqrs. of this city, 

 who are the present proprietors.— fiujaio Com. Mv. 

 (Conimunicatiun.) 

 LUCERNE. 



AIr Fessenden :— I saw in your paper, a week or two 

 since, an inquiry, whether it would do to sow lucerne 

 with wheat.' Last Spring, 1 had a piece thus sowed. 

 The seed was good and sowed in abundance ; the land in 

 good condition, the soil suitable, the wheat a good crop, 

 except it was a little injured by being lodged. But the 

 lucerne, which came up well, was nearly all gone when 

 the wheat was harvested. 1 do not know that this cir- 

 cumstance should discourage future trials. It certainly 

 will not prevent me from making them. 



Small Farmer. 



By the Editor. — The principal difficulty in rearing lu- 

 cerne consists in establishing it in the soil, by protectin" 

 the young plants during the two first years. When 

 young, lucerne is very tender and liable to be smothered 

 or stifled by weeds, or by the grain which is generally 

 sown with lucerne us well as with other grass seeds. Ac- 

 cording to English writers, the ground, where lucerne ie 

 sowed should be made perfectly free from weeds, or the 

 seeds of weeds. Lucerne does not come to perfection 

 till thethird year, when it becomes hardy and will pro- 

 teel itself against weeds and all vegetable intruders. 



tD°NoTicE TO Subscribers in Nova Scotia. We 



have made arrangements with Mr Ed%vard Brown, of the 

 Acadian Recorder office, Halifax, to act as agent for the 

 New England Farmer, and he is authorized to receive 

 and receipt for subscriptions. By this arrangement, sub- 

 scribers will have their papers delivered to them in Hal- 

 ifax, free of postage, and those residing from the city will 

 be subject only to the regular rate of postage from Hali- 

 fax. Those who do not receive their papers regularly, 

 or have lost their numbers, can have the deficiency sup- 

 plied on application to Mr Brown, who has duplicate 

 numbers in his possession. 



ITEMS. 



The U. S. Bank bill passed the Senate of Pennsylvania 

 on Monday week, and the House promptly concurring 

 in the few amendments, it was passed to the Governor 

 and obtained his signature. 



The Copper Mines of Flemington, N. J. are, it is said, 

 productive, and the operations of the miners successful. 

 These are the only Copper Mines in the United Slates, 

 that have paid for working. 



The Portland Argus states, that about two o'clock on 

 Wednesday morning, Maine Hall (Bowdoin College) 

 was destroyed by fire, which took in the N. E. corner. 

 The principal part of the books and clothing of Ihe stu- 

 dents were saved ; but the Atheneum Society has lost its 

 valuable library entirely. The College is said to have 

 $4000 insurance. 



Letters from Mr Vail, our Charge d'Affairesat London, 

 reached Washington on Sunday, announcing that our 

 affairs with France were settled, and the money was 

 ready. 



The Niantic cotton factory owned by Mr Joel Loomis 

 at Lyme, Conn, was burnt to the ground a few days 

 since. The loss is about $20,000, of which $10,000 was 

 insured at Hartford. 



A Mr Luther Harmon was so badly beaten in a drunk- 

 en fray in the town of Union, Me. that he died before 

 reaching home. 



inrWe have received a number of Reports of Commit- 

 tees, &c. connected with the Transactions of the Massa- 

 chusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, and shall in 

 our n«xt paper commence their publication. 



