266 



Irrigation. — Lime and Magnesia. 



Vol. VII. 



They think no water so clear, or so full of 

 impurities, as not to be useful for the pur- 

 poses of irrigation. {Sir Humphrey Davy 

 thinks that in general, " those waters that 

 breed the best fish, are the best fitted for 

 watering meadows : but most of the benefits 

 of irrigation may be derived from any kind 

 of water." In the vicinity of Edinburgh, 

 the Craigintinny meadows are made vastly 

 productive by throwing over them the water 

 from the city, which carries along with it in 

 a state of semi-solution, the rich matter it 

 has collected in its passage. " The grass is 

 let every year by public sale, in small patches 

 of a quarter of an acre, and upwards, and 

 generally brings from £24 to £30 per acre, 

 per annum. In 1826, part of the Earl of 

 Moray's meadow fetched ,£57 per acre, per 

 annum!" 



In an address delivered before the Phila- 

 delphia Agricultural Society, in 1822, by N. 

 Biddle, Esq., he states that " irrigation is 

 probably, the most profitable of all modes of 

 culture. Whenever the situation of land 

 will permit its being covered with a stream 

 of water, the direct nourishment to the plant, 

 — the minute subdivision of the soil, — and 

 the deposit left by the water, all combine to 

 produce an amazing fertility. In Lombardy, 

 for instance, the irrigated meadows afford 

 four abundant crops of grass. In the dry 

 climate of Spain, they are still more pro- 

 ductive. It could scarcely be believed, were 

 it not vouched by the personal observation 

 of Arthur Young himself, that in the watered 

 fields of Valencia, there are actually cut, 

 tour, five, six and seven crops of lucerne, 

 from two and a half to three feet in height, 

 and yielding ten tons of grass on an acre, at 

 each cutting; so that on a moderate average, 

 an acre yields no less than fifty tons of grass, 

 and when broken up, gives three crops in 

 the course of a year ! It is not wonderful, 

 then, that in that country the greatest eftbrts 

 have been made, to water their fields — that 

 reservoirs have been constructed, canals cut, 

 wells dug, and machines erected for raising 

 water from the rivers, and that whole rivers 

 themselves, instead of hastening to the ocean, 

 have been made to pause, and deposit their 

 extraordinary fertility." 



In the vicinity of Philadelphia, and in 

 Jersey, I am aware of several successful at 

 tempts to turn the streams to this useful 

 purpose. The product of the land is thus 

 greatly increased, and at a trilling expense; 

 yet in passing through the country, how nu 

 merous are the situations which offer every 

 facility ibr taking advantage of this great, 

 but too generally unappreciated, privilege 



Z. Y. 



Woodbury, N. J. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet 

 Lime and Magnesia* 



To the Editors, — Owing to ciicum- 

 stanccs needless to mention, 1 have not for 

 a few months past, enjoyed the perusal of 

 your publication. The other day, however, 

 a friend read to me an article contained 

 in your number of last month, from the 

 pen of Isaac Wayne Van Leer, by which 

 I learn that the lime and magnesia ques- 

 tion is still under discussion. It seems 

 now that the war is not against magnesia 

 alone, but lime also is boldly assailed. There 

 appears also in your number for the present 

 month, a reply to the candidate for the 

 "golden plough," from a " Lancaster County 

 Farmer," that might, perchance, have a slight 

 effect to dim his "golden visions." Though 

 sufficiently answered in some points, per- 

 haps I may be allowed to present a few more 

 facts and considerations, to your anti-lime and 

 anti-magnesian friends. 



Now, I am one who would neither have 

 agriculturists so devoted to lime, as to ne- 

 glect animal and other manures, nor so 

 taken with the good qualities of the latter, 

 as to despise the aid of the former ; and I 

 trust the day is at hand, when the compara- 

 tive values, or rather, the virtues and effects 

 of both and all, will be well understood. 

 The recent work of Professor Liebig, is 

 well calculated to form an era in the science 

 of agricultural chemistry. Emanating from 

 a man distinguished for scientific attain- 

 ments, and its conclusions drawn and de- 

 monstrated according to the correct rules 

 for scientific investigation, its statements 

 merit the fullest confidence. It comes also 

 from a foreign country, where our Cabinet 

 and its discussions, perhaps seldom appear, 

 and may therefore be fairly regarded as dis- 

 interested and unprejudiced. 



Let us then go into a brief examination 

 of these momentous questions upon the prin- 

 ciples therein contained. 



The uses of the alkalies and alkaline 

 eartlis, soda, potash, lime and magnesia, 

 may be considered as two-fold. 1st. As an 

 actual food for plants, being taken up by 

 their roots and incorporated into their sub- 

 stance, in a state of combination with or- 

 ganic, or other acids. 2nd. As component 

 parts of the soil, sometimes improving its 

 mechanical texture or consistency, but main- 

 ly operating by their alkaline properties to 

 check the injurious putrefaction, and pro- 

 mote the healthy decay of vegetable matter, 

 and the excitements of plants contained in 

 the soil; thus yielding, as a result of this 

 healthy decay, a constant supply of carbonic 

 acid gas to the roots of growing plants. 



