A N D II O K T I (; U L T U R A L REGIS T E R . 



PUOLISU£U BV JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 82 NOUTH M.VI^KET STIIEET, (Aoiiicultubai WAS(iiODaK.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOK 



BOSTON. WRDNKSPAY KVKNING, MAY 4, 1812. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For the N. E. Farinar. 



FFERKNT ACTION OF CARBONATE AND 



SULPHA IK OF AM.MONIA. 

 BIr Kditor — ll IS jjiftlifyinp to witness the pro- 

 ■cienco is iimking towards a<;riculturikl im- 

 >vements. The labors of scientific men will 

 ntually place lurniinij upon an almost entire new 

 indation. But scientific and clieniicnl terms — 

 chemicil inctnmorpluisi's of substances, and the 

 diess variety of sulphaUs, phosphates, nciJs, fyc. 

 ., are rather puzzling to us old farmers, wliosc 

 \f education consisted of "reading', writing, and 

 ihering as far as the rule of three.'* But may 

 not hope the younjrer part of the farmers, and 

 rising generation, will turn their attention to 

 ! subjects of geolofry and chemistry, so tliat all 

 ! technical termi' may be as well understood and 

 familiar to tliem as " household words." 

 I hardly possess a smnllerinfr of chemistry, but a 

 r questions have arisen in my mind, which I sub- 

 t to you, witli the hope that I may receive some 

 ither light. 



A correspondent ("J. E. T."') in the April No. of 

 New Genesee Farmer, has communicated to 

 Colroan a statement from the January Nu. of 

 Gardener's Chronicle, (Kng.) edited by Lindley, 

 manuring wheat land with a new (artificial coin- 

 inded) manure — oirbonaU of ammonia. " On 



I statement, Mr Lindley observes, that he docs 

 see why sulphate of ammonia, which would be 



lained by strewini; the stables with gypsum, as 



ntioned in books, would not d.i as well." 



I. E. 'I', sajs — " Now ilr Lindley is no chemist, 



II I differ from him in opinion, for the following 

 Bons : — When a sulphate is decomposed in any 

 er way than by the complete saturation of the 



huric acid by another base, fumes of sulphuric 

 d or sulphuric acid gas are probably created, 

 n which gas there is nothing more injurious to 

 ;etation, even in the smallest quantity. This 



been proved by various quite recent expcri- 

 nts." " I have lately tried pure sulphate of am- 

 nia on Geraniums, which were nearly , lulled by 



but I do not offer this as conclusive against the 

 phate formed by gypsum." 

 Vow, Mr Editor, of the poisonous nature of sul- 

 iric ocid to plants there is no doubt — but gyp- 

 n is sulphate of lime, sulphuric acid and lime — 



It is a good manure, especially on clover. 



n the 40th No. of the N. E. Farmer, present 

 ume, you give n recipe for making arlificicil gua- 



in which there ia to be 100 lbs. sulphate of 

 raonia, and 10 lbs. sulphate of soda. I suppose 



above is the proportion in which they exist in 

 I lbs. of the guUno, that is said to be first rate 

 nure. 



:^iebig (page 2,50,) says — "When we bring sul- 

 iric acid mid nitrate of potash (saltpetre) togeth- 



nitric acid is separated, in consequence of the 

 nity of sulphuric acid for potash : in conse- 



nce, therefore, of a formation of a now com- 

 ind, sulphate of potash." In the manufacture 



of pot or pearl ashes, alter the lye has been boil- 

 ing a few hours, by sinking an iron ladle in the 

 boiling lye, it will soon be tilled with a crystalizod 

 salt : this, no doubt, is sulphate of potash— ^ns there 

 IS always iniich uciil in the lye, unless a large 

 ijuanlily of lime is used. " Us taste is saline and 

 bitter. This salt suffers no change on exposure to 

 the air. The sulphate of potash is soluble in ill 

 times its weight of water, nt (50 degrees." Wilh- 

 oiit doubt, the insoluble part of pot or pearl-ash, 

 known ns " glass factory nmniire," is sulphate of 

 potass; — this, according to the statement of Mr 

 Deining Jorvi«, is a powerful manure — (see page 

 •25"J, presoiit vol. N. E. Farmer.) Sulphate of iron 

 is not good for corn, peas and beans — or in other 

 words, I have found, after three years' trial, that 

 land containing much sulphate of iron, was not 

 good for these crops — it corroded the roots — the 

 corn leaves assumed u red purplish color. At fir.st 

 I thought the wurms cut the roots off; but after 

 diligent search, the de'il a bit of a worm could I 

 find. Now 't is said that lime strewed upon such 

 land, will combine with the sulphuric acid and 

 form gypsum. Ashes applied would form sulphate 

 of potash. Now both of these are good manures — 

 and 1 cannot perceive why sulphate of ammonia i.s 

 not as good, or better. 



I saturated several cwt. lbs. of ground plaster 

 with urine : I suppo.se it is now sulphate of ammo- 

 nia. I have inquired of a person fully competent, 

 to direct inc how to use it. He recommends to 

 mix slaked lime, and then mix that with a large 

 amount of peat or muck : the ammonia will be set 

 free and combine with the muck — but will it be 

 C((c6o(iii<e or su//)/i«/e of ammonia ? — does the sul- 

 phuric acid leave the ammonia to unite with the 

 lime, or the ammonia leave the sulphuric acid to 

 unite with the lime.-' I fully understand iiow the 

 same breath will warm my fingers and cool my 

 broth — but I don't yet understand these chemical 

 transformations. B. 



.'Ipril lOth, 1842. 



(]2/^A friend who is conversant with the facts of 

 chemistry has kindly furnished us with the follow. 

 ing reply : — 



Agriculturists as well ns scientific men, talk of 

 tho action of various manures on plants, when it is 

 highly probable that as science advances, it will be 

 found that the proper expression is, first, the action 

 of plants (the living vegetable,) on the manures. 



Lime, in any shape except caustic or burning, is 

 good for clover ; of course sulphate of lime is so. 

 Fn sulphate of lime, the affinity is very strong be- 

 tween the lime and the sulphuric acid ; bo that the 

 separation is effected artificially with tho greatest 

 difficulty ; but a strong, luxuriant plant like clover, 

 probably possesses living ? powers sufficient to cf. 

 feet this decomposition, which other more delicate 

 and less robust vegetables do not possess — the 

 acids of sulphur in any shape, that ia in ga» or 

 liquids, and in the smallest quantity, are injurious 

 to vegetation, but where as in sulphate of lime, the 

 decomposition is very difficult, and hence tifry 

 gradual, the other alkalies in a soil will probably 



neutralize them as fast ag they come into being : 

 whereas in other sulp'ialcs, as in sulphate of am- 

 monia, the decomposition is much more easily ef- 

 fected, consequently more rapid, and there is inucli 

 danger of the free acids acting on the vegetable 

 fibre of the roots, that is, if the decomposition is 

 effected by the living action of the plant itself, and 

 not by another alkali in tho soil. 



Tlicre is no doubt of the benefit of pypsiim in 

 some cases and with some plants ; but the caHCM 

 where it has piovsd utterly valueless, are infinitely 

 more niiineroiis. 



With respect to other sulphates, clear testimony 

 of their effects on vegetation is much wanted. Sul- 

 pliato .-'f ammonia in an extremely dinted ijtate, has 

 been tried by several experimenters, and always 

 with injurious effects. Sulphate of iron is proba- 

 bly more injurious than any other sulphate — both 

 ingredients of this salt beingjso separately — and if 

 the decomposition of tho sulphate of iron is effect- 

 ed by the other alkali in the soil, neutralizing the 

 products of the sulpiiur, the oxide of iron will at 

 all events injure the roots. I say, however, that 

 more evidence even on the injurious effects of sul- 

 phate of iron is desirable, as Mr iSchaUeuman has 

 recently published a method of iin|iroving stable 

 manure, in which he drenches his heap with a ivcak 

 solution of this sulpiia'.e of iron, and as fast an 

 this so'i'iion runs tiiprefrcm, he poms it on again. 



I'he value of ammonia to vegetation has been 

 clearly niid distinctly proved : it only renmins to 

 discover in what form and quantity its application 

 is most beneficial. 



SILK CIRCULAR. 

 To Silk Growers in .\'ew England : 



Gkntlkmkn — At a Convention of Si!k Growc.-s, 

 held in Northampton, on the 10th Nov. last, it was 

 uiianiuioiisly 



Resolved, That, as during the infancy of the 

 silk business, great practical benefits may be ex- 

 pected from periodical meetings of its friends, a 

 coniniittce be chosen to consist of one from each 

 of the New England States, whose duly it shall be 

 to call a Convention at such time and pl-ce as Ihey 

 may deem expedient, to bo called " The New Eng- 

 land Silk Convention." 



Thereupon, L R. Barbour, Oxford, Mass. ; D'. 

 P. lirownell. East Hartford, Cl. ; David Bcnedic, 

 Esq., Pawtucket, R. 1. ; Dr. Artemas Bobbins, 

 Bellows Falls, Vt. ; Calvin Messingcr, Newport, 

 N. H., and Luther Severance, Esq., Augusta, Mc., 

 were appointed as this committee. 



In pursuance of tho purposes conlemplatrd above, 

 tho subscribers say, that they design to invite a 

 meeting of Silk Growers at some central place, the 

 early part of tho ensuing autumn. In the mean- 

 time, it has occurred to them, that, by an early at- 

 tention to the matter, a great amount of valuable 

 information connected with the Silk culture, may 

 be collected as the results of feeding the present 

 season, and embodied in tho form of a statistical 

 table, to be laid before the convention and the pub- 

 lic. 



