160 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



nure in autumn is to spread it over the surface, 

 and plough it in the next spring. This entirely 

 accords with our own experience, whatever hypo 

 thetical reasoning may say to the contrary. It is 

 perfectly evident, however, that little evaporation 

 can take place during winter, while much that is 

 soluble may become diffused through the soil. — 

 Ex. 



CHARCOAL AND WATER. 



The following useful hints we abridge and copy 

 from the Agricultural part of the Patent Office Re- 

 port. 



About one-half of the dry weight of all plants is 

 carbon or charcoal. Of the other moiety, more than 

 four-fifths are water, or, more correctly, the ele- 

 ments of water, called oxygen and liydrogen. With- 

 out the presence of moisture, both in the soil and 

 the atmosphere above it, no plant can grow; and 

 the presence of carbon, in a dissolved or gaseous 

 form, is equally indispensable to the production of 

 all vegetables. 



It matters little whether carbon is accumulated 

 in a solid form by imperfect combustion, as in the 

 making charcoal from wood in a common coal-pit, 

 or by the slow decay of plants {crcmacaiisis of Lie- 

 big) in forming mould, muck and peat. The pow- 

 er of these carbonaceous and exceedingly porous 

 bodies to condense the gaseous food of cultivated 

 plants should be universally known. 



Gaseous compounds of phosphorous obey ihe 

 same general law. All well pulverized earths have 

 a similar property of condensing oxygen and other 

 gases; and thorough tillage greatly promotes the 

 condensation of vapors and gases about the roots 

 of plants, to nourish them. Charred peat, muck 

 and wood are exceedingly valuable to mix with all 

 manures to prevent the escape of fertilizing ele- 

 ments which are volatile and liable to rise into the 

 atmosphere. 



Charred muck, peat and wood are coming into 

 extensive use in deodorizing night-soil, aided by 

 gypsum and common salt. By these means a fer- 

 tilizer of great power, and perfectly inodorous, may 

 be formed, suitable to be planted or drilled with all 

 seeds. Well dried and finely pulverized clay is a 

 valuable deodorizer, and is used by many millions 

 of people in China and some parts of Europe, to 

 mix with night-soil. In this way it can be thor- 

 oughly dried and not part with any of its gases. 

 Copperas-water and diluted oil of vitriol poured over 

 night-soil convert all the volatile into involatile ele- 

 ments. 



To command water in dry weather, and get rid 

 of the excess in rainy seasons, deep tillage is equally 

 valuable. In the former case, moisture ascends 

 from the subsoil by capillary attraction; and in the 

 latter, the excess of water in the surface soil de- 

 scends into the subsoil to meet an exigency of an 

 opposite character. The skilful control of water 

 is the first lesson in good farming. 



EFFECTS OF DEEP PLOUGHING. 



Mr. Editor: — As you seem desirous to obtain 

 the results of actual experiments in raising crops, I 

 venture to give mine, in raising a crop of wheat 

 upon a field containing 35 acres, which had been 

 cropped without intermission for fifteen years pre- 

 viously, without the use ot fertilizers, except some 

 portion of the straw produced, during the time. — 



As might be expected, the sorrel had full posses- 

 sion of the soil. I procured a No. .3 subsoil plough, 

 and two strong pair of oxen, to break up the fallow, 

 letting the plough run from nine to twelve inches 

 deep, which turned up about four inches of new 

 soil. 



This I thought was the stuff for producing wheat. 

 [ designed to use the cultivator during the summer 

 in dry weather, to keep down the sorrel, should it 

 make its appearance — but wheat harvest came on 

 quite early, and after that was over with, the 

 ground was too wet for some time; however, I re- 

 solved to try the cultivator on part of the field, (by- 

 way of experiment,) and cross-plough the rest. — 

 The cultivator left the sorrel lying on the top of the 

 ground, where the sun killed it completely in a day 

 or two. On this portion of the field, at seeding 

 time, the wheat was sown and covered with the 

 cultivator — upon the remainder, the harrow was 

 used for covering the seed; the quantity of seed 

 was equal, being 1 1-2 bushels to the acre. — 

 There was no perceptible difference in the wheat 

 at harvest time, put in as befi)re mentioned, ex- 

 cepting 10 acres upon one side of the field, which 

 received thirty pounds of plaster to the acre, the 

 spring previous; upon that portion there was de- 

 cidedly the best wheat. The product of the field 

 was 805 bushels, being an average of 23 bushels to 

 the acre. 



Adjoining this, was a field of like soil and con- 

 dition, which was ploughed twice with a single 

 team, at the same time as mine, which averaged 

 only 12 bushels to the acre. 



Yours, respectfully, Geo. W. Kennedy. 

 — Michigan Farmer. 



BEDDING FOR STRAWBERRIES. 



It is an excellent thing to cover the ground 

 around your strawberry plants. It keeps the soil 

 light, warm, and moist, keeps down the weeds, and 

 keeps the fruit from being covered with sand. The 

 Prairie Farmer says: 



"The English use straw — hence the name s/rai(j- 

 berry. Of late, spent tan bark is much recommend- 

 ed; and where plenty, is no doubt a first rate arti- 

 cle; we have seen it stated somewhere that it isa])t 

 \o flavor the fruit. This would be fatal to it if true 

 to any great extent. Saw dust — which, by the 

 way, is a first rate manure — would bmniexception- 

 able, and would be far better employed in mulching 

 lands than in floating down creeks, or going off in 

 smoke to the clouds. Let those who live near saw 

 mills look out for the saw dust — it will pay for 

 haulinof." 



Destructive Effects of the Tomato grow- 

 ing NEAR Grape Vines. — Mr. Holmes described 

 an instance of this kind in his own experience, 

 where a healthy andexceedingly thrifty grape-vine, 

 seven or eight year sold, was nearly ruined (poison- 

 ed) by the contact of -a tomato vine which had been 

 planted within six or eight inches of the grape. — 

 Minutes of the N. Y. Farmers' Club. 



Mr. Reuben Brackett, of Denmark, Iowa, ex- 

 hibited to us last fall several specimens of grape 

 vines which could not be made to thrive in the vi- 

 cinity of peach trees. 



The difference is very great indeed between those 

 vines Avithin reach of the roots of the peach trees, 

 and those a few feet more distant — the soil and all 

 other circumstances being equal. — Eds. V. Far. 



