NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



223 



950 lbs. of carbon, 800 of the elements of water, 

 and 50 of nitrogen, attended by the extraction from 

 the soil of about 150 lbs. of incombustible soluble 

 salts. Whatever elFect the sulphate? of lime may 

 have on the growth of a ton of dry clover, the above 

 is not far from its composition. Clover is a plant 

 that contains a good deal of sulphur; and salts 

 having this mineral as one of their constituents, 

 are extremely liable to be dissolved out of the sur- 

 face soil by tillage and cropping. Thus, when sul- 

 phuric acid combines with magnesia, it forms Ep- 

 som salts. With soda, it forms glauber salts; with 

 alumina and potash, it forms alum; with iron, 

 copperas; and with lime, gypsum. Except the 

 last, all these salts are well known for their ready 

 solution in water, and it is obvious that they do 

 not, as a general thing, abound in unmanured, cul- 

 tivated lands. So long as the sulpliic acid lasts 

 from its combination with iron, eitlierasasylphuret 

 or sulpiiate, or with alumina, (the basis of all 

 clay) limeing will suffice to form gypsum in the 

 soil; but after the sulphur is consumed, or nearly 

 so, then gypsum, not lime, must he added to the^ 

 soil. Similar remarks will apply to the use ofi 

 bone dust, or burnt bones and lime. So long as 

 phosphoric acid exists in the surface of the earth in 

 combination with alumina and iron, the application 

 of simple lime will sulhce to form bone cartli; but 

 when this acid is measurably consumed, then bone 

 dust, guano, oi phosphorus in some other manure, 

 must be applied to the impoverished land to remove 

 it. — Dr. Lee's Address. 



MULCHING. 



A "practical mulcher," writing from Dedham, 

 Massachusetts, whose communication is published 

 in the Horticulturist for May, says : 



I regard mulching as our prim; and especial ne- 

 cessity, the most indispensable thing in North 

 American Agriculture. For in the first place, the 

 operation of mulching, or covering over the surface 

 of the ground, pi'events the evaporation of the mois- 

 ture that is so requisite to the rooting of new plan- 

 tations, to the development of luxuriant foliage, and 

 the production of perfect flowers, and fair, juicy, 

 large sized fruits. Again: the operation of mulch- 

 ing not only prevents, to a great extent, the escape 

 of moisture, but also, and what is of greater im- 

 portance, the passing away from the earth of the 

 volatile gases that are held in solution in the wa- 

 ter, and which, sucked in by the minute mouths of 

 the radicles or spongioles, give nourishment to tlie 

 plant or tree. 



That mulching is of great value in the case of 

 young and newly planted trees, by preventing the 

 process of evaporation, is universally admitted in 

 theory, and to a certain extent carried out into 

 practice; and yet but few seem to be aware of its 

 value in retaining the nourishment as well as the 

 moisture in the earth, and thus, both those means, 

 contributing to the luxurious and healthful condi- 

 tion of plants and trees already rooted and well es- 

 tablished in the soil. But observation, however, as 

 well as actual experience, has fully convinced me, 

 that trees will not only jiut forth more luxuriantly, 

 and grow more vigorously, but that the fruit will 

 be far larger, fairer, and jucier, for mulciiing dur- 

 ing the hot season. And I hazard the observation, 

 that in the culture of pears, and certain kinds of ap- 

 ples, such as the Ro.sbury Russet, that are gener- 



ally small and knurly on a gravelly bottom, careful 

 nmlching is almost equal to a clay subsoil. 



And here let me say, by way of parenthesis, 

 that in the cultivation of these fruits, it is not, I 

 think, any nutritive element in the clay soil, but 

 only its power of retaining moisture, that gives it 

 the advantage over a gravely substratum. By care- 

 fully mulching, however, I do not mean a wisp of 

 straw, hay, weeds, or small biush, nor a shovel of 

 spent tan, hub-chips, or saw-dust placed just round 

 the trunk of the tree, but a covering of the ground, 

 if possible, as far as the roots extend. There are 

 some absurd people, who seem to think, if we are 

 to judge them by their practice, that somewhere at 

 the butt of the tree is a great mouth in which the 

 tree takes its food and drink; and accordingly, they 

 put all the nourishment, whether liquid or solid, 

 "right round" the trunk. Whereas the truth is, 

 the numerous little mouths that drink in the moist- 

 ure, and the nutritious elements that are dissolved 

 in it, are in the little spon,gioles that form the very 

 terminations of the radical branches; and our course 

 of treatment should be based upon this fact, in wa- 

 tering, manuring and mulching. 



Mulching, then, in the first place, prevents, in 

 light, gravelly soils — and in dry seasons in all soils 

 — the evaporation of the moisture necessary to that 

 flow of sap, that shall make a luxuriant growth, 

 fine foliage, and fair, large, juicy fruit. 



And second, as the elements that nourish the tree 

 are contained in the moisture in solution, and a 

 dry state of the earth must thus cut off the supply 

 of food, mulching actually nourishes the tree. In 

 proof of this, I might, would my space permit, ad- 

 duce numerous facts; but experiments are so easily 

 tried, that such evidence is hardly necessary here. 



In conclusion, as the season for planting flow- 

 ers, roots, seeds, &c., is at hand, I must say one 

 word in favor of mulching for them. 



Mulch your dahlias, if you want free, rapid, 

 vigorous growth, and full abundant bloom. Much 

 the best substance or mulch for this purpose is the 

 soft, spongy meadow moss, though leaves and 

 coarse sedgy meadow hay will do. I have planted 

 two rows of dahlias, side by side, trenched them 

 alike twenty inches deep — manured them alike, and 

 the row that was kept carefully mulclied, out-grew 

 and out-bloomed the other, and put it altogether to 

 shame. 



■Mulch your flower seeds — and what do you mean 

 by that ? I mean that flower seeds fail to come up, 

 either from a deficiency or a super-abundance of 

 moisture, both of which extremes are obviated by 

 this process. 



When you plant your seeds, cover them over 

 with the same spongy moss spoken of above. And, 

 that I may be perfectly understood, here is my re- 

 ceipt for planting flower seeds. Make the earth 

 very fine with a garden knife, or a common case 

 knife. Scatter your seeds, if small, over the place 

 thus prepared; if large, bury them a little, press 

 the earth upon them; spread your damp moss, and 

 clap a flower pot or pan over them. When your 

 seeds have started, lift up the pot a little by putting 

 a stick or stone under the soutli side, and as soon 

 as your seedlings look green and strong, take away 

 the moss, keeping the pot or pan handy against a 

 late frost or chilling wind. In this way you will 

 rarely have to complain of your seedsman; and you 

 may have early plants and the most delicate kinds 

 without a hot-bed. My friends arc putting the 



