THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



9.5 



of sandy loain soil, [ilaced in a barrel, tlie bed of 

 luanure being one or t-.vo inclies thick above the 

 loam, and the bod.v of the loam being one or two 

 feet ill dei)th,nn(l tlie water w hich drained tlnongh 

 this mass issued out pine and sweet. In this 

 case, all the salts valuable for vegetation must 

 have separated from the water, and lodged in the 

 loam. 



Dr. Dean replied, we must be cautious of be- 

 ing led aslray by nieie llieoiy, and reminded his 

 hearers of a dispute between Jiidiie Buel and T 

 G. Fessenden : the hitter contending that plants 

 draw all their nonrislinient from the almos|)here, 

 wliile the lbrn)er iliouL'ht they must receive some 

 food from the soil. He argued, he had known 

 large quanties of manure spread on afield and 

 turned in deep with a plough, and neither the 

 first nor the after crops were answerable to the 

 quantity of manure so applied; but better har- 

 vests had been obtained on the same field with 

 far less manure, when applied nearer the sur- 

 face. He had bought a field a few years ago, the 

 soil of which was a sandy loam : by constant 

 cropping it had become so exhausted, that the 

 vegetable growth upon it was very liglil. Upon 

 this laud he had carted not less than one hun- 

 dred loads |>er acre of peat and muck, which he 

 found near this (ield, but first put in heaps 

 and iiiixcd stable manure with it; and after fer- 

 mentation had tukon phioc, lie applied this com- 

 post near the surtiice, covering it only as much 

 as a harrow or cultivator would do it; and lie 

 now obtains excellent crops, and thinks he has, 

 in some degree, altered the nature of the soil and 

 bettered it permanently, more than it could have 

 been done, had he applied nothing but stable or 

 barn manure: his crops have ever been better, 

 even on light soils, when he but slightly covers 

 his manures. — Boston Cultivator. 



From the British Farmer's Magazine. 

 On Preparing Night-soil. 



Sir — 1 observed a few days ago in pne of your 

 late periodicals, an inquiry, by a correspondent, 

 for the brst inetlicjd of pr(-|iaring night-soil, for 

 manure. He said he had mixed it with lime, 

 and a very slion;; mikII o/'aiiiuioiiia was evolved, 

 whereby he feared the ciiii-acy of the manure 

 might be impaired. Tiiese conclusions are per- 

 fectly correct : its efficacy, as organic manure, 

 would be destroyed by tlie use of lime. 



When an organic body containing nitrogen 

 undergoes putrefaction, and moisture present, 

 the nitrogen unites with the hydrogen of the wa- 

 ter, and forms ammonia ; the oxygen, the other 

 element of water, unites with the carbon of the 

 putrelying body, and Ibrms carbonic acid ; both 

 these transformations, in their nascent state com- 

 bine and tbrm carbonate of ammonia, a volatile 

 salt, which always evaporates with water, as 

 long as the decomposition continues. Such in- 

 variably takes place in nitrogenous bodies. 



When lime is added to a body holding carbon- 

 ate of ammonia in solulion, as in night-soil, the 

 ammonical salt is decomposed ; the lime robs it 

 of its carbonic ai-id, and caustic ammonia, a still 

 more volatile compound, flies of}" in gas ; thus 

 we have got rid of all the nitrogen the organic 

 compound contained. 



Organic manure, without nitrogen, is of very 

 little use. It pervades every part of the vegeta- 

 ble structure, and no plant will attain maturity, 

 even in the richest nuiulil, without its presence. 

 The relative value of manure may be known by 

 the relative quantity of nitrogen it contains. There 

 does not ap]iear to be any manure so rich in ni- 

 trogen as human excrement, (except bone manure, 

 which contains upwards of 30 per cent, of gela- 

 tine in its interstices ;) so much so, that accord- 

 ing to the analysis of Mycaire and Marcet, 100 

 parts of human urine are equal to 1300 parts of 

 fresh dung of the horse, 600 parts of the cow, and 

 450 parts of the urine of the horse. Hence it is 

 evident that it would be of much importance if 

 none of the human excrements were lost, espe- 

 cially when we consider that with every pound of 

 urine a pound of wheat might be produced. Now 

 I would suggest to your correspondent the best 

 and most economical method I know of preserv- 

 ing unimpaired the most valuable element in 

 night-soil, which is as follows: To every 100 lli.s. 

 of night-soil add 7 lbs. of sulphate of lime, (ffyp- 

 sumjin powder; a double decomposition will en- 

 sue, and the result will be instead of sulphate of 

 lime and carlwnate of nmmonia, carbonate of lime 



and sulphate of ammonia — the latter n soluble 

 salt which cannot be volatilized. It might now 

 be mi.xed with other coiupost. or dried any way 

 thought proper, and applied to the roots of the 

 vegetable, to be again translbrnied into bread, but 

 ter, cheese, &lc. 



Chloride of calcium, sulphuric or muriatic acid, 

 substances of low price, would completely i 

 tralize the urine, converting its ammonia into 

 salts which possess no volatility. 



I would also suggest that if tiie floors of stables 

 be strewed from time to time with a little sul- 

 phate of lime, they will lose all their offensive 

 smell, and none of tlie ammonia which forms can 

 be lost, but retained in a condition serviceable as 

 manure. In close stables the horses' health 

 would be better preserved, and they would not 

 be so lialde to get blind as now. 1 3-4 lbs. of sul- 

 phate of lime will fix as much ammonia as pro- 

 duced by ICO lbs. of horse's urine. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



GREGORY BRABYN. 



Wanehriilge. A^oi'. 14. 



Keep your laud dry. 



The importance of draining is not duly appre- 

 ciated, nor its practice well understood among 

 us. Although water is iiidispeiisable to vegeta- 

 tion, too much of it is as hurtlul as too little. It 

 is necessary to the germination of the seed, to 

 the decomposition of the vegetable matter inthe 

 soil — to the transmission of the food from the 

 soil to the plant — to its circulation there — and to 

 the maturity of the product. All these useful 

 purposes are defeated, where water remains in 

 the soil to excess — tlie seed rots, the vegetable 

 matter wlii.li should serve as tlie food of the 

 crop, remaius uusoluble, in consequence ol the 

 absence of heat and air, which the water ex- 

 cludes; or, if the seed grows, the plant is sickly, 

 for want of its proper food, and there is conse- 

 quently a virtual failure in the harvest. It is not 

 fiom the surface only that we are to deterniiue 

 whether laud is siifliciently dry to support a 

 healthy vegetation ; but we are to cvaiiiine the 

 surface stratum, into which the roots of the 

 [ilanls penetrate, and fiom u hich they draw their 

 lijoil. If this is haliiliially wet — if it grows 

 mnrshv plants — if water will collect in a hole 

 sunk ftftct'ii inches below the siuiace — the land 

 is too wet fur cultivaleil crops, and means should 

 be adopted to render it more dry. From my 

 partial acquaintance with this country, I feel as- 

 sured that much of your best land is rendered 

 unfit for tillage, or the groHth of the finer grasses, 

 by reason of the excess of water, which passes 

 or reposes upon the subsoil unnoticed by the cul- 

 tivator. 'These lands are denominatedlcold and 

 sour, and they truly are so. Cold, sour lands are 

 invariably wet lauds below, if not upon the sur- 

 face. But if the superfluous water were judi- 

 ciously conducted b_\ efficient uiidir drains, (tor 

 the construction of which you po.^scss the best 

 materials in abundance,) these lands would be 

 rendered warm and sweet, and highly product- 

 ive, and the outlay would be re[iaid by the in- 

 creased value of two nr three of ilie first crops. 

 Wet lands are generally rich lands, aiioundiiig in 

 vegetable matters, which water has presi-ived 

 from deconiposiiiuu, but which readily becuine 

 the food of )ilaiits, when the water is drawn oft! 

 Let me imagine a case, wliich 1 am sure will be 

 found to exist in many parts of your country. — 

 There is a slope of a litllo hill, half a mile in ex- 

 tent, terniiiiatiiig in a flat forty rods wide, through 

 which a brook meanders. The soil on this slope 

 and in this flat is of a light, porous quality, six 

 to twelve inches deep, reposing on a subsoil im- 

 pervious to water, as clay, rock, or haid-pan. By 

 soil, I mean the U[iper stratum, in which vegeta- 

 ble matters are blended with earthly materials, 

 and which constitutes the true pasture of plants. 

 Near the top of this slo[ie, all along on a hori- 

 zontal level, or perhaps lower down, spouts or 

 springs burst through the subsoil, a thing very 

 common in hilly districts, the waters from which 

 finding an easy [lassage through the loose soil, 

 spread and run down the slojie, and vpon the 

 suisoi7, and through the flat, till lliey find their 

 level in the brook. A thermometer plunged 

 down to the subsoil, will indicate, at midsummer, 

 a temperature probably not greater than CO de- 

 grees, whereas to grow and mature many of our 

 best fiirm crops, we refiuire a heat in the soil ol 

 70 or 80 degrees. How shall we remedy this 



evil, and render this land profitable to the occu- 

 pant? Simply by making an underdrain or 

 drains, in a gently inclining direction ; a little be- 

 low those spouts or springs, and, if [iracticable, 

 somewhat into the subsoil. These will catch 

 and conduct oft' the spouting waters, and by lay- 

 ing the lower j.lane dry and permeable to heat 

 and air, develope all its natural powers of fer- 

 tility. 



I will suppose another case— that of a flat sur- 

 face, underlaid by an impervious subsoil. This 

 is rendered unproductive or difficult to manag'i, 

 by stagnant waters. The rain and snow waters, 

 penetrating the soil, are arrested in their down- 

 ward passage, by the subsoil, which not having 

 slope to pass them ofl^, they remain, and stagnate, 

 and putrefy, alike prejudicial to vegetable and an- 

 imal health. The mode of draining such grounds 

 and rendering them productive and of easy man- 

 agement, is, first to surround the field with a good 

 underdrain, and to construct a sufficient open 

 drain from the outlay to carry off' the waters. — 

 Then with the plough, throw the land into ridges 

 of twenty to thirty feet in hreadih, according to 

 the tenacity of the soil, in the direciion of the 

 slope, and sink an underdrain in each of the fur- 

 rows between the ridges, terminating thvm in the 

 lower cross drain. The materials of the under- 

 drain, which are generally stones, should be laid 

 so low as to admit of the free passage of the 

 plough over them. The superfluous water, by 

 the laws of gravitation, settle into these drains, 

 and puss ofl; and the soil becomes dry, niaiiage- 

 able and productive. An acquaintance called 

 upon a Scolch farmer whose fiirm had been-un- 

 derdrained in this way, and being iiilbrmed that 

 the improvement costs sixteen dollars an acre, 

 tile having been used, remarked that it was a 

 costly improvement. " Yes," was the farmer's 

 reply : " but it cost a deal iiiair not to do it" which 

 he illustrated by poiiiiing to an adjoining farm, 

 like siliiated, which had not been drained, and 

 was overgrown with rushes and sedge grass, and 

 then to his own fields teeming with luxuriance 

 and rich in the indications of an abundant har- 

 vest. 



I have dwelt upon the subject of draining with 

 more detail, because 1 have personally realized 

 its benefits, and am sure it may he extensively 

 gone into with certain prospect of reward. 



Judge Buel. 

 From tlio Cultivator. 

 F.MIWER'S SOjVG. 

 In a sweet healthy air wiih a farm olliis OK-n, 



Socludtd from tumult and strife, 

 The farmer, mere Wett than a king on his throne, 

 Enjoys all the comforts of Jil'e. 



When the sweet smiling Spring sheds its perfumes around, 



And music enchants every tree, 

 Witli his glittering plow-share he fuirows his ground 



With a mind independent and free. 



When Summer to fruit the sweet blossoms transforms, 

 And his harvest fields \\ave with the breeze; 



Sw-eet anticipation unfolds all her charms, 

 And points to contentment and ease. 



When bountiful Autumn her treasures bestows, 

 .\nd her fruits are all gathered and stored, 



His heart to tlie River, with gratitude glows, 

 And plenty presides at his board. 



Ami > 



Serenely he sits by his clear blazing hearth, 

 And dispenses relief to the poor. 



Then let idle Ambition her baubles pursue, 

 While Wisdom looks down with disjain, 



The home of the farmer h.is charms ever new, 

 Where health, peace and competence reign. 



The Moon. — I would say to the farmer, don't 

 trouble yourself about the moon. See that your 

 land is in fine tilth, well manured and drained ; 

 your seed fresh and fn e linni f'oiil matter: and 

 when you are ready, sow, witluiut consulting the 

 moon or the almanac, ll'ail is right in other jes- 

 pects, the moon, no matter what may be its posi- 

 tion, will not hurt you or your crop ; and if your 

 hjnd is biit half jirepared or tilled, rely on the 

 moon as much as you please, and you have no 

 right to expect a crop. 



Maple Sitgar. Mr , Nathaniel Clarke of Ash- 

 field, has iiinde during the three past sugar sea- 

 sons from about 400 trees, (one spout in each 

 tree,) (;,40.5 lbs. of sugar, viz: in 1839, a.l.iOlbs; 

 in 1840,a,110 lbs; in 1841, 2,145 lbs. 



