98 



^HE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



wheat and tiiiiotiiv fuHovviiig. So much briefly 

 for adu|)tation. 



Not less perfect is the si/slem : the nllotmeiit to 

 Thomas of the ploii;;!!— to Harry of flie care ol 

 the neat stock— to William of the sheepfoUl, and 

 to William's boy, John, of the lambs in ^eaniiifj 

 time. Each one lias his part and liis duties as- 

 signed to him — lie is there at all times, and in all 

 weathers, and he stipulates to he oiily tlieie. This 

 system pervades all things on the furin— Spin- 

 ters Know in wlical--Liverli'?s in tares— Liealoiie 

 in fallow, and the next year the course carried 

 through thetn all without the iiossibility of fail- 

 ure. 



Upon a farm in Surrey, where I spent six plea- 

 sant and agreeable months, I bad opportunity to 

 see the use and the profits of syi-Jenialic larming. 

 It was a liay fiirm, of less tlmii two hiiiuhed acres ; 

 the rent pa'id about $2000. The whole farm ex- 

 cept the gaiden was mowed. After the bay was 

 taken care of, the fields were all shut up until 

 there was a good feed upon them. Then jMr. R. 

 went to the nean^st fair and purchased large 

 beeves nearly lilt. In these fresh, luxuriant pas- 

 tures, where the grass grew almost fast enough to 

 render not fabulous Sir Boyle Roche's story of 

 the kite thrown into an Irish meadow over night, 

 hidden by the grass next morning, the beeves he- 

 came in a veiy slioit time fit for Smithfield or Old 

 Leadcnhall. After a few days rest, the tr.ir was 

 resorted to for a second drove of cattle of small- 

 er size, but in good flesh, which soon shared the 

 lot of all fat oxen, and became the roast beef of 

 Old England. The fields were no longer in a 

 condition to make beef, and tbeicfbre were to 

 furnish the predicament " nearly fat" to take 

 t!ie " first bite" in some unfed meadow. The 

 fourth course was a herd of small XN'elsh cattle to 

 be merely improved. Fifth and lastly came sheep 

 to be kept till the meadows began to start in the 

 spring, when they were sold, and tlie meadows 

 shut up. 



To illustrate the third division of my theme, I 

 may also refer to the practice upon my Surrey 

 friend's farm. To recruit this fiuiri liie cin-is 

 which took the hay to inarket returned laden with 

 manures to be used as a top dressing. When 

 not bringing back provisions ibr (arm w^e, 1 think 

 I may si y they always came back with manures. 

 I had some years ago in my possession a book 

 which was borrowed by some kind friend or oth- 

 er, who liked it so well that he forgot to return 

 it: this book gave the best account of the Eng- 

 lish practice with respect to manures of any I 

 have ever seen. It was said in that book tliat five 

 thousand ions of manures had been applied in 

 one year on a single estate. I know that the 

 quantities are immense, and that the lands in that 

 country are kept in a high st^jte of fertility by 

 the axiom impressed on the husbandman that 

 food is as necessary to the earth as to the human 

 bodj'. 



Do not think, my dear sir, that I have selected 

 a pattern farm lor the subject of the foregoing re- 

 marks. It was in all respects only a medium 

 farm. There could not be the same opportunity 

 for the more elaborate practices of liiisbandry 

 that there is in large Yorkshiie farms. It is my 

 opinion that some of the best managed farms in 

 England were on the estates of the Duke of 

 Buckingham at Stowe, in Bucks. The Marquess 

 of Chardos, the Duke's eldest, and indeed, his 

 only son, was ambitions of leading the landed in- 

 terest in Parliament, and thence was a warm ad- 

 vocate of that interest inside of St. Stephen!), and 

 a most thorough patron without. // is, however, 

 the fashion in England to patronize ^Igricultwe : 

 heaven grant it may become so here. 



You can form no idea with what ease an Amer- 

 ican can introduce himself to the English, if he 

 is fond of farming. The gift of a few ears of 

 Indian corn to the" [loiticuhiinil .^(iciety. brought 

 me tickets and invitations without niiniber to 

 their gardens and fetes at fhiswick. En passant, 

 I visited Cobbctl's cornfield at Barn Elms, and a 

 miserable failure it was. The arch huinbugger's 

 attempt to gull tlii; English people into a 'belief 

 that it might he made a national crop, was then ' 

 full blow. 



Yours, &c. J. A. J. 



Success is a constant nidtive to activilv — eve- 

 ry stroke of your hoc is a step Ibrwai'ds, and 

 makes you approach nearer to the object you 

 have in view. 



From the 'reniieesee .Agriculturist. 



Nature and properties of the minerals which 



compose diiiereut soils. 



Our scientific readers will find nothing better 

 on the difii'unt constituents of soils than the lol- 

 loiviiigselerlioii!:. Theyaie from " Moiito.n o.N 

 Soils," and, by tl e bye, this is among tie best 

 works on the .--iiliject in the English language. 



'•The cultivated part of the earth's siirlace is 

 calledsoil, and isluriiied by the ••oiiiliinatioii of 

 two or more ot' the prii!iili\e eaitiis, united with 

 organic matiL'r in a state of de< ay. The three 

 principal piiniiii\c earths are silex or sand, al- 

 umina or clay, and lime. These are frequently 

 in a state ol' iiiiiHiie tliiit^ion, forming impalpable 

 matter ; and liny incur also in the form of sand, 

 gravel and riilililc. r^miie of these materials aic 

 capable o) iciaiiiing moisture and of preserving 

 organic mutter from decay ; while others hasten 

 the decay of vegetable and animal matter, but 

 possess hut little power to absorb and retain 

 moisture. 



SILEX. 



When Silex is the principal ingredient of a 

 soil, it is in the form of fine or coarse sand or grav- 

 el, with some of it reduced to an impalpable 

 powder. The particles of Silex, being hard and 

 flinty, have no cohesion or attraction towards 

 each other, but are rather of a repulsive char- 

 acter. The nature of this soil is porous and 

 friable, tnd incaimble of retaining moislure.— 

 Watei, when poured on this soil, pa.<ses ihrongli 

 it like a sieve to the subsoil ; it also readily gives 

 it up to the atmosphere by evaporation. It jiovv- 

 eriully promotes the decomposition of vegetabit 

 and animal substances. Silex is generally com- 

 bined with oxide of iron and clay, and forms a 

 sandy or gravelly .^oil. Silicious sand, unmixed 

 wiihchiy or lime, is barren ; and a sandy soil is 

 that which contains at least seven-eighths of sili- 

 cious matter. (Sir H. Davy.) When a sandy 

 soil effervesces with acid, the sand is calcareon.s 

 which is better able to withstand the injurious 

 effect of gre.it didiisiJits than a silicious sand. 



The I'n^iM- iKiiiPH of sandy soils make them 

 easily ciiliiviiiril : uinl where tliey are mixed with 

 clay, linie, .-.nil \ r:.i i.iiile matter, they are called 

 loam. An excess oi sand is much less injinions, 

 than an excess of clay in any soil. 



AVMlNA. 



Clay is a tenacious, ronijiact, adhesive sub- 

 stance; its particles are in minute divisions, and 

 have a strong nttiaction for each other. It at- 

 tracts moisture, combines with it, and retains it 

 with the greatest ob.<linacy ; and it retards the 

 progress of decomposition in vcgi table and ani- 

 mal matter. 



Clay, unmixed with Silex, is barren and un 

 fruitful. Sile.x, in an impalpable state, is general 

 ly combined with clay ; and foimsan mictuons, 

 clammy, and adiii sive clayey sojl, of a white, 

 yellow, grey, brown or reddish c<ilor. 



Cl.iy retains moisture, when poured on it, more 

 ohslinntely than other earths. 



A clayey .'oil is that which contains at least 

 one sixth part of iiniialpablo clavey matter. (Sir 

 11. Davy.) When it is saturated with water it 

 forms a plastic clnv ; the water combines chemi- 

 cally with ii to a certain degree, and it gives np 

 the remainder very slowly; and its paits are left 

 in clo.^e contact, like a well tempered brick dried 

 for the kiln. 



LIME. 



Calcareous matter, forming a soil, is generally 

 a carbonate of lime It attracts moisture, and 

 chemically combines with it. When burnt lime 

 is slacked, it lakes up one fourth of its we'ght.of 

 water, and is as dry and powdery as the finest 

 flour; and when it is exposed to the atmos- 

 phere in this state, it soon absorbs the carbon 

 which was expelled ilom it by burning, and be- 

 comes of the same nature as it was before it was 

 burned, — namel>, a carbonate of lime, but only 

 finely divided. In its caustic state, it is a power- 

 Oil decomposer of animal and vegetable matter ; 

 but when a caibonate, it preserves these substan- 

 ces from decay much longer than sands. 



When the surface is of this substance, it is. 

 either in a fine impalpable state, as clay marl or 

 chalk marl, forming a close calcareous clay; or 

 in a hard rocky or rubhiy shape, forming a dry, 

 porous, frialilechalky gravel, or riibbly calcare- 



Soil that is formed of pure carbonate of lime 



ii', like pine clay and Silex. barren and unfi uitfnl ; 

 but when ini.xed wiih s;. 11(1 uid a linle clay, it 

 forms a calcarenns l( 'M. ^.ii;s which have the 

 most calcareous iii.liir in ll.i ni, are said to have 

 the greatest afiiiuiN lui c.-.i l:un ; we may infer, 

 thereloie, that such a snil will retain the caibo- 

 nacioiis matter it uci'ives limn manures, longer 

 than either sand or clay. 



LOAM. 



Loam is a mixinre of clay and sand, and some- 

 times lime, with vegetable and animal nutter. — 

 Tliis, formed by nature, is compounded of an in- 

 finite variety of ;,ic.|irriioiis. giving all the diver- 

 sity of texture liiuinl in suil. 



Mi.nld is iIkiI \\ liich cnniains the remains of 

 [utrifivd CM I'M, ic !!::,!!( r wliicli has grown and 

 di-ca_\e I .ill ih> >M : . ■>. The richness of soils 

 is in'pii'l "i ''"" '•" '>'■ 'inautiiy of the mould they 

 Cdni.iin, il ill i:i! ;;,Mii,d state of decomposition, 

 and in a properly conslitutcd soil. The remains 

 of this matter, after its dissolution, is a soft, lijjht, 

 black substance ; the abundance of which is the 

 cause of blackness in garden mould, wl.iih has 

 been long in cultivation: the Freiich h:,ve given 

 to this substance the name of Huiuic acid. 



THE PROPERTIKS AND USE OF SOIL A.NO SUBSOIL. 



Although it has bcsen shown that there is an 

 intimate connexion between the n;.ture and prop- 

 erties of the soil, and those of the subsoil upon 

 which it rests; vi t we would wish it to he un- 

 derstiKid, ili.a il,c iKiiiire and qiialily of the ma- 

 terials ol w hi. li iliMiil is eonqiosed, have not 

 so much i.. (I.iwiili its producliveiiess, as the 

 mere iiiechanical nii.xinre of its parts, by whi.'h 

 it is biouiiht into such a state of friability, as to 

 enable it to retain moisture in dry siasons, and 

 jiive off,liy filtralioii,its redundant u.oislnrc during 

 a continuance of wet weather. The soil only af- 

 ((lids support to the roots of plants while lliey 

 are growing, it does not in any way give iionr- 

 ishmeiit to them. Tl e most important element* 

 of vegetation being w;.ter, air light and heat, man 

 without these, may spend his strength ibr naught; 

 it is therefore neces.sary to get the soil in the best 

 state for receiving, ri-lainiiig, and transmitting 

 just such a poi lion of iheni lo the grow iiig plaiil.s 

 as, under the pcriiliar ciri-iunslanccs of .-oil ami 

 climate in which they gmw, is best filled lor the 

 kind of jilants cultivated. Tlie soil being there- 

 r.iie, nirrely the resermir of water, nir, heat, and 

 of decompo>iiig organic matter, il may be ren- 

 dered either fertile or sterile by giving it the 

 power of storing iqiand retaining these elements 

 for use in a much greater quantity than before, ■ 

 or by abstracting from it, or depiivii g it of the 

 power of receiving, retaining, and nansmitting 

 these to plants. Every operation vvhich tends to 

 give or facilinile the free ingress and egress of 

 water, air, light and heat to" plants, and to ihe 

 soil in which they grow, will facilitate their 

 growth. Organic matter in the soil thonld 

 always be kept in an active state of decon.po.si- 

 tion, for it is only when in this state that it can 

 do any good to growing vegetables. This is 

 generally efli'Cted by li-equently moving or culti- 

 vating tiie soil and by keeping the land perlectly 

 dij and porous, lor if it be kept wet. the vegeta- 

 ble matter will become antiseptic, and capable 

 like peat of preserving vegeliible and animal mat- 

 ttr from pulrifving. 



Silicious sa.ndy soils soon decompose the 

 nnmure bestowed upon them, which is carried .; 

 off by water and ev.iporalion. 



These are called hungry soils. 



Soils on a dry porous siibsoil, are more easily 

 dried bv evaporation, than when the subsoil is 

 clay or marl. 



A dry, light, sandy soil on n clay subsoil, is 

 more productive than on a sandy, gravelly sub- 

 soil ; and it al.so supplies the means of its per- 

 manent improvement, by mixing some of the 

 subsoil wi'h the soil. 



"The besi constituted soil is that in which the 

 earthly materials, the moisture, and manure are 

 properly associated ; and on which the decom- 

 liosable vegetable or animal matter does not ex- 

 ceed one fourth of the weight of the earthly con- 

 stiuents." 



Putrefaction goes on very slowly in .strong ad- 

 hesive clays; while in sand and gravel, the j'ro- 

 cess is very rapid. In quick lime, it is more so 

 than in .sand ; hut carbonate -jf lime, effete lime 

 retards the process of pulrefaeiion. more thali 

 sand or clay. All earths have an affinity for, or 

 the power of retaining the gas or efrluvia from 



