April, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



61 



of the above facts, occuired in the valley of Aru- 

 giia, in the Itepubllc of Venezuela. Oviedo, who 

 towards the end of the fifteenth century, so of- 

 ten traverged this valley, positively affirms that 

 New Valencia was founded in 1555, at the dis- 

 tance of half a league from the lake of Tacari- 

 gua. The same place was visited by Humboldt 

 in 1800, and it was found that the town was sit- 

 uated tiiore than three miles distant from its 

 banks. In the mean time, new islands appeareil 

 in the lake, and the space which had been ex- 

 l)osed by the retreat of the waters, was trans- 

 formed into the most fertile fields, where the 

 cultivation of indigo, sugar, cotton and cocoa 

 had been carried to a great extent. In the year 

 1800, the valley of Aragua maintained a popida- 

 tion as dense as the most populous j)Ortions of 

 France. The cheering prosperity which existed 

 in the numerous villages, teeming with an indus- 

 trious yeomanry, could not be witnessed without 

 the greatest satisfaction, .\fter a lapse of twen- 

 ty-two years, this coimtry was again visited, and 

 it was remarked by the inhabitants for many 

 years, that, not only the waters of the lake had 

 ceased to subside, but, on the contrary, that they 

 were rapidly rising. 



Within the period which had intervened, im- 

 portant political transactions had occurred.^ 

 Venezuela now no longer belonged to Spain. 

 The smiling valley of Aragua had been the 

 arena of the most bloody contests, and war and 

 death had desolated those happy scenes, anil 

 greatly reduced the population. On the first 

 cry of independence, a number of slaves obtain- 

 ed their liberty by fighting under the standard 

 of the new republic. Its wide-spreading culti- 

 vation was neglected ; the forest trees, so luxu- 

 riant within the tropics, had again, in a great 

 measure, usurped dominion over that region, 

 which its inhabitants, after a centm-y of constant 

 and painful labor, had reclaimed. During the 

 growing prosperity of the valley of Aragua, 

 the numerous streams which fed the lake, had 

 been arrested and employed in innumerable irri- 

 gations, and their beds were found dry for more 

 than six months in a year. At the last epoch to 

 which we have alluded, 1832, the streams being 

 no longer so diverted, flowed without interrup- 

 tion. Thus, then, the progress and continuance 

 of agricultural industry in the valley of Aragua, 

 when the process of clearing was carried farther 

 and farther, and when cultivatiou in every varie- 

 ty was advancing, the level of the water gjadu- 

 ally subsided. More lately, on the contrary, din-- 

 inff a period of misfortune, when the clearing 

 was no longer continued, and the cultivated lands 

 liave fallen back into their primitive wildness, 

 the waters having ci?ased to fill, and are now 

 very speedily assuming a rising movement. 



The same facts are corroborated by numerous 

 other instances. " In laying low the forests," 

 says Humboldt, "which cover the tops and the 

 flanks of the moimtains, mankind, in all climates 

 are, at one and the same time, entailing two 

 great calamities upon succeeding generations — a 

 scarcity both of wood and of water." The truth 

 of this remark we find verified by examining the 

 history of all the civilized countries of the globe. 

 The influence of forest scenery in increasing the 

 moisture of the atmosphere, and in preventing 

 n climate troni being so hot in summer, and so 

 cold in winter, as it would otherwise be, is well 

 understood, and need only be mentioned. 



The utility of studying the influence of trees 

 in an uncultivated country is to afford usefid 

 hints with reference to the planting or thinning 

 of them in countries which are civilized. That 

 which is applicalile on a granil scale, where for- 

 ests cover many thousan<f acres, must operate 

 more or less in the same manner where they ex- 

 tend oidy to a few acres; and, consequently, this 

 influence must he kept in view in the ibrmation 

 of plantations both usefid and ornamental. If 

 forests, in their primitive state, supply food to 

 birds and insects, or aftbrd shelter to larger ani- 

 mals or reptiles, in a civilized country birds and 

 insects, larger animals and reptiles, may be ex- 

 l)ecte<l to abound more or less wherever there 

 are trees and shrubs to supply them with food 

 and shelter. ,HencQ the advantage of knowing 

 what trees and shrubs are obnoxious to particular 

 insects, and what insects attack trees and shrubs 

 generally. The total destruction of herbaceous 

 plants in dense forests enables us to know, that, 

 where we wish the grass or other herhuge nude 



trees to thrive, we must plant or leave the trees 

 thinly ; and the influence fiom the decay of 

 leaves, branches, and trees, in adding to the soil 

 teaches us how barren soil may be improved by 

 trees; and this natur,al effect has been imitated 

 by trenching down entire plantations of Scotch 

 pine, grown on extremely poor soils, in some 

 parts of Scotland. Undrained woods ai-e known 

 to retain the water which falls on them much 

 longer ttiaii open groves or plains ; and as in- 

 creased exhalation and evaporation must be going 

 on from such woods during the period of reten- 

 tion, an increased moisture must be thus produc- 

 ed ill the atmosphere, and the circumstance may 

 demand consideration in planting extensive shrub- 

 beries near dwellings; and, more especially, in 

 planting such as are intended, by frequent (jig- 

 ging, always to present a surface of naked loose 

 soil. The influence of trees in modifying both 

 the temperature and moisture of the atmosphere 

 in civilizeil countries and in artificial scenery, is 

 generally known ; and this knowledge sliould 

 not be lost sight of in the disposition of trees 

 and shrubs about houses, more especially in low 

 situations. There is gieat reason to believe that 

 many residences in this country and particularly 

 in England, naturally healthy, are rendered uu- 

 heallhy by the superabundance of trees and 

 shrubbery, and by the quantity of loosened earth 

 in their immediate vicinities. The insects which 

 often infest the rooms of our houses, are also 

 very much increased by the proximity of wood. 



From trees and shrubs in a wild state wo can 

 only truly learn their primitive natures ; because 

 plants, like animals, begin to change their hab- 

 its as soon as they are taken into cultivation. — 

 The fiict that this change takes place ought to 

 be borne in mind, when we wish to improve a 

 tree by placing it in a difterent soil or situation 

 iVom that in which it is found in its natural state. 

 There are certain soils and situations, however, 

 in which plants are found in a wild state, that 

 can hardly bB improved by art ; these are peat 

 bogs or swamps, such as are found in many 

 parts of our country, and Alpine situations. 



So various and so important are the uses of 

 trees and shrubs to man that to say nnich on the 

 subject here would go beyond our circumscribed 

 limits. In spring, when they put forth their 

 young buds; in summer, when,"lhey exhibit their 

 tiilly-expanded leaves; in autumn, when robes of 

 every variety of hue are hung upon their branch- 

 es ; in winter, when the glory of summer is 

 trodden under foot, presenting around a scene of 

 a|)parent desolation, he beholds them on all oc- 

 casions, as attbrding the means of enjoying the 

 most varied pleasures. Their great utility in 

 many arts, and their absolute necessity to animal 

 life must contribute to give him a reverential 

 feeling for his Maker, who has created all these 

 things lor the comfort and happiness of the ani- 

 mal world, more especially for us mortals. — 

 Look at the beauty and variety of their growth! 

 What cradles, arches, avenues, pyramids of ver- 

 dure, loaded with fruit, piesenting the most en- 

 chanting habitations. What haiPpy natioris live 

 under tiiese peaceful coverts! What delicious 

 banquets are liere prepared! Nothing of them 

 is lost— man feeds upon the fruits, quadrupeds 

 eat the tender leaves, birds the seeds, and other 

 animals the roots and the rinds, and, lastly, the 

 insects devour the offal. Every part is of use 

 to some animal— all nature teems with living 

 matters through its ever-varied and innumerable 

 |)roduclions. 



Influence of Water npon Nutrition. 



Wati'r influences vegetation not only by the 

 nutriiive principles furnished to plants by its de- 

 composition, but by means wholly physical, and 

 which we shall first consider. 



The first eflbct of water ui)on a soil appropri- 

 ated to vegetation is, to moisten and divide the 

 earth, and consequently to favor the extension of 

 roots, the introduction of air, and the develop- 

 ment of seeds. 



The second is that of conveying to the seed 

 the first aliment required by it, oxygen, which 

 that liquid always holds in solution in a greater 

 or less degree, and which is, as I have already 

 observed, the jirincipal agent in germination. 



The third office performed by water is that of 

 dividing the inanure applied to the soil, of dis- 

 solving' some portions ol it, and conveying thetn 



to the organs of the jilants in a state fitted for 

 their digestion and nourislnnent. 



All kinds of water are not equally suitable for 

 this purpose ; rain water, which is the purest, and 

 contains the most air of any, is also the best for 

 supplying the wants of plants. Generally speak- 

 ing, those streams which have their rise in gran- 

 ite or primitive calcareous nioiiiitaiiis, are favor- 

 able to vegetation ; but it is necessary that they 

 should flow through soils free fiom metallic salts 

 or earths ; and that they should have traversed, 

 before being used in agriculture, a sufficient 

 space to have become impregnated with a due 

 portion of atmospheric air. 



Streams may not be pure, and yet may be very 

 serviceable for watering the soil, especially if 

 they carry, or hold in solution, certain salts favor- 

 able to plants, and some vegetable or animal 

 substances. * * * * * 



When plants have yielded to water all their so- 

 luble portions, the subsequent decomposition of 

 their insoluble fibres furnishes new soluahle pro- 

 ilucls, which serve for nourishment ; water im- 

 bibes these as fiist as they are formed, and trans- 

 mits them to the plants with which it comes in 

 contact. In this manner dead plants supply food 

 to tlie living, and all the elements composing the 

 first are found differently combined in the last. — 

 ChaptaVs Chmiistry. 



The Tomato. 



The celebrity of this plant has become aston- 

 ishing. A few years siuce, prejudice reviled at 

 its excellences with its most vindictive tuuntings. 

 .Voijj, it is an article of so general popularity, 

 scarcely a garden, or an apology for one, is to be 

 found where it is not cultivated, and almost every 

 voice is loud in procl.-iiming its excellences. The 

 tomato has three kinds or varieties, to wit : the 

 large common, the egg, and t!ie golden drop. — 

 We prefer the two last kinds for culture, as they 

 are firmer, or more solid in their texture and 

 more delicate in their flavor. The tomato may 

 be started in a hot-bed, or in boxes in the house 

 in March. Then by care, large thrifty plants will 

 be ready for putting out as soon as the season of 

 frost is passed. They do not require a rich soil ; 

 this causes them to run too imicli to vine, but 

 rather an excitement to ])usli forward to perfec- 

 tion. We know of no more sure effective to pro- 

 duce this, than to put say halfor a third ofa com- 

 mon shovel full of hen or jiigeons' dung in the 

 hill. It is admirably calculated for pepper or for 

 tomatoes. 



After the early frost had killed the vines last 

 fall, a friend of ours, of close observation and 

 exact calculation, experimented feeding the toma- 

 toes that remained to her cow. They were rea- 

 dily eaten, and the quantity of milk was increas- 

 ed. This certainly adds another to the thousand 

 and one uses to which they have been applied. 

 W. B. 



Night soil for Manure. 



Night soil forms an excellent manure ; but 

 farmers allow it to be wasted, because it is too 

 active to be employed in its natural state, and 

 they know not how either to moderate its action, 

 or to appropriate it during different stages of 

 fermentation to the wants of various kinds of 

 l>lants. 



In Belgium, which has been the cradle of en- 

 lightened agriculture, and where good modes of 

 cultivation are continued and constantly improv- 

 ed, they make astonishing use of this kind of 

 luanure. The first year of its decomposition, 

 they cultivate upon tiie soil to which it is ap- 

 plied, oliginous plants, such as hemp and flax ; 

 and the second year, sow the land with corn. 

 They likewise mix water with urine, and use it 

 to water the fiehls in the spring, when vegetation 

 begins to unfold. This substance is likewise 

 dried and scattered upon fields of cabbage. 



The Flemings value this kind of manure so 

 much, that the cities set a high rate upon the 

 privilege of disposing of the clearings of their 

 privies; and there are, in each one of them, 

 sworn officers for the assistance of those who 

 wish to make purchases. These officers know 

 the (legrees of fcruienlaiion suiteil to each kind 

 of plant, and to the difterent periods of vegeta- 

 tion. 



We shall find great difficulty in bringing this 

 branch of industry to the Kame degree of peifec- 

 tion among us, that it has arrived in Belgium, 



