HE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



" Those who labor in the earth are the chosenpeople of God, whose breasts he has made hlspecuUar deposite/or substantial and gejmine virtue.' 



Jefferson. 



VOLUME IV. 



CONCORD, N.H. JUNE 30, 1842. 



NUMBER 6. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOK. 



A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER, IS PUBLISHED BY 



JOHN M. HILL. 



HUrs Brick- Block, Concord, M H. 



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THE VISITOR. 



From the Albnny Ciiitiv.itnr. 

 Dr. Dana's Muck lUaunal. 



Ill oiu- brief notice of tliis woi-l< Inst month, we 

 inliinatecl our inlention of again recurring lo it, 

 for tlie purpose of giving our renders a more full 

 account of the principles advanced, and the man- 

 ner in which they were supported, than could be 

 done at thai time. We do this the more willing- 

 ly, both from the intrinsic value and importance 

 of the Manual itselt; and becau.se it is the first 

 coiitribinion, which can properly he named as 

 such, made by American philosophers to the 

 cause of agricultmal science. Circumstances 

 have demanded that in many respects the pro- 

 cesses of cultivation should lie different in this 

 country from those pursued in Europe. The 

 climate, the crops, the seasons, have contributed 

 to give a distinctive character to American agri- 

 culture, and this difference is destined to become 

 still more marked; but the jirinciples which gov- 

 ern the germination of the .^I'ed, which regulate 

 the nutrition and growth of the plant, which 

 control the maturity and peifeclion, are and must 

 be the same every where ; and hence the various 

 questions which come inider the name of scien- 

 tific agriculture, have not received the attention 

 here,thej' have in the old world. Admitting that 

 the principles and laws of vegetable nutrition 

 and growth were as well e.stablislied and defined, 

 as they are uncertain and obscure, the application 

 of these principles would be a legitimate object 

 of investigation; but while all iuriuirers can as 

 yet be considered only on the threshold of the 

 temple of nature, the field open to the competent 

 observer both here and there, must be considered 

 abundantly ample. We trust the success of this 

 attempt, will induce Dr. D. to continue his ex- 

 plorations. 



The method pursued by Dr. Dana in the Man- 

 ual, is very direct and perspicuous. His leading 

 object appears to be, to convince farmers that 

 in " MucU," that is, in decayed vegetable matter, 

 they have all the elements of fertility, and that 

 there is no sod which with pro[)er care and cul- 

 tivation cannot be made productive. The work 

 is divided into sections, which contributes greatly 

 . to facility of reference, and prevention of repeti- 

 tion in the facts or arguments. 



Dr. Dana first establishes .some general princi- 

 ples in regard to the action of soils and salts in 

 producing vegetation. This has led hiin to con- 

 sider their structure geologically as well as chem- 

 ically ; and ill our remarks we propose to follow 

 him in his iiive-^ligatioiis, allowing him to rpeak 

 for himself as'lUr as "possible. Dr. Dana remarks 

 — "Referring rocks to their origin, they are di- 

 visible into two great classes. 1st, those formed 

 by fire. 2d, those formed by water. This division 



relates both to their origin and their distiihution. 

 !n their origin, all rocks are truly igneous or by 

 fire. In Iheir distribution they are aqueous or by 

 water. This is the only division necessary to the 

 farmer. It is the division taught and demanded 

 by Agricultural Geology." 



Fiom this view of the origin of rock, and the 

 consequent general sameness in the chemical 

 composition, lie derives his first principle in Ag- 

 ricultural Chemistry, "one rock and consequent- 

 ly one soil." As a necessary consequence of this 

 principle, in his further inquiry how rocks and 

 soil afl^ect vegetation, he lays down his second 

 principle — " that rocks do not affect the vegeta- 

 tion which covers them." 



We apprehend that this principle, nnderstood 

 in its broadest sense, and without reslriclion, 

 would be erroneous. Rocks do certainly exert 

 a powerful influence on the soil that covers them 

 in many cases, but this is owing to their physical 

 condition, and not to their chemical constiluiion, 

 ill which sense Dr. Dana would intend to be un- 

 derstood. Temperature is the great agent which 

 aflects the vegetation of any strata or region, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Dana, and this isdejiending on the 

 physical coinposition, rather than the chemical 

 constitution of the rock. In this view of the 

 subject, there will be little room for dissent to 

 this princi|)lo. Take, for instance, a north and 

 south section of western New York. This would 

 pass over strata of sandstone, lime rocks, gypse- 

 ous shales, clay sh:,les, &c., i;i lepeated alterna- 

 tions, and the soils and the crops grown on them, 

 are as well marked as the strata themselves. 

 Those on the limestone strata are the most pro- 

 ductive as a general rule, and these are also the 

 warmest and driest; two qualities owing to the 

 rock below, which, allowing water to pass off 

 freely, give as a necessary conse(pience a higher 

 temperature to the soil than belongs to that on 

 the more retentive portions of the district. If 

 soils were always formed of the rocks immcdi- 

 ly below them, there would be more room for 

 disjuitiiig the disposition : but this every farmer 

 knows is never the case, and consequently the 

 chance for the chemical constitution of rocks 

 affecting vegetation above them is much les- 

 sened. 



To show that it is temperature that governs 

 the distribution of plants, ami not the soil. Dr. 

 Dana gives some interesting tables respecting the 

 northern limits of some of the cultivated grains, 

 such as barley and wheat, thus proving that it is 

 not the .average temperature of tlie year, or of the 

 er, but the temperalure of the time employ- 

 ed in the growth of the plant, or of the summer, 

 that determines its "habitat." North latitude 

 degs. is the highest northern limit of barley ; 

 nd liUitudu CA degs. the highest northern limit 

 f w heat. Barley grows the highest of the cereal 

 grains, and a little beyond the line of this grain, 

 is the northern boundary of the potatoe. " This 

 belt," says Dr. D., "is the zone between agricnl- 

 e, and fishing and hunting ; between races of 

 ?n subsisting on animal and on vegetable diet, 

 d those whose chief food is animal." It is 

 inewhat remarkable that in ascending inoiin- 

 ns, the grains cease to grow at heights which 

 correspond to the latitude marking the isoiheral 

 "ine, or their northern limit. Thus on the Swiss 

 Alps the grains cease at the following heiahts: — 

 ■• Wheat at 3,400 feet corresponding to lat. 64 degs. 

 0.its at 3.500 " " " 65 



Rye at4.C0O " " " 67 



B-irley at 4 ,300 " " _ " 70.'' 



From these facts, and the singular uniformity 

 of identity in the chemical coni(iositioii of the 

 soil. Dr. Dana adduces his third principle, viz : 

 ;ks have not formed the soil which covers 

 them." The evidence of this is so ample, and so 

 open to every observer, that we shall pass it with- 

 it further remark. 



Dr. Dana's second chajitar treats of the chemi- 



1 constitution of rocks, and is one of the best | 



expositions of this subject we have yet seen. 



"Seven simple minerals compose uU rocks, viz: 

 quartz, mica, fijldspar, hornblende, talc, serpen- 

 tine, carbonate of lime. Other minerals are 

 found in, but these seven compose all rocks 

 termed geological formations, and which form 

 the crust of the globe." Of the 55 elements 

 which chemistry has detected, 14 are found in 

 rocks. This includes the elements of water, 

 o.xygen and hydrogen. Without these only 12 

 remain. Of (he earthy and metallic, eight; of 

 the volatile and cotnbustihle, four. These ele- 

 ments of all rocks may be divided into four pairs 

 — the alkalies, potash, soda; the alkaline earths, 

 lime, magnesia; the earths, silex, alumina; the 

 metals, iron and mangane.se. We have not room 

 to follow our author throngh the instructive de- 

 tails of this chapter; lint the man who wishes to 

 become acquainted with the combinations which 

 these elements assume, will do well lo consult it 

 carefully. The following table will show the 

 constitution of the simple minerals: — 



Oxide of 

 Alurn' Manga- Iron and 



Silex. ina. Lime. Potash, nese. Manganese. 

 "Feldspar, 66.75 17.60 1.25 12.00 0.75 



Mica, 50.82 21.33 9.86 9.08 



Hornblende, 45.69 12.18 13.83 18.79 7.32 



Talc, 53.02 water. 33.02 4.06 



Serpentine, 43.07 0.25 0.50 12.75 40.37 1.11." 



Thus it appears that silex is the most abundant 

 ingredient in rocks, and alumina is next. "The 

 average of these elements in the most important 

 rocks, is silica 62.79, alumnia is 25.15." In the 

 best constituted soils, the pio])ortion will not be 

 found to vary widely from whal is here stated, a 

 proof that soils have originated from the decom- 

 position and mingling of the elements of rocks. 



The third chapter is devoted to a consideration 

 of the properties and chemical action of the ele- 

 ments of the soil. Here the important part per- 

 formed by silica in vegetation is clearly develop- 

 ed, and its various combinations with other 

 substances pointed out. The manner in which 

 soils are supplied with lime and potash by the 

 decomposition of rocks is here shown. The com- 

 position of granite, composed of two-fifths quartz, 

 two-fifths feldspar, and one-fifdi mica, according 

 to Dr. D., is as follows : — 



" Silex, 



Alumina, 



Potash, 



74.84 

 12.80 

 7.48 

 0.99 

 0.37 

 1.93 

 0.12." 



Magnesia, 



Oxide of Iron, 

 O.Kide of Magnesia, 

 To show that soils are not exhausted of their 

 ime or alkali. Dr. Dana shorts the quantity of 

 each on an acre of soil, made from the decompo- 

 n of such rock as the above would produce, 

 taking the soil only six inches deep. "The cubic 

 foot of such soils weighs about 90 lbs., or at six 

 inches deep, -15 lbs. The acre at this depth, con- 

 tains 21,780 cubic feet, which will afford 3,026 lbs. 

 of lime, and 73,311 lbs. of potash, or nearly a 

 and a half of lime and 36 Ions of potash." 

 The probability of the exhaustion of these sub- 

 stances may be inferred from the following esti- 

 mate. The straw of a crop of wheat of 30 bush- 

 els per acre, will weigh about 5,000 lbs. Burned, 

 ■ • will yield 220 lbs. of ashes, of which one- 

 fifth is soluble in water, and consists of one-half 

 of that dissolved, of pottish. The part not solu- 

 ble, contains 5.80 per cent of lime. Thus an 

 ere of wheat straw contains 22 lbs. of potash, 

 nd 10 lbs. of lime. From these facts Dr. Dana 

 deduces his fourth principle, viz : "that all soils 

 contain enough of lime, alkali, and other inor- 

 ganic elements, for any crop grown on them." 



When it was stated in Prof Hitchcock's Geo- 

 logical Report, on the authority of Dr. D., that all 

 soils coutaineti phosphates and sulphate of lime, 

 a principle of great importance to the farmer, it 

 s received with doubt and distrust by many, 

 ncipally from the fact that many crop,s, wheat 

 in particular, for the production of which lime is 

 deemed essential, could not be grown on much 



