^84 



GENESEE FARMER. 



April, 



than the place of their growth, or deposit, is a 

 '' position" so contrary to nature, and common 

 vibservation, that no homan "authority" can give 

 it credibility. That a part of the organized ele- 

 jnents of manure, while undergoing decomposi- 

 tion, thus escape into the atmosphere, we freely 

 ^adnlit But that every farmer sliould endeavor 

 to prevent the loss of ammonia and carbonic acid 

 from his manure heaps, that these elements of 

 plants may be fed to his crops and enter their 

 roots directly from the soil, is a "position" from 

 which it will be hard to drive the editor of this 

 journal — Liebig to the contrary notwithstanding. 



That the earthy salts found in plants and ma- 

 nure are indispensable to their gr^ tvvth, we know 

 as well as any one. But it is an absurdity to say 

 •that, the carbonate of anmionia evolved in the 

 •moisture of a potato hill, from a shovel full of 

 •jdung, must first evaporate, travel to the clcuds, 

 ^and fall back again in rain water, before it can 

 •possibly enter the roots of this plant ! 



We assure Dr. R., in conclusion, that we will 

 give his second and corrected edition as favora- 

 ble a notice as our judgment will permit. 



Dr. Lee's Criticisms. 



■In- tlie first number ,>f the current volume of tlie Cultiva- 

 tor, an attack of Dr. Lke was noticed, showing that he had 

 •strongly censured me for doing the same thing which the 

 most eminent chemists had done, and which he liad himself 

 ■done in a more glaring degree ; and also glancing at his er- 

 ror in asserting that animal excrements were no l/etter as 

 manure than water nnd dried vegetables. He has again 

 appeared with nearly two columns in his paper, in which 

 >ie avoids the original matter in dispute, and attempts to 

 make his readers believe that I hold the opinion, that ani- 

 .mal substances are secreted "out of 7wthmg." lie builds 

 liis argument on this point on the very singular assumption, 

 tfiiat the terms secrete and create »re synonymous. He must 

 know that I have not advanced any such absurd position ; 

 .«.nd I auk him, candidly, if he is not bound, as a just and 

 Oionorable man, to retract his former censorious and uncalled 

 /or remarks, now that I have shown their injustice, which 

 .he himself tacitly admits, by attempting a new issue.— J. J. 

 Tltomas, in Cultivator for March. 



'Friend Thomas, thou art a strange man. — 

 We ask thee "candidly," in reply, why hast thou 

 twice asserted in the Cultivator that " Dr. Lee 

 Tias attacked^'' John J. Thomas, while the read- 

 ers of that journal are not pennitted to know one 

 j)aragraph of his remarks on thy Prize Essay, 

 •from which to judge of their truth or error ? It 

 is a great mistake to say that "Dr. Lee has at- 

 tacked " thee at all. Thy errors were pointed 

 out in a fair manner, and with no feelings but 

 tliose of kindness, and a love of truth. Know- 

 ingly, we do " injustice" to no human being. — 

 Our coluiTins are ever open to thee to correct 

 Avhatever may even seem to be wrong in our re- 

 marks on thy mo.st valued production. We lay 

 no claim to perfection. ISpeaking of thy Prize 

 Essay in our December number, it was remark- 

 ed : '^ We have perpetrated our share of blunders, 

 and trust few have endeavored to profit more by 

 the criticisms of others* In our January num- 

 ber we took the liberty to point out the palpable 



errors of Liebig, in reference to the compositiott 

 of manures. We did the same thing in regard 

 to Mr. Thomas, because he is justly looked up 

 to by thousands as good authorit)^ on agricultural 

 subjects." 



Tell us, kind reader, when you say of a writer 

 that " iie is justly looked up to by thousands as 

 authority," do you manifest unkindness toward 

 such writer, that you should retract your friendly 

 correction of his errors ? Would there not be 

 gross injustice in misrepresenting the true letter, 

 spirit, and meaning of your language, instead of 

 copying it to the numerous readers of another 

 paper — the Albany Cultivator 1 



What "original matter in dispute" have we 

 " avoided " ? Where has " Dr. Lee assumed that 

 the words create and secrete are synonymous" 1 



Friend Thomas, whether thou knowest it or 

 not — such a design we will not impute to thee — 

 thou hast, from beginning to end, put words into 

 our mouth which we never used. Thou hast 

 placed us in a false position before the readers of 

 the Cultivator. As those of the F'armer had 

 alone seen our criticism on thy Essay, to that 

 journal thou shouldst have sent thy reply, that 

 one tribunal might hear both sides of the ques- 

 tion. Didst thou fear to speak to the readers of 

 the Farmer ? They are thy friends, and will 

 be the last to undervalue thy acknowledged pub- 

 lic services. Better frankly confess thy erroi-s — 

 " to err is human" — and seek to avoid their rep- 

 etition in future, than attempt to carry them on 

 thy strength of character, which must suffer by 

 the association. Remember that placing "Dr.- 

 Lee" in the wrong, does not place thee in the 

 right. Long have we ardently desired to see 

 the agricultural literature of America second to 

 that of no nation in the world. Thou hast done 

 good service in the cause, and we trust will yet 

 achieve a higher and wider fame. Our friendly 

 criticism will keep the on the right track, and in 

 the end do thee infinitely more good than igno- 

 rant, unmingled praise. 



Potato Rot. — It is known that the plat of 

 ground formerly owned by the Wadsworth es- 

 tate, in the south part of this city, was sold and 

 mostly planted in 1846. The soil was first plow- 

 ed last season. That portion owned by Mr. Isaac 

 Hills, President of the Horticultural Society, 

 was plowed in April, and planted early in May 

 with Mercer Potatoes. They were dug in Sep- 

 tember, and proved good and entirely free from 

 rot — while the grounc's of the same lot on the op- 

 posite side of the road were planted in June, with 

 the same variety of potatoes, by Judge Sampson, 

 and the whole crop perished. So much for ear- 

 ly planting and digging. # 



Valuable Colt. — One of our subscribers — 

 Mr. Nathan Case, of Perrinton, in this county — 

 recently sold a two years old colt, of the Morgan 

 breed, for one hundred and fifty five dollars. 



