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GENESEE FARMER. 



June. 



The next most abundant substance in the soils 

 of Western New York after silica and alumina, 

 is iron. Like those just named, this metal is 

 combined with oxygen forming the red rust of 

 iron. This is called in the language of chem- 

 ists the "pe?--oxide of iron." When a bar of 

 iron is heated in a blacksmith's forge and ham- 

 mered, tlie thin scales that fly off are called the 

 proi-oxide of iron. The dilTerence between these 

 black scales and the rust of iron is that the latter 

 contains about a third more oxygen than the for- 

 mer.* When the oxide of iron unites with the 

 oil of vitriol, it forms the well known salt called 

 copperas, (sulphate of iron. ) 



Iron is found among the incombustible ele- 

 ments of all, or nearly all plants ond animals. — 

 Thus iron is found in the blood of all red blooded 

 animals, and of course must exist in their food. 

 This metal exerts a powerful, but not very well 

 understood function in the economy of vegetable 

 and animal life. It is believed by Mr. Downing 

 of the Horticulturist, to be a specific against the 

 "yellows" in fruit trees. Copperas water has 

 been thrown with a syringe over the leaves of 

 pear and peach trees thus affected, and it is said 

 with entire success. The application of old iron 

 about pear and other fruit trees, is strongly rec 

 ommended. We have found from two to six pej 

 cent, of the oxide of iron in the soils that we have 

 analyzed. In low land, there is apt to be an ex 

 cess of copperas, and other salts of iron. Thor- 

 ough draining is the remedy for this. In dry 

 uplands, it is possible that old and long cultivated 

 fields may lack salts of iron. Very few experi- 

 ments have been made to test the value of this 

 mineral as a fertilizer for grain crops. 



Lime is the next most abundant ingredient in 

 the soils of this region. It is very seldom that 

 we find more than 2i per cent, of this alkaline 

 earth in any soil. There are exceptions, how- 

 ever, where the proportion of lime increases till 

 it amounts to a calcareous marl. 



In 100 lbs. of pure common lime-stone, irre- 

 spective of water, there are within a small frac- 

 tion 56 lbs. caustic lime united to 44 lbs. of car- 

 bonic acid. This acid is expelled in burning 

 lime in kilns. On long exposure to the air, 

 quick lime absorbs both moisture and carbonic 

 acid, and becomes a mild carbonate, such as is 

 found in soils. 



It is an interesting fact that soils which over- 

 lie a lime-stone rock, and that pretty near the 

 surface, are often greatly benefited for producing 

 wheat by a top dressing of burnt lime of 50 bush- 

 els per acre. Judge Porter, of Niagara Falls, 

 has tried this practice on a large scale, where 

 the lime rock was within two feet of the top of 

 the ground. It was followed by a marked im 

 provement in his wheat crop. On Gen. Har 



* P/•o^o^ide of iron is formed hy tho union of an atom of 

 iron with an atom of oxygen. The 7?<>/-oxide by tlie union 

 of 2 atoms of iron with 3 of oxygen. 



mon's farm the application of lime seems to do 

 little or no good. If our memory serves us right- 

 ly it contains on an average less than 2 per cent, 

 of lime in its surface soil. Gypsum, however, 

 (which is formed by the union of lime with oil of 

 vitriol) is of essential service. Pure quick lime 

 i is i'ormed by the union of 20^ parts of a metal 

 called calcium with 8 parts of oxygen. The 

 most valuable compounds of lime are gypsum and 

 apatite, (bone earth.) The former iiP.'Vf. com- 

 pound of sulphur and lime, and the latter of phos- 

 phorus. Both of these simple elementary bodies 

 are of vital importance in the growth of cultiva- 

 ted plants, and the organization of all animals. 

 Combined with oxygen they form strong mine- 

 ral acids, which are neutralized by readily uni- 

 ting, with iron, alumina, lime, potash, soda, and 

 magnesia, in soils. Practical farmers have too 

 long neglected to study the economic value of the 

 various compounds of sulphur and phosphorus. 

 Gypsum is the only mineral, the importance of 

 which is at all appreciated. Its superiority over 

 lime consists in the fact that it furnishes clover, 

 peas, wheat, and all other plants, sulphur as well 

 as lime. A moment's reflection is sufficient to 

 convince any farmer that no animal can form its 

 bones without lime. And if his soil wholly lacks 

 this mineral, his crops can not possibly create it 

 out of nothing. Nor could an ox or horse have 

 a particle of bone in its system if its food con- 

 tained no lime. But lime alo7ie is not capable of 

 forming bone. Phosphoric acid is indispensable 

 for that purpose, associated with lime. Nearly 

 air that is taken from the soil in the kernels of 

 gi-ain, is removed never to return. A great deal 

 of the phosphorus that escapes from the bodies of 

 aniinals in their liquid and solid excretions, is 

 lost to the fields that yield the daily food of these 

 animals.. And yet pure phosphorus is so pre- 

 cious, that a pound of it is worth to-day three dol- 

 lars in the city of Rochester ! 



It is not book-farmers, but practical agricultu- 

 rists in Holland and Belgium that make money 

 by giving two pounds sterling for the urine of a 

 single cow a year. They estimate the surface 

 by the square yard which it takes to make a pound 

 of beef, butter, or cheese. They feed their liv- 

 ing growing plants, as well as their living grow- 

 ing aniinals. Wheat is now worth in this city 

 Si, 50 a bushel, and yet not one farmer in ten 

 can afford to study, or let his sons study, the 

 things that nature uses in forming 40 bushels of 

 wheat on an acre ! Who cares whether the 

 straw or stems of this plant are hard, bright, 

 strong, and glassy, little liable to rust, or crinkle, 

 by reason of its containing a good deal of silica 

 in its tissues ? Science tells ihe wheat grower 

 how to dissolve fine atoms of sand at the roots of 

 his grain, and avoid the growth of coarse, open, 

 weak, and spongy stems, which will break down 

 with an ordinary shower and wind, and form a 

 nidus for the seeds and rapid maturity of parasite 



