1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



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A slight afiiiir often changes tne hygrometic pow- 

 er of soils. The increase? condensation of dews 

 and of gases, and the greater facility for the descent 

 of water into the presence of the various soluble 

 and fertilizing salts in the subsoil, and for the free 

 ascent of water thus charged with the food of crops, 

 upward and around the roots of needy plants, are all 

 matters worthy of profound study. Draining and 

 irrigation in all their bearings on rural economy, are 

 far from being cither well, or generally understood. 

 VVc find that a gallon of the limpid water in the dry 

 season of summer taken from the Genesee river, con- 

 tams as mncli of the elements of wheat as twelve gal- 

 lons of the water taken from the Savannah where it 

 falls over the granite rock a few miles above Augusta. 



What rain and snow water extract from soils and 

 earths, and what this liquid takes with it into the 

 circulation of growing plants, are points to which 

 the writer has devoted considerable attention. Noth- 

 ing more forcibly indicates both the wisdom and 

 goodness of Providence than the fixed solubility of 

 all the atoms appointed to build up the bodies of all 

 vegetables and animals. 



Change in a slight degree the insolubility of the 

 shell of an oyster in the water of the sea, while the 

 animal lives, and the speedy extinction of the race 

 would soon follow. Render the elements of this shell 

 equally insoluble in sea-water before the oyster im- 

 bibes the dissolved atoms, to form its stony covering, 

 and no such protection could be had. If the earihy 

 elements in the bones of a child, which are dissolved 

 in the milk of its mother, remained equally soluble 

 in the skeleton of her offspring, it could never stand 

 nor sit up a moment in its life; nor could it long sur- 

 vive the absence of all bones, whether to protect its 

 brain and heart, or for use in locomotion. 



If for no other purpose, the science of agriculture 

 should be studied for its humanizing, its moral influ- 

 ence on all rational beings as individuals, and on 

 whole communities, states and nations. Let all good 

 citizens unite with us in fostering the professional 

 education of young men who are to follow the plow, 

 and the general diffusion of useful Imowledge that 

 must certainly result from this course, will be inval- 

 uable to the country. 



This eftbrt to scatter scientific information broad- 

 cast over the whole Union, is free from the taint of 

 any political, any sectional, or private objects. Every 

 where one sees in his travels, valuable fertilizers 

 wasted: wet fields that require draining: old fences 

 that need repairing; briars and bushes which ought 

 to be eradicated; and impoverished soils which may 

 be economically renovated. But the great work of 

 improvement is fairly under way. Scores of agri- 

 cultural journals, and thousands of good men and 

 true are devoted to the task of changing for the bet- 

 ter the whole scope of American husbandry. 



Agricultcre. — It is an innocent pursuit that can 

 do injury to no one. It invades no man's just rights, 

 and predjudices no man's safety, health, peace, or 

 reasonable enjoyment. It is a beneficial employ- 

 ment, for whoever cultivates the earth, and covers it 

 with rich and golden crops, renders it more beautiful; 

 and whoever causes the earth to yield its fruits, 

 increases the means of human comfort and subsis- 

 tence. 



The only way to be permanently safe is to be ha- 

 bitually honest. 



COMPOSITION OF BONES AND GUANO. 



Bones differ slightly in composition in diSerent ani- 

 mals. The bones of the same animal vary in their 

 relative proportions of earthy elements at different 

 ages. Young animals have more gelatine and less 

 phosphate of lime in their bones than old ones. The 

 ibllowing composition of the bones of a cow, will 

 give the farmer a fair idea of the constituents of 

 this svibstance as they commonly exist when applied 

 to crops as a fertillizer: 



Organised combustible mfttter [gelatine] So^ 



I'hosphate of lime 55.i 



Phosphaie of magneein 3 



Carbon of lirae 3J 



Soda and common salt.. 3.] 



Chloride of Calcium I 



100,(1 



One hundred pounds of Gelatine consists of. 



Carbon 50,37 



Hydrogen - 6,33 



IN itrogen 17 .92 



Oxygen '25,'io 



As one-third of the weight of bones is gclatino, 

 and 100 parts of gelatine contains 18 of nitrogen 

 (less a small fraction,) it will be seen that 6 per cent 

 of dry bones consists of organized nitrogen, an im- 

 portant ingredient in wheat, and the seeds of other 

 plants. 



As applied to land, bones contain about 18 per cent 

 of water: Ichaboe guano from 20 to 25 per cent. — 

 It is an important fact, that bon"s contain more than 

 twice as much phosphate as guano. The compo- 

 sition of Ichaboe guano is thus stated by Prof. John- 

 ston in a late Journal of the Highland Agricultural 

 Society, as the arerage of several hundred analyses : 



Organic anim:d matter - 5C 



Phosphate of lime and magnesia 26 



Salts of soda (i 



Salts of potash _ trace. 



Silicious matter .- 2 



100 



By referring to the analysis of bone it will be seen 

 that there are 55J lbs. phosphate of lime and mag- 

 nesia in 100 of bone. 



Many interesting experiments have lately been 

 tried in Scotland with bone dissolved in sulphuric 

 acid, (oil of vitriol.) 



It has been found that four, and in some cases two 

 bushels, dissolved in acid, produced as good crops of 

 turneps as sixteen or twenty bushels applied in tho 

 old way of grinding and using tlte dust. 



Sulphuric acid is itself a valuable fertilizer alone; 

 while it renders both the gelatine and phosphates in 

 bones available at once to all plant?, when placed 

 near their roots. Prof. Johnston recommends the use 

 of half as many pounds of acid undiluted as there 

 are of bones, in which the latter are to be digested. 

 The process in few words may be described as fol- 

 lows : 



Break the bones into small fragments with an axe 

 or hammer and throw 60 or 100 lbs. into a water- 

 tight barrel set partly into the ground in a backyard 

 or garden. Add half as many lbs. of boiling water 

 as bones, and a like quantity of strong sulphuric 

 acid. Stir constantly the mass with a stick. A vio- 

 lent effervescence will take place by the escape of 

 carbonic acid. 



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