106 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



May 



II 



§ 



the next topic under review. Suffice it to say that 

 carbonaceous manures, lilve the solid excrements of 

 animals, and phosphates, do better for turnips, com- 

 paratively speakinfj, than ammonia, which operates 

 so favorably on wheat. Mr. Pusky says : "I am in- 

 clined to suspect that carbon has a much more active 

 principle than we suppose, even in small quantities." 

 The fertilizing power of oil is ascribed to tliis ele- 

 ment ; as is also that of pulverized bituminous coal. 

 Water charged with carbonic acid lias been found 

 very useful in nourishing plants. "At present," 

 says Mr. P., " we can only say that the three leading 

 principles of manure are — 



1, AiMMOiNIA ; 



2, Phosphorus ; and probably 



3, Carbo.n." 



To the above we should add sulphur and potash. 



The author discusses the subject of nmmonia, 

 phosphorus, and carbon, at considerable lengch, and 

 gives due credit to Baron Likbig for being the first 

 to suggest the use of sulphuric acid to dissolve bones 

 for agricultural purposes. In this country tlie cost 

 of this acid (oil of vitriol) is sue!) as to forbid its 

 general use. It is cheaper to boil bones to powder 

 in lye, than to buy acid to dissolve them. If all the 

 ammonia wasted in cities were saved, it would adJ 

 immensely to the grain crops of the United tStatf^s. 



The power cf gypsum to "fix" ammonia is dis- 

 cussed at length. Until it is dissoved it is valunless 

 to form the iiivolatile salt called sulphate of ammonia. 

 Thus, the oil of vitriol, combined with lime to form 

 gypsum, or planter, can only leave the lime to unite 

 chemically with ammonia, after the two salts, (car- 

 bonate of ammonia, and sulphate of lim^,) arc 

 brought together in solution. Then the carb)nic 

 acid leaves the ammonia, and combines with the 

 lime ; while the sulphuric acid leaves the lime, an,i 

 unites with the ammonia. This is what is called 

 double decomposition. Dr. Sprengel recommend- 

 green vitriol (copperas or sulphate of iron) to fix 

 ammonia in urine tanks ; but its price is a seriou- 

 objection. 



By the important discovery of Mr. Thompson. 

 substantiated by the experiments of Professor Way, 

 farmers in England are now using dry clay to deo- 

 dorize manure, by absorbing all its gases. Mr. PIox- 

 TABLE found that putrid urine and offensive s-e.ver 

 water, in passing through seven or eight inches of 

 loam, became pure as well as clear. Thus a deei; 

 loam is able to retain the manure committed to Tt, 

 until the future crop requires nourishment. It is the 

 present practice with the best English farmers t" 

 cover with the plow manure ab.)ut four inches deep : 

 and twelve inches of mellow soil should lie under it 

 to retain all its fertilizing elements. Loam alone 

 retains ammonia, i. c, a mixture of clay and pan I, 

 for pure sand permits this volatile, and very soluble 

 alkali, to escape readily. 



In the matter of forming the fat, flesh, and milk of 

 domestic animals, Mr. P. does full justice to the 

 chemistry of physiology ; at least so far as Liebig, 

 Boussi>CAULT, PLAVFAin,and Paye.v are concerned, 

 lie has, however, overlooked the services of Mulder, 

 whose profound researches we regard as second in 

 impfjrtance to those of no other analyst in this depart- 

 ment ot chemical science. Our Sj)ace is too limited 

 for the discussion of physiology in this connection. 

 At another time we will endeavor to give our ro ulcrs 

 some idea of the present con lition of animal-and veg- 

 etable chemistry in its bearings on rural affairs. 



On the subject of agricultural meteorology, an ex- 

 tract is made from Prof. Dove's Chart, to illustrate 

 by colored lines the variations of cold and heat on the 

 surface of the earth, and how temoerature is modified 

 in England. Facts un<ler this head can have but 

 little interest out of the kingdom. If any of our rea- 

 ders desire to learn in which Slate of the Union the 

 most water fell in 1850, we can inform them that 

 Arkansas has the pre-eminence. In answer to let- 

 tors by the proprietor of this journal from the Patent 

 Office, many returns were received, and among others 

 one from 'Vrkansas slatinnf that 85 inches of rain 

 foil in the year 1850. We are collecting data on 

 this interesting subject and in due time our readers 

 shall have the benefit of the same. 



This article is written on a frosty morning, in 

 Rochester, on the 12th of Airil, after wo have seen 

 green pe;iw in Snuth Carolina and corn and figs much 

 advanced in Georgia, this spring Tnc protracted 

 cold weather in northern S.ates is a great drawback 

 on the profits of agriculture ; and we are more than 

 ever impressed with the necessity of drainina; all wet 

 lields and places to warm the soil. Mr. Pusey has 

 ftome valuable remarks on draining, the substance of 

 which with some of our own, will appear in our next. 



TOBACCO CULTURE. 



The world is so given to the mastication of tobacco, 

 and to smoking and snuffing the vile weed, that its 

 production is just now one of the most profitable crops 

 grown in the United States. Young plants are 

 started very much like those of cabbage in small 

 beds ; often by burning brush to form ashes an 1 kill 

 all insects where the seed is sown. Tobacco needs 

 a rich soil to do well, and it is an exhausting crop. 

 The American Farmer, published in Baltimore, in 

 the heart of a tobacco-growing region, has given 

 ^everal valuable essays on this subject. We copy 

 the following from that journal, which is written iiy 

 Mr. W. J. Blackinstone, a gentleman who has had 

 much experience in the production of tobacco, an I is 

 commended by the Farmer as "one of the best plant- 

 ers in Maryland": 



"The first thing necessary to the successful culti- 

 vation of tobacco is early plants. I shall therefore 

 begin with the preparation of tobacco beds. I do 

 not know how the subject ciin be better treated of by 

 me, than by giving my own practical exi)erience. 

 I select a virgin soil with an exposure from the east, 

 south, to west. It is raked clean, it is then burned 

 over with brush or small wood, then hoed to the 

 depth of 3 or 4 inches, until the whole is reduced to 

 a tine tilth ; it is then laid oft" in ridges 4 feet wide 

 and raked with a fine rake, the space between the 

 ridges being the width of the ho?, the surface of the 

 ridges as nearly level as possible ; the ridges should 

 be north and south if the location will admit of it — I 

 then apply one four ox load of most recently raised 

 stable manure to 400 square yards, vpjn llie siujacr, 

 ;uid seed one table-spoonful of seed to 103 sq. yds., 

 ;iud then pat with the hoe. The manure is raised 

 thus : The ttables aie swcj-t clean of all seeJ.s, and 

 then \'\{iCT(n\witk wheat straw: the horses' long food 

 is wheat t-traw, their manger food, corn. It is ke])t 

 free from rain, an i sun, until used upon the beJ, and 

 then equally distributed over the surface with the 

 hand. Care sliojld be taken that no lumps .^huul i be 

 left on the bed, so as to prevent the seed from rL-ach- 

 ing the earth. No other covering should bo used, as 



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