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46 THE GENESEE FARMER. 



growing clover and peas on limed land, the soil may be supplied with the elements of 

 ammonia from the atmosphere, and perhaps in sufficient quantity to produce a good 

 crop of wheat every other year. 



How much artificial aid an acre of fair common earth really needs in the course of a 

 century, to maintain its fertility, if constantly under the plow, is the most important 

 problem in husbandry. We have always regarded with suspicion, and as of litile value, 

 every theory on this subject. What we contend for is the test of reliable experiments 

 in ordinary farming. Truths thus established will be invaluable to the great farming 

 interest; and, sooner or later, the cultivators of the soil will see and acknowledge the 

 necessity of experimental farms, to determine what amendments, and how much of each, 

 a farmer should use in the production of any crop. Lime is only one substance needful 

 in arated earth ; and what is true of it may apply with equal force to potash, magnesia, 

 soda, ammonia, carbon, and chlorine. The comparative cheapness of lime, however, 

 renders its use more general, and its merits are the best known of all mineral manures. 

 For fifty years its consumption for agricultural purj)oses has steadily increased in this 

 country, and is likely to continue so to do for a century to come. 



EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



Farming near the Catttal of the United States. — Tlie District of Columbia has a climate happily 

 exempt from the protracted winters and cold of the North, and the uncomfortable and parching heat 

 of the South. It is the golden mean between extremes, and comV>ines a large share of the advanta- 

 ges regarded by many aa peculiar to distant latitudes. Fig trees rarely fail of bringing two crops to 

 full maturity in a year ; while every fruit grown in Maine, flourishes, if properly planted and culti- 

 vated. Near the federal metropolis, the cotton plant of the South and the timothy grass of the 

 North find their respective boundaries. Tlie same is true of persimmons and cranberries, apples and 

 fio-s, currants and peanuts, plums and sweet potatoes. In no other climate do tlie peach, pear, quince 

 and vine, attain a more perfect development Nature encourages the planter, the farmer, the gar- 

 dener, and the orchardlst, with equal bounty. The record of the rain-guage, for a half century, 

 shows that injurious drouths are rare indeed ; w^iile the thermometer tells of lengthened seasons 

 for the abundant growth of every agricultural staple, and every horticultural luxury. 



If the soil were generally rich, the water would be less pure and salubrious, and the country com- 

 paratively unhealthy. Happily the land is not over-charged with decaying vegetation. The air, 

 away from stagnant streams, (which are not common,) is remarkably pure, and the water all that 

 can be desired of this important element of universal consumption. Although not fertile, when 

 compared with the soil of the West, the land near Washington is kind, easily cultivated, and very 

 susceptible of permanent improvement. It lacks calcareous matter, and limeing is the sine qua non 

 with skilful farmers, who wish to bring all their fields into the best possible condition for the appli- 

 cation of manure. Sand, clay, and oxides of iron, without suiiicient lime, compel the husbandman 

 to waste manure if ho would render such earth permanently productive, or even temporarily so. 

 Flint, alumina, and iron, have as strong claim to be called manure, and treated as such, as lime. 

 The former are staple ingredients in all soils, and so is the latter ; but calcareous matter is less 

 abundantly diffused in the geological strata which constitute the outer crust of the planet, than 

 compounds of silica, alumina, and iron. There are soils, however, in which soluble silica or flint is 

 deficient; and others that lack either iron or alumina, or both. 



To be successful and profitable, farming near the Capital of tlie United States should be conducted 

 on scientific principles ; for the cheapest manure costs now $50 per ton, which is Peruvian guano. 

 Raw material so expensive, must bo worked up with skill and knowledge, or the producer of crops 

 will lose money in the operation. At present, prices are so high that one may buy manure at 

 almost any rate, and realize a profit. Hay is $30 per ton ; milk, 8 cts. a quart ; fresh butter, from 

 80 to 40 cts. a pound ; and fresh pork, $8 per 100 lbs. ITicic prices have operated to bring into 

 the District, and the adjacent, counties in Maryland and Virginia, more immigrants from the North 

 in the last twelve months, than had come in the previous five years. Congress is expending over . 



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