268 



THE GENESEE FAEMER 



of potash, aud i^hospbate of soda or lime, would 

 have appeared among the minerals found. 



Geologically speaking, Cincinnati stands in a basin, 

 which has lime rock over much of its surface ; while 

 the extreme ft'uitfuhiess of the region is proverbial, 

 securing an unparalleled growth to perhaps the largest 

 inland city on the continent. An imperial gallon of 

 the water supplied by the Hampstead Water Works 

 for the use of the city of London, as given by Mr. 

 Mitchell, gave 40 grains of dry matter, having the 

 following constituents : 



Carbonate of lime, 3.83 graina. 



" magnesia, 3.-H " 



Phosphate of lime,.. 0.28 " 



Sulphate of lime, 4.42 " 



" potash, 3.28 " 



" soda, 4.81 " 



Chloride of sodium (common salt), 17.73 " 



Silica (soluble), 0.23 « 



Crenic acid, 0.17 " 



Apocrenic acid, 0.08 " 



Other organic matters, 1.72 " 



Oxides of iron and manganese, traces. 



40.04 



By properly using the water above analyzed for ir- 

 rigation, every imperial gallon would impart to the 

 soil 17^ grains of common salt. It holds in solution 

 eveiT element (organic and inorganic) which is neces- 

 sary to form tne farmer's crops ; but not in due pro- 

 portions. When searched for with due care, river 

 water is almost always found to contain both ammo- 

 nia and nitric acid The mud sediment of the Meri- 

 mack, deposited in the freshet of July 7, 1S39, gave 

 Mr. D.AJN-A, of Lowell, 8.80 per cent, of soluble or- 

 ganic matter, and 6.30 per cent, of insoluble organic 

 matter. This sediment also contained 3.20 per cent, 

 of gypsum, and 0.60 per cent, of phosphate of lime. 

 The Merimack river flows from a granite region; and 

 yet its washings from the earth gave 0.51 per cent, 

 of lime and 0.10 per cent of magnesia. 



The facts already cited are deemed sufficient to 

 satisfy the reader that both river and spring water 

 dissolve out of the earth its essential food of vege- 

 tables; and we proceed to consider the practicability 

 of supplying this food to cultivated plants. In some 

 way the water which contains it must be made to 

 flow over the ground to be improved. In many 

 places this may be done by turning small streams of 

 water out of their natural channels for a few miles 

 (more or less according to the circumstances of each 

 case), into ditches and canals made for the purpose. 

 Irrigation of this cheap kind is practiced e.xtensively 

 in Europe, where it is not so necessary as it is in the 

 hot, dry climate of the cotton-growing States. With 

 suitable reservoirs, and the use of steam power, this 

 system of manuring is capable of almost univeraal 

 adoption. It wiU require some capital at the begin- 

 ning to put up the needful apparatus ; but if the 

 money be wisely expended in the matter, it will pay 

 a high interest on the investment. Improvements of 

 this kind, however, should be gone into with gi-eat 

 caution, especially by persons not acquainted with 

 steam machinery and hydi-aulics. Farmers need not 

 fear to dig ditches, aud flood occasionally all the 

 gi'ounds low enough to be overflown by the water 

 which they contain. The peculiar productiveness of 

 land lying contiguous to rivulets and creeks has 

 probably been observed by every reader. Distribute 



this fertilizing water over hundreds of acres through 

 artificial channels made for it to flow in, and it will 

 soon fill the soil with fatness. The water may be 

 drawn out of the canals or ditches through small 

 plank raceways or flooms, with gates that may be 

 raised or closed at will. It is the leading object to 

 obtain perfect command of all the water in the ditch, 

 so as to use it tvhen it is needed, and ivhere it ia 

 needed. Irrigation is a rural art to be learnt, like all 

 others, by study and experience. The operation 

 ought to be so conducted that a hot sun will not 

 bake the ground immediately after it has been covered 

 with water. It should be let on in cloudy weather, 

 if practicable, unless it be cool as in early spring, fall 

 and winter. 



Irrigation in the evening, as in watering a garden, 

 so that the water will soak well mto the ground be- 

 fore the sun is far up the following day, is a common 

 practice. Where the main object is to fertihze a soil 

 by conveying into it such soluble matter as it may 

 need, irrigation in autumn, after crops are harvested, 

 or in winter, is preferred. Before any considerable 

 expense is incurred, an analysis of the water to be 

 used ought to be made, that the ooerator may know 

 what ingredients, and how much of each, he is about 

 to give the irrigated land. Nothing will benefit 

 American agriculture more than the formation of good 

 pastures aud meadows ; aud nothing is needed to 

 jjroduce these but a wise use of rain, river and spring 

 water. Cattle, horses, hogs and sheep find fresh 

 herbage by living springs aud rivulets, after naked 

 uplands and sorry old fields are sunburnt and desti- 

 tute of all nutritious vegetation. What we recom- 

 mend is the organization in valuable plants of those 

 salts of potash, lime, soda, magnesia and ammonia 

 which rain water takes from the atmosphere and the 

 earth, in passing through aud over the latter. The 

 great ocean itself is made salt because all the streams 

 running into it for indefinite ages carry down into its 

 vast basin various kinds of earthy salts ; while the 

 water which escapes from the ocean by solar evapo- 

 ration, and falls partly on continents and islands in 

 rain, snow and dew, leaves all these mineral salts be- 

 hind. The stream of water that flows out of the 

 ocean in forming rain-clouds is nearly perfectly free 

 from those salts of soda, lime and magnesia contained 

 in the spring and river water flowing forever into the 

 great deep. Instead of buying these elements of 

 fertility in guano at $60 a ton, when taken out of 

 the ocean, let us save them before they leave our 

 farms. 



BED WATER. 



This is a common, severe, and untractable disease 

 in cattle and sheep. 



Red water in cattle is also called haematuria, moor- 

 Ul, darn, bloody urine, foul water, and, in its last 

 stage, black water. In has been the subject of much 

 discussion, both in Britain and on the Continent, 

 both among practical observers and scientific men ; 

 and it continues, in a considerable degree, to be the 

 toi)ic of diversified and conflicting opinion as to at 

 once it causes, its nature, and its proper treatment. — 

 Seven select essays on it may be seen in the 9 th vol- 

 ume of the Highland Society's Transactions; and 



