496 



APPENDIX. 



pulverized, will produce. But one word to those who raise turnips, don't 

 select a cold, stiff, clayey, tenacious soil it won't do. I tried it and failed. 

 The experiment detailed above was made upon a loamy soil, somewhat in- 

 clined to a gravelly texture. Your friend and subscriber, 



SAMUEL W. SMITH. 



C. PAGE 59. 



From Parkes's Chemical Catechism. 



Muriate of soda is the salt which has been longest known. It is our com- 

 mon culinary salt, and is supposed to furnish the necessary supply of soda to 

 preserve the bile in an alkaline and antiseptic condition. 



This salt is of great use to the animal crealion; horses are very fond of it; 

 and cows give more milk when supplied with it. Dr. MITCHIL relates, that in 

 the back settlements of America, wherever this salt abounds, thither the wild 

 beasts of the forests assemble to regale themselves; and that some of these 

 places are so much frequented, that the ground is trodden to mud by them. The 

 natives call these spots licks, or licking-places. In some parts of Africa, large 

 herds of cattle travel from great distances at stated seasons to enjoy the marine 

 plants which grow on the coast, and are saturated with sea-salt. The fatten- 

 ing property of our own salt-marshes is well known to graziers and farmers. 



The greatest improvements in agriculture may be expected from the use of 

 sea-salt. Mr. LE Goux, in his history of the cocoa-nut tree, tells us that the in- 

 habitants of those parts of Hindostan and China which border on the sea-coast 

 sprinkle their rice-fields with sea-water, and use no other manure; and that 

 in the interior of these countries they sprinkle the lands with salt before they 

 are tilled; and that this practice has been followed for ages with the greatest 

 advantage. 



D. PAGE 71. 



From the Penny Cyclopaedia. 



DRAINING. As a certain quantity of moisture is essential to vegetation, so 

 an excess of it is highly detrimental. In the removal of this excess consists 

 the art of draining. 



Water may render land unproductive by covering it entirely or partially, 

 forming lakes or bogs; or there may be an excess of moisture diffused through 

 the soil and stagnating in it, by which the fibres of the roots of all plants which 

 are not aquatic are injured, if not destroyed. 



From these different causes of infertility arise three different branches of the 

 art of draining, which require to be separately noticed. 



1. To drain land which is flooded or rendered marshy by water coming over 

 it from a higher level, and having no adequate outlet below. 



2. To drain land where springs rise to the surface, and where there are no 

 natural channels for the water to run off. 



3. To drain land which is wet from its impervious nature, and where the 

 evaporation is not sufficient to carry off all the water supplied by snow and 

 rain. 



The first branch includes all those extensive operations where large tracts 

 of land are reclaimed by means of embankments, canals, sluices, and mills to 

 raise the water; or where deep cuts or tunnels are made through hills which 

 formed a natural dam or barrier to the water. Such works are generally un- 

 dertaken by associations under the sanction of the government, or by the go- 

 vernment itself; few individuals being possessed of sufficient capital, or having 

 the power to oblige all whose interests are affected by the draining of the land 

 lo give their consent and afford assistance. In the British dominions there is 

 no difficulty in obtaining the sanction of the legislature to any undertaking 

 which appears likely to be of public benefit. In every session of parliament, 

 acts are passed giving certain powers and privileges to companies or indivi- 

 duals, in order to enable them to put into execution extensive plans of drain- 



