138 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



altogether unnecessary to attempt to refute the notion, that 

 by such a process nothing more is applied to the soil than 

 was before derived from it. If one could not discover by the 

 light which chemistry has shed upon the suLject of agricul- 

 ture sufficient reasons for the contrary conclusion, observation, 

 one would think, would be sufficient to convince any intelli- 

 gent man of the fact. 



And here I would suggest, that I do not consider the ex- 

 periment, as we have conducted it, quite complete. To 

 render it more so, in the first place, in ploughing in the 

 weeds, I would not turn a furrow after the dew had evapo- 

 rated. I have no doubt but that a large portion of that fer- 

 tilizing quality in the soil, which (during the summer months) 

 is continually exhaled from the earth, is by the dew brought 

 again within our reach, and it would be wise to avail our- 

 selves of the opportunity of again burying it in the soil. 

 And in the second place, I would by all means use a heavy 

 roller after each ploughing. It would fill all the cavities left 

 by the plough, and by pressing the soil more closely to the 

 weeds, at once hasten their decomposition and very much 

 retard the evaporation from the soil. 



But the land is not only Aery much enriched by this pro- 

 cess. There is, I conceive, no method by which it can be so 

 effectually cleaned. Three times during the season a fresh 

 surface is presented to the atmosphere ; and each time, as 

 the decaying vegetable matter increases in the soil, so is the 

 exciting cause augmented to make a more vigorous effort. 

 "We have in this manner gone over nearly all our land which 

 is invested with charlick, and the diminution of the weeds is 

 quite sufficient to warrant the expectation, that in a few 

 years it may be comparatively eradicated. 



Very respectfully, John Keely. 



Haverhill, Sept. 22, 1832. 



OATS. The following remarks are extracted from a com- 

 munication for the New England Farmer, written by Henry 

 Stevens, of Barnet, Vermont. 



' The subject which I propose is that of the more exten- 

 sive cultivation of oats. Various are the kinds of oats. The 

 barley or Scotch oats, so called, I have cultivated, but not 

 with very great success ; their weight is generally about 

 forty-two pounds per bushel. I have seldom been able to 



