426 (AsSEMBLlf i 



4th. It will, to a certain and limited extent, take the office of ; 



potash; an indispensible agent and component of vegetation, but. I 



when the latter is deficient in quantity, soda, if present, is taken \ 



up in larger quantities, being similar in action ; for instance in ! 



reducing silex to soluble silica, so as to be assimilated by plants. j 



5th. It is valuable as a wash for trees, when diluted to a degree ; 



of strength, not deleterious to vegetation, say one pound to two I 

 gallons of water. 



6th. By its properties of deliquescence it attracts m r sture to , 

 plants, and prepares soils to resist drought, by storing up the 

 atmospheric vapors, and yielding them slowly to plants, 



7th. Though not properly affecting its va'ue as a vegetable all- j 



ment, yet it should not be overlooked, that chloride of lime, ! 



formed by the slacking of caustic lime with salt water, and spread j 

 over the ground, acts as a disinfectant upon the soil and the at- 

 mosphere, absorbing the poisonous sulphuretted hydrogen, noxious 



alike to vegetable and animal life ; nitrogenous or ammoniacal i 



fumes, that produce the dieadful biliary diseases, are neutralized ' 

 and rendered inert by its influence. 



NOTES OF POINTS MADE IN DISCUSSION AT THE FARMERs' CLUB, j 

 FEBRUARY 7, 1855. 



(On Dr. Waterbury refering to Prof. Mapes' remarks on the 



value of charcoal, and suggesting that something was due to the i 

 ashes, and that chip manure might prove a good substitute, as it 



would contain both the ashes and the carbon.) i 



Mr. Field said, that carbon is produced in the soil by the decay I 



of vegetable fibre, as perfectly as that which is the product of | 



combustion. It is well known, that all decomposition, decay, or 1 



rust, is only combustion; that the union of oxygen with all sub- ] 



stances is indifferently flame, or decay, combustion or decompo- \ 



sition. Therefore carbon is equally the product of both processes, | 



burning and rotting ; and vegetable fibre added to the soil, in the , 

 shape of manure, finally becomes carbonaceous. 



On the subject of allailine washes for Irees, Mr. Field said, that 

 the woolly aphis was one of the most noxious pests of fruit trees. 



