T32 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the National jEgis. 



MINERALOGICAL No. II. 



To obtain a knowledge of the properties of 

 those bodies which are found on the earth, or 

 beneath its surlace, wliich arc destitute of an or- 

 ganic structure ; to distinguish and bestow names 

 upon them, and to o;ive to them a suitable de- 

 scription and an orderly arrangement, are the 

 objects of the science of Mineralogy. Hence 

 results its connexion with Agriculture. The 

 Farmer employs many substances, as manures. 

 . which belong to this comprehensive division of 

 the family of nature. The soil which he tills, 

 is comjiosed of various constituents and filled 

 with numerous fragments, which are properly 

 to be consider.id as minerals. To become ac- 

 quainted with the names which have been be- 

 stowed on these, without studying: the fjimlhies 

 they possess, is a trifling, lilted only for the 

 amusement of the indolent. To discover that 

 the most precious of gems, is called the Dia- 

 mond, and that one of the most valuable of ma- 

 nures, is denominated Marie, is making but a 

 small advance in improvement. The practical 

 mm will consider how the value of the former 

 m ly be enhanced and its beauty increased by 

 it= i^jsceptibility of a polish, and will reflect on 

 the economical ap|)lication of the latter, to the 

 renovation of lands exhausted by repealed croi)s, 

 or Its power of increasing the fertility of those 

 which are still proiluctive. 



Whether that mass of mineral ingredients 

 combined with various decomposed animal and 

 vegetable mailer, sjiread over the surface and 

 called soil, serves only as a support for plants 

 and a medium by which nourishment is trap.s- 

 mitted to them, or whether it prepares and fur- 

 nishes their food, in either view, its constitution 

 is equally deserving of attention. It has been 

 proved by experiment that particles held in so- 

 lution pass unchanged into the roots of plants. 

 Vegetables have been made to grow in solutions 

 of salts, and examination has shown that they 

 were tinged with the peculiar colors of the li- 

 quids in which they were immersed, and analy- 

 sis detected that the salts themselves had been 

 absorbed. This has been the case when the 

 mixtures employed were of the mo-^t poisonous 

 and deleterious nature. If plants then, have not 

 discernment enough to select that food which is 

 proper for their support and reject that which 

 is destructive to their existence, it is the more 

 necessary that the cultivator should remove 

 from them the means of committing a kind of 

 suicide. The noxious elements, which render 

 the soils in which they abound unfit for crops, 

 are few. They are generally such as may be 

 neutralized, or converted into agents oi fertility 

 by appropriate applications and dressings. 



it is not unusual to find the surface of standing 

 waters in meadows, where the earth is appar- 

 ently rich, mantled with a floating incrustation 

 of various hues. Such an appearance is an in- 

 dication of the presence of Iron combined with 

 Sulphur, in the projiortions which form the sul- 

 phate of that metal, well known by the more 

 familiar name of Cojipcras. The same substance 

 is detected by its color, or by its taste on higher 

 lands. Wherever it exists it is an unfailing 

 cause of sterility. By the application of Car- 

 bonate of Lime the action of this pernicious 

 acid is not only neutralized, but the sulphuric 

 acid, leaving its former comliination, unites with 

 the lime forming the sulphate of Lime or Gyp- 



sum. In this manner qualities which are inju- 

 rious to vegetation, are converted into others 

 which are favorable to it. Similar examples, 

 \vould all demonstrate the utility of that science 

 which furnishes information on the constituents 

 of soils, and provides us with the means of sup- 

 [ilying their defects, correcting their noxious 

 qualities, and adding to their productiveness. 



A detail of the several processes, which are 

 employed for the analysis of soils and discover- 

 ing the minerals of which they are composed 

 would exceed our assigned limits. Nor is such 

 an explanation now necessary. It has been al- 

 ready given by Professor Davj', a man in whose 

 fiiot-ste[is no successor may follow and find any 

 thing remaining for improvement. The object 

 of our remarks is merely to recommend this 

 department to practical men. It is sufficient to 

 say that by following the clear and perspicuous 

 directions which he has laid down, results are 

 arrived at with the greatest ease. No long pre- 

 vious acquaintance with Chemistry is necessary. 

 A i'cw simple principles comprehend all the se- 

 crets of this science in its conneciion w-itli agri- 

 culture. None need be deterred from pursuing 

 it b}' the apprehension of encountering insuper- 

 able difiiculties. The little study which it will 

 require, the small portion of lime which it may 

 demand, will be abundantly remunerated in the 

 increase of knowledge, in the amelioration of 

 the earth, and in the improvement of its har- 

 vests. A FARMER. 



rrom the National (Vermont) Standard. 

 WHEAT 



Is one of the most valuable productions of our 

 soil, and the only one on which we can gener- 

 ally safel}' calculate for exportation at a I'rofit. 

 In a very considerable portion of this state, so 

 large a proportion of our lands have already 

 been cleared, that very little of this grain will, 

 in future, be raised upon newly cleared lands. 

 Most of what shall be hereafter raised, must be 

 raised on lands which have been sometime un- 

 der cultivation. On such lands, this valuable 

 grain is many times liable to injury from the 

 blast. A certain remedy for this injury is very 

 desirable. In order to stimulate our farmers to 

 an inipiiry into the cause which tend to pro- 

 duce this injury, and to exert themselves to 

 search out a remedy, we present them with the 

 following extract iVoni Dr. Dwiglit's travels in 

 New-England, recently published, which con- 

 tains his theory on the subject of the blast in 

 wheat. Dr. Dwight, in his various tours 

 Ibrough the Nevv-England Stales visited almost 

 every town, and became intimately acquainted 

 with the different modes of husbandry pursued 

 !n each. From his known talents, information 

 and particular attention to those subjects which 

 be considered of public interest, of which agri- 

 culture was one of tlic most prominent, any ob- 

 servations from his pen, on this subject, will, 

 unquestionably, be perused with interest and 

 attention^ by all who duly estimate the impor- 

 tance of this crop, not only as it respects our 

 farmers individually, but the interest of the 

 State generally. If his theory is correct, our 

 limestone ledges, will, with little labor, furnish 

 us abundantly with one of the remedies which 

 he prescribes, and become a much greater 

 source of [irotit than they have heretofore been. 



" The reason why the lands in New-England, 

 which formerly yielded wheat surely and plen- 



tifully, suffer at the present time such injuries 

 from the blast, as in a great measure to discour- 

 age farmers from attempting to cultivate it, has 

 been anxiously and extensively sought for, but 

 not, it is believed, satisfactorily discovered. — 

 From my own observation, and inquiries, 1 have 

 been induced to attribute this evil to the agen- 

 cy of animal manure. This subject has been 

 alicady mentioned in my observations on the 

 county of Worcester; it shall now be resumed. 



The manner in which Wheat is generally 

 blasted in New-England, appears to me very 

 evidently to be this. During the months of 

 .Tune and July, when the kernels of wheat in the 

 different climates of New-England are in the 

 milk, the vegetation is far more rapid than in 

 most countries of Europe. Whenever the season 

 at thi- period is both moist and hot, the rapidi- 

 ty becomes extreme. The vegetable juice 

 ascending then in too great quantities, and with 

 a ne;v celerity, wears with difliculty through 

 the vessels of the stalk, regularly lessening to- 

 wards the neck, and at that time so tender as 

 to be easily ruptured, bursts them in various 

 places ; particularly at the neck : and flows out 

 upon the surface of the stem. When it first ex- 

 udes, it is very sweet to the taste ; and has 

 hence been commonly sirpposed to bo the resi- 

 due of a particuliir kind of dew, called by the 

 farmers honey dt-x. Had any farmer recollect- 

 ed, what he cannot fail to find when he finds a 

 honey dew, that it never appears on any thing 

 beside living vegetable, and that, if it were a 

 dew, it must be found equally on every other 

 substance exposed to the atmosphere ; he would 

 certainly have determined, that it was merely 

 the sweet juice of iho vegetable itself. Wheu 

 this juice has pervaded the slaik, it soon be- 

 comes sour in the sunbeams ; then so acid, as 

 to corrode the stalk; and finally a rust, (as it is 

 commonly called,) of a brown hue, and an ofl'eu- 

 sive smell. 



Animal manure, beyond any other accelerates 

 vegetation. Wheat nurtured by this manure, 

 grows with so much rapidity, and with so ten- 

 j der a stalk, that in the agricultural language of 

 ! this country, it lodges not unfrequcntly, (i. e. it 

 I falls under the pressure of w ind or rain) by its 

 own weight; and never recovers its original 

 position. This dangerous process is peculiarly 

 advanced by the use of this manure; and the 

 rapidity of vegetation otherwise too great, is by 

 ibis substance rendered still greater. Hence all 

 fields, when this manure is employed, are pe- 

 culiarly exposed to blast. For a few years af- 

 ter lands are dressed with it the evil is so evi- 

 dent to the e\e of common observation, as to 

 be not unfrequcntly believed to exist by some 

 farmers, and suspected by others. Were ev- 

 ery' season hot and wet, during this period, 

 it would, I doubt not, have long since been gen- 

 erally realized and acknowledged. Rut as in 

 some seasons these months are cool and dry; 

 and those fields which have been dressed with 

 this manure, then yield wheat successfully ; and 

 as in the most unfavorable seasons, lands dres- 

 sed in a diffcrcDt manure, are also subjected to 

 the blast ; the question has hitherto failed of any 

 answer, which has been generally satisfactor}'. 



The reasons, ivhich have induced me to adopt 

 the opinion here alleged, are principally the 

 following: 



1. All the lands in this country, which were 

 not too wet originally yielded wheat, easily. 



