194 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



Jan. 4, I82S. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SUGGESTIONS ON FISH PONDS, ANIMAL j 



MANURES, &c. ) 



Mr Fessemden — There is one branch of farm- 1 

 ing or rural economy, which hiis been considera- j 

 bly practised in England, which I think could be ] 

 profitably attended to in Massachusetts. I refer i 

 to fish ponds. You some time since published an J 

 abstract of some particulars detailed iu the Trans- : 

 actions of the Royal Society ;* and also incjltioned \ 

 that the Cusk, a sea-water fisli had been natural- ; 

 ized in the waters of Winipiseogee Lake. I think i 

 the project of rearinsj salt water fish, in fresh wa- 

 ter ponds, hes been proved to be practicable in ; 

 Europe, and that it deserves more attention in | 

 this country. There are very many line ponds I 

 that would answer this purpose in Essex and | 

 Middlesex counties, and particularly Long_Pond in 

 Worcester. I even think the subject woitliy the ^ 

 notice of our Legislature ; tliey annually pay some | 

 attention to the regulation of " Shad and Ale- j 

 wives." 



This subject appears to me worthy tlie consid- ' 

 oration of farmers even as a means of producing 

 animal manures. There is a fine article oa page 

 310, vol iii. of the New England Farmer, on this 

 subject, by Mr Briggs, of Bristol, R. I. to which I 

 would refer your readers. Mr Briggs details the 

 manner of using them, and the great advantages 

 that accrue to grass lands by the application of 

 this manuie. And the subject is one of impor- 

 tance certainly, as furnishing an article of food, 

 unfailing and wholesome — as another means of 

 supplying our interior markets — of feedmg cattle, 

 hogs, &c. — and improving and increasing the re- I 

 sources of the state. I have recently looked over 1 

 the five volumes of t!ie New England Farmer, 

 some of the County Agricultural Surveys of Eng- 

 land, Hunter's Georgical Essays, and several oth- 

 er Agricultural works, all of which seem to con- 

 lirm the importance of the subject. Those of your 

 readers who wish to examine the subject further, 

 are referred to the New England Farmer, vol. ii. 

 page 205— vol. iii. pages 221, 310, 339, 3G3, 403 ; 

 — vol. iv. page 371 — vol. v. page 17(3. I think it 

 would be well for our Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Societies to imitate that of Rhode Island, and of- 

 fer premiums for Fresh Water Ponds well stock- 

 ed with particular kinds of Fish for the purposes 

 of the table, the arts, manufactures, &c. 



Yours, &.C. F. H. P. 



From tlie Delaware Weekly Advertiser. 



CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE. 



a paper read before the Delaware Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ence. December 1, 1827. 



The impoverished condition of a large portion 

 ■if land in this State, and the consequent decline 

 of wealth and population in some part^ of it, calls 

 for the attention of the citizens at largo, as the 

 interests of every individual are in a degree con- 

 nected with the welfare of the whole community. 

 That this state of things is in a measure owing to 

 gnorance of the scientific principles upon wliich 

 agriculture depends, may safely be inferred. 



It is therefore quite consistent with the spirit of 

 '.his institution, which proposes inquiry into Sci- 

 ence for mutual edification, and the public good, 

 that the labors of its members should be directed 

 to the devising of a remedy for this evil, which 

 seems to call for a series of plans for improve- 



' See page 34 of the current volume of the N. E. Farmer. 



mcDt, founded upon inquiries into the causes 

 '.vibich have led to the deterioration of the soil — a 

 more perfect developement of the process of veg- 

 etation, and details of the various improvements 

 adopted by our neighbors in their mode of culti- 

 vation. In the hope that some member more 

 competent to the task, and enjoying more leisure 

 than I now do, will turn their attention to the 

 subject, I have sketclied out some rough out- 

 lines and crude remarks connected with it. 



The Sciences most important to man are those 

 connected with his nourishment. — Agriculture, 

 therefore, is to him a subject of primary interest. 

 The successful application of it depends on a 

 knowledge, the fundamental principles of which 

 are derived from Chemistry, and form a branch of 

 that Science and is called Agricultural Chemis- 

 try ; this has for its object all the changes con- 

 nected with the growth and nourishment of Plants 

 — the constitution of soils — and the manner in 

 which lands are rendered fertile by different 

 modes of cultivation, by the application of manure, 

 or a change in the constituents or texture of the 

 soil. Enquiries of such a nature cannot but be in- 

 teresting ; to the farmer they supply the princi- 

 ples on which the theory of his art depends, and 

 are useful in directing his labors to a sure plan of 

 improvement. To the man of Science they afford 

 an ample and interesting field for labor, and to 

 all. they present innumerable and pleasing proofs 

 of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator. 



Plants hold a middle place between inorganic 

 matter and animated beings. They receive their 

 nourishment from external elements, and assimi- 

 late it by means of peculiar organs. It is there- 

 fore by an examination ot their component parts 

 and the modifications they undergo, that the sci- 

 entific principles of agricultural chemistry are ob- 

 tained. 



If plants be submitted to chemical analysis, it is 

 found, notwithstanding their infinite diversity, 

 tliat they are chiefly formed of three elements, 

 Oxygen, Hydrogen and Carbon. These, with all 

 other substances found in plants, are derived from 

 the sap which is extracted from fluids in the soil, 

 and altered by, or combined with, principles de- 

 rived from tbe atmosphere. It follows, therefore, 

 that the superstratum of the earth, the atmosphere 

 and water deposited from it, afford all the princi- 

 ples concerned in vegetation. 



That a particular mixture of the various earths 

 in the soil is connected with fertility, cannot be 

 doubted : yet as the earths which generally a- 

 I bound in soils, viz: Clay, Sand, Lime, and Mag- 

 nesia, are only found in plants in exceeding small 

 portions, we must believe their chief use is to sup- 

 port the plant, and to enable it to fix its roots, that 

 through its tubes it may derive nourishment from 

 substances mixed with the earths. 



That water is essential to vegetation, is fully es- 

 tablished, as its elements exist in all the products 

 of vegetation, and it is known that no manure can 

 be taken up by the roots of plants unless v/ater is 

 present. The elements of atmospheric air also 

 enter into the composition of plants, it being in 

 , part decomposed by them. 



Some persons have maintained that water alone 

 was sufficient for the nourishment of plants, but 

 their experiments & deductions have been shown 

 I to be erroneous, and it is more generally believed 

 jthat neither water, nor air, nor earth, supplies the 

 1 whole food of plants, but that all operate in the 

 (process of vegetation. 



Air ond water being almost beyond the control 

 of man, it is on the earth chiefly that his influence 

 may be exerted. The modification of the soil, by 



an alteration of its constituents or texture by 



the application of manure — and by a suitable suc- 

 cession of crops, are placed within his reach ; 



and to these his attention must be given. 



1st. Of the Constituent parts of Soils. The sub- 

 stances which constitute soils are, viz: clay, sand, 

 lime, and magnesia : oxides of iron and magnesia, 

 animal and vegetable matters — saline acids and 

 alkaline combination; no definite mixture of which 

 can be pointed eut as a standard of fertility, which 

 must vary with the climate, and be influenced by 

 the quantity of rain, and the difl^erent plants in- 

 tended to be raised, — their productiveness is also 



influenced by the sub-soil on which they rest 



When soils rest immediately upon a bed of rock, 

 they become dry by evaporation, sooner than 

 where the sub-soil is of clay. A clayey sub-soil 

 will sometimes be of an advantage to a sandy soil, 

 by retaining moisture, and a sandy or gravelly sub- 

 soil often correct too great a degree of absorbent 

 power in the true soil. 



The most simple mode of ascertaining what par- 

 ticular item is the cause of unproductiveness in a 

 sterile soil, is to compare it with fertile soil in a 

 similar situation. The difference of the composi- 

 tions will in most cases, indicate the most proper 

 method of improvement. 



If, for instance, it is found to contain the salts 

 of iron, or any sour matter, it may be improved by 

 the application of lime. If there be an excess of 

 limestone in the soil, it may be imnroved by the 

 application of sand or clay. Soils too abundant 

 in sand, may be improved by the application of 

 clay — a deficiency of vegetable or animal matter 

 must be supplied by manure — an excess of vege- 

 table matter requii-es the applic^t;ioii .of .earthy 

 materials ; and marsh lands must ba'^irairied, as 

 stagnant water is injurious to all the nutritive 

 classes of plants. The labor of improving the 

 texture and constitution of the soil is repaid by 

 great advantages. The land is rendered perman- 

 ently productive, and requires less manure. 



2d. Of Manures. — The chief operation of ma- 

 nures is to supply food for the nourishment of 

 plants, thus accelerating vegetation, and increas- 

 ing the products of crops. Some, however, have a 

 two-fold operation, and others are supposed to 

 act as stimulants. 



Gypsum, Plaister, or Sulphate of Lime. Great 



difference of opinion has prevailed with regard ta 

 t;iis article. The comparative small quantity used 

 indicates a mode of operation different from oth- 

 ther manures — recently, however, the matter has 

 been explained — It appears that Gypsum is a con- 

 stituent part of most artificial griisses, of clover, 

 and of the soil producing these crop.,- ; '.vhen there- 

 fore, lands cease to produce gooJ crops of artifi- 

 cial grass, indicating an e.\hausiion of gypsum, 

 they may be restored by the usc of tiiis manure. 



I/ime, in its natural state, ai ti merely by form- 

 ing an useful earthy ingredient in the soil ; and it 

 seems an essential ingredient in most fertile soils. 

 When burnt, and recently slacked, it acts by de- 

 composing inert vegetable mattor, thus rendering 

 It proper food for plants absorbing at the same 

 time carbonic acid, which restores it to its former 

 mild state; — hence its extensive use in the prep- 

 aration of wheat crops. 



It may be advantageously used in bj-inging into 

 a state of cultivation all soils abounding in hard 



