3.36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



(From llie Genesee Farmer.) 

 IMPROVIKG SANDY SOILS. 



Ill soils tlicre may he "too much of a good 

 thin;; ;" or ralher nothintf is good in excess. Ac- 

 cordiiisrlo Sir H. Davy, no soil is fertile that con- 

 tains nineteen-twentielhs of either lime* sand or 

 clai) ; yet turnips may grow ns well in a soil that 

 consists of eleven-twelfths of sand, though eight- 

 ninths is a better proportion ; and -excellent crops 

 of wheat may he grown on soils containing more 

 than three-fifths of sand. Ih these cases, howev- 

 er, the success must greatly depend on the other 

 constituents. 



• 'J he same eminent chemist says, " Water and 

 the decomposing animal and vegetahle sidistances 

 in the soil, constitute the true nourishment of 

 l)lants ;" and though we doubt its correctness as 

 a general proposition, we cannot doubt the impor- 

 tance of either to vegetaiion. Of water, sand ad- 

 mils more into its bosom in rainy weather than 

 the heavier soils ; and when its surface becomes 

 dried by the sun and wind, the moisture rises up 

 more freely from below. This appears, liowev- 

 er, to be the only advantage over heavier soils 

 that a sand possesses, if we disjegard the facility 

 of its culture. It is greatly defective in absorb- 

 ent power, and while an intermixture of the com- 

 mon earths imbibes much moisture from the at- 

 mos|>here even in dry weather, sand is nearly be- 

 reft of such invijible supplies. 



On another point, soils containing nmch clay 

 and lime, have a decided advantage, lliis is their 

 chemical action on putrescent manures, preserv- 

 ing them from being wasted by decomposition, 

 and retaining them in a state of combination for 

 the supplies of vegetation. The author of the 

 Essay on Calcareous Manures indeed, admits but 

 a very slight chemical energy in clay ; and as he 

 has examined the subject most altentively, his ar- 

 guments are entitled to great weight. 



But sandy soils are liable to another defect, 

 which clay has no power to counteract or supply. 

 We allude to the increase of acid substances in 

 all soils whore litiie is only a minute part. Jt will 

 not be necessary to discuss the subject in this 

 place, however; and though many plants will on- 

 ly flourish in acid soi!s, yet all thoie which are 

 the chief objects of cullun; with the farijM.r, are 

 always benefited by the presence of lime in con- 

 siderable quantities. 



The first thing, therefore, that we should do to 

 improve a " poor sandy soil," would be to ap|>lv 

 either lime or marl. Lime, ns (lee from magne- 

 sia as it commiuily is in this district, cnay he safe- 

 ly applied at the rate of ,one hundred bushels to 

 the acre ; but where .(nagnesia enters in the pro- 

 portion of fifteen per cent., one-half or one-third 

 that quantity will be better, because saier. The 

 lime should be slacked and then scattered over 

 the surface; and if the land is in grass, it is bet- 

 ter to leave it imdisturbt^d for oim; or two sea- 

 sons. If the ground is bare however, hot lime 



MAY 17, 18ir- 



* We use this term in its popular sense, with- 

 out stopping to consider whether the substance 

 whi-h it expresses, may, or may not be, combined 

 with acids. 



Lime and marl bear the same relation to each 

 other, that clean wheat bears to wheat in the 

 chaff. 



Shell marl appears to contain a sjiiall portion 

 of animal matter, which we should not expect to 

 (iiid in other marls. 



is best applied in the form of compost : that is 

 mixed with rich earth aiul stable manure, because 

 tlie magnesia ind)ibes carbonic acid from the fer- 

 menting mass and becomes mitil. After this dres- 

 sing, crops of clover well plastered, will add large- 

 ly to the absorbent power of the soil, by affording 

 the necessary supplies of vegetable matter. 



^\'e should rccouHiiend marl in preference to 

 lime, when it can be had within convenient dis 

 tance.s, on account of its cheapness. Should it be 

 an argillaceous n)ixture, as marls frequently are, 

 the clay which it contains would benefit a light 

 s.ind, although a load would be of less value than 

 a loail which contains more calcareous matter. 



Cleaveland says, " the prrqiortion of carbonate 

 of lime in marls may vary from twentyfive to 80 

 per cent.;" and probably the proportion is still 

 greater in those beds where it is moulded into 

 lumps, dried and burnt into lime for whitewash- 

 ing. The same author says. " the farmer in gen- 

 eral may determine the e.xisience of marl, by its 

 falling into powder wheji dried after exposure to 

 moist air. To ascertain the proportion of its in- 

 gredients, the calcareous part niny be extracted 

 fiom a given weight of the marl by solution in 

 acids, and the residue being dried and weighed, 

 will give the quantity of clay snfficieiitly accu- 

 rate." 



It may be well to add, that muriatic acid mixed 

 with three or four times its weight of «o/Z water is 

 preferred. Pour it over the marl after it has been 

 well drie<l and pulverized ; and when the mix- 

 ture ceases to effervesce on being stirred, the li- 

 quid (which ought to have some sournessiremaln- 

 ing,) is to he filtered through spongy blotting pa- 

 per; and the solid part which remains, (being the 

 clay and sand) is to he dried and weighed. 



When the [uoportion of lime in the marl is as- 

 certained, it will be easy to calculate how much 

 of the latter will be wanted to yield one hundred 

 or one hundred and fifty bushels of the former, 

 which we think is a safe quantity per acre to be- 

 gin with. Thus if the pnparation is 33 1-2 

 per cent., 450 bushels of marl will l)e equivalent 

 to ].50 bushels of lime. 



'I he spreading of marl on the land, and more 

 especially if it contains much clay, will he facib- 

 .tated by exposing it to the frosts of winter ; and 

 consequently small heaps will be preferable. The 

 importance of intimately mixing- this manure 

 thoroughly with the soil ought in no case be for- 

 gotten. We suspect that one reason why "some 

 marls do not produce their great effect until sev- 

 eral years after they liave been applied to the 

 soil,-' — is owing to their continuing in lumps, and 

 not being sufficiently pulverized and mixed with 

 the soil. 



The only objection to making a compost of 

 marl, rich earth and stable manure, is the addi- 

 tional labor; for there can be no doubt of the 

 lime's retaining and [reserving the more volatile 

 pans of the manure, which would otherwise pass 

 off and be lost. 



How far marl will bear carting profitably must 

 dcjiend in no slight degree on local and |)articular 

 circumstances; for instance, the slate of toe road, 

 the proportion of lime, and the value of the pro- 

 ducts. If our correspondent would [irociire a 

 a copy of the Essay on Calcareous Manures, he 

 would find accounts of many experiments which 

 wo are satisfied would greally stregtiien his faith 

 in the efficacy of marl. We have no hesitation 

 in saying that lime is the basis of all good hus- 



bandry ; and when it iloes not exist naturally in 

 the soil, it is properly our business, when we con- 

 sult our own interest, to supply it. 



Lime or marl may he most usefully applied to 

 all soils that produce red sorrel. 



■WHEAT. 



The right kind of i;9!n7 is getting abroad among 

 the farmers at the East of ns, if not in other sec- 

 tions of the State, whirh will be productive of im- 

 mense advantage to all classes of her citizens, 

 should the coming season prove as propitious as 

 we have reason for anticipating. We allude to 

 the preparations which are making by our far- 

 mers for raising large quantities of wheat. A cor- 

 respondent of the Maine Farmer (which, by the 

 way, is an excellent journal of the kind) says that 

 the attention of our yeomanry " is being turned 

 from old pursuits to those of much u.ore impor- 

 tance, and they appear to he determined to prove 

 the oft-asked question, ' can we raise our own 

 hrend-slvffV in the affirmative." A large nujiiber 

 of farmers, he says, in North Yarmouth and there- 

 about, are turning their attention to this important 

 branch of agriculture, and new improvements and 

 new experiments are about being tried, and the 

 most productive and heaviest seed is inquired for, 

 and much pains taken lo obtain it. One farmer 

 in that town, during the past winter, hauled on 

 to his farm about twenty cords of muscle mud 

 from a distance of four miles, believing it to be 

 very favorable to the growth of wheat when ap- 

 plied to the soil ; — and it is estimated that 2000 

 loads of sea-muscles, or muscle mud, were scat- 

 tered throughout North Yarmouth during the 

 same time. 



In a Report to the Legislature last winter, by 

 E. Holmes, Esq., Editor of ihe H.'aine Farmer, it 

 is assumed "that there are 500,000 inhalii- 

 tants in the State, and that those require 1 pound 

 of bread per day, or 365 a year, which will make 

 912,500 barrels of flour a year. In 182(' there " 

 was oidy wheal enough laised, to niake 40,532 

 barrelsof flour— a deficit of 871,968 .'—In the next 

 ten years, the increase was only about .5000 hush- 

 els a year — while the increase of consiitners was 

 10,000 a year, giving only one half a bushel each 

 per year. From 1830, lo the close of 1837, the 

 Report assumes that the increase will be about 

 5000 bushels, which, allowing 5 bushels to a bar- 

 rel of flour, the whole amount raised in Maine is 

 57,466 barrels of flour — while we have to jiur- 

 chase at the N. York Mills 855,034 bbls. of flour ! 

 or pay out $5,130,2(.4 for bread stuffs, or go with- 

 out!" 



This fact alone, should arouse the yeomrnry of 

 Maine to rigorous exertions to supply their own 

 wants, in preference to being dependant on other 

 sections of the country for those necessaries of 

 life, of which their own soil is capable o( pi-oduc- 

 ing in abundance. — Portland Adv. 



SEED CORN. 



Last year nuich complaint was heard that corn 

 did not come well ; and it was owing to the fact 

 that the corn crop the previous year was injuretl 

 by early frosts, and the vitality of a good firopor- 

 tion of it destroyed. Tliis was more universally 

 the case with the crop last year. Hence it be- 

 comes important to use the utmost care in .select- 

 ing seed corn — to select that which has perfect 

 vit.ility. The farmer had better pay a great price 

 for good seed corn, than to run Ihe risk of plant- 



