NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



FEBRl^ART 20 IH»9. 



(From the Genesee Farmer.) 



DICTIONARY OF 'I'ERMS USED IN AGRI- 

 CULTURE, 



AND IN TlIK SCIKNCES MOST INTIMATELY CON- 

 NECTED WITH ITS ADVANCEMENT. 



I 

 (Coniiiiueil.) ' 



.Ammonia. Vola ilc alkali. It is a transparant, 

 colorless gas, of about half tlic weiglit of com- 

 mon water, with an exceedingly pungent smell, ex- 

 tinguishes flame, and is fatal to life. Its old name 

 was " spirits of h^'arts-liorn." To tlie agricultu- 

 rist, ammonia is jiarticularly interesting from the 

 fact that those substances that contain the most of ^ 

 it are the must efficient manures, and act witli the , 

 most certainty and promptness. Annnonia is pro- : 

 duced from soft or fluid animal substances wliile in 

 the process of decomposition, and this change is 

 rapid in proportion to the quantity of earthy salts 

 they contain. "It is particularly to the develop- 

 ments of animonial gas," says Chaptal, " which, 

 combined with gelatine, passes into plants, that we 

 A| attribute the wonderful effect produced upon 

 vege^^ou by certain animal substances." These 

 substETOes are the animal manures, the urine, pou- 

 (Iritle, the bones, horns, hair, &c. The urine of 

 the animal contains in muriates and caibonate cf 

 ammonia about 'JO percent., besides 11 per cent, of 

 phosphate of lime and sulphate of potash, or 30 per 

 cent, of the most active manure yet discovered ; 

 and the saving and proper distribution of it forms 

 an important item in Flemish husbandry. The 

 lijprvtR left after the cocoons are reeled in the ex- 

 tensive silk manufactories of France and Italy, are 

 considered invaluable as a manure. Their excel- 

 lence is owing to the ammonia they contain, which 

 in them Chaptnl fouoji to exceed in quantity that 

 of any otiier anima^^ubstance. 



Analysis. To determine the value of any soil, 

 or to be able to correct any fault in the original 

 constitution, or any deficiency arising from improper 

 cultivation, it is neces.sjary that the nature and pro- 

 portion of the substances composing it should be 

 understood. In agriculture this examination is 

 termed analysis ; and in its simplest, yet still effec- 

 tual method, may be practised by every farmer. 

 The implements required are a pair of scales, ac- 

 curate to the tenth part of a grain ; a crucible ; 

 some muriatic acid, and a few small vessels of china 

 or glass. 



The earth to be tested by the farmer should be 

 taken from a few inches below the surface, and be 

 an average specimen of the field, or the soil to be 

 examined. The quantity to be examined say 2 or 

 400 grains, is to be sliglitly pulverized or well 

 mixed together. Put of this, '300 grains in a cru- 

 cible, and heat it to 300 of Fahrenheit, or bake it 

 in an oven heated for broad for 15 minutes; cool 

 and weigh. This will show the absorbent power 

 of the soil, and as this is depending mainly on the 

 animal and vegetable matter, if the loss is consid- 

 erable it is a decisive proof in this respect of fer- 

 tility. The absorbent powiT varies from 1 to 13 

 per cent. 



After weighing, heat it again in the crucible to 

 a red heat, and until the mass shows no bright or 

 sparkling particles, stirring it with a gla.^s or iron 

 rod ; cool and weigh, and the loss will be the ani- 

 mal and vegetable matter in the soil. 



Take 200 grains of the dried earth, mix it tho- 

 roughly with a gill of water by stirring it for sev- 

 eral minutes. Let it stand for 3 minutes, and turn 



off the muddy water into anotlier glass. Dry the 

 sediment in the first glass at a high heat, weigh, 

 and it gives the silica contained in the soil. Let 

 the water turned off settle clear, turn it off, dry at 

 a high heat and weigh ; this gives the alumine or 

 clay. 



Put into a suitable glass or flask, one fourth of 

 a gill of muriatic acid and water in equal propor- 

 tions, and balance the scales carefully. Put into 

 this mixture, 100 grains of the earth, let it stand 

 till all effer\'escence has ceased, which will some- 

 times be an hour or more ; carefully note the weight 

 required to again balance the scales, and that may 

 be set down as the weight of carbonic gas e.Tpelled, 

 say fi grains. Then as 4.5 is to 5.5 so is this weight 

 to that of the base, or the lime. In this case the 

 lime would be 7 1-3 per cent. 



' To ascertain if earth contains iron, stir the muri- 

 atic acid and water with a strip of oak bark, and if 

 iron is present in the liquid the bark will turn dark. 

 To ascertain the quantity, put in prussiate of pot- 

 ash till it no longer forms a blue precipitate, let it 

 settle, heat the deposit to redness, carefully weigh 

 the remainder, which is oxide of iron. 



To determine the presence of gypsum, take 400 

 grains of earth, mix one-third the quantity of pow-- 

 dered charcoal, keep it at a red heat in a crucible 

 for half an hour. Then boil the earth in a pint of 

 water for .30 minutes, filter the liquor and expose it 

 for some days in an open vessel. A white deposit 

 will be sulphate of lime, and the weight will deter- 

 mine the proportion. 



These processes are all simple, and can be per- 

 formed by any one. By them we obtain — first, the 

 absorbent power ; 2d, the amount of anim.-il and 

 vegetable matter ; 3d, the silica or sand ; 4th, the 

 alumine or clay ; 5th, the carbonate of lime ; Cth, 

 the oxides of iron ; and 7th, the gyp.sum or plaster 

 of Paris. The salts exercise a great inlTuence on 

 vegetation ; but as they principally depend on the 

 animal and vegetable matter in the soil, and as the 

 determining their qualities and kinds are too difficult 

 for the analysis of the farmer, the processes are 

 omitted. The above ingredients are all that exert 

 a nrarked influence on the I'eitilify of soils, and on 

 theirproper proportion its goodness depends. If 

 soils'contain too much silicia or gravel, they are 

 porouii ; and if too much clay, retentive. The; last 

 is usually the worst fault, and may be known by 

 the water standing upon it after rains, remaining 

 unsettled for a long time, owing to the clay held 

 in solution. Wheat winter kills on such soils ; or 

 calcareous gravelly ones rarely. Good soils usually 

 contain from (i5 to 75 of silica ; from JO to If! of 

 alumine ; from 4 to 10 of lime, and varyin.- propor- 

 tions of vegetable matters, animal and mineral 

 salts, &c. The analysis of soils forms one of the 

 most 3ecided steps in the improvement of agricul- 

 ture, as it clearly points out what is wanting to 

 remedy any defect and give case of working, and 

 abundance in product. Every farmer should un- 

 derstand the nature and composition of his soils, 

 and may do so, with little time, and at a more trifle 

 of expense. 



JlnimulcnliT. The microscope has opened to the 

 observation of man a race of beings so small as 

 to be utterly invisible to the naked eye, yet endow- 

 ed with all the functions of vitality and perfectly 

 organized animals. Some of these are called In- 

 fusoria;, from being always found in water where 

 plants are decaying, and some Diatonicle, but all 

 included under the term animalculn?. They have 

 long been regarded more as objects of mere curi- 



osity than anything else ; but recent discoveries 

 seem to indicate that these minute insects have had 

 an important influence in modifying the crusts of 

 the earth, and giving it the character it now pos- 

 sesses. Mountains of flinty rock in Silecia Jiave 

 been found by Ebrenberl to be wholly composed of 

 the shells of animalcuhe ; and in this country mas- 

 ses of remains of the infusori<e have been found 

 several hundred yards in extent Unlike the shells 

 of the mohisca and tosiacea, which are lime, the 

 shells of these invisible animals are found to be 

 unchanged by fire, and composed of pure silica. 

 All bodies of long stagnant water such as those 

 where peat is found, or bog earth deposited, abounds 

 with infusoria?, and Prof. Bailey of West Point has 

 founikat the bottom of peat earth and in it, im- 

 mense quantities of these minute remains. It is a 

 curious fact that animals invisible in themselves In 

 the eye, slu.uld be able in the course of centuries 

 to tiirm mountains, change the face of continents, 

 and exert an influence by no means trifling on the 

 labors and productive industry of man. 



Annual. This term is applied to plants that 

 arrive at maturity in a single year and then perish. 

 The stem of annuals is generally of rapid growth, 

 porous, and abounding in the juices necessary to 

 the perfection of the seeds in a single season. The 

 herbage of some plants is annual, while the roots 

 are perennial, or remain from year to year. Maize 

 is an example of a proper annual ; the grasses, of 

 perennial roots, with annual herbage. 



.iphis. A family of insects that prey exten- 

 sively on plants, and are endowed with such aston- 

 ishing power of reproduction, that though insigni- 

 ficant as individuals they are formidable in their 

 numbers, and in most years occasion more or less 

 loss to the agriculturist. The congregations of 

 aphides consists in spring and summer of apterous 

 and living less individuals, and of nyniphtp with 

 undeveloped wings. They have no mouths but are 

 provided with beak-lika suckers which tliey insert 

 into plants, and feed on the juices. Almost every 

 cultivated plant or tree has its peculiar family of 

 aphis ; and those trees or shrubs that are wild, or 

 found only in the depths of the forest, cannot claim 

 exemption. What is called the apple tree lnuso, 

 is an aphis ; and on lilling the scale-like covering, 

 the depredator, and its implement of suction, can I 

 be seen. Another species infests the tender shoots 

 of grafts, and the thrifty shoots of tlie apple and 

 other fruit trees, and if allowed to multiply unmo- 

 lested produces great injury. The American blight, 

 as it is called in England, or the ephis hanata of 

 the entomologist, is a destructive species, when 

 permitted to make a lodgment on the apple tree, 

 but fortunately tlie cotton covering in which it is 

 enveloped renders it easy to discover, and thus ; 

 timely put the fruit grower on his guard. In pass- • 

 ing through the Toimawanda swamp from Lock- 

 port to Batavia in lt'38, the Alder, glauca, tliat 

 lined the road was literally loaded in places with a 

 species of aphis, the long cottony filaments of 

 which, erect in air, seemed to be waved at will, and i 

 simultaneously, giving a most singular aspect to 

 the branches on which colonies were planted. The 

 turnip is greatly infested with the aphis, as is tlie 

 lose, fennel, parsley, and many other plants culti- ' 

 vated for use or ornament. The aphis, while li.xed 

 by its sucker to the branch or the leaf, elaborates 

 a sweet honey-like fluid, clear as water, and this is 

 projected at will from two tubes in the hinder part 

 of the body. We have seen in the sunshine, these 

 drops falling like the spray of a waterfall, fiom a 



