VOL. XVII. NO. 49 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



389 



(Ircd weight ami a half per acre of gypsum is dif- 

 fused through the soil in the water, a quantity equal 

 to Ihat generally adopted by those who spread gyp- 

 51II11 on their clover, lucern, and sainfoin grasses, 

 ;is a manure, either in its pure state or in peat ash- 

 o,'<. And if we apply the same mode of calculation 

 to the organic matters, ever more or less contained 

 in flood waters; and, if we allow only twentyfive 

 parts of animal and vegetable remains to exist in a 

 thousand parts of river water, then we shall find, 

 taking the same data, that every soaking with such 

 water will add to the meadow nearly two tons per 

 acre of animal and vegetable matters, which, allow- 

 ing in the case of water nieadows, five floodings 

 per annum, are equal to a yearly application often 

 tons ; and I am confident that the quantity of for- 

 eign substances present in river water generally 

 exceeds the quantity I have allowed for in these 

 calculations. 



I have found it impossible to give from analysis 

 the amount of these foreign substances present in 

 river water with any tolerable accuracy, since the 

 proportion not only varies at ditlerent seasons of 

 the year, but a considerable portion of these merely 

 mechanically suspended matters subsides when the 

 specimen water is suffered to rest, so that the chem- 

 ical analysis is merely that of those portions in 

 chemical combination. To give .in instance — 

 Thames water has been analysed by Dr Bostock. 

 He found that the water, after having thus by rest- 

 ing deposited its mud, &c., contained in every ten 

 thousand parts — 



Organic matter 7 parts. 



Carbonate of lime (chalk) 53 do. 



Sulphate of lime (gypsum) 15 do. 



Muriate of soda (common salt) 



and muriate of magnesia 2 do. 



The water of the Clyde, analysed by Dr Thomson, 

 contained in 10,000 parts — 



Common salt 0.;>G9,paits. 



Muriate of magnesia O.:505 do. 



Sulphate of soda (glauber salt) 0.114 do. 



Carbonate of lime (chalk) 0.394 do. 



Silica(flint) 0.118 do. 



The water ol lakes and ponds is usually still 

 more surcharged with foreign substances than riv- 

 er water ; it is, in consequence, still better a.dapted 

 for irrigation; and from the use of such waters, es- 

 pecially if a constant or winter stream of water 

 passes through them, I have seen very great fertil- 

 izing efifects p'oduced ; and in some instances in 

 the valley of the Kennctt, nsar Hungerford. I 

 have seen the most lu.xuriant crops of grass produc- 

 ed by the use of such waters, when common farm- 

 yard manure had been tried as a top-dressing with- 

 out the slightest good result. 



Such are some of the probable causes of the fer- 

 tilizing influence of river water ; it is likely that 

 there are others witii which we are totally unac- 

 quainted, and perhaps the removal of the excretory 

 matters of plants from the soil, by the flooding wa- 

 ters which have been shown by M. .Macaire to be 

 so noxious to the plant which deposits them, may 

 be one chief advantage of irrigation: water may 

 truly in this sense be said to sweeten the soil. In 

 every research in which vegetation is concerned, it 

 is especially necessary to examine with care and 

 patience, and amid the many difficulties with which 

 the investigation is surrounded to avoid as much as 

 possible substituting mere words as an explanation 

 of facts, an error into which the cultivator is sure 

 to fall if he is content with the usual modes of ex- 

 plaining these phenomena, and believes what is com- 

 monly asserted, that irrigation merely cools the land. 



From ' TransTClinnsoftl\o Essex Aijricuhural Society, 1833.' 



ON IRRIGATION. 



The Committee on Irrigation regret that no claims 

 have been entered the present season for the Soci- 

 ety's very liberal premiums. Tliere are many pie- 

 ces of land in the county which arc susccpttble of 

 great improvement by irrigation. Nature, in giv- 

 ing us a country abounding in hills and vallies, 

 seems to invite the lords of the soil to conduct on 

 to it the running streams to flood it, and leave their 

 rich deposits. A good farmer, not content with 

 the crops which hi.s unaided labor procures, gladlv 

 impresses even the elements and makes them sub- 

 servient to his purposes. He commits no sacri- 

 lege, for to improve is to enjoy and to obey, and na- 

 ture Icnd.s her willing assistance. It is known that 

 in many instances, crops of hay have been doubled 

 in quantity by occasional flov/ing, and the feed in 

 many pastures has been greatly increased by a 

 small expense of well applied labor. It is hoped 

 that our farmers will give more attention to this 

 subject, and that they will not be backward in mak- 

 ing known the resultof their eKperience. The So- 

 ciety will be most happy in being made the organ 

 of their communication, and will cheerfully pay 

 generous premiums to the conductors of well nian- 

 •aged and successful e.xperiments. 

 For the Committee, 



DANIEL P. KING. 



THE VALLEY OF THE OHIO. 



We publish this morning some interesting re- 

 marks upon the country drained by the Ohio and 

 its tributaries, from the Haltimore American. The 

 editor computes it at about 140,000 square miles, 

 which exceeds, by several thousand square miles 

 the area of Great, Britain an 1 Ireland, and is but 

 little less than that of France. The present pop- 

 ulation of Great Britain and Ireland is 24,000,000 ; 

 that of France say 32,000,000. In the valley of 

 the Ohio there is less unproductive land than in 

 either of the others and with proper cultivation it 

 is capable of supporting in comfort and plenty, more 

 than twenty millions of population. 



Rival cities are contending for the commerce of 

 this great valley — a commerce already hnmensely 

 valuable, although only in its infancy. There is 

 however, no need of jealousy in the matter; tliere 

 will soon be abundance for all, and there need be 

 no hesitation about opening every practicable ave- 

 nue between the Atlantic cities and the noble riv- 

 er that flows for a thou^^and miles through this 

 great valley. 



But the valley of the Ohio forms but a compar- 

 atively small part of that great central basin which 

 would not be half populated were all the crowded 

 millions of Great Britain and France added to its 

 present inhabitants. All tl'.at is required of art is 

 to reach Pittsburg — nature has done the rest. Come 

 here and read our steamboat bills — "For Peoria" 

 — -" For Galena" — " For Red River" — and remem- 

 ber when you are here that you are scarcely be- 

 yond the Atlantic slope — just on the verge of that 

 ultarmontane world that it makes a man dizzy to 

 think about. Yet here you are met by magnificent 

 vessels ready to bear you — not across the ocean, 

 nor along the coast — but to the deepest interior of 

 a great continent, or almost across it if you choose. 

 There need not, then, there ought not, to be any 

 hesitation or delay on the part of the States in 

 which the mountain barriers exist between the At- 

 lantic coast and this central valley, in opening ev- 



ery possible ave lue of intercommunication and 

 coinmcce. Tlioy need only do the work — the 

 vast resources of the west will soon pay for it. — 

 Pittsburg Advocate. 



WESTERN LAND SALES. 

 MiLWAUKiE, W. T., April UHli, 1839. 

 To Vie lidilor of tlie Albany Argus : 



You are perhaps already aware that at the pub- 

 lic land sales held at this place in the months of 

 Februarj' and March last, the largest sale of gov- 

 ernment land was made, or one of the largest, ever 

 known in the United States atone time. 



The tract offered comprised all that part of the 

 jVIilwaukie Land District, nut previously brought 

 into market at Green Bay, except a portion reserv- 

 ed under an act of Congress for the construction of 

 a canal from this place to Rock River, and undoubt- 

 edly contains some of the best lands in the Terri- 

 tory. 



The sales commenced upon the range of town: 

 bordering upon Rock River, and were continue- 

 from day to day progressively east, through thj 

 different ranges for four weeks, and until they 

 reached Lake Michigan. All the lands contained 

 in the President's proclamation were otfered for 

 sale, and were either purchased or will be subject 

 to private entry at the opening of the land office 

 for that purpose, which it is supposed will take 

 place in May or June. 



The daily receipts of the sale varied from fifteen 

 to forty thousand dollars ; and the total receipts 

 amount to a little short of half a million of dollars. 

 To which the receipts from pre-emptions under the 

 act -of 1836 being added, makes the whole sura but 

 little short of S(';00,000. 



Of the receipts of the sales, about $90,000 was 

 in specie, $115,000 in tret^sury notes, and the re- 

 mainder in bills of a denomination of $20 and up- 

 wards 



It is worthy of remark that the whole of the land 

 purchased, was taken by actual settlers, and for the 

 purpose of cultivation, at the minimum price, ten 

 shillings per acre, and <the quantity by each 160 

 acres, (a quarter section,) and but rarely exceeded 

 that amount. 



Not an acre, as I can find, has been bought on 

 speculation, but for improvement and cultivation. 



Si7igular Operation upon a Horse. — Mr Eland, 

 of Woinersley, farmer, had a horse, which, on be- 

 ing taken up from grass, exhibited symptoms of 

 broken wind, and gradually grew worse until about 

 the 16th of March, when it evidently appeared that 

 he would die of suffocation. Mr Nicholson, farrier, 

 examined the horse and found an indentation of the 

 windpipe, and that itt circular form was lost. He 

 then performed the operation of tracheotomy in the 

 following manner: The 'integument and muscles 

 covering tlie windpipe were divided and dissected 

 back to the length of five inches, whan it was found 

 that the rings of the trachea were actually broken, 

 and a false membrane exuded over the broken por- 

 tion, so that an aperture existed for the horse to 

 breathe through sufficient only to allow a small 

 probe to be passed down. The whole of the brok- 

 en rings were then dissected, cut, and a semicircu- 

 lar tube was introduced, which remained in several 

 days, and the external parts were brought together 

 and healed. 



The horse is fifteen years old, is now perfectly 

 healthy and in daily work — Dorset (Eng.) paper. 



