Toit. xvm. NO. la. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



105 



icre : it was manured in the liill witli a compost 

 naile of three parts of meadow nmd and one of barn 

 yard manure. There are many farms we shouhl 

 like to notice in tliis town, but we have not time at 

 present, but as we have liad some encouraprcment 

 from a number of gentlemen, wo hope to hour 

 throunfh them more from the Pepperell farms. 



J. B. 



SWINE IN A FRUIT ORCII.\RD. 



Mr Phillips, in a letter publi.-<hcd in the Memoirs 

 of the Pennsylvania Agrirnltiiral Society, thus 

 speaks of tha beneficial resultii of allowing swine 

 to run amoni^ fruit trees: 



" For several years past my family have been 

 supplied with the finest plums by a neighbor, who 

 is the only person I know of who has had uniform 

 success with Ihcm. Last year while his trees 

 were in full bearing I carefully examined them, 

 particularly as respected their culture and local sit- 

 uation, and I found that no uncommon pains had 

 been taken with them — on the contrary they appear- 

 ed netrlected, as numerous dead and broken limbs 

 hung about them ; and that the very great success 

 he had, could only be attributed to their situation, 

 which was at the place where the hogs lay and were 

 fed. He told me that the hogs never let a plum re- 

 main that had fallen, many minutes undevoured, 

 and (hereby destroyed the insects that hung about, 

 and the larvfe in them, and that of late very few in- 

 sects had appeared about the trees." 



We can bear testimony to the efficacy of swine 

 in fruit orchards, in destroying the curculio, or the 

 insect that so much injures the plum and the cherry. 

 We have two cherry trees standing where pigs lie, 

 and are fed, and though not as favorably situated 

 as many others on our premises, in other respects, 

 they uniformly produce the finest cherries grown 

 on our trees. After the cherries begin to ripen, 

 there are few hours in a day in which the trees are 

 not visited by the pigs, and every worm, stone and 

 cherry are at once disposed of. On our other trees 

 the curculio does iiiucli mischief annually — on 

 these the fruit is nearly exempt, and is decidedly 

 larger and fairer than on those to which the swine 

 have no access. In planting plum or cherry or- 

 chards this fact should not be forgotten ; and pigs 

 should have the free range of such premises. — Geji- 

 esee Fanner. 



Use of Lime. — Lockhart, in his Life of Sir Wal- 

 ter Scott, relates the following anecdote : 



" I here see," he continued, " that farm there at 

 the foot of the hill is occupied by a respectable 

 enough tenant of mine : I told him I had a great 

 desire for him to try the effect of lime on his land. 

 He said he doubted its success, and could not ven- 

 ture to risque so much money as it would cost. — 

 Well, said I, fair enough ; but as I wish to have 

 the experiment tried, you shall have the liaie for 

 the mere carting : you may send to the place where 

 it is to bo bought, and at the term- day you shall strike 

 off the whole value of the lime from the rent due to 

 me. When the pay day came, my friend the far- 

 mer came with his whole rent, which he laid down 

 on the table before me without deduction. ' How 's 

 this, my man? you are to deduci for the lime, you 

 know.' ' Whv, Sir Walter,' he renlied, 'mycon- 



Kiom Prof. Jackson's Thirii Report on the Geology of Maine. 



AfHlICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 



.As I have formerly stated, it is evident from an 

 examination of the mineral ingredients (jf soils, that 

 they all origininatcd from the decomposition and 

 dis ntegration of rocks which for ages have been 

 acted upon by air and water; those agents having, 

 by their mechanical and cliGmlcal powers, shivered 

 and crumbled the solid ledges into those pulveru- 

 lent matters which form the basis of all soils — to 

 which, subsequently, small quantities of vegetable 

 humus are added by the decay of plants. 



Ancient soils. — There have been Vdrious epochs 

 in the earth's history, when soils were thus formed, 

 and after bearing their luxuriant vegetation, were 

 reconverted by aqueous and igneous causes, into 

 rocks, the structure and fossil contents of which, 

 denote their origin to have been from sedimentary 

 matter, hardened by pressure and heat. Thus, 

 when we look back to the epoch of the transition 

 formations, we find tlie rocks composing that series 

 t) be composed of agglomerated sand and pebbles, 

 cemented by clay, which presents itself in an indu- 

 rated form, the result of igneous action. Marine 

 shells, contained in the grauwacke rocks just de- 

 scribed, evince that this deposit was chiefly formed 

 beneath the waters of the sea, while some portions 

 of it were deposited in fresh water, as proved by 

 the presence of certain plants, peculiar to bogs 

 and lakes. The slates of this formation contain 

 prints and casts of numerous plants, such as ferns, 

 equisetacesB, lepidodendrse and stigmarictp ; while 

 beds of anthracite coal showing by their structure 

 and composition their vegetable origin, are also in- 

 cluded between the strata. 



Now it is evident that the above mentioned 

 plants could not have grown without a soil, and 

 the rocks in which they arc imbedded bear every 

 proof that they were once in that condition. 



Sicondary soils. — We come ne.\t to the secon- 

 dary epoch, and here again we are astonished to 

 find proofs of a numerous succession of alternating 

 beds of soil, each having, for long periods of time 

 borne their perennial verdure of intertropical plants, 

 allied to those above noticed, but more complicated 

 and perfect in their structure. The sandstones 

 and shales of this formatioVi are vast herbaria of 

 ancient vegetation, and their stcfe-ia contain, well 

 preserved between their sheets, perfect impressions 

 of numerous genera of plants, the species of which 

 are now extinct. Large trunks of trees are also 

 exposed by opening coal mines and quarries of 

 sandstone, while the numerous and reiterated strata 

 of coal itself also bear ainple proofs of their vege- 

 table origin. 



Hero, then, we have another epoch at which soils 

 existed, produced their abundant vegetation, stored 

 the earth with fuel, and then were reconverted into 

 solid rocks, to be again subjected to the wear and 

 tear of elemental strife. 



'I he lertinry epoch was of a milder character, and 

 but little disturbance of the solid rocks appears to 

 have been efiected during those submersions when 

 the plastic clay, calcareous marls and strata of per- 

 fectly preserved i.uirine shells, were deposited. 

 These sedimentary matters appear to have resulted 

 from a slow and n-radual denosition of clav and oth- 



When we consider the several periods which I 

 have briefly mentioned, it will at once reveal to any 

 reflecting person, that the world has been during 

 the lapse of inconceivable ages, subject to great rev- 

 olutions in its geological organization. At one 

 time, the rocks are v.-orn down into soils, and bear 

 their vegetation — then continents were sunk in the 

 ocean's depths, and subsequently were raised again, 

 the soils having in the mean time been converted 

 into rocks. By such consideration, we soon learn 

 to respect the antiquity of the world ; and knowing 

 that such records are legibly written on the tablets 

 of stone, we feel a natural desire to read and under- 

 stand their meaning. 



Ancient alluvial soils, or diluvium. — Subsequent 

 to the epochs of which I have spoken, we find that 

 another scene of violence disturbed the tranquillity 

 of the great deep, and the northern ocean was hurl- 

 ed with its seas of ice, over the land, sweeping the 

 loose materials from the very mountain tops, and 

 depositing them far south of their former resting 

 places — while the grooves, scratches and water 

 marks upon the surface of the fixed ledges, show 

 the direction in which the current passed. By such 

 a flood, proofs of which are nearly universal in 

 Maine, as elsewhere, the soils were transported 

 and connningled, so that we rarely find a soil simi- 

 lar to the rocks beneath it, but identical with that 

 'derived from other rocks which occur to the north 

 and northwest. Having already cited so many lo- 

 calities in proof of this position, I shall not here re- 

 capirulate, and the intelligent observer will find so 

 many illustrations in Maine to satisfy his rational 

 curiosity on the subject, that he need not long re- 

 main in doubt as to the facts. 



Modern alluvial soils. — The present causes which 

 act upon the solid rocks, are both chemical and 

 mechanical. Oxiggn, from the atmosphere and 

 from water, is constantly aftectihg some portions of 

 the work, especially where the rocks contain py- 

 rites. Rivers, torrents, brooks, and even rain, are 

 gradually sweeping away the solid rocks by their 

 continued action ; but more powerful than all oth- 

 ers, is the action of freezing water, which, by an al- 

 most irresistibly expansive force, rends all rocks in- 

 to which water can find a passage, and crumbles 

 down those which are porous in their structure. — 

 Upon the coast, the sea ever beating the solid rocks 

 and hurling the loose fragments with the force of 

 battering ordnance against the shores, wears away 

 the ledges, the detritus being either spread out on 

 the bottom or sifted up at the mouths of harbors 

 and estuaries. 



Alluvial soils are produced by the transportation 

 of fine particles, by aqueous agency, from higher 

 sources, and are especially brought down and de- 

 posited during freshets, when a river bursts its con- 

 fines, and being diminished in its velocity, deposits 

 its sedementary matter over the intervales. The 

 force ofthe wind is also constantly removing fine 

 particles of soil from one district to another, and 

 the dust of ages is of greater importance than is 

 commonly believed. Enough has been said on 

 this subject to excite inquiry, and to stimulate oth- 

 ers to look over the pages of nature, for their own 

 satisfaction, and this is all that can be expected 

 from introductory remarks, such as I now oflfer to 

 the reflecting observer. 



