18 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JULY 19, IS 



SOILS— THEIR PROPERTY OP ATTRACT- 

 ING MOISTURE. 



The attraclion of soils for tlie aqueous vapor of 

 the atmospliere, is a property llie importance of 

 which to the cultivator, Sir H. Davy long since 

 eaw in its true light, and his ohservations cannot 

 be too often quoted, since they well illustrate and 

 enforce, amongst other things, the truth of the 

 great TuUian system of agriculture : of the advan- 

 tages of finely dividing the soil, of the subsoil 

 plow, and of the horse-hoe husbandry. " The pow- 

 er of the soil to absorb water by cohesive attrac- 

 tion," said this great chemist, " depends in a great 

 measure on the state of division of its parts: the 

 more divided they are, the greater is their absor- 

 bent power. The different constituent parts of 

 soils likewise appear to act, even by cohesive at- 

 traction, with different degrees of energy : thus 

 vegetable substances seein to be more absorbent 

 than animal substances, animal substances more 

 EO than compounds of alumina and silica, and com- 

 pounds of alumina and silica more absorbent than 

 carbonates of lime and magnesia. These differen- 

 ces may, however, possibly depend upon the dif- 

 ferences in their state of division, and upon the 

 surface exposed. 



" Tlie power of soils to absorb water from air, 

 is much connected with fertility : when this power 

 is great, the plant is supplied with moisture in dry 

 seasons; and the effect of evaporation in the day 

 is counteracted by the absorption of aqueous va- 

 por from the atmosphere by the exterior parts of 

 the soil during the night. The stiff clays, ap. 

 preaching to pipe-clay in their nature, which take 

 up the greatest quantity of water when it is poured 

 upon them in a fluid form, are not the soils which 

 absorb most moisture from the atmosphere in dry 

 weather ; they cake, and present only a small sur- 

 face to the air, and the vegetation on them is gen- 

 erally burnt up almost as readily as on sands. The 

 soils that are most efficient in supplying the plant 

 with water by atmospheric absorption, are those in 

 which there is a due mixture of sand, finely divid- 

 ed clay, and carbonate of lime, with some animal 

 or vegetable matter ; and which are so loose and 

 light as to be freely permeable to the atmosphere. 

 With respect to this quality, carbonate of lime and 

 animal and vegetable matter are of great use to 

 soils ; they give absorbent power to the soil with- 

 out giving it tenacity ; sand, which also destroys 

 tenacity, on the contrary, gives little absorbent 

 power. 



" I have compared the absorbent powers of many 

 soils with respect to atmospheric moisture, and I 

 have always found it greatest in the most fertile 

 soils ; 60 that it affords one method of judging of 

 the productiveness of land. 1000 parts of a cele- 

 brated soil from Ormiston, in East Lothian, which 

 contained more than half its weight of finely di- 

 vided matter, of which eleven parts were carbonate 

 of lime, and nine parts vegetable matter, when 

 dried at 212'^, gained in an hour, by e.xposure to 

 air saturated with moisture at a temperature of G2°, 

 18 parts : JOOO parts of a very fertile soil from the 

 banks of the river Parret, in Somersetshire, under 

 the same circumstances, gained 16 grains ; 1000 

 parts of a soil from Mersea, in Essex, worth forty- 

 five shillings an acre, gained 13 grains; 1000 

 grains of a fine sand from Essex, worth twenty- 

 three shillings an acre, gained 11 grains ; 1000 of 

 a coarse sand, worth fifteen shillings an acre, 

 gained only 8 grains: 1000 of the soil of Bagshot 

 Heath gained only 3 grains." 



In my own experiments upon the absorbent pow- 

 ers of various earths, I extended the examination 

 to various organic and saline fertilizers. The re- 

 sult of these may be seen in the following table : 



Paru. 

 1000 parts of horse dung dried in a tempera- 

 ture of 100 degrees, absorbed by exposure 

 for three hours to air saturated with mois- 

 ture and of the temperature of 02 degrees, 143 

 1000 parts of cow dung, under the same cir- 

 cumstances, absorbed 

 1000 parts pig dung, 

 1000 ' sheep dung, 

 1000 ' pigeon's dung, 

 1000 ' of a rich alluvial soil, 



The following were dried at 212 degrees : 

 1000 parts fresh tanner's bark. 



130 



120 



81 



50 



14 



1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 1000 

 JOOO 

 1000 



putrefied tanner's bark, 



refuse marine salt sold as manure, 



soot, 



burnt clay, 



coal ashes, 



lime, 



sediment from saltpans, 



crushed rock salt. 



115 

 145 



494 

 36 

 29 

 14 

 11 

 10 

 10 

 9 

 4 



gypsum, 

 chalk. 



This attractive power of the earths and of the 

 plants for the aqueous vapor and the oxygen gas 

 of the atmosphere, are two of the most important 

 facts to be kept in mind by the farmer, with regard 

 to the deepening and pulverization of his soils. 

 The power of absorbing moisture is a power which 

 all plants possess in a certain measure, but some 

 in such a perfect degree as to depend entirely up- 

 on it for all the moisture they need. The aloe, 

 the agave, and many of the native plants of the 

 East, nearly support themselves in the same way ; 

 the licliens and some of the mosses of this coun- 

 try also do the same. The quantity of water con- 

 sumed by plants, when in a state of healthy vege- 

 tation, is in fact so great, that if it was not for the 

 gentle steady supply thus imperceptibly furnished 

 to the soil by the atmosphere, vegetation would 

 speedily cease, or only be supported by incessant 

 rains. Thus Dr. Hales ascertained that a cabbage 

 transmits into the atmosphere, by insensible vapor, 

 about half its weight of water daily; and that a 

 sunflower, three feet in height, transpired in the 

 same period, nearly two pounds' weight. Dr. 

 Woodward found that a sprig of mint, weighing 27 

 grains, in 77 days emitted 2543 grains of water. 



"The power of soils to absorb moisture," says 

 Davy, " ought to be much greater in warm or dry 

 countries than in cold or moist ones, and the quan- 

 tity of clay or vegetable or animal matter greater. 

 When soils are immediately situated upon a bed 

 of rock or stone, they are much sooner rendered 

 dry by evaporation than where the subsoil is of 

 clay or marl ; and a prime cause of the great fer- 

 tility of land in the moist climate of Ireland, is the 

 proximity of the rocky strata to the soil. A clayey 

 subsoil will sometimes be of material advantage 

 to a sandy soil ; and in this case it will retain 

 moisture in such a manner as to be capable of sup- 

 plying that lost by the earth above, in consequence 

 of evaporation or the consumption of plants." 



It must be evident to the most listless observer 

 that the more deeply and finely a soil is pulverized, 

 the greater will be the absorption by them of both 

 oxygen and moisture from the atmosphere — John- 

 soil's Far. Encyctop. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS. 



Saturday, July 8, 1843 



The heat and vertical sun of the past week, 

 off in some measure, the show of flowers at the 

 ciety's Hall today ; nevertheless many of the fl 

 ers displayed, were very fine. 



From John A. Kenrick — Roses in variety ; H 

 eysuckles, Spiraea, Calmia latifolia, Lilies, &c. 



From Wni. Kenrick — Roses, Larkspurs, an 

 variety of fresh cut flowers and showy Bouquets 

 •From J. F. Trull, Dorchester — Chinese Al 

 ihas (tree of heaven,) Hoya carnosa. Lilies, H 

 eysuckles, Roses, snow-flake Verbenas, and D 

 lias. 



From H. W. Dutton — Dahlias, vars. Chai 

 XII., Rouge et Noir, Miss Johnson, Marshal So 

 Conslantia, Ne Plus Ultra, and President von Li 

 enberg. 



From Hovey & Co. — Beauty of the Prairie Ri 

 very fine and highly fragrant clove Pinks, in va 

 ty, and Bouquets. 



From S. R. Johnson — a full stand of fine ha 

 and Chinese Roses — among them good speciir 

 of De Arcole, Mad. Desprez, Provence, Cabb 

 and Moss ; Verbenas, scarlet lichnis, and o' 

 cut flowers. 



From S. Walker — six showy and fine Bouqu 



From P. Barnes — Dahlia; Gregorie's Regin 



From M. P. Wilder — a fine specimen of Lil 

 Japonicum. 



From Dr. J. C. Howard — several Bouquets. 



From J. L. L. F. Warren, Brighton — a fine 

 cotee. Duchess of Bedford, a number of Bouqi 

 and Dahlias. 



From John Robinson, Roxbury — a specime 

 a new seedling white Dahlia. This bloom 

 many good points about it. Good whites are r 

 should this prove good, it will be quite ar 

 quisition. For the Committee, 



HENRY W. DUTTOI 



EXHIBITION OF FRDITS. 



The specimens exhibited today, though m 

 numerous as they generally are at this se^ 

 were uncommonly fine, and select. 



Mr Otis Johnson, Lynn, exhibited a new 

 very fine Cherry, called the " Bigareau Gross ( 

 ret. 



By Dr. Howard, Brookline — fine specime 

 Napoleon Bigareau and black Tartarean Cher 

 also. Miller's Burgundy and black Hamburg Gr 

 The latter were of first rate excellence, the be 

 very large and uniform and finely colored. 



IJy E. Tufts, Cambridge — very handsome ' 

 Bigareau Cherries. 



By E. Vose, Dorchester — superb specime 

 white Bigareau and black Tartarean Cherries 



By John A. Kenrick, Newton — black Tart 

 and Carnation Cherries — both handsome f 

 mens ; also fruit of the red Mulberry. 



By J. F. Allen, Salem — a dish of the Blacl 

 of St. Michaels. These were fully ripe and 

 beautiful, and were shown in larger quantities 

 usual. Also, the Muscat of Alexandria, and 

 Grapes from St. Michaels — both fine speci 

 Large, well ripened Gross Mignonne Peache: 

 ripe Tomatoes. Two boxes Hovey's Set 

 Strawberries. 



By Hovey & Co., Boston, from their gard 

 Cambridge, one basket and six boxes of Hi 

 Seedling Srrawberries — very fine. 



