466 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



people as a portion of our nation which is rapid- 

 ly rising into opulence and power, and destined 

 not only to exert a decided influence upon this, 

 but upon other sections of the country. It cheers 

 us to hear of its prosperity in abundant crops, 

 and in its scientific and literary advancement, 

 •while it inspires us with hope when we witness 

 its loyal devotion to the great interests of our 

 common country. 



THE SOIL BREATHES. 



Certainly it does, just as truly as you do. A 

 few years since, if one asserted that trees had 

 lungs and breathed, he would have been held to 

 an argument to prove it; just as a few years ear- 

 lier nobody would have believed that a fish's gills, 

 and the leaves of a tree, and the lungs of a beast, 

 all performed the same oflice, that of aerating 

 the blood or sap. 



The soil breathes. How does it breathe ? Its 

 circulating fluid, the blood of the soil, is water ; 

 this comes to it from the air, and is already aerat- 

 ed. True, but this soon loses its gases by con- 

 tact with the soil, just as the arterial blood fresh 

 from the lungs, loses its oxygen when passing its 

 circuit in all parts of the body. The blood comes 

 back to the lungs for more oxygen, but the blood 

 of the soil cannot do this, so we must let the air 

 in, to come in contact with it. We cannot here 

 explain the working of the air in the soil, but 

 would thus briefly enforce the necessity of stir- 

 ring the soil during droughts as deeply as practi- 

 cable, not to interfere with the roots of growing 

 plants, and those of previous culture, so that a 

 deep and light soil shall invite a free circulation 

 of air beneath the surface. Hot air, the moment 

 it presses beneath the surface, becomes very moist, 

 from the water which it originally contained, and 

 it deposits it, thus not only aerating the soil, but 

 adding to its moisture. Cold air can hold but 

 little moisture, but hot air dissolves an immense 

 quantity, Avhich it deposits when it cools, or on 

 cool surfaces. Who has not noticed of a winter's 

 day, a locomotive leaving behind it a snowy cloud 

 of vapor, like a comet's tail, often floating for a 

 minute after the train has passed ? Think of this, 

 and watch the steam car on days when the hot 

 breath, just as full of water as in winter, is puff"ed 

 out into the eye of the sun, and not steam enough 

 shows to make a shadow, it is so quickly ab- 

 sorbed by the air. 



Thrushes. — We have several articles now on 

 hand in relation to these interesting birds, which, 

 if we publish all of them, would exclude our 

 usual variety, and be yielding perhaps too much 

 space to a topic in which there are many who feel 

 but little interest. We give one from our con- 

 stant and intelligent correspondent, S. P. Fow- 

 LEU, Esq., which we think may clear up the con- 

 fusion which exists. If our Springfield corres- 

 pondent, "J. A. A.," finds it does, we will omit 

 his article. If he does not, his article will be 

 given soon. It is pleasant to find so many per- 

 sons interested to set the matter right. 



For the New England Farmer. 



AN ATTEMPT TO CLEAR UP THE COW- 

 FUSION EXISTING ABOUT THRUSHES. 



BY S. P. FOWLER. 



In the family of thrushes there has been much 

 confusion in the minds of many who are fond of 

 the study of ornithology, arising from the fact that 

 Wilson, Audubon, and perhaps Nuttall, seem to 

 have had an imperfect knowledge of our thrush- 

 es, and omitted to notice one of our most com- 

 mon species, {Turdus OUvaceus.) This confu- 

 sion is also increased by Wilson's giving us a 

 figure of one species of thrush to accompany a 

 description of another species. This entangle- 

 ment in our ornithology has since been increased 

 by Swainson, and others. The confusion princi- 

 pally exists in the three following species, viz : 

 The Hermit Thrush, Wilson's Thrush and Olive- 

 backed Thrush. The last named bird, so far as 

 I have been able to ascertain, was noticed by Mr. 

 J. p. Giraud, Jun., who published a description 

 of it, and gave it its present name in his work 

 entitled "Birds of Long Island," in 1844. But 

 the discovery is said to have been made in 1843. 

 Dr. Brewer, of Boston, a distinguished ornithol- 

 ogist, however, made the same discovery, and 

 gave it the same name, about the same time, with- 

 out having known the fact that it had been no- 

 ticed by Mr. Giraud. The author of the "Birds 

 of Long Island," page 91, informs us that, "On 

 referring to the Minutes of the Lyceum of Nat- 

 ural History of New York, he found in the month 

 of December, 1839, a communication made by 

 the late H. C. De Rham, in reference to a confu- 

 sion existing among the North American Tiirdi- 

 nea, [Thrushes.] Mr, De Rham, in his commu- 

 nication, stated that he had detected a confusion 

 in the arrangement of this branch of our orni- 

 thology, but "not having had an opportunity fully 

 to investigate the subject, he v/as not at that mo- 

 ment prepared to unravel it, but he hoped to be 

 able to do so at a future period. Shortly after 

 this statement, and while practically in pursuit 

 of this department of Natural History, [Ornithol- 

 ogy,] he fell a victim to disease. By that sad 

 event the Society was deprived of a highly val- 

 uable member, arid the science of Ornithology of 

 one of its most zealous and liberal supporters." 



Mr. Giraud, in continuing his remarks, says : 

 "In pursuing the same subject, we find the confu- 

 sion relative to the synonyms applied to thrushes 

 by various authors still exists. After a careful 

 investigation, made by comparisons with speci- 

 mens in my possession, as well as those in th^i 

 extensive collection of Messrs. Lawrence and 

 Bell, it is found that the above thrush was first 

 described in the Fauna Boreali, or Northern Zo- 

 ology, by Swainson and Richardson, under the 

 name of Merula Wilsonii, mistaking it, as we 

 suppose, for the T. Wilsonii, of Bonaparte, and 

 describing the true T. Wilsonii under the name 

 of M. Minor, which applies to the Hermit Thrush, 

 T. Minor, of Gmelin. As the matter now stands, 

 we feel at liberty to separate it from other spe- 

 cies, by applying the name of [2'. OUvaceus,} 

 Olive-backed Thrush. 



Dr. Brewer has effectually cleared up the con- 

 fusion existing in the small thrushes, in his com- 

 munication in the Proceedings of the Boston So- 

 ciety of Natural History, vol. 1, page 190, where 



