1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



55 



"I come now to speak of the organic elements of 

 the wheat plant, which, as I have already intimat- 

 ed, form ninety-six or ninety-seven per cent, of 

 its substance. Water and its constituents, oxy- 

 gen and hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen, are the 

 four elementary ingredients of all cultivated 

 plants, besides their minerals. As there is no 

 lack of water or of its elements, oxygen and hy- 

 drogen, our attention will be confined to obtain- 

 ing a full supply of carbon and nitrogen. These 

 are indispensable, and, fortunately, nature has 

 provided an amount of carbon and nitrogen in the 

 air, if not in the soil, more than equal to all the 

 wants of vegetation. A large portion of the fer- 

 tilizing elements of vegetable mould, in a rich 

 soil, is carbon, and a small portion is nitrogen ; 

 both of which are usually combined with other 

 substances. These important elements are often 

 nearly exhausted in fields which have been un- 

 wisely cultivated ; and I have paid much atten- 

 tion to the subject of cheap and practical renova- 

 tion. By the aid of clover and buckwheat, dressed 

 with gypsum, ashes, lime, or manure, and plowed 

 in when in blossom, much can be done in the way 

 of augmenting the rich vegetable mould so desir- 

 able to a certain degree, in all soils. Straw, corn- 

 stalks, leaves of forest trees and swamp muck, 

 made into compost with lime and ashes, are of 

 great value. Charcoal, well pulverized, and sat- 

 urated with urine, I regard as the cheapest and 

 most useful fertilizer that can be applied to a poor 

 soil, for the production of wheat, or almost any 

 other crop. 



The earths contained in charcoal, as the analy- 

 sis of its ashes demonstrates, are identical with 

 the earths found in the wheat plant. Coal con- 

 tains a very large portion of carbon, and will im- 

 bibe from -the atmosphere a large quantity of ni- 

 trogen in the form of ammonia and its carbonates. 

 Unlike stable manure, the salts of lime, potash, 

 soda and magnesia, it will not waste by premature 

 solution nor by evaporation. On the contrary, it 

 is of incalculable value to mix with the liquid and 

 solid excretions of all animals ; to absorb and fix 

 in a tangible condition those volatile, fertilizing 

 elements, which are so prone to escape beyond 

 our reach." 



De Sansure found that charcoal formed from 

 box wood, in twenty-four hours absorbed and re- 

 tained within its pores, the following volumes of 

 ] the several gases below named : 



Volumes. 



Hydrogen 1.75 



Nitrogen 7.5 



Oxygen 9.25 



Carbonic oxide 9.42 



Olefiant gas 35. 



Carbonic acid gas 35. 



Nitrous oxide 40. 



Sulphuretted hydrogen. 55. 



Sulphurous acid 65. 



Muriatic acid 85. 



Ammoniacal gas. 90. 



It may be here proper fo present an analysis 

 of wheat, and for this purpose we select the fol- 

 lowing made by the celebrated Boussingault. 

 The wheat was dried at 230° in vacuo, and was 

 found to contain, — 



Carbon 46.1 



Flydrogen 43.4 



Oxygen 5.8 



Nitrogen 2.3 



Ash 2.4 



100.0 



Before taking leave of the subject we will say, 

 that the evil called "smut," so generally and just- 

 ly complained of, is not probably utterly irremedi- 

 able. If the seed be thoroughly purified by wash- 

 ing in clear water, and then soaked in solution 

 made of lye from common wood ashes, common 

 salt, saltpetre, potash, glauber salts, and of un- 

 slacked lime, of a specific gravity adequate to fair- 

 ly float a common hen's egg, the germinating 

 power of the smut will be destroyed, and the pro- 

 duce of the crop uncontaminated by the disease. 

 The above salts are of a cleansing and caustic na- 

 ture. Wheat from the same bin, sown without 

 this preparation, and in contiguous fields, has 

 been rendered worthless by smut, the crop from 

 the prepared or cleansed seed being pure. 



ALARMING DISEASE AMONG STOCK. 



The Stockton (Cal.) Independent says, that on 

 the range of the Mormon slough, about eight or 

 ten miles from this city, a disease has recently 

 attacked both horses and horned stock, which 

 generally proves fatal in the course of from twelve 

 to twenty-four hours after the animals are afflicted. 



One farmer has lost about $3000 worth of cat- 

 tle, and others have suffered greatly. First they 

 are taken with a sudden swelling, then become 

 blind and stupid, then drop and die. Mr. Perry- 

 man has lost seven head of cattle ; Mr. Kenno- 

 van, four head ; Mr. Rogers, two head, and sev- 

 eral other parties have been sufferers. A cow 

 belonging to Mr. Thornlow, one of our Supervi- 

 sors, dropped down and died suddenly, having 

 exhibited the symptoms above described but a 

 short time, and when the animal was flayed and 

 dissected the flesh appeared as if it had been bat- 

 tered and bruised, so bloody was its surface found. 

 Mr. Wolf, who has had much experience among 

 stock, gives it as his opinion that it is a species 

 of virulent erysipelas. He believes that the dis- 

 ease should be treated in a manner calculated to 

 check erysipelas alone, as he has observed that 

 the epidemic afflicts cattle and horses in the ex- 

 act way that the above named disease affects the 

 human family. If the disease prevails to any 

 great extent it will prove a great calamity to our 

 country, as it contains a large quantity of very 

 valuable stock. 



