FERTILIZERS. 255 



moss, and put on in a weak solution, as a top dressing, may be expected to produce important 

 results ; and when there is a certain prospect of rain, applied to the young corn and potatoes, 

 will give the plant the same advantage as when applied in solution. One of the great objects, 

 it appears to me, which may be obtained by the use of fertilizers of this kind, is to give the 

 young plant an early start ; to give it, as it were, strength and constitutional vigor. If so, it 

 will better stand the vicissitudes of the season, and go through the dangers of a drought unin- 

 jured, and reach thereby an early maturity, by which, also, it escapes the autumnal frosts. 



I may, with propriety, make a remark here, that many of those substances which are regarded 

 as too expensive for field culture, may be employed with profit in the garden. In this branch 

 of husbandry, it is necessary to bring the plant forward at an early day as possible ; and unless 

 it can be forced forward, the prospect of gain will be considerably reduced. We need more 

 information in regard to modes of culture of market plants. It is true the hot house supplies 

 many of the lighter articles at an early day, yet it is at the expense of a high flavor. 



The quantity of carbonate of soda which it will be profitable to employ, can not be deter- 

 mined with certainty. It is to be remembered that it is a very soluble substance, and a sandy 

 soil would probably lose, by filtration, a portion of the quantity laid on before the plants have 

 taken root. It seems better to employ small doses, and repeat them. A solution of fifteen or 

 twenty pounds to the acre, and repeated during the growth of the crop, will be the most 

 economical way of employing it. This salt few would think of applying during autumn, 

 though its action upon the silicates should not be disregarded ; still, the autumn and early 

 spring rains would probably remove much of the substance from the soil. Apply it, then, to 

 the young crop when it has risen a few inches above the ground, to give it a new start'; and 

 then, subsequently, when it is about one half grown. This salt will be consumed by the crop, 

 and the advantages will be reaped at harvest. 



The theoretical action of soda upon plants has been already suggested. Both soda and potash 

 are nutriments in the vegetable kingdom, being more required by some plants than others. 

 They also render soluble the natural silicates already in the soil : they combine with the organic 

 matter, and it is by their action that it enters the plants, through their roots, and contributes to 

 the amount of carbon required by their tissues. Again, in the economy of animals, the alkalies, 

 especially soda, in its free state, is employed to preserve some substances in solution. The 

 albumen in the egg is prevented from a coagulation by free soda ; and in the plant, the moving 

 sap or fluids must be maintained in a liquid condition, wherever the albuminous matters abound : 

 this is effected by the alkalies, in many instances. The albuminous matter of vegetables, 

 however, is preserved more frequently, in a soluble form, by a large amount of water. 



Nitrate of Soda. This salt exists in the dry parts of Chili and Peru, in extensive deposits, 

 as a natural production. It is sufficiently abundant to constitute an article of commerce. Be- 

 ing cheaper than nitrate of potash, it has been employed more extensively as a fertilizer, in 

 England, than the potash salt. It is quite soluble, rather deliquescent ; and for this reason it 

 is probable, that when employed in a dry time, its injurious effects, which are described as a 

 burning of the plant, are less than salt petre. The results, however, of this salt are not uni- 



