104 



N PLANTER. 



name: but we proceed to give authority from 

 the books. The best practical writer we know 

 on Agriculture is Von Thaer. In his "Princi- 

 ples of Agriculture," p. 211, Skinner's edition* 

 he says: "There are visible advantages attend- 

 ing the spreading upon the land of fresh strawy 

 manure, and to leave it till the plo wings of 

 Spring commence. * * * * 



" This method of covering the soil during 

 winter renders it much more friable and re- 

 markably fertile. I have often seen the washed, 

 but not rotten, straw thus left on the ground, 

 removed to form fresh litter ; and nevertheless, 

 the soil from which this straw has been col- 

 lected appeared as perfectly manured as if all 

 the straw had been decomposed. * * * * 

 I have so often seen the good effect of long or 

 short dung thus spread over beans and peas, 

 and left there during their growth, upon hot, 

 light land, that I have no doubt of its advan- 

 tages on these two crops, particularly if they 

 have been late sowed. But what is still more 

 remarkable and difficult to explain, is that the 

 following crops on land treated in this manner 

 are also superior to those on which a larger j 

 amount of decomposed manure has been plowed 

 in." 



He then goes on to give instances of his 

 observation and experience, and adds: "The 

 strong smell occasioned by spreading manure 

 leads to the opinion that the evaporation from 

 it must be very considerable; but when we 

 consider that a few grains of musk will for 

 years continue to perfume the atmosphere sur- 

 rounding it, without sensibly diminishing its 

 weight, it is permitted us to doubt whether the 

 juices evaporated from the manure are very con- 

 siderable ; %nd if I may believe my own ex- 

 perience it does not diminish its weight." * * 

 (On this point Prof. Voelcker proves Yon 

 Thaer's conjecture to be perfectly right.) 



" It appears, therefore, that there is no solid 

 ground for objection to leaving the manure un- 

 covered on the ground for some time." 



Again he says, p. 224 : " The soil is usually 

 plowed before the sheep are folded on it ; and 

 as soon as the folding has taken place they 

 hasten to bury the manure thus deposited on 

 the ground, by a superficial plowing. Although 

 this proceeding is universally adopted, I have 

 had my doubts as to the eligibility of it, since 

 I have learned of sQveral experiments being 



made by agricultural friends 'of mine, who as- 

 sert that they have seen the most beneficial 

 effects resulting from folding — cowpening — 

 when the manure was suffered to remain on 

 the surface of the soil for a considerable 

 period." 



Here then is a brief statement of the practice 

 of the best farmers and of the best farmed dis- 

 tricts of Virginia, and of the best farmer- 

 author who probably ever lived in continental 

 Europe, adopted in some cases before Prof. 

 Voelcker was bora, and in others by people 

 who never heard of him until recently. His 

 explanation of the fact is a masterly one; and 

 we thank him for a scientific proof of the cor- 

 rectness of a long established practice, and for 

 affording the best example we know of the con- 

 currence of science and practice in Agriculture. 



We wish we had more chemists like Prof. 

 Voelcker. Too many people have ignorantly 

 upbraided chemistry with following in. the 

 wake of practice instead of directing it; and 

 too many chemists have accepted the issue. 

 But if science is built on induction, how can it 

 | be otherwise than behind the facts ? . Its busi- 

 ness is to deal with facts. If it anticipates 

 them it is no longer science, but vain specula- 

 tion. We have had a touch of that in Liebig's 

 mineral theory, which we believe is now up- 

 held only by that slowly progressing primary 

 Prof. Mapes. 



A BILL 



Donating public lands to the several States and 

 Territories which may provide Colleges for 

 the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic 

 Arts. 



We have received several copies of the above 

 Bill, and two of them have been accompanied 

 with the following, in the handwriting of some 

 one: " Will Virginia ever have a comprehen- 

 sive and noble College of Agriculture without 

 a grant of the Public Domain? Why not, in 

 your January No., urge a plan, if the one 

 named below is wrong, in the passage of which 

 all can cooperate." 



We observe that several of our exchanges 

 who have, we presume, been similarly favoured, 

 have bitten at this bait, and some of them have 

 swallowed hook and all. We differ with these 

 gentlemen, and being solicited, beg leave to say 

 so. We do not touch the Constitutional ques- 

 tion one way or the other: but we would Ob- 



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