THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
131 
Crops require to be Fed as well as Animals. 
From the Ohio Cultivator. 
In the first settlement ol this country, the do- 
mestic animals found food growing spontane- 
ously in the prairies and fore'ts, and they lived 
almost entirely 'vithout the aid of their ovvners. 
As the country became more populous, and the 
animals had areatly increased, this spontaneous 
food became exhausted, and they had to be led 
by the hand of man. 
When the soil was first reclaimed from the 
forest, Vae crops obtained their iooA for a number 
of years from the abundance of vegetable matter 
which had been accumulating in the soil, as 
well as from the inorganic substances which 
had been brought there by natural causes. But 
in a tew years, by a constant drain upon the 
soil, without making any recompense, this spon- 
taneous food which nature had provided, has 
become principally exhausted ; and it is now as 
much the interest of the tanner to feed his crops 
as it is to feed his animals. 
“I do teed mv crops,” says the Practical 
Farmer — “ I haul out stable manure and straw, 
and 1 sometimes plow in clover, and put my 
land in first rate order before I sow my crops.” 
“ Very vvell,” says Science, ” this is ail right, 
so far as it goes, and I grant one in a hundred 
may do this; but 1 should like to be able to 
make this statement in ‘inverse proportion,’ 
that there shall be but one in a hundred who 
does not do it.” 
” But, Mr. Practical Farmer, there is another 
matter connected with feeding your crops that i 
wish to press upon your attention, which is this 
—ft is as important to feed your cre/js with the 
kind of food most suitable to their ‘ digestive or- 
gans,’ as it is that of animals. Did you ever 
think of this? We do not feed hogs on hay; 
neither do we give pork to our horses ; but we 
are, nevertheless, careful to give enough to keep 
them alive, and to cause the animals to thrive 
and increase, and, at the same time, we avoid 
giving them so much as to surfeit or foun der 
them.” 
“ After all the pains I take,” says the Practi- 
cal Farmer, ” 1 cannot raise good wheat ; when 
I sow it on my land without manure, it is 
struck with rust; the berry shrivels, and I do 
not get half a crop. And then 1 go to carting 
on manure, and my wheat all goes to straw, 
falls down fiat on the ground, and has no grain 
worth the labor of saving; and so I turn my 
hogs into the field to get what few grains they 
can find. It is useless tor me to try to raise 
wheat on my farm; it is either too rich or too 
poor. Iff put on manure the straw grows too 
rank, and it is too weak to stand up; it 1 sow 
without manure, the heal and moisture strike it 
with rust. [ must go to raising some othercrop.” 
” Stop, neighbor,” says Science, “ here I have 
n book that will tell you something about rais- 
ing wheat. I think it is probable that you have 
been feeding your hogs r n hay, or else you have 
been giving pork to vour horses.” 
Prac. Far. Och 1 go away with your book. 
Do you think f want any ot your hook farming 
about me? 1 have been a practical farmer ah 
my life, and in eabiv times I used to raise the 
best wheat in the country, without or 
liioefa either. Do you think that I dont know 
how to raise wheat ? 
Science. Will you read it? 
Prac. Far. No. It is so seldom 1 read that 
it is quite a task for me to read a hook. 
Science. Well, will you listen while I read? 
Prac. Fo.r. 1 have not time to stay long, but 
I have no objection to hearing you read a lit- 
tle ; it won’t cost anything, will it? 
Science. If you will listen attentively, 1 wi'l 
read you a lew lines with pleasure: — From 
each acre yielding 25 bushels of wheat, there 
is extracted from the soil, in the grain, 3.3 
pounds of potash, and in the straw 0.6 of a lb.* 
'Noth. — The weights here given are m pounds and 
decimal fractions, thus : 3.3 is three pounds and three- 
tenths of a pound, and 0 15 is fifteen-hund/edths of a 
pound It may also be leraarked, that the language 
here used is not taken from the boolr alluded to by the 
writer; only the substance is obtained therefrom. 
Prac. Far. What ! does wheat contain pot- 
ash ? 
Science. Yes And the 25 bushels of wheat 
will also take from the soil in the grain, 3 5 
f ounds of soda, and the straw 0.9 of a pound. 
Prac. Fa.-'. Ah ! does wheat contain soda too? 
Science. Such an acre of wheat wifi also 
take from the soil in the grain, 1 .5 pounds ol 
tim-, and in ihe straw 7 2 pounds. 
Prac P'ar. Oh, yes! I have heard of peo- 
ple putting lime on their land, but I never 
thought enough of it to try it myself. 
Science. The 25 bushels ot wheat also take 
from the soil, in the grain, 1.5 pounds of mag- 
nesia, and in the straw 1 pound. 
Prac. For. Why, I have hearditsaid that 
magnesia is injurious to crops, and that when 
farmers apply lime to their land, they should be 
carelul 'o use that which does not contain mag- 
nesia ! But go on; is there anything else in 
wheat? I can’t stay much longer. 
Science. In an acre of wheat yielding 25 
bushels, there is in the grain 6 pounds of Silica, 
and in the straw 86 (eighty-six) pounds. 
Prac. Far. Now I’m stumped! What on 
earth is Silica ? 
Science. The book says it is the substance of 
Jli-nl or pure sand. 
Prac. Far. What! the substance ol flint or 
sand in wheat! Pray, Mr. Science, how does 
it get there ? 
Science. You know that sand can be melted, 
as is done in the rnanulacture of glass, by the 
application of heat with soda and other chemi- 
cal substances; and this book tells us that it be- 
comes soluble in wa'er by the aid of the potash 
and soda before, mentioned ; and when thus dis- 
solved, it is taken up by the roots of plants. 
But 1 have not yet got through with the compo- 
nent elements of wi eat. 
One acre of wheat yielding 25 bushels, also 
contains in the grain, J pound ot sulphuric acid, 
and in the straw 1 pound. 
Prae. Far. Why, thatjisoilof vitriol, is’nt it? 
Science. There is also taken from the soil, 
by 25 bushels of wheat in the grain, 0.6 of a 
pound of phosphoric acid, and in the straw 5 
pounds; also in the grain, 0.15 of a pound of 
chlorine, and in the straw 0.9 ot a pound. This 
is all, and you must remember these are inor- 
ganic substances, such as do not grow like veg- 
eiaoles, and therelore they* must be extracted 
from the soil. The total amount ot these inor- 
ganic substances taken from one acre ot ground 
yielding 25 bushels of wheat, and including the 
straw, as it is usually cut by the cradle, is 120 
pounds. Three-fourths of this is silica, which 
is rendered soluble by the alkalies, potash, soda 
and lime, thus showing the great importance of 
these substances in soils producing wheat. 
Prac. Far. Well, I declare I didnotknow 
that wheat had so many things in it. I always 
Uwushli\\a.\. wheat grew out ot the ground, and 
got its food from the vegetable manure that wa^ 
contained in it, or was pul there by the f rmer. 
Science. Wei!, friend, you knew before by 
sad experience, that vegetable manure alone, 
would not raise v'heat ; for you say that when 
you put manure on your land, your wheat all 
went to straw, which was so weak that it fell 
down fiat on the ground, and had no berry in the 
heads; and when you sowed your wheat with- 
out manure, it was struck with the rust, and the 
grain shrivelled so that you got no more than 
hall a crop. Now you see that this book has 
told you some things that yru did not know be- 
fore, and which perhaps you never would have 
toundontby your own efforts, without calling 
in the aid of science. 
Ptac. Far. Well, if the wheat plant contains 
all these substances, and they are all extracted 
from the soil, how are we practical farmers to 
know when they are not present in the soil? 
and above all, how are we obtain all this pot- 
ash, and soda, and lime, and flint, and sulphu- 
ric acid, and phosphoric acid? 
Science. The failure ot your wheat ciop for 
a series of years is pretty good evidence that 
snwieof these substances are wanting in the soil, 
but it will not decide which. The only way to 
determine which one of the foregoing substan- 
ces may be wanting, is to call in the aid of sci- 
ence, and have a correct analysis of the soil 
maae. But, nevertheless, by the nature of the 
disease that affects the crops, we may be able to 
judge more correctly of the substance that may 
be wanting. When the straw is weak and not 
able to stand erect, it may be certain that the 
alkalies are wanting to produce the silicates 
which are deposited in the stem, to give it 
strength and firmness. This book, however, 
will tell what substances you must procure and 
apply to the land, which will supply the ingre- 
dients contained in the wheat plant. 
Prac. Far. I should like to hear something 
more about these matters. 
Science. This book gives an account of the 
component ingredients of wood ashes. It says 
that “ ashes always consists of a mixture in va- 
riable proportions of carbonates, silicates, sul- 
phates and phosphorates ot potash, soda, lime 
atid mo-gnesia, with certain other substances 
present in smaller quantity, yet more or less ne- 
cessary, it may be presumed, to vegetable 
growth.” “ But they contain also, a greater or 
less quantity of imperfectly burned carbona- 
ceous matter,” or charcoal. Here you will per- 
ceive that you have nearly all the substances at 
once, of which the wheat plant consists. It 
would seem then, that if ashes be mixed with 
the soil it will supply the greater part of the 
substance of wheat. Did you ever think of this 
before ? 
Pra,c. Far. I have heard it casually remark- 
ed that ashes were useful, sowed upon wheat, 
but I never gave the subject much reflection, 
and therefore it did not strike me very forcibly. 
But does your book tell anything about the ac- 
tion of lime ? I feel somewhat anxious to 
know this, for I have limestone on my farm and 
I have a mind to try it. 
Science. Yes, this book gives an interesting 
account of the beneficial action of lime upon 
soils, and sums up its conclusions as follows ; 
‘‘ Lime improves the quality of almost every 
cultivated crop.” 
‘‘ It supplies a kind of inorganic food, which 
appears to be necessary to the healthy growth 
of all cultivated plants. 
“ It neutralizes acid substances which are 
naturally found in the soil, and decomposes or 
renders harmless other noxious compounds, 
which are not unfrequently within the reach of 
plants. 
“It changes the inert vegetable matter in the 
soil, so as gradually to render it useful to vege- 
tation.” 
Prac. P'ar. It appears then, that lime is use- 
ful to vegetation in other respects than in fur- 
nishing this ingredient to the plant. 
Science. There are a variety ol other sub- 
stances described in this book which are useful- 
ly applied to vegetation, both in ameliorating 
the soil and in furnishing specific substances to 
the growing crops. But it will detain you too 
long, [ am afraid, to read all of these to you now. 
Prac. Far. That must be a good book fo' 
farmers, I should think. What is the price of 
it? Where did you get it? I will certainly 
have to get me one. 
Science. It mav be had at most ot the 
book stores in the State for a few shillings, and 
the title ol it is. Lectures on Agricultural Che- 
mistrv and Geology, by James F. W, Johnston, 
Alt. Talbot, Champ. Co., 1845. D. L. 
Symphytum or Comtrey. 
From the Genesee Farmer. 
In searching for aids in a new self-supporting 
system ot general and liberal education, espe- 
cially in the physical and dietetic departments, 
I was led, some ten years ago, to commence a 
series of experiments upon this vegetable; the 
interesting results of which 1 began, in Sep- 
tember, 1842, to communicate publicly in my na- 
tive eastern region. This, for the public benefit, 
I wish still to do, as opportunity shall be offered. 
I have found this article truly of rare value ; 
the herb made into hay for cat tie, and the woi 
dried and ground to flour for man. 
