VoL. L 
AUGUSTA, Ga., 3IAY 10, 1813 
INo. 10, 
MR. FOOTE’S PRIZE ESS.W. 
(Continued from page 66.) 
A FLNDA.MENTAL PRINCIPLE. 
What has now been advanced will make ap- 
parent, if the writer has not failed of his object, 
the importance of what he deems a very lunda- 
mental principle in the application of manures, 
viz: that not only in the quantity and kind, but 
m the mode ol their application also, manures 
shnuUl always be adapted to the jKciUiar character 
and cantiitiem of the soil. This general principle, 
in its relation to the nutritive manures, may be 
reduced, by way of detail, to a number ol highly 
practical liiles, the most irapoitant of which are 
the following: 
RULES FOR THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 
1. The smaller the quantity of organic mat- 
ter in the soil, the greater should be the quanti- 
ty of manure applied, and vice versa. 
A light dressing of manure on an e.xhausted 
soil, and a heavy one on a soil already stored 
with nutritive matter, would be alike injudi- 
cious: the former being insulBcient, not only to ■ 
give a permanent fertility to the soil, but even 
to make the present crop a remunerating one, 
and the latter having no immediate office to 
perform — the crop to which it is given being al- 
ready supplied wjth appropi iate food,. 
2. The heavier, moisler and colder the soil, 
the lighter, drier and warmer should he the ma- 
nures applied; as horse and sheep dung in an 
unfermented state. 
“Animal manures develope more or less heat, 
according to their nature and their state of fer- 
mentation; those which have not been decom- 
po.sed excite more heat and maintain it for a 
longer time than others. The excrements of 
the horse and sheep are more heating in their 
action than those of the cow; the black or brown 
manures warm the soil more than marl or 
chalk.” Chaptal, p. 37. 
3. The lighter, drier and warmer the soil the 
heavier, moister and less heating may be the 
manures. The liability ol light soils to suffer 
from drought, should lead the farmer, not only 
to exercise great care in selecting the most suit- 
able manures, but to see that they are thorough- 
ly incorporated with the soil, and not left in 
masses to increa.se the evil. Moderate quanti- 
ties ol either animal or vegetable matter, if pro- 
perly blended with the soil, will promote its 
moisture, by increasing its power ol absorption; 
but if applied in excess, or left in considerable 
mas-scs, the opposite effect will be produced — 
The same considerations should have their 
weight in relation to the kind and quantity of 
manure used (if any) in the hill, for hoed crops. 
4. The more porous the soil, having a loose 
subsoil, the nearer the surface should the ma- 
nures be deposited, to avoid infiltralion. 
We must beware, however, that while we 
draw one foot from the water, we do not thruSt 
the other in the fire. If, on one hand, by plac- 
ing our manure.s too deep in the soil, we .•iiifler 
loss from infiltration, so, on the other, by leav- 
ing them upon the surface, we shall find our- 
.selves lo.sers by evaporation, though, perhaps to 
a less extent. The true practice would be to 
give them just that covering, w'hich, while it 
would protect them from the more direct action 
of the atmosphere, would at the same time keep 
them longest within reach of the roots of the 
plants. 
5. The more impervious the soil, having a 
compact subsoil, the4eeper and more intimate- 
ly should the manures be incorporated, to pro- 
mote the freer action ol the sun and air upon 
the soil, to render it easier of cultivation, to se- 
cure a w ider range for the roots of the jilants, 
and to prev'ent excessive moisture in wet, and 
drought in dry weather. 
The common airj which is to a great exlent 
excluded from soils ol the kind now under con- 
sideration, exerts a most poweiful agency in 
promoting vegetation, and that in various ways: 
1. By imparting to the soil the temperature of 
the atmosphere; 2d. By lumishing nutritive 
principles from the decomposition of its own 
constituents; 3d. By serving as a medium for 
the introduction into the organs of plants their 
appropriate ajiraents; and 4th. By conveying to 
the roots of the plants, the various fertilising 
matters contained in the dews which it deposites 
on the surface of ihe earth. Says Chaptal, 
(p. 33,) “That earth which is most ea.sjjy aflect- 
ed by the dew.s, yields most readily to the a:tion 
of the roots, whether it be to fix the plants firm- 
ly by their extension, or to draw from the soil its 
nutritive properties.” 
6. On soils disproportionately silieious, or 
calcareous, manures should be applied in com- 
bination with clay, or argillaceous loam, to in- 
crease the retentiveness of the soil, by giving it 
a stronger texture. 
The presence of a certain degree of moisture 
which is not always possessed by soils of this 
description, is nece.ssarj', 1. To excite, by the 
oxygen which it contains, the vital energies ol 
the plant; 2. By its solvent properties to aid in 
decomposing the vegetable matters in the soil, 
and 3. To dilute, to the requisite degree, the 
food ihus prepared for the plants, and help con- 
vey it to their delicate organs. “It is generally 
considered,” says Johnston, (Agricultural Che- 
mistry, p. 78,) “that solid substances of every 
kind are unfit for being taken up by the organs 
of plants, and that only such as are in the liquid 
or gaseous state, can be absorbed by the minute 
ves.sels of which the cell ulai substances of the 
roots and leaves of the plants are composed. 
7. On soils disproportionately argillaceous, 
manures should be applied in combination with 
silieious or calcareous matter, to increase its 
permeability and thus make it more friable, 
1 raise its temperature, and secure to a greater de- 
j gree the beneficial influence of the atmosphere. 
To be convinced of the importance of perme- 
I ability, or loo.seness of texture to the .soil, we 
1 need but reflect for a moment that plants are 
I not permitted, like animals, to roam abroad in 
I quest of their food, the invariable limits of 
I their pasturage being the extremes of their roots, 
i How obviously nece.s.sar>' then, that they should 
j be enabled to extend their roots with the utmost 
freedom, and lay under contribution, without 
! impediment, whatever elements can yield them 
I su^istence. 
' 8. On positively wet soil the application of 
: manure should, in every case, be preceded by 
thorough draining. 
“Whatever wrter i.s convened into steam, the 
ascending vapor carries off much heat along 
with it. Let two adjoining field* be wet or 
; moist in different degrees, that which is wettest 
will almost at all times give off the largest 
I quantity of vapor, and will therefore be the 
! coldest. What is the remedy! A removal of 
the excess of water! And how! By effectual 
draining. The first efl'ect upon the soil is the 
same as if you were to place it in a warmer 
climate, and under a milder sky, where it couM 
bring to maturity other fruits and yield more 
certain crops.” Johnston, p. ffl. 
“If the water is withdrawn from a mai'sh, free 
access is given to the air, and the mar.sh becomes 
a fruitful meadow." Liebig, p. lltJ. 
To the elevation of the temperature of cold, 
wet soils, too much importance can hardly be 
attached. “The solvent power of water over 
solid substances, is increased by an elevation of 
temperature. To this fact is a.scribed, among 
other causes, the peculiar character of t;;e ve- 
getable products, as their extraordinary luxuri- 
ance, in tropical countries. Johnston, p. IH. 
“Warmth renders the sap fluid, and quicken* 
its circulation; cold thickens it and rent ers it 
stagnant. It is heal alone, that by animating 
the vegetable organ.*, enables the plant to elabo- 
rate within itself the nouri.*hment which it re- 
ceives.” Chaptal, p. 3G and 102. 
ADDITIONAL RCLES. 
The relation of manure to the roots of plants 
and the peculiar aciion of manures on diflerent 
plants and on different classes of cro) .*, give 
rise to the following additional rules. 
9. The deeper the roots of any plant penetrate 
the earth, the deeper should the manures be de- 
posited; and the more superficial the roots of any 
plant, the nearer the surface should they be 
lodg^ 
The mouths of plants being unifomily placed 
at the extremes of their roots, the noces.*ity is 
obvious, that in order to derive from them the 
benefits intended, the substances employed a» 
manure should be distributed in the soil, with 
some regard, at least, to the extension and posi- 
tion of these roots. That .system which sliould 
lead the faro er to prepare in the same manner 
a patch of giound for stra wberry plants, whose 
creeping roots .scarce penetrate beneath the .sur- 
face, and another for parsnips, which have l»een 
known to strike their rooLs to the pernendicula. 
depth of six feet, would be indeed ridiculous. 
10. The quantity and quality of manure 
.should be carefully adapted to the character of 
the plant cultivated, as being a great or small 
consumer, and as having a special nartialiiy for 
a particular constitution of soil, or f >r a parti- 
cular kind of nutritive principles. 
Some species of plant*, as Indian com, for 
instance, are well known to demand a suppl}' ol 
food which would surfeit and destroy the more 
delicate grain.*; some thrive luxuriantly in cold 
and wet, and others in warm and dn' soils, to 
which an exchange of locality would prove .fa- 
tal; and .some, again, evince a natural appetite 
for the rank exhalations of fermenting manure', 
as those, in general, which have long tap root*, 
and large, fleshy stalks, while others prefer am- 
monia, as red and while clover, others lime, a.s 
potatoes and wheat; others common salt, as the 
asparagus plant, <S:c. 
11. ^S'henever manure is furnished to the 
.soil, the quantity applied should be amply sufl - 
cient to secure the lulle.*t developement, and 
most vigorous growth of the plants intended f* 
be cultivated. 
It is a most interesting and important discove- 
ry of modem science, that plants, through the 
agency of their leaves, derive no small propor- 
