34 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
liculture more attractive than formerl}'. Now 
the apjilicaiiun of science renders it an intellec- 
tual eiiij lo\ Oient j so that the laborer may im- 
piove his mind w hile improving his soil, and 
euliivate liis i.eart as well as his larm.” 
“'.Ve coiiClude onr extracts with the closing 
paragraphs ui tue address, in which a iijerited 
tribute 01 respect is paid to the late Correspond- 
ing Secretary ol the Society, Win. Lincoln, 
Esq. : 
“Geiitleuien of the Society; Your calling, 
imporiani as it is, should never be permitted to 
intcrlere with higher pursuits. I'liere is a cul- 
ture more important than that of the soil. The 
intellectual and moral field requires our utmost 
care. We are but plants, which rise and blos- 
sotft and decay. That ‘ all flesh is grass, and 
the goouliness tuereof is as the flower of the 
field,’ is lorcibly impressed upon us at this 
time,, by a recent instance of mortality among 
the officers of this Society. In the death of their 
late Corresponding Secretary, the Society has 
sustained a severe loss. Actively devoted to 
the cause in which you are engaged, he brought 
the treasures of his rich and well-cultivated 
mind, and laid them a willing offering at our 
feet. No duty was too arduous for him to per- 
form — no saciihce too great for him to make in 
the cause or agriculture. Attached to your So- 
ciety by s) mpathy, by long and active labor, he 
was one ot your most valuable members — 
among the most faithf ul of your ofiicers. No 
want of the Society ever escaped his attentions 
he pre-erved all her interests with a fostering 
care. His labors always contributed to the in- 
terest ol our exhibitions p and his presence on 
each reiuining anniversaiy, xvas hailed with 
joy by a laige circle of devoted friends. 
But the heart which was w'arm with every 
generous emotion, has ceased to beat. The 
tongue which could instruct or amuse us, is si- 
lent in dea'h. The place which he filled with 
so mu'.h honor to himself and profit to the So- 
eiet}', is now vacant. VVe .shall see our friend 
no more. But as long as courtesy and kind- 
ness are regarded withlavorj as long as talent 
and genius command our respect; as long as 
benevolence and generosity deserve our com- 
mendation, or industry and' fidelity are esteem- 
ed as virtues, the memory of Winr^rAM Lincoln 
will be cherished.” 
From ihe New Lnglancl Farmer. 
DANA’S PRIZE ESSAY ON MANURES. 
Extract from ike Report of the Cornrniltee appoint- 
ed by ihe 'Ti itstees of the Mass. Society for Rror 
motiug Agriculture, to award the Premium for 
the best Dissertation upon AJanureSf and their 
application to- the various Soils in this Common- 
wealth. 
The author ot the following Essay upon the 
application of Chemistry to Agriculture, is 
known to be one of the most scientific and best 
practical chemists of the country; a man of ge- 
nius; a gentleman, too, who has done more to 
advance the science of Chemistry as applied to 
Agriculture, than any other man in America. 
It is intended to be wTilten in plain language, 
such as most farmers can understand, if they 
give their attention to it. The principles laid 
down are generally such as are well established, 
and no longer doubtful. The great object, how- 
ever, of the Essay is, to bring into more general 
notice a theory, and a practice grov/ing out of it, 
suggested someyears sinpe by the author, which 
has received the sanction of'ome of our practi- 
cal farmers, who have tried it under his direc- 
ion. 
If the author is correct, common peat, xvhen 
mixed with soda, potash, or ammonia, in the 
proportions given by him, would be, on most 
sous, equal, as a lertilizer, to the common ma- 
nures used by the farmer. 
Should his views be herealter fully sustained 
by experiment, it will lead, we think, to the 
greatest improvement that has ever taken place 
in the Agriculture of the State. A cord of peat 
earth can often, with us in Massachusetts, beob- 
tained Irotn the meafiows, as easily as a cord of 
manure from the barn-cellar; and one dollai’s 
worth, or twenty pounds ol’soda ash, would, ac- 
cording to the author, make the one equal to the 
other. 
The theory on w hich the author founds this 
practice is, that potash or soda may be substi- 
tuted lor each other and foi ammonia in the 
compoit heap, without detriment. To this theo- 
ry we cannot, at present, subscribe. But wheth- 
er tiiey adopt this theory of the author’s or not, 
most ol our farmers who may read this- Essay, 
wdll, we believe, receive bolli profit and pleasure 
from the perusal. 
We therefore recommend, that the Society’s 
premium of Oiie Hundred Dolla^rs, be given to 
Dr. Samuel L. Dana, for the best Disseitat’on 
upon Manures, and their application to the va- 
rious soils of this Commonwealth. 
ESSAY", 
SECTION FIRST, 
Clearing and Brcahing up, and making Compost. 
There is one thing settled in iarvning— stable 
manure never fails, ll always tells. There are 
■no two ways about it. There is here neither 
theory, nor speculation, nor doubt, nor misgiv- 
ing. “ Muck itw-ell, master, and it wdll come 
right,” is an old proverb. It isconsidered a fact 
so well established, that nobody thinks ofdispat- 
ing it. There is advantage in asking ivhy barn- 
yard manure never fails. The answer is easy : 
It contains all that plants need for their growth. 
If we know, then, what plants contain, we can 
easily tell what is in manure. The w'hole doc- 
trine of manures, then, fails into two plain prin- 
ciples, on w'hieh hang all the law and the '■frro- 
fls” of agriculture. 
1. Plants contain and need certain substanc- 
es which are essential to their growth. 
2. Manure contains all those substances 
which plants want. 
If, then, we would find out what it is which 
manure contains that makes plants grow-, we 
must first find out what a grown plant contains. 
This cannot be done w’lthout some little, a very 
little, knowledge of chemistry. Do not be star- 
tled, reader. I suppose that you may know’ 
nothing ot chemistry — no, not even its terms. — 
As a\eiy sensible man, who wrote letters on 
Botany to a young lad}", said, to encourage his 
pupil, it was possible to be a very good botanist 
without^ knowing one plant by name, so is it 
possible to become a very good agrieuitural 
chemist without knowing little more than the 
chemical names of a very few’ substances. Yo.u 
know nothing of chemistry, it may be, and as 
little of law ; yet you will go to law, and learn 
some of its terms by a dear-bought experience. 
The law terms are harder to karn than the 
chemical terms. Now I fear that some persons 
who have followed me thus far, will shut up the 
book. It is, they say, all stuff, book-farming, 
and beyond us. If one may not understand 
what manure is without this learning, we may 
as well begin where our fathers ended, and that 
was where our forefathers began ages ago. By 
a little law, bow’ever, picked up as a juryman, 
or w’itness, selectman, town-clerk, justice of the 
peace — yea, perhaps, by hearing an indictment 
read— men do come to understand what a law- 
yer means w'hen he talks. So, too, by a little 
chemical talk, a man may learn what a chemist 
means when he talks of oxygen, hydrogen, ni- 
trogen, ehlo; ine, and carbon ; potash, soda, lime 
— (all these are old friends ; the very names 
make us feel at home again) — alumina, magne- 
sia, iron, manganese, and silex, sulphur, and 
phosphorus. Here is a long list. Long as it 
is, perhaps it will be thought worth learning, 
when you are told that these are the names of 
all the substances found in plants — every sub- 
stance which they w’ant. Out of these is made 
every plant. Every part of every plant, from 
the hyssop on the wall to the mountain cedar, 
contains some or all of these. Be not disheart- 
ened. Look over, reader, the list again careful- 
ly; see how many are old names of things which 
you know. Ot the fourteen, you know nearly 
one half by name apd by natufe. These are, 
potash, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, sulphur. 
Perhaps you will add, that you know carbon i& 
coal, or rather coal carbon. You have heard, 
from some travelliag lecturer at your town ly- 
ceum, that oxygen and hydrogen together form 
water; that oxygen and nitrogen form the air 
you breathe ; that nitrogen and hydrogen form 
ammonia, or sal volatile, which gives the sharp 
smell to the smelling-bottle. Besides, the thing 
has been said so olten, that youmust have beard 
it, that chlorine, the substance which bleaches 
in bleaching salts, united to soda, makes com- 
mon salt, or if chlorine is united to ammonia, 
sal ammoniac is formed. Now, by changes 
and combinations among these fourteen things, 
nature makes every thing we find in plants. 
Many ol these are invisible to ns, as is the air. 
The substance called chlorine, perhaps you 
have never seen, but if you ever smelt it you 
will never forget it. It is often smelt in a piece 
of bleached cotton, when opened in the shops. 
It gives the smell to bleaching powder, used to 
disinfect the air during cholera and other dis- 
eases. It you could see it, it would appear 
merely a feint yellowish green air. It is alL 
powerful on vegetation. As it forms a part of 
common salt, say half of itsweight, we may dis- 
miss the further consideration of it by saying, 
that, in some shape or other, chlorine is univer- 
sally diffused in soil and plants. 
The list above may be divided as follows : 
first, the airy or volatile ; secondly, the earths 
and metals ; thirdly, the alkalies ; fourthly, the 
inflammables. Only the third and fourth divis- 
ions require to be explained or defined. The 
substances called potash and soda, are termed 
alkalies. They are said to have alkaline pro- 
perties. Touch your tongue with a bit of quick 
lime, it has a hot, burning, bitter taste. These 
are called alkaline properties, llesides these, 
they have the power of combining with, and 
taking the sour out of, all sour liquids or acids 
— that is, the acid and the alkali neutralize each 
other, i'his word alkali is of Arabic origin : 
its very name shows one ol the properties of al- 
kalies. “ Kali” is the Arabic word for bitter, 
and “ al” is like onr word super — we say fine 
and superfine; so kali is bitter; alkali, superla- 
tively bitter; or, truly alkali means the “dregs 
of bitterness.” 
I wish, reader, for your own sake, as well as 
my own, that you should fix in your mind what 
I have said about alkali and alkaline proper- 
ties. Alkali is a g' neral term. It includes all 
those substances which have an action like the 
ley of wood ashes, which you use for soap- 
making. If this ley is boiled down dry, yot$ 
know it lorras potash. Now lime, fresh slaked, 
has the alkaline properties of potash, but weak- 
er, and so has the calcined magnesia of the 
shops, but in less degree than lime. Here we 
have two substances, earthy in their look, hav- 
ing alkaline properties. They are called, there- 
fore, alkaline earths. But what we understand 
chiefly by the term alkalies, means potash, so- 
da, and ammonia. Potash is the alkali ol land 
plants ; soda is the alkali of sea plants ; and am- 
monia is the alkali of animal substances. Pot- 
ash and soda are fixed, that is, not easily raised 
in vapor by fire. Ammonia always exists as 
vapor, unless fixed by something else. Hence, 
we have a distinction among alkalies which is 
easily remembered. This distinction is found- 
ed on the source from which they are procured, 
and upon their nature when heated. Potash is 
vegetable alkali, deiived from land plants; soda 
is marine alkali, derived from sea plants; am- 
monia is animal alkali, derived irom animal 
substances. 
Potash and soda are fixed alkalies; ammonia 
is a volatile alkali. Potash makes soft soap 
with grease, and soda forms hard soap. Amrnt^ 
nia forms neither hard nor soft it makes with 
oil a kind of ointment used to rub a sore throat 
with under the name of volatile liniment. But 
though there be these three alkalies, and two al- 
kaline earths, 1 want you to fix in your mind, 
reader, that they all have common properties, 
called’ alkaline, and which will enable you to 
