100 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
as is ol'ten lound in some stagnant “puddle,” or 
pond-hole. Several patents have been taken 
out in this and other countries, for peculiar 
modes of mixing these material.-, but they can- 
not be very valuable to tlie inventors, for the ope- 
ration can be so varied that the same results 
can be obtained without following the same 
course that they do. 
'i’he main object in these cases i.®, to bring on 
decomposition, and the laws of nature, when all 
the requirements ot decomposition are at hand, 
will go on Slid produce this result without the 
aid of a patent right. These requisitions are — 
moisture, heat, and oxygen. The materia Is be- 
ing packed togeiher, are watered occasionally 
by the above named liquor, which is poured in- 
to holes made by a crow-bar into the mass, and 
in the course of two or three weeks the fermenta- 
tion has been so complete as to reduce the whole 
to a soluble manure. 
We will publish, ere long, Jauffret’s mode of 
preparing manure, according to his specification 
ol his mode, which was patented in England, as 
long ago as 1837. The ingenuity of the farmer 
will point out to him many expedients for bring- 
ing about the desired object of making compost, 
w’hich the particular circumstances of his situa- 
tion may require. He must bear in mind that 
one object is, to reduce vegetable and animal 
matter to a soluble state, and in a compost, ma- 
terials are put together in all stages and condi- 
tions, from that which is dry and inert, lo that 
which is already undergoing fermentation. A 
little experience will soon give a person an in- 
sight into the “rt/Ay and the cause.” 
From the Maidstone (Eng ) Gazette 
WASTEFUL MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. 
Some idea of this may be gained by analogy. 
Let us imagine that a farmer keeps three teams 
of horses, who consume, say two quarters of 
oats per week. Let the farmer give one quarter 
each week to the horses, and dispose of the oth- 
er quarter as follows ; — There may possibly be 
some ruts in the road leading to and from his 
farm-yard ; let him pour as many as possible ol 
the oats into every one of the horse-holes and 
ruts of this road, beginning at the gate of the 
yard, and proceeding to the nearest turnpike- 
road. There may seem much trouble in all this, 
but nothing valuable can ever be gained or done 
without trouble, and this experiment will proba- 
bly always be conclusive. Some farm-yards 
are nicely drained, and very frequently the 
drains run into the horse-pond. Let the farmer 
insist on one of his laborers (who may possibly 
have some prejudice aaainst it) pouring a good 
drill of oats into every drain that leads out ol the 
yard till it arrive.? at the pond, where he may 
throw in a bushel or so, and if the drain termin- 
ates, as drains sometimes do, on a hard road, 
let him leave a small heapofoatsin every black 
puddle. When he shall have done this, let him 
cause some of the oats to be scattered in every 
direction round his stable, and take every po.ssi- 
ble nrecaution so that the birds ot the air, the 
mice and rats of the field, the fishes of the (londs, 
and the creeping things of the earth, may come 
in for a share of the oats. The farmer’s neigh- 
bors mav call him mad, but let him not mind 
this. Ulysses was formerly called mad for sow- 
ing salt, but now many people sow salt who are 
considered sensible, and even clever. 
Let the enterprising improver keep persever- 
ingly on with this practice lor — say three weeks. 
On or about this period, the ribs of each of his 
three teams, when in single harness, will proba- 
bly form a very respectable representation of a 
park paling. At this point it is time to pause, 
and seriously ask himself the question, whether 
it is wise for a man actually to facilitate the 
waste and destruction ol produce which it has 
cost him much money to gain, and the econo- 
mical management ot which will produce more 
money. That which w'e have imagined it pos- 
sible for a farmer to do with his horse-food, is 
not a whit more unwise than the practice of 
some slovenly farmers w’ith respect to their ma- 
nures. What oats are to his horses, — manure, 
and especially the liquid and gaseous portions 
of manure, are to his fields. Every atom of 
earth which comes into contact wiih his dung, 
preserves for it some of its fertilizing virtues, 
yet he accumulates it in unpaved yards. Every 
breath ol air that passes over ii becomes the ve- 
hicle for carrying the volatile gases, in which 
plants delight, Irom the farmet’s dung-yard to 
everybody else’s field; yet he keeps it lor a year 
uncovered with mould. Every drop ol rain 
which falls from the heavens, dissolves some of 
its most valuable portions, and conveys it away 
to loss; yet the good man never dreams of sink- 
ing a tank, in order to preserve a substance — 
every pound of which, Liebig tells us, will suf- 
fice to grow a pound of wheat. Nothing can 
show more clearly than this national w'aste, the 
necessity of men being made acquainted with 
the laws of nature, which can never be trans- 
gressed with impunity ; which combine to ruin 
every man wno regards them not : whilst there 
is not one law amongst them which, if under- 
stood, may not be made the ready and willing 
instrument of his will. 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
The following principles are laid down by 
Chaptal lor a rotati m ol crops ; — 
I. All plants exhaust the soil. They are part- 
ly suppoited by the earth, the juices from which 
constitute an important part of their nourish- 
ment. 
II. All plants do not exhaust the soil equally. 
Air and water help nourish them; ditferent 
kinds ofplants require the same nourishment in 
aifierent degrees. 
HI. Plants of different kinds do not exhaust 
the soil in the same manner. Plants withspin- 
dle or tap roots, draw nouri.shment from layers 
of soil in contact with the lower part of the root, 
while those whose roots are spread near the sur- 
face, exhaust only that part ol the soil. 
I V. All plants do not restore to the soil either 
the same quantity or the same quality of ma- 
nure. The grains exhaust a soil the most, and 
repair the injury the least. "While some legu- 
minous plants restore to the soil a great portion 
of the juices they receive from it. 
Y. All plants do not foul the soil equally. 
Plants are saitl to foul the soil w'hen they pro- 
mote or permit the growth of weeds. Plants 
which have not large leaves fitted to cover the 
ground, foul the soil. 
From the above principles, the lollowing con- 
clusions have been drawn : 
1. That however well prepared the soil may 
be, it cannot nourish a long succession of crops 
without becoming exhausted. 
2. Each harvest impoverishes the soil to a 
certain extent, depending upon the degree of 
nourishment which it restores to the earth. 
3. The cultivation of spindle, or tap roots, 
ought to succeed that ol running and supeificial 
roots. 
4. It is ..ecessary to avoid returning too soon 
to the cultivation of the same, or analagous 
kinds of vegetables, in the same soil. 
5. It is unwise to allow tw’o kinds of plants, 
which admit of the ready growth of weeds 
among them, to be raised in succession. 
6. Those plants that derive their principal 
support from the soil, should not be sown ex- 
cepting when the soil is sufliciently provided 
with manure. 
7. When the soil exhibits symptoms of ex- 
haustion, from successive harvests, the cultiva- 
tion of those plants which restore most to the 
soil should be resorted to. 
From the American Farmer. 
CULTURE OF RUTA BAGA. 
If there be any of our readers who desire to 
raise a crop of Ruta Bagas for their sheep, we 
would remind them that it is now time to get 
them in. In the preparation of the soil, we 
would advise that it receive at least two plow- 
ings, and that the first be as deep as a strong 
team can make the plow penetrate the earth 
The manure should not be applied until just be- 
fore the second plowing. It should be plowed 
in bui a lew inches, say from 3 to 4. 1 he land 
should be thoroughly pulverized by lepeated 
harrowings, and then rolled. "W hen this is 
done, furrows should be traced either with the 
drill harrow or the corner ol the hoe, Nu: ih and 
South, an inch deep, and 27 inclies a.sonde.r 
Into these drills the seed should be either sown 
or drilled, and covered over with a compost 
made in the proportion ol 1 bushel of ashes, 1 of 
plaster, and 5 of well-rotted manure to the acre ; 
the seed in, and the compost spread iheieon, the 
drills should be raked over and the patch roll- 
ed. 
In the preparation of the seed, they should be 
soaked in a mixture of o 1 and sulphur for 12 
hours, then dried in plaster and sown as taken 
out ot the soak. 
When the plants first come up, they should be 
sprinkled with fish oil, by a mop, and have plas- 
ter sown over them early in the morning for 
several days in succession. W hen the roots be- 
gin to bottle, they should be thinned out so as to 
stand from 6 to 8 inches apart, and be hoed, 
without being hilled, sufficiently often to keep 
down weeds and keep the earth open uruil they 
be laid by. This can be accomplished at three 
hoeing.s, at intervals of a week or ten days 
apart. 
The soil best adapted to the grow th of this 
root is a sandy loam in good heart, and we will 
remark, that, to secure a good yield, manure 
must be liberallv dispensed to them; for, like 
every thing else of rapid grow'th, they require 
to be led well ; and that, in addition to the ani- 
mal manure which may be applied, ashes and 
lime should be added — a few bushels, sa\ five of 
each, will be sufficient, and wdli tend not only to 
increase the quantity but to improve the quality. 
Il practicable, ground bones should form a part 
of the mixture. 
Ot the eminent service, in the feeding of 
sheep, of the Ruta Baga, there is but one opin- 
ion. For in-lamb ewes, or those giving milk, 
they are invaluable; not only serving to main- 
tain the ewes in health and s'rength, but to in- 
crease their capacity for secreting milk and nurs- 
ing; two things of vast importance for the suc- 
cessful raising of their young. 
From the Maine Cultivator. 
PULVERIZING THE SOIL. 
It w'as the opinion of the celebrated Tull, that 
good crops might be produced from the same 
soil lor an indefinite period, simply by maintain- 
ing the earth in a finely pulverized state, in or- 
der Iha^he roots ot the gro iving crop might the 
more eWily expand in every direction in quest 
ol food ; and notwithstanding the lallacy of the 
theory, so far as it regards the efficacy of the 
mere act of ; ulverization without other physical 
means, no one can doubt the very great utility 
ol ihoroughlv refining the soil we intend to crop. 
A veiy large portion ot the fertility ol every soil 
is derived from the atmosphere, principally 
through the process denominated seiation, and 
by which it becomes impiegnated or imbued 
witn those fructifying gaseous agents, the ac- 
tion ol w'hich, under proper circumstances, and 
the laws ot a well balanced and regulaied econo- 
my, are sO indispensable in the primary devel- 
opment and final maturation of the plant. Of 
the many aerified and volatile substances imbib- 
ed by the soil, the most important, perhaps, and 
valuable, as regards its action upon vegetation, 
is ammoniacal gas; and which, being copious- 
ly evolved wherever large quantities ol animal 
manures are used, or permitted to ferment in a 
free atmosphere, is greedily absorbed by the 
.soil. Now the capacity of the soil to absorb 
this gas, depends upon its fineness, its porosity, 
and the minute pulverization or disintegration of 
the granules of w'hich it is coinposed. The 
more thoroughly this operation is pei formed, 
the more copious, of course, will be the influx 
of this fecundating gas, and the more permeable 
will the soil be to the roots by which i' is to be 
absorbed and taken up. It should ever be re- 
membered, that, other circumstances being 
similar the absorbent capacity oi the soil is 
precisely in the ratio of the surface exposed. 
