44 
WHAT ARE THE MOST ECONOMICAL MANURES? 
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
W e thought at first on reading over the follow¬ 
ing article, that we would divide it into two num¬ 
bers, but the subject is so important a one, and it 
is so clearly and ably treated by the writer, that 
we have concluded to give it entire at once. Ma-' 
nure on Long Island, and in fact in all this neigh¬ 
borhood, costs the farmers, on an average of $15 
to $20 per acre, when not produced on the land 
where wanted, and on gardens and nurseries it 
frequently costs $100 an acre; it will be seen, 
therefore, that it is a very important subject of 
consideration to all who wish to increase the fer¬ 
tility of their soil. The quotation from - Mr. Clark 
shows, that when land is not too dear, it isTmuch 
the cheapest method to grow the manures neces¬ 
sary for its fertilization immediately upon it; yet 
at the same time, everything within reach, at a 
reasonable cost of money or labor, ought to be 
carefully gathered up and applied. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
WHAT ARE THE MOST ECONOMICAL MANURES ? 
It is obviously the first duty of the agriculturist 
to bring his land into the highest condition for cul¬ 
tivation. It costs no more to plough, to harrow, 
to sow or plant, to hoe or cultivate, an acre that 
dred of potatoes, or a thousand of beets, turneps, or j 
other roots, than to perform the same operations j 
on land that will yield but one third as much. It 
is sufficiently manifest, then, without the trouble 
of stating the'proof on which it rests, that of two 
persons who are carrying on the operations, of 
farming under nearly the same advantages of mar¬ 
kets, cost of labor, and original price of land, the 
one who gets the large crops, if they are obtained 
without too great an outlay for manures, can be 
making a fortune, while the other is losing one. 
The great importance of this subject, and the nu¬ 
merous circumstances which suggest variations in 
the system of enriching land, to adapt it to the lo- j 
cation, means, facilities, &c., is a sufficient reason 
for calling the attention to it frequently. 
The system of fallowing, which has the sanction 
of all past ages, and, till within a few years, the 
approbation of some of the leading agriculturists 
of modern times, seems now, by common consent, 
to be utterly Exploded by all intelligent minds. I 
shall content myself by stating a single objection, 
as it is more than equivalent to all its advantages, 
even if five times as great as claimed; and this is 
the loss of the crops that might have been raised 
on it while lying idle. The object of fallowing is 
variously stated by its advocates, but, after the ex¬ 
termination of weeds and obnoxious grasses, they 
all resolve themselves into one. “ Rest, renovation, 
tired of crops,” and all the other phrases applied 
to soil, in rational language, imply simply, that 
there are certain constituent principles in soils 
which are absolutely, and invariably essential t® 
the production of any given crop; and that one or 
more of these principles, in such condition as to be 
available to the growing crop, have become ex¬ 
hausted, or exist in- such limited quantity, as to 
yield the farmer but a small return for his seeds 
and attention. 
Soils have no whims or caprice - to gratify; no 
favors or aversions to consult, but are, everywhere 
and under all circumstances, governed by fixed, 
j uniform, and rational laws; and, under precisely 
j the same circumstances of climate, season, mois- 
! ture, and freedom from enemies and disease, if 
! they contain the same elements and in the same 
I proportions, they will with the same seeds and 
j treatment, produce exactly alike. When we find, 
j therefore, that land, which has once borne good 
crops, has subsequently failed in producing them, 
if ail the other circumstances are similar, ive know 
that some of the elements essential to vegetation 
have been exhausted to such extent as to require 
renewal. By adding manures of the right kind, 
j we give to the sqil the principle in which it was 
■ deficient, and which makes it once more to return 
i its grateful crops to the husbandman. If denied it 
from this source, like a faithful servant, it will task 
all its powers, for a renewal of its wasted energies; 
J but this it can only do in a state of. rest. In this 
! condition, acted on by the atmosphere and the 
moisture derived from if, in the various forms of 
dew, and rain, and snow; under the modifying 
and energetic influences of frost and heat, light arid 
! electricity—the last, though unseen and but little 
! heeded, being undoubtedly the great element of 
change; such modifications of the original prin¬ 
ciples of soils take place, such new developments 
and combinations from the alumina, silex, lime, 
soda, sulphur, potash, phosphorus, and all the 
other ingredients composing it, together with such 
additions from the atmosphere, as enable it soon 
to renew again its accustomed burdens. 
Now all these various objects, can be accom¬ 
plished, and much more rapidiy, while clothed with 
vegetation, as this is an additional element of 
-strength and effectiveness'superadded to all the 
other agents. The whole expanded surfac'e' of the 
growing plants, through every one of their myriads 
of absorbent vessels, invisible to the most power¬ 
ful microscope, is drawing in nutriment from the 
surrounding air—carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, 
and we know not how much more besides; and 
condensing it into a solid and useful substance; 
while its roots aid by.acting on the constituents 
of the soil with all the energy of vitality, to which 
even galvanic or electric force, or the intensity of 
a furnace heat, is but the infant’s compared 
with a giant’s mighty grasp, in detaching the in¬ 
timate, and otherwise almost inseparable earthy 
compounds. To give up vegetation as an agent 
for the renewal of fertility, is to relinquish the 
most powerful aid that can he found either in na¬ 
ture or art. The difficulty is not that it is insuf¬ 
ficient for the object required, but when matured, 
the temptation to rob the soil of its just dues, is 
too great to be successfully resisted by the- short¬ 
sighted cupidity of its owners. They kill the goose 
that lays the golden eggs; or, like the greedy dog, 
