234 
THE CULTURE OF TOBACCO.—NO. III. 
CULTURE OF TOBACCO—NO. III. 
Haying attained a suitable soil, which can not 
be supposed to have the highest porosity by me¬ 
chanical means, burning, or fallows, and the land 
being in a proper condition as respects drainage, 
the next object of the farmer is to secure the sec¬ 
ond indication— to hasten the solubility of its sa¬ 
line matters. In this part of my subject, I take 
for granted what I know to be the truth, that fair 
lands recently cleared, although unproductive, are 
yet well stored with the insoluble saline matters 
already pointed out. My remarks do not refer to 
such soils as are essentially deficient. 
This indication may be accomplished in several 
ways: 
1st. By liming. 
2d. By burning part of the surface-soil with 
lime in the kiln. 
3d. By incorporating vegetable matter in the 
soil. 
4th. By burning, if clay, and pulverizing. 
These processes are not all applicable to every 
soil. They are to be severally adopted as circum¬ 
stances will permit, and that the distinctive value 
or expediency of each may be understood, I will 
treat of them in a few words. 
Liming .—The action of this important agent on 
the soil is manifold ; it gradually liberates alkaline 
matters from their combinations with silica, ren¬ 
dering them soluble, and this is the principal action 
now under consideration. But by destroying the 
chemical union of the minerals of the soil, it en¬ 
ables the carbonic acid to act upon other saline 
bodies present. It produces mechanical disintegra¬ 
tion as well as chemical disunion, neutralizes acids, 
destroys insects, hastens the decomposition of ve¬ 
getable matter, and yields food for the plant itself 
—and in the case of tobacco this is no unimportant 
point. To dwell upon each of these heads would 
require more space than the limits of this paper. 
The one now prominently brought forward, is the 
property lime possesses of reducing insoluble min¬ 
erals, such as granite, felspar, &c., to the soluble 
condition, and which is the principal reason of its 
great power in amending poor lands, especially of 
primary and transition origin. 
The dose of lime must be liberal, at least 30 
bushels and upward per acre. It should be turned 
in to the depth of two or three inches, and applied 
as fresh slaked as possible some time before the 
crop. 
As respects this property of lime, shell-marl will 
not replace it on the farm, although it likewise 
possesses the same action in a very diminished de¬ 
gree. If burnt, however, it will answer, in much 
larger quantities. Another reason why I recom¬ 
mend lime, is, that it forms a very large propor¬ 
tion of the ashes of the tobacco-plant; indeed, this 
substance is capable of entirely replacing potash in 
the structure of the plant. In the analysis given 
in my former paper there are 51.38 parts of the 
salts of lime in 100 of the ashes of tobacco from the 
Havana ; but in the researches of Berthier upon 
six specimens from Europe, the United States, and 
Cuba, the quantity of lime was very little in pro¬ 
portion to the potash salts. This truth may be 
surprising to those who have read only the first 
work of Liebig on agricultural chemistry, wherein 
he makes potash the indispensible to fertility. 
But in chemistry it is a well-established fact, that 
one mineral substance may replace another with¬ 
out detriment to the form of the resulting body. 
This is termed isomorphism. In plants, the in¬ 
organic substances are present for various purposes; 
among others, they are of importance in determin¬ 
ing the form or figure of parts, as well as in neu¬ 
tralizing acid substances, produced during vegeta¬ 
tion, which require to be changed, such as oxalic, 
malic and other acids; and in tobacco the lime is 
in part united with malic acid to this end. Lime 
is not under ordinary circumstances, or in every 
case a substitute for potash; but the hydrate of 
lime is isomorphous with potash and soda. In 
wheat and grasses, lime can not replace the alkali, 
for it does not form soluble compounds with silica, 
which are essential to gramineous plants. But in 
tobacco, there is no silicates of potash worthy of re¬ 
mark, and lime is therefore capable, and does act, as 
a partial substitute for potash. This fact is of grea* 
consequence to the farmer who designs improving 
his neglected fields, for tobacco, and it will be bet¬ 
ter received when I add that in this respect marl or 
crushed lime-stone will answer as well as burnt 
lime. 
2 d. The second means recommended, the burning 
of some portion of the surface soil with lime in the 
kiln, is applicable only where that soil is rich in 
mineral silicates (granite, felspar, mica, clays,) and 
not when the soil is sandy or calcareous. It ac¬ 
complishes the solubility of the mineral in the kiln, 
so that it is equal to direct manuring. Care must 
be taken, however, that the lime is in such excess 
as not to produce hard slags. 
3d. The third method of increasing the solution 
of the valuable saline matters of the soil, is, by the 
addition of organic matters. This is the method 
which practical men have fallen upon for ages, 
and is directly followed from the operations of na¬ 
ture herself. The fact that new lands, laden with 
the accumulated leaves of ages, are fertile; while 
those tracts that have been cropped until destitute 
of vegetable matter, are commonly unfruitful, must 
have been observed from the remotest antiquity; 
and without further inquiry, must have suggested 
the restitution of vegetable matter as an improve¬ 
ment of land. I have already explained in my 
first paper how organic matter acts. It is neces¬ 
sary to observe in this place, that unless decay is 
freely going on, the action of the vegetable matter 
is impeded, or arrested. If the soil is wet or re¬ 
tentive of water, that kind of decomposition which 
yields carbonic acid (eremacausis) does not take 
place, but a putrefactive process, which is unser¬ 
viceable in effecting the object under consideration. 
The value of organic matter in rendering mineral 
matter soluble, depends upon the dryness of the 
soil, the free access of air, temperature, and the 
rapidity of decay. The fertile plains of Patna in 
India, which yield the nitre of commerce, are rich 
in vegetable matter, which acting on the minerals 
of the soil release immense quantities of alkalies 
and lime. 
Vegetable matter may be added to the soil in 
various forms—stable manure, peat, muck, weeds. 
