TOO MUCH LAND. 
835 
and other rubbish, or the introduction of fallow- 
crops. Of these the fallowing of clover is the most 
economical and serviceable. It should be turned in 
to the depth of four inches at least,when in head, but 
before the expansion of the florets. At this time 
the greatest amount of organic matter is present 
in the plant. 
4th. By burning day, and pulverizing the soil. 
The action of these processes has been partly ex¬ 
plained. The pulverization of the soil increases 
its porosity and extent of surface, and more rain¬ 
water and atmospheric air are retained—these act 
so far as they contain carbonic acid in rendering 
silicates, phosphates, and the carbonates of lime 
and magnesia soluble. The burning of day with 
this view is of the first importance in agriculture. 
Barren clay, according to the ideas of farmers, even 
pipe-clay, that tough unmanagable substance so 
perplexing to the husbandman of primitive and 
transition countries, becomes remarkably fertile by 
being burnt and reduced into coarse powder. If 
any planter has practised, or shall be induced to 
burn a few loads of clay, he will understand the 
reason of its acquired fertility by observing the 
phenomena that appear under certain circumstan¬ 
ces. Let a parcel of burnt clay remain in the field 
exposed to the air and rain ; moreover, let it remain 
on such a spot that a little water is held so as to 
keep the heap moist for a week or two—if now 
dry weather arives, as soon as the clay dries at the 
summit, an efflorescence of saline matter will be 
seen, which increases with the drought, until the 
whole heap is frosted over with minute white 
crystals. This phenomenon is familiar to the 
farmers of England and Ireland. It may be seen 
upon the bricks of our town-houses in such places 
as are continually moist, and is due to the differ¬ 
ence made on clay by burning; for raw clay, ex¬ 
posed for ever, will exhibit no such efflorescence. 
As the burning of clay in America is not yet prac¬ 
tised ; as it is accomplished with great ease, re¬ 
quires no previous instruction, and can be trusted 
to slaves in the very outset; as the wood of our 
forests is wasted in large quantities, and might be 
used for this purpose; as every charcoal kiln may 
be made to yield numerous loads of this valuable 
article; as the materials are at home, and as it is 
one of the most valuable means of redeeming old 
lands and maintaining the fertility of new tracts, I 
wish particularly to urge it upon the attention of 
planters and farmers. With this view I shall 
make further observations on the subject to explain 
the nature of the phenomenon before mentioned. 
As long as common clay is in the natural state, it 
represents a mineral, having a chemical composi¬ 
tion of so stable a character, that it will remain 
for hundreds of centuries unchanged, from any 
cause within itself; but by the addition of heat, the 
proportionate combinations of silica, alumina, pot¬ 
ash, &e., which it contains, are altered, and instead 
of one mineral containing many constituents group¬ 
ed together, it is reduced to a series of distinct 
silicates, which are acted upon by reagents differ¬ 
ently from the complex mineral. As" far as the 
alumina is concerned, it is rendered more fixed, 
more insoluble and persistent; but the potash, 
losing a portion of its silicic acid, allows itself 
to be acted upon freely by the carbonic acid of 
water. In the same way, if soda, or other sub¬ 
stances be incorporated in the mineral, they are 
loosened from their affinities to a greater or less 
extent. Hence, if the saline efflorescence be chem¬ 
ically examined, it will be found to contain potash, 
soda, and other substances, the two alkalies as 
carbonates for the most part. 
On this topic, I beg to st&te, that I possess prac- 
tical knowledge, and therefore urge it forcibly, be¬ 
cause I know that it will ameliorate many tracts 
at present doomed to hopeless barrenness. If they 
are clay, I can promise, with the land-owners of 
Roothings, who have practised burning for upward 
of 30 years, that it will increase the value of even 
good meadows 25 per cent., and barren clays at 
least a thousand per cent. It is an improvement 
calculated for the’tobacco counties of Virginia, 
known to me, by a residence of six years in that 
state. It is an improvement adapted to poor worn 
soils, and nearly approaches lime in this respect. 
The expense is trifling, and in old fields where 
pine brush is abundant, may be considered a gain. 
The amount burnt can not be too great, in rich 
meadows 130 to 150 square yards per acre is used, 
but larger quantities would be required for barren 
land. The clay should be dry, and as pulverulent 
as possible when piled upon the brush-wood, and 
be burnt until it falls into a coarse powder. If 
heaps are made every five or six yards, the ashes 
are easily spread. It is to be used as a top-dressing, 
after the land is loosened as much as possible. 
Success in this practice is not to be expected if it 
is made the only means of improvement at first, or 
if the process is carelessly managed. 
D. P. Gardner, 
Lecturer on Agricultural Chemistry. 
New Yorh, June , 1844. 
TOO MUCH LAND. 
During a recent excursion in this, and some of 
the New England states, I was struck with the 
comparative sterility of land which might by 
proper cultivation become “ the garden of the 
world.” Instead of seeing fields of wheat bearing 
30 bushels to the acre, we find scarcely 12 to 15 is 
the yield; where two tons of hay should be cut, 
hardly one is the product; where thriving fruit- 
trees might be expected, bending beneath the 
weight of their delicious fruit, our eyes are pained 
by the sight of gnarled, stunted, and half-dead 
trees, scarcely able to sustain the life of the few 
curled-up leaves that come forth as if to reproach 
their owners by the sight of their consumptive ap¬ 
pearance. If they had tongues to speak, how bit¬ 
terly would they complain of their treatment. Is 
it because nature is so miserly that she does not 
reward man for the labor he bestows on her, or be¬ 
cause man will not let her yield a bountiful supply 
in reward for his labor ? What is the cause of this 
sterility, and the complaints of the farmers that they 
can not make a living, though they have hundreds 
of acres at their command ? It is evident the 
fault is with themselves. They attempt the culti¬ 
vation of too much land l 
