46 
PRESERVATION AND 
, I CATION OF MANURES.-NO. 2 . 
acquainted with the method of cultivation. The 
ground was laid out in trenches of 250 feet in length 
by 12 feet in breadth ; which were, however, after¬ 
wards reduced to one-half of those dimensions, as 
it appeared that the water lost its natural tempera¬ 
ture, and froze in the winter, by flowing over so 
large a surface. In a few years, after an expendi¬ 
ture of $16,000, there were 92,000 square feet 
under cultivation. It was no longer the cress clan¬ 
destinely gathered, often in flower, or run to seed, 
that was exposed for sale in the French metropolis. 
The cress of St. Leonard arrived, packed with a 
care to which the Parisians were strangers. Its 
freshness and purity were such, that the market- 
women, of their own accord, offered double the 
usual price before any demand had been made ; and, 
in testimony of their high satisfaction, feasted the 
journeyman cultivator who had come to superintend 
the sale, and the wagoner, and sent them home de¬ 
corated with ribbons and flowers. 
The French growers are particularly careful in 
warm weather, and guard the plants from exposure 
to the least storm, as they then turn yellow. They 
pack them in baskets, which contain from 25 to 30 
dozen of bunches, so arranged as to leave a circu¬ 
lar opening or chimney up the centre, which always 
remains empty. The baskets are then placed on 
rails fixed across a wagon, so as to permit a free 
current of air through all the openings ; and in the 
summer, before putting on the tilt, the whole are 
well watered, to preserve their freshness during the 
night, and they are delivered at the market early in 
the morning in the most perfect condition. The 
regular^ of the arrivals and constant freshness of 
the cress sent every day from the grounds of St. ! 
Leonard, not only insured the success of the scheme, 
but brought forward a host of competitors. M. 
Cardon’s German workmen left him to commence 
rival establishments ; and there are now in the en¬ 
virons of Paris 16 plantations, producing annually 
1,350,000 dozen of bunches, valued at $89,000 ; 
and, adding the charges of transport, and expenses 
of all the individuals employed in this branch of 
trade, which, a few years ago, had no existence, the 
sum actually circulated amounts to not less than 
$300,000 ! 
The culture of cress requires much attention and 
watchfulness, especially in winter, in which season, 
during a single night, a sharp frost may destroy a 
whole plantation, if too remote from the springs to 
retain their mild temperature. The ground is gene¬ 
rally laid out in parallel trenches, separated by 
small mounds, on which succulent vegetables may 
be grown. The bottom should be covered with 
several inches of sandy vegetable earth, perfectly 
level and equalized, so that the water may have a 
regular flow in every part. The months of March, 
April, of September, are the most favorable for putting 
in the plants, which are generally set in suckers or 
tufts, 8 or 10 inches apart. A well-planted trench 
will be in full bearing after the first year, according | 
to the temperature of the water and the nature of 
the''soil. The activity of the vegetation depends 
particularly on the state of the atmosphere; but if 
the plantation has been made with care, and the I 
plants well chosen, it will require no other precau¬ 
tions, with the .except’on of occasional weeding*,! 
' than those necessary to guard it from winter frosts, 
and the irruption of foul and muddy water in thaws 
and storms. In favorable seasons the cress may 
be gathered every three weeks; but in cold weather 
two months are sometimes required to bring the 
plants to perfection. After these gatherings, it is 
customary to roll and level the bottom of the trench, 
or to manure when required. A good plantation 
will last a long time; but it should be renewed by 
the same process as at first, whenever it shows signs 
of decay. Sometimes, in frosty weather, the sup¬ 
ply of water is increased until the plants are com¬ 
pletely covered; but as this submersion weakens 
them, it should not be continued longer than abso¬ 
lutely necessary. Mr. Loudon describes the process 
as follows:—Some market gardeners, who can 
command a small stream of water, grow the water¬ 
cress in beds sunk .about a foot in a retentive soil, 
with a very gentle slope from one end to the other. 
Along the bottom of this bed, which may be of a 
convenient iength and breadth, chalk or gravel is 
deposited, and the plants are inserted about 6 inches 
every way. Then, according to the slope and length 
of the bed, dams are made 6 inches high across it, 
at intervals ; so that when these dams are full, the 
water may rise not less than 3 inches on all the 
plants included in each. The water being turned 
on, will circulate from dam to dam; and the plants, 
if not allowed to ran to flower, will afford abun¬ 
dance of young tops in all but the winter months. 
A stream of water no larger than what will fill a 
pipe of an inch bore, will, if not absorbed by the 
soil, suffice to irrigate in this way an eighth of an 
acre. As some of the plants are apt to rot off in 
winter, the plantation should be laid dry two or 
three times a year, and all weeds and decayed parts 
removed, and vacancies filled up. Cress grown in 
this way, however, is far inferior to that grown in 
a living stream flowing over gravel or chalk. 
PRESERVATION AND APPLICATION OF 
MANURES.—No. 2. 
In your August number, p. 250, vol. 5, I pre¬ 
sented some reflections on this important subject, 
and indicated an intention to renew it in a future 
number. Some delay has been occasioned by in¬ 
dispensable engagements I now propose to com¬ 
plete the remarks I intended to make. 
In my former number it was shown that, except 
nitrogen, the organic substances which are required 
as food for plants, are furnished in sufficient abun- 
ance from the elements of water and the atmosphere. 
That, in the opinion of Liebig, “ the most important 
object of agriculture is to furnish the soil with 
nitrogen, in a form capable of assimilation ;” and, I 
added, that it was equally important, “ when alkalies 
are deficient, or when they have been exhausted, 
that they should also be supplied.” It must, how¬ 
ever, be recollected, that where alkalies are deficient 
in a soil, they may be substituted by alkaline earths. 
\ “ The principal problem for agriculture is how to 
replace those substances which have been taken 
from the soil, and which cannot be furnished by the 
atmosphere.” It was shown in my former num¬ 
ber, that the most important of these are “the 
alkalies and the alkaline earths ; phosphates, silica, 
manganese, oxides of iron, and various acids, com- 
