270 
MEETING OF THE NEW YORK FARMERS 5 CLUB AT GREENPORT. 
which now principally lie uncultivated, and are 
represented as wild and unproductive, were then 
described as the admiration of all who visited them, 
being covered with tall grass, and an abundance of 
wild flowers. The opinion that they are natu¬ 
rally unproductive, has originated since that time ; 
but how it arose, he added, it was impossible to 
say. 
Professor Renwick, of Columbia College, being 
called forward, remarked that he had been familiar 
with the plains of Long Island from his infancy, 
and that it had long been a question whether they 
could be rendered productive. Some years ago, he 
said, the subject was agitated, and samples of soil 
from Hempstead Plains were obtained, which, in 
being subjected to chemical analyses, were found to 
contain all the elements requisite to fertility. The 
reason these do not at present produce, he attribut¬ 
ed to the inert condition of some of the materials of 
which they are composed, which might readily be 
brought into activity by the application of quick¬ 
lime, wood-ashes, or putrescent manures; but if 
the two former were applied alone, the land would 
soon become exhausted and run to waste. He con¬ 
cluded by saying, that land in other parts of the 
country, similar in every respect to that in question, 
which was considered by the early settlers as unfit 
for cultivation, has, on experiment, proved to be 
well adapted to the growth of wheat. 
Dr. R. T. Underhill and Mr. James J. Mapes were 
then called upon to give their views in relation to 
the subject, whereupon they denied the well es¬ 
tablished fact that much of the valuable parts of 
manures leach downwards in porous soils by 
means of rains or melted snows, and contended that 
every particle of all manures has an upward ten¬ 
dency, finally escaping at the surface, or is taken up 
by plants. In support of this doctrine, they stated 
that in grave-yards vegetation is always rank, and 
when the soil is sandy or porous, the gases from 
dead bodies will rise from a depth of six feet, and 
exert an influence on the verdure at the surface. 
Dr. U. disapproved of the mode of planting fish 
in the hill as is usually practised by Long Island 
farmers, in the cultivation of corn, and recommend¬ 
ed them to be buried deep in the soil, in order that 
their effects might be longer and better felt (a). 
Mr. M. made an attempt to explain the action of 
manures on soils, and the character and mode by 
which plants receive their food. One of the chief 
uses of manures, he said, was to lubricate the sur¬ 
faces of the particles of the soil, in order to facili¬ 
tate the upward movement of gases, and for the 
more ready admission of the atmosphere about the 
roots. All plants, he contended, derive their nutri¬ 
ment from the atmosphere, and not from the soil, 
in proof of which he referred to an air-plant he had 
seen growing on a wall ( b ). 
The audience was also addressed by General 
Adoniram Chandler, Dr. Manly, and others from 
New York, which, for the want of more space, we 
regret to omit. 
(a) We should judge that. Dr. Underhill, from the 
manner he talks, knows little or nothing of the 
general principles which govern the most common 
operations of nature; and that not even his know¬ 
ledge is guided by his own experience. He tells the 
farmer to plant deep, in a leachy soil, one of the 
most soluble of manures, with a vain belief that in 
due time every particle will rise again to the sur¬ 
face, in the form of gases, and be attended with the 
best results ! The fact that considerable portions of 
all putrescent manures rise towards the surface 
either in solution or in gas, to be taken up by 
plants, or dispersed in the air, is nothing new ; but 
to say that no portion is ever fixed in the soil, or 
carried downwards by the dissolving effects of rains, 
would be as absurd as it is incorrect. Every truly 
practical and scientific man knows that water, as it 
ordinarily falls from the clouds, will absorb at least 
500 times its volume of pure ammoniacal gas (one 
of the most valuable ingredients in our richest 
manures), and convey it to the ocean, unless it be 
arrested in its course, or become fixed on the way by 
charcoal, sulphate of lime (plaster), or by some other • 
means. He is also aware that water is capable of 
taking up a large amount of carbonic acid gas, the j 
chief food of all known plants, and that it will hold 
and retain in solution other organic matter, as well 
as nearly every fertilizing salt. For further infor¬ 
mation on these points, see the account of an inter¬ 
esting experiment by Mr. Wilson on page 292 of 
the present number, under the head of Solvent Ac¬ 
tion of Rain-Water on Soils. 
The attempt to prove the upward tendency of 
manures by the effect of dead bodies on plants in 
grave-yards, of leachy soils, is fallacious; for nu¬ 
merous instances can be pointed out, of grave-yards 
of this description, where the vegetation is most 
feeble in its character, and in some cases will 
scarcely produce at all. A very good illustration 
of what is here said will be found in the large 
burial ground at Sag Harbor, which has bpen 
established in that place upwards of one hundred 
years. 
( b ) In these remarks by Mr. Mapes, there are in¬ 
volved misconceptions of fact, which might lead 
those not conversant with the subject to very wrong 
conclusions, and ultimately tend to pernicious re¬ 
sults. The point at issue is, whether manures, 
as ordinarily applied, directly contribute in any 
degree, as the food of plants, or whether they 
merely serve to loosen the particles of the soil, in 
order that the gases of the atmosphere may the 
more readily circulate about the roots. If the lat¬ 
ter were true, the mere mixture and frequent stir¬ 
ring of the soil, around the roots of the plants, as 
proposed by M. Kretschmar, of Germany, would be 
all that is requisite without the application of any 
manure; but unfortunately for his theory, on experi¬ 
ment, it did not succeed, as might have been fore¬ 
seen ; for but few of our cultivated plants will 
thrive without mineral food, held in solution by 
water, and taken in by their roots. 
In corroboration of the fact that plants draw no 
small amount of mineral matter from the. soil, we 
have only to state, that, from careful analyses, an . 
average crop of wheat will remove something over 
200 lbs. of mineral matter from an acre of land; 
and that an acre of good flax will rob the soil to 
the extent of 320 lbs. 
How to Prepare a Superb Mustard. —Take 
ground mustard 3 lbs.; common salt 1 lb.; and mix 
with vinegar, grape-juice, or white wine. 
