AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ol 
soil itself entered into the plant to make up 
its substance, and hence he advocated “ plow¬ 
ing, plowing, plowing, hoeing, hoeing, hoe¬ 
ing.” Though wrong in theory, his practice 
was not so far out of the way, after all. He 
advocated pulverizing the soil so fine that its 
particles could be taken in by the roots of 
the plant; we advocate the same thing as 
necessary to fit the soil as a medium for the 
roots to grow in. In order to understand 
this point, let us examine the roots of any 
plant, say those at the base of a corn or 
wheat stalk. If we pull up a corn stalk 
rudely, we shall see only a mass of roots 
varying in size from a goose quill, or larger, 
to that of a small needle. But instead of 
pulling the stalk by hand, let the whole soil, 
for a space of two or three feet on all sides, 
he taken up and set into a box, or on a 
board. Upon this let a very gentle stream 
of water flow for a number of days, until, 
without a perceptible current, it washes 
away the whole of the soil. If we now ex¬ 
amine the roots with a magnifying-glass, we 
shall find attached to every stalk an innume¬ 
rable number of exceedingly small roots, by 
far the greater portion of them too small to 
oe seen by the unaided eye. These minute 
roots or rootlets, and not the large roots 
usually seen, are the real feeders, or rather 
sap gatherers of the plant. 
The point then, is, that the particles of a 
soil must be sufficiently fine to furnish a 
medium for these rootlets to rest and grow 
in. If we examine an ordinary mass of sand, 
on a very sandy soil, we shall find it com¬ 
posed of small sharp-cornered particles, each 
of which would appear like huge boulders 
when compared with the actual size of the 
rootlets of plants that are to make their bed 
among them, if a plant be properly supplied 
with sap gatherers. A clay, or clay soil, on 
the contrary, is made up of a mass of infi¬ 
nitely small particles, so small that they are 
not perceived when the clay is rubbed be¬ 
tween the fingers. It will readily be seen, 
then, that a clay soil furnishes the best bed¬ 
ding, so to speak, for the fine roots to rest 
in. When pushing their way through this 
fine material, they are not compelled to 
grow around the rocks (particles of sand). 
Further on we shall see why a mixture 
of sand and clay—in other words, a loam , 
is preferable to a pure clay ; but let it be 
kept in mind that there must be in every 
soil enough fine material to furnish a bed¬ 
ding or matrix for the infinitely small root¬ 
lets—the water or sap-gatherers of every 
growing plant. 
No soil is fully adapted for growing plants 
successfully, which does not contain one- 
tenth to one-fifth of this fine impalpable ma¬ 
terial. This point can be tested in any soil, 
by stirring it in a vessel with eight or ten 
limes its bulk of water, letting it stand five 
or six minutes, and then pouring off the 
water into another vessel. The water should 
float off one-tenth of the soil, and deposit 
most of it, after standing entirely undis¬ 
turbed for a day or two. This would be the 
first test we should apply to the soil of any 
farm we were about to purchase, or test, 
with reference to its capability of success¬ 
ful cultivation. The best methods of secur¬ 
ing this fine soil, such as plowing, exposure 
to frost, adding clay to sandy land, &c., we 
shall discuss at length hereafter,* leaving it 
for the time being, to take up a topic de¬ 
manding immediate attention, viz. : 
DRAINING. 
Supposing the soil to be of the right consis¬ 
tency as regards fineness of texture, the 
next most important point is to see that it is 
free from substances deleterious or poison¬ 
ous to the roots of plants. Take the best 
prepared soil, and diffuse through it a small 
quantity of dissolved arsenic, for example, 
and few plants would survive. One of the 
most productive causes of infertility in other¬ 
wise good soils, is the actual presence of a 
substance or substances poisonous to plants, 
as we shall show, draining, in connection 
with plowing, &c., is one of the most efficient 
agencies in removing these poisons. Let us 
understand this matter. 
Put a quart of water into a tin pan, or 
other wide, open vessel, and dissolve in 
this, say a fourth of an ounce of common 
green vitrol (sulphate of ironf). The water 
will appear clear at first. Allow it to stand 
exposed to the air for a few hours, and a 
brown reddish “ scum” will rise to the sur¬ 
face. The same thing may be seen in 
“ iron springs,” and very frequently in the 
water oozing from a hillside. The water 
is at first clear, but when it comes out to the 
air, the brown scum rises. This scum is 
formed by the union of iron (in the dissolved 
green vitriol) with the oxygen of the air. 
All colored soils contain considerable quan¬ 
tities of iron, and some of this iron exists in 
the form of green vitriol, especially in un¬ 
worked soils, or those not exposed to the 
air. Now as in the vessel of water, and as 
in the iron springs, the air has the power of 
destroying the green vitriol in the soil and 
changing the iron to the insoluble state (per 
oxide), in which it rises to the surface and 
floats as a scum. 
But green vitriol is a poison to plants. It 
is soluble in water and is thus taken up in 
the sap, where by exposure to air it is chang¬ 
ed within the pores of the stalk or leaves 
and retards growth. We must repeat, that 
all soils unexposed to the air contain more 
or less of this poisonous form of iron. 
This brings us at once to the point, that it 
is necessary to admit air into the soil to de¬ 
stroy or change to a harmless form, the iron 
poison. Upon the surface this change is 
usually effected by direct contact with the 
air, but deeper down the poisonous matter 
remains. The growth of clover is an illus¬ 
tration. For a year or two it may flourish 
well, but being deep rooted, it sends down 
its fibres, and reaches the poison below, 
* Those who have on hand our Fifteenth Volume, will 
do well to turn back at this point, and read the article at 
page 268, on “ Improving Sandy Soils.” and the continua¬ 
tion of the same subject, on page 294, under the head, 
“ Why Clay Benefits Sandy Soils.” Next read, “ Clay 
for Light Land,” on page 56 of the same Volume. See 
also, “Clay as a Manure,” Vol xiv., page 232. The 
facts and principles developed in the articles referred to 
will be discussed in the present series. 
t Green vitriol is a preparation formed by dissolving 
iron in sulphuric ac.ul (oil of vitriol), or more correctly, a 
union of sulphuric acid with oxide of iron. 
which it sucks up. and the crop dies. On 
deeply cultivated (air penetrated) soils, clo¬ 
ver will flourish for many years. 
How shall we get the air into the soil % 
One method is to stir the soil deeply, by 
deep plowing &c., to admit air; this 
will be discussed hereafter. But however 
much we may stir the soil, the air cannot 
pass freely through the pores, that is be¬ 
tween the particles, while the interstices or 
pores are filled with water. One of the first 
axioms the schoolboy learns, is, that 
“two bodies can not occupy the same space 
at the same time.” It is hardly necessary 
to say then, that if we want the air to circu¬ 
late freely in a soil, we must first free it 
from standing water. Further reasons for 
draining soils, usually considered dry, toge¬ 
ther with the modes, expenses and profit of 
drawing, will form the subject of future num¬ 
bers. 
HINTS ON TOBACCO GBOWING. 
We are loth to publish anything to promote 
the cultivation of a plant so deleterious and so 
productive of wide-spread evil as we believe 
tobacco to be. But the interests of a large 
class of readers—a class recently greatly 
augmented, and their numerous calls for in¬ 
formation,on this topic leaves us no choice in 
the matter. Though tobacco is grown in a few 
places in this State, and other Middle States, 
and in still larger quantities in Connecticut 
and Massachusetts, it forms a staple crop 
only in Maryland and Virginia, and the 
States lying immediately West. That 
seems to be the favorite belt of our country, 
where this plant attains its perfection, and 
where it can be grown with the largest 
profit. In these States it is a favorite crop 
with a large class of planters, and as it is 
usually in lively demand, it forms a reliable 
article on which to raise money, or to ex¬ 
change for commodities not grown upon the 
plantation. 
However hardy the plant, as it is only 
cultivated for its leaves, the whole process 
of growing, curing, and preparing for mar¬ 
ket demands more skillful management, 
than almost any other crop grown as a sta¬ 
ple in the country. In no crop, does so much 
depend upon the intelligence and skill of the 
cultivator. In no crop, is there more differ¬ 
ence between a prime and an inferior article, 
and none in which the prime bears so small 
a proportion to inferior grades. We believe 
that the average returns, from the large 
class of plantations, may be more than 
doubled by skillful management. 
SEED BEDS. 
The first business after procuring good 
seed is to start the young plants. Seed 
beds may be prepared under glass or in the 
open air. Where the season is short and 
well advanced plants are desirable as soon 
as the frosts are over, it is better to start 
them in a gentle hot bed under glass. 
The open seed bed, however, is the more 
common method. 
The place usually selected in Virginia, is 
some sunny exposure in new land, sheltered 
by woods. As soon as the frost is out of 
the ground in the Spring, the leaves are 
