J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
JlmpA to imjrflto tf n ^farmer, tljT flaitUr, aitir \\t (Sarkner. 
AGRICULTURE IS TEE MOST HEALTHY, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. - Washington'. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XI.] NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1853. [NUMBER l. 
mr'FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, §c., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SPECIAL MANURES. 
As our readers have perhaps already observed, 
we are giving frequent notices of experiments 
made to ascertain the specific action of various 
chemical substances, when applied to different 
crops. We shall continue to follow up this sub¬ 
ject, and publish all reliable experiments and 
results we can obta in both from experimenters 
themselves, and ffom tnjej ournals of our own and 
foreign countries/. Thej)e is often, among farm¬ 
ers, an unwarrantecrprejudice against articles 
from foreign journals;' but it should be remem¬ 
bered that soils and crops are similar the world 
over , and hence a good result obtained in any one 
country is, in some degree , valuable to every other 
country. It should also be borne in mind, that 
several foreign countries are ahead of our own 
in scientific and experimental research, and in 
the inducements held out by Government, as well 
as by large Societies, to encourage improvements 
in agriculture. We have taken care to provide 
ourselves with the earliest issues of the more 
valuable foreign agricultural journals, and we 
read them carefully, in order to select or con¬ 
dense such articles as may be of practical value 
to our readers ; and we trust they will not pass 
over these as valueless, because bearing a for¬ 
eign impress. But to return to the subject of 
this article. We highly value the suggestions 
of science to agriculture, and firmly believe that 
great practical good will be derived from chemi¬ 
cal investigations into the nature of soils, ma¬ 
nures, and plants; yet, in the present state of 
science, we believe most of these suggestions of 
science must be put to the test of actual and 
oft-repeated trials before they can be relied upon 
as sure guides to practice. The investigating 
chemist examines the nature of the plant, makes 
out a careful table of the various proportions of 
particular elements, organic and inorganic, that 
enter into its composition, and by a similar ex¬ 
amination of the elements of soils and manures, 
reasonably concludes that he can accurately de¬ 
termine what combinations of particular manures 
and soils will exactly meet the requirements of a 
particular plant. But experience thus far has 
shown that the conclusion of the chemist can only 
be considered as suggestive. It is on this account 
that we look so anxiously for any new reliable 
experiments, that may be considered as proving 
or disproving the theories of the chemist. In 
agriculture, science is eminently “the handmaid 
of practice.” 
There are so many circumstances that influ¬ 
ence or produce results, that to make these 
results valuable, requires much care on the part 
of every one engaged in making practical experi¬ 
ments. He should take into account the different 
varieties of the plant, its health, age, and acclima¬ 
tion ; the characteristics of the soil, its general 
composition, former treatment, wetness or dry¬ 
ness, inclination and consequent liability to have 
the washings of one part spread over and influ¬ 
ence another part, its present mechanical treat¬ 
ment ; the climate, the usual and unusual varia¬ 
tions of the weather in reference to heat, cold, 
rain, and drought; and he should have especial 
care to secure accuracy in measuring and sow¬ 
ing seed; in estimating the comparative results 
obtained by the use of different fertilizers, and 
also in procuring pure articles for the experi¬ 
ment. Many otherwise valuable experiments 
are rendered useless, and even injurious, from 
the fact that too small a plot of ground is taken 
from which to calculate the results over a whole 
field, since a slight error is magnified in propor¬ 
tion to the relative smallness of the measured 
plot, taken as the basis of calculation. 
But all these minutiae are easily attended to, 
and we hope soon to see a wide increase of the 
present interest manifested in putting to practi¬ 
cal test the theories developed by scientific re¬ 
search. Every farmer who devotes a plot of 
ground to actual accurate experiment, and fur¬ 
nishes the results to others, is not only benefit¬ 
ing himself, but may also be considered a bene¬ 
factor to his race. 
We invite the especial attention of our readers 
to our weekly record of experiments, trusting 
they will be studied, to find what new informa¬ 
tion they may convey ; criticised, to detect 
errors; and repeated, in order to strengthen or 
lessen the reliance to be placed upon their 
results. 
MILDEW ON GRAPES. 
We have had many complaints, from different 
parts of the country, of the great destruction of 
grapes from mildew ; and as our vines have suf¬ 
fered in common with others, we have watched 
the gradual blighting of more than half of our 
crop with no less concern than attention. Mil¬ 
dew among grapes of both cold and hot-houses 
is very common, and is easily cured by burning 
sulphur; but a destructive mildew among 
grapes growing in the open air, the wild as well 
as the cultivated, is, we believe, almost unknown 
among us. 
We have heard many opinions as to the cause 
of this mildew; but according to the best evi¬ 
dence we can obtain, not one of them can be 
correct. 
Our own vines are growing in several different 
ways: on arbors, trellises, up lattice-work on 
one side of our house, and in front of the piazza 
of the second story, running over the eaves, and 
across slats placed about two feet high above a 
tinned roof. We also have them growing tied 
up to stakes standing about six feet apart, well 
exposed to the sun and every wind that blows. 
Some of the vines were pruned early in the sea¬ 
son, others as late as the 10th of May, while 
others were left untouched, and yet all are alike 
badly mildewed. The blight has also fallen on 
several varieties of th,e native grape growing 
wild on our premises. Some of these are the 
product of vines which have run to the tops 
of trees, while others cover wood and stone 
fences. The mildew on these, however, is not 
near so destructive as on the Isabella and 
Catawba. 
The season with us thus far has been uncom¬ 
monly wet, and frequently, after several days of 
drenching rain, the sun has come out so hot as 
to scorch the leaves badly, and more than half 
the foliage on the vines had decayed by 
the 30th of August, or fallen to the ground. 
Scarce a leaf is left on some branches, yet on 
these the fruit is most promising, and least 
affected by the mildew. 
-0--O- •- 
WINTER FATTENING UNPROFITABLE. 
Many farmers have adopted the practice of 
fattening their animals, especially swine, during 
the winter. Last February, we saw scores of 
loads of pork, in the carcass, on the way to 
market, on the line of our New-England rail¬ 
roads. We suppose this practice has been adopt¬ 
ed because this season affords more leisure for 
threshing and grinding corn, grain, &c., and 
more time to attend to feeding. Science, how¬ 
ever, as well as experience, affords us some sure 
light on this subject. 
It is now settled, almost beyond a doubt, that 
in the animal economy, while the bones serve as 
a frame-work, and the muscles as the organs of 
strength and motion, the principal use of fat is 
to keep up the heat of the system. The tem¬ 
perature of all warm-blooded animals is, at most 
times, higher than that of the surrounding 
atmosphere, and the consumption of fat in the 
body is constantly required to keep up this ele¬ 
vation of temperature. The amount of heat 
given off from the surface of the body depends 
upon the relative coldness of the air. In cold 
weather, then, more fat-producing, that is, more 
heat-producing food, is required to sustain the 
animal, than in warm weather; and from the 
same amount of food there will be less surplus 
fat left, to increase the bulk. To illustrate : sup¬ 
pose that in October an animal requires 10 lbs. 
of corn a day to supply the loss of heat, while 
15 lbs. are daily consumed. This will leave 5 
lbs. of the corn, or 33 per cent., to go to increase 
the bulk or weight. But in January or Feb¬ 
ruary, owing to the increased coldness of the air, 
the same animal will probably require one fifth 
more food; that is, 12 lbs. of corn, to keep up 
the natural warmth of the body. This will 
leave but 3 lbs. of corn, or 20 per cent., to 
