REVIEW OF APRIL NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
245 
ferable to cover these heaps with sods, and leave 
them for several months, till the lime has com¬ 
pletely fallen, or slaked, or till the time is conve¬ 
nient for laying it upon the land. Thus it is often 
carted into the field, in winter, covered up in heaps, 
and applied to the land, in spring, or summer, when 
preparing for green crops. The lime seldom be¬ 
comes very hot when slaked in this way, unless 
heavy rains happen to fall, when the surface of the 
lime heaps sometimes becomes so hot as to char 
and even set fire to the sods by which they are 
covered, and convert the whole heap into mortar. 
When thus spontaneously slaked, rich limes in¬ 
crease in bulk from three to three and a half times. 
Poorer limes, such as contain much earthy matter, 
may not swell more than double their bulk. This 
mode is regarded as the least expensive, requires 
the least care and attention, and exposes the lime 
least to become chilled and gritty. And besides, 
it excludes the too free access of the air, which 
gradually brings back the lime to a carbonate, or 
mild state. 
The following table exhibits the chemical changes 
which a ton of limestone undergoes, and the rela¬ 
tive proportions in which the several compounds 
exist in it after it has been burned, slaked, and 
then exposed to the air, or mixed with the soil, as 
given by Professor Johnston :— 
Composition. 
Limestone. 
After burning. 
After slaking. 
Spontaneously 
slaked. 
Exposed to the 
air or in the soil. 
Lime, - 
Carbonic acid, - 
Water, - 
Total weight, - 
Cwt. 
1U 
81 
Cwt. 
m 
Cwt. 
Ill 
Cwt. 
m 
2| 
U 
Cwt. 
Ill 
n 
81 
20 
ill 
14| 
151 
20 
Utility of Herbivorous Insects. —It may be 
but sorry consolation to those who are suffering 
from the attacks of insects, to tell them it is a part 
©f the great plan of creation that the vast and re¬ 
dundant masses of vegetable matter should be kept 
in check, and that consequently those families of 
insects which are destined to this purpose are far 
more extensive, both as to species and individuals, 
than such as feed upon animal matter. To say 
nothing of the great tribes of butterflies and moths, 
which feed in the caterpillar state almost exclu¬ 
sively upon vegetables, there are several families 
of beetles employed in the same manner—some 
feeding upon the solid wood, and others upon the 
bark, flowers, and leaves. 
Differences in the Quality of Barnyard 
Manure.— Fat cattle yield better manure than 
those which are lean, or cows in milk, because it 
contains more phosphate of lime. In lean cattle, 
the phosphate goes to nourish and build up the 
bones and horns, and in cows it passes off in their 
milk. 
Temperature of Plants. —Plants with hairy 
leaves are colder at night than those with smooth 
ones. 
REVIEW OF THE APRIL NO. OF THE AGRI¬ 
CULTURIST. 
The Osage Orange for Hedges. —If this tree does 
prove to be a good one for hedges, then I am bold 
to assert, that in our northern region, the apple 
tree would prove to be a better one. I do not be¬ 
lieve that the Maclura will prove to be fit for 
hedging, north of latitude 40°, unless it can be ac¬ 
climated by slow and systematic advance from its 
home in the south towards our frozen regions. 
But why go to that trouble, when we have the 
hardy apple, native among us I The Maclura is 
just as much a tree as the apple. If a “ judicious 
system of heading down” be pursued with the ap¬ 
ple, it can be compelled to grow into a hedge, just 
as well as the other, which must be “ far fetched 
and dear bought.” For an ornamental hedge, no¬ 
thing can exceed the Maclura; but for service in our 
clime, I certainly would prefer the common apple 
tree. Who will try it 1 
Cultivation of Onions. —I notice this article, just 
to inquire whether any of your readers have e/er 
grown onions upon a reversed grass sod. J once 
saw, while travelling over the western prairies, the 
finest onions I ever beheld. These were grown upon 
the prairie sod, turned over flat, and the seed sown 
broadcast and harrowed in; most of it, however, 
only grew in the joints between the furrows, 
giving the field the appearance of having been 
sown in drills. No after-culture was given: for 
there were no weeds, except here and there a large 
one to be chopped off with a hoe, or scythe. From 
this, I concluded that the same practice would do 
well upon the sod of our domestic grasses. Who 
will make the experiment % 
Advantages and Disadvantages of Subsoil and 
Trench Plowing. —“ Disadvantages !” I cannot 
comprehend how it can be a disadvantage to loosen 
and stir up the earth we cultivate. [Read the ar¬ 
ticle again and reflect.] The second objection 
stated, I can understand. The labor of subsoil 
plowing ‘ ‘ drives out of season the other work on 
a farm.” On a farm ! What is a farm ? Is it 400 
or 500 acres of land “ deviled over” with less team 
and men than could work profitably on forty or 
fifty acres of land, and find time to use the subsoil 
plow, without being “ out of season V 1 There is no 
reason in any objection that I ever heard used 
against trenching any soil on earth. [Read again 
and reflect.] If it may be detrimental to crops the 
first year, the permanent benefit will counterbal¬ 
ance it. But the grand difficulty with American 
farmers is the ruinous system of spreading over a 
great surface of soil, without ever searching into 
it. If Congress, instead of enacting the unwise 
laws they are so often importuned to do, would 
pass an act that the public land should only be sold, 
or given to actual settlers, in small parcels, upon 
condition that the occupants should plow deep , they 
would do something much more worthy of the re¬ 
presentatives of a great nation of farmers. 
Agriculture of the Chinese , No. 4.—This article 
is a strong confirmation of what I have heretofore 
written upon the subject of substituting other fibrous 
plants, or rather entering into the cultivation of other 
fibrous plants, in connection with flax and hemp. 
It does appear to me that there are several which 
could be more profitably cultivated in some of the 
