82 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
der the flavor mild, the supply of nitrogen must for 
the reason be diminished. 
HUMIC ACID OK HUMIN.* * * § 
This important substance was first discovered by 
Klaporth in a sort of gum from an elm, but it has 
since been found by Berzelius in all barks; by M. 
Braconnot in saw-dust, soot, starch, and sugar; and 
what is still more interesting for our present purpose, 
it has been found by Sprengel and M. Polydore Boul- 
lay to constitute a leading principle in soils and ma¬ 
nures. Iiumin appears to be formed of carbon and 
hydrogen, and the humic acid of humin and oxygen,f 
but the difference between the two requires farther 
investigation. Pure humic acid is a deep blackish 
brown, without taste or smell, and water dissolves it 
with great difficulty and in small quantities ; conse¬ 
quently it cannot, when pure, be available as food for 
plants. 
Humic acid, however, which, I may remark, is not 
sour to the taste, readily combines with many of the 
substances found in soils and manures, and not only 
renders them, but itself also, easy to be dissolved in 
water, which in their separate state could not take 
place. In this way humic acid will combine with 
lime, potass, and ammonia, in the form of humates, 
and the smallest portion of these will render it soluble 
in water, and fit to be taken up by the spongelets of 
the root fibres. 
It appears to have been from ignorance of the im¬ 
portant action of the humic acid, in thus helping to 
dissolve earthy matters, that the older writers were 
so puzzled to discover how lime and potass got into 
plants, and it seems also to be this chiefly which is 
so vaguely treated of in the older books on garden¬ 
ing, &c. under the names of extractive vegetable ex¬ 
tract, mucilaginous matter, and the like. Saussure, for 
instance, filled a large vessel with turf, and moistened 
it thoroughly with pure water ; when, by putting 10,- 
000 parts of it by weight under a heavy press, and 
filtering and evaporating the fluid, he obtained twen¬ 
ty-six parts of what he termed extract; from 10,000 
parts of well dunged and rich kitchen garden mould, 
he obtained* ten parts of extract; and from 10,000 
parts of good corn-field mould, he obtained four parts 
of extract. 
M. Polydore Boullay found that the liquid manure 
drained from dung-hills contains a large portion of 
humic acid, which accounts for its fertilizing proper¬ 
ties, so well known in China, and on the continent; 
and he found it also in peat earth, and in varying pro¬ 
portions in all sorts of turf. It appears probable, 
from Gay-Lussac having found a similar acidj on de¬ 
composing the prussic acid,§ that the humic acid may 
lie found in animal blood, and, if so, it will account 
for its utility as a manure for vines, &c. Dobereiner 
found the gallic acid convertible into the humic, from 
which, indeed, it only appears to differ in its water of 
crystallization. 
Y on'ng Men’s Department. 
Hints to Young Farmers—No. VIII. 
REMEMBER CONSEQUENCES. 
We once read an interesting anecdote of a young 
man, who went to spend the Christmas holidays 
among a group of female cousins. Pawn plays hav¬ 
ing been introduced in an evening party, the young 
visitor very unexpectedly declined participating in 
them. On the company retiring, his cousins sur¬ 
rounded him, and insisted on knowing his reason for 
not joining in the sports of the evening. Why girls, 
says he, Aunt Elois makes it a rule never to serve 
cheese cakes to company; for, she says, if she has 
cheese-cakes she must have custards, and if she has 
custards she must have pound cake—and he went on 
to enumerate a dozen superfluities which must all ne¬ 
cessarily follow the introduction of cheese-cakes.— 
Now, cousins, if I play pawns I must kiss, and if I 
kiss, I must-his further utterance was stopped by 
half a dozen hands which were pressed upon his 
mouth. 
By ivay of improvement, we would admonish the 
young farmer, that his first step in extravagance, be¬ 
yond what is befitting his business and his means, be 
it in dress, furniture or equipage, is like serving up 
cheese-cakes or playing at pawns—the other conse¬ 
quences will follow as certainly as night follows day. 
Better, by far, take counsel of Aunt Elois,—seek not 
to entertain company with cheese-cakes, and you may 
thus reserve to yourselves, for appropriate occasions, 
both the custards and the kisses. 
The natural wants of life are few, and they are 
most essential to our health and happiness. Our ar¬ 
tificial wants are boundless, and the more they are 
* In most chemical books, the terms Ubnic Acid and Ulmin 
are used, from the Latin Ulmus, elm; but as its substance oc¬ 
curs in most, if not ail plants, the name is bad. 1 prefer 
Sprengel's terms, from the Latin Humus, soil. 
fTlie soluble and insoluble genu: of Dr. Dana.— Cond. 
f Technically, Azumic acid. 
§ Technically, Hydrocyanic acid. 
gratified the more they multiply, and the more crav¬ 
ing are then - demands. He who seeks only to please 
himself, to study the comfort of his family, and to 
perform his known duties, depends not, for the enjoy¬ 
ments of life, upon the smiles or favors of others.— 
But he who, disregarding these, builds his hopes of 
happiness upon an ostentatious display—upon the ap¬ 
plause, mingled as it ever will be with the jealousy 
and envy, of the multitude, mistakes the true philo¬ 
sophy of life. 
While we would caution against extravagance, we 
are no less opposed to mean parsimony. As men ac¬ 
quire means, they ought to multiply around them the 
enjoyments of polished—we do not mean by this, fash¬ 
ionable—life. They ought particularly to give to 
their children those advantages which will fit them 
not only for usefulness, but for intercourse with the 
intelligent and respectable classes of society. In 
truth, the spirit of the age demands, that the children 
should receive a better education, to qualify them for 
usefulness, than that which has been bestowed upon 
the parents. 
But in all that may be denominated superfluous ex¬ 
penditures—the man should consult his purse before 
he consults his wife—or, particularly, his daughters— 
and, by all means, remember consequences. 
Maxims for Farmers. 
“ Come boys,” is the best countersign upon the 
farm. Even if his hands are not employed, the eyes 
of the master have wonderful efficacy in accelerating 
labor. 
If you would judge of a man’s character, look not 
at his coat, but at his habits. The first may change 
with the moon,—or what is the same, with the fash¬ 
ion—the latter are generally as abiding as life.— 
The first may be the property of another—the latter, 
like the shadow, belongs exclusively to the man. 
Men deserve commendation, not for refraining to do 
evil, for they may not be in temptation—but for the 
good they do; not for negative, but for positive vir¬ 
tues. 
Every industrious man, by his labor, manual or 
mental, depends upon his personal exertions for for¬ 
tune and for fame. Every indolent man depends for 
subsistence upon the labors of others—upon patrimo¬ 
nial resources, upon trick and fraud, or upon—we 
mean no personal disrespect by the use of this very 
appropriate term—the “ spoils ” of office. One adds 
to the common stock of wealth and human enjoy¬ 
ment—the other adds nothing. The last are like the 
grain-worms, which consume our crops, without ren¬ 
dering any equivalent to society. Yet as nothing is 
created in vain, the worm may be intended, perhaps, 
to excite our constant vigilance, and the man as a 
living example of human folly—and of the perversion 
of human faculties. 
Importance of improving the Mind. 
Although knowledge and the improvement of the 
mind have long been considered least necessary in 
agriculture of any other occupation, almost, in which 
men are engaged; there is still good reason to believe 
that there is no other which can be benefitted by it, 
to so great an extent. Farmers are now beginning to 
see the importance of science, and the advantages it 
affords to agriculture. Almost every operation in 
tillage depends for its results on the chemical combi¬ 
nations of substance and for the food of plants. No 
calling in life, hardly, may be so greatly benefitted by 
a thorough knowledge of chemistry. What manures 
are best applied to particular soils; what to the 
growth of particular vegetables; the mode of treat¬ 
ment best adapted to the cultivation of particular 
plants, depend almost wholly on chemical affinity and 
chemical combinations. 
The farmers’ interests depend principally on the 
operation of natural causes; and science has for its 
object the investigation of nature ; therefore science 
must be deeply interesting to the farmer. A know¬ 
ledge of natural physics could be turned to good ac¬ 
count every day. A man might not know that he 
wastes his time and money in trying to make water 
hotter after it boils, or think that by burning green 
wood he makes a saving; but the science of heat 
would learn him better. He might think it anoma¬ 
lous that he could not get water up in his pump high¬ 
er than 33 feet; but pneumatics and hydrostatics 
would teach him the reason. He might run to a light¬ 
ning rod for protection m a thunder storm; hut a 
knowledge of electricity would bid him beware. In 
short, the advantages which science affords to man 
in every situation in life, are more than he can enu¬ 
merate. 
But science does not alone affect a man’s interest. 
Man has a mind which it is his duty to cultivate. It 
is adapted to the study of nature, and was no doubt 
designed for it by our Creator. It is expanded and 
ennobled by it. Who can consider the adaptedness 
of man to his situation—how exactly every thing 
around him is calculated to promote his happiness, 
and he to enjoy it—the fitness of the eye to the pro¬ 
perties of light, conveying to the mind the most ex¬ 
quisite sense of beauty, together with being so useful 
that, without it, life is almost a burden ; and the won¬ 
derful harmony which exists throughout nature, with¬ 
out feeling that his mind is enlarged, and that he is 
wiser and better for it ? 
Men ought to possess a spirit of inquiry; or, to use 
a familiar phrase, to get in the habit of philosophising. 
It is too common for men who have opportunities for 
improving by a contrary course, to pass over the 
works of nature without asking or thinking of the 
cause of the various phenomena around them. No 
class of men is so favorably circumstanced to profit 
by the study of nature as the farmer: and yet, few 
consider that study of less importance- “ It is not lei¬ 
sure that mankind needs, (says Robert Mudin, in his 
Observation of Nature ,) it is stimulus and activity; 
and study, even the most profound and abstruse study, 
thrives better in the few snatches of time which the 
busy man can spare for it, than in all the listless and 
loitering days of him who has nothing to do.” If 
this be true, we see that the general excuse of want 
of time, is without validity. We have opportunities 
for study in our every day labor—in our walks for re¬ 
creation—in every tree and plant—in every change 
in the atmosphere—in the clouds above our heads, 
and in the earth beneath our feet—in short, in every 
natural object or appearance by which we are sur¬ 
rounded. It is the practice of thinking and investi¬ 
gation—of taking notice of what occurs around ns, 
and trying to ascertain the causes of such phenome¬ 
na and effects as come under our observation, that 
the mind is rendered active and stored with really use¬ 
ful knowledge. To observe and think are in the pow¬ 
er of every man ; it merely requires the activity of 
the mind while the body is in action. The study of 
nature and the advantages to be derived from it need 
cost us but little; no expensive apparatus is requi¬ 
site ; we have only to use our natural senses and our 
minds to gain the desired end. 
Consider a little the results and advantages of such 
observation and investigation. It was by these, that 
Copernicus, after thirty years study, ascertained the 
sublime harmony and simplicity of the revolution of 
the heavenly bodies. It was by these, that the vast 
mind of Newton, from seeing an apple fall from the 
tree, was led to inquire and at length to find out the 
cause—the same cause which keeps our world and 
the planets in their orbits, and connects the whole 
material universe of God. James Ferguson, while a 
shepherd boy, and entirely unacquainted with the 
name, even, of the sciences, from his observation of 
the heavens constructed a celestial globe ; and finally 
became an eminent astronomer. Franklin, by his re¬ 
searches in the science of electricity, was enabled to 
wield the thunderbolts of heaven ; and, by his inven¬ 
tion of the lightning rod, the forked lightnings descend 
harmless by the sides of our dwellings. Fulton and 
Watt, by their observation and reflection, brought the 
steam engine to its present perfection. And we may 
say, confidently, that every acquisition to science, and 
every invention useful to man, has been made, not ac¬ 
cidentally, as a general rule, but by the proper use of 
his reasoning faculties. 
Does it become the dignity of a reasoning mind— 
one whom God has made to bear his own image—to 
pass through life ignorant of what is going on around 
him? Yet this is the case with him who will not 
take the trouble to think. He may, indeed, see, and 
hear, and feel, and know the existence of many 
things. So does an animal. Our minds were given 
us for use. There can be no harm in trying to find 
out the reason and cause of things which are con¬ 
stantly occurring before our eyes. We could live, 
and perhaps get along well enough in the world with¬ 
out knowing that air (for instance) is a material sub¬ 
stance—that it is by its pressure that water can be 
raised in pumps—that by its weight, that of our own 
bodies are lessened, and clouds are formed which wa¬ 
ter the earth ; smoke and deleterious gases ascend : 
and were it not a material substance, we could not 
live. We might not know that the vegetable crea¬ 
tion absorbs that portion of the atmosphere which ani¬ 
mals throw oflj and then purify it, so that without the 
vegetable creation, other than as a direct means of 
support, no animal could long exist—that thus these 
two great divisions of nature are constantly support¬ 
ing each other : we might be ignorant of these facts, 
and perhaps, feel no inconvenience from our igno¬ 
rance. We might be able to look out on the orbs of 
heaven, and recognize in them nothing but twinkling 
points—as inconsiderable masses, whose faint glim¬ 
merings are of very little importance; and yet our 
world and sun perform their offices as regular, and we 
receive as much comfort from them as ever, while in¬ 
numerable suns and systems of worlds roll in that 
azure void. But, might we not as well have been 
formed without the power of studying the works of 
God, as to neglect entirely the use of that power?— 
The legitimate use of all our faculties is best adapted 
to promote our happiness; and happiness, whatever 
