52 
THE CULTIVATOR 
fat, because pork is lower than we think it ought to be. 
A horse is not sold, and kept over winter, because the 
purchaser lacked five dollars of offering the price asked, 
and ten to one if he is not sold on a credit of some six 
months, for the sake of the five dollars, and nothing got. 
Prices may be low, but I hold it as the safest rule, to sell 
for the best price we can get, whenever we are ready 
for market. Take an example; let it be the horse. We 
are offered within five or say ten. He is at his zenith; 
one hundred is asked, and ninety is offered. There is 
no sale. The horse is kept twelve months, which is 
worth $20.00, if he is a horse for sale. The horse is 
then sold for the price asked, one hundred. Then we 
have gained five or ten, and lost twenty; which makes 
in the transaction, a clear loss of ten or fifteen dollars, to 
say nothing of interest and risks; and this will hold true 
to a greater or less extent of all other live stock.' I look 
upon this in general, as bad economy, and it deserves at 
least a more careful consideration than my limits will 
permit. 
But it may be thought that I have overlooked a very 
important error in the economy of this country —going in 
debt. This is an error which is but to manifest, cer¬ 
tainly, to require any thing said upon it. But this much 
I may say, in connexion with what has been urged above; 
that it will be hard to avoid it, if the farmer continues 
the practice of selling his products upon credit. Debts 
are contracted with a view to being met by those that 
are owing, or in anticipation of the growing crop. In 
the first instance, there may be a disappointment from 
some commercial failure—and in the second, by a failure 
of cropSjOr in realizing the amount for them that was an¬ 
ticipated. Loans are next to be made, and interest 
paid, or property executed, either of which is ruinous to 
the agriculturist. But when the products of agriculture 
are sold for cash, the necessity of going in debt is avoid¬ 
ed. With cash in hand, his wants are supplied with 
great advantage, purchases can always be made at lovver 
rates, which is interest in advance; and upon this sub¬ 
ject (interest,) I intended to say a word, but have not 
room upon this sheet. It is not alone in the best mode 
of cultivating the soil—in rearing the largest crops, and 
the finest stock, that we are to expect independence, and 
all the multiplied comforts with which an agricultural 
life should be bl6ssed. It is far otherwise. A proper 
“ economy” embraces every thing in the whole circle 
of our transactions. A. C. Stevenson. 
Oreen Castle, Ind. 1843. 
AGRICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY. 
from ignorance of these changes, or neglect to take ad¬ 
vantage of them, is very great even in one agricultural dis¬ 
trict, or on one farm. Plants contain from one to two 
per cent of nitrogen, and this nitrogen can be assimila¬ 
ted only when presented in the form of ammonia. This 
must be supplied from some source, or the plant will not 
grow. Liebig informs us that one pound of ammonia 
will supply nitrogen for 60 pounds of corn or 80 pounds 
of hay. Yet a majority of our farmers aUow a conside¬ 
rable part, sometimes nearly the whole of the ammonia 
in their barn and stable manures, to evaporate in the air 
or sink into the earth where it can do them no good. 
Floors where cattle stand, are often badly constructed— 
a sufficiency of straw or other matter is not used to ab¬ 
sorb liquids; and the manure is thrown in a heap in the 
open air, where the sun, rains and frost, drive off so 
much of its ammonia and other fertilizing principles that 
it is materially lessened in value. Experienced farmers 
assert that when manure is exposed to the weather 
through the season, it loses one-fifth of its first value. If 
this is true, and there can be little doubt of it, the increa¬ 
sed value of the manure in one season would be equal in 
many places to the cost of a shed for covering it. An¬ 
other source of loss, proceeds from allowing it to fer¬ 
ment or heat to such a degree as to decompose or vola- 
talize a large portion of the most essential ingredients. 
If gypsum was properly applied, it would fix the ammo¬ 
nia so that that could not be volatilized by the strongest 
fermentation. 
Many farmers imagine that sand or loam mixed with 
stable manure, increases its value as much as peat or 
other vegetable matters; this is an error. Sand or loam 
is beneficial only by preventing too active fermentation 
and by absorbing a portion of the volatile and soluble in¬ 
gredients. While peat or other vegetable matter has all 
these beneficial qualities, and at the same time increases 
the quantity of manure by its own fermentation. 
Farmers in general, truly appreciate the value of ashes 
as a manure. Yet many are not aware that if ashes 
(earthy salts,) are not supplied to cultivated soil in pro¬ 
portion as they are taken from it in vegetable product, 
the soil will become in time unproductive and exhaust¬ 
ed, though an abundance of carbon and nitrogen were 
supplied to it. These remarks are intended principally 
to convey an idea of the benefit which many would re¬ 
ceive from a knowledge of the Chemistry of Agriculture. 
Yours truly, E. Manley. 
Easton, Mass. Dec. 21, 1842. 
Will you therefore allow me to say that it can be had in 
any quantity, at the rate of $5.00 for three barrels, or 
f 15.00 for ten barrels, delivered on board of vessel in 
this city. Orders enclosing the cash, to be addressed to 
D. K. Minor, 118 Nassau st, 
New-York, Jan. 25, 1842. 
IMPORTATION OF WOOL. 
POUDRETTE AS A MANURE. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— ^In the December num¬ 
ber of the Cultivator, I noticed a communication from 
Mr. Wm. Partridge, on chemical manures, in which he 
asserts that Liebig is in error, when he states that car¬ 
bonate of ammonia will decompose plaster at common 
temperatures. I was induced from reading the article, 
to try some experiments on these substances; not be¬ 
cause I doubted the correctness of Liebig’s statement, 
but to learn the extent of the decomposition under cer¬ 
tain circumstances. The experiments were conducted 
with much care, and I believe the results are correct. 
100 grains of gypsum (sulphate of lime,) were mixed 
with a cold solution of 70 grains carbonate of ammo¬ 
nia; and the mixture was allowed to remain for 10 hours 
where the temperature was not above 60 degrees. The 
clear solution was then separated from the sediment and 
found to contain 67 grains of sulphate of ammonia and 10 
grains of carbonate of ammonia, (undecomposed.) The 
sediment contained 50 grains of carbonate of lime, and 
14 grains of gypsum, which had escaped decomposition. 
When 100 grains of gypsum were mixed with a solution 
of 55 grains of carbonate ammonia under the same cir¬ 
cumstances, the latter salt was entirely decomposed, and 
pure sulphate of ammonia remained in solution. The 
sediment was a mixture of carbonate and sulphate of 
lime. When gypsum and carbonate ammonia in solu¬ 
tion were mixed in the proportion of 100 to 90, the gyp¬ 
sum was entirely decomposed and resolved into sulphate 
of ammonia and carbonate of lime. Mr. Partridge was 
probably led into error by the tables of affinity found in 
the older works on chemistry. Now these tables do not 
express the true affinity of the substances named in them, 
but merely the order of decomposition, and even for this 
they are of but little use. For instance, the table tells 
us magnesia will separate ammonia from its combina¬ 
tion with sulphuric acid, and lime will separate magne¬ 
sia, but the separation is only partial. Lime added to a 
solution of sulphate of ammonia, will cause a part of the 
sulphuric acid to leave the ammonia and combine with 
the lime. So also when a solution of pure ammonia is 
placed in contact with sulphate of lime, it will effect a 
partial separation of the acid from the lime. _We might 
infer from this, what is in fact the case, that if we satu¬ 
rate sulphuric acid with ammonia, and add as much lime 
as would have saturated it, the lime and ammonia divide 
the acid between them as long as the ammonia remains 
in the liquid state. 
Quantity will compensate for superior affinity. Thus 
a large quantity of lime will entii-ely separate the ammo¬ 
nia from sulphate of ammonia; and the converse is true 
that a certain quantity of ammonia will separate lime 
from its combination with sulphuric acid. Other circuna- 
stances modify chemical decomposition and recomposi¬ 
tion, as volatility, insolubility, &c. 
Chemistry is intimately connected with agriculture; 
and farmers would find it greatly for their interest to ac¬ 
quire a knowledge of this science sufficient to understand 
the chemical changes that are continually going on in the 
materials upon which they operate. The loss arising 
Messrs. Editors —A few facts, the result of practical 
experience, in relation to this article as a fertilizer, may 
be interesting to some of the numerous readers of the 
Cultivator. If the editors think them worth the space 
they will occupy, they are at their service, and their in¬ 
sertion will much oblige the writer. 
Extract from a letter of Mr. Ed. Fullager of Devoe’s Point, 
Westchester CO. N. Y. He says:—“I have seen its good 
effects on flowers and hot house plants, but more particu¬ 
larly on melons. I planted water melons in rather poor 
gravelly soil in 1841, by digging holes 18 inches in di¬ 
ameter, and put one quart of poudrette in each hill, well 
mixed with tlie earth; when the plants came up, I put 
another pint to each hill, and spread it over about three 
feet diameter, hoeing it well in. The vines grew vi¬ 
gorously, and on a space of three square rods of ground, 
I gathered 63 melons, weighing from 30 to 40 lbs. each. 
I gave my neighbor some of the same seed, who planted 
it, by mixing a shovel full of good yard manure to each 
hill—the soil being the same as mine—and the largest 
melon raised by him, did not weigh over 18 lbs. When 
he discovered the difference, and the cause, he made up 
his mind to take a share of stock in your company,which 
he did, and is well satisfied with his bargain.” 
Extract of a letter from Mr. Edward Condict of Morris¬ 
town, N. J. He says:—“ In 1841, I planted a field of 
corn, on about one-third part of which I used poudrette, 
a small handful, rather less than a gill to the hill. The 
other part of the field was manured with good barn yard 
manui’e, a shovel full to the hill; the corn was planted 
about the 10th of May, and by the 20 th of June, when the 
corn was dressed out the second time, the part where the 
poudrette was used, was more than as large again as on 
the other part of the field; it also ripened a week or ten 
days earlier than the other. There was no perceptible 
difference in the yield. I also used it with good effect 
on buckwheat, potatoes, and turneps: particularly the 
latter. In order to ascertain its effects on turneps, I 
sowed a strip in the middle of the piece, mixing the seed 
and poudrette together, sowing it broadcast; the effect 
was very perceptible; the turneps were larger and fair¬ 
er, and were not disturbed by grasshoppers, or any other 
insect. The soil on which it was used was light, inclined 
to sand, or gravel. Early in October, 1841, I used pou¬ 
drette on a loamy soil, somewhat inclining to clay,which 
I had prepared for wheat; on about one-fourth part of it, 
after the wheat was sown, poudrette, at the rate of 20 
bushels to the acre, was sown broadcast, and the result 
on harvesting, that part where the poudrette was put is 
much the heaviest grain, and but very little injured by 
rust or mildew, while the other part of the field is consi¬ 
derably injured. I am so well pleased with the pou¬ 
drette, that I shall in future discontinue the use of barn¬ 
yard manure in the hill for corn.” 
Other extracts might be given from letters written by 
gentlemen residing oa Long Island, in Connecticut, and 
other states, but the foregoing may be sufficient to induce 
many others to desire to test its fertilizing properties, 
when they know where and how it may be obtained. 
Messrs. Editors —In your Cultivator for January, p. 
17, there is an article by Mr. S. W. Jewett, on the im¬ 
portation of coarse wool, &c. 
The table given by Mr. J. of amount of such wool im.- 
ported, I shall admit to be correct; but I think the ge¬ 
neral tenor of his deduction from the fact is erroneous. 
Mr. J. supposes, that if such a duty were levied on this 
wool as would prevent its importation, our wool grow¬ 
ers would have to supply our manufacturers with an equal 
quantity of domestic growth. Were there a probability 
of such a result, I would warmly advocate a prohibitory 
duty; but if such a duty should destroy all those manu¬ 
facturers now engaged in its consumption, and with it 
the consumption of five millions of pounds of the lower 
qualities of American wool, then I think such a policy 
would be suicidal. Having some knowledge on this 
subject, I will endeavor to show our farmers how de¬ 
structive to their interest would be the measure suggested 
by Mr. Jewett. 
I have been directly and indirectly engaged in the 
woolen manufacture of this country for more than thirty- 
two years, and have promoted that interest as far as laid 
in my power; how effectively, I shall leave those en¬ 
gaged in that branch to decide. 
The consumption of low priced foreign wool is mostly 
confined to carpets, crumb cloths, baizes, Kentucky 
janes, coarse blankets, satinets, &c. In working up such 
goods, the warps, with the exception of janes and sati¬ 
nets, are made of American wool, fully equal to one- 
third, and the filling of foreign wool. These goods have 
fallen fully fifty per cent since our manufactures have 
competed with the foreign, and very many of our manu¬ 
facturers have already fallen under the competition; the 
best of them can now barely make a living by their bu¬ 
siness, and a duty of four cents per pound would ruin 
them in toto. Before the coarse wool was imported du¬ 
ty free, most of the goods now made from it were im¬ 
ported, and our citizens will have again to depend on 
importation, if a protective duty be levied. 
By the destruction of this branch of manufketure, one 
hundred thousand families would lose their support, and 
be compelled to resort to agriculture for a living; instead 
of being consumers they would become producers. Our 
sarmers would thereby lose a market for five millions, of 
pounds of American wool, and our shipping interest 
would lose foreign freight to the amount of fifteen thou¬ 
sand tons per annum. Wm. Partridge. 
DOMESTIC FOWLS. 
Messrs. Editors —A subscriber in your last Septem¬ 
ber number, wishes to know where some Dorking fowls 
can be found; and another in your October number in¬ 
quires for Poland fowls. I would state in reply, that I 
have a few of the Dorking breed, but can spare none 
this year. Of the pure blooded Poland breed, I have 
about three dozen, and can spare a part if they are want¬ 
ed. Though I have for some years been somewhat of an 
amateur in breeding and experimenting upon fowls, yet 
I never thought of breeding them to sell. But an article 
of mine in your June number of last year, signed H. Ac 
P. occasioned some communications to be sent to our 
Post Master, requesting him to ascertain the writer of 
the article, and a request for me to send some Poland 
fowls to difierent parts of the country, which I have done 
agreeably to request. That the P. M. may be no more 
troubled by such communications, I now give my name 
and residence. The price of my Poland fowls will be 
$1 each, or six for $5, put up in a suitable coop and de¬ 
livered on board of any vessel or boat sailing from this 
eity. Any orders from abroad may be supplied on the 
first opening of navigation in the spring. 
Of the qualities of the Dorking breed, I cannot speak 
from experience ; but shall endeavor to test them during 
the coming year. Nearly all the other varieties known 
in our country, I have tried, but have found nothing 
comparable yet to the Poland, either for beauty or profit. 
Buffalo, N. Y. Feb. 15, 1843. H. A. Parsons. 
WATER FOR STOCK. 
Messrs. Editors— Having, for mariy years been in 
the practice of leading my horses a considerable dis¬ 
tance to water, I began to cast about, for some method 
of supplying this indispensable article, with less incon¬ 
venience. There being no running water, or spring, 
that could be conducted to the premises, without great 
expense, I resolved to dig a well, in a corner of the 
barn yard. The work was completed in less than three 
days* a sweep then erected, and now, instead of the dis¬ 
tance formerly gone over, I have a good watering place, 
within two rods of my barn. Had this been done, when 
the barn was built, more than 1,500 miles travel would 
have been saved. I hope, Messrs. Editors, that none of 
your numerous readers, who may be similarly located, 
have been thus negligent, or irresolute, as myself ; but 
if there be a solitary case like mine, let me just say to 
that individual, resolve to have a well near your barn; 
and,almost before you are aware of it, the^imk m done. 
Clinton, N, Y. Feb. 1843. " 
G. Butler. 
