in order to supply the deficient materials just 
described ? 1st. By 
MANURES. 
These may be either animal or vegetable, 
substances in a state of decomposition. It is 
always necessary that manure should be in a 
state of fludity (in solution) or gas, in order 
to constitute food for the vegetable creation. 
When a manure already consists of matter 
principally soluble in water, its fermentation 
or putrefaction should be prevented. It is 
only when the manure consists of vegetable 
or animal fiber that these processes are nee 
essai-y. In order to censure such fermenta¬ 
tion, three agents are necessary, namely :—a 
temperature above the freezing point; the 
presence of moisture or water, and oxygen 
gas. 
The principle animal manures easily attain ■ 
able arc. the solid and liquid excrements of 
animals. The constituents of the solid parts 
of animal excrements vary with the nature 
of the food. The soluble parts of the ashes 
of the consumed food exist in the lim'd excre¬ 
ment, while all the insoluble portion of the 
ashes (inorganic portion) are present in the 
solid excrements. On account of the large 
quantity of soluble alkaline phosphate in 
grains of all kiuds, the lluid exerementie of 
carnivorous and graminivorous animals con 
tain these compounds, whereas, those of 
herbivorous animals are free from such salts. 
In the case of the latter, whose food abounds 
in insoluble earthy phosphates, the ftrees 
contain the residue. 
From the above facts we deduce the prin¬ 
ciple that the solid mid liquid excreta of an 
animal have the highest value as manure for 
those plants oil which the animal has fed. 
The manures obtained from horses, cattle 
and sheep are all valuable for our light, land 
where we make it our first object to obtain 
some crop, which on account of its compara¬ 
tively small loss by evaporation, can with¬ 
stand a dry soil. 
MINERAL SUBSTANCES. 
All plants require for their food alkalies 
and alkaline earths, each in certain propor¬ 
tion ; and cereals in addition require silica 
in a .soluble condition. The natural silicates 
in soils differ greatly in the facility with 
which t hey undergo decomposition. It is by 
allowing land a period <;>t rest from cereal 
crops that, it becomes enriched with a supply 
of the soluble silicates. During such a period 
the agency of the atmosphere is at work in 
decomposing and rendering the silicate capa¬ 
ble of absorption. 
U'o possess in quick-lime another agent, 
which, when mixed witli alkaline argilla¬ 
ceous silicates, sets free the alkali and ren¬ 
ders tiie silicates soluble. Thus we see the 
benefit oxerted bv mar's (clays containing a 
large portion of lime) on all‘soils which do 
not cllervesee with acids. 
GYPSUM OR SULPHATE OF LIME. 
This salt enters into flic composition of 
clovers and grasses, and is consequently a 
necessary ingredient of the soil when these 
are to be grown. 11 is now largely manufac¬ 
tured and sold for such purpose. Liebig 
holds t hat it acts by giving the plants the 
power of condensing and absorbingtlie nitro¬ 
gen by means.of its surface exposed to the 
process was repeated until over a dozen had 
been captured. If, however, the second rat 
had seen the first in the trap, he would have 
gone oif and communicated the intelligence 
to the rest and not one of them would have 
been taken. It is wonderful how rapidly 
they can communicate intelligence of this 
kind among each other. Let one be taken 
or wounded and the rest either fight shy or 
leave the place altogether. Unaware of this 
fact, we used at one time to shoot rats with 
a rifle—killing each one. We never found it 
to do much good. Of late we use a shot gun 
and line shot, so as to kill a few and wound 
the rest. After one or two such doses they 
invariably leave (lie premises. 
So mueli for general principles. Let us 
now take the case of a house badly infested 
with rats. How shall we get rid of them ? 
Of course, if they come from some public 
sewer or other colony, the supply is probably 
unlimited, and tho first thing must be to cut 
otT t he access of all outsiders. But if we are 
troubled by none but natives, it will not re¬ 
quire much skill to capture every one of 
them—old, cunning fellows and all. In the 
first place, then, we must resolve to take 
time to it uud capture the whole lot, and to 
this end no attempt must be made to capture 
single animals, since this will tend to make 
them suspicious and will put the old ottos on 
their guard. Then provide a large box or 
barrel ,• place in it a quantity of old carpet, 
brush, &c., and also some food, such as meal, 
cheese, herring, &c. Bore a two-inch hole in 
the side of the box, and leave it for some 
days. 'The rats will soon find it out and fre¬ 
quent. it. First a young.one will go in and 
creases its retentive powers with respert to 
moisture. The reader has only to visit the 
neighborhood of Paris and Brantford to see 
what a fertile district has been made nut of 
what was formerly, in a great many p] iices 
an expanse of soil wo light as to he shifted bv 
rain storms and carried into hollow< and 
ditches. We have frequently seen hills 0 f 
corn ieft bare in such cases, where non an 
artificial soil has been formed which supports 
line fields of wheat, peas and oats. This has 
been accomplished by means of the above 
agencies, but more especially by the latter 
practice of turning in timothy and clover 
Lastly, we must not omit to mention a 
most important 
MECHANICAL MEANS 
of improving sandy soil. This consists in the 
use of the roller. Without this implement 
no fanner can successfully till a light farm 
Compactness is one of the qualities which is 
deficient in such a farm, and in consequence 
tho moisture escapes too rapidly from tin 
soil, and the seed is not sufficiently protected 
by the firm envelopment of earth necessary 
to its successful germination. The use of the 
roller supplies this quality, and moreover 
gives to the ground a greater capability to 
resist t he. wearing action of violent rains." 
By putting these principles into praot ice 
(lie farmer may expect to make a farm 
otherwise worthless, fertile and profitable’ 
but he must not forget that as he ©verv y ea ,’. 
takes away a large portion of materials from 
his land in the shape of different crops s () 
must he yearly pay the land back its due 
interest, namely, the manure, or otherwise 
in a short time it will yield neit her principal 
nor interest; and lie will find it reduced to 
the condition of the farms in the Southern 
States, where the great object has been to 
get everything possible out of the land with 
the least possible outlay, and the consequence 
has been, in one word, poverty. 
THE CHEMISTRY OF SANDY LAND 
C. M. Smith, M. B., in the Canada Farmer, 
furnishes the following interesting article : 
Tt has often been noticed that a farm which 
has been given up in disgust by its owner, 
and sold for a trifle on account of the light 
soil composing it, after passing into the hands 
of a man who has learned to use brain work 
as well as manual labor in his calling, has, in 
the course of two or three years, entirely 
changed in appearance, both with respect to 
the soil itself and the crops borne on it. 
Now this is not the result'of some magic 
wund, nor a streak of luck, but it is what 
follows from the practical application of a 
scientific knowledge of the chemistry of soils. 
While the former owner endeavored to 
extract the ingredients, which were already 
deficient by exhaustive crops, t he more intel¬ 
ligent agriculturist makes it his first object 
to supply such deficient materials to the soil, 
and thus bring it near the condition of fertile 
ground. 
Now, what arc the ingredients which arc 
deflicient, in sandy soil, and how may they 
best be increased or supplied ! In the first 
place let us find the proportion of materials 
required to compose a fertile soil. According 
to Bergmann this would be about four parts 
clay, three of sand, two of calcareous (con¬ 
taining salts of lime) earth, and one of mag¬ 
nesia. 
Another analysis of 400 grs. of fertile soil 
gives. 
Grains. 
Water. 
Siliceous Sand_ 
Veve table Fiber,.. 
Extract, 
Alumina.. 
.Magnesia. 
Oxide Of Iron. 
Ciili-arcoun Burtli.. 
Loss. 
ORCHARD GRASS IN VIRGINIA 
for absorption. Now, in a sandy soil, the 
water derived from the atmosphere speedily 
filters through the loose material until it 
meets with a firmer substratum, and is also 
rapidly lost by evaporation from the surface. 
As we cannot increase the quantity of rain, 
und as artificial irrigation is inadmissible on 
account of expense, we must endeavor to 
change the character of tho soil in such a way 
that the filtration and evaporation may go 
on less rapidly. It will be shown below how 
this is to be done. 
Vegetable fiber and extract are the mate¬ 
rials which form the principal portion of 
what is termed vegetable mold, the value of 
which when present, in soil is well ‘known to 
every one. We find but a small proportion 
of these ingredients present in a light soil if 
it has been under the cultivation of one of tho 
exhaustive agriculturists mentioned above. 
What may have been present in the land 
when first cleared of the forest, has soon 
been abstracted by successive crops of grain, 
grass or roots. These ingredient*, therefore, 
require to be largely supplied in an artificial 
way. 
Alumina or Clay is necessarily deficient in 
quantity in the soil of which we arc speaking, 
and something must be supplied to answer 
the same purpose in a more or less perfect 
manner. It is this substance which gives to 
the soil tenacity, and forms a basis for the 
roots of different plants, it also possesses 
the valuable property of absorbing atmos¬ 
pheric moisture. On account of the very 
small proportion found in plants themselves, 
it is denied by some writers that it consti¬ 
tutes a vegetable food at all: but it certainly 
acquires value from the properties mentioned 
above. 
Calcareous earth, or earth containing the 
various salts of lime, such as the. phosphate, 
PHOSPHATES. 
These are present in considerable quantity 
in all our most nutritious plants. TL(_ 
. This sub- 
stauoe forms the Chief part of what is sold as 
bone manure, and is the ingredient which 
gives to that manure its value, for it is not, 
as was formerly held, dependent on the 
amount of nitrogen!Zed matter for its fertil¬ 
izing effect. A soil which Is destitute of this 
material is totally unlit for producing grain, 
peas or beans. 
COMMON SALT. 
cun hardly bo said to constitute a vegetable, 
food, but still it is of service in assisting the 
decomposition of(vegetabic and animal fiber, 
and would therefore assist hi the assimilation 
of green crops when turned under. It is 
not impossible, perhaps, that its property of 
attracting moisture from the air may also be 
of value. 
VEGETABLE MANURE. 
Under this head we include, perhaps, the 
most valuable means of enriching light soil. 
All green succulent plants contain saccharine 
and mucilaginous mat ter, with woody fiber, 
and rcadilv 1011110111 , They should therefore, 
if intended for manure, tie used as soon as 
possible after death, lienee the grand prin¬ 
ciple of turning in green crops. They must 
not, however, be plowed under too deep, lest 
fermentation bo prevented by compression 
and exclusion of uir. As was mentioned 
above, such crops should be turned under 
when in tlower, or at the commencement of 
flowering, for ii is then that they contain the 
largest quantity of easily soluble matter. 
What crop is most suitable lor the purpose 
mentioned above i It has been found that 
Clover possesses the valuahle property of 
withstanding a dry soil, and in consequence 
will succeed where cereals would fail. It 
also reaches perfection at. a bight which 
permits it to be turned in, and in consequence 
possesses a great advantage. As to the 
proper variety, the common red succeeds 
perhaps as well as any ; for we must look 
FIELD NOTES 
NOTES FOR NATURALISTS, 
How to Keep Early Hose, Potatoes for 
spring planting in the South, is thus described 
by P. J. Beuckmans in Farmer and Gardener, 
Augusta, Go.: — He digs the potatoes when 
ripe, in June, andspreads'them on a platform 
under the shade of a tree. During a rain 
they are covered with bagging. These pota¬ 
toes are planted early in August, and are 
ready to harvest by the first of November. 
This second crop should be planted on land 
that had been well manured in the spring, 
but no manure) is used at the time of plant- 
iug. Whole, medium-sized tubere are used. 
The ground is kept level, and well mulched 
with straw or litter. The potatoes raised in 
this manner keep well until late in the spring. 
Early Hose Potatoes. —Lust spring I plant¬ 
ed six rows, fifty feet in length, with Early 
Rose Potatoes. They had no cultivation ex¬ 
cept what 1 gave them with the hoe, which 
was of course not what a strong mau could 
have done for them. Just twelve weeks 
from the day of planting 1 began to use 
them, and found them larger than hen's 
eggs. I have used more or less every day 
since, and to-day they were dug, and I have 
ten bushels of fine potatoes.— Aunt Lop, 
Aug. 6, 1373. 
The Polar Bear.—The bear of the Arctic 
regions does not hug like other bears, but 
bites at his opponent; and ho declines to eat 
his captive until life is quite extinct. Like a 
cat, he plays with liis victim. Among the 
Exquimaux of Greenland ho plays strange 
pranks, often creeping upon U 10 hunter 
while busy fencing a seal, and Lapping him 
on the shoulder with his powerful paw. It 
is then the unfortunate man’s cue to “ feign 
dead,’’ so that when Brownie retreats a few 
paces to enjoy the prospect of his intended 
meal, the gnu cun be got ready before ho re¬ 
turns again to the attack. 
How to Get Hid of Ground Squirrels .— 
Can some of your readers advise me how to 
get rid of ground squirrels or prairie dogs, 
whichever they be —not the little striped 
kind that infest the woods, but those that 
burrow' in the hill-sides. They seem to live 
in colonies, and are very destructive to all 
kinds of vegetables. They burrow so deep 
I cannot dig them out. 1 tried poisoning 
them with beans and wheat soaked in strych¬ 
nine, and put it in their holes ; the gram all 
disappeared, but 1 have not missed any squir¬ 
rels.— j. ii, e, 
- -— ~ -a c h.': AxSk 
