144 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May 
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ANALYSIS OF MANURES. 
Tube with 
copper salt. 
Tube with 
potash tk lime. 
Test-tube 
with manure 
Fig. 29.) 
One of the easiest ktnds of analysis* as well as most 
useful to the farmer, is the analysis of manures. The 
fertilizing ingredients being nearly in an unmixed state, 
renders the determination of their proportions, much 
1 8* eas * e D than where they are widely 
diffused through a soil. Hence the 
greater ease and accuracy connected 
with the examination of manures over 
that of soils. 
The introduction of new manures 
renders a chemical examination often 
of advantage. The following method 
of ascertaining the amount of ammo¬ 
nia in any substance, and constituting 
a very important part of the analysis 
of manures, is condensed from the 
London Gardeners Chronicle, and ap¬ 
pears to be simple, expeditious, and 
accurate. It is used in the examina¬ 
tion of guano. 
A common test tube (about 5 inches 
long and half an inch in diameter, and 
represented as the lower of the three 
tubes in the figure.) is taken, and a 
portion of the guano or other manure 
to be examined, is accurately weighed and introduced 
into it; 25 or 50 grains will be found a convenient 
quantity. A similar tube, but drawn at its lower end 
to an open neck, is then attached to the test tube by 
means of a perforated cork; a few fragments of asbestos 
are placed in the neck, to prevent its bceoming choked, 
and it is then filled with caustic potash mixed with 
fragments of lime. Another tube, similar to the last, 
is then placed in like manner above, and the neck being 
also provided with asbestos, the tube is filled with 
coarsely powdered chloride, sulphate, or nitrate of cop¬ 
per, previously well dried. The three tubes, with their 
contents, having been weighed separately, the lower 
one containing the manure, is placed in a water bath, 
until all moisture is expelled. The moisture is all ab¬ 
sorbed by the caustic potash, and the ammonia by the 
salt. The tubes are then to be disconnected and again 
weighed; the quantity of uncombined ammonia in the 
manure will then be shown by the increased weight of 
the upper tube containing the copper salt; and the 
quantity of water, by the increase of weight in the 
middle tube, containing the potash and lime. The next 
step is to determine the combined ammonia. To do 
this, mix the manure with an equal quantity of finely 
powdered quick-lime; shake them well together,-and 
immediately connect the tubes as before; then expose 
the test tube to a low red heat, and the ammonia will be 
driven off. As it passes up through the copper salt, it 
gives it a fine blue color, and the operation may be 
known to be complete, when it ceases to extend any 
higher. The quantity is then determined by weighing 
as before. 
The upper tube need not be so large as the middle 
one, nor the middle one so large as the lower. Thin 
vials with the bottoms off, might be made to do in the 
absence of tubes; but the weight of the glass would of 
course lessen the accuracy of the result. A delicate 
and correct balance is of the first importance. 
POTATOES. 
L. Tucker, Esq. —The potato is most productive 
and more perfect in a moist soil,—not wet nor dry. A 
soil that is good for oats ; wheat or corn, and that has 
had a crop on it the preceding year, will cause them to 
grow more rapidly and to mature eaarlier than they 
will on a sod. A rapid uninterrupted growth and per¬ 
fect maturity, are indispensable for the production of a 
first rate potato. 
Having selected a suitable place, draw out 30 two- 
horse loads of stable or yard manure to the acre, making 
about 100 heaps. As soon in the spring as the ground 
is in good condition to plow, spread the manure evenly, 
and plow it immediately under. About the middle of 
May, plow it again, and harrow until it is fine and mel¬ 
low. Furrow' about two inches deep, and two feet nine 
inches wide. Potatoes that are of merchantable size 
are the best for seed. Cut such as require it so that you 
have three or four eyes to a piece. Put the pieces 
about ten inches apart in the rows, and throw on each 
piece about a tea-spoonful of plaster of paris. Cover 
with a hoe an inch thick. As soon as the young pota¬ 
toes are three inches high, plow them, throwing the 
furrow from them. Dress them out nicely without 
bruising them, putting about half an Inch thick of earth 
around the hill, and destroying everything else. As 
soon as any of the tops begin to lean, plow again, throw¬ 
ing the furrow to the hill, and dress out as before. Put 
a teaspoonful of plaster of paris on the tops of each hill, 
and the cultivation is done. When the tops are all 
dead, and the ground so dry that the potatoes will come 
out clean , throw them out with a spade or four tined 
fork, and pick them up within fifteen minutes after. IC 
left long in the sun or light, they are injured. Have 
bins in your cellar that will not hold more than forty 
bushels a piece, with floors raised about four inches 
from the ground. Put your potatoes immediately in 
these bins, and shut the light out as much as possible, 
allowing a circulation of air through the cellar. Let 
all remain so until the weather becomes so cold as to 
make it necessary to close your cellar for the winter. 
Then close it, and cover your potatoes with a grass sod 
two inches thick, grass up. In the spring your pota¬ 
toes will be as fine as when you dug them. 
This has been my practice for the last two years, and 
I have had no rotten potatoes. It. K. Tuttle. 
Morristown , N. J., Jan. 12, 1846. 
We see no objection to the management of potatoes 
as above directed, under ordinary circumstances; but 
where danger was to be apprehended from the rot, or 
potato disease, the mode might not in all respects be the 
best. For instance, though we believe the quality of 
potatoes for the table is generally injured by exposure to 
light and sun, yet it is an established fact that one of 
the best preventives of rot is to sun them before they 
are stored for the winter. The Commissioners appoint¬ 
ed by the British government to investigate the causes 
of the potato disease, advise that potatoes designed for 
seed should be dried and sunned till they are green, in 
order to insure healthy and strong germination.— Ed. 
FOLDING LADDERS. 
A ladder, as every farmer knows, is one of the most 
necessary implements of the farm, and is required for 
|j| numerous and constant uses 
l ; in ascending stacks, tops ot 
buildings, gathering fruit, 
pruning fruit trees, &c. At 
the same time it is usually 
a very awkward imple¬ 
ment, partly so because 
clumsily made, and always 
so essentially from its 
length. The selection of 
light, well seasoned, and 
strong wood, as material 
for construction, and giv¬ 
ing the styles or posts the 
greatest thickness only in 
the middle where most lia¬ 
ble to break, would render 
them more convenient. In 
addition to these, if the lad¬ 
der is made in the folding 
form, it becomes still more neat and portable. The ac¬ 
companying figures show this mode of construction. 
A exhibits the ladder as open for use; B, the same hall 
shut; and C, entirely shut. The rounds, which are 
made small, and of the strongest wood, turn on iron pins 
passing through the poles. This ladder has one great 
convenience in pruning apple-trees, as it may be thrust 
through thick branches, while shut, like a pole, with¬ 
out bruising the tree, and afterwards opened for ascent. 
