H848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ill 
•combined in some way with the liquid excrement of the 
animal, or else thrown into a compost heap immedi¬ 
ately after q rain, when it is saturated with water. 
For such a requirement science furnishes us the fcllow'- 
ing solution:—Ammonia, being a compound of hydro¬ 
gen and nitrogen, water must be present in sufficient 
■quantity to furnish the hydrogen to unite with the ni¬ 
trogen, or instead of ammonia, we shall have cyanogen 
formed, which is also a compound of hydrogen and ni¬ 
trogen; but the hydrogen is in a smaller quantity than 
what is requisite to form ammonia. 
Among the artificial manures, peat may be used with 
great benefit, either alone, if exposed for a length of 
time to the ameliorating influences of the frost, rain, 
■or atmosphere, or combined with the mineral manures, 
lime, pot-ash, or ashes. T© the potato erop it may be 
used uncombined with mineral manures, not only to the 
•increase of the quantity, but manifestly to the improve¬ 
ment joi the quality-—the abundant humus which it 
fields, contributing to increase the starch, upon which 
the mealiness of the potato, that we so much prize, 
■depends. 
The most satisfactory explanation of the action of 
gypsum as a manure, is that given us by Liebig-—that 
it fixes the ammonia of the atmosphere for the benefit 
of the growing plant. 
Charcoal , considered in itself, is one of tire most in¬ 
destructible substances—remaining unchanged, and 
apparently unchangeable in its form, for many years; 
and yet, from the increased fertility of the soil to which 
it has been applied, remaining long after the action of 
all other manures with which we are acquainted has 
ceased, and all traces of them has disappeared, it evi¬ 
dently possesses an influence on vegetable life as yet 
unexplained, unless it be its power of absorbing am¬ 
monia, and holding it in readiness t-o be given up to the 
growing plant, at every successive rain. 
The importance which we thus attach to the influ¬ 
ence and value of nitrogen in promoting vegetable 
growth, may, at the first glance, seem to war with the 
doctrine of special manures, as well as with the fact 
that a number of elementary inorganic substances, 
must always be present in the soil in sensible quanti¬ 
ties ; the absence of either one of which, without a 
doubt, will seriously affect vegetable growth. Such 
impression would seem to find support in the fact, that 
where in a particular field or section of country, from 
the growing of one crop a succession of years, instead 
of a system of rotation of crops, there has been an ab¬ 
straction of one of these elements, the use of some 
manure containing a large quantity of that particular 
substance, will restore at once fertility to the soil, as 
was the case with the grasslands in Cheshire in which 
the phosphates having been exhausted, bone dust proved 
•more valuable than any other manure, and so of lime 
in other sections. 
In such eases the action of the specific ingredient is 
•only salutary, because in its use there is a restoration of 
a lacking element—the increased use of which instead 
of being salutary, often proves prejudicial to the inter¬ 
est of the farmer. To this fact we owe the expres- . 
sion, almost grown into a proverb, that lime, “ while 
it enriches the father, impoverishes the son.” Not so 
with nitrogen, or its compound ammonia—the more 
liberal its use, the greater the yield, and the better the 
tilth the soil acquires. The admission of the necessity 
for the presence of all the elementary inorganic sub¬ 
stances in the soil, does not, in our judgment, at all 
invalidate the position which we have endeavored to 
sustain, that the value of manures in common use, may 
be measured by the quantity J of nitrogen which they 
contain, or their power of forming nitrates. 
Albany, March , 1848. J. M. Ward. 
Facts aaad Ojpmloits, 
CONDENSED FROM BOOKS AND PAPERS. 
Use of Clay on Sandy Soils—two Crops on 
the same Land at once.-— The report of the com¬ 
mittee on farms for the Hartford County Ag. Society, 
states that Mr. George Olmstead, of East Hartford, 
has greatly improved a piece of sandy land, which for¬ 
merly produced very scanty crops, by mixing with it 
earth of a clayey nature. He is confident it has well paid 
him for the expense. The same report states that Mr. 
Olmstead has practiced cultivating two crops on the 
same ground at the same time, with advantage:— 
He plants, on early soil, potatoes in rows four feet 
apart; and after hoeing two or three times, he plants 
an early variety of corn between the rows. He be¬ 
lieves that by this mode his ground yields him a much 
greater profit than when planted with but one crop. 
Under-draining. —B. F. Jewett, near Utica, lays 
two scantlings in the bottom of his ditches, 5 or 6 in¬ 
ches apart, and covers them with a slab. In quick¬ 
sand, a slab should also be laid on the bottom. The 
ditch is then filled with earth. 
Browse for Sheep. —Hemlock, pine, and spruce, 
are found good for sheep. In new or wooded countries, 
much hay may be saved by the use of browse; and its 
succulence be useful and wholesome. 
To destroy Sorrel.— Manure well early,- plow 
deep early; harrow well; plant corn 3 or 4 feet each 
way; pass the cultivator through every ten days, till 
the middle of summer; then sow 12 lbs. of clover seed 
per acre, and pass the cultivator again. Glover will 
take the place of the sorrel. 
Use of Railroads to Farmers.— Three thousand 
six hundred gallons of milk, daily average, were taken 
over the Fitchburgh railroad to the Boston market, the 
past season. In consequence of the increase of this 
business, a special milk train is to be run every night, 
after the commencement of the coming season. 
Sheep killed by Dogs.— N. Sawyer writes in the 
Ohio Cultivator, that over 300 sheep have been killed 
by dogs on his farm since March last. More or less 
are killed every week. They are caught by the throat, 
a hole is torn into the side, and a part of the ham eaten 
off. The dogs never again return to the same sheep, 
but attack fresh ones. A part of the sheep on this 
farm are of great excellence and value, and have been 
brought over 1,000 miles. Is not the .great State of 
Ohio, with its government, strong enough to protect 
the property of its citizens from such losses? 
Rapid Growth.— It is stated in the Germantown 
(Ohio) Gazette, that there is, near that place, a willow 
tree, only about 20 years old, which is 10j feet in cir¬ 
cumference, ;{3 feet 4 inches in diameter) 64 feet high, 
and 64 feet broad. 
Ohio Swine. —The Ohio Cultivator gives the num¬ 
ber of hogs in each county in the State, according to 
census, for 1846 and 1847. In every one of the 83 
counties the number has increased, except in two, viz: 
Champaign and Lawrence. In 1846, there were 1,- 
405,621. In 1847, there were 1,751,318. 
Prices of Farms.— The Village Record, published 
at West Chester, Pa., gives a statement of the sale of 
13 farms in that vicinity; by which it appears that the 
prices varied from $33 to $87 per acre, and that the 
average price for the whole was about $58 per acre. 
C©b Stove Wood. —P. Parks, of Victor, N. Y., 
states an interesting experiment in using cobs for fuel. 
Half his last year’s fuel was cobs, from a few acres of 
corn. They burn quickly, and make a hot fire; an air¬ 
tight stove is best. A light tin shovel must be pro¬ 
vided. Their ashes would doubtless be good for next 
crop. 
