1852 
THE CULTIVATOR 
99 
richest prairie of the west, and in that spot plant corn 
or any other vegetable. What advantage will the at¬ 
mosphere, which is charged with the exhalation of fifty 
thousand acres of prairie land, be to that corn? Will it 
make it grow or produce grain? The truth is, the at¬ 
mosphere has the same influence on vegetable, that it 
has on animal nutrition—no more, no less. The nutri¬ 
tion is taken from the soil, conveyed through the ascend¬ 
ing sap vessels to the leaves, in the surfaces of which it 
is exposed to the action of the carbonic acid and nitro¬ 
gen in the atmosphere, which prepares it for the appro¬ 
priation of the plant to the formation of wood, fruit, &c. 
Another error is very general in the agricultural 
world. It consists in supposing that any single element 
of vegetable nutrition constitutes a manure. Hence 
plaster of Paris, lime, salt, ashes, potash, soda, &c., all 
have their advocates as manures, in the proper sense of 
the term. Now none of these can be manure; they each 
form one of the elements or serve to produce One of the 
components of manure. If a soil be deficient in potash, 
or lime, &c., and possesses all the other elements of 
vegetable nutrition, then the application of a proper 
quantity of the deficient element will render the soil 
fertile. Some of these articles, besides themselves en¬ 
tering into the nutrition as an element, by combining 
with or acting chemically upon other elements, that had 
remained inactive in the soil, render them also nutritious, 
and hence perform a double duty. This is conspicuous¬ 
ly the case with lime. A soil may be abundantly sup¬ 
plied with every kind of vegetable matter in a dormant 
state. It is sterile, or productive only of rank weeds. 
The application of lime immediately cures the defects 
of this soil, by causing the decomposition of the crude 
vegetable matter, and thus rendering it proper food 
for plants, and by itself also becoming one of the ele¬ 
ments of that food. Still, lime cannot be properly call¬ 
ed manure. Plaster of Paris, (gypsum) is supposed to 
act also a double part; first as a stimulant to the action 
of other elements; and second, by combining with am¬ 
monia, fixing it, and gradually giving it up to form anoth¬ 
er element of food. If salt (common salt, chloride of 
sodium) is ever beneficial to a soil, it must be from the 
action of its chloric acid upon some previously inactive 
element, and by the combination of its soda with the 
silica of the soil, both of which effects are sometimes 
required no doubt,* but the difficulty will be to ascer¬ 
tain what lands do require these actions. The presence 
of potash in all soils is generally sufficient for the neces¬ 
sary supply of silicate of potash for the growing crop, 
and then the silicate of soda is not wanted. What com¬ 
bination the muriatic acid, (Hydrochloric) may effect, I 
am not prepared to say. It may, by combining with one of 
the elements of some compound in the soil,set free another 
element which becomes a portion of the food of plants. 
Good horse manure and guano, in my opinion, are the 
only real general manures, applicable to all soils and all 
crops. They each contain all the elements of nutrition 
in proper proportions for immediate use by plants. I 
have said they are applicable to all soils; of course I 
mean to all soils that require manure. It would be fol¬ 
ly to apply either to a soil already surcharged with nu¬ 
trition. And we have all seen soils that were not bene- 
fitted by either of them. The reason is, they already 
possess too much of nutritious matter; they are unable 
to digest it; they require a remedy for dyspepsia. Gen¬ 
erally a free application of lime to such soils will render 
them highly fertile. It seems to stimulate the digestive 
{towers of the soil, and then to render them capable of 
preparing the crude matters contained in it as food for 
plants. 
The reader will see by these reflections, that special 
manures, or, more properly, single elements of manure, 
can rarely be depended on for profitable application. 
Plants cannot live on lime alone, any more than man 
can live on bread alone. There is one element, however, 
of vegetable nutrition, that approaches nearer to the 
character of true manure than any other except guano 
and stable manure. I refer to water. It is a necessary 
element in all fertile soils, and without it, of course, no 
manure would constitute food for plants. In some coun¬ 
tries no other is used. But, if a soil be absolutely de¬ 
ficient in real nutrition, water will be found utterly in¬ 
capable of affording it. It is merely a solvent of other 
matters, and a vehicle for their conveyance to their ap¬ 
propriate places in the plant. 
Agriculture of Putnam County, N. Y. 
At a meeting of the Putnam County Ag. Society, on 
the first Wednesday of January, for the purpose of 
awarding premiums on grain crops, the following awards 
were made: 
On Corn —1. To Jno. M. Towner, of Patterson, for 
87 bushels of shelled corn, raised on one acre of land— 
2. To Nathl. Cole, of Putnam Valley, for 74 bushels 
shelled corn, raised on one acre of land. 
On Oats —To Nathl. Cole, Putnam Valley, for (51 
bushels oats, raised on one acre and six rods of lands. 
On Rye— To Ezekiel Hyatt, Putnam Valley, for 95 
bushels, raised on three acres, two roods, and eight 
perches, being at the rate of 27 bushels per acre. 
The kind of corn raised by Mr. Towner, was that 
known as the little Dutton, principally an eight-rowed 
yellow. That raised by Mr. Cole, was a variety of eight- 
rowed white corn. 
The statements of all the competitors were given un¬ 
der oath, and accompanied by statements of surveyors, 
&c., also under oath. All the requirements of the 
Society were fulfilled, leaving no room for doubt in the 
minds of the incredulous. Considering the past dry 
season, w f e think the yields large. 
The nett profit on Mr. Towner’s acre of corn, after de¬ 
ducting all expenses, interest on land,&c.,was.... $55 25 
On Mr. Cole’s acre of corn,. 47 20 
On Mr. Cole’s acre of oats,. . 19 52 
On Mr. Hyatt’s acre of Rye,. 11 00 
Yours truly, H. C. W. 
Knife Sharpening. —The Prairie Farmer says that 
a newly constructed steel or knife-sharpener, is coming 
into use. “ It consists of two small, thin, bevel-edged 
pieces of very hard steel, placed in a handle, in the 
shape of the letter X; the knife is sharpened by draw¬ 
ing its edge once down the crack made by the crossing 
pieces.” 
