66 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
hour, one pair of lungs will, at a low estimate, vitiate the air by the ab¬ 
straction of no less than 1,440 cubic inches of oxygen, and the addition oi 
an equal number of carbonic acid, thus constituting a source of impurity 
which can not be safely overlooked.” See Combe, chap. vii. 
Atmospheric air becomes vitiated principally by one, or a combination, 
of the following causes: 
1. By animal respiration. 
2. By decaying animal and vegetable matters. 
S. By stagnant waters; and 
4. By combustion in dose apartments. 
Many cases are cited of the fatal effects of breathing highly vitiated air, 
in prisons, in small close apartments, and in unhealthy districts. One oi' 
the most horrible was that which occurred in the B ack-Hole of Calcutta, 
where one hundred and forty Englishmen were thrust into a confined 
place, eighteen feet square, in vvhicn there were but two small windows 
on one side, and where yentillation was impossible. Scarcely was the 
door shut upon the prisoners, when their sufferings, for want of fresh air, 
commenced, and in six hours ninety-six of them were dead! In the morn¬ 
ing only twenty-three of them were living, many of whom were subse¬ 
quently cut off by putrid fever, caused by the dreadful effluvia arid the 
corruption of the air. Other cases are recorded of persons dying, for want 
of fresh air, in small close cabins; and the numerous cases annually re¬ 
corded of deaths caused by burning charcoal in close apartments, is to be 
attributed to the consumption of the oxygen, and the generation of car¬ 
bonic acid by the combustion of the charcoal. But it is not only where 
death ensues that the breathing of vitiated air is hurtful; it is always 
prejudicial, more or less to health; it impairs the constitution, and is often 
the latent cause of diseases which ultimately prove fatal. “ The chief 
Symptoms,” says Orfila, “ which follow the breathing impure air, are great 
heaviness in the head, tingling in the ears, troubled sight, a great inclina¬ 
tion to sleep, diminution of strength and falling down.” These sensations 
are experienced in crowded, heated rooms, in steam boat and canal boat 
cabins, &c. 
Decaying animal and vegetable matters are a prolific source of disease, 
by vitiating the atmosphere we breathe, particularly in cellars, close yards, 
or other places where the effluvia they generate is not speedily dissipated 
by the winds. Hence fevers are most prevalent where due regard is not 
had to cleanliness, as over dirty cella: s, near filthy yards and lanes, and in 
dwellings in and about which animal and vegetable matters are suffered to 
accumulate and putrify. Hence the sickness that pervades new countries, 
by the decay of vegetable matters, on the first exposure of the soil to the 
sun. 
The deleterious influence of stagnant waters upon the atmosphere is 
known to all; and when combined with animal and vegetable putrefaction, 
the evil is greatly increased. Hence nothing contributes more to the 
healthiness of a neighborhood, than the draining of sw amps, marshes and 
wet lands 
Combustion also vitiates the atmosphere in close rooms, particularly gas 
lights—a single gas burner consuming more oxygen, according to Combe, 
and producing more carbonic acid gas, to deteriorate the atmosphere of a 
room, than six or eight candles. 
Among the precautions which these facts suggest, for the preservation 
of health, we may mention the following. 
To locate our dwellings on dry grounds, and in airy situations, remote 
from stagnant waters. The cellars should be dry, with windows at oppo¬ 
site sides, if practicable, for ventilation, whenever the weather will per¬ 
mit, and they should be kept free from all putrifying vegetable matters. 
The rooms should be lofty, and rather capacious than contracted, and 
should open, by windows, to the exterior, and should be all ventilated 
every fair morning in summer. It adds to the beauty of rural abodes, as 
well as to the comfort and health of their inmates, to surround them with 
fruit and ornamental trees. The offices and structures for farm stock should 
not be contiguous to the dwelling, nor should the cattle or swine be per¬ 
mitted to range and litter about it—perfect cleanliness should be observed 
in and about the house, if we would breathe a pure atmosphere. 
In regard to our personal habits, these facts inculcate the propriety of 
taking frequent exercise in the open air, particularly in summer mornings, 
when it is most pure and fragiant—of avoiding close crowded apartments; 
of accustoming ourselves to a medium temperature in our dwellings—of 
sleeping in rooms without fire, with open doors, that fresh air may at all 
times have access, and of not lodging too many persons in the same room. 
These rules, accompanied by temperance in our diet, and in the indul¬ 
gence of our passions, and by a strict regard to cleanliness in our persons, 
would greatly reduce the amount of human sickness and misery, would 
multiply our comforts, arid prolong life. 
Pure fresh air is not only essential to the health of man, but to every 
animal under his control, and even to the healthful development and ma¬ 
turity of (he plan ts he cultivates. _ 
STEEPING SEED GRAIN, 
Is objected to by a correspondent in our last, as a general practice. In 
addition to the reasons which we then urged in its favor, we find a fact re¬ 
corded in the transactions of the old agricultural society, which, if true, af- 
ords a potent argument in favor of steeping at least seed corn. Robert 
Johnson, Esq. then a senator from Dutchess, states in vol. 1 of the trans¬ 
actions, that steeping seed wheat in a pickle of sait-petre had the effect to 
facilitate its ripening two weeks, and to increase its product at least 25 
per cent, as was evidenced by a comparison with wheat sown in the same 
field, in which salt petre had not been used in preparing the seed. It 
was this article which led us into our practice of using salt-petre in our 
steep for seed corn, and which we have followed for sixteen years. The 
effect here ascribed to the nitre may seem incredible; and still it is not 
more so than that, produced by gypsum upon clover, to a person who has 
never witnessed the effects of the latter, upon a hungry sandy soil. We 
know but little yet of the specific food of plants; and the importance of 
Mr. Johnson’s suggestion should at least induce us to try the experiment 
comparatively. 
RULES FOR PLOUGHMEN. 
1st. The horses should be harnessed as near to the plough as they can 
be placed without impeding the freedom of their step; for the closer they 
are to the point of draught, the less exertion will be required to over¬ 
come the resistance. 
2d. When ploughing with a pair abreast, the most powerful horse should 
be worked in the furrow; but if the team be harnessed in line, and there 
be any difference in the height of the cattle, the tallest should be put lore- 
most, if he be in every respect equal to the other. 
3d. When at work they hould be kept going at as regular and good a 
pace as the nature of the work will permit; for they are thus more ma¬ 
nageable, and the draught easier than when slow'. By due attention to 
this, the heavy soil will also cling less to the coulter, and the land will be 
lound to work more freely. 
4 th. The breadth and depth of the furrow being ascertained, the plough 
should be held upright, bearing equally all along on a straight sole, and be 
made to move forward in a regular line, without swerving to either side. 
The edge of the coulter should be set directly forward, so that the land- 
side of it may run in a parallel line with the land-side of the head, and in 
^uch a position that.their slant, or sweep, may exactly correspond, 
j 5th. The ploughman should walk with his body as nearly as possible 
■ upright, without leaning on the stilts, and without using force to any part, 
further than may be absolutely necessary to keep the implement steadily 
in a straight line. He should also be sparing of his voice, and of eorrec- 
i tion to the team: of the former, because too much cheering and ordering 
only confuses the cattle; and of the latter, because punishment, when ot- 
| ten repeated, at length ceases to have due effect, and thus leads to unne- 
jeessary beating. 
There is, in fact, a certain degree of taste in ploughing, as well as in 
every thing else,—a kind of tact, which is difficult to be taught, and hard¬ 
ly to be acquired except by a sort of instinct. The ploughman who tills 
the ground w ith dexterity, never presses upon the plough without neces¬ 
sity—a mere touch, or a glance of the eye, tells him when she is going 
| wrong, and a slight turn of the hand sits her instantly right; whereas a 
clumsy fellow, without feeling in his palms, or readiness or perception, is . 
continually either throwing the plough out, or she is riding upon the heel * 
| or point, straining the team, tiring himself, and altogether making bad 
I work. -> 
j There are various modes of regulating the pitch of the plough. Thus 
jit may be made to go deeper by lowering the hack bands, or increasing 
the distance of the team, by setting the muzzle higher up in the index of 
the beam, and by slanting and giving the coulter a greater rake forward; 
and the reverse will make it go shallower. It can also be constructed with 
a regulating lever, which may be attached to any of the foot and wheel 
ploughs-now in use, and can be used occasionally, or otherwise, as cir¬ 
cumstances may require. The side motion may be thus altered so as to 
make the plough take a broader slice, or, as it is commonly called, “ to 
give her more or less land:” by putting the hook of the traces into the 
notches of the muzzle more towards the unploughed ground, you take 
land from the plough; but by shifting it to the furrow-side, you give it 
land. It ought, therefore, to be made about eight inches in length, and 
may be fixed either to the side of the beam, or to the top and bottom, as 
here described. 
Fig. 27. Fig. 28. 
The ploughman may also give greater breadth by pressing the stilts to¬ 
wards the right; though it is a bad plan, and requires too much exertion 
to be continued throughout a day’s work. 
On the subject of draught, it may be observed, that when horses are 
properly harnessed to the plough, their traces will be in a direct line, from 
