60 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
tain an analysis, we will notice the results. The subject of marling 
has become one of deep interest, and every farmer who lias this mi¬ 
neral should promptly test it upon his soil, leaving an adjoining sec¬ 
tion unmarled. This is the best test of utility. An experiment, or a 
a number experiments, upon different soils, will cost but little labor; 
and the results may lead to very important advantages. The dis¬ 
tinguishing characteristic of marl is lime in its natural state. Dry 
a sample, and pour upon it strong vinegar. If it contains lime it 
will effervesce—the vinegar having a stronger affinity for the base 
than carbonic acid with which it is naturally" combined, the latter is 
driven out, which causes the ebullition. The richness of the marl 
depends in a measure on the proportion of lime which it contains. 
The books tell us, that the lime should amount to thirty per cent to 
render it worth applying. But the books are wrong: for even sand 
upon clay, or clay upon sand, are beneficial applications to improve 
the soil; the only question being, how far the benefits will repay the 
expense of application. The earthy materials of the soil are to 
plants, what the stomach is to animals—the recipient of food, and 
the laboratory of the main process of nutrition. The presence of clay, 
lime and sand, are ail essential in the soil, to enable it to perform its 
healthful functions. Where either of these is naturally deficient, it 
may be artificially supplied with manifest advantage. The mere 
earths are no more the food of veget ables, though some contend that 
they are requisite to give firmness to their structure, than the coats 
of the stomach, or the gastric juice are food to the animal—animal 
and vegetable matters, or their elements, constituting the true food 
of animals and plants. 
In reply to Mr. Loomis’ other inquiries, we remark, that we know 
of no certain preventive of the ravages of the turnip fly. Our prac¬ 
tice is, to make the ground rich, and to sow thick and late. We 
have not lost a crop by the fly in fifteen years. The orange carrot 
is a field carrot. This crop should be sown in drills, at eighteen to 
twenty-four inches apart, and thinned to six or eight inches in the 
row. No preparation of the seed is required. The subject of tea¬ 
zles shall receive an early and mcye detailed notice. 
The potency of New-Jersey marl, in imparting fertility and value 
to light or exhausted lands, is fully illustrated in another column. 
Samples of this marl may be seen at the Cultivator office. 
Madder. —We have complied with the requests of C. T. Smith, 
and S. L. Loomis, in publishing, from Radcliff’s Flanders, rules for 
managing the madder crop, though the requests did not reach us in 
time for our May number. It is not wholly the Flemish mode. The 
Flemings plant in beds two and a half and three feet broad, and ga¬ 
ther the crop the second year. Ten or twelve days after the roots 
are gathered, they put them in an oven moderately heated, and 
when sufficiently dried, gently beat them with a flail, to get rid of 
the clay that may adhere to them. The roots are then ground and 
sifted, dried again in the oven for a short time, and then spread upon 
a hair cloth to cool. The madder is afterwards carried to a bruiz¬ 
ing mill, reduced to a fine powder, and packed in barrels for market. 
Wood- —We propose, in our next, to publish, in compliance with 
the request of Milo Bartholomew, and for the general information of 
our patrons, directions for cultivating woad, for preparing woad 
cakes, and the mode of extracting indigo from the woad. This dye 
weed, we believe, may be profitably raised by our farmers ; the ma¬ 
nufacturer’s demand for it is daily increasing; and its culture is be¬ 
coming important in a national point of view. 
Liming. —John Smith, of Morristown, N. J., gives us his experi¬ 
ence in applying lime to low-land, the effect was to double the crops 
of buckwheat and corn, which were subsequently taken from the 
ground. As Mr. S. has omitted to state the quality of the soil, or 
the contents of the field on which he applied fifty bushels of lime, we 
content ourselves with this notice of his communication. 
Analysis of Soils. —In compliance with the request of L. B. Arm¬ 
strong, we give directions for analysing soils. We extract them from 
a treatise on agriculture, written by Gen. John Armstrong. It is 
the mode recommended by the French chemists. 
“ 1st. Take a small quantity of earth from different parts of the 
field, the soil of which you wish to ascertain, mix them well together 
and weigh them ; put them in an oven heated for baking bread, and 
after they are dried weigh them again; the difference will show the 
absorbent power of the earth. When the loss of weight in 400 grains 
amounts to 50, this power is great, and indicates the presence of 
much animal or vegetable matter; but when it does not exceed 20, 
the absorbent power is small, and the vegetable matter deficient 
[See also Davy’s elements.] 
“2. Put the dried mass into a vase, with one-fourth of its own 
weight of clear water; mix them well together ; pour off the dirty 
water into a second vase, and pour on as much clear water as be¬ 
fore ; stir the contents, and continue this process until the water 
poured off is as clear as that poured on the earth. What remains 
in the first employed vase, after these washings, is sand, silicious or 
calcareous. 
“3. The dirty water, collected in the second vase, will form a de¬ 
posit, which, after pouring off the water, must be dried, weighed and 
calcined, that is, reduced to a powder. On weighing it after this 
process, the quantity lost will shew the quantity of animal and vege¬ 
table mould contained in the soil: and 
“ 4. This calcined matter must then be earefully pulverized and 
weighed, as also the first deposit of sand, but without mixing them. 
I To these apply, separately, sulphuric acid, and what they (the earths 
and acids together) lose in weight, indicates the portion of calcareous 
earth contained in them. What remains in the first vase, after de¬ 
ducting the lime, is silex ; that in the other, alumina.” Carbonate of 
lime, termed calcareous earth, is composed of 55 parts of lime and 
45 parts of carbonic acid ; this acid is displaced and driven off by 
the muriatic acid, in consequence of its stronger affinity for the base. 
Hence if the earths and acid weigh 45 grains less after the mixture 
than before, supposing the quantity experimented upon to be 400 
grains, it shows that 45 grains of carbonic acid has been driven off, 
and that the soil contains 25 per cent of calcareous earth, or one- 
fourth. The proportion of this earth in good soils, varies from 10 to 
30 per cent. 
To analyse Marl. —Pour a few ounces of diluted muriatic acid in¬ 
to a flask, place them in a scale, and let them be balanced. Then 
reduce a few ounces of dry marl into powder, and let this powder 
be gradually thrown into the flask, until, after repeated additions, no 
farther effervescence is perceived. Let the remainder of the powder¬ 
ed marl be weighed, by which the quantity projected will be known. 
Let the balance be then restored. The difference in weight between 
the quantity projected and that requisite to restore the balance, will 
show the weight of air (carbonic acid gas) lost during effervescence. 
If the loss amounts to 13 per cent, or from 13 to 32 per cent, the marl 
assayed is calcareous marl, or marl rich in calcareous earth. Clayey 
marls, or those in which the argillaceous ingredient prevails, lose on¬ 
ly 8 or 10 per cent of their weight by this treatment, and sandy marls 
about the same proportion. The presence of much argillaceous earth 
may be judged of by drying the marl, after being washed with spirit 
of salt, (muriatic acid,) when it will harden and form a brick— See 
Orfila's Practical Chemistry. 
A correspondent, J. A. writes, “ among the machinery mentioned 
in the Cultivator, Concklin’s Revolving Press Harrow, is a great de¬ 
sideratum in farming, and to the ordinary roller adds many, if not all 
| the advantages, of Gen. Beatson’s Scarifying Machines. Can this 
be had at Albany or its neighborhood 1” We answer, not at pre¬ 
sent ; but some are soon expected. Again. “ If the Mowing Ma¬ 
chine be found to do its duly well, the owners of grass farms will be¬ 
come rich, besides getting rid of much human machinery, which is 
often difficult to obtain, and when obtained, very troublesome and 
vexatious.” 
Benefit of clay to farm stock in winter. —We have often been told of 
the efficacy of clay to farm stock, and particularly to sheep, in win¬ 
ter ; that it served as a salutary corrective to the animal stomach, 
when surcharged with acid, or its healthful powers otherwise de¬ 
ranged. A communication which we solicited from Dr. Butler, of 
j Oxford, which related to the experience of Mr. G. Vanderlyn, was 
inadvertently omitted in our last. We have since been favored with 
a communication from Mr. Vanderlyn, on the subject, which will 
be found under the head of correspondence. The subject is worthy 
of the attention, and we think experiment, of the cattle and sheep 
farmer. 
COL. POWELL’S STOCK. 
Among the earliest importers of the improved Short Horn Cattle, 
was Col. John Hake Powell, of Philadelphia. At great expense, 
and with great care in his selections, he made two or three impor¬ 
tations between 1820 and 1830; and many of the finest animals in 
our country may be traced back to his stock. Col. Powell being 
about to relinquish his farming, to travel in Europe, has sold off his 
remaining stock at auction. We are indebted to our friend, Dr. 
Mease, for a catalogue of these fine animals, with the prices at which 
1 they sold, and the names of the purchasers, which latter were, we 
