THE CULTIVATOR. 
11 
state with confidence that it is decidedly the best remedy I 
have ever known used for that troublesome disorder to the 
dairy. The cow I gave it to was so badly diseased, or rather 
so subject to the disease, as to be nearly useless a great part 
of the summer. I gave what I supposed a pretty strong dose 
•—something like two ounces—and in less than twelve hours 
her milk was as good as ever, and she has not been troubled 
since.” 
Mr. F. has also adopted the plan of giving saltpetre to 
his cows, at the rate of two pounds, made fine and mixed 
with a bushel of salt; and thinks, given in this way, it 
will prevent the appearance of the disease. This is pro¬ 
bable ; but as this substance in any considerable quanti¬ 
ty must be injurious, we should advise caution in con¬ 
stantly feeding it to animals not diseased. 
Scab in Sheep. 
The following remarks are from the pen of one of the 
most experienced and competent woolgrowers in this 
country. We have had some acquaintance with the re¬ 
medies proposed by Mr. Grove, and can add our testi¬ 
mony to their value. 
“The scab is very contagious, but when observed at an 
early period, it may easily be cured, or at least prevented 
from spreading. One of the best remedies is a strong decoc¬ 
tion of tobacco, to be applied to the diseased parts, after 
scratching oft’ the scabs with a comb or other instrument.— 
The decoction of tobacco mixed with lime water and oil of 
vitriol, and used constantly, when necessary for some time, 
will generally effect a radical cure. Another excellent re¬ 
medy is a decoction of hellebore, mixed with vinegar, sul¬ 
phur and spirits of turpentine. Internal remedies are of no 
use, except when the disorder has induced other complaints 
by weakening the general health.” 
DICTIONARY OF TERMS 
USED IN 
Agriculture and its Kindred Sciences. 
[We commenced in the Genesee Farmer of last year, the 
publication of a Glossary of Agricultural and Scientific Terms 
connected with the cultivation of the soil, which was re¬ 
ceived with so much approbation, that we have thought best 
to republish the few numbers which appeared in the Farmer, 
in order to furnish it complete to the readers of the Cultiva¬ 
tor. To what extent the Glossary will extend, cannot at 
present be accurately determined. The explanations will be 
as much condensed as will be consistent with utility, and the 
nature of the subject. Where a thing, or a process, has a 
number of names, the one most generally in use will be se¬ 
lected; and where the information sought is not found under 
one of the terms in use, it will probably be under another of 
the synonyms.] 
ABRADING. This is a term applied by some agricul¬ 
tural writers to the crumbling down of earth from the ef¬ 
fects of frost. This process is seen most on fall plowed 
lands, and is an efficient agent in ameliorating and ren¬ 
dering fit for cultivation heavy or clay soils. 
ABRASION. The wearing away, by running water, ef 
earths, rocks, &c. the banks, or the bottom of streams, 
and the result of which is the deposit of alluvium. 
ABSORPTION. The process by which plants and 
animals are nourished is called absorption. In most 
plants this office is performed by the roots, and it is 
through the vessel called spongioles, with which the roots 
are terminated, that absorption takes place. In aquatic 
plants, the water which affords the nourishment is ab¬ 
sorbed with facility from every part of their surface.— 
By causing the roots to imbibe colored liquid, the gene¬ 
ral course of the sap may be traced with considerable 
accui’acy. 
ACIDS. Bodies that have usually a sour taste, and 
corrosive qualities. Some acids appear only in a fluid 
state, gaseous as carbonic acid, or liquid as sulphuric 
acid ; others are chrystalized as the boraic, benzoic, &c. 
Of the acids, the only one that has much influence on 
vegetation is the carbonic. 
ACCLIMATING-. Plants are endowed with a power 
of gradually accommodating themselves to the tempe¬ 
rature or climate in which they are placed, unless the 
change is at once so great as to suspend their vital 
functions altogether. This process is called acclima¬ 
ting. Plants will bear removal better from a warm cli¬ 
mate to one of lower temperature, than from a cold to a 
warm one. As instances in plants, we may mention the 
potaloe, the bean, the melon, and among fruits the peach 
and apricot. The cucumber affords an instance of the 
effect of acclimation. It is grown in the open air at 
Cairo and at Petersburg; at Carracas and at Quebec. 
AERATION. An important change effected on the 
sap of plants, by the action of light. It consists in the 
decomposition of carbonic acid gas, which is either 
brought to the leaves of plants by the sap, or absorbed 
directly from the atmosphere. The substance of all 
plants is mostly carbon, and as carbon in its common 
state, however minutely divided, is never taken up by 
the sap of plants, this most essential ingredient is ob¬ 
tained in the form of the carbonic gas, from which the 
oxygen is separated by the leaves under the action of 
light, leaving the carbon ready for assimilation, or con¬ 
version into vegetable fibre. That this process is per¬ 
formed by the green substance of the leaves or stem, 
is evident from the fact that if a leaf is bruised or its vi¬ 
tality destroyed, its substance is no longer capable of 
decomposing carbonic gas in the light, or absorbing oxy¬ 
gen in the dark. The necessity of this aeration of sap 
for the purpose of ripening fruit, or maturing vegeta- 
jion, may be seen in some fruit trees, the plum for in-1 
stance, in which an excessive quantity of fruit causes a 
premature fall of the leaves, after which, owing to this 
loss of the organs of aeration, the fruit never ripens, 
but remains immature and worthless. The necessity of 
the leaves for aeration, or perfecting the juices of plants, 
shows the absurdity of plucking or injuring the leaves 
of any plant before it is ripe; topping corn, &c. under 
the idea of hastening maturity, or increasing the pro¬ 
duct. Attempts to improve on nature must be failures. 
AFTER-GRASS. The grass grown on meadows after 
they are mown. The usual practice among farmers is 
to feed this off by cattle or sheep, and in some cases so 
closely as to nearly destroy the roots of the grass. Un¬ 
less the turf is close, and the meadow rich, it is better 
to not feed at all, or very lightly. For cropping after¬ 
grass, sheep are better than cattle, since, though their 
bite may be closer, they do not injure the roots with 
their feet, like the former. If mown a second time for 
rowen, it is called— 
AFTER-MATH. On rich meadows, or where manure 
can be had in abundance, for top dressing, a second mow¬ 
ing may be justifiable, and the grass so cut, if well 
cured, is much relished and eaten with avidity by ewes, 
calves, and other animals that are apt to become poor 
under ordinary management. The practice of the se¬ 
cond mowing, however, like after feeding, is not to be 
recommended on the whole; experience proving that 
the injury grass roots always receive from mowing, is 
increased by the second cutting. Necessity alone can 
render after feeding or mowing justifiable or proper. 
AGRICULTURE. In the most extended use of this 
term, it is made to embrace all the operations made use 
of to obtain food for man, whether from the field, the 
orchard, or the garden. In its proper and limited sense, 
it means the cultivation of the soil, which is the great 
source of wealth. The first want of man was food; 
the place to obtain it was the earth; hence the origin of 
agriculture; and in proportion to his wants, and the 
ease or the difficulty with which they can be supplied, 
is his progress in agriculture. Where the wants of man 
are supplied by the spontaneous productions of the earth, 
as in parts of Africa, or in the South Sea Islands; or 
where the inhabitants expect no food from the earth, 
as among the Esquimaux, or Somoiedes, there agricul¬ 
ture is unknown. It is only where exertion is necessary 
to procure food from the earth, that wants abound; that 
wealth [is increased; and that agriculture becomes a 
science, and assumes its proper place as the basis and 
precursor of civilization, society and order. All history 
proves that such is the fact. The creation of wealth 
belongs to agriculture. Food must be had, and the 
value of every other article depends directly or remote¬ 
ly on the amount of food it will procure. The skill of 
the mechanic may improve ; the enterprise of the mer¬ 
chant may exchange; but the origin belongs to the earth, 
and the costand the profit is alike determined by the re¬ 
sult of agriculture. 
Science has within a few years done much in aid of 
agriculture; not that many positive discoveries have in 
the first place been made by the sciences, of which the 
agriculturist has availed himself; but the cause of cer¬ 
tain results before known to the farmer, have been re¬ 
vealed by chemical or other researches, and thus the 
means of more certainty and in many more cases of pro¬ 
ducing the same results has been obtained. On this is 
based the improved system of agriculture. Where the 
earths are not in due proportion, it is impossible to make 
or keep the soil in a productive state. The nature of 
the earths is now inquired into, and their balance main¬ 
tained by a rotation of crops, or the application of such 
matters as shall prevent exhaustion, or restore fertility 
to such as have been improperly treated. The capabili¬ 
ties of the earth in affording food, when properly tilled, 
are butimperfectlyunderstood. Now andtheninstances 
occur in which either by skill or accident these powers 
are developed to the surprise of all ; but what is done 
in one case may be done in others; and when agricul¬ 
ture is what it should be, when the tillage of the soil, 
and the application of proper manures shall be better 
understood, the results that now astonish will become 
common, and while the labor shall be diminished the 
product will be vastly increased 
AIR. In a state of purity, air consists of nitrogen 
and oxygen, in the proportion of 76 of the former and 
23 of the latter; but as it exists in the atmosphere, it 
contains about one part in 500 of carbonic gas, and 
also aqueous vapor in the form of an elastic fluid, the 
proportion varying from the merest trifle, to 11 grains 
in a cubic foot. Air acts a most important part in the 
processes of germination, and subsequent vegetation, 
not only furnishing the oxygen required to decompose 
the carbonic gas consumed by the plants, but the most of 
the gas itself. The water held in the air is also easily 
parted with, and hence the great advantage of aration 
or frequenly stirring the earth, to bring its particles in 
contact with the atmosphere. A square foot of earth in 
a solid form exposes but a small surface to the action 
of the air, and hence absorbs from the atmosphere but 
little; pulverize this mass, and the surface exposed to 
the action of the air is increased a million fold, and its 
powers of absorption from the atmosphere in the same 
proportion. This shows the absurdity of those who re¬ 
fuse in hot or dry weather to stir the earth around plants 
under the apprehension that it will render them more 
dry. Multiplying the absorbing surface by stirring the 
earth is the only way of obtaining the moisture which in 
greater or less quantities always exists in the atmos¬ 
phere. 
ALBUMEN. A colorless insipid fluid, coagulating at 
a heat of 120°, existing in the leaves, juices, and fruits 
of most plants, but most abundant in animal products. 
The white of eggs is nothing but pure albumen, and the 
blood contains large quantities of the substance. Its 
principal use in domestic economy, is in clarifying or 
cleansing fluids; such as sugars, &c. for which purpose 
it is unrivaled. Milk contains albumen, and hence is 
sometimes used for cleansing syrup, but it is inferior to 
the whites of eggs. These, carefully incorporated with 
a fluid when cold, and then submitted to a coagulating 
heat, will lift all impurities to the surface, where they 
can be easily taken off by skimming. Albumen is more 
abundant in the bark of the red or slippery elm, than in 
any other vegetable product, hence its value for medi¬ 
cinal purposes. Albumen is composed of carbon 52, 
oxygen 23, hydrogen 7, and nitrogen 15. 
ALBURNUM. Wood of trees is usually composed of 
three distinct parts; the pith or central part, having a 
loose spongy texture; the heart-wood, the most dura¬ 
ble and valuable part of the tree; and the sap wood or 
alburnum. This last is usually whiter than the heart- 
wood, is more porous, and through it the circulation of 
the sap is principally performed. It is the soonest at¬ 
tacked by the borer or powder post, and in exposed 
situations is always first to decay. 
ALCOHOL. The purely spiritous part ofall liquors. 
It is the product of vinous fermentation, and can be de¬ 
rived from all substances capable of such fermentation. 
It is the intoxicating principle of liquors, and few nation! 
have been found so rude as not to have found some mean® 
of producing it. Alcohol is produced principally by the 
distillation of wine, molasses and grain. The product 
of the first is brandy, the second rum, and the third 
whiskey or gin. Alcohol is of much use in the art®, 
but it has, by its general use, produced a most unhappy 
effect on the happiness and morals of multitudes. Per¬ 
haps greater quantities of distilled spirits are used by the 
nations that border on the Baltic than in any other part 
of the world, and here they are principally produced 
from the distillation of potatoes, Pure alcohol con¬ 
sists of hydrogen 13.70; carbon 51.98; and oxygen 
34.32. 
ALGAE. One of the families of plants into which 
Linnaeus divided the vegetable kingdom. They are de¬ 
fined to be plants of which the roots, leaves and stem, 
are all one. The remains of algae are abundant in a 
fossil state in the shale of many parts of New-York, 
and their decomposition may have contributed to the 
fertility of the strata in which they exist. 
ALKALI. A substance usually extracted from plants; 
and distinguished by the following properties: It has an 
acrid and corrosive taste and power; it changes vege¬ 
table blue to a greea, red to a purple, yellow to a red 
brown, and purple reduced by an acid to its original 
colour. It is most used in the arts for neutralizing acids. 
It is best known in the shape of potash and soda. 
These unite with oils and animal fat, and form soap. 
Lime is possessed of alkaline properties, which gives it 
its principal value in many cases. Alkaline substances 
have been divided into volatile and fixed; the volatile 
being known as ammonia, the fixed as potash or soda. 
Modern chemists have divided them into 3 classes: 1, 
those with a metallic base combined with oxygen, po¬ 
tash, soda and lithia; 2, that which contains no oxygen 
as ammonia; and 3, those containing oxygen, hydro¬ 
gen and carbon, as aconita, circuta, morphia, &c. 
ALLUVION. Land deposited by the action of rivers; 
either at the mouths in lakes or the sea, or on the banks 
in their passages to these receptables. Constituted as 
it usually must be of the richer and lighter parts of the 
regions drained by the river that deposites it, it is the 
most fertile of soils, and the most valuable, when it can 
be drained, or rendered secure from floods. Nearly the 
whole of Holland is alluvial. In this country the vast 
tract on both sides of the Mississippi, for a greatdistance 
from its mouth, is of this character; but owing to its an¬ 
nual submersion is of comparatively little value. Per¬ 
haps there is no river in the United States in proportion 
to its length and volume, that has so much valuable al¬ 
luvion on its borders as the Genesee. 
ALUMINE. One of the earths most important to the 
agriculturist, and entering largely into the composition 
of all rocks, clays and loams. It was formerly termed 
argil, or argillaceous earth, but Sir H. Davy’s discove¬ 
ries led to the belief that it was a metallic base combin¬ 
ed with oxygen. It is found nearly pure in the Corun¬ 
dum ; porcelain clays and kavlin contain about one-half 
of this earth, and it may be obtained pure from the 
alum of commerce, by chemical processes. Alumine 
is the principle that gives the peculiar tenacity and 
plastic nature todays,* rendering them heavy and im» 
pervious to water, in proportion to the quantity con¬ 
tained in them. Alumine has a great affinity for water, 
hence day lands are usually more cold and wet, and 
more difficult to cultivate than those into which it en¬ 
ters in less proportions. Its presence in soils is, how¬ 
ever, absolutely necessary to prevent porosity; and 
when combined in due proportion with the other princi¬ 
pal earths,.it constitutes one of the surest ingredients of 
a fertile soil. Much attention has of late been paid to the 
amelioration of clay soils, and of all the methods tried, 
thorough draining has proved the easiest and most ef¬ 
fective. When clay land is drained, its texture is chang- 
ed; and the plants it naturally produces, as well as 
those it is made capable of producing, are of a higher 
and more valuable kind. Alumine is of much use in the 
arts; it is extensively employed as a cleaning powder; 
as a mordant in dying; and is the basis of bricks, cru¬ 
cibles and porcelain. 
AMMONIA. Volatile alkali. It is a transparent co¬ 
lourless gas, of about half the weight of common water, 
