126 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
DICTIONARY OF TERMS 
Used in Agriculture and its Kindred Sciences. 
GARDEN. Gardens are of several kinds, as the 
vegetable, fruit and flower garden, and to all who have 
them are an object of interest and generally of utility. 
The soil of the garden, if not naturally deep, must be 
made so by digging or deep plowing, that the roots of all 
the plants cultivated may have ample room to seek their 
required sustenance ; and it must be kept rich by fre- 
,qqent manurings with clean manures, such as are free 
trom the seeds of all weeds, or what is perhaps still bet¬ 
ter, with compost manures. It is a common practice to 
have the fruit and vegetable garden united, or to have 
fruit trees planted in the garden; but where there is no 
necessity for this, arising from a limited supply of land 
the gardens will both do much better to be kept sepa¬ 
rate. The vegetable garden is an important appendage 
to every farm, and if well managed, is a farm in minia¬ 
ture, showing what a whole farm might be, and should 
be made, and the enormous profits that would arise from 
a farm so cultivated. 
Flower gardens are delightful, and when well arran¬ 
ged are the source of much innocent pleasure, as well 
as valuable instruction. Art has done much in the flow¬ 
er garden to overcome the obstacles presented by cli¬ 
mate to the production of the beautiful tropical plants, 
and sometimes at an expense to which the utility would 
seem disproportionate. An idea of the expenses of some 
of the European royal gardens (and many private ones are 
not much inferior) may be inferred from the fact that in 
the garden of Schonnbruen at Vienna, there are several 
ranges of glass houses, one 270 feet long and 30 feet high, 
another 300 feet long and of the same height, and three 
ranges of less height, each 240 feet long. In the garden 
founded by the Emperor Alexander, on an island in the 
Neva at St. Petersburg, there are 3624 feet of such build¬ 
ings, forming a double parallelogram, the principal 
sides of which are 700 feet long, and from 20 to 30 feet 
wide, and the middle range is 40 feet high. In these 
gardens are to be found plants from all climates and 
countries, arctic and tropic, flourishing and full of fruits 
and flowers as in their native climes. 
The products of a single acre of garden in the vicinity 
of London, are thus stated by Mr.^Middleton from the 
gardener himself. “ Radishes 10Z. ; cauliflower, 60Z. ; 
cabbages, 30Z. ; celery, (first crop,) 50/. ; (second crop) 
40Z. ; endive, 30Z. ,• making a total of 220/., for the pro¬ 
duce of an acre in a twelve month.” Market gardening 
is found very profitable in this country, and has of late 
received considerable attention, though perhaps less 
than it deserves. 
GARGET. A disorder that attacks the udders of cows, 
particularly young ones after their first calving, or when 
they are in a high condition, and in full milk. The in¬ 
ternal substance of the udder becomes inflamed, usually 
in one quarter at first, but it often extends to the whole ; 
the bag becomes hot and tender, feels knotty and hard ; 
the milk coagulates and is drawn off in thick masses, or 
strings ; and there is always more or less fever. The 
disease if not checked, frequently becomes serious, sup¬ 
puration of the glandular swellings takes place, and the 
animal is either wholly or partially lost for the purpose 
of milking. The natural remedy appears to be, to put 
the calf to the cow, that it may suck and butt the udder 
about at pleasure ; if the calf should not be able to draw 
the milk fully, it must be done by hand, and two or three 
times a day, which will usually effect a cure. The cure 
most generally resorted to by farmers, (and it is very 
effectual,) is to take the roots of poke weed, Phytolac¬ 
ca decandra , cut it into thin slices or pieces, and give it 
to the cow in a pail of bran, or other mash. One or 
two repetitions generally effects a cure, operating by 
dispersing the glandular enlargements. If the disease 
does not yield at once to ordinary treatment, recourse 
should be had to more powerful remedies, such as the 
camphorated mercurial ointment, (rub down an ounce 
of camphor, having poured a tea spoonful of spirits of 
wine upon it, and an ounce of mercurial ointment, and 
half a pound of elder ointment, and incorporate them 
well together,) which is to be applied after milking, 
and the bag well washed in warm water before the 
next milking : or in case the knotty masses do not 
yield to this, iodine may be used, which often has an 
excellent effect in glandular enlargements. Iodine 
should be applied externally in the shape of an oint¬ 
ment, made by incorporating one part of the hydriodate 
of potash with seven parts of lard, one or two drams 
of which may be rubbed into the diseased portions of 
the bag, morning and evening. Hydriodate may be 
given at the same time, internally, in doses of from six 
to twelve grains, daily. Too large doses of iodine are 
apt to reduce the size of the udder itself, and thus re¬ 
duce the capacity for milk ; otherwise no bad effect 
has been known to ensue from its use in such cases, 
and it has proved to be a very valuable medicine. 
GAS. This name is applied by chemists to those flu¬ 
ids that partly resemble common air, yet differ from it 
in their qualities, and have never been made solid. 
There are a great variety of these ; but those which, 
after oxygen, are of the most use, and in agriculture 
have the greatest effect, are those of Carbon and Am¬ 
monia. Carbonic gas is composed of 27.36 parts car¬ 
bon, and 72.64 parts oxygen. Ammonical gas, of 75 
parts of hydrogen and 25 parts of azote or nitrogen. 
Carbonic gas furnishes to plants the carbon which con¬ 
stitutes their stems or trunks, and is constantly absorb¬ 
ed and decomposed by the leaves of plants ; the carbon 
is retained for the use of the plant, while the oxygen 
is thrown ofl to restore to the air that which is lost by 
the respiration of the millions of vitally organized be¬ 
ings that breathe on the surface of the earth. Ammo¬ 
nia is an alkali, volatile, and commonly known in some 
of its combinations as salts of ammonia, or when com¬ 
bined with a fluid, as spirits of hartshorn. This gas 
or its salts have a highly exciting power on plants, and 
constitute one of the most essential ingredients in ani¬ 
mal manures. When stable manures ferment too high¬ 
ly, this gas is volatilized and driven off, as the pungent 
odor arising from the manure proves, and is thus main¬ 
ly lost to plants where the dung is applied. This may 
be remedied by making the compost heap of layers of 
manure, earth, swamp muck, or any substance that 
will absorb and retain the gases that may be developed 
during fermentation, as well as the fluids that drain 
from the manure while undergoing the process of con¬ 
version into compost. 
GATE. One of the greatest aids to good husbandry 
is found in fields well fenced, with easy and safe means 
of communication between them. These are usually 
Gates, or Bars, and if not in every case, certainly in 
every one where a frequent ingress or egress is desired, 
the gate is far preferable to bars. It is much easier 
and quicker to open a gate, than to take down and put 
up a pair of bars ; and where a gate is daily used, the 
saving in time, will, in the course of a year, amount to 
nearly the cost of the gate. When well made, and 
properly provided with hooks, or latches, they are 
much less liable to be opened by restless or unruly ani¬ 
mals. The posts of gates should be large and firm ; 
made of durable timber and set deep in the ground, so 
that frost shall have no action upon them. Iron hinges 
are better than wood for hanging gates ; and as all 
gates are apt to settle more or less, which prevents 
their shutting easily, or at ail, precaution at the time 
of hanging should be made against this evil. There 
are two ways of doing this : one to have the iron hinge 
or strap at the top of the gate made notched and secu¬ 
red with screw bolts, so that if the gate settles, by un¬ 
screwing the bolts the gate may be lifted as much as 
required, and then secured, by tightening the bolt in 
another notch of the hinge strap. In the other, the 
bolt on which the hook of the upper hinge is made, 
may pass through the top part of the post to which the 
gate is hung, and a screw nut turning on this bolt will 
fix the gate at any place desired. White oak timber is 
the best material for farm gates, as they can be made 
strong, without being clumsy and unwieldly. General¬ 
ly speaking, the larger a post is, whether for gates or 
bars, the firmer it will stand and the longer it will last. 
We have a white cedar post on the farm which has 
stood thirty-six years, and promises to endure many 
years longer ,- it is about twelve inches in diameter- 
GELATINE. When any part of an animal, (with 
the exception of pure fat) is boiled in water, two pro¬ 
ducts result: one, quivering when cold, soluble in water, 
and called jelly ; the other insoluble, and made harder 
by boiling ; the first is Gelatine, the last Albumen. 
The skin, horn, &c. is nearly pure gelatine, the white 
of an egg albumen. Gelatine is one of the most pow¬ 
erful and valuable of manures, being supposed by 
Chaptal to act both as a stimulant and a nutritive sub¬ 
stance. It is principally used in the shape of bone 
dust, though in many parts of the world it is used ex¬ 
tensively in the form of flesh, as where fish are used 
lor manuring. Bones are better than flesh, as they 
contain phosphate of lime, a substance that greatly 
aids the action of the gelatine. Bones usually contain 
about equal quantities of phosphate and gelatine ; the 
bones of the ox have from 50 to 55 per cent of gelatine ; 
those of the horse from 36 to 40 ; and those of the hog 
from 48 to 50 per cent. The bones that are the hard¬ 
est, have the least gelatine, and tlios? of young animals 
more than those from older ones. Bones intended for 
grinding, should not be boiled as they sometimes are 
in cities, to extract the fat and gelatine for soap, as it 
lessens their value for agricultural purposes. Bones 
should be ground fine, and if allowed to ferment so as 
to have the pungent ammoniacal odor appear, their ac¬ 
tion will be more prompt than otherwise. Bone dust 
is best applied to roots sown in furrows, and deposited 
at the same time with the seeds. 
GEMMIPAROUS. The imperceptible atoms from 
which organic beings take their origin, are called 
germs. The multiplication of the species by buds, is 
called gemmiparous reproduction , and is shown on a 
large scale in vegetables. Vegetable germs are of two 
kinds, those which produce stems and those which pro¬ 
duce roots. Both may be evolved from almost every 
part of a plant, and whether the germ shall give out a 
stem or a root seems to be depending on the position 
in which it is placed. Thus if a willow be reversed in 
planting, the top put in the earth and the root in the 
air, the germs which, in the common mode of planting 
would have become stems, will now be roots, and the 
root germs will throw out branches. Some plants form 
their germs on the margin of their leaves, and these 
buds as they are developed, gradually detach them¬ 
selves from the parent, and become distinct and perfect 
plants. 
The minute round leaf which sometimes renders the 
stagnant pool green, is a curious instance of this gem¬ 
miparous production. This plant ( Lemna ) has no at¬ 
taching roots, but floats a green speck on the surface. 
From the margin of the leaf it casts off its progeny of 
buds, and in their rapidity of multiplication, this plant 
is only equalled by the Aphis among insects. A stri¬ 
king analogy to this mode of production is found amon» 
msects in the Hydra, one of the lowest of the Zoo* 
phytes. When the young of this animal is first visi¬ 
ble, it appears like a bud rising from the surface of the 
parent Hydra. It remains for some time attached, and 
derives its nutritive and mechanical support from its 
mother, but gradually puts forth its tentacula or feel¬ 
ers, and is able to catch and swallow its prey. The 
tube which attaches it to the parent, and through which 
it has received its food, now closes, becomes smaller, 
and finally breaks, and as in the case of the young 
lemna , the hydra floats away a perfect animal. 
GEOLOGY. Geology, as applied to agriculture, is a 
veiy important, though a comparatively new science. 
Reason would tell us that by a knowledge of the mate- 
nals fiom which the soils we cultivate are composed, 
we should learn much information of their texture and 
qualities, and their suitableness for the various plants 
to which the different kinds of earth or their combina¬ 
tions have been found most suitable ; yet such knowl¬ 
edge has never until lately been made available. The 
character of any country for the purposes of agricul¬ 
ture is mainly determined by that of the rocks on which 
it is based, or the course of the currents which have 
flowed over it. Where the necessary constituents of a 
sou are so proportioned by their geological position 
that none are in excess, or none wanting, we may be 
sure, other things being favorable, that'the soil will 
be suitable for cultivation, and fertile. If, however, 
owing to geological position, one of the earths greatly 
predominate, be it lime, or alumina, or silica, we can¬ 
not expect the soil to be as good as when better pro¬ 
portioned in its elements. Land rarely suffers from 
excess of lime, even on purely limestone strata : but 
such is not the case where alumine or silex, clay or 
sand, prevail. In the one case the soil will be heavy, 
retentive of moisture, and hard to cultivate ; in the 
other the soil will be porous, manures will infiltrate or 
sink beyond the reach of the plant, and be very liable 
to suffer from drouth, but easy to cultivate. Propor¬ 
tion then is necessary, and a knowledge of the geologi¬ 
cal structure will aid us materially in determining this 
point. Perhaps there is no part of the world more 
favorably situated for the investigation of agricultural 
geology than Western New-York, as the whole series 
from the primitive or crystalized rocks, up to the coal 
series, through all the gradations of granite, gneiss, 
limestone, shales, sandstones, and their various repeti¬ 
tions, is there fully shown, as well“as the course and 
effects of the currents which have acted on the earth’s 
surface, and so essentially modified the masses which 
now cover the rocky base of our soils. Fossil geology 
is one of the most interesting sciences of the age, as 
doing much to illustrate the previous conditions of our 
planet, and determine the changes so vitally affecting 
plants and animals It is hardly possible to conceive 
a subject or sight better calculated to interest, than a 
collection of these remains of animal and vegetable life, 
called up from ages long anterior to the time when the 
earth had become fit for the residence of man, and ex¬ 
hibiting forms and structures to which the present 
races of organized beings afford no parallel. 
GERMINATION. “ The first growth of a seed, the 
act by which it exchanges the condition of an embryo, 
for that of a young plant.” In germination, the em- 
bryo unfolds, breaks through the integument of the 
seed, and acquires a vascular, tubular, and cellular 
organization. To accomplish this, heat, moisture, and 
a supply of oxygen are required. Heat and moisture 
are necessary to dissolve the substances contained in 
the cells of the embryo, and oxygen furnishes the 
means of respiration. Sugar forms in the seed, and 
carbonic gas is formed so long as the young plant is in 
darkness, but on reaching the light, this gas is decom¬ 
posed, oxygen is liberated, and the plant becomes 
green. Germination is now accomplished. Tempera¬ 
ture has a great effect upon germination. Thus, Dr. 
Plumer found that the Lima bean, at the temperature 
of 88° (in the shade,) appeared above ground in seven 
daj's, while at a temperature of 62° it did not appear 
under twenty days. The marrowfat pea at 51° requir¬ 
ed nineteen days to germinate ; while at 74° it took 
only eleven days. Radishes varied with the tempera¬ 
ture, from six to twelve days. Exposing seeds, placed 
in a moist earth and proper temperature, to an electric 
current, accelerates their germination wonderfully ; 
and crops of cress for the table, have in this way been 
grown in a few hours. A low temperature, and too 
much moisture is as unfavorable to germination, as 
too great heat and continued dryness ; in the one case 
the seed rots ; in the other it is dried or burned up. 
Farmers frequently err, by putting their seeds in the 
earth under unfavorable circumstances for germina- 
tion; if too wet or cold, and the seed finally germinates, 
a feeble, sickly plant is produced; if too dry it does 
not germinate at all. In 1838, large quantities of land 
in Western New-York had to be re-sown, from the 
latter cause, the first sowing being destroyed by the 
extreme heat and drouth. 
GESTATION. The time that animals go with young 
is called their period of gestation ; and this, as is well 
known, differs materially among the several kinds do¬ 
mesticated by man. Thus, the period of gestation in 
the mare is about 330 days; that of the cow 280 days; 
that of the sheep 154 days; and that of the hog 114 
days. A most extensive series of experiments on the 
period of gestation has been made at the governmental 
farms of France, and on the farm of Lord Spencer in 
England. From these it appears that in the case of 
