M-ACKENZIE'S

' I* /

TEN THOUSAND RECEIPTS,

IN ALL THE

USEFUL AND DOMESTIC '"AKTS ; : - ; ^'

CONSTITUTING

A COMPLETE AND PRACTICAL LIBRARY,

RELATING TO

AGBICULTUEE, ANGLING, BEES, BLEACHING, BOOK-KEEPING, BREWING, COTTOU
CULTURE, CROCHETING, CARVING, CHOLERA, COOKING, CALICO PRINTING,
CONFECTIONERY, CEMENTS, CHEMICAL RECEIPTS, COSMETICS, DISEASES,
DAIRY, DENTISTRY, DIALYSIS, DECALCOMANIA, DYEING, DISTILLA-
TION, ENAMELLING, ENGRAVING, ELECTRO-PLATING, ELEO
TROTYPING, FlSH CULTURE, FARRIERY, FOOD, FLOWER
GARDENING, FIREWORKS, GAS METRES, GILDING,
GLASS, HEALTH, HORSEMANSHIP, INKS, JEW-
ELLERS' PASTE, KNITTING, KNOTS, LITHO-
GRAPHY, MERCANTILE CALCULATIONS,
MEDICINE, MISCELLANEOUS EE-
CEIPTS, METALLURGY,' MEZ-
ZOTINTS, OIL COLORS,
OILS, PAINTING,

PERFUMERY,

PASTRY, PETROLEUM, PICKLING, POISONS AND ANTIDOTES, POTICHOMANIA,
PROOF-READING, POTTERY, PRESERVING, PHOTOGRAPHY, PYROTECHNICS,
RURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY, SUGAR RAISING, SILVERING,
SCOURING, SILK AND SILK-WORMS, SORGHUM, TOBACCO
CULTURE, TANNING, TREES, TELEGRAPHING, VAR-
NISHES, VEGETABLE GARDENING, .WEIGHTS
AND MEASURES, WINES, ETC., ETC.

BEING AN ENTIRELY NEW EDITION

CABEFULLY EEVISED AND KE-WKITTEN,

AND

Containing the Improvements and Discoveries up to last Date of Publication.
JANUARY, 1867.

Again Eevised to Date of Prese^^^^Aj^4^^U^i^ll?ii Addition of Special Articles
ui

REPORT AND AWARD OP THE TRIAT^&^fc&Wffl^WyjgraNTS AT THE GREAT NATIONAL
FIELD TRIAL HM^g^^MgyB^^ J ULY, 1866.

PHIL
T. ELLWOOD ZELL & COMPANY,

Nos. 17 & 19 SOUTH SIXTH STREET.
.1867.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
T. ELLWOOD ZELL,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania.

J. FAGAN & SON,
STEBEOTYPEBS,

PHILADELPHIA.

PRINTED BY SHERMAN ft CO.

F THE

'UNIVERSITY,

PREFACE

TO THE NEW AND EEYISED EDITION
OP OCTOBER, 1865.

IN preparing a new edition of this popular work, the Editors have endeavored
to incorporate all the improvements in the various branches, which have been intro-
duced, since the publication of the last edition. Much of the work has been
entirely re-written, and new articles have been added on Photography, Pyrotech-
nics, Angling, Pisciculture, etc. The matter has not been simply scissored from
newspapers, but carefully digested from standard authorities, the scientific journals,
and from the practical knowledge of the Editors and contributors. The Editors
have to acknowledge valuable assistance from gentlemen, eminent in the depart-
ments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Wine-making, Perfumery, Cements, Engraving,
Photography, Angling, Tanning, etc. The work, it is believed, will be found
more reliable and thorough than any one of its class now in print. The Miscel-
laneous department is almost entirely new, and contains much valuable and inter-
esting information. Some matters properly belonging under other heads, but
received too late, have been transferred to it. The reader is especially requested
io refer to the index, when seeking information.

(iii)

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

/

FROM THZ PHILA. NORTH AMERICAN, DEC. 22, 1865.

The vast amount of useful knowledge bearing on every-day life which constantly flits thiough the world, hnt
Often led to efforts for gathering and rendering it available b.v those who want it, when they want it. Mr. Z< 11
having made a previous successful eifort in this direction, has enlarged the field of his usefulness by a new editic n
of his work, which will be exceedingly useful to all, and almost indispensable to some. He has gathered the formulae
and directions of all the most recent discoveries in the useful and domestic arts, and has made it as nearly complete as
possible. Though the work is designed for popular rather than scientific use, it contains much that will interest
scientific men, as well as general readers. Agriculture, horticulture, domestic economy, farriery, medicine, biewing,
distillation, dyeing, paints and varnishes, metallurgy, photography, engraving, pottery, weights and measures these
are among the subjects treated very fully, and which are of fir^t importance. There is no effort to prepare treatises upon
any of these. The kernel alone is retained, and that in the best form for use by practical men. There is a great
body of what may be termed the cream of useful knowledge, under the general head of agriculture, which it were
well all farmers should have for perusal at leisure moments. Manures, cropd, drainage, and the care of animals, are
all treated in a condensed manner, with directions and information which cannot fail to advantage readers. The
gardener, poulterer, and apiarian, are provided with excellent receipts. The half-hundred pages devoted to medicine
will be useful where a physician cannot be procured ; and under the miscellaneous head there are a variety of facts
on horsemanship and knitting, gunpowder and book-keeping, dogs and crocheting, which could not readily be found
elsewhere. A great deal of the information hitherto published in this form has been of doubtful use, and has discredited
honest efforts to aid the community. The counterfeit only proves the worth of what is genuine, and this really
careful and useful vade mecum ought not to suffer from the reputation of the trash which it seeks to supplant. The
index an essential in such a compilation has been carefully arranged, at much length. There are diagrams and
illustrations where they are needed, and ihe whole forms a volume which ought to be very widely circulated, and
which will repay its cost in almost any family within a year.

FROM THE PHILA. SUNDAY DISPATCH, Nov. 26, 1865.

Mackenzie's Ten Thousand Receipts, containing new discoveries and processes in use up to October, 1865. 487 pages.
To describe this volume properly would require the space given to a catalogue, and the volubility of an auctioneer.
We find in it almost everything that can be conceived as an object of inquiry involving the special preparation of
materials or the management of processes. Agriculture, chemistry, cooking, manufactures, medicine, the decorative
arts, household^management, and a thousand other things which defy classification, are embraced in this closely-
printed book, which, in the way of condensation, contains enough to stock a library with volumes printed in fashion-
ably large type. \Ve could not undertake to recite the whole title-page, which is of itself prodigious, affordhig but
a feeble idea of what is within. Suffice it to say, that almost anything that anybody wants to know how to do will
be found in this volume properly described, and illustrated in some cases by useful engravings. It has been re-
written by a corps of scientific gentlemen, and is really a book which should be found in every house.

FROM THE GERMANTOWN (PA.) TELEGRAPH, Nov. 22, 1865.

The editor and publisher of this extremely well gotten-up edition, has been many months in its preparation, hay-
ing employed in this time a corps of able experts, in order that the work might be brought out not only in a style
hitherto unapproached, but with intrinsic claims upon the community which cannot but be acknowledged. Truth-
fully, these "Ten Thousand Receipts in the Domestic Arts," constitute a "complete and practical library," relating
to the hundreds of subjects treated of, connected with the indispensable every-day affairs of family life. The clear-
ness of the print, the arrangement of the receipts, with the comprehensive index, render recourse to it at all times
as easy almost as turning over the pages of a magazine, and obtaining from it the information sought in plain lan-
guage and in condensed form, so that all can quickly see and readily understand. But this is not a work designed
exclusively for domestic purposes, as the word "Domestic" is most generally understood; but it contains valuable
suggestions and advice upon almost every practical pursuit. There is scarcely anything omitted in which any con-
siderable number of people are interested.

FROM THE PHILA. PRESS, Nov. 24, 1865.

This is a domestic cyclopaedia, of nearly 500 pages, in new type, small but clear. We are assured that two years'
labor, by very competent gentlemen, has been bestowed upon this large and improved edition, and can well believe
it. There is scarcely a subject connected with the useful and domestic arts about which a seeker for information
cannot find what he wants in this book. The most recent improvements and discoveries, up to October, 1865, when
the work was stereotyped, have been included. The quantity of information in this volume is very great so far ag
we have tested it we can vouch for its accuracy. As a work of reference, it has been made complete by the addition
of a copious index.

FROM THE PHILA. SUNDAY TRANSCRIPT, DEC. 10, 1865.

It is one of the most remarkable books of the day, containing, as it does, a reference to every conceivable subject under
the sun. In itself it is a complete and practical library, so arranged as to be invaluable in the household, on the
farm, and in the counting-room. Pastry and petroleum, agriculture and knitting, receive equal attention, while the
entire volume presents a fund of information not accessible in any other form. The thrifty housekeeper can pick up
numerous capital receipts for pies, or can learn the art of carving, which is treated as one of the exact sciences ; the
merchant will find mercantile calculations; the artist will find a dissertation upon oil colors, water colors, and mez-
zotints; the farmer will learn something about gardening. In fact, there is no branch of trade but can be bene-
fited by a perusal of this book. Although the receipts are quoted as 10,000, judging from the book they will double
that figure.

FROM THE PHILA. INQUIRER, Nov. 24, 1865.

The present issue of this useful work by Mr. Zell, is a new and improved edition, carefully revised and re-written
by a corps of gentlemen eminently qualified for the peculiar task. To it has been likewise added all the improve-
ments and discoveries in the useful and domestic arts up to the date of publication, October, 1865. Two years of
labor have been necessary to bring the book out in the present improved shape.

FROM THE PHILA. EVENING TELEGRAPH, DEC. 23, 1865.

Mr. Zell maintains his position among the first-class houses of our land, principally through his agencies and th*
few well-selected works to which he has given life. Principal among the latter is " Mackenzie's Ten Thousand Re-
ceipts," a work of universal information. In it are found, in fact, all the useful knowledge of the age compressed
into this universal compendium of information. If a man be familiar with all thi contents of this book, he will bo
an accomplished gentleman, a practical doctor, and in many respects a professional man. The work is one we can
recommend as likely to be every day useful. We understand it is prepared by a gentleman well known in the
world of science ; it bears the impress of a well-informed mind. It is specific in its directions, and illustrated by
numerous wood-cuts. Too much credit cannot be given to both the compiler and publisher for the remarkable care and
skill exercised in compressing into one volume, and that so carefully printed, so great an amount of useful information.

FROM THE PHILA. EVENING BULLETIN, DEC. 12, 1865.

This work has been thoroughly re-written, and comprises all manner of improvements and discoveries, brought up
to October of this year. It forms a complete library of valuable knowledge upon almost every imaginable subject
connected with the useful and domestic arts, and is a most important volume of reference for th manufacturer,
agriculturalist and housekeeper.

PREFACE

TO THE LATEST LONDON EDITION.

As the object of all study, and the end of all wisdom, is practical utility, so a collec-
tion of the most approved Receipts, in all the arts of Domestic and Social Life, may be
considered as a volume containing nearly the whole of the wisdom of man, worthy of
preservation. In truth, the present volume has been compiled under the feeling, that
if all other books of Science in the world were destroyed, this single volume would be
found to embody the results of the useful experience, observations, and discoveries of
mankind during the past ages of the world.

Theoretical reasonings and historical details have, of course, been avoided, and the
object of the compiler has been to economize his space, and come at once to the point.
Whatever men do, or desire to do, with the materials with which nature has supplied
them, and with the powers which they possess, is here plainly taught and succinctly
preserved ; whether it regard complicated manufactures, means of curing diseases,
simple processes of various kinds, or the economy, happiness, and preservation of life.

The best authorities have been resorted to, and innumerable volumes consulted, and
wherever different processes of apparently equal value, for attaining the same end, have
been found, they have been introduced.

Among the works consulted have been,

The Monthly Magazine, 56 vols.

The Repertory of Arts and Sciences, 60 vols.

The London Journal of Arts and Scienees.

The Transactions of the Society of Arts, 30 vols.

The Magazine of Trade and Manufactures, 6

vols.

The Gazette of Health, 9 vols.
The Series of the Horticultural Society, 5 vols.
The Series of the Agricultural Society, 30 vols.
The Farmer's Magazine, 16 vols.
YOUNG'S Farmer's Calendar.
LOUDON on Gardening, 1 vol.
JENNINGS'S Domestic Cyclopaedia, 2 vols.
TINGREY on Varnishing.
RICHARDSON on the Metallic Arts.

THOMAS'S Practice of Physic.
COOPER'S Dictionary of Surgery.
THORNTON'S British Herbal.
WALLER'S British Herbal.
IMISON'S School of Arts.
Handmaid to the Arts.
SMITH'S Laboratory of the Arts.
HAMILTON on Drawing.

The EDITOR'S Thousand Experiments in Manu-
factures and Chemistry.
DAVY'S Agricultural Chemistry.
HENRY'S Elements of Chemistry.
CHAPTAL'S Chemistry applied to the Arts.
GREGORY'S Cyclopaedia.
The English and other Cyclopaedias.

Besides innumerable treatises on special subjects, minor journals, and a great variety
of manuscript communications from friends and connections of the editor and publisher.

A general, rather than a scientific, arrangement has been adopted, because the object
of the work is popular and universal, and, though likely to be useful to men of science,
it is more especially addressed to the public at large. In like manner, as far as pos-
sible, technical and scientific language has been avoided, and popular names and simple
descriptions have been preferred.

Every care has been taken in the printing to avoid errors in quantities, as well as to
select the best receipts of each kind ; but notices of errors, omissions, or experimental
improvements, will be thankfully received by the publisher, for the use of future
editions.

The Index will render it easy to refer to every article of importance.

PKEFACE

TO THE EAELY AMEEICAN EDITION",

IN fulfilling the duty of preparing for the press a new and enlarged edition of the
valuable work of Mackenzie, the Editor has steadily borne in mind its evident aim at
general practical utility; and consequently he has submitted both alterations and
additions to its rules. While the former will be found but few a circumstance arising
from the nature of the book ; the latter are both numerous and important amounting
to about fifty pages, exclusive of those contained in the Miscellaneous Department and
the Appendix.

The Medical part has been condensed, simplified, and adapted to the climate and
diseases of the United States. A short, but complete manual of " Directions for rear-
ing the Silk Worm, and the Culture of the White Mulberry Tree," together with an
extensive article on the Diseases of the Horse, may be noticed as among the important
additions. The Culinary art has not been neglected the numerous original receipts
from the best modern authorities of the " Kitchen," for preparing various delicacies of
the animal and vegetable kingdom, including Pastry, Puddings, etc., will no doubt
prove acceptable to American housekeepers. The man of family, the Sportsman, the
Artist, the Mechanic, and the Farmer, have all been remembered. And an unusually
large and correct Index gives every facility of reference that could be wished.

The attention of the Reader is called to the " Miscellaneous Receipts." In this
portion, which is very copious, numerous receipts have been placed, which could not
with propriety be elsewhere arranged. It has also been made the receptacle of much
valuable matter obtained from several kind female friends, and the fruH of researches
into many curious and rare books ; and which was prepared at too late a period for
insertion in the appropriate departments. The Appendix of " Instructions in the Art
of Carving," with its numerous wood cuts, will, it is hoped, prove acceptable and
useful to our country readers, for whose accommodation this work was originally
designed.

The Editor more especially notices the following works, as sources from which he has
derived considerable assistance: The Franklin Journal; Willich's Domestic Encyclo-
paedia, by Professor Cooper ; a Tract published by the Pennsylvania Society for the
Rearing of Silk-Worms, etc. ;. and the curious work of Colonel Hanger, of sporting
memory.

In conclusion, the publishers beg leave to state, that neither time nor expense has
been considered in endeavoring to render this edition cheaper and better than any
other which has been published, and at the same time worthy of the patronage which
is solicited for it. They have availed themselves of the services of a gentleman aa
Editor, who has been for a considerable time engaged in the preparatory researches.
The type, though small, is very legible and distinct ; and in the selection of the paper,
whilst regard has been had to the color, it has been deemed of main importance that it
should be sufficiently durable to resist the frequent usage into which a work of this
description must necessarily be called,
(vi)

CONTENTS.

[FOR DETAILS, SEE INDEX, AT CLOSE OF THE VOLUME.]

AGRICULTURE 9

MANURE 11, 18

WHEAT 27

DRAINAGE 49

SUGAR 52

COTTON AND TOBACCO 53

SILK-WORM 54

HORTICULTURE 60

BUDDING AND GRAFTING 54

FRUIT 67

INSECTS AND DISEASES OP TREES ......... 76

KEEPING FRUIT 86

FLOWER GARDENING ........... 88

RURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY 91

DAIRY WORK 91

MANAGEMENT OF BEES 98

FARRIERY 104

DISEASES OF HORSES 105

DOGS 115,449

HOGS 116

" SHEEP 117

CATTLE 120

MEDICINE 122

DISEASES 122

CHOLERA 162

ACCIDENTS 143

WOUNDS 144

FRACTURES ............ 146

DISLOCATIONS 148

AMPUTATIONS 150

DROWNING 151, 180

POISONS 152

MEDICINES 154

DISEASES OF FEMALES .......... 165

DISEASES OF CHILDREN 169

DOMESTIC MEDICINES . . . . . . . 173

HYGIENE 178

RULES FOR HEALTH 184

TEETH 186

CULINARY ARTS ' . 188

COOKING .188

CONFECTIONERY 232

PICKLING 238

PRESERVING . . ... 239

CARVINQ 241

FOOD 5 .247

(Tii)

Vlll CONTENTS.

Mfl

BREWING 251

CIDER 263

WINES 265

DISTILLATION 277

ESSENTIAL OILS 289

WATERS 292

VINEGAR 296

ARTIFICIAL WATERS 300

PERFUMERY 303

BLEACHING AND SCOURING 309

DYEING 315

STAINING 325

PAINTS AND COLORS 327

VARNISHES 339

LACQUERS 345

CEMENTS 352

GLUE 355

INKS 358

METALLURGY 362

ASSAYING 363

PARTING 367

ALLOYS 368

FOILS 373

ELECTRO-PLATING 374

GILDING 376

IRON AND STEEL 381

PYROTECHNY 384

MATCHES 386

TANNING 386

ENAMELLING 390

POTTERY 394

GLASS 399

PHOTOGRAPHY 409

PHILOLITHOGRAPHY 417

ENGRAVING 419

LITHOGRAPHY 424

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 427

SPECIFIC GRAVITY 429

GAS METERS 430

VALUE OF COINS 431

CHEMICAL RECEIPTS 432

BOILER ENCRUSTATIONS 433

ARTIFICIAL COLD 435

ANTISEPTICS AND DISINFECTANTS ......... 435

WEATHER PROGNOSTICS 439

ANGLING 443

PISCICULTURE 445

MISCELLANEOUS 446

To TIE KNOTS 446

KNITTING ...........'.. 447

CANARY BIRDS 448

DOGS 449

INSECTS 449

PETROLEUM 451

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH .......... 451

BOOK-KEEPING 452

PROOF-READING ........... 452

ROWING 453

DOMESTIC RECEIPTS 455-458-464

MEDICAL RECEIPTS 460-463-464

DIALYSIS 463

HORSEMANSHIP 463

DECALCOMANIA 464

GUNPOWDER ............. 466

FARM SEED 466

INDEX 467-487

MACKENZIE'S

TEN THOUSAND RECEIPTS,

THE MODERN THEORY OF AGRICUL-
TURE.

Liebig and other chemists have, within the last
twenty-five years, endeavored to establish a science
of agriculture, based upon a knowledge of the
constitution of plants and of soils, and their mutual
relations. We propose to give a very condensed
account of the general conclusions arrived at.

Food of Plant*.

Plants derive their food from the air as well as
from the earth ; the former by their leaves, the
latter by their roots. Elements most necessary
to them are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitro-
gen, with various mineral substances present in
the soil. Carbon is the most abundant. This is
to a large extent extracted from the atmosphere
by the leaves of plants, during the day-time.
Hydrogen and oxygen are in the water contained
in the earth and air; and oxygen is in the air
mixed with nitrogen. Plants do not seem able,
however, to separate much nitrogen from the air
as such, but more readily obtain it by the decom-
position of ammonia (composed of hydrogen and
nitrogen), which is formed in the atmosphere, and
washed down into the earth by rain-water, so as
to reach the roots. All ordinary waters, it must
be remembered, contain substances dissolved in
them. Irrigation of land does not act only by
the water itself, but by that which is dissolved or
diffused in it. Davy calculated that, supposing
one part of sulphate of lime to be contained in
every two thousand of river water, and every
square yard of dry meadow land to absorb eight
gallons of water, then, by every flooding, more
than one and a half hundred weight of gypsum
per acre is diffused by the water a quantity
equal to that generally used in spreading gypsum
as a manure or fertilizer ; and so, if we allow only
twenty-five parts of animal and vegetable remains
to be present in a thousand parts of river water,
we shall find that every soaking with such water
will add to the meadow nearly two tons per acre
of organic matter. The extraordinary fertility
of the banks and delta of the river Nile is due to
the natural annual overflow of the river, extended
by artificial irrigation. In China also, the prin-
ciple of irrigation is carried out very largely, and
it is applicable, on a large or small scale, in any
country. The water of lakes is usually charged
with dissolved or suspended substances even more
abundantly than that of rivers.

Humus.

Soils contain a great amount of matter which
results from the decay of vegetables and animals;
to a compound of which with earthy material the
name of humus is given. This was once incor-
rectly supposed to give the whole nutriment of
the plant. Trees and plants, instead of abstract-
ing carbon from the earth, really, by taking it
from the air, and subsequently dying and decay-
ing, annually by their leaves, and finally alto-
gether, give carbon and other atmospheric elements
to the soil. As above said, all plants by their
leaves absorb carbonic acid from the air, and
retain carbon, giving out oxygen. It is evident,
therefore, that the leaves are of great importance
to the plant. So are the roots, for their absorbing
office. Thus it is true that the growth of a plant
is always proportioned to the surface of its roots
and leaves together. Vegetation, in its simplest
form, consists in the abstraction of carbon from,
carbonic acid, and hydrogen from water; but the
taking of nitrogen also, from ammonia especially,
is important to them, and most of all, to those
which are most nutritious, as the wheat, rye,
barley, &c., whose seeds contain gluten and other
nitrogenous principles of the greatest value for
food. Plants will grow well in pure charcoal, if
supplied with rain-water, for rain-water contains
ammonia.

Animal substances, as they putrefy, alway?
evolve ammonia, which plants need and absorb.
Thus is explained one of the benefits of manuring,
but not the only one, as we shall see presently.
Animal manure, however, acts chiefly by th
formation of ammonia. The quantity of gluten
in wheat, rye, and barley is very different; and
they contain nitrogen in varying proportions.
Even in samples of the same seed the quantity
varies ; and why ? Evidently because one variety
has been better fed with its own appropriate fer-
tilizer than another which has been reared on a
soil less accurately adapted by artificial means
for its, growth. French wheat contains 12 per
cent, of gluten; Bavarian 24 per cent. Sir H.
Davy obtained 19 per cent, from winter, and 24
from summer wheat; from Sicilian 21, from Bar-
bary wheat 19 per cent. Such great differ-
ences must be owing to some cause, and thi*
we find in the different methods of cultivation.
An increase of animal manure gives rise not
only to an increase in the number of seeds, but
also to a remarkable difference in the proper-

10

AGRICULTURE.

tion of gluten which those seeds contain. Among
manures of animal origin there is great diversity.
Cow dung contains but a small proportion of
nitrogen. One hundred parts of wheat, grown
on a soil to which this material was applied,
afforded only 11 parts of gluten and 64 of starch ;
while the same quantity of wheat, grown on a soil
fertilized with human urine, yielded 35 per cent.
of gluten, and of course a smaller proportion of
less valuable ingredients. During the putrefaction
of urine, ammoniacnl salts are formed in large
quantity, it may be said, exclusively; for under
the influence of warmth and moisture, the most
prominent ^ingredient ,of .urine as! converted into
carbonate, efalumonia:, ." ; ',*'*"
'Guano.

Guano -co.n.e1sfes" &f the ^xcrement-s of sjea-fowl,
collected durJrrg'lVn'g. periods. ^xh/CBFtaifl islands
in th'e South Sea. A soil which is deficient in
organic matter is made much more productive by
the addition of this manure. It consists of am-
monia, combined with uric, phosphoric, oxalic,
and carbonic acids, with some earthy salts and
impurities.

The urine of men and animals living upon flesh
contains a large quantity of nitrogen, partly in
the form of urea. ' Human urine is the most
powerful manure for all vegetables which contain
nitrogen; that of horses and horned cattle con-
tains less of this element, but much more than
the solid excrements of these animals. In the
face of such facts as these, is it not pitiable to
observe how the urine of the stable or cow-shed
is often permitted to run off, to sink uselessly into
the earth, or to form a pool in the middle of a
farm-yard, from which, as it putrefies, the am-
monia formed in it rapidly escapes into the atmos-
phere ?

Cultivated plants need more nitrogen than wild
ones, being of a higher and more complex organ-
ization. The result of forest growth is chiefly
the production of carbonaceous woody fibre; of
garden or field culture, especially the addition of
as much nitrogen as the plant can be made to
take up.

Solid Manure.

The solid excrements of animals do not con-
tain as much nitrogen as those which are voided
in a liquid form, and do not constitute so power-
ful a fertilizing material. In urine, moreover,
ammonia loses a good deal of its volatility by
being combined and dissolved in the form of
Baits. In an analogous manner, one of the uses
of sulphate of lime or gypsum, as a manure, is to
fix the ammonia of the atmosphere. Charcoal
and humus have a similar property.

Mineral Matter in Plants.

Besides the substances already mentioned,
others are needed by plants as part of their food,
to form their structure. The firmness of straw,
for example, is due to the presence in it of silica,
the principal constituent of sand and flints. Po-
tassa, soda, lime, magnesia, and phosphoric acid,
are contained in plants, in different proportions.
All of these they must obtain from the soil. The
alkalies above-named (potassa and soda) appear
to be essential to the perfect development of the
higher vegetable forms. Some plants require
them in one mode of combination, and some in
another,- and thus the soil that is very good for
one, may be quite unfit for others. Firs and
pines find enough to support them in barren,
vandy soil.

The proportion of silicate of potash (necessary
for the firmness of wheat straw) does not vary

perceptibly in the soil of grain-fields, because what
is removed by the reaper, is again replaced in
putrefying straw. But this is not the case with
meadow-land. Hence we never find a luxuriant
crop of grass on sandy and limestone soils which
contain little potash, evidently because one of the
constituents indispensable to the growth of the
plants is wanting. If a meadow be well manure!,
we remove, with the increased crop of grass, a
greater quantity of potash than can, by a repe-
tition of the same manure, be restored to it. So,
grass-land manured with gypsum soon ceases to
feel its agency. But if the meadow be strewed
from time to time with wood ashes, or soap-boilers'
lye made from wood ashes, then the grass thrives
as luxuriantly as before. And why ? The ashes
are only a means of restoring the necessary potash
for the grass stalks. So oats, barley, and rye
may be made for once to grow upon a sandy
heath, by mixing with the scanty soil the ashes
of the heath-plants that grow upon it. Those
ashes contain soda and potash, conveyed to the
growing furze or gorse by rain-water. The soil
of one district consists of sandstone; certain trees
find in it a quantity of alkaline earths sufficient
for their own sustenance. When felled, and burnt,
and sprinkled upon the soil, oats will grow and
thrive that without such aid would not vegetate.

The most decisive proof of the absurdity of the
indiscriminate use of any strong manure was ob-
tained at Bingen, a town on the Rhine, where the
produce and development of vines were highly
increased by manuring them with animal matters,
such as shavings of horn. After some years, the
formation of the wood and leaves decreased per-
ceptibly. Such manure had too much hastened
the growth of the vines : in two or three years
they had exhausted the potash in the formation
of their fruit leaves and wood; so that none re-
mained for the future crops, as shavings of horn
contain no potash. Cow-dung would have been
better, and is known to be better.

Conditions of Vegetation.

The sun's heat and light, air, water, and the
common elements of the earth are necessary to
the existence of plants. But a greater or less
abundance of certain elements, and their existence
in more or less favorable states of combination,
determines the magnitude and fertility, or, in a
word, the whole productiveness, of the vegetable
growth.

The rules of agriculture should then, if ration-
ally perfected, enable us to give to each plant
what it requires for the attainment of the special
object of its culture; namely, the increase of cer-
tain parts which are used as food for men and
animals.

One instance may illustrate this idea. The
means to be resorted to for the production of fine
pliable straw for hats and bonnets are the very
opposite to those which would tend to produce the
greatest possible amount of seed or grain from the
same plant.

Sand, clay, and lime, as has been said ; are the
principal constituents of soils. Clay asi marl
always contain potash and soda. Pure land, or
pure limestone, would alone constitute absolutely
barren soils. All arable land contains an admix-
ture of clay, although an excess of it, in propor-
tion, is of course disadvantageous.

Rotation of Crops.

The exhaustion of alkalies in a soil by succes-
sive crops is the true reason why practical farmers
suppose themselves compelled to suffer land to lie
fallow. It is the greatest possible mistake to

FERTILIZERS.

11

think that the temporary diminution of fertility
in a field is chiefly owing to the loss of the decay-
ing vegetiible matter it previously contained: it
is principally the consequence of the exhaustion
of potash and soda, which are restored by the
slow process of the more complete disintegration
of the materials of the soil. It is evident that the
careful tilling of fallow land must accelerate and
increase this further breaking up of its mineral
ingredients. Nor is this repose of the soil always
necessary. A field, which has become unfitted for
a certain kind of produce, may not, on that ac-
count, be unsuitable for another; and upon this
observation a system of agriculture has been
gradually formed, the principal object of which is
to obtain the greatest possible produce in a suc-
cession of years, with the least outlay for manure.
Because plants require for their growth different
constituents of soil, changing the crop from year
to year will maintain the fertility of that soil
(provided it be done with judgment) quite as well
as leaving it at rest or fallow. In this we but
imitate nature. The oak, after thriving for long
generations on a particular spot, gradually sick-
ens; its entire race dies out; other trees and
shrubs succeed it, till, at length, the surface be-
comes so charged with an excess of dead vegetable
matter, that the forest becomes a peat moss, or a
surface upon which no large tree will grow.
Generally long before this can occur, the opera-
tion of natural causes has gradually removed from
the soil substances, essential to the growth of oak,
leaving others favorable and necessary to the
growth of beech or pine. So, in practical farm-
ing, one crop, in artificial rotation with others, ex-
tracts from the soil a certain quantity of necessary
materials; a second carries off, in preference,
those which the former has left.

One hundred parts of wheat straw yield 15J of
ashes ; the same quantity of barley straw, 8 ; of
oat straw, only 4; and the ashes of the three are,
chemically, of about the same composition. Upon
the same field, which will yield only one harvest
of wheat, two successive crops of barley may be
raised, and three of oats. We have in these facts
a clear proof of what is abstracted from the soil,
and the key to" the rational mode of supplying the
deficiency.

Since wheat consumes a large amount of silicate
of potassa from the soil, the plants which should
succeed or alternate with it must be such as re-
quire but little potassa, as potatoes or turnips.
After three or four years the same lands may well
bear wheat ; because, during the interval, the soil
will have been, by the action of the atmosphere,
and the solution of vegetable and nnimal sub-
stances decaying upon or in it, again rendered
capable of yielding what the wheat requires.
Whether this process can be artificially antici-
pated, by supplying the exhausted ingredient to
the soil, is a further and most interesting and im-
portant inquiry.

We could keep our fields in a constant state of
fertility by replacing, every year, as much as is
removed from them by their produce. An in-
crease of fertility may be expected, of course,
only when more is added of the proper material
to the soil than is taken away. Any soil will
partially regain its strength by lying fallow. But
any soil, under cultivation, must at length (with-
out help) lose those constituents which are re-
moved in the seeds, roots and leaves of the plants
raised upon it. To remedy this loss, and also in-
crease the productiveness of the land, is the ob-
ject of the use of proper manures.

Land, when not employed in raising food for
animals or man, should, at least, be applied to

the purpose of raising manure for itself; and
this, to a certain extent, may be effected by means
of green crops, which, by their decomposition, not
only add to the amount of vegetable mould con-
tained in the soil, but supply the alkalies that
would be found in their ashes. That the soil
should become richer by this burial of a crop,
than it was before the seed of that crop was sown,
will be understood by recollecting that three-
fourths of the whole organic matter we bury las
been derived from the air : that by this process of
ploughing in, the vegetable matter is more
equally diffused through the whole soil, and
therefore more easily and rapidly decomposed ;
and that by its gradual decomposition, ammonia
and nitric acid are certainly generated, though
not so largely as when animal matters are em-
ployed. He who neglects the green sods, and
crops of weeds that flourish by his hedgerows
and ditches, overlooks an important natural
means of wealth. Left to themselves, they ripen
their seeds, exhausting the soil, and sowing them
annually in his fields : collected in compost heaps,
they add materially to his yearly crops of corn.

Organic Manures.

The following conclusions may be regarded as
scientifically sustained, as well as confirmed by
practical experience :

1. That fresh human urine yields nitrogen in
greater abundance to vegetation than any other
material of easy acquisition ; and that the urine
of animals is valuable for the same purpose, but
not equally so.

2. That the mixed excrements of man and
animals yield (if carefully preserved from further
decomposition), not only nitrogen, but other in-
valuable saline and earthy matters that have
been already extracted in food from the soil.

3. That animal substances which, like urine,
flesh, and blood, decompose rapidly, are fitted to
operate immediately and powerfully on vegetation.

4. That dry animal substances, as horn, hair,
or woollen rags, decompose slowly, and (weight
for weight) contain a greater quantity of organized
as well as unorganized materials, manifesting
their influence it may be for several seasons.

5. That bones, acting like horn, in so far as
their animal matter is concerned, and like it for a
number of seasons more or less, according as
they have been more or less finely crushed, may
ameliorate the soil by their earthy matter for a
long period (even if the jelly they contain have
been injuriously removed by the size maker), per-
manently improving the condition and adding to
the natural capabilities of the land.

Uses of Guano.

This manure is a powerful stimulant to vege-
table development generally; it is especially
available in raising wheat, corn, potatoes, gaiien
vegetables, and tobacco. If the land needs it, it
may be put on as often as a crop is to be raised;
though not, it is said, as a top dressing. For
wheat, 150 to 200 pounds of guano may be used
to the acre; for Indian corn, 300 to 400 pounds;
unless it is put directly in the hills., when 100
pounds per acre will do. For potatoes, 300 to 400
pounds, in a drill, with bone dust. The addition
of the latter makes the good effects of the guano
more durable.

Min eral Fertilizers.

Simple lime, although an important constituent
of plants, is rarely suitable as an application to
them in its pure state. Carbonate of lime (rep-
resented by chalk, &c.) is a natural ingredient in
very many soils. The sulphate of liine (gypsum.

12

AGKICULTURE.

plaster of Paris) is often used for fertilizing pur-
poses. It is less easily decomposed than the car-
bonate. The precise conditions which make it
most advantageous, are not positively determined
yet. Phosphate of lime is a very important con-
stituent of plants; and, as it exists also in the
bones of animals, a double relation follows :
namely, that it should be abundant in soil on
which plants are raised for food of men and ani-
mals ; and, on the other hand, that animal bones
contribute it to the soil when they decay upon it.
Wood ashes contain a large amount of car-
bonate of potassa, with also the sulphate and
silicate of that alkali. Peat ashes vary in different
regions, but always are found useful as manure.
Kelp, or the ashes of sea-weeds, are often em-
ployed in the same way; they contain soda in
considerable amount. Nitrate of potassa (nitre,
or saltpetre) is said to quicken vegetable action
when aided to the soil, and to give the leaves a
deeper $<;reen. A hundred pounds to the acre of
grass or young corn, have been reported to pro-
duce a beneficial effect. In localities far inland,
common salt, chloride of sodium, is indispensable
to the soil, although a small amount of it will
suffice. Animal manures contain it. An excess
of salt will render land barren; as was well
known to the ancients.

Conclusions,

We may take it for granted that every thinking,
practical mind, will admit it as proved, that there
must be an exact adaptation and fitness between the
condition of any given soil and the plants intended
to be raised upon it; and, further, that if this
mutual fitness does not naturally exist, a know-
ledge of its requirements will enable us to supply
it artificially. The great difficulty is, to obtain
this knowledge fully and accurately. It must be
confessed that, at present, much is wanting to
render it complete and directly available. Indus-
trious observation and experiment may, hereafter,
make it so; and thus give us a system of truly
scientific agriculture.

A few statements only remain to be added to
what has been said. The best natural soils are
those where the materials have been derived
from the breaking up and decomposition, not of
one stratum or layer, but of many divided mi-
nutely by air and water, and minutely blended
together: and in improving soils by artificial
additions, the farmer cannot do better than imi-
tate the processes of nature.

We have spoken of soils as consisting mostly
of sand, lime, and clay, with certain saline and
organic substances in smaller and varying pro-
portions; but the examination of the ashes of
plants shows that a fertile soil must of necessity
contain an appreciable quantity of at least eleven
different substances, which in most cases exist in
greater or less relative abundance in the ash of
cultivated plants; and of these the proportions
are not by any means immaterial. In general,
the soils which are made up of the most various
materials are called alluvial ; having been formed
from the depositions of floods and rivers. Many
of them are extremely fertile. Soils consist of
two parts; of an organic part, which can readily
be burned away when the surface-soil is heated
to redness ; and of an inorganic part, which re-
mains fi^ed in the fire, consisting of earthy and
saline substances ; from which, if carbonic acid
or any elastic gas be present, it may, however, be
driven by the heat. The organic part of soils is
derived chiefly from the remains of vegetables
and animals which have lived and died in and
upon the soil, which have been spread over it by

riverg and rains, or which have been added by the
industry of man for the purposes of increased
fertility.

This organic part varies much in quantity, a.
well as quality, in different soils. In peaty soils
it is very abundant, as well as in some rich, long
cultivated lands. In general, it rarely amounts
to one-fourth, or 25 per cent., even in our best
arable lands. Good wheat soils contain often as
little as eight parts in the hundred of organic
animal or vegetable matter; oats and rye will
grow in a soil containing only 1 per cent. ; and
barley when only two or three parts per cent, are
present.

The inorganic portion of any given soil, again,
is divisible into two portions; that part which is
soluble in water, and thus easily taken up by
plants, and a much more bulky portion which is
insoluble.

Sir Humphrey Davy found the following to be
the composition of a good productive soil. In
every 9 parts, 8 consisted of siliceous sand; the
remaining (one-ninth) part was composed, in 100
parts, as follows :

Carbonate of lime (chalk), . . .63 grains.
Pure silex, . . . " . 15 grains.

Pure alumina, or the earth of clay, . 11 grains.
Oxide (rust) of iron, ... 3 grains.
Vegetable and other saline matter, . 5 grains.
Moisture and loss, . . . . 3 grains.

100

Thus the whole amount of organic matter in this
instance is only 1 part in 200, or one-half of one
per cent.; a fact which, in itself, would demon-
strate the fallacy of supposing that decomposed
animal and vegetable matter in the soil form the
exclusive supply to growing plants.

In another instance, soil was taken from a field
in Sussex, remarkable for its growth of flourishing
oak trees. It consisted of 6 parts of sand, and 1
part of clay and finely-divided matter. One
hundred grains of it yielded, in chemical lan-
guage
Of silica (or silex), . . . .54 grains.

Of alumina, . . . . .,28 grains.

Carbonate of lime, .... 3 grains.

Oxide of iron, ..... 5 grains.

Vegetable matter in a state of decom-
position, ...... 4 grains.

Moisture and loss, .... 6 grains.

100

To wheat soils t the attention of the practical
farmer will be most strongly directed. An ex-
cellent wheat soil from West Dray ton, in Eng-
land, yielded 3 parts in 5 of silicious sand; and
the remaining two parts consisted of carbonate
of lime, silex, alumina, and a minute proportion
of decomposing animal and vegetable remains.

Of these soils, the last was by far the most,
and the first the least, coherent in texture. In all
cases, the constituent parts of the soil which give
tenacity and stiffness, are the finely-divided por-
tions; and they possess this quality in propr rtion
to the quantity of alumina (or earth of clay) they
contain.

The varying power of soils to absorb and retain
water from the air, is much connected with their
fertility. This absorbent power is always greatest
in the most fertile lands. Their productiveness
is also much influenced by the nature of the sub-
soil on which they rest; for, when soils are situ-
ated immediately upon a bed of rock or stone,
they dry sooner by the sun's agency than when
the subsoil is clay or marl.

A great deal more might be said upon other

SOILS.

13

kindred points. But, as has been already re-
marked, agricultural science is, as yet, imperfect.
It is a mistake for the practical farmer to contemn
"book farming," as if it were something visionary
or useless; while, on the other hand, the agricul-
tural chemist and vegetable physiologist must
submit all their inductions and conclusions to the
test of careful and repeated trials. The one can
seldom analyze soils, and the other can rarely
attend to raising crops; so they must help each
other, and, together, aid in advancing the oldest
of human arts, and one of the most beautiful of
the sciences that of the earth's culture.

PRACTICAL FARMING.

Component parts of Soil.

The principal component parts of the soil, what-
ever may be the color, are clay, lime, sand, water,
and air. The primitive earths, argil, lime, and
sand, contain each, perhaps in nearly equal de-
grees, the food of plants; but in their union the
purposes of vegetation are most completely an-
swered. The precise quantities of each necessary
to make this union perfect, and whether they
ought to be equal, it is not very easy to ascertain,
since that point is best determined in practice,
when the soil proves to be neither too stiff nor
adhesive, from the superabundance of clay, nor
of too loose and weak a texture, from an over
quantity of sand in its composition. The medium
is undoubtedly best; but an excess towards adhe-
sion is obviously most safe. A stiff or strong soil
holds the water which falls upon it for a long
time, and, being capable of much ploughing, is
naturally well qualified for carrying the most
valuable arable crops. A light sod, or one of a
texture feeble and easily broken, is, on the con-
trary, soon exhausted by aration, and requires
renovation by grass; or otherwise it cannot be
cultivated to advantage.

To distinguish Clayey Soils.

A clayey soil, though distinguished by the
color which it bears, namely black, white, yellow,
and red, differs from all other soils, being tough,
wet, and cold, And consequently requiring a good
deal of labor from the husbandman before it can
be sufficiently pulverized, or placed in a state for
bearing artificial crops of corn or grass. Clay
land is known by the following qualities, or pro-
perties.

It holds water like a cup, and once wetted does
not soon dry. In like manner, when thoroughly
dry, it is not soon wetted ; if we except the varie-
ties which have a thin surface, and are the worst
of all to manage. In a dry summer, clay cracks
and shows a surface full of small chinks, or open-
ings. If ploughed in a wet state, it sticks to the
plough like mortar, and in a dry summer, the
plough turns it up in great clods, scarcely to be
broken or separated by the heaviest roller.

To manage Sandy Soils.

Soils of this description are managed with infi-
nitely less trouble, and at an expense greatly infe-
rior to what clays require; but at the same time,
the crops produced from them are generally of
smaller value. There are many varieties of sand,
however, as well as of clay; and in some parts of
the country, the surface is little better than a bare
barren sand, wherein artificial plants will not take
root unless a dose of clay or good earth is previ-
ously administered. This is not the soil meant
by the farmer when he speaks of sands. To speak
practically, the soil meant is one where sand is
predominant, although there be several other

earths in the mixture. From containing a great
quantity of sand, these soils are all loose and
crumbling, and never get into a clod, even in the
driest weather. This is the great article of dis-
tinction betwixt sand and sandy loams. A sandy
loam, owing to the clay that is in it, does not
crumble down, or become loose like a real sand,
but retains a degree of adhesion after wetness or
j drought, notwithstanding the quantity of sand
I that is mixed with it. Perhaps a true sandy loam,
' incumbent upon a sound subsoil, is the ino.t valu-
able of all soils. Upon such, every kind of grain
may be raised with advantage, and no soil is
better calculated for turnips and grass.

The real sands are not favorable to the growth
of wheat, unless when preceded by clover, which
binds the surface, and confers a temporary strength
for sustaining that grain. Much of the county of
Norfolk, in England, is of this description ; and it
is well known that few districts of the kingdom
yield a greater quantity of produce. Till Norfolk,
however, was invigorated by clay and marl, nearly
one-half of it was little better than waste; but by
the success which accompanied the use of these
auxiliaries, a new soil was in a manner created;
which, by a continuation of judicious manage-
ment, has given a degree of fame to the husbandry
of that country, far surpassing that of other dis-
tricts naturally more fertile.

Gravelly Soils.

The open porous nature of these soils disposes
them to imbibe moisture, and to part with it with
great facility: from the latter of which circum-
stances they are subject to burn, as it is termed,
in dry seasons. The main difference between
gravel and sand is, that the former is chiefly com-
posed of small soft stones ; though in some in-
stances the stones are of a silicious or flinty na-
ture, and, in others, of the calcareous or chalky.
From these constitutional circumstances arises the
propriety of deepening gravelly soils by coats of
marl or earth, and of keeping them fresh by fre-
quent returns of grass, and repeated applications
of manure. Gravelly soils, from the lightness of
their texture, are not expensive or difficult in the
means of cultivation. All the necessary business
required for gravels may be carried forward with
ease and expedition; and such soils are, in gene-
ral, soon brought into a proper state for the re-
ception of crops.

The constitutional qualities of gravels point out
the propriety of ploughing them deep, so that the
surface soil may be augmented, and greater room
given to the growth of the plants cultivated on
them. A shallow-ploughed gravel can stand no
excess of weather, however enriched by manure.
It is burnt up by a day or two of drought, and it
is almost equally injured by an excessive fall of
rain, unless the pan or firm bottom, which such
soils easily gain, be frequently broken through by
deep ploughing.

Uses of different Soils.

Clayey soils, when sufficiently enriched with
manures, are naturally well qualified for carrying
crops of wheat, oats, beans, and clover; but are
not fitted for barley, turnips, potatoes, etc., or even
for being kept under for grass longer than one
year. Such soils ought to be regularly summer-
fallowed once in six, or at least once in eight years,
even when they are comparatively in a clean state,
as they contract a sourness and adhesion from wet
ploughing, only to be removed by exposure to the
sun and wind during the dry months of summer.
Soils of this kind receive little benefit from winter
ploughing, unless so far as their surface is thereby

AGRICULTURE.

presented to the frost, which mellows and reduces
them in a. manner infinitely superior to what could
be accomplished by all the operations of man.
gtill they are not cleaned or made free of weeds
by winter ploughing; and therefore this operation
can only be considered as a good means for pro-
curing a seed-bed, in which the seeds of the future
crop may be safely deposited. Hence the neces-
sity of cleansing clay soils during the summer
months, and of having always a large part of every
clay farm under summer fallow. All clayey soils
require great industry and care, as well as a con-
siderable portion of knowledge in dressing or
m;mngement, to keep them in good condition; yet
when their natural toughness is got the better of,
they always yield the heaviest and most abundant
crops. One thing requisite for a clayey soil, is to
keep it rich and full of manure; a poor clay being
the most ungrateful of all soils, and hardly capa-
ble of repaying the expense of labor, after being
worn out and exhausted. A clayey soil also re-
ceives, comparatively, small benefit from grass;
and when once allowed to get into a sterile con-
dition, the most active endeavors will with diffi-
culty restore fertility to it after the lapse of many
years.

Upon light soils the case is very different. These
flourish under the grass husbandry; and bare
summer fallow is rarely required, because they
may be cleaned and cropped in the same year,
with that valuable esculent, turnip. Upon light
soils, however, wheat can seldom be extensively
cultivated; nor can a crop be obtained of equal
value, either in respect to quantity or quality, as
on clay sand loams. The best method of procur-
ing wheat on light lands, is to sow upon a clover
stubble, when the soil has got an artificial solidity
of body and is thereby rendered capable of sus-
taining the grain till it arrives at maturity. The
same observation applies to soils of a gravelly na-
ture; and upon both barley is generally found
of as great benefit as wheat.

Thin clays and peat earths are more friendly to
the growth of oats than of other grains, though in
favorable seasons a heavy crop of wheat may be
obtained from a thin clayey soil, when it has been
completely summer-fallowed and enriched with
dung. A first application of calcareous manure
is generally accompanied with great advantage
upon these soils; but when once the effect of this
application is over, it can hardly be repeated a
second time, unless the land has been very cau-
tiously managed after the first dressing. Neither
of these soils is friendly to grass, yet there is a
necessity of exercising this husbandry with them,
because they are incapable of standing the plough
more than a year or two in the course of a rotation.

Wheat ought to be the predominant crop upon
all the rich clays and strong loams, and light
soils of every kind are well qualified for turnips,
barley, etc. Upon the thin and moorish soils, oats
must necessarily preserve a prominent rank, and
grass seeds may be cultivated upon every one of
them, though with different degrees of advantage,
according to the natural and artificial richness of
each soil, or to the qualities which it possesses for
encouraging the growth of clover, in the first in-
stance, and preserving the roots of the plant after-
wards.

Operation of Tillage.

Tillage is an operation whereby the soil is either
cleared from noxious weeds, or prepared for re-
ceiving the seeds of plants cultivated by the hus-
bandman. When this operation is neglected, or
even partially executed, the soil becomes foul,
barren, and unproductive; hence, upon arable j

farms, tillage forms tne prominent branch of work j
and, according to the perfection or imperfection
with wnich it is executed, the crops of the hus-
bandman, whether of corn or grass, are in a great
measure regulated.

Tillage, in the early ages, was performed by
hand labor; but, in modern times, the plough has
been the universal instrument used for executing
this necessary and important branch of rural work.
In no other way can large fields be turned over,
because the expense of digging with the spade,
the only other method of turning over the ground,
would much exceed any profit that can be reaped.

Stones lying above or below the surface are the
most formidable obstruction to perfect tillage.
On stony ground, the work is not only imperfectly
executed, but in many cases the implement is
broken to pieces, and a considerable portion of
time lost before it is repaired and put in order.
The removal of stones, therefore, especially of
such as are below the surface, ought to be a pri-
mary object with every agriculturist; because a
neglect of this kind may afterwards occasion him
considerable loss and inconvenience.

To drain the ground, in other words, to lay it
dry, also facilitates tillage exceedingly ; for plough-
ing cannot be performed with advantage where
either the surface or subsoil is wet.

Best Mode of Tillage.

The only sure and certain way by which the soil
is cleaned or rendered free of weeds, is by plough-
ing in the summer months, when the ground is
dry, and when, by the influence of the sun and
air, the weeds may be destroyed with facility.
Seldom at any other period is the soil much bene-
fitted by ploughing, unless so far as a seed-bed is
thus procured for the succeeding crop ; and though
the situation or state of the ground, when these
intermediate ploughings are bestowed, is of im-
portance in judging of their utility, yet the radi-
cal process of summer fallow cannot, by any means,
be altogether dispensed with. Though, if the win-
ter and spring ploughings are executed under
favorable circumstances, and plenty of manure is
at hand, it may be delayed for a greater number
of years than is otherwise practicable, if good
husbandry is to be maintained.

Without summer fallow, or, which is the same,
thing, without working the ground in the summer
months, perfect husbandry is unattainable on all
heavy or cold soils, and upon every variety in-
cumbent on a close or retentive bottom.

To keep his land clean will always be a princi-
pal object with every good farmer; for if this is
neglected, in place of carrying rich crops of gram
or grass, the ground will be exhausted by crops
of weeds. Where land is foul, every operation of
husbandry must be proportionably non-effective;
and even the manures applied will, in a great
measure, be lost.

The necessity of summer fallow depends greatly
upon the nature and quality of the soil; as, upon
some soils, a repetition of this practice is less fre-
quently required than upon others. Wherever
the soil is incumbent upon clay or till, it is more
disposed to get foul, than when incumbent upon
a dry gravelly bottom ; besides, wet soils, from be-
ing ploughed in winter, contract a stiffness which
lessens the pasture of artificial plants, and prevents
them from receiving sufficient nourishment. When
land of a day gravelly bottom gets foul, it may
easily be cleaned without a plain summer fallow;
since crops, such as turnips, etc., may be substi-
tuted in its place, which, when drilled at proper
intervals, admit of being ploughed as often as
necessary ; whereas wet soils, which are naturally

IMPLEMENTS.

15

unfit for carrying such crops, must be cleaned
and brought into good order by frequent plough-
ings and harrowings during the summer months.

To Conduct a Fallow.

Upon all clayey soils (and upon such only is
a complete summer fallow necessary) the first
ploughing ought to be given during the winter
months, or as early in the spring as possible;
which greatly promotes the rotting of the sward
and stubble. This should be done by gathering
up the ridge, which both lays the ground dry and
rips up the furrows. As soon as seed-time is over,
the ridge should be cloven down, preparatory to
cross ploughing; and after lying a proper time,
should be harrowed and rolled repeatedly, and
every partible of quickens that the harrovrs have
brought above, should be carefully picked off with
the hand. It is then proper to ridge or gather it
up immediately, which both lays the land in pro-
per condition- for meeting bad weather, and opens
up any fast land that may have been missed in
the furrows when the cross ploughing was given.
After this harrow, roll, and gather the root weeds
again ; and continue so doing till the field is per-
fectly clean.

To Prepare the Ground.

The above object is most completely accom-
plished, when the ground is ploughed deep and
equal, while the bottom of the furrow immediately
above the subsoil is perfectly loosened and turned
equally over with the part which constitutes the
surface. In many places these properties are
altogether neglected, the ground being ploughed
in a shallow way, while the bottom of the ploughed
land remains something like the teeth of a saw,
having the under part of the furrow untouched,
and consequently not removed by the action of
the plough. While these things are suffered, the
j object of tillage is only partially gained. The
food of plants can only be imperfectly procured :
and the ground is drenched and injured hy wet-
ness; these ridges, or pieces of land, which are
not cut, preventing a descent of the moisture from
above to the open furrows left for carrying it off.
Where the seed-bed is prepared by one ploughing,
the greatest care ought to be used in having it
closely and equally performed. When two are
given, they should be in opposite directions, so
that any firm land left in the first may be cut up
in the second ploughing. It is not profitable to
plough twice one way, if it can be safely avoided.

Another important point towards procuring
good tillage, is never to plough the land when in
a wet state; because encouragement is thus given
to the growth of weeds, while a sourness and ad-
hesion is communicated to the ground, which is
rarely got the better of till the operations of a
summer fallow are again repeated.

All soils ought not to be wrought or ploughed
in one manner. Each kind has its particular and
appropriate qualities ; and, therefore, each requires
a particular and appropriate mode of tillage.
Ploughing, which is the capital operation of hus-
bandry, ought, on these accounts, to be adminis-
tered according to the nature of the soil which is
to be operated upon, and not executed agreeably
to one fixed and determined principle. On strong
clays and loams, and on rich gravels and deep
sands, the plough ought to go as deep as the cat-
tle are able to work it; whereas, on thin clays
and barren sands the benefit of deep ploughing is
Very questionable; especially when such are in-
cumbent on a till bottom, or where the subsoil is
of a yellow-ochre nature; such, when turned up,
being little better than poison to the surface, un-

less highly impregnated with alluvial compost,
the effect of which expels the poisonous substance
contained in this kind of subsoil, and gives a fer-
tility to the whole mass, more decisively perma-
nent than would follow a heavy application of tLa
best rotten dung.

Two sets of Ploughs required for perfect Tillage.

On clayey soils, where the ridges are so that
the ground may be preserved in something like
a dry condition, the plough used for tillage
ought to have a mould-board considerably wider
set than is required for light soils, in order that
the furrow may be close cut below, and only
turned over. The method of constructing the
plough necessarily makes a heavier draught than
would be the case were the mould-board placed
differently ; though if good and sufficient work
be wanted, the necessity of constructing the im-
plement in the way mentioned, is absolute and
indispensable. The plough to be used on light
soils, or on all soils that admit of what is tech-
nically called crown and furrow ploughing,
may be made much straighter below, and yet
be capable of executing the work in a perfect
manner. On every farm, consisting of mixed
soils, two sets of ploughs ought to be kept,
otherwise proper work cannot be performed. All
land ought to be ploughed with a shoulder, and
the advantages of ploughing in this way are,
that, if ploughed before winter, the surface is
enabled to resist the winter rains, and afterwards
present a face on which the harrows can make a
proper impression, when the seed process is to be
executed. This deserves particular attention
when old grass fields are broken up ; as, by neg-
lecting it, the harrows are often unable to cover
the seed. It is perfectly practicable to plough
land with a tolerably broad furrow, say 10, 11, or
12 inches, and yet to plough it clean, provided
the implement used is properly constructed ; but,
then, care must be taken that the furrow be of
proportionate deepness, otherwise it will be laid
on its back, instead of being deposited at an angle
proper for undergoing the harrowing process.

The use of stibsoilers is now common, to turn up
the depth of the soil. In sandy earth, beneath a
ten-inch furrow, a subsoiler may go ten inches
deeper ; but this is not easy or possible in all
soils.

Implements of Husbandry. *
No country in the world is better provided with
implements for executing rural labor than Great
Britain; and to this superiority may, in some
measure, be attributed the increased and in-
creasing perfection of agriculture over the whole
island. American ingenuity has gone still further
in the same direction. We have ploughs of all
the different kinds that ever were constructed : as
for wheel carriages, the variety is immense;
whilst harrows, and other common implements,
of various constructions and dimensions, are
equally numerous. But it is in the articles more
pmperly allied to machinery, that the superiority
f A merican rural implements is most conspicuous.
Drills for sowing grain and small seeds with
regularity, have been constructed upon scientific
principles; and machines for separating grain
from straw, have been invented, and brought to
a degree of perfection which few people expected
when these machines were first introduced.

The double Michigan plough is an important
mprovement on the old plough. Instead of a
coulter it has a small plough attached to the
beam in front of the other, which takes a slice
from the sod, and makes cleaner work for the
plough. Steam ploughs have also been invented.

16

AGRICULTURE.

The univertal Sowing Machine.

This machine, whether made to he worked hy
hand, drawn by a horse, or fixed to a plough, and
used with it, is extremely simple in its construc-
tion, and not liable to be put out of order; as
there is but one movement to direct the whole.
It will sow wheat, barley, oats, rye, clover, cole-
seed, hemp, flax, canary, rape, turnip ; besides a
great variety of other kinds of grain and seeds,
broadcast, with an accuracy hitherto unknown.
It is equally useful when fixed to a plough; it
will then drill a more extensive variety of grain,
pulse, and seed (through every gradation, with
regard to quality), and deliver each kind with
greater regularity than any drill plough whatever.

Among many other valuable and peculiar pro-
perties, it will not only sow in the broadcast way
with a most singular exactness, but save the ex-
pense of a seedsman; the seed being sown (either
over or under furrow at pleasure), and the land
ploughed at the same operation.

Another advantage attending the use of this
machine is, that the wind can have no effect on
the falling of the seed.

The machine, when made to be used without a
plough, and to be drawn by a horse, may be of
different lengths. The upper part contains the
hoppers, from which the grain or seed descends
into the spouts. The several spouts all rest upon
a bar, which hangs and plays freely by two dia-
gonal supporters; a trigger, fixed to this bar,
bears a catch wheel: this being fixed on the axle,
occasions a regular and continued motion, or
jogging of the spoute, quicker or slower in pro-
portion to the space the person sowing with it
drives. At the bottom of the' machine is placed
an apron or shelf, in a sloping position, and the
corn or seed, by falling thereon from the spouts
above, is scattered about in every direction.

To sow the corn or seed in drills, there are
movable spouts, which are fixed on or taken off
at pleasure, to direct the seed from the upper
spout to the bottom of the furrow.

Harrows.

These beneficial implements are of various sizes
and dimensions; but the harrow most commonly
used consists of four bulls, with cross-mortised
sheaths, each bull containing five teeth, of from
five to seven inches in length below the bulls, the
longest being placed forwards. Harrows of this
kind, drawn by one horse, are generally used on
most farms for all purposes, though on others
large brake-harrows, consisting of five bulls, each
containing six teeth, and worked by two horses,
are employed during the fallow process, and for
reducing rough land. Some of these brake-har-
rows are constructed with joints, so as to bend
and accommodate their shape to the curvature of
ridges. A small harrow, with short teeth, is also
used for covering grass seeds, though we have
rarely seen any detriment from putting grass
seeds as deep into the ground as the teeth of ordi-
nary sized harrows are capable of going.

The best methods of Harrowing.
When employed to reduce a strong obdurate
soil, not more than two harrows should be yoked
together, because they are apt to ride and tumble
upon each other, and thus impede the work, and
execute it imperfectly. On rough soils, harrows
ought to be driven as fast as the horses can walk ;
because their effect is in the direct proportion to
the degree of velocity with which they are driven.
In ordinary cases, and in every case where har-
rowing is meant for covering the seed, three har-
rows are the best yoke, because they fill up the

ground more effectually, and leave fewer vacan-
cies, than when a smaller number is employed.
The harrowman's attention, at the seed process,
should be constantly directed to prevent these
implements from riding upon each other, and to
keep them clear of every impediment from stones,
lumps of earth, or clods, and quickens or grass
roots; for any of these prevents the implement
from working with perfection, and causes a mark
or trail upon the surface, always unplensing to
the eye, and generally detrimental to the vege-
tation of the seed. Harrowing is usually given
in different directions, first in length, then across,
and finally in length as at first. Careful hus-
bandmen study, in the finishing part of the pro-
cess, to have the harrows drawn in a straight
line, without suffering the horses to go in a zigzag
manner, and are also attentive that the horses
enter fairly upon the ridge, without making a
curve at the outset. In some instances, an excess
of harrowing has been found very prejudicial to
the succeeding crop; but it is always necessary
to give so much as to break the furrow, and level
the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly
performed.

Rollers.

The roller is an implement frequently used for
smoothing the surface of land when in tillage,
especially when the processes of summer fallow
are going forward. Several kinds of rollers are
used in America. Some are of stone, others of
wood or iron, according to the nature of the opera-
tion intended to be performed. The only material
difference in rollers is their weight; but it should
be attended to, when a roller is made of large
diameter, that its weight ought to be the greater,
for in proportion to the largeness of its diameter
will be the extent of surface upon which the
roller rests. The weight of a roller ought there-
fore to be in proportion to its diameter, otherwise
its effect will be proportionably diminished.

Rolling, however, is a modern improvement,
and used for different purposes. In the first place,
it is of great advantage to roll young grasses
after the ground is stoned, because the scythe can
then be placed nearer the surface, and the crop
cut more equally than when the operation is
neglected. 2dly. Land on which turnips are to
be cultivated can rarely be made fine enough,
without the repeated use of this implement. And
3dly. The process of summer fallow, upon strong
soils, is much advanced by rolling, because
without its aid the large and obdurate clods can-
not be reduced or couch-grass eradicated. -From
these circumstances it will readily appear, that
rollers of various sizes and dimensions are re-
quired on every farm, for accomplishing different
purposes. Wooden rollers, drawn by one horse,
answer very well for grass and turnip land; but
massy stone rollers, drawn either by two or three
horses, are absolutely necessary on clay soils.

It is obvious, that when a large field is to be
rolled, a number of rollers ought at once to be set
at work, otherwise an opportunity may be lost,
never to be regained. The deficiency is most
conspicuous when barley is taken after turnips in
a dry season. From poaching the ground with
carts, in order to carry off the crop, and even by
the treading of sheep, a degree of stiffness is
contracted, which requires the use of the roller
before grass seeds can be sown.

On all occasions it is most beneficial to roll
across, because, when going in length, the imple-
ment is of small benefit to the furrows, the
slightest acclivation of the ridges preventing the
work from being equally performed. The expe-

IMPLEMENTS.

17

dition which takes place when rollers are used,
compared with the tedious and expensive process
of breaking clods with malls, formerly the gene-
ral custom, sufficiently proves the importance of
these implements, though it deserves to be re-
marked, that, when rolling is bestowed upon a
pring-sown field, harrowing it afterwards is of
great advantage. By harrowing when the clods
ftro reduced, the earth stands the effects of rain
better afterwards, and does not consolidate so
firmly as when that process is neglected.

Mowers and Reapers. *

These machines are of great value, especially
to those with large farms. One machine, the
mower, can be made to perform duty both with
grass and grain ; but reapers are constructed
especially for the latter. Weeders are also in use
in some parts of the country, drawn by horse
power.

The Thrashing Machine.

The thrashing machine is the most valuable
implement in the farmer's possession, and one
which adds more to the general produce of the
country, than any invention hitherto devised.
The saving of manual labor thereby obtained is
almost incalculable; while the work is performed
in a much more perfect manner than was formerly
practicable, even when the utmost care and ex-
ertion were bestowed. In fact, had not the
thrashing machine been invented, it is hardly
possible to conceive what would have been the
rate of expense of thrashing, or even whether a
sufficient number of hands could, at any rate of
expense, have been obtained for thrashing the
grain of the country.

Since the invention of this machine, Mr. Meikle
and others have progressively introduced a variety
of improvements, all tending to simplify the labor,
and to augment the quantity of the work performed.
When first erected, though the grain was equally
well separated from the straw, yet as the whole
of the straw, chaff, and grain, was indiscrimi-
nately thrown into a confused heap, the work
could only with propriety be considered as half
executed. By the addition of rakes, or shakers,
and two pairs of fanners, all driven by the same
machinery, the different processes of thrashing,
shaking, and winnowing are now all at once per-
formed, and the grain immediately prepared for
the public market. When it is added, that the
quantity of grain gained from the superior powers
of the machine is fully equal to a twentieth part
of the crop, and that, in some cases, the expense
of thrashing and cleaning the grain is considerably
less than what was formerly paid for cleaning it
alone, the immense saving arising from the in-
Tention will at once be seen.

The expense of horse labor, from the increased
value of the animal and the charge of his keep-
ing, being an object of great importance, it is
recommended that, upon all sizable farms, that
is to say, where two hundred acres, or upwards,
of grain are sown, the machine should be worked
by wind, unless where local circumstances afford
th<; conveniency of water.

Where coals are plenty and cheap, steam may
be advantageously used for working the machine.

Method of Treading Grain.

In some countries wheat is trodden out by
horses, nearly in the same way as it was formerly
done in Palestine by oxen.

The treading floors are generally from sixty to
100 feet in diameter; but the larger their diameter
ie, the easier is the work to the horses. The
track, or path, on which the sheaves are laid, and

on which the horses walk, is from twelve to tvron-
ty-four feet wide, or more. The floors are com-
monly enclosed by fences; and the horses are
generally driven between them promiscuously and
loose, each pressing to be foremost, so that fresh
air may be obtained, biting, jostling, and kick-
ing each other with the greatest fury. The labor
in this way is extremely severe. Upon some
small floors a centre-stick is placed, to which
hangs a rope, or a pole and swivel, and four or
five horses being fastened together, travel round
upon the sheaves with the utmost regularity.
Previously to laying down the wheat sheaves, the
state of the air, and the probability of its con-
tinuing dry through the day, is fully considered.
If they resolve to tread, the morning is suffered
to pass away till the dew is removed. A row of
sheaves is first laid upon the floors with the heads
and butts in a line across the track of it, as a
bolster for receiving other sheaves; and these
sheaves range with the path, or circle, the butts
resting on the floor. Other sheaves are ranged in
like manner, with the heads raised on the former,
till the whole floor is filled, when it appears to be
filled with nothing but ears of wheat, sloping a
little upwards. Upon laying down each sheaf,
the baud thereof is cut with a knife. A west
wind is always desirable while treading is going
on, as when wind is from the eastward dampness
generally prevails.

In some instances, twenty-four horses are
formed at some distance from the floor into four
ranks; and when the floor is ready laid, the word
is given to advance. For the sake of order and
regular work, a boy mounted on one of the fore-
most horses advances in a walk with the whole
rank haltered or tied together, and enters upon
the bed of wheat, walking the horses slowly over
it; another rank is ordered to follow as soon as
the first is supposed to have obtained a distance
equal to a fourth part of the circumference of the
bed, and in the same manner the other ranks
proceed. They are forbidden to go past a walk,
till they have proceeded five or six rounds, when
the word is given to move at a sober trot, and to
keep their ranks at a full distance from each
other, regularity and deliberate movement being
necessary for preventing confusion. The gentle
trot is continued till it may be supposed the
horses have travelled eight or nine miles, which
is the extent of their first journey ; they are then
led off to be foddered and watered, when the
trodden light straw is taken off as deep as the
place where the sheaves lie close, and are but
partially bruised.

As soon as this first straw is removed, one-third
of the width of the bed is turned over on the other
two-thirds from the inner side or circle of the bed,
which narrows the neck of the next journey. The
horses are again led on, and trot out their second
journey, till the straw be clear of wheat. The
outer part of the bed is then turned upon the
middle part, when the horses take another jour-
ney. The loose straw being then taken oft', the
whole remaining bed is turned up from the floor,
and shaken with forks, and handles of rakes,
after which the horses give another tread, which
finishes the work. The grain is then shoved up
from the floor with the heads of rakes turned
downwards, and put into heaps of a conical form,
in which situation it often remains exposed to the
weather for several days. The correct American
agriculturists, however, have houses adjoining
the treading floor, where the grain is deposited
till it is cleared from the chaff and offal ; though,
as most of them continue treading, if the weathet
be favorable, till the whole crop is separated from

See page 470.

18

AGRICULTURE.

the straw, it is pretty obvious that the grain
stands a considerable chance of being damaged
before the several processes are concluded.

Fanners.

If thrashing machines are of much advantage
to the public, by separating grain completely from
the straw, the introduction of fanners, or the ma-
chine by which grain is cleansed from chaff, and
all sorts of offal, may, with justice, be considered
as of equal benefit to the practical agriculturist.

Since thrashing machines were introduced, fan-
ners almost in every case are annexed to them,
and in some instances, where powerful machines
are used, fitted internally with suitable riddles, it
i perfectly practicable to measure and market the
grain immediately as it comes from the machine.

Manure*.

The term manure is applied indiscriminately to
all substances, which are known from experience
either to enrich the different soils, or contribute
in any other way to render them more favorable
to vegetation.

In an ngricultural point of view, the subject of
manures is of the first magnitude. To correct
what is hurtful to vegetation in the different soils,
and to restore what is lost by exhausting crops,
are operations in agriculture which may be com-
pared to the curing of diseases in the animal body,
or supplying the waste occasioned by labor.

To manage Dung upon Light Lands.

For soils of this description, where turnips are
taken as a first crop, dung can hardly be too well
prepared ; because the nature of the crop to which
it is applied renders a complete incorporation
with the ground absolutely necessary; without
which the young plants might be starved at their
very entrance into life. In the best farmed Eng-
lish counties, dung is often kept more than a year,
In order that it may be perfectly rotted.

In general there is not much difficulty in pre-
paring dung upon turnip farms; because, in the
driest season, from the nature of the food used,
juch a quantity of liquid passes from the animals,
is to prevent burning, provincially fire-fanging,
the greatest obstacle to the rotting of dung that
ean be experienced. If turnip dung is regularly
removed, if it is properly mixed with the horse
litter and other excrementitious matter accumu-
lated upon the farm, it will be found an ea?y task
to prepare all that is made by the middle of April,
at which time the fold-yard should be cleared.
What is produced after that time should be stored
up separately, receive waterings if the weather is
dry, and be reserved for clover-stubbles, or other
fields that are to be dunged in autumn.

The middle of April is a good time for clearing
the fold-yard; but this does not prevent the work
from going partially forward through the winter,
when suitable opportunities occur.

When driven out of the fold-yard, the dung
should be laid up in a regular heap or pile, not
exceeding six quarters, or four feet and a half in
height; and care should be taken not to put either
horse or cart upon it, which is easily avoided by
backing the cart to the pile, and laying the dung
compactly together with a grape or fork. It is
also useful to face up the extremities with earth,
which Tteeps in the moisture, and prevents the sun
and wind from doing injury. Perhaps a small
quantity of ea,rth strewed upon the top might also
prove useful. Dung, when managed in this man-
ner, generally ferments very rapidly; but if it is
discovered to be in a backward state, a complete
turn over, about the 1st of May, when the weather
becomes warm, wilJ quiokn the process ; and the

better it is shaken asunder, the sooner will theob*
ject in view be accomplished.

A secluded spot of ground, not much exposed to
wind, and perfectly secure from being floated with
water, ought always to be chosen for the site of
such piles or heaps. If the field to which it is to
be applied is at hand, a little after-trouble may be
saved by depositing it there in the first instance.
But it is found most convenient to reserve a piece
of ground adjacent to the homestead for this pur-
pose. There it is always under the farmer's eye,
and a greater quantity can be moved in a shorter
time than when the situation is more distinct.
Besides, in wet weather (and this is generally the
time chosen for such an operation), the roads are
not only cut up by driving to a distance, but the
field on which the heap is made, may be poached
and injured considerably.

Upon Heavy Lands.

Upon clay soils, where wheat forms a principal
part of the crop, where great quantities of beans
are cultivated, and few turnips sown, unless for
the use of milch cows, the rotting of dung is not
only a troublesome but an expensive affair. In-
dependent of what is consumed by the ordinary
farm stock, the overplus of the straw must, some-
how or other, be rotted, by lean cattle kept in the
fold-yard, who either receive the straw in racks,
or have it thrown across the yard, to be eaten and
trodden down by them. According to this mode
of consumption, it is evident that a still greater
necessity arises for a frequent removal of this un-
made dung; otherwise, from the trampling of
beasts, and the usual want of moisture, it would
compress so much as altogether to prevent putre-
faction. TO prepare dung sufficiently upon farms
of this description is at all times'an arduous task,
but scarcely practicable in dry seasons; for if it
once gets burnt (fire-fanged), it is almost physi-
cally impossible to bring it into a suitable state of
preparation afterwards; and, at all events, its
virtues are thereby considerably diminished.

Straw flung out in considerable portions to the
fold-yard, after being compressed by ihe tramp-
ling of cattle, becomes rather like a well-packed
stack, than a mass of dung in a preparatory state.
The small quantity of water and dung made by
the animals is barely sufficient to cause a slight
fermentation ; and this slight fermentation, when
the heap gets into a compressed state, is sure to
bring on fire-fang, as already said, after which
its original powers can rarely be restored. To
prevent such an injury, no measure can be so
successfully used as a frequent removal of this
unmade dung, especially if the weather is wet at
the time. If people can stand out to work, there
cannot be too much wetness while executing this
operation; for there is always such a quantity of
the straw that has not passed through the en-
trails of the cattle, as renders it almost impossible
to do injury, in the first instance, by an ex jess of
moisture.

It is therefore recommended, upon every olay-
land farm, especially those of considerable size,
that the fold-yard be frequently cleared; and that
the greatest care be taken to mix the stable or
horse-dung in a regular way with what is gathered
in the fold-yard, or made by other animal?, in
order that a gradual heat or fermentation may be
speedily produced. Where the materials are of
the sorts now described (that is, a small quantity
of dung, or excrementitious matter, and a large
store of unrotten straw, only partially moistened),
no damage can ensue from putting horses and
carts upon the heap; nay, a positive benefit will
be gained from this slight compression.

MANURES.

19

The heap or pile, in the case of turnip dung,
should be formed in a secluded spot, if such can
be got at hand; because the less it is exposed to
the influence of the sun and wind, the faster
will fermentation proceed. It should be con-
structed on a broad basis, which lessens the
bounds of the extremities, and separate heaps are
necessary, so that too much may not be de-
posited at once. By shifting the scene frequently,
and allowing each covering or coat to settle and
ferment before laying on any more, the most
happy effects will follow, and these heaps (at
least all such as are completed before the first of
May), may reasonably be expected to be in a fit
condition for applying to the summer-fallow
fields, in the end of July, or first of August. If
the external parts get dry at any time during the
process, it will be proper to water them thorough-
ly, and in many cases to turn over the heap com-
pletely. It may be added, that much benefit has
been experienced from laying a thick coating of
snow upon such heaps, as by the gradual melting
thereof the whole moisture is absorbed, and a
strong fermentation immediately follows.

Upon large farms, where the management of
manure is sufficiently understood and practised,
it is an important matter to have dunghills of all
ages, and ready for use whenever the situation of
a field calls for a restorative. No method of ap-
plication to clay soils, however, is so beneficial as
during the year of summer fallow, though in such
a situation a greater stock of manure is often
gathered than is required for the fields under
this process.

As to the proper quantity of dung to be used,
no greater quantity ought to be given at one time
than is sufficient to fructify the grounds; in other
words, to render it capable of producing good
crops, before the time arrives when a fresh dose
can be administered.

The Spreading of Dung.

The increased attention now bestowed, in all
the cultivated districts, to the spreading of dung,
originated from the measure of limiting the quan-
tity applied. When forty, fifty, nay even sixty
double loads were applied to an acre, it was not
very difficult to cover its surface, even with an
imperfect separation, though it certainly was im-
practicable to bury the big lumps with a furrow
of ordinary size; but when the quantity was
brought down to eighteen and twenty loads, and,
still more, when twelve or fourteen loads were
thought sufficient, a different conduct became ab-
solutely necessary. Another improvement also
followed, viz., spreading dung when raw or green,
that is, immediately after the carts; in which way,
at least during summer, it will be separated at
one-half the expense, and to much better purpose,
than when it is suffered to lie in the heap for a
day or two. In short, it is a sure mark of a slov-
enly farmer to see dung remain unspread in a
field, unless it be in the winter months, when it
may happen that hands cannot be got for carry-
ing on such operations with the usual regularity.
At that time the injury sustained by losing a few
days is not great, though as a general rule it will
be found that the expense is always smallest when
the carts are regularly followed up.

Application of Dung to Turnips.
When turnip husbandry forms the chief branch
of fallow process, dung is naturally of a superior
quality, and requires little artificial management
for bringing it to a proper state of preparation.
In the greater part of Scotland, and even in Eng-
land, where the drill and horse-hoeing system is
pi fcctised, the common, and undoubtedly the most

approved way of applying dung to turnips, is by
laying it in the intervals of the drills or small
ridges, which are previously made up by a bout,
or two furrows of the plough. These drills oe
ridges are formed at a distance of from twenty-
four to thirty inches from the centre of each ; and
by driving the horses and cart along the middle
one of the space intended to be manured, th
dung is drawn out either by the carter, or by
another man specially appointed for that pur-
pose, in such proportions as the poverty of the
soil, or the disposition of the occupier, may rec kon
necessary. If the breadth of three drills is unly
taken at a time, the dung stands a better chance
of being regularly administered; for it often hap-
pens, that when a greater number are included in
one space, the two outside drills receive a less
quantity than the intervening ones. Those,
therefore, who limit themselves to three drills,
generally divide the spreaders; as it requires six
hands, women or boys, to follow up what is usu-
ally called a head of carts, the number of carts
to a head being regulated by the distance of the
dunghill, or the kind of road over which it is to
be carried.

The quantity of dung usually given for turnips
is from twelve to fifteen double cart loads, of one
and a half cubic yards each, to a Scots acre. In
some cases only ten loads are given ; but the
land ought to be in high condition where such a
small quantity is bestowed. In fact, no soil caa
be made too rich for turnips or other green crops,
peas excepted ; but the object to be attended to
in this, and every other case, is an allotment of
the manure collected on the premises, in such a
way as that the greatest possible return over the
whole farm, not from a particular field, may be
gained by the occupier.

Application of Dung to Potatoes.
The culture is in several respects similar to
that of turnips, but in others it differs materially.
Potatoes are planted earlier in the season than
turnips: the ground rarely receives so much
work; the soils upon which they are cultivated
are more variable; and the dung considered to be
most suitable for promoting their growth, does
not require such high preparation. Many far-
mers, notwithstanding these circumstances, follow
out the same process as described under the head
of turnips. After the ground receives three, or
at most four ploughings. the drills are made up,
dung deposited in the intervals, the seed planted
above the dung, and the drills reversed; aftor
which, say at the distance of two or three weeks,
a slight harrowing is given. They avoid making
up drills, but dung the ground in what may be
called the broadcast way; and, entering the
plough, plant the seed in every thiid furrow, into
which only the dung is raked; and so on till the
whole is finished. Before the young plants ap-
pear, or even after they are above the surface, a
complete harrowing is given, which is considered
as equal to a hand-hoeing; ad from the dung
being completely covered, scarce any of it ia
dragged up, while the seed, being undermost,
noneof it is disturbed by the operation. Some
farmers do not dung their potato fields; but, re-
serving the manure till the crop is removed, find
the remainder of the rotation greatly benefited.
Potatoes scourge severely, and, in general cases,
require a larger quantity of dung than turnips,
but, as the extent of land under this culture is not
great in common farming, few people grudge this
extra quantity, because, except in a few favored
situations, a good crop cannot otherwise be re**
sonably expected.

AGRICULTURE.

To Manure Clayey Soils.

Upon all soils incumbent on a wet or close bot-
tom, whether characterized as clay, loam, or moor,
it may be laid down as a primary principle, that
dung cannot be so profitably applied, as while the
ground is under the process of summer fallow.

When the ground is under the process of sum-
mer fallow, it is then the best and most appro-
priate time for applying manure to clayey soils.
When under this process, the soil, comparatively
peaking, is reduced into minute particles, which
affords an opportunity of conveying the virtues
of manure through the veins or pores of all its
parts. The soil, at that time, is also freed from
its aboriginal inhabitants, quickens and other root-
weeds, which claim a preferable right of support;
hence the artificial plants, afterwards cultivated,
possess, without a rival, such supplies as have
been granted, without any deduction whatever.
In short, without laying any stress upon ele-
mentary effects during the procees, it does not
admit of a doubt, that the same quantity of ma-
nure, bestowed upon the ground when summer-
fallowed, will produce a greater return to the
occupier, than if it had been applied at any other
stage of the rotation.

Dung should not be laid upon fallows before
they are completely cleaned ; though, no doubt,
in wet summers, that operation is not easily ac-
complished.

To make sure work, the fallows, if possible,
hould be early stirred, and no opportunity slipped
of putting them forward with the utmost expedi-
tion; for it rarely happens that much good can
be done towards the destruction of root-weeds
after the month of July. Before that time a ju-
dicious farmer will have his fallow dressed up,
and in a suitable state for receiving dung. It
should be well harrowed, if the weather is favor-
able, previous to the dung being laid on ; and if
rolled, or made smooth, the spreaders will be en-
abled to perform their task with much more pre-
cision.

At the proper season every other operation
ought to be laid aside, so that dung may be ex-
peditiously spread out. To do it in wet weather is
attended with pernicious effects; the horses are
oppressed, a longer time is required, the land is
poached, and in some measure deprived of all
benefit from the previous fallow. These circum-
stances will be reflected upon by the attentive
farmer; they will stimulate him not to lose a mo-
ment when the weather is favorable, and prevent
him from forcing on the work, when injury, rather
than benefit, may be expected. After all, seasons
are so perverse as to render every rule nugatory.
These must, however, be taken as they come,
avoiding at such times to break the land down, ac-
clivating the ridges sufficiently, and keeping the
water-furrows completely clear.

Quantity of Dung for Fallows.
The quantity of dung usually applied to fal-
lows in ordinary condition is from fourteen to
twenty double loads per acre; though often good
Crops are reaped when twelve loads only have been

Siven. Much, however, depends upon the con-
ition of the land, upon the quality of the dung,
and the way in which the carts are loaded. A
decent, load may contain one cubic yard and
three-fourths, and weigh a ton, or thereabouts.
It also deserves notice, that less dung will serve
gome lands than others, especially if they have
lately been ploughed from grass ; but, at all events,
sixteen such loads as are mentioned will answer
for any sort of soil, unless it has been previously
quite wrought out. Even if it were in this forlorn

state, it is better management to dung upon th*
stubble of the first crop than to give an over-dose
when under summer fallow.

Time of Spreading the Dung.

All dung laid upon summer fallow ought to be
spread the moment it is pulled out of the cart.
It can at no other time be done so well, or so
cheaply, though on many farms, small ones espe-
cially, where a full supply of hands is wanting,
this beneficial practice is much neglected. Four
spreaders, boys or girls, with an attentive overs-
man to follow up and supply any omissions, are
sufficient for one head of carts ; the number in-
cluded in a head being regulated by the distance
of the field from the dunghill. Some farmers
employ a person on whom they can depend to
draw the dung from the cart, who has judgment
to proportion it according to circumstances, and
is responsible for any failure in the execution;
but the carter is the person usually employed,
though, unless a boy is given him to drive, a regu-
lar distribution can hardly be expected. To in-
sure accuracy in laying down, fields are some-
times thrown into a dam-broad figure; and. a
heap being drawn into each square, you could
have nearly ascertained the quantity required for
the whole. The great object, after a regular and
economical distribution, is to shake and part the
whole completely; as, by minute attention to this
circumstance, a, much greater effect is necessarily
produced.

Intermediate Dunging.

After the fallows are dunged, the remainder in
hand is reserved for what may be called the inter-
mediate dunging, generally bestowed either upon
clover stubbles, upon wheat stubbles previously
to taking beans, or upon bean stubbles before the
seed furrow is given for wheat. It is obvious,
that the farmer must be regulated, in this inter-
mediate dunging, by the weather at the time,
though it rarely happens but that dung may be
got out upon clover stubbles at one time of the
winter or other. When applied to beans, a bene-
ficial practice, the dung, as we said above, is by
some people laid upon the wheat stubble, and
ploughed down before winter; hence it is in full
action in the spring, when the seed furrow is
given. Others make up drills at seed time, de-
positing the dung in the intervals, as for turnips
or potatoes ; but it seldom occurs that weather
can then be got, at least on real bean soils, for
executing this management.

Many arable farms, under the strictest economy,
are unable to furnish supplies for an intermediate
dunging, at least to its full extent; but persons so
circumstanced have it always in their power to
overcome the defect, and preserve a regular rota-
tion, by keeping certain fields longer in grass,
which of course will yield weightier crops when
broken up, and stand less in need of manure du-
ring the after rotation. As, for instance, in a
rotation of six, and it is here that the greatest
shortcoming is felt, grass seeds to a certain ex-
tent, say a half, may be thrown in with the crop
of wheat taken after fallow, which is the second
year of the rotation ; this part may be pastured
for three years, and broken up in the sixth for
oats, which concludes the course. Again, in a
rotation of eight, grass seeds, in like manner, may
be sown with a part of the fallow wheat, which
part can be pastured for three years, then broken
up for oats, succeeded by beans and wheat. By
such arrangements, made according to circum-
stances, it is an easy matter to preserve a regulai
rotation, and to proportion the corn crops to th
quantity of manure collected upon the premises.

MANURES.

21

To increase the Quantity of Dung by Soiling.

The practice of soiling, or feeding horses or
eattle in the house or farm yard, is eminently
calculated to increase the quantity of manure up-
on every farm, and improve its quality.

The soiling of horses, in the summer months,
on green clover and rye-grass, is a practice which
prevails in many grain districts where farm labor
is regularly executed. The utility of the practice
does not need the support of argument, for it is
not only economical to the farmer, but saves much
fatigue to the poor animal; besides, the quantity
of dung thereby gathered is considerable.

Oxen and cows of all sorts, might be supported
and fed in like manner, during the whole of the
grass season. It is well known that milch-cows
have, in several instances, been so kept; but it
has rarely happened that other descriptions of
cattle have been fed for the butcher according to
this mode, though it is perfectly practicable.

The chief benefit of soiling may be considered
as arising from the immense quantity of fine dung
which would thus be accumulated, and which can
be returned to the ground in the succeeding sea-
son, alter being properly fermented and prepared.
In all grain-farms, at least those of clayey soils, it
is a work of great difficulty to rot the straw pro-
duced upon it; and much of it is misapplied, in
consequence of such soils being naturally unfit
for raising green winter-crops.

If a numerous stock of cattle were kept either in
the house or in separate divisions of the fold yard,
all the straw threshed in the summer months
might be immediately converted into dung, the
quality of which would be equal, if not superior, to
what is made from turnips consumed at the stake.

Dung is the mother of good crops ; and it appears
that no plan can be devised by which a large quan-
tity can be so easily and cheaply gathered, or by
which straw can be so effectually rotted and ren-
dered beneficial to the occupier of a clay-land farm,
as the soiling of grass in the summer season. In
a word, the dung of animals fed upon green clover,
may justly be reckoned the richest of all dung. It
may, from the circumstances of the season, be ra-
pidly prepared, and may be applied to the ground
at a very early period, much earlier than any other
sort of dung can be used with advantage.

To make Composts,

The use of manure, in the shape of compost, or
ingredients of various qualities, mixed together in
certain proportions, has long been a favorite prac-
tice with many farmers; though it is only in par-
ticular situations that the practice can be exten-
sively or profitably executed. The ingredients
used in these composts are chiefly earth and lime,
sometimes dung, where the earth is poor; but lime
may be regarded as the main agent of the process,
acting as a stimulus for bringing the powers of
the heap into action. Lime, in this view, may be
considered as a kind of yeast, operating upon a
heap of earth as yeast does upon flour or rneal.
It is obvious, therefore, that unless a sufficient
quantity is given, the heap may remain unfer-
raented, in which case little benefit will be derived
from it as a manure.

The best kind of earth for compost is that of
the alluvial sort, which is always of a rich greasy
substance, often mixed with marl, and in every
respect calculated to enrich and invigorate barren
soils, especially if they are of a light and open
texture. Old yards, deep headlands, and scourings
cf ditches, offer themselves as the basis of corn-
lost middens; but it is proper to summer-fallow
them before hand, so that they may be entirely free
Df weeds. When the lime is mixed with the soil

of these middens, repeated turnings are necessary,
that the whole may be suitably fermented, and some
care is required to apply the fermented mass at a
proper time to the field on which it is to be used.
The benefit of such a compost in nourishing
soils is even greater than what is gained by dress-
ing them with dung.

Lord Meadowbank' 8 Directions for making Conk-
posts of Peat-mots.

Let the peat-moss, of which compost is to bo
formed, be thrown out of the pit for some weeks
or months, in order to lose its redundant moisture.
By this means, it is rendered the lighter to carry,
and less compact and weighty when made up with
fresh dung for fermentation; and, accordingly,
less dung is required for the purpose, than if the
preparation is made with peat taken recently from
the pit. The peat taken from near the surface, or
at a considerable depth, answers equally well.

Take the peat-moss to a dry spot convenient for
constructing a dunghill to serve the field to be
manured. Lay the cart-loads of it in two rows,
ad of the dung in a row betwixt them. The dung
thus lies nearly on an area of the future compost
dunghill, and the rows of peat should be near
enough each other, that worCTnen, in making up
the compost, may be able to throw them together by
the spade. In making up, let the workmen b< .gin at
one end, and, at the extremity of the row of dung
(which should not extend quite so far at th&.t end
as the rows of peats on each side of it do), let them
lay a bottom of peat, six inches deep and fifteen
feet wide, if the grounds admit of it, then throw
forward, and lay on, about ten inches of dung above
the bottom of peat; then add from the side rows
about six inches of peat; then four or five of dung,
and then six more of peat; then another thin layer
of dung; and then cover it over with peat at the
end where it was begun, at the two sides, and
above. The compost should not be raised above
four feet, or four feet and a half high ; otherwise it
is apt to press too heavily on the under parts, and
check the fermentation. When a beginning is
thus made, the workmen will proceed working
backwards, and adding to the columns of compost,
as they are furnished with the three rows of ma-
terials directed to be laid down for them. They
must take care not to tread on the compost, or
render it too compact ; and. in proportion as the
peat is wet, it should be made up in lumps, and
not much broken.

In mild weather, seven cart-loads of common
farm-dung, tolerably fresh made, is sufficient for
twenty-one cart-loads of peat-moss; but in cold
weather, a larger proportion of dung is desirable.
To every twenty-eight carts of the compost, when
made up, it is of use to throw on, above it, a cart-
load of ashes, either made from coal, peat, or
wood ; half the quantity of slacked lime, the more
finely powdered the better.

The compost, after it is made up, get;* into a
general heat, sooner or later, according to the
weather, and the condition of the dung. In sum-
mer, in ten days or sooner; in winter, not perhaps
for many weeks, if the cold is severe. In the for-
mer season, a stick should be kept in it in different
parts, to pull out and feel now and then ; for, if it
approaches blood-heat, it should either be watered
or turned over; and, on such an occasion, advantage
may be taken to mix with it a little fresh moss.
The heat subsides after a time, and with great
variety, according to the weather, the dung, and
the perfection of the compost ; which should then
be allowed to be untouched, till within three weeks
of using, when it should be turned over upside
down, and outside in, and all lumps broken ; thua

22

AGRICULTURE.

it comes into a second heat, but soon cools, and
ehruld be taken out for use. In this state the
whole, except bits of the old decayed wood, ap-
pears a black free mass, and spreads like garden
mould. Use it weight for weight, as farm-yard
dung; and it will be found, in a course of crop-
ping, fully to stand the comparison.

Peat, nearly as dry as garden-mould in seed-
time, may be mixed with the dung, so as to
double the volume. Workmen must begin with
using layers ; but, when accustomed to the just
pix portions, if they are furnished with peat mod-
erately dry, and dung not lost in litter, they throw
it up together as a mixed mass, and make a less
proportion of dung serve for the preparation.

The rich coarse earth, which is frequently found
en the surface of peat, is too heavy to be admit-
ted into this compost; but it makes an excellent
top-dressing, if previously mixed and turned over
with lime.

Dr. Hennie's Method of Converting Moss into Ma-
nure.

The importance of moss as a manure is now
generally admitted by all who have had an op-
portunity of making experiments on that subject.
The Rev. Dr. Rennie, of Kilsyth, having proved
the utility of filtration, has recommended, in pri-
vate letters, to water the collected heap of moss
for about ten days, once each day, very copiously ;
and when that is done, to trim it up to a compact
body, allow it to dry, and to receive a gentle de-
gree of heat. The degree of heat necessary for
accomplishing that end, is sufficient, though not
discoverable by the hand. If it only affects the
thermometer a little, it is declared to be a ma-
nure. The doctor also declares, that moss can be
converted by filtering steam through it; and
more expeditiously still, by exposing it to a run-
ning stream of water. If the water penetrates
the moss, it expels its poisonous qualities sooner
and more effectually than any other mode ever
devised. When it is sufficiently purified by any
of these means, it must be laid up to dry, and is
in a short time ready for applying to the land.

Use of Lime as Manure.

This mineral, after undergoing the process of
calcination, has long been applied by husband-
men as a stimulus to the soil, and, in consequence
of such an application, luxuriant crops have been
produced, even upon soils apparently of inferior
quality, and which would have yielded crops of
trifling value had this auxiliary been withheld.
In fact, the majority of soils cannot be cultivated
with advantage till they are dressed with lime ;
and whether this beneficial effect shall be consid-
ered as an alterative, or as a stimulant, or as a
manure, it will be found to be the basis of good
husbandry, and of more use than all other ma-
nures put together. Wherever lirne has been
prcperly applied, it has constantly been found to
piove as much superior to dung, as dung is to
the rakings of roads, or the produce of peat-mire.
_ In respect of operation, it is immaterial whether
lime be used upon grass land or summer-fallow.
Upon old grass land, it is perhaps best to plough
first, and to summer-fallow in the second year,
when lime can be applied. On new and clean
grass land, it may be limed at the outset, that is
before the plough is admitted.

To lime moorish soils is a hazardous business,
unless dung is likewise bestowed: but to repeat
the application upon such soils, especially if they
have been severely cropped, is almost a certain
loss ; a compost of lime and rich earth is, in such
cases, the only substitute.

Strong loams and clays require a full dose to
bring them into action ; such soils being capable
of absorbing a greater quantity of calcareous
matter. Lighter soils, however, require less lime
to stimulate them, and may be injured by admin-
istering a quantity that would prove moderately
beneficial to those of a heavy nature.

Upon fresh land, or land in a proper state for a
calcareous application, lime is much superior to
dung. Its effects continue fora longer period;
while the crops produced are of a superior kind
and less susceptible of injury from the excesses
of drought and moisture. Finally, the ground,
particularly what is of a strong nature, is much
easier wrought; and, in many instances, the
saving of labor would almost tempt a judicious
farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit de-
rived from the application than the opportunity
thereby gained of working it in a perfect manner.

It may be added, that though strong soils re-
quire to be animated with a strong dose of lime,
those of a light texture will do well with little
more than half the quantity requisite on the
others, especially if they are fresh, ^r have not
already received an application of calcareous
matter.

Application of Marl.

In many places the value of land has been
much augmented by the application of marl.
Treating of this article in a practical way, it may
be divided into shell-marl and earth-marl. Shell-
marl is composed of animal shells dissolved;
earth-marl is also fossil. The color of the latter
is various ; its hardness being sometimes soft and
ductile, like clay; sometimes hard and solid, like
stone; and sometimes it is extended into thin
beds, like slate. Shell-marl is easily distin-
guished by the shells, which always appear in it j
but the similarity betwixt earth-marl and many
other fossil substances, renders it difficult to dis-
tinguish them.

Shell-marl is very different in its nature from
clayey and stone marls, and, from its effects upon
the soil, is commonly classed among the animal
manures : it does not dissolve with water as the
other marls do. It sucks it up, and swells with
it like a sponge. Dr. Home says, that it takes
six times more of acids to saturate it than any of
the other marls which he had met with. But the
greatest difference betwixt the shell-marl and the
other marls consists in this, the shell-marl con-
tains oils.

This marl, it would seem from the qualities
which it possesses, promotes vegetation in all the
different ways. It increases the food of plants;
it communicates to the soil a power of attracting
this food from the air; it enlarges the pasture of
plants; and it prepares the vegetable food for
entering their roots.

Shelly Sand.

The shelly sand, often found deposited in beds
in the crevices and level parts of the sea-coasts,
is another substance capable of being employed,
both as a manure and stimulant, not only on ac-
count of its containing calcareous matter, in
greater or less proportions, but also from the
mixture of animal and vegetable substances that
are found in it. The portion of calcareous matter
contained in these substances must vary accord-
ing to circumstances; but, when the quantity is
any way large, and in a reduced or attenuated
state, the quality is so much the more valuable.
On that account the quantity which ought to be
applied to the soil, must be regulated by the ex-
tent of calcareous matter, supposed, or found,
upon trial, to be contained in the article.

MANURES.

23

Clayey and Stone Marls.

The clayey and stone marls are distinguished
by their colors, viz., white, black, blue, and red.
The white, being of a soft, crumbly nature, is
considered to be the best for pasture land ; and
the blue, which is more compact and firm, for
grain land. In the districts where marl is much
used, these distinctions of management nre at-
tended with advantage, if the following rules are
adhered to :

If marl is of the blue kind, or of any kind that
is compact or firm, lay it upon the land early in
the season, so as the weather may mellow it down
before the last plough ; and, if on pasture land,
let it also be early laid on, and spread very thin,
breaking any lumps afterwards which are not
completely separated by the first spreading. If
marl is of the white, or any of the loose or crum-
bling sorts, it need not be laid on so early; be-
cause these varieties break and dissolve almost as
soon as exposed to the weather.
Sea-weed.

Sea- weed is driven ashore afteV storms, and is
found to be an excellent article for manuring light
and dry soils, though of little advantage to those of
a clayey description. This article may be applied
on the proper soil with advantage to any crop, and
its effects are immediate, though rarely of long
continuance. As the coast-side lands of Great
Britain are, in every case, of superior fertility to
those that are inland, we may attribute this su-
perior fertility to the great quantity of manure
found upon their shores after every storm or high
tide, whereby the resources of the ocean are in a
manner brought forward for the enrichment of
tta lands locally situated for participating in such
benefits. The utmost attention has long been
paid to the gathering and laying on of this valu-
able manure.

Application of Sea-weed.

Sea-weed is applied at all seasons to the surface,
and sometimes, though not so profitably, it is
mixed with untrodden dung, that the process of
putrefaction may be hastened. Generally speak-
ing, it is at once applied to the soil, which saves
labor, and prevents that degree of waste which
otherwise would necessarily happen. Sea-weed
is, in one respect, preferable to the richest dung,
because it does not produce such a quantity of
weeds. The salt contained in sea-weed, and ap-
plied with it, is the real cause of the after-clean-
liness. This may be inferred from the general
state of coast-side lands, where sea-weed is used.
These lands are almost constantly kept in tillage,
and yet are cleaner and freer from weeds than
those in the inland situations, where grain crops
are not so often taken.

When a coast-side farm contains mixed soils,
the best management is exercised, by applying
sea-weed to dry, and dung to clay-land. In this
way, the full advantage of manure may be ob-
tained, and a form so circumstanced is of infi-
nitely greater value, with respect to manuring
atd laboring, than the one which contains no such
variety.

Burning the Surface.

The practice of burning the surface, and apply-
ing the ashes as manure to the soil that remains,
has been long prevalent in Britain; and is con-
sidered as the most advantageous way of bring-
ing in and improving all soils, where the surface
carried a coarse sward, and was composed of peat-
earth, or other inactive substances. The burning
of this surface has been viewed as the best way
of bringing such soils into action ; the ashes, fur-
nUhed by the burning, serving as a stimulant to

raise up their dormant powers, thereby rendering
them fertile and productive in a superior degree
to what could otherwise be accomplished.

Mr. Curwen's Method of Burning Surface Soil and
Clay.

Mounds of seven yards in length, and three and
a half in breadth, are kindled with seventy-two
Winchester bushels of lime. First, a layer of dry
sods or parings, on which a quantity of lime is
spread, mixing sods with it, then a covering of
eight inches of sods, on which the other half of
the lime is spread, and covered a foot thick, the
height of the mound being about a yard.

In twenty-four hours it will take fire. The lime
should be immediately from the kiln. It is better
to suffer it to ignite itself, than to effect it by the
operation of water. When the fire is fairly kin-
dled, fresh sods must be applied. I should re-
commend obtaining a sufficient body of ashes be-
fore any clay is put on the mounds. The fire
naturally rises to the top. It takes less time, and
does more work to draw down the ashes from the
top, and not to suffer it to rise above six feet. The
former practice of burning in kilns was more ex-
pensive; did much less work; and, in many in-
stances, calcined the ashes.

I think it may fairly be supposed that the lime
adds full its worth to the quality of the ashes.
Where limestone can be had, I should advise the
burning of a small quantity in the mounds, which
would be a great improvement to the ashes, and,
at the same time, help to keep the fire in.

The general adopting of the system of surface
and soil clay-burning, is likely to be an important
discovery for the interests of agriculture.

To burn Moss with the Ashes.

The following directions for burning mops along
with the ashes are of considerable importance:
Begin the fire with dry faggots, furze, or straw,
then put on dried moss finely minced and well
beaten with a clapper; and when that is nearly
burnt down, put on moss less dry, but well minced
and clapped, making holes with a prong to carry
on the fire, and so adding more moss till a hill of
ashes, something of the size of a wagon load, is
accumulated, which, when cold, carry to the bins,
or store heaps, before the ashes get wet.

Mr. Roscoe's Method of Improving Moss Land.

The best method of improving moss land is by
the application of a calcareous substance in a suf-
ficient quantity to convert the moss into a soil,
and by the occasional use of animal or other ex-
traneous manures, such as the course of cultiva-
tion and the nature of the crops may be found to
require.

After setting fire to the heap and herbage on
the moss, and ploughing it down as far as practi-
cable, Mr. Roscoe ploughs a thin sod or furrow
with a very sharp horse- plough, which he burns
in small heaps and dissipates; considering it of
little use but to destroy the tough woods of the
ediophorus, narclus stricta, and other plants,
whose matted roots are almost imperishable.
The moss being thus brought to a tolerably dry
and level substance, then plough it in a regular
furrow six inches deep, and as soon as possible
after it is turned up, set upon it the necessary
quantity of marl, not less than 200 cubic yaris to
the acre. As the marl begins to crumble and fall
with the sun or frost, it is spread over the land
with considerable exactness, after which put in a
crop as early as possible, sometimes by the plough,
and at others with the horse-scuffle, or scarifier,
according to the nature of the crop, a quantity of
manure, setting on about twenty tons to the cr.

24

AGRICULTURE.

Moss-land, thus treated, may not only be ad-
rantageously cropped the first year with green
crops, as potatoes, turnips, etc., but with any kind
f grain.

Peat and Peat Ashes used as Manure.

In the county of Bedford, England, peat ashes
are sold as manure, and are used as a top dressing
for clovers, and sometimes for barley, at the rate
of from forty to sixty bushels per acre. They are
usually spread during the month of March, on
elover, and on the surface of the barley-lands
after the seed is sown. Peat ashes are also admir-
ably useful as manure for turnips, and are easily
drilled with or over the seed, by means of a drill-
box connected with a loaded cart.

After the quantity required has been cast, a por-
tion sufficient to kindle a large heap (suppose two
cart-loads), is dried as much as if intended for
winter's use. A conical pile is then built and
fired, and as soon as the flame or smoke makes its
appearance at any of the crevices, it is kept back
by fresh peat, just sufficiently dry to be free from
water; and thus the pile is continually increased,
until it has burnt thirty or forty loads, or as much
more as may be required. The slower the process
the better; but, in case of too languid a consump-
tion, the heap should be stirred by a stick, when-
ever the danger of extinction seems probable.

In case of rain, the workmen should be prepared
with some coarse thick turf, with which to cover
the surface of the cone.

Coal Ashes used as Manure.
Coal ashes may likewise be made a most useful
article of manure, by mixing with every cart-load
of them one bushel of lime in its hottest state,
covering it up in the middle of the heap for about
twelve hours, till the lime be entirely slacked, and
incorporating them well together ; and, by turn-
ing the whole over two or three times, the cinders,
or half-burnt parts of the coal, will be reduced to
as fine a powder as the lime itself. The coal-ashes
should, however, be carefully kept dry ; this mix-
ture will be found one of the best improvers of
moorish and benty land.

Method of Burning Lime without Kilns.

The practice of lime-burners in Wales has for-
merly been to burn lime in broad shallow kilns,
but lately they have begun to manufacture that
article without any kiln at all.

They place the limestone in large bodies, which
are called coats, the stones not being broken small
as in the ordinary method, and calcine these heaps
in the way used for preparing charcoal. To pre-
vent the flame from bursting out at the top and
Bides of these heaps, turfs and earth are placed
against them, and the aperture partially closed;
and the heat is regulated and transfused through
the whole mass, that notwithstanding the increased
size of the stones, the whole becomes thoroughly
calcined. As a proof of the superior advantage
that lime burnt in these clamps or coaks has over
lime burnt in the old method, where farmers have
*an option of taking either lime at the same price,
a preference is invariably given to that burned in
heaps. This practice has long prevailed in York-
shire and Shropshire, and is also familiar in Scot-
land.

Mr. Craig's Improved Method of Burning Clay.
Make an oblong enclosure, of the dimensions
of a small house say fifteen feet by ten- of
green turf-seeds, raised to the height of three and
a half or four feet. In the inside of this enclosure
air-pipes are drawn diagonally, which communi-
eate with holes left at each corner of the exterior

wall. These pipes are formed of sods put on edge,
and the space between so wide only as another
sod can easily cover. In each of the four spacos
left between the air-pipes and the outer wall, a
fire is kindled with wood and dry turf, and then
the whole of the inside of the enclosure or kiln
filled with dry turf, which is very soon on fire;
and, on the top of that, when well kindled, is
thrown on the clay, in small quantities at a time,
and repeated as often as .necessary, which must
be regulated by the inte