\ .' ' < GIFT OF Thomas H. Means /C.J(0?u^ THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER: ^ Scientific Snatise ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE; PLANTS, ANIMALS, MANURES, AND SOILS. APPLIED TO PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. BY J. A. NASH, rSINCIPAL or MOUNT PLEASANT INSTITUTE, INSTRUCTOR OF AGRICULTURB HI ▲XHERIT OOLLEOK, AND MEMBER OF THE MASSACHUSBTTS BOARD OF AOKICULTURB. NEWYOEK: C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO., No. 26 PARK ROW. 1861. • c » t » » • • « £4^3- his I^xtintt. The undeniable fact, that some farmers are ad- vancing in their profession, while others are retro- grading, or only stationary, in connection with the author's belief, that study is the cause of success on one hand, and the want of it, of failure, on the other, will justify his choice of a name for this book — " The Progressive Farmer." As Agriculture is necessarily a laborious employ- ment— one in which a majority of mankind must ever be engaged, and on which all must depend for a subsistence — it is evident that whatever can be done to diminish its labors, to increase its profits, and to advance the intelligence and happiness of those who practise it, ought to be done. The following pages are the result of an effort to render science available to practical farmers, to young men desirous of qualifying themselves for so useful an employment, and especially to the more advanced classes in our public schools. With an earnest desire to contribute to the most important of all interests, and with a hope that the labor will not have been wholly in vain, these pages are submitted to the public. J. A. N. 678990 €nuitn\5. CHAPTER I. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. »A0t Explanation of Terms, . 11 Elements, . . ' . 15 Tabular Yiews Explained, . 20 Table of Elements and Compounds, 22 Table of Salts, 23 Explanation of Tables, . 24 Chloric Acid, . 30 Sulphuric Acid, . 30 Phosphoric Acid, . 31 Carbonic Acid, . 31 Silicic Acid (Silica), . ' . 34 Nitric Acid, ^ 34 Muriatic Acid, . 35 Water, . 35 Protoxide of Iron, . . 36 Sesquioxide of Iron, 37 Oxides of Manganese, . 38 Potash, . 38 Soda, . 39 Lime, 40 Magnesia, 41 Alumina, 41 Chloride of Sodium, . 42 Sulphuret of Iron, 42 Sulphuretfed Hydrogen, . 42 Carburetted Hydrogen, . 43 Ammonia, . 44 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTEE II. GEOLOQY or AGRICULTURE Form, Density, &c., of the Earth, . Stratified and TJnstratified Rocks, Relative Age of Rocks, Classification of Rocks, Origin of Soils, . ... Rocks and Minerals, Amending Soils, .... Physical Constitution of Soils, . Chemistry of Soils, .... Soils consist of an Organic and Inorganic Part, Organic Acids and their Salts, 46 47 49 50 53 54 58 61 66 74 76 OHAPTEE III. VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. Germination of Seeds, Requisites of Germination, Process of Germination, B-rowth of Plants, Growing Plants Purify the Air, Sources of Carbon, &c., to Plants, Flowering and Seed-Bearing, Late Hoeing Injurious, . Structure and Circulation of Plants, Decay and Products of Plants, . Starch, Sugar, and Gum, Non-Nitrogenous, Gluten, Caseine, and Albumen, Nitrogenous, Transformations, .... 77 79 79 82 85 85 86 86 88 91 93 93 96 CONTENTS. V4 CHAPTER lY. ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. Connection between Soils, Plants, and Animals, . . 98 Selling Produce is Selling Soil, .... 99 How to Prevent Impoverishment, .... 100 Kinds of Animals to be Kept, .... 101 Greneral Treatment of Animals, .... 103 Feeding of Animals, ..... 105 Milk, 127 Butter, ....... 138 Cheese, . . ... . . .141 CHAPTER V. MANURES. Eelations of Soils to Manure, . 146 Relations of Crops to Manure, . 148 Importance of Manures, . . , ". . 152 Manures, Stimulants, and Amenders, . 153 Organic Matter in Soils, . 154 Restoring Organic Matter to Soils, 155 Object of Mineral Manures, . 156 Home Resources for Manures, . 157 Manure the Farmer's Mine, . 158 Barn- Yard Manure, .... 159 Barn-Cellar Manure, . 164 Pig-Pen Manure, .... 169 Manure of the Sheep-fold, . 171 Night-Soil, ..... 176 Sink-Drainings, . ; . • . 179 Composting, * . . • . 179 Odds and Ends, . • . 183 VIU CONTENTS. CHAPTEK YI. PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. PA«B Recapitulation, ..... 191 Land — Its Ownership, .... 192 Perfection of Crop-Growing, . ^ . . 193 This not Attainable, . . . . .194 The Chemist can Analyze^ the Farmer Eocamine Soils, . 195 How to Estimate a Farm, . . . . . 196 Variety of Soils — ^Names, .... 196 Capabilities of a Farm, .... 198 Density of Soils, ..... 201 Fineness of Division, . , . . . 202 Adhesiveness of Soils, . . . . . ' 202 Power of Absorbing Moisture, . • • . 202 Containing Power, ..... 203 Capillary Attraction, ..... 204 Relations of Soil to the Atmosphere, . . . 206 Application of Manures, ..... 207' Green Stable Manure, . . . . .210 Barn- Yard Manure, - . . . . .211 Compost,. . . - . . . . 211 Hog, Sink, and Chip Manure, .... 212 Night-Soil, . . . . . .213 Plaster and Ashes, . . . ' . . . 215 Deep Ploughing, . . . . . 216 Hoeing, Haying, and Harvesting, . -. . '. 221 Draining, ...... 222 Reclaiming Stony Lands, . . . . . 225 Profits of Amending Soils, .... 226 Rotation of Crops, ...... 228 To Farmers, . . . . . , 230 Questions on Scientific ana Practioel Agriculture, . . 233 ^ntrniiurtinii " To " subdue the earth," to render it fruitful, and to keep it so, is the province of Agriculture. Creative Power has made the earth capable of producing ; has decreed that it shall produce something ; but has left it for the skill and energy of man to decide, to a considerable extent, what it shall produce, and to determine, in some degree, how much. In the first place, the earth is to he subdued, cleared of obstruc- tions, mellowed, and cured of its tendency to useless production. In the second place, useful productions are to he installed ; and these are to be selected with an intelligent reference to soil, cli- mate, and the wants of the community. In the third place, these productions are to he expended with a wise regard to future pro- ductiveness. Such of their ingredients as came from the soil are to be returned to it, or others of equal fertilizing value to be sub- stituted, in order that the soil may be increasingly fertile. How best to prepare the soil — how to put it to the most pro- fitable use — how to dispose of its products advantageously to both the soil and its owner, so that w^hile the one shall increase in fertiUty, the other shall advance in wealth and intelligence, and in moral and social influence, are the questions of scientific agri- culture. Labor is an important requisite, but not the only requisite of successful husbandry. Cultivated mind, matured judgment, good sense enlightened by study and experience, find no better field 1* X INTEODUCTION". on whicli to exert themselves than the farm. It cannot, indeed, be expected that practical men will acquire a profound know- ledge of all the sciences which throw light on their path, for these are many and extensive. Chemistry has made immense strides, and has achieved the most important discoveries. These must be brought to bear in favor of agriculture. Geology^ though of recent origin, has already become a great and useful science. Vegetable physiology is replete with instruction to the farmer. The history of animals affords an almost limitless field of instruction. Because those who are, and those who intend to be practical farmers, cannot compass the whole of these and other sciences, it does not follow that they should cull nothing from them. There are facts, principles, and conclusioi^s from all the natural sciences, which can be easily acquired, and which cannot fail to be of the greatest service to practical agriculture. To state these facts, to illustrate principles, and to apply conclusions to the every-day business of the farmer, is the design of the following pages. Should the first chapter appear to any too difficult and not suf- ficiently 'practical^ I readily admit that it is difficult ; it is so from the very nature of the subject, but it is not impractical. The subject of this chapter has important bearings on every branch of practical agriculture. Succeeding chapters will be found more directly and manifestly practical — will have more and more to do, as we go on, with the every-day business of agriculture, and it is hoped, will become increasingly interesting and useful to practical men. If farmers will peruse this and similar works, and will encour- age their sons to study them, they will find that "it pays," both in the increased pleasure and in the augmented profits of agricul- ture. CHAPTER I. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY EXPLANATION OF TERMS. i. A BODY, that is constituted of one kind of matter only, is called an element 2. One that is composed of two elements, is a com- pound^ and is sometimes called a binary compound^ ioi distinguish it from compounds containing more than two elements. 3. If a body consist of three elements, it is called a ternary compound ; if of four, a quaternary compound. Binary implies two-fold ; ternary^ three-fold, and qua- ternary^ four-fold. 4. Thus, iron being constituted of but one kind of matter, is an element ; water being composed of two, is a binary compound ; epsom salt, composed of three, is a ternary compound ; and alum, of four, is a quaier* nary compound. 12 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 5. There are three forms in which bodies may exist — the gaseous^ the liquid^ and the solid. A body that is elastic, like air, is called a gas ; one that is inelastic^ like water, a liguid ; and one in which the particles dc not readily move among each other, as iron, wood,"^ straw, feathers, a solid, 6. Some bodies are capable of assuming all these forms at different temperatures, as water, for instance, is gaseous above 212°, liquid from that down to 82°, and solid below that point. 7. Bodies which will combine with each other when brought into contact, are said to have an affinity for each other ; those which will not, are said to have no such affinity. Chemical affinity is a tendency existing between certain bodies to combine and form com- pounds. It is of three kinds — simple^ single elective^ and dovhle elective — simple^ when two substances com- bine, no other body being present, as oxygen and hy- drogen, to form water ; single elective^ when One sub- stance decomposes another to combine with one of its ingredients, as when vinegar decomposes chalk, com- bining with its lime, and setting its acid free; and double elective^ when two compounds exchange partners with each other. 8. We must distinguish between a compound and a mixture. When two substances combine of their own accord, as if self- moved, the result is a compound. If they are only put together by mechanical force, it is a rnucture In the first case, the properties of the ingre- AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. Vd dients are entirely changed ; in the last, they remain unaltered. Thus, if you bring chlorine and sodium together, a substance totally unlike either is produced ; from two virulent poisons a wholesome condiment is formed — common salt : this is a compound. But if you put water with milk, no new substance is formed — the properties of the ingredients remain unaltered ; they are water and milk still, and nothing more. This is a mere mixture, 9. A substance that can be dissolved in a liquid is said to be soluble ; one that cannot, to be insoluble^ as sugar, for instance, is soluble in water, and sand inso- luble. When a substance is dissolved, it is called a solution, as a solution of sugar, salt, or nitre, in water. A distinction is also to be made between a solution and a mixture. If you put cider into water, this is nothing more than a mixture ; a color is in this case communi- cated, whereas, if the cider were perfectly dissolved, it would leave the water transparent. If now you add a spoonful of salt to a pint of water, the water will remain as transparent as before. This is a solu- tion. Any liquid which dissolves other substances is called a solvent. Water is the great solvent of those salts which feed growing plants. These salts enter the roots of plants in the state of transparent, colorless solutions in water. 10. There are different degrees of solubility. Water will hold in solution but -^^-^ of its own weight of quicklime; it will hold in solution ji^ of its own weight of gypsum ; j\ of its weight of common 14 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. salt ; and mucb more of some other salts. Several substances are more soluble in cold water than in hot. .Glauber's salt, for instance, is dissolved to a greater extent in cold, than in hot water. Common salt has the property of being equally soluble in cold water and in hot. If you put into 11 pounds of cold water 4 pounds of common salt, it will all be dissolved. K 3^ou put in more, all beyond 4 pounds will fall to the bottom undissolved. Precisely the same will take place if the Water be hot. In either case the water will hold in solution 4 lbs. of the salt to 11 of its own weight. Most substances, as is well known, are dis- solved more readily, and in larger amounts, in hot water than in cold. 11. It is a general law of chemical combination, that elements will combine with elements only, and compounds only ivith compounds. According to this law, a body that is constituted of one kind of matter only, will com- bine with another body similarly constituted, but not with one that is composed of two kinds ; and a body, composed of two kinds of matter, will combine with another that is constituted similarly, but not with one that contains but one kind of matter. 12. All chemical combinations are in certain^ definite proportions. Bodies will not combine in any propor- tions which the chemist might prefer, but only in cer- tain proportions, fixed in nature, and unalterable. In illustration of these principles, it may be stated that 8 lbs. of oxygen, an element^ will combine with 1 lb. of hydrogen, another element, and form 9 lbs. of water.. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 16 Also, calcium, an element, will combine with the ele- ment, oxygen, precisely 20 lbs. of the first to 8 lbs. of the last, and form 28 lbs. of quick-lime. Now, if we take these two compounds, water and quick-lime, 9 lbs. of the former will combine with 28 lbs. of the latter, and form 37 lbs. of slacked lime. It is true, you might put more than 9 lbs. of water to 28 lbs. of lime, but the excess would soon evaporate, leaving precisely 9 lbs. combined with the lime in the form of a dry, white powder, (water-slacked lime). If you were to put less than 9 lbs. of water to 28 of lime, then only a part of the lime would be slacked ; and in order to slack the whole, you would have to continue putting on water till you had reached the 9 lbs., when the whole would be reduced to a dry, white powder. It is so with all chemical combinations ; they are always in definite, fixed and unalterable proportions. In this respect they differ from mere mixtures, which may be in any proportions. ELEMENTS. 18. There are in nature 15 simple substances, call- ed elements, whicn make up more than 99 hundredths of tall known matter. Other substances exist in small quantity, but these are all that need be noticed in an introduction to agricultural chemistry. They consti- tute essentially all the objects with which we are con- versant. If we analyze a stone, a handful of earth, a plant, a flower, a bone, a drop of water, a piece of flesh, almost anything we can think of, it is found to consist of one, two^ three or more of these ; seldom of 16 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. one, oftener of two, very often of three, less frequently of four, and rarely of more than four. 14. The names of the 15 elements, mentioned above, as constituting more than 99 hundredths of all known matter, are 1. Oxygen ; 2. Chlorine ; 3. Sulphur ; 4. Phosphorus ; 5. Carbon ; 6. Silicon ; 7 ; Nitrogen ; 8. Hydrogen ; 9. Iron ; 10. Manganese ; 11. Potassium ; 12. Sodium ; 13. Calcium ; 14. Magnesium ; 15 Alu- minum. 15. Oxygen is a gas, colorless, tasteless, inodorous; not distinguishable by any of the senses from common atmosphere. It constitutes, as mixed with nitrogen, 1-5 of the air ; as combined with hydrogen, 8-9 of water; enters largely into all plants and animals; forms a part of rocks and soils; and is supposed to constitute not far from one half of all known matter. It is the great supporter of combustion ; and it con- stitutes the respirable portion of the atmosphere. No fire can burn without it, nor animal breathe in its ab- sence. It enters into combination with all other ele- ments. We seldom see anything, unless it be the pre- cious metals, which is not compose*d in part of this substance. 16. Chlorine is a yellowish green gas, 2^ times heavier than air, existing largely in sea-water, consti- tuting more than half of common salt, and entering in a slight degree into all soils, and forming a part of all plants. On soils found by analysis to be deficient in chlorine, it should be supplied in the form of common AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 17 Bait; and when we are about to plant those crops, which require a large amount of chlorine, (corn, pota- toes, turnips,) we should apply salt, unless pretty well assured that the soil is well supplied with it, especially at a great distance from the sea ; for the risk of losing on a few bushels of salt, is less than that of losing on the crop for the want of it. 17. Sulphur is a yellow, solid substance, known as roll brimstone, flower of sulphur, and, in a still finer state, as milk of sulphur. It exists, in some parts of the world, as a considerable rock formation. It con- stitutes a part of all soils. The waters of many springs are impregnated with it. As certain portions of all plants and animals contain it in their composition, it must exist in the soil, from which these derive their nourishment. 18. Phosphorus. — A yellow, solid substance, of some- thing like the consistency of bee's- wax, forming a part of the bones of all animals and of the seeds of many plants, diffused in small quantities through rocks and soils of the earth and through the waters of the ocean. 19. Carbon. — Diamond is pure carbon. Charcoal is pure carbon, with the exception of what remains as ash, after being burned. It exists in a gaseous state in the air, constituting about one part in six thousand of the entire atmosphere. Carbon forms a part of all plants and animals, and of nearly all minerals.^ 18 AGBICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 20. Silicon is the basis of sand, flint, and quartz. It enters largely into all soils, and constitutes proba- bly about 1-5 of tbe solid globe. In its pure state it is a dark brown powder. Combined with oxygen, it forms the flinty stones so common everywhere ; also sand, which is flint stone reduced to different degrees of fineness. 21. Nitrogen. — A gas, tasteless, colorless, inodorous, and a little lighter than common air. Mixed with oxygen, it constitutes 4-5 of the atmosphere. It en^ ters into the composition of all animals, and of nearly all plants. It constitutes, with oxygen, nitric acid ; and forms a part of all those salts called nitrates. 22. Hydrogen is a tasteless, colorless, inodorous gas, 14 times lighter than air, and used on this account for filling balloons. It constitutes 1-9 of water, and a part of all vegetable and animal substances. Oxygen is a supporter of combustion (ca^j^ses other bodies to burn) ; Hydrogen is combustible (burns) ; Nitrogen is neither a supporter of combustion nor a combustible. Oxygen is also a supporter of respiration, as well as of combustion. Nitrogen is neither. No fire can burn nor animal breathe in it. And though Hydro- gen burns, yet it is not a supporter of combustion, A burning body is extinguished if immersed in it. 23. Iron. — A well-known metal ; cheap, because plenty; but, beyond doubt, the most useful of all metals. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, 19 24. Manganese. — A metal resembling iron, but of a darker color and more brittle. It is never found in its pure state ; is prepared with great difficulty ; and is in that state of no sort of use. It is found, com- bined with oxygen, in nearly all soils ; and from the soil it enters into plants. 25. Potassium. — A brilliant, silver- white metal, with a high degree of metallic lustre ; the metallic basis of potash; burns with great brilliancy if thrown upon cold water, or ice even; the lightest of all metals, being about 4-5 as heavy as water. 26. Sodium. — A white, silvery metal ; ihe metalHo basis of soda; burns if thrown upon warm water; 9-10 as heavy as water. Potassium and Sodium are the only metals- known that are lighter than water. 27. Calcium. — A yellowish-white metal, the basis of lime. It is from calcium, the metallic basis of linpie, that a limy soil is called calcareous. 28. Magnesium. — A white, shining metal, the basis of calcined Magnesia. 29. Aluminum. — A metal in the form of a gray powder ; not easily melted ; the metallic basis of clay and of clay soils. 30. Of these 15 elements, 4, when in an uncombined state, are gases, viz.: Oxygen^ chlorine^ hydrogen^ and nitrogen. The remaining eleven are solids at ordi- xjary temperatures. 20 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 31. Iron and manganese are metals proper, as dis- tinguished from the alkaline and earthy metals. 32. Potassium and sodium are metals of alkalies; cal- cium and magnesium, of alkaline earths ; and alumi- num, of the eai'th^ alumina (clay). 33. Carbon^ hydrogen^ oxygen^ and nitrogen are called organic elements, because they constitute by far the larger part of all organized substances, whether ani- mal or vegetable. TABULAR VIEWS OF ELEMENTS, COMPOUNDS, AND SALTS. 34. The 15 elements, above described, will now be presented in tabular view, together with some of the more important compounds and salts derived from them. (See Table I.) 35. It will be noticed that there is a capital letter, or a capital and a small letter, placed after each ele- ment. These are' called symbols. It is little else than a short-hand, and very convenient way of writing the words before them ; as 0, for Oxygen ; CI, for Chlo- rine; S, for Sulphur, &c. With three exceptions, these are the initials of the names. The exceptions are that K, stands for Potassium, Na, for Sodium, and Fe, for Iron. It is important that these symbols should be well fixed in the memory. 36. It will be seen also that after each symbol there AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 21 is a figure. These figures represent the atomic weight of all substances. All matter is believed to exist in atomSy or indivisible particles. The atom of hydro- gen, which is the lightest of all bodies, is put down at 1. The atom of oxygen is known to be 8 times as heavy, and is therefore put down at 8 ; that of chlo- rine, for a like reason, at 36 ; of sulphur, 16 ; phos- phorus, 32, &c. Now when elements combine with each other, they combine by atoms, one atom of one to one atom of another, two atoms of one to one atom of the other ; and so on, either 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, or 7 of one to one of the other ; or, as sometimes happens, 3 of one to 2 of the other. This enables the chemist to tell beforehand precisely how much of one substance will combine with a given quantity of another. If you look at nitrogen in the table, you will perceive that the number against it is 14. Now if you wished to combine oxygen with 14 grs. of nitrogen, it would take just 8 grs., or just twice 8 grs., or three, four, five, six, seven times 8 grs. That is, oxygen will ^mbine with nitrogen in the proportion of 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, or 56 grs. of the former, to 14 grs. of the latter, but in no other proportions. So it is with all other substances ; they combine in the proportions of their own atomic weight, as expressed by figures, or in the proportion of even times these numbers. This will be plainer as we proceed. 37. The compounds of oxygen with the elements arranged below it (so many of them as we shall no- tice in this ^ork) are placed opposite those elements respectively. (See Table I.) Other compounds^ of 22 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. tlie elements with eacli other are arranged below ; and the figures after each show from which two elements each comes ; while the symbols will show, (when the learner becomes familiar with them), in what propor- tion the elements, in each case, enter into the com- pound. TABLE I. ELEMENTS. 1. Oxygen, 0, 8. oxygen compounds. 2. Chlorine, CI, 36. 1. Chloric acid, ClQs, 76 from 1 and 2. 3. Sulphur, S, 16. 2. Sulphuric acid, SO^, 40 " 1 " 3. 4. Phosphorus, P, 32. 3. Phosphoric acid, PO^, 72 " 1 " 4. 5. Carbon, C, 6. 4. Carbonic acid, C0^ 22 " 1 " 5. 6. Silicon, Si, 22. 5. Silicic acid, SiO^, 46 " 1 " 6. 7. Nitrogen, N, 14. 6. Nitric acid, N0«, 54 " 1 « 7. 8. Hydrogen, H, 1. 7. Water, HO, 9 a ^ u g. 9. Iron,- Fe, 28. 8. Oxides of Iron,* " 1 " 9. 10. Manganese, Mn, 28. 9. Oxides of Manganese, " 1 " 10. 11. Potassium, K, 39. 10. Potash, KO, 47 " 1 " 11. 12. Sodium, Na, 23. 11. Soda, NaO, 31 "1 " 12. 13. Calcium, Ca, 20. 12. Lime, CaO, 28 " 1 " 13. 14. Magnesfum, Mg, 12. 13. Magnesia, MgO, 20 " 1 " 14" 15. Aluminum, Al, 14. 14. Alumina, AP03, 52 " 1 " 15. 15. Chloride of Sodium, NaCl, 59 from 2 and 12 16. Sulphuretof Iron, Fe^Ss, 104^ , " 3 " 9, 17. Sulphuret of Hydrogen, HS, 17 " 3 " 8, 18. Light Carburet of Hydrogen, CH*^, 8 from 5 " 19. Heavy Carburet of Hydrogen, C'^ff, " 5 "- 20. Ammonia, NH^, 17 " 7 '' 8. * There are two oxides of iron, the protoxide and the sesqui- oxide. These are both important in their relations to agricul- ture, and will be explained fully in another place. There are also the protoxide and the peroxide of manganese. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 28 TABLE II. SALTS FORMED FROM THE FOREGOING COMPOUNDS. 1. Chlorate of Potash K 0, CI 0*, 123, from 1 and 10. 2. Sulphate of Iron (Copperas) Fe 0, S 0', 7 H 0, 139, from 2 and 8. 3. Sulphate of Soda (Glauber Salt), Na 0, S 0', 10 H 0, 161, from 2 and 11. 4. Sulphate of Lime (Gypsum, Plaster), Ca 0, S CH*, 2 H 0, 86, from 2 and 12. 5. Sulphate of Magnesia (Epsom Salt), Mg 0, S 0^ 7 H 0, 123, from 2 and 13. 6. Sulphate of Ammonia (soluble and fixed), from 2 and 20. 7. Phosphate of Lime (Bone Dust), about 2 parts lime to 3 of Phos. acid, from 3 and 12. 8. Super-phosphate of Lime, having more acid and less lime than the last, from 3 and 12. 9. Carbonate of Iron (Spathic Iron ore), Fe 0, C O^, 58, from 4 and 8. 10. Carbonate of Potash (Common Potash), K 0, C 0«, H 0, 78, from 4 and 10. 11. Bicarbonate of Potash (Saleratus), having twice as much acid as the last, from 4 and 10. 12. Carbonate of Soda (Washing Soda), NaO, C0«, 10 H 0, 143, from 4 and 11. 13. Bicarbonate of Soda (Cooking Soda), having twice as much acid as the last, from 4 and 11. 14. Carbonate of Lime (Chalk, Limestone), Ca 0, C 0*, 50, from 4 and 12. 15. Carbonate of Ammonia (Volatile Ammonia in its most com- mon form), from 4 and 20. 16. Silicates of Potash, Soda, Lime, Magnesia, &c. (in rocks and soils), from 5 and 8 — 14. 17. Nitrate of 'Potash (Nitre, Saltpetre), K 0, N 0», 101, from 6 and 10. 18. Nitrate of Soda (Soda-Saltpetre), Na 0, N 0^ 85, from 6 and 11. 19. Nitrate of Lime (formed in limed muck-heaps and in old plaster), Ca 0, N 0», 82, from 6 and 12. 20. Chloride of Lime (bleaching, disinfecting, agricultural), com- posed of Chloric acid. Chlorine, and Lime. 24 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 38. In Table II. are arranged the principal salts (salts having special relation to agriculture), which are derived from the compounds, in the second col- umn of TabJe I., aiTd from other compounds at the bottom of that table. The figures placed after them show from which two compounds each salt is formed. EXPLANATION OP THE POREGOING TABLES. 39. Two things are essential to success in learning chemistry : 1st, to become able to infer from the name of a substance what it is composed of; and 2nd, to know how to name a compound from the names of its ingredients. You would suppose that if a chemist discovers a new compound, he may call it what he pleases. But it is not so ; he must give it a name, which will indicate its ingredients, so that others may know, as soon as they hear its name, what it is made up of. Chemists have proceeded on this principle for the last half century ; and it is due in no small degree to the excellence of their nomenclature, that they have achieved so many and so valuable discoveries. It is for the purpose of explaining the nomenclature of chemistry, that I have introduced the foregoing ta- bles. The reader will notice that at the head of the table of oxygen compounds, we have six acids, each named after the element that combines with oxygen to form it ; as sulphuric acid, from sulphur and oxygen ; carbonic acid from carbon and oxygen ; and so of the others. Besides these six acids there is another, which has intimate relations to agriculture, viz., hydrochloi'ic AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 25 acid (H CI), composed of one atom of chlorine, 36, to one of hydrogen, 1, making 37. In English works this last is usually called spirit of salt ; in this country it is almost uniformly called muriatic aac?,iand will be so denominated in this work. We have then seven min- eral acids ; and the reader will perceive, if he looks at Table I., near the bottom of the oxygen compounds, that we have also 7 oxides, viz., oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, potash, soda, &c. Now, in order to form those combinations, commonly denominated salts,' one of the foregoing seven acids must be combined with one of these oxides. From the fact, that the oxides constitute an important part of the salts, they are called also hases. For the purpose of aiding the memory, we will here arrange these acids and bases, together with the generic names of the salts, side by side. TABLE III. ACIDS. BASES* SALTS. Chloric Acid, Oxide of iron, Chlorates, Sulphuric Acid, Oxide of Mn, Sulphates, Phosphoric Acid, Potash, 'Phosphates, Carbonic Acid, Soda, Carbonates, Silicic Acid, Lime, Silicates, Nitric Acid, Magnesia, Nitrates, Muriatic Acid, Alumina, Muriates. 40. There are other salts, formed in a different man- ner ; as common salt, constituted of chlorine and sodi- 2 26 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. um, and some others; but the above, often called oxygen salts, as being composed in part of oxygen (ex- cept the muriates)^ are all formed from one of the above acids, and one of the accompanying bases. The name is decided, by changing the ending of the name of the acid, into ate, and then putting after it the name of the base, with of between. Thus, if we combine sulphuric acid with lime, it forms sulphate of lime ; nitric acid with lime, forms nitrate of lime; carbonic acid with 'lime, carbonate of lime ; carbonic acid with soda, car- bonate of soda ; silicic acid with potash, silicate of pot- ash ; and so of the others, each acid forming one or more salts with each base, and the salt in each case taking the names of both ingredients. When a second salt is formed from the same ingredients, it often takes a double portion of the acid, and then bi is put before the name, as a prefix. Thus, 22 parts, by weight, of carbonic acid with 31 parts of soda, form cai^bonate of soda ; but 44 parts of carbonic acid to 81 of soda form bicarbonate of soda. The first is washing soda ; the last, that kind of soda used in cooking. Sometimes the prefix, super, is used with the same meaning. You find the expressions bicarbonate^ supercarbonate, bisul- 'phate, superphosphate^ and the like, all implying a double dose of the acid. 41. There is one thing that always troubles begin- ners in Chemistry : it is to distinguish between the substances whose names end in uret, and those whose endings are in ate. This difiSciilty should be con- quered in the outset. Those substances whose names end in uret, are all the result of an element combined AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 27 with another element ; those ending in afe, are in all cases the result of an acid combined with an oxide^ or base. Thus, if you combine sulphur (an element) with iron (another elem£nt\ you have a sulphuret of iron ; but if you first combine sulphur and iron with oxygen, to form sulphuric acid and oxide of iron, and then combine these last with each other, you have a sulphate of iron. In other words, sulphur, phosphorus, and carbon, combined with any of the elements below them in Table I., form sulphwrefe, phosphwrefo, and car- hurets; but if sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, and carbonic acid combine with any of the bases below them in the second column of that table, they form sulphates, phosphates, and carbonates; and if twice the usual quantity of these acids are thus combined, they form Z^isulphates, Z^iphosphates, and 5^carbonates, as before explained. 42. If the learner is desirous of making real pro- gress, he must master the principles laid down in the few preceding pages. This done thoroughly, he will find little difficulty. Let him turn back and review the brief description of the fifteen elements before given. Of these he needs to have as distinct, definite an idea as possible. Let him then look at Table I., and question himself on each of the binary compounds. On the first, he may inquire of what is chloric acid composed ? The figures will point him to the two ele- ments, and the symbol will show him in what pro- portion those elements combine to form it. The 01 shows him that chlorine is one of its elements, and the 0 shows him that oxygen is tba other. The atom of 28 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. chlorine, he will see by casting an eye at the opposite colamn, is 36. In the same way he will see that the atom of oxygen is 8. But the small ^ after the 0 shows that there are 5 times 8 of oxygen to 36 of chlorine ; that in 76 lbs. of chloric acid are S6 lbs. of chlorine and 40 lbs. of oxygen. If he look at the second compound, he will see that its symbol is S 0^, that is, sulphuric acid has one atom of sulphur, 16, and 8 of oxygen, 8 each, making 24 ; so that 40 lbs. of it would contain 16 lbs. of sulphur and 24 lbs. of oxygen. On coming to the eighth he will find no symbol. The reason is, that there are several oxides of iron, and they could not all be represented there. The two which have important relations to agriculture are the protoxide and the sesquioxide. It should be explained here that a pi^otoxide is one in which there is but one atom of oxygen to one of the metal ; a per- oxide, one in which there is much oxygen ; and a sesquioxide, one in which there are three atoms of oxygen to two of the metal ; that is, a protoxide im- plies a low degree of oxygen ; a sesquioxide, a higher degree ; a peroxide, a still higher degree ; and an acid, a higher degree still. Accordingly, protoxide of iron (Fe 0) implies one atom of iron, 28, to one of oxygen, 8 ; and sesquioxide (Fe'' 0') implies two atoms of iron, 28 each, to three of oxygen, 8 each. The same is true of manganese. There is the protoxide of manganese (Mn 0), and the sesquioxide (Mn'' 0'). The practical relations of these two metals, particu- larly of iron, will be shown in another place, and they will be seen to be very important to the farmer. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 2§ 48. When the learner has been through with the compounds, and ascertained by their symbols and numbers how each one is composed, let him turn to Table 11. and examine the salts in the same way. His mind will thus insensibly become familiar with the subject. Let him ask himself, on the first salt, of what two compounds is it made up ? Let him trace it back to its two compounds, and then trace these com- pounds back to their elements. Then let him take the second in the same way. He will find that copperas contains 36 lbs. of protoxide of iron (Fe O) to 40 lbs. of sulphuric acid (S 0^), and that it consolidates in itself 63 lbs. of water (7 H O) ; that is, in 139 lbs. of this substance are 36 lbs. of protoxide of iron, 40 of sulphuric acid, and 63 of water. If he look at the third, he will find that sulphate of soda (Glauber's salt) is made up of soda (Na 0), sulphuric acid (S 0^), and water (10 H O), 31 lbs. of the first to 40 of the second and 90 of the last, so that in 161 lbs. of the crystallized salts there are 90 lbs. of water. This, as in other similar cases, is called the water of crystalliza- Hon. If this salt is exposed to the air, the water of crystallization passes off, and what was 161 lbs. of crystals becomes 71 lbs. of a white powder, but , pos- sesses equal value as before. The same is true of Ep- som salt ; the water of crystallization passes off, and leaves a white powder, much lighter than the crystals, but of equal value. 44. In the same way, if we take up sulphate of lime (plaster, gypsum), we find its symbol to be Ca 0, S 0', 2 H O. CaO, implies one atom of lime, 28; SO", 30 AGKICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY. one of sulphuric acid, 40 ; and 2 H O, two of water, 18 ; making 86. If this salt be heated to redness, the water of crystallization is driven off, and 86 lbs. of it become 68 lbs. Sixty-eight pounds of burnt gypsum are of equal value, therefore, with 86 lbs. of ground. The learner, it is presumed, can now go on, and ana- lyze for himself the remaining expressions for salts in Table II., satisfying himself in each case, what are the ingredients of the salt ; whether it contains in its crys- tallized state any water of crystallization ; and, if any, how much. In this way he will learn the composition , of many substances, and be rendering himself familiar with the language of chemistry. The nature of these substances will next claim our attention. Occasional applications will be made to agriculture as we pass along; but such application will be reserved mainly for another part of this work. COMPOUNDS. 45. Chloric acid (ClO^, see Table II.) is a violent, powerful acid, having so strong affinity for all com- bustible substances, that it can hardly be preserved with safety. 46. Sulphuric Acid is a compound of great impor- tance in the arts, and is beginning to be used exten- sively in agriculture. If it contained no water, we should have in 40 pounds of the acid 16 lbs. of sul- phur and 24 lbs. of oxygen ; but as it always contains water, more or less, these ingredients are of course less than 16 and 24 lbs. in 40, but are always in that AGKICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 81 proportion to each other. Its purity is tested by its weight. The more water it contains, the lighter it is ; and no one should buy it for good, unless it is once and J as heavy as water. It has generally been re- tailed for 121 cents a pound, but can now be procured for agricultural purposes at 2h cents. It is a very powerful acid, and may undoubtedly be used to ad- vantage in composting some manures, and especially for dissolving bones, to be used as fertilizers. It is more commonly known as oil of vitriol 47. Phosphoric Acid (PO*) exists largely in the bones of animals, and in the phosphate of lime, a min- eral called appatiiCj and is found in all soils, not en- tirely exhausted by cropping. How best to restore it to soils deprived of it by bad management, so as to enable them to produce the cereals in abundance, will be considered in another place. It may be obtained in a pure state by burning phosphorus in oxygen gas. In this state it gathers moisture from the air, and as- sumes the appearance of a white, flaky cloud, but is readily absorbed by water, rendering it intensely sour. 48. Carbonic Acid (CO") is made up of 1 atom of carbon, 6, to 2 of oxygen, 16, making its atomic weight 22. That is to say, in 22 lbs. of carbonic acid are 6 lbs. of carbon and 16 of oxygen. This is a gas. It is 1^ times heavier than common air; and conse- quently, when produced in large quantities, it falls into low places, as dry wells, cellars, or cisterns, de- stroying sometimes the lives of those who descend ; but, in accordance with a general law of gases, it soon 82 AGRICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY. diffuses itself and mingles equally with the whole body of the atmosphere, forming on an average about 1-2500 of the whole. Water absorbs it in considera- ble quantity ; and the more, if it is compressed, as in soda fonts. We know that plants are made up largely of carbon ; in most cases not less than half their weight consisting of this substance. This car- bon they obtain almost wholly from carbonic acid, which they receive by their leaves, from the air prin- cipally, but in a small part from the soil, as it enters their roots dissolved in water. The vegetation of the globe, therefore, is constantly abstracting immense amounts of carbonic acid from the air, enough to en- tirely deprive the whole atmosphere of this ingredient in a few years, if there were no re-supply. But when vegetable matters are burnt, when they are consumed by animals, and when they go to decay, their carbon is returned again to the air. If we eat a piece of bread, the carbon it contains combines with oxygen in the lungs, forming carbonic acid, and is thrown again into circulation in the atmosphere. So when wood, charcoal, pit-coal, tallow, oil, or any combusti- ble matter, is burnt, the carbon they contain, and this is generally more than half of the whole, combines with oxygen and goes into the air, in the form of car- bonic acid. Also when vegetable matter decays, the same thing happens. The process is slower, but the result is the same, so far as its carbon is concerned — that combines with oxygen by the slow process of de- cay, and goes again into general circulation, ready to be seized again by the leaves of plants, and again to be wrought into new vegetable forms* Lime-stone AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. SB contains about 44 lbs. in one hundred of carbonic acid. When this is brought from the quirry and burnt into quick-lime, the carbonic acid is driven into the air. This is another source of re-supply. So when coal is drawn from the mine, and burnt, its car- bon, long shut up in the bowels of the earth, is again set afloat for the use of plants. Many springs, as those at Saratog^ are throwing small, but constant streams of carbonic acid into the air. Volcanoes also, so long as active, are throwing out large quantities of it ; and fissures in the earth, particularly in volcanic regions, often throw it out abundantly, and diffuse it through the atmosphere. It is true that large amounts of it are absorbed into the rivers, seas, and oceans, where it goes to support marine vegetation, to form the shells of fish, and to help build immense coral reefs ; and some have feared that the atmosphere of the globe would ere long become so exhausted of it, as not to be able to sustain a vegetation equal to the growing wants of the race. But, when we consider the sources of re-supply above mentioned, we need not be alarmed; though it must be confessed that geology reveals a state of vegetation in by -gone pe- riods, which proves that the atmosphere must have been more highly charged with this food of plants than at present. The fact that carbonic acid is a poi- sonous gas, and that it is always passing from the lungs of animals, shows the necessity of thorough ventilation in our rooms ; and that our cattle even, though to be kept comfortably warm, should not be enclosed so tightly as to be compelled to breathe over their own breath. 2* 84 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. Pure air, as we inhale it, contains about 1-2500 of this gas ; as we exhale it, it contains 1-25, a hundred times as much as before; a very good reason, but only one among many, why we should not unnecessa- rily subject ourselves to the process of breathing the same atmosphere', over and over again — a good reason also, why the sexton should drive every particle of the old air out of the church between •the morning and afternoon service, and why the teacher should venti- late thoroughly at noon and at the forenoon and after- noon recess, if not oftener. 49. Silicic Acid (SiO') is nothing else than sand, quartz, flint-stone, commonly caled Sihca. A soil in which it abounds is called Silicious. It is composed of 1 atom of Silica, 22, to 3 of Oxygen, 24, forty-six pounds of it containing 22 lbs. Silicon, and 24 of Oxy- gen. It exists in the soil in two conditions, soluble and insoluble. When soluble, it is taken up by plants, and forms the stiffening of stems, straw, husks, &c. One office of manures, and especially of potash, soda and other alkalies, is to render a portion of the sand in the soil soluble, so that it may be available to plants. Soluble silica is essential to the perfection of most plants. Oats, grown on peat, for instance, will not ma- ture straw sufficiently to support the grain. Nearly all soils, with the exception of peat, contain from 60 to 90 per cent, of silica. 50. Mtric Acid (NO') is composed of 14 lbs. of Nitrogen to 40 of Oxygen. It is a very powerful p,cid, known more commonly at the shops as aquafor- AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 85 tis. The salts formed by nitric acid are easily soluble. Hence they are uncommonly quick in their operation on plants. The Chinese gardener understands that by means of old plastering, which contains much nitrate of lime, he can force the growth of vegetables almost at pleasure, and cause an immense produce. In our country, such old plastering is too often thrown away. 51. Muriatic Acid (HCl) is 1 atom of Chlorine, to 1 of Hydrogen. Thirty -seven lbs. of it would give 36 lbs. of chlorine and one of hydrogen. It was for- merly called Spirits of Salt. Its more appropriate name is Hydrochloric acid, because this name indicates the materials of which it is composed. But it is more com- monly known in England as Spirit of Salt, and in this country as Muriatic acid. 52. Water (HO) is composed of i atom of Hy- drogen, to 1 of Oxygen. Could you decompose a pint of water, it would give 1000 pints of Oxygen, and 2000 of Hydrogen. The Oxygen would weigh just 8 times as much as the Hydrogen, showing it to be just 16 times as heavy, by equal bulks. If now you should mix the two together, they would condense into 2000 pints ; and if you then send an electric spark through them, they will combine into Ipint of water. Conse- quently you perceive, that water must be just 1000 times heavier than Oxygen, and just 2000 times heavier than Hydrogen. Hydrogen is 16i tiipes lighter than Oxygen and 14 times lighter than air, being, as before stated, the lightest of all known substances. This is a well-known substance, and yet much is Qb AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. to be learned of its various and vastly important offi- ces in agriculture. We will enlarge on this subject at another time. 53. Protoxide of Iron (FeO) is a compound existing abundantly in many wet, marshy soils. It is largely soluble in water, and when so dissolved is injurious to vegetation, often preventing the growth of any thing save a little wiry, sour grass, which contains little or no nourishment. If such land be thoroughly drained, a large proportion of this oxide is taken off with the water; and what remains may be neutralized by ploughing and thus exposing it to the air ; it takes an- other dose of oxygen, and becomes the red oxide or sesquioxide of iron, which is rather beneficial than hurtful td plants. The farmer may generally know whether his low lands are troubled with the protoxide of iron, by observing the water which flows from them. If impregnated with this oxide, it will generally show a film on its surface, often reflecting the colors of the rainbow. If this film be very thin, it reflects the yel- low ray ; if a little thicker, the red or brown ; and if still thicker, the blue or violet. All these colors are sometimes reflected from neighboring points on the surface, which gives a sort of iris, or rainbow cast. The explanation is thus : — the protoxide of iron comes from the ground dissolved in water. On exposure to the air, it takes more oxygen and becomes the red or sesquioxide. This not being soluble in water, floats awhile on the surface, forming a film, varying in thick- ness, and, as before explained, in color, till at length it sinks to the bottom, giving the channel a soft of AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 87 yellowisli-red appearance. Where these indications are presented, the land should be thoroughly drained in the first place ; next, the soil should be turned up to the sun and air. Lime should then be applied if it can be obtained at a moderate price, say 20 or 25 cents a bushel ; if not, ashes will do very well, but should by no means be applied till the land has becoine dry. Leached ashes for such a purjDose, are worth probably somewhat more than half as much as un- leached. K the ashes were to be applied before the water is removed, the leached would be just about as valuable as the unleached. Neither would be worth much. The potash and soda in the ashes would dis- solve and ran away with the water, and the lime, of which ashes contain some 75 per cent., would lie dor- mant in the soil. 54. Sesquioxide of Iron (Fe'O^) is composed of the same ingredients as the last, but contains, as the symbols show, a larger proportion of oxygen. The last, as before stated, changes into this, when exposed to the air. The scales and dust abqut the blacksmith's anvil are a mixture of those two oxides. These are a good dressing for fruit trees, but should be applied to the surface, instead of being dug in, in order that the black oxide may be exposed to the air, and thus have an opportunity of being converted into the red, or ses- quioxide. It is this last oxide that gives to many soils their reddish brown color ; and it is one or the other or both of these oxides of iron that give to so many sub- soils their sickly yellow. Such subsoils are both cold and poisonoiLs to plants ; but they need only to be turn- 38 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. ed up to the sun and air, and properly manured, to become warm, healthy, and productive. 55. Oxides of Manganese. — These, like the oxides of iron, are numerous. Two — ^the protoxide (M.nO) and the sesquioxide (Mn'^O^) — are constituted similarly to the above oxides of iron. These are of little conse- quence to agriculture, and will not be spoken of again in this work. There is, however, another, which is of some importance to agriculture. It is the peroxide^ or, as more commonly called, the hlack oxide of man- ganese (MnO^), containing, as its symbol imports, one atom of manganese to two of oxygen. This exists in great abundance at Bennington, Yt., and at many other localities. It exists in small quantities in most rocks, and is slightly diffused through nearly all soils. It is found also in the ashes of most cultivated plants. 56. Potash^ called by most writers potassa, (KO), is not the common potash of the shops, used for soap- boiling, but a far more bitter, acrid, caustic substance. It is seen at the apothecaries in the form of small, white rolls, not much larger than a pipe-stem, enclosed in vials air-tight, to prevent its taking carbonic acid from the air, and being turned to a carbonate of potash. Its caustic (burning) power is very great, so that it will readily dissolve horns, hoofs, bones, flesh, almost any animal matter. In order to form a correct idea of potash in all its changes, the learner must think first of a white, shining metal, like silver, so soft that you can cut it easily with a knife, and so light that it will float on water, almost instantly taking fire, and AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 39 burning brilliantly as it touches cold water or ice even. This is potassium (K). Now, if 8 parts, by weight, of oxygen be combined with 39 parts of this metallic po- tassium, we have caustic potash (KO), the intensely bitter, burning substance of which I have been speak- ing. If, then, 37 parts, by weight, of this caustic potash (KO) be combined with 22 of carbonic acid (CO'), we shall have the common carbonate of potash of commerce (KO, CO'). As found at stores, it is generally very impure. If now we take the dingy, gray potash of commerce, purify it of its foreign mix- tures, and treat it to another dose of carbonic acid, we shall have saleratus, hicarhonate of potash (KO, 2C0'). Besides various other forms, we have then these four, in which potassium is exceedingly useful in the sciences, arts, and common affairs of life — viz., metallic potassium (K), caustic potash (KO), carbonate of potash (KO, CO'), and bicarbonate (KO, 2C0'). In the form of ' common carbonate of potash only is it used for agricultural purposes. It is in this form that it exists in ashes. Ordinary wood ashes contain about 6 per cent, of carbonate of potash, some 2 per cent, of carbonate of soda, and about 75 per cent, of car- bonate of lime. It is manifest, therefore, that farmers, who sell their ashes at the price generally paid by soap-boilers, and those who do not buy at these prices when they have an opportunity, commit a " mistake." 57. Soda (NaO). — This is caustic soda, consisting of sodium (Na), and oxygen (0). In this form it is useful in the arts and sciences, but is seldom seen or known in domestic concerns. Similar remarks apply 40 AGRICULTU.^AL CHEMISTRY. here as to potash. We have first metallic sodium (Na), a yellowish-white, shining metal, lighter than water, soft enough to be cut with a knife, that takes fire in warm water. Next, we have this metal, combined with oxygen only, soda, or oxide of sodium (NaO) ; then we have carbonate of soda, (washing soda), (NaO, CO") ; and then bicarbonate of soda, (cooking soda), (NaO, 200^). I have not noticed the water (HO) in the foregoing combinations. The reader will perceive how much of it is consolidated in them by looking at Table II. It is in the form of carbonate of soda (NaO, CO^), or (NaO, C0^ lOHO), if we no- tice the water, that this substance is applied to soils. In this form it is used considerably in England, and is beginning to be used in this country. An im- pure kind of it is sold in the market as soda-ash. It is obtained from the ashes of sea- weeds. 58. Lime (CaO). — This is an oxide of calcium. It is lime as it comes from the kiln, before exposed to air. Lime in the quarry is the same substance, com- bined with carbonic acid. On being slacked it com- bines with water, 1 atom of water, 9, to 1 atom of lime, 28, making 37 for the atom of hydrate of lime. Thus 28 lbs. of quick-lime make 37 lbs. of dry slacked lime. Or if left after being taken from the kiln, exposed to the air, it first absorbs moisture, then crumbles to powder, and in a few days takes carbonic acid from the air, and becomes carbonate of lime (air slacked), just what it was in the quarry, except in structure. In tracing the metal, calcium, through some of its combi- nations, we have a course similar to those under pot- 9> AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 41 ash and soda; first, we find metallic calcium (Ca); next, this, combined with oxygen only, lime (oxide of calcium), (CaO), (whick is quick-lime, as it comes fresh from the kiln) ; we have also carbonate of lime (CaO, CO') — marble, limestone, chalk, and some varieties of marl ; also the shells of insects and fish, are different forms of carbonate of lime, more or less impure. When lime combines with water, (consoli- dates water in itself, so as to be still apparently dry), it is called hydrate of lime. Such is the condition of water-slacked lime. SiiBh also is the condition of many iron ores and other minerals. They consolidate in themselves large amounts of water, and yet are ap- parently dry. Such are called hydrates^ as hydrate of lime, hydrate of iron, and others. From some hy- drates the water is separated by a gentle heat ; from others it cannot be driven off but by a very high heat. 59. Magnesia (MgO). This is the oxide of mag- nesium. It is known as calcined magnesia. Some impure lime-stones, as those called dollomite in Berk- shire county, Mass., contain large quantities of carbon- ate of magnesia, in some cases not less than 40 per cent. This is often called magnesian lime-stone. If the carbonic acid be driven off by heat, a light, dry, white powder remains. This is calcined magnesia. 60. Alumina (Al'O''), as its name imports, is a compound of aluminum and oxygen, two atoms of the former to three of the latter. Alumina is a perfectly white powder, and is the basis of all clay soils. Pure 42 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. clay is a silicate of alumina, composed of about 60 per cent, of silica, and 40 of alumina. 61. Chloride of Sodium (NaCl) is composed of one atom of chlorine, 36, to one of sodium, 23. (See Table I.) It is no other than common salt. As corn, potatoes, and turnips contain large amounts of both its ingredients, it would seem hardly possible but that it should prove beneficial to these crops, especially on lands where either of them have been raised so long as to have exhausted the soil of the chlorine and so- dium origmally contained in it. 62. Sulphuretoflron (Table IL, 16). — There are three combinations of sulphuret and iron. 1st. The protosulphuret of iron (FeS), consisting of one atom of iron (Fe) to one of surphur (S). 2nd. The sesquisulphuret (Fe^'S^), consisting of two atoms of iron to three of sulphur. 3rd. The bisulphuret (FeS^*), consisting of one atom of iron to two of sulphur. This last is often called fool's gold, from its strong resemblance to that metal. 63. Sulphuret of Hydrogen^ or sulphuretted Hydro- gen (HS), is a combination of one atom of sulphur, 16, to one of hydrogen, 1, making the atom of the compound 17. The nitrogenous, or azotized parts of plants and animals, contain a little sulphur and a very little phosphorus. When those, substances which con- tain sulphur, as wool, hair, horns, hoofs, and eggs, de« AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 4j cay, it" very often happens that an atom of the sulphur combines with one of hydrogen, and forms this gas. It may be recognized in the smell of rotten eggs, also about the docks in cities, and frequently in sinks. This gas is exceedingly unhealthy, as well as very op- pressive, ^and it should never be tolerated about our buildings. The matter which gathers about the out- let of the sink should be frequently removed, or should be so diluted with peat or loam, with the ad dition of a little plaster or chloride of lime, as to give off no offensive odor, as this sulphuretted hydrogen is very apt to be generatedin such places, and to op- erate injuriously on the health of families. Sulphuretted hydrogen is formed in well-manured soils, and it is probably from this that plants obtain in part' the sulphur, which they require in order per- fectly to develop their seeds. It is a gas ; but it read- ily dissolves in water ; in which form (that of a lim- pid solution) it may enter the roots of plants. 64. Carhuret of Hydrogen (CH' and Q'W) is of two kinds. (See Table I., 18.) Light carburetted hy- drogen is composed, as its symbol imports, of carbon one atom, hydrogen two. This is the gas which often forms bubbles on the surface of stagnant water. It is inflammable. If you thrust down a pole into the bot- tom of water in which vegetable matter is decaying, bubbles will rise and float on the surface. These will burn with a gentle explosion and a whitish flame, if a torch be applied. This same gas is generated in richly manured soils, and probably it has something to do with furnishing plants with a small part of their food. 44 AtiRICULTURAL CHEMISTRF. Heavy carburetted hydrogen (C^H') is the gas used for lighting. It contains, as shown by its symbol, just twice as much carbon as the other, in conse- quence of which it gives a much stronger light. Heavy carburetted hydrogen may be obtained from almost any substance that contains carbon and hydro- gen, as coal, oil, bark of trees, meats of nuts, &c., by heating it, with exclusion of air. If you put a walnut meat into the bowl of a tobacco pipe, cover it over with clay, and then thrust it into the fire, with the stem projecting "upwards, this gas will soon issue from the stem. If you light it with a candle, you will have a good sample of a gas-light in a small way. 65. Ammonia (NH") is composed of one atom of nitrogen, 14, to 3 of hydrogen, 1 each, making 17. Consequently 17 lbs. of ammonia contain 14 lbs. of nitrogen and 3 of hydrogen. The peculiar odor of this compound may be recognized in the hartshorn of the shops, when used with quick -lime in the pre- paration of smelling bottles. It is generated where- ever animal matter is undergoing decomposition ; and if left to its own course it quickly combines with car- bonic acid, forming a volatile carbonate of ammonia, and passes off into the air, to be blown about by the winds, and at length to be intercepted and brought back to the earth in the falling rains. In this way it is made to contribute as much to the growth of the useless as of the useful plants ; for the rain, charged with this ammonia, falls as much on the wild moun- tain as on the cultivated plain. There are various easy and cheap modes of preventing its escape, which AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 45 will be explained in another part of this work, in con- nection with the use of fertilizers, the composting of manures, the husbanding of resources for the growth of plants, and other topics of practical agriculture. A brief description has now been given of the 15 elements^ which, in, their various combinations, con- stitute neaply the whole of all known matter. (Ta- ble L, 1st column, 1-15.) A very imperfect (because too short) account has been given also of 20 important compounds derived from those 15 elements. (Table II., 2nd column, and below 1-20.) Of the formation of salts^ by the combination of acids with bases (see Table III.), something has been said. A consideration of the nature of salts, and of their use in agriculture, will be reserved for another place. CHAPTEE II. GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE FORM OF THE EARTH— ITS DENSITY— PROPOR- TION OF LAND AND WATER— INEQUALITY OF SURFACE— WEIGHT OF ATMOSPHERE— CRUST OF THE EARTH. 66. The earth has the form of an oblate spheroid, having an equatorial diameter 26 miles greater than its polar diameter. As this is the form, very nearly, which a fluid body would naturally assume, if revolv- ing on its axis at the same rate, a fair inference is, that the earth was once in a fluid state. Its average weight is about 5 times that of water, and not far from twice and a half that of common rock. 67. About one fourth of the earth's surface is drv land, and three fourths are water. The land occupies not far from 50 million square miles, and the water about 150 million. The highest peaks of dry land are nearly six miles above tide water, and the lowest depths of the oceans are probably somewhat farther below. These inequalities affect the roundness of the GEOLOGY OF AGEICULTURE. 47 earth about as mucb as the smallest dust would that of an artificial globe. The average height of the land is probably a little less, and the. average depth of the ocean a little more, than two miles. 68. The crust of the earth, thinner comparatively^ there is reason to believe, than the shell of an Qgg^ though certainly many miles in thickness, is solid rock, covered, three-fourths, as before stated, with water, and the remaining fourth, with broken rocks, stones, rounded pebbles, gravel, sand, and clay, to a depth of from a few inches to a few hundred feet ; the whole sustaining an atmosphere supposed to be about 45 miles in height, and known to weigh just about 15 pounds to each square inch of the earth's surface. The weight of air over each square foot of the earth's surface is 2160 pounds ; and the weight of the whole atmosphere is equal to the weight of a covering of water over the entire globe 84 feet deep. This is known from the action of a common suction pump, in which the pressure of the atmosphere just balances a column of water 34 feet high. STRATIFIED AND UNSTRATIPIED ROCKS. 69. Almost every one must have noticed that some rocks, as they appear in various situations exposed to the eye, are formed into regular layers, or beds, rest- ing one upon another. These layers are called strata, and the rocks that exhibit them are said to be strati- fied. Other rocks present no such appearance of 9traiificati:,i> — no regular layers one itpon another, and 48 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. ^ are therefore said to be unstratified. The proof is very complete, though it cannot be given here, that the "un- stratified rocks were formed by fire, and that they took the form in which they appear by cooling off after being intensely heated. For this reason geolo- gists have called them igneous rocks ; and, because some portions of them have a crystallized appearance, they are often called crystalline rocks. We have then a class of rocks called indifferently unstratified^ igneous^ and sometimes crystalline^ rocks, whose origin evi- dently was by fire. 70. It is, perhaps, equally well proved, and is, be- sides, a dictate of common sense, that the stratified rocks must have received their present form by depo- sition from water. For this reason they are often called aqueous rocks, and because most of them con- tain fossil remains of plants and animals, they are also called fossiliferous rocks. 71. If you were to see, on a steamboat, a row of huge casks, then above them a row of boxes, above these a row of bags, and above all, baskets, bundles, and umbrellas, you would have no hesitation in deciding which had been put there first. No one would dream that the pile had been commenced at the top and built downwards. The casks must have been rolled in first, the boxes placed on them, then the bags, and last of all the lighter matters. Equally clear are the reasonings of geologists. The lower rocks are older ; and the higher are newer, with some excep- tions, to be explained hereafter. GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTORE. RELATIVE AGE OF ROCKS. 19 72. No man in his senses, and with any knowledge of the facts bearing on the question, would contend that the igneous and the aqueous rocks were formed at the same time. Either the heat, requisite to form the igneous rocks, would have -expelled the water ne- cessary to form the aqueous ; or the water, necessary to form the aqueous, would have overcome the heat re- quisite to form the igneous. As well might you tell me that one piece of beef will bake and another freeze in the same oven and at the same time, or that the heat that will melt rocks will not convert water into steam. I would sooner believe either of these things than believe that the upper igneous and the lower aqueous rocks were formed at the same period. In the first place, it seems impossible that this could have been done, as much so as that the same oven could bake and freeze at the same time. In the second place, the aqueous rocks, with a few exceptions, easily accounted for, always lie above the igneous, showing thereby that they were deposited last. And in the third place, the aqueous rocks were manifestly formed out of the igneous, and therefore must have been formed subsequently. If a horse-shoe is made of iron, the iron must have been made first. Such are the reasonings of geologists with regard to the relative age of rocks, and those who doubt their main conclu- sions are generally those who have looked little at the facts. 3 50 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS. 73. As we come above tlie igneous, or unstratified, into the stratified rocks, we find them of many va- rieties, all of which have been arranged into three principal classes — primary^ secondary^ and tertiary, 74. The primary rocks either lie nearly horizontally upon the igneous, or lean with a gentle slope against them. In cases of the latter kind, it is believed, that the igneous rocks have been forced upwards by inter- nal convulsions of the earth, and have raised the pri- mary rocks along with them, inasmuch as all stratified rocks, having been deposited by the agency of water, must originally have been nearly horizontal. These primary rocks are generally hard. They have been subjected to immense pressure. Many of them bear marks of having been intensely heated since their de- position. Some of them are highly crystalline. They are nearly destitute of fossil remains, and the few they contain are entirely unlike any plants or animals now on the globe — an additional proof that, though not as old as the igneous rocks, on which they lie, they are older than other rocks which lie above them, and which contain fossil remains more like existing species. 75. Rocks of the secondary class overlay those of the primary ; they contain more fossil remains ; and the fossil remains found in them, though unlike exist- ing species, bear a nearer resemblance to them than those in the primary rocks. These facts show them to be of later origin than the primary. GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 51 76. Rocks of the tertiary class are characierized by containing,- among other fossil remains, species of ani- mals, which are identical with those now on the earth. These overlay the secondary, and abound more than either of the others in fossil remains. 77. Over the tertiary rocks, and covering large por* tions of the earth, is what geologists have called drift — boulder rocks, rounded stones and pebbles, coarse and fine gravel, sand and clay, forming, in many cases, the soil which we now cultivate. This, all over the northern half of the globe, seems to have been transported, by some astonishing power, acting from the north, and carried in a southern direction, from a few rods to several hundred miles, from the rocks, in which it had its origin. 78. Since the drift period, various changes have taken place, and are still going on, as the result of causes now in operation, such as the running of streams, the filling up of ponds, and others. Strata, formed by these existing causes, are called alluvial, 79. We have then, as t]|j3 most recently formed strata, alluvial deposits, next drift, next tertiary rocks, next secondary, and then primary, resting on the up- per portion of the igneous rocks. 80. Among the igneous, or un stratified rocks, are granite, trap rocks, and the older and more recent lavas. These appear to have been ejected in a state of fusion by heat, at different epochs, from the bowels 52 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. of the earth, and to have consolidated, sometimes among the stratified rocks, and sometimes above them all, forming in some cases immense mountain masses of igneous rocks. 81. It is often said by those who have looked but little at this subject, that geologists know nothing about the comparative age of rocks ; that God could have created the world at once, just as it is, with all its appearances of hoary age about it, with all its signs of ancient upheavings and volcanic vomitings, with its innumerable monsters imbedded within, creatures great and small, beautiful and ugly, formed as if for flying, running, swimming and creeping, but destined to do neither — all for no conceivable purpose, unless it were to deceive modern geologists. That God could do all this, I suppose no one wishes to deny. That He would do it, if there was a good reason for it, I have no doubt. 82. If L should say of an old book, dated a century ago, with as many dates scribbled on its margins, as there have been years since, with its binding well worn and its leaves thoBtughly soiled, that there was no evidence of age about it — for the book-maker could manufacture just such a book as it now is — I should probably not be thought to reason very soundly ; and yet the argument would be as good in one case as in the other, but for a single consideration, and that is, that a book-maker can deceive ; God will not. To a reasoning mind there can be no doubt that the differ- ent portions of the earth's crust were formed at different and immensely distant periods. GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 63 ORIGIN OP SOILS. 83. All soils, Avbether alluvial, drift, or tertiary in their origin, are derived from roclcs, broken down, ground to a greater or less degree of fineness, and so disseminated that the ruins of one rock may be sup- posed to be mixed, in most cases, with those of a great many others. | The idea that soil§, have originated from the rock immediately under them is an error. When the drift period was, is not known, except that it was subsequent to fhe tertiary and anterior to" the historic period ; nor is it known what the drift agency was ; but it is known, as well as anything can be, that some tremendous power was at work tearing up, trans- porting, and mixing the loose materials on the earth's surface. The soil on nearly every foot of land in our country — and the same is true of Europe, at least, if not of the whole world — has come from many and wide-spread localities. I Every soil may be considered as a mixture of many soils. If every particle in a cubic foot of earth were to be endowed with instinct, and were to rise up and take its departure for its ori- ginal rocky home, I have no doubt there would be a wide scattering, and I believe an extent of travel would be shown quite surprising to those who have not re- flected on the subject. 84. If these views are correct — if the loose materials on the earth's surface have been extensively trans- ported, scattered, and mixed — if they are now so min- gled and confounded that the acutest geologist can de- tect the origin of only the coarser parts (boulders, 64 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTUEE. pebbles, and coarse gravel) — if, with regard to these, he finds the original locality from one to five hundred miles distant, all of which is sustained by the very best authorities, no one, that I know, disputing — it follows, of course, that soils depend very little, for their composition and capabilities, upon the rocks im- mediately underlaying them. This view is confirmed by analyses of soils. * No more carbonate of lime, for instance, is found in lime-stone regions than in others. The same is true of other ingredients of soils. They are not always found in soils overlaying the rocks that contain them. ] Soils do not come from the underlay- ing rock, but from wide-spread regions, generally north and north-west of their present location. Hence, if rocks were ever so varied in their constitution, it would not follow that soils are. | ROCKS AND MINERALS. 85. The truth is, that rocks themselves are not as various in composition as many suppose. " Seven or eight simple minerals constitute the great mass of all known rocks. These are — 1, quartz ; 2, felspar ; 3, mica ; 4, hornblende and augite ; 5, carbonate of lime ; 6, talc, embracing chlorite and soap-stone ; 7, serpen- tine. Oxide of iron is also very common, but does not usually show itself till the decomposition of the rock commences." — Hitchcoch^s Geol.^ p. 45. 86. From the same high authority we learn that " The following constitute nearly all the binary com- pounds of the accessible parts of the globe : 1, silica ; GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 56 2, alumina ; 3, lime ; 4, magnesia ; 5, potassa ; 6, soda ; 7, oxide of iron ; 8, oxide of manganese ; 9, water ; 10, carbonic acid." It should be observed that every one of these binary compounds are formed out of the fifteen simple elements heretofore described, under the head of chemistry (Table I.): Every one of them is a compound of oxygen with one other element, so that only eleven of the elements enter into their com- position. 87. Perhaps, for some of my readers, a description of the before-mentioned minerals may be needful. Quartz is of various colors, but generally almost white ; and when crystallized, it is transparent, a hard, flinty substance, composed almost wholly of silica, or silicic acid (SiO^), known as flint, flinty stones and sand. Felspar exists in connection with quartz and mica in granite, and may be distinguished from either by a glossy fracture when broken, somewhat resembling that of fine earthenware. Mica^ the third constituent of granite, is known ex- tensively as isinglass, is of various colors, but more commonly nearly colorless, divisible into thin, flexible plates. HornUende is a common mineral, of various colors, occurring sometimes massive, at others in crystals; the crystals are sometimes short, but more generally long and slender, blade-like, sometimes fibrous. Carbonate of Lime is a ternary compound, as its name implies ; oxygen and calcium first uniting to form lime (oxide of calcium), and then carbonic acid uniting with lime to form the carbonate. It is knowa- 56 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. in various forms, as fine marble, common lime-stone, and chalk. It can be distinguished from almost any other mineral by its effervescence (bubbling), if an acid (vinegar, for instance) be poured upon it. Talc is a magnesian mineral, consisting of broad, smooth laminae, or plates# It is soapy to the touch ; admits light through it ; and is sometimes even trans- parent. Chlorite and Soap-stone are little else than varieties of the same mineral. ISerpentine is also a magnesian mineral, of a greenish color, with spots resembling a serpent's skin — from which its name. 88. I have just quoted the opinion of a very emi- nent geologist, that these seven minerals " constitute the great mass of all known rocks," as also his opinion that silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, potash, soda, oxide of manganese, oxide of iron, water, and car- bonic acid " constitute nearly all the binary compounds of the accessible parts of the globe." I will now in- vite attention to the opinions of the same writer with regard to the proportions in which these last-mentioned substances exist. 89. " It has been calculated that oxygen constitutes 50 per cent, of the ponderable matter of the globe ; and that its crust contains 45 pei cent, of silica, and at least 10 per cent, of alumina. Potassa constitutes nearly 7 per cent, of the unstratified rocks ; and enters largely into the composition of some of the stratified class. Soda forms nearly 6 per cent, of soAie basalts, GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. fit and other less extensive unstratified rocks ; and it en- ters largely into the composition of the ocean. Lime and magnesia are diffused almost universally among the rocks, in the form of silicates and carbonates — the carbonate having been estimated to form one-seventh of the crust of the globe. At least three per cent, of all known rocks are some binary combination of iron, such as an oxide, a sulphiiret, a carburet, &c. Man- ganese is widely diffused, but forms much less than one per cent, of the mass of rocks." — (Hitchcock^s Geol.^ ]), 45.) 90. The foregoing is rather a geological than a chemical view. Most of the substances spoken of ex- ist in rocks and soils, as ternary compounds. Says Dana (Muck Manual, p. 56 — an unpretending name, but an excellent book), "Viewed in the light of chem- istry, rocks are masses of silicates. The simple mine- rals composing rocks are truly only silicates in fixed proportions. The simple minerals are quartz, felspar, mica, hornblende, talc, serpentine." 91. According to this same author, chemically de- fining the above minerals, quartz is nearly pure silica; felspar and mica are silicates of alumina and potash ; hornblende is silicate of alumina and lime, with mag- nesia ; and talc and serpentine are silicates of magnesia. Thus it will be seen that silex, silica, or silicic acid, as unfortunately it is variously called, forms a very prominent part of the principal minerals, with the' ex- ception of carbonate of lime ; and consequently of ail rocks, except lime-stone ; and then, as another conse- 3* 58 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. qnence, of all soils, inasmuch as soils are formed from rocks. If we consider that quartz, bj far the most abundant mineral in nature, is nearly pure silica, and that the other leading minerals are more than half silica, we need not be surprised to learn that soils con- tain all the way from 60 to 90 per cent, of this ingre- dient. Sandy soils contain a higher per cent, still. Peats and bogs may be excepted, as not being strictly soils, but rather collections of organic matter — par- tially decayed vegetables. The average of silica in soils cannot be less than from 75 to 80 per cent. 92. From an inspection of analyses of rocks by dis- tinguished chemists, it appears that the older rocks contain rather more silica, and a little less magnesia, alumina and lime, than the newer. If this is really so, then we might infer that there would be found a characteristic difference of soils in the neighborhoods of different rocks; were it not for the f\xct, before stated, that all soils have been so transported and mix- ed, as to preclude the expectation of finding any now remaining unmixed in the region of their formation. When we take this fact into view, I think we may safely conclude that rocks afford but a poor criterion forjudging of the character of a soil, and poorer still for deciding upon the treatment best suited to it. AMENDING SOILS. 93. Most, if not all soils, produce well, when first brought under cultivation. Few, if any, continue to pi'oduce -vyell long, unless well managed. These facts GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 69 show that more depends upon the farmer on a farm, than upon the rocks under it. 94. "We all know, that where a torrent from the hills flows into a pond, it deposits its gravel at, or a little above, its mouth, while it carries its fine sand into the pond, and its still finer sediment some distance further. If that pond should be drained and cultiva- ted, it is quite possible that the land above the former mouth of the stream might be found too gravelly ; that, just below, too sandy ; and that, at some distance, too clayey. Various causes, on a larger scale, some of them probably similar to this, have left rather too much coarse matter in some places, too much silica in others, and in some not enough. Energy and perse- vering labor, scientifically directed, will overcome the difiiculties ; and nearly all lands will yet be made good. Science has shown that our poorest pine plains have in them the essential elements of grain crops for an* indefinitely long time to come ; that they only need to be brought into action, and that this can be done. We all know that our swamps, now almost useless — better sunk than floating, if that would not make a worse hole than now exists — are sources of endless fertility. We will not blame our fathers, that they did not bring them into cultivation ; they could not do everything; but let us do, in this matter, what they (perhaps wisely, in their jcircumstances) have left undone. , 95. Nearly all lands are yet to be made productive. We must»take first those that will pay best. Others 60 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. will pay by-and-bye. I do not despair of the time, when the man who toils, if he toils intelligently, on a poor farm, will be as well paid as lie who works on a good one, after taking into account the rise in the value of the first, and comparing it with the stationary or retrograde value of the other. Thousands of unseemly spots, sand and bog, on which it might have been un- wise for our fathers to invest capital fifty years ago, would make an excellent return for capital invested on them this day ; and there is every reason to be- lieve, that others will fast come into the same relation to capital and labor — will pay well, ten, fifteen and twenty years hence. 96. In the matter of reclaiming lands, as well as of cultivating those already good, farmers should be guided by experience, by observation, and by common sense. Undoubtedly these are the best teachers. But they are not the only teachers. Science proffers her sympathy and her instructions. Farmers should wel- come her aid. Why should they despair of her wil- lingness and her ability to benefit them, when they see what she has done for other interests ; manufac- turing bales of goods with the labor once required for single pieces ; sending merchandise with the speed of steam, aud mercantile intelligence with that of light- ing ? ^ 97. Science has its various branches ; and if it be asked, what particular science is n^ost adapted to bene- fit agriculture, I answer without hesitation, that every science teaches tilings, whiclj thp farmer may turn to GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 61 practical use. Zoology has important relations to the rearing of useful animals, and to the destroying of noxious insects. Geology has done much to de- velop resources, beneficial to all interests ; and it de- serves especially well of the farmer ; it has brought to light fertilizing materials of great value; and it stands ready to teach various lessons, which farmers would do well to hear. But of all the sciences for aiding practi- cal agriculture, chemistry is first. The farmer should not only heed what the cherpist tells him, but should learn somethin^^ of this science for himself. It is in- wrought with his very employment. The farmer's whole life is spent in performing, or in aiding nature to perform, chemical operations. He should under- stand how the thing is done. Even when he does right, without knowing why, it would at least bo a satisfaction to know the reason. PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF SOILS. 98. It has been stated, that the igneous rocks (those which had their origin in the action of intense heat) lie below the aqueous (those which have been deposit- ed from water). This is true, with the exception of such igneous rocks as have been forced up by volcanic actioft through the aqueous rocks, and deposited above them. Granite is the result of the most ancient vol- canic action of which there is now any evidence re- maining. Immense quantities of this rock seem to have been forced up in a melted state, forming exten- sive mountain ranges. Portions of this, as well as of other rocks, have since been broken down, and scat- 62 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. tered over the earth's surface, in the form of boulders and pebbles, by what has been termed the drift agency. Trap-rock, of which there are two kinds, hasoJt and gremstone, seems to have resulted from the volcanic ao tion of a later, but still very ancient period. IMountain ranges of this are also found in various places, as the Holyoke range in Hampshire county. Lava is the re- sult of still more recent volcanic action, including that of volcanoes now in existence. The granite, trap-rock, and lava, which appear on or near the surface, are therefore to be considered as having come from deep in the earth. They have been forced up, as lava still is, by volcanic action. Their presence above the aque- ous rocks, in such vast quantities, indicates an immense amount of the same materials below them. Next below the aqueous rocks, is supposed to be that vast amount of granite, of which the portions existing on the sur- face of the earth, as thrown up by ancient volcanoes, are but mere specimens. Next below the granite is supposed to lie the trap-rock, from which the less an- cient volcanoes were supplied with the material which they belched forth. Below the trap, geologists be- lieve, is the molten lava, which existing volcanoes are now throwing out. It has been ascertained bej^ond a doubt, that as we descend into the earth the tem- perature becomes warmer, at a rate that would Sring it to the melting point of rock, at something like forty miles from the surface. It has therefore been inferred that the solid crust of the earth cannot be more than 40 or 50 miles in thickness. This crust, or shell, is sup- posed to be made up, first, above the lava of trap-rock, then granite • then the acueous rocks, the primary, the aEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 6B secondary and the tertiary ; and then above these the drift and the alluvial deposits. It is not to be sup- posed, however, that each of these forms an entire, un- broken layer or coating around the whole earth. This is probably true of the igneous formations (the trap and the granite). It is different with the aqueous for- mations. The primary rocks have been broken in many places, and forced asunder by the ejectment of igneous matter from below. In other places they have been lifted up, by internal heavings of the earth, so high that no secondary rocks have been formed above them. Consequently the secondary formation is more broken than the primary. The tertiary is still more broken, covering but comparatively small portions of the earth. The drift is of very unequal thickness, having been lodged by the agency that distributed it, more in valleys, less on high grounds, and not at all on mountains. The alluvial deposits are of very limit- ed extent, confined mostly to the banks of rivers, which have deposited them ; to peat swamps, formed by de- caying vegetable matter ; and to the slopes and valleys about volcanoes, furnished by volcanic matter from the bowels of the earth. Any deposits, which are the results of causes now in operation, are considered as alluvial. It will be seen from the foregoing state- ments, that what we call the soil {the cultivable portion of the earth's surface, some 10 or 12 inches deep) may lie on either of the aqueous, or stratified rock forma- tions, or even on granite, or trap beds, with nothing but drift intervening. If the soil lie thus above gran- ite, we call that a granite region, as New Hampshire ; if it lie above the primary, stratified rocks, we call it 64 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTUEE. a primary region, as large portions of Massachusetts ; if above secondary rocks, a secondary region ; if above tertiary rocks, tertiary ; and if above alluvial deposits^ alluvial^ thus naming each district from the underlay- ing formation. 99. Let us now look at some of the changes which the soil must have undergone. No one can examine it with a powerful microscope without perceiving that it consists principally of rock broken down to various degrees of fineness, from the troublesome boulder to the minutest particle. It bears unmistakable marks of an igneous origin. It must have been once belched from the bosom of the earth in a state of intense igni- tion. From this state it must have been cooled and solidified. Much of it also bears indubitable marks of having been since broken up, violently agitated by water, and again solidified in the form of stratified rock. From this state it appears to have been again broken up and distributed about the earth in the form of boulders, pebbles, hoarse sand, fine sand, and clay. The action of rains and frost has been long at work, rendering it still finer than when first deposited in its present locations. If we could go back to a time when the earth was, in the language of Scripture, *' without form and void," or, as it might be trans- lated, " was desolation and emptiness," when as yet no plants had sprung from its surface, we should probably find the materials which now constitute our soils in a comparatively coarse and upcultivable state. In process of time shrubs and trees ' -prung up. Successive growths lived and perished, d] ,*ying their GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 65 nutriment from deep in the ground, and depositing it on the surface, and thus accumulating and mingling with tjie surface soil, a rich, vegetable mould. It was in this way, so far as we can judge from present ap- pearances, that the Almighty prepared the soil for his creatures. It was in this state that our fathers re- ceived from the Infinite Father the soil of this land. The soil had been formed from comminuted rocks. With it had been mingled a black, carbonaceous mould, extending from a few inches to several feet in depth, and amounting to perhaps from five to fifty per cent, of the whole. The benign, ever- working Power of the universe had thus prepared the soil by such agencies as He chose. Volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, heat and cold, sunshine and shower, successive gene- rations of plants and animals, and we know'^not what other agencies, had been His servants. He had not made it all a garden. He did not require them to make it so at once. But He had made it capable of becoming a fruitful field with such labor as they could bestow, and ere long, with more labor and skill, of becoming a garden, so fast as the wants of His crea- tures may require. And it is not too much to say, that the man, who, by skill and industry, is convert- ing the portion allotted him into a garden, is so far doing the will of God. I believe if there is an earthly pleasure more pure, more exalted, and more approved of God than any other, it is that of turning the un- seemly waste into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field into a garden, " with every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food" — "to dress it and to keep it." What is pleasure if this is not ? • / 66 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. CHEMISTRY OF SOILS. 100. One reason why rural employments arg not regarded as the most desirable in which man can be engaged, as they seem to have been by our Creator, when He put our first parents into a garden, " to dress it and to keep it," and when he ordained that three fourths of the human race should live by agriculture, is, that labor has been held to be the great and almost the only requisite ; and physical labor hap been esteemed less honorable than intellectual employment. The truth is, that the employment which combines a manly exercise of both the body and the mind is the most favorable to long life and rational happiness; and such precisely is that of the farmer. The Creator never intended that the farmer's labors should be un- reasonably severe, nor that he should thrive by mere hand labor without the exercise of the higher facul- ties ; and He has therefore made his employment such as to require extensive and varied knowledge. One important item of knowledge by which the labor of farming may be diminished and its profits increased; is that of the chemical composition of soils. 101. Soils differ essentially in their chemical char- acters. Some are nearlj^ or qu:"te destitute of several ingredients necessary to fertility. Such are poor soils. Good soils may contain them in very different proportions. My present object is not to state these proportions in any given soil, but rather to take a general view of the causes of fertility as they exist in the soil, and* in the rain and air which traverse it* GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 6T Let us look at a soil made ready for the Land of in- dustry by those protracted agencies before described, rich in all the elements of fertility, and now cleared and loosened up to a reasonable depth ; and let us in- quire what are the causes of its productiveness, or what there is in and about that soil, which will make it produce well. 102. As we discuss this question, the learner-will do well to turn back to the tables as they are referred to, and refresh his memory with what has been said of the substances there enumerated. Does this soil contain the elements mentioned in Table I. ? The an- swer is, Yes, it contains every one of them, and it contains nothing else, or next to nothing ; but it does not probably contain a single one of them in their ele- mentary, uncombined state. 103. We will now turn to the hinary compounds in Table I. Passing by the first as unimportant and not to be found in soils, we come to the second, sulphuric add (SO^). Our soil will contain 1 per cent, or less of this. It is found by actual analysis to form a small part of all fertile soils. But in warm, sweet soils, none of it is found in its acid or sour state. It is combined with somer one or more of the bases (see Ta- ble III.), forming a sulphate or sulphates, as with lime, for instance, forming sulphate of lime (gypsum). Next we come to phosphoric acid (PO*, Table I.). We should expect to find from j-to ^ of 1 per cent, of this, but not in its uncombined state. It exists in all fertile soils, combined with lime and other bases (Ta- 68 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. ble III.) as phosphates, and is essential to the produc- tion of the cereals, and of all of the sweet, nutritive grasses. 104. Carhonic acid {CO"^, Table I.) can hardly be said to be an ingredient of the soil, and yet it exists in nearly all soils in combination with some of the bases (Table III.) as carbonates ; and all cultivated soils are always producing it. Whenever vegetable matter burns, its carbon combines with oxygen and forms car- bonic acid. The same happens when vegetables decay in such circumstances that air has access to them. Ve- getable matter in the soil is thus constantly giving off carbonic acid. A portion of this may be supposed to combine with the bases in the soil, to form carbon- ates. Much of it goes to feed plants, entering their roots, dissolved in water, or ascending to be taken in through the pores of their leaves. When land lies in fallow through the heat of summer, it cannot be doubted, that much of it escapes into the air and is lost, at least to the owner of that field. 105. Silicic acid (SiO^), or Silica, (quartz, flint, sand) constitutes generally from 60 to 90 per cent, of good soils, and often as much as 95 per cent, of sandy soils. Silica is insoluble in water, but is rendered sol- uble by alkalies. One effect of ashing land, is to ren- der the silica soluble, so that it can be taken up by the roots of plants. Its office seems to be to afford the stiffening material, for the stalk, straw, husk, and other parts which require to be firm in order to sup- port or protect the seeds. GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. ^9 106. Nitric acid (NO'). — This, like carbonic acid, can hardly be said to be a permanent ingredient of the soil, except as it exists in combination with bases forming nitrates. Eain-water is, however, sometimes impregnated with it, particularly in thunder storms. In highly manured soils, it is formed on the surface, by a direct union of its elements, oxygen and nitro- gen. It then combines with bases in the soil, forming nitrates, which may often be seen on the surface, as a kind of white mould. Such an appearance always indicates well for the crops, for the nitrates are easily soluble, and act as stimulants to the growth of plants. 107. Watei' (HO). — The office of this compound, to furnish the moisture required by plants, is too well known to require to be spoken of here. There is an- other, and most important office of water, which is not so well understood ; it is that of dissolving the foods of plants, and carrying them into the plant in a state of limpid solutions. All the foods of plants enter them, either as invisible gases through the leaves, or in a state of perfectly limpid solutions, through the roots. Now water will dissolve in itself and hold in solution 3^ times its bulk of oxygen, once and a half its bulk of nitrogen, once and a half its bulk of hydrogen, once its bulk of carbonic acid, and many times jts bulk of ammonia. In this way it conveys these and other nutritious gases as food into the plant. Water also dissolves solid substances, some more anS others less, and thus carries them in the form of transparent solutions into the plant, as 70 GEOLOGY OF AqRICULTURE. food. This office will appear the more important, when we consider that all growing plants perspire largely. They take np large quantities of water from the soil, appropriate to their own growth the nutritive matter dissolved in it, and then throw it off from their leaves, by insensible perspiration. The benefi- cial effect of irrigating grass lands is probably owing mainly to the fact, that as the water passes over the field, it is constantly absorbing gases from the air and conveying them to the roots of the grass. If the wa- ter be impure, as happens with many streams, its im- purities operate as fertilizers ; and the irrigation may in this way be regarded as a sort of liquid manuring. 108. Oxides of Iron (FeO and Fe'O').— The protox- ide of iron (FeO) seldom exists in soils, except in those which are low, wet and boggy. This, as before stated, turns to the sesquioxide (Fe'^O^), under the in- fluence of cultivation. This latter is red, and it is this which gives that color to so many soils. In a rich and productive soil, such as we are now consid- ering, it may be found in proportions varying from 1 or 2 to 6 or 8 per cent.. 109. Oxides of Manganese. — Of these, there is but one that deserves to be mentioned as a constituent of soils, the black oxide (MnO'') ; and this would seldom be found to exceed one-half of one per cent. 110. Potash (KO). — One per cent, df potash would be considered an indication of great fertility so far as GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 71 this ingredient is concerned. More may exist in some soils, but oftener less. It is generally found combined with carbonic, or. some other acid, as a salt of potash. 111. Soda (NaO) exists in soils, varying perhaps from one-tenth to one-half of one per cent. 112. Xime(CaO). — Some soils contain not less than 8 or 10 per cent, of lime ; while a soil may be excel- Tent, and yet not contain more than one per cent. It is generally in combination with sulphuric, phos- phoric, and carbonic acids, forming sulphate, phos- phate, and carbonate of lime ; or with silica, forming silicate of lime. 113. Magnesia (MgO). — One per cent, of this would be a large allowance. Soils generally contain much less. More would be injurious rather than other- wise. 114. Alumina (Al'O^). — This is a fine white pow- der. It is the basis of clay, which is a silicate of alu- mina, composed of about 40 per cent, of alumina and 60 of silica. Good soils contain all the way from 2 to 10 per cent, of alumina. Those containing more than 10 are apt to be too adhesive, and those having less than 2 are too porous and open. If a soil is too clayey, it is difficult to cultivate ; if not sufficien4;ly clayey, it lacks the power of retaining the food of plants, and allows them to escape by both evapora- tion and filtration. Many a sandy soil would be more benefited by 10 loads of manure and 10 of clay, than 72 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTUEE. by 20 of manure ; and on the other hand, many clay soils would receive more benefit from 10 loads of manure and 10 of sand, than from 20 of manure. The reason is, that in one case, the clay enables the sandy soil to hold the manure till wanted by the plants ; and in the other case, the sand renders the clay soil more light, open, and porous, so that the air can circulate through it. 115. Chloride of Sodium (NaCl), or common salt, is found in all good soils, in small quantities, not ex- ceeding 2 or 3 tenths of one per cent. It is oftener exhausted from lands remote from salt water. Lands near the sea are constantly supplied with minute por- tions of it, in the fogs and rains blown from the sea to the land. 116. Smphuret of Iron. — As before stated, there are three sulphurets of iron, the protosulphuret (FeS), the sesquisulphuret (Fe^'S^), and the bisulphuret (FeS"^). The first often occurs in boggy and marshy soils. It is not known to be in itself hurtful to vegetation, but when exposed to the air it absorbs oxygen, which coverts the sulphur into sulphuric acid, and this last, combining with the iron, forms sulphate of iron, which is de- cidedly injurious to vegetation. The injurious effects are counteracted by the use of lime, marl, or ashes. The latter should not be applied till the land is thor- oughly drained, as the soluble parts (potash and soda) would otherwise be lost. The bisulphuret is abund- ant in nature, existing in all rock formations, and probably in nearl;' all soils. When crystallized, it GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 78 takes the color and form of yellow cubes, resembling gold, for which reason it has received the name, as be- fore mentioned, of fooVs gold. * 117. Sulpkuret of Hydrogen (HS). — This is a gas, having the fetid smell of spoiled eggs. It cannot be regarded as a permanent ingredient of soils, but in richly-manured lands, it is formed in the soil, and may have something to do with the growth of plants. 118. Light Carburetted Hydrogen (CH'^). — This is the gas which rises and floats in bubbles on the surface of water, in which vegetable matter is decaying. It is formed also in soils in which there is vegetable matter far below the surface. Vegetable matter decaying in the air, produces carbonic acid ; but when decaying with the exclusion of air, it gives off carburetted hy- drogen. 119. Heavy carburetted hydrogen (C'H') is not known to possess any relations to agriculture. This is the gas used for purposes of lighting. 120. Ammonia (NH') (see Table I., 20) is a most valuable, though not a permanent ingredient of soils. In conjunction with carbonic acid, it exists in the air, in exceedingly minute quantities, and rain-water and snow are always impregnated with it. More will be said of its relations to the growth of crops hereafter. 121. From what has now been stated, it appears that the mineral pai*t of soils is made up essentially 4 74: GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTUKE. of the fifteen elements enumerated in Table I., and yet that none of these elements exist in soils in their simple uncombined state ; also, that nearly all the com- pounds in Table I. either constitute a portion of soils, or are in some way so connected with soils, as to act a part in the process of vegetation. These binary com- pounds, however, very few of them, exist in soils, as binary compounds. They are further combined with each other, forming salts (see Table II.). It must be recollected that the acids combine with the bases (Table III.) and form salts, whose names end in ate^ the name in each case expressing the compounds of which the salt is formed. If you were to put sulphuric acid and quick-lime into a soil together, they would not remain sulphuric acid and quick-lime. The acid would immediately combine with the lime, and sul- phate of lime (gypsum) would be the result. So there are constant changes going on in the soil, and the higher the cultivation, the more rapid and numerous the changes. To control these changes, to arrest such as are unfavorable, and to hasten those which are favorable to the growing of crops, is the great object of scientific agriculture. When this is better under- stood, the farmer can increase his crops without in- creasing the expense in an equal proportion, and, con- sequently, he can increase his profits. 122. Soils consist of two parts — the organic and the inorganic. By the inorganic we are to understand the mineral part, that which remains after a- portion of soil has been heated to redness ; by the organic, that which burns away. The organic part is animal and GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE. 75 vegetable matter in process of decay, but not yet wholly decomposed. It always consists of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen (CHON). In a poor, worn-out soil, there is very little organic matter. In a new and rich soil, such as we have been considering, there is a large amount, sometimes as high as 20 per cent., and very often as high as ten. So much, how- ever, is not necessary, even to the highest fertility. Some of the most productive soils contain not more than two per cent. Organic matter in soils passes through successive changes before it is wholly decomposed into its original elements. At first you will find it in the form of decaying grass, weeds, stub- ble, leaves, roots, &c. In this state you may sift it out with a coarse sieve. As the process of decay goes on, it takes in oxygen and becomes an acid, as we have seen that sulphur, carbon, and other substances become acids by combining with oxygen. As the process proceeds, it takes more oxygen, and becomes another and different acid. These are called organic acids. Chemists have distinguished no less than five of them — humic, ulmtc, geic^ crenic^ and apocrenic acids. Others have chosen to call the decaying matter in the soil geine. They make this distinction, however, down to that point in the process of decay at which it dis- solves in water, they call it insoluble geine^ and beyond that, soluble geine. But as vegetable matter, in pro- cess of decay, becomes sour, and then changes its cha- racter, becoming a somewhat different substance at each stage in the process, there may be a propriety in calling it an acid, and in giving it a separate name for 76 GEOLOGY OF AGRICULTUEE. eacli stage; and hence the propriety of the names 123. Besides these acids there are also many other vegetable acids. Only two need be mentioned here. Ono of these is oxalic acid, composed of carbon and oxj- gen (CO^) ; the other is acetic acid (vinegar), com- posed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen (OHO). These, together with the five vegetable acids before named, combine with the bases (Table III), and form com- pounds named from the acid and the base, in the same manner as the inorganic acids ; as acetate of potash, oxalate of lime, &c., thus : ORGANIC ACIDS. SALTS. Oxalic Acid, Oxalates, Acetic Acid, Acetates, Humic Acid, Humates, Ulmic Acid, Ulmates, Geic Acid, Geates, Crenic Acid, Crenates, Apocrenic Acid, Apocrenatea. CHAPTEK III. VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, IN ITS RELATIONS TO AGRICULTURK GERMINATION OP SEEDS. 124. The well-matured seed contains in itself the embryo of a new plant, together with food sufficient for the young plant to feed upon, till it shall have had time to thrust its roots into the soil, and its leaves into the air, to draw thence nourishment for itself. 125. This embryo, with its future food closely packed around it, is so snugly encased, generally in a shell or an oily skin, that it will remain dormant, like certain animals in winter, but with undiminished vitality, till the circumstances requisite for calling it into new life are furnished. 126. The embryo, being a perfect plant in miniature, as shown by the microscope, has but to enlarge itself in the directions already commenced, to become a 78 VEGETABLES. normal specimen, after tlie likeness of the parent plant. 127. The germ consists of a 'plumule and rac^zcZe, the first of which is destined to shoot upward into stem, branches and leaves ; the last, to spread itself in the soil into roots. Each leaf is to be an absorbent of ve- getable food from the air ; and each root, with an open mouth at its extremity, is to run, as fast as possible, after the best food contained in the ground for that particular plant. There is no more doubt that plants exercise choice — select their food — than that cattle prefer sweet grass to sour ; though it has been proved, that in some cases, they will take the wrong food, when they cannot get the right, and make themselves sick by it; just as cattle will eat sour grass, when they can get no other, and as men will eat improper food rather than starve. As brutes will suffer more than men, before they will resort to poisonous diet, so there is reason to believe that plants will endure hunger still longer than brutes, before they will take unwholesome food. 128. That they will, in extreme cases, take it, and become sickly in consequence, is now pretty generally conceded ; and when therefore you see a stinted, yel- low plant, with no worm at its root, nor any visible cause for its misfortune, you may conclude that it is dying a lingering, cruel death, partly by starvation and partly by poison ; for it is now pretty well decided that plants, contra^ry to what was once believed, will absorb poison, before they will quite starve. VEGETABLES. 79 REQUISITES OF GERMINATION. 129. While the embryo is sleeping in the parent seed, it has no hold on the earth or air. The circum- stances which arouse it to go forth, are warmth^ moxs- ture^ and air^ with absence of light. Its food, till it has grown sufficiently to reach the earth with its roots, and the air with its leaves, must be derived f^om the seed in which it is shut up. This food consists of starch, gluten, and albumen. Now when you plant a seed, one it may be which has lain dormant ever since the days of the Pharaos, you put it into circumstances requisite for germination — ^you give it the gentle warmth of the ground, you give it moisture ; by cover- ing it lightly, you admit the air, and the air contains oxygen, without which no seed can germinate, nor any plant live, nor any animal breathe ; and by cover- ing it to a sufficient depth you partially exclude the light, which is hurtful to the early stages of vegeta- tion. 130. If you had sore eyes you might shrink from the light, though at another time you would rejoice in its genial influences. So a plant, till its first leaves are unfolded, hates the light, but loves it afterwards. PROCESS OF GERMINATION. 131. When you supply the circumstances requisite to germination, a chemical action commences within the seed, by which heat is evolved. Materials were storf^ up, ready to act. It is very much as if you 80 VEGETABLES. had a stove filled with wood and dry faggots. It may have been so filled a long time. But no heat is evolv- ed. The stove is no warmer than the objects around it. If now you apply a torch, a chemical action takes place in the stove. Oxygen combines with the wood. A transformation of the air and wood into other sub- stances takes place. A real chemical experiment is performed, one that would seem very wonderful, if we had not seen it so often ; and much more heat is produced, than was in the torch, which you applied. 132. Just so is it with the seed. There were mate- rials deposited, as in the stove ; not to burn, it is true, but to be transformed ; and, in the transformation, to evolve heat in the seed, much more than is applied from the soil. As the stove, so the seed, heats itself, when the operation is once started. Upon this evolution of inward heat, a portion of vinegar is formed in the seed. As cider, by excessive fermentation, turns to vinegar, so a portion of every germinating seed turns into vinegar, or acetic acid. This IS believed to attract bases from the surrounding soil, and to form with them acetates (123), which are known to be very soluble, and may be regarded as a sort of pap for the embryo plant, while yet it can neither reach after, nor could digest other food. 133. Simultaneously with the formation of vinegar, another substance is formed in the seed, called diastase. This diastase has the power to transform starch into sugar. That this is the object there can be no doubt ; VEGETABLES. 81 for it actually performs this office. In the dry seed there is no sugar. There is starch, a substance fami- liar to all; there is gluten, the substance which remains in one's teeth after long chewing a kernel of wheat; and there is albumen, a limpid substance, which is recognized in the white of an egg ; but there is no 134. If you taste a corn of wheat in its dry state, you perceive no sweetness ; but if you taste it after germination has commenced, you find it sensibly sweet. The same change takes place in cooking flour. The flour, unless it has been damaged, possesses little or no sweetness. But when you wet it, and then bake it, a part of its starch is turned into sugar, and your bread is sweet. •135. As infants delight in sweets, and as the great Designer of all things has caused a peculiar kind of sugar to be dissolved in the food destined for their first nourishment ; so the infant plant requires its pap to be sweetened, and the wise Designer has made pro- vision for the exigency. True, he has not deposited sugar in the seed ; for sugar, being soluble, would be dissolved, and washed out by the winter rains ; but instead of sugar, which is soluble, and consequently not permanent, he has deposited starch, which is in- soluble and somewhat permanent ; and has at the same time made provision for its transformation into sugar, through the agency of diastase, at the very time when wanted by the young plant. 4* 82 VEGETABLES. 136. It is manifest that the production of heat in the germinating seed ; the formation of vinegar and dias- tase ; and the transformation, bj the latter, of starch into sugar, are all provisions of that Being who is wonderful in counsel, for the express purpose of fur- nishing suitable food to infant plants, when they could not obtain it otherwise ; and, per consequence, of providing abundant food for man and beast. 187. There is another fact worthy of reflection. It has been proved by the most accurate experiments, that seeds, during their germination, and up to the time of their first putting forth leaves, absorb oxygen and emit carbonic acid, the reverse of what takes place subsequently. Now why is this ? Probably that the embryo plant may be surrounded with carbon, dis- solved in the water of the soil, and may thus obtain through its first roots, that kind of food, carbon, which it is destined subsequently to receive from the air through its leaves. This seems very much like a pro- vision for it, on its way up into the air, not unlike what would happen, if a mother, whose son was start- ing for a long and solitary walk, should slip into his pocket some food for the way. Every one can make his own reflections. To me the fact seems worthy of notice. GROWTH OF PLANTS. 138. You can hardly h^ve failed to reflect, that much care has been bestowed by the Divine Architect to give the plant a good start into being. The husband- VEGETABLES. Si' man^ who will exercise a like care, that his plants com- mence well, will be so far a co-worker with God. Plants should not be so puny for a month after they are up, that, if a worm or a bug take a mouthful from them, he will take the whole. By a prudent forecast, in preparing the ground and the seeds properly, and in selecting a suitable time for planting, w»e should en- deavor to give them a good start. We should use fore- thought, and take special care for their infancy. More than is generally considered depends upon giving our plants a good setting out on their summer's career. If this is not the whole of the battle, it is certainly an im- portant part of it. 189. I do not mean to say that by due care of their infancy you can make them so powerful that they will compete successfully with poke and pig- weed for the food of the soil ; or be able to resist the encroach- ments of horned-cattle and swine ; but I will say, that by starting them vigorously, you can make them put forth brawny arms, long roots, and broad leaves, by which to draw for their productiveness from sources which cost you nothing — from the air and from the subsoil. 140. It should be remembered that a portion of that which makes plants grow, is at our own disposal, as our soils and our manures ; while another and about an equal portion is in common stock, blown about by the winds of heaven. Now if we work rightly that which is at our own disposal ; if we make our soils deep, mellow and friable ; if we put in the manures, instead of 84 VEGETABLES. letting them steam away, or wasli off from about our dwellings, polluting the air we breathe, and perhaps sooner or later the water we drink ; if we let no giant weeds filch the food in our fields ; we shall draw more largely from the common stock ; for we make our plants more vigorous and far-reaching and successful in their efforts to draw from the great store-house of vegetable food above and around us. 141. This is one of the ways in which Divine Pro- vidence rewards the diligent and punishes the slothful. The thorough farmer, by high cultivation, gets a great deal more out of the common stock, than the mere ordinary farmer. Not all the corn comes from the soil ; not all, from the soil and manure together; half of it comes from sources, which cost nothing, as free as the breezes of heaven ; one acre well tilled draws more from the common stock of corn-making materials, than two acres half tilled ; and the net profit on one acre highly cultivated is more than on five, that are barely run over. 142. We have all heard of the dish being right side lip. When the farmer's field is mellowed to a depth of 8, 10, or 12 inches ; when the crops are running their roots deep and their tops high ; when every leaf and every inch of surface soil are sucking in the rains, and dews, and nutritious gases ; then is his dish right side up ; and he will catch enough^, not only to pay liim for his labor, but to give him a handsome profit. VEGETABLES. 85 GROWING PLANTS PURIFY THS AIR. 143. Wheu a plant has put forth its first leaves, and is no longer dependent on the seed for jts support, it reverses the process before described — absorbs car- bonic acid and emits oxygen, during the day and so long as light continues, but still absorbs oxygen and emits carbonic acid in the night. The carbonic acid is decomposed in the plant, and its carbon wrought into the solid texture of the plant, while its oxygen is given off. Other floating gases are taken into the soil and conveyed to the plant through its roots. Thus growing plants purify the air of those gases which render it unhealthy for respiration ; while the respiration of men and beasts enriches it with those gases which promote vegetation ; so that plants and animals are mutually beneficial, each rendering the air health-giv- ing to the other. None breathe so invigorating an at- mosphere, as the farmer among his growing crops. SOURCES OF CARBON AND OTHER FOOD TO PLANTS. 144. During the growth of the plant it takes its carbon mainly from the air. A little is believed by physiologists to pass in through the roots, dissolved in water. Its oxygen and hydrogen are undoubtedly furnished mostly in the form of water, and in that form taken in both by the roots and leaves. 145. Nitrogen is furnished to plants principally in the form of nitric acid and ammonia, both of which exist in the air and in rain-water. 86 VEGETABLES. 146. So fai as the four organic elements are con- cerned, the plant obtains them from the air mainly, either directly by the leaves, or through the surface soil by the roots. 14T. It would not be far from the truth to say that the plant feeds itself about equally from the earth and the air during its growth. Its inorganic matter, that which remains as ash, when the plant is burnt, is ob- tained wholly, from the ground, but is only a small part of the whole, not more than from one to ten per cent. It is probable that a poor, stinted crop is de- rived from the soil and air in about the same propor- tions as a luxuriant one. But the whole of such a crop is a small affair. A part of it is still smaller ; and I wish here to repeat and impress the thought, that the better we do by our plants, in their ground relations, the more they draw for as from the common stock of vegetable food, which floats unseen in the air. FLOWERING AND SEED-BEARING OF PLANTS. 148. One thing should be noticed with regard to the flowering of plants. The flower-leaves, unlike those of the other parts of the plant, absorb oxygen by day as well as by night. The object of this ar- rangement probably is to give them their beautiful colors. The oxidizing of various substances changes their hue. For instance, if a flower-leaf have in it a trace of the protoxide of iron, the inhaling of oxy- gen will give it a brilliant red. Other substances are turned by the same cause into blue, yellow, violet, &c. VEGETABLES. 87 149. As plants approach their seed-time, their prin- cipal effort seems to be concentrated upon the one object of maturing seed. With many plants, espe- cially "svith the cereals, I suppose it to be a well- known fact, that this function is sometimes performed better than their previous growth would lead one to expect, at others not as well — that the growth is not to be taken in all cases, as a measure of the fruitful- ness. If the fruitfulness exceeds the growth, we may safely conclude that the ground is better supplied with the requisites for maturing seed, than with those for promoting growth. If the growth exceeds the fruitfulness, we may suppose the contrary to be true ; provided in both cases no other cause appears, by which the disparity can be accounted for. The causes for the failure of crops in their last stage, are undoubt- edly various. Sometimes it is attributable to the sea- son ; the early part of summer being favorable to luxuriant growth ; the latter, unpropitious to the ma- turing of the seed. Oftener, I believe, it is owing to some mismanagement. With regard to the corn crop, I have always thought that the putting of a little stim- ulating manure in the hill, without thoroughly pul- verizing and enriching the whole field, was precisely adapted to produce a large growth of stalks with little corn. I should anticipate that the effect of such manur- ing would cease at the wrong time, not solely from the exhaustion of the manure, but because it was confined to one place, instead of being diffused through the soil. Corn roots do not curl down under the hill ; they spread over the field as widely and as deeply as the ground has been prepared to receive them. Why 88 VEGETABLES. sliould the manure be in one place — immediately un- der tlie hill — unless you mean to discourage the roots from taking a broad range in search of food ? LATE HOEING INJURIOUS. 150. I need not say here that another bad practice is that of letting the weeds live and compete with the corn for the strength of the soil, for I suppose no such practice obtains among us. But there is a practice, not much better, which prevails in many places, that of killing the weeds at so late a period as nearly to kill the corn too. I have seen men hoeing corn at so late a day, that if the corn had been mine, I would have thanked them heartily to let it alone. 151. If you cut off the roots of a tree it will send out two new roots for every one that is cut off, and the tree may not be injured. Some think it will be- come more vigorous. But if you cut the roots of corn, after it has silked out, and thus force it into the business of forming new roots, at the very time when it should be maturing its seeds, you commit a fatal mistake. You might just about as well bleed your horse half to death, and work him hard in order to fatten him, especially if you would keep him rather short the while, as corn is of course kept short, while it has few unmutilated roots to convey it food. ' STRUCTURE AND CIRCULATION OP PLANTS. 152. Of the structure and circulation of plants I VEGETABLES. 89" have space to say but little, as the more important matter of their decay and return to the soil is yet un- touched. 153. With regard to the structure of plants, I will refer you to our common trees, not exactly as a sam- ple for others, but as affording some data from which you can reason, and observe for yourselves both re- semblances and differences. 154. The stem of a tree consists of woody fibre, formed around the pith, an inner bark around that, and an outer bark around the whole. 155. The pith is a spongy, soft substance, com- mencing far down in the roots, coming together at the base of the stem, then continuing upward, dividing and subdividing itself in the branches and twigs, till it reaches their extremities. Some mysterious con- nection seems to be kept up between the pith and the inner bark, by means of a set of pores, running from the pith outward every way, like the spokes of a wheel. 156. The roots may be regarded as the extension of the stem downwards, and the branches uS its ex- tension upwards. The wood is not as compact as many may suppose. Its more solid parts even consist of an immense number of tubes running side by side from the lower to the upper extremities of the tree, varying in size in different parts, and each one lined with a substance different from itself, like the tinning 90 VEGETABLES. of an iron kettle. It is througli these tliat the sap passes upwards. 157. If we commence at the extremities of the roots and examine, we shall find that the extremities, called spongioleSj consist only of a bark and a porous sub- stance enclosed. This porous substance extends out to the end of the bark, and is adapted to the absorp- tion of water and watery solutions. Nothing enters a tree or other plant that is not perfectly dissolved, as limpid and transparent as the solution of an ounce of salt or sugar in a gallon of pure water. 158. If we trace the rootlets from the spongioles upward, we shall find them gradually increasing in size and hardness, and coming together, till instead of millions, there will be only a few ; becoming more and more Like the wood of the trunk ; and before reaching the stem, invested like the tree itself with a double bark, and having like that a pith in the centre. 159. As we ascend we shall find the branches and twigs becoming more porous as they recede from the stem. Were we to burn the small branches and leaves, we should find them to contain three or four times as much ash as the solid wood, and of the best quality. 160. The leaf-stems are a continuation of the twig. They are bundles of tubes enclosed in bark ; and these tubes connect with those of the wood below. VEGETABLES. 9t' Througn these, the sap, which may be regarded as the blood of the tree, flows upward into the leaves. The leaves may be compared to the lungs of animals. The office of the former is to bring the sap and the. air into contact, as that of the latter is. to bring the air into contact with the blood. As the blood is strikingly modified and changed in the lungs, so is the sap in the leaves. The lungs are a net- work of blood and air vessels surrounded by a membranous tissue. So also the^ leaves are a net- work of woody fibre, continued from the leaf-stem, and covered above and below with a spongy membrane. The upper side of the leaf emits gases and vapor into the air ; the under side gathers in from the air for the nourishment of the plant 161. When the sap has circulated through the leaf, it commences a retrograde course towards the earth. It is not always a downward course. That depends upon the position of the limbs. Its return to the earth is by the inner bark ; and its depositions by the way form the annual layer of wood. DECAY AND PRODUCTS OF PLANTS. 162. In the present order of things, whatever lives, must die. Men, brutes, and plants, live on their pre- decessors. The floating matter of the universe is un- dergoing a succession of life and. death. Probably all the dead matter around us, all that we can see, has been alive some time, much of it a thousand times. The succession of living beings, vegetable and animal, 92 VEGETABLES. is kept up by using the same matter over and over 163. The plant in its growth, devours other plants, and even animals ; for it finds no richer food than dead animal matter ; but in its turn, it is destined to be devoured either by animals or plants, and pretty surely by both. A particle of dead matter now in the soil may be clover next summer, beef next winter, and clover again in six mo;iths. There is a restless activ- ity in the matter which composes the surface of the earth and its surroundings. 164. When plants have passed their maturity, they yield, among their earliest products of decay, called proximate constituents, wood, starch, gum, sugar, glu- ten, caseine, and albumen. Oat of these grow the secondary products, alcohol, vinegar, and too many others to be named. The secondary products of de- cay are counted by thousands and hundreds of thou- sands, if not by millions. Notice cannot be taken of them here. But those primary products which I have named are of great importance, as forming, di- rectly or indirectly, almost the entire food for the hu- man race, and for all the animals that live. 165. Starch is of course pretty well known. It is, however, known by different names, as it is derived from different plants^ as potato starch, wheat starch, &c. Sometimes it takes the name of the country whence it either is, or professes to be, imported, as Poland starch. That which is obtained from the pith VEGETABLES. 98 of the palm tree is called in commerce Sago; that from the roots of the Maranta arundinacea of the West Indies is known as Arrow-root ; and that from the root of the manioc tree is the well-known tapioca of the shops. All these — starch, sago, arrow-root, and tapi- oca— are substantially the same thing. They are all washed with cold water from the substances in which they are respectively found. ♦ 166. Starch, gum, and sugar contain no nitrogen They are all characterized by the letters CHO, signi- fying carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 167. On the other hand, gluten, caseine, and albu- men are nitrogenous substances. All of them contain nitrogen, and all contain sulphur and a very little phosphorus. Their principal ingredients being car- bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, they are char- acterized by the letters CHON, expressive of their composition. 168. One or more of these nitrogenous substances exist in all plants. 169. Gluten is a very important constituent of wheat. It is insoluble in water. Hence, if you chew a kernel of wheat, the gluten will remain in the mouth after the rest will have disappeared ; or, if you wash wheat flour over a cloth, the gluten will remain on the cloth, a tough, stringy, grayish substance, while the starch and the albumen will pass through. 94 VEGETABLES. The gluten is the most nourishing part of wheat ; and that wheat is best which contains most of it. 170. Caseine^ which strongly resembles curd, is found abundantly in peas and beans. It is soluble in water, and will coagulate, like the curd in milk, if an acid, as vinegar or rennet, be added. 171. Albumen abounds in oily seeds, as poppy seed, flax-seed, &c. It is soluble in water, but coagu- lates, like the white of eggs, if boiled. 172. You can easily separate the constituents of flour, and examine them in the following manner : 173. Wash two or three ounces of fine flour on a piece of linen or cotton cloth of medium thickness, with as many pints of water. Pour on fhe water, a little at a time, and stir the flour gently on the cloth, letting the water fall into a pan below. What re- mains on the cloth is gluten. After the water has stood in the pan long enough to become perfectly clear, pourdt into a k-ettle so gently as not to disturb the sediment. What remains in the pan is starch. Then heat the kettle till the water boils, and the albu- men will be seen in a coagulated state, having some resemblance to the white of an egg after being par- tially boiled. 174. I have already stated that gluten, albumen, and caseine are nitrogenous substances, and that they VEGETABLES. dS contain a little sulphur and a trace of phosphorus (CHONSP). 175. Sugar, gum, and starch, on the other hand, contain no nitrogen, and are therefore less nutritious as articles of food. The elements are the same in each, and in the same proportion as represented be- low: Starch, C'^H^oO^o Gum, - - - - - Ci^HioQio Sugar, C'^H'oO'o It will be seen that the oxygen and hydrogen in these three substances exist in the same proportion as in water. The same is true of woody fibre and of many uther substances. They consist of carbon and the elements of water. I ought perhaps to state that the sugar before characterized is cane sugar. There are other kinds of sugar. Grape sugar, for instance, is differently constituted ; the sugar of milk is still dif- ferent ; and that of the ash tree (the manna of com- merce) is different from either. TRANSFORMATIONS. 176. The fact that starch, sugar, and gum are the same in chemical constitution, and that they are trans- formable one into the other, is one of the most re- markable discoveries of the last half century. That they are identical in constitution, and that they are transformable, is quite certain. The transformations are actually going on in the operations of nature, as 96 VEGETABLES. in germinating seeds, in the sap of the maple tree, and in ripening fruits. And, what is more, these trans- formations can be imitated by the chemist. You may take an ounce of starch and turn it all into gum ; you may then turn this gum into sugar. Nor need you stop here ; you may dissolve this sugar in water, and then, if you expose it to air and warmth, and add to it a single particle of yeast, you will transform it into alco- hol. And you need riot stop here ; for, if you let the fermentation proceed one step farther, you transform the alcohol into vinegar. You cannot change starch into vinegar directly, but you can do it by the route I have described. You may even go back one step farther, and commence with woody fibre. You may change woody fibre into starch. Your routine of transformations then would be, woody fibre, starch, gum, sugar, alcohol, vinegar. It should be remarked, however, that the constitution of the two last becomes changed. Alcohol and vinegar are of the same ele-. ments, but not in the same proportions as the others. 177. Such are some of the proximate constituents of plants, and a few of the numerous and wonderful transformations to which they are subject. 178. Sooner or later all these substances, which plants have so curiously elaborated out of dead mat- ter, are destroyed. Their organic elements return to the air ; their inorganic, to the soil ; both to the place whence they came ; both, as undistinguished atoms, to be used in building up new plants and new ani- mals, which, in their turn, are to perish and become VEGETABLES. 97 food for others still ; and so on in successive rounds, just so long as the Almighty Worker of the universe shall decide to uphold the current order of things. The plants and animals, including men, that have been in ages past, live in those that now are; and those that now are, will live in those yet to be. Death is the parent of life. CHAPTER IV ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. CONNECTION BETWEEN SOILS, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS. 179. In a former part of this work were described about 20 substances, all of which, either as permanent ingredients of the soil, or less permanently connected with it, contribute to the growth of plants. It may now be stated that the permanent ingredients of soils are fewer in number. Soils are substantially made up of organic matter, potash^ soda^ lime, magnesia, oxides of iron, oxide of mayiganese, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid^ carhonic acid, chlorine, silica and alumina, 180. These twelve constitute soils. If we omit the last, the remaining eleven constitute plants ; and if we strike off the last two, the remaining ten constitute animals. Alumina stops in the soil ; silica, e±cept in exceedingly minute quantities, stops with the plant ; the other ten pass from the soil into the plant ; then from the plant into the animal ; and finally back into the soil. From this it will be seen that when we ex- ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 99 pend crops on the farm, we return to the soil all we took from it, and as much more as the growing plants draw from the air, which is nearly all their organic matter. In this way a farm should be constantly gaining in fertility ; for on the supposition that we sell nothing from the farm, we keep all the inorganic parts of the soil at home, and by means of growing plants we are all the while gathering inorganic matter from the air and incorporating it with the soil ; so that the soil, treated thus, would remain equally rich in the inorganic (mineral) parts, and be growing every year richer in the organic parts. It will be seen also, that if we sell off crops, or anything that is made from crops, as beef, pork, butter, cheese, the soil must be from that time becoming poorer in the inorganic ingre- dients, unless we procure fertilizers from off the farm and substitute them for those which we send away ; for when we sell any product of the farm, we sell a part of the soil ; not enough in a single pound of but- ter to diminish sensibly the quantity left, but enough in a century, in all the butter that may be sold from cows fed on a single pasture, to leave that pasture en- tirely destitute of certain ingredients, without which good butter cannot be made. So if the hay from a mowing was to be sold off for many years and nothing returned, certain ingredients of the soiWould become so exhausted, that little or no more hay could be grown on that soil ; or if the corn, wheat, or rye were to be sold from a soil, the result would be the same. If a soil were eminently good, it would resist bad treatment a long time, but sooner or later it would be exhausted. The farmer who should have sold all his \ too ANIMALS ANL THEIR PRODUCTS. crops for a long time, and put nothing back, would find that he had sold his farm also — sold it piece- meal. PREVENTION. 181. To prevent so sad a result, two modes are re- sorted to. One is to procure foreign fertilizers enough to make a full substitute for what is carried off from the farm. It may be wise to adopt this course near large cities, where produce is always high, and where various fertilizers can be bought cheaply and conveyed to the farm with a small expense — brought home, perhaps, by the same team which draws the produce to market. But with the great mass of farmers, the other mode commends itself as the only one applicable in their case. It is, to expend their produce r}%ainly on the farm^ to preserve every particle of manure^ and to compost it with peat^ roadr scrapings^ 2>b. To prepare it, take one barrel of lime and one bushel of salt ; dissolve the salt in as little water as will dissolve the whole ; slack the lime with the water, putting on more water than will dry-slack it, so much that it will form a very thick paste ; this will not take all the water ; put on therefore a little of the remainder daily, till the lime has taken the whole. The result will be a sort of impure chloride of lime ; but a very powerful deodorizer, equally good for all out-door purposes with the article bought under that name at the apothecaries, and costing not one twen- tieth part as much. This should be kept under a shed or some out-building. It should be kept moist, and it may be applied wherever offensive odors are gene- rated, with the assurance that it will be effective to purify the air, and will add to the value of the ma- nure much more than it costs. It would be well for every farmer to prepare a quantity of this, and have it always on hand. MANURES. 171^ SINK DRAININGS 336. The washings of the sink are of great value, il ihey can be so combined with peaty matter as to re- ta n all the bad odors which they will otherwise emit. "W here the nature of the ground will admit, it is best to **un an under-ground drain from the sink, some dis- tance, to where composting can be done, without ap- pearing as a nuisance to the premises, though a well- managed compost heap, under the very kitchen win- dow, would be preferable to a fetid sink. At the place selected for the purpose, let an excavation be made, large enough to contain six or eight loads of peat, swamp mud, or rich loam, with a view to en- large it, by carrying off a load or two each year more than you put in. In the spring, after the old matter has been carried off, fill this piling full of peat, or some other absorbent, and direct the washings of the sink into it. By the end of a year the whole will have become thoroughly saturated with soap, rinsings of soiled clothes, oil, &c., &c. — matters most nutritious to plants. This, spread upon mow-land, will be quite equal to barn-yard manure, and, so far as the first crop is concerned, better. After the whole, which you put in the year before, is taken out, you may take a load or two more, by way of enlarging the ex- cavation; and although this last may appear much like common soil, you may rely upon it to produce good grass. It is saturated with enriching materials. COMPOSTING. 837. If a farmer proceed as I have recommended, ISO MANURES. his composting will have already been done. As the spring opens, he will find a great quantity of manure in his yard, under his barn, in his pig-pen, under the necessary and at the sink-spout, already composted and fit for use. The work will have been done at times when the business of the farm was less driving than in April and May. The manure is fit for use this year. He is not to lie out of the use of it twelve months, as when manure is kept over for the sake of more perfect fermentation. If he wishes some of it to be warmer than he finds it, for the sake of starting early crops ; or if that in the barn-yard is to be car- ried some distance^ and he wishes to divest it of a part of its water, to make it lighter, he has but to throw it up into piles and allow it to ferment a few days. The same operation will both make it lighter to carry and warm for his seeds. 338. I have no doubt that this composting of ma- nures at the place where they are made is the most economical and the best, as a general rule. There are three reasons for it : it preserves the manure more per- fectly ; it permits the principal labor to be done at odd spells, and at times when the teams can be spared for it ; and it secures a gradual ripening, and a more per- fect preparation of the manure at the very time when it is wanted. 339. There may, however, be exceptions to the rule. Suppose a piece of ground, designed for corn next year, to be a mile from the barn, and that the farmer's peat land lies in the same direction, He is unwilling MANURES. 181 to lug tlie peat all the way home this fall, only to carry it back again next spring. Let him lay it, then, near the field where it is to be used. If it be in a part of the country where lime is known to work well on corn land (and there are few parts where it will not, if used as I am going to direct), let him mix 10 bush- els of lime with as many loads of peat for each acre of his field ; and let the compost, thus far prepared, lie till spring. If peat cannot be had, let him take what is most like it, as swamp mud, black mould from the edge of the wood, partially decayed leaves, mouldering turf, road-scrapings, or rich loam, if noth- ing better can be had. In the mean time, let him re- serve from the home process of composting a few loads of rich heating manure, as that of fattening cattle, of horses or sheep. In the spring let him draw this to the field, and mix it load to load with the limed compost already there, adding for each load of the loam manure one bushel of plaster and a peck of salt. The tendency of the lime would be to hasten the fer- mentation too rapidly, and thus drive off the ammo- nia ; but the plaster and salt will hold it fast, and the whole will form a compost worth more for a corn crop than 20 loads of the best stable manure, worth at least as much for the permanent good of the land, and not less than ten dollars cheaper for every §cre. We have here then a process at once for cheapening the cost of production, and increasing the crop, and of thus stretching the profits at both ends. This is no specu- lation ; it is the result of actual experiment. This very year I have seen, not for the first or second time, corn grown in the wa/ just described, not in one in- 182 MANURES. stance, but in many, at a clear profit of 50 dollars an acre, on every outlay, including interest on value of land ; while in other cases it has been raised in the same neighborhoods, and on equally good lands, at a cost little, if any, less than the value of the crop. The difference is too great. It shows that some, at least, " do not work it right." As our markets now are, corn can he^ and it ought to be^ raised at a profit greater than attends most branches of business. 340. In preparing compost for corn as above de- scribed, great care should be taken not to allow too violent fermentation after the barn manure is added to the limed peat. If the pile become very hot, it should be forked over, to check the fermentation and to mix the ingredients more thoroughly. If it be not forked over, care should be taken to pulverize and mix it as much as possible when throwing on the cart, and off. It is better, however, to fork it all over once gr twice ; and it should be applied warm, but not hot, to the soil. If the land is warm and light, it may be all har- rowed in ; if otherwise, it would be better to harrow in half of it, and to put the other half in the hill. 341. I cannot say that growing corn in the way just detailed would be a profitable business in every part of our country ; but I hnoiv very well, from the closest observation and some experience, that in the part of the country with which I am most conversant, where corn is seldom worth less than 80 cents a bushel, it can be grown at a profit of which no farmer ought to complain. From long-coatinued and most careful ob* MANURES. 183 servatioii, I have learned another fact — an important one in this connection — that the raising of great crops bj these composted manures (cheap in everything ex- cept labor) is not a severely exhausting process to the soil. Farmers who have done it for years do not show worse lands than their neighbors, who have growii less profitable crops, but better. 342. The remarks I have made with regard to com- posting in the field apply equally to the manures composted at home, as before described, except that peat need not be added. That is supposed to have been mixed in sufficient quantities beforehand. Its value would be greatly increased if, when drawn from the yard or cellar, it were composted with lime, plaster, and salt, in the proportions before named. It should, however, be with dead lime (oyster-shell, or slacked), not quick-lime ; and special care should be taken to prevent a too rapid fermentation. The lime should not be added long before the whole is to be incorpo- rated with the soil ; as nothing can be more erroneous than to mix lime with animal manure and leave it any considerable time ^yithout attention ; nor would it be well to compost it with manure to be used as a top-dressing. ODDS AND ENDS. 343. It is well that there should be, somewhere in the vicinity of a farm-house, but a little removed from the sight, a compost heap^ with materials lying always near^ to enlarge it. Of the thousand things which 184 MANURES. need to De carried off from a dwelling, in order to per- fect neatness, let every one that is of any possible value as a fertilizer be thrown in this heap, arid immediately covered over with the peat, or other substance used for composting this heap. 344. Tt would be quite surprising how fast such a heap would accumulate, and how valuable it would become in the course of a year ; and the very circum- stance of having such a depot for things to be " got rid of," would contribute not a little to the neatness and health of the premises. The peat, if that were used, would absorb the bad odors of whatever might be imbedded in it ; or if that were not quite suf&cient, a little plaster might occasionally be thrown over, which, together with the peat, would eflPectually pre- vent the escape of anything valuable to the compost, or poisonous to the air. 845. When the cellar is cleansed, the decaying veg- etables and other matters should be thrown upon this heap. The sweepings of the garret should be dis- posed of in the same way. If the chip-yard and the wood-house are to be cleaned, whatever is too far de- cayed to be used as fuel, and not sufficiently so to be ready for the wet land, should go to the same omnium gatherum Any bits of spoiled meat ; any brine that is to be carried out, ana is not wanted for the aspara- gus bed ; any dead animals, if not large ; the hair and bristles from slaughtered swine ; in short, whatever animal or vegetable matters are no longer fit for any other use, should be buried in this heap. MANURES. 185 846. A single pound of woollen rags is worth more for the soil than the paper-maker would give for two pounds of clean linen shreds. No one would throw away the last; the first are almost always thrown away. Their value, as compared with barn-yard ma- nure, as estimated by good judges, is as forty to one. Old boots and shoes, could they be reduced to pow- der, would be the very b^st of fertilizers ; but as they cannot, and as they are slow to be decomposed, the best thing to do with them is to put them into the bottom of the holes in which trees are to be set, or under an asparagus bed, if one is to be prepared ; or what is still better, they may be dug in about the roots of grape-vines. Those accumulations of scraps and parings of leather, which are seen by the shops of shoemakers and harness-makers, are valuable for the same purpose, especially for preparing the ground for grape-vines. Under an asparagus bed or a grape- vine, they act as a slow and constant feeder to the plants, lasting many years. 847. No dead animal, as a cow or a horse, should ever be drawn ofP and left to pollute the air. Bury it so deeply on the surface of the ground, with loam, that no effluvia will escape, and in a year the whole pile of earth thus thrown up, say 10 cart-loads, will be equal to the best barn-yard manure. If a little lime be put around the animal, and a bushel or two of ashes mixed with the earth as thrown on, the whole heap will become a great nitre-bed. Every particle of earth in the whole mass, and it may be large, will become impregnated with nitrate of lime 186 MANURES. and nitrate of potash (saltpetre), which will render it an excellent manure. 348. Bones, consisting, as before stated, of phos- phate of lime, carbonate of lime, and gelatine (glue), possess great fertilizing powers. In England, they are used very much for the turnip crop, and are regarded as an excellent means of preparing the ground for whatever crop is to succeed. There they are often ground to different degrees of fineness. If very fine, they act powerfully, but not for a long time ; if coarse, their action is gradual, but very lasting. Prof John- stone informs us that as applied to pastures about 25 years ago, their action is still most distinctly seen ; that in some cases pastures then dressed with bones, now rent for twice as much as others side by side and equally good by nature, which have had no bone- dressing. 349. Another mode in which bones are managed in England, and by some in our country, is to dissolve them in sulphuric acid. If put into a large tub, and moistened with about one-third their weight of sul- phuric acid, diluted with five or six times as much water, the acid being sprinkled on a little at a time for several days, they will settle down into a salvy mass, which mayl^e mixed with dried peat or loam, and put into the hill, or be sown broadcast and har- rowed in. This is an excellent manure for turnips, Indian corn, or wheat 350. Where few bones are to be had, as in ordinary # MANURES. 187 families, a less troublesome way of preserving and ap- plying them is to dissolve them in moistened ashes. Take some large cask, as a sugar hogshead, set it in a cool place, a little away from any building, and out of the sun ; into this, put bones enough to cover the bottom over four or five inches deep ; throw upon the bones an equal quantity of strong, unleached ashes ; wet the ashes with as much water as they will hold without leaching ; then, from time to time, as bones accrue in the family, throw them into the cask ; cover them with ashes, and wet the ashes as before. If this process be commenced in May, and continued till planting time the next year, the bones will then be ready for use, except that a few near the top will not be fully dissolved. These may be put into the bottom of the cask for the following year. The rest will have become soft, and may be shovelled out with the ashes, and with the addition of a few more ashes, in a dry state, will crumble into a powder. They have been applied, when prepared in this way, to Indian corn, several years in succession, and found to produce an excellent effect. The explanation is as follows : the alkalies of the ashes withdraw the oily part of the bones, combining with it and forming soap. The structure of the bones is thus broken up, and they are readily bruised to pieces. 351. Some have adopted the practice of burning the bones, and then bruising into a fine powder. This is the least troublesome way, but it is attended with the disadvantage that the organic portion, mostly gelatine, amounting to about one-third of the whole, is thus 188 MANURES. lost ; whereas, if thej are dissolved in ashes, and lept I'wt, the organic part all remains. The cask may be left open at the top, and the falling rain will generally afford just about as much water as is wanted, but in long, dry spells more should be added ; since, if the bones become dry, they not only become hard, instead of dissolving, but they emit offensive odors, and thus lose nearly all their organic part, nearly the same effect being produced upon them in this respect as by being burnt. 352. Of foreign fertilizers, as guano, bones of cattle from Central America, nitrate of soda (often called soda- saltpetre), from South America, and various others,. I shall not speak in this work ; nor shall I dwell on those more portable manures beginning to be prepared and sold in our own country, as poudrette, prepared from the night-soil of cities, phosphate and superphosphate of lime, made principally from the bones of animals, oyster-shell lime, and others. 853. I have already commended the enterprise of the men engaged in this business, as affording a chan- nel through which the sources of fertility, ever flow- ing from the country to the city, may flow back again whence they came. The time will come when nearly all the mineral elements in the hay, grain, and roots, brought to the city, and a large portion of the organic elements, will find their way back to the country ; those in a heavier form, to farms near the city ; and those lighter for transportation, to farms more remote. Population will increase ; there will be new facilities MANURES. 189 for transportation ; and the very sewers of Philadel- phia, New York, and Boston, will empty themselves into the country, as those of London and Paris are now doing. 354. Whether the farmer can yet purchase and transport his manures from a distance with remune- rating returns, is for him to decide. He should read his agricultural papers ; he should be awake on the subject, and when it is proved to his sober judgment, that these manures will increase his annual profits, he should use them. 355. Till then, let him husband his home resources. On these, as what I consider his great if not his only resources, I have thought proper to dwell. In doing so, I have touched upon topics which, to the fastidious, may seem out of good taste. To me nothing seems in. had tastej or undignified^ which can, by possibility, ad- vance the great interest of agriculture. 356. With regard to the home means for recruiting lands, the rule is, that nothing be lost. Let but this be carried out, and our farms will be fertile. Almost every farm affords the means of increasing its own fertility, if they can only be applied. Correct pro- cedure, in this respect, cannot fail of its reward. The farmer who fails here, I repeat, will fail throughout; and the one who manages this matter rightly^ WILL SUCCEED. Heave up your peat, your swamp muck, your rich loam, if you have notliing better; have it always in readiness, improving by age; use it everywhere OQ 190 MANURES. your premises without stint, as I have described, only using more if you please ; and, depend upon it, you will reap far more than 6 per cent., or 12 either, on the cost of the labor. 857. It is not more certain that a snow-ball, in thawy weather, will grow by rolling down hill, than that good farming — -feeding the land well — tends to bet- ter ; and that had farming — starving the land — tends to worse. The good farmer always grows a better far- mer as life advances. I have seen this out and out. He gets a fair profit on his crops, and an additional re- ward in the increasing value of his lands. The bad farmer gets but a small profit on his crops, and loses that in the diminished value of his land. Poor and discouraged, why should he not grow a worse farmer ? It is the very tendency of his course. It is hardly possible that he should make any other progress than from bad to worse — poor manuring, poor crops, a poor farm, and a poor man. Well, he must turn over a new leaf; and the very starting point of good farming lies in the generous husbandry and plentiful applica- tion of the home manures. This consideration, so im- portant, as I view it, has made me unwilling to leave this subject sooner. CHAPTER YI. PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE RECAPmrLATION. 358. In former portions of this work, I have dwelt somewhat upon the chemistry of common objects^ hoping that such knowledge as I have endeavored to impart may be of some use to such as have not time to pur- sue the subject further. I have spoken briefly of the geological formation of soils, believing that the farmer, as he ploughs his fields, drains his lowlands, or looks after his herds over hill and dell, and along babbling streams, may pursue these thoughts with pleasure and profit. I have also spoken of plants and animals, of their relations to each other ; of the latter as the con- sumers of the former's produce, paymasters for what- ever crops he produces. Of manures, as one of the returns which animals make for their food and care, I have spoken at length, as I supposed the importance of the subject required. It remains to apply what- ever of science may have been brought into notice to practical agriculture. 192 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. LAND— OWNERSHIP. 859. In most of the European countries, land is not owned hy those who work it. The farmer, for the most part, holds his land on a lease of only a few years* continuance. A strong incentive to permanent im- provement is therefore taken away ; for, if the farmer makes ever so great improvements, he may not reap the benefit of them beyond the brief term of his lease. 360. Happily, it is otherwise in our country. Here the landlord and the tenant are one and the same. If he abuse his land for the sake of present income, he, and not another, is the loser. If he manage it with a wise reference to future productiveness, he, and not some hated landlord, is the gainer. In no country on earth is there so little apology 'for ''skinned farms;" and yet such farms are everywhere seen. 861. About as much labor is expended as will suf- fice to take off what grows spontaneously. We see buildings, the wear and tear of thirty j'ears excepted, what they were when the occupant was a young man. There are few or no permanent fences ; the boulders about the premises lie where the drift agency left them ; the annual produce is small, and growing less ; the children, if they inherit a little enterprise from some remote ancestor, are all gone to the city or to the great West ; and the farmer himself, if not pre- paring to go the way of all the earth, is at least pre- paring his farm to be left without regret. PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 193 362. In the name of common sense, why did he not double, instead of halving its value ? He might have done it, and yet worked no harder, "scrimped" his family less, and been in all respects much more of a man. A little improvement each day of thirty years would have made his farm a thing to be proud of, and would have secured him a comfortable income in old age. This man failed to comprehend and to sustain the true dignity of an American owner of land. 363. Other farms are managed as if the owner were conscious that he is the owner of the increased value of the farm as well as of its annual products. The earth is grateful for such treatment; and the man who manages thus makes '' his mark" on the world — marks the portion which falls to him with beauty and fruitfulness. PERFECTION OF CROP-GROWING. 364. The perfection of crop-growing would be, that the farmer should know precisely what his soil con- tains and what his crop requires, and then apply such manures, and in such quantities, as would supply de- ficiencies, and no more. By less than supplying defi- ciencies, he diminishes the crop ; by more than sup- plying them, he diminishes other crops, which should have taken the surplus manure ; and let it be observed, that in either case he diminishes the amount of ma- nure on that farm for all future years. It should be considered that a load of manure, well applied this year, begets a load next ; that another the third ; and 194: PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. I SO on perpetuall}^ It is on this principle that some farms which twenty years ago gave 100 loads, now give but 50 ; while others which then gave 100, now give 200.. Good management has doubled the amount in one case, and a lack of good management has halved it in the other. In one case it has been com- pound interest in ; in the other it has been compound interest out The owners, with few exceptions, are to-day rich or poor accordingly. B65. This shows the importance of so applying ma- nure that it will progressively beget its like. It shows also that the perfection of crop-growing, the thing to be aimed at, is, as above stated, to know the deficien- cies of the soil, the wants of the crop, and the ingre- dients of manures, and to apply the manures accord- ingly. PERFECTION NOT ATTAINABLE. S6Q. In the present state of knowledge such perfec- tion is not attainable. Scientific investigation and practical experience are slowly, but surely, advancing our knowledge. Knowledge applied to agriculture will render attainable that which is now unattainable. At present we must proceed by such light as we now enjoy — must think it much if we can approximate what posterity will attain. ANALYSES OF SOILS. 367. A great difference exists between an exact PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 195 analysis and what may be called an examination of soils. An exact chemical analysis, one that shall de- tect all the ingredients of a soil, and report them in their true proportions, can be made by a profound analytical chemist only. He must have studied pro- foundly, and practised with a patience that few pos- sess. Probably there are not yet twenty men in the whole world who can do it reliably. An examination of soils is a very different thing. Almost any one can do something of this. An observing farmer can hardly walk across a field without forming an esti- mate of its value. His estimate will, in most cases, be very nearly correct ; and let it be observed, that the better he can judge of a soil by a partial examina- tion, the better he is prepared for his profession. The better his judgment in this respect, the less likely will he be to expend labor in vain, or without an ade- quate return. THE CHEMIST ALONE CAN ANALYZE SOILS- THE PARMER CAN EXAMINE THEM. 868. The farmer should be advised, therefore, tc leave the analysis of soils to the chemist, assured that great good will come from it to his profession, when- ever it can be done reliably^ by State patronage, or at such reduced cost as he can afford to meet. In the mean time, he should be encouraged to examine soils, and to cultivate the most accurate judgment possible of their capabilities. That good judgment, which I have already ascribed to farmers, with regard to the 196 -PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. capability of soils, may be aided by attention to tlie following paragrapbs. HOW^ TO ESTIMATE A FARM. 869. In order to make my observations as practical as may be, I will suppose that I were about to pur- chase a farm. Let it be supposed to be at a fixed price, and my only question to be, can I afford to give that price? 370. In the first place, I would examine that farm, just as the plainest farmer in the country would. I would inspect the crops now on the farm. I would as- certain what had been done to make them what they are. I would inquire what amount of stock had been kept on the farm for years past ; what had been the character of the stock ; whether the farm is well watered ; whether it has sufficient wood and fencing stuff; whether the buildings are in good condition ; if not, what amount of money would make them such as would satisfy me; whether the land slopes to the south, north, east, or west, or is level ; whether it is adapted to the kind of husbandry which I have most in view ; how it is situated with relation to a village, to water power, and to market. VARIETY OF SOILS— NAMES. 871. If these, and similar questions, were satisfac- torily settled, I would ascertain whether the farm was PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 197 made up of one or many soils. If one kind prevailed through the whole, it might be worth while to procure an analysis, as in that case a single analysis would ap- ply to the whole farm ; whereas, if there were various kinds of land, several analyses would be required, and the expense would be greater. 372. If all the varieties of soil were found on this farm, we should have, according to a classification, re- commended by Professor Johnstone, and now pretty generally adopted : — 1. Pure clay, from which no sand, or not more than 5 per cent, can be washed ; containing about 60 per cent, of silica, combined with about 40 of alumi- na, as silicate of alumina. 2. Strong clay soil, suitable for brick, containing from 6 to 20 per cent, of silicious sand. 3. Clay loam, having from 20 to 40 per cent, of fine sand. 4. Loam, containing from 40 to 70 per cent, of sand. 5. Sandy loam, having from 70 to 90 per cent, of sand. 6. Sandy soil, having upwards of 90 per cent, of sand. 7. Peat, black vegetable matter, similar to swamp muck, except that it is filled with partly decayed roots and stems of plants. 8. Swamp muck, black, fine, similar to the last, but containing less, of partially decayed matter. 373. Soils may be distinguished according to this classification in the following manner : — Take 100 grains of soil, dried on white paper, at a temperature as high 10S PRACTICAL AGKICULTURE. as can be, without scorching the paper ; boil it a few minutes; then, after allowing it to settle about one minute, turn off the water with the light clay sus- pended in it ; add more water, stir it, let it settle as before, and turn off again ; after repeating the opera- tion several times, dry and weigh ; what remains in the kettle is sand. Should nothing remain, or anything less than 5 grains, it belongs to the first class above, namely, pure clay. This, however, is seldom found, and if found, is valuable for other than agricultural 'purposes. If from 5 to 20 per cent, remains, it is of the second class, a strong clay soil. Such a soil as this would be too stiff to cultivate without amendment. It might be amended by mixing sand with it ; and might itself be valuable for amending sandy soils, if such lay near it, so that the farmer could cart back and forth from one to the other. If from 20 to 40 per cent, of sand were found in the kettle, the soil would be of the third class, a clay loam; if from 40 to 70, a loam; if from 70 to 90, a sandy loam; if from 90 upwards, a sandy soil. Peat and swamp muck may be readily dis- tinguished by the eye. These last cannot strictly be regarded as soils; they are collections of vegetable . matter, more or less decayed ; but as both are found to considerable extent, it seemed convenient to arrange them, as above, with soils. CAPABILITIES OF A FARM. 374. If all these varieties of land were found on the tarm I am speaking of, I should consider it the more valuable, because then the various parts of it would PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 199 furnish the means of amending other parts. It may be asked, why not purchase a farm which is good throughout, and needs no amendment ? The answer is, that such farms are seldom found, and when found, the price is not such that every one could command them. On the other hand, there are many farms, at a compa- ratively low price, on which are facilities for makicig improvement, at a cost far less than the real value of the improvement. 375. For instance, there may be on the farm I am looking at a ten-acre slope of land, with the best possible exposure, and a good strong soil, but producing little, because turf-boiHid and too stony to cultivate. I may perceive that along the foot of this slope, adjoining the highway, is an old rickety, fallen-down fence ; that the stones, which are now in the way of the plough, are well adapted to making a heavy, durable wall in the place of the old fence ; that they would need to be removed but a few rods, and that down the hill ; and this slope may be so situated, that the manuring of it from the barn-yard would be a down-hill, easy process. It might be very clear, that by running a substantial wall along the foot of this slope, 50 rods, at an expense of 2 dollars a rod, and thus using up the stones on and in the soil, I can make every acre worth 20 dollars more than is now asked for it. If so, the improvement would cost one hundred dollars, but would be worth two hundred, when made. 376. Again, there might be on this farm a five-acre deposit of swamp mud, nearly covered with water, 200 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. and producing nothing of any value. It might ap- pear that by digging a deep ditch no great distance, the water might be drawn off and the land made ex- ceedingly fertile. It might appear also that the mud which would be taken out, would be worth all the labor, to amend an adjoining patch of sandy 3oil, and that the sand might be brought with great advantage, by the returning team, to the low land. In this case, an improvement could be made at an expense far less than its v/orth. ^7. On another part of this farm might be a de- posit of pure clay, and near by a plot of sandy loam, an easy soil to work, and giving moderate crops, but not having sufficient consistency to hold manures. A few loads of clay would give it the requisite consis- tency. There is many a sandy loam which would be benefited more by ten loads of manure and ten of clay than by twenty of manure, because the clay enables the soil to hold the manure, whereas, if manure be ap- plied alone, it escapes into the subsoil and into the air. This I suppose to be one of these cases, and it is evi- dent that an amendment can be made at a cost less than its value. 878. There may be on another part of the farm a sandy loam and a clay -soil, at no great distance from each other, one not sufficiently tenacious to render it safe to commit manure to its keeping, the other a little too tenacious to be worked comfortably. It is evident that, by exchanging a few loads back and forth, the faults of both wilt be corrected. The clay-soil will be PRACTICAL vGRICULTURE. 201 made less refractory, and the sandy loam will be made capable of holding manure, and valuable amendments will have been achieved at a trifling expense. 379. In purchasing a^arm, we should not look at it merely as it 2*5, but as it may he. We should study its capabilitiesj see how they can be developed, and count the cost^ and the probable return. 880. I have spoken of a general distribution of soils into claysj clay-soils, clay-loa'ins, loams, sandy-loam^, sands J &c. It remains to speak of their physical pro- jperties. DENSITY, OR WEIGHT. 881. It is a singular fact, that we speak of a clayey soil as heavy, and of a sandy soil as light, meaning that the first is difficidt to work, and the second easy. If we speak of them with reference to their absolute weight, the reverse is true — clayey soils are light, and sandy soils heavy. 882. A sandy soil weighs about 112 lbs. to the square foot ; *a strong clay soil, from 90 to 100 ; com- mon arable land, from 80 to 90 ; garden mould, as it is more or less rich, from 70 to 80 ; and a peaty soil, from 50 to 70. Clear peat, perfectly dry, sometimes weighs as light as 30 lbs. to the square foot. In the foregoing cases the soil is supposed to be slightly luoist. The denser a soil is, the longer will it retain its heat after sunset, or in a cold wind. A peaty soil 9* 202 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. cools as much in an hour as a clay soil in an hour and twenty minutes, or a sandy soil in two hours. FINENESS WITH WHICH SOILS ARE DIVIDED. 383. Some soils are more finely divided than others. The degrees of fineness may be compared by sifting dried soils through a coarse sieve. The finer they are the better, if their chemical composition is the same. ADHESIVENESS OF SOILS. 384. When soils are wet, they are more adhesive than when dry ; and those which are clayey are more adhesive than those which are sandy. The particles of the former adhere to each other, forming hard lumps, while those of the latter readily crumble in pieces. It follows, that of two soils, equally produc- tive, one may be cultivated at a profit, because it can be worked at a small expense ; while the other, being expensive to work, 'cannot be cultivated but at a less profit. POWER OF ABSORBING MOISTURE. 385. This quality of soils may be compared by dry- ing a quantity of different soils, and then exposing them to the air. If you dry a soil as dry as it can be made, by spreading it on a piece of sheet-iron, and holding it over boiling water, or by p^itting it into an oven of about the temperature of boiling water, and then exposing it to the air, it will be found gradually to increase in weight, in consequence of the water it PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 208 absorbs from the atmosphere. Peats and clays possess this power ia the highest degree. The absorbing power of other soils — those neither peaty nor clayey — forms an important means of estimating their value. Sir Humphrey Davy found that 1,000 lbs. of soils of various qualities absorb in an hour as follows : A very fertile soil from East Lothian, - 18 lbs. A fertile soil in Somersetshire, - - - 16 " A soil worth 453., - - - - - 13 " A sandy soil worth 28s., - - - - 11 " Coarse sand worth los., - - - - 8 " Heath soil worth Httle or nothing, - - 3 ** By means of this absorption of water during the night, a portion of the moisture, which plants lose by perspiration in the day-time, is restored to them through their roots. POWER OP CONTAINING "WATER. 386. If we put different soils upon a fine strainer, previously saturated with water, and then let water fall upon them, drop by drop, till it begins to run through and fall below, we shall find that some will contain a much larger amount of water than others. According to Prof Johnson, 106 lbs. Of dry quartz sand will hold - - - 25 lbs. Of calcareous (limy) sand, - - - - 29 " Of loamy soil, 40 " Of English chalk, 45 « Of clay loam, 50 " Of pure clay, ------ 7o " Of a peaty soil, ------ still more. 204 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. It is also found that some soils retain water much more strongly than others when exposed to a dry at- mosphere. Thus, if you should moisten a handful of dried sand, another handful of dried clay, and another of dried peat, with equal portions of water, and ex- pose them to a dry atmosphere, the sand will lose its water two or three times as fast as the clay, and three or four times as fast as the peat. CAPILLARY ATTRACTION. 387. If you thrust one end of a small glass tube into water, the water will rise inside of the tube higher than its surface on the outside. It is drawn up by the attraction of the glass, called capillary attraction. The same takes place in a sponge, which is but a collection of small tubes. If the lower part of the sponge touches the surface of -the water, the water will be drawn upward, and will fill the whole. So if a snow- ball be brought into contact with water, the same will take place. 888. This capillary attraction exists in soils. If you fill a cup with dry soil, after having made a hole in the bottom of the cup, and then place it in a broad dish containing a little water, the water will find its way upward, till it moistens the whole soil, and ap- pears on the surface, It is thus in the open field. Water in the subsoil is drawn upward by capillary attraction. If there is a surplus of water in the sub- soil, it is drawij upward \n too great quantities. PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 205 289. This should be explained! Whenever water evaporates, it carries off a great deal of heat. If a kettle of water is heated to the boiling point, 212^, it is made no hotter by fire below. Why ? Because the evaporation from the surface carries off just as much heat as the fire infuses from beneath. It is so with a field, when the subsoil is full of water. The water creeps upward to the surface, and is there evap- orated. At the moment of its being changed from a liquid to a vapor, it absorbs heat. This heat it steals away from the soil and the adjoining stratum of air, leaving the surface chill and cold. 390. If the sun shine upon such a soil, it may infuse a little more heat in the middle of the day than the evaporation carries off; but when the sun declines, the power of evaporation overmasters that of the sun, and the soil again becomes cold. Such lands are often the best in the world after being thoroughly drained, but till drained will produce nothing of much value. 391. A soil that is finely pulverized, permits the water to pass through it freely, whether upward or downward. The progress is downward after rains, and upward after evaporation. It may be laid down as certain, that the moisture in a cultivated soil is sel- dom stationary. It is always seeking, like the water in a sponge, to equalize itself throughout the mass. If you hold a saturated sponge just below a strong heat, the water in it will rise, and will nearly all escape, in the form of vapor, from the top. So it is with the soil. There falls a heavy rain. The top-soil 206 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. is more fully supplied with water than the soil below. A part of the water will slowly find its way down- ward, in order to equalize itself throughout. When it has attained something^ like an equilibrium, its tend- ency would be to remain nearly stationary, if there were a damp atmosphere and no sun. But if the sun shine, the air in contact with the soil becomes heated ; it takes moisture from the soil ; the surface becomes dry, and the water below moves upward. RELATIONS OF SOIL TO THE ATMOSPHERE. 392. Soils not only require, in order to be produc- tive, that thfe air should permeate them, but they have the power of absorbing from the air various gases, and of retaining them for the use of plants. Among these gases are oxygen and nitrogen, the principal constituents of the atmosphere ; also, ammonia, car- bonic acid, and various other gases, which are per- manently or incidentally floating in the atmosphere. 893. Peaty soils have this power of absorbing nu- tritious gases from the air in the highest degree. Hence while peat, or swamp nud, is in process of cuV' ing^ before being used in composts, it is continually growing better, not only by losing its coldness and sourness, while exposed to sun, air, and rain, but by the absorption of nutritious gases from the air. 394. Clay, next after peat, possesses this power in a high degree. Loams possess it in a greater or less PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 207 degree, according as they contain more or less clay ; and sandy soils possess it in tlie lowest degree of all. APPLICATION or MANURES 395. From what has now been said, it will be seen, that when we spread peat, swamp mud, or fermented manures upon our soils, we not only supply them with organic matter, but we give them that which enables them to draw more from the atmosphere for the ben- efit of our plants. 896. It will also be seen from the above remark that when we mix clay with a sandy soil, we not only ren- der the soil more compact, more capable of holding water and manures, but w^e make it capable of ab- sorbing nutritious gases — a power which it before lacked. 897. But suppose such a farm as I a little while ago described were now purchased. The buyer is no lon- ger looking at it with reference to a purchase ; but is solving the question how he shall manage it. Sup- pose it to be in April ; and suppose the purchaser to be in such circumstances that it becomes necessary to make the farm produce the means for its own improve- ment. He cannot make them all at once. It must be a gradual operation, of many years. He finds the buildings out of repair, the fences down, the manure to be put upon the land, ploughing, sowing, planting, hoeing, haying, and summer harvesting, all just be- 208 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. fore him. Permanent repairs and all great improve- ments must give place for a while to the ordinary op- erations of growing and securing crops. 398. Among the first things to be done will be, to put the manure on the land. Here great judgment is to be exercised. We will suppose that there is a quan- tity of green manure about the stable windows, con- sisting almost wholly of the solid excrements of ani- mals. The liquid excrements have probably run to waste. Such is yet the practice on most farms. Farmers have not learned that by losing the liquids of the barn and yard, they lose the most valuable part. We will suppose also that there is a quantity of yard-manure, consisting of the excrements of ani- mals ; peat, swamp mud, road-scrapings, brought to the yard the fall before ; and such coarse hay, straw, and stalks, as may have been trodden down the past winter. If the former occupant were not a miserable farmer, he will find also a quantity of partly artificial manure, composed of say one-third excrements of ani- mals, and two-thirds peat, swamp mud, road-scrapings, &c., together with a few ashes, and a little plaster and salt, now all composted together and fermented by a slow process into a rich, black, carbonaceous mass, quite as valuable as clear barn-yard manure. He will be likely also to find a quantity of hog-manure, a few loads of settlings about the sink, and a load or two of night-soil. These are an important part of his capi- tal, on which to work the first summer ; and if he is a wise man, he will take good care to double this part of "his capital for the second year. PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 209 399. Now it is manifest that if he knew the exact deficiencies of his soils and the exact ingredients of these manures, he could appropriate them to the best possible advantage. This, however, he does not know ; and in the present state of knowledge,' he cannot. But it is evident, that if he has been an observing man, he can appropriate them, on the ground of an enlightened judgment, made up bj experience, so that thej will make him twice the return they would if thrown out at random. This last may seem to some extravagant, but it is true nevertheless. Some farmers, for years, have not only made twice as much manure as others^ with equal means^ hut have so appropriated it, as to get twice the return for the sam,e amount^ thus quadru- pling the actual return for the whole. 400. Now what shall the farmer do with these ma- nures ? We will begin with the solid excrements un- der the stable windows, premising, however, that there ought to have been none such, for there ought to have been mixed with the manure in the stables at least an equal amount of dried peat or something of the kind, by which all the liquid would have been ab- sorbed, instead of running away into the ground. We might go farther, and say that there ought to have been a barn cellar, in which all the manure, solid and liquid, together with as much dried peat, mud or rich loam, should have been finely composted together, and that a little plaster should have been thrown on, from time to time, to check the too rapid fermenta- tion and to fix the ammonia, thus bringing the ma- nure into the right state to be used, exactly at the 210 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. right time to use it. By such management its value might have been doubled at least. GREEN STABLE MANURE. 401. But our farmer, on his new place, has to take things as he finds them. All experience teaches that this green manure is more valuable to compost with cheaper materials than to use as it is. But he cannot do everything at first as he would, nor as he will bj- and-bje. He may conclude to use half of this stable manure as it is, and to reserve the other half to com- post during the summer. 402. If he were to put the half to be now used into a sandy soil, or a light loam even, valuable portions of it would escape into the air. If he put it on the surface of mow-land, there is danger that at will dry up, that too much of it will evaporate, and that the rest will be rather in the way of the scythe, than pro- fitable to the crop. This latter mode of applying it would result well if the season should be warm and wet; but as this is always doubtful beforehand, the application would at best be too uncertain. He should rather apply it to plough-land, but to such as is clayey, or at least a heavy loam, in which case its virtues will be held in the soil ; and such, portions as are not ex- hausted by the first crop will be retained for the use of future crops. Stable manures, uncomposted, yield a large amount of nutritious gases ; and there is hard- ly a more important principle in agriculture, than to put them into soils which have a sufficient retaining PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 211 power to nold them for the use of crops, instead of letting them escape into the air. Sandy soils and light loams are not equal to the trust. Within my own ob- servation, 80 loads of green manure were ploughed into an acre of sandy loam in the spring of 1850. It gave 45 bushels of corn. On the same acre, 30 loads of similar manure were ploughed in, in the spring of 1852. The crop was estimated at 45 bushels, making 90 bushels both years, worth considerably less than the 60 loads of manure ; and the worst part of the story is, that the land was not much amended ; it would hardly produce another crop, without more manure. On similar lands I have seen better corn grown, with 7 loads of such manure, composted with twice its amount of peat, and the land essentially amended for years to come. BARN-YARD MANURE. 403. With regard to the coarser barn-yard manure, it contains, in the substances, mixed with the excre- ments, that which is adapted to retain the nutritious gases of the latter. It may therefore with less waste be applied, if not too coarse, as a dressing to grass- lands, or harrowed into plough-lands. If it be thrown up into heaps, a few days beforehand, and slightly fermented, and a little plaster be added to prevent the •Bcape of ammonia, it will be more than enough better to pay the extra expense. COMPOST. 404. The composted manure, if he were so fortunata 212 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. as to find any left by the former occupant, would be good for almost any kinds of land. It might be used as a dressing to mow-lands, or be harrowed into light- ish plough-lands, or put into hills for corn. It would be best, however, not to apply it to land of a character similar to that from which a large portion of it had been taken. If it was of peat, it would not be well to put it on a peaty soil ; or, if it was made in part of swamp mud, it would be bad policy to put it back upon a swampy portion of the fiirm. As it consists of course largely of vegetable matter, it would do more good on a sandy or loamy soil, in which organic matter is deficient. HOG MANURE— SINK SETTLINGS— CHIP MANURE. 405. As hog manure is known to act very quickly, and is liable to fail towards the last of the season, it would seem reasonable that it should be mixed with other kinds that operate more slowly, that the mix- ture might have the advantage both of acting quickly and permanently. The same remark applies to horse manure. It is better that both should be mixed with other manures. 406. The settlings about the sink are particularly rich in a few ingredients. More benefit therefore might be expected from mixing them with other ma- nures, so that they would cover a larger space, than by concentrating them on a small patch. If chip ma- nure should be found on the premises in large quan- tities, as sometimes happens, it should either be spread PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 213 on moderately wet mowing, in which there is little peat or black mud; or it may advantageously be ap- plied to potatoes in the hill, especially if the land be not very well supplied with organic matter. In either of these cases — on wettish mow-land, or in the hills of a potato field— it will give an excellent return. NIGHT-SOIL. 407. Night-soil should be removed to the land every spring. Its value, as a fertilizer, is greatly increased, if mixed with 6 or 8 times its bulk of dried peat or swamp mud. Its value would be still more increased, if the peat or mud, in a dry state, could have been thrown in with it daily, or once in a few days during the pre- vious year ; and this either with or without (better with) a little plaster, would have prevented the bad smell from that source, which is too often noticed about premises. Poudrette can be prepared in this way at little expense, and quite as effective as much that is offered in market at a high price. Night-soil is valuable for grass-land and for all kinds of grain. In whatever form it is used, it should be spread thinly over a large surface, rather than be put in large quan- tities in one place. " 408. There is another article to which the last re- mark applies with great force. It is old plastering from the walls of rooms. This contains silicate of lime, carbonate of lime, hair, and what is of more value than all the rest, nitrate of lime. This last is a very soluble salt, and is so valuable for any of the 214 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. grain crops, but more especially for Avheat, that not a particle of it should be lost. Every ounce of old plas- tering should be put upon the field. Even the rubbish of old brick walls should be pounded up and put upon the land. But this and old plastering should be spread thinly over a large surface. Probably a ton of either, if mixed with a compost that was to cover 5 acres, would benefit the first year's crop more than 5 tons spread on a single acre. 409. Whether the new occupant of this farm should go largely into the use of plaster is a question for him to settle on the ground. He should, at any rate, have some on hand to use about his manures. There is a strong presumption in favor of plaster on a farm upon which nothing is known of its effects by experience. He should inquire of his neighbors. If their testimony is against the use of plaster in that region, let him not believe it, but let him make the trial for himself. He may make it on a small scale at first, so as not to injure him much if it fails. If, on the other hand, the testimony of the neighborhood is favorable to the use of plaster, he might take it as undoubted. A hundred neighborhoods have testified falsely against the use of plaster in their particular location, to where one has over-estimated its value. Very few are the locations where plaster is not worth the purchase-money or more. 410. It is very true that plaster cannot be relied upon alone. It is not a manure in the fullest sense of the word. It contains but two ingredients, and those PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 216 are not all that plants need. Plants could not grow in plaster alone^ but that does not prove that they should have none. The truth is, it acts partly as a ma- nure — feeding the plants with its sulphuric acid and lime, the very ingredients which clover, corn, pota- toes, and some other crops largely require — and partly as a stimulant — hastening, by its lime, the decay of vegetable matter in the soil. In other words, it feeds the plants a part of their food, and it hurries the vegetable matter in the soil to feed them more. On dry soils it performs another important office — that of attracting moisture. Some say it has not this effect. I know very well that in its unaltered state it has not. Set an open barrel of plaster in the air, and it will remain dry. But it does not long remain unaltered about the roots of plants. The sulphuric acid and the lime part company, and in their transformations they perform the three offices I have described— /eec? the plants^ con- vert half decomposed matter into vegetable nutriment^ and attract moisture from the air and from the subsoil. This last office is important on lands that are dry. On wet .lands it should not be used till they have been tho- roughly drained. 411. Plaster will not do well permanently without other manure. It requires that organic matter should be present. In pastures this is supplied by the drop- pings of the cattle and by the decay of grass roots. On mowings it should be supplied by top-dressings , and on plough-lands by harrowing in manure. It would be as unreasonable to complain of plaster because it will not act well always without other manure, as to 216 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. find fault witli roast-beef because it does not afford a suitable diet without other food. The same might be said of ashes. Land dressed with ashes alone, will soon be found in a sad condition ; and yet the potash, soda, and lime they contain, are worth far moie for agricultural purposes than the price generally allowed by soap-boilers. Their alkaline salts act fa- vorably upon the silicates in the soil ; they render in- soluble silica soluble^ and are therefore valuable on up- lands ; while on peaty lands, if well drained, and on any lands, which abound in inert vegetable matter, their value is very great. DEEP PLOUGHING. 412. If our farmer on his new farm has disposed of his manures, provided his summer's stock of fael, and made such repairs as are absolutely necessary in tha outset, he will now find himself in the business of ploughing and getting in his seeds. The limits of thit work will not allow me to follow him through his sum- mer's career. A few things, however, I am not willing to pass in silence. One is the matter of ploughing. 413. From what was said on the subject of capillary attraction, we derive important rales with regard to ploughing. The upward and downward movement of the water extends far into the ground, if there is no impervious stratum. If there is a stratum near the surface, through which water cannot, pass freely, an important process of nature favorable to vegetation is impeded. Th-' water of excessive rains should pass . PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. ^^17 off without obstruction into the earth, and the upward flow of water, after evaporation, should be unimpeded, in order to supply the surface soil after a drouth. All who have tried deep ploughing have become satisfied that their fields are dryer for it in rainy weather, and moister in dry weather. This accords perfectly with the principles now explained. There may be soils lying on so porous a subsoil that it would be well to cultivate shallow. The farmer must look to this. In extreme cases, he may find a subsoil so open and po- rous that to stir it might be like knocking the bottom out, to let his top-soil fall into the earth and be lost among coarse pebbles. 414. Whenever the soil is deep and the subsoil com- pact, there can be no doubt that deep ploughing is greatly beneficial. If plants can have ten inches of loosened soil into which to thrust their roots for food, they are like a herd of cattle in a pasture of ten acres ; while if they have but five, they are like the same herd confined to a five-acre lot. 416. On all ordinary soils, ploughing should be at least ten inches deep ; and then, if the soil below that depth appears hard and compact, especially if there is anything like a shell or crust, through which water cannot pass freely, it should be stirred with the sub- soil plough as much deeper. The water can then pass up and down freely. All danger from excessive rains is removed, because the water readily passes away from the roots of plants ; and all danger from drouth is removed, or nearly all, because the water will freely 10 218 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. pass upward by capillary attraction ; and it should be remembered that every particle of water which rises towards the surface, comes loaded with salts, which it brings from deep in the earth and deposits within reach of the roots of plants. Water so rising is never pure. If it enters the roots of plants, it carries salts along with it. If it evaporates, it leaves its salts be- hind, having brought them up no doubt in many cases from deeper in the ground than roots penetrate. 416. Thus we see that water acts not only as the drink of plants which they take in principally by their roots, but also as a carrier of food for them. It washes the air of all those impurities which would render it unfit to breathe. Falling as rain, it brings to the roots of plants, as food, whatever impurities the air contains; and then, after sinking deep in the earth, it is drawn back by capillary attraction, bring- ing with it such salts as it may have found and dis- solved by the way. 417. The free passage of the air through the soil is almost as important as that of water. These con- siderations are worthy of the attentive study of the practical farmer. They teach him how to prepare his lands for crops. There must be in the soil that which the plant requires ; and not only so, but it must be brought within the reach of the plant. Water and air are the plant's travelling agents. They must have free course ; and to this end, the soil must be deeply mellowed. It would not be extravagant to say, that after having manured your soil the best you can, you PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 219 have not put within the reach of plant-roots all that they require ; that still food is to be brought to them all the way from far above the surface Ox the field to far below it, and that water and air are the carriers. 418. There is hardly a more important principle in agriculture than the one I have now endeavored to illustrate — that of deeply ploughing and finely pul- verizing the soil. A caution is, however, here neces- sary. Suppose a field has hllherto been skimmed over to a depth of only five inches. Just at the ter- mination of these five inches is what may be denomi- nated the plough-floor — that stratum of earth on. which the plough has always run, about as hard as a cart-path. Above this is a thin and exhausted soil. All below is hard, impenetrable by the roots of plants, and almost impervious to water. 419. If now the plough be put down to twice the depth before reached, and the whole ten inches invert- ed, it is manifest that the surface will be made up of soil that never saw the light before ; and that the ori- ginal top-soil will be buried at too great a depth. It would seem to be a safer course to lower the furrow one inch a year till the requisite depth were reached. In this case, the change would be less violent; the upper and lower soils would be perfectly mixed, and the whole would be thoroughly pulverized. 420. Nothing is better established than the benefit of mixing unlike soils ; as peaty with sandy or with clayey soils ; or swamp muck with any soil essentially 220 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. unlike it. Now, wherever the subsoil is different from the surface, this gradual deepening of the fur- row enables us to mix soils without the labor of trans- portation. The farmer should carefully mark the effect. If good, he should continue the practice. If bad, he should investigate the cause. It might be owing to protoxide of iron in the subsoil. Should the subsoil be of a sickly yellow, when first turned up, but afterwards turn to a reddish brown, he might con- clude that such is the case ; and he might then add to the soil a little lime, or a compost containing it, and continue the process of deepening his soil ; or should he deepen his furrows very gradually, this protoxide of iron would cease to be hurtful, merely by exposure to the air. v 421. A deeply cultivated soil — one properly amend- ed, if not originally good and well manured,"* is a lab- oratory in operation — at work for the owner's benefit. By means of the silica and alumina, its chief ingre- dients, it affords a safe anchorage for his plants ; its salts and organic matter supply them food ; and more than this, it is at work^ drawing other food from above and below. The subsoil sends up its treasures, and the playful breezes pay it their contributions as they pass. 422. Such a soil, one perfected by diligence and skill, is in alliance with the silent and often unob- served but mighty powers of nature, for the farmer's good. It gathers from above and below for his bene- fit. It subsidizes the powers of nature in his behalf PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 221 It is thus that the God of nature rewards diligence and skill ; thus that He verifies his own truth, that " the hand of the diligent maketh rich;" 423. Another item on which I will touch briefly, is that of haying. It is important that grass be cut be- fore the seed is ripe enough to shell out, while the stalk is yet tender and juicy, and before it has changed into a tough, dry, woody fibre. Neverthe- less, there are other things on a farm quite as impor- tant. The hilling of corn, before the roots fill the whole ground, is at least as important. Indeed, it must he done then, or never. The harvesting of wheat, rye, and oats, five or six days before the seed is fully ripe, is more important ; for the grain is far better, and the straw is then valuable as a fodder, but is worth almost nothing, except for manure, if these crops are left to become fully ripe. Let the hay be cut earlier or later in July, according to its forwardness, if this can be done conveniently; but it is not so important that men should kill themselves with over-work to accom- plish it, nor that the more important matters of hoe- ing and summer harvest should be deferred. Early cutting gives better hay ; late cutting gives more ; the medium time is on the whole the best ; but the dam- age is not as great as many have estimated, if grass stands till into August. 424. I will now suppose that our farmer has done his haying and harvesting of summer crops ; that be- fore haying he made the necessary repairs on his barn and sheds ; and that since haying he has made such 222 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. repairs on his house as he deems wise to make this year. He is now casting about, conscious that he has not the means of doing everything at once, and yet desirous of doing somethiag every year for the per- manent improvement of his farm. We suppose he has not made a fortune in the city to expend in fancy farming, and has no rich father-in-law to back him up if he gets into difficulty. The best he can do will be, to do one thing at a time. He would like to attack that ten-acre lot of boulders (428). But that would not help him to the means for enlarging his manure- heaps for another year. He therefore concludes, we will suppose, to commence operations on the five-acre swamp (429). He finds it surrounded with up-land except at one end, where by digging a ditch three feet deep, for 60 or 70 rods, the water might be conveyed away. We will suppose the swamp to be of an oval form, with an outlet at the southern extremity. 425. Let him go down the outlet to a point where the ditch may be commenced, having its bottom at least four feet below the general level of the bog. If more fall could be obtained, it would be better. I suppose this bog to be afflicted with so mucb water, that it would not do to trust to a covered drain. He decides upon an open drain through the centre, three feet deep and three w4de. If possible, let this drain be straight. Supposing the whole length to be 6Q rods, the cubic feet of mud to be thrown up would be 9,801, making about 200 loads of fifty feet each. 426. This should be done by the job. First let a PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 223 trial be made. Let it be ascertained bow difficult tbe work is ; wbat obstacles interfere ; bow far tbe work will be unbealtby, &c. Then let him, if possible, give it out by tbe job. There is not a man in the world who cannot do a difficult piece of work more easily by the job than by the day. Where work can be put out in this way, it is better for both parties. 427. What shall be done with this mud ? In order to be washed of its sourness and sweetened by sun and air, it needs to lie where it is at least one year. If the owner can provide himself with other matter for composting in the intervening time, it is best to let it lie more than a year. For twenty years or more it will improve. But he wishes to clear his swamp, and be ready to put in side-drains ; to have the water ta- ken from every part, and the whole turned over witb the plough, and sown with grass-seed. Probably, therefore, he will think best to remove this mud as soon as it becomes dry enough, and the ground be- comes sufficiently hard for the feet of his cattle. It may be that this one ditch will take the water from the whole swamp. If not, which is far the more prob- able, then side-ditches should be tjut running into this. If the nature of the ground admits, these should enter the central ditch at right angles. If a greater fall can be obtained by running them a little down- wards, towards the outlet, then give them this direc- tion. But let them, if possible, be parallel with each other, and at about equal distances. These should by all means be covered drains ; should be from two to three feet deep ; and if there is likely to be a large 324 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. amount of water to carry off, they should be within two or three rods of each other. 428. There will be considerable expense attending all this. But let it be remembered that five acres of the best land are to be made out of what was before an eye-sore. If this land can be made to produce two tons of good hay to the acre, annually, without much expense for manure, the owner can afford to lay out something upon it. How shall the side -drains be made ? Suppose them to be cut two feet wide at the top, and the walls to slope inward, coming to- gether at three feet in depth, in the form of the letter y ; 1st. They may be filled with brush about two feet from the bottom, the brush be covered with turf, bot- tom upwards, and then the turf covered .deeply with the mud thrown from the ditch ; or, 2nd. They may be filled up about one foot with small pebbles, or bro- ken stones, covered as before with turf inverted, and filled to the surface with the mud thrown out ; or, 3rd. Tiles may be used. 429. Brush-drains have sometimes answered a good purpose, and have lasted many years. The coldness of the ground at such a depth prevents their decay. I do not believe, however, that the brush-drain is to be recommended. If the stone-drain is to be adopted, the stones should be very small, not much larger than hens' eggs, as otherwise the mice will work among them and fill them up. The amount of stone required for such a drain is large ; the labor of collecting them is considerable ; and, unless it be regarded as import- PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 226 ant to clear the adjoining grounds of pebbles, it could hardly be good economy to construct the stone-drain. The best of tiles, sufficiently large for these side-drains, can be purchased for a fraction over one cent a foot. If the ground is soft at the time of laying them, a piece of board should be imbedded for the ends to rest upon where they come together. They cannot fail, when properly laid, to carry off the water ; and if made of suitable clay, and thoroughly baked, they will last half a century, and even more. 430. Many lands, not considered swampy, would be greatly benefited by draining. This has been fully established by the experience of European agricultu- rists. Lands there, which a few years ago were not suspected of being troubled with water in the subsoil, have been drained; and their productiveness has been vastly increased. Probably there are great extents of land in our country, which are cold and sour, by rea- son of water in the subsoil, and which will ere long be rendered warm, light, easy to cultivate, and highly productive, by thorough- draining, RECLAIMING STONY LAND. 431. Another season, when the ordinary business of crop growing ceases to press, our farmer may attack that ten-acre slope before spoken of (428). It is now covered with boulders, and is comparatively valueless. A wall is wanted along the foot of the slope, next to the highway. It is a heavy work*to reclaim these ten acres, but considering their position, near the barn, it 10* 226 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. may be made a profitable work. Let him have all things in readiness, iron-bars, a good strong stone boat, and an able pair of cattle. This will be a sufficient team, if not more than 3 or 4 men are to be employed, as nearly every stone, if the^business be rightly man- aged, will be drawn directly down hill ; and the team work will be an entirely different thing from what it would if the wall were to be at the upper edge of the slope. Two men to lay the wall, one to go with the team, and two to dig the stones and load them on the boat, would be perhaps the best force to employ. 432. Let the size and height of the wall be calcu- lated according to the quantity of stone to be disposed of. If it were to be 5 feet above ground, from 1 to 2 below, according to the shape of the surface, 4 feet thick at the bottom and 2 at the top, the force I have described might put up just about three rods in a day, and at this rate the cost would not vary much from two dollars a rod. PROFITS OF AMENDING LANDS. 433. It should be considered that lands of this de- scription, having a favorable slope, are generally bet- ter, when cleared of stones, than those which are natu- rally feasible. There are thousands of acres in the Eastern States, which can thus be made first-rate land, at a cost, considering their nearness to market, less than their prospective value ; and it is a singular fact, but one, I believe, which cannot be disputed, that the farmers in these States, of just such lands as I have PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 227 now described, and worse even, lands in many cases so stony, that instead of a wall on one side only, you would have to build a heavy wall around every 5 acres, to swallow up the stones, are this moment richer, and more intelligent, and are educating their families bet- ter, than those on opr very best river lands. The truth is, these granite lands, when once reclaimed, fairly walled about, and thus cleared of stones, possess great capabilities. I know not but the prospects of the young man who commences on such lands, con- sidering their healthfulness and their proximity to market, are as flattering as those of one who com- mences on the richest prairies. MIXING SOILS. 434. On another part of the farm, to which I have directed attention, is supposed to be a bed of nearly pure clay, and near by it? a sandy loam. This is no uncommon occurrence. Now the sandy loam has a little fine clayey matter in it, almost enough to make a very profitable soil to cultivate, but not quite; for although it is easy to work, yet, for the want of larger crops, it does not give a satisfactory profit. Now the probability is, that if our farmer can find a time either by carting or sledding when he can draw 15 or 20 loads to the acre of the clay, and put it upon this sandy loam, he will not receive his pay as promptly as would the man who should work for him by the day, but in the end he will receive, in the increase of his crops and in the increased value of his land, far higher wages I find almost everywhere, that the men who 228 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. have made hard farms good ones, are rich. I do not find that tliey were born rich, nor that they have mar- ried rich wives^ but some how or other, they have grown rich ; and I know not how to account for it, but on the supposition that this making good land out of poor, and then raising crops on it, is a pretty well-paid busi- ness. I think it is so — that the man who snakes a poor farm better^ is better paid for his trouble than the one who makes a good farm poorer. His satisfaction, if he ever reflects on his doings, must certainly be greater. 435. On another part of this farm was supposed to be a heavy clay soil, too refractory to work with re- munerating results ; and, side by side, as not unfre- quently happens, a light sandy loam, unequal to the trust of retaining the manures committed to it. Now, if the owner should be tempted to go with his team and work for other people, at $2 a day, it may be wise ; he may need the ready pay — we suppose he knows his own business ; — but let him remember that a day's work with his team, in carrying back and forth, from one of these soils to the other, would be likely to bring him much more than $2 a day in the end. ROTATION OF CROPS. 436. The prevailing system of rotation in England is what is called the Norfolk system. It is a foui years' course — turnips, barley, clover, wheat, and then the same over. This is adapted to light soils — those called barley rsoils. It is considered that the turnip, crop, eaten off by sheep, prepares t|ie ground for bar. rRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. SSft- ley. The clover, bein^ sown with the barley, fills the ground with its roots, and thus prepares it for wheat. For heavier clayey soils, a six years' rotation is there preferred, in which wheat, oats, and beans, are made to occur as often as possible. 437. In this country, our climate is different. Un- der our scorching suns, turnips can never be grown as advantageously as in the humid atmosphere of Eng- land ; and here, Indian corn, which cannot be grown there, will always be an important crop. English usage therefore throws little light on our course. That the principle of rotation in crops ought to be adopted, there can be no doubt ; but, as yet, no very specific rules have been laid down, or, if laid down, they have not, so far as I am aware, been confirmed by practice. The composition of plants, so far as their inorganic elements are considered, is various. Some, it will be seen (Table Y.), require a large amount of certain in- gredients, while others require little of these, but draw largely upon other ingredients. We have, then, as a general rule, i/) let those which are unlike in their requirements follow each other, 438. There are other topics on which I would gladly dwell. I would gladly recall some on which 1 have spoken, with a view to repeat and enlarge, and to urge them on the consideration of practical farmers. But the limits I have assigned to myself are already more than reached. I cannot, however, close this little work without a few suggestions to that class of men, whom, if any, it is adapted to benefit. I have 230 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. spoken of farming ; let me speak a few words to farmers. TO FARMERS. 439. Yours is a nolle ]jafofession. I will not be de- terred from saying this, because so many have said it who were incapable of any just appreciation of what they were saying. Many have written and uttered it, who were much more willing that others should be farmers, than to be farmers themselves. It is true nevertheless. Yours is a noble profession. The merchant^ who brings manufactured goods to our door, and sells them at a reasonable profit, and thereby lives and enables us to live better than we could if we had to go all the way to the manufacturer for a gimlet, a plough, or a piece of calico, is doing well for the community. His is an honorable profession, and we are bound to honor him, so long as he pursues it honorably. The manufacturer^ who converts the raw material into the necessaries, comforts, and ornaments of life, and then passes them over to the merchant, to be dis- tributed to all who want, is also doing a good work. We must honor him too, so long as he produces a good article, at a fair price. If, by a life of restless enter- prise, he becomes rich, we will not envy him. The farmer^ who produces the raw material, and passes it on to the manufacturer, and through him to the merchant, and thence to the supply of all terrestrial wants, is at the foundation of the whole structure of human society. What a pity it would be, if some coxcomb, high up the grades of life, as he may PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 281 vainly conceive, should look down and scorn tlie foundation ! I can hardly forgive the man or woman who speaks slightly of the intelligence, the worth, or the social importance of farmers. The farmer ignorant ? It is impossible I He lives amid the communions of nature. The common mother of us all teaches him daily. The heavens always shine on him. How different with those, who, when^they look around, see nothing but paving-stones, dry -goods, and hardware ; and who, when they look up, see no heavens, unless they can see through brick and mortar ! The works of man fill all their thought. What wonder if they fail to wor- ship a higher God than Mammon ! The farmer com- munes ever with the works of the Almighty. What should hinder him from being a reverent learner ? He lives amid revelations. He cannot be ignorant, if he would. Away, away, ye profane ones, who speak flippantly of the farmer and his calling. Nevertheless, it must be confessed, that farmers are not always as eager for the knowledge pertaining to their profession as would be desirable. They are not destitute of important knowledge ; they cannot be ; it is impossible. But their communion with the broad folio of nature, renders their habits of thought unfavorable, and sometimes averse even, to another kind of study, which, after all, they really need, in order to the highest success in their calling. The clergyman, the doctor, the lawyer, need books on their profession ,^nd so does the farmer on his. I grant that he can learn a greater proportion of his duties without books than they, but not the whole. Tht 232 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. farmer needs books. It is difficult, if not impossible, for him to reach the top of his profession without them. I have seen with what eagerness the merchant runs over the prices current, and with what prying curiosity the manufacturer seeks out and appropriates the latest improvement in his line. I wish I could see the far- mer as eager for the best agricultural paper, as the merchant is for the best journal of commerce, or the manufacturer for the best practical machinist. If the minister, the lawyer, and the doctor, insist upon great libraries of their professions, I wish the farmer would as resolutely insist upon a small one of .his. Then would knowledge be increased; what one farmer knows all would know ; and it would be a prodigious amount. It would be a kind of knowledge that is practically useful, beneficial, not to a few, but to the whole world. iM CATECHISM OF SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGEICULTUEE. ( Questions to be answered as below, or from the sections referred to.) What is the science of agriculture ? It is the Tcnowledge of farming. What is practical agriculture ? It is the practice of farming. What is the difference ? The first is something to he learned; the second something to he done. Can the kaiming be in all cases separated from the practice f It cannot. If you were told to feed a horse, could you Jearn perfectly how to feed him without first putting your knowledge into practice ? I think I could. Let us see: 1st. You would need to know what food a horse .requires; 2d. In what form he requires it, whether long or chopped, ground or whole, raw or cooked; 3d. How often he should be fed; 4th. How much at a time;- and 5th. You would want to he quick to judge hy his appearance and action, whether you were feeding him in the hest manner. Could you learn aC these things without some practice ? All but the last. If you were told to mow a piece of meadow, could you first learn how to mow, and then afterwards mow it ? In this case I should have to unite the learning with the practice. Is it not so with most things to be done on a farm ? It is. What two things then are essential to an accomplished farmer? That he should know everything that is to be done on a farm, and he ahle to do it expertly. What would the first be called ? Knowledge, or science. What the second? Skill. Which of these is important to the hands on a farm ? The last. Which to the man who manages the farm ? Both. What does farming imply? Three things: 1st. The growing 234 CATECHISM OF of crops; 2d. The disposal of the crops; and 3d. The disposal d( those things whick are produced by the crops. How niany thiugs are to be considered in the growing of crops ? Four : the preparation of the ground ; the putting in of the seed ; the care of the plants till matured ; and the preserva- tion of the crop till disposed of. How are crops to be disposed of? Partly by sale ; partly as food for the farmer's family, but principally as fodder for his ani- mals. Why are crops to be consumed mainly on the farm ? That their ingredients may be returned to the soil, to be transformed into future crops. What are those secondary products of crops before spoken of? Beef, pork, mutton, fowls, butter, cheese, and eggs. How are these products disposed of? Partly as food for the family ; partly in barter for necessaries and luxuries not produced on the farm ; and partly by sale, for the purpose of raising money. Does the farmer raise all the animals that eat his produce, and no more ? That would be impossible ; for he does not know be- forehand how much produce he will have; and therefore he could not know how many to raise. If he should raise too many, what would he do ? He would either sell some of his animals or buy produce. If he should raise too few ? He would either sell some of his produce or buy other animals. Buying and seUing then is an important part of the farmer's business ; whom is he like in this respect ? The merchant. What kind of knowledge does he need to discharge this part of his duties well ? What would be called mercantile knowledge — a knowledge of the prices current, of the present state of the market, and of the probable changes. When the farmer manages to turn his soils and manures into crops, and these again into beef, pork, butter, and cheese, whom is he like ? The manufacturer. What kind of knowledge will best enable him to perform this part of his business ? A knowledge of soils, plants, animals, and manures. When the farmer has buildings to erect, fences to make, some implements to manufacture, and others to repair, whom is he hke? The mechanic. If then the farmer is to be a sort of a merchant, a manufac- turer to some extent, and mechanic enough to be able to employ the carpenter and the blacksmith advantageously, does not his profession require great and varied knowledge ? It does. If a profession is to be estimated by the amount of knowledge required to prosecute it in the best manner, what profession is more honorable than the farmer's ? None. In farming, as in other things, there is a best way, and there are SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 235 inferior ivoys of doing the same thing, and the profit often de- pends upon taking the right course : how would you ascertain the best way of doing something, as, for instance, to raise a ton of carrots? There are three ways in which I might learn it: 1st. By experiment; 2d. I might be told it by some one who knew; 3(i. I might learn it from hooks. The first would be a slow pro- cess ; for I might have to experiment ten years before I should hit upon the best cc arse. The second and third would be very much alike ; in either case I should get this piece of knowledge from another person, and it would be of little consequence whe- ther he communicated it through the ear or the eye. What peculiar advantage have books? This, that while we cannot command the services of a living teacher at all times, we can always command the assistance of books ; and they can teach us at odd spells, as on rainy days or winter evenings. How is the farmer to gain that extensive and varied know- ledge which we have seen that his business requires ? In the first place, he should be educated for his profession when young, as other young men are for theirs ; and in the second place, he should pursue his inquiries through life — should be a thinhing^ and, to some extent, a reading farmer. For explaining the reasons of things that are always occurring in life, and especially on a farm, what science is most important ? Chemistry. . To what extent should a farmer undertake to learn chemistry ? So far only as to enable him to understand those explanations which chemists are making for his special benefit. What other science throws considerable hght on the farmer's path ? Geology. To what other subjects should he give particular attention ? To the natural history of plants ; the nature, habits, instincts, wants, and capabilities of domestic animals ; the use of manures ; and the constitution of soils. In application to what should he study all these things ? To Practical Agriculture. CHEMISTRY. What is an element? 1. A Unary compound? 2. A ternary compound ? 3. A quaternary compound ? 3. What then does binary mean ? 3. Ternary ? 3. Quaterna- ry? 3. Give an example of an element? 4. Of a binary compound? 4. Of a ternary compound ? 4. Of a quaternary compound ? 4. In how many forms does matter exist? 5. Give an example oi^^gas? 5. Of & liquid? 5. Of & solid?. 6. Do any bodies change their form ? 6. In what circumstances 236. CATECHISM OF does water take the gaseous form ? In wha 1;, the Hquid ? 6. In what, the solid ? 6. What is chemical affinity'? 7. Of how many kinds is it? 7. What is simple affinity ? 7. Single elective f 7. Double elec- tive f 7. How is a compound to be distinguished from a mixture P 8. What bodies are said to be soluble f 9. What insoluble ? 9. What is a liquid that will dissolve a body called ? 9. What is a solution f 9. What is the great solvent in nature ? 9. Are there degrees of solubility f 10. How much quick-lime will water dissolve ? 10. How much gypsum ? 10. How much common salt? 10. What is a general law of combination? 11. Explain this? 11. What is another law of combination? 12. W^ll you explain this? 12. How many elements are known ? About 60. How many of these constitute essentially all objects with which we are conver- sant? 13. Will you give the names of those 15? 14. What is Oxygen? 15. What portion of air does it constitute? 15. Of water? 15. Of all known matter ? 15. What is Chlorine? 16. In what form might ^ it be supplied to soil? 16. For what crops ? 16. What is Sulphur? 17. What more can you say of it? 17. W^hat is Phosphorus? 18. What is it apart of? 18. How dif- fused? 18. What is car6on .^ 19. Of what does it form a part ? 19. What is silicon ? 20. What part of the solid globe does it prob- ably form ? 20. What is it in its pure state ? 20. When com- bined with oxygen ? 20. What is nitrogen? 21. What part is it of the air ? 21. What does it constitute with oxygen ? What is hydrogen? 22. How light? 22. What part of water? 22. Will it burn ? 22. Does it cause other bodies to burn ? 22. What is iron? 23. What is said of it? 23. What is manganese ? 24. How found, and where ? 24. l^hdiXis potassium? 25. What is said of it ? 25. What is sodium? 26. What is said of this? 26. What is calcium ? 27. Why are limy soils called calcareous ? 27. What is magnesium ? 28. Of what is it the basis ? 28. What is aluminum? 29. Of what is this the basis? 29. Which of the fifteen elements are gases when uncombined? 30. What of the other eleven ? 30. Which are metals proper? 31. Which are metals of alkalies? 32. '^hich. o^ alkaline earths? 32. Which are called organic elements ? 33. Why ? 33. What are the letters written after the names of substances called? 35. What is their use? What does 0 stand for? 35. CI? 35. K? 35. Na? 35. Fe? 35. SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 237 What do the figures after the symbols show? The atomie weight. See 36 and 37. What is the atomic weight of hydrogen ? 37. Of carbon ? 37. Of oxygen? 37. Of magn^^sium ? 37. ^ Of sulphur? 37. What is the lightest of all bodies ? 37 and 22. What two elements combine to form chloric acid? (See Table I.) What is the symbol for oxygen ? What for chlorine ? What will be the symbol for chloric acid, if 5 atoms of oxygen combine with 1 of chlorine to form it? What two elements combine to form sulphuric acid ? (See Ta- ble I.) How many atoms of oxygen to one of sulphur? What then shall be the symbol for sulphuric acid? The, atomic weight of oxygen being 8, and that of sulphur being 16; and 3 atoms of oxygen combining with 1 of sulphur to form sulphuric acid, what will be the atomic weight of sulphuric acid? Ans. 16-|-3x8=40. How are the compounds of oxygen with each element below it in Table I. placed? 37. How are the compounds of all the ele- ments below oxygen with each other placed '? 37. ^ What is chloride of sodium composed of? Sulphuret of iron? Sulphuret of hydrogen ? Light carburet of hydrogen ? Heavy carburet of hydrogen? Ammonia? In ammonia, how many atoms of hydrogen to 1 of nitrogen? Why is NH^ the symbol for ammonia? Why is' 17 the atomic weight of ammonia? (These symbols show what each compound is made up of They are not designed to be committed, but to be used for reference. The reader, for instance, might wish to ascertain what carbonic acid is. If he turn to this table, he will see carbonic acid, CO^ 22. The C shows one atom of carbon, 6 ; the 0", two atoms of oxy- gen 8-|-8 = 16; and so of all the other compounds, and of the salts in Table II. formed from these compounds.) How many compounds in Table I. are called acids ? 39. How many are called oxides ? 39. Why are the oxides called also bases? 39. Why are- the salts formed from these acids and bases called oxygen salts ? 40. How does the name of these salts always end ? 40. Are there other salts ? 40. If carbonic acid were combined with soda, what would be the name of the salt thus formed ? 40. If the soda should take a double portion of the acid, what prefix would precede its name ? 40. What other prefix signifies the same as bi? 40. Can you distinguish between those compounds whose name ends in uret, and the salts whose names end in ate ? 41. What is a protoxide ? 42. A sesquioxide ? 42. A perox- ide? 42. Wil), you tell me what is the composition of sulphate of iron (copperas)? 43 and Table II. Of sulphate of soda (Glauber's salt)? 43 and Table II. When water exists in crystals, what is it called ? 43. What is the -imposition of sulphate of lime (plaster, gypsum)? 238 CATECHISM OF 44 and Table II. How much water is contained in 8() lbs. of plaster ? 44. If this be heated to redness, what takes place ? 44. Could- you now look into Table II., and learn precisely how an}'' of these salts are constituted ? Will you give some account of chloric acid ? 45. Of sulphuric acid? 46. Of phosphoric acid ? 47. Of carbonic acid ? 48. How is carbonic acid constituted ? 48 and Table I. What is its form ? 48. What its weight ? 48. When first formed, what takes place ? 48. What takes place soon ? 48. What portion of the air on an average is carbonic acid ? 48. Of what do plants consist largely ? 48. Whence do they ob- tain this ? 48. How do they receive it? 48. What of the vege- tation of the globe ? 48. When vegetable matter is burnt, what becomes of its carbon ? 48. When it is eaten ? 48. When it decays ? 48. Lime-stone is carbonate of lime ; what proportion of it is car- bonic acid ? 48. What proportion oT this is carbon ? Table I. The shells of fish and coral rock are also carbonate of lime; when shells, coral and lime-stone, are burnt into quick-lime, what becomes of the carbonic acid ? 48. . What is said of volcanoes ? 48. Of some springs ? 48. Of fis- sures in the earth ? 48. What is said of the exhaustion and re-supply of carbonic acid in the air ? 48. Is carbonic acid poisonous to breathe ? 48. How much of it is there in pure air ? 48. How much in air from the lungs? 48. Why should school-rooms and churches be often ventilated ? 48. What is silicic acid ? 49. By what other name is it more com- monly called? 49. How is it composed? 49. In what two states does it exist in soils ? 49. What part does silica perform in tht growth of crops? 49. What is said of oats grown on peat, in which there is little or no silica ? 49. How much of it do we generally find in soils? 49. Of what is nitric acid composed ? 50. What is said of its salts? 50. Of old plastering ? 50. Of Chinese gardeners ? 50. What is muriatic acid composed of? 51. What was it for- merly called? 51. » What is the composition of water ? 52. Give an account of its decomposition and its recomposition ? 52. Where does the protoxide of iron often exist abundantly ? 53. Is it hurtful to plants ? 53. How may the farmer know whether his land is troubled with it ? 53. What is the cure ? 53. How do you account for that variegated film that sometimes appears on water? 53. May lime be used in such cases? 53. If ashes are applied, why should the ground be first drained ? 53. How is the sesquioxide of iron composed ? 54. How does it differ from the protoxide ? 54. What are those scales by the SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 239 blacksmith's anvil ? 54. For what are these good ? 54. How are they to be applied ? 54. What gives to some soils their red color? 54. To others their sickly yellow? 54. How can these last be cured? 54. What can you say of the peroxide, or black oxide of mtnga- nese? 55. How is potash composed? 56. What is said of its caustic power? 56. What has to be combined with potassium, to make it potash? 56. What with potash to make it carbonate of potash ? 56. What with that to make it bicarbonate ? 56. In v/hat form is it applied to land ? 56. In what form does potash exist in ashes ? 56. How much carbonate of potash is there in common wood ashes ? 56. How much soda ? 56. How much lime? 56. Will you trace sodium through its combinations up to carbo- nate of soda ? 57. To sulphate of soda ? 57. What is soda-ash ? 57. Wliat is lime ? 58. What is water-slacked lime ? How much water does it take in ? 58. What is air-slacked lime ? 58. Trace the metal calcium through its combinations ? 58. What does it form if combined with carbonic acid? 58. With sulphuric acid? 58. With silicic acid ? 58. With muriatic acid ? 58. What are those substances called which consolidate water in themselves and yet appear to be dry, as slacked lime ? 58. Magnesia is obtained from sea-water and from a species of magnesian lime-stone, called dollomite ; it exists in this lime-stone and in sea- water, as carbonate of magnesia; if the carbonic acid is driven off. what does it become ? 59. How is alumina composed ? 60. Of what is it the basis ? 60. ^ What is pure clay? 60. What is chloride of sodium? 61. Why may common salt be beneficial to corn, potatoes, and turnips? 61. How many sulphurets of iron are there? 62. What' is the bisulphuret sometimes called ? 62. ,Why? 62. How is sulphuretted hydrogen composed ? 63. It is a light, evanescent gas; where may it often be detected by its smell? 63, What is said of its influence on health ? 63. On the growth of plants? 63. What is the name of that gas which often rises in bubbles in stagnant water ? 64. Of that which is used for purposes of light- ing? 64. What experiment is mentioned in 64? What is the composition of ammonia ? 65. How is its odor recognized ? 65. Where is it generated ? 65. If left to its own course, what does it become? 65. Where does it go? 65. How is it brought back to the earth ? 65. Can its escape be arrested ? 65. GEOLOGY^ What is the form of the earth ? 66. What inference from this 240 CATECHISM OF with regard to the state in which it once was ? 66. What is its average weight? 66. How many square miles on the earth's surface? 67. How many square miles of land ? 67. How many of water ? 67. What is the height of the highest land ? 67. The depth of the deepest water? 67. The probable average height of land? 67. The average depth of water ? 67. (If we suppose the population of the globe to be 1000 million, we have 32 acres to each person ; if the population should double once in 25 years, there would be, in 200 years, 4 persons to each acre.) What is said of the crust of the earth ? 68. With what is it covered ? 68. What is the weight of the atmosphere to the square inch of the earth's surface ? 68. To the square foot ? 68. Of the whole atmosphere ? 68. What is the difference between stratified and unstratified rocks ? 69. How must the unstratified rocks have been formed ? 69. What are they called ? 69. How did the stratified rocks receive their present form ? 70. What are they called? 70. What else are they called, and why? 70. Which rocks are the older? 71. Which the newer? 71. Give the illustration? 71. Could the igneous and the aqueous rocks have been formed at the same time ? 72. Why not? 72. What classes of rocks do we find above the igneous ? 73. Give some account of the primary rocks ? 74. Of the secondary ? 75. Of the tertiary ? 76. What do we find above the tertiary rocks? 77. What is drift? 77. Where is this found? 77. Whence did it come? 77. From how far ? 77. What has been formed above the drift ? 78. By what causes ? 78. Which of the formations then is most recent? 79. Which next? 79. Which next? 79. Which next? 79. Which is the lowest of the stratified rocks? 79. On what do these rest? 79. Are there some portions of igneous rocks above and among the stratified ? 80. Whence do they seem to have come ? 80. Have we reason to beheve that the earth was created in the form in which it now is? 81. Is there reason to believe that dif- ferent portions of the earth's crust were formed at periods remote from each other ? 82. From what are all soils formed ? 83. Do we know when the drift period was ? 83. Describe its action ? 83. What of the loose materials on the earth's surface ? 84. Do soils come from the underlaying rock? 84. Whence do they come? 84. How many simple minerals constitute the mass of known rocks? 85. What are they? 85. What are the binary compounds in rocks ? 86. / , SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 24l Will you describe quartz ? 87. Felspar ? Mica ? Hornblende ? Carbonate of lime ? Talc? Serpentine ? 87. What part of the ponderable matter of the globe is oxygen ? 89. What part of its crust is silica ? 89. What is silica ? Table I. How much of its crust is alumina ? 89. What is said of potash, or potassa ? 89. Of soda,? 89. Of lime and magnesia ? 89. Of iron ? 89. Of manganese? 89. What does Dr. Dana say rocks are? 90. What is quartz? 91. Felspar and mica? 91. Hornblende? 91. Talc and serpentine ? 91. What are silicates ? Table II. What is said of the quantity of silica in soils ? Jp which rocks is there more silica? 92. In which more magnesia, alumina^and Hme ? 92. Are rocks a good criterion of soils? 92. How do soils generally produce when first cultivated? 93. On what does their continuance of fertility depend ? 93. Describe the action of a torrent in depositing its coarser and finer matter ? 94. Have other causes done the like on a larger scale ? 94. What is the consequence ? 94. Which lands should we cultivate first? 95. Is it probable that poorer lands may pSy well hereafter ? 96. What is said of reclaiming lands ? 96. By what should farm- ers be guided ? 96. Has science don'e'^any thing for other em- ployments ? 96. What science especially deserves the farmer's attention ? 97. Why ? 97. What was thrown up by the most ancient volcanoes ? 98. • What by those more recent ? 98. What by the most recent and by those now in operation ? 98. How does the temperature be- come as we descend into the earth ? 98. At what rate does it become warmer? 98. What do we infer from this? 98. At 40 or 50 miles deep what might we expect to find ? 98. What next above the lava? 98. What above the trap? 98. What above the granite ? 98. Name all the formations above the granite, beginning with the primary? 98. Do each of these last form an entire layer around the whole «arth ? 98. Explain the reasons ? 98. On what may the cultivable soil lie ? If it lies on granite, what is that region called ? 98. If on primary rocks ? 98. If on secondary ? 98. If on tertiary ? 98. If on alluvial ? 98. Of what does soil consist ? 99. What rock must it have origina- ted from ? 99. Whence did all the igneous rocks on and near the earth's surface come ? 99. What changes have befallen them from the time of their emission from the earth ? 99. What has been mingled with them, to form a soil fit for cultivation, containing the organic as well as the mineral ingredients ? 99. Do we know all the agencies by which the Almighty prepared the soil for man ? 99. What were some of his agents ? 99. Did Grod make the earth a garden ? 99. What did he make it capable ot becoming by human agency ? 99. 11 242 CATECHISM OF Why have not rural employments been held in the highest honor ? 100. What employment is most conducive to rationa. enjoyment and long life ? 100. How did the Creator intend that the farmer should thrive ? 100. How has He therefore made his employment? 100. Chemically considered, what is the difference between good soils and poor ? 101. Does a soil which the Creator has perfected by those protracted agencies before spoken of, contain the elements in Table I. ? 102. Is it almost wholly made up of them 1 102. Do they exist in it in their elementary state ? 102. Do the binary compounds mentioned in Table I., either exist in soils, or in some way contribute to their fertility? Table I.#nd 103, 104, &c. What is sulphuric acid ? Tables I. How much of this might be expected to be found in a good soil ? 103. In what state? 103. What is phosphoric acid ? Table I. aad 47. How much of this might we expect to find in a good soil? 103. In what state? What do you say of carbonic acid in soils ? 104. Of silicic acid ? 105. Of nitric acid? 106. Of water? 107. How does the food of plants enter them ? 107. How much oxygen will water ab- sorb or dissolve in itself? 107. How mflch nitrogen? 107. How much hydrogen ? 107. How much carbonic acid ? 107. How much ammonia ? 107. What does water do with these gases? 107. What other substances does water dissolve and carry into plants ? 107. How does the excess of water then leave the plant? 107. What benefit in irrigating with pure water? 107. What extra benefit in irrigating with impure water? 107. How may such irrigation be considered? 107. What is said of the oxides of iron in soils ? 108. Of the oxides of manganese? 109. Of potash? 110. Of soda? 111. Of lime? 112. Of magnesia? 113. Of alumina? 114. Of chloride of so- dium ? 115. Of sulphuret of iron ? 116. Of sulphuret of hydro- gen? 117. Of light carburetted hydrogen? 118. Of ammonia? Do these binary compounds exist as such in soils ? 121. If not, how then ? 121. What do you understand by the inorganic part of a soil ? 122. What by the organic part ? 122. A stick of oak wood contains about 98 parts of organic matter to two of inorganic ; if you burn it, where does the organic part go ? Into the air. What becomes of the inorganic part ? It falls down as ash. What four elements constitute organic matter? 122. Why are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, called organic elements ? 33. As vegetable matter decays, does it form organic acids ? 122. How many ? 122. What are the names ? 122. What other or- ganic acids are mentioned ? 123. What is the composition of acetic acid (vinegar)? 123. What of oxalic acid (C^O^) ? 123. If oxalic acid should combine with potash, soda, hme, or some SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 243 other base (Table III.), what salts would it form ? Oxalate of potash, oxalate of soda, &c. Do all these acids form salts with the bases in a similar way ? They do, and they are named from the acid, changing its ending into ate, and the base ; as oxalate of lime, acetate of potash, &c., &;c. PLANTS. What do you say of the well-matured seed ? 124. Of the em- bryo ? 125. What further of the embryo ? 126. Of what does the germ consist? 127. What is the office of the leaves ? 127. Of the roots ? 127. Do plants choose their food ? Illustration 1 127 and 128. What are the essentials of germination ? 129. Whence does the plant derive its first food ? 129. When does a plant hate, and when love ;the light ? 130. Will you repeat what are the essen- tials of germination? 129. When these are supplied, what takes place? 131. Explain this evolution of heat? 131 and 132. Is acetic acid (vinegar) formed in the seed ? 133. For what Eurpose ? What other substance is formed ? 133. What power as diastase? 133. Is there sugar in the seed? 133. What is turned into sugar ? 133. What takes place in cooking flour? 134. Explain? 135 and 136. During germination, what do seeds ab- sorb, and what emit ? 137. What takes place afterwards ? 137. Why is this? 137. What reflection may we make ? 138. What suggestion to the husbandman? 138. Will |fc illustrate this in full ? 138. What further is said about startin^plants well? 139. At whose dispo- sal is a part of what makes plants grow ? 140. Whose is another part? If we work our own part rightly, what takes place? 140. What is the moral? 141 and 142. Do plants purify the air for animals? 143. How? 143. Do animals enrich the air for plants ? How ? Are they mutually beneficial? 143. Who breathes the best air ? 143. Whence does the plant obtain most of its carbon ? 144. Whence the rest? 144. How are its oxygen and hydrogen fur- nished? 144. How are they taken in? 144. How is the plant furnished with nitrogen? 145. In what do nitric acid and am- monia exist? 145. Are animal manures specially valuable for the nitrogen in them ? They are. What does the nitrogen in fermenting animal manures form, if nothing else is present? Volatile ammonia, which escapes and is lost. What does it form, if plenty of peat and a little slacked lime are mixed ? In this case the nitrogen forms nitric acid ; this combines with the lime, forming nitrate of lime, a most valuable addition to the manure. Whence does the plant obiiin most of its organic elements? 146. How might we say the olant feeds itself? 147. Explain further? 147. s 244 ' CATECHISM OF What do you say of the flower-leaves (petals, . 148. Does this give them their colors ? 148. How? 148. After flowering, what seems to be their principal effort ? 149. Is the growth always a measure of fruitfulness ? 149. What is said of manuring corn wholly in the hill? 149. What of corn-roots ? 149. Should all the manure then be in one place ? 149. Is late hoeing injurious ? 150. Why? 150. Will you explain this fully? 151. With regard to the circulation of plants, what may be taken as a sort of sample ? 153. Of what does the stem consist ? 154. What of the pith? 155. Describe the roots? 156. What are the spongioles? 157. Describe the rootlets? 158. What is said of the branches and twigs? 159. What are the leaf-stems? 160. What flows through them? 160. What does the circulation of the sap through the leaves resemble? 160. Describe the leaves ? 160. When the sap has circulated through the leaves, what takes place? 161. How is the annual layer of wood formed ? 161. What is the destiny of all. that lives ? 162. On what do men, brutes and plants hve ? 162. What of the floating matter around us? 162. What is probable ? What does the plant devour? 163. What happens to it in return? 163. When plants have passed their maturity, what happens ? 164. What are their proximate constituents ? 164. What secondary products come from these ? '^ What is said of starch? 165. Of sago? 165. Of arrow-root ? 165. Of tapioca? 165. Of all these? 165. Of what are starch, gum and sugar composed? 166. Of what are gluten, caseine and albumen composed ? 167. Why are they called nitrogenous ? 167. What do they contain besides the organic elements ? 167. Do one or more of them exist in all plants? 168. What can you say of gluten? 169. Of caseine? 170. Of albumen ? 171. How can you separate the constituents of flour ? 172 and 173. Which of the substances just spoken of contain nitrogen ? 174. What else ? What letters then may characterize them ? 174. Which contain no nitrogen? 175. What letters may characterize these ? 166. Which are most nutritious, as food ? 175. What remarkable fact is stated of starch, gum and sugar ? 175. In what proportions are the oxygen and hydrogen in them? 175. Is the same true of woody fibre ? 175. Of what then do they consist? Are starch, gum and sugar identical in composition ? 175 and 176. Of what transformations are they capable ? 176. SCIENTIFIC AND PRAC:iCAL AGRICULTURE 245 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. Besides organic matter, what 12 ingredients enter into soils ? !79. Which of these does not pass into plants ? 180. Which of the eleven that pass into plants, does^ not pass into the composi- tion of animals ? 180. Through what round do the other ten pass? 180. What is the effect of selling crops? To exhaust the land. What is the effect of selling beef, pork, butter, cheese, &c. ? The same, but to a less degree. What would be the effect of sell- ing everything from a farm ? 180, end. What is the prevention ? 181. Why may farmers near the city sell all ? 181. What is the true way for the great mass ot farmers? 181. What is important for practical farmers? What are the animals to consume mainly the produce of American far- mers? 183. Into what three classes may we divide animals ? 184. What return work only for their keeping ? 184. What work and growth ? 185. What return the products of their bodies only ? 186. What is necessary in order that the farmer should get the worth of his feed from animals ? 186. What are the conditions of farming ? 187. How must the far- mer dispose of his crops ? 187. What are his pay-masters ? 187. On what condition are they " good pay'?" 187. Hoav should he use them? 187. Why? 187. For what other reason? 187. Explain? 187. What is said of being observant of the habits of animals and at- tentive to their wants ? 188. What of providing for the comfort of animals both in summer and in winter ? 189. How should animals be supphed with salt? 190. Wliat have some supposed with regard to watering animals ? 191. What is the truth in this matter? 191. What hay should be given to milch cows? 192. What to working cattle and horses? 192. To dry cows? 192. How should young stock be fed? !92. What two sources does the farmer look to for his remunera- tion for wintering stock ? 193. Will stock cattle pay for their keeping, if fed on good hay only ? 193. Will you illustrate the fact last stated? 194. How must the loss be avoided? 194. What aret!''e equivalents of one lb. of In- dian meal mentioned at the close of section 194? Now although hay alone, given to stock cattle, will not produce an advance in their value equal to its estimated worth, may not a proper mixture of food effect the object?. 195. Will you state the argument, as in the 195th section ? Can certain rules be given ? 196. What cf the feeder ? 196L What of feeding? 190. 246 CATECHISM OF What is the office of starch, gum and sugar in animal food? 197. Of the nitrogenous substances, gluten, caseine and albu- men? 197. Of oil? 197. Of all the organic substances? 197. Of phosphate of lime ? 197. Explain how the non-nitrogenous substances support respira- tion? 198. To what may the lungs be compared ? 199. How may the starch, gum and sugar be regarded ? 199. Will you give the substance of section 200 ? Of 201 ? Of 202 ? Of 203 ? At how many things especially must the farmer look? 204. What is the first ? 204. What the second ? What is the farmer to dispose of first ? 205. In what condi- tion should his stock face the solid winter ? 205. Why ? 205. What preparations should he have made*? 205. What is the composition of good meadow hay ? 206, What is a most valuable ingredient of the inorganic matter ? 206. What will you say of such hay for the purposes of feeding ? 207. How should good early-cut hay be disposed of among the cattle? 207. What of hay for horses? 207. What is said of the use to be made of less valuable hay? 208. What is a great fault in expending poor hay? 208. To what account may very poor hay, if the farmer have such, be turned ? 209. Can straw be put to any use, as fodder? 210. What is observ- able with regard to it? 210. What is the analysis of Indian corn? 211. In what is the ash peculiarly rich ? 211. Why is it very fattening ? 211. What is its tendency when given to milch cows? 211. What is said of corn as food for horses ? 212. If horses are fed on corn, should it be old or new? 213. What of corn for fattening sheep ? 214. What cheaper food is recommended for store-sheep? 214. What is the staple for pork-making ? 215. Of what opinion are many farmers ? 215. Will feeding corn to swine pay in all cases ? 215. What should be remembered ? 215. What is neces- sary in order that the making of pork and lard should pay? 216. Should corn-meal for swine be fermented? 217. There are several degrees of fermentation ; what is the first ? 217. The second? 217. The third? 217. If Indian meal were passed through all these stages, would it be fattening? 217. If arrested, between the first and second, what is believed ? 217. What is the composition of oats ? 218. What is observed with regard to them ? 218. What of oat straw ? 218. To what should it not be given ? 218. Why ? 218. What is said of fattening animals? 218. How does rye compare with corn? 219. How differ? 219. What more is said ? 219. SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE, 247 What can you say of growing carrots, and of the nse to which they should be put ? 220. What is the composition of turnips, and the best use to be made of them ? 221. What of potatoes ? 222. If used for cattle, or other animals, how is their value increased ? 222. What is said of apples raw ? 223. Cooked ? 223. Of cooking food in general ? 223. • Should coarse hay and straw be cut ? 224. Why ? 224. What would you say of letting stock to be wintered become poor at the threshold of winter? 225. On the heels of winter? 225. What would you advise with regard to both the fall and the spring ? 225. Why ? 225. What advice would you give with regard to young cattle ? 226. To what are all animals subject ? 227. Explain this further ? 227. What is said of milk in section 228 ? In 229 ? In 230 ? In 231? In 232? In 233? In 234? In 235? In 236? In 237? In 238 ? What is said of butter in 239? In 240? In 241 ? In 242 ? In 243? In 244? In 245? In 246? In 247? In 248? In 249? In 250? In 251? In 252? In 253? In 254? In 255? What is said of cheese in 256? In 257? In 258? In 259? In 260? In 261? In 262? In 263? In 264? In 265? In 266? In 267? In 268? In 269? MANURES. Into how many and what classes may lands be distributed with relation to manure ? 272. What three kinds of land belong to the first class ? 273. What is said of lands belonging to the second class? 274. On what condition are these to be cultivated? 274. What of lands be- longing to the third class ? 275. Of the three soils of which an analysis is given by Professor Johnstone, which exhibits no deficiencies? 276. In what is the second deficient? 276. In what the third? Would the first of these soils produce any one of the crops men- tioned in Table V., without manure ? 276 and 277. How does this appear? 276 and 277. How does it appear that the second would nroduce, by the addition of potash, soda and chlorine ? 276 and 277. What of the third ? 278. What would you do with such a soil as the first? 279. As the second? 279 and 280. Would the special manuring, recom- mended for the second, answer permanently ? 281. What would farming become, if reliable analyses of soils could in all cases be obU'.ae^ ? 282. Explain the benefit of such know- ledge? 282. 248 CATECHISM OF What of the import* ce of manures ? 283. What of good man- agement in this respect ? 284. Will you explain the distinction of manures into animal, vege- table and mineral ? 285. What is the difference between manures and stimulants ? 286. What are amenders ? 286. What is un- fortunate for this distinction ? 287. What do you understand by organic matter in soils? 288. How can you ascertain i||p per cent, in a soil ? 289. What three modes are there of restoring organic matter to soils? 290. How do the acids exist in soils ? 291. Chlorine and soda ? 291. What is said of applying mineral manures in 292 ? What have some supposed ? 293. If we could know precisely what mineral manures to apply, would these produce fertility per- manently? 293. Why not? 293. What would have to be re- sorted to ere long? 293. What is the farmer's great resource ? 294. What must enrich the farm ? 294. How can this be effected ? 294. What is said of the value of manures ? 295. What is the golden subject of agriculture ? 296. Into what shape should the surface of the barn-yard be put ? How would you prevent water running downwards into the soil ? 299. Explain the use of peat, swamp mud, &:c., as retainers ? 300. Whence the great value of these substances for mixing with ma- nures ? 301. What farmers may well purchase fertilizers from abroad ? 302. What would you say if those who have not husbanded their home resources, should expend money for fertilizers from abroad ? 303. What is said of making barn-yard manure in section 304? In 305 ? In 306 ? What of the value of manure thus composted in the barn-yard? 306. How many cellars should a barn have ? 308. Why should each cool? 308. What would you place on the bottom of the manure cellar ? 309. How much? 309. How should this cellar be constructed ? 309. How much composting matter should be in readiness for the winter ? 309. Explain how you would proceed? 310. When will manure so prepared and housed be ready for use ? 311. When has too much labor been withheld? 311. • To what use might such manure be put? 312. In applying such manure, could you exactly meet the wants of the soil? 313. What might you expect if you should supply more of some ingredients than were wanted for the first crop ? 313. What of nitrogen as an ingredient of manures? 314. Wha* SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 249 have some thought? 314. Explain the formation of ammonia? 314. Of carbonate of ammonia? 314. How can the escape of ammonia be prevented ? 315. Will you give the explanation in full? 315. What injury comes from the washing of manures? 316. From excessive fermentation? 316. What example of burning ma- nure? 317. What is said of pig-pen manure in 318 ? In 319? In 320? In 321? In 322? In 323 ? In 324? What should be a rule for manures? 325. How can the wash- ing of manures be prevented during heavy rains ? 320 and 325. In what two conditions will a pig-pen be very offensive ? 326. What four bad consequences follow ? 326. What then is another rule ? 327. How can all the bad consequences before spoken of be prevented? 327. Why should the farmer be more careful than others that no offensive odor arise from his premises l^fj^S. What is a singular but well-known fact ? 328. What is said of the manure of the sheep-fold in section 329 ? In 330? In 331? What portable and inoffensive fertilizer is sometimes prepared from night-soil? 332. What advantage arises from this? 332. On a farm, how may night-soil be managed advantageously ? 333, 334 and 335. How may the washings of the sink be best managed and ap- plied ? What is said of composting in 337 ? In 338 ? In 339 ? In 340 ? In ,341? In 342? Should there be in the vicinity of the house a place of recep- tion for whatever may be of value for the land ? 343. Will you describe how it may be managed ? 343. Describe further, as in 344? As in 345? What is said of woollen rags ? 346. Of old shoes and boots, and of accumulations of leather parings ? 346, Of dead animals ? 347. Of bones? 348. What further of bones in 349? In 350? What would you say of burning bones and then applying the ashes? What is said of foreign fertilizers ? 352. Of the men who un- dertake to furnish them ? 353. How can the farmer best decide for himself when to go to the expense of purchasing fertilizers from abroad ? 354. Till he thus decides; on what must he depend ? What further is said of the importance of home manures in 356? In 357? Why has the chemistry of common ohjects been dwelt upon in former portions of this work ? 358. Why the geological forma- tion of soils ? 358. How have plants and animals been spoken of? 358. How manures ? 358. 11^ 250 CATECHISM OF What is said of land in most European countries ? 359. How in our own country ? 360. Will you describe the condition of a thriftlessly managed farm ? 361. What might the owner have done? 36^. What is said of other farms? 363. What would be the perfection of farming ? 364. Explain ? 364. Have some farms doubled and some halved the amount of ma- nure ? 364. How are the owners ? 364. What does this show ? 365. What else does it show ? 365. Is perfection in crop-growing attainable ? 366. How then must we proceed ? What do you say of the analysis and the examination of soils ? 367. Who only can make reliable analyses? 367. Who can make examinations of soils ? 367. What of the observing far- mer? 367. "ViSiat advice then should be given to the farmer? 368. To what should he be encouraged ? 368. If I were thinking to buy a farm at a fixed price, what should I do well, in the first place, to inquire ? 370. If the farm were wholly of one kind of land, what might it be well to do? 371. If there were 8 or 10 varieties? 371. Will you describe what would be called a pure clay ? 372, 1. How is a strong clay soil constituted ? 372, 2. A clay loam ? 372, 3. A loam? 372, 4. A sandy hamf 372, 5. A sandy soil? 372, 6. Peat? 372, 7. Swamp muck? 372, 8. How could you decide for yourself to which of these classes a soil belongs ? 373. How would the existence of all these soils on a farm affect its value ? 374. Why not purchase a farm that needs no amend- ment ? 374. What encouragement do you find for such as are obliged to work farms which need amending ? 374. Give an instance where an improvement might be made at a cost less than its probable value ? 375. Will you give another such instance? 376. Another? 377. Another still ? 378. In purchasing a farm, what should we look at ? 379. What four things should we study ? 379. Will you now repeat how many and what soils, exclusive of peat and swamp muck, we have spoken of? What remains ? 380. What can you say of the density of soils? 381. Will you state what is about the weight of a sandy soil ? 382. Of the several other soils here named ? 382. What is said cf soils retaining heat? 382. What do you say of the fineness of soils ? 383. Of their ad- hesiveness ? 384. Of their power of absorbing moisture ? 385, Of their power of containing moisture ? 386. What is capillary attraction ? 387. Does this exist in soils ? 388. Illustrate this by an experiment? 388. Will you show SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 251 whywater in the subsoil makes a field cold ? 389. State the ar- gument in favor of draining wet lands ? 390. When does the water in a soil sink ? 391. When does it rise ? 391. What do you call that action by which it rises? 387. Will you explain this more fully ? 391. Should a cultivated soil be permeated by the air ? 392. What is the pressure of the atmosphere in each square inch of soil ? 68. Would this pressure force the air into openings made by the plough and harrow ? It would. What gases does a rich and moist soil take from the air ? 392. What possesses this power in a high degree ? 393. What infer- ence from this ? 393. - What possesses this power of absorbing and holding gases in the next degree ? 394. What possesses it in a considerable de- gree ? 394. What in the lowest degree ? 394. What argument do we derive from this against entrusting green manures to light soils? 402. What in favor of composting such manures with peat? 402. What is said of the effect of peat, swamp muck, and fermented manures ? 395. Will you describe the effects of mixing clay with sandy soils ? 396. If the farm, before spoken of, has now been bought, what will become the question ? 397. State some of the difficulties which the occupant will have to encounter ? 397. What will the farmer find among the first things to be done ? 398. Can he apply these manures, so as to give every field ex- actly what it needs, and no more? 399. How may he apply them? 399. How may he find things on this farm? 400. How must he take them ? 401. If he should conclude to use half his green manure now, and keep the other half for composting, what would you say of put- ting the first half into sandy or lightish loamy soils ? 402. What objection is there to using it as a top-dressing for mow-land ? 402. Might it do well thus ? 402. What would be a safer appli-r cation of it ? 402. Why ? 402, 393 and 394. What striking in, stance of loss, by the application of green manure to a sandy soil, is mentioned ? 402. How has better corn been raised on similar lands? 402. What is said of the application of barn-yard manure ? 403. What of the composted manure supposed to be found on this farm ? 404. What of hog-pen manure ? 405. Of sink settlings ? 406. Of chip manure? 406. What is said of the application of night-soil ? 407. What does old plastering contain ? 408. What is its most valuable ingre- dient ? 408. Is this very soluble ? 408. Would you put it on a small space ? 364 and 408. How should our farmer, on his new place, decide whether to 252 CATECHISM OF purchase plaster largely or not ? 409. Will you give the several efifects which plaster produces on soils adapted to it ? 410. Will plaster operate well alone permanently ? 411. What does it require? 411. In what two ways is organic matter added when plaster is used on pastures? 411. How should it be added when plaster is used on mow-lands? 411. How on ploughing ? 411. Should we complain of plaster because other manuring is required to keep the land permanently good? 411. What of ashes? 411 and 56, near the end. Does the subject of capillary attraction, as explained in 387 and onward, throw any light on the question of deep ploughing? 413. In what case might it be bad policy to plough deeply ? 413. If the soil is deep, and the subsoil compact, what do you say ? 414. Eeasons ? 414. On all ordinary soils, how deep should we plough at least ? 415. If the soil below that depth is impervious to water, what should be done ? 415. What two dangers do you thus escape ? 415. What positive benefit do you gain ? 415. Explain the operation of water as a carrier of food to plants ? 416. Will you illustrate still more fully the necessity of the free passage of water and air through the soil? 417. What is said of the importance of deep ploughing? 418. What caution is to be observed? 418. What would be the safest course? 419. What is said of mixing unlike soils? 420. How may this sometimes be done without the labor of transportation? 420. What cause sometimes prevents the good eflfect of deep plough- ing ? 420. How may the farmer judge whether his land is troubled with the protoxide of iron ? 420. If it should prove to be so, what may he do ? How many oxides of iron are there in soils? 53 and 54. Which of these is very soluble in water ? 53. What is its effect on plants ? 53. To what does this oxide turn when exposed to the sun and air ? 53. What is said of a properly prepared soil? 421. How does it sustaiji vegetation ? 421. What auxiharies has it ? 421. What further is said of such a soil ? 422. What is said of the best time for cutting grass ? 423. Of the importance of early hoeing ? 423. Of the time when wheat, rye and oats should be cut? 423. Which gives most hay, early or late cutting? 423. Which gives the best ? 423. What frequently occupies the attention of farmers after hay- ing? 424. Which of those great improvements, before spoken of, would he be tempted to enter upon first ? 424. Why may we suppose that he will prefer to take hold of the business of draining? 424. What sort of a s\\;amp is it, livhich he wishes to drain ? 424 SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 253 How might he proceed ? 425. If he hire this work, how should it be done ? 426. Why by the job ? 426. How could he and tlie men who should undertake it ascertain what would be a fair remuneration? 426. • How long would the mud thrown up improve in quality by lying? 427. How long at least should it lie? 427. Would it be too heavy to remove when first thrown up ? It would. What further is said of the work to be done on this swamp ? 427. What three modes of filling covered drains are mentioned ? 428. There would be much labor in reclaiming five acres of such land ; would it probably pay ? 428. What is said of brush-drains ? 429. . Of stone-drains ? 429. Of tile-drains ? 429. What caution is requisite, that, in laying tile- drains, the ends of the tiles do not get slipped aside from each other and filled up ? 429. What is said of draining lands that are not considered swampy ? 430. What name is given to the regular draining of lands, with covered drains, at equal distances from each other? 430, at the end. If, another season, our farmer should have time and means to attack that ten-acre lot^ how might he lay out and prosecute the work? 431 and 432. The labor of reclaiming and amending lands could hardly " pay" in a new country, and especially if far from market; will you state some reasons for believing it to be a paying business in the Atlantic States, where the produce is near great markets, and where it g - • • — ^ AMEBICAK FAEMEE'S ENCYCLOPEDIA, $4 00 As A Book of Reference for the Farmer or Gardener, this Work is superior to any other. It coutaius Reliable Information for the Cultivation of every variety of Field and Garden Crops, the use of all kinds of Manures, descriptions and figures of American insects ; and is, indeed, an Agricultural Library in itself, con- taining twelve hundred pages, octavo, and is illustrated by numerous engravings of Grasses, Grains, Animals, Implements, Insacts, &c., &c. By Goc^erxbdr Emkrsox op Pkxnsylvania. AMEEICAN WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS, - - - -160 An Illustrated Edition of Agricultural Botany ; An Enu- meration and Description of Weeds and Useful Plants which merit the notice or require the attention of American Agriculturists. By Wm. Darunoton, M. D. Re- vised, with Additions, by Gborgk Thcrber, Prof, of Mat. Med. and Botany in the Xew York College of Pharmacy. Illustrated with nearly 300 Figures, drawn expressly for this work. ALLEN'S (E. L.) AMERICAN FARM BOOK, 1 00 Or A CoMPEND OP American Agriculture ; being a Practical rreatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain, Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Rice, and every Staple Product of the United States ; with the best methods of Planting, Cultivating and Preparation for Market. Illustrated with more than 100 engravings. ALLEN'S (E. L.) DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, - - 76 Being a History and Description of the Horse, Mule, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, Poultry and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management, Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a Profitable Market ; also, their Diseases ami Remedies, together with full Directions for the Management of the Dairy, and the comparative Eksonomy and Advantages of Working Animals, — the Horse, Mule, Oxen, &c. ALLEN'S (L. F.) EUBAL AECHITECTUEE, 1 26 Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages and Out Buildings, comprising Wood Houses, Workshops, Tc»o! Houses, Carriage and Wagon Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses, Ice Houses, Apiaries or Bee Houses, Poultry Houses, Babbitry, Dovecote, I*iggcry, Barns and Sheds for Cattle, &c., &c. ; together with Lawns, Pleasure Grounds and Parks ; the Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Garden ; also, the best method of conducting water into Cattle Yards and Houses. Beautifully illustrated. ALLEN (J. FISK) ON THE CULTUBE OF THE GEAPE, - - 1 00 A Practical Treatis.' ox the Culture and Treatment op thb Grajte Vine, embracing its History, with directions for its Trealraout in the United States of America, in the Open Air and under Glass StructuroB, with and withoaf Ar^iSclaJ Heal Mailed pott paid upon receipt of pricss 2 Boohs published by C M. Saxton, Barker & Co. AJttEEICAN ABCHITECT, 6 00 Comprising Original Designs op Cheap Country and Village Rosideuces, wiib Details, iSpocilicatious, Pluus atid Directions, and an Estimate of the Cost of each Desij^n. Bv John W. Ritch, Architect. First and Second Series, 4to, bound in 1 vol. MVTEKTCAN FLORIST'S GTJIDE, 75 Comprising the Americajst Rose Culturist, and ^Every Ijady her own Flower Gardener. ASRY'S FKUIT GARDEN, 1 25 A Treatise, Intended to Explain and Illustrate the Physi- ology of Fruit Trees, the Theory and Practice of all Operations connected with the Propagation, Transplanting, Pruning and Training of Orchard and Garden Trees, aa Standards, Dwarfs, Pyramids, Espalier, &c. The Laying out and Arranging different kinds of Orchards and Gardens, the selection of suitable varieties for different purposes and localities, Gathering and Preserving Fruits, Treatment of Diseases, Destruction of Insects, Description and Uses of Implements, &c. Illustrated with upwards of 150 Figures. By P. Barry, of the Mount Hope Nurserifis, Rochester, N. Y. BEMENT'S (C. N.) RABBIT FANCIER, 60 A Treatise on the Breeding, Rearing, Feeding and General Management of Rabbits, with Remarks upon their Diseases and Remedies, to which are added Full Directions for the Construction of Hutches, Rabbitries, &c., together with Recipes for Cooking and Dressing for the Table. Beautifully illustrated. BLAKE'S (REV. JOHN L.) FARMER AT HOME, - . - - 1 25 A Family Text Book for the Country ; bein<^ a Cyclopedia of Agricultural Implements and Productions, and of the more important topics in Domestic Economy, Science and Literature, adapted to Rural Life. By Rev. John L. Blake, D. D. BOTJSSINGATrLT'S (J. B.) RURAL ECONOMY, - - - - - 1 26 Or, Chemistry Applied to Agriculture ; presenting Distinctly and in a Simple Manner the Principles of Farm Management, the Preservation and Use of Manures, the Nutrition and Food of Animals, and the General Economy- of Agriculture. The work is the fruit of a long life of study and experiment, and its perusal will aid the farmer greatly in obtaining a practical and scientific knowledge of his profession. BROWNE'S AMERICAN BIRD FANCIER, 25 The Breeding, Rearing, Feeding, Management and Peculi- arities of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with engravings. BROWNE'S AMERICAN POXTLTRY YARD, 1 00 Comprising the Origin, History and Description op the Different Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with Complete Directions for their Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Fattening and Preparation for Market j including specific directions for Caponizing Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal Disease^ to which they are subject, drawn from authentic sources and personal observation. Illustrated with numerous engravings. BROWNE'S (D. JAY) FIELD BOOS OF MANURES, - - - - 1 25 Or, American Muck Book ; Treating of the Nature, Properties, Sources, History and Operations of all the Principal Fertilizers and Manures in Common Use, with specific ilircctions for their Preservation and Application to the Soil and te Crops ; drawn from authentic sources, actual experience and personal observation, as combined with the Leading Principles of Practical and Scientific Agriculture. BRIDGEMAN'S (THOS.) YOUNG GARDENER'S ASSISTANT, - - 1 60 In Three Parts ; Containing Catalogues of Garden and Flower Seed, with Practical Directions under each head for the Cultivation of Cu nary Vege- table's ."Flowers, Fruit Trees, the Grape Vine, &c. ; to which is added a Calendar to each part^howing the work necessary to be done in the various departments each month of the year. One volume octavo. WIDGEMAN'S KITCHEN GARDENER'S INSTRUCTOR, K Cloth, 60 " •' " " Cloth, 60 AI:!''v(I post paid uoon receipt of piice. BooJcs fnihliihed by C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co. BRIDGEMAN'S FLOEIST'S GTJIDE, - - - . -^ K Cloth, 60 '* '* Cloth, 60 BBIDGEMAN'S FKTJIT CTTLTIVATOB'S MAJJaAL, - >i Cloth, 50 " «« « " . . Cloth, 60 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLQWEES, 1 00 Lv WUICH ARE DesCRIBKD ALL TUE YaIcICUS HaRDY HeRBACEIiUS rereuiiials, Annuals, Shrubs, I'laats and Ever£roen Trees, with Directions for their Cultivation. BHIST'S (KOBERT) AMERICAN FLOWER GARDEN DIRECTORY, 1 24 CoxTAiNixa Practical Directions for the Culture of Plants, In the Flower Garden, Hothouse, Greenhouse, Rooms or I'arior Wiudows, for every month in the Year ; with a Description of the Plants most desirable in each, the natura of the Soil and situation best adapted to their Growth, the Proper Season for Trans- planting, &c. ; with Instructions for erecting a Hothouse, Greenhouse, and laying out a Flower Garden ; the whole adapted to either. Large or Small Gardens, with Instruc- tions for Preparing the Soil, Propagati'-.^, Planting, Pruning, Training and Fruiting the Grape Vine. BUISrS (ROBERT) FAMILY KITCHEN GARDENER, - - - 75 Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of all the Different Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, with their Botanical, English, French and German names, alphabetically arranged, with the Best Mode of Cultivat- ing them in the Garden or under Glass ; also Descriptions and Character of the most Select Fruits, their Management, Propagation, &c. By Robert Buist, author of thd ♦•American Fiower Garden Directory," &c. CHINESE SUGAR CANE AND SUGAR-MAKING, - - - . 25 Its History, Culture and Adaptation to the Soil, ClimatE; and Economy of the United States, with an Accouut of Various I'rocesses of Manu- facturing Sugar. Drawn from authentic sources, by Charles F. Stansbury, A. M., lata Commissioner at the Exhibition of all Nations at London. CHORLTON'S GRAPE^ROWER'S GUIDE, 60 Intended Especially for the American Climate. Being a Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine in each department of Hot- house, Cold Grapery, jRetarding House and Out-door Culture. With Plans for the con- struction of the Requisite Buildings, and giving the best methods for Heating the same. Every department being fully illustrated. By Wiluam Chorlton. COBBETT'S AMERICAN GARDENER, 60 A Treatise on the Situation, Soil and Layino-out op Gardens, and thp Malgng and Managing of Hotbeds and Greenhouses, and on the Propagatioa and Cultivation of the several sorts of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits and Flowers. COTTAGE AND FARM BEE-KEEPER, 60 A Practical Work, by a Country Curate. COLE'S AMERICAN FRUIT BOOK, 60 Containing Directions for Raising, Propagating and Manao- ing Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Plants ; with a Description of the Best Varieties of Fruit, InckKling New and Valuable Kinds. COLE'S AMERICAN VETERINARIAN, ------- 60 Co>fTAiNiNa Diseasp:s of Domestic Animals, their Causes, Symp- toms and Remedies ; with Rules for M jsiormg ;U) J Preserving Health by good manage- ment ; also for Training and Breeding. DADD'S AMERICAN CATTLE DOCTOR, 1 00 CoxTAi.NiNa THE Necessary Information for Preserving thb HoaltU and Ciu'itii? iho Dis -ns'-s of Oxen, Cows, Sheep and Swine, with a (Jreat Variety of Original U-eiiHss and Valuable Inlormation in reference to Farm and Dairy Mana(,'0- ment, whereby every Man can be his own Cattle Doctor. Tlie principles taught in this work are, that all Medication shall bo subservient to Nature — that all Medicines must be •anativo in their ojxjration, and administered with a view of aiding the viUil powers, Instead of depressing, as heroiofore, with the lancet or by poison. By G. H. Dado, M. i) Veterinary i>ractdioner. M Tiled pof paid upon receipt of price. I BooJcs published hj C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co. DADD'S MODEBN HORSE DOCTOR, 1 00 An American Book for American Farmers ; Containing Practi- cal Obsoivations on the Causes, Nature and Treatment of Disease and Lameness of Horsus, embracing the Most Recent and Approved Metliods, according to an enlightened system of Veterinary Practice, for the Preservation and Restoration of Health. With illustrations. DADD'S ANATOMY AOT) PHYSIOLOGY OF* THE HORSE, Plain, . 2 00 •* <♦ " '* " Colored Plates, 4 00 With Anatomical and Questional Illustrations; Containing, also, a Series of Examinations on Equine Anatomy aud Philosophy, with Instructions in reference to Dissection and the mode of making Anatomical Preparations ; to which ia added a Glossary of Veterinary Technicalities, Toxicological Chart, and Dictionary of Veterinary Science. DANA'S MUCK MAinJAL, FOR THE USE OF FARMERS, - - 1 00 A Treatise on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Soils and Chemistry of Manures ; including, also, the subject of Composts, Artificial Manures and Irrigation. A new edition, with a Chapter on Bones and Superphosphates. DANA'S PRIZE ESSAY ON MANURES, 25 Submitted to the Trustees of the Massacsusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, for their Premium. By Samuex H. Dana. DOMESTIC AND ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, Plain Plates, . . . 1 00 " <* **' Colored Plates, _ - 2 00 A Treatise on the History and Management of Ornamental and Domestic Poultry. By Rev. Edmund Saul Dixox, A. M., with large additions by J. J. Kkrr, M. D. Illustrated with sixty -five Original Portraits, engraved expressly for this work. Fourth edition, revised. DOWNING'S (A. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING, - - - - - 3 60 Revised, Enlarged and Newly Illustrated, by Henry Win- throp Sargent. This Great Work, which has accomplished so much in elevating the American Taste for Rural Improvements, is now rendered doubly interesting and valuable by the experience of all the Prominent Cultivators of Ornamental Trees in the United States, and by the descriptions of American Places, Private Residences, Central Park, New York, Llewellyn Park, New Jersey, and a full account of the Newer Decidu- ous and Evergreen Trees and Shrubs. The illustrations of this edition consist of seven superb sled plate enffravinffs, by Smillie, Hixshelwood, Duthib and others ; besides one hundred engravings on toood arid stone, of the best American Residences and Parks, with Portraits of many New or Remarkable Trees and Shrubs. DOWNING'S (A. J.) RURAL ESSAYS, / . 3 00 On Horticulture, Landscape Gardening, Rural Architecture, Trees, Agriculture, Fruit, with his Letters from England. Edited, with a Memoir of the Author, by George Wm. Curtis, and a Letter to his Friends, by Frederika Bremer, and an elegant Steel Portrait of the Author. EASTWOOD (B.) ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE CRANBERRY, 50 With a Description op the Best Varieties. By B. Eastwood, " Septimus," of the New York Tribune. Illustrated. ELLIOTT'S WESTERN FRUIT BOOK, 1 25 A New Edition of this Work, Thoroughly Revised. Em- bracing all the New and Valuable Fruits, with the Latest Improvements in their Cultiva- tion, up to January, 1^59. especially adapted to the wants of Western Fruit Growers ; full of excellent illustrations. By F. R, Eluott, Pomologist, lato of Cleveland. Ohio, now of St. Louis. EVERY LADY HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER, ... - 60 Addressed to the Industrious and Economical only ; containing simple and practical Directions for Cultivating Plants and Flo\n ers ; also, Hint« for tha Management of Flowers in Rooms, with brief Botanical Descriptions of Plants aa^ Flowers. The whole in plain and simple language. By Louisa John'son. Mailed post wiid upon 'eceipt of price. Tiooks published hy C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co. rABM DEAINAGE, 1 00 The Principles, Processes and Effects of Draining I^nd, with Stouos, Woo,l, Drain-plows, Open Ditches, aad especially with Tilos ; including Tables of Kaiufall, Evaporation, Filtration, Excavation, capacity of I'ipes, cost and num> bor to the acre. With more than 100 illustrations. By the Hon. IIe-vry F. Frbxqi, of New Hampshire. FESSENDEN'S (T. G.) AMEKICAN KITCHEH GAEDENEE, - - 60 Containing Directions for the Cultivation of Vegetables and Carden Fruits. Cloth. FESSENDEITS COMPLETE FAEMEB AND AMEEICAN GAUDENEB, 1 25 KuRAii Economist and New American Gardener ; Containing a Coraponilious Epitome of th^ most Important Branches of Agriculture and Rural Economy ; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and Vegetables, includ- iiig Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. By Tnoius G. Febsendkn. 2 vols, in 1 . FIELD'S PEAE CTJLTUEE, 1 00 The Pear Garden ; or, a Treatise on the Propagation and Cultivation of the Pear Tree, with Instructions for its Management from the Seedling to the Bearing Tree. By Thomas W. Field. FISH CULTUKE, 100 A Treatise on the Artificial Propagation of Fish, and the Construction of Ponds, with the Description and Habits of such kinds of Fish as are most suitable for Pisciculture. By 1'hbodatus Gabuck, M. D., Vice-President of the Cleveland Academv of Nat. Science. A Practical Treatise on Grasses and Forage Plants ; Com- prising their NaturalHistory, Comparative Nutritive Value, Methods of Cultivation, Cut- ting, Curing and the Management of Grass Lands. By Charles L. Flint, A. M.. Secre. tary of the Mass. State Board of Agriculture. GTJENON ON MILCH COWS, - 60 A Treatise on Milch Cows, whereby the Quality and Quantity of Milk which any Cow will give may bo accurately determined by observing Natural Marks or External Indications alone ; the length of time she will continue to give Milk, &c., &c. By M. Francis Guenon, of Libourue, France. Translated by Nicholas P. Trist, Esq. ; with Introduction, Remarks and Observations or, the Cow and the Dairy, by John S. Sklvnee. Illustrated with numerous Engravings Neatly done up in paper covers, 37 cts. ECEEBERT'S HINTS TO HOBSE-EEEPEBS, 125 Complete Manual for Horsemen ; Embracing : How TO Breed a Horsb. How to Physio a Horse. How to Buy a Horse. (Allopathy and Homcbo^athy How to Break a Horsb. How to Groom a Horse. How to U«k a Hokse. How to Drive a Hor.se. How to Feed a Horse. How to Ride a Horse. And Chapters on Mules and Ponies. By the late Hkxry Wiluam Herbert (Fraxk Forrester) ; with additions, including Rarey's Method of Horse Taxiing, and Baucher'i SvOTKM OF HORSEMANHIUP ; also, giving directions for the Selection ami Caro ot Carriages and Harness of every description, from the City '« Turn Out" to the Farmer's *' Gear," and a Biography of the eccentric Author. lllustraUd throughout. aooPER's Doa and gun, 50 A Few Loose Chapters on Shooting, amon^ which will be found som.! Anecdotes ami Incidents ; also Instructions for Dog Breaking, and interest- \ug letters from Sportsmen. By A Bad Shot. STSFS CHINESE STJ6AB CANE, 21 Containing its History, Mope of Culture, Manufacture of the Sugar, &c. ; with Reports of its success in diOercnt parts of the United State*. Mailed post paid iipon receipt of price. 6 Books jmhUshcd hy C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co. JOHNSTON'S (JAMES F. W.) AGRICULTUEAL CHEMISTBl, - " 1 25 Lectures on the Application of Chemistry and Geology to Ag-iculture. Now Editiuu, with an Appendix, containing the Author's Experiments in Practical Agriculture. JOHNSTON'S (J F. W.) ELEMENTS OF AGRICTTLTTTRAL CHEM- ISTEY AND GEOLOGY, 1 00 With a Complete Analytical and Alphabetical Index, and an American Preface. By Hon. Simon Brown, Editor of the " New England Farmer." OHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) CATECHISM OF AGMCULTTJEAL CHEM- ISTRY AND GEOLOGY, 25 By James F. W. Johnston, Honorary Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and author of " Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology." With an Introduction by John Pitkin Norton, M. A., late Professor oi' Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. With Notes and Additions by the Author, pre- pared expressly for this edition, and an Appendix compiled by the Superintendent of Education in Noya Scotia. Adapted to the use of Schools. LANGSTEOTH (KEV. L. L.) ON THE HIVE AND HONEY BEE, - 1 25 A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey Bee, Third edition, enlarged and illustrated with numerous engravinga. This Work is, without a doubt, the best work on the Bee published in any langua^'e, whether we consider its scientific accuracy, the practical instructions it contains, or the beauty and completeness of its illustrations. LEirCHAES' HOW TO BUILD AND VENTILATE HOTHOUSES, - 1 25 A Practical Treatise on the Construction, Heating and Ventilation of Hothouses, including Conservatories, Greenhoiises, Graperies and other kinds of Horticultural Structures ; with Practical Difections for their Management, in regard to Light, Heat and Air. Illustrated with numerous engravings. By P. B. Leuchars, Garden Architect. UEBIG'S (JUSTUS) FAMELIAS LECTUEES ON CHEMISTEY, - 60 And its relation to Commerce, Physiology, and Agriculture. Edited by John Gardener, M. D., LmSLEY'S MOEGAN HOESES, - - - 1 00 A Premium Essay on the Origin, History, and Characteristics of this remarkable American Breed of Horses ; tracing the Pedigree from the original Justin Morgan, through the most noted of his progeny, down to the present time. With numerous portraits. To which are added Hints for Breeding, Breaking and Gene- ral Use and Management of Horses, with practical Directions for Training them for Exhibition at Agricultural Fairs. By D. C. Linsley, Editor of the American Stock Journal. MOOEE'S EUEAL HAND BOOKS, 1 25 First Series, containing Treatises on — The Horse, The Pests of the Tarm, The Hog, Domestic Fowls, and The Honet Bee, The Cow. Second Series, containing — .... x 25 EvvRY I^DY ni-K OWN Flower Gardener, Essay on Mantres, '^LKlIEl»TS OF Agriculture, American Kitchen Garpkner, Bird Fanoer, American Rose C(7L3xtu«t. Third Series, containing — 1 26 Miles on thu Horse's Foot, Vine-Dresser's ilANtrAi, Thk RABBrr Fancier, Bee-Keeper's Chart, Weeks on Bees, Cuemistry ilADB East. Fourth Sfrifs, containing — - - - - 1 25 Peksoz on the Vine, Hooper's Dog and Guk, LiKBiG'a Familiar Ij:tters, SiaujuL Hocsewifk, Brow.vb's Memoirs of Indian Cork. Mail.ed post paid upon receipt of pries. BooTcs published by C. M. Saxton, Bari^r & Co. MINEE'S BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL, ---- --100 Being a Practical Treatise on the History and Domestic EcoriDmy of the Honey Boe, embracing a F'ull Tlliistration of the whole subject, with the Most Approved Methods of Managing this Insect, through every branch of its Culture ; the result of many years' experience. Illustrated with many engravings By T. B. Miner. MILES ON THE HORSE'S FOOT AND HOW TO KEEP IT SOUND, 60 With Cuts, Illustrating the Anatomy of the Foot, and contaiii- int,' valuable Hints ou Shoeing and Stable Management, in Health and in Disease. By MILBUSN ON THE COW AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY, - - - 2« By M. M. MiLBURN, and revised by H. D. Richardson and Ambrose STE\Ti.vs. With illustrations. HUNN'S (B.) PRACTICAL LAND DRAINER, 50 Being a Treatise on Draining Land, in which the Most Ap- proved Systems of Drainage are Explained, and their Differences and Comparative Merits Discussed ; with full Directions for the Cutting and Making of Drains, with Remarks upon the various materials of which they may be constructed. With many illustrations. By B. Mon.n, landscape Gardener. NASHB (J. A.) PROGRESSIVE FARMER, 60 A Scientific Treatise on Agricultural Chemistry, the Ge- ology of Agriculture, on Plants and Animals, Manures and Soils, applied to Practical Agriculture ; with a Catechism of Scieutilic and Practical Agriculture. By J. A. NjlSH. NEILL'S PRACTICAL FRUIT, FLOWER AND KITCHEN GARDEN- ER'S COMPANION, 1 00 With a Calendar. By Patrick Neill, Secretary of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. Adapted to the United States from the fourth edition, revised and improved by the Author. Edited by G. Emerson, M. D., Editor of ' The American Farmer's Encyclopedia." With Notes and Additions by R, G' Pabdkb, author of " Manual of the Strawberry Culture." With illustrations. NORTON'S (JOHN P.) ELEMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE, 60 Or, the Connection betwekn Science and the Art of Practical Farmmg. Prize Essay of the New York State Agricultural Sf)ciety. By John P. Nor- ton, M. A., Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. Adapted to the use of ScJioola. OLCOTT'S SORGHO AND IMPHEE, THE CHINESE AND AFRICAN SUGAR CANES, 100 A Complete Treatise upon their Origin and Varieties, Culture and Uses, their value as a Forage Crop, and l)irections for making Sugar, Molasses, Alcohol, Sparkling and Still Wines, Boer, Cider, Vinegar, Paper, Starch and Dye Stuffs. Fully illustrated with Drawings of Approved Machinery ; with an Appendix byLKONARD Wray, of Caffraria, and a Description of his Patented Process of Crystallizing the Juici of the Imphee ; with the latest American Experiments. By Hknry S. Olc?ott. PARDEE (R. 0.) ON STRAWBERRY CULTURE, 60 A Complete Manual for the Cultivation of the Strawberry j with a Description of the li«'St Varieties. Al?o notices of the Raspberry, Blackberry, Currant, Gooseberry and Grape; with Iiiieitions for their Cultivation, and the Selection of the Best Varieties. *' Every process here recommended lias been proved, the plans of others tried, and the result is here given." With a Valuable Appendix, containing the observations and experience of some «.( tin- inepi succe.-.vf.il cultivators of these fruits in onr country. PEDDERS' JAMES) FARMERS' LAND MEASURER, - - - - 5C Ok Pockct (^'ompa.mon ; Sliowiiii^ at one view the Contents of I > ! 'ii:id, fr )ra DiirveuBiOHS taken in Yards. With a Set of Useful Agriculturai v.. Jllmled post paid upon receipt of pria. Books pv^isked hy C. M. Saxton, Baricer &; Co. PERSOZ' CTTLTUIIE OF THE YTNE, 23 A New^ Process for the (/'ulture of the Vine, by Persoz, Pro- fessor of the Faculty of Soi vices of sir.is;).* i j^ ; Directing Profijssor of the School of Phar- macy of the same city. Tiausiated by J. O'C. Barclay, Surgeon U. S. N. PHELPS' BEE KEEPEE'S CHART, 28 Being a Brief Practicat. Treatise ox the Instinct, Habits and Management of the Honey Bee, in all its various branches, the result of many years' practical experience, whereby the author has been enabled to divest the subject of much that h:u5 been considered mysterious and difflcuJ*. to overcome, and render it more sure, proQtable and interesting to every one, than it has heretofore been. By E. W. Phelps. QTTINBY'S 3SCYSTEEIES OF BEE-KEEPING EXPLAINED, - - 1 00 Being a Complete Analysis of the Whole Subject, Consisting of the Natural History of Bees ; Directions for obtaining the Greatest Amount of Pure Surplus Honey with the least possible expense ; Remedies for Losses Given, and tiie Science of Luck fully illustrated ; the result of more than twenty years' experience in extensive Apiaries. By M.Qitimjy. RANDALL'S (H. S.) SHSEP HUSBANDRY, 1 25 With an Account of the Different Breeds, and general direc- tions in regard to Summer and Winter Jlanagement, Breeding and the Treatment of Diseases, with Portraits and other engravings. By HE>fRY S. Raxdaix. REEMELIN'S (CI1.IS.) VINE DRESSER'S MANUAL, - - - 60 An Illustrated Treatise on Vineyards and Wine-Making, containing full Instructions as to I>ocation and Soil, Preparation of Ground, Selection and Propagation of Vines, the Treatment of Young Vineyards, Trimming and Training the Vines, Manures and the Making of Wine. RICHARDSON ON HOGS, 25 Their Origin, Varieties and Management, with a View to Profit and Treatment under Disease ; also, plain Directions relative to the Most Approved Modes T)f Preserving their Flesh. By H. D. Richardson, author of " The Hive and the Honey Bee," &c., &c. With illustrations. RICHARDSON ON THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE, - - - 25 With Plain Directions for Obtaining a Considerable Annual Income from this branch of Rural Economy ; also, an Account of the Diseases of Bees and their Remedies, and Remarks as to their Enemies, and the best mode of protecting the Hives from their attacks. By H. D. Richardson. With illustrations. RICHARDSON ON DOMESTIC FOWLS, 25 Their Natural History, Breeding, Rearing, and Generai Manag.:ni -lit. P.y 11. D. Richardson. With illustrations. RICHARDSON ON THE HORSE, 25^ Their Origin and Varieties ; with Plain Directions as to the Breeding, Rearing and General Management, with Instructions as to the Treatment of Disease. Handsomely illustrated. By H. D. Richardson. RICHARDSON ON THE PESTS OF THE FARM, - - - . 25 AVith Instructions for their Extirpation ; being a Manual of Plain Directions for the Certain Destruction of every description of Vermin. With numerous illustrations on Wo(jd. RICHARDSON ON DOGS ; thkfh. ORIGIN AND VAKTETrES, - 50 Directions as to their General Management. With nnmorous Original Anecdotes. Also, ajnipiote Instructions as to Treatment under Disease. By H. D. Richardson. Illustrated with numerous woo it Ra.vdaix ; tanbracing Skinner's Notes on the Breed and Management of Sheep iu Mie United States, and on the Culture of Fine Wool. BTEWARrS STABLE BOOK, 1 GO A Treatise on the IVIanagement of Horses, in Relation to stabling, (jirm)ming, Feeding, Watering and Working, Construction of Stables, Ventila- tion, Appendages of Stables, Management of the Feet, and of Diseased and Itefectiva Hors.'S. By Joh.v Stewart, Veterinary Surgeon. With Notes a»d Additions, adapting it to American Food and Climate. By A. B. Allk.v, Editor of the American Agriculturist. STKAY LEAVES FBOM THE BOOK OP NATUEE, .... 1 00 By M. Schele De Verb, of the University of Yirginia. CoNTE.\TS : I. Only a Pebble. n. Nature in Monox. m. The Oceax axd rrs Lira. rV. A Chat about Plants. V. Younger Years op a Plami; VI. Later Years of a Plant. Vn. Plant Mummies. Vin. Unknown Tongues. IX. A Trip to the Moon. STEPHENS' (HENEY) BOOK OF THE FAEM, 4 00 A Complete Guide to the Farmer, Steward, Plowman, Oattle- man, Shepherd, Field Worker and Dairy Maid. By Henry Steph>:ns. With Four Hun- dred and Fifty illustrations ; to which are added Explanatory Notes, Remarks, &c., by J. S. Skinner. Really one of the best books a farmer can possess. BKILLFQL HOUSEWIFE, 50 Or Complete Guide to Domestic Cookery, Tastf^ Comfort, and Economy, embracing 65^ Recipes pertaining to Household Duties, ttie Care of Health, Gardening, Birds, Education of C'liildron, kc, &c. By Mrs. L. G. Aatax. SKINNEB'S. ELEMENTS OF AGBICULTUBE, 25 Adapted to the Use of American Farmers. By F. G. Skinner SMITH'S (C. H. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING, PARKS AND PLEASUEE GEOUNDS, 1 25 With Practical Notes on Country Residences, Villas, Public Parks and Gardens. By Charles H. J. Smith, Landscape Gardener and Garden Archi tect. With Notes and Additions by Lewis F. Allen, author of" Rural Architecture." THAEE'S (.ALBERT B.) AGRICULTURE, 200 The Principles of Agriculture, by Albert D. Thaer ; Trans- lated by WiLUAM Shaw and Cuthbert W. Johnson, Esq., F. R. S. W-th. a Memoir of the Author. 1 vol. 8vo. Tliis work is regarded, by those who are competent to judge, as one of the mogt yaluable works that has ever appeared on the subject of Agriculture. At the same timo that it is eminently practical, it is philosophical, and, even to the general reader, re- markably entertaining. THOMAS' (J. J.) FARM IMPLEMENTS, 1 00 And tiik Pri.vciples of their Construction and Use ; an Ei.e mentary and famiilai* Treatise on Mechanics and Natural Philosophy, as applied to the ordinary practices of Agriculture. With tiOO illustrations. THOMPSON (R. D.) ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS, - - - 75 Experimental Kesearches on the Food of Animals and thi Fattening of Cattle ; with Remarks on the Food of Man. Based upon Experiments under* taken by order of the British Government, by Robert Dundas 'ISioiipson. M. D. Lecturer on Practical Chemistrf, University of Glasgow. Malted post paid upon receipt qf priet. 1^ jBooTcs pntlishpcJ hy C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co. THE ROSE CTJLTTTKlST, 50 Being a Practical Treatise on the Propagation, CuLnvATiON, and Management of the Rose in all seasons ; with a List of Choict> and Approved Vane- ties, adapted to the Climate of the United States ; to which is added full du-eclious for the Treatment of the Dahlia. Illustrated by engravings. TOPHAM'S CHEMGCSTEY MADE EASY, 25 For the Use op i armers. By J. Topham. TURNEE'S COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL, ------ l 00 Being a Compilation op Facts prom the Best Authorities on the Culture of Cotton, its Natural History, Chemical Analysis, Trade and Consumption, and embracing a History of Cotton and the Cotton Gin. By J. A. Turner. WARDER'S (J. A.) HEDGES AND EVERGREENS, - - - - 1 00 A Complete Manual por the Cultivation, Pruning and Man- agement of ail Plants suitable for American Hedging, especially the Madura or Osage Orange. Fully illustrated with engraving of plants, implements and processes. To which is added a Treatise on Evergreens, v,>v.r diCferent Varieties, their propagation, transplanting and Culture in the United States WARING'S ELEMENTS OF AGRICXJLTTTRiS, 75 A Book por Young Farmers, with Questions for the use of ■^ Schools. WEEKS (JOHN M.) ON BEES -A MANUAL, 50 Or, an Easy Method of Managing Bees in the most profit- able manner to their Owner ; with Infallible Rules to Prevent their Destruction by the Moth. With an Appendix, by Wooster A. Fl.4xders. WHITE'S (W. N.) GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH, - - - - 1 25 Or, the Kitchen and Fruit Garden, with the Best J\Iethods for their Cultivation ; together with Hints upon l^andscape and Flower Gardening ; con- taining Modes of Culture and Descriptions of the Species and Varieties of the Culinary Vegetables, Fruit Trees and Fruits, and a Select List of Ornamental Trees and Plants, Adaoted to the States of the Union South of Pennsylvania, with Gardening Calendars for the same. By Wm. N. White, of Athens, Georgia. YOUATT AND MARTIN ON CATTLE, 1 25 Being a Treatise on their Breeds, Management, and Diseases, comprising a Full History of the Various Races ; their Origin, Breeding and Merits ; their capacity for B;>ef and Milk. By W. Yov atv and W. C. 1.. Martin. The whole form- ing a Complete Guide for the Farmer, the Amateur and the Veterinary Surgeon , with lOQ illustrations. Elited by Ambrose Stevens. YOUATT ON THE HORSE, 1 25 YoUATT ON THE STRUCTURE AND DiSIEASES OF THE HoRSE, with their Remelies ; also, Practical Rules for Buyers, Breeders, Smiths, &c. Edited by W, C. Spooner, M.R.C.V.S. With an Account of the Breeds in the United States, by Henrt S. Randall. YOUATT ON SHEEP, - - - - 75 Their Breed, Management and Diseases, with Illustrative En- gravings ; to which are added Remarks on the Breeds and Management of Sheep in the United States, and on the Culture of Fine Wool in Silesia. By Wm. Youatt. YOUATT AND MARTIN ON THE HOG, 75 A Treatise on the Breeds, Management, and Medical Treat- ment of Swine, with Directions for Salting Pork and Curing Bacon and Haras. By Wm. YoDATT, V. S., and W. C L. Martlv. Edited by Ambrose Stevens. Illrstrated with engraviags drawn from life. Mailed post paid upon rtceipt of price. THIS BOOK IS DUU ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. I AW lPi VjVi JAlN -^^-^ " "^ "• A- iii I 1 f'- i ^f .-5Apr'57GB Fjpr^'Fj I n r\Cl^»> !»/ L.LJ' APR 2 3 1PS7 . LD 21-100m-12,'43 (8796s) YB bo^% 678990 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY )i