\ .' ' <
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^ <f c, so as greatly
to increase the quantity, and to keep the quality up hy
adding plaster^ salt, lime and ashes.
182. In this way, a farm can be made increasingly
fertile ; and if the best animals be selected, and the
best modes of feeding be adopted, the annual income
of the farm caSi be made nearly as great as by selling
the hay, grain and roots. If, on the other hand, the
animals are of inferior qualities, and the modes of
feeding are wasteful and ill suited to the nature of the
animal, not more than half of the estimated value of
crops are returned in the growth, products and labor
of the animals that consume them. These considera-
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. IGl
tions are important to the practical farmer. His ob-
ject in feeding is to keep the land productive, and at
the same time to get the value of the produce in the
increased worth of whatever consumes it.
KINDS OF ANIMALS TO BE KEPT.
183. The animals usually kept among us are horses,
horned cattle, sheep, swine and poultry. It is worthy
of inquiry, whether mules ought not in some cases to be
added to this list. The arguments in favor of it are,
that the mule is very hardy, little liable to disease,
capable of thriving on coarse food, requiring less food
than the horse, long-lived, and able to perform great
labor. For these reasons, it would seem that for some
purposes the labor of mules might be advantageously
substituted for that of the horse. But for general pur-
poses, including the transportation of persons, the
horse must remain in favor ; and it may be laid down
that horses, horned cattle, sheep and swine, are the
animals to consume mainly the produce of American
farmers.
184. Animals may be distributed, with regard to
the return they make to the owner for the food and
care given them, into three classes : those which return
labor only, those v^hich return both labor and the pro-
ducts of their bodies, and those which return the pro-
ducts of their bodies only. To the first class belong
the horse and the mule. There are some men, per-
haps, who have the skill and address to make these
animals do work enough to pay for their care and
j.^ ANIMAl^S AKD THEIR PRODUCTS.
feed, and at the same time increase in value. But as
a general rule, if the farmer is to be paid the worth
of the haj and grain they consume, he must take it
out in work ; and hence, with the exception of those
who make it a business to prepare these animals for
the market, and of some others, who can afford to
keep fine horses for the pleasure of driving them, it is
unquestionably a good rule, to keep no more of these
than can be pretty constantly employed.
185. Working oxen belong to the second class The
return they make the farmer is labor and growth.
Like the horse, they can be made profitable, as work-
ers ; and unlike, the horse, they may be profitable, as
idlers. Perhaps few animals pay better for their keep-
ing, than oxen, worked reasonably till August, and
then turned into a good pasture to be prepared for
the stall. They should seldom be put to the utmost
of their strength. If worked with judgment, and
kindly cared for, they will do more for their owner in
the long run, and will be steadily increasing in value,
till 7 or 8 years of age, when they should be prepared
for the market, and their place supplied by those that
are younger.
186. To the third class belong cows, young stock,
sheep, and swine. The return expected from these is
the body of the animal, when grown and fattened, or
some product of the animal ; as butter, cheese and wool.
Every farmer knows that some animals will eat much
and grow little, while others will consume less and
grow more ; he knows that there are some cows, which
ANIMALS AND THKIR PRODUCTS. 103
will give little value in milk, while others will give
much ; that some sheep give almost valueless fleeces,
others valuable ones ; and that some breeds of swine
are all-consuming, but ever lean. It makes a wide dif-
ference, whether food be thrown out at random, or be
given with regularity and discretion ; and whether
animals be made comfortable by adapting circum-
stances to their several natures, or be left to continual
suffering. The farmer knows, or may know, that if he
selects the consumers of his produce wisely and keeps
them properly, they will give him a return of some 10
dollars a ton for his hay, 6 per cent, or more for the
value of his pastures ; and a fair remuneration for his
corn and roots, together with a moderate compensation
for his care for them ; while if he neglects these con-
ditions, he gets but half the value of his hay, grain,
roots and pasturing, and nothing for his trouble, un-
less it be the pleasure of railing and complaining that
his is an unprofitable business.
GENERAL TREATMENT OP ANIMALS.
187. The conditions of farming are absolute and un-
alterable. We have seen that the farmer cannot sell
the products of his fields abroad. He must dispose of
them mainly at home. The inmates of his barn, fold,
and sty, must be his pay-masters. They are " good
pay" if he manages wisely. If he do!?s not, he has no
right to complain, and thus sink his profession in the
estimation of his sons and his neighbors. As the far
mer's animals are his customers and his pay-masters,
he should use them well for his own sake. There is a
104 A.NIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
higher motive for using tliem well. God has made them
sensitive beings, capable of gratitude and of resentment,
of great enjoyment and of intense suffering. The gift
of them, as such, to man. implies that they are to be
treated kindly. He who treats them otherwise offends
his Maker. To inflict needless pain upon a brute, or to
make him less a creature of enjoyment than he is ca-
pable of being, consistently with our own interest, is,
to say the least, to be brutish. High moral obliga-
tion concurs with our own interest, in requiring at our
hand a considerate, judicious, kind treatment of do-
mestic animals.
188. We should be observant of the habits of those
animals, and attentive to their wants. If you see a
cow gnawing a bone, you may depend upon it, a sharp
necessity impels her to it; you have drawn phos-
phate of lime from her system in milk till she feels an
indescribable longing for that substance. She at least
cannot describe it, except by the action of trying hour
after hour to masticate a bone. It is probably a feel-
ing, or rather a want, not unlike that of the drunkard,
when the state of his system is such that he would al-
most barter soul and body for a taste of spirit. There
is reason to believe that milch cows are often great
sufferers, when kept in old worn-out pastures, for the
want of phosphate of lime. It should be given to
them in the form of bone-dust. If a cow or an ox is
seen licking the ground, it indicates a want of some-
thing (in most cases salt), which should be given in a
more eatable form. So there are a thousand indica-
tions, which the attentive farmer will observe ; and
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 106
from them he will learn the wants of his animals, and
learn to supply them.
189. It is almost as important that animals should
be kept warm in winter, and have cool shades to re-
sort to in summer, as that they should have plenty of
food. The food that will keep one of them growing,
when comfortable, will at best only keep him station-
ary, if suffering with cold. So it is with regard to
other matters of comfort. A swine, for instance, finds
it very comfortable to wallow in filth. He should be
provided for, accordingly. But he finds it very un-
comfortable to be confined to such lodgings; and if so
confined, he will not pay for his keeping. No animal
loves better to retire to a snug, dry nest. This should
always be furnished for him. A swine that, is kept
shivering in his own filth, will eat out during one of
our long cold winters twice what his body will be
worth in the spring, when if he had been kept warm
and dry, he would have paid for his keeping, and the
owner might have sold his pork at a fair profit. Per-
haps no maxim is more manifestly true, than that duty
and interest both concur in requiring a kind attention
to the wants of domestic animals. The individual
who is slow to perceive, and slower to minister to these
wants, will find the inmates of the farm-yard 'poor pay-
masters,
THE FEEDING O^ ANIMALS.
190. Common salt is essential to all animals. As it
nsti
5*
forms a constituent of soils, and enters from the soil
106 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
into plants, it is thus furnished, in minute portions, to
domestic animals. But all experience has shown that
they require more salt than is thus furnished. This is
indicated by the intense hankering they manifest, when
long deprived of it. How much they need, beyond
that naturally contained in their food, no one has been
able to decide. The animals themselves know best,
and it should therefore be left to their own choice.
If not deprived of it too long, they will always eat
just as much as is for the interest of the owner that
they should ; and no precaution is necessary, except
that when a neglected animal is brought home, he
should not be admitted to a full supply at once.
191. Some have supposed that cattle while being
fattened on hay and roots, especially on potatoes,
should be allowed to drink but little. Whether this
opinion is well founded, I very much doubt. In all
other cases, cattle and sheep should have water plenti-*
fully, and where they can get it without fear or dan-
ger. If possible, it should be pure fresh water; and
should be in the barn-yard.
192. The foregoing remarks apply equally to all
kinds of stock. With regard to solid food, a difference
should be made, accordingly as animals are kept for
one or another purpose. As a general rule, the finest
and earliest cut hay should be given to milch cows —
those in milk at the time; — and they should have as
much as they will eat. Grood, substantial hay, not
late-cut, nor in the least smoky, should be given to
working cattle and horses. Dry cows may be turned
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 107
off with poorer hay in part ; and young stock should
have si variety of food. Yery few animals, if kept
through the winter on good hay, worth perhaps 10
dollars a ton, will pay for the hay which they consume,
in tkeir increased value in the spring.
193. As stock cattle generally rise more or less
during the winter, their increased value in the spring
must depend partly on their growth and partly on the
rise of this kind of property. Thus, if a steer weigh
eight cwt. in the fall, and is worth four dollars the
cwt. live weight, his full value would be thirty-two
dollars. If he weigh nine cwt. the next spring, and
be worth five dollars the cwt., his spring value would
be forty-five dollars, giving an increase of thirteen
dollars. Now, this is a high estimate of increase in
value, and yet at this rate the owner would not have
realized the value of hay which that steer would have
consumed by considerable, provided he had been kept
on good hay and nothing else. It may be put down
as a settled point, that stock (including oxen not at
work, cows not giving milk, steers, heifers, and calves),
if kept on hay only"5 do not, as a general thing,
pay for their wintering. The average increase in the
value of the stock is but about half the estimated
value of the hay. This has hitherto been a sad leak
in farming. The question is, must it continue ?
194. A farmer puts up fifty tons of hay ; in the fall
it would havG sold for $500 ; his cattle eat it, and are
worth $250 more in the spring than the fall before.
The manure pays him well for the labor of feeding,
108 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
and not much more. There is then a loss of $250
This is a terrible drawback on the profits of farming.
We suppose that horses and working oxen pay for
their, wintering in work. Milch cows pay for their
keeping in milk. But stock cattle, fed on hay only,
paj^ in their increased value in the spring for only half
the hay they consume. If fed in the very best man-
ner, and kept as warm and comfortable as could be
desired, they require at least 2 per cent, of their live
weight of good hay daily, in order to keep them in a
thriving condition ; and the cost of this, at $10 a ton,
is more than the average increase in value by nearly
one-half This loss, which has long been felt and bit-
terly complained of, must be avoided by resorting to
mixed food. One pound of Indian meal is of about
equal value for feeding with 4 lb. of good hay, 6 lb.
of second quality hay, 8 lb. of oat straw cut, 10 lb. of
carrots, and 16 fb. of turnips.
195. Here are six kinds of food for cattle, to which
may be added corn-stalks, making seven. No one of
the seven can be fed alone to growing cattle with pay-
ing results. But it does not follow that a just inter-
spersion of the whole may not pay well. A good
housewife often sets before her family costly dishes,
but she takes care to vary them, and to intersperse such
as are less expensive, but so well " got up," and with
all so timely, that they may be acceptable. So it is
with the wise feeder. Suppose he has twenty-five
head of stock cattle, averaging 9 or 10 cwt. live weight
each. If he feed them on the best of hay three times
pach day, he \7ill find that it requires 5 cwt., per day,
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 109
to keep them in a thriving condition. This, in 150
days, would amount to 37^ tons, worth, at least, $375,
and he will soon find, if he did not know it before, that
his cattle will not gain $375 in value when fed in this
way — probably not more than half that amount, ex-
cept in those years when stock happens to be very
much higher in the spring than the fall before.
Three years out of four he will make a heavy loss on
his hay. The problem is, how to avoid this loss. If
he can keep his cattle more cheaply, and have them
grow equally well, he will gain in one direction ; if he
can keep them equally cheaply, and have them grow
better, he will gain in another direction : if he can
gain both these ends — keep them more cheaply, and
have them grow faster — then he will gain in both di-
rections. These are the points at which the feeder of
stock should aim. He must take the best care of his
cattle, and give them a variety of food. Let them have
pure water ; let it be where they can get it without
much trouble ; they should drink little and often, ra-
ther than drink enough at once for twenty-four hours.
Let them have salt always within their reach. Let
them have warm stalls, and a sunny yard, well litter-
ed, and thoroughly protected from all cold winds. If,
with these conditions, he will give them a little good
hay, daily, they will be so hardy, and so contented,
that they may be turned off with cheaper food for the
principal part of their living, such as second-rate hay,
cut straw, with a little corn-meal thrown upon it, roots,
corn-stalks, salt hay, swamp grass, almost anything
that can by possibility be eaten. If they are to be
turned off with much coarse fodder and little fine
110 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
hay, they should, by all means, have roots, as carrota
and turnips, or, if these cannot be furnished, Indian
meal. The succulent qualities of roots afPord a sort of
set-off for the dryness of husks, straw, and poor hay ;
and corn-meal contains some 10 per cent, of oil, which
helps down coarse fodder, about as well as butter does
dry bread.
196. 'No certain rules can be given for all cases.
The feeder of stock knows what fodder he has to dis-
pose of, and what sort of cattle he has to consume' it.
He must cater to his cattle as best he can out of his re-
sources. He must carefully note the effect of his feed-
ing from time to time. If the profits of agriculture
are to be increased, or, in other words,, if the farmer
is not only to raise good crops^ but to get paid for them,
the business of feeding must receive far greater atten-
tion than it yet has.
197. It has been stated in another part of this work,
that among the proximate constituents of plants used
as food, are woody fibre, starch, gum, sugar, and oil,
called non-nitrogenous substances. These are com-
posed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (CHO). There
are also three nitrogenous substances — gluten, albu-
men, and caseine. These, in addition to carbon, hy-
drogen, and oxygen, contain also nitrogen (CHON).
The first mentioned substance, woody fibre, has little
to do with nutrition. It passes the animal mostly un-
digested. The office of the next three, starch, gum,
and sugar, is to support respiration. The next sub-
stance, oil, goes to form the fat of animals, and the
AKIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. Ill
last three, the nitrogenous substances, furnish mate-
rial for muscles (lean meat), tendons (cords), and car-
tilage (gristle). Thus, these organic substances sup-
port respiration, and furnish material for all the soft
parts'of the body. The bones are formed from phos-
phate of lime, an inorganic substance contained in all
the nutritious grasses and in the grains.
198. It has been stated that starch, gum, and sugar,
as parts of animal food, go to support respiration.
This requires to be explained. When wood is con-
sumed, the oxygen of- the air combines with the car-
bon of the wood, forming carbonic acid (CO'), and the
oxygen and hydrogen of the wood combine with each
other, forming water (HO), so that carbonic acid and
v^SiteTj vapor pass off, while the inorganic parts of the
wood fall to the hearth in the form of ash. If we
were to burn a handful of corn, the same would take
place. The organic part would pass off, as carbonic
acid and water ; and the inorganic part would fall
down, as ashes. But if, instead of being burnt, the
corn were to be eaten by an ox or other animal, let us
see what would become of it. It contains, among
other things, starch, gluten, oil, and phosphate of lime.
The digestible parts would be first converted into
chyle and then into blood. The blood would be im-
mediately forced through the lungs. In the lungs air
would come in contact with it. The oxygen of the
air combines with the carbon of the starch, and forms
carbonic acid ; while the other elements of the starch
combine with each other, forming water ; and the
animal exhales carbonic acid and watery vapor, the
112 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
same substances that would pass up the chimney, if
the corn were burnt on a hearth. And as heat would
be produced by the latter operation, and diffused
through the room, so animal heat is produced and
diffused through the system by the former. Starch
undergoes the same changes in the lungs of animals
as when thrown upon burning coals — in both cases
it is converted into carbonic acid (CO''), and watery
vapor (HO) ; in both cases these are sent afloat in the
surrounding air ; and in both cases the same heating
effects are exhibited.
199. The lungs may not inaptly be compared to a
stove constantly burning ; for as the stove converts
fuel into carbonic acid and water, and thereby gener-
ates heat, so the lungs convert starch, sugar, or gum,
which may be regarded as the fuel of the animal sys-
tem, into the same substances, and thereby generate
heat and diffuse it through the system.
200. This explains why animals should be kept
warm in order to grow ; for if they are exposed to
severe cold, it takes a large portion of their food to
k^ep the lungs in sufficiently active operation to pre-
vent their freezing. Little is left to supply the natural
waste of the body, and perhaps none at all to furnish
material for new growth. It explains also why work-
ing animals require more food than others. In conse-
quence of exercise they breathe more, and a larger
proportion of their food is exhaled from the lungs. If
you were to give a young, thrifty ox, weighing 1,000
lbs., live weight, 25 lbs. of good hay daily, and to keep
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 113
him warm and quiet, you might expect him to grow-
rapidly, because the 25 lbs. of hay would furnish food
for his lungs, and leave more than enough to supply
the natural waste of the body, and this surplus would
go to form new growth. If 3'ou were to give the same
feed to a similar ox, bu. were to work him 12 hours a
day, you could hardly expect him to grow much ; for,
being in such constant exercise, he would breathe a
great deal, and the food might no more than supply
fuel for his lungs, and leave enough to make up for
the natural waste of the body. Enough for this latter
purpose might not be left, and then he would fall away.
201. If you were to give the same food to a third
ox similar to the other two, but were to turn him out
into a^bleak lot covered with snow, with no shelter
whatever, you might calculate for a certainty that he
would lose weight rapidly. The food, though enough
to make him grow, if he had been protected from the
cold, would not even supply fuel for his lungs; His
lungs would of course act powerfully. This is all that
would keep him from freezing. But it would require
a great deal of fuel to keep the fire burning within him.
The food would all be used up for this purpose ; afid
then drafts would be made upon the different parts
of his body. First the fat would go to the lungs, and
be breathed away in the forms of carbonic acid and
water. Then other parts, in proportion as they con-
tain carbon, would become fuel for the lungs, until
there would be little but skin and bones left.
202. This would be an extreme case ; but something
114 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
resembling it takes place as often as cattle in our cold
winter weather are turned into an open meadow and
fed from a bay-stack. The hay, in such a case, is used
up as fuel for the lungs ; and this not being sufficient
in very cold weather, a part of the body of each suf-
fering animal is consumed to keep the remnant from
freezing. Misery to the animal and poverty to the
owner is the results
203. To return to our illustration from a handful
of corn given to an animal — we see what becomes of
the starch — it goes to support respiration — keeps the
fire burning ; or, in other words, is breathed away in
carbonic acid and watery vapor, supplying animal
heat by its transformation. The gluten forms muscle,
tendon, cartilage, and other similar parts. The oil
lays fat over and among the other portions of the body.
And the phosphate of lime forms the hard, solid part
of the bones, constituting the framework of the
whole.
204. From what has now been said it is manifest
that the farmer, who wishes to expend his crops in
tl?e most profitable manner, must look especially at
two things : 1st. The object for which he feeds any
particular animal, whether it be to obtain labor, as in
the case of horses and working oxen ; or fat meats, as
when- he fattens cattle, sheep, and swine; or milk,
as when he feeds cows and suckling ewes; or
growth only, as in case of young cattle, store-sheep,
and swine. If he would feed to the best advantage,
he must have a settled plan with regard to his ani-
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 115
mals, and must feed them accordingly — some for work-
ing, some for fattening, some for milking, and others
for growing. These different purposes for feeding re-
quire diiferent kinds of food. 2nd. He needs to un-
derstand the composition of his crops, in order to know
on- which class of animals to bestow particular crops.
It is not my purpose to lay down fixed rules. If
the farmer observe carefully the effect of his feeding,
he will learn to feed well without such rules ; if not,
he will never feed well, though he have as many rules
as there are in an American cook-book. General prin-
ciples, however, may be of use.
205. We will suppose that the farmer has disposed
of his fall feed, of his pumpkins, his apples, and other
perishable matters, so as to have brought his stock up
to the front of solid winter in high order. This is an
important step towards carrying them through profit-
ably. We will suppose also that he has prepared for
winter ; that he has provided pure water in his yard,
a trough under cover from which the inmates of the
yard may lap salt, or let it alone, at pleasure, separate
stalls for his animals as they are to be fed for different
purposes, and above all, a plenty of litter for the pur-
pose of keeping his floors dry and warm. We will
suppose further that he has good hay, second-rate hay,
and very poor hay ; that he has corn and oats, carrots
and turnips, a few quarts of bone-dust for his milch
cows, which they will reject, if their hay contain suf-
ficient phosphate of lime, but will eat with great ad-
vantage if it do not. We must suppose also that if
he fuUy understands his business, he has provided and
116 ANIMALS AND THEIB PRODUCTS.
stored near his stables a quantity of ground plaster,
or dried peat, or, what is better, of both, to be thrown
on the stable-floors for the double purpose of increas-
ing the value of the manure and of preventing the
bad effluvia from injuring his own health, and lessen-
ing the thrift of his cattle.
206. Thus equipped, he commences the solid win-
ter. And now what disposition shall he make of his
crops ? According to the best analyses I can obtain,
good meadow hay contains 10 or 12 per cent, of wa-
ter, 4 or 5 of starch, not less than 10 of gum and
sugar, 7 or 8 of nitrogenous substances, 3 or 4 of oil,
50 of woody fibre, and 7 or 8 of inorganic matter
(ash). In hay grown on richly-manured land, a most
valuable ingredient of the inorganic matter is phos-
phate of lime, while there is but little of this in hay
grown on old, worn-out lands, that produce but a
sparse crop.
207, From the foregoing it will be seen that good,
early-cut, well-cured, meadow hay is rich in nearly all
the desirable qualities for feeding. There are the
starch, gum, and sugar, for keeping the lungs active,
to supply animal heat. There are the nitrogenous
substances for the muscles, tendons, and cartilages.
There is phosphate of lime for the bones and for milk.
And there is oil enough to give considerable fattening
qualities. It is then suitable for all kinds of cattle.
If we could procure it in unlimited quantities, and at
a small price, we should hardly want anything else
for the occupants of the barn. But, limited as it is,
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 117
horses, working oxen, fattening cattle, and milch
cows should have about as much as thej will eat.
The farmer who undertakes to winter more stock than
is consistent, giving the best of hay very plentifully to
all these classes of animals, diminishes thereby his
profits. A little of such hay should also be given
daily to dry cows and stock cattle. It tends to make
them hardy, and by means of it, they are rendered ca-
pable of thriving with poorer fare for a large part of
their living. In some cases it may be good economy
to give a less nutritious quality of hay to horses and
working oxen. Hay for these may be later-cut and
coarser. The most important requisite is, that it
should be clean, bright, and perfectly well cured.
Horses especially should have no hay put before them
from which the least smoke or dust arises when it is
handled, as it often gives them a disease of the lungs,
called the heaves.
208. Second-rate hay, such as grows on poor land,
or may have been washed by rains, or have been
heated in the mow, is less nourishing, and should be
given to dry cows and stock cattle. When fed to
them in the manger, they will eat it clean and thrive
very well, if furnished daily with a little first-rate hay
to keep them in heart; or if, instead of this, they be
treated daily to a quart or two of Indian meal, or one
or two pecks of turnips. A great fault in the expend-
ing of second quality hay is that of keeping cattle on
this alone. They should have something more juicy
and nutritious for a part of their living. Those who
have much second-rate hay should be observant of its
118 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
effect, and should intersperse more nutritious food as
often at least as is necessary to keep their cattle in a
thrifty condition. The eye of an animal, his hair, his
motions, his general appearance, all will indicate to
the observant feeder whether he is doing well. If
not, a change must be made. There is no profit in
keeping miserable, pinched-up, shrivelled stock ; and
certainly, if the owner have a heart in him, there can
be no pleasure in it. -
209. Besides first and second rate hay, almost every
farmer is so fortunate, or unfortunate, as to have some
that is very poor. He may have cut it late among the
bogs of his pasture, or in a swampy part of his mow-
ing that he has not yet found time to redeem. This
may be turned to account. If he will throw it into
his yard at noon in very cold weather, his cattle will
eat a large portion of it. It contains carbon, and will
at least furnish fuel for their lungs — will help to keep
them warm, if nothing more ; and will be converted
into manure.
210. A portion of oat or wheat straw, and of rye
straw even, may be made of some use in the same way.
Cold, clear, sunny days should be selected as the best
for getting rid of the poorest feed. It is observable
that cattle will work it down about ''n proportion as
they are kept in what some farmers call "good
heart," by their morning and evening meals. A
steer, for instance, that has a good breakfast and sup-
per, will contrive to get down dry straw for his
lunch; while one that fares very hard night and
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 119
morning, will not, and probably cannot, swallow dry
straw, nor bay tbat is nearly as dry.
211. According to an analysis by Prof. Norton, In-
dian corn contains 12 per cent, of water, 40 of starcb,
6 of gum and sugar, 17 of nitrogenous substances, 9
of oil, 14 of woody fibre, and 2 of ash. The ash of
corn is rich in phosphate of lime. This renders it
valuable for milch cows. It will be observed that
corn gives about three times as high a per cent, of oil
as good hay. It would probably yield ten times
more oil than the poorest quality of hay. This ren-
ders it valuable for fattening purposes. With the ex-
ception of oil-cake, an article not much used of late
years in our country, though used extensively in Eng-
land, corn is the most fattening feed that we have.
It is to be given freely to fattening cattle and swine.
If given to milch cows, its tendency is not so much
to increase the quantity of milk as to improve the
quality.
212. A little corn-meal fed to milch cows daily in
connection with fine, early-cut hay, or, what is equally
good, if it can be obtained, with bright, well-cured
rowen, gives the milk great richness. One quart of
such milk is worth at least three quarts of milk from
cows fed on mouldy hay and slops. Whether corn
should be given to horses is a matter about which
opinions differ. Some teamsters prefer it to anything
else. The oat, however, seems to be natural to the
horse. Ilorses fed on clean hay and oats seem to feel
120 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
more light and nimble ; and I am inclined to the be •
lief that they wear better and will do more service in
the long run than if fed on corn.
213. It is pretty generally agreed that if horses are
to be fed on corn, it should be old corn ; as new corn,
that which is not thoroughly ripe and perfectly dry
before being ground, endangers the health of this ani-
mal.
214. Corn is excellent feed for sheep. To fattening
sheep it should be given freely. For store sheep, tur-
nips, cut into thin slices, are a good substitute for
corn, and are more economical.
215. Corn is the great staple for pork-making. The
very best pork and lard are made from corn. Many
farmers are of the opinion, that as the prices of corn
and pork have been for many years past, the manufac-
ture of coru into pork and lard does not pay. Cer-
tainly it does not, if the feeding be done at random.
But it should be remembered that the manure made
by fattening swine is of very great value to the
farmer : in many parts of the country we can hardly
dispense with it. If dry peat, black swamp muck,
dried beforehand, or rich scrapings from the roadside,
be thrown into the pen in such quantities that the
whole will be kept only moderately moist, there is
hardly an end to the manure that can be made in this
way. With ten growing and two fattening swine,
a cart-load, richly worth one dollar, may be made
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 121
every day in the year, at an expense of labor not ex-
ceeding fifty cents a load, including the application of
it to the field in the spring.
216. Still it must be admitted, the pork and lard
will not pay for the corn, unless it be given to good
breeds of swine and fed out in the best manner. But
if good breeds be chosen, if the shotes be reared eco-
nomically till within two or three months of " killing
time," if the corn- meal then be *' poured into them"
without stint, I believe that pork and lard making can
be made a remunerating business, especially when we
take into account the great value of the manure.
217. It has been thought by many that corn-meal
should be slightly sour before feeding it to swine. If
wet with water, it ferments. First, there is the saccharine
fermentation ; the starch turns into sugar. Then there
is the vinous fermentation ; by this the sugar turns to
alcohol. Then follows the ax:etic fermentation, by
which the alcohol turns to vinegar. Now it is mani-
fest that if we let the meal pass through all these
stages of fermentation, there would be a great loss, for
there are few or no fattening properties in vinegar.
But many believe that if the fermentation be artested
while between the saccharine and vinous stages, while
yet there is much sugar and some alcohol, the food
thus prepared is congenial to the swine, and that a
given quantity will produce more pork and lard than
if given unfermented. This looks reasonable ; and it
should be thoroughly tried by those who are feeding
corn to swine. For all other animals cori^ in its un-
6
122 ANIMALS AND THEIR TRODUCTS.
fermented state is best. For human beings it is cer-
tainly better in any of those namerous forms, in which
it is found on our tables, than when wrought into alco-
hol I say this, however, in view of the higher end
of man. If one of our race were to be fattened for a
cannibal market, it is possible that even he might be
made to assume a more imposing magnitude, and to
become perhaps more tempting to savage eyes, by first
fermenting and then distilling his corn-meal.
218. I have before spoken of oats, as the most con-
genial, and probably in the long run the most profit-
able grain for horses. Professor Johnstone gives their
composition as follows : — water, 16 per cent. ; starch,
38; gum and sugar, 7; nitrogenous substances, 16;
oil, 6 ; woody fibre, 15 ; ash, 2. It will be observed
that oats contain much oil, and a large amount of the
nitrogenous, or muscle-forming matter. From this we
might infer that they are good for fattening animals,
and also for all kinds of working animals. Such I be-
lieve to be the facts in the case, as decided by expe-
rience. Indeed, oats are good for any kind of animal
on the farm ; and when they bear a price not exceed-
ing half the price of corn, I believe it is for the far-
mer's interest to prepare all his provender in part from
this grain. The straw of oats, if cut 5 or 6 days be-
fore the grain is fully ripe, is an excellent fodder, fully
equal to third-rate hay, and better than the poorest
hay. If cut in a straw-cutter, and moistened, with the
addition of a little corn-meal, it is an excellent food
for any animals in the barn, with the exception per-
haps of fattening cattle and milch cows, and of sheep.
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 123
Milch cows should have more juicy, succulent food ;
and fattening animals should be spared all labor, even
that of chewing tough food. They should be treated
to oily food ; and it should be of kinds that are easily
digested ; and they should be kept as quiet as possible.
The passage to their stall should be by an easy ascent,
so as to require little exertion in going in and out.
The keeper should never strike them, nor even threaten
a blow, nor in any way alarm them. Some have sup-
posed, and I think with much reason, that they are
more dormant, more perfectly at ease, and will fatten
faster, if their stall is somewhat dark. Darkness pro-
motes sleep ; sleep favors digestion ; and the more per-
fect their digestion, thelarger proportion of their food
will be laid over and through their frames in the form
of fat.
219. Eye is of about the same weight as corn ; con
tains more sugar and gum than corn, but less nitroge-
nous matters ; and not more than one-third as much oil.
Where growth only is the object of feeding, as with
young cattle and shotes ; also where labor only is
desired, as with the horse ; and where labor and growth
are both sought in the same animal, as with young
working oxen, rye may advantageously form a part of
the feed, if the price be not higher than that of corn.
The composition of rye would lead to the conclusion,
that if given to milch cows, it would produce as much
milk as corn, and possibly more, but that the milk
would be of inferior quality, and would not make as
much nor as good butter or cheese. Its fattening pro-
perties are small. For the purpose of making beef,
424 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
pork, mutton, tallow and lard, unless its price should
happen to be very low, not more than three-fourths
that of corn, which seldom or never happens, it can
not be used advantageously.
220. Experiments have shown that on deep loams,
carrots may be raised to great advantage. Though not
less than 85 per cent, of their weight is water, yet the
quantity that can be grown on an acre is such, as to
leave a very large amount of solid food, after deduct-
ing 85 per cent. They are excellent for horses, if given
in small quantities, and with discretion, so as to pro-
duce on the bowels a slightly relaxing effect. When
given as food in part to milch cows, the tendency is to
keep the animals in a healthy state, and to impart a
yellowness and richness to their milk, with none of
that unpleasant flavor, that comes from feeding on tur-
nips. They are excellent also for any kind of stock
cattle, when fed upon too large a proportion of coarse
and not very juicy hay. Carrots, as well as turnips,
potatoes, and other roots, should, if possible, be kept in
cellars that are cool. The nearer they can be kept to
the freezing point, and yet not freeze, the better ; for
if too warm they sprout and become dry and pithy,
which greatly diminishes their value.
221. Turnips contain from 85 to 90 per cent, of
water; 7 or 8 of pectine (a substance similar to
Btarch) ; about 2 of gum and sugar ; from 1 to 2 of
nitrogenous matter; less than 1 of oil; about 2 of
woody fibre ; and 1 of ash. The turnip is less nutri-
tious than the carrot. It cannot so advantageously as
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 125
the carrot be given to milch cows, because it imparts
an unpleasant flavor to the milk. But it has the ad-
vantage of most if not of all other crops in the great
amount that can be grown on an acre, without injuring
the land, but rather benefiting it, for other crops,
particularly for the wheat crop. In countries that are
both wheat-growing and wool-growing, the turnip cul-
ture has proved highly advantageous. The sheep eat
the turnips; and the turnips and sheep prepare the
ground for wheat. England can this moment raise
turnips enough to feed millions of sheep, and yet raise
more wheat, than if no turnips were grown. Whether
such a state of things will ever be introduced into our
country, time must show. But as many are doing a
little at the turnip culture, it is desirable to ascertain
what is the best use for these roots. They seem to
possess very little of the fattening properties. For
stock cattle, if turned off with poorish hay, they could
not fail to be of great use, both for the substantial
nourishment they contain, and from their influence in
keeping the animals in a healthy condition. But their
great use is for sheep. Sheep will do well on about
half the hay they would otherwise require, if they can
have as many turnips as they will eat. Our climate is
less favorable to the turnip culture than the more hu-
mid climate of England. There, from 25 to 30 tons of
turnips can be grown to the acre with great certainly.
Our dry climate must ever render this crop less certain.
222. I have not spoken of potatoes, as a food for
animals, because this crop has become so doubtful,
owing to the blight, that if hereafter we can obtain
126 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
enough for the table, it will be about as much ^s we
can now expect. Whenever potatoes are used for
cattle or swine, there is no doubt that their value is
greatly increased by cooking.
228. The same is true also of apples. Eaw apples,
in small quantities, are good for nearly all animals ;
but if cooked they are far better. Indeed, nearly all
kinds of food are better for being cooked. That In-
dian meal for swine is worth far more when cooked,
there can be no doubt. It is not so, however, with
regard to all animals. Horses do better on raw food.
All kinds of horned cattle and swine are more bene-
fited by an equal amount of apples, potatoes, pump-
kins, and meal of every kind, when cooked, than when
raw.
224. With regard to hay, especially long, coarse
hay, and all kinds of straw, the value is increased by
cutting, more than enough to compensate for the ex-
tra labor. Animals more easily digest food that is
properly prepared for them. The food is more readily
and in a larger proportion converted into the parts
of their bodies.
225. With regard to wintering stock, it has already
been laid down as wretched policy to allow them to
become lean and puny on the threshold of winter.
The cost of wintering is thereby increased, and the
profit is diminished. It is not as bad policy, yet it is
not good, to allow them to fall off on the heels of
winter. Some farmers get their stock along into
ANIALA.LS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 127
April in good order, and then allow them to lose
half the benefit of a good wintering for the want of a
little more feed and attention. They should persevere
in well-doing a little longer, that their cattle may com-
mence the summer in good plight. In this way they
will make a good summer's growth ; and many of them
will turn for early beef, when beef is almost always
higher than in autumn.
226. It is a very great error to suppose that young
cattle may be turned off with the most innutritioue
food, and with little care and no shelter. On the con-
trary, they should be warmly sheltered, kindly cared
for, and fed with nutritious food. The milk of the
mother contains all that they need in the earliest stage
of life. When weaned from this, they should be so
fed as to make no unnecessarily great change in their
fare. It is bad policy to give them a stint at this
period, from which they will never fully recover.
227. All animals are subject to a constant waste of
the body. Every few years, probably as often at least
as once in seven years, the entire body is changed.
The old particles have been removed, and new ones
have taken their place. This waste and renewal are
more rapid in young, than in older animals. From
their food, therefore, must be supplied the material not
only for their growth, but for that waste of the bodv
which is so rapid at this age.
MILK.
228. It is well known that the milk of some cows is
J128 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
richj and tliat of others poor ; and that the calves of
the former will fatten rapidl}^, and those of the latter
remain lean. The milk of some is excellent for but-
ter ; of others for cheese ; and of others for both butter
and cheese ; while that of many is of little use for any
purpose.
229. If you were to set in a shallow pan 100 ounces
(65: lbs.) of milk of a medium quality, there would
arise to the surface three ounces of oily matter (cream) ;
if you were then to take off the cream, and put into
the milk a little rennet, there would be separated and
suspended near the surface about 4 ounces of caseine
(curd) ; if now you remove the curd, and evaporate
the whey by a gentle heat, there will remain on the
bottom of the pan about 4 ounces of a peculiar kind
of sugar (lactic sugar, sugar of milk) ; and if you now
burn the cream, curd and sugar, there will remain
about half an ounce of ash. The composition of this
milk then would be : water, 88^ per cent. ; cream, 3
per cent. ; curd, 4 per cent. ; sugar of milk, 4 per cent. ;
and inorganic matter (ash), | of 1 per cent.
230. Other samples of milk might give a little dif-
ferent proportions. Such as are remarkably good
for butter might possibly give as high as 5 per cent,
of cream ; such as are peculiarly excellent for cheese
might give as high as 5 per cent, of curd ; and those
of the very best qualities for both cheese and butter
might give as high as 5 per cent, of cream, 6 of curd,
and 4 or 5 of sugar, leaving but 86 or 7 per cent, for
water. As rich a sample as this would probably
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 129
give I of one per cent, of ash, or inorganic matter, if
burnt.
231. The ash of milk consists of phosphate of lime,
phosphate of magnesia chloride of potassium, chloride
of sodium and soda. Of these inorganic or mineral
substances, about one- half is phosphate of lime. Hence
the importance that cows should be supplied with this
substance, for they can give us nothing in their milk
which they do not receive in their food. Oil-cake,
corn-meal, hay from well-manured lands, and grass on
rich pastures, contain sufiScient of it for their purpose;
while sour water-grass, and the grass on worn-out
lands, is deficient in it. Cows kept on such feed, as
before stated, should be supplied with phosphate of
lime (bone-dust). If it can be procured in no other
way, bones may be calcined (burnt in the fire till they
readily fall into powder), and given ,to them, as they
are fed with salt.
232. It will be noticed that another of the inorganic
substances in milk is chloride of potassium. Some
farmers have adopted the practice of mixing ashes
with the salt given to their cows. I doubt whether
this is well, for it will compel them to eat the ashes,
in order to get the salt. It would seem a wiser course
to place the ashes in a separate trough. The instinct
of the animals would be a safer guide, as to whether
they need more chlorine and potassium than are con-
tained in their food. If they do, they * would lap
ashes, which contain one of these elements, while their
salt contains the other ; but if they do not, then the
130 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
eating of ashes by a sort of compulsion, with their
salt, might be injurious.
233. The reader will notice, also, that chloride of
sodium (common salt) is another of the inorganic sub-
stances in milk. There can be little doubt that the
withholding of salt from milch cows diminishes the
value of their milk many times over what the salt is
worth. If we resolve the mineral ingredients of milk
into their elements, we shall have phosphoric acid,
lime, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and chlorine.
All of these are contained in bone-dust, ashes, and
salt. Now if, instead of mixing ashes with salt, as
some farmers have done, or of mixing salt and bone-
dust, as others have practised, we should put the
three things in separate troughs, there is reason to be-
lieve that the instinct of the animals would be an un-
erring guide with regard to them all. To say the
least, the offer of them could do no harm in any case ;
in some cases it might be beneficial.
234. We must remember that the cow creates no-
thing. She manufactures milk out of materials con-
tained in her food. If any one of these materials
fails, the whole operation is thwarted ; for those pro-
portions which Divine skill has established cannot be
essentially varied.
235. Milk is sometimes said to be a solution of curd,
sugar, and oil, together with the above-mentioned
mineral substances, in water. This is not strictly cor-
rect. Solutions are transparent. Salt, for instance, is
ANIMALS AND THEIR PBODUCTS. 131
white ; but, if dissolved in water, it does not render
the water white, but leaves it transparent; whereas
milk is white, opaque, not transparent, which shows
that the substances combined with water to form it
are not perfectly dissolved, but that a portion of them
at least are only suspended in water. The same ap-
pears also from the fact that some of them separate*by
standing.
236. The curd of milk exists in the form of little
sacks, or bags, each enclosing a globule of oil. These
little sacks of oil are so nearly of the same weight
with the water, that, by the slightest agitation, they
are kept diffused nearly equally throughout. They
are, however, a trifle lighter than the water. This
gives them a tendency to the surface ; and it accounts
for the fact that the milk in the upper portion of the
cow's udder, that which is drawn last, is the richest.
It is so with milk standing in a pail only a short time
— the top is richer than the average of the whole.
This slight tendency of the curd-sacks, which en-
close the oil, of which butter is made, to rise to^the
surface, is the principle on which the cream is sep-
arated.
237. Owing to the upward tendency being so very-
Blight, milk should be set in broad, shallow pans. A
given quantity, set in such pans, will produce more
cream than if set in deep vessels. We must suppose
that the oil is lighter than the curd-sack in which it is
contained. Those sacks which contain most, rise
first ; those which contain less, rise more slowly ; and
132 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
some contain so little that they do not rise at all.
There is, therefore, no doubt that the whole milk con-
tains more oil than the cream*; but whether, in actual
practice, more of the oil can be separated and made
into butter by churning the whole milk, than by
churning thfe cream only, is not so clearly decided.
Theory would seem to favor the affirmative, but care-
ful experiment only can decide.
238. It may be remarked here, that the oil con-
tained in milk is of two kinds, which can be separated
by pressure : one, a yellowish, liquid oil, called Oleine;
the other, a white, solid substance, somewhat resem-
bling tallow, called Margarine. The learner should
also bear in mind that oil is a non-nitrogenous sub-
stance (CHO), and that curd, or caserne, is one of those
nitrogenom substances before spoken of, as containing
nitrogen. Now it is a general rule of chemical com-
pounds, that those which are composed of but few
elements are more permanent in their nature ; and
that those which are composed of many are more per-
ishable. It is also a well-known fact, that compounds
containing nitrogen, when they begin to be decom-
posed, become exceedingly offensive. Accordiogly
the oil of milk, if entirely separated from other ingre-
dients, is very permanent, is not easily decomposed,
and does not readily become offensive to the taste or
smell ; while curd, containing, as it does, carbon, hy-
drogen, oxygen, and nitrogen^ and a little sul2yhur and
phosphoriLS — no less than six elements — is most easily
decomposed; and when decomposed, it becomes
almost: intolerably offensive, and, acting like yeast, it
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 133
communicates putrefaction to whatever it touches.
These facts will appear important when we come to
the subject of the next section.
BUTTER.
239. I do not propose to go into all the mysteries of
making and preserving butter, but to give some gen-
eral facts which those who are desirous of learning
may turn to account. It has already, been stated that
cream is a mixture of oil, or butter (for, with the ex-
ception of a little salt, it is the same thing) and curd.
The butter, in small globules, is wrapped up in little
sacks, or bags, of curd.
240. Now the thing to be done, in order to make
butter, is, to break open these sacks, and let the but-
ter out. When this i^ done, we say, *'The butter
comes ;" and sure enough it does come — comes out
of the sacks. Those globules which were before kept
apart by the sacks, come together, thousands of them,
to form a particle large enough to be seen by the un-
aided eye. And now does the reader say, the more
violently the churning is done, the sooner will the
sacks be broken? Not so. You cannot break them
by mechanical force : it is a chemical process. Put
them in the right circumstances, and they will break
open of themselves. Pounding will not break them.
They will slip away from under the blows unbroken,
just as a foot-ball will leave your foot when you give
it a hard kick, but will leave it whole. Pressure will
not break them. Nothing will break them till you
134 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
put them into the right circumstances^ as to temperature
and exposure to air.
241. At 40° Fahrenheit, you might churn from Ja-
nuary td March, or at 100°, you might churn from
June to September, and no butter would come. Or if
you were to exclude the air entirely from the inside
of the churn, you might roll that churn, with the
cream in it, from Cape Horn to Labrador, and the
butter would not come.
242. All the processes of nature have their condi-
tions. The separation of butter from curd is one of
these processes. The conditions must he complied with.
We will suppose that the cream is from cows that give
good milk. The farmer is unwise who keeps any
other. Some cows' milk will not give much butter,
for there is not much butter vs^ it. We will suppose
also that the milk has been kept at a temperature
about medium between freezing and summer heat ;
that the cream has been taken off while the milk was
yet sweet, and has been kept in a cool place till it was
a little sour, or was very near the point of souring;
that it is now put into a clean churn, and brought up
to a temperature of about 60° Fahrenheit, gradually
and without much stirring; and that we now begin to
lift the dasher, or turn thfe crank, as the case may be,
either forcing air into the cream by some patent
contrivance, or at least letting air have free access to
its surface, and now let us see what happens.
243. By stirring the cream we change the surface
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 135
often, and thus bring all parts of it successively into
contact with the air. The oxygen of the air combines
with the curd, and renders those little sacks, into which
it is formed, brittle, so that they crack open, and let
out the enclosed globules of butter. These eome to-
gether, forming larger masses, until, if the churning
be continued long enough U gather the butter^ as it is
sometimes called, nearly the whole will be found in
one mass. The curd is now nearly separated. It is
floating in the buttermilk. The sugar of milk is dif-
fused through both the buttermilk and the butter,
giving a peculiar sweetness to the butter, and also to
the buttermilk, if the cream had not become too sour
before churning. This is an important consideration ;
for it is this sugar of milk that performs the double
office of giving to the butter a luscious flavor, and of
causing it to keep well.
244. Washed butter may have a tolerable flavor at
first, for it will retain a part of the sugar of milk in
spite of bad management. But it will have given up
to the water too much of its sugar of milk to allow of
its keeping for any considerable time. Put down a
firkin of butter that has been washed, and another
precisely like it in every other respect, but which has
seen no water, let them be from the same churning,
be put into similar firkins, and kept in the same place,
and the unwashed will keep best for an absolute cer-
tainty. No more absurd practice ever came into
vogue than that of washing butter in floods of water.
There is some advantage in washing very rancid but-
ter, for some of its bad properties may be washed out
1S6 ANIMAl.S AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
It may be made tolerable. But if we wash fresb but-
ter, we wash away the part that is essential to its
richest flavor and to its preservation. No water should
be put into the churn, and none used in the process
of working.
245. The butter should be taken from the churn
with a wooden ladle; should be worked with the
same ; when nearly all the buttermilk is worke.d out,
pure, fine salt should be added ; it should be salted to
the taste. More salt than is requisite to gratify the
average taste for this article, has no tendency to pre-
serve butter, but rather the reverse, unless the salt is
absolutely pure, which seldom happens. Most salt
contains a little lime and a little magnesia ; and when
this is the case, any more than enough to salt to the
taste, not only gives the butter a bitter flavor, but ac-
tually hastens its putrefaction. It is very important
that the best of salt, as pure as can be obtained,
should be used for butter.
246. I will here lay down a rule by which the dairy-
man can tell whether his salt is sufficiently pure for the
purpose. To eight lbs. of salt, in a clean wooden ves-
sel, add one pint of boiling water ; let it stand an hour ;
pour it upon a thick strainer, and let the water pass
into another vessel. The lime and magnesia, if any
were present, have passed through in the water, to-
gether with a part of the salt — possibly a quarter of
the whole. What remains on the strainer is nearly
pure salt. Let that which has fallen into the vessel
be put into the catties' trough. There need be no
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 137
waste if all the salt used in a dairy were thus washed.
Now, with washed salt, let a lump of buttel* be salted ;
and let another, from the same churning, be salted
with some of the same salt unwashed. K the latter
have a bitter taste, from which the former is free, you
may conclude that the salt contains lime, or magnesia,
or more probably both ; and that the whole should be
washed, as above described, before being used for but-
ter, or else its place should be supplied by purer salt.
247. Many a pasture has been blamed for producing
bitter weeds, when all the bitterness was in the salt.
The pasture was well enough, but the salt manufac-
turer could make half-purified salt cheaper than pure.
248. We have said that all the buttermilk must be
worked out. This is true, but it is liable to be mis-
understood. What is buttermilk ? It is water, with
fine particles of curd, a very little oil, and a little milk-
sugar in it. The particles of curd give it a whitish
appearance. Now, the butter must be worked till this
whitish appearance has ceased, but not till the last
drop of liquid has left it. The best butter in the
world is full of fine particles of a transparent liquid.
It would not be best to work these out if 3^ou could,
for the butter would then become tough and waxy.
More butter is damaged by not working it enough,
but much is damaged by working it too much. The
dairy-woman should watch the complexion of what
flows from the butter as she works it. When this be-
comes perfectly transparent, limpid, like pure water,
with not the least whitish appearance, the operation
138 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
«
should cease at once, for whatever is taken out after
that is a dahiage and not a benefit to the butter. It
is not buttermilk, it is water, with a little salt and
sugar dissolved in it, and is an essential part of good
butter.
249. I have used firkin-butter from Madison County,
N. Y., nearly a year old, which was as fragrant and as
sweet as new-made butter ; and, on examining it with
a microscope, I have found it full of exceedingly fine
globules of a transparent liquid. If rubbed with a
knife-blade, these would run together and form drops,
as limpid as spring-water. Could they have been
analyzed, I have no doubt they would have been
found to contain salt, water, and sugar, but no curd.
Had they contained the least curd, it would have
putrefied, and would have spread putridity, offensive
to taste and smell, throughout the mass.
250. I have before stated that the nitrogenous sub-
stances, curd (caseine), gluten (as the tough, stringy
part of wheat-flour), and albumen (as in eggs), are
quick to putrefy, and that they always act, as yeast,
to spread putrefaction. It is on this principle that a
particle of curd in butter will create and spread putre-
faction all about it. The sugar of milk contained in
these transparent globules of liquid is conservative ;
the salt dissolved in them is conservative, if it be
really pure salt'; but the curd, if there be any, is des-
tructive. The true idea therefore of working out all
the buttermilk is, to work out all the curd, and there
to stop, and not go on and work out all the life and
ANIMALS AND THEIK PKODUCTS. 139
flavor and conservative principle of the butter, leav-
ing it, as some do, little else than a mass of dry wax.
251. When butter is to be preserved for future use,
it should be put down in wooden firkins. Stone pots,
unless glazed better than we commonly find them, are
porous. The mould which gathers on the outside, works
its way through to the butter. It is not so with wood.
The pores fill with water, so as to become nearly im-
pervious. Besides, pots of sufficient size cannot easily
be obtained. The larger the mass of butter, the bet-
ter it keeps. Whether the firkin be large or small, it
should, if possible, be filled at once. If this cannot
be done, the top of the old should be taken off, and
the staves of the firkin thoroughly cleansed, before
adding new. We all know that the surface of butter,
when it comes in contact with the firkin, very soon
begins to, putrefy. Something foul gathers along the
edge, where the air, butter and wood all come in con-
tact. A sort of rancidity commences there almost
at once. If this is not taken off, it will communicate
itself to the whole mass. Some cover the top with
brine, but this only makes bad worse. The whole
should be kept as dry as it can be in an ordinary cellar.
252. When new butter is to be added to a tub
partly filled, the staves, after removing the surface-
butter for an inch at least, may be cleansed by scrap-
ing the butter from them and then rubbing them with
a cloth moistened in a weak solution of saltpetre, care-
fully sponging off with a dry cloth any water which
may have fallen on the butter. The new should be
140 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
put on immediately, and the tub covered so as to ex-
clude the air as much as possible ; and it should be
opened only as often as is necessary to make addi-
tions. Let no salt be put between the layers. The
whole should be incorporated in one solid mass, as
impervious to the air as possible. No brine should be
put on the top ; the tub should be filled to the brim ;
and then it should be kept in a dry and cool place.
I know it is troublesome to put down butter so that it
will keep for a c-ertainty, but it can he done. Those
who prefer to eat stinking butter, or to offer it in mar-
ket, can avoid the trouble. I am only showing that
those farmers who prefer sweet butter can always have
it, if they will,
253. May, June, and October are the best months
in our climate for packing butter, but with great care
it can be safely done through the whole sumjner. If
on the last working a very little sugar be added, not
more than one ounce to 5 pounds of butter, it will
keep good with greater certainty ; and for most tastes
the flavor will not be injured, but for many will be
improved. The sugar should be of the purest kind.
It would not do to trust to the pulverized sugar of
the stores. That might contain impurities which
would injure instead of preserving the butter. The
sugar should be the best double-refined lump-sugar ;
and it should be pulverized very finely, and worked
evenly through the mass. With this addition of sugar,
butter may be pretty well preserved without all the
care and trouble spoken of above.
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 141
254. For a succession of 3-ears, I have seen store-
butter, of not much more than a medium quality, se-
lected and put down in June ; and yet in every case,
when not put in stone pots, it has turned out in the
following winter such that no gentleman would be
afraid to eat it, nor ashamed to offer it to his friends,
nor would be willing to deduct more than one^ cent a
pound, if he were to carry it to market, from the high-
est price of fresh butter.
255. The cellar in which these experiments have
been made is spacious, airy, cooler than most cellars,
but rather damp. Its dampness may have been the
reason of the failure in every attempt to preserve but-
ter in earthen pots, while every trial with wood firkins
has succeeded admirably, the butter in every trial, not
less than ten in all, coming out seemingly quite as
good in the winter as it went in the preceding sum-
mer. I will therefore state, that, in a dryer atmo-
sphere, possibly stone pots may answer a better pur-
pose than I have laid down. My own experience,
whether in preserving butter at home, or in buying
that preserved by others, has, in every instance, been
against the use of stone pots.
CHEESE.
256. It has been stated that about 4 per cent, of
milk is sugar. Now if milk be kept some time in
a warm place, the cascine, or curd, acts upon the su-
gar, and changes a portion of it into a peculiar acid,
called kijfic and.
142 ANIMALS AXD THEIR PRODUCTS.
257. It will be recollected that soda is one of the
substances mentioned in a former section as contained
in milk. It is the office of the soda to hold the curd
in solution, a sort of imperfect solution, as before ex-
plained. Curd is not dissolved in pure water, but if
a little soda be added, the curd will to some extent
dissolve in it.
258. It is so with milk ; it contains a little soda, in
a free state, that is, uncombined with anj other sub*
stance. The lactic acid, formed from sugar of milk
as before explained, combines with the soda, and neu-
tralizes its alkaline power, upon which the curd imme-
diately appears in the form of curdled milk. This,
if pressed, forms a kind of cheese.
259. The milk then has in itself all that is absolutely
necessary to make cheese. This, however, would be a
slow, inconvenient process, and would not result in the
production of a good quality of cheese. The use of some
other acid than that naturally generated in the milk,
is therefore resorted to. It may be muriatic, or any
of the mineral acids ; or it may be a vegetable acid,
ns vinegar. The object of the acid is to neutralize
the soda, to strip it of its alkaline property, and thus
to withdraw it from its wonted office of holding the
curd in a kind of solution.
260. I have said that almost any acid will answer
this purpose. A kind of animal acid, called rennet^
taken from the stomachs of suckling calves, is more
commonly used. While the calf was living, the office
^ ANIMALS ANE THEIR PRODUCTS. 143
of this acid was to curdle the milk taken from the
cow and to thus render it easier of digestion ; and af-
ter he is killed, it is made to perform the ^ame office.
The stomach is preserved in a little salt and dried ;
and then, when wanted for cheese-making, is steeped
in water ; and this water is used to neutralize the soda
in the . milk, in order to separate the curd. If the
cream is first taken from the milk, it makes what is
called skim-milk cheese, which, if well made, is a
wholesome article of food ; and would be far better,
if one were to live upon cheese mainlj, than new-
milk cheese.
261. In some parts of England richer cheese than
new or whole-milk cheese, is manufactured. This is
made by adding the cream of the night's milk to the
morning's milk, and is nearly twice as rich in butter
as ordinary new-milk cheese.
262. Thus it will be seen that cheese varies, with
respect to the butter it contains, from nearly twice the
natural quantity in the milk down to almost none.
263. Professor Johnstone, in his lectures, gives the
following analyses of four kinds of cheese :
In 100 lb«.
Nol.
No 2.
No 3.
No 4.
Water,
43.82
35.81
38.58
38.46
Caseine,
45.04
37.96
25.00
25.87
Butter,
5.98
21.97
30.11
. 31.86
Ash,
5.18
4.25
6.29
3.81
264. From this table it will be seen that some kinds
of cheese have less than 6 per cent, of butter, and
144 ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
others more than 30 per cent. What will surprise
most readers is, that cheese should contain so large
proportions of water as the above table shows.
265. The ash of cheese, varying, as the foregoing
analyses show, from less than 4 to upwards of 6 per
cent., is more than half phosphates. For each cow
kept on a pasture through the summer, there is carried
off, in veal, butter and cheese, not less than 50 lbs.
of phosphate of lime (bone earth), on an average.
This would be 1000 lbs. for 20 cows ; and it shows very
clearly why old dairy pastures become so exhausted
of this substance, that they will no longer produce
those nutritious grasses, which are favorable to butter
and cheese- making.
266. The temperature of milk at the tihie of put-
ting in the rennet is a matter of much importance.
It should be a little less than 100° Fahrenheit.
267. Special care should be taken to remove all the
whey from the curd, or as nearly all as possible, before
salting ; and then afterwards to press the cheese thor-
oughly. The pressure should be more moderate at
first, and then after most of the whey that remained
after salting has had time to run out, the pressure
should be increased.
268. The cheese should remain in the press at least
two days.
269. The use of bad salt should be avoided with
ANIMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. 146
the same care as in the manufacture of butter. That
bitter salt, which so often finds its way into market,
containing lime and magnesia, is a great enemy to
success in the dairy business.
CHAPTEE V.
MANURES.
RELATIONS OF SOILS TO MANURE.
270. Some soils are so rich in all the elements of
fertility, that they have not yet required manuring.
271. A few others possess such resources for a na-
tural re-supply of the elements of fertility, as to allow
us safely to predict that they never will require ma-
nure.
272. Setting aside the first — those which yet pro-
duce well without manure — as enjoying only a tempo-
rary exemption from the general rule, we may dis-
tribute lands, according to their relations to manure,
into three classes : those which will produce well
without manure, those which will produce good crops
with manure, and those which will not give remune-
rating crops either with or without manure
273. To the first class — those producing without
manure — belong : 1st, lands lying on the borders of
MANURES. 147
streams, and enriched by their overflow; 2d, lands
enriched, as sometimes, but rarely happens, by min-
eral waters flowing upon them from adjacent lands
during the winter and spring; 3d, lands in which there
is much fertilizing matter yet undecomposed, but in
which decomposition is constantly going on, so as to
keep pace with the wants of crops. Whoever is so for-
tunate as to own lands fertilized in either of these ways,
may, contrary to the general rule, take from them
without giving to them. There are few sitch lands,
274. To the second class of lands — those producing
well loith manure — belong at least 9-lOths of all the
land in the world. The owners hold it on the simple
condition, that they are to put on as much as they
take off. They must furnish the raw material, out
of which their crops are to be manufactured, or they
can have no crops. They have indeed some choice,
in what form the raw material shall be supplied, and
in what crops it shall be returned. They may
supply it in the form of manure worth one mill a
pound, and receive it back in the form of wheat worth
two cents a pound ; or they may supply it in the con-
centrated form of guano, worth two cents a pound,
and receive several pounds of wheat for one of guano ;
but so far as the mineral ingredients of soils and crops
are concerned, they are to put on what they take off,
and as much of it. There is no choice here. With
the exception of a few favored soils before described,
this is the immutable law of farming.
275. To the third class of lands — those that by no
148
MANURES.
treatment will give remunerating returns — belong
drifting sands, naked rocks, and marshes so situated
as to preclude the feasibility of draining. That coming
ages may reclaim vast extents, which now appear
worthless, is possible. The wants of our race, how-
ever great they may become, will be supplied. Our
present business is with that great class of lands,
which are held on the condition that they will return
just about in proportion as they receive.
RELATIONS OF CROPS TO MANURE.
276. Below are analyses of three soils, by Professor
Johnstone — one fertile without manure ; another fer-
tile with manure ; and a third hopelessly barren.
TABLE
IV.
^ SOILS.
Fertile
■without
Manure.
Fertile
with
Manure.
Barren.
Organic Matter,
9.70
6.00
4.00
Silica, ....
64.80
.-83.30
77.80
Alumina, ....
5.70
5.10
9.10
Lime, ....
5.90
1.80
.40
Magnesia, ....
.85
.80
.10
Oxides of Iron,
6.10
3.00
8.10
Oxide of Manganese,
.10
.30
.05
Potash, . . . ,
.20
trace.
trace.
Soda, ....
.40
((
i<
Chlorine, ....
.20
a
((
Sulphuric Acid,
.20
.08
((
Phosphoric Acid,
.45
.18
«
Carbonic Acid,
4.00
.45
ti
MANURES.
I^
277. ThQ ingredients of all these soils are very well
as far down as potash, except that the third has too
much oxide of iron. Below that point, important in-
gredients are deficient in the second, and almost
wholly wanting in the third. If now we look at Pro-
fessor Johnstone's analyses of crops below, we shall
see why the second soil required manure, and why the
third was hopelessly barren.
TABLE V.
CROPS.
•
1
1
o
1
i
II
1
s
J
Potash and Soda,
33
26
22|
33
32L
45
51^
58
Lime,
3
6
^
5
H
^
lU
" 2
Magnesia,
12
10
n
101
16
61
3
6
Oxide of Iron,
1
1
2
H
li
i
*
i
i
Phosphoric Acid,
49
U
39
481
45
33
lU
i^
Sulphuric Acid,
I
101
trace
1
3
^
15
13}
Chlorine,
trace
i
<(
trace
I
4
H
51
4«
SiHca,
2
2^
27
i
i
_i
2
4i
278. From an inspection of these analyses, it is
reasonable to infer that the first soil would produce
any of those crops without manure ; that the second
would produce good crops, if manured with some-
thing containing potash, soda, and chlorine ; and that
the third would be likely to require more manure
than the crop would be worth, and might therefore be
abandoned as hopeless. The first contains all the
160 MANURES.
ingredients contained in the ash of plants ; it contains
plenty of organic matter ; and it contains no one of
the mineral substances, as oxide of iron or common
salt, in such quantities as would be likely to prove
hurtful. The second has also a large supply of or-
ganic matter ; and it has all the mineral substances
required for any crop, except potash, soda, and chlo-
rine. This also is free from any hurtfal excess of one
or two ingredients. The amount of oxide of iron in
it is more favorable even than in the first soil.
When we look at the third, we find it not only desti-
tute of those ingredients which are the most expen-
sive to furnish, but abounding in oxides of iron to an
injurious extent.
279. The owner of three such soils as the foregoing,
could he be informed how they are constituted, would
naturally cultivate crops of the most valuable kind on
the first, as wheat, corn, clover. With regard to the
second, he would look into the analyses of crops, and
select for it those which contain least of those mineral
matters in which the soil is deficient. After selecting
a rotation for perhaps three years, he would next
inquire how the wanting ingredients could be most
readily supplied. If he were to resort to barn-yard
manure, he would supply to the land a large amount
of organic matter which this land does not need, be-
cause already well supplied with it. He would also
supply several mineral substances with which the soil
was before abundantly supplied ; and he would fur-
nish in this way but comparatively little of those
ingredients which are really wanted. The use of
MANURES. 151
barn-yard manure would be a most expensive way of
keeping up the fertility of such a soil.
280. Potash, soda, and chlorine are the things
wanted. Unleached ashes contain 5 or 6 per cent, of
potash, and about 2 per cent, of soda ; and common
sa,lt contains 23 parts of soda to 36 of chlorine.
Ashes and salt then contain all that is wanted. If
now he sow on 10 bushels of ashes to the acre, and 2
bushels of common salt, his crops will probably be as
much benefited as by a heavy dressing of yard ma^
nure. The one would cost him perhaps three dollars ;
the other would be worth thirty.
281. But it may be said that the cheap dressing will
not answer the purpose always. Very true, it will
not; for other mineral ingredients will ere long be
exhausted, and the organic matter will also be ex-
hausted by continued cropping, so that by-and-by a
dressing of manure will become absolutely necessary.
But, if the land in the mean time will produce heavy
crops by means of the ashes and salt, those crops will
beget manure in the owner's yard ; he can put it on
this land ; and then the land will have manured
itself, instead of drawing manure from other parts of
the farm.
282. Should it ever become possible, through State
patronage or otherwise, for fiirmers to obtain reliable
analyses of their soils, farming would become some-
what an exact science. The farmer would know what
crop to put on each field, and with what manure to
152 MANURES.
prepare tlie land. It would often happen that one
dollar's worth of just what the land required for a
particular crop, would benefit that crop as much as
ten dollars worth of manure thrown on at random.
And although special manures, containing just what a
particular crop might require, and no more, would not -
permanently enrich the soil ; yet, by producing good
crops for the time, these crops would produce manure,
and so furnish the means of enriching the land perma-
nently.
IMPORTANCE OP MANURES.
283. Good farming always tends to better ; and on
no point is this more strikingly true, than in the care
and application of manures. A load of manure well
applied, not only produces a greater crop this year,
but that extra crop produces more manure next year,
and that extra manure produces a greater crop the
year after, and so on indefinitely.
284. When speaking of lands, in another section, I
ghall have occasion to touch upon several kinds of
manure, as better adapted than others to particular
descriptions of land. If there should be some repeti-
tion, I should regret it the less from the fact that the
subject of manures is the most important to which the
farmer's attention can be drawn. If he manage this
part of his concerns well, a foundation is laid for suc-
cess throughout ; if he fail here, he will fail through-
out.
MANURES. 153
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL, AND MIXED
MANURES.
285. It has been common to speak of manures as
animal^ vegetable^ and mineral. A few, as hair, horns,
hoofs, leather clippings, sweepings from the woollen
factory, &c., are almost wholly of animal origin.
Others, as decayed straw, vegetable mould from the
woods, peat, swamp muck, &c., are almost wholly of
vegetable origin. And others still, as plaster, ashes,
common salt, saltpetre, lime, soda, &c., are purely of
mineral origin ; while a few, including barn-yard ma-
nures, are of a mixed character, partaking of an ani-
mal, vegetable, and mineral origin.
MANURES, STIMULANTS, AND AMENDERS.
286. Substances used to benefit soils and crops,
have also been distinguished into manures^ stimulants^
and amenders. Those of which the principal object is
to furnish food for plants, have been called manures ;
those whose main object is to bring into action other
substances already in the soil, have been called stimu-
lants ; and those designed chiefly to change the physi-
cal condition of the soil, as when clay is put upon
sand, or sand upon clay, or peat upon either, have
been denominated amenders^ their office being not so
much to afford nutriment to plants, nor to stimulate
the soil, as to better its physical state.
287. Unfortunately for the latter distinction, the
object of an application is seldom confined to one of
7*
154: MANURES.
the foregoing offices. For instance, we harrow stable
manure into a clay loam. It furnishes the plant with
eight or ten kinds of food ; the salts contained in the
manure act on the silicates in the soil as stimulants ;
and the manure itself, mingling with the heavy soil,
renders it more open and porous. Or if we sow plas-
ter upon a clover field, it performs at least two offices :
it feeds the clover with sulphuric acid and lime, and
it stimulates the soil, hastening the decomposition of
organic matter contained in it.
ORGANIC MATTER— HOW TO ASCERTAIN ITS
AMOUNT IN A SOIL.
288. By recurring to Table lY., it will be seen that
among the ingredients of soils, is organic matter.
This, so far as of vegetable origin, consists of oxygen,
carbon and hydrogen, with a very little nitrogen. So
much of it as is of animal origin contains the same ele-
ments, with a larger proportion of nitrogen, and a very
little sulphur and phosphorus. This organic matter is
essential to the fertility of soils. Its tendency is to in-
crease in lands that are in grass, but to diminish in
those under the plough, till it comes below the point
essential tcf fertilitv.
»/
289. The farmer may easily decide, whether a field
is deficient in organic matter. He may take a hand-
ful of soil from half a dozen places ; mix all together ;
dry it as dry as it can be made in the sun ; put it on
white paper and dry it in an oven at a temperature
MANURES. 156
just high enough to brown the paper slightly; then
weigh out and put into an iron ladle 100 ounces ; heat
it to a red heat, and keep it hot till all the black color
has disappeared ; cool and weigh. The organic matter
will have burned away. If it new weigh 99 ounces,
his soil contains 1 per cent, of organic matter ; if 98,
2 per cent., and so on. A soil should contain certainly
as much as 2 per cent. ; and it is well if it contain 2 or
3 times as much.
MODES OF RESTORING ORGANIC MATTER TO A
SOIL.
290. When the organic matter has become deficient
in a soil, there are three ways of restoring it : 1st. By
laying it down to grass, and pasturing it for several
years, till it has become thickly turfed over. 2nd. By
ploughing in green crops. If not entirely exhausted, it
may be ploughed deeply and sowed with rye, or oats
and clover seed. Clover roots are inclined to run deeply
in the ground. While the clover is growing, it draws
for organic matter largely from the air ; and at the
same time, if there are valuable salts in the subsoil, it
brings them up to furnish the mineral part of the crop.
If, when fully grown, it be ploughed in, it not only sup-
plies the soil with organic matter taken from the air,
but with saline matters drawn up from the subsoil.
If a large part of the clover be fed off by cattle, their
droppings, being returned to the surface, will nearly
repay the soil for the clover eaten ; and then, if the re-
mainder be ploughed in late in autumn, the effect is
nearly the same. 3rd. By putting into the soil large
156 MANURES.
quantities of some kind of bulky manure ; as manure
from the yard, or better, this composted with 2 or 3
times its bulk of peat or swamp mud. If land, that
has been ploughed so long as to have become deprived
of its organic matter, is still to be kept under the
plough, it must receive great quantities of bulky ma-
nure. It will not do in such cases to rely upon any-
thing else.
OBJECT OF APPLYING MINERAL MANURES.
291. If we look again at Professor Johnstone's analy-
ses of soils (Table IV.), we shall find among their con-
stituents all the bases mentioned in Table III., and
several of the acids. These do not exist in soils separ-
ately, but in combination with each other as salts.
For instance, phosphoric acid and lime are found as
phosphate of lime ; carbonic acid and lime, as car-
bonate of lime ; sulphuric acid and lime, as sulphate of
lime ; and so each of the acids may be combined with
other bases, forming various salts. Chlorine and soda
are more usually found in combination, as common
salt.
292.. When we apply mineral manures, it is for the
purpose of adding these salts to the soil. It often hap-
pens that a soil containing a good supply of organic
matter, and otherwise in an apparently high condition,
will not produce a particular crop, because it lacks one
or two mineral ingredients, which that crop requires.
In the ashes of clover is found a considerable quantity
pf both sulphuric acid and lime; consequently that
MANURES. 157
crop cannot be grown on land destitue of these ingre-
dients. But such land, by the addition of plaster,
which is composed of sulphuric acid and lime, will
produce clover abundantly.
293. Some have supposed, that, if we could ascertain
precisely the wants of our crops, the labor of apply-
ing heavy, bulky manures might be avoided ; that by
spreading on our fields a few pounds of some mineral,
we might carry off as many cart-loads of produce, and
continue to do so, without further trouble. But such
a course would soon exhaust the soil of its organic
matter. The truth is, as confirmed by both science
and experience, that if we would take off great crops,
we must put on great quantities of manure. The
ploughing in of green crops will do something towards
keeping the land up ; and the application of compara-
tively light, but expensive fertilizers, from abroad,
may do something.
HOME RESOURCES FOR MANURES.
294. But after all, the farmer's great resource must
be at home. The farm micst he made to enrich itself
mainly. Every particle of manure, made by the ex-
penditure of crops, must be husbanded with the ut-
most care. Many a farmer, who has expended 50 tons
of hay, and considerable grain crops, has heretofore
had but 100 loads of manure, and that, too often, de-
prived by rains and evaporation of its best qualities ;
whereas he ought to have had four or five times as
much, and of a better quality. I am aware that this
158 MANURES.
implies a great deal of labor, but it is the most profit*
able labor done on a farm.
VALUE OF MANURES.
295. The farmer's study is not to avoid labor, but
to make labor pay well ; and nothing is better estab-
lished than that the labor of saving manure^ of increas-
ing its quantity^ and improving its quality, is the most
profitable that he can perform or employ. I will not
say that manure is the farmer's gold^ but it is that
which brings him gold. About in proportion as the
barn-cellar, the yard, and the pig-pen, are filled with
manures, will the purse be filled with the shining
metal ; and, what is more, about in the same propor-
tion will the farmer have the exquisite pleasure of
seeing everything on his farm SHINE.
296. The subject of manures is the golden subject of
agriculture. If I have wfitten obscurely before, here
I wish to write plainly. Let me talk, on this subject,
not about the farmer, but to him. For the sake of
being short and to the point, let me say /and you^ in-
stead of the more roundabout way of saying the writer
andjAe reader,
29T. For every load of manure, made by a sleepy,
listless mode of farming, you must m-ahe five loads. Set
this down to begin with. Let the quality be improved.
How are these things to be done ?
MANURES. 169
BARN- YARD MANURE.
298. First of all, put your barn-yard in the right
shape, if it is not so already. Let it be slightly dish-
ing in the centre, and a little elevated at the edges.
Turn from it the eaves of the barn. Let no water run
into it except what comes directly fronl the clouds,
and, if possible, let one-fourth of this be cut off by
sheds with their roofs turning outward. Above all,
let no water run out of the yard, not even downward
into the earth. How this last can be prevented you
will soon learn. It is not by puddling nor by flagging
the ground. It is of little consequence how tight or
how porous the yard is, if you are only a wise man ;
for in that case, you will turn either fault to a good
account. If the bottom of your yard be an impervious
hard-pan, it will hold your manure of course ; if it be an
open, porous soil, what you would call leachy^ you must
lower it several inches every time you clear it of ma-
nure. In this way you will carry to your lands the
salts of the manure, which would otherwise, in process
of time, be washed into the earth, in spite of my ad-
vice to let nothing run from the yard, even down-
wards.
299. How are you to prevent water from running
from the yard downwards, if the ground be porous,
or from running over, in great rains, if it be imper-
vious ? Answer : You are to have great quantities of
absorbent vegetable matters always in readiness on
your farm. It may be of half-rotted straw, though,
if you are a thriving farmer, your stock will be likely
4
160 MANURES. -
to have eaten a good part of that, and rhade manure
of the rest. More probably it will be peat or swamp
mud, thrown up where you reclaimed swamp last
year or the year before, now cured of its sourness by
sun and rains, and ready for Tjse. It may be peat
which you have bought of your neighbor at 12^ cents
a load, because none such is found on your own farm ;
or it may be loam of a good quality, which you turned
up two years ago for this very purpose ; or road-
scrapings, which your men threw up in heaps at odd
spells last summer ; or vegetable mould, gathered into
piles along the border of the woods. Whatever it is,
we will call it a vegetable absorbent It is not UUe7\ Its
object is not to keep cattle warm in winter, but to ab-
sorb their urine, which is worth as much as the solid
excrements, or a little more, and to keep it from
running to loss. All the substances just mentioned
shall be called vegetable absorbents^ in the remaining
part of this work. They are supposed to contain de-
caying vegetable matter, some more and others less,
and therefore to be valuable in themselves as fertilizers,
but valuable, especially, as absorbents of rain-water
and urine, and fully adequate, if used abundantly, to
prevent the salts of manure from being washed away,
and its gases from taking wings.
300. Before telling you precisely what to do with
these vegetable absorbents^ let me exhort you, as you
wish to live and thrive by farming, to have them
always at command, so that whenever your teams are
not otherwise employed, you may draw them in for
use. I wish also, l^efore going farther, to explain a
MANURES. 161
most valuable* property of these vegetable absorbents,
which is not often thought of. They are carbonaceous
— contain much carbon — and they are more or less
clayey. Now, carbon and clay are the two things in
nature best calculated to take in and hold fast every-
thing nutritious to plants, whether gaseous or liquid.
From the very day when you throw up a muck heap in
your swamp, or by the way-side, it is gathering in for
you the food of plants. Farmers always say the older
their muck is, the better. There is a very good reason.
It is gathering in. It lays the falling rain and the pass-
ing wind under contribution, and it keeps what it gets.
If a chamber-maid should empty her slops upon a sand-
heap, they would escape into the winds, or into the
ground, or both. The sand-heap would become no
richer. It would retain nothing. But if she should
empty them upon a pile of carbonaceous and clayey
matter, such as may be found on almost every farm,
they would be held fiist. By repeating the process a
few days, that pile would become almost as good as
guano. Even if nothing were put upon it, it would
become better from day to day, by what it would take
from the rains and the air.
301. These vegetable absorbents^ consisting mostly of
black, carbonaceous matter, mixed with fine, clayey
particles, and acting, as they do, both as absorbents and
RETAINERS, aVe of very great value. It must be ad-
mitted that they are deficient in the more active salts,
as compared with stable manure ; but these, as will be
shown hereafter, can be chenply supplied, and then
they become almost equal to the best of manures.
162 MANURES,
302. I will not object to the use of gu^o, poudrette,
phosphate of lime, and other costly manures. I honor
the men who prepare and sell them honestly. They
are bringing into use a vast amount of fertilizing mat-
ters, which would otherwise be lost to the world — are
returning to the country the phosphates and alkalies
carried to the city in the shape of butter, cheese,
meats, hay, and grains ; and are raking open and bring-
ing to market accumulations of birds' dung, scores
of feet deep and thousands of years old. The traffic
is a useful one. Farmers, who have faithfully hus-
banded their home resources, may find it for their in-
terest to purchase these articles. They, of course,
will best judge of their own matters.
803. But for inland farmers, those of but ordinary
means, to let their muck remain untouched, and to
leave the urine of their cattle to run into the ground,
or to the nearest brook — things which, together, would
make as good manure as guano, only not quite as con-
densed, and at the same time to buy foreign fertilizers
at thirty, forty or fifty dollars a ton, seems to me like
the height of absurdity. Their improvement should
hegin at home. But let us see how these vegetable ab-
sorbents should be used.
304. After removing all the manure from the yard,
fill «l'p the yard with them six or eight inches in
depth. It will require a large amount of materials,
and much labor ; but remember it is a kind of labor
that 'pays. This depth will be sufficient to absorb all
the liquid manure of the yard. It will absorb also
MANURES. 163
•
the water of all ordinary rains, and liold it, till in fair
weather it has time to evaporate, instead of running
off and carrying the best of the manure with it. The
benefit of its evaporation is, that when it evaporates,
it goes off into the air, as pure water, or nearly so,
leaving the salts dissolved in it behind ; whereas, if
it sinks through into the ground, it carries these salts
away with it. It makes a great difference with the
manure, whether the rain-water of a whole summer
has left it by evaporation^ or by leaching. In the latter
case, it is full of active salts ; in the former, its best
salts, the potash and soda especially, which are easily
dissolved, have been washed out of it.
305. Some practise ploughing over the contents of
the yard once or twice a month during the summer.
It is a much better practice to add to it as often a few
loads of new material, enough at least to keep the
thickness good or a little increasing, as the cows and
other animals tread it down. Supposing the yard, in-
cluding the portions under cover, to contain 20 square
rods, which is none too large for a yard on a consider-
able farm, the solid manure, at 6 inches in depth,
would give bQ large loads, of 50 cubic feet each ; and
every load would be worth more than the 3 or 4 or
half dozen loads of dry, scaly stuff, that would have
accumulated from the mere excrements of the ani-
mals, during the summer.
306. According to the practice of some, this should
be carried out in the fall. I would by no means ad-
vise to such a course, unless you mean to put in as
164 MANURES.
mucli more, to lie in the yard over winter ; and even
then, it would be better to lay the new on the top of
the old. The great thickness of the mass would pro-
tect it from bein^ leached by winter storms : various
kinds of litter would have been trodden into it during
the winter ; and early in the spring it would all be
ready for use, unless the top might be so strawy that
it would require to be thrown into heaps a few days
to undergo a partial fermentation. Here would be,
according to the number of cattle you had kept, and
the amount of straw and coarse fodder you had thrown
out, from 150 to 200 loads of excellent manure. It
would have cost a great deal of labor to get in the
materials ; and it would be a heavy job to get it out ;
but in comparison with its real value, it would be at
least 'a hundred per cent, cheaper than any manure
you could buy.
870. There is an important consideration with
regard to this manure, which must not be over-
looked. Its value is not to be measured by its
influence on the first crop. In addition to its imme-
diate effect, it acts as a permanent o.mender of the
soil. It should not be put upon peaty land. A few
bushels of ashes would there do more good than a ton
of it. But on almost any other soil, whether sandy,
clayey, or gravelly, it essentially amends the soil for
long years to come.
BARN CELLAR MANURE.
808. Every barn should have a cellar for vege-
MANURES. 165
tables, and another for manure. Both should be cool,
but not sufficiently so to freeze. The vegetables
should be kept but a little above the freezing point,
and the manure at that point where it will undergo
the most gradual fermentation possible.
809. On the bottom of the manure cellar, place
from one to two feet of peat^ if you have it ; of swamp
TYiuck^ if you have no peat ; or of rich loam, if you
have* neither. I hardly need say that the cellar should
be so constructed that a team can be driven through
it, to dump these materials ; and that a cart can be
backed in at either end, to take out the manure. Have
also in readiness near your stalls as much of the same
material as you can afford to collect for a prospective
return better than you get for any other labor.
310. Throw this into the stalls from day to day,
enough to absorb the liquid excrements, and so min-
gle with the solid, as to render the whole a tolerably
firm standing for the cattle. After one, two, or three
days, as you find most convenient, open the scuttles
and shovel the whole into the cellar below. It would
be well if the stables were so arranged that the ma-
nure from horses, sheep, and cattle, should be mixed,
in falling. Care should be taken that the manure do
not ferment too rapidly. If it give a smell of ammo-
nia (hartshorn), a few shovelfuls of plaster should be
sprinkled over it. The temperature should be low-
ered by throwing open the cellar windows and doors.
If this do not prevent too violent heat, water or snow
may be thrown on. The fermentation should be as
166 MANURES.
slow as possible ; and not tlie least smell of ammonia
should be allowed.
811. The manure of a stable, thus preserved and
gradually fermented, will be ready for use as soon as
wanted in the spring, and will be from 2 to 4 times as
valuable as if thrown out from windows to be frozen,
thawed, and drenched, in the open air. It is painful
to think how much labor has been lost, or at best has
failed of an adequate reward, for the^want of more la-
bor in the right place — in the increase^ preservation^ and
right applicatio7i of manures.
812. This manure, if composted with peat or swamp
muck in the cellar, would not be suitable for peaty or
swampy lands. I do not mean that it would be of no
use to such lands. Containing, as it would, all the
salts and the nitrogen of the solid and liquid excre-
ments of animals, it could not fail to be of use on any
land ; but since a portion of it was taken from peaty
or swampy lands, it would be more effective if ap-
plied to lands of a different character. Soils are
amended by the application of unlike rather than like
soils.
• 813. In applying this manure, without analyzing it,
to a soil that is not analyzed, we could not apply it on
the principle of supplying precisely what is wanted
for the intended crop ; but we could apply it with a
certainty that all its ingredients will either go into the
first crop, or remain in the soil for future crops. The
peat, or swamp muck, with which we have compost-
MANURES. 167
ed it, is a strong retainer. It will hold fast the gases
and the salts of the animal part ; whereas, if we put
uncomposted manure into a light soil, the gases which
it generates are liable to be blown away, and the salts
to be washed away.
314. I will here state that nitrogen is considered to
be among the most important ingredients of animal
manures. Some have gone so far as to lay it down,
that animal manures are valuable just about in pro-
portion to the nitrogen they contain. When manures
ferment, the nitrogen combines with hydrogen, one
atom of the former to three of the latter forming am-
monia (NH^). This immediately combines with car-
bonic acid (CO'*), forming carbonate of ammonia
(NH', CO'), which is exceedingly volatile, and passes
off into the air, where it is dissolved in watery vapor,
and again returned to the earth in falling rain.
815. These facts show the benefit of sprinkling
plaster on stable floors, which should always be done,
and on fermenting manure heaps. The explanation is
thus : plaster is sulphuric acid (SO'), and lime (CaO),
or sulphate of lime (CaO, SO'). Now, when ammonia
is escaping from manure in the form of a carbonate,
if plaster is present, the ammonia and the lime ex-
change acids with each other, by what is called a dou-
ble decomposition. The lime takes the carbonic acid
from the ammonia, becoming carbonate of lime, and
gives its sulphuric acid to the ammonia, making that
a sulphate of ammonia, which last is a fixed, and not
a volatile alkali, and therefore remains in the manure
168 MANURES.
(if not washed away by water, for it is soluble), till
wanted by the growing plant.
316. Animal manures, while in course of prepara-
tion, should never be drenched with water, if it can
be avoided, for then the potash contained in them, and
the soda and chlorine which exist in them in the form
of common salt, are dissolved and washed away. On
the other hand, they should not be suffered to become
entirely dry, as they sometimes will by excessive fer-
mentation, but should be kept moderately moist. If
too dry, it is difiicult to keep the ammonia from escap-
ing ; and besides the loss of ammonia, there is another
injurious action which takes place. Farmers gene-
rally speak of it as hurning. They say their mj^nure
burns. There is more truth in this than would at
once be supposed. The manure does burn, or an ac-
tion similar to burning takes place. Let us see how
this is. When wood burns on the fire, its carbon,
about half of the whole, combines with oxygen, and
passes off into the air as carbonic acid. Its oxygen
and hydrogen pass off in the form of watery vapor,
and nothing but a little ash is left. So when manure
is suffered to become very dry, and to ferment excess-
ively, its carbon combines with oxygen, and passes
off as carbonic acid into the air ; the oxygen and hy-
drogen pass off as watery vapor, and there is not much
left. It is very nearly literal truth, to say, that '' the
manure heap has hurnt downy What remains is a lit-
tle carbonaceous matter and a little ash, about the
same as would have remained if it had been literally
burnt in a furnace. The rest has gone into the atmo-
MANUKES. 169
sphere, and may benefit the vegetation of the globe,
but very little of it may fall back on the farm of the
man who owned the manure. It will not do to esti-
mate this hurnt manure by the fact of its being black ;
for, according to that criterion, swamp muck, just as
it comes from the ground, would be better than the
richest stable manure. The truth is, hurnt manure,
however hlack, is worth but little — less than half cer-
tainly of its original value.
317. A famous instance of burning manure recently
came under my observation. A gentleman who had
come from the city "to farm it," piled up, on the
south side of his barn, an immense heap of stable and
yard manure, and let it lie from April till November
— burnt down what was perhaps fifty loads to proba-
bly not more than twenty-five. He then, just before
winter, spread it on a peat meadow, the soil of which
was just about as black as the manure. For that soil,
I suppose, twenty-five bushels of ashes, to be spread
the next spring, would have been as good as the
whole, if not better.
PIG-PEN MANURE.
818. Mythology relates that one King Augeus had
stalled 30,000 cattle for many years without cleaning
after them. Hercules, it is said, was appointed to the
task of cleansing these "Augean stables." The wily
hero, as the story has come down to us, turned a
river through them, and made clean work shortly.
Whether the stalls travelled with the current, we are
8
170 MANURES.
not informed, but the manure went down scream.
Agriculturally considered, this was just about as
wise as the management of some modern pig-pens.
319. I have often seen these important structures
built with their roofs facing the south ; the manure
thrown out the south side ; the eaves washing it in
rainy days, and the sun scorching it in fair weather ;
till, between washing, and fermentation, and burning,
there was little left. Others are so located, that rills,
if not rivers, run into them, not enough perhaps to
cleanse them, after the model of the aforesaid " Her-
culean labor," but enough to sweep away nearly all of
their soluble salts. Owing to bad management, pig-
manure has come into bad reputation, but it is good,
nevertheless, if rightly managed.
820. The pig-pen should be so constructed that the
eaves will be turned away from the manure. The
ground should be in such shape that no water, except
what falls directly from the heavens, can find ingress,
and none find egress but by evaporation. There
should be an outside enclosure, where the animals can
be as filthy as their swinish nature prompts ; and an
inside apartment, where they can be as dry and warm
as they please. If the first is not allowed them, they
may not pay for their keeping in summer ; if the last
is not furnished, they certainly will not pay for their
winter's food. JYo animal can grow or fatten zvhen suf-
fering with the cold. It takes all his food to keep him
from freezing.
MANURES. 171
821. Let the outside enclosure be of considerable
size, giving at least one square rod to the first tenant,
and half as much more to each additional occupant.
It is agreed on all hands that American farmers have
land enough. They can afford to give their pigs a suf-
ficient range. The ground should be dishing, the same
as in the barn-yard, and for the same reason — that no-
thing may run over in wet weather ; and the materials
for the pigs to work over should be so abundant as
never to evaporate to dryness in the dryest times.
322. Now, what is to be done that a lot of swine
may produce, partly in the " natural way," and more
by the manufacture of raw materials, ten loads each,
per year, of excellent compost ? If the number to be
kept be ten, this would give a hundred loads. Sup-
pose this to be the average number for the year, and
let us see how the thing is to be done. In the first
place, put around the outside of the pen, or outer
yard, seventy-five loads of peat, swamp muck, road-
scrapings, top-soil, or whatever you can best procure,
and then proceed as follows.
323. After the pen has been cleared of its last year's
manure, throw in plentifully of this to begin with.
Let it be scattered over the whole enclosure several
inches in depth. As it becomes thoroughly moistened
with rains and the droppings of the animals, throw in
more, and so on, through the summer and fall, throw-
ing in, more or less, nearly as often as you feed the
swine, and taking care that it always be moist, but
seldom or never thoroughly drenched. The quantity
l72 MANURES.
will soon become so large that it will hold the water
of any ordinary rain, and withstand the evaporation
of any drouth, if not very severe. If it inclines to
dry up, it is well to throw over it a few quarts of
plaster. Plaster is very little soluble. Five hundred
lbs. of water dissolve but one lb. of plaster. It
cannot, therefore, be lost by putting it on moist
manure, as some other salts might be. Indeed, it
should be sprinkled over all manures frequently,
but especially if they incline, either in consequence
of dry weather, or of too rapid fermentation, to be-
come dry.
824. Some have supposed that the outer pen for
swine should be under cover. I think not. Kemem-
ber that rain does not hurt manure, unless it run
through it, carrying off its soluble salts. Every drop of
rain brings down ammonia and other fertilizing mat-
ters from the air. The falling rain washes the air of its
impurities. After a shower, we say, " How sweet the
air is." It is sweet, because it is clean. Hence, in the
neighborhood of cities and large villages, and every-
where, to a limited extent, rain falls, impregnated with
enriching materials. If it fall on a quantity of ma-
nure, whicb has sufficient depth to hold it, till evapo-
ration takes place, it leaves these materials in the ma-
nure. Hence, the more rain the better, provided it
go off by evaporation, and not by filtration. The eva-
poration should not go on to perfect dryness, for then
the ammonia, the carbonic acid, and other gases, are
Inclined to escape, and the manure is approaching that
state in which it may be said to be " burnt."
MANURES. 178
325. Always moist but never leached^ should be the
farmer's rule for his manures. The more manure he
makes, both in his cow-yard and his pig-pen, the more
easily can he keep it within this rule. A few inches
of manure, spread over the yard or pen, will be dry
as powder one day and thoroughly leached the next ;
while a depth of ten, fifteen, or twenty inches, will
stand a long drouth, or hold the water of a long rain.
Consequently, it generally happens to the farmer who
makes manure on a liberal scale, that his manure is as
much better in quality as it is more in quantity.
326. I have said, always moist hut never leachedr
Closely allied to this is another rule. Who has not
noticed that a pig-pen, in which the occupants are in
danger of drowning, and one in which the manure is
so dry as to be suffering a rapid fermentation, always
smell horribly ? To say nothing of the keeper and
his family, the pigs themselves are less healthy in such
an atmosphere, and they will thrive less on the same
keeping. To keep a stinkiilg pig-pen, is to throw
away part of the feed and part of the manure at the
same time. By giving corn to swine, shut up to a pol-
luted atmosphere, the farmer loses a portion of his
last year's crop ; and, by letting his pig-pen " waste
its sweetness on the desert air," he fails of a portion of
his next year's. A valuable portion, and not a small
portion, of what should produce crops next summer,
is going beyond his reach.
327. Not the least offensive odor should escape from the
pig-jpen This is the rule before alluded to ; and it is
174 MANURES.
as practicable as it is important. To practise it, will
save something on the last year's crop ; something for
the next year's ; something certainly in comfort ; and,
it may he^ something in doctors' bills. In order to
practise it successfully, one needs only to throw into
the pig-pen, and all like places, including the vault of
the necessary, plenty of peat, black mud, or top-soil
even, and to see that it is always mT)ist, but not
drenched. A little planter would be a help, but is
not necessary. If it is not at hand, the other part of
the prescription will suffice. Plaster, however, should
always be on hand. This, and cured peat, or muck,
should never be wanting about the farmer's premises.
328. The same rule should be observed with regard
to every part of the premises. If others suffer bad
odors about their farms, they may lose their comfort
and their health ; if the farmer suffers them, he will
lose his wealth also ; for these are the very quint-
essence of his manures ; and it is a singular, but well-
known fact, that growing plants absorb with avidity
what is most noxious to animal life.
MANURE OF THE SHEEP-FOLD.
329. I shall not speak of this at large, because I
suppose it to constitute a portion of the barn-cellar
manure. If the apartment for sheep be so situated,
that it cannot conveniently be thrown down with
t'^e manure of horses and cattle, then it would be well
to mix peaty matter with it through the winter ; and
care should be taken that it do not dry up and become
MANURES. 175
hard. Let it be so managed as to be kept moist till
nearly time to use it. If then composted with one
bushel of plaster to the load, a peck of salt, and some
additional peat, making two or more loads-of compost
for one of the animal excrements, it is an excellent
manure for corn. If the land is in good heart, or, in
case of its not being so, if 6 or 8 loads of barn-yard
manure be firsl harrowed in, nine loads of this com-
post to the acre, (implying not more than four loads
before composting) put into the hill while in a state of
moderate fermentation, the corn to be planted imme-
diately upon it, will secure a good crop of corn, from
60 to 90 bushels, according to the quality of land, to
the acre, if the season be not peculiarly unfavorable.
The peat used in composting for this purpose, should
be rich, old peat, sweetened by the sun, and air, and
rains, not newly dug, and of course cold and sour. If
a little lime had been added to the peat, the previous
autumn, it would be a valuable addition ; only, care
should in this case be taken not to allow the fermenta-
tion after composting to proceed too far. Let the pile
be forked over promptly, if it 'become hot, and more
peat added ; for it is an important rule never to al-
low animal manures to ferment violently in any cir-
cumstances, but more especially not in the presence of
lime, as it tends strongly to separate the ammonia, and
will do so, to the great injury of the manure, if cau-
tion is not used.
330. In another place I have spoken doubtfully, per-
haps unfavorably, of manuring in the hill. There
seems to me to be nd good reason why the manure
176 ' MANURES.
should all be at one point, inasmuch as the corn-roots
fill the whole ground. Still, as the summers in the
northern part of our country are short, it may be well
to put a portion of the manure, while in a warm, fer-
menting state, into the hill, in order to give the corn a
start. It is certainly better to give it a sudden push
in this way, than to plant it so early that it will be long
in coming, and then chilled and stinted after it has
come. If corn must be small on the first of June, it
is better that it should be small from being young, than
*' small of its age."
831. Sheep manure is excellent for the purpose of
thus stimulating the early growth of corn. Perhaps
horse and hog manure are equally good, if compost-
ed for the purpose, and applied when in gentle fer-
mentation. These, however, must not be relied upon
to hold out till the last of the season. Either the
land must be in high order from previous manuring, or
other manure must be harrowed in.
NIGHT-SOIL.
332. In European countries, as also in some of our
cities, this has been wrought by various processes into
a dry, portable, inoffensive, but very powerful manure,
under the name of poudrette. This is one of the forms
in which the fertilizing agents of the city are returned
to the country, whence they came.
833. On the farm the night-soil may be put to good
MANURES. * 177-
nse in a less troublesome way. After being carried
off in the spring — or better, in the latter part of win-
ter, while it is yet cool — the bottom of the vault
should be covered, at least a foot in depth, with fine,
black peat or mud, previously prepared and dried for
the purpose. A little of the same should be thrown
down daily through the summer, and once a week or
fortnight during the winter. If a little plaster be oc-
casionally added, it will be well, though this is not
essential. The peat itself will be sufficiently deodor-
tzingj if put down in such quantities as to be kept
fairly moist and no more. It will withhold all foul
odor. It is well to have an opening in the rear of the
building, and a pile of prepared peat lying near, that
it may be thrown down without much trouble, lest it
be neglected. Good farming requires daily attention
to many little things, and unless a previous prepara-
tion for them be made, these little things, important
in the aggregate, are apt to be lost sight of A farmer
might better bring peat several miles for the foregoing
purpose than not to have it. In an ordinary family,
as many as five loads of a kind of poudrette can thus
be made, not as concentrated nor as portable as the
article bought under that name in our cities, but suffi-
ciently so for home use, and excellent for any soils
except peaty, and for any crops except it may be for
potatoes and other roots. For cabbages, wheat, corn,
or clover, it would be first-rate. If used for corn, and
especially if used as a top dressing for old mowing, it
would be well to apply plaster pretty plentifully with
it. I know of nothing that will bring up red and
white clover on an old mowing like it.
8*
178 MANURES.
834. Many families make use of chloride of lime
as a deodorizer^ or disinfecting agent^ about the privy.
They pay for it ten or twelve cents a pound ; and, at
that, it is ineffectual unless used in considerable quan-
tities. Peat is cheaper and better. When peat can-
not by any means be obtained, black, vegetable
mould from the edge of the wood, or wherever great
quantities of leaves have drifted together and decayed,
will answer. If this cannot be obtained, there is a
sort of home-made chloride of lime, which can be pre
pared easily, and is worth more for agricultural pur
poses than it costs.
2>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<jnerally brings a good price? 433.
What would you say of putting clay on sandy soils, if the c'ay
lies very near ? 434. And what would you say of the prospect
of remuneration, provided the land is in the vicinity of a good
market? 434.
Which do you think is best paid for his labor, the man who ,
spoils a good farm, or the man who mends a poor one ? 434.
If, of two adjacent soils, one was too sandy, and the other too
clayey, how would you amend them both ? 435. Suppose a peaty
and a clayey soil to he side by side, would the same course be
advisable ? It would. If a peaty and a sandy soil were very
near each other, could you apply the same remedy? I could.
Ordinary soils weigh at about the rate of 1000 tons to the
acre, taking them ten inches deep, which is 100 tons for each inch
in depth ; would it be necessary, therefore, that soils, in order to
be mixed with paying results, should lie near each other ? It
would.
(It may be well enough for you to recollect, that as 1000 tons
constitute the whole soil ten inches deep, 100 tons is ten per
cent, of the whole ; ten tons is one per cent. ; and one ton is
one-tenth of one per cent. ; so that for every ten loads put upon
254 SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE.
an acre of land, one per cent, is added to the soil, if the ploughing
is ten inches deep, or two per cent, if only five.)
What is the prevaihng rotation of crops in England called?
436. What is this* course? 436. To what soils is it adapted?
436. How is the advantage of this rotation explained? 436.
What rotation is there preferred for heavier soils? 436.
What are two important points of difference between English
and American agriculture? 437. Does English usage therefore
throw much light on our course ? 437.
If we look into the analyses of crops, do we see important dif-
ferences in their requirements ? 277, Table V. In the absence
of fixed rules, settled, as in European countries, by long practice^
what general rule should guide us ? 437.
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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<l engravings.
Tills is not only a cheap, but one of the best works ever published on the Dog.
SCHENCK'S GARDENER'S TEXT BOOK, 50
Containing Directions for the Formation and Management
of tb« Kitohen Garden, the Culture and Use of Vegetables, Fruits and Medicinal Her&#-
Mailed post paid upon receipt of price.
Jljoks published by C. M. Saxtox, Barker & Co.
SHEPHERD'S OWN BOOK, 2 eO
With an AccoUiNT of the Different Bkeeds, Diseases and Mxi-
agemeut ofShuop, and Goiierul Directions iu regard to Summer and Winter Managemt-it,
Breeding and the Treatment of Diseases ; with ilhistrative engravings by Yooat> 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.
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