ttSMfl

mm*

^'-C^M

ffffiffffu

Hep^^s

fff>i(fim

^■H!

\":--

!■

K^^J

Ili

S. N. TrJL^

1 1

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

NCSU Libraries

http://www.archive.org/details/elementsofscieOOnort

ELEMENTS

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE,

CONNECTION BETWEEN SCIENCE

ART OF PRACTICAL FARMING.

PRIZE ESSAY OF THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICUL. SOCIETY.

BY JOHN P. NORTON, M. A.,

PEOF. OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE IN TALE COLLEGE.

ALBANY:

ERASTUS H. PEASE <§- COMPANY,

No. 82 STATE STREET,

1S50.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850,

BY JOHN P. NORTON,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of

Connecticut.

J. MUNSELL, PRINTER AND STEREOTYFER.

PREFACE.

This little treatise is an attempt to supply a great
and growing want in our country; a want of some
elementary work, that shall clearly and distinctly ex-
plain the great principles that are involved in the
applications of science to agriculture. The necessity
for such a work has become apparent to all who have
engaged in the dissemination of knowledge upon this
subject; to all who have endeavored to arouse the
farming community, by bringing forward incitements
to the study of this new science.

The agricultural interest is now awaking to a full
sense of its deficiences, and demands imperatively,
that knowledge, in clear and comprehensive forms,
be placed within its reach.

We have large works of great merit, in Johnston's
Lectures, and Stephens's Farmers' Guide; but these
are too bulky for the man who has just begun to en-
tertain the idea that there may, after all, be something
learned from books. A small work of this kind is far
more likely to attract his attention, and gradually to

IV PREFACE.

lead him on, till he ends by an eager study of the
larger treatises.

In the general arrangement of the chapters, I have
followed that marked out in Prof. Johnston's admirable
Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.
The expressed opinion of many teachers, "that the
catechetical form was not adapted to the schools of
this country, and that they needed a work of more
fullness and detail," induced me to think of an effort
to supply their wants.

The approbation bestowed by the New-York State
Society upon the essay, which, with some additions
and alterations, has assumed its present shape, led to
a more speedy completion of my half-formed plans,
than I had anticipated.

The teacher will perceive that the experiments, and
the illustrations, occasionally recommended, are of the
most simple character. No expensive materials are
needed, and, excepting a few cheap chemicals, almost
any house could furnish every requisite article.

No questions are appended to the chapters, for the
reason that they would be a disagreeable interruption
to the general reader, and would perhaps confine the
teacher to a routine in his examinations. The chap-
ters are, however, divided into sections and para-
graphs, in a way calculated to fix the attention of the
reader upon leading points.

Questions should be asked with the distinct inten-
tion of impressing at least the chief conclusions and

PREFACE. T

facts of each chapter, in such a manner that they can
not soon be forgotten.

My aim has been, to furnish a complete sketch of
scientific agriculture, in plain and intelligible lan-
guage; accompanied by as many details and expla-
nations as seemed desirable in a purely elementary
work.

As such, I beg leave to present it to the American
farmer, and to the American teacher, with the hope
that it may be found adapted to their use.

JOHN P. NORTON.

New-Haven, April 16, 1850.

CONTENTS.

True meaning of the word Agriculture, page 1

Division of bodies into organic and inorganic substances, ... 4

Organic elements of plants.

Carbon, 6

Hydrogen, 7

Oxygen, 9

Nitrogen, 11

Inorganic part of plants, or ash.

Potash, 16

Soda, 17

Lime, . 17

Magnesia, • • • • 17

Iron. 18

Manganese, 19

Silica, 19

Chlorine, 20

Sulphuric acid, 21

Phosphoric acid, 22

Variations in the composition of ash, 23

Sources of the organic food of plants.

Carbonic acid gas, 28

Quantity of, in the atmosphere, 30

Absorbed by the leaves of plants, 31

Furnishes carbon to the plant, , 32

Carbon also derived from organic substances in the soil, .... 33

Sources of oxygen and hydrogen of plants, 35

Sources of nitrogen of plants, 35

Ammonia, 36

Nitric acid, 37

Vlll CONTENTS.

The organic substances of plants.

Structure and functions of the roots, p. 39

Of the stem and bark, 40

Of the leaves, 41

Properties and composition of water, 42

Woody fibre, . 44

Starch, 44

Sugar and gum, 45

Dextrine, 46

Gluten, legumin, casein, albumen. 47

Sources of the supply of carbon to plants, 48

Of hydrogen and oxygen, 50

Of nitrogen, 51

The soil.

Composition, general, 52

Of its organic part, 53

Necessity of this part, and how it is to be kept up, 54

Derivation and classification of soils, 56

Number and names of inorganic substances in, 59

Reason for fertility or barrenness in, 61

Mechanical improvement of, 65

Evil effects of too much moisture in, 66

Draining, 68

Proper depth, 69

Materials to be used : stones, 70

Tiles, 71

Subsoil and trench ploughing, 73

Relations between the soil and plant, 74

Composition of ash from crops, 78

Classification of plants according to the composition of their

ash, 79

Effect of these classes upon the soil, 81

Of special manures, 81

Of plaster of paris, or gypsum, 83

Of rotations in cropping, 85

Manures.

Necessity for, 89

Irrigation, 90

Vegetable manures; green crops, 91

Straw, 93

Seaweed , rape dust, 94

Animal manures; blood, flesh, hair, wool, 95

Bones, 96

Dissolved in sulphuric acid, 97

CONTENTS. IX

Manures from domestic animals, p. 101

Liquid manures, and tanks, 102

Why nitrogen in manures is valuable, 104

Horse manures, 104

Manures from birds ; guano, 105

Fish manures, 107

Shellfish, 108

Saline and mineral manures ; lime, , 109

Various states in which lime is applied, 110

Marl, 112

Gypsum, or plaster of paris, 114

Common salt, nitrates, and sulphates, 116

Their effects, 118

Modes of application of powerful manures, 120

Wood ashes, 120

Coal ashes, 122

Peat ashes, 123

Soot, 124

Composition of different crops.

Wheat and wheaten bread, 127

Barley, 129

Oatmeal, buckwheat, rice, 130

Indian corn, sweet corn, 131

Peas and beans, 132

Potatoes, 133

Turnips, carrots, beets, fyc 134

Comparative yield of various crops, 134

Grasses, 135

Application of the crops in feeding.
Protein or nitrogenous bodies similar in plants and in ani-
mals, 140

Respiration, theory of, 141

Uses of starch in, ; 142

Of fatty and oily food, 143

Of feeding young animals, 144

Of feeding full grown animals, 146

Of feeding fattening animals, 147

Of cut food, 149

Of soiling, or feeding with green cut food, 151

Necessity of shelter during winter, 152

Influence of exercise, darkness and warmth, 153

Of cooked food, 156

Of soured food, 158

Influence of food upon manures, 159

Effect of feeding upon pastures, 161

X CONTENTS.

Milk and dairy produce generally.

Composition of milk, p. 163

Galactometer, 105

Of butter, 166

Proper temperature for churning, 167

Reasons for its frequent bad quality, 168

Purification of salt, 169

Casein or curd of milk, 169

Varieties and composition of cheese, 170

Reasons why soils in dairy districts become exhausted of

phosphates, 172

Feeding of milch cows, 173

Recapitulation

Of leading points, 175

Nature of chemical analysis.

Requisites for a good analysis, 187

Care and skill necessary, 189

Simple chemical examination of a soil, methods for, 192

Examination of marls, 195

Examination of guanos, 196

Applications of geology to agriculture.

Unstratified and stratified rocks, 199

Granites, 200

Trap or basaltic rocks, 202

Different strata form different soils, 202

Of drift, and its influence on soils, 204

Alluvial deposits, 206

Value of geological knowledge, 206

ELEMENTS

OP

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION. ORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS.

True meaning of the word agriculture : how much more it means
than is commonly understood. Plants divided into an organic
and inorganic part: meaning of these words. Names of organic
elements: Carbon and its properties; hydrogen and its proper-
ties; oxygen and its properties; nitrogen and its properties,
with modes for obtaining all. Importance of these bodies.

SECTION I. DEFINITION OF AGRICULTURE.

Agriculture, according to the usually accepted
meaning of the word, signifies the art of cultivating
the soil. It is unnecessary to say that this is its
true meaning, and yet how few of those who would
promptly give the above definition seem to have any
adequate idea of all that is involved in the words " cul-
tivating the soil."

A soil that is cultivated, is thoroughly and more or
less deeply ploughed according to the situation, is
mellow, is free from stumps and large stones, is dry
and clear of hurtful weeds. How many fields in this
condition are to be seen in most American villages?
Are they in the majority, or do they constitute a very
small minority? It is to be feared that there are few
neighborhoods, even of limited extent, fitted to chal-
lenge inspection.

1

2 DEFINITION OF AGRICULTUPvE,

How frequently and how largely do weeds, bushes,
brambles, uneven surfaces, unsightly stumps, and stones
scarred with many a mark of plough and harrow teeth,
enter into the composition of our rural scenery; and
this not in new settlements alone, but in older and
long inhabited districts!

Even if we suppose that we have our farm thorough-
ly cultivated in the manner first described, is it suffi-
cient'? No, the art of cultivating the soil involves
something beyond this. The thoroughly accomplished
farmer must study the nature of various crops, until
he finds those which are best suited to his land; if
these are not such as pay him best, he must seek to
bring about some change by means of which he can
profitably grow those that will. This done, he must
set himself to increase the quantity grown per acre,
for on this increase depends his profit. It costs little
more to cultivate the ground for a crop of 30 bushels,
than for one of 10 bushels.

The main end seems to be, in numerous cases, to
obtain indeed a great yield of valuable produce, but
with the least possible investment of money. Many,
too many farmers go entirely upon this principle; they
ought, however, to think farther, and then they would
see that there is another point worthy of considera-
tion. That point is, the keeping of the land in good
condition. Cheapness in obtaining a present crop is
not every thing : the prudent man will have an eye to
the future; he will see that if he always takes away
without adding, the richest land must ultimately be-
come poor, or at least greatly reduced in value.

The man who does this is like that one in the old
fable who killed the goose that laid him daily a golden
egg. He thought that there must be many eggs within
the goose, but there was of course only one; and he
found, when it was too late, that he had destroyed the
source of his riches in a most foolish and shortsighted

ART OF CULTIVATING THE SOIL. 6

manner. So will it always be with the farmer who
pursues a like system. Tempted by the idea of ob-
taining a few crops with little expense now, he ruins
his land for the future.

The good farmer, then, desires to grow large crops
with the least necessary cost, but at the same time never
forgets that it is the best economy to keep his land in
good condition, and even improving. In order to ac-
complish this, he must do something more than merely
plough and harrow, sow, plant and reap : he must
think and study also. a. He must learn the nature of
the various crops he raises or wishes to raise : these
crops differ; he should seek to understand the differ-
ences, and how they are caused, b. One field he will
find to vary much in its nature from another; a certain
crop grows here, and fails there : are these things
accidental, or can he discover the reasons? c. In
adding certain substances called manures to the soil,
he finds diverse effects, not only in their application to
different fields, but also to different crops : here is
another subject for study, d. His animals thrive on
some kinds of food, and derive little benefit from others.
A small bulk of some varieties sustains and increases
their size or strength, while upon great quantities of
other varieties they grow poor. What are the pro-
perties upon which these effects depend?

Thus we perceive that the farmer who really wishes
to understand the " art of cultivating the soil," must
go a long way beyond ploughing. He must, it is
true, know how to get his soil into a good state; but
he must also know something as to the nature of his
crops, of the various soils on which they grow, of the
manures which are applied to increase that growth,
and of the food which he supplies to his animals.

This, it may be said, involves too much study for a
practical working man. I reply, that it is not neces-
sary for him to learn the minute details of scientific

ELEMENTS OF PLANTS.

researches and discoveries. It is enough to begin with
the leading principles that have been established; with
these he will be able to work more intelligently than
ever before, and to go on continually adding to his
knowledge.

SECTION II. PLANTS DIVIDED INTO AN ORGANIC AND AN
INOrvGANIC PART.

In endeavoring to explain, in a simple manner,
something of this desirable branch of knowledge, we
will commence with the plant, and give in a clear
connected shape the information that has been collected
by the most approved writers and experimenters con-
cerning it. Hard words and obscure phrases will be
avoided whenever it is possible.

We commence our examination with some inquiry
into the nature of the materials which compose all of
our crops. The first result arrived at is the existence
of two grand classes of bodies, to one of which, or to
a mixture of both, belongs every part of the plant.

In connection with this fact, there is one peculiarity
in all vegetable substances, that early attracts our
attention. Whether we take the hard wood, the soft
flexible straw, the leaf, or the root, we find that all are
more or less combustible. When dry they generally
burn readily, and with a flame, but we see at the same
time that all does not disappear : the stalk of straw,
or the piece of wood, for the most part burns away;
but after the flame has gone out, there is always an ash
left. Thus we establish a grand division : one part
burns and disappears; another part is incombustible,
and remains. Chemists have named the part that burns
away, organic matter; and the part that remains, or
the ash, inorganic matter.

Fire, then, is one test, by means of which we dis-

ORGANIC ELEMENTS. b

tinguish organic from inorganic substances. To the
first of these two classes we will now attend.

The name organic is given, because organic bodies,
being products of life, have an organized structure that
can not be produced by artificial means. What is
meant by an organized structure, may be seen by
examining a cross section from the stem of a tree :
this will be found to consist of little tubes and cells, all
arranged in a regular manner. Under the microscope,
a potato will appear made up of cells having grains
of starch contained. So with other plants or parts of
plants, they all have an organization that is a product
of life, and which we therefore can not imitate. In-
organic bodies have no such structure, and can in
many cases be produced by chemical processes.

SECTION III. ORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS.

The organic part in plants is by far the largest, as
is plainly to be seen on burning any form of vegetable
matter. It ordinarily constitutes from 90 to 97 lbs. in
every hundred.

During the burning, this solid organic matter dis-
appears : it is driven off into the atmosphere, until
nothing but a little ash remains; that which has gone,
then, has evidently become air. It is easy to see that
this part of the plant can only have been formed from
air at first. Such a conclusion may seem very strange
at first, but a little reflection will show that we can
arrive at no other. When we have made up our minds
to this, it becomes important to know what kind of air
it is that forms so large a part of our plants, or if there
is more than one kind.

These points have been determined through the
assistance of certain chemical experiments, by means
of which it has been proved that the organic part of
plants consists of four substances.
1*

6 CARBON.

Their names are Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen and
Hydrogen.

The whole of the organic part of vegetables and
plants, the whole of the atmosphere, all water, and a
very large part of the solid rocks which make up this
globe, consist of one, two, three, or all of these four
substances united in different proportions. These
names then stand for bodies of immense importance;
and it is very necessary that every farmer should at
least know something about them. The three last,
oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, we find in their pure
state as gases : gas is the chemical term for the dif-
erent kinds of air. The other substance, carbon, is
found in nature as a solid, and to this we will first
direct our attention.

Carbon is a solid, usually of a black color, and
having no taste or smell. All the varieties of carbon
burn more or less freely in the air, and, while burning,
are converted into a gas called carbonic acid gas: this
will by-and-by be described.

One very abundant form of carbon is common
charcoal; another is lampblack; others are coke and
blacklead: the most beautiful form is the diamond.
This, strange to say, though it looks so pure, clear and
beautiful, and bears so high a price, does not differ at
all in its composition from common charcoal! A
diamond can easily be burned by a high heat, and the
product of the burning will be carbonic acid gas, just
as when charcoal is burned. Charcoal seems to be
soft; but if the fine powder in small quantity be rub-
bed between plates of glass, it is found that the little
particles are very hard, and able to scratch the glass
almost as easily as the diamond itself.

Charcoal has strong disinfecting properties : liquids
that are quite offensive in smell, when filtered through
it, become pure and sweet. The color is also extracted
from many liquids by it. Some of these effects are

HYDROGEN.

owing to its power of absorbing gaseous and other
substances, itself being full of pores.

Both the flame that we see in wood, and the bright
glow of coal fires, are owing to the burning of carbon;
the flames of candles, of oil lamps, of ordinary coal
gas, are all colored by the combustion of this substance.
It will soon be seen that it constitutes a very large
proportion in the organic part of all vegetables and
trees.

Hydrogen, as I have said, is a gas, or kind of air.
It is transparent, tasteless, colorless and inodorous.
As we can not smell, taste or see it, we can only judge
of its properties by its action with other bodies. For
this purpose it is obtained by putting pieces of zinc
or iron tilings into water, and then adding sulphuric
acid, that is, the common oil of vitriol. About a third
as much acid as water should be used. The mixture
will soon grow warm, and hydrogen gas will at once
commence rising to the surface in little bubbles.

a. If a glass be laid upon the top of the tumbler
containing the mixture, so as to prevent the too rapid
escape of the gas, the tumbler will in a few moments
become so filled that the gas will burn when a flame
is brought into contact with it.

h. By far the most Fig L

satisfactory method is
to conduct the opera-
tion as represented in
fig. 1. In the bottle
are placed the sul-
phuric acid, zinc, and
water. The mouth of
the bottle is stopped

tightly by a cork, through which passes one end of the
tube a (this may be of glass or tin); the other end
passes under water in the cistern b, its course being

8 METHOD OF COLLECTING GAS.

marked by the dotted lines c (this may be a common
pail, or shallow water tub). A tumbler or other con-
venient vessel is now filled with water, and inverted
under the surface, so that it may contain no air, being
filled entirely with water : it is then brought carefully
over the orifice of the tube, and the ascending bubbles
of gas displace the water until it is entirely driven out,
the gas remaining confined. If a little shelf, hollowed
somewhat underneath, and with a hole through it at
the highest point of the hollow, be placed in the cis-
tern, three or four vessels in succession may be filled
over this hole and set aside for use, keeping the mouths
always under water. A common tub of a shallow
form will answer the purpose of a cistern.

I have been thus particular in describing this little
apparatus of the cistern, because all of the other gases
concerning which we are to study may be received in
the same way. It is perfectly effective, yet at the
same time simple and cheap.

The hydrogen being thus collected, we are next to
ascertain what are its properties.

1. It is inflammable : if a lighted taper be plunged
into a jar of it, the gas will instantly take fire, and
burn with a pale flame. This may also be shown by
removing the cork from the bottle a
in fig. 1, and substituting another cork
with a short tube coming to a point
as fig. 2. A match will kindle the
jet of gas issuing from the orifice a,
and it will continue to burn so long
as the generation of gas within the
bottle is active.

2. Although inflammable itself, it
is not a supporter of combustion. The
taper which kindles a jar of it, is it-
self extinguished.
3. It is much lighter than common air, being the

OXYGEN. 9

lightest of known bodies. This can be shown by
turning the mouth of a jar filled with it suddenly up-
ward, and at the same moment applying a taper.
There will be a slight explosion, and a body of flame
rising from the jar. On the other hand, if the jar be
gently lifted and the flame applied beneath, the burning
will be inside of the jar, and quite gradual. This
property may also be shown by filling a bladder with
the gas, and allowing it to rise. It is often used for
filling balloons, its lightness giving them very great
buoyancy.

4. Mixed with common air, this gas is dangerously
explosive. The first portions which pass over from
the bottle are therefore to be rejected; and a match
ought never to be applied to a jar or bottle containing
it, or in which it is being made, without having first
tested the purity of a small quantity collected in a little
tube. If this burns quietly when a taper is placed
beneath its mouth, the gas is sufficiently pure to use
with safety.

5. This gas can be breathed without very injurious
effects, but it will not sustain life. In an atmosphere
of pure hydrogen, every animal would soon die.

The next of these three gases is one of exceeding
importance : its name is Oxygen. It is colorless,
tasteless and inodorous, like hydrogen, that is, when
pure: as ordinarily made, it has some impurities.
The easiest way of preparing it is to mingle some
chlorate of potash with a small portion of the black
oxide of manganese. Both of these substances can be
procured at the shops in our cities and large towns.
Half a teacupful of the mixture will produce quite
enough gas for ordinary experimental purposes. The
chlorate of potash should be powdered and dried, be-
fore mixing with the manganese. When all is ready,
the mixture is to be put into a flask with a thin bot-

10 OXYGEN.

torn, like those often used for holding sweet oil, and
called Florence flasks. These will bear the heat of a
lamp gradually applied, without breaking. Flasks of
this kind, made expressly for such purposes, are now
to be obtained in many places. When the mixture is
introduced, a cork with a bent tube should be fitted in,
and the gas collected over water in a cistern as before.
The heat requires to be continued for some time, before
the oxygen will begin to come off with much rapidity.
Having collected a sufficient quantity, the qualities
mentioned above will first become obvious. It will
then be seen,

2. That on applying a lighted taper, the gas does
not inflame as did the hydrogen, nor is the taper
extinguished; on the contrary, it burns with greatly
increased and extreme brilliancy: it may be blown out
and relighted by immersion in this gas, so long as the
least particle of coal remains upon it. So intense is
its action as a supporter of combustion, that many
substances ordinarily incombustible take fire in it, and
burn with great splendor. A spiral roll of small iron
wire being tipped with sulphur, the latter lighted, and
then the whole plunged into this gas, the wire is
ignited, and burns with the utmost brilliancy. This,
then, is a most powerful supporter of combustion.

3. It is no less important to the support of life,
whether animal or vegetable. Both plants and ani-
mals speedily die when introduced into any atmosphere
which does not contain it. In five gallons of common
air, there is about one gallon of oxygen : when this is
greatly diminished, animals die.

If animals are brought into an atmosphere of pure
oxygen, the effect is found to be too powerful; the
vital functions are so stimulated as in a very short time
to wear themselves out by a kind of fever, all of their
powers being made to act with too much energy. A
mouse or other small animal, placed in a jar of oxygen,

NITROGEN. 11

will breathe very quick, become highly excited, and
spring about with the greatest activity. Its powers,
however, are greatly over-stimulated : exhaustion and
death consequently soon ensue.

4. It is much heavier than hydrogen, and somewhat
lighter than common air.

5. This substance is not only the grand supporter of
combustion and of life, but is also the most powerful
agent of destruction; for it has a property called by
chemists oxidizing, that is, of uniting with nearly all
other bodies and forming new combinations, leading
either to a changed state or to decay. Thus it is not
only the promoter of life, but of death and decomposi-
tion.

It might be expected that a body of such immense
importance should be abundant, and accordingly we
find that oxygen gas is in larger quantity than any other
element that is known. It forms, as has been said,
a fifth of the atmosphere ; in nine lbs. of water, there
are eight of this gas; it exists largely in all plants,
and, in combination with various inorganic bodies, it
constitutes a large proportion of the solid crust of our
earth. We meet it in all places, and see its effects on
almost every known body. As the reader proceeds,
he will find numerous references to its action, and will
become better acquainted with its properties. In the
very next paragraph below is an instance of its oxi-
dizing phosphorus.

The last of these four most important organic sub-
stances, is Nitrogen. This gas is easily prepared in
sufficient purity for purposes of experiment, by a very
simple process. Common air, or our atmosphere, has
been stated to contain one-fifth of oxygen; the re-
maining four-fifths are nitrogen. In order to separate
this nitrogen, we invert an empty glass jar, and place
the open mouth in water, thus confining within the

12 NITROGEN.

jar a portion of air. Into this air is to be brought a
piece of ignited phosphorus, contained in a little cup
so as to float on the surface of the water. Phosphorus,
as is well known, is very inflammable. While burn-
ing, it unites with the oxygen of the air, and forms
an important white acid compound called phosphoric
acid: to this we shall have occasion to refer again.
When the burning phosphorus is brought under the
jar, the above described process at once commences,
and continues till all of the oxygen in the air within
the jar has combined with phosphorus. The nitrogen
is now left nearly pure. A portion of the confined air
expanded by heat, of course escapes at first, and the
jar is filled with white fumes of phosphoric acid.
These are gradually absorbed by the water, until at
last the interior of the jar is quite clear.

1. It is then to be perceived that this gas, like the
two preceding ones, is colorless, inodorous, and taste-
less. It has so few marked qualities that it is much
more easily distinguished from the others by saying
what it is not, than what it is. Among its negatives,
then, we find,

2. That it does not support combustion : a lighted
taper, plunged into it, is extinguished instantly

3. It does not burn itself, but remains unaltered
after contact with flame.

4. It is a little lighter than atmospheric air. It will
for this reason remain some time in a jar held with
the mouth downward, but at once escapes if the jar be
inverted. Both of these facts may be shown by a
lighted taper.

5. It will not support vegetation alone, and animals
soon die when placed in it. They do not seem to suffer
from any active poisonous influence, but from a species
of suffocation as in water.

This gas is admirably adapted to the purpose which
it serves in the atmosphere, of tempering the too great

IMPORTANCE OF THE FOUR ORGANIC ELEMENTS 13

energy of the oxygen. Being incapable of burning
or supporting combustion, it prevents the general con-
flagration which would occur in pure oxygen, and also
reduces its strength to the proper proportion for sus-
taining animal and vegetable life, without bringing in
any poisonous or deleterious influences, as many other
gases would do. We see then that its negative pro-
perties just fit it for its office.

I have been thus particular in describing simple
processes for obtaining these gases, because every mind
is better satisfied by direct and practical proofs. The
experiments here given are so easy that the most in-
experienced experimenter could soon perform them
without difficulty. There are few places of any size
where the necessary materials and apparatus can not
be found, and obtained with little expense. Every
teacher should illustrate his explanations by these
proofs; thereby impressing an idea of each substance
upon the mind more indelibly than could be done in
any other way. Many farmers could make them for
their own satisfaction in leisure hours.

The reader will now understand why it is that I
have urged the necessity of becoming acquainted with
these organic bodies; for he has seen that they not
only compose by far the larger proportion of the
vegetable world, but that mixtures of two or three of
them constitute the air we breathe, the water we drink,
and, in one shape or another, a large part of the earth
upon which we live. Are not these eminently bodies
with which all of every profession ought to be well
acquainted; and most of all the farmer, who depends
on them under various forms for all success, who can
not engage in the most simple operation without being
influenced by them in different and most important
ways? The man who knows the principal properties
and the peculiar energies of the materials with which
2

14 CHEMISTRY AN ADDITIONAL SENSE.

he has to do, provided he also has practical skill, is
obviously in a much better position than the one who
knows nothing of them, and scorns the very idea of
learning anything from books. The former shapes his
course from certainties, from actual reasoning based
on his own knowledge; the latter does any particular
thing only because he has seen it done before, or per-
haps because some other person recommends it.

Carbon is the only one of these four substances that
is visible or tangible to our unaided senses, but we see
that there are means of recognizing the others; that
we are able to perceive their properties, and even to
reason upon their various uses, with no less certainty
than if we were able to grasp them in our hands and
hold them up for inspection. Chemistry may thus be
considered an additional sense.

15

CHAPTER II.

INORGANIC PART OF PLANTS.

The ash, or inorganic part of plants. Names of substances which
constitute this part : Potash, Soda, Lime, Magnesia, Oxide of
Iron, Oxide of Manganese, Silica, Chlorine, Sulphuric acid,
Phosphoric acid. Description of their several properties.

SECTION I. SUBSTANCES WHICH CONSTITUTE THE INORGANIC
PART OF PLANTS.

It will be remembered, that although by far the
larger portion of the plant disappears when fire is
applied, there is always something remaining called
the ash, or, as has been before explained, the inorganic
part. This name inorganic was given to denote a
striking difference between these two great classes of
bodies, the organic and the inorganic : the one being
products of life and living organs; the other only
taken by the organs to answer certain purposes, not
having been formed by them, and not like them liable
to quick destruction.

This ash constitutes so small a part of all living
plants, that it was for a long time thought to be a
species of accidental impurity; but after a time, it
was found that certain substances were almost always
present in the ash of every cultivated plant. The
ash of the same plant, grown on different soils, was
found to have a composition of nearly the same nature;
thus showing that it did not take in indiscriminately
every thing that might come in contact with its roots,
but had a certain power of selection.

16 POTASH.

The organic part of plants, although so much the
larger, consists at most of four substances; but in the
ash, we occasionally find as many as ten. These are
named as follows : Potash, Soda, Lime, Magnesia,
Oxide of Iron, Oxide of Manganese, Silica, Chlorine,
Sulphuric Acid (oil of vitriol), and Phosphoric Acid.

Here is a list of what may seem very hard names,
but neither the farmer nor the scholar must be fright-
ened at them : when he has once seen the substances
to which they belong, and has learned by experience
their more important properties, he will perceive that
he is really able to comprehend something about them,
and will at once recover from the feeling of dread and
aversion which they at first excited. There may be
some consolation, too, in the knowledge that the above
list comprises the greater portion of the new words
which will be employed in the succeeding chapters of
this little work. We will then now commence with
good courage, and notice each of these inorganic
substances separately.

Potash is well known as the extract by water from
wood ashes, boiled down to dryness, a. It attracts
moisture from the air when strong, and, if touched to
the tongue, causes an acrid burning sensation called
by chemists an alkaline taste: it is often strong enough
to destroy the skin, and may be purified to such a
strength as to corrode almost every perishable sub-
stance, b. When purified in the ordinary way, potash
forms pearlash, which is simply potash deprived of the
foreign bodies with which it was contaminated, and
carbonated or combined with carbonic acid : in this
state it is nearly white, c. Potash is quite abundant
in plants : more so in some classes than others. It is
injurious to some kinds of weeds, or at least is used
to extirpate them by bringing in better kinds.

SODA, LIME AND MAGNESIA. 17

Soda. We do not often see this substance by itself,
but almost always in combination with other bodies.

a. Some of the more common of these are carbonate of
soda, that is, the common washing soda of the shops;
and chloride of sodium, that is, common salt. Both
of these compounds contain a large proportion of soda.

b. It is white, and when pure has the same attraction
for water, the same caustic and burning taste, as pot-
ash; in fact the two are much alike in many of their
properties, and also in the purposes which they seem
to serve in plants.

Lime is a very common substance, and is well
known in all its usual forms, a. As quick or caustic
lime, it is of a white color, having a strong burning
taste, and powerful caustic properties. It absorbs large
quantities of water, and at the same time becomes hot,
falling into a fine powder. Fresh burned lime, when
exposed to the air, does not remain long in this caustic
state, but drinks in moisture and crumbles gradually
away. b. In nature it is always found combined with
some other body, as, for instance, the common lime-
stone (carbonate of lime), or the sulphate of lime
(gypsum, or plaster of Paris), which are both most
abundant rocks. Common limestone or marble, when
burned, becomes quickl ime. The phenomena of slaking
quicklime are easily shown and explained. Every ton
of quicklime, during slaking, absorbs one-fourth of a
ton of water, which becomes a part of the stone itself.

Magnesia is not so well known as lime, although it
is abundant on the earth's surface and in many rocks.

a. The most common and easily obtained form is the
calcined magnesia of the shops. This is a light,
white, tasteless substance, familiar to all who use much
medicine. Epsom salts, so much in vogue as a me-
dical prescription, is another compound of magnesia.

b. When burned, magnesia has something of the caustic

2*

18

re on.

properties of lime, but not by any means to the same
extent. It is a constituent of many rocks, and par-
ticularly of one class of limestones, hence called mag-
nesian limestones, or sometimes dolomites. Although
magnesia is necessary to plants, it is found that too
great a quantity of lime made from these dolomites is
decidedly injurious to crops.

Iron, in its metallic state, presents an appearance
that must be familiar to all. This metallic state,
however, that of a hard bluish gray substance, is not
found in nature. The metal, as extracted from the
ore beds and mines, is always in combination or union
with some other body. a. Most commonly it is united
with oxygen, forming what are called oxides. Metallic
iron has a strong tendency to form these oxides. Every
one knows that if bright iron be exposed to the air
for any length of time without protection, it speedily
becomes covered with rust, particularly if the place
where it lies be damp. The farmer finds that his bright
plough, exposed to a shower or to a night's dew, be-
comes streaked with rust. This rust is an oxide of
iron; that is, a portion of the metal has united with
a portion of oxygen from the air, and has thus formed
this new compound.

0. There is more than one oxide of iron, but that
which is usually found in plants, and which is common-
ly known under the name of iron rust, is called by
chemists the peroxide of iron; this is to distinguish it
from another oxide, to which we shall have occasion
to allude in a subsequent chapter. From such a dis-
tinction being made, the inference will naturally and
correctly be drawn, that the oxygen and the iron unite
in definite proportions: a certain quantity of iron unites
with a certain quantity of oxygen, to form the per-
oxide; if the proportions are altered, we have some
other oxide. Where, however, there is an abundance

OXIDE OF MANGANESE, AND SILICA. 19

of oxygen, it is always the peroxide that is formed :
hence we invariably find this oxide on exposed iron
surfaces, and in plants.

The substances hitherto described have all been
those that are found quite abundantly; but that which
is now to be mentioned, the Oxide of Manganese, is
more rare. Many species of our cultivated plants are
found to be without it in their ash far more often than
with it; and when it is present in the soil, we can
not, from any experiments hitherto made, see that
their growth is more luxuriant. In some trees it is said
to exist abundantly; but for the ash of our cultivated
crops generally, I am inclined to think that it can
scarcely be considered an indispensable constituent.
Manganese is a metal somewhat resembling iron, but
much less abundant. It also is always found in some
compound form, never as a pure metal. It forms
oxides wTith oxygen; and one of these, the black
oxide, is of much value in certain manufacturing pro-
cesses. For these purposes, it is mined whenever it is
found in large quantity. This black oxide may easily
be obtained and shown to a class. As it is now large-
ly used in some manufactures, it is a cheap article.

Silica is a substance that exists abundantly in almost
all plants, often forming more than half of the whole
ash. a. We see a nearly pure form of it in the com-
mon quartz crystals, or agate, or cornelian, or flint :
these all consist almost entirely of silica. Specimens
of silica, in some form, may be found in almost every
neighborhood, as it is one of the most common minerals.
When perfectly pure, it is a very hard, white sub-
stance, tasteless, and quite difficult to melt. The fine
grains in ordinary sandstones are particles of silica.
b. It is not dissolved in water, and even strong acids
produce little effect : how singular then that it should
be found so abundantly in the interior of plants!

20 CHLORINE.

Chlorine is a kind of gas. It is easily prepared by
mixing a little muriatic acid with some of the com-
mercial black oxide of manganese; a gentle heat being
then applied, chlorine is given off, and is conducted
into receivers in the manner before described under
oxygen and hydrogen, a. Water, when cold, absorbs it
largely, and therefore the water in the receptacle where
the gas is collected should be hot. b. It is, however,
so much heavier than common air, that it may be col-
lected in sufficient quantity by carrying the conducting
tube to the bottom of a jar or bottle. The top being
partially covered, so as to prevent too free access of
air and consequent agitation, the vessel can be filled
with chlorine as readily as with water, c. If the glass
is white, it will be perceived that the chlorine now
filling it is of a decided green color.

d. The sense of smell should be tested cautiously in
this case, as the gas has a most suffocating and dis-
tressing effect when inhaled even in small quantity.
The consequences of a single breath of it taken by
mistake, are often felt for days in its irritating effect
upon the lungs and throat. The method of collection
last mentioned will show that it is heavier than
common air, but this may be farther illustrated by
pouring it from one glass into another.

e. Phosphorus takes fire spontaneously in this gas,
and so do several of the metals when powdered, anti-
mony for instance. A taper plunged into it burns at
first with an enlarged red smoky flame, but soon goes
out.

f. Chlorine has a peculiar power of bleaching, and
is used very largely in the arts for such purposes. Al-
most any of the ordinary calicoes may be bleached by
placing them in water saturated with it. The color
of red cabbage liquor is very easily destroyed by a
very small quantity.

g. It unites with soda, one of the bodies already

SULPHURIC ACID. 21

mentioned, and forms common salt, a substance having
harmless properties in itself, and differing most widely
from either of those out of which it is formed.

Sulphuric acid is the common oil of vitriol, a. It
has commonly been called an oil, because of its thick
oily appearance, but has few other properties of oils.
It is, like them, rather soft and agreeable in its first
feeling upon the skin, but this sensation is instantly
succeeded by an intense burning pain; for the acid is
so powerful in its corrosive effects, as to destroy both
skin and flesh wherever it touches. Cloth is at once
ruined by it, eaten out in holes. A very small quan-
tity taken into the mouth and swallowed is fatal, as
all of the internal passages are destroyed or seriously
injured by its contact. There have been many cases
of death from accidentally swallowing even so small
a portion as part of a spoonful.

b. The name acid would naturally cause us to sup-
pose that this liquid would be sour; and a taste of it
even when largely diluted with water, shows it to be
so in the extreme. When thus diluted, so that the skin
may not be at all affected, it is not poisonous, and has
a rather agreeable taste.

b. If paper saturated with blue litmus, a substance to
be found in many apothecaries' shops, be dipped into
this or other acids, it will become red : if the paper
thus turned red be dipped into a solution of potash or
soda or ammonia, it will become blue again. This
furnishes a test by means of which we can tell whether
fluids are acid or alkaline.

c. Sulphuric acid is occasionally found in springs,
uncombined with any thing. There are some in
western New York, near Lockport, where the water as
it comes from the spring is sour as vinegar, owing to
the presence of free sulphuric acid.

d. This is a much heavier liquid than water. A

22 SULPHURIC AND PHOSPHORIC ACIDS.

stream of it poured gently into a cup of water from a
small distance above the surface, can be seen to sink
directly to the bottom. When agitated so as to mingle
it with the water, the mixture becomes quite hot, be-
cause a chemical union takes place between the two
liquids.

e. This acid, except in such cases as the above, is
always found in a state of combination with some other
substance, and then can not be recognized by any of
the properties which I have mentioned. In some of
these forms of combination, it is very abundant. One
of them, and an important one to the farmer, is gyp-
sum, or plaster of Paris. This, as is well known, is a
solid, and has no acid taste : it, however, consists of
sulphuric acid united with lime, forming what is termed
by chemists sulphate of lime. In every 100 lbs. of
plaster of Paris are about 33 lbs. of sulphuric acid,
46 lbs. of lime, and 21 lbs. of water.

Epsom salts consist of sulphuric acid and magnesia;
alum, of sulphuric acid, alumina and potash. From
all of these the acid can be separated by chemical
means. It is used largely for various manufacturing
purposes, and is made by burning sulphur (brimstone),
with certain precautions, in large leaden chambers.
This acid will be subsequently seen to be a substance
of great importance for various purposes in agriculture.

Not less important is the next body on our list,
phosphoric acid. It is also very sour, and is usually
seen as a white powder. If a stick of phosphorus is
burned, white fumes are seen to rise in large quantity.
The phosphorus unites while burning with the oxygen
of the air, and forms phosphoric acid. If these white
fumes are passed through water, it will become sour,
as it dissolves the acid : they may also be condensed
on a cold glass plate.

a. This body can be shown in a yet simpler manner

DIFFERENCES IN THE ASH OF PLANTS. 23

by burning a common locofoco match : the white
smoke which goes off* at first before the sulphur ig-
nites, is phosphoric acid. Phosphorus is used in the
making of these matches, because it is a substance that
inflames easily by a little friction. All who have rub-
bed them on a wall or board in the dark, have observed
that they leave a quite bright, luminous trace, distinctly
visible. If the match fails to ignite, the end of it will
also appear bright, and the peculiar smell of phos-
phorus may be perceived.

Phosphoric acid does not seem to exist in so large
quantity as sulphuric acid, as it does not constitute a
principal portion of any of our rocks. It forms a very
important part of the bones of animals.

SECTION II. DIFFERENCES IN THE ASH OF CULTIVATED
PLANTS.

We have now noticed each of the substances that
were named as occurring in the inorganic part of
plants, and have given such of their more remarkable
properties and more common forms of appearance as
seemed necessary to their recognition by the practical
man.

It has been already stated, that with one or two
occasional exceptions, they are all found in the ash of
cultivated plants. Sometimes one and sometimes an-
other is absent, but generally we find small quantities
of nearly all. It does not follow from this, however,
that every plant contains the same quantity of ash.
The trunk of a tree, for instance, if deprived of its
bark, does not yield more than from one to two pounds
of ash in one hundred of wood, while the stalk of grass
or straw of grain frequently contains from 6 to 14 lbs.
in 100. There are some plants which scarcely con-
tain any ash whatever, and others in which it forms a
large proportion. This difference exists not only be-

24 DIFFERENCES IN THE ASH OF PLANTS.

tween various plants, but between the parts of the
same plant.

If we examine the straw of wheat, we find usually
6 or 7 per cent of ash; the leaf contains 7 or 8 per cent,
and the grain not more than 1 or 2 per cent. So in
turnips or beets, the dried roots have no more than
from 1 to 2 per cent of ash, while the dried leaves
often leave from 20 to 30. These facts are to be
remembered.

When we pursue our researches a step further, and
separate the substances which make up the ash of dif-
ferent plants, we find that here also is a great variation.
The ash of potatoes is more than half potash, while the
ash in the grain of wheat contains much less potash,
but is about half phosphoric acid. The ash of clover
and lucerne often contains twice as much lime as that
of herdsgrass or timothy hay.

We may thus divide plants into classes according
to the composition of their ash. In the ash from the
seed of wheat and all of our cultivated grains, phos-
phoric acid is the leading ingredient; in that from
turnips, beets and other roots, it is much less, while the
alkalies potash and soda increase; in the tubers of the
potato they constitute more than half; in the grasses,
lime and silica are more abundant, and in some, as
the clovers, lime becomes a leading substance; in the
stems of most trees lime abounds yet more, and in many
cases exceeds in quantity any thing else. These facts
have a marked bearing on many practical points which
we have yet to consider.

It was stated that the quantity of ash varied in
different parts of the same plant, as, for example, in
the straw and the grain of wheat. This variation in
quantity is not more marked than that in the com-
position of these two ashes. In the ash of the straw
we find that there is a great proportion of silica, and
very little phosphoric acid; while in that of the grain,

RECAPITULATION OF FACTS. 25

more than half is phosphoric acid, and there is scarcely
any silica. When we come to consider the purposes
for which these parts are intended, the cause of such
variations will be plainly perceived. We even find in
many plants a distinction between the composition of
the ash at the bottom of the stalk, and that at the top.
In all cases the ash from the husk which covers the
seed, as in oats, barley or buckwheat, differs exceed-
ingly in its constitution from that of the seed itself.
We shall in subsequent chapters see what is the cha-
racter of this difference, and understand at least a part
of the reasons for it.

We have now called attention to several valuable
facts respecting the inorganic part or ash of plants :

1. All of the inorganic substances described are
generally present in our cultivated crops, but not in-
variably : sometimes one or two are absent.

2. The quantity of ash yielded by different plants
varies.

3. The composition of this ash also varies, and in
as great a degree as the quantity.

4. This applies not only to different kinds of plants,
but to different parts of the same plant.

Upon these four points depend many of the most
important discoveries in agriculture, and we shall find
them connected very intimately with all of the leading
subjects which are yet to engage our attention. Let
the reader, then, before proceeding farther, understand
them thoroughly and impress them upon his memory.

26

CHAPTER III.

SOURCES OF THE FOOD OF PLANTS.

Organic food; derived from the soil in forms of combination
chiefly. Carbonic acid gas: proportion present in the atmo-
sphere: absorbed through pores in the leaves: decomposed in
the leaf, and oxygen given off during daylight. Organic acids
in soils. Sources of hydrogen and oxygen ; of nitrogen.
Ammonia. Nitric acid.

SECTION I. ORGANIC FOOD OF PLANTS.

Having named and described the various substances
from which the ash of plants is made up, and which
may therefore be considered their inorganic food, we
must now see what are the sources of their inorganic
as well as of their organic food.

An organic and an inorganic part being absolutely
essential to the existence of every perfect plant, it
becomes necessary that the farmer should know where
the different bodies come from, that are to make up
these parts. This knowledge is of advantage, as en-
abling him to increase natural sources of supply, or to
devise artificial means of furnishing what is deficient.

It is quite- clear that a plant which is to grow
rapidly, must have a constant supply of the two classes
of food, and, moreover, that this supply must be pre-
sented in a shape immediately available. It is of no
use to the crops of the present season, to say to them
that there is an abundant supply of manure in the
barnyard : they want it near their roots, and will not
flourish without it there. So of all other things re-
quired in the soil, they must not only be present, but

POOD FROM THE SOIL AND FROM THE AIR. 27

must be in a soluble state, capable of immediate
employment in building up the plant. The farmer,
then, who knows best what is needed, knows how to
furnish it so as to have the best crops, and at the least
expense.

An examination of the leaves and of the roots of
a living plant, shows that it obtains a portion of its
food from the air, and a portion from the earth.

a. Inorganic food, consisting as it does of solid
bodies, does not of course exist in the air, and must
therefore all be taken in through the roots.

b. The organic food comes partly from the soil, and
partly from the air through the leaves. It may be
asked, How we know that plants get food through
their leaves? This is easily proved. If we place the
stem and leaves of a growing plant in a portion of
confined air, the composition of which is known, and
that air be reexamined by means of chemical tests a
day or two afterward, it will be found that its com-
position has changed: a portion of it has disappeared,
having been absorbed by the plant through its leaves.

c. If the confined air, for instance, contained car-
bonic acid, a portion has gone, and its place is supplied
by oxygen.

d. If there is no carbonic acid present in the water
or air, the action will not go on. The importance of
these facts will soon be perceived.

We have seen something of the forms in which
plants may receive their inorganic food ; that it is not
usually as simple substances, but in some forms of
combination. Thus potash does not enter the roots as
potash alone, but as sulphate or carbonate or silicate
of potash ; that is, in combination with sulphuric acid,
or carbonic acid, or silica. So it is with organic food;
the four gases which we have examined do not or-
dinarily minister in their simple state to the growth
of plants, but, as do the inorganic substances, in some
form of combination.

28 CARBONIC ACID GAS.

SECTION II. CARBONIC ACID, ITS SOURCES AND PRINCIPAL
PROPERTIES.

One of the most important of these combinations is
known to chemists as carbonic acid gas. This gas is
very abundant in nature, and combines with many
solid substances, forming what are called carbonates.

a. Common limestone is a carbonate of lime; and
if muriatic acid be poured upon it, a violent efferves-
cence takes place, caused by the escape of this gas.

b. So in the common soda powers, the soda is a
carbonate of soda; and when tartaric acid is added, a
violent effervescence ensues, as all have often seen.
This too results from the escape of carbonic acid gas.

c. It causes the froth on beer, and on the surface of
all fermenting liquids.

It is easily collected in glass receivers over water,
in the same way as heretofore described. Pouring
muriatic acid upon common limestone powdered, or
upon carbonate of soda, is a convenient and cheap
method of obtaining this gas. If it be done in a tall
glass or wide-mouthed bottle, the gas will rise and
fill the bottle, so that its properties may be examined.

1. The first thing apparent will be, that a lighted
taper plunged into the bottle is instantly extinguished;
thus showing that the gas neither inflames itself, nor
supports combustion.

2. It will be perceived that carbonic acid gas is
heavier than common air. It does not rise and mingle
with the air, but fills the vessel like water. The taper
will burn freely until it reaches its surface, and for a
moment even after the lower part of the flame is im-
mersed. When the vessel is full, the gas, in place of
rising, flows over the edge and downward as water
would do. It may be poured from a vessel upon a
candle or taper so as to extinguish it, provided that

COMPOSITION OF CARBONIC ACID. 29

there "be no strong draft to sweep it away. It may in
this manner be transferred from one vessel to another.

3. A third important property of this gas is, that
all animals compelled to breathe it instantly fall, and
in a very few moments die. This may be shown by
placing a mouse or other small animal in an atmo-
sphere of it. Owing to its weight, it sometimes ac-
cumulates in sheltered hollows, and is the cause of
fatal accidents. In brewers' vats when fermentation
takes place, and in some wells, it is apt to collect, and
persons lowered incautiously to clean them suddenly
fall insensible. All danger may be avoided by simply
lowering a lighted candle before any one goes down:
if the candle burns freely at the bottom, there is no
risk in descending.

This gas consists of carbon and oxygen; 6 lbs. of
carbon and 16 lbs. of oxygen forming 22 lbs. of car-
bonic acid. Chemists call it carbon 1 and oxygen 2.
It is easy to prove this fact by burning charcoal, which
it will be remembered is one form of carbon, in a jar
of pure oxygen gas. When the charcoal has ceased
to burn, the air remaining in the jar will be carbonic
acid; as carbon and oxygen were the only two sub-
stances present, the carbonic acid must plainly have
been formed by their union in certain proportions.

This is another instance of those strange chemical
changes in the properties of bodies, with which all
who study this subject soon become familiar. Carbon,
a hard inflammable solid, unites with oxygen, a light
gas, supporting combustion and animal life in a most
remarkable degree ; to form another kind of gas, having
a much greater weight, entirely incombustible, and,
when unmixed with air, destructive to almost every
form of life.

Carbonic acid exists naturally in very large quantity.
It is invariably present in the atmosphere. For a
long time this was thought to be accidental, but later
3*

30 CARBONIC ACID PRESENT IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

experiments have shown that it is always there in very
nearly the same proportion. This proportion is quite
small, being only osso^1 of the whole bulk, or about
__i_^th of the whole weight. It seems insignificant,
too much so to be noticed; but when we come to cal-
culate from the known weight of the atmosphere on
each foot of the earth's surface, we find that there is in
the air over each acre of ground about seven tons of
this gas. This is a considerable quantity, and, when
calculated over the whole surface of the earth, amounts
to billions of tons. It is found to be just graduated
to the wants of both plants and animals. All living
things, as has been said, die in an atmosphere which
contains a large proportion of this gas. Plants,
however, require a certain portion of it to be spread
through the air, that they may draw it in through their
leaves. This is necessary to their life, as they will
not live for any length of time in an atmosphere where
there is no carbonic acid gas, and will not flourish if
the proportion of ^o^th be greatly reduced. On the
other hand, if this proportion be much increased, if
more carbonic acid be introduced into the air, the effect
is also injurious. The proportion of carbonic acid
may with benefit be increased, according to some
experiments, so long as the sun shines and daylight
continues. When the sun goes down, however, and
darkness comes over the earth, more of this gas than
is usually present does harm. We see then that the
Creator has regulated the quantity of carbonic acid, so
that there is just enough for the necessities of the plant,
and not so much as to injure either plants or animals,
while at the same time regard has been had to the
alternations of day and night.

POKES IN THE LEAVES OF PLANTS. 31

SECTION III. CARBONIC ACID GAS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AB-
SORBED AND DECOMPOSED BV THE LEAVES OF PLANTS.

It has been said that this gas is necessary to the
life of the plant, and that the leaves draw it in from
the air. Those who have never studied the structure
of the leaf, will be surprised to find how admirably
it is adapted to this purpose. When examined by a
microscope, its whole surface is seen to be covered
with minute pores, both above and beneath : each of
these pores is a species of mouth, intended to receive
food, or to give off something that the plant no longer
requires. These pores have an immense variety of
shapes and sizes in different leaves, as shown by the
microscope. A high magnifying power discovers more
than 170,000 openings in a square inch upon the surface
of some leaves : others have not more than 6 or 700.

It is easy for any person to satisf}7 himself that such
pores do actually exist, and that the different sides of
the same leaf have different properties. A common
cabbage leaf, for instance, when applied with the under
side to a wound or cut, will draw quite powerfully,
inducing a discharge, while the upper or smooth side
will produce no such effect; thus showing that on the
under side are pores which have a power of absorption.

If the leaves were few in number and very small, it
would be difficult for them to collect enough carbonic
acid from the air; but we find that all plants which
grow rapidly have either quite large leaves, or a great
number of small ones. Thus they are able to expose
a great extent of surface to the passing wind, and to
draw from it as much food in the shape of carbonic
acid as they require. It has been found that very
quick growing plants, such as grape vines, melons,
indian corn, etc., when in full growth, will absorb as
it passes nearly all of the carbonic acid from quite a
swift current of air, so that only very slight traces of

32 LEAVES ABSORB CARBONIC ACID DURING DAYLIGHT.

it can afterwards be found. How active must every
little mouth on the leaf be at such a time!

a. The effect of the carbonic acid thus absorbed, is
to hasten the growth of the plant by furnishing part
of the material from which its stalks, stems, leaves,
etc., are composed. But it may be asked, is the whole
of the carbonic acid used, or only a part? We re-
member that it is composed of two substances, oxygen
and carbon; are both of these, or only one, retained?

b. It is not difficult for the reader to satisfy himself
on this point. If the leaves of a flourishing growing
plant be immersed in an inverted vessel full of water,
and exposed to the rays of the sun, little bubbles of
air will gradually begin to form, and to increase in
size until they rise and collect in the upper part of the
vessel. If fresh branches be occasionally placed in
the water, and the operation thus continued for a time,
enough air will be collected for purposes of experi-
ment. It will then be found that this air, which has
thus escaped from the surface of the leaves, shows all
of the properties which were described under oxygen.
It is in fact pure oxygen, thus showing that the carbon
of the carbonic acid is retained in the plant to con-
stitute a portion of its bulk, while the oxygen goes off
through the pores of the leaf. The pores in the under
side of the leaf usually effect the absorption, the de-
composition goes on in the interior, and the oxygen is
given off through the pores on the upper part. These
pores have for their office to give off, while that of the
others is to receive. Some plants will live for a long
time if the under surface of the leaves is kept con-
stantly wet; if the upper only be wet, the plant soon
dies. If either surface be varnished, so as to stop the
pores, great injury results.

During daylight the leaves are constantly absorbing
carbonic acid, and giving off oxygen; but as soon as

CARBON OBTAINED FROM THE SOIL. 33

the sun goes down, a change takes place : an exami-
nation will now show that it is carbonic acid which
passes off from the leaves, and oxygen that is being
absorbed. It is just the reverse of what goes on during
the day.

a. This curious fact shows why it is that plants
grow so rapidly in the long days of summer. The
nights are then comparatively a small portion of the
day, so that for by far the greater part of the twenty-
four hours the plant continues to absorb carbonic acid,
and to build itself up with the carbon thus obtained

b. In Greenland and Kamschatka the summer is not
more than two or three months, but during that time
it is always daylight, the sun scarcely going below
the horizon at all. Certain plants are thus enabled
to grow so fast as to mature and ripen their seed, even
in that short summer. We see howT this beautiful
provision of nature tends to equalize different climates.
If the nights of the short Greenland summers were
even so long as our shortest, their crops would never
ripen; but as they have nearly perpetual day, they can
get enough food from their fields to sustain life during
a large part of their long winter.

SECTION IV. CARBON ALSO OBTAINED BY PLANTS FROM
THE SOIL.

We see that plants are able to obtain much carbon
from the air, but it is found that a considerable quan-
tity comes from the soil also. This is all, in one form
or another, drawn in through the roots. The rain
water which falls upon the surface, and all of the
spring water found there already, contains some car-
bonic acid dissolved. This water entering the roots,
carries with it a variety of substances in solution,
which the plant seems to use or not as it may require:
among these is carbonic acid. This is probably the

34 HUMUS AND HUMIC ACID.

chief form in which carbon is obtained from the soil;
but there exist in contact with the roots, other sources
of this important article of food. Every soil contains
more or less of organic matter, derived from the decay
after death of plants and animals. Where abundant,
this gives a black color to the soil, and one containing
a large proportion of it is frequently described by
fanners as a vegetable mould. While plants, etc. are
decaying to form this mould, various compounds con-
taining carbon are the result. Quite a number of
these have been examined by chemists, but it is not
necessary to say much of them here.

a. Humus is a name often given to the black mould
of a rich vegetable soil, and this probably because a
great part of the mould consists of a substance called
humic acid. This acid may be obtained by boiling
some rich mould or peat in a solution of common soda,
continuing for an hour or two; fdtering through a
piece of blotting paper, and then making the liquid
quite sour with muriatic acid. Little brown flocks
will soon begin to appear, and will fall to the bottom:
these are humic acid.

b. This substance may serve as a specimen of a
large class that are contained in the organic part of
the soil. They all consist of carbon, oxygen and
hydrogen, and in many situations are extremely
abundant. They do not decay or dissolve very easily,
and it is not supposed that plants get a large part of
their carbon in this way. It seems certain, however,
that they do get some; and it is found that in most
cases where soils contain much of this organic matter,
they are quite fertile. In all ordinary situations, it is
supposed that at least two-thirds of the carbon in plants
comes from the air, the remaining third in various
forms from the soil. This is shown by the fact that
plants cultivated- year after year, cause the organic
matter of a soil to diminish quite rapidly.

PLANTS DECOMPOSE WATER. 35

SECTION V. SOURCE OF THE OXYGEN AND HYDROGEN OF
PLANTS.

Beside carbonic acid, the leaves of plants absorb
through their pores a large quantity of water. During
the day when the hot sun is upon them, the evapora-
tion is of course far more than the absorption, and in
a dry time the leaves may be seen to droop in the
afternoon; but let the sun be obscured and the atmo-
sphere become misty and damp, and they soon absorb
enough moisture to strengthen their failing stems.
Every farmer knows that a light shower, which only
moistens the leaves without wetting the ground at all,
will revive his crops for many hours. Nothing in this
case can have been taken in through the roots.

Water, as has been said, is composed of oxygen and
hydrogen. These two bodies are needed by the plant,
and water is consequently not only of service in mois-
tening its various parts and furnishing a circulating
fluid, but gives its oxygen or its hydrogen or both, as
the plant may happen to require. Water has a pe-
culiar adaptation to this purpose, and to others equally
useful in the interior of the plant, in the facility with
which it is decomposed. Carbonic acid and other
chemical substances only decompose with great dif-
ficulty; but the elements of water, a substance so
universally diffused and so indispensable, separate
easily, affording hydrogen here, oxygen there, to the
necessities of the plant.

SECTION VI. SOURCES OF THE NITROGEN OF PLANTS.

We have now seen how the plant gets carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen in abundance; but there is yet
one more of the organic bodies, which are so necessary
to them: this is nitrogen; it remains for us to consider
the most probable source of this gas. a. As it has

36 PLANTS DO NOT OBTAIN NITROGEN FROM THE AIR.

been said that the atmosphere consists of oxygen and
nitrogen, we might naturally conceive that the leaves
absorb this gas, as well as carbonic acid. Experiments
have shown that this is not the case to any extent.
After many careful trials, it has not yet been certainly
proved that any nitrogen at all is obtained by the
greater number of plants in this way. If there is, the
quantity must be in most cases very trifling indeed.

b. This is one of the most remarkable points con-
nected with the nutrition of plants. Here we have,
in the air which surrounds the plant, and presses
against every part of it, an immense quantity of the
gas nitrogen. It constitutes four-fifths of the whole
atmosphere, and yet we cannot find that plants absorb
it in any quantity whatever. On the contrary, as we
have seen, they select out another kind of gas, car-
bonic acid, although it is present in so small a pro-
portion as s^j^th. This shows conclusively that the
leaves do not draw in through their pores every thing
that is presented to them indiscriminately, but that
they have a power of choosing those kinds of food
best adapted to their wants.

c. Thus the smallest plant has the power of doing
what man by his unaided senses never has been able
to accomplish, and which he has only learned to do
by artificial means within a few years. Every little
worthless weed by the wayside has its leaves spread,
its thousands of mouths open, selecting and drawing
in from the passing air food best adapted to its wants.

As plants obtain, according to the above statements,
little if any of their nitrogen from the air directly
through their leaves, they must obviously get it in
some way through their roots. There are two bodies
which are now considered the chief sources of supply:
these are called ammonia and nitric acid.

Ammonia is a gas, composed of nitrogen and hy-
drogen. We do not find it largely in this shape,

AMMONIA AND NITRIC ACID. 37

however, on account of the strong tendency which it
has to unite with other bodies, such as carbonic acid,
sulphuric acid, etc. When it can not find any thing
else, it is at once absorbed by water, which will take
up an immense quantity of it before becoming satu-
rated. A pint of cold water will absorb between 6
and 700 pints of ammonia. The aqua ammonia of
the shops, is water through which ammonia has been
passed until it is very strong. By smelling of it, the
extremely pungent and peculiar odor of ammonia is
perceived. The strong aqua ammonia is so powerful
in its effects as to take away the breath, and cause a
momentary suffocation. A more agreeable form of
ammoniacal odor is in the ordinary smelling salts.
These are usually nothing more than carbonate of am-
monia, scented in various ways with other perfumes.

The properties of ammonia ought to be understood
by every farmer, because it is a substance of much
importance : it does not exist so abundantly in the
soil as do many or most other necessary ingredients,
and consequently he ought to know how best to in-
crease its amount, and how to keep it on his farm
when he has got it there.

Ammonia is very easily lost, because driven from
its combinations with great facility. If, for instance,
you mix with muriate of ammonia, a compound which
has little or no smell of the gas, some quicklime, and
rub the two together, there will immediately a strong
smell of ammonia be perceived, passing off into the air
and disappearing. This is a reason why quicklime
should not be mixed with manures containing am-
monia, as that gas is driven off by it, and the value
of the manure greatly diminished.

Nitric acid (common aquafortis) is another impor-
tant source of nitrogen. This acid is composed of
nitrogen and oxygen. It is to be found in druggists'
shops, and is a nearly colorless liquid, having a pe-
4

38 NITRATES OF POTASH AND SODA.

culiar smell, and being extremely sour and corrosive.
a. When strong, it destroys the skin, and in all cases
turns it of a deep yellow color which can not be re-
moved by washing, b. It eats holes through cloth,
turning it to a bright red color, c. Like ammonia
and the acids before mentioned, we do not find it
naturally as a pure substance; it is always combined
with something else. One of the most common forms
is nitrate of potash, or saltpetre. Nitrate of soda is
also often found in nature, d. In South America, this
latter is so abundant as to be brought away by the
shipload. It is in the form of such compounds as these
that nitric acid is present in the soil. They are easily
dissolved in water, can be received into the circulation
of plants through their roots, and can furnish nitrogen
as readily as ammonia.

In some situations more nitrogen is received into
the plant as ammonia, than from any other source; in
others, more as nitric acid. I consider that this is
owing simply to the quantity of either that may be
present in different localities. Both kinds of manure
produce remarkable results when applied to the soil of
most farms; and these effects are nearly or quite
identical in appearance, showing that in both cases
nitrogen caused the improvement, and that between
these two forms of applying it there is little choice.

39

CHAPTER IV.

OF THE ORGANIC SUBSTANCE OF PLANTS.

Structure of the Roots, Stem and Leaves. Course of the sap.
Composition and properties of water. Great number of organic
bodies. Woody fibre, Starch, Sugar, Gums. Composition of
these bodies and their mutual relations. Organic substances
containing Nitrogen. Sources of organic elements: Carbon,
Carbonic acid, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen.

SECTION I. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PLANT IN
ITS SEVERAL PARTS.

The different external parts of plants are well
known, they consist of roots, stems, bark or epider-
mis, and leaves.

The internal structure and the functions of the roots
are not so perfectly understood as that of the other
parts, owing to the difficulty of knowing exactly what
occurs underground. At a short distance beneath the
surface they begin to divide, sending out little rootlets
in every direction, and at the extreme end of each is
a small bundle of soft, minute, white fibres. These
are all so many mouths for the nourishment of the
stem. If you place the roots of a growing tree in
certain colored liquids, its body will soon become
colored. This part of the plant has, to a considerable
extent at least, a power of selection, as it is found
that certain substances are admitted to the exclusion,
either partial or total, of others. Some coloring solu-
tions for instance, as above, enter with facility and
tinge the whole stem in a short time, while others are
scarcely absorbed at all. The same must, in a degree,

40 STEM AND BARK OF FLAN'TS.

be true of various kinds of food, as we find (bat far
more of one kind is taken than of another, even when
both are present in equal quantities.

In the stem are numerous little tubes, running up
and down, which serve to convey the sap absorbed by
the roots up to the leaves. It passes up in the interior
vessels or tubes, and passes down in the exterior, or
just under the bark. This can be shown by the ex-
ample of the tree and the colored fluid, just referred
to; the inner part of the tree will be colored first, and
finally the outer, in the descent of the sap, after it has
passed out to the extremities of the branches.

There is then a regular circulation between the soil
and the plant; sap flows up, having been formed in
the roots and stem, out of the various substances
drawn in from the soil, and ultimately flows down
again next the bark and out into the soil.

During its circuit the sap undergoes many changes,
and deposits such of its constituents as are necessary
to the plant. If taken from the lower part of the
stem, it will be found thin; as it goes up, it appears
thicker and thicker, and at last on its way down be-
comes a dense substance, to which the name of cam-
bium has sometimes been given. At this period of
its round, it deposites, between the inner bark and
the wood, material for forming the annual layer of
new wood. The cause of this ascent and descent of
sap is not fully known, and I do not consider it neces-
sary to mention here the numerous plausible theories
that have been advanced regarding it. If the flow is
entirely stopped, either upward or downward, the
plant soon dies. This is shown by the ordinary opera-
tion of girdling a tree, the downward flow is stopped
and no new wood can form.

The bark is quite different in its structure from the
stem. In the latter part, as will be remembered, the
little tubes run perpendicularly, or straight up and

ORGANIC BODIES fN PLANTS. 41

down; in the bark they run vertically, that is, toward
the centre of the tree. It is supposed that air obtains
access to the body of the plant through these tubes.

Leaves are usually considered an extension of the
bark. They have a net work of veins running through
them in every direction, conveying fluids to all parts;
anil also have on their outer surfaces, innumerable
little pores or mouths, through some of which they
breathe out, and through others draw in, water and
various gases. These functions of the leaf will be
noticed again in a subsequent chapter.

SECTION II. THE GREAT NUMBER AND DIVERSITY OF ORGANIC
BODIES IN PLANTS.

The organic portion in these several parts of the
plant, consist of a great variety of substances, with
the more common of which at least, the farmer ought
to be acquainted.

The organic bodies of plants are exceedingly
numerous. Almost every plant has some one or more
peculiar to itself. Thus we see indian rubber the
product of one tree, gutta percha of another, sago of
another; various perfumes from one plant, and dis-
agreeable odors from another, as in the rose or the
mignionette of one class, the skunk cabbage or the
tomato of the other; some also have a pungent or
aromatic taste, such as the sassafras and the birch.
In short the variety of bodies that thus communicate
different qualities to plants, or often to the different
parts of the same plant, are more numerous than
would be believed by one who had not attended some-
what to the subject.

The different oils and sugars, for instance, which
exist in vegetables, may be counted by tens and twen-
ties already, while new kinds are constantly being

discovered; so with the various extracts which can be

4#

42 WATER.

obtained from the flowers or bark. There are few
plants in which a careful examination of their various
parts will not discover from fifteen to twenty different
organic substances, and in some twice that numbei
may be distinguished. The perfect separation and
determination of such bodies, is among the most diffi-
cult of problems of modern chemistry. But after all, the
substances which make up the great bulk of plants
are few in number. Those which give the color,
taste, smell, or peculiar properties of that kind, to
particular plants, generally form but a small part of
their whole mass, and have but little influence on
their practical value.

SECTION7 III. OF WATER.

In order to explain some remarkable properties in
the substances to which attention will soon be called, it
is necessary here to mention the composition of water.

This liquid, so universally diffused and of such in-
estimable value, is composed of but two gases, oxygen
and hydrogen. In nine pounds of water, are about
one of hydrogen and eight of oxygen. Although the
weight of oxygen is thus greatest, hydrogen is so
light that it constitutes the greatest bulk, so that by
measure there is only one gallon of oxygen to two of
hydrogen.

a. That water does consist of these two gases alone,
may be shown by burning hydrogen in an atmosphere
of oxygen. Water will immediately begin to con-
dense on the sides of the vessel used by the experi-
menter, and will soon accumulate so as to run down
in drops. Some of the French chemists once tried
this experiment on a large scale, continuing it for a
number of days, and obtained several pints of water.
On burning a jet of hydrogen in common air, under
a large glass vessel open at bottom, water will imme-

WOODY FIBRE. 43

diately be formed by an union with the oxygen of the
air, and will condense on the cool surface of the glass.

b. Water exists in several states: 1. As the simple
liquid; 2. As steam or vapor; 3. As ice or snow.
Each of these forms have their peculiar properties
and benefits. As a fluid, it renders the bodies of all
animals plump, moist, and elastic, while it also gives
life to all plants and vegetables, forming their circu-
lating fluids.

As a vapor, it prevents the outer surfaces of plants
and animals from drying away too much, intercepts
the rays of the sun which would otherwise scorch and
burn us, and performs many other important offices, of
which there is not space to speak here. As ice, its
action in alternate freezing and thawing, thus ex-
panding and contracting, is to loosen and mellow the
soil. This is the effect produced by ridging stiff clays
in autumn, that the frost may have free access.

SECTION IV. OF ORGANIC BODIES CONTAINING CARBON,
HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN.

By far the most abundant body in the organic part
of all or nearly all plants, is called woody fibre, some-
times cellular fibre. This is the stringy, woody part
of straw, flax, hemp, wood, &c. If any of them are
bruised and soaked until every thing that can be
washed away is gone, a mass of white fibres remains,
which is tolerably pure woody fibre. Cotton or pith
are the purest natural forms of this substance, a. It
is white, tasteless, insoluble in water, and will not in
its natural condition support life. b. It constitutes
the largest portion of nearly all plants, that is in their
dry state; this distinction is necessary, because many
plants lose more than half of their weight of water by
drying, this may be seen in most of the common grasses.

Woody fibre is eemposed of carbon, hydrogen and

44 STARCH.

oxygen. Now it is a curious point, that in this
woody fibre, hydrogen and oxygen are present in just
the proportions to form water. To this important
fact we shall refer again.

In the stems, leaves, husks, bark, and in most cases
the roots, woody fibre is by far the largest constituent;
but in the seeds and fruits, it is usually much smaller
in quantity.

In a great number of seeds, starch is the leading
ingredient; so also in many roots that are used for
food. a. Starch is in its usual appearance well known,
as a white, tasteless, or nearly tasteless substance. It
does not dissolve even in warm water, but forms a
species of jelly with it. One peculiar property is that
of turning blue when iodine comes in contact with it.
The common tincture of iodine will answer for this
experiment: the smallest possible quantity will produce
an immediate effect.

b. Starch may be easily obtained by making some
wheaten flour into dough, and then washing on a very
fine sieve or linen cloth placed above a convenient
vessel. As the dough is kneaded under successive
portions of water, the water becomes milky, and the
mass of dough constantly diminishes in bulk until at
last nothing but a sticky substance called ghden re-
mains ; to this we shall refer again. If the milky
liquid which has run through the cloth be allowed to
stand quiet for some hours, a deposit of fine white
grains will be formed on the bottom of the containing
vessel : this is the starch.

c. It may also be easily extracted from the potato,
by grating fine and washing. The starch will settle
next the bottom; the skin, woody fibre, etc. will float
above, so that they may be poured off. In this way
potato starch is made.

The composition of starch is carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen; the same, it will be remembered, as that of

SUGAR. 45

woody fibre. These substances exist in the same
proportion as in woody fibre.

Another important organic substance is sugar. Its
properties of easy solubility and sweetness need scarce-
ly be mentioned here, neither will they require illus-
tration by the teacher.

There are several kinds of sugar present in plants,
but the kind called cane sugar is most abundant and
important. It is that which exists in the stalk of the
sugar cane, the root of the sugar beet, the trunk of the
sugar maple, etc. etc. Sugar blackens and becomes
a species of charcoal when burned : it consists of
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These same three
substances also form the gums, resins, and oily matters
which exist so abundantly in certain trees, as the
pines, and in certain seeds, as linseed.

Thus by far the larger portion of plants is made up
of substances containing only these three gases. We
now come to a singular fact, hinted at with relation
to one of the substances in the early part of this sec-
tion : the hydrogen and oxygen in woody fibre, starch,
sugar and many gums, are in the proper proportions
to form water. The plant then can make these bo-
dies without difficulty, for we have seen that it absorbs
both carbonic acid and water through its leaves : if
now the oxygen of the carbonic acid be given off
through the leaves during the day, as we have already
mentioned that it is, there remains only carbon and
water, or carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, just the sub-
stances to form those bodies which wc have named
above.

In the case of woody fibre, sugar, starch and gum,
the quantity of carbon and of the elements of water is
the same, so that they are in fact identical in com-
position. How strange that they should be so different
in properties ! We can not explain why this, is; but
yet the chemist is able to make sugar from either

46 CHEMICAL CHANGES.

woody fibre, gum or starch. It is not more strange
than a thousand other things in nature. We have
seen, for instance, that carbonic acid puts out all fire
and destroys life; yet carbon, one of the substances of
which it is composed, burns most violently in oxygen,
the other; and this other body, oxygen, is, when alone,
the great supporter of vitality : mingled in the air, it
is what sustains all animal and vegetable life, and all
combustion also.

It has been incidentally noticed, that certain of the
bodies above named may be changed by chemical
means. Some of these changes are important, and de-
serve a rather more extended notice, a. Woody fibre,
if ground fine and subjected to a certain degree of heat
for a long time, becomes hard and yellow in color, and
finally can be ground like flour. In this state it is
partly soluble, and can with yeast be made into a light
wholesome bread : it has also been partially changed
into a substance resembling starch or gum. b. Starch,
if heated at a temperature just below scorching for a
day or two, gradually becomes yellow and finally quite
soluble, with a sweetish taste. It has become dextrine,
or what is called by calico printers British gum. This
change takes place to a considerable extent in the
ordinary baking of bread, c. By the action of dilute
sulphuric acid in certain proportions and at certain
temperatures, starch may be changed first into gum,
and then into sugar.

We thus see that this class of bodies are not only
similar in composition, but that a change from one to
the other may be effected with much ease. If we can
do this, how much the more readily can it be effected
in the interior of the plant ! That such changes do
take place there, and that they are of much practical
importance, we shall have occasion to point out in
subsequent chapters.

NITROGENOUS BODIES, GLUTEN, ETC. 47

SECTION V. OF ORGANIC BODIES CONTAINING CARBON,
HYDROGEN, OXYGEN AND NITROGEN.

Although the substances containing the three first
named gases only, make up more than nine-tenths of
most plants, yet there is a class which in addition to
them contains nitrogen. This class, though so small
in proportion, is, as will be seen ultimately, one of
remarkable importance.

The most easily obtained of these nitrogenous bo-
dies, is the one already mentioned as left behind when
the dough of wheaten flour is washed upon a cloth, to
obtain the starch. a. It is sticky, tenacious, and
somewhat like glue in its character : its name gluten
has reference to these properties, b. When heated, it
swells up to a great bulk, becoming quite full of holes.
For this reason flour which has much gluten in it is
called by the bakers strong, because light porous bread
can be easily made from it, and because it absorbs and
retains much water, c. The proportion of gluten in
wheat is from ten to twenty per cent. The wheat of
warm countries is said to contain more than that grown
in temperate latitudes.

Several other grains contain gluten, but none so
much as wheat; they all, however, have bodies of the
same class, not generally resembling gluten in ap-
pearance and properties, but all containing nitrogen.
To these different names have been given : the nitro-
genous substance in peas and beans is called legumin;
that in indian corn, zein. In some other plants there
are substances of the same kind, called vegetable albu-
men, casein, et:. These are all somewhat similar in
their properties and composition. There is a little
sulphur and phosphorus in gluten, and in these nitro-
genous bodies generally, beside the four gases already
mentioned.

48 SUPPLIES OF ORGANIC FOOD.

It will now be seen what an important part these
four elements act, in the economy of nature. From
them all the forms of vegetable life are built up; they
are constantly passing from one state of combination
into another, and yet always come out at last them-
selves unchanged. This is for the reason that they
are truly, and not in the common sense, elementary
bodies. If we take a piece of wood for examination,
wre can divide it by various means into oxygen, carbon
and hydrogen; but we fail in any attempt to subdivide
again either of these three bodies. Those bodies then
are elementary, chemically speaking, which wTe can
not by any means decompose or separate, which we
can not show to be compound. There are in all be-
tween fifty and sixty of these elements known, and
among them are the four gases the functions of which
we have been considering. Sulphur and phosphorus
are also elements.

SECTION VI. OF THE SUPPLIES OF ORGANIC FOOD TO
PLANTS.

The sources from whence plants derive their various
kinds of organic food, are different in different locali-
ties.

Carbon is mostly drawn in from the air in the form
of carbonic acid : some also comes from the soil, but
by far the greater part from the air. The quantity
required for the support of all the vegetation upon the
earth's surface must be immense, especially when we
know the fact that carbon in general constitutes fully
half, and sometimes much more than half of its weight.
When we remember that the proportion of carbonic
acid in the air is but about ^-s^oth °f a^> there may
seem to be some danger of its exhaustion.

It has been said that the weight of this gas in the
air over every acre of the earth's surface, is about
seven tons. This quantity, if the land were all under

CONSUMPTION AND RESTORATION OF CARBONIC ACID. 49

cultivation, would be exhausted in from seven to ten
years. There would thus be some cause for apprehen-
sion on this point, could we not indicate several sources
which constantly tend to keep up the necessary supply.

1. One of the most important of these is the
breathing of animals: the pure air that is drawn into
the lungs at each breath, returns charged with carbonic
acid. It is for this reason that the air in a close room
where there are many people becomes so unwholesome,
and after a time intolerable. The carbonic acid
breathed out into the air, has rendered it deleterious
to animal life. A direct proof of the quantity of car-
bonic acid breathed in this way from the lungs, may
be given by blowing through a tube into lime water,
made by pouring water upon common quicklime and
allowing it to settle and become clear. The carbonic
acid unites with the lime, and the clear lime water
becomes in a few moments quite milky, owing to the
formation of carbonate of lime.

2. Another source from whence carbonic acid is
derived in immense quantities, is ordinary combustion.
All combustible bodies used for fires, produce this gas
while burning. Carbon, in one form or another, is
the leading combustible substance in all kinds of fuel,
in wood, coal, charcoal, oil, resin, pitch, turpentine,

1 etc. While burning, the carbon unites with oxygen,
and becomes carbonic acid. Whenever then combus-
tion is going on, this gas is largely produced, a. An
instance is to be seen in the practice of suicide by
means of burning charcoal. In France, particularly,
the misguided and wicked persons who thus rashly
desire to take away their own lives, light a pan of
charcoal and shut themselves up with it in a close
room. The carbonic acid produced soon fills the room,
and in a short time destroys life. b. It is easy to see
that combustion must annually send vast quantities of
this gas into the atmosphere. Particularly is this

5

50 SOURCE OF HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN.

true in cold climates, where during winter fires are so
numerous and constant.

3. In some districts large quantities of carbonic acid
pass off into the air from fissures in the earth's surface :
this is no doubt produced by volcanic action at a great
depth.

4. Another source is natural decay and decomposi-
tion. It is a curious fact, that if you leave a piece of
wood to decay, the ultimate results will be the same
as if it had been burned in the commencement. The
action is slower, requiring often years to complete it;
but the products are the same, that is, carbonic acid
and water. Decay has, for this reason, been called a
slow combustion.

We see therefore that the constant tendency in every
species of destruction, decomposition, or decay in
animal and vegetable bodies, is to the production and
liberation of carbonic acid. The sources already
indicated are quite sufficient to supply the quantities
annually withdrawn from the atmosphere by vegeta-
tion.

The hydrogen required by plants is readily obtained.
Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen : in the form
of a liquid, it is drawn up by the roots; as a vapor, it
is absorbed by the leaves from the atmosphere. This
may be seen in the great effect of a trifling shower
during dry weather. Even if there is only enough
rain to barely moisten the surface of the parched earth,
the leaves before drooping are revived, and the whole
plant assumes a flourishing appearance : no water has
reached its roots, but it has absorbed a portion of the
shower through its leaves. This one source of supply
affords ample store of hydrogen.

Oxygen is also to be obtained by the plant from
water. Carbonic acid too, it will be remembered, is
partly composed of this gas. There can thus be no
difficulty as to the plants obtaining oxygen, and no
fear of exhausting it from the atmosphere.

SOURCES OF THE NITROGEN OF PLANTS. 51

The source of the nitrogen in plants is not so clear.
We know that four-fifths of the air surrounding all
plants is nitrogen, and yet it is proved that but little
if any of this nitrogen is absorbed through their leaves;
neither can it be shown to enter in any quantity
through their roots. We find, however, that the soil
is the place from which it comes, but that it is always
in some form chemically united with other bodies.
The two substances, ammonia and nitric acid, described
under a previous chapter as containing nitrogen, are
the chief sources of supply to plants : this fact partly
explains their great efficacy as manures. They are
both present in fertile soils, sometimes the one and
sometimes the other in largest quantity. Both are
soluble in water, and therefore can without difficulty
enter the roots.

It will now be easily perceived that these organic
bodies to which attention has been so frequently called,
are indeed of very great importance. They constitute
the great bulk of vegetable life in all of its forms.
In the air and the soil, they are indispensable to life.
We cannot see them, yet depend on them for existence
itself. If half of the jiufith of carbonic acid present
in the atmosphere were withdrawn, nearly all valuable
plants would cease to flourish, and as a consequence
animal life too would gradually become extinct.

52

CHAPTER V.

THE SOIL.

Composition of the soil : divided into an organic and an inorganic
part. Quantity, origin, necessity and constitution of organic
matter : how to increase it in the soil. Formation of mineral
part of soils ; chiefly from limestones, sandstones and clays.
Classification of soils. Other substances present beside three
above named; their number and names. Cause of difference
between fertile and barren soils.

SECTION I. THE' PROPORTION AND ORIGIN OF THE ORGANIC
MATTER IN THE SOIL.

Having now become familiar with the substances
which are found in both the organic and the inorganic
parts of plants, we must next inquire what is the
connection between the plant and the soil. We find
that one soil produces better crops than another; that
plants will grow in some places, that will not flourish
at all in others; that manure is not needed on some
soils, while it is quite indispensable on others. The
reasons for these and many other differences that might
be mentioned, are only to be discovered by chemical
analyses of the soil itself.

The first point which we are able to establish, is the
fact that here as in the plant, are to be found the two
great classes of organic and inorganic substances. If
a portion of soil is heated on a knife-blade or a thin
iron or tin plate, it will smoke and blacken; if the
heat be continued, the smoke will after a time cease,
the blackness disappear, and the remaining earth will
be usually of a whitish or reddish color. It is like the

ORGANIC MATTER IN SOILS. 53

ash left behind on burning wood or straw, excepting
that there is far more of it.

The ash from plants, it will be remembered, is but
a small proportion of their weight, from one to four-
teen lbs. in a hundred: in soils the incombustible part
is usually more than ninety lbs. in a hundred, frequent-
ly ninety-five. In some peaty or rich forest lands,
indeed, the organic part is largest; but, as all know,
these constitute but a. small proportion of our ordinary
soils. This organic matter was not originally present
in the soil: it has all accumulated there by the death
and decay of plants and animals. The first soil,
formed by the crumbling and decomposition of the
bare rock, must have been entirely destitute of this
part. Some species of living things, however, existed
even there, some forms of vegetation and of animal
life; as these died, they mingled with the broken down
rocks, and became food for new plants of higher or-
ders; thus their remains gradually gathered, until the
result was our present surface soils.

Fertile soils always contain a considerable propor-
tion of this organic matter. There is no rule as to
the quantity that should be present: we find them very
fertile, containing all the way from two to fifty per
cent, and even upward; though it may be said that
permanently rich strong soils seldom contain less than
from five to ten per cent.

When there is more than fifty per cent, and the soil
is moist, an injurious effect is produced, the soil be-
coming what is called sour : nothing but poor wiry
grass will grow. The reasons of and the remedy for
this result, will be considered in a subsequent chapter*.

* I have said that there is no rule as to the precise quantity of
organic matter that ought to be present, that is within 5 to 40 or
50 per cent. Other things being equal, the soil with 30 or 40
per cent seems to be in no way superior to that which only has
4 to 5 per cent. Thus we can not speak definitely as to any
necessary proportion.

5*

54 NECESSITY FOR ORGANIC MATTER.

Having explained the origin of this organic matter,
it is only necessary to mention briefly, that it is com-
posed of the same four organic substances previously
named, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen.

SECTION II. NECESSITY FOR ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOIL,
AND ITS LIABILITY TO EXHAUSTION.

This part is necessary in the soil for several reasons.

1. It enables the land, if light and sandy, to retain
moisture, and also to retain manures much longer than
it otherwise would; to stiff and clayey soils it gives
mellowness and lightness.

2. Another important effect in cold climates, is the
darker color which it imparts to the surface. A dark
colored soil absorbs more heat than a light one, being
consequently warmer and earlier. This is seen in the
fact that snow melts sooner from the ploughed field
than from the meadow in similar situations; from the
dark garden bed, than from the gravelled walk.

3. Beside these useful purposes, there is no doubt
that the organic part of the soil, in a greater or less
degree, ministers food directly to the plant through its
roots. The supply obtained in this way varies with
the situation, but is of much importance to plants, as
shown by their increased luxuriance when it is fur-
nished them in a soil previously deficient.

This consumption of organic matter by plants to
form their own bulk, shows how it is that land long
cultivated and scantily manured, at last becomes very
poor in this part. Each crop has carried away a
portion of it, more than has been returned in the small
quantity of manure applied. Another way in which
it is exhausted, is by frequent ploughing and stirring,
whereby it is exposed to the air, and consequently
decomposes rapidly. If you bury straw or other or-
ganic matter deep under the surface, so as to be ex-

METHODS OF SUPPLYING ORGANIC MATTER. 55

eluded from the air, it will remain almost unchanged
for years; but as soon as you bring it toward the
surface where the air can obtain access, decay com-
mences.

There are then two ways in which this disappear-
ance of organic substances goes on in the soil: first,
as it is used for the food of plants; second, as it is
decomposed by being brought in contact with air.

From what has now been stated, it is obviously for
the interest of the farmer to keep up the supply of
organic matter in his soil : an equivalent at least for
every thing taken off should, as far as possible, be
returned in the shape of manure; peat and composts
are good forms of adding large quantities.

But the best way of all when the land is run down,
is to cultivate green crops for ploughing under; such
as clover, buckwheat, vetches, etc. etc. a. Though
plants draw much of their organic part from the soil,
yet the greater proportion comes from the air through
the leaves ; consequently when a crop of clover is
ploughed in, there is, in addition to what it has taken
from the soil, much more than half its weight which
came from the air, aDd is therefore a clear gain to the
soil. In this way the organic matter may be increased,
and even the poorest land be gradually brought up to
a state of fertility, b. Every good farmer should
watch his fields carefully, and see that they do not
become deficient in this very important part. When-
ever or wherever we see land losing it from year to
year, it is certain that there is bad management some-
where.

The farmer must not suppose that by this or any
other system he can bring up his worn out land in one
or two years : the progress of improvement will be
gradual. He must persevere in the use of green crops,
bringing them in frequently, and returning at the same
time in the shape of manure as much as may be of the

56 DERIVATION OF SOILS.

other crops taken off. Above all he must not, as soon
as his land is so far recovered that his clover or other
green crop begins to be heavy, yield to any temptation
to cut it off; for this is returning to the old system of
exhaustion. The object should be to keep the land
steadily improving; and to that, for the few first years,
all other considerations should give way. When it
is fully established as a fertile and well stocked soil,
constant watchfulness will keep it in that condition
without much expense; and the farmer will soon find
that it is far cheaper to cultivate good land and keep
it good, than to live on a farm where every thing is
taken out and nothing put in.

SECTION III. OF THE DERIVATION OF SOILS, AND THEIR
CLASSIFICATION.

I have already said that the mineral part of soils is
derived from the decomposition or crumbling down of
the solid rocks. In every neighborhood may be seen
instances of this crumbling down : with some rocks,
as granite, it is very slow, scarcely perceptible from
one year to another; with others it is more rapid, as
some sandstones and limestones; with others still al-
most immediate, as some slates which fall to pieces
whenever they are brought to the surface. However
quickly or slowly this crumbling takes place, a soil is
at last made, and of course resembles in its composition
that of the rock from which it was formed.

The greater part of the rocks which appear on the
surface of our earth, are varieties of sandstones, lime-
stones or clays, or mixtures of the three*.

1. Sandstone is often known as freestone, and is
common in many parts of this country, being a va-
luable building material. Our light sandy soils were

* This is a popular and not strictly scientific classification, and
is to be considered only as a general description.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS. 57

nearly all originally formed from this rock. Many of
these are very poor; but there are some sandstones
which make most excellent soils, as rich as any that
are cultivated. In particular cases they contain so
much lime as to be nearly marls, and then form very
fertile soils. Very many sandstones crumble away
quite readily, some showing the action of the atmo-
sphere almost immediately upon exposure. For this
reason the soils are ordinarily of good depth.

2. Limestone is also common, and there are few
places where a teacher can not find some to exhibit to
his scholars. It is found of all colors from white to
black, and makes a great variety of soils. As a ge-
neral rule these soils are good, and capable of bearing
very excellent crops. There is much variation among
the limestones as to ease of decomposition. Many of
them form a deep soil very soon, but there are some of
the blue mountain limestones which decompose with
exceeding slowness. On these the soil is thin, but
usually of rather good quality, especially for pastures.

3. Clay is the principal ingredient in roofing slate,
in school slates, and in what are called shales. Be-
side this, as is well known, it exists in large beds,
from which are made pipes, bricks, tiles, etc. etc.
Whenever it occurs largely in soils, they are stiff,
tenacious, and nearly impervious to moisture. In
consequence water remains on the surface, and makes
them wet, difficult to plough, and hard to cultivate in
any way. They are, however, usually of good quality,
and by proper skill may be made most valuable.

Some writers have classified soils, according as they
contained more or less of one of these. First would
be a sand, then a sandy loam, then a clay loam, a stiff
clay, and finally a brick or pipe clay, the last being
too stiff for cultivation. Soils in which lime existed
largely, would be called calcareous. Where there
was more than 20 to 25 per cent, it would be a marl.

58 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS.

Some definite rules of this kind might prove quite
useful to farmers in describing soils.

Prof. Johnston has proposed the following :

1. Pure clay, such as pipe clay or porcelain clay; from

this no sand can be removed by washing.

2. Strong clay, brick clay, contains from 5 to 20 per

cent of siliceous sand.

3. Clay loam has from 20 to 40 per cent of fine sand.

4. A loam, has from 40 to 70 per cent of sand.

5. A sandy loam, has from 70 to 90 per cent.

6. A light sand has less than 10 per cent of clay.

This classification may easily be made by means of
simple washing. The soil should first be dried, and
then after boiling in water should be thoroughly stirred
in some convenient vessel. The sand will settle first,
and when it is at the bottom, the liquid above, hold-
ing the fine clay, etc. in suspension, may be poured
off; when this has been done a few times, nothing
will remain at the bottom of the vessel, beside nearly
pure sand; this may be dried and weighed, and the
quantity will indicate to which class of the above the
soil belongs.

It is always possible to ascertain if there be much
lime in a soil, by adding a little muriatic acid, such
as may be obtained at any apothecaries. This acid, as
soon as it comes in contact with the lime, if there be any,
causes a brisk effervescence, owing to the bubblings up
and escape of carbonic acid gas, which is expelled
from its combination with lime by a stronger acid. It
is easy in this way to ascertain if any specimen of earth
is a marl or not. Such a simple test would often save
the farmer much trouble and expense, by preventing
him from applying useless material to his soil for the
purpose of fertilizing it. The distinctions between
light and heavy soils, so common among farmers, all

INORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN SOILS. 59

arise from the different proportions of sand and clay
which the various soils contain.

The light soils are most easily and cheaply culti-
vated, and are found to be particularly well adapted
to the growing of some crops, such as barley, rye,
buckwheat, etc. They are porous, and for that reason
generally dry.

The heavier soils require more skill and caution in
their cultivation, but are not so easily exhausted as
the others; they are particularly adapted to growing
wheat, oats, indian corn, etc. Very heavy soils are
exceedingly liable to wetness, and can only be made
dry by draining.

SECTION IV. NUMBER OF INORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN SOIL.
REASONS FOR FERTILITY OR BARRENNESS.

It has been said that soils are chiefly made up of
three substances, lime, sand (silica), and clay (alu-
mina). But besides these, chemical analysis finds
smaller quantities of some seven or eight other bodies.
In the first column of the following table, representing
the composition of three different soils, is to be seen
the names of these.

60

INORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN SOILS.

TABLE FIRST.

In one hundred pounds.

Organic matter,

Silica,

Alumina, ,

Lime,

Magnesia,

Oxide of Iron,

Oxide of Manganese, .

Potash,

Soda,

Chlorine,

Sulphuric acid, ,

Phosphoric acid,

Carbonic acid,

Loss during the analysis

Soil fertile
without
manure.

100-0

Fertile
with

manure.

5'

83'

5'

1'

100-0

Very-
barren.

4-0

77-8

9-1

•4

•1

8-1

•1

100-0

It will at once be noticed, that these are the very
substances which were named and described when we
were upon the inorganic part, or ash, of plants. To
this coincidence I shall return in the next chapter.

At the head of the first column is named organic
matter; this has already been disposed of. The other
substances making up the inorganic part, follow in
different proportions, the silica being largest. It will
be seen that these three soils are different in their
qualities, one being fertile without manure, another
fertile with the addition of manure, and last quite
barren. Every one at all conversant with agriculture,
knows that these differences in soils actually exist.
We find occasionally, though not often, tracts of large
extent, where the most exhausting crops may be
grown for many years in succession without the aid
of manure, their power of production not seeming to
decrease even under such severe cultivation. Now

REASONS OF FERTILITY. 61

wherever we discover such soils, whether in our own
western states, whether on the banks of the Nile or
Ganges, in whatever part of the world they may be
located, a chemical examination will invariably show
the presence of all the substances above named. It
is not necessary that they should be in precisely the
quantities named here, but they must all be present.
The proportions of some of these may seem so small
as to be unimportant; that they are not, will ap-
pear when we consider how many hundred pounds
there are in an acre of soil twelve inches deep. The
smallest of the above proportions would, for an acre,
amount to several tons. It would require an im-
mensely heavy manuring to add one half of a per
cent of any particular ingredient to the soil.

Unfortunately soils of the first class are not so
plenty as those of the second, which bear good crops
if an abundance of manure is added. Such are our
ordinary soils in all parts of the country. It will be
seen that in the column representing the composition
of this soil, there are blanks opposite to the potash,
soda, and chlorine, denoting that these are absent.
Several others, sulphuric and phosphoric acids, and
lime, are in much smaller quantities than in the first
column.

In the third column, we find just half of the inor-
ganic bodies present in the first entirely wanting, and
two others, lime and magnesia, greatly reduced in
their proportion. Any ordinary application of manure
would not supply enough to make up all of these
deficiencies; and except in places where produce was
high -and manures cheap, as in the neighborhood of
large cities, such land could scarcely be cultivated
with profit. We can tell just what is wanting by
inspection of the above table; but few farmers could
afford to do everything required for the improvement
of such a soil at once. The best way would be to
6

62 REASONS OF BARRENNESS.

bring it up by ploughing in green crops, and thus
gradually with a moderate use of manure in addition,
form a surface soil. This would, however, be a work
calling for the exercise of much patience, perseverance,
and good judgment.

The foregoing table shows clearly enough, the
differences in soils which cause what we call fertility
or barrenness. The explanation is perfectly simple,
and perfectly satisfactory, showing as it does that all
depends upon the presence or absence of certain sub-
stances. This is the general solution, but there are
occasionally cases which form exceptions. There are
soils which remain barren, even although they contain
all of the substances named above, and though much
manure is added. This is because their physical
structure and condition is wrong, or because some
substances are present in hurtful excess, a. If the
quantities of magnesia, iron, or manganese, be very
great, the soil containing them is found to be un-
propitious to vegetation, often positively injurious.
b. There are two oxides of iron occasionally found
in the earth. One is the peroxide, or common iron
rust; this does not seem to be hurtful, but always
beneficial to vegetation. The other is called the
protoxide of iron; it contains less oxygen than the
peroxide, it is also more soluble, and is where it
exists in considerable quantity, fatal to most plants
and trees.

A barren soil, then, is barren because some sub-
stances are too largely present, or because certain sub-
stances are wanting. Chemistry is quite competent
to point out the difficulty in either case, and also to
say what would be the remedy. We can tell what is
necessary to fertilize the most hopeless desert, but at
the same time may not be able to conduct the opera-
tion so as to make it profitable. It becomes no longer
a question of knowledge, it is one of expense. We

REASONS OF BARRENNESS. 63

know what to do, but may not in all cases be able to
do it with a profit, and this with a practical man is
always an important distinction.

It will be noticed in table first, that alumina, a
substance rarely, if ever, present in the ash of plants,
is quite an abundant constituent of soils. This is one
distinction between the inorganic part of plants and
that of the soil, alumina being a characteristic of the
one and absent from the other. In nearly all soils, silica
is the leading substance, usually constituting fully
two-thirds of their whole weight, and often eighty or
ninety pounds in every hundred. The only cases in
which it is not largely present are those of the peat
bogs, made up almost entirely of vegetable matter.
Silica forms compounds with certain of the other
bodies in the soil, making what are called soluble
silicates. The gradual formation of these compounds
affords a supply for the plant

We have now mentioned the substances which are
present in the soil, and have in a previous chapter
dwelt upon those which constitute the plant. Sundry
points of connection between the two, will already
have suggested themselves to the reader or student.
To these we must next turn our attention, in treating
of the various methods proper to be employed in
bringing soils to a state of fertility, and to a condition
the most easy and profitable for cultivation.

From examining table first, and from the explana-
tions already given, it will be perceived that there
are various points to be considered in attempting the
improvement of a soil. a. If there be a chemical
deficiency, that is an absence of certain constituents
necessary to fertility, as mentioned above, then but
one course can be adopted with any hope of success:
this course is obviously to supply what is wanting.
The ways of doing this in the most advantageous and
economical manner, will be considered under what

64 IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS.

may be called chemical improvements, or the use of
manures, b. If there be a physical defect, if the
land is too wet, too light, too stiff, or if from either
of these causes it abounds in noxious compounds, the
remedies come more properly under what may be
called mechanical improvements. This branch of the
subject will first attract our attention, and will be
considered in the following chapter.

65

CHAPTER VI.

THE SOIL (CONTINUED), AND SOME OF ITS CON-
NECTIONS WITH THE PLANT.

Nature of mechanical improvement : mixing of sands and clays.
Evils of wetness in the soil. Beneficial effects of drains; what
kind of drains best; proper depth; materials of which they
should be made; the different varieties of tiles; subsoil plough-
ing; trench ploughing. Connection between inorganic part of
the soil and of the plant illustrated. Plants seem to require
all of the inorganic substances in the soil, but not in the same
proportions.

SECTION I. WHAT THE CONDITION OF THE SOIL SHOULD BE,
AND THE NATURE OF MECHANICAL IMPROVEMENT.

We are now able to say that a fertile soil should
have all of the substances which were mentioned in
Table L, and were also named when giving the com-
position of the plant. These substances should be pre-
sent in abundance, and yet none of them in too large
quantity; they should be in forms best adapted to the
nourishment of plants, and the physical character of the
soil should be such that the plants could easily penetrate
in every direction with their roots to obtain them. Air
and warmth should also pervade every part, because
under their influence the plant flourishes better, and
the necessary changes in the composition of the soil
take place more readily. To bring about these con-
ditions is a study for the farmer, and the latter of them
come appropriately under our present head.

By mechanical improvement of the soil, I mean the
improvement of its texture, and of its other qualities,

6*

66 MECHANICAL IMPROVEMEMENT OF THE SOIL.

by means not connected immediately with alteration
of its chemical composition. They bring on chemical
changes, it is true, but still the operations themselves
are purely mechanical. Some soils, for instance, are
too light, and others too stiff and heavy. There are
various ways of removing these defects.

a. In situations where clay can be obtained, it is
found to be the most valuable possible application for
light soils; it consolidates them, causes them to retain
water and manure, and for the objects of permanent
improvement is worth more, load for load, than manure.

b. Upon very heavy clay lands, on the contrary,
sand is laid in large quantities with equal success.
Here the effect is the reverse of that desired on light
sands. The clay is mellowed, made less retentive,
dries sooner in spring, and does not bake so hard in
summer. Such operations as these, in favorable si-
tuations, are very profitable; and although expensive
at first, are in the end far cheaper than manuring in
the ordinary way.

m

SECTION H. THE EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH MOISTURE IN THE
SOIL.

I come now to mention a defect in soils which is of
very great importance, and which has not as yet been
fully appreciated in this country. This is the presence
of too much moisture. Wherever water is so abun-
dant in the soil as to completely saturate it, various
evil effects take place.

a. The necessary decomposition of organic sub-
stances is arrested, and certain vegetable acids are
formed, called by chemists humic, ulmic, geic acids,
etc. In swamps and low grounds generally, these
accumulate to a large extent, and form the deep black
soil or muck of such situations.

b. So long as these acids are present in such ex-
cessive quantity, valuable plants refuse to grow; but,

COLD AND SOUR SOILS. 67

as is well known, when the muck is taken out and
dried, it becomes a valuable manure : this is because
air and warmth obtain access, and the process of
decomposition goes on again. In order to avoid mis-
apprehension, it ought here to be mentioned that these
acids in small proportions are really useful in the soil,
as furnishing a portion of their food to plants. It is
the excess of them that does so much injury.

It is not only in swamps that this injurious formation
occurs : there is much land which is too wet in the
early part of the season, or in which are springs that
saturate the surface; this land may be hard, and may
even bear ploughing, yet still it is what farmers call
cold and sour. These are exactly the proper words,
for they truly express its qualities. Considerable and
injurious quantities of these vegetable acids are
formed; and the water, by constant evaporation from
the surface, produces cold; the grass is scanty and
poor, while rushes show themselves in the wettest
spots. There are large tracts of such land as this in
almost every part of the country. Farmers think such
land too dry for draining, and yet that is the only way
to make any permanent improvement upon it. It is
cold and late in spring, apt to bake hard in summer,
and to suffer from early frosts in autumn. It is not
in a fit condition to support good crops, and the only
way to bring it into a good state is to dry it.

Some land is dry on the surface, but has a wet sub-
soil : when the roots of the plants get down to this,
they find at once injurious food, not only the acids
already mentioned, but inorganic substances; the pro-
toxide of iron, described in Chapter V., is very apt to
form in such places, and is at once fatal if the plant
can find no nutriment in other directions. In this case
too the only remedy is to drain. The good effects of
this operation on all soils suffering from any of the
causes above mentioned, are very remarkable, and
must briefly be specified before going farther.

68 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF DRAINING.

SECTION m. ON THE CHANGES WHICH RESULT FROM
DRAINING.

When the drain is made and covered (for I always
mean here covered drains), the water which falls upon
the ground does not remain to stagnate, and does not
run away over the surface washing off the best of the
soil, but sinks gradually down, yielding to the roots of
plants any fertilizing matter which it may contain,
and often washing out some hurtful substances; as it
descends, air and consequently warmth follow it.
Under these new influences the proper decompositions
and preparation of compounds fit for the sustenance of
plants go on, the soil is warm and sufficiently dry, and
plants flourish which formerly never would grow on it
in perfection if at all. It is a curious fact, too, that
such soils resist drought better than ever before. The
reason is, that the plants are able to send their roots
much farther down in search of food, without ever
finding anything hurtful. Every part being penetrated
with air, and consequently drier and lighter, these
soils do not bake in summer, but remain mellow and
porous. Such effects can not, in their full extent, be
looked for in a stiff clay during the first season; the
change must be gradual, but it is sure.

SECTION IV. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF DRAINS, AND THE
MATERIALS USED.

These being the benefits that are to be expected from
the introduction of drains into swampy and wet land
of every description, it is obviously important to know
how they should be made. With the exception perhaps
of large main channels, to which all others converge,
or for carrying off small rivulets, the drains should be
covered. Open drains occupy much of the land by their

PROPER DEPTH OF DRAINS. 69

bulk, and can not be approached very closely by teams
on either side; they thus cause a farther loss of land,
beside great inconvenience in working. Their banks
and sides are nurseries of weeds, so that unless re-
gularly cleared out they are extremely liable to become
choked, and thus fail to do their work properly. An-
other great evil is, that when water falls upon the land,
instead of sinking through to the subsoil, it runs away
over the surface; washing off fertilizing substances
from the richest part of the soil, and carrying them
away.

For these reasons, covered drains are always to be
preferred in situations where it is practicable to make
them. There are several points of much importance
in the construction of such drains.

First, as to their depth; where a fall can be ob-
tained, this should be from 30 to 36 inches. The
plants could then send their roots down, and find to
this depth a soil free from hurtful substances. The
roots of ordinary crops often go down three feet, when
there is nothing unwholesome to prevent their descent.
The farmer who has a soil available for his crops to
such a depth, can not exhaust it so soon as one where
they have to depend on a few inches or even a foot of
surface. Manures, also, can not easily sink dowrn be-
yond the reach of plants. On such a soil, too, deep
ploughing could be practised, without fear of disturb-
ing the top of the drains. The farmer should not, by
making his drains shallow, deprive himself of the
power to use the subsoil plough, or other improved
implements that may be invented for the purpose of
deepening the soil. There are districts in England,
where drains have had to be taken up and relaid
deeper for this very reason. It would have been an
actual saving to have laid them deep enough at the
first.

70

CONSTRUCTION OF DRAEsS.

Second, as to the way in which they should be
made, and the materials to be used.

a. The ditch should of course be wedge-shaped for
convenience of digging, and should be smooth on the
bottom.

b. Where stones are used, the proper width is about
six inches at the bottom. Small stones should be
selected, or large ones broken to about the size of a
hen's egg, and the ditch filled in with these to a depth
of nine or ten inches. The earth is apt to fall into
the cavities among larger stones, and mice or rats
make their burrows there : in either case, water finds
its way from above, and washes in dirt and mud, soon
causing the drain to choke. With small stones,
choking from either of these causes can not take place
if a good turf be laid grass side down above the stones,
and the earth then trampled in hard. Cypress or cedar
shavings are sometimes used, but are not quite so safe
as a good sound turf. The water should find its way
into the drain from the sides, and not from the top.

The accompanying figure represents the
arrangement of the stones : a is the turf
on top; if the water enters at the sides
b, b, it comes in clear, having filtered
through the soil, and depositedevery thing
in the way of mud which might tend to
choke the drain. Some farmers prefer to
make stone drains like fig. 4, having two
flat stones laid against each other at the
bottom so as to form a sort of pipe, and
filling above them with small stones as
before. In very swampy soft ground, it
is sometimes necessary to lay a plank or
slab in the bottom of* the drain, before
putting in the stones. This is to prevent
them from sinking, and making an un-
even bottom, before the soil becomes dry
enough to be firm.

Fig. 3.

TILE DKAINS PREFERRED. 71

Stones broken to the size above mentioned are
expensive in this country, and in many places they
can not be procured; in England it is now found that
tiles made of clay and burned, are cheapest. These
have been made of various shapes.

Fi 5 a. The first used was the horse-

shoe tile, fig. 5. This was so
named from its shape: it had a
sole a, made as a separate piece
to place under it, and form a smooth surface for the
water to run over.

b. Within a few years this tile has been almost en-
tirely superseded by the pipe tiles; these are made of
several shapes, as seen in the accompanying figures 6

Fig. 7.

and 7: the oval shape (fig. 7) is advantageous, because
a small stream in the bottom will wash out every ob-
struction that can be carried away by water. These
tiles have a great advantage over the horseshoe shape,
in that they are smaller and are all in one piece; this
makes them cheaper in the first cost, and also more
economical in the transportation.

All these varieties are laid in the bottom of the
ditch, it having been previously made quite smooth
and straight. They are simply placed end to end, as
at a, a, in figures 6 and 7; then wedged a little with
small stbnes if necessary, and the earth packed hard
over them. Water will always find its way in through
the joints. Such pipes laid at a depth of 2| to 3 feet,
and at proper distances between the drains, will in
time dry the stiffest clays. Many farmers have thought
that water would not find its way in, but experience
will soon show them that they can not keep it out-

72

PIPE TILES.

The portion of earth next the drain first dries; as it
shrinks on drying, little cracks begin to radiate in
every direction, and to spread until at last they have
penetrated through the whole mass of soil that is
within the influence of the drain, making it all, after
a season or two, light, mellow, and wholesome for
plants.

The appearance of tile drains in the earth is shown
by fig. 8, representing a cross
section. They form a connected
tube through which water runs
with great freedom, even if the
fall is very slight. When care-
fully laid, they will discharge
water where the fall is not more
than two or three inches per
mile. If buried at a good depth,
they can scarcely be broken ;
and if well baked, are not liable to moulder away.
There seems no reason why well made drains of this
kind should not last for a century. The pipe tiles are
used of from 1 to 1| inches diameter of bore for the
smaller drains, and for the larger up as high as 4 or 5
inches. They are all made in pieces of from 12 to 14
inches in length. An inch pipe will discharge an
immense quantity of water, and is quite sufficient for
most situations. These small drains should not or-
dinarily be carried more than 4 or 500 feet before they
pass into a larger one, running across their
ends. Where a very great quantity of water
is to be discharged, two large-sized horse-
shoe tiles are often employed, one inverted
against the other as in fig. 9.
Third, as to the direction in which the drains should
run. The old fashion was to carry them around the
slopes, so as to cut off the springs; but it is now found
most efficacious to run them straight doion, at regular

DIRECTION IN WHICH DRAINS SHOULD RUN. 73

distances apart, according to the abundance of water
and the nature of the soil. From 20 to 50 feet be-
tween them, would probably be the limits for most
cases. It is sometimes necessary to make a little cross
drain, to carry away the water from some strong spring.
In all ordinary cases, the drains running straight down,
and discharging into a main cross drain at the foot,
are amply sufficient.

Tile machines are now introduced into this country,
and tiles will soon come into extensive use. Their easy
portability, their permanency when laid clown, and the
perfection of their work, will recommend them for
general adoption. It is also to be noticed that it takes
less time to lay them than stones, and that the ditch
required for their reception is smaller and narrower.
The bottom of it need only be wide enough to receive
the tiles. The upper part of the earth is taken out
with a common spade, and the lower part with one
made quite narrow for the purpose, being only about
four inches wide at the point. The bottom is finished
clean and smooth, with a peculiar hoe or scoop (fig. 10).
Fio. 10 This is necessary,

n P — ' =-. - because the tiles

must be laid on
an even smooth
foundation.

SECTION V. ON SUBSOIL AND TRENCH PLOUGHING.

In connection with draining, must be noticed an-
other mode of mechanical improvement; this is subsoil
ploughing. The subsoil plough is an implement
contrived to stir up and loosen the lower soil, without
bringing it to the surface. It follows the furrow of an
ordinary plough, and goes down as deep as it can be
forced, in some cases from 20 to 22 inches. The sub-
7

74 SUBSOIL AND TRENCH PLOUGHING.

soil is thus broken and mellowed, air finds entrance,
injurious substances are washed down lower, or, if
there are drains, carried away, and the whole soil to
a greatly increased depth is fitted for the sustenance of
plants. It should be repeated once in five or six years.
It is difficult to go down more than a few inches below
the old furrow at the first subsoiling; at the second,
one or two more can be gained, and so on till the
greatest possible depth is attained. In some parts of
England they dig over the whole soil as deep as two
feet, but that is too expensive an operation for most
parts of this country.

Trench ploughing is also practised in certain situa-
tions. A very heavy plough is used, of the same
shape as the ordinary plough, but much heavier; this
brings the lower soil to the surface. Such an opera-
tion is only to be advised when the subsoil is of good
quality, as otherwise the poor earth would be left on
the top, and the richer surface soil buried deep beneath
it.

SECTION VI. ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOIL AND
THE PLANT.

We now come to a new department of our subject,
in considering the connection which exists between the
soil and the plant. The attentive reader will already
have perceived that the inorganic substances in both,
show a certain marked coincidence. The source of
the organic part in plants has been shown in a pre-
ceding chapter to be partly the soil and partly the air.
The inorganic substances can of course only come from
the soil, and thus it is at once easy to perceive why
the differences indicated by Table I. constitute fertility
or barrenness. It is because the plant needs these
substances, that their absence is so destructive to the
value of a soil.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SOIL AND THE PLANT. 75

They all enter through the roots, having always
been previously dissolved in water. If they were,
received in fine solid particles, the ash of any particu-
lar plant would be different according to the differences
in various soils; but this is not found to be the case,
as each plant has a peculiar ash of its own.

a. Experiments have been made by preparing six
different plots of ground in the same manner, and then
mixing with one alumina, with another lime, with
another soda, with another magnesia, and so on; all
of these substances being reduced to a very fine pow-
der. The result was that the ash in the same plants
grown on all of these plots, was nearly identical in
composition; thus showing that they did not take in
every thing in the shape of fine particles that came in
contact with their roots, but received their food in
solution, and even then only such as suited their
particular wants.

It may be best here to explain that a substance
spoken of as in solution is dissolved, according to the
common acceptance of the word, just as sugar or salt
is dissolved in water.

The fertile soil then must contain all of these in-
organic substances, because plants will not flourish
without them. a. Alumina does not enter into plants
to any appreciable extent, but is necessary to them for
reasons which have been mentioned when referring
to the stiffness and physical structure of the soil.
b. Manganese can not be considered indispensable to
the ordinary crops, but there are some classes of trees
which appear to require it in considerable quantities.
The others on the list are found in all cultivated crops.
The following table gives instances in three common
ones : the analyses were made in Germany.

76

ANALY:

OF THI I LANTS.

TABLE II.

In 100 lbs of ash.

Silica.

Iron,

Lime,

Magnesia,

Phosphoric acid,

Sulphuric acid

Potash

Soda, .'

Chloride of sodium,

Field
Beans.

"Wheat.

0-56
0-68
2 96

-

2-63
27-12
17-43

1-SS

1-4S

0-34

5-38

7-35

35-33

2-2S

21-71

2107

3 32

1-92

0-53

302

13-58

45-44

24-18
10-34

99-35 98-26 i 99-11

There is a little loss in each analysis, as is almost
invariably the case in practice.

a. It will be seen from this table, that with the
exception of the two substances above mentioned,
alumina and manganese, all of the others named in
Table I. are also present here. In subsequent tables,
I shall have occasion to present the composition of ash
from other crops, and it will be found that in these also
they are. as a general rule, all mentioned.

b. Other facts are indicated by this table, which are
of much importance : it will be noticed that the ash
of these seeds varies considerably in composition. In
beans and peas, for instance, the quantity of potash
and soda is much greater than in wheat, while on the
other hand wheat contains most phosphoric acid: these
points will be alluded to again.

Some of the substances named in the table, as lime
and magnesia, are in small quantity. Suppose 60
bushels of beans to the acre, a very large crop,
weighing 60 lbs. per bushel, and making a total weight
of 3600 "lbs. Each 100 lbs. would yield about 2 lbs.
of ash; at that rate, the amount of ash taken from an
acre would be 72 lbs, Of this only about 9 lbs., ac-

CONCLUSIONS DEDUCED FROM TABLE II. 77

cording to the above table, would be lime and mag-
nesia; about 35 lbs. would be potash and soda. The
whole quantity 72 lbs. seems small when taken from
an acre, and either of the above portions of it appear
almost unworthy of notice; yet it is found by expe-
rience, that if the crops are unable to obtain these
small and comparatively seeming unimportant parts
of their whole bulk from the soil, they absolutely re-
fuse to flourish. The farmer may furnish other manures
as abundantly as he pleases, but if they do not in some
form or other contain these missing ingredients, the
plant can not be forced to grow thriftily or yield
abundantly. The appearance of his field will say as
plainly as words could express it, that something is
needed which he has not given. How many crops
thus demanding food from their owners, do we see in
almost every neighborhood ! Should not the farmer of
whom such a demand is made, exert himself to supply
what is wanted; and if he does not already know, to
gain the necessary knowledge?

Several points are established by such a table as the
foregoing, and these may with advantage be briefly
recapitulated

1. Our cultivated plants require that all of the in-
organic substances present in Table I. shall exist in the
soil.

2. They do not require them in the same proportion,
the different plants differing in the composition of
their ash.

3. This composition of the ash is not accidental, but
each plant has a distinct character of its own.

4. It is thus rendered obvious that land which would
grow one crop well, might not be able to grow an-
other having a different composition. A crop requiring
little potash, for instance, might flourish luxuriantly
where one requiring much of this substance would fail.
To the principle thus indicated, we propose to return
in the next chapter. 7*

78

CHAPTER VII.

EFFECT OF CROPPING UPON THE SOIL. ROTATION
OF CROPS.

Effects of cultivation. Composition of ash from the common
crops. Differences in the ash from various parts of the same
plant. Differences in ash of different crops. How particular
classes of substances may be exhausted, and special manures be
useful illustration in the use of lime. Bearing of these facts
upon theories of rotation in cropping. Necessity of rotations,
and care to be exercised in their management.

SECTION I. ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH FROM OUR
COMMON CROPS.

We are now able to understand the effect of constant
cultivation upon the soil. This might indeed, to a
certain extent, be gathered from what has already been
said in the two preceding chapters; it is necessary,
however, that the sketch of such an important part of
the subject should be made perfectly clear and precise.
The student will by this time know, that as the in-
organic part in the seed of the plant consists mostly
of those constituents which were shown by Table I. to
be least abundant in the soil, the constant selling off
of grain must in time very materially decrease the
stock of such substances, unless the supply is kept up
by the addition of manures. If the soil was very rich
at the commencement, exhaustion might be quite slow;
but if the stock of fertility was small, it would soon
reach the utterly exhausted and worn out condition in
which we see so many of our farms. This and other
points will be made more clear by a table giving the
composition of our most common cultivated crops.

COMPOSITION OF CULTIVATED CROPS.

79

TABLE III.

Carbonic acid, • •
Sulphuric acid, • ■
Phosphoric acid, .

Chlorine,

Lime,

Magnesia,

Potash,

Soda,

Silica,

Iron. •••

Charcoal in ash, )
and loss, ■ • J

Indian

Wheat.

Wheat

Rye.

Corn.

Straw.

trace.

0

5

1-0

10

15

49

•2

470

31

47-3

0

3

trace.

06

....

0

1

2 9

8-5

2-9

17

5

15-9

5'0

10-1

23

2

295

72

328

3

8

trace.

0-3

4-4

0

8

13

676

02

0

1

trace.

10

o-s

4

5

24

5-7

100

0

100-0

100 0

100 0

105

43 8

03

4-9

9-9

>27-2

2-7
0'4

03

Potatos. Turnips

10-4
7-1
11-3

27
1-8
5'4
515
trace.
86
05

07

Hay.

27
60
26

These do not represent the exact composition of the
ash from the above crops, in all cases, but should be
considered only approximations. In different situa-
tions, there is frequently a considerable variation in
composition; this does not, however, affect the general
character, where the soil contains a full supply of
necessary substances. The ash from healthy potatoes,
for instance, never resembles that from a flourishing
crop of wheat. The table then may be regarded as
approaching sufficiently near the truth for all practical
purposes.

SECTION II. ON THE SEPARATION OF PLANTS INTO CLASSES,
ACCORDING TO THE COMPOSITION OF THEIR ASH.

I have inserted in comparison with the grain of
wheat, an analysis of ash from the straw also, as an
illustration of the difference in the substances which
they respectively draw from the soil.

a. It will be noticed that in the ash from the grain,
phosphoric acid is the chief ingredient, making up
nearly half : potash also is in large quantity, being

80 CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS,

about one-third. In the straw ash there is but 3 per
cent of phosphoric acid, and only 10 per cent of pot-
ash; magnesia is also much less.

b. In the grain there is not quite 1^ per cent of
silica, but in the straw there is nearly 70 per cent.
Silica, then, is the leading ingredient in the ash of the
straw, phosphoric acid in that of the grain. It is
silica which gives the straw its stiffness, strength, and
elasticity; when there is not a sufficient supply of it,
the straw can not uphold the weight of the grain, and
falls down or lodges, as the farmers say.

c. The reason why nearly all of the phosphoric
acid is found in the grain, will be apparent as we
proceed to another part of this treatise. This acid is
shown by the table to be more abundant than anything
else in the ash of rye and oats: the same thing is true
of barley and buckwheat. In the straw of all these,
there is also a preponderance of silica. In the grain
of indian corn, phosphoric acid is very abundant, but
there is not so much silica in the stalk as in the straw
of grain.

The ash from all of these grains differs from the
ash of potatoes and turnips in one essential particular:
in the two last, phosphoric acid is comparatively a
small quantity, being only about one-tenth; here, on
the contrary, we find that potash is the most abundant
substance of all, particularly in potatoes, where it is a
little more than half of the whole. In the ash of both
potato and turnip tops, lime also abounds, and often
phosphoric acid. Potash and soda too are here among
the most prominent ingredients.

If now we look at the ash of meadow hay, we
perceive that there is still another difference : potash
and soda together are about 20 per cent, phosphoric
acid is but 6 per cent, while lime is more abundant
than anything else with the exception of silica, which
last is required to give strength to the stalk as in the
straw.

ACCORDING TO THE COMPOSITION OF THEIR ASH. 81

We thus find that there are three great leading
classes of ash established : 1. The grains, where
phosphoric acid predominates; 2. The roots, where
potash and soda abound; 3. The grasses, where lime
becomes quite important. 4. The various kinds of
straw may perhaps be said to constitute a fourth class,
where silica is from one-half to two-thirds of the whole
weight. 5. It may be well also to mention a fifth
class in trees, the ash from the wood of which contains,
in very numerous cases, more of lime than of any other
substance. There are particularly large quantities in
the apple and other fruit trees.

SECTION III. ON THE EFFECTS OF CROPPING UPON THE SOIL,
IN CONNECTION WITH SPECIAL MANURING.

In view of these facts, we are now better prepared
to consider the effect that cropping has upon the soil.
Suppose in the first place that, as is too often the case,
wheat or any other grain has been grown upon a new
soil crop after crop, and nothing returned in the shape
of manure; the yield may be good for a number of
years, but then it begins to grow less and less : what
is the reason of this? It is, probably, that the phos-
phates are nearly exhausted; these were not so abun-
dant as many other substances at the commencement
(see Table I.), but more of them than of anything else
has been taken away. Second, suppose that the farmer
has sold all of his grain, but has been very careful to
return the straw as manure : he does not see why the
land should run down, and in fact it does not so quick-
ly now as in the first case; still, after a time, it also
begins to show marks of exhaustion. Table III. ex-
plains this at once : in the straw, he has returned
chiefly silica to the soil; it is, however, chiefly phos-
phoric acid that the grain has taken away, and that
he has been selling off.

82 EFFECTS OF CROPPING,

The same thing would result from exclusive cul-
tivation of any of the other grains. Some soils bear
this severe treatment longer than others, but there are
very few that would not eventually become exhausted.
If turnips or potatoes alone were grown, the loss would
be of another description, but equally injurious. In
this case, instead of phosphoric acid, it is potash and
soda that are exhausted, and no amount of phosphoric
acid would make good the deficiency. In the case of
trees, the demand would more probably be for lime.

The general rule may from all of these facts be
considered as established, that cropping tends directly
to impoverish the soil. We see by Table I. that silica,
alumina, iron, and organic matter, in the soils there
given, amount to at least 90 lbs. of every 100. In
many soils they come up to at least 95 lbs. There is
no fear, then, of exhausting the silica; alumina, as has
been said, does not enter into the composition of plants,
and iron is not usually a prominent constituent. The
leading parts of the ash from the grain, the roots, and
all of those portions of plants most valuable for food,
are found not in the 90 to 95 lbs. made up by these
abundant substances, but in the 5 or 10 lbs. necessary
to make out the hundred. The quantities of these
important substances contained in most soils are there-
fore small; and hence as they are the very ones most
largely carried away, some one of them is usually first
exhausted, according to the class of crops that have
been chiefly cultivated, as indicated in the preceding
chapter.

When one is gone, or reduced to a very small quan-
tity, the crops which particularly require that substance
will refuse to grow luxuriantly and to yield well :
suppose it to be wheat, and the wanting substance
phosphoric acid; there maybe the greatest abundance
of every other necessary constituent, and yet all of
their good effects are more than neutralized by this

IN CONNECTION WITH PARTICULAR MANURES. 83

one defect. By attending to such points as these, the
farmer may often save himself much disappointment
and expense. He may put on load after load of or-
dinary manure, and still not produce the desired im-
provement; when at the same time a bushel or two of
some particular ingredient, at one-twentieth of the
cost, may have been all that the land wanted.

a. In this way we can explain the wonderful effect
often produced by a few bushels of lime, or of plaster.
These were just the substances which were deficient in
those soils where they proved so efficacious; being
supplied, the soils at once became fertile. Where they
produce no change, as is the case in many situations,
it is because there is already a sufficient supply present;
because some other substances beside these are also
wanting; because the land is too wet, or is otherwise
faulty in its physical character; or because injurious
compounds are so largely present, as to be fatal to the
healthy growth of plants.

It is not uncommon for land to be brought up at
once by adding a small quantity of plaster, and the
application repeated yearly afterward seems to be all
that is necessary. This seeming facility of fertilizing
his soil, is apt to lead the farmer into a great mistake.
He finds that he can obtain heavy crops each year by
using a few bushels of plaster or lime, and is tempted
to depend almost entirely upon so easy and so cheap
a manure, to the neglect of all others. After a time,
however, his crops begin to diminish again : he tries
increasing the plaster or the lime, but with no renewal
of the former effect; he finally resorts to common
manure again, but with not even so much success as
he formerly had; the land is impoverished beyond
anything he has ever known. Thus in some parts of
England it has passed into a proverb,

" Lime enriches the fathers, but impoverishes the sons;1'

84 INSTANCE OF FALSE PRACTICE.

the idea being that the improvement at first is re-
markable, but that in the end the land is ruined. Is
the blame in such cases to be laid upon either the lime
or the plaster? Let us reason a moment upon the facts
of the case.

Here was a soil well supplied with all of the sub-
stances mentioned in Table I., excepting, by way of
example, sulphuric acid and lime (plaster of paris).
The farmer adds plaster, which at once supplies the
deficiency, and the land produces heavy crops; he adds
it the second year with perhaps even increased effect,
and so on year after year, until there is as much as is
necessary in the soil. Now what is the reason that
after a time the crops begin to decrease? There is an
abundance of plaster, but may there not be a deficiency
of something else? He has been constantly taking off
large crops, and carrying them away from the land,
with a variety of inorganic substances contained in
them. As the crops have been larger than ever before,
so the quantities of phosphoric acid, chlorine, mag-
nesia, potash, soda, etc. taken off, have been cor-
respondingly great. How has this constant drain upon
the stock of these substances in the soil been met ?
Why by a constant supply of plaster, that is, of sul-
phuric acid and lime. At last one or more of them
are exhausted; and how is the loss made up ? Still
by an increased supply of plaster; and because this
plaster no longer does any good, it is said that the
land has been ruined by its injurious influence.

From the foregoing explanation, we may easily
perceive that it is no longer plaster which the land
requires, but perhaps phosphoric acid, potash, mag-
nesia, or some of the other constituents of a fertile
soil. They have been taken away, and nothing
brought back but plaster; and now that they are ex-
hausted, hundreds of tons of plaster would not make
good their loss. It is then the false practice of the

ROTATION OF CROPS.

85

farmer, and not the plaster, that has so greatly injured
his land. The rule becomes clear and imperative, that
every one who uses such special manures to make
good a special deficiency, should at the same time
keep up the general stock by a liberal use of ordinary
manure.

SECTION IV. ON THE PRINCIPLES OF ROTATION IN CROPPING.

Nearly all of the foregoing statements in this chap-
ter, and in the preceding one, have borne more or less
distinctly upon the theories or facts connected with
the rotation of crops. It may be well to make a few
direct applications of the knowledge we have now
gained, with this particular subject in view.

All good farmers know that the most exhausting
system that can be devised, is to cultivate the same
crop on the same soil, year after year. When a longer
or shorter period has elapsed, as the land may have
been at the commencement richer or poorer, the yield
begins to decrease ; an increase may be obtained again
by the free use of manures, but the quantity necessary
is so large, and requires to be so often renewed, that
it is in most situations more profitable to change the
crops, or alternate them.

From such practical observations, have arisen the
various systems of rotation that are in vogue in dif-
ferent districts. Table III. shows how practical ex-
perience has, in this case, hit upon the very course
which science would have recommended. It has been
shown by that table, and attention has been called to
the fact, that there are several distinct classes of crops,
when we consider them with regard to the composition
of their ash. The classes are those which are found
to bear a part in every good rotation, that is, grain
crops, root crops, and grass crops, or the same three
classes that were distinguished from each other in the
early part of this chapter.
8

86

SYSTEM OF ROTATION

Suppose the farmer to have a soil which requires,
as almost all soils do, the application of manure to
render it fertile. He adds a good coating of manure,
and then takes a crop of indian corn or wheat : this
crop will carry away the largest part of the phosphates
that were added in the manure ; in most cases a second
crop of the same kind would not therefore be so good,
and a third still less. There yet remains, however,
from the manure, considerable quantities of other sub-
stances, which the grain crops did not so particularly
require, such as potash and soda; with these a good
root crop may be obtained, potatoes or turnips or beets;
after this there is probably still enough lime, etc. left
to produce an excellent crop of hay, if seeded down
with another grain crop of a lighter character than
indian corn or wheat.

We perceive then that any good system of rotation
must be founded upon the principle, that different
classes of crops require different proportions of the
various substances that are present in soils, and in the
numerous fertilizers that are applied for the purpose
of enriching them. Thus the crops may be made to
succeed each other with the least possible injury to the
soil, and with the greatest economy in the use of the
manures. It would be useless to recommend here any
particular system of rotation as the best; for that is a
matter to be decided by experience in each section of
country, under the various circumstances of climate,
location, and value of certain crops. I wish only to
enforce the general principle that rotations are ne-
cessary, and that they afford the only means as yet
discovered, through which the majority of farmers can
regularly obtain heavy crops with profit to themselves;
and at the same time can keep up, or even improve
the value of their land.

It is to be noticed, that even a good rotation should
not be continued too long unchanged upon the same

TO BE ASCERTAINED BY EXPERIENCE. 87

land. After cultivating one grain crop for a very
lengthened period in a rotation, it will be found of
advantage to make an occasional change to some
other. The land appears to grow tired of a crop after
a time, and to do better with another even of the same
class. There are some districts in Scotland, where
clover was for more than a century grown once in five
years, their rotations in those districts extending over
that space of time; now they can only get it once in
ten years, or every other rotation, and that not so good
as formerly : they call such land clover-sick. Instances
of this character show very strongly the value of rota-
tion in cropping, and establish by facts the theoretical
view that has been taken of the advantages likely to
result from such a system of cultivation. As we come
to know more of the composition of our various crops,
of the soils, and of manures, we may expect to attain
greater exactness in our calculations of the amount
taken off during any single year, or during an entire
rotation.

In each district, the farmer, by careful observation
and study, can after a time mark out the system of
cropping and of manuring best adapted to his particu-
lar soil and locality.

1. If he knows the character of the rock from which
his soil was originally formed, his task is comparative-
ly easy; for from the known composition of the rock,
he can come very near that of the soil.

2. If he has no knowledge of this kind, he can still
hope to arrive at good results, by deductions from the
known character of the crops that have been chiefly
cultivated upon his farm. He can tell what are the
substances that have been most probably exhausted by
these crops, and experiment accordingly with manures
in which those are the chief constituents.

3. A still more satisfactory way, would be to procure
good analyses of soils by really competent persons.

88 GOOD ANALYSES REQUIRED,

By these, the defect or defects would at once be pointed
out, and the most economical remedy indicated. Un-
fortunately few are able to procure such analyses
readily, and the majority must therefore have recourse
to one of the two first methods of examination, or a
union of them both.

I say " good analyses by really competent persons/'
with the design of hinting that some care is necessary
in this matter. A poor analysis is worse than nothing,
as it not only involves the farmer in unsuccessful ex-
periments, but in their failure throws discredit on the
whole cause of scientific improvement.

Many persons make analyses of soils hastily and
carelessly, grudging the time and caution necessary to
the obtaining of a good result; and others are really
deficient in their knowledge of chemical investiga-
tions. In both cases, mistakes without end are usually
the only result.

It is not an easy thing to derive positive or valuable
information from imperfect analyses; for they are
usually most defective as regards the substances that
are present in the smallest quantities, such as phos-
phoric acid, potash, soda, etc., the true proportion of
which, as has already been explained, it is of great
importance to know.

89

CHAPTER VIII.

OF MANURES.

Necessity of manures. Irrigation, its management and effects.
Classification of manures : vegetable, animal, and mineral.
Vegetable manures : ploughing in of green crops, of straw, of
seaweed, etc.; advantage of these forms of manure. Animal
manures : reasons for their remarkable efficiency. Animal
flesh, blood, wool, bones.

SECTION I. OF THE NECESSITY FOR MANURES IN MOST SOILS.

Having now considered the character of the soil,
and that of the crops in connection with each other,
we see that there is no hope of keeping up and in-
creasing the produce of any land, unless there is from
some source a supply of fertilizing substances to re-
store those that are carried away by the crops. Some
soils containing constantly decomposing rocks, or
peculiar springs, or subject to annual overflows where-
by enriching substances are deposited, need no other
foreign supply; but these are rare when compared
with those that require a constant and regular system
of addition, to render them properly productive.

To the various manures employed for this purpose,
we shall now turn our attention. Before taking them
up in any regular classification, I may properly devote
a few words to one particular method of enriching the
soil, which cannot easily be brought into either of the
classes. I refer to irrigation.

90 IRRIGATION",

SECTION II. OF IRRIGATION.

This method of improvement is of course only ap-
plicable in particular situations, such as where a head
and flow of water can be obtained, and where also the
ground to be flowed is in grass or growing grain. All
water, except rain water, even that from the purest
springs, has mineral substances and organic substances
in solution. As it flows over the surface among living
plants, and in sinking through the soil comes in con-
tact there with their roots, it yields up these substances
for food. Beside such solid bodies, it contains in
solution carbonic acid and oxygen, both of which the
plant also receives with avidity.

The surface of a field to be irrigated must of course
be somewhat sloping, and the water is brought on by a
main ditch at the head of the slope. In this main ditch,
at proper distances, are gates to regulate the flow of
"water into smaller ditches, from the sides and ends of
which again run small cuts; these are so arranged that
every part of the field shall be flowed over by a thin
but regular sheet of water. At the foot of the slope
is another ditch, for the purpose of conveying away
such of the water as may not sink into the earth.
Where water is scarce, and the slope long, it is oc-
casionally used several times in succession. When
the flow has been continued for ten days or a fortnight
at a time, the supply gates are shut down, and the field
allowed to dry. The operation is often repeated once
or twice in a season.

The effect of water in this case, is not like that
alluded to before in treating of swamps and wet land.
Here there is no stagnation; the water is always run-
ning and fresh. Land that is intended to be irrigated
should have a porous subsoil, or, if not, should be
underdrained; in either case the water sinks away as
soon as the flow is stopped, the soil dries, and the

CLASSIFICATION OF MANURES. 91

plants get at once the full benefit of all the fertilizing
matter that has been deposited.

In many parts of this country, irrigated meadows
and pastures might be formed, which would produce
heavy grass for hay early in the season, and then by
occasional flowing furnish rich and abundant pasture
during the hot and dry weather of summer. In the
neighborhood of cities and large towns, it is sometimes
practicable to irrigate with water from the sewers and
drains; this is one of the richest of manures. In the
vicinity of Edinburgh, Scotland, a poor sandy tract
has by such means been converted into a perfect
garden, which rents at an enormous sum, and furnishes
successive crops of grass from early spring to late
autumn.

SECTION III. CLASSIFICATION OF MANURES. OF VEGETABLE
MANURES.

We will now return to the classification of manures.
They may be divided into three great classes, vege-
table, animal and mineral. These wre will consider in
the order above given. After all that has been said
as to its effects, it is scarcely necessary now to give
any elaborate definition as to the precise meaning of
the word manure; anything is a manure that gives
food to plants, either directly or indirectly.

Vegetable manures are numerous and important;
some of them have been already mentioned, when
treating of the ploughing in of green crops. They
are not so energetic in their action as other manures
yet to be noticed, but are invaluable as a cheap means
of renovating, bringing up, and sustaining the land.
Clover is one of the principal crops employed for this
purpose, more largely on this continent than any other,
buckwheat, rye, rape, wild mustard, sainfoin, spurry,
turnips sown thick, indian corn sown thick, and cow

92 VEGETABLE MANURES.

peas, are some of those more commonly used in this
and other countries. They add organic matter largely
to the soil, which organic matter they have drawn in
great part from the air, and their roots bring inorganic
substances from the subsoil to the surface, so that it is
within the reach of succeeding crops. There are dif-
ferences of opinion in various districts as to the proper
period for ploughing these crops under: it is a matter
to be settled by experience and convenience. They
not only add fertilizing substances to the soil; they
also improve its physical character. A light soil is
somewhat consolidated, and rendered more retentive
of moisture, while a stiff one is mellowed and loosened.
Some of these green crops, such as spurry and buck-
wheat, will grow well on extremely light, sandy soils.
After they have grown up and been ploughed in a few
times, the land is so improved that it will bear crops
of a more valuable nature; and thus by a continuance
of them at proper intervals, it may not only be kept
up, but steadily improving.

The same effects follow the ploughing of grass land,
and turning under of the turf. The thicker and hea-
vier the sward the better, because then a larger amount
of fresh, decomposable organic matter, in the form of
roots, is added to the soil. Where land has been in
grass for some years, say four or five, the weight of
roots under the surface is in some cases twice as much
as the weight of the grass above; these roots all de-
compose, and of course enrich the soil very materially.

There are few cases in which a judicious course of
green cropping will not improve land. In the worst
instances, it is sometimes necessary to make numerous
trials before even the hardiest green crop will succeed;
when this difficulty is overcome, and a good growth
once obtained, experienced farmers say that the land
may by proper after management be brought to any
desirable state of fertility. It must always be re-

PLOUGHING IN GREEN CROPS. 93

rneinbered in bringing up land by green crops, that
they really add no inorganic matter to the soil; they
only bring it up from the subsoil, and render insoluble
combinations near the surface soluble. The inorganic
part of the soil, therefore, is actually diminishing by
the occasional crops which are taken; and while im-
proving by these means, care should for this reason be
taken to add occasionally some form of mineral manure.

The practice of turning the turf upon one edge when
ploughing, seems to be gaining ground: it is said by
its advocates that the turf rots more surely and speedi-
ly. Those who contend for laying it flat, say that the
weeds are thereby more effectually killed, and that the
fields may be made smoother. Potato tops, turnip and
beet tops, green weeds, leaves, and every form of green
vegetable matter, may be advantageously ploughed in
at once, or carted to the compost heap. Nothing of
the kind should be neglected.

Straw is not usually applied to the land until it has
been worked over by animals, and mixed with their
manure: in this form we shall refer to it again. When
applied alone, it is usually best and most convenient
to rot it down in a compost heap, as the long straw is
only ploughed under with difficulty. On stiff clay
soils it is, however, very beneficial to bury long straw,
as then it serves to loosen and mellow the clay, both
by lying among and separating the lumps, and by its
gradual fermentation and decay. It has been found
good practice, in many parts of the country, to draw
out straw in the autumn, and lay a thin covering of it
over winter grain. This serves as a protection during
winter, and retains moisture when necessary during a
dry spring or early summer. By the time that the
stubble is ploughed, it has decayed so as to turn under
easily, and forms quite a rich coating in the way of
manure.

In the neighborhood of the sea, where seaweed can

94 ANALYSIS OF SEAWEEDS.

be obtained, the farmer should embrace every oppor-
tunity for getting it. In England and Scotland, the
right of way to a beach where seaweed can be had,
increases the rent of a farm several shillings per acre.
On many parts of our own coast, too, the farmers are
very eager to obtain it. The ash of some seaweeds
analyzed by Prof. Johnston gave the following results:

TABLE IV.

Potash and soda, from 15 to 40 per cent.

Lime, — 3 — 21

Magnesia, — 7 — 15

Common salt, — 3 — 35

Phosphate of lime, ... — 3 — 10

Sulphuric acid, — 14 — 31

Silica, — 1 — 11

This table shows that these ashes are rich in the
substances most needed by our crops, particularly in
potash, soda, sulphuric acid, and phosphoric acid. The
quantity of ash that they leave when dry, is larger than
that in straw or in hay. When freshly taken from
the sea, they contain a very large proportion of water.

Seaweed is ploughed in green, or applied as com-
post. In either case it decays very rapidly, unless
extremely dry, and produces most of its effects upon
the first crop. Many of the seaweeds contain much
nitrogen ; and this, while it adds greatly to their value
as manures, increases the rapidity with which they
decompose.

In England rape dust is largely used as a manure,
and with much advantage. The rape seed is pressed
to obtain its oil, just as linseed is, and the hard cake
formed by pressure sold for manure. Four or five
hundred weight per acre are applied as a top dressing,
or from 1500 to 2000 lbs. when it is ploughed in.
This is therefore a powerful manure, and is so portable
that it would be valuable in this country, could it be

ANIMAL MANURES. 95

procured at a reasonable rate. Where green vegetable
manures of any description can be easily obtained
away from the farm, the farmer will do well to re-
member that there is an especial advantage in their
application; they add to his land not only organic, but
inorganic substances which have never been there
before, and are consequently a clear gain to the soil
in every respect.

SECTION IV. OF ANIMAL MANURES.

We will now take up the second class, the animal
manures. These comprise the blood, flesh, hair, horns,
bones and excrements of animals. Manures of this
class are more powerful by far than the vegetable
manures, because they contain so much more nitrogen.
I now simply state this fact; the reason why nitrogen
is so efficacious, will be given in a subsequent chapter.
Blood and flesh are among the most valuable of all;
wherever they can be obtained, they should be secured
at once, and either buried or made into compost. All
of the offal from slaughter-houses is of much value,
though in this country it is often entirely wasted.

It is not uncommon, in many districts, to see horses
or cattle that die from disease, drawn out to some
secluded spot, and there left to decay on the surface.
These are known to be some of the most powerful
manures that the farmer could obtain; equal to guano,
poudrette, or any of the other more costly fertilizers.
Every animal that dies should be made into a compost,
or buried in pieces at once. The best plan is to
separate the flesh, which decomposes readily and pro-
duces an immediate effect, and make use of the bones
according to some of the methods to be hereafter
described.

The hair of animals is an exceedingly rich manure;
for this reason woolen rags, and the waste from woolen

96

ANIMAL MANURES.

mills, are both considered valuable in England; they
are sold there at from $20 to $40 per ton, and are
eagerly sought after at these prices, as not only very
fertilizing, but also very lasting in the soil. All of
the hair obtained from the furs of animals is there
scrupulously saved, and sold at a high price. Twenty
or thirty bushels per acre produce an excellent effect.
All these parts of the animal leave an ash corre-
sponding with that of plants in the substances which
it contains, with the single exception of silica; this
does not seem to enter into the composition of the
animal. We are then now able to point out distinc-
tions between the inorganic matter in the soil, in the
plant, and in the animal. They all contain the same
substances, if we omit silica and alumina.

TABLE V.

The soil contains silica and alumina.
The plant contains silica, but no alumina.
The animal contains neither silica nor alumina.

SECTION V. OF BONES.

There is one important part of the animal yet un-
noticed, that is the bones. Their composition is, when
dry, earthy matter about 66 lbs. in 100; organic mat-
ter that burns away, about 34 lbs.

a. This earthy matter consists for the most part of
phosphate of lime, that is, lime in combination with
phosphoric acid ; these, as already shown, are two
most valuable substances for application to any soil.

b. The organic part is called gelatin, or glue; this
is boiled out by the glue-makers : it is extremely rich
in nitrogen, and is therefore an excellent manure. We
thus see, at once, how important a source of nourish-
ment for our land is to be found in bones. They unite,
from the above statement, some of the most efficacious

DIFFERENT METHODS OF USING BONES 97

and desirable organic and inorganic manures. Both
of these parts are fitted to minister powerfully to the
growth of the plant.

When the bones are applied whole, the effect is not
very marked at first because they decay slowly in the
soil : it is also necssary to put on a large quantity
per acre. The best way is to hare them crushed to
powder, or to fine fragments, in mills. Ten bushels
of dust will produce a more immediate and abundant
result than 80 or 100 bushels of whole bones, although
of course the effect will be sooner over. An advanta-
geous way of using them, is to put on 8 to 10 bushels
of dust per acre, and half the usual quantity of farm-
yard manure.

Boiled bones, that have been used by the glue-
makers, are still quite valuable : they have lost the
greater part of their gelatine, but the phosphates re-
main; and the bones are so softened by the long
boiling that they have undergone, as to decompose
quickly, and afford an immediate supply of food to
plants.

Another most important form of applying bones, is
in a state of solution by sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol).
This is a cheap substance, costing by the carboy not
more than 2\ to 3 cents per lb. To every 100 lbs. of
bones, about 50 to 60 of acid are taken; if bone dust
is used, from 25 to 45 lbs. of acid is sufficient. The
acid must be mixed with two or three times its bulk
of water, because if applied strong it would only bum
and blacken the bones without dissolving them.

a. The bones are placed in a tub, and a portion of
the previously diluted acid poured upon them. After
standing a day, another portion of acid may be poured
on; and finally the last on the third day, if they are
not already dissolved. The mass should be often
stirred.

b. Another good way is to place the bones in a

9

98 USE OF BONE MANURE.

heap upon any convenient floor, and pour a portion of
the acid upon them. After standing half a day, the
heap should be thoroughly mixed, and a little more
acid added; this to be continued so long as necessary.
It is a method which I have known to prove very
successful.

In either case the bones will ultimately soften and
dissolve to a kind of paste; this may be mixed with
twenty or thirty times its bulk of water, and applied
to the land by means of an ordinary water cart. Used
in this way, it produces a wonderful effect upon nearly
all crops.

A more convenient method in most cases is to
thoroughly mix the pasty mass of dissolved bones with
a large quantity of ashes, peat earth, sawdust or char-
coal dust. It can then be sown by hand, or dropped
from a drill machine. Two or three bushels of these
dissolved bones, with half the usual quantity of yard
manure, are sufficient for an acre. This is therefore
an exceedingly powerful fertilizer. One reason for its
remarkable effect is, that the bones are by dissolving
brought into a state of such minute division that they
are easily and at once available for the plant. A
peculiar phosphate of lime is formed, called by che-
mists a superphosphate, which is very soluble; and in
addition to this we have the sulphuric acid, of itself
an excellent application to most soils.

Bones are useful in nearly every district, and are
peculiarly adapted to all, or at least to most of those
situations, where the land, without heavy manuring,
no longer bears good wheat, or indian corn, or other
grains. In a great majority of cases, where land is
run down by grain cropping, the use of bones in some
of the forms above mentioned, is of all things the
most likely to meet the deficiency. It will be remem-
bered that the ash of grain is peculiarly rich in phos-
phates; consequently, as grain is generally sold off,

USE OF BONE MANURE. 99

the phosphates are most readily exhausted; in bones
therefore we find just the manure for restoring them,
and with little expense. This has been already
tried in some parts of the country, and with most en-
couraging success. I would particularly recommend
farmers to experiment with bones dissolved in sul-
phuric acid. The dissolving of them is a simple busi-
ness, and can be easily shown on a small scale, by the
teacher to his class. He can do it, for instance, in a
teacup or tumbler, or on a plate or a flat stone. The
cheapness of this manure is a great recommendation.
Two bushels of bones would not certainly cost more
than $1*00; then say 50 lbs. of acid to dissolve them
would cost by the carboy, $1*50, making only $2*50
for a quantity quite sufficient for an acre, with half
the usual dressing farm-yard manure. It would be
worth almost as much as this, to cart the common ma-
nure from the yard, to say nothing of its value. There
are few farms on which bones enough might not be
collected in the course of a year, to help out in this
way the manuring of several acres.

Bones may not only be applied successfully to the
ordinary cultivated crops, but also to meadows and
pastures. In some of the older dairy districts, a few
bushels of bone dust per acre will at once restore
worn-out pastures. The reason is, that the milk and
cheese, which are in one form or another sold and car-
ried away, contain considerable quantities of phos-
phates in their ash. These are restored to the land
by bones. It is calculated by Prof. Johnston, that a
cow giving 20 quarts of milk per day, takes from the
soil about 2 lbs. of phosphate of lime or bone earth
in each week. There would thus be required three or
four lbs. of bones, to make good this loss. If it is
not made good in some way, the rich grasses after a
time cease to flourish; being succeeded by those which
require less phosphate of lime, and therefore do not

100 USE OF BONE MANURE-

furnish, when eaten by the cow, so rich or so abun-
dant milk.

All of these uses of bones which have been de-
scribed, are understood and appreciated in England;
so much so. that the bones are all collected with most
scrupulous care, and are even imported from every other
country where they can be advantageously obtained.
It is to be hoped that the great waste of them in this
country may soon cease, and that they will be eagerly
sought after by American farmers.

Thus much as to the fertilizing value of the various
parts of animals: we enter, in the next chapter, an-
other most important department of animal manures.

101

CHAPTER IX,

MANURES (CONTINUED).

Comparative value of manures from our domestic animals; value
of liquid and solid portions: means of preservation. Why
nitrogen renders manures so powerful and valuable. Manure
from birds; reasons for its great efficacy. Guano; its compo-
sition and value. Fish manure; nature of its action. Shell-
fish. Saline and mineral manures. Lime; forms in which it
is used ; quicklime; hydrate of lime; carbonate of lime. Mag-
nesian limestone. Marls. Greensand of N. Jersey. Shell
sand.

SECTION I. OF THE MANURES FROM DOMESTIC ANIMALS,
AND THEIR PRESERVATION.

The manure of various domestic animals is, in this
country, most commonly employed as a fertilizer, all
other manures being used in comparatively small quan-
tities; and yet even these are seldom preserved and
applied as carefully as they might, or ought to be.

The principal varieties are those of the ox, the cow,
the hog, the horse, and the sheep. Of these, that of
the horse is most valuable in its fresh state: it con-
tains much nitrogen, but is very liable to lose by fer-
mentation. That of the hog comes next. That of
the cow is placed at the bottom of the list. This is
because the enriching substances of her food go prin-
cipally to the formation of milk, the manure being
thereby rendered poorer.

The manure of all these animals is far richer than
the food given them, because it contains much more
nitrogen. This is for the reason that a large part of

102 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRESERVATION

the carbon and oxygen of the food are consumed in
the lungs and blood generally, for the purpose of keep-
ing up the heat of the body. They are given off from
the lungs, and also by perspiration and evaporation
through the pores of the skin, in the forms of carbonic
acid and water.

From animals fed upon rich food, the manure is much
more powerful than when it is poor. In England, for
instance, where they fatten cattle largely on oil-cake,
it is calculated that the increased value of the manure
repays all of the outlay. This is the reason why hu-
man ordure is better than manure from any of the
animals mentioned above, the food of man being rich
and various.

All these kinds of manure should be carefully col-
lected and preserved, both as to their liquid and solid
parts. The liquid part or urine is particularly rich in
the phosphates and in nitrogen. This part is by very
many farmers permitted in a great degree to run away
or evaporate. Some farmyards are contrived so as to
throw the water off entirely, others convey it through
a small ditch upon the nearest field. The liquid ma-
nure which might have fertilized several acres in the
course of the season, is thus concentrated upon one
small spot, and the consequence is a vegetation so
rank as to be of very little use. Spots of this kind
may be seen in the neighborhood of many farm-yards,
where the grass grows up so heavy that it falls down
and rots at the bottom, and has to be cut some weeks
before haying time, producing strong coarse hay that
cattle will scarcely touch.

The proper way to save this liquid is to have a tank
or hole, into which all the drainings of the yard may
be conducted. If left here long, this liquid begins to
ferment, and to lose nitrogen in the form of ammo-
nia, which it will be remembered is a compound of
nitrogen and hydrogen. To remedy this, a little sul-

OF FARMYARD MANURE. 103

phuric acid, or a few pounds of plaster, may be occa-
sionally thrown in. The sulphuric acid will unite
with the ammonia, and form sulphate of ammonia,
which will remain unchanged, not being liable to
evaporate. Others prefer to mix sufficient peat, ashes,
sawdust, or fine charcoal, with the liquid in the tank,
to soak it all up; others still pump it out and pour it
upon a compost heap. One point is to be noticed in
the management of a tank. Only the water which
naturally drains from the stables and yards should be
allowed to enter it: all that falls from the eaves of
the buildings should be discharged elsewhere. Regu-
lated in this way, the tank will seldom overflow, and
the manure collected in it will be of the most valua-
ble and powerful description. The tank may be made
of stone, brick, or wood, as is most convenient, and
need cost but very little.

While the liquid manure is actually in many cases
almost entirely lost, the solid part is often allowed to
drain and bleach, until nearly every thing soluble has
washed away; or is exposed in heaps to ferment, with-
out any covering. In such a case ammonia is always
formed and given off: it may often be perceived by
the smell, particularly in horse manure. The fact may
also be shown, by dipping a feather in muriatic acid
and waving it over the heap. If ammonia in any
quantity is escaping, white fumes will be visible about
the feather, caused by the formation of muriate of
ammonia. A teacher can exemplify this by holding
a feather, dipped in the same way, over an ammonia
bottle. This escape of so valuable a substance may be
in a great measure prevented by shovelling earth over
the surface of the heap, to a depth of two or three
inches. If this does not arrest it entirely, sprinkle a
few handfuls of plaster upon the top: the sulphuric
acid of the plaster will as before unite with the am-
monia, and form sulphate of ammonia.

104 PRESERVATION OF HORSE MANURE.

Manures containing nitrogen in large quantity are
so exceedingly valuable, because this gas is required
to form gluten, and bodies of that class, in the plant;
this is particularly in the seed, and sometimes also in
the fruit. Plants can easily obtain an abundance of car-
bon, oxygen, and hydrogen, from the air, the soil, and
manures. Not so with nitrogen. They can not get
it from the air: there is little of it in most soils; and
hence manures which contain much of it, produce
such a marked effect. Not that it is more necessary
than the other organic bodies, but more scarce; at
least in a form available for plants. The same rea-
soning applies to phosphoric acid. It is not more
necessary than the other inorganic ingredients; but
still is more valuable, because more uncommon in the
soil and in manures.

In all places where manure is protected from the
sun, and from much washing by rain, its value is
greatly increased.

a. Horse manure particularly should not be left ex-
posed at all: it begins to heat and- to lose nitrogen
almost immediately, as may be perceived by the smell.
It should be mixed with other manures, or covered by
some absorbent earth, as soon as possible. Almost
every one who enters a stable in the morning, where
there there are many horses, must perceive the strong
smell of ammonia that fills the place. I have seen in
some stables, little pans containing plaster of paris or
sulphuric acid, for the purpose of absorbing these
fumes, and forming sulphate of ammonia, b. The
liquid which runs from barnyards and from manure
heaps, is shown by analysis to consist of the most fer-
tilizing substances; and it is calculated that where
this is all allowed to wash away, as is the case in
many instances, the manure is often reduced nearly
one-half in its value. I have seen yards where it was
almost worthless, owing to long exposure.

MANURE FROM BIRDS. 105

The farmers of this country need awakening upon
the subject of carefully preserving their common ma-
nures. In Flanders, where every thing of the kind is
saved with the greatest care, the liquid manure of a
single cow for a year is valued at $10; here it is too
often allowed to escape entirely. Either they are very
foolish, or we are very wasteful.

SECTION II. OF MANURE FROM BIRDS. GUANO.

The manure of birds is richer than that of any ani-
mals, for the reason that here we have the liquid and
solid excrements mixed together. On this account it
is found to be particularly rich in nitrogen, and also
in phosphates. The manure of pigeons, hens, ducks,
geese, and turkeys, is very valuable, and should be
carefully collected. The amount to be obtained from
these sources may be thought so insignificant as to be
unworthy of notice; but it must be remembered that
three or four hundred lbs. of such manure, that has
not been exposed to rain or sun, is worth at least 14
to 18 loads of ordinary manure.

Guano, a substance that has been so much used
within the past few years, is a manure of this class.
It is found in those tropical latitudes where there is
seldom or never any continued rain. Immense num-
bers of sea birds build their nests, rear their young,
and pass their time, when not upon the wing, on the
rocky shores and small islets. Here their excrements
have accumulated, layer upon layer, for centuries,
remaining uninjured in those dry climates: beds of it
have occasionally been found, from 15 to 25 feet in
thickness. The food of these birds consists almost
entirely of fish, and hence their manure is remarka-
bly rich in its quality. The guano, in its best state,
is this manure concentrated by the evaporation of its
water.

106

VARIETIES OF GUANO.

The general composition of a few of the leading
varieties is shown in the following table:

TABLE VI.

Variety.

Water ;
per cent.

Organic matter &
nmmoniacal salts

Phosphates.

5 to 7

7 to 10
10 to 13
18 to 26

56-64
56-66
50-56
36-44

25-29
16-23
22-30
21-29

This, it is evident at a glance, is an extremely rich
manure: the quantities of ammoniacal matter, and of
phosphates, are remarkably large. The Ichaboe guano
contains much more water than the others, because
the climate in that region is not so dry as on the west
coast of S. America. It is also more decomposed,
giving usually a strong smell of ammonia.

a. The Peruvian, Bolivian and Chilian varieties,
have very little smell of ammonia; but if they are
mixed with a little quicklime, and gently heated, the
odor becomes extremely powerful.

b. This little experiment also shows that quicklime
or caustic lime should not be mixed with manures con-
taining much nitrogen, as through its agency ammonia
is formed, passes off into the air, and is lost.

Guano is so energetic in its action, that it should
not come in contact with the seed, as it might destroy
its vitality. In dry seasons it frequently produces very
little effect, owing to its not being dissolved. From 2
to 5 cwt. per acre are applied; more than 5 cwt.
makes vegetation too coarse and luxuriant. I knew
of 8 cwt. being put upon an acre of turnips: they all
grew to tops, and produced no bulbs. Even the suc-
ceeding crop of wheat was so rank in its growth that
the grain was miserable. The best way of applying

EXPERIMENT WITH GUANO. 107

it, and indeed all of these powerful fertilizers, is at
the rate of from 1 to 2 cwt. per acre, together with
half the usual quantity of barnyard manure. The
supply of organic matter in the soil is thus kept up,
while large crops are at the same time obtained.

It is a good plan, in the case of winter grain, to
sow on 1 cwt. when the grain is sown, and 1 cwt. in
the spring as a top dressing. In sowing, it is best to
mix with ashes, sawdust, peat, etc. The effect of
guano is not usually perceptible after the second year;
and if the first season be favorable, its most decided
action is in the first year.

1 have recommended that experiments be tried in
dissolving guano, or at least its phosphates, in sulphu-
ric acid. The same superphosphate would be formed
as by its action upon bones. Ten or fifteen lbs. of
acid, to 100 lbs. of guano, would be sufficient. A
smaller qantity of guano might in this way be ex-
pected to produce an equal effect. It is quite liable
to adulteration, and should only be bought warranted
as to its purity, that the farmer may have a remedy in
a case of disappointment arising from its poor quality.
This is a good rule to apply to all of these high
priced manures.

SECTION III. OF FISH MANURES.

Another animal manure is fish, and one which is of
very great value to districts near the sea. In many
waters, white fish and other varieties are caught in
immense numbers for this purpose alone; in other
places large quantities of refuse, the heads and clean-
ings, can be had. These are all extremely valuable.
On Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland, the farmers collect
this refuse from the fisheries with great eagerness, and
cart it many miles inland. In other sections it is
neglected entirely.

108 FISH MANURE.

The flesh of fish contains large quantities of nitro-
gen, and acts with much energy in hastening the
growth of plants. The hones contain more water,
and consequently, in their wet state, less phosphates
than those of animals; but this very softness occasions
their rapid decay, and more speedy action. Dry fish
hones are richer in phosphates than the bones of ani-
mals. Fish decomposes so quickly, that it should
either be ploughed under, or made into a well covered
compost heap at once: probably the last is best. It
is difficult to cover them in the soil so that some loss
shall not take place.

The use of this manure, for the reasons given above,
has been confined to the immediate vicinity of the
sea-coast. It would be very desirable to find some
method of preserving it so that it might bear trans-
portation, without losing its good qualities, and with-
out becoming offensive. Experiments are now being
made, with a view to this result, which bid fair to
prove entirely successful, and to bring this admirable
manure within the reach of the interior at a reason-
able rate.

On many parts of the Scotch coasts, there are ex-
tensive beds of scollops and muscles, wThich are got
up and applied largely to the land with excellent ef-
fect. Our farmers near the sea would do well to seek
supplies of this kind also. The shells of all shellfish
are valuable, on account of the lime which forms their
chief bulk, and the animal inhabitants are remarkably
rich in nitrogen. They all decompose rapidly, and
require immediate attention to prevent loss.

Thin shells, such as muscles, soft clams, etc., crum-
ble down quite rapidly: thick shells require cracking
and crushing, to ensure their speedy decomposition.

LIME- 109

OF SALINE AND MINERAL MANURES.

The last class of manures embraces those of a saline
and mineral character. These are numerous, but not
many of them have been as yet largely used in this
country. Beside those which are known here, I shall
mention a few of those that have been found most
efficacious abroad.

SECTION IV. OF LIME.

I will commence with a mineral manure, whose use
is most widely extended, in every country where agri-
culture has made much advance. I refer to lime.

Lime is ordinarily found in the form of common
limestone, or carbonate of lime, a combination of lime
with carbonic acid. Every 100 lbs. of pure limestone
contains about 44 lbs. of carbonic acid gas. This
may be driven off by a high heat, as in the lime-kilns.
The lime then remains in what is called the caustic
state, or quicklime. It will burn the tongue, if ap-
plied to it. When water is poured upon it (this may
be shown by teachers), it swells, cracks, heats, and
finally crumbles to a fine powder. If the water is
only used in sufficient quantity to slake the lime, it
will all disappear, being entirely absorbed: it has in
fact united with the lime, and become a part of the
solid stone. The heat during slaking is caused by the
chemical union of water and lime. A ton of lime-
stone unites with about one-fourth of a ton of water.

If quicklime or slaked lime is exposed to the air, it
gradually absorbs carbonic acid; and if left a long
time, becomes nearly all carbonate once more. If a
piece of quicklime be left exposed in this way until it
has crumbled, it will effervesce again with muriatic
acid, as the limestone did before it was burned, thus
proving the fact just stated.

110 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF LEtfE.

Lime is applied to the land in the three states above
mentioned: quicklime, hydrate or slaked lime, and air-
slaked or mild lime, so called because it has lost its
caustic properties. It is better for the land in all of
these states than it was before burning, because the
burning has reduced it to an extremely fine powder,
more fitted to be dissolved in the soil, and to be taken up
by the plant. From the various tables already given,
it is obvious that lime is an absolutely essential ingre-
dient in the soil, being constantly needed by plants in
all of their parts; but beside this, it performs other
functions there of scarcely less importance, differing
according to the state in which it is applied.

a. If the soil be stiff and cold, if it is newly drain-
ed, containing much of acid organic compounds, or
if there are tough, obstinate grasses to eradicate, such
as bent, etc., it is best to apply quicklime, or the caus-
tic hydrate. In either of these conditions it has a
most beneficial and energetic action; lightening and
mellowing stiff clays, neutralizing and decomposing
injurious acid substances, and extirpating many hurt-
ful grasses and weeds.

b. If caustic lime is applied largely to light soils,
it may do harm by too rapidly decomposing the or-
ganic matter, usually scarce in soils of this descrip-
tion. In all such cases, and generally when it is not
wished to produce such effects as the above, mild or
air-slaked lime is best.

The action of all varieties is invariably more mark-
ed and permanent upon drained or thoroughly dry
land, than upon that which is wet and swampy. All
of these various states of lime act not only upon the
organic matter in the soil, but upon the inorganic also,
decomposing certain insoluble compounds, and bring-
ing them into a state favorable to the sustenance of
plants. Thus we see that this manure performs many
most important functions.

DIRECTIONS FOR USING LIME. Ill

It has a constant tendency to sink in the soil, and
in one that has been heavily limed for many years,
quite a layer of it exists in the subsoil: this may be
brought up by deep ploughing, or is made available
by drains, which permit the roots to go down. When
applied as a top dressing, it should in almost every
case be mild, and also when used in composts, where
much animal manure is present. The reason why pre-
caution should be used in the latter instance, is one
that has been alluded to before, in speaking of ma-
nures containing nitrogen. In all such cases, caustic
lime causes a formation of ammonia from the nitro-
gen, and a consequent escape of it into the air. Where
much lime is mixed with the manure, its depreciation
in value is very rapid, owing to this loss. Where
there is little or no nitrogen present, and it is desired
to decompose peat, or to rot heaps of weeds and turf,
the caustic lime is to be preferred, as its action is so
much more energetic.

It is now considered the best practice to apply lime
in rather small quantities, and often, as then it is kept
near the surface, and always active. Where it is
bought, lime should always, if possible, be in the state
of quicklime, as in that case there will be neither
water nor carbonic acid to transport. In 100 lbs. of
carbonate of lime or common limestone, are 44 lbs.
of water; in 100 lbs. of slaked lime, about 25 lbs. of
water, so that the saving in both instances by carry-
ing quicklime is considerable.

Numerous kinds of limestone, differing greatly in
purity, are found in various districts. In some sec-
tions they are all magnesian limestones or dolomites,
as these are called by mineralogists, containing, be-
side carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia. Where
the magnesia is in large quantity, it is decidedly inju-
rious, and in some cases is so much as to render the
limestone inadmissible for agricultural purposes. It

112 COMPOSITION OF LIME.

is these from which the hydraulic or water cement is
made. Although magnesia is necessary to plants,
caustic-magnesia, if introduced in large quantity into
the soil, seems to produce a very bad effect, and lime
that contains much of it is therefore to be avoided.

Beside limestones, there are several other forms in
which lime is largely used by the farmer. The chief
of these is marl. This substance consists usually of
the fragments and dust of sea, fresh-water, or land
shells, more or less mixed with earth. When pure,
the greater proportion is carbonate of lime. The fol-
lowing table gives the composition of a very excel-
lent one, lately analyzed in my laboratory. It was
from Peterboro', N. Y.:

table vn.

lbs. in 100.

Carbonic acid, 35-00

Lime, 45"02

Magnesia, 0'66

Iron and alumina, with a little phosphoric acid, . 2-69

Sand, 957

Organic matter, 7*06

100-00

Here the carbonate of lime amounts to about 80
lbs. in 100, while the small quantities of magnesia,
iron, alumina, and especially of phosphoric acid, add
materially to its value. There are many marls which
do not contain more than from 15 to 25 per cent of
lime. It is necessary to apply these in much larger
quantity, to produce an equal effect, and of course
they will not bear transportation to so great a dis-
tance. In using marls, it is always best to put on
heavier doses than of any form of burned lime, as
there is not, from its mild nature, the same risk of
adding too much.

MARL. 113

There are in this country some substances used
largely as manure, and called marls, that have very
little lime in them. These are in certain parts of
New Jersey. The lime, in shells scattered through
them, varies from 10 to 20 per cent in some speci-
mens, in others there is scarcely any at all. The effect
of these marls is, however, great upon poor soils, and
in New Jersey they are very largely applied. The
secret of their value lies chiefly in from 12 to 20 per
cent of potash, which the best of them contain, ac-
cording to the analyses of Prof. H. D. Rodgers.

It is always easy to ascertain whether any substance
supposed to be a marl, really is so or not, by trying it
with a little muriatic acid. If there is much carbonate
of lime, the effervescence will be strong and violent,
owing to the bubbling up and escape of carbonic acid
gas. Carbonate of magnesia and many other car-
bonates would, it is true, produce a like appearance;
but these are rarely found native, in very large quan-
tities.

On some sections of the sea-coast, a species of shell
or coral sand is to be obtained, made up of shells or
corals ground into fine fragments by the action of the
sea: this is always a valuable manure. On the coast
of Ireland, the fishermen go out and scoop it up from
a considerable depth. It contains usually some organic
remains, which add materially to its value. This, like
the marls, may be safely added to the land in large
quantities, without fear of injury to crops.

10*

114

CHAPTER X.

MANURES (CONCLUDED), SALINE AND MINERAL.

Gypsum or plaster, its composition and properties; reasons for its
different effects. Common salt, its applications as a manure.
Nitrate of soda, native. Sulphates, their use and beneficial
action. Efficacy of these saline manures upon various crops ;
directions for their use ; precautions necessary in their applica-
tion. Wood ashes, their general composition and value ; spent
or lixiviated ashes. Anthracite coal ashes; reasons why they
are worth preserving. Pearl ashes. Soot, its effects, and the
way in which it should be used.

SECTION I. OF GTPSUM.

Another important manure in which lime forms a
part, is plaster of paris, also calied gypsum, and che-
mically, sulphate of lime. In this country it has been
more generally used perhaps than in any other, and
often with very great benefit. In many cases, a few
bushels per acre bring up land from poverty, to a very
good bearing condition : complaints are, however,
made, that after a time it injures the land in place of
benefitting it. This, in almost all instances, results from
using it alone, without applying other manures at the
same time. The explanation is of the same general
nature as that given under lime in Chapter ix. The
farmer has taken away a variety of substances, and
has only added gypsum. If the land is entirely ex-
hausted at last under such treatment, it is obviously
not the fault of the gypsum. There are many large
districts where it produces no effect; but it may al-
ways be considered certain, that where gypsum or lime
do no good, there is already, in one form or another, a
supply of both naturally in the soil; or, as has been

EFFECTS OF GYPSUM. 115

previously explained under lime, some physical or
chemical defect which prevents their action.

Gypsum, before it is burned, consists of sulphuric
acid, lime, and water; of the latter, there are about
21 lbs. in every hundred. This water can be easily
driven off by heating the ground gypsum. This may
be done with a small quantity, by way of experiment,
over a common lamp. During heating, it whitens :
it is this burned gypsum that is used for the cornices
of rooms, for making casts, for hard finish, etc. When
water is mixed with it, a considerable degree of heat
is produced, the 21 per cent of water is again ab-
sorbed, becoming once more a part of the solid stone,
and the whole mass hardening or setting, as it is
termed, in a few moments. It is upon this property
of hardening when mingled with water, that the uses
of gypsum in the arts, as above mentioned, depend.

This manure frequently produces a most beneficial
effect when applied as a top dressing upon pastures
and meadows : it is also a favorite and excellent appli-
cation to young corn and potatoes. It is of service
not only by the valuable nutriment which it furnishes
to the plant, but also from a certain power which it
possesses of absorbing moisture and gases.

a. Liebig has supposed that much of its effect upon
grass land is owing to this property, that it attracts
ammonia from the atmosphere, and retains it for the
use of plants. This is without doubt an important
effect, but should not be considered the principal one.

b. To this same property is to be ascribed its action
when scattered over compost heaps, or mixed into
the liquid in tanks. In both cases it absorbs ammo-
nia, and prevents its escape. White fumes of ammo-
nia may sometimes be perceived, both by the eye and
the sense of smell, rising from the surface of ferment-
ing manure heaps. A little gypsum sprinkled over
the surface of the heap, will arrest this evaporation
and loss almost immediately.

116 COMMON SALT AS A MANURE.

c. During drought, it seems, by its power of attract-
ing moisture, to aid materially in sustaining the plant.
It is slightly soluble in water, and hence slowly dis-
solves, either when buried in the soil or left on the
surface. It is best applied in damp weather, as then
it can be sown more easily, and will produce an effect
more quickly. The quantity applied per acre is usual-
ly not large.

SECTION II. OF COMMON SALT, NITRATES AND SULPHATES.

Common salt is a manure, the use of which is not
only wide spread, but very ancient. In large quanti-
ties it is injurious, destroying vegetation rather than
increasing its growth. In moderate quantities, how-
ever, it has been found on some soils very valuable.
Such are most likely to occur in places far distant
from the sea. The sea breeze carries small quantities
of salt spray far inland, and deposits it upon the soil.
All who live in the vicinity of salt water, know that
its peculiar smell may often be perceived at a distance
of many miles in the interior. For this reason salt is
not usually found to be of much value as a manure
near the sea.

A small proportion mixed in with a compost heap
is likely to be useful. Another good way is to dis-
solve a little in water used for slaking quicklime.
The compound thus formed is very energetic in its
action upon vegetable substances, and has been found
an admirable application to many soils, particularly
on those where there is much inert vegetable matter
that can only be decomposed with great difficulty.
Common salt is, according to the popular definition,
composed of chlorine and soda.

There are other combinations of soda, that are be-
ginning to be used in this country, and have been
greatly approved of in Europe. The most important

NITRATE OF SODA.

117

of these is the Nitrate of Soda. This is composed of
nitric acid (a substance before described) and soda.
The nitric acid contains much nitrogen, and is there-
fore very active as a manure. One or two cwt. nitrate
of soda have been found, in many instances, to produce
a very great growth. It gives a bright dark green color
to the leaves, and increases the yield of grain. It also
produces a marked improvement in grass crops and
pastures. Grain that has been grown by aid of this
manure is said not to give so much fine flour, being
richer in gluten, and having a thicker skin.

Nitrate of soda is in some districts of South Ame-
rica a natural product, being found in a crust on the
surface of the ground; it is so abundant as to be
brought away by the shipload, and may be obtained at
such prices as would warrant the application of it in
moderate quantities. Other nitrates are manufactured
which would be excellent manures, but the price is
generally so high as to forbid their use with profit.
Whenever refuse nitrate of potash, that is, common
saltpetre, can be obtained, or refuse liquid in which it
has been dissolved for pickling meat, etc., it should be
mixed into a compost heap, and carefully preserved.

There are several compounds containing sulphuric
acid, called sulphates, that are also valuable whenever
they can be had at reasonable prices. Those that
have been most commonly employed, are the sulphates
of magnesia and of soda. From their composition,
both of these must be useful; but it would be necessary
to exercise a degree of caution with the sulphate of
magnesia, as it is very soluble, and much of it might
do harm. It will be remembered that magnesia in
any large quantity is quite injurious in the soil : small
quantities are very useful.

The refuse liquid from salt-works after the salt has
been crystallized out, contains some soluble compounds
of lime, magnesia, etc., and might, applied carefully

118

COMPARISON OF SALINE MANURES;

in small quantities, be useful. Pouring a little occa-
sionally upon a compost heap, would be the safest
and best mode of trying it. A large dose of this liquid
would be fatal to vegetation.

SECTION m. OF THE EFFECTS OF SALINE MANURES,
AND THE BEST MODES OF APPLICATION.

The above are instances of saline manures, the few
last given merely as examples of a class. In the fol-
lowing table are mentioned a few cases, recorded by
Prof. Johnston, of their effect as applied upon vari-
ous crops in Scotland :

table vm.

Nitrate of soda, 1
1 cwt. per acre. )

Nitrate of soda, ]
120 lbs. per acre)

Nitrate of potash, )
1 cwt. per acre. )

1 cwt. per acre.

Nit. pot. and nil.

soda mixed.

Do. do.

1| cwt.
Do. do. do.

1 cwt. nit. soda.

ON GRASS LAND.
Product per acre.
5 tons 4 cwt.

3 tons ^ cwt.

2 tons 3 cwt.

ON OATS.

> 64 bushels.
60| bushels.

ON WHEAT.

[ 27 bushels.
54 bushels .

Undressed.
2 tons 12 cwt.

2 tons i cwt.

1 ton 1\ cwt.

48^ bushels.
40 bushels.

ISi bushels.
42 bushels.

These, it will be recollected, are most favorable
results, selected to show how great an influence such
small quantities of these manures may have. From
what has been explained relative to the proportion of

A MIXTURE SHOULD BE PREFERRED, 119

ash contained in the crop, and the substances of which
it is composed, we can now understand why such small
quantities of these manures, seemingly thrown away
when spread over an acre of ground, should still con-
tain enough to supply all that is required by the plant
of their particular constituents. The largest crop of
wheat mentioned in Table viii, 54 bushels, would not
carry away in all of the grain more than 60 lbs. of ash,
and of this not more than 10 lbs. would be potash or soda.
We see, then, that the 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda sup-
plied enough of that material to have furnished at
least 150 bushels, and a large part of the straw beside.
The supplying of such minute quantities to the plant,
we have seen to be quite necessary, as much so as are
the bolts and nails to a ship: these are but a very
small part of its entire bulk or weight, and yet it could
not hold together without them.

When the farmer intends to use any of these ma-
nures, it is in nearly every case better to make a mix-
ture. One hundred weight of nitrates of potash and
soda, of common salt, sulphate of soda and sulphate
of magnesia, all mingled together, and applied with a
few bushels of gypsum, would be much more likely to
meet the wants of any soil, than a hundred weight of
either one alone. Such mixtures are found remarkably
effectual, and they are the basis of the artificial ma-
nures now gradually coming into vogue. These ma-
nures are very excellent if the price is reasonable, and
the farmer assured of their purity. I have known
instances of most audacious cheating in these things,
and in a way too that could not readily be discovered
unless by a chemical examination. The farmer should
not buy these manures unless he has perfect confidence
in the manufacturers, or unless, as was recommended
with regard to guano, they furnish an analysis by com-
petent chemists, and warrant the manure sold to be
equal in quality. If it fails him, he can then have
compensation from them.

120 EXPERIMENTS WITH COMPOST.

Where such saline manures as I have mentioned, or
others having some of the ingredients known to be
valuable for plants, can be obtained at fair rates, the
farmer would do well to mix composts for himself;
adding 25, 50, 100 or more pounds, as he may require,
of various articles to his manure heap; or making
small experimental heaps to try the effect of different
substances, and different mixtures, on his soils. This
last is the best course of all, as then he feels his way
with little expense, and only invests largely when sure
of his return. It must be remembered, that nearly all
of these manures are so powerful, that if sown imme-
diately with the seed, or laid on in too large quanti-
ties, they destroy vegetable life. Applied as top dres-
sings, it is, as in the case of guano, advisable to mix
with ashes, or dry vegetable mould, so as to facilitate
even sowing, and equal distribution over the surface.
Just before or after a rain is the best time. In a dry
season, all of them, excepting gypsum, fail to produce
their usual effect, and in some cases are said to have
proved injurious. Some farmers, on this account, ad-
vise the application of a part in the autumn, and the
remainder at the earliest advisable period in the spring.
This is an excellent plan for several reasons. If all be
applied in autumn, a part washes away during winter
and is lost. The half which is added is enough to
give the young shoots a vigorous start, and a firm
hold in the soil before winter comes on; then in spring
the other half comes with none of its strength or sub-
stance lost, to push them forward through the changes
of that season, and to ensure an early harvest.

SECTION IV. OF WOOD AND COAL ASHES.

Nearly all varieties of ashes are valuable as manures.
Those from seaweed are used in some localities, and
are of very great value; but where the whole weed

COMPOSITION OF WOOD ASHES.

121

can be obtained, it is better to employ it in the fresh
state, so as to add its organic matter also.

Wood ashes are very commonly used, and form a
manure of great value. Below is the composition,
from Johnston's Lectures, of ash from the oak and the
beech : these are merely given as illustrating the
general character of wood ashes.

TABLE IX.

Percentage of Oak.

Potash, 8-43

Soda, 5-64

Common salt, 0-02

Lime, 74-63

Sulphate of lime, .... 1-98

Magnesia, 4" 49

Oxide of iron, 0-57

Phosphoric acid, .... 3' 46

Silica 0-78

100-00

Beech.

15-83
2-79
0-23

62-37
2-31

11-29
0-79
307
1-32

100 00

The substances composing these ashes, are seen at a
glance to be of a valuable character for applying to
the soil. Even without an analysis, we might con-
fidently have asserted that this would be the case, from
the fact that they had already been found proper for
the support of vegetation. It will be noticed that the
proportion of potash and soda is very considerable,
being in fact more in the above ashes than in most
others. Beside these there is quite an appreciable
proportion of phosphoric acid, and a very large quan-
tity of lime : part of this was in combination with the
phosphoric acid. The potash, soda, lime and mag-
nesia, were doubtless for the most part combined with
carbonic acid, forming carbonates. The potash, soda
and common salt, being soluble in water, of course
act first and disappear first; the lime and other con-
11

122 USE OF WOOD ASHES.

stituents come into action more slowly, but still are
always steadily decomposing, and constantly yielding
food for the plant. The effect of a heavy dose of
ashes, therefore, is quite lasting.

A favorite application of this manure is as a top
dressing upon grass crops, also for dusting over young
corn and potatoes. For this purpose ashes are often
used with gypsum. They are very useful to absorb
liquid from composts or in tanks, or, as has been men-
tioned in various places, to mix with guano and other
portable manures for sowing. From the considerable
proportion of alkali contained in them, they are quite
caustic, and hence seem to have a very good effect in
extirpating troublesome weeds, on meadows and pas-
tures. Their action in running out poor grasses, such
as bent, etc., when the land is otherwise well treated,
is familiar to practical men. They do this by adding
to the soil substances which encourage the natural
growth of more valuable classes.

Spent or lixiviated ashes, that is, those that have
been used by soap or potash-makers, are of course
much less valuable, inasmuch as they have lost nearly
every thing that is soluble in water. Two thirds, and
oftener three fourths of their bulk, however, continue
unchanged, and in this part there still remains the
lime, the magnesia, the phosphates, etc., which are of
importance; for this reason, these ashes should also
be always carefully saved and applied. They are good
for all of the purposes to which ashes are applied;
good to mix with liquids or solids; and they can
usually be obtained at very cheap rates. Being of so
much less strength, they may profitably be applied in
greatly increased quantity, and thus by the large pro-
portion of slowly dissolving lime and phosphates
which they contain, form quite a permanent addition
to the valuable ingredients of the soil.

Anthracite coal ashes should not be neglected.

ANTHRACITE COAL ASHES. 123

There are always cinders enough to pay for sifting,
and, when sifted, soap-makers are usually willing to
pay a small price for them. This shows that they
contain soluble matter enough to be well worth sav-
ing. We have no very good analyses of anthracite
ash. The English bituminous coals contain 8 to 12
per cent of lime and magnesia, and some soda, the
remainder being chiefly silica and alumina. The ash
from American bituminous coals probably resembles
the English in its character. Some partial examina-
tions made in my own laboratory at Yale College,
indicate small quantities of phosphates in anthracite
ash, and in the specimens examined about two per cent
of substances soluble in water. Such facts all show
that these ashes should be preserved, and applied either
as a top dressing upon grass, or ploughed in as a part
of composts. They would have much of the beneficial
mechanical effect of common ashes, and are also good
for sowing with portable manures.

It has been said that when placed around trees in
large quantities, they are injurious; and this is proba-
bly true, because they have something of a caustic
character, but it is no reason for their condemnation;
wood ashes, or any of the powerful manures which
we have been describing, such as guano or the nitrates,
would do the same if applied with like freedom. A
manure which is highly beneficial in small quantity,
may, in large quantity, be perfectly destructive to
vegetation.

SECTION V. OF PEAT ASHES, SOOT, ETC.

In all situations where peat is burned, the ashes
will be found worth something as manure. They
usually contain 5 or 6 per cent of potash and soda, con-
siderable quantities of lime, magnesia, iron, etc., being
therefore worth about as much as the poorer kinds of

124 PEAT ASHES.

wood ashes. In wet land where varieties of peat
abound, which are only decomposed with great diffi-
culty, it is sometimes advisable to burn on a large
scale, for the purpose of obtaining the ash as manure.
Heaps are made at convenient distances directly upon
the surface of the bog, and the fire started by means
of a little dry peat in the centre of each heap. As it
burns through to the outside, fresh peat is dug up and
thrown on, and so the process may be kept up as long
as desirable.

It is to be observed, as to all these varieties of ashes,
that their value is greatly impaired by exposure to the
weather. This is in very many cases not attended
to; the ash heap is exposed to rain, and often to the
drippings of a roof beside. In either case a large
portion of the soluble and most valuable ingredients
are washed away, and the worth of the ashes to the
same extent diminished. They should, always, for
these reasons, be kept carefully covered.

Soot is a manure that is much neglected in this
country, but is highly valued abroad. It results from
a species of distillation of wood, or of bituminous
coal; the products of this distillation are condensed
on the sides of the chimney, as the ascending smoke
cools. The smoke also carries up and deposits large
quantities of- the inorganic bodies from the fuel. Soot
thus comes to contain a great variety of both inorganic
and organic bodies. We find, for one very prominent
constituent, a large quantity of ammonia. Beside
this, there are phosphates, sulphates, carbonates and
chlorides of lime, potash, soda, iron, and magnesia.
These are the chief inorganic substances, and show it
to be a quite powerful manure. It contains so much
ammonia that when laid in heaps of grass, the plants
under it are destroyed very speedily.

No analysis of soot is given here, because from the
way in which it is deposited, the composition must

SOOT A VALUABLE MANURE. 125

vary greatly with the fuel, and with the circumstances
of its combustion. In very dry seasons, soot, like
some other of the powerful manures we have men-
tioned, sometimes does injury. From 30 to 60 bushels
per acre are applied, commonly as a top dressing. It
gives a beautiful dark green color to grass or grain,
and on many soils increases the yield very largely.
If a little exertion were made, there are few places
where considerable quantities of this strong manure
could not be obtained.

In Great Britain it has been proposed to crush de-
caying granites, to mix them in heaps with quick-
lime, and then allow the whole to stand for some
months. Granite contains much potash, and it is sup-
posed that by the prolonged action of the caustic lime,
a part of this would become soluble, and fit for the
nourishment of plants. In some parts of this country,
masses of decayed rock exist, which it would be well
to examine with reference to their economical value
for applying to the land.

126

CHAPTER XL
COMPOSITION OF THE DIFFERENT CROPS.

Distribution of substances in various parts of the plant. Wheat;
wheaten flour; gluten. Time of cutting grain. Rye flour.
Barley. Oatmeal. Buckwheat. Indian Corn. Peas and Beans.
Potatoes. Turnips, Carrots, Beets, etc. Comparative amounts
of nutritive matter per acre. Cabbage. Grass crops.

SECTION I. OF WHEAT, RYE AND BARLEY.

We have already, to a considerable extent, entered
upon this subject j but the information given, parti-
cularly with regard to the organic part of crops, has
been of a very general character. We have noticed
the chief substances which compose this part, but have
said little as to their distribution in the plant, or in its
several portions.

Various points relative to the composition of ash
from the straw, grain, and roots of our ordinary crops,
have been noticed in Chapter III, and we shall not
revert to them at any length here.

In the stalk and leaves of grain, we find that woody
fibre is the leading substance; constituting in some
cases, when the plant is ripe, more than three-fourths
of the whole weight. In the grain, on the other hand,
woody fibre only amounts to 2 or 3 per cent. The
largest part here usually consists of starch : there are
also considerable quantities of gluten, or of some other
bodies having the same nature, containing nitrogen;
and beside these, some oily or fatty substances. In
the straw, these last only exist in very small quantities.

COMPOSITION OF GRAIN AND FLOUR. 127

a. All grains, as sold in market, or stored in gra-
naries, and in the state usually considered dry, contain
from 10 to 16 per cent of water, which may be driven
off by a gentle heat. Nearly every variety of flour has
a little larger amount than the above.

We will now notice the composition of some of the
leading varieties of grain, in their organic part.

Wheat is one of the most important of all crops.
The grain contains from 50 to 70 per cent of starch,
from 10 to 20 per cent of gluten, and from 3 to 5 per
cent of fatty matter. The proportion of gluten is said
to be largest in the grain of quite warm countries.

a. It is a singular fact, that in all the seeds of
wheat, and of other grains, the principal part of the
oil lies near, or in the skin, as also does a large por-
tion of the gluten. The bran owes to this much of
its nutritive and fattening qualities. Thus, in refining
our flour to the utmost possible extent, we diminish
somewhat its value for food. The phosphates of the
ash also lie to a great degree in the skin.

b. These substances seem all to be collected here
for the benefit of the young shoot. When it first
starts, and until it appears above the surface and ex-
pands its first true leaves, it has to depend for nutri-
ment on the stores already provided in the seed.
These have been prepared not only, but deposited in
that part of the seed most near to the germ, so that
its nourishment may be easily and readily obtained.

The best fine flour contains about 70 lbs. of starch
in each hundred. The residue of the hundred lbs.
consists of 10 or 12 lbs. gluten, 6 to 8 lbs. of sugar and
gum, 10 to 14 lbs. of water, and a little oil.

Gluten, as has been mentioned, swells up to a great
bulk when heated, and becomes full of holes. The
same thing takes place in the baking of bread. It is
the gluten that gives tenacity to the dough, so that
when bubbles of gas are liberated during the fermen-

128 TIME FOR CUTTING GRAIN.

tation produced by yeast, the gluten stretches as it
expands, and thus leaves the baked bread light and
full of little holes. Flour which contains much gluten,
is that which is ordinarily called strong.

The time of cutting grain very sensibly affects the
proportion of fine flour and bran yielded by samples
of it. Careful experiments have shown, with regard to
wheat, that when cut from 10 to 14 days before it is
fully ripe, the grain not only weighs heavier, but
measures more : it is positively better in quality, pro-
ducing a larger proportion of fine flour to the bushel.
When the grain is in ihe milk, there is but little woody
fibre; nearly every thing is starch, gluten, sugar, etc.,
with a large percentage of water. If cut 10 or 12
days before full ripeness, the proportion of woody
fibre is still small; but as the grain ripens, the thick-
ness of skin rapidly increases, woody fibre being formed
at the expense of the starch and sugar; these must
obviously diminish in a corresponding degree, the
quality of the grain being of course injured. The
same thing is true as to all of the other grains.

It has been stated that what is ordinarily called dry
flour, contains from 12 to 16 per cent of water. When
made into bread and baked, it retains this, and absorbs
in addition a much larger quantity. Prof. Johnston
gives, as the result of some trials made in his labora-
tory on bread one day old, the large proportion of 45
lbs. of water in 100 lbs. of bread. Dumas found 45
per cent in bread at Paris. This is much more than
is usually supposed possible, yet there is every reason
to consider the above determination correct. We may
then conclude that every 100 lbs. of bread, in the or-
dinary state as wTe use it, contains from 30 to 45 lbs.
of water. Strong flour, that which was mentioned as
containing much gluten, and rising well in bread, will
absorb and retain a still larger amount of water: it is
therefore most profitable to the baker,

RYE AND BARLEY. 129

Rye flour more nearly resembles wheaten flour in
its composition than any other ; it has, however, more
of certain gummy and sugary substances, which make
it tenacious, and also impart a sweetish taste. In
baking all grains and roots which have much starch
in them, a certain change takes place in their chemi-
cal composition.

If starch be taken and exposed to a carefully gra-
duated heat for a few days, it will be found to have
changed its character, to have become partially soluble
in water, and also a little sweet. By the action of
heat it has been converted into a species of sweetish
gum, called dextrine. This is the change which
occurs in baking; a portion of the starch is altered
into this gum or dextrine, communicating the sweetish
taste which is observable in good bread. By baking,
then, flour becomes more nutritious, and more easily
digestible, because more soluble. This alteration hap-
pens probably in baking any grain, but as wheat and
rye are more used for making bread than other grains,
we are better acquainted with the transformations
which occur in them through the agency of heat.

Barley contains rather less starch than wheat, also
'ess sugar and gum. There is little gluten, but a sub-
stance somewhat like it, and containing about the
•same amount of nitrogen.

a. The malting of barley depends on a peculiar
change which takes place during germination, or the
sprouting of the seed. The starch, forming the prin-
cipal part of it, and of all or nearly all grains, is, as
we know, insoluble in water; how then is it to be of
use in nourishing the young shoot?

b. When the seed, moistened by water, and warmed
by the summer sun, swells and pushes forth its shoot,
a peculiar substance called diastase is formed, which
has the property of changing starch into sugar. This
sugar is of course soluble, and goes at once into the

130 OATS, BUCKWHEAT, RICE.

shoot, communicating that sweetness so observable in
its first growth.

c. Barley is moistened and laid in heaps to sprout;
when the sprouts have got to the proper length, the
heaps are opened, dried, and heated, to stop further
growth, and the sprouts are all rubbed off. The
barley is then in the state called malt; the sugar from
this is extracted to make beer, having all been formed
from its starch by the action of diastase.

Oatmeal is little used as food in this country, but it
is equal, if not superior in its nutritious qualities, to
flour from any of the other grains; superior, I have
no doubt, to most of the fine wheaten flour of northern
latitudes. It contains from 10 to 18 per cent of a
body having about the same amount of nitrogen as
gluten. Beside this there is a considerable quantity
of sugar and gurn, and from 5 to 6 per cent of oil or
fatty matter; which may be obtained in the form of
a clear fragrant liquid. Oatmeal cakes owe their
peculiar agreeable taste and smell to this oil. Oat-
meal, then, has not only an abundance of substance
containing nitrogen, but is also quite fattening. It is,
in short, an excellent food for working animals, and,
as has been abundantly proved in Scotland, for work-
ins men also.

SECTION II. OF BUCKWHEAT, RICE, INDIAN CORN, PEAS
AND BEANS.

Buckwheat is less nutritious than the other grains
wdiich we have noticed. Its flour has from 6 to 10
per cent of nitrogenous compounds; about 50 per
cent of starch, and from 5 to 8 of sugar and gum. In
speaking of buckwheat or of oats, we of course mean
without the husks.

Rice was formerly supposed to contain little nitro-
gen, but recent examinations have shown that there

RICE, INDIAN CORN. 131

is a considerable proportion, some 6 or 8 per cent of
a substance like gluten. The percentage of fatty
matter and of sugar is quite small, but that of starch
much larger than in any grain yet mentioned, being
between 80 and 90 per cent, usually about 85. The
dust or siftings separated from rice in cleaning for
market, are stated by Prof. Johnston to contain 4 to 5
per cent of fatty matter, and are therefore valuable for
feeding.

Indian corn is the last of the grains that we shall
notice. This contains about 60 per cent of starch,
nearly the same as oats. The proportion of oil and
gum is large, about 10 per cent; this explains the
fattening properties of indian meal, so well known to
practical men. There is, beside these, a good propor-
tion of sugar. The nitrogenous substances are also
considerable in quantity, some 12 to 16 per cent. All
of these statements are from the prize essay of Mr. J.
H. Salisbury, published by the N. Y. State Agricul-
tural Society. They show that the results of European
chemists hitherto published, have probably been ob-
tained by the examination of varieties inferior to ours;
they have not placed indian corn much above the level
of buckwheat or rice, whereas from the above it is
seen to be in most respects superior to any other grain.

The same paper by Mr. Salisbury indicates some
value in the cob of this grain. It contains about 2
per cent of gluten and gum, and 1 or 2 per cent of
sugar, with a little starch. It has therefore some im-
portance of its own as food, when ground up with
the grain, according to a practice recommended of
late by many farmers. The oil of indian corn, like
that of oats, has a peculiar odor and taste, communi-
cating both to the meal.

Sweet corn differs from all of the other varieties, con-
taining only about 18 per cent of starch. The amount
of sugar is of course quite large ; the nitrogenous sub-

132 PEAS AND BEANS.

stances amount to the very large proportion of about
20 per cent, of gum to 13 or 14, and of oil to about 11.
This, from the above results, is one of the most nou-
rishing crops grown. If it can be made to yield as
much per acre as the harder varieties, it is well worthy
of a trial on a large scale.

We now come to a different class of crops, remark-
able for their nutritious properties. The best known
of these are peas and beans. The most complete
analyses yet made, which are French, give the per-
centage of starch at about 40. The amount of oily
matter is small, and of sugar only about 2 per cent.
The nitrogenous bodies are of a peculiar nature, and
are usually called legumin or albumen; they contain
about as much nitrogen as gluten, and, in the dried
peas or bean meal, amount to from 25 to 30 per cent.
The meal, in its ordinary condition, contains from 15
to 20 per cent of water.

Both peas and beans are, according to the above
statements, extremely nutritious. Experience in
France, Germany and England, sustains this theoreti-
cal view. They are in all of those countries highly
valued for feeding to stock, and are also a chief reli-
ance as food among the lower classes, with whom they
take the place of bread. They occasionally come into
a rotation with great advantage, and their field culture
will probably be gradually extended in this country.

There is one class of seeds, such as linseed, rape
seed, etc., which abound in oil, amounting in some
cases to from 18 to 25 per cent; this may be, and is,
separated by simple pressure. Beside the oil, they are
uncommonly rich in nitrogenous substances, containing
about as much as peas or beans. These seeds, then,
are of great value for feeding to fattening animals. A
few pounds per day increases their growth remarkably.
The linseed cake, from which the oil has been mostly
expressed, is a most admirable food, and is nearly all

ROOT CROPS. 133

exported from this country to England, for the use of
British farmers, who know its value and are eager to
purchase it.

SECTION III. OF THE ROOT CROPS

In the root crops we find quite different character-
istics from any yet mentioned. In some of them
starch almost entirely disappears, other bodies of a
somewhat similar nature taking its place. The po-
tato, and a few other less known crops, are exceptions.
Another distinguishing feature is the quantity of water
which they all contain. About 16 per cent has been
the highest amount hitherto mentioned, but now we
shall find a very greatly increased proportion.

The potato, as taken from the ground, contains
about 75 per cent of water, or three fourths of its
whole weight; of the remainder, from 14 to 20 per
cent is starch. There is about 1 per cent of a nitro-
genous compound like albumen, and the rest is made
up of woody fibre, gum, and sugar. The starch of the
potato is contained in little cells, and is in small rounded
masses. Grating destroys the cells, and water will
separate the starch as described before. When the
tuber is attacked by potato disease, its first appear-
ance is in the walls of the cells, the starch remaining
uninjured for a considerable time; it can even be sepa-
rated after the disease has progressed till the potato is
worthless for any other purpose.

By keeping, the starch of potatoes gradually dimi-
nishes, being converted into a species of gum. This
is the reason why potatoes are apt to be watery and
soft in the spring, and to have a disagreeable sweet-
ish taste. When they are allowed to sprout, from
being in too warm a place, a great deterioration en-
sues. This is for the reason that the starch, as in the
grains, being turned in a great degree to sup-ar and
12

134 ROOT CROPS.

gum during germination, goes into the young shoot;
subtracting, of course, much from the nutritive quali-
ties of the tuber.

The turnip abounds still more in water than the po-
tato. The proportion given by Boussingault, is nine-
tenths of its whole weight : other authors agree in
making it about the same quantity. The remaining
tenth contains woody fibre, a little oily substance,
some gum, and about one per cent of nitrogenous com-
pound. There is nothing more than a trace of starch,
but a small percentage of a substance called pedine,
which seems to answer the same purpose in feeding.

The mangold-wurtzel, the carrot, the beet, and the
parsnip, all contain in their fresh state from 85 to 90
per cent of water. The parsnip and the carrot have
a little more of nitrogenous compounds than the
others. The sugar-beet, according to Payen, has about
10 per cent of sugar; carrots and parsnips, which are
also quite sweet, have from 5 to 7 per cent. In nearly
all of these roots, there are small quantities of starch,
gum, and oily matter.

Such facts as the above may seem to place these
crops very low in the scale, as to their nutritive pro-
perties; but before we decide this question, we must
consider the amount that is produced per acre.

a. Twenty-five tons of turnips is not an uncommon
crop on good land: if these contain but 10 lbs. of
solid matter in every 100, the aggregate amount from
25 tons would be 5000 lbs.

b. Thirty bushels of wheat to the acre, at 60 lbs.
per bushel, would only give 1800 lbs. The dry mat-
ter of the turnip is nearly as nutritious as wheaten
flour, and we see from the above that there would be
nearly three times as much of it. If we take some
of the other roots, which produce quite as large a
weight per acre and contain less water, the comparison
will be still more favorable to root crops.

VALUE OF ROOT CROPS. 135

c. Indian corn competes better with them. Land
that would yield 25 tons of turnips or 30 bushels of
wheat to the acre, would produce 60 bushels of corn ;
and this, at 60 lbs. per bushel, would give 3600 lbs.
per acre, of food, superior to either of the others
weight for weight.

It is plain, from the above facts, that the root crops
are of great value. The animal, it is true, has to eat
very large quantities, to produce much increase in its
size; but then the yield per acre is so exceedingly
great, as to more than counterbalance this seeming
disadvantage, in the comparison with more concen-
trated forms of food. The cultivation of these crops,
to a considerable extent, will doubtless be found ad-
vantageous in districts where the climate and soil are
well suited to them.

The cabbage has about 90 per cent of water, and
much ash. The proportion of nitrogenous compounds
is large, about 3 to 6 per cent; so that this vegetable
might also be cultivated here, as it is abroad, for feed-
ing purposes.

I mention all of these crops, that the farmer may
know something of their valuable properties, and may
not consider himself tied down to a regular succession
of two or three only, such as he has always been ac-
customed to cultivate, or to see others cultivate. He
ought to know that there are others which are equally
important, the occasional introduction of which may
be beneficial not only to himself, but also to his land.

SECTION IV. OF THE GRASSES. THE COMPOSITION OF THE
VARIOUS CROPS COMPARED.

There is yet one class of crops used for feeding,
that has not been adverted to: this includes the grasses.
These contain, when made into hay, about 10 or 12
per cent of water; in the green state, before drying,

136 THE GRASSES.

about 80 per cent. The dry part consists chiefly of
woody fibre: beside this, there are small and varia-
ble quantities of nitrogenous bodies — gum, sugar, oil,
etc. In some grasses, these amount to as much as
three, four, and five per cent.

The time of cutting has much to do with the nutri-
tive value of hay. While the stems and leaves are
growing and green, they contain considerable quanti-
ties of sugar and gum, which, as they ripen, are, for
a large part, transformed into dry, indigestible, woody
fibre: the remainder goes into the seeds; but, as every
farmer knows, a great portion of these are lost from
the hay, before it is fed out. Thus, after the grass
has attained its full size and height, it loses by delay
in cutting, and becomes, as to its stem and leaves, of
poorer quality as it grows riper.

The same occurs in the straw of grains, and in corn-
stalks. If they are cut from ten days to a fortnight
before the grain ripens, their quality for feeding is
greatly superior to what it would have been when
they were ripe. This, with the benefit to the quantity
and quality of grain before mentioned, constitutes a
double advantage to be gained by cutting early.

We have thus briefly adverted to the general com-
position of the leading crops, and have shown the
principal points of difference. We have seen that
root crops produce the largest amount of nutritive
matter per acre; and that next to them comes indian
corn, then the other grains, and the oil-bearing seeds.
The next subject is the final disposal of these crops
in feeding.

It may be of advantage here, to append a table to
this chapter, giving a comparative view of the more
common crops, as to their organic part: such a view
of the inorganic part has been already given, in
preceding tables. These analyses are not to be
considered as representing exactly the invariable

COMPOSITION OF SEEDS. 137

composition of these crops, but simply their general
character. The greater portion of them are made up
from Prof. Johnston's Lectures; a few are from other
sources. They represent the composition of the whole
seeds in the grains, not of the ground flour, from
which most of the woody fibre or bran has been sepa-
rated, and in which consequently the percentage of
starch is much larger.

The composition of oats as given here, is of course
that" of the grain deprived of its husk.

This table shows, at a glance, the distinction be-
tween the four classes of crops which it represents, as
to their organic part. The range of difference in the
composition of the four grains as shown, is quite
trifling, when we consider their different properties as
they are employed for food.

With regard to meadow hay, I do not profess my-
self satisfied, but give the above as a summary of the
best results hitherto obtained. They are from John-
ston and Boussingault, and indicate an amount of nu-
tritive matter which seems to me to need confirmation.
I have reduced their proportions somewhat, and still
the analysis, as it stands, looks quite high in some
points.

Of some most important crops in certain portions
of this country, we have as yet no organic analysis,
that are sufficiently precise and reliable for insertion
here; such are tobacco, cotton, and the sugar cane.
An examination of the organic bodies in those crops,
carried out properly, would be of very great benefit
to the whole country.

12*

138

ORGANIC SUBSTANCES IN COMMON CROPS,

£

I

1

a ^ oi t> n o »

1 o

i-H 1-1 O

O

trZ

* «l»-.|et

CO t~ O* i-l CV i-l

o

CO

o

3

f

£

»-(]C*

O O Oi CM Ti" ^1

o

t~ 1-1

o

O

PL,

9

i* Ol tO -^ O} C5 CO

o

(D

i-l t# CV

o

Pw

o5
o

ncft-HijH

o

s

i-i t-

o

fl .

'S o

MOtOt-OTfC)

o

i-t TJ< rH i-l

o

£o

>>

CJ O *Cr> CO CO CD O)

o

PJ

,-H T* ,-1 -1 rH

o

m

ic » h <o ffl m oi

o

nn i-i i-i

o

o

5

WN OSIOW OCT

o

i

i-l -* i-i ,-1

o

CO

• cu •

• u •

• (3 •

• a •

^■4 '•

a s •

W> M • „

3 » • t)

CO 3 • ti

o -X>

* "^ B • 43

~ - S *> ' ^
t, ^a e« cud • P»»

CD o r-i O • T3

*! << E h - o _

^coO^;o^<

139

CHAPTER XII.

APPLICATION OF THE CROPS IN FEEDING.

Connection between the composition of vegetables and that of
animals : in their organic part ; in their nitrogenous substances.
Differences between animal and vegetable food. Starch; its
uses in respiration. Other substances which serve the same
purpose. Sugar. Fat. Applications of this knowledge in
feeding the young animal, and the full grown animal. More
food required in cold climates. Food required by the fattening
animal. Benefit of cutting food; of cornstalks, hay, etc.

SECTION I. OF THE CONNECTION IN COMPOSITION BETWE"EN
THE PLANT AND THE ANIMAL.

We have hitherto said little as to the direct con-
nection between the composition of the food, and that
of the animal itself. That there is such a connection,
must by this time have become clear to every attentive
reader. It is, however, even more direct; and the
conclusions to be drawn from this directness are more
practical than could have been supposed before any
chemical investigations were made. Something has
been mentioned in a preceding chapter, as to the simi-
larity between the inorganic substances in the plant
and those in the animal : it was explained that they
only differ in the fact, that the ash from animal sub-
stances contains at most but a mere trace of silica,
a substance which will be remembered as forming
so important a part of the ash from plants.

In the organic part of animals, we find in many
points a not less striking coincidence with the organic
part of plants. It is to be recollected, that in speak-
ing of the nutritive properties of plants, much im-

140 NITROGENOUS SUBSTANCES.

portance was ascribed to the bodies containing nitro-
gen, such as gluten, albumen, legumin, etc.

a. These, and a number of others having a similar
character, have been classed together by some che-
mists under the name of protein bodies. They are,
in many cases, widely different in form and proper-
ties, but all have about the same proportion of nitro-
gen, and the same general composition.

b. As we come to examine the flesh, the blood, the
hair, and the organic part or gelatine of the bones,
we find that from all of them can be extracted various
substances that contain nitrogen. When these sub-
stances are subjected to chemical analysis, they are
proved to belong to the same class, and to have a
composition agreeing, with that of the nitrogenous or
nitrogen-containing bodies of the plant.

This is a very striking fact, when we come to con-
sider its various bearings. The gluten of wheat, the
legumin of peas and beans, all the nitrogenous bodies
of the other grains and roots, are actually the same
thing as the nitrogenous bodies contained in the mus-
cle, the blood, the hair, the skin and the bones of the
animal. The plant, then, is a species of manufactory,
where food is prepared in such a form, that the ani-
mal can build up its own body with the least possible
trouble. These nitrogenous substances are carried
by the blood to each extremity of the frame, and are
deposited to fill up, supply, or enlarge every part, as
may be needed. The fact has long been established,
that our muscles, our hair, our skin, and even our
bones, are constantly undergoing a change. Some of
their particles are each day carried away, and rejected
from the body in various forms, their place being sup-
plied from the constituents of the food eaten. In this
way, particle by particle, the whole body is in time
renewed.

When eating meat, we only eat a more concen-

OF RESPIRATION, 141

trated form of protein or nitrogenous substance : all
that there is containing nitrogen in bread, is the same
body as that which we find in meat, the only differ-
ence being, that in bread, there is much less of it in
proportion to the whole bulk. It may therefore be
said with truth, that, in eating bread, we are in one
sense eating the same thing as beef or mutton.

a. If the proportion of nitrogenous substance is
very small, as in the turnip or potato, the quantity
eaten must be greatly increased. In order to make as
much muscle in the body as would be added to it by
five or six ounces of meat, in its ordinary cooked
form, it would be necessary to eat at least one hundred
ounces of turnips or potatoes in their raw state.
When cooked, the proportion of water in them would
probably be decreased somewhat, and with the season-
ing employed to make them palatable, a less quantity
might answer.

SECTION II. OF RESPIRATION '. STARCH, SUGAR, GUM, AND
FAT.

The use of starch in nutrition, has already been
briefly alluded to. We have seen that it is one of the
most abundant of all the ingredients, in most varieties
of vegetable food; and the question naturally arises,
what is the necessity, in the animal economy, for this
large quantity of such a substance.

a. Starch, as was explained in one of the first
chapters, consists of carbon and water, or carbon
united with hydrogen and oxygen in the proportions
to form water. This is brought into the lungs by the
blood, after digestion, and there, or afterward in the
blood, undergoes what may be considered a species
of combustion.

b. The carbon of the starch unites with oxygen,
and forms carbonic acid. This accounts for the in-

142 RESPIRATION A KIND OF COMBUSTION,

creased quantity which, as will be remembered, is
found in the air after it has passed through the lungs.
The lungs are full of little cavities, so that the blood
may come in contact with as much of the air as pos-
sible at once, and absorb large quantities of oxygen.

c. Another result of this decomposition or burning,
is water; so that we have here carbonic acid and wa-
ter for the final product, as in the ordinary burning of
wood or coal. We do not understand how it happens,
but the same effect seems to be produced in the lungs
as when carbon is actually burned by a flame; its
uniting with oxygen and forming carbonic acid, heats
the body as an internal flame would do.

Every person knows how difficult it is for a hungry
man to keep warm in cold weather, and how soon a
full meal restores the animal heat. The quicker we
breathe, the more food or starch is burned; thus strong
exertions always heat us, because they compel us to
breathe faster. The larger portion of the starch, then,
which is received with our food, passes off in the
shape of carbonic acid and water.

In warm weather our appetites are less than in
cold, because the outward temperature is such as re-
quires less action of the lungs to retain the warmth
of the body, and consequently involves a smaller con-
sumption of food. Nothing reduces the flesh and
strength so rapidly as cold and hunger combined, for
then all the resources of the body are most speedily
exhausted. Deprivation of food, while the tempera-
ture of the air corresponds nearly with that of the
body, may be borne with comparative impunity, and
with little emaciation, for a period that would in the
first case have been fatal.

There are other substances in our ordinary food,
which may serve the same purpose as starch, in keep-
ing up the heat of the body.

a. One of these is sugar, as indeed might be ex-

SUPPORTED BY STARCH, SUGAR, ETC. 143

pectetl from the identity of its composition with that
of starch; it also consisting of carbon, with hydrogen
and oxygen in the proportions to form water. Sugar,
when not taken in too large quantities, must be con-
sidered a wholesome food, particularly as supplying
material for keeping up the heat of the body. Some
authors have condemned it, because animals would
not thrive on it alone; but this is no argument at all.
The same result would follow feeding upon any other
single article, to the exclusion of all others. The
animal requires and must have a mixed food, or it
will not thrive.

b. Fatty and oily substances have the same function
to perform; they also consist of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, and, in animals that do not eat ve-
getables, are undoubtedly the chief source by which
carbon is supplied to the lungs. When food fails, fat
from various parts of the body is first used to support
respiration : hence results the remarkable emaciation
which appears after long abstinence, or during star-
vation.

Fat is extremely useful in the body for various pur-
poses. It lubricates and smooths the joints, the mus-
cles, and the tendons, so that they play easily and freely ;
it fills up hollows, making the body plump and rounded,
instead of angular and full of disagreeable cavities,
as it would otherwise be. This necessary part of the
animal, is chiefly derived from the oily and fatty sub-
stances in the food. It seems clear that, under certain
circumstances, both starch and sugar may and do pro-
duce fat. This is partially the case when the food con-
sists entirely of potatoes, or when it is nothing but
apples. Still we see that those varieties of food which
contain most oil, fatten animals quickest.

a. Indian corn is an instance of this : linseed cake
is a still more striking one. Such food not only sup-
plies the usual daily waste of the body, but causes
an accumulation and increase of fat. The natural

144 PHOSPHATE OF LIME INDISPENSABLE.

supply of ready made oil or fat thus furnished, suits
the animal better than the conversion of starch or su-
gar into fat, as being much easier, more natural, and
more readily accomplished.

b. The organic food must then, in order to meet all
the "wants of the animal, contain starch, sugar or
gum, fatty matter or oil, and nitrogenous compounds.
These are all organic bodies. The first three are
needed to furnish carbon, to be consumed in respira-
tion for the purpose of keeping up the animal heat,
and also for making fat in case of necessity. The oil
is of value for forming fat directly, and the nitroge-
nous substance for the production of muscle, carti-
lage, etc.

c. Among the inorganic parts of the food, phos-
phate of lime should be prominent, in order that the
animal may form its bones strong, and of full size.
Potash and soda should also be present in considera-
ble quantity. I mention phosphate of lime particu-
larly, because no other phosphate will answer the pur-
pose of making bone. Experiments have been tried
by feeding birds with food containing little or none
of this, but an abundance of other phosphates. They
gradually became thin and died, and it was found that
their bones were all wasted away and weak, for want
of the necessary material to build them up.

SECTION III. OF FEEDING THE YOUNG AND GROWING
ANIMAL.

We see from the facts already stated, that with the
knowledge now gained upon this subject, feeding may
become a science : we may modify our food according
to the end that we desire to attain.

Let us consider first the young and growing animal.
What is the system too often pursued ? The best hay,
the best shelter, the best litter, all of the grain and
roots, are bestowed upon the working or the fattening

FEEDING OF YOUNG ANIMALS. 145

animals. The young ones have poor shelter, coarse
bog hay and straw for fodder, and little care of any
description. In the main, they are left to shift for
themselves, with poor food and imperfect accommo-
dations, frequently with no accommodations at all,
unless the warm side of an old stack of bog hay, or
bleached cornstalks, can be so called. As they crowd
together under its shelter from the wind, and eat some
of the hay or stalks to keep from starving, the owner
congratulates himself on the saving of food that he
is effecting. I would ask him to consider whether
this is really the best possible practice, and think it
will not be difficult to show that every hour of this
fancied gain, is in reality a positive loss. It can
be made evident from the following facts. The young
animal is, or should be, growing rapidly; its muscles
should be developing and increasing in size; its bones
growing and consolidating; its whole frame enlarging
from day to day, in a rapid and almost perceptible
manner. This is not to be effected by such treatment
as that described above. The real need at this time
is for remarkably strengthening and nutritious food —
a food that should contain a large proportion of nitro-
gen in some form, so as to increase the muscles; and
of phosphates, to strengthen and enlarge the bones.

The daily waste of the body, is proportionally much
larger in the young animal than in the old; for, with
a more active circulation, all parts of the body change
their constituent particles more rapidly. Quite
young animals, it is said, often renew their whole
bodies in the course of a single year. Beside this
larger waste, there is the daily increase in bulk of
every part to be attended to ; the food, therefore,
should be nutritious enough for both purposes.

a. In England, young calves often have a small

portion of linseed meal fed to them with milk, this

meal being rich both in nitrogen and in phosphates.

Fat is not of so much consequence, unless in feeding

13

146 FEEDING GROWN ANIMALS,

calves for market. It has been suggested that bone
meal, ground fine, might be found good for young
animals, as a portion of their allowance; but I am
not aware if it has ever been tried with success. It
is said that the Arabs make use of it for food in time
of scarcity. Bean meal or peas meal, in small quanti-
ties, makes an excellent mixture with milk.

The natural milk of the mother combines all of the
properties which I have mentioned, as will be seen
in an ensuing chapter; but it is not always practica-
ble or profitable to feed with milk entirely.

From the composition of the grains previously
given, it is obvious that all of them are valuable food
for young stock. Indian corn being cheapest, and on
the whole best adapted for the purpose, is most used
in this country.

Such directions as these, contrast somewhat strongly
with the state of things described first; where the ani-
mal, shivering in the winter's cold, was compelled to
exist on food entirely unsuited to its wants, and
scarcely sufficient to supply material for keeping up
the heat of its body. Let any reasonable man decide
which system will produce the best results.

SECTION IV. OF FEEDING THE FULL-GROWN ANIMAL.

The full-grown animal has its bones, its muscles,
and all of its parts fully developed and matured.
That which it needs in its food, is the material to
make good the daily waste of its body. This waste
is not inconsiderable, especially when the animal un-
dergoes much labor and severe exertion.

a. A man consumes in respiration alone, from six
to eight ounces of carbon in each twenty-four hours.
In order to supply this, he must eat about one pound
of starch, sugar, gum, fat, or other food rich in carbon.
Then there are the phosphates, the nitrogenous sub-

ADAPTATION OF FOOD TO CLIMATE. 147

stances, the saline bodies, the fat, etc., which will
require a number of ounces more.

b. In very cold climates, the amount of necessary
food, especially of that which furnishes carbon to
keep up the heat of the body, is vastly augmented.
The Esquimaux, and other savage tribes living in the
arctic regions, eat quantities of fat, tallow, and oil,
which would be considered quite incredible, were it
not for the concurring testimony of numerous travel-
lers. Several pounds of such food at a time, a dozen
or two of tallow candles for instance, or half a gallon
of whale blubber, seems to scarcely satisfy their ap-
petites; and this enormous eating appears not to pro-
duce the slightest ill eifect, as it does no more in
that climate than keep up the requisite animal heat,
in addition to supplying the waste of the body.

In warm weather, the quantity of food needed to
supply strength for the same amount of exertion, is, as
all know, greatly reduced ; the appetite often disap-
pears almost entirely, and yet there is no feeling of
weakness in undergoing labor. The temperature of
the air is so elevated, that comparatively a very small
portion of the food is used in keeping up the animal
heat. In the next chapter we will consider the par-
ticular bearing of these facts on feeding.

SECTION V. OF THE FATTENING ANIMAL AND ITS FOOD.

Hitherto we have spoken only of the young or
growing, and of the full grown animal ; it now
remains to say something of the fattening animal.
Here the object of feeding is changed : it is not in-
tended to increase the size and weight of its bones and
frame, for these have attained their full development;
their daily waste is to be fully replaced, and in addi-
tion there is to be the greatest possible amount of
flesh and fat accumulated upon them in the shortest
possible time, and this with the least necessary cost.

148 FOOD FOR FATTENING ANIMALS.

Here is clearly a new class of food needed, con-
taining not only phosphates, saline substances, starch,
etc., as before, but also an increased proportion of
protein bodies, and above all an abundance of oily or
fatty matters. The vegetable fats or oils, as has been
said, do not greatly differ in their composition from the
animal fats, some of them, in fact, being almost iden-
tical : of course, then, the transformations necessary
to convert them into the various parts of the body are
easily accomplished.

It has been argued by some scientific men, that
these vegetable oils are really of not so much import-
ance as is here ascribed to them : they say that the
chief part of the fat in our domestic animals, is derived
from the starch and sugar contained in their food.
The fact already mentioned, that both of these sub-
stances may be converted into fat, and doubtless are
so converted to a large extent, might seem to coun-
tenance such views, had we not direct practical evi-
dence that the vegetable food which is most oily in
its nature, is found to be most valuable in fattening.
It is only necessary to instance indian meal, oil cake,
linseed jelly, etc., as compared, weight for weight, in
feeding, with rye, oats, barley, potatoes, or turnips.
All experience shows that the first named varieties of
food are by far the best.

Starch, sugar, and gum, especially the two latter,
unquestionably aid materially in fattening, and will
fatten where there is little else given, but at the same
time not so speedily or economically as more oily food
would have done. A small portion of this latter food,
mixed with larger quantities of the more watery or
less concentrated nutriment, is found an extremely
good way of feeding. Thus, in England, for an ox,
as many turnips as the animal will eat, are given, with
four or five pounds of oil cake per day. They also use
linseed jelly, made by boiling the linseed in water, and

A CUTTING MACHINE SAVES HAY. 149

then mixing with cut straw and hay : when it cools,
a stiff, firm jelly is formed, which may be turned out
in masses. This mixture might well be tried in this
country.

a. It is now becoming the practice here to use in-
dian meal for mixing with moistened cut stuff, and
there is great advantage in so doing; an advantage
in the readiness and relish with which the animal
takes its food, and also of course in the effect upon its
growth.

A cutting machine saves much hay, enables the
farmer to consume a large portion of straw by mixing
with hay, and at the same time to promote the fatten-
ing of his stock, by the greater ease with which they
eat and digest food already partially prepared for
their stomachs. I shall soon mention why it is that
every thing which saves labor to the fattening animal,
promotes the increase of its bulk. Hay for such
purposes should be mown before quite matured, as,
for the reasons explained in a previous chapter, it
contains so much more gum, sugar, etc., than when
allowed to stand till fully ripe. The same practice
is good with straw. We have already seen that the
grain is heavier and better in quality for early cut-
ting; and experience shows that the straw is not less
superior for feeding purposes. Some kinds, cut early
and carefully cured, are nearly equal to certain varie-
ties of hay, and even superior to most of that which
has been suffered to ripen and bleach till it is little
better than a mass of dry sticks.

Indian cornstalks, when cut as above, and well
cured, make a most admirable fodder. They are then
sweet and nutritious in an eminent degree ; when cut
fine, and mixed with indian meal, are eaten by cattle
with much avidity, and eaten clean, butts and all.
Some farmers think that really good stalks are worth
about as much as the best hay. When we consider
13*

150 EARLY CUTTING OF CORN FODDER.

the weight of them to be obtained from an acre of
heavy corn, they are probably more than equal, taking
into account the respective quantities per acre.

In many parts of this country, cornstalks are ne-
glected, or, if carted at all, are only thrown into the
barnyard whole. Their butts and stalks come out un-
decayed in the spring, making the manure difficult to
handle or spread, and worse still to plough under. We
see hundreds of fields every autumn, where the stalks
stand bleached and white till just before snow comes,
when perhaps they are carted into the yard as just de-
scribed, or stacked for the benefit of such unfortunate
young stock as may be starved into the idea that they
are a tolerable article of food.

When made into small stacks in the field, with the
butts well out so as to let air in, and the tops tied to-
gether, they dry green, and sweet, and tender, so that
all stock relish them highly. Some farmers leave the
stalks of one hill uncut, and gather those of eight to
sixteen others around it. The centre hill gives stabi-
lity to the stack, and prevents it from blowing over.

151

CHAPTER XIII.

FEEDING (CONTINUED).

Soiling cattle, or feeding with green food. Shelter in winter ne-
cessary: its influence on the economy of food. Effects of ex-
ercise, of close confinement, of warmth. Of cut and cooked
food; reasons for their efficacy. Linseed jelly. Soured food;
probable change which takes place in souring. Differences in
manures from different classes of animals : from the young
animal ; from the milch cow ; from full grown, and from fat-
tening animals. Effect of feeding various classes in deterio-
rating pastures.

SECTION I. ON THE SOILING OF STOCK.

The practice of feeding various crops to cattle,
while they are green; or of soiling, as it is otherwise
termed, has excited some attention of late years, and
it is therefore proper to devote a few words to it here.
The advocates of such a course contend : 1. That the
food from an acre goes farther; 2. That the animals
thrive better; 3. That their manure is more perfectly
preserved.

a. This latter position is unquestionably a true one;
the manure being under cover, is not exposed to eva-
poration or washing, and is without doubt not only
more valuable, but is retained in greater bulk.

b. It is probably true, also, that the green food from
an acre goes much farther than the same amount would
do when dried. I suppose that it is impossible to
make hay or fodder from any green crops, without to
a considerable degree changing their composition,
thus rendering them, to a certain extent, hard and in-
digestible; some parts, which before were soluble,
becoming in drying nearly insoluble.

152 - SOILING OF STOCK.

c. As to the animals thriving: better, that is a point
which I consider as not yet fully decided. It is a
question if, in our extremely hot climate, animals do
so well during the warm weather of summer, when con-
fined in close sheds, pining for liberty and green fields.
I think that we require extended experience, and many
comparative experiments, before this question can be
regarded as finally settled.

A modification of the system would without doubt
be successful in certain situations, such as where the
ordinary pasture would admit of being partly culti-
vated, or had some arable field close at hand, in which
might be grown indian corn sown thick, heavy crops
of clover, or some other form of green fodder. A
portion of this, cut twice a day, and fed out upon the
pasture, would have an excellent effect, both on the
condition of the animals, and in the improvement of
the pasture. Green food given in this way, keeps
working cattle in good order, and dairy cows in rich
milk, through the hot months. All of the crop is
available, no part of it being lost by the trampling
of stock. One man with a scythe can cut enough in
a few minutes, morning and evening, to supply a very
considerable herd.

SECTION II. ON THE KEEPING OF STOCK DURING WINTER.

The place in which stock is kept during winter has
a much more important effect, not only upon their
condition, but upon the quantity of food that they eat,
than is usually imagined. Suppose it to be in an un-
sheltered yard, or on a hill-side, open to cold winds
and driving storms; from what has been already said,
we know that in such a situation, the action of the
lungs will be increased as the temperature of the body
decreases. This will call for an augmented supply
of carbon from the food, using up the starch, sugar,

FEEDING ANIMALS IN THE DARK. 153

oil, etc., which would otherwise have gone to cover
the frame with fat. Thus a large portion of the food
is consumed or burned in the lungs and blood, to keep
the body warm. As the animal grows poorer under
this condition of things, it becomes less and less able
to resist the cold, so that at last about all of its nutri-
ment is used up, in the action necessary to keep it
from freezing.

The animal that has a sheltered yard with plenty
of litter, with sheds facing to the south, for the day, and
good stables or other shelter for the night, is con-
stantly warm and comfortable; for these reasons re-
spiration does not need to be so rapid, and the larger
part of its food goes to the support and increase of its
body. Under such circumstances, we might expect a
smaller quantity of nourishment to produce a greater
increase of weight, and this is found to be actually the
case.

The amount of exercise taken, has also much influ-
ence. When animals are fattening, the less exercise
of a violent nature that they take, the better; for every
exertion increases the depth and frequency of breath-
ing, and so of course makes a draft upon the food.
The more tranquil and quiet the state then, in which
the animal is kept, the more readily will fat accumu-
late.

a. This is shown by the well known fact, that tur-
kies, pigeons, and other fowls, when shut up in the
dark, will fatten with very great rapidity. In such a
situation they are kept perfectly still; there being no
object to distract their attention, and make them rest-
less, they have nothing to attend to but eating, sleep-
ing, and digesting.

Some experiments have also been made, on the ad-
vantage of fattening animals by feeding in confine-
ment, as contrasted with others at liberty. In Prof.
Johnston's Lectures, are given the results of an experi-

154 DOMESTIC ANIMALS

ment made upon sheep, by selecting those of nearly
equal weight, and feeding for four months under dif-
ferent circumstances. One was entirely unsheltered,
another in an open shed, another still in a close shed
and in the dark. The food was alike, 1 lb. of oats
each per day, and as many turnips as they chose to
eat.

a. The first sheep consumed 1912 lbs. of turnips,
the second 1394 lbs., and the third 886 lbs., or less
than half oi those eaten by the first.

b. The first one gained 23^ lbs. in weight, the se-
cond 27J lbs., and the third 28£ lbs.

c For every 100 lbs. of turnips eaten, the first
gained in weight 1| lb., the second 2 lbs., the third
3TV lbs. This is a most striking example of the effect
of warmth and shelter; the one kept in a close shed
and in the dark, eat less than half as much, and gained
more than the unsheltered one.

Another remarkable instance is given by Prof. John-
ston. Twenty sheep were kept in the open field, and
twenty others of nearly equal weight, kept under a
comfortable shed. They were fed alike for the three
winter months, having each per day ^ lb. linseed
cake, ^ pint barley, with a little hay and salt, and as
many turnips as they wished to eat. " The sheep in
the field consumed all the barley and oil cake, and
about 19 lbs. of turnips each per day, so long as the
trial lasted, and increased in the whole 512 lbs. Those
under the shed consumed at first as much food as the
others, but after the third week they eat 2 lbs. each of
turnips less per day; and in the ninth week 2 lbs.
less again, or only 15 lbs. per day. Of the linseed
cake they also eat about | less than the other lot, and
yet increased in weight 790 lbs., or 278 lbs. more
than the others."

This too was with nearly 200 lbs. less of oil cake,
and about 2 tons less of turnips, according to the above

SHOULD BE SHELTERED IN WINTER. 155

statement. Are not such facts as these worthy of at-
tention? Here it is shown by practical experience that
theory is correct; that when animals are unsheltered
and cold, they eat more and gain less, because so large
a portion of their food is used up in keeping them
warm.

In the course of a very few years, such differences
as these, to a farmer who kept much stock, would save
the entire price of good, substantial sheds. The com-
fort and warmth of animals, should be a primary con-
sideration in the construction of sheds and stables of
every description. It is quite easy, by a little study,
to unite these important requisites with convenience,
and with economy of time in feeding. When build-
ings are well regulated in these respects, a man can
do much more work, and do it better, than where he
has to accomplish every thing at a disadvantage, as
is the case in too many establishments. From the re-
sults hitherto obtained by feeding in the dark, and in
close buildings, it would be well to try this system on
a large scale. Many persons partially adopt it by
using folding shutters, which render the light of day
quite dim and indistinct. Where many animals are
in the same building, care should be taken to ensure
good ventilation.

SECTION III OF THE FORM IN WHICH FOOD IS TO BE
GIVEN.

The state in which food is given, has an important
bearing on the effect which it produces, in sustaining
or fattening the animal. I have already spoken of
cutting hay, straw, and stalks, and have explained the
advantages which result from the practice. On small
farms, all that is necessary may be cut by hand in an
hour at night and morning; and where the stock is
large, there is always, or ought to be, a horse power;

156 PREPARATION OF THE FOOD OF STOCK.

by connecting this with a cutter, the work may be
done with equal ease.

For milch cows, this cut -stuff is as advantageous
as for fattening animals. If wet a little previous to
feeding, and indian meal or other ground feed sifted
over in small quantity, the cows will eat it with great
relish, and the effect of the meal will be quite appa-
rent in the richness of their milk. Some such food is
in fact necessary to supply the nitrogenous substances,
the butter, and the phosphates which milk contains
so largely.

a. A half bushel of sugar beets, parsnips, or car-
rots, to each cow daily, will be found an excellent ad-
dition to their food; it gives sweetness and richness
to the milk, making the butter of a yellow color even
in winter. If these roots are cut by a root-slicer, they
will be eaten cleaner and more easily digested, as the
animal can then without difficulty grind up each
piece separately.

It is with milch cows as with fattening animals^
quiet and warmth affect the quantity and quality of
milk, as much as they do the accumulation of fat All
that the cow uses in breathing after exertion, or to
keep herself warm, is so much withdrawn from the
milk. Here then, also, good shelter and comfortable
feeding places are the best economy. In fact, this
rule applies to every class of stock. From what was
said in the last chapter, with regard to young and
growing animals when exposed to cold, it is clear
that they as well as others need shelter and warmth,
that their food may be of the greatest benefit in in-
creasing their growth.

Cooked food, in various forms, is found to be of
great value in feeding. The same quantity will, in
many cases, go farther cooked than raw. This is es-
pecially true of many roots, as potatoes, carrots, etc.;
also, of every kind of meal, of pumpkins, squashes,

RAW AND COOKED FOOD COMPARED. 157

apples, etc. When cooked, the animal eats its food
more readily, and a smaller quantity goes farther.
This does not apply to all kinds of animals. Accord-
ing to some experiments, horses, for instance, throve
little, if any, better on cooked food than on raw. In
some of the trials, the raw food seemed to have the
advantage. This is not, however, to be regarded as a
general rule.

It has been said that starch may be changed into
sugar and gum in various ways : the application of
heat is one of these ways; and in cooking food, this
change by means of heat doubtless takes place to a
very considerable extent. The starch is not soluble
in water, while the sugar, dextrine, and gum, thus
formed during cooking, are eminently so : the cooked
food is therefore more easily dissolved and digested
in the stomach of the animal, and is moreover eaten
without any exertion. This ease and quickness of
digestion, seems to have the same effect upon many
classes of animals in hastening their growth, that has
been exemplified in preceding chapters, with regard
to some powerful and quite soluble manures applied
to plants. It was shown that easy solubility, and
therefore quickness of action, were more important
than quantity; for instance, that two or three bushels
of bones, dissolved in sulphuric acid, would benefit a
crop more than sixty or seventy bushels of whole
bones. So with the animal; a small portion of food,
which it can at once eat, digest, and make into its
own bones, muscle, and fat, is worth more than a large
quantity of some kind which it can only eat with dif-
ficulty, and digest slowly. Turnips and parsnips are
usually fed raw; but potatoes, pumpkins, apples, and
meal, are varieties of food which are almost always
better to be cooked, where it is practicable.

Every farmer should endeavor to have a cellar fitted
for the purpose of keeping roots, where they would
13

158 FEEDING WITH LINSEED JELLY.

neither freeze, nor be so warm as to sprout. It is
better to have the temperature a little too cold, than
a little too warm. In the latter case decay will
speedily commence, and toward spring, when the roots
begin to sprout, their value will rapidly decrease; all
their more valuable and soluble parts being abstracted
by the shoot, leaving little more behind than woody
fibre and water.

In England, a system of feeding with a species of
linseed jelly, has been very highly spoken of during
the last few years. Linseed is thoroughly boiled
in water, 1 lb. to 2 gallons; and wrhen the water
is sufficiently concentrated, the whole is poured into
little boxes; then as much fine-cut straw as conve-
nient is added, and the whole thoroughly stirred toge-
ther. As the mixture cools, the linseed forms the
contents of each box into a mass of stiff jelly, capa-
ble of being turned out and of retaining its shape : it
is fed to cattle in that state. This is an extremely
nutritious, and also a very fattening food. Sometimes
a little bean or peas meal is also stirred in; either of
these make the compound richer in nitrogen, and
therefore better adapted to the formation of muscle.
The results of this system of feeding have been en-
tirely satisfactory, so far as we have any reports of
its success.

Cooked food, allowed to sour, has been found in
many cases remarkably fattening, particularly as fed
to swine. The souring should, of course, not be al-
lowed to go on to the extent of strong fermentation.
It is probable that the efficacy of this soured food, is
due to a still farther action upon the starch, than the
one noticed in a preceding paragraph. Not only has
heat the power of converting it into sugar, gum, etc.,
but certain acids also.

a. By mixing a certain portion of dilute sulphuric
acid with starch in weighed quantity, and exposing

USE OF SOUR FOOD- 159

it for some hours to a graduated temperature, we are
able to produce sugar; the starch has been changed
by the acid. This is done on a large scale in France.

b. In the souring of food certain vegetable acids
are formed, which possess the same power as sulphuric
acid : it is even probable that some portions of the
otherwise indigestible woody fibre are also changed
into a sweet gummy substance, for this is another
transformation that we are able to effect by artificial
means. The result of souring, then, is to bring the
cooked food, already partially altered, into a still more
soluble and digestible state. Probably no animal but
the hog would be fond of such food; but for him, it is
easy to see that it would prove valuable.

If the souring is allowed to go too far, still another
change takes place, by means of which all of the sugar
is converted, through fermentation, first into alcohol,
and finally into vinegar; in neither of these states
would the food be nutritious, even if animals could be
induced to eat it.

SECTION IV. ON THE DIFFERENCES IN CERTAIN CLASSES OF
MANURE.

We are by this time fully able to understand the
difference in the manures derived from different classes
of animals, the young, the full grown, the fattening,
etc. ; I will, therefore, now touch once more upon that
subject.

We have seen that the young animal is not only
constantly increasing in its bulk, but that it is renew-
ing every part much more rapidly than those of ma-
ture age. Food is for both of these reasons required,
not only to supply the large daily waste, but also to
build up the growing bones, muscles, and all other
parts. Hence it results, that nearly every thing of
value in the food will be appropriated, and the manure

160 MANURE FROM GROWING AND WORKING ANIMALS.

will be chiefly composed of indigestible substances;
little being rejected that can be made to aid in increas-
ing the body or frame.

a. In the milch cow, we have a still stronger in-
stance. Here every thing available goes to the secre-
tion of milk; even the body becomes thin and ema-
ciated by this constant drain : the consequence is, that
the manure is poor and watery, containing only the
refuse of the food, with the small waste of the body.
These two kinds of manure, from the milch cow, and
from the rapidly growing animal, may be considered
poorest of all.

Manure from full grown working animals, is usually
of excellent quality. If they work steadily, their food
must be good in order to keep them in condition: of
the carbon contained in it, so much as necessary, and
this of course the largest part, owing to the amount of
exercise that they take, is used in breathing ; and for
this reason the manure is as it were concentrated, and
is rich in nitrogen, in phosphates, and the saline sub-
stances of the food generally. All that is above the
daily supply to keep up the body, and the bones, comes
into the manure.

In fattening an animal, the aim is simply to increase
the bulk of its flesh and fat; the bones have attained
their full size already. By far the greater part of the
fatty matter in the rich food given, is in this case
appropriated to the increase of the body, beside a
large portion of the nitrogenous substances also; but
a goodly quantity of both still goes into the manure,
and it is rich in inorganic materials.

These two last varieties of manure, from full grown,
and from fattening animals, should be preserved with
much care. It is proper for the farmer to remember,
that in feeding his stock well, he is not only increas-
ing their weight, but is also benefiting his land for
the future, by the rich and powerful manures which

PASTURES AFFECTED BY FEEDING. 161

they produce when well fed. Some of the best En-
glish farmers are accustomed to consider one load of
manure from their fattening stock, equal to at least
two, and sometimes to three loads, from the sheds and
yards where their young stock is kept. This supe-
riority is not a matter of opinion only, but the result
of experience.

SECTION V. ON THE EFFECT OF FEEDING UPON PASTURES.

There is one more point to be noticed, in connec-
tion with the difference in the portions of food re-
tained by animals fed at various stages of growth,
and for different purposes. This is relative to the
different effect produced by them upon pastures.

Where milch cows, or young stock generally, are
fed constantly upon a pasture, or meadow, there is
a rapid deterioration, particularly as to the inor-
ganic materials of the soil. The milch cow carries
away phosphates, and other valuable mineral ingre-
dients, beside nitrogenous bodies, in her milk; the
young animal does the same, in its augmented body
and bones. Their manure, even if all left upon the
soil, does not restore more than a small part of that
which they take away; and the richest pasture will,
after a time, begin to show signs of exhaustion.

The case of a pasture upon which full grown ani-
mals are fattened, is quite different. Here all of the
phosphates, etc. which are not required for the body,
are restored to the soil; and such a pasture may hold
out, with little decrease of fertility, for a very long
period. If the animals are at the same time, as is
usual, fed with rich food from sources foreign to the
farm, then the pasture may even improve under such
a system of pasturing; the inorganic substances in
the soil may actually be increased, rather than dimi-
nished, if the food eaten abounds in them. In some
14*

162 INJURIOUS PRACTICE OF DROVERS.

parts of England, cattle are fed upon a rich field
during the day, and driven to a poor one to pass the
night, as a cheap method of manuring.

This is a somewhat different plan from one which is
adopted in many of our states, where it is the practice
to let droves of cattle on their way to market, upon
good pastures, for a single night, or for an hour or two
at noon. They usually get little during the day, and
of course fill themselves completely from the pasture,
depositing little compared with that which they take
away. If they were fed at night with grain, or other
rich food, then the practice might not be so injudicious.
As generally conducted, however, it tends directly to
the impoverishment of the pasture. Every such visit
unregulated in any way, withdraws a considerable
portion of its material for producing flesh, fat, and
bones, and of course deducts to a like extent from its
actual value. If the farmer can supply the substances
abstracted, for a less sum than the drovers pay him,
he may then be justified in continuing the system, but
not otherwise.

163

CHAPTER XIV.

MILK, AND DAIRY PRODUCE GENERALLY.

Properties of milk : quantities of water, curd, sugar, butter ; the
ash, its composition. Cream; ways of separation; richness of
milk; making of butter. Proper temperature for churning:
with cream; with whole milk. Time proper to be occupied in
churning. Kinds of fat in butter; precautions needed for its
preservation. Casein. Cheese; various modes of making.
Composition of cheese; of its ash. Temperature at which milk
should be curdled. Imperfections of cheese. Reasons for the
exhaustion of the pastures in dairy districts. Perfection of
milk as food for the young animal.

SECTION I. THE COMPOSITION OF MILK.

This is an important branch of agriculture, and
one upon which we have hitherto merely given some
passing hints; we will now take it up somewhat in
detail.

The appearance and the usual qualities of milk,
are too well known to require description here. It
differs considerably in its composition as obtained
from different animals, but its general nature is simi-
lar in all cases. From SO to 90 lbs. in every 100 lbs.
of cow's milk, are water. This quantity may be in-
creased by special feeding for this purpose. Some
sellers of milk in the neighborhood of large cities,
who are too conscientious to add pump-water to their
milk, but who still desire to dilute it, contrive to ef-
fect their purpose by feeding their cows on juicy suc-
culent food, containing much water; such watered

164 COMPOSITION OF MILK.

milk they are able to sell with a safe conscience,
though it may be doubted if the true morality of the
case is much better than if the pump had been called
directly into action.

From 3 to 5 lbs. in each 100 lbs. of milk, are curd,
or casein j this is a nitrogenous body like gluten, al-
bumen, animal muscle, and the others we have
named in a previous chapter. Casein is a white,
flaky substance, and can be separated from the milk
in various ways ; these will be specified when we
come to write particularly of cheese, and cheese
making. There are also in every 100 lbs., from 4 to
5 lbs. of a species of sugar, called milk sugar; this is
not so sweet as cane sugar, and does not dissolve so
easily in water. It may be obtained by evaporating
down the whey, after separation of the casein or curd.
In Switzerland it is made somewhat largely, and used
for food.

The butter or oil amounts to from 3 to 5 lbs. in
every 100 of milk. Lastly, the ash is from J to
| lb. in each 100. This ash is rich in phosphates,
as shown in the following table ; it represents the
composition of two samples, each of the ash from
1000 lbs. of milk

TABLE XI.

Phosphate of Lime, *23

Phosphate of Magnesia, '05

Chloride of Potassium, '14

Chloride of Sodium (com. salt), . *02

Free Soda, -04

No. 1. No. 2,

•34
•07
•18
•03
•05

0"50 0*67

We shall refer to this table again.

The butter, as stated above, is from 3 to 5 lbs in
each 100 of milk. It exists in the form of minute
globules, scattered through the liquid. These glo-

USE OF THE GALACTOMETER. 165

bules of butter or fat are enveloped in casein or
curd, and are a very little lighter than the milk ; if
it is left undisturbed, they therefore rise slowly to the
surface, and form cream. If the milk be much agi-
tated and stirred about, the cream will be much
longer in rising ; so also if it is in a deep vessel, as
a pail, in place of shallow pans. Warmth promotes
its rising.

a. There is a little instrument called the galacto-
meter, intended to measure the richness of milk.
This consists of a series of graduated tubes, which,
by means of small divisions, mark the thickness of
cream that rises to their surface. It is not a correct
instrument, for the reason that I have already stated,
that cream does not rise so well through a deep
column of milk as through a shallow one. The
quantity of cream then, indicated by a galactometer,
will always fall short of the real proportion which
the milk contains. It may sometimes be of use, for
comparing the richness of milk from various cows of
the same dairy.

When milk is drawn in the usual way from the
cow, the last of the milking is much the richest : this
is because the cream has, in great part, risen to the sur-
face inside of the cow's udder; the portion last drawn
off then, of course contains the most of it. Such a fact
shows the importance of thorough and careful milk-
ing. In some large dairies, the last milkings from
each cow are collected in a separate pail. More
milk is said to be obtained from the same cow when
she is milked three times a day, than when but once
or twice ; less when milked once than twice, but in
this last case it is very rich.

Some large breeds of cows, are remarkable for
giving very great quantities of poor watery milk :
other small breeds give small quantities of a milk, that
contains an uncommon proportion of cream. These

166 SMALL COWS PREFERRED.

large breeds are kept in many parts of the country
about London, for the purpose of supplying the city.
By giving them succulent food, the milkmen contrive
to increase still farther the watery nature of their
milk, as before noticed.

The small breeds have one great advantage : it
requires a much less quantity of food to supply the
wants of their bodies, so that all over that quantity
goes to the enriching of the milk. A weight of
food therefore, with which they could give good milk,
would only suffice to keep up the body of the larger
animal, and the milk would consequently be poor and
watery. This is probably one chief reason, why the
milk of the small breeds generally excels so decidedly
in richness.

SECTION II. OF BUTTER.

We are now to consider the various methods of
making butter, and some of the questions connected
with its preservation. The object in churning, is to
break up the coverings of the little globules of
butter : this is done by continued dashing and agita-
tion ; when it has been continued for a certain time,
the butter appears first in small grains, and finally
works together into lumps.

a. Where cream is churned, the best practice seems
to be, to allow of its becoming slightly sour : this
sourness takes place in the cheesy matter, or casein,
that is mixed in the cream, and has no effect upon
the butter beyond causing its more speedy and perfect
separation.

b. In many dairies the practice is to churn the whole
milk. This requires larger churns, and is best done
by the aid of water or animal power: it is considered
to produce more butter, and this is said by some to be
finer and of better quality. I do not think that there

PROPER TEMPERATURE FOR CHURNING. 167

have been any very decisive experiments upon this
point.

The excellence of butter is greatly influenced by the
temperature of the milk or cream, at the time of
churning; if this be either too hot or too cold, it is
difficult to get butter at all, and when got, it is usually
of poor quality. A large number of experiments have
been made with regard to this point, and the result
arrived at is, that cream should be churned at a
temperature, when the churning commences, of from
50 to 55 deg. of Fahrenheit's thermometer. If whole
milk is used, the temperature should be about 65 deg.
F. at commencing. In summer, then, cream would
need cooling, and sometimes in winter a little warmth.
It is surprising how the quality of the butter is im-
proved by attention to these points. I have seen
churns made double, so that warm water, or some
cooling mixture, according as the season was winter
or summer, might be put into the outer part. It will
be seen, that in whatever way the temperature is regu-
lated, a thermometer is a most important accompani-
ment to the dairy.

The time occupied in churning, is also a matter of
much consequence. Several churns have been ex-
hibited lately, which will make butter in from 3 to 10
minutes, and these are spoken of as important im-
provements. The most carefully conducted trials on
this point, have shown that as the time of churning
was shortened, the butter grew poorer in quality; and
this is consistent with reason. Such violent agitation
as is effected in these churns, separates the butter, it
is true, but the globules are not thoroughly deprived
of the casein which covers them in the milk; there is
consequently much cheesy matter mingled with the
butter, which is ordinarily soft, and pale, and does not
keep well. Until the advocates of very short time in
churning, can show that the butter made by their

168 WASHING AND WORKING OF BUTTER.

churns is equal in quality to that produced in the or-
dinary time, farmers had better beware how they
change their method, lest the quality of their butter,
and consequently the reputation of their dairy, be
injured.

Butter contains two kinds of fat. If melted in wa-
ter at about ISO F., a nearly colorless oil is obtained,
which becomes solid on cooling. If the solid mass be
subjected to pressure in a strong press, at about 60 F.,
a pure liquid oil runs out, and there remains a solid
white fat. The liquid fat is called elaine, and the
solid fat, margarine. These two bodies are present in
many other animal and vegetable oils and fats. They
are both nearly tasteless, and, when quite pure, will
keep without change for a long time. In presence of
certain impurities, however, they do change.

If great care is not taken in washing and working,
when making butter, some buttermilk is left enclosed
in it; the buttermilk, of course, contains casein, the
nitrogenous body which we have already described;
there is also some of the milk sugar mentioned in sec-
tion i. The casein, like all other bodies containing
much nitrogen, is very liable to decomposition. This
soon ensues therefore, whenever it is contained in but-
ter; and certain chemical transformations are by this
means soon commenced, whereby the margarine and
elaine are in part changed to other and very disagree-
able substances; those which give the rancid taste
and smell, to bad butter. The milk sugar is instru-
mental in bringing about these changes. It is de-
composed into an acid by the action of the casein, and
has a decided effect upon the fatty substances of but-
ter, causing them to become rancid. This action and
consequent change comes on more or less rapidly, as
the temperature is warmer or colder.

No matter how well the butter is made in other re-
spects; if buttermilk be left in it, there is always, from

SALTING OF BUTTER. 169

the causes above mentioned, a liability to become
rancid and offensive. When packed in firkins, it will
be rancid next to their sides and tops; will be injured
to a greater or less depth, as the air may have obtain-
ed access. Salting will partially overcome the ten-
dency to spoil, but not entirely, unless the butter is
made so salt as to be hardly eatable. Another reason
for much of the poor butter, which is unfortunately
too common, is to be found in the impure quality of
the salt used. This should not contain any magnesia
or lime, as both injure the butter; they give it a bit-
ter taste, and prevent its keeping for any length of
time. Prof. Johnston mentions a simple method of
freeing common salt from these impurities. It is to
add to 30 lbs. of salt about 2 qts. of boiling water,
stirring the whole thoroughly now and then, and al-
lowing it to stand for two hours or more. It may be
afterward hung up in a bag, and allowed to drain.
The liquid that runs off is a saturated solution of salt,
with all the magnesia and lime which were present.
These are much more soluble than the salt, and are
consequently dissolved first.

Want of caution as to the quality of salt used, and of
care in separating the buttermilk, cause the spoiling
of very great stocks of butter every year; a large part
of that sent to Europe is sold for soap grease, and for
other common purposes, simply because these points
have been neglected.

SECTION III, OF CASEIN AND CHEESE.

Cheese is made from the casein of milk: this casein
or curd, is separated from the whey by means of ren-
net; the same thing may be done by small quantities
of acids, as acetic or hydrochloric acid; and if the
milk be allowed to stand long, it will be done na-
turally by the formation of what is called lactic acid,
15

170 ALLUSION TO THE MAKING OF CHEESE.

from the milk sugar. The appearance which the curd
of milk, or the casein presents, when curdled either
by rennet or an acid, is so well known as to render
any description unnecessary.

a. In the analyses of the ash from milk, Table xi.,
was mentioned a small quantity of free soda. This
being dissolved in milk, keeps the casein likewise in
solution; but when any of the acid substances men-
tioned above are added, they immediately unite with
and neutralize the soda; the liquid then of course be-
comes acid, so that the curd falls down at once. Ren-
net is not supposed to do this by acting as an acid,
but by promoting the formation of an acid in the milk
itself, which does the work. The milk is thus made
to curdle by the action of its own acid.

This is not the place to enlarge upon the practical
methods of cheese-making, nor upon the endless va-
rieties of cheeses to be found in this and other coun-
tries. Scarcely any two districts have a similar prac-
tice in their manufacture, or produce an article at all
identical in its taste or appearance. Those of some
districts would be considered the reverse of excellent
in others. For instance, a variety most highly valued
in Paris, has undergone an incipient putrefaction, so as
to evolve ammonia.

The richest cheeses are made by adding the last
night's cream to the morning's milk. Such are the
Stilton cheeses of England; from these we have them
all the way down to skim milk, and, in some counties
of England, to those which are made from milk that
'has been skimmed for three or four days in succession.
Such as these are perfectly hard and horny. The
following table from Prof. Johnston's lectures, gives
the composition of several English and Scotch va-
rieties of cheese.

COMPOSITION OF CHEESE.
TABLE XII.

171

In 100 lbs.

No. 1.

No. 2.

No. 3.

No. 4.

Water

Butter

Ash

43.82

45.04

5.98

5.18

35.81

37.96

21.97

4.25

38.58

25.00

50.11

6.29

38.46

25.87

31.86

3.81

No. 1 represents a skimmed milk cheese: it will be
seen that the proportion of butter is very much small-
er than in Nos. 2, 3, and 4; it is, however, weight for
weight, more nutritious than any of the others. It
will surprise most persons, to know that cheese con-
tains from £ to \ its weight of water; and that in eat-
ing very rich cheeses, fully ^ of what they eat is
butter. No. 4 is a rich Ayrshire cheese, of the kind
with which some of our American dairies come espe-
cially into competition. This was a particularly fine
sample. Cheese, judging from the above analyses,
is both a very nutritious and a very fattening food.
The richness of the finer varieties, prevents their being
eaten in large quantities. On skim milk cheese, such
as that in the first column, a man might live very
well as a principal article of diet.

It will be noticed that all of these cheeses contain
a considerable proportion of ash: this ash is more
than half phosphates, chiefly phosphate of lime; of the
remainder a large part, as might be supposed, is com-
mon salt, that has been added to the cheese in curing.
In various districts there are different ways of intro-
ducing the salt. In some cases it is all put in before
the cheese is pressed; in others it is all absorbed from
the exterior, after the cheese is made. This will not
do for very thick cheeses. In making these, a portion
of the curd is sometimes doubly salted, and placed in
the centre; the intention being to ensure that the salt
absorbed from the exterior shall penetrate till it meets

172 PRECAUTIONS IN MAKING CHEESE.

the part already salted, so that no part of the cheese
shall escape.

The temperature of the milk at the time when
rennet is added, for the purpose of curdling it, is a
matter of much importance to the quality of the
cheese. The best authorities prescribe from 90 to
95 deg. of Fahrenheit.

a. Great care should be used in expelling the whey
from the curd, and afterward from the cheese in press-
ing, as the milk sugar which the whey contains changes
its composition, as it does in butter, and communicates
a disagreeable flavor to the cheese; by this means
cracks are often formed, and it becomes full of little
holes.

b. The use of bad salt is another way of effectu-
ally injuring the quality of the cheese, making it bit-
ter, and preventing it from keeping well. The im-
purities of the salt are here the same as those which
were mentioned under the head of butter, in the pre-
ceding section; and the method to be adopted for
purifying, is also the same. Want of care in pressing
and working out the whey, the use of bad salt, and
neglect as to the temperature at which the milk is
curdled, chiefly operate in producing the multitude of
inferior cheeses which we find in every market; not
destitute of richness, but miserable in appearance and
flavor.

SECTION IV. VARIOUS POINTS RELATIVE TO MILK AND
CHEESE.

From the composition of the ash of cheese, as just
noticed, and that of milk, mentioned before, we can
easily see how it is that pastures become poor in
phosphates. All that which is sold off in cheese,
never returns to the soil; and that fed to fattening ani-
mals in milk, is also for the most part lost. Beside

FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS. 173

the milk which each cow gives for dairy purposes,
there is also her annual calf, the phosphates in the
bones of which must also come out of the pasture. It
is certain that in the bones of the calf, and in the
milk, each cow would deprive the pasture of at least
50 or 60 lbs. of bone earth, or phosphate of lime, in
each year. For these reasons it is, that bones, as has
been indicated, are most likely to prove of great ad-
vantage as a manure on worn out pastures, and also
on meadows that are used in the autumn for feeding.
Applied as dust, or still better dissolved in sulphuric
acid, a few bushels per acre (in the latter case two is
enough) have been found to produce a most wonder-
ful effect; in many cases doubling and even tripling
the value of pastures, within a year or two after the
application.

The different properties of milk which have been
noticed, suggest one or two hints relative to the feed-
ing of milch cows. We have seen that the quantity
of milk may be increased by feeding with watery suc-
culent food. There is no doubt but the quantity of
butter would be greatly augmented, by feeding in the
same manner as for fattening, with food rich in oily or
fatty substances. If cheese-making were the object,
varieties of food rich in nitrogen, as beans, peas,
clover, indian corn, etc., might be expected to produce
a good effect.

In feeding with oily food, care is to be taken that
it is not of a nature to communicate any unpleasant
flavor to the butter. Linseed cake is an instance of
this; a small proportion of it, given with other food,
has an excellent influence, increasing the quantity of
butter in a marked degree: too much, however, gives
a very unpleasant taste. This effect is perfectly
natural; as every one knows that all strong tasting
food eaten by cows, as onions, leeks, cabbages, tur-

15*

174 NOURISHING QUALITIES OF MILK,

nips, etc., if in considerable quantity, impart a most
disagreeable flavor to their milk.

"We are now able to understand, how admirably milk
is fitted to the purpose for which it is designed, the
nourishment of the young animal. In its casein is
a substance which furnishes just the material for
muscles, tendons, and all the solid flesh of the body.

The butter lubricates the joints, makes the skin soft,
and furnishes the fat generally, beside being used in
case of necessity for respiration. The milk sugar is
equally available with starch, and common sugar, for
the purpose of respiration, thus keeping up the heat
of the body.

Finally, in its ash we have the phosphates for
building up the bones, the framework of the body, and
other saline substances for supplying the blood and
the flesh with their inorganic part.

175

CHAPTER XV.

CONNECTED RECAPITULATION OF THE VARIOUS
TOPICS TREATED IN THE PRECEDING CHAP-
TERS.

We have now gone over nearly all of the ground
that I have thought it advisable to traverse, in a trea-
tise of this character. It may be of advantage, in
closing, to give a condensed view of the whole sub-
ject, recapitulating the main points that have been
illustrated and explained.

This will serve as a species of index, and will, at
the same time, recall such arguments and facts rela-
tive to the various divisions indicated, as may have
been forgotten.

CHAPTER L

The art of cultivating the soil ; what this is, in its
proper meaning.

Plants. Great division of them into organic and
inorganic substances. Organic bodies burn away ;
inorganic bodies incombustible.

Names of organic bodies : carbon, hydrogen, nitro-
gen, oxygen.

Carbon, a solid, of which charcoal, plumbago, and
the diamond are forms. Hard, and combustible.

Hydrogen, a gas, colorless, tasteless, inodorous, the
lightest body known. Inflammable, explosive when
mixed with air, extinguishes combustion, and will
not sustain life.

176 RECAPITULATION

Oxygen, a gas, colorless, tasteless, inodorous, not
inflammable; supports combustion most energetically;
supports life, both animal and vegetable; unites with
nearly all other bodies, and forms oxides; most abun-
dant of all known substances.

Nitrogen, colorless, tasteless, inodorous; does not
support combustion; does not burn itself; does not
maintain life.

The great importance, and the vast diffusion of these
bodies.

CHAPTER H.

The inorganic part of the plant.

Consists of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, oxide of
iron, oxide of manganese, silica, chlorine, sulphuric
acid (oil of vitriol), phosphoric acid.

1. Potash, common potash, pearlash, caustic potash.

2. Soda, caustic soda, carbonate of soda, for wash-

3. Lime, quicklime, common limestone, plaster of

paris, marls generally.

4. Magnesia, calcined magnesia, epsom salts (sul-

phate of magnesia).

5. Oxide of iron, common iron rust.

6. Oxide of manganese, commercial black oxide of

manganese.

7. Silica, common quartz, flint, agate, cornelian, chal-

cedony.

8. Chlorine, a gas; of a green color, heavy, suffo-

cating odor ; does not burn, but some metals
when finely powdered, inflame in it.

9. Sulphuric acid, common oil of vitriol.

10. Phosphoric acid ; burn common phosphorus, a
white, very sour powder.
These are all present, in cultivated crops, though
usually not in large quantity.

OF THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS. 177

CHAPTER HI.

Sources of the food of plants.

Their organic food comes chiefly from the air.

Carbonic acid, a gas, heavy, extinguishes combus-
tion, fatal to life; no color, slight acid taste, and pe-
culiar smell. Furnishes carbon to plants.

This gas is absorbed from the atmosphere by day,
through the leaves, and oxygen is at the same time
given off; 2sVoth of carbonic acid exists in the
air.

How the supply of it is kept up; combustion, re-
spiration, decomposition.

The hydrogen of plants is obtained from water.

The oxygen comes from water, carbonic acid, and
almost every form of food.

Nitrogen is supplied by ammonia and nitric acid.

Ammonia, a gas, gives the smell to aqua ammonia,
and to smelling salts.

Nitric acid, common aqua fortis.

CHAPTER IV.

Of the organic substance of plants ; structure of the
stem, the roots, and the branches.

Principal bodies which make up the organic part
of plants.

Woody fibre the most abundant of all, in stems,
stalks, leaves, etc.

Starch, the leading substance in seeds, and in many
tubers.

Sugar. Gum. Oils. Their nature and import-
ance.

These all composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
only, the two latter being in the proportions to form

178 RECAPITULATION

water; the same formula may and does represent them
all.

Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

The atmosphere consists of nitrogen and oxygen.

CHAPTER V.

Composition of the soil.

We find here also an organic, and an inorganic
part; the inorganic part largest, contrary to what was
observed in plants.

The organic part is derived from the decay of ani-
mals and vegetables; the inorganic part from the
decomposition of rocks.

The inorganic part consists of the same substances
as the inorganic part of plants, with the addition of
alumina. This is a white substance, which gives
stiffness to clays.

A very fertile soil contains all of these substances,
and that in considerable quantity.

One which is fertile only with the addition of ma-
nure, has deficiencies of some substances which the
manures added supply.

One which is barren, has nearly every thing that is
valuable wanting.

The three principal varieties of rocks, are limestones,
sandstones, and clays.

Soils may be named, as one or other of these pre-
dominate.

CHAPTER VI.

Mechanical improvement of the soil.

Nature of the connection between the soil and the
plant. Benefit of mixing clay with sand, and sand
with clay.

OF THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS. 179

Injuries arising from wetness of the soil. It causes
the formation of vegetable acids, and other hurtful sub-
stances.

These defects to be removed by draining.

Drains to be 30 to 36 inches deep, and always co-
vered. If made of stones, these should be broken
small; if of tiles, these may be either of the round,
oval, or horseshoe shape. The earth to be rammed
hard above them in all cases. They ought to run
straight down slopes, and be placed 24 to 50 feet
apart.

Subsoil and trench ploughing; difference in the two
operations, and nature of their effect.

The inorganic substances of the soil are found in
plants, with the single exception of alumina.

The quantity of some of them is quite small in
plants, but all are absolutely necessary.

CHAPTER Vn.

Effect of cropping upon the soil.

Different crops take away the inorganic substances
of the soil in different proportions; their ash also va-
ries in composition.

The grains contain chiefly phosphates.

Potatoes and turnips, mostly potash and soda.

Grasses, for the most part, lime and silica; straws,
nearly all silica.

This explains the principle of rotation. One crop
may find food when the land has been exhausted for
another, and so a succession may be continued for
some years.

The value of land is kept up by such a course for a
greatly increased length of time.

180 RECAPITULATION

CHAPTER VIII.

Of manures.

Irrigation, or manuring by running water.

Vegetable manures, their nature* Not so energetic
in action as some fertilizers, but very beneficial to the
soil.

Green crops for ploughing under. These lighten
and mellow the soil, add organic matter to it drawn
from the air, and bring up mineral substances from
the subsoil.

Straw. Seaweed : valuable composition of its ash j
should be applied in compost, or ploughed in fresh.
Rape dust, how used.

Animal manures.

Flesh, blood, hair, horns, bones, etc. All quite rich,
containing much nitrogen, and very valuable.

The animal contains no silica.

Bones are best applied in the form of dust, or dis-
solved by sulphuric acid.

Phosphates of the bones, are important to replace
those carried away by the grain crops.

CHAPTER IX.

Animal manures [continued).

Manures of domestic animals.

Importance of preserving both the solid and the
liquid parts of the manure; tanks are necessary, and
all other precautions, to prevent drainage, exposure,
and consequent loss of nitrogen.

Manure of birds richest of all, having the solid and
the liquid parts together. Guano an instance of this
class, very rich in nitrogen and in phosphates.

Fish, an important manure; contains much nitro-

OF THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS. 181

gen, and decomposes easily. For this reason, it should
be at once covered, or made into compost.

Saline and mineral manures.

Lime. Used as quicklime, slaked lime, and mild,
or air-slaked lime.

Quicklime only to he used where there are no rich
manures, as when in contact with them, it liberates
nitrogen, and thus deteriorates the manure.

The effect of lime in the soil, is to decompose or*-
ganic and inorganic compounds, as well as to furnish
food for plants.

Marls, a form of carbonate of lime ; shell sand also
another form : their beneficial effect as manures.

CHAPTER X.

Saline and mineral manures {continued).

Gypsum, or plaster of paris, a compound of sulphuric
acid and lime, valuable food for plants. Its good effects
in attracting gases and moisture; abuse of it by adding,
for a series of years, without other manure.

Common salt, nitrate of soda, nitrate of potash
(saltpetre), carbonate of soda, etc., all powerful ma-
nures.

None of these, nor guano, should be in immediate
contact with the seed, and are best applied in small
quantities, with half the usual allowance of farmyard
manure. A mixture of them, much better than one
alone.

Wood ashes, coal ashes, peat ashes, are all good
manures ; ought to be kept from rain till they are
used. Good to extirpate weeds, and to mix with
other things for sowing.

Soot, a rich manure, contains much ammonia and
inorganic substances.

16

182 RECAPITULATION

CHAPTER XL

Composition of various crops.

Wheat contains from 50 to 65 per ct. of starchy
12 to 20 per ct. of gluten, 3 to 5 per ct. of fatty
matter. Oats, barley and rye do not differ greatly in
composition.

Buckwheat less nutritious. Rice contains 80 per ck
of starch.

Indian corn has 60 per ct. of starch, oil about 10
per ct., protein substances 12 to 16 per ct. ; is a very
fattening food.

In peas and beans are starch about 40 per ct., pro-
tein 25 to 30 per ct., and a little oil.

Potatoes contain 75 per ct. of water, 14 to 20 per
ct. of starch, and 1 to 2 per ct. of protein.

Turnips, beets, etc., have about 90 per ct. of water,
and small quantities of protein, gum, sugar, etc-
They make up for the poor quality, by the quantity
of nutritive matter that they yield per acre, more
than any other crops.

CHAPTER XH.

Application of crops in feeding*

Nitrogenous or protein bodies of the plant, are the
same as those which form the muscle, and all the
other parts of the animal that contain nitrogen.

The oily or fatty matters are also nearly identical
in composition.

The inorganic substances are the same as in the
plant, with the single exception of silica.

The plant is a species of manufactory, to supply
food for the animal in the most convenient form.

Starch is in great part used up for the purposes of
respiration : it is consumed by a species of combus-

OP THE PRECEDING CHAPTERS. 183

tion in the lungs and blood, to keep the animal warm.
Fat, gum, and sugar, may also serve the same pur-
pose, when necessary.

The young animal should have food containing
substances to increase its bulk; should not be stinted.

All animals exposed to cold, use up a large portion
of their food in keeping warm.

The full grown working animal only needs enough
food to keep all of its parts complete : does not in-
crease its bulk; hence its manure is richer.

The fattening animal requires food of such a
character as to lay fat and flesh on its frame ; its
manure is also valuable, in all cases it is better as the
food is richer.

Various modes of feeding ; advantage of cutting
straw, stalks, etc.

CHAPTER Xm.

Feeding (continued.)

The system of feeding green crops; its probable
advantage.

Feeding under shelter; sheltered stock increase
more with less food.

Influence of the state in which food is given. Cut,
cooked, soured food; theories of their action.

Any form usually better, so long as the animal will
eat it, that increases the ease of digestion.

CHAPTER XIV.
Milk and dairy produce.

Composition of milk.

Butter is a species of fat, enclosed in globules :
these rise to the surface of milk, and form cream.

Temperature at which churning is commenced,
highly important; also the time occupied, a tolerably
long time probably best.

184 CIRCULATION OF THE ELEMENTS.

Care to be taken in separating buttermilk; conse-
quences if any remains; salt to be pure.

Ash from milk is particularly rich in phosphates.

Cheese, made from casein of milk, a nitrogenous
body thrown down or curdled by acids.

Various qualities of cheese, due in a degree to the
greater or less richness of the milk.

Care to be taken in expelling whey, and necessity
of using pure salt.

Milk should be curdled at a certain temperature.

Influence which selling off butter and cheese must
have on pastures, by carrying away phosphates, etc.

This shows why bones are so beneficial an appli-
cation to pastures.

I have but a few words to add in conclusion; these
relate to the beautiful and distinct connection, which
exists between each part of the outline now com-
pleted. We may follow any particular substance in
its course from the inanimate soil to the living plant,
from the plant to the living and conscious animal, and
finally see it return to the soil once more. In all of
its changes it remains the same in its nature, but is
constantly presented to us in new forms,

The earth, the mother of all, from whose bosom
all forms of life directly or indirectly spring, and
also draw their nourishment during existence, is sure,
sooner or later, to attract her children to her breast
again. The same source from which they drew
their life, receives them in death and decay.

We see then from these facts, that there is an end-
less chain of circulation, from the earth, up through the
plant, to the animal, and then again back to the parent
earth. By watching this chain, and the various trans-
formations of matter during its course, we may hope
ot grow constantly wiser, in every department of agri-

NOTHING LOST IN NATURE. 185

culture. We discover that nothing is lost : if we burn
a piece of wood, it disappears, but has merely been
converted into carbonic acid and water, both of which
are at once ready to enter into new combinations.
The animal or the plant dies, and also after a time
disappears; but in its decay, every particle furnishes
food for a new series of living things. The farmer
can annihilate nothing, he can only change the form
of his materials: every study which will enable him
to do this according to his wish, should be pursued
eagerly and perseveringly.

The farmer must remember that all of the substances
with which he has to do, all of the agents that are at
his command, are connected in their composition and
action with the fourteen elementary bodies, organic
and inorganic, that have been described in this little
work. If he preserves them, or if he adds them as
manures in an improper form, his utmost exertions
are of little avail; if in a proper form, his land
becomes fertile, and his returns all that heart
could wish. If one is absent, the others may all
be useless; if one is present too largely, the same
effect upon the action of the others may ensue. How
immensely important then, and how directly practical
is the knowledge of these elements, and of the im-
mense variety of combinations in which they present
themselves !

In this connection, I wish to add two chapters as
an appendix, upon particular subjects, for which there
has seemed before to be no appropriate place; and
WThich I have therefore omitted till now, rather than
interrupt the continuity of the preceding chapters.

The first of these subjects, is that of chemical ana-
lysis. So many erroneous views are published, and
otherwise disseminated, on this important branch of
study, that it seems necessary to present here some
plain statements and facts, which may in a degree
16*

186 IMPORTANCE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS.

counteract the false impressions that hare gone abroad.
I shall endeavour to explain what a good analysis
ought to be, and to give some simple methods for
chemical examinations.

The second subject will be geology. This science
has been alluded to in passing, and the nature of its
connection with agriculture partially explained. I
propose here to give more details, and also some
illustrations as to the laws which are most important
to the practical man.

187
CHAPTER XVI.

OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS.
SECTION I. THE TRUE NATURE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS.

Among all of the subjects that have been presented
to the consideration of farmers, since the work of agri-
cultural improvement commenced, none has been less
understood, even by many of those who have pre-
tended to be its expounders, than that of analytical
chemistry as applied to agriculture.

Many authors and speakers have labored to esta-
blish it as a fact, that there is no difficulty in chemical
investigations, beyond what may be overcome by
a few days of study : thus a large portion of the
farming community have been led into the belief that
when proper institutions are established, they them-
selves, or at least their children, may in a few weeks
time do all of their own analytical work; just as they
do their own ploughing, and as well as the most ac-
complished chemist could do it.

That such ideas as these are totally at variance with
the truth, none who- jiave ever studied the subject
thoroughly can for a moment doubt. It is a perfectly
safe conclusion when any man asserts, for instance,
the entire simplicity and ease of analysing a soil, that
his analyses would not be of a very accurate descrip-
tion.

Chemistry is a science that must be studied earnest-
ly and perseveringly, just like any other branch of
knowledge which has a wide range. In order to know
what is in a soil, and to determine what are the quan-
tities of its constituents, an intimate acquaintance is

188 EVILS RESULTING

necessary, not only with the substances themselves in
their almost endless relations and changes; but with
great numbers of other substances from which they
must be distinguished, and with which they are likely
to be confounded by an inexperienced person.

We can only determine quantities by means of cer-
tain chemical processes : most of these depend on the
addition of other bodies, to a solution in which
are dissolved those that we wish to separate. Sup-
pose now these bodies which are thus added to be im-
pure : obviously the whole result will be erroneous;
the chemist then, must know how to distinguish wTith
certainty between pure and impure substances, and to
tell what the impurities are.

When he knows all of these things, there are still
a great number of minor but very important points,
that require attention. He must use absolutely pure
water, must filter his liquids through paper that has
•very little ash, and must weigh everything upon a
balance that is sensitive to at least the tenth of a
grain.

I might go on and mention other requisites to a
good analysis, but those already noted are sufficient
to show, that great care, skill, and experience, are
absolutely essential in this business; that uninstructed
persons must constantly be making mistakes of the
most flagrant description. The worst difficulty of all
is, that in many cases, not having even knowledge
enough to know when they have gone astray, they
actually rely upon their own work as trustworthy, and
lead others to do so too.

Results produced by such proficients are unhappily
too common, and are always productive of harm
wherever they go. The farmer, who knows little or
nothing of even chemical names, perhaps is not com-
petent to judge of a good analysis ; he can not tell the
difference between a pretender to scientific know-

PROM ERRONEOUS ANALYSES. 189

ledge, and one who really knows something that is
true and valuable. He takes these erroneous analyses
as his guides, and probably falls at once into some
serious mistake, by attempting to alter the supposed
constitution of his soil. After he has been disappointed
in this way a few times, he is very apt to condemn
all scientific agriculture as ridiculous, and of no avail
for any practical purposes.

What I wish to impress in this connection, is the
necessity of caution in coming to such a decision. Let
it first be considered, if the experiments to be carried
out have been properly and carefully made, so that
there could be no mistake in that direction. Let it
next be ascertained that no physical obstacles are in
the way of success, and if it is found beyond doubt that
there has been no error from either of these causes, then
let the fanner conclude — not that chemistry and sci-
entific investigation are useless; but that the results of
analysis obtained were wrongly interpreted, or that the
examinations were incorrectly made.

There is truth in science, but it is not every one
who can draw it out; and the proper course in cases
of an unsatisfactory nature, is to distrust the man, and
not the general principles.

It is easy to show that there are very serious diffi-
culties, other than those which have been already men-
tioned, in the way of making perfect analyses. We
will take soils as an instance. Where mention has
been made of the inorganic substances in soils, as in
Table I. p. 60, it must have been noticed that the pro-
portions of some of them were quite small, so much so
as to seem of little importance. It was, however, ex-
plained that the presence of these minute quantities
was absolutely necessary, so much so that our culti-
vated crops would not thrive without them.

Half a pound of phosphoric acid in 100 lbs. of
earth, is a very unusually large proportion, even in

190 GREAT CARE AND SKILL

our most fertile soils. Half a pound in 100, makes
but a small figure when we come to give the compo-
sition of a single pound; it is only live-thousandths,
T o5o 0? °f a pound. Now 1 lb. is a far larger quantity of
material than can be used with safety for an accurate
analysis. The instruments employed, and the various
methods of operation adopted, are such as, in nearly
all cases, to forbid the use of a large bulk or weight
of the substance to be examined. Consequently only a
small fraction of a pound is worked upon, and from
this all of the bodies present are to be separated, even
down to small parts of a single grain.

It becomes at once obvious, that very great care,
very good apparatus, and no small portion of skill, are
requisite to an analytical chemist in the determination
of these minute quantities. If any of the chemicals
used in the analysis are impure, the impurities of
course have an influence upon the result: hence the
chemist must know the properties of many other bo-
dies beside those upon which he is at work, in order
to be sure that he is not adding something which
will prove injurious to the accuracy of his results.

There is still another, among many points that
might be noticed in this connection. The processes
necessary for the determination of potash, soda, and
phosphoric acid, when all are present and in combi-
nation with other bodies, are in the last degree com-
plicated and difficult. Many ways of determining
them are described in books; some of these are alto-
gether faulty, and all require much skill and know-
ledge on the part of the operator, that he may avoid
serious errors. These bodies, it will be remembered,
are among the most important that soils contain, be-
cause they are most likely to be exhausted by crop-
ping. A comparatively inexperienced or uninstructed
person, may determine iron, alumina, or silica, those

ENQUIRED IN CONDUCTING ANNLYSES. T9T

bodies which make up the bulk of soils; but when
they come to the most important part, the detection
and separation of these small quantities, they proba-
bly either fail to find them at all, find them when they
are not there, or find altogether too much.

In view of the foregoing remarks, how inconsiderater
and how unwise, are the statements of those who would
lead the fanning community to think that each
man is in a short time to acquire the skill to deter-
mine all problems of a chemical nature, that may
present themselves in the course of his experience. It
is true that there is nothing mentioned above, which
can not be acquired by any intelligent man, but he
can only accomplish it after a long course of study.
"When he has gone through with this course, still other
difficulties present themselves; to make perfect ana-
lyses, he requires a laboratory, and rather expensive
apparatus of various kinds.

A good analysis must have his undivided attention,
and even then will occupy him not less than from ten
days to a fortnight; and what is to become of his
farm in the mean time? On the other hand, if he
devotes himself actively to his practical pursuits, as
every good fanner must, for at least a large part of
the year, his chemical knowledge rusts, and he soon
loses his facility and aptitude for making reliable
analyses.

The truth is, that the two pursuits are dissimilar:
*he chemist may and should know much of practical
agriculture, but still his main business must be che-
mistry; the farmer may and should know much of
science, but his daily occupation must be in the field.
His leisure time may be most agreeably and profitably
employed in gaining scientific knowledge, but the
business of analysis, and accurate chemical investiga-
tions, must be left with those who are trained to it;

192 SOME USEFUL EXAMINATIONS MAY BE MADE

all points which practice alone can not explain, must
go to them.

But some objectors continue, " It is an immense tax
on the farmer that he must have every soil analysed,
every manure thoroughly examined ; these investiga-
tions are expensive, and are unattainable for this
reason, by the great majority of the community." This
is quite true, but it is no less true that the great ma-
jority will never require such minute analyses. If the
soils in a particular district are all formed from the
same rock, one or two careful analyses will suffice to
determine the general character of the whole. So
with manures; a few analyses of any particular kind
will settle its value, in whatever part of the country it
may be used. In cases where there is any thing par-
ticularly obscure or puzzling, in a soil or field, chemi-
cal analysis must be called upon to solve the question.

In most situations, as knowledge of these subjects
increases, the intelligent farmer will daily become
more and more qualified to experiment himself, for
particular purposes, using manures of known compo-
sition: he may thus frequently arrive, unassisted, at
just and important conclusions.

There are, moreover, some points upon which the
practical man may experiment, without becoming a
chemist, and without previous instruction. To a no-
tice of the more important among these, I shall devote
the remainder of this chapter.

SECTION II. AN ACCOUNT OF SOME SMPLE CHEMICAL
TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS.

The classifying of soils by means of mechanical
processes, has already been explained in Chapter V.,
and it is only necessary here to recal attention to it.
When an analysis of this kind is completed, the farmer
has no light thrown from it upon the chemical com-

BY THE PRACTICAL FARMER 193

position of his soil, except so far as the silica and
alumina, that is, the sand and clay, are separated, and
their proportions known.

The following course maybe adopted, in case more
information is desired, regarding the especial consti-
tuents of a soil.

1. Take a weighed half pound or pound of the
soil, and boil it in water for some hours: rain water is
purest. Then pour it upon a filter of coarse porous
paper, of the kind that druggists use for their nitra-
tions. The mode of managing this operation, may be
seen in any druggist's shop. If the liquid does not
come through clear at first, it must be refiltered till it
is quite clear. The solution thus obtained is evapo-
rated to dryness, and the solid residue burned. It will
blacken at first, by the burning of its organic matter,
but afterwards will become white again.

a. It may now be weighed on a small apothecaries'
balance, and the weight gives the percentage of in-
organic matter soluble in water, that exists in the
soil.

b. This portion consists in many soils, for the most
part, of sulphates, or carbonates, of potash and soda.
There is also commonly present some chloride of so
dium, or common salt.

These are all valuable constituents of a soil; and
hence, where an experiment of this kind shows such
soluble matter to abound, it may be inferred that the
soil is well supplied with an important portion of its
requisite substances.

c. The part soluble in water is commonly not
large : it amounts to not more than from one to three
per cent, in many excellent soils.

2. Take another weighed portion of soil, or the

same which has already been boiled in water, and

heat it with some muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid),

diluted by two or three times its bulk of water. After

17

194 DIRECTIONS FOR CONDUCTING

standing a few hours, put this also upon a filter, and
wash the acid liquid through.

a. Wash the residue upon the filter with successive
portions of clear water, until it no longer tastes acid;
it may then he burned until all of the organic part is
consumed, and weighed when it is cooh This weight
gives the percentage of insoluble siliceous matter in
the soil.

b. To the filtered acid solution, is first added am-
monia (common aqua ammonia), till it is no longer
acid but alkaline; a flocculent precipitate then imme-
diately falls, being iron and alumina. If it is of a
deep red color, then iron predominates, and the con-
trary if it is nearly white. If the precipitate has a
whitish green color, and reddens when exposed to the
air, then the soil contains the protoxide of iron, in
place of the peroxide. The first, it will be remem-
bered, was spoken of on p. 62, as injurious to plants.
It is for this reason important to know which oxide is
present.

If it is shown by the above test to be the protoxide,
the solution must be boiled again with an addition of
a little nitric acid : this will convert all of the iron
into peroxide, and it will thus remain upon the filter;
the protoxide would have been partially washed
through. Another filtering is now necessary. This
should be done as soon as the precipitate has settled,
and while the liquid is warm, so that it may filter
more rapidly. The whole operation should be done
in the shortest practicable time, and the liquid covered
as far as possible from access of air.

From the apparent quantity of the iron and alu-
mina, as weighed after burning, may be judged with
tolerable accuracy the proportion present in the soil.

c. If the soil contained much lime, an effervescence
would have been seen at first, when the acid was
added : this is supposing the lime to be contained as

IAIN USEFUL ANALYSES. 195

Carbonate, or in combination with carbonic acid, that
being the most common form. If it is not present
as carbonate, or if this is in so small quantity as not
to show any action with acid, there are still means for
its easy and certain detection. To the solution pre-
viously rendered alkaline by ammonia, and already fil-
tered to separate iron and alumina, is to be added a lit-
tle common oxalic acid. If there be even the smallest
weighable quantity of lime present, a white powdery
precipitate will begin to fall; from the abundance of
this, may be estimated roughly the proportion of lime
in the soil.

All of the above important points, it will be noticed,
may be determined without any necessity for expen-
sive materials or apparatus, by a person of ordinary
intelligence. Easy as these things seem, however,
in the description, so many difficulties will be found
in practice, as will give the operator some conception
of the care and study involved in a complete and de-
tailed analysis; one where it is intended to ensure the
greatest possible degree of accuracy.

I have not mentioned any tests for the presence of
phosphoric acid, and other of the less abundant sub-
stances; because their detection and separation is so
difficult, that the inexperienced beginner would only
run into every description of error while looking for
them.

It is not a hard matter for the farmer to arrive at
the probable value of a marl, with quite a tolerable
degree of accuracy. A weighed portion must be
taken, and diluted muriatic acid added from time to
time, until all effervescence has ceased. The mixture
is then boiled, or at least well heated, and thrown
upon a filter. The insoluble residue which remains
upon the filter, must be washed clean from acid, dried,
and weighed : this is chiefly silica. Its weight, sub-
tracted from the original weight taken, will, in most

196 DIRECTIONS FOR CONDUCTING

cases, give nearly the amount of carbonate of lime
that has been dissolved out by the acid. Small quan-
tities of other substances have been dissolved at the
same time, which have been mentioned in a previous
chapter, as important to the value of the marl; but
they are only to be separated by an instructed chemist.
Since expensive manures, such as guano, have come
into vogue, the temptation to adulterations on the
part of dealers is great, and farmers should be cau-
tious in their purchases. By two or three simple tests,
the comparative value of a substance offered as a
guano, may be ascertained. Table VI. p, 106, will be
a useful one for reference in such a case.

1. A weighed portion may be heated for some
hours, at a temperature not exceeding that of boiling
water. The loss of weight will then indicate the
amount of water which the guano contained, and it
can be referred with much probability to one of the
classes mentioned in Table VI.

2. This dried portion may be burned, till it has
ceased to lose weight: the loss is organic matter, and
salts of ammonia; if it is greater than the largest
quantity mentioned in Table VI., then it is probable
that an adulteration has been practised, by mixing
some finely-ground organic substance, such as tan-
bark.

3. The residue after burning should be nearly
white, not more than about 36 per cent of the whole
weight, and should dissolve almost entirely in muriatic
acid. If a large portion refuses to dissolve, some solid
substance may have been added as an adulteration.

4. Some solid may also have been added, which
would dissolve in acid; and it therefore becomes neces-
sary to ascertain if that which has dissolved be really
phosphate of lime. This is simply and easily done by
adding ammonia, till the acid solution has become
alkaline : if phosphate of lime be present, it will im-

CERTAIN USEFUL ANALYSES. 197

mediately be precipitated in the form of white floccu-
lent masses, the abundance of which may indicate
the proportion present in the guano.

5. It is safe still farther to test the organic matter,
by mixing with quicklime, as described, page 106. A
very strong odor of ammonia should become percep-
tible immediately, and continue to be given off for a
considerable length of time.

The foregoing instances are of a nature so simple
as to be easily understood, and are sufficient to show
that the farmer, without becoming a chemist, may
still make some valuable experiments for his own sa-
tisfaction; and this with such means as are to be found
in any country village.

I might multiply cases of the same nature to an
indefinite extent, but as this is not an extended treatise
upon analytical chemistry, the above illustrations are
sufficient for the present purpose.

One great end will be attained by all who go
through with such examinations as these, or who ex-
periment upon the various substances mentioned in the
previous chapters. They will soon familiarize them-
selves to such an extent with chemical phenomena,
and terms, that they will be able, far more readily
and perfectly than ever before, to comprehend the
writings and discoveries of scientific men, and to draw
from them truths profitably applicable to their own
pursuits.

17*

198

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GENERAL APPLICATIONS OF GEOLOGY TO
AGRICULTURE.

Changes that the earth's surface has undergone. Unstratified or
primary rocks. Stratified or secondary and tertiary rocks.
Regular succession of the strata. Each stratum known by
characteristic fossils. Composition of granite, and of traps or
basalts. Differences in composition among the stratified rocka.
Illustration by diagram. Of disturbing causes which have al-
tered soils. Drift; explanation of its nature, and theories of
its formation. Alluvial deposits. Practical advantages of
geological knowledge.

SECTION I. OF THE STRATIFED AND UNSTRATIFIED ROCKS.

Geological science explores the structure of this
earth's surface, to as great a depth as our means of
observation extend. In the course of geological in-
vestigations, various important and interesting laws
have been established.

It is found that the earth has been, before man
inhabited it, a scene of constant change and convul-
sion. Forces from within and without, have elevated,
upheaved, and even overturned, some portions of its
surface; while others have been overwhelmed, or de-
pressed, in a corresponding degree. Dry land has
thus appeared where seas had flowed, and seas have
swept over what had long been elevated above their
surface. But it may be asked, how do we know all
of these facts 1 The answer to this is plain : simply
by investigation of existing rocks, in the phenomena
connected with their position and structure.

UNSTRATIFIED A.NL STRATIFIED ROCKS. 199

The labors of geologists have resulted in the es-
tablishment of certain great divisions, among the
rocks which present themselves for our inspection.
The leading, and grand division, is into stratified, and
unstratiiied rocks.

The unstratified rocks are also often called primary
rocks, because they occur below the others. These
rocks are the granites, syenites, traps, etc. They have
no arrangement into regular strata, but are confused
crystallized masses, evidently the result of fusion;
they have all at one time been melted like lavas, and
are, in fact, ancient lavas, which, in cooling, have
assumed their present form. Occasionally these old
lavas have burst up through the stratified rocks, just
as volcanic eruptions do now, and have cooled in the
open air : in such places we have the ranges of gra-
nites, and traps, or basalts, which cover so much of
the earth's surface.

The stratified rocks may be divided into secondary,
and tertiary, formations, according to their age. The
primary rocks, as has been stated, bear marks of fu-
sion, and of having been formed by heat; not so with
the secondary, and tertiary rocks. Their materials
have evidently all been deposited by water, having in
many cases undergone striking changes afterward,
but always retaining marks of their origin. Some-
times the strata are thick, as in some sandstones, and
limestones; sometimes thin, like the leaves of a book,
as in some slates.

a. An example of stratification may be seen in
almost any sand or clay bank, where the successive
deposits by water are clearly marked; some of the
layers being quite thick, others very thin; some quite
level, and others again very undulating.

These strata were of course all deposited in regular
succession, one above another : if there had been no
subsequent changes, then we should only be acquaint-

200 NO COAL BELOW THE OLD RED SANDSTONE.

ed with a few of the upper deposits. But the various
convulsions of which I have spoken, interfered to pre-
vent this order; we consequently find the strata lying
•in all imaginable positions, sometimes flat, sometimes
bent, sometimes inclined, and sometimes straight on
end or vertical. In this way they are all, even to the
lowest, in one place and another, presented to our
view. Whatever convulsions they may have under-
gone, however they have been twisted and contorted,
their relative position to each other is always the same,
in whatever part of the world they may be found.

This is a most important practical fact; as an in-
stance, there are many kinds of sandstone : under one
kind coal is always found, and this is called the new
red sandstone; but below the coal is another, called
the old red sandstone. Where this last occurs, it is a
positive certainty that no coal exists beneath it, and
consequently explorations are fruitless. A person
unacquainted wTith geology, would as soon look under
one sandstone formation as another, and would there-
fore be liable to severe losses. Such losses used fre-
quently to occur, before geology had arrived at its
present advanced state.

It is necessary to say in a few words, how these
various stratifications are distinguished from one ano-
ther, and how their relative age can be known with
so much certainty.

The different geological examinations of which I
have spoken, show that there were not only vast alter-
ations on this earth's surface, before man became its
inhabitant; but that race upon race, millions upon
millions, of animated creatures, had lived and died
here. With the successive changes which have depo-
sited the various rocks, whole classes of animals and
plants have been swept from existence, and replaced
by others, differing perhaps entirely inform and struc-
ture. But these races, though they disappeared, were

DETERMINATION OF SUCCESSIVE STRATA. 201

not annihilated : they were embalmed, as it were,
where they died; and we can now dig out from the
bowels of the rock, an impression, or the frame itself,
of a fish, as clear and distinct as when it first died;
or a plant, with every little feathery leaf preserved,
as perfect as when it waved on that unknown land, or
floated in that ancient sea, long centuries before man
drew the breath of life.

These are the records which enable us to read the
early history of our globe; these mute witnesses, each
in its own peculiar rock, identify that rock, in what-
ever part of the world it may occur. There is a
gradual progression in their appearance. The lowest
fossiliferous rocks contain but few remains, and those
of species entirely dissimilar to any which now exist.
As we come down from this most remote antiquity,
the fossils increase in number, and also in their like-
ness to the forms of living species; until at last, in
the very latest formations, we find both animals and
plants nearly or quite identical with some of our ex-
isting kinds. A skilful geologist can always tell,
from its fossils, at what position in the series any rock
belongs.

The number of stratified rocks is very great, but it
is not my present purpose even to name them: I shall
only show, how a knowledge of their composition
bears upon the practical cultivation of the soil.

SECTION II. OF THE DIFFERENCES IN COMPOSITION AMONG
THE VARIOUS ROCKS.

All of our rocks, both stratified and unstratified,
difFer in composition most materially. We may take
first, two examples of the primary, or unstratified
class, granite, and basalt, or trap.

Granite is a mixture of three minerals, called quartz,
feldspar, and mica. The quartz is nothing but silica;
in the feldspar and mica, there is also silica with

202 COMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT ROCKS.

much alumina, and very considerable quantities of
potash or soda. There is scarcely any lime, and no
phosphates, beyond perhaps mere traces. Some varie-
ties of granite do contain these substances in fair
proportions, but for the most part there is very little
of either. Hence granitic soils are frequently cold
and poor, particularly on the sides of the hills. In
the valleys they are apt to be better, as the best part
of the decomposing minerals naturally washes down
the slopes. The abundance of alumina, however,
often makes these soils quite stiff.

The true trap rocks, or basaltic rocks, also contain
feldspar, but with it an abundance of another mineral
called hornblende; or another still, called augite.
Both of these abound in lime, and consequently in
this class of rocks, according to theory, we have the
materials for producing soils superior to those formed
on the granitic regions. Practice supports the same
view; the greenstone traps and basalts almost inva-
riably form strong, good soils, fitted for the successful
cultivation of almost any crop. Some of the richest
land in Scotland is on this formation.

The trap rocks vary in different situations, as to
their proportion of lime. In nine samples examined by
Prof. Johnston, the percentage of lime ranged from
2 to more than ]0 percent. These soils are so rich in
some places, that the surface is carted away to spread
upon poorer fields.

The same differences of composition occur among
the stratified rocks. Some form very excellent soils,
and others very barren ones. The annexed diagram
will show how the soils alter, from what is called the
cropping out of mineral strata.

RELATION OF ROCKS TO THE SOIL. 203

At a, the strata are set up vertically, and are quite
thin; suppose them to differ considerably in composi-
tion, there would be a different soil in every mile or
less. I once examined a series of seven slate rocks,
taken from as many different layers of slate, in the
same district. Four of them were almost destitute
of lime, two had about 2 per cent each, and one had
nearly 8 per cent. How different must have been the
soils which these slates formed!

As we descend upon the plain, in the diagram, the
strata lie nearly horizontal, and each may perhaps
cover a large district. Thus beginning at b, we per-
haps come upon a poor sandy soil, formed from some
inferior sandstone; proceeding along this for fifty
miles, we come at d, upon a limestone of good quali-
ty; here the character of the soil changes at once,
and we have a rich, fertile district.

At the points where two different strata meet, is
very likely to be a good soil; because a union of the
two generally supplies either all that is necessary to
the chemical composition, or alters for the better the
physical character of the soil.

Suppose e, in the hollow, to be an exceedingly wet
and tough clay, too tenacious for profitable cultiva-
tion: at the point b, where we meet the poor sand)
soil before mentioned, the sand mixes with the clay,
and forms ,a mellow rich soil. At c, on the hill side,
where the strata lie horizontally, changes are of course
more frequent, and the character of the soils at the
base is apt to be affected by washing down from those
above.

These differences in the character of different strata,
explain also some facts relative to the wetness of soils.
We often see the side of a steep hill very wet If the
stratum of rock and soil at c be stiff, and impervious
to water, all the rain which falls on the country back
and higher up will sink till it comes to this stratum.

204 GEOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES.

It cannot penetrate and sink farther, so it follows
along this layer, till it comes out above c, on the side
of the hill, and wets all of the country below. On
the other hill a, if the strata are pervious to water, it
will all sink away, and the soil will be perfectly dry.

SECTION III. OF THE CAUSES WHICH HAVE DISTURBED THE
REGULAR FORMATION OF SOILS, FROM THEIR UNDERLY-
ING ROCKS.

From the foregoing explanations, it might be sup-
posed, that if we know the rock lying underneath any
given field, and can tell of what that rock is composed,
we may be able to decide positively upon the charac-
ter of the soil on the surface. This is not, however,
always the case.

That it is not so, may be ascribed to the numerous
convulsions of the earth's surface, which have been
before mentioned. Geological explorations have
shown, that immense districts in various parts of the
world, have no relations in the character of their sur-
face, to the geological features of the region; the
rocks which would ordinarily show themselves upon
the surface, are covered, to a greater or less extent,
by transported materials from some other source. Such
observations as these, have led to the study of what
are called the phenomena of drift.

The vast quantities of transported materials, which
thus overlie original rocks, consist, on inspection,
of the ruins of other formations that have been
broken and crumbled down, and their fragments borne
to other regions by some unknown power. It is clear,
however, that water has been one chief agent in this
action; for in nearly every case the stones wdiich occur
in drift, are water-worn and rounded; thus showing
that they have been rolled along in some mighty cur-
rent, till all their angles have worn away. We see

PHENOMENA OF DRIFT. 205

hard quartz rocks, weighing many tons, that have
been perfectly rounded and smoothed in this way,
and can thence conjecture how fearful must have been
the rush and the war of elements, that produced such
effects.

Geologists consider that there have been several
periods of drift, on the northern part of this continent;
all of them being in a westerly direction, coming from
the east. Some ascribe it to the action of ice, either
in the form of glaciers, or icebergs; others to the up-
heaval of the bottom in some portion of the north sea,
sending an indescribable torrent of mingled mud, ice,
and water, sweeping over the face of the country;
tearing away hills, scooping out valleys, crumbling
away various strata of rock, and depositing their ma-
terials in different and often far distant localities.

The fact that the rocks on the sides of some of our
highest hills are ground smooth, and marked with
scratches and even deep grooves, in the direction
which these currents, or masses of ice, took, shows
how irresistible must have been their force, and how
great their volume.

In some cases, the action of this drift has been, to
cover up good soils, or rocks that are capable of pro-
ducing such soils, with immense accumulations of
sand and gravel. In other places it has deposited a
better class of substances than the original. On the
whole, it may be considered that it has done good, by
mixing the ruins of various formations; varying the
soil, and the consequent productions, over districts
that would otherwise have been uniform, and where
the want of these various materials might have been
severely felt, in all the ordinary occupations of life.
What must have seemed at the time, wild chaotic
confusion and ruin, was then after all a wise pro-
vision of God, to prepare this continent more per-
fectly for our habitation.

18

206 FORMATION OF SURFACE SOIL.

There are other sections, where foreign accumula-
tions cover the original soil, and alter its capabilities,
from causes that we can more fully comprehend;
causes which are operating at the present day. These
are alluvial plains, formed by substances deposited
during the annual overflow of rivers. These, during
high water, become charged in the rapid currents of
their sources, with materials from all of the formations
through which their course lies. When the water
reaches the plains of the low countries, where it has
room to expand beyond its usual limits, a deposit of
these suspended substances takes place, as soon as the
current is checked by spreading out over the surface,
and its flow becomes tranquil.

Thus an annual layer is formed, which in time
makes a soil of great depth, and usually of great fer-
tility; for the reason that it is a mixture from the
ruins of many rocks, and therefore likely to contain
all that plants need. We have many instances of such
soils in this country; on the banks of the Connecticut,
of the Mohawk, of the Mississippi, and a hundred other
streams.

These causes, then, are sufficient reasons for saying
that we can not always assert what any particular
soil will be, if we know the rock of the district in
which it is situated. Our opinion upon such a sub-
ject must be given with the reservation — " If there
have been no disturbing influences." An inspection
of a district by a practised eye, would immediately
detect any foreign deposits, and determine their cha-
racter.

It is easy to perceive how a knowledge of this sub-
ject, even of a superficial nature, must be valuable
to a practical man. If his soil is formed by the de-
composition of a granitic rock, he can ascertain with
little trouble, what are the constituents of that rock,
and what are the special manures most likely to

UTILITY AND INTEREST OF GEOLOGY. 207

prove beneficial in his section. So also if he wishes
to buy land in a distant region, and has no definite
knowledge as to its character; he may determine its
probable quality at once, from a good geological map.
If he has cultivated the soil of some particular forma-
tion, till he has come to like it, and to know better
how to cultivate it than any other; he may in the
same manner learn where to find for himself, or for
his children, the same kind of land in some other dis-
trict.

I may observe in conclusion, that while Geology is
thus practically useful, it also is among the most in-
teresting of sciences; for it takes us back through
ages that are past, and lays open the early history of
our globe, with its silent, yet speaking, records of ex-
tinct races, and of sudden overwhelming changes.

Nothing in this world can give such an idea of an-
tiquity, as one of these fossils that I have mentioned;
the remains of a fish, or a shell, from some of the
lower stratified rocks. We are accustomed to think of
the pyramids as ancient; but this creature enjoyed
life, and fulfilled its part in the animated world, at
a period which brings the pyramids, in comparison,
down to things of yesterday. Since it died, race after
race, in gradual progression, has occupied the seas
and the land; has in its turn been sooner or later
swept away, to make a part of some new formation.
Wide seas or rapid torrents have rolled over its
resting place; and then again by a new change, it
has supported the immense growth of some old fossil
forest on dry land, which, in its turn overwhelmed,
gave place to other seas, containing still other forms
of life.

After all these unnumbered centuries of revolution,
it comes forth to the gaze of man upon the earth, which
in its day and generation it helped to prepare for his

208 CONCLUSION.

abode; to speak to him of the infinite power of that
Being who made them both.

It is thus with everything in this world of ours; on
every side we are reminded of a superior, and an
All-wise, Creator. We have been tracing nothing
but the evidences of his wisdom and power, in the
simple yet beautiful laws which regulate the being
and growth of all living things; and here we have in
this bit of stone, an evidence strong as doubt itself
could demand, that these same laws were in operation
thousands of years before any of our race existed.

To study such laws, then, is a noble as well as
attractive pursuit; for they are not to outlast us, as
they will everything in the material world around
us, whose existence and whose periodical changes
they regulate.

Our bodies, it is true, will come under the uni-
versal power of death; will be resolved once more
into their various elements; will perform once more
their part in that great circle of life which we have
endeavored to follow in its varied round : but our souls
will be beyond all such influences; will, living, be acting
out an immortal destiny, in a world where every
transformation will not be a step toward ultimate
decay, and where the blossoms of this brief lifetime
will ripen into the sweet or bitter fruits of eternity.

E. H. PEASE & COS

NEW EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS.

ELEMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE:

Or, the Connexion bet-ween Science and the Art of

Practical Farming.

(Prize Essay of the New- York State Agricultural Society.)

By JOHN P. NORTON, M. A.

Prof, of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College, Editor of Stephens'
Book of the Farm, £c. fyc.

1 vol. 12mo. dark green cloth, and appropriate devices in Gold
embossed on the side and back.

New-York Agricultural Society,
January, 1850.
Extract from the Report of the Committee on Professor Norton's
work, entitled " Elements of Scientific Agriculture" (John
Dellafield, Esq., Oakland; Hon. J. P. Beeckman, Esq., Kin-
derhook; Hon. George Geddes, Fairmount, Committee).
"As a work of science it embodies every principle and funda-
mental feature of Agriculture which has been developed to this
period, and having the stamp of truth, arrayed in simple yet per-
spicuous language. It would seem expedient that no effort should
be spared to carry this work to the home of every man, whether
directly or remotely connected with the pursuit of agriculture,
until science shall unfold to us other facts and further develop-
ments of Nature's laws. This work should be the Elementary
Text-book for every person, old or young, who studies the culti-
vation of the earth; it should form a prominent object in every
school district of the State, and be strong alike in the affections
of teacher and pupil. ' We adjudge to Prof. Norton the Premium
of One Hundred Dollars.' A resolution was unanimously adopted
by the Society, recommending, and also by the Executive Com-
mittee directing, the printing of one thousand copies of the Es-
say, to be awarded as premiums of the Society."

I certify the above abstract of the Proceedings of the Society
and Executive Committee. B. P. JOHNSON,

(Copy.) Corresponding Secretary.

SECRETARY'S OFFICE, )

Department of Com. Schools, )
Albany, April 20th, 1850.
Messrs. E. H. Pease £ Co. :

Gentlemen: I have examined the manuscript copy, and several
of the printed sheets of Prof. Norton's "Elements of Scientific
Agriculture," and am of opirrion that it is a work of great value
and interest to all classes of the community, and especially to
those engaged in agricultural pursuits. It is a clear, concise, and
full exposition of the elementary principles connected with the

2 E. H. Pease fy Co's Educational Publications.

science and art of practical farming ; and I know of no more valu-
able compend on this subject, that could be placed in the hands
of the students and pupils ot our academies and common schools.
I cordially and cheerfully recommend it to parents and teachers,
and trust it will find its way into every school, and every district
library. Very respectfully, your ob't serv't,

CHRISTOPHER MORGAN,

Superintendent of Com. Schools.
I fully concur in the preceding recommendation.

SAMUEL S. RANDALL,

Editor of District School Journal.

Extract from the Circular of the Executive Committee of the

State Normal School to the Graduates, transmitting to each of

them a copy of Professor Johnston's Catechism of Agricultural

Chemistry and Geology.

The earnestness which our Committee feel in this matter will
be seen from the following extract, taken from their last annual
report, made through the Regents of the University, to the Le-
gislature, February 11, 1850.

"The committee, appreciating the great and growing import-
ance of agricultural science, and considering it, in its elementary
principles, an appropriate subject for common school instruction;
and considering also, that with the aid of suitable text books now,
or soon to be attainable, the subject, always appropriate, has at
length become feasible for such instruction ; have recently assign-
ed it to a more prominent place than it had before held in the
Normal School, by making it a separate or independent branch,
and requiring it to be taught as an essential or constituent part
of the course of study pursued in the school. The committee, im-
pressed, as they themselves are, with the great importance of this
new subject of study, hope to be able, through their normal gra-
duates, acting under a like impression, to cause it to be introduced
into all the schools taught by such graduates, and through their
influence and that of such schools, to cause it to be finally adopted
as part of the regular course of study in all the common schools,
at least in the rural or agricultural parts of the state.

The committee have learned, with much satisfaction, from the
proceedings of the State Agricultural Society at its last annual
meeting, that a treatise on the subject above referred to, has been
recently prepared by Professor Norton and submitted to the socie-
ty, who, after due examination, have recommended it as a very
valuable production, specially appropriate for the use of common
schools, and have directed it to be published with a view, as is
understood, to such a use. Such a treatise at this time, together
with the text books already published and in practical use, will,
in the opinion of the committee, furnish all needful facilities for
common school instruction on the subject above referred to."

GEO. R. PERKINS, Principal of N. S.

Normal School Albany, March, 1850.

E. H. Peine Sf CVs Educational Publications. 3

The Executive Committee are happy to express their commen-
dation of the above circular, prepared by Professor Perkins; and
would respectfully and earnestly urge upon the graduates of the
Normal School the importance of introducing the study of Agri-
cultural Chemistry into the schools under their charge.

CHRISTOPHER MORGAN,
Chairman of the Executive Committee.
GIDEON HAWLEY, )
WM. H. CAMPBELL, \ Committee.
CH. L. AUSTIN, )

* Albany, March, 1850.

A Treatise on Astronomy, descriptive, physical, and practi-
cal, designed for schools, colleges, and private students, by H.
N. Robinson, formerly professor of Mathematics, U. States
Navy, £c.

The distinctive character of this work, and that which we think
should recommend it to the attention of teachers and students ge-
nerally, consists in this, that its author has taken a middle course
between the expressly popular expositions put forth by Herschel,
Arago, Mitchell, ^-c, in which the geometrical and arithmetical
computations necessary to a thorough and practical understanding
of the science, are either entirely omitted or barely alluded to in
such a way as to offer the least possible embarrassment to the
casual reader ; and the more heavy and exclusively technical trea-
tises, like those of Pearson and Delambre, of Gum mere, #c-,
which are suitable only to those students who are destined to be-
come professional astronomers, and consequently require a greater
portion of time and application than is commonly found to be
compatible with a course of general studies at school or college.

In the treatise of Prof. Robinson, the student who understands
elementary geometry, trigonometry, and algebra, is led by suc-
cessive and comparatively easy steps (always accompanied, how-
ever, with accurate numerical formulae of computation), from the
first appearances offered to our unaided vision by the bodies which
compose the astronomical universe, to all the more essential and
higher problems of the solar system, comprising the simplest me-
thods for the calculation of eclipses and occultations, the determi-
nation of the orbits of the planets, etc. Thus, either as a work
complete and satisfactory in itself, or as an introduction to more
elaborate treatises, we think it cannot fail to prove highly advan-
tageous, and opportune to the wants of the time. — [N.Y. Observer.

The Treatise on Astronomy is, without doubt, a valuable
addition to its class. The chief merits of the work "are brevity,
clearness of illustration, anticipating the difficulties of the pupil,
and removing them, and bringing out all the essential points of
the science."

Professor Robinson informs us, and we believe he is right, that
there is a class of works on Astronomy, " which consist of essays

4 E. H. Pease fy- Co's Educational Publications.

and popular lectures," but from which "little substantial know-
ledge can be gathered, for they do not teach astronomy ; as a ge-
neral thing they only glorify it." " There is also," he remarks,
" another class, in which most of the important facts are recorded;
such as the distances, magnitudes, and motions of the heavenly
bodies ; but how these facts became known is rarely explained :
this is what the true searcher after science will always demand,
and this book is designed expressly to meet that demand. — [Ame-
rican Quarterly Register, Philadelphia.

« * 9 m> »

A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Algebra, by H.

N. Robinson, A. M., formerly Professor of Mathematics in the

U. S. Navy.

Prof. Robinson seems to have avoided confusion in arrangement
as well as abstruseness in theory. His treatise on Algebra is
both theoretical and practical; the explanations are easily under-
stood, and the rules and modes of operation direct, clear and brief.
As an example of the former, he remarks, under the head of sub-
traction :

" We do not approve of the use of the term subtraction as ap-
plied to Algebra, for in many cases subtraction appears like ad-
dition, and addition like subtraction. We prefer the use of the
term difference. What is the difference between 12 and 20 degrees
of north latitude? This is subtraction. But when we demand the
difference of latitude between 6 degrees north and 3 degrees soulh,
the result appears like addition ; for the difference is really 9 de-
grees, the sum of 6 and 3 This example serves to explain the
true nature of the sign minus. It is merely an opposition to the
sign plus ; it is counting in another direction ; and if we call the
degrees north of the equator plus, we must call those south of it
minus, taking the equator as the zero line. So it is on the ther-
mometer scale — the divisions above zero are called plus and those
below minus. Money due to us may be called plus; money that
we owe should then be called minus — the one circumstance is
directly opposite in effect to the other. Indeed we can concieve of
no quantity less than nothing, as we sometimes express ourselves."

This is very plain, and can be easily understood by any pupil
who has progressed as far as the study of Algebra. The author
has maintained this simple and clear method which is adapted to
all capacities thronghout his whole volume of three hundred pa-
ges, thus making it a useful treatise and text book for schools
and universities. Nothing is left in obscurity and doubt. From
the first principles of the science to the higher degrees of equa-
tions, embracing Sturm's theory and Horner's method, there is
manifest a steady and skilful effort to bring every thing to the
comprehension of the student. — [Am. Quarterly Register.

D^" Will be issued in a few days, The Harmonia, a collection
of easy songs for the use of schools and social circles, by Solomon
Cone, Teacher of Music.