TH E 




Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. I Tillage and Pasturage are the two !>i 

tRe State.— Si'lmT. 



[Xexophox. 



J. E. WILLIAMS, Editor. 






AUGUST k WILLIAMS, Prop'rs. 



Vol. XX. 



RICHMOND, VA., OCTOBER, 1860. 



No. 10. 



Fertilizers. 

BY ITON. THOMAS G. CBEMSON, LL. D. 

[Abridged, from* Patent Office Report of 
1851>, and divided into three part$.>—^Efo. 
So. Planter.-] 

PART III.— MAGNF.SIA. 
[CONCLUDED niuM SCKTEMBBR NO.] 

Magnesia is a common substance, largely 
disseminated, existing in most soils, is one 
of the constituents of many rocks, and is, 
most always present in vegetables and ani- 
mal bodies. It is a white, light, and odor- 
powdeu; iitfosirJle afr the. highest tempur- 
ature of our furnaces, and slightly soluble in 
water. It forms soluble salts, with nitric. 
muriatic, or sulphuric acid, and may be 
easily distinguished from lime, by the fact 
that it is precipitated from its solution by 
limewater. It is generally found in combi- 
nation with lime in all calear. ;s, and 
in certain varieties it is a constant Constitu- 
ent; such are the dolomites, or roagn* 
limestones, which are largely developed in 
Europe, as well as in America, and have re- 
ceived the name of metalliferous limestone. 
from the mineral substances which they con- 
tain. Magnesian limestones are found to an 
immense extent, in the western States, and 
37 



constitute the lead and copper-bearing rocks 
of Missouri, &c. They arc also found in 
New York, Pennsylvania, &c. Magnesia is 
moreover, one of the constituents of serpen- 
tine and talcose slate, which last-mentioned 
reek extends continuously from Pennsylva- 
nia to Georgia, and through the West In- 
dies,, to the continent of South America. 
It is remarkable, as being the formation in 
which gold, silver, copper, eliminate of iron. 
A'e., are contained. The carbonate of mag- 
nesia and the carbonate pi \knfi have many 
properties in common, the one replacing the 
other, and those plants which grow u\>]. 
magnesian Boils, contain the carbonate of 
magnesia instead of the carbonate of lime. 
Those two salts being isomer enrd- 

Hergmann, magnesia tonus an impor- 
tant part of !' the most fertile e 
and of the mud of the Nile. Einoff men- 
tions a marl of extraordinary merit, which 
yielded him as high as twenty per cent, of 
the carbonate of magnesia. Stock hard 1 
that the most famed lime stone in Saxony i.> 
a dolomite; and eighteen analyses, each 
specimen being from a different fjuarry. 
yielded from forty-one to forty-four per cent. 
of carbonate of magnesia. It is carried 
from the quarries to a great distance, be- 
cause these limes, from undoubted and uni- 
versal experience, act more powerfully and 



578 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



at the same time more permanently than 
other kinds of Saxon lime, although many 
of these latter are extraordinarily pure. The 
same eminent observer states, that well- 
known recent investigations of the ashes of 
various kinds of corn grains show a percen- 
tage of magnesia of 11.1 grains, against 3.4 
of lime j and the analyses of the ashes of 
twenty kinds of peas, grown in the most 
varied soils and districts, of 8.3 to 4.5. 
With very few exceptions, a similar prepon- 
derance of magnesia is exhibited by other 
kinds *)f seed, so far as their mineral con- 
stituents have yet been examined, for the 
proportion of magnesia exceeds that of lime, 
in approximative round numbers, two to one 
in peas, beans, vetches, quince, buckwheat, 
linseed, &c. ; two and a half or three to one 
in wheat, rye, oats, coffee, &c. ; six or eight 
to one in maize, millet, and in the seeds of 
pines, firs, &c. 

On the other hand, the opposite condition 
occurs regularly in the leaves and stems of 
plants, and in the wood of trees, in which 
lime has always the superiority over magne- 
sia, and exists in two to eight times greater 
quantity, whence he deduces the law, that 
magnesia is especially necessary for the ma- 
turation of the seed, and lime for the devel- 
opment of the herbaceous and woody struc- 
ture.* Lampadius also thinks this substance 
particularly favorable for the production of 
rye. 

We have dwelt upon this subject, because 
much injury has been caused to agriculture 
by the prevalent opinion that the presence 
of magnesia in limestone, when calcined and 
applied to land, was followed by bad conse- 
quences. Much has been written to explain 
the cause of this, as we consider it, imagin- 
ary evil. Caustic magnesia, or magnesia 
without carbonic acid, may absorb carbonic 
acid much more slowly than lime, and in the 
presence of the latter substance, it will not 
combine, until the lime has been saturated ; 
yet after all that has been stated, it would 
appear less than probable, that the presence 
of caustic magnesia should play so unfavor- 
able a part, and so contrary to experience. 

The salts of magnesia may be employed, 
as the salts of lime, for fixing ammonia, but 
in that case its application will depend upon 
its cost. When a salt of that base is added 
to urine, it produces a precipitate of the 
phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. Caus- 



tic lime, containing magnesia, is used for 
this purpose ; but owing to the bulk of lime, 
the amount is rendered less portable. The 
phosphates of magnesia and ammonia, when 
applied at the rate of one hundred and 
thirty to two hundred and sixty pounds per 
acre, had a powerful effect upon the produc- 
tion of Indian corn ; at the rate of three 
hundred weight per acre, it increased the 
crop of grain six times, and of straw threa 
times.* 

Magnesia is a constant and important con- 
stituent of sea- water. It is also found in 
many mineral w r aters, and to this fact their 
virtues are attributed. As it usually exists 
in the ashes of cultivated plants, its pres- 
ence in the soil is a requisite to fertility, and 
its addition of manifest necessity wherever 
it may be wanting. 

PHOSPHORUS. 

Of the substances with which the farmer 
has to do, we think phosphorus the most im- 
portant. It is found in all animals and 
vegetables; without it neither the one nor the 
other could live. It is detected, if not pure, 
as has been stated frequently, in combina- 
tion with a particular organic substance, in 
the brain, the spinal marrow, the spermatic 
liquid, in the melt of fishes, certain mol- 
lusca, &c. It is also diffused very widely, 
and is discovered in combination with oxy- 
gen in all rocks, in all soils, and in the flesh 
bones, &c, of fish, reptiles, insects, birds, 
animals, and their secretions. Some of the 
fossil excrements of extinct animals are ex- 
tensively and advantageously used as fertili- 
zers. Wherever there arc organisms, either 
vegetable or animal, or their remains, it is 
very strong evidence of the presence of 
phosphoric acid. It is detected in almost all 
limestone roeks, and particularly in those 
containing fossil remains. Close investiga- 
tions show its presence in the older crysta- 
line rocks; and where it has not appeared 
as a constituent in any analysis made hith- 
erto, we do not look upon that as evidence 
of its absence, for the reason that this sub- 
stance was not suspected, and the analyses 
were generally conducted in a manner to 
ignore its presence. Besides, all who have 
analyzed much know that phosporic acid is 
a great complicator, and requires special at- 
tention and care to appreciate. In small 
quantities (and all analyses of minerals must 



* Stockhardt's Agricultural Chemistry. 



Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry. 



i ii iiinn i ii mm*m 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



579 



be made upon small quantities to give exact 
results) it may be overlooked, and its pres- 
ence not even suspected. We feel confident 

that future research will prove what we have 
Stated to be perfectly true. 

Organisms exist, procreate, live, and die, 
wherever there is heat, air, and moisture. 
They are in the air, in fresh and salt water, 
in the arable soil ; and their remains consti- 
tute the principal mass of immense calcare- j 
ous formations. It would appear that they 
are found from the equator to the regions of 
eternal ice ; and according to the observa- 
tions of the learned Ehrenberg, have been 
discovered at work in certain localities to the 
depth of twenty or thirty fcet.' !: If they 
make a portion of all animated bodies, it fol- 
lows that this interesting substance is omni- 
present, and plays a part in fertilization 
much more important than has hitherto been 
attributed to it. An alchemist in Hamburg 
first discovered phosphorus by evaporating 
urine and calcining the residuum. Though 
this was done in 1GG9, by Brandt, it was not 
known to the public until many years after, 
when Gahn and Scheele extracted it from 
animal matters, and explained their process 
of obtaining it from the bones of animals, a 
mode pursued up to the present time. It is 
a simple substance, of a yellow color, tough, 
and resembling wax. It may be procured 
in three states, solid, liquid, and gaseous. 
At the temperature of freezing water, it is 
hard, brittle, and even friable. It crystal- 
izes, and its density is about 1.77. Phos- 
phorus, when exposed to the air, is lumi- 
nous, owing to the fact that it absorbs oxy- 
gen and undergoes a slow combustion. 
Hence its name, from two Greek words, 
which signify light-producer. When in- 
flamed in the air, or in oxygen gas, it pro- 
duscs white fumes, and when collected free 
from humidity, is white, pulverulent, and 
absorbs the humidity of the atmosphere, or 
deliquesces, and becomes liquid. This com- 
bination of phosphorus with oxygen is call- 
ed phosphoric, acid. It inflames easily, and 
produces obstinate wounds ; therefore, it is 
kept under water, and handled with pinch- 
ers. In this condition it may be melted 
without danger, and is purified by distilla- 
tion and filtration through buckskin under 
hot water. Phosphorus combines with oxy- 



* See Ehrenberg on Infusoria, and his resear- 
.•lies as to the cause of the instability of founda- 
tions under the city of Berlin. 



gen in several proportions j but we shaH 
only dwell upon that which contains five 
atoms of oxygen and one of phosphorus. 
Phosphoric acid, when perfectly pure, and 

thrown into water, combines with that liquid 
with so much rapidity that it produces a 
noise like that caused by plunging a red-hot 
iron in water, and the temperature of the 
liquid is elevated. It is found in Nature, 
combined with many other substances, form- 
ing phosphates : thus we have the phos- 
phates of lime, magnesia, lead, manganese, 
iron, uranium, &c. 

The phosphate of lime is known under 
the mineralogical term apatite, and is found 
crystalized in stalactites, granular, fibrous, 
compact, and friable. It is sometimes color- 
less, or yellow, blue, violet, and green, trans- 
parent, translucid, and opaque. It occurs' 
among crystalized rocks, such as the granite, 
gneiss, chlorite, and talcose slates; also in 
the trap and basalts, and is frequently met 
with in metalliferous deposits connected with 
copper, lead, &c. ; in the slates of coal, in 
chalk, and in the tertiary formations, as well 
as in the sedimentary and. tufaceous deposits 
forming at the present day. 

A fact worthy of note is the connection 
of fluoric acid with phosphoric in its combi- 
nations, and these two substances are not 
only found associated together in the mine- 
ral kingdom, but in vegetable and animal 
matters. The teeth of animals contain both. 
We are disposed to believe that fluoric acid 
is much more common than has been re- 
marked, and, owing to its singular proper- 
ties, has been doubtless often overlooked. 
One of the most extensive deposits of the 
phosphate of lime is found in Estremadura. 
in Spain, and was visited and examined by 
Dr. Paubenyand Captain Wrdd in gtoU, with 
a view to it« introduction into England as a 
fertilizer. That mineral, according to their 
analysis, contains eighty-one per cent, of 
phosphate of lime, and is so abundant that 
it is used as a building material. Jn the 
United States, mineral phosphates are found 
in many localities, particularly in Morris 
county, New Jersey, and at Crown Point, in 
the State of New York. The mineral was 
crushed and sold in our markets as a fertili- 

0$, for some cause not known to i 
appears to have gone out of use. 

The coprolites,so extensively sought after, 
and used as fertilizers, are found in various 
formations, occurring in limited quantity in 



580 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



the mountain limestone; but the lias, green 
sand, &c, are the sources whence by far the 
largest amount is obtained. These nodules, 
in form and even appearance, indicate their 
origin. The undigested portions of fishes, 
scales, bones, and distinct parts of things 
that once lived, show them to be excremen- 
titious matter, solidified by time and pres- 
sure. The coprolites vary considerably in 
their composition, according to the locality, 
and partly owing to the variety, some yield- 
ing as high as seventy per cent, of phosphate 
of "lime, while others give as low as ten per 
cent. Some contain, beside phosphate of 
lime, phosphate of iron, and phosphate of 
alumine. According to Mr. Nisbit, the an- 
alyses of five varieties produced : 
Tertiary deposit, 19.19 to 22.17 

London clay, 15.96 to 28.00 

Chalk, ' 19.00 to 26.92 

Green sand, 7.72 to 18.81 

Green marl, 16.47 to 26.56 

Coprolites always contain, beside phos- 
phate of lime and phosphate of magnesia, 
carbonate of lime, and different substances 
in varied quantities. 

It is needless here to state that the phos- 
phate of lime, or we might say, the phos- 
phoric acid, whether taken from the mineral 
apatite or any other mineral phosphate, from 
coprolites fossilized or recent bones, is the 
same substance and may be applied with the 
same advantage. 

We have said that phosphoric acid, ac- 
cording to our estimate, is the most valuable 
substance with which the farmer has to do. 
Silica, lime, magnesia, and. alumine are 
found in abundant quantities in all parts of 
the earth; nor does it appear that soda and 
potash require great solicitude, for the lat- 
ter, which is the most important of the two, 
enters into composition of different mineral 
substances, all very common, and forming 
portions of the great mass of the globe. 
We allude to feldspar and mica, both con- 
stituents of granite, and of most of the crys- 
taline rocks. Feldspar contains as high as 
seventeen per cent., while sometimes mica 
has not less than twenty per cent, of potash. 
Of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, therefore, 
it hardly requires that we should feel much 
anxiety about them. The two former sub- 
stances combined form water; the latter, in- 
dependent of other supplies, is one of the 
constituents of carbonic acid, a constant 
part of the atmosphere. Nor do we think 
that fertility fails so much, owing to the 



want of nitrogen, for that gas is an ingre- 
dient of the atmosphere. Whenever it has 
been taken, at every height, and from every 
locality, the air we breathe is composed of 
oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid, hold- 
ing 79.00 parts of nitrogen. We shall not 
enter into the discussion of how nitrogen is 
assimilated, whether directly or indirectly, 
whether through ammonia or nitric acid or 
other nitrogenized components; suffice it to 
say, that both ammonia and nitric' acid are 
ever forming in the air and in the soil, and 
that either of those compounds, the admitted 
purveyor of nitrogen to plants, is a conse- 
quence of the existence and decay of or- 
ganized matters in the air, or near the sur- 
face of the earth. By far the larger part 
of organized matter is composed of the con- 
densed gases. Even during life these gases 
are given off and replaced by others. After 
death, decay speedily ensues, and they re- 
turn to the great reservoir to be assimilated 
by other vegetables or animals, and thus 
continue the circle. 

Phosphoric acid, though extensively dif- 
fused, and sometimes in large quantities, 
does not appear to be found in the same 
profusion as the other substances mentioned. 
The phosphate of lime is a fixed salt, nei- 
ther soluble nor volatile, and when removed 
the soil must be replaced. This is done in 
the shape of manures, both organic and in- 
organic ; the main sources of the latter we 
have alluded to. The amount returned from 
the barn yard is infinitely less than that car- 
ried away in grain, hay, milk, bone, and 
flesh, even on the most economically regula- 
ted farms ; and, notwithstanding all our care, 
there must be a constant decrease of that 
substance, unless recourse be had to exterior 
supplies. True, small farms near large cities, 
may even add more than is taken away, 
bringing back the refuse of the supplies 
which are sent" to market; but that kind of 
circulation, from the garden to the market, 
to the refuse heap, and again to the field, is 
limited by distance and cost of transportion. 
Remote lands, from which such supplies 
are stopped, must in the course of time be- 
come impoverished, unless provision be 
made to replace the continual drain. Ex- 
haustion is but an affair of time; knowing 
the amount of nutriment in the soil, we may 
make an- approximate calculation, and de- 
cide when, under different modes of treat- 
ment, it will work sterility. Strong symp- 
toms of a downward tendency in that direc- 



.... . 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



581 



tion begin to manifest themselves through- 
oat the whole cultivated portion of our 
country. Indeed, it would be difficult to 
find, in any part of the civilized world, a 
more melancholy picture than is presented 
to the traveller in certain parts of our Union. 
The exhaustion has not only been caused by 
continued cropping, and the extraction of 
phosphoric acid; injudicious culture has 
had much to do with' it, and, perhaps, much 
the greater part of the fertility has been 
carried into the streams, thence to rivers, 
and finally to the ocean. There can be no 
civilization without population, no popula- 
tion without food, and no food without phos- 
phoric acid. Indeed, it might be easily 
shown that the march of civilization has 
followed the direction of supply of that ma- 
terial. There are lands which will not be- 
tray the effects of continued cropping, but 
these are exceptions, and they receive abun- 
dant supplies of plant food from some local 
circumstance. The valley of the Nile is a 
familiar example; here the annual deposits 
from the overflow of the river counterbal- 
ance the drain. Other lands, composed 
from the detritus of fossiliferous formations, 
rich in phosphates, may resist during an in- 
definite period. The slopes of volcanoes 
are instances of a different character, where 
the supplies are restored from ejectments 
coming from the interior of the earth. The 
history of the world shows, beyond cavil or 
doubt, that population cannot endure where 
the supplies are wanting. Each return of 
the seasons brings another draft upon the 
phosphates, and when these fail, civilization 
takes up another dwelling place. It is not 
necessary that we should travel fir to verify 
these sad truths. Within the period of a 
short life, lands were called inexhaustible, 
which are now worthless ; and a great por- 
tion of the boundless West is naturally ste- 
rile. We are on the eve of a movement 
from the West back to the East, where a 
different work is in prospective, that of the 
regeneration of wornout land. Perhaps 
science may be adequate to the task, but the 
recuperation of a soil will surely be more 
difficult than cropping it to exhaustion. 

If we examine the commercial and agri- 
cultural statistics of England for the last 
fifty years, or even for a much shorter pe- 
riod, we shall be convinced that she never 
could have attained her present prosperous 
condition, but from two causes : emigration 
and the importion of foreign fertilizers. 



The bones introduced have increased to an 

enormous extent, during the last few y 
"They are principally brought," says 31a- 
eulloeh, " from the Netherlands, Germany, 
and South America. At the present time, 
however, they form a part of the export 
trade of nearly every port in the north of 
Europe." From a report on agricultural 
shipping and produce, printed by order of 
the House of Commons, in 1842, we learn 
that, out of eleven ports of the northern 
countries of Europe, bones were exported 
to a large amount, from the following nine : 
Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bremen, Lubeck, 
Kiel, Rostock, Stettin, Elsinore and Danzic. 
So far back as the year 1827, tw T o hundred 
and forty-eight vessels entered the one port 
of Hull, carrying seventeen thousand seven 
hundred and eighteen tons of bones, which 
were derived from Russia, Prussia, Sweden, 
Norway, Denmark, Hanse Towns, Nether- 
lauds, Mechlenburg, Hanover and Olden- 
burg. In 1835, the importations into Hull 
alone, had increased to twenty-five thousand 
seven hundred tons. The value of bones 
imported into Scotland in 1841, was seventy- 
four thousand nine hundred pounds sterling. 
In 1837, the total value of bones imported 
into the United Kingdom amounted to two 
hundred and fifty-four thousand six hundred 
pounds sterling.* This is independent of 
the home supply, which is estimated at not less 
than five hundred thousand pounds sterling. 

The extensive importations of bones, and 
the application of the native mineral phos- 
phates, (coprolites, &c.,) together with the 
introduction of guano, have been the main 
dependence of agriculture in Great Britain 
during the last twenty-five years. Science, 
indeed, has aided in making these supplies 
more active and efficient, great economy 
having been secured by improved machinery 
for crushing bones to fine powder, (for the 
finer the dust the more immediately active 
it becomes ;) but the dissolution of bones 
with acid has been of still greater benefit. 
Farm as you may, upon the majority of soils, 
without the use of extraneous fertilizers, 
your crops will certainly diminish, until I 
impoverishment shall leave no other alter- 
native than starvation or emigration. 

Science teaches that the principal fertiliz- 
ing element of the bone is phosphoric acid, 
| and thus, much is saved in transportation 
md the economy of application. 



Morton's Cyclopaedia of Agriculture. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



Bonos vary much in their composition, 
according to the age or variety of the ani- 
mal. The amount of mineral matter is less 
in a young animal than in an old one, and 
the quantity increases gradually with age. 
Schreger tells us that the bones of a child 
contain one half of phosphate in the entire 
mass of earthy matter, , while those of a 
full-grown person give four-fifths, and an 
aged person not less than seven-eighths. 
The bones of adults contain less water than 
those of children. When a bone is suffi- 
ciently digested in muriatic acid, the mine- 
ral part is dissolved, leaving the gelatin, or 
cartilage, intact, which retains the original 
form of the bone. That portion of the 
bone dissolved in the acid consists of phos- 
phate of lime and magnesia, fluoride of cal- 
cium, and carbonate of lime, with small 
quantities of salts of potash and soda. 

We copy from Berzelius the following anal- 
ysis of the bones of man and those of the ox : 



Man. Ox. 



Gelatine, (soluble in water,) 

Vessels, 

Neutral phosphate of lime. , 

Carbonate of lime,. . , 

Fluoride of calcium, 

Phosphate of magnesia. 



32.17 

1.13 

51.04 

11.30 

2.00 

1.16 



Sotla and muriate of soda 1.20 



33.30 

55.45 
3.85 
2.90 
2.05 
2.45 



100.00 100.00 



The experiments made by Barras inform 
us that the proportion of carbonate of lime 
varies in different animals, as well as in the 
bones of .the same individual. He found, 
for every 100 parts — 

Carbonate of Lime 

Bones of a lion,. . . 2.03 

sheep, 24.12 

chicken, 11.70 

frog, ' 5 76 

fish,. . 2.52 

Chevreuil, Dumeril, Marchand, and other chemists have analyzed the bones of various 
fishes; they vary considerably, as will be seen by the following results obtained by the 
three first mentioned : 



Organic matter, 

Phosphate of lime, 

Sulphate of lime, 

Carbonate of lime, 

Phosphate of magnesia, 

Sulphate of soda, 

Soda and common salt,. ..... 

Fluoride of calcium and loss, 



Skull of a 
Cod. 



43.94 
47.96 



5.50 
2.20 



0.60 



100.20 



Bones of a 
Pike. 



37.36 
55.26 

6.15 



1,23 



100.00 



Bones of a 
Whale. 



78.46 

14.20 

0.83 

2.01 

0.70 
2.46 
0.74 



100.00 



This gelatinous part of the bone consists 
of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and 
sulphur. One hundred parts of gelatin of 
bones produce, when fermented, twenty-two 
pounds of ammonia, together with carbonic 
acid. The sulphur, as we have seen, is also 
an ingredient of plants. 

The phosphate of lime is soluble in all 
acids, and we may say that all the phosphates 
are soluble in an excess of acid. When 
bones arc surrounded by fermenting organic 
matter, such as is offered in a manure or 
comport heap, the phosphate of lime is dis- 
solved in the humidity of the carbonic acid 
which is constantly being evolved by the 
fermenting mass. This operation is more or 
less prompt according to the action of the 
fermenting heap. In the field, where car- 
bonic acid is always present, this process is 



j constantly going on ; but, owing to the pres- 
' ence of the cartilaginous or gelatinous por- 
tion which surrounds the particles of phos- 
phate, the action is less apparent on a large 
bone than if it were in powder, and the 
' finer the powder the more rapid the decom- 
I position. 

Many farmers are in the habit of col- 
j lecting the refuse bones of their farms, and 
'covering them up in the accumulating ma- 
nure in the barn-yard, where, in the course 
of time, they become soft and pliable, as if 
they had been immersed in muriatic acid. 
Such an addition srives increased strength 



to the manure in proportion as the quantity 
of bones, which thus dissolved, becomes im- 
mediately active, but endure a less time 
than when added to the land without pre- 
paration. For when bones in large pieces 



—^ 



--- - 



^^^ 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



583 



are applied to the soil, the action is slow ; 
when divided, more rapid, according to the 
state of division, and still greater when dis- 
solved, as the state of division is then per- 
fect, provided the operation has been well 
conducted. 

The crushing of bones, owing to their 
tenacity and hardness, is attended with 
some difficulty and expense, and, therefore, 
where the operations are large, steam-mills 
are employed. But in other places the 
bones are steamed or boiled, after which 
they are easily reduced to powder. By 
that process, however, the gelatinous and 
fatty matters are extracted and used ; the 
grease for making soap, and the gelatin for 
fabricating size or glue. We have seen 
that the organic portion of bones contained 
fertilizing matter, (nitrogen, sulphur, car- 
bon, &c.) If this be previously extracted, 
-so much is lost to the land ) and it is a 
question of loss to the farmer if the dust 
be sold by weight. Some burn the bone 
in order to reduce it to extreme division, j 
Here again the organic portion is entirely 
destroyed, save only a part of the carbon. 
It is known that animal black (charred 
bones) is a great deodorizer antiseptic, large- 
ly used by sugar, boilers for refining sugar; 
and by chemists for whitening sulphate of 
quinine, &c. It has the property of con- 
densing gases ; and charcoal, derived from 
the calcination of bones, possesses this pro- 
perty to a greater extent than any other 
substance, it will absorb ninety times its 
volume of ammoniacal gas. Hence, it be- 
comes a consideration with farmers to know 
whether they do not gain more by charring 
the bones than they lose by chasing off the 
volatile matters. If the bones be burned 
in contact with the air, the greater portion 
of the carbon will be driven off with the 
other combustible parts of the bone; and 
in order to avoid that result, the bones 



should be charred in air-tight vessels. Iron 



cylinders are used for the purpose. 

Whatever method may be employed, it is 
important that the bone, previous to treat- 
ment with acid, should be divided; otherwise 
the operation will be imperfect, and par- 
ticularly so if sulphuric acid be used to 
form the compound called bi-phosphate, 
super-phosphate, or acid-phosphate of lime, 
known to farmers under those appellations. 
For if the bone, without being reduced to 
power, be treated with sulphuric acid, gyp- 
sum or sulphate of lime is formed, and that 



substance being insoluble, surrounds and 
prevents the further action of the acid 
upon those p;irts of the bone not already 
acted on. If muriatic acid be employed, 
that difficulty does not present itself, be- 
cause the muriate of lime which is formed 
is very soluble, and SO long as acid may be 
present the decomposition of the bone con- 
tinues until the operation is complete. In 
the latter case, the phosphates and muri- 
ates would be in solution, which is less con- 
venient of application j this, added to other 
reasons not necessary to mention, makes it 
preferable to employ sulphuric acid, which 
is largely manufactured, and may be ob- 
tained everywhere. It is important, how- 
ever, that the farmer should look to the 
density of the article, for it is by no means 
immaterial whether it be strong or weak ; 
otherwise, in the case of the weak or dilu- 
ted acid, he will be paying for water in- 
stead of acid. By the addition of sul- 
phuric acid to crushed bones they are decom- 
posed, and effervescence takes place, arising 
from the escape of carbonic acid, which 
has been liberated by the sulphuric acid 
combining with the lime and forming sul- 
phate of lime, or gypsum. 

The insoluble phosphate of lime is de- 
composed, a part of the lime combining 
with the sulphuric acid, and liberating the 
phosphoric acid, which combines with that 
portion of the phosphate of lime not de- 
composed, forming a phosphate of lime with 
excess of phosphoric acid, called bi-phos- 
phate, super-phosphate, or acid-phosphate. 
The sulphuric acid also combines with the 
potash, soda, and magnesia. Heat is evolv- 
ed, the excess of water (if there be not too 
much) is absorbed, and the mass, when the 
operation has been well conducted, remains 
in a dry pulverulent form. The gelatinous 
portion of the bone is also modified by the 
action of the acid, becoming more assimi- 
lative. The operation is simple, offering do 
difficulty whatever. Any farmer may fab- 
ricate his own super-phosphate with the 
implements he may have at hand, and avoid 
the necessity or risk of paying for an im- 
pure article; for every one knows that 
frauds, to an enormous extent, have been 
perpetrated upon the confiding farmer, who 
has often paid high prices for that which 
was of no value as a manure, and might be 
had for the collecting. 

Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) is a sub- 
stance to be procured in all our markets, 



584 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



and its value depends upon its density, 
specific gravity, or its state of concentra- 
tion. The weaker it is, the less valuable. 
The proper density should be about 1.85. 

The quantity of acid required for the 
decomposition of one hundred pounds of 
bones, depends upon whether they are in 
meal, half inch, or entire, or whether they 
arc in their natural state, boiled, or burned. 
The finer the powder the more perfect the 
action, and the more acid will be required. 
If the bones are in their raw state, they 
contain, as has been said, an amount of 
animal or organic matter,. which varies ac- 
cording to the age or species of animal 
from which they have been derived. The 
amount of bone-ash obtained from the cal- 
cination or burning of bones in contact 
with the air, may be set down, on an aver- 
age, at fifty per cent. For every hundred 
pounds ot bone-ash, eighty-seven or eighty- 
eight pounds of sulphuric acid will be re- 
quired. The operation may be practiced in J 
a hogshead, on a tight floor, or on the 
ground, or in the field where the mixture 
is to be used. 

Take, for instance, one hundred pounds 
of powdered bone-ash, throw into a hogs- 
head, to which acid from five to six gallons 
of water, and mix with a stout wooden 
shovel or paddle. Then pour on about 
eighty-eight pounds of concentrated sul- 
phuric acid. The mass should now be well 
turned and mixed. It will effervesce and 
foam up, give off steam in profusion, and 
the temperature will be found to have risen 
sometimes as high, or higher, than 212° 
Fahrenheit- Instead of adding the entire 
amount of acid at once, it may be divided 
into two portions, and added separately. In 
handling acid, have a little care, otherwise 
an eye or the clothes may be the forfeit, as 
such accidents have happened. After mix- 
ing for some time, the mass will stiffen, 
when it should be covered, and allowed to 
stand for a day. It may now be thrown 
out in a dry place, to remain sufficiently 
long to be ready for powdering, or it may 
be mixed with dry peat, charcoal, calcined 
plaster of Paris, or even dry mold, or saw- 
dust, and powdered, when it is ready for 
use. 

A mode which is extensively practiced 
on farms in England was first suggested by 
Mr. Pusey, and is, briefly, very similar to 
making mortar out of sand and lime. The 
circular wall of sand may be replaced by 



coal ashes, or bone-dust itself. The bone- 
dust is deposited in the middle of the cir- 
cle, then thoroughly saturated with wa- 
ter, when the sulphuric acid is added, 
and the mass well and frequently turned 
over, until there is no further action. The 
decomposition is more perfect when the 
temperature is high, and this is obtained by 
making the wall of ashes as lofty as possi- 
ble. The operation is more or less well 
conducted as the mixture has been the 
more evenly made, and the parts thorough- 
ly mixed. The mineral phosphorite, cop- 
rolites, and varieties of guano, rich in phos- 
phoric acid, may be treated with acids, and 
will produce super -phosphate of lime, hav- 
ing all the efficiency, and with precisely the 
same properties of that manufactured from 
bones, the only difference being that the 
one may contain salts, which are absent 
from the other, and more or less phospho- 
ric acid. 

The super-phosphate of lime, from its 
comparatively high value, leads to adulter- 
ation. Water is added to increase the 
weight; earths, clalks, lime, old plaster, 
oyster-shells, &c, are sometimes mixed in 
a manner to deceive the eye. Some of 
these substance may be detected, with the 
aid of a magnifier, by acids, or by simple 
washing with water, and examining the 
residue after decanting. If old plaster is 
suspected, the hair will be seen ; if oyster- 
shells or chalk, the effervescence and par- 
ticles of shells will furnish indications 
which will lead to closer scrutiny. The 
sulphate of barytes, or sulphate of lime, 
increases the weight of the mixture, and 
the former particularly will fall to the bot- 
tom, when thrown into a tumbler of water, 
more rapidly than the super-phosphate. 
Recourse maybe had to a chemist, whose 
familiarity with the properties of different 
substances will enable him to arrive at con- 
clusions not to be expected from those 
whose occupations are of an entirely differ- 
ent character. 

The loss that is taking place in this most 
essential ingredient to life (phosphorus) is 
enormous, unavoidable, and # impossible to 
estimate with any correctness. Independ- 
ent of that continuous drain which takes 
place by the washing of the soil, together 
with the waste ever occurring in provisions 
of all kinds, grains, vegetables, and animals 
exported, and but a small part of which 
finds its way back to the place whence it 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTEK. 



586 



came, there is another gradual yel certain 
loss which, in time, will be Ml — I allude 
to the amount of phosphorus in our bodies 
— a loss to be attributed to the respectful 
and pious custom followed in all civilized 
countries, that of burying the dead. By 
this practice mueh is entirely withdrawn 
{'rem circulation ; for the depth at which 
the bodies are deposited in the ground is 
below the reach of vegetation. Supposing 
thfl inhabitants of the United States at this 
time to amuunt to twenty-five millions, and 
that each individual contains, on an aver- 
age, tour pounds of phosphate of lime, 
(which will be found not far from the 
truth.") when this population shall have 
passed away, one hundred millions of 
pounds of the phosphate of lime will have 
been abstracted from the soil, or from ac- 
tivity in the endless change of life.* It 
will be borne in mind that the extinction 
of the present generation does not limit the 
loss; for population increases much more 
rapidly than supplies; and if we reflect 
how wonderful has been its augmentation 
in the United States since its settlement, 
and its probable continuance, even in a 
greater ratio, we shall be less apt to under- 
rate the future consequences. 

The ocean is a vast reservoir of life's re- 
quirements, from which science may find 
means of recovering supplies, especially of 
this valuable ingredient. 

It is hardly necessary to remark that, 
while phosphoric acid is an essential part of 
all fertile soils, it fs not the only substance 
required, for the application 'of the phos- 
phates may be made without any apparent 
good result, owing to the absence of other 
substances not less necessary. With a view 
to supply every important quality, much in- 
genuity has been employed in making arti- 
ficial and saline mixtures, not only to fur- 
nish special manures for special crops, but 



•Monsieur Elie de Beaumont, who lias made 
a similar calculation, in detail, frf the amount 
of phosphate of lime abstracted from culture, 
by burial, estimates tliat Prance 1ms tliu.- Iqsl 
not less than two Millions of tons. — See Etude 
sur les Ciiscmenls Ceolo^ii'ties du Phosphore. 

The reader will thank ua for directing bis at- 
tention to the above-named work, recently pub- 
lished by our distinguished friend and profes- 
sor, M. M. L. Fdie cle Beaumont. We have 
read it with great interest, and are indebted to 
the learned author for many valuable sugges- 
tions. 



such also as satisfy the wants of all v< 
tion. Many saline mixtures may be com- 
pounded to increase the eficaey of each 
other, and at the same time to accelerate, 
promote, and supply the rcijuircineuts of 
plants; but we cannot refrain from caution- 
ing the farmer against the exaggerated as- 
counts DOW everywhere published in fa- 
vour of Certain fertilizers. They are far 
from being always what they are described, 
either in composition or effect, and are very 
often quite the contrary. At best, com- 
posts would frequently appeal to be mere 
dilutions, or attempts at making the truly 
useful do more service than is possible. 
The most shameful impositions are being 
daily practiced. From the nature of the sub- 
stances employed, these frauds may not 
easily be detected hy the farmer; but he 
should rather trust, if he will have unu- 
sual mixtures, to such as he may manufac- 
ture on his own ground, and under his own 
eye, from materials of positive utility, and 
purchased from dealers of undoubted char- 
acter. 



From the British Farmer's Magazine. 

Comparative Advantages of Carts and 
Waggons. 

A waggon is a four-wheeled vehicle em- 
ployed in carrying articles of heavy weight 
and large bulk from one place to another, 
and is drawn by two or four horses, accord- 
ing as the weight of the carriage, the loads 
that are drawn, the distance, and the state of 
the roads may require. The four-horse car- 
riage with broad wheels, and of very strong 
construction, is chiefly used for long jour- 
and loads of heavy articles, which re- 
quire to be only once placed on the vehicle, 
and no shifting or reloading is necessary. 
The body of the waggon is closely boarded, 
in order to contain coals and lime; and 
grains and flour for the market are loaded in 
This waggon is mainly used by coal 
merchants and millers, and on extensive 
farms the thrashed grains are carried to dis- 
tant markets in the four-horse vehicles. 
Coals and lime are also fetched from distant 
places in heavy loads in the strong carria- 
■irawn by a team of hor- 

For the lighter purposes of carrying the 
crops of grain and nay from the fields to the 
rick yard a pair-horse waggon is used, which 
is built with open sides and boarded bottom, 
and drawn by two horses in tandem, or 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



abreast, as in the four-horse carriage. The 
lightness of the vehicle permits a quick 
movement in the operations; and the use is 
very convenient in hay and corn harvests, 
when the waggon is open-built, and not en- 
cumbered with unnecessary weight of mate- 
rials. Grain is carried to market in sacks 
very conveniently in this waggon, which in 
other cases is closely boarded in the sides, 
and becomes useful for the same purposes as 
the four-horse waggon, and only in the re- 
duced ratio of two or three horses to four or 
five. This is the waggon of the farmer, and 
carries abroad and brings home all transport- 
able articles, which are arranged in loads as 
circumstances may direct. 

A cart is placed on two wheels in the cen- 
tre of the body of the vehicle, from svhich 
two shafts extend in front, and form a con- 
nection of draught by which two horses 
yoked in tandem pull forwards the carriage 
or vehicle. The load is balanced on tlB 
wheels and on the back of the horse, which 
walks between the shafts, and is rendered 
steady by the imposition of part of the 
weight. The box of the cart is locked to 
the shafts; and being made to unlock, and 
the tail-board being moveable, the carriage 
is raised aback, and the load is discharged. 
This vehicle carries home and abroad loads 
of every kind of articles, and, being provi- 
ded with projecting frames of timber spars, 
the crops of hay and grain are carried upon 
it from the fields to the rick-yard. For the 
purpose of distant journeys the lock is re- 
moved, the shafts being firmly joined with 
the body of the cart, which prevents the 
jogging motion, from the lock being present, 
that arises from the loose connection of the 
shafts and the cart. This provision is con- 
venient for long journeys. The one-horse 
cart is contrived as the two-horse vehicle, the 
dimensions being reduced in strength and 
extent in order to suit the power of one ani- 
mal. The axles of carts are mostly of iron, 
though wood is yet used in many cases of 
home use. 

The four-horse waggon is a useful imple- 
ment on farms that are beyond the medium 
extent, for the purpose of carrying lime and 
coals, and the thrashed grain to the market. 
Two waggons may be placed on large farms ; 
and being not very heavily constructed, two 
horses are able to draw the loads of hay and 
grain during harvest. On uneven grounds 
in hilly countries, and from distant fields, 
four wheels are more secure in the travel- 



ling, and more safe from being overcast with 
top-loads, than any carriage with two wheels ; 
and in these cases the advantage is very ap- 
parent. But the movements are slower ; 
much time is spent in placing and discharg- 
ing the loads, which must be inconceivably 
large, in order to compensate the more fre- 
quent repetition of less bulky quantities. 
The chief use of the four-horse waggon is 
not for home work, but in going abroad with 
heavy and bulky loads of one hiding in a 
day, or in not more 'than twice sent on a 
journey; and a convenience is found in de- 
scending steep declivities from locking the 
wheel, and e'asing the horses from the im- 
pelling weight pushing behind them. This 
exemption is not large in amount, as the oc- 
currence of very steep roads is partial, and 
does not form a decision of preference in 
the implement. 

The pair-horse waggon possesses a much 
wider range of utility than the carriage that 
is drawn by four horses, and the adaptation 
is much more convenient for the purposes 
of the farm. Being lightly made and neatly 
joined together in the component parts, the 
implement is managed by two horses, and 
one man to drive the carriage, which is a 
more convenient arrangement than two per- 
sons attending one waggon, as with the four- 
horse vehicle. The hay and corn harvests 
are very conveniently carried by this wag- 
gon in such loads as the distance and the 
condition of the roads will admit; and the 
implement is built with open sides, of spars, 
with a projecting frame.. For *the purpose 
of carrying coals and lime, and similar sub- 
stances, the sides are temporarily boarded ; 
and all articles in sacks, as thrashed grain, 
are carried in the open waggon of spars and 
light frame. This is the true harvest car- 
riage, being, lightly and neatly made, and 
suited to the special purpose. The boarded 
vehicle drawn by two or four horses is not 
so convenient, though it is applied to both 
light and heavy purposes. 

The long-shaped harvest-cart of Northum- 
berland and the south of Scotland is placed 
on two wheels, drawn by two horses yoked 
in tandem, with a boarde^ bottom and open 
sides of spars, with a projecting frame. 
The implement performs exactly the same 
purposes as the light two-horse waggon, and 
is fitted on the wheels of the. box-carts of 
the farm. It would be difficult to draw, 
even from an extensive and varied experi- 
ence of both carriages, a fair comparison 



I860.] 



TIIK SOUTH K UN PLANTKi!. 



587 



between these implements. Both vehicles 
are drawn by two horses, and managed by 
one attendant, and in that respect are pre- 
cisely equal: and e«|U;il loads of any arti- 
cles are carried on both vehicles on steep 
grounds, ami in crossing declivities with 
deep and wide furrows. Top loads <>f bulky 
articles, as hay and grain crops, arc more 
safely carried on four wheels, which arc not 
so readily overcast as the two-wheeled car- 
riage. On the other hand, the long cart is 
more nimble in the motion, and quicker in 
being turned, than the waggon, which occu- 
pies more room in the rick-yard, when crowd- 
ed, in harvest. The waggon may be board- 
ed in the sides, to carry coals and lime. The 
cart is not contrived for that use; but being- 
provided with two wheels, and these borrow- 
ed for use from the box-carts of the farm, 
the original cost being less than the four 
wheels of the waggon, may determine the 
comparison in favour of the cart, but which 
may be balanced by the other advantages of 
the light waggon. Both implements form 
the highest use, and are equally preferred. 

The two-horse cart is used for heavy and 
distant carriages, and for performing the de- 
tail work of the farm. Greater weights are 
drawn by two horses in these carts than in 
the tour-horse waggons, and a very large 
superiority for small works, in which wag- 
gons are wholly useless. Being provided 
with sparry frames, the carts convey from 
the fields to the rick-yard the hay and grain 
crops, though not very conveniently, from 
clanger of oversetting the top load that is 
placed over a light box beneath, except on 
comparatively level grounds, and not very 
distant carriages. In these situations, the 
pair-horse waggons and the long harvest-cart 
are both dispensed with; and the two-horse 
box-cart, with iron axle and strongly-shod 
wheels, performs every work of the farm, 
with the distant journeys and carriages. 
But in most cases, the long cart and pair- 
horse waggon are introduced for harvest per- 
formances. 

The single-horse cart has been contrived 
for detail work, in which frequent and quick 
repetitions are required of the operations 
that are performed. For every kind of sum- 
mer work, when the ground is dry and firm, 
in dunging turnip lands, laying lime and 
dung on wheat fallows, carrying earths and 
stones, and all detail work of the farm, the 
cart drawn by one horse is immeasurably 
superior to any other vehicle ; as it carried 



loads of dung for an acre of turnip land 
very sufficient in twenty outgoings from the 
Reap, and a cubic yard of earth and BtOMi 
is drawn to moderate distances without op- 
pression to the horse. The lightness of the 
carriage permits quiok and easy travelling, 
to which the narrow wheels oiler little resist- 
ance. The load is readily discharged in one 
heaj), or distributed into several portions, by 
the freedom of construction in the tail board 
and forelock, which raises the cart into a 
slanting position, to facilitate the discharge 
of the load. On all turnip farms, the use 
of this cart is indispensable; and even for 
distant journeys, in fetching coals and lime, 
ami in carrying thrashed grain to the mar- 
ket, the single-horse cart is superior to any 
other vehicle in carrying greater weights of 
load, and with more ease to the horse. A 
single animal will draw a ton on moderately 
steep roads, and for any length of journey; 
thirty hundred-weight, and even two tons, 
are drawn by carriers' horses and at collier- 
ies and iron works. But one ton may be 
assumed as an average weight «of load in 
fanning operations. On level grounds of 
conveniently arranged farms of two hundred 
and three hundred acres in extent, where 
the journeys are short and the roads not 
steep, the hay and corn harvests are very 
quickly and conveniently carried on the one- 
horse carts, provided with frames of timber 
spars, that project Before and behind the 
cart, and over the top of the wheels. The 
small loads carried are most amply compen- 
sated by the quick journeys that are made 
in frequency, and from the ease and des- 
patch with which the loads are placed and 
discharged. In these situations, of which 
many arc found, no other vehicles are requi- 
red beyond the one-horse cart, as it perforins 
every kind of work, preventing the nee 
ty^of providing implements that only exe- 
cute one purpose. The long harvest-cart or 
pair-horse waggon, along with single-horse 
carls, will provide any farm with wh 
vehicles, but liable to the objection of differ- 
ent implements being kept for separate par? 
. when a provision is known and need 
by which one implement, with an occasional 
change, is capable of performing all tie 

work of the farm. Tlic cheapest and 
convenient provision of carriages for 
any farm will be in box-carts, made in the 
strength and weight of materials to be used 
by two horses, for carrying coals and lime 
in distant journeys, as likewise for the detail 



588 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



work of the farm during winter and in all 
heavy weathers, and the rather small size, 
and the construction light as possible, allow- 
ing the use by one horse during the turnip 
season, and all detail work when the ground 
is firm and the land dry. The wheels of 
these carts are fitted on the long carts of 
Northumberland, for the purposes of har- 
vest; thus executing two performances with 
one expense of wheels. This is true econ- 
omy j and rises superior to keeping four 
wheels of the pair-horse waggon solely for 
the purposes of the employment of the sin- 
gle vehicle. The sole advantage of the 
harvest waggon over the long sparry cart, in 
the top loads not being so easily overset, is 
wholly sunk in the superiority now stated ; 
and waggons are exposed to the objection of 
the hind wheels being distant from the 
horses, and carrying a weight removed be- 
yond the power of the animal. The box- 
cart may be merged into a vehicle for two 
horses during winter, and- for distant jour- 
neys, and for one horse in all summer work, 
by the construction being neat and strong, 
materials light and durable, and the size re- 
sembling more the single-horse cart than the 
lumbering carriages commonly seen attached 
to two horses. A medium size and con- 
struction must be adopted. These carts re- 
quire horses of spirit and muscular strength 
— tall, active, and powerful. The dull, 
sluggish animals of the waggon are not fit- 
ted for purposes in which only one or two 
horses make the exertion. 

The waggon is a vehicle of slow progres- 
sion, arising from the length of the construc- 
tion of the implement, and from the hind 
wheels being placed at a considerable dis- 
tance from the moving-power that is attach- 
ed to the front part of the carriage. Hence 
the general handling of the implement is 
awkward and inconvenient in the turnings, 
and in all lateral directions. The irremova- 
ble attachment of slowness is gradually, and 
by habit, communicated to the animals of 
draught, and a pace is acquired in conformi- 
ty with the jogging motion of the heavy 
length of the waggon. The drivers acquire 
the same habit, and gradually sink into the 
pace that the motive- powers have adopted, 
as being the least troublesome, and the most 
convenient and suitable. From these causes 
it is seen that in the countries in which the 
use of waggons prevails, and the grain is 
thrashed by the slow process of a man wield- 
ing a flail, the farm labourers are slow and 



more awkward in every kind of work than 
where carts are used as farm vehicles, and 
where grain is thrashed by machinery. A 
quickness is compelled to attend on the evo- 
lutions of machinery, and the habit is trans- 
ferred to all other performances. A latent 
barbarism of the mind continues the use of 
these slow powers of action long after the 
inferiority has been discovered and acknow- 
ledged; so slowly are prejudices removed. 

The purposes of use have been mentioned 
for which the different carriages of the farm 
are respectively fitted, and the superiority 
has been stated in the points of utility where 
one vehicle is seen to exceed another in the 
general as well as in the single occupations. 
The four-horse waggon is adapted only for 
some special purposes : in carrying top-loads 
on the farm, and in transporting heavy arti- 
cles in distant journeys. These occasions 
are comparatively few, and do not justify the 
heavy cost of the implement remaining idle 
during the greater part of the year, as uo 
part of the waggon is applied to any other 
use. The pair-horse waggon is more adap- 
ted for farm purposes, as has been mention- 
ed ; but still objected to as an expense dor- 
mant in one purpose of use, as the imple- 
ment is wanting in any other adaptation. 
And for any detail work waggons are wholly 
useless. The two-horse cart adapts for any 
purpose of farm ; and has only one inferior- 
ity, in being not so steady as waggons under 
top-loads, and more liable to be overset. 
The cart drawn by one horse is by far the 
most useful for detail work of every kind, 
but, though used, may fail for harvest pur- 
poses, and require the conjunction with a 
harvest cart. The last implement being fit- 
ted on the wheels of the box-carts, supply 
the inconvenience and complete the arrange- 
ment. 

The prime cost of the different imple- 
ments must have a large consideration in de- 
termining the performance of one vehicle 
over another, along with the liability of get- 
ting into disrepair, and the comparative ex- 
pense of making the condition effective. A 
four-horse waggon equals the cost of more 
than two carts drawn by two horses ; and as 
the number of animals employed are equal 
in both arrangements, the superiority of the 
.two carts in a variety of purposes requires 
no argument of demonstration. Nearly four 
one-horse carts can be purchased for the 
price of a waggon. And here, again, the 
greater value need not be argued of four 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTKIl. 



589 



vehicles acting separately in varied purposes. 
Tin* same difference is found in carts ami 
the pair horse waggon, only somewhat redu- 
ced by the price oi I lighter waggon, Th 

harvest cart of Scotland will cost not ufeove 
the one-halt' of the price of a pair-horse 
WRggOO ; and when the cart is fitted on the 
axles of the box-carts, the cost will not ex- 
ceed one-fourth of the latter vehicle. The 
differences are most important in the case of 
a just comparison of the implements; and 
being joined with the superior usefulness of 
CArts for general and varied purposes, there 
is formed an incontestible reason of prefer- 
ence of the cart as a vehicle of the farm. 
The best and most extensive farming in Bri- 
tain is performed, and all farming may be 
conducted, by carts, without any waggons;, 
but no cultivation of land is done, or ever 
will be executed, with waggons without any 
carts. The latter observations may settle 
the comparison of the two kinds of carriage 
implements in the value of practical utility. 



Transferring Engravings to White Paper. 

The London Builder gives the following 
rule for transferring engravings to white 
paper : 

" Place the engravings for a few seconds 
over the vaper of iodine. Dip a slip of 
white paper in a weak solution of starch, 
and, when dry, in a weak solution of oil of 
vitriol, when dry, lay a slip upon the en- 
graving, and place them for a few minutes 
under the press. The engraving will thus 
be reproduced in all its delicacy and finish. 
The iodine has the property of fixing the 
black part of the ink upon the engraving, 
and not on the white." This important 
discovery is yet in its infancy. 



Eight Useful Rules. 

1. Let not the wisdom of the world be 
your guide. 

2. Let not the way of the world be your 
rule. 

8, Let not the wealth of the world be 
your chief good. 

4. Let not the cares of the world encum- 
ber you. 

5. Let not the comforts of the world en- 
tangle you. 

(3. Let not the crosses of the world dis- 
quiet you. 

7. Be not too fond of life. 

8. Be not too fearful of death. 



Odds and Ends. 
" What was the use of the eclipse?" 
asfeed B young lady. "Oh, it gave the sun 

time tor reflection/' replied a wag. 

Sorrow comes soon enough without de- 
spondency; it docs a man no good to carry 
around a lightning rod to attract trouble. 

Ambition, energy, industry, and persever- 
ance are indispensable for success in business 

There cannot live a more unhappy crea- 
ture than an ill-natured old man, who is 
! neither capable of receiving pleasures, nor 
sensible oi' doing them to others. 

It will alford sweeter happiness in the 
hour of death to have wiped one tear from 
the check of sorrow than to have ruled an 
empire. 

The love of ornament creeps slowly, but 
surely, into the female heart. A girl who 
twines the lily in her tresses, and looks at 
herself in the clear stream, will soon wish 
that the lily were fadeless and the stream a 
mirror. We say, let the young girl seek to 
adorn her beauty, if she be taught also to 
adorn her mind and heart, that she may 
have wisdom to direct her love of ornament 
in due moderation. 

A correspondent assures the Uintcd Ser- 
vice Gazette that unless means are devised 
for preventing the decay of the oak-tree by 
the insects that produce gall-nuts, there will 
not be a single oak left in the course of a 
few years. 

It appears, from experiments of Lieuten- 
ant Hodman, United States Artillery, that 
guns lose nearly half their strength by 
being bored after being cast solid, and if 
cast hollow upon a cold, core, they were not 
only so much stronger but twenty times 
more durable. A gun cast hollow was fired 
2,500 times, while one bored from the solid 
burst at the seventy-third round. 

The presence of cotton in woollen fabrics 
may be easily recognised by the following 
tests. When boiled for twenty minutes in 
a solution of nitrate of mercury the woollen 
fibres acijiiirc a red color, but the cotton 
fibres remain colorless. When the fabric is 
boiled with caustic soda solution (sp. gr. 
105) the wool disssolves, but the cotton is 
only slightly affected. Picric acid also 
stains wool yellow, but has no action on 
cotton. 

An ingenious artisan, residing in Isling- 
ton, has fabricated a burning-glass of most 
extraordinary powers. Its diameter is 3 






590 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



feet; its powers are astonishing; the most 
hard and solid substances of the mineral 
world, ^uch as platina, iron, steel, flint, &c., 
are melted in a few seconds on being ex- 
posed to its intense focus. A diamond, 
weighing 10 grains, exposed to this extraor- 
dinary lens for half an hour, was reduced 
to 6 grains, during which operation it 
opened and foliated like the leaves of a 
flower, and emitted whitish fumes, and 
when closed again it bore a polish and 
retained its form. 

Thomas Hall, a linen-weaver in Ireland, 
has finished a shirt entirely in the loom. 
It is woven throughout without seams, and 
very accurately and neatly gathered at the 
neck, shoulders, and wrists. The neck and 
wristbands are doubled and stitched ; there 
is a regular selvage on each, ^ side of the 
breast ; and where stitching ordinarily is, so 
it is in this shirt. In short, it is as perfect- 
ly finished as if made by an expert needle- 
woman. The shirt has been exhibited to 
several persons in the linen trade, who are 
completely satisfied that it is actually the 
production of the -loom, without any assist- 
ance from the needle. 

£ome years ago, a party of Cambridge 
philosophers undertook, for a scientific object, 
to penetrate into the vasty depths of Wheal- 
Fortune mine. The venerable Professor 
Farash, who made one of the number, used 
to relate with infinite gusto the following 
startling incident of his visit: — On his 
ascent in the ordinary manner, by means of 
the bucket, and with a miner for fellow- 
passenger, he perceived, as he thought, cer- 
tain unmistakable symptoms of frailty in 
the rope. " How often do you change your 
ropes?" he inquired, when about half-way 
from the bottom of the awful abyss. — " We 
change them every three months, sir," re- 
plied the man in the bucket; "and we shall 
change this one to-morrow, if we can get up 
safe .' 

" Walk your Chalks." — A very simple 
explanation of this expression maybe given. 
I believe that certain ale-house frequenters, 
when they have been drinking long enough 
to make a boast of being sober, and to dis- 
pute the point with each other, will chalk 
a long straight line on the ground, and then 
endeavor, one after the other, to walk upon 
it without swerving to the right or left. 
Those who succeed are adjudged to be 
sober — that is, to have " walked their 
chalks." A witness on a trial in Bucking- 



hamshire, about the year 1841, made use of 
this expression, and a barrister immediately 
explained it in the above manner to the 
puzzled court. Addressed to a person 
whose company is no longer desired, the 
expression " walk your chalks" would thus 
mean, " walk straight off." — Notes anfr 
Queries. 



Excellent. 

A New York judge, recently, while 
sentencing a number -of young men who 
had been convicted of crime, made the fill- 
lowing speech to the farmersiof Chatauque 
county: 

"When your boys get large enough to 
work, find work for them at home. On no 
account let them go into the village to 
work ; nor let them go to teaming.. I care 
not if they can get $50 per month; it will 
be a dead loss. They will just as surely 
follow the example of these boys now before 
you, as they leave the sacred and restrain- 
ing influences of home. Give them plenty 
of good books and papers, make home plea- 
sant, and keep them there until they are of 
age and have the wisdom to resist the 
temptation of high wages on a road or in a 
tavern, but obtained at the expense of good 
character." 



Recipe for Making Currant Jelly. 

Take the fruit in its prime, wash and 
drain it till nearly dry, then put it in an 
earthen pot or jar and set the pot in a ket- 
tle of hot water. Set the kettle where the 
water will boil, taking care that none of it 
gets into the pot. When tho, fruit breaks, 
turn it into a flannel bag, and let it drain 
slowly through into a deep dish, without 
squeezing. When the juice has all passed 
through the bag, put to each pound of juice 
one pound of powdered white sugar. Set 
the syrup where it will boil gently for 16 or 
20 minutes, skimming it occasionally. Jel- 
lies are improved by standing in the sun for 
a couple of days. If the currants are too 
ripe the jelly will be dark colored. M.B. B. 
Prairie Farmer. 



fl^ Beware of sloth in secret duties, and 
of pride in public duties; of envy in ad- 
versity, and of self-consequence in prosper- 
ity ; of self-confidence in laboring for God, 
and of self-complacence when your labors 
are crowned with a blessing. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



591 



From (he Transactions of flic Highland and Jlgri- 
ndtural Society. 

On Breeding and Rearing Cattle. 

By Henry Tanner, JVo/ettor of A</r (culture, 
(Jiucn's College, Birmmgkem. 

[Premium— The Gold Medal.] 

[No. 1.]* 

This subject is invested with deep interest, 
for it involves one of the most important 
branches of agricultural industry. Knurs are 
often multiplied and perpetuated, and conse- 
quently must be more jealously avoided. The 
management of breeding cattle claims our most 
careful attention, because not only are the 
sources of remuneration from many districts 
chieHy dependent upon it, but the profits of 
every farm are, in a greater of less degree, 
under the influence of the system adopted, 
whether good or. bad. I shall at once proceed 
to notice those points which appear to me to 
be of the greatest importance, and which I be- 
lieve to be worthy of consideration in Breed- 
ing arid Rearing Ca-ttfle. 

I need scarcely stay to remark that, by the 
process of domestication, our breeds of cattle 
have undergone great changes of form, both 
externally and internally ; so much so, indeed, 
that there is scarcely any part of the animal 
which has not yielded to the change of cir- 
cumstances which has resulted from their be- 
ing brought under the care of man. The devi- 
ations from the standard character of our wild 
breeds only continue so long as they are kept 
under this artificial system, for we find that as 
a more neglectful course of management is 
adopted, so the original character of the wild 
animal will again be developed. Hence the 
peculiar conformation of our improved breeds- 
of cattle must not be loooked upon as any 
permanent modification of form, but as en- 
tirely dependent upon their being continued 
under the same system by which the change 
was originally produced. 

The characteristic points possessed by cattle 
in a state of nature, are all eminently adapted 
for the preservation and perpetration of the 
species, for Nature is perfect in all her details. 
Under our artificial system, we require certain 
modifications which are better adapted to our 
requirements. For instance, instead of hav- 
ing an animal almost destitute of fat, which 
is the condition of our wild breeds, we desire 
a fuller development of this material, together 
with a more tractable disposition ; but to at- 
tain these results we have to alter the entire 
system of the animal. It does appear ex- 
traordinary that man should have control over 
the animal race, but experience teaches him 
how to accomplish the desired result. We 
cannot accomplish this without the aid of 

* Divided into three parts by Editor Southern 
Planter. 



Nature, and it is chiefly done by adopting two 
simple principles — 1st, That tin; development 
of any part is promoted or cheeked by the 
degree of exercise which that part may have ; 
and, 2dly, That under similar conditions like 
produces like. 

To illustrate these points more fully, I shall . 
state as brieily as possible the principal 
changes which are observed in our improved 
breeds of cattle. I do so as concisely as pos- 
sible, because. I conceive it is desired that the 
report should be restricted as much as possible 
to the management of breeding cattle, and not 
extend to the more general treatment of cattle. 

If we take either of our improved breeds of 
cattle, and examine one individual of the class, 
we shall find that there is a marked difference 
in the general outline of the body. The wide 
and deep chest, the roundness of the barrel, 
and the full development of muscle and fat 
over the body, give the improved animal a 
certain squareness of outline which is totally 
at variance with any specimen of the original 
breed. Nor does the difference end here, for 
the internal conformation presents peculiarities 
of which the external form may be taken as a 
constant indication. The lungs and liver are 
found to be considerably reduced in size when 
compared with those possessed by animals 
having perfect liberty. The cause is evident, 
and admits of easy explanation. In a state of 
nature the animal is ac.customed to violent 
exercise, and this brings the lungs into active 
work, and the result is a full development of 
the part. But suppose an animal of the same 
breed, kept in a very confined space the greater 
part of its life, the lungs, not having been 
equally exercised, would not be as fully de- 
veloped. The progeny from this animal would 
also possess a tendency in the same direction ; 
and if such an offspring were kept in a state 
of confinement, it would probably possess even 
smaller lungs than its parent. Thus the re- 
stricted exercise of our cattle has produced 
and perpetuated a small development of this 
part of the body. The same results are ob- 
servable in the liver in an equal degree with 
the lungs ; lor similar active exercise induces 
increased energy in the liver, whilst the 
luxurious life of the improved animal pro- 
duces a torpid and inactive liver. 

Thus wo observe that domestication has 
modified the development of the lungs and 
liver, and hence the functions they perf rm 
are •proportionately diminished. Jt is well 
known that the food which an animal con- 
sumes chiefly consists of two classed of bodies 
— those which form muscle, and those which 
maintain the heat of the body. It is the latter 
class to which we must now refer. The heat 
of the body is maintained by the combustion 
of the carbonaceous matter of the food. Com- 
bustion is not necessarily attended by that 
manifestion of flame which is generally ob- 
served; but the same change and the same 



592 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



results may be produced in a much more gentle 
manner. This change actually takes place in 
the animal body, and the carbonaceous matter 
of the food UDder this action yields to the 
body the heat which is more necessary for the 
healthy discharge of its functions. 

The blood, on passing through the body, 
bears with it the heat-giving matter of the 
food, and also carries other important chemical 
agents in its colouring matter; when these 
bodies come together, a change takes place and 
heat is produced. Now this change does not 
take place to any great extent in the arteries, 
but it'is whilst the blood is passing through 
the capillary vessels, which pervade every 
portion of the body, that the action is rendered 
complete, and thus these vessels not only carry 
nourishment for the support of the system, 
but also distribute an equable supply of 
warmth. 

It is clear, then, that the larger the lung the 
more fully does the body receive the oxygen 
which is to develop heat in the body ; and the 
natural result is, that a more perfect combi- 
nation of the carbonaceous matter of "food 
takes place, Fat is composed of the same 
materials as are thus used for keeping up the 
heat of the body, and, consequently, the more 
there is used in this way, the less remains for 
being stored away as fat.' Thus large lungs 
are prejudicial to the formation of fat 

We may here observe that food may be very 
much economised ''by being consumed by 
" high-bred" animals; but it must be added 
that there are other attendant circumstances 
which act prejudicially. We may modify the 
operation of Nature; but she, with jealous 
care, guards these alterations, and continually 
places obstacles to check, and frequently to 
prevent, the perpetuation of the unnatural 
conditions which we desire so much to pro- 
duce. These difficulties are constantly arising 
in breeding from animals or this class, and 
we shall subsequently have occasion to notice 
this fact. 

With these introductory remarks I will pro- 
ceed to the practical portion of this subject, 
and in it we shall find the principle thus 
briefly noticed more fully illustrated. It will 
be convenient to notice this subject under the 
following divisions: — 

The Management of Cattle before Breeding, 
whilst Breeding, 
after Calving. 

THE MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE BEFORE BREEDING. 

In treating of this subject we are naturally 
led back to the period of the calf's birth, and 
we cannot do better than to trace its course 
through life. A great difference of opinion 
exists upon the best and most advantageous 
course to be pursued, and in various localities 
different systems are adopted. There are two 
modes of rearing calves ; either the calf is re- 
moved from the cow immediately after birth 



and reared by hand, or else the calf is allowed 
to suck the cow. The peculiar circumstances 
of different farms may lead us to modify our 
course; but before commenting upon these 
various practices, it may be desirable to state 
them more fully. 

In those cases in which the calf is never 
allowed to suck the cow, it is removed immedi-^ 
ately after its birth, and, having been placed 
in a separate building, is well rubbed with 
straw. After a few hours, the first milk of 
the cow (generally called the beustings) is 
carefully given to the calf. This is best done 
by supporting the head on the hand, and al- 
lowing the milk to run gently into the mouth. 
This method is preferable to the more usual 
plan of making the calf suck from below. In- 
deed, for a few days it is better to supply the 
animal in this manner. Warm milk is the 
only food the young calf receives fur about 
three weeks, and during this time it ought to 
be fed three or four times a-day. A strong, 
healthy calf will take from 8 to 10 quarts 
daily. 

The calves are gradually trained to eat 
sliced turnips and linseed cake. The general 
plan is to put a bit of cake into the calf's 
mouth immediately after taking its milk, when 
it will continue to suck and dissolve the 
cake. When about six weeks old the same 
quantity of milk is given at two meals instead 
of three, and at noon some other food can be 
given. This will be -chiefly cut roots, hay, and 
crushed cake. These are gradually increased 
in quantity as the calf is able to consume 
larger quantities, and the milk is decreased 
proportionately. When the calf is first put 
out to grass for a few hours, the house food is 
steadily decreased, so that it may be prepared 
for grass food when turned out for the sum- 
mer grazing. The advantages of this method 
are the economy of milk, and its division 
amongst the calves according to the discretion 
of the feeder. 

The second plan differs from the above in 
the calf being allowed to suck the cow for the 
same length of time, instead of the milk being 
drawn and given to it. When this plan is 
adopted, the calf is not removed after birth, 
but is allowed to remain beside the cow, and 
she soon- dries it by the natural process of 
licking, which at the same time encourages 
the circulation of the blood throughout the 
body of the young animal, and acts as a pur- 
gative on the cow. Within a few hour's the 
calf will probably be strong enough to s'and 
and suck, but if not it must be assisted. 
Should there be great weakness, a little milk 
should be drawn and put into the calf's mouth 
at intervals, until it gains strength. Generally 
it is kept in a crib within a short distance, 
and allowed to run to the cow on her being 
brought into the homestead. In too many 
cases the calf only receives its food morning 
and evening; but the mid-day meal is much to 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



593 



be desired, and should always be allowed, for 
the little additional trouble is well compensated 
by the progress of" the calf. 

If the cow is an ordinary milker, she will 
have more milk than the calf requires, and 
may adopt the plan of letting one cow rear 
two calves ; or ft this is not done, the milk 
which the calf does not require is drawn from 
the eow by hand. If, however, the cow is an 
inferior milker, she will do but little beyond 
supplying her calf, and in some cases, afford 
it only a bare sustenance. When such is the 
case, the cow must have food given her to pro- 
mote the formation of milk of good quality — 
such, for instance, as oil-cake. When a cow 
is rearing two calves, we frequently observe 
that the one being the fastest feeder gets the 
lion's share of the milk, whilst the other has 
only a spare allowance. This must be over- 
come by allowing the weaker one to have the 
start of the other in commencing its meal — 
unless it appears that the efiw's milk is insuf- 
ficient for both of the calves, in which case 
give the cow richer food. 

The course of practice is modified by some 
breeders, who, after allowing the calf to suck 
ten days, allow it 6 or 8 pints of new milk 
twice daily, and after this has been continued 
two or three weeks, yradualltj substitute skim- 
med milk for the new milk, adding oatmeal 
porridge, and allowing the calf cut roots and 
hay until it is ten weeks old, when the milk is 
entirely stopped. Other breeders, when the 
new milk is removed, use as a substitute •}■ lb. 
crushed linseed, \ lb. bean meal, \ lb. molasses, 
daily, made into 8 or 10 quarts of soup. And 
this is decidedly a good artificial food for 
calves. 

The stomachs of all ruminating animals — 
and cattle are of this class — it is well known, 
differ from those possessed by other animals. 
in consisting of four compartment, or stomarhs, 
instead of only one. In the calf these stomachs 
are not fully formed — in fact, one only is in- 
tended for action at this period of life, and the 
other three are but slightly developed. The 
stomach which the calf possesses is the true 
digesting stomach, and this is the only one 
which ought to be brought into play during 
the period it is living upon milk. Unfortu- 
nately, however, it frequently happens other- 
wise : especially in cases where the calves, 
from rapid drinking, have the rumen brought 
into action prematurely. 

The process of digestion in the calf is in- 
vested with much interest, because it illus 
trates the simplicity, and at the same time the 
perfection, of all the functions of life for ac- 
complishing the object in view. It devolves 
upon food to assist in building up the body of j 
the young animal j hence it should supply all ' 
the materials required for forming the various ; 
parts of the body. These parts consist of 
muscles, sinews, nerves, fat, membranes, j 
arteries, veins, bones, tfce. ; and it is possible 1 
38 



that in milk ire have all the requisite elements 
^teeent? Yes; we learn from daily observa- 
tion that such is the case, and a knowled- • 
of the composition of milk confirms and ex- 
plains the fact. The following anal\- 
cnws' milk has been given by Chevalier and 
Henry : — 

Casein 4.48 

Butter 3.1.*> 

Milk sugar, . . . 4.77 

Saline matter, ... .00 

Water, .... 87.02 



100.00 



In this food we have the saline matter re- 
quired for the growth of the skeleton, the 
casein for the production of the muscles and 
various organs of the body, together with the 
butter and milk sugar, which are prepared to 
furnish warmth and fat to the body. As soon 
as the milk passes into to the stomach of the 
calf, a fluid, called the gastric juice, is thrown 
off from the coats of the stomach, in a manner 
somewhat similar to perspiration from the skin. 
This gastric juice is of an acid character, and 
immediately curdles the milk; fiir it combines 
with the soda holding the casein in solution, 
and immediately the curd is separated. Thus 
we have the same change immediately pro- 
duced which we observe in milk which has 
been kept for a long period and all*. wed to be- 
come sour. This curdling °f the milk is rapidly 
followed by a decomposition of its several 
parts, which pass into the blood and nourish 
the system. 

Thus the internal organism of the calf points 
to the use of milk atone for the early period of 
its life, and a careful observation of the most 
successful practicetends to confirm this opinion. 
For the same reason we may also learn another 
lesson from the natural habits of the animal — 
that the supplies of food should rather be 
moderate and frequent, than larger in quantity 
after longpr intervals. In tin's respect there is 
a great difference in the general practice of 
I'cc ling the calf which is separated from the 
cow, as compared with others which are not 
taken away. We find that calves which run 
with the eow thrive better than others, be- 
cause they can draw their supplies of milk fre- 
quently and in small quantities — in fact, at 
such times as they feel the want. The stomach 
of the calf is small, and when the pro.- 
digestion is vigorous, the food which it can 
contain is soon used for the support of the 
system, and consequently a period of want 
often intervenes before the fresh supplie> an 
received. This does not arise when the calf 
has a freedom of access to the cow, fu- imme- 
diately the desire for food commences it can 
get a further supply. No doubt it may be 
questioned whether this is an economical 
method, and one desirable for general adop- 
tion ; but there are cases which render such a 



594 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



course absolutely essential to success, and I 
believe in many other cases the question of 
economy is too often viewed under the con- 
tracted aspect of present cost rather than 
future return. 

In rearing a calf there is one object to be 
kept steadily in view, and that is, to promote 
the development of the body as much as pos- 
sible. Iu the calf which is to be fattened and 
killed no one will dispute it, and I believe -it 
will be equally important in the case of those 
which are to be reared for beef, but it is still 
more important in rearing breeding stock. 
From the period of birth this development 
should be progressive, not interrupted by 
checks from poor and insufficient food, to be 
followed by better allowance for a time, and 
thus only alternating its progress and relapse. 
When high-bred stock are to be reared, a very 
different system from this is adopted. In fact, 
if it were not so, they would rapidly degener- 
ate. In rearing these calves, they follow the 
natural course of allowing the calf to run with 
its dam, or else let it have frequent access to 
her, whilst at the same time she is fed with 
oil-cake to give richness to the milk. This is 
the system which is most calculated to produce 
the best results. The use of artificial food 
for the calf is carefully avoided in its early 
stage, but when it is desirable to force the 
young animal into a more rapid growth, the 
supplies of artificial food may be given through 
the medium of the cow. In this manner 
similar benefits will result, without any preju- 
dicial influence upon the stomach of the calf. 
We now come to consider how far such a 
system is economical or otherwise, and my own 
impression is, that a liberal system of feeding 
is always desirable, and that it is not as ex- 
travagant a plan as it is frequently thought to 
be. The object must be kept steadily in view. 
If milk and butter are to be the marketable 
articles, they are to have the preference, by all 
means let everything else yield. If, however, 
the object is to produce good stock, then the 
butter must yield the supremacy, and the stock 
take the lead. Many, however, do not like 
this, and want to have the supplies of butter 
and good stock as well. But this cannot be. 
They are antagonistic claimants, and one or 
the other must be placed in the rear. On many 
farms a preference will be given to the butter, 
but every one should clearly keep in view the 
main object he is aiming at, and let him not 
for a moment believe that he is going to sell 
his full quantity of butter, and yet have his 
stock improved, unless he adopts a judicious 
and liberal system of feeding. 

Few who have not especially noticed this 
point will be disponed to credit the real dif- 
ference in value between two calves (say eight 
or ten weeks old) reared under the different 
plans referred to. I do not simply refer to 
their worth as determined by weight, but, if I 
may use the term, tiieir prospective value. 



The difference between them is marked as re- 
gards their subsequent progress, and some 
pounds may separate their value when two or 
three years old, provided both are carried on 
from their present age upon an equal and 
liberal system of feeding. We have not simply 
to look at the weight of veal, but rather to the 
kindly disposition induced in the animal, which 
always shows itself by a tendency to thrive. 

When a farmer is rearing steers for the pur- 
pose of producing a certain weight of beef, 
this tendency to thrive and Jay on flesh is 
valuable; and during the whole course of life 
this ultimate object will be most economically 
promoted by a liberal S} 7 stem of feeding; not 
variable, and must produce checks, but regular 
and progressive. In fact, such an animal 
should never be stationary, for not only is the 
animal at such a time producing no profitable 
return, but it is actually decreasing in value. 

It is, I believe, not only of equal, but of 
even greater importance in the case of those 
animals which are reared for breeding pur- 
poses. These are to be viewed as the parents 
of others, and thereby good or bad qualities 
become multiplied. If it is objectionable in 
the case of animals intended for the butcher, 
it is important in a far higher degree for those 
which are to produce them, and which are to 
give them a conformation and tendency favour- 
able to this end. The law of like producing 
like is of very general -application, and we 
must not expect a cow, without any tendency 
to fatten, to convey to her offspring a dispo- 
sition she does not possess. I am well aware 
that the character of the bull will have in- 
fluence here, but it will be favoured or checked 
by the qualities of the dam. We must not 
consider that because the primary object in 
rearing cattle for breeding purposes is not 
simply for the production of beef, that there- 
fore this may be altogether disregarded. 

If we seek the best method of rearing a 
calf, we cannot do better than follow the course 
pointed out by nature, and allow it to suck its 
dam, either having -frequent opportunities or 
access to her, or else freedom to run with her. 
If the calf is intended for veal, it will be 
preferable to keep some restraint upon the 
freedom of the calf, but if it is to be reared 
for stock, moderate exercise will be beneficial. 
Many calves are kept in small cribs, about 
four feet square, each being furnished with a 
little trough, so as to induce the calf to learn 
to eat artificial food and hay. In other cases 
each calf is fastened by a strap and a small 
halter, so as to prevent its running about. 
The former plan is undoubtedly a good one, if 
the calf is separated from its dam, because it 
allows of a freedom of exercise, but the sup- 
plies of ibod for the first three or four weeks 
are objectionable. It is better to give the cow 
extra Ibod if the calf is not making sufficient 
progress, and it will be ample time after the 
third or fourth week, for the calf to commence 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



505 



Mm use of solid food. Fastening the calf by i 
a strap, and keeping it in the dark, may be j 
desirable for a fattening calf, hot would not be 
adopted for store stork. When the calves are 
sis weeks old, they should have a larger space 
for exercise, and several may be allowed to 
run together with advantage. 

When the calf is intended to run with its 
dam, both should have shelter during inclem- 
ent weather, and the cow should have her sur- 
plus milk drawn at regular intervals. When 
a calf of choice character and breed is to be 
reared, it has been recommended that, should 
the milk of the cow prove deficient — as is too 
often the case with cattle which are very high 
bred — that the calf be suckled by another 
milch cow possessing better milking character. 
This would, of course, be seldom done except 
with valuable stock, but in such a case it is* 
desirable, and the benefit will soon be observ- 
able in the progress of the calf. 

When the period has arrived for allowing 
the calf to get accustomed to solid food, I 
should commence by giving it some finely cut 
pieces of turnips, mangolds, carrots, etc., which, 
from their soft and juicy nature, are prefera- 
ble to any other drier food. This may be ac- 
companied by small supplies of the best por- 
tions of the hay, which may be gradually in- 
creased as the calf gets older, but the supply 
of milk should be continued as before. A 
small allowance of meal may be advantage- 
ously spread over the cut roots. In weaning 
the calf it is desirable to bring the three meals 
into two, and after a short time, gradual!}' de- 
crease the new milk in quantity. This should 
not be done too rapidly, for a sudden substitu- 
tion of skimmed milk for new milk generally 
produces a large-boned calf, with a coarseness 
ot'habit ill adapted for ultimately producing a 
good feeding bullock. 

We have already noticed the composition of 
milk, and therefore we know what the calf re- 
ceives, and also what is withheld. It is clear 
that the system cannot add to its growth any 
matter which it does not receive, whilst that 
alone which is presented to it in its food is 
capable of being used in promoting the growth 
of its body. In giving miik deprived of its 
butter, we supply saline matter, which forms 
the skeleton, and the cheesy matter from which 
the muscles are formed, but we have removed 
the oily portion which was destined to form 
the fat and fatty membranes of the body. 
Thus the growth of the skeleton and muscles 
is continued, but these muscles are not fur- 
nished with those fatty membranes in which 
the fat is stored, and which give to the skin of 
the animal that sure indication of a dispo- 
sition to fatten which we know as "the touch." 
It only needs a careful observation of the 
calves thus reared to convince any unpreju- 
diced mind that there is no economy in the 
saving thus effected. Substitutes are frequently 
employed, and undoubtedly lessen the bad ef- 



fects ; but when the primary. (object is to pro- 
duce a superior class of stock, it will be de- 
sirable for the calves to have a liberal supply 
of new milk for at least two months. Linseed 
is very valuable as an assistant or substitute. 
Linseed gruel and Irish moss are also very 
good for this purpose. Those substitutes, as 
more particularly stated (pnge o25), are very 
often employed, especially the mixture of lin- 
seed and bean-meal with molasses. The Irish 
moss is extensively used in some districts, and 
with successful results.* 

The time of weaning must depend in some 
measure upon the season of the year when the 
calves are born. As far as possible they should 
be ready to wean in the month of May, and if 
they have been carefully managed for three or 
four months previously, they will be quite 
ready for weaning. The calves which may 
have been born in the preceding November or 
December will have made much more pro- 
gress, and will also make more rapid growth 
during the ensuing season, for this advance, 
before going upon grass. The calf should be 
gradually accustomed to the use of green 
meat, and some early vetches, rye, clover, &c. f 
will not only be an agreeable change with its 
regular supplies of food — cut roots and hay — 
but it will prepare the stomach for the more 
juicy food on which it is about to be put. 

When the herbage has made good progress, 
and the weather become mild, the calves will 
be ready for going out. At first they should 
be put upon young seeds, and allowed to re- 
main rather longer each day. It will be better 
for them to be sheltered at night for a month 
or six weeks, as the coldness may cause a very 
undesirable check. In fact, the calves would 
be better if they had the means of taking 
shelter through the first summer, for excessive 
heat and cold are alike to be avoided. An oc- 
casional change of herbage, with a free supply 
of water, will be the chief points to be at- 
tended to through the first summer. The 
calves should take the precedence of older 
stock, and the latter should finish the fields 
after the calves are taken away. If the sup- 
ply of grass is abundant ami good, this will 
be sufficient for them during the first summer. 

If it should be wished to push forward the 
calf to an unusual degree, and it has up to 
this time been sucking the cow, both may be 
turned out into good gniss, and the aid of the 
cow will be very evident in the growth of the 
calf. This, however, is only to be done in ex- 
traordinary cases; for, provided the calves 
have been brought forward well and prepared 

* These substances are, perhaps, as good as 
any for making gruel for calves. Some, how- 
ever, consider that giving substitutes for milk in 
this form encourages acidity in the stomach mid 
scoTifitig, Calves soon learn to eat fresh lin-.e« •«! 
cake in a dry state, and no other article is mi 
easily digested, and no veil fitted to p:< 
hen t ill and growth.— -Ed. 



596 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



fur turning out sis directed, a good supply of 
grass will enable them to make sufficient pro- 
gross for nil general purposes. 

Such, then, I conceive to he the proper 
management of the calf, from the period of its 
birth until, as a yearling, it is brought to the 
homestead for a further coi\rse of treatment. 
A system is thus adopted which leads to a 
constant and progressive development of all 
parts of the body, whilst the healthy discharge 
of the functions of life is carefully provided 
for. But it frequently happens that we have 
a neglectful system pursued, and the result is, 
that we have diseases peculiar to this age, 
which need special notice, not only because 
they urgently press upon us the importance of 
prevention — which is always better than the 
cure — but also to remind those who have taken 
a false course how to correct the ills which 
have arisen therefrom. 

The earliest disease from which calves suffer 
most commonly is Costiveness. Many of these 
cases arise from the prejudice on the minds of 
some persons against using the first milk 
which the cow produces. This is much denser 
and deeper coloured than ordinary milk, and 
is valuable as a purgative to the newly-born 
calf, being the safest and most effectual agent 
which can be employed. Many, from a mis- 
taken prejudice, have this milk drawn from 
the cow and thrown away. The consequence 
is, the calf loses this natural medicine, a oos- 
tiveness ensues, which is very often obstinate 
in its nature and difficult to overcome. At 
other times it is caused by dry food, such as 
hay, passing into the stomach of the young 
animal before it is ready to receive it. In 
these cases I should give 2 or 3 ounces of 
castor-oil, or else 2 or 3 ounces of Epsom salts, 
and half drachm of powder ginger. 

Navel-ill is referable, in the majority of 
cases, to oversight and neglect at the time of 
birth. Bleeding is often suffered to continue, 
and drain the calf's strength, whilst a careful 
ligature of twine would have prevented the 
loss. 

Inflammalion of the Stomach is also another 
result of careless management, generally aris- 
ing from the calf being allowed to drink its 
milk yrecdiln and rapidly, instead of sucking 
it gently. The result is, that the milk is swal- 
lowed more rapidly than the stomach can re- 
ceive it, and hence is forced into the rumen. 
Here it becomes sour and curdles; the cheesy 
matter remains, irritating the coat of the 
stomach, and finally producing inflammation. 
This is the cause of death in a large number 
of calves, and little can be done except by 
prevention. A dose of Epsom salts may re-! 
licve the inflammation, especially if given \ 
when the appetite first falls off. It is gener- i 
ally accompanied with grating of the teeth. | 

Scon fin;/ may be produced by several means: 
a sudden change of keep, and the use of indi- j 
gestible food, are the more frequent causes.^ 



The former should always be carefully guarded 
against, but the cause will generally suggest 
the remedy. If they are removed to food of 
more solid character, it will probably cease, 
but care must be taken not to allow the bowels 
to become too costive. Should the change of 
food not prove effectual, some of the cordial 
named below will be found useful. 

When the diarrhoea arises from indigestible 
food remaining in the stomach and causing an 
irritation of the membranes, it is evident that 
some medicine must be given to remove the 
offending matter such as castor-oil or Epsom 
salts and ginger already named ; this may be 
followed by the use of a cordial or astringent 
mixture, consisting of — catechu, 1 ounce; 
spirits of wine, 1 ounce; laudanum, 1 ounce; 
water, 1 pint— in doses from 1 to 2 ounces 
twice daily. 

[to be continued.] 



General View of the Functions of the 
Nutritive Organs of Plants. 

In order that plants may be nourished, 
food is required. This food, in a crude 
state, enters the roots by a process of ab- 
sorption or imbibition ; it is then transmit- 
ted from one part of the plant to another, 
by means of the circulation or progressive 
movement of the sap-; it reaches the leaves 
and is there submitted to the action of 
light and air, which constitutes the func- 
tion of respiration ; and thus the fluids are 
finally fitted for the process of assimilation, 
and form various vegetable products and 
secretions. -JL 

1. Food of Pants, and Sources whence 
they Derive their Nourishment. — 
Chemical Composition of Plants. 

The nutriment of plants can only be as- 
certained when their chemical composition 
has been determined. The physiologist 
and chemist must unite in this inquiry in 
order to arrive at satisfactory conclusions. 
Much has been done of late by Liebig, 
Mulder, Dumas, Boussingault, and other 
chemists, to aid the botanist in his investi- 
gations, and to place physiological science 
on a sound and firm basis. It is true that 
many processes take place in plants which 
cannot as yet be explained by the chemist, 
and to these the name of vital has been ap- 
plied. This term, however, must be con- 
sidered as implying nothing more than that 
the function so called occurs in living- 
bodies, and in the present state of our know- 
ledge is not reducible to ordinary chemical or 



I860.] 



THF, SOUTHER X PL ANT Kit 



597 



physical laws. A greater advance in science 
may clear up many difficulties in regard to 
some of the vital functions, while others 
may ever remain obscure. 

Plants are composed of certain chemical 
elements, which are necessary ior their 
growth. These are combined in various 
ways, so as to form what have been called 
oryditic and inon/anic compounds. The 
former are composed of carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen, and nitrogen or azote, with a cer- 
tain proportion of sulphur and phosphorus ; 
while the latter consists of various metalic 
bases, combined with oxygen, metalloids 
and acids. In all plants there is a greater 
or less proportion of water, the quantity of 
which is ascertained by drying at a temper- 
ature a little above that of boiling water. 
By burning the dried, plant the organic con- 
stituents disappear, and the inorganic part 
or the ash is left. The relative proportion 
of these constituents varies in different 
species, as seen in the following table by 
Sully, in which the proportions are given 
in 10,000 parts of the fresh plants : 



Water. 

Potato, 7713 

Turnip 9308 

Sea Kale,. ... 9238 

French Beans,. 9317 

Red Beet, S501 

Asparagus. . • . 9-210 

Water Cress,. . 9200 

Sjfell 9-207 

Parsley, 8430 

Fennel, 87 01 

Salsafy, 79.') 1 

Mustard, 94(52 



Organic Inorganic. 
• matter. 

2173 114 

588 104 

705 57 

019 64 

1390 109 

735 55 

633 107 

702 91 

1299 271 

1048 191 

1929 120 

436 102 



b 6 ch W h c- 

Carbon, 455 507 466 4,58 429 4 11 

Hydrogen.. 57 fi4 61 50 50 r>s 

Oxygen ... 4$0 36.7 101 387 422 43v> 

fcitrogen,'.. : < r > W *> *5 17 13 

Ash. 23 40 31 90 70 50 

Uy the process of drying, the 1000 parts 
of these substances lost water in the follow- 
ing proportions : 

Wheat, 100 
Oats, 151 



The analysis of 100 parts of Fruits gives 



the following results : 

Water. 

Strawberry, . . 90.22 
Green Gaze 

whole fruit, 83.77 

Cherry, do 82.41 

Pear. do 83.55 

Apple, do 81.01 

Goosberry, . . . 90.26 



Organic. Inorganic 
9.37 0.41 



15. S3 
17.09 
10.0 1 
15.72 
9.35 



0.40 
043 

0.41 
0.27 
0.39 



The following table, by Johnston, repre- 
sents the constitution in 1000 parts of plants 
and seeds, taken in the state in which they 
are given to cattle, or laid up for preserva- 
tion, and dried at 230° Fahrenheit; the 
organic matter being indicated by the 
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitregen ; 
the inorganic by the ash : — 



Peas, 66 Turnips, 9:25 

Hay, 158 Potatoes, 722 

As plants have no power of locomotion, 
it follows that their food must be universal- 
ly distributed. The atmosphere and the 
soil accordingly contain all the materials 
requisite for their nutrition. These mate- 
rials must be supplied either in a gaseous 
or fluid form, and hence the necessity for 
the various changes which are constantly 
going on in the soil, and which are aided 
by the efforts of man. Plants are capable 
of deriving all their nourishment from the 
mineral kingdom. The first created plants in 
ail probability did so, but in the present day 
the decaying remains of other plants and of 
animals are also concerned in the support 
of vegetation. 

Organic constituents and their sources. 

Carbon (C) is the most abundant ele- 
ment in plants. It forms from 40 to 50 
per cent, of all the plants usually cultivated 
for food. When plants are charred the 
carbon is left, and as it enters into all the 
tissues, although the weight of the plants 
is diminished by the process, their form still 
remains. When converted into coal, (a 
form of carbon,) plants are frequently so 
much altered by pressure -as to lose their 
structure, but occasionally it can be de- 
tected under the microscope. Carbon is in- 
soluble, and, therefore, cannot be absorbed 
in its uncombined state. When united to 
oxygen, however, in the form of carbonic 
acid, it is readily taken up either in iti 
gaseous state by the leaves, or in combina- 
tion with water by the roots. The soil con- 
tains carbon (Inmuis) and in some soils, as 
those of a peaty nature, it exists in very 
large quantity. The carbon in the soil is 
is converted into carbonic acid in order to 
be made available for the purpose of plant- 
growth. Carbon has the power of absorb- 
ing gases, and in this way by enabling cer- 
tain combinations to go on, it assists in 



598 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



the nourishment of plants. In the at- 
mosphere, carbonic acid is always pres- 
ent, averaging about 1-2000 part, arising 
from the respiration of man and animals, 
combustion and other processes. 

Oxygen (0) is another element of 
plants. Air contains about 21 per cent, of 
it. Every nine pounds of water contain 
eight of oxygen, and -it is combined with 
various elements, so as to form a great 
part of the solid rocks of the globe, as well 
as of the bodies of animals and man. 

It is chiefly in this state of combination 
•with Hydrogen, (H,) so as to form water 
(HO,) that oxygen is taken up by plants. 
Hydrogen is not found in a free state in 
nature, and with the exception of coal, it 
does not enter into the composition of the 
mineral masses of the globe. It forms 
]-9th of the weight of water, and it is pres- 
ent in the atmosphere in combination with 
nitrogen. Hydrogen is also furnished by 
sulphuretted hydrogen and some compounds 
of carbon. 

Nitrogen (N) is another element of 
plants. It forms 79 per cent, of the at- 
mosphere, and abounds in animal tissues. 
The latter, during their decay, give off ni- 
trogen, combined with hydrogen, in the 
form of ammonia (NH 3 ,) which is absorb- 
ed in large quantities by carbon, is very 
soluble in water, and seems to be the chief 
source whence plants derive nitrogen. In 
tropical countries where thunder storms are 
irequeut, the nitrogen and oxygen of the 
air are sometimes made to combine, so as 
to produce nitric acid, (NO 5 ,) which, 
either in this state or in combination with 
alkaline matters, furnishes a supply of ni- 
trogen. Daubeny thinks that the ammo- 
nia and carbonic acid in the* atmosphere 
arc derived in part from volcanic actions 
going on in the interior of the globe. The 
continued fertility of the Terra del Lavoro, 
and other parts of Italy, is attributed by 
him to the disengagement of ammoniacal 
salts and carbonic acid by volcanic, pro- 
cesses going on underneath ; and to the 
same source he traces the abundance of 
gluten in the crops, as evidenced by the ex- 
cellence of Italian macaroni. 

Mulder maintains that the ammonia is 
not carried down from the atmosphere, but 
is produced in the soil by the combination 
tetwcen the nitio:,cu of the air, and the 
hydrogen of decomposing matters. The 
same thing takes place, as in natural saltpe- 



tre caverns of Ceylon, with this exception, 
that, by the subsequent action of oxygen, 
ulmic, humic, geic, apocrenic, and crenic 
acids, are found in place of nitric acid. 
These acids consist of carbon, oxygen, and 
hydrogen, in different proportions, and they 
form soluble salts with ammonia. By all 
porous substances like the soil, ammonia is 
produced, provided they are moist, and 
rilled with atmospheric air, and are exposed 
to a certain temperature. It is thus, he 
states, that moist charcoal and humus be- 
come impregnated with ammonia. 

These four elementary bodies then are 
supplied to plants, chiefly in the form of 
carbonic acid (CO 2 ), water (HO), and am- 
monia (NH 3 ). In these states of combina- 
tion they exist in the atmosphere, and hence 
some plants can live suspended in the air, 
without any attachment to the soil. When 
a volcanic or a coral island appears above 
the waters of the ocean, the lichens which 
are developed on it are nourished in a great 
measure by the atmosphere, although they 
subsequently derive inorganic matter from the 
rocks, to which they are attached. Air plants, 
as Bromelais, Tillandsais, and Orchidaccae, 
and many species of Ficus, can grow for a 
long time in the air. In the Botanic Gar- 
den of Edinburgh, a specimen of Eicus au- 
stralis has lived in this condition for up- 
wards of twenty years, receiving no supply 
of nourishment except that afforded by the 
atmosphere and common rain water, con- 
taining of course, a certain quantity of.idfcr- 
ganic matter. The following analysis' was 
made of the leaves of this plant, in 1847, 
by my pupil Mr. John Macadam : 

Organic Inorganic 

in 100 parts, in 100 parts 

Petiole of former years 
growth, including mid- 
rib, . . . 82.98 17.02 

Three leaves of former 

years growth, . . 86.24 13.76 

Petiole of present years 
growth, including mid- 
rib, . . . 92.65 7.35 

Seven leaves of present 

years growth, . . 92.28 7.72 

All were dried at 212° Fahrenheit. 

In the experimental garden of Edinburgh 
Mr. James McNab has cultivated various - 
plants, as Strelitzia augusta, Currants, Goose- 
berries, &c, without any addition of soil, 
and simply suspended in the air, with a sup- 
ply of water kept up by the capillary action 
of a worsted thread. Some of the plants 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



599 



have flowered and ripened fruit. These ex- 
periments show that the atmosphere and 
rain water eontain all the ingredients requi- 
site for the life of some plants. Boussin- 
gault, from observations made on the culti- 
vation of Trefoil, was led to the conclusion, 
that under the influence of air and water, 
in a soil absolutely devoid of organic mat- 
ter, some plants acquire all the organic ele- 
ments requisite for growth. Messrs. Wiegman 
and Polstorf took fire quartz sand, burnt it to 
destroy any organic matter, digested it for 



the study of their organic elements. The 
organic substances formed by plants arc de- 
composed by a moduality high temperature ; 
they easily undergo putrefaction, especially 
when exposed to a moist and warm atmos- 
phere, and they have not been formed by 
human art. Their inorganic constituents, 
on the other hand, are not so easily decom- 
posed ; they do not .undergo putrefaction, 
and they have been formed artificially by 
the chemist. 

The combustible or organic part of plants. 



sixteen hours in strong nitro-muriatic acid, even in a dried state, forms from 88 to 89 
and then washed it with distilled water. Va- per cent, of their whole weight. Conse- 
rious kinds of seeds, as barley, oats, vetch, quently the ash or inorganic matter fre- 
clover and tobacco were then sown in it, quently constitutes a very small proportion 
and watered with distilled water and all of the vegetable tissue. It is not, however, 
grew more or less. on this account to be neglected, for it is 

The elementary bodies already mentioned, found to be of great importance in the 
in various states of combination, constitute j economy of vegetation, not merely on ac- 
the great bulk of plants. They occur in count of its entering directly into the con- 
the form of binary compounds, as water and j stitution of various organs, but also from as- 
oily matters; ternary, as starch, gum. sugar , sisting in the production of certain organic 



and cellulose ; quaternary, as gluten, albu- 
men, casein and fibrin e. The latter com- 
pounds seem to require for their composi- 
sition, not merely the elements already no- 
ticed, in the form of a basis, called Pro- 
teine, (O, H 31 , N 5 , O 12 , according to Mul- 
der, or O 8 , IP 6 , N 6 , O u , according to Lie- 
big), but certain proportions of sulphur and 
phosphorus in addition ; thus albumen == 
10 Pr. + 1 P. + 1 S.j fibrine = 10 Pr. t 
1 P. + 2 S. ; caseine = 10 Pr. + 2 S. The 
tifces into the composition of which these 
proteine compounds enter, are tinged of a 
deep orange-yellow, by strong nitric acid. 
These compounds are highly important in 
an agricultural point of view, and the con- 
sideration of them will be resumed when 
treating of the application of manures. 

INORGANIC CONSTITUENTS, AND THEIR 
SOURCES. 

The consideration of the inorganic con- 
stituents of plants is no less important than 



compounds. Some of the lower tubes of 
cellular plants can exist apparently without 
any organic matter. Thus Mulder could 
not detect a particle of ash in Mycoderma 
vini, nor in moulds produced in large quan- 
tity by milk sugar. Deficiency of inorganic- 
matters, however, in general injures the vi- 
gor of plants, and it will be found that, in an 
agricultural point of view, they require partic- 
ular attention — a distinct relation subsisting 
between the kind and quality of the crop, 
and the nature and chemical composition of 
the soil in which it grows. It has been 
shown by careful and repeated experiments 
that, when a plant is healthy and fairly ri- 
pens its seeds, the quantity and quality of 
the ash is nearly the same in whatever soil 
it is grown j and that, when two different 
species are grown in the same soil, the quan- 
tity and quality of the ash varies — the dif- 
ference being greater the more remote the 
natural affinities of the plants are. . 



The inorganic elements of plants and their combinations, arc thus given by John- 
ston : — 



Chlorine, (CI.) 
Iodine, (I.) 
Bromine. (Br.) 

Sulphur, (S ) 

Phosphorus, (P.) 
Potassium, (K.) 

Sodium, (Na.) 



Combined with Metals forming Chlorides. 

" " Metals tl Iodides. 

i; " Metals " Bromides. 

' ; '' Metals u Sulphurets. 

" " Hydrogen Sulphuretted Hydrogen or Hydro. Sul- 

** " Oxygen " Sulphuric acid. [phuric acid. 

" " Oxvgeu " Phosphoric acid. 

" « Oxygen « Potass. 

" ; ' Chlorine '• Chloride of Potassium. 

' : " Oxygen il Soda. 

" " Chlorine ' ; Chloride of Sodium, (common salt.) 



600 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



Calcium, (Ca.) 

Mngnesium, - (Mg.) 
Aluminum, (Al.) 
Silica, (Si.) 
Iron. (Fe.) 
Manganese, (Mn.) 
Copper, (Cu.) 



combined with 



Oxygen forming 
Chlorine " 

Oxygen l< 

Oxygen " 

Oxygen " 

Oxygen " 

Sulphur " 



Lime. 

Chloride of Calcium. 

Magnesia. 

Alumina. 

Silica. 

Oxides 

and 
Sulphurets. 



The quantity of inorganic matter or ash 
left by plants, varies in different species, 
and in different parts of the same plant. The 
dried leaves usually contain a large quanti- 
ty. Saussure found that — 



Dried bark of Ot 
Dried leaves, 
Dried Alburnum, 
Dried cUramen, 



gave 



60 

50 

4 

Q 



of ash in 1,000 



The dried leaves of Elm contain more 
than 11 per cent, of inorganic matter, while 
the wood contains less than 2 per cent. ; the 
leaves of the Willow 8 per cent., wood 
0.45; leaves of Beech 6.69, wood 0.36; 
leaves of Pitch-pine 3.5, wood 0.25. Thus 
the decaying leaves of trees restore a large 
quantity of inorganic matter to the soil. 

The followinc; tables show the relative 
proportion of inorganic compounds present 
in the ash of plants : — 

According to Sprengal, 1,000 lbs. of wheat 
leave 11.77 lbs., and of wheat straw 35.18 
lbs. of ash, consisting of: — 



ih 



Grain. 

2.25 
2.40 



Pota: 
Soda 

Lime 0.96 

Magnesia 0.90 

Alumina with trace of iron. . 0.26 

Silica, 4.00 

Sulphuric aeid 0.50 

Phosphoric acid 0.40 

Chlorine 0.10 



Straw. 
0.2U 
0.29 

• 2.40 
0.32 
0.90 

28.70 

. 0.37 
1 70 
0.30 



11.77fi>s. 35. LSIbs 

In 1 ,000 lbs. of the grain of the Oat, are 

contained 25.80 lbs., and of the dry straw 

57.40 lbs. of inorganic matter, consisting 

of:— 

Grain. Straw. 

Potash,. 1.50 8.70 

Soda .'.... 1.32 0.02 

Lime 0.86 1.52 

Magnesia, 0.67 0.22 

Alumina 0.14 0.06 

Oxide of Iron . .. 0.40 0.02 

Oxide of Manganese 0.00 0.02 

Silica 19.76 45.88 

Sulphuric acid 0.35 0.79 

Phosphoric acid 0.70 0.12 

Chlorine 0.10 0.05 



25.80 Ihjs. 57.40 ft* 



In 1000 lbs. of field Bean, field Pea, and Rye-grass Hay, after bein; 
the following is the amount of ash, and its composition : — 



dried in th 



e^i 



Field Bean 



Field Pea. 



Potash, 

Soda, 

Lime, 

Magnesia,. 

Alumina 

Oxide of Iron, , 

Oxide of Manganese, 

Silica, 

Sulphuric acid, 

Phosphoric acid. 

Chlorine, 



Seed. 
...4.15. , 
...8.16., 
...1.65.. 
..1.58.. 
...0.34. 



1.26. 
,0.89. 
.2.92. 

0.41. 



Sir a w. 
.16.56.. 
0.50.. 
. 6.24.. 
. 2.09.. 
. 0.10.. 
. 0.07.. 
0.05.. 
. 2.20.. 
. 0.34 . . 
. 2.26.. 
. 0.80 . . 



Seed. 
,8.10. 
,7.39. 
,0.58. 
.1.36. 
.0.20. 
.0.10. 



.4.10... 
.0.53... 
.1.90... 
.0.38... 



Straiv. 
. 2.35 



27.30.. 
, 3.42... 

. 0.60... 

. 0.20 

. 0.07... 
, 9.96... 
, 3.37... 
, 2.40... 
0.04 . . . 



Rye-grass 

Hay. 
.. 8.81 
!. 3.94 
.. 7.34 
.. 0.90 
.. 0.31 



.27.72 
. 3.53 

. 0.25 
. 0.06 



21.36 



31.21 



24.64 



Dr. R. D. Thomson gives the following 
analysis of the inorganic matter in the stem 
and seeds of Lolium pcrenne: — 



Silica 

Plioepkoric acid,. . . 

Sulphuric acid, 

Chlorine, 



Stem. Seed. 

04.57 42.28 

12.51 18.89 

. 3.12 



49.71 
Sle?n. 



52.86 



Seed. 

Carbonic acid, 3.61 

Magnesia, - .. . . '. 4.01 5.31 

Lime, J 6.50 18.55 

Peroxide of Iron, 0.36 2.10 

Potash, 8.03 4.80 

Soda, 2.17 1.38 

These substances are variously combined 



I860,] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



601 



in plants, in the form of sulphates, phos- 
phates, .silicates and chlorides. Some plants, 
as Wheat, Oats, Barley, and Rye. contain a 
large quantity of Silica in their straw; 
others, such as Tobacco, IVa-straw, .Meadow- 
clover, Potato-haulm, and Sainfoin, contain 
much lime; while Turnips, Beet-root, Pota- 
toes. Jerusalem-artichoke, and Maize-straw, 
have a large proportion of salts of potash 
and soda in their composition. Sulphates 
and .Phosphates, are required to supply part 
of the material necessary for the composition 
of the nutritive proteiue compounds found 
in grain. 

Silica abounds in Grasses, in Equisctum, 
and other plants, giving firmness to their 
stems. The quantity contained in the Bam- 
boo is very large, and it is occasionally found 
in the joints in the form of Tabasheer. 
Reeds, from the quantity of silicious matter 
they contain, are said, during hurricanes in 
warm climates, to have actually caused con- 
flagrations in striking against each other. 
In the species of Equisetum ; the silica in 
the ash is as follows : — 



Equisetum arvense, . . . 

UmOSUIll,. 

hyeruale,. . 

Telinateia, 



Jsh. 
13.84. 
15.50. 
11.8] . 
23.61. 



Silica. 
... 6.38 
... 6.50 
... 8.75 
...12.00 



The third of these furnishes Dutch Rush, 
used for polishing mahogany. The silica is 
deposited in a regular manner, forming an 
integral part of the structure of the plant. 
Many insoluble matters, as silica, seem to be de- 
posited in cells by a process of decomposition. 
Thus, silicate of potash in a vegetable sap 
may be mixed with oxalic acid, by which 
oxalate of potash, and silicic acid will be 
produced, as in the cells of Grasses and 
Equisetum. Chara translucens has a cover- 
ing of silicic acid, while C. vulgaris has 
one composed of silicic acid and carbonate 
of lime; and Chara hispida has a covering 
of carbonate of lime alone. 

Lime is found in all plants, and in some 
it exists in large quantity. It occurs some- 
times in the form of carbonate on the sur- 
face of plants. Thus, many of t' e Charace;v 
have a calcareous encrustation. The crystals 
or raphides found in the cells of plants, 
have lime in their composition. 

Soda and Potash occur abundantly in 



plants. [Those growing near the sea have a 
large proportion of soda in their Composition, 
while those growing inland contain potash. 
Various species of Salsola, Salieornia, Ilali- 
nioenemum, and Kochia, yield spda for 
commercial purposes, and are called Ilalo- 
phy tea (bfe, salt, and jp&atai, plant, (jr.). The 
young plants, according to Gobel. furnish 
more soda than the old ones. There are 
certain species, as Armeria maritima, Coch- 
learia officinalis, and Tlantago maritima, 
which are found both on the sea-shore and 
high on the mountains, removed from the 
sea. In the former situation they contain 
much soda and some iodiue ; while in the 
latter, according to J)r. Dickie, potash pre- 
vails, and iodine disappears. 

I uoN, Manganese, and Copper, es- 
pecially the two last, exist in small quantity 
in plants. Copper was detected, by Sarzean, 
in coffee. 

All these inorganic matters are derived 
in a state of solution from the soil, and 
plants are said to have, as it were, a power 
of selection, certain matters being taken up 
by their roots in preference to others. 
Saussure made a series of experiments on 
this subject, and stated that when the roots 
of plants were put into solutions containing 
various sa.ine matters in equal proportions, 
some substances were taken up by imbi- 
bition in larger proportion than others. 
Bouchardat doubts the accuracy of Saussure's 
conclusions on this point. He thinks that 
errors arose from the excretions ot the plants 
and other causes. He performed similar 
experiments with plants of Mint, which 
had been growing tor six months in water 
previous to experiment, and he found that 
in cases of mixed salts in water, the plant 
absorbed all in equal proportions. Daubeny 
states, that if a particular salt is not proent, 
the plant frequently takes up an isoniorphous 
one. 

The differences in the absorption of 
solutions depend, perhaps, on the relative 
densities alone, and not on any peculiar 
selecting power in roots, for it is well known 
that poisonous matters are absorbed as well 
as those which are wholesome. The follow- 
ing experiments show that poisonous matters 
in solutions, varying from half a grain to 
live grains to the ounce of water, are taken 
up by roots, and that some substances 
which are poisonous to animals do not ap- 
pear to act energetically upon plants:— 



602 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[OCTOBEB 



Chloride of zinc, 
Sulphate of zinc, 
Sulphiite of cupper, 
Nitrate of copper, 
Acetate of copper, 

Bichloride of mercury, 

Arsenious acid, 
Arseniate of potash, 
Acetate of lead, 
Bichromate of potash, 
Nitrate & sulphate of iron, 
Chloride of barium, 
Nitrate of baryta, 

Nitrate of strontia, 

Muriate, sulphate, and) 
nitrate of lime, } 

Sulphate and muriate ) 
of magnesia, j 

Phosphate of soda, 

Chloride of sodium, 



Growing Plants. 

beans, 

cabbages, and wheat, 

beans, 

beans, 

cabbages, 
f beans, 
< wheat, 
(cabbages, 

cabbages and wheat, 

barley and cabbages, 

beans, 

cabbages, beans, barley, 

beans, 

beans, 

cabbages and wheat, 

beans, 
beans, 

beans and cabbages, 

beans and cabbages, 
beans and cabbages, 



[-quickly destroyed. 



) weak solutions did not de- 
j stroy._ 

destroyed in a few days. 

destroyed unless much diluted. 

destroyed in a few days. 



quickly destroyed. 

f plants uninjured except solu- 
} tion strong. 

improved when very diluted. 

J injured, and if strong de- 
stroyed. 

no injury when diluted. 



it follows that the composition of soil is a 
subject requiring special notice. — Balfour \ 
Botany. 

From the New England Farmer. 

Twaddles and Waddles on Agricultural 
Education. 

Twaddles. — I meant to have spoken t( 
you the other day, Mr. Waddles, in oui 
conversation on general agriculture, upor 
the subject of agricultural education, as r 
is one which interests me much, but time 
did not permit. You must know that then 
is much controversy at present upon thi: 
matter, and encouragement is given by souk 
of our first men to introduce agriculture, a; 
a department of education, into our commoi 
schools, with the prospective A T iew of estab 
lishing an agricultural college in this State 
something like those in Europe, which an 
in so successful operation. You must als< 
know, Mr. Waddles, that such education i; 
much needed, especially by the rising gene 
ration. 

Waddles. — Yes, fir, I know there is mucl 
discussion upon this subject, but \ questioi 
Avhether such facilities are as much neede< 
as the education; and I am far from think 
ing that European farming, with all it 
objectionable appurtenances, is proper fo 
This shows a manifest advantage in shifting us to adopt. It would require a thorougl 
crops, varying from 1 to 75 per cent.; the revolution of all our laws and custom. 1 - 



Rotation of Crops. — As the inorganic 
materials which enter into the composition 
of plants vary much in their nature and 
relative proportions, it is evident that a soil 
may contain those necessary for the growth 
of certain species, while it may be deficient 
in those required by others. It is on this 
principle that the rotation of crops pro- 
ceeds; those plants succeeding each other in 
rotation which require different inorganic 
compounds for their growth. In ordinary 
cases, except in the case of very fertile 
virgin soil, a crop, by being constantly grown 
in successive years on the same field, will 
deteriorate in a marked degree. Dr. Daubeny 
has put this to the test of experiment, by 
causing plants to grow on the same and 
different plots in successive years, and noting 
the results: — 

Average of 5 years 
S in the same plot. . . . 72.9 lbs. tubers. 
( in different plots. . . 92.8 — — 

I same 15.0 lbs. 

I different 19.9 

I same 32.8 

( different. 34.8 

I same 30.0 

I different 4G.5 

5 same 104.0 

\ different \ .173.0 

( same 28.0 

/ different 32.4 



Potatoes. 

Flax, 

Beans, 

Bailey, 

Turnips, 

Oats, 



deficiency of inorganic matter being the 
chief cause of difference. As this matter is 
shown to be of great importance to plants. 



which would be a great detriment to th 
real happiness of the people, and more pai 
ticularly to the small, independent farniei 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTKK. 



603 



T. — That I think is not proposed. But 
you uuist admit that fanners should be edu- 
cated for their business. 

W. — Certainly; and has not every man 
the best means lor such edueation, who has 
a farm to till, books and papers to read, and 
lectures to listen to ? who gets his theories 
from his own reflection, the experience and 
suggestions of others, and tests them in the 
general course of his operations on his own 
land ? 

T. — Why, Mr. Waddles, I suppose not; 
he wants it taught to him. And do you 
not know that agriculture in America lias 
fallen behind the age, and that the only 
way to bring it up to par value and dignity 
is to educate, thoroughly educate, all who 
intend to engage in it? 

\V.— No, Mr. Twaddles, I respectfully 
deny that agriculture has fallen behind the 
e, although in this State it may be neces- 
sarily passing out. But if our journals, 
books, fairs and lectures have not kept it 
up, pray what can ? Have all these, which 
have been thought so useful, been in vain? 
And as to the means of education, a farmer 
is perpetually at school, conning his great 
volume, and studying the special capabilities 
of his own farm, and consequently is, or 
can be, as well educated for his business as 

Mothers of different vocations are for theirs. 
Farmers are not so ignorant of their calling 
as many soft-handed scholars suppose them 
to be, though they may be hampered for 

e want of means. As to the dignity of farm- 
ing, the easy, professional man has always 
looked down upon the hard laboring man in 
all vocations. It is a whim of society, and 
no schooling or colleges can regulate it, any 

''more than they can make the sky rain pota- 
toes. Take England, with her numerous 
agricultural schools lor the poor, which are 
proposed partly to be copied, and do we not 

B find the mass of the farm laborers only little 

'above slaves, both in morals and intellect? 
So fully did Mr. Colman notice this fact, 

What his Reports may be regarded as Books 

'"of Lamentations. And I think you will 

] not deny that they arc considered infinitely 
more degraded than those here, where we 

lihave no such schools or colleges, of any in- 
fluence, to dignify them. 

T. — Well, freely I admit it and regret it. 
But you forget the tenant farmer. He is 

"generally an intelligent, well-educated per- 
son ; is thought — 

W. — Well of, I suppose, because he su- 



perintends on his pony, and doesn't do what 
the more aristocratic class regard as drudge- 
ry. Excuse me, but I suppose you don't 
intend to make tenant fanners here because 
they only are respectable there. 

T. — No, sir: that would be folly; for 
here our land-owners are too numerous, and 
large tracts of land in one man's possession 
too uncommon. 

W. — Certainly; let this whim of dignity 
take care of itself, as it must; the less farm- 
ers think and say of it the better. In spite, 
however, of the schools, the man who lives 
at his ease will always be distinguished from 
the thousands whose necessities oblige, them 
to labor. Upon this subject a philosophical 
discourse might be written. 

T. — Or a sermon preached. 

W. — Yes ; and this reminds me that you 
are a clergyman. 

T. — True; but I once worked on a farm. 

W. — And feel an interest in the educa- 
tion of the laboring classes, and particularly 
the farmer, though you from some cause or 
other left his honorable vocation. 

T. — I left for education, but my sympa- 
thies are with him. 

W. — You ought to have returned with 
both. And you and others say, virtually, 
that he is ignorant and degraded, raises 
meaner crops than they do in England, and 
don't understand his business, as you un- 
fairly suppose from this latter fact, that 
there is no uniformity or system in agricul- 
ture, and that in this land of freedom each 
one does as he pleases on his own soil. 

T. — Why, yes ; I suppose I must make a 
general plea of guilty. J 

W. — Now, suppose your agricultural pa- 
rishioners should politely say to yen. through 
some "Resolutions," that your theology is 
very feeble, uncanonical stuff, that you don't 
preach as satisfactorily as others do, that 
you have some crude notions of your own, 
that you preach upon an indefinite system, 
if upon any, that you learned nothing use- 
ful at college, and that you don't understand 
your business. Would you not consider it 
in them (even whose servant you are) the 
concentration of impudence? 

T. — Most certainly I should; for I think 
I understand my business. 

W. — Think! Is not that presumption? 
Do you kmm that you understand your bu- 
siness, and that they are ignorant of theirs? 

T. — But, Mr. Waddles, they don't under- 
stand theology. 



604 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[OCTOBE] 



If. — Haven't you taught 1110111? Do you 
understand agriculture? Pray, is theology, 
with its thousand phases, better understood, 
and more definite than agriculture ? Do 
we know anything more about God than we 
did a hundred years ago? Cannot the far- 
mer justly say, that religion, so ably repre- 
sented by a learned profession, is behind 
the age, with as much force as the clergy- 
man can aver that fanning is? 

T. — But theology is a very dark and ab- 
struse matter, and it is not my fault that 
there are so many religions extant, repre- 
sented by equally learned men. 

W. — No, sir, it is not. But you regard 
agriculture as so mysterious a science, that 
it requires learned men to successfully pro- 
secute it. Upon this system of collegiate 
education, will not learned farmers be as 
likely to differ as learned theologians ? If 
I become sick by digging ditches for tile, or 
by hard labor, or indiscretion, and die, is 
the learned physician to be told that he 
don't understand his business? Perhaps he 
don't. But who can teach him ? The best 
lose patients, just as some good farmers 
occasionally raise poor crops. Nor because 
some one cures a certain disease in Europe, 
while many fail in it here, will it do to 
charge the American physicians with igno- 
rance. There are a great variety of cir- 
cumstances to consider. In England, how- 
ever, generally speaking, the learned pro- 
fession of mediciue has lately been styled 
"a withered branch of science." 

T.— Why, Mr. Waddles, nobody does so 
charge them. 

W. — Perhaps not; but they might with 
as much consistency, as some farmers are 
charged. 

T. — Ah, but please recollect that it is 
appointed for all men to die, and medicine 
is an uncertain science. 

W. — So is farming; and it seems also to 
be foreordained that the elements should 
sometimes destroy the crops. That is a 
sprig of wty theology. Now as to the other 
Irarnrd profession, the law. Can any mem- 
ber of this profession innocently charge a 
farmer with ignorance, seeing defects in his 
operations, while he himself daily becomes 
entangled in the proverbial intricacies of 
his own vocation ? 

T. — Good. I don't see how a lawyer 
could. 

W. — Well, then, it would seem that agri- 
culture here, without colleges, is still up 



even with theology, medicine and law — th 
three learned professions which require sue! 
profound erudition from the schools. 

T. — Bat, Mr. Waddles, you forget tha 
no vocation is perfect. 

W. — No, sir, that's just what I've bee 
telling you; they are not. Agriculture 1 
imperfect. But with its present literature 
I think nothing better for its advancemen 
than individual tests on the soil, by me 
having strong common sense,' and lovin 
their business. Farmers may find a profj 
in' splitting rails, but not hairs. The 
who till the soil for a livelihood cannot sto 
long to ascertain whether plowing ten incht 
deep is better than nine, or whether manur 
buried four inches is more advantageou 
than that of three. It is enough for thei 
to get their plowing at an ordinary deptl 
and plenty of manure to apply in the ord 
nary way. Neither is it necessary that the 
should know the name and history of ever 
weed that falls under the hoe in their gai 
dens, or that carbonic acid enters largel 
into the organization of plants. 

T. — But you ought not to overlook ch( 
mistry, botany, vegetable physiology, geok 
gy, &c. Certainly, these sciences ever 
farmer ought to be conversant with. 

W. — That would be a laborious accoir 
plishment; a little tending to the superfh 
ous and ornamental; and if all those wh 
live upon the products of the earth wer 
obliged to wait for their food till sue 
farmers produced it, farming would not b 
likely to be profitable afterwards, even if 
few passed through the famine to do th 
raising! 

T. — Strange ideas of education ! Wei 
now tell me frankly, are you not in favor c 
those sciences I alluded to bein»* taught i 
our common schools, so that youth, whe 
they come upon the farm, may know some 
thing of, and love these studies? 

W. — Yes, voluntarily and with discrimi 
nation. They are now so taught in ou 
high schools and academies, and in some c 
our common, district schools, when the ps 
rents or scholars wish them. You, I knovs 
are in favor of teaching children somethin 
that will be useful to them in after life. S 
am I, and so is every sensible person. Bu 
if I do not intend my son to become a fai 
mer, T do not wish him to spend his time i 1 
studying these branches with a view of be 
coming a farmer, because, forsooth, farmin 
may be the most important vocation of th 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



609 



State. And L would not admit that tin 
Board of Agriculture, or the (Government 
should dictate to me what was hot for him 
to pm>ue in after life, and educate him 
accordingly, whatever his, or my wishes. 
This idea is education hecome rahid. The 
common or high school is not the place to 
learn trades, but merely to get the rudiments 
of a general (not a special) education. 

T. — But T trust you don't regard agricul- 
ture as a trade. 1 look upon it as the mo>t 
complicated science known. 

W. — So it is; unfathomable in mystery; 
nevertheless it's a trade, the practical 
nrpcrations of which are as easily learned as 
most any other manual vocation; and it has 
been well said, that the unscientific farmer 
ban raise as good crops as the ablest chemist. 
3v it is an art, the thorough understanding 
Jf which is of more importance than its 
cientific aspect. The fining of the earth 
)eing the common and natural business of 
nankind, [of which all others arc the ex- 
eption,) it would be cruel in the Creator to 
bake the conditions of good crops so com 
-dicated as to defeat the purposes of agri- 
ulture. 

T.— But, Mr. Waddles, I don't see but 
our system of education would keep every 
>oy at home, or at least, you would have no 
nstitutions to teach the professions we have 
ust alluded to; viz.: law, medicine, and 
neology. 

JT. — Not at all. If I had a son who 

wanted to study medicine, (and the Board 

•f Agriculture had no objection,) I would 

end him to a medical school; for a farm 

fould not bo the best place to study this 

cience. Anuso, also, of law and theology ; 

se Indies being necessarily more intel- 

ctual, for which a well conducted farm 

^ould furnish but few facilities. But if I 

ranted him to become a farmer, and car- 

ied on a good farm myself, I would keep 

im at home, or put him with some good 

gnculturist . ; where, probably, instead of 

reating a debt of several hundred dollars. 

e might earn a portion of the sum. And 

ins would be his institution, and a very 

roper one. If he wi-hed to study this 

ubject at school, fifty cents would furnish 

im with the proper books. But this should 

■ c voluntary on the part of parents and; 

hildren. The State obviously should not 

ssume to teach agriculture in the com-l 

Jiou schools any more than any other use- 



ciei 
lies 



ful vocation; for instance, that of a builder, 
imu hinei>t, shoemaker, engraver. &c. 

7'. — Well, sir, if the town schools did all 
(his. would it not be better than spending 
\ears in teaching the useless drud Ian- 
lunges and ihe higher mathematics I 1 ■■- 
sides, what objection can there be to teach- 
ing agricultural chemistry, botany, oVc., 
e\en if they do not give the rudiments of 
other callings ? 

W, — The dead languages and the higher 
mathematics certainly would be useful to 
some classes of pupils as much as agricul- 
ture would be to others. Each should study, 
as well as practicable, what may be called 
into requisition in after life, and not what 
would be unlikely to be. Nothing hardly 
could be more improper than forcing a com- 
plete system of agriculture into our schools, 
as has been recommended — not T>nly into 
those of the rural districts, but into those 
of our large towns and cities, and among 
children of both sexes — which would not 
only embrace chemistry, botany and vege- 
table physiology, but also the " raising of 
stock !" One gentleman of the Board of 
Agriculture, (in his undefined zeal to do 
something for the cause,) gave it as his 
opinion, that the question, " What was the 
best bull," was very proper to introduce 
into a promiscuous school of children ! 
These studies are useful, but they have 
their time and place. It might be equally 
proper to teach them from the pulpit ; for 
if there is much that is useless taught in 
our common schools, no candid and unpreju- 
diced mind will deny that the former ir.sii- 
tution is less open to the same objection. 

T. — Shocking ! But certainly you can 
have no objection to the schools teaching 
how plants grow and are fed, for our life as 
a people depends upon this knowledge. 

IT. — No, I have not. Some attention 
should be given to the subject, by those who 
desire it, and such is in fact the case now. 
But I object, as before hinted, to shaping 
the minds of youth in our common schools 
either to this or that calling, exclu-: . 
others. Probably no one of 4he Board of 
Agriculture would submit to it in regard to 
his own children. It is a matter of domes- 
tic concern. 

T. — Bless you, Mr. Waddles, they do so 
in England, and see what crops they raise ! 

W. — True ; but in this republican coun- 
try the government is not permitted to exer- 



60G 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[OCTOBE 



ciso that control over the laboring classes 
that it docs there. England 1ms ■ queen, 
•and an order of nobility ; but the practical 
fanner is far from being comprised in this 
latter department ; and their agricultural 
schools are the ordinary schools for the 
farming class, who expect to be forever 
so, and trained expressly for that calling, 
with no hope, or hardly the bare possibility 
of rising into the dignity of small land- 
holders, or of citizenship. I ask you if 
the true object of agriculture is fulfilled in 
a country that, where, though they may get 
greater crops than we do in some produc- 
tions, these crops, by the stern forcing sys- 
tem of large capitalists, are wrung from 
the bodies of the thousands of half-housed 
and half-famished farm labourers ? English 
crops, produced (shall I say by human bone- 
manure ?•) as they are, ought perhaps' to be 
regarded as disreputable to the British 
Isles. England, probably, has more to 
learn of us than we of her, not only in ag- 
riculture, but in politics and law, and per- 
haps in all the industrial pursuits. English 
farming is not so much " capital and sci- 
ence," as capital and oppression. 

T. — But we propose here to get the science 
without the oppression. You are probably 
aware that a committee of gentlemen of the 
Board of Agriculture have given it as their 
opinion, that if a system of agricultural ed- 
ucation were introduced into our common 
schools, in twenty years " the productive 
value of the lands throughout the whole 
State would be doubled." 

W. — I am ; and I have great respect for 
the gentlemen. But it is to be very much 
questioned whether the enlightened practical 
farmers of the State would affirmatively re- 
spond to such an opinion. Whoever has 
heard of the eccentric merchant of Boston, 
who, one bright morning before breakfast, 
made two thousaud dollars by marking all 
his goods higher, may have the story brought 
to mind. 

T. — That's a joke. 

TV.— Isn't the other ? 

r._That's to be seen. But, Mr. Wad- 
dles, just think of the millions of dollars 
added to our agricultural products if we; 
were to succeed in raising the enormous ; 
crops they do in England. You must admit, 
that now the differences is a loss on our part. I 

II'. — Not at all. We gain it in the frec-j 
dom and happiness of our agricultural pop- j 
ulation. If farming is ennobled anywhere/ 



it is and must be in America. If the mat 
of our farmers had an annual rent whic 
must be paid for their farms, like the ter 
ants of England, they might be hard enoug 
to force greater corps. But fortunately the 
are under no such necessity. Yet of win 
corps they do raise, they take enough I 
suj>ply their own wants, which cannot be s 
well said of the tillers of the soil whos 
" science in husbandry " we are required t 
emulate. Surely, if England is the land ( 
bountiful harvests and fat cattle, it is §Jfl 
the land of lean and disfranchised laborer 
Probably agriculture may be better taugl 
to a few in Britain than in America; bi 
with what we do teach here, we also incu 
cate the science of humanity, and the divin 
maxim, that " The laborer.is worthy of h 
hire." 

T. — True. No one should shut his ey* 
to the many laboring poor in England, an 
throughout Europe; but then we shoul 
only copy the good. 

W. — But of this we feel no necessity. ] 
our general system of agriculture is moi 
productive. of happiness than theirs, we ma 
not be very ready to copy from them 
though, perhaps, there are no importar 
agricultural experiments instituted in th; 
country, which do not have more or less ir 
fluenoe in this. But the ill-defined idea ( 
establishing an agricultural college from fo: 
eign hints, with a view of advancing agr 
culture into one of the learned profession 
(considering the little harmony and unit 
among those already counted learned,) M 
always struck me as tending to the ridici 
lous. And if theVorking farmers of Mass! 
chusetts were and are not similarly impressec 
the enterprises already started with gres 
names would not have suffered an earl 
blight. When they ask for manure, wi 
you give them a college ? Scholars alwaj 
make a foolish piece of work in trying t 
improve that which is already well enough 
and hence it is that the common sense c 
the people will not respond to them. The 
would " paint the lily," and '• throw a pel 
fume on the violet." And they are too ap 
to think that a man who springs up like 
Bartlett or Seckel pear, and can bear goo 
fruit in any soil, is a fit subject for their in 
fluence. Washington and Franklin, wh 
belonged to no learned profession, will b 
remembered when Adams and Jefferson ar 
forgotten. Very much depends upon th 
character of the man himself, as to his sue 



I860.] 



THE S OUT UK UN PLANTER 



607 



lees, whether in agriculture or in any other 
botiassfl 

T. — Yes. sir, 1 readily grant this ; but 
he American farmer's knowledge, although 
sufficient in quantity, is not sv-leinatized, 
(■d our agricultural college or schools, L am 
pite hopeful, would supply this great dc- 
eet. BeasdtB) such an i nst i tution would 
live tone and character to the agriculture 
)f the State, ard, properly managed, would 
greatly redound to its honor. 
• W. — I do not readily perceive how such 
i school could systematize (rather a vague 
;erm) our knowledge, for it could only brings 
jtod sense to bear on what is generally 
mown from year to year, and this every sen- 
sible man can do himself. Much, however, 
.vould depend upon the character of the 
eaehers. If they, in fact, were wiser than 
he best farmers, they might accomplish 
jomcthing; but it is not to be supposed that 
practically they would be. If they were 
nerely learned in chemistry, and the collat- 
eral branches oi' agriculture, merely thoo- 
•etical, speculative men, and intended to try 
jxperiments, then their operations would be 
Iferj expensive, and of doubtful utility^ and 
:hey would not be regarded as representing 
igriculture in its best eclectic attitude. If 
hey inculcated what they thought the most 
scientific for the time being, then their 
leaching! (so freakly and delusive has agri- 
culture occasionally shown itself ever since 
he ground was cursed for Adam's sake !) 
flrould be in danger of becoming st/*ton(i- 
'/.:< d ii/iiornnce. They undoubtedly would 
Jo something, and the probability is, that 
some leading, ambitious spirit among them 
nrould seize the reins, intimidate the rest by 
;he crack of his whip, and — "go it blindly." 
Pro". Porter's ideal extravaganza of uniting 
:hc hydrogen of the ocean with the nitrogen 
af the atmosphere, to form a universal, 
inexhaustible, omnipresest fertilizer, might 
not be realized ; the potato and cattle dis- 
would probably fare no worse, and the 
surculio, and all the mischievous members 
)f entomology, would very likely commit 
their ravages as if in utter ignorance of such 
in institution. 

T.— Not at all, Mr. Waddles. I should 
mticipate a good degree of harmony. We 
hear nothing of the kind in the European 
schools. 

W. — But we know that the scientific men 
of Europe do not agree upon those very 
matters which an agricultural college ought 



to teach. Our agricultural [iloTawom, per- 
haps, would he as wise, as our present Hoard 
of Agriculture; no one, probably thinks 
they would be wiser; for they arc the | 
eminent men in their calling, selected from- 
all parts of the ^tate. Vet, does our Board 
do everything harmoniously and satisfacto- 
ry '( It is not to he expected, though a hin- 
drance. The only thing wliich I ever heard 
of their being unanimous about, was upon 
the resolution to petition the Legislature to 
introduce a system of agriculture into our 
common schools. So said one paper, at 
least. The Secretary's lieport says *< al- 
most," unanimous. Vet, with all this una- 
nimity, only two of them appeared to dis- 
cuss the subject at the Legislative Agricul- 
tural meetings. And that's the last I have 
heard of the matter. On the whole, I am 
inclined to believe that a faculty- of profes- 
sors would not be able to permanently ad- 
vance the cause of agriculture, and would 
not throw more light upon the subject of 
vegetation than some of our best farmers — 
so difficult is it to fiud and tread a pach noc 
already beaten. 

T. — Well, then, I must say it would not 
be properly managed. They ought simply 
to teach what are regarded as the best me- 
thods of soil culture. 

W. — That is, the system well known. 

T. — Nothing more nor Less. 

H. — But, who would go, or send a boy to 
a school to learn that which is usually known 
and practised among farmers '! A purely 
agricultural college on this basis, would fail 
for want of patronage, as a lad would go on 
to a well-managed farm and earn his liveli- 
hood. If of a general, scientific character, 
scholars might attend, but not to learn farm- 
ing, as they have at the Michigan Agricul- 
tural College. 

T. — But I proceed upon the presumption 
that it be properly instituted, and well man- 
aged. What that would be, I frankly con- 
fers 1 can't at present say. 

W. — Again, Mr. Twaddles, I am inclined 
to the belief that such an institution would 
be n lore political than agricultural, especially 
if endowed by the State, with the (Jovernor 
and Council holding the appointing power. 
Would such an institution give tone and 
character to agriculture in Massachusets? 
And provided it were all its friends could 
wish, and was not, as some think it would 
be, a useless expenditure to the State ; that 
• it fulfilled its mission, and was an honor to 



608 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



old Massachusetts; would you not feel 
prouder to point out to a foreigner, a hardy, 
independent, well led, well clothed and well 
housed yeomanry, than to a stupendous and 
successful agricultural college ? 

T. — Certainly, I should.; but I would 
prefer to do both. Yet how do you propose 
to educate farmers — not by merely drudging 
on the soil — toiling, sweating, eating and 
sleeping — all hand-work, and no head work ? 

W. — By reading, reflection, in connection 
with the farm, and by seeing what others 
have done. Surely, no man need be at a 
loss for books and papers. In Great Britain, 
where it is said not so many agricultural 
journals are in circulation annually as are 
struck off by a single press here, farm 
schools or colleges may be more important. 
AVith so many facilities as we have here in 
Massachusetts for improvement in the cul- 
tivation of the soil, I should consider the 
establishment of an agricultural college as 
an act of supererogation----merely a fifth 
wheel to a coach, upon which some of the 
larger insects would fasten, and marvel at 
the dust they raised. Men working their 
own farms would shout in derision at it, and 
half of the agricultural journals would wage 
a perpetual war against it and its manage- 
ment. The animadversions upon the Patent 
Office doings and Reports, in 'this depart- 
ment, may give us some hints. And here I 
may observe, for want of a better oppor- 
tunity, that M. Lavergne freely admits, in 
spite of the agricultural schools of France, 
the superiority of British husbandry. 

T. — Well you can think as you choose; 
but I still go ior more head-work, and less 
hand- work. 

IF — Yes; but knowledge must be exe- 
cuted. Much head-work is too apt to make 
mere fancy farmers, and as you must know, 
has been the ruin of many. The Board of 
Agriculture could point to you instances of 
such, perhaps in its own circle. A know- 
ledge of chemistry, botany and geology, will 
not hoe one's corn, or dig his potatoes 
Then again, when a farmer becomes learned 
and somewhat refined, he is very apt to 
leave his manure fork to harder muscles and 
coarser brains. 

T. — Yes, sir, so he is; and that's the 
reason why we need to make agriculture 
more attractive, by some method or other, 
to keep the young fanners at home. 

W. — Pray how can you talk so when 
your own example has been against it? 



Some men will make farmers of some of, 
their sons, but would you do it? I question 
whether there is a single member of the 
Hoard of Agriculture that would forcibly 
encourage a bright boy of his to engage in 
farming; and perhaps he thinks there is no 
necessity of it. You know very well, that 
an ambitious lad, who has been reared on a 
farm, longs to quit it, and go out into the 
varied world, and try his fortune. It is all 
very well. Such as he may return some 
time or other, with capital and contentment 
to remain. But if they do not, the pre- 
sumption is that they choose to remain away. 
Then there are some who had rather remain 
at home, having no taste to battle for a 
livelihood in the checked throng, or to be- 
come a merchant, minister, or tin-peddler. 

T.— -But if we educate the farmer as we 
do some other classes, the ambition of nearly 
all would be to remain in agriculture. Why 
should not the farmer know as much as the 
clergyman ? 

W. — He certainly does of his calling, and 
may have as much native sense. But an 
extended rudimentary education will not 
save young farmers where the certainty of a 
life of hard labor is before them; and if it 
did, what would become of all the educated 
farmers ? Learned professions are apt to be 
overstocked. 

T.~- -Go to the West, on the new lands. 

W.- — Yes; land is too dear, and rapidly 
becoming otherwise occupied in Massachu- 
setts for them; but there they might in- 
crease too p ast for their own advantage, and 
the profitable sale of their crops. So there 
is some danger in this line of. argument. 
Now, I go for a free egress and ingress in 
regard to agriculture; and I am inclined to 
believe that it will regulate itself in all its 
important relations, and that no one need 
feel alarmed that competent hands will not 
be found to till the earth. But you per- 
ceive this subject is endless. 

7 1 .— -Well, j/ovr plan, so far as study is 
concerned, ought to be designated, "Farm- 
ing made Easy !" 

IT.-— Thank you for the honor. So im- 
portant a calling in the progress of civili- 
zation ought to be made easy, not compli- 
cated; and blessed is the man who confines 
agriculture to the fewest simple rules, so 
that the honest, industrious young man, with 
comparatively small means, who intends to 
pursue it, may not be obliged to labor 
through a term of two or three years of 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



GOO 



misty and faliiable scicnco before he can 
engage respectably and profitably in that 
universal labor calculated to insure his hap- 
piness and feed increasing millions. 
Oak Cliff, an the Mystic, July, 1860. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Theory of Mixed Guanos. 

Mr. Editor : — Our attention is directed to 
your article in the August number of your 
journal on " Manipulated Guano," or combin- 
ing ammoniated and phosphatic guanos, and 
to the opinion you entertain of their superi- 
ority over the Peruvian guano alone. We also 
notice your desire to know definitely who is 
the author of this theory. 

Justice to the dead requires we should in- 
form you that Charles Bickell, Ph. D., the late 
eminent Analytic Chemist was the author of 
the suggestion, and to him is due the credit of 
instructing planters respecting the economical 
use of Peruvian guano, which, while being 
Standard for ammonia, has this ingredient in 
excess, and is deficient in phosphates. It was 
his conversations upon this subject that in- 
duced us to establish a Standard for Soluble 
Phosphatic Acid — in " Rhodes' Superphos- 
phate " — that could be used alone or in com- 
bination with guano in rational proportions, 
or as the experiments of planters might sug- 
gest. 

We also find in the Laboratory Diary of 
Dr. Bickell the copy of a letter addressed to 
a well known citizen of your State, dated 
March 18th, 1858, in which »he refers to these 
combinations "as being recommended by bin* 
self Jive (5) vears previously." He also says, 
"combine 5 or 5J per cent, ammonia, and 40 
to 45 per cent, phosphate of lime, when an ap- 
plication of 300 lbs. per acre of such a com- 
pound will supply 16 tbs. ammonia, or as much 
as is contained in 100 lbs. Peruvian guano, 
and 120 lbs. phosphate of lime, or as much as 
is contained in 400 lbs. Peruvian guano. Sim- 
ilar mixtures of Peruvian and Phosphatic 
guano clearly prove on one hand that 10 lbs. 
of ammonia is a sufficient application per acre 
to give the crop a quick start ; and on the 
other, that phosphate of lime should be am- 
ply provided for to serve as direct nutriment 
to the growing crop * * '* A soil which 
is in itself deficient in phosphate of lime, (and 
this is common with our cultivated soils ) can- 
not be benefitted by an application of 100 lbs. 
Peruvian guano, and farmers have, consequent- 
ly, been led to the evil practice of applying 
300 and 400 lbs. Peruvian guano in order to 
raise 25 or 30 bushels of wheat to the acre. 
It can ceTtainly not be a wise management on 
the part of the farmer to supply phosphate of 
lime in the form of Peruvian guano, as he is 
obliged to add with it a surplus of a substance 
(ammonia) which has a nine (9) times higher 
39 



commercial value than the substance^he really 
needs, and which, besides, positively tends to 
develop the stock and leafy part of the plant 
at the expense of a healthy and sound forma- 
tion of the grain. Let your planters, then, 
understand that they can supercede Peruvian 
guano just as well as any manufacturer of an 
artificial fertilizer can do it. The whole secret 
lies in a judicious use of Peruvian guano, and 
in its co-operation with phosphatic manure. * 
* * Your question as to the most proper 
form in which phosphate of lime should be 
applied to the soil, will be answered by a due 
consideration of the chemical and physical 
properties of that substance. Phosphate of 
lime is composed of nearly equal parts of phos- 
phoric acid and lime, and its most important 
feature, at least in an- agricultural point of 
view, is its very slight solubility in water. It 
is quite plain that the mineral constituents of 
the soil could not have entered the system of 
plants, and thus served as nutriments, unless 
they were offered to rootlets in a state of solu- 
tion. Hence we find that an essential nutri- 
ment of plants, one which is wanted in con- 
siderable quantity, obstinately resists the sol- 
vent action of water. How, then, can this 
difficulty be overcome, and phosphate of lime 
be rendered available ? There is but one way, 
namely, to apply it in a state of utmost fine- 
ness and subdivision. Of course, the more 
minute each particle is, the less resistance can 
it offer to solvents. The ultra of a subdivision 
of solid particles may properly be regarded 
as a quasi state of solution in itself. 

" Among all phosphatic manures a super- 
phosphate effects this condition of phosphate 
of lime in its highest perfection. In its 
manufacture, common phosphate of lime 
is treated with sulphuric acid, whereby the 
former is deprived of two-thirds of its lime, 
whilst the remaining one-third unites with the 
whole of the phosphoric acid to form a soluble 
bi-phosphate of lime. This new substance, 
which is the essential constituent of a super- 
phosphate, has a strong desire to unite again 
with that portion of lime from which it was 
separated by means of sulphuric acid, and to 
become thereby reconverted into the original 
common phosphate of lime, on account of its 
solubility ; it will, therefore, easily penetrate 
the soil to which it is applied. But, whilst on 
its way to incorporate with the great bulk of 
the soil, it necessarily meets with those mi- 
nute particles of lime and potash — invisible fee 
the eye, and detected only by chemical analy- 
sis — which are contained in and uniformly dif- 
fused throughout all soils. The immediate 
consequence of these circumstances must be 
the reproduction' of common phosphate of lime 
in the very body of the soil itself; but it is re-. 
produced there in such a state of fineness and 
uniformity of distribution as could not have 
been expected by any mechanical means. 
" Common Brown Mexican guano stands, in 



G10 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



this respect, next to a superphosphate, though 
there is a wide difference behcecn them. The 
particles of phosphate of lime are very minute, 
and in a state of extraordinary looseness and 
friability. Let me then draw this conclusion: 
In case we expect from a phosphatic manure 
an immediate effect on a special crop, we may 
well pay a premium on common Brown Mexi- 
can guano; and again, we may cheerfully pay 
even three times more for each pound of phos- 
phoric acid in a regular superphosphate, than 
we will pay for it iu common Brown Mexican 
guano. " 

Hoping the foregoing may be of value to 
your farmers and planters, 

We remain yours truly, 

B. M. Rhodes & Co., Baltimore, 
Office 82 Bowly's Wharf. 

Baltimore, August 29, 1860. 

. «♦•*■> 

From the New England Farmer. 

Mental Activity among Farmers. 

The human mind was made for action, and 
is active, to a greater or less degree. From 
the utmost imbecility of infancy, there awaits 
it unlimited power, expansion and ennoble- 
ment, attainable by gradual steps of progress. 
Not by flights or leaps, but by toiling self-cul- 
ture, does it rise from the mists and darkness 
of ignorance to the elevation and clearer light 
of knowledge. On its own self will depend 
its progress and development. The obscurest 
son of poverty has within him the germs of 
greatness and happiness, and that will for ap- 
plication which oft takes the precedence for 
genius, is of more value than Croesian wealth, 
with all its advantages and luxuries. Mind, 
then, in its normal and healthy condition, is 
capable of continual progress, which should 
be sought by earnest effort. 

Whether the mind or the heart, thinking or 
feeling, is entitled to greater regard, as more 
important, is a question long agitated and va- 
riously decided by different individuals. But 
the candid and enlightened will admit that the 
mind is of equal worth, and should therefore 
receive equal attention. As an illustration of 
the baneful effects of an opposite course, we 
have only to look at certain Christians who 
make the cultivation of the religious sensibili- 
ties the main object. Their mental capacity 
remains about the same as twenty years ago, 
and so connected by sympathetic bonds are 
the mind and heart, that the religious feelings 
of the latter are often paralyzed and bound in 
superstition by the neglect and consequent 
narrowness of the former. Bigotry follows as 
a natural consequence, which to all is obnox- 
ious, and injurious to the free exercise of holy 
influences. 

Considering, then, the nature of mind as 
progressive, and the study of all to allow it 
development by proper action, what degree of 
mental activity as favoring this do we find 



among the farming population? Many wri- 
ters and orators, particularly on certain festive 
occasions, would make the occupation of the 
farmer very intellectual. They parade the 
names of nearly all the sciences, and very log- 
ically prove them connected with it. That 
they are, may be true. It is also true that 
some of the most practical and successful far- 
mers have no knowledge of these sciences, ex- 
cept of a few facts and some general princi- 
ples. Now, however much agricultural wri- 
ters and orators may flatter the vanity of the 
farming community in regard to their "glo- 
rious occupation," and what it may be, still 
thefacts regarding their present condition re- 
main as proofs that the occupation is not wholly 
scientific, and that farmers do not yet rank with 
professional men in point of intellectual cul- 
ture. A farmer in our country towns can get 
along, and be successful to a certain degree, 
with a practical knowledge of his business, as 
well as can mechanics with theirs ; admitting, 
however, that science may be, and often is, 
called into the aid of both, and that with the 
most happy results. But this fact is sufficient 
to our present purpose, that farmers can suc- 
ceed without extraordinary, and even with 
meagre mental acquirements and advantages. 
This fact that they can, is indisputably estab- 
lished by the fact that they do. Still it may 
be said that farmers rank as high or higher in 
intelligence, sound judgment and general in- 
formation than any other laboring class. There 
are many things in their occupation favoring 
this. Their judgment, in particular, is called 
into almost daily exercise, and thus strength- 
ens and matures. .But as for a real desire for 
mental culture and development, resulting in 
earnest mental effort, farmers as a class, to say 
the least, are much below professional men ; 
though they may rank as high or higher than 
other so-called laboring classes. But aside 
from these comparisons, their mental culture 
and development is much less than from the 
importance and worth of mind, duty plainly 
indicates. And as one reason why their minds 
remain so dormant, their occupation not ab- 
solutely requiring extensive mental acquire- 
ments, their minds reach not that state of men- 
tal culture in preparation for business, which 
awakens earnest and lasting desire for knowl- 
edge. Consequently, if they have sufficient 
business tact and practical information for suc- 
cess, they remain satisfied. Some minds among 
farmers, as among all classes, seem ever to 
have that desire, or to have had it awakened, 
by the requisite degree of mental training ; 
and they reach more elevated positions, and 
rank as leaders. Still, it may be questioned 
by certain persons, whether the farmer's occu- 
pation is consistent with the possession and in- 
dulgence of a literary taste ; whether the con- 
tinual cultivation of the intellect is expedient, 
or even justifiable, in connection with manual 
labor on the farm. But with what assurance 



I860.] 



TIT E SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



611 



can one argue that a farmer's knowledge and 
labor should be limited to his farm, and that 
his study should embrace only such subjects 
as are intimately connected with it, and di- 
rectly subserve practical skill. Lord Bacon 
says, " Studies serve for delight, for ornament 
and for ability. Their chief use for delight is 
in privatenessand retirement; for ornament is 
discourse; and fur ability, is in the judgment 
and disposition of business." Now, it cannot 
be denied but that farmers, generally, have 
great facilities in leisure and retirement for 
mental improvement. And we doubt whether 
there is any class of men, taking these facts 
into consideration, with the fact that their 
physical exercise keeps the mind fresh, and 
their relish for mental food even keen, that 
may experience more delight and real happi- 
ness in studies, than farmers. For ornament 
in discourse, many, and perhaps the general 
class, are deficient. Even in our most promi- 
nent agricultural papers, where on one page 
will be glorification essays on farming and on 
farmers, on another, will be anecdotes or sto- 
ries, in which one of the characters will be a 
farmer, and where roughness and verdancy 
will be fully displayed in the ideas and lan- 
guage imputed to him. And had it not some- 
what of a foundation in truth, it would not be 
sanctioned by public opinion. Again, if stu- 
dies are useful in the judgment and disposition 
of business, it is certainly a consideration also 
worthy of their commendation. The farm 
would furnish for it ample scope, and return 
satisfactory reward. 

One reason why studies are contemned by 
practical men is, that those who use them are 
too apt to spend time over them to the neglect 
of their business. This the same writer calls 
sloth. A man must use judgment here, as 
elsewhere, in regulating his time and atten- 
tion to his wants and pleasures. He who does 
this rightly, does much toward forming his 
character to a perfect sphere; the true object 
of man's life. Besides, in perfect physical de- 
velopment, manual exercise on the farm, com- 
bined with proper intellectual culture, would 
furnish examples more noble than perhaps any 
other calling. Among farmers at present, it 
is not so universally the rule as among mer- 
chants, and one or two other classes. 

One of the great objections urged against 
farming is the lack of mental activity — that 
the mind lies so dormant. Admitting that the 
objection has its origin in truth, we confidently 
assert that sluggishness or emptiness of mind 
is not at all necessarily connected with farm- 
ing. The fault, from causes we have men- 
tioned, and which exist unreasonably and un- 
necessarily, is with the farmers themselves. 

To recapitulate, our points are briefly these. 
Every individual has an immortal element 
within, called the mind. This mind is intend- 
ed, and therefore, fitted for continual culture 
and development; consequently, it is duty to 



comply with these, being the requirements of 
God. That for various reasons, the minds of 
many among the class called farmers lie in too 
dormant a state. That they have no suffioient 
and warrantable reasons fur this, and that the 
pleasures and advantages they would derive 
from mental culture would be sufficient, and 
more than sufficient, for the required labor and 
time. And that to many the great objection 
to farming — deficiency of mental activity — is 
not really attributable to farming, but to far- 
mers ; and that this, with many other objec- 
tions, would be obviated by the course here 
advocated. 

Life is not for inaction, quiet repose and the 
gratification of animalism. Beneath the path- 
way of every man lie the springs of happi- 
nes, and he must patiently dig for them, who 
would refresh his soul with their cooling wa- 
ters. L. II. Sherman. 

Wat/land. Mass. 



Studies of the Soil. 

BY WILLIAM EDSON. 

The two sciences, as such, geology and 
chemistry, from which must arise, in a more 
or less direct manner, all theory in relation 
to the formation and treatment of soils, are 
but little understood among practical men, 
and are commonly treated by them as sub- 
jects entirely aloof from their duties; yet 
every intelligent working man, and especi- 
ally the farmer, is both a chemist and a 
geologist, and depends, in a degree, for his 
success, upon his practical knowledge of 
these sciences. 

Aside from the merely business view of 
this knowledge, there is another in which 
its value is greatly enhanced : I refer to its 
effect upon the mind of the recipient. We 
all live in two worlds, the world of mind 
and the world of matter. It is the lot of 
most to labour in one og both of these. 
Necessity requires us to labour in one, the 
world of matter, which is the labour of the 
hands. Manliness and Christianity urge us 
to labour in the other, which is the work of 
the mind. Life cannot be truly enjoyed 
independent of either health of mind or 
health ot body, and as health of body de- 
pends directly upon bodily exercise, so health 
of mind depends directly upon mental exer- 
cise. 

All agree that, in the duties of the intelli- 
gent farmer, the labours of the hand ami 
brain are most harmoniously blended, and 
that it is for him to enjoy that rarest of all 
blessings, " a sound mind in a sound body.' 



G12 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



The farmer, as he follows the plough, may 
not be wholly engrossed in mere manual 
labour — every clod that the plough turns 
up, will give him a lesson in geology, and 
every rootlet a lesson in botany; let him be 
ever so indifferent, nature will insist upon 
his learning some one of her many secrets ; 
she will give him something to treasure up 
for his future use or pleasure. By this al- 
most involuntary study has the farmer's 
storehouse of knowledge been filled : by it 
the rude chance-farming of the ancients has 
advanced, to the present state of intelligence 
and certainty. 

Until quite recently, the term "scientific 
farming" was not used, and we now hear it 
oftener as a term of reproach than other- 
wise ; but it cannot be denied that science, 
even as put forth by the most impractical, 
has done the agriculturist great good, and 
is destined to do still more. Perhaps one 
of its greatest benefits, up to the present 
time, is that arising from the strong feeling 
of emulation among farmers of the old 
school, to prove by their crops and profits 
that they can excel the theorist; urged by 
this feeling, they have eagerly sought for 
improvements, and applied them with a skill 
which only the good old-fashioned farmer is 
capable of. It has also caused discussions, 
and excited a thirst for experiment and in- 
quiry which cannot result otherwise than in 
good for a.ll.. These are only some of the 
incidental benefits arising from the applica- 
tion of science to agriculture; the true value 
of this department of scientific knowledge 
cannot be estimated, since much more is 
now known, than has yet been generally and 
skilfully applied ; and again, there is much 
of agricultural chemistry which is yet in so 
vague and, uncertain a state as to be almost, 
if not quite worthless, as far as practical 
farming is concerned. 

If it were true, as some have the hardi- 
hood to assert, that no practical good, as far 
as crops and profits are concerned, arises 
from scientific research in this department, 
yet its benefits upon the mind of the fanner 
would be incalculable, as it raises his 
thoughts to the contemplation of the laws 
of nature,' giving him one of the most stable 
of all pleasures, and health of mind, the 
crown of " green old age." 

As.«umin<r that every farmer is both a 
practical chemist and geologist, since the 
most common duties of the farm require a 
knowledge of these sciences, I wish to call 



attention to the chemistry and geology of 
the surface stratification. 

For the sake of simplicity in the treat- 
ment of the subject, I will divide the 
varieties of soil into three classes, namely: 
1, mechanical; 2, chemical; 3, vegetable. 
This general classification may strike the 
geological reader as novel and perhaps in- 
adequate; but for the ordinary discussions 
of practical men, I think it will be found 
not inappropriate, if we bear in mind that 
the terms used are not intended to indicate 
by what agency the materials of which the 
soils are composed were brought into their 
present position, but simply to express the 
present condition of the soil itself. Thus, 
by mechanical, I would designate all earths 
which bear evidence of not having under- 
gone any great chemical or vegetable change 
since being deposited in their present 
position — that is, the mixture of the differ- 
ent materials of which they are composed 
is simply a chemical one ; by chemical, all 
that indicate by their strata and composition 
that some important change in their qualities 
has taken place since their deposition ; and 
by the last term, all that are principally 
made up of vegetable matter. 

The first of these formations, or classes of 
formations, to which I give the name me- 
chanical, may be found in nearly all positions, 
though perhaps oftener in low than high 
grounds. Under this head will be classed 
moraines, sand-hills, and bars, ancient river- 
beds, and all such surface strata as bear 
evidence of having been deposited by some 
violent mechanical action. 

Upon examination of the strata of this 
class, we find them sometimes composed of 
regular layers of material, which is not al- 
ways coarsely divided, but yet is never 
thoroughly, chemically united; others have 
no regular layers, but seem to be composed 
of confused masses of gravel, sand, and 
clay, which are not intimately united, nor in 
any manner definitely divided ; here is a bed 
or layer of gravel — it extends a few feet, 
and abruptly terminates in a bed of clay, or 
perhaps gradually growing thinner and thin- 
ner, disappears between layers of clay and 
sand; again, we find strata of almost pure 
sand. I cannot enter into a lengthy expla- 
nation of the causes of these various phe- 
nomena, but will briefly state them ; thus, 
when the layers are comparatively regular, 
they are supposed to have been deposited 
from running water, either fresh or salt 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



613 



The irregular stratification, which in fact 
covers a large portion of the eastern part of 
Massachusetts, is undoubtedly owing to 
glacial action, as it occurs in ice-bearing 
currents, while the occurrence of .sand-hills is 
generally assigned to the action of the wind. 

The currents from which were deposited 
a large portion of the surface formations of 
the eastern part of New England, are sup- 
pcsed to be analogous to the oceanic currents 
of the present, and probably arose from the 
same causes, namely, evaporation, difference 
of temperature of the polar and equatorial 
regions, and the earth's rotary motion. 

The currents of the ocean are, without 
doubt, constant, considered as a whole; in 
other words, there always exists a series of 
currents and counter currents, those from 
the poles moving south-westerly, and those 
from the equator north-easterly, of the north- 
ern hemisphere; for the southern hemis- 
phere, the reverse is true. The existence 
of these currents is thus accounted for. 
The velocity of the surface of the earth at 
the equator is about one thousand miles per 
hour, towards the east: while at 45° north 
or south latitude, it is but seven hundred 
and fifty miles per hour; therefore, water at 
the equator has a velocity of one thousand 
miles per hour, and water at 45 degs. but 
seven hundred and fifty miles per hour; 
now, if, from any cause, a body of water 
moves from the equator towards the north, 
it will still retain its easterly motion of one 
thousand miles per hour, lessened only by 
friction; hence, when it arrives at 45 deg., 
where the surface motion of the earth is but 
seven hundred and fifty miles per hour, it 
will have an easterly motion exceeding in 
rapidity that of the earth's surface by two 
hundred and fifty miles per hour, if it were 
not reduced by friction ; as it is, the excess 
is great; this excess of velocity being com- 
bined with the northerly direction gives the 
currents their north-easterly course. The 
same reasoning applied to currents flowing 
from the north pole to the equator, .will 
show why all such have a south-westerly 
direction. The gulf stream is an example 
of the first, and the currents which bring 
down polar ice are examples of the last. 
Balloon ists take advantage of this same 
principle, and found upon it their theories 
of easterly aerial currents, in which they 
think they may be able to cross the Atlantic. 
The effects of these currents are abrasion 
and drift. 



The action of a current of water sweeping 
over the surface is, first to remove all loose 
earth from high points and deposit it in 
valleys; but its effect does not end here, for 
no sooner is the loose earth removed than 
the solid rock is attacked, and in its turn 
carried down to the valleys. This mechani- 
cal action upon the rocks, together with the 
chemical decomposition that is constantly 
taking place, is cnlled detrition; the result- 
ing deposit is called drift. 

Currents of air produce the same results 
as currents of water, and though the action 
of the wind is much less important, it is 
still so great as to be well worth careftil con- 
sideration. The aqueous currents cease their 
action before the land becomes inhabited, 
but the aerial ones are always at work. 

The effect of abrasion upon the surface is 
perfectly obvious; it can have nothing but 
a barren and hard stratum wherever it takes 
place. Though drift is but the counterpart 
of abrasion, its action is much more compli- 
cated and difficult to understand. Its ef- 
fects are commonly just the opposite; for 
wherever drift accumulates, there we may 
be nearly sure of finding good land. In 
New r England, wherever a soil is evidently 
composed of drift from an oceanic current, 
it is easy to state its chemical composition, 
as originally deposited ; we have only to ex- 
amine the exposed rocks lying in a direction 
north-easterly from it; their nature must of 
necessity determine the nature of the soil 
in question. It should be remembered, that, 
in the examination of soils, this is to be con- 
sidered but as a general truth, and that 
there are so many modifying causes that 
this knowledge alone will not enable one to 
determine with any degree of accuracy the 
present chemical nature of the soil. 

One of the most important considerations 
for the New England agriculturists, and one 
in which almost every farmer is directly 
interested, is that of river and lake deposits; 
these consist of not only large amounts of 
finely granulated mineral, but also vast 
quantities of vegetable matter. The ex- 
treme richness of such deposits- must be ac- 
knowledged by every one who considers the 
following fact: first, the minerals of which 
they are composed are finely and intimately 
mixed ; second, the finely divided minerals 
are not only carbonized, but are brought in 
connection with particles of carbon and de- 
caying vegetable matter, or humus; and 
lastly, the entire mass is more or less im- 



614 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



pregnated with ammonia. Although it is 
impossible to conceive of a richer soil than 
this, yet it is probable that there is no class 
so universally neglected and despised. In 
scientific classification, soils formed of these 
deposits are called fluviatile and lacustrine; 
the farmer turns them off with the not very 
flattering title of swamp or mud hole. 

As an example of the magnitude of these 
deposits, the following may be interesting. 
The area of the delta of the Mississippi is 
13,600 square miles; the average depth of 
deposit is 528 feet, and it has been estimated 
that the river annually deposits thirty-seven 
hundred millions of cubic feet! This, at 
at first thought, seems large; but even at 
this rate, the venerable father of rivers must 
have diligently laboured sixty-seven thou- 
sand years. — New England Farmer. 



Rich, Rare and Racy— How Premiums 
are Obtained at Agricultural Fairs. 

We commend this to all who attend State 
and County Fairs. It is from the Rural 
New Yorker, and will be found highly ben. 
eficial to all officers who fill vacancies in 
committees : 

Col. Moore : Some years ago I got ac- 
quainted with one of your contributors, who 
edited the Wool Grower, and he used to 
put me in print. I must say my vanity was 
nattered by seeing my name printed in the 
paper, with some things I said, and some I 
didn't say, and we've kept the papers ever 
since. After all, everybody likes a little 
fame, but some are satisfied with a smaller 
amount than others. Well, I have not the 
editor any more to set me out, so I have 
been thinking I would just try and see if 
you would not put me in the Rural on my 
own hook — especially as I want to tell you 
all about my going to the State Fair, at 
Buffalo, the other day. 

CONCLUDES TO GO. 

As it was not so far but what we could 
go with our own team, mother and I con- 
cluded we would hitch up and have a week 
to see the sights and some cousins we had 
not seen for a long time. Mother (that's 
wife, you know) thought we ought to take 
something to the Fair. I told her to take a 
tub of her butter, but she didn't think it 
was good enough, but thought I might take 
some of the stock. Rut I thought it would 



be a great bother. However, Sam wa 
pretty strong in the faith that we could bea 
everybody on horses, and wanted to take old 
Nance. She's a right smart beast, is that 
old mare, you may depend. 

TAKES THE MARE. 

Well, we packed off Sam, for I was wil- 
ling to give the boy a holiday. It does the 
boys great good to attend these kind of 
Fairs, I do believe, after seeing all I saw 
there. 

GOES IN. 

We got safely to town on Monday night, 
and Tuesday I went up to the Fair grounds 
to see what was going on. I got in and 
hunted up Sam, and found he'd got the 
mare entered, and had got his card on her 
head, and a good stall, and all things com- 
fortable. The animal arrangements were 
first rate 'generally, and during all the time 
of the Fair the supply of fodder was good. 
I think that Maj. Patrick, who was every- 
body in managing things, a trump sort of a 
man. 

HEARS SOMETHING. 

As I was standing up near the business 
office in the crowd, I heard a couple of men 
talking about premiums. One said to the 
other : 

"Are you an exhibitor?" 

"Yes." 

" So am I, and we had better look to the 
Committees." 

"Why so?" 

"You see the Committees are never all 
full, and if you are on*hand at the big tent 
when they are called, it's easy to slip in a 
friend, which is a mighty nice thing some- 
times." 

" Well, I am showing a patent for making 
cowcumbers, and if you can get the pre- 
mium, it will make my fortune." 

"And I am showing a new kind of bob- 
tailed hens, and a premium won't set me 
back.,'^ 

"Well, you get me on to your committee, 
and 1 will name you for mine." 

"All right; go in to win when you can." 

Thinks I, perhaps if that's the way the 
thing leans, I may as well take care of my- 
self as any one else. Everybody for him- 
self seems to be the rule on these occasions. 
So off I streaked to the cattle-pens to find 
Smith, who is my neighbor, you know. 
Smith is in the patent bull line. [Mr. P. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



61 n 



evidently means "improved."] Says I, 
u Smith, you're showing bulls, and I am 
showing old Nance, and I guess if merit 
counts, we can win. And that's the talk 
here on paper." Then I told him what I'd 
heard about the committee. 

"Is that so?" 

"Exactly." 

" Well, I think old Nance is the best 
mare in the yard." 

"And you've got the best bull on the 
ground." 

Well, sure enough, when the committees 
were made up, I was on Smith's bull* com- 
mittee, and he was on the mare committee. 

THE COMMITTEE GOES OUT. 

The head man took the book, as had the 
things in it, and we were all introduced to 
each other, and went down to look at the 
bulls. We wsre on the red bulls. So we 
went along and looked at them, and I didn't 
say much until v/e came to Smith's bull, and 
I looked at him pretty carefully, pulled his 
tail, punched my fingers into his ribs, and 
went through the motions, as I had seen the 
others. Says I, " thar's a bull that looks like 
it." Smith had combed him all over with 
a fine-toothed comb, and brushed him with 
a hair brush, and he did look slick, for he 
was just as fat as a hog. And from all I 
saw, I think fat at JFairs, like what the law- 
yer said about charity, covers a multitude 
of sins. 

GETS THE HORNS POKED AT HIM. 

Just as I said that, the fellow who had a 
bull in the next stall, comes up to me pretty 
fierce, and says he : 

"What do you know about bulls?" 

"Well," says I, "I think I know what 
they are used for in my section." 

" May-be," says he, " you are on the 
committee ?" 

" I have that honor," says I. 

" But," says he, " that bull hain't got any 
pedigree." 

" Well," says I, "he had father and mo- 
ther, didn't he ?" 

"Oh! yes; but then nobody knows who 
they were." 

"Well, then, nobody knows but they were 
just as likely as your bull's parents." 

"But, sir, look at my bull's pedigree. 
There it is, sir. Got by imported Shirt-tail, 
out of Skim-milk, by Thunder," &c; and 



he showed a string of names as long as your 
arm. 

"Well," says I to the committee, "are 
we to judge the pedigree or the animal?" 

And they said, "the animal, of course." 

"Then," said I to the fellow, "will your 
bull get better stock than this ?" 

"Of course he will," says he, "for he's 
got a pedigree, and that bull hain't." 

"Well," says I, "your bull has got some- 
body to brag for him, and the other hasn't, 
that's certain." And that sort o' knocked 
him. "But," says I, "I've known people 
who felt grand over their pedigree, and I've 
seen a heap of people who couldn't go fur- 
ther back than their father and mother that 
banged them all to pieces for smartness. 
* Handsome is that handsome does,'" says I, 
"and, as the hymn-book says, 'a man's a 
man for a' that.' Pedigree to grass — I go 
in for the animal." 

smith's bull wins. 

When we got through and looked atT>ur 
marks, the other two had Smith's bull sec- 
ond. I had him first. So we talked it 
over, and finally, as they did not care much 
about it, they altered the figures, and gave 
Smith the first premium, which I think was 
right. 

AND THE OLD MARE. 

Smith had a great time over old Nance. 
It turned out that each of the other two 
committeemen had friends whose mares 
were to be judged, and they pretty soon 
picked out their favorites. So he kept still 
and let them talk, and they soon got into a 
quarrel, and then they appealed to Smith, 
and he kinder sided with one, but thought 
old Nance was the best mare, and finally, to 
keep the other from getting first, they sided 
with him, and he went in for both of theirs. 
Smith says he saw some queer things on 
that committee. 

You see we got our premiums, but you 
don't see, perhaps, Colonel, as well as I do, 
that it wants something more than merit to 
be sure of winning. 

GETS IRREVERENT. 

The State of New York is a great State, 
the biggest in the Union, and the New York 
State Agricultural Society is a great institu- 
tion, but if there ain't some of the allfired- 
est big humbugs crawling around its Annual 
Fair, then I'm a tea-pot. 



616 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



CONCLUDES. 



I want to tell you a heap more, but I 
have used up so much paper, I fear you 
won't have patience to print my letter. 
Yours to command, 

John Plowhandle. 



From the Country Gentleman. 

Theory of Manuring and Rotation of 
Crops. 

BY PROF. S. W. JOHNSON. 

When the soil is deficient in one or all 
of those ingredients which favour the 
growth of the plant, and is consequently un- 
able to produce a remunerative crop, the 
deficiencies may be supplied and the soil 
rendered productive by the use of manures. 
Manures are, in general, refuse, or very 
cheap matters, which contain some or all 
the elements of vegetable nutrition, and 
may therefore be profitably employed by 
tbe farmer, for conversion into useful and 
valuable agricultural products. The prin- 
ciples on which manuring depends are the 
following: 1. Plants require various kinds 
of solid mineral jnatters, and derive the 
same exclusively from the soil. 2. Some 
plants which in the natural state derive the 
gaseous elements of their organic structure, 
viz: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxy- 
gen, from the atmosphere, must be supplied 
with more or less of these matters from the 
soil, in agricultural production. 3. Differ- 
ent plants require different proportions of 
these substanees, in order to luxuriant 
growth. 4. Different plants, require differ- 
ent quantities of these substances to ma- 
ture a full crop. 5. Different plants, from 
peculiarities of structure, draw differently 
on the same stores of nutriment. 6. Differ- 
ent soils abound or are deficient, to a greater 
or less degree, in one or many needful in- 
gredients of the plant. 7. The same soil 
has a different composition in different 
years, caused by the removal of matters in 
the crops, or by the increase of available 
food from weathering (tillage.) The ' sub- 
stances usually classed together as manures, 
may have three distinct functions : 1st. 
They may chiefly serve to improve the 
physical characters of the soil. Such are 
some manures that are applied in large 
quantities, as lime, marl, organic matters. 
2d. They act partly as solvents, or ab- 
sorbents, and thus indirectly supply the 



plant with food ; e. g., lime, gypsum, salts 
of ammonia. 3d. Finally, they may enter 
the plant as direct nutrition. If manures 
acted merely as direct nutrition, the theo- 
ry of their operation would be very simple. 
It would then be possible to judge of the 
manuring value of any substance, by com- 
praing its composition with that of the 
ashes of cultivated plants; but since many 
fertilizers produce all the above-mentioned 
effects, the question becomes a more com- 
plicated one. Notwithstanding the vast 
mass of facts which practice has accumula- 
ted concerning the action of a great variety 
of fertilizing substances, and although du- 
ring late years scientific men have devoted 
much labour to the exacter study of their 
effects, we are yet in the infancy of our 
knowledge respecting them. In agricultu- 
ral periodicals are reports of thousands of 
experiments on the value of manures; we 
find, however, the most conflicting state- 
ments, and a chaos of results. There are 
authentic instances of nearly every proposed 
fertilizer increasing crops, and as many in- 
stances of failure. Farmers, however, con- 
tinue to experiment as if there was a possi- 
bility of proving, that for each kind of 
crop, or each variety of soil, there is a spe- 
cific and unfailing fertilizer. The princi- 
ples above stated, taken together with the 
fact that the physical adaptedness of soils 
to crops is indefinitely varied and constantly 
changing, demonstrate that there can be no 
fertilizing panacea. They likewise make 
evident that what is this year a good ap- 
plication for a certain crop and soil, may 
fail to manifest any action next year ; and 
that what is now inefficacious, may prove 
highly useful at some future time. The 
most generally useful manures are those 
which contain the largest number of ingre- 
dients, and which present them to vegeta- 
tion in the greatest' variety of forms. Sta- 
ble manure occupies the first rank among 
fertilizers, because it contains everything 
that is needful for the nutrition of plants. 
It is in fact the debris of a previous vege- 
tation, and centains all the ingredients of 
plants, though in proportions altered from 
the original ones, and, indeed, advantage- 
ously altered. The hay, roots, and grain 
which mature cattle receive every day as 
food, are in part digested and assimilated, 
but since full-grown animals do not increase 
in weight, unless fattened, they excrete 
daily as much as they ingest. Those por- 



18G0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



017 



tions of tlieir food which are most easily 
oombuBtible. are, in consequence of the 
respiratory process, exhaled as water and 
carbonic acid gas; while the ash-ingredi- 
:iits. and the larger share of the nitrogen, 
ire aeeiinmlated in the excreta. In this 
tvay there is a concentration of those con- 
stituents of the animal's food, which, after 
hey have served their nutritive function 
or it, become the proper food of the plant, 
fo mention merely all the numerous sub- 
stances used as fertilizers, is foreign to the 
mrposes of this article; while any de- 
ailed accounts of the effects, modes of ac- 
tion, and the methods of preparing them, 
vould far exceed our limits. Among the 
,-arious ingredients of manures, two in par- 
icular have acquired a special significance 
n late years, viz : phosphoric acid and am- 
uonia. These bodies arc commercially the 
nost valuable of all fertilizing substances, 
i necessary result of their scarcity ; and 
n general, phosphoric acid is a smaller in- 
;redient of cultivated soils, than any other 
f the components of the ash of plants. 
Vnimonia, especially in the form of carbon- 
te, not only powerfully stimulates vegeta- 
le growth, but it probably exerts a strong 
jlvent effect on the minerals which com- 
ose the soil. Hence, guano and other an- 
ual manures which contain or yield much 
tnmonia and phosphoric acid, are in such 
rpe demand among those who practice 
high fanning." But the exclusive use 
f fertilizers, which supply to vegetation 
ily a small portion of its ash-ingredients, 
ust sooner or later be found inadequate 
produce profitable returns — must, in fact, 
duce the soil to a minimum of fertility, 
he true system of manuring is to main- 
in a supply in excess, of all forms of plant- 
od, and indeed of all materials which ex- 
;rience proves to have a good effect on 
igetation, whether this effect be chemical 
physical. 

When chemical analysis first demonstra- 
d that different classes of plants yield an 
h of different composition, the idea of 
exud manure had its origin. By special 
inures, were meant mixtures containing 
st the quantity of each ash ingredient 
moved from tne soil, by an average yield 
each crop. But investigation has de- 
mstrated that there are in general no 
actical advantages in these attempts to 
id the plant by ration. Latterly, Lawcs 
d Gilbert, of Rothamstead, England, be- 



lived to have estaUished by a multitude 
of field experiments, that ammonia is spe- 
cially suited fo the production of wheat, 
and phosphoric aeid to the growth of tur- 
nips ; but there are other equally authen- 
tic trials which as fully prove just the re- 
verse, and while on a certain soil, and un- 
der a certain set of circumstances, experi- 
ence may without difficulty establish a rule, 
as has been done a thousand times ; science 
is not } r ct far enough advanced to lay down 
a universally applicable principle or law, 
concerning the special nutrition of the va- 
rious classes of cultivated plants. 

ROTATION OF CROPS. 

It has long been a settled fact in ag- 
riculture, that the greatest return from the 
soil is generally secured, not by continuous- 
ly growing one plant, even though it com- 
mand the highest market price, but by an 
alternation or rotation of crops. There is 
no difficulty in cultivating any agricultural 
plant successively for any number of years 
on the same ground, provided enough be 
expended in putting the soil into the right 
physical and chemical condition. But such 
a procedure is usually more expensive than 
alternating the crops. The reasons of this 
are mostly contained in what has preceded, 
but a few words of explanation may still 
be useful. When a light virgin soil comes 
under the hand of the farmer, it yields 
good crops for a few years, but then sub- 
sides to a low state of productiveness. At 
first it may have yielded wheat ; when no 
longer able to support that crop, it may 
still give fair crops of barley; the next 
year if put to turnips or potatoes, it may 
seem to recover its fertility somewhat, 
and produce a good crop of wheat, though 
probably clover would flourish on it. 
The causes of such facts lie partly in 
the soil, and partly in the plants them- 
selves. 

As for the soil, a% already stated, its com- 
position and texture are perpetually chang- 
ing. The quantity of organic matter, es- 
pecially, rapidly diminishes when the soil 
is under cultivation, and the soluble min- 
eral matters are in most cases removed by 
cropping, faster than supplied by weather- 
ing or disintegration. As for cultivated 
plants, practical men have classed them ac- 
cording to their demands on the soil, as 
follows : Enriching crops, clover, lucern, 



C18 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[OCTOB 



and esparsette. IN on-exhausting crops, peas, 
and beans, also cereals when cut green. 
Exhausting crops, tobacco, flax, hemp, and 
hops. Among the causes of the different 
exhaustive effect, of various plants, are the 
following : 1. Different extent or structure 
of roots and leaves. The enriching crops 
expose to the air an enormous surface of 
foliage, and throw out very large, long, and 
numerous roots. The cereals have much 
less leaf and root surface. 2. Different 
rapidity of growth. Clover and root crops 
continue in foliage during the whole sea- 
son ; while the cereals ripen in July and 
August. 3. Periods or crises of growth ; 
seed production. Plants which ripen seed, 
require a better soil than those which only 
produce foliage, because the rapidity of as- 
similation seems to increase when the re- 
productive function comes into activity. 
Plants which ripen seed, may require a 
richer soil, not because they remove more 
from it, but because they need more in a 
given time. 4. Some crops are entirely 
removed from the soil, as flax; while others 
lewe the ground filled with an enormous 
mass of roots, as clover; or strewn with 
stalks and foliage, as the potato and beet. 
5. The quantity of ash-ingredients remov- 
ed from the soil by different plants, is 
widely unlike. In the light of the above 
statements, it is easy to see that when a 
soil refuses to yield remunerative crops of 
shallow-rooted and quick-growing wheat, it 
may still produce a luxuriant growth of 
deep-rooted, large-leaved, and slow-growing 
clover. It is evident, too, that when a 
clover-ley is broken up and sown to wheat, 
this grain may yield well, because the de- 
caying turf and roots are a ready source of 
every kind of plant-food. This preparation 
of the soil for an exhausting crop, by the 
intervention of one of easy growth, is 
shown in the practice of green manuring, 
which is, in fact, a rotation of crops ; but 
is also a fertilizing process, because the first 
crop is entirely sacrificed for the sake of 
the succeeding ones. Ureen manuring con- 
sists in plowing under clover, buckwheat, 
spurry, or other crops, when in blossom, 
so that the soil shall be enriched by their 
decay. As these plants (the last named 
especially) will grow on poor soils, it is 
possible by their help to reclaim the light- 
est sands, and bring them up to a fair de- 
gree of productiveness in the course of a 
few years. 



The use of Salt as a Fertilizer. 

A correspondent of the Maine Faru 
gives the following experiments in the i 
of salt. Two bushels per acre has b( 
generally considered a safe dose : — 

In the first place I will give the ■ 
English method of using salt when tl 
put their land down to grass, and then 
own experiments for the last thirty yea 
then I will bring forward a witness, wh 
evidence will have great weight in subst 
tiating the fact of the great benefit derh 
from the use of salt as a fertilizer. 

When I was quite young I took up 
old pamphlet, and, in looking it over 
noticed that it gave an account of the 
English method of laying their grou 
down to grass, and, among many otl 
things, the writer made this stateme 
viz : That the farmers of England plov 
or harrowed- in seven bushels of salt to 
acre, and the result was — they got a he* 
crop of hay for ten years. 

My first farm consisted of only one ac 
This land had been plowed and plan 
quite a number of years. I planted pc 
toes the first year, and got but a small ci 
of small scurvy ones, very similar to th 
raised in chip muck. The next year 
planted potatoes, again, on the same pie 
and as they were coming up or pushing I 
ground up, I dropped a handful of liverp 
salt on the top of each hill, being care 
not to drop the salt on the stalks or tops 
any were above ground. When these pc 
toes were harvested we found them a g( 
size, very nice, smooth and clean. Sii 
we have been troubled so much with i 
potatoe rot I have planted my potatoes 
dry ground, and have used salt in the v 
described above to good advantage, and fr 
long experience, I am satisfied that it i 
great preventive of the rot. 

Since living in Readfield I broke uj 
field having a swale about one rod wi 
running across one corner. I planted po 
toes on both sides of this swale; on < 
side I put manure in the hill and on I 
other side, put in rock salt. When 
harvested them we found those where i 
manure was put, two-thirds rotten, a 
where the salt was put, perfectly soui 
smooth and clean, and there never was i 
least appearance of rot about them, althou 
they were the long reds, (a kind that 
very apt to rot.) 



I860.] 



THE SOUTIIKKX PLANTER. 



HI 9 



Thr. Ago I broke up two-thirds of 

in acre of BOOK land, ami not having any 
jonunoii stalile inannro to put on it, I sowed 
>n (after harrowing over once,) eight bush- 
els ot" -salt, ami then harrowed it in ami 
slanted potatoes ami peas. They came up 
is strong and grew as rank as they would 
lave done had there been a heavy coat of 
lressing plowed in. 

I have used salt, occasionally, for many 
fears on my corn, putting it on the hill 
)efore hoeing, as we do ashes. A few 
,'ears since I planted a piece of corn of 
ibout cne acre. On one-third I put ashes, 
>ne-third plaster and on the other third 
lalt. When the cornstalk was fully grown, 
[ took a friend into the field, and, viewing 
he corn at a distance, (my friend not know- 
ng of my experiments,) I asked him what 
nut of that field he thought looked the 
>est, and he immediately pointed to that 
>art where the salt was put on. The salt 
?as to the poorest part of the ground. 
r rom experiments I am fully satisfied that 
t is not good policy to put salt in the hill, 
tither by itself or mixed with composts, it 
>eing too strong for the young roots. 

Owing to my limited means I have not 
►een enabled to make a thorough experi- 
uent with salt in laying my ground down 
o £rass, but I will here introduce a witness, 
rhose unwilling testimony will have great 
weight : 

It is well known by every man in the 
icinity of traders, more probably speaking, 
lmost invaribly cuts a very heavy crop of 
lay, and generally two crops each season. 
^ few years since I went to this trader 
o get some salt to put on my corn. He 
vanted to know what use I was going 
o put it to? I told him that I was going 
o put it on my land. Says he, it wont do 
'iij/ r/ood icill it t I told him that I 
bought it would, and then I gave him an 
ccount of the English method of using 
alt, (to which I referred above.) He an- 
wered me in these words, viz : — " That is 
h> l< ri/ §eer9i nhy I get so nnu-h hay." 
Lnd then he told how he used it. He said 
hat he put on six bushels to the acre, and 
arrowed it in before sowing his grain and 
rass seed. 

There is one peculiar feature in the ef- 
3Cts of salt when put into the ground, it 
jrves to make the ground very light and 
lellow. I have noticed when I put salt in 
he hill, that it would pulverize the ground 



through to the top. and thought at first, it 
was the work of the ants, but found, on ex- 
amination, it was oiused by the salt. 

1 have given tneee different experiments 

to .-how the many ways thai salt can be 
used, and if you think any of them are 
worth anything you can use them as it 
seemoth good. 

Storkk PlfcBOI — in Rural Regitkr. 



From the Richmond Dispatch. 

Covington and Ohio Railroad. 

The following letter from Col. Fontaine, 
to the President of the Lexington and Big 
Sandy Railroad, so briefly presents the facta 
relative to the present condition and pros- 
pects of the Covington and Ohio Railroad, 
that we publish it entire. The reader will 
observe that it is written to correct impres- 
sions and remove apprehensions in Kentuc- 
ky relative to the Covington and Ohio Kail- 
road. This it ought certainly to do; for 
the facts are sufficient to satisfy any reason- 
able mind that the great undertaking will 
be completed. Incidentally, too, we have 
the data to show that this Virginia line of 
railroad, from the Atlantic to the Ohio, has 
the advantage of any other in the superior- 
ity of its grades. It is a remarkable fact, 
that although the distance from Covington 
to the White Sulphur Springs is only one- 
tenth of the entire road, yet such is the mag- 
nitude of the difficulties encountered in that 
distance that they involve an expenditure of 
one-fourth of the cost of the whole road ! 
So, when that is done, in June, 'G2, the bal- 
ance will be certainly pushed forward with 
much greater rapidity. 

The section of railroad from Covington 
to the White Sulphur traverses the moun- 
tain division of the James River and Kana- 
wha Canal — from Jackson's River to How- 
ard's Creek. Should the French Company 
determine, as they likely will, to complete 
the water line east and west before finishing 
that heaviest and most costly part of their 
work, the Covington and Ohio will answer 
for the time, as a convenient portage of all 
the heavy freights which follow the water 
line. 

With both these great lines finished and 
in operation, what grand results we shall 
have for Virginia ! May we live to see that 
day — and, having beheld this glory of our 
good old mother, we wotild, indeed, be al- 
most like old Simeon, ready to depart : 



620 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[OCTOBE 



Sweet Springs, Alleghany Co., Va., j 
August 28, I860, j 

Richard. Apperson, Esq., President Lcx- 
ing and Big Sandy Railroad Company — 
Hear Sr: I know the deep interest you 
feel in the success of Virginia's great central 
line of railroad, not only because it is the 
best medium of transit for the trade and 
travel of Kentucky, but as a national high- 
way between the Ohio and Mississippi val- 
leys and the Atlantic seaports; and having 
heard that in Kentucky there is a great mis- 
apprehension of the present condition and 
future prospects of this work, I take plea- 
sure in communicating to you information 
on the subject, which will correct any un- 
founded impression that may exist. 

I have been told that in Kentucky there 
is now less interest felt than formerly in the 
prosecution of the Lexington and Big San- 
dy Railroad, because the Covington and 
Ohio Railroad — the Western portion of our 
central line — with which it connects at the 
Big Sandy, is supposed to be languishing in 
the hands of the State of Virginia, and be- 
cause its friends have been induced to believe 
that the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad, 
whose Eastern terminus has recently been 
fixed at Bristol, on the Tennessee line, is 
likely to be pressed with more vigor, and is 
a better outlet for the products of Ken- 
tucky. How these impressions have been 
produced, I do not know, but that they are 
grossly erroneous, I am glad to have the 
means to satisfy those whose deep interest 
in the subject will induce them to inquire 
for correct information. 

The Virginia and Kentucky Road leads 
from the southern terminus of the Virginia 
and Tennessee Road, at Bristol, 206 miles 
from Lynchburg, to the Cumberland Gap. 
It is a corporation on the joint stock princi- 
ple, with a capital of $2,600,000. In such 
cases, the State subscribes in the proportion 
of 3 to 2, when a bona fide solvent private 
subscription is made, and then pays her sub- 
scription, only pari passu with previous ac- 
tual cash payments of private subscribers. 

The road is 104 miles long, and as a good 
road through such a country can not be made 
for less than $30,000 per mile, it must cost 
at least $3,00Q/>00, probably more. The 
ruling grades, I should suppose, must be at 
least SO feet to the mile. 

It is doubtless 'an important road to the 
section of country through which it passes. 



and whether the capital can be raised wi 
be carefully considered before Kentucky r 
nounces her hopes in the Lexington an 
Big Sandy, and the Covington and Oh 
Roads. I learn from the proper authorii 
that the State of Virginia has subscribe 
$85,000, and has paid $63,000 to the pr. 
sent date. 

The Covington and Ohio Railroad beir 
the western portion to the " central line" 
a work undertaken by the State of Virgin 
on State account. It is 224 miles Ion 
commencing at Covington, the western te 
minus of the Virginia Central Railroa 
The canal traversing the valley of the Jam 
river, from Richmond, will also soon reac 
that point. The State of Virginia has 
different times made four several appropri 
tions to this railroad ; first, $1,000,00 
then $500,000, then $800,000, and' at tl 
last session of the General Assembly, wil 
the purpose of removing all doubt as to hi 
intention of prosecuting the work to cor 
pletion with vigor, $2,500,000 was appr 
priated, being more than the aggregate 
the three first appropriations, and makir 
in all the amount of $4,800,000. 

I send you a copy of a very full statemei 
of facts in reference to this work, recent 
furnished me by the State Engineer, Ch. 3 
Fiske, from which you will derive an amou 
of very interesting detailed information, 
desire particularly to call your attention to 
few prominent facts : 

1st. The whole railroad line from Ric 
mond, (where the improvements in tl 
James river, now going on, will in a sho 
time give sufficient depth of water for ve 
sels of foreign trade,) is 430 miles, of whi< 
distance, the Virginia Central Railroad, fro 
Richmond to Covington is 206 miles ar 
the Covington and Ohio 224 miles. 

2d. The whole of the Virginia Centr 
Railroad is now in successful operation, e: 
cept ten miles, which is in a rapid progre 
to completion by the 1st of April, 1862, ar 
twenty-two miles of the State work — th 
is, from Covington to the old White Sulphi 
Springs, in Greenbrier county, will be cor 
pleted by the 1st of June, 1862 * 



* I have recently seen nearly all the most d 
ficnlt portions of the work, and feel no don 
that it can be completed by June, 1862. 

In the first division, viz : From Covington 
the White Sulphur Springs, there are seven tu 
nels, whose aggregate length is 10,800 fe( 
6,500 feet of this tunneling is nearly excavate 



8G0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTKR. 



621 



3d. Thirty-nine miles of the State work 
avo been wnrked on, at the east end and 
a the west end, embracing a distance oJ 
H-tyd'our miles, between the terminus at 
»ig Sandy and the mouth of Scary Creek. 
In the Kanawha more than half a million 
ollars have been expended. 
4th. You will see from Mr. Flake's notes 
lat the late appropriation will not only com- 
lete the work to the White Sulphur Springs 
y the 1st of June, 1802, but will carry it 
irther west, embracing the most expensive 
art of the line. 

fuh. That though the distance from Cov- 
Igton to the White Sulphur is only one- 
jnth of the whole line, when he reaches 
Kit point he will have met one-fourth of the 
ost ! Taking the Central Railroad as a 
'hole, from Richmond to the Kentucky line 
t Rig Sandy, (228 miles.) embracing all 
he different portions being in operation on 
he 1st of June, 1802, 0L miles more hav- 
been worked at an expense of nearly 
600,000, and $4,800,000 expended on the 
State's portion west of Covington, can any 
Seasonable doubt be entertained of its future 
igorous prosecution ? Add to this the en- 
ouraging fact that the part of the line now 
a operation belonging to the Virginia Ccn- 
ral Company, (195 miles,) though termiua- 
ing in a wild, unsettled mountain region, 
hirty miles east of the White Sulphur 
Springs, is paying 5 per cent, cash divi- 
dends to its stockholders, after setting apart 
n ample annual sinking fund to discharge 

whole debt, you may rest assured that 
be early completion of our great Central 
load to the line of Kentucky, at the mouth 
f Sandy, is a fixed fact. 

What are you doing with the Lexington 
nd Sandy road ? Re good enough to let 
le hear. Look at the map; with that link 
dded to our Central line, you will have from 
jouisville, with slight variations to avoid 
)cal difficulties, a direct road of more than 
00 miles in length, terminating at an At- 
mtic city, with the most favorable grades 
f any in the world, of that extent. 

Rut, let me call your attention to the ad- 
antages of grade in our line in a more par- 
cular manner; commencing at a point 180 

»r double tracks 26 feet wide, and is now being 
rched. There is one tunnel which may ?ot be 
nished; but if it should not be done, a tempo- 
iry track can easily be constructed over it, with 
lore favorable grades than those now used on 
le Central Road. 



miles from Covington, viz: at the mouth of 
Scary — navigable water of Kanawha, going 
ea>t for 152 miles, it has DO grad- 
ing 20 feet to the mile; tin: Alleghany 

mountain is then amended 10 miles with 

grades id' 2D' feet, and thence 17 miltt '/'>- 
ccvtliiKj thr ic/io/r i><iij, with no grade ex- 
ceeding 00 feet to Covington, where there 
will soon be the James River Canal to meet 
it, besides the Central Railroad. Thus the 
navigable waters of the west will be con- 
nected with a water line at the east, by a 
railroad portage, with no grade opposing the 
heavy trade going east, exceeding 20 feet to 
the mile, except 10 miles at one point of 291 
feet, which, with a very slight provisional 
expense for . assistant power, makes the 
whole equal to 20 feet to the mile. You 
will observe that Mr. Fiske expresses the 
opinion, that the Covington and Ohio Rail- 
road, carrying both passengers and freight, 
can be worked as cheap as a canal relying 
on tonnage alone. 

I commend to your attention what Mr. 
Fiske says of a railroad extended from Rig 
Sandy down the Ohio to Cincinnati, where 
there wouid be no grade exceeding 15 feet 
to the mile. 

With a proper knowledge of the facts, no 
line can be expected to supercede this in 
public estimation, nor can its vigorous pro- 
secution be seriously doubted. 
Very truly yours, 

E. Fontaine, President 
Ya. Central R. R. Co. 



For the Southern Planter. 

The Tobacco Worm. 
JEtxa, Hanover, Sept. 11, 1860. 

Mr. Editor: — The number of tobacco 
worms this season exceeds that of any other 
season for many years. I think most of 
them are generated by such a moth as I en- 

• 

Bv sowing the seed of the "Jamestown 

i weed " in one particular place, and carefully 

destroying all others about the farm, I have 

succeeded in destroying many of the large 

I moth, — such as are commonly Buppoae^ to 

I deposit the egg producing the horn worm. 

:Rut, as I cannot perceive any diminution of 

the worms, I incline to the opinion that the 

• We are sorry the specimen sent us is so mu- 
tilated that we are unable, with the help o/ the 
I microscope, to make out its form. — Ed. 



622 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[Octobe: 



small moth (such as I enclose) is the greater 
enemy of the two. These, however, I have 
not found seeking the flower of the "James- 
town weed," but have seen them onlj on 
the leaf of the tobacco. It may be that 
they congregate with other moths and wing- 
ed insects around our lamps and candles on 
warm nights ; but I am told that they never 
appear when fires are built about the tobacco 
field for the purpose of attracting the fly — 
a species of treachery sometimes practised 
by the planter, with considerable success, 
against the large moth. A hint, by the by, 
taken from the sharp practice of some of 
our Yankey " bretherin of this " glorious 
Union," (save the mark,) who display " false 
lights" on their inhospitable Qoasts for the 
purpose of leading to destruction distressed 
mariners for the sake of the wrecker's fees. 

Upon examination, with the help of the 
microscope, you will find the form of the 
proboscis of the small moth very similar to 
that of the larger one — a flatted tube, beau- 
tifully polished, very pliant, but perfectly at 
the command of the insect, (nearly as much 
so as is the trunk of the elephant), and 
terminated by a tapering serrated point — 
the teeth all setting retrograde, like the spi- 
nac of a bramble, or the teeth of a whip- 
saw. This proboscis the insect keeps neatly 
coiled up like the main-spring of a watch, 
except when in use. 

I have communicated the above for the 
purpose of calling the attention of planters 
to the subject; for our loss by the ravages 
of the horn-worm is very serious. I find 
that a thorough examination of nearly every 
leaf of tobacco twice a week does not relieve 
me of the mortifying sight of vast numbers 
of fine leaves reduced to a skeleton. Ima- 
gine, then, the time and labour of a close 
inspection of each leaf of 50,000 plants — 
and this repeated twice a week. 

The whole subject of the depredation of 
insects on crops is become of vast import- 
ance. Millions would not pay for the loss 
that farmers and planters sustain eacn year 
from the ravages of " joint-worm," "chinch 
bug," fly, army-worm, &c. Cannot some of 
the time and talent, now so lavishly be- 
stowed on politics by the intelligent and cul- 
tivated farmers of Virginia, be diverted to 
a subject of such vital importance as this? 
Are not nearly all disgusted with the inces- 
sant repetition of the names of " Bell and 
Everett," "Breckinridge and Lane,' "Dou- 
glas and Johnson," Lincoln and — his "bot- 



tle-holder " — whose name I forget ? Hot 
much richer, or how much happier woul« 
any one farmer in Virginia be if his owi 
favorite candidate be the successful one 
Not one in a hundred either expects, hope 
for, or even desires office; and not one in I 
thousand can, by possibility, get it. 

This is one of the many curses inflictei 
by our present consolidated Federal Gov 
ernment, on Virginia and the other South 
ern States — that the talent and loyalty o 
our men of ability are alienated from thei 
native State, and bought up by the glitter 
ing promises of federal promotion — a cours 
which was foretold to the letter — with th< 
accuracy and eloquence of Isaiah — by thos 
faithful old patriots, Mason, Henry ant 
Grayson, when they solemnly warned th 
people against the yoke which Madison hat 
prepared for them. 

As my contribution toward the subject i: 
hand, let me suggest, that as insects hav 
greatly increased in number within the las 
eight or ten years, so have the birds decreas 
ed in number — having perished by thou 
sands under the severity of the intense cold 
deep and long continued snows and protract 
ed wet weather of many winters during tha 
period. Let us, therefore, entreat the hunts 
man to spare the birds — partridges, robim 
and all — and the farmer to feed them dui 
ing the winter. 

And, Mr. Editor, let your contributio 
be, to republish that series of beautiful am 
eloquent articles on "Birds," that reall 
adorned the pages of "The Southern Plan 
ter " a few years ago. 

L. H. Minor. 

The first article in the series above allude 
to appeared, I think, about February o 
March, 1858. The style of diction and ai 
rangement is remarkably pure and finished 
and yet, so simple and lucid as to make th 
articles exceedingly attractive. The authoi 
I am told, is a Marylander.* Be that a 
it may, he has most successfully cultivate 
the style of " Wirt" and the "Spectator: 



* We know the writer to be every inch a Vh 
ginian. — Ed. 



Thoughts. — It is counted an honor t 
live like princes, but it is a greater honor t 
give like princes. 

Mercy is so good a servant, that it wil 
never suffer its master to die a beggar. 



160.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



623 



For the Southern Planter. 

I Young Farmer's Experience about 
Ox- Yokes. 

it. Editor : 

Sometime last winter, 1 bought a fine 
>ke of oxen, with an old-fashioned badly 
ade and badly used yoke on them. Early 

the spring the neck of one of the oxen 
icame sore, which I attributed to the old 
ike ; so I laid it aside and ordered a 
>ke from Baltimore, thinking one of those 
ncy yokes, such as we see at the Fairs, 
mid almost make an oxen's neck. When 
put the new yoke on, it seemed to fit so 
imly, that I was delighted with it; but to 
y astonishment my oxen's neck got worse 
id worse, and the neck of the other one, 
so, became sore from the use of the new 
ike ; so that I was reduced to the neces- 



iy of borrowing my 
:t along with my work 



neighbour's oxen to 



your data arc not sustainable. " First," you 
Stale, "those who think most, who do mott 
brain work, require most sleep." Facts arc 
against you. " Napoleon the Great" thought 
as much or more than any other man, and 
slept leu — -four hours in twenty-four. I am 
a great sleeper niystlf, and am in favor of a 
full allowance for man and beast, but be- 
lieve the man who labors bodily requires 
most sleep. "The sleep of the laboring 
man is sweet," says the Bible, and I believe 
it. Lord Byron is said to have slept but 
little, too little, and he certainly did some 
thinking. 

Children sleep more than adults, and 
think leu. The most energetic, thrifty men 
of my acquaintance sleep least. The most 
healthy and successful negro-owners are 
those who allow their slaves a full time to 
sleep. 

Tide -Water Farmer. 



At this time, I 
id employed a plain, sensible man to 
lild me a barn. To him I stated my 
oubles, who said he could make me a 
ike in an hour or two, that would be all 
at an ox-yoke could be j and he set to 
:>rk about it, — getting a round piece of 
safras timber, separated all the bark and 
tie knots from it, and made it perfectly 
iiooth, and round as a marble; and boring 
e holes for the bows at the proper places, 
it the same old ring and staple in it that 
as in the old yoke which I bought with 
te oxen. This completed the yoke. I 
as compelled to take up my oxen and put 
icin to work before their necks got well, 
)twithstanding which (with this yoke and 
most constant work) their necks are well ; 
id I would not give such an one for all ' 
le yokes in Baltimore for my use. I hope' 
> one else in the State of Virginia will, 
'ter reading this, send to Baltimore, or 1 
iy where else, to buy a fancy ox-yoke. 

The only difference between the yoke I 
id made, and the one I bought with the 
ten, is, that it is a little shorter, and more 
jrfectly smooth and round. 

A Young Farmer. 

Mecklenburg, Va., Sept. 10, 1860. 

For the Southern Planter. 

The Importance of Sleep. 

Sqitcmbcr 8, '60. 
'r. Editor: 

In your number for this month you have 
piece entitled " Sleep." Now some of 



How to Build an Ice-House. 

Messrs. Editors : — Without attempting 
to persuade any of the importance of a ju- 
dicious use of ice, or the pleasure to be de- 
rived from it during the warm weather, I 
will submit my plan for building an ice- 
house. 

The perfect success which I met in keep- 
ing ice last summer, I think, is owing 
largely to a new principle involved in the 
building ; therefore, 1 speak of the plan 
for the consideration of those who are about 
to build for that purpose. Instead of one 
hollow wall for a non- conductor of heat, as 
in ordinary ice-houses, I have two, with a 
space between them for confined air. The 
site is on a gravel slope. The foundation, 
for convenience in storing ice, is dug two 
feet below the surface of the ground. The 
outside wall for non conducting material, 
is six inches in the clear. The inside wall 
is four inches, with a space for confined air 
of four inches. The doors for entrance 
correspond perfectly with the hollow walls 
in thickness, and are filled in the same man- 
ner — being shaped to shut with a bevel 
edge, like the door to safes used by mer- 
chants and bankers. At the lower side of 
the plates in a ceiling, upon which I put 
spent tan one foot thick, which tan is in 
direct connection with the side walls, so 
that any settling on the walls may be sup- 
plied from overhead. From the under 
side of the ceiling runs a ventilator, with 



624 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[OCTOBE 



a hole of one and a half inch bore, up 
through the roof, and is finished with an 
ornamental cap. 

The room for ice is eight by ten feet in 
the clear, and eight feet high. Without a 
more minute description, I think the build- 
ing will be understood. If not inquire fur- 
ther, any who wish to do so. About all the 
waste of ice that I observed during the 
summer was the bottom ; and this was so 
slow that we used the ice without regard to 
economy, for a large family, and in a dairy 
of thirty-five cows, besides giving freely to 
our neighbours. 

I put sticks four inches thick in the bot- 
tom, to put ice on, and also some straw 
about the sides, as well as underneath the 
ice. Can jou suggest how I can prevent 
water at the bottom ? The ground is so 
porous as not to need draining, I think. 
I have thought of placing sticks crosswise 
of those already in, so as to form an open 
space at the bottom. Will that do ? 

B. S. Carpenter, 
In Rural New Yorker. 



From the Ohio Valley Farmer. 

What is the Best Manure to Sustain 
the Fertility of the Soil? 

I answer, that for general application, 
farm-yard manure must take the first rank 
as a fertilizer containing all the substances 
required to sustain vegetation. An artifi- 
cial compound may be made to have the 
same fertilizing power as barn-yard manure, 
but, in order to do that, no one of its con- 
stituents must be lacking. Although the 
manufacturer may intensify the fertilizing 
power of his compound by concentration, 
he cannot for general use improve the pro- 
portions of the ingredients of barn ma- 
nure. The excellence of barn manure con- 
sists, of course, in the fact that, being de- 
rived from the varied food of domestic an- 
mals, it contains all the mineral elements 
which vegetation extracts from the soil, to- 
gether with a good proportion of carbon 
and nitrogen. Moreover, the process of 
animal digestion and secretion have again 
in a measure brought these mineral mat- 
ters which had become fixed in the plant 
into a soluble state, and therefore again 
ready to contribute to vegetable nutrition. 
In this point of view it is evident that this 
manure must include both the liquid and 



solid excrements. In fact, of the two, th 
liquid excrements are the most valuable o 
account of the large amount of nitroge 
contained and the entire solubility, thoug 
neither of the above constitutes a complet 
manure. 

But although barn manure may be cot 
sidered a complete manure, from the fa< 
that its continued application will sustai 
the fertility of a soil, still the degree < 
fertilizing can be profitably increased b 
the additional use of animal manures froi 
time .to time. Flesh, blood, hair, bom 
etc., are formed chiefly from those vegete 
ble elements existing in the seeds and ni 
tritious roots of plants; they are cons< 
quently by far richer in nitrogen, phosplu 
ric acid, and sulphur, the distinctive eh 
ments of seeds, than is that part of th 
food of animals which is rejected in th 
form of excrements; and which on th 
other hand, is richer in some of the mir 
eral elements derived by the plants froi 
the soil. To make, therefore, the animj 
manure a complete manure, it is only nece: 
sary to add to it those mineral matters i 
which it is deficient. Of all the fertilizin 
elements contained in manures, by far th 
most expensive and valuable is nitrogei 
whether in the form of salts of ammonh 
or of nitric acid. The next most valuabl 
ingredient is phosphoric acid, and the thir 
in order is potash. If we estimate th 
relative efficacy of farm -yard manure an 
animal matter merely by the amount of n 
trogen contained in them, we have the fo 
lowing scale of values according to Johr 
son : 

Farm yard manure contains of 

Nitrogen, £. per cen 
Flesh, « 3J 

Fish, " 2| 1 

Blood, " 3 ' " 

Blood dried, " 12 to 13 " 

Skin, " 8 " 
Wool, Hair, and Horn, " 16 

Bones, " 5 to 6 ■ 

It must also be borne in mind that thes 
animal substances are much richer in phos 
phoric acid than barn manure, and tha 
wool and horn contain about five per cent 
of sulphur, which answer valuable purp< 
ses in the nutrition of plants. ,1 i>/fl 

Prof. Stqrfiens, of Philadelphia. 



Industry, economy and good managemen 
are requisites to the farmer's prosperity. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTH KRX PLANTER, 



625 



American Guano. 

There iiniM In; ;i iiu-.-t icmarUnhle variable- 
■•m in th<- <|iiality or constituent properties oi 

tliid Gnano on tin' one hand, as would appear. 
if the various analyses which have been made 
Of it by chemists of th<" hii:hc>t standing, were 
all published, and on the other hand a remarka- 
bly .-elti.-h discrimination on the part of its pro- 
prietors in publishing only such analyses as serve 
to impress the public with a favorable apprecia- 
tion of its merits. We have on a former occa- 
sion challenged the publication of analyses by 
Prof. Manpin, of the University ofVirgfhiaJ and 
Prof. Gilham, of the Virginia Military Institute. 
We now add another, obtained in 1850, from the 
late Charles Bickell, of Baltimore, which like 
the above, has not been published. The follow- 
ing extract from a letter of Mr. Bickell to a 
friend, who had playfully charged him with 
"being bribed by the American Guano Compa- 
ny," will suggest to the reader why this analysis 
of the article has also been suppressed." But to 
the letter : 



Baltimore, March 21st, 1859. 



Jfestr*. : 

Dear Sirs — I wish to set you right 
about my relations to the American Guano 
Company. From the precautions I take to 
prevent the publication of my analysis of 
Jarvis' Island Guano, you might very natu- 
rally think, or you might very naturally not 
think, that I am bribed; well I tell you, 
that I cannot be bribed, but that sometimes 
I can be fooled. 

When J was sick in bed, in the middle of 
January, the President came expressly from 
New York to pay me a visit and to talk with 
uie about the analysis which I had previous- 
ly sent him, and the worthlessness of the 
rticle. There was the analyst, most con- 
clusive; and, here, the President of course, 
aking another stand to soften me down a 
ttle. IJe said that the practical results 
lerivcd from this Guano, had been astoni>h- 
ng, and that he attributed them to their 
j'eculiar mixture of Sulphate and l'Los- 
hate of Lime. Besides, he said that they 
lad been misled by the analysis from the 
Patent Office, (which I saw, i and which de- 
dared that Jarvis' and Baker's Island 
ruano, were identical. lie then prayed me 
ot to interfere with this Guano, so that 
le might sell some and save the company 
roui bankruptcy. 
40 



T replied, that as soon as he sent any to 
Baltimore, I was obliged to expose the cha- 
racter of the Bluff; but, if he kept away 
from Baltimore, it might be possible that I 
could manage the thunder over his head for 
some time; he, then, promised to send many 
specimens of Guano for analysis, but 1 have 
not heard of, or seen him since — that is the 

^f||vv W ** 'f* W "P 

Yours, truly, 
[Signed,] UHA8. Bickell. 



X<>\v the reader will observe, that after with- 
holding the analyses above referred to, by chem- 
ists, the high authority of whose names would 
have given general currency to the article, it* 
they had reported favorably concerning it, they 
now thrust upon public attention an analyses of 
samples sent front this country to Munich for ex- 
amination by Liebig, and the result they simul- 
taneously publish in Germany, England and the 
United States, North and South, relying upon the 
authority of his name to give character to the arti- 
cle, notwithstanding the palpable errors in the 
analysis, as exposed by the Editor of the Southern 
Field and Fireside, whose commentary, we give 
along with the document.— [Ed. So. Planter. 

LETTER FROM RARON VOX LIEBIG. 

Messrs. Editors: — I met a few days ago- 
at the house of our consul here, Mr. Ten 
Broeck, the baron — better known in our 
country as Prof. Liebig, who had called 
upon Mr. T. B. with the enclosed paper, to- 
get his assistance in rendering it into Eng- 
lish and bringing it before the American 
public. Our worthy consul had, at the 
time, as much consular business on his hands 
as he could conveniently attend to, and was 
consequently rather unwilling to undertake 
it. In this dilemma 1 offered my services 
to Mr. Ten Broeck, who offered them to the 
Professor, and they were accepted. 

[ am happy to say that the result of my 
labors has proved perfectly satisfactory to 
both Mr. Ten Broeck and the Professor, 
who, to tell the truth, was a little disap- 
pointed at first in not getting Mr T. B. to 
do it for him, as that gentleman has already 
assisted him several times in bringing his 
writings on similar subjects before the pub- 
lic, both in England and America, (al- 
though, I believe, he has never got the 
credit of having so.) 

In order to make this matter as widely 
public as possible, I have prepared three 



G2G 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



copies, one of which goes to an English; 
paper, one to a New York journal, and the 
other to you. 

Hoping, gentlemen, that the enclosed ar- 
ticle may prove of interest, I remain 
Yours to command, 

Frank L. James. 
Munich, Bavaria, July 30, 1860. 



RESULT OF ANALYSES AND OBSERVATIONS 
ON THE BAKER AND JARVIS GUANOS. 

I received, a few months ago, through F. 
B. McDonald, Esq., American consul at 
Hamburg, some samples of two sorts of 
Guano, found on the Baker and Jarvis Is- 
lands, a small group in the Pacific ocean, 
lying 0°, 3', 00" south of the equator, and 
between 150° and 160° long. west. The 
height of these islands above the level of 
the sea is from thirty to forty feet, and their 
size varies from three to five miles long and 
from one to three miles broad. They are 
destitute of fresh water, and are quite bar- 
ren, but serve as a roosting place and as a 
habitation to countless numbers of birds, 
which have covered them completely with 
their ordure. The mass of guano thus ac- 
cumulated is being constantly increased by 
the debris of fish, which these birds bring 
as food to their young, and by the remains 
of dead birds, turtles, etc. One tract of 
this deposit on Jarvis' Island is covered 
with a crust from I to 1 inch thick; on the 
Baker's Island, on the contrary, the deposit 
consists of a very fine powder. 

Both these guanos contain a certain quan- 
tity of nitric acid and a trace of ammonia, 
but the essential difference between them 
and the Peruvian guano is the total absence 
in the former of guanine and of uric and 
oxalic acids. 

To the naked eye the guano found on the 
one island is similar to that found on the 
other That on Bakers' Island (which for 
conveniency we will hereafter call Baker's 
guano, and the other Jarvis' guano.) looks 
like a mixture of a brown with a coarser 
white powder, and contains in small quanti- 
ties a fine long filament (1) like the root of 
some grass; the Jarvis' guano contains in 
addition a stone-like, white, porous sub- 
stance, occurring sometimes in masses of a 
pound in weight. Under the miscroscope, 
however, they arc widely different. The 
powder of the Baker guano consists of round 
white, yellow White, and brown, shun/ gra- 
nules, among which scattered crystals of 



Phosphate of Magnesia and ammonia were 
observed. The powder of the Jarvis guano 
seemed porous and angular, like pulverized 
pummice stone, and was of a yellowish 
white colour. 

The principal ingredient of the Baker 
guano is the i^hosphatc, with a very small 
admixture of the sulphate of lime. The fol- 
lowing is the result of analyses of several 
samples, some of which I received from Mr. 
McDonald, and the balance tlnough Mr. 
Sardy direct from New York. 

COMPOSITION OF THE BAKER*S GUANO. JARVIS' GUANO. 

Phosphoric Acid 40.270 17.601 

Magnesia 2.Q07 0.568 

Phos. Oxide of Iron 0.126 0.1607 

Lime 43.379 34.839 

Sulphuric Acid 0.941 27.02] 

Chlorine 0.132 0.203 

Potash 0.171 0.456 

Native Carbonate of Soda. 0.676 0.332 

Amnion iaca I Salts 0.0G8 0.030 

Nitric Acid 0.451 0.313 

f Nitrogen 0.S62 0.534 

Organic - I Carbon 3.096 2.458 

Substance 1 Hyd rogen ) Q 

^ Oxygen j 

Sand (insoluble) 0.009 0.617 

Water (loss in 100°).. .. 3.945 12.118 

100.133 100.2597 

or — 

BAKER'S GUANO. JARVIS 1 GUANO. 

t>, , , , T . nanna S 3CaO,P0 5 17.397 

Phosphate of L.me /8./7S | 2 CaO,PO- 16.026 

Phosphoreted Ox- 
ide of Iron. . . 0.126 0.1607 

Sulphate of Mag- 
nesia 6.125 1.241 

Sulphate of Lime 0.134 44.549 

Sulph. Potash, So- 
da, Chlorine, Or- 
ganic Matter, 
Water, &c. .. 14.950 20.886 

100.133 100.2597 

Thus it appears from the above analyses 
that the Baker guano contains more phos- 
phoric acid than any other known fertilizer, 
and is very similar in its ingredients to 
natural phosphorite, differing from it, how- 
ever, in the following remarkable particular: 
Phosphorite is in a crystalized state and. is 
completely insoluble in water. The Baker 
guano, on the contrary, is amorphous (2), is 
soluble to a considerable exteut in water, I 
and, when wet, colours litmus paper red.' 
The Jarvis guano has also an acid reaction | 
and is also partly soluble in water. 

If we divide in the analysis of the Jarvis 
guano, the lime in the phosphoric acid into 
tribasic salt of lime and sulphuric acid (to 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



02' 



form the neutral sulphate of lime), there 
remains 4] per cent, sulphurie acid free. 
This caused, at first, the supposition on my 
.part, that a certain quantity of sulphuric 
acid had been added to this guano before it 
W88 sent to me, and that thus a part of the 
phosphate of lime had been converted into 
a supei phosphate; but physical properties 
would contradict such an idea, even had I 
ttet received from Mr. Sardy, of New York, 
the most positive assurances that this guano 
is found exactly in the above condition on 
the Jarvis Island, and that it had undergone 
no preparation whatsoever. From this it is 
quite certain that the Jarvis guano contains 
the phosphoric salt of lime of Belugcnstein 
(PO* X a CaO) naturally formed, which as 
yet has never been found in any other kind 
of guano. 

1 instituted a series of experiments on 
the quantity of phosphate which is dissolved 
from these guanos, respectively, in pure 
water and in a solution of kitchen salt in 
water. 

If 1000 grammes Baker's ami Jarvis' 
guano are mixed with 50 litres of water, in 
the 50 litres of the filtered solution 



Baker's Gu 


1110 


Jarvis' Guano 


contains 




contains 


Phosphoric Acid... 3.79 




2.446 


Lime 8.41 




10.11-2 


Sulphuric Acid .... 11.03 




9 24 MS 


Magnesia 0.82 




1.379 



24.65 30.782 

If we mix the guano with less water, or 
if we filter the water through it several 
times, we receive a richer solution of soluble 
ingredients, which contains in ten litres: 

Baker's Guano. Jarvis' Guano. 

Phosphoric Acid 4.93 gr. 9.10 

Lime 11.05 . 27.19 

If instead of pure water we mix the 
guano with water containing one part kitchen 
salt to 1000 parts water, the solubility of the 

fihosphates is considerably increased, and 50 
itres of this very weak solution of salt dis- 
solves from 100 ■■) grammes 

Baker's Guano. Jarvis' Guano. 

Phosphoric Acid •!.: 

Lime 9.310 53.000 

Sulphuric Acid 12.412 73.168 



26.487 



132,702 



It is remarkable that the Jarvis guano, 
although only half so rich in earthy phos- 
phates as the Baker guano, gives in water a 



greater quantity of soluble phosphoric acid. 
This is evidently owing to its containing 
bibasic phosphate of lime, which is in all 
solvents more soluble than the tribasic salt 
of lime. By increasing the quantity of salt, 
the solubility of the phosphates .is not in- 
creased, as will be seen by the following ex- 
periments: 

If we moisten 1000 grammes Baker's 
guano with 220 cubic centimetres of a 
saturated solution of common salt, (which 
solution consists of 80 grammes salt to 50 
litres water,) the 50 litres of water would 
dissolve from the guano 

Lime 8.540 

Phosphoric Acid 3.198 

Sulphuric AcM 12.145 

23.883 gr. 

The conclusion manifestly to be drawn 
ftom the above is, that the addition of salt 
in small quantities to the Baker guano would 
produce a greater degree of efficacy, while 
increasing the quantity beyond a certain 
extent would diminish rather than increase 
the solubility of its phosphates. 

Again, if instead of taking the common 
kitchen salt, we should take the Abraum 
(3), or rubbish salt, found in great quantities 
near Stassfurt, we arrive at the very same 
result. If we mix, in the proportion of 10 
grammes of the last named salt to 100 gram- 
mes Baker's guano, and moisten the mixture 
with water, 50 litres of water would dis- 
solve from 1000 gr, guano 

Lime 8.77 

Phosphoric Apid 2.94 

Magnesia 1.00 

Sulphuric Acid 25.07 

38.38 gr. 

In this case the solubility of the guano is 
not increased by the admixture of the salt. 

As both these guanos are more soluble in 
water than any known natural Phosphate of 
Lime, it is to be expected that they are 
peculiarly fitted for forming superphosphates, 
and | far smaller proportion of sulphuric 
acid than they contain would suffice to place 
in D soluble condition a maximum of phos- 
phoric acid. I have also made some experi- 
ments in this direction, which go to prove 
the truth of tha supposition just made. 

I added to 1000 grammes Baker's guano 
180 gr. sulphuric acid; five litres of water 
in contact with the tenth part of this mixture 
dissolve 



628 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



I. EXPERIMENT. II. EXPERIMENT. 

Lime 5.709 After a longer digestion, 

Phos. Mag. 2.601 \ Sol. phos. acid, 

Phos. Acid. .7.404 $ 9.12 =12.26 

Sulph. Acid. 5.090 



20.S64 

"Water in contact with Baker's guano dis- 
solves 0.379 per cent, phosphoric acid — the 
admixture of sulphuric acid increases the 
quantity of soluble phosphoric acid twenty- 
four fold. 

In order to examine the effect of dessi- 
cation on the solubility of the phosphoric 
acid, I made a mixture in the same propor- 
tions as the above, and instead of lixiviating 
in the moist state, I dried the mass first in 
the water-bath and then lixiviated it with 
water, as the result of which process we 



have the following: 

I. EXPERIMENT. 

Lime 5.750 



II. EXPERIMENT. 

After a longer digestion, 



Phos. Mag. .2.720 ) Sol. phos. 

Phos. Acid.. 5.018 S acid 6.75 =7. 

Suiph. Acid. 6.749 



49 



20.237 

In this experiment the solubility of the 
Phos. Acid was diminished by the dessica- 
tion. According to this, then, it is far 
more advantageous, with the given propor- 
tion of sulph. acid, to the quality of the 
superphosphate, to use this mixture without 
drying, for by this process the quantity of 
phos. acid in a soluble state is sensibly di- 
minished. By increasing the quantity of 
sulph. acid, however, the dessication seems 
to lose its noxious influence on the solu- 
bility of the phosphoric acid. Vide fol- 
lowing experiment: 

To 1000 grammes Baker's guano I added 
200 grammes sulphuric aiid ; of this mixture 
one part was lixiviated in water, another, 
before lixiviation, was dried in the water- 
bath. The two experiments gave as soluble 
elements in 100 parts of guano, 

Dried in the bath. Manipulated moist. 

Lime 9.145 7.764 

Phos. Acid 12. 2 10 12.039 

Magnesia .... U.950 1.000 

Sulphuric Acid-.. 8.-159 5.742 



30.764 



27.429 



A mixture of 100 parts, of Baker's guano 
and 20 parts sulphuric acid and water give 
120 to 125 parts (in weight) of dry super- 
phosphate, and hence from 10 to 11 per 
cent, soluble phosphoric acid. 



If Baker or Jarvis guano is mixed with 
weak milk of lirre, and lixivated with wa- 
ter, the liquid thus obtained contains all 
the nitric acid existing in the guano, which 
is for the most part in combination with 
the lime — precipitating 'the lime by means- 
of carbonate of potash and by means of 
evaporation, crystals of common nitrate of 
potash are obtained. 

I regard the discovery of the guano de- 
posits as a most fortunate event for agri- 
culture at the present time. The prices 
of fertilizers rich in phosphorus, such as 
bones, are now continually on the increase, 
(which is ascribable in Germany to the fact 
of the wide-spreading use and the continual 
exportation of the bones from the coun- 
try,) so that very soon no agriculturists ex- 
cept those who have a large capital at their 
disposal, will be able to procure an amount 
sufficing for their wants. The fact of Ba- 
ker's guano being, of all fertilizers, the 
richest in phosphoric acid, will render it of 
special importance to Germany. 

As tar as chemistry can judge of the 
efficacy of these guanos, there is hardly a 
doubt that in all cases when the fertility 
of a field would be increased by the use of 
bone-dust, the Baker's guano could be used 
with decided advantage. The phosphate 
of like contained in the Baker guano is far 
more easily dissolved than that contained in 
bones, and if we take the amount of this 
ingredient in the latter as being 60 per 
cent, 100 lbs. of Baker's guano correspond 
in phosphate to 140 lbs. bone-dust. Thus 
the agriculturist will benefit his field as 
much by the use of 70 lbs. guano as 100 
lbs. bone-dust. The guano (Baker's) con- 
tains ammoniacal salts, nitric acid, and 
azotic substance, containing nearly one per 
cent, active nitrogen. A small addition 
only of salamoniac is necessary to give it 
the full strength of Peruvian guano. It is 
very probable that the salamoniac could J>e 
replaced in this guano by Chili saltpetre, 
and the addition of a little kitchen salt, 
as our experiments show, would improve its 
solubility. 

There is no material, which, without far- 
ther preparation, is better adapted to the 
manufacture of superphosphate than this ' 
guano, and by means of it every farmer j 
could be in a position to produce in the ! 
most easy and economical manner this most \ 
active fertilizer. For this purpose it is not 
necessary to use concentrated sulphuric acid, 



riM 



- - ■ 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



020 



but the cheaper, less concentrated chamber 
actd, (60 to 62 degrees in volume,) 18 just 
as good, 30 p&fts of which to ICO parts 
guano are sufficient to form most excellent 
superphosphate. - The guano should be 
mixed first With water to the consistency of 
a thin paste, and the sulphuric acid then 
added and well stirred in. This is best 
done in large quantities on a stone or plas- 
ter floor. On adding the sulphuric acid, 
the mixture becomes heated, producing, on 
cooling, a friable, crumbling mass, which 
is easily reduced to powder by means of a 
wooden roller or pestle. In order to do this 
completely, it is perhaps expedient to mix 
with it a little gravelly sand. This mass 
exposed to the air soon dries in a moderate 
summer temperature 



The Jarvis guano, simply judging from*' n '£' oi Dresden) 



its percentage of phosphoric ingredients, is 
of less value as an article of importation 
(into Germany) than the Baker guano; 
forty-four pounds of the latter contain as 
much phosphoric acid as one hundred 
pounds of the former. On the other 
hand, the Jarvis guano is rich in sul- 
phate of lime, which is also used as a fer- 
tilizer, and its phosphoric acid is of higher 
value, as nearly the half of it exists in the 
form of soluble phosphate of lime. For 
turnips, clover, <y_c, it is just as good as the 
Baker guano, though pound for pound the 
effects of the latter are twice as lasting. 

Some information concerning the native 
condition of these guanos, more certain 
than the mere heresay of mariners, would 
be of great interest to science. The ab- 
sence of ammonia, uric acid, <£c, in the 
Baker guano, is probably explained by the 
frequent and heavy rains which occur un- 
der the equator, and w T hich have washed 
away these ingredients; but what to me is 
totally inexplicable, is the large amount of 
sulphuric acid in the Jarvis gunno — if it 
is mere animal excrement, ,and that on a 
coral formation. 

Jr.STUS VON LlF.BTG. 

P. S. — The Jarvis guano seems as if it 
would be an excellent means of restoring 
cotton and sugar plantations, whose soil has 
been worn out by long cultivation. I am 
not, it is true, in a position to support 
these suggestions by ptacticnt investtgatwn, 
but a few experiments in the parts where 
these staples are grown, would very soon 
lead to definite results. The Peruvian 
guano, rich in ammoniacal salts, tends to a 



large development of leaves and branches, 
not only without increasing the fruitfulness, 
but actually wearing the land out. 

J. V. LlEBIG. 



NOTES. 



is letter: <: On Ba- 
vinr running over 
appear in the de- 



(1.) Mr. Sardy says in h 
ker's Island there i- a small 

the deposit, fibies of which 
posit." — Translator. 

(2.) A solid substance is said to be amor- 
phous when its component particles are not ar- 
ranged in regular geometric, forms. — Trans. 

(3.) The abrainti. or rubbish salt, found in 
large quantities near StaMfart, is a mixture of 
chlorine and sulphates. The fact of its contain- 
ing potash caused the suggestion that it might 
be useful as a fertilizer to land poor in the 
above ingredient, which led to the following 
analysis, (for which I am indebted to Dr. Ren- 



Sulphate of Potash, IT). 70 

" '' Soda, 14.34 

Chloride of Sodium, 2.69 

" " Magnesia 31.49 

Water, 35.72 



100.00 
By moistening Peruvian guano, with a solu- 
tion of this salt in water, it replaces the loss 
of ammonia experienced by long keeping. — 
Licbig. 

REMARKS BY THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH- 
ERN FIELD AND FIRESIDE. 

"When the fact is duly considered that 
there are many millions of tons of the phos- 
phate of lime on Baker and Jarvis' Islands 
in the Pacific, a description of which we 
publish to-day from the pen of the most em- 
inent chemist of Europe, the reader will 
understand why his analyses and experiments 
are published simultaneously in Germany, 
in England, and in the Northern and South- 
ern States of our own country. The state- 
ments arc most extraordinary, and we fear 
a little too favorable to the owners of this 
immense property, to be reliable. We ask 
attention to a few facts which struck us with 
surprise on first reading the manuscript: 

1st, That the guano from Baker's Island 
contains less than oneper cent, of sulphuric 
acid, or 0.941 per cent. 

2a. That 1000 grammes of this guano 
dissolved in 50 litres of pure water gave 
tl.68 grammes of sulphuric acid; being 
more than one and one-tenth per cent. 

3d. By dissolving one per cent, of kitch- 
en or common salt in 1000 of water, TO 
litres of this exceedingly diluted brine dis- 



G30 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



solved out 12.412 grammes of sulphuric 
acid from 1000 of Baker's guano; or 25 
per cent, more than the first analysis of this 
guano shows it to contain. 

4th. In another experiment 12.145 
grammes of this acid were obtained from 
1000 era. ) and in yet another experiment 
25.07 grammes were dissolved out of 1000 
of the guano, being nearly 200 per cent, 
more than the first analysis exhibits. These 
errors are patent on the face of the analyses 
and experiments. That the addition of a 
small quantity of common salt to water con- 
siderably increases its power of dissolving 
bone earth, as found in the excrements of 
birds and other animals, is a fact of great 
agricultural value, and none the less because 
it was known before. Liebig is not uncon- 
scious of the scientific difficulties in which 
his analyses place these guanos ; for he says : 

" Some information concerning the native 
condition of these guanos, more certain than 
the mere hearsay of mariners, would be of 
great interest to science. The absence of 
salamoniac, nitric acid, &c, in the Baker 
guano, is probably explained by the frequent 
and heavy rains which occur under the equa- 
tor, and which have washed away those in- 
gredients; but what to me is totally inexpli- 
cable, is the large amount of sulphuric acid 
in the Jarvis guano, if it is mere animal ex- 
citement, and that on a coral formation." 

Only a moderate acquaintance with the 
food of animals is needed to satisfy any one 
that they never consume nor void any such 
quantity of sulphuric acid or gypsum as is 
shown to exist in the Jarvis guano by Lie- 
big's analysis ; and it is highly probable that 
a carboy of this acid got accidentally broken 
near the guano before it was sent to the re- 
nowned Munich chemist, which acid expell- 
ed the carbonic acid present in the coral 
part of the compound, (as the analysis shows 
no carbonate of lime,) and thus produced 
this " inexplicable " anomaly in animal ma- 
nures. 

We are amazed that it did not occur to 
Baron von Liebig that the same " heavy 
and frequent rains " which washed away all 
the soluble salts of ammonia, soda, potash, 
and magnesia, except mere traces,. or frac- 
tions of one per cent., must also dissolve and 
remove all soluble sulphates and phosphates 
of lime in animal manures ! It is not a 
wonderful scientific discovery that the rain 
water of Germany, of Great Britain and of 
the United States will dissolve for all far- 



mers so much phosphoric and sulphuric acid 
salts, which the far heavier rains of the 
equator have failed to dissolve in the last 
ten years and ten centuries. 

Need we say more to put. those on their 
guard who look to this journal for reliable 
information on all agricultural subjects? 

The idea that an insoluble tribasic phos- 
phate of lime, as it exists in bones, will 
change itself into a soluble bibasic phosphate 
in the excrements of birds or otherwise, ap- 
pears to us in the highest degree improba- 
ble. The presence of so much phosphoric 
acid in these guanos, notwithstanding all the 
washing rains to which they have long been 
subjected, furnishes direct and satisfactory 
proof that this compound of lime and acid 
is very sparingly soluble in a state of nature. 



From Patent Office Report of 1849. 

Parasitic Fungi. 

A Lecture, delivered in the City of Nor- 
wich, England, at the Annual Meeting of 
the Royal Agricultural Society, July 18, 
1849, ' 

BY EEV. EDWARD SIDNEY, A. M. 

* * * * I shall endeavour to de- 
scribe in simple, popular language, the na- 
ture, habits, and, as far as I can, the pre- 
ventives or palliatives of the principal par- 
asitic fungi of the British farm, beyond 
which, of course, I cannot go ; avoiding all 
needless technicalities, and stamping my 
explanations with those characters which 
will promote their currency with every 
hearer. Whenever I am obliged to use a 
scientific term, I shall try to explain it • 
and I commence by remarking that the ep- 
ithet parifiitifi, applied to a plant, means 
that it lives at the cost of that on which it 
grows. A fungus is a cellular plant with- 
out flowers, living on air and nourished 
through a stalk 
mycelium. It 

seeds, or spores, or sporules, either colour 
less or not, but never green, and occasion- 
ally incksed in skinny coverings, termed 
sporidia, or spore cases. Fungi live by 
imbibing juices impregnated with the pe- 
culiar principles of the matrix on which 
they grow. The spores mostly germinate 
either by a protrusion of the inner mem- 
brane, or by a lengthening of the outer 
covering ; and the spawn is the develop- 
ment of these spores, or of itself already 



, stem or spawn, called its 
is propagated by minute 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



681 



produced, poaaeaaiDg the power of imbibing 

l he juices just alluded to. The most fa- 
miliar example ii oornmon mushroom spawn, 

which the little seeds will sometimes throw 
Out on strips pf grass, so M to he well ob- 
served. Fuui/aU most commonly grow 
upon animal or vegetable substances in a 
state of decomposition ; hut many of the 
simplest organization attack tissues, in 
which its commencement is at least not as- 
certainable, or, if commencing, hasten it 
beyond recovery. The simplest form of a 
fungus is common mouldiness, which has 
two types. The first, as may be seen by 
the aid of the microscope, is composed of 
jointed threads made up of simple cells, 
placed end for end, which separate and 
seem capable of reproduction. * * * 
These cells are capable of being separated, 
and appear to be reproductive. The second 
assumes a thread like appearanre, bearing 
spores upon the tips of the threads, or on 
short processes, and sometimes in cases, by 
the rupture of wiiich they are dispersed. 
* * * Examples of spores in cases 
will be pointed out as we proceed. In a 
higher state, fungi take a determinate fig- 
ure, formed of a cellular tissue, the centre 
of which is all spores, attached to it often 
in fours. This at length draws up, leaving 
only the dusty spores, as in the case of a 
common puff-ball. The most completely 
formed fungi have two distinct surfaces, one 
of which is even and without any opening, 
— the other separated into plates, called the 
lijjntdiium, or y if la, to which the spores are 
attached, generally four together. * * * 
So numerous are the seeds, spores, or spo- 
rules of fungi, that it is not easy to con- 
ceive a place whence they are excluded. 
Those which grow on matter in which de- 
composition has decidedly begun, have been 
well called the "scavengers of nature;" 
but others of a most minute description, 
some of which belong to my subject, appa- 
rently attack tissues in full health and vigour. 

With regard to the properties of fungi, 
I can only mention in a word, that they 
are respectively cutohle, jwisonous, medi- 
cinal, i))((u:ic<tti)tf/, and even fuminc/its, light- 
ing up with their living lustre mines and 
caverns where they grow, and in some 
places assuming at night the appearance 
of pendulous lamps hanging from the trees 
on which they vegetate. 

I. I*now propose first to describe the 
chief of those minute parasitic fungi which- 



injure the corn and t this country, 

premising that COfl) plants are themselves 
only glasses, tire seeds of which arc suffi- 
ciently Urge for our food. These little 
pesta generally present themselves to the 
unassisted eye under the form of masses 
of dust, differently coloured, and appear on 
all parti of the plants except the roots. 
(1.) The stems or straw of our corn plants, 
and also the leaves, are frequently disfig- 
ured by a dark series of patches, constitu- 
ting true mildew, and called by botanists 
puccinia, from the Greek nvxa., thickly, be- 
cause of the dense masses of which it con- 
sists. It is found upon reed as well as 
corn, but the microscope reveals a slight 
difference in the structure of the spores, 
by which the puccinia of one species of 
plant is distinguishable from that of an- 
other. * * * Its appearance under a 
first-rate modern microscope is * * * 
that these dusty patches are crowds of 
club-shaped fungi, (spores,) the thicker end 
of each of which is divided into chambers 
containing the reproductive sporules. They 
burst through the epidermis, or upper 
skin, which they lift up, and the sporules, 
dispersed through the air, have been 
thought to find entrance through the 
stomata or pores. < The ground of this no- 
tion is, that the patches of mildew are first 
seen in small cavities immediately beneath 
these porea, which, as Professor Henslow 
* * * observes, certainly looks very 
much as if the sporules entered there. 
With his usual caution he remarks, that 
u the fact stands in need of pr. of, and that 
hitherto the evidence is more in favour of 
similar fungi being imbibed by the roots of 
the plants which they attack." We shall 
shortly see that some experiments on an- 
other fungal parasite of wheat tend to 
show that these fungi are developed in a 
manner little suspected even by the most 
accurate observers. This parasite robs the 
living plants ot their juices, and must not 
be confounded with a very minute fungus, 
called dipmen, which is peculiar to the 
joints of the straw ; nor, as is more com- 
mon, with another black fungus, which 
gives a dingy aspect to whole fields towards 
harvest, and is often called mildew, but 
which never attacks a plait till it is previ- 
ously diseased, and which for want of any 
other name, I am obliged to announce by 
its botanical one, dadotparium h< rlarium, 
the character of its growth being totally 



032 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October, 



unlike mildew. It grows on old leather as 
well as on wheat. The dissin^larity to 
puecinia is visible enough. Spores may be 
seen in their cases. The common appear- 
ance of the straw, not being- accurately ob- 
served, misleads. Though I have no other 
name but the botanical one by which to 
call it, I can trace its derivation to the 
Greek xtuxSoj, a branch, because the spores 
grow on minute branches. Whatever tends 
to preserve the health of the wheat will 
prevent also the attacks of this fungus. 

(2.) We now come to other minute para- 
sitic fungi of corn-plants. They are called 
uredines, the plural of uredo, from the Lat- 
in uro, to burn, on account of the scorched 
appearance of the parts on which they vege- 
tate. Different parts are attacked by differ- 
ent species : the uredo of the maize alone 
growing everywhere except on the roots. 
The first uredo I shall mention is known 
familiarly to the farmer as rust, red-rag, 
red-robin, and red-gum, and comes out in 
yellow or orange blotches on the stem, the 
leaf, and chaff-scales, appearing as a powder. 
The hue of a whole field is often affected by 
it, and fears naturally arise.; but it fre- 
quently happens that a few days' bright sun- 
shine dissipates the fungus ; but mischief 
has been done, and the crop feels it. It is 
called uredo rubigo. You may observe the 
spores * * * growing on the mycelium, 
which finds its matrix in the tissues of the 
plant. There is a curious botanical question, 
whether this uredo passes to puccinia. I 
think the best evidence confirms the opinion 
that such is the case. 

(3.) The sooty powder on the flowering 
parts of corn-plants, called smut, chimney- 
sweepers, and dust-brand, is formed of the 
spores of another uredo, called uredo sege- 
tum. It renders the whole interior abor- 
tive ; the pedicle of the flower swells, and a 
black dust occupies the whole. These 
spores are so diminutive that the diameter 
of one is only 1-2800 inch. Strange to say, 
some farmers welcome its appearance, be- 
cause they conceive it augurs a good crop, 
forgetting that whatever ear it attacks, it 
makes one less in that crop. 

(4.) Another uredo called bunt, or pep- 
per-brand, seizes on the grain of wheat, and 
that to a great extent, if not guarded against. 
This uredo is termed uredo fetida, on ac- 
count of its filthy odor. If you break a 
grain infected, you will find the flour re- 
placed by a black mass, oily and fetid ; and 



all the ovary is seen to be destroyed, except; 
the integument, which swells, and incloses 
the spores, amounting in a single grain to 
nearly four millions. They are, like those 
of uredo rubigo, on their mycelium, or! 
spawn, and are in diameter about 1-600 inchJ 
* * * This uredo confines its attacks j 
chiefly to the seed of wheat among our ce- 
reals; but some other plants, as the convolvu- 
lus, and of the grasses, as rye-grass, bromus, 
and poa, are subject to have their seeds de- 
stroyed in a similar manner. 

(5.) These uredines, as well as mildew, 
though till recently not understood, have 
long been the subjects of observation. Moses 
threatened the disobedient Israelites with 
mildew, and the Romans had their false god 
Robigo, whom they thought to propitiate for 
the preservation of their fields from the dis- 
astrous attack of these diseases. A feast 
called Robigalia, to this deity, was always 
kept on the 25th of April, to deprecate blast- 
ing and mildew. The diseases themselves 
were long matters of curious speculation, 
and they were till lately regarded as acci- 
dents of vegetation, resulting in a mass of 
injured cells from the dampness o£ the soil, 
excess of manure, or fogs, or punctures of 
insects, and have even been .attributed to 
the presence of the barberry, a fungus of 
which is called oecidium. * * * There 
have been many botanists who have believed 
that the spores of oecidium come up as ure- 
dines when they fix upon any cereal. It is 
the microscope which has enabled us to re- 
cognise in all these parasites a true fungal 
character, and to trace their growth ; but 
the damage accruing from them has not 
been adequately estimated, for they never 
appear in the farm or garden without injury 
to the produce. For example, few can have 
failed to notice the effects of uredo on the 
rose trees, and also, but less frequently, on 
geraniums. 

(6.) Numerous have been the specula- 
tions, and often ingenious the experiments 
on the way in which the reproductive spo- 
rules find entrance into corn-plants. Va- 
rious remedies have been tried, and some 
with success, as in the case of bunt, or pep- 
per-brand, which may be effectually checked 
by good dressing of the seed. The princi- 
ple of dressing is the conversion of the ad- 
hesive oily matter of the spores into that 
which is soapy, which is easily washed off. 
This requires an alkali, and suggests the use 
of lye of potash, soda, or wood-ashes. Lim=- 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



638 



ing also has a good effect. Sulphate of Cop- 
per and arsenious Mid, the arsenic of the 
shops, are often used ; but, hesidesthe other 
objections to them, there is the danger to 
the vegetative powers of the seed. It is not 
usual to dress for smut, which attacks not 
only wheat, but barley and oats; yet the 
same reason applies in these cases, except 
that more difficulties are in the way, because 
of the dissipation of the sporules before 
harvest, and the remainder being knocked 
out in threshing. It is important to ascertain 
with certainty how the contents of the spores 
grow. Those of bunt are too large to enter 
the stomata, yet if sown with wheat it re- 
appears. Some think the mycelium divides 
the earth into molecules, each of which has 
a vegetative power, and that any one ab- 
sorbed by the roots extends until it reaches 
its peculiar point of election in the system. 
Others conceive that the spongioles of the 
roots imbibe the fine contents of the spores, 
which grow. It is certain that due dressings 
and washings prevent the reappearance of 
bunt, and that excess of manure encourages 
red-robin and mildew, which have also been 
observed to follow long feeding with sheep. 
Among the antidotes to mildew, I venture 
to name clean farming, amendment of the 
texture of the soil, ventilation, and letting 
in light; checking over-luxuriance in the 
young plants, growing early varieties in 
places subject to it, and avoiding putting on 
manure directly before wheat, and hoeing 
the wheat when young. 

(7.) There seems no reason to believe 
that any uredo mentioned in deleterious, 
though bunt is disagreeable in the flour. 
It has been said that in past times, there 
were gingerbread bakers who had no objec- 
tion to flour which contained the black mat- 
ter of bunt, as it saved them the brown su- 
gar which they otherwise must have used, 
to render this confection sufficiently dark 
colored for the approbation of their custom- 
ers. If such customers there ever were, 
they must have had move regard to appear- 
ance than to quality. But I am now about 
to describe a fungus closely allied to uredo, 
which attacks grasses lor hay, that appears 
to be quite poisonous It is termed us/dago, 
having a similar derivation with urrdo, and 
is left by Corda in his general classification 
in the same group Tulasue wrote a long 
paper on usttfev/Q in 1S47, with drawings. 
The one in question is called hyjiodytes. Its 
spores are black, round, and very small, and 



I shall call it (/nrss-snutf. There was ;i great 
deal ol' rt. in 1S4S. In afield near King's 
Chile, almost every flower-stem of the bra- 
in us s///rf(/ic(i, which was one of the princi- 
pal grasses, was infected by it. A plait was 
taken by Mr. Berkeley from this field, and, 
instead of its throwing up fertile spikes, al- 
most every one is attacked. 

The structure in a very young stage is 
thread-like, but all traces of mycelium soon 
disappear, and nothing remains but a mass 
of minute spores. * * * In addition 
to the ruin of the grass, this fungus is most 
pernicious. According to Leveille, the im- 
mense quantity of black dust resulting from 
it in the hay-fields in France, produces dis- 
astrous consequences on the hay-makers, 
such as violent pains and swelling in the. 
head and face, with a great irritation over 
the entire system. A like account was giv- 
en of these peculiar maladies by Michel in 
1^4o, which lie compared to the well-known 
effects of ergot, on whicli singular abortion 
of the seeds of corn and grasses I do not 
enlarge here, because, though accompanied 
by a fungus called ergofetia, it cannot be 
called one. Botanists term it ergofetia ahor- 
ti/aciens, or ergot fungus, rendering the seed 
an (dtorticm; but the only argument they 
adduce in favor of its producing ergot is, 
that it constantly attends it. But it is clear 
that because two things are coincident it 
does not follow that they are cause and ef- 
fect, while the best examination does not 
warrant such an interference in this instance. 
I will only remark that it is more common 
than is supposed ; and I am persuaded 
that cattle in ill-drained localities, where 
it always abounds, derives serious injury from 
it, and that it is the unsuspected cause of 
many disorders both in them and human 
beings. 

Another ustdago named typhoides, dam- 
ages the stems of reeds, swelling and dis- 
torting them, and rendering them almost 
useless for thatching. 

The only remedy for such a disease in a 
grass-field seems to be breaking it up, and 
substituting for it a crop not subject to its 
ravages. 

1 have not time to dwell on another kin- 
dred fungus occasionally on the gramineous 
tribi s. All are more or less subject to some 
uredo peculiar them. 

(8;) I may be expected to allude to the 
true theory of fair rings, which are due to 
three species of the most highly organized 



634 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



fungi, (.'ailed agarics. Mushrooms are aga- 
rics. Those of the fairy rings throw out 
their spawn in a circular direction, and the 
ground being continally exhausted by it, a 
ring is formed, which is rendered greener 
than the surrounding grass by the stimulus 
of the spawn itself. 

I may just observe that in some countries, 
grasses and corn, and particularly barley and 
rye, are destroyed by a curious mould, which 
is developed beneath the snow, and if it ap- 
pears in snow without previous frost, it is 
often fatal to the whole crop. It has not 
yet been noticed in Great Britain, but the 
matter will be worthy of attention should 
any long frost occur. I cannot omit to men- 
tion here, that the mouldiness in stacked 
Jiay is generally the common aspcrgill y to be 
described presently, and sometimes the com- 
mon penicillium, also coming under review. 
The spores of these will be seen to be inju- 
rious, and therefore such hay ought always 
to be steamed. The cut surface of hay- 
stalks is sometimes covered with a light 
orange or brick-dust red fungus, but. it is 
entirely confined to the stems composing the 
hay. 

IT. I go on next to the parasitic fungi of 
leguminous plants, which are particularly 
subject to them. A small dipazea destroys 
peas in wet seasons, attaching all parts, es- 
pecially the pods; but the blight which we 
mostly see on peas, bears the botanical name 
erysibe, or erysiphe, the Greek for mildew, 
and is the same kind of mould that infests 
peach leaves. In its early stage it is a joint- 
ed mould; seemingly superficial, which on 
examination shows little globules, changing 
from yellow to black, and springing from a 
flocosc web filled with minute sacs contain- 
ing the sporules. * * * They put out 
fibres, which lift them up from the surface 
of the leaf, and are preceded by threads, 
white, or grayish, consisting of bead-like 
joints, of which it seems the uppermost fall 
off and grow. 

Beans are injured by a vredo, the urcdo 
of the beans, which was very prevalent last 
year. 

Vetches are attacked by a fungus styled 
botrytis, from the Greek /30-rp^s, a bunch of 
grapes, because the spores grow in this way. 
It is called the botrytis of the vetch, but in 
some places it attacks peas and lucerne, and 
it might therefore bear the name of the 
iuf/uminous botrytis. Botrytis is distinguish- 
ed from other ooulds which are circulated, 



and so named monilia or necklace moulds, 
by it not having its threads jointed. 

Dutroehet first stated, and I have verified 
it myself by a series of experiments detailed 
in my little work on the blights of wheat, 
that if a single drop of almost any acid is 
mixed with albumen, in eight or ten days 
necklace moulds appear ; but, on the other 
hand, caustic alkali gives botrytis. With 
fibrine of blood and phosphoric acid, the 
results arc reversed. Every sort of vegeta- 
ble matter I tried with acid yielded a mould, 
but when albumen contained a neutral salt 
none appeared. If salts of mercury are 
present, the mould is stopped ; a^hiop's 
mineral does not check it; oxide of lead 
hastens it; oxides of copper, nickel, and 
cobalt retard it; oxides of iron, antimony, 
and zinc have no effect; all perfumes stop 
it. Flowers of sulphur effectually check 
the erysiphe on the peach, but they could 
not be applied to pea-fields. How far a 
knowledge of the facts I have just stated 
may lead to a remedy, easily applied in the- 
shape of manure, future experiments may 
show. 

III. These observations naturally lead to 
the botrytis infestans, found on the leaves of 
the potato when suffering from the true mur- 
rain. The mycelium of this fungus tra- 
verses the entire cellular tissue of the plant, 
and emerges from the stomata. of the leaves, 
choking them, and the consequence is de- 
cay. This fungus is, I believe, new to Eu- 
rope ; so widely distributed a species could 
not have been overlooked. Mr. Berkely, 
the very highest authority, is of opinion that 
the fungus is the real enemy. Certainly all 
other theories have failed. The principles 
of the geographical distribution of food- 
plants plainly show us that extremely minute 
and unappreciable differences in climacteric 
condition may throw plants into an unhealthy 
state; which conditions might exist unsus- 
pected for a few years. Hereby plants may 
be brought into a state which renders them 
capable of being attacked by certain para- 
sitic fungi, of which the potatoe blight may 
be an example, and the botrytis iufc.stan.s 
becomes, as it really seems to be, the proxi- 
mate cause of the malady. The botrytis 
is found on the tubers ; but, besides this, 
a fiisarium, which must not be confounded 
with the former, nor regarded as character- 
istic of the potato disease, but of another, 
often occurring in the same tuber with it, 
is totally different frmi the botrytis, and the 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANT Kit 



636 



spia die- shaped spores tell the origin of its 

designation. Genuine science alone enables 

00 to make such discriminations \ and it is 
not too much to hope that experiments 
founded on some Rich results as I have ;"'- 

nouuced from the few I hare had leisure to 
make, may lead to the discovery of a cheek 
to the growth of this pestiferous botrytit. 

The root crop of the farm Buffers much 
occasionally from fungal diseases, i'orsneps 

are subject to a variety of the LutrytU [><ira- 
sitica, which blights the leaves. The leaves 
of turnips are attacked by the same fungus; 
but a different one, called f>isi-sj>oritu)i, is 
found on the roots, but with no extensive 
injury. 

Mangold-wurzel is effected by the urerfo 
of Lett, with brown or black spores like that 
of the bean; but in all these cases the con- 
nection between the disease of the leaves 
and decay of the roots has not been suf- 
ficiently observed. 

IV. Hops arc damaged by an cn/sijJi/', 
having the habits of that of the pea. It 
seems to be in its early stage a peculiar 
mould, but this opinion needs fuller con-! 
firmation. The whole subject needs investi- 
gation, and therefore I do not dwell upon it. 

V. I now pass from the parasitic fungi of. 
the fields to those found on other parts of, 
the farm, its buildings, yards, and interior i 
economy. The fungi destroying timber are! 
not sufficiently known, though their effects 
are so common. I>ry-rot is generally at- 
tributed to the spawn either of the inmih'us. 
lacrymans or \oeepiug mor//, so called from 
the little drops of water it contains, or to 
that of the ])otypnr us <h striu-for, named from 
its many pores. But any of the fungi found 
on wood, and they are very numerous, are 
capable of producing it; and among them ; 
are, besides the two mentioned, another 
muni called mutator, the dsedalea of the 
oak. deriving its appellation from its laby-l 
rinthine structure; various potypori f/ir/r- 
pharp, from 0rXr, a nipple, by reason of its 
papillose surface, and s}><>rothi i<nm , thej 
spores bearing hairy filaments. The effects 
of all these pais by one designation, dry rot. 

1 will now describe its progress. The first' 
signs arc small white points from which a 
filamentous substance radiates parallel with 
the surface of the wood. This is spawn, 
which, as it gains strength, insinuates itself 
into any crevices, however minute, and the 
threads are so fine that they pass between j 
the tubes from which the wood is organized,! 



and forcing then apart destroy all cohesion. 

Sometimes various spawns interlace and form 
a tough stratum; and the rapidity and force 
of inert SM are such as to eaUSO, under 
favorable circumstances, the total destruction 
of the wood. From the experiments previ- 
ously described on the growth of fttngfilf, 

you will perceive that the acidulatioD of the 
fermenting sap promotes their growth. 

Kyanizing, or the application of corrosive 

sublimate, has been resorted to as a pre- 
ventitive. An experiment may be made- to 
show its effects: a solution of fish-glue will 
be found to yield fungi in abundance, but if 
corrosive sublimate be mixed with it none 
will appear, and the same result will follow 
additions of certain preparations of copper 
and other mineral poisons. Oak felled in 
the spring, when full of sap, is almost sure 
to have the dry-rot; therefore, that which is 
destined for farm erections should be cut in 
winter, for otherwise the only chance of 
stopping the appeaTance of the fungi is to 
substitute some poison by saturation for its 
proper juices, or to force them out by an 
objectionable pressure. Immersion in water 
i§ beneficial, but heat applied to dry wood 
only hastens the malady. In Brest the dry- 
rot is said to be unknown, and all the timber 
used in its yards is kept in a creek of the 
harbor. 

VI. Fungi of a different kind from any 
yet described follow the British farmer into 
his dairy, and interfere with his household 
economy. Pcnicltliinii and atfrtrgiU are 
two terms applied to some of them, because 
in their microscopic appearance they roem- 
ble sprinkling brushes. l\nlcilliv»i is the 
mould on hay, as was mentioned, and is 
found on bread, and also in the inside of 
casks; and there is reason to believe its 
spores poisonous, for two coopers, who entered 
a great tun, covered with this mould, to 
clean it, inhaled them, and were seized with 
violent pains in the head, giddiness, ami 
vomiting, which only yielded to severe medi- 
cal treatment. A p enicillium is the mould 
of milk. If these moulds appear much in 
the dairy, or on the bread kept in it, the 
best remedy is washing the walls with 
chloride of lime, which it is important to 
know, as milk often suffers in this way. 
Foreign badly-made cheese has an un- 
pleasant mould in brilliant scarlet pat ' 
but in Kngland the principal one on eheese 
is an innocent mould called fr m l m , from 
torus, a bed, from its coming in layers. I 



G36 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



may here just observe that the vinegar 
plant, as it is ealled, is in its advanced state 
a penicilliutti ; and the beer fungus lias been 
ealled torula; but before We decide the 
latter, wc must see a regular fructification 
in air. There arc hundreds of non-produc- 
tive spawns for want of air and light, as, for 
example, the strange forms which diffuse 
themselves in cellars, which arc incomplete 
developments. 

You will permit me to state in this place, 
that the fungi on stored fruit are a torula, a 
pau'c ill turn, common fruit mncor, and a 
mould like the first stage of erysiphe. Hart- 
ittg asserts that he has actually propagated 
the potato disease from the brown matter in 
mouldy apples and pears, and it is remark- 
able that some ingenious experiments of 
Mr. Berkeley, on the growth of bunt, lead 
to show that its propagation may arise from 
mere grumous matter in the spores, which 
proves that many of our theories are imma- 
ture. The experiments were thus made : — 
Wheat seeds were immersed in a mixture of 
water and the spores of bunt. A curious 
mould with conjugated spores sprung up oa 
the spores of bunt. The wheat was sown, 
and the plants came up infected ; but no 
communication could be traced between the 
cells and the shoots thrown out by the 
spores; no intrusion of the mycelium de- 
veloped by the spores into the wheat could 
be discovered. The inference is, that the 
fine contents of the spores propagate the 
fungus; but this is quite opposed to our 
general idea of the growth of fungals. 

VII. I will, lastly, touch on the facts now 
established relative to the fungi attacking 
animal tissues, which are very surprising. 
Sappy meat has always a fungus, something 
analogous to what is called the yeast fungus. 
This fungus is a mass of molecules, probably 
an early state of the same tjiat is called 
vinegar plant, the last stage of which has 
been stated to be a pcnicillium. What are 
called srhrotia, from ox^rpos, hard, appear 
in animal matter under particuliar circum- 
stances; but these are only states of other 
fungi, for even agm-ics have been known to 
spring from them. The fungus of the West 
Indian wasp, of the caterpillcr of New 
Zealand, and the muscardine of the silk- 
worm, arc all well-known examples of fungi 
attacking living animals. The last is easily 
propagated by inoculating healthy cater- 
pillars, which I mention to show that a fun- 
gal disease may be conveyed from one ani- 



mal to another in a state of health. I be- 
lieve a more accurate knowledge of such 
facts will be ultimately of great use in in- 
vestigating certain diseases prevalent among 
animals of the farm, arid hitherto inexpli- 
cable. Sclerotia have been found in bad 
fractures, but they are not parasites: true 
parasitic animal fungi grow only on the skin 
or mucous membranes. 

M. Robin published, in 1847, a most curi- 
ous account of the vegetable matters grow- 
ing on living mammalia, which he classes 
into two divisions — those of the skin, and 
those of the mucous membranes. The 
mucous membranes of the digestive canal 
and of the lungs are subject to their at- 
tacks; nor is the stomach free. All her- 
biverous animals are liable to moulds in the 
digestive canal, very like the yeast fungus, 
but larger; yet it is confined to them, and 
never found in carnivora, birds, or reptiles, 
A penicillium of birds is tolerably well 
known; and pheasants, fowls, and pigeons 
are occasionally the prey of a mould as yet 
imperfectly described. An aspergill is found 
in eggs; and that found in the air-cells of 
the lungs of the eider-duck has been often 
noticed. Parasitic animal fungi yield, it is 
said, to sulphuric acid; whence a hint may 
be obtained as to remedy, but I wish to 
speak with due caution on these novel in- 
vestigations. Attempts have been made to 
inoculate dead animals with these fungi ; 
they have entirely failed; the life of the 
animal is essential to their growth, the con- 
ditions of which seem generally to be im- 
perfect states of respiration or nutrition, or 
irregularity. There seems to be a moment 
when the powers of assimilation flag, and 
then the fungi step in and appropriate the 
nourishment designed for the system. It 
may be the same with apparently healthy 
plants. We may here have the first ward 
to tbe key to many a hidden secret as to the 
ailments of the animals of the British farm. 

VIII. I have now completed my humble 
attempt to give a popular outline of the 
chief parasitic fungi of the farms of Eng- 
land, which only require simpler names to 
be easily understood; and the farmer must 
learn to distinguish them from the diseases 
of the superficial tissues. It is a subject 
well suited to farmers' clubs, where good 
botanists and microscopists might be induced 
toattendto their instruments, and give simple 
explanations. Let it be remembered that sim- 
plicity is the handmaid of all useful science, 



18G0.] 



Til B SOFT II MllN PLANTER. 



G37 



whOM truths arc only impeded by needless 

grandiloquence. 1 can say by ixpemnoe, 
that endeavours to propagate it will he found 

good subordinate auxiliaries to the higher 
aims of men of my own sacred calling; and 
while we see that there is not a thing so 
small or BO apparently mean, but that it 
sparkles witn some beam of the skill of its 
great Maker, I conceive that it befits the 
office I bear to show that the nobler teach- 
ing of Divine Wisdom, by things revealed, 
does not tend to deface, but to elevate our 
conception of God's perfection in things 
created. This earth was not made to be 
neglected, nor man to be unobservant; and 
if these unpretending gloamings I have 
gathered in my few moments of leisure shall 
this day have proved in the least degree ac- 
ceptable to the present audience, or gener- 
ally of any interest to the British farmer, of 
the kindness of whose disposition I have 
had more proofs than I have deserved, I 
shall rejoice in the honor conferred upon 
me by being allowed the privilege of ad- 
dressing \ou. 




Sij't jjouijjtrn Jjhntcr. 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



Poor Land— What Shall we do with It ? 

CONTINUED FROM OCB LAST NDMBKR. 

The next step to be taken after thorough til- 
lage of tbe soil, is thorough manuring, either 
by putrescent manures — for the most part to 
be made on tho farm — or by the application of 
Lime. Plaster, "concentrated fertilizers.' or 
'•L'vcfi) crops,'' to be fallowed in. Perhaps the 
most judicious plan a farmer can adopt, is the 
use, to a certain extent, of all these articles, 
the rate of expense per acre which he shall in- 
cur, to be determined by his peculiar circum- 
stances, such as his facilities for market, 
"force"' of hands and team which he can com 
mand, and his capital. 



But as to the item pf home-made manures, 
nr« can lafely Resell that ahtotfl eve y farmer 

can make and up ply to bis fields a much larger 
anionut per aimmii, than he at pre-ent d<,e-. 
A majority of the stable-, and cattle-pens, are 

so arranged as to allow a large per cent, of 

their contents to run oil' and he waited. The 
man who is guilty of such n-iilnt, Iom-s year 
after year many a dollar, which wonld add to 
his riches and comfort. There slionld he at 
tached to all stables for animals, ■ vat, into 
which the dung ami urine should he coll. 
The bedding used in the stables, leaves, straw, 
saw-dust. &c, becomes thoroughly saturated 
and decomposed, and makes a large bulk of 
manure, which at least twice a year should be 
hauled out into the fields. 

Many writers contend that this pit should be 
roofed over, so as thoroughly to shade it, and 
prevent any loss by evaporation from exposure 
to the sun. We do not consider this at all ne- 
cessary, if the bulk is shaded by having straw 
or dirt kept over it, since the salts in the bulk 
will be retained if its moisture is evaporated. 
But on this point we may be in error, as we 
have never been able to see the experiment 
fairly tried — ami have never been sufficiently 
well satisfied that it wonld " pay,'' to induce 
us to erect a building for this purpose. We 
have taken great pains always to keep in our 
vats a siiJlicient -amount of moisture to prevent 
the "dry ret" or "fire fnnging'' of the bulk, 
and to have it well covered with straw to guard 
against evaporation as much as was possible 
by this cheap method. After saving the ma- 
nure from all the domestic animals, including 
the fowls, by depositing their voidings in some 
suitable receptacle, a great deal more may be 
gathered together in time for our spring crops, 
by saving the ashes from the houses, the chips 
from the wood-pile, together with the soap- 
suds, dish-water, and the emptying of the 
" chandlers," which should be composted for 
application to grass lots, corn, or vegetables. 
It i> | manure of much value in quality, and any 
man who will take the pains to accumulate it 
for one year, will be surprised at the quantity 
he may secure. Nothing should be wasted 
which will make another blade of grass to 
gram "Let nothing be lost." We have neither 
time or inclination to discuss the merits of the 
various modes of application of manures, but 
will only content ourself by saying, "it is good, 
applied in any way."' while we acknowledge 
our individual preference for surface manuring 



63S 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[October 



beoauee that mode of application for barn-yard 
inn time lias paid us best. We would, how- 
ever, impress it on all farmers who desire to 
witness the improvement of their lands, to 
make all the manure they can, on their farms, 
and to apply it in some way. 

In applying guanos, super-phosphates of lime, 
or concentrated fertilizers of an expensive char- 
acter, we have no doubt that the economical 
method, is to use the drill. But we are inclined 
to believe that the most economical manner of 
using them for wheat is by applying them to 
spring crops for fallow, such as oats or peas. 
These crops are thus usually rendered large, 
and when turned in, greatly improve the soil. 
Besides, any excess of the fertilizer used, be- 
yond the actual wants of the crop is rendered 
soluble by the time the wheat wants it. We have 
heard intelligent farmers state as their experi- 
ence, that a small quantity of guano applied to 
ground sowed in peas in the spring, gave them 
a large pea growth for fallow ; and another 
small application of guano at the time of seed- 
ing the wheat, produced a finer growth of 
wheat at a less cost of guano, than they could 
have secured by using more guano at seeding 
time. Of the truth of this assertion, every far- 
mer can soon satisfy himself by experiment. 
We have already done so. After plowing in 
a green crop of peas or oats, an application of 
lime is advisable. If lime can be bought at a 
moderate price, say from eight to ten cents per 
bushel, and the hauling is not too expensive, it 
will pay to use from 96 to JOG bushels per acre 
— the quantity to be determined by the luxuri. 
ance of the fallow. If, however, the lime has 
to be hauled such a number of miles as to raise 
its cost to from 16 to IS cents per bushel, we 
should use it in a much more moderate quan- 
tity than we should do under the circumstances 
first stated. In that case, we should sow it 
broad-cast over the wheat fields, early in 
spring, at the rate of from five to ten bushels 
per acre, say in March or April. This practice 
kept up every year, would more than replace 
the amount of calcareous matter consumed by 
the wheat crop from the soil, which, under 
such a course of treatment, would soon produce 
clover; particularly if the land were top. 
dressed (after clover is seeded) with wheat, 
straw, or a light dressing of ashes or plaster. 

There has been a great want of faith in the 
fertilizing properties of gypsum, in many parts 
of our State, arising from the fact that the gyp- 
sum which was used and found inefficient 



was, in most instances, the " Lubec Ground 
Plaster 1 ' — this from having been a long time 
ground, (perhaps from plaster originally a very 
inferior article.) was, in reality, only a carbo- 
nate of lime, and worth only as much as the 
same quantity of air-slaked lime. The Nova 
Scotia gypsum is much better, and is usually 
selected with care by the persons engaged in 
grinding it for sale. 

After succeeding in getting "a stand of 
clover," it is not a very difficult matter to make 
land rich, by allowing the clover to fall on the 
surface, and to shade it well for a year or two. 
Besides, the roots of the clover bring up from 
below, a very considerable amount of inorganic 
plant food, which they take from the subsoil. 

If the soil is so very deficient in alkaline mat- 
ters, as to make it a hard matter to induce clovei 
to take hold in it, a top dressing of Carbonate of 
Potash or Pearlash, mixed with Plaster, we 
have found of great benefit. 

The best way of preparing these articles foi 
sowing, is to dissolve the Pearlash in water, and 
to add Plaster sufficient to absorb it — taking care 
to avoid having the Plaster so wet as to make 
it impossible to separate its particles in sowing 
" The wheat-straw made on the farm should al- 
ways be returned to the land, in some way 01 
other, since it supplies to the soil, (or prevent! 
the exhaustion of) very important elements o! 
fertility. 

One very important means of improving land 
which should not be overlooked, is to keep as 
large a stock of cattle as the provender of the 
farm will support. These cattle should be kept 
during the Winter, warmly housed; and if they 
are, their owner will thereby save in the value 
of provender consumed, enough (with the ma- 
nure accumulated,) to pay for their shelter. Tc 
all those who. are unbelievers in regard to trm 
assertion, we say try it, and report results. 

We shall say nothing of draining in our pre 
sent article, although it fills so important a place 
in the discussion of the subject in hand. We 
are promised by a gentleman of great expe 
rience in ^Surface," and "Thorough Undei 
Draining," a full and complete essay on thh 
subject, which we intend to have illustrated foi 
the benefit of our readers. We hope to havt 
the pleasure of laying it before them very soon 



Porter's Factory for the Manufacture oi 
Linseys, Cloths, and Carpetings. 

During a recent visit to Jefferson County, Va., 
we called in at the factory of Mr. Colin C. Por 



I860.] 



THH SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



639 



ter, (iimir Summit Point Depot, on the Winches- 
ter ;in<l Harper'i Ferry R. lv..) to see the quality 
of goods manufactured by bins, ami to witness 
tin* operation of his machinery. We wen great- 
ly tyleatod with the quality and variety of arti- 
cles tu rn fcl out by his looms, for which he has a 

reaity home market. 

Certainly Virginia has no need to buy the 
niauiil'autures of other States, when her own 
factories can, in their >everal departments, turn 
out such goods as does that of Mr. Porter. We 
never saw any better Flannels, Blankets, Fulled 
Cloth, or Virginia Cloth, in our life; and we left 
the factory, glad that its owner was a native of 
our own State, and a successful leader in the 
cause of home manufactures. 

May he have many successful followers in 
his footsteps, until we can procure all our own 
good*, for our State necessities, of Virginia 
manufacture. 

We hope Mi. Porter will send a case of his 
goods to tl|c Fair in this city iti October, as they 
will prove alike creditable to himself and his 
State. 



Kentucky State Agricultural Society. 

We tendyr our thanks to Messrs. Bradford and 
Tate, the President and Secretary of this Socie- 
ty, for an irjvitation to attend their exhibition, 
held from September 1 t>tli to 22nd. 



Sombrero Guano. 

We call attention to tne advertisement of 
Messrs. Bdnymd, Davenport & Co., of this city, 
(in our present number.) giving the views of 
Dr. Morfii of New York, in relation to the value 
of this Guano, together with his analyses of it, 
and Navqpss, and Jarvis Island Guanoes. 



Acknowledgments. 

We have rcneived the following pamphlets, 
for which we tender our respectful acknowledge- 
ments, to the persons to whose courtesy we are 
indebted ft>r them : 

R. Hoe & Co.'s DESCRIPTIVE and Illustrated 
Catalogue of thpir various printing machines, 
power presses, h^nd presses, inking machine?, 
&c. Alto, advertising every article connected 
with the arts of Jetter-press, copper-plate, and 
lithographic-printing and book-binding, to be 
furnished at the shortest notice. 

Second Circular of the Maryland Agricul- 
tural College, containing the laws for its estab- 
lishment and endowment, a catalogue of the 



Trustees, Officeri and Students, for I860, and 
setting forth the design of the institution in an 
address from the Trustees; also its location and 
building, terms of admission, the expense- of 

pupils, fco., iVe. Under the admini>tratiou of 
Charles B. Calvert, President of the Tn 
the future of this College is, doubtless, destined 
to be auspicious. 

Register ok the Officers and Cadets of the 
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va., 
containing a brief history of its establishment, 
and of its operation for twenty-one years ; a list 
of the Board of Directors, Academic Staff, 
synopsis of the course of study in Academic 
School; in the special school of Agriculture; 
the special school of Civil Engineering; the es- 
timated annual expenses incurred by the Cadets, 
&c, &c. 

Prkmium Lists of the Kentucky State and 
California State Agricultural Societies, of whose 
Fairs both were held in September. 

The Premium List of the Agricultural and 
Mechanical Society of South-Western Virginia 
Fair, to be held at Wytheville, on the lUth and 
11th days ot October. 

Regulations and Arrangements of the I 3th 
Annual exhibition of American manufactures, 
works of American industry, &c, by the Mary- 
land Institute, to open on the 9th of October 
and close on the 6th of November, 1SG0. We 
have been politely tendered an invitation to at- 
tend, of which we will gladly avail ourself, 
should circumstances at the time be favorable 
for our doing so. 

List of Premiums and Rules and Regulations 
of the Maryland State Agricultural Society, for 
the 13th Cattle Show and Agricultural and Hor- 
ticultural exhibition, to be held at Baltimore on 
October 30th, 31st, and November 1st and 2nd, 
I860. 

List of Premiums. &c, of the Valley Agricul- 
tural Society, for its 5th annual cattle show and 
fair, to be held at Winchester on the 16th, 17th, 
18th and l ( .Uh Oclober. I860, 

Premium List and Rules and Regulations of 
the North Carolina State Agricultural Society, 
for the eighth annual exhibition, to be held at 
Raleigh, on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 1 9th Octo- 
ber, i860. Dr. Win. R. Holt, of Davidson, Presi- 
dent. 

An Address delivered at the eighth session of 
the American Pomolocieal Society, held in Phila- 
delphia on the 11th. 12th, and 13th of Septem- 
ber, I860, by Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., Presi. 



640 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[October 



dent. This is a business-like document, replete 
with the most important instruction, on every 
branch of fruit culture, so concise and well 
adapted to the wants of those who would culti- 
vate a knowledge of this branch of rural econo- 
my, that we shall give it an early insertion in 
this journal, for the benefit of our readers. 



Mammoth Pears prom a Dwarf Stock — Fine 
Grapes. — Mr. H. J. Smith has presented us with 
four varieties of most luscious Pears, raised upon 
a dwarf stock. The Pears themselves are any- 
thing but dwarfs. They are well developed, 
very large, and of fine flavor. He also pre. 
sented us with specimens of two or three varie- 
ties of table Grapes of delicious flavor and well 
matured. 



New Paper. 

Edgecombe Farm Journal. 

We have received the first number of this 
new paper. It is a handsome sheet of eight 
quarto pages, devoted to Agriculture, Horticul- 
ture, Floriculture, Household Arts, Rural Archi- 
tecture, Zoology, &c; published by Win. B. 
Smith, Esq., at the very low price of 50 cents 
per annum. 

Edgecombe is one of the most improved and 
improving counties in North Carolina, agricul- 
turally, intellectually and socially, and she will 
act unworthily of herself, if she does not well 
sustain this enterprise, undertaken not for profit. 
as the price will show ; but for the promotion 
of her own progress and property. Let us hear 
often, through its columns, of the successful 
practice of such of her citizens as Mr. Bridget's, 
in the cultivation of crops, draining of lands, 
bill side-ditching, &c, &c, and public interest 
will be awakened to an extent that will insure 
the success of the Edgecombe Farm Journal. 



BOOK NOTICES. 

We have received from J. W. Randolph, 
Esq., a very interesting and instructive book, on 
Natural History, entitled, "The Reason Why," 
by the author of The Reason Why [respecting] 
General Science, The Biblical Reason Why, 
&c, &c. It is a treasury of useful knowledge, 
available at all times by means of a very co- 
pious index. The same may be said of the 
Biplical Reason Why, which our readers will 
find an excellent guide in the studious reading 
of the Scriptures. 

Adventures of Travellers in Africa, also 
eceived from Mr. Randolph. We make the 



following extract from the preface of the pub- 
lisher, as a compendious description of the 
scope and design of the book: "An intense 
interest has recently been awakened and wide- 
ly extended, in regard to South Africa. Ques- 
tions are, in consequence, frequently arising as^ 
to the character of its surface, its diversified 
tribes, its plants and its animals; and the re- 
markable circumstances under which after 
long concealment, they have been gradually 
j disclosed to view. The object of the present 
'volume is to meet such inquiries by popular 
• details on the highest authority, abundantly in- 
terspersed with true stories of chivalrous en- 
terprise and heart-thrilling adventure." It is 
commended to our readers as both instructive 
and entertaining. 

Nemesis. By Marion Harland. Author of 
Alone, Moss Side, the Hidden Path, etc. New 
York : Derby & Jackson. 

The enviable reputation achieved by our 
fair Virginia authoress, since the publication of 
Alone— her first and, in our opinion, best work 
— is fully sustained by her last book. Proud of 
her former achievements, she has again enter- 
ed the lists, contending for fresh laurels, and 
boldly throws down Nemesis to run the gaunt- 
let of criticism. The author, in the introduc- 
tion, says: "Much that I have written I have 
gathered from MSS. — family papers, yellow 
with time. I do not pretend to say that my 
tale is a literal transcript of the lives of the 
various personages introduced, or that I have 
not interpolated characters and events — taken 
an author's liberty with dates and denouements ; 
but that I had a broad basis of fact for the 
foundation, and in my superstructure, have 
drawn less upon the imagination than is the 
fashion of some so-called biographers, in their 
veracious memories of modern celebrities, I 
may with truth affirm." 

Marion Harland is fast attaining the position 
of a " star of the first magnitude in the literary 
firmament," and such satellites as Southworth, 
Sigonruey. and Harriet Beecher Stowe, are 
obscured by her dazzling brilliancy. Sold by J. 
R. Keinningham, Richmond. Price $1 25. 

Fanaticism and its Results ; Or Facts vs. 
Fancies. By a Southerner. 

This is a well prepared and powerful devel- 
opment of the subject, and is admirably adapt- 
ed to the present time as a campaign manual 
for the use of the politicians who engage actively 
in the pending struggle for the Presidency of 
the United States.