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102
AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, N. D., Editor.
SATURDAY AUGUST 20, IS59^
MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
Yesterday we visited tlie farm on which the
Maryland Agricultural College is located, and
were much pleased with the place, the large
and commodious new building nearly completed,
and the local advantages for an educational in
stitution of the highest character. That agricul
tural schools are destined to supersede all others
for the education of more than half of the youth
in the United States who are to follow agricul
ture and horticulture as their pursuit in after
life, we entertain not a doubt. The great ex
pense of a good education is the cost of boarding
pupils and students while at school or college.
A few competent teachers and professors are
able to instruct a large number of scholars, and
at a trifling cost to each. But to feed and clothe
them involves, necessarily, a pretty heavy out
lay. This outlay may be reduced to the mini
mum consistent with comfort and decency on a
well managed farm: and at the same time, pre
cisely that kind of knowledge most valuable for
all practical purposes, may be taught and learn
ed with the greatest facility at a superior farm
ing establishment. The exercise, pure air. and
varied labors and pleasures which appertain to
stockliusbandry. tillage, harvesting, gardening,
and fruit culture, in connection with literary stu
dies. will secure the inestimable advantages of
a healthy, physical development in a higher de
gree than they are otherwise attainable.—
Strength of body and of mind is what every sen
sible parent desires for a son or daughter; and
this physical and mental power grows up most
vigorously and naturally out of well cultivated
land, and wisely cultivated manhood. As soci
ety now exists, youth learn many things while
at city and village schools that tend to corrupt
their morals, their tastes, and their habits for
life. They see and hear things in the streets
and elsewhere. that change and poison their
affections. On a farm in the country they es
cape a thousand evil examples, and pass the
most critical period in life, free from temptations.
Nature herself does much to instruct a thought
ful and studious youth in field, grove and orch
ard, while attending an agricultural college.—
Her attractive charms no t only keep from vice
and youthful folly, but constantly encourage
the investigation of her mysterious laws. The
mind and heart become enamored with science
and learning in connection with that noblest of
all callings—independent, self-sustaining agricul
ture. Every farmer needs intellectual and social
resources at home, such as high professional at
tainments will best promote. He can then teach
his family and his friends a thousand truths re
lating to agricultural phenomena, which are
most interesting in the mselves, and useful in
rural and domestic economy. He is able to
understand what facts mean, and to acquire true
wisdom from experience. One hundred men
may observe the same agricultural or other facts,
and yet only one of the number be sufficiently
cultivated to discover the meaning of what is
seen alike by aIL The reason why farmers re
main so long in ignorance of the great truths of
chemistry, geology, vegetable and animal physi
ology, is their defective education, and their lack
of the power of close analysis. Youth educated
at such institutions as the Maryland Agricultu
ral College, will enjoy' peculiar advantages for
learning all the natural sciences most intimately
associated with American agriculture. They
will understand both the principles and the arts
that belong to their learned and honorable call
ing, and enjoy its elevating influence with the
greatest satisfaction.
It was a source of regret that one of the lead
ing patrons of the institution, C. B. Calvert,
Esq., was absent when we visited it, and his
beautiful plantation. We drove a mile and a
half through the latter, which is mostly a broad
and continuous meadow, presenting several large
barns filled with hay, and many stacks. Mr. C.
has one of thejargest stock barns in tlie coun
try, which we did not stop to enter in the ab
sence of the proprietor. The last time we
visited the farm, this bam contained some
thing like 100 dairy' cows and 3000 bushels of
turnips. In our drive yesterday', we saw no cat
tle grazing on the premises, but a fine flock of
South down sheep. Dairy cows, we suspect, are
fed mainly in stables. An extensive garden is
irrigated from an elevated reservoir of water
which is filled by a force pump worked by horse
power. The college is supplied with an abun
dance of water in every' room, from a cold spring
some 250 or 300 yards distant, through iron
pipe, by similar means. We think very favora
bly of both horse power and steam to convey
water through earthen or iron tubes to all places
where it is needed. It is a great luxury for stu
dents and others to have a plenty of pure run
ning water for bathing and other purposes ; and
artificial fountains are becoming quite common
in this country. Thousands of our readers
might enjoy the benefit of running watfcr near
tlieir dwellings, if they did not bring it into every
lodging room in the house. Nor is the practice
of irrigation less worthy of favorable conside
ration. By constructing dams across the streams
and making ditches and canals, water may be
easily elevated in many places far above its nat
ural channel, and used to irrigate whole fields of
cultivated plants. Surface water that ruus off
the ground in hard rains should be collected, and
spread over it again at a lower level.
We trust that the Maryland College will illus
trate in practice the obvious advantages of this
system of re-moistening the too thirsty earth.
Irrigation will work wonders for the South, so
soon as its merits are generally understood.
In traveling several miles near the East
Branch of the Potomac river near Bladensburg,
we saw many fields of oats that had not been j
TKK SStSKIEI YXK&9 *3S® BIRJKgSBJE.
cleared of small stacks of this grain, although
cut six or eight weeks. The same was true of
hay'; farmers appear to believe that it is all
right to work hard and long, to raise crops, and
then allow two thirds of the harvest to be de- j
stroyed in the field. We must say that we nev
er saw farmers at the North who thought them- i
selves rich enough to be so wasieful of their
farm products. What is the use of making a
crop of any kind, if it is not to be taken care of? *
We have not seen tobacco, nor cotton quite so
badly treated ; but we lmve wheat, and other
small grains, and especially liay. Tobacco looks
very promising in Maryland ; while corn is late
and a poor stand. Tlie spring was too late for
early planting. It is now suffering from drouth.
-
THE CULTIVATION OF FRUITS AND TREES
AT THE SOUTH.
In travelling North and witnessing the late
ness of the fruits, and the almost unlimited de
mand for such as are desirable and easily grown
at the South, we are anxious to see both the
art and the science of fruit culture fully devel
oped in the Southern Field and Fireside. It cir
culates in a region where the climate greatly
favors the production of many of the choicest
i varieties which are inferior at the North, or can
| not be grown at all beyond the ‘‘Sunny South.”
■ Early grapes, peaches, pears and apples are
j among the best fruits to cultivate for the north
ern market; nor are they less valuable for home
consumption. It is not improbable that tlie
Concord and Diana grapes which present a tine,
i large fruit in the District of Columbia, will come
I so early to maturity in Georgia that they may
j be sent to market some weeks in advance of the
Isabella, Catawba and Scuppernong. The Re
becca is also worthy of trial. Mr. Johx Saul,
a nurseryman of large experience, and of more
than ordinary attainments in his profession, in
Washington, D. C., whose grounds we have just
visited, has an extensive collection of those
fruit and ornamental trees which best deserve
cultivation. He came to Washington with Mr-
Dowxixg to assist him in laying out and plant
ing the public grounds; and tlie taste and good
judgment displayed in ornamenting these public
parks, shrubberies and lawns, are due quite as
much to the European education of Mr. S. as to
the genius of Dowxixg. We happened to bo
here in May last, when the seeds of tlie white
maple were ripe: and from these seeds Mr.
Saul has shown us thousands of young trees
from six inches to a foot in height, grown in
the last three months. If the Potent Office
would pay less attention to sorgum, tea seeds
and morus-multicaulis, and give the public di
rections how to grow the sugar maple, the sear
let, silver-leaved, striped-barked, Norway and
Sycamore, Maples, apd the other valuable trees,
so successfully grown by Mr. Saul, and distri
bute their seeds, it would make a wonderful
change for the better in the agricultural de
partment of that Bureau. It overlooks what is
practical in vain, and often ridiculous, attempts
to make sugar out of broom-corn years after its
trial and failure iu France; and in efforts to
produce, tea and silk cheaper than tlie Chinese.
There are Trees and Fruits which really de
serve ten-fold more attention than they now re
ceive. Forty years ago tlie writer opened the
first roads in wliat was then called a “sugar
bush” in the State of New York, and from that
time, this maple orchard, (as we prefer to call it)
has remaiued in a healthy condition, and given
our relatives who still live on tlie old homestead,
an average of eight hundred pounds of sugar a
year. We believe that this sugar maple will
grow as well in Athens, Ga., as in New York;
and our friends Peters and Hardix, of Atlanta
J
and other nurserymen, may take a hint from the
success of Messrs. Saul, and Ellwaxger and
Barry of Rochester, in propagating useful aud or
namental trees. They should be grown from seeds
by the million, aud sold at a cent a piece in this
country as in Europe. Mr. Saul has nearly a
million, perhaps more, of Norway spruces and
other plants of the fir tribe.
His Tulip-trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) are
beautiful, and worthy a place in any park or
grove. His Beeches and Elms are hardly less
attractive, The Ptelias aud Weigel ias are also
worthy of mention. But our object is not to gro
into particulars at this time. If it shall be our
duty to remain here one or two weeks, we shall
endeavor to give from tlie lips of the best pro
pagators, and from personal observation, tlie
process of growing seedling forest trees, includ
ing Spanish and Italian Chestnuts, and others
not easily obtained from imported seeds. Tlie
intelligent reader will see the drift of our ideas
on this subject. The people of the South have
millions of acres of old fields which might grow
very valuable trees; for our native forests produce
those which are greatly honored by the learned
and wise in Europe. Our most common oaks,
walnuts, hickories, and sycamores need only a
little care and culture to become objects of deep
interest on every farm. A sylvan and rural
home must grow in the affections of its owner
and occupants as good taste, refinement and
wealth increase in the genial climate of the South.
A love for the beautiful in nature and art, and a
desire for progressive improvement, deserve the
fostering care of all educated persons of either
sex. It is the way to keep down viex extrava.
gant and foolish notions, and prevent crime from
becoming popular.
Our friends and acquaintances in tlie District
of Columbia who have shown us more fine pears
than all that we have ever seen in the State of
Georgia, are not office-holders nor politicians.—
They quietly cultivate their little farms, and en.
joy their rich fruits —having a good market for
all they raise.
Mr. Saul paid $15,000 for eighty* acres of old
fields without improvements ; and lie informs us
that similar land adjoining his is now held at
S3OO an acre, although three miles from Wash
ington. Enterprise, talent and capital are reno
vating the old tobacco plantations of Maryland
and Virginia. We shall visit the large and well
cultivated farm of our friend Charles Calvert,
Esq., who is a lineal descendant of Lord Balti
more, and who furnished the land on which the
Maryland State Agricultural College is located.
The extensive fields from which Mr. Calvert's
father exported tobacco, are now in meadows
and pastures—a change suggestive of what will
soon bo seen farther South. Planting alone is
death on the soil—is blighting to all country
schools and churches. A mixed system of til
lage and husbandry, of fruit, forest and grass
culture, is what southern agriculture demands.
Seeds of the fruits or budded plants of the trees,
and of the grasses needed, it is our desire to aid
in placing within tlie reach of all our readers.
-
ORCHARD GRASS.
(dactyus glomerata.)
We are thoroughly convinced that this grass
is not cultivated to one quarter the extent that 1
its merits deserve. We have liad some expe
rience with it, and we find it a very rapid, pro
fuse grower, bearing an abundance of leaf, and
apparently well suited to our climate.
Lewis Sanders. Esq., the well known farmer
of Grass Hills, Ky., whose remarks we find
quoted in tlie Country Gentleman, says, “My ob
servation and experience have induced me to
rely mainly on orchard grass and red clover; in
deed, I now sow no other sort of grass seed.—
These grasses mixed make tlie best hay of all
the grasses for this climate (Kentucky); it is
nutritious, and well adapted as food for stock.
Orchard grass is ready for grazing in the spring
ten or twelve days sooner than any* other that
affords a full bite. When grazed down and the
stock turned off, it will be ready for re-grazing
in less than half the time required tor blue grass.
It stauds a severe drouth better than any other
grass, keeping green and growing when other
sorts are dried up: in summer it will grow more
in a day than blue grass will in a week.” [Blue
Grass is a native of some parts of the United
States, and is a very succulent, nutritious grass].
“Orchard grass is naturally disposed to form aud
grow in tussocks. The best preventive is a
good preparation of the ground, and a sufficien
cy of seed uniformly sown. The late Judge
Peters, of Pennsylvania, (who was at the head
of all agricultural improvement in that State
for many years,) preferred it to all other grass
es.”
We copy tlie remarks of Judge Buel on this
grass, which were published several years ago:
“The American Cock'a-foot, or Orchard Grass,
is one of the most abiding grasses we have. It
is probably better adapted than any other grass
to sow with clover and other seeds for perma
nent pasture or for hay, as it is fit to cut with
clover and grows remarkably quick when crop
ped by cattle. Five or six days’ growth in
summer suffices to give a good bite. Its good
properties consist in its early and rapid growth
and its resistance of drouth; but all agree that
it should be kept closely ciopped. Sheep will
pass over every other grass to feed upon it. If
suffered to grow long without being cropped, it
becomes coarse and harsh. Col. Powell (another
eminent farmer of Pennsylvania), after growing
it ten years, declares that it produces more pas
turage than any other grass lie has seen in Ame
rica. On being fed very close, it lias produced
good pasturage alter remaining five days at
rest. It is suited to all arable soils. Two
bushels of seed are requisite for an acre when
sown alone, or half this quantity when sown
with clover. The seed is very light, weighing
not more than 12 to 14 lbs. to the bushel. It
should be cut early for hay.”
Here is testimony enough to establish the re
putation of any grass—enough, nt least, to
warrant a trial on a small scale. If any of our
readers in this latitude have had experience with
it, we should be glad to hear from them. We
regard the introduction of new grasses as of
very great importance; especially those sorts
which give promise of thriving well on our
opening lands, which are mostly of a sandy cha
racter. There is good evidence in favor of the
adaption of the Orchard Grass to such lands,
and we shall try thoroughly next season. Mr.
Sanders recommends as a preparation for sow
ing the seed: “Prepare the ground nicely by
frdquent plowing, as early in spring as conveni
ent, the sooner tlie bettor. Sow one bushel and
a half of Orchard Grass seed and three or four
pints of red clover seed to the acre.” Great
care must be taken to sow it very evenly over
the ground to avoid its tendency to grow in
clumps or bunches. This is best done by sow
ing one-half the seed one way of the field and
the other half the other way. The clover should
be sown at tlie same time, but separately. The
seed is not to be had here at present.
Farmer's Companion.
Curixu Greex Corx. —The following is tlie
Indian method by which they treat green com
far making succotash, Ac., during the winter.
When the green com is fit for use, a pit is dug
from two to three feet in diameter at top and
gradually enlarging at tlie bottom, say five feet
down, from six to eight feet in diameter. A
large fire is then built near by', on which stones
are heated, and when red liot, the stones and
live coals are shovelled into the bottom of the
pit, and sprinkled over with fine loose dirt. The
corn is then thrown in with husks on, just as it
is pulled from tlie stalk, until the pit is nearly
full. Then comes a thin layer of loose dirt, then
hot stones (enough to close the pit) and the
whole covered with earth to retain the heat.
When the whole cools oft’ (which takes several
days), the pit is opened and the com is found to
be most delightfully cooked. When cool, the
husks are stripped off and the corn dried in the
sun: when thoroughly dried, the corn is shelled
off easily, and is then packed away in bags for
use.— Country Gentleman.
The Rarey “Secret. —ln tlie Gentleman's
Farriery, by Bartlett, (sixth edition,) published
in 1762, page 293, is the following: “The
method proposed by Dr. Braken is to tie up one
of his fore feet close and to fasten a cord of small
rope about the other fetlock, bringing tlie end
of it o.’er the horse’s shoulders; then let him be
bit or kicked with your foot behind that knee,
at the same time pulling liis nose down strongly
to the manger, and you will bring him upon his
knees, where he should be held till lie is tired,
which cannot be long; but if lie does not lie down
soon, let him be thrust sideways against his
quarters to throw him over; by forcing him down
several times in this way you may teach him to
lie down at the same words you first used for
that purpose.” Rarey’s system is exactly tlie
same.
—-
When oxen refuse to work equally as well
on either side, or when they pull off against
each other, yoke them on the side you wish
them to work, aud turn them out to feed in that
way; they soon become accustomed to it, and
work afterward on either side.
THE STUDY OF SOILS A GENERAL VIEW OF
THE SUBJECT
BY THE EDITOR.
If four-fifths of the persons employed in agri
culture in the United States work 250 days in
a year, their aggregate labor exceeds one thou
sand millions of days in twelve months. The
compensation realized of this immense amount
of industry depends i*a large degree .on the
fruitfulness of the soil under cultivation. Hence
the study of the sources of fertility, and of the
causes of barrenness in improved land, has a di
rect bearing on the every-day employment of
more than two-thirds of the labor and capital of
the republic. It is almost impossible to over-es
timate the importance of understanding all the
elements and circumstances which affect the
natural productiveness of the earth. To show
what American soil and climate have done, and
are capable of doing, we give below a state
ment of the premium crops of com grown in
Kentucky in the year 1850. There were nine
competitors, and the surface in cultivation ten
acres by each competitor. Their names and the
product of each per acre were as follows:
J. Matson, 37 barrels, 4 bushels, and 1 quart;
Peter Pean, 37 barrels and 4bushels:
S. H. Chew, 274 barrels;
J. Hutchcraft, 23 barrels:
A. Yanemeter, 21 barrels and 2 bushels ;
E. W. Hockaday, 20 barrels;
Dr. B. \V. Dudley, 20 barrels;
H. Yamon, 19 barrels and three bushels.
Mr. James Matson took the lirst premium;
and his crop was certified to by Mr. Peter
| Pean, who was his close competitor—Mr. P.’s
j crop being only one quart less. The reader not
\ familiar with the barrel measurement of corn,
i is informed that a “barrel” is live bushels of
J shelled com; so that Mr. Maston produced IS9
! bushels and 1 quart per'acre, or 1,890 bushels
i and 10 quarts on 10 acres.
The ninety acres cultivated for premiums,
| yielded 10,900 bushels and 10 quarts; being an
j average of 121 bushels and 24 quarts per acre.
' Make all reasonable allowance for shrinkage in
drying, and throw in something for the natural
tendency of man to strain a point in a keen
competition, and still the productiveness of the
soil is most extraordinary.
CHAPTER I.
Uriijin of Soils. —All soils are formed by the
intimate mixture of the debris of rocks, in the
condition of sand, gravel, or clay, with remains
of plants and animals in the shape of mould.
Earth that contains no mould, or combustible
matter, is not a soil; nor will vegetable or ani
mal substances alone form one. The propor
tions of sand, clay, and mould in a soil, vary in
definitely. Not only is this true, but the nature,
composition, and value of different kinds of sand,
clay, and mould, vary in an equal degree. A
very slight change in a soil is often adequate to
double the reward of every day’s labor expend
ed in growing crops thereon. Hence the neces
sity of studying closely all defects in the surface
which a farmer has to operate upon, whether
bis land be in tillage, pasture, or meadow. As
the division of soils into mould, sand, and clay,
is the most natural, we will discuss the subject
under these three heads.
Vegetable and Animal Mould. —lf the forest
leaves that annually fall to the ground did not
rot, and become ultimately dissolved and return
to their original elements, they would soon ac
cumulate to the depth of many feet. The pro
gress of decay in all vegetables and animals
and their products, is governed by fixed natu
ral laws; and these organised bodies decompose
in that way which will best promote the growth
of new generations of living beings. Mould is
the half-way house between the living and the
dead in the organic and inorganic worlds. It
covers the surface of islands and continents like
a carpet, and is a treasure of inestimable value
when properly used by the husbandman. The
fertilizing power of mould depends partly on its
peculiar mechanical and porous structure, and
partly on its chemical composition. All porous
substances, like charcoal, platinum sponge,
and well pulverized clay or loam, have the
property of condensing gases, and retaining
odors. This is shown in the practice of burying
dead animals in mould, charcoal, or earth, to
prevent the escape of offensive odors and gases
to poison the atmosphere. This property in
mould is purely mechanical; but it is none the
less useless in the economy of nature on that
account. When intimately mingled with com
pact earths, by the use of the plouw, harrow,
and cultivator, mould increases their friability,
and promotes the chemical action of atmospheric
air and the development of all the latent ele
ments of fertility in the soil.
The dark color of mould favors the absorp
tion of solar heat, and thus warms the ground,
while it is peculiarly calculated to inbibe dews
and a large quantity of rain-water. That both
heat and moisture are indispensable to the
growth of vegetables, is known to every one;
and to secure these, mould plays a conspicuous
part. It is, however, as the food of cultivated
crops, that the farmer should study the remains
of former plants and animals with the greatest
care. That the several atoms contained in one
corn of wheat plant are well adapted to form
another plant of the same kind after the lirst is
decomposed, is a truth too obvious to be seri
ously questioned. But why is it that the re
mains of a turnip or potato form mould or ma
nure adapted to the natural wants of all other
crops ?
This is the reason: all crops, including, of
course, turnips and potatoes, consist mainly of
three elementary bodies, called carbon, oxygen,
and hydrogen. Thus, if we carefully burn,
with the air mostly excluded, wood, starch, su
gar, oil, gluten, fat or lean meat, coal may be
produced. The essential element in this coal is
carbon; and it is the prominent element in all
mould. Carbon, whether derived from the de
caying carcass of a dead horse, from rotting
wood, or a diamond, is ever the same. It forms
not far from half of the dry solids of all plants,
and some 40 per cent, of all animal tissues. It is
carbon that imparts the dark color to swamp
muck, mould, vegetable and-animal coal. The
supply of carbon in nature is abundant for all
useful purposes. In every 100 pounds of lime
rock and marble there are about 12 pounds of
pure carbon; and, admitting these rocks to ex
ist in the crust of the planet to the extent stated
by geologists ofhigh repute, the carbon locked
up in the form of carbonate of lime would suffice
to cover the whole globe with a stratum of pure
coal to the depth of 400 feet. In mineral coal
the amount of combustible carbon is large; but
the quantity of coal in the earth is altogether
unknown. Ten thousand parts of atmospheric
air contain four parts of carbonic acid, and over
one of pure carbon.
The farmer’s stock of available carbon in
mould is rapidly consumed by tillage, just as a
manure heap becomes smaller by constantly
turning it over. When green crops of a luxu
riant growth are suffered to rot on the ground,
or are ploughed in, his stock of carbon and
mould is renewed to a certain extent.
Oxygen is the next most abundant clement
in mould, forming ordinarily some 40 per cent,
of the combustible matter in all soils. In the
solid part ofoll plants and animals, it exists in
a little larger proportion. When organic sub
stances decay, they give off the elements of wa
ter (oxygen and hydrogen) faster than carbon
is converted into carbonic acid gas. Oxygen is
so abundant in nature that it forms more than
half of the earthy minerals in the crust of the
globe; and it constitutes eight parts in nine of
all water and vapor, and 21 per cent, of the at
mosphere. When wood or coal is burnt, under
ordinary circumstances, 16 parts of oxygen in
the air combine chemically with 6 of carbon
in the fuel, and the two elements form 22 parts
of a heavy invisible gas, called carbonic acid.
From the same elementary bodies the same gas
is produced in all fermentation, and during the
decay of organic substances and the breathing
of all animals. Oxygen is often called vital air,
because it supports animal life; and is equally
indispensable to the life of plants. It derives
its name from two Greek words, which signify
to generate sourness or acidity. Oxygen is truly
an “acid generator,” but not the only one
known.
Next to carbon and oxygen, an element
called hydrogen, or "water generator,” is the
most abundant ingredient in mould. It is,
when pure, the lightest gas known, being six
teen times lighter than oxygen, and about four
teen-times lighter than common air. Under
favorable circumstances it unites with oxygen
in the proportion of Ito 8, and forms water. In
wood, starch, gum, oil, and sugar, and in the
fat of animals, hydrogen exists in the propor
tion, or nearly so, to form water, e., one part
by weight of hydrogen to eight of oxygen; nad
it retains about the same relation in mould, as
will be shown by several analyses. Mould con
tains another element called nitrogen, which
forms 70 per cent, of the air we breathe. When
animals and plants are undergoing decomposi
tion, hydrogen, in what is termed its nascent
state, combines with nitrogen in the proportion
of 3 parts of the former to 14 of the latter, and
the two form a pugnet alkaline gas called am
monia. This substance also exists in mould.
In addition to what are denominated “the or
ganic elements'’ of plants and animals, mould
usually contains an appreciable quantity of solu
ble flint, (silica,) sulphur, phosporic acid, iron,
lime, potash, soda, magnesia, and chlorine.
These minerals will be more appropriately de
scribed when treating of sand and clay.
Dr. Anderson, of Edinburgh, chemist to the
Highland and Agricultural Societj*, has recent
ly made several critical analyses ot different
wheat soils in Scotland, which are published at
length in the July number (1850) of the journal
of that society. These soils were generaly dis
tinguished for their productiveness. The first
ten inches from the surface was regarded as
“surface soil;” the next ten inches as “subsoil.”
100 parts of the surface soil from Midlothian
gave 6.780 of combustible dry matter or mould.
It had the following composition:
Carbon 4.500
Hydrogen 0.215
Oxygen 1.806
Ammonia 0.268
0.789
Although two parts of ammonia in a thousand
appear very small, yet when wo recollect that
acre of soil ten inches deep weighs a thousand
tons, it will be seen that there are two tons of
ammonia in the soil of an acre of rich wheat land,
as is shown by analysis. A large crop of wheat
takes less than 60 pounds of this volatile alkali
from the earth in which it grows. Not an ele
ment required by nature in forming wheat, both
stems and seeds, was lacking in these soils. In
the one above alluded to, an acre contained 45
tons of carbon within ten inches of the surface.
This fact indicates the vast amount of vegetation
that must have decayed to produce so much car
bon. Nor should the fact be over-looked that
the plants which formed all this organized car
bon, Were rich in nitrogen. It is doubtless true
that a part of the two tons of ammonia was
formed by the union of nitrogen in the atmos
phere with nascent hydrogen; yet plants rich in
organized nitrogen, like cabbages, turnips,
clover, and lucerne, yield richer mould than
such as are known to contain very little of this
element. Thus, 1,000 pounds of wheat willyield
24 of nitrogen; while the same weight of wheat
straw yields but 3 pounds. No sensible farmer
would prefer the manure or mould formed by
1,000 pounds of straw to that produced by 1,000
pounds of wheat or corn. Mould, like manure,
is very unequal in value. Decaying wood, the
stems offlax, and buckwheat straw, yield mould
poor in nitrogen; clover, peas, and.beans form
mould rich in this important constituent of ani
mal food. Before a soil can produce good crops
of wheat, it must contain, in an available condi
tion, every substance consumed in forming the
stems and seeds of this bread-bearing plant. The
poorest soil, so far as its organic elements were
concerned, analysed by Dr. Anderson, gave the
following results:
Carbon 0.714
Hydrogen 0.033
Oxygen 0.286
Ammonia ; 0.089
1.122
Although the organic matter present is small,
being a trifle over 1 per cent., yet the ammonia
indicates the growth of fertilizing plants, or the
application of good manure, to form the mould
that really exists. If the fertility of land de
pended mainly on the largo amount of the re
mains of vegetation in the soil, then a black
mucky earth should be the best for growing
wheat, instead of the poorest. Light sandy soils,
almost destitute of mould, have produced fine
crops of wheat and corn by the aid of a little
guauo. This fact demonstrates the possibility
of drawing largely upon tjie atmosphere for car
bon, oxygen, and hydrogen, if not for ammonia,
in feeding cereal plants. When gypsum or wood
ashes produce a fair crop of clover on compara
tively thin land, it is safe to infer that not only
carbon and the elements of water are drawn
from the air, but ammonia, or nitrogen in some
other form, also. Nothing of a combustible na
ture is applied to the soil, while it yields several
tons of organized matter, including all in the
roots, stems and leaves of the two or three crops
which the ashes or gypsum will produce. Call
ing the aggregate yield five tons, and the nitro
gen consumed will be 240 pounds, while not an
ounce has been applied in fertilizers. Legumi
nous plants appear to possess a similar power to
extract nitrogen in some way from the atmos
phere, as well as carbon and the elements of
water. Unless one has a large supply of cheap
manure at hand, it is doubtless sound policy to
grow green crops, with a .view to form a rich
mould for the production of grain, cotton, hemp,
tobacco, or sugar cane. The farmer should have
a full knowledge of the increase or diminution
of organic matter in each field every year. If it
is cultivated in a hoed crop, and that removed,
he may safely assume that the aggregate of
mould has been diminished through the agency
of tillage. Where a crop of small grain has
been grown, and the ground seeded, either by