This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.
It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.
Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.
Usage guidelines
Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you:
+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes.
+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.
+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.
+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.
About Google Book Search
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web
at|http: //books .google .com/I
MACKENZIE'S'
(•/
TEN THOUSAND KEOEIPTS,
IN ALL THB
USEFUL
• • • " «
AND DOMEsWc'Aitis; ■•■^
" ••••* •••-.
nnwaTTTTTTTva • *--..-
coNSTiTurmo
A COMPLETE AND PRACTICAL LIBRARY,
RELATING TO
AoBicTULTTJRE, Anolxstg, Bees, Bleaching, Booe-eeefing, Bbewing, Cottov Culture, Cbocheting, Casving, Cholera, Cooking, Calico Printing, Confectionery, Cements, Chemical Receipts, Cosmetics, Diseases, Dairy, Dentistry, Dialysis, Decalcomania, Dyeing, Distilla- tion, Enamelling, Engraving, Electro-Plating, Eleo- TROTYPiNG, Fish Culture, Farriery, Food, Flower Gardening, Fireworks, Oas Metres, Gilding, Glass, Health, Horsemanship, Inks, Jew- ellers* Paste, Knitting, Knots, Litho- graphy, Mercantile Calculations, Medicine, Miscellaneous Rs- CEiPTs, Metallurgy, Mez- zotints, Oil Colors, Oils, Painting, Perfumery, Pastry, Petroleum, Pickling, Poisons and Antidotes, Potichomania, pr00i^rbading, pottery, preserving, photography, pyrotechnics, Rural and Domestic Economy, Sugar Raising, Silvering, Scouring, Silk and Silk-worms, Sorghum, Tobacco Culture, Tanning, Trees, Telegraphing, Var- nishes, Vegetable Gardening, Weights AND Measures, Wines, Etc., ETa
BEING AN ENTIRELY NEW EDITION
CAREFULLY REVISED AND RE-WRITTEN,
AND
Contaioing the Improvements and Discoveries np to last Date of Publlcatioii.
JANUAKY, 1867.
COR
Again SaTited to Date of
EXPORT ASJ> AWARD OF THE TRIi^
HELD TRIAL
tiloA of Spedal ArtiolM
AT THE GREAT NATIONAL JULY, 18M.
PHILADELPHIA:
T. ELLWOOD ZELL & COMPANY,
Nob. 17 & 19 SOUTH SIXTH STREET.
.1867.
. • •
• • • •
• .•
• •
^'/^y
Intend Moording to Act of Congreu, in the jear 1897, by
T. ELLWOOD ZBLL,
In the deik*! Ofloe of the Biitriot Court of the United Statei for the Bistern Diftriot of
Pennsylyania.
^
wtmn BT
* 00.
I
1
PREFACE
TO THE NEW AND KEVISED EDITION
OF OCTOBEB, 1865.
In preparing a new edition of this popular work, the Editors have endeavored to incorporate all the improvements in the various branches, which have been intro- duced, since the publication of the last edition. Much of the work has been entirely re-written, and new articles have been added on Photography, Pyrotech- nics, Angling, Pisciculture, etc. The matter has not been simply scissored from newspapers, but carefully digested from standard authorities, the scientific journals, and from the practical knowledge of the Editors and contributors. The Editors have to acknowledge valuable assistance from gentlemen, eminent in the deparU ments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Wine-making, Perfumery, Cements, Engraving, Photography, Angling, Tanning, etc. The work, it is believed, will be found more reliable and thorough than any one of its class now in print. The Miscel- laneous department is almost entirely new, and contains much valuable and inter- esting information. Some matters properly belonging under other heads, but received too late, have been transferred to it. The reader is especially requested io refer to the index, when seeking information.
(lii)
0PIVI0V8 OF THE PSES8.
^M«^«V^>V^^AA/^^^>^M^
Vkom vm Pmu. None AmuoAir, I>io. 22, 1866.
HieTUt aaioaBt of meftil knowledge bearing on everynlay life which constantly flftB fhiongb fbe wortd, hni often led to efforti fbr gathering and rendering it available by those who want it, when they want it. Mr. Zi 11 baring made a previous snccessfnl effort In this direction, has enlarged the field of his aseftalneeti by a new editit a of his work, which will be exceedingly nseftil to all, and almost indispensable to some. He has gathered the formalsB tnd directions of all the most recent discovsriss in the nsefkil and domestic arts, and has made it as nearly complete as possible. Though ike work is designed for popular rather than scientific use, it contains much that will interest scientific men, as well as general roulera. Agriculture, horticulture, domestic economy, farriery, medicine, bi ewing, distillation, dyeing, paints and varnishes, metallurgy, photograpliy, engraving, pottery, weights and measures->these are among the suljects treated very Ailly, and which are of flr^t imnortanoe. There is no effort to prepare treatises upon any of these. The kernel alone is retained, and that in the best form for use by practical men. There is a great body of what may be termed the cream of useAil knowledge, under the general head of agriculture, which it were weli all farmers should have for pemsal at leisure moments. Manures, crop^ drainage, and tlie care of animals, are all treated in a condensed manner, with directions and infbrmation which cannot fitil to advantage reiulers. The gardener, poulterer, and apiarian, are provided with excellent receipts. The half-hundred pages devoted to medicine will be useful where a physician cannot be procured ; and under tb^ miscellaneous head there are a variety of facts on horsemanship and knitting, gunpowder and book-keeping, dogs and crocheting, which could not readily be found elsewhere. A gn^it deal of the information hitherto published in wis form has been of doubtful use, and has discredited honest efforts to idd the community. The connteifeit only proves the worth of what Is genuine, and this really careftil and useAil vade meeum ought not to suffer from the reputation of the trash which it seeks to supplant. The Index— ^in essential in such a compilation — ^has been careAiIly arranged, at much length. There are diagrams and illustrations where they are needed, and the whole forms a volume which ought to be yery widely drcvdated, and which will repay its cost in almost any fiBmily within a year.
I^M THB Phila. 8nin>AT Despatch, Not. 26, 1865.
Mackensie's Ten Thonsand Receipts, containing new discoveries and processes In use up to October, 1866. 487 pagst. Vo describe thin volume properly would require the space given to a catalogue, and the volubility of an auctioncw. We find in it lUmost everything that can be conceived as an object of inquiry involving the special preparation of materiiUs or the management of processes. Agriculture, chemistry, cooking, manufactures, medicine, the decorative arts, household^fBDmnagement, and a thousand other things which defy classification, are embraced In this closely- printed book, which, in the way of condensation, contains enough to stock a library with volumes printed in fashion- ably large type. We could not undertake to recite the whole title-page, which is of itself prodigious, affordMig but a feeble idea of what is within. Suffice it to say, that almost anything that anybody wants to know how to do will be found in this volume properly described, and illustrated in some cases by useful engravings. It has been r*> written by a corps of scientific gentlemen, and is really a book which should be found in every house.
Faom thi OsEHAirTOWM (Pa.) Tkubosapb, Not. 22, 1665.
The editor and publisher of this extremely well gotten-up edition, has been many months In its preparation, baT> lag employed in this time a corps of able experts, in order that the work might he brought out not only in a style huherto unawroached, but with intrinsic claims upon the community which cannot but be acknowledged. Tmtb- fhllv, these ''Ten Thousand Receipts In the IXomestic Arts,** constitute a ** complete and practical library,** relating to the hundreds of sul^eots treated of, connected with the indispensable every-day aflhirs of &mily life. The cleai^ ness of the print, the arrangement of the receipts, with the comprehensive index, render recourse to it at all times •8 easy almost as turning over the pages of a magasine, and obtaining from it the information sought in plain lan- guage and in condensed form, so that all can quickly see and readily understand. But this is not a work designed exclusively for domestic purposes, as the word ^'Domestic" is most generally understood; but it contains valuable suggestions and adrice upon almost every practical pursuit. There Is scarcely anything omitted in which any con- ilMrable number of people are interested.
Pbov mi Phila. Prbbs, Not. 2i,1866.
This is a domestio cyclopttdia, of nearly 500 pages, in new type, small but clear. We are assured that two yeai^ labor, by very competent gentlemen, has been l>estowed upon this large and improved edition, and can well believe It. There is scarcely a subject connected with the useful and domestio arts about which a seeker for Information cannot find what he wants in this l)ook. The most recent improvements and discoveries, up to October, 1866, when the work was stereotyped, have been included. The quantity of information in this volume is very great— so far aa we have tested It we can vouch for its accuracy. As a work of reference, it has been made complete by the addition at a copious index.
Fbom VHi Phua. Surdat Teansokipt, Dm. 10, 1866.
It le one of the most remarkable books of the day, containing, as it does, a reference to every conceivable subject under tiM sun. In itself it is a complete and practical libnuy, so arranged as to be invaluable in the household, on the fium, and in the counting-room. Pastiy and petroleum, agriculture and knitting, receive equal attention, while the entire volume presents a fund of information not accessible in any other form. The thrifty housekeeper can pick up numerous capital receipts for pies, or can learn the art of carving, which Is tretctod as one of the exact sciences ; the merchant will find mercantile calculations ; the artist will find a dissertation upon oil colors, water colors, and me*- â– otints; the fanner will learn something about gardening. In fiict, there Is uo branrh of trade but can be bene- fited by a perusal of this book. Although the receipts are quoted as 10,000, Judging from the book they will double that figure.
Prom thi Phila. IHQuiiaE, Nov. 24, 1866.
The present issue of this usefid work by Mr. Zell, is a new and Ixnproved edition, careftally revised and re-wrlttsn by a corps of gentlemen eminently qualified for the peculiar task. To It has been likewise added all the improve- ments and discoveries In the nnetni and domestic arts up to the date of publication, October, 1866. Two yean of labor have been necessary to bring the book out in the present improved shape.
PaoM thi Phila. Xtbniho Txlio&aph, Dm. 23, 1866.
Mr. Zell maintains his position among the first-class houses of our land, principally through his agencies and tbe ftw well-selected works to which he has given life. Principal among the latter is '* Mackenxie's Ten Thousand Re- ceipts,*' a work of universal information. In it are found, in fact, all the useful knowledge of the age compressed Into this universal compendium of information. If a man be familiar with all th«) contents of this book, he will bo an acoomplished gentleman, a practical doctor, and in many respects a professional man. The work is one we can recommend as likely to be every day useftil. We understand It is prepared by a gentleman well known In the world of science ; it bears the Impress of a well-informed mind. It is specific in its directions, and illustrated by numerous wood-cuts. Too much credit cannot be given to both the compiler and publisher for the remarkable care and sUll exercised in compressing into one volume, and that so carefully printed, so great an amount of useful Information.
Pmm thi Phila. Evxniro BtTLLSTiir, Dm. 12, 1866.
This work has been thoroughly re-written, and comprises all manner of improvements and discoveries, broufl^t vp to October of this year. It forms a complete library of valuable knowledge upon almost every imaginable subject connected with the useAil and domestio arts, and is a most important volnme of reference tot ths manufkbctnreri agriculturalist and housekeeper.
PHEFACE
TO THE LATEST LONDON EDITION.
As the object of all studj, and the end of all wisdom, is practical utilitj, so a ooUeo- lion of the most approTed Receipts, in all the arts of Domestic and Social Life, maj be ooneidered as a yolome containing nearly the whole of the wisdom of man, worthj of preserration. In troth, the present Tolnme has been compiled under the feeling, that if all other books of Science in the world were destroyed, this single volume would be Ibnod to embody the results of the useful experience, observations, and disooveries of mankind during the past ages of the world.
Theoretical reasonings and historical details have, of course, been avoided, and the object of the compiler has been to economise his space, and come at once to the point. Whatever men do, or desire to do, with the materials with which nature has supplied them, and with the powers which they possess, is here plainly taught and succinctly preserved; whether it regard complicated manufactures, means of curing diseases, Mmple processes of various kinds, or the economy, happiness, and preservation of life.
The best authorities have been resorted to, and innumerable volumes consulted, and wherever different processes of apparently equal value, for attaining the same end, have been found, they have been introduced.
Among the works consulted have been,
The Monthly Magaxine, 56 vols. The Repertory of Arts and Soienoes, 60 toU. The London Journal of Arts and Soienees. ' The Tranaaetions of the Soeiety of Arts, 80 vols. The Magaiine of Trade and Mannfaotares, 6
vols. The Gaiette of Health, 9 vols. The Series of the Hortionltoral Soeiety, 5 vols. The Series of the Agricnltnral Soeiety, 30 vols. The Farmer's Magasine, 10 vols. Yonxs's Farmer's Calendar. LocDox on Gardening, 1 vol. JsmnicGs's Domestie Cyclopssdiay 3 vols. TiHGBar on Yamishing. SiCHABDSoir on the Metallio Arts.
Thoxas'b Praetioe of Physio.
Coopkb's Dictionary of Surgery.
THoaNTON's British HerbaL
Wallkr's British HerbaL
Imisuit's School of Arts.
Haadmaid to the Arts.
Shith's Laboratory of the Arts.
Hamiltow on Drawing.
The Editor's Thousand Bzperiments in
faotnres and Chemistry. Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. Hvhbt's Blements of Chemistry. Chaptal's Chemistry applied to the Arts. Grkgort's CyolopsBdia. The English and other CyolopSBdlas.
Besides innumerable treatises on special subjects, minor journals, and a great variety of manueeript communications from friends and connections of the editor and publisher.
A general, rather than a scientific, arrangement has been adopted, because the object jf the work is popular and universal, and, though likely to be useful to men of science, it is more especially addressed to the public at large. In like manner, as far as poe- sible, technical and scientific language has been avoided, and popular names and simple desariptions have been preferred.
Every care has been taken in the printing to avoid errors in quantities, as well aa to select the best receipts of each kind ; but notices of errors, omissions, or experimental improvements, will be thankfully received by the publisher, for the use of future editions.
The Index will render it easy to refer to every article of importance.
(â–¼>
PREFACE
TO THE EAELY AMEEICAN EDITION,
In fulfilling the daty of preparing for the preae a new and enlarged edition of the Taluable work of Mackenzie, the Editor has steadily borne in mind its evident aim at general practical utility; and consequently he has submitted both alterations and additions to its rules. While the former will be found but few — a circumstance arising from the nature of the book ; the latter are both numerous and important— amounting to about fifty pages, ezclusiye of those contained in the Miscellaneous Department and the Appendix.
The Medical part has been condensed, simplified, and adapted to the climate and diseases of the United States. A short, but complete manual of " Directions for rear- ing the Silk Worm, and the Culture of the White Mulberry Tree,'' together with an extensive article on the Diseases of the Horse, may be noticed as among the important additions. The Culinary art has not been neglected — the numerous original receipts from the best modern authorities of the '* Kitchen," for preparing various delicacies of the animal and vegetable kingdom, including Pastry, Puddings, etc., will no doubt prove acceptable to American housekeepers. The man of family, the Sportsman, the Artist, the Mechanic, and the Farmer, have all been remembered. And an unusually large and correct Index gives every facility of reference that could be wished.
The attention of the Reader is called to the ** Miscellaneous Receipts." In this portion, which is very copious, numerous receipts have been placed, which could not with propriety be elsewhere arranged. It has also been made the receptacle of much valuable matter obtained from several kind female friends, and the fruH of researches into many curious and rare books ; and which was prepared at too late a period for insertion in the appropriate departments. The Appendix of '' Instructions in the Art of Carving," with its numerous wood cuts, will, it is hoped, prove acceptable and useful to our country readers, for whose accommodation thi^ work was originally designed.
The Editor more especially notices the following works, as sources from which he has derived considerable assistance : The Franklin Journal ; Willich's Domestic Encyclo- psedia, by Professor Cooper ; a Tract published by the Pennsylvania Society for the Rearing of Silk-Worms, etc. ; and the curious work of Colonel Hanger, of sporting memory.
In conclusion, the publishers beg leave to state, that neither time nor expense has been considered in endeavoring to render this edition cheaper and better than any other which has been published, and at the same time worthy of the patronage which is solicited for it. They have availed themselves of the services of a gentleman as Editor, who has been for a considerable time engaged in the preparatory researches. The type, though small, is very legible and distinct ; and in the selection of the paper, whilst regard has been had to the color, it has been deemed of main importance that it should be sufficiently durable to resist the frequent usage into which a work of this description must necessarily be called.
CONTENTS.
[FOm DXTAIIiSf SU IVDSZ9 AT CIiOtB OF THB TOIiVJOk]
AQBICULTUBK •„ ,X
Maktoi 11»J5
Wheat 27
Drainaqs • • 7x
Sugar ^f
CoTTow AKD Tobacco ^3
Silk-Worm 5^
HORTICULTDRB JJ
Budding akd Graytino • • ' ' ?^
Fruit jj
Insects and Dissajbes or Trees 75
Kesfino Fruit U
Flower Gardening • • ?®
BURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY »1
Dairy Wore ^1
Management or Beeb .••••••••• v8
FARBIERT IW
Diseases or Horses •,^ ^95
Dogs 115,449
•• Hogs Jl^
" Sheep J17
" Cattle . . • • 120
MEDICINE 1^
Diseases 122
Cholera lo*
Accidents • |^
Wounds •••••• 1*^
Fractures 146
Dislocations l4o
Amputations • • • • * *iei lo^
DROITNINd ^ ' |e2
Poisons •••••• j^2
Medicines |^4
Diseases or Females ^^^
Diseases or CniLDRBir ^. l|^j
Domestic Medicines • * ^73
Hygiene 178
Rules roR Health ...•••••••• Ijj
Teeth • • •••••*•••*** Xao
CULINARY ARTS •^ - ' . 188
Cooking ,,•...•. •••••-• 188
CoNrECTIONUT ..••••••••••• 232
Pickling •••••.•• 238
pRBSBRTDrO p •••••. • 23v
Carting •••••••• 241
Food .. i •••••••• • .247
■• •
VUl CONTENTS.
BREWING 251
Cider • . . • . 263
Wines , 266
DISTILLATION 277
Essential Oils 289
Waters 292
Vinegar , 296
Artificial Waters ••••••••••• 300
PERFUMERY 303
BLEACHING AND SCOURING 309
DYEING 316
Staining ...••••••••.. 325
PAINTS AND COLORS 327
VARNISHES 339
Lacquers •••• 345
CEMENTS • 352
Glue 355
INKS 368
METALLURGY 362
Assaying •••••^••^ 363
Parting , • 367
Alloys 368
Foils • . . 373
Elsctro-plathvg .•••••• 374
Gilding 376
Iron and Steel . . • . • 381
PYROTECHNY 384
Matches 386
TANNING 386
ENAMELLING 390
POTTERY 394
GLASS 399
PHOTOGRAPHY 409
Philolithographt 417
ENGRAVING 419
Lithografht ...••. 424
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 427
Specific Gravity • 429
Gas Meters 430
Value of Coins ....••• 431
CHEMICAL RECEIPTS 432
Boiler Encrustations • • ■• . . 433
Artificial Cold ...••••••••« 435
Antiseptics and Disinfectants • • • . 435
WEATHER PROGNOSTICS 439
ANGLING 443
Pisciculture • > . . . 445
MISCELLANEOUS 446
To Tib Knots 446
Knitting ••••..'.. 447
Canary Birds ..••••.•••.• 448
Dogs • « . 449
Insects . • 449
Petroleum • 451
Electric Telegracph •..••.•... 451
Book-keeping • • • • • . 452
Proof-reading • 452
Rowing • 463
Domestic Receipts • 455-458-464
Medical Receipts 460-463-464
Dialysis 463
Horsemanship 463
DiCALCOMANIA 464
Gunpowder . • 466
Farm Skid 466
INBEX 467-487
â– /\
MACTfirT?TlE'S
TEN THOUSAND RECEIPTS.
• • •• •
» • • •
•_•
• > • •
•:: •-
THB MODERN THEORY OT AeRICUL-
TURB.
Liebig and otber ohemiiU haye, within th€ lut twrnkty-lkwe years, endeayorad toentabllsh ateieiice of agfiealtore, based upon a knowledge of the •enetitation of plants and of soils, and their matual relations. We propose to ciye a yery condensed •eooant of the general oonuasions airived at.
Food of PlnmiB.
Plants defiye their food from the «tr m well as from the earth ; the former by their leayes, the latter by their roots. Elements most neeessiury te them are carbon, kydrogmt, ooiygeu, and nitro- fm, with yariovs mineral sabstanees present in the soiL Carbon is the most abundant. This is to a large extent extraeted firom the atmosphere by the leayes of pUnts, during the day-time. Hydrogen and oxygen are in the water contained In the earth and air; and oxygen is in the air mixed with nitrogen. Plants do not seem able, howeyer, to separate mneh nitrogen from the air as soch, but more readily obtain it by the deoom- position of ammonia (eomposed of hydmgen and nitrogen), which is formed in the atmosphere, and washed down into the earth by rain*water, so as to reach the roots. AU ordinaiy waters, it must be remembered, oontain substances dissolyed in them. Irrigation of land does not act only by the water itself, bat by that which ie dissolyed or difinsed in it. Dayy oalenlated that, supposing •ne part of sulphate of lime to be contained in •yery two thousand of riyer water, and eyery •qaare yard of di^ meadow land to absorb eight gallons of water, then, by eyery flooding, more than one and a half hundred weight of gypsum per acre is diffused by the water — a quantity •qaal to that generally used in spreading gypsum as a manure or fertiliser; and so, if we allow only iwenty-flve parts of animal and yegetable remains to be present in a thousand parts of riyer water, we shikll find that eyery soaking with snob water will add to the meadow nearly two tons per acre •f organic matter. The extraordinary fertility af the banks and delta of the riyer Nile is due to the natural annual oyerflow of the riyer, extended by artificial irrigation. In China also^ the prin- eiple of irrigation is carried out yery largely, and it is applicable, on a large or small scale, in any country. The water of lakes is usually charged viih <tis8olyed or suspended snbstansss eyen more •hudintly than that ef lifers.
JBTasNis.
Soils contain a great amount of matter which results from the decay of yegetabies and animals ; to a compound of which with earthy material tha name of kumtu is giyen. This was onoe incor- rectly supposed to giye the whole nutriment of the plant Trees and plants, instead of abttruet- ing carbon from the earth, reiiliy, by taking it from the air, and subsequently dying and decay, ing, annually by their leayes, and finally alto- gether, givt carbon and other atmoepheric elements to the soiL As aboye said, all plants by their leayes absorb carbonic acid from the air, and retain carbon, giving out oxygen. It is eyident^ therefore, that the leayes are of great ioiportaoca to the plant So are the roots, for their absorbing oflice. Thus it is true that the growth of a plant is always proportioned to the •nr/ae^ of its roota and leaves together. Vegetation, in its simplest form, consists in the abstraction of carbon from carbonic acid, and hydn^n from water; but the taking of nitrogen also, from ammonia especially, is important to them, and most of all, to those which are most nutritions, as the wheat, rye^ barley, Ac., whose seeds contain gluten and other nitrogenous principles of the greatest yalue for food. Plants will grow well in pure charoosl, if supplied with rain-water, for rain-water contains ammonia.
Animal substances, as they putrefy, alway? eyolve ammonia, which plants need and absorS. Thus is explained one of the benefits of manuring, but not the only one, as we shall see presently. Animal manure, however* acts chiefly by the formation of ammonia. The quantity of gluten in wheat, rye, and barley is very different; and they contain nitrogen in varying proportions. Even in samples of the same seed the quantity yaries ; and why 7 Evidently because one variety has been better fed wltit its own appropriate fer- tiliser than another which has been reared on a soil less accurately adapted by artificial meani for ita growth. French wheat contains 12 per cent of gluten; Bavarian 24 per cent Sir H. Davy obtained 19 per cent from winter, and 24 from summer wheat; from Sicilian 21, from Bar- bary wheat 19 per cent Such great differ- enoes must be owing to some cause, and thir we find in tho different methods of cultivatiott. An increase of animal manure gives rise not only to an increase in the number of seeds, but also to a remarkable differenoe in the propor-
10
AOBICULTHBE.
tion of glnten whicb thote leeds oontain. Among manures of animal origin there is great diversity. Cow dung contains but a small proportion of nitrogen. One hundred parts of wheat, grown on a soil to which this material waa applied, afforded only 11 parts of gluten and 64 of starch ; while the same quantity of wheat, grown on a soil fertilised with human uriwi, yielded 35 per cent, of gluten, and of course a smaller proportion of less valuable ingredients. During the putrafMCtion of urine, ammooiiiotil salts are formed in large quantity, it may be said, exclusively ; fur under Uie influence of warmth and moisture, the most prominent .ingredient ,of jifiae^ Ml converted into oarbonaCeleCAfiimonia;, ; ; ', •^; I •
Guano •09nf]8t#^f*thk^<£DraifteB^ of ^9r-fow\f eolleote«l ^urh^ 'hja'g. per^tfa dUkS^iAiaa islands in the South 8ea. A soil which is di'ficient in organic matter is made much more productive by the addition of this manure. It consists of am- monia, combined with uric, phosphoric, oxalic, and carbonic acids, with some earthy salts and Impurities.
The urine of men and animals living upon flesh eontains a large quantity of nitrogen, partly in the form of urea. ^ Human urine is the most powerful manure for all vegetables which contain nitrogen ; that of horses and homed cattle con- tains less of this element, but much more than the solid excrements of these animals. In the face of such facts as these, is it not pitiable to observe how the urine of the stable or cow-shed is often permitted to run off, to sink uselessly into the earth, or to form a pool in the middle of a farm-yard, from which, as it putrefies, the am- monia formed in it rapidly escapes into the atmos- phere ?
Cultivated plants need more nitrogen than wild ones, being of a higher and mora complex organ- isation. The result of forest growth is chiefly the production of carbonaceous woody fibre ; of garden or field culture, especially the addition of as much nitrogen as the plant can be made to take up.
Solid Manure,
The solid excrements of animals do not con- tain as much nitrogen as those which are voided in a liquid form, and do not constitute so power- ful a fertilising material. In urine, moreover, ammonia loses a good deal of its volatility by being combined and dissolved in the form of •alts. In an analogous manner, one of the uses of sulphate of lime or gypsum, as a manure, is to flx the ammonia of the atmosphere. Charooal and humua have a similar property.
Mineral Matter in Plante.
Besides the substances already, mentioned, others an needed by plants as part of their food, to form their structure. The firmness of straw, for example, is due to the presence in it of eiliea, the principal constituent of sand and flints. Po- tassa, soda, lime, magnesia, and phosphoric acid, are contained in plants. In different propoiQtions. All of these they must obtain from the soil. The alkalies abovo-named (potassa and soda) appear to be essential to the perfect development of the higher vegetable forms. Some plants require them in one mode of combination, and some in another ; and thus the soil that is very good for •ne, may be qnite unfit for others. Firs and pines find enough to support them in barren, ■andy soil.
The proportion of silicate of potash (necessary for the ftimness of wheat itnw) does not rary
perceptibly in the soil of grain-fields, becanse what is removed by the reaper, is again replaced in putrefying straw. But this is not the case with meadow-land. Hence we never find a luxuriant crop of grass on sandy and limestone soils which contain little potash, evidently because one of the constituents indispensable to the growth of the plants is wanting. If a meadow be well manure i, we remove, with the incressed crop of grass, a greater quantity of potash than csn, by a repe- tition of the same manure, be restored to it. So, grass-land manured with gypsum soon ceases to feel its agency. But if the meadow be stranded from time to time with wood ashes, or soap-boilers' lye made from wood ashes, then the grass thrivea as luxuriantly as before. And why f The ashes are only a means of restoring the necessary potash for the grass stalks. So oats, barley, and rye may be made for once to grew upon a sandy heath, by mixing with the scanty soil the asbee of the heath- plants that grow upon it Those ashes contain soda and potash, conveyed to the growing furse or gorse by rain-water. The soU of one district consists of sandstone ; certain treee find in it a quantity of alkaline earths sufilcient for their own sustenance. When felled, and bumt, and sprinkled upon the soil, oats will grow and thrive that without such aid would not vegetate.
The most decisive proof of the absurdity of the indiscriminate use of any strong manure was ob- tained at Bingen, a town on the Rhine, where the produce and development of vines were highly increased by manuring them with animal matters, such as shavings of horn. After some years, the formation of the wood and leaves decreased per- ceptibly. Such manure had too much hastened the growth of the vines: in two or three years they had exhausted the potash in the formation of their fruit leaves and wood ; so that none re- mained for the future crops, as shavings of horn contain no potash. Cow-dung would haye been better, and is known to be better.
Oonditione of Vegetation,
The sun's heat and light, air, water, and the common elements of the earth are necessary to the exietenee of plants. But a greater or less abundance of certain elements, and their existence in more or less favorable states of combination, determines the magnitude and fertility, or, in a word, the whole productiveness, of the yegetable growth.
The rales of agrieultnre should then, if ration- ally perfected, enable us to give to each plant what it requires for the attainment of the special object of its culture; namely, the inereaee of cer" tain parte which are nsed as food for men and animals.
One instance may illustrate this idea. The means to be resorted to for the production of fine pliable etraw for hats and bonnets are the Tery opposite to those which would tend to produce the greatest possible amount of seed or grain from th« same plant.
Sand, clay, and lime, as has been said, are th« principal constitnents of soils. Clay adl ritail always contain potash and soda. Pure land, or pure limestone, would alone constitute absolutely barren soils. AH arable land contains an admix- ture of clay, although an exoess of it^ in propor- tion, is of oonrse diiadvantageoui.
notation of Orope,
The tadkavetion of alkaliee in a soil by sncoea- sive crops is the true reason why praotieal farmera enppoee themselves eompelled to suffer land to lie fallow. It is the greatest possible mistake t»
FKBTILIZKBS.
11
think tbut the temporary dimhrntion of fertility in a field is chiefly owing to the loee of the decay- ing vegetuble matter it previoasly contained : it is principally the eonaeqnenee of the exhaustion of potash and soda, which are restored by the alow process of tbe more complete disintegration of the materials of the soil. It is erideot that the earefol tilling of fallow land must accelerate and increase this further breaking up of its mineral ingredients. Nor is this repose of the soil always necessary. A field, which has become unfitted for a certain kind of produce, may not, oh that a«- count, be unsuitable for another; and upon this obserration a system of agriculture has been gradually formed, the principal object of which is to obtain the greatest possible produce in a suc- cession of years, with the least outlay for mnnure. Because plants require for their growth different constituents of soil, changing tbe crop from year to year will maintain the ^rtility of that toil (prorided it be done with judgment) quite as well as learing it at rest or fallow. In this we but imitate nature. Tbe oak, after thriving for long generations on a particular spot, gradually sick- ens; its entire race dies out; oUier trees and shrubs succeed It, till, at length, the surface be- comes so charged with an excess of dead vegetable matter, that the forest becomes a peat moss, or a surface upon which no large tree will grow. Generally long before this can occur, the opera- tion of natural causes has gradually removed from tiie soil subctances, essential to the growth of oak, leaving others favorable and necessary to the growth of beech or pine. So, in practical farm- ing, one crop, in artifieial rotation with other»f «x- trocUfrom the §oil a certain quantity of neeeeeary materiaU; a eeaynd carries off, in pre/erenec, thoee which the former has le/i.
One hundred parts of wheat straw yield IH of ashes ; the same quantity of barley straw, 8^ ; of oat straw, only 4 ; and the ashes of the three are, chemically, of about the same composition. Upon the same field, which will yield only one harvest of wheat, two successive crops of barley may be raised, and three of oats. We have in these facts a clear proof of what is abstracted from the soil, and the key ttfthe rational mode of supplying the deficiency.
Since wheat consumes a large amount of silicat« of potassa from the soil, the plants which should raceced or alternate with it must be such as re- quire but little potassa, as potatoes or turnips. After three or four years the same lands may well bear wheat ; because^ during the interval, the soil will have been, by the action of the atmosphere, and the solution of vegetable and animal sub- stances decaying upon or in it, again rendered eapable of yielding what the wheat requires. Whether this process can be artificially antiei- patcdf by supplying the exhausted ingredient to the soil, is a further and most interesting and im- portant inquiry.
We could keep onr fields in a constant state of fertility by replacing, every year, as much as is removed from them by their produce. An tn- treaee of fertility may be expected, of course, only when more is added of the proper material to the soU than is taken away. Any soil will partially regain its strength by lying fiUlow. But any soil, under cultivation, must at length (with- oat help) lose those constituents which are re- moved in the seeds, roots and leaves of the plants taised upon it. To remedy this loss, and also in- arease the productiveness of the land, is the ob- ject of the use of proper manuree.
Land, when not employed fii raising food for fip^m^ia or man, should, at least, be applied to
the purpose of raising manure for itself; and this, to a certain extent, may be effected by means of green crops, which, by their decomposition, not only add to the amount of vegetable mould con- tained in the soil, but evppiy the nlkafiee tka$ would he found in their aehee. That the soil should become richer by this burial of a crop, than it was before the seed of that crop was sown, will be understood by recollecting that thi-ec' fonrthe of tbe whole organic matter we bury hae been derived from the air: that by this procees of ploughing in, tbe vegetable matter is more equally diffused through the whule soil, aod therefore more easily and rapidly decomposed; and that by its gradual decomposition, ammonia and nitric acid are certainly generated, though not so largely as when animal matters are em- ployed. He who neglects the green sods, and crops of weeds that flourish by his hedgerows and ditches, overlooks an important natural means of wealth. Left to themselves, they ripen their seeds, exhausting the soil, and sowing them annually in his flelds : collected in compost heapsy they add materially to his yearly crops of com.
Organic Manuree.
The following conclusions may be regarded as scientifically sustained, as well as confirmed by practical experience :
1. That fresh human urine yields nitrogen in greater abundance to vegetation than any other material of easy acquisition ; and that the urine of animals is valuable for the same purpose, but not equally so.
2. That the mixed excrements of man and animals yield (if carefully preserved from fhrther decomposition), not only nitrogen, but other in- valuable saline and earthy matters that have been already extracted in food from the soil.
3. That animal substances which, like urine, flesh, and blood, decompose rapidly, are fitted to operate immediately and powerfully on vegetation.
4. That dry animal substances, as horn, hair, or woollen rags, decompose slowly, and (weight for weight) contain a greater quantity of organised as well as unorganized materials, manifesting their influence it may be for several seasons.
6. That bones, acting like horn, in so far as their animal matter is concerned, and like it for a number of seasons more or less, according as they have been more or less finely crushed, may ameliorate the soil by their earthy matter for a long period (even if the jelly they contain have been injuriously removed by the size maker), per- manently improving the condition and adding to the natural capabilities of the land.
' Ueee of Ouano. This manure is a powerful stimulant to vege- table development generally; it is especially available in raising wheat, com, potatoes, gaiiea vegetables, and tobacco. If the land needs it, it may be put on as often as a crop is to be raised; though not, it is said, as a top dressing. ¥or wheat, 150 to 200 pounds of guano may be used to the acre; for Indian com, 300 to 400 pounds; unless it is put directly in the hills, when 100 pounds per acre will do. For potatoes, 300 to 400 pounds, in a drill, with bone dust The addition of the latter makes the good effects of the guano more durable.
Mineral FeriilUere,
Simple lime, although an important constituent of plants, is rarely suitable as an application to them in its pure state. Carbonate of lime (rep- resented by chalk, Ac) is a natural ingredient in very many soils. The sulphate of lime (gypsum*
12
AGBICULTUBE.
plaster of Paris) is often used for fertilizing pur- poses. It is less ensily decomposed than t1& car- bonate. The precise conditions which make it most advsntaf^eoas, are not positively determined yet. Phosphate of lime is a very important con- stituent of plants; and, as it exists also in the bones of animals, a double relation follows: namely, that it should be abundant in soil on which plants are raised for food of men and ani- mals; and, on the other hand, that animal bones contribute it to the soil when they decay upon it. Wood ashes contain a large amount of cnr- bonate of potassa, with also the sulphste and silicate of that alkali. Peat ashes vary in different regions, but always are found useful as manure. Kelp, or the ashes of sea-weeds, are often em- ployed in the same way; they contain soda in considerable amount. Nitrate of potassa (nitre, or saltpetre) is said to quicken vegetable action when a tded to the soil, and to give the leaves a deeper (;reen. A hundred pounds to the acre of grass or young oom, have been reported to pro- duce a beneficial effect In localities fur inland, oommon salt, chloride of sodium, is indispensable to the soil, although a small amount of it will suflSoe. Animal manures contain it. An excess of salt will render land barren; as was well known to the ancients.
Cfon€l«9ion§,
We may take it for granted that every thinking, practical mind, will admit it as proved, that lA«i-« must be ON exact adaptation aaddtnent between the condition of any given toil and the plant* intended to be raised upon it; and, further, that if this mutual fitness does not naturally exist, a know- ledge of its requirements will enable us tu supply it artificially. The great difficulty's, to obtain this knowledge fully and accurately. It must be confessed that, at present, much is wanting to render it complete and directly available. Indus- trious observation and experiment may, hereafter, make it so ; and thus give us a system of truly scientific agriculture.
A few statements only remain to be added to what has been said. The best natural soils are those where the materials have been derived from the breaking up and decomposition, not of one stratum or layer, but of many — divided mi- nutely by air and water, and minutely blended together: and in improving soils by artificial additions, the farmer cannot do better than imi- tate the processes of nature.
We have spoken of soils as eonsisting mostly of eaud, lime, and clay, with certain suine and organic substances in smaller and varying pro- portions; but the examination of the ashes of plants shows that a fertile soil must of necessity contain an appreciable quantity of at least eleven different substances, which in most cases exist in greater ^r less relative abundance in the ash of cultivated plants ; and of these the proportione are not by any means immaterial, in general, the M>ils which are made np of the most various materials are called alluvial ; having been formed from the depositions of floods and rivers* Many of them are extremely fertUe. Soils consist of two parts ; of an organic part, which can readily be burned away when the surface-soil is heated to redness ; and of an inorganic part, whioh n- mdns fixed in the fire, consisting of earthy and saline substances; from which, if carbonic acid or any elastic gas be present, it may, however, be driven by the heat. The organic part of soils is derived chiefly from the remains of vegetables and animals which have lived and died in and mpoB the SOU, whioh have been spread over it by
rivers and rains, or which have been added by the industry of man for the purposes of increased fertility.
This organic part varies much in quantity, a* well as quality, in different soils. In peaty soila it is very abundant, as well as in some rich, long cultivated lands. In general, it rarely amounts to one-ftiurth, or 25 per cent., even in our best arable lands. Good wheat soils contain -often as little as eight parts in the hundred of organio animal or vegetable matter; oats and rye will grow in a soil containing only 1^ per cent. ; and barley when only two or three parts per cent are present
The inorganic portion of any given soil, again, is divisible into two portions; that part which is eolttble in water, and thus easily taken up by plants, and a much more bulky portion whieh is ineolnble.
Sir Humphrey Davy found the following to be the composition of a good productive soil. In every 9 parts, 8 consisted of siliceous sand ; the remaining (one-ninth) part was composed, in 100 parts, as follows :
Carbonate of lime (chalk), . • • 63 grains. Pure f ilex, . . . ' . .15 grains. Pure alumina, or the earth of day, • 11 grains. Oxide (rust) of iron, ... 3 grains. Vegetable and other saline matter, • 5 grains. Moisture and loss, • • • • 3 grains.
100 Thus the whole amount of or^antc matter in this instance is only 1 part in 200, or one-half of one per cent; a fact which, in itself, would demon- strate the fallacy of supposing that decomposed animal and vegetable matter in the soil form the exclusive supply to growing plants.
In another instance, soil was taken from a field in Sussex, remarkable for its growth of flourishing oak trees. It consisted of 6 parts of sand, and 1 part of clay and finely-divided matter. One hundred grains of it yielded, in chemical lan-
gaage— f silica (or silez), . • • .64 grains. Of alumina, .••••« 28 grains* Carbonate of lime, .... 8 grains.
Oxide of iron, ^ grains.
Vegetable matter in a state of decom- position, 4 grains.
Moisture and loss, .... 6 grains.
100
To v>he<U eoiU, the attention of the practical farmer will be most strongly directed. An ex- cellent wheat soil irom West Drayton, in Eng- land, yielded 3 parts in 5 of silicious sand; and the remaining two parts consisted of carbonate of lime, silex, alumina, and a minute proymrUon of decomposing animal and vegetable remains.
Of these soils, the last was by far the most, and the first the least, coherent in texture. In all cases, the constituent parts of the soil whioh give tenacity and stiffness, are the finely-divided por- tions ; and they possess this quality in propr rtion to the quantity of alumina (or earth of clay) they contain.
The varying power of soils to absorb and retun water from the air, is much connected with their fertility. This absorbent power is always greatest in the most fertile lands. Their productiveness is also much influenced by the nature of the sub- soil on which they rest; for, when soils are sita- ated immediately upon a bed of rock or stone^ they dry sooner by the sun's agency than when the subsoil is clay or marL
A great deal more might be said upon othtr
SOILS.
18
kindred pointa. But, as bai been already re- narked, agrieuitaral 9ci»nee in, as jet, imperfect. It U a mistake for the praetical farmer to contemn "book farming," as if it were something visionary or useless ; while, on the other hand, the agricul- taral chemist and Tegetable physiologist must ■nbmit all their indootfons and conclusions to the test of careful and repeated trials. The one can seldom analyse soils, and the other can rarely attend to raising crops; so they must help each etber, and, together, aid in iidvancing the oldest of human arts, and one of the most beaatifol of the seienoea — that of the earth's onlture.
PBACTICAL FARMING.
Component parU of SoiL
The prinoipal component parts of the soil, what- ever may be the color, are day, lime, sand, water, and air. The primitive earths, argil, lime, and •and, contain each, perhaps in nearly equal de- greee, the food of plants ; but in their union the pnrposea of vegetation are most completely an- swered. The precise quantities of each necessary to make this union perfect, and whether they ongbt to be equal, it is not very easy to ascertain, since that point is best determined in practice, when the soil proves to be neither too atiff nor adhesive, from the superabundance of clay, nor of too loose and weak a texture, from an over quantity of sand in its composition. The medium is undoubtedly best; but an excess towards adhe- sion is obviously most safe. A stiff or strong soil holds the water which falls upon it for a long time, and, being capable of much ploughing, is naturally well qualified for carrying the most Taluable arable crops. A light sod, or one of a texture feeble and easily broken, is, on the con- trary, soon exhausted by aration, and requires renovation by grass; or otherwise it cannot be eoltivated to advantage.
To dit^Hguitk Clay^ SoiU,
A clayey soil, though distinguished by the eolor which it bears, namely black, white, yellow, and red, differs from all other soils, being tough, wet, Mtd cold,«nd consequently requiring a good deal of labor from the husbandman before it can be sufficiently pnlrerised, or placed in a state for bearing artificial crops of com or grass. Clay land is known by the following qualities, or pro- ]>erties.
It holds water like a cup, and onoe wetted does not soon dry. In like manner, when thoroughly dry, it is not soon wetted ; if we except the varie- ties which have a thin surface, and are the worst of aU to manage. In a dry summer, clay cracks and shows a surface full of small chinks, or open- ings. If ploughed in a wet state, it sticks to the plough like mortar, and in a dry summer, the plough turns it up in great clods, scarcely to be broken or separated by the heariest roller.
To manaff0 Scmdy Soitt,
Soils of this description are managed with inii- nitely less trouble, and at an expense greatly infe- rior to what days require ; but at the same time, the crops produced from them are generally of smaller yalue. There are many varieties of sand, however, as well as of clay ; and in some parts of the country, the surface is little better than a bare barren sand, wherein artificial plants will not take root unless a dose of clay or good earth is previ- ously administered. This is not the soil meant by the farmer when he speaks of sands. To speak practically, the soU meant is one where sand is predominant, although there be several other
earths in the mixture. From containing a great quantity of sand, these soils are all loose and crumbling, and never get into a clod, even in tho driest weather. This is the great article of dis> tinction betwixt sand and sandy loums. A sandy loam, owing to the day that is in it, does not crumble down, or become loose like a real sand, but retains a degree of adhesion after wetness or drought, notwitb«tanding the quantity of sand that is mixed with it. Perhaps a true sjindy loam, incumbent upon a sound subsoil, is the movt valu- able of all soils. Upon such, every kind of grain may be raised witk advantage, and no soil is better calculated for turnips and grass.
The real sands are not favorable to the growth of wheat, unless when preceded by clover, which binds the surface, and caofers a temporary strength for sustaining that grain. Much of the county of Norfolk, in England, is of this description ; and it is well known that few districts of the kingdom yield a greater quantity of produce. Till Norfolk, however, was invigorated by day and marl, nearly one-half of it was little better than waste; but by the succcM which accompanied the use of these auxiliaries, a new soil was in a manner created; whieh, by a continuation of Judicious manage- ment, has given a degree of fame to the husbandry of that country, far surpassing that of other dis- tricts naturally more fertile.
Gravelly SoiU,
The open porous nature of these soils disposes them to imbibe moisture, and to part with it with great facility : from the latter of which circum- stances they are subject to bum, as it is termed, in dry seasons. The main difference between gravel and sand is, that the former is chiefly com- posed of small soft stones; though in some in- stances the stones are of a silicious or flinty na- ture, and, in others, of the calcareous or chalky. From these constitutional circumstances arises the propriety of deepening gravelly soils by coats of marl or earth, and of keeping them fresh by fre- quent returns of grass, and repeated applications of manure. Gravelly soils, from tho lightness of their texture, are not expensive or difiicult in the means of cultivation. All the necessnry business required for gravels may be carried forward with ease and expeditica ; and such soils are, in gene- ral, soon brought into a proper state for the re- ception of crops.
The constitutional qualities of grarels point out the propriety of ploughing them deep, so that the surface soil may be augmented, and greater room given to the growth of the plants cultivated on them. A shallow-ploughed gravel can stand no excess of weather, however enriched by manure. It is bumt up by a day or two of drought, and it is almost equally injured by an excessive fall of rain, unless the pan or firm bottom, which such soils easily gain, be frequently broken through by deep ploughing.
CTsss of different So&e,
Olayey soils, when sufiidently enriched with manures, are naturally well qualified for carrying crops of wheat, oats, beans, and clover; but aro not fitted for barley, turnips, potatoes, etc., or eren for being kept under for grass longer than one year. Such soils ought to be regularly summer- fallowed once in six, or at least once in eight years, even when they are comparatively in a clean state, as they contract a sourness and adhesion f^om wet ploughing, only to be removed by exposure to the sun and wind during the dry months of summer. Soils of this kind receive little benefit from winter ploughing, unless so far as their surface is thereby
14
AOBICULTUBS.
proMnted to the frort, whtob mellows and reduoei them ill a manner infinitely soperior to wbateould be aoconiplished by all the operations of man. Still they are not oleaned or made free of weeds by winter plooghing; and therefore this operation ean only be considered as a good means f»r pro- curing a seed-bed, in which the seeds of the future crop may be safely deposited. Hence the neces- sity of cleansing clay soils during the summer months, and of having always a large part of every day farm under summer fallow. All clayey soils require great industry and care, as well as a con- ■idenibie portion of knowledge in dressing or ffliinagement, to keep them in good condition; yet when their natural toughness is got the better of, thoy always yield the heavie»t snd most abundant crops. One thing requisite for a clayey soil, is to keep it rich and full of manure; a poor clay being the most ungrateful of all soils, and hardly capa- ble of repaying the expense of labor, after being worn out and exhausted. A clayey soil also re- oeiyes, comparatively, small benefit from grass; and when once allowed to get into a sterile con- dition, the most active endeavors will with diffi- culty restore fertility to it after the lapse of many years.
Upon light soils the case is very different These flourish under the grass husbandry; and bare summer fallow is rarely required, because they may be cleaned and cropped in the same year, with that valuable esculent, turnip. Upon light soils, however, wheat can seldom be extensively cultivated ; nor can a crop be obtained of equal Taiue, either in respect to quantity or quality, as on day sand loams. The beet method of procur- ing wheat on light lands, is to sow upon a clover stubble, when the soil has got an artificial solidity of body and is thereby rendered capable of sus- taining the grain till it arrives at maturity. The same observation applies to soils of a gravelly na- ture; and upon both barley is generally found of as great benefit as wheat
Thin clays and peat earths are more friendly to the growth of oats than of other grains, though in favorable seasons a heavy crop of wheat may be obtained from a thin clayey soil, when it has been completely summer-fallowed and enriched with dung. A first application of calcareous manure is generally accompanied with great advantage upon these soils; but when once the effect of this application is over, it can hardly be repeated a second time, unless the land has been very cau- tiously managed after the first dressing. Neither of these soils is friendly to grass, yet there is a necessity of exercising this husbandry with them, because they are incapable of standing the plough more than a year or two in the course of a rotation.
Wheat ought to be the predominant crop upon all the rich clays and strong loams, and light soils of every kind are well qualified for turnips, barley, etc Upon the thin and moorish soils, oats must necessarily preserve a prominent rank, and grass seeds may be cultivated upon every one of them, though with different degrees of advantage, according to the natural and artificial richness of each soil, or to the qualities which it possesses for encouraging the growth of clover, in the first in- stance, and preserving the roots of the plant after- wards.
OptraHon of Tillage,
Tillage is an operation whereby the soil is either deared from noxious weeds, or prepared for re- ceiving the seeds of plants cultivated by the hus- bandman. When this operation is neglected, or eren partially executed, the soil becomes foul, and nnprodttotiTe ; hence, upon arable
farms, tillage forms tne prominent branch of work | and, according to the perfection or imperfection with wbicb it is executed, the crops of the hua- bandman, whether of com or grass, are in a great measure regulated.
Tillage, in the early ages, was performed by hand labor ; but, in modern times, the plough hna been the universal instrument used for executing this necessary and important branch of rural work. In no other way can large fields be turned over, because the expense of digging with the spade, the only other method of turning over the ground, would much exceed any profit that can be reaped.
Stones lying above or below the surface are th« most formidable obstruction to perfect tillage. On stony ground, the work is not only imperfeeUy executed, but in many cases the implement is broken to pieces, and a considerable portion of time lost before it is repaired and put in order. The removal of stones, therefore, especially of such as are below the surface, ought to be a pri- mary object with every agriculturist; because a neglect of this kind may afterwards occasion him considerable loss and inconvenience.
To drain the ground, in other words, to lay it dry, also facilitates tillage exceedingly ; for plough- ing cannot be performed with advantage where either the surface or subsoil is wet.
Be9t Jfode of Tillage.
The only sure and certain way by which the soil is cleaned or rendered free of weeds, is by plough- ing in the summer months, when the ground is dry, and when, by the influence of the sun and air, the weeds may be destroyed wiih facility. Seldom at any other period is the soil much bene- fitted by ploughing, unless so far as a seed-bed is thus procured for the succeeding crop ; and though the situation or state of the ground, when these intermediate ploughings are bestowed, is of loa- portanoe in judging of their utility, yet the radi- cal process of summer fallow cannot, by any moans^ be altogether dispensed with. Though, if the win- ter and spring ploughings are executed under favorable circumstances, and plenty of manure is at hand, it may be delayed for a greater number of years than is otherwise practicable, if good husbandry is to be maintained.
Without summer fallow, or, which is the same, thing, without working the ground in the summer months, perfect husbandry is unattainable on all heavy or cold soils, and upon every variety in- cumbent on a close or retentive bottom.
To keep bis land clean will always be a princi- pal object with every good farmer; for if this is neglected, in place of carrying rich crops of grain or grass, the ground will be exhausted by oropa of weeds. Where land is foul, every operation of husbandry must be proportionably non-effective ; and even the manures applied will, in a great measure, be lost
The necessity of summer fallow depends greatly upon the nature and quality of the soil ; as, upon some soils, a repetition of this practice is less fre- quently required than upon others. Wherever the soil is incumbent upon clay or till, it is mora disposed to get foul, than when incumbent upon a dry gravelly bottom ; besides, wet soils, from be- ing ploughed in winter, contract a stiffness which lessens the pasture of artificial plants, and prevents them from receiving suflicient nourishment When land of a day gravelly bottom gets foul, it may easily be cleaned without a plain summer fallow; since crops, such as turnips, etc., may be substi- tuted in its place, which, when drilled at proper intervals, admit of being ploughed as often as neoessary ; whereas wet soils, which are naiimUy
IHMjBHBNTS.
16
nnft for earrying laoh eropt, mnn D« deuted and brought into good ord«r bj frequent plongh- fjkgs and harrowings daring the sammer monthi.
To Conduei a Falhm,
Upon all olayej soik (and npon sneb only i« a complete ininmer fallow neoossary) the first plooghing onght to be giren daring the winter months, or as early in the spring as possible; vbich greatly promotes the rotting of the swnrd and stubble. This should be done by gathertnj^ up the ridge, which both lays the ground dry and rips up the furrows. As soon as seed-time is over, the ridge should be eloTen down, preparatory to oross ploughing; and after lying a proper time, should be harrowed and rolled repeatedly, and 9rwj partiisle of quickens that the harrows have brought above, should be earefoUy picked off with tiie hand. It is then proper to ridge or gather it np immediately, which both lays the land in pro- per eonditioik for meeting bad weather, and opens np any fast land that may have been missed in the furrows when the cross ploughing was given. After this harro#, roll, and gather the roor weeds again ; and oontinne so doing till the field is per- fectly clean.
To Prepare ike Ground.
The above object is most completely accom- plished, when the ground is ploughed deep and •qaal, while the bottom of the furrow immediately above the subsoil is perfectly loosened and turned equally over with the part which constitutes the surface. In many places these properties are altogether neglected, the ground being ploughed in a shallow way, while the bottom of the ploughed land remains something like the teeth of a saw, having the under part of the furrow untouched, and consequently not removed by the action of the plough. While these things are suffered, the , object of tillage is only partially gained. The food of plants can only be imperfectly procured; and the ground is drenched and injured by wet- ness ; these ridgM, or pieces of land, which are not cut, preventing a descent of the moisture friim above to the open furrows left for carrying it off. Where the seed-bed is prepared by one ploughing, the greatest care ought to be used in having it dosely and equally performed. When two are given, they should b« in opposite directions, so that any firm land left in the first may be out up in the second ploughing. It is not profitable to plough twice one way, if it can be safely avoided.
Another important point towards procuring good tillage, is never to plongb the land when in a wet state ; because encouragement is thns given to the growth of weeds, while a sourness and ad- hesion is communicated to the ground, which is rarely got the better of till the operations of a rammer fallow are again repeated.
All soils ought not to be wrought or ploughed in one manner. Each kind has its particular and appropriate qnalities ; and, therefore, each requires a particular and appropriate mode of tillage. Ploughing, which is the capital operation of hus- bandry, ought, on these accounts, to be adminis- tered according to the nature of the soil which is to be operated upon, and not executed agreeably to one fixed and determined principle. On strong days and loams, and on rich gravels and deep sandd, the plough onght to go as deep as the cat- tle are able to work it; whereas, on thin clays and barren sands the benefit of deep ploughing is Tcry questionable; especially when such are in- cumbent on a till bottom, or where the subsoil is of a yellow-ochre nature; such, when turned np, being little better than poison to the surface, un-
less highly impregnated with allavia] eompoft^ the effect of which expels the poisonous substanw contained in this kind of subsoil, and gives a far* tility to the whole mass, more decisively perma> nont than would follow a heavy application of il»a best rotten dung.
Two aete of Plomghe required for perfect TfUage.
On clayey soils, where the ridges are so that the ground may be preserved in something like a dry condition, the plough used for tilUgc onght to have a mould-board considerably wider set than is required for light soils, in order that the furrow may be close cut below, and only turned over. The method of constructing the pltmgb necessarily makes a heavier draught than would be the ease were the mould-board pliiced differently; though if good and sufficient work be wanted, the necessity of constructing the im- plement in the way mentioned, is absolute and indispensable. The plough to be used on light soils, or on all soils that admit of what is tech- nically called crown and furrow ploughing, may be made much straighter below, and yet be capable of executing the work in a perfect manner. On every farm, conxisting of mixed soils, two sets of ploughs onght to be kept, otherwise proper work cannot be performed. All land onght to be ploughed with a shoulder, and the advantages of ploughing in this way are^ that, if ploughed before winter, the surface is enabled to resist the winter rains, and aflerwards present a face on which the harrows can make a proper impression, when the seed process is to be executed. This deserves particular attention when old grass fields are broken up ; as, by neg- lecting it, the harrows are often unsble to cover the seed. It is perfectly practicable to plough land with a tolerably broad furrow, say 10, 11, or 12 inches, and yet to plough it clean, provided the implement used is properly constructed ; but, then, care must be taken that the furrow be of proportionate deepness, otherwise it will be laid on its back, instead of being deposited at an an^ proper for undergoing the harrowing process.
The nse of •ubeoiUre is now common, to turn np the depth of the soiL In sandy earth, beneath a ten-inch furrow, a snbsoiler may go ten inchec deeper; but this is not easy or possible in all soils.
ImpUmenU of Huahandry. *
No country in the world is better provided with implements for executing rural labor than Great Britain; and to this superiority may, in some meaoore, be attributed the increased and in- creasing perfection of agriculture over the whole island. American ingenuity has gone still further in the same direction. We have ploughs of all the different kinds that ever were constructed : as for wheel cairiagea, the variety is immense; whilst harrows, and other common Implements^ of various constructions and dimensions, arc equally numerous. But it is in the articles more priiperly allied to machinery, that the superiority of American rural Implements is most conspicuous. Drills for sowing grain and small seeds with regularity, have been constructed upon scientific principles; and machines for separating grain from straw, have been invented, and brought to a degree of perfection which few people expected when these machines were first introduced.
The double Michigan plough is an important improvement on the old plough. Instead of a coulter it has a small plough attached to the beam in front of the other, which takes a slice from the sod, and makes cleaner work for the plough. Steam ploughs have also been invented.
* Bee page i70.
16
AOBICULTUBS.
This machine, whether made to be worked by hand, drawn by a horse, or fixed to a plough, and msed with it, is extremely simple in its eonstme- tion, and not liable to be put oat of order; as there is but one morement to direot the whole. It will sow wheat, barley, oats, rye, olover, oole- seed, hemp, flax, canary, rape, turnip ; besides a crent variety of other kinds of grain and seeds, broadoat^t, with an aoeuraoy hitherto unknown. It is equally useful when fixed V> a plough; it wili then drill a more extensive variety of grain, pulse, and seed (through every gradation, with regard to quality), and deliver each kind with greater regularity than any drill plough whatever.
Among many other valuable and peculiar pro- perties, it will not only sow in the broadcast way with a most singular exactness, but save the ex- pense of a seedsman ; the seed being sown (either orer or under fiirrow at pleasure), and the land ploughed at the same operation.
Another advantage attending the use of this machine is, that the wind can have no effect on tiie falling of the seed.
The machine, when made to be used without a plough, and to be drawn by a horse, may be of different lengths. The upper part contains the hoppers, from which the grain or seed descends into the spouts. The several spouts all rest upon a bar, which hangs and plays freely by two dia- gonal supporters; a trigger, fixed to this bar, bears a catch wheel : this being fixed on the axle, occasions a regular and continued motion, or Jogging of the spouts, quicker or slower in pro- portion to the space the person sowing with it drives.. At the bottom of the' machine is plaoed an apron or shelf, in a sloping position, and the eom or seed, by falling thereon from the spouts above, is scattered about in every direction.
To sow the corn or seed in drills, there are movable spouts, which are fixed on or taken off at pleasure, to direct the seed from the upper spout to the bottom of the furrow.
Hammtm
These beneficial implements are of various sites and dimensions; but the harrow most commonly msed consists of four bulls, with cross-mortised •heaths, each bull containing five teeth, of from five to seven inches in length below the bulls, the longest being plaoed forwards. Harrows of this kind, drawn by one horse, are generally used on most farms for all purposes, Uiough on others large brake-harrows, consisting of five bulls, each eon tain ing six teeth, Mtd worked by two horses, are employed during the fallow proeess, and for reducing rough lan<L Some of tnese brake-har- rows are constructed with joints, so as to bend and accommodate their shape to the curvature of ridges. A small harrow, with short teeth, is also used for covering grass seeds, though we have rarely seen any detriment from putting grass seeds as deep into the ground as the teeth of ordi- nary sised harrows are capable of going.
The best methodt of Harroufing.
When employed to reduoe a strong obdurate soil, not more than two harrows should be yoked together, because they are apt to ride and tumble upon each other, and thus impede the work, and execute it imperfectly. On rough soils, harrows ought to be driven as fast as the horses can walk ; because their effect is in the direot proportion to the degree of velocity with which they are driven. In ordinary cases, and in every case where har- rowing is meant for covering the seed, three har- rows are the best yoke^ because they fill np the
ground more effeelnany, and leave fewer raeaa* cies, than when a smaller number is employed. The harrowman's attention, at the seed process, should be constantly directed to prevent these implements from riding upon each other, and to keep them elear of every impediment fVom stones, lumps of earth, or clods, and quickens or grass roots; for any of these preyents the implement fVom working with perfeetion, and causes a mark or trail upon the surface, always unpleasing to the eye, and generally detrimental to the vege- tation of the seed. Harrowing is usually given in different directions, first in length, then across, and finally in length as at first. Careful hus- bandmen study, in the finishing part of the pro- cess, to have the harrows drawn in a straight line, without suffering the horses to go in a sigxag manner, and are also attentive that the horses enter fairly upon the ridge, without making a curve at the outset. In some instances, an excesa of harrowing has been foand Tory prejudicial to the succeeding crop ; but it is always necessaiy to give so much as to break the furrow, and level the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly performed.
MoOen.
The roller is an implement frequently used for smoothing the surface of land when in tillage^ especially when the prooesses of summer falloir are going forward. Several kinds of rollers aro â– sed in America. Some are of stone, others of wood or iron, according to the nature of the opera- tion intended to be performed. The only material difference in rollers is their weight ; but it should be attended to, when a roller is made of large diameter, that its weight ought to be the greater, for in proportion to the largeness of its diameter will be the extent of suiface upon which the roller rests. The weight of a roller ought there- fore to be in proportion to its diameter, otherwise its dfect will be proportionably diminished.
Rolling, howeyer, is a modem improvement, and used for different purposes. In the first plaee^ it is of great advantage to roll young grasses after the ground is stoned, because the scythe can then be plaoed nearer the surface^ and the erop cut more equally than when the operation is neglected. 2dly. Land on which turnips are to be cultivated can rarely be made fine enough, without the repeated use of this implement And Sdly. The process of summer fallow, upon strong soils, is much advanced by rolling, because without its aid the large and obdurate clods can- not be reduced or couch-grass eradicated. 'From these circumstances it will readily appear, that rollers of various sises and dimensions are re- quired on eyery farm, for aeeomplishing different purposes. Wooden rollers, drawn by one horse, answer yery well for grass and turnip land ; but massy stone rollers, drawn either by two or three horsep, are absolutely necessary on day soils.
It is obvious, that when a large field is to bo rolled, a number of rollers ought at onee to be set at work, otherwise an opportunity may be lost, never to be regained. The deficiency is most conspicuous when barley is taken after turnips in a dry season. From poaching the ground with oarts, in order to oarry off the erop, and even by the treading of sheep, a degree of stiffness is contraoted, which requires the use of the roller before grass seeds can be sown.
On all occasions it is most beneficial to roll aoross, because^ when going in length, the imple- ment is of small b«nefit to the farrows, the slightest acoliyation of the ridges preyenting tho work from being equally performed. The expo-
IXFLKMBKT3.
17
ditioB wbiob UkM place when rollers are need, ••mpared with the tedious and expensive process of breaking clods with maHs, formerly the gene- ral eastom, sufficiently proves the importance of these implements, though it deserves to be re- marked, that, when rolling is bestowed upon a •pring-Bown field, harrowing it afterwards is of great advantage. By harrowing when the clods ani reduced, the earth stands the effects of rain better afterwards, and does not consolidate so firmly as when thai process is n^lected.
Jfowert and Btapen, *
These uaehines are of great value, especially to those with large farms. One machine, the mower, can be made to perform duty both with grass and grain; but reapers are constructed •specially for the latter. We^dert are also in use in some parta of the country, drawn by horse
power.
Tke Tkra$h%ng Machine,
The thrashing machine is the most valuable Implement in the farmer's possession, and one which adds more to the general produce of the country, than any invention hitherto devised. The saving of manual labor thereby obtained is almost iuMtlcttlable ; while the work is performed in a much more perfect manner than was formerly practicable, even when the utmost care and ez- •rtion were bestowed. In fact, had not the thrashing machine been invented, it is hardly possible to conceive what would have been the rate of expen«e of thrashing, or even whether a ■nffioient number of hands could, at any rate of •spense, have been obtained for thrashing the grain of the country.
Since the invention of this machine, Mr. Meikle and others have progressively introduced a variety of improvements, all tending to simplify the labor, and to augment the quantity of the work performed. When first erected, though the grain was equally well separated from the straw, yet as the whole of the straw, chaff, and grain, was indiscrimi- nately thrown into a confused heap, the work eould only with propriety be considered as half executed. By the addition of rakes, or shakers, and two pairs of fanners, all driven by the same macbineiy, the different prooesses of thrashing, â– baking, and winnowing are now all at once per- formed, and the grain immediately prepared for the public market. When it is added, that the quantity of grain gained from the superior powers of the machine is fully equal to a twentieth part of the crop, and that, in some cases, the expense of thrashing and cleaning the grain is considerably leas than what was formerly paid for cleaning it ^one, the immense saving arising firom the in- rention will at once be seen.
The expense of horse labor, from the increased value of the animal and the charge of his keep- ing, being an object of great importance, it is recommended that, upon all sizable farms, that U to say, where two hundred acres, or upwards, of grain are sown, the machine should be worked by wind, unless where local circumstances afford thi) conveniency of water.
Whero coals are plenty and cheap, steam may bo advantageously used for working the machine.
Method of Treading Orain.
In some countries wheat is trodden out by horses, nearly in the same way as it was formerly done in Palestine by oxen.
The treading floors are generally from sixty- to 100 feet in diameter; but the larger their diameter kt, the easier Is the work to the horses. The tnofc, or path, on which the sheaves are laid, and
on which the horses walk, is from twelve to twe»» ty-four feet wide, or more. T)ie floors are com- monly enclosed by fences; and the horses are generally driven between them promiscuously Mtd loose, each pressing to be foremost, so that fk«sh air may be obtain^— biting, jostling, and kick- ing each other with the greatest fury. The labor in this way is extremely severe. Upon seme small floors a centre-stick is placed, to which hangs a rope, or a pole and swivel, and four or Ave horses being fastened together, travel round upon the sheaves with the utmost regularity. Previously to laying down the wheat sheaves, the state of the air, and the probability of its con- tinuing dry through the day, is folly considered. If they resolve to tread, the morning is suffered to pass away till the dew is removed. A row of sheaves is first laid upon the floors with the heads and butts in a line across the track of it, as a bolster for receiving other sheavea; and these sheaves range with the path, or circle, the bntta resting on the floor. Other sheaves are ranged in like manner, with the heads raised on the former, till the whole floor is filled, when it appears to bo filled with nothing but ears of wheat, sluping a little upwards. Upon laying down each sheaf, the band thereof is cut with a knife. A west wind is always desirable while treading is going on, as when wind is ttom the eastward dampness generally prevails.
In some instances, twenty-fonr horsoi are formed at some distance from the floor into four ranks; and when the floor is ready laid, the word is given to advanee. For the sake of order and regular work, a boy mounted on one of the fore- most horses advances in a walk with the whole rank haltered or tied together, and enters upon the bed of wheat, walking the horses slowly over it ; another rank is ordered to follow as soon as the first is supposed to have obtained a distance equal to a fourth part of the circumference of the be<^ and in the same manner the other ranks proceed. They are forbidden to go past a walk, till they have proceeded five or six rounds, when the word is given to move at a sober trot, and to keep their ranks at a full distance from each other, regularity and deliberate movement being necessary for preventing confusion. The geotlo trot is continued till it may be supposed the horses have travelled eight or nine miles, which is the extent of their first journey ; they are then led off to be foddered and watered, when the trodden light straw is taken off as deep as the place where the sheaves lie dose, and are bnt partially bruised.
As soon as this first straw is removed, one-third of the width of the bed ii turned over on the other two- thirds from the inner side or circle of the bed, which narrows the neck of the next journey. The horses are again led on, and trot out their second journey, till the straw be clear of wheat The outer part of the bed is then turned upon the middle part, when the horses take another jour- ney. The loose straw being then taken off, the whole remaining bed is turned up fh>m the floor, and shaken with forks, and handles of rakes, after which the horses give another tread, which finishes the work. The grain is then shoved up tti>m the fioor with the heads of rakes turned downwards, and put into heaps of a conical form, in which situation it often remains exposed to Uie weather for several days. The correct American agriculturists, however, have bouses adjoining the treading floor, where the grain is deposited till it is cleared f^om the chaff and offal; though* as most of them continue treading, if the weather be favorable, till the whole crop is separated f^om
e Bee page 470.
18
AGKICULTUBS.
the straw, it is pntty obTioas that the grain stands a oonsiderable ehanoe of being damaged before the sereral proeesses are ooneluded.
Fannen,
If thrashing machines are of much adrantage to the public, by separating grain eompletelj from the straw, the iotroduotion of fanners, or the ma- ihine by which grain is cleansed from chaff, and all sorts of offal, may, with Justice, be considered as of equal benefit to the practical agriculturist
Since thrashing machines were introduced, fan- ners almost in every ease are annexed to them, and in some instances, where powerful machines are used, fitted internally wiih suitable riddles, it is perfectly practicable to measure and market the grain immediately as it comes from the machine.
JfanurtB,
The term mannre is applied indiscriminately to all substances, which are known from experience either to enrich the different soils, or eontribnte in any other way to render them more favorable to vegetation.
In an agricultural point of view, the subject of manures is of the first magnitude. To correct what is hurtful to vegetation in the different soils, and to restore what is lost by exhausting crops, are operations in agriculture which may be com- pared to the curing of diseases in the animal body, or supplying the waste ooeasioned by labor.
To WMnage Dung upon Light Landt,
For soils of this description, where turnips are taken as a first crop, dung can hardly be too well prepare<l ; because the nature of the crop to which It is applied renders a complete incorporation with the ground absolutely necessary; without which the young plants might be starved at their very entrance into life. In the best farmed Eng- lish counties, dung is often kept more than a year, In order that it may be perfectly rotted.
In general there is not much difficulty in pre-
Saring dung upon turnip farms ; because, in the riest season, from the nature of the food used, moh a quantity of liquid passes from the animals, u to prevent burning, provinoially fire-fitnging, Ihe greatest obstacle to the rotting of dung that san be experienced. If turnip dung is regularly removed, if it is properly mixed with the horse litter and other exorementitious matter accumu- lated upon the farm, it will be found an easy task to prepare all that is made by the middle of April. at which time the fold-yard should be cleared. What is produced alter that time should be stored up -separately, receive waterings if the weather is dry, and be reserved for clover-stubbles, or other fields tbat are to be dunged in autumn.
The middle of April is a good time for olearing the fold-yard ; but this does not prevent the work from going partially forward through tbe winter, when suitfible opportunities occur.
•When driven out of the fold-yard, the dung should be laid np in a regular heap or pile, not exceeding six quarters, or four feet and a half in height; and care should be taken not to pat either horse or oart upon it, which is easily avoided by haoking the cart to the pile, and laying the dung •ompactly together with a grape or fork. It is also useful to face up the extremities with earth, which keeps in the moisture, and prevents the sun and wind from doing injury. Perhaps a small quantity of earth strewed upon the top might also prove usefiaL Dung, when managed in this man- ner, generally ferments very rapidly; bnt if it is discovered to be in a backward state, a complete tarn over, about the Istof May, when the weather bMeoMi wars, will qniditB tiM proeeiai and the
better it is shsken Bsander,the sooner will theob* Jeot in view be aeoomplished.
A secluded spot of ground, not much exposed t» wind, and perfectly seeare from \mn% fioatod with water, ought always to be chosen for the site of suoh piles or heaps. If the field to which it is to be applied is at hand, a little after-trouble tnny ba saved by depositing it there in tbe first instanoa. But it is found most oonveni^nt to reserve a pieoa of ground a<yaoent to the homestead fur this pur- pose. There it is always under the farmer's eye^ and a greater quantity can be moved in a shorter time than when the sitaation is more distinct. Besides, in wet weather (and this is generally tbe time ehosen for such an operation), the roads era not only cut up by driving to a distance, but the field on whioh the heap is made, may be poaohed and ii^nred eonsiderably.
Upon Heavjf Landt.
Upon clay soils, where wheat forms a principal part of the crop, where great quantities of beaai are cultivated, and few turnips sown, unless for the use of milch cows, the rotting of dung is not only a troublesome but an expensive affair. In- dependent of what is consamed by the ordinary farm stock, the overplus of the straw must, some- how or other, be rotted, by lean cattle kept in the fold-yard, who either receive the straw in racks, or have it thrown across the yard, to be eaten and trodden down by them. Acoording to this mode of consumption, it is evident that a still greater necessity arises for a frequent removal of this un- made dung; otherwise, ftom the trampling of beasts, and the usual want of moisture, it would compress so much as altogether to prevent putre- faction. To prepare dung sufficiently upon farma of this description is at all times*an arduous task, but scarcely practicable in dry seasons; for if it once gets burnt (fire-fanged), it is almost physi* cally impossible to bring it into a suitable state of preparation afterwards; and, at all events, ita virtues are thereby considerably diminished.
Straw flung out in considerable portions to the fold-yard, after being compressed by the tramp- ling of cattle, becomes rather like a well*paeked stack, than a mass of dung in a preparatory state. The small quantity of water and dung made bj the animals is barely sufficient to cause a slight fermentation ; and this slight fermentation, when the heap gets into a compressed state, is sure to bring on fire- fang, as already said, after whioh its original powers can rarely be restored. To prevent such an injury, no measure can be so successfully used as a frequent removal of this unmade dung, especially if the weather is wet at the time. If people can stand out to work, there cannot be too much wetness while executing this operation ; for there is always such a quantity of the straw that has not passed through the en- trails of tbe cattle, as renders it almost impossible to do injury, in the first instance, by an ex sees of moisture.
It is therefore recommended, upon erery olay* land farm, especially those of oonriderable siie^ that the fold-yard be firequently cleared ; and that the greatest care be taken to mix the stable or horse-dung in a regular way with what is gathered in the fold-yard, or made by other an i waif, in order that a gradual heat or fermentation may be speedily produced. Where the materials are of the sorts now described (that is, a small quantity of dung, or exorementitious matter, and a large store of nn rotten straw, only partially moistened), no damage can ensue from putting horses and carts upon the heap; nay, a positive benefit will be gained from this slight oomprMfion.
HAKUBS8.
19
The ktap or pHe, fai the eaee of tnnip dang, riioald be fonned in a eeoluded ipot, if lueb can be got at hand ; because the le«a it is exposed to the inllaeooe of the son and wind, the faater will fermentation proeeed. It should be con- ■troeted on a broad basis, which lessens the bounds of the extremities, and separate heaps are neeessaryy so that too mueh maj not be de- posited at onee. By shifting the scene frequently, and allowing each oovering or eoat to settle and ferment before laying on any more, the most happy effeets will follow, and these heaps (at least all such as are oompleted before the first of May), may reasonably be expected to be in a fit eondition for applying to the summer-fallow fields, in the end of July, or first of August If the external parts get dry at any time during the process, it will be proper to water them thorough- ly, aad in many eases to turn over the heap oom- pletely. It may be added, that much benefit has been experienced f^om laying a thick ooating of snow upon such heaps, as by the gradual melting thereof the whole moisture is absorbed, and a ■trong fermentation immediately follows.
Upon large farms, where the management of manure is sufficiently understood and practised, it is an important matter to hare dunghills of all ages, and ready for use wbenerer the situation of a field calls for a restorative. No method of ap- plication to elay soils, however, is so beneficial as during the year of summer fallow, though in such a situation a greater stock of manure is often gathered than is required for the fields under this pmeess.
As to the proper quantity of dung to be used, no greater quantity ought to be given at one time than is sufficient to fruetify the gronndo ; in other words, to render it capable of producing good erops, before the time arrives when a fresh dose ean be administered.
The Sprmding of Dung,
The increased attention now bestowed, in ell the cultivated districts, to the spreading of dung, originated from the measure of limiting the quan- tity applied. When forty, fifty, nay even sixty doable loads were applied to an acre, it was nut Tery difficult to cover its surface, even with an impcrfeet separation, though it certainly was im- praetieable to bury the big lumps with a furrow of ordinary sixe; but when the quantity was brought down to eighteen and twenty loads, and, still more, when twelve or fourteen loads were thought sufficient, a difierent conduct became ab- solutely necessary. Another improvement also followed, vis., sprmwling dung when raw or green, that is, immediately after the carts; in which way, at least during summer, it will be separated at one-half the expense, and to much better purpose, than when it is suffered to lie in the heap for a day or two. In short, it is a sure mark of a slov- only fanner to see dung renuun unspread in a field, unless it be in the winter mouths, when it may happen that hands cannot be got for carry- ing on such operations with the usual regularity. At that time the injury sustained by losing a few days is not great, Uiough as a general rule it will he found that the expense is always smallest when the earts are regularly followed up.
Applhaiiim of Dnng to Twmipe. When turnip husbaiidry forms the chief branch 9t fallow process, dung is naturally of a superior quality, and requires little artificial management fiir bringing it to a proper state of preparation. In the neater part of Scotland, and even In Eng- land, where the drill and horse-hoeing system is prtetiso^ tho eonmon, and nadoubtedij tiie most
approved way of applying dnng to turnips, is hj laying it in the intervals of the drills or smaU ridges, which are previously made up bj a bomi, or two furrows of the plough. These drills of ridges are fonned at a distance of from twenty<i four to thirty inches from the centre of each ; and by driving the horses and cart along the middle one of the space intended to be manured, tho dung is drawn out either by the carter, or by anoUier man specially appoiifted for that pur- pose, in such proportions as the poverty of the soil, or the disposition of the occupier, may ret koa neoessary. If the breadth of three drills is unlj taken at a time, the dung stands a better ehanoa of being regularly administered; for it often hap- pens, that when a greater number are included ia one space, the two outside drills reeeive s less quantity than the intervening ones. ThosOi therefore, who limit themselves to three drills, generally divide the spreaders; as it requires six hands, women or hoys, to follow op what is usu- ally ealled a head of carts, the number of carta to a head being regulated by the distance of the dunghill, or the kind of road over whieh it is to be carried.
The quantity of dung usnslly given for turnips is from twelve to fifteen double cart loads, of one and a hnlf cubic yards each, to a Scots aere. In some oases only ten loads are given; but the land ought to be in hij^h condition where such a small quantity is bestowed. In fsot, no soil oaa be made too rich for turnips or other green erops, peas excepted ; but the objeot to be attended to in this, and every other ease, is an allotment of the manure collected on the premises, in soeh a way as that the greatest possible return over the whole farm, not from a particular field, may bo gained by the occupier.
ApplieatioH of Dung to Poiatom,
The culture is in several respects similar to thot of turnips, but in others it differs materially. Potatoes are planted eariier in the season than turnips: the ground rarely receives so mueh work ; the soils upon which they sre cultivated are more variable ; aad the dung eonsiderrd to bo most suitable for promoting their growth, does not require such high preparation. Many far- mers, notwithstanding these cireumstances, follow out the same process as described under the bead of turnips. After the ground reoeives three, or at most four ploughings. the drills are made up, dung deposited in the intervals, the seed planted above the dung, and the drills reversed; af^er whieh, say at the distance of two or three weeks, a slight harrowing is given. They avoid making up drills, but dung the ground in what may be called the broadcast way; and, entering the plough, plant the seed in every tbiid furrow, into whieh only the dung is raked ; and so on till the whole is finished. Before the young planU ap- pear, or even after they are above the surface, a complete harrowing is given, which is considered as equal to a hand-hoeing; aad from the dnng being eompletely covered, searoe any of it is dragged up, while the seed, being undermost, none of it is disturbed by the operation. Some farmers do not dung their potato fields; but, re. serving the manure till the crop is removed, find the remainder of the rotation greatly benefited* Potatoes scourge severely, and, In general case% require a larger quantity of dung than turnips, but, as the extent of land under this culture is not great in common farming, few people grudge this extra quantity, because, except in a friT favored situations, a good orop eaaaot otherwiso be sonably expoolod.
so
AOBICULTURS.
To Maftmre Clayey SoiU,
Upon all soils incambent on a wet or close bot- fom» whether characterised as day, loamy or moor, it may be laid down as a primary principle, that dung caanot be so profitably applied, as while the ground ts under the process of summer fallow.
When the ground is under the process of snm- ■ler fallow, it is then the best and most appro- priate time for applying manure to clayey soils. When under this prooess, the soil, comparatively fpeaking, is reduced into minute particles, which tfurds an opportunity of conveying the virtues •f manure through the veins or pores of all its parts. The soil, at that time» is also fVeed from its aboriginal inhabitants, quickens and other root- • weeds, which claim a preferable right of support ; hence the artificial plants, afterwards cultivated, possess, without a rival, such supplies as have been granted, without any deduction whatever. In short, without laying any stress upon ele- mentary effects during the procees, it does not admit of a doubt, that the same quantity of ma- mure, bestowed upon the ground when summer- fallowed, will produce a greater return to the occupier, than if it had been applied at any other stage of the rotation.
Dung should not be laid upon fallows before they are completely cleaned ; though, no doubt, in wet summers, that operation is not easily ao- eomplished.
To make sure work, the fallows, if possible, ihould be early stirred, and no opportunity slipped of putting them forward with the utmost expedi- tion ; for it rarely happens that much good can be done towards the destruction of root- weeds after the month of July. Before that time a ju- dicious farmer will have his fallow dressed up, and in a suitable state for receiving dung. It should be well harrowed, if the weather is favor- able, previous to the dung being laid on ; and if rolled, er made smooth, the spreaders will be en- abled to perform their task with much more pre- oision.
At the proper season every other operation ought to be laid aside, so that dung may be ex- peditiously spread out. To do it in wet weather is attended with pernicious effects; the horses are oppressed, a longer time is required, the land is poached, and in some measure deprived of all benefit from the previous fallow. These circum- stances will be refiected upon by the attentive farmer ; they will stimulate him not to lose a mo- ment when the weather is favorable, and prevent him from forcing on the work, when iigury, rather than benefit, may be expected. After all, seasons are so perverse as to render every rule nugatory. These must, however, be taken as they come, avoiding at such times to break the land down, ao- oUvating the ridges sufficiently, and keeping the water-furrows completely dear.
Quantity of Dung for Fallows,
Tbe quantity of dung usually applied to fal- lows in ordinary condition is from fourteen to twenty double loads per acre; though often good irops are reaped when twelve loads only have been
Jiven. Much, however, depends upon the oon- ition of the land, upon the quality of tbe dung, and the way in which the carts are loaded. A decent load may contain one cubic yard and three-fourths, and weigh a ton, or thereabouts. It also deserves notice, that less dung will serve â– ome lands than others, especially if they have lately been ploughed from grass ; but, at all events, idzteen such loi^s as are mentioned will answer for any sort of soil, unless it has been previously fsiua wrought out Even if It were in this forlorn
state, it is better management to dung vpon th* stubble of the first crop than to give an over-doaa when under summer fallow.
Time of Spreading ike Dung,
All dung laid upon summer fallow oufrht to \m spread the moment it is puUed out of the cart. It can at no other time be done so well, or ao cheaply, though on many farms, small ones espe^ ciaily, where a fUll supply of hands is wanting, this beneficial practice is much neglected. Four spreaders, boys or girls, with an attentive overa- man to follow up and supply any omissions, are sufficient for one head of carts ; the number in- cluded in a head being regulated by the distanoa of the field ttom the dunghill. Some farmers employ a person on whom they 9«i depend to draw the dung from the cart, who has judgment to proportion it according to circumstances, and is responsible for any faUure in the execution; but the carter is the person usually employed, though, unless a boy is given him to drive, a regu- lar distribution can hardly be expected. To in- sure accuracy in laying down, fields are some- times thrown into a dam-broad figure; and, a heap being drawn into each square, you could have nearly ascertained the quantity required for the whole. The great objeet, after a regular and economical distribution, is to shake and part tha whole completely; as, by minute attention to this circumstance, a much greater effect is necessarily produced.
Jntermediatt Dunging,
After the fallows are dunged, the remainder fa hand is reserved for what may be called the inter- mediate dunging, generally bestowed either upon clover stubbles, upon wheat stubbles previously to taking beans, or upon bean stubbles before the seed furrow is given for wheat. It is obvious, that the farmer must be regulated, in this inter- mediate dunging, by the weather at the time, though it rarely happens but that dung may be got out upon clover stubbles at one time of the winter or other. When applied to beans, a bene- ficial practice, the dung, as we said above, is by- some people laid upon the wheat stubble, and ploughed down before winter; hence it is in full action in the spring, when the seed furrow is given. Others nuke u^ drills at seed time, de- positing the dung in the intervals, as for turnips or potatoes ; but it seldom occurs that weather can then be got, at least on veal bean soils, fox executing this management.
Many arable farms, under the strictest economy, are unable to furnish supplies for an intermediate dunging, at least to its fta}\ extent; but persons so circumstanced have it always in their power to overcome tbe defect, and preserve a regular rota- tion, by keeping certain fields longer in grass, which of course will yield weightier crops when broken op, and stand less in nMd of manure du- ring the after rotation. As, for instance, in n rotation of six, and it is here that the greatest shortcoming is felt, grass seeds to a certain ex- tent, say a half, may be thrown in with the crop of wheat taken after fallow, which is the second year of the rotation ; this part may be pastured for three years, and broken up in the sixth for oats, which concludes the course. Again, in a rotation of eight, grass seeds, in like manner, mar - be sown with a part of the fallow wheat, which part can be pastured for three years, then broken up for oats, succeeded by beans and wheat. Bj sudi arrangements, made according to circum- stances, it is an easy matter to preserve a regulai rotation, and to proportion the com crops to thf quantity of maanie eolleeted upon the prsmJsss
HAKURBS.
21
IS inerpoM the QmanUig of Dnmg fiy Soilimg.
The practioe of soiling, or feeding horiei or •attle in the h«»uae or ftirm yard, is eminently ealcnlated to increase the quantity of mannre up- on every farm, and improve its quality.
The soiling of horses, in the summer months, on green elover and rye-grass, is a practice which prevails in many grain districts where farm labor is regularly exeeuted. The utility of the practice doee not need the support of argument, for it is not only economical to the farmer, but saves much fiatigne to the poor animal ; besides, the quantity of dung thereby gathered is considerable.
Oxen and cows of all sorts, might be supported and fed in like manner, during the whole of the grass season. It is well known that milch-cows nave, in several instances, been so kept; but it has rarely happened that other desoriptions of eattle have been Ted for the butcher aoeording to this mode, though it is perfectly practicable.
The chief benefit of soiling may be considered as arising from the immense quantity of floe dung which would thus be aoeumnlated, and which can he returned to the ground in the succeeding sea- son, after being properly fermented and prepared. In aU grain-farms, at least those of clayey soils, it is a work of great difficulty to rot the straw pro- duced upon it; and much of it is misapplied, in eonsequence of such soils being natunlly unfit for raising green winter-crops.
If a numerous stock of cattle were kept either in the house or in separate divisions of the fold yard, all the straw threshed in the summer months might be immediately converted into dung, the quality of which would be equal, if not superior, to what is made from turnips eonsumed at the stake.
Dung is the mother of good crops ; and it appears that no plan ean be devised by which a large quan- tity ean be so easily and cheaply gather^, or by which straw ean be so effectually rotted and ren- dered beneficial to the oceupier of a ol ay-land fann, as the s«»iling of grass in the summer season. In a word, the dung of animals fed upon green clover, may justly be reckoned the richest of all dung. It may, from the cironmstaoces of the season, be ra- pidl/ prepared, and may he applied to the ground at a very early period, mueh earlier than any other ■ort of dung ean be used with advantage.
To make Compott*.
The use of manure, in the shape of compost, or ingredients of various qualities, mixed together in oertain proportions, has long been a favorite prae- tioe with many farmers; though it is only in par- ticular situations that the praotioe can be exten- sively or profitably executed. The ingredients naed in these oomposts are chiefly earth and lime, sometimes dung, where the earth is poor; but lime may be regarded as the main agent of the process, acting as a stimulus for bnnging the powers of the heap into action. Lime, in this view, may be considered as a kind of yeast, operating upon a heap of earth as yeast does upon flour or meal. It is obvious, therefore, that unless a sufficient quantity is given, the heap may remain unfer- mented, in which ease little beneflt will be derived from it as a manure.
The best kind of e«rth for compost is that of the alluvial sort, which is always of a rich greasy sabstanoe, often mixed with marl, and in every respect calculated to enrich and invigorate barren soils, especially if they are of a light and open texture. Old yards, deep headlands, and sconrings cf ditches, offer themselves as the basis of com- |ost middens; but it is proper to summer-fallow them before hand, so that they may be entirely free •f weedsL When the lime is mUed with the soil
of these middens, repeated turnings are neeessary, that the whole may be suitably fermented, and somo care is required to apply the fermeoted mass at a proper time to the field on which it is to be used. The benefit of such a compost in nourishing soils is even greater than what ia gained by dresa- ing them with dung.
Lord MoadowhanVt DirecHone for wtaktug Com- poHB of Ptat-mtom,
Let the peat-moss, of which compost is to bo formed, be thrown out of the pit for some week! or months, in order to lose its redundant moisture. By this means, it is rendered the lighter to carrfi and less compact and weighty when made up with fresh dung for fermentation; and, accordingly, less dung is required for the purpose, than if tho preparation is made with peat taken reoently from the pit The peat taken from near the snrfaoe, <Hr at a considerable depth, answers equally welL
Take the peat- moss to a dry spot convenient for constructing a dunghill to serve the field to bo manured. Lay the cart-loads of it in two rows, and of the dung in a row betwixt them. The dung thus lies nearly on an area of the future compost dunghill, and the rows of Mat should be near enough each other, that worlAtaen, in making up the compost, may be able to throw them together by the spade. In m aking up, let the workmen b< gin at one end, and, at the extremity of the row of duns (which should not extend quite so far at that end as the rows of peats on each side of it do), let them lay a bottom of peat, six inches deep and Efteea feet wide, if the grounds admit of it, then ihrow forward, and lay on, about ten inches of dung abovo the bottom of peat ; then add from the side rows about six inches of peat; then four or five of dung, and then six more of peat; then another thin layer I of dung ; and then cover it over with peat at the end where it was begun, at the two sides, and above. The compost should not be raised above four feet, or four feet and a half high ; otherwise it is apt to press too heavily on the under parts, and check the fermentation. When a beginning ll thus made, the workmen will proceed working backwards, and adding to the columns of compost^ as they are furnished with the three rows of ma- terials directed to be laid down for them. They must take care not to tread on the compost, or render it too compact ; and, in proportion as the peat is wet, it should be made up in lumps, and not much broken.
In mild weather, seven cart-loads of common farm-dung, tolerably fresh made, is sufficient for twenty-one cart-loads of peat-moss ; but in cold weather, a larger proportion of dung is desirable. To every twenty-eight carts of the compost, when made up, it is of use to throw on, above it, a cart- load of ashes, either made from coal, peat, or wood ; half the quantity of slacked lime, the more finely powdered tho better.
The compost, after it is made np, gets into a general heat, sooner or later, according to the weather, and the condition of the dung. In sum- mer, in ten days or sooner; in winter, not perhapi for many weeks, if the cold is severe. In the for- mer season, a stick should be kept in it in different parts, to pull out and feel now and then ; for, if it approaches blood-heat, it should either be watered or turned over; and, on such an occasion, advantage may b^ taken to mix with it a little fresh inoss. The heat subsides after a time, and with great variety, according to the weather, the dung, and the perfection of the compost ; which should then be allowed to be untouched, till within three weeks of using, when it should be turned over upside down, and outside in, and all lumps broken s tbsa
sa
AOBICULTURS.
it eoBM into a Moond heat, but soon eools, and shfvld be taken oat for use. In this vtate the whole, except bits of the old decayed wood, ap- pears a black free mass, and spreads like garden mould. Use it weight for weight, as farm-yard dung; and it will be found, in a course of crop- ping, fully to stand the comparison.
Peat, nearly as dry as garden-mould in seed- time, may be mixed with the dung, so as to double the volume. Workmen must begin with using layers ; but, when accustomed to the just pT\.p(irtions, if they are furnished with peat mod- erately dry, and dung not lost in litter, they throw it up together as a mixed mass, and make a less proportion of dung senre for the preparation.
The rich coarse earth, which is frequently found on the surface of peat, is too heavy to be admit- ted into this compost; but it makes an excellent top-dressing, if previously mixed and turned over with lime.
Jhr, ^snntVs Mtikod of OtmotrHmg Jfoss into Ma- nure,
The importance of moss as a manure is now generally admitted by all who have had an op-
?ortunity of making experiments on that subject he Rev. Dr. Ronnie, of Kilsyth, having proved the utility of filtration, has recommended, in pri- vate letters, to water the collected heap of moss for about ten days, once each dsy, very copiously ; and when that is done, to trim it up to a compact body, allow it to dry, and to receive a gentle de- gree of heat The degree of heat necessary for accomplishing that end, is sufficient though not discoverable by the hand. If it only affects the thermometer a little, it is declared to be a ma- nure. The doctor also declares, that moss can be converted by filtering steam through it; and more expeditiously stUl, by exposing it to a run- ning stream of water. If the WMter penetrates the moss, it expels its poisonous qualities sooner and more effectually than any other mode ever devised. When it is sufficiently purified by any of these means, it must be laid up to dry, and is in a short time ready for applying to the land.
U99 of LtTM a» Manure
This mineral, after undergoing the process of ealcination, has long been applied by husband- men as a stimulus to the soil, and, in consequence of such an application, luxuriant crops have been produced, even upon soils apparently of inferior quality, and which would have yielded crops of trifling value had this auxiliary been withheld. In fact, the majority of soils cannot be cultivated with advantage till they are dressed with lime; and whether this beneficial effect shall be consid- ered as an alterative, or as a stimulant, or as a manure, it will be found to be the basis of good husbandry, and of more use than all other ma- nures put together. Wherever lime has been prcperly applied, it has constantly been found to ptove as much superior to dung, as dung is to the rakings of roads, or the produce of peat-mire. ^ In respect of operation, it is immaterial whether lime be used upon grass land or summer-fallow. Upon old grass land, it is perhaps best to plough first, and to summer- fallow in the second year, when lime can be applied. On new and clean grass land, it may be limed at the outset, that is before the plough is admitted.
To lime moorish soils is a hasardous business, unless dung is likewise bestowed : but to repeat the application upon such soils, especially if they have been severely cropped, is almost a certain loss ; a compost of lime and rich earth is, in such eases, the only substitute.
Strong loams and clays require a full doto to bring them into action ; such soils being capable of Absorbing a greater qunntity of caloareona matter. Lighter soils, however, require less lime to stimulate them, and may be ii^ared by admin- istering a quantity that would prove moderately beneficial to those of a heary nature.
Upon fresh land, or land in a proper state for a calcareous application, lime is much superior to dung. Its effects continue for a longer period 1 while the crops produced are of a su))enor kina and less susceptible of iigury from the excesaoa of drought and moisture. Finally, the ground, particularly what is of a strong nature, is much easier wrought; and, in many instances, the saving of labor would almost tempt a judicious farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit do- rived from the application than the opportunity thereby gained of working it in a perfect manner.
It may be added, that though strong soils re- quire to be animated with a strong dose of lime^ those of a light texture will do well with little more than half the quantity requisite on the others, especially if they are fresh, />r have not already received an application of oaloaroona matter.
Application of Marl,
In many places the value of land has boea much augmented by the application of marL Treating of this article in a practical way, it may be divided into shell-marl and Mirtfa-marl. Shell- marl is composed of animal shells dissolved; earth-marl is also fossil. The color of the latter is various ; its hardness being sometimes soft and ductile, like clay; sometimes hard and solid, like stone; and sometimes it is extended into thin beds, like slate. Shell-marl is easily distin- guished by the shells, which always appear in it ; but the similarity betwixt earth-marl and manj other fossil substances, renders it difficult to dia- tinguish them.
Shell-marl is very different in its nature trom clayey and stone marls, and, from its effects upon the soil, is commonly classed among the animal manures : it does not dissolve with water as tho ot)ier marls do. It sucks it up, and swells with it like a sponge. Dr. Home says, that it takoa six times more of acids to saturate it than any of the other marls which he had met with. But the greatest difference betwixt the shell-marl and the other marls consists in this, tho shell-marl con- tains uiU.
This marl, it would seem from the qualities which it possesses, promotes vegetation in all the different ways. It increases the food of plants ; it communicates to (he soil a power of attractingf this food from the air; it enlarges the pasture of plants; and it prepares the vegetable food for entering their roots.
SheUy Sand, The shelly sand, often found deposited in bods in the crevices and level parts of the sea-coasts, is another substance capable of being employed^ both as a manure and stimulant, not only on ac- count of its containing calcareous matter, in greater or less proportions, but also from the mixture of animal and vegetable substances that are found in it The portion of calcareous matter contained in these substances must vary accord- ing to circumstances; but, when the quantity is any way large, and in a reduced or attenuated state, the quality is so mueh the more valuable. On that account the quantity which ought to be applied to the soil, must be regulated by the ex- tent of calcareous matter, supposed, or fouadp upon trial, to be contained in the article.
MANURES.
28
Clnyejf and SlcmB MarU,
TIm clayey and stone marls are difdngnished bj their eolors, viz., white, black, blue, and red. ne white, being of a soft, cmmbly nature, is •oDsidered to be the best for pasture land ; and Hie blue, wbirh is more compact and firm, for grain land. In ihe districts where msrl is much «sed. these distinctions of management are at- tended with advantage, if the following mles are •dbered to:
If msrl is of the bins hind, or of any kind that Is compact or firm, lay it upon the land early in the season, so as the weather may mellow it down bcifere the last plough ; and, if on pasture land, lat it also be early laid on, and spread very thin, breaking any lumps afterwards which are not aompletely separated by the first spreading. If Barl is of the white, or any of the loose or omm- hling sorts, it need not be laid on so early ; be- eaose these varieties break and dissolve almost as soon as exposed to the weather.
Sea- weed is driven sshore aflA storms, and is found to be an excellent article for manuring light and dry soils, though of little advantage to those of a clayey description. This article may be applied on the proper soil with advantage to any crop, and its effeots are immediate, though rarely of long continuance. As the ooast-side lands of Qreat Britain are, in every case, of superior fertility to those that are inland, we may attribute this su- perior fertility to the great quantity of manure found upon their shores after every storm or high tide, whereby the resources of the ocean are in a manner brought forward for the enrichment of tba lands locally situated for participating in such benefits. The utmost attention has long been paid to the gathering and laying on \of this valu- able manure.
Application of Sea-weed, 8ea-weed is applied at all seasons to the surfa/)e^ mad sometimes, though not so profltiibly, it is mixed with untrodden dung, that the process of pntrefaotion may be hastened. Generally speak- lag, it is at once applied to the soil, which saves labor, and prevents that degree of waste which otherwise would necessarily happen. Sea-weed Is, in one respect, preferable to the richest dung, bocaose it does not produce such a quantity of weeds. The salt contained in sea-weed, and ap-
Elied with it, is the real cause of the afler-clean- noss. This may bo inferred from the general state of coast-side lands, where sen-weed is used. These lands are almost constantly kept in tillage, and yet are cleaner and freer from weeds than those in the inland situations, where grain crops are not so often taken.
When a coast-side farm contains mixed soils, tho best management is exercised, by applying •ea-weed to dry, and dung to elay-land. In this way, the full advantage of manure may bo ob- tained, and a form so circumstanced is of infi- nitely greater value, with respect to manuring •Ld laboring, than the one which contains no such Ttriety.
Burning the Sur/acB, The practice of burning the surface, and apply- ing the ashes as manure to the soil that remains, has been long pcevalent in Britain ; and is oon- sUered as the mo«t advantageous way of bring- fag in and improving all soils, where the surface oarried a coarse sward, and was oompofod of peat- earth, or other inactive substances. The burning of this surface has been Viewed as the best way of bringing such soils into action ; the ashes, fur- aishod fagr tho baming, serving as a itimulaat to
raise up their dorms nt powers, thereby readorinf them fertile and productive in a superior degrw to what could otherwise be accomplished.
Mr, Ourwen't Metkod of Burning Sm/am Mlmnd
Clay.
Mounds of seven ysrds in length, and three and a half in breadth, are kindled with seventy^two Winchester bushels of lime. First, a layer of dry sods or ps rings, on which a quantity of lime is spread, mixing sods with it, then a covering of eight inches of sods, oa which tho other half of the lime is spread, and coversd a foot thick, tho height of the mound being about a yard.
In twenty- four hours it will take fire. The limo should be immediately from the kiln. It is better to suffer it to ignite itself, than to effect it by tho operation of water. When the fire is fairly kin- dled, flresh sods must be applied. I should re- commend obtaining a sufficient body of ashes bo- fore any clay is put oa the mounds. The firo naturally rises to the top. It takes less time, and does more work to draw down the ashes from tho top, and not to suffer it to rise above six feet. Tho former practice of bumiog in kilns was more ex- pensive; did much less work; and, in many in- stances, calcined tho ashes. * I think it may fairly be supposed that the limo adds full its worth to the quality of the ashes. Where limestone can be had, I should advise tho burning of a small quantity in the mounds, which would be a great improvement to the ashes, and^ at the same time, help to keep the fire in.
The general adopting of the system of surface and soil clay-bumlng, is likely to be an importaiU discovery for the interests of agriculture.
To bum Mom vfiUi ike Aekea, The following directions for burning moss along with the ashes are of considerable importance: Begin the fire with dry faggots, furse, or straw, then put on dried moss finely minced and well beaten with a clapper ; snd when that is neariy burnt down, put on moss less dry, but well niinoed and clapped, making boles with a prong to carry on the fire, and so adding more moss till a hill of ashes, something of the sise of a wagon load, is accumulated, which, when cold, carry to the bin% or store heaps, before the ashes get wet.
Mr, Roeeoife Method of Improwing Moaa Land, The best method of improving moss land is by the application of a calcareous substance in a suf- ficient quantity to convert the moss into a soil, and by the occasional use of animal or other ex- traneous manures, such as the course of cultiva- tion and the nature of the crops may bo found to require.
After setting fire to the heap and herbage oa the moss, and ploughing it down as far as practi- cable, Mr. Rosooe ploughs a thin sod or furrow with a very sharp horse- plough, which he buraa in small heaps and dissipates; considering it of little use but to destroy the tough woods of tho ediophorus, nardus stricta, and other plants whose matted roots are almost imperishable. The moss being thus brought to a tolerably dry and level substance, then plough it in a regular furrow six inches deep, and as soon as possible after it is turned up, set upon it the necesssry quantity of marl, not less than 200 cubic yarJs to the acre. As the marl begins to crumble and fall with the sun or frost, It is spread over the land with considerable exactness, after which put in a crop as early as possible, sometimes by the plough, and at others with the horse-scuffle, or scarifier, according to the nature of the crop, a quantity of manure, setting on about twenty toas to tho aera.
i
u
AORICULTUBS.
Moss-luid, thns treated, may not onlj be ad- Tanlageously cropped the first year with f^'een erope, as potatoes, tamips, ete., bat with any kind «f grain.
Peat and Peat Aehee ueed at Manure,
In the county of Bedford, England, peat anhes are sold as manure, and are used as a top dressing for clovers, and sometimes for barley, at the rate of from forty to sixty bushels per acre. They are usually spread during the month of March, on eloTer, and on the surface of the barley-lsnds after the seed is sown. Peat ai^hes are also admir- ably useful as manure for turnips, and are easily drilled with or over the seed, by means of a drill- box connected with a loaded cart
After the quantity required has been oast, a por- tion sufficient to kindle a large heap (suppose two cart-loads), is dried aa much as if intended for winter's use. A conical pile Is then built and fired, and as soon as the flame or smoke makes its appearance at any of the crevices, it is kept back by fresh peat, just sufficiently dry to be free from water; and thus the pile is continually increased, until it has burnt thirty or forty loads, or as much more as may be required. The slower the process the better; but, in case of too languid a consump- tion, the heap should be stirred by a stick, when- ever the danger of extinction seems probable.
In case of rain, the workmen should be prepared with some coarse thick turf, with which to cover the surface of the cone.
Coal Aehea need ae Manure, Coal ashes may likewise be made a most useful article of manure, by mixing with every cart-load of them one bushel of lime in its hottest state, covering it up in the middle of the heap for about twelve hours, till the lime be entirely slacked, and incorporating them well together ; and, by tam- ing the whole over two or three times, the cinders, or half- burnt parts of the coal, will be reduced to as fine a powder aa the lime itself. The coal-ashes should, however, be carefully kept dry ; this mix- ture will be found one of the best improvers of moorish and benty land.
Method of Burning Lime foithoui Kilne.
The practice of lime-bnmers in Wales has for- merly been to bum lime in broad shidlow kilns, hut lately they have begun to manufacture that article without any kiln at all.
They place the limestone in large bodies, which are called coaks, the stones not being broken small as in the ordinary method, and calcine these heaps In the way used for preparing charcoal. To pre- vent the flame from bursting out at the top and sides of these heaps, turfs and earth are placed against them, and the aperture psrtially closed; and the heat is regulated and transfused through the whole mass, that notwithstunding the increased sise of the stones, the whole becomes thoroughly calcined. As a proof of the superior advantage that lime burnt in these clamps or coaks has over lime burnt in the old method, where furmers have ^n option of taking either lime at the same price, a preference is invariably given to that burned in heaps. This practice has long prevailed in York- shire and Shropshire, and is also familiar in Scot-
Mr, Crai^e Improved Method of Burning dajf.
Make an oblong enclosure, of the dimensions •fa small house — say fifteen feet by ten- of green turf-seeds, raised to the height of three and a half or four feet In the Inside of this enclosure air-pipes are drawn diagonally, which oommuni- •ate with holea left at taoh comer of the exterior
wall. These pipes are formed of sods put on edsre, and the space between sc wide only as another sod can easily cover. In each of the four spacoe left between the air-pipes and the outer wall, a Are is kindled with wood and dry turf, and then the whole of the inside of the enclosure or kiln filled with dry turf, which is very poon on fire; and, on the top of that, when well kindled, ia thrown on the clay, in small quantities at a time, and repeated as often as jiecessary, which must be regulated by the intensi^ of the burning. Tha air-pipes are of use onlym first, because if th« fire bums with tolerable keenness, the sods lorm- ing the pipes will soon be reduced to ashes. The pipe on the weather side of the kiln only is left open, the mouths of the other three being rtoppad up, and not opened except the wind should ve«r about. As the inside of the encloiiure or kiln begins to be filled up with clay, the outer wall must be raised in height, at least fifteen inches higher than the top of the clay, for the purpose of keeping the wind from acting on the fire. When the fire burns through the outer wall, which it often does, and particularly when the top is over-loaded with clay, the breach must be stopped up immediately, which can only be efieo- tusily done by building another sod wall from the foundation opposite to it, snd the sods that formed that part of the first wall are soon re> duced to ashes. The wall can be raised as high as may be convenient to throw on the clay, and the kiln may be increased to any sise by forming a new wall when the previous one is burnt through.
The principal art in burning consists in baring the outer whII made quite close and impervious to the external air, snd taking care to have the top always lightly, but completely, covered with clay ; because if the external air should come in contact with the flre, either on the top of the kiln or by means of its bursting through the sides, the fire will be very soon extinguished. In short, the kilns require to be well attended, nearly as closely as charcoal -pits. Clay is much easier burnt than either moss or loam — it does not undergo any altemtion in its shape, and on that account alloa-s the fire and smoke to get up easily between the lumps — whereas moss and loam, by crumbling down, are very apt to smother the fire, unless care- fully attended to. No rule can be laid down for regulating the sise of the lumps of clay thrown on the kiln, as that must depend on the state of the fire. After a kiln is fairly set going, no coal or wood, or any sort of combustible, is necessary, the wet clay burning of itself, and it can only be ex- tinguished by intention, or the carelessness of the operator, the vicissitudes of the weather having hardly any effect on the fires, if properly attended to. When the kiln is burning with great keenness, a stranger to the operation may be apt to think that the fire is extinguished. If, therefore, any person, either through impatience or too great curiosity, should insist on looking into the interior of the kiln, he will certainly retard, and may possibly extinguish, the fire; Uie chief secret consisting, aa before-mentioned, in keeping out the external sir.
The flbove method of burning clay may be con- sidered as an essential service rendered to agri- culture; as it shows farmers how to convert, at a moderate expense, the most worthless barren sub- soil into excellent manure.
To deeompoee Oreen Vegetahlee for Manure,
The following process for the decomposition of green vegetables, for manure, has be«n praetised with great nuccess in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, England: —
Place a layer of vegetable matter a foot th&ek»
KANUBE8.
25
Umb a thin layer of lime, alternaiely ; In a few houn tbe decomposition will bej^in, and, unless preTented by sods, or a fork full of vegetables, will Dreak out into a blase; this must be guarded against ; in twenty-four hours the prooess will be eompleted. Weeds of every desoriptlon will an- swer for vegetables ; two pounds' worth of lime will produoe manure for four acres. tJse the Tcgetables as soon afler cutting as possible, and the lime fresh from the kUn, as cUstance will allow.
Bcnm J/infiMra.
Mills are oonstrneted for the purpose of bruis> ing (not pounding) bones; and the dust riddled therefrom is reckoned a still stronger manure. The sam4 person selects the best bunes, which are sawn into pieces, fur button-moulds and knife-handles: and the saw-dust from this ope« ration is pariionlarly useful in gardens and hot- beda. It suits every vegetable, hot-house^ or green-house plant.
Bone manure is beat adapted for cold and light aandy land. The usual quantity per acre is seventy bushels, when used alone; but when mixed with ashes, or common manure of any sort, thirty busbels per acre is thought quite enough. It is applied at the same periods as other manure, and has been found in this way to remain seven years in the ground. The rough part of this manure, after being five years in the ground, has been gathered off one field and thrown upon another of a different soil, and has proved, even then, good manure.
The bones which are best filled with oil and marrow are certainly the best manure; and the parts generally used for buttons and knife-hafts are the thigh and shank bunes. The powdered bones are dearer, and generally used for hot-beds in gardens, being too expensive for the field, and Bot so durable as brui^ bones, yet, for a short time, more productive.
A dry, light, or gentle soil, is best adapted for tbe use of bone-manure; as it is supposed that, in land which retains wet, the nutritive part of the bone washes to the surface of it and does not incorporate snfliciently with the soiL
Bruised bones are better when mixed with ashes or any other manure, as the juice of the bone is then more equally spread over the field. Bone manure ought to be ploughed into the land in tillage. On the grass the powder should be sown in the hand.
Super-Photphate of Edme,
To Liebig is due the greatest credit for the thoorjr that the organic matter of plants is supplied abnnd* antly by nature from air and water ; that the ashee of plants exhibit the mineral matters most needed for a fertile soil ; that the ashes of the most valu- able parts, such as the bask of wheat, especially show what matters are required for the most abandant production of those parts ; that soils are most frequently deficient in phosphoric acid, whieh should be supplied in the form of bones, guano, and more especially as a more or less soluble phoi-
Shate of lime. Long and extensive experienee as proved the great value of a ffftilizer which contains a portion of so-called super- phosphate of lime ; that is, a bone-phosphate of lime, which is treated with sulphuric acid, so that more or leas of I he phosphate will dissolve in water. Of course a true chemical super-phosphate would wholly dis- •otve, but such a one is imprActicable in use; moreover it is found by practice that a few per aent of pho^horie acid in a fertiliser is sufficient to insure its promotion of fertility. Hence some fertilixars in commerce oonaist almost wholly of a
phosphate of lime mixed with a little sulphate of lime (planter), resulting from the action of tlia sulphuric acid, so that it contains 15 to 20 |»ar cent, phosphoric acid, one-third or one-fourth of which readily dissolves in water. Theae fertiliMra are found to yield excellent results when applied to the soil.
The superiority of these nitrogenous snperphcs- phated fertilisers over all others may be summed ap in a few words. They surpass stable manure in their extremely small bulk and weight for the same fertilising effect, and eonseqoently in tha mater ease and less expense of their handlings hauling and spreading, and yet further in their never fouling land by the seeds of weeds and noxious plants. They excel bones and phosphatia gnano in their more rapid action and Uieir yield- ing a quicker return. They excel Peruvian gnano in continuing their fertilising effects for a longer period of time, in their being less violent at first, and yet sufliciently energetic to yield a return tha first season of their application. Most of onr land is either poor by nature or through exhaust- ive cropping, and there is nothing that will mors rapidly restore and increase their fertility than the ammoniated super-phosphates. It may ha yet further observed, tbafr there is scarcely any soil to which their application will not prove a decided benefit, and scarcely a crop which they will not improve, whether grain, vegetables, coi> ton, tubaooo, fruits, etc
Variou§ Snhtianeet uMd aa Jfanare.
J. B. Bailey, Esq., presented to the Agrievl* tural Society of Manchester, the following enu- meration of substances which may be applied usefully as manures instead of stable dung, vis., mud, sweepings of the streets, and coal-ashes, night-soil, bones, refuse matters, as sweepings and rubbish of houses, etc, sea-weeds, sea-shells, and sea-gravel, river-weeds, sweepings of roiids, and spent tanner's bark to mix with lime. Peat or moss, decayed vegetables, putrid water, the ashes of weeds, etc., the refuse of bleacher's ashes, soap suds, or lye, peat ashes, water in- floating, refuse salt.
The use of liquid manure, so long common in China and Japan, is gaining in favor with agri- culturists everywhere. Peruvian gnano is ona of the important discoveries of modem times ; with its use ground slmost barren may be made prodao- tive; it is available for almost all kinds of crops.
Plaater of Pari* wed at Manure, Plaster of Paris is used as a manure in Pennsyl- vania and elsewhere. The best kind is imported from hills in the vicinity of Paris : it is brought down the Seine, and exported from Havre de Grace. The lumps composed of flat shining spicule are pre- ferred to those which are formed of round parti- cles like sand; the simple method of finding out the quality is to pulverise some, and put it diy into an iron pot over the fire, when that which is good, will soon boil, and great n^nan titles of the fixed air escape by ebullition. It is pulverized by first putting it in a stamping-mill. The finer its pulverization the better, as it will thereby be more generally diffused.
It is best to sow it on a wet day. The most approved quantity for grass is six bushels per acre No art is required in sowing it more than making the distribution as equal as possible en ' the sward of grass. It operates altogether iis a top manure, and therefore should not be put on la the spring until the principal frosts are oyer and vegetation has begun. The general time for sowing in America is in April, May, June, July,
26
AQBICULTUBl.
A«g:nit, uid eren an late m Septembar. Its •ffeots will gBnersIly »ppear in ten or fifteen dajs ; after w hteh the growth of the grau will be to great as to produce a large burden at the end of six weeks after sowing.
it Diuflt De iiown on dry land, not snbjeet to be overflown. It baa been sown on sand, luam, and elay, and it ia dilBoult to aay oo which it has beat answered, although the effect is sooner viaible on sand. It has been nsed as a manure in this state for twelve years; for, like other manure, its con- tinuance very much depends on the nature of the â– oil on which it is placed.
Hode of ApfAying Blubber a§ a Manure.
This is a very rich ingredient, as well for ara- ble as pasture lands, when mixed at the rate of one ton of blubber to twenty loads of mould, and one ohaidron of lime, per acre. It must be turned over and pulverised; and when it has lain in this state three or four months, it will become fit for use, and may be put upon the land in such quantities as the quality of the land to be ma- nured requirea. It is a veiy strong manure, and Texy excellent.
Application of Manuree to Land.
Early in autumn, after the hay crop ia removed, ia the most convenient and least objectionable pe- riod for the purpose. The common practice ia to apply manures during the fVost, in the winter. But the elastic fluids being the greatest supports of vegetation, manures should be applied under circumstances that favor their generation. These will occur in spring, after the grass has, in some degree, covered the ground, the dun|f being then shaded from the sun. After a fW>8t much of the Tirtues of the dung will be washed away by the thaw, and its soluble parts destroyed, and in a frosty state the ground is incapable of absorbing liquids.
Management of Arable Land,
Alternate husbandry, or the aystem of having leguminoua and oulmiferous crops to follow each other, with some modifications, is practicable on every soil. According to its rules, the land would rarely get into a fuul and exhausted state ; at least, if foul and exhausted under alternate hus- bandry, matters would be much worse were any other system followed. The rotation may be long or short, as is consistent with the richness of the foil, on which it is executed, and other local cir- cumstances. The crops cultivated may be any of the varieties which compose either of the two tribes, according to the nature of soil and climate of the district where the rotation is exercised, and where circumstances render ploughing not so advanta- geous as pasturing, the land may remain in graoa, till those cironmstances are obviated, care being always taken, when it is broken up, to follow alternate husbandry during the time it is under tillage.
In this way we think it perfectly practicable to follow the alternate system in every situation ; nor do we consider the land being in grass for two, three, or four years, as a departure from that sys- tem, if called for by a scarcity of manure, poverty of soil, want of markets for oom, or other acci- dental circumstanoea. The basis of every rotation wo hold to be either a bare summer fallow, or a fallow on which drill turnips are cultivated, and its conclusion to be with the crop taken in the year preceding a return of fallow or drilled tur- nips, when, of course, a new rotation commences.
Fir§t Rotation of Crope,
According to this rotation, wheat and drilled boans are the crops to bo oaitivated, though clover
and rye-grass may be taken for one year, in place of beana, ahould anch a variety be viewed as mora eligible. The rotation begina with summer fallow, because it is only on strong deep landa that it can be profitably practised ; and it may go on tor aay length of time, or ao long as the land can be kept clean, though it ought to stop the moment that the land gets into a contrary condition. A con- siderable quantity of manure is required to go on suooeasfully ; dung should be given to each heaa crop; and if this crop is drilled and attentively horse-boed, the rotation may turn out to bo one of the most profitable that can be exerciaed.
Secomd Rotation.
Upon loams nod clays, where it may not be ad- visable to carr} the first rotation into execution, a different one can be practised, according to which labor will be more divided, and the usual grains more generally cultivated ; as, for instance :
1. Fallow, with dung. 2. Wheat. 3. Beans, drilled and horse- hoed. 4. Barley. 6. Clover and rye-grass. 6. Oats, or wheat. 7. Beans, drilled and horae-hoed. 8. Wheat
This rotation is excellently calculated to insure an abundant return through the whole of it, pro- vided dung is administered upon the clover stub- ble. Without this supply the rotation would bo crippled, and inferior crops of course produced in the concluding years.
Third Rotation.
This rotation is calculated for days and loami of an inferior description to those already treated of:
1. Fallow, with dung. 3. Wheat 8. Clover and rye-grass. 4. Oats. 6. Beans, drilled and horse-hued. 6. Wheat
According to this rotation, the rules of good husbandry are studiously practised, while the so- quenoe is obviously calculated to keep the land in good order, and in such a condition as to insure crops of the greatest value. If manure is be- stowed either upon the clover stubble or before the beans are sown, the rotation is one of the beat that can be devised for the soils mentioned.
Fourth Rotation.
On thin clays gentle husbandry is indispensably necessary, otherwise the soil may be exhausted, and the produce unequal to the expense of culti- vation. Soils of this description will not improve much while under grass, but unless an additional stock of manure can be procured, there is a neces- sity of refreshing them in that way, even though the produce should, in the meantime^ be compara- tively of small value. The following rotation is an excellent one :
1. Fallow, with dung. 2. Wheat 8. Grass, pastured, but not too early eaten. 4. Grass. 5. Grass. 6. Oats.
This rotation may be shortened or leagthenod, according to circumstances, but should never ex- tend further in point of ploughing, than when dung can be given to the fallow break; This is the keystone of the whole, and if it is neglected the rotation U rendered useless.
Fifih Rotation.
Peat-earth soils are not friendly to wheat unlesc aided by a quantity of calcareous matter. Taking them in a general point of riew, it is not advi- sable to cultivate wheat, but a crop of oats may almost be depended upon, provided the previous management nas been judiciously exeouted. If the sub-soil of peat-earth lands be retentive of moisture, the process ought to commence with a bare summer fallow; but if such are incumbent on free and open bottoms^ a orop of tomipt aay
WHBAT.
27
be rabftitatad for Mloir, aooordtng to which method the snrfaoe will get a bodj which nata- tall/ it did not possets. Grass, on saeh soils, most nlways occupy a great space of e^ery rotation, be- eaase physical circnmstanoes render regular crop- ping utterly impracticable.
1. Fallow, or turnips, with dung. 2. Oats, of an early vanity. 3. CloTer, and a considerable quantity of perennial rye-grass. 4. Pasture for federal years, till eiroumstances permit the land to be broken up, when oats are to be repeated.
Sixth Boiati<m,
Light soils are easily managed, though to pro- care a full return of the profits which they are eapable of yielding, requires generally as much attention as is necessary in the management of those of a stronger description. Upon light soils a bare summer fallow is seldom called for, as eleanliness may be presenred by growing turnips and other leguminous articles. Grass also is of eminent advantage upon such soils, often yielding a greater profit than what is siforded by culmifer- ous crops.
1. Turnips. 2. Spring wheat, or b^^Iey. S. CloTer and rye-grass. 4. Oats, or wheat.
This rotation would be greatly improved, were it extended to eight years, whilst the ground by rach an extension, would be kept fresh, and con- stantly in good condition. As for instance, were seeds for pasture sown in the second year, the ground kept three years under grass, then broken up for oats in the sixth year, drilled with beans and peas in the seventh, and sown with wheat in the eighth, the rotation would be complete; be- •ause it included erery branch of husbandry, end admitted a rariety in management generally agreeable to the soU, and always favorable to the interest of cultivators. The rotation msy also •onsist of six crops, were the land kept only one year in grass, though few situations admit of so much cropping, unless additional manure is within reach.
Sevtmik SotatioH,
Bandy soils, when properly manured, are well adapted to turnips, though it rarely happens that wheat can be cultivated on them with advantage, unless they are dressed with alluvial compost, marl, day, or some such substance, as will give a body or strength to them which they do not nntu- rally possess. Barley, oats, and rye, the latter especially, are, however, sure crops on sands ; and, in favorable seasons, will return greater profit than can be obtained from wheaL
1. Turnips, consumed on the ground. 2. Bar- ley. 3. Grass. 4. Rye or oats.
By keeping the land three years in grass, the rotation would be extended to six years, a mea- gnre highly advisable.
From what has been stated, every person capa- ble of judging will at once perceire the facility of arranging husbandry upon correct principles, and of oropping the ground in such a way as to make It produce abundant returns to the occupier, whilst at the same time it is preserved in good •ottdition, and never impoverisned or exhausted. AU these things are perfectly practicable under tike all srnate system, though it is doubtful whether they can fcs gained under any other.
It may be added, that winter-sown crops, or crops sown on the winter furrow, are most eligible on all clayey soil>f.
Ploughing, with a riew to clean soils of the de- scription under consideration, has little effect un- less given in the summer months. This renders summer fallow indispensably necessary; end, without this radioal process, none of the heavy
and wet soils can be suitably managed, ir pr^ served in n good condition.
To adopt a judicious rotation of chopping for every soil, requires a degree of judgment in the fanner, which can only be gathered from ubser- valiiin and experience. The old rotations were calculated to wear out the soil, and to render it unproductive; but the modem r»tation<, such as thotie which we have described, sre fuunded on principles which insure a full return fntm the soil, withi'Ut lessening its value, or impuverishing iu oondttion. Much depends, however, up<:n the manner in which the different processes sre exe- cuted; for the best-arranged rotation may be of no avail, if the processes belonging to it are im- perfectly and unreasonably executed.
To CHltivat4 WhcnL
On soils really calculated for wheat, though in different degrees, summer fallow is the fimt and leading step to gain a good crop or crops of that grain. The first furrow should be given befttre winter, or ss early as the other operations of the farm will admit; and erery attention shunld be used to go MS deep as possible ; for it rarely hap- pens that any of the succeeding furrows exceed the fir»t one in that respect. The number of after-ploughings must be regulated by the cundi- tion of the ground and the state of the weather; but, in general, it may be observed, that plungh- ing in length and across, alternately, is the way by which the ground will be most completely ou^ and the intention of fallowing aeoomplished.
Fan'eftes ttf Seed.
Wheat may be classed under two principal di- visions, though each of these 'admits of several subdivisions. The first is composed of all tha varieties of red wheaL The second division com- prehends the whole varieties of white wheat, which again may be arranged under two distinot heads, namely, thick-chaffMi and thin -chaffed.
The thick-chaffed varieties were formerly in greatest repute, generally yielding the whittj^ and finest flour, and, in dry sessons, not inferior in produce to the other; but since 1799, when the disease culled mildew, to which they are consti- tutionally predisposed, raged so extensively, they have gradually been going out of fashion.
The thin-chaffed wheats are a hardy class, and seldom mildewed, unless the weather be particu- larly inimical during the stages of blossoming, filling, and ripening, though some of them are •rather better qualified to resist that destructive disorder than others. In 1799, thin- chaffed wheats were seriously iigured; and ini<tancea were nut wanting to show, that an aero of them, with respect to value, exceeded an acre of thick- chaffed wheat, quantity and quality considered, not less thau fifty per cent Since that time, therefore, their culture has rapidly increased ; and to this circumstance may, in a great measure, ba attributed the high character which thin-chalfed wheats now bear.
Method of Sowinff.
Bowing in the broadcast way may be said to be the mode universally practised. Upon well pre- pared lands, if the seea be distributed equally, it can scarcely be sown too thin; perhaps two bushels per acre are sufllcient; for the heaviest crops at autumn are rarely those which show the most vigorous appearance through the winter months. Bean stubbles require more seed than summer fallows, because the roughness of their surface prevents such an equal distribution ; and clover leas ought to be still thicker sown than bean stubbles. Thin sowing in spring ought not
28
AOBIOULTURS.
in hm praotifled, otherwise the orop will be late, and imperfeotly ripened. No more harrowing •huuld be given to fields that have been fallowed, than what is neoessary to ooTer the seed, and level the surface suffioiently. Ground, which is to lie in a broken-down state through the winter, suffers severely when an excessive harrowing is riven, especially if it is incumbent on a oluse bottom; thoughi as to the quantity necessary, none can give an opinion, except those who are personally present.
To tow Orain hy Mihbing,
The ribbing of grain crops was introduced into Great Britain in the year 181U. The process is as follows: Suppose the land in fallow, or tur- nips eat off, let it be gathered into ridges of twelve feet each; then harrow it well, particularly the furrows of the ridges ; after which take a narrow- bottouied swing plough, five inches and a half bruad at the heel, with a narrow-winged sock, dmwn by one horse; begin in the furrow, as if you intended to gather two ridges together, which will makca rib exactly in the middle of the fur- row; then turn back up the same furrow you eame down, keeping close to the rib made; pursue the same mode on the other side, and take a little of the soil which is thrown over by the mould- board from the back of each rib, and so on till you come near the furrow, when you must pursue the same mode as at first. In water furrowing you will then have a rib on each side of the furrow, distiince between the rib, ten or twelve inches. The seed to be sown {torn the hand, and, from the narrowness or sharpness of the top of the ridges, the grain will fall regu''»'-'v t^r^wr* thon put on a light harrow to cover thu aeeo. in wet soils the ridges ought to be twice gathered, as ribbing re- duces them.
It will answer all kinds of crops, but not all soils. Strong clayey soils cannot be pulverixed sufficiently for that purpose ; nor can it oe effected in clover-lea, unless it be twice ploughed and well harrowed. Ribbing is here esteemed preferable to drilling, ap yon have the same opportunity of keeping the land dean, and the grain does not fall so close together as by drilling.
The farmer mny hand or horse-hoe his crops, and also hoe in his clover-seed, which is consider- ed very advantageous. It is more productive of grain, especially when it is apt to lodge, and, in all cases, of as much straw ; and ribbing is often the means of preventing the com lodging.
In a wet season ribbing is more favorable to harvesting, because the space between the ribs admits the air freely, and the com dries much sooner. The reapers also, when accustomed to it, eut more and take it up cleaner.
Improved Method of Drilling WkeaU The drill contains three coulters, placed in a triangular form, and worked by brushes, with oast-iron nuts, sufficient for one horse to draw, and one man to attend to. It will drill three acres \^T day of wheat, barley or oats, at five inches asunder; and five acres per day of beans, peaa, •tc., at twelve inches asunder. The general prao* tice is to drill crossways, and to set the rows five or six inches, and never exceeding seven inches, apart, it being found that if the distance is greater they are too long filling up in the spring, that ^hey afford a greater breadth for the growth of weeds, are more expensive to hoe, and more liable tc be laid in the summer. In drilling wheat never harrow after the drill if it can be avoided, the Mil generally leaving the corn suffioiently cover- •d ; and by this plan the vegetation is quickened, and the ridges of soil between each two rows pre-
serve the plants in winter, and render I he operatiom of harrowing in the spring much more efficitciuua. The spring harrowing is performed the contrary way to that of the drilling, as the harrow workins^ upon thd ndges does not pull up the plnnts, and leaves the ground mouldy for the hoe. This poini should be particularly attended to. The harrow- ing after the drill evidently leaves the ground in a better state to the eye, bat the advantages in tlie produce of the crop are decidedly in favor of the plan of leaving the land in the rough htata already described, as the operation of the winter upon the clods causes them to pulverize, and fur^ nishee an abundant nntrition to the plants in the spring; and followed by the hoe about the tiiun the head or ear is forming, it makes the growtn of the plant more vigorous, and greatly improve! the siie of the head or ear. The drilling for wheikt should generally commence about tbe latter end of September, at which time the farmer may drill about two bushels per acre. As the seaaon ad- vances, keep increasing the quantity to three bushels per acre, being guided by the quality of the soil and other circumstances. A great lose has frequently arisen through drilling too small n quantity of seed, as there can be none spared in thst case for the rooks and grubs: and a thick^ well-planted crop will always yield more abun- dantly than a thin stooling crop, and ripen sooner.
The drill system would have been in more gene- ral practice, if its friends had also recommended the use of a larger quantity of seed to the acre, and the rows to be planted nearer together. It is impossible to obtain so great a produce per acre by the broadcast system as by the drill system at the same expense, be the land ever so froe from weeds. Fifty bushels per acre may be raiited by the drill, but never more than forty bushels by sowing broadcast. The wheat orops should gene- rally be top-dressed in winter with manure com- post, or some other dressing in frost, or when yon can cart upon the land ; but if that operation is rendered impracticMble, sooting in March, or any other dressing of that description, hoed in at the spring, is preferable to a dressing laid on in the autumn and ploughed in.
The advantages of the drill over the broadeast system are numerous and decisive, as it enables the farmer to grow com without weeds, is socner ready for stacking after the scythe or sickle, pro- duces a cleaner and more regular sample for the market, and hence obtains a better price, leaves the land in a better state for a succeeding orop, and materially increases the quantity of food for human consumption.
To Pickle the Seed.
This process is indispensably neoessary on every soil, otherwise smut, to a greater or less exteiit, will, in nine cases out of ten, assuredly follow. Stale urine may be considered as the safest and surest pickle, and where it can be obiained in a sufficient quantity, is commonly resorted to. TL« mode of using it does not however seem to be agreed upon, for while one party contends that the grain ought to be steeped in the urine, another party considers it sufficient to sprinkle the urine upon it But whatever difference of opinion there may be as to the kind of pickle that ought to be used, and the mode of using it, all atimtt the niility of mixing the wetted se^ with hot lime fresh slaked ; and this, in one point of view, is abso- lutely necessary, so that the seed 'may be equally distributed. It may be remarked that experience justifies the utility of all these modes, provided they are attentively carried into exooution. There ia iome danger ttom the flrsty for if the seed steep
IKDIAy COKK, soRonux.
29
•d in nrine is not immediately sown, it will infal- libly loM its vegetatiTe power. The second, vis., fprinkling the urine on the seed, seems to be the infest if performed by an attentive hand, whilst the last may do equally well, if such a quantity of •alt be ineurporated with the water as to render it of sufficient strength. It may also be remarked, that this last mode is often aoeumpanied with ■mut, owing no doubt to a defioienoy of strength in the pickle; whereas a single head with smut is meiy disoorered when nrine has been used.
To cultitfate Indian Com,
The land should be a loamy sand, very rich. In April the grains should be set like hops, at three lo four feet distance, three to six grains in a hili, each grain about an inch deep in the ground. The seed from New England is the beat In May the alleys should be hoed and the hills weed- ed and earthed up higher ; many good farmers plough three times atler planting. At the latter end of that month all the superfluous stalks should he taken away, and only three stems of corn left in each hill. By the middle of June, it will cover the alley. It grows much like bulrushes, the lower leaves being like broad flags, three or four inches wide, and as many feet in length; the stems shooting upwards, from seven to ten feet in height, with many joints, casting off flag-leaves at eTery joint. Under these leaves and dose to the stem grows the com, covered over by many coats of sedgy leaves, and so dosed in by them to the stem, that it does not show itsdf easily till there hursts out at the end of the ear a number of strings that look like tufts of horse-hair, at first of a beautiful green, and afterwards red or yellow, the stem ending in a flower. The com will ripen in October or early November; but the sun at that season not having strength enough to dry it, it must be laid upon racks or thin open floors in dry rooms, and fireqnently turned, to avoid mould- ing; the grains are about as big as peas, and adhere in regular rows round a white pithy sub- stance, which forms the ear. An ear contains from two to four hundred grains, sad is from six tp ten inches in length. They are of rarioos •olors, blue, red, white and ydlow. The manner 4^ gathering them is by cutting down the stems •ad breaking off the ears. The stems are as big •s a man's wrist, and look like bamboo cane ; the pith is full of a juice that tastes as sweet ss sugar, Mkd the joints are about a foot and a half distant The increase is upwards of five hundred fold. Upon a large scale the seed msy be drilled in alleys like peas, and to save digging, the ground may be ploughed and harrowed, which will answer rery welL It will grow upon all kinds of land. The ears which grow upon dry sandy land are smaller, but harder and riper. The grain is taken from the husk by hand, and when ground upon stones, makes an excellent tour, of which it yields much more, with much less bran, than wheat does, and exceeds it in crust, pancakes, puddings, and all other uses except bread ; but a sweetness peculiar to it, which in all other cases Bakes it agreeable, is here less so. It is excellent for feeding horses, poultry and hogs, and fattens them much better sad sooner than peas or barley. TIm stems make better hedges for kitchen garden than reeds do. It clears the ground from weeds, •ad makes a good season fur any other kind of grain. It was the only bread-grain known in America when first discovered by the Spaniards, •ad is there eaUed maisew
SorgkvM, This, alio sailed ChiBOse logar-oanei, is now
attracting attention, espeeiaUy in the West It may be cultivated almost preoii»ely like m »ite, and is more profitable. It is cut off when it is ripe and beginning to fade slightly, or sometimes ear* lier than this. U may then be ground like sugar- cane. This is often done in a mill like a cider- press. The syrup is then boiled at once, in large shallow kettles. It is said that soighum should be grown on a sandy soil, aof too rick; if the earth is rich, it grows too strong and fibrous, with less sugar in the stem.
Di^eawet of Whsat,
Wheat is subject to more dbeases than other grains, and, in some seasons, especial iy in wel ones, heavier losses are sustained frum those dis« eases than are felt in the culture of any other cu*« miferouB crop with which we are acquainted. Wheat may suffer from the attack of insects at the ruot; from blight, which primarily afl'ects the leaf or straw, and ultimately deprives the grain of sufficient nourishment; from mildew oa the oar, which operates thereon with the force of an apoplectic stroke ; and from gum of different shades, which lodges on the chaff or cups in which the grain is deposited.
BlighL
Blight originates f^om moist or foggy weather, and from boar-frost, the effects of which, when ex- pelled by a hot sun, are first discernible on the straw, and afterwards on the ear, in a greater or less degree, according to local circumstances. Let a field be examined in a day or iwo alter such weather, and a careful observer will soon be satis- fied that the fibres and leaves of plants are con- tracted and enfeebled, in consequence of what may be called a stoppage of perspiration. This disorder may take place either earlier or later, but is most fatal when it appears at the time the grain is forming in the ear. It may appear at an earlier stage; and though the productive powers of the plant will thereby be lessoned, yet, if cir- cumstances are afterwards favorable, the quality of the grain produced may not be much impaired; or it may appear, after the grain is fully formed, and then very little damage will be sustained, except by the straw.
Mil<Uw,
Mildew may be ranked as a disease which af- fects the ear, and is brought on by causes some- what similar to those which occasion blight, though at a more advanced period of the season. If this disorder comes on immediately after the first appearance of the ear the straw will also be affected, but if the grain is nearly or fully formed then injury on the straw is not much discernible. We have seen a crop that carried wheat that was mildewed where the straw was perfectly fresh, though, indeed, this rarely happens. A severe mildew, however, effectually prevents both grain and straw from making any further progress, the whole plant apparently going backward every day till existence in a manner ceases altogether. Something akin to mildew is the gum which, in all warm moist seasons, attaches itself to the ear, and often occasions considerable damage. All these different disorders are generally acoompa- nied by insects, and by minute parasitic vege- table growths, considered by many to be the authors of the mischief that foUowf. Their ap- pearance, however, may justly be attributed to the diseased state of the plant; for where vcf putrefaction takes place, either in animal or vege- table substances, the presence of these parasites will never be wanting.
80
AGBICULTURS.
Rvti, •
Anntber dinorder whioh affects wheat aod It by several people deDominated the real nist, is brought on by exceesiTe heat, whioh oooations the plantri to fuffer Arom a privation or noarishinent, and become sickly and feeble. In this atrophie state a kind of dast gathers on the stalks and leaves, which increases with the disease, till the plHnt is in a great measure worn out and ex- Dausted. The only remedy in this esse, and it is one that oannot easily be administered by thp hand of man, is a plentiful supply of moisture, by whioh, if it is received before oontiumption is too far adviinced, the or«)p is benefited in a degree proportional to the extent of nourishment re- eeived, and the stage at which the disease has arrived.
Impropriety of Sowing Mildevotd W\taU
Some people have recommended the sowing of bliglited and mildewed wheat, because it will Tegetate ; though certainly the reoommendation, if ciirried into praotioe, would be attended with imminent danger to those who attempted it That light or defeotive wheat will vegetate and produce a plant we are not disposed to oontra- dict, but that it will vegetate as briskly, or put out a stem of equal strength, and capable of with- standing the severe winter blasts as those pro- duced from sound seed we must be excused for not believing. Let it only be oonsidered that a plant of young wheat, unless when very early sown, lives three or four months, in a great measure, upon the nourishment whioh it derives fifom the parent seed ; and that such nourishment ean, in no view of the subject, be so great when the parent is lean and emaciated as when sound, heaJthy and vigorous. Let it also be remem- bered that a plant produced from the best and weightiest seed must, in every oase, under a parity of other circumstanoes, have a stronger con- stitution at the outset, which necessarily qualifies It to push on with greater energy when the sea- ton of growth arrives. Indeed, the economy of na- ture would be overturned should any other result follow. A breeder of cattle or sheep would not act more foolishly, who trusted that a deformed diminutive bull or ram would produce him good stock, than the com farmer does who uses unsound or imperfect seed.
To remov tha Mildew on WkeaL
A solution of common salt in water, in the pro- portion of a pound to a gallon, is an excellent remedy for the mildew on grain. After sprinkling three or four days, the mildew will disappear, leaving only a disooloration on the straw where it was destroyed. The best and most expeditious way of applying the mixture is with a flat brush, such as is used by whitewashers. The operator having a pail of the mixture in one hand, with the other he dips the brush into it, and makes his regular oasts as when sowing grain broadcast; in this way he will readily get over ten acres in the day, and with an assistant a great deal more. About two hogsheads of the mixture will suffice for an acre. Wherever the mixture touches the mildew immediately dies.
To prevent Mildew in Wheat,
Dissolve three ounoes and two draehms of sul- phate of copper, eopperas, or blue vitriol, in three gallons and three quarts, wine measure, of oold water, for every three bushels of grain that is to be prepared. Into another vessel capable of con- taining from flfty-three to seventy -nine wine pdlons^ throw from three to four bushels of
wheat, into which the prepared liquid is pomwd^ until it rises five or six inches above the grain. Stir it thoroughly ; and carefully remove all thai swims on the surface. After it has remained hslf an hour in the preparation, throw the wheat into a basket that will allow the water to escape, but not the grain. It ought then to be immediately washed in rain, or pure water, which will prevent any risk of its injuring the germ, and afterwards the seed ought to be dried before it is sown. It may be preserved in this shape for months. A no* tber method, which has been tried in Russia, i« to expose the seed for one or two weeks to a drf heat of about 80*^ or 90<^.
To prevent the Smut in WheaL
Liming the seed by immersion is recommended by a French writer, as the only preventive war- ranted by science and sanctioned by experience, and the following is given as the method in whioh the process is best performed :
To destroy the germs of the blight in four and a half buyhels or 266 pounds of grain, about six or seven gallons of water must be used, as grain may be more or less dry, and from thirty-five to forty-two ounces avoinlupols of quick-lime, ao* cording as it may be more or less caustic, and according as the seed may have more or less of the blight Boil part of the water, black the lime with it, and then add the rest When joined the heat of the water should be such that th« hand oan with difficulty bear it Pour the lim« water upon the com placed in a tub, stirring it incessantly, first with a stick, and afterwards with a shovel. The liquid should, at first, eover tho wheat, three or four fingers' breadth ; it will soon be absorbed by the grain. In this state let it remain covered over for twenty-four hours, but turn it over five or six times during the day. Such parts of the liquor as will drain off may then be separated, when the com, after standing a few hours, in order that it may run freely out of the hand, may be sown. If not intended to bo used immediately, the limed wheat should be pat in a heap, and moved onoe or twice a day till diy. Bsperlence has proved that limed grain germi- nates ■Doner than unlimed ; and, as it oarries with it moisture sufficient to develop the embryo, the seed will not suffer for w%nt of rain ; insects will not attack it, the aoric^ taste of the lime being offensive to them ; and, as every grain germinates, a less quantity is requisite. In fact, the grain being swelled,, the sower filling his hand as usual* will, when he has sown sixty-five handsful of limed com, have in reality only used fifty-two. As blighted grains preserve for a long time tho power of germinating, the careful farmer, whose grain has been touched, should carefully sweep out the crevices in the walls and oraoks in tho floors of his bam, and take great pains to clean them thoroughly. Dry heat, as above spoken ot^ may be worth trying.
Another Method.
A tub is used that has a hole at bottom for n spigot and faucet, fixed in a wisp of straw, t«
Ere vent any small pieces of lime passing (as fat rowing). To seventy gallons of water add » bushel of unslaked lime, stir it well till tho whole is mixed, let it stand thirty hours, ran it off into another tub (as praotised in beer); add forty-two pounds of salt, whioh, with stirrings will soon dissolve; this is a proper pickle for brining and liming seed wheat without ai^y oh* staele, and greatly faoiiitates the drilling.
Steep the wheat in a broad-bottomed basko^ twenty-four inohes in diameter and twenty inohst
BABLBT.
8A
de«p. nraning in tbe gnia grmdoally in auaXl qiiantitiet, frum ten to tweWe gallons; stirring the flame. What floats skim off, and do not sow ; then draw np the basket, to drain the piekle for a few minutes ; this may be performed in half an hoar, and wlien sufficiently piekled prooeed as before. The wheat will be fit for sowing in tweoty-four hours, if required; but for drilling two boors pickled will be best, and prepared four or five days before.
Mr. Hendiwmm'§ Method of preventing Smut in
WheaL
Take of best soft green soap, made from fish- oil. one pound, and of scalding water four gallons. Put the soap into a glased vessel with a small portion of tbe water; continue stirring it, and add the water as it dissoWes, till the whole is a perfect lye. It should be nsed at about ninety de- grees of Fahrenheit's thermometer or new-milk warm. Put the wheat into a tub, and poor on it a quantity of the liquor suffleient to eorer it oom- pleCely, and throw a blanket over it to preserTe the heaL Stir it erery ten minutes, and take off the senm. When it has remained in this manner for an hour, drain the liqnor from the wheat through a sieve, or let the tab be furnished with a drain-bottom like a brewing vat. Let the liqnor whieh was drawn off stand a few minutes to snbside, and then pour it off the sedimenL Repeat the operation till the whole quantity is steeped, only obeerre to add each time as much hot lye as was obserred by the former steeping. Dry the wheat with qulek-lime, and sow as soon as convenient • It will keep ten days after steep- ing; but should be spread thin on a dry floor.
If a tab with a drain-bottom is used, such as a hogshead with a spigot to draw off the lye, four ounces of soap and one gallon of water, •ealdlng hot, will preserve a stock of warm lyo snflleient for any qaastlty of wheat The ope- Bmtion should be performed in a clean place, at a distance from bams and granaries, the toofs of which may be observed banging tall of •mnt The refuse of smntted wheat should be bnried deep in the earth, and not thrown to the dunghill, from which it would be oonveyed to the field.
AdpomtOfee of Reaping Grain he/ore being Per*
fedAff Ripe,
M. Cadet de Vanz has recommended, as an im* portant and nsefal innovation, the reaping of grain before it is perfectly ripe. This practice originated with M. Babies, of the Agricultural Society of Besiers : grain thus reaped (say eight days before it is ripe) is fuller, larger, and finer, and is never attacked by the wecviL This was proved by reaping one half of a field as recom- Bended, and leaving the other till the usual time. The early-reaped portion gave a hecto- litre (about three bushels) of grain more for an acre of land than the later-reaped. An equal quantity of fiour from each was made into br«HMl ; that made fW>m the grain reaped green gave seven pounds of bread more than the other in two bushels. The weevil attacked the ripe grain but not the green. The proper time for reaping is when the grain, pressed betwewi the fingers, has n donghy appearance, like bread just hot from tbe oven when pressed in the same way.
Tq Manage the Wheat BarveeL
It ifl adrantageons to ent wheat before it is fully lipe; but, in ascertaining the proper state, it is Bseeissry to discriminate between the ripeness of the straw and the ripeness of the grain ; for, in >ns^ the straw diei upwards, under whicl
eireomstanoe a field, to the eye, may appear to ba completely fll for the sickle, when, in reality, tha grain is imperfectly oonsolidated, and perhaps not much removed from a milky state. Though it is obvious that under such circumstances no further benefit can be conveyed from the root, and thai nourishment is withheld tbe moment that tbe rootf die, yet it does not follow that grain so ciroum* stanoed should be immediately cut, because, after that operation is performed it is in e great mea- sure necessarily deprived of every benefit from the sun and sir, both of which have greater infiuenee in bringing it to maturity so long as it remains on foot than when cut down, whether laid on the ground or bound up in sheaves. The* state of weather at the time also deserves notice, for as in moist or even variable weather every kind of grain, when cut prematarely. is more exposed te damage than when completely ripened. All these things will be studied by tbe skilful husbandman, who will also take into consideration the dangerf which may follow were he to permit his wheat crop to remain uncut till completely ripened. The danger from wind will not be lost sight of, espe* cially if the season of the equinox approaches; even the quantity dropped in the field and in the stack-yard, when wheat is over ripe, is an object of consideration. Taking all these things ints view, it seems prudent to nave wheat cut before it is fully ripe, as less damage will be sustained from acting in this way than by adopting a contraiy practice.
If the weather be dry and the straw clean, wheat may be carted to tbe stack-yard in a few days ; indeed, if quite ripe it may be stacked im« . mediately from the sickle, especially when not meant for early threshing. So long, however, aa any moisture remains in the straw, the field will be found to be the best stack-yard ; and where grass or weeds of any kind are mixed with the crop, patience must be exerted till they are d#- eaysid and dried, lest heating be occasioned.
Barieg,
Next to wheat the most valuable grain is bav* ley, especially on light and sharp soils.
It is a tender grain and easily hnrf In any of the stages of its growth, particularly at seed time; a heavy shower of rain will then almost ruin a crop on the best prepared land ; and in all the after processes greater paint and attention are required to insure success than in the case of other grains. The harvest process is difficult, and often attended with danger; even the threshing of it la not easily executed with machines, because the awn generally adheres to the grain, and rendert separation from the straw a troulDiesome task. Barley, in fact, is raised at greater expense than wheat, and generally speaking is a more hasard* ons crop. Except upon rich and genial soil% where dimate will allow wheat to be perfeetl/ reared, it ought not to be cultivated.
Varietiee of Barleg,
Barley may be divided into two sorts, fall and spring; to which may be added a bastard variety, called bear or bigg, which affords similar nutri- ment or substance, though of inferior quality. The spring is cultivated like oats ; the fall, like fall wheat Early barley, under various names, was formerly sown in Britain upon lands that had been previously summer-fallowed, or were in high condition.
The most proper seed season for rpring barley is any time in March or April, though we havn seen good crops produced, the seed of which wafl sown at a much later period.
S2
AQBICULTUBS.
To prepare the Orovnd. Barley is ohiefly taken after turnipa, sometimes titer peas and beans, bat rarely by good farmers either after wheat or oats, unless under spe<'ial ciroumstiinces. When sown after turnips it is generally taken with one furrow, whieh is giren as fHSt as the turnips are consumed, the ground thus receiving much benefit from the spring frosts. But often two or more furrows are necessary for the fields last consumed, because when a spring drought sets in the surface from being poached by the removal or connamption of the crop, gets so hardened as to render a greater quantity of ploughing, harrowing and rolling necessary than would otherwise be called for. When sown after beans and peas, one winter and one spring plough- ing are usually bestowed; but when after wheat or oats, three ploughings are necei>sary, so that the ground may be put in proper condition. These operations are very ticklish in a wet and backward season, and rarely in that case is the
Eower paid for the expense of his labor. Where ad is in such a situation as to require three Eloughings before it can be seeded with barley, it I better to summer-fallow it at once than to run the risks which seldom fail to accompany a quan- tity of spring labor. If the weather be dry, mois- ture is lost during the different processes, and an imperfect braird necessarily follows ; if it be wet, the benefit of ploughing is lost, and all the evils of a wet seed time are sustained by the future •rop.
Quantity of Seed,
The quantity so^n is difiisrent in diffeient cases^ Moording to the quality of the soil and other cir- cumstances. Upon very rich lands eight pecks per acre are sometimes sown ; twelve is very com- mon, and upon poor land more is sometimes given.
By good Judges a quantity of seed is sown suf- ficient to insure a full crop, without depending on its sending out offsets; indeed, where tiiatis done few ofisets are produced, the crop grows and ripens •qually, and the grain is unifonnly good.
M*Cartne^9 Invention for Hummelling Barley.
This invention is extremely simple, and the •est small. It is a bit of notched stick or bar, lined on one side with a thin plate of iron^ and Just the length of the rollers, fixed by a screw- bolt at each end to the inside of the cover of the drum, about the middle of it, so that the edge of the said notched stick is about one-eighth of an inch from the arms of the drum as it goes round. Two minutes are sufficient to put it on, when its opera- tion is wanted, which is when putting through the second time, and it is easily taken offl It rubs off* the awns or spikes to admiration, and by putting the grain another time through the mill, it will rub the husk off the ends of the pickle so entirely, that it is unnecessary to sow it afterwards.
To hareeMl Barley,
More care is required in the harvesting of barley than of any of the other white crops,, even in the best of seasons ; and in bad years it is often found Tery difficult to save it. Owing to the brittleness of the straw after it has reaoh^ a certain period, it must be cut down, as when it is suffered to stand longer much loss is sustained by the breaking of the heads. On that account it is cut at a thne when the grain is soft;, and the straw retains a great proportion of its natural Juices, consequently requires a long time in the field before either the grain is hardened or the straw sufficiently dry. when put into the stack too soon it is apt to bealy
and much loss is frequently sustainetL It la a custom with many farmers to have an opening in the middle of their barley stacks, from top to bot. torn. This opening is generally made by placing a large bundle of straw in the centre of the stack when the building commences, and in proportion as it rises, the straw is drawn upwards, leaving n hollow behind, which, if one or two openings aro left in the side of the stack near the bottom, in- sures so complete a circulation of air as not only to prevent heating, but to preserve the grain front becoming musty.
Varieiiee of Gate,
Of this grain the varieties are more numerona than of any other of the culmiferons tribe. Theso varieties consist of what is called the common oat, the Angus oat, which is considered as an improved variety of the other, the Poland oat, the Friesland oat, the red oat, the dun oat, the Tartar or Sibe> rian oat, and the potato oat The Poland and potato varieties are best adapted to rich soils; the red oat for late climates; and the other va- rieties for the generality of soils of which the British isles are composed. The Tartar or Sibo- rian kind, though very hardy and prolific, is much out of use, being of a coarse substance, and nn* productive of meal. The dun oat has never boen much cultivated, and the use of Poland and Friesland is now much circumscribed, sinoa potato oats were introduced; the latter being considered, by the most discerning agricnltnriata^ as of superior ralue in every respect where thn soil is rich and properly eultivated.
To prepare the OroutuL Oats are ohiefly sown after grass; sometimaa upon land not rich enough for wheat, that baa been previously summer-fallowed, or has carried turnips; often after barley, and rarely after whea^ unless cross-cropping, from particular cireanv- stances, becomes a necessary evil. One ploughing is generally given to the grass lands, usually in the month of January, so thai the benefit of frost may be gained, and the land sufficiently mellowed for reoeiving the barrow. In sonao cases a spring furrow is given, when oats succeed wheat or barley, especially when grass seeds am to accompany the crop. The best oats, both in quantity and quality, are always those which succeed grass; indeed, no kind of grain seemf better qualified by nature for foraging upon grass land than oats ; as a full crop is nsu^iy obtained in the first instance, and the land Left in good order for succeeding cropp.
Quantity <^ SeeA.
From twelve to eighteen peeks of seed art generally allowed to the acre of ground, aoeord- ing to uie richness of the soil and the variety that is cultivated. Here it may be remarked Uiat land sown with potato oats requires much lesa seed, in point of measure^ than when any of thm other sorts are used; beoanse potato oats both tiller well, mueh better than Poland, and hare not an awn or tail like the ordinary variatiee. On that account, a measure contains many mora seeds of them than of any other kind. If land is equally well cultivated, there is little doubt b%k that the like quantity of seed given when barley is cultivated, m^ be safely trusted to when po» tato oats are to be raised.
To karveet Oate,
Osts are a hardy grain, and rarely get mn^
damage when under the harvest prooess, exoepi
tmm high winds or fh>m shedding, when open#4
out after being thoroughly wetted. The early
X
OATS» BTS.
TarietiM an mueh mora liaU« to those Iomos thui tho l»te onofty beeaaae tho gnxa |Muti more oai ily ftntni tho straw, ui otH to whieh the best of grain Is at all times snbjeet. Barl j oals, howerer, may be eat a little qaieki wUeb, to a oertain extend lessens the danger to whieh they are exposed firom high winds ; and if the sheaTes be made small the duger from shedding after rains is eonsidenblj lessened, beeaose they are thos sooner ready for the stsek. Under ereiy management, howoTer, a greater quantity of early oats will be lost dqring the harrest proeess than of late ones; beoanse the latter adhere firmly to the straw, and oonse- qoently do not drop so easily as the former.
To emlimau Bf€. Bye ovght nerer to be sown upon wet soils, nor eren npon sandy soils where the subsoil is of a relentiTe nature. Upon downs, links, and all soft lands whieh haTO reoeired manure, this grain thriTee in perfeotion, and, if onoe eoTored in, will stand a drought afterwards that would eonsume nay other of the eulmiferons tribe. The several proeeases may be regarded as nearly the same with ihoee rsoommended for wheat, with the single ez- eeption of pioUing, whieh rye does not require. Bye may be sown dther in winter or spring, though the winter-seeded fields are generally bulkiest and most prodnetire. It may sueoeed either summer fallow, elorer or turnips; eren alter oats good orops hare been raised, and where iaeh orops are raised the land will always be found in good eondition.
To euktvaU BtOMt*
Beans naturally sueoeed a eulmifereus erop, and wn beliere it is not of mueh importance whieh of the Tsrieties is followed, provided the ground be In deoent order, and not worn out by the prerious erop. The furrow ought to be given early in winter, and as deep as possible^ that thb earth asay be suffleiently loosened, and room aflbrded for the roots of the plant to seareh for the requi- site nourishment The first fhrrow is usually given aeross the field, whieh is the best method when only one spring forrow is intended; but as It is now asoertained that two spring furrows are kighly advantageous, the one in winter ought to be given in length, whieh lays the ground in a better situation for resisting the rains, and ren- dors it sooner dry In spring than ean be the case when ploughed aeross. On the supposition that three furrows ara to be given, one in winter and two in spring, the followiag is the most eligible preparation :
Approw^ Modm 1^ DriUimg.
The land being ploughed in length as early in winter as is praetteable, and the gaw and head- land ftirrows suflieiently digged out, take the second furrow aeross the first as soon as the ground is dry enough in spring to undergo the operation ; water-ftirTOW it immediately,, and dig again the gaw and headland furrows, otherwise the benefit of the seeond furrow may be lost This being done, leave the field for some days, aXL it is sufficiently dry, when a east of the har- ffows beeomes neoessary, so that the sarfaoe may be levelled. Then enter with the ploughs and form the drills, whieh are generally made up with aa interval of twenty-seven inohes. In the hollow of this interval deposit the seed by a drill-barrow, and reverse or slit out the drills to cover the seed, which finishes the proeess for the tamsw In ten or twelve days afterwards, aocordiag to the state of the weather, oross-harrow the drills, thereby levelling the field for the hoeing proeess. Water- ftiiTow tha whole In a neat amaaeri and spade S
(tt
and fbrrowi^
drUliog
aad shovel the gaw and which oonelttdes the whole |A
This is the most approved wa^ The next best is to give only one spring furrow, and to run the drill-barrow after every third plough, in which way the intervals are nearly of the same extent as already mentioned. Harrowing is afterwards required before the young plants reach the surface, aad water-Aurrowing, ete., as above described.
Dong is often given to beans, especially when they succeed wheat whieh has not reeeived ma- nure. The best way is to apply the dung on the stubble before the winter furrow is given, whieh greatly facilitates the after proeess. Used in this way, a fora stock must be in hand ; but where the farmer is not so well provided spring donging b^ comes necessary, though evidently of less advan- tage. At that season it may either be put into the drills befora the seed Is sown or spread upon the surface and ploughed down, aocording to the na- ture of the drilling process whieh is meant to be adopted. Land dunged to beans, if duly hoed, is always in high order for oarrying a crop of wheat in soeoession. Perhaps better wheat, both in re- spect to quantity and quality, may be eultivated in tiiis way than in any other mode of sowing.
DriUing MaekmM,
Different machines have been Invented for drill- ing beans, but the most eommon and bandy is one of the narrow form. This hand drill is pushed forward by a man or woman, and will, aocording as the brush or direotor is lowered or heightened^ sow thicker or thinner, as may be expedient and neoessary. Another machine, drawn by a horsey and sowing three drills at a time, has been con- stmoted, and npon fiat lands wiU cerulnly dis- tribute tiie seed with the most minute exactness. Upon unequal fields, and even on those laid out in high ridges, the use of this machine is attended with a degree of inconvenienee suAoieot to bal- anee its advantages. The hand-drill, thesefors^ in all probability, will be retained for general use^ though the other is capable of performing the work with minuter regularity.
Quaniitg of Soed,
Less than four bushels ought not to be hasarded if a fhll crop is expected. We seldom have seen thin beans turn out well, unless . the Bull is par- ticularly rich ; nay, unless the rows dose, weeds will get away after the cleaning proeess is fin- ished, thereby disappointing the object of drill- ing and rendering the system of little avail to- wards keeping the ground in good condition.
Honng JVocsss.
Beans are cleaned In various ways : 1st By tha hand-hoe. 2d. By the scraper, or Dutch hoe. 3d. By a plough of small dimensions, bat con- structed upon the principles of the approved swing plough. Ploughs with double mould-bosrds are likewise used to earth them up, and with all good managen the weeds in the drills which cannot be touched by the hoe ara pulled out by the hand; otherwise no field can be considered as duly deaned.
In treating of the cleaning proeess we shall oonfine ourselves to the one most suited to tha
Senerality of bean soils. About ten or twelve ays after the young plants have appeared above the surface, enter with the scraper, and loosen any weeds that may have vegetated. At this time the wings or cutters of the implement ought te be particularly sharp, so that the scraper ntay not ma too deep aad throw the earth npon the plants.
M
â–²OBICULTUiUB.
Is ab««t t«B dtyt tfUr tb* gmad i« wmptd, ao-
•ording to the itata of th« w«ftther, and other oir- tBOUtaneee, nee the f mall «wing plough to Uj the earth away from the sides of the rows, and in doing so go as near to the plants as possible, taking oare at tiie same time not to loosen their loots. If any weeds stand in the rows pull them out with the hand, afterwards earth-up the plants with the small swing plough, or run the seraper la the intervals, as may seem ezpedieaU
To mana^ $kt HarvetL
Before beani are out the grain oaghi to be tol* tiably well ripened, otherwise the quality is im- paired, whilst a long time is required to put the ■tcaw in suoh a oondltion as to be preseired in the siaok. In an early harrest^ or where the erop is not weighty, it is an easy matter to get beans nlliciently ripened ; bn^ in a late harrest, and in •Tery one wnere the orop takes on a seooad growth, it is scaroely praoticable to get them thor- oughly ripened for the siokle. Under these oircum- ■tanoes it Is unneoessary to let beans stand unout after the end of September or the first of October, beoause any benefit that oan be gained afterwards is not to be oompaved with the disadTantages that aooompany a late wheat seed time. Beans are usually cut with the sickle and tied in sheaTes, either with straw ropes or with ropes made firom peas sown along with them. It is proper to let the iheaTcs lie untiiMi soTeral days, so that the wind- ing prooess may he hastened, and, when tied, to set them up on end, in order that full benefit flrom air may be obtained and the grain kept off the ground. In building bean stacks it is a uselhl measure for preserTing botii gnin and straw from iignry, to keep an opening in the oentre^ and to eouTey air from the extremity by a hole or funnel. Beans, on the whole, are a troublesome erop to the farmer, though of preat utility in other fi^speots. Without them heavy soUs eaa soarcely be man- aged with adTantage, unless summer fi^Uow is re- sorted to once in four years, but by the sid de- lived from drilled beans summer fiUlow may be avoided for eight years, whilst the ground at that period will be found in equal, if not superior eondition.
To ouUivaU Peas.
Peas are partially sown with beans to great ad- vantage, and when cultivated in this way the same iiystem of preparation, eto., descrilied under the bead of beans is to be adopted. Indeed, upon many soils not de^ enough for beans, a mixUire of peas to the extent of one-third of the seed sown proves highly advantageous. The beans serve as props to the peas, and the latter being thus kept off the ground and famished with air and other atmospberio nutriment, blossom and pod with much greater effect than when sown ao* eording to the broadcast system.
Peas agree well with lime end other analogous stimulants, and can hardly be resped in perfection where these are wanting. The varieties cultiva- ted axe numerous, but those adapted to field cul- ture may be divided into two kinds, namely, early and late, though these branch out again into sev- soal varieties. We have white peas both early and late, and likewise gray peas, posfessed of similar properties. The nomenclature is entirely arbitrary, and therefore not to be illustrated. As a general rule the best seed time for late peas is Ib the early spring, though eady ones, sudh as the Xztra Barly and Blue Imperial pea, aiay be sown Mceessfully later in the season.
Peas ought to be sown tolerably thick* so thai te giowid miqr be eoveied ai ear^ as possible*
fb euMeofs Tarm,
The tare is a plant of a hardy growth, and whea sown upon rich land will return a large supply of green fodder for the consumption of horses or fof fattening eatUe. When intended for this use, the seed ought to be sown tolerably thick, perhapa to the extent of four bushels per acre, though when intended to stand for seed a lens quantity is required, because otherwise the thickness of the erop will prevent the plants from blossoming and podding In a sufileient way. When maant for seed early sowing ought to be studied, otherwtee the return will be imperfect; but when for greea food any time betwixt the first of April and the latter end of Mi^ will answer well, provided crops in succession from the first to the last men- tioned period be regularly cultivated. Instaneee are not wanting of a full crop being obtained even when the seed was sown so late as the mid- dle of June, though sowing so late is a praetioo not to be recommended. After the seed is sown and the lan