impipi IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // a"?^ 1.0 ^1^ 1^ ^ iiii 12.2 1.1 11.25 I HiotOgFaphk! oQfinCGS Corparation MWmrMAMSTRBT U< 'illllil.N.Y. 14SI0 (7U)I73«4S0S 4fS CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Instituta for Historical IMicroraproductiont / Institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquas Tachnical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notas tachniquaa at bibliograpliiquaa TIm Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tlva baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographleaHy uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may aignif icantly changa tha uauai mathod of filming, ara chacicad balow. D D D D a Colourad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur I I Covara damagad/ Couvartura andommagte Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurAa at/ou paliiculAa I I Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua I I Colourad mapa/ Cartaa gAographiquas an coulaur Colourad inic (i.a. othar than blua or blacic)/ Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) □ Colourad plataa and/or llluatrationa/ Pianchaa at/ou illuatrations an coulaur □ Bound with othar matarial/ Rail* avac d'autraa documanta Tight bi'iding may cauaa ahadowa or diatortion along intarior margin/ La re liura aarrta paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la diatortion la long da la marga intiriaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoration may appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar poaaibla. thaaa hava baan omittad from filming/ II aa paut qua cartainaa pagaa blanchaa ajoutiaa iora d'una raatauration apparaiaaant dana la taxta, mala, loraqua cala 4tait poaaibla, caa pagaa n'ont paa 4t4 filmtea. Additional commanta:/ Commantairaa aupplAmantalraa.- L'Inatltut a microfiimA la maillaur axampiaira qu1l lui a 4t4 poaaibla da aa procurar. Laa dAtaila da cat axampiaira qui aont paut-ftra uniquaa du point da vua bibllographiqua, qui pauvant modifiar una imaga raproduita. ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la m4thoda normala da fllmaga aont indiquia c(-daaaoua. T t< n~| Colourad pagaa/ Pagaa da coulaur Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa andommagtoa Pagaa raatorad and/oi Pagaa raataurAaa at/ou pallicul4aa Pagaa diacoiourad, atainad or foxat Pagaa dicolorAaa, tachatAaa ou piquAaa Pagaa datachad/ Pagaa dAtachtea 8howthrough> Tranaparanca Quality of prln Quality InAgala da I'impraaalon Includaa aupplamantary matarii Comprand du material auppMmantaira pn Pagaa damagad/ I — I Pagaa raatorad and/or laminatad/ rri Pagaa diacoiourad, atainad or foxad/ I I Pagaa datachad/ rri Showthrough/ pn Quality of print variaa/ I I Includaa aupplamantary matarial/ I — I Only adition availabia/ D Sauia idltion diaponibia Pagaa wholly or partially obacurad by arrata aiipa, tiaauaa. ate., hava baan raflimad to anaura tha baat poaaibla imaga/ Laa pagaa totalamant ou partlaliamant obacurciaa par un fauillat d'arrata, una palura, ate, ont AtA filmAaa A nouvaau da fapon A obtanir (« maillaura imaga poaailMa. T P o fl b tl al o fl al c n al Tl ¥t M di m b< ri ra m Thia itam la filmad at tha raductlon ratio chacicad balow/ Ca documant aat film* au taux da riduction Indiqu4 ci-dasaoua. 10X 14X ItX 2M 28X aox c y -' 3 12X 16X 2DX a4X ax 32X Th« copy fllm«d hw has bMn raproduetd thanks to tha ganaroalty of: Library of tha Public Archivat of Canada L'axamplairj film* f ut raprotluit grlca A la 04niroait* da: La bibliothiqua daa Archival pubiiquat du Canada Tha imagaa appaarlng hara ara tho baat quality poaaibia oonaMaring tha condition and lagibillty of tha orioinal copy and in kaaping with tlia filming contract spaeificatlons. Original coplaa in prln signifia "A 8UIVRE". la symbols ▼ signifia "FIN". platas, charta. ate, may ba fllmad at diffarant reduction ratloa. Thosa too larga to ba entirely included in one expoeure ara filmed beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, aa many frames as required. The following diagrams llluatrata the method: l.es cartes, planclMS, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atra fiimAs A des taux da rAductlon diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour Atrs reproduit en un soul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir da i'angia supArieur gauche, do geuche A droite, et do hiaut en baa, en prenent le nombra d'imagas nAcessaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 fm'" IS- i 9» ■• c ^ '-&. LECTURES fw ON AGEICULTTJRAL GHEIISTRY, om* ELEMENTS OP THE SCIENCE OF Agriculture. :.'V| ■8SS tJf |WLE HIND, 3Mkt/iiUiHc*l.*>*« fifcU 4 r^'JH w <; ■> ■ ■ ,M^^^,^ > . ■■» - .,■>:..-. -%-;. ^ Ai^ :*.?■ >*'/-i.. * Sf „.v<' '^•^ •: ''^^,■4,: ■^^0 V f?' PREFACE ®0 tl)e 0econb <0Mtton. Tho first edition of the following Lectures was submit- ted to the Public dt the close of last year. The favour- able reception awarded by Agricultural Societies* and other public bodies, to an attempt at a familiar exposition cf the principles of farming practice in their application to the circumstances of this country, has induced me to prepare the present volume with increased regard to the purposes I design it to fulfil. I do not pretend to offer anything new in the Science or Practice of farming. I have merely endeavoured to draw a popular illustration of the relations which exist between Vegetables and the me- diums in which they grow, on the one hand, and between * I have much satisfaction in being able to state that the authori- ties of the Societies &c., whose names are subjoined, have distiibnted copies of the 1st. Edition of these Lectures among their members and otherwise : — No. of Copies. Provincial Agricultural Association, 100 County of Kent Agricultural Society, 114 ■ County of Oxford do. do. ... ' » • 80 Council of Public Instruction . 60 Teachers Institute-per Geo. Alexander Esq. of Wood- stock, ......... 35 f iv I vegetables and animals 'on the other ; deducing from the knowledge we possess of their relationship, the proper course to be pursued in attaining the most favourable de- velopment of cultivated plants, r.nd of domesticated ani- mals; In describing the rationale of those artifices which are suggested by experience and acknowledged by Scien- tific and Practical men to be inseparable from a judicious farming practice, I have had especial regard to the cir- cumstances under which husbandry is prosecuted in Can-, ada, in relation to Climate, Markets, and tenure of Soil, as well as to that mixed system which universally prevails in this Country. It would have been a useless expenditure of time and materials to have described the details of many artifices which especially belong to what is called " high farming ;" artifices which are not susceptible of adoption in Canada at present. It has seemed to me that the chief objects which should arrest the attention of Canadian farmers, are to preserve the naturally fertile Soils of the country from deteriora- tion, and to restore the fertility of such as have been already impaired. The principles and practice involved in the artifices which secure those objects, are the same which, when pushed to excess, constitute high farming— ^a system of \ practice which may succeed well in countries or localities where land lets for fifteen dollars an acre per annumi but which is commorcially impossible in this Western Province, where all farmers are proprietors, where excellent land is abundant and cheap, capital scarce and dear, wages im- moderately high, and the price of produce variable and low. I have addressed myself . to the practical farmer and student, in language as* free from the technicalities of Science as possible, under the conviction that the real bone and sinew of the country, have for their elements men who handle the plough and wield the axe with untiring energy, and are yet unwilling to let the understanding lie fallow or unproductive, when reasonable opportunity of exercising and improving it is offered to them. The division of the Lectures into sections, will probably afford common-school teachers some assistance in present- ing the extensive subject of Agricultural Science to their pupils in the form of short teaching Lectures, for each of which, one of the sections of the recapitulation is designed to serve as the subject. ■0) ,*,*-( 'i' 4)J^ -ov*'. v'- vU iK't V ' ** « • i# lV Hf,' ,!.♦ iiO^i, ^i .•ti>- " t.i ^^^ '.^' CONTENTS.' Part Mtsl ,"s:5 ON THE RELATION OF VEGETABLES TO THE AIR AND SOIL IN WHICH THEY GROW, LECTURE I. Ilntrodaction — Objects of Agricultural Chemistry — Matter — Simple Bodie»— Conditions of Vegetable Life — ^The Atmosphere — Its Composition and Properties — Atmospheric Food of Vegetables— Carbonic Acid — ^Influence of Light — Water — Its Relations to Solids and Gases — Its Composition — Ammonia — ^Nitrogen— Or- ganic aud Inorganic Elements of Plants — Composition of Vege- tables — ^Recapitulation. Page 1-28. LECTURE II. reneral Structure of Vegetables — Transmission of Water through Vegetables— The Soil — Substances common to Soils and Vege- tables — Action of Water on Soils — Inorganic Food of Vegetables — Sulphur, Phosphorus, Potash, Soda, Magnesia, Lime, Flint, Iron, Chlorine, and Iodine — ^Flint, Lime, and Potash Plants — ^Table of Minerdl Substances abstracted by Crops — Analysis of a " worn out" Soil— Analysis of a Fertile Soil— Vegetable Matter in Soils— Recapitulation. Page 529-52. LECTURE III. Lrtifices for Ameliorating the Condition of the Soil — Ploughing — Draining — Evaporation and Filtration — ^Fallowing — ^Rotation of Crops — ^Rotation Courses— The Sap — Ascent and Descent of the Sap — Recapitulation. Page 53-73. LECTURE IV. [anures — Famiryard Manure — Urine — Green Manuring — Mineral Manures — Gypsum — Salt — Lime — Marl — Leached Wood Ashe9 — Action of Soils on Manures — Surface Action — Experiments in England — Recapitulation. Page 74-93. I L VlU |)art 0econir, ON THE RELATION OF VEGETABLES TO ANIMALS. ♦ ■■ *».,■• LECTURE V. Division of Vegetable Principles — Principles containing Nitrogen — Principles not containing Nitrogen — Woodjr Fibre — Starch — Sugar — Isomeric Bodies — Oils and Fats— Nitrogen Principle Relation to Animal Life — Recapitulation. Page 94-lOG. II M LECTURE VI. Composition of Crops — Nutritious Principles — Relative value of dif- ferent kinds of Vegetables for the purpose of Nutrition — Rations I for Working Cattle — Milch Kine — Feeding of Cattle — Conditions ' of Fattening — The Calf — Cheese — Butter — ^Recapitulation. Page 107-120. i ■ \tiiu:. LECTURE VIL Function of Digestion — Function of Respiiation — Animal Heat — Purposes served by Food — Opposite Functions of Plants and Ani- mals—Production of Manure — Relative Value of Animal Manures — ^Recapitulation. Page 121-134. LECTURE VIII. Parasitical Vegetables and Insects — Rust — Mildew — Smut — Potato Disease— The Hessian Fly— The Wheat Fly— The Wire Worm— The Turnip Fly — Weeds of Agriculture — Chess — Canada Thistle — Adaptation of the Climate of Western Canada to Agriculture. Page 135-155. Appendix 157-161. Index 163--167. ELEMENTS OF CUB SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE Part SixBl. ON THE RELATION OF VEGETABLES TO THE AIR AND SOIL IN WlltCII THEY GROW. 'hid LECTURE L [ntroduction — Object of A!7,ricultiiral Clicmifltry — Matter — Simple Bodies— Conditions 6f Vegetable Life — The Atmoai)here — Its Qoinposition and Properties — Atmospheric Food of Vegetables — CAVbonic Acid — Influence of I^ight — Wnter — Its RclntioDS to Holids and Gases — Its Composition — Ammonia — Nitrogen -i-Or- ganic and Inorganic Elements of Plants — Composiiion of Vege- tables — Recapitulation. 1. We rarely approciato the value of any science in its state of infancy. It is generally impossible to forsee what useful results may flow from its practical applica- tion. When, however, it leads to a discovery or invention, kvhich may be brought to bear with advantage upon in- lustrial labour, it soon acquires a popular interest, which Jiisures its rapid spread. The science of Electricity cre- ited no stii* in the arena of practical life, until electro- i plating and the telegraph gave it importance in the eyes of practical men ; and now we know what it has done, our anticipations are almost botindless of what it may yet be made to do ; manv of us lookinor forward with confi- dence to a day, probably not far distant, when additional discoveries will enables us to convert it into a source of cheap and commodious motive power. 2. The science of Chemistry has for ages been the handmaid of the manufacturer in the preparation of raw materials for useful and refined purposes. It is only of late years that her aid has been sought by the producer, but with such successful results, that the light which the application of Chemistry to Agriculture has thrown upon his operations, enables him to convert an experimental art into an intellectual and noble science. A branch of knowledge, hardly a dozen years old in its practical ap- plication, can, however, scarcely be supposed to have met with an extended appreciation among the farming com- munities of Canada, or even to have attract^d the special attention of Agricultural Societies or private individuals, wliose means and opportunities would appear to afford them better facilities for improving their acquaintance with it. 3. It has been most fully established, that Husbandry, in all its branches, affords a wide and interesting field for intelligent observation. The most insignificant operation of practical Agriculture, indeed, presents material for patient reflection and minute enquiry. The farmer may engage in a routine of manual labour, established by ex. perience, and requiring the mere exertion of muscle, with results satisfactory to himself; he may also asssociate 8 with bodily exertion, the higher exercise of his mental gifts, promising him greater remuneration for his industry, and a better acknowledgment of his privileges as an in- |telligent member of society. 4. In its first stage of development, the relation of Chemistry to Agriculture was necessarily very obscure and often much misunderstood. The most sanguine and exaggerated expectations were entertained respecting the results to which it promised to lead while in this obscure condition. The non-realization of immoderate hopes, paved the way for the substitution of violent prejudices against Scientific Agriculture in the minds of many prac- tical men ; neither was it until materials drav/n from experiments, confirming or modifying the prognostications jof theory, assisted in framing a scientific system of Ag- riculture, that the visionary anticipations of multitudes became sobered down into a proper apprehension of the actual good to be obtained by its adoption ; an event which has taken place during the last six or seven years. What Chemistry has already done for Agriculture is im- mense : what she may yet do is incalculable. And now that a clear insight into their relationship is established, the difficulty of presenting a popular view of the subject has almost vanished. 5. Very strong prejudices still exist among practical farmers against book-farming, prejudices which have not unfrequently arisen from disappointed hopes, and even I ruinous los:i in following arbitrary rules, without under- standing the principles upon which they are based. Agri- cultural Science, adapted to the practice of every-day life, is no system of book-farming ; it presents no prescribed i- s'l \ \ mks to be Implicitly obeyed. It portrays in simple Ian. guage, deroid of technicalities, the reasons why farmers plough, drain, fallow, and rotate their crops ; it shows how repeated cropping, without the application of manure, must inevitably ruin for a time the most fertile soil ; and it establishes such an intimate relationship between the soil and the kind of vegetable growing upon it, that every farmer may frame for himself a rational system of Hus- bandry, as varied as the soil he may chance to cultivate. 6. It has been occasionally urged, by some persons I who profess to speak from experience, probably acquired in a very contracted sphere, that Canadian farmers, in j possession of a fertile soil, do not at present require the aid of a systematic system of agriculture. Such an I objection, rarely advanced it is true, may be dismissed by a reference to the present deteriorated condition of many fertile regions, and to that growing desire which every in. telligent and enterprising farmer exhibits, to make himself I acquainted with the rationale of agricultural processes, asl well as to the invariable success attending the acquire, ment of such information when judiciously applied. 7. The complaint of diminishing scales of produce, isl general throughout the older settled portions of the Un-I ited Provinces ; it has been long and loudly urged in Newl England and in the State of NewYork. History, moreoverJ furn^hes us with numberless examples of once famedl fertile soils, in all quarters of the world, now scarcely] able to make a quadruple return. Professor Norton, says, that "in many of the Easternl States, where wheat was once largely grown, its culturej has greatly decreased ; and in some districts scarcely anyj IS to be found, excepting an occasional small patch of spring wheat. It is common to ascribe this to the Hessian ly, to the prevalence of rust, &c. ; but after we have lade all due allowance for these causes of uncertain pro- luce, the principal reason, in my judgment, is to he found bn the deterioration of the land." "The state of Agriculture in the northern part of America, in our own provinces, and in New England, is renerally what the state of agriculture in Scotland proba- >ly was 80 or 90 years ago. In some parts of New Bruns- rick they are very nearly in the precise condition in which Scotland was 12fpiears ago. Go as far west as you like, ind as far south as you like, the same general description ipplies to the whole." — Professor Johnston, -u >•■■. 8. Enquiries into the causes of these results inform us, [hat they are the natural consequences of the system of [arming pursued. Where little attention is paid to a judi- 5ious rotation of crops, to surface draining, to the proper )reservation of manures, or to the mode of applying them, [o the destruction of weeds and the selection of seed, — in word, to as careful a management as circumstances will jrmit of all farming operations, — can we be surprised [hat the average of Canada's staple prodtct, wheat, isless fhan one-half the average of England and many parts of continental Europe. 9. Another objection to the general adoption of Scientifi'* ^arming practice, is said to be found in the circumstances )y which Canadian farmers are frequently surrounded— listance from markets, the high price of labour, the low )rice of produce and of land, all conducing to foster a kystem of Husbandry directly opposed to rational viewd. I i d ' k In answer to this objection, we may urge, that Agricultu- ral Science is replete with suggestions, many of which may be received, and many, if not found remunerative, rejected ; it moulds itself to every condition of locality and circumstance, and wherever calculation proves that some of its suggestions are not remunerative, they can form no part of a rational system for that neighbourhood. 10. The local experience of every farmer in the country, will afford him abundant illustration of the vast difference in the results produced by good and bad farm- ing. There is not an old settled Township in the Pro- vince, which does not furnish many ina||pces of intelligent and well-informed men, annually reaping double, andj sometimes treble the average amount of produce from their farms, their neighbours are vainly endeavouring to I obtain. When we consider the circumstances under which successful Agriculturib.^, with no pretensions to| scientific knowledge, have arrived at that course of opera- tions which ensures to them favourable results, we cannot! fail to discover, that experience extended over many! years, and perhaps generations, has given them the duel to success. But, when the scene of operations is changed,! when the farmer has to grapple with a new soil and a| NEW CLIMATE, or whcu the valuable results of experience! are either inapplicable, neglected, or unknown, it is then] that Agricultural Chemistry, by descending to elementary! principles, directs the farmer how to build up al system of Husbandry, adapted to every kind of soil and! every variety of climate, in which cultivated crops are| capable of being produced with advantage. The chief design, therefore, of Agricultural Chemistry, is to investi. gate— ■^ 1st. The relations of Vegetables to the Air and Soil in ^ which they grow. 2nd. The relations of Vegetables to Animals. 11. Since there is not the slightest ground for the sup* position that vegetables or animals create matter, every portion of their structure being derived either from the air or the soil, it is manifestly of importance to know the nature of those substances which serve the purposes of food. We can only obtain this information by endeavour- ing to ascertain what simple substances are common to air, soils, vegetables, and animals, and to trace, as far as the present stat|p||f the science enables us, in what way this mutual interchange takes place. It is almost needless to remark, that we must not expect to find any simple substance in a vegetable or in an animal which does not exist in one form or another in the air or in the soil. ' 12. The solid substances which compose th^ earth, together with most of its numerous and diversified inhabi- tants, have been carefully examined by chemists, and the materials of which they are composed subjected to minute and exact comparison. This examination has terminated in the singular result, that, notwithstanding the infinitely varied mineral, vegetable, and animal forms which pre- sent themselves to our observation, ALL are composed of one or more of sixty different simple indestructible sub- stances ; that is to say, of substances from which nothing dll..rent from themselves can be obtained by any known process. All the metals furnish us with illustrations of simple or uncompounded substances— water, wood, flesh, and, indeed, every part of vegetables or animals is formed by the union of two or more simple substances. Many nil J, ^.-v!'*. 8 variotios of these bodies are rarely to bo met with ; some of iliem never occur naturally in a simple state, being always compounded with other bodies, and only capable of being separated from them by means of intricate arti- ficial processes. Others, again, are constantly present in animals and vegetables — consequently, also in the air or fertile soils. The number of those simple substances which enter into the composition of cultivated plants and domesticated ariimals is not necessarily greater than FIF'TEEN, and in general FOUR out of the fifteen build up.nineteen-twentieths of their structure. It thus becomes a matter of interest to enquiring men, Ml of moment to practical farmers, that they should obtain a familiar acquaintance with the power's, properties and distribution of the fifteen simple bodies which play such an important part in the marvellous processes of vegetable and animal life. 13. A very superficial examination of the circunistan- ces under which vegetables grow, furnishes us with the conditions upon which their life and health are dependent. They are six in number : — 1. The Conriposition of the Air. 2. The Composition and Mechanical Properties of the Soil. 3. The Moisture of the Soil. 4. The Moisture of the Air. 5. The Temperature of Air and Soil. 6. The Presence of Solar Light. The second condition, namely, the Composition and Mechanical Properties of the Soil, is the only one of the six over which the farmer can exercise any direct control. The composition, lioMrevor, of air is invariable, the pres- ence of solar light nearly so ; and the '^fleets of tx> much or too little moisture, in the form of rain or vapour of water, as well as of loo high or too low temperatures, can be wonderfully anr* liorated by those artifices wliich expe- rience and the Science of Agriculture suggest. THE AIR, OR ATMOSPHERE. 14. Pure country air is composed of two invisible gases, in which a small, yet variable amount of vapour of water is always dissolved, together with a minute quan- tity of a sour-tasted gas, called Carbonic Acid, or choke damp. One liundred ounces of air contain about — 7.0 ounces of a gas called Nitrogen ; 23 ounces of a gas called Oxygen ; 1 to 1^ ounces of Vapour of Water ; ^^ of an ounce of a gas called Carbonic Acid. These gases are intimately mixed together, and alway» in the same, or very nearly the same proportions ; this uniformity of composition obtains at all altitudes, whether air is taken at ftie level of the sea or from the tops of high mountains. Nitrogen is a kind of simple air or gas; it is tasteless, invisible, extinguishes flame, and is destructive to animal and vegetable life in its pure state. It serves to temper and weaken the powerful effect of Oxygen, with which it is mixed in the air we breathe. It may be procured suf- ficiently pure for ordinary experiments by the subjoined process : — Place a short candle in a basin, pour some lime water (see art. 167) round about the candle, until it rises within an inch of the wick. Take an empty bottle with a wide mouth, light the candle, and carefully put the ! -I 10 inverted bottle over it, until it dip 3 half an inch below tha surface of the water. In a few seconds the candle will go out, having, during the process of combustion , consumed all ..the Oxygen and produced Carbonic Acid, (art. 19.) The water will rise in the bottle when it cools. Cork under water, and shake the bottle. The Carbonic Acid produced by the combustion of the candle, will combine with dissolved lime, and render the water milk-white. Nitrogen, nearly pure, remains in the form of an invisible gas. Oxygen is a simple gas, possessing many extraordinary properties. It is destitute of smell, colour, and taste ; all bodies burn with increased energy in Oxygen, and ani- mals, when they breathe in its pure form, are thrown into a state of the greatest fever and excitement, which soon terminates in death. It forms Oxides or Rusts when it combines with Metals, as for instance, with iron, which, when exposed to air, unites with the component Oxygen, and forms Oxide or Rust of Iron. It is also a great acid- ifying agent, forming powerful acids wjjjen it combines with certain bodies, as with Sulphur, to form Sulphuric Acid or Oil of Vitriol ; with Nitrogen, to form Nitric Acid, or Aquafortis. Oxygen is very generally diffused ; it con. stitutes eight-ninths of water by weight, and is found to form a large portion of rocks, stones, soils, vegetables, and animals. Its presence in the pure state may be shown in the tollpwing manner: — Fill a glass with water, invert it, and let it rest upon a saucer filled with the same fluid. Place some green leaves under the glass and expose them to the direct light of the sun ; bubbles of gas will soon be seen to form upon the 11 surfaces of the leaves. The gas is pure Oxygen. It isk obtained from the decomposition of Carbonic Acid by the leaves, under the influence of the sun's rays. The bub- bles will cease to ba foiWd when all the Carbonic Acid contained in the leaves and water is decomposed. Put some bits of chalk or limestone and a few drops of vinegar into the water ; the operation will be renewed ; Carbonic Acid being liberated from tlie chalk or limestone. 15. The Air or Atmosphere extends to the height of about 45 miles, and presses upon the surface of the earth with a weight equai to 15 lbs. on every square inch of surface, or equivalent to that which would be produced by a sheet of iron five feet in thickness ; it is nevertheless, 814 times lighter than water, one cubic foot weighing 535 grains. During thunder storms the passage of lightning through air, causes the formation of a substance named Ammonia, — (art 31.) — a gas of very pungent odour, rea- dily absorbed by water, and familiarly known by the name of Spirit of Hartshorn. Rain water invariably contains Ammonia, which it collects from air in its descent to Jhe earth. 16. Air, upon which the life of all vegetables is depen- dent, contains, as we have seen, apparently insignificant quantities of three bodies, Carbonic Acid, Water and Ammonia. One of the most astonishing results of the application of chemistry to vegetable life and organization, is embraced in the discoveries, that, 1st. Nineteen-twentibths by weight, op all vege- tables, ARE DERIVED ORIGINALLY FROM THE AIR WE BREATHE ; 2nd. The atmospheric or air food of vegetables exists in the forms of carbonic acid, water and AMMONIA. ;1 ^' 13 • 17. These important principles in Agricultural Chemistry may be made more evident, by tlie following illustration : Let us suppose we burn completely 1000 lbs. weight of hard wood in a stove or fire-pluce, and carefully weigh the ashes which remain behind. They will bo found to constitute about one-twentieth of the whole mass of the wood, weighing not more than from 30 to 50 lbs., accord- ing to the kind of wood burnt. The whole of that per- tion which goes off in the form of smoke, vapour of water and gases, existed at one period in the air we breathe, in the forms of Carbonic acid, Water and Ammonia. The whole of the ashen were obtained from the soil in which the trees originally grew. 18, We may now proceed to consider the properties and sources of the atmospheric food of vegetables, and endea- vour to ascertain the manner in which it assists in building up their structure, also to what extent the formation of their diflerent parts or organs, is dependent upon a proper supply of each particular kind of food. ATMOSPHERIC, OR ORGANIC FOOD OF VEGETABLES* 19. Carbonic Acid. — This important gas food of vegeta- bles possesses many singular properties. It is poisonous to animals, incapable of supporting combustion, inodorous, sour-tasted, and considerably heavier than the air wo breathe. It is composed of Carbon or Charcoal and Oxy- gen ; in twenty-two pounds weight of this acid gas, there are six pounds of Carbon and sixteen pounds of Oxygen. Water absorbs it with avidity, and thus acquires the power of dissolving chalk and limestone. Carbonic Acid is an 13 ■T1 active agent ill loosening and separating into their consti- tuent parts the surfaces of solid rocks, stones, and soils. It possesses the power of forming combinations with cer- tain substances found in rocks, sucli us potash, soda, &c. Some of the compounds tiuis formed, being soluble in water, are wasiied out of tho rock^ by rains and dews, leaving the surface to a small depth extremely porous, and capable of being disintegrated after tho manner shown in art. 26. The leaves of plants absorb Carbonic Acid from tJie air which envelopes thefn, during the day time ; it also enters into the plant along with the water absorbed by the roots — Carbonic Acid being always present in fertile soils. (art. 74.) 20. When direct or diffused light from the sun falls upon the green parts of vegetables,^ they acquire the power of decomposing Carbonic Acid — that is to say, of separating the Carbon from the Oxygen. The Carbon enters into the substance of the vegetable, and thus assists in building up its structure, and is said to be assimilated. The Oxygen is given off by the leaves of land-plants, and by the roots of water-plants in the form of a simple gas. During the night time, the Carbonic Acid contained in the water drawn up by the roots, is given ofi* by the leaves unchanged — few plants having any power to sepa- rate the Carbon from the Oxygen during the darkness of night. The inability of cultivated vegetables to form green colouring matter in the absence of light, may be shown by shading a leaf, or an entire plant with a com- mon flower-pot : it will become pale-coloured or white. In the absence of light, the leaves cannot decompose the 14 Carbonic Acid tlicy absorb. Tlie brilliant colours of dif- ferent kin(h of roses arc produced by a constitutional in- ability to decomposo Carbonic Acid. If the petals of tbe flowers decomposed ns much as the leaves, they would be green. When potatoes are exposed to the light of the sun, the rind absorbs Carbonic Acid — decomposes it, and forms green colouring matter. 21. Carbon, when pure, exists only in the solid form : it then constitutes the diamond. Lampblack and Char- coal are impure forms of Carbon. Carbon is insoluble in water ; it must necessarily combine with somd body in order to assume the gaseous state, or become soluble in water, before it can serve as food for vegetables. We thus find it in the form of Carbonic Acid, which is not only gaseous, but also very soluble in water : two char- acteristics, which ensure it a double access into the system of vegetables, either by the leaves in the form of a gas, or by the roots when dissolved in water. The leaves of forest trees v/i]\ absorb all the Carbonic Acid from the air which passes through them, during the con- tinuance of a gentle breeze, in bright sun-shine. 22. A popular opinion prevails that some plants pos- sess the power of turning their leaves to the sun. The motion observed is purely mechanical, and depends upon the rapid liberation of Carbon from the absorbed Carbonic Acid in those parts of the plant which are exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The liberated Carbon stiffens and contracts one side of the plant in forming new wood, while the other remains comparatively flexible. The contracted side becomes arched, and appears to give to the vegetable a Lmited power of motion in the direction 15 of ligbt: a hrilllunt artificial illumination produces the the same cfTcct in tho ratio of its intensity. Wlien Car- bon is separated from Carbonic Acid , it combines with the component parts of water, and forms woody fibre, starch, gum, sugar, and oils. Carbon obtained from Carbonic Acid, forms from 45 to 50 lbs. in every 100 lbs. of the dnj wood, stalks, and seeds of cultivated plants. 23. Carbonic Acid is the immediate source of all the Carbon or Charcoal in vegetables ; and with the single exception of Amnionia, Carbon exists in all substances of exclusively vegetable and animal origin. The constant presence of Carbonic Acid in tho air we breathe, is due to the respiration of animals, (art. 166 and 167,) the combustion of bodies, and the decay of vegetable matter. If all the Carbonic Acid present in the atmosphere were collected in one spot, in its gaseous state, it would occupy a space of more than 480,000 cubic miles. A vast store exists in the extensive limestone rocks which form a large portion of the earth's crust. Pure limestone, indeed, is composed of one-half Lime and one-half Carbonic Acid, which may be driven off in the gaseous form by means of a violent heat, as in the operations of limekilns. This acid gas may be obtained in the following manner : — Pour strong vinegar upon some pieces of chalk or limestone ; violent effervescence will be observed, caused by the lib- eration of Carbonic Acid from its union with the Hnie of the chalk, or limestone. If the chalk is at the bottom of a deep glass vessel, heavy Carbonic Acid will displace the air, and a lighted piece of paper being introduced, will be immediately extinguished. 24. Water. — This abundant and necessary fluid is le known lo the agriculturist in five states, the stl'.d, (ice,) the fluid, (water,) the gaseous, (vapour of water, steam,) the vesicular, (clouds, mist,) and in combination with certain bodies, (slacked lime.) When water iieezes, that is, assumes the solid state, it expands with astonishing force, sufficient to break the strongest vessels. Many re- markable results are produced by the expansion of water when converted into ice, amoDg which, the floating of ice, is perhaps, the .nost deserving of notice. If water, in be- coming solid, followed the almost universal law of contrac- tion, ice would sink, and yearly increasing in thickness at the bottom of deep seas, lakes and rivers, would produce such a change in climate as probably to convert the great- er portion of the temperate zones into desolate and unin- habitable regions. 25. We discover, however, a still more beautiful pro- vision for arresting the conversion of oceans and seas into solid masses of ice, in the singular property of water oc- cupying the least space, and being consequently heaviest, at the temperature of 40 degrees — eight above the freea> ing point. The warmth of seas, at depths beyond the influence of the sun's heating rays, is thus perfectly uni- form, effectually preventing the Arctic Oceans from becomaig solid and immovable masses of ice. The Climate of Western Canada, south of the 44th par- allel of north 'atitude, is influenced to a very great degree by Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Huron, which remain unfro- zen all the year round. The mean winter temperature of large tracts of country, situated tf *he east of the Lakes, is 24®, on the Lakes 27®, and west of the Lakes 20^. 26. During the autumnal months, rain and dews pen- 17 m etrate the minute crevices and pores of solid rocks and clods of earth; (art. 19.) ; in the winter months the water freezes, and expanding, tears their particles asunder; thus gradually reduces the hardest rocko into a soft and friable soiL To the alternate thawing and freezing of water in the soil during the early spring months, and its consequent contraction and expansion, the ** throwing out" of young wheat plants is to be attributed, a disaster which may be materially prevented by draining. 27. When water is converted into b. mm, or slowly as- sumes the form of vapour, during the process of evapora- tion, it absorbs a vast quantity of heat, (art. 160.) Under ordinary circumstances, one cubic footof wat»r will occupy 1700 cubic feet of space when converted into steam ; but when it is transformed into vapour by evaporation, at or- dinary low temperatures, and mingles with the air, it expands 80,000 times. The quantity of water capable of being suspended in air, is dependent upon the temperature. When air is perfectly saturated with moisture, the least diminution in temperature compels a portion of the sus- pended vapour of water to iassume the vesicular state, as cloud or mist. When the reduction of temperature takes place on the surfaces of bodies, the vapour is deposited in the form of dew. It is thus, tb?.t after the sun has set, the leaves of vegetables on cloudless nights rapidly becoming cool, by the radiation of their heat into the dear expanse above them, chill the surrounding air, and cause it to deposit upon their upper surfaces the moisture, which, in its chilled state, it cannot retain. The quantity of this revivifying agent con^.ensed on the leaves ot vegetables in the Canadian Peninsula is very 1 1 ! 'il- 16 ill illr '*• ''^■ II.' m Mi ijiji great, and furnishes one important reason why Western Canada is less liable to suffer from those destructive droughts which are common to the West of the Lakes, and not unfrequent towardsHhe East and South. We may safely infer, that under our comparatively serene summer sky, in connection with a humid atmos- phere, the annual deposition of dew on forest lands amounts to about 600 tons per acre, which, dripping from the trees, and being sheltered from solar radiation by the dense shade they produce, furnishes a steady supply to swamps and shallow springs. 28. Most solids and gases are soluble in water ; the very existence of vegetables and animals is dep ?ndent upon this property. It is thus that river and well water contain small, (Quantities of lime, potash, soda, magnesia, iron, be- ^^si^,«^r and Carbonic acid. The refreshing and agree- able 'taste of springs is due to the presence of diissolved air ; hence, also, recently boiled water is insipid and disagreeable. It appears from recent investigations made under the auspices of the London General Board of Health, that both public and private economy and health, are ma- terially affected by the character of the water employed for domestic and other purposes. When vegetable or animal matter becomes decomposed, one of tlie results of decomposition is Ammonia, which, in assuming its gaseous state, always carries with it vegetable or animal matters in a high state of putrescency. Ammo- nia is rapidly absorbed by water, and with it the animal or vegetable substances with which it is loaded. Hence, water kept in open cisterns, or tubs, or even open wells, in the neighbourhood of dung-heaps, stables, or in filthy ■:'f,*myW 10 yards, is sure to be vitiated by putrescent animbl or vege- ' table impurities. If water thus impregnated be boiled, it loses the injurious influences due to decaying matter which may be present. Ordinary filtration will not destroy all the organic impurities of water which has been kept in vitiated or foul air ; a good filter of animal charcoal or clay will greatly lessen the quantity. The use of hard water for cooking and culinary purpo- ses, is open to many objections. In making tea with hard water, containing sixteen grains of lime to the gallon, (a gallon of water contains 70,000 grains,) as much of the leaf is required to make three cups as might make five cups of equal strength were soft water employed. The extra expenditure of tea, when made with hard Water, is about one-third. It also appears that soft water evaporates one-third faster than hard water, an important considera- tion where steam power is required. A single grain of lime contained in a gallon of water destroys a quarter of an ounce of soap ; so that in water of ordinary hardness, say eight grains of lime to the gallon, two ounces of soap are wasted in neutralising the lime. To persons who are accustomed to wash in rain water, river water containing five grains of lime to the gallon would appem* hard, and require one ounce and a quarter of soap to neutralize it ; that is, to render it soft. Soft water is much more favour- able to health, as an article of drink, than hard water. During the late cholera, the inhabitants of a portion of Glasgow enjoyed a singular immunity from the epidemic. The unanimous opinion of the Medical Society was, that this comparative immunity was to be attributed to the soft water supply. Different animals show an instinctive love »i 20 H!i;:i I |l liiPil 11: i;i for soft water. Hard water produces a rough and staring coat on horses, and renders them liable to gripes. 29. Water is composed of two f];ases : Oxy(;en, before described, and Hydrogen, a very light and inflammable gaseous body, elementary, invisible, inodorous ; and, when pure, destructive both to animals and vegetables. It may be easily procured from water in the following manner : — Introduce some iron turnings or bits of zinc into a small bottle. Make a hole through the cork, and insert the stem of a tobacco pipe, so that it fits accurately. Mix some oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) and water ; about one part of the former to four of the latter. Pour the mixture on the metal, cork the bottle tight with the pre- pared cork, and after the lapse of a minute apply a light to the extremity of the pipe. The gas issuing from it will take fire. It is Hydrogen, and is obtained by the decomposition of the water. Take a small dry phial and collect some of the gas by holding it over the pipe ; bring it immediately to the flame of a candle ; an explosion will take place, and water be formed, the phial becoming dim with moisture. If we mi» 1 pound of Hydrogen with 8 pounds of Oxygen, and pass an electric spark through the mixture, a union will take place, and 9 pounds of water be formed. Chemists are acquainted with various ways of converting water into its component gases. The perfectly clean sur- face of many metals, such as iron, zinc, copper, &c., will immediately take Oxygen from water, and liberate a cor- responding quantity of Hydrogen, which at ^nee assumes the iraseous state. The water is then said to be decom- posed, and the action observed is due to the compare tively SI greater attraction of the metal for Oxygen than of Oxygen for Hydrogen. The Oxygen, separated from its union with the Hydrogen, combines with the metal, and forms an Oxide or Rust. Plants possess the power of de- composing Water, and make use of its components, Oxygen and Hydrogen, to build up their struc- ture. 30. Water is not the only source of Oxygen to vege- tables ; the leaves of plants absorb that gas from the air by which they are surrounded during the nighl time. It has been found by experiment that the leaves of the spruce-fir, if kept in the dark for twenty-four hours, will absorb ten times their volume of Oxygen. This absorp- tion of Oxygen is intimately connected with the formation of peculiar substances in the leaves and bark, such as resins and oils. The leaves of the oak, which contain a substance called tonmn, absorb fourteen times their volume under the same circumstances, and the balsam ])oplar twenty-one times as much. It is a very curious fact that cattle will eat certain kinds of vegetables in the morning, which they will not touch at noon, or in the evening. A change takes place in the taste of the vege- table during the twenty- four hours, caused by the absorp- tion of Oxygen from the air during the night time, and the liberation of Hydrogen from water during the day- time, under the influence of light. In the morning, the vegetables are acid, at noon tasteless, and in the evening bitter. The roots of vegetables possess the power of absorbing Oxygen from the air present in the soil, or from rail-water, which contains thre^> per jent. of that important gas in its pure and uncombined state, dissolving ! I • tl I ■ ■' !! 22 it during its passogo to the earth. Hence, roots should never be covered with an impervious soil which refuses access to air or rain-water. Oxygen is also absolutely necessary during the process of germination in seeds. 31. Ammonia. — Ammonia, in popular language. Spirit of Hartshorn, is formed in the air by the action of light- ning. It is composed of Hydrogen and Nitrogen. Three pounds of the former combining with fourteen pounds of | the latter to form seventeen pounds of Ammonia. This body possesses a singularly powerful odour, and an equal- ly remarkable attraction for water, which dissolves 780 times its volume at the temperature of melting ice. Am- monia is emitted by decaying vegetable and animal matter ; it is also found in the perspiration of animals, and is given off by the leaves of many plants, as well as by the flowers of a still greater number. 32. Rain-water always contains Ammonia, washed from the air through which it passes. Its presence in rain-water can be detected by evaporating a considerable quantity of that fluid — say one gallon — to the bulk of a | table-spoonful. Upon adding a little lime, and suspending a feather dipped in Spiiit of Salt, or good Vinegar, over the evaporating basin, white fumes will be observed, which indicate the presence of Ammonia. In order to | discover its presence in solids, the solid should be reduced to powder, and mixed with an equal quantity of lime, then heated by means of a spirit lamp, and the same test| applied as given above. 33. Ammonia is absorbed by the roots of plants along with the water ia which it is dissolved ; it is found in the juices of all vegetables, and its odour can be perceived I 23 rhenover lime is added to the juice of the maple, in the >roce88 of making maple-sugar. The characteristic smell >f close stahles, is due to Ammonia proceeding from the lecomposing urine. Many solid bodies possess the power )f absorbing large quantities of Ammonia — such as )artially burnt clay, rust of iron, gypsum, and especially )owdered charcoal, decaying wood and vegetable matter : these substances relinquish much of what they have con- lensed within their pores, to the water with which they lay be saturated. Ammonia is a very important portion )fthe food of vegetables. It is the chief source of the fitrogen in cultivated crops. 34. It has been a disputed point whether vegetables )0ssess the property of absorbi»ig Nitrogen directly from the atmosphere by means of their leaves, or even of making iseof that which is contained in its pure and simple state in rain-water, (about two per cent.) It is now thought to be [ascertained that some vegetables do possess the power of ising pure Nitrogen as food, and that others can only )btain that body bj the decomposition of Ammonia. Some Ikin-ls of clover derive a large supply of Nitrogen directly from the atmosphere ; whereas grain-producing crops (es- )ecially wheat) have no power to assimilate Nitrogen from Ithe air by which they are surrounded, or even feed on that which is taken up into their system by means of the [water they absorb from the soil. It is thus that grain-pro- id ucing crops exhaust the soil of Ammonia — the only com- |mon form of food containing Nitrogen accessible to them. [Hence, manures containing large quantities of substances, [which, upon decomposition, can produce Ammonia, are )f special advantage to grain-producing crops, (art. 104.) I 24 Nitrogen is absolutely necessary in the fornpation of thoj seeds of plants ; and the more Nitrogen the seeds contain, the more nutritious they will bo as articles of food. The| best samples of wheat contain the largest amount of Nitro- gen ; derived, probably, nearly altogether from Ammonia. Nitrogen is also found in the juices of vegetables, in forms I capable of serving the purposes of nutrition, (art. 124); hence certain kinds of green food are more nutritious than when in the dry state, as green oat straw, green | clover, green grasses, «&c. 35. It has been remarked, that the three bodies, Car- 1 bonic Acid, Water, and Ammonia, constitute nine-tenths of the food of vegetables, and are composed of four simple | or elementary bodies, thus :— Carbonic Acid, from Carbon and Oxygen ; Water, « Oxygen and Hydrogen ; Ammonia, " Hydrogen and Nitrogen. The simple or elementary bodies. Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen, are called the ORGANIC! ELEMENTS of vegetables and animals, because the organs or parts of vegetables and animals which have functions or duties to perform, which possess an organized | structure, and are the result of vegetable or animal life, (as the bark, the leaf, the cells of the wood, in vegetables ; and the skin, the muscles, the hair of animals) are either | altogether, or almost altogether, formed from them. Such substances, however, as stones, rocks, soils, which do not possess any organized form or structure, or any parts having certain duties to perform, are termed inorganic bodies, and the simple bodies of which they are com- posed, INORGANIC ELEMENTS. In general, the S5 )rganic elements of vegetables go off in the form of smoko) \6i0.t when a vegetable is burned, and the inorganic portico Iconstitutes the Ash. 36. The ratios in which the simple organic elements lenter into the composition of vegetablrs, vary slightly Iwith different species. If the wood of the oak, the beech, Ithe elm, the maple, or the straw and seeds of wheat, barley, oats, &c., be dried in an oven, so as to drive away all moisture, and the remaining portion subjected to anal- ysis, it will be found that these, and indeed all cultivated vegetables, contain in eveiy hundred pounds weight— ' ' > \ I ■ From 40 to 50 lbs. of Carbon, 38 to 45 - - Oxygen, I Urganic 5 to 7 - - Hydrogen, f Elements. (( (( i( IIJ to 3 " 2 to 10 1 Oi Nitrogen, J Ash, Including the Inorganic Elements. ,1 37. A more exact composition of some important vege- I tables is given in the following table : — [Wheat . . , . Oats, Wheat Straw . Oat Straw . . Clover hay(red) Potato . . . . Turnip . . . . Yollow Peas . Pea Straw . . Jerusalem Ar- tichoke ; . . Curbon. llyd'geu. Oxygen. Nitr'gen. Ash. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 2.4 46.1 5.8 434 2.3 50.7 6.4 36.7 2.2 4.0 48.4 5.3 38.9 .4 7.0 50.1 5.4 39.0 .4 5.1 47.4 5.0 37.8 2.1 7.7 44.0 5.8 44.7 1.5 4.0 42.9 55 42.3 1.7 7.6 46.5 6.2 40.0 42 3.1 45.8 5.0 35.6 2.3 11.3 43.3 5.8 43.3 16 6.0 = 100. = 100. = 100. = 100. 2= 100. = 100. = 100. = 100. = 100. = 100. 11 I w Mil 2(\ In illustration of llie ubovo tables, let us tiikr, as an ex. ample, Red Clover Hay. We find that 100 lbs., when I well dried, arc composed of 47 j**^ lbs. of Carbon ; 5 lbs. of Hydrogen ; 37^^^, lbs. of Oxygen ; 2^^^ lbs. of Nitro. gen ; and 7^^^ lbs. of Ash. Or, in other words, 92^^^ lbs. out of 100 lbs. were obtained from the three substances — Carbonic Acid, Water, ond Ammonia, and only 7-j^j lbs., out of 100 lbs., derived from the solid substances of the | -earth. 38. When vegetables decay, many and very complex I changes take place, but all these finally result in those which restore to the air we breathe, and the soil we tread | upon, the substances from which they were originally constructed. " All the innumerable products of vitality I resume, after death, the original form from which they sprung. Thus, the destruction of an existing generation] becomes the means for the production of a new one, and death becomes the source of life." — (Liebig.) EECAPITULATION. 1. The application of Chemistry to Agriculture enables us to establish the mutual relations which exist between Plants, Animals, Air, and Soil. 2. A knowledge of these relations teaches us the mode in which we may obtain the greatest remuneration for the least expenditure of Capital and Labour. It elevates an Art into a Science, and associates high intellectual acquire- ments with laborious, yet honourable industry. 97 3. Vegetable lilb and heallli are dopcndciit upon tho 3omposition, moisture, and temperature of the Air and 5oil, and the presence of Solar Light. 4. The food of vfgotables miiy ho divided into two jlasses : — 1st. Organic f jod, or timt wiiich is obtained jhiefly from tiio Atmospliore ; 2nd. Inorganic food, or that which is obtained exclusively from the Soil. 5. The Organic food consists of Carbonic Acid, Water, md Ammonia. From tnose sulistanccs vegetables derive Itheir chief supply of tho solid CarI)on, and the gases lllydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen, which build up about |ninety-five hundredths of tlieir bodies. 6. Carbonic Acid ; a non-supporter of combustion ; [invisible ; inodorous ; sour-tasted ; possesses acid pro- perties ; heavier than air ; eagerly absorbed by water ; great decomposing agent, especially of rocks ; generated by decay of animal and vegetable matter, Combustion and Respiration ; a constant admixture of Air ; absorbed by the leaves and roots of plants ; composed of Carbon |and Oxygen ; gives Carbon to vegetables. 7. Water : exists in five states ; heaviest at 40® ; ab- Isorbs heat when its form is changed from a solid to a fluid, or fluid to a vapour : dissolved by Air in propor- tion to the temperature ; upon condensation forms clouds or mists, and, when condensed on the surfaces of bodies, dew ; possesses a great solvent power for gases and solids ; pure Water is most conducive to animal health, also to domestic and manufacturing economy ; composed I of the gases Oxygen and Hydrogen; decomposed, and its elements assimilated by plants ; Water is the great agent in conveying solids and gases into the system of 28 plants by thoir roots ; it is exhaled by the leaves an(j| stems. 8. Ammonia : formed in Air by the action of Light. ning, also by the decomposition of vn^otablo and animall bodies containing Nitrogen ; composed of Hydrogen andl Nitrogen ; eagerly absorbed by water, clay, vegetablcl mould ; enters plants by their roots, and is the mainj source of their Nitrogen. 0. The ultimate results of the decomposition of orga.l nized bodies ore Carbonic Acid, Water, Ammonia, and a minute quantity of Ash. " Thus, the destruction ofl one generation becomes the means for the production of al new one. )) i: ! LECTURE II. CJcncrnl Structure of Vcjjjctnbles — Trnnsniwsion of VVutrr through VeifcCetoblt's — The Soil — Substances common to Soils and Vegei- abk'8 — Action of VVuter on Soils — Inorjranic Food of Vfgelubleg —Sulphur, I'hopphorus, PofnHh, Soila, Magnesia, Lime, Flint, Iron, Chlorine, and Iodine — Flint, Limo, and Potaah Plants — Table of Mineral Substances abstracted by Crops — Analysis of a •• worn out" Soil — Analysir* of a FertiL' Soil — Vegetable Matter in Soil? —Recapitulation. 39. The general structure of a vegetable is admirably iduptcd to the conditions under which it exists. Its leaves ire continuully bathed in an atmosphere containing the iiain source of its food, while its roots repose in a soil ivhere abundance of moisture is ready to convey into its Interior those mineral ingredients which assist the plant in ligesting and assimilating its atmospheric nutriment. The leaves are employed during the day time in incessantly searching from the moving air which agitates them the .arbonic Acid which supplies them with Carbon: the Poots are engaged in drinking from the earth a copious supply of Water, containing Ammoain and solid substan- ;es in solution. These, the vital energies of the plant fabricate together, and form from their crude elements Its varied and beautiful tissues. 40. The extremities of the fibres, or lesser roots of vegeta- )les are similar in their construction to a sponge ; hence> jailed spongioles. They consist of a soft substance, contain- Bng a number of exceedingly small openings or mouths„ jthrough which water, and whatever solids are dissolved pn it, is alone capable of entering. It is thus that imbibed [water forms the means of introducing into vegetables \\'' 30 1: !(i Mm\ li'S ;; Ji various mineral substances, which arc absolutely neces- sary to their growth, and whiten could not enter into them in a solid state, however linnly divided. During the winter months importan', additions are furnished to the ends of the roots, in the form of now spongy extremities, or spongioles, whicli enable them to commence early and active absorbing opcration-s in the first warm days of spring. The spongiolei.% or moutlis of the roots, arc con- nected continuoUvsly wilh the leaves by means of the tubes of +^ tom, vv^ -•'« may be distinctly seen by the unassisted eye in the partially decayed wood of trees, in roeds ond ether water plants, also in vines and canes. 41. The quantity of water transmitted through the system of n^ants is immense. From the leaves of a well-wooded acre of land, not le?i than three hundred thou'=!and gallons pass off in the form of invisible vapour during the four months intervening May and October ; and at the lowe.it computation, an acre of wheat, just before flowering, daily exhales five tons of water. We thus see how easily disease in vegetables may be engen. dered, when evaporation from their leaves is suppressed by any external cause. We have, indeed, but too abun- dant examples of the baneful effects of suppressed evap- oration m the potato disease, rust on wheat, mildew, and sunburn. — (See Diseases of Vegetables, iirt. 172, &c.) — The small mouths or pores through which evaporation of moisture takes place, are generally found in all parts of healthy plants, e.-^cept the roots. Wlien seen through a microscope, they present the appearance of small slits, communicating with the vessels of the bark or rind. Their number on the leaves of some speuies of vegetables is very great. On one square inch of the le\f of the common u clove pink there are no loss than 38,500 on the uppe^ and under surfaces ; on tlie under surfaoj of the vine I leaf 13,600, and on the under side of the common lilac there are 1G0,00C to the square inch. When young trees are transplun'^^d, it is advisable to diminish the evaporating surface of the lerves, by cutting off some of !t!ie branches, otherwise the ti.o will suffer from the tem- porary loss of a portion of its roots, destroyed during the [operation of transplanting. In such cases, a sufficient I quantity of water cannot be drawn up from the earth by llie diminished roots, to supply the consumption of a large i evaporating surface of leaf. ,, „,. : • 42. We now arrive at another principle in Agricultu- ral Chemistry, briefly enunciated as follows : — Before any solid can enter into the composition [of vegetables, it must be in a state of solution in WATER. It is contrary to th j results of careful observation to Isup' ose that the roots of vegetables receive, without any j discrimination, whatever solids may be presented to them [in a state of solution in water. They seem, indeed, to; I possess a limited power of selecting those which are espe- icially adspted to afford them nutriment ; although it does I not appear that they can exercise any control over the [quantity of proper 1 jod which enters at their rcots. They may, therefore, like animals, be destroyed or injur.ed by |an over abundance, which they are incapable of digest- 'ing or excreting with sufficient rapidity. A healthy cul- tivated plant must have access to a properly -balanced I supply of organic and inorganic food. If too large a quan- jtity of the first kind is presented to it, its leaves and stalks will be unusually large and gross ; but no seed will be j > 1 ■ '. I ! it!^! 33 formed. If organic food is wanting, the plant will arrive at curly maturity, and form seed ; but its stalk and leaves Cespecially of the narrow leaved plants) will be stunted and shrivelled. Where the supply of mineral or inor- ganic food is very deficient, the leaves of grain-producing plants may be well developed, but their seed will be com^ paratively worthless, ,,..,,, m :,'m\ ■im li! I I Js lilt ill The Soil. 43. The uniform constitution of the atmosphere diT'^n widely from the heterogeneous mixture we meet wiiii ii? soils, which are as variously compounded as the rocks upon which they repose. The elements forming common air are few in number, and simple in character. The substances we find in soils are frequently numerous, and often complex in their constitution. All soils spring orig- inally from the disintegration and decomposition of solid rocks ; the agents most active in effecting these changes are Water, Temperature, Carbonic Acid, Oxygen, and Vegetables themselves. 44. Various bodies are found in soils which do not enter into the composition of vegetables. In an elemen- tary view of Agricultural Chemistry, we do not require to enumerate their properties, without their presence eflTecta such a change in the relations of the soil to temperature and nnoisture, as seriously to affect the growth of vegeta- bles. It will be sufficient for our present purpose if we consider the relation to vegetable life of certain ingredienta I ) 1 arrive J leaves stunted >r inor- Dducing DC com^ wiiii lit 3 rocks |omnnon . The us, and ig orig. )f solid hanges n, and 33 which necessarily enter into their composition, and invari- ably form part of fertile soils. 45. The transmission of water, containing mineral ingredients in solution, through the roots and stems of vegetables, and its partial escape at the leaf, in its pure and gaseous state, furnish us with tlie remarkable mode in which dissolved solids are conveyed into their interior, and made to assist in thvj tormation of their different organs. These folids are ten in number, and are named, respec- tively, ,;■ . ' 1. Sulphur ; 2. Phosphoiius ; 3. Potash ; 4. Soda j 5. Lime ; 6. Magnesia; 7. Iron ; 8. Flint; 9. Chlo- rine ; (a gas,) 10. Iodine. Water possesses the property of dissolving small quantitiesi^ of these bodies ; all, with th3 exception of Iodine, are re- quired by land plants, and they constitute what is termed the * Ash,' when vegetable substances are burned in the open air ; they are also termed, the INORGANIC ele- ments of vegetables, (art. 35.) 46. The quantity of ash found in cultivated vegetables: varies remarkably witn the nature of the soil, and the species under examination. It is evident that every fertile soil contains the constituents of ash in abundance, also in s^ A ri rtaie, that enough for the wants of the growing^ ?A ' \r is soluble in water, in order that they may be convc V od into the interior of the vegetable. The waters of rivers, springs, and wells always contain a small quantity of various solids in a state of solution. By washing a soil repeatedly with pure rain water, we find that each time of washing the quantity of some of the substances dissolved is diminished, until, at length, no >^ortion is taken Up. I , !!J >w I ll'l 11 *l^!l , i*'! ! 34 47. The London Board of Iloaltli examined 424 differ, ent specimens of water, from diflferent parts of England, of which examinations the follovving are the results : — 1. Wells and springs, (204 specimens,) average number of grains of lime per gallon 25.86. 2. Rivers and brooks, (111 specimens,) average number of grains of lime per gallon 13.05. 3. Land and surface- Jrainoge, (49 specimens,) average number of grains of lime per gallon 4.94. It is evident that a large supply of soluble substances cannot exi«t in ordinary soils exposed to rain, snow, and dew. Eve ; * ^le stream is bearing its load of dissolved materials to thu great storehouse and depository, the Sea. The continual action of rains washing out the soluble portions, and either conveying them altogether away, or transporting them into the subsoil below, coupled with re- peated cropping, without the return of one particle in the form of manure, must, in the long run of years, render the most fertile soil destitute of soluble mineral substan- ces, and consequently unfruitful. The quantity yearly abstracted by these means may be perfectly insignificant, when compared with ihe abundant store remaining behind : that small quantity, nevertheless, is of vital importance ; for, although there may be thousands of tons of sulphur, potash, ioda, &c., present in the soil, yet, if tjo portion be SOLUBLE IN WATER, the soil, with reference to immediate agricultural purposes, is absolutely barren. 48. xhe analysis of a good crop of wheat, or any other cultivated vegetable, will exhibit the quantity of solid ingredients abstracted fi'om the soil during its growth, and conveyed away in the straw and grain, or in the roots. A crop of twenty.five bushels of wheat to the acre 35 contains about 200 lbs. of solid mineral ingredients ; an average crop of clover from 250 to 300 lbs. ; and one of potatoes, including both roots and tops, upwards of 400 lbs. of solid mineral ingredients. 4P. These quantities appear to be small, but when we consider that in many parts of this Province little return is made in the form of manure, that crop after crop of the same kind of vegetable is often grown for years together, and that rains are continually washing out, and streams and rivers bearing to the sea; the soluble ingredients of the soil : when we associate these considerations with the cir- cumstance, that it requires many months, and even years, for temperature, moisture, and air to render soluble in water a sufficient quantity of each particular kind of ingredient required by growing crops, we cannot be surprised that complaints are made of diminishing scales of produce. Mineral, or Inorganic Food of Vegetables. 50. Sulphur. — Certain organs or parts of plants require for their formation a small amount of sulphur. It is of no importance to know, at present, the name and disposition of those organs ; the bare fact that the. presence of sulphur is absolutely necessary, will determine the agriculturist in investigating the subject. In 10,000 lbs. of the ash of Wheat there were found 12 lbs. sulphur. do. do. do. do. do. do. ti do. Straw, <« 40 " Oat Grain, 40 « do. Straw, « 90 " Hay, « 151 " Vetch, tc 170 « Peas, ^\ f* 171 « ■ m ii-m h iiil These numbers vary witli* the nature of the soil ; they serv(i, however, to show the kind of plants whicli require much sulphur, to which may be added hops, aspar- agus, sugar cane, the grape, black and white mustard, tin*, nips, tobacco, &c. VVlicat, barley, rye, and Indian corn require comparatively Utile snlpliur. 51. Tlie most common and widely-extended source of sulphur in soils is doubtless Gyp^ium, or Sulphate of Lime. (Sulphuric Acid or Oil of Vitriol, combined with Lime.) A barrel of unhurried Gypsum, weighing 200 lbs., con- tains 30 lbs. of Sulphur, GO lbs. of Lime, 42 lbs. of water, and 54 lbs. of Oxygen. A barrel of burned Gypsum, of the same weight, and in that condition in which it is used for farming purposes, contains 47 lbs. Sulphur, 88 lbs. Lime, and 70 lbs. Oxygen ; the water which exists in it, in its natural state, being driven olf by heat. The only advan- tages to bo derived from burning Gypsum are to be found in the dimunition of space required for packing it, when about to be conveyed to a distance, and the greater ease with which it can be submitted to the grinding process. It is advisable to have Gypsum in tlK5 form of a powder, since in that state it can be more uniformly distributed over the crops, but its value as a manure is not increased by the operation of burning. 52.. Gypsum is slightly soluble in water; one pound of Gypsum, requiring 460 lbs. of water for its solution. Its effects, when spread upon the land, are greatly increas- ed by mixing with it an equal quantity of common sah, before sowing. The quantity of Sulphur annually taken from the soil in Canada is enormous. A very insignificant portion ever finds its way back to the soil, on account of its being bound up in those materials which rarely swell ^ m 37 the manure heap. This useful substance is found in con- siderable quantities in the wool of sheep, in the hair and skin of animals generally, and it is also invariably met with in urine. 53. \n 18-18, Cunada cxixjilcil .3,500,000 buslids of wheat, which probably oontaincd of sulpliur no less than 352,000 lbs. ; in tiie same year she raised 9.,iilVJ,'7~jG lbs. of wool, which, with tiie wasted urine, 6zg , contained at least an equal amount, making a sum total of half a mil- lion pounds of Sulphur abstracted from the soil, witliout the possibility of one particle being returned to it from those sources^, in the form of manure. 54. Phosphorus. — Piiosphorus is found in the seeds of most vegetables, especially those cultivated for food. A very large quantity is annually taken from the soil. In 1847-8, Canada exported in the grain of wheat not less than 733,500 lbs. :vl /;^ >, ' When Phosphorus is burned in the air, it emits a very copious volume of white smoke, which consists of P1k>s- phorus combined witii Oxygen. The white smoke may be collected and dissolved in water. It has a sour taste, is therefore an acid, and is named Phosphoric Acid. Now, when Lime, Potash, Soda, Magnesia, Iron, &c.> come in contact with Phosphoric Acid, a union takes place, and a number of new bodies 'r;e formed, which all go by the general designation of Phosphates ; thus, a compound of Phosphoric Acid and Lime, is called Phos- phate of Lime ; of Phosphoric Acid and Iron, Phosphate of Iron, &c. 55. Phosphoric Acid is always found in very minute quantities in primiti\o rocks, when sought for. Its detec- tion is frequently a matter of some difliculty ; it exists in ! I I. > I ! I 38 r!i'i I all soils, often, liowcv(?r, in a stale of combination with other bodies, forming compounds which arc very insoluble in water ; it is also' one of those substances which, lilce r^ulphur, do not, under ordinary circumstances, find their Way to tho manure heap. Phosphorus is found in many parts of the animal frame, especially in the bones. Eng- land imports annuplly very large quantities of bones, for the purooses of manure. Tlie bones are either crushed, or dissolved in Sulphuric Acid, and applied to the soil, chiefly in order to restore a small poi'tion of tho Phospho- rus, which, during centuries of cultivation, has been washed away by rains, or abstracted by cro])s. 56. So lar back as 1827, England imported 40,000 tons of bones, having a value of 600,000 dollars ; in ten years the value of the imported bones increased to $1,273,000, and since that period (1837) a still greater increase has taken place in the trade ; so much so, that many large vessels are now employed in conveying from South and North America, and from various parts of Europe, the bones of animals, to fertilize the fields of England. The average annual value of the bones used in that country as manure is now estimated at upwards of four millions of dollars. 57. No grain crops can succeed in a soil destitute of a supply of Soluble Phosphates ; and one pound of bones contains as much Phosphorus as is required by one hun- dred pounds of wkeat. At the lowest calculation, enough phosphorus was exported from Canada, in the year 1847-8, to build up the bony frame-work or skeleton, of sixty thousand full grown men. Every good cow, in one year, abstracts from the soil as much Phosphorus as is contained in 80 to 100 lbs. of bones, much of which enters into tho composition of milk, and the remainder id gene- rally \oiit in the urlno, (art. 101.) Pure Phosphate of Lime (the substance which gives strength to the bones) is found in many parts of Canada, in certain rocks. The time may not be far distant when it will be profitable to collect and grind it, for Agricultural purposes. 58. Potash, Soda, and Magnesia. — These substances exist in variable quantities in all cultivated crops. Veg- etables appear to possess a limited power of making in- discriminate use of them, especially of Potash and Soda, when a supply of the latter substance can be obtained, (see art. 109.) This is not the case with Sulphur and Phosphorus ; no seed nor nulriUous juice can be formed without definite quantities of each A few examples will serve to illustrate the very variable quantities in which Potash, Soda, and Magnesia are introduced into wheat. In six analyses of wheat, made by celebrated chemijts, there were found in 100 lbs. of the Ash, in No. 1. 26 lbs. Potash, 6^ do. Magnesia, i do. Soda. No. 2. 30 do. Potash, 16^ do. Magnesia, do. Soda. No. 3. 33^ do. Potash, 13^ do. Magnesia, do. Soda. No. 4. 21 1 lbs. Potash, ' 9^ do. Magnesia, 15^ do. Soda. No. 5. 24 do. Potash, 13^^ do. Magnesia, 10| do. Soda. No. 6. 6 do. Potash, 13 do. Magnesia, 28 do. Soda. 59. Red Clover, Potatoes, and especially Potato tops, Beetroots, Mangel Wurtzel, and Peas, in a word, most green crops, require much Potash or Soda, and Magnesia. 40 ir: .rii A comparatively small quantity of these substances will satisfy j^rain-producing crops. An acre of Clover abstracts from 90 — 100 lbs. do. of Beetroot or Mangel VVurtzol.. 80 — 100 do. do. of Potato tops 130 — 150 do. do. of Grain and Straw of Wheat.... 30 — 50 do. The large quantity of Potash, or of Potasli and Soda, in Potato tops, contradicts the impression frequently found to prevail, that they are of little use as manura. 00. Lime. — A very important constituent of all veget- ables cultivated for the food and use of man, and, if pos*. sible, an equally important agent in the hands of the Ag- riculturist, for ameliorating the condition of many kinds of soil. Its eftfccts, as a manure, will be considered under that head ; it is cuflieient for our present purpose to become acquainted with those kinds of vegetables which particularly require lime for the due formation of their « ■ various organs. An acre of Clover abstracts from 70 — 90 lbs. of Lime. do. of Hay, . do. do. 30 — 50 do. do. do. of Wheat Straw do. 15 — 20 do. do. do. of Oat Straw do. 10 — 18 do. do. Various vegetables possess the power of assimilating more than an average quantity of Lime, if presented to them in a proper form, ks efTeets upon the straw of grain-produc- ing crops are very remarkable, as will be shown in the sequel. 61. Farmers are acquainted with Lime in three differ- ent states, — 1st, in the form of common Limestone, which consists of Lime and Carbonic Acid : 44 lbs. of Carbonic Acid and 56 lbs. of pure Lime, forming 100 lbs. of com- mon Limestone. When burned in a kiln, Limestone 41 part|L with its Carbonic Acid, and tlion constitutes, Snd. quick or caustic lime ; 3rd, in tlio form of slacked limo. When 9 lbs. of water arc tlirown upon 28 lbs. of caustic lime, the limo swells, evolves great heat, and entering into combination with the water, produces 37 lbs. of slacked lime. Limo is generally found in the soil in tho state of Carbonate of Lime ; that is to say, combined with Carbonic Acid. Its presence is indicated by ofTcrvescence when a strong j»cid is poured over it. In the burned, or caustic state, it possesses very powerful properties, causing the rapid decomposition of vegetable and animal substances. 62. Flint. — Called by chemists Silica, composes a largo proportion of the ash in all grain-producing plants ; its office in vegetables is to give strength to those parts which seem particularly to require additional aids. The wheat plant affords an admirable illustration of elegance in form, combined with wonderful strength. A colunm 576 feet high and 3 feet in diameter, bearing a weight upon its summit equal to that of the column itself, represents a multiple of a wheat plant four feet high and one-fourth of an inch in diameter. No selection of materials, or contri- vance in bindinu them together, would enable an artificial structure of these proportions to resist the force exerted by a gentle breeze. 63. A good crop of Wheat, from one acre, abstracts in the straw alone from 120 to 150 lbs. of Flint ; of Oats, seed and straw, from 40 to 60 lbs. ; Mangel Wurt^el and Beets, from 12 to 18 lbs. of Flint. 64. Iron. — Iron is present in all fertile soils, and is also an invariable constituent of vegetables. It greatly increas- es the tenacity of clays, when found in the soil in the state 43 !|l|l| of blftck Oxide or black rust of Iron, a .substauco com- posed of Oxygen and Iron ; it may bo converted into tho red Oxide or comn)on rust by exposure to tlio Oxygen of tbo air. Red Oxide of Iron dilFurs from tho black Oxide, in containing a larger quantity of Oxygon. Tiie black oxide is soluble in water, and prejudicial to vegetables ; the red oxide is sparingly soluble, and a harmless or rather useful product. Iron is found in all tho clay soils of Can- ada, in the form of tho black Magnetic Oxide of Iron: on the shores of Lukes Ontario, Simcoe, Huron, St. Clair, &c., it occurs in very large quantities, mixed with white and red sand : it may be separated by means of a mag- net. 65. Chlorine. — This substance does not exist in a simple or pure state; it is always found in combination with other bodies : common salt is the great storehouse of Chlorine. Salt is composed of a metal Sodium in unic with Chlorine. When used as a manure, salt yields Soda and Chlorine to vegetables. Chlorine exercises a remark- able influence on the germination of seeds. 66. Iodine is only found in sea plants, or those growing in the immediate neighbourhood of salt water. 67. It will be observed that different kinds of cultivated vegetables require for their due formation, different quan- tities of Flint, Lime, Magnesia, Potash, and Soda. A va- riety of convenient and useful arrangements of vegetables can be framed on the basis of their respective requirements. Thus we have as a very general, and necessarily imperfect 43 inotliod of arrnn^'omont, tho followinnf Flint, Potash, Soda, Lime, and Magnosiii plants : — Flint riants. Whcnt, Oats, IJarU'y, Potash nnd ^oda Ph.its. Lime and Magnesia Plants. TiirnipH, Vi'QB, I5iH't-r()ot, i\lnii^n-l Wiirl/ol, Indian Corn, Potatoes, Bi'nns, Clover, Tobacco. ILiy i)artnking of the rhanictor of the three clnaaes. — (Liehig.) 68. Other, and moro oxact modes of arrantrennent of different kinds of vegetables, with reference to each other, naturally suggest themselves, when the number under consideration is diminished ; these will be introduced hereafter, under " Rotation of Crops." The table given on the next page is well deserving of considf ration, as it serves to exhibit, in an admirable manner, the relative and absolute quantities of inorganic or mineral food taken from the soil, by diftbrent kinds of crops. The effect of a continued abstraction of mineral food', without any return being made in the form of manure, is shown in the present conditioQ of New England, the older settled parts of the Canadas, -j cr P O tr^ ^i' »— ►— p IU3 L;> OS (C CO S^ >P^ Silica. io o bj ^1 o "^j o * V< Cn Oxide pf Iron, Alumina, Sec. H W > ■ I— t •!.-. o n- p? o ►^ CO ?« o ;> w IS o K M f W ?d O d o !^ O !^ > O f^ El •■ CO w O t— I H > . CD r m PI ■n H s« S d ►« z M m » ?} 3 > H r 0) c CD CO H > z o m iiiiii 45 ,,, \ : . . 09. The recent analysis of a soil (from llie Seignory of Cliambly, in Lower Canada, by T. S- Hunt, Esq., Chemist and Mineralogist to the Provincial Geological Survey,) " exhausted by having yielded crops of wheat for many successive years, without receiving any manure," gave the following results : — In 100,000 lbs. of the soil there were found, of Lime, 347 lbs. . . . . Magnesia, Potash and Soda, Sulphuric Acid, Pl-osphoric Acid, Soluble Flint, . . 888 380 31 126 80 We here discover an abundance of all the necessary substances which plants require. The plea of deficiency, therefore, cannot obtain in this instance. The present barrenness of the soil is in a great measure due to the INSOLUBLE STATE in which some of thoje bodies exist at present, for the same soil, when subjected to the action of water, gave only minute traces of those substances, which analysis proved to be present in suff cient quantity for all the purposes of vegetables. This view is confirmed by the remark of Mr. Hunt, that it supported nothing but " a scanty growth of a short wiry grass, which is regard- ed as indicative of an impoverished soil, and known as herbe a cheval.^^ This specimen of soil was taken from a depth of six inches, and contained 6^^^ per cent, of vege- table matter. .4- *^v-.^ v . :- > ' v^ tr T^":; 70. We have had under consideration a soil which at ir r* ill: lift 46 one neriod was eminently fertile, having yielded succes- sive crops of wheat for thirty years ; at present, how. ever, barren, and yet possessing in abundance a supply of all needful substances for thousands of crops of wheat, or any other vegetable which, at the pleasure of the cultiva- tor, might be grown upon it. The above example affords a good illustration of the condition of other soils which have been subjected to an injudicious course of cropping. The following table exhibits the relative quantities of nnneral substances dissolved out of a rich black mould, taken from the Flats of the Grand River, by the applica. ticn of hot Hydrochloric Acid : — 100,000 lbs. of the soil would have yielded to the acid, of- - . ■- , Lime, 5200 Magnesia, . . . . Potash, Soda, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid, Soluble Flint, . 3460 160 190 300 90 220 M )) >> J> >> » » One hundred pounds of the soil were composed of the following materials : — Sand, 72 lbs. Finer Material, , . 20 „ ■ Vegetable Matter, 6.5 Water, » 1.5 )f - '- 100 lbs. - If we suppose that an acre of each of the soils advert- ed to in articles 69 and 70, to the depth of 10 inches, lljii ^^rr^ 47 . - weighed 1000 tons, the quantity of aviilublc Phosphoric Acid, Sulphuric Acid, and Soluble Flint present in them would be thus represented : — Rich Black Mould. Exhausted Soil. •'"'' Phosphoric Acid, . . . 6000 lbs. . 2500 lbs. Sulphuric Acid, . . . 1800 lbs. 650 lbs. Soluble Flint, .... 4400 lbs. - ' 1600 lbs. It is to be understood that these numbers represent the approximate amount of the ingredients capable of being abstracted by that powerful solvent, hot Hydrochloric Acid (Spirit of Salt). • The quantity of the above-mentioned acids abstracted by cropping the now exhausted soil, for thirty years., with Wheat, would be about — Phosphoric Acid, . . ... . . 510 lbs. Sulphuric Acid, 52 „ Flint, 3642 „ The quantity of vegetable maiter in both soils is the same. It will therefore appear evident that the exhaus- tion or barrenness of the Lower Canadian soil is mainly produced by an insufficiency of soluble food, and the cause of that insufficiency is traced to *^ ^ abstraction (without any return in the form of manure) of solul)le mineral ingredients faster than atmospheric agent-- ould prepare a supply for solution in water, from the store 'vuich still exists in insoluble abundance in the soil. 71. In the parish of St. Dominique, and ia the neigh- bourhood of St. Uyacinthe, (Lower Canada,) there in an extensive peat bog, covering an area of about 20 square miles, and of a debth varying from 3 to 6 feet. When the bog is drained, it is burned to the debth of eight or ten 1 , J ^^\ I: [ m.\\ I :i il inohos, and leaves a layer of redish ash. *' This servos as a powerful manure, and the peat will then yield one or two fine crops of barley or oats ; the straw attains an as. tonishing size and strength, and the grain is eqaally very superior. The burned soil produces also fine potatoes and turnips ; but after two years it is found to be quite exhaus. ed, and requires to be again burned to render it productive. When by many repetitions of this process, the peat has beon burned down to within a few inches of the clay, the two are mixed by deep ploughing, and a rich mellow soil is obtained, which is unsurpassed for wheat, and yields at the same time fine Indian corn, peas, and grass. The peat ash contains more than two per cent of phosphate of Lime or bone earth, more than fifteen per cent of Gypsum. More than sixteen per cent of the ash are soluble in water, and the rest is in such a minutely divided state, that it is soon removed from the surface of the porous peat, being drained off ly the atmospheric waters ; hence the rapid deterioration of the fertile soil, which is attained by burn- ing the surface ; once, however, reduced so near the clay, as to be mixed with it in ploughing, the ashes are retained, and enrich very much the clay subsoil." (Report on the Geological Survey of Cannda.) Vegetable Matter in Soils. ii Ihl' 72. All fertile soils contain n variable quantity of veg- etable matter, derived from dec ;iyed and decaying roots and leaves. The Carbon contained in vegetable matter slowly combines with the Oxygen of the air, and forms Carbonic Acid, which is absorbed by water, and tlms taken by the roots into the system of growing vegetables. It is m 49 chiefly from this source that they derive their supply of Carbonic Acid, before they have thrown out many leaves. "Each new leaf furnishes them with anothee mouth and stomach." 73. The power which plants possess of absorbing Car- bonic Acid from the atmosphere is proportionate to the surface of the leaves. Straight and narrow leaved PLANTS, those which are grown for their seed, as Wheat, Rye, Oats, Barley, depend more upon the soil for their supply of Carbonic Acid, than the Jerusalem Artichoke, the Mangel Wurtzel, or the Beet-root, which are grown for the sake of their roots. The great size of the roots, stalks, and leaves of the root crops would lead us to sup- pose that they contained a much larger quantity of Carbon than the grain-producing crops: this is not strictly the case, and the reason is found to lie iu the fact, that roots of Turnips, Mangel Wurtzel, Beets, and Potatoes contain from 700 to 900 parts of water in lOo 3 of the fresh roots ; whereas the quantity of water in grasses and graip varies from 120 to 150 pts. in the thousand. It i&thus that grain crops exhaust the soil of vegetable matter, and consequent- ly of the means of supplying Carbonic Acid to succeeding young plants ; they take more Carbon from the soil than they leave behind, in the form of decaying roots ancj stubble. 74. The roots of Clover, the grasses, and the leaves of Turnips, Mangel Wurtzel, &;c., which are usually left upon the land, contain more Carbon than the whole of the crop abstracted from the soil during its growth. A judicl- ous rotation of crops, one in which the broad-leaved plants occupy a prominent place, leaves the land richer in vege- table matter than before the rotation began. The atmo^? ) ► I IS v I'M mm ili til 50 phere supplies the Carbon in the form of Cuiboaic Acid, the vegetable, under the influence of light, combines it with the elements of water, and forms woody fibre, of which the roots, leaves, and stalk are chiefly composed. The roots being left in the soil, slowly decay, and restore to the air or to other growing vegetables, the Carbonic Acid originally withdrawn by the leaves. We thus ob. serve that Wheat grown on peaty soils, or soils rich in Vfjgetable matter, has a rank and luxuriant leaf, while crops grown on sandy soils, or soils destitute of organic food, are often stinted in their growth. Vegetable matter diminishes very rapidly in the soils of Canada. This is due to the high temperature and comparative humidity of the summer months, whereby decomposition is promoted, and the conversion of the re- mains of plants and trees into Carbonic Acid, water, &;c., effected in consequence. Every practical farmer must have remarked how the colour of a newly-cleared soil pales after a few years cropping, under the system of bus- bandry commonly pursued in this country. KECAPITULATION. 10. A Plant consists esscn'tially of four parts, the stem, the root, the leaves, and the seed. The root may be con- sidered as the downward extension of the stem ; it consists of two parts, the main root, whose oflice is to sustain the plant in the soil, and the radicles, which imbibe nourish- ment from it. 11. The Leaves may be considered as an upward ex- pansion of the stem ; their office is to draw nourishment from the atmosphere, and assist its digestion, by exposing m i^ the sap to the influence of air, light, and heat; also to give off gases and vapour of water. 12. The extrenaities of the radicles, and the under sur- faces of leaves, are porous. The pores of the leaves serve as mouths, for the ahsorption and exhalation of gases and water, and as stomachs for their di• ■ ■ ■ ■■ ^' '■'^■l ..i'm^rrlM-:^? |i. ■ Itik. .- * ;'.■■ I .)•«■'• LECTURE m. ■f^i Artifices for Ameliorating the Condition of the Soil — Ploughing— Draining — Evaporation and Filtration — Fallowing — Rotation of Crops — Rota. ion Courses — The Sap — Ascent and Descent of the Sap — Recapitulation. 76. Experience proves beyond doubt that a contin- uance of that nnethod of cultivation, which prevails to a very large extent in Canada and the United States, nriust result in a general deterioration of the soil subject to such objectionable culture, (art. 7 and 9.) It is already a matter of great moment to practical farmers in Canada, to ascertain the exact nature and rationale of the artifices they must employ in order to restore and render perma- nent the fertility of impoverished soils, and to preserve or increase the natural productiveness of tiiose which are yet unimpaired. Those artifices are comprehended in the operations of Ploughing, Draining, Fallowing, Ro- TATioN of Crops, and the application of Manures. 76. Ploughing. — The beneficial effects produced by ploughing are mainly due to the free circulation that operation gives to air among the particles of the soil, whereby the decomposition and solubility in water of the mineral portion is greatly fiicilitated, as well as the con- version of decilying vegetable matter into Carbonic Acid, Ammonia, and Water. Air (that is the oxygen of air) is necessary to the germination of seeds ; hence the reason why so many different kinds of weeds spring up when the soil is first stirred to the depth of six or eight inches, tho p 1 I ■'. i nil: dormant vitality of the seetls being revived, under its powerful influence. Oxygon also, when in a state of solution in water, is absorbed by the roots of plants, and proves highly eflicatious in enabling them to appropriate food ; no absorption of Oxygen can take place when tiio soil, in a compact and dense condition, impedes the circu. lation of air around its particles. Plouglung cleanses tiie soil from weeds ; and rendering it more porous, it permits the young and tender roots of plants to penetrate in search of food ; it also facilitates the absorption of rain water. 77. Many clays contain a quantity of iron in the form of the black rust of iron, a substance noxious to vegetables ; in the presence of air it is converted into the red rust of iron, a harmless compound, (art. 64.) The change in the character of the iron-rust destroys the stiffness and tenacity of the clays, and converts them into comparatively loose and friable soils. Farmers frequently skim the sur. face of their fields with the plough. It is evident, from the rationale of the operation, that the deeper the plough pens- trates, the greater benefit is likely to result. , , ,, 78. The greatest surface of the soil, in ploughing, will be exposed to the atmosphere if the furrow-slice be inclined to the level surface of the soil at an angle of forty-five degrees. In order to effect this desirable object, a constant ratio must be maintained between the width and depth of the furrow-slice ; thus, if the width be 10 inches, the depth must be 7 inches, in order that the angle of inclination may be 45 degrees ; if 9 inches in breadth, the depth must be 6^ inches ; if 8 in breadth, 5^ inches in depth ; if 7 in breadth, 5 inches in depth ; &c. &c. 70. The subsoil plough is much used in Great Britain ; 55 it scrvcfs to break up nnd loosen the eartli 10 or 12 inches bolow the liinit to whicli tl»o common plough penetrates. Subsoil ploughing is oflitllo nvnil on soils possessing a re- tentive bottom, without thorough draining. 80. Draining. — The oxtouHivo introduction of a proper system of draining constitutes, unqueslioiiably, the great modern improvemf.uit in the Art of Agriculture. Its etfects are due, ' ' ^ •' 1st. To the greatly increased porosity of drained soils, allowing the circulation of air among their particles, with every change of temperature. 2nd. To the rapid removal of superfluous and stagnant water, which, on und rained soils, fills the pores or small spaces between their solid particles, and opposes the intro- duction of air into its place. 3rd. To the alteration which takes place in the mechan- ical composition of the soil, whereby it is rendered loose, friable, more easily worked, and at an earlier period of the year than when undrained. • ' ""^^'-v*. 4th. To the great change it produces in the temperature of the soil. "' '^ • 5th. To the greatly increased opportunhy it affords soils of bringing into action their chemical powers, (art. 118.) ^' ' '" " ■ ■ •■ '^ ' '*^" 81. Recent experiments have satisfactorily established, that the evaporation of one pound of superfluous or drain- age water, that is, of one pound of water over and above the quantity which a soil is capable of retaining by its power of attraction or absorption, lowers the temperature of the soil ten degrees. If the one pound of water pass off by the drains, and not by evaporation, no reduction in temperature takes place, . - r, »,<«' fr •i;.. ui\ m 66 62. The mean liighcsl temperAtiirc of the nir in Muroii (the earliest agricultural month in Cnnndu) is 54'*. Tlio warm tun melts tho snow nnd frozen surface of tho soil. If thoroughly drained, the water will slowly filter to the drains during some hours of the day-timo, and air, at the temperature of from 50® to 54®, will folhw the watery thawing, before it is cooled, much frozen soil. In April, the mean highost temperature is 71®, tho mean tempera- ture 42®. During many hours of the day, warm air on drained soils will follow tho water, and rapidly impart much of its warmth around and below the young roots of plants, thus inducing an early and rapid growth in that very important part of the plant. 83. Experiments have been made in England on tho temperature of undrained soils ; they exhibited the singu- lar and very important fact, that the temperature of a wet soil never rose during many months above 47®, seven inches below the surface. The same soil, when drained, indicated a temperature, afler a thunder-storm, of 66®, at 7 inches below tho surface ; and at a depth of two feet seven inches, a temperature of 48®. The mean or aver- age temperature of a drained soil in the neighbourhood of Toronto, at the depth of three feet, is about 56® ; during the months from May to October, both inclusive, the mean temperature at the depth of six feet, of a drained soil, is about 53® during the same period of time. On undrained soils immense damage is done to fields by surface water washing ofT manure and fine particles of the soil, and conveying these important constituents to the water-courses and rivers. A very large quantity of the rain-fall escapes over the surface in this country, whore tlio precipitation is compr\rativoly violnnt. On properly drained farm.-*, the surplus water aloao would be carried away by tlio drains, and in rjoarly a pure state, oxcopt ill castas uf exiraordiniiry rain-fall, (see art. 47.) Kvaporatlon pl;iys ati a-ilonisliin.r part in reniovinj^ tho surplus walor durinij^ tho Hurnnu^r inonth.s. Its action (lurin;j; tho winter ni')nthMl.s proportionately small. The foUowin'r results of Dickenson's Oalton rain-rjuaso will show the summer and wintr-r effects of evaporation and fdtratioii on one acre, noar London, England : — Rnln In In 'I'.os. 11G7 Rnln )n 131)5 Mean from April to SepUmhrr, inclusive. nUrntlon la Evnpomtlon Ilaln Iti Tons, R;iln In Tonn, Inches. in Inches. Filiornd. EviipoMtud. 90 1177 91 1193 Mean from October to March, inclusive. Filtration In Inchp><. 1039 Evnporntlon Ruin in Tons, Biiln In Tons, in Inches. Filtr-rod. Eviiporatod. 35G 1052 360 We see, from the foregoing table, that during the warm summer months, tho evaporation amounted to 1192 tons, and the filtration to 91 tons only ; whereas, during the cold winter months, the evaporation was 330 tons, and tho fillration no less then 1052. 84. It-is occasionally urged by practical farmers that thorough draining 'vill not succeed in the hot and dry summer season of Canada. This is a mistake ; the roots of vegetables shun stagnant M'ater ; they turn aside when their descent would bring them m contact with it. They will penetrate many feet into the soil if it be well drained. But what is the case with our Canadian fields ? When the roots of wheat or other vegetables begin to grow in the Hi i 58 ili 1 1' as I'l I i' I ' : f < m spring months, they discover, at the deptii of six or seven inches, a sufiplj'' of stagnant water, which can find no es- cape but by cold-producing evaporation, (art. 100.) The roots are not only chilled, but absolutely prevented fi'om penetrating deeper in searcii of nutriment ; they cannot thrive when surroijnded hy drainage wator; th'^ir growth is retarded, and tKoir range limited ; on a dra'ned soil they strike directlv downwards to the level of the drains, and in those depths they discover a supply of moisture in seasons of drought, springing up from below by means of capilla- ry attraction, besides thnt which every porous soil possesses the power of absorbing from the atmosphere. < . In Western Canada, subsoil draining draws out the pro- perties of the clay soils which abound in the country, in a manner truly remarkable ; and the artifice may be prose- cuted without the adoption of any precautions whatever against winter frosts. It is equivalent, as far as relates to the working of the soil, to an addition of three weeks or a month to the agricultural season for out-door operations. The writer had opportunities of observing the effect of winter frost upon the water issuing from the mouths of two long subsoil drains during the last winter. One of the drains in question was constructed in a clay subsoil, situ- atec* in the neighbourhood of the City of Toronto. The soil was first dug out to the depth of two feet ; the opening being about 15 inches in breadth at the top. and 12 inches at the bottom. The drain was then made by digging a narrow water course, about 10 inches deep, and from 8 to 4 wide, in the retentive clay. On the shoulders thus form- ed, rough pine slabs were laid, and clay firmly stamped upon them. The remaining op-^n portion was filled with the soil. The length of the drain was a third of a mile, I . \>u i ■ 59 and its tlcptli varied from two feet ten inches to three feet six inches, owing to inoqualitics in the surface of tlio soil. Drainage water (nearly poft) issued from it copiously throughout the v/inter. The mouth was left quite exposed, and was roughly lormed of two side slabs, with the upper shoulder slab resting upon them. The temperature of tlie water was tested frequently, and when a tliermometer ex- posed to the air sank to zero, yet it never fell below thirty- four degrees when introduced into tiie water issuing from the driiin, and was commonly about thirty-eight. The- exposed water in the water course, at the mouth of the dram, was never frozen within fifteen or eighteen inches of the covered extremity. Anotherdrain, constructed of road metal, in a rich vegetable mould, and having a depth of two feet six inches, and a length of two hundred and fifty yards, ran during the winter with precisely similar results, 85. " Different soils possess the property of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere in unequal degrees. Dur- ing a night of 12 hours, and when the air is moist, accord- ing to Schiibler, 1000 lbs of a perfectly dry, Quartzy Sand will gain lbs. of water. Calcareous Soil . 2 do. Loamy Soil 21 do. Clay Loam 25 do, Pure Agricultural Clay 27 do, ■ And peaty soils, or such as are rich in vegetable matter, a still larger quantity." We discover in th'is property the reason why potato plants always appear refn^shed in dry weather after the earth has been stirrrd by the hoe round about their roots. The soil is thus made more porous ; in effect a much larger surface ia exposed to the air and the f I 1 f i 1 1 1 ; 1 ^ 1. : i : 1 m If- I!* r' '-' i":.J •;: fi--* "■■71 moisture it may contain ; the moisture is absorbcil, and ministers to the growth of the drooping plants. 86. Some soils possess the power of ictaining a larger quantity of water than others. Clay cxliibits this property in the most eminent degree. It is llius that vegetation on clay lands which have been well drained, is more luxuri- ant and fresher in dry weather than on lighter soils. The water retained by the soil, i. e., that which does not pass off by the drains, or disappear in the subsoil, is called the water of atlraction. The following table exhibits the quantity of water different kinds of soil are capable of retaining, in opposition to gravity. Tiie specimens are supposed to be first dried in an oven, then suspended by a string, and water poured slowly upon them ; thus, from 106 lbs. of dry soil water will begin to drop, if it be a quartz sand, when it has absorbed 25 lbs. Calcareous sand (lime sand) 29 do. Loamy Soil 40 do. Chalk 45 do. Clay Loam 50 do. Pure Clay 70 do. ' ' Johnston. When water of attraction slowly disappears during the process of evaporation, the soil contracts and occasions fissures ; this effect is particularly observable on clay soils. 87. It has been ascertained by vegetable physiologists that roots cease to grow as soon as the plant begins to form the seed : its energies are then exclusively devoted to that object. The formation of the seed, in many kinds of cultivated grain-producing crops, begins in June, or ■S! f 81 parly in July. A dry summer parches the soil to the depth of five or six inches. The limited depth to M'hich the roots have penetrated prevents them from obtaining a siifliciency of moisture, the crop consequently suffers from drought ; a disaster which took place to a very large extent last year (1850), with respect to clover and hay, and if the dry weather had continued a fortnight longer, the labors and hopes of the farmer, in many parts of the province, M'ould have been altogether defeated. Compar- atively little damage would have been done on drained soils, for the roots of vegetables, following their own natu- ral tendencies, would have been able to penetrate during the early spring months deep into the soil, and there find a supply of moisture, removed from the rapidly evaporat- ing influence of a hot sun and a dry atmosphere. 88. The great obstacle to thorough draining in Canada is the expense, coupled with the low price of farming pro- duce. Within a convenient distance from large towns, where a market for wheat, oats, hay, peas, turnips, and m.an- gel wurtzel is generally to be obtained, this ol)jcction can scarcely hold good. The great increase in the average produce, the superiority of the sample, the early m-aturity of the crops, their comparative safety from the effects of drought and the fly, all support the presumption of a rapid and profitable return for an outlay of capital. In districts remote from markets, the expense of thorough draining constitutes an insuperable objection to its intro- duction. Much good can, however, be accomplished by clean open furrows 10 or 12 inches deep, and so cut that ihoy may admit of a continuous fall of water through their whole length, so that no portion may remain in any , I .Hi I'll m i 02 part of the furrow. An inclination of ono foot in three hundred will be quite sufFicient to cause an unbroken current, if the fall be quite uniform. The effect of drain- age is thus stated in the report of the London General Board of Health : " It has been determined, by observation , that if the annual increase of trees on undrained land were 3 per cent., the increase on drained land would be 6 per cent. ; and on land both drained and irrigated, no leas than 12 per cent.,- or four times the amount of growth on un- drained land." Stephens says, in his book of the farm, '' A conviction has been forced upon mo, by long and extensive observa- tion of the state of the soil, over a great portion of the kingdom, that the neglect of draining is the true cause of most of ♦he bad farming to be seen ; and that a single farm does not exist, not already drained, which would not be much better for draining." 89. Where the land lies low, very beneficial results will be produced by a drain dug to the depth of two feet, with here arfd there a hole to the depth of three and a-half or four feet ; the holes and drain being filled up to within one foot from the surface, with stones from two to five inches in diameter, then covered with a sod, trampled down, and filled up with earth. It may here be remarked, that open drains, with an occasional under-ground drain, require more care in construction than is usually devoted to them. Thorough draining is an art in itself, and implies an ac- quaintance with the characteristics of springs, soils, and climate, besides a practical knowledge of levelling. 90. A recent writer on draining, possessed of thirty-six years' experienoe, closes his remarks with the following nun eti CBUtlon. ''Oni' parting words shall assure our readers, that every reputed case of failure in draininf^, which wo have ir.vestigated, has resolved itself into ignorance, blun- dering, bad materials, and bad execution." The same writer recomin;Mids the use of pipes, having an inch or inch and half bore, with collars to lay over the joinings, and prevent dis-arranfrement. Collars are short pipes, which slip over the joinings of two contiguous drain-pipes, and effoctually prevent the uiiifornn'ty of the juncture from being disturbed by ' faults' in the floor of the drain, or by an upheaval. It has been computed, that not less than £4,000,000 sterling have been expended in draining in England during the last ten years, and that nearly one million acres has been subjected to the process. . . ^^. 91. Fallowing. — A Fallow implier, the repose of the soil, or in other words, time to permit air, water, and TEMPERATURE to convert a certain amount of insoluble ingredients in the soil into available food for plants. A naked fallow is deprecated by many practical agricultu- rists and agricultural writers ; they consider it»asso much land thrown away for a time, and propose in its stead a judicious rotation of crops. It is very questionable, how- ever, whether a naked fallow is not occasionally absolute]y necessary in this country, where the growth of weeds is extremely rapid ; where the high price of labour is always an obstacle to many hands being employed upon a farm ; and where turnips cannot be fed off the land as in Great Britain, or other green crops introduced at present on an extensive scale*. An occasional naked summer fallow seems to offer to the Canadian Axrmer the most avail- 04 f Mr m able and the cheapest mcihod, at present, of clean- ing his fields ; especially where numerous patches of uncultivated land, every road side, and every neg- lected farm is a nursery for Canada thistles, vi'ild mustard, wild chamomile, chess, mullcn, foxtail, burrs, and other noxious weeds. Green Fallow is a term used with reference to the cultivation of Wheat, Rye, Barley, and Oats, with the intervention of some green crops, as Vetches, Clover, Turnips, Peas, &c., between each grain growing crop. The principles it involves will be introduc- ed under the head of, 92. Rotation of Crops. — The origin and constitution of some favoured soils, is such as to require the active operation of air for a very limited period, to enable them to offer an abundant supply of soluble mineral food for the purposes of vegetables, without any extended rotation of crops. Wheat, a flint plant ; and Tobacco, a lime plant, have been grown alternately on largo tracts of land in Hungary, within the memory of man, without any appli- cation of manure. In many parts of Upper and Lower Canada, in-the valley of the Thames and the Richelieu, Wheat has been taken from the soil for 40 and even 50 successive years ; the soil eventually becoming inca{)able of returning a profitable crop. The repose of a fallow, in the forin of grass or clover, for a few years, restores its fertility. During the period of the growth of fallow crops, air, water, and temperature exert their decomposing influ- ence upon the soil, and convert an abundance of mineral ingredients, present in the soil in an insoluble state, into soluble food for grain-producing crops. 93. The alternate growth of wheat and tobacco upon 6r» the fertile soil of Hungary, presents us with an easy and familiar illustration of the. benefits springing from a rota- tion of crops. Wheett requires a largo amount of flint ; tobacco an equal quantity of lime. While wheat is growing, lime is accumulating in the soil in a soluble state, for the use of succeeding crops of tob^icco, and the growth of the tobacco acts as a fallow for the preparation of the soil fur wheat, because tobacco does not require a large supply of those particular mineral ingredients which are essential to the growth of wheat ; added to this, tobacco is a broad-leaved plant, and derives a large supply of the Carbon it requires from the atmosphere. Its decaying roots will restore to the soil the Carbon extracted by the narrow-leaved wheat plant. It will thus be seen, that the general principle of a rotation of crops lies in the cultiva- tion of a Flint Plant one year, a Potash Plant the next, and a Lime Plant the third, and so on. The character of the soil determines whether one, two, three, or four years should intervene the introduction of different kinds of veg- etables. The following table, given by Liebig, may afford an apt illustration of the relation of difierent varieties of vegetables to special mineral ingredients, and the mode in which a judicious rotation of crops may increase the fer- tility of the soil. In 100 lbs. of the Ash of the following vegetables, the proportion of Potash and Soda, Lime and Magnesia, and Flint, are given under their respective heads ;— .« '■.'■ I • 00 I m I ' h IS!- «► Pot. und Lime uiui Flint riants Mngncsia Plania rotn?h niul Soda Plants OatH, straw and seed ... 34 lbs. Wheat straw 92 " Dfiiioy, Ptraw und seed If) " Kyc Ktraw 18 " Tohacro 94 " Pea straw 28 " Potato Htalks 4 " Clover 39 " r Indian Corn 71 " Turnips 82 •• Beets 88 " Potatoes (tubers) 85 " 4 lbs. 7 " 25 " IG " C7 "^ (14 " 59 " 56 '«. C " 18 " 12 " 14 " Flint. 621b8" CI " 55 " C4 " 8 « 3G " 5 " 18 " " " « mi"' On sandy soils, and soils generally deficient in veget- able matter, that rotation of crops which lorrows most from the atmosphere^ and leaves the largest quantity of decaying matter in the soil, will be found the most pro- ductive. '""-'' V- : :• -'' U-'f , .■:^' -•- u 94. After draining, no operation in the management of a farm requires so much forethouglit as the introduction of a proper rotation of crops. A number of rotations are given below, as illustrations of this important department of husbandry. It is, however, to be well observed that no general rule can be given. The rotation depends in a great measure upon the character and composition of the soil ; also upon the inarkets. A profitable practical rota- tion often differs widely from a purely theoretical one,. Many obvious reasons will immediiitely present themselves to the practical farmer for this distinction: such as cli- mate, local or general diseases, accidental peculiai'*y in the physical character of the soil, &c. &c. , , 07 1st yenr, 2nd do. 3rd do. 4th do. 5th do. 1st yoar, Slid do. 3rd do. 4th do. 5th do. Rotation Course, No. 1. Whont (Flint Plnnt). Oats vvitli Clover (Flint and Potash Plnnt). Clover for Hay (Lime Plunt). Cirazcd. Crazed and broken up for wheat. ;5< «. Rotation Course, No. 2. ' Fallow. ■ . • ; Wheat (Flint Plant). Peas (Limn-Potash Plant). Oats with Clover (Flint and Potash Plant). Clover (Lime Plant). Rotation Course, No. 3. 1st year. Beet or Turnips (Potash Plants). 2nd do. Wheat (Flint Plant). 3rd do. Red Clover (Lime Plant). 4th do. Wheat (Flint Plant). < V ' Rotation Course, No. 4. 1st year,- Turnips, or Manfrel Wurtzel (Potash Plants). 2nd do. Wheat with Red Clover (Flint Plant). , 3rd do. Red Clover (Lime Plant). 41 h do. Clover ILny (Ijimc Plant). 5th do. Wheat (Flint Plant). The following is not an uncommon Rotation north of Toronto: — 1st year, .... Wheat (Flint Plant) 2nd do Peas (Lime-Potash Plant). 3rd do Wneat (Flint Plant). 4th do Oats (Flint Plant). ... ■-,r.._ 5th do Fallow. , v- [For further remarks on this important subject, see the close of Lecture VIIL] ■ -, 95. Good Iliisbantlry implies the elevation of tho standard of fertility and production to tho highest remu- norative point, and its conlinuntion there. A due atten- tion to all the miniilioo of farnrjinjr labour is far from beintr suflicient. Continued sucecss, in tlieso days of progress and competition, can never attend the most industrious farmer if he neglect the new precautions and arlificcH which experience and the science uf Agriculture are con- tinually suggesting. It is a fact, which rests upon the most abundant and conclusive evidence, that no ordinary farm can continue for a succession of years to yield a fair return, if attention be not paid to rotation of Crops, the application of manures, and, at least, to surface-draining. As a fair rule for guidance, in Canada, we may act with perfect confidence on this principle, that no farm can CONTINUE TO YIELD GRAIN-PRODUCING ROPS ON A GREAT- ER SURFACE THAN ONE-THIRD OF U6 CULTIVATED EX- TENT FOR MANY SUCCESSIVE YEARS, WITHOUT DIMINISH- ING SCALES OF PRODUCE ; that is to say, a farm of fifty acres in the clear, and under cultivation, cannot sustain a larger amount of grain-producing crops than seventeen acres ; or a farm of one hundred acres in the clear, and under cultivation, not more than thirty.four acres, producing at the same time high aver- ages, and preserving their fertility undiminished. ; M ;;-ii. QQ. That Canadian husbandry exhibits generally a marked neglect of this important principle, may be seen by an examination of the following tables of the distribu- tion of crops over the whole cultivated extent of the coun- try, reduced to the scale of 100 acres, wl.3n compared ii-: , ' J ■;■■, 00 with a similar reduction of the tlistriljiUioii of crops in England. Upper Canada, 1847. 47 acres Flint Plnnts, I2i " Potash-Lime riants, 36 " Pasture, 4i " Fallow. 100 acres. Enoland, in 1835. 21 nrrcs Flint Plants, 12 " Potash- Lime Plants, 58 " Meadow &, Pasture, 9 " Fallow. 100 acres. The ratio which the grain-producing or flint crops bear to the whole hundred acres, are in, Upper Canada 47 to 100, equal to one-half nearly. '• England 21 to 100, equal to ojjei'IFTh nearly. 97. We have seen that the food of vegetables consists of gases and solids, contained in air and the soil ; also, that the gaseous food is extremely simple, and may be taken into the plant in two diderent ways ; either by a discriminate absorption of Carbonic Acid Irom air by the leaves during the day-time, and of Oxygen during the night-time ; or by the indiscrimiiiate rise of water, con- taining Carbonic Acid, Ammonia, &c., and solids in solu- tion, through therextrcmities or spongioles of the roots, to every portion of the plant, and constituting, after having gone through certain chemical changes. The Sap. 98. The general course of the sap in trees is from the roots, through the newer wood (the sap-wood), to an upper layer of veins in the leaf; it here loses much of its water by evaporation, and suffers certain chemical changes, due f!' 70 A <^ III' ii M:::. ic the influence of li^'lit. It tlion passes from the upper layer of veins in the leaf to nnotfior layer immediutcly beneath them, tiirough-stnull capillary tubes. From tlio lower layer of veins in the loaf it jU-st^ends throuj;h the inner bark, towards the roots again. During its descent, it lays on new wootl, and stroni^thens the vosiiols of the old wood, by filling tliem up with aoVu] matter. 99. The continuous rise of the sap in plants is duo to two forces — capillary attraction, and the pressure of tlio atmosphere. If no other forco were calhid into operation but the attraction for water exerted by the sides of small tube-like vessels in the roots, stem, and branches, the sap would be drawn up to the liighcst part of the plant, and then remain motionless, there being nothing above it to draw it further up; yet, during the warm and dry wea- ther of spring, summer and autumn, the sap continually ascends, and sometimes with great forco and velocity. Its uninterrupted and rapid current is mainly due to the pressure of the atmosphere, which is called into action by the vacuum resulting from the great evaporation which takes place from the leaves, (art. 41.) The atmosphere, pressing upon the surface of the earth, .forces the water contained in the soil through tlic roots, to fill the empty spaces occasioned by evaporation. When the supply of water is insudicient, as in seasons of drought, or at the close of a very hot day, the leaves droop, and frequently wither. In wet weather, on the contrary, evaporation from the leaf ceases ; the sap is consequently incapable of rising ; it stagnates, loses its vitality, decays, and forms a fertile soil for the growth of fungi, (art. 172.) 100. The cause of the descent of sap in vegetables i.^ 71 ^m iiioro tlitlicult. to coniprcliond tli.'ui ils ascent. Tim follow- in^ illustration may, perlinps, servo to oxplnin the opora- tion of its downward proi^rfr,??, or, rather, of its pro (near salt,) contain Soda in abundance, whilst those growing at a distance from any natural source of s«lt contain but a very insignificant quantity of Soda. Salt exercises a very favourable influence on meadow land, iB' sw!*r' !;i, HI Uspocially when tlio moudow Ijun rooently being reclaimed from a low .s\viim[)y soil. Ovjisnm is to bo fumd in largo (juantitios in the noighbourliood of Paris, in tlio townsliipof Dumfries, and at many points on tlio Grand river. 110. Lime. — Burned Lime has been the successful agent in accelerating the rrstorntion to fertility of num- berless worn-out f;irm.s in Europe and America. Itcjuick- cns the decomposition of clay, and forms with the Potash, Soda, and Flint of the clay, new compounds soluble in water. It opens and increases thi porosity of stiff soils, depriving them of that tenacity and adhesiveness which is frequently an obstacle to working them, and a still more serious impediment to the expansion of the roots of young j)lants, and the filtration of rain-water. Lime hastens and increases the efTects of manures, and improves the sample of all kinds of cultivated crops, especially those grown for the sake of their seeds. It is the great enemy of Ammonia, expelling that substance from its union with vegetable mould and decay ini^ farrn-vard manure. The Ammonia thus set free, is absorbed by the clay, or dissolved by the water in the soil, and thus taken into the circulation of plants. 111. Many pernicious weeds are destroyed, and nutri- tious grasses improved, by the action of lime. It exerts a decided influence upon the duration of the grow ih of grain-producing crops, occasionally hastening their matu- rity by several days. Its ellect upon soils containing a largo quantity of vegetable matter is remarkaido. Many acids are formed in the soil during the decomposition of roots, manures, (fcc. ; these are oftm highly injurious to 82 \fl I n ^v cultlvfttctl crops. Lime, liowcvor, neutralizes tbcm, and occasionally forms nutritious compounds out of the un- wholesome or poisonous iii^'rcdients. It not un frequently linpprns that Roils containing con- siderable quantities of Lime are nevertheless benefited by an artificial npplication. The fact is, tliat cultivated crops, being crops of rapid ^n'owtb, derive the lime tliey require from Clialk, (Carbonate of Lime,) or Gypsum, (Sulpiiatc of Lime) ; other forms of Lime may exist in abundance in the soil, but not applicable to plants of rapid growth, in consequence of their comparative insolubility in water. 112. The quantity of Lime to be npplied to the acre is dependent upon the nature of the soil ; from twenty to forty bushels are frequently required by retentive clay soils. On fields which have been under crop for many generations, as much as 150 bushels arc occasionally sown. A much smaller dose is found sufilcient upon the comparatively virgin soils of even the longest settled por- tions of Canada West. A small dose of from 25 to 40 bushels to the acre, and distributed at intervals of four oi • five years, is, in fact, more advantageous than 150 or 200 bushels distributed at once. When a farm has been re- stored by the application of Lime, care must be taken not to grow grain crops after grain crops, otherwise the soil will become barren for many years. If a farm has been injured after the application of Lime, by injudicious cropping, the only remedy is repose in grass, or the ex- tensive use of farm-yard manure. . 113. The efl^ect of a proper application of Lime upon \ 1^ tlic ainouiit of produce raised is cifieii nsloMisliiiif^, and dis- liiii^uisliablo fur iniiii}' years. Nmnbcrloss instttnccs aro recorded of a siii'j;lo ajjplicalioii Ijaviiig iiicrcnsftl tlio uveragn from fiLrliiecii to twriitj'-ci^dit IjusIk Is of wlicnt l,-p!'rucro. Vir<;inia owcR tliG restonitioii of her worn-out soil to a liberal appliealioii of burned lime. Hnrnod lirnc^ should never bo applied imnje(liat(dy before or after old ' firm-yard manure ; and should bo sown as long as j)0£;sildo before tbo crop. Wiien meadows are about to be broken up for wheat, a liberal application of Lime is usually attended with great advantag{\s. When sown on a sum- mer-fallow, early in the year, its etlects will greatly ini- prove tiiG succeeding crop. • 114. Limestone occurs abundantly in many parts (jf Canada West. It is found at Maiden and on the eastern shores of Lake Huron. Rocks of this formation stretch across the country from Owen's Sound to the Fulls of Niagara. iJn the north side of Lake Simcoe, we find them cropping out at Orillia : thence through Rama and Mara, to l^Uvillo and Ki - ion, Cornwall and By town. Limestone alvvays cont.iins races of pho&;phr)rus. lis value as a mu/'ire is greatly iocreased when the propor- tion of phoshorous is largo ; when, for in?*anec, it amounts to one-half, or one per cent. ' ■ . * ' 115. Marl. — Marl is a n 'xturo of Lime and Clay. It frequently contains oth(>r substances, as Potash and Magnesia ; and when in the forni of Siiell i\larl, percept- ible traces of remain«=! of the once livmg occupants of the broken and crushed shells. Marl can be beneficially ap- plied to the land wli;^:i ia stubble or in grass, at the rate T^- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4^ 1.0 I.I 1^128 |2^ 150 ^^^* M^^l ■^ iiii 12.2 u liiS 1^ PhotDgraphic Sdeeces Corporation ^^ 'jz wbt main strut WC1»TI«N.Y (45i0 Ti- .^^v^ V 84 I' \W: If J :-iFai li :w ttli •'''•; of from ten to nftccn loads to the acre. Shell Marl it. found on the shores of Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe, and in the neighbourhood of By town. "* -' ^ ' '- , ■^ .■.,,' - . . '■'■■* .■ ■ , ■ *■■' '■■■,,. "•. %: :■; - '-. .( ■> •.">'• .i, ■ ■'',.'■;>■'. - '-...■'' '.-■ ■, ' 116. LeacIied Wood Ashes, — When wood is biimed, hiany of its mineral and saline ingredients become insol- uble in water. This is especially the case with the lime, and compounds containing sulphur and phosphorus. The soluble portion of ashes consists almost altogether of pot- ash and soda, which are dissolved out when watet is fil- tered through them, in the process of making black salts or ley for the soap-boilen In treating 100 lbs. of good ashes with water, from 20 to 40 lbs. of soluble ingredients are conveyed away by the water ; the remaining portion, Weighing from 60 to 80 lbs., forms an excellent manure, which may be used as a top-dressing, of mixed with the dung, hen p« 117. In some instances, leached wood ashes may be considered preferable to unleached wood ashes, especially on soils which do not contain much vegetable matter, Ivithout their application is accompanied with a large dis- tribution of farm-yard manure. The Potash and Soda of the unleached ashes cause a very rapid decomposition of vegetable substances. They greatly impoverish a soil when applied too freely, their effects being more powerful than those of lime* Leached ashes, however, act slowly and beneficially for a long period of time. Many thou* sands of tons of leached ashes lie in neglected heaps throughout all parts of Canada West, particularly in the neighbourhood of soap manufactories, and localities where the preparation of blac'i salts is, oi' has been, carried on. 85 '"iiun Action of Soils on Manures. ;j orifv 118. From the results of the cxr^eriments of Professor Way, chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society, on the properties of soils, it appears that clay and loamy soils possess most important chemical powers for the decompo- sition of animal, vegetable, and mineral substances, when diffused throughout their substance, as in the process of filtration or drainage. Professor Way states, that iL is only necessary to stir up a quantity of clay ur loamy soil in solutions of Salts of Ammonia, Potash, Lime, Soda, Magnesia, (Sec, in order to observe this remarkable pro- perty. Tlie clear liquid remaining after ths subsidence of the particles of clay, will be found either entirely free- from the Alkali employed, or sensibly diminished in strength. The soil of an acre of land one inch in depth will weigh 100 tons, or 10 inches in depth, 1000 tons. This quantity of soil would arrest and combine with three tons of Ammonia, 10 tons of Potash, 15 tons of Sulphate of Ammonia, or 15 tons of Carbonate of Lime. In order to furnish three Ions of Ammonia, 15 tons of Sulphate of Ammonia, or nearly 20 tons of Peruvian Guano, must be employed, which, at £10 a ton, would be worth £200. The Ammonia of decomposing vegetable and animal mat- ter is thus carefully treasured up by clay soils, for the sustenance and nourishment of vegetable life. 1 119. These effects, so important to Agriculture, can only be produced on a large scale under a system of effi- cient drainage. They point out, however, in a remark- able manner, the value of the liquid manure of the w 'ff 8G flu ■..■,1 ^! ! J t 'hii It -i *," li stable, and of manures generally in a liquid form. Tiioy are also loading to a more economical and judicious mode of distributing fertilizers, wbich must, in a few years, prove of incalculable advantage to the interests of Agri. culture, although not yet applicable on a large scale in tiiis country. The action of drains, in thus drawing out, as it were, the properties of soils, depends upon tne im- mense increase they give to what is termed surface action. A soil in which all the superfluous or drainage water is conveyed away, either naturally or artificially, becomes at once remarkably porous, and receives in consequence a very large quantity of atmospheric air, as may be shown by the following simple experiment :— Introduce a piece of dry pine charcoal into a wide- mouthed bottle ; fill the bottle with cold water, and im- merse it with the mouth downwards in a pan or other vessel ; place on a stove or fire. Care must be taken, in immersing the bottle, that no air enters into it. As the water warms, the air contained within the pores of the charcoal will expand, and issue from them in the form of a minute and continuous stream of bubbles, which, collecting at the top of the bottle, will show the quantity contained wuhin the pores of the charcoal. When the charcoal is taken out of the bottle after cooling, it will be found much heavier than before, having absorbed water in place of air. It is thus that soils, when well drained, contain large quantities of air, which circulate around their particles during every change of temperature. When undrained, their pores, or spaces between their par- ticles, are filled for long periods of time with stagnant of li( measu particl cliemi Oxyge manui Hence sideri able and manur power are im action, 87 1 Water, prejudicial lo the growth of the roots of vege- tables. ' ; ■^ #•■•■', .1 . r ' 120. Solid, and even fluid bodies, possess the power of condensing upon their surfaces thin films of atmos- pheric air. The quantity of air in actual or very close contact with a solid body will depend, therefore, upon its porosity, or in other words, upon the extent of surface it exposes. A piece of window-glass will thus condense far less air upon its surface than wijen reduced to a fine powder and loosely laid in a heap. A sandy soil, or a porous soil of any description, may be supposed to pos- sess the power of condensing upon the surfaces of the innumerable multitude of particles of which it is compos- ed, films of atmosplicric air. The oxygen of the air is presented to the vegetable or animal matter w^hich may be present in the soil, or artificially introduced in the form o( liquid manures, in a very condensed state, and in a measure free from that repulsion -which separates its particles in the atmosphere. Under such circumstances, chemical action can scarcely fail to take place. The Oxygen will combine with the Carbon or Hydrogen of the manures, and form with them Carbonic Acid and Water. Hence, filtraticn through any porous substance of con- siderable depth entirely changes the nature of the veget- able or animal impurities filtered liquids may contain ; and sewage water, the drainings of the stables or manure heap, when well diluted with water, become most powerful manures, because the ingredients they contain are immediately arrested by the soil, exposed to surface action, and made at once available food for crops. b8 IM ii ' ■ " 121. In illustration of the importftnt aid farmers cart render to the soil by the adoption of improved methods, I append a few remarks on some experiments which have recently been made in England. They are not applicable in the present condition of Canadian Husbandry and labour, yet they involve principles which are universally IntereslinfT, and deserve, on that account, to be widely cir- culatcd. The system adopted by the celebrated Jethro Tull, who^ one hundred years ago, successfully gi'ew wheat after wlieat for many succeeding years, and thus gained the name of Prosperity Tull, has recently been revived by a Mr. Smith. That gentleman has grown wheat after wheat, with excellent crops, for twelve yoard on the same land, and without manure. The practice adopted by old Jethro and Mr. Smith, ia now much canvassed. His plan is to divide his land into strips of about one yard in diameter, and numbered, as we will suppose, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, &c. With the spade he digs Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, dec, to the depth of 15 or 20 inches, and dibbles in the wheat in September, at the rate of two pecks to the acre. He writes this year, that with two pecks to the acre, every looker on says it is too thick. When the wheat appears so far above the ground that the workmen can see it, they are set to dig and trench the spaces numbered 2, 4, 6, 8, iO, &c., fifteen or twenty inches deep. They leave it rough, and it remains fallow until the crop on the sown strips is reaped. The blank rows are then sown with two pecks to the aero ; the other rows are in their turn dug, and so on, each strip being thus alternately cropped. The average produce of the 89 ,", ivvelvs years has been above twenty-eiglit bushels to the half acre, or fifty-six bushels to the acre. The land, it must bo bflijirne in minrl, is thoroughly drained. It is generally thought that an occasional dressing of manure should bo used, especially of those mineral manures wliich are adapted to restore to the soil tiie mineral ingre- dients abstracted by cropping ; for, notwithstanding the rapidity with which its saline and mineral constituents are converted into available food, and the great depth to which the roots of vegetables arc capable of penetratino- the soil, in consequence of its remarkable porosity, it is certain that long-continued cropping must eventually ex- haust the available supplies of PJiosphorus and Sulphur compounds. It is easy to see that the storehouse of organic food Mr. Smith and Jethro TuU found in the atmosphere, the stores of gaseous food (Carbonic Acid and Ammonia) there existing, are made available through the agency of falling rain, which, besides abundant supplies of food, brings down heat (art. 83), which it carries with it, and, as it were, deposits it in the soil existing between the sur- face and the drains. It will be remarked, that the rain filters rapidly through the porous soil, and leaves behind its supply of gaseous food for immediate assimilation, and its three per cent, of oxygen (art. 30), to assist in the sol- ution of the requisite mineral ingredients. - : : - ,.;. ■ ^ .*",".. v ■ : . ?■- . r ■..."",.. A new light seems to have dawned upon the minds of men, in relation to the great and first principle of farm- ing — DRAINING. There appej^rs to have been a great i 00 ir'^ r I I; I; 1 fe'l Iff error in this most valuable practice. The drains, hitherto, have been constructed too far apart in the lieavy clays, which has led to much disappointment |^d discourage- ment. Mr. Payne, a gentleman of property and educa- lion, and who farms largely, has recently written on this subject. He originally drained at intervals of 30 to 40 feet : his land being the heaviest clay ; the benefits ho derived from tlie process were partial and unsatisfactory. He changed liis plan, and drained largely at twelve and jlfteen feet apart, expending £10 sterling an acre on the work ; the result is most satisfactory : previously, contin- ued failure and disappointment ; now, entire success, the crops being enormous. One field on Mr. Payne's farm had an area of fourteen acres ; it was drained at twelve feet apart and four feet deep, except a small cor- ner in which the drains were put fifteen feet apart. The whole of the field was quite level, there being no surface furrows after the crop was sown. To test the eflTects of close draining, he had a number of holes dug two feet deep, and after ten hours continued heavy rain, Mr. Payne, accompanied by his bailiff, went to inspect the field ; the soil being the heaviest clay. No water was found on the surface, but rivers were pouring from the drains. Over the whole of that part of the field where the drains were placed 12 feet apart, no v/ater was found in the holes ; but in the corner where the drains had been placed 15 feet apart, about two inches of water was found at the bottom of the holes, a result most satisfactory. The facts thus ascertained and published by Mr. Payne have elicited many letters of thanks from other farmers scattered about England affd Scotland. Mr. Payne states, 91 further, that the huid in his neighbourhood, which could not bo let for more tl)an two shillings and sixpence ster- ling an aero, previously to draining, now readily lets for thirty shillings sterling an acre, allcr being improved by his close sy.stom. The real adfantnge we reap in Canada, by the publication of the results of extensive experiments, similar to those recently given totiic world by Mr. Payne, conyist in tiie satisfactory confirmation thcv allbrd of the fundamental principles of the Science of Agriculture; ard the encouragement we derive to prosecute the study Oi a branch of knowledge which reveals the true char- acter of the astonishing, yet simple relations existing between vegetables, air, and soils. It would betray great ignorance of the circumstances under which Husbandry is prosecuted in this country, to recommend the adoption of those expensive artifices which prove remunerative in Great Britain and Ireland ; for not only do the circum- stances of Canada, in relation to cayital and labour, differ immeasurably from those which obtain in the densely peopled countries beyond the seas, but the condition and tenure of the soil, and the price of produce, forbid their introduction at present, for many obvious reasons. Our attention must first be directed to the more economical and less artifical methods (art. 75), which every man may practice, of assisting a, naturally fertile soil to yield an abundant return without deterioration ; and if we suc- ceed in that great problem, we shall still be relatively in the same condition as those who have had recourse to ex- traordinary artifices, in order to restore the fertility of soils so exhausted by centuries of cultivation, or naturally BO unproductive, that the simple methods which may 92 !■ iIa' ill m m answer every purpose on our vigorous soils, have there failed) in numerous instances, to produce remuneralivo returns. Recapitulation. 23. The object of applying jManurcs to the soil is two- fold ; 1st. To introduce an cquivalont for that supply of vegetable food which is necessarily abstracted by repeated cropping. 2nd. To ameliorate the condition of the soil, by render- ing inert matter available as food ; by improving its pliy. sical characteristics ; and by destroying noxious coin- pounds. 24. Farm-yard Manure is the best kind for general purposes ; it contains all the elements required by vege- tables, and a large proportion of them in a proper state for immediate assimilation. 25. The liquid portion of Farm-yard Manure is emin- ently serviceable in affording a supply of organic and inorganic food. 26. It becomes a matter of great importance, in the long-run of years, to apply to the soil the droppings of every kind of stock kept on a farm. It is advisable to form a compost heap, on which animal and vegetable re- fuse of every description may be thrown, and covered with a thin coating of loam, in order to arrest the gaseous pro- ducts of decomposition. 27. The ploughing-in of green crops, or occasionally laying arable land down to grass, affords a speedy and 08 economical mode of enriching poor or exlmusted soils. These artifices serve also to draw soluble nnncral ingre- dients from the subsoil ; leaving them in the surfuco-soil by means of decaying roots. 28. Among Mineral Manures, Lime is generally the most economical in cflocting tlio solubility of necessary ingredients in clay or sandy soils. Its etlects upon vege- table matter, when not applied in too large quantities, are highly advantageous, assisting its decomposition, and liberating available food for growing crops. 29. Leached Wood Ashes, when accessible in sufTicient quantities, consti'ute a very useful mineral manure. They contain all the mineral elements required by plants, and operate beneficially upon the organic matter in soils. 30. Crushed Bones are especially adapted to improve old pastures ; they restore to the soil the phosphates ex- ported in the form of milk, butter, and cheese ; their organic portion, upon decomposition, adds to the available nitroijen of the soil. j*^ |)art 0(C0ntr- ON THE RELATION OF VEGETABLES] TO ANIMALS. LECTURE V. Division of Vegetable Principles — Principles containing Nitrogen — Principles not containing Nitrogen — Woody Fibre — Starch — Sugar — Isomeric Bodies — Oils and Fats — Nitrogen Principles- Relation to Animal Life — Recapitulation. 122. The results of modern investigations into the chem- istry of vegetables and animals, furnish us with most striking and comprehensive views of the relationship exist- ing between them. The products of vegetable life are capable of being converted, by the wonderful process of digestion, into bone, sinew, flesh, and blood. , In l^other words, the gases of the air, and the mineral ingredients of the soil, assume the form and substance of sentient and moving beings, through the instrumentality of vegetables, and tkosc vital energies with which animals are endued by m tmU M til s ri- the Creator. The purposes served in the animal economy, by the compound bodies, or vegetable principles, such as woody fibre, sugar, starch, oil, &;c., which. are found to exist in vegetables, constitute a subject of deeply interest- ing enquiry, and in no other field of scientific research, have the labours of chemists been rewarded with such beautiful and surprising^results. 123. Among the innumerable products of vegetable or- ganization, not more than nine or ten are of direct interest to the Canadian farmer ; and they derive importance on account of the admirable purposes they serve as food for man and animals, or as raw 'materials for the use of the manufacturer and artizan. They are susceptible of division into two great classes, according to the elementary substances of which they are composed ; and it will be abundantly suflicient for all the purposes of practical Husbandry, to adopt this characteristic distinction, without entering into descriptivedetailsof many substances, which, although of vast importance in other practical Arts and Sciences, do not enter into the"^'composition of vegetables DBually cultivated by our farmers, or play important parts in the nutrition of animals. '■i'V 4?>:^.i First Class. - ■vf. ,i^:'?-,cs^■ T*EINOIPLES NOT CONTAINING NiTROGEN. 1. Woody Fibre, "^ 2. Starch, 3. Gum, 4. Sugar, i 5. Oils.-, ..}mSm'U'ki.i ■7,=%';? I Composed of Oxygen, } Hydrogen and Carbon, 57 '/ir;i_ ■,J:i; Second Clas)». pRiNGirniijj Containing Nitroobn ; (Protjeine CoMrouNBs.) ,'> Vj-'. •;-iir>'" 1. Vegetable Albumen, 2. Gluten, .-*. Composed of Oxygeii, Hvdrogon, Cactwn, aud Nitrogen. rn!»b' and discolour it. Wood/ fibre may bo convcrtod into gum, sugar or starch, all of which bodies may be said to consist of carbon and water. By a pro- cess requiring a little nicety in manipulation, it en.3rs into combination with Nitrogen, and is changed into a very explosive compound, known as gun-cotton. Woody fibre exhibits a singular attraction for the pre- dominate constituent of clay and alum, namely. Alumina. When cotton or linen cloth is dipped into a solution con- taining acetate of Alumina, (a compound of acelic acid, or the acid of common vinegar, and the earth Alumina,) the earth immediately combines with the substance of the cloth, and forms an admirable basis for fixing various co- louring matters used in the process of dyeing. ,^, 128. Starch. — This very important vegetable substance is found in the seeds and roots of all cultivated plants. Wheat Flour contains from . . 50 to 75 per cent. Barley Flour 65 to 70 do. Rice 80 to 85 do. Indian Corn 75 to 60 do. Potatoes 13 to 15 do. It is found also in the bark of many trees, especially in that of the willow and pine. By a simple process it can be obtained from shorts in large quantities; the shorts must be mixed with water, and allowed to remain in the vessel until the whole mass ferments and becomes sour, for the purpose of removing the gluten, (art. 135.) which W3uid otherwise retard the separation of the starch. One of the first results of the germination of seeds is the con- version of their starch into sugar j which, being composed , ; If 100 (t'-r m I of CRrbon, oxygen, nntl liydrogen, servos as the food of Ihe young plant, for the formation of its first roots and leaves. The process of gernninalion is imitated in malt- ing. The starch of the grain is converted into sugar, which, in the manufacture of beer, breaks up into two new substances, carbonic acid, rising in bubbles (froth), and alcohol. 129. Starch is completely insoluble in pure cold water; but the roots of maple, beech, &c., contain a substance named Diastase, which possesses the property of rendering starch soluble in water, (art. 136.) During the autumnal months, starch is deposited in the wood through which the sap ascends. When spring commences, water is forced up through the roots, and dissolves a portion of the diastase, this again effects the solution of the starch the water meets with it in its course, and converts it into sugar. The pro- cess is similar to that which takes place during the malt- ing of barley. If starch be heated until it becomes brown and smokes, it will be converted into a substance entirely soluble in cold water, and known as British Gum. 130. Sir-GAR. — Sugar is found in the juices of many vegetables, particularly the sugar-cane, heet root, carrot, birch, maple, &c. Upwards of five hundred million pounds of manufactured cane sugar were imported into the United Kingdom during the year 1838. In the same period France and Belgium manufactured from the beet root not less than one hundred and forty-five million pounds. From the maple, in the year 1848, Canada ob- tained four million pounds. The quantity brought into the markets of the world of sugar obtained from different 101 '^m vegetables, amounted, twelve years ago, to the enormout number of 1653 million pounds. ,„. , ; ,,^, 131. In the manufacture of beet root sugar, the first operation consists in washing the roots, which is usually done by a rotatory movement upon a grating, in a shallow trough containing water ; they are next submitted to the grinding process of a rasp, consisting of a number of small saws attached to a drum, having a rapid and uniform movement; when thus reduced to pulp, the semi-liquid mass is collected in bags, and submitted to pressure ; the juice is then conveyed to the boiler ; before boiling it should be mixed with common slacked lime, in the ratio of 1 lb. of lime to 88 gallons of juice ; after boiling for a short time, it should be again filtered through blanket stuff*, and then concentrated by boiling, in the usual manner of mak- ing maple sugar ; if a fine quality is required, after the second boiling has been carried on for some time, until the juice attains the consistency of thin syrup, it is to be filter- ed through a layer of bone-black or finely powdered char- coal, and then concentrated by boiling, until crystalization takes place. 132. A very remarkable circumstance connected with some of the substances found in vegetables, is their identity of composition. Thus we have Starch and Gum, which Gufer so widely in external characters, in their ap- pearance, their taste, their odour, composed of precisely similar materials, united together in the same propor- tions. In 162 lbs. of Starch or Gum, there are exactly 72 lbs. of carbon, 80 lbs. of oxygen, and 10 lbs. of hydro- gen, or what is the same thing, 72 lbs. of Carbon, and fii M 102 I* %44 ' 90 lbs. of water, (art. 29.) In 153 lbs. of cane sugar, 72 lbs. of carbon, and 81 lbs. of water. In 34 lbs. of oil of Turpentine, or oil of Citron, two liquids difrering widely in their properties, there are contained 30 lbs. of carbon, and 4 lbs. of hydrogen. Their difibrence in pro- perties is due to the arrangement of the particles of which they are composed. We may suppose the mode in which this arrangement differs to be as follow : — In one body, say Starch, one unit of hydrogen may be associated with 6 of -carbon and 8 of oxygen, to form one unit of Starch. In gum, we may imagine 2 units of hydrogen to be com- bined with 12 units of carbon and 16 of oxygen, to form one unit of gum. -, ,,:- 133. The various properties of these bodies being de- pendent upon the mode in which their particles are arranged together, afford us an excellent illustration of the beautiful simplicity and admirable contrivance exhibited in all of nature's works. They are known by the name of ISOMERIC bodies, and constitute a very important and highly interesting class of vegetable principles. 134. Oils and Fats. — More or less of these substan- ces are found in all vegetables ; they consist of a solid (stearine) and a fluid (oleine) portion, which can be separ- ated, by first subjecting the oils or fats to cold, for the purpose of hardening them, and afterwaids submitting them to pressure between folds ot linen. The oil is absorb- ed by the linen, and may be obtained pure by immersiv n in hot water. The solid portions of many oils and fats are identical in composition ; thus, the solid ingredient ol m 103 olive oil, butter, the goose, and of man are alike ; in other words, they arc isomeric bodies, ^n.^^ ., There are contained in 100 lbs. of •'^?j(; >*\V: -Vr.,^k(i»T }} J> 36 lbs. of Oil. 15 lbs. do. 15 lbs. do. 15-17 lbs. do. .J .i'.it ;u:i White Mustard Seed, about Black Mustard Seed, " Sunflower, , , Beech Nut, / ' 135. The Nitrogen Principles found in cultivated crops, and of interest to Canadian farmers, are two iu number. Gluten and Albumen. Gluten can be ob- obtained from flour by introducing a small quantity of that substance into a muslin bag, and washing it well in cold water. After a short time, the whole of the starch of the flour will pass through the meshes of the bag, and leave the gluten behind, in the f^rm of a soft yellowish mass. When the water in which the flour has been washed is allowed to remain stationary for a few hours, it will be< come clear, and at the bottom of the vessel a deposit of starch may be seen. When the clear water is heated to the boiling point, a substance similar to the white of an egg will be observed to float upon its surface, or remain suspended in the fluid. This substance is Vegetable Al- bumen ; Gluten and Albumen both contain sulphur, in the proportion of one part of sulphur for every twenty-five parts of nitrogen. 136. During the germination of seeds, the Albumen or Gluten they contain ferments, and becomes changed into the substance Diastase, (art. 129.) One part of diastase is suflficient to render 2000 parts of starch soluble in cold water ; it is thus that the starch contained in the seeds of iu. 104 »ome vegetables (wheat, &c.)t and in the roots of othcT% (potato, Jerusalem artichoke, &c.), serves to nourish the young plants before they have developed leaves or roots. Tt is, however, in relation to animal nutrition, that yegeta- ble Nitrogen Principles exercise the most remarkable influence. When gluten is submitted to a careful exam- ination, two substances are found to enter into its compo. sition, one of which is vegetable fibrine, similar to the muscular matter o^ animals, the oiher vegetable CAsmtHE, to the curd of milk. Vegetable albunien is also identical with the white of an egg. • It is thus that the muscular matter of animals, and the chief portion of their blood (dissolved muscular matter)^ fe furnished by vegetables. A vegetable which does NOT CONTAIN ANY NITBOGEN PRINCIPLES, CANNOT ASSIST IN ADDING ONE PARTICLi: OF MUSCLE. TO THE ANIMAL VEEDING ^PON IT. Animals do no, therefore, FORM the sirbstances which build up their structure ; it is the office of vegetables to prepare them for animal use. The animal merely appro- priates the muscle, cartilage, and organic bony matter, whicb the wonderfully constructed vegetable fabricates from the crude and inert elements of tbe air and soil(art.l6). ** Plants have the power of absorbing and assimilating the simple elements, and forming them into ternary and qnar- ternary compounds. Animals have not the power of as- simiktKBg the simple elements ; they can only appropriate them for their nourishment, when they are ready formed into ternary and quarternary compounds, and this office is performed for them by plants." — (Fowne.) 137. It will be bcreafter showu that a daily waste takes u:! T1 105 |)lace in ti)6 animal body ; that worn-out and dead particlef of Hesli are removed in the urine. The places of these useless and rejected particles can only b^ supplied by the Nitrogen Principles contained in the food ; hence it fol- lows that diet which does not contain certain Nitrogen Principles cannot serve as nutriment. An animal feed- ing on such diet would soon become wasted, feeble, and diseased. " A horse may be kept alive by feeding it with Potatoes, a food contuiring a very small quantity of Nitro- gen ; but life thus supported is a gradual starvation ; the animal increases neither in size nor strength, and sinks under every exertion. '' — Liebig. Recapitulation. 31. Vegetable Principles may be divided into two classei^i in relation to the purposes they serve, when considered as food :— 1. Non-Nitrogenized principles. 3. Nitrogenized principles. 32. The most important non-nitrogenized principles are Woody fibre, sugar, starch, and gum, together with certain oils. The first four may be said to be composed of Carbon and water. 33. The principles containing Nitrogen, named in aft. IQSi, are susceptible of assuming the form of animal 100 fieahf when used as food. The principles not containing Nitrogen, cannot add to the muscular strength of the body, although they may assume the form of fat. 84. The vegetable forms flesh, the animal appropri- ; ,',/*'■■■ ' !.,vy:, ' y:.. jWR)'.,. ^ ■ ' t J- ■ m' ..Kn^v^-. ,-„■ .\, ■k; (•. :. 1 . • , 1 1 -.» ,'.. i ■h f'^^ii LECTURE VI. ■•«^ i' Composition of Crop»— Nutritious Prinnipiefl — Rulntivo vnlue of diflerent kinds of Vegetnbles for the purpose of Nutrition — Rations for Working Cattle — Milch Kino— Feeding of Cattle — Conditions of Fattening — The Calf-— Cheese — Butter — Recapitulation. 139. It has been remarked, that a vast variety of Prin- ciples are formed in different species of vegetables, and that those which especially interest the farmer, or such as relate to the feeding and nutrition of man and other ani- mals, are few in number and many of them simple la composition ; the most important have already been de- scribed in the last lecture ; it remains now to show the ex- tent to which each individual substance is produced in certain descriptions of vegetables, and the duties it fulfils when used as food. Subjoined is a table prepared by Professor Johnston, to illustrate the average composition and production of nutritious and other matter per acre, for each of the usually cultivated crops. c t • la J3 ^4 &!?' o ft> 'O ■ ' • lbs. U2C/i lbs. Nitro Princ Oils Fats. Salin Ingre lbs. lbs. lbs. Wheat, 25 1500 225 825 150to220 30 to 60 30 Oats, ...f.... 40 1700 340 850 230 95 60 Barley, 35 1800 27© 1080 216 45 36 Indian Corn 30 1800 270 900 21G 90 to 170 27 Peas, 25 1600 130 800 380 45 45 Potatoes, ... 6 tons 13500 675 1620 300 45 120 Turnips, .... 20 „ 45000 1350 4500 540 130 400 Carrots, .... 25 „ 56000 1680 5600 840 200 560 Mead. Hay, Hm 3400 1020 1360 240 70 to 170 220 Clover Hay 2 „ 4500 1120 1800 420 135to225 400 Drumhead Cabbage, 20 „ 45000 • • • • 1500 • • • • if; 108 150. It has been ascertained by the most exact exfK'ri- merits, that suoh substances ass^tarcb, gum, sugar, and uil, tirhich do not contain Nitrogen, cannot support animal strength, or even life, for any length of time ; those principles alone which contain Nitrogen being capa- ble of assuming the form of animal flosh and blood, when used as food. The nutritious powers of vegetables arc therefore depend<;nt upon the amount of Nitrogenizcd principles they contain. It is to be observed, that the term nutritious powers refers to the capability of the vegetable to supply the materials of flesh, blood, and bone for young animals, or for the daily waste which takes place in adults, and has no allusion whatever to fat, which is either pro- vided by the oil or fut of the food, or obtained from the decomposition of starch, sugar, and woody 5bre« m. Pi m \vi w l40i In the above table. We find that 1,500 lbs. (25 bushels) of wheat, contain from 150 to 220 lbs. of Nitrogen principles. If we take the lower calculation, we find that 100 lbs. contain 10 lbs. of Nitrogen principles. It appears, also, that 45,000 lbs. (20 tons) of turnips will contain 540 lbs. of the same important substances. 100 lbs. of turnips will contain therefore 1 J lbs. of nutritive matter. 100 lbs. of wheat are consequently more than eight times as valuable, for the purpose of giving bone, muscle, and blood to animals, as 100 lbs. of turnips. 141. It is to be well remembered, that the form in which different kinds of food are given to animals, has very great influence upon the actual amount of benefit they derive from them. In the juices of green vegetables, for example, 1 100 A certain quantity of Nitrogen principles, antl of substan- ces capable of being converted into fut, is sugar, starch, and gum, aro found in a dissolved state. When a /ege- table arrives at maturity, and is made into fodder oi hay, these soluble substances assume tho solid form ; they are deposited in the husk of tho seed, or converted into woody fibre ; when in this state, they are less easily actedgupon by the organs of digestion. This conclusion is fully verified by experience ; green fodder, when properly administered, l)eing always found more nutritious than when given to animals in the form of hay, cut when fully ripe. A French chemist found that 9 lbs. of green lucerne were quite equal in foddering sheep to li^^ lbs. of the same forage made into hay ; while he at the same time ascertain- ed that 9 lbs. of green lucerne would not, on an average, yield more than 2^^ lbs. of hay. Hence it Would appear that 9 lbs. of lucerne consumed in the green state, produces as much effect as 15 lbs. when made into hay. All grain crops and green crops are, for the same reason, more nu- tritious, both with respect to grain and straw, when cut before they arrive at maturity. It is found, indeed, that oats will yield a fodder one fourth more nutritious when cut before the seed is fully ripe, than when it has arrived at fnaturity. So with respect to Indian Corn stalks, clover, vetches, peas, &c. Again, green fodder of all kinds possesses certain purgative properties, which musi in some measure diminish its nutritive powers. These facts must therefore be borne in mind, in consid- ering the following table, by Boussingault :— no M:. II ,:[■.■ Comparative Talk of the Value of different kinds of Food for Cattle, Meadow Hay heing txiken as a standard. NaMB or VXOBTABLK. Water in 1,000 lbs. Ordinary Meadow Hay - - Ditto, fine quality - - - - Red Clover Hay, 2d yeur - - RedClover,cut in flower, gr. Jo. Wheat Straw Oat Straw Pea Straw Vetches cut in flower, and ) dried into Hay - - - J Drum Cabbage Field Beet or Mangel Wurtzel Qarrots Jerusalem Artichokes - - - Potatoes White Peas (dry) - - - - Oats Field Beans Swedes Nitrogen in 1000 lbs. of tiio Article not dried. Theoretical Value. 1000 980 750 3110 4000 8800 640 1010 4110 5480 3820 3482 8190 270 680 230 6700 220 142. Example. — In 1000 lbs. of meadow hay, there are contained 11 lbs. of Nitrogen, and 110 lbs. of water. Its nutritious value as food is considered ec il to 1000, which number is taken as the standard of measurement. Red clover hay, second years* growth, contains in 1000 lbs. 15 lbs. of nitrogen, and 101 lbs. of water. Its value as food is represented by 750 ; that is to say, 750 lbs. of red Ill clover hay, second years' growth, ailbrd as much nourish- ment as 1000 lbs. of meadow hay. Again : — 3190 lbs. of potatoes, containing 659 lbs. of water, and 3f of nitrogen, in 1000 lbs. of the root, are as nutritious as 1000 lbs. of meadow hay. Or if we feed an animal with S70 lbs. of peaS) it will obtain as much nourishment from them, as from 3820 lbs. of carrots; or from 680 lbs. of oats, us from 8800 lbs. of oat straw ; or from 1000 lb: of meadow hay, as from 6700 lbs. of Swedish turnips. 143. Let us suppose, for the sake of illustration, that he stock of hay runs short, and that instead of giving 20 lbs. to his horse per diem, the farmer can only afford 10 lbs. The problem he has to solve is this : — What quantity of turnips, carrots, potatoes, mangel wurtzel, oats, or oat-straw will afford a substitute for 10 lbs. of hay, and keep the teams in good working condition ? The table informs us that 10 lbs. of good hay are as nutritious as 67 lbs. of turnips, 38 lbs. of carrots, 31 lbs. of potatoes, 64 lbs. of field beet, 6^^ lbs. of oats, or 88 lbs. of oat- straw. 144. There are many circumstances which interfere with the practical value of this table in its present condi- tion. It contains within itself, however, the elements of much useful information* A working horse requires more food than one that is idle ; a cow giving milk more than one that is dry. Nutritious diet, packed in a comparatively small space, is essential to a working horse ; otherwise he would not have time to consume hie food. But a kind of diet, occupying a very small spaccj would not fill the sto- mach of the animal ; he would consequently feel hungry, although enough had been eaten to supply all the purpo- 'fi ait :i it" I it? I scs of nutrition. Bousslngault says, that a. horse of thd ordinary size requires from 26 to 33 lbs. of solid food, and the same quantity of water, in the twenty-four hours. If fed with oiUcake, he would consume as much nutritious matter in 6^ lbs. as in 33 lbs. of hay, but his r;tomach would be onlv partly filled, and he would still feel hun- gry. If fed upon wheat straw, he must consume 132 lbs. to give him the requisite nourishment ; a quantity too large to be eaten in a day. 145. The usual allowance for a horse, for the 24 hours, on the farm of the last named gentleman, consists of— No. 1. — Hay 22 lbs. Straw 5^ " ^ ^^ Oats 7^ "(If gallon.) With this ration, the teams are kept in excellent condi- tion. Each of the following rations was found beneficial. " The animals did their work well, and were kept in good condition" : — Hay . 11 lbs. - . ^ Straw 5^ " Y^r ; Oats 7? " (If gal.) ' ; ;Vf .^i. Mangel Wurtzel . . . 44 " irv :M Hay 11 lbs. Straw .• 5^ ** '''^:^'}'X ^ats 7^ " (IJgal.) '* Carrots • . 40 " 146. Farmers are in the habit of attributing a stimulat- ing property to oats, as an article of food. It is true that they contain a very large quantity of Nitrogen principles, packed in a small space. They are, therefore, highly lis useful where the Ume taken in their consumption is a matter of consequence. 12 lbs. of good hay contain at much nourishment as If gallons (7i^ lbs.) of oats, but the animal requires a far longer time to consume it, its bulk being much greater. For working- horses, a ration of hay aiitl oats «s gener- ally considered to be the most advantageous. They rnay receive, however, as part of their ration, Indian Corn, both ear and stalk, and either in the green or in the dry state ; when the stalk with its large leaves is properly cured, it forms a very excellent substitute for hay. Jerusalem Artichokes, Carrots, Pumpkins, and Squashes are general- ly greedily devoured by horses. Cutting the fodder, and giving it in a mixed state, is gradually becoming more common in this country. The advantages derived from thr process are of an economical character, both as regards the quantity of the material, and the purposes it serves as food. The mastication of the grain is insured by mixing it with chaff, and the meal is completed in less time than when the whole fodder is gi'^en. The function of diges- tion is also more thoroughly effected when the food is introduced into the stomach in a finely divided siu^v.. The health and condition of horses, as well as of horned cattle, are greatly influenced by the mode in which they are stabled. The stable or cow-house should be dry, airy, well ventilated, warm, and well drained. Apertures for ventilation should be made at the highest part of the build- ing, and corresponding orifices for the admission of fresh air, a few inches above the floor. Whenever a strong odour of Ammonia is perceived in the morning, upon first entering a stable in which horses or horned cattle are con- 114 •t filled, it is a sure sign that the ventilation is very insiifrici- ent. Under such circumstances, the functions of digestion and respiration cannot be properly performed. 147. Milch Kine. — The influence exercised by difl^er- ent kinds of diet upon horned cattle is almost incredible. It is perfectly useless to attempt keeping good stock, with- out due regard to food. In the long run of years, with attention and care, stock always pay. We frequently hear complaints to the contrary; whence, however, do they arise ? From a complete misapprehension of the use of stock upon a farm. It is perfectly true, that at a distance from markets, the sale of beef and mutton, butter and cheese, do not remunerate the farmer. Let us add to these items. Manure, and see how the balance-sheet stands. A farmer who manures occasionally and sparingly, we will suppose, has 20 acres in fall wheat ; he is accustomed to reap 17 bushels to the acre ; l3y good manuring, we- may reasonably expect that he will obtain 25 bushels ; an in- crease on his whole crop of 160 bushels, due to manure alone. The value ©^^40 bushels will pay for labour and time expended in the operation. There remains a clear profit of 120 bushels. To beef, mutton, wool, cheese, but- ter, milk, he must not only add 120 bushels of wheat, but also the improved condition of his land, before he can esti- mate the gain or loss on a fair proportion of stock. 148. Let us remember the principle of husbandry in- troduced in art. 95., that no farm can continue to yield GRAIN-PRODUCING CROPS, ON A SURFACE GREATER THAN ONE- THIRD OF ITS CULTIVATED EXTENT, FOR MANY SUCCESSIVE YEARS, WITHOUT DIMINISHING SCALES OF PRODUCE. A farm. er must have a rotation of crops, in order to preserve the 115 fertility of his soil. He must have mnnurc, or recourse to fallow and wheat rotation. If the above princii)le ire once recognized, the great advantages resulting from the preservation of a constant ratio between stock and arable land, on an arable farm, will become easily apparent. The severity of the climate in Canada, the mixed system of husbandry which universally obtains in the country, ind the markets, establish the value of that ratio. It is un- questionable, that a much larger amount of stock can be kept upon a farm in the United Kingdom than in this country. Experience and circumstances alone can enable the skilful farmer to determine whether the five shift, the four shift, or three shift rotation is most remunerative. The rotation he adopts will enable him to discover the amount of stock he can sustain, bearing in mind the im- portance of having a sufflciency of manure for his grain* producing crops. 149. Where the value of manure is so little known, that barns and stables are occasionally shifted, as the most convenient mode of getting rid of the nuisance ; where fields are cropped for many years, without receiving one particle of that which is wasting near them, and where, when applied, it is taken directly from the cattle -yard, without having undergone fermentation, in order to destroy the seeds of noxious weeds, it will appear utterly incom- prehensible that cattle greatly assist in improving the fer» tility of a farm. Happily, such a wasteful and rude sys- tem of farming practice is gradually grcviug less frequent in Upper Canada, although it is unquestionable, that farm- yard ipanure is almost universally applied without proper , 116 &< preparation (art. 103), and too frequently full of the seedt of weeds, with their vitality unimpaired, 150. Every thing connected with the feeding of milch kine is of importance. They should receive their food with great regularity, and be driven to water at least twice in the day. In the winter time care should be taken to free the water trough from ice, since, when the water is very cold, cattle drink as little as possible ; their supply of milk is consequently reduced. Water at the temperature of that which comes from a well 25 to 30 feet in depth is the most favourable for cattle. A good milk cow will, if well fed with a mixed ration of hay or cut straw, and some roots thrown down whole before her, yield milk for 200 to 300 days, and give on an average 10 to 14 pints in a day. Cattle of all descriptions should be housed, or at least be provided with sheds, during the winter months. A cruel and most unprofitable system prevails largely in remote townships, of permitting them to be exposed to the inclem- ency' of the weathej, with an indifferent diet of straw and what they can browse during the whole winter. Their milk necessarily fails, and when spring returns they are found in such a reduced and deplorable condition, that many weeks, and even months elapse, before they regain their strength and habit. 151. In Professor Norton's Elements of Scientific Ag- riculture, the following admirable remarks on the necessi- ty of giving due attention to young and growing stock occur. " Let us consider, first, the young and growing animal. What is the system too often pursued ? The best hay, the best shelter, the best litter, all the grain and roots, are bestowed upon the working or the fattening ■fWf TM v.-.. ■ 117 animals. The young ones have poor shelter, coarse bog hay and straw fodder, and little care of any description. In the main, they are left to shift for themselves, with poor food, and imperfect accommodations, frequently with no accomodation at all, unless the warm side of an old stack of bog hay, or bleached corn-stalks, can be so called. As they crowd under its shelter from the wind, and eat some of the hay or stalks to keep from starving, the owner con- gratulates himself on the saving of food that he is effecting. I would ask him to consider whether this is really the best possible practice, and think it will not be difficult to show, that every hour of this fancied gain is in reality a positive loss. It can be made evident from the following facts. The young animal is, or should be, growing rapidly ; ita muscles should be developing and increasing in size ; its bones growing and consolidating ; its whole frame enlarg- ing from day to day, in a rapid and almost perceptible manner. Tiiis is not to be effected by such treatment as described above. The real need at this time is for remark- ably strengthening and nutritious food ; a food that should contain a large proportion of Nitrogen in some form, so as to increase the muscles ; and of phosphates, to strengthen and enlarge the bones." 152. The conditions for fattening an animal are satisfied ii' it has repose, warmth, cleanliness, and regular feeding A mixed diet of dry and succulent food, such as hay ana roots, in the winter months ; and good clover, or excellent pasturage, during the summer. It should be borne in mind, that when a cow begins to fatten, she gradually loses her milk; therefore it is important in fattening cows to let thcra run dry as soon as possible. i 118 15:]. The Calf. — Few aniinuls grow so raj)iilly as ilic calf. The average daily increase until they are weaned, is considerably over 2 lbs. They feed upon the perfection of food — upon milk, which contains in itself all the substun- ces required to build up the animal frame. In 100 lbs. of a good cow's milk, there are found about, 87 lbs. of water, J do. saline ingredients, (bone-earth, &c.) 4' do. sugar of milk, 8J do. Oil and fat, (butter) ^ do. Nitrogen Principles, (curd, flesh) When churned, the subjoined table shows the average proportion of useful dairy products yielded by good milk : Cheese 8 lbs. Butter 3 do. Butter-milk .... 12 do. "^' Whey . 77 do. 100 lbs. 154. The curd is a Nitrogen Principle (caseine), disol- ved in the water of the milk. (art. 136.) Its solubility is due to the presence of soda. If an acid be introduced into the milk, it seizes upon the soda and forms a new com- pound. The curd is insoluble in water destitute of free so- da, it therefore immediately assumes the solid state when an acid substance is poured into the milk. This operation goes on in warm weather in the following manner ; — Milk contains sugar, which is converted by a new arrangement of its particles into an acid called milk acid or lactic acid. The acid forms a union with the soda. The curd deprived 119 of soda is no longer soluble in water, it consequently se- parates in a solid form. Tiie change of milk sugar into milk acid is efltecled artifically by the introduction of a substance in a state of decomposition ; as rennet, or the stomach of a calf. The decomposition which is going on in the rennet communicates an impulse to the particles of the milk sugar, which re-arrange themselves under its in- fluence, and assume the form and properties of milk acid. 15*. When butter is about to be salted for home use or the market, the greatest care ought to be taken in the way of kneading and pressing, in order to free it as much as possible from the buttermilk and curd which it contains. The quality of the salt employed, is of the utmost impor- tance. As a general rule. Mineral salt should be avoided, as it always contains some foreign matters such as Mag- nesia, &c., which frequently spoil or injure the contents of a cask. Strong Marine Salt is the best for the purpose. An excellent pickle is made by mixing five parts of good Marine Salt, four parts of fine Sugar, and two parts of Saltpetre, and incorporating the mixture thoroughly with the butter, in the proportion of one ounce to a pound of butter. Many persons object to the flavour communicated to butter, by feeding milch cows with turnips, cabbage, &c. it may be useful to know that the disagreeable taste thus imparted to the products of the dairy may be removed by the following simple process. " Take Saltpetre, three ounces ; water, luke-warm, one quart ; dissolve and bottle for use. Into each ten-quart milking pail pour one wine glassful of the solution, and milk upon it j this will be suf- l:', ItT) fioient, and no more nitro need bo addod to the butlor/'- Skiiling's Agriculture. Recapitulation. 35. The streQgtb-givlng power of vegetaWes, when con- ruined as food, is i« u great measure duo to the quantity oi Nitrogen Principles they contain. 30. The fattening capabilities to the proportion of soluble principles not containing Nitrogen ; and of these, chiefly lo oils and fnts. 37. Green fodder is more nutritious than when in the drv state, on account of its containing, in the juices of the vegetables of which it is composed, a larger supply of sol- uble muscular and fattening compounds. 38. The health and well-being of stock are greatly de- pendent upon regular feeding and warmth during the win- ter season. 39. The value of stock upon a farm is not io be mea«ur- •ed by the marketable products of the dairy or slaughter, house they yield, but by those items in conjunction with the manure they afford for distribution over the arable land. 40. Good feed aiad warmth are absolutely necessary for the proper growth and development of young slock. U.X ■I r LECTURE VII. U" .-■. ',1 Function of Digciition — Function of Respirntlon — Animal Ilcot— Furpuscs served by FootI — Opposite Fuiiciions of Plunls and Ani- mals — Production of Manure — Relative Value of Animal Manures — Recapitulation. • 150. The purposes served by tlie constituents of food in the animal economy constitute a subject of very inter- esting inquiry, and of some practical value to farnwrs in the management of stock. A brief view of the digestive and respiratory processes will enable us to trace the chang- es which take place in articles of food, before tiiey minister to tho well-being of animals. Tlie digestive organs of the horse and the ox differ in many respects : the successive steps, and the final result obtained, arc the same in both instances. The food of the horse, after havingbecn introduced into the mouth, moistened with saliva, and well masticated, is con- veyed into the stomach by the meat pipe or cosophagus, wtjere it is subjected to the dissolving influence of the gastric juice, and converted into a homogeneous pulpy mass called CHYMfi. The chyme passes from the stomach into the intestinal canal, into which two liquids — bile and pancreatic juice — are poured from tlie liver and pancreas, or sweetbread, by means of ducts terminating in theintes- tinal canal, about five inches from the stomach. By the action of these liquids the Chyme is resolved into two por- tions, named respectively the Chyle and the Residuum. Tke Chyle is absorbed by a number of small vessels or absorbents, which terminate in the inner coating of the V22 intestines; tho residuum ia propelled through ihe intcsiiiiftl cannl, f\nd finally pivcn nlY as cxoroincnts. Tim imliihod chylo is colkctod in a roc ptiir-lo, from which itisconvry. ed hy a duct into tho circuljiliotj. After having hoon thus mingled with tho hlood, it is tnkcn directly to tho heart in the impure form of vonons hlood ; from tho hcnrt it is forc- ed through a system of arteries to tho lungs, where it comes in contact with the oxygen of the air, drawn into tho lungs during each inspiration. A considerahlo portion of its Carbon and Hydrogen combining with tho oxygon of air, is now given ofF in tho form of carbonic acid and va- pogr of water through tljo mouth ; what remains, consti- tutlng purified blood, goes back to the heart, to be propelled to every portion of the body, supplying' nutriment where it is required. 157. In ruminating animals we find four stomachs, all connected continuously with the gnllet or moat-pipe. It is in the last of these stomachs that the process of diges- tion is carried on. Tlie first is called the paunch, and prepTires tho food for rumination by softening it. The food then passes into the second stomach, where it is rolled into pellets tor the purpose of being returned to the mouth for remastication, (the cud). From the mouth it is convey- ed directly into tho third stomach, where it suffers a second softening process, after which it iy propelled into the fourth stomach, and thence into the ititestinal canal, where diges- tion is completed, as before descrihed. Tho time which .elapses before food is returned to suffer remastication in horned cattle is about 16 hours: very hard and coarse diet requires a much longer period for preparation in the paunch and second stomach. wt^frnt^m^mmF^ ^m 12'3 ■ 158. In hrottiliin;:^, iho nir is takon through tho wintl- pipo and bruiichial tubes Into tlio lun