I
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT
 
 PRICE 25 CENTS. 
 
 IEMISTKY 
 
 MADE EASY. 
 
 I'OIi THE 
 
 USE OFFARMER.S, 
 
 BY j. "XOPHAM, M.A. 
 X S 
 
 NEW- YORK: 
 
 !. M. SAXTON, AGRICULTUEAL BOOK PUBLISHER, 
 No. 123 Fulton Street. 
 1851.
 
 CHEMISTRY 
 
 USE OF FARMERS 
 
 BY J. TOPHAM, M. A. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 C. M. SAXTOX, AGRICULTURAL PUBLISHER, 
 
 No 1 '2 3 FULTOX STREET. 
 1851.
 
 PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 
 
 AN opinion having been expressed by an in- 
 dividual of great talent, sound judgment, and 
 elevated station in society, and coincided in by 
 several gentlemen who were present at the time 
 it was delivered, that were an inexpensive, short, 
 and easy-to-be-understood treatise written, show- 
 in^ in what manner a knowledge of Chemistry 
 is useful to the business of agriculture, wherein 
 its terms are explained, so as to be compre- 
 hended by persons unacquainted with the lan- 
 fruafe of science, and an insight given into its 
 
 r? o 7 
 
 general modes of action, as an inducement to 
 further inquiry, an essential service would be 
 performed for the agricultural interest of the 
 country ; and that opinion being accompanied 
 with a request, that the composer of this trea- 
 tise would attempt to furnish such a deside- 
 ratum, he, after mature deliberation, consented 
 to accede to their wishes, and herewith submits
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 the result to the candid consideration of agri- 
 culturists. That two of the conditions have 
 been accomplished, will, he thinks, be gene- 
 rally admitted; and if he shall learn that the 
 third has been fulfilled to the satisfaction of his 
 readers, the highest gratification will be afforded 
 to the feelings of its author. 
 
 Many of the statements recorded in the fol- 
 lowing pages are founded upon the authority 
 of LieMg, whose writings on Organic Chemis- 
 try may be consulted with advantage, and will 
 be read with pleasure by every admirer of sci- 
 entific research and inductive reasoning.
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN bringing out this second edition of the 
 accompanying treatise, the author embraces the 
 opportunity to return his most grateful acknow- 
 ledgments to the numerous correspondents who 
 have favoured him with their suggestions ; but 
 especially his thanks are due to the agriculturists 
 and gentlemen, who have testified their high 
 approbation of his efforts to render Chemistry 
 intelligible to farmers, by purchasing copies for 
 distribution among their respective friends, 
 
 In this present edition, which is considerably 
 enlarged, his friends will discover that their 
 kind attention has been duly appreciated, and 
 he ventures to hope, that his attempt to please 
 and instruct has not been in vain, among the 
 class of readers for whom his little volume was 
 designed and written.
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 This little work is worth reading, as an introduction to a 
 serious inquiry into Chemical Phenomena. Gardner's 
 C fir on. 
 
 No farmer should be without this little inexpensive book, 
 the perusal of which will guide him to the knowledge it is so 
 important he should acquire. It is written in so clear and 
 plain a style, as to be intelligible to the meanest capacity, 
 while the various Chemical combinations, the phenomena of 
 the growth and nourishment of plants, the nature of soils, 
 &e., are explained in the most familiar manner. Worcmter- 
 shire Chronicle. 
 
 The extracts we have, given are wortli the entire cost of 
 the book; hut when we add, that it has hundreds of similar 
 pleasantly and clearly told illustrations, of the usefulness of 
 Chemistry to the farmer, we think we have said quite enough 
 to induce all who think our judgment worth a rush, to buy 
 it. Worcester Herald. 
 
 We have much pleasure in recommending to the notice 
 of our agricultural readers, a useful and compendious work, 
 from the pen of the Rev. J. Topharn, entitled "Chemistry 
 made Kasy." They will find, in this little hrochure, many 
 valuable hints laid before them, in the most simple and intel- 
 ligible form. Worcester Guardian. 
 
 A short but apparently useful treatise, on that very inte- 
 resting subject, the application of Chemistry to agricultural 
 purposes. It is written in easy and familiar language. 
 Athenseum. 
 
 This is indeed, although on a minor scale, a very complete 
 farmers' vadc mecum of practical Chemistry. The language 
 employed is simple, and the illustrations are so clear as to 
 become easily understood by any ordinary capacity. Farm- 
 ers' Journal.
 
 CHEMISTKY MADE EASY. 
 
 " All nature is but art, unknown to thee ; 
 All chance, direction, which thou canst not see." 
 
 IN the age in which we live, when Mechanics' 
 Institutes, Literary and Scientific Societies, and 
 Schools of Design, exist in almost every city and 
 town, professedly established for imparting to 
 individuals, of the middle and working classes of 
 the community, information which maybe made 
 available, in the respective employments and 
 business in which they are engaged; will the 
 farmer refuse to exert himself, in the movement 
 that is around him, and be content to remain 
 stationary, while his humbler neighbours are 
 active in the pursuit of knowledge, and in the 
 improvement of their condition, by means of "the 
 
 9
 
 10 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 substantial advantages which are known to ac- 
 company it ? 
 
 His position in the social body is one of re- 
 spectability, responsibility, and of honour ; and if 
 he is desirous of fulfilling, efficiently, the duties 
 which his station calls upon him to discharge, 
 and of realizing an independence from the profits 
 of his profession, he must adapt his system of 
 management to an improved condition of rural 
 economy, and regulate his farm-business by the 
 rules which practice with science will teach him. 
 
 It is the remark of the wise man, that " the 
 hand of the diligent maketh rich :" and daily 
 experience shows us, how greatly exercise, both 
 of body and of mind, contributes to the forma- 
 tion of human happiness, and of health. But 
 when the hand of diligence is directed by the 
 head of wisdom, and the operations of agricul- 
 ture, or any art, are regularly conducted upon 
 well-ascertained principles, then, not only will 
 an immense saving of capital and of labour be
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 11 
 
 effected, by the persons who so act, but in watch- 
 ing- the development of the system they shall 
 have adopted, and in observing how all things 
 harmoniously work together for good, when suf- 
 ficiently supplied with the materials, which their 
 respective circumstances require, a mental gratifi- 
 cation will be experienced, which no sensual 
 pleasure can equal, and if money is to be made, 
 such individuals will be most likely to realize it. 
 
 Will then, I repeat, the farmer be content to 
 remain stationary, while his humbler neighbours 
 are acquiring knowledge ? Will he obstinately 
 despise the aid of a science, by whose instru- 
 mentality his operations maybe conducted, with 
 the surest prospect of profit ? ^ This science is 
 Chemistry ; and to the agriculturists it would 
 seem to be indispensable. 
 
 The earth, the air, and water, are the three 
 o-rand agents by which he works. To become 
 
 O O J 
 
 acquainted with the elementary constituents of 
 these several objects ; to know something respect-
 
 12 CHEMISTRY MADE EAST. 
 
 ing the influences they exert over the bodies 
 with which they come into contact, and the 
 results thereby produced, should, consequently, 
 be the first aim of his professional ambition. 
 What is necessary for all practical purposes, may 
 easily be learnt, by a careful attention to a few 
 simple facts, principles, and rules, which experi- 
 mentalists shall have ascertained, established, 
 and recorded ; and in the occupation in which 
 he shall engage himself, he will find no reason 
 for regretting the time he shall give up, or the 
 hifling pecuniary outlay he may be required to 
 incur. 
 
 Transformations will present themselves, on 
 every side, to his astonished view, and in the 
 vast laboratory of nature, he will discover that 
 nothing becomes useless, nothing is destroyed. 
 The dissolution and apparent annihilation of mat- 
 ter, is but an operation, in the wonder-working 
 hand of the Creator, subservient to the great pur- 
 pose of re-production ; and the universe teems
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 13 
 
 at this hour, with the elements necessary to the 
 formation of substances, requisite for the support 
 of animal and vegetable existence, and for the 
 well-being and happiness of animated creation, 
 as in the infancy of the world, when "God 
 looked upon every thing that he had made, and 
 behold it was very good." 
 
 The cultivation of such a science will, there- 
 fore, be beneficial to his interests, both as re- 
 spects his mind, his fortune, and his character. 
 It will expand his ideas. It will enlarge his 
 knowledge. It will teach him how to economize 
 labour and pecuniary outlay ; and should his soul 
 be susceptible of holy feelings and sublime im- 
 pressions, it will raise .his thoughts from the 
 things that are seen and made, to the contem- 
 plation of the Great Being who created them. 
 It will show him, 
 
 "Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
 Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 
 
 In order to the accurate acquisition of useful
 
 14 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 knowledge, it is necessary that the mind of the 
 inquirer should be entirely divested of early 
 imbibed prejudices, and popular errors ; as that 
 there are four elements Earth, Air, Fire, and 
 Water ; such substances only being regarded as 
 elementary bodies, by the scientific, which the 
 skill of man has been able to separate or to re- 
 duce to but one constituent; of which simple or 
 elementary principles, the number, at the present 
 period, amounts to nearly sixty. 
 
 It is but a very few years ago, that insects and 
 flies were supposed to owe their origin to decom- 
 posed mud and putrid flesh, stones to grow, and 
 those green rings, which are frequently to be 
 observed in pastures, to be caused by the mys- 
 terious agency of fairy power. But now, by the 
 introduction of a more enlightened philosophy, 
 the operations of nature have become much 
 better understood than formerly, and the enig- 
 mas, which perplexed our forefathers, have 
 been satisfactorily explained.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 15 
 
 To an uninstructed individual, whose reasoning 
 and perceptive faculties are but very rarely 
 brought into activity, in the exercise of his 
 calling, 
 
 " The primrose, by the river's brim, 
 A simple primrose is to him, 
 And it is nothing more." 
 
 Give him, however, the opportunity of culti- 
 vating his understanding, by means of books, 
 lectures, and the various institutions, which the 
 age abundantly aftbrds, and he will quickly 
 regard it under a different aspect, and dwell, 
 with delighted admiration, on the variety of its 
 parts, the intricacy of its construction, the deli- 
 cacy of its arrangements, and the beautiful adap- 
 tation of its several circumstances, to the purposes 
 they are designed to accomplish. In his enlarged 
 view of nature, he now contemplates it, as a 
 living, breathing, finely-organized structure, pos- 
 sessing organs of respiration, circulation, and 
 re-production; together with au apparatus, per-
 
 16 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 fectly appointed, for the conversion of the food 
 it derives from the earth and atmosphere, into 
 the leaves, flowers, and seeds, which it pro- 
 gressively exhibits : and consequently, not less 
 worthy of his admiration than the animals which 
 graze around it. 
 
 The hitherto dormant powers of his mind 
 being once awakened, and a spirit of inquiry" 
 pleasingly excited, he is induced to institute an 
 examination into the reasons why the business 
 by which he lives hath been conducted by a 
 particular uniform sys-tem ; and, (if a farmer,) 
 perceiving its incompleteness, he resolves upon a 
 change ; and the question that suggests itself to 
 his consideration is, what is the soundest, and, 
 therefore, probably, the most profitable method 
 I can adopt, successfully to accomplish the object 
 I have in view ? To which the answer is, work 
 with those implements, which mechanics shall 
 have improved ; and in conformity with those
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 17 
 
 rules, and modes of action, which Chemistry 
 will teach you. 
 
 Observation and experience will, indeed, in- 
 struct men in many things which may be ad- 
 vantageously put into practice, in the ordinary 
 operations of a farm; but it is only by being 
 acquainted with the laws and methods by which 
 nature performs her work, and by conducting 
 their business with a knowledge of the con- 
 stituents of the various materials, which they 
 are necessitated to employ, and by means of a 
 system, calculated to produce certain results, 
 that their chances of incurring disappointment 
 and pecuniary loss are incalculably diminished; 
 and they are enabled to account for circum- 
 stances, should their plans sometimes fail, and 
 their crops, in the time of harvest, prove defec- 
 tive. 
 
 Experience will inform them, in which pas- 
 tures on their estates, or by what description of 
 food, oxen and sheep can be readiest fed, and
 
 18 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 prepared for market ; but it is Chemistry which 
 will show them, that the flesh, which covers 
 their bones, is to be found ready formed, as to 
 its constituents, in the herbage they consume ; 
 point out the plants, the seeds, and roots, most 
 rich in the qualities requisite to produce the 
 result desired ; and enumerate the various pro- 
 perties which the soil must possess, to afford the 
 plants the proper nourishment which their cir- 
 cumstances shall require, in order fully to com- 
 plete their germination, and mature their seeds; 
 and thus, during their growth, and when ripe, 
 be made to communicate their virtues to the 
 respective animals which shall feed upon them. 
 It is Chemistry which will teach them that the 
 seed of wheat is, in a great measure, constituted 
 of three elementary bodies, which, after being 
 imbibed from the soil and atmosphere, are 
 converted into a sweet fluid, (sugar,) which fills 
 the vessels of the green stalk that supports the 
 ear ; and are, in that ear, afterwards transformed,
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 19 
 
 by a slight alteration of the quantity of two of 
 the elements spoken of, into the starch or farina, 
 which, more especially, renders the corn valua- 
 ble ; and that, to afford the plant the means of 
 most efficiently carrying on its operations and 
 transformations, it must be supplied with those 
 properties, whereof the soil shall be deficient, by 
 a judicious application of such materials as are 
 known to possess the qualities of which it is in 
 want, and in a state to communicate them, when 
 its circumstances may require them. 
 
 Every agriculturist being acquainted with the 
 well-established fact, that grasses, cut before 
 they are fully ripe, are generally much more 
 valuable as food to cattle, than afterwards, on 
 account of the sweet juices with which they 
 generally abound, I am somewhat surprised that 
 Indian corn, (which, from its seldom maturing 
 its seeds, in the climate of Britain, is rarely to 
 be seen in the fields of this country,) is not 
 most extensively cultivated, as a green crop,
 
 20 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 for that especial purpose. For while in this con- 
 dition, it is superabundant in saccharine fluids, 
 important to the formation of animal fat ; and, 
 consequently, worthy of greater attention from 
 farmers, than it appears, hitherto, to have re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Our clever calculating friends, on the other 
 side of the Atlantic, are, however, wide awake 
 to its advantages and usefulness, and grow it 
 abundantly, not only for the sake of the vast 
 yield of seed which it affords, but also as a pro- 
 fitable nutriment for their herds ; and who, in 
 many parts, after they have crushed and pressed 
 the stalks, manufacture the liquor extracted into 
 very excellent sugar. 
 
 The vast importance of understanding the na- 
 ture and properties of manures being alluded to, 
 in a foregoing page, it may not be here out of 
 place to say a few words, on an expensive foreign 
 production, reported to be the excrement of cer- 
 tain sea-birds, and recently introduced to the
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY 21 
 
 notice of agriculturists, under the name of 
 Guano, and in the purchasing of which, indivi- 
 duals may be very seriously taken in, if they are 
 unable to distinguish an adulterated manufacture 
 from the genuine article, which the high price of 
 the material will induce unprincipled persons to 
 imitate. By procuring it from the warehouses 
 of respectable merchants, this risk will, in a 
 great measure, be avoided. Of its astonishing 
 powers of promoting vegetation, there can be no 
 dispute, when it shall be applied to the land, 
 before it has been long exposed to the moisture 
 of the atmosphere, and is unmixed with sub- 
 stances which deteriorate its value. 
 
 But although it may be applied to the soil, both 
 fresh and genuine, still various circumstances 
 must be attended to, if the advantages it is capa- 
 ble of rendering vegetation are to be realized, 
 
 o O 
 
 from its employment. The quality of the land 
 on which it is about to be tried, ought, in the 
 (irst place, to be carefully ascertained, and also
 
 22 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 the description of the manure with which it may 
 recently have been dressed. For if it should be 
 commingled with substances, for which its con- 
 stituents possess an affinity, (as lime or vegeta- 
 ble-ashes,) you will prematurely disengage the 
 properties which the plants shall require, and 
 thus, eventually, lose both your manure and 
 your crop. 
 
 As all vegetables imbibe their nourishment 
 while it is in a state of solution, moisture must 
 therefore be present to effect this condition, or 
 the guano will remain inert, until a shower of 
 rain shall descend, or artificial watering shall be 
 administered. Indeed it is highly probable, that 
 from inattention to these and other objects, neces- 
 sary to the proper decomposition of the com- 
 pound, failures frequently have occurred, and 
 the manure has been thus unfairly condemned ; 
 whereas, had the state of the weather, as to 
 wind, rain, sunshine, or clouds, and also the 
 nature of the soil on which it was used, been
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 23 
 
 correctly noticed and reported, then proper 
 allowances would have been made, according to 
 the circumstances of the case, and the experi 
 ment received its proportionate value. 
 
 The foregoing remarks are equally applicable 
 to nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia, 
 of potass, and other compounds of a similar 
 character, which, if purchased without know- 
 ledge, and used without judgment, will most 
 assuredly prove expensive, and, in the end, cause 
 disappointment. 
 
 This knowledge, I again repeat, is to be acquir- 
 ed from a slender acquaintance with the common 
 principles of Chemistry, and may be obtained, for 
 most practicable purposes in husbandry, by dedi- 
 cating a few spare hours in every week to read- 
 ing, experiments, observation, and reflection. 
 
 It is, however, absolutely necessary to the 
 efficiency of manures, whether artificial or other- 
 wise, that the fields to which they shall be applied, 
 shall have been carefully drained. For although
 
 24 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 a running stream, suffered periodically to irrigate 
 a portion of a farm, is one of the most active 
 fertilizers of the soil with which we are acquainted, 
 stagnant water, either on the surface, or in con- 
 tact with the roots of plants, is a deadly poison ; 
 such river water or runnin-g stream, besides hold- 
 ing mineral and saline matter, both in suspension 
 and solution, abounds also in animalculse, called 
 infusoria, whose minute bodies, by infiltration of 
 the fluid, become incorporated with the land, and, 
 on decomposition, afford ammonia to the plants 
 which cover its surface, and thus increase its 
 productiveness. 
 
 Having already premised, in a former page, 
 that plants principally derive their solids and 
 other properties, from the soil in which they 
 grow; and are rich in cattle-nourishment, or in 
 seed-produce, in proportion as they shall be 
 supplied with food, necessary for the full de- 
 velopment of their organization and vigorous 
 health ; it is the interest of the agriculturist, to
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 25 
 
 learn what are the conditions that are necessary 
 to the profitable cultivation of his farm, and to 
 adapt these to his purposes, as extensively as 
 circumstances will permit. For it is well known, 
 to men of science, that samples of wheat, (for 
 example,) which are alike to all outward appear- 
 ance, and have been produced from the same 
 seed, sown upon different descriptions of land, 
 are found widely to vary in the qualities which 
 most especially constitute its worth ; the one 
 being abundant in the yield of flour, the other 
 exuberant in bran. 
 
 In a farm, of any considerable extent, the 
 fields will be different, as to the aspect in which 
 they lie, and the nature of the soil of which they 
 are composed. Hills, and valleys, and plains, 
 diversify the face of the country ; and, by the wise 
 arrangement in which they are disposed, con- 
 tribute to render it both beautiful and fruitful. 
 
 Some localities will be rich in decayed vege- 
 table-matter, marl, clay, lime, and certain agents
 
 26 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 called salts ; which, although invisible to the 
 eye, and imperceptible to the taste, perform 
 a most important service in the process of rural 
 economy. Others will possess clay and sand in 
 superabundance, and be defective in vegetable 
 matter and marl ; v/hile a third shall be formed 
 altogether of sand and gravel. 
 
 The grand desideratum, therefore, of the agri- 
 culturist is, to know how to commingle these 
 respective ingredients, so that his lands shall 
 possess the qualities which are likely to afford 
 the greatest supply of nourishment, for raising 
 to perfect maturity the crops, arising from the 
 seeds which shall have been sown between their 
 furrows, and which, to a considerable degree, 
 may be accomplished by the transposition of 
 certain descriptions of earth, from localities 
 wherein they are abundant, to the fields in which 
 they are not present, and wanted. 
 
 For example ; if wheat be, sown upon a 
 soil, composed, in a great measure, of decayed
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 27 
 
 vegetation, (as peat-earth,) the plant will flourish 
 in a most extraordinary manner, for a period, 
 and, by its luxuriant appearance, promise the 
 farmer 'an abundant return in harvest ; and 
 could it but fortunately sustain the exuberance of 
 its germination, no doubt the produce would be 
 equal to his fondest anticipations. But to insure 
 this most desirable result, it is necessary that the 
 stalk should be incased in a cylinder of flint, and 
 if sand is not present, and an alkali, to aid in its 
 solution, the plant will bend and fall under the 
 load, which its well-gorged organs shall have 
 accumulated, and the cultivator be disappointed 
 of the rich remuneration it promised him. 
 
 The most careless observer of the various 
 herbage which clothes with verdure the hills, the 
 valleys, and plains of the country in which he 
 lives, will not have failed to have remarked that 
 plants which are common to sandy lands, are not 
 generally to be found growing on marly ground ; 
 but that loamy, chalky, and gravelly soils, have
 
 28 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 each their peculiar and appropriate vegetation ; 
 and it is an ascertained fact, that when such plants 
 are removed to soils of a different nature to that 
 on which they flourish, they speedily become 
 stunted in their growth, and, in a short time, 
 droop and disappear. 
 
 The object of the farmer should therefore be, 
 to cultivate such species of plants as experience 
 shall have shown him the land will naturally 
 vigorously support, or to add to it those vegetable, 
 saline, or mineral substances, which are known to 
 be necessary to their healthy existence, wherever 
 such shall be known to be wanting. Thus v/ill 
 he reduce his system of husbandry to a similar 
 standard of accuracy, to that which most of the 
 arts have already attained, and also be able to 
 render productive and profitable, lands which 
 had hitherto been considered as comparatively 
 barren and worthless. 
 
 If attention is to be given to the nature and 
 management of the soils, in which grain, pulse.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 29 
 
 and tuberous-rooted vegetables, are to be cul- 
 tivated, no less diligence is to be used, in ascer- 
 taining the merits of that, on which green-crops 
 are to be raised, for the support or feed of cattle. 
 For in the fibres, juices, seeds, and tubers of 
 these, respectively, exist the very ilesh and blood 
 which show themselves, afterwards, in the bodies 
 of the horses, oxen, or sheep, which formerly 
 pastured on them; so that by supplying his 
 stock with certain descriptions of vegetable pro- 
 vender, and in different stages of maturity, their 
 owner will be enabled to render them sinewy or 
 plump, as the circumstances may require, or his 
 fancy may lead him. 
 
 What those materials are, which produce such 
 results, have been ascertained by chemists, and 
 separated from the respective herbage and seeds 
 in which they are elaborated and exist. Their 
 nature and properties will be attempted to be 
 explained in another part of this treatise, and 
 which, if at any time deficient in the food that is
 
 30 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 afforded, the cattle will be stinted in size, and in 
 their appearance, unhealthy. 
 
 Fat, be it however remembered, is not a 
 necessary condition of vitality, but a redundant 
 material, extracted from food which animals con- 
 sume, and deposited in various parts of their 
 bodies, after the wants of nature shall have 
 been satisfied, as far as respects the re-produc- 
 tion of those portions of their organization, 
 which are constantly subject to flux and change ; 
 and is principally constituted of an element 
 termed CARBON. 
 
 The food of animals consisting chiefly of 
 fibrinous and carbonaceous materials, after beino- 
 
 tD 
 
 received into the system, the latter unites with 
 that element of the air which, inspired, and also 
 taken up in the saliva, generates heat, producing 
 the animal heat of. the body; whilst the former 
 is deposited as flesh ; which heat, if rapidly car- 
 ried off either through violent exercise, or by 
 chilling blasts of wind, will be supplied from the
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 31 
 
 carbon which this oily substance will afford ; 
 from which circumstance, we learn the reason 
 why, in the preparation of cattle for the butcher, 
 abundance of suitable provender, quietness, and 
 warmth, are essentially necessary to a huge for- 
 mation of this much-prized desideratum; and 
 also why mountain-pastured sheep, hares, and 
 other animals, which are compelled to activity 
 in a state of nature, never treat us with a taste 
 of their fat ; and should the reader agree with 
 the facetious gentleman, who asserted that he 
 
 " Who feeds fat oxen should himself be fat," 
 I have no doubt he might, (with healthy organs 
 to aid him,) by adopting a similar course of pro- 
 ceeding to that pointed out, in the foregoing lines, 
 effectually accomplish the object of his ambition. 
 The bodies of cattle and of mankind may there- 
 fore be regarded as a species of natural stove, the 
 heat of which becomes raised or lowered, accord- 
 ing as the circulation of the blood, through the 
 lungs, is quickened or retarded, by immoderate
 
 32 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 exercise or otherwise ; the fuel being supplied 
 from the carbon of the food, and which, if not 
 present in the blood, in sufficient quantities to 
 combine with the oxygen of the air, will be ab- 
 stracted from the fat, or from solid portions of 
 the body, of importance to health and life. 
 
 Of late years, much has been spoken and 
 written, upon the propriety of giving common 
 salt to cattle, and of employing it largely in the 
 cultivation of land ; but of its virtues, in the 
 one case, and of its advantages in the other, I, 
 with submission, think that very great doubt may 
 be entertained. For except in protecting the 
 young plant from the ravages of slugs and wire- 
 worms, and from the property it possesses of ab- 
 stracting moisture from the atmosphere, (and in 
 dry seasons being thus slightly useful to plants 
 growing on light and sandy soils,) it can be only 
 of small service, or contribute but little to the 
 process of vegetation ; and although one of the 
 ingredients of which it is composed, (soda,) is
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 33 
 
 necessary to the perfection of animal life, yet it 
 has been ascertained, by experiments, that when 
 copiously given to cattle, (if not absolutely detri- 
 mental to their health,) is a positive preventive 
 of their /ceding; and should, consequently, 
 always be used sparingly, and with discretion, by 
 the persons who may be induced to employ it. 
 
 Though such is my opinion, yet it is only pro- 
 per to state, that agriculturists, of experience 
 and credit, have asserted that common salt, well 
 incorporated with quick lime, (in the proportion 
 of two parts of the latter to one of the former 
 substance,) and copiously spread upon soils in the 
 spring, has materially increased the crops, both 
 of grass and of corn ; and that these minerals, so 
 incorporated arid sprinkled over layers of weeds, 
 collected into a heap, have speedily converted 
 the same into a most fertilizing compost. 
 
 It is a fact, well known to every cultivator of 
 the land, and breeder of cattle, that wherever 
 3
 
 34 CHEMISTRY MADE KASY. 
 
 his stock shall have deposited their urine, in the 
 pastures in which they have grazed, vigorous 
 clumps of dark green herbage speedily distin- 
 guish the spot, and wave their streaming verdure 
 high above the grass which grows around them. 
 Which circumstances should suggest to him the 
 propriety of devising means of preventing, as 
 much as possible, the escape of this fertilizing 
 friend of farmers, frorn' his dung-heaps, and his 
 fold-yards ; and cause him to husband, carefully, 
 what shall be collected in the slop-pail of his 
 chamber-maid. 
 
 Indeed, were subterranean tanks constructed 
 under those private retiring places, provided in 
 the neighbourhood of markets, manufactories, 
 poor-law unions, railway stations, and schools, 
 much of the money, now expended in the pur- 
 chase of guano, might he profitably saved, and 
 one of the most potent and valuable manures 
 accumulated at our very doors ; and that which,
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. t>5 
 
 as yet, has never occurred, except in the imagina- 
 tion of the poet, who asserts, 
 
 "A time there was, ere England's griefs began, 
 When every rood of ground maintained its man;" 
 
 by adopting- the arrangement here recommended, 
 and applying to the soil the material collected, 
 may, in reality, hereafter be brought to pass. 
 
 For such, being diluted with pond-water, and 
 distributed plentifully over meadow-land, from 
 a proper machine, would quickly occasion an in- 
 crease in the herbage, which liquor from the gas- 
 works only would occasion, equal in amount, 
 and which, where it can be procured from a place 
 within a convenient distance for drawing, and 
 purchased at a reasonable price, and applied to 
 the land in rainy iveather, will promptly manifest 
 its astonishing virtues, and amply reward the 
 person who shall use it. 
 
 It is not from his fold-yard and dwelling-house 
 only, that things important to agriculture are 
 permitted to run to waste, but in the morning,
 
 36 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 when he visits his stables for the purpose of in- 
 specting his horses, the master is often assailed, 
 on his entrance, by a spirit (of hartshorn,) so 
 energetic in its attack, as sensibly to affect both 
 his nose and his eyes, and which, not unfrequently, 
 exerts a baneful influence over the health and 
 vision of the animals exposed to the action of its 
 corrosive breath, but which, when laid under the 
 turf, by the charm of the chemist, will richly 
 benefit the soil wherein its decomposition is 
 accomplished. But, as Mrs. Glasse informs her 
 readers, they must first catch their hare, before 
 they can cook and eat it, so must a snare be set 
 for the spirit which we wish to render subservient 
 to our views, before we can control it at our 
 pleasure, or use it for our profit. This is to be 
 done by presenting such matters to its notice as 
 we may have heard are likely to attract its 
 attention. Thus, if gypsum be at hand, and is 
 placed in a roughly broken state, in a reservoir, 
 under a grating, in the stalls in which the
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 37 
 
 animals stand, this object may be obtained, and 
 the spirit entrapped. Or if such substance is not 
 to be found upon the estate, then the same 
 result may be secured, by spreading dried turf, 
 pared and brought from the boggy portions of 
 the farm, or burnt clay, beneath the straw 
 which constitutes their bedding ; and whilst a 
 most invaluable manure will thus be collected, 
 which was previously lost, the stable-atmosphere 
 will be rendered sweet and salubrious, which had 
 been disagreeable, noxious, and unhealthy, to 
 the horses which inhaled it. 
 
 The page of history and our own observation 
 inform us, that the brute creation, like their mas- 
 ters, are frequently subject to diseases, which 
 have their origin in causes but very little under- 
 stood ; and are, consequently, sometimes beyond 
 the power of human skill to cure or alleviate. 
 Indeed it was observed in periods as remote as 
 the plague of Athena and the siege of Troy, that 
 pestilences, of direful character, first tried their
 
 38 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 power upon animals, before they assailed the 
 human family ; 
 
 " With mules and clogs th' infection first began, 
 At last, the vengeful arrows fix'd on man ;" 
 
 and when we reflect upon the insidious manner 
 in which fevers sometimes steal into our dwell- 
 ings, and suddenly snatch from us the fond ob- 
 jects of our affections and hopes, it is not impro- 
 bable that these mysterious destroyers of men 
 and beasts may be caused by exhalations from 
 the earth, or by invisible insects, hatched under 
 peculiar states of the atmosphere, favourable to 
 their production, or by malaria, occasioned by the 
 rapid decomposition of vegetable-matter in sultry 
 weather, (which we know occasions ague,) and 
 consequently creatures which are necessitated to 
 respire near the surface of the ground, whilst in 
 the acquisition of their food, are likely to be the 
 first to imbibe the poison, and by the effects pro- 
 duced on them, apprize us of the approach to-
 
 CHKMI3TRY MADE EASY. 39 
 
 wards our dwellings of a dangerous and destruc- 
 tive enemy. 
 
 Happily, however, chemistry has discovered 
 an agent, which, in many cases, will crush the 
 dreaded foe ; and should one of your horses or 
 your cattle be attacked with disease, its farther 
 progress among your stock may generally be 
 arrested, by placing in a saucer a small piece of 
 common salt, and occasionally moistening it with 
 about a tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, by which 
 simple proceeding, the remaining portion of your 
 cattle will, most probably, be preserved from 
 contagion and destruction, and your family not 
 subjected to the distress which so melancholy an 
 event would naturally occasion. 
 
 The rot in sheep, which is a disease similar 
 to the typhus fever, in man, is known to be 
 occasioned by the animals pasturing on damp 
 ground ; and it is stated that, in close muggy 
 Aveather, u whole flock has been plague-stricken 
 in less than a quarter of an hour. In former
 
 40 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 times, a very serious loss was not unfrequenlly 
 incurred by the occupiers of sheep-farms, from 
 extensive ravages of this fatal disorder ; but such 
 accidents, in our days, have happily become rare, 
 from greater attention being paid to draining, 
 and other improved methods of management, in 
 every department of husbandry. 
 
 As serious losses sometimes happen to farmers, 
 from carelessness as to the mode in which their 
 flocks or herds are penned and housed, I would 
 here call their attention, especially, to this branch 
 of their business. 
 
 Knowing that all living animals, for the healthy 
 performance of their functions, require abundance 
 of atmospheric air; without this necessary in- 
 gredient be sufficiently supplied them, they will 
 speedily become sickly and ill-favoured. Indeed 
 both men and brutes, when crowded together, in 
 badly-ventilated apartments, exude a peculiarly 
 noxious effluvium, which, in the human being, oc-
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 41 
 
 casions fatal diseases ; in the horse, the glanders ; 
 in dogs, the distemper ; and in fowls, the pip. 
 
 In respect to the employment of green herbage, 
 in raising crops of grain, pulse, or tuberous- 
 rooted vegetables, and of the propriety of grow- 
 ing certain descriptions of plants to be available 
 for this purpose, with the prospect of obtaining 
 a profitable remuneration, much difference of 
 opinion among agriculturists, I am aware, exists; 
 and the locality of the estate, and the peculiar 
 quality of the land, have probably much to do 
 with the question at issue. 
 
 Such species of herbage can only be advan- 
 tageous, so far as, by its deeper rooting, it is 
 enabled to extract, from the sub-soil, those pro- 
 perties which the crop, it is designed to manure, 
 has not the capacity to reach ; and the adaptation 
 of this system to his customary mode of culture, 
 must be decided by the circumstances and 
 judgment of the agriculturist. 
 
 If, however, an individual living at a great
 
 42 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 distance from towns and places where manures 
 are readily to be procured, should be desirous of 
 trying such mode of cultivation, or of extending 
 it farther than he has hitherto attempted, from 
 being but imperfectly acquainted with the kind 
 of herbage generally grown for such purpose ; he 
 will find the names of plants suitable, in a treatise 
 lately translated into English, together with the 
 constituents of which they are formed, as recently 
 determined by a scientific German chemist;* 
 and from this work he can select those which 
 may seem likely to suit his views ; always bear- 
 ing in remembrance, that the soil on which they 
 are employed should be light and sandy ; and 
 when the herbage is ploughed in, the plant 
 should be in flower. 
 
 * Sprengel.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 "The very law that moulds a tear, 
 
 And bids it trickle from its source, 
 That law preserves the earth a sphere, 
 And guides the planets in their course. 
 
 HAVING, in the foregoing- pages, endeavoured 
 to show the advantages which practice, in union 
 with science, will necessarily produce, in what- 
 soever art or business their powers shall be 
 jointly engaged ; and presuming that most of my 
 readers are well versed in the former, as far as 
 relates to the mere operative part of their voca- 
 tion, and but few acquainted with the latter, 
 so as to be able to trace the modes of action of 
 the agents they usually employ; I shall now 
 attempt, as plainlv as the subject will admit, to 
 set before them t : o much information, in Chemis- 
 
 13
 
 44 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 try, as may be necessar}' for the clear comprehen- 
 sion of the terms (viz. : the things they represent) 
 which it uses ; to show the manner in which 
 chemical action is performed ; the multifarious 
 objects over which its influence extends ; and 
 the method by which it explains the qualities, 
 and exposes the constituents of the respective 
 objects on which a farmer's attention and capital 
 are usually exercised. 
 
 Chemistry is the science which enables us to 
 investigate the mutual action of bodies upon each 
 other; to unravel the web of nature, and thus 
 discover the elements of which the things that 
 are around us are constituted. It performs its 
 operations by a play of combinations and decom- 
 positions ; of likes and dislikes ; through which 
 it unites dissimilar substances, into new com- 
 pounds, totally unlike in appearance and quali- 
 ties, to the ingredients of which they were com- 
 posed. This it does, not in masses, or at 
 random; but in definite proportions, and by
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 45 
 
 indivisible quantities, situated at an inconceivably 
 small distance from each other. 
 
 It informs us of particular bodies which the 
 skill of man lias, as yet, been unable to decom- 
 pose, styled elements ; of gases, acids, salts, 
 alkalies, earths, and oxides, by the combination 
 of which, under certain modified forms and quali- 
 ties, the whole material pait of the universe is 
 constructed, renovated, and kept in being-. Such 
 of these as shall have connection with the pur- 
 pose in view, I shall now bring, briefly, under 
 your notice and consideration ; premising- the 
 subject with the observation, that in all chemical 
 action, heat is disengaged ; as is most powerfully 
 manifested to the senses, during the decomposi- 
 tion of a heap of stable manure ; and is present in 
 every material, either in hidden, or perceptible 
 form. It is the cause of fluidity, and known to 
 men of science by the name of caloric ; and 
 when abstracted from water, the latter becomes 
 a solid mass, (ice.")
 
 46 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 Two modes are used iti investigating the na- 
 ture of objects, desired to be ascertained, viz. : by 
 effecting the union of two or more substances, 
 into one compound, called synthesis; and by 
 disuniting the ingredient, of which a substance 
 is constituted, arid exhibiting them in a separate 
 state, termed analysis. 
 
 There are two descriptions of analysis, the 
 qualitative and quantitative. An examination of 
 the first kind is performed, simply, by means of 
 re-agents or tests, which, by producing a known 
 change or appearance in the solution into which 
 they are poured, indicate the nature and number 
 of the particular substances it holds dissolved ; 
 whilst, as considerable skill in manipulation is 
 required for the management of the second, and 
 accuracy in weighing, to ascertain the quantities 
 of the results thrown down or precipitated, it 
 can seldom be effected properlv, except by an 
 experienced chemist. 
 
 Elementary bodies are the metals, oxygen,
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 47 
 
 hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, silicon, sulphur, 
 phosphorus, chlorine, &c. 
 
 The metals, of which there are in number 
 forty-two, are obtained in different stages of 
 purity, from the various strata of the earth, or in 
 combination with acids and other substances. 
 When extracted from their ores, they possess, in 
 general, lustre, opacity, and fusibility ; and many 
 of them malleability, and the capability of being 
 drawn into wire. 
 
 Oxygen exists pure only as a gas ; which is 
 a substance, in a permanently aeriform condition, 
 and is that constituent of atmospheric air, by 
 which the respiration of men and animals is 
 supported. It enters largely into union with 
 metals, &c.; and is the principal cause of sour- 
 ness, rustiness, and rottenness. 
 
 Hydrogen is also a gaseous body, and, in com- 
 bination with oxygen, forms water. It is one of 
 the most universally diffused elements in creation,
 
 48 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 is eminently combustible, and the lightest of all 
 known substances. 
 
 Nitrogen is of a similar nature to the two 
 foregoing, existing separately only as an elastic 
 invisible gas, and enters largely, as a diluent, 
 into the composition of the atmospheric air. It 
 is characterized by its inaptitude to combine 
 with other elements. It exists in vegetables, 
 and constitutes a principal portion of the flesh 
 of animals. It * abounds in ripe grasses, espe- 
 cially in their seeds ; also in peas, beans, and 
 vetches. 
 
 Carbon is the basis of coal, oils, and fat, and 
 constitutes nearly the whole of the solid parts 
 of trees and vegetables. 
 
 Silicon is derived from flint and sand. 
 
 Sulphur is a yellow inflammable substance, 
 obtained generally from the neighbourhood of 
 volcanoes. 
 
 Phosphorus is an inflammable substance, de-
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 49 
 
 rived from bones, urine, &c., and is to be found 
 in most vegetables, especially in wheat, oats, &c 
 
 Chlorine exists as a green-coloured gas. 
 
 Acids are substances which, when applied to 
 the tongue, usually produce the sensation termed 
 sourness, and most commonly contain oxygen. 
 The compounds they form, in union with other 
 bodies, are known by the name of salts. 
 
 The acid which more especially concerns the 
 agriculturist is carbonic acid, which exists na- 
 turally in a gaseous form, and is constituted of 
 two parts of oxygen and one of carbon. It is 
 produced during the respiration of men and 
 animals, and in the common process of burning 
 wood and coals. From these sources it is pre- 
 sent, in a small quantity, in the atmosphere, and 
 acts a most important part in the support of 
 plants, which convert its carbon into their sub- 
 stance, and give back its oxygen to the air. 
 
 In the early eras of the world's history, it is 
 supposed that the atmosphere was loaded with a 
 4
 
 50 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 much gpeater amount of carbonic acid gas, than 
 is discoverable therein at the present period ; so 
 that the trees of the primeval forests hugely 
 devoured carbon for the formation of their re- 
 spective structures, and exuding a portion at their 
 roots, produced vegetable mould ; which forests, 
 when laid prostrate by tempests, or decayed by 
 age, in combination with the gigantic ferns which 
 constituted their underwood, became transformed 
 into those carboniferous rocks or coal strata, 
 whence the inhabitants of all civilized countries 
 are, at this day, furnished with fuel ; and to 
 which this kingdom is, in a very considerable 
 degree, indebted for its commerce, its wealth, its 
 independence, and its greatness. 
 
 The formation of an acid may be familiarly 
 shown, by moistening the interior of a tumbler 
 glass with a small portion of water, by means of 
 a sponge ; and, having inverted it, burning under 
 it a sulphur match ; when the sulphur, combining 
 with the oxygen of the air, will impart a sour
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 51 
 
 taste to the liquid, adhering' to the sides of the 
 glass, viz. : sulphuric acid. 
 
 An alkali is a caustic acrid body, possessing 
 the property of converting the blue juices of 
 many vegetables into green ; and the term is 
 more especially used, to designate the well- 
 known substances, potass, soda, and ammonia. 
 The first of which is derived, abundantly, from 
 the ashes of plants ; the second from common 
 salt ; and the third is formed during the decom- 
 position of animal and vegetable matter; and 
 consists of one atom of nitrogen, and three atoms 
 of hydrogen. 
 
 The compounds which alkalies form with 
 acids are also called salts ; the same appellation 
 being given to unions of acids, with the two 
 classes of bodies, of which we shall speedily 
 treat; namely, earths and oxides. 
 
 Earths are certain insoluble substances, having 
 each a metallic base, viz., lime, alumina, silica, 
 magnesia, baryta, and slrontia ; the first four of
 
 52 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 which are of abundant occurrence in soils and 
 rocks ; lime being the principal constituent in 
 limestone, chalk, gypsum, and marl ; alumina 
 in clay ; silica in sand ; and magnesia in a variety 
 of minerals. Some of these earths also exercise 
 a similar action with alkalies on vegetable colours, 
 and are therefore styled alkaline earths. 
 
 Oxides are, generally speaking, unions of 
 metals and other bodies with oxygen ; and 
 among them, from their having metallic bases, 
 are comprehended the earths, and the alkalies, 
 potas-s and soda. 
 
 The formation of a salt will be shown in the 
 following experiment. 
 
 If a few grains of magnesia be gradually 
 dropped into a wine glass containing sulphuric 
 acid, diluted with water, as long as bubbles shall 
 be observed to arise to the surface, and then dis- 
 continued, the liquid will be discovered to have 
 lost its sourness, and the taste of the magnesia 
 will also have disappeared; whence the com-
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 53 
 
 pound is called a neutral salt ; and it is, as such, 
 .that most salts are found existing in soils. By 
 evaporating" a portion of the solution, and suffering' 
 it to remain undisturbed, crystals will speedily 
 be formed, known as sulphate of magnesia; the 
 name of each salt indicating the acid and base 
 of which it is constituted. 
 
 Salts, therefore, are compounds of an acid 
 with an earth, alkali, or metallic oxide ; and in 
 crystallizing, each assumes its own determinate 
 and peculiar shape. Thus nitrate of potass 
 (nitre) forms prismatic octahedrons ; sulphate of 
 soda, (glauber's salt,) six-sided prisms ; chloride 
 of sodium, (common salt,) cubes. 
 
 The following important chemical compounds, 
 albumen, (ibrine, gluten, casein, farina, (or 
 .starch,) siiirar. and gum, are products formed 
 during the growth of plants. The four first are 
 identical in their elements with blood and muscle, 
 and may therefore be termed the flesh-forming 
 substances. The three latter each consist of
 
 54 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 the same principles, and are necessary for the 
 constitution of oils and fat; arid when taken 
 into the circulation, tend to the support of 
 respiration in animal life. 
 
 Albumen and fibrine, together with starch, 
 constitute the flour of wheat. The two former 
 hold nitrogen in their formation ; the latter is 
 without it. Casein abounds in beans and peas, 
 and is a constituent of milk. 
 
 Vegetable gluten, as obtained from wheat 
 flour, consists of vegetable fibrine, with a small 
 quantity of a foreign substance, which gives to 
 it its adhesive glutinous property. By different 
 writers, however, fibrine and gluten are fre- 
 quently used to signify the same substance. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 If into a glassful of ale, which has become 
 tart, a few grains of carbonate of soda are thrown, 
 the liquor will be rendered mild and brisk. The 
 acid which occasioned the sour taste, (acetic,)
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 55 
 
 having- a stronger affinity for soda than carhonic 
 acid has, herein combines with the soda, and 
 liberates the other, in the form of carbonic acid 
 gas; and it is to the presence of this gas that 
 cider, perry, and sparkling wines, owe their 
 effervescing qualities. 
 
 In washing the hands in ordinary spring water, 
 known as hard, the soap used in the operation 
 will frequently have been found to have been 
 almost useless, and the liquid to have assumed a 
 curdled appearance. This is occasioned from the 
 decomposition of the soap, which is formed of an 
 alkali and tallow, by the acid of the carbonate 
 of lime, (which caused the hardness,) uniting 
 with the alkali of the soap, and releasing the 
 tallow, which showed itself, as before stated, 
 upon the surface of the water. 
 
 If into a dry tumbler-glass, a few grains of 
 oxalate of potass are placed, and water, from a 
 similar source, poured upon it, the water will 
 become turbid, owing to the combination of the
 
 56 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 acid with the lime, forming an insoluble com- 
 pound, (oxalate of lime.) 
 
 The presence of common salt may be detected 
 by a few drops of nitrate of silver in solution ; 
 and that of iron by a small quantity of an infu- 
 sion of nutgalls. The oxalate of potass, nitrate 
 of silver, and nutgalls, thus applied, are termed 
 tests. 
 
 Certain springs, (as at Matlock and Knares- 
 borough,) called petrefying waters, contain car- 
 bonate of lime, in solution, in large quantities, 
 which is partially decomposed and deposited, on 
 coming in contact with the atmosphere, so that 
 substances placed therein, in a few weeks become 
 coated with that material. 
 
 A cause of softness in rain-water is due, first, 
 to its not containing such salts, and consequently 
 not curdling soap ; and also to its holding in 
 solution a small portion of the carbonate of am- 
 monia. It is these earthly salts, in solution, 
 which cause what is termed " furr," in tea-kettles
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 57 
 
 and other culinary utensils ; the acid with which 
 they are combined being driven off, by the heat 
 of the fire, the lime is deposited on the sides and 
 bottoms of the vessels. 
 
 In cutting an apple with a polished steel knife, 
 the part of the blade which has come into con- 
 tact with the fruit, will have been observed to 
 have become black, as if stained with ink. This 
 stain is occasioned by the acid of the apple, 
 (malic,) combining with the iron, and freeing 
 from it the carbon with which it was united, in 
 the formation of the material, steel. 
 
 On a portion of a recently-hung gate, con- 
 structed of oak timber, we may frequently have 
 observed a dark blue-coloured stain, which was 
 caused by a union of the gallic acid of the 
 oak with particles of iron, abraded from the sides 
 of the saw, whilst cutting the wood, and is, in 
 fact, genuine ink ; this fluid being a compound 
 of these two substances, with the addition of a 
 small quantity of gum arabic, to give it a body,
 
 58 CHKMISTRY MAPK KASY. 
 
 that it may be retained by tbe pen, when used in 
 writing. 
 
 What are termed chalybeate springs, am so 
 named from holding iron in solution; and it is 
 no less true than curious, that the brown sedi- 
 ment which may frequently be observed in pools 
 and shallow water-courses, is occasioned by the 
 cast-off skins of minute animalculac, (infusoria,) 
 the principal constituent of which is iron. These 
 creatures are invisible to the naked eye, but are 
 ascertained, by the microscope, to exist by hun- 
 dreds in every drop of pool or river water. 
 
 Indeed such exuvia? are, in some districts, ac- 
 cumulated in masses, as to form immense beds of 
 ore ; and this invaluable metal is extracted for 
 the use and convenience of mankind, as it were, 
 from the sloughings and offscourings of insects. 
 Thus we perceive how, from apparently insignifi- 
 cant means, the most gigantic results are planned 
 and perfected by an all-wise and beneficent 
 Creator ; and whilst we behold, we should adore.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADH KASY. 59 
 
 Should a ploughshare, or any other iron instru- 
 ment, be suffered to remain a few nights exposed 
 to the action of the moist atmosphere, it will 
 acquire a coating of a brown colour, termed rust. 
 This is caused by the oxygen of the air uniting 
 with the iron, and forming an oxide. It is 
 owing to iron, in this condition of oxidation, that 
 a brown or yellow colour is communicated to 
 clay, sand, &c. 
 
 Dissolve any given quantity of marl, in diluted 
 muriatic acid, pour off the fluid from the undis- 
 solved matter, and to it add a small portion of 
 common potass, dissolved in water ; lime, which 
 makes it valuable, will be thrown down or pre- 
 cipitated, and the proportion present can be thus 
 ascertained. The muriatic acid having a greater 
 affinity for potass than for lime, deserts the latter, 
 and combines with the former. 
 
 In stables, wherein a powerful smell of harts- 
 horn (ammonia) is perceptible ; if an ounce of 
 muriatic acid, (on a plate,) be placed therein.
 
 60 CHEMISTRY MADE EASV. 
 
 dense white fumes will be seen in its neighbour- 
 hood, which are devoid of all smell. This is 
 muriate of ammonia. The acid having a strong 
 affinity for this alkali, has attracted and retained 
 it. And I here venture to suggest, that if, in 
 stables, the floors were occasionally sprinkled 
 with water, containing muriatic acid, in the pro- 
 portion of two ounces of the latter to a gallon of 
 the former, the smell would be considerably de- 
 stroyed, and the injurious influence of the am- 
 monia, upon the horses, be greatly weakened. 
 
 If an ounce of oil of vitriol be poured into 
 three separate wine-glasses, and in the first there 
 is inserted a piece of straw ; in the second is 
 placed a small portion of cork ; and into the 
 third, is dropped a lump of loaf-sugar, the three 
 substances will become black ; the straw appear- 
 ing as if it had been charred by a fire. 
 
 The oil of vitriol (sulph. acid) has, in these 
 three instances, united with the constituents of 
 these several substances, except their carbon,
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 61 
 
 which imparts the well-known black colour of 
 charcoal to the parts remaining. In the instance 
 of the sugar, which is composed of carbon and 
 of water, it has merely abstracted the elements 
 of the water, (hydrogen and oxygen,) and left 
 the carbon untouched. 
 
 If a small quantity of oak saw-dust, well pressed 
 into the bowl of a large tobacco-pipe, (the mouth 
 of which is closely coated over with pipe-clay,) 
 be submitted to the action of a clear fire, a 
 species of vinegar, (pyroligneous acid,) will be 
 distilled from the end of the tube, and charcoal 
 be found remaining after the operation is con- 
 cluded ; which charcoal, when burnt in the open 
 air, will leave a small residue of white ashes, con- 
 taining potass and a very minute quantity of 
 insoluble matter, consisting principally of lime. 
 
 These latter mineral substances, not being de 
 structible by fire, are styled inorganic, constituent 
 of plants, whilst those which are resolvable into 
 elementary bodies, and 11 y off to form new coin-
 
 62 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 binations, (as carbonic acid, &c.,) are termed 
 organic substances. Thus by ascertaining- what 
 are the elementary principles of which vegetable 
 substances are constituted, we are enabled to 
 form a tolerably correct opinion of the species of 
 manure, that will best promote their health and 
 vigorous growth. 
 
 The production of water may be observed, 
 during the burning of a gas-lamp, in a coffee- 
 room, &c. ; where a funnel-shaped chimney is 
 frequently to be seen suspended over the flame, 
 attached to a tube, having a glass globe at its 
 extremity, generally containing a fluid generated 
 during the combustion of the hydrogen gas, in 
 union with the oxygen of the atmospheric air, 
 which is water. 
 
 The chief constituents of corn, fibrine and 
 starch, may be obtained in the following manner. 
 Enclose a portion of the flour of wheat, made 
 into a paste with cold water, in a small muslin 
 bag, which squeeze in a gentle manner, in a basin
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 63 
 
 of cold water, so long as any white particles are 
 discharged from the bag. The residue in the bag 
 is fibrine, and the powder in the basin is starch. 
 
 By rubbing an unripe apple upon a grater, and 
 washing the portion which is rasped off, in cold 
 water, starch will also be collected ; which 
 starch, had the apple been suffered to remain 
 until ripe, would have been converted into sugar, 
 forming the sweet juice of the fruit. 
 
 Potatoes also contain from 10 to 12 per cent, 
 of starch, which may be separated by the fore- 
 going process. Arrow-root is starch obtained 
 from a species of reed ; sago, from the pith of 
 the palm; and tapioca from a plant which both 
 yields this bland food, and a virulent poison.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 " See dying vegetables life sustain ; 
 See life dissolving, vegetate again : 
 All forms that perish, other forms supply; 
 (By turns, we catch the vital breath, and die ;) 
 Like bubbles, on the sea of matter borne, 
 They rise, they break, and to that sea return." 
 
 YOUR attention is now called to the process by 
 which plants live and are nourished ; and in 
 order to comprehend the subject properly, it is 
 necessary that you should become well ac- 
 quainted with the nature of the substances with 
 which they are constantly in contact, viz. : the air, 
 earth, and water. 
 
 The air or atmosphere is composed of two 
 gases, oxygen and nitrogen, mixed together in 
 the proportion of 21 per cent, of the former, and 
 64
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 65 
 
 79 of the latter. Besides these elements, there 
 are always present, watery vapour and carbonic 
 acid gas ; the latter being an important constituent 
 in vegetables, and forms about one-thousandth 
 part of the whole mass of atmospheric air. 
 
 Water consists of two gases, chemically com- 
 bined, in the proportion of 12 per cent, of hydro- 
 gen, and 88 of oxygen, and possesses the power 
 of dissolving a vast number of substances ; and 
 which, when it descends upon the earth as rain, 
 contains, in solution, carbonic acid, derived from 
 the atmosphere, and carbonate of ammonia, from 
 the putrefaction of vegetable and animal matter. 
 These, together with the soluble substances it 
 meets with in the soil, it brings into contact with 
 the roots of plants. 
 
 In treating of this portion of our subject, we 
 must not omit saying a few words respecting 
 certain agents, some of which, until of late years, 
 had been but imperfectly investigated, as respects 
 their influence over the process of vegetable hie.
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 In the operations of nature, the light of the 
 sun, in combination with the electric fluid, is 
 probably the grand decomposing and combining 
 instrument. This latter subtle and mysterious 
 power pervades all material things, and is sup- 
 posed to be the proximate cause of attraction, in 
 the particles of which visible objects are com- 
 pounded. "The functions of vegetables," says 
 a learned writer, " are either excited or regulated, 
 in a great degree, by the stimulus of light, heat, 
 electricity, and oxygen, which are essential to 
 healthy transpiration, to absorption, to the de- 
 composition of carbonic acid, the fixation of 
 carbon, the production of colour, and to the 
 elaboration of nutritive fluids and distinct secre- 
 tions ;" and being thus necessary to the per- 
 fection of vegetable existence, should, as little 
 as possible, be obstructed by objects, which may 
 not absolutely be wanted in the economy of a 
 farm. So powerful an agent is light, that it even 
 afle'cts the nature and nutritive qualities of plants
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 67 
 
 and on some, so astonishing is its influence, (as 
 on the cotyledon calycinum,) that their leaves 
 will be sour in the morning-, insipid at noon, and 
 bitter towards night : 
 
 " The bud may have a bitter taste, 
 But sweet will be the flower." 
 
 It has been already stated, that plants imbibe 
 their nutriment, in a state of solution. It now 
 remains to be explained, by what parts of the 
 vegetable this nutriment is taken into the circula- 
 tion, and of what such aliment consists. 
 
 The nutriment of plants dissolved in water, 
 is absorbed by the young extremities of the roots, 
 a portion also being imbibed by the leaves from 
 the atmosphere. 
 
 The fluid containing the food of the plant, 
 ascends into the stem, and is familiarly known 
 as the sap ; and from it, all the various organs, 
 secretions, and excretions, are formed, in the cells 
 of which the vegetable structure is composed. 
 
 Of what their nutriment consists, may be
 
 68 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 ascertained by considering the following- simple 
 experiment. 
 
 Seeds sown in powdered marble, (an insoluble 
 substance,) after being watered and exposed to 
 the atmosphere, have sprung up, flourished for 
 a time, and then died. 
 
 It has been shown, that rain-water holds in 
 solution carbonic acid and ammonia, so that the 
 plants, arising from such seeds, had vegetated, 
 sprung up, and derived the solid materials which 
 formed their consistence, from the following three 
 substances, viz. : water, carbonic acid, and am- 
 monia. After a time, however, they withered 
 and died, showing that some other materials 
 were necessary for their future nutrition, which 
 were not present in the poAvdered marble, but 
 which are generally to be found in ordinary soils. 
 
 These requisites have been discovered to be 
 various mineral substances, chiefly of an alkaline 
 character, the most prevalent of which is potass. 
 
 We thus reduce the nutriment of plants to
 
 CHKMISTRY MADK EASY. 69 
 
 nitrogen, whicli exists in ammonia ; to water, 
 which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen : 
 and to carbonic acid, consisting of carbon and 
 oxygen ; together with certain mineral products, 
 of which different kinds are required by different 
 species of plants. Further proof of the necessity 
 of the presence of the first three substances, is 
 afforded by the fact, that the wood of which the 
 greater part of a ti'ee is constituted, is composed 
 of carbon, combined with hydrogen and oxygen, 
 in the proportions to form water, whilst the 
 nitrogen is found, principally, in the roots and 
 seeds. 
 
 We have thus obtained a knowledge of the 
 nature of the food or nutriment, required for 
 the support of the vegetable kingdom generally; 
 let us now see whether, by some simple experi- 
 ment, we can procure further insight into this 
 most important subject. 
 
 We have seen that the vegetable, planted in 
 the pulverized marble, died for the want of
 
 70 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 certain mineral substances, not afforded by the 
 materials mentioned in the experiment. 
 
 Suppose we take equal weights of various 
 vegetable substances, and burn them ; we shall 
 find that we shall obtain a larger amount of ashes 
 from some species of plants, than from others ; 
 and the quantity of ashes thus yielded, will in- 
 dicate the proportion of alkalies in the plant 
 burnt ; so that we clearly prove, that some vege- 
 tables require more alkalies than others, for the 
 healthy development of their organization. 
 
 The salt, known in commerce as pearl-ash, is 
 obtained by burning planes, and dissolving this 
 article from their ashes ; and it is found that the 
 branches yield more of this substance than the 
 trunk of the same tree, which circumstance is 
 accounted for, by the potass existing chiefly in 
 the sap with which the young parts of the tree 
 are filled. 
 
 If we burn any of the grasses, and especially 
 their seeds, we shall find in their ashes another
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 71 
 
 salt, called phosphate of magnesia, which exists 
 in the plant, in combination with ammonia. This 
 we shall afterwards find to be an important fact, 
 as corn is one of the grass-tribe, as is also the 
 herbage upon which cattle arc usually fed ; and 
 consequently, wherever this vegetable is grown, 
 phosphate of ammonia and magnesia must be pre- 
 sent in the soil. 
 
 There is also a salt in these plants, so neces- 
 sary to the supply of food, for the population of 
 this and the several countries of Europe, which 
 forms a coating to the stalk, thus acting as an 
 external skeleton, for the support of the grain. 
 
 We see this coating exemplified on a large 
 scale, in the varnish-like covering of the sugar- 
 cane, bamboo, &c., and also in the shining ex- 
 terior of the straw of wheat. This coating is a 
 perfect glass, manufactured by the plant, from the 
 constituents .>(' the soil in which it was grown ; 
 and if we take a single straw of hay, and carefully 
 and gradually burn it, in a clear but strong flame.
 
 72 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 we shall find a globule of glass at the unconsumed 
 extremity of such stalk. 
 
 Now as this coating is there existing, for the 
 purpose of affording support to the straw and 
 grain, and is derived by the plant from the soil 
 in which it grows, it is evident that the sub- 
 stances necessary for its formation must be 
 present in that soil. These substances are silica, 
 (or sand,) and potass. If these therefore do not 
 exist in the soil, in some form or other, in vain 
 will the agriculturist attempt to obtain crops of 
 corn ; and he must either cultivate such land 
 with some other species of vegetation, which does 
 not require these materials, or he must add them 
 to his field by means of maaures, cither artificial 
 or otherwise. 
 
 Let us now re-consider some of the foregoing 
 statements, and the conclusions which may be 
 deduced from them. 
 
 We have seen, that a plant derives the salts 
 which it contains, from the soil in which it grows ;
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 73 
 
 that different species of plants require different 
 salts for their nourishment ; and that, as some 
 soils contain one salt and other soils another, so, 
 of necessity, one soil will be more fitted for the 
 growth of certain plants than for that of others ; 
 and as all subjects are more easily understood, 
 when examples of the fact can be brought under 
 notice, let us endeavour to find one, bearing upon 
 that we are now attempting to elucidate. 
 
 One of the principal constituents of soil is 
 decayed wood, which by chemists is called HUMUS. 
 By the action of the oxygen of the atmosphere, 
 this substance, which consists mostly of carbon, is 
 converted into carbonic acid, which, being dis- 
 solved by the rain, affords abundant carbonaceous 
 nutriment to the plants. 
 
 Humus abounds in peaty soils, and its effects 
 are manifest in the corn cultivated in such locali- 
 ties, (as on fens or reclaimed marshes,) which, 
 for a time, flourishes luxuriantly, but afterwards 
 bends under the influence of the first heavy
 
 74 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 shower of rain, and is never able to regain its 
 erect position, because there is not the material 
 present in the soil, from which it can manufacture 
 its cylinder of flint-glass, to support its straw and 
 ear, and consequently, such soils have had sand 
 added to them, with great advantage to the crop 
 of wheat grown thereupon. 
 
 Experience has taught the agriculturist, that 
 it is impossible to cultivate the same species of 
 plant for many successive years, upon the same 
 soil, without the addition of manure, or even 
 with the addition of certain kinds of this material. 
 It has also shown him, that some manures are 
 more suited for one kind of soil than another. 
 
 From the considerations in which we have 
 been engaged, these circumstances become of 
 easy explanation. 
 
 The reason why it is not possible to grow the 
 same kind of plant upon the same land, for many 
 successive years, is, that the plant extracts from 
 the soil, and converts to its own substance, all
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 75 
 
 those soluble portions therein, which it requires ; 
 returning by the roots, or leaving such portions 
 which, although not useful to it, may be so to 
 others. Thus the land which grows one species 
 of crop in one year, is able to produce a crop 
 of another kind, in the succeeding year, even 
 without the aid of a manure. If, however, proper 
 manure is supplied to the soil, the same plant 
 may be cultivated on the same land, for very 
 many successive seasons. These considerations 
 explain the theory of the alternation of crops. 
 
 A knowledge of the chemical constituents of 
 certain plants, and of the chemical constitution 
 of the soil on which they are purposed to be cul- 
 tivated, will therefore enable the farmer to ascer- 
 tain what plants are best suited for the profitable 
 management of the succession-crop system. 
 
 Whilst upon this subject, it may not be out of 
 place to say a few words, on the use of permitting 
 land to lie fallow, which is to allow the sun 
 and air to have free access to it, which, operating
 
 76 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 upon such constituents of the soil as shall not 
 have been appropriated by previous crops, draw 
 forth a fresh supply of food, fitted for the support 
 and growth of the same description of plant as had 
 recently been grown upon it. 
 
 By allowing a field to lie fallow, it will be re- 
 membered, that the farmer derives no profit 
 from the land, during the year it is so unem- 
 ployed ; whereas, by cultivating it with another 
 sort of seed, he secures the advantage of the 
 fallow system, and., at the same time obtains a 
 crop of a different kind of plant, he being care- 
 ful however to cultivate such a species of plant 
 as, during the progress of vegetation, shall not 
 require nutriment, wanted by the grain which he 
 purposes to succeed it ; and if instead of employ- 
 ing the crop which shall be grown upon the 
 field, that, in the usual course of husbandry, 
 would otherwise have been in fallow, for imme- 
 diate pecuniary profit, it shall be ploughed into 
 the soil, when it has nearly arrived at maturity,
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 77 
 
 the land will thus again receive all that the 
 plant had abstracted, together with the carbon, 
 which it derived from the atmosphere, and appro- 
 priated to the formation of its substance. 
 
 Manures are materials, by means of which we 
 add to the soil, on which we desire to grow cer- 
 tain plants, such known constituents of these 
 plants, as the soil is found by chemical analysis 
 to be deficient in. 
 
 To take the instance of com. This grain, we 
 have seen, requires the presence of silica, potass, 
 and phosphates, for its healthy growth. If the 
 land upon which it is cultivated does not con- 
 tain these substances, the farmer must endeavour, 
 by manure, to give the soil the materials of which 
 it is in want, or his capital and labour will be ex- 
 pended in vain. 
 
 In order to do this with advantage, he musl 
 study to obtain a knowledge of the constituents of 
 the various manures in general use. 
 
 In the horse-dung of the stable manure, the
 
 78 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 silicate of potass and phosphate of magnesia 
 exist ; and in the straw which has served as 
 litter, a supply of silicates and phosphates will 
 also be found ; whilst the urine, with which the 
 Utter is saturated, affords ammonia; and by the 
 application of these ingredients to our fields, we 
 supply to the corn-land the materials which have 
 been exhausted by the last crop. And it must 
 be carefully borne in mind, that the use of 
 manure containing nitrogen, (one of the con- 
 stituents of ammonia,) is indispensable to the suc- 
 cessful cultivation of every species of corn. 
 
 Since the resources of chemistry have been 
 applied to the purposes of agriculture, attention 
 has been directed to various manures, besides 
 those produced in our stables and fold-yards, 
 which are calculated to exercise a beneficial in- 
 fluence upon the respective plants cultivated on 
 a farm. Many of these compounds, when tried, 
 not happening to realize the expectations formed 
 by the persons who applied them, have been
 
 CHEMISTRY' MADE EASY. 79 
 
 stigmatized as valueless. But this judgment has, 
 perhaps, been pronounced too hastily. For it is 
 evident from what we have been considering, 
 that we must first obtain a correct knowledge of 
 the composition of the land, before we can, on 
 rational principles, attempt to supply what is 
 deficient, for the support of the plants designed to 
 be cultivated upon it. And not only so, but we 
 must preserve and apply all descriptions of 
 manures, in such a form as will best secure and 
 retain the active properties they may possess. 
 
 Many individuals, I fear, in this particular, are 
 culpably negligent, permitting the litter from 
 their stables and cow-sheds to lie for months 
 exposed to the influence of the weather, and 
 thus lose one of its most active agents am- 
 monia ; whilst the soluble salts are dissolved out 
 by the rain, and drain away. Whereas, such 
 manure, if not wanted at the moment, should 
 always be well pressed together, (by drawing the 
 carts over it,) and be covered with a thick coating
 
 80 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 of soil, in order to prevent the escape of the sub- 
 stances which especially constitute its worth. 
 
 The practice also of burning scutch, weeds, 
 &c., is greatly to be reprehended. For if such 
 materials were carefully collected into large heaps, 
 and interspersed with layers of quick-lime, they 
 would soon be reduced to a state capable of 
 yielding again, to the land, the constituents of 
 which it had been robbed. Whereas, when con- 
 sumed, the carbon is dissipated, by uniting with 
 the oxygen of the atmosphere as carbonic acid, 
 and nothing remains but the earthy and alkaline 
 salts, which are comparatively insignificant in 
 quantity, and consequently of trifling importance 
 to the soil. 
 
 Lime indeed, when employed upon land, should 
 always be applied fresh from the kiln, as it 
 quickly loses a portion of its virtue, on exposure 
 to the air, by imbibing water and carbonic acid. 
 Whereas, whilst caustic, it aids in pulverizing 
 the clods, destroys sourness, decomposes vejreta-
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 81 
 
 ble-matter, aluminous earths, combinations of 
 iron with acids, salts, and bone-dust ; but should 
 it contain much magnesia in its composition, 
 (which may in a degree be discovered, by its 
 brown appearance and soapy feel,) it should then 
 be altogether discarded, as this mineral, when 
 over-abundant in soils, is most noxious to almost 
 every description of plant. 
 
 The highly-fertilizing qualities which putrefied 
 urine possesses, have been already noticed. So 
 important a material is this and human excre- 
 ments, that Liebig asserts, that " every town 
 and farm might thus supply itself with the manure, 
 which besides containing the most nitrogen, con- 
 tains, also, the most phosphates ; and if rotation- 
 crops were adopted, they would be most abun- 
 dant." So beneficially has this description of 
 manure been applied to land, in the vicinity of 
 Edinburgh, by irrigating the fields from the 
 "Four, BURN," into which the contents of the 
 privies, the sinks, and drains of the town, are 

 
 82 CIIKMISTliV ,11 A UK 11ASY. 
 
 received; that three hundred arres of meadow 
 land, contiguous to the. palace of Holyrood House, 
 are let at from 10 to 20 per acre, and some as 
 high as 30 ! With this fact on record, will the 
 plan suggested in the former part of this treatise 
 be by farmers disregarded ? 
 
 Guano, which is the excrement of certain sea- 
 fowl, like urine, abounds in ammonia, and in 
 phosphates ; and also in sulphates of soda and 
 potass. 
 
 Besides manures, afforded by nature, for the 
 supply of our fields, with the materials which 
 have been abstracted from them by cultivation, 
 human ingenuity has devised certain artificial 
 substances, which may perform the part of a 
 manure ; and in soils which are deficient in 
 alkalies, these artificial manures are highly use- 
 ful in supplying them ; and it is in this way that 
 crushed bones, which are constituted of phos- 
 phate of lime arid magnesia, sulphate of potass, 
 ammonia, muriate and carbonate of soda, act.
 
 C11EMISTIIY MADE EASY. 83 
 
 Not only are such salts extremely valuable, 
 in aiding the growth of plants, when applied 
 alone to the soil, hut experience has shown, that 
 their virtues are increased by admixture with 
 others. Thus a solution of equal parts of com- 
 mon salt, nitrate of soda, and subcarbonate of 
 potass, worked into a heap of well-rotted stable 
 manure, just previous to spreading, is reported to 
 have most materially increased the yield of wheat ; 
 and equal quantities of crushed bones and guano,* 
 have proved highly beneficial, when applied to 
 grass land, potato and turnip crops. It has 
 also been asserted, that wheat, oats, barley, and 
 other seeds, steeped in solutions of sulphate or 
 carbonate of ammonia, nitrate of soda or potass, 
 for the space of twenty-four or thirty hours 
 before sowing, have caused a much more abun- 
 
 * These substances must be applied with judgment 
 and discretion ; as bone-manure, where it has been 
 copiously used in Cheshire, is said to have altered the 
 taste, and deteriorated the quality of the cheese, for 
 which that county has for ages been celebrated.
 
 84 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 
 
 clant produce, than would have been the case 
 had the seed been submitted to the land, in 
 its natural state, after the customary practice. 
 The experiment is therefore worthy the con- 
 sideration and trial of all intelligent agriculturists, 
 as the expense of making such solutions is very 
 trifling. 
 
 Before we conclude this little treatise, it may 
 not be irrelative to the subject to introduce a 
 short passage, on the process of digestion, or 
 concoction and conversion of vegetables into food, 
 suitable for replacing the animal waste of the 
 body, which is conducted and effected in the fol- 
 lowing manner. 
 
 Grasses and other substances being taken into 
 the mouth, are there crushed and commingled 
 with saliva, (which contains oxygen,) and then 
 passed into the stomach, where, by means of a 
 slimy fluid, (mucus,) and a sourish secretion, (gas 
 trie juice,) they become reduced to a state of 
 pulp, and thus capable of bvmg taken up b}
 
 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY. 85 
 
 organs formed for ministering to the renewal of 
 the structure of such parts of the corporeal frame, 
 as are constantly subject to flux and change. In 
 man, and all carnivorous animals, the process is 
 extremely simple. For muscle and blood being 
 formed of the same chemical constituents, the 
 stomach speedily reduces these to a uniform 
 mass ; which, being passed into the system, 
 traverses the lungs in the form of blood, where it 
 loses a portion of its carbon, absorbs oxygen, 
 and supports and increases the size of the 
 body, by depositing flesh in one part, and fat 
 in another. 
 
 In rainy seasons, grass is generally washy, and 
 less nutritious to cattle, than when the weather is 
 dry ; it is consequently advisable to supply them, 
 at those periods, with food possessing such pro- 
 perties as will compensate for the defective pro- 
 vender, which thf fields then afford them ; and, 
 (as all kinds of pulse abound in albumen and 
 casein,) if half-a-peck of bean-flower, mixed in a
 
 86 CHEMISTRY MAUK KASY. 
 
 peck of cut-chatF, were administered to cows, 
 each morning and evening, considerable advan- 
 tage would be derived from such feed, both as 
 respects the condition of the animals, and the 
 quantity and quality of their milk ; but this food 
 being defective in phosphates, which are neces- 
 sary for the formation of bone, will riot be so 
 proper for young and growing cattle. 
 
 Thus, then, have we seen how by a beautiful 
 process of selections, transformations and com- 
 binations, vegetables form their structure, juices, 
 seeds, and fruit ; whereas, men and animals 
 merely appropriate to the support and growth of 
 their bodies, substances already prepared for 
 them by the hand of nature ; and in the pursuit 
 in which we have been engaged, the writer of 
 this little treatise trusts he has not altogether 
 failed in showing in what manner a knowledge 
 of chemistry is useful to the business of agricul- 
 ture ; in explaining its terms, so as to be com- 
 prehended by persons unacquainted with the
 
 CHKMISTRY MADK EASY. 87 
 
 language of science ; and in giving such an 
 insight into its general modes of action, as may 
 induce many of his readers to make further in- 
 quiry into a subject, which is not important to 
 their individual interests alone, but to the wealth 
 and prosperity of the nation, of which they are 
 a part ; being, (in the opinion of him,* who at the 
 same time that he was the most powerful genius 
 that ever employed his energies in the boundless 
 arena of chemical research, in this country, was the 
 first to elucidate the bearing of chemical science, 
 as applied to the purposes of agriculture,) " one 
 of those pursuits, which, whilst in their sublime 
 speculations they reach to the heavens, in their 
 application they belong to the cnrth ; whilst they 
 exalt the intellect, they provide food for our 
 common wants, and likewise minister to the 
 noblest appetites and most exalted views belong- 
 ing to our nature. They keep alive that inex- 
 tinguishable thirst niter knowledge, Avliich is one 
 
 " Hii' II. Daw.
 
 88 CHEMISTRY MADK KASY. 
 
 of the greatest characteristics of our nature ; for 
 every discovery opens a new field for investiga- 
 tion of facts, shows us the imperfection of our 
 theories. 
 
 " It has been justly said, that the greater the 
 circle of light, the greater the boundary of dark- 
 ness by which it is surrounded. This strictly 
 applies to chemical inquiries ; and hence they 
 are wonderfully suited to the progressive nature 
 of the human intellect, which, by its increasing 
 efforts to a higher kind of wisdom, and a state in 
 which truth is fully and brightly revealed, seems, 
 as it were, to demonstrate its birthright to im- 
 mortality."
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Analysis of Albumen, Gluten, Casein, and Flesh. 
 
 ALBL'MEX. CASEIX. GLUTEN. FLESH. 
 
 Carbon--- 35-0 54-0 54-2 54-12 
 
 Hydrogen 7-0 7-0 7-5 7-89 
 
 Nitrogen-- 15-9 15-6 14-0 15-72 
 
 Oxygen-.. 22-1 23-2 24-4 22-03 
 
 Analysis of Sugar, Starch, and Gum. 
 
 SUGAR. STARCH. OUM. 
 
 Carbon 12 12 12 
 
 Hydrogen--.- 11 10 11 
 
 Oxygen 11 10 11 
 
 The above pass into a substance, precisely 
 similar to animal fat, by abstracting a portion of 
 their oxygen ; it therefore may be seen, how food 
 abounding in these compounds tends to promote 
 the deposit of that substance in cattle. 
 
 Analysis of the Milk of a Cow. Playfair 
 
 Casein 4-0 
 
 Butter 4-6 
 
 Sugar 3-8 
 
 Ashes 0-6 
 
 Water 89-0 
 
 89
 
 90 APPENDIX. 
 
 Analysis of Human Urine, 1000 parts of which 
 
 contain as follows : Berzelius. 
 
 Urea 30-10 
 
 Free lactic acid, lactate of am- 
 monia, and animal matter 17' 14 
 
 Uric acid 1-00 
 
 Mucus 0-32 
 
 Sulphate of potass 3-71 
 
 Sulphate of soda 3-16 
 
 Phosphate of soda 2-94 
 
 Phosphate of ammonia 1 '05 
 
 Chloride of sodium 4-45 
 
 Muriate of ammonia 1'50 
 
 Phosphates of magnesia and 
 
 lime 1-00 
 
 Silicious earth 0-03 
 
 Water 933-00 
 
 1000-00 
 
 The urine of horses contains less nitrogen and 
 phosphates than that of man ; that of cows is 
 abundant in salts of potass ; and that of swine, 
 rich in phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. 
 
 Putrid urine, to which ofypsum has been added, 
 forms an excellent manure for cabbage, celery, 
 turnips, red clover, and all culinary vegetables.
 
 APPENDIX. 91 
 
 Analysis of Peas, Lentils, and Beans. Play fair. 
 
 Carbon 
 
 PEAS. 
 
 35.743 
 
 LENTILS. 
 
 37-38 
 
 BEANS. 
 
 38-24 
 
 Hydrogen 
 
 5-401 
 
 5-54 
 
 5-84 
 
 Nitrogen ? 
 Oxygen $ 
 
 39-300 
 
 37-98 
 
 38-10 
 
 
 3-4-)0 
 
 3-20 
 
 3-71 
 
 
 t J 1 / \J 
 
 If 5-001) 
 
 15-90 
 
 14-11 
 
 
 J. * t \J\J <J 
 
 
 
 100-000 100-00 100-00 
 
 Analysis of Red Clover. SprengeL 
 1000 Ibs. of red clover contain, when dried, 
 
 Nitrogen 17 Ibs. 
 
 Potass 28 
 
 Soda 5 
 
 Lime 28 
 
 Magnesia 37 
 
 Sulphuric acid 47 
 
 Phosphoric acid---- 07 
 
 Chlorine 37 
 
 Carbon 550 
 
 Silica, iron, alumina, manganese, oxygen, and 
 hydrogen, make up the remainder.
 
 02 APPENDIX. 
 
 Analysis of Hay. 
 100 parts of hay, dried in the air, contain 
 
 Dry matter 80 
 
 WaUr 14 
 
 100 
 
 100 parts of hay, dried at 212 equal 110-2 parts 
 dried in the air, and contain 
 
 Carbon 45-8 
 
 Hydrogen 5-0 
 
 Oxygen 38-7 
 
 Nitrogen 1-5 
 
 Ashes 9-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 Analysis of Bones. 
 
 Bones consist of 42 parts of lime and 30 of 
 phosphoric acid, together with animnl-matter, 
 termed gelatine, which is also a valuable manure, 
 although frequently abstracted before the farmer 
 obtains them. Digested in diluted sulphuric 
 acid, their virtues have been highly extolled in 
 the cultivation of turnips.
 
 APPENDIX. 93 
 
 Analysis of Guano. Volckel. 
 
 Urate of ammonia 9'0 
 
 Oxalate of ammonia 10*6 
 
 Oxalate of lime 7-0 
 
 Phosphate of ammonia 6*0 
 
 Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia 2-0 
 
 Sulphate of potass 5-5 
 
 Sulphate of soda 3-8 
 
 Sal-ammoniac 4*2 
 
 Phosphate of lime 14'3 
 
 Clay and sand ; 4-7 
 
 Organic substances not estimated, contain- 
 ing 12 per cent, of matter insoluble in 
 water, soluble salts of iron, in small 
 
 quantity, and water 32-3 
 
 100-0 
 
 Analysis of Gypsum. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, known in several parts of 
 England under the name of talc and gypsum, is 
 constituted of 1'5 parts of sulphuric acid, and 28 
 of lime, and when spread, in a powdered condition, 
 on the surface of the soil, has been found to be 
 highly beneficial to crops of grass, mustard, and 
 clover. Herbage, rich in sulphates, is said also 
 to be necessary to the production of the line wool 
 in sheep.
 
 94 APPENDIX. 
 
 Analysis of Oats. Boussingault. 
 
 100 parts of oats, dried at 212 equal 11? -7 
 parts dried at the ordinary temperature, and 
 contain 
 
 Carbon 50-7 
 
 Hydrogen 6-4 
 
 Oxygen 36-7 
 
 Nitrogen 2-2 
 
 Ashes... 4-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 Oats dried in the air, 117-7, contain, in 100 parts, 
 1-807 of nitroffen. 
 
 Analysis of Potato Roots. 
 
 Water 70-6 
 
 Starch 11-2 
 
 Lignin 7-8 
 
 Mucus and salts 3-7 
 
 Albumen... 7 
 
 100-0 
 
 The stalks of ripe potatoes contain lime, mag- 
 nesia, and potass, and abound in nitrogen, and 
 are consequently a valuable manure, as is also the 
 straw of vetches, for the same reason.
 
 APPENDIX. 95 
 
 The following table gives a synoptical equiva- 
 lent value of different kinds of food ; albumen 
 representing the flesh-forming principle, and un- 
 azotized matter the fat-forming. Play/air, 
 
 ALBUMEN. UNAZOTIZED MATTER. 
 
 Peas 29 511 
 
 Beans 31 52 
 
 Lentils 33 48 
 
 Potatoes-." 2 24| 
 
 Oats 101 68 
 
 Barley meal 14 68 
 
 Hay 8 68 
 
 Turnips..-- 1 9 
 
 Carrots 1| 8 
 
 From the above table we may see, why pigs, 
 fed upon potatoes and barley-meal, soon fatten 
 and keep in health ; whereas, when supplied with 
 potatoes only, they become fat but are unhealthy. 
 It will also teach us that the milk of cows, from 
 which cheese is to be made, would be benefitted 
 by mixing their food with steeped peas and beans.
 
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 Syracuse, N. Y. ; E. II. PEASE &, Co., Albany, N. Y. ; 
 
 HAW LEY, FULLER & Co, U/ica, N. Y. 
 
 E. WHITMAN JR., UnJ/imore.
 
 C, M, 8AXTON, PUBLISHED 
 
 123 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK, 
 
 WOULD respectfully call attention to his Assortment of Works Appertaining U 
 Agriculture. Rural and Dome>tic Economy, a few of which are enumerated, 
 with the retail prices, from which a liberal discount will be made when a num- 
 ber of copies arc ordcrad at oue time. 
 
 The American Agriculturist, per 
 
 vol., . . . . . $1.25 
 Allen's, R. L., American Farm 
 
 Book, 1.00 
 
 Allen's, L. F., American Herd 
 
 Book .00 
 
 Allen's, R. L., Diseases of Do- 
 mestic Animals, . . . .75 
 Allen's, J. ., Treatise on the 
 
 Grape Vine 1.00 
 
 Hoare on the Vine, ... .63 
 
 Hpooner on the Cultivation of 
 the Grape Vine, and Making 
 (if Wine, 33 
 
 Downing's Fruits and Fruit 
 
 Trees of America, . .1.50 
 
 Coles' American Fruit Book, . .50 
 
 Thomas' Fruit Culturist, . . .63 
 Do. " " with Appen- 
 dix, 1.00 
 
 Ires' New-England Fruit Book, .60 
 
 3ridgman's Fruit Cultivator's 
 
 Manual, 50 
 
 'aqut-s' Practical Treatise on 
 the Management of Fruit 
 Trees, .50 
 
 Kemick's American Orchardist, .90 
 
 Lindley's Guide to the Orchard 
 
 anil Fruit Garden. . . 1 50 
 
 C. M. Hoyey's Fruit Trees of 
 America, Colored Hates, 
 per vol 6.00 
 
 Browne's Trees of America, . 4.50 
 
 London's Arboretum Britan- 
 
 nicum, 55.00 
 
 The Complete Gardener and 
 
 Florist, 25 
 
 Bridgman's Florist's Guide, . .50 
 
 Ely's American Florist, . . .33 
 
 Buist's Flower Garden Direc- 
 tory 1.25 
 
 Sayre : s American Flower Gar- 
 den Companion, . . . .75 
 
 Mrs. Loudou's Companion to the 
 
 Flower Garden, . . . 1.2* 
 
 Buist on the Culture of the 
 Rose 
 
 Prince's Rose Manual, 
 
 Mrs Gore's Rose Manual. . 
 
 Parsons on the Culture of the 
 Rose, 
 
 Rose Cultnrist, .... 
 
 l.iudley's Theory of Horticul- 
 ture, 
 
 Theodore Thinker's First Les- 
 sons in Botany. 
 
 Darlington's Agricultural Uot- 
 any, . ... 
 
 O ray's Botanical Text Book, . 
 
 Chapin's Vegetable Kingdom, 
 
 or Hand Book of Plants. . I.2"> 
 
 fleattin's Essays on Southern 
 
 Agriculture. . . . J .00 
 
 Woods' Class Book of Botany, . 1.50 
 
 Partridge's Theoj-y an! Prac- 
 tice of A^riculfiiC . . .1;; 
 
 1.50 
 .38 
 
 1.00 
 1.60 
 
 Rodgers' Scientific Agriculture, $ .71 
 Boussingault's Rural Economy, 1.50 
 Boussingault's Organic Nature.. .60 
 Falkner's Treatise on the Na- 
 ture and Value of Manures, .5*1 
 Duel's Farmer's Companion, 76 
 
 Buel's Farmer's Instructor, 2 
 
 vols., 1.00 
 
 Gaylord and Tucker's Ameri- 
 can Husbandry, . . . 1.00 
 Fessenden's Complete Farmer, .75 
 Davis' Text Book of Agricul- 
 ture, 50 
 
 Wiggin's American Farmer's 
 
 Instructor 1.50 
 
 Pritt's Farmer's 3ook and Fa- 
 mily Instructor, . . . 2.00 
 Johnson's American Farmer's 
 
 Encyclopaedia, . . . 4.0J 
 Donn's Gardener's Dictionary, 
 
 4 vols. quarto, . . . 10.0 1 
 Parnell's Applied Chemistry in 
 Arts. Manufactures, and Do- 
 mestic Economy, . 1.0ft 
 Fresenius and Bullock's Ele- 
 mentary Instruction in 
 Chemical Analysis, . . 1.W 
 Chaptal's Chemistry Applied to 
 
 Agriculture, S6 
 
 Liebig's Agriculture Chemistry, ,25 
 Liobig's Animal Chemistry, . J25 
 Liebig's Familiar Letters on 
 
 Chemistry, 2J 
 
 Topham's Chemistry made Easy 
 
 for the Agriculturist, . , .3f> 
 Johnson's Catechism of Agri- 
 cultural Chemistry and 
 Geology, . . . .26 
 Johnson's Lectures on Agri- 
 cultural Chemistry, . . 1.35 
 Skinner's Elements of Agricul- 
 ture. 96 
 
 Gray's >'lements of Scientific 
 
 and 1'ractical Agriculture, .50 
 Robbin's Complete Produce 
 Reckoner, showing the 
 Value, by Pound or Bushel, 
 of all the Dilrerent Kinds of 
 
 Grain 70 
 
 tVhitmarsh on the Mulberry 
 
 Tree, 50 
 
 Dana's Muck Manual, . . .50 
 Dana's Fri/e Essay on Manures, .25 
 The Farmer's Mine, or Source 
 
 of Wealth, 75 
 
 Smith's Productive Farming, or 
 Familiar Digest of Recent 
 Discoveries, ... .50 
 The Farmer's Treasure, . .75 
 Thompson on the Food of Ani- 
 mals. 50 
 
 The Complete Farrier. . . .26 
 Coles' American Veterinarian, . .6t/ 
 The American Farrier. . . .75 
 The Horse, its limits, Diseases, 
 
 ui.J Maubjifciusiit, . M
 
 C. M . Soar/em's Catalogue of Books. 
 
 Youatt on the Horse, . 
 Miles' Horse's Foot, and How to 
 Keep it Sound, . . . . 
 Hinds' Farrier and Stud Book, . 
 Mason's Farrier, . . . . 
 Stewart's Stable Economy, 
 Clater's Every Man His Own 
 
 $1.75 
 
 .25 
 l.t'O 
 1.25 
 1.00 
 
 .50 
 1.00 
 2.50 
 
 .50 
 1.00 
 .75 
 2.75 
 4.00 
 1.50 
 .65 
 
 Cottage and Villa Architecture, 
 by Walter and Smith, 4 vol.$10.00 
 Elliot's Cottages & Cottage Life, 2.56 
 The American Architect, com- 
 prising Original Designs of 
 Country Residences, 4to., 
 1st series, .... 8.60 
 2d series, ... 3 60 
 
 Stable Talk, and Table Talk, . 
 Youatt's Stock Raiser's Manual, 
 Clater and Youatt's Cattle Doc- 
 tor 
 Mills' Sportman's Library, . 
 Skinner's Dog and Sportsman, . 
 Hawker and Porter on Shooting, 
 Frank Forrister's Field Sports, 
 Youatt on the Dog, 
 Youatt on the Pig, 
 
 I'eiers' Agricultural Account 
 Book. .... 1.00 
 
 American Bird Fancier, . . .50 
 Bees, Pigeons, Rabbits, and 
 Canary Birds, . . . .38 
 The Bird keeper's Manual, . 
 The Birds of Long Island. . . 1 00 
 Gunn's Domestic Medicine, or 
 Poor Man's Friend. This 
 Book points out in plain lan- 
 guage, free from Doctor's 
 Terms, the Diseases of Men, 
 Women, and Children, and 
 the Latest and most Approv- 
 ed Means used in their 
 Cure, and is intended ex- 
 pressly for the Benefit of 
 Families. It also Contains 
 a Description of the Medi- 
 cinal Roots and Herbs in 
 the United States. By John 
 C. Gunn. M. D., 1 vol. 8vo., 3.00 
 The Use of Brandy and Salt, as 
 a Remedy for Various Inter- 
 nal as well as External Dis- 
 eases, Inflammation, and Lo- 
 cal Injuries, containing Am- 
 ple Directions for Making 
 and Applying it. By Rev. S. 
 Fenton, l2Ji 
 Miss Beecher's Domestic Eco- 
 
 Knowlson's Cow Doctor, . 
 Guenon's Treatise on Milch 
 Cows, 
 Randall's Sheep Husbandry, . 
 Morrel's American Shepherd, . 
 Canfield on the Management 
 and Breed of Sheep, . 
 Blacklock's Treatise on Sheep, . 
 Bement's American Poulterer's 
 Companion, . 
 Cock's American Poultry Book, 
 Boswell's Poultry Yard, 
 Miner's Bee Keeper's Manual, . 
 Weeks' Treatise on the Honey 
 Bee 
 
 .25 
 
 .3" 
 1.00 
 1.00 
 
 1.00 
 .50 
 
 1.00 
 .38 
 .50 
 1.00 
 
 .50 
 
 .88 
 .50 
 
 1.00 
 4.00 
 
 .25 
 1 50 
 
 Bevan on the Bee, 
 Townley on the Bee, . 
 Marshall's Farmer's and Immi- 
 grant's Hand Book, 
 Stephen's Book of the Farm, 2 
 vols. octavo, .... 
 Ellsworth's Improvements in 
 Arts. Manufactures, &c., in 
 the United States, . 
 Bigelow's Plants of Boston and 
 
 
 Miss Leslie's Complete Cookery, 1.2<> 
 
 
 Gardiner's Farmer's Dictionary, 
 Bement's Journal of Agricul- 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.50 
 
 
 
 Mrs. Rundle's Domestic Cook- 
 erv ... .50 
 
 Colman's Continental Agricul- 
 ture, . . . 
 Colman's European Agricul- 
 tural Tour. . . 
 Fessenden's New American 
 Gardener, .... 
 Mahon's American Gardener's 
 Calendar. .... 
 Bridgman's Young Gardener's 
 Assistant, .... 
 Johnson's Dictionary of Modern 
 Gardening, 
 Cobbet's American Gardener, . 
 Bridmnan's Kitchen Gardener's 
 Instructor. .... 
 Buist's Family Kitchen Gar- 
 duner, 
 Thaer's Agriculture, . 
 Smee on the Potato Plant, . 
 (iilpin's Landscape Gardening, . 
 Downing's Landscape Garden- 
 ing, 
 Downmg's Cottage Residen- 
 ces. 
 LaLg'b Highland Cottagec, 
 
 1.25 
 6.00 
 
 .84 
 3.50 
 1.75 
 
 2.25 
 .S3 
 
 .50 
 
 .76 
 1.75 
 .72 
 2.50 
 
 3.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 Mrs. Child's Frugal Housewife, .40 
 The Cook's own Book. . . 1.00 
 The American Housewife and 
 Kitchen Directory, . . 18J( 
 The American System of Cook- 
 ery, 7;'i 
 Domes'tic Cookery 50 
 The Practical Receipt Book, . .6-' 
 Miss Acton's New Work on 
 Cookery . . 1.00 
 
 Mrs. Abeel's Skillful Housewife, .25 
 Mrs. Cornelius' Young House- 
 keeper's Friend M) 
 Alcott's Young Housekeeper, . 1 00 
 The Economical Housekeeper. . .75 
 Browne's Memoiron Indian Corn, .40 
 Tedder's Farmer's Land Mea- 
 surer, showing at one View 
 the Contents of any Piece 
 of Land from Dimensions 
 taken in Yards, with a Set of 
 Tseiiil Agricultural Tables, .50 
 Webster's F.ncyclopiedia of Do- 
 luuotic Economy, 3.W)
 
 EVERY FARMER'S BOOKS! 
 
 Ten Thousand Copies printed in aix Months 
 
 ILLUSTRATED MlwiisTII! INIMiLS, 
 
 Being a history and description of the Horse, Mule, Cattle, Sheep, Swliie, Poul- 
 try, mid Kami I>ogs ; with Directions for their Management, Breeding, Crossing, Rear 
 ing, Feeding, and preparation for a profitable market. Also, their IMscageg HIM 
 Remedies ; together with Full Directions for the Management of the Dairy, and the Com- 
 parative Eeonomy and Advantages of Working Animals, the Horse, Mule, Oxen, &c., bv R- A. 
 A-LLiEIV, Author of-' Compend of American Agriculture," $c. 
 
 The above work contains more than 40 F.ngravings and Portraits of Improved Animals 
 Illustrative of the different breeds and various subjects treated in it. 
 
 The most minute as well as general principles for Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and 
 Management of all Domestic Animals, arc herein given, to produce the utmost marketable 
 value for the food and attention bestowed on them ; as well as to prevent disease, and save the 
 immense losses which annually occur from this source. It can be sent by Mail, in Cloth Bin*' 
 Ing, for 75 Cents Paper, 50 Cents. Published by C. M. SAXTON, 123 Fulton su y 
 York. For sale by all the Booksellers throughout the country. 
 
 Agents wanted for every county in every state. Address, post paid, the Publisher. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, 
 
 The Compactness yet wompleteness will make it a favorite with agriculturists. Chronicle, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Its greatest worth is, as a complete farrisr, showing the diseases of animals, their treatment, 
 *nd cure. far. <" Alec. 
 
 The portion which relates to the dairy alone, is worth the cost of the book. Worcester 
 Transcript. 
 
 It is every way adapted to be serviceable in every household which has domestic animals. 
 D Adv., Newark. 
 
 We believe it a complete guide for the farmer and dairyman in the purchase, care, and use of 
 Bnimals. Jeffersonian. 
 
 Here is a work which should be in the hands of every farmer. Highland Courier. 
 
 We can confidently recommend this work as a very instructive one to those engaged in farm 
 tugj raising stock, or husbandry. Northampton Courier. 
 
 The author is a practical farmer and stockbreeder, and is able to vouch for the correctness of 
 the remedies for diseases of Domestic Animals, as well as the bst mode of managing them. 
 Huron, O. Reflector. 
 
 It costs but seventy-five cents, and .cannot fail to be worth ten timei that amount to any far 
 mer. Summit S.^C. Beacon. 
 
 It is the best of that character we have yet seen ; no farmer should be without it. Democrat, 
 Carlisle, Pa. 
 
 This is just such a book as every owner of stock should be possessed of. JSatton Md Star. 
 
 Here is a book which all those who follow the plow, and those who direct it can read to 
 profit. It is a library of knowledge, presenting the latest improvements and discoveries, on all 
 the topics treated of; and illustrated by a great variety of cuts. The " Aliens," one of whom is 
 the author of the work before us, are quite famous in their especial role, so that what proceed* 
 from ihem may be confident lyoredi ted at all events. The present book is a most interesting and 
 instructive one, and must meet with a great sale. Sciota Gazette. 
 
 This work, to the farmer and stock miser, will be useful, instructive, and profitable, enabling 
 them to improve the breed of their stock, preserve them from sickness, and cure them wheu 
 infected with disease. Herald. Morrisville. I'ti, 
 
 The lime has gone by when farmers can expect to succeed without giving some attention to 
 Book Farming, and we trust they begin to see it for themselves. We should like to hear that 
 this work was in the hands of every farmer in the county. Mercury, Potsdam, A 7 . Y. 
 
 The title page of this work gives a good idea of its fcope aud intent. It is a comprehensive 
 summary of farm operations, and will prove very acceptable to the great mass of our fanning 
 population. We are informed that 3,000 copies of this work have been sold since the first of 
 January. It is well printed and profusely illustrated A 7 . Y. Tribune. 
 
 It is furnished with numerous illustrating cuts, and will form a complete " vade meoum" for 
 the agriculturist, convenient for reference, and to be relied on wheu consulted. JJaltiinoie 
 American. 
 
 This is a practical book by a practical man, and will serve extensive prnclical ei'ds. It U 
 a companion which every farmer will fool that he cannot well be without. N. Y. Observer 
 
 We cheerfully recommend this work to larmers. Su>nut, Juliett, III. 
 
 We anticipate an extensive sle for this work. Ohio Cvltirtttor. 
 
 This work ought to be in the hauds of every planter. A f . O. Delta. 
 
 The author is a gentleman of fine attainments, and who ranks as one of the moet accom- 
 plished writers ou agricultural subjects in the country. Ala. Plu?iter. 
 
 Many a valuable animal is lust, every year, fur want of tha kuuwltdge here conveyed. EagU 
 BratUeboro, Vt. 
 
 The u'lllmr (.Mr. Allen), i a in-actic^l lann. and even thing fium Li , en. i,!< subjoin cuii 
 fcecied win. :i;jr:ci:!ii.:v :.::<t uutiit! bieeai;:^. \:tiu;.oie i-j ih.jss >!.o i.itl'er i;. alter or" l<ict to
 
 THE AMERICAN FARM BOOK: 
 
 OR, 
 
 Compend of American Agriculture, 
 
 Sontaining a concise and plainly written Exposition of Duties pertaining ; to tU 
 Cultivation of the Earth, the Management of the farm, &c.. fcc., on prac- 
 tical scientitic principles. 
 
 SY R. L. ALLEN. 
 
 'he cheapest and most valuable book for a farmer over printed : teing a com 
 plete Guide, both practical and scientific, for the 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE FARM. 
 
 rragses, clovers. KIT"UI ii" *"*> i ""* , ,. , ' . ,t_ 
 
 ton, hemp, flax, tfie sugar cane, rice, tobacco, hops, madder, woad &c. , tho 
 /earinjr of fruit-apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, &c. ; farm buildings, 
 ledges &c with the best methods of planting, cultivating, and preparation 
 
 de work, from the fact that it treat. 
 
 ' 800 different subjects important to a farmer. It contains 354 pages and 18 
 beautifully bound in cloth, gilt, suitable for a library. Price only One Dollar. 
 
 Notices of the Press. 
 
 The author has been one of the most able contributors to the agricultural ; pres? 
 
 - 
 
 or the last ten years ; aside from this he is a practical farmer anl^k-br^der, 
 ant! consequently knows from his own experience what he is writ] 
 
 fti'wl appropr 
 
 " irereis a bTOlTfor the million, precisely what its title indicates. 
 within its pages, the reader will find the subject of soils, manures, crops, and 
 animals, treated in a style easily comprehended.-S^rit of the Times. 
 This work is what might be expected from one so well qualified for th 
 
 ''^W^are 8 " lad" to"me'et a publication which can interest, as well as improve the 
 condition of the human race. We commend the work to every American fanner. 
 
 "whTsn^lfnot'every' 'good farmer economize his muscles by storing his mind T 
 We hope this book will find its way into many family and school-libranes.-Aew 
 York Tribune. 
 
 press, and we gladly commend it to the perusal ot every o 
 wei in the cultivator, of land - A. J. Downing's Horticulturist 
 
 rngag
 
 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, 
 
 OR POOR MAN'S FRIEND ; IN THE HOURS OF AFFLICTION PAIM 
 
 AND SICKNESS, A SAFE AND RELIABLE GUIDE. 
 
 RAYMOND'S copy, PRICE THREE DOLLARS. 
 
 THIS Book points out in plain language, free from doctors' terms the Disease* 
 of Men, Women, and Children, and the latest and most improved means used in 
 their cure ; and is intended expressly for the benefit of families. It also contains 
 descriptions ot the MEDICAL ROOTS AND HERBS OF THE UNITED STATES, and how 
 they are to be used in the cure of diseases. It is arranged on a new and simple 
 plan by which the practice of Medicine is reduced to principles of common 
 sense. 
 
 This invaluable book has passed through many editions; it has now been re- 
 vised and improved in every respect, and enlarged to nearly double its former 
 size ; and contains nine hundred octavo pages. 
 
 It does not propose to dispense with physicians in severe cases. But it does 
 propose to save thousands and tens of thousands annually, by putting the r neans 
 of cure into every man's hands, and of saving many valuable lives (which is of 
 far more importance) by instructing individuals how to check disease in its begin- 
 nings, before it has acquired too much strength to resist and overcome. 
 
 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 "We seldom take up a book of this class with any favorable impressions ; (( r 
 we fear quackery and pretension have been at work fr the ' poor man ;' but in 
 ihis work all our prejudices were conquered. Professional men as well as others, 
 we see cheerfully recommend this book ; which has, in its ample pages, much o' 
 the necessary instruction to ward off or to cure disease." New York Express. 
 
 " It is written in an easy, plain, and familiar style, and points out the diseases 
 of men, women, and children, and the latest and most approved means used in 
 their cure. The language and arrangement are so simplified as to bring it within 
 the capacity of those who possess a very limited education. The object and de- 
 sign of the author seems to be to remove all that technical phraseology which is 
 used in medical works generally, and thus simplify the practice of that science 
 which the head of every family should be acquainted with. It is generally recom- 
 mended to our professional readers as a guide in cases where it is not deemed 
 necessary te have the services of regularly educated practitioners. This book 
 should find a place in every fam\\y."lioston Mail. 
 
 " This is a work of Family Medicine on the plan of Dr. Ewell. It is the most 
 olain- written, untcchnical book of the kind we have met with ; a decided improve 
 ment on both Buchan and Ewell. It is printed in a very superior style, revised 
 from the first edition, and containing a variety of useful information not hitherto 
 laid before the vulgar eye. It treats of the passions. It has also a catalogue ol 
 medicines, with their properties and doses, and the diseases and manner in which 
 they are treated ; comprising a synoptical Materia Mediea, exceedingly useful in 
 families, and m >ro particularly to captains of vessels and planters, who cannot 
 conveniently procure medidal advice. It is an excellent book." jYeto Orleans 
 True American. 
 
 " If we judge of tbe merits of the book by the immense number of copies already 
 sold, and the very flattering testimony of medical men of the first standing, (and 
 among the number, several of .the most distinguished members of the faculty in 
 our city,) it is a va uable compendium of the modern practice of physic, and must 
 prove a valuable assistant to families, particularly in sudden emerg'encies, and in 
 nil situations where regular professional attendance cannot be commanded." 
 IjOuisville Journal. 
 
 " The great advantage it possesses over all other books of the kind is, that the 
 author has avoided all Latin terms; this is what has brought Dr. Gunn's work 
 UltC such extensive family use." A r ew Orleans Picayune. 
 
 " As a medical Vade Mecum. it has for years stood high ; and now, since its re- 
 vision, (Raymond's copy,) will take the lead of all similar works." Mobile Daily 
 Advertiser. 
 
 " Its extensive sale has established .'ts worth, and stamped it as a standard and 
 seful book." Kentucky Gazette. 
 
 Kf~ On the receipt of THREE DOLLARS, Dr. Gunn's book will be sent, free oj 
 postage, to any part ofthe United States. 
 
 All letters must be addressed, (post-paid,) to C. M. SAXTON,121 FULTON PT 
 New York. 
 
 " Raymond's Copy " is the only complete edition and is so maiked on tl>e back
 
 THE AMtKlCAN AGRICULTURIST; 
 
 A MONTHLY PERIODICAL 
 
 JBesfflneti to tmprotoe t|)e JFarmer, tlje planter, tftc 
 ana 
 
 A. B. ALLEN, EDITOR. 
 
 " Agriculture is the most healthy, the most useful, and the most noble employment 
 of man." WASHINGTON. 
 
 TERMS. 
 
 FOR SINGLE COPIES ...... ONE DOLLAR PER ANNUM. 
 
 THREE COI'IES ...... TWO DOLLARS. 
 
 EIGHT COPIES ...... FIVE DOLLARS. 
 
 TWENTY COPIES ...... TWELVE DOLLARS. 
 
 The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is now in the seventh year of its publication. 
 From its commencement it took a high stand ; and has ever since been considered 
 by the press and all unbiased judges, as the LEADING PERIODICAL of its claw ' 
 in America. It has a larg'e and rapidly increasing circulation throughout the 
 United States, the Canadas, and other British possessions, the West Indies, and 
 South America ; and we may fearlessly assert, that it has given more reliable in 
 formation on rural subjects, and been perused with greater general satisfaction, 
 than any paper of the kind yet published. 
 
 The American Agriculturist treats of every description of domestic animals 
 and poultry ; their characteristics, breeds, the best and the worst ; their advanta- 
 ges and disadvantages ; their mode of breeding, feeding, rearing, and treatment; 
 their uses, profits, management, &.c. It also treats of all cultivated crops, inclu- 
 ding fruits, shrubbery, &c. ; the best seeds, mode of planting, cultivating, gather- 
 ing, and preparing for markets ; the general principles of vegetation and the laws 
 of vegetable life. It describes the principles of mechanics as applied to machine- 
 ry i.sed by farmers and planters ; the best machinery and implements for agri- 
 culture, their uses and the particular superiority of some over others, and their 
 adaptedness for particular purposes, &c. 
 
 Address all subscriptions to C. M. SAXTON, 123T0LTON ST., NEW YORK. 
 
 It also gives the latest improvements in those implements which may have been 
 made, and suggests others ; tells where they are to be found, and the benefits that 
 will follow from their use. It also specifies new objects of cultivation, and how 
 they may be better prepared for a profitable market and more general use. These 
 are a part only of the objects of this paper ; yet they, with the other subjects 
 treated, are of universal interest and general application. Nineteen-twentieths of all 
 that is to be found in it is of the same use to one part as to any other part of 
 America. Yet we find people constantly objecting that it is not printed in their 
 particular section of country, and that it is not suited to their wants. Does it 
 make any difference where a boy acquires his education, provided it be a good 
 nne and he be correctly taught 1 Where he studies his profession of divinity, 
 pedicine, or even law? Cannot lie take the principles he has acquired, and apply 
 them equally well in any part of America? Are not the blessed sunlight o! 
 heaven, the rain, the dew, the heat, and the frost, though sometimes differing in 
 degree, of equal relative effect, wherever they are felt, whether within the tropics 
 or the polar circles, the eastern or western hemisphere? 
 
 If the question were as to a choice between a good paper printed here or there, 
 it were another matter. But thro'jpb'ut extensive regions this is not the case, 
 and it is either a good paper or rior><.- i all ; and even if there were one for every 
 particular section of country, we ip-^iit still urge a general circulation for our 
 own ; for no one will embrace all t!wt is important to be known.
 
 THE 
 
 AMERICAN POULTRY YARD; 
 
 COMPRISING THE 
 
 ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT 
 BREEDS OF 
 
 Oonuotic ipoultrg; 
 
 WITH 
 
 Complete Directions for ihcir Breeding, Crossing, Rearing, 
 
 Fattening, and Preparation for Market ; 
 Including Specific Directions for Caponising Fowh, and for the 
 
 Treatment of the Principal Diseases to which they are subject. 
 DRAWN FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES AND PERSONAL OBSERVATIO" 
 Illustrated by Numerous Engraving* 
 
 B r D. J. BROWNE. 
 
 With an Appendix, embracing the Comparative Merits of 
 Different Dreed of Fowls. 
 
 By SAMUEL ALLEN. 
 Price $1, in cloth 75 cts. with paper covers. 
 
 Published by C. M. SAXTON, 123 Fulton Street, N. Y 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Mr. Browne was bred and brought up a practical farmer. From his intimate know 
 ledge of the history and habits of our domestic animals, having devoted, probably, 
 more attention to the subject, as u whole, by reading and observation, than any other 
 individual in the country, the task of preparing this work was assigned to him.- 
 Salem Register. 
 
 The style of the engravings nnd the mechanical execution of the work arc excellent 
 Maine Farmer. 
 
 An extensive work on poultry, embracing every information desired. JV. JI. Tele 
 graph. 
 
 We commend the book and the subject to the thoughts of farmers. Vt. Watchman 
 
 Every one who may purchase a copy, upon a perusal of the same, will be fully sati 
 fled that their money was well spent. Jlriatol 1'httnix. 
 
 It is one of the best treatises on the Domestic Fowl ever published. Ncw-Uav. 
 Palladium. 
 
 The details into which this book enters, on all the subjects connected with the pro- 
 fitable raising of fowls, arc precisely of that minute and practical character which it 
 needed. N. Y. Evangelist. 
 
 We are glad to see that the evident demand for information on the subject oz 
 rearing Domestic Fowls has called out so valuable a work as the one before us. JV. Y, 
 Daily Tribune. 
 
 It contains matter to interest and instruct upon almost everything that concerns th 
 poultry yard, and bears the impress in its pages that its editor was well qualified to 
 fulfill the task he undertook. American Farmer. 
 
 It is the most complete book of its class ever published, and quite indispensable U 
 all who are interested in raising poultry. Charleston, S. C., Weekly Oazette. 
 
 No farmer among us would remain a day longer without the work, did he but kno 
 Its value. linkway Register. 
 
 It is unquestionably the cheapest nnd best work of the kind extant, and should ha 
 place in every farmer's library. German/nun, O/iio, Oa-ette. 
 
 The volume is enriched by an Appendix from the the pen of Mr. Samuel Allen, an 
 experienced breeder of fowl?, who has taken ni JCh pains to improve the stock in thil 
 country. JV. Y. Weekly Tribune.
 
 THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL, 
 
 BY T. B. MINER. 
 
 350 pp. 12mo. 35 ENGRAVINGS. PRICE $1. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY C. M. SAXTON, 123 FULTC N ST., N. Y. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 " The most complete work on the Bee and Bee-keeping we have yet seen " 
 ff. Y. Tribune. 
 
 " Mr. Miner has handled this subject in a masterly manner." A7. Y. True Sun. 
 
 "Ho has written o work of the most fascinating interest." N. Y. Sunday Dit- 
 patck. 
 
 " It will interest the general reader. It is indeed a charming volume. Com 
 mercial Jldi-ertiser. 
 
 " This is a truly valuable work, and very interesting." Horning Star. 
 "It is decidedly the best work we have ever seen." Boston Daily Mail. 
 "Mr. Miner has performed his task with signal ability." Scientific American. 
 
 "It does high credit to the observation and intelligence of the author." CAr- 
 tian Intelligencer. 
 
 ' This is the most comprehensive and valuable work on the Honey-bee that 
 has ever come under our notice." Journal of Commerce. 
 
 " To appreciate the value of the honey-bee one must get this book and read it 
 attentively." Nonh't Messenger. 
 
 " We like it for its independent tone, and the amount of practical information 
 that it contains." Literary World. 
 
 " We have been greatly edified and entertained by this b</>k. from which tho 
 reader will collect a great deal of excellent information, The Independent. 
 
 " This * probably the most complete manual of the kind ever published. It will 
 richly repay the general reader, too, by the variety of interesting facts it COH- 
 tains." Boston Traveller. 
 
 " It is a most excellent and useful treatise, and happily supplies a vacuum 
 that had long existed." Boston Times. 
 
 "This volume has all the charm of a romance and admiraMy displays th 
 habits of this insect." Organ. 
 
 "This volume is what it pretends to be. (more than can be said of many works) 
 and all who want a full and thorough history of the nature and management ol 
 of the bee should have it in their possession." Scientific Jlmtrican. 
 
 " It is neatly printed, well illustrated and clearly written and contains a great 
 deal of practical information." Mirror. 
 
 'This work probably contains better instructions in regard to bees than any 
 which have ever appeared. 1 ' Sun. 
 
 " The practical directions are the result of evident experience, and being 
 plainly end ro-joisely stated, are excellent. It is so much better than can b 
 obtained elsiwlwro that we commend it to favor." JV. Y. Evangelist. 
 
 ' It in an excellent book and the best published on tl e subject." Boston Otivt 
 BnmeA.
 
 AN 
 
 ESSAY ON MANURES, 
 
 SUBMITTED TO T1IE TRUSTEES OF 
 
 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 
 
 PROMOTING AGBICULTURE. 
 
 FOR THEIR PREMIUM. 
 
 BY SAMUEL L. DANA. 
 
 From the New York Observer: 
 ESSAY ON MANURES. By SAMUEL L. DANA 
 
 This Essay contains much useful information for the practical farmer, in a 
 small compass, in reference to the nature and management of manures imme- 
 diately under his control ; the knowledge and practice of which will amply com- 
 pensate for the expense of ascertaining its value. 
 
 * NEW YORK: 
 
 C. M. SAXTON 1 , 123 FULTON STREET. 
 
 ALSO, r.TRINGER <fe TOWNSEND, H. LONG & BROTHKR, W. K. HUU 
 
 GESS. DE-WITT <t DAVENPORT, WILSON CO., DEXTER <fr 
 
 BROTHER. BOSTON : REDDING A CO. PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 W. B. Z1EBER, LINDSAY <t BLAKISTON.
 
 THE 
 
 AMERICAN BIRD FANCIER; 
 
 CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO THE 
 
 IJR ICEDING, REARING, FEEDING, MANAGEMENT, AND PECULIARITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 CAGE AND HOUSE BIRDS. 
 
 Illustrated with Engravings 
 
 BY D. J. BROWNE, 
 
 rrnrm or THK SYLVA AMERICANA, THE AMERICAN POULTRY TARI>, ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 C. M. SAXTON, 123 FULTON STREET. 
 
 M.O, STU1NG1CII A TOWNSKND, H. LONG & BROTHER, W. F. BURG R8H, 
 
 OEWITT A DAVKXI'OKT, WILSON <t CO., DEXTER A UROTIIKU. 
 
 VHII.AnELPIIIA : AV. B. ZIEHEH, LINDSAY & 1JLAK1STON. 
 
 H o s T o x : n E D n i x G & c o . 
 1850.
 
 THE 
 
 FAMILY KITCHEN GARDENER; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 PLAIN AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS 
 
 OF ALL THE 
 DIFFERENT SPECIES AND VARIETIES 
 
 VEGETABLES: 
 
 BY ROBERT BUIST, 
 
 AUTHOR OF TUB AMERICAN FLOWER-GARDEN DIRECTORY, ROSB MANUAL, ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 C. M. SAXTON, 123 FULTON STREET, 
 
 AlSO, STRINGER & TOWNSEND, II. J,ONO 4 BROTHER, W. F. BtT- 
 OESS, DEW1TT A DAVENPORT, WILSON A CO., DEXTER A 
 BROTHER. BOSTON : REDDINQ A CO. VHILADELPHIA ! 
 W. B. ZIEBER. LINDSAY 4 BLA1CISTON. 
 
 1850
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE GRAPE VINE 
 
 ON OPEN WALLS. 
 
 WITH A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF AN 
 
 IMPROVED METHOD OF PLANTING AND MANAGING 
 
 THE 
 
 BOOTS OF GRAPE VINES. 
 
 BY CLEMENT HOARE. 
 
 AN APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 REMARKS ON THE CULTURE OF THE GEAPE VINE IN 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 0. M. SAXTON, 123 FULTON STREET. 
 
 1851.
 
 LECTURES 
 
 ON THK 
 
 GENERAL RELATIONS WHICH SCIENCE 
 
 BEARS TO 
 
 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON, F.R.SS. L.&E. 
 
 WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 C. M. SAXTON, AGRIULTURAL BOOKSELLER, 
 123 FULTON STREET.
 
 NEW-YORK AGRICULTURAL WAREHOUSE 
 
 AND SEED STORE. 
 
 A. B. ALLEN & CO., 
 
 189 & 191 WATER STREET, NEW -YORK. 
 
 FARMERS Planters, and Gardeners will find in our Warehouse, the largest anil 
 most complete assortment of Agricultural and Horticultural Implements. Fie.d 
 and Garden tweeds. Fertilizers, Fruit and Ornamental Trees. &c., &c., in New- 
 York \ few of the articles we enumerate below. Our implements are mostly 
 made'upfrom NEW and HIGHLY-IMPROVED patterns, and are warranted to te of 
 the best materials, put together m the strongest manner, and of superior finish. 
 PLOWS -Of these we have upwards of FIFTY different kinds, among which 
 
 are Cotton, Rice, and Sugar Plowi, at S to _4.50 
 
 Iwo and four 
 Horse Plows, of dif- 
 ferent sizes, and for 
 all kinds of soils 
 stony, sandy, loam, 
 or clay ; also for 
 stubble and sward 
 land. Some of these 
 have patent clcvies 
 attached to them, 
 thus enabling the 
 
 DOUBLE MOLD-BOARD PLOW. 
 
 olMiorse, in plowing 
 a Wet meadow, to 
 
 SDBSOIL PLOW, WITH WHEEL, DIAL-CLEVIS, AND DRAFT-ROD. 
 on the solid ground, instead c' a mirji tresh-plowad furrow. Others (ire
 
 New York Agricultural Warefiouse. 
 
 adapted to trench-plowing, enabling the farmer to turn up virgin earth in a d*p 
 soil. These plows arc strong enough to grub up roots, heavy bogs, &c. Thar 
 
 likewise answer for shallow ditching -$5 t o $ 
 
 Ont Horse Plows for tht North, with single and Double Mold-Boards. The 
 last are admirable to work between the rows of root crops and corn, when not 
 over 3-4 feet apart, as they turn the furrow both ways, thus doing double th 
 work of a single mold-board, ..$3 to$6 
 
 msm 
 
 CULTIVATOE WITH 
 
 SEF.D SOWER. 
 should be without them 
 
 Subsoil Plows for 
 deep plowing $5.50 
 to 16.00. 
 
 Double Mold- Board 
 or Fluke Plow* for 
 furrowing to plant, 
 cultivate and ditch ; 
 and the largest made 
 expressly for print- 
 ing the sugar cane, 
 $3.50 to 9.00. 
 
 Side- Hill Shifting 
 Maid-Board or Swiv- 
 el Plow*, for turning 
 the furrow in cither 
 direction, $5.00 to 
 16.00. 
 
 Paring Plows, for 
 shaving off' the turf 
 preparatory to burn- 
 ing $15.00. 
 
 Harrows. A com- 
 plete assortment of 
 square, triangle, and 
 double triangle fold- 
 ing, harrows, with 
 wrought iron 01 
 iteel pointed teeth. 
 $0 to 16.00, 
 
 WHEEL. 
 
 Some of these plows are made 
 expressly for light sandy soils, 
 others for a loam, or stiff clay, 
 which they work in the best 
 manner. Being made by patent 
 machinery, they are superior to 
 anything of the kind ever before 
 sold in this market. 
 
 Rice Trenching Plow. This does 
 the same work as the hands per- 
 form on a rice plantation with 
 trenching hoes, equally well, and 
 with much greater rapidity than a 
 negro can work. No Planter 
 $6 to 6.50 
 
 HARROW.
 
 New York Agricultural Warehouse. 
 
 RoUert of various kinds wood, stone, or iron ; single or double ; and to move 
 oy hand or horse-power * u S 8 * 
 
 FIELD ROLLER. 
 
 Cultivators, hand or horse, of various patterns 
 
 Horte-Powers. Endless chain, single horse 
 
 " two-horse WO.OO to 120.00 
 
 Cast-iron, single or two-horse 50.00 to 60.00 
 
 " four-horse 90 - 
 
 Grain Threshers ?f'nn *Kn'nn 
 
 with Separators 35.00 to 50.00 
 
 Clover-Mills, for cleaning seed 30-00 to 6o.W> 
 
 o-, 
 FbnnintT-Mills. for winnowing grain ............................. OAAA * IOR no 
 
 Burr-stone Mills, for grinding grain ............................ 30.00 to 125.00 
 
 Catt-iron Mills, a new and most admirable invention. They work e; 
 
 md or other power, and are well adapted for grinding all kinds of grain, excep. 
 
 hand 
 
 EiM-IIoRsE POWER. 
 
 flouring wheat for market 5.00 to 30.00 
 
 Corn and Cob Crushers, for grinding cob in the ear 30.00 to 60.00 
 
 Sugar Crushers, for pulverizing sugar 7.50 to 20.00 
 
 Point Mills, of various patterns 7.00 to 17.00 
 
 Com Shelters. Will shell from 50 to 200 bushels of ears per hour, in the best 
 
 manner. These work by horse or other power 30.00 to 60.06 
 
 The same worked by hand, made of wood or cast-iron 5.00 to 10.90 
 
 Vegetable Cullers, for slicing potatoes, beets, turnips, &c 8,00 to 12.00
 
 New-York J .;>/ w// ui-nl Warehouse. 
 
 This cut represents 
 a valuable iron mill, 
 very efficient and du- 
 rable, to run either by 
 hand or horse power. 
 With the latter, it can 
 be made to grind 4 
 bushels of grain fine 
 per hour, and a greater 
 quantity if coarse. 
 It is simple, and not 
 liable to get out of re- 
 pair; and when the 
 plates, or grinding sur- 
 faces are worn out, 
 they, can be replaced 
 by others at a small 
 cost. These can al- 
 ways be had with the 
 machine. 
 
 HAND AND HORSE GRAIN MILL. 
 
 This mill is used for 
 grinding grain, coffee, and 
 spices as desired. It is 
 usually operated by hand, 
 though it can be construct- 
 ed to run by other power. 
 It grinds from one to^two 
 bushels per hour. When 
 the plates, or grinding sur- 
 faces, are worn out, they 
 can be replaced as in the 
 foregoing machine 
 
 HAND GRAIN MILL. $'5.50 to (5.50.
 
 New York Agricultural Warelioust,. 
 
 Straw-Cutters. Common hand 3.00 t.i 8.0U 
 
 '' Cylindrical, with spi- 
 
 ral and straight 
 
 blades 8.00 to 30.00 
 
 Gorn-stalk Cutters. Marshall's, Sin- 
 clair's, Thorn's, and 
 
 others 12.0C to 45.00 
 
 Cotton-Gins, of various patterns,.... 25.00 to 150,00 
 
 Ox, Itoad, or Dirt Scrapers. 4.50 to 5.00 
 
 Self- acting Cheese Press a neat and 
 very superior and 
 
 simple article, 6.50 
 
 Seed Sowers, various patterns, 8.00 to 15.00 
 
 Corn- Planters, urill plant 10 acres per 
 
 ^^tey, by or. ~.s.n, 16.00 
 
 Horticultural Tool (.'hi stz complete 13.0 
 
 WAc/6arr0tr^|^Garderis '. . . . . 4.50 to 5.0" 
 
 ^Tlanal, Dirt, or Tray, 2.25 to S.d 
 Tree o- ".sn Pullers. 31-00 to 6.00 ; Garden Syrin- 
 gos. 1.00 to 6.50 ; Gram Cradles, 3.00 to ~>.5'J ; Sausage 
 Stuflers, 4.50 to 5.00 ; Lactometers. 2.50 to 5.00 ; Bee- 
 ihives. 3.50 to 6.50 ; Ox-Yokes and Bows, -2.50 to 5 00 ; 
 Manure-Forks, 63 cts. to 4.00 ; Hay ditto, 50 ct*. to 1 00; 
 Grain and Grass Scythes, 75 cents to 1.00 ; Swingle 
 Trees, 1.00 to 3.50 ; Hay and Straw-Knives. 1.00 to 
 2.00 ; Axes Collins 1 , Hunt's, and Simons', handled, 
 1.00. to 1.50 ; Grubbing Hoes, 60 cents to 1.00 ; Picks, 
 l.'JO to 2.00; Trace Chains, 75 cents to 1.00; Ox 
 Chains American to 11> cents per Ib. ; Shovels 
 and Spades, 75 cents to 1.50 ; Tree Scrapers. 31 to 
 75 cents ; Schuffling Hoes. 25 cents to 1.00 ; Churns, 
 various patterns, 2.00 to 4 00 ; Grafting Chisels and 
 Saw, handled, 2.00 ; Hoes, all 
 patterns, 25 cents to 100, 
 Potato Hooks. 50 cents to 
 1.50 ; Potato Forks, 1.00 to 
 
 2.00 ; Garden Reels. 75 cts. , 
 Sickles, 37 to 03 cents ; Grass 
 Shears, 1.25 to 1.50 ; Twig 
 Cutters. 50 cents to 2.00 ; 
 
 Vine Scissors. 6i cents. 
 Pruning Shears, 2.00 ; Screw 
 \Vrenches. 1.50 to 3.0(1 ; 
 Sheep Shears, 75 cents to 
 1.25 ; Strawberry Forks, 37 
 cents ; Scythe Ri'lles. Rakes, 
 various patterns and various 
 prices ; Peat Knives, 1.50 ; 
 Ox Muzzles, 31 to 50 cents 
 per pair ; Ox Bows, 31 to 50 
 cents ; Hatchets. 50 to 75 
 cents ; Horse Brushes. Ham- 
 7..ois. Axe Handles, Grind- 
 stones, Roller.--, Crank and 
 S'n ;.'.ft, Flower Gatherers, 
 Mails. Kilging Knives, Cattle 
 Tic-chains, Bull Rings, But- 
 ter Boxes. Bush Hooks, Ca- 
 terpillar Brushes, Fleams, 
 Scoops, Ox Balls. Post 
 Spoons, Garden Trowels. 
 Jrpinning-wheel Heads, Well 
 
 Wheels, Oven Mouths, Budding Knives. Pruning ditto, &c., Cattle Ties, Stc. 
 CASTI?;S of all the dill'ercnt parts of Plows, at 4 to 6 cents per Ib. 
 Gi.v SKGMKNTS and Heavy Casting* of all descriptions made to order. 
 Harrow Tcetk and Iron Work Oi different kinds made to order in the cheapest 
 
 best manner. 
 
 Steam Engines, * gar-Boilers. Sugar Mills, Kettle*. CaiuJrona, $ ;., for ii'iiit* 
 tions.
 
 New York Agricultural Warehouse. 
 
 Fire Engines. Forcing Pump* J 
 Large and Small Size, Water Bams, Src. 
 
 Cast Iron Water Pipe from 1 to 12 in- 
 ches diameter, both sleeve or socket, 
 and flange, 3 to 4 cts. per Ib. 
 
 Wire-Cloth and Sieves. Different 
 kinds and sizes kept constantly on 
 hand. 
 
 Wire of all size* for fences. 
 
 Wagons, Carts, both Hand and Horit, 
 and Trucks of all sizes. 
 
 LeavenswortVs Patent California Gold 
 Washers, the best ever constructed, 
 will do -the work of 100 men, and go 
 either by horse or hand power, $30 
 to $60. 
 
 Gold Digging Implements of all kinds, 
 picks, crow-bars, hoes, shorels, &c. 
 
 Gold Testers, Retorts. Crucibles, Fur- 
 naces, &c., &c., of all kinds. 
 
 Blasting Tools. Drills. Chisels, &c. 
 
 Lead Pipe of various sizes and thick 
 ness, at 6 to 7 cts. per Ib. 
 
 Leather, India Rubber and Gutta 
 Percha Hose, of all sizes. 
 
 Seeds for the Field*and Gar den*- Such as improved Winter and Spring Wheat 
 Rye! BarhTy Oats, Corn, Beans. Peas. Rutabaga, Turnip Cabbage, Beet Carrot, 
 Parsnip Clover, and Grass Seeds, improved varieties of Potatoes, &c., &c., Sec. 
 These are warranted fresh and superior of their kind. 
 
 Ferrers. Peruvian and Patagonian Guano, Lime, Plaster of Pans, Bone Dust, 
 
 kc., &C. ^^Q Fruit and Ornamen- 
 
 tal Trees and Shrubs. 
 Orders taken for 
 these, and executed 
 from a choice of the 
 best Nurseries, Gar- 
 dens, and Conserva- 
 ' tories in the United 
 States. 
 
 Horses, Cuttle, Skeep 
 and Swine. Orders 
 
 .,HuiiniilllllUUl!UIUIlllllll!lllttili;illlllUM received for stock of 
 SAUSAGE STCFFER. all kinds, to be exe- 
 
 cuted to the best advantage, and shipped in the most careful manner. 
 
 13 a 
 
 per Stills Complete Iron Chests, Brick Machines, 
 Wills. 
 
 FlMP 
 
 Portable Furnaces Blacksmiths' Bellows, Sledges, 
 Hammers. Tongs. &c. 
 
 Whitney's Celebrated Buena Vista Rifles, with Molds, 
 and all extras, Percussion Caps, &c., &c., &.C. 
 
 Post-hole Jlugcrs Ornamental Fountains, Iron Garden 
 Chairs, Garden Engines, Morticing Machines. 
 
 Bullets of all sizes, and Buck Shot. S cts. per Ib. 
 
 Agricultural Books. A varied and general assort- 
 ment of these for sale. 
 
 JV'cw Implements. See is, $c. The subscribers request 
 samples sent to them of any new or improved Imple- 
 ments. Seeds. &c , which, if found valuable, extra paine 
 will be taken to bring them before the public. 
 
 Produce on Consignment. All kinds of Produce will 
 be received for sale on consignment. 
 
 Jl discount will be made from the above prices to dealers. 
 
 A Catalogue of over 100 pages, with numerous en- 
 gravings, 'containing a part of our Implements, with 
 prices, will be forwarded by mail, if requested port 
 paid. 
 
 A. B. ALLEN, St. Co., 
 189 and 191 Water street, New York
 
 New- York Agricultural Warehouse. 
 
 FANNING MILL. $11 to $27. 
 
 Considering the simplicity of its construction, and complete efficiency 
 in all its operations, we think the above mill is the best in use It 
 has taken the first premiums for three successive years at the State 
 Agricultural Society's Shows, and various county fairs. 
 
 We have this 
 pattern made 
 large, strong, 
 and fitted to go 
 by horse power. 
 One has cut a 
 ton of hay in 50 
 minutes, by a 
 fair trial, and 
 may be relied 
 upon for cutting 
 a ton in an hour 
 and a quarter. 
 
 SPIRAL STRAW CUTTER. $6.50 to $25.
 
 New-York Agricultural Warehouse. 
 
 PRUNING SHEARS $1.25 to $3.50. 
 
 POLE PRUNING 
 SHEARS. $5. 
 
 BURR-STONE MILL. 
 CACHKS $700 to $1000. $35 to $150. 
 
 FOLDING LADDKR 
 30 cts. per foot.
 
 GARDEN- IMPLEMENTS 
 
 IQ r a & i t s . 
 
 A. B. ALLEN & CO., 
 
 189 AND 191 WATER STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 
 THB subscribers keep constantly on hand and offer for sale, at their Agricultural Warehouse 
 and Seed Store, the largest assortment of Agricultural and Horticultural Implements, Field 
 and Garden Seeds to be found in the United State.-), among which are included the following : 
 
 LADIES' PRUNING SHEARS. 
 
 Fig. 1. denotes a small pair of shears which are very useful for trimming box trees and 
 bushes, as well as for many other purposes. 
 
 Fig. 2. shows another pair of pruning shears with wooden handles, which are handsomely 
 and finely made ; they are very con- 
 venient lor trimming shrubbery, &c., 
 that is too large to be cut by the scis- 
 sors or hand shears. 
 
 Fig 3. represents a pair of iron-handled 
 shears, designed for pruning raspber- 
 ries, rose bushes, &c. They have a 
 sliding centre and spring, and make a 
 perfectly smooth cut. 
 
 Fio. I. 
 
 Fin. 4. 
 
 Fiu. 'J,
 
 Fig. 5. represents a Triangular Iloe ; Fig. 0, a Garden Rake ; Fig. 7, a Pruning Saw and Chls- 
 ei ; Fig. 8, a Garden Syringe ; Fig. 9, a Fork-backed Hoe ; Fig. 10, a Fruit Gatherer ; Fig. 11, 
 u Gariii-n Trowel ; Fig. 1-, u light Gordon Spade. 
 
 Fio. 7. 
 
 i 
 
 Fio. 8. ' FIG. 9, 
 
 Fio. 10. 
 
 Fio. 11. 
 
 Fio. 1Z 
 
 Besides the foregoing, our Establishment embraces more than ONE HUNDRED different 
 kinds of Plow*, a great variety of Harrows, Cultivators, Rollers, Seed Sowers, Horse Powers, 
 TJireshin:? Machines, Mills, Corn-Stalk, Straw, and Hay Cutters, Corn Shelters, Shovels, Spades, 
 Hoes, Scythes, Rakes, Knives, &c. 
 
 .-lino. Seeds For the Field and Garden. Such aslmnrqved Winter and Spring Wheat, Rye, 
 Peas. Rutabaga, Turnip, Cabbage, Beet, O*rot, Parsnip'? Clover, and Grass Seeds, SH^., &c. 
 
 Fertiliser*. Peruvian and PaUuroniau Guano, Lime, Plaster of Paris, &c., &6. 
 
 Fruit and Ornamental 'frees ami Shrubs Orders taken for these, and executed from a 
 choice of the best Nurseries, Gardens, and Conservatories in the United States. 
 
 A. B. AI-LEN & CO., 189 and 191 Water St. New York. 
 
 The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, a monthly publication of 32 pages, octavo ; with im- 
 incrons handsome Embellishments. It is designed for the improvement of the Farmer. Hi,- 
 Planter, the Stock-Breeder, and the Horticulturist. Edited by A. B. & R. L. ALLEN. Published 
 by C. M. SAXTON. New York. Price $1 a yoar. Volume Ninth commenced January 1-t., 
 1850. Back volumes for sale, handsomely and uniformly bound. Price 1.25. 
 
 ESF'Any one procuring Cash Orders for goods in the Warehouse, or Subscriptions for tn 
 Americas Agriculturist, will be allowed a liberal 
 
 THE L 
 
 _ :
 
 
 095993 
 
 S585 
 T62c 
 1851