New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-03-23

othel hu!ePeusdoie ngreClentS III lis composition
Millions OF days OF hard labor are annually thrown
away in New York alone, in a vain attempt to
tFansnute one mineral into another. Our farmers
are searching for some strange philosophers stone
that viii change lime into potash, potash into
magDeSla, magnesIa into flint, fnt into clav clay
into sulphur sui hur into iron, iron into phospho-
rus, phosphorus into nitrogen, notrogen into car
bon, and carbon into oxygen. When a man can
make the half OF thing equal TO the whole, then
ne may raise good crop of wheat where the
soil lacks one half Of the elements of that gram.
Your Committee believe it practicable to in
crease the annual products OF our present rural
industry 53i per cent, wilhou. the aid OF one dol
lar OF additional capital that is, they believe that
tal! onehlrd OF all agricultural labor is literally
thrown away By It's misappication. The uniform
laws OF nature Will not vary nor accommodate the
needless ignorance OF man. Hence II follows that
man must apply his labor IN strict conformity to
the uneFrlng laws that govern the changes OF mat
ter, or toll on through llfe giving two days work
for those necessarleS and comforts, which I'M
derstandlng OF the laws OF nature would have Sc
cured TO him in exchange for days work
The whole doctrine of eternal hard work and pen
urlous LIVING as the beStmeanS Of acquiring wealth
or the comforts of life, your Committee deem
sound. The inevitable effect OF this popular sys-
tenn is to degrade and bruufv. rather than TO cle-
vate our race. Mere muscular labor, mere me-
chanlcal power, no matter how great Its force,
without adequate knowledge to guide and direct
it, is far more likely TO act wrong than right, for
the simple reason that there are .fre ,rrong 'rdys
TO DO almost every thing, where there is one right
rQy.
AIlmen have intellectual organs that require
J
than stomachs which need daily food. Has not
the Creator of man manifested his appreciation OF
human efforts to acquire wisdom, even worldly
wisdom, by making the ignorant in all chimes,
and in all ages Of the world the SERVANTS of the
rise?
A knowledge Of the arts Of ploughing, sowing
and reaping may do for the purpose OF wearing
out productive farm, but something more is ne
cessary to enable its owner TO give back annually
to each of his cultivated fields the precise ele-
ments removed by the harvest and that too at
least possible expense.
Suppose farmer now cultIvateS SIX acres of
land in wheat, to harvest 100 bushels, how is he
to manage so as to grow 1873 bushels at the same
expense If he can raise 333 bushels per acre
on four acres, that will giyeh the amount deslr-
ed and save the whole cost of cultlvatlng two
acres Of land. This saving may be set down at
IS per acre, which will give 8 surplus to De ex-
pended in purchasing the raw material to produce
the extra &c bushels of wheat the four acres to
be cultivated bya new process. As about Upper
cent of ripe wheat plants consist of carbon and
water, charcoal must be an important element III
lertilizing the soil OF the other s per cent about
onehalf is nitrogen, and the other moiety is made
up scoa, potash, soda, magnesla alumlna, phos.
phorus, sulphur, chlorine and tract of IRON
Let the wheat grower take 100 bushels of char
coal, grindit fine in bark mill or pulvcrize ii well
with fails on threshing floor, and add thereto
five bushels of ground plaster. This would not
cost in most farming districts in this State over
81, and if the coal and gypsum be placed in
vat or large tub and saturated with the urine of
cattle, or partly mostcncd with the liquid cxcre-
tons of the human species, and have five bushels
tain all the elements of 1873 bushels of good wheat.
In case the the urine cannot be had, the addition
of four bushels of salt will give all the soda and
chlorine that is needed, while the ashes will urn-
ish all the potash, silica and magnesia required
The plaster will yield the sulphur and lime, and
bushel of bone dust Will give the phophorus. a
little copperas will supply the necessary iron, and
the charcoal will not only yield carbon but it will
when it comes from the clouds.
All these constituents Of wheat can be best ap-
piled to the soil before sowing the seed, but top
dressing Of a compound Of coal, plaster, ashes and
salt, moisencd with whatever urine can be col
lccted, may be applied to winter or spring wheat
in April of MAY, with signal benefit to the crop,
Deep ploughing and thorough draining are I'M
portant aids in wheat culture, for reasons which
,,our cop,pnjttoe will not StoD tn eyDlaln.
The liberal use of freshly burned lime is very
beneficial by the way Of correcting any acld'ty OF
soil and also by absorbing carbonic acid from
the air, to be given up to the roots OF plants, and
thereby promote their growth. A pint of human
urine contains ammonia enough to supply bush
ell Of wheat with all the nitrogen it needs. And
it is worthy Of remark that wheat well supplied
with nitrogen in ammonia, will contain from ten
to twenty per cent. more gluten than 1t would II
it lacked that element, while the wheat that
abounds in gluten wlm from seven to fifteen
per cent. more good bread than the same quantl-
ty Of flour composed almost entirely OF starch
In Flanders farmers pay forty shllllngs, or near
~ ten dollars year for the urine OF single COW
for that length of time, to be used in the culture Of
wheat and other crops. Common sense would
seem to teach every agrcuturlst that he should
restore to his fields every particle Of the liquid and
solid eScretions Of all animals that feed upon his
crops
A little study of the science of animal physlo-
ogy would convince every practical farmer that
not far from onethird OF all the grass, hay, roots,
and grain that enters the mouths of his domestic
animals is needlessly lost, owing to some remova-
BILE defect in the organic structure. Less than one
half Of the solid matter taken into their stomachs
is voided by the bowels and kidney. On an ave
raye. more than three fourths of all the carbon that
exists in all the food OF respiratory animals escapes
through the lungs. The action ofthese important
organs, which never ceases ght or day, governs
the elaboration of muscle, fat, milk, and wool III
such domestic animalsa are KEEP. for their strength