Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1845-07-03
A GBT0wMTwWN
PHILOSOPHY OF WHEAT CULTURE.

wheat He calls to mind. that from the an
ysis of Sprengel, the mineral proportion
: the plan! amounts only to three per cent.
the whole, and that wood ashes presents vel
: nearly the same mineral constituents and
:. the same proportions; whence he infers, TIL
o soils the most wanting in these constituent
Q may be supplied with sufficient quantity f
i all wheat bearing purposes by small dress
ing OF ashes. He goes on to say - ~.
'Being but slowly decomposed by the vits
action of plants, ashes are an enduring fer
tilizer when compared with stable manure
Mixed with quick lime, their good effects art
more speedily obtained. Lime will render
alumni, either in the soil or in leached ashes
soluble in water, SO that it can onter the mi
mute pores of roots. Clay in the soil is al
ways combined with large portion Of silica !,
land before il has been exhausted by continual
creeping it holds in combination considerable
potash and sotk. Lime, by combining with
Alumni, the basis Of clay, liberates these ,al-
kalies and silica, which uniting chemically,
form soluble silicates of potash and soda.
These also enter into the circulating nourish-
ment of plants, and are decomposed in tho
stems Of grasses and cereals. The silica goes
TO make vegetable bone, to keep the plant,up
right; while the potash and soda 60 back to
the earth, to dissolve, as before, another por-
ton of sand, TO be also absorbed, and trans
formed into bone. 1t is in This way that "a
lew ashes, applied TO a sandy soil, twill enable
grass and grain to take up the eighy-one per
cent. Of film, found in their ashes. Lime will
do the same thing on clay soils, for the SIM
pie reason that they generally do not lack
potash, soda, and magnesia. as,
"Ihe quantity of lime and ashes, to be aP-
piled to an acre, will depend entirely on their
cost at the place where they are to be used'
A few bushels will he of essential service;
but large dose will be better.
81 come now to speak of the organic ele@
ments OF the wheat PLAN, which, as have all
ready intimaed, form ninety-six or ninety
seven per cent. of It's substance.-Water and
IFS constituents, oxygen and hydrogen, car
bon and nitrogen, are the four elementary in
gradients of'all cultivated plants, beside their
minerals. As there is no lack Of water or Of
its elements, oxygen and hydrogen, our atten-
ton will be confined to obtaining a full sup
ply of carbon and nitrogen These are indis-
pensible, and fortunately nature has provided
an amount OF carh and nitrogen in the air,
if not in the oil. more than equal to all the
wants of vegetation A large portion Of the
ferlilizing elements of vegetable mould, in
rich soil, is carbon, aud small portion is nj
lrogen both of which are usually combined
with other substances. These important ele-
menls are often nearly exhausted in fields
which have been unwisely cultivated and.I
have paid much attention to the subject of
cheap and practical renoyation.
"By the aid of clover and buckwheat Dress
ed with gypsum, ashes, lime, manure, and
f'ioughed III when in blossom, much can be-
done in the way Of augmening the rich veg
etabe mould so'desirable to certain degree.
in all soils. Straw, corn-stalks, leaves of
iorest-trees, and swamp muck, made into
compost with lime and ashes, are of great
value. Charcoal well pulversed, and satur-
ated with urine, regard as the cheapest and
most useful fertilizer that can be applied to g
poor soil, for the production Of wheat or al
most any other crop. - ss.
"lhe earihs contained in charcoal, as the
analysis OF It's ashes demonstrates, are iaen-
tlcal with the earths found in the wheat plant.
Coal contains very large portion Of carbon,
and VIII Imbbe from the atmosphere a large
quantity of nitrogen in the form of ammonia.
and It's carbonates.-Unllke stable manure,
the salts of lime, potash, soda and magnesa.
ii Will not waste by premature solution nor
by evaporation. On the contrary, it is Of in
calculable value TO mix with the liquid and
solid excretions of all animals TO absorb and
fix in a tangible condition those volatile, fer
tilIsIng elements, which are so prone TO escape
beyond our reach
"When it is recolocted that without nitro.
gen in some form, it is utterly impossible 10
grow one kernel of good wheat, and that a
pint OF human urine or four quarts of that Of
the COW, or one quart of that of the horse fed
on grain, contain nitrogen enough TO supply
sixty lbs. Of wheat, we may begin 20 under
stand something of the money, value of this
animal product. But mind this suggestion
n olhing is sooner lost than the hartshorn, in
an open smelling bottle, or large share of
the ammonia in free urine in warm atmos-
phere Charcoal and gypsum will absorb it
In large quantities, and give it out at the roofs
of plants as their wants require. In feeding
plants, great judgment should be exercised.
AT least one-haif Of the food fed out to them
in the shape of stable and barn-yard mannre,
is entirely lost. 1T escapes into the air, or 10
dissolved prematurely, and carried like the
potash in water running through leach, be-
You'd the rcac!! Of your hungry if not starving
plants.
81 have just separated half pound Of wheat
-four into It's proximate elements of starch
and gluten. The gluten | have in nv hand.
Ii is nearly identical with animal muscle. il
forms from seven 10 thirty-five per cent OF,
the bulk Of wheat kernels The more gluten
flour contains, the more good bread given
number OF pounds will make. A barrel Of
flour rich in gluten, will make ten per cent more
OF bread than one which is nearly all starch