Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1845-06-07

fore. The learned author already quoted SHOVE
that arabic lands are the result Of The desin.
tegration Of rocks during many Thousand
years that this process il ever going on al
he surface Of The earth, and that many thou.
sand years will elapse before It i completed
By this process The alkalies md Ralte which
the earth contains, are gradually set free and
rendered fit for assimilation by plants and
when all the substances thus set free have
been taken up, plants requiring them vii.
cease to grow in the soil where they are wan.
ling and yet if il will require thousands o.
years 10 effect a complete d~esintegratiDn, the
nuautitv distracted By the cane in Louisiana
during n cultivation Of forty years, must be
infinitely small in relation 10 the quantity vel
remaining, and accordingly, it IL found, where
land supposed toabe exbauste', has been ana
lived, that Ii contains the same elements 81
the lerfte soils adjoining il, or f9pfd beneath
il, united in very nearly the same proportions
II il not The precise quantity Of the different Ell,
ements contained in otF soil, which it imports
rs to know, but that portion Of them which
is desintcgrated and fl for assimilation, this ]
appreheDd, chemistry cannot tell us.
If VIC could every year provide a sufficien.
Cy Of mixed animal and bagasse manure for
aI tho land we plant, 1t would be idle 10 in
qnire about the deficiencies Of the soil, since
that manure contains all the requisite sub
stances. Bnt, compelled as we are BY the Sc
verify Of the climate TO plant annually a large
portion Of our crops, We cannot save one sixth
of the quantity Of manure required. This
should be h]usbanded with care and placed in
rotation on the oldest lands for the remainder,
manure would have to be purchased at an ex-
'pense which would not be under thirty dollars
per acre, and the question naturally presents
itself; is it necessary 10 incur that expense
and the extra lab0ur To which il would give
rjsc2 Intelligent planters say that il is not,
and science j~ustlfies their opinion. If in the
lands that have been the longest in cultivation,
the alkalies fit for assimilation are partially eZ-
hausted, 1t should be remembered that the
plough has seldom gone beyond the depth Of
six or seven inches, and that below that depth,
is a virgin soil m all respects similar to tie
surface soil and deeper than the plough
can ever penetrate. SO that if a depth Of six
inches had yielded a aufjciency OF desiBtegra-
ted aIkaIies to cane crops during thirty years,
there il 10 reason Why the next dix inches
below should not do the same, provided they
can be brought 10 the surface and kept in good
filth. With the thorough drain system this
presents no difficulty, and II it can be FaiistaCto.
riIy accomplished with the open drains have
recommended. With those drainssa depth Of
pIoughing Of ten inches when the stubble is
broken up for corn, will give to the land
that cannot be MANFRED, all the substances
which The cane requires from the earth
but one it will not give a sufficiency Of nj
trogen. | stated last year that nitrogen or
ammonia could only be supplied in large guam
titles By manure, and | was not then aware
that any but animal manure could effect that
object. Further experience ard observation
have satisfied me that it is supplied in great
abundance by a process which has long been
followed without any clear conceptions Of ito
mode Of action | mean that Of covering the
land with peas as early in the summer as the
corn crops will permit. One Of the advanta-
gesof peas as a green crop, is, that they take
from the land none Of the alkaIies which the
requires, while their powerful system Of
roots has tendency o accelerate The desin-
tegration Of the soil. But their principal ac-
ton consists in shading tho land, thus preven-
ting the escape Of the ammonia which the rain
water deposits IN it, and fastening by shade
and humidity the decay going on at the sur
face and the formation Of nitre which ever fol-
lows it in warm climates. The leaves and
seed Of the pea are richer in nitrogen than any
other vegetable substance, and the result Of
their decay IS the formation of additional guam.
titles Of nitric acid, The nilre and nitric acid
thus fOrmed,a as vel. as The ammonia retained in
the soil, yield to The fol,wing crop Of cane the
nitrogen they contain. The method now ge-
morally adopted Of ploughiDg in the field trash
restores to the rattoons in a state ht for assl-
imitation, most of the alkaIies which the plants
took up in their growth, and should more am
mouia be wanted, by setting fire 10 the field
trash after a rain, the top part Of 1t is conVerted
into charcoal, which has the power of abs0r-
bling ninety Times it's volume OF ammonIa. 10
facilitate this operation, cane ought not to be
less than six feet apart. What pre-
cedes, and with it such frequent mogings Of
the soil as perpetualiy keep the young PLANTS
in an atmosphere of carbonic acid. is the meth
cd pursued in Louisiana by all successful
planters, and the only material Improvements
! would suggest to them are those Of thorough
draining and sub soil ploughinC,
There are, however, cheap mineral man
ures with which it would be weIIio try exper-
In hard clay lands, for instance, espe-
ciaIly if they are too near the level of The
swamp TO be ploughed deep with advantage,
quick lime applied TO the corn land at the rate
of fifty or sixty bushels 10 the acre, produces
an admirable effect upon the ensuing crops.
1t is itself one of the substances which the
cane requires and can replace others , aided
by crop Of peas it very much increases tie
of nitTe and nitro aciI formed al the
keeps the land in the finest state Of
filth causes the rapid decay of the inert We
substances which accumulate in it du-
ring repeated crops of cane, and is thus an
abundant source OF Carbonic acid. Land /
lined four years ago was planted again last
and the cane upon it is the best /
Experiments successfully made in Europe,
induce me to believe that we have all at home
a substance possessed of the same qualities
rs lime, and in higher degree. That substan-
&c is clay when burnt to ashes. | cannot des-
5rIbe the process by which 1t is prepared, you
will find it in a recent publication entitled the
Farmers Manual. II is sufficient TO state that
little or no fuel is required and that one small
loa.t Of the ashes is said to have a better
md more lasting effect than eight bushels OF
The ammonia which they absorb and
GEdIEg more EHdH replaces Tue ~ htdtIVu- Oo-
aimed BY lining, and the bufuirgdesintegrates
'ery large quantities Of alkalies. II Is to the
Of burning that the ineEhaustible fertil-
ty of lands formed by the eruption Of volea-
Ioes is to be attributed.
Common salt / have also tried with success,
It the rate of ten bushels to the acre. 1t gives ;
o the rant deep green colour and seems to
irevent the growth of grass.
l obseIv we'd that covering land with peas
aused the formation Of uItre. Ia Europe,
iitre and s~altpetre are both used upon grow
ng plants, at the rate of about one hundred
POUNDS per acre; ii is probable, that sprinkled
,efore the plough, here, when the land is first
brown to the cane, their effect would be SIM
lar to that of peas.