The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-05-29
FARMERs, DEPARTMENT.
ssThe farmers crop their living from their crops,
And each mansirares the blessing of their shares"
......., ,...4,.. From the Prairie Farmer.
siAnnlvsia OF SOil.D lsf l5'a j

sdt fa.Gl ef,ts .iAnalysis OF SOil." g. ."a
MEssRs. EDIroRs: I have seen several COM
munications in the Prairie Farmer on the above
subject. But practice a method somewhat
different from that usually recommended by
scientific amateurs. The system is plain, simple
and practicable requiring neither crucbe, retort,
nor acid; no weighing, nor boiling. generally
analyze by the acre, as my system does as we'll
for largehs minor quantities 1tmay be denomi-
mated the Puloerizing System. rG:bliaa ,aS@ z
But your readers can better Judge of its mer-
its by the results than by any pompous des-
cription which might give. I will therefore
state results, together with the modus operandi,
as applied to "a acres Of prairie land last season;
divided between ii acres Of Corn, 9 acres OF
Oats and acre of Ruta Baga.
The soil lisa deep clay loan, with just sand
enough to polish the plough like mirror; has
a southern exposure; with here and there a
halle thicket interspersed; and has been under
cultivation three or four years The corn
ground we commenced Analysing in April, with
the plough, about six inches deep; after which
with the same plough with which we turned it
over. On the 2Sth day of May we planted with
dry dent corn, two men following the ploughs;
from three to six kernels in the hill; and covered
with the drag, which completed the pulverizing
process for the first time. The boys then ran the
same ploughs through the rows, twice in every
row, three different limos The result was So
bushels of sound corn per acre; which, when in
the crib, cost about eight cents per bushel.-The
Oats were sown in the furrow, two bushels per
acre, dragged twice, cut very green with Nc
Cormack's Reaper, and yielded so bushels per
acre; besides one ton per acre of the very best
kind of fodder, out of which the oxen and other
stock have been manufacturing hiring this
winter-The Ruta Baga crop was sown from
glass vial, through hole in the cork, in ridges
made by back burrows, after second ploughing,
about the goth of June hoed twice, and ploughed
twice; and yielded 400 bushels to the one acre.
Now by having the quantities of the crops,
your readers have only to turn to the tables OF
Liebig, Bousngault, or Johnston, to ascertain
the precise results of the foregoing analysis in
carbon, oxygen, ammonia, saccharine matter,
&C. But for all practical purposes believe it
will do to state the result in plain English, as
follows
700 bushels Corn, cost, 8 cts. per BUSH, 1856.
Sells for Is cts. per bush; profit on Ia acres,
1l9.
$50 bushels Oats, cost, 10 cts per BUSH, s$45.
Sells for IS cts. per bush; profit on acres,
1867 so.
400 bushels Ruta Baga, cost cts. per BUSH,
SO. Worth 4 cents per bushel; profit on one
acre, $8. @
What the corn fodder and straw are actually
worth, in dollars and cents, l am unable to say,
but consider their value, when converted into
manure by the aid ofstock, as equal to IS pei
cent, of the deterioration caused to the soil by
the crops; and the growth Of the stock while
manufacturing the manure, as equal to Is pei
cent. more: so you see that by my process you
can get fair crop, and keep your land in as
good plight as when you began,-many think
better.
That the result of the above analysis would
have been larger, had more pains been taken In
the execution, have no doubt. But such as it
is, you have; and from the result am satisfied
that all our soil wants is cultivation, TO produce
more than the world will consume. California,
with all its vast deposites of gold, does not pos
sess 1.-THE of the resources inherent in the rich
soil of the praries of the Mississippi Valley.
This may seem visionary babbling: but time
will show. To be better understood, will say,
that, take ten or one hundred men, all things
being equal in health and means, let one half 60
to California and dig, and one-half to our prairie
soil and dig, and in ten years the prairie diggers
will be able to buy the gold diggers and keep
them. Yours, SILEx.
Castle Comfort, Dubuque Co.
Iowa, March 6, 1850.