Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1853-09-22
AGRICULTURE r A l..
EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS OF
BENJAMIN HALLOWELL,
OF ALEXANDRIA,

IEXIRACIS FROM IHE ADDHESS OF
BENJAMIN HALLOWELL,
OF ALEXANDRIA.
At the First 4nnual Meeting ofthe Agricultural So
ciety Of Loudom County, Va. held Oct. 10, 1852.
in order to succeed in farming, the ground
should be we'll prepared for the crop for
which it is intended. If i. is wet, the firsl
object should be 10 get i, dry. This may
be done by drains. either surface or under
drains. A ditch for this purpose, whether
open or blind, should always be Gu, just on
tile border Of the fast land, as i. is from
thence the springs proceed which render the
contiguous parts wet. After the ground is
dry j, should be thoroughly acorked, bu, new
er worked when wet. The object to be
aimed at in working land is moi merely to
kill or turn under any grass and weeds lha,
may be upon the ground. but to pulverize
the soil, SO as TO render il readily pervlons
10 the roofs Of The plants, and also 10 adapt
i, 10 the absorption Of The various gases
which are promo.ive of.heir growth. Near
ly the whole structure Of plants aversying
about twentv-nne parts out Of ,hirtv) Is
composed Of four elementary bodies-car-
bon, h' drogcn. oxygen, and Nitrogen, which
are obtained by plants from gaseous COM
pounds. They derive their carbon from
csrbonic acid, their nitrogen from smmonis, },
their hydrogen and oxygen, in great part at
least, from The atmosphere and vapor, all Of
which are gaseous bodies. aud greatly sb-
sorbable by ffeshlv puIverized earth Hence
the bene6 arising from frequently working
corn and tobacco, even when no. grassy, as
the ground is thereby rendered more capa-
BILE of absorbing these gssses with which t."
nuiish The grow ing plants. In fact, il is far
less the grass among>corn and tobacco than
the aUant Of aUorki g that such growth of
grass indicates that IL unEavnrsble 10 these
crops. Also. The humus, of vegetable mould
contained in The SOIL is useless to ihe plant
ull, by lis union win The oxygen Of the air,
II Is converted into csrhonIc acid. When
the ground is pulvetlzed the absorption of
air or oxygen Is increased. and consequently
more oi The bumus is converted into carbo-
nc acid for 'he n"urishmen, Of The plant.
When the ground Is DIV and well work
| ed, The next thIng Is 1" select good and clean
seed. Too 1i,tIe a'ieotion is generally Civ
II +, The stIcrunn of seed. WIZ, corupa-
| faIvely lIltle ,'ouble fs,me nigh, 10 most
cases, by collecting those heads, ears. or
vines that are large and rpen early, select
seed from their own crops better adapted lc
her soil Than that which they could pro-
cure from abroad. Large Of The kind and
glossy seed should be preferred.
Then The seed mus, be placed in the
ground al the proper depth. The object OF
o. ,pHn nd
preserve tina, state 81 II, ,,s.ure which will
Impsrl huidIty To lhe m,leIi,ls into which
The grain is graduaIl, changed in The process
OF geTmIna,ion, and thereby admit Of their
q rsngement in obedience to The law Of or
sanic life with which The plan, is endowed.
II no! placed sufficiently deep, the sums heat,
by evaporatlng The moisture. will prevent OF
destroy this fuIduy and kill The germ. II
at TOO great depth, the excess of moisture
and want Of sufficient heat and air diminish
the vigor Of the plan, in The early stages Of
lis development, and render i, more feeble
in its subsequent growth. By its placing all
the grains a, uniform and proper depth,
rightly constructed drill is Of great advan
,age in putting in wheat. The lhickesl
wheat on the ground that ever saw was IN
a field Of my friend, Dr.. Mobiles Of Phils-
deIphla, on his farm in Delaware. 1t was
Mediterranean wheat, seeded by drill, with
but three pecks to The acre. The surface
Of the whole field look ed like one uniform
compact group Of heads; hu, on stooping
down it could be dscerned that the Stake
were in rows, standing about eight inches
apart. There is another advantage in seed
ing with Q drill. The stalks being in rovs
admits OF circulation of sIr near the croacn
OF the plant, or the part where the ROOT and
stalk join, which is the tender and vital part.
IT those who use the drill, instead of run
ming 1t, as is generally done, once or twice
along the head lands, across the ends Of
these rows, were TO take liule care 10 ex-
tend the rows entirely out, and thus admit
oi more free circulation Of air near the
roofs from one side Of The field to the other,
they would be well compensated for their
trouble. As previously slated, nutr,ive
gases are absorbed from the air by the earth;
and, these being then admitted freely be-
tween the rows Of stalks, would be absorb
ed, end pass 10 the nourishment of the
plant.
When wheat is sown thin it often bran
ches, or stoles out, SO that when soil and
season are favorable number of stalks ore
produced from single groin. Blu. each
staK has It's o'c1 roots to supply i, by beau
'lfu provision of nature each pzumule that
ascends has corresponding radicle ,ha,
descends, to convey it nourishmen, imme-
dIa'eiy from the earth; SO ,hs, j, is as we'll
served as if it proceeded directly from a
grain. And it may be remarked in this con-
nexion that the same thing is true in The
branching Of a tree each branch, like q
stole Of wheat, sends down its own roots
90 that q large limb, BY a continuous vas