Oxford Democrat., 1856-02-01
Charcoal Dust rs a Manure.

Tho application or charcoal lustas mau-
uge Irr different crop. las occasionally hau
rtrrcl &, iu works ou Arr.sulmrr hut wc
hear u. few recent esp riw.a's going t' iri
it- value. Asau absorbent oi various -asrs
ttl, often usrI iu thr mauuhrtur, Of arti-
lrial manure. AMI hos sometimes hcru up.
r..rI alone 90 thc -uil. Johnston, in hi.
Agricultural Chemistry, r.htry an expert
mental trial 90, charcoal dust upon swedish
lamirs, whsre an application of .U bushels
T,r arr. increased t.s crop by thra, tons.
Ilr attribute, 90. c.Graey iu part TO It, pow.
,r ol al,,,rlIu. from tbr air, 1r of retaining
in o.. sau tla,a -lsru. substance which
plant, r,luirr, aul ia part @, doe slow decay
which it &. itself capable OF undergoing
In moist charcoal dust -sr,is rrrmuatr rap
il,y and vi.h remarkable certainty, show
ing ,aat it supple, thr conditions necessary
o, vegetable -r1a,h ,rry abumlau,Iy.
Ar.rrutwr.,rrmtlrN. T.. Farmer thinks
charcoal 1r,, 0C much value on dry soils,
aul give. ,hc rllo0us instance uf its ap-
r'iau,n. IN l,11 hc gar,-l olI thc top oi
knoll rr ,ha rurrg,, of l.,g,ius hi, land
-akir. from two &, six ct of thr surface
s1il from ll'..u acre, AMI leaving hgl Of
ro,r,r sandy ,,il hll %, "c,hh.c." 70 ,hj,
hc applied a compost OF forty cart load. OF
meadow muck, le,Dmpl-.i with she'll lime
AMI sll, brine. tn load, 0l sandy lDlm, two
AMI q half cords of charcoal dust, thrown
into a heap. with ava alliiou OF fifteen har-
rrls orligul from ,hc rls work,, and the
whole then WORKED overland mixed thorough
lv. Il wa, lclt standing four week. and
then spread upon the half acre, rlowcl AMI
cru,s.pl1wcd t, the depth II ton inches, anl
narrowed until well mixed with the sand
bed. II was .lwcl {, oats and seeded 20
.rass, AMI hal produced excellent crops each
sa.Jn. Last summer, which was rcmarka-
ole dry, he took Oh two crops Of gras both
aycracin. four ton. o. thoacrc.
The application or the muck at the same
time destroy. the di,,inr,nr,s Of the expert.
mgnt. hut the wyi,nr attributes the entire
freedom from the effects OF the drouih, aul
the remarkable growth Of thc grass, mainly
o. the clal dust. lie SAYS, "whcreyor |
turned up the earth and found the creates,
mass Of coal, there | found the most mois-
turc, and the grass roots seemed 20 posses,
"a particular i,uducss % twinc among it
The piece lay high and dry-yct while low
grounds in the vicinity were parchel and
serc, this was as green as If fscsh from frc-
luon, showers.
It isa well known fact that charcoal pi;
bottoms produce large crops Of whatever
may b, s5wn upon them for many years in
succession, and various thcoric, have been
advanced u account for this l)ns.cpntinucd
fertility. Il has been attributed to the coal
dust, 70 the ashes, and TO the burning of the
,1il, but the amount Of ashes usually LEFT j.
very small, aud the burning Of the soil is
not greater than often results from the com.
bustion Of large log heap, the effects OF
which soon disappear. We should be glad
Of more light on this subject, and submit It
to oar farming friends as one worthy to be
tested by careful experiment. upon such soils
as seem destitutc Of carbonaccous matter, g.
pecially. II any reader has observed facts,
or tried experiments having a bearing upon
the subjcct, We should be glad to receive an
account Of the same for publication,
Rural New Yorker.