The Union and journal., 1861-12-27
Volume rs.

Y
its power to preserve ail that may be useful
to them extends much further. II rain, or
other water holding in solution, anmo,'a,
potash, phOsphoric aud siiioie aads be bought
in contact with soil, thesc substances disap-
pear almost Immediately from ths solution
the soil withdrsws them from the water
Only such substances are completely with
drawn by the soil as are hndi,pensi6le articles
Of food for plants all Others remain wholly
or in part in solution
1T must be So Liebig. 'thou reasonest
WE'LL else tho millions Of acres Of fertile
prairie land would have been us barren rs the
sands Of Cape Cod. And the fertility OF the
alluyil soil bordering on the Nile, would
have had its fertility leaehed out by the an
pual oycrflowing Of that river, thousands Of
wears before the sons Of Jacob went to Egypt
to purchase corn. and that, according to
Biblical chronology, was 3 ,56S years ago
There has been an annual overaowing Of the
same land ever since, and yet these $500 and
odd freshets have not lessened the fertility OF
the soil-they are as productive now as in
the time OF the Pharoahs.
Thousands Of our swamps have been
saturated with water most Of tho time, sever
since the food, yet drain them, throw up
the muck, sow oats or grass seed, and such
is the fertility Of these water-soaked soils,
that they will yield as heavy crops as can be
grown by the use Of iarm-yard manure.
The fertiliEing ingredients of rich alluyial
soil, swamp muck aud stable or other animal
manure, are identical-with this difference,
these iertilzing ingredients in the manures
can be mostly leached out, but not 30 in the
soil Now, II the farmer applies his farm
manurcs to grass land in autumn, the rain
and melting SHOWS will leach out large por-
ton Of the fertilizins constituents OF the
manures. These, before thcspriDg plowing,
will have mostly soaked into the soils, which
seizes upon and retains them as miser does
his gold, aud the soil will not part with them,
only to growing crops and the eruciblc of the
chemist.
Scores Of facts and experiments might be
cited to prove the correctness Of Mr.. Thomas
advice. Just read the reported "practice Of
J. Beatty& Sons, Cayuga County, in APP
plying the manure for their corn the previous
autumn, in the left hand column-exactly
opposite Mr.. Goodman's letter.
This power Of absorption in soils was
published by Prof Way in 1850, he having
experimental largely, by filtering the foul
water from the sewers Of London, and feotid
water in which fax had been STEPPED, putrid
urine, &c. 1t was lound that when "a this.
sand and l-4th, white clay, in powder placed
in jars to the depth Of six inches, the foul
liquids came through the filterer free from
smell and scarcely to bo distinguished from
ordinary water. But to make u short story
of this matter, it was discovered that the clay
or aluminous portions of soils possess the
power Of chemically combining with not
only the gacious compounds Of dccomposing
animal matter. but also with the alkalies,
ammonia, potash, soda, phosphates, mag
nesia, &c.
This, said Prof. Way, isa wonderful prop
erty of soil, and appears to bo an express
provision Of nature. "Apower is here found
to reside in soils, by virtue ofwhich, not only
is rain unable to wash out Of them those
soluble ingredients forming necessary
condition Of vegetation; but even these COM
pounds, when introduced atifcially by
manures, are laid hold of and fxed in the
soil to the absolute prcclusion either by rain
or evaporation.
Mr.. Charles Lawrence, an eminent English
agriculturist, about that time stated in the
London Ag Gazette, that autumnal manuring
Immediately followed and covered by the
plow,is the most valuable discovery, perhaps,
in its results, for which agriculture has been
indebted to science. This statement was
founded upon the then recently published
experiments Of Prof. Way, who he says has
clearly established the fact that the soil has
the peculiar property Of absorbing and ap-
propriating all those elements of manure in
termlxed with it which arc essential to the
growth Of plants
Most Of the farmers in this section plow
their green sward in autumn, to DO planted
in the spring with corn. They cart out
their manure in the fall and place il in large
heaps on or near the plowed field. In the
spring reload the manure, lay it out in heaps,
spread and harrow in. II is no triGing job
to re-loada hundred loads Of manure next
spring, and cart il over the furrows, which
are much more soft in the spring, besides it
is usually busy season with farmers, and
their teams are not then usually in as good
working order Us they were in the fall.
If the farmer had manure to draw out in
autumn and wishes to invert his green sod at
that season Of the year, it is my opinion the
better way is to first plOw, then cart on the
manure, spread it and harrow in. II he
does not wish to "treak up" till spring, then
cart and spread the manure ON the grass
lands intended for spring plowins, II the
manure il intended for grain or corn stubble,