The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1864-01-16
Wood Ashes and Charcoal for Wheat.

In n paper read some years since oeIoro
meeting at the State House, Albany, N. y, DR.
Lee, an able friend Of agriculture, presented
some very valuable suggestions relative e
wheat culture. In the analysis OF Sprengei !
Is asserted that the m insral proportion OF Il
amounts to only about three per cent. OF thu
whole; and that In wood ashes We have very
nearly the same mineral ingredients, and in al.
most precisely the sa,ne proportions. Hence
the inference that soils most deficient In wheat
growing prin ,iplcs would be greatly ben6tted
II not actually made capable Of producing ex.
cellent crops, simply by small dressing OF
ashes. --... -..r...
AS regards charcoal. the expense Of supply.
ing sufficient quantity to the soil would not
be large. Charcoal Is not manure In itself,
properly so considered, but merely caterer Of
pa5iiium. Twenty bushels Of finely pulverized
charcoal to the acre. would probably be suffi.
cient for most soils, and rs, from Its well known
indestructbility II endurs unchanged for
years, the application would scarcely require
repeating oftener than every eighth or tenth
season, to produce unmitigated, its most salu-
tary effects. As regards ashes, DR.. Leo says
"Being but slowly decomposed by the vital nc
ton of plants, ashes are an enduring fertilizer
when compared with stable manure. Mixed
with quick lime, their good effects are more
speedily obtained. Lime will render alunna,
either in the soil or in leached ashes soluble in
water, so II can enter the minute pores OF the
roots Clay in the soil rs always combined with
q large portion Of silica and before 1t has been
exhausted by continual cropping, II holds in
combination considerable potash and Soda
Lime, by combining with alumina the basis OF
clay, liberates these alkalies and silica, which
uniting chemically, form soluble silicatcs OF
potash and Soda" These also enter into tho
circulating nourishment of plants, and are de-
composed In the stems Of grasses and cereals
The silica goes to make vegetable bone, to keep
the plant upright; while the potash and soda
60 back to the earth, to dissolve, as before, an:
other portion OF sand to be also absorbed and
transformed into bone. 1t Is In this way that
few ashes, applied to sandy soil, will enable
grass and grain to take up the eighty-One per
cent. of flint found in their ashes. Lime will do
the same thing on clay soils, for the simple
reason that they generally do not lack potash,
soda and magnesia."
In relation to the organic elements Of this veg
etable-a subject rs yet but impcrfcctly under
stood by the great mass of practical agricultu-
rists, DR.. L. remarks:
"I come now to speak of the organic elements
Of the wheat plant, which, as have already in
timated, form ninety-six or ninety-seven per
cent. of its substance. Water and its constitu-
ents, oxygen and hydrogen, carbon and nitro:
I'll,
cultivated plants, besides tl,eir minerals. As
there Is no lack Of water or OF Its elements, or
ygen and hydrogen, our attention will be con.
fined to obtaining full supply Of carbon and
nitrogen. These are Indispensable, and, fortu-
nately, nature has provided an amount OF car
bon and nitrogen in the air, II not In the soil,
more than equal to all the wants Of vegetation.
A large portion OF the fertilizing elements OF
vegetable mould, in rich soil. Is carbon, and
q small portion Is nitrogen both OF which are
usually combined with other substances. These
important elements are often nearly exhausted
In fields which have been unwiscly cultivated
and have paid much attention to the subject
of cheap and practical renovation. BY the aid
of clover and buckwheat, dressed with gypsum,
ashes, lime, or manure, and plowed In when In
blossom, much can be done In the way Of aug
menting the rich vegetable mould so desirable
to certain degree, In all soils. Straw, corn
stalks. leaves of forest trees and swamp muck.
made into compost with lime and ashes, are OF
great value. Charcoal. we'll pulyerized, and
saturated with urine, Iregard rs the cheapest
aud most useful fertilizer that can be applied to
a poor soil, for the production OF wheat, or al-
most any other crop.
The earths contained in charcoal, rs the m.
alysis of its ashes demonstrates, are identical
with the earths found in the wheat plant. Coal
contains very large portion Of carbon, and
will imbibe from the atmosphere large luan-
tity OF nitrogen In the form of ammonia and its
carbonates. Unlike stable manure, the salts OF
lime, potash, soda and inagnesia, II will not
waste by premature solution nor by evapora-
ton. On tho contrary, it is of incalculable val
ne to mix with the liquid and solid excretons
of all animals to absorb and fix in q tangible
condition those volatile, fertilizing elements.
which are so prone to escape beyond our reach"
De Sansure found THAT charcoal formed from
box wood, in twenty -four. hours absorbed and
retained within its pores, the following volumes
of the several Casses below named