Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-03-15
farm, Garden 4 4ypnsfhola,
DOMESTIC FERTILIZERS.

The effect Of a proper application of or
ganic chemistry and vegetable physiology to
the cultivation Of the soil, are obvious
Hence experiments in agricultural science are
more tenaciously bent in that direction. To
produce both the largest and best crops from
a given surface, is the desideratum of sue
cess.
A fertile soil is necessary to exhibit the
capabilities of q crop. Many of our agricul-
tural plants are the result of high cultivation,
in which an artifcially fertilized soil was the
principal factor. The originals Of our nu-
merous varieties of turnip, cauliAower, broc-
coli and cabbage are wretched weeds. DIFF
ferent plants, from peeuliarities in their
structure, draw differently on their same
stores of nutriment Rye will grow where
wheat is Improbable while buckwheat will
yield fair crop on exceedingly poor soil. A
plant which is ofslow protracted growth, viii
organize more vegetable matter on given
soil during Summer time than one which
grows quickly.
The elements on which plants feed are de-
rived from the air and earth in the former
are ammonia, carbonic acid and water lin the
latter are silicic aud phosphoric acid,
potash, lime and magnesis. Water is the We
hicle by which they are brought to the roots
as well as circulated through the structure of
the plants All the elements necessary to the
constitution of the plant must be present
Animals instincively select their appropriate
food from the vegetable kingdom vegetables
take what is nutritive from the earth
and air and the earth itself appropriates
from the water which permetrates its particles
whatever is useful to the plant.
Now while Agricultural science may never
be able to demonstrate to a nicely what in
ingredients in the soil should be fostered and
maintained, and which subdued or removed,
there are certain general principles of which
none of US should remain ignorant 1t is well
known that vigorous vegetation rapidly ex.
hausts the soil, and that those manures which
restore the elements of which the soil has
been robbed, are the most nutritiye. Some
substances merely qualify the physical prop
critics of soils and are termed amendments
others operate in the main by feeding yege-
tation, and are known as fertilizers. Most
mauures combine these several Offices to q
greater or less degree some nourish direct
y, by supplying at once to the growing plant
the nutriment It requires others, indirectly,
by making soluble the stores Of the soil, or
otherwise dsposing them to assume assimi-
liable forms, or by absorbing matter from the
atmosphere. The most permanent and abun.
dant manures are the excrements and waste
of animals, These are the residue, more or
less concentrated, that remains from the oXy-
dation of vegetables which have served as
food And by their admixture, under,
the agencies Of warmth and moisture, the
soil more speedily assumes a suitable condi-
ton for nourishing fresh vegetation.
The great practical lessons taught by ezpe-
rience and confirmed by science, relative to
the use of manures, are-saUe all the refuse
,ghick contains aRy of the elements Of uegeta-
ton apply uBuHdaHtly The o,irod iagredi-
e1,ts Of the dung and compost heaps.
Commercial manures should be used eau
hously, experimentally. Those very rich in
nitrogen will ultimately impoyerish land by
virtue of the great energy of action they ex-
hibit The nitrogen passes into ammonia,
excites quick growth of vegetation by fur
nishing abundance of material for cell deyel-
opment while it at the same time rapidly
solves the fixed minerals of the soil.
Stable manure is Of inestimable value. It
=, r. L. ,t~4o- hoe
only to be rendered friable and soluble to
enter again into their composition. Ashes
or lime should not be added to the manure
heap of the stable, as they viii do harm by
setting free the ammonia. Next in value are
the composts. No prudent farmer win IN
derestimate them. In some out. .ofsight cor
ner should be accumulated all the rubbish
that can have the least value as manure.
Here can be thrown the sweepings Of the
yard, decayed vegetable matter Of all kinds,
old plaster, SCOT, charcoal dust, soap suds,
kitchen and chamber slops, etc The heap
should be dug over occasionally, adding ash
es and lime. The ashes Of burned yegeta
bles are worth boarding up. They contain
all that the plant necessarily derived from the
soil, the burning nroces merely having ex-
PEELED the gases which we're Immediately or
remotely derived from the air. 1t is folly for
the country to spend millions of dollars an
nually for manures from the Chinca Islands,
when on every farm exists or can be produ.
ced, without cost, better and more reliable
fertilizers. Let our agricultural friends re-
member these desultory remarks. By putting
them into practice they viii be abundanty
remunerated. ed.-Fdrm and Fircside.