New-York tribune., 1870-10-01

So'iS Io oy, Sclence VIII more and moro be roc0g-
hized aud accepted the true substantial base of
efficient and profitable cultivation Let me here give
briefly the grounds of this conviction:
Every plant is composed Of elements whereof
very small portion is drawn from the soil, while
the am?ler residue, so long as the plant continues
green and growing, is mainly water though a
variable and often considerable proportion is i'm
bibed or absorbed from the atmosphere, which is
derstood to yield freely nearly ali the elements
quired of it, provided the plants otherwise in
healthfu and thrifty condition. Water is supplied
from the sky, from springs and streams; and lit
Tie more than the most ordinary capacity for obser
walton is required to determine when it is present in
sufficient quantity. when in baeful excess But who.
unaided by Science decide whether the soil does
or does not contain the elements requisite to the lux
| uriant growth and perfect development OF wheat.
or Fruit. or Grass OF Beets. or Apples Who knows.
he blindly infers from results what mineral
ingredients of this or that crop are deficient in
given field. and what present in excessf And
how shall any be emil ghtened and assured on the
| point, unless by the aid of Science
| have bought and applied to my farm some two
| thousand bushels of Lime. and ten or dozen tuus
of Plaster; and infer. from what seemed to be
results that each of these minerals has been applied
with profit but do not knO,r it. The increased pro-
duct which have attributed to on both OF these
elements may have had q very different origin and
impulse. | only grope my way in darkness, when
should clearly and surely see.
An agricultural essayist in Maine has recently put
forth which if well grounded is of great
value to farmers. He asserts that the growth Of
acid plants like Sorrel Dock &c. in a field results
from in the SOIL and that where this exists
! Lime-that is, the ordinary Carbonate of Lime-ls
urgently required whereas the application of Plaster
or Gypsum DSulphate of Lime to that field must be
useless and wasteful. If such be the truth. know-
edge Of it would be worth millions of dollars to our
| farmers. ButIlack the scientific attainment needed
| to qualify me for passing judgment thereon.
There Is great diversity Of opinion among farmers
with regard TO the value of swamp Muck. One has
applied it TO his land TO good purpose he holds
Muck, if convenient, the cheapest and best fertilizer
a farmer add to his ordinary barn-yard manure;
| another has applied cords upon cords of Muck and
sayshe has derived therefrom benefit whatever.
| Now this contrarety of conclusion may result from
imperfect Judgment side or the other, or from
the condition precedent of the diverse soils one of
them requiring what Muck could supply while the
other required something very different from that
may be accounted for by the fact that the Muck
| applied in of superior quality, and IN
the other good for nothing. Where Muck is COM
posed almost wholly of the leaves of forest
| trees which, through thousands of years have
| been blown into a bog or shallow pond and there
been gradually transformed into fine black dust or
earth do not how il can possibly be applied to
an upland, especially sandy or gravelly soil, with
out conducting to the subsequent production OF boun-
teous crops. True it may be sour when first drawn
from the stagnant pool bog in which it has lain
| so long and NAV need to be mixed with Lime. or
SALT or Ashes and subjected the action of sun and
frost to ripen and sweeten it. But it seems to me
| impossible that such Muck should be applied to al
| all Iv wifi m
it, consistency and increasing its fertility But all
Muck ia not the product Of decayed forest-leayes;
| and that which was formed of coarse, rank weeds
and brakes of rotten wood and flags, or skunk cab
bage may be of very inferior quality hardly to
repay the cost of digging and applying it. Science
will yet enable us to fix, at least approximately, the
value of each deposit of Muck and 50 give q prefer
ence to the best
| The Analysis of Soils whereof much was heard and
whence much hoped few years since, seems to
have fallen into utter discredi that every would
be popular writer gives it passing fling or kick. That
| any analysis yet made was and is worthless, | can
readily concede without shaking in the least my
viction that soils will yet be anayzed, under the
guidance of truer profounder Science to the signal
| enlightenment and profit of their cultvatOrs Here
is a retired merchant banker, doctor. lawyer who
| has bought a spacious and naturally fertile but
worii-Out. rundown farm, on which he proposes TO
|
improve and enrich it but with what and howl All
the manure he finds or for the present can make on
| it, will hardly put the first in high condition,
while he grows old and is unwilling TO wait forever.
He is able and ready TO buy fertilizers, and does buy
| right and left without knowing whether his land
| needs Lime or Phosphate, Potash, OF something
very different from either. Say he purchases 5000
worth Of one or more of these fertilizers il is highly
probable that 1880 might have served him better if
invested in due proportion in Just what his and most
urgently needs and | unfinchngly believe that we
shall vet have an analysis of soils that will tell him
inst what fertilizers he ought to apply, and what
| quantity of each OF them
Science has already taught us that every load of
| HAY or Grain drawn from field abstracts therefrom
| a considerable quantity of certain minerals-say
| Potash Lime Soda Magnesia, Chlorine, Silica,
| pbosphorus-and that the soil is thereby impoyer-
ished until they be replaced in some form or other
| A no deposit in a bank ever large that con-
tinuai drafts would not ultimately exhaust 1t, so
no sol was ever so rich that taking crop after crop
| from it annually, yet giving nothing back. womb
| , NOT render il sterile or worthless Sun and rain
and wind will do their part in the work of renoya-
ton but all of them together cannot restore to the
so;l the mineral elements whereof each crop takes
| norton. and which, being once completely eX-
| borsted can only he replaced at q heavy cost
Science teaches us to foresee and prevent such ex
baustion-in part by rotation of crops, and In part
| nv constant replacement of the minerals annually
borne away: the subtraction being greater III proper
| ,;on as the crop is more exaeting and luxurlant.
| What know of Science applicable TO Farming IL
t,tIa indeed: but know that there u such Science
and that each succeeding year enlarges, improves
md nerfects il. know that should thus far have
farmed to far better purpose if had been master
even of ~ much Science az already exists; and am