The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1875-07-07

II
of such remains, it is proper to add.
because in the composition Of all an
imals and vegetables there is small
per centage of inorganic matter,
which in case OF thorough decompo-
sition, or burning, alone remains visi-
BILE and palpable. under the former
circumstance called dust, and under
the latter, ashes. Every creature
] that exists, that moves and has it's
! being on the face of the earth. or in
the air above, or the waters below,
or that grows and fiourishes In for
est or field, is, for the most part.
composed of this organic matter. In
the course of time, that which we
now see in various forms has under
gone many mutations the vegetable
of the season contains the matter
that constituted one, and most prob
ably of different kind, that perish
ed a year ago or, it may be, that
composed the material parts of be-
ing that within very short period
was instinct with animal life. And
so Of man himself. We know not
I
ferior. and, it may De, loathsome
form and shape. The matter of
which we are made, may,in the course
of time, crawl upon the earth, per-
haps, in the course of further time
to again assume the form of man,
and mount a throne, and direct the
destiny Of nations. The idea is for
chile expressed by Shakespeare:
Imperial Caesar, dead, and turned to clay,
Might stop hole to keep tie wind away"
When the matter of which living
beings are composed ceases to per-
form its functions, they die, and their
bodies are rapidly reduced to their
original elements, and are prepared
to enter upon new state of exis-
tence in the same or some other
form. EOery tiUing thing that EXISTS.
or that once had life. qohen decayed
and reduced bg the action Of G0dter to
q soluble condition, will produce li0-
ing beings again. This is a great and
indubitahle truth, and one upon
which every one to whom is commit
ted the care of any portion of the
face Of the productive earth should
ponder and scrupulously act. If this
decayed and soluble matter is elab-
grated by the spongioles reot-fibres
andleaves of plants, vegetable growth
and perfection in one of the myriad
forms Of beauty and usefulness that
cover the earth is the result; If this
result be grain. fruit, or other edible
vegetable, and is submitted to the
process of animal nutrition. reduced
again to a solvent condition by the
gastric juice of the stomach, taken
up by the lacteals and elaborated in
the lungs. animal life is the result.
in some one of it's existing forms.
Clay, sand and lime are indispen-
SADLY necessary to the constitution
of a good soil. and they are every
where found in abundance. There
is, as a general rule, no scarcity of
these components /; or, if a particu-
lar spot has too little sand, and con
sequently is too stiff and tenacious,
the corrective, sand. is generally at
tainable, and in favorable locations
it will pay to apply sufficient guam
tity and so if the soil be too porous,
light and friable on account of excess
of sand, an application of clay is the
appropriate remedy. Such operations
must, of course, be performed, or
not, according to situation, the local
value of lands, and other considera-
tons. IN this, as in every other
matter, sound Judgment must be ex-
ercised, and, to use a legal phrase, :.
the farmer must have, to be success
full, the ability to properly apply
general principles TO the facts of his
particular case. Judge Buel, one of
the great names in American agri-
culture, by a judicious use of clay,
removed from the streets of Albany,
where excavations were being made,
upon a sandy waste, situate near
Albany, laid the foundation OF an
Improvement which resulted in a sale
of the estate, after his death, at one
hundred dollars per acre.
But, although in the structure of
most plants very small quantities of
these inorganic matters are to be
found, of themselves they are inca
pable of producing and sustaining
vegetable life. No combination of
them exists. or can be artificialIy
produced. adequate to this puspose.
However superior in quality, howev-
ever adjusted in proportion and init
mately compounded and associated,
they are barren and unproductive
yet, without them. in proper proper
tions. and with proper adjustment
of their mechanical relations, q pro-
ductiye soil cannot exist.
Yet, on the other hand, mere in
organic matter, the dead bodies Of
plants and misunderstanding TO use
the common term in its popular sense
wen decomposed and
however soluble its state, is incapa-
BILE of constituting productive soil.
The four-clay, lime, sand and
organic matter-must be co-existent
in the same mass, in proper proper
tions and combinations. Clay, sand
and lime are the basis. They are the
shop and the implements in which,
and with which. the work is to be
done. But shop, however commo-
dious and we'll appointed, avails no.
thing unless the materials of con-
struction are furnished. A wagon
cannot be made without wood and
iron, although there be the most
skilled workmen with the most ex-
celleat tools at hand. Again, we
may liken the clay, sand and lime to |
the stomach of an animal, which |
however healthy and vigorous, can
not furnish nutriment, bone and flesh, |
unless it be supplied with food.
Although labor is condition pre-
eerihad unou thu faithful perform. |