The Elements of Agriculture

We understand its manufacture will shortly be commenced by a company now forming for that purpose.

What should be learned before purchasing amendments for the soil?

What do you know of silica?

Many farmers will find it expedient to purchase bones, or bone dust, and manufacture their own super-phosphate of lime; others will prefer to purchase the prepared manure. In doing so, it should be obtained of men of known respectability, as manures are easily adulterated with worthless matters; and, as their price is so high, that such deception may occasion great loss.

We would not recommend the application of any artificial manure, without first obtaining an analysis of the soil, and knowing to a certainty that the manure is needed; still, when no analysis has been procured, it may be profitable to apply such manures as most generally produce good results—such as stable manure, night soil, the improved super-phosphate of lime; or, if this cannot be procured, guano.

NEUTRALSSILICA

Silica (or sand) always exists in the soil in sufficient quantities for the supply of food for plants; but, as has been often stated in the preceding pages, not always in the proper condition. This subject has been so often explained to the student of this book, that it is only necessary to repeat here, that when the weakness of the straw or stalk of plants grown on any soil indicates an inability in that soil to supply the silicates required for strength, not more sand should be added, but alkalies, to combine with the sand already contained in it, and make soluble silicates which are available to roots.

Sand is often necessary to stiff clays, as a mechanical manure, to loosen their texture and render them easier of cultivation, and more favorable to the distribution of roots, and to the circulation of air and water.

CHLORINE

How may chlorine be applied?

Chlorine, a necessary constituent of plants, and often deficient in the soil (as indicated by analysis), may be applied in the form of salt (chloride of sodium), or chloride of lime. The former may be dissolved in the water used to slake lime, and the latter may, with much advantage, be sprinkled around stables and other places where fertilizing gases are escaping, and, after being saturated with ammonia, applied to the soil, thus serving a double purpose.

OXIDE OF IRON

How may the protoxide of iron be changed to peroxide?

Nearly all soils contain sufficient quantities of oxide of iron, or iron rust, so that this substance can hardly be required as a manure.

Some soils, however, contain the protoxide of iron in such quantities as to be injurious to plants,—see page 86. When this is the case, it is necessary to plow the soil thoroughly, and use such other mechanical means as shall render it open to the admission of air. The protoxide of iron will then take up more oxygen, and become the peroxide—which is not only inoffensive, but is absolutely necessary to fertility.

OXIDE OF MANGANESE

This can hardly be called an essential constituent of plants, and is never taken into consideration in manuring lands.

VARIOUS OTHER MINERAL MANURESLEACHED ASHES

Why are leached ashes inferior to those that have not been leached?

On what do the benefits of leached ashes depend?

Can these ingredients be more cheaply obtained in another form?

Why do unleached ashes, applied in the spring, sometimes cause grain to lodge?

Among the mineral manures which have not yet been mentioned—not coming strictly under any of the preceding heads, is the one known as leached ashes.

These are not without their benefits, though worth much less than unleached ashes, which, besides the constituents of those which have been leached, contain much potash, soda, etc.

Farmers have generally overrated the value of leached ashes, because they contain small quantities of available phosphate of lime, and soluble silicates, in which most old soils are deficient. While we witness the good results ensuing from their application, we should not forget that the fertilizing ingredients of thirty bushels of these ashes may be bought in a more convenient form for ten or fifteen cents, or for less than the cost of spreading the ashes on the soil. In many parts of Long Island farmers pay as much as eight or ten cents per bushel for this manure, and thousands of loads of leached ashes are taken to this locality from the river counties of New York, and even from the State of Maine, and are sold for many times their value, producing an effect which could be as well and much more cheaply obtained by the use of small quantities of super-phosphate of lime and potash.

These ashes often contain a little charcoal (resulting from the imperfect combustion of the wood), which acts as an absorbent of ammonia.

It is sometimes observed that unleached ashes, when applied in the spring, cause grain to lodge. When this is the case, as it seldom is, it may be inferred that the potash which they contain causes so rapid a growth, that the soil is not able to supply silicates as fast as they are required by the plants, but after the first year, the potash will have united with the silica in the soil, and overcome the difficulty.

OLD MORTAR

What are the most fertilizing ingredients of old mortar?

Old mortar is a valuable manure, because it contains nitrate of potash and other compounds of nitric acid with alkalies.

These are slowly formed in the mortar by the changing of the nitrogen of the hair (in the mortar) into nitric acid, and the union of this with the small quantities of potash, or with the lime of the plaster. Nitrogen, presented in other forms, as ammonia, for instance, may be transformed into nitric acid, by uniting with the oxygen of the air, and this nitric acid combines immediately with the alkalies of the mortar.32

The lime contained in the mortar may be useful in the soil for the many purposes accomplished by other lime.

GAS HOUSE LIME

How may gas-house lime be prepared for use?

Why should it not be used fresh, from the gas house?

On what do its fertilizing properties depend?

What use may be made of its offensive odor?

The refuse lime of gas works, where it can be cheaply obtained, may be advantageously used as a manure. It consists, chiefly, of various compounds of sulphur and lime. It should be composted with earth or refuse matter, so as to expose it to the action of air. It should never be used fresh from the gas house. In a few months the sulphur will have united with the oxygen of the air, and become sulphuric acid, which unites with the lime and makes sulphate of lime (plaster), which form it must assume, before it is of much value. Having been used to purify gas made from coal, it contains a small quantity of ammonia, which adds to its value. It is considered a profitable manure in England, at the price there paid for it (forty cents a cartload), and, if of good quality, it may be worth double that sum, especially for soils deficient in plaster, or for such crops as are much benefited by plaster. Its price must, of course, be regulated somewhat by the price of lime, which constitutes a large proportion of its fertilizing parts. The offensive odor of this compound renders it a good protection against many insects.

The refuse liquor of gas works contains enough ammonia to make it a valuable manure.

SOAPERS' LEY AND BLEACHERS' LEY

What use may be made of the refuse ley of soap-makers and bleachers?

What peculiar qualities does soapers' ley possess?

The refuse ley of soap factories and bleaching establishments contains greater or less quantities of soluble silicates and alkalies (especially soda and potash), and is a good addition to the tank of the compost heap, or it may be used directly as a liquid application to the soil. The soapers' ley, especially, will be found a good manure for lands on which grain lodges.

Much of the benefit of this manure arises from the soluble silicates it contains, while its nitrogenous matter,33 obtained from those parts of the fatty matters which cannot be converted into soap, and consequently remains in this solution, forms a valuable addition. Heaps of soil saturated with this liquid in autumn, and subjected to the freezings of winter, form an admirable manure for spring use. Mr. Crane, near Newark (N. J.), has long used a mixture of spent ley and stable manure, applied in the fall to trenches plowed in the soil, and has been most successful in obtaining large crops.

IRRIGATION

On what does the benefit arising from irrigation chiefly depend?

What kind of water is best for irrigation?

How do under-drains increase the benefits of irrigation?

Irrigation does not come strictly under the head of inorganic manures, as it often supplies ammonia to the soil. Its chief value, however, in most cases, must depend on the amount of mineral matter which it furnishes.

The word "irrigation" means simply watering. In many districts water is in various ways made to overflow the land, and is removed when necessary for the purposes of cultivation. All river and spring water contains some impurities, many of which are beneficial to vegetation. These are derived from the earth over, or through which, the water has passed, and ammonia absorbed from the atmosphere. When water is made to cover the earth, especially if its rapid motion be arrested, much of this fertilizing matter settles, and is deposited on the soil. The water which sinks into the soil carries its impurities to be retained for the uses of plants. When, by the aid of under-drains, or in open soils, the water passes through the soil, its impurities are arrested, and become available in vegetable growth. It is, of course, impossible to say exactly what kind of mineral matter is supplied by water, as that depends on the kind of rock or soil from which the impurities are derived; but, whatever it may be, it is generally soluble and ready for immediate use by plants.

What is the difference between water which only runs over the surface of the earth, and that which runs out of the earth?

Why should strong currents of water not be allowed to traverse the soil?

Water which has run over the surface of the earth contains both ammonia and mineral matter, while that which has arisen out of the earth, contains usually only mineral matter. The direct use of the water of irrigation as a solvent for the mineral ingredients of the soil, is one of its main benefits.

To describe the many modes of irrigation would be too long a task for our limited space. It may be applied in any way in which it is possible to cover the land with water, at stated times. Care is necessary, however, that it do not wash more fertilizing matter from the soil than it deposits on it, as would often be the case, if a strong current of water were run over it. Brooks may be dammed up, and thus made to cover a large quantity of land. In such a case the rapid current would be destroyed, and the fertilizing matter would settle; but, if the course of the brook were turned, so that it would run in a current over any part of the soil, it might carry away more than it deposited, and thus prove injurious. Small streams turned on to land, from the washing of roads, or from elevated springs, are good means of irrigation, and produce increased fertility, except where the soil is of such a character as to prevent the water from passing away, in which case it should be under-drained.

Irrigation was one of the oldest means of fertility ever used by man, and still continues in great favor wherever its effects have been witnessed.

MIXING SOILS

How are soils improved by mixing?

The mixing of soils is often all that is necessary to render them fertile, and to improve their mechanical condition. For instance, soils deficient in potash, or any other constituent, may have that deficiency supplied, by mixing with them soil containing this constituent in excess.

It is very frequently the case, that such means of improvement are easily availed of. While these chemical effects are being produced, there may be an equal improvement in the mechanical character of the soil. Thus stiff clay soils are rendered lighter, and more easily workable, by an admixture of sand, while light blowy sands are compacted, and made more retentive of manure, by a dressing of clay or of muck.

Why may the same effect sometimes be produced by deep plowing?

What is absolutely necessary to economical manuring?

Of course, this cannot be depended on as a sure means of chemical improvement, unless the soils are previously analyzed, so as to know their requirements; but, in a majority of cases, the soil will be benefited, by mixing with it soil of a different character. It is not always necessary to go to other locations to procure the soil to be applied, as the subsoil is often very different from the surface soil, and simple deep plowing will suffice, in such cases, to produce the required admixture, by bringing up the earth from below to mingle it with that of a different character at the surface.

In the foregoing remarks on the subject of mineral manures, the writer has endeavored to point out such a course as would produce the "greatest good to the greatest number," and, consequently, has neglected much which might discourage the farmer with the idea, that the whole system of scientific agriculture is too expensive for his adoption. Still, while he has confined his remarks to the more simple improvements on the present system of management, he would say, briefly, that no manuring can be strictly economical that is not based on an analysis of the soil, and a knowledge of the best means of overcoming the deficiencies indicated, together with the most scrupulous care of every ounce of evaporating or soluble manure.

CHAPTER X

ATMOSPHERIC FERTILIZERS

Are the gases in the atmosphere manures?

What would be the result if they were not so?

It is not common to look on the gases in the atmosphere in the light of manures, but they are decidedly so. Indeed, they are almost the only organic manure ever received by the uncultivated parts of the earth, as well as a large portion of that which is occupied in the production of food for man.

If these gases were not manures; if there were no means by which they could be used by plants, the fertility of the soil would long since have ceased, and the earth would now be in an unfertile condition. That this must be true, will be proved by a few moments' reflection on the facts stated in the first part of this book. The fertilizing gases in the atmosphere being composed of the constituents of decayed plants and animals, it is as necessary that they should be again returned to the form of organized matter, as it is that constituents taken from the soil should not be put out of existence.

AMMONIA

How is ammonia used by plants?

How may it be carried to the soil?

How may the value of organic manures be estimated?

What effects has ammonia beside supplying food to plants?

The ammonia in the atmosphere probably cannot be appropriated by the leaves of plants, and must, therefore, enter the soil to be assimilated by roots. It reaches the soil in two ways. It is either arrested from the air circulating through the soil, or it is absorbed by rains in the atmosphere, and thus carried to the earth, where it is retained by clay and carbon, for the uses of plants. In the soil, ammonia is the most important of all organic manures. In fact, the value of organic manure may be estimated, either by the amount of ammonia which it will yield, or by its power of absorbing ammonia from other sources.

The most important action of ammonia in the soil is the supply of nitrogen to plants; but it has other offices which are of consequence. It assists in some of the chemical changes necessary to prepare the matters in the soil for assimilation. Some argue that ammonia stimulates the roots of plants, and causes them to take up increased quantities of inorganic matter. The discussion of this question would be out of place here, and we will simply say, that it gives them such vigor that they require increased amounts of ashy matter, and enables them to take this from the soil.

To how great a degree can the farmer control atmospheric fertilizers?

What should be the condition of the soil?

What substances are good absorbents in the soil?

How may sandy soils be made retentive of ammonia?

Although, in the course of nature, the atmospheric fertilizers are plentifully supplied to the soil, without the immediate attention of the farmer, it is not beyond his power to manage them in such a manner as to arrest a greater quantity. The precautions necessary have been repeatedly given in the preceding pages, but it may be well to name them again in this chapter.

The condition of the soil is the main point to be considered. It must be such as to absorb and retain ammonia—to allow water to pass through it, and be discharged below the point to which the roots of crops are searching for food—and to admit of a free circulation of air.

The power of absorbing and retaining ammonia is not possessed by sand, but it is a prominent property of clay, charcoal, and some other matters named as absorbents. Hence, if the soil consists of nearly pure sand, it will not make use of the ammonia brought to it from the atmosphere, but will allow it to evaporate immediately after a shower. Soils in this condition require additions of absorbent matters, to enable them to use the ammonia received from the atmosphere. Soils already containing a sufficient amount of clay or charcoal, are thus far prepared to receive benefit from this source.

Why does under-draining increase the absorptive power of the soil?

How do plants obtain their carbonic acid?

How does carbonic acid affect caustic lime in the soil?

The next point is to cause the water of rains to pass through the soil. If it lies on the surface, or runs off without entering the soil, or even if it only enters to a slight depth, and comes in contact with but a small quantity of the absorbents, it is not probable that the fertilizing matters which it contains will all be abstracted. Some of them will undoubtedly return to the atmosphere on the evaporation of the water; but, if the soil contains a sufficient supply of absorbents, and will allow all rain water to pass through it, the fertilizing gases will all be retained. They will be filtered (or raked) out of the water.

This subject will be more fully treated in Section IV. in connection with under-draining.

Besides the properties just described, the soil must possess the power of admitting a free circulation of air. To effect this, it is necessary that the soil should be well pulverized to a great depth. If, in addition to this, the soil be such as to admit water to pass through, it will allow that circulation of air necessary to the greatest supply of ammonia.

CARBONIC ACID

What power does it give to water?

What condition of the soil is necessary for the reception of the largest quantity of carbonic acid?

May oxygen be considered a manure?

What is the effect of the oxidation of the constituents of the soil?

Carbonic acid is received from the atmosphere, both by the leaves and roots of plants.

If there is caustic lime in the soil, it unites with it, and makes it milder and finer. It is absorbed by the water in the soil, and gives it the power of dissolving many more substances than it would do without the carbonic acid. This use is one of very great importance, as it is equivalent to making the minerals themselves more soluble. Water dissolves carbonate of lime, etc., exactly in proportion to the amount of carbonic acid which it contains. We should, therefore, strive to have as much carbonic acid as possible in the water in the soil; and one way, in which to effect this, is to admit to the soil the largest possible quantity of atmospheric air which contains this gas.

The condition of soil necessary for this, is the same as is required for the deposit of ammonia by the same circulation of air.

OXYGEN

How does it affect the protoxide of iron?

How does it neutralize the acids in the soil?

How does it affect its organic parts?

How does it form nitric acid?

How may it affect excrementitious matter of plants?

What effect has it on the mechanical condition of the soil?

Oxygen, though not taken up by plants in its pure form, may justly be classed among manures, if we consider its effects both chemical and mechanical in the soil.

1. By oxidizing or rusting some of the constituents of the soil, it prepares them for the uses of plants.

2. It unites with the protoxide of iron, and changes it to the peroxide.

3. If there are acids in the soil, which make it sour and unfertile, it may be opened to the circulation of the air, and the oxygen will prepare some of the mineral matters contained in the soil to unite with the acids and neutralize them.

4. Oxygen combines with the carbon of organic matters in the soil, and causes them to decay. The combination produces carbonic acid.

5. It combines with the nitrogen of decaying substances and forms nitric acid, which is serviceable as food for plants.

6. It undoubtedly affects in some way the matter which is thrown out from the roots of plants. This, if allowed to accumulate, and remain unchanged, is often very injurious to plants; but, probably, the oxygen and carbonic acid of the air in the soil change it to a form to be inoffensive, or even make it again useful to the plant.

7. It may also improve the mechanical condition of the soil, as it causes its particles to crumble, thus making it finer; and it roughens the surfaces of particles, making them less easy to move among each other.

These properties of oxygen claim for it a high place among the atmospheric fertilizers.

WATER

Why may water be considered an atmospheric manure?

What classes of action have manures?

What are chemical manures? Mechanical?

Water may be considered an atmospheric manure, as its chief supply to vegetation is received from the air in the form of rain or dew. Its many effects are already too well known to need farther comment.

The means of supplying water to the soil by the deposit of dew will be fully explained in Section IV.

CHAPTER XI

RECAPITULATION

Manures have two distinct classes of action in the soil, namely, chemical and mechanical.

Chemical manures are those which enter into the construction of plants, or produce such chemical effects on matters in the soil as shall prepare them for use.

Mechanical manures are those which improve the mechanical condition of the soil, such as loosening stiff clays, compacting light sands, pulverizing large particles, etc.

What are the three kinds of manures?

What are organic manures, and what are their uses? Mineral? Atmospheric?

Manures are of three distinct kinds, namely, Organic, mineral, and atmospheric.

Organic manures comprise all vegetable and animal matters (except ashes) which are used to fertilize the soil. Vegetable manures supply carbonic acid, and inorganic matter to plants. Animal manures supply the same substances and ammonia.

Mineral manures comprise ashes, salt, phosphate of lime, plaster, etc. They supply plants with inorganic matter. Their usefulness depends on their solubility.

Many of the organic and mineral manures have the power of absorbing ammonia arising from the decomposition of animal manures, as well as that which is brought to the soil by rains—these are called absorbents.

Atmospheric manures consist of ammonia, carbonic acid, oxygen and water. Their greatest usefulness requires the soil to allow the water of rains to pass through it, to admit of a free circulation of air among its particles, and to contain a sufficient amount of absorbent matter to arrest and retain all ammonia and carbonic acid presented to it.

What rule should regulate the application of manures?

How must organic manures be managed? Atmospheric?