—

— ——
* d 1 4 X f 5 1 3 8 1 1 8 1 8 „——*△ ₰— 4 N p 6 h 3 — 8 1 1— ¹ 7 3. 4 2 4 —., —— 24 34 A „ 3

SHEWING THE
INTIM
Ah SVE

A
tf R EA PIS E,
SHEWING THE INTIMATE CONNECTION
THAT$QUBSISTS BETWEEN
AGRICULTURE AND CHEMISTRY.
ADDRESSED TO THE CULTIVATORS OF THE SOLE, TOLL A PROPRIETORS OF FENS AND MOSSES, GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND;
AND TO THE
PROPRIETORS OF WEST INDIA ESTATES,
By
THE EARL OF DUNDONALD.
« Tet us cultivate the Ground, that the Poor, as well as the Rich, may be filled, and Hap-
piness and Peace be established throughout our Borders.”
LONDON
AAT Cen< CCESSON
PRINTED FOR J. MURRAY AND S. HIGHLEY,(su MURRAY), NO. 32, FLEET-STREET. il a ae
I i] 95> (Drawback.)

€
- Rov eal Knnwk; A a x‘ - in ttl perenne hae ce EEA‘ 4 a Ree 0) Oe PE eae ae a aS gaan ne aaggetit seen Behe Sid:; B
~ oe: ra te as eee
. ss ae ane ae
2| | dl \ x|| it i 1 vy { 4 x« i | '

HEADS, OR TABLE OF CONTENTS.
EARTH,-- Calcareous do. Arsillaceous do. Siliceous do.= Magnesian do. Earth of Iron, Lr,-- Water,= Fleat,-
Page
eo ee 11 z=*==== iz 2= 2 o= Ps 13 == a 3= i- 14, i=—-- st=- 14 ==-== ae= ee ies= ss ri es== 1S
Ce ee ee eee Saline Substances,=-- s of a 20 Vegetables,~==--=“=«Be Animalized Matter contained in Vegetables,-=~ 23 Vegetables analysed by Fire,~~*-- 25 Analysis of Vegetables by Putrefaction,~-- 28 Oxygenation,--~=”=“ 29 Inert Vegetable Matter or Peat,---==. 32
Fossile Coal,
ee ee

St ior.
CIPO yl ES
Uncalcined Udicaretus Lvidaiter,=
Particular effects resulting fro om the appla cation)
of Lime and Chalk to Ground,-= Alkaline Salts,=“-: 2 Magnesia considered as a Manure,_=
-
1707, eee===
Vitriolic Acid,>::;
Nitrous Acid,-~== Fs Marine or Muriatic Acid,~~-
Phosphoric Acid, and Soreline or Oxalic Acid,
Y
Titsects,— ox oe) eo— ne Saline Substances with earthy Bases,==
oy
Table of these Salts 2 a a
Description thereof,““= S= L
( )
Saline Substances composed of Alkalis and Acids,
if Table of these Salts,--== SAV iB Pa 6 Description thereo], 2 3= s Stable, Farm-yard Dung and Composts,—- Draining,*== Re 2s
ee i es PaHowing,
Rais iPS)

ov oe
™ gi: rae= ae—- ores= SR ni eres e's aera eee ae ae
CONTENTS. Vu
ee x3
*> BS ea TAM
Paring and Burning,==-=--= 147 Method of analysing or ascertaining the presence of different)
=, 1=e C47 c E59 Earths or Substances in different Sozls, s J
Arsgillaceous Soil---~~- 160
Calcareous or C e do.-~+ s 3 166 Sandy do.==== a== 170 Outfi Ljies ld and Infield Lands,-~--= 17-29
Peat Mosses, oe and poor barren Lands in their vicinity,~ 180
a
West India Islands, Benefit to their Culture Jrom a due)
j | } i
Drainage of the Fens,~--“~=“01
~ attention to the Oxygenation of vegetable matter, and 1Q7 the subsequent solution of tt by Alkalis and other sa- f| Line bodies,=~:: J Cultivation of Sorel with a view to the proa iuclion) 2 c wd 2O— of other more valuable crops,-- J ss Conclusion,---====~ 211 Addenda,--=-~~- 2AL
Appendix,~--== a. a
*RRPATA ERRA lige

en i a
yh ig
ane AEE
BN ann ee
ERRATA.
Page 7, 3d line from the top, for angusti read angusta
—— 9, 2d line from the bottom, for qui read que
——— 35, 6th line from: the bottom, prefix power of to the word solution:
wet 40, 3d Jine from the bottom, read thereto instead of there to
——— 43, 6th line from the top, read elective instead of electric
-——- 54, 13th line from the top,. read colour instead of colou
~———~ 75, 11th line from the top, read eleCtive instead of ele&trive, an error continued. throughout the Work.
“=== 103, roth line from the top, for ceconomies read ceconomics:
we-~ 116, 8th line from the bottom, for produced read occasioned’

INTROD Us TION,
a THERE are at present a variety of obstacles to the iE advancement of Agriculture in these kingdoms, or to :
the produaion of the greatest quantity of food from the
| soil. Amongst this variety there are those of a nature | not to be removed but by the arm of Government; whilst | there are others which only require due exertions on the ||
|
part of individuals.
The slow progress which Agriculture has hitherto made as a science, is to be ascribed to a want of education on the part of the cultivators of the soil, and the want of knowledge, in such Authors as have written on Agricul-
b ture, of the intimate conne@tion that subsists between this
science and that of Chemistry. Indeed there is no opera- tion or process, not merely mechanical, that does not de-
A pend

a a
INTRODUCTION.
1)
_pend on Chemistry, which is defined to be a knowledge of the properties of bodies, and of the effes resulting
from their different combinations.
[In the following pages an attempt will be made to ex- plain, on estab! hed principles, the processes that ac- company the cultivation and amelioration of the soil.
This discussion will come forward with peculiar advan-
tage at a time when provisions bear so high a price, and: i when individuals, awakening from the golden dreams of
manufactures and of commerce, begin to see, and expe-
rimentally to feel, that the prosperity of a nation cannot be permanent, nor its inhabitants quiet and contented, in their respective situations, where Agriculture is ne- gleéted, and an unwise preference given to manufa@ures
and to commerce; occupations that produce very different
——
effe&s on the bodies and minds of men, from those that
are attendant on the sober and healthful employment of
husbandry. By the adoption of a new Tine of investigation, ex 4 emplified in the following Treatise, ight has not only{ j been| } | } |

ied
PNT RODE TION.
3 been thrown on the-aétion and effe&s of the manures at present employed, but the uses of other substances, and methods of combining and preparing them, have been discovered; from which there are just grounds to believe a valuable addition will accrue to the present stock of Agricultural Knowledge.
It will appear that the saline, and other substances ca- pable of being applied to promote vegetation, are very nu- merous; by far the greater part of them have escaped the notice of those who have made Agriculture their study, nor have any attempts even been made to explain on chemical principles the operation of the manures and substances now in use. Had such researches been prose- cuted to effedt, they would have led to the discovery and application of other substances capable of being em-
ployed, with equal, or perhaps superior advantages.
The promoting of Agriculture is not solely to be con- sidered as creating a more plentiful supply of food, but it is to be regarded as morally and politically conducing to the true happiness of man, by giving to him the occu-
A2 pation

4 INTRODUCTION.
pation allotted to his first parents; whence flow health, social order, and obedience to lawful autharity; conse- quences very different from those that are produced by
the over-driven system of manufa@uring, in which the
5?)
industrious workman is often subje€@ted to oreat inconve-
miencies, not only by the flu€@uation in the demand for
the articles he manufactures, but likewise by a total sus- pension of trade by war or other causes. When evils, 9 like these, which he has no power to avert, press hard upon him, he is frequently rendered desirous of assisting to bring about any political change, whereby he. is tempted to believe that his situation may be rendered _more comfortable; hence he becomes unquiet, and to so- ciety a less valuable member than the husbandman, whose
occupation does not expose him to such distress, nor to
the like temptations.
Whilst the benevolent must feel for the hardships to which, at times, manufacturers are liable, still they can- not but recolle@ the restless spirit so frequently mani-
fested by persons of this description, even in the mo-
ment of the greatest prosperity; especially in towns and
e. Cities, ~ = ~ cor—_== ae t=_—_—_—_—_——_— se cee ae= a 7 pg oa a-= —— er ete ree er Se am ES neal ni

INTRODUCTION. E
cities, where, for the interest and convenience of the i q e masters, and not of the workmen, they are colle&ed in
oreat numbers.
To this assemblage may be ascribed the dissemination of
‘ Bl
pernicious doétrines, by a few profligate persons, who are
‘ tobe found inall societies, and who have it intheir power to : corrupt the good principles of the many. The well afte&-
ed thus become the tools of the seditious and designing. To such political evils there is but one remedy:
‘That a preference to all other pursuits be civen to
Agriculture.
That the establishment of such branches of manufac- ture, as it may be wise to encourage, be promoted only in the townships 1 in America.
scattered villages, ge th tn
By this plan body and the mind w rould be rendered ae eS e. individual might, at a
moderate rent, be supplied not only with a sufficient ex-
tent of ground, to enable him to keep a cow, and supply his
. ee 2—S— crew a reg Ns OEE WO- Ses oy aa,<—S .; Si ee Ag“— Ss ee ne oT

6 INTRODUCTION.
his family with milk, an article indispensably necessary
to the rearing of healthy children; but also what more
—
might be requisite for raising potatoes, and other vegeta- bles, cultivated at his leisure by the spade, affording an agreeable and healthful change to his coufined and seden-
tary occu pation.
The Legislature of these kingdoms---all good men--- and all well disposed subjeds, are earnestly called upon te unite in promoting the more complete cultivation of the soil; being the only system by which the comforts and the happiness of the people can be advanced, and the future existence of this country, asa kingdom, be effectually
secured against foreign foes and domestic incendiaries.
PREFATORY

PREFATORY ADDRESS.
MANY experiments, much labour and thought, 2 desire to be usefully employed, with the leisure afforded bya retired life, proceeding from the res angusti domi, have enabled the Author to present the following Trea-
tise to the Public.
The importance of such a Work, and the peculiar fitness of it at this jun€ture, have induced him of late to dedicate the whole of his time to its compilation and arrangement; accomplished with much personal incon- venience, and to the apparent negle& of some important duties and family concerns, which otherwise would have
claimed his prior regard.
The

ae ere RET ET
PT TR Ng
ra 5 ee
i.
PREFATORY ADDRESS.
The Author flatters himself, that his labours will be
found to open a field of experiment, of chemical rea- 2
soning, and of the pra@tically useful, applicable to Acri-
culture, of which that science has hitherto been thought
incapable.
In the prosecution of his researches to so desirable an end, he acknowledges the assistance he has derived from the labours and valuable discoveries of a PRIESTLEY anda CavenpisH, under the heads of Air, or Gasses, Composi- tion, and Decomposition of Water; so true is the obser-
vation, that there is no art or discovery that is not the
parent or sister of some other.
Gratitude requires that he should likewise acknow- ledge‘the obligations he is under to his frien d Mr. Van- couver, for the time he has kindly dedicated, and the relief he has afforded the Author in the fati icue of this publication---a work wherein accuracy of chemical ex- pression---a v variety of important matter---attended with the dif heulty of distina arrangement, never completely to be attained in any work, where the subjeé&ts to be
treated
he i'd

=
PREFATORY ADDRESS. 9
treated of are so connected and interwoven the one with the other, has necessarily required much refleétion. Great care has been taken, in the arrangement adopted, to lead the mind of the reader from the discussion of such substances as are simple, to those that are of a compound nature; the praétically useful observations unfolding
themselves as the work advances.
Contrary to the system of modern oratory and book- making, perspicuity, and its constant attendant, brevity, have been uniformly adhered to, under the conviction,
that clear ideas are best expressed by the fewest words.
“ Now asseveravi qua vastitas hujus scientie contineret cunéta me diélurum sed quedam: nam illud in unius hominis prudentiam cadere non poterat; neque enim est
ulla disciplina aut ars, qui singulart consummata sit ine
genio.
COLUMELLA; lib. v. f. 166.

Jae
A
eet 1S\4
INTIMATE CONNECTION
THAT SUBSISTS BETWEEN
AGRICULTURE AND CHEMISTRY.
Title
EARTH.
BY the word earth, in its common acceptation, is either to be understood the habitable globe—the solid or dry part of it, in opposition to the aqueous, or the surface stratum, soil, or mould, in opposition to the more solid under strata; whilst the word earth, taken chemically, signifies a dry, uncom younded, simple sub- stance, incapable of being yolatilized, or aéted upon by
fire,; “here

IZ A TREATISE ON THE C NNECTION OF
There are different kinds of such simple, or, as they are| frequently called, primary earths; those which generally Occur, and principally regard the object of this Treatise, are, Calcareous, or chalky; argillaceous, or clayey; sili-| ceous, or sandy; and magnesian. It is also necessary to mention, that the earth of iron is likewise contained
in Most soils, in great abundance;€Xisting therein, in various states,
|
CALCAREOUS MATTER
ee
CONSTITUTES not only the surface, or soil, but Jike-
wise the under stratum of many
t it i 7} i
countries, to avery great
depth. Under this general name of calcareous matter
is included chalk, marble,
est Gee
limestone, coral, shells,&c,
The three first mentioned are frequently mixed with
iron, and with different Proportions of the simple earths;
but are considered as calcareous, when the Proportion of
that earth predominates, It is capable of absorbing, and
of

| N \
—=.=: a a
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 13
of retaining moisture, though in a considerably less de- gree than clay. By the action of fire it becomes lime, and returns again to the state of chalk, or calcareous
matter, by exposure to air.
ARGILLACEOUS MATTER
Forms not only a large portion of the surface soil of most countries, but is also found in the mineral strata, to ‘i an immense depth. Argillaceous matter, or clay, is no | where found pure, is more or less adulterated with the different earths, and with different materials; such as
mineral, vegetable, and animal substances.
c &
The purest clay contains upwards of sixty per cent. of
siliceous. matter, or sand.
Clay is the earth most retentive of moisture, by which it becomes duétile and tenacious; and loses these properties by the action of fire.
SILI
y- Be: — ee fag f= en mee——————_——— 7 pa eo a CES agg es=—

T4 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
‘| | |
SILACEOUS.MAg TER.
GREAT tracts of the surface of the earth are of this description, and very large masses of the under stratum consist of the like substance: the former in the state of loose sand, and the latter in an indurated or solid state, called sand-stone or free-stone. It is, of all the earths,
the least retentive of moisture.
MAGNESIAN EARTH.
Tuis is no where found in such quantities.as to form a
many soils, and constitutes a component part of stea-
| | . aA~°° pees a: ya eusies:‘ i} soil of itself; it 1s contained in different proportions, in j tities, or soap rock. It is retentive of moisture to a cer-|
tain degree.|
EARTH

a.
4
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. ¥S5
EARTH OF IRON
Exists in ground in a metallic state, in the state of
an earth, and in the state of a mineral salt. It is the only metallic earth thought necessary to define, in this Trea- tise on Agriculture. An attempt will hereafter be made
to explain the manner in which it promotes vegetation.
AIR.
By air is generally understood, the medium in whicl
terrestrial animals move and breathe. It is possessed of weight or gravity, is capable of compression: without it neither animals could live, nor could fire be main-
tained, or heat generated.
Part only of atmospheric air serves for the support of
animal life and combustion, called vital air, pure air, or
oxygen.

73 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
oxygen. The other part, called phlogisticated air, or azot, is injurious to combustion, although necessary in a certain proportion, to modify the too powerful action of pure air, in the respiration of animals. Vital air, by combining with ignited inflammable substances, pro-
duces certain gasses and new compounds.
Atmospheric air contains likewise a proportion of fix- able air, or carbonic acid gas, so called by the French chemists, from carbonaceous matter, or charcoal, form-
ing one of its constituent parts.
Atmospheric air may also contain other gasses, or airs. By far the greater part of these gasses were discovered
by Dr. PRIESTLEY.
By the term of gas is to be understood, a permanently
elastic, invisible fluid: Of these there are some which
may be considered as simple, and others as compounded.
The gasses are, empyreal air, vital air—Or—oOxygen gas;
3
Fixable air—or—carbonic acid gas;
Light inflammable air—or—hydrogenous fas;
Dense
<a? eB

a a-, P x ao a se
AGRICULTURE. WITH CHEMISTRY. 1.7
Dense inflammable air—or—carbonated hydrogenous
Phlogisticated air—or—azotic gas;
Vitriolic acid air—or—sulphureous 2as3
Sulphurated inflammable air--or—sulphurated hy- a drogenous gas; Nitrous air—or—nitrous gas$
Muriatic air—or—miuriatic gas,&c.&ce.
Atmospheric air is equally necessary to the vegetation and growth of plants, as to the life of animals. By a most beautiful arrangement in the ceconomy ef nature,
the different processes of animal and vegetable respira-
tion are made mutually to assist each other. The par- ticular gas or air thrown off by the.respiration of the one,
contributes to the existence of the other:
C WATER.

cspnnstanie ach Sard£ vie otis! gl
————_—
be) A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
a WAST
Is the fluid in which fishes live, and forms part of the support of plants, and of terrestrial animals. It was formerly considered to be a simple uncompounded sub- stance; but it has been discovered by Mr. Cavenpisy to be.a compound body,‘consisting of the basis of in- flammable air and vital air. It is formed naturally, and artificially, by uniting the basis of inflammable air
with vital air, by means of the electric fluid,
Water is capable, under certain circumstances, of con- taining; or uniting with, the-bases of different gasses; it contains, for the mast part, fixable air; to which its power of holding in solution calcareous matter, contained
in most water, is to be ascribed.
Water, by putrefaction, and by the processes of ve- getation and animalization, is capable of being decom-
posed, or having its component parts separated.
HE rae©
*
Se ee ee eae Pee aS: a ene ee SS, at= gear Sw.= as mes On ame pe

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 10
By heat is to be understood the sensation arising”
from the solar rays, or from the combustion of inflam- mable bodies. Combustion cannot take place without the presence of air, and it is only the vital part of air that promotes this process. A certain degree of heat is requisite for animal and vegetable life. It is generated in animals, in consequence of respiration, by the ab- sorption of the vital part of atmospheric air, and com- bination thereof with the animal system; here called the process of animaloxygenation: and as animals have thus the power of generating heat by respiration, they can
live in a much greater degree of cold than vegetables.
To the presence of heat is to be ascribed the fluidi of water; to the absence of it, its solidity, or the forma-
tion of ice. The principle of heat is contained in bodies without
C2 heat.
—as
Wee ae|
t |; | ) ‘ |

20 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
heat. This is capable, by certain processes, 6f being disengaged from those bodies, and of becoming manifest to the senses, or of passing and entering into a state of
combination with other bodies.
The frequent changes in the degree of heat and cold in the atmosphere, are to be ascribed more to the’ alter- nate disengagement and fixation of heat, by chemical
combination, than to the effects of the solar rays.
SALINE SUBSTANCES
ARE compounds, consisting of different combinations
and proportions of earth, gasses, water, and the prin-
ciple of heat; to which must be added(although not yet
treated of) the results of more compounded substances,
such as animal and vegetable matter.
Saline substances consist of acids, alkalis, and neutral salts, resulting from the combination of acids with earths and alkalis. These are stated hereafter in separate tables, wherein their uses and properties, as applicable to agri-
culture, are more fully explained. VEGETA-
L—

SRR a em
aS
RE a
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY ar
VEGETABLES
ARE organized bodies, capable of growth and increase, and of propagating their own kinds. Vegetables are nourished, supported, and formed by air, water, earth, heat, light, and certain saline substances; and, in a par- ticular manner, by their own exuviz, or remains, when
reduced to a state fit to answer that purpose.
Vegetables consist of mucilaginous matter, resinous matter, matter analogous to that of animals, and some of a proportion of oil. All these matters serve different and important purposes in the economy of plants. The resinous and animalized matters form the outward surface of vegetables, which prevents their being acted upon by
rain or moisture.
The mucilage gives pliability; is the principal and first prepared juice of plants, of which, by a further degree
of

22 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of maturation, resin and oil are formed. This oil con-
tributes also to the pliability of vegetables.
By a due mixture of mucilage with these other sub- stances, vegetables are to a certain degree rendered Ccapa- ble of solution in water, a property not possessed either
by resin, animal matter, or oil, in a separate state.
Thus it appears, that although living vegetables are effectually protected, by their outward covering of resin and animalized matter, from the aétion of humidity; still, from the whole of their constituent parts, there arises a certain degree of solubility, which afterwards con+
tributes to the food both of animals and vegetables. Beside these, vegetables contain earthy matters, for-
merly held in solution in the newly taken in juices of
the growing vegetable.
ANIMAS

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 23
ANIMALIZED MATTER CONTAINED IN VEGETABLES.
THE greatest proportion of the animalized matter found in vegetables, is contained in grain. Grain consists partly of mucilage, or starch, and partly of this sub- stance, called by the French chemists vegeto-animal. These two substances constitute what is termed meal or flour.- They are capable of separation, therefore they exist in grain in a state of mechanical mixture, not of chemical union. This union is to be accomplished by the process of germination or malting: the result of Which is sacharine matter or sugar. This sacharine matter, by fermentation, is further attenuated and resolved into vinous spirit, and ultimately by exposure to air, and by the absorption of vital air, into the acetous acid, or vis negar. By distillation of the vinous spirit, ardent spirit is obtained. The quantity of sacharine matter, of ardent spirit, and of vinegar capable of being procured from grain, depends upon its containing a due proportion of
1
starch and animalized matter: neither of these sub-
»
starices, taken’singly, can be made to yield sacharine
matter. Different
IN

=":(a. s mes=— a moa sai 4 Sasa: 7* ne=~“ait R — a ee Ses yap‘ SS ve ae at=- pera
galas a
ae ee gg ta‘awaits. } ee
oy
24 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
Different kinds of rain contain these two substances in different proportions; and the same sort of eran contains them in different quantities, according to, the:|
climate, season, and soil.
Good and well raised bread depends on flour contain- ing a due admixture of these two substances. Hence, by mixing the flour of different sorts of wheat, better bread may at times be produced than from one sort only, Ex- tensive benefits may also accrue to the processes of brewing, distilling, and making of vinegar, by a mixture of the different sorts of grain: to that of distilling, a further advantage would be derived by amixture of dif= ferent roots with the grain; such as potatoes, parsnips,} i carrots,&c.&c. if prepared in a proper manner.. t
Good wheat generally contains two-fifths<
matter, and three fifths of starch.
of animalized:
The ceconomical management of the manufacture of this article is cap
=
ble of considerable improvement,
1
ieee a Mim aes Caines

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.
VEGETABLES ANALYSED BY FIRE.
ie° e° VEGETABLES, by the application of heat, and by dis- tillation in close vessels, are resolved into different gasses,
liquid matters, and into insoluble matter.
The gasses consist of inflammable and fixable air: the liquids, of water, vegetable acids, and oi: the insolu-
ble, of charcoal.
By combustion in the open air, charcoal is resolved into fixable air, soluble, and nearly insoluble com-
pounds. The soluble are, alkaline and neutral salts.
The insoluble, for the most part, consist of lime com-
bined with the phosphoric acid, called phosphat of lime.
By a further, and more intense application of heat, all the constituent parts of vegetables, excepting the
D earthy,

26 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
earthy, may be changed into the gassious state, and re-
solved into their simple principles.
By combustion in the open air, grain, carrots, pota=-
toes,&c.&c. yield much more alkaline salts, than:
straw, hay, or wood.
Neither starch, nor the animalized matter of grainy. t. yield fixed alkaline salts, when burned separately; hence it appears, that the union of these substances is equally requisite for the formation of fixed alkaline salts as for
sacharine matter.
This analysis of vegetables by fire, is far from shewing the true state of combination, in which the simple prin-
ciples of these substances existed in vegetables. The
acid phlegm, the empyreumatic oil, the vy egetable alkali} or potash, vitriolated tartar, or other neutral] Saltese ar
compound matters, or new combinations, produced by the action of heat, and decomposition of water, and are
substances not only very different from those juices
rn rene
Which the plant originally imbibed, but likewise very different from those matters found inthe vegetables, afte
having
— a aa< sca.~~ ae a a a SS ee a aan Gs TES sO== AXE——— ee ioe Sem~-* eal gas ae= See ee Pe 7= tie— 2 Sara TE sani’ e;: pene a ae A Sas:~
ze Bia ir—$$__— os= Sa eee = TO NS SR 3

———
SS
SS eee
e: AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY: 27
having undergone, by the vegetative process, their full degree of concoction and maturation: whence it is ob- vious, that neither the precise food of vegetables, nor their component parts, can be ascertained by any ana- lysis of them by fire; at least itis not practicable with the several substances, resulting from such process, to
recompose a juice, or fluid, similar to that by which the
_vegetable had originally been nourished.
It has been stated, that by an intense degree of heat all the component parts of vegetables, excepting the earthy, may be resolved into permanently elastic fluids,
or gasses; and into the compound substance called water.
By vegetables being thus reduced to their simple or elementary principles, they are found to be composed of gasses, With a small proportion of calcareous matter. Al- though this discovery may appear of small moment to the practical farmer, yet it is well deserving of his atten- tion and notice, as it throws great light on the nature and food of vegetables, and proves that a large proportion
of vegetables consist of the aery form, fluids or gasses.
D2 ANALYSIS

28 A TREATISE ON THE.CONNECTION. OF
ANALYSIS OF VEGETABLES BY PUTREFACTION..
Tue resolution or separation of the component parts of vegetables by putrefaction, must evidently appear far better adapted to answer the inquiries of the Chemical
Agriculturist, than any analysis of them by fire.
This process can take place only when attended with air, moisture, and a due degree of heat. Water is de- composed—vital air absorbed—heat disengaged, and new
combinations formed, such as. Gasses—with soluble and insoluble matters.
The gasses are—Inflammable and azotic or phlogisti-
cated air, forming volatile alkali and fixable air.
The soluble saline matters consist of phosphoric, sore- line, or vegetable acid, combined with vegetable, mi-
neral, or volatile alkali.
The
laf

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 29
The insoluble matters consist of phosphoric, soreline,
or vegetable acid, combined with lime, or calcareous.
matter.
These last mentioned substances may likewise be pro- duced from vegetables which have not undergone the putrefactive process, by the tendency which pure air, vital air, or oxygen, has to. combine with such like, and
all other inflammable substances; a process here called OXYGENATION.
By the combination of pure air with inflammable sub- stances, particular acids are formed, with the peculiar bases of those acids contained in inflammable substances. The acids, as they are formed, combine either with the calcareous matter of the vegetables, or with other cal- careous matter in the soil, forming salts, which for the
most part are very insoluble.
The process of putrefaction is always accompanied by that of oxygenation: but oxygenation may be, and is to
a great extent, independent of putrefaction.

39 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF|
“To this process of oxygenation, the continuance of ve- 4 getable matter on the surface of the earth is principally to|
be ascribed; asin the case of peat mosses, fens, and mo-
rasses, as well as in most soils, but more especially in such as have long been under cultivation... The inde-| structible state of vegetable matters, under these circum-| stances, and their constant accretion, may be referred to
the insoluble compounds, produced by the action of pure ij
air on thése inflammable substances.
‘The insolubility, to a certain degree, of this system, adopted by nature, is undoubtedly to be preferred to one more completely soluble; for itis evident, that if putre- faction, or oxygenation, had possessed the power of ren-
dering all the vegetable matter, by a speedy process,
soluble in water, two pernicious consequences must
have followed: The rains would have washed down such
extracts, and soluble matters, as fast as formed, into the rivers and springs, contaminating the waters, and ren- dering them unfit for the existence of fishes, or for the use of terrestrial animals. The sea, in process of time, would thereby receive all the vegetable and animal pro- luce of the dry land, and the earth would ultimately be-
come
= a Se a—.< ure ae ae— ee Ts i re a— a eet

a ee
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 31
come barren, consisting alone of the simple earths, with- out any admixture of vegetable matter; consequently
there could be no accumulation of this substance on the
surface, asis the case to an immense degree at present.-
As such there cannot be a doubt, but that the present in- complete process of putrefaction, oxygenation, or solution of organic bodies, has been established by the Great Creator of all things for wise and benevolent purposes; especially when it shall be understood, that the apparent imperfections of this(to a certain degree) insoluble system are, as they respect agriculture and vegetation, to be remedied, when necessary, by the ingenuity and indus=
try of man.
A frequent exposure of fresh surfaces to the action of
the air, asin the case of fallowing, will, by promoting
Wy
oxygenation, increase the insolubility of vegetable mat--
ters contained in the soil.
INERT

A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
INERT VEGETABLE MATTER OR PEAT.
INERT vegetable matter, or pseat, is, for the most part, formed of the remains of aquatic vegetables, or of those vegetables which generally grow in humidor moist situ- ations. Their nourishment and growth are promoted by atmospheric air, by the decomposition of water, and by the calcareous matter held in solution, and contained in most water. These substances alone, according to the analyses of vegetables already given, are sufficient to ac- count for the growth of such aquatic vegetables, and the accumulation on the surface of the earth of such
matter forming peat mosses and fens.
Trees of a considerable size have been frequently found at the bottom of peat mosses, with the appear- ance of having been cut down, or in part acted on by fire. Hence it may be inferred, that the peat moss itself did not give birth to, or support the growth of such ¢rees;° but on the contrary, that by the destruction of forests, In consequence of natural causes, fire or war,
the
; ee —S a Qe ee ome nes PO ee
enn° an

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 33
the trees had been thrown down, and causing a stoppage of the waters in their passage to the sea, the growth and decay of the aquatic vegetables already described, had formed.those extensive peat mosses and fens, which, in their natural state, are of all soils the most unproduc-
tive, but which are the most fertile when improved.
Peat is very retentive of moisture, retaining it in a manner similar to that of aspunge. At no time, there-
fore, in this humid and northern climate, can such soils
be divested of their superabundant proportion of mois- ture with which they charge themselves in the autumn, spring, and winter, as well as during the periodical rains in summer. The sun’s rays, or drying winds, during the summer season, are exerted in conveying away, by eva- poration, this surplus moisture; and as heat is known
to be abstracted from bodies, and cold generated by eva-
poration, hence effects will arise injurious not only to climate, but likewise to vegetation in general; but more especially so to such plants as require a greater degree of heat and nourishment, than soils of the above descrip- tion will admit of.. There can be little doubt, that these
injurious effects on vegetation will extend themselves
E even

3
A A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
a
even to the drier lands in‘ the‘vicmity of‘such fensor
MOSSscs.
The draining, reclaiming, and cultivating, lands so circamstanced, must appear not only important, from the great value of such lands when reclaimed, but likewise from the effects that such drainage would have on the climate, temperature, and vegetation of the adjacent
country.
Peat is an inflammable substance; consequently ca- pable of combining with pure air, or oxygen, and of becoming oxygenated; a process already explained in the preceding part of this Treatise. The surface of peat mosses, or What is most exposed to the action of air, is capable of becoming more oxygenated than the under
Stratum.
The oxygenation of peat, and indeed the combination of pure air or oxygen with inflammable substances, renders such substances less inflammable, a process ana- lagous to that of combustion: in both cases saline com- pounds are formed, which are uninflammable.
It
a
trey Lees yoy

Sarge re vet
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 35
It is upon this principle that inflammable bodies when exposed to air lose their combustibility, it being evident, that such matters as had saturated themselves with a full proportion of vitalair, or oxygen, are incapable afterwards of combining with a greater quantity, and consequently must be uninflammable. On this account, the upper stratum of peat mosses is generally thrown aside when
peats are dug for fuel.
The longer peat moss is kept exposed to air, the less soluble it becomes, and ultimately imparts no colour to water; whilst peat newly formed, or in a less degree oxygenated, imparts a colour to water which will be
found to contain the extractive saline matters of fresh or
less decayed vegetables.
It is owing to this solution in water that no alkaline salt f J= 1 x 4- q is procured from the ashes of peat, decayed vevetables, or water soaked wood.
In peat mosses there are frequently springs of mineral water, which contain in solution saline and ferruginous matters. Hence the ashes of peat, besides the earthy
Ee 2 matter,
dood

36 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
matter,(consisting for the most part of phosphat of lime) contain likewise phospaht of iron, gypsum, Epsom salt, and sreen vitriol; and these in different proportions, ac- cording to the nature of the peat, and circumstances under which it had been formed. Hence also the ashes of different kinds of peat will have different effects when
used as manures, or top-dressings, to ground.
The decayed remains of vegetables, called in this Trea- tise inert vegetable matter, abundantly contained in many soils, especially those which have been much manured, and long under cultivation, are in all respects similar to peat, and capable, like peat, of different degrees of oxygenation and insolubility; a process promoted by
fallowing, or the exposure of fresh surfaces to the a¢tion
of air:
A method of rendering these inert vegetable mat- ters conducive to vegetation, will be given in the sequel
of this work, when the application of saline matters to different soils is discussed.
FOSSILE
i= Pa-~ an Se- wo* er. Wie... a pare ae=—=s- Se———— ss —= I TREE nap prin=-—s yb SSeS_-—~: Se,“Se = Z Gain ae== ioe a atin ares i.=

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 37
FOSSILE COAL
Ts an inflammable substance, formed of the remains of
rs antediluvian vegetables, animal juices, and mineral or | metallic substances, combined or mixed with earthy matters. Like peat it loses its inflammability by expo-
sure to air, and becomes oxygenated. Saline compounds
are thence formed; they consist of green vitriol, Epsom salt, phosphat of lime, phosphat of iron, together with earth of iron, and a proportion of the uncombined
simple earths,
Oxygenated fossile coal is likewise capable of solution
by saline substances, and of producing the same good
effects in promoting vegetation as oxygenated peat, when
treated in a similar manner.
Such coal as is most applicable for this, purpose is found at the crop or outburst of most seams, particu- larly those which are of a soft tender nature, and easily acted upon by the joint influence of air and water. It
will
<—==———“—== ES x é Sie 7= ne— —— ee Baie ee ba nd ae. eS oe ae~ ate-
- 4 7” apie BR Se a a oF_=== ee a aaa=""“wl Viste= ge

8.A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
c <2
will require many years before coal,(wrought at a con-
siderable depth, and brought to the surface) will, by ex-
posure to air, become oxygenated, and attain what coal at a less depth had acquired by the action of air and water
during many ag
“When coal is in a state capable of being rendered-so-
‘luble, it is soft and-friable; when rubbed between the
re
fingers it appears like soot; when thrown into the fire it does not burn with any flame; and whilst consum- ing, emits a smell more like unto that from the com-
bustion of peat than coal,
Most fossile coal contains the bases requisite for form-
ing, with a combination of pure air or oxygen, the‘fol-
lowing acids, viz. the vitriolic or sulphuric, muriatic,
phosphoric,&c.
“The acid first formed is the sulphuric. As this is ge-
nerated,.1t combines either with the earth of iron or the
-earth. of magnesia, forming green vitriol and Epsom salt.
ne Sh ta
These salts being very soluble, are readily washed away from the coal by rain or moisture; after which, by a
farther
Te

.
,
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 39
farther supply of oxygen with their peculiar bases, the phosphoric and other acids. are formed.‘These.acids, as they are generated, combine with the calcareous mat-
ter of the coal, now by full decomposition rendered ca-
pable of being acted upon, and form salts that are nearly.
insoluble.
Oxygenated coal, when it is not found in that state, may be procured by exposing the small or refuse coal of a colliery alternately to air and moisture.‘This process may be much accelerated by previously grinding the
coal to a fine powder.
CHARCOAL, OR THE COKE OF COAL,
Is a substance in an intermediate state between that of vegetables, wood, or fossile coal; and that of their re- duction to ashes. The making of charcoal is. best performed in close vessels, or by a smothered method of
combustion.
BY j
Pet nn errant———

49 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
By the combustion of charcoal in the open air, and in consequence of the combination of vital air, fixable air
is produced.
Carbonaceous matter or charcoal is likewise resolved into fixable and inflammable air, by the alternate appli- cation of moisture and heat to charcoal, in close vessels,
in which case water is decompounded.
There is reason to believe that the solar rays are no
where on the surface of the earth sufficiently powerful
to form charcoal or coke from vegetable matters or fos-
sile coal.;
Vegetable substances contain the carbonaceous princi-
ple, or what by heat may become charcoal or coke, but
are not prior there to charcoal.
Charcoal, by different processes, may be made to afford
the carbonaceous principle to plants.
=—< ES ite tte as= Se en—= 5

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY: 4¥
SULPHUREOUS SCHYST.
Tuts substance generally accompanies the strata of coal and limestone. For the most part it consists of clay and pyrites, 7.¢. iron mineralised by sulphur, with a pro- portion of calcareous matter and magnesia, the whole tinged with a black, blue, or grey colour, by mineral tar
or oil. By exposure to air vitriolic acid is formed; this, by
ie
combining with lime, magnesia, earth of iron, or clay,
forms gypsum, Epsom salt, green vitriol, or allum.
Sulphureous schyst acts powerfully as a manure to soils containing much phosphat of lime, or calcareous matter. It is found, in the greatest abundance, in the | East part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is there
called allum rock.
F_ LIME.
Pe ee eran! ET

4.2 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
LIME
is produced from chalk, marble, limestone, coral, or’
shells, when submitted to a sufficient degree of heat to disengage the fixable air, or carbonic acid, with which, in
a natural state, these substances are always united.
Water has a great tendency to combine with lime; heat seul isic= ae~ AN Aya es SIE 2= is disengaged, and there is reason to believe that the water is decomposed in the process. Newly made lime, from its. power of destroying, oras it were burning vegetable and
animal bodies, is termed caustic. When applied to or-
ganic bodies, containing moisture, it rapidly destroy
S
their adhesion, or continuity of parts, and disengages from
them inflammable air, and azotic or phlogisticated air,
forming volatile alkali. The residuum will be found to
consist of charcoal, and of a combination of lime with, the phosphoric and other acids, forming saline Matters, i} which are nearly insoluble. The above effects are pro- |.. is.. a dwced by the application of lime to peat, or to soils con- \ taining ef) a 7| EAN re*. ESS ee 4 oa—_—:——— ee ee Se

AGRICULTURE-WITH CHEMISTRY. A2 are faining much vegetable matter; part of which 1s dissipated
2
in a gassiotis state, and part combines with the lime, form- ing insoluble compounds, which cannot promote vege- tation, until brought into action by other saline substances, either on the principle of superior affinity, or on that of the double eleétric attractions, as will be explained in the
ie
sequel of this work
CHALK, OR UNCALCINED CALCAREOUS MATTER.
Cua.Lk has not the same power as lime in destroying the texture of organic bodies, because it is saturated with fixable air: it has, however, an action on these sub- stances, or more properly speaking, these substances have an action on chalk, so soon as by oxygenation their respective acids are generated; in which case they will combine with the chalk, and form the nearly insoluble saline compounds, already described. By the action of
4hece 2, tNneése
a em
A I RII ee EE

44. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
these acids on chalk fixable air is disengaged. This gas is absorbed by the roots of vegetables, decomposed in the
process of vegetation, affording the carbonaceous prin-
ciple to vegetables; whilst vital air, the other constituent
part of fixable air, is thrown off by the respiratory power.
of vegetables.
The different effects of lime and of chalk on vege- table and animal substances, shew, that when either of those materials is applied with a view to promote the fertility of the ground, they should be used according
to circumstances, and the nature of the soil.
PAR
Sa

* ee a
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 4g
PARTICULAR EFFECTS RESULTING FROM THE APPLE CATION OF LIME AND CHALK.TO GROUND.
_ Lime is known to have a tendency to sink below the: upper surface, and to form itself into a regular stratum between. the. fertile and the unfertile mould. After breaking up pasture ground that formerly had. been limed on: the sward, it is frequently observed in this situation:—this has been. generally ascribed to its spe- cific gravity, and to its: acting in a mechanical manner. In gravelly, or sandy soils, there can. be no doubt but that the diffusibility and smallness of the particles of lime will induce it mechanically to sink through the larger particles of the sand or gravel, and to remain at rest on
the more compact stratum which may resist its passage.
When lands of this description have been limed, and kept constantly under annual crops, the greater mechani-- cal process of the plough will operate against. the lesser one of subsidence, and keep the lime diffused through
the soil: but in clayey or loamy soils, which are equally diffusible.

AG A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
f
diffusible with lime, and nearly of the same specific
BI
gravity, the tendency which lime has to sink downwards,
1- 5
cannot be accounted for simply on mechanical principles.
In lands of this description, under the plough, the lime is dispersed or mixed with the goil, until-such time as these lands are laid down-with grass seeds. After rée- maining in this situation at rest for a certain number of years, on breaking up, a floor of calcareous matter will frequently be found lying immediately beneath the roots of the grass. This effect, contrarily to the general opinion of its being disserviceable, is of great utility, as the staple or depth of the soil is always increased and rendered less retentive of water in proportion to the distance which the lime penetrates downwards; and thus by increasing the depth of the soil a greater scope is afforded for the ex- pansion of the roots and nourishment of vegetables.
These effects of lime in soils, except in those that are
_ Sravelly or sandy, cannot be accounted for simply on
mechanical principles, but may probably be explained on
such as are chemical.
Ze AL Lime =e ee= aS ee nr= oe Brcce eS—___= eae a i ae art a———__——

AGRICULTURE WITH.CHEMISTRY. Ay
Lime is capable of being dissolved in water, in six hundred times its own weight.. Chalk, z. e. lime com- bined to a€éxtain degree with fixable air, is insoluble; but chalk is capable of solution by a greater proportion of fixable air, either in consequence of its disengagement from vegetable matters decaying in the soil, or from the ghanges which the carbonaceous matter therein con- tained may undergo. When chalk in this manner isren- dered soluble, the solution will sink through the surface mould to amore compaét stratum, through which it can- not pass: in this situation it will lose the superabundant
proportion of fixable air‘by which it previously had be-
come soluble, and will-again return to the state of chalk,
forming a stratum infinitely more pure and unadulterated 5) t
r
than could possibly have been formed, had the precess
fact, all the argillaceous, magnesian, siliceous, and ferru-
ginous matters, of equal degree of attenuation or size of aD] zy) a: Co
oO
parts, would have sunk withthe hme.
le me rane fhe * Chalk and clay are nearly of the same specific gravity, and. sand of greater
specific gravity than lime.
TE
Sept ieanee e eee
cs c

48 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
‘The abundant use of lime has undoubtedly occa- sioned the consumption of a large proportion of the vegetable and animal matters in the soils to which it has
repeatedly been applied; still the evil is not so great as at
first it may appear. For although a considerable pro-
portion of these.matters has been disengaged in a gassious state, or otherways made to contribute to the growth of plants, still the lime, or chalk, by entering into certain «ombinations, has formed and accumulated a large stock of insoluble matter, capable, by certain saline substances, of being again brought into action, and of being ren-
dered. conducive to vegetation.

oe
Mee Sitet: L Penne
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 49
ALKALINE SALTS
Are fixed, or volatile. The fixed are obtained by the combustion of marine and terrene plants.| Mineral alkali is also to be procured from muriat of s6éda, or sea salt. The volatile is obtained from urine—animal mat-
ter——fessile&oal—soot—and other substances. Alkaline
salts combine with acids, forming neutral salts; with animal fat, and oil, and vegetable oils, they form soap, or a saponaceous matter, diffusible in water. Alkaline salts act upon and destroy the continuity of the parts of animal and vegetable substances: they act most power- fully on the latter, when oxygenated, forming therewith
saline compounds, which, in a very high degree, pro-
mote vegetation.
Oxygenated vegetable matter, and oxygenated peat, when decomposed, and rendered soluble by alkaline salts, assume a brownish red colour, and are tasteless: hence the alkali must enter into combination, and be neu-
rnligec; ay Pm eA 1 Ss Bese(|| ae See ae|: tralized by an acid or acids. These will be found to

50 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
be the phosphoric and soreline, or, as it is now generally termed, the oxalic acid, forming, according to the par- ticular alkali used, phosphat and oxalat of pct-ash— phosphat and oxalat of soda, or mineral alkali—phos-
phat and oxalat of ammoniac, or volatile alkali.
By exsiccation, the above-mentioned extra(which is very similar in its colour and effeéts on ground to the juice of dunghills) assumes the appearance of a darkish
brown gum, soluble at any time by the application of
water. Alkaline substances act in the same manner on oxygenated fossile coal, as they do on oxygenated vege- table matters or peat; forming likewise a brownish red liquor, which equally promotes vegetation. The acids contained in oxygenated fossile coal, in a state of combi-
nation with calcareous matter, will probably be found
to be the phosphoric acid, the acid of borax, and that of|
sorel, or the oxalic acid.
MAG-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. st
MAGNESIA, CONSIDERED AS A MANURE,
Is contained in steatities or soap rock, and in a variety of other earths and stones. It combines with acids, forming neutral salts, all of which are very soluble, and the greater part of them promote, in a very considerable degree, the growth of plants. Magnesian earths may be applied with peculiar advantage to soils generally, and not improperly called sour soils, containing green vitriol, arising from the decomposition of pyrites. It will decompose the metallic salt by superior affinity, and form with the acid, Epsom salt, known in a high degree to promote vegetation; while the earth of iron will be separated in the state of an ochre, or iron com-
biped with fixable air.
te aan IRON.
\ Le-———_—= ee_— a SS RNR a en

a| LS)
A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
IRON.
THE metallic substance contained in the ereatest quantity in soils, is iron; it exists therein in a variety of states—in a metallic state—in the state of yellow ochre, or iron combined with fixable air—in the state of reds ochre, or iron combined with pure air or oxygen—and in the state of pyrites, or iron mineralized by sulphur. Pyrites are only found in such soils as have not long been under cultivation, or exposed to the action of the air for a sufficient length of time, so as to decompose the pyrites by the combination of pure air; a process in this Treatise called oxygenation. By this means, the vitriolic acid is formed, and which, as it forms, joins With the earth of iron, the other constituent part of the pyrites, and forms green vitriol. This salt, in poor souls, containing little calcareous matter, 1s extremely injurious to the growth of plants, the bad effects of which to vegetation may be corrected by dung, and urine of cattle—by lime—chalk—magnesia—and alkaline salts. With lime or chalk, the acid of the green vitriol
forms

Ss =?
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 53
forms gypsum, a salt which is very insoluble; whilst with magnesia and alkalis it forms Epsom salt, and vi- triolated tartar, or Glauber salts: salts, whose beneficial effects on the growth of plants have been. fully ascer-
tained.
Ln proportion of iron in most soils, is so very con- “siderable, that there can be no doubt but it was placed there, by the Great Creator of all things, to answer some wise purpose; and, although it is only found in small quantities in vegetable and animal substances, still its effects in promoting vegetation, may, in a chemical point of view, be much greater than can possibly be accounted for by the very small proportion of iron found in organic
bodies;
The following is an attempt to explain how it may
conduce to vegetation.
Iron, as has been observed, is found in soils under
diferent modifications, changing from: one state’ to
f here vu ow rlhat nt n Peake ae CR AtO; the abe Fanotner: when 1n that of pyrites 1£1S changed, by tHe apd
iiCi I £ a metallic salt. When
sorption of pure air or oxygen, to that o
d

cA A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
When alkalis, calcareous matter, or magnesia, are added to soils containing such metallic salts, they are decom- posed; the acid combining with these substances in pre- ference to the earth of iron, which is separated in the
state of yellow ochre, or iron combined with fixable air.
‘By the addition of animal, vegetable substances, or_
carbonaceous matter, to lands containing iron in this state, it is brought towards a metallic state, and fixable air is disengaged. Ground, containing much iron in the state of ochre, is of a yellowish tinge, or colour; but as it receives dung or inflammable Matter, the soil, together
with the iron contained in it, will Change toa brown or
dark colou.
Iron thus reduced to a metallic State is capable of com-
bining with pure air.or oxygen, in which case fixable
air would be generated by the combination thereof with the carbonaceous matter of the iron. The fixable
air thus generated, may be disengaged from the earth
of iron by a fresh application of inflammable matters.
Nothing is at rest in this world; all bodies are under-
Song successive changes from one state to another.
I On
ey Be

id Cn
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.
On iron the changes are produced by the alternate action of inflammable matter, and pure air or oxygen: in the former case fixable air is disengaged; in the latter, at- mospheric air is separated, cr decomposed, by the abstrac- tion from it of pure air. Both the azotic or phlogisti- ‘cated air, the other component part of atmospheric air,
and fixable air, promote the growth of plants.
#
VITRIObIC: ACID:
Tus acid, in the new nomenclature, is called by the French chemists the sulphuric acid; aname much more
descriptive of its origin than that generally used.
All acids, in the new nomenclature, are named from the peculiar bases or substances of which they are formed, by the combination of pure air, or oxygen;.the presence of which in all cases is necessary to constitute an acid. This process, under the head of oxygenation, has been
frequently resorted to, and which, together with the
insoluble saline compounds formed by the developement of

°6© A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of certain acids from vegetable substances, and subse- quent combination of them with calcareous matter, con-
stitute the most prominent feature in the present work.
By a due knowledge and attention to this very impor- tant process of nature, the most beneficial consequences may be derived. It being a process, which, as it respects agriculture, has not been noticed by any writer on that science.
The vitriolic is the most powerful of all the acids. It* disengages or expels other acids, when in a state of com- bination with metallic, earthy, or alkaline substances. When concentrated, it aéts in a similar manner to that of alkaline salts, in the resolution or destruétion of vege- table and animal substances, disengaging from them cer-
tain gasses, and forming therewith certain saponace-
ous and saline compounds.‘These solutions or extraéts are of a reddish brown colour, similar to that produced
by the action of alkaline salts on oxygenated peat. On
4 the principles already stated, the vitriolic acid may be ve used beneficially to decompose, and to bring into action
the ih
cag RE) oe Xr ee Keone ete
ee a ae

Bic 5
ay
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, oy
the insoluble matter accumulated in soils, by the combi- nation of the phosphoric and soreline acids with calcare- ous matter. The vitriolic acid will join with the calca- reous matter, and form gypsum; whilst the posphoric and soreline acids, in consequence of their disengage- ment, will combine with other matters in the soil, par- ticularly with magnesia, forming salts which are very soluble, and conducive to the growth of plants.
7+
But the endless series of processes adopted by nature,
do not finish here; for, on a supposition, that the phos-
phoric and soreline acids had been fully disengaged from the calcareous matter, with which they had formerly been united, and that in the state of phosphat, and oxalat of potash, soda, ammoniac, or magnesia, they had expend- ed themselves in the process of vegetation; still the gyp- sum remaining in the soil would, on a renewed applica- tion of dung, animal or vegetable matter, be brough from the state of gypsum, which is insoluble, to a state approaching to that of a hepar of lime, which is solu- ble; and as the vitriolic acid and calcareous matter are con- tained in, and form a part of‘the ce residuum
Cc {
H of

58 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
.
of vegetable matters, it may hence be inferred, that these matters were not generated in, but were taken up, when in a state of solution, by the roots of plants. Thus may the good effects of gypsum in America be accounted for. To these beneficial effects, from the combination of inflammable substances with gypsum, forming what is called a hepar or liver of sulphur, may be added the large share of nourishment, which trefoils, and plants of a certain formation of stem and leaf, receive, by the hepatic air disengaged from hepars, when they, by the process of oxygenation, are again returning to the state of neutral salts, of which such hepars had been formed by the combination of inflammable or carbonaceous
matter.
Thus by a thorough knowledge and application of chemistry to agriculture, the several substances in soils may be made to undergo a varied change of new com- binations, tending to promote the greatest of all objects,
a more plentiful supply of food.
NITROUS

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 59
NITROUS ACID.
Nirrovs acid is a compound of phlogisticated air or azotic gas With pure airor oxygen. This combination takes place under different circumstances, particularly by the putrefaction and decay of animal and vegetable substan- ces. As it forms, it combines either with calcareous
matter or alkaline salts; forming saline substances, which
are conducive to vegetation.
The nitrous acid, in the table of affinities, is placed
mext to that of the vitriolic.
MARINE, OR MURJATIC ACID.
Tuis acid is next in affinity to the nitrous, and con- stitutes about one third of muriat of soda, or sea salt. It consists, like all other acids, of a combination of pure air or oxygen with a peculiar basis, which has not as yet
H 2 been
ee,

60 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
been ascertained, but is supposed to be of an inflam- mable nature. Marine acid is contained in sea water, in salt rock, and in salt springs, combined with mineral
alkali, or soda, and with the earth of magnesia.
The disengagement and separation of this acid, from the alkaline basis with which it is united in sea or rock salt, may be accomplished by various methods; one only has as yet been discovered and effected atan expence which can admit a manufactory of alkaline salts being established on an extensive scale. The accomplishment of this most lesirab] bieét kx he ri r= eC+ aesirabie object, by a cheap and easy process, must appear, with respeé& to certain useful arts, as well as to the application of it to agriculture, to be one of the most
oa 9
important discoveries to which chemistry could have
a

efi
—— ea
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 6
PHOSPHORIC ACID, AND SORELINE OR OXALIC ACID.
THE origin, nature, and properties of these acids have previously been so fully discussed, that any further ex-
planation is deemed unnecessary.
INSECTS.
INDEPENDENT of the various substances hitherto noticed, as being contained in soils, and affording their assistance in the production and nourishment of plants, the innumerable tribes of inseéts which abound in rich soils, or soils long under cultivation, ought not to be everlooked. Some of these insects are extremely ‘noxious, whilst others are inoffensive to the vegetable kingdom; but all, when destroyed,(as will hereafter direéted) may be rendered serviceable in affording
I a pro-

ae REE sho 7 Se es i i EES
z aoc ats oats"—_= i A=—— See Sn Se a a i RR ee ee NS“-= ot en a-.
62 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
a proportion of animal matter for the general uses of ve- getation. The commonearth worm, which is inoffensive, may be made to rise to the surface, and to become useful
for the domestic purpose of feeding poultry.
SALINE SUBSTANCES WITH EARTHY BASES.
Pure clay, chalk or calcareous matter, magnesia, and the earth of iron, are capable of being dissolved by many
acids, and of forming salts, which are more or less solu- ble:*
As some one or more of these salts are contained in most soils, it is an object of great importance to agricul- ture, to ascertain what are the combinations which dif- ferent acids make with the earths above-mentioned; which of them are beneficial, and which injurious to ve-
getation; as also how such injurious effects may be cor- rected;
The
* Silieeous matter is not included, being soluble only by the fluor acid.

I
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY 63
The following table will shew, the salts that may be formed, by the combination of the vitriolic—nitrous— muriatic—phosphoric—and soreline or oxalic acids, with clay, chalk, magnesia, and the earth Gf won. To this a discussion more at large will be added on the respective properties of the several combinations thus formed, in promoting, or in retarding vegetation, agreeably to the
following order.

a, hy
A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
4
TABLE.
Clay—_ Sul
halk aoe= do. as Magnesia— do. Es Earth of Iron— do.=
Nitrous acid...—
Chak
To oj so Ay=e Magnesia do. Earth of Iron— do.==
Chalk Marine or Muriatic acid Magnesia—— do.— Earth of Iron“se do. a=
Chalk—
Phosphoric acid—
Magnesia—— do.— Earth of Iron— do.— Chalk— or Oxalic acid
Magnesia— do. a Farth of Iron— do. a= \
Argill or Allum. Sulphat of Lime or Gypsum. Do. of Magnesia or Epsom Salt. Sulphat of Iron or Green Vitriol. Nitrat of Lime.
Nitrat of Magnesia.
Nitrat of Iron.
Muriat of Lime.
Muriat of Magnesia.
Muriat of Iron.
Phosphat.of Lime.
Phosphat of Iron or Sederite. Oxalat of Lime.
Oxalat of Magnesia.
Oxalat of Jron.
S UL-
ets 1 te=
a

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 6s
SULPHAT OF ARGIL{OR ALLUM.
ALLUM is a salt dissolvable in fifteen times its weight of water. It is produced in great quantities, by the de- composition of alluminous schyst or slate, on exposure to
air, or by calcination.
Dr. FRANcIS HoME* of Edinburgh, the first person who thought of making experiments with saline bodies 1 promoting the growth of plants, found no beneficial effects to result from the application of allum to garden mould, the soil on which his experiments were made. Allum is contained in many soils, and is daily forming
by the decomposition of alluminous schyst.
Where found in abundance, the soil is very properly denominated, by country people, asour soil, on which few vegetables will grow. This sterility is to be corrected by lime, by earthy matters containing magnesia, and by
I alka-
* Vide Dr. Home’s most valuable Treatise on that subjet, published at Edin-
burgh in 1756.
eae I

66 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
alkaline salts. The neutral salts formed by such applica- tions will be gypsum, Epsom salt, sulphat of potash, sul- phat of soda, and sulphat of ammoniac, according to the species of alkali applied. Although no beneficial effects were found to result from the experiments made by Dr, Home, yet they may with great probability be expected to arise by the application of allum to soils con- taining much calcareous matter; especially to such as contain, beside this latter substance, a sufficient pro- portion of animal and vegetable matter. The allum will in this case be decomposed by the calcareous matter, on the principle of superior affinity, whilst the fixable air of the calcareous matter will be disengaged, and on being absorbed by the roots of plants, will afford them the car
bonaceous principle.
SULPHAT
e

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 67
SULPHAT, OF LIME, OR GYPSUM.
GYPsuM exists in great abundance, in many soils. Itis prodcced by the decomposition of alluminous schyst, con- taining a due proportion of calcareous matter; with which the-sulphuric acid will join, as it is formed ib preference to.the earth of allum or clay.”‘Tt. is likewise formed by the decomposition of pyrites, in such soils as contain a sufficiency of calcareous mat- ter for the sulphuric acid to combine with, in prefe- rence to the earth of iron, the other constituent part of pyrites: and it is found in immense quantities, constitut- ing not only the soil, but the substratum, of some countries, to a great depth. Gypsum is to be decomposed by alka- line salts; the sulphuric acid forming with them sulphat of potash and sulphat of soda, according to the alkali used, It isa salt very tnsoluble, requiring upwards of five hundred times its weight of water to dissolve it: hence supposing it equally deleterious to vegetation, as allum hath been considered, which is soluble in only fif- feen times its weight of water, it must prove less inju-
I 2 rious,

a eS
68 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
rious, from its greater degree of insolubility: but gyp=- sum, far from being hurtful to vegetation when applied to certain soils, promotes vegetation in a very high degree, as 1s evinced by the use of it in some parts of the Conti- nent of Europe and of America; and is further proved by the chemical analysis of vegetables, whose ashes are found to contain a certain portion of the component parts of gypsum. Forthe particular explanation of its mode
of acting on soils suited to it—See Vitriolic Acid.
SULPHAT OF MAGNESIA, OR EPSOM SALT.
DULPHAT of magnesia, or Epsom salt, is- not to- be found in such abundance as allum or gypsum: it is con=
tained in:sea water, and is.to be procured in greater quan= iA
eS
tities by decomposing the muriat of magnesia, or the bitter refuse liquor of salt works, by the means of the vitriolic acid. Native Epsom salt is sometimes to be met with in the mineral strata, mixed with clay and siliceous matter. It is formed in soils containing alluminous schyst, or pyrites, and a due proportion of the earth of
z magne=

AGRICULTURE WITH GHEMISTRY. 69
magnesia: in which case, on the decomposition of the schyst, or pyrites, the vitriolic acid so formed, will, by superior affinity, join with the magnesia, and form Epsom salt, in preference to the argillaceous or ferruginous matter of the above-mentioned substances.
Epsom salt is very soluble, dissolving in about twice its weight of cold water. It is decomposed by lime and alkalis, forming therewith gypsum, vitriolated tartar, Glauber salt, or vitriolic ammoniac. By Dr, Home’s experiments, Epsom salt has been found in a very high degree to promote vegetation. He states, that it made the garden mould he used for his experiments produce one
fourth more grain.
SULPHAT

es v SRS I,
A a ea HR hoy ee
<estioee
79 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
SULPHAT OF IRON, OR GREEN VITRIOL.
Tuts salt is formed naturally, in many places in great
“abundance, by the process of oxygenation, from sulphu-
reous or pyriteous substances. These matters are sene- rally found accompanying the coal strata, as well asin’ coal itself; particularly in such coals as are sulphureous. This salt is very soluble in water, and is in a high de- gree injurious to vegetation, when it abounds in soils consisting of poor clay and siliceous matter, without any admixture of vegetable or calcareous substances.—— It is decomposed by alkaline salts, forming therewith vitriolated tartar, Glauber salt, vitriolicammoniac, gypsum, and Epsom salt. When added to soils containing calcareous matter, and adue proportion of animal and vegetable sub- stances, it has been found, when-not. used in too great quantities, to have produced beneficial effects in promoting the growth of grass; but experiments have not as yet
been made fully to ascertain its effects.on arable land.
NITRAT
— See Sea ee SS a eee—— a
: ee tt ee Se— ea a 2

re
—
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. ty
NITRAT OF LIME.
Tuts saline substance is found in the rubbish of old
buildings, and in those materials from which salt-petre©
is extracted: viz. animal and vegetable matters, which, with a due proportion of calcareous earth, have under- gone the putrefactive process, together with a subse- quent, sufficiently long, exposure to atmospheric air. According to Dr. Home, it is likewise contained in what is commonly called hard water, which,-by his experi- ments, was found to promote the growth of plants in
a much higher degree than soft water.-
Nitrat of lime is very soluble, and is deliquescent; 1t
is decomposed by fixed alkalis, and forms therewith
nitrat of potash or salt-petre, and nitrat of soda, or cu--
bic nitre,
NIFRAT-

72 A TREATISE ON THE-CONNECTION‘OF
NITRAT OF MAGNESIA.)
ON this subject, with precision, little can be advanced, as no agricultural experiments have, as yet, been made with this compound; it isa very deliquescent and soluble: salt; and there is reason to expect, that it will produce effects, in promoting vegetation, similar to those which
may result from the application of the nitrat of lime.
Tt is decomposed by alkalis and lime, and forms there-|
with nitrat of potash, nitrat of soda, and nitrat of lime.
NITRAT OF IRON.
As this salt is rarely presented by nature, its properties
or effects, as they may apply to Agriculture, are not worthy of observation.
MURIAT

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.
MURIAT OF LIME.
‘THIs salt is found in a small proportion, m sea water.
It is very soluble, and when mixed with dung, its effeéts in promoting vegetation will probably be found similar to those of the next article, the muriat of magnesia. It is decomposed by fixed alkalis, forming therewith muriat of potash, or digestive salt of silvius, and muriat of
soda, or seassalt.
MURIAT OF MAGNESIA
Is found in great abundance in sea water, con-
-stituting upwards of one fourth of the saline matter it
contains. It may be procured in great quantities from the bitter refuse liquor which at present runs to waste
at the salt works.
It is a salt very deliquescent, and of difficult chrystalli- zation; its acid is capable, in a great measure, of being
K expelled

74 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
expelled by heat, and very considerable benefit has been experienced from its use, in promoting vegetation, when mixed with dung, or compost dung-hills. It seems to »Ossess, When applied in moderate quantities, the septic powers of sea salt, and thus to promote the complete
putrefaction of dung.
It is decomposed by fixed alkalis and lime, forming therewith digestive salt of silvius, sea salt, and muriat of lime. With ammoniac, or volatile alkali, it forms.a
triplicate salt of easy chrystallization. MURIAT OF IRON.
Tus salt seldomoccursin nature. It is highly inimical
to vegetation. It is decomposed by fixed alkalis, lime,
and magnesia, forming digestive salt, sea salt, muriat
of lime, and muriat of magnesia.
D4 PHOS-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 74
Wm
PHOSPHAT OF LIME
Is contained in animal matters, such as bones, urine, shells,&c.&c. in some sorts of limestone, and in vegetable substances, particularly in the gluten, or vegeto-animal matter of wheat or other grain. It isa saline compound very insoluble. There is reason to be-
lieve, a very considerable proportion of this nearly inso-
jp if
a
luble salt is contained in most fertile soils, especially those that have been long under cultivation. It is not to be decomposed by pure alkalis; but this may be ef- fected by mild vegetable and mineral alkalis, on the principle of the double electrive attractions; in which case, carbonat of lime(or chalk): will be precipitated, and the phosphoric acid will join with the alkali, and form phosphat of potash, or phosphat of soda, accor ding to the alkali applied. These alkaline phosphats will be” found to promote vegetation in a very great degree: the substances of which they are composed, viz. alka- line salts and phosphoric acid, are found in the ashes
of most vegetables.

6 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
“SI
PHOSPHAT OF MAGNESIA.
Tuls is a very soluble salt; seldom occurs in nature; promotes vegetation. Jt, may be formed. in: soils con- taining phosphat of lime and uncombined magnesia, by watering ground, containing these substances, with water acidulated by the vitriolic acid, or by an acid py- riteous liquor; or the acid may be applied, by moistening mould with water properly acidulated by the vitriolic acid, and then sowing, or spreading the mould on the ground. In this case the vitriolic acid will join with the calcareous matter of the phosphat of lime, and form sypsum; whilst the phosphoric acid, thus disengaged, will join with the Magnesia in the soil, and form phos-
phat of magnesia.
If phosphat of lime can be decomposed by sulphat of Iron,(on the principles of the double electrive attrac- tions) and form sulphat of lime(or Sypsum) and phos- phat of iron, the phosphat of iron may, in that case, be
~/
decomposed by magnesia, forming phosphat of mag- nesia,
PHOS-
— A
ee= ee I— ec 1 acc—— i acs

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 77
PHOSPHAT OF IRON
Is to be decomposed by alkaline salts: and mag-
nesia.
OXALAT OF LIME.
OXaLatT of lime is a very insoluble saline compound, formed by the combination of calcareous matter with the oxalic, or soreline acid, with which acid calcareous matter has a greater affinity than have alkaline salts. The oxalic acid, or acid of sorel, is found in the plant of the same name, combined with the vegetable alkali, in the state of asuperacidulated salt; and it is likewise contained in many other vegetables. Oxalat of lime is to be produced, by adding calcareous matter to the ex- pressed juice, or salt of sorel.-The calcareous’ matter will combine with the acid, and form oxalat of lime;
whilst
@ FF) PMA) | é q /

78 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
Whilst the carbonic acid, or fixable air, will combine with
the vegetable alkali, f oe es mild alkali, or carbonat of
Much of the oxalat of lime will be formed, by adding calcareous matter to ground abounding with plants of sorel, or other vegetables containing the soreline or oxalic acid; by which application, the vegetable alkali will be disengaged in a carbonated or mild state. From the in- solubility of oxalat of lime, it is not probable that it can contribute, per sey to the food of plants. It cannot be decomposed by alkalis, on superior affinity, because its affinity is greater with calcareous matter; but it may be decomposed by the vitriolic acid, in which case, gypsum will be formed, and the soreline, or oxalic acid, thus dis- engaged, will be capable of entering into new combina- tions with fixed, or volatile‘alkaline salts, or magnesia.
These combinations are soluble, and, when not super-
acidulated, promote vegetation in a high degree,
Oxalat of lime may probably be decomposed by certain neutral salts, on the principles of the double
elec-

AGRICULTURE: WITH. CHEMISTRY: 79
electrive attractions, especially if the neutral salts, used
for that purpose, are superacidulated.
Oxalat of lime is decomposed by fire; the acid is de- stroyed, and carbonic acid, or fixable air, is formed, and
disengaged.
OXALAT OF MAGNESIA.
T'1s is a soluble salt, and, when not superacidulated, promotes vegetation. Itis formed, by adding magnesia, or earthy matters, containing magnesia, to the juice,. or salt of sorel; the superabundant acid of which will combine with the magnesia. It is probable, that that| part of the juice of sorel, which is in a neutral state, will be decomposed by the greater affinity that magnesia has to the soreline or oxalic acid; and that the vegetable alkali will be disengaged in a mild state, in the same
manner as if calcareous matter, or chalk, had been used.
OXALAT

50_A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
OXALAT OF IRON.
NoTHING certain can be advanced on the subject of this salt, farther than that it is decomposed by lime, mag-
nesia, and alkalis.
SALINESUBSTANCES COMPOSED OF ALKALIS AND ACIDS.
THE nature of the simple earths, and the compounds they form with different acids, having been explained, it will now be proper to give a list of such neutral salts as may be formed by the combination of the acids al-
ready mentioned with alkaline salts.
These are stated in the following table, to which will be added, under each distinct head, the peculiar powers
of each, in promoting or retarding vegetation,&c.
TABLE
— Sle i.

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. Sr
oe Be: Potash Combined with Vitriolic or Sulphuric Acid Sulphat of Potash, or Vitriolated Tartar Soda-- Ditto-- Sulphat of Soda, or Glauber Salts Ammoniae-—- Ditto- Ditto of Ammoniac, or Vitriolated Ammoniac Potash-- Nitrous Acid- a Nitrat of Potash, or Salt-Petre Soda~- Ditto--- Ditto of Soda, or Cubic Nitre Ammoniac o Ditto--- Ditto of Ammoniac Potash-- Marine Acid~ Muriat of Potash, or Digestive Salt of Silvius Soda-= Ditto~<-= Ditto of Soda, or Sea Salt Ammoniac- Ditto-~- Ditto of Ammoniac, or Sal Ammoniac Potash-- Phosphoric Acid-- Phosphat of Potash Soda-- Ditto--- Ditto of Soda Ammoniac-. Ditto-- S Ditto of Ammoniac Potash-- Soreline, or Oxalic Acid- Oxalat of Potash Som- Ditto Bh An- Ditto of Soda Ammoniac-- Ditto~- Ditto of Ammoniac io SUL-

a ee
AS
3 ih, Fae aa
33 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
SULPHAT OF POTASH, OR. TITRIOLATED TARTAR.
ry
I HIS salt is soluble in
iiteen times its weight of
cold water, and has been found by Dr. HoME to promote
vegetation in an extraordinary manner. The garden ¥Y Id Thi| fi 1c Tr Jer, VENTS were aie) te mr q o 1 mouid On Which his experiments were made producex an increase of one-fourth more grain, in consequence of the application of this salt, Vitriolated tartar is to be
had from most vegetable matters by combustion; it forms atleast one-third of the saline matter obtained by the lixiviation of their ashes. This is sufficient,@ prior/, to prove,(independently of Dr. Homr’s very satisfac- tory experiments) that vitriolated tartar is beneficial to vegetation. This substance is a refuse article in some branches of manufacture; but the quantity produced is a mere trifle, in comparison to the quantity that might advantageously be applied to the Purposes of Agri-
culture.
SULPHAT

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 83
SULPHAT OF SODA, OR GLAUBER SALT.
GLAUvBER Salt is soluble in about two and one half times its weight of cold water. From experimerts, it has been proved to promote vegetation in a very high degree. It is procured in small quantities, in the pro- cesses-for making the muriatic acid, and muriat of ammoniac, or sal ammoniac. The high price at present of this article precludes the use of it; but could it be made _and sold at a cheap rate, it would prove a most valuable
acquisition to Agriculture.
SULPHAT OF AMMONIAC OR VITRIOLIC AMMONIAC. Tus salt is very soluble, and promotes vegetation; but itis not to be had in such quantities as to render it
an article of importance to Agriculture.
NITRAT

84 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
NITRAT OF POTASH, OR SALT-PETRE,
Is a salt very- soluble, formed by the putrefaction and complete decomposition of animal and vegetable sub-
stances, when mixed with calcareous matter and wood
ashes. It promotes vegetation, but its high price pre-
cludes its being used as an article of manure.
NITRAT OF SODA,‘ OR'CUBIGC NITRE.
THIs salt is likewise very soluble, but seldom natu- rally occurs. It is probable, that cubic nitre would pro- mote vegetation in an equal degree with nitrat of pot-
ash or salt-petre.
NITRAT

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. See
NITRAT OF AMMONIAC.
As this is a salt that cannot be procured in sufficient quantities, for the purposes of Agriculture, nothing need’.
be observed on.its nature or properties.
MURIAT OF POTASH, OR DIGESTIVE SALT OF SILVIUS.
DicEstive salt of Silvius is soluble in about thrice its weight of cold water. As this salt does not often natu- rally present itself, and cannot be procured in large quantities, its effects on.vegetation may be considered to
be stated under. the next article, which it very much
resembles.
MURIAT
a

oe Rg TLE II Sat Fae oS. ag eile
ee ee 2 ee
8G A TREATISE ON.THE CONNECTION GF
a
MURIAT OF SODA, OR SEA SALT.
Tuts salt is soluble in about three and a half times its
weight of cold water, and i
Les)
to be had in unlimited quantities from sea-water, salt springs, and salt mines. it never-yet has been fully ascertained, whether it is be- neficial or injurious to vegetation. Its fertilizing powers “have been highly extolled by some, whilst others have positively denied their Cilicacy. Ieis probable, that any power it may possess, in promoting vegetation, depends on its septic quality, or power it has of assisting pu- trefaction, when mixed in small or due-proportions with
dung or vegetable substances; though in large quanti-
ties it is antiseptic, and prevents putrefaction,*
These different effects of sea salt are the best ex plana- tion that can be given of the several opinions formed of this article as a manure, which, applied in small quanti- ties, may prove beneficial to certain soils; whilst, in large
quantities, it must be injurious to all.
Exclu-
* Vide Sir Joun PRiINGLE’s Essays.
|

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.. By
Exclusively of its septic effects, when used with dung, and ahimal or vegetable matters, it is destruc- tive to many different kinds of living insects, such as snails, grubs, slugs, worms,&c. Sea salt is contained in great quantities in marine plants; and as there is a variety of plants approaching more or less to those of a narine nature, its effects will be found greater in pro- moting the growth of certain classes of vegetables than of others. Sea salt is extremely injurious to poor soils,
and ought only to be applied to rich lands.
MURIAT OF AMMONIAC, OR SAL AMMONIAC.
NoTHING need be said on this subject, as the ex-
F f a) 1, nT
pence of the article precludes the use of it in Agri-
eae| es CEEILEUTE,.
PHOSPHAT OF POTASH—OF SODA—AND OF AMMONIAC.
TuHE above salts having similar effects in promoting vegetation, the same description, as it respects Agricul-
ture, will nearly apply to them all. They

88 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION’ OF
They are found in the greatest quantities:in urine; the
good effects of which,-on most soils, being well known, it may be presumed that similar salts to those contained
therein must be equally efficacious.
Phosphoric acid and alkaline salts are contained in the ashes of vegetables; these salts, or their primary princi-+ ples, must necessarily have constituted a part of such ve- getables, from-which it may be inferred, a priori, that alkaline phosphats are conducive to the growth of plants. Alkaline phosphats are to be obtained by the addition of alkaline carbonats, or mild alkaline salts, to oxygenated peat, or other oxygenated vegetable substances, forming
therewith a reddish brown mucilaginous compound.
OXALAT OF POTASH, OF SODA, AND OF AMMONIAC.
Turse soluble salts very highly promote vegetation; and may be had in great abundance by the addition of alkaline salts and other saline matters to oxygenated
peat, and also to oxygenated fossile coal, farming there-
with

ACRICULLURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 89 sa
with a mucilaginous saponaceous compound, solub
1 i
le in water, similar to that mentioned under the last article. The action of alkaline salts here stated to take place on oxygenated peat, a substance which previously has been observed to consist of the phosphoric and sorfeline, or oxalic acids, combined with calcareous matter, is un- doubtedly, as it may respect the action of alkalis en the oxalat’of lime, contrary to chemical principles, as lime has a greater affinity with the soreline or oxalic acid than alkalis have; butas peat, in the state here described, is mixed with other saline matters, and does not in all re- speéts resemble the oxalat of lime, but contains also a large proportion of carbonaceous and inflammable mat- ter, the action of the alkali, in dissolving the peat,
must be ascribed to the combination of the inflammable
or other matters,
M STAI

Bo A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
STABLE, FARM YARD DUNG, AND COMPOSTS.
WuHeEN Cato was asked what was the best system of farming, he thrice answered, that the best system of farming was to procure food for cattle; a reply which refers to obvious consequences, and enna no explana-
tion.
Although it is a common saying in Scotland, that « muck 1s the mother of the meal chest,”:still there ts no country where the preservation of the urine of cattle, and the juices of dung-heaps, are so little attended to; or where the farmers, in general, are at so little pains to
procure the greatest quantity of an,article so indispensa-
bly necessary to the obtaining abundant crops.—
In England, the farmers are much more attentive to the making and collecting this species of manure, and their conveniencies of farm-yards, and other places for 2 ea oe dung, are betterchosen. These are not only
Kept fully littered, but the lanes and hollow ways, in the
vicinity
oe= es a——.
== ee ma Se

~——
4 a.
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. gt
vicinity of the farm-yard, are frequently filled with
haulm, or inferior straw. The putrefation of it is
promoted by being trodden, and by receiving the urine
of passing cattle, which would be much facilitated, were
lace in which it is deposited overshade d with trees, and sheltered from the too great action of wind and rain.
In Scotland, a preference is generally given to a slop- ing bank or rising ground for the situation of farm- houses and@flices; and, as there are but few instances, unless of a recent date, where an inclosed farm-yard 1s
“ to be met with, the urine from the stables and cow- houses, as well as the juices from the dung heap, run off, or are washed away by the rains, and turn to no good
account. oe
The want of proper farm-yards and conveniencies is ‘but one of the reasons why a less quantity of dung is made by the farmers in Scotland than by those of Eng- land. The principal one is, that as the greater part of Scotland is better adapted to the breeding of cattle than.
to the production of grain, the avhole of the straw pro-
| are| M 2 auced es I Be Briss a pao ee

| Wie| Ay ae), 92 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTIO N CF /;{; oat as Seg|-°° ole duced from the arable land of each farm is eaten in the a: 2: 2 3 y succeeding winter by the stock; and, as few farmers m A:: a have more than énough for their cattle, little or none } a{ ox i x Y° oo© ¥ oe : i ae can be afforded as’ litter for their stables and farm-yards: 7 In severe winters, of long continuance, a scarcity of faih 4 od | ail Ly i i== z= a=° ae straw for their cattle is frequently experienced. This ee proves that most farmers in Scotland keep a greater ak: a number of cattle during summer than they ought pru- ay eos re i]| dently to calculate on maintaining through the winter. ) 2:; i}{ ft is very unusual in Scotland to grow hay but for the ae ae|(A.° t[fe purpose of sale. The working horses are fed with oat hy ie;, mam.) straw until-seed time; when, as an article of luxury, a } y 5 e ¢ they are supplied with pease or bean straw, the barley
straw being allotted to the cows and young stock.
There are many who rent small farms, still more cconomical in the consumption of their straw and fod- der.‘The whole of the straw, of every kind, is by them given to their horses; whilst their cows, and neat cattle,
are exclusively fed with the coarsest parts of the straw
rejected by the horses, broken and bruised by their feet, and well drenched by their urine; a sort of food which
‘loes not appear very palatable, and which, although con-
AY trary aN hoes|
Gy hs<—4~—> <s:= er Se-——=—= ot%::— pa-=—— f woe ms: SS == nnn
ee ee I et
SS ee

AGRIGULTURE WIFH,. CHEMISTRY, 93
trary to the first impression it makes, is certainly not to be attributed alone to scarcity, but to choice, as cows and neat cattle are frequently observed to forsake the best pro- vender, and to pick up and eat the litter from horse- stables; the state of the stomachs of these animals in- ducing them to seek and apply, as a stimulus, the volatile alkali contained in the urine of the horses, absorbed by the straw. The necessity that cattle are under of thus supplying themselves with the only stimulus or saline matter within their reach, and the well known salu- tary effects of salt, when given to cattle in other coun- tries, evidently point out the very important benefits that would arise, were cattle supplied from time to time with a due proportion of sea salt; and, as such, it cannot but be regretted, that the duty on an article, so essential to the purposes of farming and.grazing, should so com- pletely operate as a prohibition to its use: and the more so, a8 Government has long since been in possession of suggestions which could not have failed. nad they-been duly attended to, to have insured the most important be- nefits, not only to agriculture, the feeding and health of cattle, but likewise to several branches of manufacture in
ee ee tnese

94 A TREATISE
ON‘THE CONNECTION OF
these kingdoms, without a probability of causing any
. diminution in the public revenue.
“Did the conveniencies attached to a Scotch farm allow
the industry of the tenant to be exerted in
the urine and dung of his cattle, by constantly bedding
them with, or mixing their urine and dung with dis
peat, or when this substance is not to be-procuréd,
avith rich black mould, the consumption of all the straw
by cattle would, in such case, be found to be a practice
highly conducive to the interest of the farmer.
Mr. Bakewell and Mr. Chaplain, two very skilful
é
breeders of stock in England, are said to pursue very different modes in the feeding and maintenance of their
horses and cattle. The-one gentleman 1s said to supply
them with hay, and to use all his straw for litter; whilst
the other consumes the whole produce of hay and straw
‘from his farm in feeding and maintaining of cattle. A plat-
form is constructed on which the cattlestand, sufficiently open inthe seams to allow them being kept clean and
-dry, without any bedding of straw.‘This method ad-
mits

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.
mits a greater number of cattle to be maintained, anda greater quantity of rea/ dung to be procured, than when
aless number of stock are kept and well littered.
Food in its passage through the bodies of animals be- comes mixed with animalized matter, and consequently more rich and-more valuable, weight for weight, as a manure; than: dung procured by littering cattle, although there must necessarily-be much less in bulk or quantity, from the large proportion of the food of animals, which goes off by breathing and insensible perspiration; be- side which, without the utmost care, it is’ extremely difficult to prevent the urine and the valuable juices of the dung from sinking through the floors of cow-houses and stables, or the soil of-farm-yards. Could these incon- veniencies be effectually provided against by a proper floorin g of clay or chalk, a preference appears due to the consumption of the whole of the produce by cattle, pro- vided that attention be paid tothe mixing daily a sufficient quantity of peat or mould with the dung and urine, so as completely to absorb and take up whatever may remain© f these mattersina fluidstate. By this process there can be
no doubt that a greater quantity, and a still more valuable
dung-
OF

06 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
dung may be obtained than by the other practice of keeping a less number of cattle, and littering them with
straw.
When peat cannot be had, the richest and blackest
mould should be procured, that the volatile alkali of
the urine may act upon and dissolve, into a mucilagi- nous gummy liquor, the oxygenated inert vegetable matter contained in such mould. Peat,.Mewever, is to be preferred, because it contains a more abundant propor- tion of oxygenated vegetable matter for the volatile al-
kali to act upon,
:
These are not to be considered as theoretical state- ments, but the result of actual experiments, attentively made in Scotland. The quantity of manure made in the same given time was much greater than if litter had been used; and the manure procured was infinitely more rich and valuable. These experiments wéré not confined to the dung and urine of cattle, but the chamber-lye of the family was carefully preserved, and mixed also with a due proportion of oxygenated peat, which was found to produce a greater effect in dissolving the peat than the
urine from the cattle,
The
= a —

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 97
/
The importance of making or obtaining the greatest quantity of manure with the matertals now generally known, and capable ef being procured, is, in this prac- tical Dissertation, made to precede the preparation of all other manures or composts of a more expensive nature. Prudence and cconomy point out, that what is easiest and cheapest to be done, should always be first done; and that recourse should not be had to other means, until
that source of stpply is exhausted.
In the former part of this Treatise, under the head of Oxygenation, a short remark was made, that stable dung, by long keeping, lost its more fertilizing saline parts, and became oxygenated, and insoluble. A heap of such dung, kept for some years, has been known to become inodo- rous, insoluble, and in all respects similar to, and was a true peat; hence the practical inference, that dung
should only be kept a certain time.
When animal-dung and vegetable matters are mixed to- gether, such as horse dung, urine, straw, and hay, a degree of heat is generated aad disengaged by the absorption of vital air, or oxygen, and water is decomposed.
N As
—————

a ope a et CO et in
98 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
As the process of putrefaction advances, ammoniac or volatile alkali,(a compound of inflammable and_ phlo- gisticated air) is formed, and, in its tendency to escape from the heap, combines with such parts of the vegeta- bles and matters of the dung, as had advanced to the oxygenated state, forming therewith the saponaceous saline matter so often adverted to in this Treatise. The formation of this saponaceous matter, in the greatest possible quantity, will be promoted by mixing and cover- ing the dung with a due proportion of earth; hence the dung of hotbeds is that which is most completely rotted, and most asimilated to the saline saponaceous state above described; and in this state is more capable of promot- ing vegetation, than dung that had not arrived to an
equally advanced state of putrefaction.
Many farmers differ in opinion as to the propriety or the advantages which attend using long or fresh dung, or dung which is completely rotted. This disputed point seems capable of adjustment. Were the views of the
farmer to promote only the next immediatecrop of grass
or grain, the dung, when applied, should be fully and
completely rotted; but if his views extend to subsequent
Crops,

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 99
crops, or the soil be of a nature to receive benefit by the fermentation and heat produced by‘the application of fresh dung, preference should undoubtedly be given to dung in a long state, provided it isimmediately ploughed in, and totally covered, which is not easily accomplished with dung of this description. Long dung is always to be preferred in the culture of potatoes; for dung com- pletely rotted frequently causes this crop to be watery and worm eaten._Many farmers only apply coarse straw or litter; whence it might be imagined, that the benefit arising from such an application, must be more depen- dent on-the straw mechanically keeping the ground open er loose, than in contributing, by any part of its own substance, to the growth of the potatoes, which cannot
well be supposed; as the straw, in digging up the pota- toes, is generally found in an undecayed state. It is
highly probable, that the atmospheric air contained in
1e soil, thus made by the straw, may
suffer a degree of separation, or ere in its (as it were) imprisoned state, by which means the pure
* 5 3 Y 4 11 air or oxygen may combine with the straw, and in- flammable or vegetable matter, in the soil; whilst the azotic or phlogisticated air will contribute to the growth
N 2 of

a is Al ama ie Ah ip\ ae| Reel \ A H ae a ae i ae es i y' fl b ei) me i| oe, Bred ri ibe Bi a Nal Se We a aT! Mf ay
a ae— Se ne ar Se ee
ae i oe tc get Se a Ne a
ATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of the plants. This explication of the beneficial effects
to ae by stagnated air, will also account
for the benefit which plants of a certain construétion of
stemand leaf, and which very much overshadow and co- ver the PORES ultimately receive, by preventing a free
‘irculation of air. The application of long or short dung to ground, must appear too material to the pra@tical farmer to be overlooked. The preference, in most cases, 1S un- doubtedly to be given to such dung as has most com- pletely undergone the putrefactive process. Under this head it is necessary to notice, that dung and urine newly voided(unless when animals are diseased) are not in a putrescent state, The time of retention in the body of animals is of too short a continuance to allow that effect to take place. Such excrements are in a state advancing towards putridity, or in a small degree only putrid; a process which, to a certain extent, is ne- cessary to stimulate the intestines to discharge the feces, The further putrescency of excrements is promoted by a due degree of heat and moisture, particularly when aided by certain saline matters. The most efficacious are neutral salts, containing the vitriolic acid; such as
vitrio-

AGRICULTURE. WITH CHEMISTRY. OT
vitriolated tartar, Glauber salt, Epsom salt, and gypsum. These neutral salts, by being mixed with putrescent sub- stances, are changed to the state of hepars: hence the
extremely offensive and putrid effluvia disengaged from
dung, or other putrescent matters, to which such salts
had previously been added.
- Similar-effects, in promoting the putrefaction of dung, have not been experienced when muriat of soda, or pure sea salt, has been used;: and as no salt made in Bri- tain, whether from sea water, rock salt, or salt springs, is free from gypsum. and Epsom salt, there is: reason to suspect that the septic power of sea salt, when appliec in small quantities(as stated by Sir JoHN PRINGLE and Dr. MacBRIDE) to animal and vegetable substances, may be owing.in a great measure to the vitriolic salts contained therein, when not overpowered by too great a proportion of the muriat of soda, or pure sea salt, which is highly antiseptic, although considerably less so than other salts, such as sugar and salt-petre. Hence it is that sea salt of the greatest purity should exclusively be used for curing beef, pork, fish, cheese,..and butter; whilst the more impure salt, 7. e. such as contains
a 2Teac
c

TO2 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
a great proportion of vitriolic salts, should be exclusively
applied to dung or other substances, to promote their
complete putrefaction.
The purifying sea salt, or separating from it these other salts, would be attended with the two-fold advan- tage of improving the quality and taste of salted provi-
sions, and of promoting the putrescency of dung, or
other matters, by the application of such particular salts
as are best adapted to their respective purposes.
A Treatise on the Purification of Salt, and the Necessity of an Alteration in the Present Salt Laws, was given to the Pubhe about ten“years since.-“Phe present system: how- ever 1S still continued, and individuals are content to make use of salt with all its impurities. The purifying of salt cannot take place, whilst the refuse bitter liquor, consisting of Epsom salt and muriat of magnesia, is not allowed to be removed from any salt work, or employed in any way whatever, without its becoming liable to a|| duty of twenty pounds per ton-on the chrystallized salt capable of being thence obtained. This duty is equal to
double that at present paid on sea salt, and amounts to a
complete

oe—
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 103 complete prohibition on its use, either as a medicine or as an article of manure. As avery large proportion of most sea salt consists of these bitter and septic salts, no salt manufacturer will be willing to incur a certain waste and loss, in the purification of salt; whilst he cannot dis- pose of the refuse, and whilst the ignorance and inatten- tion of the consumer occasions as high a price to be paid for impure salt, as if it were of the best quality. A revi- sion and correétion of the salt laws, at this time,«would not only be extremely important to rural ceconomies, but would be highly conducive to the health of our sea-
meri.
These remarks on sea salt are of a nature not to be overlooked, and ought not to be deemed as too digressive from the subject of manures now under consideration. The procuring the greatest possible quantity of such matters, and in the highest state of preparation, should
be the primary object of every farmer.
The dung naturally arising from the annual produc- tion of hay, straw and grain, and-consumed by cattle or
otherways, being in few instances sufficient to insure abun=

wer
Pa cae
= ES al Sa i dis ie eae yy
1O4, A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
abundant crops, from every part of a farm, every oppor- tunity should be embraced by the skilful and intelligent farmer to procure a further supply of stable, and other dung; from large towns; as well as to provide himself
with other ubstances, which, as'mant ures, he may apply
-tQ improve, and bring into cultivation, his inferior lands.
As tne dung which is naturally produced on every farm
must be limited, recourse should be had to other articles
-of manure, for the purpose of promoting the highest
possible oe of the soil, and thereby acquiring a greatcr return to the dung heap for the succeeding crops. Such adventitious aids or helps to a farm, are of
a nature that answers a much better purpose as top-dres- sings to grass lands, than for lands which are constantly Kept under the plough. The application of top-dressings has, perhaps, been too little attended to, in consequence of farmers being unacquainted with the resulting ad- vantages to ground, when.converted from pasture to
arable, by previously promoting the most luxuriant
a”= 6 7 a 5 Ea ain 2>+: ‘growth of perennial grasses, By assisting the vegetation,
and increasing the vigour of perennial plants, their roots are made to strike deeper down, and improve the staple of the soil; with annual plants the same benefit is not te
be
== a am Aa ea ee—— ED I sn=.—-= Si SS Oe=—— Se oe SOE~—_—
i en ee
Es

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. ae
be expected, as their growth and decay are limited to one season. Were manures exclusively applied, under a sys
tem of convertible husbandry, to grass grounds, the lands would regularly be broken up, in due rotation of. crop- ping; and there can be no doubt, but that a greater quan- tity of corn and herbage would annually be produced: and it is very probable that wheat and other grain would be less liable than at present to diseases, many of which, there is reason to believe, are occasioned by the immediate
application of dung previous to sowing.
Top dressing, especially to meadow-and pasture ground, is undoubtedly the best mode of applying manure. This practice is better understood in England than in any other country, though it cannot be generally adopted on all the lands of a farm, unless the whole is kept under a regular-course of tillage and pasture. The appréhen- sion, in England, of tenants over-cropping, has necessarily occasioned their being prohibited from breaking up mea- dows and pasture lands, whence, at this time, and at all times, a very considerable addition to the present supply of food might be obtained. The convertible husbandry, or the management of farms in an alternate course of
| en O tillage Oo
po
-e

5O5 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
x
tillage and pasture, is in general well understood in the highly cultivated parts of Scotland, from which system the crops of artificial grasses are infinitely more abun-
dant than from any mode of cultivation in England.
The articles most generally used as top-dressings ares lime mixed with rich black mould—lime mixed with peat —peat ashes—coal ashes—and soot. The refuse articles in different branches of manufacture, when they are to be procured, are also attended with very beneficial ef- fects; but asthe quantity that can be obtained is very small, they cannot be regarded as substances to be gene- rally depended upon, though to lands in the vicinity of such manufactories, they may with great advantage be
applied.
The ashes procured from peat, in the neighbourhood of Reading in Berkshire, seem to possess a fertilizing power, infinitely greater than ashes obtained from most other peat. They certainly contain no alkaline salts; and in an hasty analysis made about nine years since, no sa- line matter is recolleéted to have been got from them,
but a small proportion of Epsom salt. Had these ashes,
however,

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 107
however, been analysed with more care, and when newly made, they probably would have been found to contain a hepar of lime, a salt which is soluble in water; whilst gypsum, to which it reverts on exposure to air, 1s inso- luble. To this hepar may the fertilizing power of these
ashes most probably be ascribed.
As mineral springs are frequently found to arise in peat mosses, it necessarily follows, that the ashes of dif- ferent peat will contain very different saline and other matters. When a too large proportion of vitriol of iron, or green vitriol, is contained in peat, its ashes must of course be inimical to vegetation; but the injurious effects of this salt are to be corrected by the addition of lime, magnesia, Aeon salts, or dung. Of these sub- stances, the preference is to be given to magnesia and alkaline salts; for, whilst they decompose the metal- lic salt, they form Epsom salt, Glauber salt, or vitrio- lated tartar, all of which are conducive to vegetation. The effect of dung on such ashes requires to be explain- ed in a different rnanner. The iron, in this case, is by the application of the dung changed into a metallic state; whilst the vitriolic acid combines with the volatile alkali
rp) of @ 2, i

a ae ae
108 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of the dung, and forms vitriolic ammoniac; or by com-= bining with the calcareous matter, and by the further
aid of the inflammahle or putrescent matter of the dungs
it is Changed into an hepar..
The burning of peat, for the purpose of procuring its
ashes, must undoubtedly appear a very wasteful and dis- sipating process, when it is considered that there is sel- dom 1-20th of its weight in ashes procured by combus- tion. This process throws into the air the remaining| 19-20ths of peat, which might, by other preparations of it, be made to contribute, in a superior degree, to
the purposes of vegetation.
The best preparation of peat, when intended for a top-dressing manure, is by the addition of alkaline salts or alkaline hepars, or by a mixture of glauber salt and hot lime with peat. As the soil cannot be injured by| the application of alkaline salts, when mixed with a due proportion of peat, the quantity made use of will, in a great measure, be governed by the facility of procurin g it, and the price of the article, and may, in some measure, be regulated by the quantity of alkaline salts capable of
being
a

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 109
being procured from the combustion of any crop pro- duced from an acre of ground. In no instance the quan- tity of alkaline salts obtained will be found to exceed one and a half cwt. unless from cabbages, turnips,. and potatoes: No restriction nor nicety need; however, be attended toin the use of alkaline salts, except such as have ; fs rence re 1a] L>»~ my 1 ee£1 be fi 1] C ilt reference to cost, and the comparative beneiicial results
from the increased produce of the ground,.
The scarcity and high price of the above saline mat- ters, in addition to a due want of knowledge of the proper state which.peat should be in; when these substances
are intended to be mixed together, have hitherto. pre-
cluded the use of alkaline salts for the: improvement of
the soil. The only substance of a caustic nature, and capable of destroying the organic texture of vegetable
bodies, which in some. places has been used, is lime,
though not in so judicious a manner as to insure at all
times, uniformly, good effects from its application, which can never be depended upon, if the proportions of each substance, and the particular state of them, are unattend- ed to and neglected, as will appear by the following ob-
servations. W hen

&10 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
When hot, or newly calcined lime is broken into pieces of asmall size, and mixed with peat, moderately humid, heat is disengaged, and that heat, by the slacking of the lime, wheh itis applied in too great a proportion, is so increased, as completely to reduce the peat to charcoal, and to dissipate, in a gassious state, all its component parts, excepting the ashes, part of the carbonaceous matter, and such a portion of fixable air, generated in the process, as is absorbed by the lime, by which that substance is made to return to the state of chalk. No benefit can, therefore, arise by this method of preparing peat with lime, the object not being to destroy and dissi- paté in a gassious state the component parts of the peat, but to make such a combination with the lime, and the gas generated in the process, as will, on the application of the mixture to ground, promote the growth of
plants.
This object is best attained by mixing newly made, and completely slacked lime, with about five or six times its weight of peat, which should be moderately humid, and not in too dry astate. In this case, the heat generated
will be moderate, and never sufficient to convert the
peat

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. IY
peat into carbonaceous matter, or to throw off, in the state of fixable air, the acids therein contained. The gasses thus generated will be inflammable, and phlogis- ticated air forming volatile alkali, which will combine, as it is formed, with the oxygenated part of the peat that remains unacted upon by the lime applied for this espe- cial purpose, in a small proportion. By this mode of conducting the process, a soluble saline matter will be
procured, consisting of phosphat and oxalat of ammo- niac, whose beneficial effects on vegetation. have already
been described.
Inattention, or ignorance of these important fatts, has probably, in many cases, defeated the wishes of the far- mer in the application of this preparation, which is par- ticularly recommended as a top-dressing to grounds un- der pasture. The proportion of the lime to the peat here given, should be carefully attended to, and the mixing of the two substances together should be performed under cover, in a shed or out-house constructed for that pur- pose, as too much rain, or a too great exposure to air,
will prevent a due action of the lime upon the peat.

712 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
“The success of most‘operations, but more especially of those of a chemical nature, greatly depends upon a recular and due observance of circumstances apparently
trivial.
This preparation of lime and peat is ina peculiar man- ner conducive to the growth of clover, and of the short, and as they are called, sweet kinds of pasture grasses. Fhe soil also,-by the application of it, acquires such a
predisposing tendency to promote the growth of such
Notwithstanding that this preparation of lime and peat is certainly, when properly made, a valuable manure, yet the advantages that may be derived, by using alkaline
salts instead of Jime, are of much greater importance
and general utility; 1n as much as the peat, by alkaline salts, is rendered completely soluble; whilst, by the ap- plication of lime, no greater proportion of it is made capable of solution than what is equivalent to the quan- tity of volatile alkali, which may be generated in the
process; besides which, a large proportion of the acids

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 113
contained in the vegetable matter, combine with’ that which is calcareous, and form insoluble compounds.— W hat has been, and will be further stated on the different uses of peat, will, it is to be hoped, cause this valuable, and hitherto neglected article, to have a primary place in the farmer’s calender, and teach him that nothing ts useless, if man knew how to turn it to account. Many of the counties in England contain an abundant supply of peat, and it is still more generally, and in greater
quantities, to be met with in Scotland and in Ireland.
In some few parts of Scotland, peat, in a natural state, or mixed with too small a proportion of dung, is applied asamanure. The growth of sorelis the never failing consequence of such application to soils, which contain little or no calcareous matter; whence may be inferred, that the soreline acid produced in consequence of the oxygenation of the peat, gives a predisposing tendency to the ground, on which it 1s applied, to promote the growth of sorel. Similar effeéts, in the production of sorel, have been observed to attend fossile coal, particularly at collieries where small coal has for a time been exposed to the action of air; hence also may be imferred,: that
n eoak

1r4 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
matters analogous to those of peat, and
itains the basis requisite for forming the soreline
The aptitude to receive and embrace useful and impor-
tant ideas from small notices of things, must be acknow-
strictness of chemical theory and reasoning, thiscircuitous operation of nature, in promoting the growth of sorel, may probably be-questioned; but as the diligent and mi- nute attention of any individual, to any particular process which may have escaped the notice of others, ought rather to induce communication, than create an apprehension of hazarding the results of such inquiries, the above obser- vation, like many.cthers in this Treatise, is presented with no other.view than that of calling attention to the minute circumstances daily presented by nature, and
which are too frequently overlooked.
The promoting the more complete solution of vegetable substances, is undoubtedly one of the principal objects of the present design; still there are other circumstances of a more mechanical nature, which demand attention: such
as
<_<
SESE
a a et

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. tts
as the proper mixture, or addition to soils, of substances capable of retaining a due proportion of humidity, and affording to plants the necessary supply of moisture. This is to be eftected by a due application of decayed ve- getables,(or as called in this Treatise) inert vegetable matter. A superabundance of this substance will cause the soil to be too spungy and open, and, on the alternate change from frost to thaw, to spew or throw winter corn out of the ground, as well as to injure or destroy cabbage,.green kail, and other plants, produced by the alteration, which the water undergoes in such spungy sous, from a liquid to a solid state, and vice versa.. Thus either chilling and rotting, or mechanically protruding or forcing the roots of the plants out of the ground. But to many stiff clayey soils, such vegetable matter may, in a
yeculiar manner, be serviceable, and is easily procured, a, y)£
/
rg id

es
oie= Sree cera a eae ene a ,
ite Sg are ee
‘ bi as . pk etree cocamaesr ey
TT.
ENE TT<7y
116 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
The different preparations of peat which may be ap- plied to ground, for correcting particular defects, or for
rendering it generally more fertile, are,
Peat- unmixed
Peat-. ditto- oxygenated Peat- oxygenated, mixed with dung and urine Peat- ditto- with alkaline salts
Peat-. ditto- with alkaline hepar
Peat- ditto- with Glauber salt and lime
Peat.- ,mixed~ with newly slacked lime
Peat- and lime mixed with peat ashes,
All these preparations may, according to circum- stances, be used to advantage. The consuming by fire peat to ashes, is always to be considered as the least pro- ductive, and most unceconomical, The most beneficial
and productive of these preparations will be found to be,
Peat with dung and urine
Peat with alkaline salts
Peat with alkaline hepar Peat with Glauber salt and lime
; And peat with lime.| When|

_*
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 117
When the soil does not contain a due proportion of calcareous matter, a preference should always be given either to the last, or to the two last of the above prepa- rations, until it shall have received a sufficient supply of an article so* indispensably necessary as calcareous matter to the production of sweet herbage, liguminous plants,
and grain.
By the method heretofore recommended, of mixing peat with lime, in the proportion of five or six times the weight of the peat to the lime, no injury can arise by an overabundant use of this last-mentioned article. First, because the lime, when thus mixed with peat, meets proper matter to combine with, or to act upon; and se- condly;:the small proportion necessary to be used, when compared to the weight of the peat, will be considera- bly less than’ the quantity of lime only, usually given at one time to ground. The bulk, weight, and the ex- pence of.the preparation, will direct the farmer in the quantity requisite to answer his intended pURpOSe./ An application of a moderate quantity of lime, from time to time, whether mixed or not with peat, is much to be pre-
ferred
10 sous containing a superabundance, or a sufficient quantity of vegetabic
matter, a preference is to be given to lime unmixed.

ae SRO ee ere.”“4 ang= i aS PNT NT ct OT I a nA 2 PO an
18 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
p=?
ferred to the generally prevailing practice of laying lime at once, and in great abundance, upon ground, for these
reasons:
rst, The purchase is attended with a considerable ad- vance of capital, and with great expence for labour and
carriage.
Secondly, From the distance of the kilns, or places
whence it is fetched, and the time it commonly hes on
the ground to s/ack, it for the most part becomes effette, or in a great measure returns to its original state of chalk,
before an opportunity offers for its being spread. And
Lastly, When easily procured, and properly s/acked with
water, immediately spread on the ground, and ploughed
in, if apphed in great quantities it will occasion a too immediate dissipation, in a gassious state, of the vegetable matters contained in the soil, from which the succeeding
crop can only be benefited by the proportion it is able to
receive during the dissipating process. Hence it is ma-
ae ays} economical and freaue cp SBR rahe a nifest, that an oceconomical and frequent application of lime, in moderate quantities, either mixed with peat or
other vegetable matter, or even by itself, is greatly to

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 119g
be preferred to those abundant dressings of lime usually given at one time, which cause an action on the soil more powerful and violent than is conducive to, or com-
patible with a continued state of fertility.
In short, lime should be considered in a chemical and medicinal point of view, when so applied, acting as an alterative, corrector, and adecompounder; a disen- gager of certain parts of the animal and vegetable sub- stances contained in soils, and as a retainer and a combi- ner with others; and is not to be regarded by the prac- tical farmer as a substance fit for the immediate food and nourishment of vegetables, like dung, or decayed vegetable or animal matters. For, although calcareous matter, or lime, forms a component part of vegetable and animal bodies, still the quantity that can be obtained from the annual produce of most crops, from an acre of ground, will not exceed eighty pounds weight. This faé has been well ascertained, and if proper attention be paid to it, in regulating the conduét of the agriculturist, in the future application of lime, it will prove more sa- tisfactory than allthe chemical reasonings adduced in this
Treatise. By

120 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
By an over-use of lime in many parts of Great Britain, the soil at this day requires a mode of treatment directly opposite to that practice. Some substance or substances. ought to be applied to the soil, which would change the calcareous matter therein from its present state, or separate it from the insoluble combinations it has formed with the vegetable substances contained in the soil. This valuable improvement may be accomplished by a due application of acids, alkalis, and certain neutral salts, as before di-
rected...
The effects produced on organic bodies by lime, clearly point out, that lime should never be mixed with dung;, or with any substances which of themselves, or by the application of saline matters, would easily become putric and rotten. Lime not only puts a stop to the putrefactive process, but disengages.and throws off, in a gassious state, a certain portion of the component parts of such sub- stances; whilst, with those which remain, it forms inso- luble compounds that are incapable of promoting vege- tation, until they are again decomposed and brought into action by other substances. In-making of composts, rich surface mould is, of all substances, that which is most
proper

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.” 121
proper, when mixed in moderate quantities, to promote the dissolution and complete putrefaction of the dung. This process would be greatly accelerated by the further addition of a due proportion of the vitriolic neutral
salts:
Methods of manufacturing, at a cheap rate, the most efficacious of these salts, have been discovered, and farmers will soon be enabled to make the necessary ex- periments, and to satisfy themselves that such salts pos- sess the powers ascribed to them.‘The price will be re- culated by the duty that may be charged on sea salt, and on the bitter refuse liquor of the salt works, whence
these articles are to be made.
But as it may happen, that much time may elapse be- fore any relief is granted, or any alteration made in the present salt laws, it becomes important to consider how asupply of salt, or what is still more valuable, how a supply of sea or salt water may be obtained for the use of cattle, and the purposes of agriculture, without being subjected to the present duties. Previous to this expla-
On nation,

122 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
nation, it is proper to state some further circumstances, more fully to impress on the mind of the farmer the effect which salt or sea water has in promotin o thie morc
hott 1 ay i 1 LS
full putrefaction of dung and vegetable matters.
Tee at: 1 ane rm fe ee m ad
It is well known, that ships built of unseasoned tim- = erect, healthy Ke exwhalae a‘
at first very unhealthy.‘The exhalation of the
Tragetrah la Fe ae£ t} L.A fresh wood is not the 5s ent!
\ Co Ctavie jULCeS OT Liv Oa UU Is t Uilce O1€ Cause. —
rincipally to be ascribed to the putrescent hepatic
65)
gas, generated by the mixture of the vegetable juices with the vitriolic neutral salts contained in sea water, forming what is called bilge water. The smell of it is no less offensive, than its effects, are prejudicial to the health of the ship’s company. When a new vessel hap- pens to be tight, and to make little water, it is the prae- tice with all intelligent seamen, to sweeten the vessel’s hold and limbers, by daily letting in and pumping out a
sufficient quantity of water.
Certain gasses, Which are injurious to the health of ani- mals, are favourable to the growth of plants: hepatic
air is one of them; and as hepatic air is formed in vessels
ld holds en" am—== Sa= See SS ee—— Sa-——————= aw SS en— eee-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 12
~_
ww
holds by the action of sea water on the soluble matter of the wood, the same effect will be produced by the addi- tion of salt water to dung or to vegetable matters. The generation of the hepar is to be ascribed solely to the vitriolic salts contained in sea water, and there is some reason to suspect, that sea salt, or muriat of soda, may suffer a decomposition in this putrefactive process» and that the marine acid thereof may be decomposed.
The putrefaction of sea water is not confined to the bilge water im vessels. The water of the sea itself, in certain southern latitudes, undergoes a material change, emitting, during long calms, a putrid offensive smell; and water intended for the purpose of making salt, kept too long in the reservoirs during summer, will st uffer such an alteration in its nature, as to be rendered incapable of yielding-chrystals of sea salt. A month or six weeks of warm weather is in this latitude sufficient to produce the change, which is prevented by letting out of the re-
servoir, every fourteen days, part of the old brine, and
taking in a fresh supply of sea wat+», frequently Mery.
inferior in concentration or strength to that which is
Q 2 obliged = 7 ae tae= es— ee Nae eT eM nn ND ne Ee vg es

124. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
obliged thus to be discharged. If this tendency to putre= faction take place simply in consequence of the smal? proportion of animal and vegetable matters contained ir: sea water, there is still greater reasen(exclusive of ac- tual experiments) to conclude, that it will take place, in a much higher degree, on adding sea water to a larger pro- portion of such substances as of themselves have a ten- dency to the putrefaétive state. As any further proofs of the effects of the saline matters contained in sea water, in promoting putrefaétion, may. be deemed unnecessary, a method of procuring a supply, without incurring the expence of manufacturing them, or being liable to the. present duties, is an object of the greatest importance to: the farmer andthe grazier, particularly to those who are:
at a distance from the sea..
In its vicinity, farmers and others may avail themselves: of their situation, and procure sea. water either to: mix: with dung, or for the other purposes to which the application of it has been recommended.. A ton of sea water contains from a bushel. to a:bushel and a quar-
ter of sea salt, beside a certain proportion of the vitriolic: salts..

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 126
‘galts. This quantity could not be purchased in England,
including the duty, at an expence less than seven shillings, which farmers, situated as before described, may procure
at the small expence of carriage.
Sea water may be raised, where coal is cheap, by means of a fire engine, to such a height as, corresponding with the level of the inland country, would allow the water to be conveyed in small open canals, in wooden or in earthen pipes, to a considerable inland distance; each
farmer, or proprietor, receiving asit passes the necessary
supply.
A fire engine of forty inches cylinder, with ten inch pumps, would raise to the height of 30 fathoms, rooo tons of water per day, equal to 6000 tons per week, or
300,000 per annum. Admitting this water to contain
1 in 33 of salt, 9,636 tons would annually be procured;
and supposing each farmer, on an average, to receive such»
a quantity of sea water as would be equivalent to 33 tons ef salt, 9,636 tons would be sufficient to supply 292
farms. Should the interest of the capital employed, and. the

126 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
the charges attendant on the fire engine amount to 5o00l.
a year, which is an abundant allowance where coal 18 cheap, and should the further interest on the sum en- gaged in conveying the water to distant places amount to sool. more, the total expence for raising, conveying, and serving 292 farms with sea water, would amount to
roool. per annum, or sometl hing less than 31. tos. for 33
tons of salt contained in the sea water which each fare
wouldreceive. The primecost of sea salt, exclusive of duty,
could ne where be less than rl. in some places 31. on an
average it should not be reckoned at less than il. Ios. per ton, which on 33 tons would amount to 40]. ros. But, as
to this must be added the present duty of rol. per ton, it
would cost the farmer 379]. 10s. for the ae which, by
these means, he may receiv re jor about 31. 10s.. Adn nitting,
however, that the expence of the ne nant and of conveying the water, were to be double the sum above stated, and that instead of gl. 10s. it were to amount to 4]. a quantity of salt water containing one ton ef salt
would, in this latter case, cost the farmer only 4s. 3d. or
at the rate of one penny farthing per bushel of salt of 56lbs whilst the same quantity would now cost 6s. Farmers,
who

Cad
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 127
who are situated near the sea, should lose no time in sa- tisfying themselves of the beneficial effects that may arise by a proper use and application of salt water to dung heaps, compost mixens, and to other purposes: it would be highly praise worthy, were some intelligent persons, after carefully making such trials, to publish the result of their experiments for the information of
others.
Should the advantages attendant on the application of salt water, induce its being generally made use of near the sea coast, there can be little doubt that cheap methods would soon be devised, for conveying from many places salt, or sea water, to very considerable
2 poe aistances.
Every plan or method whereby a greater quantity of dung may be made, should be carefully attended to. A considerable increase in the quantity of that article, as well as ah ceconomical saving, and benefit in other re-
spects, will arise by feeding the working horses, and
perhaps part of: the. neat*<eattle of a farm: witha
clover,

£28 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ciover, tares, saint foin, and other green crops, in: y
the stables, in out-houses, or in the farm-yard, in- stead of turning them out to pasture, as is the ge- neral practice. By this ceconomical and judicious method, no part of the crop is spoiled on the ground, but every part thereof is made to serve the intended purpose. A much larger quantity of dung will thus be made, of aricher and superior quality, in consequence; of the eggs deposited by the various flies, and the mag-
gots and worms bred therein during the summer season,
than can be procured in the winter time. By a flooring of
clay or chalk under the pavement of the stables, out-
houses,&c. the urine of the cattle will be prevented| from sinking through, and by the same precaution the valuable juices of the dung heap may also be prevented from soaking into the soil of the farm-yard, especially if| due care be taken to add from time to time a sufficient
quantity of peat, or rich black mould, to absorb or suck
up the surplus moisture produced by the succulent food. Thus may much expence be spared, a larger proportion of dung be acquired, and a more plentiful supply of
food be provided for cattle, without any fatigue or;
loss
a—- ea= 3&* AS ow< ce 7| é 2=> ie I ae 7a
: ee nee= ina ge a= SS Ses~
i a SR eee re——:
: ane ae“x

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY._
joss of time in roaming about to procure it for them-
selves.
Experience only can teach, or warrant the» belief‘of how few acres of ground, under the culture of artificial grasses, vhencut green, and daily given to working horses and other cattle, will suffice for their maintenance..The artificial grasses, or plants, best adapted to this purpose, are, red clover, tares, and saint foin. None of these suc- culent plants with large stems and leaves, answer so well to be depastured as to be mown: not only on account of the injury they receive in being bruised by the treading of cattle, but by being constantly cropped and kept short, they are deprived of the nourishment which they prin- cipally receive by their stems and leaves. Saint foin is best suited to chalky or dry soils, and to the southern parts of Britain. It has often been tried without success in the northern parts of England and in Scotland. Winter tares have also been sown, but have not been found to answer any valuable purpose. Clover and sum- mer tares, therefore, should be the only plants of which the cultivation on a large scale should in these parts be
attempted, and every prudent farmer will take care to
R have
EE; as<5 ih AR is SN SNOT eMC es eee mi pion i ea: ent een Sa 2 ag eR PRI Ua ee Se ee ae PS ee

30 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
have a full supply of them, as in the event of a super- abundant quantity for green food, these crops are equally proper for hay. ares should always accompany the culture of clover, to supply the deficiency of herbage between the first and second cuttings of the clover. When|
black mould has been worn out by repeated tillage, and| is filled with root and seed weeds, no preparation or| mode of culture can be adopted that will more effectually clean and fit it for a subsequent crop than tares, which|| should be sown thick, that a luxuriant crop, come
pletely covering the ground, may be insured.
It is a matter of great importance(though seldom
attended to) that the food intended for working horses
should be so prepared, or of such a nature, as to allow them quickly to satisfy their hunger, that more hours may be allotted for rest during the interval afforded from labour. When thus fed in stables or farm-yards with green clover, tares, saint foin,&c. unless on ex- traordinary occasions, they do not require oats or other| grain; but in the winter, or other seasons, when fed on dry hay or straw, and when occupied in the business of
the farm, a supply of oats, other grain, or nourishing food
is

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 13!
is found to be indispensably necessary. Oats mixed with beans or pease, isthe grain generally given, although, when barley is at a certain price, it would be an object of eco- nomy tq make use of it in leu of oats. The horses in Spain and Portugal are exclusively fed with barley, to
which they give a preference.
To shew that this taste is not peculiar to foreign horses, it is a well known fact, that when Burgoyne’s regiment of light dragoons went to Portugal in the year 1761, the oats sent from England were carefully reserv- ed for the opening of the campaign, and in the mean time the horses were supplied wlth barley, of which they became so fond, that when the campaign began, they rejected the English oats, and were afterwards uni- formly fed with barley; notwithstandin g which, it will be no easy matter to eradicate the prejudice in favour of oats from the minds of English grooms, which can only be effected by actual trials aad experiments, made by the intelligent, who will afterwards decide for themselves. The different proportions of meal, or farinaceous matter
contained in barley and in oats, ought not to pass un-
noticed.. R 2 A Scotch

eros
resting ee ee Se ed ee gee > ek
AF Terre Sa a aa a
2 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
A Scotch boll of good barley,(equal to: six Winchester bushels) will weigh eighteen stones Dutch weight, the proportion of husk to the kernel or meal does not exceed a stone and an half, or two stones; whilst the like quan- tity of oats, weighing fourteen stones, will not produce more than eight stone of meal or kernel. As. the ave-. rage prices of barley and oats may be fairly stated at se- venteen shillings and twelve shillings per boll, it is plains that in the one case sixteen stones of barley meal are
purchased for seventeen shillings, whilst eight stones of
oat-meal will cost twelve,
Experience has proved, beyond a doubt, that all corn given to horses and other cattle, should be broken, by being passed through rollers, or crushed in a mill. Horses ict being ruminating animals, will receive considerable benefit by this ceconomical operation, and the loss or waste, by swallowingtheir corn whole, will be prevented. Barley boiled in sea. water, or with a due proportion of sea salt, 1s a good supper for hard working horses. These economical modes of feeding horses have been confirmed
by several years experience, in keeping the horses of a colliery.
cases et

AGRICULTURE WITH: CHEMISIRY. 133
VY
It is not, however, to be understood, that a preference should be given to the feeding of horses with broken or ground corn, instead of potatoes or carrots, which ju- dicious application of these roots is now becoming very general. Nothing farther by the above statement being’ meant, than, that those who may prefer the use of grain, should be made acquainted with the best and most ceco- nomical manner of giving it: and in the same point of view is to be regarded the following observations on
feeding horses and other cattle on malted corn.
There is great reason to believe that the most judi- cious method of feeding horses or cattle with corn, 1s by giving them malted instead of raw grain——— Malted corn tends to open the body, and cleanse the intestines from all putrid saline biliary obstructions$ which effects being attained, it no longer operates in this manner, at least in no degree inconsistent with the health ofthe animal.‘To such as do not regard a small ex- pence in ascertaining so valuable a fact, it is earnestly re- commended that a comparative trial be made in feeding two teams of horses with malted and unmalted grain, of
the same sort and quality. Three months would fully
aS-

fii ep AOI a a ce aa—™ 5 i enn seh
134. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ascertain this question, which, in the event, proving as it is here presumed it would, highly in favour of the
J
malted food, there can be little doubt, that on proper
BIE ae——
representation of the beneficial effects of malted corn in
feeding cattle, Government would permit its use for
this purpose, under certain restrictions and regulations,
i‘ if
especially as the indulgence is capable of being rendered an object of considerable revenue, as will appear in the
miscellaneous observations of this work,
The ramifications, which, in a discussion of this na- ture, branch out and involve almost every circumstance that respects the ceconomy of rural affairs, render it no easy task to preserve such a distinct arrangement of the several subjects as may be generally approved.
The feeding of cattle may, perhaps, be considered as improperly introduced under the last title of“ Stable, Farm-Yard Dung,* and Composts.:” but on reference to
the
* The practice of haulming, or mowing stubbles, is in most cases to be recom- -mended; as the farmer, by laying the stubble so ga hered in his farm-yard, will be enabled to return a greater quantity of prepared manure to his fields, than if he
had ploughed the stubble in.

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 135
the reply of CATo, assumed as a text in the beginning of
the chapter, it will be obvious, that the judicious Roman, by his expression of bene pascere,”(which is to be
translated, to graze well, or to procure food for cattle)
must have had in view the connection between feeding of cattle and the production of manure... Every article« of manure, ultimately tending to render ground more fertile and productive, falls likewise under the present-
discussion.
Insects of all kinds, under the names of worms, snails, grubs, slugss&c.&c. exist in the ground; and in such grounds as are fertile, in much greater abundance than: is generally imagined.© Their food, most undoubtedly, must be either fresh vegetables, or decaying or decayed vegetable matter. In the former case, such insects prove extremely destructive; whilst in the latter they may be of service to the vegetable kingdom, by rendering the decayed or decaying vegetables, eaten by them, more soluble by the process of digestion. In this class are to be included the common earth worms, which. are only to be found in great numbers in ground containing
a large

—
136
SS ee
A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
Subt
a large proportion of vegetable or animal matters they are never found on sterile ground, their nourish- canc
Worms of this kind feed only on rich earths; and as
e
Ment must necessarily depend on the before-mentioned nces contained in the soil.
‘The excrements of these worms appear on the
Sur= face in great abundance; particularly in moist weather,
succeeding to a long drought; or at the season of the
year when the dews fall heavily. On these occasions the worms rise to the surface, for the purposes of engender supplying themselves with moisture, and of voidin g their
ing, number of worms contained in rich ground, cannot but promote vegetation; though a temporary ence may sometimes be incurred, by prev
from freely depasturing, when the sur covered therewith.
excrements. These excrements, from the astonishing
| inconveni-| enting the cattle| face is too much All insects or worms in the ground, as well those which apparently are of no disservice, as those that are known to be noxious and destructive to the roots, stems,
] and

nt|
AGRICULTURE. WITH CHEMISTRY. 127
G a|
and leaves of vegetables, may be destroyed by alkaline salts and hot—o which substances have the power of dissolving the continuity or texture of organic bodies, and are eae fatal to the soft bodies of living in- sects. Insects are likewise to be destroyed by neutral salts, and by saline bituminous substances. The bodies of these insects, when dissolved by putrefaction, become,
hke other animal matters, serviceable to vegetation.
The vitriolic acid will also act in destroying insects and other animal substances, in a manner somewhat similar to alkaline salts, with this difference only, that the one
forms an acid, the other an alkaline sapo.
Vitriclic acid, diluted with a due proportion of water, and superacidulated vitriolic salts, may. likewise be used with a double effect, in the destrv ground long under cultivation, and which contains much
yee| F
animal and vegetable matter, in the state of
ad
-| eae Oe ad Beg( Vee 5 eae RO: o be 5= see and oxalat of lime. In this case, not only the inseéts will be killed, but the vitriolic acid will, by superior affinity,
combine with the calcareous matter of the phosphat and
We hed| TiivAGawels Mes On es oe see he nara oxalat of lime, whose disengaged acids will form new S soluble, e ae FAs ns Te—= yas pe _—_——____——__,——< F

. aie
Caeser, kee ro- 5 pen ee Sa| ee=<a cial oy a=
<a
fan! i 1 4 4 i’ £) UeVde Aggy
Ae a eRe
138 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF soluble, fertilizing saline combinations with the ammo-
(QD,
niac or volatile alkali and magnesia that may be contained
Sea salt is found to destroy snails, slugs, grubs, worms, &c. by making them void the contents of their bodies, evacuations. too powerful for them to withstand. By these means, not only their bodies, but their evacua- tions soon become food for vegetables. It is principally in this point of view that any benefit can be attributed to the action of the muriat of soda, or pure sea salt,
upon ground.
Soot is used in many parts of Britain, with very bene- ficial effects, for the, destruction of the wire worm, and other insects, which prey upon the young tender leaves. and roots of plants. This article, exclusively of carbo- naceous and earthy matters, consists of mineral or resi- nous oil, rendered capable of solution in water by the saline matters, which are contained in soot in great abundance. The solution is an extremely bitter high coloured oily liquor, which not only poisons the insect on which it may fall, but also communicates a bitter taste to the surface of the roots and leaves of
miants:

oo LNT ¥ MAryTpD TL K7yTT+ Pe TN, ZQry ¥ a A jRICUL At UR: VV iL Ee C3 va KVMS iRY
< bs| ¥
plants; thus rendering them unfit for the food of such insects. The effects of soot are not confined to the de- struction of insects alone; for the resinous bituminous oil, dissolved by the saline matters, promotes the growth of plants in a very high degree, and by rapidly pushing them to an advanced state of maturity, allows no time for the ravages of insects on the young and tender roots and leaves of plants, on which, in general, they princi-
Pet Peewee J pally ius Cae
The quantity of soot that can be collected, is so incon- siderable, in proportion to its uses, and the demand there might be for it, were its powers more generally known, that a method of procuring a greater supply of this essential article, or of any substance that would pro- duce similar good effects, is an object of very great im- portance to Agriculture. This is to be accomplished by different preparations, amongst which coal-tar is to be in- cluded. The chemical analysis, and deleterious or poison- ous effects of coal-tar on inse¢ts, prove its identity to soot; the only difference being, that of its containing less fuligi- nous, or carbonaceous and earthy matters: in which re- spects, as carbonaceous and earthy matters are not soluble
SQ: in

T40 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
in water, coal-tar,* weight for weight, is to be preferred to soot, for the destruction of insects, or as an article of Manure. But as the quantity of coal-tar that is now ca-
eing made in Britain would be insufficient for
rae) =) oS (an) © Lexa) pod
the purposes of Agriculture, it has led to the discovery of a cheap method of preparing other substances, which, most probably, will be found equally, if not more effi-
cacious, as manures, and in the destruction of inseéts.
These preparations may be sown by hand on the ground, and there is every reason to believe they will succeed, not only in the destruction of the wire-worm,
so injurious to the roots of grain, and to the fly which
preys upon the tender leaves of young turnips, and other vegetables, in this country; but likewise to the ants and sugar-cane borer, in the West Indies, and the Hessian fly in America,
¥ f/f A LE hk FO) 2 2 ee zs x 1> Sy aq * Although the good effets of coal-tar, in repeated instances, have been mani-
oO n: cules.:: PY Ep Rat 2c at IN Bear RON crease aro iested, yet it 1s now entirely out of use for vessels bottoms o1 sheathing, on account
1
tection it aft the teredo or gribble worm, for
A ABE ip ae Oe oe| Niies nee yi PS AS bee& otection it airoras them from the attacks of
os> PA een Ae nee Sree ST bas i i eth ey eS eS Tatas at.cast thrice the time which vegetable tar does.“T]
ees|\° 1 his has been the reason assigned ae; ae>< gals Spe cg ae a ese ay ee eas tr Oe ee for its disuse by some of the most considerable and candid ship-builders and repairers of ships in the River Thames, and other places in England. Vessels have been
C:; 7“ 1> eheathingce then known to perform six voyages to the West Indies with the same sheathing, when
payed with coal-tar.
DRAIN=

vig
AGRICULTURE WITH.CHEMISTRY. TAT
DRAINING.
DRAINING of. ground in the northern and humid climate of Britain and Ireland is indispensably necessary,- and is the precursor to all culture and improvement of
the soil.
The principal oject in draining, is to free the surface from moisture at those seasons when it. would prove hurtful.
Water constitutes the chief food of plants: it 1s decom- posed in the process of vegetation, the plant retaining the hydrogen or inflammable air, as well as the calca-
2”
reous matter held in solution in the water, whilst the
2 Ties Be ap eee Ha Ce 2 Ba re Payor Certain degrees of cold prevent the absorption 01 CJ
water by vegetables. Water, during the continuance of
saat Tagcree&~> arti e| 2 SVFECE‘e 4 such degrees of cold, is of no service.5 1ts presence at

542 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
those times generally proves in inimical to the future growth of plants. On this account, rain, during the cold and chilling winter months, is injurious; whilst warm summer showers are attended withacontrary effect: hence, when vegetation is not advancing, or but slowly ceeding, the ground should be kept as dry as possible. Considerable benefits ensue to certain soils by artifici- ally watering the groun d at certain seasons, yet much ereater, and more extensive advantages to the soil, and to the agriculture of these kingdoms, would result by a more complete and general drainage of the surface. What is most important to be done, should ever be done first, and the attention of the farmer should not be called away to other objects, such as the irrigation of meadows, until he had relieved his lands of the injurious surface water, and laid them sufficiently dry;“previous to which, the full benefit that may arise by irrigation, or the judicious application of water at certain seasons,
cannot be expected.
The different mechanical operations of draining land are
in gencral so well understood, that it cannot be deemed
necessary

AGRICULEURE WITH CHEMISTRY: 143
necessary to enter into a description of them, in a Trea- tise which has principally in view such circumstances and matters as have not hitherto, on chemical principles, received satisfactory explanation. Under-draining at this time is very deservedly in great estimation, and is becom- ing the general practice. It saves much waste of ground, nore completely answers the intended purpose, is of longer duration, and ultimately less expensive than any other kind of draining. A method has lately been disco- vered, and practised with success, by which, inmany places, the upper stratum is drained by the assistance of the mi- neral strata beneath it, through which the water 1s made to drop, and in this manner taken from the surface. Drain- ing is not only to be accomplished by these judicious methods, and by open drains, but lands are to be made dry by such a mechanical alteration in the component
parts of the soil as render it less retentive of moisture. In stiff lands this may be effected by lime, chalk, marl, coal-ashes, brick-dust, or calcined clay, and by sand, when applied in Jarge quantities, whilst the too great
xht soils to part with moisture is
= gia 0 ee Fe marae Tes a Bee oy temdency in sanay OF 119) ,| sige Le’ a page ta cee Pied ieee to be correcte her apphcations.
FAL-

i44 A TREATISH ON THE CONNECTION-OF
FALLOWING.
Ir has been frequently noticed in the preceding pages,
that alkaline salts aét more powerfully on some kinds of
peat and inert vegetable matters than onothers, particularly b en those which become oxygenated by being exposed to the action of air. This points out, that the practice of
fallowing ground containing much vegetable matter, by
repeatedly exposing. fresh surfaces to the action of the: air, occasions the peat, or vegetable matter, to be more easily dissolved, or aéted upon by alkaline salts; but ‘when no such application is made, the insolubility of the vegetable matter is by fallowing increased, which, to certain grounds, may prove, instead of a benefit, areal
injury.|
The putrefaction or solution of vegetable substances 18 more readily promoted by a close or stagnated state of
the air, than by a constant supply and addition of oxy-
Sen or pure air, as happens to vegetable substances when| subjected to the operation of fallowin g. Clover, S 4 eS= a css i“= Eee 2 SS———-= 2~ Ne ee=

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 145
Clover, saint foin, cabbages, turnips, leguminous crops, hemp, and those plants which overshadow the ground, and cause a stagnation of air, prevent thereby the ex- cessive exhalation of moisture, and promote the putre- faction or decomposition of vegetable matters contained in the soil: such crops will therefore prove more cecono- mical and beneficial to subsequent crops, than the present
system of fallowing.
By fallowing, not only one year’s rent and labour are lost, but likewise the vegetable matter contained in the soil is thereby rendered less fit to promote the growth of sub- | sequent crops. Fallowing should be practised but spar- ingly; its principal use is in altering the mechanical
arrangement of the soil, e1 ither ae pulverisine it, or
making it more compaét,(both of which effects, according
to circumstances, are thereby produced) and in destroying root, seed weeds, or insects. These objects being attained, recourse should never be had to the same operation, unless
it becomes requisite from the failure of crops, or other incidental causes, which are best provided against by sub
| stituting the culture of drill crops instead of a fallow.
= To

146 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
To soils which contain much inert vegetable matter, it is probable that advantages would be derived from umbrageous green crops without fallowing, equal to
those experienced, when hemp is made to precede
a crop of wheat; without which preparation this crop:
would not have answered the expectation of the far-
mer.
It is therefore obvious, if ground receives benefit
by being overshadowed, the same ground must re-
ceive injury by a direct contrary mode of treat-
ment.
PARING
—+—-——

bay
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 147
PARING AND BURNING
Is a comburatory dissipating process, whereby nine- ‘teen parts out of twenty of the vegetable matter, the ‘only substance the fire can act upon, is dissipated and thrown into the air.
This process, no doubt, from its having been carried to excess, and so often repeated as to destroy all the ve- getable matter contained in the soil, has, it is said, been prohibited by the Legislature of Ireland, under a penalty
of ten pounds per acre.
Moors overgrown with ling or heath, peaty soils, or soils covered with a sward of coarse unprofitable her- nage, and containing a superabundance of vegetable matter, may, with due precaution, be subjected to. this process with very beneficial effects. It may likewise be efiect that burned, or half burned clay has in rendering such soils\more open and less tenacious; in which case
T 2 the

a
148 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION*OF
the benefit arising from the mechanical arrangement of the soil will probably more than compensate for the dis- sipation of the vegetable matter of the sward. It would, however, be more ceconomical, when the soil is thus in-
tended to be made more open, to calcine the clay in
clamps orkilns, and tospread it afterwards on the ground,
either by itself or mixed with lime.
Paring and burning is the process, which, in the cul- tivation of peat mosses and fens, is made to succeed that of draining. Care should be had to burn only as much of the peat as will yield the proportion of ashes neces- sary to alter the arrangement of the parts of the soil: an effect which, with still more advantageous conse- quences, is to be attained by lime, lime-stone gravel, or even by common mould or soil.
Itis only from the ashes of fresh or growing vegeta-
bles, that saline substances or alkaline salts are to be obtained; none can be got from peat or decayed vegeta- ble matter. The proportion of alkaline, or other salts, produced by paring and burning, is so very small, that were the benefits immediately resulting from paring and
burning

GRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 149
purning to be ascribed solely to these salts, the purchase
of them at the market price might, perhaps, be more
economical..
The saline matter produced in the process of paring and burning, for the most part consists of vitriolated tartar-—the alkali of the burnt vegetables, combining with the vitriolic acid, which in different states of combination is contained in most soils. Vitriolated tartar has very pow- erful effects in promoting vegetation; but as it is not to be procured in sufficient quantities to answer the pur- poses of— the deficiency is to be supplied by Epsom and Glauber salts, which produce effects equally beneficial when applied to ground.
Although paring and burning has by many persons been: much recommended, still it requires great limita- tions or restri€tions.. In some cases it may be proper; while; in the hands of the unskilful, it may be attended with the most pernicious consequences.
If all the benefit that can be derived. by this practice,
‘may hereafter be attained
Te Rn Rhema

a5 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ae
Kaline salts, neutral salts, 8&cc.&c. without risk of any of the attendant disadvantages on the process of paring and burning, a decided preference of course will be due
to methods that render this practice less necessary.
ry s ie ree|
rHE simple ey alr, water, Saline bodies, ead yle substances,&c.&c. having thus been considered, as f as the properties of each relate to the present He it is now become necessary, previously to any further
discussion respecting the practical part, to give such di-
rections to the cultivators of the soil, as may enable them to ascertain the nature and proportions which the com- ponent parts of it bear to each other; and consequently the value of the surface mould contained in the diffe-
rent parts of their farms or estates; and how, by this information, they may be enabled to apply with most advantage the several ameliorating substances herein re-
commended.
it has not been, nor would it be possible to avoid mak- ing use of chemical terms, consistently with the plan of
a work
a Le

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. Is
a work, which has for its object the making every far- mer, to a certain. extent, a cliemiust,,so. that. the may be enabled to understand the nature and properties of the several substances, in the management of which he is daily engaged;. and that in all his future attempts to im- prove the soil, the success of his operations may no longer depend on guess-work, or on chance, but be regulated by a proper knowledge of the materials he may have to work with—how each may best be applied or acted upon, and what effects will ensue from their
different combinations.
Cultivators of the soil should be able to distinguish, by chernical tests, the proportion of the following sub- stances in different soils, viz.
Way ALA Y 9 Chalk, Magnesia, Earth of iron, and
+ HOP ye matter
¥ Bld Gt te oe 9D
o
r

*
RE
a. Ss ee iver
ee ee
—5
Ss hae)
12 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
They should understand the properties and effects, and superior affinities of alkalis and acids; as well as the names, properties, and compounded electrive attractions attendant-on the mixture of the different neutral salts,
and their effects on vegetation. They should be well ac-
'quainted with the powers of lime, and should clearly and
distin@ly comprehend the putrefactive and oxygenating processes; as well as'the consequences resulting from the action of fire on the vegetable matter contained in the
soil.
The first step that a cultivator of the ground should take, when possessed of the above imformation, is to ascertain by experiments, in what proportions chalk, clay, sand, magnesia, and vegetable matter exist in the soil, in the different parts of the farm he purposes to cultivate; in order that he may, from such information, be enabled to administer to each part those particular substances that it may require, to constitute it rich and fertile mould. A soil of this description ought to contain a due-proportion of‘the‘simple earths, and of the remains of vegetable and animal bodies.— To.enable him to make the requisite experiments,
he

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 1S3
he should procure the following articles and_ ves- sels%.
Two sets of small scales and weights, one to weigh afew pounds atatime, and another smaller and more accurate, for ounces and grains: some porcelaine glass, or stone- ware vessels unglazed, such as are called Vauxhall ware: some muriatic acid, and mineral alkaline salt. These being provided, the method of proceeding to ascertain the dif- ferent proportions of the different substances in soils, is
as follows:
The presence of calcareous mattter is ascertained, by applying to the mould suspected to contain it, some marine acid diluted with water. If it contain calcareous matter, an effervescence will take place, anda neutral salt, called muriat of lime, will be formed. This is to be sepa- rated from the earthy insoluble matter, by a due propor- tion of water, and is to be evaporated to a certain degree. Lastly, the calcareous matter is to be precipitated by mild mineral alkaline salt. When the calcareous matter thus precipitated shall be colle&ted, washed, dryed, and weighed, the quantity contained in the soil will be ascertained by
U the

154, A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
~ i
the proportion it may bear to the weight of the dry mould
on which the experiment had been made.
The same process and the same acid will serve to show if magnesia be contained, and the proportion it fay
bear to the soil. Magnesia is not in general found in any
very great proportion in surface mould, although there
is more of it contained in ground than is generally ima-
gined. It will, for the most part, be found accompanied.
by calcareous matter; and as both these substances, when
dissolved by the marine acid, are very soluble, and blend-
ed together, a separation is to be effected by the follow-
ing process,
The earths of magnesia and calcareous matter: are to be precipitated by mild mineral alkaline salt. The pre- cipitate, or earthy residuum, when washed, isto be dis- solved by a due proportion of the vitriolic acid diluted with water. With the calcareous matter it will form gypsum,(a very insoluble salt) whilst with the magnesia it will form Epsom salt,. a salt of great solubility... These salts are to be separated by priority of chrystallization,. and their respective weights being ascertained,. when
deprived

i
U 1 a|
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY..
deprived of the water of chrystallization, and brought to an equal degree of dryness, the quantity of calcareous matter and magnesia in each may be ascertained by BErG- MAN’s or Kirnwan’s tables of the proportion of acid, al- kali, earth, and water contained in different neutral salts.
To those who are not provided with such tables, it may
suffice to say, that
Acid Calcar. Matter Water
roo partsof gypsum contain 48 34 18 Acid Magnesia Water Loo parts of Epsom salt contain 33 19 48
As both clay and sand, in different proportions con- stituting either a clayey or sandy soil, are distinguishable by the sight and touch, there is no occasion for giving any chemical test, to prove their presence. The pro- portion of the coarser parts@f siligeous matter or sand,
in soils or mould, may be ascertained by washing.
The presence of vegetable or carbonaceous matter insur- face mould, when in any considerable proportion, is ap-
parent, either from its black colour, or from the vege-
7, ¢ oan La u 2 tabie

156 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
table matter, appearing in the soilin an undecayed state. Chemical tests, in either of these cases, are unneces- sary. When it may berequisite, however, to ascertain the présence or proportion of it in clayey or other soils, in which, from colour or extreme division of parts, it is less apparent, it is to be done in one or other of the
following methods:
By properly drying and weighing a certain weight of mould, and then submitting it to such a degree of heat as will consume the vegetable or carbonaceous matter to ashes: at the same time, the heat must not be such as will disengage the fixable air from any calcareous matter or magnesia that may be contained in the mould or
soil submitted to trial. The differencein weight between
the dry mould, and that which is thus submitted to the
action of fire, will be the proportion of vegetable or
carbonaceous matter.
{t is likewise to be done by melting some salt-petre in
an iron laddle, bringing the salt-petre to a red fusion,| and then dropping into it, by little and little at a time; the earthy matter, taking care previously to dry it
tho-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 157
thoroughly. The dropping in of the dried mould should
be continued until the complete deflagration of the salt-
petre is effected.
The practical observation to be deduced from the above experiment, is, that the soil or mould which contains the most vegetable or carbonaceous matter will deflagrate the greatest quantity of salt-petre; or, in other words, that it will require less mould to deflagrate a given weight of salt-petre, in proportion as that mould contains
a greater proportion of inflammable matter.
The presence and proportion of vegetable and inflam- mable matters“in clay may, in.some degree, be proved and ascertained by the degree of blackness in the colour, which the interior parts of the clay assume, when sub-
jected in the fire to a certain degree of heat:
The existence and proportion of most saline matters in soils are to be discovered by lixiviation, with warm watet,
and by subsequent chrystallization.
Gypsum is to be deteGed by boiling the earth with al- Kaline salts; in which case, the gypsum will be decompos-
ed,

158 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
}£ a
ed, and the vitriolic acid of the gypsum will join with the mineralalkali, forming Glauber salt, whichis very soluble. The quantity of gypsum previously existing in the soil is to be ascertained by weighing, when properly dried, the calcareous matter which had been precipitated by the al- kali; and by adding thereto, in calculation, the propor- tion of vitriolic acid necessary to constitute it gypsum 5 having previously deducted therefrom the proportion of fixable air which the precipitated chalk contains. The proportion of fixable air and vitriolic acid contained in chalk and in gypsum are in the proportions as here
stated:
Fixahle Air Calcareous Matter
In chalk, 43 53 Vitriolic Acid Matter
In gypsum, 48 34.
The following is given as an example of the method
of making this calculation:
Residuum

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY,
159 Grains, Residuum of precipitated chalk,~=. 480 Proportion contained therein of fixable air, 212 Calcareous matter,~-~~= 268 Proportion of vitriolic acid necessary to constitute gypsum with the calcareous matter,= Se Total quantity of gypsum,-~- 622 H | i | iy :(\) SOIL. y 4 es ia 2 ia ai Ee ae

r600 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
SOILS, ARGILLACEOUS OR CLAYEY.
‘THERE is no clayey soil that is pure and free from -sand; and there are but few clays that are free from a mixture of calcareous matter, magnesia, vegetable and animal matters, mineral oil, and other mineral or metal- lic substances: some clays are of a much more unctuous, and, as it were, greasy nature, than others. They do not differ more in this respect, than they do in the appear- ‘ance they assume when submitted to a moderate degree of heat. Those clays which are the most unctuous and greasy to the touch, are by calcination changed toa black colour. This must be owing either to their containing animal or vegetable matter, although previous to calci- nation it escapes observation; or the inflammable matter in the clay may exist in the state of.a.colourless mineral oil, adhering obstinately to the clay, and not capable of being separated from it by water, with which oil can hold no union; yet capable.of being changed into a black carbonaceous matter by the action of fire. A due mix-
ture of Clay serves the important purposes of retaining
iu
ii

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 16r
in the soil the attenuated vegetable and animal substan- ces, as also the mineral oil. Of this description are those clays, or clayey loams, which have been deposited by the sea or muddy streams, containing a considerable propor- tion of the exuvice, or remains of animal and vegetable bodies, in an extreme degree of attenuation.-Such soils as these are the most permanently fertile, and where the climate is favourable, produce the heaviest and best filled grain. Soils formed by depositure, for the most part contain a sufficient quantity of calcareous matter. Adding line to such lands may prove injurious, by its expending, taking up, or otherwise altering the arrangement and combination of the animal and vegeta~ ble matters, which should carefully be preserved for suce ceeding crops. Under any circumstances, lime should be
given to such soils but sparingly.
* #
There are clayey soils containing little or no. animal, vegetable, or bituminous matter, and which are equally deficient of calcareous matter, consistin g only of clay, sand, and the earth of iron. To improve and render fertile a soil of this description, is truly an herculean task, and will seldom repay the industry of the cultivator, unless situ-
be ated

162 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ated in the neighbourhood of atown, where more dung
may be procured than can be spared from the farm in its
contiguity. A soil of this nature can receive little or no benefit by the application of-lime, as it contains nothing for the lime to act upon or combine with..When under such circumstances, that dung, or such like manure, can- not be procured, a preparation of peat, with the mode- rate proportion of lime before directed, seems to be the next os application. A soil of poor lean clay, such as above described, will require eight tons of lime, and forty-eight tons of peat, for one dressing. Doing things partially can never answer: this quantity is the least that ought tobe applied; a much greater may be given, if the articles can be cheaply and easily procured. In this the farmer will be regulated, in a great measure, by his abi- lity of doing, or extent of his capital. His primary object, in this case, should be to promote the growth of pasture grasses, because the soil at first will bein no heart to pro- duce crops of grain; and, secondly, because the promoting the growth of such grasses, and judiciously depasturing and folding, is the surest way of improving such lands. After the grass has taken hold of the ground, and is be- ginning to carry a tolerably thick sward, its thickness
and

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 163
and quality may be greatly improved by some one or more of the top-dressings or preparations before recom-
mended.
There is avery great extent of poor clayey soil, simi- lar to that which is here alluded to, in many parts of the North of England and in Scotland, for the most part lying at a considerable height above the level of the sea, and frequently in the vicinity of peat mosses, whence it might be supplied with vegetable matter. ‘There are computed to be in the county of Lanark, or Clydsdale, 40,000 acres of peat moss totally unimpoved, producing nothing itself, nor contributing in any way to the fertility of the adjacent poor lands, which are as des- titute of vegetable matter, as the moss contains a super- abundance. Mr. Nesmith, the Agricultural Surveyor of that County, judiciously makes a remark on the injurious- effects that such mosses may have on the Climfate.6f the adjacent country. it requires a much longer rime,‘anid a gnuch greater application of dung and vegetable niatters, a nbs than would be generally believed, before poor lands of this description can be rendered highly fertile, and made
in all respects similar to land that had been long, or for
x 2 ages

164 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ages under cultivation. Ten times the quantity of peat or vegetable matter recommended to be given at once, or 480 tons, would scarcely bring poor barren land to the colour of rich black mould, known in Scotland by the name of Infield land, and to which, for ages, the dung of
the farm has been exclusively applied..
Experiments made with an intimate mixture of poor lean clay and peat warrant this assertion;. here purposely stated, that the over sanguine cultivator, or improver of ground, may not imagine, that with a summer fallow, and a dunging, or dressing or two, he may be enabled to complete so arduous a task. Land is always requiring a supply of manure, and repays in general more abun- dantly for the last expence, when brought to an advanced: state of cultivation, than for that which at first is in- curred. Both seed and labour are thereby saved, and:
good.crops, with much more certainty, are to be depended:
upon.
Paring and burning. the sward of some clayey soils. may be practised with advantage, as the burnt clay will
diminish the stiffness of the soil,, and rénder it more

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 165
pervious to water. This may be still more economically effected, and, in other respects, with less injury to the soul, by half burning the clay in clamps or in kilns. A preference can only be given in situations where
fuel can at a cheap rate be procured for this purpose.
8OILS,.

A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ON Or
I
SOILS, CALCAREOUS OR CHALKY.
A PURE unmixed chalky soil, like a pure or lean clayey one, is unfertile. The fertility of this soil, like all -others, depends on its containing a due admixture of other earths, with the requisite quantity of vegetable or animal matter. A chalky loam, or mixture of chalk with clay, is frequently a very fertile soil, and well adapt-
ed to the culture of beans and wheat.
Chalky soils produce a short sweet herbage, and, for the most part, are more proper for sheep pasture than for tillage.“There are no soils that receive more benefit from artificial watering, as they are apt at certain seasons to be parched by drought.-Chalky soils that produce short sweet herbage, should notin general be broken up, or converted into arable‘lands, a practice which will be attended with injury to the soil, and loss to the farmer, unless they are cropped with moderation, wefl manured, and afterwards properly laid down with pasture grasses.
Clay

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 177
/
Clay is the fittest substance to be applied with a view to alter the arrangement ofthe parts of a chalky soil. Peat is a good application to soils of this nature, which are frequently termed hungry soils, and very deficient in ve- getable matter. And as a suiliciency of dung is not to be procured to manure fully every part of a farm, peat may be applied in one or other of the states of prepa- ration already inentioned. Unfortunately for the improve- ment of chalky soils, neither clay nor peat is to be found but at the extremities or outskirts of the extensive tracts of chalky countries: wherever they are to be had, the application of them should not be neglected. Calcareous soils, which have long been under the plough, contain a large proportion of phosphat and oxalat of lime. These insoluble saline matters may be rendered serviceable to vegetation by alkalis, vitriolic acid, vitriolic neutral salts, (especially if superacidulated) and by pyrituous and aluminous substances. Even green vitriol, which has hi- therto been considered as unfriendly to vegetation, will, when in a proper manner applied to soils like this, con- siderably improve and promote the growth of pasture
grasses.
anes
' TI ra “4 t| y! q Fe ue Le |
N " F
(3
— a
eee
— are orm. on a
5 ee aoe a~

168 A TREATISE ON‘THE CONNECTION OF
It is earnestly wished, that this season may not pass over without a series of experiments, as above recom- mended, being instituted by the intelligent farmers on chalky soils, and that the result of them be communi- cated to the Board of Agriculture, for the general infor-
mation of the country.
The principal disadvantage attending chalky soils, is chat of their being too dry and parched at certain sea- sons; but possibly this defect, when they are under pas- ture, may be counter-balanced by the more early grass they produce in the spring, as well as the luxuriant her-
bage that succeeds the autumnal rains.
These observations are offered with deference to the opinion of others, who may have had more oppor- tunities of making remarks on such soils, and of draw~
ing the necessary conclusions.
Chalky soils are peculiarly well adapted to the growth of saint foin, especially when coal ashes can be nad as an article of manure. But asin most situations they are not to be procured in sufficient quantities, and as it is probable
that

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 169
that such ashes owe their fertilizing powers to the vitri- olic salts they contain, it may be a matter of prudence and ceconomy to apply the salts themselves, as a few
hundred weights will suffice for an acre of ground. co
By discoveries which have been made in preparing these salts, they could be afforded at a cheap rate, were the present high duties on sea salt, and the refuse liquor of salt works, taken off, so far as might relate to these purposes. A regulation of such infinite consequence to the improvement and more complete cultivation of the
~ ii
lands in Britain, 1s of itself a sufficient apology for call- ing the attention of the Legislature a second time to so im- portant an object of relief and encouragement to the agri
7
culture of these coset Should measures so essential to the future prosperity of the country be d the inhabitants of this Island ee not to be sur
1e€ cultivation
Pe= ale mite ante A ae ae ee|e rance should hereafter take the lead in t B| H 3|
Bn Ae ANE‘ LAE i ae a ee Le Paar ey eee Teme ee)| ee See { the earth as she has lately done in.other valuable im-
Nr rf hm i ele) eT=e~} TiN 1A ty van may<P sae> fc tA A pi OV Cments 3 to‘S fect which, Lito total apol ion Or ELLGS
‘ak>< Wom a= a ah ee PA OYE, e
gabelle, or duties on salt, has, or more properly speaking
will Oo} har oriciiture oreat adcrontace nverthe rect At
V1 Sive Yer agriculture gi eat atl V ciill as OVE GEES UL GOES
Lurope. <n A RTT ve PLAIN ES LT
= Siew es ee:=—>: sine S

170 A TREATISE ON* THE CONNECTION OF
SANIDY SOIL.
THERE is no soil so naturally barren or unfruitful, but that it may be ameliorated by the industry of man. The very extensive improvements made on the barren sands of Norfolk, prove the truth of this assertion; the present advanced state of these lands has been owing to the consolidating of the surface by a due proportion of clay, or of a marly clay, which generally is to be found at no great distance from the surface. On this practice (as it were) of making a soil, it is necessary to state, that much less expence is incurred, and more benefit re- ceived, by adding clay to a sandy soil, than adding sand to a clayey soil. It would require, perhaps, from six toten times the quantity of sand to diminish the adhesion of the latter, than it would require of clay to consolidate the former. The great difference, in point of expence, must be obvious. Sand added to aclayey soil, in a less proportion than would produce the effeé required, would be materially injurious tothe staple; because sand, when thus applied, never fails, at certain seasons, to ren- der the clayey soil more untractable and unmanageable;
for

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 17
for which reason burned clay, or brick dust, has in pre- ference been recommended, as an article to be added to stiff clayey soils. There are some soils consisting almost exclusively of sandandsea shells, which are astonishingly fruitful; small shells may therefore be used where clay is not to be had, although it is very seldom that sand is not accompanied by clay at a. greater or less depth. In situations, where the clay lies at too great a depth for open work, and where props or pit timber are to be procured at a cheap rate, it may be wrought by shafting and under-ground mining. This idea is a novel one, but in some situations it probably might be carried into exe. cution with advantage. As shells consist of calcareous matter, lime-rubbish, or ¢efétte-lime, would, for the same reason, be of service to sandy soils; although lime opens a stiff soil, itis found to have an opposite effect on a joose sandy soil: stillthere is not any application te such a soil, so proper or so fitted as marl, with. the assistance of proper dunging, in the rotation of the faria scare being had not to injure such forced or artificial soils by a too frequent and animproper use of the plough, the bad effects of which are beginning to be felt in the County. of Norfolk,
Y2 IN-

A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
par “I ho
OUTFIELD AND INFIELD LANDS.
3 1 4
Tue arable land in Scot!
a fea: a
formerly consisted of out- field and infield.. The infield, in the. treatment it re- ceived, and in its quality, resembles the inclosed culti- vated lands in England; while the outfield was similar to the uninclosed common field lands in this country. There is reason to believe that this distinction, prior to the date of inclosures, was likewise general throughout England. It is wearing out fast in Scotland, from the
same Cause.
That part of the farm, called the outfield land, never receives any manure. After taking from it two or three
crops of grain, it is left in the state it was in at reaping
(op) the last crop, without sowing thereon grass-seeds, for the production of any sort of herbage. During the first two or three years, a sufficiency of grass to maintain a
abbits.. per. acre is scarcely. produced. In the course of some years it acquires a sward, and after 1 ae eee a es aa mi ejaeee a°°. having been depastured for some years more, It 1s again
Sub=
Dy

AGRICULTURE WITTE. CHEMISTRY. 172
submitted to. the same. barbarous system of. hus-
bandry.
The other division of the arable land consisted of the infield or croft land, to which the whole dung produced
on the farm was exclusively applied. By this mode of
d
+
treatment, these last mentioned lands were made fertile at the expence of the others; and by a repetition of
»ractice for many centuries, a superabundance.of vege- table matter has therein been accumulated. Too great a proportion of inert vegetable matter causes ground.of this description to be too loose and open for most kinds of«grain; particularly for. winter, corn, which, by the alternate changes from frost to thaw, and wice versa, is
liable either to be destroyed or spewed. out of the
ground. Black infield mould of this description, especially when
1A 4
it contains a due proportion of calcareous matter, pro- duces a rich and luxuriant herbage: it should therefore be kept ina proper rotation of pasture and tillage not in tillage alone, as is still the prevailing pradtice in
many parts of Scotland.

174. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
By the dung, and still more so by the wrie of Cattle, lands of this nature, after having been depastured for a certain number of years, will be found to have received considerable benefit, and to have become more fitted for the production of crops of grain. Thisis prin- cipally to be ascribed to the effect which the volatile
alkali of the urine has, in dissolving
2)
a proportion of the superabundant oxygenated inert vegetable matter con-
Cc
tained in the soil.
It has been stated in the preceding part of this Work, that stablesyard dung, by long keeping and exposure to air, loses its.saline fertilizing powers, and becomes in all respects similarto peat. The same effect, in part, will take place on stable-yard dung when applied to ground. Un- der the article of Putrefaction it has been observed, that the soluble and saline part of the dung bears but a small proportion to what is insoluble. By the repeated dung- ings, during so many centuries, there has been accumu-~ lated in the infield lands of Scotland too large a propor- tion of vegetable matter. This surplus, however, may,
y:the judicious application of lime, alkalis, and other saline substances, be dissolved, and thus made to pro-
duce

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. r7s5
duce abundant crops of grass, hay, and corn; which articles(from the superabundance of vegetable matter the infield lands contain) should be returned in the state of dung tothe outfield lands, for the most part as deficient of vegetable matter, as the infield lands contain
a Superabundance.
From the example here adduced on the situation of the infield lands in Scotland, as well as from facts and chemical reasons, it must appear, that the alternate application of dung, or vegetable composts, and saline Matters, to ground, is the most judicious method to pre- serve the soil in a state of fertility, and to prevent too
great an accumulation of unproductive vegetable matter.
It has, in several instances been remarked, that infield Jand, when under pasture, and not eaten down or suffi- ciently cropped by cattle,(as sometimes happens on such grounds) or when converted into plan‘ations, ceases to produce the same kind of grasses or herbage it would have produced if it had remained under pasture; and this is observed in young plantations, before the effect produced, can be ascribed to the a@ion of the trees in
anrwer UVCoLi=

176 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
over-shadowing the ground. Were an experiment on some rich infield land made, by preventing it from being cropped or eaten down by cattle for a certain number of years, a thickness of some inches of turf or peat would be superinduced; and the land would not again be fitted
for the production of grain, or sweet pasture grasses,
without paring and burning, or the application of lime or saline substances, to act upon, or dissolve part of the accumulated vegetable matter. Hence it is that ground should contain only a certain proportion of vegetable
matter to constitute it rich and fertile mould.
A considerable extent of ground, of this description, (formerly under a high state of cultivation) has been ob-:| served in some of the southern Counties of Scotland, the cultivation of which ground had probably been- continued from the frequent wars between the two nations.
By fallowing, and the application of lime, such a soil may be made fit for the production of grain. By deep
ploughing, part of the under-stratum, containing less
oO vegetable matter, may be brought up and mixed with
c
the

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 177
the surface mould; by which means not only the staple wil be deepened, but the soil will, by the admixture, be rendered more compact and close; whilst the spungy inert vegetable matter contained therein will be decom- posed, and brought into less volume by the aétion of the lime. On these accounts, fallowing and liming consoli- date a soil of this description, although they might at
first be considered to produce contrary effeéts.
Whilst these, or other operations, are going forward, for the purpose of making the infield land give out either in grass, hay, or corn, the surplus proportion of vegetable matter, the farmer should apply the greater part of the dung made on his farm to his outfield land, abolishing, as far as may be, the distinétion formerly made.
The former systemof management, howevermuchit may now be disapproved of, and made a subject of reproach to our ancestors, was nevertheless the only one suited to their means. Ata remote period, there were neither a sufficient number of men, horses, nor extent of Capital, in Scotiand, to admit the adoption of a different systema’;
ZL, and

eet pe~-
178 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
and probably at a still more distant period, causes equally efficient operated in England against improving the whole of the surface. Our forefathers, therefore, acted more wisely, by the application of the whole of the dung, to ‘bring part of the land into a high state of cultivation, than if they had divided or applied it over the whole extent of the farms they cultivated, whence little benefit ecould have accrued to themselves or to posterity: where- as, by bringing certain portions only, into a high state of fertility, a stock of materials has been accumulated, and ieft for their descendants to work upon, capable of repay- ing to the exhausted outfield lands, with abundant inte-
rest, the vegetable matters originally borrowed.
Poor lands, made highly fertile in former times, by the addition of dung, vegetable, and animal mat- ters, have received such a mechanical arrangement of their parts, as well as chemical qualities, that they never can return again to their original state. They may, as far as the production of grain is concerned, be exhausted for a time by injudicious cropping; yet they will always produce grass when not overrun by
hurt-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 179
hurtful weeds, and will recover the power of producing abundant crops of grain, by being for some years under pasture. Soils of this description can never be completely injured but by paring and burning, which would dissi- pate and throw into the air the vegetable, animal, and
saline matters therein contained.
Z 2 PEAT

180 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
PEAT MOSSES, FENS, AND POOR BARREN LANDS IN THEIR VICINITY.
Tuts subject follows, with peculiar propriety, the de- scription of infield and outfield lands; and, as the diffe- rence which subsists between these lands depends upon the larger proportion of vegetable matter which the in- field land contains, in a state very similar to that of peat, it is obvious that peat mosses may be rendered of very great utility in improving the poor barren lands, which
are generally found in their vicinity.
Peat, or vegetable matter, should be carried from the peat moss to the poor soil, and the surface mould from the poor soil to the peat moss, By these means two bene-
_ficial purposes may at the same time be effected. The quantity of such like, or other earthy matter necessary to be added to a peat soil, to alter the mechanical arran ge- ment of its parts, is to be ascertained by proper trials; and, on the other hand, the quantity of peat requisite
to be applied to poor soils will be regulated by the quan-
tity

AGRICULTURE WITH'CHEMISTRY..°—_ 8]
tity cf vegetable matter which such soils may already
contain.
The most efficacious method of applying peat to poor
barren soils, is to mix it with’ the urine and dung of
cattle; on failure of these articles, with alkaline and
other salts; and, lastly, with lime.
Experience can only determine the number of loads or weight of these different preparations, which should be given to an acre of ground. From such experiments as have already been made with the preparation of alka- line and some other salts, there is reason to believe that the quantity necessary to be given at one time would not exceed that of a proper dunging, and that equally bene-
ficial effects would be produced.
If this, on general experience, should be proved, the peat mosses in Great Britain and Ireland will not only af- ford an inexhaustible supply of manure for the poor iands in their vicinity, but may themselves, by the application of alkaline and other salts, be brought to the
highest state of fertility. Peat
See

,
182, A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
Peat soils, which acquire an unétvous rich clammi- ness, by the application and action of dung, urine, al- kaline salts, 8c. in partly dissolving the peat, are the fittest of all soils for the growth of hemp. The culture of this plant would be a source of employment to the in- habitants in the winter, in preparing the hemp for market, when prevented by frost and bad weather from working without doors; and would furnish an internal or home supply of an article so indispensably necessar¥
to a maritime state.
The cultivation of hemp* on peat mosses thus improved,
would be found to be an excellent preparation for wheat.
Peat mosses and fens have, hitherto, generally been considered either as nuisances, when in an unimproved state, or as soilsof the greatest fertility, when cultivated. These different states regard only the peat moss or fen itself, and have no reference to any consequences that might arise by the application of peat, or of any prepa- ration of it to the neighbouring lands. But as peat has
been
* Were hemp cultivated on an extensive scale in this country, the expressed vil from its seed might advantageously be applied to the manufacture of soap, of
a superior quality to that which is now made of tallow; for which purpose
large quantities are annually imported from Russia, and other countries.

AGRICULTURE. WITH CHEMISTRY. 183
been discovered to be capable of being converted into the most valuable of all manures, the importance of the peat mosses in Great Britain and Ireland cannot, there- fore, be too much impressed on the minds of the land-
owners and occupiers of these countries.
From experiments made with alkaline salts and peat, it can be asserted, that the effects of such mixture, weight for weight, are equal, if not superior to those of dung. The usual quantity of dung given to an acre of ground, when it is intended to manure it effectually, is about eighteen tons. This it may, perhaps, receive once in five years. It will require a farm to be well managed, and in high cultivation, to admit of one-fifth of it to be annu-
ally so manured.
The best cultivated land, by the return of its own ma- nure, unless when a quantity of vegetable matter has been accumulated, as described under the article of In- field Land, can do no more than keep itself in heart: of course, nothing can be spared for the amelioration o improvement of poor or waste lands. The rendering the inert vegetable matter of peat mosses and fens service- able to this purpose, though effected at a greater expence
than

9
184. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
than is at present incurred by any application or dressing to ground, could not fail to answer the expectation of the farmer, and must be considered as one of the most va- luable improvements that has hitherto occurred in the
annals of husbandry.
The primary step towards improving a peat moss, is to take off by proper channels the great feeder of water. This is to be effected by conducting one or more princi- pal drains through the moss, and by water courses on the solid or dry land, immediately above the level of the moss, so that it shall not be inundated by the surface water or springs of the surrounding higher lands, and shall afterwards only require to be freed from the water that shall fall on its superficies. This being accomplished, the intermediate parts of the bog should be drained, partly by open and partly by covered drains; care being taken, that they are not made so deep as to lay the moss or bog too dry; by which the peat, becoming oxygenated, and thence insoluble, would be incapable of yielding food to vegetables. By the opposite extreme, unprofitable grasses and aquatic vegetables are produced. It is there- fore an object of great importance, in effecting the drain-
ALE,

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 185
age, to preserve a full command of the water, that it
may be regulated at pleasure.
Should a moss or bog be so circumstanced, as to ad- nit of its being drained through a country which might be improved by a supply of vegetable matter, it would be prudent, previously to making the great or leading drains through the adjacent country or moss, to concert measures for making a proper communication by a ca- nal, so that the remote lands might be supplied with peat from the moss, and the moss supplied with lime, marl, clay, earth, sand, shells, and other materials, from
the distant country.
As shell-marl is frequently found under peat mosses, they should be bored in different places, to ascertain if they possess this valuable substance; or if they contain under the moss a rich clay or limestone gravel: for, in the event of these being found at a moderate depth, the moss or bog may be improved at a much less expence, as the distant carriage of these necessary articles, and the difficulty of carting and laying them on so loose and spungy a surface, would thereby be diminished.
Aa The

Sie
eg
ge oie
3’
Pict =—
“-
ae Pee Nad
= a
186 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
The burning a part of the upper surface may, in some:
eases, be requisite, to afford, when it is otherwise too:dif-
ficult to be procured, a due proportion of earthy matter..
Peat ashes. will, in such cases, act in making a different
mechanical arrangement in the soil: but, near the:sides.
of the bogs where surface mould is to be had, a prefe-
rence should. be given to. it..
The alteration in the: mechanical arrangement of the
soil being effected, the next object is the application of
such substances as will bring the peat, or inert vegetable
matter, into action, These substances are lime and.alka-.
line salts; which contribute in different ways to the pro-.
posed improvement.
Improved peat mosses,. bogs,. or reclaimed fen landss,
are the soils the most produétive of lux urlant vegetation,
although from this. cause they do not in general yields,
in this northern and humid chmate, heavy and well filled grain. Such soils should be principally dedicated to pas- ture, and should only. be ploughed when, notwithstand-
ing the utmost endeavours, the ground produces coarse
or rank grass; but this is ina great measure, or perhaps.
entirely,

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 187
entirely, to be prevented by due attention to the follow-
ing directions: To keeping the water in the ditches at a proper level:
To stocking the ground with a due proportion of neat cattle, sheep, and horses; as the one animal will eat the grass which springs up from the dung of the other,
and which otherwise would produce tufts of coarse
orass;
To folding of cattle on different parts of each field:
To using of heavy rollers:
To top-dressings of alkaline salts, and other saline substances; and also to top-dressings of lime, either by
itself, or when mixed with peat or fen mould.
The pasture should always be eaten quite close before winter, excepting such portions of it as are intended for winter food, which likewise should be eaten close off,
before the spring vegetation commences: after which
Aa2 time,

ne me ete Ui AA aor
QA ES,
RK. 188 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
7 a]
time, it should not be depastured until the grass be sufficiently advanced to allow of a good bite. As all plants receive nourishment two ways, by their stems and leaves
as well as by their roots, the growth of young vegetables.
|
must necessarily be much retarded, when deprived, by being constantly eaten down, of one of their sources of
Subsistence.
As the consolidating the soil of peat mosses is an objeét of the first consideration, it is obvious, both on chemical and mechanical principles, that much cropping, and the consequent exposure of fresh surfaces to the action of air, are improper: and that after a few crops are obtained, the ground should be laid down with meadow grasses and white: clover, and depastured with as much stock as-it will carry. By these means, not only the soil will be consolidated and compressed, and particular grasses or herbage promoted according to the cattle so depastured, but the urine and
?
dung of the cattle, by carefully folding them, will be laid
on in such quantities, as will perform rapidly, and at once,
the effect required; whereas, if the same quantity were
»!
divided over fifty or a hundred times the surface so folded
upon, its operation would scarcely be perceptible, and the
plication

- *
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 18
application of each year’s manure so subdivided, would
‘either be washed away, or its beneficial effects lost, before Me) 5|
the further quantity necessary could, in aseries of fifty or a hundred years, be added to it. Hence a systern of under-dunging, or manuring land, may be said to be nearly equal to no dunging at all: on which account the
preference, with great reason, has been given, under all
circumstances, to the ancient mode of cultivating the in-|
field lands of Scotland.
Folding in a proper manner, is particularly recom- mended for fen lands and peat mosses, as the immediate effet produced by wre, is that of dissolving into muci- laginous saponaceous matter the oxygenated peat. Indeed, in all businesses, it is well known, that what is once well done is not todo again. By this judicious mode of pro- ceeding, the chemical qualities and mechanical arrange- ment of the soil are so altered, that, without the grossest mismanagement, it is impossible it should return again to its former unproductive state. If this be properly at- tended to, the pasture will never grow coarse, or require breaking up, but will continue to improve the longer it is suffered to remain in that state. There are other rea- sons
op)

ane athe
nes ———— Loe OF TN Pith id namivsie 8 0
a
i
1g0 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
sons for continuing such lands in pasture, viz, the difi- culty, from the softness of the soil, of conveying dung from the farm-yard to the fields; and likewise the ten- dency which such soils have, by exposure to air, to be- come oxygenated, and consequently incapable of yielding
the food requisite for the support of vegetables.
In the mode of stocking such pastures, it is further recommended to keep the fat, the half fed cattle, and the lean or young stock, in different inclosures, as is the practice in Ireland, and where grazing is well understood in England. The fat cattle should only top the grass, the half fed should succeed those, and lastly, the lean or store cattle should follow on the same pasture, and eat the herbage close down; repeating this practice as often
as the fresh growth of grass will permit.
DRAIN-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 491
DRAINAGE OF THE FENS,
Tue loss sustained by individuals and by the public, from the late breaking of the banks, and consequent inundation of the cultivated fens in Cambridgeshire and other Counties, necessarily calls the attention of the pro- prietors of fen estates, and the Legislature of this coun- try, toa more judicious and complete system of general drainage of that great level. The late destruction cf the banks, and loss sustained, may probably be the means of uniting, in one natural and judicious plan for their mutual advantage, the hitherto distinét and opposite interests of individuals and of neighbouring communities. This is.
most likely to be accomplished by adopting the method
q qi ie| z yy Te a Pi
&
iy
Re
of drainage recommended in the Appendix. to the very
me)
able Report of the Agricultural Survey of the County of Cambridge; by which plan there is reason to believe that
the fens might be wholly, instead of being partially,
—-= A Dn
drained: an object ef too great importance to be over- looked, or to be thwarted by the confined.or mistaken plans of any class of men,, or the interested motives of
any

——
192 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
any particular place or borough, with a view to make such place, or borough, the mouth or outlet, and conse- quently the shipping port to the fens so drained.‘To such objects, the general interest of the many, and the nation in general, are too frequently sacrificed. It is not those who propose the best plan of a general drain- age, line, and direction of a canal, or rendering a river or rivers navigable, who carry their point; but it is those who can procure most friends in the two Houses of Par- liament. Many judicious plans of canals, and of render- ing rivers navigable, have been rejected, and the inte- yest of proprietors of an established ditch of a canal, has been allowed, to prevent the cutting of canals of
much more general utility and importance.
The late accidents which have happened to the fens, by the breaking of the banks, should lead to an impartial survey, and consideration of the most judicious method of draining this valuable country at the lowest possible level, so as to avoid the raising of the water, as has hi- therto been the case, to amuch higher level than is said to be necessary.
On

Sere
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 193 :> Ss= ait‘od Ver> a he AhHat swroly= 7 Tr On this subject it is proper to remark, that exclusively
+ x
of the main central drain, or drains, carried at the lowest
level, and according to the natural and old establishe
finde
course of the waters, sufficient drains or water courses
f
snould be made to skirt or surround the whole of the
fens cut on the di‘-y or solid land above their level. It is
obvious, that by thus euarding the fens from their great and principal feeders which come from the upland coun- try, there would then require to be drained, or to be raised from the fens, only that proportion of water which may fall on their superfices. The Agricultural Surveyor of Cambridgeshire seems to be of opinion, that the gene- ral bed of the fens is sufficiently elevated above the level of the sea to drain itself. This fac is of too importan ta nature not to be fully and minutely inguired into, as in the event of its being established, not only the fens lately under cultivation, and now drow ned, might in future be more securely and effectually drained, but an addition of 150,000 acres of undrained and unreclaimed fen land, in the County of Cambridge a/me, would accrue to the agriculture, or the cultivation of this country. Should the fens not be capable of being drained completely by any sea level, and that the water should require
Bb to

aS ay SSS eee
i { * Pa A
A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
to be raised, the most judicious method of proceed- ing would be still to conduct the water to the lowest, level, and which will be found to be nearest to the séa,’ and then by a sufficient number of windmills, or other snethes, to lift it over the great sea bank. Some well constructed fire engines would at certain times be of ma-
terial service to the drainage.
Fire engines employed in the accomplishment of a great and national object, should be exempted from duty on the coal required to work them. The expence of fuel might still farther be diminished, by making use of the refuse small coal made at Newcastle in working the Jarger and more valuable sorts. This refuse coal may there be had at two shillings and three-pence per London chaldron of thirty-six Winchester bushels, and of which, about 100,000 such chaldrons. are annually brought from the pits for the purpose of clearing the under- ground workings, and are allowed to decay, and perish on bank. Were this quantity of refuse coal allowed to be applied, duty free, to such like, or to other important national objects, many beneficial consequences would thence arise; the public revenue could not suffer by ex-
empting

Ay
AGRIGUL TURE WITH CHEMISTRY. TQ5
empting this at present waste or refuse article from
duty for the working of fire engines, or the burning of
-- lime; still any limited or partial exemption from so in-
judicious a tax as that on water borne coals, would be far short of the advantages, which, by a total repeal of the duties, would ensue to agriculture, manufactures, mines, machinery, navigation, or extent of shipping, and the health and comforts of the great body of the people
this humid and northern climate. An exclusive duty on coals carried coastways, may be deemed a probzbition to the rearing of seamen, and a bounty on the breeding of horses. It is truly astonishing that so glaring an absurdity has not hitherto been corrected. The late requsitions, and very strong but necessary steps taken by Government, to procure seamen to defend our Island from foreign in- vasion, show whether it is to J4orses or to seamen we are now to be indebted for our defence. In Scotland, the duty on coals is repealed, and an additional duty on spirits substituted in its stead. In this respect, the in- habitants of South Britain would do well to promote a
similar plan of commutation.
ed 2) cm?
Bb 2 7
Se I ym
ondeags ea
: “
ne a es
aa ss
tn Ne 4 _.=_ YY tee
ae?
Ae jane

¥96 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF Mawes
The draining, inclosing, and properly cultivating the
fens and peat mosses in Britain, would, by rearing and.
feeding a greater number of cattle of all descriptions,
allow a greater proportion of the higher and drier lands
to be kept in tillage; whence would be produced a.
greater quantity of grain and animal focd.‘The present inhabitants of Great Britain would be more reasonably and: plentifully fed and cloathed, and a considerable surplus would be left either for exportation, or for the
maintenance of an augmented number of people..
Population would increase as plenty is secured: The additional produce of the: earth would not only feed’ a greater number of inhabita with constant employment in the manufacturing of wool, hides, 1emp, and flax, the internaj’ productions of our own Island, instead of relying upon a precarious supply of some of these necessary articles from foreign otatesstand lastly, emigration, the constant attendant on scar=
city, would no longer rob these kingdoms of their only defence.
WEST
uts, but would provide them:
Ss

AGRICULTURE WITH: CHEMISTRY. 197
so
WEST INDIA ISLANDS. BENEFIT TO THE CULTURE OF THE ISLANDS FROM‘A DUE ATTENTION TO THE OXYGENATION OF VEGETABLE MATTER, AND THE SUBSEQUENT SOLUTION OF IT, BY
ALKALIS AND OTHER SALINE BODIES.
Tuese Islands, when first known, were covered with wood; the lands have since been cleared, and the soil has been brought under the culture of the sugar- cane, indigo, and cotton. The crops of sugar, for many years, after clearing and cultivating the ground, were very great. At length, by repeatedly cropping and ex- hausting the soil, the planters are now under the necessity either of manuring for sugar crops, or of substituting others of a less exhausting nature for a certain number of years, until the ground shall recover. The very abundant crops of sugar at first produced, were undoubtedly owing to the accumulation of vegetable matter, in consequence of the Islands having been co-
-¢ with wood for many centuries previous to their
nt and cultivation. The:

P| 198 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
.| There can be no doubt that the vegetable matter has in a small part only been expended in producing those abundant crops, and that by far the greater part has
become oxygenated and insoluble by the exposure of
renewed surfaces to the action of the atmospheric air, in consequence of the frequent stirrings and hoeings which the
ground has received.
No soil can, in any climate, continue to produce in abun- dance, sugar, grain, or other exhausting crops, without receiving back in return such a proportion of vegetable matter, in the state of dung or otherwise, as would be equal to the weight of the vegetable matter afforded by the so/] to each crop. By this, it is not meant, nor would it be possible, that there should annually be returned to the ground as great a weight of vegetable matter as shall be equal to the weight of the preceding crop, it being only necessary to return as much as would be equal to the
proportion of the vegetable matter furnished by the soz/.
By much the greater part of the vegetable matter now
existing or remaining on the surface of the earth is in-
debted to the aery form fluids or gasses, and to the de-
com po-

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 197
composition of water in the process of vegetation, for the matter of which it principally consists. Tothese two causes the accumulation of vegetable matter on the surface of the earth is principally to be ascribed. It would not be an easy task to ascertain the different proportions of the food of plants supplied from the soil, or from the air, and the decomposition of water. It must be admitted, that the constituent principles of the vegetable substances cons tained in ground long under cultivation, have, in a great measure, been supplied to such vegetables, when growing, by air and water. This must be evident from the large proportion of vegetable and animal matter(under all states or systems of cultivation or cropping) annually taken from the soil, consisting of grain, or animal sub- staiices, such as flesh, milk, butter; and cheese; the dung and urine of cattle dropped on the roads,(where it is totally lost) and the large proportion of the food of animals, thrown off by insensible perspiration and breathing: to all which must be added the quantity of extractive soluble matter annually washed away by the rains, and carried into the sea. Had not the benevolent Creator of all things established processes for supplying such an unavoidable waste of vegetable or other matters,
che
nee eS)| iG bi y val f? ie| ie a ie oie: ij} y a Hee ‘ y Be i ( ie, Whi 10 a pe i 5 al | rk Y A ba 1G) A SE Weed Bh” day ay 4 gid 1 Ly bs
1 ;. af ; Wl . i
Ste
ae

200 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
the surface or soil of all countries would, in process of time, have become barren and unfertile. On the whole, there can be little risque in asserting, that the quantity ef vegetable matter in soils under a proper system of cultivation and dunging, is, notwithstanding, the above abstractions, probably on the increase.‘The great quan- tity of saccharine and other matter yearly taken: away, without being returned to the soil, and the unfitness of the hard or woody part of the sugar-cane for the food of cattle, evidently prove that the sugar plantations must suffer annually a considerable degree of deterioration; and that from so great an abstraction, as well as from the process of oxygenation, the soil must at length cease to produce crops of sugar. Such effects have in part been
already experienced in Barbadoes, and in the Islands first
settled and cultivated,
It is apprehended, that the less productive power of the soil of some of these islands, is more to be ascribed to the state in which the vegetable matter is now in, than to its having been exhausted by cropping. Should this conjecture prove well founded, and that the soil still con-
tain a large proportion of oxygenated vegetable matter, the

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY.“201
the surface may again, for a time, be rendered fertile by the application of alkaline salts and other saline matters: repeated applications would undoubtedly exhaust any soil, and as such these should only be applied alternately with dung or vegetable matters. Every judicious planter Keeps a sufficient number of live stock for the purpose of making manure, and sets apart a due proportion of his plantation for producing proper food for their main- tenance. It is necessary that cattle should be keptin great numbers, to provide in some measure for the waste an- nually incurred in the sugar grounds, still there will be a deficiency of manure from the stock so kept, to pre-
serve the sugar-cane lands in high condition,
An idea is here suggested of supplying that deficiency, founded on the principles and faéts already mentioned, towards which the following, as it respects the cultivation
of the sugar-cane, is offered as a more full explanation.
An acre of ground under canes is generally reckoned to produce an hogshead or about twelve cwt. of SULA, besides the molasses,&c. The tonnage of ships neces- sary to convey such bulky articles to Britain, must be
ee very

Se aaa
————
a Htteerees
en lie
oS A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
very considerable. Those exported, consisting chiefly of valuable manufactured goods, are of small Weight when compared with the weight of the sugar,&c. imported; and of so little value is the freight of outward-bound ships, that they are frequently either entirely laden with bricks, Hme,&e. or partly sO by way of ballast: in which last situation most of our West Indiamen perform
their outward-bound voyage.
As dung is also said to be sent from Britain to the West Indies, this circumstance,(together with the chemical re- marks and observations on the nature of peat) has pointed out peat as an article capable of being sent in certain states of preparation to the West India Islands, with a view to supply the annual consumption© and deficiency of vegetable matter, which may take place in the soil by the cultivation of the sugar-
cane.
This idea originated from knowing that the soreline acid, the acid most abundantly contained in peat, and
the acidof sugar, were identically the same.
There

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 203
There can be no doubt, that when peat is rendered’
completely soluble, and thus fitted to promote the growth.
of plants, it will, when applied to the culture of the sugar- cane, afford those substances which constitute sugar; when these, by the process of vegetation, are afterwards
combined and united in due proportions.
To send cargoes of peat in an unprepared state to the West Indies, would be the height of folly and absurdity, as no vessel could carry enough of so light a substance even to ballast her. But as peat, when dissolved by alka- line salts, and afterwards dried, may be brought to the consistency of a solid dry gum, equal in weight perhaps to forty or fifty lb. per cubic foot, the objection to its lightness would thus be remedied, and it might be ex- ported to the West Indies at a low return freight, or as
Dallast.
If there be any accumulated masses of vegetable mat- ter, or peat, in the West India Islands, this manure might certainly be prepared there, at a cheaper rate than in
Britain or Ireland.
CC2 The
— 7—==—— sg re, pam ya Sse Se a se_ hs ~——= s—=== ee ee

oe agent
=
ee See es 2 ENB Acer ies
204. A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
The improvement here suggested by the application of peat as a manure to sugar plantations, is perfectly new, and as such, with a certain set of men,(whose opinions are not worthy of attention) the proposal may be sub- jected to the epithet of a scheme, an appellation now gene- rally bestowed on all designs, whether the discovery be valuable or useless. Mankind seem at this moment to detest all alterations, excepting in such matters as are the most difficult and dangerous, viz. the /ews, the form of government, religion, and the scheme of society of a country,
in which the most subordinate ranks feel themselves
as competent to alter or amend, as a GROTIUS or a
MONTESQUIEU.

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 205
CULTIVATION OF SOREL, WITH A VIEW TO THE PRODUCTION OF OTHER MORE VALUABL E CROPS,
Ir does not appear that any farmer has cultivated, or that any writer has recommended the growth of those plants to be promoted, which seem indigenous to any. particular soil, with intention of rendering such plants of use in the future produdtion of grain, or the.rich
herbage upon which cattle feed.
It is nO Uncommon practice to sow buck wheat, tares, and other green crops, for the sole purpose of ploughing them in; thus providing the ground with a proportion of fresh vegetable matter, at times when other, manure
cannot be procured, and also promoting the dissolution
of the inert vegetable matter contained in the soil by the stagnation of air, and by the retention of humidity, occasioned by the close cover and shade these crops af-
ford.
Judicious as this process in many cases may be, of en-
couraging the growth of certain vegetables, with a view
or

2.00 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of promoting, by their subsequent destruction, the future
erowth of others, yet the beneficial effects of this system F cultivation, by due attention to the vegetables which _certain-soils have a tendency to produce, is to be extended. much further than most farmers are aware of. To attempt making such soils produces without che- mical acids, other vegetables more serviceable to men and cattle, would be premature, as it would be an endeavour to force nature to productions for which she is not as yet
prepared.
Soils not calcareous, containing much inert vegetable
matter or peat, have a tendency te produce wild sorel, a plant considered in general as an indication of the want of fertility inthe soil.‘This is certainly corre¢t, if the fer- tility of the soil is only to be estimated by the use or walue at-matket of the crop, but not as it respects vege- tation itself; for a soilof the above description often pro- duces a most plentiful crop of sorel. In this case, as.it
apphiestothefurther improvement of the land, the growth
of sorel should as much as possible be encouraged,
even by sowing the seed for this.especial purpose. The
vegetation of this plant is no doubt promoted in the

re m ch be aye che- 1 and our
as yer
retable
yrel, a
e want the fer- > se OF ts vege ‘en pro- Se, 28 it e growth ouragels
ose, TH
moted in she
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 207
the soil by the oxalic or soreline acid, formed by the com+
bination of oxygen, or pure air, with the basis of the so- reline acid contained in the vegetable matter of the soil; and so long asthe vegetable matter remains ina state
fit to become oxygenated, it will have a tendency to
promote the growth of:sorel. It has: been-stated that
the juice or salt of sorel is a superacidulated neu- tral salt, consisting of the vegetable alkali and the oxalic acid. This superabundant acid is inimical to the erowth of grain, or of such vegetables or grasses as con= stitute the food of most. animals: but, which tendency in the soil, and injurious consequences, are to be correct- ed by the application of different substances, viz. by lime, by chalk, by magnesia, by alkaline salts, and by paring
and burning.
Lime will combine with the acid of the sorel,‘and form an oxalat of lime, which is insoluble: as such it should only be applied in such small quantities as will neutralize the acid inthe soil, or the superabundant proportion of acid contained in the sorel; so thatthe other component part of sorel, viz. the oxalat of potash, may not be decom- posed by the superior affinity which the oxalic acid has to
lime:
Ss
aa
so
eats p 4 he Se ane 3 a cy REP fea BR i.—— ss nea ei RE i eis Maitivono® ay Ea‘ na Lowe meee
ac na

meme eli Oa ee eae cece
(eine
a Se at
a ca, a
: ah=~ 2 3=“ x
—
(Saag
ne
208 A*'TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
lime; in which case, the alkali would be disengaged. No injury will arise from the application of a superabundance of lime, provided that the soil contain a still greater proportion of vegetable matter; in which case, the alkali disengaged by the lime would act upon the vegetable matter; and-form a saline substance, similarto that which
the-superabundant use of lime had decomposed.
Ground of this description, to which lime has been applied, will no longer have a tendency to promote the erowth of sorel in preference to other plants; its next spontaneous growth will, probably, be chickweed, which is a certain indication of its being ina state fit to pro-
duce grain or other crops.
Magnesia has a greater affinity with the oxalic acid than alkalis have, so that by the addition of earths, con- taining magnesia, to ground producing a crop of sorel, the acid will not only be neutralized, butthe oxalat.of pot- ash, the other component part of sorel, will hkewise be decomposed. By this means the alkali will be disen- gaged, and put into a situation to act upon, and dissolve
the.inert vegetable matter contained in the soil. The salt
formed

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 209
formed by the combination of the magnesian earth with the oxalic acid, will, as well as the vegetable matter dissolved by the aikali, be found to promote vegetation in a very great degree; hence magnesia, by forming with the oxalic acid a soluble salt, has an advantage over lime, which forms with the same acid a salt that is nearly insoluble, but capable of being brought into aétion
by methods previously stated.
By the application of alkaline salts to sorel, there re- sults a salt fully neutralized, which highly promotes the vegetation or growth of more valuable plants and
grain.
When neither magnesia nor alkaline salts are to be procured, and where it is not thought proper to make use of lime, the thinly paring and burning the sward, consisting of the plants of sorel and their roots, may be performed with advantage, as a /arge proportion of al- kaline salts will be procured for the purpose of dissolv- ing a correspondent proportion of the inert vegetable
P
matter contained inthe soil. This operation of paring and burning is only recommended as a last resource,
bDd and

ee Be eo eee
eee sk i ee
———
ES, Se
St
210 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION-OF
and in performing it, great care should be taken that as little of the surface mould as possible be consumed by
fire.
The application of the different substances here recom- mended, or the operation of paring and burning, should take place only at the time when the crop of sorel is in
the greatest luxuriance.
CON-

nn Ba il A SS ates ase
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 21Y
CONCLUSION.
THE multiplicity of subjects connected with the main object of this work, open so wide a field of enquiry and discussion, that it is with difiiculty the Author has re- strained himself from exceeding the bounds proposed; “6 Cunéta me non ditturum sed quedam.” More might have been said on the practical part of husbandry; but, un- luckily for science, too much has already been written on that subject, and absurd theories have been too often blended with practice. Beside, it has been taken for granted, that the persons for whose use and benefit this chemico-agricultural Treatise has been composed were well acquainted with the general operations of husban-
dry.
As the main object of this werk is to promote the ry Aa C|—D ale= 1 aha> led] 1X7 tir£}, 1] CV an more complete and extended cultivation of the soil, no thing which may retard or. advance this important object, can be deemed foreign to this publication; as such, the
oa Gi eee pies ioe ee pane peg es See a) form of government, laws, particular taxes, genéral
1 PRO oy Dd2 system a ae> — a Se Sipe ae—— agi< ee es ao meg a a a a crn tek——————-

= io ee
SS
SURE aR dace ame wanes
rs <n.
A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
212 system of taxation, manufa€tures, habits, and manners of different classes of society, orders, or professions of men, ought not to be considered too great a digres-
sion.
Many of these produce consequences inimical to the interests of agriculture. The Author’s natural turn has led him for many years to direct his thoughts to such objects; but as on several of them he could not offer an opinion without severe animadversions, he has chosen rather to be silent, than to probe sores which require, at this time, to be touched with the most gentle hand; at atime when the morbus Gallicus has succeeded to the Negroe rabies, in the same manner as this distemper suc- ceeded to the hydrophobia, or canine madness, which for some
years was so prevalent throughout Great Britain.
There are few who have viewed in a stronger point of light the necessity of a reform; but it is principally a reform in the conduct, hearts, and pursuits of indi- viduals, as stated in the parochial resolutions of Culross,
in November 1792.

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 213
The reformers, and their views of reforming, fall un-
der some one or other of the following heads.
The manoeuvres or plans of one political party to
supplant another.
The intentions of the worthless and desperate to over- throw, 7x foto, the form of government, religion, laws, and present scheme of society of this country, and to substitute in its stead the French scheme of society, which has already been exhibited on the theatre of Paris, and in other parts of that unfortunate and distract~
ed kingdom.
There is another set of reformers, who are worthy and upright men, who view with regret the glorious and un- equalled government of Britain slowly overturning, by the abuses and corruptions, which, proceeding from avarice and politically mercantile venality, now deluge this nation. These good.and worthy people, like the daugh- ters of ISRAEL,* with their harps hung on the willows of “ Babylon, weeping over their beloved erusalem,” have
bewailed, in too strong and unguarded terms, the state
of
2 se
it i ‘ e \ bs fs ¢ $. 7B
Fr akan aR neti

Sea——_ y. Se tite aE re
FF wets Kemmenenae
—_
ee
Jia A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
of the times; and although good men in their own pri- vate characters, perhaps may be ill calculated to a& the part of Reformers of States, or of the pursuits or vices of individuals, unless by their own upright conduc and
example.
Unfortunately this last class of reformers have been led for a time to make common cause with the two other classes, whose views have been proved to be very different; but now there is reason to believe, that all those of religion, character, or worth, who were re- formers wpon principle, have for the present dropt all in- tention of reform; and, instead of exciting the desperate and needy to acts of sedition and violence, do now, like Lot, pray unto the Lorp to spare the country on ac- count of the righteous persons it still contains, and of which there are many to be found, but more particy-
larly in the middling walks of life.
It is‘the present too prevailing philosophic infidelity and departure from the religion of Curist, foretold to
happen in the latter times, which has given rise to those
turbulent passions, which agitate the minds of men,

AGRICULTURE: WITH CHEMISTRY: De
and which now convulse and shake the Continent of Europe to its centre. The French, and other freethinkers, particularly VOLTATIRE, the supreme God, or JupireEr, of their heathenish pantheon, have done irreparable injury; and sorry is the Author to observe, that too many gentle- men of the learned professions, as well as those who de- dicate their time to literary and philosophical pur- suits, are actuated by a similar infidelity; and a desire to explode a religion which raised the minds and
virtues of the primitive Christians above those of other
merle
Leaving, however, a subject on which it is unne- cessary to" say more, than) to‘reerét that it: is’ se,the Author will now proceed to touch on some points which have appeared to“him more proper to be stated in his Conclusion, than in the body of the
work.
The first that presents itself, is the benefit that would arise to farmers, breeders, and others, were they allowed to malt the grain now given to horses and other
cattle. The following extract froma very valuable work,
V1Z.
| eel rE . | |

‘| HN
St gale
=
es PE
—
216 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
viz. Mr. Epwarps’s History of the West India Islands, and which only was perused since the other parts of this work went to press, corroborates, in the strongest manner, the benefits that horses and cattle would receive, were the grain they are fed with converted into a sweet or sac-
charine:substance.
«¢ The time of crop in the Sugar Islands, is the season “of gladness and festivity to man and beast. 50 palata~- “¢ ble, salutary, and nourishing is the juice of the cane, « that every individual of the animal creation drinking “¢ freely of it, derives health and vigour from its use.— “The meagre and sickly among the negroes exhibit a c surprising alteration in a few weeks after the mill is set “in a@ion. The labouring horses, oxen, and mules, ‘ though almost constantly at work during this season, ‘yet being indulged with plenty of the green tops of “‘ this noble plant, and some of the scummmings from. the “¢ boiling-house, improve more than-at any other period “ of the year. Even the pigs and poultry fatten on the «“ refuse. In-short, on a well regulated plantation, under 6° 4 humane and benevolent direétor, there is such an ap-
s6 pearance, during crop time, of health, plenty, and busy chear-

Sr eee ee RE Se I se aL en:”
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, ar7
“cheerfulness as to soften in a great measure the hard- “* ships of slavery, and induce a speétator to hope, when “the miseries of life are saidto be unsupportable, that “they are sometimes exaggerated through the medium
“of faney:?
On this there isthe following note.—“ He(says honest SLARE the physician) that undertakes to argue against *€ sweets in general, takes upon him a very difficult task “ for nature seems to have recommended this taste to all ** sorts of creatures; the birds of the air, the beasts of * the field, many reptiles and flies, seem to be pleased “and delighted with the specific relish of al] sweets, and ** to distaste its contrary. Now th sugar-cane, or sugar, “IT hold for the top and highest standard of vegetable ‘owe ets. iy Sugar is obtainable in some degree from most és vegétables, and Dr. CULLEN is of opinion, that sugar “1s directly nutritious. There is also good reason to sup- ** pose, that the general use of sugar in Europe has had *¢ the effect of extinguishi Ing the scurvy, the pla gue, and
** many other diseases formerly epidemical.”
es]
fey) 5 fomeet ed (@) &AY “p
=—_ r ae> oe==== ae- ete a Es it et ae:——— == a ae oa————= Sn= a ee Te ze> so ge——=————. S

Me ee Nes. i
—_——> sees a
Ramtec were
[<= iy
218 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION: OF
These authorities experimentally strengthen and cor- roborate the Author’s opinion, that horses. and. cattle would receive more benefit, by the grain they are fed with being previously converted into saccharine matter(as is
the case with malted grain) than by being fed with raw
grain, containing no such sweet or saccharine matter: the.
expence of malting, exclusively of the duty, is buta trifle,
not exceeding sixteen-pence per quarter..
The duties on malt, used’ for brewing and distilling should not be allowed to deprive working horses and cattle of their share of the sweets and. comforts of life, not only enjoyed by the negroes in the West Indies, but by the pigs, poultry,. horses,. oxen, and mules, whose festive board, and solatium,.(from the said to be slavery
and miseries. of life) happens only annually, while the
Author of more extensive benevolence wishes that the
sweets Of life shall in.this country: be administered daily to.
all these animals. ¢
Convincing as experiments may be, and the arguments in favour of procuring to cattle in this country a sués¢i- tute for the sweets of the West Indies,. still, from the too
rigid

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 219
rigid attention of Ministers to the system of finance, little hopes are to be entertained, that a permission to malt grain for cattle will be obtained, unless it can be
made an object of immediate taxation.
Such considerations are permitted too frequently to counter-balance or weigh down other objects of much greater national importance; which, if properly fostered and cherished in their infancy, might become resources
of national revenue.
These remarks will be confinedto the malt-tax, the salt- tax, andthe coal-tax, although there are many others which tend to repress and cramp the exertions of individuals, and to limit the extension of several valuable branches of manufacture, andof which, were it not for these restraints, an-unrivalled monopoly would be secured to this country in most of the foreign markets. By the plans now proposed, the revenue will not suffer; on the contrary, it will receive a considerable increase. The Author hopes that Government and individuals will candidly and de- liberately weigh what he has to propose, in his new assumed capacity of a Revenue Officer, or Suggester of
Ee€2 Taxes 3
ee te aes= ee+ RE es— ee ol i eemreraasacs~> sed as ge Sa cian ee ee el

320 A.TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
‘Faxes: an employment which, as it is the Jirst he has ever filled, so it is the last he would have thought of
filling under Government..
The plans of taxation, and faéts upon which those plans
are founded, come now to be stated.
There are reckoned to be in Britain millions of acres under annual culture by the plough; and sup- posing each horse to cultivate acres annually, the
; number of horses requisite for tillage will amount to
To keep up this stock, it would require an annual.
supply of at least a sixteenth part; and as horses are
not put to work in general until three years old, three sixteenths fall to be added to the number of horses
Kept for tillage; at which rate the number would.
amount to: to which are to added the horses
belonging to the cavalry, those employed in carts, wains,
waggons, collieries, mines, machinery, manufactories,
and other works. and also horses for posting, carriages,
the saddle, hunting, and the turf,&c.&c.. These are
reckoned to amount at least to one third of what is kept
for tillage, so that the whole number of horses kept in
Britain

Ee
ine SPOS itis eapalbaeadaae ieiil.-iabdialac
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 227
Britain cannot be less than and, at a duty of
five shillings on each horse, mare, or gelding, the whole
would amount to£
As to the neat cattle in Britain, their numbers may be ascertained, with tolerable precision, according to the fol-
lowing calculation.
There are said to be slaughtered annually in London and its neighbourhood, thousand heads of cat- tle; and as its population is reckoned to be one eighth of the whole kingdom, but say one ninth, the number of beeves slaughtered annually in Britain should amount to
from which one third is to be deducted, from the greater proportional consumption and waste of ani- mal food in the metropolis. The total number of beeves
slaughtered would therefore be which mul-
tiplied by four(sooner than which age, cattle are never brought to market) the total number of cattle of all de-
scriptions, at one time in the kingdom, will amount to
O which at a duty of 1s. per head, for per- mission to supply them, when aecessary, with malted grain,
* The blanks have been left to be filled up by the reader, with a view to secure lis part to the subje€t, and from a desire to shun
1
ie of atiention on
i¢ score of Hgures or calculations.
v4
a
: 7 =e
SEPP sence
rie a
ae. CT eran fMRI:

A TREATISE‘ON THE CONNECTION OF
grain, would produce an annual revenue of£ and the total sum of the duties on horses and cattle* would amount to£ in addition to the present tax on
malt for domestic consumption, breweries, and distilleries.
Individuals will probably object to this tax; but as the Author is fully persuaded that such objections, on their part, can only proceed from their being unacquainted with the advantages to be derived from a permission to malt grain for the use of horses and cattle, some pains shail be taken to obviate such objections; and as it may be a considerable time before the proposed duty take place, zf ever it should, individuals of the Boardof Agri- culture, or others, may experimentally satisfy themselves, at the present duties which should be reckoned an object of no moment When put in competition with an object of such importance to themselves and to the country in general.
On which head the following statements are offered,
Farm and other horses, when kept even with the most rigid eeconomy, are fed with oats, or other grain, during seven months, or thirty weeks, of the year; there are
many
* A tax on horses and neat cattle is paid by the inhabitants.of Virginia and Kentucky.

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 223
many farm horses that are fed with grain all the year, as is the case likewise with carriage, waggon, post horses, and horses for the saddle. A‘bushel anda half to each horse per week, is not too great an average allowance for these thirty weeks, this amounts annually to five quarters and five bushels, and at sixteen shillings per quarter, to the sumof 4l.gs.7d. Of this expence, at least one fourth will be saved by feeding the cattle on malted grain, but say 208; from this will fall to be deducted a duty of ss. to. Government, and the sum of 8s. as the charges of malting; still there would be an annual saving on each horse of 7s. But this is a trifling obje& in considera- tion of the sigher condition and order horses would be kept
in, fresher and fitter for work, and freer from many diseases, : i to which they are now liable.
The benefits that neat cattle would receive at the small
tax of 1s. per head are as follow:
By a supply, when necessary, of a small quantity of malt to year-old calves and young stock, they would,
when green food is not to be procured, be kept open in
the belly, and the costiveness, binding of the hide, and.
biliary obstruétions‘which at that season they are liable
tOs

cons teed
Aan Ps,
224 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
q
to, would by these means be prevented. It should be iven properly mashed with hot water, when by the state of their feeces and hides they appear to require it, Too little attention is paid by rearers and breeders of cattle to these necessary eae
plication for which malt has been re- commended, is the clearing away Jdiliary obstructions, and
opening the bodies of oxen and other cattle, previously to
P
supplying them with the food with which they are in- tended to be fattened; especially when such food is not sufficiently.of an aperient nature. And lastly, malted grain, when dry, but more particularly so when mashed, has been recommended to be given to milch cows, to make
them yield a greater quantity of milk, richer than that y a q ay 9
produced, and free from the bad flavour: which milk is apt
to acquire, by feeding cows in the winter time on cab-
bages or turnips.
On the whole, a tax of one shilling per head on neat| cattle, seems but a ¢rifing object to those who may pay it, when the Jbenejits from the indulgence granted shall be z considered. And here the remarks on this subjeé&
will conclude, by recommending the making of such
proper

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 225
Bi BY i E
proper trials of the comparative benefit of the use of malt and unmalted grain, as will fully establish the ad- vantages attending the former practice.
t may be said, that according to this plan, the pre- ant malt-tax will be evaded, and that persons would ply themselves for brewing With the maalt prepared or feeding their horses and cattle; but this is to be pre- vented by allowing oats, peas, and beans* only to be so malted, in a barn entered for that purpose, under the survey of the Excise Officer of the district, attaching a high penalty, with forfeiture of the grain, for malting any other kinds than such as by laware so allowed. Neither from peas nor beans can a proper palatable fermented liquor be made, and the use of oats would be extremely un- ceconomical, from the small weight of kernel in propor-
tion to the weight and price of the grain.
We pes) wt
Lastly, Should these arguments and reasons not be
thought sufficient to induce the adoption of the arrange-
Ss Ses KO reer we
<0 Farry cert See
TAIT Ng,
Bit ments
* Perhaps the malting of peas and beans may not be found so requisite, or so ad-
meget 9 Tn a,
me, se= == ae
vantageous as the malting of oats, and that all the purposes for feeding of cattle may be obtained by breaking and crushing them in a mill, especially when given
mixed with malted oats.

A
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2.26 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
ments here proposed, a total abolition of the present malt-tax seems the only alternative, adopting in part the substitutes already mentioned, and in lieu of the present tax upon malt, an additional tax upon the brewer,
with an equivalent tax on all families who brew for
their own use, and an additional tax on spirits.
Having stated thus much on a subject, which appears of such importance, and which is likely to be earlier at- tended to in France* than in this‘country, a few words may be proper on a plan for the purpose of entirely doing away the present salt duties, and substituting such others as shall. fall on individuals in proportion to the benefit they may receive by the use of salt; par- ticularly on those, who, from the high price of it, are
now debarred its use in agriculture, the feeding of cattle,
and in manufactures.
It is believed that Government would willingly allow the exemption of duty on salt used for these purposes, provided the revenue were not to suffer by the appli- cation of such duty-free salt for domestic consumption. Here is the difliculty which has stopped the progress of Mie
nisters
* A tax on malt made no part of the former system of taxation in that country.
es a Naat 5

AGRICUETURE. WITH CHEMISERY. 227
nisters and others on this important alteration, whilst to
the Author it appears capable of an easy adjustment.
The first object to consider, is the duty per ton which could be afforded, or which would be reasonable to exact for salt applied to the three purposes above mentioned.
‘ This duty should not exceed one pound per ton, or sixpence per bushel, which should be all the tax exacted on the commodity itself. The Author gives it as his opinion, that the exfended consumption of salt for the purposes already mentioned, as soon as the benefits de- rived from the use of it were generally known, would, at a duty of one pound per ton, be fully equal to the duties now coleéed; but-as it may not be prudent to trust to speculations, de futuris contingentzbus, it is suggested, that the deficiency of duty which would arise on its present con- sumption, be made up by a tax on those who should re- ceive a benefit by the unrestrained use of it, such as farmers, feeders, and owners of cattle, and certain other classes of consumers of salt. Householders should only pay for domestic consumption the 6d. per bushel, by which means they would be supplied with salt 4s. 6d. a bushel cheaper than they are at present. At this rate, the Ff2 duties
yf

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—
a sg,
iia a a a
ate po as
228 A TREATISE ON-THE CONNECTION OF
duties on salt for domestic purposes would not exceed 60,000]. a year; but the difference is to be made up by a similar tax to that recommended under the article of Horses and Cattle, together with a duty of 3d. in the pound on the rent paid by each farmer or occupier of ground, and ros. a ton on the salt rock exported to fo- reign countries: according to’-which plans, the salt duties
would amount to as follow:
To tons of salt for domestic consumption, at 1]. per ton=--& To tons of rock salt exported to Ireland
and abroad, at ros. per ton-=
To duty on horses,--
To duty on neat cattle,“
To 3d. in the pound on rent of land
which sum would exceed by the whole net
amount of the salt revenue of Britain.
But the increase of the revenue would not stop here, for as soon as the valuable application of salt for agricul-
ture, and the feeding of cattle, was generally known
and

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 2.29
and practised, the annual consumption of salt, for these purposes only, would at least amount to tons more. So that the whole revenue from salt would amount to fs Should this be a greater sum than Government would choose to exact, they may limit, or do away all the duties now mentioned, excepting the duty of 20s. per ton, as soon as the consumption of Britain for all the different purposes shall, at the duty of 20s. a ton,
amount to the net revenue at present collected.
The tax upon water-borne coals now claims attention. Some remarks have already been made on that subject in page 194, but not so fully as the importance of the
subject merits.
The coasting coal trade of Britain is said to employ vessels, on an average, each of__ tons, navigated
by* seamen, most of whom are apprentices; as such the coal trade is reckoned the principal nur- sery for British seamen. There is no coasting or carry- ing trade in the world, of which the cargoes, or articles carried,
* For the reasons already given, this blank, with those which precede it, are
left to be filled up py the reader.

oc—~~ ee a
J PEERS F aunt —
se =
eas’
ro - vy
220 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION.OF
carried, are so disproportionate, or of so small a value, when compared with the freight and capital employed in shipping; consequently there is no trade which employs so Many seamen in proportion to the value of the car- goes. Profitable or judicious branches of trade should by every means be encouraged, especially those in which the persons employed are the protectors and defenders
of their country.
No person, who has the prosperity and defence of this Country at heart, but must wish, that that trade should be increased which promotes ends so truly to be desired. It must be obvious that such objects are not to be at- tained by laying duties on an article when water-borne, of which the carriage by sea should as much as possible
be promoted.
To what further extent the coasting coal trade might be carried, is not an easy matter at present to predicts; it is capable not only of being increased to a very great degree, by taking off the present duties, but may be in- creased in a much greater-degree, by the extended
culture

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 2RY
culture, and consequent population of the kingdom: objects, which, jrom necessity, are now in a very strong manner awakening the attention of individuals, The Author does: not think he hazards.an opinion,. when he says, that the coasting and export coal trade of Bri- tain may be doubled within ten years from the present date; but this is not to be effected without a total repeal
of the duties on coal carried coastways.
It is not an easy matter to find:a substitute for this:
tax, at least such a one as would meet with general ap- probation. Dwelling-housesare already taxed in several
ways; first, in all the materials: of which they are
built; and, secondly, by the land-tax,. window-tax,.
and tea commutation tax: still were there any other tax which could with propriety be levied on that spe- cies of property, it would be the coal tax, from the necessity all persons are under in this. northern climate
of making use of fuel.
One of the many advantages attending such a com- mutation would be, that it would embrace and include the inhabitants of the counties where coal 1s wrought,
who

.
im Ma \. 2 &
_—
2,32 A TREATISE ON°THE CONNECTION OF
wheat present, in that respect, contribute nothing to the exi- gencies of the state, and who in general, from the saving of carriage, freight, and duties, are supplied with coal at a third or a fourth of the price paid in other parts by the sulgects of the same kingdom, than which nothing can
be more partial, unwise, and unyust.
To a general tax, or regulation of this kind, the inha- bitants of the coal countries could not with reason object; nor could any objections be mace othe part of the great consumers of coal in different branches of manufacture; because these, as well as fire engines, would be exempted. To make the proposed tax bearequai.y in proportion to the wealth of individuals, it should be in proportion
to the number of windows or chimneys contained in each house. All who consume coals should bear their pro- portion: none should be exempted but those who re- ceive assistance from the parish, or of whom the Church-
wardens certify that they are persons in indigent cir-
cumstances.
As the Author is not furnished at. present with
the amount of the window-tax, nor the commuta- tion
Se
i a

Py
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 23
Qo
tion tax on tea, he cannot on this head, enter into further detail; and will only add, that were the tax to fall heavier on that species of property than he is aware of, it might be proportionably diminished, and the deficiency of the tax be made up by an additional one on ardent spirits, or on some other proper object of tax-
ation.
Having concluded the suggestions towards the repeal of the three taxes which are the most repressive of in~ dividual and national exertion, reference will now be had to Mr. Epwarps’s description of the soils best adapt- ed for the culture of the sugar-cane, in his History of the West Indies, wherein. he confirms the opinion of the Author, that soils may receive considerable injury by too frequent ploughings, stirrings, or exposure of renewed surfaces to the action of air and sun, especially where the sun’s rays are so very powerful as they are in the West Indies. By these Extras it will appears that(with few exceptions) the soil in the West Indies, best adapted for the culture of the sugar-cane, is a rich, deep, black mould. There is no soil of that colour that does not contain carbonaceous or vegetable matter. Such
Gg soils
ae

234 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
soils are peculiarly fitted for the application of alkaline salts, that the vegetable matter which had become oxy- genated and inert, by frequent culture and exposure of fresh surfaces to the air, may by these means be dis- solved. Notwithstanding the fertility of this black soil, it still requires the aid of manure or urime, as appears by Mr. Epwarps’s observations on the soil of Barbadoes; and in his remarks on the soil of Jamaica, he says, ‘¢ the urine of cattle is the best of all manures;” which practi- cally corroborates the Author’s theory on the action which the volatile alkali, contained in urine, has in dis- solving oxygenated peat, or oxygenated vegetable matter, and of which, so large a proportion is contained in many of the soils in the West Indies. The prevalence of this black, or vegetable soil, supercedes the necessity of sending to the West Indies the preparations of peat formerly re- commended, this soil requiring only alkaline salts as a sub- stitute for the urine of cattle, which is by no means to be had in such quantities as the ground would require, to in-
sure abundant crops.
Mr. Epwarps’s remarks are very judicious as to sub-
stituting coal for boiling the sugar, and the distillation of
“a een

AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. ae
Ge) Sa
of rum instead of the cane trash now used as fuel: this cane trash, by being kept a due time in heaps, and after- wards mixed with alkaline salts, might be returned to the land as manure, instead of being dissipated or thrown into the air
by combustion.
The different extracts from Mr. Epwarpbs’s work here
alluded to, are subjoined in the Appendix.
The Author hopes, that by candid readers allowance will be made for the imperfections necessarily attendant on all works of this or any other kind, when sent to the press as composed, without due time having been taken either to revise the composition, or to correct typogra- phical errors, several of which occur in this work, and
a list of which is subjoined to the Table of Contents.
The public are requested to view the preceding Trea- tise more in the light of suggestions and hints, than a full and complete treatise on the different subjects. The Author requests permission to correct an expression which had very inadvertently crept into the Preface, page 8, wherein he says,° The Author flatters himself
Gea“ that
»:‘%. Sing= e =——.==e - or=-~ ee es- gr

6 A‘TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
B]
2 2 «
“that his labours will be found to open a field of expe- “‘riment, of chemical reasoning, and of the practically “* useful, applicable to agriculture, of which that science “** had hitherto been thought incapable.” His meaning was, and it should have been so expressed,“ of which ““ that science has to too many appeared incapable:” for
persons of reflection and understanding must admit, that
chemistry, defined inthe Introduétion to this Work,“ to
** be a knowledge of the properties of bodies, and of the “effects resulting from their different combinations,” cannot but be necessary to the proper understanding and bringing to perfection, any art, science, or occupation,
wherein matter is to be operated upon.”
Attacks upon the theories and opinions of other writers have been carefully avoided, the Author’s views not being to court argument or dispute, but to convey such information as appeared to him might be useful; nor would he have departed from this line of condué in the following remarks respecting the ation of lime, had he not considered it as being conducive to the interest of
individuals, and to agriculture in general, to combat an
erroneous theory, to which many have subscribed, on
the
hee

AGRICULTURE: WITH CHEMISTRY. 237
the authority of others who have written on this sub-
ject:
By these writers it is asserted, that dung contains o7/: and to this oil the application of lime is recommended,
with a view to render it soluble in water.
No expressions 10 rehen nistry orin agriculture have been so injudiciously made use of as those si sulphur and of oil. By the word sulphur, brimstone is to be understood;
and by the word oil, those smooth unctuous substances capable of being sxfamed or burned, produced in the bodies of animals by the process of animalization, and in-the
seeds and kernels of fruits and plants by the process of
vegetation. To which are to be added bituminous oils,
and empyreumatic oils, obtained by the distillation of animal, ss Neg and some mineral substances, such as fossile coal,&c. tonone of which the juice of dung or
dung-hills bears the smallest resemblance; on the con- trary, it will be found to be. a mucilaginous neutralized saline extractive liquer, whence no oil, either from it or from dung, can be procured but by distillation, or the ap- plication of fire; in which case oil cannot be said to be disen-
yy q@ iE| 4a bie ae J ; be :: 44 Bij
ie
so Fi~ Tes cer en

a
EF Sr
= fat
a
238 A. TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
disengaged, but 7s really formed in the process, in the same
manner as oil is procured by distillation from mucilage OY
Zum.
Attempts have been made to classify manures, earths, and other substances, under the term of a¢tive and pas- sive. Lime is termed active, 7. e. it is said to possess a power of acting upon other substances, and of making these substances produce or give out to vegetables their proper food. By such theories the effects of lime are carried still further, by ascribing to them the power of rendering oil soluble in water. These oils are termed passive, and are supposed to be contained in dung. That such oils do not exist in dung, must be maintained, until a ¢rwe znflammable oil is procured from dung by expression, or by some process different from that of fire. What sort of oil is meant, the Author is really at a loss to discover; it cannot well be supposed to resemble sallad oil, nor any oil to be had
from perfumers, apothecaries, nor the oil shops!
It is known to every well informed chemist, as well as to soap-boilers, that hot lime does not produce, with ani- mal fat or oil, or with the expressed oil from vegetable
seeds

2 AAR IG TEES SORES Re aaa aig ee_ om i hao i ca) on fieie
en I ne Ia a
AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 239
seeds or kernels of fruits, a permanent soap, or sapona- ceous emulsion; for although such a sapo seems to be formed, still it keeps only in that state until the lime sa- turates itself with fixable air, after which a separation takes place, and the oil comes again to the surface of the liquor. This proves that lime is not endowed with those | powers ascribed to it, in rendering oil soluble in water. Admitting, however,(which is not the fact) that the sapo made by lime and oil was a true and a permanent one,
still the oil, strictly speaking, could not be considered as ) Ss)
ee rs oon. peer Perera a ademas i iia ae iti o met
in solution, being only mechanically separated and di-
ESSE RAST N! SAE RS A SNe
vided in the water, and not chemically united therewith,
7 peels i
as is apparent by its colour; for liquors wherein chemical
union exists are colourless.
nf { 4 j | “2a
The only effect that lime has upon gross oil is to deprive it of that principle which constituted it such, and to reduce it to the state of an oil more fluid, and more resembling animal or other oils attenuated by frequent distillations.
Lime certainly does no more than deprive the gross oil of the acid, on which depend its thickness and consistency, the lime combining with the acidin the same manner asin
| ee
the
Fae:——«os..= s x e=“ eg ee ae ERE

er 2
——
ron
a PULTE,
Se ieee
240 A TREATISE ON THE CONNECTION OF
the process of soap-making: a part of the caustic alkali combines with the sebaceous acid of the tallow, forming sebat of potash or sebat of seda—saline matters to be
found, with otherneutral salts, in soap-makers spent lyes.'
So far from lime rendering dung more soluble, it im-
pedes that process, by forming with the dung insoluble salts,
and it otherwise injuresthe dun g by disengaging and throw- ing zuto the air the ammoniac or volatile alkali, that other- wise would have combined, and have formed neutral soluble salts, with the phosphoric or oxalic acids of the dung, or other vegetable or animal matters. The mixing of bot lime with dung has been highly disapproved of in the preceding part of this Work; and the Author must now conclude, by observing, that the application of it, for the purpose of dissolving the imaginary oi] contained in dung, is too injudicious a praétice, as wellas, ina chemical point
of light, too erroneous a theory, to have been permitted
to pass without notice.
ADDENDA,

SN.—* j Sy ois ha coed ae a elas BE Da aS 3 SA LR aS et sis Kite 36D Mb os) Re aT ay
Bee oe eat | ADDENDA. } yagloc q Toa f; At Ir has been neglected, under the article Peat and Peat J 3 ¢ a»> ayer‘a Mosses, to state, that their waters are very injurious to
the health of cattle; and that such bad cffeés may be
Ren SO
prevented by collecting the rain water that may fall on
the roofs of the dwelling-house and offices, into tanks
= io
#7 Se tag ree 3 Seas SATA Es properly constructed, and having no communication
with the soil. Should not the bi uildings be conveniently
a a
xlaced for eee ng to the cattle a supply of water from i I
the tank, or should the extent of such roofs be insuffi-
cient to collect the qu antity of rain water that may be
tae aaalaia aan oe SS
required, sheds or hovels, covered with tile, should be
erected in a central field, conveniently situated for secur-
ing to the cattle their daily supply. A farther benefit will ensue by the shelter and protection that such sheds or hovels will afford the cattle. This method of collecting rain water(and which is practised in many countries) may with great advantage be adopted in the upland,
chalky, or gravelly soils, or in the marshes nea wv the sea
shore, where the springs either are at a‘great depth, or 4 Hh where‘ || |: j }
si ie By ara a a=

«ett
oe om
; } /
PUES al aoe
ee
242 A TREATISE,&e.
where the water is brackish. In upland situations, water 2
Liiw
may be collected into tanks in great abundance, during the
rainy seasons, by leading the surface water into such re- ceptacles, without incurring the expence of sheds or hovels; but in fens, morasses, peat mosses, and marshes or fiat grounds, near the sea shore, where the soi! is full of vegetable and animal matter, or where the water 1S brackish, a supply of water can only be obtained by the
assistanee of the roofs above recommended.
APPEN-
aes

<
os
sisi ys i tnle cb eda aarti - a a ge pir é Jae AS Sea Sa See Sen rat qn. sree Sher Ri~ eae ain Say:. 3" pe:" igs ea a han) feo Pe a:[Si ee ee ee re rr eee .<P 7]+9 =e SoS a a SS ES SERRE
DW ARDS’s HISTORY OF THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS.
3AR B A DOES.
VOL. I. BOOK III-——PAGE 345.
“"THE soil in the low lands is d/ack, somewhat reddish in the shallow parts, on the hills of a chalky marl, and near the sea generally sandy; of this variety of soil, the black mould is best suited for the cultivation of the cane, and with the aid of manure has given as great returns of sugar in favourable seasons, as any in the West Indies,
the prime lands of Saint Kitts excepted.”
ISLAND OF GRENADA.
VOL. I. BOOK, ILI—-PAGE 376.
“To the north and the east the soil is a brick mould, the same or nearly the same as that of which mention aas been made in the History of Jamaica. On the west
side it is a rich black mould on a substratum of yellow clay.
Hh 2 To
jenna oe=
;
Se Bales
ae~ ai ad a ae oA- AS Se a s reimethiii
NAM es B
wera
eta
a ee eer

the interior country.
44, APPENDIX.
To the south, the land in generalis poor, and of areddislr
a. and the same extends over a considerable part of
ISLAND OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER.
VOL. I. BOOK IH=-PAGE 420,.
c
‘‘ The interior part of the country consists of many rugged precipices and barren mountains. Of these, the loftiest is Mount Misery(evidently a decayed volcano) which rises 3711 feet in perpendicular height from the sea. Nature, however, has made abundant amends for the sterility of the mountains, by the fertility she has bestow- ed upon the plains. No. part of the West Indies, that Ihave seen, possesses even the same species of soilthat is found
in Saint Christopher’s; it 1s in a a dark grey loam, 80
1° i
hight and porous as to be penetrable by the slightest ap- plication of the hoe, and I conceive it to be the produc- tion of sudterraneous fires, the black ferruginous pumice of naturalists, finely ane with a pure loam of virgin
mould. The under stratum is gravel, from eight to
twelve inches ee‘lay is no where found e xcept at a
considerable height in the mountains, By what process
5'
of nature the soil which I have mentioned, becomes
more

sO oz
= Re: SaaS= a- eines-“ bata APPENDIX, 245 more especially suited to the production of sugar‘than any other in the West Indies, it is neither within my province or ability to: explain.” PAGE 430. ‘Yam informed, however, that the planters of Saint . \ Christopher's are at a great expence for manure.” i | ISLAND OF NEVIS.' \ VOL. I. BOOK IlI—PAGE 434.’ f ry 2 S S 4 i“ The soil is stony; the best is a loose black mould on a t | an;: 4| clay. In some places, the upper stratum: is a stiff clay,, a] ‘ which requires labour; but properly divided and pulve- i rized, repays the labour bestowed upon it.”‘ : ISLAND OF ANTIGUA. 4 ZI VOL. I. BOOK LII—PAGE 446.| “ This Island contains two different kinds of soil; the one@ black mould on asubstratum of clay, which is naturally rich, and when not chequed by excessive droughts, to which Antigua is particularly subject, very productive. j The NY f i i eal== ae=— ae std,

940 APPENDIX.
The other is a stiff clay on a substratum of marl; it is much és fertile than the former, and abounds with an inirradicable kind of grass, in such a manner, that many estates consisting of that kind of soul, which were once very profitable, are now so impoverished and over-grown with this sort of grass,* as either to be converted into pas- ture land, or to become entirely abandoned. Exclusive of such deserted land, and a small part of country that is altogether unimprovable, every part of the Island may
be said to be under cultivation
ISLAND OF JAMAICA.
VOL. II. BOOK Vir PAGE 204
6 It may be supposed, that a plant thus rank and suceu- Jent requires 2 strong and deep soil to bring it to perfection, and as far as my own observation has extended, I am of
opinion that no land can be#o rich for that purpose.
“‘ The very best soil, however, that I have seen or hear d of, for the production of sugar, of the finest qua lity and in
* Perhaps the tendency which this soil has to produce this kind of grass, might
be corrected by lime, alkaline or neutral salts.
so

Se he ee
APPENDIX. 7 247
in the largest proportion, is the ashy loam of Saint Chris- topher’s, of which an account has been given in the His- tory of that Island. Next to that is the soil which, in Ja- miaica, 1s called brick-mould; not as resembling a brick in colour, but as containing such a due mixture of clay and sand as is supposed to render it well adapted for the use of the kiln. Itis a deep, warm, and mellow hazzle earth, easily worked; and though its surface soon grows dry after rain, the under-stratum retains a considerable degree of moisture in the driest weathers; with this ad- vantage too, that even in the wettest weather it seldom requires trenching. Plant-canes in this soil,(which are those of the first growth) have been known in very fine seasons to yield two tons and a half of sugar per acre; after this may be rekoned the d/ack mould of several va- rieties. The best is the deep black earth of Barbadoes, Antigua, and some other of the Windward Islands; but there is a species of ths mould in Jamaica that is but little, if any thing inferior to it, which abounds with lime- stone and flint on a substratum of soapy marl. Black mould on clay is more common; but as the mould is generally shallow, and the clay stiff and retentive of water, this last sort of land requires great labour, both in ploughing
and
‘——
See

2.48 APPENDIX.
and trenching, to render it profitable, Properly pulve-
rized 2nd manured, it becomes very produédfive, and may be said to be inexhaustible”. PAGE 200.
Tt ig remarkable, however, that the same degree of ploughing or pulverization, which is absolutely necessary to render stiff and clayey lands productive, is here not only unnecessary but hurtful; for though this soil is deep, it is at the same time far from being heavy, and it is naturally dry. As, therefore too much exposure to the scorch- ing influence of a tropical sun destroys its fertility, the system ef husbandry on sugar plantations, in which this soul
abounds, is to depend chiefly on what are called ratoon
canes,”(or sprouts of the canes formerly planted)—these continue to be cut, and to produce sugar for some years: as they
decay they are replaced by fresh plants. By“this” method
the planter, instead of stocking“or digging up” This ratoons,
> suffers the stoles to continue in rround,*¢ instead of stocking, or digging up his ratoons, and Aoleing and
planting the land anew.”
€
PAGE 20¢
5 ») Je
£6 Jn the cultivation of other lands(in Jamaica espe-
cially) the plough has been introduced of late years, and in
|

APPENDIX. 249
inssome few cases to great advantage; but it is not every- soil or situation that will admit the use of the plough,.
some lands bemg much too stoney and others too steep.
AndI am sorry I have occasion to remark, that a practice commonly prevails in Jamaica, on properties where this
auxiliary is used, which would exhaust the finest land in the
world. tis that of ploughing, then cross ploughing, round.
ridging, and harrowing the same lands from year to year, or at least every other year, without affording manure. Accordin gly it is found, that this method is utterly destrudfive of the ra- toon, or second growth, and altogether ruznous. It is in= deed astonishing, that any planter of common reading or observation, should be passive under so pernictous.a system,”
PAGE 216s.
“‘ Hitherto I have said nothing of a very important
branch in the sugar-cane planting: I mean the method.
of manuring the lands. The zecessity of giving even the best soi! occasional assistance, is universally admitted; and the usual way of doing it in the West Indies, is now to be.
described.
“<The manure generally used, is a compost, formed, “First, Of the coal and vegetable ashes drawn from
the fires of. the boiling-house and still-house.
Ti«Secondly,
t

Se eae es ee nn y— a= Pn 5 see oe 3
gg Se
I ce
250 APPENDIX.
“* Secondly, Feculences discharged from the still-house,
‘mixed up with the rubbish of buildings, white lime,&c.
“¢ Thirdly, The refuse or field trash, i. e. the decayed leaves, and the stems of the canes, so called in contra- distinction to cane trash reserved for fuel, and hereafter
to be described.
“Fourthly, Dung obtained from the horse and mule stables, and‘from moveable pens, or small inclosures made by posts and rails, occasionally shifted upon thelands
intended to be planted, and into which the cattle are
turned at night.
“Pifthly, Good mould colleG@ted from eullies and other
waste places, and thrown into the cattle pens.”
PAGE 217.
“* But the chief dependance of the Jamaica planter, in ma- nuring his lands, is on the moveable pens, or occasional inclosures; not somuch for the quantity of dung collected by meansof those inclosures, as for the advantage of the urine fromthe cattle(the dest of all manures) and the labour
which is saved by this system. I believe, indeed, there
,
are
a rrr

APPENDIX. oer
are a great many overseers who give their land 20 aid of any other kind than that of shifting the cattle from one per to another, on ¢he spot intended for planting, during three
or four months before it is ploughed or holed.”
Note.“ This, however, is Ay xo means sufficient on plan= tations that have been much worn and exhausted by cultivation; and, perhaps, there is no branch in the planting business Wherein attention and systematic arrangement, as saving both time and labour, are more necessary than in collecting and preparing /arge quantities of dung from the
sources and materials before described.”
PAGE“223:
«“ The young sprouts are at the same time cleared of weeds, and the dung which is spread round them, being covered with cane-trash, that its virtue may not be exhaled by
3
the sun, is found, at the end of three or four months, to
be soaked info and incorporated with the mould.”
PAGE 21g.
“ Such is the general system of preparing and manur- ing the land in Jamaica. I have been told that more attention is paid to this branch of husbandry in
some
ee pon iets FT Os
&

es
APPENDIX.
252 some of the Islands. to windward; but I suspect there is
in all of them very great room for improvement, by means of
judicious tillage and artificial assistance.”
Note.* Itshould have been observed, that it is sometimes a at custom, after a field of canes has been cut, to set fire to the‘$ trash., This is called durming off, and there are managers and overseers who consider it as one of the best methods of meliorating the land. I confess that I am of a different ee opinion. Perhaps, indeed, in a moist, stiff, and clayey land, it may do x0 harms and this negative phrase is the only meri I can allow it. From the usual and prevalent nature of the soil best adapted for sugar, I am persuaded that nine
times in ten itis a mischievous practice.”
FINTIS.

1 4 Ah 1 8 2 4 8 * 1 1 1 3 1 1 4 1 1 6 ſ 4
2

. 4. g —
— ——

4 2 —
F * 6
8 2 8
— 4 PF

0 CI
Goiour& Grey Gortrol Chart
Blue Cyan Green Vellow Hed Magenta
Gre r 4 Baas
Vnito Gies Siers