in agricultural meteorology, and indicate the propriety of distilling water and charging it with pure carbonic acid for determining the soluble constituents of soils.

We entirely agree with Prof. Booth in the worthlessness of most analyses for practical purposes; but, by adopting a new line of observations, many new and valuable facts may be revealed and fully established. There are soils in Monroe county, in the valley of the Genesee, which yield so much carbonate of lime to rain-water, that, when it emerges in springs, and the carbonic acid which holds the mineral in solution escapes into the atmosphere, white tufa is deposited on the bottom and sides of the streams. In this way beds of marl are now being formed. These calcareous soils contain only from one to two per cent. of lime, as we have found by numerous analyses. All wells and natural springs abound in sulphates and chloride of lime and magnesia, and plaster beds.

are not uncommon.

We have never found a soil which contained so much as one per cent. of carbonate of lime that was benefited by liming. One per cent. gives forty tons per acre within twenty inches of the surface; and the roots of clover, maize, and other crops descend deeper than that under favorable circumstances. The least quantity of lime in a soil that will suffice for all useful purposes should be ascertained if possible. Lime goes much further on land that is well drained than on that which is sour from the lack of drainage. On land properly drained and limed by nature or art, stable manure and guano give much better returns than on soils equally well drained, but wanting the calcareous element. As suggested by Prof. Booth, some limestone contains more potash, magnesia, and phosphoric acid than other rocks apparently of equal quality. The elements of fertility, whether in green sand, apatite, marl, granite, and other rocks, manures, mould, or earth, have never been properly studied in this country, if in any other.

Nearly all of the objections to soil analyses urged by Prof. Booth may be obviated by operating on ounces and pounds of soil, instead of grains. No plant can extract a substance from a cubic foot of earth which is not there, and equally within the reach of a skilful analyst. Time, patience, and perseverance will attain the desired result. These researches, however, are too expensive and uncertain for ordinary farmers to pay for making them. They should be made by competent men, employed by the year at suitable educational institutions, or in private laboratories, with all needful apparatus and reagents. If we understand Prof. Booth aright, he is in favor of chemical investigations of this character, as promising beneficial returns for the labor expended. How much chemistry can do for agriculture, is a question to be decided in coming years, not at this time. A suggestion due to chemistry, and relating to lime and granite, may be worth repeating in this place. Carbonic acid is known to attack and decompose the insoluble silicate of potash, as it exists in primitive rocks, by which the alkali is eliminated in a soluble form. To effect this purpose, as well as to burn limestone, a common limekiln is filled with alternate layers of small fragments of granite and limestone, which are burnt in the usual way of burning lime. As the high heat expels carbonic acid from the limestone, it attacks the silicate of potash with increased intensity; and when water is poured over both granite and lime, the granite disintegrates freely, and

the farmer has both lime and potash for his fields, in an available condition. The resources of science are constantly increasing, and need no exaggeration to command popular favor. By promising too much, charlatans greatly retard the substantial progress of the interest which they profess to have so much at heart. If men of high attainments in science would labor more to apply professional knowledge to the advancement of the industrial arts, the vocation of quacks would be less injurious, and, perhaps, ultimately cease altogether. Communicate to educated agriculturists a knowledge of the principles of science in their application to the analysis of soils, manures, and agricultural plants, and they will be better able to separate truth from error, and escape imposition. Farmers should not be content with mere theories, however ingenious, like those of Baron Liebig, Dumas, and ohers, but should weigh all the facts and probabilities that bear upon the case. They must bring science and practice together, for experimental purposes, before the true value of science can be known. Science is young, while art is old. It is unjust, therefore, to expect in the infancy of the one more than is accomplished in the ripened experience of the other. It is not altogether improbable that the essential elements of crops may not be separated, by some cheap process, from soils, rocks, and sea-water, and become articles of commerce, like guano, bone-dust, gypsum, and common salt. The general use of guano extracted from the ocean, and of other commercial manures, is a new idea, and one that promises to be fruitful in great results. Careful experiments, performed by reliable men, will gradually demonstrate what is practicable in analytical science, and what is not. The suggestion of Major Lee, and apparently sustained by Professor Booth, to the effect that elements to the millionth part of the mass cannot be separated and weighed, is erroneous. By the skilful use of the solvent powers of acids and alkalies, aided by heat and pure water, and extending through weeks and months, much additional light may be thrown on the properties and capabilities of soils. The error has been in building theories prematurely, without sufficient data or facts to sustain them. Men of science should work more and theorize less.

QUANTITY OF MILK.

Quantity of milk a cow should give in a year.-In your paper of August 1st, I notice a letter from the clerk to the Carrick-on-Suir Board of Guardians, in which he assumes that 23 cows will yield 140,160 quarts of milk in the year, or over 6,000 quarts for each cow. Experienced farmers have informed me that about 2,000 quarts are a fair produce from a cow. I have the care of a dairy farm on which the cows are fed principally on green crops; the average ground for each cow was 1 acre; and I annex a statement of the milk from each cow in one year.

Milk in one year measured in the cow-house, from the cows. (As the weeks closed on Saturday night, some months contain five weeks' account.)

A and B were bought new milk in April; C calved in April; D calved in June; E slunk her calf in June; F calved in August; G calved in January. The new milk being sold in town, the cows producing most in winter paid proportionably better than others.-J. F. Youghal, August 7, Dublin Farmers' Gazette.

IV.

AGRICULTURAL CIRCULAR AND REPLIES.

AGRICULTURAL CIRCULAR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,
Washington, August, 1852.

SIR: It being the duty of the undersigned annually to collect information on the various branches of agriculture, you are addressed with the view of eliciting such information as may be useful to embody in the Report for the present year. The questions are intended rather as hints or suggestions, than to be literally followed in shaping replies. Extending, as they do, over the agricultural products of the whole country, no one person can be expected to reply to all, but to such only as relate to subjects with which he is familiar.

The United States Census will furnish reliable data as to the quantity of grain and other crops, the number of domestic animals, &c., so that such questions are omitted in this Circular. But it is desired to obtain the experience of practical men in whatever relates to the cultivation of the staple crops, together with suggestions as to new processes of culture; the introduction of new varieties of grains, seeds, and plants; the improvements in machines and implements of husbandry; and all like topics of interest to the agriculturist.

The wide circulation given to the Patent Office Reports renders it desirable that all new facts and discoveries of practical value relating to American husbandry be recorded in them, and thus preserved in a permanent form, for the use of the public. It is confidently hoped that the efforts of this Bureau to collect such information will be seconded by the agricultural community.

Very respectfully,

THOMAS EWBANK, Commissioner.

Information is respectfully solicited on the following and other points belonging to rural affairs:

Wheat.-Is guano used in the production of this crop? what is the gain in bushels per 100 pounds of the manure?

And if so,

What the

average product per acre-time of seeding and of harvesting-preparation of seed, and quantity used per acre-how many times and how deep do you plough-is the yield per acre increasing or diminishingyour system of rotation in crops-best remedies for Hessian flies and weevils-average price at your nearest market in 1852? What kinds of grass seeds, if any, do you sow with your wheat, and when?

Corn.-Is guano used in the production of this crop? If so, in what way is it applied? What is the gain in bushels per 100 pounds of guano? State the average product per acre-cost of production per bushel-state the best system of culture-best method of feeding, whether whole or ground, cooked or raw. State, if you can, how much grain the manure formed by ten bushels of corn consumed by hogs will add to an acre, if carefully saved and skilfully applied at or before the time of planting. How do you prepare your ground for planting corn, and how far distant are your rows and stalks?

Oats, Barley, Rye, Peas, and Beans.-Average yield of these several crops per acre-quantity of seed used-which crop least exhausting to land-are peas cultivated as a renovating crop, and, if so, with what success?

Clover and Grasses.-Quantity of hay cut per acre-best fertilizers for meadows and pastures-the grass seeds preferred in laying down meadows-quantity sown per acre-cost of growing hay per ton. Does your experience show that red clover is injurious to horses?

Dairy Husbandry.-Average yearly produce of butter or cheese per cow-comparative cost per pound of making butter and cheese-treatment of milk and cream-mode of churning-of putting down butter for market-average price of butter and of cheese.

Neat Cattle.-Cost of rearing till three years old-usual price at that age-value of good dairy cows in spring and in fall-how many pounds of beef will 100 pounds of corn produce-will a given amount of food yield more meat in a Durham, Devon, or Hereford, than in a native animal? How do you break steers to the yoke?

Horses and Mules.-Is the growing of these animals profitable? What is the expense of rearing a colt or mule un three years old? How should brood mares and colts be treated? What is the best way to break young horses and mules for service?

Sheep and Wool.-Is wool-growing profitable-cost per pound of growing coarse or fine wool-are large or small sheep more profitable either for mutton or for their fleeces-how much more does it cost to produce a pound of fine Merino than of ordinary coarse wool? The proportion of lambs annually reared to the number of ewes.

Hogs.-What is the best breed-the cheapest method of producing pork and bacon-how many pounds of meat will 100 pounds of corn yield the best method of putting up pork, and curing bacon and hams? Cotton.-Average yield of clean cotton per acre-cost of production per pound-what crops best grown in rotation with cotton-best prevent ives against rust, army and boll worms-how deep do you usually plough for this crop-have you any exprience in subsoiling or deep tillage for cotton-your experience in the use of cotton seed as a fertilizer-how can cotton lands best be improved without resting them? Is guano used, and, if so, with what result?

Sugar Cane.-Is the cane losing its vital force, and becoming more