VOL. 2.-N0. 47.
BY S. B. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, .1850.
For the Raftsman's Journal.
LINES: BY J. R. CAZIEK,
OP COUNCIL CITY, KAX3AS TEERITOET.
There 13 a charm in all we meet:
The cooling wind the waving grass ;
And the weet flowers look up and smile
In fragrant welcome as they pass.
And summer clouds come o'er the sky,
And murmur with the freight they bear :
Oh wbj shonld sickness come to mar
The pleasure of a home so fair ?
How oft wc struggle on and deem
That just before us lies the goal,
Where sorrow will not come to blight
Each hope each idol of the soul
W here, for a cherished time at least.
We may have ro3t, and quiet joy ;
And sweet, entwining love to bless
Our droam of life without alloy
And find some talisman to turn
Each pain to joy, while borne along
The current of Life's mighty stream,
With "purpose high, and spirit strong."
And as oar changing fancy brings
licr treasures in some other form,
Like colors on a thunder-cloud, -We
see the bow, but feci tho storm.
Oh. why, alas! should ever thus.
Some poisoned air, some brooding ill,
Where'er we go, in all this world.
Spread its dark shadow o'er us still.
It is, that we may know how poace
From this dark world, by sin, is driven;
It is. that we may learn to make
Our home our shrine of love, in heaven !
COLONEL J. C. FREMONT.
From Sarlaiii's Magazine, oj October 18j0.
BT PROFESSOR EHOAD3.
Since the mission of Him who came into the
world, to suffer that mankind might find re
demption, the three greatest events that have
occurred, are connected with the rise and pro
gress of our own happy country ; the discov
ery of America, the American Revolution, and
the establishment of the American empire on
the coast of the Pacific Ocean ; the last destin
ed to be, in its effects, by no means the least
important of the three.
When the announcement was made to the as
tonished nations of Europe of the existence of
a new world far off over the wild waves of the
western sea, a new principle introduced into
the general mind a new impulse, which chang
ed entirely the industrial relations and habits
of the people, and produced effocts,even upon
were but trifles. The overthrow of thcRoman
power, by the northern barbarians, sinks into
insignificance, when its effects ore contrasted
with those of the enunciation in the Declara
tion of American Independence, and the prac
tical application in the Constitution of the U
uitcd States, of the great truths of the broth
erhood and equality of man. And iiow, the
discovery of the bright sands and rich rocks
of California, and the issue thence of a golden
stream to irrigate the nations, is destined to
wield a mightier and far more permanent in
fluence than the impulse which raised France
to be for a time mistress of Europe. And not
only were these events greater in power than
those with which I have compared them, they
were also better in kind. On the one hand wc
find a traiu cf woe and desolation ; on the eth
er, of happiness and prosperity. The great
ness of the old world was the handmaid of ig
norance and tyranny ; that of the new led to
civilization and liberty. Each great event is
personified in,a great man of corresponding
character. Alexander led Greece and Mace
don to conquest ; Aleric extinguished the flick
ering light of Soman refinement ; with Napo
leon, France "rose, reigned and fell ;" Colum
bus marked a pathway to a new-found world ;
Washington guided and sustained the patriots
who consecrated that world to the advance
ment of human rights and human welfare;
and Fremont lifted tho veil which, since time
first began, had hidden from view the real El
Dorado. I purpose to introduce to the reader
a short sketch of the life of "tho latter; the
others belong to past time, and history has
made up its record of their deeds.
Jo ux Charles Fremont was bcrn in South
Carolina in January, 1813, and is consequent
ly at this time (1S50,) a few months over thirty-seven
years of age. When he was but four
years old he was left an orphan by the death
of his father, who, as the name indicates, was
a native of France. The direction of his ed
ucation, therefore, devolved entirely upon his
mother, and his career in active life has shown
.that she lacked neither inclination or ability
to direct it aright. Notwithstanding her limi
ted means, she managed to support her son at
Charlesrou College, where he distinguished
himself by his industry and upright deport
ment, lie graduated in 1820. AUthis time
ho became a teacher of Mathematics, and
found means, not only for his own support,but
Also to contribute to that of his mother and
her family. While discharging faithfully the
arduous and responsible duties which were in
.cumbent upon him as teacher, he btill found
time to attend to those of a student; and with
that indomitable energy and perseverenco
w hich have marked his whole career, he devo-.
ted every leisure moment to perfecting hira
eelf in the science of civil engineering. In
this pursuit, he was aided by the natural bent
of bis mind and talents peculiarly adapted to
the subject. Having attracted the attention
and secured the confidence and support of men
of influence, he obtained the situation of as
sistant to Nicollet in the survey of the coun
try around the head waters of the Mississippi.
Ia this work be was engaged about four years,
during the first half of-the time in ardu
ous but interesting labors of the field, collect
ing information, making surveys,observatioas,
&c, and during the la3t half in digesting and
arranging the matter collected, and in prepar
ing an accurate and valuable map of the coun
trj". lie had now added practice to theory,
and experience to enthusiasm and love of ad
venture, lie had prepared himself for those
great and wonderful expeditions and scientific
researches by which he has since acquired im
perishable renown.
The first of these expeditions he made in
1813,under the authority of the United States,
At the head of a small party of frontiersmen,
he entered the wilds west of Jlissiouri and
Iowa, and pursued his course to the Rocky
Mountains. The main object of his expedi
tion was to discover and explore a more prac
ticable route over them than was then known.
In this he was completely successful ; and the
comparative ease with which thousands of
pilgrims to the golden shrine of California
have passed in safety through the mountain
barrier,testifies to tho correctness of his judg
ment in pointing out the South Fass as the
proper place, and to the care and skill with
which he explored aud laid down the route.
Upon Lis return, he prepared a report replete
with the most valuable information, not only
respecting the geography, of the country thro'
which he had passed, but also in relation to its
climate, to its geological characteristics, to
the principle points of its military susceptibil
ities, locations for forts, Ike, to its mineral
wealth, to its rich grasses and its beautiful
flowers contributions in short new and valua
ble to almost every department of science.
This report was printed by the Senate of the
United States, and has since been translated
into various foreign languages, attracting at
tention and admiration from the learned in ev
ery quarter of the globe.
With men of Fremont's energy and enthu
siasm, success acts merely as a stimulant to
further exertion. As soon therefore as one
expedition is concluded, we find him planning
another more extensive and more hazardous.
In the spring of 1S13, he started upon his
grand expedition, which has gained for him
self the gratitude of the votaries of science
gold-bearing region of the west, tlis orders
directed him to co-operate with the naval ex
ploring expedition under Wilkes, in making a
scientific examination of the basin of the Co
lumbia River, the upper districts being allot
ted to him, and the tide-water regions to
Wilkes. In May he left the frontiers of Mis
souri, and scaling the mountains south of the
South Pass, followed the windings of Bear
River, until, in September, he arrived at tho
Great Salt Lake. Despite the warnings of the
Indians, who imagined, that as the lake had no
outlet for its waters, a great whirlpool must
exist in the centre, he and his companions
trusted themselves upon its waters in a frail
boat of India-rubber cloth, and spent a night
upon one of its islands, where, doubtless, f jot
of man had never trod before. Upon the
shores of this inland sea, the poor deluded
Mormons, driven by violence from their hard
earned possessions in IllinoiSjCStablishcd their
city of refuge, about four years after the visit
of the gallant Fremont. After occupying a-
bout a week in making such partial explora
tion of this strange and interesting region as
the lateness of. the season would permit, our
explorers pursued their course through Ore
gon, making the observations directed by the
government orders,and inNovembcr arrived at
Fort Vancouver, the goal of their jcurncy.
The active mind of Fremont could not endure
the thought of returning upon the same track,
lie dctcrminued to seek new scenes and
discoveries through the vvst region to the
south of him, of which fable had told such
wonders, but where civilized man had never
penetrated, and of which the only sources of
knowledge heretofore had been the wild and
romantic but often contradictory stories of the
Utah and his kindred races, and of the half
blood hunters who frequented Fort llall.
Our adventurers, twenty-five in number, ac
cordingly plunged without hesitation into the
wilderness. They feared not. The men had
confidence in Fremont, and he, under God,
had confidence in himself. Nothing, perhaps,
shows more clearly the varied powers of his
mind, and his frtilit3' in resources, than the
success of this expedition, undertaken at the
approach, and executed in the depth of win
ter. Of the sway which he exercised over the
mitiis of his men, wc need no better evidence
than the fact that they bore all the trials, the
sufferings, and the hazards of this winter jour
ney, almost without a murmur. For nine
months the little band and its noble leader
were unheard of by their friends. Many a
heart ached with doubt, and many a lip paled
with apprehension for the fate of a husband, a
brother, or a son, thus daring unknown perils.
At length the news of their safety, and of
their glorious achievements, sent a thrill of
joy through the hearts, not only of their im
mediato relatives, but also of the whole na
tion. Three thousand five hundred miles had
the weary wayfarers travelled. They bad cros
sed the mighty, snowy Sierra, they had ex
plored the wonderful valley through which roll
the golden floods of tho Sacramento and the
San Joaquin, they had skirted tbe great inte
rior basin of California, and examined its pro
minent featuicsjand they had returned in safe
ty to their happy homes, proud of themselves,
and proud of their beloved leader. Immedi
ately after his return, Fremont proceeded to
Washington, to submit his report and to prc
paie it for publication. When the war "broke
out between the United States and Mexico, it
found him again on the shores of the Pacific,
lie had entrusted the oversight of the publica
tion of his great report to other hands, and
sought again the country of las many labors,
for the purpose of exploring the western slope
ot the mountains which lie between the Sacra
mento valley and the Pacific. The limits of
this article will not admit of even a condensed
account of his services during the war. Suf
fice it to say, they were but ill rewarded.
"He had been cxploicr, conqueror, peacema
ker, governor in California ; and, the victim
of a quarrel between two commanders, like
Columbus, ho was brought home a prisoner."
Being condemned by a court-martial, he re
fused indignantly a proffered pardon, and de
termined to continue his explorations with his
own resources, and as a private individual.
He set out to seek a favorable road to San
Francisco. Overtaken by terrible snow-storms
among the mountains, he lost all his mules,
and many of his men, and arrived at Santa Fe
in the most destitute and suffering condition.
Still he did not despair. The assistance of
the honest frontiers-men, enabled him to pur
sue his journey, and after surmounting every
difficulty, he again arrived in the valley of the
Sacramento. He now, for the first time in his
life, began to look well to his own interest,
and in a lew years he lias amassed great wealth.
He did not, however, devote himself wholly
to gain, but found time to render valuable aid
in organization of the young noble Pacific
State, which evinced her gratitude and her
confidence by appointing him one of her first
two Senators to the Congress of our country.
We will merely add to the foregoing sketch
that a short term of two years fell to bis lot,
and, owing to the delay in the admission of
the State, he sat in the Senate only one short
session. On the expiration of his term the
political control of the State had passed into
new hands, of which a striking proof was giv
en in the choice of John B. Wellet, a decided
Mr. Fremont now devoted himself to devel
oping the resources of his California estate,
which had been discovered to be rich in gold ;
but, in addition to the loss of his commission,
as the only reward he had realized for his ser
vices in California, he now found himself
greatly annoyed by claims against him for sup
plies which, during his campaign inCalifornia,
had been furnished to tho United States on
his private credit. During a visit to London
he was arrested on one of these claims, and it
was only after great delay that the Govern
ment of the United States was finally induced
to relieve him from further annoyance by the
payment of these debts. In maintaining his
right to the Mariposa property, he was also o
bliged to encounter many on the part of the
Government which resisted his claim, but fi
nally, by repeated der jns of the Supreme
Court of the United Stales he triumphed over
all of them. "
Two Urchins Selecting a Prof;. iox.
"Joe, when you grow up do you wean to be a
lawyer or keep a confectionary storo ?"
"I havn't made up my mind, Tom, but ma
wants me to be a minister."
'Oli, don't be a minister, Joe, for you can't
go to circuses then."
"I know that, Tom, but a minister, ma, says,
is the best profession. You know Mrs. Love
grew adores Mr. Prettyface, and wouldn't you
like to be adored, Tom ?"
"Perhaps I should ; but then you can't drive
fast horses."
"Oh, yes you can ; ministers drive fast hor
ses now-a-days ; and besides that, Tom, when
they have a bilious attack, the w orshippers
send them on a foreign tour ; then he gets re
membered in wills, and often has nice pre
sents ; and ma says it won't be long before ev
ery minister has a country seat, and a colle
gian to write his sermons. Won't that be
high ?" :
Tom acquiesced, and the juveniles indulg
ed in another game of marbles.
Wash for Scxbcrn. Take 2 drachms of
borax, 1 drachm of Roman alum, 1 drachm of
camphor, half an ounce of sugar candy and a
pound of ox-gall. Mix and stir well for ten
minutes or so, and repeat this, stirrirg three
or four times a-day for a for a fortnight, till it
appears clear and transparent. Strain through
blotting paper, and bottle up for use.
New York citt sends an average of 1,300
unpaid letters per month to the dead letter of
fice at Washington, not one reaching its desti
nation. Persons writing letters should be as
careful to prepay as to address them.
. "Shurc, aud it wasn't poverty that'druv me
from the ould counthry," said Michael the
other day, "for my father had twenty-one
yoke of oxen aud a cow, and they gave milk
the year round."
A lad, 13 years old, with an old rusty sword
in his hand, drove a burglar out of a house in
New Castle, Lawrence county, a few days ago.
It is stated that John Van Buren is about to
wed the only daughter of the late John C
Calhouc. '
CLEARFIELD, PA., JULY 9, 1S5G.
KANSAS.
Extracts from a Letter, to a gentleman ia Clear
field County, dated
Council City, Kansas Tcr., May 27, 3G.
Pear Friend: In yesterday's letter I gave
you a short account of the affair at Lawrence.
The details you must seek in the papers, for I
cannot write them not in the "Banner & Ad
vocate," however : you will rind no account of
them there! But you may, perhaps, in the
"Tribune." But Grecly, you say, is a President-maker.
Well now, brother, possibly he
is ; but somehow he does tell the truth about
Kansas ; for he keeps a correspondent here
who represents things just as they are, till the
hearts of the people thrill with gratitude, and
turn to the Tribune as their truest earthly
friend, which shall yet break the spell of the
sorceress, and cast our shackles off. Don't
think that I mean to chide you, George, for
your opinion of the Tribune, but believe ine,
Greely is right in respect to slavery. It is
the one question, which if lost to us, all else is
lost. Don't think that I mean by the term
slavery, negro slavery alone. The race of the
enslaved is only incidental. Wo here, who
have been accustomed to so high a degree of
liberty, arc in imminent danger of a servitude
more abject and more hateful than European
despotism more abject, because we were so
free, and more hateful because our oppressors
have not even the glitter of royalty, but are
bandits and drunkards. The whole Territory
is to be subjected to a complete guerilla sur
veillance, intolerable to bear. Spies are in ev
ery settlement. Many of our best men are in
prison. Our stronghold is sacked not by the
superior strength of our enemy, however, but
by Uuittd States authority, which they (the peo
ple) would not resist. Since this occurrence,
a terrible gloom has settled upon all the land.
The enemy is rampant the highways are un
safe murder is abroad, and anarchy reigns
Beneath" all these brooding elements a civil
war is warming into life. The North, per
haps, will think that things arc going on pret
ty quietly here, now that our best presses are
destroyed, emigration stopped, and communi-
. ?-a . . a. m i rtk - - -
tx T.ywftea-Trw-uyTT;t p t ine nSsuuri ver
sion ol matters. Aud as for ourselves, what
shall we do ? Our numbers arc by no means
insignificant ; but we arc mostly poor-too poor
to live well much too poor to fight. Yet in
view of all these disadvantages, I believe the
general sentiment is to place our property, our
lives, and our dearest honor by the altar of lib
erty, and resist every encroachment upon those
rights, with which the constitution of these
United States and the God of nature have en
dowed us : and we appeal to every lover of lib
erty throughout the land to render us speedy
assistance, aud protection in the use of these
blood-bought and priceless treasures. Shall
we appeal in rain ? Must ice die here unnilied
and unheard? Or, what is worse, must we bo
shorn of everything which makes life more
than a brutish existence : of everything which
goes to dispel the gloomy cloud that floats be
tween us and eternity 1 Oh ! Brothers of the
North, we appeal unto you. Shall it be in
vain ? But I almost forgot that 1 am only wri
ting to a few persons. However, you can do
something wake upyour neighborhood. We
must have the next President favorable to us;
or we shall be lost. Labor for that. ....
I do not anticipate that there would be much
fighting not that tho Southerners lack war
like qualities, but they arc under no necessity
to fight, but can go whenever they please.
They are contending to enslave us, while wo
are contending for Freedom and for existence.
But you may think that the President would
send the military to drive off such a force.
Then why don't he send them to drive oQ or
disperse the Georgians and Alabamians, who
arc causing this trouble? Let him do this,
and we will bo satisfied. Our friends could
then scttlo together, and make themselves
homes in this beautiful country. . . v . . The
President is chief in this wickedness, and
holds over us the terror of U. S. authority to
enable a reckless banditti to rob and destroy
us with impunity. This is the way in which
we are to be subdued. This is the way in
which the plots of Douglass, Atchison and
Stringfcllow arc to be executed. Must it be
so much longer ? ...
You will think it strange that I should have
so far overcome my repugnance to war, as to
be wishing for revolvers. Think rather how
great must have been the wrongs which have
driven me to it. Not that all Kansas is actu
ally destroyed, for it would be an absurdity to
talk of fighting if it were. But the eastern
part of the Territory has, in many instances,
suffered terribly from the 'President's Bandit
ti," and the whole of it is kept iu a state of
anxiety and suspense ; which things have a
tendency to harden our hearts. . I deplore this,
but so it is. Our teams from this place have
not as yet been robbed, but only stppped and
searched for arms. Individuals, on this road,
have also had their arms taken from them.
In view of this condition of affairs, I could not
make up my mind ' to forsake Kansas in the
time of her danger ; neither could I think of
staying here and idly looking on until we are
completely gagged and bound beneath an in
tolerable and hopeless oppression. The only
alternative, then; which I can see; i to fight.
It is a sad one indeed, and I pray licul 10 lor-
givc me if I bo wrong in my conclusion.
It is w ith relief that 1 cast off from my mind
the prospect of strife for a moment, to speak
of the ready-made, and exuberantly fertile
and beautiful farms with which nature has pro
vided us. We have had plenty of rain thro'
April and the fore part of May, and tho coun
try wears a very luxuriant appearance. We
sowod no rye, but that among the wheat head
ed carlv in Mav. The wheat is very promis
ing. The prairie grass has long been in bead."
On the uplands it is a little, shorter than timo
thy j and waving iu the summer breeze, with
its sprinkling of superb flowers, it presents a
scene of magnificence of exquisite and thril
ling, yet boundless beauty together with an
impression of exhaustless fertility, that wins
the mind for a time from its sorrows, and leads
captive all the faculties of tho heart. You
may think me extravagant in this description,
but I assure you I am not. I .have endeavored
to inform you truly and faithfully respecting
the appearance and pro.sjccts of the country.
I have represented its shadows permit me al
so to reflect its sunlight its promise its joy.
There has been but little sickness this season,
except the remains of last August's ague, ft oin
which we are recovering.- Then there has
been plenty of rain this spring, which has put
everything forward. Besides the- insects which
were very numerous last spring, seem to have
been demolished by tbe cold winter. Crick
ets are scarce, and grasshoppers are 'now here.'
Moreover the thunderstorms have been inMdcr
this season more like those of the eastern
Stales aud not of such a terrible, tho' mag
nificent, character as those wc witnessed last
year. In addition to ail these encourage
ments, an impression takes possession of the
mind, and keeps possession of it, that a very
little labor will produce on abundant living,
together with all the luxuries of life, if wc
feel dispofed to indulge in them. . You will
cease then to wonder that we love Kansas too
dearly perhaps for our spiritual welfare far
too dearly for the danger which menaces her
to drive us from her, I was conversing lately
with the wife of a neighbor, who has been
mourning that they were not back in Pennsyl-
she regrets thai she is not again ia Kansas, and
this lady here, in view of the danger of being
driven out by the Southerners, says that she
"just begins to love Kansas, and that she did
not think that she would cling to it as she now
docs, and that she could not possibly be con
tented in Pennsylvania again." The fact is
she has hitherto considered only their imme
diate trouble, and the care of a largo family;
but now she begins to awaken to the latent
wcaith which surrounds her.
June 2d. Trouble thickens upon us. Bu
ford's company is an avowed band of robbers.
At all events, we begin to feel their presence
in that character. Our citizens on the road
aro now robbed of money, as well as arms.
Spies arc scouring the country to ascertain
where a descent can be profitably made. And
the government sustains the banditti. It docs
not disperse the robber.-?, but it disperses the
gatherings of Fiee State men, by means of a
few soldiers, which they will not fight, and
then leaves them at the mere- of the enemy.
A Free State man recently expostulated with
the Governor, and entreated him to protect us
against these outrages, telling him that they
must inevitably end in civil war. . ''Then war
it is, by God!" was the reply. Since that ho
has been somewhat softened, I understand, by
an apprehension that the free men, driven to
desperation, might -speak to him in another
manner. In addition to all this, the Missou
rians are now. making another irruption into
the Territory. The immediate pretext is that
the fj-ce men are committing, outrages on the
opposite party. In one case, some rash free
state men did notify a man to leave. ' He left
according', and took several other pro-slavery
families with him, telling all sorts of horri
ble stories as they Wehtr Next wc heard that
there had been a fight in another place, and
several killed on both sides. Then we heard
that the killed were all on one side, the free
men having called them out and shot them in
cold blood, they having previously threatened
to burn these free men at the stake. The fi
nal account, h owever, is, that they were en
deavoring to hang a free man, and had one end
of the rope round his neck, and the other over
the limb of a tree, when the thing hapjtened.
But I cannot write every thing. 1 am uot ex
pecting to fight immediately, if it be possible
to avoid it ; and yet any letter which you may
get from mo now, may be the last one. I can
not tell, but would continually rest upon the
pity of Him who' has hitherto been to me a
refuge and a shield. You have my prayers,
brother ; let me also have yours not so much
that God will spare my life, as that he will
keep my soul from evil unto the end.
The survey has beeu suspended, I am told,
iu consequence of the "lower House's" non
concurrence "in paying for it. I wish you
would petition it to adhere to its position, and
strike out any provision for paying for it at
the present from the. general appropriation
bill. Help us every way you can. Oh ! how
I would like to see you. .
If I bad had a deed for my land, early in
the spring, I should have been very apt to
have picked huckleberries on the Alltghcnies
this summer. But as it is I cannot leave that
is, I do not expect to unless I am driven off.
I cannot think of abandoning the causo of
freedom for Kansas, till the last bopo is gone j
aud when that time comes t can leave my na
tive land forever, . with only the memory of
what it has Wen, to stir in my bosom one lin
gering regret- Yonr own devoted friend,
JOHN.
AN APDRKSSj
Delivered by Hon. John P. Hoyt, to the Centre
-' County .igrickltural Society, Oct. 18-3-3. '
OJSCIAVIOX.
We will in the next place, consider sorao of
the inorganic elements, which cuter into tho
substance of plants, and are found in the ash.
And wo will first notice lime, which is very
abundant in nature.there being few portions ol
the earth which will not furnish asufticicut
supply for agricultural purposes. Tbe farmer,
before applying tunc to liis land, should hav
it reduced to atoms as fine as possible, which
can W done in no more expeditions, or cheap
er wav. than bvcxitcllinff the carbonic acid
gas by burning. After which, by the applica
tion of water, or by exposure to the air, it falls
into a tine powder. In burning, it loses about
4pcr cent ot Its weight. It then has a great
affinity for acids, such as sulphuric, oxalic, &c,
which are so much in excess in many regions
and fields as lo render them unproductive, pro
ducing sorrell and what is commonly called
wild and sour grasses. The sulphuric acid, or
oil of vitriol, is formed in nature, and is com
posed of atoms of o.xygt u and sulphur, while
uniting with lime, forms gypsum or piaster of
Paris and the oxalic acid, composed f oxygen
ami carbon forming oxalate of lime, these new
compounds formed by the lime aud acids, aro
not unfavorable to vegctafio-n'.
- Where these acids, as well as huniic and py
roligneous acids, are too abundant in the soil,
they prevent tho decomposition of the dead
vegetable matter, and of course are not in a fit
state to bo food for the plants. Ilenco the
great utility of applying fresh burut lima, to
take up a portion of those acids, and tbe con
sequent decomposition of dead vegetable mat
ter, making it more fertile, not so much from
the amount of lime eutering into tho composi-
neutralizing the soil. Wc have seen by tut
above table that the ash of the grains, have
but a small per ccntage of lime as in Indian
corn 1-10 of one percent., wheat29-10 per cent,
rye the same, and 40-10 in oats, while we ob
serve 8 and 5-10 in wheat straw and ia hay
nearly 23 per cent. Hence wc may concludo
that limo is more faverablo to the growth of
the stalk and leaves of plants than to the growth
of their seeds. Limo by its acrid qualify,
when fresh burned, would have the cfiect fa
destroy the Iarve of insects, and thus by their
deconijMjsition, increase tbe amount of ammo
nia and phosphorus in the soil. It would ap
pear, that tho application of lime to grass land
would be most profitable when permitted to
lie a snllicicut time, to decompose or promote
the decomposition of the dead vegetable mat
ter, and otherwise neutralize the soil; and
this method would be still better, if we plough
down the crop of grass (as tho lime facilitates
itsgrowth making a greater amount of manure)
and then sow with wheat or other grain. In
the use of liiiio in fanning, it is now believed
best to use smaller quantities to tlic acre than
formerly and repeat every lew j-cars; say 30
or IU bushels to the acre, spread and left uoa?
the surface, for it has a constant tendency to
sink lower in the soil. . .f
We will next notice potash, which of all sub
btauccs found in the asli of plants, is tho most
uiiifoimly and equally distributed. By tho
alxivc table we see that Indian Cora contains
23 per cent., tho ash of wheat 201 pvr cent.,
rye 32, and oats 27 ik.t cent, of Irtish and
soda, and potatoes ol per ccLt., turnir42,
aud hay 18. Potash aud soda are nearly allied
to each other, properties and powers both be
ing alkalies. Potash must be in con side rati
quantity iu the earth. The fanner will add it
to the soil, when ho applies wood ashes, min
eral coal ashes, and all decayed vegetable sub
stances. Salt ictre is tho uitrate of potash,
but too exixrnsivc to be largely used- Common
salt is a muriate of soda, by applying which to
our fields we have sola ; and we have more,
for the muriatic acid is composed of chlorino
and hydrogen, fo by the decomiKsition of tho
acid, -we have chlorine, which is in the ash of
most plants, though not largely:
- There is a fair proportion of magnesia in
the ash of corn, wheat, Jtc, but it was former
ly thought unfavorable to vegetation. Tho
farmer need not seek to apply it to his field,
for it is abundant in tho soil ! in many clays,
and is from CO to 10 per cent, of some lime
stones, and 50 or more per cent., in that trbich
is called hydraulic lime. .' - ',
Phosphoric acid is a very important clement
in the grains and grasses, and does not exisfr
in a free state in nature,' but is fonnd united
to potash, soda, lime, &c, forming phosphates
and in these states are taken upas food for
plants, and is absolutely necessary for their
healthy growth aud perfection.
The farmer can. increase this clement, oo
his field by adding decayed vegetable matter,
and decomposed dead animal and insect mat
ter, in which it is most abundant. Some com
posts are made containing a great i;r cent, cf
pbonphnr ic acid, and fixed ammonia, which,
Ranamdcr vn Fourth ' -