IMPOVERISHING EFFECTS op BURNING NEW LAND foe the FIRST CROP.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 91, 2 December 1843, Page 364

IMPOVERISHING EFFECTS op BURNING NEW LAND foe the FIRST CROP.

[From the Colonial Farmer.']

I see with regret large tracts of country, which I formerly witnessed covered with a luxuriant and heavy crop of timber, now reduced nearly to a barren, the soil of which will produce little else than>stunted bushes and weeds. The cause of this desolating change is easy to account for, on philosophical principles. The portions of land here alluded to were exposed to the violent hurricanes which laid prostrate the whole of the timber thereon. Here were accumulated the vegetation of two or three hundred years, in the shape of timber, undergrowth, roots, moss, &c. Thus we may suppose that every particle of vegetable food, consisting either of carbon or salts of the various alkalies which form this food, were extracted to the depth to whichMhe roots of the timber had formerly penetrated. The decay of this mass in a year renders it highly combustible in dry seasons, and when by accident or design it became ignited, the conflagration was dreadful, the intense heat of which changed the whole mass into an aerial form, lighter than the atmosphere ; and was dispersed by the winds caused by the high temperature created in its locality. Not only the carbon is entirely gone, but the lime and potass, and other salts comprising the ashes, were in some places altogether, and others nearly als dissipated by the intense heat; hence barrenness, is the result. Compare this with the present mode of clearing new land ; and it will be seen that the process is similar; the only difference is, that at the time between the cutting of the timber and the burning seldom exceeds six months, and it is of course much less combustible than that which has been prostrate for years; consequently, the desolating effects will not be so great, as a small portion of the ashes and carbon will be left on the ground, which will produce one crop of grain, and if the land is good, two or three subsequent crops of hay, after which, it can only be used as a scanty pasture. Now, as all vegetable matter contains the food of future plants, which it will furnish when properly reduced to its first elements by decay or combustion, so managed that there shall be no loss b]^ evaporation, it will easily be perceived that there is an immense waste of useful matter in the common practice of burning wood lands. One acre of land clothed with original forest will contain 300 tons of vegetable matter, including timber, brush underwood, decayed wood, and moss, with the herbage that usually grows on forest lands.

Professor Leibig, the most popular and latest writer on organic chemistry, agriculture, and physiology, now extant, shows clearly that all vegetable substances are composed of carbon, the constituents of water, which are hydrogen and oxygen, ammonia, lime, potass, and magnesia, and occasionally small portions of other salts, to produce the sweet, acrid, acid, or bitter principle that vegetables may contain. Now, if the 300 tons of forest brushwood, &c.,were reduced by some chemical process, either naturally or artificially, to an elementary state, without letting its constituents escape, it would produce, at 20 tons for each sir years, manure for one acre for 90 years. Hie proportion would be, as one is to fifteen, or six to ninety, or in other words the vegetable matter contained on three and one-iakxf rods square, or ten and a half square rods, of forest land, which, according to this calculation, would be 20 tons, would manure j one acre of arable land, preparatory for a rotation of cropping far six yean. x The extern productinuieM of land wherepedus hat been manufactured is not earned b% taeab-

stracting of the ashes, for not only the lime and potass but also the other salts of wood are carried eff, and there is also the loss of the carbon, which is dissipated during the combustion of the wood that the ashes are obtained from; but the wood which was not consumed in this process, as well as the moss, undergrowth, and stumps, which would form a large portion of the original mass, would be left in a proper state for decomposition ; and when this land comes under the action of the plough, its fertility would be far superior to that where the whole has been swept off by fire. It is well known that in England, Scotland and various parts of the European Continent, burnt clay has been and now is in use as manure, and it has always been an undecided question what caused its fertility, some supposing one thing and some another, without giving any good reasons that their views were correct; but all seem to agree that the torrefaction oftheclayis the cause. Leibig gives the most rational solution of the question ; he states that the oxydes of iron and alumina are distinguished from all other metallic oxydes by their power of forming solid compounds with ammonia; this substance is indispensable to the production of wheat; its presence produces the gelatinous part of that seed, which renders it preferable to all others for bread. I have not the least doubt of Leibig's theory on the subject, but, from repeated experience, I have no doubt the burning of clay produces other effects, superior and independent of it.

I will now state my process for reducing the vegetable matter on the forest land to a consistence for manure, without the escape of any part. Take a piece of arable clay land, as near the forest as can be obtained, cut and split the timber of every description (clearing the land as you go) into cord-wood lengths, that is to say, timber, brushwood, decayed logs, &c, convey this to the arable land selected, pile it in the best form for drying, and let it remain until dry ; when dry, put it in piles similar to coal kilns, only much lower in proportion to their breadth ; leave an opening to put in fire, cover all the remainder with green boughs of fir or spruce, then cover the whole with clay thrown on loosely to a depth sufficient to retain the smoke, put fire into the aperture before-mentioned, and, when properly kindled, cover all with clay, that no smoke may escape, and if at any subsequent period the fire or smoke may burst through, additional quantities must be thrown on to stop it, and so on until the whole of the vegetable matter is consumed, winch of course will be absorbed by the clay ; there will be some charcoal remaining unconsumed, but this contains qualities which, if not superior, are equal to any part of the matter consumed.

If the process is properly conducted, not a particle of the matter is lost, but all retained. This manure may be either spread on the land in its vicinity or conveyed to other fields where it may be required. The process, as far as combustion of the wood and the retaining of its gases are concerned, I have repeatedly practised with success, and have found the burnt clay, or, more properly 6peaking, clay saturated with smoke, produce crops equal to my best barn-yard manure ; and the vegetation much more rapid.

Fixings.— "■ We were a pretty tall time coming that last fifteen mile — that's a fact." " Pretty loud smell of varnish, sir." These are common examples ; but of all the genuine contributions of they Ameritans to the vernacular dictionary, the word " fix" is their own favourite ! " Will you try," said my opposite neighbour, handing me a dish of potatoes broken up in milk and butter, " will you try some of these fixings ?" There are few words which perform such various duties as this word " fix." It is the Caleb Quotem of the American vocabulary. You call upon a gentleman in a country town, and his Jfelp informs you that he is " fixing himself" just «ow, but will be down directly: by which you are to understand that he it dressing. You inquire, on board a steam-boat, of a fellow passenger, whether breakfast will be ready soon, and he tells you he should think so, for when he was last below they were " fix-, ing the tables I" in other words, laying the cloth. Reg a porter to collect your luggage, and he entreats you not to be uneasy, for he'll " fix it presently ;" and if you complain of indisposition, you are advised to have recourse to Doctor So-and-so, who will " fix you in no time." One night I ordered a bottle of mulled wine, at an hotel where I was staying, and watted a long time for it; at length it was put uppn the table with an apology from the landlord that he feared it wasn't " fixed properly." And I recollect once, at a stage-coach dinner, overhearing a very stern gentleman demand of a waiter who presented him with a plate of underdone roast beef, " whether he called that fixing God A'mighty's vittles V'—Boz.