210 [Senate 



Lime. — Lime has been tried here to a considerable extent, to the 

 satisfaction of some and disappointment of others. That which is 

 made by burning oyster and clam shells has been principally em- 

 ployed, and is procured in the adjacent state of New-Jersey, and in 

 the city of New-York. The abundance of clams and oysters con- 

 sumed in this city, produces a great accumulation of shells, and it has 

 been found profitable to burn them into lime. This is an inferior ar- 

 ticle for mason work, but it answers a good purpose in being added 

 to a soil deficient in alkaline earth. 



Much has been said and written on the application of lime as a 

 manure, but it is rather one of the constituents of a good soil. It is 

 found by analysis in wheat, and should be an ingredient in manures 

 for that crop. Here some of our farmers have thought that lime was 

 to perform all that was necessary in growing wheat, and have ap- 

 plied it copiously and alone, without reaping the expected benefit, 

 its employment is nevertheless useful in sweetening cold sour lands, 

 and modifying stiff clayey soils, such as we have on this island. 

 The shell lime has been purchased at from seven to nine cents the 

 bushel, and applied at the rate of from thirty to seventy bushels per 

 acre. A neighboring farmer purchased a boat load of shell lime, as 

 he thought, but on landing it, found that two-thirds of it was a body 

 of unburnt, and half burnt shells. Such pieces of deception set farm- 

 ers against the use of new materials as fertilizers. 



An inferior quality of lime has been purchased at the chemical' 

 works in New- York, at three cents the bushel, and applied to land 

 in Richmond county. This is the spent lime employed in the manu- 

 facture of chlorate of lime or bleaching salts, and has lost its strength. 

 It smells so strong of chlorine, which is injurious to vegetation, that 

 its benefit as an alkaline earth is at best but doubtful. The waiter 

 has preferred the application of stone lime in barrels, burnt from the 

 secondary limestone at Athens, on the North river. This he has 

 had slacked when it was wanted, and mixed with other ingredients be- 

 fore its distribution upon the land. Lime in barrels, costs more than 

 shell lime, but the expense of transportation is less, and when it is 

 slacked it increases in bulk so much, that one barrel will produce from 

 two and a half to three barrels. 



Potash, Soda, JYitrate of Soda. — The writer has pursued various 

 methods in applying these articles by way of experiment, during the 

 past and present year, with results yet in part to be ascertained. 

 Unleached wood ashes have been used for many years on Long-Island, 

 as a fertilizer, its utility depending upon the potash it contains. Lie- 

 big states that if a soil be deficient in potash, you may employ as 

 manure, every other ingredient necessary in a crop of grain, and yet 

 that crop be a poor one. Potash is therefore very essential in im- 

 proving the fertility of land. He also observes that soda may be 

 substituted for potash with equal advantage. The best of the green 

 sand or marl of New-Jersey, contains from ten to twelve per tent of 

 potash, to which it owes its fertilizing powers, and these are im- 

 proved by the addition of lime. Not being able to procure a sufli- 

 cient quantity of unleached ashes, nor to obtain the Jersey marl, the 



