94 WISCONSIN AGEICULTUEE. 



GYPSUM AS A FEETILIZEE. 



IMMENSE BEDS OF IT IN THIS COUNTRY, 



BY PROFESSOR J. W, HOYT. 



For ornamental purposes, Gypsum, or Sulphate of Lime, has 

 been u^ed from the earliest times ; at least it was in common use 

 in " plaster work " among the Greeks and Eomans. It was not, 

 however, until about 1768 that it began to be known as a fertili- 

 zer ; when one Meyer, a Clergyman of Germany, first experi- 

 mented with it, and boldly recommended its use as a means of 

 improving certain crops. But Conservatism, ever- watchful, and 

 ever-jealous of encroachments upon its domain of self- assumed 

 wisdom, met this innovator, as it had met others before him, 

 with anathemas for vainly attempting to introduce anything of 

 value that had not been known to the wise men of the past 

 generation. The proprietors of the old saltpans of Germany 

 were especially bitter, declaring that the refuse which they had 

 been accustomed to furnish to worn-out land, was all-sufl&cient, 

 of universal applicability, and "the only thing that God in his 

 providence had intended for that purpose." Nevertheless, the 

 spirit of investigation once av/akened, was not to be put down ; 

 and chemical analysis soon showed that the refuse thus extolled 

 was really quite identical with gypsum! 



From that time forward, plaster grew in favor all over the 

 Continent, particularly in the kingdoms of Germany, Switzer- 

 land, France and England. Indeed, within less than four years 

 after its first introduction by Meyer, Dr. Franklin obtained some 

 of it from Paris, and instituted experiments in the neighborhood 

 of Washington, spreading it upon a grass-field in the form of 

 letters, which, through the quickened and enlarged growth there- 



