800 [Assembly 



limestone. 

 The limestone, particularly the calcareous variety so exten- 

 sively diffused in the county, incorporated as they are almost 

 universally witli other fertilizing elements, "will prove, I think, 

 of the highest value in the agricultural economy of the county. 

 I procured a si^ecimen of rock in Schroon which has been par- 

 tiaHy tested as a fertilizer, with a highly favorable issue.* A care- 

 ful experiment, comparing it with other agents, exhibits very 

 satisfactory results. The Nova Scotia plaster proved the most 

 efficacious. In the effect of the Schroon rock and the western 

 plaster, no perceptible difference was manifest. The influence 

 of each was marked and decisive, indicated by the superiority of 

 the crop to which they were applied, over that part which had 

 received no application 6f either of these materials. I extract 

 the views of Prof Salisbury on the subject of this rock. " I sub- 

 jected it to merely a qualitative examination. Found it to be 

 made up principally of carbonate of lime. It also contains a 

 small quantity of silicate of lime and alumina, and a small per- 

 centage of phosphate of lime. The superiority of this rock^over 

 ordinary limestone arises from the presence of the small amount 

 of the silicate and phosphate of lime." The deposit is boundless, 

 and I cannot resist the conviction that the material will prove of 

 vast utility to that region, and will ultimately become an im- 

 portant article of exportation. 



The following analyses of limestone rock from various districts 

 of the county, present and enforce the fact of it5 great value as 

 a fertilizing principle : 



• LoUer of Abijah Stniii), E«q. 



