REPORT OF TUB OHEjIIST 



185 



SESSIONAL PAFER No. 16 



continued employment has worked disaster. From history, therefore, we can learn 

 something as to the part that ground limestone may play in economic agriculture. We 

 have no doubt it will in time find a place in Canadian farming and prove of great 

 value to those whose soils are, from the chemical or physical standpoint, in need of 

 lime; but to those who would place sole reliance upon it as a means of increasing and 

 maintaining soil fertility, we do not hesitate to say that the end will be disappoint- 

 ment and loss. 



Inquiries are also received from time to time as to the qualities of certain lime- 

 stones to be used in the preparation of Lime-sulphur wash, the purity of the lime 

 employed in this manufacture being a matter of considerable importance. 



To furnish information as to the suitability of certain limestones for the purposes 

 we have discussed, analyses of several samples have been made, the data of which are 

 as follows : — ■ 



Composition of Limestones from New Brunswick. 



No. 1— From quarry of P. & G., St. John, N.B. 



2— " S. C. & Co., St. John, N.B. 



3— " R. B. & Co., St. John, N.B. 

 4-' " C. M., St. John, N.B. 



5— " L. R., Brookfield Station, N.B. 



6— " L. R., Brookfield Station, N.B. 



No very marked difference exist among these limestones, and all may be con- 

 sidered of good quality. The practical freedom from magnesia indicates their suita- 

 bility for the manufacture of lime to be used in the preparation of the Lime-sulphur 

 wash. The value of these analyses lies chiefly in the fact that the samples examined 

 were all taken from quarries about St. John, N.B., which, it is stated, supply all the 

 lime used in New Brunswick and a considerable part of Nova Scotia. 



A sample from Grand Forks, B.C., afforded the following data : — 



Carbonate of lime 94-32 per cent. 



Carbonate of magnesia -12 



Oxide of iron and alumina -76 



Mineral matter insoluble in acid 4-90 " 



100-10 



This is evidently a good quality limestone and one suitable for all agricultural 

 purposes. 



