On Lime. Le 
[ have seen very great crops of barley got by sowing 
the land with pigeon’s dung, as thin as we sow rye, 
and harrowing it in along with the seed barley ; where- 
as had it been put upon the land as thick, or half as) 
thick as we would put stable or barn-yard dung, it 
would as effectually destroy all vegetation as hot lime 
used to excess. ‘The same remarks will apply to the 
dung of all kinds of domestic fowls, also to human 
dung and ure, so much yalued in China. Common 
salt has often been recommended as'a great assistant to 
the growth of vegetables when used in small quanti- 
ties, whereas it is well known that the excessive use of 
it will render land totally barren. 
It will be admitted on all hands that all animal and 
vegetable matters contained in the soil, must undergo 
a decomposition by some means or other, so that be- 
ing thereby reduced to such a state as to be easily so- 
luble m water, they may be readily absorbed. by the 
tender roots, by some termed the mouths of plants. 
That the roots of plants naturally possess to a consider- 
able degree the power of producing this decomposition, 
I have had occasion more than once to observe, in the 
case of planting potatoes with woollen rags instead of 
dung. I have seen fine crops of potatoes raised by 
dropping a small piece of woollen rag,* not larger than 
* Before the revolution war, I collected: many cart loads 
of taylor’s rags, chiefly woollen. Some I had cut in small 
pieces; others were ploughed in, as they came from the 
shops; after having been scattered by hand so as barely to 
cover the surface of about three acres of loamy land, much 
worn. Ihad a remarkably fine crop. of potatoes, succeeded 
