87 



nesia is merely inert, or whether, like the lime, it exerts an ac- 

 tively fertilizing influence upon the soil. 



Nothing short of a series of agricultural experiments, judiciously 

 planned and perseveringly conducted, aided by chemical analyses 

 performed upon the limestones used, can settle this important eco- 

 nomical inquiry. Alive as our farmers are becoming to the ines- 

 timable utility of calcareous manures, it m s' soon prove to them 

 a matter of interest, to ascertain whether the magnesia, constitu- 

 ting often more than 40 per cent, in the lime which they spread, 

 is really salutary or wholly inoperative. 



The white crystalline limestone of the altered belt, especially 

 of Sussex county, recommends itself strongly for its purity and 

 whiteness, particularly that procured from the more perfectly 

 rhombic variety. 



It has long been made into lime near Hamburg, from whence 

 that material has been transported over the Highlands to the towns 

 of Patterson, Newark, &c., commanding, at times, as high a price 

 as one dollar per bushel. This is admirably adapted for the finer 

 kinds of masonry, by the whiteness of the cement which it yields; 

 and it is especially fitted for making the hard finish for walls and 

 cornice work. 



In the neighbourhood of Lockwood there occurs a fine exposure 

 of the crystalline limestone, in a belt already described. This 

 being within about three miles of the Morris canal at Stanhope, 

 where there is a ready transportation to Newark and other towns 

 where lime is in demand, the business of burning the stone is 

 beginning to invite attention. The pure rhombic semitranslucent 

 variety, which is, to a great extent, free from magnesia, and capa- 

 ble of producing, when properly burned, a lime of superior excel- 

 lence and whiteness, is here in great abundance. 



The annexed analysis will show the composition, in 100 parts, 

 of this limestone. Specific gravity, 2.719. 



Carbonate of lime, - 95.86 



Carbonate of magnesia, - 1.93 



Alumina and peroxide of iron, 0.61 

 Insoluble matter, - 0.07 



Moisture and loss, - 1.53 



100.00 



