298 THE BEE, OR Feb. 2^ 



at beft fo limited, as to prevent us from being able to 

 know with certainty the caufe of any one phenomenon 

 that occurs, refpefting rural operations. That gypfum 

 fhould in fome cafes aft as a very powerful manure, 

 while in other cafes it fhall prove quite inert, is no- 

 thing furprifing : Many other manures are in the fame 

 predicament. Lime, in fome cafes, fertilizes land to an 

 aftonilliing degree, and in other cafes it produces no 

 fort of effeft at all. Both thefe I have myfelf experi- 

 enced : and though I know theories have been applied 

 to account for this peculiarity, that are in the mouth of 

 every ftudent of agriculture, yet I can with great truth 

 affert, that I have feen thefe oppofite effects j)roduced 

 on two foils, that were fo much alike in every circum- 

 ftance, that I could not perhaps havediftinguilhed the one 

 from the other, before the experiment was tried ; and I have 

 known feveral other manures that have produced efFefts 

 equally oppofite on foils apparently alike. Let no one 

 therefore conclude^ although his trials of the manure 

 fhould prove abortive, that others will not find it an- 

 fwer with them ; neither let him ralhly infer, that becaufe 

 others have had wonderful fuccefs^ he is certain of ex- 

 periencing the fame. A fpirited improver will always 

 endeavour to advance whenever he fees a path opened 

 before him ; but if he has prudence^ he will advance 

 with cautious circumfpeftion, and Hop whenever expe- 

 rience teaches him he can go no farther with profit. 

 With thefe cautions, I willingly lay the following in- 

 terefting papers before my readers. 



ExtraSl of a Letter from a Gentleman in the State of 



Pennfylvariia to his Friend in ^tehec. 

 " You have inclofed fome account of the experiments and 

 ufe of the gypfum, or plaller of Paris ; if any further 

 communication be neceffary, you fhall have it. 



" I fee by an account of a late publication of Arthur 

 Young's, he mentions it as being ufeful as a manure,. 



