68 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Gypsum seems to produce very different effects, as we have previously stated, on differ 

 ent soils, and in different seasons. Sometimes its results are astonishing in its prompt effect in 

 increasing the yield of crops, as in the case of Dr. Franklin (mentioned in the chapter on 

 clover), whose name, traced by its application to a clover-field, could be distinctly seen from a 

 long distance, by the darker green and more luxuriant growth than the other portion of 

 the field. In other cases its application seems to have no effect whatever. It is often a 

 powerful stimulant to old worn-out lands, as it seems to set free the potash and phosphoric 

 acid in the soil; but it must be used with judicious care, for, if applied too long continuously 

 upon any soil, such lands will become exhausted and cease to produce crops worth cultivating; 

 they will become what is sometimes termed &quot;plaster sick,&quot; which is simply a starvation of the 

 soil for want of a greater variety of food, as it furnishes only a part of the elements of 

 plant-food. 



Plaster, from its own constituents and by absorption of ammonia from the air, can 

 furnish only two of the many inorganic elements which enter into the composition of plants. 

 If its use could be followed by clover, as a green manure every three or four years, thus 

 restoring in a measure the elements extracted by its stimulating effects, such soils would be 

 greatly benefited, and its use in this manner could be continued for a long time with no 

 injurious effects. 



The necessity of moisture in obtaining favorable results in its use will be apparent 

 when we remember that it requires over 400 parts of water to dissolve one part of gypsum. 



For corn, potatoes, and crops cultivated in a similar manner, it is usually put in the hill 

 at the time of planting the seed, though some sprinkle it upon the plants after the crops have 

 been hoed the first time, and when they are wet with dew or rain. For many crops, such as 

 grass, clover, grains, etc., it is sown broadcast, which can be done with almost any broadcast 

 seed -sower. 



Experiment alone can determine definitely to what soils its use is best adapted, and the 

 quantity to be applied. Some English writers mention two or three hundred pounds per acre 

 as a proper amount, but American writers generally do not recommend over one hundred or 

 one hundred and fifty pounds per acre. &quot;When deposited with the seed by the grain-drill, it 

 should be mixed with three or four times its quantity of soil, otherwise the germ of the seed 

 might be injured. 



Salt (Chloride of Sodium). The use of common salt as a fertilizer of the soil is 

 of remote date. In China and Hindostan, the rice-fields have been kept in fertility for ages 

 by applying sea-water. Its use has also been long known in various portions of Europe. It 

 supplies plants with chlorine and soda, but its principal value as a fertilizer is in its chemical 

 action upon other elements of plant-food in the soil, which it renders more available. It also 

 is a valuable agent in exterminating grubs, worms, and other vermin from the soil, being very 

 beneficial in the culture of garden vegetables, for this reason. It has a tendency to keep the 

 land cool and moist, and thus neutralizes drouth, and is thought by many farmers to glaze 

 and stiffen the straw of grains, and prevent crinkling and rust. Salt mixed with wood-ashes, in 

 the proportion of one part of salt to four of ashes, and applied at the rate of a handful to 

 the center of each hill of corn immediately after planting, is said by good authority to 

 supersede the use of scare-crows and coal-tar, as no worm or crow will touch it; besides, the 

 fertilizing properties of the compound are highly beneficial. When sown on wheat, it is 

 said to destroy the chinch-bug, so destructive to that crop. To lands near the sea-coast and 

 that occasionally receive a supply of salt from the spray that is carried to them by the ocean 

 storms, it usually produces no apparent effect, as they are already supplied with a sufficienl 

 quantity of this element. It is a fertilizer that must be used with care, for if too large i 

 quantity be applied, it is liable to injure vegetation. When applied in contact with seed, as 

 is sometimes done with grain-drills, only a small quantity should be used, as it may destroy 



