104 WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING. 



because it could not do otherwise, might do still more 

 if applied to the soil, with deliberate intent to test 

 its value as a fertilizer. The result we all under- 

 stand. 



Gypsum is a chemical compound of Sulphur and 

 Lime so much is agreed; and the theory of chemists 

 has been that, as the winds pass over a surface sown 

 with it, the Ammonia which has been exhaled by a 

 thousand barn-yards, bogs, &c., having a stronger 

 affinity for Sulphur than Lime has, dissolves the 

 Gypsum, combines with the Sulphur, forming a Sul- 

 phate of Ammonia, and leaves the Lime to get on as 

 it may. I accept this theory, having no reason to dis- 

 trust it ; and, knowing that Sulphate of Ammonia is 

 a powerful stimulant of vegetable growth (as any one 

 may be assured by buying a little of it from some 

 druggist and making the necessary application), I can 

 readily see how the desired result might in this way 

 be produced. For our purpose, however, let it suf- 

 fice that it is produced, of which almost any one may 

 be convinced by sowing with Gypsum and passing by 

 alternate strips or belts of the- same clover-field. I 

 suspect that not many fertilizers repay their cost out 

 of the first crop ; but I account Gypsum one of them ; 

 and I submit that no farmer can aiford not to try it. 

 That its good effect is diminished by many and fre- 

 quent applications, is highly probable ; but there is no 

 hill or slope to which Gypsum has never yet been 

 applied which ought not to make its acquaintance 

 this very year. I am confident that there are pastures 



