614 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 10 



servation, and the result of the experience of 

 others, in the application ofhme as a manure. 



In this vicinity it is becoming; ahiiost universally 

 the practice, 1o apply the lime to the sod, the year 

 previous to its being planted with corn. With 

 this method several" advantages are connected. 

 First, The jlinie may be hauled and spread, 

 at any convenient time during the season— say, in 

 May "and June, between corn planting and hay 

 harvest. Second, The cro|)s will derive much 

 more benefit from its being put on the land some 

 length of time betore it is ploughed, than to put it 

 on lust at the time of putting in the crop. It has 

 been duly ascertained, that one of the principal ef- 

 fects of lime is, the decomjiosition and bringing 

 into action, the inert vegetable matter in soil. 

 When lime is spread on the sod, it comes into im- 

 mediate contact with the grass, and grass roots, 

 than when the ground is first ploughed ; in fields 

 which have been partly litned oi. the sod, then 

 ploucrhed, and the remainder limed at the time of 

 planUng with corn. I have observed in plough- 

 ing up corn stubble, that the part limed on the sod, 

 ploughed up much mellower, than that limed 

 a/fer'the sod was ploughed ; presenting a rich ve- 

 o-etabie mould not observable in the other part of 



ihe field. , . , . , . . , 



There a;e no kmds oi crops which have come 

 under my observation ; namely, corn, oats, barley, 

 wheat, rye, potatoes, clover, and timothy, but 

 what are benefited by lime, with the exception of 

 flax. Where flax was formerly raised to great 

 perfection, a very inferior article is now produced, 

 since the application of lime. This has almost led 

 to the abandonment of its cultivation in many sec- 

 tions of the country. ,, , ^ , , 



Oats, however, if the hme is applied fresh the 

 season it is sown, will rather be injured than bene- 

 fited by it, in preventing it from ripening. I have 

 seen oats, in fields which had been recently limed, 

 send up an indefinite number of suckers or young 

 stalks from the roots ; which, together with the 

 parent stalk, would scarcely ripen if allowed to re- 

 main the whole season in the field ; and the stub- 

 ble would sprout up |)rofusely after a crop was 

 taken ofl'. But when the lime has been applied a 

 year or two previous, it isdecidedl3'a benefit to the 

 oats. Lime can be applied with advantage, 

 whether put on fresh, or left exposed to the 

 elements till it becomes cold. This has been ex- 

 emplified in the application of mortar fi-om old 

 buildings, which has been known to produce last- 

 ing effects. I have been told by a person who has 

 ha'cl much experience in liming, that he has had 

 clover to succeed tietter, aiier putting it on fresh 

 slacked and hot, than in any oiher way. 



The Lancaster turnpike, in the vicinity of the 

 Great Valley, is supplied with stone fi-om the 

 quarries of primitive limestone in the south side of 

 the valley. I have observed a field adjoining the 

 turmike'of a thin slaty soil — the subsoil of which 

 is composed entirely of a slate gravel, (and, per- 

 haps, there are many others of a similar nature and 

 similariy situated ;) which has had no burned 

 lime applied to it tor, perhaps, an age, and yet is 

 remarkable for its productiveness— being far supe- 

 rior to many others in its vicinity, which are pos- 

 sessed of a much richer natural soil. Part of this 

 field receives the flood of the turnpike, by which it 

 becomes overspread with the pulverised limestone 

 of the road; and the other part is visited, in 



dry weather, by clouds of dust — which, in my 

 judgment, is the great stimulant to its vegetable 

 productiveness. 



If these facts amount to any thing, it appearsthat 

 lime, applied in whatever form, is a stimulent to 

 vegetation. But (he form and manner in which it 

 may be most advantageously applied, I leave for 

 others yet to determine. A. 



Chester county, November 2d, 1837. 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE CEN- 

 TRAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AND ME- 

 CHANIC INSTITUTE. 



[Ordered to be publisfied in tlie Farmers' Register.] 

 Jliursday, October 26, 1837. 



The society held its second anniversary in 

 Lyni^hburg, according to the adjournment of last 

 year. The day was ushered in by torrents of rain, 

 which continued, with slight intermissions, from 

 an early hour until evening ; yet such was the in- 

 terest lelt on the occasion by the members, and by 

 the public generally, that, at the usual hour, the 

 avenues leading to the places of exhibition were 

 thronged with persons moving to and firo, to wit- 

 ness the improved productions of the country, 

 which had already been assembled in considerable 

 numbers. 



Preparatory to the show, the members of the 

 society convened in the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church ; Odin G. Clay, of Campbell, President. 



The meeting was called to order, and the va-_ 

 rious committees received their respective lists of 

 articles on which they were to award premiums. 



A communication was received, with feelings of 

 regret to the society, fi'ora the rev. John Perci- 

 val, staling his illness, which would prevent him 

 from delivering the annual address. 



The meeting then adjourned, for the exhibition, 

 till to-morrow, 12 o'clock. 



The remnant of the day was employed by the 

 society, and by a numerous collection of citizens, 

 from town and country, in examining the fine 

 stock of various kinds, which were collected in gen- 

 erous emulation, at the places appointed for them. 

 There were the Durham, Devon and Alderney 

 cattle, wrought in the finest mould, and of the 

 largest size— (we speak, of course, for our own 

 country)— the Bedford, Barnitz, Chester, Berk- 

 shire, Mackey, and Surry breeds of hogs, greatly 

 improved in appearance, and profit over our hi- 

 therto neglected Virginia stock ; the Bakewell and 

 Mead's improved sheep, which stand Ibremost, 

 the one for the shambles, and the other for the 

 amount and texture of the fleece; and lastly, 

 (though without a rival exhibition of the kind, per- 

 haps, m this section of the country,) ihere was a 

 display of that noble animal— the horse, in every 

 variety of age and degree of improvement, that 

 mijiht have claimed respectability in the best farm- 

 ing districts of the south. In a word, we will 

 veTiture the assertion, that a better collection of 

 domestic animals was never before viewed in Vir- 

 ginia, from beneath a greater host of umbrellas. 

 Faiday, October 27. 



At an eariy hour, the members of the society 

 and the citizens assembled in the long room of the 

 Franklin hgtel, for the examination of the ladies' 

 manuliictures. And here a scene presented itself, 



