THE CONIVEXION OF AGRICULTURE WITH 

 OTHER SCIENCES, AND REMARKS ON SOILS 

 AND MANURES. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



The dependence of every tiling connected with 

 human existence on agriculture, has often been re- 

 marked. That she, in her turn, should receive aid 

 from alnio.st every other science and art, displays 

 beauty and harmony in the economy of nature. 

 In this state of things, it were idle to contend vvitli 

 the enemies of book-farming. Knowledge, valu- 

 able to any man, is so also to the farmer. De- 

 graded indeed would be the art, if it could gather 

 light from no source but itself. But when philo- 

 sophically drawing contributions from all quarters, 

 and applying them to its own purposes, it shines 

 in its lull glory. 



It has long been thought that the benificent 

 creator had probably supplied every arable part of 

 the world with the means of fertility. Whether 

 this be literally true or not, we find that discove- 

 ries are continuall}' making, calculated to produce 

 fertility in the earth. The benefits arising from 

 the application of calcareous manures in England 

 and Scotland are utterly incalculable. The ac- 

 counts of wonderful fertility produced in the ori- 

 ginally barren sands in some parts of the Nether- 

 lands, chiefly by means of Dutch ashes, almost 

 transcend belief. In our own country, we have 

 reason to hope, that the tide-water districts will 

 soon undergo a signal renovation by the applica- 

 tion of shell-marl. Shall we, in the central dis- 

 tricts, submit to the belief, that these aids are de- 

 nied to us, and that we nmst rely alone on the 

 evanescent benefits of putrescent manures? Or 

 shall we court the aid of mineralogy in our own 

 region, and search for treasures in the bosom of 

 the earth to enrich its surface? It is certain that 

 there is but little limestone between tide-water 

 and the mountains. Yet it is believed that this has 

 not been sought with sufficient diligence. We 

 must then look to other mineralogical objects, con- 

 taining lime or some other fertilizing ingredients. 

 Knowing scarcely any thing of mineralogy, I ap- 

 proach this subject with great diffidence, and only 

 because none better qualified will undertake it. 



The district in question is perhaps as variable in 

 soil as any whatever. While I would not admit, that 

 in all cases, the surface of the earth receives its 

 character from what is called detritus — that is, 

 from the materials of the substratum decomposed, 

 yet probably this is generally the casein primitive 

 formations. In travelling from tide-water to the 

 mountains, we cross innumerable veins of land, 

 differing widely in texture and quality (rom each 

 other, however contiguous. On examination, these 

 stripes of land are found to contain small particles 

 and fragments of the rocks forming their substrata 

 — and close observation leads to the conclusion, 

 that the character of the soil depends much on 

 the materials of which these rocks are composed. 

 Some of these veins have considerable breadth, 

 and m length extend through many ef our coun- 



VoL. II — 55 



tii's, as that excellent range of land passing near 

 Cliarlottesville and forming one of the finest tracts 

 of country in the state. This range principally 

 rests upon hornblende rock combined whh iron in 

 such ] roportions, as, by the carbonizing of the lat- 

 ter, causes a rn])id disintegration of the rock. The 

 peculiar argillaceous loam thus produced, forms 

 earih, which in capacity for improvement to a cer- 

 tain extent, is perhaps not surpassed by any in 

 the world. 



There are innumerable other ranges of horn- 

 blende in that part of the state lying whhin .sixty 

 or eighty mile,? of the Blue Ridge. Indeed, in a 

 great part of the country alluded to, a little of this 

 material may be found on almost every farm. 

 There is, however, less iron in it, apparently, and 

 of course, the disintegration is slow, and the rocks 

 generally near the surface. L'nlike the horn- 

 blende in the grand range first mentioned, which 

 rises even to the mountain-tops, that, in these 

 smaller ranges, is swallowed up in the high ridges, 

 and its out-croppings appear princijially in ravines 

 and near the watercourses; so that the ranges have 

 their continuity broken, affording interrupted spots 

 of fertile or improveable land, preserving a course 

 parallel to the mountains. 



Wherever this rock is found, its fertilizing pro- 

 perties are displayed in the soil about it. [ would as- 

 cribe this to its containing lime in greater or less 

 (|uantities. This has been proved by analysis, and 

 may be inferred from clay-marl being occasionally 

 an accompaniment of hornblende. I saw, some 

 months past, on the land of James Wilson, Es(f. 

 of Prince Edward, a bed of marl lying upon this 

 kind of rock — and many marly concretions adher- 

 ing to the rocks, not only in the bed, bat to those 

 on the surffice. I have also recently seen on the 

 lands of Colin Stokes, Esq., of Lunenburg, a bed 

 of marl — appearing to the eye, the richest I have 

 ever met with — incumbent on a very extensive 

 bed of soft stratified hornblende. That a rock enrich- 

 ing its environs by disintegration, and forming 

 marl by decomposition, would, if broken by art, 

 improve the character of the soil on which it 

 might be spread, cannot be doubted. But, we arc 

 assured by Professor Eaton that it has been found 

 by experiment to possess this properly. (See 

 Farmers' Register vol. I. No. 4, p. 248.) Al- 

 though this substance should not bespread as ma- 

 nure, after pounding or otherwise comminuUng, its 

 existence in a soil is well worth observing, as it in- 

 dicates such to be the verj' soil for improving more, 

 especially by means of clover and plaster. 



I have frequently observed gravelly hills, such 

 as while in woods are covered chiefly with post- 

 oak and hickory, to be remarkably free land, par- 

 ticularly in the growth of tobacco. Much of the 

 gravel is found on examination to be feldspar, 

 having smooth reflecting surfaces, often inclined 

 to a flesh color. The soil looks thin, and I never 

 could account for its fertility, until I learned that 

 feldspar contained both lime and potash. The 

 latter ingredient sometimes rises as high as four- 

 teen per cent. Potash being deliquescent, would 

 run off with the water, as lui^t as the gravel de- 



