FARMERS' REGISTER— GYPSUM AS MANURE. 



735 



sunken vessels, &c. which have been preserved 

 for ages: also, buildings may be erected, witiiout 

 danger, upon a Ibundation Ibrmed of wooden j)iles 

 driven deep enough to be covered by water: but 

 these vegetable matters are constantly undergoing 

 changes, and then destruction is only retarded. 

 Every one knows tJiat il, at the connnenccment of 

 summer, a stick is thrust into the muddy bottom 

 of a pond of stagnant water, bubbles of air are j 

 disengaged, and they even rise spontaneous!}' at 

 certain places; if collected, the bubbles are l()und 

 to consist of carburetted hytlrogen gas. They 

 are disengaged from organic bodies placed at the 

 bottom of the water, or mingled with the earth 

 below, which rot slowly, and are translbrmed to a 

 kind of black vegetable earth, known under the 

 name of mud or slime Iterre Umoneuse ou limon.'] 

 This earth is smooth and yielding to the touch, 

 and when it is not mixed with foreign bodies, it is 

 black. While drying, it contracts greatly, and al- 

 most alwa3's ])ossesses the property of jjroducing 

 irritation on the skin, which is thereby covered 

 with little red points; it is by reason of this proper- 

 ty that this earth is used in many places to prepare 

 tlie mud baths, [liinoneux-'] The constituent 

 principles ol" mud are not sutFiciently known, for 

 them to be compared with the vjgetable earth, or 

 soil, produced in contact wnth the air. 



Peat is another product of putrefaction under 

 water. In certain marshy grounds, there is pro- 

 duced during summera vegetation which, when it 

 i.s ended, rots slowly m the water, and forms a bed 

 of a carbonaceous mass, which augments gradu- 

 ally, so that the marsh becomes filled with a kind 

 of soft mud, at the surface of which new growths 

 of vegetation successively rise, and perish in their 

 turn, and thus increase the deposite, until that at 

 last the reservoir ol" water is comjiletely filled with 

 peat. In warm climates, where vegetation is 

 abundant, and where, consequently, the mass of 

 peat receives each year a more considerable aug- 

 mentation, the Ibrmation of peat is carried on 

 more rapidly; and in cold countries, on the con- 

 trary, this operation is more slow, and ages are 

 necessary to ])roduce an inconsiderable body of 

 peat.* This substance has become very important 

 because of its utility as fuel, and those who dig 

 peat mosses gradually lor the pur])ose of burning 

 the peat, believe that forty years will be sufficient 

 to fill again the empty places; but this expectation 

 is not well founded: lor it is in opposition to the 

 observations made with the greatest care. 



The constituent principles of peat are diflerent 

 salts accidentally dissolved in the muddy water, 

 among which the sulphates of iron and of lime 

 are often found, besides the peculiar combustible 

 matter which constitutes the principal mass oJ' 



* The author must be understood to speak of coun- 

 tries warm or cold in comparison with his own, Swe- 

 den; for as those terms would be used here, the facts 

 are entirely opposed to the statement. Peat is only 

 produced in those regions which are so cold, that all 

 the growth of a summer cannot rot before it is in- 

 creased by a second year's supply, and so the cover of 

 peat is formed and keeps growing. In Virginia, there 

 is no such formation, because the average heat of a 

 3'ear is always suiRcient to decompose all the waste 

 vegetable products of a year. — Ed. Farm. Reg. 



peat. It is black, sometimes of a blackisH brown, 

 and it contains, like mould, much water. By dry- 

 ing, |)eat contracts strongly, loses its coherence, 

 and becomes very friable. Submitted to dry dis- 

 tillation, it yields (according to Bergsnia,) carbo- 

 nic acid gas, and carburetted h} drogen gas, the 

 weight of which amount to nearly 16 per cent, of 

 that of the peat — 25 per cent, of anempyreumatic 

 acid Avater containing acetic acid, and sometimes 

 anunonia — 8 per cent, ol oilpyrogcnce — 37 per cent, 

 of carbon, and 12 percent, ol' ashes. It has been 

 Ibund that these ashes contain no potash. Placed 

 in contact with a body in combustion, peat burns 

 without Hame, like spunk, giving out a disagreea- 

 ble smoke. It is insoluble in water: often it red- 

 dens litmus paper (vegetable blue.) Alkaline 

 hydrates and carbonates dissolve it, commonly 

 without leaving any other residue than the earthy 

 substances which are mingled with it. This dis- 

 solving ditfers essentially Irom that of geine, in 

 this, that when the alkaline licpjor is concentrated, 

 the substance of the peat swells up in it, and is 

 changed to a gelatinous mass, which absorbs all 

 the liquor. When afterwards this mass is mixed 

 with hot water, it is resolved into a brown liquor 

 which becomes gelatinous again, when concen- 

 trated by evaporation. This solution is precipi- 

 tated by mineral acids, and the precipitate con- 

 tains, in chemical combination, the acid employed: 

 but, according to Brandes and Gruner, it is not pre- 

 cipitated by the acetic acid, even when il is appli- 

 ed in excess. If we evaporate to dryness the al- 

 kaline solution neutralized by acetic acid, and the 

 residue is then treated by alcohol, this does not re- 

 dissolve the acetate o( potash, and the mass is no 

 more soluble in water. Belbre the evaporation of 

 the liquor, the hydrate of lime precipitates from it 

 the substance of the peat; and if, atier having' 

 burnt the precipitate, it is treated by muriatic acid, 

 and ammonia is added to the solution, a little phos- 

 phate of lime is obtained. Einhoff has shown 

 that the acidity of the substance of peat proceeds, 

 the same as that of vegetable earth, as much 

 from the acetic as from the phosphoric acid. Be- 

 sides this particular substance, many kinds of peat 

 contain some resin and wax, (which may be ex- 

 tracted by means ol' alcohol,) and vegetable parts 

 not destroyed, which remain when the peat is dis- 

 solved in an alkali. The quantity of ashes which 

 remains after the burning of the peal, varies from 

 8 and 10 percent, of the weight of the dried peat, 

 to 30 per cent or more. These ashes are composed 

 of silex, oxide of iron, phosphate of lime, aiumine, 

 and often sulphate of lime and sub-sulphate of 

 iron. 



DISCOVERY OF THE VALUE OF GYPSUM AS 

 MANURE, AND INTRODUCTION OF ITS USE. 



The first discovery of the utility of gypsum, for 

 agricultural purposes, was made by a laborer, en- 

 gaged in pounding plaster near Hilbrun, in Ger- 

 many. He noticed the extra growth of the grass 

 along the route which he at diiierent times travel- 

 ed, across ameadow: supposing it to be occasioned 

 by the fine plaster droi)ped from his clothes, he 

 was induced to try an experiment to determine the 

 |)oint; it succeeded bejond his expectation; and 

 others tested its uselulnoss, until all became satis- 

 fied of its nutritious ciualities; and thus the use of 

 l)laster in Germany, became general, as a manure, 

 wherever it could be obtained. 



