102 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2 



their attention as likely to be eminently benefi- 

 cial. For this purpose we recommend most 

 strongly the June, southern, or early clover so 

 called. 



No considerable experiments in the use of lime 

 have come under my notice. A larmer in Haver- 

 hill, who has applied liine as a top-dressing upon 

 his grass lands, is disappointed in his expectations 

 of advantage trum it. Extensive beds of" clay- 

 marl have been discovered; and this has been 

 applied with great advantage on peat lands or 

 bog nieadovvs. 



From the same. 



MILK WEED. 



Experiments have been made with the stalk of 

 the common milk weed, in procuring ll'om it a 

 thead or fibre, capable, as was represented, of 

 making a fabric as fine and strong as Hax or silk. 

 A patent was secured lor the discovery, but it has 

 not been pursued. 



GENERAL, -WANT OF LIME IN THE SOILS OP 

 MASSACHUSETTS AND MAINE, THE CAUSE 

 OF THEIR UNFITNESS FOR THE PRODUC- 

 TION OF WHEAT. 



Letter from the Geological Surveyor of Maine 

 and Massachusetts to tlie Rev. IJenry Colman, 

 Commissioner of the jigricultaral Survey of 

 Massachusetts. 



[We rejoice that the important truth which we 

 have stated in the above caption, and which has been 

 so often repeated in our remarks in this journal, is now 

 presented in a manner, and on authority which, it may 

 be expected, will command more respect and attention, 

 than has been given to our attempts to make known 

 and to enforce the same general proposition. Let the 

 naturally poor for "acid") soils of New England be 

 but limed, or marled, and the alleged general incapa- 

 city to produce wheat will no longer exist. — Ed. Far. 

 Res. 



Boston, Jan. 15//;, 1838. 



Dear Sir : — Tn accordance with your request, I 

 now beg leave to otl'er you a few general remarks 

 on the subject of soils and the raising of wheat 

 crops in the New England States. 



A general opinion has prevailed in the commu- 

 nity that our section of country was incapable of 

 producing its own sup|)ly of bread-stuffj owing to 

 the nature of the climate and the composition of 

 the sod. So far as the climate is concerned, there 

 is not the least difficulty in raising any kind of 

 grain, but it is true that many of our soils re- 

 quire some modification, by means chiefly of mi- 

 neral manures, before they can be made produc- 

 tive. 



I have, for several years, been an attentive ob- 

 server of the management of soils, and believe 

 that I have a good reason to conclude from my 

 observations that the amelioration of the soils of 



Massachusetts, may be conducted in such a man- 

 ner as to render them very productive at small 

 expense. 



I find, by chemical examination of several re- 

 markable soils, that a very minute quantity of car- 

 bonate of lime, viz. from 1 to 2 per cent., is amply 

 suflicient to render them capable of bearing heavy 

 crops of good wheat. I am also satisfied that a 

 sod is incapable of producing wheat of good quali- 

 ty, if it does not contain carbonate of lime; for this 

 substance is an essential ingredientof the grain. 



I have found during my geological researches 

 in Maine, that those soils which were derived from 

 the disintegration and decomposition of limestone 

 rocks, were the most remarkable for their wheat 

 crops. Such districts are very extensive in Maine, 

 and will ere long become exceedingly valuable as 

 grain soils. 



1 have seen, on a sintjle farm of less than 30 

 acres of unmanured land upon the Aroostook river 

 in Maine, no less than 1000 bushels of grain, prin- 

 cipally wheat, which was raised this last summer. 

 The soil is alluvial and derived from limestone. 

 In York and Oxford counties, I also noticed very 

 excellent crops of wheat in soils derived from the 

 disintegration of limestone, which alternates with 

 gneiss. The whole of the district between Houl- 

 ton and the Aroostook river, which is a portion of 

 the public lands, is a most valuable wheat soil oi" 

 immense importance to our country ; north of the 

 Aroostook to the St. John, a similar tract of good 

 soil exists, which in the course of time will be- 

 come a most valuable farming country. 



In the western part of Maine and throughout a 

 large |)ortion of Massachusetts the soil is wanting 

 in lime, and is frequently charged with sulphate 

 of iron. Such soils require liming in order to ren- 

 der them productive. In general we may say 

 that wherever ferruginous vvaters percolate from 

 a soil, that soil requires treatment with lime. The 

 sulphate of iron in this case is decomposed b}' 

 the lime or by the carbonate of lime, and gyp- 

 sum is the resulting product, while the iron is left 

 inert. Now we have a very simple calculation to 

 make as to the quantity of lime required for a soil 

 which is destitute of it, or which contains mat- 

 ters to be decomposed by it. Calculate by a sim- 

 ple trial how much lime is required for a given 

 measure of soil, and then calculate the superficial 

 contents of the field and multiply it by the depth 

 to which the lime will extend; other things being 

 equal, one per cent, of lime will be sufficient. 

 Ground bones form a valuable manure, and there 

 are mills now at work preparing them for our 

 farmers. Mr. Winchester, the soapmaker, for- 

 merly threw his refuse bones into the sea; but 

 lately, I understand, he has hired laborers to dig 

 them up for agricultural use. 



Burnt bones are easily crushed to powder in a 

 break mill, and will answer admirably as a top- 

 dressing. A few fagots are sufficient to burn a 

 large heap of bones, since the fat they contain aids 

 in the combustion.* The refuse bone black of our 

 sugar refineries is also a very valuable manure, 

 insomuch that proposals were made to the East 



* We should consider it very far better economy to 

 use this "faf contained in bones, as additional ma- 

 nure, instead of as fuel to burn and soften the harder 

 parts.— Ed. Far. Reg. 



