FARMERS' REGISTER 



301 



it is desirable to clean out the roost, the poles be- 

 ing loose are removed; the supports working on a 

 pivot are raised and fastened up, then all is clear, 

 for the work is clearing out. 1 next provide the 

 chickens with corn, oats and buckwheat, in 3 se- 

 parate apartments, holding about half a bushel 

 each, which are kept always su[)[)lied. They eat 

 less, I find, if allowed to help themselves to what 

 they want than it' ted to them in the usual way: 

 for in the latter case each tries to get as much as 

 it can, and thus burdens itself, but finding in the 

 former case tliat they have abundance, they eat 

 little, and that generally in the mornin<r early, and 

 in the evening going to roost. I have 60 chickens, 

 and they eat about 6 quarts per day of the three 

 kinds of grain, in the proportion of twice as much 

 corn as buckwheat or oats. In the roost is also 

 placed a trough of water, renewed every other 

 day; burnt oyster shells, shell-marl and ashes. 

 A row of nests is constructed after a plan of my 

 own, and does well. If is a box 10 feet long and 

 18 inches wide ; the bottom level, the top sloping 

 at an angle of 45 degrees to prevent the chickens 

 roosting on it ; the top opens on hinges. The nests, 

 eight in number, are one foot square ; the remain- 

 ing six inches of the width is a passaije way next 

 to the wall, open at each end of the box, anti an- 

 other opening midway of the box. The advan- 

 tage is to give the hens the apparent secrecy they 

 are so fond of. 



The following are the advantages of this plan 

 of keeping chickens. By having a roosting place 

 partly under ground, the chickens can keep warm- 

 er through the winter than any roost above ground 

 could be made without fire; and this is absolutely 

 necessary to induce ihem to lay. When i'ed plen- 

 tifully in the winter ihey lay enough eggs to pay 

 for the grain, and in the spring they will repay 

 fourfold. Even now, February 17th, our hens lay 

 enough eggs to pay twice over for the irrain they 

 eat. [ would recommend this plan lo all who wish 

 to make their chickens profitable. As Ibwls are 

 very troublesome, running about the (arm, I pro- 

 pose to enclose a few rods square of ground, with 

 a pale fence 8 feet high, and confine them in that, 

 allowing them occasionally a little more liberty. 



Respectfully yours, 



E. H. Vanuxem. 



Long-Branch, N. J., Feb. 17, 1840. 



CALCAREOUS MANURES. 



From tlie Southern Cabinet. 



Sir — Attention to the uses of calcareous ma- 

 nures has greatly increased within the last year 

 or two, and many in(|uire of me as to the appear- 

 ance, the component parts, and mode of usinir it 

 on land. I always refer them to Mr. Rufiin's 

 book, and to his valuable periodical publications, 

 for practical instruction. I have various speci- 

 mens of marl, and of the magnesian lime-stone, 

 found in that portion of our slate which ranges 

 within eighty or ninety miles of the sea-coast from 

 North Carolina to Georgia. I now leave some of 

 them at your office lor inspection. I believe that it 

 may be found in almost every parish of this portion 

 of the state, and on the banks of most of our water 

 courses. Several valuable beds have been discover- 

 ed within two years, where they were not previous- 



ly known to be, and where' they would probably 

 have passed unnoticed, but for the interest lately 

 excited by its valuable effects as a manure in Vir- 

 ginia, New Jersey, and elsewhere. I have seen 

 ft in Si. Matthew's parish, at Pinckney's ferry, 

 and Caldwell's plantation, near McCord's ferry, 

 and in the neighborhood of Manchester. I have 

 heard of it in Barnwell near the Lower Three 

 Runs, and on the Peedee river below Society Hill : 

 but do not know of its having been found above, 

 this line, until we come to the fine limestone rock 

 in Sparlanburgh. 



Most ol'what [ have seen can be dug very near 

 the surface of the earth, and reduced to powder 

 with very little trouble — some will moulder into 

 powder by drying in the weather. The harder 

 Idnd requires burning and slacking like lime, to 

 make it fine enough lor manure. In this state I 

 am disposed to believe that it is peculiarly suited 

 to cold, clayey, stiff soils. The fossil shells, large 

 and small, and the marine shells on the sea-coast, 

 of course require to be burned and slacked before 

 they can be useil as manure. 



The following results were obtained from some 



of the specimens analyzed — each one hundred 



grains : 



Lime. Magnesia. Clay and sand. 



Dr. P. G. Prioleau's, 



on Wassamasaw 50 grs. 40 grs. 6 grs. 

 Do., at Isaac Brad- 

 well's - - - - 33 45 8 

 Isaac Bradwell's, on 



Four Holes - - 50 28 10 



J. J., near Inabnel's, 



on do. - - - - 19 63 II 



John Brisbane's, 



Ashley river - - 41 27 24 



Uo., High-land 34 40 23 



C. G. Capers, St. 



Helena Island - 38 25 28 



J. J., Indian-field 



creek - - - - 30 30 35 



Frederick Porcher, near the Santee canal. 



Mrs. Laurens, near Mepkin bridge. 



Dr. P. G. Prioleau, near Biggin bridge; and 

 several others not preserved. 



The result is from twenty to fifty per ct. of lime, 

 and from twenty-five to sixty-three per cf. of mag- 

 nesia. Itj as some believe, the magnesia is as 

 valuable as the lime, in this earth as a manure, 

 then may we account for iis fine effects, lor we 

 have of the two united from sixty to ninety per 

 ct. of active ingredients in the marl. Some have 

 been discouraged fron) the use of marl, by observ- 

 ing that the stony lumps of hard marl have been 

 for ages ploughed up in some fields that are still 

 poor and unproductive. We believe tliat if these 

 gentlemen would make the old negroes and child- 

 ren collect these stones, and either beat them as 

 fine as brick dust, or burn them, so that they 

 could be easily pulverized and intermixed with the 

 soil, then the produce of their barren fields would 

 be increased ten per cent, the first year, fiiiy per 

 cent, the second year, and progressively increased 

 every year to three hundred or lour hundred per 

 cent, beyond what they now obtain. It may be 

 asked by some, what are they to do who cannot 

 readily procure marl ? We refer them to the ana- 

 lysis of marls, that they may obtain a substance 

 as near as possible to the nature of marl. The 

 marls of Europe and the norilij consist almost en- 



