F A R xM E R S ' REGISTER, 



629 



a'so, for llie reason above staled, wanted the con- 

 firniaiion ol'any accurate comparative experiment. 

 This was the general operation of calcareous ma- 

 nures to forward the riijonin-r of all crops ; and 

 this cd'ect on cotton is especially valuable in our 

 climaie, tliouizh not in your warmer region. In 

 Ihe five years liuring which I planted cotton ex- 

 tensively, there was no material diminution of the 

 quantity of any croj), caused by the liost dcsiroy- 

 iiii^ unripe pods ; and in only one of ilie years, ac- 

 cording to my present recolieciion, was there any 

 notable, or nolicfd, portion of the last gathered 

 cotton, injured in quality by being made yellow, 

 by the severity of liost on the green pods; which 

 is a very common evil in the cotton crops here, 

 on lands not calcareous. As to general pro- 

 duct, my richest lot of 25 acres, produced more 

 than 1000 pounds of seed-cotton (short staple, 

 of course,) to ihe acre. Two acres, sepii- 

 rately and accurately measured, produced 1300 

 lbs. to the acre. These were the weights as 

 brought from the field, and by weighing the day's 

 work of each hand at night. Of course, the sub- 

 pequent drying would have reduced these weights. 

 The above products were on very good soil, slighf- 

 iy calcareous naturally, and made more so by marl- 

 ing. On another field, naturally poor and acid, 

 but improved by mailing, to the product of 30 

 busliels of corn to the acre, the first and best pro- 

 duct of cotton (weighed as gathered) was barely 

 600 lbs., and which soon lell to 300 and less to the 

 acre in subsequent cultivations. It may be proper 

 to slate that cotton cultivation was continued on 

 the same land several years in succession, as long 

 as the crop was raised on ihe farm, 



JM y applic itionsofcalcareons manures were con- 

 fined to eheli-nsarl; consequently, the lime was 

 always in the mild, orcarbonated sta e. Between 

 quick-lime and any of the Ibrms of carbonate of 

 lime, my choice would be directed sole'y by ihe 

 consideration of the greater cheapness in applica- 

 tion of the one or the other. Deeming, however, 

 that the caustic quality of burnt lime is rarely if 

 ever desirable in the soil, I would prefer such 

 mode of treating quick-lime, whether of shells or 

 stone, as would most facilitate its becoming carbo- 

 nated, belbre being applied to the soil, or as soon 

 after, anil effectually, as possible. In the admit- 

 ted absence of any experimental knowledge of my 

 own on this head, and therefore relying on the opi- 

 nions of others, 1 would especially recommend to 

 the cotton planters of Edisto, the practice of the late 

 Fielding Lewis of Virginia, (which is general on 

 the liming (arms of James River,) in regard to shell- 

 lime, applied alone, and to the directions of M. 

 Puvis, in his valuable ' Essay on Lime,' (or mak- 

 ing composts of lime and rich vegetable soil. The 

 first of these articles is in the first volume of 

 Farmers' Register, and the translation of M. 

 Puvis' woik in the third volume, both of which 

 were formerly furnished to your snciet}', and I 

 presume remain in its library. Where marsh 

 grass and mud are so extensively used lor manure, 

 as on your coast, I should suppose that the mak- 

 ing of compost heaps of those alimentary ma- 

 nures with quick-lime, would greatly add to the 

 separate values of all the difiiirenl materials. 



Knowing so little as I do of the soil and agrici]!- 



ture of the sea-islands of South Carolina, 1 am 



well aware that any opinions of mine bearing on 



their particular qualities or defects, must be of 



Vol. VHI.-67 



very little worth. But with this general admis- 

 sion, and notwithstanding my very high opinion 

 of ihe value of calcareous manures, I must beg 

 leave to dissent Ircm the opinion of Professoc 

 Shepard, which you quote. Thai the natural pro- 

 portion of comminuted shells in these soils waa 

 the source of their original and long enduring 

 Itjrtility, 1 lully believe ; and, as nmch, thai the ar- 

 tificial addition of calcareous matter, wlu're Imu a 

 trace remains, and siil! more where no caibonute of 

 lime is now found, would be highly advantageous. 

 But the disappearance of ihe carbonate of lime in 

 these soils, (as Ibund by the analyses of Proli^ssor 

 Shepard,) does not, in my opinion, indicate the re- 

 moval of what formerly existed there, at least in 

 any great dcL^ree ; but rather, by ils being acted on 

 by Ihe acid of the soil, its chanire from the carbonate 

 10 some other salt of lime. The general reasons 

 for this opinion have been given at length in the 

 chapter on the " Proofs of the existence of acid 

 and neutral soils," in the ' Essay on Calcareous 

 Manures.' And the new form in which the lime 

 remains, seems to be no less beneficial as a ferti- 

 lizer, and fixer and retainer of oiher fertilizing 

 matters, than its original torn) of carbonate of 

 lime. 



It is true that there are two natural modes of 

 operation by which carbonate of lime in soil may 

 be coniinually abstracted or removed, ihoui/h in 

 very small amounts. All grovving plants take up 

 some lime from the soil in wiiirh tlie}^ stand, and 

 though the quantity is usually very minute, still 

 that small quantity is absolutely necessary to the 

 healthy existence and fierliiction of every plant. 

 And, in this belief, I thence inlJ'.r, that every fi-il, 

 capable of producing any vegei:)b!o. cover, must 

 contain some trace of lime in some state of combi- 

 nation, (though almost no natural soils in the Ai- 

 lantic Slates contain the smallest portion of the 

 carbonate of lime ;) and that without some mi- 

 nute portion of lime, every soil vvouLl be entirely 

 barren and naked. In short, that it is simply and 

 solely the presence of lime, and the operation of 

 this lime in combining with, and fixing alimenta- 

 ry matters, that serve to form what we term soil, 

 which, whether rich or poor, is always strongly 

 contrasled with the entirely barren sub-soil below. 



But though the crops grown on the soil, and 

 especially when annually and generally carried 

 off, must take away a part of the lime of the soil, 

 the quantity is so small, that a century would 

 scarcely show a sensible diminution. And if a 

 manuring system were kept up, as is the case 

 with your cotton-lands, the probability is, that the 

 vegetable manure applied would contain and re- 

 store to the soil fully as much as was taken off in 

 the crop?. Indee 1, if, as I suppose, the cottoix 

 fibre alone be removed from the sea-island fields, 

 there would be very little loss of lime to the land, 

 the fibre being almost entirely composed of car- 

 bon. 



Another source of loss of carbonate of lime to 

 soil is by its solution in rain-water, and being thrs 

 carried away in torrents, or descending to form 

 springs. Carbonate of lime is insoluble in water 

 alone, and therefore would be subject lo no sucli 

 cause of waste. But rain-water has dissolved ia 

 it a small proportion of carbonic acid, and so far 

 is made a solvent of carl onaie > f lime. It is by 

 the percolation of rain-water that all limestone 

 waters are formed; and as soon as they lose 



