690 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



It is worthy of remark that contiguous to the 

 land already dcecribed as Imvinjf leceived tlie 

 green-sand, there were about 30 acres resembling 

 it originally, but much impoverished by cultiva- 

 lion, upon which a very liberal su[)ply of iarm-|)en 

 and stable manure was spread at the time the 

 other received the green-sand preparatory to plant- 

 ing corn. On buin these parts ol' the field the 

 corn was eijuaily good — (he succeedir.g crop o( 

 wheat however was much more promising, belbre 

 the rust took it, on the manured part ; but the 

 clover very interior to that which grew where the 

 green-sand was spread. Tliis appears a strong 

 proofof the excellence of'green-sand as a manure 

 ibr clover. 



ThuB, Mr. Editor, have 1 answered four of 

 your queries, and 1 h^ pe at a future day, to be 

 able to testily as to " the permanency of ihe 

 beneficial effects of green-sand," which consti- 

 tutes your fifth and last query. 

 Very respectlully, 



your obedient servant, 



Williams Cartek. 



Concluding Remarks by the Editor. 



The preceding interes'ing communication on 

 the use and effecls of green-sand alone was not 

 received until the 25ih of November, alter all the 

 foregoing remarks and answers were in type. 

 The facte slated deserve the attentive considera- 

 tion of all who desire to understand the aciion of 

 green-sand. No particular comments will here 

 be offered ; and it will be left to readers to draw 

 their own inlerenccs as to whether the effects just 

 slated are most in airreemenl with my views 

 before presented, or with the n\ore auihoriiiitive 

 and more prevalent opinion of this eanli being a 

 general feriilizer. 



One more statement of practice in regard to 

 both the early and la!er tllecis of green-saml, 

 without any calcareous admixture or accompani- 

 ment, will be added — and which, indeed, is the 

 only such fact known, except of my own former 

 practice and experiments, on the general resulis 

 of which have been IbiincJed the oj)inions stated 

 at page 680, and in vurious previous parts of this 

 journal. 



The early effects of ihe trial referred to, were 

 communicated by Dr. IJraxion to the Farmers' 

 Register, more than four years airo, and may be 

 seen at page 277 of V^ol. IV. After mentioning 

 several smaller and less careful experiments with 

 green-sand as manure, which, though generally 

 producing good effects, and therefore encouraging 

 the repetition, were not of a decisive character — 

 because not entirely separate I'rom calcareous mat- 

 ter, and, moreover, not observed beyond the early 

 results — he proceeds thus to describe what may 

 be considered as an accurate as well as a long 

 continued experiment : 



■ " But the most decided proofof its beneficial 

 eflip-cts, was evidenced on cotton. I selected, as 

 I thought, the poorest spot on the Itirm where I 

 reside, the spring of 1835, (beinij a part of one of 

 those cattle-starving, comloit-killmi^ appendajjcs, 

 called a standing-pasture,) and Itillovved up a fiivv 

 acres which I put in cotton ; the whole was ma- 

 nured in the drill with coarse litter. On about 3 

 acres, the litter in the drills was top-dressed with 



creen sand at about 100 bueliels to the acre ; but 

 I slionki observe, that this green-sand was of an 

 inferior quality to tliat used with the celery and 

 corn, not being fiom the same deposiie, and being 

 ihe upper, or overlying stratum ofihe tertiary for- 

 mation, containing about 30 per cent, o) green- 

 sand and 5 of gypsum, most ol it having no lime 

 at all. On another acre, old ashes in about the 

 same proportion were opjilied, in the same way, 

 and the cultivation was precisely tJie same on 

 these 4 acres, as on the rest of the patch. Where 

 the green-sand and ashes were put, I could see 

 no diflisrence ; but between that, and where no 

 marl [green-sand] or ashes were put, it was us Jive 

 to one, or more. Where the green-sand and 

 ashes vvere applied, ihe cotton was of fine size, 

 and as well branched and boiled as I ever saw 

 cotton, vvljile tfiai of the otlier was small and tri- 

 fhntr — scarcely worth any thing." 



The ground which was the sufject of this ex- 

 periment, after being in oats the lollowing year, 

 (1836,) has since, togetfier wiih ihe field in gene- 

 ral, been returned to its former use of standing 

 pasture. 1 saw the place during my recent visit 

 to Dr. Braxton, and under his guidance. There 

 was a very thin sprinkling of red clover over the 

 field generally, and this was somewhat thicker, 

 and therefore the land might be considered as bel- 

 ter, on the site of this Ibrmer manuring ihan 

 elsewhere. But this difleience was so sliitht, that 

 neither of us could trace any part of the Ibrmer 

 outline of the manured part, by the ditlerence of 

 the stand of clover, or by any other mark of supe- 

 riority. 



Neither was there any difference perceptible 

 between the two parts manured several'y by 100 

 bushels of drawn athes and by 100 bushels of 

 sreen-sand earth, containiiiir (according to Pro- 

 lessor Rogers' stalemeni) 30 per cent, ol' pure 

 green-sand and 5 per cent, ol yypsum to the acre ; 

 and indeed it had been Ibrgoiten, and could not be 

 recollected, on which side of tfie lot the two differ- 

 ent manures had been used. Allowing every 

 thing thai can be now claimed by the most san- 

 guine or confiding advocate of green-sand, the 

 present superiority of the land so manured cannot 

 exceed filiy per cent., if indeed it be so much ; 

 which is a diminution of seven-eighths, or more, 

 of the superiority shown on the first crop. More- 

 over, of the small superiority still remaining, over 

 the unmanured surrounding field, it may be ques- 

 tioned whether a part of ii is not due to the 5 

 bushels of gypsum to the acre, even if all the 

 etiect of the rough putrescent manure be (as 1 can 

 well believe) entirely at an end. 



If no other benefit should grow out of this pub- 

 lication, and the suirujeslion of these doub's of the 

 truth of scientific dicta, it is hoped that it will im- 

 press on the farmers of ihis region the high impor- 

 tance of testing, by accurate and numerous expe- 

 riments, the value, and then ascertaining t.he kind 

 and the limits of aciion, of green-sand as manure. 

 In a single year, by muliiplied experiments on va- 

 rious soils, diH'erent crops, and under different cir- 

 cumstances, all dispute and obscurity could be re- 

 moved as to early elfects; and by continued obser- 

 vation of the same experiments, or a sufficient 

 portion of them, a lew years' time would apply 

 the test to the degree of permanency of effect. 

 If such had been the course advised, and acted 

 upon, when publis attention was first drawn to the 



