HINDRANCES AND HELPS 



that the value of gypsum is due entirely to the 

 lime which it introduces into the soil; — the 

 sulphuric acid, which played such a lively game 

 under the pen of Dr. Dana — counting for noth- 

 ing. 



By the time this stage of the inquiry is 

 reached, the investigating young farmer, with 

 whom I entered upon this illustration, might 

 be safely supposed to be slightly muddled ; and 

 yet, with a comparatively clear recollection of 

 the last-presented theory in his mind, he might 

 farther be supposed to consider the propriety 

 of buying lime at eight cents a bushel, rather 

 than gypsum at sixty cents. 



But he has hardly formed this decision, and 

 seen his lime dumped upon his clover-field, 

 when he receives a copy of Dr. Liebig's final 

 work upon the Natural Laws of Husbandry. 

 Turning with nervous haste to the doctor's 

 discussion of the sulphate of lime, he finds these 

 startling statements: "It may be safely as- 

 sumed that in cases where gypsum is found 

 to be favorable to the growth of clover, the 

 cause must not be sought for in the lime; and 

 since arable soil has the property of absorbing 

 ammonia from the air and rain water, and 

 -fixing it in a higher degree than salts of lime, 

 there is only the sulphuric acid left to look to 



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