THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



291 



inexperienced. As intimated in a former number, 

 the writer, with others, has already been injured 

 by it. Hence the great necessity of a close and 

 intimate acquaintance with this whole matter, 

 before we tamper with an article so dangerous, (d.) 

 As a mortified and disappointed larmer, then, I 

 do hereby call on those who are now reaping the 

 rich harvest of their successful enterprises, to 

 come forward and tell me and the public the 

 whole secret of their success. And as I have 

 reason to fear that the farmers will do on this, as 

 they have done on many similar occasions, put 

 off the thing from time to time, until it will never 

 be done, I do in my own name, and in the 

 name of many others, call particularly on the 

 editor to take this matter in hand once more, 

 and to give us the result of his long and intimate 

 acquaintance with this subject. In common 

 with many others, I hereby record my great 

 and lasting obligations lor what the editor has 

 already done; but he will allow me to say, that 

 his previous communications have dealt too much 

 in mere generals. Being intimate with the sub- 

 ject himself, he has fallen into the error, too 

 common among writers, of supposing that his 

 readers also had some acquaintance with the sub- 

 ject. Whereas many, if not most of us, are still 

 profoundly ignorant, and thus venturing in the 

 dark, have sustained considerable injury. What 

 we seek for then is not generals, but particulars. 

 And that the editor may be at no loss to know 

 on what points we wish to be informed, 1 will 

 here state a lew of them. We wish particularly 

 to know, 



1st. What kind of land lime specially bene- 

 fits. Whether silicious, or argillacious, or a 

 loam? (e.) 



2d. What kind of a sub-soil it ought to have. 

 Whether a red or white clay, or hard pan? (/.) 



3d. W hat proportion is proper to the acre on 

 each kind. 



4th, In what state it ought to be applied. 

 Whether caustic or mild'?(g.) 



5th. What is the most suitable time to make 

 the application. 



6th. On which can most reliance be placed, on 

 stone-lime, on shells, or on marl 1 



7th. Ought the applicatien to be made as a top- 

 dressing, or immediately covered? 



8th. What crops are most benefited by it, and 

 what crop ought immediately to Ibllovv the appli- 

 cation? 



9ih. At what intervals ought the process to be 

 repeated ? {h.) 



10th. Is it ever safe to apply it to poor naked 

 land? (i.) 



I have stated these queries just as they occur- 

 red to my own mind, without any reference to 

 order, and I should be very ihanklul for a minute 

 answer to each of them. 



Having now professed my ignorance of this 

 whole subject, it may seem strange to say, that 1 

 have any theory at all about it. But the fact is, 

 I have experimented a little, and, with the aid ol 

 observation, reading and thought, have ventured 

 to form my own theory ; a.nd, as it diti'ers some- 

 what from any I have seen, I will frankly detail ii. 



According to the best information I have been 

 able to obtain, the use of lime as an improver has 

 been of recent date, Virgil, in his Georgics, and 

 other Roman writers on agriculture, as far as I 



recollect, make no mention of it in this respect. 

 About Ibrty years ago. Sir Humphry Davy esta- 

 blished his experimental farm in England. Pre- 

 vious to this but little wheat was raised in that 

 country. Their supplies were derived, for the 

 most part, li-om other portions of the world. In- 

 deed, the opinion was very general that wheat 

 could not be raised advantageously in that coun- 

 try. In this state of things. Sir Humphry, among 

 his other experiments, after applying lime to his 

 particular soil, succeeded in raising fine crops of 

 this grain 5 from which he drew the general con- 

 clusion that lime was the great desideratum, and 

 that the soil of England would produce wheat 

 when supplied with this article. With this high 

 authority before them, the farmers of that country 

 senerally resorted to the use of lime, and, whe- 

 ther it is owing to this cause, or to other sources 

 of improvement, the fact is, that England has 

 become one of the best wheat growing countries, 

 so that it now produces a large proportion of its 

 needful supplies, (j.) But it is worthy of re- 

 mark, that the ardor which once prevailed on this 

 subject seems now, in a great measure, to have 

 subsided. We constantly hear much said about 

 other and newer manures, but we hear but little 

 said about lime. From this I conclude, that lime 

 with them has pretty well had its day — the whole 

 energies of this enterprising people being now di- 

 rected to other materials, which are probably des- 

 tined in their time to be superseded by something 

 newer, and therefore still better. (A;,) 



How long lime has been used in this country, 

 and where its use commenced, I frankly confess 

 my ignorance ; but, if I am not greatly mistaken, 

 its general use in Virginia commenced after the 

 publication of the editor's 'Essay on Calcareous 

 Manures.' And here, without intending any com- 

 pliment to iVIr. Ruflin, I consider it but sheer jus- 

 tice to say, that to him we are indebted for most, 

 if not all, the benefits which have resulted li-om 

 the use of this article. After expressing myself 

 as above, it may seem strange that I should wish 

 to impose on him still more trouble. It is simply 

 because I like what he has written so well, that I 

 wish him to write more, in which new effort 1 

 hope he will not deal with us as having taken 

 our diploma in this art, but will condescend to 

 treat us as A B C scholars. 



There is, however, one term frequently occur- 

 ring in the above treatise, and often repeated in 

 almost every subsequent treatise, to which, if I 

 understand it aright, I must offer my unqualified 

 protest. The term alluded to is, that lime is spe- 

 cially useful in fixing the manures in the soil. 

 The old theory was, that lime was not an enricher, 

 but acted as a stimulant, powerfully urging vege- 

 tation to seek and to appropriate to itself all the 

 nutriment that might be in its reach. This theo- 

 ry seems to be now very generally exploded, and 

 in lieu of it, we are told that its special use is in 

 fixing the manures in the soil. Now what is the 

 meaning of this word fixing ? Are we to under- 

 stand by it, as it seems naturally to import, that, 

 by applications of lime, manures are made more 

 permanent and durable, and thus actually last 

 longer ?(i.) If this be the meaning, the editor and 

 I, and all others who un'erstand the thing in this 

 way, must join issue. For what is lime? And 

 here, without attempting a chemical analysis of 

 this substance, it will answer my present purpose 



