1S35.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



125 



quire three or four feet of covering of mould, be- 

 sides all the advantages that can be gained by se- 

 lection of a situation not less exposed to the sun; 

 and if the potatoes deposited were formed into 

 breaks or divisions of five, ten, or fifteen polls, 

 [bolls?] accordingto circumstances, with interven- 

 ing partitions to' prevent the access of air, there 

 is "little doubt, that by well contrived and well 

 constructed vaults or trenches, potatoes may be 

 kept in excellent condition, from the beginning ol 

 April till the end of October for domestic purposes, 

 as well as for the use of horses and cattle. 



G. 



From the Alexandria Gazette. 



STATE OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CA- 

 NAL,. 



A continuous canal is now open for navigation 

 110 miles from the basin, in Washington, to eight 

 miles above Williamsport. 



The entire cost of the canal, including all 

 expenses, estimated at $4,200,590. 



The canal from Georgetown to Little Falls is SO 

 feet wide at the water line, and 7 leet deep; and to 

 Harper's Ferry averages fully 60 leet in width and 

 6 in depth, from the point of eight miles above 

 Williamsport it is reduced to fifty in width and six 

 in depth, and will retain the same proportions to 

 Cumberland. 



There are no obstructions on the canal to pre- 

 vent the free passage- of steamboats; the only per- 

 manent bridge being at an elevation of 17 feet 

 above the water line. 



There are 52 locks, and the elevation of the ca- 

 nal as far as completed is 353 feet. 



There are five aqueducts, all constructed of 

 Bolid masonry, and 136 culverts. 



The canal is fed by five dams. They are con- 

 structed on the most approved plans, of the best 

 materials, and give promise of great strength and 

 durability. 



Engineers are now locating the line of the canal 

 to Cumberland. 



Experiments are now being made to test the 

 practicability of navigating the canal with steam- 

 boats. As yet nothing definite has been ascer- 

 tained, but the directors do not despair of ultimate 

 success. 



From the Norfolk Herald. 

 THE PORTSMOUTH AXE ROANOKE RAH. ROAD. 



The great usefulness of this road to the inhab- 

 itants of Southern Virginia, is becoming more pal- 

 pable every hour. We learn that the road has 

 been completed as far as "Murfee's Depot," in 

 Southampton County, (or, rather two miles be- 

 yond it,) distant 42 miles from Portsmouth, to 

 which point the cars pass daily. On Friday last, 

 60 or 70 bales of cotton horn the farms of Mr. 

 Newsom and Mr. Vaughan, of Southampton, 

 were received by the road in this borough, and im- 

 mediately disposed of! We farther learn, that a 

 considerable quantity of cotton is at the depot, 

 and will probably be brought down before this 

 paragraph is put to press. It gives us pleasure to 

 state, that 60 packages of goods, addressed to the 

 merchants of Southampton, were forwarded by 

 the rail road, on Saturday last,to their place of des- 

 tination. 



GYPSU.1I AS MANURE NOT INJURED BY BE- 

 ING HEATED. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Henrico, May 20th, 1835. 



In a late No. of your Register, T endeavored to 

 obtain information whether "gypsum submitted to 

 the action of a red heat would lose any of its li>r- 

 tilizing qualities." From your editorial remarks 

 in reply, I felt satisfied that the chemical combina- 

 tion of the lime and sulphuric acid, was not af- 

 fected by the heating process. Under this im- 

 pression, I have subsequently made a trial of it on 

 a small scale. If you should consider a statement 

 of the experiment of any importance, it is at your 

 service. 



Agreeably to the instructions of my employer, 

 on the first day of April last, I applied gypsum to 

 a considerable portion of clover of one and two 

 years old, at the rate of between three pecks and 

 a bushel to the acre. At the same time, I took 

 promiscuously from aheap of lump gypsum seve- 

 ral pieces, weighing in the whole 77 lbs. These 

 I had carefully heated to a red heat, when they 

 lost rather more than 25 per cent, of their original 

 weight. It was given to three of the plantation 

 hands, who in little more than fifteen minutes pre- 

 pared it for sowing— it then filled a half bushel 

 measure slightly heaped. I applied it to a ridge 

 of clover situated between two ridges which had 

 unburned gypsum applied to them in the same 

 proportion, and on the same day and without any 

 possible difference of the soil. The benefit de- 

 rived from the application of the gypsum has been 

 hio'hly satisfactory, nor does there appear to be the 

 slightest difference in the benefit resulting from 

 the burned and unburned gypsum. So lar as this 

 experiment has gone, though on a very limited 

 scale, I feel satified that the great fertilizing pow- 

 ers of gypsum are not impaired by heating, while 

 the process of pulverizing it is greatly facilitated. 



I consider the heating of gypsum to a degree 

 sufficient to dispel its proportion of wafer, a good 

 test of its quality, and consequently, of its value 

 as a manure. Gypsum which loses, on being 

 heated, from 25 to 30 per cent, of its weight, I 

 think may be considered about the best quality for 

 manure. If, on heating, it should lose less than 25 

 per cent., I think it highly probable that it con- 

 tains some foreign substance, which would lessen 

 its fertilizing qualities, and of course, render it of 

 much less value. 



Gypsum presents considerable variety and di- 

 versity of appearance, and with the view of ascer- 

 taining whether any real difference existed as to 

 quality, I selected a few pieces, on which I tried 

 the effects of heat. The following are a few of 

 the results: 



1st. A piece of gypsum of light blue color, tex- 

 ture hard, having an oily or greasy appearance, 

 lost, on being heated to a red heat, 26 per cent, of 

 its original weight. 



2nd. Do. of a white color, interspersed with 

 veins of a reddish brown — texture very hard, 

 presenting much the appearance of marble — lost 

 23 per cent. 



3rd. Do. of a dull white color — spotted with 

 bright red and gray, having cavities lined with 

 transparent crystals. Lost only 17 per cent. 



4th. Do. of a dull white color, with light blue 



