1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



361 



cultural prosperity of a country. In the neigh- 

 borhood of great cities, alimentary manures being 

 furnished on good terms, may well vivify the soil: 

 but animal manures cannot suffice but in a few 

 situations, and of small extent — and in every 

 country where tillage is highly prosperous, im- 

 proving manures are in use. The Department of 

 the North (of France,) Belgium, and England, 

 owe to them, in a great measure, their prosperity. 

 The Department of the North, (which is, of all 

 Europe, the country where agriculture is best 

 practiced, and the most productive,) spends every 

 year, upon two-thirds of its soil, a million of francs 

 in lime, marl, ashes of peat and ol dead coal [hnt- 

 illej*} and it is principally to these agents, and nut 

 to the quality of the soil, that the superiority of iis 

 production is owing. The best of iis soil makes 

 part of the same basin, is of the same formation, 

 and same quality, as a great part of Artois and 

 Picardy, of which the products are scarcely equal 

 to half the rate of the North. Neither is it the 

 quantity of meadow land which causes i; 

 riority; that makes but the fifth part ol its extent, 

 and Lille, the best x/rrondissement, has scarcely 

 a twentieth of its surface in meadow, while Aves- 

 ne, the worst of all, has one-third. Nor can any 

 great additional value be attributed to the artificial 

 meadows, since, they are not met with except in 

 the twenty-sixth part of the whole s; ace. Neither 

 can this honor be due to the ;ion of naked 



fallows, since in this country ol pattern husbandry, 

 they yet take up one-sixth of the ploughed land, 

 every year. Finally, the Flemings have but one 

 head of large cattle lor everv two hectares^ ol 

 land, a proportion exceeded in a great part of 

 France. Their great products then are due to 

 their excellent economy and use of' manures, to 

 the assiduous labor ol' the farmers, to cou 

 crops well arranged, but. above all, we think, to 

 the improvers of soil, which they join to their al- 

 imentary manures. Two-thirds of their land re- 

 ceive these regularly: and it is to the reciprocal 

 reaction of these two agents of melioration, that 

 appears to be due the uninterrupted succession of 

 fecundity, which astonishes ail those who are not 

 accustomed continually to see the products of this 

 region. 



At this moment, upon all points in France, ag- 

 riculture, after the example of the other arts of in- 

 dustry, is bringing forth improvements; in all parts 

 especially, cultivators are trying, or wishing to try, 

 lime, marl, ashes, animal black. It is this partic- 

 ular point in progress, above all, for which light is 

 wanting; and this opinion has induced the prepa- 

 ration of this publication. Since more than SO 

 years, the author has devoted himself] from incli- 

 nation, to agriculture; but he has been especially 

 attentive to calcareous manures. He has studied 

 in the practice of much extent of country, in his 

 own particularly, in personal experiments, and in 

 what has been written on them both by foreign- 

 ers and countrymen. An Essay on Marl% has 



been the first, fruit of his labors; an Essay on the 

 use of lime will soon be ready: it is with these 

 materials that he. now sets himself to work. To 

 prepare for this object, a series of articles, of the 

 nature of a recapitulation ratherthan of a regular 

 work, it was necessary to be concise, and yet" not 

 lo omit any thing essential. It is proper then that 

 he should limit himself to the prominent parts of 

 his subject, those especially useful to practice. His 

 advice will then be as often empirical as regular, 

 and his directions will be precise, although sup- 

 ported by lew d velopemients. 



An extract from tiiis work has appeared in the 

 Encyclopedic dgricole: here it will again appear, 

 but by separaie articles, which will be corrected 

 by a systematic general view of theory, founded 

 Lice. This is the moment for multiplying 

 publications on this subject, becausethat in almost 

 all parts of France, it is the point in ajxrieulture 

 most controverted — that which induces the most 

 labor and the greatest expenditures — which pre- 

 sents most doubts — and which has consequently 

 mot need of being made clear. 



We shall not enlarge here upon the. manner in 

 which improving manures act: we will put off this 

 important question, with its developements to 

 the article on lime. Here we only present the 

 theory. Hereafter, that which we will hazard 

 will be founded upon facts, and yet we will not 

 promise these develo] ements, but for the purpose 

 of enlightening and directing practice. 



Of the various kinds of improving manures. 



The first in order, and the most important, are 

 the calcareous manures. We comprehend under 

 this name, lime, mar!, old plastering mortar, and 

 other rubbish of demolished buildings, beds of fos- 

 sil shells, [falun,]* or shelly substances, plaster or 

 gypsum: experience and reason will prove that 

 we oughl to arrange in the same class, and by 

 side of the others, wood ashes, ground bones, and 

 burnt hones. We will not place in the same list 

 the ashes of peat, of dead coal, and red pyritous 

 ashes: their effect is not owing to their lime, but 

 (as will be seen afterwards,) rather to the effect of 

 fire, upon the earthy parts, and particularly upon the 

 argil which they contain. 



We will next in order treat of manures of the 

 sea, of saline manure of different kinds, of mix- 

 tures of earths, of calcined clay: and finally, of 

 paring and burning the turf, and the different 

 questions which peat presents in agriculture. 



*Statistique du departeinent du Nord. 



fThe hectare is very nearly equal to two and a half 

 English (or American) acres. See account of French 

 Weights and Measures, p. 508, Vol. II. 'Farm. Reg. — 

 Tr. 



%Essai surli marne, published 1826, at Paris. This 

 is the first notice which wc have had of the existence 

 Vol. II!— 46 



of this work, and have forthwith sent for a copy, as 

 well as for one of the author's forthcoming Essay on 

 the use of lime, that no source of information on this 

 important subject may be excluded. But it may be 

 inferred (from the author's expressions.) that these 

 more extended works will contain nothing more of 

 what is essential, than is presented in this condensed 

 form, prepared by himself for the Annates. Ed. Far. 

 Reg. 



*-'F.ihrn— Beds Formed by shells. There is one of 

 these immense 1> ds in Touraine. The cultivators of 

 that country ihelly earth to improve their 



fields." This definition, is from Rozier's Cours Com- 

 plete and though it clearly shows that the substance in 

 question is the same as what is called "marl" in Virgi- 

 nia, it is equally clear that neither of these authors 

 consider falun as being marl. Tit. 





