1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



391 



and ponds there situated do not produce the same 

 unhealthiness, and even the marshy grounds there 

 are less unhealthy. 



The waters which spring out of, or run over cal- 

 careous beds, are always healthy to drink. The 

 borers of Artesian wells are anxious that the wa- 

 ter which they obtain, to be good, may come out 

 of the calcareous strata which they go through. 

 When the waters which hold carbonate of lime 

 in solution in carbonic acid* run over the surface, 

 they give health to the meadows, in changing the 

 nature and quantity of the products. 



Linnaeus thought that the unhealthiness of most 

 countries depended on the nature of the water, 

 and was owing to the argillaceous particles which 

 they contain: now these, argillaceous particles are 

 always precipitated by the calcareous compounds. 

 For this reason, the waters which stand upon, or 

 run over marl, or calcareous rock, are almost al- 

 ways limpid and clear, because the argillaceous 

 particles have been precipitated by the effect ol 

 the solution in the water ol the calcareous princi- 

 ple, which is itself dissolved by an excess of car- 

 bonic acid. 



We are not far from believing then, that throw- 

 ing rich marl, or limestone, into a well of muddy 

 and brackish water, might have the effect, in part 

 at least, of clearing it, and making it healthy to 

 drink. This remedy, if it should not be as useful 

 as we think, at least could not produce any injury. 



Lime, in all its combinations, des'roys the mias- 

 mata dangerous to life. Its chloride annihilates 

 all bad odors, arrests putrefaction, and in short, lias 

 subjected the plague of Egypt to the skill and 

 courage of Parieet. The white wash of lime upon 

 infected buildings, upon the walls and manners of 

 stables, is regarded as set-vino - to destroy the con- 

 tagions miasmata ol" epidemic and epizootic dis- 

 eases. 



Lime destroys the plants of humid and marshy 

 soils, and makes spring those suitable to better 

 soils: then its effect, is to give healthiness or vigor 

 to the soil, to dry it, and make it more mellow and 

 permeable. The water then is no longer without 

 motion, and altered consequently in its condition. 

 The. limed soil then, to the depth it is ploughed, 

 ought to change the nature of its emanations, as 

 well as its products: and if the lower strata or 

 s,ubsoil, send up emanations, these effluvia in pass- 

 ing through the improved layers of soil, where the 

 calcareous agent is always at, work, and develop- 

 ing all its affinities, oucht also to be modified, and 

 take the character of those of the upper bed. The 

 limed soil then, it would seem, ought to be made 

 healthy. 



But what we maintain here by induction, by 

 reasoning, is fortunately a fact of extensive expe- 

 rience. Among all the countries in which lime 

 has carried and established fertility, there is not 

 cited, that I know of, a single one where intermit- 

 tent fevers prevail — while that they have not dis- 

 appeared in the country even where an active cul- 



*As in limestone water, lime with the greatest pro- 

 portion with which it can combine of carbonic acid, 

 (forming super-carbonate of lime,) is soluble in water. 

 The excess of acid is lost by heat, by exposure to air, 

 8cc. and then the lime is in the form of carbonate — and 

 being insoluble in water, falls separate to the bottom. 

 Ed. Far. Reg. 



ture draws good products from the impermeable 

 argilo-silicious soil. 



44. To extend the great benefit of healthiness 

 to the whole of a country, it is no doubt necessary 

 that the whole country should receive the health- 

 giving agent. However, on every farm, in pro- 

 portion as liming is extended over its surface, the 

 chances of disease will be seen to diminish — and 

 the healthiness of the country will keep pace with 

 the progress of its fertility. 



Result of the use of improving manures onthe soil 

 of France in general. 



Three-fourths of the whole territory of France, 

 to be rendered fruitful, have need of calcareous 

 agents. If the third of this extent has already 

 received them, (which we believe U above the 

 truth,) upon the other two-thirds, or the half of 

 the whole, the agricultural products, by this oper- 

 ation, would be increased by one-half or more, or 

 one-fifth of the total amount. But agriculture, in 

 enriching itself will increase its power, its capital 

 and its population, and will naturally carry its ex- 

 uberant forces, its energy and activity to operate on 

 the greater part of the 7,000,000 of hectares of 

 land now [en friche~\ unfilled, waste, and without 

 product. By bringing these lands into cultivation 

 and fertilizing them by liming or by paring and 

 burning the, surface, they would be made to yield, 

 at least, one-sixth ol' the total product. The gross 

 product of the French soil, then increased by a 

 third or more, mi<rht give employment and suste- 

 nance, to a population also one-third greater than 

 Fiance now possesses; and this revolution due 

 successively to the tillage of the soil, to annual 

 improvements keeping pace with the progressive 

 increase of crops, would be insensible. The state 

 would grow in force, in vigor, in wealth, in an ac- 

 tive and moral population, which would be devoted 

 to peace, and to the country, because it, would bc- 

 long to this new and meliorated soil. And this 

 great result would be owing simply to applying 

 calcareous manures to the extent of the soils of 

 France which require them ! 



4G. Upon our extent of 54,000,000 of hec- 

 tares, our population increased to 44,000,000, 

 would have for each, one hectare and a quarter, 

 and would he less confined than the 24,000,000 

 of inhabitants of the English soil, who have only 

 one hectare to the head; and yet our soil is at 

 least as good, and it is more favored by climate. 

 And then our neighbors consume in their food, at 

 least a fourth or filth of meat, while only one-fif- 

 teenth of the food of our population consists of 

 meat-, and as there is required twelve or fifteen 

 times the space to produce meat as bread, it fol- 

 lows, that twice the extent of soil is necessary to 

 support an Englishman as a Frenchman. Hence 

 it results, that with an increase of one-third, our 

 population would still have a large surplus pro- 

 duct which would not exist in England, with an 

 equal increase of population and equal increase of 

 products of agriculture. 



But this prosperity of the country, (yet far dis- 

 tant, but towards which however, we will be ad- 

 vanced daily — ) w T ould be still much less than in 

 the department of the North, where a hectare 

 nearly supports two inhabitants. And yet they 

 have more than a sixth of their soil in woods, 

 marshes, or unproductive lands: they have be- 



