404 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



in"- engagements have had no opportunity of fol- 

 lowing this new sawer and borer. A month since, 

 a gentleman brought us the top of an apple tree, 

 three-fourths of an inch in diameter, sawed off as 

 smoothly as though cut with a fine saw. The borer 

 has long been a destructive operator at and near 

 the roots of trees, but this neighbor seems to have 

 introduced a new departmentintohis operations — 

 that of sawing as well as boring. Well, patience 

 is a virtue, and the farmer must lay up a good 

 stock of it to begin with, and then if he can coax 

 away these mechanics to forage upon something 

 less valuable than his oaks and apple trees, he 

 will be the gainer. But we cannot enlighten him 

 in relation to these new tactics, and must call up- 

 on some of our friends for aid. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SULPHATB OF LIMF, (PLASTER, GYP- 

 SUM.) 



ON WHAT SOILS TO BE USED — FOR WHAT CROTS — THE 

 rlllLOSOI'HY OF ITS ACTION. 



BY J. A. NASH, MT. PLEASANT SCHOOL, AMHERST. 



The use of plaster is one of the most valuable 

 conquests of modern agriculture. Its use was com- 

 menced some ninety years ago. Mr. Mayer, a 

 clergyman of Switzerland, published his experience 

 in the use of it in 1765. Its use soon spread through 

 Germany, France, England and America ; and is 

 now general, though not as much so as desirable, 

 in all these and many other countries. 



Dr. Franklin recommended its use by the fol- 

 lowing stratagem. Wishing to demonstrate its 

 good effects, he wrote on a clover field, near a 

 travelled road, in the vicinity of Washington, by 

 means of powdered plaster, spread in the form of 

 mammoth letters, — "This has been plastered.'''' 

 The words could be read distinctly, at first, by the 

 whiteness of the gypsum, but after a few days, 

 and thence till harvest time, by the deep green co- 

 lor and the superior growth of the crop. 



Dr. Franklin's device took good effect. Large 

 quantities of plaster were soon ordered from Paris. 

 Its good effects were established by repeated trials. 

 Subsequently it was obtained in great quantities 

 from Nova Scotia ; and more recently, it has been 

 found abundantly at various localities in our own 

 country. 



That the use of plaster has been, on the whole, 

 highly beneficial, there is no room for doubt. But 

 it is equally certain, that for some crops, and on 

 some soils, it has not proved remunerative. 



"Were plaster to be used indiscriminately on all 

 soils and for all crops, the gains consequent upon 

 such use w T ould be great, on the one hand; but it 

 cannot be denied that the losses, on the other, 

 would be considerable, and would fall, in most 

 cases, on those who cannot well afford to bear 

 them. It is therefore a matter of no small impor- 

 tance, to ascertain the. precise nature of its action 

 on soils and crops, in order that we may arrive at 

 such discriminate use of it, as to secure its benefits 

 without the risk of losing the money paid for it. 

 No loss is more to be guarded against, than that 

 of the hard-working farmer, paying his money for 

 fertilizers which make him no return. 



That the use of plaster" is on the whole benefi- 



cial ; that its hitherto indiscriminate use has pro- 

 duced more gains than losses ; that there have 

 been more hits than misses ; or in other words, 

 that farmers have guessed right oftener than 

 wrong, is pretty certain. But beyond this, nearly 

 all is uncertain. Ask practical farmers on what 

 soils plaster works well ; for what crops it is best 

 adapted; how, when, where and in what quanti- 

 ties it should be applied, and they will cither tell 

 you nothing, or they will so far disagree, that you 

 will not know which to believe. 



If you consult scientific men, you will get plen- 

 ty of answers ; but neither will their testimony 

 agree. They would gladly give you a true and 

 safe directory, if they could ; for scientific men are 

 fast comprehending their obligations to aid practi- 

 cal agriculture ; but hitherto they have been un- 

 able. Let us not infer from this, that these pio- 

 neers in science have done nothing for agriculture. 

 We might as well say that Newton accomplished 

 nothing for astronomy, because he left some things 

 for his successors, men inferior to himself, to dis- 

 cover. Science has done much for agriculture ; 

 and it will yet do more ; though it must be con- 

 fessed that on this subject we are yet in the dark ; 

 and about all that the cultivator of the soil yet 

 knows, is, that when he pays his money for plas- 

 ter, he puts it into a lottery in which the prizes 

 are somewhat more than the blanks. 



I do not write with the expectation of removing 

 all doubt on this important subject. I have not 

 the vanity to believe that I shall compass the 

 whole truth and nothing but the truth. It would 

 be strange if I should wholly escape all, which 

 further investigations may prove erroneous. — 

 Should any or all the views I am to present be 

 condemned, I shall be satisfied if their presenta- 

 tion shall elicit truth from abler pens. 



It is evident that plaster succeeds better on some 

 lands than on others ; that on those on which its 

 action is favorable, it succeeds better with some 

 crops than with others ; and that where the requi- 

 sites of soil and crop are met, it succeeds better 

 with one than with another mode of application. 

 Something also is to be said of the quantity to be 

 applied. 



Some things there are to be considered, the soil, 

 the crop, the mode of application and the quantity. 



1, On what soil does plaster succeed ! Farmers 

 must answer this question. A few weeks since I 

 rode some two miles to consult one, who, I had 

 heard, was an eminently successful farmer. I 

 said to him I have read theories enough ; I have 

 heard too many opinions ; I want you to tell me 

 what you know, lie told me that his whole farm 

 was, as I should perceive, a moderately clayey 

 loam, all of it clayey to some extent, some por- 

 tions highly so, and that plaster did well on every 

 foot of it. He assured me that thirty 3-ears ago a 

 very large pasture, on which Ave were then walk- 

 ing, was so unproductive as to be hardly worth 

 fencing ; that it had since received from 80 to 1(10 

 pounds of plaster a year, and had produced well 

 the whole time ; and now, said he, you see what 

 it is ; and sure enough I did. The white clover 

 would almost tempt one of the human species to 

 get down on all fours, and partake it with his fine 

 Durhams. Nor were these fine animals so few as 

 to create the suspicion that the owner under- 

 stocked for the sake of displaying a richly dressed 

 pasture. 



