THE FARMERS- REGISTER. 



487 



from which this enpply is obtained, lor di^yin^, 

 the RJiort distances it hits to he iijzhlered, jis 

 also the liiciliiies afforded for speedily discharging 

 a cartTO. on various poinis ol' the estate, 4 cenis 

 a bushel may jti&ily be considered a high price tor 

 this marl. The then exisiintr circumstances which 

 induced the conlrad, however, justified the wivini^ 

 of tiiat price, rather than suller disappointment 

 by not obtaininji a necessary supply in due season. 

 The same marl, of equal quality, and from the 

 same deposite, is now oHered at a reduced price. 



The application of siiell lime on this estaie is 

 very expensive. The wood necessary lor burnin<^ 

 the shells has to be caned a distance of Irom 

 iwo to three miles; and it is estimated that each 

 bushel of lime, when ready for application to the 

 soil, costs not less than 12 cents per bushel ; and it 

 is also estimated that an equal quantity of lime 

 per acre will be I'urnished from marl at .,%\, cost- 

 ing 3 or 3.| cents per bushel at about one-third the 

 expense of shell lime. Ii is in contemplation to 

 discontinue the use of the latter here beyond the 

 supply of shells now on hand, and use the marl in 

 prelerence, if it shall be found, alter a fair trial, to 

 act equally well on ihe soil, and marl of that 

 strength can continue to be procured, in sufficient 

 quantities lor the demands of the estate, at not 

 more than 3 cents per bushel. 



A dressing of calcareous manure was given to 

 a twenty-acre lot previous to planting corn in 

 1840. On one half of the lot shell lime was ap- 

 plied at the rate of 100 bushels per acre ; on the 

 other half marl at the rate of 130 bushell contain- 

 ing -pi^jy of hme. The crop of corn was much in- 

 jured by the ravages of the cut worm. Until laie in 

 June no difference was observable on the crop be- 

 tween the shell lime and marl, nor was any ob- 

 served on the succeeding crop of wheat, recently 

 reaped ; and the young clover now stands equally 

 well over the lot. 



On another portion of land, of little over 12 

 acres, immediately in front of Teddington barn, 

 after a dressing of rotted manure, shell lime, al the 

 rate of 120 bushels per acre, was applied previous 

 to planting corn, also in 1840. This portion of 

 ground, though of fine texture of soil and well lo- 

 cated for receiving occasional aid from manure, 

 had failed comparatively for several years to pro- 

 duce a crop ol either corn or wheat. The crop of 

 corn last year whs judged to be equal to 30 or 35 

 bushels per acre, and the crop of wheat reaped 

 this season as being not less than 15 bush- 

 els per acre. The benefits to this portion of 

 ground have consequently been highly satisfac- 

 tory; the stand of young clover is now very fine. 



In preparing the corn field on the Neck farm in 

 1840, 20 acres on one side of the field, considered 

 as being too poor to produce a crop of corn, had a 

 dressing of manure from the stable yard applied to 

 it, and a crop of oats sown. This crop resulted 

 miserably, not even sufficient to cover the ground; 

 what was of them were ploughed down soon af- 

 ter ripening, and from which a scanty volunteer 

 growth presented iiself In the fall, previous to sow- 

 ing wheat, 15 acres of it received a dressing of 

 shell lime al the rate of 100 bushels per acre. On 

 the 7lh November wheat was sown on the portion 

 limed, as also on that not limed, and which had 

 the ecjual benefit of manure, and on a portion of 

 it a tolerable crop of pea vines ploughed under. 

 The adjoining land, which had been in corn, and 



separated only by a water lurrow, was also sown 

 on the same day. From the earliest stage of the 

 growth of the wheat, that on the limed portion 

 kept liir in advance. The crop reaped liom it this 

 treason was heavy, and considered to be e(|nal to 

 25 bushels per acre ; while that on the poriion of 

 the 20 acres not limed has certainly not produced 

 an averatre of more than five bushels per acre, 

 and was considered as being Ibrnierly the best 

 poriion of the 20 acres, all of which previous 

 10 liming would not probably have produced an 

 average of 4 bushels. The crop of wheat from 

 the adjoining land which had been in corn, and 

 Ibrmerly considered as beincr greatly superior to 

 that poriion limed, produced a crop whose average 

 will little if any exceed from 8 to 10 bushels per 

 acre. A more striking instance of the benefits 

 resulting from the application of lime I have 

 never seen. Can the most sceptical desire a strong- 

 er proof, or its advocates a more gratilying re- 

 sult? Other results will subsequently be report- 

 ed. In the mean time, I remain your humble and 

 obedient servant, A. Nicol. 



GROWTH OF PLANTS WITHOUT MOULD. 



From Webster's Appendix to Liebig's Organic Chemistry. 



" Some account of a suspended plant of Fictis 

 j^usiralis, which was grown lor eight monihs 

 without earth in the stove of the Botanic Garden 

 at Edinburgh. By Mr. William Macnab, Super- 

 intendent o! the garden." (From the 3d volume 

 of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, p. 77. 

 Slightly abridged.) 



'• Ficus Jlustralis is a native of New South 

 Wales, and was introduced into the British gar- 

 I dens in 1789, by the Right Honorable Sir Joseph 

 Banks. The plant is not uncommon now in 

 collections in this country, where it has been 

 usually treated as a greenhouse plant ; and in a 

 good greenhouse it thrives tolerably well, although 

 it seems rather more impatient of cold than many 

 of the plants from the same country. 



" When I came to superintend this garden in 

 1810, I found a specimen of it among the green- 

 house plants, where it remained lor some time 

 alierwards; but owing to the bad construction 

 of the greenhouse here, and the very hardy way 

 in which ] was obliged to treat the plants in that 

 department, I did not find the^cu.s- thrive so well 

 as I had been accustomed to see it do. «l conclud- 

 ed that it required more heat, and in the spring 

 of 1811 1 placed it in the stove, when it soon began 

 to grow as vigorously as I had ever seen it do.° 



" The stem of the plant was about a loot in 

 height before any branches set out ; on one of 

 the branches, above two feel from the junction 

 with the stem, a root was put out. As soon as 

 this had grown about a loot long, I placed a pot 

 under it. As soon as I (bund this pot filled with 

 roots, I determined to try whether if supplied 

 plentiliilly with water it would support the whole 

 plant. 



" In August, 1816, I left off' watering the ori- 

 ginal large pot, and supplied the smaller one very 

 freely with water ; I kept it in this state lor about 

 eight Hjonihs, till the earth in the large pot was 

 so completely dry, that I was satisfied the plant 

 could receive no nourishment from it. The shrub 



