No. 4. 



Agricultural Address. 



Ill 



Lime discharges a great deal of Iicat from 

 the water when slacking, magnesia, little or 

 none. Both in a little time become carbon 

 ates in the soil. Magnesia never becomes 

 soluble to any appreciable extent; lime — in 

 the form of super-carbonate — becomes per- 

 fectly soluble. LiiTie in almost all its com- 

 binations becomes soluble in the soil ; mag- 

 nesia in very few. Lime is food for plants 

 and enters into the formation of many, as 

 wheat and other grain; magnesia is seldom 

 found in plants. But while lime is abso- 

 lutel}' necessar}'' to some extent in the soil, 

 its chief value lies in the changes which it 

 undergoes; and this value, it seems to me, 

 is just in proportion to the capacity of lime 

 — or of magnesia — to undergo this ceaseless 

 change. It is only when soluble in the 

 moisture of the soil, that these changes can 

 be effected ; and as magnesia is very spar- 

 ingly soluble after losing the water of slack- 

 ing, and lime becomes more so after lying 

 some time in the soil, it should seem that 

 pure lime is far the best for farmers' use.* 



It may be, however, that the comhination 

 of magnesia and lime possesses power which 

 separately belongs to neither. There is ap- 

 parently a definite proportion in which these 

 unite, as in the mineral Dolomite, which 

 is found in the southern part of this county, 

 but the repute of which among farmers in 

 its vicinity I have not learned. The whole 

 subject is well worthy of diligent investiga- 

 tion ; but as without analysis of many speci- 

 mens from various quarries in repute, no 

 satisfactory results can be obtained, we must 

 leave the matter to the chemist who will 

 bestow the requisite labour and expense. 



While the various discoveries belbre no- 

 ticed, tend to the improvement of agricul- 

 ture, there are other causes in operation 

 which are well worthy of examination, be- 

 cause they must eventually change, in a 

 great degree, the whole character of our 

 husbandry. 



The immense products of the great West 



* It is well known that marble lime acts most quick- 

 ly, while the magnesian is supposed to last the longest. 

 This may be accounted for on the supposition that 

 magnesia is injurious, and that not until it is reduced 

 to an insoluble substance, as the carbonate, does the 

 lime manifest its fertilizing power. This accords with 

 the experience of farmers that such lime does not act 

 for two or three years, and if put on, the sod before 

 ploughing for corn— except to backen oats— has no ef- 

 fect until grass is again sown. Pure lime fertilizes 

 from the first, but it does not follow that it ceases 

 sooner than the other. If an uniform field were 

 equally divided, each part limed with equal quantities 

 of the respe'.tive kinds of lime, would not the fifth or 

 tenth year find the pure lime as active as the magne- 

 sian; that part, at least, as fertile as the other? 



are already affecting the market value of 

 both grain and cattle. The productions of 

 past years are notliing, however, in compari- 

 son with what they must soon be. One of 

 two things must take place if we are still 

 to com])ete with them. Either a new mar- 

 ket must be found equal to the vast increase, 

 or we must double our crops with little addi- 

 tional expense. A larger market may be 

 furnished by the growth of the iron and coal 

 operations of our own St^te, and the in- 

 crease of manufactures throughout the Union. 

 So, on the other hand, improved culture may 

 greatly augment our grain products and the 

 number of cattle fed for the market. To 

 this end the recent introduction of machinery 

 as a saving of labour, may have some effect. 

 A more efficient means is rapidly coming 

 into play in the splitting up of our large 

 tracts into small farms of less than 100 

 acres. How frequently have we seen the 

 fourth part of a large plantation as produc- 

 tive ill the hands of a son, as was the whole 

 in the father's time. Our best lands have 

 already become too valuable to remain much 

 longer covered by wood, and the swamps by 

 the side of the streams are rapidly converted 

 into sweet and luxuriant meadows. 



All this will aid in maintaining for a con- 

 siderable period the competition with the 

 West. In the meanwhile, another cause of 

 change is slowly operating, and to which 

 both counties are already to some degree 

 subject, especially Delaware. It is the de- 

 mand for the minor products of the farm, 

 created by the proximity to Philadelphia, 

 and to some extent by the growth of other 

 towns around and among us. Wheat, corn, 

 oats, may be cheaply freighted from the 

 Hudson, or the Mississippi river by sea; 

 from the lakes, or the Ohio by rail-roads 

 and canals; and fattened cattle continually 

 pass along our roads from the V/ost. iSo, in 

 times of scarcity, potatoes, and the fall fruits, 

 whether fresh or dried, may be sent from 

 distant point.s. But in general for these and 

 for all minor articles, the region around is 

 looked to. 



Dairy farms we have had for many years. 

 Once a year, at least, farmers generally send 

 their poultry, pork, roll butter, and other ar- 

 ticles to market. But each year has given 

 additional value to these items, not by rais- 

 ing the price, but by calling attention to 

 them as a sure meansof swelling the annual 

 profits of the farm. It has now become an 

 important consideration, how much time, la- 

 bour and expense shall be devoted to the 

 production of market produce. And as this 

 demand is constantly and rapidly extending, 

 while the market for grain and cattle is di- 

 minishing, a change must necessarily be 



