VOL. XII. NO. 21. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



165 



From the London Horticultural Register. 

 ON THE UTILITY OF BURNING CLAY FOR 

 CORRECTING THE SOIL FOR GARDENS. 



BY MR. STAFFORD. 



{pardoner to R. Arkvirisht, Esq. Willerslcy Castle, near 

 CroTnford, Derbyshire. 

 Gentlemen, I now send you my promised me- 

 thod of burning olay ; and as it has fallen to my 

 lot to operate on that material twenty-two years 

 out of forty-eight, I may perhaps claim some at- 

 tention from those who may be inclined to correct 

 that material. Nothing can he more unfortunate 

 to the proprietor, and to the person whose lot it is 

 to conduct a garden, when the site happens to he 

 a natural strong clay, and as this so often occurs, 

 it has always given me the utmost concern. Until 

 lately a remedy has been out of the question. 



An occurrence, however, took place some years 

 ago, which forcibly convinced me of the import- 

 ant benefit that might he derived from attention to 

 the subject. The instance is this : a Mr. Nightin- 

 gale near this place, enclosed a piece of ground 

 for a garden, of strong clay, and being acquainted 

 with that celebrated agriculturist, Mr. Toilet, of 

 Betley, Staffordshire, he asked his opinion on the 

 subject, who advised him to let the whole be 

 burnt, which it was done in a few weeks ; and a 

 work was completed, I may say, in a few days, 

 that never could, otherwise, have been done in 

 his whole lifetime, that is, he rendered the ground 

 prolific ; and I never witnessed better success in 

 crops, than I have done of every crop that has 

 been planted in this composition. 



A gentleman who had enclosed a piece of 

 ground of strong clayey soil, some years ago, in- 

 quired (through the means of the Gardener's Mag- 

 azine, I think) whether he could have taken any 

 other method than adding sand, light earth, vege- 

 table mold, and other such like materials, suffi- 

 cient to have made a garden upon a bare rock ; 

 but when (he adds) the whole was incorporated, it 

 still remained a garden of clay. 



I was then unprepared to make any answer to 

 such inquiries, but have since much regretted I 

 did not take up the subject at the time. To make 

 a proper calculation of the expense will be attend- 

 ed with some little difficulty, as it will very much 

 depend on the materials used to burn with. Some 

 persons recommend coal ; this, however, I con- 

 demn, as being of too violent a nature. 



When I first came to this place, although the 

 garden had been formed twenty-five years, with 

 most excellent judgment, it was, for the most part 

 a strong clay ; and within nine inches of the sur- 

 face, even the most common articles would not 

 live upon it. No weather appeared to have a 

 good effect upon it. At one time it was covered 

 with water, and at another rendered impenetrable 

 by being too dry. After witnessing the effect on 

 a similar clay, at the place before named, I com- 

 menced burning, and in a few days produced a 

 composition three feet deep, equal, if not superior 

 to any soil in this country. The clay is rendered 

 as pliable as burnt chalk, and seems to be possess- 

 ed of the medium of holding just a sufficient quan- 

 tity of moisture, and no more : as far as I have 

 witnessed, every thing appears to thrive in it; and 

 I have reason to think, that when clay abounds in 

 peach borders, &.c. that very much may be done 

 by way of improving them. As an instance, I last 

 summer applied a quantity of burnt clay to some 

 old peach trees, and on examining their roots in 

 the autumn I found abundance of good young 



roots, growing in complete bunches; and I be- 

 lieve, that were these borders composed of three 

 parts of this material, they would not be attacked 

 with those diseases so prevalent in the spring, 

 would be more likely to make their wood with 

 shorter joints, and ripen much better and earlier 

 than they could do in a compost, strongly ma- 

 nured. 



My manner of performing the process is as fol- 

 lows : — I throw out a trench eight feet wide, and 

 about three feet deep ; into this I place as much 

 small wood or faggots, as will fill the trench to the 

 level of the ground ; upon this I place a quantity 

 of stronger wood, such as the roots of old trees, 

 &c. which must be regidated according to the 

 quantity of clay about to be burnt : when the whole 

 is completed, I take the advantage of fine weather 

 to light the fire ; when this is done, the whole is 

 covered up with that part of the clay which came 

 last out of the trench, as of course it is the strong- 

 est; as the fire advances, more is thrown on the 

 heap, making an embankment with the top soil, 

 and all that part which contains any vegetable 

 matter. As the file increases, the clay contiguous 

 to the fire is dug up, and thrown on the top, and 

 should the weather prove dry, there will seldom 

 require any addition of fuel. I have often been of 

 opinion that I could add to the mass, until it 

 reached to the height of a garden wall ten feet 

 high. 



As the violence of the heat subsides, I spread 

 out the soil, which, from the carbonaceous princi- 

 ples it receives in the process, is rendered in point 

 of richness, fully equal to soot. Indeed, I calcu- 

 late that the ground so heated will require no ma- 

 nure, for at least four or five years, as every spe- 

 cies of vegetable appears to grow much too strong 

 for the first two years, with doing nothing more 

 than giving a slight raking. The clay here, pro- 

 bably, is superior to that in some other places, 

 owing to the quantity of calcareous matter it natu- 

 rally contains, I conceive a portion of it is con- 

 verted into lime, in the process of burning. 



Burning clay entirely destroys every species of 

 insect and pernicious weed ; and on whole quar- 

 ters, where the process was performed years ago, 

 I have scarcely observed either slug or snail. 



I have no doubt, the business might be done 

 with good success and very little expense, where 

 furze and heath could be readily obtained ; and as 

 it would take more in proportion to the fineness of 

 such materials, it would tend to enrich the mass 

 in a very high degree. As the price of making up 

 faggots almost amounts to their real value, we 

 have taken the wood direct to the trench, without 

 that process, which has answered very well. 



I make it a rule, never to burn more clay on a 

 given quarter, than the space requires to correct 

 the soil, as it would be a waste of labor to remove 

 it from place to place ; and as it may be operated 

 upon close to any tree or crop without danger, it 

 is more desirable to perform the operation on the 

 spot. The fire will sometimes require probing, to 

 allow the air to enter ; but I never wish to see 

 much smoke escape, as I am certain it greatly 

 contributes to enrich the earth. There will re- 

 quire no particular caution with regard to burning 

 the clay too much ; it will be seen, that as the 

 wood consumes, the first course of clay will fall to 

 the bottom of the trench ; and this will perpetually 

 take place until the whole of the wood is consumed 

 by the fire, by which time a body of hot clay will 

 have fallen to the bottom : when, to secure suc- 



cess, I level down the heap, but take particular 

 care not to break or pulverize the compost — the 

 more this is avoided, the longer it will retain its 

 fertilizing qualities. 



Those who have new vine borders to make, 

 could not do better than add to their compost one- 

 third of burnt clay, as the average quantity of rain 

 that falls in this island never properly suits the 

 constitution of vines. I think it would prove an 

 excellent corrector, and prevent those troublesome 

 insects, the wireworms, from injuring the roots 

 of the vine ; and the cost, in most cases, would be 

 trifling. I think, too, that it would be well calcu- 

 lated for any thing that requires mulching, for ap- 

 plying liquid manure does not in the least consoli- 

 date it. This is I consider, a great recommenda- 

 tion. 



If you think these observations of any import- 

 ance, you will obi ge me by inserting them in an 

 early number. And believe me to be, gentlemen, 

 yours, &c. George Stafford. 



Willersly, July 19, 1831. 



TOOTHACHE. 



Dr. Ryan, a physician of great respectability 

 and extensive practice, gives in the Medical Jour- 

 nal for July, the following statement : — A gentle- 

 man who attends my lectures (Mr. Myers of Mew- 

 ington causeway,) had frequently applied sulphuric 

 acid to his tooth with some relief; but on one oc- 

 casion, he in a moment of confusion took down the 

 next bottle to bis remedy, which contained nitric 

 acid. To his great surprise he experienced im- 

 mediate relief. Since that period he has not 

 suffered from toothache, though three years 

 have now elapsed. During the last winter, 

 he informed me of the success of this remedy, 

 which induced me to try it, while laboring under 

 the most intense pain from toothache. The effect 

 was immediate, and no pain whatever was induced. 

 I have since used it in numerous cases, and inva- 

 riably with complete success In some instances 

 the disease does not return for days and weeks, 

 and in others not for months. The best mode for 

 employing it is by means of lint wrapped round a 

 probe, and moistened with the acid which is then 

 to be slowly applied to the cavity of the tooth, 

 care being taken not to touch the other teeth, the 

 gums or the cheeks. On withdawing the probe, 

 and inquiring how the patient feels, the usual re- 

 ply is, 'the pain is entirely gone.' The mouth is 

 next to be washed in tepid water. The acid should 

 be gradually applied to the whole cavity of the 

 tooth, as otherwise a second application will he re- 

 quired before complete relief will be obtained. 

 This remedy may be used when the gum and 

 cheek are inflamed, so as to preclude the possibil- 

 ity of extraction. In cases where the diseased 

 fang remains, and when the caries face the adja- 

 cent teeth, it obviates the necessity of extraction 

 in all cases of hollow teeth, which all practitioners 

 declared to be desirable, if possible ; and it ena- 

 bles the dentist to perform the operation of " stop- 

 ping or filling the teeth," much sooner than he 

 can otherwise accomplish. In a word, it will alle- 

 viate a vast deal of human suffering, and super- 

 sede a most painful operation. It is not a pana- 

 cea for all disease of the teeth and gums, though 

 a certain and efficacious remedy for the most com- 

 mon cause of the toothache. It will be a valuable 

 remecly for children, delicate persons and preg- 

 nant women. It does not accelerate the decay of 

 the tooth to which it is applied. — Taunton Sun. 



