No. 9. 



Mas:nesian Lime. 



291 



of economy. Next, B. Webb, of Wilmington, 

 Delaware, states, "as far as his knowledo-p 

 extends, lime is con^fenial to the growth of 

 plants, and magnesia is not." If friend Webb i 

 will push his knowledge to a greater extent 

 in vegetable physioloiry, he will find that 

 lime and magnesia both exist in the formation 

 or constitution of plants, and both form neces- 

 sary constituents as well as agents in prepar- 

 ing the food of plants. He slates further, 

 "in soils where magnesia predominates, the 

 land is always barren." Suppose lime in its 

 purest state should predominate in a soil, 

 need I say it would be barren'? Monsieur 

 Abbene, a French chemist, fully and satisfac- 

 torily explains this matter. 



Lastly, 1 come to S, of Luzerne county : 

 although I do not hold myself answerable to 

 anonymous writers, yet, as he puts questions 

 direct to me, it would be ungenerous, after 

 noticing the above articles aimed at S. Lewis 

 — who is abundantly qualified to defend him' 

 self — not to say a word in reply to S, of Lu- 

 zerne. He will conceiie, 1 think, that his 

 statement in regard to Putts &. Dager's lime, 

 *' on a heap, not preventing grass from grow- 

 ing through it and spreading over its surface 

 or over the heap," is unanswerable; it would 

 certainly be an anomaly or freak of nature, 

 to say the least, since it is well known, that 

 a pile or heap of straw or hay, and especially 

 stable manure, will not only destroy vegeta- 

 tion, but leave the spot bald long after the 

 heap is removed: the reason is plain, on ac- 

 count of the absence of the primary agents 

 of vegetable growtii, the sun, light, and air. 

 But it is certainly admitted on all hands, that 

 a quantity of magnesian lime on a heap, or 

 even spread in too large quantity on the land, 

 will do temporary mischief, for reasons which 

 S, will find anticipated in my article in the 

 last Cabinet. The remedy is obvious: apply 

 it on the land judiciously, and to prevent 

 bald spots where the heaps lie, remove some 

 of the surface-soil, or make heaps on the road- 

 side, or where vegetation is not wanted. Of 

 course, about half the quantity of magnesian 

 lime would be, or is, as efficient as common 

 lime; hence the economy of its application. 

 S, is more liberal, and acknowledges magne- 

 sian lime is useful ; so all the remarks in this 

 article cannot apply to him. In the same 

 article from S, near its conclusion, I notice 

 an insinuation unworthy of him: "Why do 

 these gentlemen use such strong language, 

 if they are not in some way interested in the 

 matter !" I would here just say, that I have 

 limed my farm all over, at a rate exceeding 

 100 bushels to the acre, and did not, during 

 the whole period, sell one wagon load of lime, 

 preferring, of course, the lime to the money: 

 so I practise what I preach. My farm had 

 previously, at regular intervals, received two 



coats of lime, at about the same rate above 

 stated. It having been ascertained that near- 

 ly all the limestones of the United States are 

 more or less impregnated with magnesia, the 

 limestones of Pequca partake of that charac- 

 ter. Would it not appear singular, then, 

 leaving theory out of the question, that the 

 strong case in point quoted by S, (I allude to 

 the statement of Mahlon Kirkbride,) wherein 

 a light coat of magnesian lime was .«upposed 

 to produce disastrous consequences. 1 could 

 not reconcile this statement with my experi- 

 ence on any other ground, than that Mr. Kirk- 

 bride's land was not strong enough for the 

 dose; perhaps a less quantity would have 

 been profitable. Leaving theory, I would 

 ask Mr. S. how he can reconcile the produc- 

 tive quality of the land in this valley, which, 

 he will not doubt, overlays the magnesian 

 limestones, magnesia forming a componenl 

 part of the soil, and they are more or iesa 

 denuded throughout this valley. While our 

 best farms receive heavy dressings of magne- 

 sian lime, it would not be vaunting to say, 

 the land in Prquea in point of productive 

 power, will compare with any in tiiis country 

 or Europe. How, I repeat, are these facts to 

 be reconciled, if masxnesian lime were what 

 the anti-magnesian writers represent it to be. 

 The virtues of magnesian lime here, are too 

 well appreciated to require to be "cracked 

 up" by any scribbling from me; and if I have 

 not satisfied S that the "strong language" 

 used is amply justified by the tiicts, then I 

 can only add, that I am an enthusiast on the 

 subjectof improved agriculture, and, of course, 

 can use nothing short of strong language in 

 furtherance of an object so desirable and mo- 

 mentous. Why thi^n, I ask, in view of my 

 own personal knowledge and experience in 

 practice on the one hand, with ail the weight 

 of philosophic evidence extant on tlie other, 

 in support of my theory, should I yield or tes- 

 tify in any but the most favourable manner in 

 support of magnesian lime? It is on this 

 account I propose to take no further notice 

 of the subject, until its advocates can discover 

 some tenable philosophic ground to stand 

 upon. If strong practical instances can be 

 related in opposition to the use of magnesian 

 lime, certainly more extensive, strong, con- 

 clusive and irresistible evidence, can be fur- 

 nished vice versa. The subject requires more 

 scientific research than farmers generally are 

 possessed of; they can more easily accuse 

 than substantiate and explain facts. It must 

 be observed, too, that certain soils are un- 

 friendly to lime of any kind, and are not easily 

 improved. As the time has not come to set- 

 tle this question to the satisfaction of every 

 mind, let the lucid ray of science first dispel 

 the darkness which has ever enveloped thia 

 subject, and leave the anti-magnesian advo- 



