1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



239 



some others, putting as much as I could grasp in 

 one hand, and sometimes more, into a hill of pota- 

 toes or corn, and making the ground white with it 

 in the drills, and raking it in. JVow Mr. Gould 

 says it should be mixed "with barn -yard compost, 

 which is too rich in organic and needs saline mat- 

 ters, which my manure furnishes." This certainly 

 is placing the muriate in good company ; but if the 

 barn-yard manure could speak, would it not j-esent 

 the caustic impeachment P Is not the idea con- 

 tained in the above quotation an agricultural her- 

 esy ? I have supposed that good stable or barn- 

 yard manure contained all the elements for the for- 

 mation of plants, both organic and inorganic, in 

 their proper proportion, and that the only objec- 

 tion to it was, that it could not be got in sufficient 

 quantities, or at reasonable rates, when not made 



jurious effects on tender roots when planted in the 

 hill for the ordinary garden purposes, as he recom- 

 mends. 



But Mr. Gould, in his article in the Farmer, 

 draws attention to the other ingredients of his fer- 

 tilizer. The next after carbonate of lime, is salt ; 

 the next is fine sand ; the next, "phosphate of lime 

 and some oxide of iron ;" little ammonia and or- 

 ganic matter, and muriate of lime only 2.70 per 

 cent. What the effect of these would be, separated 

 from the carbonate, I am not ])repared to say ; but 

 believe that, used with the carbonate in the hill, 

 their vij-tues, if they possess any, are destroyed — 

 and that the whole compound retards the growth 

 of plants not naturally rank enough to overcome it. 



In Dr. Jackson's analysis of "Hoyt's Superphos- 

 phate of Lime," 48 per cent, is of that ingredient ; 



on the farm. But it is needless to show here the i hence the propriety of the name. Upon this rule. 



superiority of barn-yard manure over all the fancy 

 fertilizers, as it is too well known. This auxiliary 

 which Mr. G. would furnish is the lime, which 



Mr. Gould's compound should be designated "Car- 

 bonate of Lime," or "Semi-carbonate of Lime," in- 

 stead of "Muriate of Lime," the smaller element; 



burns up vegetable soil and prepares it for the food! then no one would be deceived in the cognomen. • 

 of plants, and kills insects by its caustic nature, yet A few weeks after my communication appeared 

 applied to the manure heap does not set the nitro- in the Farmer, an intelligent gentleman of this 

 gen free, but "contains ammonia, and will absorb i town observed to me that he was glad to see the 

 even more." Rather than admit that barn-yard article, as it expressed his views of the "muriate" 



to a good extent, and he gave it a severe appella- 



manure needs his fertilizer, I should be more in- 

 clined to believe that his fertilizer needed barn- 

 yard manure ! 



Mr. Gould is surprised that I have not distin 



tion. He stated that he had tried the compound 

 in most every way in which it could be used, and 

 to a large extent, in the hill and in the manure 



position of his fertilizer. The following are the 

 compounds, as given by Dr. Jackson. 



Carbonate of Lime 64.00 



Chloride of Sodium (Salt) 14. 40 



Phosphate of Lime and some 0.xide of Iron 6.50 



Chloride of Calcium (Aluriate of Lime) 2.70 



Chloride of Magnesium (Muriate of Magnesia) 2.40 



Ammonia 6.41 



Organic Matter 4. .59 



Fine Sand 8.50 



Loss 0.50 



IdO.OO 



guished between quick-lime or the semi-hydrate of heap; that in the hiilit seemed to burn up his veg- 

 lime, and the compound which makes up the cora-jCtables, and that his compost heap was better with- 



- .- - - ^^|. jj.^ jjg ^1^^ stated that many of his neighbors 



had tried it with no better success. 



In regard to "witnesses" Mr. Gould is quite suc- 

 cessful. He now has many more than I have, and 

 his "cloud" has not yet appeared. But perhaps he 

 has made much greater efforts to procure them, 

 1 know of only four besides myself, who have tried 

 it, and they all condemn it. Why the witnesses 

 should so disagree upon this subject, is one of those 

 questions which inductive philoso])hy has not yet 

 solved, unless that some of their soils needed com- 

 mon lime. 



Some of Mr. Gould's correspondents, whom he 

 has formally requested to give their views upon his 

 "muriate," regard it as "one of the best of man- 

 ures," or fully equal to guano or superphosphate of 

 lime, when used as a top-dressing or plowed in — 

 poor as I regard its formula, chemically considered. 

 But to this I can find no fault. Some good may 

 result to those who do not esteem it. The more 

 agriculturists are satisfied with it, the more the 

 manufacturer will sell; and the tendency will be to 

 bring down the price of the superphosphates of lime 

 and guano — which is a "consummation devoutly to 

 be wished." 



Mr. Gould may have had his attention drawn to 

 the analy.sis of his muriate by Prof. J. W. Johnson, 

 pubhshed in the Homestead at Hartford, Dec. 2-5. 

 Since writing the above, I have had a copy handed 

 me. Mr. Johnson detects "quick-lime" and a good 

 deal of "hard coal dust" in it. This does not sur- 



It will be seen that the principal, solid portion 

 of this compound is carbonate of lime — or what is 

 commonly called slaked lime. In perfect harmo- 

 ny with the redundancy of this cheap ingredient, 

 Mr. Gould writes four pages of his circular, (the 

 great body of its text) to show the beneficial ef- 

 fects of lime or carbonate of lime — citing Liebig 

 and Sir Walter Scott — without alluding to the oth- 

 er compounds, and which he is so surprised at me 

 for not mentioning. If Mr. G. thought then they 

 •were of great importance, why did he not bring 

 them out in bold relief, and not rest the claims of 

 his "muriate of lime" upon that common substance, 

 carbonate of Hme ? And can he consistently be 

 surprised at me for passing over what he did not 

 consider worth special notice from himself? It is 

 true there is no quick-lime presented in his analy- 

 sis, nor semi-hydrate, nor semi-carbonate — but car- 

 bonate of lime. Now what is the difference in the 

 ultimate effect of all these upon the soil? The 

 quick- lime absorbs carbonic acid gas and moisture} prise me; but according to Mr. G.'s admission 

 from the air before it can enter into the composi- in his new application of his fertilizer, it must set 

 tion of plants, and before it becomes fully a car- the ammonia free in the compost heap rich in n' 



bonate it must be a semi-carbonate, or seml-hy 

 drate, as some speak of it, as it gradually absorbs 



trogen, where he intimates its wonderful efficacy 

 lies ! Mr. Johnson finds in it no "potential ammo^ 



water. I do not consider the bulk of Mr. Gould's jnia," or "phosphoric acid," and in a word declares 

 fertilizer as reduced to a carbonate, but that it is i it inferior to "leached ashes." Is it not inferior to 

 full of small lumps of quick-lime, and hence its in-lcoal ashes ? 



