340 



Report of the Committee on Agriculture. 



Vol. VIII. 



talized, with the water which evaporates. 

 The carbonate of ammonia contained in rain 

 water is decomposed by gypsum, in precisely 

 the same manner as in the manufacture of 

 sal-ammoniac. Soluble sulphate of ammO' 

 nia and carbonate of lime are formed ; and 

 this salt of ammonia possessing no volatility 

 is consequently retained in the soil. All 

 the gypsum gradually disappears, but its 

 action upon the carbonate of ammonia con 

 tinues as long as it exists." This, as we be 

 lieve well established fact, most strongly 

 urges the necessity of its application to all 

 soils in which it is deficient, and also to the 

 utility of applying it liberally to composts 

 and manure heaps; it also materially lessens 

 the odors from stables, privies, &c., whereby 

 the health of man is promoted, as well as 

 of the domestic animals. Gypsum, like lime, 

 however, frequently contains a large propor 

 tion of matters foreign to it — most generally 

 carbonate of lime, and the materials of 

 which clay consists. 



In this view of the matter, we take it for 

 granted, that its use will be greatly extended, 

 and how far the farmer's interest is protected 

 under our present system of inspection, in 

 relation to the purity of this article, we know 

 not. The subject, we think, merits public 

 attention. 



Concluding remarks. 



A few years since, the use of lime for 

 agricultural purposes in the State, was al 

 most wholly confined to a few persons in 

 the vicinity of what is called the Gunpow- 

 der limestone districts, in Baltimore county, 

 and fewer still in Carroll and Frederick 

 counties, on the Western Shore, and in 

 Talbot, Kent and Queen Anne counties, on 

 the Eastern Shore. At this time, however, 

 its use is rapidly spreading all over the 

 State. The valuable beds of marl in the 

 lower counties so long neglected, are being, 

 we believe, more extensively used, although 

 much less so than their intrinsic value merits. 

 Their use should not be confined to the farms 

 on which they occur, but all along the navi- 

 gable shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its 

 tributaries, at least, if not along the lines of 

 all our public improvements. Their exist 

 ence, in many places, within a few yards of 

 where vessels can ride, greatly favours their 

 use. 



Pure lime, however, can be more advan- 

 tageously hauled by the farmer to greater 

 distances, and consequently immense quan- 

 tities of lime will be wanting in our tide 

 water counties through all coming time. 

 The cause of the great extension of the use 

 of lime, is attributable partly to the diffusion 

 of more correct views in regard to its uses 



in agricultural operations, and the sanctions 

 of experience greatly aided by a large re- 

 duction in price. 



Formerly our tide water counties pro- 

 cured their stone lime from two sources, 

 principally, viz : the Gunpowder district in 

 Baltimore county, and Thomastown, in 

 Maine, — that from the former costing upon 

 our bay and river shores, say from 30 to 40 

 cents per bushel, and that from the latter 

 usually a still higher price. In the progress 

 of time, however, avenues of cheap trans- 

 portation have opened into the interior, 

 bringing both the stone and the fuel for 

 burning them to tide water, at greatly re- 

 duced rates. It is now pouring into the 

 Chesapeake Bay through the Chesapeake 

 and Delaware Canal, the Tide Water Ca- 

 nal, the Baltimore and Susquehanna Rail- 

 road, and from the valley of Herring Run, 

 near the city of Baltimore. Limestone also 

 occurs along the line of the Baltimore and 

 Ohio Rail-road, between Baltimore and the 

 Potomac, and is being distributed along the 

 line of that road, as also along the Philadel- 

 phia, Wilmington and Baltimore, Baltimore 

 and Washington, and Elk-Ridge Rail-roads. 

 And last, though not least, inexhaustible 

 supplies of good limestone occur at many 

 places upon the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca- 

 nal, which can be advantageously brought 

 to tide water. And when that sfreat work 

 reaches the coal region of Alleghany county, 

 the fine coal can be delivered at the lime- 

 stone quarries on the lower parts of the 

 canal, and at tide water, at exceedingly low 

 rates, and thence can be cheaply distributed 

 among all the counties bordering on the 

 Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. A con- 

 siderable lime trade has already sprung up 

 along the canal. The new impulse thus 

 given to our agriculture, by our public 

 works, will always continue to the mutual 

 advantage of both. Although the embar- 

 rassed condition of our finances, growing 

 out of their construction, rests heavily upon 

 us, and is the present cause of much preju- 

 dice against them ; we think the time is not 

 remote, however, when they will be difl^er- 

 ently regarded. By the census of 1840, it is 

 shown that the annual product of the agri- 

 cultural industry of Maryland, alone amounts 

 to seventeen millions of dollars ; nearly 

 two-thirds of the annual product of the en- 

 tire industry of the State. The tide of emi- 

 gration has ceased. Mercantile operations 

 have been curtailed, and capital is seeking 

 permanent investment in the soil. The spi- 

 rit of improvement manifested throughout 

 the State, with such great facilities to sus- 

 tain it, and a sure reward awaiting it, au- 

 thorizes the assumption, we think, that the 



