No. 8. 



Lime. 



253 



dollars a year, or the interest of two thousand 

 dollars for one year, and so on from year to 

 year as long as the error is persisted in. I 

 knew a very worthy, industrious, careful 

 farmer, about fifty years ago, who had a 

 snug farm and every thing apparently m good 

 order about him, but he did'nt seem to thrive ; 

 when he died, it was found he was not out of 

 debt; and his estate was altogether much less 

 than was expected. I tried in vain to account 

 for it, but was unable to do so, till after this 

 long lapse of time ; but now I can see through 

 it, and understand it thoroughly. I remem- 

 ber, he kept about a dozen horses, on a farm 

 of about 100 acres, and he kept them well, 

 too ; sleek, clean, nice and well fed ; for he was 

 loud of horses, and fine ones too, though he 

 was no sportsman. His horse stable was 

 twice as large as his cow stable. The cows 

 w(?re about si.x in number, if my memory 

 serves right, at this long distance of time.— 

 Now four or five horses would have been all- 

 sufficient for his neces.sary purposes, and all 

 over this number was surplusage, as the law- 

 yers say; say seven above the right number, 

 which would represent, in expense of keep, 

 fourteen cows. As butter in those days only 

 sold for about half as much as it does m these 

 latter times, I put the profit of each cow (m- 

 cluding the calf) at one half, say fifteen dol- 

 lars a year, and> fifteen times fourteen is two 

 hundred and ten dollars a year, loss sustained 

 by keeping seven extra horses instead of four- 

 teen cows. 



Now, our schoolmaster, who is good at cal- 

 culation, says, that an annual sum of 210 dol- 

 lars put to interest at 6 per cent., and a like 

 sum added to it each year, and the mterest 

 accruing annually being put out to interest, 

 that in ten years it will amount to $2,767 98 

 and that in 20 years it will be 7,724 97 



25 years, 12,070 19 



30 years, 16,602 21 



40 years, 32,500 01 



Now this shows very plainly why the old 

 man died in debt, instead of leaving a good 

 farm for each of his children. It is just as 

 plain to me now, as that grass grows; though 

 for a lono- series of years it was quite inex- 

 plicable, 'notwithstanding I had often thought 

 of it, and tried to solve the mystery; but I 

 now see I always went on the wrong scent, 

 and when you do that you will never catch 

 the game. 1 now am confirmed in the conclu- 

 sion that whatever we understand is easy^and 

 that whatever we don't understand is difficult 

 and mysterious. The old gentleman was all 

 his life traveling on the wrong track, to ar- 

 rive at independence and wealth, and I now 

 see many gointr the same road on horseback, 

 and there can'rbe a doubt but they will come 

 out at the same place with the old farmer al- 

 luded to; for like causes always produce the 



same effects under similar circumstances. — 

 Some of the old folks who are your readers, 

 will Tcry likely be desirous of knowing who 

 the old farmer was that kept so many horses 

 and so few cows. If that question should 

 be asked, just inform them, that he has been 

 dead a great many years, but that he was my 

 father, and a good father he was too, but ho 

 did'nt seem to think, that idle horses made 

 no butter. Abrah.\m. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Iiimc— Mr. BlacU»« Experience. 



I have just read a paper— the first in your 

 number of 15th of February, 1839— signed 

 R. M. Black. The very name is associated 

 in my mind with agricultural enterprise and 

 improvement; but the communication loses 

 all its value with me, because, while it pro- 

 poses to illustrate the value of lime, the wri- 

 ter says that the fall before he applied the 

 lime the field had been manured I! and yet 

 he does not say what kind of manure — how 

 much to the acre— nor does he ever after ad- 

 vert to the manure as one of the means where- 

 by the crop was increased, but goes on rea- 

 soning to show the effect of lime. Now I 

 am aware that to give efficacy to lime, you 

 must have some vegetable matter for it to 

 act upon ; but who can tell in this case with- 

 out knowing the quantity or quality of the 

 other manure, how much the increase of the 

 crop, raised the spring after it was applied, 

 is to be ascribed to the " manure" and how 

 much to the lime ? Seeing that the lime cost 

 25 cents a bushel, it must have been stone 

 lime; it would have been more satisfactory 

 as a matter of curiosity and comparison with 

 its cost in^ other places, if Mr. Black had sta- 

 ted how far it was transported by vrater and 

 by land, to bring it to that price. 



Please inquire of Mr. Black vyhether he 

 has seen a recent communication in the Far- 

 mer and Gardener, from the Eastern Shore 

 of Maryland, going to show that shell lime, 

 as a manure, is valueless, and what is his ex- 

 perience, if any, with that sort of lime ; for 

 I doubt if any of your correspondents is more 

 capable than he, of benefiting his brother 

 farmers, by a detail of their experience on 

 any branch of husbandry with which his po- 

 sition, resources, and oleervation have made 

 him familiar. In haste, J. S. S. 



Baltimore, 18th February, 1839. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Ijime. 



Mr. Libby, — In common with many other 

 farmers of this neighborhood, I am much in- 

 terested in the use of lime as a manure, and 

 hail with a feeling of triumph any well au- 

 thenticated account of its successful applica- 

 tion to the soil, not because there are not al- 



