1S36.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



35 



a manure in accelerating the growth of this plant, 

 I determined to make an experiment, and found it 

 succeed far beyond my most sanguine expecta- 

 tions. 



From the striking resemblance of certain stones 

 thrown out hj- the miners to the rock gypsum, I 

 obtained from market, I was induced to malce trial 

 of the former on my clover fields in such a man- 

 ner as to institute a fair comparison of its eficcts 

 with the true gypsum, which I was the more wil- 

 ling to do as I had not procured enough of the lat- 

 ter to plaster my whole crop. It is highly grati- 

 fyins:, sir, for me to inform you of the results of 

 my experiments. I had anticipated an entire fail- 

 ure — ^judge then of my satisfaction, when I found 

 my success complete. 



The three field on which I experimented, I di- 

 vided as follows: 



Field No. 1 waslaid out into two equal portions 

 longitudinally, and plastered one half with the im- 

 ported, and the other half with the material found 

 on my own plantation. The clover plastered with 

 the latter was but slightly inf(3riorto that manured 

 by the former. 



' Field No. 2 ( divided into three equal parts, and 

 sowed each of those thirds lying at the sides of the 

 field with the imported plaster, and the third lying 

 centrally I sowed Avith that found on my farm. 

 The difference in the crop was scarcely percepti- 

 ble. 



Field No. 3 I separated intonineequal sections, 

 runnnig transversely the whole breadth of the 

 field; and in order to arrive at a more dcteruiinate 

 conclusion, I sowed the first of these with m3"ovvn 

 plaster, selected from the best lumps, the second 

 with the imported, and the third was left unsown. 

 1 went over the whole field in this wa}', beginning 

 with the domestic, succeeded by the imjjorted, and 

 leaving every third section unplastered. There- 

 suit was perlectl}^ satisfactory. The clover ma- 

 nured with the domestic plaster ivas among the 

 finest I have ever seen — that with the imported 

 not as good, and that left unraanured scarcely 

 worth the cutting. 



I am thus particular, sir, in order to show you 

 the evidence on which I rest my belief of the bene- 

 fit ; and to convince you that this is not a matter 

 of speculation, but one that has been submitted to 

 rigid experiment. Those who are well acquainted 

 with the aspect of the plaster, would probably 

 have been able to pronounce upon its character by 

 a bare inspection, but when united to its appear- 

 ance, we have proofs of its fertilizing efliscts, we 

 can have no just grounds of doubt. 



After being personally convinced of the utility 

 of this substance found near my residence, 1 de- 

 termined to make diligent search for it, and ascer- 

 tain, if possible, whether it might not be found in 

 quantities sufficient to supply that portion of the 

 county in which I live; and after siiddng pits at 

 various localities, I at length struck upon a points 

 where the mineral appeared to be very abundant; 

 and, after patiently digging to a considerable depth, 

 and making excavations at several adjacent points. 

 I have concluded, if all that is gypsum which I 

 suppose, that the supply is inexhaustible. To 

 make assurance doubly sure, I sent parcels of the 

 substance to the Professor of Chymistry at Hamp- 

 den Sydney College, with a request that he would 

 analyze it and notify me of the result. He re- 

 turned for answer, that he had never examined 



purer specimens of the sulphate of lime ; that he 

 was happy in the anticipation of the benefits that 

 would arise from this discovery; and finally ex- 

 horted me to make it known through the medium 

 of some public journal. 



The high price of the gypsum, and the difficulty 

 of transporting it, render it an object of the utmost 

 importance that farmers should be enabled to pro- 

 cure it at some convenient distance, and at such a 

 moderate charge as to made it a profitable manure. 

 Many of those persons whose lands most require 

 the application of this enriching agent, have not 

 the means to purchase and transport it to their 

 farms; and those whose circumstances are better, 

 and who have made use of it, find that the ex- 

 penseof obtaining it, swallows up most of the pro- 

 fits arising from its employment. Here then is a 

 great difficulty to be obviated in the use of the 

 loreign gypsum, and certainly nothing will tend 

 more to this end than the discovery of quarries on 

 our own soil, from which persons may at any time 

 obtain whatever quantities they please, and al- 

 most on their own terms. 



Indulge me, sir, in conclusion, in making a few 

 observations on the renovating influences of this 

 and other manures now being found in different 

 parts of the State. The time was, when it was 

 believed that the waste lands of Virginia could 

 never be serviceable to the agriculturist; and the 

 patriot had the heart-sickening spectacle every 

 where presented to him of the progressive destruc- 

 tion of the land of his birth without any hope of 

 its ever being reclaimed. But, sir, since the es- 

 tablishment of your publication, Virginians have 

 been encouraged to look around them and see 

 what mio-ht be done: and what has been the con- 

 sequence? We now confidently anticipate the 

 day when old Virginia, like old England, will be 

 as it were a garden; when her fields shall be 

 crowned with golden harvests; when her lawns 

 shall vie m verdure with the rich vales of the west; 

 when her pastures shall be teeming with cattle — 

 her surface intersected with rail roads and canals 

 — and when her population shall be dense busy 

 and prosperous. And what is to cause this magic 

 change? Doubtless gypsum, and the various 

 species of marls, are to be the chief agents. Much 

 of the present fertility of several counties in the 

 Stare is attributable to the former, whilst others in 

 a different region are as much indebted to the lat- 

 ter. The day is fast approaching when ever}' part 

 of Virginia will have some convenient manure 

 adapted to the soil — when the Old Dominion shall 

 take her harp from the willows and in cheerful 

 strains celebrate her release from the captivity of 

 sterility, and resume that proud and dignified sta- 

 tion among the States of the Union, which is due 

 to the mother of the greatest and best. 

 Yours, very rcspectfially, 



JOHN FRANCIS. 



KAIT> ROADS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 



To the Editor of Ihe Farmers' Register. 



Str : Ilavinoi: for immediate purposes made a 

 partial reply to P.Q., 1 now take up the subject in its 

 graver and more important aspect. It is now ful- 

 ly seventeen years since I imbibed the idea of the 

 possibility of making the Chesapeake the great 



