1836.J 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



473 



No. 1 No manure produce 134 lbs. 



2 Stable-dung and soap-ashes ,, 298 



3 Stable-dung alone ,, 315 



4 Soap-ashes alone „ 383 



To which it must, however, be added, that four 

 wagon-loads per acre have been laid upon twelve 

 acres of a clayey loam, somewhat brushy and soft 

 of heart, which being sown with wheat, no differ- 

 ence could be perceived between that and the crop 

 in another part of the same field :* but it should 

 also be observed, that its power upon the subse- 

 quent crops has not been stated. 



If applied in large quantities to the land, there 

 can be no doubt that soapers' wasle will be found 

 to be a useful and a lasting manure; itdestroys slugs 

 and vermin of every description ; has been found 

 to increase the product of hay by a ton an acre ; 

 and by some farmers, the effect of a wagon-load 

 of the ashes is considered equal to that of five 

 loads of rotten dung. This we^ however, con- 

 ceive to be exaggerated, if they are applied sepa- 

 rately ; but, if laid on together, we have witness- 

 ed some recent instances which lead us to con- 

 clude, that one load of ashes, combined with five 

 of dung, would fully equal ten loads of farm-yard 

 manure in immediate effect, besides producing 

 more permanent improvement. 



If laid on in the shape of composl, the mixture 

 of earth, if taken li'om land of a different quality 

 li-om that to which it is to applied, will doubtless 

 have an additional effect on the improvement of 

 the soil; but if used sparingly, it will, in either 

 case, be hardly felt. In districts where lime is to 

 be procured in abundance, it is not much sought 

 alter, as it is looked upon as possessing nearly the 

 same properties ; though, according to its analy- 

 sis, that idea is not altogether well founded, for, 

 although the quantity of alkaline salt and gypsum 

 which it contains is but small, they yet render it 

 superior to common calcareous maiter as a top- 

 dressing for every kind of grass. The expense 

 ol' conveyance is also another objection to its gen- 

 eral use ; but in the neigliborhood of large manu- 

 facturing towns, in which it can be easily pro- 

 cured, and to which farmers have constant occa- 

 sions to send their teams, it can there be obtained 

 with no further charge than that of back-car- 

 riage.f 



COAL, DEPOSIT ES KEAR FAIIMVILLE. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



FarmviUe, Odober 22, 1S3G. 



At a time when the whole country is so much 

 interested on the sidijsct of railways, it may not 

 be im])ropcr, to trouble you once more, in rela- 

 tion to the coal dcposiles in this neighborhood. I 

 feel the more excusable lor this, inasmuch as, in 

 my previous communications, I have expressed 

 so much doubt with regard to the existence of 

 coal in large (juantities. I am happy now to state. 



that my doubts are nearly removed, and that I 

 think I have good reason to believe, that we have 

 in this vicinity, a coal-field of incalculable value. 

 Should this opinion prove correct, much impor- 

 tance will be added to the construction of rail-roada 

 through this place ; more especially, if the rumor 

 be true, that there is considerable failure in some 

 of the Chesterfield coal mines, as to the quantity 

 of coal yielded. 



I went on an excursion, a few days ago, with a 

 party of gentlemen, with a view of inquiring for 

 and examining the indications of coal in the neigh- 

 borhood. On the Bizarre lands, belonging to the 

 estate of the late Richard Randolph, we found a 

 place in which there were several veins of dead 

 coal on the surfiice, with large strata of shale in- 

 tervening; and in an adjacent ravine, wliere there 

 had been a little digging, we found the veins of 

 coal much increased, and those of shale greatly di- 

 minished. Among the dead coal here, there were 

 many lumps of good coal. The whole company 

 supposed, that at this spot, there was afforded the 

 promise of a most valuable deposite of coal, if the 

 veins continue to approximate as rapidly below 

 as on the sides of the ravine. This spot is on the 

 river clifi"", and very near the river. 



We also found on the lands of Mr. James An- 

 derson two other strata, both of which, wei 

 thought, affcjrded undoubted prospects of great 

 value. One of these was in a ditch about three 

 feet wide at bottom; the stratum extended 

 across the ditch, and longitudinally with the ditch 

 about ten or twelve feet. The ditch was cut from 

 east to west, and nearly all the strata in the neigh- 

 borhood have their course from north-east to 

 south-west. I mention these circumstances, be- 

 cause we failed in meeting the labor and imple- 

 ments which we expected — and, with a poor grub- 

 bing hoe and ourown poorer personal labor, wevv ere 

 unable to ascertain the size and dip of the vein. 

 This inability, however, would augur lavorably, 

 as I have always been able very speedily to ascer- 

 tain these matters with small veins. With regard 

 to the size of this vein, there was some diversity 

 of opinion. All concurred in the opinion, that it 

 would be well worth working. My own opinion 

 is, that it must be, at least, six feet through, for I 

 have never seen in the whole field any vein of coal 

 not running north-east and south-west, and whose 

 dip was not either to north-west or south-east. 

 The qualit}' of the coal was also better than I 

 have ever seen so near the surface. This place is 

 about four miles fi'om Farmville and a httle more 

 than one from the Appomattox. 



We have recently learned that there are pro- 

 mising out-runnings of coal in other places, which 

 we will, as soon as practicable, visit, and report to 

 you, if we think them worthy of notice. 



W. S. MORTON. 



* Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. 

 vi. art. 39. 



t See the Essex Survoy, Sect. Soapers' Ashes ; Ad- 

 am's Essays on As^riculfiire, vol. i. p. 167; and a Trea- 

 tise drawn up by tlie order of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture upon Soapers' Waste, in the Communications to 

 the Board, vol. vi. art. 39. 



Vol. IV— 60 



INQUIRY AS TO GRKEN SAND. — REMARKABLE 

 PRODUCT OF SWEET POTATOES. 



To tlic Editor of tlie Fariuers' Register. 



Barren Hill, Nottoway, Fa., Oct. 13, 1836. 



I herewith send you a sample of earth, which I 

 apprehend to be the same as the " green sand, or 

 .Jersey Marl," so often spoken of in the Register. 

 It is found in quantity in the bed of a deep di:ch 



