NEW ENGL.AND FARMER, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BV GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 82 NOKTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultural Warehouse.) — T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



I'4tl.. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 1, 1836. 



NO. 4T. 



(From the Soiilherii Asriiullurlst.) 

 ON M^NVRBS. 



The Comiiiiriee on Agricultural Subjects to the Society for the Ad- 

 vaneeineul of Learniug in i'outh Carolin;i. 



[Concluded.] 



We iicpd priiiripallv kiiowlodgo and population, 

 and Crom any degree of increase of ilieiii, a pro- 

 porlional increase of wealth is the necessary con- 

 5cquince. With these, and the exertions we are 

 capuhlo of, we could defy the worst eftbrls of 

 our eiicniies, and rise triiiinphant from tlie con- 

 flict. By industriously spreading' knowledge 

 among our planters and fm-mersi, we shall so in- 

 crease the fertility of our soil, that our citi- 

 zens will cease to look wcstwardly for rich lands, 

 and latriotisiii, aided by self-interest, will save the 

 country. 



The first stage towards the accomplishment 

 of this most desirable olijeet is the inquiry, 1st. 

 Whether our soil needs, and is generally suscepti- 

 ble of the improvement possessed. 2d. Whether 

 we really )iossess the materials to efiect it ; and 

 3d. Whether these materials are to be obtained 

 ;eiierally, at such a moderate expense, as to war- 

 irant the undertaking. 



To answer the first query, to the satisfaction of 

 treasonable men, we must show — that it has been 

 (lone on similar lands in other countries. This 

 we shall euileavor to do very briefly. '1 he very 

 few scionlific examinations and analysis of our 

 various soils, leave us a narrow fluid fiir our re- 

 search ; but, by a conii)iirison of the soils of this 

 State with those in similar situations below the 

 falls of the rivers in Virginia, .Maryland, and other 

 States where the soils have been analysed, we are 

 warranted in asserting that they arc similar, and in 

 the two States named, such lands have been vast- 

 ly improved by the means here proposed ; for 

 tliey were generally found deficient in calcareous 

 earth, except in extensive beds of shells below tlie 

 surface. Our worn-out fields may also be <lefi- 

 cient in vegetable matter ; but this is so easily 

 6U| ]'li»'d from the leaves of the forests, the inex- 

 haustible I. e<!s of vegetable earth in our swamps, 

 along the margin of all our water courses, from 

 the spring branch to the largest river or liay. It 

 may al.so be had in such abundance from every 

 pond, and the steep sides and bottoms of every 

 rising ground, that we may say that every man 

 has at hand the means of supplying this deficien- 

 cy. It is somewhat different, hoivever, with the 

 supplies of calcareous matter. But this is the ob- 

 ject of the second query. 



The immediate vicinity of the sea. has the ad- 

 vantage, besides sea-cose and sedge, of fresh shells, 

 which may either be pulverized by burning, or 

 which would be far more beneficial, though, per- 

 haps, more expensive, by being coarsely ground 

 immediately before they are spread on the land 

 and jiloughcd in. By the process of burning, all 

 the animal matter of the shell and of the animal 

 it contained, are lost, and the lime thus produced, 

 is, perhaps, not so generally fit for all kinds of 



land as the other, uidess it is exposed a long time 

 to the air to regain the carbonic acid of which the 

 fire has deprived it. Lime in a caustic state, how- 

 ever, is sometimes |)referable to tlie carbonate ; as 

 when it is to be ap[)licd to lanil overburdened with 

 coarse vegetable matter, as in the case with hiiul 

 uncleared or wliich litis just been cleared. For 

 all the otlier lands, the chief dependence is on the 

 great deposites of fossil shells, which are visible 

 on the surface, in some places, and in others on the 

 hanks of livers, creeks, gullies, and such other 

 places. Great strata of them are known to exist 

 trom the seabeard up to Orangeburg, or above, in 

 the direction of Columbia. When we shall be 

 fully impressed with the immense value of these 

 deposites, iinil search for them, many localities of 

 them will undoubtedly be found in favorable situ- 

 ations. Wherever they have been used in similar 

 situations as the tract of country in contemplation, 

 most of these beds of sliells have been found inex- 

 haustible. Parts ol the upjier country is abun- 

 dantly sup])lied with calcareous matter in its mar- 

 bles and lime stones. The materials are then to 

 be had in abundance. 



To answer the third query, we must ii-quire in- 

 to what has been done in other countries or Stales, 

 and what is usually the expense. 



We have on this subject, the undoubted testiinc- 

 ny of almost every European writer on agricul- 

 ture. In those countries, carbonate of Uine in 

 the form and by the name of marl, !,as been used 

 to restore icrtility to land froin time immemorial. 

 Liine, in a caustic slate 1ms also been iimch used 

 for the satne purpose, and when applied with 

 judgment, the result has always been satisfactory. 

 Sir H. Davy says, (p. 182,) in his Agricultural 

 Chemistry : « The labor of improving the texture 

 or the constitution of the soil, is repaid by a great 

 permanent advantage, less manure is required, and 

 its fertility insured : anil capital laid out in this 

 way, secures forevei', the i)roductiveness,aud con- 

 sequently the value of the land.*' Also, in tinoth- 

 er i)lace, (p. 164) : '' The soils which contain 

 the most alumina and carbonate of liniCj arc those 

 wliicli act Willi the greatest energy in preserving 

 manures. Such soils merit the appellation -wliieh 

 is commonly given to them of rich soils: for tlie 

 vegetable nourishment is long preserved in them, 



unless taken tip by the organs of the plants." 



James Anderson, L. L. D. in his Essays relating 

 to .Agriculture, &c. says, (p. 169) : " Lime is the 

 most universal manure for tiiiproduetive land. Of 

 a 1 the manures that can be obtained for improv 

 ing waste lands, nothing is equal to lime, or other 

 calcareous matter." And in p. 198 : "1 scruple not 

 again to repeat, for it cannot be too strongly incul- 

 cated, that lime, or other calcareous matter, ap- 

 plied in large quantities, must form the basis of all 

 radical improvements of waste lands. Lime teiCe 

 to sweeten the grasses, produced on every soil, to 

 which it has been ajiplied, so as to render them 

 more jialatable to all animals, it augments the 

 quantum of the produce considerab'y ; it thus ren- 

 ders the ground capable of sustaining a greater 



number of beasts. These, of coiirsi;, produce 

 more dung, ami that dung if a;iplied in conjunc- 

 tion with the lime, will produce greater and morn 

 lasting eflTi'cts than it could have done without it. 

 It would seem that heaven with a view to reward 

 the industry of man, and set no limits to the iiielio- 

 ratioii of the soil, had disposed this universal fer- 

 tilizer over our globe, as to bring it within our 

 reach, by the operations cf human industry, almost 

 every where. Whatever, therefore tends to facili- 

 tate the acquisition of this manure to any particu- 

 lar pliice ; whether by means of roads, canals, or 

 any other device, must be considered as amongst 

 the niostniseful of human cxertiovs." 



The quotations from these two writers must 

 suffice, although numerous others, both from 

 Great Britain and the continent might be advan- 

 tageously added, were it not for the fear of ren- 

 dering this memoir much too voluminous. We 

 cannot however, refrain noticing something of 

 this kind of improvement, that has been lately, and 

 is now going on in increasing progress in some of 

 our sister States, principally in Virginia. The 

 most interesting work lately published by Mr Ed- 

 mund Riiffin of Virginia, entitled, " Es.says on Cal- 

 careous JNlanures," second edition, together with, 

 his most invaluable monthly periodical, the "Far- 

 mer's Register," (publications which ought to be 

 in '.I.r iiands oi every planter or farmer that can 

 re.1.1) have already prodticed w the short space of 

 little more than two years, veVj^ gwat itnprove- 

 ments in the State of Virginia. TBesc work* 

 give such undoubted proofs of an inc.e:>a<;d zeal 

 in the planters and- farmers of that country, as re- 

 dounds, not only to their honor, but .'^'''o gf^aty 

 to their profits. Wherever it is fount! priieiicable, 

 the beds of fossil shells are sought for, and trana< 

 ported on the wo^a-out o« even oa fresh lands, 

 at an expense wliich may. appear great in thi?.. 

 country, wlieie wp are unused to such exertions^ 

 but in reality small when compared to the great 

 increase ofthe crops.. By means of these calca-, 

 icons materials, fields which formerly produced 8 

 or 10 bushels of corato the acn;, and other grains 

 in the same |>roporlion, produce novv Sa i)\; more 

 and the land is thereby made fit, for the j roduc-, 

 tioii of wheat and clavci;, tallowed by another crop, 

 of corn or cotton. We cannot here enter into de- 

 tails, althonf;h tiiey are most iutcrestiug J b,i,i! yve 

 should not be doing justice to our subject and ta 

 our country, were we to neglect tUe tiies^i.tion of 

 another very great advantage wliioh is found to be 

 derived from She same application of calcareou§i 

 earths to the land, and that is, the heahh of the 

 country has been considerably inijiroved by it. 

 The short time that this invaluable manure has 

 been used in the low country in Virginia and Ma, 

 ry land, does not only ufiord the most positive evi- 

 dence of the permanence of this last mentioned 

 benefit, but, from analogy, we arc warranted in our 

 lio[ie3 of the most )>ernianent advantages from it. 

 The city of Mobile, from being some years ago, a 

 very .^ickly Jilace, iri now, and has been for a few 

 years, a most healthy one, 'J his is chiefly to ho 



