462 



FARMERS' REGISTER— CLOVER HAY— MAGNESIAN MARL. 



will not more than pay for the labor of properly 

 prepariiio; the ground. For thi.s crop, it is neces- 

 sary to rake lofjether and burn all the leaves left liy 

 the trees, which serves <o impoverish the land — 

 and then it will be a p;ood day's work for a liand 

 to make 300 tobacco liills, as they ought to be 

 made. A tier a crop of corn and ])eas, one thousand 

 tobacco hills may be made by a hand in a day ; and 

 the crop will be far better. I have tried both of 

 these different plans, and have found it g-reatly pre- 

 ferable to make corn and peas the first crop. 



A nnuKswicK planter. 

 November 27th, 1833. 



METHOD OF PREVENTING THE SALIVATING 

 EFFECTS OF CLOVER HAY. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Hanover, December 2nd, 1S33. 



The correctness of your views, as expressed in 

 your address to tlie patrons of the Re;iister in the 

 last number, in relation to its ultimate success, I 

 think cannot be doubted by any one who will re- 

 flect on the subject; and although I believe it has 

 already awakened a spirit of improvement amongst 

 lis, which I trust will not soon expire, yet it is 

 evident that it cannot accomplish as much for the 

 liirming interest of the slate, as its editor, and everv 

 other patriotic citizen may wisli, and of which it 

 now gives so fair a promise, unless it shall become 

 the medium of communication between the prac- 

 tical farmers of our state, and the vehicle of plain 

 practical information. I feel assured that there is 

 a valuable store of knowledge in the possession of 

 our farmers, on the different sulijecls which are 

 connected Avith the cultivation of the soil : and why 

 should it be kept locked up.' I hope your appeal 

 w ill not be unheeded, but that every one who is 

 practising good plans of any sort, will let his neigh- 

 bor profit by his experience. Many I liave rio 

 doubt, are restrained by a false sense of modesty, 

 from communicating useful information, because 

 they do not write in a handsome style. The plain 

 common sense men of the country, are those whose 

 communications I conceive would be most valua- 

 ble. In accordance with these views, I frequently 

 during the last summer, inteiided inquiring througli 

 the Register, if any farmer knew a remedy for that 

 quality, which we frequently find in clover hay, that 

 produces salivation in horses. Instead of asking 

 for information, I tried an experiment, the result 

 of wliich, being successful, 1 will now give you to 

 be published if you think j)roper. 



About the middle of June, I cut a parcel of clo- 

 ver hay, which I cured very well, and flattered 

 myself, would be fine food for my plough horses 

 during the hot weather of July ; but to my great 

 surprise, a bundle which could be grasped in one 

 hand, would produce salivation, when eaten by a 

 horse or mule. I never knew the first cutting of 

 clover hay to have that effect before. After some 

 reflection, I determined to salt it — which I did in 

 the following manner. I had a bed of hay spread 

 out, lying loosely about three feet in depth, which 

 having become very dry, I sprinkled with water, 

 using a large watering pol, that the salt might dis- 

 solve ; 1 then put as much salt on it as I thought it 

 would take without making it unpalatable. I wen( 

 through the whole bulk in that way, sprinkling 

 water and then salt, as nearly as I coidd guess, 

 about a peck to the thousand pounds of hay. I 



did not use any of this hay for some weeks, but 

 when I did try it, I found it had lost its salivating 

 (juality entirely. I have since used the whole quan- 

 tity without its producing salivation in the slight- 

 est degree. I suppose it might have been safely 

 used as soon as the salt had time to be diffused 

 through the bulk of hay. The second crop of clo- 

 ver generally produces salivation, and from that 

 cause we are prevented from using it for hay; but 

 it is sometimes much more abundant than the first 

 crop, and it is desirable to use it for hay. I intend 

 trying next season some of the second cutting, to 

 ascertain if salt will have the same effect on it. 



E«MD. FONTAINE. 



BIAGNESIAN MARL OF HANOVER. 



[As soon as it was discovered that the marl described 

 in our last number, contained a large proportion of mag- 

 nesia, we sent a specimen of the parcel first received, to 

 Professor Rogers, of William and Mary College, with 

 the request that he would employ his better means and 

 far greater knowledge of chemistry, to find the propor- 

 tions of the carbonates of magnesia and lime in the earth. 

 Fearing, however, that his more important engagements 

 might not permit him to pay early attention to the sub- 

 ject, we continued the investigation, and by a different 

 and less accurate process, arrived at the result reported 

 in No. 7, page 425. The proportions of the carbonates 

 of lime and magnesia, there stated, agree very nearly 

 with those obtained afterwards by Professor Rogers — 

 and also the whole quantity of the remaining clay, 

 which however, contrary to our supposition, (for its 

 nature was inferred merely from its appearance,) con- 

 sists more of silicious than of aluminous earth. Mr. 

 Rogers' letter was received before the publication of 

 No. 7, but too late to be included, the last sheet being 

 then in the press. 



We have preferred giving the whole of the process 

 used by Mr. Rogers, believing that it will be interesting, 

 and perhaps of practical utility, to many of our readers. 

 We heartily wish that such aid could be more often ob- 

 tained for the benefit of agriculture. 



The request which is made in the latter part of the 

 t'ollowiiig letter, is recommended to the attention of all 

 curious observers, who are digging into beds of fossil 

 shells for manure. Almost every one makes some col- 

 lections of the shells and other fossils so found, which 

 are but little prized, and soon lost. If such private col- 

 lections were sent (with statements of localities) to one 

 place of deposite, to be examined, arranged, and descri- 

 bed by some competent person, each rare specimen 

 would acquire a value which was not susjDected while 

 it remained in the donor's possession, and the whole col- 

 lection would form a subject of much interest. We 

 will gladly lend our personal aid to effect this object, and 

 will convey to Mr. Rogers any specimens which it may 

 be most convenient to place in our charge for that pur- 

 pose.] 



William and Mary, JVov. 27, 1833. 



My Dear Sir, — An obstinate quotidian, un- 

 der which I have labored since my return to VVil- 

 liamsburg, and fi-om which I have just recovered, 

 prevented my attending as promptly as I could 

 liave wished, to the request contained in your let- 

 ter. As soon as I was able, I began the analysis, 

 which I have conducted in my lodging room, and 



