FxVRMERS' REGISTER— MEADE'S STOCK— CALCAREOUS TUFA, S:c. 487 



the Saxon sheep, until he hapi)ily comhined the 

 requisites of length of staple uiid fincnes:; of wool, 

 with size of carcass and mutton qualities. W ith 

 regard to his Bedford ho;i:s, I cannot speak with 

 the same conlidente ; hut think they were of the 

 Parkinson breed, and called by him Bedford hogs, 

 from a doui)t at the time to whom tiie honor was 

 due of introducing into our country this valuable 

 breed. They may also, too, with his usual tact in 

 such matters, have been crossed and improved. A 

 biographical sketch of one so devoted to the inter- 

 ests of agriculture, and to whom its advancement 

 in the Valley is more indebted than to any other 

 man, ought to occupy a column or two in the Far- 

 mers' Register. Obituary notices of such men, 

 with a condensed view of their writings — when 

 they have written so much and so well as Mr. 

 Meade, would certainly be -acceptable to the agri- 

 cultural communit}'. 



A valuable breed of hogs may Edso be procured 

 from Mr. Barnitz of York County, Pennsylvania, 

 and likewise from Mr. Hitchcock of Baltimore. 

 These are the Parkinson, crossed on the large 

 Englisli hog. Mr. WiIson,oftl)is county, as well 

 as t)r. Tate of Augusta, are now both engaged in 

 raising from Mr. Meade's Durham cattle. 



We have lately had two important improve- 

 ments in hill-side j)loughs, by two of our citizens. 

 The one by Mr. Cyrus McCormick, and the oth- 

 er by C'apt. Donald, both of which promise to be 

 very valuable in all hilly lands. Messrs. Mat- 

 thews & Kahle, too, have lately invented a ma- 

 chine, for b'Oth gathering and cleaning clover seed, 

 which seems destined to promote the cause of agri- 

 culture, as much as did the cast iron mould-board 

 plough of McCormick, introduced some 3'ears 

 since. In a partial trial some days since, one of 

 these machines got out five bushels of seed jn three 

 hours. R. E. E. 



[The foregoing communication ha.s additional value 

 in conseqaence of coming from west of the Blue Ridge — 

 from which great and important region we have as yet 

 been favored with but very few articles for publication. 

 The locust requires a soil well supplied v.-ith iinie ; 

 and without that requisite it can scarcely be made to 

 live, at least in tlie tide-water region. On the fine lime- 

 stone soils of Rockbridge, and other parts of the great 

 Valley of Virginia, this fact may not have been known, 

 because every spot of soil is perhaps properly constitu- 

 ted to enable the locust to flourish. Tiie rapidity and 

 vigor of its growth is not less remarkable on the banks 

 of James river, v/herever the soil was naturally calca- 

 reous ; and even after fertile soil of this kind has been 

 washed away from cultivated and steep hill-sides, leav- 

 ing bare and apparently barren subsoil only, young lo- 

 custs will again spring up, and grow with far more lux- 

 uriance than every nursing care could produce on soil 

 of acid quality, (or such as pines grow on fireely,) how- 

 ever well supplied v>dth putrescent nianures. Freely as 

 the locust grows on our river banks, where the soil is, 

 or has been, of great fertility, very few are to be found 

 a mile off, and not one, of natural growth, upon the 

 whole extent of the inland pine lands. Tho.?e reared 

 about houses, for ornament, on soils of the latter kind, 

 sometimes thrive and grow well ; but this is owing to 

 the soil about our dwellings being supplied with lime 

 from a.shes, and also in a less degree, from every kind 



though by other means would beief^uired bticreicci!.-^ts 

 :.iuld be made to live alon^: the routes of radways pass- 

 ng through a p ne country. 



The "marl" of which our correspondent speaks, or 

 ca'cctreous tufa, is no doubt a most valuable resource for 

 manure; and we have bef re stated its value, and le- 

 commended its use in a communication, from which an 

 extract v/ill be given below. The name "marl" is cer- 



ainly as mvch misapplied to this substance, as it is to 

 our beds of fossil shells; but as it is principally compo- 



ed of pure calcareous earth, (carbonate of lime,) it 

 has, in a high degree, all that renders valuable any 

 marl, or any calcareous manure. 



This calcareous tufa is found at the rapids, or falls, or 



vl.ere there were once falls of limestone water. The 



ime held in solution by water is in the form of super 

 carbonate, being combined with a double portion of car- 

 bonic acid. When exposed to the air, as it is by dash- 



ng over falls, the efLct of that exposure is to throw off 

 ;he excess of carbonic acid, leaving the compound sun- 

 ply a carbonate of lime, which, being insoluble in water, 

 ildl to the bottom, and in the covtrse of ages, forms the 

 anmense accumulations of calcareous tufa on the lime- 

 -Uone streams. The increase of these deposites serve 



n time to oppose the passage of the water, as a dike 

 would, so that the stream gradually shifts to another 

 part of the lowland, and thus continues to extend the 

 space covered by the dcposite ] 



DIFFERENT CALCAREOUS ROCKS PROPOSED 

 FOR aiAKURE. . 



Extract of a letter from Edmund Riiffin to JVm. 

 B. Page, piihlishedby order rfihe j/gricultural 

 Society of the Valley, May 29, 1826. 



Fri'm the Wiiicliester Republican. 

 * * * " You state the general objection to 

 liming in Frederick to be, tirst, the belief that 

 your soils are already sufblcientlj' calcareous, and 

 secondly, the cost of fuel. I have before offered 

 you reasons for my belief tliat your soils generally 

 are not even slightly calcareous, and on the mo.st 

 accurate examination, I do not think that you will 

 find atv>entieth part of even your limestone soils 

 to contain the smallest proportion of calcareous 

 earth. The expense of burning I cannot estimate 

 even on tlic practice of neighboring farmers, of 

 whom I h^ve in vain made inquiries. But even if 

 your fuel should be ratl.er more dear than on James 

 river, you would obtain the material for lime at 

 far less cost. Oyster shells taken from vessels off 

 the landing places, cost 62| cents per hogshead, 

 (yielding eighteen bushels of lime,) while you 

 would quarry the rock on the farm, or perhaps the 

 field, where the lime was to l;e spread. But I 

 doubt whether burning will be necessary in every 

 case where you may manure with lime. As its sol- 

 vent power is seldom used or wanted, it will serve 

 as well mild as caustic, if it can be broken down 

 fine enough without heat. Limestone gravel is 

 used to great profit in Ireland, and perhaps may 

 be found in our limestone country ; and from my 

 own limited observation, I know that substitutes 

 for it may be obtained in various places,.if they 

 should be found to suit as well in their quantity, as 

 in their richness. Yv ith a view to answering your 

 inquiries, I paid some attention to this subject du- 

 ring my recent visit to tlie mountains, and would 

 have examined many supposed materials for ma- 



of accumulation there made. A like change in the soil, | nure, but for the want of the necessary tests : as it 



