492 



FARMERS' REGISTER— PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE, 



the means of improvement. The clay, &c. ob- 

 tained from ccHars, ice-houses and wells, I have 

 found always to improve the lands on which it 

 was applied. The dirt thrown from ditches, even in 

 poor highland, is constantly seen to invigorate f lie 

 vegetation about which it is cast. Removing 

 eartii from one spot to another, by increasing tlie 

 number of chemical agents, increases the chances 

 of combination with putrescent manures. I think 

 I once added much strength to the constitution ol 

 a soil, naturally weak, by spreading on it a vast 

 bank of cinders from an old smith's shop. For 

 some time past my mind has been much occupied 

 Avith surmises on the probabdity of fertilizing pro- 

 perties in many of our ordinary rocks. Some of 

 them are a mass of heterogeneous materials very 

 firmly agglutinated. Could lime, rendered latent 

 by combination, have been the universal cement- 

 ing principle.? If not, might there not be others, 

 consolidating other rocks as lime does lime rocks, 

 and which might be rendered subservient to ag- 

 riculture and the arts.'' 1 also observed that the 

 lands in the vicmily of certain rocks, particularly 

 those of a dark color, were richer than other lands 

 not thus accompanied. In the midst of these 

 doubts, I was much pleased to meet with Profes- 

 sor Eaton's remarks on the application of geology 

 to agriculture in your fourth No., in which lie 

 states that land may be speedily enriched by the 

 application of hornblende and other rocks in a 

 finely pulverized state. On examination, I found 

 there were great quantities of hornblende* on one 

 of the finest veins of land in this county. This 

 kind of rock is said to contain eleven per cent, of 

 lime; and I cannot help hoping it will afford an 

 important source of agricidtural imjirovement. 

 Some of these lands are owned liy enterprising gen- 

 tlemen — some of them your subscribers — who will 

 give a fair experiment to a matter of such pro- 

 mise. 



Might it not be beneficial to the interests of ag- 

 riculture, if a cabinet of the objects of geology 

 and mineralogy, as connected with agriculture, 

 were kept in iiie office of the Register, in which 

 might be deposited numerous specimens, either for 

 inspection or distribution, of articles belonging to 

 these sciences, su})posed to possess manuring pro- 

 perties? A field .so wide seems to open in this 

 branch of agriculture, as to give rise to the hope, 

 that at least in a physical sense, the whole earth 

 might speedily become a garden. 



GABIA GRASS ON ROANOKE. 



Southampton, Dec. 5th, 1833. 



Though the gama grass has been growing on 

 Mr. Norfleet's farm [on the lower Roanoke] fi^r 

 the last forty or fifty years, he had never esteemed 

 it valuable, but has rather looked upon it as a 

 noxious weed, more an inconvenience than other- 

 wise. His attention was called to the grass by 

 the late accounts of its enormous product and 

 great value — since which time he has oliserved 

 that stock are very fond of grazing on it, while it is 

 young. I take great pleasure in sending you half 

 of my present slock of seed. 



*I think it is very abundant in many parts of th 

 State. The same may be said of argillite. 



GAMA GRASS SEED AND BYEFIELD PIGS. 



Northampton, Va. Dae. 10, 1833. 



Having seen several communications in your 

 " Register" concerning the " Gama Grass," I am 

 desirous of procuring seed enough to plant three 

 or four acres — and I now take the liberty of ask- 

 ing the f»vor of you to procure for me a sufficient 

 quantity for that purpose, without regard to the 

 ])rice. Should you succeed in procuring the arti- 

 cle, it may be sent to Norfolk to the care of Rich- 

 ard Drummond. Can a pair of pigs of the Bye- 

 field or Swiss breed be conveniently obtained ; and 

 at what price.' 



[Should any reader be able to supply either the seed 

 or the stock asked for above, we will tal<e pleasure in 

 conveying the infonnation to our correspondent.] 



ARABIC WORK ON AGRICULTURE. 



University of Virginia, ? 

 '24th Dec. 1833. 5 

 I shall most willingly translate for your inspec- 

 tion some parts of the old Arabic work you men- 

 tion, though I much doubt whether you will, alter 

 having read them, find them of any utility for 

 your purpose. It seems a chaotic mass of the va- 

 rious sayings of a great many authors, to the num-> 

 ber of one hundred and thirty, Greeks, Romans, 

 Indians, Egyptians and Arabs, that have written 

 on agriculture, or at least in their works alluded 

 to the subject, the whole spiced with a good dose 

 of superstition. For instance the author is very 

 circumstantial in giving very precise rules for the 

 manufacture of particular manures for every sj)e- 

 cies of trees and shrubs; and after having taught 

 you how to make the manure, the chief ingredient 

 of which is excrement urn hominis, he makes it in- 

 dispen.sable that you should add some ashes of the 

 wood of the tree to be manured,- without which 

 the manure would be of no account. How cun- 

 ning ! the tree must be pruned to get the wood — 

 to burn the ashes — to make the manure efficacious ! 

 In another place, having given rules for the culti- 

 vation of wliat I think is tlie cornfield pea of this 

 country, he savs : " Gather a quart of peas, and put 

 them at nigiit in a place where the increasing moon 

 may shine upon them, and take ihem away again be- 

 fore sunrise ; by keeping them afterwards in soft wa- 

 ter two hours, and boiling them in the same water 

 till they are done, you will find them, when eaten 

 by you either hot or cold, to possess a peculiar vir- 

 tue, viz. that of cheering up your mind, of mak- 

 ing you forget all care and anxiety, of strength- 

 ening your heart, and removing every gloomy 

 thought from your head." I suppose that the per- 

 son whoshould wish toexpcrience these effects must, 

 in propria persona, go through all the necessary 

 process from the gathering to the eating, especial- 

 ly that of getting up beft)re sunrise to get his peas 

 out of danger from the sun ! However, there are 

 some parts that have pleased me very much; and 

 it would be well if our farmers had a little of that 

 l<ind of superstition — it might be useful to them. 

 The compiler of the work says, in its introducto- 

 ry part: " The farmer ought to consider that good 

 husbandry is not only the greatest promoter of the 

 comforts and luxuries in this life, but it also pro- 

 cures those facilities that await the pious in the 

 life to come." On this subject, our proi)het, in his 

 inspired volume, says : " Wilt thou find most fa- 

 vor in the sight of God, obtain thy sustenance by 



