FAREERS' REGISTER— NEW MINERAL MANURES. 



541 



searching for earths and sands fit for manufacturing 

 glass-ware. 



Several intelligent agriculturists, from certain 

 appearances of similarity with the peat of Holland 

 that furnishes the ccndres de mer, supposing that 

 these black earths might contain the same ingre- 

 dients which renders the said cendres de mer so ef- 

 ficacious as a manure, burnetl them and employed 

 the ashes as a manure on their meadows. This 

 operation had such a happy result, that it was soon 

 followed by other experiments equally, or even 

 more prosperous in their consequences. 



This induced a number of persons to form a 

 company for the sake of obtaining the privilege of 

 digging for this substance, and the king soon after 

 granted them a charter to that etfect. 



This coal or carbonic earth (terrehouille) is al- 

 ways sulphureous, and more or less bituminous. In 

 analyzing it, vitriol and some alum are found, but 

 no nitre. When left in heaps after it has been dug 

 from the mine, this terre hoin'lle gets hot, and after 

 some time takes fire by itself, burns whatever 

 comes in contact with it, and emits a strong odor 

 of sulphur. It is thrown into shallow pits where 

 it kindles, but without any flame, and burns till 

 the whole is reduced to ashes, which are then car- 

 ried away and used as a manure. 



This ierre houille has also been used as a manure 

 without being reduced to ashes, and has been found 

 to answer quite as well as the ashes. In this case 

 it is beaten into a coarse powder, and the land co- 

 vered with it to the thickness of an inch. The em- 

 ployment of this coal either as dust or as ashes, has 

 proved so very advantageous, that it has become, 

 in France, where it can be had, almost general. 

 Various experiments have been tried on different 

 kinds of grains, vegetables, and even fruit trees : 

 they every where have been attended by the most 

 surprising effects on the vegetation. But by far 

 the most astonishing results from the use of this 

 manure have been produced on the clover, lucern, 

 and sainfoin, of which most artificial meadows are 

 formed in Flanders. » 



Considering these effects, as astonishing as they 

 are advantageous to farmers, some theorizers have 

 imagined that the sulphureous acid, contained iii 

 these unbufned carbonic earths, being developed 

 by the rain water, forms with the bitumen, which 

 they also contain, a new compound, which, with the 

 soil constituting the basis, is the true manure, and 

 does all the good :- it may be so.* 



G. BL.ETTERIVIANN. 



ON MANURES FROM COAL, AND THE TURF OF 

 SALT MARSHES. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Columbia, (S. C.) November 21st, 1833. 

 I have duly received your letter of the 13th inst. 

 and give you with pleasure, the very little infor- 

 mation I possess on the subject of the houille. In 



[+We should infer that benefit being obtained from 

 pit coal as manure, or from anything that produces 

 either sulphureous or sulphuric acid, must depend on the 

 soil being calcareous, in which case gypsum will be 

 formed. But if no lime is present, or not enough to take 

 up the sulphuric acid, the effect of that acid, whether 

 alone, or combined with either the iron or alumiue 

 (pure clay) of the soil, will be decidedly injurious to 

 growing plants.] — Ed. Farm. Reg. 



my native' place, the blacksmiths used nothing" 

 else in their forges but a pit-coal, which was there 

 only known generally by this name, and I believe 

 it was obtained from Flanders. The .hnuille used 

 there was always, as far as I have seen, in a 

 crumbled state, and I do not rememlier to have 

 seen a piece of it as large as my fist. It seems to 

 me, that it was highly bituminous, as heat very 

 soon made it cake into a hard mass, and if I recol- 

 lect right, it yielded very little flame in the forge. 

 These are, however, the" imperfect recollections of 

 fifty years. On referring to the French " Ency- 

 clopedia, or Dictionaire Raisonnedes Sciences, dcg 

 Arts et des Metiers," I find a mention of the differ- 

 ent names used in the "Journal d'jJgriculture," ^-c. 

 Houille, houille-grasse, and terre houille. That 

 termed " grasse-' seems to be thus distinguished by 

 its being the most bituminous, and to have been long 

 supposed to act as manure, and that in proportion 

 to the quantity of the bitumen it contains. As 

 regards the terre houille, the description of it is 

 rather unsatisfactory ; but it is undoubtedly a 

 mineral coal aFso, perhaps of more recent forma- 

 tion. A:vcry curious fact is stated of it, which I 

 here translate. " The result of this examination 

 " is, that in England and in. Flanders, the ashes of 

 " mineral coal have been used to augment the pro- 

 " duction of meadows; that the peat-ashes, called 

 " in Holland "sea ashes," (cendres de mer,) have 

 " since been used for meadows, as also for lands 

 " sowed with seeds of fodder plants ; that they 

 " have also used the ashes of the peat of Amiens 

 " and other countries, and that the earths and ashes 

 " of houille, found in that district of country, at 

 " the three places here above designated (Suzy, 

 " Fauconcourt and Lessieres,) a]ipear to deserve 

 " the preference, not merely on account of their 

 "proximity, but also of their efficacy, because 

 " they possess a higher bituminous quality, which 

 " is the surest improver of the land. The effect of 

 " these different ashes, proves generally, that all 

 " saline and bituminous manures are jjreferable to 

 " a drier earth, such as marl or crau, [I cannot 

 " find what this last is,] the effect of which is only 

 " to ddate the tenacious soils by dilating them- 

 " selves in damp weather. The use of marl, 

 " which is very expensive, has even been founcf 

 " dangerous. The terres houilles are sulphureous 

 " and bituminous ; by decomposing them, they 

 " might be found to contain vitriol, and perhaps 

 " alum ; but no nitre ; the bituminous partj is the 

 " tiue manure." 



•". This terre houille, 'if it is left for a few days 

 " in a heap, as it comes out of the mine, gets heated, 

 " takes fire of itself, and bur7is tchat is in contact 

 ■' with it, and spreads afar an odor of sulphur. 



" To reduce it to ashes, it is put into a ditch or 

 "pit, ivhere it ferments, and takes fire without any 

 " apparent flame. If it contained nitre, it woula 

 "produce flame. 



" This terre houille may be used, either as it 

 '•' comesoutof the nune, withouthaving been either 

 " burnt or calcined, or after it has been burnt and 

 " reduced to ashes, &c. &c. Any one may find 

 " out by a simple experiment, if the black earths 

 " which are supposed to be terre-de-houille, are 

 " truly such. Take a lump of it as large as a me- 

 " Ion ; place it, without breaking it on live coals 

 " on the hearth ; if it is terre houille, it will take 

 " fire like spunk without flame, spreading a suffo- 

 " eating odor of sulphur. If it produce a flame^ 



