FARMERS' REGISTER— ANALYZING MARLS, &c. 



609 



long a desideratum in. Yirginia ; and your jjosition, 

 near the head of tide-water, and the line dividing 

 the phmting and grain growing districts of the 

 state, is .believed to be peculiarl)' favorable to 

 its successful prosecution. The times, too, are 

 propitious to such an undertaking. High prices, 

 and facilities of transportation, stimulating to in- 

 creased production, have awakened a spirit of im- 

 provement; and the minds of many, hitherto 

 indiderent to the sulyect, are now directed to the 

 resuscitation of their exhausted fields. On the 

 Register devolves the pleasing task of taking that 

 spirit "at tlie flood," and le;iding it " on to for- 

 tune" — and a chastened ambition could desire no 

 higher distinction than that, wliicli w ill be award- 

 ed to its editor, by a grateful posterity. 1 avail 

 myself of your columns, to propound a few que- 

 ries, designed to elicit further information relative 

 to the system of tobacco planting, so successfully 

 practised by Mr. Vf m. Old, of Powhatan. The 

 communication of your correspondent, Mr. INIeade, 

 (No. 7, page 441, Farm. Reg.) is entirely saiis- 

 fiictory as (o results — but does not enter sufficiently 

 into tlie details of culture and management, for t!ie 

 Instruction of distant readers, who can have no 

 advantages of personal oi;servation. He says, 

 " Mr. Old has two lots for tobacco, one of which is 

 planted cVery year, followed the next spring with 

 oats, which, when ripe, are rolled down, or turned, 

 under with the plough, as he thinks best." 



I would respectfully ask — What circumstances 

 vary his management, and determine him to roll, 

 or to plougii.' When he rolis down the oats, at 

 what period, thereafter, he turns them under.' 

 Whether ids preparation for planting, in tlie spring, 

 be materially dilTercnt from what is common? 

 What is the character of his soil.' What kind of 

 tobacco he plants — and whether he primes and 

 tops high.' 



Lliave a deep interest in this subject, which will, 

 I trust, form a sulTicient apology, (or the troulile 1 

 shall give you in reading, and making such dispo- 

 sition of this note, as you, in your discretion, may 

 think most likely, to reach the object contempla- 

 ted. 



Mr. Meade is entitled to the thanks of the to- 

 bacco planting community, and will please accept 

 mine, for his highly interesting paper. It points 

 to a system, which, if judiciously carried out into 

 practice, must lead to the accomplishment of tlie 

 three cardinal objects of agricultural labor in all 

 countries — increase of market crop, abundance of 

 bread stuffs, and improvement of the soil. 



Living in retirement, without ambition, or mo- 

 tive to lift its veil, and asking information, only 

 with a view to my own, and my neighbors' benefit, 

 I cannot yield to, though [ feel the force of ypur 

 suggestion, that all communications should appear 

 over the proper signatures of their writers. You 

 will, therefore, omit my name, should you think 

 proper to insert this in the Register. 



Retaining a pleasing recollection of our early 

 acquaintance, I pray you, sir, to accept my best 

 wishes for the success of your labor in the great 

 enterprise in which you have embarked, for the 

 advancement of agricultural science. 



[We hope that an answer to the foregoing queries, 

 will be furnirilied by any one of tlie gentlsmt n refer- 

 red to] 



Yof.. L~77 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 PLAIN mUECTIOKS FOR ANALYZING MAKL, 

 AND OTHER CALCAREOUS MANURES. 



It is of the utmost importance to every farmer 

 who is using calcareous manures, to be able to 

 know their value by chemical tests — and though 

 sufficient practical knowledge for this purpose may 

 easily be acquired, and cheaply exercised, there are 

 very fev/ who do not seem to think the subject so 

 mysterious, or so difficult, as to be entirely beyond 

 their reach. This op'inion is altogether erroneous. 

 Any person, with a little attentionand care, though 

 quite ignorant of chemistry, may test the value of 

 his marl, or beds of fossil shells, with enough ac- 

 curac)' for all practical purposes. The following 

 directions are offered for this purpose : and it will 

 be my object to make them so (ilain, that any 

 person may understand them, and follow them 

 with success in practice. For want of this know- 

 ledge, many persons are now \ising rich calcare- 

 ous manures so lavishly as to injure the lands 

 which they ought to improve : and for the same 

 reason, many bodies of calcareous earth, or stone, 

 ren^ain useless, and their value as manure unsus- 

 pected, because their Ibrm and appearance dilTer 

 i'rom other substances heretolbre used for that pur- 

 pose. 



The immense beds of fossil shells which lie un- 

 der the greater part, if not the whole tide-water 

 region of Yirginia and the adjacent States, furnish 

 the manures for which the process of analyzing is 

 most generally needed. J3ut the same methods 

 will serve for any other form in Avhich calcareous 

 earth may be presented, or suspected to be pre- 

 sent — as in soft and impure limestone, calcareous 

 tufa, argillaceous marl, &c. Much interest has 

 of late been excited on this subject, and many 

 persons have been searching lor calcareous earths. 

 To know whether any earth is calcareous, nothing 

 mors is required than to tlirow a little of it into 

 muriatic acid diluted with water, when efferves- 

 cence will at once mark the presence of calcare- 

 ous earth. The existence of that ingredient being 

 known, its proportions may be ascertained in tlie 

 following manner: 



1st. Take a lump of marl, fossil shells, &c. large 

 enough to furnish a iiiir sample of the particular 

 body under consideration — dry it perfectly, near 

 the fire — pound the whole to a coarse powder (in 

 a metal mortar,) and mix the whole together — 

 take from the mixture a small sample, which re- 

 duce to a finely divi led state, and v/eigli of it a 

 certain portion, say 50 grains, for trial. 



2nd. To this known quantity in a glass, pour 

 slowly and at different times, muriatic acid diluted 

 with three or four limes its bulk of water, (any 

 except lime stone, or hard water. — ) The acid 

 will dissolve all t!;e lime in the calcareous earth, 

 and let loose the carbonic acid with which it was 

 previously combined, in the form of gas, or air, 

 which causes the effervescence, which so plainly 

 marks the progress of such solution. The addi- 

 tion of the muriatic acid, must be continued as 

 long as it produces effervescence; and but very 

 littfe after that effect has ceased. The mixture 

 should be well and often stirred, and should have 

 enough excess of acid to be sour after standing 

 thirty or forty minutes. (So much of the acid as 

 the lime combines with, loses its sour taste, as well 

 as its other peculiar qualities.) 



