FARMERS' REGtSTER— SCmSTUS, &c. 



635 



greater amount than the value of the difference. But 

 if this estimate was too high, reduce it to any extent 

 that can be asked for, and it will still be found that our 

 fence tax is heavier than all others paid by the people 

 of Lower Virginia. All that we pay for our 90 days' 

 sessions of the Legislature, the support of public edu- 

 cation, and for all the roads and canals in progress, does 

 not equal the whole amount of what we individually 

 pay in the making of fences, merely to enable the hogs 

 of other people to live (or perhaps to starve) on our 

 uncultivated lands. There would be some compensa- 

 tion for tliis system, if we gained in pork what we pay 

 in fencing — even though the hogs of A gained what 

 was lost by the land and labor of B : but it is notorious 

 that there is no considerable gain even to those persons 

 who gain all ; and the immense annual importations of 

 hogs forslaughter, sufficiently prove that the whole ma- 

 nagement of hogs in Vii-ginia yields no nett profit, and 

 but an inconsiderable gross income, to the community, 

 notwithstanding all tlie enormous cose incurred.] 



EXTRACT ON SCHISTUS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Richmond, March 15, 1834. 

 Dear Sir, — ^The articles in your last number 

 relating to inanure from coal, Dutch ashes, &c. 

 brought to my recollection an account published a 

 long time since in an agricultural magazine, print- 

 ed, I tiiink, in Eilinburgh, on converting the bitu- 

 minous schistus found in coal mines, into a gypse- 

 ous manure, by mixing it with lime. The book 

 hail been lent me, and benig possessed of coal 

 lands, I intended to try the experiment, and for 

 that purpose had a copy of the article taken. It is 

 Avith regret F am obliged to say tliat I neglected 

 from time to time to carry my purpose into effect, 

 until I had nearly forgotten it. On seeing these 

 articles in your last number, I searched among 

 some old papers for the copy from the agricultural 

 magazine, and rather unexpectedly found it. You 

 have it enclosed. It is in some parts almost ille- 

 gible, but if you can make it out, you can publish 

 it if you see fit. 



As I understand the vv riter, he considers the bi- 

 tuminous schistus to consist chiefly of clay impreg- 

 nated with vitriolic acid, and that on its being- 

 mixed with lime, the vitriolic acid combines with 

 the lime and forms gypsum. The greater part o( 

 the mass being clay, it would seem better fitted 

 for light than stitf soils. 



Though no limestone has been found in the coal 

 region of James river, it is so near to Riclimond, 

 that I should think that by attending to the mar- 

 ket, and bringing lime at the chea[iest rate, this 

 manure might be used to advantage in the neigh- 

 borhood of the coal pits : this, however, is matter 

 of computation and experiment. 



Perhaps I may be as negligent as I have hitherto 

 been in regard to this matter; but I intend at pre- 

 sent to try the effect of this preparation, and if the 

 result should i)e worth your attention, it shall be 

 communicated to )-ou. 



The word " houille" used by your correspond- 

 ents, signifies pit coal 'n France, or at least in 

 French Flanders and iielgium. In some mines 

 there are bodies of this substance that contain so 

 much sulphur and ii'on as to be unfit for domestic 

 use. This when exposed to the weather, takes iire 



spontaneously, and I think it probable that the 

 ashes which your correspondents speak of, are pro- 

 duced from this kind of coal. 



I have myself tried coal ashes as a manure, on a 

 pretty large scale, chiefly on stiff river low grounds, 

 and with some degree of success — but doubt wlie- 

 ther they were worth much more than the cost of 

 carryingand spreading. They werecollected about 

 coal works, and had been exposed to the weather, 

 the greater part of them, for a number of years. 



In the 1st volume of the Memoirs of the Phila- 

 delphia Agricultural Society, (1808) Appendix, 

 page 33, is a communication from the late Chan- 

 cellor Livingston, giving an account of his having 

 seen, in an excursion from Paris to Flanders, beds 

 o{" pyrites" burnt for manure. Perhaps what he 

 took for "pyriies," wds the " houille" spoken of 

 by your correspondents. 



With regard to peat ashes, which your cor- 

 respondents speak of as being extensively used as 

 a manure in Holland, they are much used in Eng- 

 land, Scotland and Ireland, as well as Holland; 

 and as peat is generally, if not always composed 

 of bog earth, full of vegetable fibres, their fertili- 

 zing properties would seem to be mainly the same 

 as those of wood ashes, than which there are few 

 batter manures. 



In tiiose moist climates, a large proportion of the 

 valliesor low level grounds that have water stag- 

 nating or running through them, are tor some depth 

 covered with peat earth. In our comparatively dry 

 climate, I apprehend peat is not often to be found ; 

 but wherever it can be met with, I have no doubt 

 it would prove a valuable manure, if it would bear 

 the expense of cutting, drying, burning, and trans- 

 portation. This could only be ascertained by ex- 

 periment. I should think this matter well worth 

 your attention and that of your correspondents. 

 Yours respectfully, 



J. w. 



Extract taken from the Farmers^ Magazine, vo- 

 lume 14, page 2S6. 



Schistus Is every where an attendant on coal, 

 forming the roof of many seams. It is composed of 

 argillaceous earth, sulphurate of iron, with a small 

 portion of alum. It falls, in length of time, by 

 exposure to the atmosphere. Lime immediately 

 decomposes it, and forms it into gypsum. 



In the course of working the coal mines near 

 to the town of Workington, prodigious banks 

 of schistus had been accumulated. To remove 

 these was Impracticable; to level them was sup- 

 posed to be a further destruction of ground.- — 

 Thus many acres were lost. In order to render 

 them, if possible, of some service, an experiment 

 was made to see if they would vegetate grain. 

 After repeated plough in gs and liming, one of the 

 hanks was sown with wheat, and in the spring with 

 clover. Contrary to all expectations, both crops 

 turned out abundant. This led to the mixing 

 schistus with lime, in the proportion of six to one, 

 as a manure for light soils, which was found to an- 

 swer admirably. The banks have been all level- 

 led ; and, with the exception of two fields now un- 

 der improvement, are as productive as the adjoin- 

 ing ground, letting at the rate of £4 an acre; 

 previously not only of no value, but a great defor- 

 mity to the appeaiance of the country. 



Sixty bushels of lime would mix three hundred 

 and sixty of schistus, which may weigh between 



