ASHES, SALT AND LIME. 287 



calcareous formation, embracing lime and other alkaline ele- 

 ments in sufificient quantities, plaster is of great value. We 

 have now in our barn four tons gray rock-plaster, eighty bushels 

 leached ashes, and sixteen barrels salt, ready for use, a portion 

 of which will be used this week as top-dressing for my grass 

 land. We mix the whole together on the barn floor, shovel 

 it over till well mixed, when it is ready for use. Three hun- 

 dred to five hundred pounds] per acre, according to circum- 

 stances. It is a good dressing. The mixture can be used 

 with more facility before the salt is all dissolved. 



" We generally use leached ashes and old fish salt; both being 

 a little wet, will mix well with the plaster. Sometimes it is 

 necessary to add a little water. The mixture should be dry 

 enough to spread with the hand. We apply it in the hill for 

 all our crops, and use it in all convenient ways. We use large 

 quantities of muck and loam as absorbents which reduce the 

 strength of our manure, and by adding the above mixture it is 

 made strong and good." 



Bones and ashes, lime and salt, plaster, salt and ashes, are the 

 three compounds which are recommended by Mr. Metcalf. 



Now, from our own experience and observation, together with 

 the testimony of others, all the ingredients named we declare to 

 be good in their place. This we do without the least hesitancy. 

 We mean by this that all the articles named are good on some 

 soils, and some of them valuable on all soils. It cannot, there- 

 fore, be advisable to make an indiscriminate use of those mate- 

 rials, maugre the success of Mv. Metcalf. Let farmers experi- 

 ment on a moderate scale, to begin with, and enlarge as they 

 learn wisdom. 



In reply to a note sent to Dr. James R. Nichols, we received 

 the following, which we highly prize : — 



" I have received your very pleasant note, and it affords me 

 pleasure to reply to your inquiries so far as I am able. In 

 regard to grinding bones, I would say that some of the new 

 mills are capable of grinding bones which hold all the gelatine 

 contained in the cellular texture. These are called ' raw bones.' 

 Steamed bones or bones subjected to the action of high-pres- 

 sure steam, lose this interior gelatine, and the structure is 

 destroyed. For making superphosphates or for dissolving in 

 acid these arc fully as valuable as raw bones, as, weight for 



