124 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 



dressing to artificial grasses at that period of the spring when 

 the plants throw out their first leaves, if spread in portions of 

 not less tlian four hushels of the finest powder, so equally 

 sprinkled that every leaf should get some, and in weather that 

 is perfectly serene and close. We have aflbrded the suhject 

 more attentive consideration than some persons may suppose 

 it to merit, for it cannot be denied that, in consequence of the 

 disappointment which it has occasioned to many who have 

 tried it without l)eing aware of its peculiar nature, the use of 

 jwypsum throughout England has been very generally discon- 

 tinued; but on a careful review of the very contradictory 

 opinions entertained regarding its effects, we are persuaded 

 tiiat no dispassionate and intelligent farmer can entertain any 

 doubt of its being rendered a source of very important benefit, 

 when used with due discrimination of its powers, and judg- 

 ment in the mode of its application. We therefore strenu- 

 ously recommend it to experiments upon a modoj-ate scale ; for 

 even should it not be found in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 the cost and carriage are so trifling that a sufficient trial can 

 be made for a few shillings ; and we should say that no man 

 who grows a single acre of clover should fail to satisfy him- 

 self regarding its real properties. If successful, it may become 

 the means of material improvement upon light loams, and poor 

 chalky soils, which require amelioration through the manure 

 afforded by green crops, as well as to land which, though in 

 better heart, may have lost the power of repeating the pro- 

 duction of clover so often as it might be found profitable. No 

 one can justly assert that it is not worth the trial ; and, even 

 if unattended with good effect, it can do no harm. ' 



CHAPTER VII. 



MINERAL MANURES CONTINUED. ASHES — SOOT — SOAPERs' 



WASTE. 



Ashes of every description, including leached ashes, though 

 not all falling strictly under the character of fossil substances, 

 and, indeed, being partly derived from the vegetable kingdom, 

 yet, partaking in a great degree of the same calcareous nature as 



