CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 203 



considerable degree, to an exhaustion of this element in 

 the soil, which causes an enfeebled and diseased state 

 in the berries, and invites the attack of fungi ? It is an 

 invariable rule, that plants which abound in certain earthy 

 salts never flourish in soils in which these salts are want- 

 ing ; but, upon application of the deficient elements, the 

 result is as invariable, that the plants recover their vigor. 

 It is for the purpose of supplying a deficiency of sulphur, 

 that gypsum (sulphate of lime), or plaster of Paris, is 

 recommended. Gypsum is composed, according to the 

 analysis of Chaptal, of 



Sulphuric acid 32 to 43 parts. 



Lime 30 " 33 " 



Water 38 " 24 " 



This article has long been known as a fertilizer ; and upon 

 some soils, and for some crops, there is no other artificial 

 manure so decided in its effects. The results of its appli- 

 cation have been unequal, however ; for the simple reason 

 that some soils have a sufficiency of sulphate of lime for 

 some crops, and hence an addition would be useless. 

 Johnson, in his " Farmer's Encyclopedia," states that an 

 ordinary crop of clover and sainfoin grasses usually con- 

 tains from one and a half to two hundred-weight of 

 sulphate of lime to an acre. This is the amount (two 



