140 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Trom the National ^gis. 



MINERALOGICAL No. III. 



Tho connection between practical Agriculture 

 ;in(l the theories of science is too extoMTive to be 

 brought into view in the narrow limits of a sin- 

 gle essay. To ilevolope all the causes ot ster- 

 ility, to examine the qualities essential to a good 

 soil, to correct and neutralize those which are 

 injurious to plants, would require a detailed in- 

 vestigation of the laws of vegetable economy. 

 Inquiries like the<e are iuteres'ing in the pur- 

 .«uit and valuable in their results. When they 

 shall have been cultivated by those, who pos- 

 sess the taste and the patience so necessary to 

 their successful prosecution, by those who can 

 trace tho various operations constantly going on 

 in the great laboratory of Nature, tho^e difiirul- 

 ties which now perplex and discourage will be 

 overcome, and the art of sciciitilic cultivation 

 will be reduced to established and fixed rules, 

 as simple as the axioms of Mathemalic-. The 

 remarks which have been made, and tlie exam- 

 ples which have been adduced to show the ad- 

 vantages which would flow from the study of 

 Mineralogy, so far as it relates to the knowledge 

 of soils and the adaptation of plants to their va- 

 rieties, have been brief and few, and the view 

 ivhich has been taken of the subject hasty and 

 imperfect. It will not, however, have been use- 

 less if it should have directed the attention of the 

 intelligent to an object well deserving examina- 

 tion. 



It remains fliat wc point out some of those 

 mineral productions of ourneighbourhood, which 

 may become sources of profit, either as applica- 

 ble to the amelioration of the earth, or from some 

 adventitio^is circumstance which may render 

 them valuable. This portion must trom neces- 

 sity be even more imperfect and defective than 

 the forn>er. Observation has not yet been em- 

 ployed in the search for those treasures wliicii 

 are hidden in the deep recesses of our hills, or 

 iu the caverns of the rocks. The hammar of 

 the Mineralogist, whose peculiar province it is 

 to discover the hiding places of the gera and the 

 metal, has never yet been heard in our shady 

 forests or silent valleys. The eye of curiosity 

 lias not yet explored those situationfi, where the 

 • ires were deposited when the mountains were 

 piled upon their foundations. It cannot be said 

 that this section of our country is rich in miner- 

 als, for there is at present too little known of 

 t!io:.: beneath its surface, to justify the asser- 

 tion. Certain it is, that it possesses some which 

 must form important articles of commerce, of 

 manul'acturc, and increase the wealth and re- 

 .sources of its industrious and prosperous inhabit- 

 ants. No regular examination has yet taken 

 place, and for our knowledge of those which 

 most readily present themselves to notice, wc 

 ure indebted to accidental curiosity. 



The art of mining has as yet received but lit- 

 tle attention in this country. Young and grow- 

 ing as it is, labour is occupied in the clearing 

 and improvement of the earth. It is not to be 

 expected that were all are busied in strew- 

 ing the' seed into the furrow and gathering in 

 the abundance of a generous harvest, that re- 

 searches which are generally, though errone- 

 ously considered as uncertain and hazardous, 

 should be undertaken, or if commenced that 

 they should be prosecuted with the skill and 

 zeal so essential to a successful issue. Popular 

 Bupcrstilion has gu;\rded tbc beds of the jewels 



with so many fanciful beings, the offspring of | 

 heated imaginatien, and peopled the d-ark habi- 

 tation, of those metals whose utility as media of I 

 exchange, depends entirely upon their scarcity,' 

 with so many protecting spirits, that it requires 

 no small degree of courage in adventuring to ^ 

 invade the dominions of those powers, who! 

 were supposed to be ready to inflict punishments ' 

 on those who would steal from them the treas-| 

 ures they are commissioned to keep. It is amus-l 

 ing to find how many stratagems credulity and 

 ignorance have put in jiractice, to deceive their ' 

 vigilance. Some have dug deep at midnight,! 

 in places where a little experience must have i 

 convinced them, that nothing existed to reward 

 their toil, thinking these subterraneous divini- 

 ties might be then slumbering on their posts, 

 and afterwards have laid the burden of their dis- 

 appointment upon the omission of some mys- 

 terious ceremony, instead of fathering it upon 

 their own folly. The art of farming is a distinct 

 profession, and requires experience for its prac- 

 tice. Nor is an acquaintance with its rules val- 

 uable to the fanner, except as furnishing him 

 with an uncommon method of rendering his 

 farm productive. If portions of it are barren in 

 consequence of mineral substances, instead of 

 wasting labour in the attempt to render its soil 

 fruitful, he may go beneath and gather crops 

 more valuable than those of tho corn or pota- 

 toe. 



One ot the sinews of agriculture, indeed the 

 spring which sets all its various implements and 

 machines in motion, is Silver. This article has 

 been a native of Worcester County. In the year 

 1751, a vein of this metal in combination with 

 iron and lead, was discovered in the shire town 

 passing down into a hard rock of that description 

 denominated Quartz. A shaft was sunk to a 

 considerable depth, by a company formed for 

 the purpose of working a mine on the spot. — 

 Tradition does not inform us why it was aban- 

 doned ; whether on account of the small quanti- 

 ty of ore obtained, the expense of excavation, 

 or the want of sufticient skill in those employed. 

 Examination ot the specimens which are still 

 found about the mouth of the opening, show's 

 that about 2 parts of 100 are silver, the re- 

 mainder Iron, Lead, Sulphur and Arsenic. How 

 far it is fair to judge of the ore as it came from 

 the mine, by these pieces, which were undoubt- 

 edly thrown aside at the time of working it, as 

 not suitable for melting, it is not easy to decide. 

 It is said that the same metal was found at other 

 places not only in the same town but in other 

 parts of the county. — Lead has been noticed iu 

 union with other minerals, but not in quantities 

 sufficient to induce the belief that it could ever 

 become important. 



It is a remarkable fact that Iron, the mineral 

 most useful to man, is most widely diffused over 

 the earth. Forming as it does a necessary of 

 his existence, employed as it is in every art, 

 being the material for supplying the instruments 

 for every manufacture, it is most providential 

 that it should be thus distributed over the face 

 of the globe. In this county it exists in almost 

 every stone, ledge, and hill. It gives a bright 

 red to our walls, it tinges our soils with a yel- 

 lovver shade, it communicates its taste to many 

 of our springs, and with sulphur forms those 

 beautit'ul cubes which from their color and lus- 

 tre might be easily mistaken for gold. Furnaces 

 have beea erected in somo parts, and the abun- 



i 



dace of the metal would justify the establish- 

 ment of many more. 



Arsenic is also found, not in its native and 

 pure state, but in union with other metals, com- 

 municating to them a white color and a peculiar 

 odour. 



Lime is most important in its economical a[K 

 plication to the common purposes of life. Eve-j 

 ry one knows its use in architecture and how 

 much it contributes to the durability and con- 

 venience of buildings. .Ml are apprised of the 

 advantages resulting from its agency, in increas-< 

 ing the harvests, and forwarding the maturity ofl 

 vesretables. This mineral in the state of thel 

 Carbonate, is found in the Northern part of 

 Worcester county. When employed as a ce- 

 ment, it is not inferior to the Lime of any oth- 

 er section. As yet it has not been used as a 

 manure long enough to test its properties.— 

 From the quantity of Magnesia ivith which it is 

 mixed, its success on some soils would be doubts 

 ful. 



Clay is one of the most useful substrata of our 

 meadows at a certain depth. Besides the ease' 

 with which it is converted into a material fop 

 constructing edifices, it is valuable for changing 

 the texture of those fields which do not retail 

 moisture. The Marl which is prized so highly 

 in those situations where it can be obtained, is 

 Composed of Clay and Lime. Of the good qual- 

 ities of this earth, and of the astonishing effectsi 

 which it has produceil, much has been said, by 

 foreign writers. As the two ingredients which 

 are its components, exist in their separate state, 

 in abundance, it is not a very rash prediction, 

 that they may be found united in such propor- 

 tions, as to form a substance of all others, most 

 necessary to the Farmer. The conclusion is so 

 rational that they may be found thus mixed, from 

 the fact that minerals readily change characters 

 and intermix freely with each other, that it 

 would well repay the time and attention neces- 

 sary for the examination of our argillaceous 

 earths. 



The same remark is applicable to the Plaster 

 of Paris (-r Sulphate of Lime. Sulphur or its 

 acid, combined with Iron, glitters on almost ev- 

 ery wall, or tinges the rocks with its yellow 

 hue, and Lime is found in vast beds in this coun- 

 ty. From these circumstances, a strong proba- 

 bility results, that there are situations, where 

 the hand of Nature may have mingled together 

 these ingredients, and that the Gypsum may be 

 obtained nearer than Nova Scotia, and at a less 

 expense than the price it would command, even 

 when transported by water. 



That these assumptions have no better foun- 

 dation than conjecture, must be confessed. How 

 far they are reasonable every one can decide 

 for himself Two minerals are seldom found 

 in the same locality, entirely separate from each 

 other. A transition carries one into the other, 

 so that it is diflicult to determine where one ends 

 and the other begins. In these situations the 

 qualities of both are blended together. The af- 

 finities which some substances have for others 

 dispose them readily to unite. The subject de- 

 serves some attention, and should the opinions 

 that have been advanced be established by ex- 

 perience, the advantage would exceed calcula- 

 tion. 



The enumeration will be continued in our 

 nest number. 



A FAUMEI^ 



