232 MY FARM 



entertains us with the report, in his mildlv authorita- 

 tive "way, and sustained by great weight of evidence, 

 that Dr. Liebig is utterly wrong in his theory, 

 and that the value of gypsum is due entirely to the 

 lime which it introduces into the soil ; the sulphuric 

 acid, which played such a lively game under the pen 

 of Dr. Dana counting for nothing. 



By the time this stage of the inquiry is reached, 

 the investigating young farmer, with whom I entered 

 upon this illustration, might be safely supposed to 

 be slightly muddled ; and yet, with a comparatively 

 clear recollection of the last-presented theory in his 

 mind, he might farther be supposed to consider the 

 propriety of buying lime at eight cents a bushel, 

 rather than gypsum at sixty cents. 



But he has hardly formed this decision, and seen 

 his lime dumped upon his clover-field, when he 

 receives a copy of Dr. Liebig's final work upon the 

 Natui-al Laws of Husbandry. Turning with nervous 

 haste to the Doctor's discussion of the sulphate of 

 lime, he finds these startling statements : " It may be 

 safely assumed that in cases where gypsum is found 

 to be favorable to the growth of clover, the cause 

 must not be sought for in the lime ; and since arable 

 soil has the property of absorbing ammonia from the 

 air and rain water, and fixing it in a higher degree 

 than salts of lime, there is only the sulphuric acid 



