156 Review of Essays on Calcareous Manures. 



upon land newly reclaimed from the forest. The next important 

 inference to which we shall refer, is the advantage derived from the 

 use of gypsum, upon soils which have been dressed with marl. This 

 inference was reached, by observing the effect of a layer of the fossil 

 shells, which contained sulphate of lime. 



On one point only are we compelled to dissent from Mr. Ruffin. 

 He states it broadly as his belief, that a soil may be either so constitu- 

 ted naturally, or so improved by the artificial application of carbonate 

 of lime, that it shall never thereafter need a farther supply. There 

 will no doubt be a limit reached in both ways when an addition of lime 

 will be injurious, but as this substance is in fact a necessary part of 

 the nutriment of many plants, their growth will slowly remove it, and 

 the time may at last come when a new supply will be necessary, to 

 restore or retain the original natural fertility. But soils, thus prepar- 

 ed by nature or improved by art, may retain for long periods of time 

 their power of giving value to the original vegetable matter in the 

 soil, or the putrescent manures applied, either in the form of green 

 crops or of stable manure, and the English saying, that no man need 

 marl his field a second time is founded on sound observation. Soils 

 of such a character either native or artificial are to the husbandman, 

 what labor sawing machines are to the mechanic, they are in fact en- 

 gines by which the greatest possible return may be obtained by the 

 least expenditure of labor. No part of the sea board of the United 

 States, with the exception of small and isolated districts, presents soils 

 of this character. It is only after passing the first range of mountains 

 that a limestone formation is met with. This is or was proverbial 

 for its fertility, of which the Fishkill, Swetara and Shenandoah vallies 

 are well known instances. The same formation can be traced to the 

 valley of the Schoharie, in New York, and it is recorded by tradi- 

 tion to have had even a higher character than any of the others; its 

 glory has however, departed, and the Genesee, which is a similar 

 formation, now holds the rank in public estimation, the Schoharie 

 once possessed. Both the valley of the Schoharie, and the vicinity 

 of Lancaster, Pa., were occupied by German settlers. The former 

 Palatines, the latter of more northern birth ; the former were igno- 

 rant of the use of lime, the latter brought it with them, and being 

 fortunately no chemists, saw no impropriety in applying it in small 

 quantities, and at intervals, to a soil originally calcareous. The dif- 

 ference of the results, is an interesting illustration of the value of this 

 manure. In the valley of the Schoharie, land tilled with equal in- 



