306 Use and Abuse of Salt in Gardens. 



nails his arguments with the same passage. It is a pity that 

 people, who are so ready to quote Scripture, should not, at the 

 same time, season their arguments with a little of the salt of 

 common sense, and show that they understood a little of what 

 they read. Sentences which have been translated from various 

 languages in different ages require a good deal of the above 

 salt ; for instance, how should I reconcile the paradox of salt 

 losing its saltness, without admitting of some small typographi- 

 cal error ? We have heard of flowers losing their perfume, 

 fruits losing their flavour, &c, but whoever saw or tasted salt 

 which had lost its saltness ? and yet the saying must have been 

 perfectly intelligible when first spoken, and meant, without the 

 least doubt, the refuse salt, which nobody would buy for culi- 

 nary purposes, and which the salt-makers got quit of the best 

 way they could. This is the kind of salt, Sir, which was 

 thought by the ancients to be good for nothing ; to be neither 

 fit for the land nor for the dunghill, and I may add, not very 

 o-ood for making footpaths with. This is the kind of salt 

 which is as good for agricultural purposes as the best in Eng- 

 land, and which I can buy in these enlightened times at 105. 

 per ton, and have 30 cwt. to the ton. So now I will tell you 

 what I have found this said salt to be good for, and the whole 

 may be comprehended under the two general heads, viz. 

 for destroying weeds and worms. I find I can keep a large 

 coachyard perfectly free from moss and weeds for less than a 

 shilling a-year ; this to gardeners must be very acceptable ; 

 when families go from home, the weeding of pavements is often 

 a tedious job ; I also can keep my gravel-walks clear of moss 

 and weeds at a tenth of the expense of breaking up, raking, 

 rolling, &c, besides avoiding the plague of getting some sorts 

 of gravel to bind properly, and I have always found hand- 

 weeding of walks, &c. to be not only expensive but a great 

 plague, as the work is too insignificant to set a man to ; mis- 

 chievous boys, or decrepit old persons, are alike nuisances in a 

 gentleman's pleasure-ground. Care should be taken in salting 

 the walks not to let any drop on the box-edges, as it kills it also, 

 and makes it very unsightly ; it has also been found to dis- 

 colour some of the skirts of the ladies' dresses. I found it very 

 effectual in destroying the worms, &c. in the tan-pits, but the 

 cure proved a deal worse than the disease, as it chilled the 

 whole surface of the tan for a good way down. Nothing checks 

 fermentation so much as salt ; it is the chief antidote to putre- 

 faction, and yet it acts on certain bodies in a wonderful man- 

 ner. It commenced operations against the curb stones of 

 the tan-pit at this place, and would soon have reduced 



