THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



203 



ter, are to midnight, the fairer will the weather 

 be during the seven days following. 



2. The space for this calculation occupies 

 from ten at night till two next morning. 



3. The nearer to midday or noon, the phases 

 of the moon happens, the more foul or wet wea- 

 ther may be expected during the next seven 

 daj r s. 



4. The space for this calculation occupies 

 from ten in the forenoon to two in the afternoon ; 

 these observations refer principally to the sum- 

 mer, though they affect spring and autumn 

 nearly in the same ratio. 



5. The moon's change in the first quarter, 

 full, and last quarter, happening during six of 

 the afternoon hours, that is, from four to ten, 



may be followed by fair weather ; but this is 

 mostly dependant on the wind, which is noted 

 in the table. 



6. Though the weather, from a variety of ir- 

 regular causes, is more uncertain in ihe latter 

 part of autumn, the whole of winter and begin- 

 ning of spring, yet, in the main, the above ob- 

 servations will apply to those periods also. 



7. To prognosticate correctly, especially in 

 those cases where the wind is concerned, the 

 observer should be within sight of a good vane, 

 where the four cardinal points of the heavens 

 are correctly placed. With this precaution he 

 will scarcely ever be deceived in depending on 

 the table. — American Agriculturist. 



Since the value of marl has been so clearly 

 demonstrated, especially in its effects upon the 

 lands in lower Virginia, beds of this important 

 fertilizer have been esteemed, and in some in- 

 stances have proved, to be more valuable than 

 the gold mines which were so much sought for 

 a few years ago. But as the value of the latter 

 was found to depend very much upon the gold 

 they contained, so the marl beds are entirely 

 dependent upon the proportion of lime that is 

 imbedded in the clay ; this proportion is only to 

 be ascertained by chemical analysis, and is 

 sometimes so small as to afford a very poor re- 

 compense for the labor of digging and hauling. 

 It is very desirable, therefore, to furnish the 

 owner of every marl bed with the means of 



testing its value before he incurs the labor and 

 expense of putting out ; this, we think is effected 

 in the simplest and most exact manner by means 

 of the apparatus described in the following letter 

 from Professor Rogers, now of the University 

 of Virginia, to the former Editor of the Far- 

 mers' Register: 



William and Mary College, June 27, 1834. 

 The apparatus which I am about to describe 

 is intended to give greater accuracy and facility 

 to the usual process for determining the quan- 

 tity of carbonic acid in marl, or in any of the 

 carbonates. By the common method, the two 

 vessels containing severally the marl and the 

 muriatic acid are placed in one of the scales of 

 a delicate balance, and there counterpoised by 



