244 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



forsaken her in poverty, and all through the won- 

 drous agency of calcareous manures, what inquiry 

 is more fraught, with interest for us than the one, 

 whether we are in a position to derive those advan- 

 tages from them which they have bestowed upon 

 others 1 



It was under such a view of this subject that I 

 determined to attempt some satisfactory solution 

 of the question, whether my own land, at least, was 

 susceptible to the peculiar influence of these agents'? 

 I had experimented before, in a different location, 

 with oyster-shell lime, with very discouraging re- 

 sults, it must be confessed. But my mind was not 

 thoroughly satisfied of the inefficiency of calcareous 

 manures upon the soil of this, our middle region of 

 Virginia. And although the soil of my first expe- 

 riment might have been considered peculiarly fa- 

 vorable for such an experiment, inasmuch as it was 

 fresh pine land and well supplied with humus or 

 the organic remains of vegetable life, still I desired 

 to subject the proposed investigation to a thorough 

 test: no less than this — whether lime and plaster, 

 in liberal application to a naked and barren soil, 

 would manifest a beneficial operation'? Accord- 

 ingly, I selected for experiment a plot of land of 

 very inferior quality, supposed to be something less 

 than an acre in extent. It was old land, of an argil- 

 laceous or clayey texture, which had been exposed 

 to heavy grazing, and was covered with a very in- 

 considerable quantity of vegetable matter. Po- 

 verty-grass, persimmon and blackberry bushes were 

 the growth most congenial with its nature. 



On the 7th of May, 1858, six or seven tierces of 

 Thomaston lime, partially air-slacked, were applied 

 to one-half of the above plot of land, say, at the 

 rate of about seventy-five bushels of slacked lime 

 to the acre, allowing five bushels of slacked lime 

 to the tierce. The whole piece was afterwards bro- 

 ken up with the plough; and on the 19th of May 

 one bushel of plaster of Paris was applied to nearly 

 the entire portion which had been dressed with 

 lime. On the same day with the last application, 

 each half was planted with corn and cultivated in 

 pretty much the same mode throughout the growth 

 of the crop. On the 1st day of July, after a very 

 dry June, and in less than two months from the 

 planting, the growth of corn upon the dressed half 

 presented more size and vigor, under similar cir- 

 cumstances, than upon the other. On the 1st day 

 of August, after a very wet July, a considerable 

 superiority was still manifested by the same part, 

 and to the end was this superiority maintained. 

 So evident and decided was the effect of my expe- 

 riment that I did not consider it worth while to be 

 very minute and exact in estimating the compara- 

 tive results upon the dressed and undressed por- 

 tions of land. I suppose the applications made 

 were productive of scarcely less than one hundred 

 per cent, increase of the crop. I doubt, however, 

 whether the difference would have been so great 

 if the experiment had been conducted upon land 

 of greatly superior quality. 



The result of this experiment is very gratifying 

 to my feelings, as it convinces me that the mineral 

 manures are not perfectly inert upon our lands — 

 and, moreover, they seem to have a directly ferti- 

 lizing effect upon the soil, independently of, or in 

 addition to, any indirect agencies which they may 

 possess through the medium of organic textures, 

 or otherwise. The profit, however, derived from 

 their use in this case has not so far been at all com- 

 mensurate with the outlay. The supposed gain 



and loss in this experiment may be thus stated at 

 the rate, per acre, 



15 tierces Thomaston lime, (75 bushels slacked,) 

 at $1 25, - - - - $18 75 

 2\ bushels of plaster, - - 1 25 



$20 00 



1 acre of dressed land — produce $4 00 

 1 acre of undressed land — produce 2 00 



2 00 



Loss, (not including freight, &c.) $18 00 



The increased value of the land, produced by 

 such an application, I cannot undertake at present 

 to calculate. Neither am I prepared to say with 

 how much less cost the same amount of gain may 

 have been attained. But the simple knowledge of 

 the energy of calcareous manures upon the soil of 

 the middle region is a triumph of which I am proud. 



Another interesting feature in this experiment is 

 the apparently direct action of mineral manures 

 upon vegetable growth. Some authorities upon 

 this point are calculated to encourage the idea that 

 minerals enter the field as a sort of Generalissimo 

 of. the forces of vegetation, and expend their in- 

 fluence in separating and combining, in modelling 

 and marshalling them for action, without themselves 

 immediately sharing in the conflict, or, if the illus- 

 tration be more apposite, as a Drum Major, with 

 his music, or the Quarter Master, with his spirit 

 rations, to stimulate the inert and tardy forces of 

 the fruitful humus to energy and duty. Boussin- 

 gault says, "Ashes, gypsum or lime, spread upon 

 barren land, would not improve it in any sensible 

 degree." But he continues, "Azotized organic mat- 

 ter, absolutely void of saline or earthy substances, 

 would probably produce no better effect; it is the 

 admixture of these two classes of principles, which 

 constitutes the normal manure that is indispensa- 

 ble to the improvement of soils," seeming thus to 

 identify the two classes of manures in their action. 

 But what does he mean when he classes mineral 

 manures with stimulants, and says: "It must still 

 be admitted that we are far from understanding 

 exactly in what way they act." Mr. William C. 

 Rives used lime at the rate of 80 bushels (slacked 

 measure) to the acre. He says: " Some accounts 

 which I had read of its effects elsewhere, not ex- 

 pressed with the accuracy and discrimination so 

 much to be desired in such communications, had 

 led me to expect a decided effect from it upon the 

 growing crop — by which I mean the crop of either 

 corn or wheat, immediately succeeding the appli- 

 cation of the lime. In this I was disappointed." 

 He goes on to remark: "My first disappointment, 

 however, in regard to the effects on the growing 

 crop, was more than compensated by the marked, 

 unequivocal and decided effect, I have never failed 

 to perceive from the lime alone in the clover suc- 

 ceeding the wheat crop — with which it has been 

 my general practice to apply the lime at the time 

 of seeding, harrowing in the lime and wheat at one 

 and the same operation." By the way, the same 

 gentleman's experiments were confined mostly to 

 a close, gravelly loam, of a brownish or gray color, 

 and he quotes the proverb, 



" He that marls sand 



Will soon buy land, 



But he that marls clay 

 "Throws all away." 



But in my experience the truth of the proverb 



