THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



263 



whole — while it is often very much less. The 

 chalks and mountain limestones are generally 

 of this kind. In those of inferior quality it ma} 7 

 amount to twelve or twenty per cent., while 

 many calcareous beds are met with in which 

 the proportion of lime is so small that they will 

 not burn into agricultural or ordinary building 

 lime — refusing to slake or to fall to powder when 

 moistened with water. Of this kind is the Irish 

 calp and the limestone nodules which are burned 

 for the manufacture of hydraulic limes or ce- 

 ments. It is easy to ascertain the quantity of 

 earthy matter in a limestone, by simply intro- 

 ducing a known weight of it into cold diluted 

 muriatic acid and observing or weighing the 

 part which, after twelve hours, refuses to dissolve 

 or to exhibit any effervescence. It is to the pre- 

 sence of these insoluble impurities that lime- 

 stones in general owe their color, pure carbonate 

 of lime being perfectly white. 



u The simplest method of detecting magnesia 

 in a limestone is to dissolve it in diluted muriatic 

 acid, and then to pour clear lime water into the 

 filtered solution. If a light white powder fall, 

 it is magnesia. The relative proportions of two 

 limestones may be estimated pretty nearly by 

 dissolving an equal weight of each, pouring the 

 filtered solutions into bottles which can be corked, 

 and then filling up both with lime water. On 

 subsiding, the relative bulks of the precipitates 

 will indicate the respective richness of the two 

 varieties in magnesia." 



BUTTER. 



Our compliments to Mrs. W. S. Ryland, of 

 King William, to whom we are much indebted 

 for two pats of butter, which make us heartily 

 ashamed of all the abuse we have heaped upon 

 the dairies of Virginia. In richness, in flavor, 

 and in the perfect expression of the buttermilk, 

 this specimen fully equals any we ever saw in 

 the northern markets. Mrs. Ryland will confer 

 a great favor upon the public in general, and 

 upon us in particular, if she will teach others 

 how to make, and how to dispose of, their butter. 



SUBSTANCES FOR ABSORBING URINE. 



Dr. Jackson's direction in the New England 

 Farmer is, " Take twenty measures of dry peat 

 and one of ground gypsum, and mix them to- 

 gether. Place barrels half full of this mixture 

 in places where urine may be collected, and it 

 will be found that the salts and ammonia of 

 many barrels of urine will be consolidated in 

 this mixture, without giving the slightest odor, 

 or being in any way offensive, for the salts are 

 taken up, and the carbonate of ammonia, formed 

 by decomposing urea, is immediately absorbed. 



This method of getting rid of a nuisance and 

 of consolidating a valuable liquid manure, full 

 of the most useful salts, ought to receive atten- 

 tion. A mixture of peat or swamp muck and 

 gypsum (plaster of Paris) will also serve to ab- 

 sorb all the disagreeable gases of vaults, which 

 will be converted into fertilizing compounds with 

 the sulphuric acid of the gypsum and the or- 

 ganic vegetable acids of the peat." 



OLD CLOTHES " UNDONE." 



The Philadelphia Ledger, says, that a ma- 

 chine of English invention has lately been in- 

 troduced into this country, which is likely to 

 effect important results upon the wool business, 

 the old clothes trade, and the home manufacture 

 of cloth. It is a simple and very complete con- 

 trivance for re-converting old clothes, blankets, 

 petticoats, stockings, &c. &c, into wool. Any 

 old woollen fabric may be passed through the 

 machine and reduced into wool with a speed 

 that almost surpasses belief. 



VALUE OF A HEN IN A GARDEN. 



At an agricultural meeting lately held in New 

 York, Mr. Smythe, the projector of the Atlantic 

 Steam Navigation Company, said that he had 

 in England trained two hens to destroy the in- 

 sects in the garden with great success. He 

 would let the hens into the garden early in the 

 morning, and as soon as they had finished their 

 work, call them off to feed them, and then keep 

 them away until next morning, when they 

 would be hungry. He was now in this coun- 

 try training a regiment of hens to destroy the 

 insects in a field of corn belonging to his ne- 

 phew. — Neiv York Mechanic, 



CURE FOR THE STRETCHES. 



Sheep sometimes stretch their noses out on 

 the ground and around by their side, as if in 

 severe pain. This is frequently occasioned by 

 an involution of a part of the intestine within 

 another, called, when occurring in the human 

 subject, inter susceptio. Immediate relief' is af- 

 forded, when this last is the case, by lifting the 

 animal by the hind legs, and shaking it a few 

 times, when the pain disappears. — American 

 Agriculturist. 



GOOD FARMING. 



A correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette 

 says, " Good productive farming does not de- 

 pend upon these things, so much as upon drain- 

 ing, deep and frequent ploughing, clearing the 

 land from all other plants but those you desire 

 to grow, early seeding, and last, but not least, 



