404 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



heated, give off the peculiar odor of ani- 

 mal matter, and every particle of blood 

 would swell up, and blacken in a way pe- 

 culiar to animal matter and nothing else. 

 An addition of one per cent, of dried blood 

 to the " improved" is distinctly recognisa- 

 ble when heated, and five per cent, causes 

 the whole mass to swell up, a thing that 

 the " nitrogenized" will not do. 



Again, the "Improved" contained, ac- 

 cording to the manufacturer's pamphlet, 

 but 19 per cent, of phosphoric acid, which 

 would of course be reduced to 9^ per cent, 

 in the nitrogenized, whereas I find by 

 analysis, that it contains full 20 per cent. 



The manure is made up of bone black, 

 plaster, a little sulphate of ammonia, &c, 

 with an abundant supply of rich, fine gar- 

 den mould or peatz matter, and marble dust. 



'' Mopes' JV'o. 1 Superphosphate of Lime" 

 I have examined only so far as to ascer- 

 tain that it is largely adulterated with car- 

 bonate of lime and swamp muck, or some 

 sort of peatz matter. 



' Mapes 1 Potassi Phosphate' and ' Mapes' 

 Cotton and Tobacco Fertilizers" are pretty 

 nearly one and the same thing, as it would 

 take an exact analysis to discover more 

 than a slight difference between them. 



They contain respectively 19| and 18^ 

 per cent, of bone phosphate of lime, the 

 remainder, which is more than 30 per ct. 

 of the whole, is composed almost entirely 

 of Jersey Green Sand, (from which the 

 manufacturer no doubt gets the name of 

 potash phosphate) carbonate of lime and 

 swamp muck, or some other peatz matter. 

 The organic matter and water of the pot- 

 ash phosphate amounts to 46 per ct., and 

 this is almost destitute of ammonia. In 

 the Cotton and Tobacco fertilizers they 

 amount to 26 per cent. 



By careful washing the peatz matter can 

 be separated from the lime, sand, &c, and 

 when the latter mixture is treated with 

 cold dilute muriatic acid, the lime, &c. are 

 removed, leaving the green sand in its 

 pristine purity. 



Bildreth 's Superphosphate referred to in 

 my first communication, is all that Prof. 

 Johnson says of it : " It is composed main- 

 ly of carbonate of lime, with a sprinkling 

 of bone phosphate, charcoal, &c. 



"Rhodes' Superphosphate of Lime" con- 

 tains 19| per cent, of phosphoric acid, of 

 which a little more than 5 per cent, is so- 

 luble in water ; this would give 29J per 



cent, of bone phosphate, and 7^ per cent, 

 of soluble or superphosphate of lime. — 

 This manure also contains carbonate of 

 lime, as may be proved by pouring a small 

 quantity of any strong acid upon a portion 

 from which all matter soluble in water has 

 been removed. 



William Gilham. 

 V. M. L, March 20. 



For the Planter. 



Potatoes. 



In addition to the judicious remarks of 

 Mr. Ruffin on the potatoe crop of Virginia, 

 I beg leave to add a few words. 



I am now an old man, have resided in 

 different localities and attitudes, and culti- 

 vated potatoes for fifty years in different 

 soils, I consider myself qualified to speak 

 on this subject. 



Potatoes (I mean the round or Irish,) 

 grow to greatest perfection on black, loose 

 land, and cool region. As to the proper 

 kind to be planted, I say nothing; because 

 different localities, and different tastes and 

 purposes require different kinds. If the 

 ground be friable and clear of grass and root 

 weeds, all that is necessary is to dig a hole, 

 drop and cover with the foot But for a large 

 crop it is more expeditious to furrow with 

 a plough, drop and cover with the same 

 plough. To curtail expenses it is best in 

 the culture of a large crop to use both the 

 plough and the hoe. On such land as 

 above described, once ploughing and once 

 hoeing will suffice ; more than two such 

 workings would be surplus. Turf land 

 should be ploughed early and properly 

 harrowed, for the purpose of destroying 

 the sods. Never make a hill for planting 

 potatoes, nor indeed any thing else ; for 

 they require all the moisture they can get, 

 therefore should be planted below the 

 surface. I never yet saw any land too 

 rich for potatoes, for they are a gross 

 feeder, and as the largest potatoes always 

 sell highest, it is avisable to use manure in 

 the hole or drill. On loose mountain 

 ground, I would use guano and plaister ; 

 on clay grounds I would plough down 

 vegetable matter for creating mould. 1 

 now reside in a potatoe region (the cold 

 mountain of Amherst) — am eating pota- 

 toes grovel last year, and desire no better. 

 By clearing the potatoe of earth, and 

 keeping them in a cold place, they may 



