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I i 



41 



the decomposition of the rocks or silicates in the 

 soil: and no doubt also effects useful combinations 

 with nitrogen and other elements. Ten bushels of 

 salt per acre should not be applied jast before sow- 

 ing seed, as that quantity might prove dangerous to 

 vegetation, at first. Smaller quantities may be ap- 

 plied every year. 



It is chiefl}'', however, as a useful agent to mix 

 with fresh lime, that I would recommend refuse salt. 

 One bushel of salt mixed with three bushels of fresb 

 lime. and at once slacked undercover, and frequently 

 turned, makes a compose, so to spenk, of great value. 

 As an agent for decomposing sods, or other rough 

 vegetable matter, it is almost equal to potash or 

 wood ashes, and vastly superior to lime alone. As 

 a fertilizer, nlso, applied to rich garden soil, espe- 

 cially sour soils, it is of greater value than lime, and 

 much more economical ; for five bushels of it will do 

 the work of twenty bushels of lime. 



T may here remark that, in my opinion, the ap- 

 plication of lime is toD much neglected by garden- 

 ers, both in the garden and compost heap; and I 

 will further add that it is probable that there is not 

 so much difference, as has been supposed, between 

 fresh or caustic lime and old lime or slai.-ked lime. 

 Indeed, T am inclined to think that ground lime- 

 stone (which has never been burned) and ground 

 marble may be quite as useful, in the hands of the 

 gardener, for many purposes where the slow action 

 of lime is desired, as even freshly burned and 

 freshly slacked lime, if not more so. This is a point 

 worth looking into. 



Old lime rubbish and effete lime are particularly 

 acceptable to the roots of fruit trees, grape vines, 

 and soft-wooded plants. 



One or two more hints on lime. It is very desi- 

 rable as a top dressing for lawns. A perfect piece 

 of lawn grass can scarcely be obtained without it. — 

 The application should be light, and frequently re- 

 peated, and the litne should not be too caustic. 



Mr. Henderson, in his recent work on Market 

 Gardening, before referred to, notices the remarka- 

 ble fact that there is a large tract of land occupied 

 by market gardeners, at Communipaw, N. J., the 

 soil of which contains a large amount of shell lime, 

 deposited from the ocean, — and there, the disease 

 known as "club root" in the Cabbage has never 

 been seen, although crop after cr p of this vegetable 

 has been taken from the soil for many years. Mr. 

 Henderson, hence, rather rashly assumes that "club 

 root" is caused by an insect, and that shell lime is a 

 certain remedy for it. He does not prove the exis- 

 tence of the insect, nor does he show, by other cases 

 of care, that lime U the sure remedy. The fact 



which he states respecting the Communipaw soil is, 

 nevertheless, a valuable one. 



Brick Rubbish.— Old brick rubbish, especially 

 that of soft bricks, is not without value as a fertili- 

 zer in the garden. Brick rubbish is, of course, burnt 

 chill, and furnishes, at least, a silicate of alumina, 

 and some lime, potash, magnesia and iron. Under 

 the influence of decaying vegetable matter, brick 

 rubbish will be decomposed in the soil, and w 11 

 yield up its inorganic constituents to plants in the 

 satne way that decaying rocks do. On rich, heavy 

 and moist soils, I think brick rubbish will pay for 

 handling. 



Rotten Rock — Similar to brick rubbish in qual- 

 ity and in value is rotten rock, or the soft surface 

 stone of some quarries, consisting of shaly and mi- 

 caceous lime stones, which are easily broken with a 

 hammer. This sort of rock, when applied to soils 

 rich in vegetable matter, is readily decomposed, and 

 yields mineral substances of much value to trees and 

 plants. 



Old Headland Sods and Turfy Loam. — The 

 waste land along fences and headlands produces a 

 material, known to gardeners as "Turfy Loam," 

 which, in some respects, has no equal as a fertilizer 

 for certain purposes, in potting and making borders 

 for plants, and can scarcely be imitated, with suc- 

 cess, by any admixture of other ingredients, by 

 either practical or scientific men. "The top spit of 

 an old pasture" has been distinguished, timeout of 

 mind, for peculiar and mysterious virtues, which no 

 compost could equal. Simple loam, stable manure, 

 sand and chopped straw, mixed and turned for seve- 

 ral months, in a theoretical view of things, ought to 

 be quite equal to the chopped sod from old head- 

 lands. But gardeners, generally, will not admit this 

 to be the fact, — and they are probably right. I am 

 rather of the opinion that the sod of the old head- 

 lands (say 20 years undisturbed) may be considered 

 as a sort of natural laboratory wherein Nature has 

 composted and prepared vegetable and mineral mat- 

 ters, in her own skillful and peculiar way, and that 

 the product is something beyond the art of man to 

 imitate. On that old headland the grass and herb- 

 age have grown up and died, year after year; the rains 

 and dews, the frost and snow, the chemistry of the 

 atmosphere, have all worked their slow but unceas- 

 ing and powerful agencies ; the poor earth-worms 

 has gone up and down, day aftor day, chewing up 

 the vegetable fibres and even the sand, and casting 

 this comminuted food upon the surface of the sod ; 

 thousands of insects and larvae, some of them en- 

 cased in phosphorated shells, have died and decayed 

 in the grass and soil ; the very sand itself, and the 



