No. 275. 1 
22 
Suppose a different course was pursued. Instead of raising the clays 
in the fall, it was raised and spread immediately in the spring, and 
ploughed into the soil; the result would be, that it would remain in 
masses in the earth, and unmixed, in which state it will continue for 
years with but little change, and instead of being a benefit, it would 
rather form an annoyance, and incommode both the farmer and his crops. 
From these remarks, it is clear how two farmers might disagree in their 
experience with the clays. One, by a suitable preparation of the mate- 
rial, finds a great advantage in their employment; another, by throwing 
them on or into his soil in lumps, perceives no effect on his crops, or 
is incommoded by the hard baked masses of clay which a hoe can 
scarcely divide asunder. It is true, that in time, those masses would 
disappear, and finally they would become incorporated with the soil, 
but several seasons would elapse before this would take place, and the 
result of the trial would be such as to discourage the further employ- 
ment of the article; besides, I believe that clay or any other material is 
more readily broken down and pulverized when first taken from the bed 
than afterwards, when it has been exposed to the hardening influence of 
the sun during the warm season. 
The necessity of an intimate mixture of any substance intended to 
act as a manure, cannot be too much inculcated by the agriculturist. 
Most of the clays of this State are those which are marly, or which 
are combinations of clay and carbonate of lime. They are widely dif- 
fused, but their value is not highly appreciated. The time is not 
distant, however, when they wili be esteemed as highly as plaster. 
Thoy have even one advantage over plaster, that their effects are more 
lasting when they have had a due preparation. 
The practice of employing vegetable or animal substances in conjunc- 
tion with marl, or the varieties of calcareous manure, has not prevailed 
to a suitable extent. It must be plain that carbonate of lime, or sul- 
phate of lime, cannot support vegetation without other materials. It 
appears, however, that a large proportion of the food of plants exists in 
the earth in an insoluble state; and that it is by a chemical union of the 
calcareous matter and this insoluble vegetable substance that it becomes 
soluble, and fitted for the sustenance of plants in general; hence arises the 
mutual benefit of combining earths with vegetable and animal substances; 
and hence, too, the bad practice of continuing the mineral manures 
until the whole of the vegetable and animal matter is withdrawn from 
the soil; for by the increased activity of the growing vegetable, the soil 
