82 
AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY. 
JBerksnire and Short-horns were not made for such 
grass as our woods afford, or cane and acorns. 
Thev are, when so treated, inferior to our native 
breed. Feed both breeds, however, and the im¬ 
proved ones are twice as valuable as the native. 
Now, hogs put up to fatten, will generally require 
about four bushels of corn each, when in the pen, 
and weigh perhaps 150 lbs. net. They have con¬ 
sumed at least as much, first and last, before pen¬ 
ning. I doubt if we do not with all our range give 
at least ten bushels of corn for every 150 lbs. of 
pork killed in the State. Now, after some experi¬ 
ments, I will guarantee, that if a sow be fed with half 
a pint of com daily, properly prepared in slop, for 
every pig she has, until it is weaned, and the pig be 
then allowed the same, gradually increasing the 
quantity until the ten bushels are gone, he will 
weigh at that time 300 lbs. Of course it must be 
done judiciously, and without waste. If the corn 
is ground into meal, or the corn and cob ground up 
fine together and boiled or fermented, it will go 
much farther. And all this can be done with as 
little trouble as feeding in the common way. A 
hand, will attend to more hogs in pens than he can 
properly attend to in ranges. 
By the proposition thus stated, the hog raiser 
will at least save himself by keeping up his hogs. 
If his neighbors would all do the same, they would 
save the expense of fences. But while the hog was 
consuming this ten bushels of corn, he would, if 
roperly supplied with litter, make at least two 
undred bushels of the very best quality of manure. 
One hand could supply litter, &c., for 100 hogs; or 
it might be done as our stables are (too commonly), 
filled only on rainy or idle days. The adoption of 
this system, however, accompanied with the cer¬ 
tainty of making a large quantity of manure with 
little comparative feeding, would induce planters to 
make the manufacture of manure a regular busi¬ 
ness. A hog will not consume more than the 
eighth of what a horse will, and his manure will 
almost equal in quantity, and surpass in quality, 
that of a horse. Two hundred bushels of hog ma¬ 
nure put on corn, say 50 bushels to each acre, will 
make a certain increase of 5 bushels per acre, first 
and last, if not more. We have then 20 bushels of 
corn returned to us, for 10 fed away. Of this, 10 
bushels will more than cover the extra trouble of 
making and putting on the manure, and the other 
10 will replace that consumed by the hog. We 
then actually get the hog for nothing, while our 
land is improved and our bacon also. 
These calculations sufficiently verified, induce me 
to keep up my own stock for my own profit, 
though I live in a pine forest contiguous to swamps, 
and have ranges and timber fences in any quantity. 
If all would do so likewise, I cannot help thinking 
the greatest advantage would result to the State. If 
a law was passed requiring every man to keep up 
his stock on pain of forfeiting them, I believe it 
would be of more real service to agriculture, than 
any one law the legislature could pass. We should 
save $1,000,000 annually ; we should have an end 
put to half the quarrels, fights, and lawsuits, that 
take place; fine breeds of stock of all kinds would 
be introduced, appreciated, and taken care of; our 
^ands would be improved, and our crops increased; 
and finally, we should all raise our own bacon—at 
home and actually without cost—and all of these 
benefits would produce in turn, many more neces¬ 
sarily arising from them. Coke. 
South Carolina, Feb., 1846. 
AGMCULTBRAL~CHEMISTRY AND GEO¬ 
LOGY.—No. Y. 
Q. Upon what does the beneficial action of ni« 
trate of soda upon plants depend ? 
A. Upon its supplying nitrogen and soda to the 
growing crops. 
Q. What quantity wou\d you lay upon an acre ? 
A. From 1 cwt. to 1J cwt. to an acre. 
Q. What is sulphate of soda ? 
A. Sulphate of soda is the substance commonly 
called glauber salts, and consists of sulphuric acid 
(oil of vitriol) and soda. It sometimes produces 
good effects when, applied as a top-dressing to 
grass lands, to turnips, and to young potato plants. 
40 lbs. of sulphuric acid with 31 lbs. of soda, form 
71 lbs. of dry sulphate of soda. 
Q. How is common salt applied ? 
A. Common salt may either be applied as a top¬ 
dressing, or it may be mixed with the farm-yard or 
other manure, or with the water used in slaking 
quick lime. 
Q. In what places is salt most likely to be 
beneficial ? 
A. In places that are remote from the sea, or are 
sheltered by high hills from the winds that pass 
over the sea. 
Q. How do you account for this ? 
A. Because the winds bring with them a portion 
of the sea spray, and sprinkle it over the soil to a 
distance of many miles from the sea-shore. 
Q, What is gypsum ? (plaster of Paris.) 
A. Gypsum is a white substance, composed of 
sulphuric acid and lime ; it forms an excellent top¬ 
dressing for red clover, and also for the pea and 
bean crop. 
40 lbs. of sulphuric acid and 28 1-2 lbs. of lime form 
68 1-2 lbs. of burned gypsum. 
40 lbs. of acid, 28 i lbs. of lime, 18 lbs. of water, form 
86 £ lbs. of unburned gypsum. Native or un¬ 
burned gypsum loses about 21 per cent, of water 
when heated to dull redness, becoming burned 
gypsum. 
Q. What name is given to limestone by 
chemists ? 
A. It is called by chemists carbonate of lime. 
Q, Are there not many varieties of limestone ? 
A. Yes,—some soft, such as chalk*—some hard, 
such as our common limestone,—some of a yellow 
color, like the magnesian limestones, which con¬ 
tain magnesia,—-some pure white, like the statuary 
marble,—some black, like the Derbyshire black 
marble, and so on. 
Here it would be advantageous if the teacher could 
exhibit some of these or of other varieties of 
limestone. 
Q. What is marl ? 
A. Marl is the same thing as limestone, namely, 
carbonate of lime, only it is often in the state of a 
fine powder, and often also mixed with earthy 
matter. 
Q. What is shell sand ? 
A. Shell sand or broken sea shells is also the 
same thing, almost exactly, as common limestone 
