258 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ed and varied pleasures, made in vain ? Are the forms 
of beauty in the natural world, so infinitely multiplied as 
they are around us, made for any other purpose than to be 
enjoyed; and what better means can we take to strength¬ 
en the domestic affections, of all others the most favora¬ 
ble to virtue, than to render our homes as beautiful and 
attractive as possible ?” 
My limits do not permit me to copy the author’s re¬ 
marks on the vice, impurity and crime, and the disease 
and pestilence, generated by closely built cities, and cel¬ 
lars and dirty lanes, crammed with wretched inhabitants; 
and on the imperious necessity of providing amply all 
new cities with public squares and public gardens, where 
a pure air may be breathed at least occasionally; but the 
following instance of munificence cannot be passed over: 
“ Mr. Strutt, an eminent manufacturer at Derby, employ¬ 
ed Mr. Loudon—the late distinguished horticultural wri¬ 
ter—to lay out, plant, and ornament these grounds, at an 
expense of ten thousand pounds Stirling, or fifty thousand 
dollars; and then, with eminent liberality, gave them to 
the city of Derby for the public use and enjoyment of its 
inhabitants. Tens of thousands of pounds expended in 
the erection of a Corinthian column, or a marble mauso¬ 
leum, would not have formed so durable or extended a 
memorial of him; and thousands upon thousands yet un¬ 
born, in the enjoyment of this beneficence, will invoke 
blessings upon his memory.” 
I am also compelled to omit the truly interesting de¬ 
scription of the English parks—those princely specimens 
of embellished nature—with their green turf sometimes 
kept so smoothly shorn, “ that it seems more like tread¬ 
ing upon velvet than upon grass”—whose undulating sur¬ 
faces and wide plains are overspread with broad anti mag¬ 
nificent forest trees, many of them with ages numbered 
by “ patriarchal centuries,” and which have survived the 
hoarse winds of hundreds of winters, the scathings of the 
lightning and the tempest, the successive changes of co¬ 
ming and departing generations of men, but still standing 
“ green in their old age, the mute yet eloquent historians 
of departed years.” But how far more gratifying would 
be the contemplation of such magnificent scenes, if the 
recollection did not so often force itself upon the mind, 
that they have been made and kept up in too many cases 
by the hard and weary labor of hundreds of starving but 
industrious poor; and that besides, they are too often 
made the scene 
“ Of all the savage din of the swift pack 
And clamors of the field.” 
Our author appears to have received a plentiful dose of 
this latter kind of “sport,” which he thus describes:— 
“ Two or three days coursing, manly and healthful as the 
exercise on horseback undoubtedly is, and strongly exci¬ 
ting as the sport is, did not quite reconcile me to it; and 
the wailings and shriekings of the affrighted and dying 
hares in the jaws of the hounds, sounded in my ears for 
several days afterwards, like the cries of expiring chil¬ 
dren.” J. 
PHOSPHATE OF LIME, &c. 
Messrs. Editors— In the June number of the Cultiva¬ 
tor, I observed an article from “ A Practical Farmer,” of 
Staten Island, inquiring of the l( late Geologists of the State 
of New-York,” regarding the localities and quantity of 
phosphate of lime in the different districts. The writer 
speaks in a very complimentary manner of the labors of 
Ihe geologists, and of the benefits arising from the results 
of their investigations. It is certainly very consolatory 
lo know that even one individual in this community re¬ 
gards our labors of some importance, when we are so 
often made to feel that very many question the utility of 
Ihe whole. 
I will endeavor, in a few words, to answer the inqui¬ 
ries, so far as I am individually concerned, remarking 
that the quantity of this mineral in any locality yet dis¬ 
covered is sufficient only for cabinet specimens, and, of 
course, cannot come into use for agricultural purposes. 
My own labors, since the first year of the survey, have 
been confined to that portion of the State west of the par¬ 
allel of Cayuga Lake; a district in which the mineral in 
question is not known to exist in a separate condition. 
The recent investigations of Mr. B. Silliman, jr., make 
known to us the important fact that the solid structures of the 
recent corals, contain phosphates of lime and magnesia, 
both substances equally important in agriculture. Some 
notice of the analysis of corals, made by Mr. Silliman 
will be given in the July number of the American Jour¬ 
nal of Science,* and a more detailed account will ap¬ 
pear in the published works of the U. S. Exploring Ex¬ 
pedition. The general results, however, are of the 
greatest importance. It is well known to a large pro¬ 
portion of the community that the greater part of our 
limestone formations are of marine origin, and the mate¬ 
rials composing them are the remains of corals, shells 
and other marine animals, either in a perfect state, or 
more or less broken and comminuted. Of these mate¬ 
rials the remains of corals and other zoophytes form by 
far the larger proportion. The phosphates which these 
contained in their living state are of course still retained 
in their fossilized condition, and the immense and inex¬ 
haustible limestone formations extending from near the 
Atlantic coast to the Mississippi river will furnish an in¬ 
exhaustible supply of this material as the rock becomes 
decomposed. This without doubt is a great cause of the 
productiveness of those soils derived from the limestones, 
which occupy such an immense area in the middle and 
western states. 
All that can be said of the phosphates in the western 
part of New York will be readily understood. There is 
no locality where the mineral can be obtained by itself, 
but the results of this analysis prove that it exists in all 
the limestone formations throughout that portion of the 
State; and though it may not in this form be found profit¬ 
able for exportation, it nevertheless offers an inexhausti¬ 
ble source of fertilization to those farmers in the neigh¬ 
borhood of limestone deposits. 
These facts also offer another subject for consideration, 
which is in the proper selection of limestone for agri¬ 
cultural purposes. Since the phosphates occur in the 
corals it is very evident that the coralline limestones, or 
those composed in the greatest degree of corals, should 
be selected for the purpose. Doubtless all the limestones 
of marine origin contain these substances, but an exami¬ 
nation of the different strata will prove that some por¬ 
tions contain a much greater number of corals than others. 
The relative value of these different strata can, however, 
be easily tested by analysis or by a few experiments on 
the field. Since agriculture is rapidly approaching to a 
rank among the exact sciences, every fact or experiment 
of this kind should be recorded, for it is only by this 
| means that we can arrive at just conclusions. 
The crystalline limestones have to a great extent and 
! perhaps entirely resulted from an alteration of the sedi- 
(mentary strata; and in these the phosphate of lime is often 
j separated, forming crystals or crystalline masses. This, 
'doubtless, arose from the same cause which changed the 
j nature of the mass around. The phosphate of lime is 
jnot, however, uniformly disseminated throughout any 
imass of limestone, but occupies certain beds or ranges, 
and may perhaps have resulted from the more coralline 
portions of the mass. This supposition derives addition¬ 
al force when we know the fact that, in the lower strati¬ 
fied limestones, the massive corals occupy a very limited 
thickness of the whole, and it may not be irrational to 
conclude that this portion has produced the phosphates 
as we now find them. I would not be understood how¬ 
ever to deny the existence of the mineral in other por¬ 
tions of the crystalline limestones, for we often find it in 
minute crystals, and it may be so disseminated as to be 
invisible. 
I doubt not but the inquiries of your correspondent 
will call out the observations of others, which may 
result in much important information on this subject. 
The value of phosphate of lime in an agricultural 
community can scarcely be overrated, and any person 
who might discover an extensive deposit of this sub¬ 
stance would confer an important benefit upon the com¬ 
munity. Of the value placed upon this substance by the 
English agriculturists we may form some opinion, when, 
upon the knowledge of an extensive locality of the min 
* The Journal had not been received when this article wa*> 
written. 
