318 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct, 
THE FARMER’S NOTE BOOK. 
Refuse Lime of Gas-Works. 
We have received several inquiries in regard to this 
article, and have had various reports in regard to its ef¬ 
ficacy as manure. It has frequently been stated that 
its effects on crops for the first season, at least, were 
unfavorable. The following remarks by Prof. John¬ 
ston, from the Scottish Quarterly Journal of Agricul¬ 
ture , afford some explanation of the matter. 
This refuse lime consists of a mixture of carbonate 
of lime with a variable quantity of gypsum and other 
salts of lime containing sulphur, and a little coal tar 
and free sulphur, the whole colored usually by a little 
Prussian blue. The following table exhibits the com¬ 
position of two gas-limes which have been analysed in 
my laboratory, the one from the Edinburgh gas-works, 
and the other from the gas-works in Brick Lane, Lon¬ 
don. The first two columns show what they were 
when sent to me, the second two what they will become 
after long exposure to the air, after being made into 
compost, or after being thoroughly and for a length of 
time incorporated with the soil:— 
COMPOSITION OF GAS-LIMES. 
As they are. 
Edinburgh. London. 
Water and coal tar,. 12.91 9.59 
Carbonate of lime,. 69.04 58.88 
Hydrate of lime (caustic,). 2.49 5.92 
Sulphate of lime, (gypsum,) . 7.33 2.77 
Sulphite and hyposulphite of lime,* 2.28 14.89 
Sulphuret of calcium,. 0.20 0.36 
Sulphur,. 1.10 0.92 
Prussian blue,. 2.70 1.80 
Alumina and oxide of iron,. . 3.40 
Insoluble matter (sand, &c..). 0.64 1.29 
98.69 99.82 
As they will become. 
Water and coal-tar,. 12.91 9.59 
Carbonate of lime,. 67.39 56.41 
Hydrate of lime (caustic,). . .. 
Sulphate of lime (gypsum). 16.45 29.32 
Sulphite and hyposulphite of lime,.. -- - 
Sulphuret of calcium,. .. . 
Sulphur, .....V. ——- -- 
Prussian blue,. 2.70 1.80 
Alumina and oxide of iron,. . 3.40 
Insoluble matter, (sand, &e.). 0.64 1.29 
100.09 101.81 
This table shows that these gas limes differ much in 
composition, especially in the proportions of sulphur, 
or of the acids of sulphur they contain. This arises 
chiefly from the kind of coal which is employed in the 
manufacture of gas in different works. In Scotland, 
different varieties of cannel coal are very extensively 
employed; in London the better kinds of Newcastle coal 
are chiefly used, all of which either contain or give off 
more sulphur than the best cannel coals of Scotland. 
The most marked difference between the two sam¬ 
ples here analysed, is in the compounds called sulphite 
and hyposulphite of lime. The latter of these sub¬ 
stances dissolves readily in water,^l|pd its presence in 
such very different proportions satisfactorily accounts 
for the very different effects which have followed from 
the application of gas-lime to the lands in different dis¬ 
* This includes a small quantity of cyanide and sulphocyanide 
of calcium, which are soluble in water, and are present, as all 
these compounds of sulphur are, in variable quantity. 
tricts. The rains dissolve the hyposulphite and the sul¬ 
phuret, and carry them down in too great quantity to 
the roots of the young corn; and hence the complaints of 
some that the gas-lime has killed their wheat, while 
others have found, when applied as a top-dressing iri a 
similar way that it greatly improves their crops of corn. 
Unless its composition be satisfactorily ascertained, 
therefore, unless for example, it be found that water dis¬ 
solves very little of it—there will always be a degree 
of risk in applying it directly to the land while any corn 
crop is growing. There may not be the same danger 
in putting it between the turnip or potato drills, and af¬ 
terwards ridging up the land in the way in which quick 
lime is applied in many districts.” 
Upon the whole, Prof. J. concludes that the refuse 
lime of gas-works ought not to be thrown away, and 
that it may be used with advantage, 1st, upon mossy 
or peaty land, and upon naked fallows; 2d, in com¬ 
posts in which, by the action of the air it will tend to 
be converted into gypsum, and will produce a similar 
effect to that substance; it might be useful in expelling 
insects from the soil. 
Crops in Alabama. 
Our provision crop is most abundant; the season has 
been fine up to the period of maturity of the corn crop; 
since that time, say 15th July, the rains have been 
heavy and frequent—so much so that the bole worm 
made its appearance in the cotton, in a very destructive 
form, by the last of July; earlier by 15 days than here¬ 
tofore. The crop of cotton never presented a finer ap¬ 
pearance than it did the present season, at the period 
of attack by this fell destroyer. The crop promised 
fair for 3,000,000 bags. Of what number it may real¬ 
ly turn out, I shall at this moment offer no speculations. 
I have heard some planters say, the crop is more than 
half eaten up, referring of course to their own; I have 
seen some crops that /will not make a bale to 10 acres, 
and I hear others make the same remark. So far as 
we have information the destruction is general. We 
have not as yet any information in reference to the mat¬ 
ter either east or west, out of Alabama. We are now 
in the midst of a cloudy wet spell of weather, fa¬ 
vorable to the propagation of the worm, whose name 
is legion already. N. B. Cloud. La Place, Macon 
Co., Alabama, Aug. 15, 1848. 
Washing Machine. 
I observe in the August number of the Cultivator, 
an inquiry as to the best washing machine, with a re¬ 
quest for information from those who have had actual 
experience. The annexed figure represents one which I 
have used in my family for five years, and which is im¬ 
measurably preferred to all others which have been 
tried or heard of. Its original cost was five dollars— 
high enough, considering the simplicity of its construc¬ 
tion. During these five years it has been in weekly use, 
and the total amount of all the repairs have not cost 
twenty-five cents. A boy ten years old can work it 
with facility; and my wife thinks it requires not more 
than a third or a quarter of the labor needed by the use 
of the best “ wash-board ”—while it does not chafe nor 
wear the clothes in the smallest degree. 
It is worked by an alternating motion of the handle or 
lever A, which turns on the central hinge or pivot B, 
pressing the perlorated board which swings like a pen¬ 
dulum within the trough, by means of the connecting 
