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Annual Report of the 
through the agency of the plaster, as to how I don’t think it mat¬ 
ters. If I have a gold dollar in my pocket, and I know that will 
buy me one dollars worth of any kind of goods in this market, I 
don’t care what particular process in nature that gold out of which 
the dollar is manufactured went through to become gold; but I am 
satisfied with the fact, that is enough for me. If more plant food 
is placed in the soil by the use of plaster, which I believe is con¬ 
ceded, that is what we want to know. Facts are what we want. 
Mr. Rich. The question I asked is whether plaster is better 
than dry earth? 
Mr. Orledge, of Kenosha. All lands are to be affected alike 
with the use of plaster if that is the way it is done, and we know 
they are not. I recollect when I came into Wisconsin, twenty-five 
years ago, I went on to Harvey Durkees farm, in Kenosha, and I 
can recollect of scattering 100 bushels of plaster, and scattering it 
over a great many acres, and even where the barrels stood and burst 
open, I never saw the least particle of good from it. And if it had 
got ammonia from the atmosphere I should have seen some good 
somewhere. I think the ingredients of the soil to produce a cer¬ 
tain crop must be of a certain character; if sulphur is absent, I 
think plaster will do good. If it is there in sufficient quantities 
what is the use of plaster? These things are well understood in 
chemistry. We sometimes plaster, and sometimes not; and I ad¬ 
vise all you gentlemen in the use of plaster to go slow, as a friend 
of mine said to me just now. I believe there is a good deal of 
philosophy in making haste slowly. As to the use of plaster, so far 
as I have been able to ascertain, and I was raised in the old country 
where we used that to a large extent, the result was simply as when 
I take a little whiskey sometimes; there is no use of using it 
without it is for some purpose. If it is a stimulant, and the land 
wants stimulating, then use it. We grew clover in the old coun¬ 
try, and put our sheep on, and hence plaster stimulated the growth 
of our green crops, as we call them. 
Mr. Bentoh. Will a chemical analysis of our soil determine 
where plaster is necessary, and where it is not ? 
Mr. Orledge. I think it will. 
Mr. Stilsoh. Inasmuch as this discussion has been called out 
by my paper, I will state to you briefly what has been my exper¬ 
ience with plaster, and what would appear to be the probable 
