36

A DISCOURSE

excellent for cold, wet grounds, and stiff clays, but over-burns the drier u .It is the very best destroyer of mofs and rushes, as quick lime does furzes,being first extirpated.

I come next to marl, (amongst other parts of agriculture introduced bythe same Romans) of excellent use to fix light sand and dry grounds; some

“ three roods of limestone land, and carefully collected the ashes into two heaps for a“ future experiment. Having so good an opportunity, I measured the ashes, and was“ much surprized at the quantity, being eighty cart loads, thirty bushels to the load.”Georgical Cfsays, p. 382.

Upon this subject there is a very curious and interesting paper, written by Mr. Brownof Derby, and published in the Transactions of the Society of Arts.

“ I beg leave to communicate to the Society, and, if thought worth notice, by themto the world, a composition for manure. Fearful it would not answer the purpose so fullyas I could wish, I deferred it from year to year; but 1 now find, both by numerous trialsmade by my friends, as well as myself, the very great utility of the composition, as wellas its cheapnefs, with the capability of its being made in any situation and in any quantity.The mode of making it is as simple as, I trust, it will be found productive. It is nothingmore than green vegetable matter decomposed by quick or fresh-burnt lime. A layer of thevegetable matter about a foot thick, then a very thin layer of lime, beat small, and so on;first vegetable, then lime, alternately. After it has been put together a few hours, thedecomposition will begin to take place; and unlefs prevented, either by a few sods, or aforkful of the vegetables at hand, it will break out into a blaze, which must at all eventsbe prevented. In about twenty four hours the procefs will be complete, when you willhave a quantity of ashes ready to lay on your land at any time you wish. Any and all sortsof vegetables, if used green, will answer the purpose; say weeds of every description.They will doubly serve the farmer, as they will not only be got at a small expence, but.will in time render bis farm more valuable, by being deprived of all noisome weeds.

“ But if this compostion answers the purpose, as I flatter myself it will, a very short timewill see almost every weed destroyed, which supposing to be the case, I have made mycalculations with clover, grown for the purpose; for instance, I will take one acre ofclover, which at one cutting will produce from fourteen to eighteen tons of green vegc-table matter, and about three tons of lime; this, when decomposed by the above procefs,will yield ashes sufficient to manure four acres, the value of which I estimate at somethingtinder four pounds; the clover, according to the value of land here, I will say two pounds,which, take the average of the kingdom, is too much. The lime I will also say twopounds; but that will vary, according to the distance it is to be fetched. Take them to-gether, I think will be about the average value. Now if this is the case, and as far as Ihave been able to try it I find so, how valuable must it be to the community in general 1If it answers the purpose, I shall feel myself much obliged by the Society making it aspublic as they pofsibly can.

“The vegetables should be used as soon after they are cut as pofsible, and lime as freshfrom the kiln as the distance will allow of; as on those two circumstances depends thegoodnefs of the composition.”

» There., are two kinds of lime used in husbandry. The one is magnesian, and the other