Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1837-08-03

| color teliowish-and contains n small pro
portion OF mica, some feldspar, and large
| mounl OF slick, apparently in grains
VHefstohe beds, occurring among the 81
licious and other beds, also furnish a maIeri
al OF value. Trials OF its qualities have beer
made IN Fiuyanna and R"ckbridge. and il.
excellence is amply demonstrated Indeed
mechanics, convinced of lis superior value
have laid aside the Turkey oil stone, and used
il instead There has been AN agency in
this city TOR some OF our oil stone quarries for
several years, and superior article has been
brought To market by tins means
| The ROOFING slate is the most valuable OF
The siaiy rocks Oi this region, occurring in u
thick Led west OF The strata Just mentioned.
II appears on both sides of the James River
"In Buckingham, the beds are largely eX-
posed in the neighbnrhood of New Canton,
on Slate River, and the quarry al present
wrought hy. the eutcrpriSing owner, Mr..
Sims, yields d material which " i'll bear com
patison with the better qualities OF the impor-
ted roofing slate" This bed has an average
width OF sixty yards, aud splits So regularly :,
aud Is So flexible, as 10 be separated by iron
wedges, into sheets of 100 square feet not
more than an inch thick This quarry was
opened To procure slate for roofing the capi-
t"i. Boats are frequently passing down our
| canal, ireighied wih this beautiful material
=,
and May be seen near the mountain 81 Hard
ware River This is valuable in hearths,
J"mbs, and other parts about the chimney.
Bcds or veins oil iron ore exist in Buck
'nghan, IN the region Of the gold veins and
states and similar ore occurs in Fluvan-
ma, Louisa, SC. As early as The Revolution.
nary War, iron was manufactured from the
buckingham ore, but was almost entirely
neglected until recently. The limestone on
the Mes aflt ~ tIa
the iluN employed in the smelling of This ore,
which" says Professor Rogers, in his re-
port OF 1885, under the superniendence o.
Mr.. Dean of New Canton, is now conducted
on a scale OF such extent, aS togive weekly
product Of between 80 and 10 tons of uir me-
tai, much of which is ot "a superior quality
The same description OF ore is found in the
gold region above Frederick sburg ''From
the curious assertion OF this ore with the
auiiierous rocks, il might he expected that
IN The operations OF the furnace portion of
the precious metals would occasionally ap>
pear, aud accordingly, il has been discoy cred
Ia nne speCks In The Cinder OF the Bucks
| ham works. Magnetic iron ore of very
| valuable quality, occurs at the base Of vii
lis Mountain in Buckingham, and is found
at seNera! other places in corresponding posi-
| lions"
Limestone and Marble East Of the South
lceSt ana Green Mountains.
| This belt of rock, as il occurs on the EIe-
chunk creek, may be traced, with litlle in
| ierruption, through several counties In
Aibemarle county, and at Warminster, the
| structure appears slatv-the general color
blueish grey-veins Of cacareous spar often
| occurring. On The Alechunk il lies on slate
often of ii talcose nature. CAT w ArminsteE,
| II Is also associated with taicose schist and
a While sllicious rock OF fine grain and con-
siderable hardness, often mistaken for mar
BILE" From this poini, along The river to
Lynchburg, cliffs Of The limestone are fire.
queniiy seen III large masses, sometimes on
The waters edge-the character OF the rock
| IN some localities, such as 10 give il the high
esl value. ear The mouth of Tye River,
on the Rockhsh, a true marble is found of
The most beautiful wh!ieness, Of texture
which renders il capable OF a fine polish as
well as being readily wrought by the chs
sell" few miles from Lynchburg, in
| Campbell county, good ible is found
and Limestone in abundance. Further south
these beds OF limestone Of various qualities
are known 10 occur. In Bedford county, at a
point considerably west OF this belt, marble
! is SAID 10 exist. fbe extensive beds of lime
stone also found in this region, furnish re-
source OF great value to agriculture. Pro-
lessor Rogers eniorces the propriety OF an
earnest zeal IN the discovery aud use OF these
resources, asserting thai a know ledge OF their
value, asa calcareOuS manure, would bring
them into general use, and thus rescue from
Improbable and dlShearienIng cultivation
an important district of the State In Or
unge, Albemarle, Louisa, Fluvanns, Buck
irgham, and other countries, some remote,
The application of lime, aided by the inUreas,
ed facilities of transportation, would effect an
entire revolution in the agriculture of the
Country Siaty micaceOus Cor ising Iass)
SOILS, " bich prevail in these districts are
known, from experiments IN Maryland and
Pennsy Iuania, TO he peculiarly susceptible OF
Improvement from judicious lining. Expe-
rIments in AIbemarle also prove this. The
impression that the limestone m this region
produces comparaIi, ely poor lime, seems
erroneous. Professor Rogers furnishes the
following analysis Of the pr0pJrtion Cores
ponding TO 100 parts of limestone.
100 oi blue slaty limestone, War
minister, Sl.4 15
100 Of blue with white veins do SS.4 40 S
100 Of blue slaly, Mechunk, $50 46 6
From the peculiar position of these exten-
sIve exposures OF limestone, in the vicinity
of Lynchbmrg, Newmarket, and Warmin-
ster, as regards facilities OF conveyance they
ere 10 become highly valuable. Professor
Rogers thinks mo- position in the State is more
favorable Tor lime-burnIng, or which coulC
he conducted uD larger and more profitable
scale lie says, by the introduction VI the
? perpetual kIns, now generally Used IN ex-
'eneIve lime burning establishments Of the
] Eastern States. much ucl would he saved
aud al! ne lime which the !ock - capable %
! iur"iSh' would he retained; while Ivy m,
. pan Us t'!y pursued, much wood is wasted