Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-07-16
From the american Farmer.
PRIZE ESSAY,

4h"ytuHU otutc -IyNWt1f" DOCtty.-Dy
WM. D. GRESHAM, Of King aud Queen Co.,
Va
The liberal offer of the MARYLAND State Ag
ricultural Society,"" for the best essay on the
comparative value of different manures, founded
upon actual experiment" has no doubt awakened
a spirit of emulation among Farmers, and will
bring forth to the public an account Of the cX-
perimcnts which they have been so anxollsl V
and carefully practising for several years past,
with view to the improvement Of their worn-
out land.
It is not my design on this occasion, to intro
ducc any new theory, supported by novel expert
ments; but shall attempt to compile and ar
range my various plans and experiments, in such
manner as 10 make them striking and illustra-
tive of the benefits received, and to corroborate
those who have preceded in this noble cause
Already lavc the essays of Stabler and others,
given an impetus to the improvement of SOILS
which has placed them high in the estimation Of
the farming community, and will cause their
names long to be cherished by this benefttsd
class. Nor can fail to mention the great ad
vantage that has been given to that community
by: Edmund Ruflin, the pioneer in the cause Of
the improved agriculture in Virginia, the truths
of whose writings and practical experiments have
so eminently rewarded the agrculturist.
The anxious desire of the Maryland State Ag-
ricultura Society for the diffusion of practical
knowledge, and of rendering itself useful, has
placed it nigh in the estimation Of the farmers
throughout the Union, and commands for it an
unprecedented respect. Nothing is more calcp-
lated to give so great an impetus to that spirit
of improvement which is now abroad in the
land, than the annaal meetings of this society
where the agricnlurists Of the different sections
of the country are asscmblcd-wherc ali inter
change Of views and plans are discussed or
weighed, and where the practical results of land
and labor are brought together in competition.
Although my experiments with the different
manurcs have not been as extensive as | would
have wished, yet so fully have / been convinced
of the great benefit | have received, that at the
risk Of being considered but " nocice" in the
science of agriculture, l have determined to give
them.
| Limc-I shall commence with lime, which
regard as the basis Of all permanent improve
mcnt, the most important element towards the
improvement of worn-out lands, and without
which, in some form, all attempts to reslscitate
them will be vain and frlitlesS. From various
! experiments have made with the different kinds
! Of lime, have become convinced that shell lime
IS the most valuable and cfficacious. The supe-
rior irtilizing qualities Of shell lime, is in part
attributable to the phosphorus contained i'll the
oyster shell. | have also applied stone lime
from New York and Baltimore, and can with
certainty say, the Baltimore surpasses that from
New York; our soil contains magnesia and OH
that account the alum stone lime acts more
promply than the magnetism lines Of Pennsyl
vana and New York
THE properties Of Limc.--The properties of
lime have been SO often described and written
upon, that it would De unnecessary for me to oc-
cupy much time and space in going into detail;
but so necessary is it, for all to understand some
Of them, that 81 line upon line" cannot be too Of
ten repeated
We know lime to be an essential element of
all productive soils and upon its presence IN
manner depends ali improvement; SO powerfully
has it acted upon our acid soils, abounding in
sowe grass, that its application can with great
distinctness be traced in the first crops. In
correcting the acidity of our soils, and decom-
posing the poisonous metallic salts, it has acted
most beneticially. Lime renders our soils which
seem to be packed and close with a scanty sup
ply of grass, much more pulverous and easy to
be cultivated; giving life like appearance, and
renders the cultivation much more agreeable to
the f,rncr-t tends to break down the tenacity
of stiff clays, improves their friability, and pre-
pares them to be actcd upon by the atmosphere;
while on the other hand, upon light soils it acts
equally beneficial, in increacing their tenacity,
improves their power of retention, any may pre-
vent in measure the loss of nutritive manurcs
by exhalaton. Lime tends to convert the inert
vegetable matter which remains in the land, into
food and thus performs the Office Of u solvent
of inert vegetable matter into nutritious food for
the growth Of pants-it is the agent to dccom-
pose and feed the land with such vegetable mat
ter as would otherwise remain undccomposed,
and in this manner may be regarded as IN es-
scntial element of the soil.
The mode of applying Lime-I have now
been using lime some eight or ten years, and had
| not been able to have procured it for my land,
I should long since have found a home in our
"wcstcrn wilds" for I am certain | could have
never improved them without the use of lime or
other calcareous earths for stable and putrescent
manurcs did not after one or two crops exhibit
any very apparent effect. Tho mode [ have
adopted in applying lime, has been made easy,
and never intcrferes with my other farming ope-
rations. So soon as have finished my corn crop,
| Il Il, al, T,1,, lima