Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-05-23

the carbonate of lime that theacid is GER
tainly in excess in the. soil, and it needs
carbonate of lime to neutralize it." can
only say, thataif this does not mean that
lime is found in the soil, do not know
what it does mean. His explanation of
his meaning, in his last article, would ap-
pear to be, that lime existed in the soil in
combination with other substances (Which
would net mean in my conception the cal.
kali lime and that if sufficient quanti-
ty of caustic lime we're thrown upon the
soil to-day. all Il aces would not have dis
appeared by tomorrow. If this be his
meaning, both propositions are undeniably
correct; but he must excuse me for saying
that it would be difficult, without the ex-
PLANTATION, to discover all this in the phrase
quote above, and upon which, alone, [
could found my conception of what he
meant. His explanation as TO soluble
lime would appear to enter into the same
category. If he uses, as he allows he
does, an incorrect form of expression, his
readers must be liable to mistake his
meaning. At the same time must in
sist, that according TO my information, no
soluble salt OF lime (even as he explains
the use sof that expression) can any more
exist as a constituent of soil, than caus-
tic lime. The elementary and fundamen,
tai laws Of science forbid it. When two
soluble salts come into contact, and an in
soluble salt is possible, by double decom-
position, the interchange always takes
place. If that law be true, and give it
upon authority Of all chemists, from the
time it was promulgated by the immortal
Berzelus, how is it possible for a soluble
salt Of lime to exist in the presence Of a
Phosphate, an Oxalate, Fluorate, Car.
Donate, DC, Of Potash, Soda, or Ammo>
MIA, the salts Of which are all soluble
In the next paragraph Mr.. PendIeton
says, he does not know Of any soils above
tide water, SO remarkably free from lime
as l have found them. l. have no doubt
he may have found lime, and that in no.
table quantities. Ii he will look at my re-
marks, he will perceive that say l have
failed to find carbonate of lime in those
soils. except where l had reason to sup
pose it had been added, and that they are
remarkably free from lime, but l have
never asserted the entire absence Of lime,
in some form, for my examinations have
not been sufficient to warrant such sweep
ing conclusion. If | do not, however,
misapprehend, the present discussion has,
in a great measure, reference to middle
Virginia, where, to use his own words,
"nO calcarcous manures are to be had"
am borne out in the observations which
made on this sub Iect in my former com
munication, by the Geological formations,
which extend from Pennsylvania TO Geor-
gia, following general direction, north
god east-south God west. 1t may be OBJ.
iected by some, that the original rocks
from which the soil was formed, have dis>
appeared. To this answer, that the stra-
ia are all highly inclined. l know of no
horizontal recent formation west of what
may be termed the ocean littoral. So far
! as | have examined, and my observations
have not been limited, the convulsion to
which they owe their origin, was anterior
to the deposition Of any horizontal strata
on the eastern littoraI, and l therefore
conclude that the rocks which gave rise
to the soil, are the same with those we
find Still in evidence. have then in sub
sanitation of what l advanced, not only
personal observation, but the nature and
com position Of the rocks, which proves
that the soil spoken of must be poor in the
salts of lime. The blue limestone forma-
ton, as far as have traced it in the Uni
ted States and Cuba, is hard, non dis
integratiug, non -decomPosing rock, under
the action of the atmospheric agents.
The clay which overlies, has no connec-
ton with it, further than that of position.
There is nothing astonishing, therefore,
that this soil should be free from the salts
oflime. The great sandstone formations,
of lime. Nor would you look for it in the
schiston rocks; (whether falcon, argilace~
Gus, or micaceous) so largely developed
in portions of thatregion. Where Felspar
exists in the rocks. it may occasionally de-
compose, or occasionally give lime, but
both cases are the exception rather than
the rule.
AS Mr.. Pendleton cites granite as one
Of those rocks, yielding lime, and in res
ality it is the main dependence in this re-
giOn, for that base) let US examine, and
ascertain its value in that respect Gra-
mite is a heterogeneous mixture of three
distinct mineral Observation-Disclosures, Mi
ca aud Quartz. OF those, the first named
alone ever yields lime. But lime is not
essential to its composition, nor always
present. The quantities Of lime in
each were as follows. The first trace.
The second O.35. The third a trace
The fourth 1875. The ffth none. The
sixth 3. The seventh trace-and the
eighth O.75 per cent. These analyses
were made BY Berthier, Bendant, KIap-
roth, Rose, Vauqulin, and Bucholz =
When We reflect, then. that Orthose is
one of three constituents of granite-that
its decomposition is exceptional, and when
it does decompose, the yield in lime is
small. (neyer according to the above anal
ysis higher than three per cent) the re-
suit is conclusive that soils originating