Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1861-05-31

About Plaster OF Paris.

Young Farmer, Of Perry COuuty, Mo-,
ass several proper question, regarding
plaster and many Others propose one or
more queries. Let Us talk little on the
subject, and first,
WA; n Pla,isr sf PGris' Pu, piece
Of burned or unburned limestone, or marble.
or chalk, in al ear,hsrn or glass vessel, With
li,ile water. and pour IN some 'ulphurie
acil (called oil Of ,irio). A milkiness Will
appear in the water, and after a time white
powder will settle 70 the bottom. IL the VA
ter bS not in large quantity. rhi, powder
i. what s called - Plaster Of PARIS" IL Is
composed OF sulphuric acid and lime. and
the proper name Is e" 'HlPhSis o' hrn,." We
vi,h al our readers would Away. call IL by
ihis name-,he name indicates what 10 is
s5mposcd Of. The same substance - often
called ryp5la. !, !. found IN large quan,i'
ne, in the form Of solid stones or rocks in
vsry many plsoSs--onetine- OF a pure
white, sometimes eolOred by iron or other
metallic salt.: and sometimes It is bcauti.
folly erystaliIsi almost like glass. In its
solid white or ery.taliIed form, IL ]. often
eAllsd ala5aScr, and Is cut in.O vases and
ether ornamental work.
The solid salphA,e Of lime (plas,sr) con
.Ains considerable water. Thus, piece Of
the crystal. or Of the solid stone weighing
100 lbs.. contains about - los. Of lime. 10
la.. ar sulphurie acid. and 81 lbs. Of water.
Hsa. it strongly, and you eIPel the water.
leaving only the 'ulphurie acid and lime.
L, i. then called ealeinei plaster. Wet this
ani 10 will absorb the water again, and form
S0mpAc, solid lump 10 few minutes. l,
/. thus used 10 take casts, aud for plaster
ins. etc. I, VA. called plaster o, PARIS. be-
cause frst ussd extensively in Paris for plas.
tsriug. In Germany is. usually called
gypsum.
The cAleined plaster ]. no. good 10 u-e on
,oll. because when mOisienei, ii forms hard
masses. The ground stone. unbarnsd. !.
the material employed a. fertilizer. The
refuse plaster which has been wet and hard
sacd In stereotype fountrie., and IN other
nAnuiastorie. wbsrv plaster IS used for TAX
ing impressions, for c.sting image. etc,
II ground up hns again, would dcabtls.s be
juI as raluabls fOr applying to land. az The
s-9aal stone unsgrnci. The burning only
drive. a the water combined with the pln'-
t.r which D. taken up again when 10 Is yet
iot use.
SsJlGs Of Lr,a, 81, a rufh:-.-FOr
long time pat it has been found iha, the
unburned stone ground TO powder and aP-
Piled TO land, . often very useful manure
i5r many crOps-and especially Tor clover.
Twenty years ago. on the homestead farm.
We we're accustomed TO 20 10 mile. Tor loads
Il plaster. during winter, paying 81 TO 80
per ton for /, ground At tho mill. |, va.
,oWn broadcast on the wheat fields in the
Srrine. at the rate OF goo to 100 lbs. Per
acre, AMI also upon summer fallow. and on
The wheat soils in the fall before the final
narrowing Ii was also spread eroadcas, on
corn land, and harrowed in before planting.
Sometimes seed corn was wet and rolled IN
rla,tsr, and at other times handful was
rrinkled in each bill. In all these meth
"a. il was generally considered paying ap-
rlicauon. though wheat averaged les than
SIA bu.hel and corn les than forty cents.
lswas frequently useful in al Minds Of erops,
but not uniformly 80. The most paying
APPLICATION VAS on wheat land sown with
clover ed in the SPriDg. strip through
q seld sown with plaster, could b pointed
oat Nv the mos, casual observer BY the bet
ter straw and grain while clover, after
harvest, indicated unmi.,akably the good
effects Of even 100 lb-. Of plaster Per acre.
Ii Was often tried uPou meadows Of timothy
(herd..gra..l with good results frequently,
bot not uniformly -, and it, use was ulIi.
na,ely eoufned mainly to wheat and clover,
p-,. corn, harley, aud oats. On some
fields, and in some years, Il appeared TO be
le-s useful, than IN other instances, though
We Do not recall an instano, Of IL having
.a,l~i 10 benefit clover. We bad no soil -
poor that We could not get good growth OF
clover BY using plaster, with little yard
mansre sometimes; aud when We could
turn under large gro~th of clover. the
.oh Vas reliable tor Ooe or more heavy crop.
u wbsA, or corn. A Trial Of it was the On
IL mean. oi knowins on ~ha, soils IL would
Be the mos, beneficial.
What ~s have said Of our own sIpsrisnoe
is true in the case of thousand. Of farmers
the country over; and the probability that
D, will he useful on any sO,l, i. 80 strong.
that we have uniformly ADVISED al farmers
10 make at least one trial Of it-pArtieularly
On clover and wheat. From $50 10 600 lb-
psr acre may bs tried. sowing il brosdeas,
on the grOwiu; crop; or what may b just
as sell. and often better. SOW is upon the
plosed ground and harrow !, IN before seed
ing with the grain. Let it be tried upon
grAs, land, on corn in the bill and broad
cast, and on other crops bu, never con-
denn At until it has been tried on clover.
Hoe IL benefits tie crop, We need not dis.
euss a, length, for no one knows certainly.
SoRe cav one OF both Of 10. elements (sul
fhGrie acid, Or lins,) furnish special min.
erAl food to the plant. We have favored
The theory sha, !, acts as an absOrber Of au.
nODia from the atmosphere. for the use Of