many of the western and southern States without wishing to try the efficacy of lime, marl, or greensand for the improvement of his comparatively sterile land. Governor Hammond has applied some 300,000 bushels of shell marl from Shell Bluff, on the Savannah River, in Georgia, to his plantation at Silver Bluff, on the South Carolina side of the same river, with entire satisfaction. Mr. H. Burgwyn, of Northampton County, North Carolina, (a large and successful farmer,) says that "no gold mine is so valuable as a good marl pit." The late Thomas Affleck writes:

"Lime is an absolutely indispensable ingredient in the soil in which fruit-trees of any kind are grown, and especially the apple and pear. Until I was convinced of this fact, I found great difficulty in producing a healthy and vigorous growth upon many varieties of the apple. By marling I removed the difficulty; the wood became short, jointed, and healthy, the foliage abundant and persisting until frost, the fruit large, sound, and free from specks and blemishes, such as before disfigured some kinds."

Twenty-two years ago cotton sold in Augusta, Georgia, at five cents a pound, and fresh land in the southern and southwestern parts of the State could be bought at ten cents an acre. The price paid for cotton was too low to do more than return small wages for the labor of raising it on rich land, without restitution. Hence plantinglands, whether rich or poor, sold at mere nominal prices. Now cotton is worth at least fifteen cents per pound in gold, and the raw material for making it more than five times its value in 1847. Whatever concentrated fertilizers may be extracted from marl, and the greensands of New Jersey, and in States south of it, have an excellent home market, which time is more likely to increase than diminish.

The greensands of New Jersey are so extensive, and so rich in potash, that nothing is hazarded in saying that millions of tons of this alkali exist therein, which science and art may yet extract, perhaps very much as common wood-ashes are made to give up their soluble potash for domestic use and commercial and manufacturing purposes. It is more than probable that many unsuccessful attempts were made to extract good commercial pearlash from wood-ashes before any one could claim success; but these repeated failures, did not prove that all efforts in that direction must end in failure. Southern agriculture wants a vast amount of potash, which greensand contains in quantities apparently inexhaustible. As farmers and planters we do not need, nor want, the silicious sand, nor the alumina, nor the iron, nor the lime that may be found in the same bed with potash. Throw out these, and we will pay a fair price in cotton, wheat, corn, meat, and tobacco for the precious alkali.

Good marls so abound in the States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, all of the same geological age and formation, (the pliocene of Lyell,) that their presence or absence on the ground or under its surface is mainly a question of elevation above tide-water. Within five miles of Washington City, and a little north of the Marlboro' road, in a gully, may be seen the outcrop of a stratum of oyster and other shells of unknown extent and thickness. These marine shells are estimated to be over one hundred feet above the water in the Potomac. The hills of giant oyster shells that extend from Shell Bluff, on the Savannah River, thirty miles below Augusta, westward several miles, are one hundred and fifty feet above the Atlantic, and over one hundred miles from it. Between this remarkable mass of shells, generally quite free from sand and clay, and the Keys of Florida, a distance of some five hundred

and fifty or six hundred miles, there may be many "fish basins" filled with phosphates. We do not know what organic remains there may be in such large and true basins as that of the Okefenoke swamp, which covers an area of 500,000 acres, and in other swamps in southern Georgia and the peninsula of Florida. If dried peat, or any species of aquatic moss, is worth anything for fuel when pressed and dried, the great swamps of Georgia can supply almost any quantity. It is found on analysis that they contain from five to ten per cent. of ash and earthy matter. Hanging moss on cypress and other forest trees has about one per cent. of ash, half of which is lime. One hundred pounds of dry Okefenoke muck will take up without dripping nearly four hundred pounds of the urine of cattle when used as bedding. By drying the water out under a shed, and again saturating the muck with urine from a tank, repeatedly, a very concentrated mass of agricultural salts may be cheaply obtained. On thousands of plantations the leaves of forest trees growing in low grounds will supply salts of lime, potash, and magnesia cheaper than they can be bought in any market. These decaying with marl, gypsum, finely ground phosphates, and a sprinkling of common salt, give a valuable fertilizer at a moderate cost. Direct research shows that twelve times more of the mineral food of plants exists in one hundred pounds of the leaves of the long-leaf pine than in a like weight of the wood of this abundant forest tree. There is not a tree, nor a spring of water, nor a swamp, nor a brook on any farm that will not yield cheap manure. The water-shed of the Mississippi River drains an area of 1,100,000 square miles, from which a vast amount of agricultural salts is annually washed into the Gulf of Mexico. Judicious irrigation will save much of these salts for

manure.

SALT FROM SEA-WATER AS A FERTILIZER.

In many places sea-water is so easily evaporated by the sun, as at the Keys of Florida, and along our southern coast, at Turk's Island, and elsewhere, that salts of soda, lime, magnesia, and perhaps potash, may be had for manure at a low price from this source. What but a lack of enterprise, or a want of knowledge on the subject, prevents the ocean from giving back to our washed and impoverished fields even more fertilizing salts, because more concentrated, than heavy rains, much plowing up and down hills, and other follies, ever washed into the sea? The sulphates of lime and magnesia, and the chlorides of calcium and other bases, which are much in the way in the manufacture of pure salt, will add materially to its value as a manure. If good Turk's Island salt can be made at from six to eight cents per bushel, as is stated, salt for fertilizing the soil, or for the "dung heap," can be produced at five cents per bushel. A demand for salts of this character will soon lead to an adequate supply, for the ocean is inexhaustible. It teems with animals and vegetables, and its waters abound in their food. The same elements that make the bones, flesh, blood, and milk of whales will do as much for our cattle and ourselves. The lime that protects bivalves from injury, and the sulphates, phosphates, and chlorides organized in marine animals and plants, are just as useful to our farms before as after this service in salt water. This water is really very rich in soluble manure. Why not evaporate the water and apply the manure to all our needy fields? Salt for the land and the dung heap is what farmers need; that is, salts of lime, such as form shells and fish-bones, the sulphur, phosphorus, and nitrogen in the flesh and nerves of these animals, and other elements of concentrated fish guano.

EXPERIMENTS WITH FIELD SEEDS.

All seeds sent forth by the Department for test and experiment are accompanied with a request to report results in all essential details. A digest of the more important of these reports will be presented among the annual transactions of the Department. The following statements are the results of experiments made in different parts of the country with seeds which were distributed with the view of ascertaining their adaptation to the different soils and climates of the United States:

WINTER WHEAT.

Windsor County, Vermont.-One quart of Tappahannock wheat was sowed on an alluvial soil the 1st of October; yield, ten quarts of fine wheat with very full kernel; quality superior to any other wheat in that section.

Bristol County, Massachusetts.-The Tappahannock wheat has been successful in some parts of the State; in Bristol County twelve to sixteen bushels per acre having been raised.

Hampden County, Massachusetts.—One quart of each variety of the White and the Red Mediterranean wheat was sowed the 4th of October, and harvested the 16th of July. The yield was fifty-one pounds of the Red and forty-six of the White. The Red yielded better than the White, and appears more desirable for the Connecticut Valley. It was grown on sandy soil, and is superior to the native varieties.

Newport County, Rhode Island.-The White Flint, the Tappahannock, and the White Mediterranean wheat have been cultivated, but with little success. The largest yield is only about sixteen bushels per acre, on a soil which would produce fifty or sixty bushels of corn.

Dutchess County, New York.-The Tappahannock wheat sown last fall was a failure. No kernel was formed in the heads.

Jefferson County, New York.-A quart of Sandomirka wheat was sown in drills, the last of August, on five and a half square rods of ground, which had not been manured, and had produced three crops after being cleared up from the forest. The crop was harvested the last of July, and produced forty-seven and a half pounds of fine, plump wheat, at the rate of twenty-three bushels per acre. It seems well adapted to the soil and climate of New York, and preferable to the common spring wheat.

Tioga County, New York.-Tappahannock wheat, received from the Department, is quite fifteen days earlier than any other variety.

Cayuga County, New York.-Tappahannock wheat, sown on the 10th of September; grew well; stood the winter first-rate; ripened about the 8th of July, with large heads and plump kernel; and escaped by its earliness both rust and weevil, which injured other varieties badly.

East Maine, New York.-The White Mediterranean and Sandomirka wheats were badly winter-killed, and produced less than an average crop. The Polish wheat yielded a good crop-superior to anything in the vicinity.

Wyoming County, Pennsylvania.-The Tappahannock wheat is ten days earlier than any other variety grown in this county. Two quarts of seed,

received from the Department, yielded from the second year's sowing five bushels of very fine wheat.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.-One quart of the Tappahannock wheat, sown on the 18th of September, yielded seventy-nine pounds. It ripened twenty days earlier than other varieties, and was not injured by the midge. It stood the winter well, and promises to be the wheat for this region.

Columbia County, Pennsylvania.-One quart of Tappahannock wheat, sown broadcast in September, on one-twentieth of an acre, ripened a week earlier than other varieties, and produced eighty-two pounds, or over twenty-seven bushels to the acre, of screened wheat of fine quality. Our reporter says, if it does not deteriorate, it will be a great acquisition. Montgomery County, Maryland.-The Tappahannock and the White Mediterranean wheat are cultivated in the county. The White Mediterranean yields more, but the Tappahannock commands a higher price. Baltimore County, Maryland.-The Tappahannock wheat ripened early, and yielded exceedingly well. There was no appearance of injury from the midge.

Amelia County, Virginia.-After a trial of twenty varieties of wheat, preference is given to the Tappahannock, which is now found on almost every plantation. If sown from the 20th of September to the 10th of October, it will ripen from the 10th to the 25th of June.

Powhatan Hill, Virginia.-The Tappahannock wheat has failed generally, and is likely to be abandoned, as most popular varieties have been after having a good run for a few seasons.

Montgomery County, Virginia.-About a pint and a half of the Tappahannock wheat produced three pecks of the most perfect wheat our correspondent ever saw. The kernel was one-fourth larger than the sample

sown.

Dover Mines, Virginia.-Seven quarts of Mediterranean wheat, drilled one foot apart, produced seven bushels of heavy wheat, uninjured by rust.

Clarke County, Virginia.-The Tappahannock wheat was somewhat injured by the fly. The injury appears to have been occasioned by late Sowing. Fields sown in September produced heavy crops of fine quality Tappahannock wheat is preferred to any other in Greene, Washington,. Wythe, Craig, Louisa, and Clarke counties.

Duplin County, North Carolina.-About a quart of Tappahannock wheat was sown on a stiff, sandy loam, in drills eighteen inches apart. The land was as fertile it could well be made. After the grain came up about one-fourth was destroyed by grasshoppers. In February a topdressing of guano and phosphate of lime was applied, mixed, at the rate of two hundred pounds to an acre. In April the rabbits destroyed nearly one-fourth of what remained. A crop of three and a quarter bushels was harvested from the one quart of seed. It grew five feet high, and ripened ten days earlier than other winter wheat.

Albermarle County, North Carolina.-Two quarts were sown on high, dry land, a gravelly clay slate, without manure, and produced, from a little more than half an acre, seven bushels of fine wheat. It tillered astonishingly, as many as fifty heads sometimes growing from one kernel. They were much larger than common, and the wheat weighed sixty-two and a half pounds per bushel. No other variety yielded anything like the Tappahannock.

Franklin County, North Carolina.-Two and a half pounds of Tappahannock wheat, sown on four hundred square yards of ground, poorly prepared, ripened eight or ten days earlier than other wheat in the

vicinity, and yielded eighty pounds, or at the rate of about seventeen bushels per acre-sixty-two and a half pounds to a bushel. The grain was injured by the rains.

Chester, North Carolina.-The Tappahannock wheat is much esteemed by the few who have tried it; it is ten days later than the Alabama. Earlesville, South Carolina.-The Tappahannock wheat will succeed better in this latitude than the Russian, and will prove a valuable acquisition.

Carroll County, Georgia.-The Tappahannock wheat sent by the Department yielded one hundred to one.

Belair, Georgia.-One quart of the Red-bearded Mediterranean wheat, sown on six and a half square rods, produced two bushels, weighing sixty-four pounds to the bushel.

De Kalb County, Alabama.-Two pounds of Tappahannock wheat were sown on a piece twenty feet square, the land being much worn, soil about three inches of dark loam, and stiff clay subsoil, cultivated with corn the previous year, and fertilized with four loads of stable manure, plowed under. The yield was two and a half bushels of the finest wheat ever seen in this section.

Claiborne, Mississippi.-The Tappahannock and Mediterranean wheats made a large yield. The former was a little injured by the rust, but the latter was untouched.

Washington County, Mississippi.-White Mediterranean and the Tap pahannock wheat, sown the 11th of November, were ripe the first of June, and yielded thirty-five bushels per acre.

Union Parish, Louisiana.-The Tappahannock wheat has been introduced into Union Parish, and has shown that wheat may be successfully grown in that part of the State. In most parishes the culture is considered impracticable, on account of rust. The season of sowing is the last of October and the first of November; of harvesting, the latter part of June.

Giles County, Tennessee.-The Tappahannock wheat, sown the 10th of October, ripened two weeks earlier than other varieties, and yielded one-fourth more of excellent wheat. Our correspondent thinks it will prove to be of great advantage to that section.

Smith County, Tennessee.-Two pounds of Tappahannock wheat, sowed on one twenty-fourth part of an acre, produced eighty pounds of very fine wheat. More than ten pounds of it were destroyed by Guinea chickens just before ripening. After this loss it yielded at the rate of over thirty-five and a half bushels per acre, more than twice the yield of the wheat commonly cultivated.

Hawkins County, Tennessee.-Four quarts of Tappahannock wheat yielded one hundred and sixty-four quarts. The correspondent states that it was as fine wheat as he ever saw in this country or in England.

Davidson County, Tennessee.-The Tappahannock wheat has had a fair trial in this section. Last season one hundred and twenty acres were sown, and yielded thirty bushels per acre. From four quarts of Tappahannock wheat, received in 1866, enough was raised in 1867 to produce sixty-three bushels in 1868. Our correspondent says that its vigorous growth, hardiness, early maturing, freedom from rust and smut, and its abundant yield and fine flour, recommend it to all cultivators.

Coffee County, Tennessee. Our correspondent is satisfied that the Tappahannock wheat will prove a success in this section. It stood well through the hard winter of last season, and made a large yield of beautiful wheat. The White Mediterranean and the White California grew beautifully, but did not stand the winter so well.