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Pages de couleur Pages demaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurAes et/ou pelliculAes Pages discoloured, stained or foxei Pages dfI.DCC»XCI. ^mmmwmmmm mnpiM In teftimony whereof, I have hereunto let my hand, and fixed my notarial feal at Philadelphia, this i8th day of February, 1789* (Signed) CLEMENT BIDDLE, Notary Public. ; ^vx A 3 Copy 9 ( 8 ) Copy of a Letter from Mr» IL IVynkoopy of Verdm Hoff, Bucks County y Pennfylvaniay iph Augufty 1787, to the Prefident of the Agricultural Society at Philadelphia, C( S I R, « CONVINCED of the utility of the Plaftcr of Paris as a grafs manure, I communicate to you for the information of the fociety, an experiment which I lately made. In the month of March laft, as foon as the fnow was off the ground, and fo fettled as to bear walking upon the furface, I fpread eight buftiels of the Plafter of Paris upon two and a half acres of wheat ftubble ground, which had been fown the fpring before (in common with the reft of the field) with about two pounds of red clover feed for paflurej this fpot yielded about the middle of June five tons of hay. A fmall piece of ground within the enclofure, and of fimilar quality, hav- been left unfpread with the Plafter, afforded an opportunity of in diitinguifhing theefte^ls of plafter of Paris as a manure ; for from the produce of the latter, there was good reafon to judge that my piece of clover, without die affiftance of the plafter, might have yielded one and a half tons of hay ; fo that the eight bufhels of the pulverized ftone muft have occafioned an increafe of three and a half tons of hay upon two and a half acres of ground, in addition to which it is now covered, to appearance, with between two and three tons fit for the fcythe. This foil has been in courfe of til- lage about fifty years, and never had any dung or manure upon it, but yet was what might be called good wheat land. As the efFedls of the plafter were thus powerful upon fuch kind of ground, there is good reafon to conclude they would be much greater upon a foil previoufly manured. ■' . ' '■ With due refpe£l, I am, &c. . -- - • '^ : (Signed) : To the Prefident of the Agricultural Society in Philadelphia. *9 ,^ f » > HENRY WYNKOOP." >S ■-''{■-■: :■ UJXr, - ( 9 ) I do hereby certify, th-^tthe above named Henry Wynkoop, is a perfon of undoubtcu good chara6kr, and worthy of credit; and I do alfo further teftify, that the Plafter of Paris is much ufed as a manure in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and that it is generally held in high cftimation by thofe who have tried it as a manure. (Signed) Philadelphia, June 30, 1789. SAMUEL POWELL, Prefident of the Agricultural Society. »» Letter on the Ufe of Plafter of Paris as a Manure^ taken from a Publicationj entitled, The American Mufeum. HAVING, for four years paft, made ufe of a large quantity of Plafter of Paris, or Gypfum, as a manure upon a variety of foils, and under different circumftances-^I beg leave to lay before you the refult of my experiments, together with fome obfervations, refpefting the nature of this foflil. I am the more anxious to comply with my duty to the fociety in this refpcft, becaufe many of our fellow-citizens arc loling the great advantage to be derived from the ufe of this manure } entertaining an opinion, that it does not, in itfelf contain any nutriment to plants, but that it a<^s merely as a flimulus to the foil, by which, although vegetation is for a (hort time rapidly promoted, yet the ground becomes ex- haufted, and is left a dead inert mafs. . . I. In the year 1785, I fowed three acres of light foil, containing a little clay, with barley and clover. In the month of April, the following year, I divided the field into three parts, and ftrewed fix bufhels of French Gypfum on No. i j the fame quantity of the American Gypfum, brought from the bay of Fundy, on No. 2 \ and left the intermediate fpace. No. 3, with- out any. On cutting the firft crop, that year, little difference could be obferved ; the fecond crop produced double the quantii:y of grafs, where the Gypfum had been put ; and the fucceeding year, the difference was ftill greater in favour of this manure. A 4 Early M^^ ( 10 ) - Early in 0«£lobcr 1787, the clover lay was ploughed once, about four inches deep, was fowed with rye, and in that rough ftate was harrowed. The rye was of a fuperior quality, and double the quantity on No. i and 2, of that on No. 3. After harveft, the rye-ftubble was ploughed, and fowed with buck-wheat, when a ftriking difference was ftill obfervable in favour of the Gypfum, and which continues in the prefent crop of Indian corn. 2. In April, 1787, 1 fowed three acres of potatoe ground (a light loam ) with barley and clover. Jufl as the barley was above ground, foine Gypfum was ftrewed diagonally acrofs the field, about eight feet wide. Little or no difference could be obferved in the barley ; but in the month of September following, there was a ftriking difference in the clover, in favour of the manure, v/hich would have afforded a good crop of hay, whilft the remain- der of the field was but indifferent. I have frequently put Gyp- fum upon grain, without obferving any immediate difference in the appearance of the crops. 3. In April, 1786, fix acres of poor ifinglafs foil, fituated on German- Town hill, were fowed with oats ; the ground not hav- ing b' :n manured for twenty years, it produced a crop not pay- ing expenfes. In April ^787, one half of the field was covered with Gypfum, fix bufhels to the acre. The latter end of the fame fummer, that part, on which the manure had been put, produced good pafture of blue grafs and white clover, whilft the remainder afforded little but a few fcattered weeds. In 0(Slober, the field was ploughed once, and fowed with rye ; at harveft, the former produced ten bulhels to the acre, the latter not above five. 4. A field of fifteen acres, a light loom, was, in April, 1784, /owed with barley and clover, the produce only twenty bufliels to the acre, the ground not having been fufficiently manured. In 1785, it produced a good firft, and a tolerable fecond crop of clover. In 1786, the firft crop but tolerable; the fecond very indifferent, and therefore paftured. In the: fpring 1787, I wiftied to try if Gypfum would not renew the clover. In the month of April, the whole held was covered with Gypfum. fix bufhels to the acre, except the width of twenty feet, through the middle of the field. St. John's wort, mullain, and other weeds had taken fuch poffeffion of the ground, that, although the manure produced a great luxuriance of grafs, yet, being full of weeds, it did not an- iWer for hay^ and therefore was paftured until 0»Sl:ober, 1788 : . tht t 84, to In of ( II ) the whole was then ploughed eight inches deep, with a flrong three-horfe Dutch plough : laft April, it was well harrowed, and crofs-ploughed, four inches deep, with a light two-horfe plough, leaving the fod at the bottom. The field was fowed with fpring barley ; at harveft, the difference of the crop was aftoniftiingly great in favour of the part where the Gypfum had been put, two years before. This ground is now under wheat and winter- barley, which have a promifing appearance : the *otted fod being turned up and mixed with the foil, affords a ftrong nourifhment to the prefent crop. , , 5.1 put a quantity of Gypfum, three years ago, on feveral fmall patches of tough fod ; it produced a difference in the ftrength of the vegetation, which is flill obfervable. — From the above recited experiments it appears— ift. That there is no difference between the Euiopean and American Gypfum. 2d. That Gypfum a^ls as an immediate manure tojgrafs, and afterwards in an equal degree to grain. gd. That one dre/Hng will continue in force feveral fucceed^ ing crops. r v •' Gypfum not producing any remarkable beneficial effe<3:s, whea ufed as a top drefHng to grain, may arife from two caufes j firft-, from the fmall quantity made ufe of, which is lofl in the rough ground j and fecondly, fi*om the fliort time of its application. It has been found of advantage to Indian corn, but in this cafe, it is abfolutely neceffary to apply it immediately to the corn, as it appears above ground, and that in a confiderable quantity — I have pui. it on grafs ground every month in the year, except during the feverity of winter, and have found, that early in April is preferable to any other feafon ; at which time, the grafs juft fhooting, the finall particles of the gypfum are detained about the roots, and prevented from wafhing away. On ftiff clay foils, it will pro- duce an :acreafe of vegetation, but not i\xf ^ient to pay the ex- 'l)enfe of the manure. It may be difficult to point out the ciigin of Gypfum, or to af- certain clearly the principle, gn which its nutritive quality of ve- getablgs ( 12 1 getables depends : we fhall, however, with diffidence, fubmit our conjcdures on this fubjeft, to the confidetation of the fociety, G/pfum, which has acquired the name of Plafter of Paris, from its abounding in the neighbourhood of that city, is of a ftony nati /e, yet foft, and eafy to be fcraped with a knife. It is found in many parts of the earth, in very great quantities, forming hills of a confiderable extent, as in the vicinity of Paris, in the Bay of Fundy, in Ruflia, and in many other parts of the world. It is found under different appearances. ift. Cryftalized Into tranfparent plates, which can be eafily (e- parated with a knife, and which in fome parts of Ruffia, are faid to be fo large, as to anfwer the purpofe of glafs. 2d. Of a fibrous texture, and compofed of oblong concretions, lying acrofs the mafs. 3d. Compofed of fmall cryftalline grains; this fpecies Is called alabafter, when it has a hardnefs capable of receiving a polifh. In Mont Martre, near Paris, all the above varieties are found, and alfo a ftratum of a lefs perfedt matter, billed with fmall fliells ; a fpecimen of which, I have in my pofleffion : I have alfo a beautiful IJDecimen of the cryftalized Gyplum, lately brought from the Bay of Fundy. All kinds of Gypfum, however different in exterior form or ap- pearance, have a perfe<5l refemblance in their chemical and eflen- tial qualities. It is generally allowed, that Gypfum is principally compofed of c?lcareous earth, but it is not fo well afcertained with what fub- ftance it is united, which prevents it from having the power of quick lime, when burnt. Regarding calcareous earth, as form- ing the bafis of this fubftance, it may be neceffary to take notice of the different forms under which calcareous earths appear. That which is in the greateft quantity, and properly called calcareous, is diftinguiihed from the reft by the effed^ which fire ha? upon it, in converting it into a quick lime; all others fhould rather be termed alkaline abforbents. Calcareous earth appears in a variety of forms ; there arc very confiderable ftrata of it in the ( '3 ) the bowels of the earth, as marble, lime-ftone, and chalk, which differ only in the degree of purity, or mode of concretion. It is often found in veins, filling up the rents or cavities of mountains, and is called calcareous fpar j fome of which contain a quantity of this earth, but not in a pure ftate: fome are per- fe6tly tranfparent ; and from being found in Iceland, are called Iceland cryftals. / The matter with which vegetable and animal fubftances are incrufted, or penetrated by the waters of particular fprings, fo as to retain their external form, but lofe their nature, and become ftone, is generally of this kind ; and ftiews that this earth is ca- pable of being diiiolved by water, and being introduced into the texture of animal and vegetable fubftances. This earth alfo pro- duces the large and pendulous columns and cones that are found hanging from the roofs of large caves, as in Derbyfhire, The ftoney (hells of all cruftaceous animals, from the coarfeft, to »he coral and pearl, are compofed of this earth, and a fmall quantity of animal glue. A vifcid fluid proceeds from the fur- face of the animal, which becomes a tough membrane, and gra- dually hardens into this form. The fliells of all kinds of animals, together with all coraline concretions, confift of the calcareous earth, united with a fmall proportion of animal glue. Marl is an alkaline earth, but cannot be converted to quick lime : it is compofed of calcareous earth and clay: and its value, as a manure, is eftimated in proportion to the quantity of calca- reous earth which It contains. Marls aiTume a variety of colours, but are properly divided into fhell and ftone marl. Shell marl is compofed of the (hells of fhell-fifh, or other aquatic animals, which are fometimcs entire, and often decayed, or mixed with other eartlily fubftances. Examining this matter, as occurring in different place?, it may be diftingulftied into frcfh- water marl and the marl of fea-ftiells. The firft is compofed of a fmall frefh-water wilk or fnail : this animal, when alive, is not eafily difcoverable, the fliell being much of the fame colour as the ftones covered with the water : but great numbers of them are to bg found in many fmall brooks, V -, , ... ,_^ particulary li ■f»i( ii C 14 } particularly in their paffage through the low wet grounds : as the animal dies, the fhell is depofited. The fecond, compofed of fea-fiiells, ccnftitutes much greater collediions, and is found in innumerable places now far removed from the fea. That, moft particularly defcribed by naturaliftsj is a coUedtion of this kind in Touraine, a province in France. The part of the country, where it is found, contains feveral fquare-miles of furface; and wherever they dig to a certain depth, they find this collection of fliells, compofing a ftrata of twenty feet thick. The country at prelent is one hundred and eighty miles front the fea. The ftone or clay ; they clay marls are very various bear more or lefs refemblance to in their colour and other appear- ances, but agree in containing a quantity of clay united with calcareous earth, fo as to efFervefce with acids— the ftone marls are harder than the clays, but upon being expofed to the adtion of the fun and froft, they crumble into powder, which is eafily mixed with the foil, though fome of them require a very long time before they are divided fine enough to be completely mixed with it. Thefe are the principal forms in which calcareous earth is found. They all derive their origin from the calcareous matter of (hells J for we find relics of fliells in by far the greater number of lime-ftones, chalks, gypfums, and marbles. » ' From the natural hiftory of thefe foffils, and their efleds in promoting vegetation, we may conclude that they contain in themfelves a certain nourifhment to plants, arifing from a con- centration of the animal glue exifting in their original ftatc of (hell-fifli. Too much pains cannot be taken to engage our farmers gene- rally in the ufe of thefe valuable manures. RESOLVED, as there are very extenfive beds or quarries of plafter ftone in feveral parts of the gulph of St. Lawrence, fteps be taken by the fecretary to procure a fmall quantity from different t 15 ) different places in the gulph, that proper trials may be made of its efficacy as a manure, to be communicated to the public, if it fucceeds, recommending to thofe who may be employed to pro- cure the Gypfum or plafter ftone, to diklinguifh that which may have been expofed to the fpray of the fea or overflowed by the fait water, from that which has never been wet but with the rain. ii AGRICULTURAL OBSERVATIONS, y ( • ; • 7n«'; As the improvement of agriculture ought to be the obje^ of every country, fothe knowledge of every ufcful difcovcry (hould be communicated to the people : — the following extracts of let- ters, received from a gentleman of veracity, and a confiderablc farmer for many years in Pennfylvania, may therefore defcrvc particular attention. ■• • I J rt < ,,iO ^.fi'ii r -' •■£■ >i 'i Extra£i of a letter from Philadelphia^ dated Sept, 1 6, 1788. , ** For the information of the farmers in Great- Britain, I ac- quaint you, that nine bufhels of '/lafter of Paris, ground fine, smd fowcd on grafs-ground, proves in this country preferable to any other fpecies or quantity of manure : on fandy or loamy land it anfwers befl; hundreds of our farmers make ufe of it. i have made experiments on upwards of fifty acres in di!lerent parts of my farm, and all have fucceeded beyond any manure I ever faw. The fpring of the year has been efteemed the bcft feafon for fow- ing it; but I have fown it in March, Apiil, May, June, July, Augufl, and I know no difference in its efiliSt. You will oblerve it is only a top manure, therefore muft be fown on a fward jf grafs: it is peculiarly good for white and red clover : it may be broke by hand, and afterward fifted, but we ftamp it, and then pals it through our mill-ftones ; it muft not be Ciilcined The «ffed is truly aftoniihing, and baffles both the farmer and the phi- lofopher. An old field of mine, in which I had wheat laft year, was fown with the Gypfum about ten days after harveft ; early in September 1 cut from it upwards of two tons of «.iover per acre, which was fown on the wheat in March. Fray prevail on fome pf your gentlemen farmers to make the experiment." Pennfyl- i i I' tl il ( i6 ) ' ^ Pennfylvanla^ June l, 179O. ** I wrote to you fome time ago, refpeftlng our manuring with the Plaftcr of Paris : I have now experienced it upwards of three years ; others have ufed it upwards of fifteen : it exceeds any thing ever known. Pray prevail on fome perfon to fow a fmall quantity of red clover in a dry foil ; a few days will evince its power. Six buftiels to the acre I ufe, and it is preferable to fifty loads of the beft dung. This you muft think extravagant ; it is fo, and yet true, I have contrafted it for three years with dung in that proportion, and the refult is my aflertion : I have upwards of one hundred acres now under plaffer, applied in vari- ous ways, and on different foils ; it has in no inftance failed j the laft 1 made, I (hall relate as follows : / ■;»■-; '^} ii <* In April 1789, 1 ploughed the end of a poor fand hill, which by long and bad culture had been totally exhaurted ; it contained no grafs, but was covered with wild onions j the next day, after ploughing, I fowed it with oats, clover, and timothy ; when the oats were a few inches high, 1 fowed a ftrip through the middle of the field with plafter; the ground being poor, the oats were not knee high at harveft ; the clover where the plafter was not fown, was very fmall and poor ; but the ftrip on which the plafter was fown, produced clover near as high as the oats. As foon as the oats were cut, I fowed all the ftubble with plafter ; in Ov?:ober the ground produced upwards of a ton and an half per acre ; and I now think the crop fuperior to the beft acre you ever faw. " The land I fowed three years ago, I mow twice, and pafture the bad crop ; not the leaft failure yet appears ; I intend to renew a part of it, by way of experiment, with three bufliels of plafter per acre, after my firft mowing, which will bein eight days. *' It is generally efteemed to continue good from five to (even years; it is much ufed in this country, and is travelling Weft- ward and Eaftward. I faw laft week fever al fields done with it near Reading, in this State, about fixty miles from the river. A fpoonful on a hill of Indian corn, will increafe the quantity about ten bufliels per acre, and it is found to ripen two weeks earlier. The grafs as well as hay raifed from it, is found more nutritive than any othvir ; fo much fo, that cattle fatten in near half the time. Were I to write a volume, I could not tell you all its ad- vantages." . ' -^-■''--^'- •'"- -- - ■ ■ ^ . ':.y^'^fr:.,y i^r-. - ., --7 ,.-% 'J.r .- The ( «7 ) The foil of the plantation of the above writer is a loam, more or lefs mixed with fand, having a ftw inches of blacic mould on the furfate, and not a cold clay. The Plafter, generally made ufe of in the United States of America, is imported from Havre de Grace, and fome from Halifax in Nova Scotia, but of a much inferior quality, unlefs got at a certain depth. The plaiter is found in Yorkfliire, and in fome other parts of the kingdom, but whether equal in qua- lity to that in France, experiments will difcover. •. '• ;; .,irv An Account of the Ufe of Gypfum as a Manure, ExfraSl of a Letter from a Gentleman in America j to his Friend in London, f\ I i i| I intended to have given you an account of the ufe of Gypfum, or what is generally called rlafter of Paris, as a manure, and the efFcdts of it at large, but this 1 muft defer to another opportunity ; at prefcnt I (hall only fay, that it is the cheapcft and moft effectual manure yet difcovercd ; fix bufhels are quite enough for an acre» It muft be firft pounded in a {lumping mill, and then ground in any common grift mill j the finer it is pulverized the better ; it muft be ground unburnt. The method of putting it on the land is by fowing it in the broad caft as you fow wheat : the only care neceflary is to make the diftribution as equal as poffible. The experiments that haveJjeen made of it. in America, have been chiefly on grafs j it is fowed on the fward as loon after vegeta- tion has commenced as you pleafc, and after that till September ; it is beft to fow it in a drizly day, but if fown in a dry day it ought to be moiftened before it is fown, to prevent its blowing away, and the diftribution being unequal. .^f. -•'♦;. ^ The effe6l of it will fliew itfelf in fix or feven weeks j and the produdt from heretofore unprodudive land, will be at leaft two ton s ( i8 ) tons per acre. It is almoft equally good on all kinds of roil, fand) clay, or mould, but it fhews itfelf iboneft on fand. Its con- tinuance is from fix to ten years, according to the nature of the foil; like other manure. Many experiments have been made ; half of a field has been fown with this plafter, and the other half covered two inches thick with barn door manure, and the plafter-^ ed has been found moil produiStive ; on Indian corn the increaie by plafter has been eight bufhels per acre, by only putting one table fpoonful on a hill. There is no kind of doubt but it will equally well anfwcr the purpof^ on wheat, if fown in the fall, or early in the fpring, when veget, on has commenced. The uti- lity of this manure, and the cheapnefs of it, has in Pennfylvania depreciated the value of barn manure, as it is found much cheap- er to put on this plafter, than to cart the manure from the barn to the fields. On cabbages and turnips it is equally efFedual. By the ufe of this manure the uplands, which were worn out, and from their fandy texture, were abandoned, have now become more valuable than the fineii intervals, or bank meadow lands. In Pennfylvania, from fandy beights they annually cut two crops of grafs, the firft yields two tons, and the latter one j and after fix years the produce has not abated. You Weil know the lands in Ptnnfylvania, oppofitc to Tren- ton, which are naturally fandy, and foon worn out ; thofe l^nds, from the ufe of the plafter, now give the above crop, and fome of them have been plaftered upwards of fix years paft, and there is yet no diminution of the produdt. ■ VV ^ The plafter ufed in Pennfylvania, as procured from Hills in the iheighbourhood of Paris, and when pulverized and fit to fow, is worth two-thirds of a dollar per buihel ; fome has been ufed there that was colle6led at Nova Scotia, which was found equally ftrong and good, while other parcels that were carried from Nova Scotia, was almoft unprodudlive. The reafon moft probably was, that it was taken from the furface, where, by bjing expofed to the frofts, atmofphere, &c. &c. it had loft its v'. .ae. What the pro- perties are that give it this amazingly vegetable and nutritious quality, I muft leave to you and other natural ifts and philofophers todifcoverj the fails I give you, and leave you to affign the cau(e. no int< dor has I Ihop« ( 19 ) I hope to fee the ufe of it introduced into England, and I have no doubt, but in a few years, our barren heaths will be turned into fine grafs lands, and the prefent invaluable part of the king- dom be made ufeful. The beft kind of the pi after is that which has fhining flat fpecula in it. FINIS. \',' PLASTER OF PARIS, BOTH FRENCH and ENGLISH, IS Sold by T. GREEN, at the George- Inn, in S U T H W A R K. '^*' -*^: