I recollect none so decisive as that of Reverend Dr. Cartwright, which is published in the fourth volume of the Communications to the Board of Agriculture.

Having previously prepared a piece of land for the experiments, on the 14th of April 1804, a portion of the land was laid out in beds of one yard wide and forty yards long, twen ty-four of which were manured in different ways; one of the beds had no manure, and fifteen of the beds had salt put upon them, in the proportion of a quarter of a peck to each bed. On the same day the whole was planted with potatoes, a single row in each bed; and that the experiment might be conducted with all possible accuracy, the same sets were planted in each bed. On the 21st of September, the potatoes were taken up, and the produce of each row was accurately ascertained; from which it appeared, that in every instance excepting one, where the salt was used, the crop was found to be superior; so that, of ten different manures, most of which are of known and acknowledged efficacy, salt proved superior to them all, one only excepted, viz., chandlers graves; and that bed in which salt and soot were combined, produced of all others, the best crop. But the most singular cir cumstance, and that which has induced me to submit the relation of this experiment to the society, is, that where salt was used, whether by itself or in combination, the roots were entirely free from the scabbiness to which potatoes are often liable, and from which none of the other beds were altogether exempt, although there were in the same field nearly forty beds of potatoes, besides those which were planted for the sake of these experiments.

In the culture of the turnep, salt is also very efficacious. In the twenty-seventh volume of the Annals of Agriculture is a paper communicated by Davies Giddy, Esq., president of the Penzance Agricultural Society, which contains an account of some very important experiments on this subject. At Michaelmas 1790, Mr. Sickler, a member of the Society,

In

entered upon an estate, so much impoverished by the former tenant, as scarcely to return the value of the seed. In the spring of 1791, Mr. Sickler prepared two acres for turneps, which had borne seven crops of oats in succession. The last crop did not produce nine bushels on an acre. the first week of April, the earth from the ditches was carried into the field, and laid in four piles; each received three cart-loads of sea-shell sand, and five bushels of salt. The earth from another ditch, ehiefly consisting of the decayed soil, which had been taken off the ground in former tillage, was placed in three more piles, and each of these received also three cartloads of sand, but no salt, on account of the apparent richness of the earth. Half the field was manured with the four first piles; but the three last not being sufficient for the other half, what remained without manure was sown with salt, at the rate of ten bushels to an acre.

That part of the field where salt had been used, either mixed with earth or alone, produced about half a crop of turneps, but the crop totally failed where was no salt.

In 1792, three acres, which in 1791 had borne a crop of wheat, not exceeding twelve bushels on an acre, were ploughed before Christmas, and brought into fine tilth by midsummer following. On each acre were sown twenty bushels of salt, excepting that two ridges towards the middle of the field were purposely left without any salt; on these two ridges the turneps totally failed, but the remainder of the field produced a plentiful crop.

In 1793, four acres of land, completely worn out by successive tillage, were ploughed before Christmas, three acres were sown with salt, at the rate of twenty-five bushels, and the remaining acre with eighteen bushels, without any other manure. The crop was in general a good one, but visibly best where the greatest quantity of salt had been used. Since that time, crops of turneps have been raised, with equal success, by the use of salt; and in the severe winter of 1794-5,

it was observed that these turneps were much less injured by the frost, than others similarly treated and cultivated in the common way. The writer of the account suggests, that if turneps are less injured by frost when they are manured with salt, than when they are cultivated in the usual manner, it must indicate an extraordinary degree of health and vigour in the plant; but a single observation is insufficient to establish such a fact.

The free use of salt, in the culture of the carrot, has also been found very efficacious. The effect of enlarging the growth and consequently increasing the crop of all esculent vegetables, has long been known to all the gardeners in America. Sir John Sinclair likewise informs us, that drilled carrots grow well in a salted bed, the salt being laid under the surface, in the centre of the intervals between the rows, and at some distance from the roots, in such manner, that it may be dissolved before the fibres of the roots meet it. See Husbandry of Scotland, second edition, vol. ii. Appendix, p.

182.

Some years ago, Baron Humboldt discovered that a weak solution of any of the oxymuriatic salts has the property of. accelerating and increasing the growth of vegetables. This effect is probably owing to the circumstance of the exymuriates being converted by exposure to the air into common muriates. It might, however, be within the scope of your society's plan and intentions to offer premiums to such gardeners as would willingly make farther experiments on bleachers' residuum, an article which may be had for little or nothing, and which, if devested of the sulphate and muriate of manganese, which is always contained in it, would doubtless prove a very powerful and beneficial manure.

A gardener of considerable celebrity at Chorley in Lancashire, of the name of Beck, made use of common salt in his extensive gardens for upwards of thirty years, especially upon his onions; and he found that the application of this salt very

far surpassed that of all other manures. He never took any care to ascertain the exact quantity of salt which he employed; but when he was questioned as to this point, he said, that he thought he was accustomed to use it in the proportion of about sixteen bushels to an acre of land. His practice was to sow the salt immediately after he had covered in the seed; a point which should always be attended to, because it has been found, that, if the salt be sown after the plants show themselves above ground, the whole crop will inevitably be destroyed. On the contrary, if a moderate quantity of salt be sown upon the land as soon as the onion seed is deposited in the ground, say about six pounds to one square perch of land, or four ounces to a square yard, the result will not fail to be striking and advantageous.

The general failure of the onions last year has been much spoken of, but I do not hear of a single gardener that employed salt who had not a very abundant crop. As a corroboration of this, I may infer to the letter of Mr. William Morton of Biel, which was read to our Society on the 8th of September last, and which states the benefits he had derived from the use of brine, made by the solution of common salt in water, and which he had applied to his beds of onions, shallots, and other roots. I shall, however have occasion, before I conclude this address, again to refer to Mr. Morton's letter.

Seeing that common salt produces such striking effects in the culture of potatoes, turneps, carrots, onion, shallots, &c. I cannot help being surprised that it has not been brought into general use long since, especially as I observe, that more than 200 years ago, the lord Chancellor Bacon, in the most unequivocal manner, recommended its employment in the practice of horticulture. His words are these; 'several herbs, such as radish, beet, rue, pennyroyal, like best being watered with salt water; and I advise the extension of this trial to some other herbs, especially those which are strong, such as

mustard, rocket and the like.-Lord Bacon's Natural History. I must, however, now proceed to the consideration of the effect of salt in the cultivation of fruits.

The action of common salt upon fruit-trees, when judiciously applied, is equally beneficial. In cider countries it has been the practice on some estates, where the owners have been ambitious to have fine orchards, to dig a small trench a few yards distant from each apple tree, and to put within it a small quantity of salt, which, by means of the rain, becomes dissolved, and is gradually conveyed to the roots of the trees. This practice is said to increase the quantity of the fruit, and to preserve the trees in the utmost health and vigour.

Mr. Hollingshead, whom I have before mentioned, and who studied this subject for many years, remarks, that' those farmers who reside near the sea-shore, might derive considerable advantage from watering their grounds with seawater, or sowing them with sand from the beach, below high water-mark, during the spring and autumn, as the particles of salt contained therein would be a great benefit. Fruittrees,' says he, and the hop plant should also be sprinkled with sea-water, or have salt or sea-sand laid about them at some distance from their stems. The cotton-tree and sugarcane, in the West Indies, would also derive considerable advantage from this mode of treatment.' p. 21.

There is a very striking experiment on record, which was made by the late Mr. Gilbert, steward to the late duke of Bridgewater, on the effect of common salt upon apple-trees; and from my own knowledge of that gentleman, I have no hesitation in saying, that I believe the account may be strictly relied upon. This gentleman, who was not only steward to the duke, but also a large salt manufacturer, had an estate contiguous to his salt-pits at Windham in Chesshire, on which was an orchard planted with apple-trees, which, being grown old, constantly bore in the spring a profusion of blossoms, but never brought any fruit to perfection. To remedy this