512 [Senate 



MARL. 



From a variety of communications made to the Institute on this sub- 

 ject, we extract the following : 



Br. Underhill. — " Marl is chiefly formed f"om decomposed shells ; 

 lime, therefore, becomes the principal ingredient ; potash and soda are 

 also found in it, and are its best parts. The Jersey marl is very valu- 

 able, principally on account of the constituents, soda, alkalies general- 

 ly. The alkali is the most important. 



^' In reference to muck deposites, I am aware that there are thou- 

 sands of them in which you find no marl. The muck is an alluvial 

 deposite. On my Croton Point farm, I have put fifteen thousand loads 

 of the muck from the margin of the Croton river. There is no shell, 

 no marl in it — there are the remains of the bones of fishes. I find this 

 muck excellent as a manure — winter freezes it, (I draw it out in win- 

 ter,) — it freezes and in the spring it crumbles. I put it into a tilled 

 crop, plow, harrow, and hoe it into the soil. If you put on this allu- 

 vial matter as a top-dressing on your land, you may justly expect a 

 fever and ague, for it has often proved its power to furnish the inter- 

 mittents when exposed to the influence of sun, air and moisture. It is 

 highly carbonaceous, and must for safety be well mixed up in your soil. 

 My land so treated with this muck bears severe drought. No ordina- 

 ry soil or barn yard manure stands a dry time at all like it." 



Dr. Field. — "I consider our marl highly valuable. Such materials 

 are-abundant in our country, and of the highest importance to our far- 

 mers. The formation of muck or alluvial matter over shelly marls are 

 common ; the muck on my farm has proved its fertilizing powers. I 

 have prepared it in various ways : This year I raised a thousand cart- 

 loads of muck upon my fields ; my crops are fine. I have it hauled 

 out of the muck holes in August, when the weather is dry, after the 

 hurry of the harvest is over ; when there is an intermission of labor 

 on the farm, I haul it out with a scraper to a spot where the water 

 will drain off; when winter comes it freezes thoroughly, and in the 

 spring it will crumble. I then make a layer of it one foot thick, on 

 that 4 inches thick stable manure, then one inch of slaked lime, then 

 a layer of muck as before &c., until the heap is 7 feet high. My 

 pears, beans, onions &c., grown on land manured with this compost, 

 are luxuriant. I also place the muck on the floor of my stable, sprin- 

 kle a little ground plaster over it, then place the bedding over that, 

 when being trampled and having the urine &c. in it, I take it away 

 and begin a new layer of muck, &c. In this way the smell of the am- 

 monia is absorbed. I treat the barnyard in the same way. Dutchess 

 county has an abundance of muck, it is of a dark color, and lies seve- 

 ral feet usually in thickness over marl full of shells. By analysis it 

 is found to contain soda and potash. It is an excellent manure for 

 fruits, flowers and vegetables, on land formerly barren. 



