254 



into the upper part of the marl bed, in which there is not un- 

 frequently as much as fifty per cent, of the clay itself. 



3d. The inferior layer is the true marl stratum, consisting of 

 little else than the green granules. When dry, the colour of the 

 mass is a tolerably light grayish green, but not uniform, light 

 specks occurring throughout the marl. 



When the heaps have dried, the external grains are coated, in 

 some degree, with a white efflorescence. The upper portion of 

 the bed, in consequence of containing much of the astringent 

 clay, presents a good deal of the yellowish efflorescence ascribed 

 to copperas. The depth which has been reached in the pits is 

 about twenty feet, and hitherto the bottom of the marl has not 

 been struck. The lower part of the stratum is conceived to 

 contain the best marl. It is not free from decomposing sulphuret 

 of iron, judging from the strong odour of sulphur which every 

 pile of it exhales, and which it does not lose even after being 

 conveyed to a distance, and long exposed to the weather. It 

 probably, therefore, contains a slight impregnation of sulphate of 

 iron or copperas, but not enough to injure it, if we are to infer 

 from the reputation which this marl possesses. 



At the pits, which are very extensive, the marl is sold at the 

 rate of 372 cents the load, the purchasers having to dig it. It is 

 transported by wagons to a distance, in some directions, of twenty 

 miles, and retailed, when hauled that far, at the rate of 10 or 

 even 122 cents per bushel, being very profitably spread upon the 

 soil in the small proportion of twenty-five or even twenty bushels 

 to the acre. 



In its external aspect this marl does not differ from many 

 others in the State, nor am I convinced that it surpasses a nume- 

 rous list in point of efficacy as a fertilizing agent. The amount 

 of potash which it contains is materially less than belongs to a 

 large proportion of the better marls of the region. 



Marl from the upper part of the bed at Squankum. 

 Composition. — In 100 parts: 



Greensand, ... 58-36 

 Clay, - - - . 27-64 

 Quartzose sand, - - 14-00 



10000 



