﻿236 
  GEOLOGY. 
  

  

  from 
  New 
  Jersey 
  where 
  similar 
  marl 
  exists, 
  to 
  improve 
  

   their 
  farms. 
  The 
  same 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  

   Maryland, 
  who 
  send 
  at 
  great 
  expense 
  to 
  the 
  Eastern 
  

   Shore 
  for 
  that 
  substance." 
  

  

  We 
  possess 
  inexhaustible 
  stores 
  of 
  this 
  marl 
  in 
  our 
  

   State, 
  but, 
  the 
  land 
  being 
  remarkable 
  for 
  its 
  sterility 
  

   where 
  it 
  most 
  abounds 
  and 
  crops 
  out 
  upon 
  the 
  surface 
  

   for 
  want 
  of 
  the 
  proper 
  admixture 
  of 
  soil, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  properly 
  

   appreciated, 
  or 
  rather, 
  it 
  is 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  nuisance. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  the 
  railroads, 
  now 
  in 
  progress 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  will 
  traverse 
  the 
  whole 
  extent 
  of 
  this 
  

   marl 
  region, 
  laying 
  it 
  open, 
  and 
  exposing 
  it 
  in 
  every 
  

   cutting 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  already 
  spread 
  out 
  upon 
  the 
  sur- 
  

   face 
  invitingly 
  to 
  view. 
  

  

  When 
  we 
  reflect 
  upon 
  the 
  great 
  value 
  of 
  this 
  material, 
  

   applied 
  in 
  connection 
  wdth 
  the 
  marsh 
  muck, 
  the 
  pine 
  

   straw, 
  or 
  the 
  peat 
  of 
  the 
  sandy 
  flats 
  of 
  our 
  southern 
  

   border, 
  is 
  the 
  expectation 
  too 
  extravagant 
  that, 
  at 
  no 
  

   remote 
  period, 
  we 
  shall 
  see 
  the 
  cars 
  freighted 
  with 
  thou- 
  

   sands 
  of 
  tons 
  of 
  this 
  marl, 
  wheeling 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  gulf 
  shores 
  

   to 
  convert 
  their 
  arid 
  wastes 
  into 
  garden 
  spots 
  of 
  fertility 
  

   and 
  productiveness? 
  

  

  COAL, 
  OR 
  LIGNITE. 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  coal 
  deposit 
  lies 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  systems 
  

   of 
  rocks 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Old 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  Ked 
  sandstones, 
  

   and 
  the 
  great 
  mass 
  of 
  bituminous 
  coal, 
  susceptible 
  of 
  

   being 
  profitably 
  worked, 
  is 
  found 
  below 
  the 
  latter. 
  

  

  An 
  inferior 
  kind 
  of 
  non-bituminous 
  coal, 
  worked 
  on 
  

   the 
  continent 
  of 
  Europe 
  only 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  local 
  de- 
  

   mand, 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  newer 
  group 
  of 
  rocks 
  called 
  the 
  

   oolite. 
  

  

  