346 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



three and a half feet deep, and has cost five dollars an 

 acre, the clearing $25, and marling $10. This last opera- 

 tion, Governor Hammond has gone into most extensively, 

 upon nearly all of his land in cultivation, having used 

 400,000 bushels, at the rate of 200 bushels per acre. It 

 is boated thirteen miles up the Savannah River, from 

 Shell Bluff, and then hauled from one to three miles out 

 upon the land. The marl is composed of ancient sea 

 shells, among which are now to be seen perfect oyster 

 shells, of a mammoth size. The effects of marling the up- 

 land were very stimulating at first, but not permanent, 

 for the very reason that so many others fail in the use 

 of calcareous manure ; and that is, neglecting to give veg- 

 etable matter for the lime to act upon. Upon the swamp 

 land, it will be very different, for there the soil is a com- 

 plete mass of roots and decayed leaves, from 2 to 12 ft. 

 deep ; and upon the part longest in cultivation, the bene- 

 fit of the marl is still very great. And what was at first 

 a quagmire, is becoming so solid that I rode over it with- 

 out difficulty. 



Last year, a fair crop from one acre was weighed, and 

 gave 1,788 lbs. of seed cotton, notwithstanding much of 

 it was blown out and wasted by a storm. Much of the 

 ground, too, was occupied by roots and stumps. 



It is found necessary to keep one hand all the time in 

 each field, going through all the ditches, to clear out ob- 

 structions ; as the banks, until they acquire a sufficient 

 slope, will continue to slide in and stop the water from 

 flowing free. 



The manner of estimating the cost of the improvement, 

 has been by keeping an accurate account of all the labor, 

 and then calculating by the rule of former years, how 

 much cotton could have been made by the same labor, and 

 the value of it, and this being charged against the ditch- 

 ing and clearing, gives the amount stated as the cost per 

 acre. Governor Hammond counts now $15,000 outlay for 

 ditching and clearing, and $5,000 for marling, for which 

 he has not yet received any returns. But so sanguine is 



