MAUL. 



the produce of the farm should be regularly sold, to a* to give the 

 farmer coiutuit supply of money for hi* operation*, betidm a portion 

 art apart for the rent and other regular payment*. In thin way he 

 will, at the and of the year, have had the average price, without rUk 

 and without (peculation ; and by a little caution he may obtain some- 

 what more than a mere average, provided he has always more money 

 at hand than hi* immediate waiiU require, and i never forced to BelL 



In order that the farmer may not be imposed upon, he muit either 

 make himself acquainted with the transactions in different neighbouring 

 market*, or he must rely on the honesty and judgment of an agent, 

 whose business it i* to attend market* and buy and sell for others. 

 These men are generally called salesmen or factor*, and when their 

 character for honesty is established, the small sum whioh is paid them 

 on the sales will generally be found to be fully compensated by the 

 advantage which their knowledge of the markets and of the quality of 

 the articles gives them. This is particularly the case in the buying 

 and wiling of live-stock, which requires much more knowledge and 

 experience than most other articles. The people whom the farmer has 

 to deal with in fain and markets have generally a thorough knowledge 

 of the real value of the articles offered for sole, by constantly frequenting 

 markets, and confining their attention to buying and selling only. 

 The farmer is therefore seldom a match for the dealer, and will tiud 

 it hi* interest to employ a person equally skilled in these matters. 

 The farmer would lose too much valuable time, and be led to unneces- 

 sary expense, if he attempted to obtain the requisite knowledge by fre- 

 quenting different and distant markets, as the dealers do. 



Notwithstanding this, a certain knowledge of markets and prices is 

 necessary to enable a fanner to detect imposition or ignorance in the 

 person he employs, and the occasional attendance at fairs and markets 

 I* indispensable to obtain this knowledge. 



When the whole bulk of the articles to be sold is brought into the 

 market and exposed for sale, the market is called a pitched market ; 

 when only a small portion is brought, to show the quality of the 

 whole, it is called a tam/Je market. Each has its peculiar advantages 

 and inconveniences. In a pitched market the buyer sees what he pur- 

 chases, and can thoroughly examine it; he may therefore be induced 

 to offer a more liberal price ; but it often happens that he has to carry 

 a load away by the aame road by which it was brought ; the sacks also 

 have to be returned, which causes frequent mistakes and losses ; and 

 there U an evident waste of time and labour. When the article is sold 

 by sample there is more reliance on the honesty of the seller, and the 

 buyer naturally keeps on the safe side, by offering somewhat less, as a 

 kind of insurance against slight deception*. The buyer keep* half the 

 sample and the seller the other, that they may be compared with the 

 bulk in case of any dispute. The seller sends the article sold on a day 

 agreed upon ; and if it is corn, the- sacks are brought bock when the 

 waggon or cart return* home. The price is usually paid on the next 

 market-day. In very Urge dealings the selling by sample is generally 

 adopted ; small quantities are usually pitched. 



Oraat inconvenience still arises from the various measures u*ed in 

 difltrent markets ; and dealers require tables to reduce them to one 

 standard. The law which bos established one uniform standard of 

 weights and measure* does not enforce its adoption, and a great 

 variety of weights and measures still remains to perplex the dealer. 



MAUL, an earthy substance found at various depths under the soil, 

 and extensively used for the improvement of land. It consists of cal- 



reou* sod argillaceous earth, in various proportion*, and a* the former 

 or the latter prevail*, so it is beneficially employed on clays or sands. 

 Then are several distinct sorts of marl clay marl, shell marl, slate 

 mirl, and stone marl The clay marl has probably been formed by the 

 low deposition of clay suspended in water, and mixed with the 

 particle* of decomposed shells. When these shells have retained their 

 form, or appear in fragment* in the marl, it i* called iMl marl, A 

 considerable compression and a complete decomposition of the shells 

 form date marl and (tone umrL The effect of marl i* the *ame as that 

 of clay and chalk upon sandy soils ; on heavy soil* its effect is propor- 

 tioned to the quantity of calcareous earth which it contains. The 

 ptOTiliar advantage of marl is it* readily crumbling to powder by the 

 effect of air and moisture. If it is too compact to dissolve under these 

 influences, it can only be made useful by burning, and in this case it i* 

 only a substitute for lime, its value depending on the proportion of 

 Cilcareou* earth in the mart. 



Marl i* often found very near the surface, so a* to mix with the soil 

 In ploughing; but unles* there be a sufficient depth of soil above, its 

 pnssnoe does not indicate great fertility. It is generally best when 

 found at a moderate depth, so as to be readily dug out and carted on 

 the adjacent lands. In Norfolk, where a marl containing a Urge pro- 

 p irtion of clay i* found in many pUoes under a light toil, it i* frequently 

 spread over the surface at the rate of two or three hundred cart-loads 

 per acre. This dressing, joined to underdrainiiig, moke* a wonderful 

 Improvement on soils which before were scarcely worth cultivating, 

 owing to their being loose and wet in winter. The clay marl make* 

 them retain sufficient moisture, while the superfluous water i* carried 

 off by the drains. 



stsrl when put frwh upon the land requires some time in order to 

 become effective. It should therefore be laid on the surface and spread 

 before winter, leaving it there for a considerable time before it is 

 ploughed in. It is most advantageous to put it on the loud when it i* 



in grass, and to roll sad harrow it repeatedly, in order to expose it to 

 the effect of the air and rain*. Alternate frosts and thaw* greatly 

 assist its pulverisation. 



An excellent use of marl is in forming composts with dung and peat 

 earth. It ia laid in layers with the dung and peat, and if the heap is 

 well soaked with urine or the washings of stable-yards, it will in a 

 short time become a most valuable manure for all kinds of soils. 

 Many peat bog* are formed on a marly bottom ; where this i* the case, 

 and it can be drained, or the water got rid of in any way, the marl, 

 when laid on the surface, consolidate* the peat by its pressure, and 

 soon makes it capable of producing good herbage by converting it into 

 a rich vegetable mould. 



The expense of marling laud con only be calculated when the distance 

 of the marl and the depth from which it i* raised are known ; wlu-n it 

 lies in a stratum under the land, it is generally the cheapest plan t<> 

 o|M>n a pit in each field; for the carriage of the marl is tli< 

 expense. Within a distance of two hundred yard* from the pit, it is 

 found by experience that the cheapest way of putting it on the loud U 

 by mean* of men wheeling it in barrow* with the help of plonks, as is 

 done in digging canals and other similar public work*. 



It is in the compound character of certain limes that the subject of 

 marling becomes connected with that of liming. As extraneous 

 matters increase in quantity, and the lime diminishes, the effect of tin: 

 application of course depends less and lei* on those considerations which 

 explain the effect of liming, and the influence of the application of 

 marl depends more and more upon the clay or sand, or it may be other 

 things in smaller quantity which are thus conveyed to the laud. 



In a great many, perhaps the majority of instances, marl owes its 

 fertilising influences to the lime which it contains, and then its effects 

 are precisely those which lime would produce sweetening herbage, 

 increasing the quantity and improving the quality of crops. This it 

 cannot do so energetically a* is done by caustic lime, what lime it 

 contains being in a state of carbonate : its dilution however, l>y other 

 earthy matters gives it almost as great facility of mixture with tin- 

 soil as is possessed by caustic lime on its reduction to powder by 

 slaking. 



In so far, however, as marling act* by its calcareous ingredient, its 

 use has been supplanted by that of burnt limestone ; and the marl pits 

 of the country in Devonshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, 

 Surrey, Sussex, Kent, and other counties, uow have, many of them, 

 large trees growing in them, proving how long a time has elapsed since 

 they were used. Accordingly, where the use of marls still prevails, 

 and it certainly does prevail to a very large extent in some districts in 

 England, their effect is chiefly due to the other ingredients which 

 they contain. We will specify a number of instances in which tin 

 Using effects of this application have been apparent. Holkhaui Park, 

 in Norfolk, was let in 1776, to Mr. Brett, at 3.. per acre, and on 

 the expiry of hi* lease, it was offered to him at an advance of 2.; 

 he refused to take it, and Mr. Coke, the landlord, took it into his own 

 hands. The surface soil of the whole district is very light sand, but 

 nearly throughout it there is a stratum of rich marl, at various depths 

 underneath. Pits accordingly were opened, and the marl dug out and 

 laid upon the surface. This not only increased it* fertility, but gave 

 to the soil the solidity which is essential to the growth of wheat. 

 Here then the effect was due, not merely, nor perhaps chiefly, to the 

 lime which this marl contained, but to it* clayey part, which corrected 

 the excessive looseness of the top soil. Take another instance <>! the 

 effect of clays upon light sandy soil. In some of the lighter districts of 

 Lincolnshire, it has been long a common practice to apply the \\hii- 

 clay on the chalky soils in its neighbourhood, and the blue marl hi.-h 

 lies in their valley* to alter and improve the nature of their red sandy 

 soil. The white buttery marl used in these localities gives both 

 strength and solidity to the lighter soil on the green-sand form 

 and in a particular instance in our knowledge a farmer having applied 

 it only to two lauds in one of his fields, found that the yield of corn 

 from those lands was fully 2 or 8 sacks per acre greater than from 

 the remainder of the field. The marl i* also found to prevent the 

 clubbing of turnip*, or the disease called finger* and toes, to which 

 that land wo* subject. The blue marl is beneficial, but in a less 

 degree. It i* common to put on 40 load* per acre, and one dressing of 

 the white clay is found to be amply sufficient for a great many years, 

 it being questionable whether a second application on the red land ia 

 calculated to tie useful. 



In Suffolk the marl, which is clay containing small particles of chalk, is 

 generally applied to the light soil*, where it improve* the mechanical 

 texture of the soil, stiffen* the straw of wheat, prevents the finger and 

 toe in turnip*, and seem* to add the food which clover requires. 



Toko now the instance of marl applied upon peaty soils throughout 

 the fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. The best method i* to 

 dig tranche* in the noil some two feet wide at intervals of 20 to 30 feet, 

 taking on* or two feet of clay out of them and spreading it over the 

 surface ; 100 cubic yard* may thus be spread for 30i. to 36. per acre. 

 The light fen soil will after this grow first-rate crop* of wheat, flax, 

 and even bean*. And even where the some crop* are retained in culti- 

 vation, their greater produce amply repay* the cost of the operation 

 putting that at 60s, per acre or 6d. per cubic yard of the clay applied. 



In illustration of the quantity of clayey marl which i* put upon 

 light and fen land in some district* of the country, we may name the 



