On the New Jersey Marls, 



powder kinds, are small indigo specks of about the size 

 of a pins head. One bushel, struck measure, of dry gun- 

 powder marl weighs 102 pounds. All the species have 

 a tendency to loosen and mellow the soil, and give to 

 grass a beautiful green ; it is observed that cattle prefer 

 feeding on that part of a pasture that has been marled. 

 The effects of it on some of our poor thin meadows are 

 extraordinary, destroying Indian grass, moss, and a kind 

 of grass called kill-cow; and in their places brings on a 

 good crop of white clover and other good grasses. Had 

 we the power of creation, we could not have hit upon a 

 substance to answer our purpose inore completely than 

 this, as it will destroy the useless, and in their places 

 bring on good grasses, without more trouble or expense. 



There are a variety of shades and mixtures in the dif- 

 ferent veins, but each has its general characteristic ap- 

 pearance ; we never find the gunpowder marl in the isin- 

 glass von, neither do we find this micaceous appearance 

 in the gunpowder or hard marl veins. We find the best 

 marl on and near the middle of the gunpowder vein, that 

 on either edge being more sandy, and some of it but of 

 little worth ; although, upon a slight examination, little 

 difference would be observed. 



The draught will show that the veins of marl run along 

 the north west edge of the barrens, accompanied by a 

 vein of land called green land. We find spurs of this 

 land running over the isinglass vein, but never the other 

 way into the pines. Upon inspecting a map of the Uni- 

 ted States, we find the Blue Ridge and Alleghany range 

 of mountains run parallel to the general course of the sea 

 coast, from the British lines to the Floridas ; that the 

 veins of coal, iron ore, limestone, and some particular 

 veins of land, all take the same direction, and that the 

 veins of marl are governed by the same laws. We will 



