[15] 



ble cultivation, the intractable soils of the adjoining Flat- Woods, 

 whenever railroads shall make cheap transportation available. 



In Central Mississippi, we have a marl belt traversing the State, 

 from Vicksburg to Winchester, with an average width of about 36 

 miles northward of that line. The quality of these marls is, on the 

 whole, superior to that of the Pontotoc Ridge marls ; as they contain 

 less inert matter, and almost always a considerable amount of green- 

 sand. Within a few miles of where we stand, there are beds of marl 

 whose manurial value is sufficiently great to pay for shipment by rail 

 to a considerable distance ; and they might readily be concentrated 

 (as are the New Jersey greensands) to increase their value, weight for 

 weight. 



These marls, in most cases, are not mere stimulants, but true ma 

 nures; worth more per ton, in some localities, than several of the man 

 ufactured fertilizers in the market. 



Northward of the marl region, and southward of a line drawn from 

 near Carrollton to Marion Station, we find numerous beds of greensand, 

 of high manurial value as sources of potash ; of which substance the 

 deposits near Vaiden and Winona contain from one-and-a-half to two 

 per cent. These materials could readily be concentrated, so as to bear 

 shipment by rail all over the State. 



The greater part of these facts are stated in detail in my report of 

 1860; some of them have been developed by researches made since 

 then. As yet, they have attracted but little attention in part, no 

 doubt, from a perverse disposition in human nature to depreciate home 

 resources ; in part, also, because the manure question is but noiv assum 

 ing that threatening aspect which, before long, must rouse up the most 

 indifferent to a sense of the absolute necessity of adopting a more 

 rational practice. 



These marl beds can do for us all, and a great deal more than that 

 which marls have done for Virginia and parts of the Carolinas ; for the 

 reason that they are more complete fertilizers, and more widely dis 

 tributed. Good marls and green-sands do not, it is true, exist in every 

 locality within the areas above described ; but with improved means of 

 communication and preparation, they can be made very generally 

 available, even beyond the limits of their region of occurrence. 



I am glad to see that of late, especially in the neighborhood of Jack 

 son, experiments in the use of marls are becoming more frequent. 



