NATURAL HISTORY. 



57 



MUCK AND MARL BEDS. 



VEGETABLE MUCK. 



its overlying muck and underlying sand 



Muck, 

 4 feet. 



Marl, 

 ■■i feet. 



Sand. 



.Muck and Marl Bed. 



The most valuable bed of marl known on 

 the east side of the mountains, is in Wil- 

 liamstown. It is froni G to 18 feet deep, 

 and slightly covered with a dry soil. It is 

 very pure carbonate of lime, and makes the 

 best quicklime obtained in that part of the 

 state. Its analysis, by Mr. Hunt, gives 

 the following results : 



Carbonate of Lime, . - - Sti. 



Carbouate of Magnesia, - - - 4.2 



Silica, with traces of oxide of iron am) 

 alumina, - - - - - 1. 



Water and organic matter. - - ;j.0='.'!J.7. 



The marl beds on the west side of the 

 mountains are not numerous, but some of 

 them are quite extensive. The most inte- 

 resting beds are those in Monkton and 

 Alburgh. That at Alburgh extends over 

 60 acres. Where examined, it was found 

 to be from G to '.I feet deep, resting on fine 

 blue clay, and covered by vegetable muck 

 to the depth of live feet, upon which there 

 had been a large growth of forest trees. 

 Supposing the average depth of the marl to 

 be only three feet, the aggregate arnouut 

 would exceed ()0,000 corals, and the muck 

 resting upon it would probably exceed 

 100,000 cords. 



An account of the marl in Monkton pond, 

 and of the manner in which these marl-beds 

 are formed, may be found in Prof. xVdams' 

 Second Annual Report on the Geology of 

 Vermont, page 148. 



Shell marl is valuable, both for the man- 

 ufacture of quic^klime, and as a fertilizer to 

 be applied to the soil. To obtain good 

 quicklime from it, it should be moistened, 

 made into the form of bricks, and, after 

 being dried, sliould be ai-ranged and burn- 

 ed in kilns, for the expulsion of the car- 

 bonic acid, by fires placed beneath, as is 

 done in tlie manufacture of common bricks. 

 This is the course pursued at WilJiamstown, 

 where our best marl lime is made. 



The value of marl, as a fertilizer, depends 

 upon the constituents of the soil to which 

 it is applied. If the soil is already suffi- 

 ciently supplied Avith lime, for the purposes 

 of vegetation, the application of marl will 

 produce no sensible eri'ect ; and this is gen- 

 erally found to be the condition of the soil 

 in those neighborhoods in which marl-beds 

 are found. Indeed, the connexion between 



the marl and the lime, in the soil and wa- 

 ters of the vicinity, is very obvious ; for 

 the pre-existence of the latter, is absolutely 

 necessary, for the existence and multipli- 

 cation of the molluscs, whose shells form 

 the marl. If the lime did not exist in the 

 water, there would be no material for the 

 formation of the shells, and, therefore, the 

 animals could not exist. Hence we learn 

 the reason why there are no marl-beds on 

 the talcose slate division of the state. There 

 are, there, no limerocks, and only a very 

 minute amount of lime in the soil and water, 

 and hence there are hardly any land, or 

 fresh-water shells. The soil, throughout 

 the whole of that division, would undoubt- 

 edly be improved by the application of marl. 

 The soil in the calcario-mica slate division, 

 is, in general, well supplied with lime, by 

 the decomposition of tl^e blue siliceous lime- 

 stone : and, in the western part of the 

 state, by the marine fossil shells contained 

 in it, and by the decomposition of the ditfer- 

 ent limestones, which abound; excepting 

 the snndy plains. These, though resting 

 upon limestone, ai'c very deficient in lime, 

 and are greatly benefitted by the applica- 

 tion of marl. 



^'KGETAKL^: MuCK. 



In all parts of the state are found deposits 

 of muck, consisting of partially decomposed 

 leaves and other vegetable matter. These 

 deposits vary in extent from a few square 

 rods to many acres, and are from a few 

 inches to 15 and 20 feet in depth. When 

 the country was new, most of these were 

 bogs, many of which have since become 

 dry, either by di'aining, or by exposure to 

 the sun and winds, in consequence of the 

 removal of the forests. They are, not un- 

 frequently, found resting on beds of marl, 

 as has been already mentioned. 



The cavities, in which these beds, both of 

 muck and marl, are found, vrere, undoubt- 

 edly, originally, little pools or ponds of 

 water, which gradually became tilled up 

 with the shells of successive generations of 

 molluscs, and vegetable matter, thus di- 

 minishing the size of the pond by surround- 

 ing it with a bog, or, what was more com- 

 monly the case, filling it entirely, leaving 

 only a bog in its p'ace. 



This muck is a valuable manure for most 

 soils, and nature has provided plentiful 

 stores of it, in almost every part of the 

 state. Some of our farmers have already 

 learned its use, as a fertilizer, and profited 

 by its apjjlication ; and we trust that it will 

 soon be more generally appreciated, and 

 more extensively used. The value, both of 

 the muck and marl, for the improvement 

 of some soils, is thought to be much enhan- 

 ced by applying them in conjunction. 



