

MARL. 83 



How wisely has Nature adapted every thing not 

 only to use, but as it respects location, and Providence 

 never suffers them to be discovered until they are 

 needed by man. When a country becomes scarce of 

 wood, extensive coal mines, as in England, are discov- 

 ered ; or peat and turf, as in Ireland. So with re- 

 spect to marl. Now it is a fact that beds of clay 

 marl, the very substance needed, are generally found 

 under sandy soils, and shell and stone marls under 

 clayey soils. And how wisely has Nature designed 

 it, that every thing which springs from the earth shall 

 go back to it, a proof that Providence never intended 

 the land to wear out, and it never would but for the 

 ignorance and folly of man. All animal and vegeta- 

 ble matter that springs from, or exists on the earth, 

 undergoes the chymical process of decomposition, 

 and is resolved into water and air, in which forms 

 they serve to nourish other animals and other vegeta- 

 bles, thus almost agreeing with the doctrine of trans- 

 migration of souls, held by some of the oriental na- 

 tions. 



There is a mode of making artificial marl, which 

 is as follows : Place in a pile a layer of good clay, 

 and upon it a layer of lime, and so on alternately, un- 

 til it rises to a heap; there being equal quantities of 

 clay and lime. Let this lie exposed all winter, and 

 in the spring spread it upon a light soil and it will be 

 beneficial; but if the soil is a heavy clay, then the 

 composition should be lime, sand, and loam. These 



