50 



FARr,lL]RS' REGISTER 



[No. 1 



with Ihe cost of marIin<T one hundred and twenty 

 and a half acres, as lollows : 



"Preparatory work, inciudinof uncov- 

 ering of marl, cuttinir and repairing 

 the nece.-^sary roads, and bringing 

 corn ibr the team — diirjzino:, carry- 

 ing out, and spreading six thousand 

 eight hundred and ninety-two loads 

 (lour and a half heaped bushels,) 

 of marl, ^250 38 



At the average rate of fifty-seven and 

 a half loads, or two hunch'ed and 

 fifty-nine bushels per acre, ihe aver- 

 age expense was, to the acre 2 08." 



In reference to this operation, he savs, ''In eigh- 

 teen hundred and twenty-eight, at Siiellbanks, a 

 very poor, worn and hilly firm, I commenced marl- 

 ing, and in about lour months, finished one hun- 

 dred and twenty and a half acres, at rates between 

 two hundred tuid thirty, and two himdred and 

 eighty bushels per acre. The time taken up in 

 this work, was five days in January, and all Feb- 

 ruary and March, with two carts at work — and 

 from the fifth of August to the tvrenty-seventh of 

 September, with a much stronger Ibrce. I kept a 

 very minute journal of all these operations, show- 

 ing the amount of labor employed, and of loads 

 carried out durinir durinji; the whole time." "At 

 Shellbanks, the difficulties of openinff pits were 

 generally less — the average distance shorter, and 

 the reduced state of the soil, and the str^nuth of 

 the marl, made heavy dressing dantrerous. These 

 circumstances all served to diminish the expense 

 to the acre. The difficulties, however, at some ot 

 the pits, were very great, owing to the quantity of 

 water continually runniuij in through the loose 

 fi'dgments of the shells — and almost every load was 

 carried up some high hill. Taking every thing 

 into consideration, I should suppose that the labor 

 and cost of this larger job of niarlinjj, will be 

 equal to, if not greater, than the average of all 

 that may be undertaken, and judiciouslyexecuted, 

 on a larm having plenty of this means jbr improve- 

 ment, at convenient distances." Now, on most 

 of the plantations of Calvert, inland, the marl beds 

 lie in quite accessible positions, makinu^ their ap- 

 pearance at the spring heads, of which in many 

 places there is one lor every field. Thus situated 

 the pits are easily opened, may be drained with 

 facility, and the marl extracted from them in a dry 

 Btate, which greatly diiTiinishes the labor of its 

 transportation. Under these circumstances the 

 expense (br raising and distributing three hundred 

 bushels, cannot exceed that which was incurred 

 by Mr. Ruffin, in his operation at Shellbanks, and 

 is only by a trifle more than the cost of plaster and 

 clover seed. 



In other situations greater difficulties in obtain- 

 ing the njarl, will doubtless present themselves, 

 that will occasion a corresponding increase in the 

 labor and expense ot applying it; but wherever it 

 can be conveniently reached, it will be found am- 

 ply to repay the trouble and cost that may be in- 

 curred. 



As the mode of using the marl, with reference 

 to the soil of Calvert county, and its actual agricul- 

 tural condition, as well as to the nature of the ma- 

 terial itself, which was tbund to contain from fitly 

 to sixty per cent, of carbonate of lime, it was 



thought advisable to direct the application of only 

 three hundred bushels to the acre, recommending 

 it to be hauled out upon a clover ley, not too close- 

 ly grazed. It should bespread upon this ley ag 

 equally as possible, as in the case of stable ma- 

 nure, and then turned in with the plough. Pu- 

 trescible matters of any kind will enhance its good 

 effects ; hence, whenever these can be procured 

 they should be employed in conjunction with the 

 marl ; for it is a mistake to suppose that the marl 

 is a manure of itselfl I'his error which arises from 

 its effects having been treated under the general 

 appellation of "calcareous manures," has often 

 been the cause of great disappointments in its use, 

 many persons believing that its efficacy could not 

 be more satisfactorily tested than by applying it to 

 the most barren spots. The opinion entertained 

 of the mode of action of carbonate of lime, which 

 is an essential constituent of marl, is, that its pre- 

 sence is necessary in a soil for several reasons. 

 First, it iniproves the texture of the soil, stifiijning 

 a loose one, and actually lightening a stiff one; 

 whereby the soil becomes more appropriately re- 

 tentive of moisture, and cf the soluble compound 

 resulting from the decomposition of vegetable or 

 animal substance that serve as food, or true ma- 

 nures to plants. Secondly, it has a tendency to 

 check, indeed it efii^ctually prevents the growth of 

 acid plants, as the sorrei : and if it be conceived ta 

 do this, according to the suggestion of JMr. Ruffin,. 

 by the combination of the lime which it contains 

 with the oxalic acid in the soil, the presence of 

 which favors the growth of the sorrel, then it is 

 probable that the diseniragement of carbonic acid' 

 gas consequent upon this interchange of constitu- 

 ents, does in reality form a pabulum fbr the forth- 

 comiiiij crop, one of the elements of this acid, 

 namely carbon, entering largely into the composi- 

 tion of all plants. Tliirdl}', it is not at all impro- 

 bable that it acts as a septic, or decomposer, of the 

 vegetable tuatter contained in the soil, reducing it 

 into a soluble condition, in which state it may be 

 taken up as nourishment by the growing crop- 

 Finally, carbonate of lime is an essential constitu- 

 ent of a good soil. 



From these considerations, it follows, that the 

 pliinters of Calvert county would find it much to 

 their advantage to turn their attention, for the time 

 being, exclusively to their marl beds. The opera- 

 tion of marling, where the material is so abundant, 

 of so good a quality, and so easily obtained, will 

 be found much cheaper than the continued use of 

 plaster and clover seed, and will impart a higher 

 degree of fertility to the soil, as a condition of 

 permanent improvement, which cannot be obtain- 

 ed by any other means. It must be borne in 

 mind too, that all kinds of soil may be improved 

 by marl ; and an additional inducement to use it, 

 fbr those who are partial to the plaster system, 

 should be found the fact, that soils upon which 

 plaster will not propuce its customary effects, are 

 rendered fit to receive it kindly, by tlie addition of 

 calcareous matter. 



Reverting once more to the method of employ- 

 ing the marl, it is believed, that three hundred 

 bushels per acre, spread over a field upon which 

 there would be a sufficient growth of grass or 

 weeds, (and it is in such places that the efficacy of 

 the marl is to be tested,) would satisfiictorily de- 

 monstate the value of the operation. On a lot, for 

 example, in course of preparation fbr tobacco, were 



