1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



61 



the. quantity just indicntoil of marl to be mixed 

 witli llic iisiiiil ;iiununl ofstablp niiil oiher inamiiTs, 

 without bfiuir pcepared to say what, would be its 

 eliects upon the tobacco crop, it may be confuleiit- 

 ly asserted that the next jrrain crop would be lit- 

 tle less than double, so as amply to repay all ex- 

 penditure ol labor, tune or money. 



It has been asked, what ellect will marl have 

 upon tobacco? IMay it not. in uicrea.sing' itstjuau- 

 tity, cause a deterioration ot'ils quality? Can it be 

 expected to increase both the quality and the quan- 

 tity of the crop? 



Alihou2:h not in possession of any facts that 

 would authorize positive answers to these ques- 

 tions, there is no cause whatever to suspect that 

 tile application ofcalcareous matter to the soil, can 

 be otherwise than beneficial to tobacco as well as 

 all other crops. One t'noi, indeed has been col- 

 lected, which, if it does not go to show that the 

 presence of lime improves the quality of the tobac- 

 co, at least proves that it does not interfere with it. 

 The planters of Calvert, as well as those of Printie 

 George and Ann Arundel, have remarked the oc- 

 currence of a salmon colored soil, in patches, as 

 it were, lying near the top of the hills, off of which 

 they very generally cut their hijrhest priced tobac- 

 co. Well ! this soil corresponds with the upper- 

 most fossilife.rous deposite relerred to under the 

 preceding head. Accordingly, it very ii-e(|uently 

 contams a quantity of broken scallop and other 

 marine shells ; it is very sandy, so that in some 

 places the fraijments of the embedded shells have 

 become silicified throughout, whilst in other spots 

 no shells at all are seen. The soil now alluded to 

 contains very little alluinine, or clay, its body being 

 apparently due to the oxide of iron, which exists 

 in it in an unusually large proportion, and to 

 which it likewise owes its colour. The analysis of 

 one hundred grains of this earth, taken from a 

 spot where there was no appearance of shells, 

 yielded three grains of lime, and as much as twen- 

 ty grains of the oxide of iron. In those places 

 where the shells themselves occur, sometimes even 

 in considerable quantity, a larger prop(»rtion of 

 lime would of course be found. But, as tobacco 

 planters have frequently expressed the opinion that 

 the plant cures of the same color as the soil pro- 

 ducino; it, and the quality in thismstance depend- 

 ing nu]ch upon its peculiar color which the soil 

 receives from the oxide of iron and not from the 

 lime, the tact of the presence of lime is adduced to 

 show only that it can have no injurious tendency. 

 Whatever may be the effects of lime upon to- 

 bacco, there is no longer any doubt that it greatly 

 increases the grain crops j and that it will convert 

 soils now totally unfit for wheat, into abundant 

 producers of this most valuable commodiiy, a re- 

 sult which would be in vain expected from the 

 plaster system. It is thought that the agricultu- 

 ral interests of Calvert county, would be benefited 

 in more ways than one, if the tobacco plantations 

 were transformed into productive grain farms. 



Besides the direct application of marl to the soil, 

 an important use to which it may be put, is lor the 

 preser«a/i'o)x of stable manures. The opinion en- 

 tertained by some agriculturisis that animal ma- 

 nures should be first suffered to ferment, or rot, be- 

 fore they are committed to the soil, is believed to 

 be in direct contradiction at least with theory. In- 

 stead of permitting these manures to undergo fer- 

 mentation before they are applied to the soil, they 



should on the contrary be buried as soon as possi" 

 ble; because the gaseous etDanations from them, 

 to which they owe their iL'rtilizing properties, and 

 that serve as nourishment to the jdants, by being 

 suffered to escape freely into the atmosphere, 

 would deprive them of all their value. The princi- 

 pal object of amending a soil by marl, is to enable 

 it to retain longer, and yield up gradually, as ve- 

 irntation proceeds, its nutritive gases. It is advisa- 

 ble, therelbre, that a liberal use of marl be made 

 in the fiirm-yard, in the cow-pens, hog-pens, and, 

 in fine, wherever animal or vegetable matter is 

 likely to accumulate, hereby becoming incorpora- 

 ted with the putrescent matter in those places, and 

 thus forming a compost, the soluble and gaseous 

 compounds produced in the process of putrefaction 

 may be protected, and retained for a longer period 

 than when exposed to the desiccating effects of 

 the atmosphere. On the bay side^ where the sea 

 oo-^e is by some planters much used, and where 

 the marl also occurs in abundance, there is not the 

 least doubt but that a mixture of both would be 

 highly beneficial. Wherever again facilities pre- 

 sent themselves, as in many places on the Patux- 

 ent side of the county, f(3r procuring the mud, or- 

 dinarily hiirhly charired wiih vegetable matter in 

 an incipient stage of deconqiosirion, that collects 

 at the head or on the margin of creeks, a mixture 

 of the two would be attended with the best results. 

 The experience of flirmers on the eastern shore of 

 Maryland invariably prove this. 



A liberal, but the same time judicious employ- 

 ment of these resources would no doubt occasion 

 in a very short time a manifest improvement in the 

 airricultural condition of Calvert county. This 

 would first show itself in a greater increased pro- 

 ductiveness of the grain crops, and would in a mea- 

 sure remove the present almos: entire dependence 

 of the planter upon his tobacco crop. Corn, oats, 

 rye and wheat would be more extensively culti- 

 vated with a view lo profitable returns. The great 

 f^icilities that exist for sending almost every kind 

 of produce to a market, would also cause more at- 

 tention to be paid to the root crops generally; and 

 the inhabitants of Calvert, having nothing to envy 

 from their lf>llow-citizeus in other parts of the 

 state, would find themselves prospering under an 

 ameliorated slate of things, of which they have 

 not hitherto seemed to think their lands suscepti- 

 ble. No more opportune moment than the pre- 

 sent, perhaps, can have presented itself to intro- 

 duce some expedient refi^jrm in the rural economy 

 of the lower couniries, when the only efficient la- 

 bor that can be applied to the raising oftlieir sta- 

 ple commodity is bemg fast removed, and that it 

 is becoming imperiously necessary to substitute lor 

 it a less irksome system of cultivation. The sug- 

 gestion, however, is submilied to the discretion of 

 those more immediately interested. 



Before quitting the subject of the application of 

 marl or lime, it may not be amiss to allude to an- 

 other inducement to its general use, suggested 

 from various quarters, and which must necessarily 

 have some weight with the residents in all the tide- 

 water counties of the stale. This allusion itus 

 reference te the putative effects of lime in prevent- 

 ing disease. 



Mr. Ruflin, in the second edition to his "Essay 

 on Calcareous Manures,'' has lijrnished a number 

 of facts derived from the correspondents to his 

 valuable publication, the " Farmer's Register," 



