1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



159 



country of natural springs and runniiin; streams: 

 and belore the important, discovery was made 

 that pure water mii^ht be obtained by boring (i-om 

 300 to 700 feet throiiiih the solid caicareous rock, 

 the inhabilaiits used the staijnant water collected 

 in pits, which was very far Iroin pure, or palata- 

 ble. Under all these circumstances, added to the 

 rank herbaire of millions of acres annually dyinir 

 and decomposiiiir under a southern sun, it might 

 have been counteil on, as almost certain, that i^ucli 

 a country would have proved very unhealthy ; yet 

 the reverse is the tact, and in a remarkable degree. 

 The healthiness ot' this region is so connected 

 with, and limited by, the calcareous substratum 

 and soil, that it could not escape observation : and 

 they have been considered as cause and effect by 

 those who had no theory to support, and who did 

 not spend a thought upon the mode in which was 

 produced the important result which they so rea- 

 dily admitted. Their testimony therefore is in 

 this respect the more valuable, because it cannot 

 be suspected. The intelligent author of the ex- 

 tract from the Southern j/griculturist, which will 

 be given in the Appendix [N] is altogether un- 

 known to me — and it is presumed that he had 

 never heard of this Essay, nor of these views of 

 the action of calcareous earth. 



After adducing the foregoing mass of evidence, 

 for which I am indebted to others, it will appear 

 very unimportant to add what will Ibllow i'rom my 

 personal observatioi; — especially, as the opinion 

 has been expressed above, that the experience of 

 any one individual, on any one farm, or in any 

 one location, though continued for ten or twelve 

 years, must be very insutf.cient as proof of a per- 

 manent change of" healthiness, and of the actual 

 causes of such changes. But, as in the absence 

 of more striking fiicts, and of practica?! proofs, my 

 own limited experience was formerly brought for- 

 ward — it is pro|)er here to add, that the two au- 

 tumns that have since passed, have brought no 

 circumstances to weaken the opinions advanced, 

 and many that have served, on the contrary, to 

 strengthen them. [1835] 



On my principal farm, Coggin's Point, the po- 

 sition of the homesiead was always most inconve- 

 niently situated, and became the more so as the 

 clearing and improvement of the poorer and more 

 remote parts of the land were extended. For this 

 reason, in addition to others, the farm buildings, 

 and negroes' dwellings had been gradually re- 

 moved, as the expense could be best encountered, 

 until the old homestead was entirely abandoned in 

 1831, for a more eligible location. This would 

 prevent the different degree of healthiness found 

 here, before and since marling, from presenting" a 

 fair statement of proof! But still, there is no 

 doubt of the general results showing a great and 

 decided improvement in respect to health— and 

 this was evident, before as well as since the re- 

 moval of the dwelling place of the slaves. The 

 greater number of these had been moved to an 

 intermediate location, (with a view to health) be- 

 fore these benefits of marling were either ft;lt, or 

 anticipated — where a portion of them remained 

 until within the last few years: and the circum- 

 etences attending this location, fiarnish ground for 

 the opinion maintained, which is not liable to the 

 objection referred to. 



The poorer farm (Shellbanks) which was made 

 a summer residence for my family in 1828 and the 



two succeeding years, and a permanent dwelling 

 place since 1831, was marled to the extent of 120 

 acres, including all the land around the houses, in 

 1828; and in a few succeeding years, the space 

 marled amounted to more than 300 acres. During 

 this time, the yard was covered heavily with marl 

 — and in 1832, when the approach of Asiatic cho- 

 lera caused such alarm, the floor of the cellar of 

 the house, (which is very damp,) the stable Hoor, 

 and stable yard, were also covered, and every 

 other vacant spot. In addition, the plan of col- 

 lecting, for manure, all putrescent animal matters 

 in a pit, and covering or mixing them li^equently 

 with marl, has been pursued lor several years, 

 though not with as much care and economy as 

 ought to be used. In this pit, for experiment as 

 much as for profit, the carcasses of animals have 

 been several times placed, and preserved (as be- 

 fore) from giving out any offensive odor, merely 

 by the covering of marl, until their very slow 

 decomposition was at an end The health of 

 the family, during the first two or three autumns, 

 was about as good as on what are considered 

 healthy places in the tide-water region of Virginia 

 — all of which are more or less subject to bilious 

 disorders in autumn, though deserving well (as in- 

 deed does the whole country) to be considered 

 more than usually exempt from all other diseases. 

 We had among the members of a large family, 

 some intermittents, and som.e more severe bilious 

 fevers during that time. But there has been a 

 still greater and unlooked for improvement since — 

 and fbr the last two years, I believe that all re- 

 siding permanently at this place, have enjoyed as 

 good health, as could be hoped for in any situa- 

 tion in the United States. Among the domestic 

 servants and their 3'oung children, last autumn, 

 there were a few slight agues, (which were attri- 

 buted to some of those acts of im prudence to which 

 negroes are so notoriously addicted, even if not 

 necessarily exposed,) and which "were scarcely 

 worth notice, but as exceptions to the general 

 healthiness. The land not being then tilled, there 

 were no field laborers. Among my own large 

 li;iraily, and other white persons^who were perma- 

 nent residents, there was not a single ague, or the 

 slightest disease to be counted as one of climate, 

 or proceeding from malaria. But I repeat, that 

 many such fiicts are necessary, and much time, 

 and the testimony of many difi'erent persons from 

 various places to be brought toirether, before the 

 causes can be fully admitted of such mysterious 

 effects, as disease and Us removal. It is to be 

 hoped that the facts and deductions here presented, 

 however defective, may at least, serve to attract 

 the attention of many other, and more competent 

 investigators, to this highly important subject. 



To the time when this last publication is made, 

 (June, 1837,) there has been no reason to doubt 

 the actual facts of autumnal diseases (the efiijcts- 

 of ma/ar/a.) being lessened by even the partial 

 use of marling — nor the inference that they would 

 almost cease to occur (where no mill-ponds and 

 undrained lands existed,) if all the surface of a 

 considerable extent of country were made calca- 

 reous, and all rapidly putrescent and otherwise- 

 offensive matter were preserved and kept harm- 

 less by being combined with marl, applied from 

 time to time, as required. But it should be re- 

 membered, that, as yet, there has been no instance 

 of the greater part of any whole neighborhood, of 



