510 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



and opinion of value, and stating the authority on which 

 €ach rests,) so to present what may be considered the 

 statistics of this new and important branch of agricul- 

 ture, so far as its use has yet extended. If this move- 

 ment-is properly sustained by you, and others who are 

 best qualified by experience to give correct informa- 

 tion, it is b?lieved that a body of evidence will be pro- 

 duced, that will most effectually urge on the progress 

 of this great improvement, and serve well to raise to 

 its proper estimation, the value of the lands of the coun- 

 try so greatly favored as to possess accessible beds of 

 marl, or other calcareous manures. 



Though much has been already done for improving 

 the soil, by marling, in Maryland and Virginia, and 

 something in North Carolina, and though wherever 

 the effects are seen, the practice is rapidly extending, 

 and its profits and advantages universally acknowledg- 

 ed — still, the cultivators of a much greater extent of 

 land in these stales, and having the facilities, have not 

 yet commenced marlino;, simply because they have not 

 yet personally witnessed its effects. Throughout the 

 whole extent of South Carolina and of Georgia, (with- 

 out including Florida, and other newly settled regions, 

 in which the improvement of land is as yet totally dis- 

 regarded) — marling is equally practicable, and as 

 much wanting, as in lower Virginia, and as yet not 

 even an experiment has been made of the practice. 



Next to seeing the effects of marling, the most in- 

 structive lesson on its value, and the strongest induce- 

 ment to its use, will be presented in such full testi- 

 mony as these queries may elicit. But full as they 

 have been made, for the purpose of saving trouble in 

 writing answers, and for directing them to certain and 

 like points, it is not to be expected that answers can 

 be given strictly correct, or otherwise than on belief 

 and supposition. But no one should be deterred on 

 this account, from answering ; as so many different 

 expressions of opinion, of different individuals, even 

 though each may vary somewhat from the others, and 

 all somewhat from perfect accuracy, Cif that were 

 attainable,) yet will, by their comparison, serve to 

 show a close approximation to correct views and well 

 established facts, on every particular point. 

 Respectfully, 



Edmund Ruffin. 

 Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Ql^ERiES TO ASCERTAIBf THE ACTION AKD 

 EFFECTS OF SHELL MARL AS MANURE. 



1. When was the use of marl as manure commenced 

 on your farm, in counts^? 



2. Whose property was the farm, and under whose 

 direction was its general management, (if not your 

 own,) th°n, and since ? 



3. What do you suppose was the number of acres 

 marled previous to January, 1820 — after that time 

 and before January, 1830 — and from that time to Jan- 

 uary, 1838 — and making altogether what total num- 

 ber of acres ? 



4. What was the usual strength of the marl used, 

 or its proportion per cent, of carbonate of lime, or 

 pure shelly matter ? 



5. Was there any peculiar quality or ingredient, be- 

 sides the carbonate of lime, that served to give addi- 

 tional value to the manure — as "green sand," or g3'p- 

 sum, or a large proportion of fine clay, &.c. 



6. Or was there anything that served to lessen the 

 value, as stony hardness of many shells, or of masses 

 of marl, &c. .' 



7. What have been the usual quantities of marl ap- 

 plied to the acre? 



8. Have there been made trials of anymvch lighter 

 dressings of marl than the usual quantities — and if so, 

 whatwere the results, compared to the usual quantities? 



9. Have there been made trials of any mvch heavier 

 dressings than the usual quantities — and with what 

 comparative results? 



10. Was the cropping and general management of 

 the land, for a few years immediately previous to its 

 being marled, such as might be considered meliorat- 

 ing, or improving, (or at least as presen-ing its degree 

 of fertility,) or wa.s it impoverishing, and wasting of 

 fertility in general? 



11. The same question as to the few years immedi- 

 ately after marling ? 



12. What have been the usual and general results 

 of the applications of marl on the increase of the crop 

 next following, on land in different conditions — and 

 afterwards 1o the present time ? 



13. Have the fertilizing effects of marl (or its early 

 increased production) been subsequently increased or 

 decreased by lapse of time — and in either case, under 

 what circumstances ? 



14. Is it your opinion, founded on experience or ob- 

 servation, that the early increased product of your marl- 

 ed land (say for the first three or four crops,) has been, 

 or will be, subsequently diminished, under any rota- 

 tion of crops, or course of cultivation, that would 

 not have been decidedly exhausting, and injurious 

 to the land, if marl had not been applied ? * 



15. Has sterility, or other damage, been caused on 

 any part of the land, by applying marl too heavily, or 

 in any other manner — and under what circumstances 

 of soil, tillage, &,c. ? 



16. Has it been found that any other manures, 

 eitlier vegetable and putrescent, or mineral, are more 

 efficacious, or durable, on poor natural soils, fl/?cr marl- 

 ing them — and if so, under what circumstances ? 



17. Taking such general grounds for the estimate 

 as may be satisfactory to your own judgment, state 

 what you suppose to be the present general or average 

 nett product of the land marled, caused by, and owing 

 to marling — per acre, and also in total amount from 

 the whole farm ? f 



* The object of this query is to obtain opinions as to the 

 duration of the effects of marl; or whether the improvement 

 made thereby is permanent, or temporary and transient. 



t N. B.— To answer the last query, it is not necessary to es- 

 timate the whole cost of tillage, or management, thence to cal- 

 culate the former and present nett product. It will be suffi- 

 ciently accurate to estimate, by supposition, the gentral in- 

 creas'd lahor of cultivation, &c. after marling, and the general 

 increased production; and the statement of the excess of the 

 latter, over the former sum, will be the increase of nett profit, 

 required by the query. 



