FARMERS' REGISTER— ALABAMA PRAIRIES. 



637 



of Vol. I. So soon as this is over, the stallis are 

 staclced as our tops are usually, and afibrd fine food 

 lor horses and cattle of every description. 



I have lately learned from a gentleman of great 

 experience, that one hundred pounds per day is a 

 fair average for a hand's work in pulling fodder. 

 Can this sacrifice of labor be much longer borne 

 on an emj)Overished soil? I shall hope not. 



C. IT. MINGE. 



[The foregoing letter contains the writer's second 

 year's experience of the cost of transporting marl 

 by water, and may be considered a continuation of 

 a former communication on the same subject, which 

 was published in Vol. I. at page 567, to which the 

 reader is referred for the full grounds of the esti- 

 mate of expense. According to that estimate, the 

 carting of these 17,000 bushels of marl from the land- 

 ing to the field, (1000 yards) and spreading would 

 amount to $110 28 — to which add tlie cost above stated 

 for digging and water carriage $270 50, and it ap- 

 pears that the total cost was $380 78, or not quite 2^ 

 cents the bushel. These facts well deserve the atten- 

 tion of all land-holders on navigable water, who have 

 not marl on their own farms.] 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CALCAREOUS REGION 

 OF ALABAMA. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



Greene County, (Ala.,) Jan. Tlih, 1835. 



* * * I have had it in contempla- 

 tion for some time to send you some of the difier- 

 ent varieties of prairie soil for analysis: I will do 

 so, if agreeable to }'our wishes. It is no doubt 

 composed almost entirclj'of marl, and is a soil sui 

 generis. It is (bnncd apparently by the decomposi- 

 tion of marine shells — but the fossil remains of some 

 antediluvian animals of immense size are also 

 found in it. There are some fossil remains in 

 Clarke county of an animal whose vertebrae are 

 said to be as large as a dinner plate, and have been 

 used by the inhabitants as fire-dogs. Almost the 

 whole skeleton, I was informed lately, was still 

 lying on the surface of the earth where the animal 

 perished; but I have been unable as yet to procure 

 any specimens of it. The prairie soil is invaria- 

 bly based on rotten lime -stone roc'k, which is sel- 

 dom more than ten feet under the surface, and 

 sometimes is not as many inches. It has been 

 perforated to the depth of seven hundred feet for 

 water, and sometimes without success even at 

 that depth; but it is invariably mixed with shells. 

 It has a regular dip from Erie to the neighborhood 

 of Linden in Marengo, of about twenty-five feet 

 to the mile. Where the rock is jjerfbrated, the wa- 

 ter frequendy runs out above the surface of the 

 earth, and sometimes continues to do so, even as 

 high as twenty feet. The water is not generally 

 pleasant to those unaccustomed to its use, and 

 sometimes is highly impregnated with sulphur. 

 Small balls of the sulphuret of iron are frequently 

 ibund near the surface and among the rock. Entire 

 strata of shells sometimes alternate with the rock, as 

 may be seen in the rock bluffs on the rivers. Near 

 the surface the rock is entirely free from grit; but 

 the lowest stratum is a very hard sand-stone which 

 the borers have to drill, as an auger will make no 

 impression upon it. When dug up and exposed 



to the atmosphere the lime-stone readily decom- 

 poses and forms a good soil. If kept, however, for 

 some time under a shelter, it becomes hard, and 

 blocks sawed out when it is soft, are sometimes 

 used to build houses and chimneys. It is unfit for 

 the kiln, and will not burn to lime, except a varie- 

 ty which lies in detached pieces on the surface, 

 and is perforated with many small holes. 



The soil of the prairies im])roves by cultivation, 

 and a small quantity of manure increases the pro- 

 duct astonishingly, the efi'ects remaining visible 

 for a long time afterwards. It is not very well 

 adapted to the. cultivation of cotton whhout some 

 vegetable manure, except where it is timbered, 

 as the lime causes the plant to rust, and shed its 

 leaves and bolls before they come to maturity. 

 Any grain will grow well on the open prairie; but 

 it seems peculiarly adapted to the growth of Indian 

 corn, oats, and barley. When wet, the soil is as 

 soft and muddy as a bed of mortar, and the roads 

 become, in many places, entirely impassable. 

 When dry, they are very hard, but never dusty. 

 As might be presumed from the nature of the soil, 

 it requires very little rain to perfect the crops on it. 

 If broken early and deep, Indian corn will mature 

 withnvt any, and never twists, (from drought,) 

 even when it has no rain on it from the time of 

 commg up. Rains however, increase the crops 

 very much, as well as on other lands. 



The prairie soils are remarkable for health, the 

 lime seeming to correct all noxious effluvia from 

 animal and vegetable remains. The itdiabitants 

 enjoy a singular exemption from intermittent and 

 bilious fevers, even when the people on the sur- 

 rounding sandy soils, particularly on the rivers, suf- 

 fer severely. The summer and fall months are 

 much the healthiest. There ai-e no springs, pro- 

 perly so cajled, in the prairies, and the water- 

 courses, (which are fed by seeps,) dry up in the 

 fall: hence the necessitj^ of boring. 



The limit of my pajier prevents my saying 

 more, and indeed, I only intended making two or 

 three observations when I commenced. If you 

 wish, however, I will send you some of the dif- 

 ferent varieties of soil, if you will give us the anal- 

 ysis. We miffht perhaps, better understand the 

 modus operandi. 



ROBERT W. WITHERS. 



[The specimens of the prairie soils, offered by our 

 correspondent will be very acceptable, as will any 

 other specimens from dry prairies remarkable for fer- 

 tilitjr, or the reverse, in all the western and south- 

 western states. A request for this has already been 

 made in this work, (page 455, No. 7,) and it is suf- 

 ficient hereto refer to the directions there given for se- 

 lecting and transmitting the specimens. Particular 

 and exact descriptions should accompany them, or the 

 specimens will be of little value or interest.] 



LARGE PRODUCTS OF CORN. 



[The letter of Mr. Coleman, which is referred to 

 below, has alreadj^ been inserted at length in the Farm- 

 ers' Register — at page 359, vol. I.] 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



We agriculturists are, in general, the greatest 

 gulls imaginable in regard to all spick-and-span 

 new things — matters of which we have never 



