644 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MARL AND MARLING. 



I expected. This I had spread on the adjouiinfr 

 corn-ffround, whicli had been planted, but was not 

 up. There it remained (or some weeks, until the 

 corn received its first working, and then was not 

 buried as deep as tlie otlier manure ploughed un- 

 der before the corn was there planted. The quan- 

 tity of the surllice-spread-maiuire per acre, was as 

 nearljr equal as the eye could make it, to that 

 which had been ploughed under — for I had no 

 idea at the time, of making an experiment to fa- 

 vor a preconceived opinion, and of course, did not 

 attempt, as most men are too apt to do imder sim- 

 ilar circumstances, so to manage the trial as to suit 

 that opinion. Indeed, ray belief, (adopted merely 

 from faith in others,) then was, that it was best to 

 turn in all kinds of manure. The result of this 

 accidental experiment was, that the corn upon the 

 Jand whereon the manure was applied to the sur- 

 face, not only maintained the start which its being 

 first up gave it, but manifestly increased that su- 

 periority in a ratio considerably exceeding the dif- 

 ference which that circumstance alone could cre- 

 ate, and at last produced much more in proportion. 

 The excess was too plain to require accurate mea- 

 suring to ascertain it; and having no idea at the 

 time of publishing the experiment, the usual mea- 

 surement by a tub was not made. 



Having the same object in view with your in- 

 telligent correspondent J. B., Avhich as I under- 

 stand him, is to elicit discussion in regard to the 

 principal subject of his communication, I submit 

 the foregoing views to be disposed of as you may 

 deem best; and remain 



Yours with much esteem. 



MARL, AND BIARLINO SPECULATIONS UPON 



WORLD MAKING. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



jiirjield, February, 1835. 



I feel that I am delinquent, especially to your- 

 self, and through you, I am so to Pi'otessor Ro- 

 gers. You were kind enough, a long time since, 

 to ask me to send to the latter, specimens of the 

 Henrico marl, to be analyzed by him. Circum- 

 stances and the badness of the weather, have de- 

 layed a compliance with your request. It shall 

 not be postponed much lorjger. A late trip to the 

 Rappahannock enabled me to obtain a specimen 

 of the marl in King and Queen I had not visited 

 that country tor six years. The road crosses the 

 ridges which lie between the Chickahomony and 

 Pamunkey — the Pamunkey and Mattopony — and 

 the latter and Rappahannock — and, like most of 

 the roads in Virginia, passes over the least valua- 

 ble and interesting parts of the country. From all 

 I could see and learn (by frequent inquiries) 

 many persons in Hanover, King William, King 

 and Queen, Middlesex, and Essex, have coni"- 

 menced, with spirit, the improvement of their 

 lands, by the use of marl, and other manures. T'o 

 my eye, a decided improvement had been made 

 since I had last been in that section. I saw one 

 field that had oflen attracted my attention by its 

 extreme poverty, which has been completely re- 

 suscitated by two dressings of marl. It produced 

 a heavy crop of corn last year, and is now neatly 

 sown in wheat, that looks better than any other 

 wheat I saw. The soil seems to )i<ave been com- 



pletely changed in appearance. It v/as once, like 

 the adjoining field, (not yet marled,) miserably 

 poor, and light — abounding in silex, but in a fine 

 form. Now, it has a greasy, chocolate appearance, 

 that, at once, bespeaks its lertility. I was told that 

 its production has convinced the most ignorant skep- 

 tics of the fertilizing qualities oJ calcareous ma- 

 nures. Vegetable matter was, of course, mixed 

 with the marl. When the land is too poor to ))ut 

 fortli a sufficient quantity of vegetation lor the 

 marl to act upon, the practice is, to haul oak 

 leaves, pine beards, and other scrapings from the 

 woods. I saw sundry fields, of some extent, re- 

 gularly dotted over with four or five bushel-heaps 

 of the blue marl, so full of shells that, at some 

 distance, they looked lilce heaps of snow — the rains 

 having washed down the loose blue clay. This 

 marl is like that found in Henrico and Hanover — 

 having the same sorts of shells — but the blue earth 

 is so filled with fine particles of shells that I sup- 

 pose one-third of it is calcareous matter. From 

 the centre of one of these heaps the portion was 

 taken, intended for Professor Rogers. I was in- 

 formed that this sort of marl Avas found in the 

 branches and swamps; but, that, in the hill-sides, 

 a yellow marl was found, much richer, and, of 

 course, more valuable fi-om that consideration, as 

 well as from the facility of getting it. I was not 

 able, in a hasty trip, to get a specimen of it. 



The whole tide-water coimtry on the north side 

 of James River has been already much bene- 

 fited by your Essay on Calcareous Manures, and 

 your still more valuable Farmers'' Register. If 

 there be any truth in the motto of the Register, 

 you have abundant cause to feel satisfied, and 

 ought to sleep sound of nights. The great men 

 who liv-e upon the malicious wranglings, the frauds 

 and the crimes of mankind, deserve less grateful 

 respect from the community, than those who 

 teach us the way to live, and to turn the bounties 

 of heaven to our advantage and comfort. 



May Ave not hope that a new spirit will soon 

 animate our people, and enable them to develops 

 the beauty and advantages of our another statel 

 The Avasting tide of emigration can only be 

 checked by such a spirit, aided by legislative as- 

 sistance. There are none of us Avho do not need 

 instruction; and the Avant of schools is forcibly 

 illustrated by the difficulty of employing, in many 

 parts of the state, an overseer, miller or white la- 

 borer, Avho can read and write. It is remarkable 

 that, in those sections Avhere the means of subsist- 

 ence are most laboriously obtained, and there are 

 less desirable markets for the products of industry, 

 more attention has been paid to common schools, 

 and the difficulty here spoken of, is less felt. Out 

 of as many as fifty applications that have been 

 made to the Avriter for such employments, not more 

 than half a dozen of the applicants were able to 

 read and Avrite. What, may Ave not ask, have 

 been the results of the enormous expenditures 

 from the primary school fund? Is there not some 

 crying defect in the Avhole of our school system? 

 Ouffht not our legislature to try some other plan? 

 Why not copy the successful sj'stems of some of 

 our sister states? How oflen does it happen, that 

 Avhen a young man is too proud, or too lazy, to 

 work, and too ivorthless to get or retain employ- 

 ment in business, that he sets up as schoolmaster, 

 and is entrusted Avith the important charge of the 

 morals and education of children! What an error! 



