142 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 3 



been extended yearly, as its jrood effects have 

 been ascertained. It is believed that lime renders 

 putrescent manure more efficient, when both are 

 applied to tbe same land. 



1 have thus hastily answered your inquiries. If 

 you think these remarks of no value, throw them 

 aside, but if you think they will assist any one in 

 the management of his farm you will make such 

 use of them as you think proper. 

 Yours, &c. 



William A. Hayes. 



P. S. I would remark, that very little Avheat 

 is raised in the lower part of the county of York. 

 It is generally destroyed by rust. In the kw in- 

 stances in which I have raised a grood crop, the 

 wheat has' been sown on very hiirh land. The 

 publication of this fact may induce others to ob- 

 serve whether wheat is generally more likely to 

 escape rust on high ground. 



W. A. H. 



The two following communications were among 

 those elicited by the queries on marling, stated in the 

 8th number (page 510) of last volume. The shape in 

 which these are presented, is not that of special and 

 particular answers to the queries, and, in addition, the 

 limited range taken by each correspondent, (and per- 

 mitted by his limited though valuable experience of 

 results,) forbids the change of form required by the 

 plan of digested information proposed in connexion 

 with the queries; and therefore they cannot be advan- 

 tageously used in aid of that plan. Nevertheless, the 

 facts furnished are interesting and instructive, and as 

 independent communications, the pieces are of a value 

 of which we would be unwdling to deprive the read- 

 ers of this journal. 



Should any other correspondents than those to 

 whom we are already indebted, attend to our former 

 request on this head, we beg to remind them that un- 

 less they give special answers to the queries, (or to 

 such as their experience permits, passmg over the 

 others,) their communications cannot be used as part 

 of that plan of furnishing information on this impor- 

 tant subject. But any other form of communication, 

 however limited in range, or different in plan, and 

 more agreeable to the writers, will be gladly received 

 and published, as these are, as independent articles. — 

 Ed. Far. Reg. 



liming and marling in mathews county. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Mathews, Virginia, December, 1837. 



Your circular letter of last month was received 

 by mail, but it has not been convenient to make a 

 reply until now. You request that the answers 

 may be made in the order of the queries. As the 

 use of marl has been very limited in extent and 

 recent in this county, it may be more de- 

 sirable to state what little information I have been 

 able to obtain, fi-om experience or observation, in 

 an embodied shape. 



I infer from the object of your undertaking, you 

 wish to ascertain the efl'ects of the carbonate of 



lime, in whatever mode it may be applied to the 

 soil — whether in the form of shell lime, stone lime, 

 or marl. I will therefore proceed to state my ex- 

 perience in the use of lime and marl. 



I was, so far as my information extends, the 

 first person who commenced the systematic appli- 

 cation of lime to the soil in this county. Some 

 had applied lime carelessly, without knowing its 

 mode of application or its effects, and the conse- 

 quence invariably was, a too heavy dressing, and 

 the consequent injury sustained thereliom. It had 

 been applied in small quantities from shell kilns or 

 old mortar, and put on the land in the same man- 

 ner rich earth or dunghill manure would have 

 been applied. Hence, invariably, the spots where 

 the lime had been thus applied, were rendered for 

 some years unproductive, if not absolutely steril. 

 Hence followed the condemnation of lime as a 

 manure. When I commenced the use of it in 

 1833, I was told by many I should utterly ruin the 

 land wherever I put lime. Marl has not been 

 used by me until the present year. There is no 

 marl in this county, which is accessible for agri- 

 cultural purposes, except a small part of the coun- 

 ty bordering on the Piankatank river. Those who 

 use marl, arc consequently under the necessity of 

 transporting it by water from some of the river 

 marl banks. I have this year brouirht from York 

 river in a vessel between 3,000 and 4,000 bushels 

 of marl, at an expense of 6 cents per bushel when on 

 my landing, which I and two or three of my neigh- 

 bors contracted with a gentleman on York river 

 to deliver on board vessels at 2 cents per bushel. 

 The freight cost 3| cents, and the expense of 

 landing half a cent ; which will make six cents 

 per bushel. The expense of carting and spread- 

 ing you have estimated, I think, at about 'half a 

 cent per bushel. It costs me more than double 

 that sum, as I am careful to have it measured in 

 bushel boxes at measured distances, and spread 

 with great care, so that I do not imagine the ex- 

 pense of applying would fall much short of two 

 cents per bushel. Thus my marl, when put on 

 the soil, stands me near eight cents per bushel. I 

 put on from 100 to 150 bushels per acre. It con- 

 tains by analysis 67 per cent, of carbonate of lime. 

 One hundred bushels of marl would therefore be 

 equal to sixty-seven of shell lime and 150 bushels 

 to 100 of lime. I cannot state the effiscts of marl 

 on the soil, as it has not had an opportunity of ex- 

 hibiting its powers. One of my neighbors, year 

 before last, (^1835,) had a load brought from some 

 of the river banks, and applied it to a wheat fal- 

 low with good effect. Certainly, his wheat was 

 better than his neighbors', although it was a most 

 unfortunate year to all wheat-growers. As we 

 have so recently begun the use of marl, I cannot 

 say any thing farther of its effects, but may do so 

 at a future time, when they shall be perceived. I 

 suppose there have been about 15,000 or 20,000 

 bushels of marl brought to this county by water, at 

 an expense according with the foregoing estimate. 

 There have been about 400 acres marled or limed 

 in this county. 



Having related all I know of the use of marl in 

 this county, I will proceed to detail my expe- 

 rience in the use of shell lime. I have applied it 

 in various quantities, from 25 to 100 bushels, and 

 from observation, I think on land of common qua- 

 lity, containing some vegetable matter, that 70 

 bushels is about the proper quantity, although I 



