406 



t^AKMERS* REGISTER 



[No.T 



to read or write by, and especially to weak eyes. 

 I iiave been informed by prendemen of medical 

 skill, ih;U the seeds of pumpkins have so ijreat a 

 tendency to promote urine in animals, as to ren- 

 der them undivorable to their health; and a neigh- 

 bor of mirte i;ifi)rmed me that his geese becamed 

 so relaxed as to be unable to go, by eating pump- 

 kin seeds. These circumstances induced me this 

 season to cut open my pumpkins, and take out the 

 seeds before I gave them to my cattle, and 1 found 

 by the experiment last fiill, and the beginning of 

 winter, that my horned catile, sheep and swine 

 derived the greatest benefit, with the least ex- 

 pense to myself, of anything that ever I tried in 

 the agricultural line. And from the little experi- 

 ence that I have had as a farmer, I am induced to 

 think, that there is no one article that is cultivated, 

 from which so much advantage can be obtained, 

 by so little labor, as from the cultivation and 

 right use of the pumpkin. It is probable that the 

 oil of pumpkin seeds may be made a complete 

 substitute tor tallow; and when it is once intro- 

 duced into use, it will probably be worth at least 

 §1 50 per gallon. Children can with the great- 

 est ease take out the seeds wheu the pumpkin is 

 cut open, with a spoon or their hands, and spread 

 them on a floor where they will soon dry; and it is 

 proper that they should be preserved clean, and 

 without benig suffered to mould. In the United 

 States, where there is such an unbounded region 

 of land, and labor above the price of produce, the 

 main object of the farmer ought not to be the ob- 

 taining of the greatest quantity of produce, from 

 the besi piece of land, as in many places in old 

 countries which are so crowded with population 

 as almost to be in a stale of starvation, and labor 

 of no consequence; but the obtaining of the great- 

 est quantity from the least labor and expense, 

 taken together. I have no idea that fields appro- 

 priated exclusively to pumpkins would be profita- 

 ble like those of corn and pumpkins planted to- 

 gether; for if they be planted too thick thev are 

 no inconsic'erable damage to each other. There 

 ought not probably to be more than one pumpkin 

 suffered to grow to twenty hills of corn, otherwise 



same pen would still lay the agricultural interest 

 undergreater obligations to hira. What Mr. Ruffin' 

 there asserts of marl correcting tire acid quality in' 

 lands has been found to be true by all who have 

 used if; and besides, he might a(kl, that it is a 

 great cleanser of lands, which manures are gene- 

 rally not — it certainly destroys all the noxious 

 growth which puts up in acid lands, oftentimes to 

 the great injury of the crop;' and to the sheep sor- 

 rel it is certain destruction. 



AH the mari I have seen in Maryland is shell 

 marl, which lies in large beds or strata, and has 

 been generally found near the margin of the 

 banks of rivers or creeks — this, I presume, is be- 

 cause it has cost less labor to find it there than 

 elsewhere; but I have no doubt that the same" 

 strata can be found in the interior, if it was dili- 

 gently searched for. They are generally from- 

 three to six fiset under the surfiice, and present 

 considerable variety in appearance. Some are 

 composed of common oyster shells alone, which 

 are very different from what are called shell banks 

 — others are composed of what are commonly 

 called clam shells— others of clam shells, muscle 

 shells, and a great variety of scollop shells — others 

 of shells so decomposed that it is difficult to class 

 them, and these last are often intern)ixed and dis- 

 colored with a sort of furruginous substance — 

 others again present you shells completely broken 

 down to lime, mtermixed with sand, which of it- 

 self makes a pretty strong cement; and indeed the 

 varieties are not only numerous and singular, but 

 often very beautiful. The comparative effects of 

 these drf^'erent kinds of marl have not been ascer- 

 tained, as they are generally different on different' 

 farms, but ali agree who have used them, that the 

 first year's product in wheat is increased to more' 

 than half as much more, but that the second"* 

 crop, from one marling, is oftener more than dou- 

 ble than less than double — this is easily ac- 

 counted for upon the supposition that the mart 

 does not become so well incorporated with the 

 earth upon the first as upon the second tillage 

 — but if the marl was strewed on fallow land, 

 and two extra harrowings were given it after 



they are apt to choke the growth of the corn, and strewing, there can be little doubt but the m- 



not produce so many or so good pumpkins either 

 It costs scarce any more labor to raise com and 

 pumpkins in the same field than it does to cufti- 

 vate it exclusively for corn, and perhaps the crop 

 is worth a third more. On the whole, I am in- 

 clined to think that this subject ia worth your 

 notice. I am yours, &c., respectfully, 



JosiAii White. 

 Northampton, March, 17, 1820. 



From tlie American Farmer of 1824. 

 REMARKS AND INQUIRIES ON THE EFFECTS 

 OF MARL AS MANURE. 



Mr. Editor. — I find marl is becoming to be a 

 subject of great inquiry, and is very generally 

 growing upon the attention of the agricultural 

 world. There is nothing which merits attention 

 more, for in every instance where it has been ap- 

 plied it has been considered the most successllil of 

 all manures. There was a writer in your paper 

 (Mr. Ruffin) who gave us one of the most cor- 

 rect accounts of the operation of marl on lands 

 that I have ever seen; and further views from the 



corporation would take place, and the product 

 be improved. 1 find my marl acts better upon 

 wheat succeeding my corn, than upon naked fal- 

 low, where the marl was spread on both the same 

 year; and I account for this result, so different' 

 from what is experienced from all other manures, 

 from the frequent harrowings I give my corn du- 

 ring its cultivation; fori cultivate corn principally 

 with the harrow, as being the cheapest, most ex- 

 peditious, and best implement ; and my lands are" 

 stiff soils. 



None but those who have been eye witnesses to 

 the effects of marl can believe them — they are' 

 truly wonderful — old worn out clay soils, that' 

 were literally good for nothing, have been regene- 

 rated by marl alone, and present the appearance' 

 of our best and natively rich lands — and there' 

 seems to be no end to the improvement — under 

 one marling the product increases at each culti- 

 vation, and a second marling is followed by results 

 proportionable to the first. Such is the convic-- 

 tion here, as to the eflTects of marl, and the con- 

 viction arises from practical experience, that the- 

 discovery of a mari bank is supposed to dbuble? 

 the value of the farm. 



