482 



FARMERS 'REGISTER. 



enough marl is applied to obtain its full effect on 

 the first course ol' crops, there will certainly be loo 

 much alterwards. 



Perhaps the areatest profit to be derived from 

 marlinir, though not the most apparent, is on such 

 polls a~ are lull ol' vvasiint; veixetuble niaiier. IJere 

 the effect is most!}' preservative, and the benefii 

 and profit may he <rreat, even though the increase 

 of crop may I'e very inconpiderabie. Putrescent 

 manure laid on any acid Foil, or the naiural vei^e- 

 tahle cover of ilinse newly cleared, wiiiiout marl, 

 would soon he lost, and the crops reduced to one 

 half, or less. But when marl is previously applied, 

 this waste of leriility is prevented; and the esti- 

 mate of benefit should not only include the actual 

 increase o!" crop caused by marlins;, but as much 

 more as the amount of the diminution, which would 

 otherwise have lollowed. Every intended clearincr 

 of woodland, and especially of that under a second 

 growlh ol'pines, ought to be marled belbre cutlinrr 

 down — and it will be still better, if it can be done 

 several years belbre. If the application is delayed 

 until the new land is brought under cultivation, 

 though much putrescent matter will be saved, 

 still more must be wasted. By using marl some 

 years before obtaining a crop fiom it, as many 

 more successive growths ofleaves will be convert- 

 ed to useful manure, and fixed in the soil — and the 

 increased fertility will more than compensate (or 

 the delay. By such an operation, we make a loan 

 to the soil, with a distant time for pay ment, but on 

 ample security, and at u high rate of compound 

 in4erpst. 



Some experienced cultivators have believed that 

 the most profitable way to manage pine old fields 

 when cleared of their second growth, was to cul- 

 tivate them every year, until worn out — because, 

 as they said, such land would not last much long- 

 er, no matter how mildly treated. This opinion, 

 which seems so absurd, and in opposition to all 

 the received rules lor good husbandry, is consider- 

 ably supported by the properties which are here 

 ascribed to such soils. When these lands are first 

 cut down, an immense quantity of vegetable mat- 

 lerjs accumulated on the surlace — which, not- 

 withstanding its accompanying acid quality, is 

 capable of making two or three crops nearly or 

 qtiite as good as the land was ever able to bring. 

 But as the soil has no power to retain this veirela- 

 ble matter, it will begin rapidly to decompose and 

 waste, as soon as exposed to the sun, and will be 

 lost, except so much as is caught while escaping, 

 by the roots of groiving crops. The previous ap- 

 plication of marl, would make it profitable in 

 ihese, as well as other cases, to adopt a mild and 

 meliorating course of tillage. 



Less improvement will be obtained by marlinff 

 worn soils of the kind called "free liirht land," 

 than other acid soils which originally produced 

 much more sparinrrly. The early productiveness 

 of this kind of soil, and its rapid exhaustion by 

 cultivation, at first view seem to contradict the 

 opinion, that durability and the ease of improving 

 by putrescent manures are proportioned to the 

 matural fertility of the soil. But a full considera- 

 tion ol circumstances will show that no such con- 

 sradiction exists. 



In defining the term 'natural fertility, it was 

 stated that it should not be measured by the ear- 

 liest products of a new soil, which might be either 

 much reduced, or increased, by temporary causes. 



The early fertility of free light land is so rapidiJy 

 destroyed, as to takeaway all ground (or consider- 

 ing it as fixed in, and belonging to the soil. It is 

 1 ke the eflipcl of dung on the same land alierwarde, 

 which throws out all its efl'ect in the course of one 

 or two years, and leaves the land as poor as be- 

 fore. Bui still ii npeds explanation why so much 

 productiveness can at first he exerted by any acid 

 soil, as iij those described in the 14ih experiment. 

 The cause may be louiid in the loilowinir reasons, 

 Thes^e soils, and af-o their subsoil.-, are principally 

 com|)osed of coarse sand, which makes them of 

 more open texture than best suits pine, and (when 

 rich enough) more liivorable to other trees, the 

 leaves of which have no natural acid, and there- 

 fore decompose more readi!y\ As liist as the fallen 

 leaves rot, they are of course exposed to waste — 

 but the rains convey much of their finer parts 

 down into the open soil, where the less degree of 

 heat retards their final decomposition. Still this 

 enriching matter is liable to be further decomposed 

 and to final waste: but though continually wast- 

 ing, it is also continually added to by the rotting 

 leaves above. The shelter of the upper coat of 

 unrotted leaves, and the shade of the trees, cause 

 the first, as well as the last stages of decomposition 

 to proceed slowly, and to fiavor the mechanical 

 process of the products being mixed with the soil. 

 But there is no chemical union of the vegetable 

 matter with the soil. When the land is cleared, 

 and opened by the plough, the decomposition oT 

 all the accumulated vegetable matter is hastened 

 by the increased action of sun and air, and in a 

 short time converts every thing into fond for plants. 

 This abundant supply suffices, to produce two or 

 three fine crops. But now, the moat fruitful 

 source of vegetable matter has been cut of}' — and 

 the soil is kept so heated (by its 0( en texture) as 

 to be unable to hold enriching matters, even if 

 they were furnished. The laud soon becomes 

 poor, and must remain so, as long as these causes 

 operate, even though cultivated under the mildest 

 rotation. When the transient fertilit}' of such a 

 soil is gone, its acid qualities (which were before 

 concealed in some measure by so much enriching 

 matter,) become evident. Sorrel and broom grass 

 cover the land — and if allowed to stand, pines will 

 take complete possession, because the poverty of 

 the soil leaves them no rival to contend with. 



Marling deepens cultivated sandy soils, even 

 lower than the plough may have penetrated. This 

 was an unexpected result, and when first observed, 

 seemed scarcely credible. But this effect also is a 

 consequence of the power of calcareous earth to 

 fix manures. As stated in the foregoing para- 

 graph, the soluble and finely divided particles of 

 rotted vegetable matters are carried by the rains 

 below the soil ; but as there is no calcareous earth 

 there to fix them, they must again rise in a gase- 

 ous form, after their last decomposition, unless pre- 

 viously taken up by growing plants. But aller 

 the soil is marled, calcareous as well as putrescent 

 matter is carried down by the rains as far as the 

 soil is open enough for them to pass. This will 

 always be as deep as the ploughing has been, and 

 in loose earth, somewhat deeper — and the chemi- 

 cal union formed between these difierent sub- 

 stances serves to fix both, and thus increases the 

 depth of the soil. This effect is very different 

 from the deepening of the soil by letting the plough 

 run into the barren subsoil. If by this mechani- 



