488 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ment of each of the individuals is certainly meho- 

 ratinT to the land, in some degree, since and by 

 aid o? marlino-, yet the mildest and best manage- 

 ment among"theiTi would still be exhausting, if 

 pursued without marling. 



It; was after almost five years' absence Irom 

 nearly the whole of my old neighborhood and still 

 loncTer after an entire change of my former pur- 

 euit's, that 1 recently visited and examuied the 

 farms of several of my Ibrraer neighbors, and savv 

 the progress of improvement, which in general 

 is much°<n-ealer, in these last five years, than in 

 the previous filteen. The facts which go to show 

 the durability of the improvements by marlmg, 

 (and which were most sought to be obtained, as 

 beino- certainly the most important,) will best ap- 

 pear'^from the answers to the general queries. 

 But a few other liicts, not therein embraced, will 

 be here stated in advance. 



On Bonaccord, the larm of James B. Cocke, 

 there is a newly cleared field of 100 acres, lying 

 along the eastern side of the public road, and in 

 view'' of every traveller. But the field does not 

 appear to such advantage from the road, as when 

 entered and more closely examined. This land 

 Ibrmerly was (as still is the woodland on the 

 northern, eastern and southern sides) the ordinary 

 poor ridge soil. The field is now covered with a 

 crop of red clover, that is more than knee high, 

 and which would seem to indicate that either 30 

 bushels of corn to the acre, or 15 to 18 of wheat, 

 might be expected from the land next year. This 

 laiTil, without marl, would not have i)roduced more 

 than 10 to 12 bushels of corn in its best state, 

 to sink in a lew crops to less than 8 busliels ; not 

 enough wheat at any time to pay lor the sowing — 

 and clover could not have lived on it at ail. 



On Coggins' Point farm, there are still kept un- 

 marled tfuTspois left for experiment, when the sur- 

 rounding land was marled, in 1820 and 1821, and 

 1828, and of which the comparative products were 

 reported at pages 41, 43, and 45 ol ' Essay on 

 Calcareous Manures.' These spots have been 

 secured ii'om grazing since 1814, and also have 

 had all the benefit, if any, of being rested two years 

 in each rotation oi four. They aie still wretchedly 

 poor ; and appear now, as from the several Ibrmer 

 measurements made and reported, not to have 

 improved in the least, on account of their long- 

 continued mild treatment. 



The farm of Mr. William Wilkins formerly had 

 the reputation of being the poorest in the neigh- 

 borhood. The industrious young owner com- 

 menced marling it in 1835, not long after acquiring 

 possession; and already it presents, throughout Us 

 whole length, along which the public road passes, 

 not only a remarkable improvement upon its Ibr- 

 mer very poor state, but a degree ol" general pro- 

 ductiveness that would be striking even to an 

 observer who judged merely of present appear- 

 ances. GojJ clover is covering land on which 

 not the Iceblest growth could have been produced 

 before marling ; and corn, of the first year's 

 growth on pine old field, (the pine trees killed by 

 belling, and all left standing,) now promises a 

 product of 30 bushels to the acre this season. No 

 one has done better than this young man in marl- 

 ing, and increasing profitably the value of his be- 

 liji^e miserably poor land. One of the main causes 

 of his success has been his general practice of add- 

 ing leaves raked from the wood land, to ail his ap- 

 plu'ations of marl to old land. It deserves men- 



tion, also, that there was no marl on this liarm, that 

 was worth using; and that Mr. Wilkins has had 

 to contend with the unusual difficulty ol' having to 

 draw all his marl Irom the pits of his neighbors. 

 Though his answers to my queries will be given, 

 still his ex.nerience, as well as that of some others, 

 is yet too limited lor their reports to be of much va- 

 lue in regard to long continued or permanent re- 

 sults, and the main profits, which of course are 

 not to be obtained in the first lew y^ars. 



The field on the extremity of Jordan's Point, 

 which will form one half of the ground lor Dr. 

 Theodrick Bland's answers, in ibrmer times was 

 even more noted lor its lertilily and durability than 

 ihe land just before mentioned for its poverty and 

 incapability of being improved by any means then 

 known. This celebrated " Point Field" contains 

 125 acres altogether, and is of the same kind of 

 chocolate colored loam, (commonly. called "mu- 

 latto land,") and presenting a like surlace and ele- 

 vation, as are lound in the best parts of Shirley, 

 Eppes' Island, We=itover, Sandy Point, and Bran- 

 don. Tiiere is not an acre of other land of this 

 kind in all this district of Prince George county. 

 But its Ibrmer great productiveness and beautiful 

 appearance had been greatly deteriorated by a 

 long continuation of incessant and bad culture. I 

 rode over this field about 12 years ago. and saw it 

 in a worse stale than 1 had supposed such land 

 could have been possibly reduced lo ; lor, in addi- 

 tion to great general exhaustion, the surface was 

 galled, and the mould washed away, leaving the 

 Ourren subsoil naked, wherever there was the 

 most gentle declivity. Yet the surlace is gene- 

 rally vvlial would be termed level, and the undu- 

 lations are very gentle. When 1 again viewed 

 this field within a lew weeks past, all these before 

 naked galls, as well as the field generally, were 

 covered with a rank growth of clover and weeds, 

 manilesting the restoration every where of lertility 

 as great as that of lormer time. It is very true, 

 that, to produce such remarkable fertility, Dr. 

 Bland has not only marled well the whole surlace, 

 but has supplied putrescent manure very liberally 

 lo all the extensive galled surlace. But it is 

 scarcely necessary to add, what every practical 

 cultivator knows, that such manure, in any quan- 

 tity, without the marl, would have served but little 

 purpose lor producing and fixing lertility on naked 

 galls, and certainly would have yielded no profit 

 on the outlay. 



I will here adduce a few o her cases of marling 

 improvements, which have been too recent lo iijr- 

 nish such evidences of value and profit as are 

 sought to be obtained by the queries, which are 

 addressed to the conductors of older labors. Bur, 

 even vviihout waiting for the effects, the liicls and 

 circumstances alone of these late and zealous la- 

 bors serve to place beyond all question the present 

 creneral estimation of the value of marling in this 



regu)!!. 



The farm called High Peak, also termed in de- 

 rision Poverty Hill, and well known by, and well 

 deserving that name, was Ibrmerly and long the 

 residence of a wealthy planter (Col. Peter Epes,) 

 who certainly would have improved it, if industry 

 and any then known means could have availed. 

 Afier his death, and the removal of his successor, 

 the place was rented out, until no tenant could be 

 (bund who would even fence a field for its posses- 

 sion ; and then the land was left idle, and became 

 ffraziniz common lor the neighborhood for some 



