FARMERS' REGISTER. 



683 



degree, in the green-sand maris used by Dr. 

 Braxton and Mr. Carter Braxton. And the less 

 the strength of the marl in calcareous matter, the 

 more remarkable are the eifects produced and re- 

 ported ; and tl»e more important and valuable the 

 use, and the more is required full and proper inves- 

 tigation of the qualities, and accurate experiments 

 ol' the operation and effects of the other ingre- 

 dient — the mysterious substance, green-sand, of 

 which it may be truly said that aU that we yet 

 know is, that we know nothing. In regard to the 

 most interesting and important of these maris, (on 

 account of its extensive application,) that flom G. 

 VV. Bassett's land, used by Dr. Braxton, the cal- 

 careous ingredient is so small (only 11 per cent.) 

 that I think the specimen sent to me could not 

 have presented any thing like a fair average of 



quality, as it certainly was selected for. But all 

 that lire operator can do, by analyzing, is to ascer- 

 tain accurately the amount of carbonate of lime i.i 

 the particular specimen presented to him ; and 

 therelbre as much dependt^ upon the care and 

 judgment used in selecting specimens, and the 

 mode of taking them, and iheir amount, as alier- 

 wards upon analyzing ihem, to enable the opera- 

 tor to stale truly the average strength of any 

 layer or body of marl. It was Dr. Braxton's opi- 

 nion that this marl contained three times as much 

 calcareous matter, as this specimen produced. 

 The whole mass, after being dug, and mixed by 

 loading and unloading the vessel, as I saw the 

 marl at Chericoke, is very uniform in appearance, 

 and the shelly matter is generally so finely divided 

 as not to be disiinguished by the eye. 



-QUERIES (repeated FROM PAGE 489) TO ASCERTAIJT tHE ACTION AND EFFECTS OF SHELL 

 MARL AS 31ANURE, IX GENERAL, AND ANSWERS AS TO THE GREEN-SAKD MARL USED OTS 

 THE PAMUNKEY RIVER LANDS. 



1. When was the use of marl as manure commenced on your farm 7 



2. Whose property was the farm, and under whose direction was its general management, (if not 

 your own,) then, and since? 



3. What was the quantity of cleared land on the farm then ready for and subjected in its turn to 

 cultivation of any kind, exclusive of all waste ground'? 



4. What is the quantity since added, by new clearings of wood-land, or other waste spots brought 

 into tillage 1 A nd, generally, was the land thus added richer or poorer than the present average qua- 

 lity of the farm? 



5. What was the rate ofprogress in extending the marling — and, altogether^ how many acres have 

 been now marled 1 



6. What was the usual strength of the marl used, or its proportion per cent, of carbonate oflirae, 

 or pure shelly matter? 



7. Was there any peculiar quality or ingredient, besides the carbonate of liine, that served to give 

 additional value to th.e manure — as "green sand," or cypsum, or a large proportion of fine clay, &c.? 



8. Or was there any thing that served more than usually to lessen the value, as stony hardness of 

 many sliells, or of masses of marl, &c. ? 



9. What have been the usual quantities of marl applied to the acre? 



10. Have there been made trials of any much lighter dressings of marl than the usual quantities — 

 and if so, what were the results, compared to the usual quantities ? 



11. Have there been made trials of any much heavier dressings than the usual quantities — and 

 with what comparative results? 



12. Was the cropping and general management of the land, for a fexo years immediately previous 

 to its being marled, such as might be considered meliorating or improving, (or at least as preserving 

 its degree of lertilii}'^,) or was i1 impoverishing, and wasting of fertility in general? Slate the rota- 

 tion of crops, if known. 



13. The same question as to the few years immediately after marling, and since. 



14. What have been the usual and general results of the applications^of marl, on the increase of the 

 crop next following, on land in different conditions — and afterwards to the [iresent time? 



15. Have the earliest fertilizing effects of marl (or the increased product of the first crop, or first 

 Course of crops in the rotation,) been subsequently increased or diminished by lapse ol' time — and in 

 either case, under, and in proportion to, what circumstances? 



16. Is it your opinion, whether founded on experien-ce or observation, that the early increased pro- 

 duct of your marled land (say for the first three or four crops, or of any number you have yet made 

 thereon,) will be subsequently diminished, under any rotation of crops, or course of culiivaiion, that 

 would not have been decidedly exhausting and injurious to the land, if marl had not been applied ? 



17. Has sterility, or other damage, been caused on any part of ihe land, by applying marl too 

 heavily, or in any other manner — and under what circumstances of soil, tillage, &c, ? 



18. Has it been found that any other manure', either vegetable and putrescent, or mineral, are 

 more efficacious, or durable, on poor natural soils after marling them ? 



19. What do you suppose was the average productive power, in corn, per acre, of all your now 

 arable and cultivated land, before marling? 



20. What do you suppose is the present average productive power of the same in corn? 



21. What was the usual or average quantity of the crops of wheat made annually on the farm be- 

 fore marling, and recently? 



22. Taking such general grounds for the estimate as may be satisfactory to your own judgment, 

 state what you suppose to be the annual value of the present general or average gross product of grain, 

 or other marketable products of the fields in cultivation, of the land marled, caused by, and owmg to 

 marlinor— per acre, and also in total amount annually from the vvlrole farm? 



23. Does your experience or observation serve to contradict any of the ioiportant theoretical opi- 



