MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW JERSEY. 193 



I hope, in the few remarks I make, to clear my own mind on 

 the subject, and perhaps give a little zest to it in the minds 

 of those who listen to me. 



There is no doubt that the subject is comparatively a new 

 one, so far as the use of any fertilizers — except those we make 

 upon the farm — is concerned. The subject of phosphates, 

 which was considered yesterday, is a comparatively new one 

 to us ; but the whole subject of commercial fertilizers has been 

 left, like Mohammed's coffin, hanging in the air, — for Prof. 

 Stockbridge has not concluded his experiments, and we 

 learned nothing yesterday as to the mode in which he made 

 those materials, the results of which he described. But are 

 there not other places where they are using materials of a 

 similar nature? The State of New Jersey, once looked upon 

 as a barren State, politically and agriculturally, and con- 

 sidered somewhat out of the Union, has an area only five 

 hundred square miles more than Massachusetts, yet it has two 

 hundred and forty thousand more acres of productive land 

 than we have in Massachusetts. Its waste lands are about 

 equal to those of this State. Its farms are appraised about 

 two and a half per cent, higher than the farms of Massachu- 

 setts, and are estimated to increase in value ten per cent, 

 every ten years. Its farm-products are one-third greater, and 

 its orchard-products are about one-third greater. There are, 

 probably, a good many reasons for this progress in the agri- 

 cultural welfare of the State of New Jersey. One is the 

 propinquity of the city of New York, which affords the 

 farmers of that State a large market. Another is the large 

 number of wealthy city-people who live there, who have spent 

 a great deal of money on important improvements. But, I 

 apprehend, when the matter comes to be investigated, it will 

 be found that a great deal of the agricultural prosperity of the 

 State is owing to the utilization of beds of marl. It is known 

 that that State is rich in this underlying material, and of late 

 years it has been used in large quantities. I judge that when 

 we get the reports of their geological professors, who are 

 investigating that subject, it will be found that the produc- 

 tiveness of those lands is owing in great measure to the free 

 use of this material. Now, when we can use the material, 

 which was spoken of yesterday, on our farms, in the same 



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