IX.] MARLING 297 



earlier volumes of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society contain numerous accounts, showing how much 

 land was brought into cultivation by these means in 

 the first half of the nineteenth century. 



" He that marls sand may buy the land, 

 He that marls moss shall suffer no loss, 

 But he that marls clay flings all away." 



The usual practice in Norfolk was to open pits down 

 to the marl or clay, dig and spread it at the rate of 

 50 to 150 loads to the acre on a clover ley or turnip 

 fallow. In some cases trenches were opened all along 

 the field, and the clay thrown out on either side. By 

 the action of the weather, drying and wetting, followed 

 by frost, the clay comes into a condition to be harrowed 

 down, after which it can be ploughed into the ground. 



The effect of marling or claying is more evident after 

 a year or two than at once, because the fine particles 

 become each year more thoroughly incorporated with 

 the soil. The effects are to be seen in increased crops, the 

 production of better leys and pastures, greater resistance 

 to drought, and particularly an increased stiffness in the 

 straw where manures are used to grow the crop. 



Marl containing carbonate of lime is always far more 

 valuable than clay ; pure clay is so little friable, and 

 so sterile itself, that it effects an improvement only 

 slowly; marl not only ameliorates the texture but 

 adds at once a supply of carbonate of lime, potash 

 compounds, and in some cases phosphoric acid also. 

 Clay and marl both have a tendency to sink, and 

 eventually require renewing, but if well done will last 

 for thirty to fifty years, because the accumulation of 

 humus and fibrous root-remains, due to the increased 

 crops, itself binds the soil together. 



At the present day the need of marling or claying 



