if orilj' in the waj- of simple justice— better late than never— to a quiet, rural benefactor ? Some 

 such brief memorial may serve at the same time to mark the errors, the variations and the pro- 

 gress of improvements which have attended, in our conntry, the use of one of the greatest re- 

 eonrces provided by Nature to stem the current of exhaustion that must ever accompany the 

 tillage of the earth, when not counteracted by art and the means placed by l^ature vv'ithin the 

 reach of the cultivated and thi)il:in"-husbandman ! 



Silver ELrFF, S. C, Jan. 5th, 184fi. 



Dear Sir: I embrace the earliest opportuni- 

 tj- my other engagements have allowed me, of 

 fulfilling my promise to comply with the request 

 of your Society, to give tliem such information 

 as I possess in regard to marl. I am happy to 

 leam that an interest in this matter has been ex- 

 cited in j'our County, and if in what I am about 

 to saj-, I shall fail to meet all the inquiries which 

 might be made, it will afford me great pleasure 

 to communicate more fully on particular points, 

 at auj' time hereafter. 



Aware of the strong prejudice existing too 

 generally among farmers against everything 

 ne!c in fanning, it may not be amiss forme' to be- 

 gin by sajing that however new to us marling 

 may have been a few years ago. it is in point of 

 fact one of the very oldest agricultural opera- 

 tions of which we have any authentic record. 

 Pliny, who wrote during the first century of our 

 era, mentions marl as having been long in use 

 among the Greeks and al.«oin Gaul and Britain. 

 He de.scribes pretty accurately the appearance 

 of all, or nearly all, the kinds of marl now known. 

 He even specifies the peculiar eflfects of each on 

 soils, and states the length of time these effects 

 were supposed to last, \'ihich was from ten to 

 eighty years, according to the quality of the marl 

 and the land marled. Varro, ^lo wrote a cen- 

 tury before Pliny, mentions having seen fields 

 in Gaul covered with a " white fos.sil clay," and 

 also describes several varieties of marl as in 

 common use. 



Although these writers, because ignorant of 

 the discoveries of modern science, made great 

 blunders in attempting to account for the extra- 

 ordinary influence exerted by this earth on 

 vegetation, and to discriminate between its va- 

 rieties, still it is unquestionable that the "leucar- 

 giUon " of the Greeks, the "fossicia cre'a" of 

 Varro and the " mar^a " of Pliny, were no other 

 than the same kinds of marl we find here, and 

 vi'hich at this day so many enterprising farmers, 

 both in Europe and America, are actively and 

 extensively engaged in spreading over their 

 fields, and which have been continuously u.sed 

 for that purpose more or less from the remotest 

 ages. Marling, then, is certainly no novelty — no 

 untried experiment, that can for a moment be 

 classed among modern humbugs. 



There is no question, however, that the want 

 of chemical knowledge has in time past led to 

 great errors in its application and consequent 

 failures — often to serious injury- from its use. 

 When the element in marl which gives it its 

 chief virtue, and also its certain and its probable 

 chemical action on the soil and its growth, were 

 all unknown, everj' new application of it was to 

 some extent an experiment which might or 

 might not succeed. It is a great proof of its uni- 

 versal value, that so many succeeded as to main- 

 tain it? reputation and consequent use. Mr. Ruf- 

 fin of Virginia, was the first in this country to 

 explain on scientific principles the true nature 

 of marl, its mode of action, and the prope.r man- 

 ner of applying it, and to cany his theory 

 through the ordeal of successful experiment. He 

 is_the founder of the marling system among as, 

 (1143) 



for which he will be long and deservedly ranked 

 among public benefactors. His •• E.^sayon Cal- 

 careous Manure " contains everything that is 

 important to know about marl and marling. 

 Throughout my operations, it has been ray guide, 

 and it is still, 1 believe, far in advance of any- 

 thing that has j-et been published in any coun- 

 try, on the subject. If I thought every rnember 

 of your Society would procure a copy of that 

 Essay, and peru-se it carefully, Imightclose my 

 letter here, by earnestly recommending them to 

 do so. It is with the hope of inducing .some of 

 them to do it, as well as to testify my respect for 

 them, by responding to their inquiry, that I pro- 

 ceed. 



Marl, as coiTectly defined by Mr. Ruffin, and 

 now known in this country, is calcareous earth, 

 that is, earth containing lime. The lime found in 

 it is united for the most part with carbonic acid, 

 and is therefore called carbonate of lime. It 

 sometimes contains lime in other combinations, 

 as sulphate and pV.osphate of lime. Azote has 

 been found in marl also, and magnesia is not un- 

 common. Besides these, it contains sand and 

 clay in various proportions, and occasionally a 

 green sand highly prized as a manure on ac- 

 count of its being rich in potash. All of these 

 constituents are valuable to the farmer. But it 

 is the quantity of carbonate of lime in it which 

 gives its character to marl, and bj' which it is 

 estimated when it is called rich or poor. 



Nothing is more deceptive in appearance, and 

 the most experienced are liable to great mis- 

 takes, if they attempt to estimate its value by the 

 eje, and viithout employing the proper chemical 

 test. There is a rock found in abundance in your 

 County, and which is of great value for other 

 purposes, that has deceived many. It seems to 

 be a ma.ss of shells ; but the fact is, they are onlj- 

 effigies, or casts, from which evci"y particle of 

 lime has been long since washed away, and sand 

 deposited in its place. There is also a fine, soapy 

 earth, u.sual!y of a pale ash color, though some- 

 times darker, that many have regarded as very 

 rich marl. This is what was fomierly, and by 

 foreign writers is still denominated clay marl. 

 It seldom contains much lime, and is generally 

 wholly destitute of it even when found in marl 

 beds. " This soapy feeling is a very uncertain in- 

 dication of lime. Where it is observed in marl, 

 it is usually owing to something else, chiefly to 

 magnesia or alumina. A marl is found whiter 

 and harder than the earth to which 1 refer, but 

 of the same lamellated structure and a somewhat 

 soapy touch, that is exceedingly rich in lime — 

 that at Shell Bluff containing f'O odd per cent, 

 of the carbonate. It yields readily to the knife, 

 crumbles when exposed to a severe freeze, and 

 is altogether the most valuable marl we have. 

 Unfortunately, it is not met with in large quanti- 

 ties in our formation. In our marl beds immense 

 quantities of lar^e shells are generally found. 

 Inexperienced marlers have been known to 

 spread these on their land. But they are of little 

 or no value, unless burned or crushed. They 

 were deposited where they arc found before the 

 human race inhabited the earth, and being for 

 the most part eound yet, will yield little or no 



