secure, by this means, a new coat of decaying- 

 vegetation to start with. So new grounds should 

 be marled the Krst year ; if marled before clear- 

 ing it would bo better still. Very old and ex- 

 hausted land should be rested two years previ- 

 ously to marling ; and, in all cases' thin knolls 

 .should, if possible, be manured when marled. 

 But a little experience will furnish you the best 

 guides in this regard : you will soon discover 

 all the dangers, and learn to apply all the 

 remedies. 



Experience will also teach yoti, in a very short 

 time, the best and most convenient methods of 

 digging, carting and spreading marl. There 

 are some difficulties connected ■with digging 

 fi-oni marl pits, which, with the means of over 

 coming them, are stated in Mr. Ruflin's work. 

 They aric^c chiefly from water, which must be 

 drained oft', or pumped out, according to cir- 

 cumstances. I have no experience on this 

 point. My marl is cut from the face of the cliff 

 at Shell Biuff". It is estimated that if a stratum of 

 marl is li feet thick, lO feet of covering may be 

 removed to procure it, without hazarding too 

 much. But should you find marl, you need not 

 apprehend much danger of working through it. 

 The great formation, of which it is a part, is of 

 unknown depth. Over 100 feet of it is exposed 

 at Shell Bluft"; it has been penetrated more 

 than 300 feet in Charleston. 



In hauling out marl, the most economical 

 method is to use carts v^ ith two mules or horses. 

 In a cart properly made, they will-<haul 18 bush- 

 els at a load as easily as one mule \vill haul 6. 

 The carts should be made \vith three shafts, so 

 as to divide the weight of the load equally be- 

 tween the mules, and the tread of the wheels 

 should be 4 inches^axletrees of iron. In put- 

 ting on 100 bushels to the acre, the land should 

 be divided by furrows into squares 28 yards 

 each way. This will give 6 to the acre. A 

 load of IS bushels to each square will rather ex- 

 ceed 100 bushels per acre, but some will always 

 be lost. The full effect of marl cannot be felt 

 until it is thoroughly mixed with the soil. 

 Hence, the first year, little is to be expected 

 from it, and it seldom reaches its maximum un- 

 til the fourth crop — not always then. Its effects 

 may be hastened, and, what is also important, 

 rendered equal, by spreading it with regularity 

 over the land. It is best, therefore, to .sow it 

 broadcast with the hand. Each laborer should 

 take his square and spread the pile, using a tray 

 or board to assist him. A hand will spread 9 

 piles of 18 bushels each in a day. 



The distance to which marl may be carted 

 depends altogether upon circumstances — one of 

 which is the quality of the marl ; another, that 

 of the land ; others, the facilities for digging, 

 state of the road.'<, &.c. Along the coa.st of Scot- 

 land, it is transi>orted by sea from 80 to 100 

 miles. 1 have been very recently informed 

 that at a single marl bank on James River in 

 Virginia, 10 rigged lighters are now engaged 

 in delivering marl to a distance of from 8 to 20 

 miles up and down the river, receiving 3 cents 

 per bushel for it, though it is much inferior to 

 ours in quality. The marl I use averages about 

 60 per cent, of carbonate of lime. I cut the 

 whole of it down at Shell Bluff, and boat it 12 

 miles up the Savannah River, re-land and cart 

 it. 1 have marled about 700 acres within a mile 

 of my laniling here ; but I have hauled some 

 marr4 miles, and have spread it on about SOO 

 acres, the nearest part of which is over three 

 miles from the river. This is of course very ex- 

 ,1263) 



pensive; but I think it profitable, notwithstand- 

 ing. If I could lay down any rule to regulate 

 the cost of marling, it would be this : That where, 

 land is deficient in lime, it would be a safe op- 

 eration to expend an amount equal to the pres- 

 j ent value of it, if .so much should be necessary 

 to marl it sufficiently. This rule I suggest upon 

 the principle that it would be profitable to pay 

 twice for land, if you could thereby double it« 

 production without materially increasing the 

 cost of cultivation. 



You will naturally inquire whether any one 

 might reasonably calculate on doubling the pro- 

 duction of his land by marling. I believe he; 

 may, if the marl is judiciously applied and the 

 proper system of after-cultivation adopted. I 

 have seen but few statements of the actual re- 

 .sidts of marling in Europe. It is said in general 

 terms to produce a great increase, though occa- 

 sionally it is mentioned that tlie crops were 

 doubled. So perfectly established is the use of 

 lime and marl there, that every one who can 

 procure them uses them as a matter of cour.se. 

 It is not considered an experiment, and tables 

 of results are not therefore given — at least I have 

 seen none. A few years ago, Mr. Ruflin ad- 

 dressed interrogatories touching the effect of 

 mai'l as exhibited in the crops to a number of 

 the most respectable farmers of Virginia, -who 

 had used it, and received answers from twenty- 

 two, many of v^hom had marled extensively 

 and for a number of years past. These answers 

 were published in the Farmer's Register and in 

 Mr. Huffin's Report of his Agricultural Survey 

 of South Carolina. Their marl was of various 

 qualities, applied in various amounts per acre, 

 and on different kinds of laud, which had been 

 subjected generally to vei-j' severe cropping be- 

 fore. No one of these estimated the increase of 

 his crops from marling at less than double, and 

 .some of them rated it as high as 400 per cent. 

 I have no doubt that, under favorable circum- 

 stances and good management, the last-men- 

 tioned increase, enormous as it is, may be often 

 realized. The prospect, however, of doubling 

 the crop with rea.sonable certainty, is promise 

 enough, one would think, to .set everj' one to marl- 

 ing who can do it w^ithin the cost I have men- 

 tioned. I have not myself yet doubled my own 

 crop with the use of marl, nor might the practical 

 results of it, ^vhich I ought to state, be so strik- 

 ing to a careless observer as he might expect, af- 

 ter all I have said on the subject. They satisfy 

 me, however; and I feel perfectly certain that 

 in a .short time the crops on all the land I plant 

 will be at least doubled, from the effects of marl 

 alone, and much more than doubled in conse- 

 quence of other additional applications I am 

 making. I commenced marling in November, 



1841. I marled only 175 acres for the crop of 



1842. the results of which I reported to our State 

 Agricultural Society, as I did those of 184:), on 

 the .same land. They were jiubli.shed, and 

 some of you may have seen them ; I will, there- 

 fore, only repeat the tabular statement of those 

 years, and add to it that of the pas', year. In 

 1844, these lands rested. The experiment 

 marked No. 1 was made on mulatto land lying 

 on the river bluff, which in appearance, and 

 perhaps in most other resiiccts, is much the 

 same as the best upland cotton soils in your 

 County which have been as long in cultivation. 

 Experiment No. 2 was on li;.'ht, sandy soil ; the 

 sand is vei-y fine, but, altogether, the soil is infe- 

 rior as any, probably, that you plant in cotton. 

 I could scarcely have selected lands lees calca- 



