384 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



eame character, make up into its noriliern section 

 Irom James river, and are worihy ol' notice as 

 contributmg with their tributary etreamlets, to 

 render the river poriion of the county broken and 

 hilly. The dividing ridjre between the waters 

 flowing into the James and those flowing into 

 Blackwater is anotlier important feature in the 

 surface of the county, and like ail the dividing 

 ridges in lower Virginia is nearly level. Its 

 general course is east and west, and its elevation 

 above tide probably one hundred feet. In it or 

 near it, all the small streams take their rise, run- 

 ning northward into James river or southward 

 into Blackwatcr. This ridge may be not inaptly 

 termed the back bone, and tlie secondary ridges 

 or spurs, running out on each side nearly at right 

 angles, the rit)s of the skeleton of (he northern 

 section oT the county. Towards -James river, 

 these spurs run out at nearly an equal elevation 

 vvitii the main ridge", while the ravines and creeks 

 which separate them rapidly fall lo the level of 

 tide, so that this whole section, it will be readily 

 seen, is varied and broken, presenting a picture 

 ol" strips of level ridge land, with abrupt and 

 steep hill sides, and separated by deep ravines. 

 Such bottoms are generally narrow, and the 

 spurs ol the main ridge extend quite to the river 

 bank, so that but little alluvial formation, with 

 one or two remarkable exceptions, suoh as Jor- 

 dan's Point and Brandon Neck, is any where 

 /bund. The level ol JBIackwaier is considerably 

 higher than thatol James river, and hence the 

 slopes to it from the ridges on either hand are 

 much more gently undulating. On the south 

 of this stream, which is very sluggish from having 

 but little lall, the lace of the couniry may be de- 

 scribed as level. 



The lew low-grounds to be met with are gene- 

 rally on the smaller stieams in the interior. They 

 are very limited in extent and rarely well drained. 

 The marshes on James river lie too low to be 

 successlully reclaimed, and are the fruitful sources 

 of miasma, which causes autumnal diseases. 

 In some localities, particularly lavorable, these 

 marshes have been reclaimed and cultivated lor 

 a lew years, but wiihout an exception they have 

 been again given up to the waste ol waters, from 

 the gradual but not the less certain decay of the 

 vegetable matter, of which ail such soils are 

 principally composed. None of the extensive 

 swamps on the main stream of Blackwater have 

 ever yet been reclaimed, and until by some act 

 of legislation the stream itself is properly opened, 

 a large amount of otherwise valuable land will 

 for ever be lost to agriculture. 



Soil. — Oinitling the small alluvial bodoms just 

 referred to, a lew cases of fine neutral loam on the 

 river, and the still more rare and restricted spots 

 of calcareous soil, occasionally occurring along 

 the shelf of the river bank, the soil throughout 

 the county is either acid or a free light soil. The 

 former occurs oa the ridges, while tl:e latter is 

 found in the slopes, such is tli^ case with the 

 main ridge and all its spurs. The sleep sides of 

 these spurs as they approach the river, improve 

 in quality, producing hickory and. dogwood. The 

 original growth of the acid land is principally 

 short-leafed pine, (intermixed with oak on the 

 elifTer portions,) and black-jack oak with a copious 

 undergrowth of whortleberry bushes. The soil 

 varies in all degrees from very light to very stiff, 



much the greater portion of the surface of the 

 county, say three fourths, being light. The acid 

 soil was originally verj' poor, and must have ever 

 continued so without the application of calcareous 

 matter. In fact such land is not now considered 

 as worth the cost of clearing, unless accessible to 

 marl or lime. Under cidiuie, its product in grain 

 was meager indeed, and alter a lew years contest 

 with its viijorous crops of sorrel, it was generally 

 turned out to put up in old-field pines. As poor 

 as the soil was constituted by nature, however, 

 the hand of man seems to have been actively em- 

 ployed in reducing it still lower in the scale of 

 poverty. Thousands of acres after having been 

 cleared and tilled year nfier year, till completely 

 exhausted, have been given up as worthless, or in 

 common parlance " turned out." Even the good 

 lands which nature had located on the streams 

 had shared much the same late, until heart-sick 

 and despondent, the farmer turned his eyes to 

 the rich soils of the west, and prepared to leave 

 the home of his fathers r.nd the scenes of his own 

 youthful associations. Such was the exhausted 

 condition of the soil, and such the general slate 

 of feeling when the general and important dis- 

 covery was made, that our pine barrens and ex- 

 hausted hill sides contained within their own 

 bosoms the means of their resuscitation. For 

 one ol'our own citizens and farmers, we are proud 

 to claim the merit of the discovery of the virtue, 

 and of the practical illustration of the benefits 

 of marl applied to our lands. This brings us to 

 the consideration of the subject of 



Minerals. — Marl was first applied by Mr. 

 Ednmiid Kuffin, on the Cogizins Point farm, 25 

 years ago. Guided alone by principles of theory 

 in this new and obscure pursuit, he committed 

 errors, which time and experience alone could 

 have enabled the experimenter to avoid, which 

 tended much to increase the existing doubts of 

 his friends and neighbors. The highly beneficial 

 etlects of marl were Hot long however in develop- 

 ing themselves, and from that time to this it has 

 been steadily winning iis way more and more 

 each year lo the favor of all interested in the 

 tillage of the earth. A little experience has cor- 

 rected many early errors, and a greater economy 

 of application, with greater and more certain 

 benefit, may now every where be seen. 



In vol. viii No. 8 of the Farmers' Register, we 

 have the concurrent testimony of a number of 

 our best and mo~t practical farmers on this subject. 

 They tell us that the first crop alter an application 

 of marl is usually increased from 50 to 100 per cent, 

 that this increased power of production in the land 

 continues to increase annually, and that under a 

 judicious system of farming, this additional fer- 

 tility will never be lost, and that putrescent ma- 

 nures are both more cflicacious and durable than 

 before the marling. 



Marl is Ibund very jrenerally throughout the 

 county, of a quality sufficiently rich, and in loca- 

 lities sufBcienily convenient to induce its applica- 

 tion. Between Bayley's and Powell's creeks oa 

 the river, and in all the bottoms and ravines emp- 

 tying their waters into them, it is especially found 

 in abundance. Also on Blackwater and its tribu- 

 taries. The marl which is most common, varies 

 from 35 to 60 per cent, of carbonate of lime, gene- 

 rally of a blue or yellow color, and belongs to the 

 formation known amongst geologists as the mio- 



