THE FARMERS' REGISTER 



385 



cene. On ihe river, in email quanfitieg, is also 

 found the eocene, varying from 50 to 80 per cent, 

 of carbonate of lime. This marl is very valua- 

 ble, and to a small extent has been and ia still 

 carried by water to some of Ihe neighboring 

 counties. The most usual mode ol" applyin;sj marl 

 pursued is on the field to come into corn, and be- 

 fore the breaking of the land. The rale is depend- 

 ent on both the strength of the land, and that ot 

 the marl, being directly proportional to the lormer 

 and inversely to the latter. liund also containing 

 much vegetable matter, as new grounds or wood- 

 land, will stand a much heavier dressing than old 

 reduced land. On an average, 250 to 350 bushels 

 to the acre may be set down as the usual rate. In 

 marling pine old fields, the trees are merely belted 

 by some ol' our most judicious farmers, and as 

 much as possible of the vegetable matter allowed 

 to rot on the land, instead of being burned off'. It 

 has been found the longer such land can be 

 marled, before being brought under culture, the 

 greater the benefit derived from the application. 

 Green-sand, or gypseous earth, is another 

 mineral begmning to attract general attention. 

 It is found in great abundance on the river, under- 

 lying the marl, and recently it has been discovered 

 in several localities in the interior ol" the county. 

 It is believed to be the same as the green-sand 

 of New Jersey, except that it belongs lo a more 

 recent geological Ibrmation. This earth has been 

 frequently described in the Farmers' Register, 

 under the different names of gypseous earth and 

 green-sand. Its value as a manure has yet to be 

 fully tested. It has never been applied except to 

 very limited extent and on very few farms, for the 

 Bake of experiment. Some of the applications 

 have been highly beneficial Ic the clover crop, 

 while others have as signally failed. It is hoped 

 that the several interesting experiments, under- 

 taken this year by members of our society, will 

 ehed some light on this subject. 



Gypsum (sulphate of lime) is found in consi- 

 derable quantities in the green- sand deposites, 

 particularly at Evergreen, where large and beau- 

 ful crystals are lound in abundance. 



Water. — There is no lack of good water in al- 

 most every section of the county. Cattle no 

 where suffer (or want of water. 



ii. General management of land. — Here, as 

 elsewhere in lower Virginia, before the introduc- 

 tion of calcareous manures, -!he usual amount of 

 crops was kept up by annual clearings of new 

 land. The introduction of a piece of new land 

 was attended with the abandonment of a portion 

 of the old. When brought into cultivation, so 

 long as the soil appeared by its scanty returns to 

 repay the farmer lor a wretched and 'stinted cul- 

 ture, BO long, year after year, was it made to pro- 

 duce its lessening crops. When all semblance of 

 remuneration even bad disappeared, it was then 

 turned out to grow up in pines, and more virgin 

 land substituted in its stead, to undergo in its 

 turn the same scourging process, and lo be itself 

 impoverished without enriching its owner. Marl, 

 the great renovater, has however produced a 

 marked revolution. These abandoned old fields 

 are now considered valuable land, and when 

 marled become under good management perma- 

 nently productive. Where marl is introduced, 

 we hear no more of turning out land or of emi- 

 gration to the west. 

 Vol. X.— 49 



At one time tobacco was our principal market 

 crop. After its culture was abandoned, grain 

 next became the object of attention. The most 

 usual system of rotation then adopted by those 

 considered the best farmers, was one of three 

 years— 1st, corn, 2d, wheat or oats, and 3d, pas- 

 ture. !n too many cases, a grain crop (alternately 

 corn and wheat, or oats) was taken every year. 

 The scourging effects of both plans were as 

 plainly evident as the (brmer exhausting culture 

 of tobacco. After ' Arator' appeared, many of his 

 (bllowers added a fourth year to their rotation, 

 taking only two grain crops in the (our years. 

 With the appearance of 'Arator' may be dated the 

 dawn of agricultural improvement in our section 

 of the Slate. He had many and enthusiastic fol- 

 lowers who adopted hi:3 enclosing and four-field 

 systems ; and although by too strict an observance 

 of his principles, under circumstances in which 

 they were by no means applicable, olteniimes se^ 

 riouB injury was sustained, yet tide-water Virginia 

 owes John Taylor ol Caroline a lasting debt of 

 gratitude. 



The management on the marled or improved 

 land lying principally in the river section of the 

 county, and on the unmarled lands which lie princi- 

 pally in the outer part ol the county, is so different 

 that each section must be taken separately. 



1. On ihe unmarled lands. Size of larms va- 

 ries (rom 150 to 500 acres. Rotation generally of 

 three years, corn, oats and grazing ; in some cases 

 a grain crop every year. The land is light, and 

 too thin for the profitable production of wheat. 

 The farmers find a ready market in Petersburg 

 lor their little surplus corn and oats. Their corn 

 culture may be detailed in a i'ew words. The 

 land is broken up late in the spring with one-horse 

 turning ploughs. The corn is planted in latter 

 part of April or first of May, in checks of lour feet 

 each way, and when considered sale, thinned to 

 one plant to each hill. The cultivation consists of 

 ploughing thre'e or four times with trowel hoes, 

 alternately lengthwise and crosswise. Also the 

 hand-hoes pass over the crop two or three times, 

 hilling each time. The fodder is pulled and tops 

 cut. The yield in corn scarcely averages 10 

 bushels to the acre. In March the oats are sown 

 on the corn land of the previous year, and 

 ploughed under with the one-horse mould-board 

 plough. Sometimes a harrow is passed over the 

 field to level it. The ploughing lor each crop is 

 shallow and imperlectly executed. With a lew 

 eminent exceptions, the spirit of improvement has 

 not yet been lelt. Little or no attention is paid to 

 the colleciion and application of putrescent ma- 

 nures, and there is no doubt that the lands are 

 ati'nually deterioratini?. 



2. Marled lands. — Here your committee are gra- 

 tified lo be able to present a more pleasing picture. 

 The lands are in a rapid state of improvement, 

 better systems of farming have been introduced, 

 and altogether agriculture is advancing with ra- 

 pid strides. The farmers too have improved, as 

 well as their lands; a necessary result. They no 

 lonirer follow blindly in the footsteps of their fore- 

 fathers, but each man thinks for himself, so that 

 on every farm there is some peculiarity of ma- 

 nagement, of tillage, or of improvement not else- 

 where found. The general management of land, 

 however, is much the same. Many, if not most 

 of these lands were once the meanest in tha 



