488 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



the same manure. When libandoned it would 

 produce nothing but weeds, and finally coarse or 

 Elunted grasses ; for the light, particles of'soils hav- 

 ing been carried below by the action of rnin, 

 which leaves only the coarser ones upon the sur- 

 face, some other grasses appear, and these prepare 

 the soil to again yield wheat, which wiihout lime, 

 manures, and a certain succession, the iand would 

 again become unproductive to the cultivator. I 

 find on my farm, that whatever I put on it that is 

 foreign to the soil, and is not poisonous, improves 

 it either directly or indirectly. Hence the great 

 advantage of continuously deeper ploughing, 

 which I have practised from the beginning now 

 twelve years. It is certain that change is good for 

 man and the whole class of animals ; it is so for 

 plants, and for soils to be productive they must 

 undergo a change likewise ; and thus mixtures of 

 earths, manures, green crops, saline substances to 

 act as condiments or stimulants, gaseous absorb- 

 ents, like charcoal, &c., are beneficial. In a paper 

 which was published in the Journal of the Aca- 

 demy of Philadelphia, 1828, I there mentioned 

 that the marl of New Jersey and Delaware yield- 

 ed but an inconsiderable portion of carbonate of 

 lime, and that it appeared to owe its fi-rlilizing 

 property to a small quantity of iron pyrites, which 

 passes to sulphate of iron by exposure to the air, 

 and also to animal matter, to its color, and to its 

 efTecte, when mixed with sand, of dimirishing the 

 calorific conducting power of the latter. I was 

 then not aware of the potash which was contain- 

 ed in it, or should have noticed it. 



In the Report which I recently published, in 

 Albany, under the head of " soils," are these 

 words : " Certain earthy mixtures which contain 

 no nutriment, such as the marl of New Jersey, pos- 

 sess a highly fertilizing qualify, the efficient cause 

 of which is yet unknown, (or it cannot be the potash 

 contained therein, as was formerly supposed, since 

 in that case micaceous or primary soils would be 

 more productive than they are. Too little attention, 

 it seems to me, has hitherto been given to the ef- 

 fects developed by the action of the sun's rays on 

 different colored particles in the soil : the white par- 

 ticles producing reflection in excess, may give rise 

 to a repellent force ; while the darker colored ones, 

 being less reflective, receive the full influence of 

 the calorific ones, and thereby evolve that force 

 connected with combination. By the assiduous 

 Bludy of the law of these tvvo forces which have a 

 close analogy to the po^\ers of life, we would 

 probably do more to remove the difficulty in ques- 

 tion, than by following any course hitherto pur- 

 sued." 



With respect to potash, I must state that in a 

 more recent conversation with Professor Booth he 

 intbrmed me that carbonic acid would separate 

 the alkali (rom the marl, which consequenily gives 

 the marl an advantage over micaceous soils, as 

 respects potash, the mica requiring a much strong- 

 er acid to act upon it. 



This letter is written as a kind of interchannre 

 for what you sent me. Should any part other than 

 those which are a reply to your letter be of use to 

 you as an editor, they are at your service, but will 

 require your aid to be fitted for publication. The 

 information you ask for, I take lor granted you 

 wish to publish, though that may require some 

 alteration as to manner. With great respect, 

 Lardncr Vanuxem. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



A STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF ACRES OF 

 r>AIVD WHICH HAD BEEN MARLED IN THE 

 COUNTY OF KING WILLIAM, AT THE TIME 

 OF TAKING THE CENSUS IN 1840. 



Showing the amount marled by each person. 



ACRES. ACHES. ACRES. ACHES. ACRES. 

 16 

 100 



40 



150 



2 



50 

 100 



80 



30 

 300 

 100 



10 



20 



14 

 300 



75 



Total 7800 acres. 



A true copy, from the books of George N, 

 Powell, the peison by whom the census was 

 taken in 1840. Hardin B. Littlepage. 



7800 acres. 



In addition to the above amount, 

 the (bllovving persons were not 

 enumerated : 



Maj. Dabney, up to 1840, had marled 



James Fox, Upper Farm, 

 " " Queenfield, 



Mr.'Lalane - - - . _ 



Mr. Berkeley, .... 



Wm. Ryland, - . . . 



Mrs. S. Tuck, .... 



Edward Hill, . . . . 



John F. McGeorge, . . . 



Dr. Nelson, - . . . . 



Col. B. F. Dabney, . 



Dr. Corbin Braxton, ... 



Wilson C. Peraberton. 



9370 

 Above you will see, by an extract of Mr. Har- 

 din B. Littlepage, from the books of Mr. George 

 N. Powell, who was the census taker for this 

 county, that the number of persons who had marl- 

 ed land up to June 1840, were 76; and the number, 

 of acres marled were 7800. In addition to these, 

 there were 13 farmers who were not requested by 

 Mr. Powell to state how much iand was marled, 

 the extent of whose marling was 1570 acres ; 

 making in the agsregate 89 persons who had 

 used marl up to 1840, and the extent of whose 

 marling was 9370 acres. Since 1840 I suppose 

 almost as much land has been marled as was 

 marled prior to that time. I regret that Mr. Lit- 

 tlepage did not set down the names of the persons 

 as I have done. 



You can give in your own words the result of 

 the above in the November Register, 1 request- 

 ed Mr. Powell to take the census of the marled 

 lands in the county, in consequence of yourcircu- 

 cular, asking information on the subject. 



Wm. Spotswood Fontaine. 



