620 



TriE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



examined it some years ago (see Farmers' Re- 

 gister, vol. vii. p. 70, and also vol, x, p. 487) disco- 

 vered 14 varieties of marl, varying in quality from 

 37.2 10 93.4 per cent, of-carbonaie of litne. In 

 using the marl I have excluded the inj'erior as 

 much as possible, and have not (bund the very 

 best in any great quantity. I tested the quantity 

 of carbonate of lime in one specimen taken at 

 random I'rom each boat load brought up this sum- 

 mer, and (bund the average of 34 loads to be 62.8 

 per cent, varying from 51 to 77. In every speci- 

 men there wac a email proportion oC oxide ot iron 

 and clay and sand, usually in about equal quan- 

 tities. There were, no doubt, other component 

 parts which I did not ascertain ; but I satisfied 

 myself that there was.neiiher gypsum nor mag- 

 nesia. The marl presents various appearances, 

 being in color, while, brown, olive, yel'ow and 

 violet, and in consistency (rom sand to soft stone. 

 Some oC it appears to bf. a concretion of ehellsj 

 Irom a size scarcely visible to the naked eye to 

 an inch in diameter. There i-s no hard limestone, 

 and it is dout)trul whether any of thti marl here 

 will make lime, though it is an excellent cement. 

 Much of that which I have used has been cut 

 jrom the lace of the did' with pick-axes. It falls 

 down sometimes in fine grains, sometimes in 

 masses. At every handling it breaks up finer, 

 and exposure to the air assists disiniegration. I 

 do not burn or pound it, or use any preparation 

 whatever, but spread it as I get ii. Whersit 

 was spread last winter, an observer would readily 

 discover it, and lumps as large as an egg, and 

 occasionally much larger, are to be seen. A 

 mere passer by, however, would not notice that 

 the land had been marled. At every working 

 it is more and more mixed with the soil. But I 

 imagine it will be several years before it is com- 

 pletely combined with it, and until then the full 

 effect of this marl cannot be known. A difference 

 was apparent in this crop between the effects ol 

 that spread early in February and that spread in 

 the latter part of April. , 



By the 22d of April last, I had marled 175 

 acres at the rate of 200 bushels to the acre. Of 

 these I planted 50 acres in corn on the 17ih 

 March, 50 acres in cotton on the 10th April, and 

 76 acres in cotton on the 22 ] Aprd. These three' 

 cuts are in the same field, and adjoining, being 

 separated only by turn-rows, yet the soils vary 

 considerably. 



In the corn, I laid off 4 separate acres along 

 the turn-rntv, as nearly equal in quality as poesi^ 

 ble. The one supposed to be the best was left 

 without marl. The others were marled with 

 one, two and three hundred bushels respectively. 

 It was all of the same boat load, and contained 

 54 per cent, of carbonate of lime. This land has 

 been in cultivation more than one hundred years. 

 I have planted it myself 11 of the last 12 "years, 

 and sowed it in oats the other year. I have given 

 it three light coats of mafnire, the last in 1839, It 

 is a light, gray, sandy soil, of ivhich the fulloiving 

 was the analysis before marling, viz. 

 Water lost at 300° - - - 2 per cent. 

 Vegetable matter - - . 3 



Silica 80 



Alumina - - - . . n 



Oxide of iron ... - 2 



Jjoas 2 



^100 



This rut was in cotton last year, and my ex- 

 pectation was that with common seasons it would 

 produce 12 bushels of corn per acre. And had 

 I Bot kept the unm-ried. acre as a lest, I should 

 ha.ve set down all jjver that quantity to the credit 

 of the marl. The corn came up badly, and suf- 

 fered by the birds. The lour experimental acres 

 were cultivated precisely as the rest of the cut, 

 and were (listinguisned only by the posts which 

 marked the corners of eacii acre. From the first 

 however' I he marled corn exhibited a different 

 appearance. It was stou'cr and oi' a much deeper 

 color. As the season advanced, the difference 

 became greater. The marled corn was as dark a 

 green tis swamp corn usually is. The fodder 

 was pulled on the 3d Augnst, and after hanging 

 two days and a half on the stalk in dry and rather 

 windy weather, weighed as Ibllows : 



Increase, Per cent. 



Unmarled acre 250 lbs 



Marled, at 100 bushels 2-^5 " 35 lbs. 14 

 " " 200 " 314 " 64 "- 25.6 

 " " 300 " 261 " 11 '' - 4.4 



The corn was. gathered on the 24th October, 

 being thoroughly cjry aod having shrunk as much 

 as it would in the field. There appeared to be 

 little Oi' no difference in point ol soundness. It 

 was shucked clean and measured in a barrel. 

 The unmarled corn shelled out 2 quarts less to 

 the bariel than the marled. The following was 

 the result : 



Increase. Percent. 



Unmarled acre ' 17 bush. 



Marled, at 100 bushels 21 •' 4 23.5 



" " 200 " 21 " 4 235 



" " 300 " 18| " H- 8.8 



From this it would appear that 100 bushels of 

 marl was as efficacious as 200, and perhaps in 

 such land as this such may be the /act. It ap- 

 pears also probable that 300 bushels to the acre 

 is too much. I ouaht howeyer to state that this 

 last acre had a slight sink in the centre, and that 

 the slopes around it are much thinner than the 

 average land. These constitute about one-fifth 

 of the acre, and were evidently injured by the 

 marl. It was a bad seleciion for the heaviest 

 marling; but at the time it was made I did not 

 suppose, judijing by the rales at, which they marl- 

 ed in Viriiinia, that 300 bushels would injure any 

 land. My (ear now is that 200 bushels may 

 prove too much for soil like this ; a id I have ac- 

 cordingly determined to put only 150 bushels on 

 the acre hereafter, umil I see its (iirther effects. 

 This has been a remarkably productive season for 

 corn. I think the unmarled acre in this cut 

 made at least 5 bushels nn^re than it would have 

 done o( an avejage y'ar. I presume the marled 

 acres have done so likewise. But whether it 

 would be fair to aitrihnte any of the 4 bushels 

 increased 10 the peculiarity of the season operat- 

 ing on the marl I am whol'y unable to decide. 

 Supposing the increase from the season to be the 

 same on the marled and- unmarled land, and 

 deducting 5 bushels from the produce of each 

 acre there will be 33.^ per cent, in favor of the ten 

 best marled acres. This however is all con- 

 jecture. The average per acre of this whole cut 

 was 18 bushels. The measurement of all but 



