THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



521 



the experimental acrea was made however by 

 wagon loads according to the usual plantation 

 estimate, in which there is liberal allowance lor 

 shrinking, &c. Had the whole been measured 

 in the same manner as the experimental acres 

 were, the produce would have appeared greater. 

 I have had this cut planted in corn once belore, I 

 but having been absent the whole year, no account 

 of it was preserved, and 1 do not k,now what it 

 produced. 



1 selected also and laid off separately 4 acres ol' 

 cotton along the turn-row ol the 75 acre cut oi 

 cotton. At the lime i thought them nearly equal 

 in quality, and the one supposed to be the best 

 of these was left unmailed, and 1, 2 and 300 

 bushels of marl spread upon the other three. It 

 turned out however that ihe acre vviih 100 bushels 

 of marl was inlierior to the average of the ciit, 

 and that wiih the 200 bushels about equal toil, 

 while the oiher two were lar superior. 1 was de- 

 ceived by the stalks grown ihe year belore. The 

 two first named acres being somewhat rolling, 

 and the year a wet one, they produced as good 

 cotton as the other two which were tlai. The 

 unraarled acre was not much if any superior to 

 the one marled with 300 bushels, save that ihere 

 was a spot where (odder stacks had stood in 

 1838-9, which produced nearly double the cotton 

 ol' any other spot of the same size in either acre, 

 and added probably 30 lbs. lo the amount gather- 

 ed Irom that acre. The marl on these acres 

 contained, like that on the corn cut, an average of 

 54 per cent, of carbonate ol lime. This land is 

 of the kind commonly known as mulalto soil, and 

 was cleared at least as early as the corn cut. Ii 

 was certainly planted by the Indians in 1740. 

 The following was the analysis of it belore marl- 

 ing, lor which, as well as lor the analjsis of the 

 corn cut, I am indebted to the kindness of Prof. 

 Ellet: 

 Water at 300° ..... 3 



Vegetable matter 4.5 



Silica - - - - - - - 74 



Alumina - - - - - - 14 5 



Oxide of iron . - ... 4 



This cut was not planted until ihe22J April, 

 because it could not be marled belore. A dry 

 spell occurring immediately alter, at the end of 

 two weeks very little cotion had come up except 

 in the unmarled acre in which there was about 

 half a stand. My overseer becoming alarmed in 

 my absence replanted the whole, and threw out 

 the old seed wherever ii had not come up. This 

 was done on the 6th May, so that the crop ol this 

 cut dates from that period, which is at least a 

 month later than I should have preferred. For 

 my experience is that early cotton, like early corn, 

 is almost always the best. I consider the two 

 weeks start which one half the unmarled acre 

 obtained in this instance as of considerable con- 

 sequence to it. These early stalks could be dis- 

 tinguished until the bolls began to open. The 

 ditierence between the marled and un,Tiar!eiJ 

 cotion was as obvious as it was in the corn. The 

 leaf too appeared broader and the sialk stouter 

 from the first. The (bllowing was the production 

 of these four acres. I slate the produnion of all, 

 though that of the 1 and 200 bushels acres 

 ought not to be compared with that of the other 

 two, on account of the relative inferiority of 

 the 9oil. 



The unmarled acre 1111 lbs. in the seed. 



Marled do at 100 bushels, 846 " ''• 



" '< at 200 " 1003 " " 



" » at 300 " 1318 " " 



The difference between Ihe unmarled acre and 

 that wnh 300 bushels of marl was 17.7 per cent, 

 in lavor of the latter. It would have been greater 

 perhaps any other year than this, which has been 

 almo5i as lavorable for cotton as corn. The ave- 

 rage production of the whole 75 acres was 966 

 lbs. per acie. I have had this cut in cotion 10 

 ol the last twelve years ; in corn 1, and in oats 1, 

 and Ihe lollowing is a statement of its production 

 ol cotton lor 6 of the 10 years ; ihal of the other 

 years not having been preserved. 

 1833 average pr. acre. in seed 731 lbs. manured lightly. 



1534 " " " 784 " 



1835 " " " 951 " manured lightly. 



1535 « - " " 451 " 

 1S40 " " " 4Si7 " 



1841 • " " " 500 " manured. 



1842 " " " 966 " marled. 



The oiher 50 acre cut of marled land was 

 planted in cotton on the lOih April. It came up in 

 good lime and was a fine stand. This is also 

 a light gray soil, with less clay than the mulatto 

 land, and less sand than Ihe corn cut. It is pro- 

 bably as old as either, and has been cultivated in 

 much the same way. Alihough planied 10 days 

 later than some other fields, and alter all of ihem 

 except ihe 75 acre cut, it soon appeared to be 

 the oldest cotton and certainly matured the ear- 

 liest of any. Immediately alter the cold weather, 

 about the 1st August, the rust commenced in it, 

 and by the 20th of that month it had the appear- 

 ance ol a field alt«r Irost. Forms, small bolls, and 

 even the leaves dropped. Most persons who saw it 

 thought it had been cut oil one half I think my- 

 selj ii sutiered 10 the extent of one fourih at least. 

 Bull have made on this cut this year 840 lbs. 

 of seed cotion, which is nearly 50 per cent, more 

 than 1 ever made on it before. The following is 

 the average of its production for 4 other years. 



1833 average pr acre in seed 569 lbs. manured 



1834 « « « 435 " 



1840 " " " 368 " 



1841 « " " 366 " manured lightly, 



1842 " " " 840 " marled. 



I think the injury from the rust nearly or quite 

 equal to the benefit derived from the favorable 

 season. And that ihe increase from the marl 

 was greater on this cui than an\' other, because 

 the earliest marled and most seasonably planted. 

 The rust here was more injurious than in any 

 other field, and I might have attributed it to the 

 marl, but that the 75 acre cut also marled suffered 

 least of all. I am inclined lo think that the most 

 advanced cotton was most affected, and the young- 

 est least ; and that marl had no influence one way 

 or the other. It is worthy of remaik, that while 

 all my other cotton suffered from lice and the 

 worm both, neither made their appearance on the 

 marled land. 



I have troubled you wi'h this lengthy detail of 

 my operations, because this being ihe first serious 

 experiment with marl in South Carolina (that I 

 know of) it may he interesting to those who 

 have ihis earth within their reach, lo know the 

 particulars. From the facts I have stated, each 

 one can form his opinion on nearly as good data 

 as 1 can my own. I can only add ihat my ex- 

 pectations lor the first year have been lully an- 



