<JI)C JTarmcr's iHc»iitl)li) lliriitor. 



141 



Thomas Palmer, W;iriier, Hiiunibal Haines, Canter- 

 hury, John I*. Farinor, Boscawen, John F. Brown, 

 Concord, Calvin Gerrish, Kninklin. 



Cointniltee of Jlirani^einenls. — VVni. M. Kimball, 

 Boscawen, Wni. II. tiage, Boscavven, 1. K. Gage, 

 Boscawen, Reuben Johnson, Boscawen, Jeremiah 

 Kimball, Eoacavven, Nalh'l Rolfe, Concord, John 

 Sawyer, Concord, Abiel R. CliandliT, Boacawcn. 



Mnrshtth. — Col. Josiah Stevens, Concord, Col. 

 Enoch Uerrish, Boscawen, Capt. Rufiis I). Scales, 

 Concord. 



PREMIUMS OFFERED BY THK DIRECTORS. 



From the Farmer'a Cabinet. 

 Maryland Marl. 

 Mr. Editor :—Uavinj.' Imil some e.xperience 

 ill the appliontion of green-saiul marl to poor 

 and worn-out, aiul tiirown-out iiinds, lor the last 

 Coin- years. I have thought that as I have beiiefit- 

 ert by tire experience of ollieis, others ini;;ht pos- 

 sibly have some claim to he benefited by mine. 

 1 pmchased a tarni of 400 acres— 300 arable— 

 which was most deplorably out of order, and sit- 

 uated near the head ot Sassafras, Maryland. 1 

 got possession in January, 1840. I gave .SS,500 

 for it. 1 went iiniiiedialely to work and surveyed 

 the farm, laid ofi" and fenced the fields, ganien, 

 yards, lanes, &c. Built a large barn of 83 by 45 

 feet, with a building in front 48 by 27 feet, for 

 cribs, horse-power.s, &c., and roofed and reftair- 

 ed the house. These things together consumed 

 the first two years. Having made these prelimi- 

 nary remarks, I will now try in my bungling way 

 to give you some of my e,\perience in tjjc appli- 

 cation of marl, and if you think proper to pub- 

 lish it, you can do so ; if not, commit it to the 

 flames, and no harip.--will be done. Having betn 

 a subscriber to th^ Cabinet nearly from its com- 

 mencement, I re/id much of the wondtrfid eflfecis 

 of marl in New Jersey, and in Delaware, my na- 

 tive State. Being aware there was something 

 like it on the farm in question, although I had 

 little or no faith in it, as my neighbors there said, 

 1 concluded lo give it a lair trial, for tlie former 

 owner, Charles Thomas, Esq., had used a few 

 loads a number of years before as I was inform- 

 ed, and with good effect. In the summer of 

 1840, I sowed the headlands of the corn-field 

 with buckwheat, and applied one ox-cart load of 

 marl, spread evenly on the ground immediately 

 after the btickwheat was sown and harrowed, 

 and to my astonishment, before the buckwheat 

 bad been up two weeks, I could see very plainly 

 the difference where the marl was and was not 

 put. Well, sir, this raised my curiosity much, 

 and set me to examining the accounts of it in the 

 Cabinet — how it was applied; what quantity to 

 the acre, &.C. In the following winter, 1840 and 

 '41, we opened a pit and covered about 15 acree 



of young clover, at the rate of two to three hun- 

 dred bushels per acre, and its action was so sud- 

 <len, that it showed very plainly immediately on 

 the opening of tli(,- spring; and when luuvesl 

 came there was a good swarth, and some places 

 lodged, to the very spot where we left off 

 marling ; and where there was no marl there was 

 little or no clover, althougli all ivas well plastered. 

 Widl, now I becan lo ihink I had found a gold 

 mine iudeeil! Ah! said soirie of my neighbors, 

 it will help yoiu' bucl<wheat and clover, but it 

 will do nothing else any good. My answer was 

 as every experienced man's would have been : if 

 it will make clover grow luxuri;u)tly, that is all 1 

 want. Only enable me to raise plenty ot clover, 

 and I will risk the wheat and other crop.--. 1 be- 

 gan now to thing about going to work at the 

 marl in earnest, and I first thought if I could 

 cover a field every year at slack times, we would 

 do pretty well ; but I soon found these slack 

 times never came, so I hired a man to remove 

 the earth oft' the top, and a second to drive a 

 two-horse team, which was appropriated to bald- 

 ing marl altogether, and in about two years we 

 had our (arm well marled all over, and some of 

 it a second time ; and the effects have been al- 

 most incredible. In the sunwner of 1842, 1 broke 

 up a part of an old sedge field, that was so poor 

 that it had not been tilled for a mmiber of year.s, 

 gave it a top-dressing of marl ; let it lay imtil 

 Septeud)er ; stirred it again; sowed Mediterra- 

 nean w heat ; harrowed it in, and I cut n good 

 crop the next harvest; and a good crop of clover 

 ibe next succeeding harvest ; and the next, this 

 Inst harvest, another crop of wheat much better 

 than the first, without any other application ex- 

 cept |)laster, and so we go ahead. I raised last 

 year about 1,G00 bushels of wheat, and about the 

 same of corn, and clover in abundance ; and this 

 year our wheat crop will be nearly the same, and 

 the corn a much larger crop, from two to three 

 thousand bushels; say 25,00 bushels from sixty 

 acres. Kemember, this is on a farm that was so 

 poor that the former owner sowed no wheat for 

 a lumdier of years before he sold: all told with 

 the application of plaster and marl, and no mis- 

 take. I.,ast fidi I purchased another fiu-m, 353 

 acres, adjoining the one spoken of, and we aie 

 going ahead with it as we did with the first ; 

 having a son on each (arm, working-men of the 

 right stamp, I trust we will ronlinue to go ahead, 

 if Providence is pleased lo bless and prosper our 

 efforts as heretofore. The marl spoken of, lies 

 high and dry on the bank of the Sassafras river, 

 and raising with the bank at an angle of about 45 

 degrees, it is from six to thirteen feet thick, when 

 it comes to a level on the top ; and so far as we 

 have operated there is from none to 13 feet of dirt 

 on the top, which we wheel off with a wheel- 

 barrow and tumble it into the river, where there 

 is a breast of 10 or 12 (eet. The color varies 

 nmch ; the top is generally green; some stratas 

 dark brown ; some brightet ; some pale green ; 

 some dark, or blue-black, &c.; but it is invaria- 

 bly black, or blue-black in the bottom. In one 

 place where the bottom was very dark it smelled 

 of sulpluu', and when dry on top, a white crust 

 forms, tasting strong of alum; this last injures 

 vegetation when put on heavily. When we first 

 opened this |iit there were some large shells re- 

 sembling clams, and thousands of small ones, 

 about the size of ilie thund)-nail, entirely roimd, 

 but in working further in they disappeared, but 

 the prints of them show here and there all 

 through the mass. I have had it analyzed by 

 Professors Booth and Boye, of Pbiladelphia, and 

 they say the princip.al fertilizing quality is i)0tas- 

 sa ; it contains from four and a half to five and 

 three-quarters per cent, of potassa, with smaller 

 portions of lime and magnesia. 

 Respectfully, 



Joseph Griffith. 

 .Vewark, Del. Sept. ].■!^ 1845. 

 ;c3=»We are satisfied from personal observation that 

 there are extensive beds of mixed clay and sand on 

 the banks of the Merrimack river and in the beds of 

 swamp below the muck beds of New England equally 

 as valuable as the New Jersey and Maryland marl. It 

 needs only exposure by freezing and thawing and the 

 mellowing of the atmosphere of one or two successive 

 seasons to become at least as valuable as an equal 

 \ olume of the best stable pianure. As a material for 

 makuig compost, much of the aubsoil of our intervales 



and the mixed clay underlaying much of our plains 

 ground, is invaluable. — Ed. Visitor. 



Prom the t'. S. JaiiriKil. 

 Most Beautiful. 

 We alluded several days ,igo to one of the 

 most beautifiil poetic productions in the English 

 lafl^uage — here it is. 



IIYM.\ TO THE FLOWERS. 



BV HORACE SMnil. 



Day stars ! th.it ope your eyes with morn, to twlnkto 



From rainbow galaxies of carlli's creation, 

 Anil dc\v-drops on tier lonely altar ppririklo 

 As a lihntion. 



Ye matin worshippers! who, l>endiiig luwiy 



Before the uprisen aun, GoU's liflUss rye. 

 Throw from your chalices sweet and holy 

 Incense on high. 



Ye briphl mosaics ! tliat with storied hc.iuty 



Tlie tloor of Nature's temple tesselate, — 

 What numerous emblems of instruclive duty 

 Vtiur forms create. 



' Neath cloistered boughs each floral bell that swingeth 



Aud toils its perfilliie on the passing air, 

 Makes sabballi in the fields, and ever ringeth 

 A call to prayer — 



N()l to the domes where crumbling arch and column 



Attest the feebleness of mortal hand, 

 Out lo that fane, most catholic and solemn. 

 Which God hath planned— 



To that cathedral, boundless as our wonder, ^ 



Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply ; 

 Its choir, tlio winds and waves— its organ, thunder — 

 Its dome, the sky I 



There, as in solitude and shade I wander 



Through the lone aisle, or stretched upon the sod, 

 Awed by the silence, I reverently ponder 

 The ways of God. 



Your voiceless lips, oh flowers, are living preachers, 



Kach oup to pulpit — every leaf to book, 

 Supplying to my fancy nujnerous teachers 

 From loneliest nook. 



Floral apostles ! that in dewy splendor 



" Weep without woe, and blush without a crime," 

 Oh may I deeply learn and ne'er surrender 

 Your love sublime. 



" Thou wert not, Solomon, in all thy glory 



Arrayed," the lilies cry, " in robes like ours; 

 Iluw vain your grandeur I ah how transitory 

 Are human floweis." 



In sweet scented pictures, heavenly artist, 



With which thou paiiitest nature's wide spread hall. 

 What a delightful lesson llion impar'.est 

 Of love to all. 



Not useless are ye, Flowers ! though made for pleasure, 



Lhioining o'er tietd and wave, by day and nigtit. 

 From every source yfiur sanction bids me treasure 

 Harmless delight. 



Ephemeral sages ! what instructors hoary 



For such a world of thought could furnish scope I 

 Each I'ading calyx a " memento inori " 

 Yet fount of hope. 



Posthumous glories ! angellike collection I 



Upraised from seed or bulb interred in earth, 

 Ye are to me a type of resurrection. 

 And second birth. 



Were I, oh God, in churchless lands remaining, 



Far from ali voice of teachers and divines. 

 My soul would find in flowers of thy ordaining, _ 



Priests, sermons, shrines. ' 



Chiircoal— its Properties and irses. 



This substance has excited great attention f 

 late ill some portions of the country, abhnugh nt > 

 acciirale experiments have yet been made to tesi '. 

 its value as a inanure. In theory, it is certain 

 that it possesses properties which ;ire calculated 

 to render it a very valuable subsliince in agricul- 

 ture. And this arises from a power not peculiar 

 to charcoal. All porous bodies have the proper 

 ty of absorbing the different gases in greater or 

 less quantities. Charnial, after it has been heated 

 lo redness, and cooled without being irposed lo the 

 air, will absorb ninety times its own volume of 

 ammoniacal gas, and considerable quantities of 

 others. If heated and cooled under water, and 

 then placed in a confined portion of atmospheritj 

 air, it will absorb all the oxygen and leave pure 

 nilrogen. Now, U|)on this property of absorbing' 

 gases depeiuls its use as a mamiip. In itself, it 

 has no valuable properties. It is one of the most 

 indestructible of substances. Exposed to heat 

 of the greatest inletisiiy, if air is exchided, it suf- 

 fers no change. Moisture has no effect upon it, 

 and '.here is no chemical agent which will act up- 

 on it.. It has been said by some writer, that, after 

 fcmflg ill the ground for several years, it becomes 

 coitverted into a sort of coaly earth. But, on the 

 ether hand, it is a well known tact that fence posta 

 ave often charred at the bottom, in order to pre- 

 serve them from rotting.and it succeeds for a great 



