634 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No, 10 



spread evenly over the land with great facility. 

 Another shell, (Surpula) of which there are nu- 

 merous rich beds in Surry county, possesses these 

 advantages in a still higher degree. From its fra- 

 gile texture, and irregular tubular structure, it is 

 quickly mingled with the soil in a minutely sub- 

 divided state, and as like the Chama, it frequent- 

 ly occupies the marl beds to the exclusion of other 

 fossils, it furnishes a marl of a very superior de- 

 scription. As a general rule, the small shells are 

 most likely to prove efficacious, as well from the 

 fact that, where they occur, the proportion of car- 

 bonate of lime and green sand is usually great, as 

 because they are most easily reduced to the con- 

 dition in which they become available in the land. 



Of the Pulverulent white, marl. — In many situ- 

 ations the marl presents an appearance not very 

 unlike that of an impure chalk. The mass of the 

 stratum is chiefly made up of a white or yellow- 

 ish friable material, intermixed with fragments ol 

 the harder species of shells. In such cases the 

 shells are rarely found entire, and the condition of 

 the fragments is usually such as to rentier it diffi- 

 cult to recognize the species of fossil to which they 

 belonged. Many extensive beds of" marl of this 

 description have been opened in the counties of 

 Middlesex, New Kent, James City, York and 

 Gloucester, all of them largely abounding in cal- 

 careous matter. Even as much as 97 per cent. 

 of this substance was found in a specimen from 

 one of these localities; and it will appear from the 

 table of calcareous marls hereafter to be given, 

 that in general the proportion exceeds 80 in the 

 100. Occasionally, however, a mixture occurs 

 in which the calcareous matter is blended with a 

 large proportion of white clay and sand, present- 

 ing in the mass an aspect so nearly resembling the 

 former, that without chemical analysis it. would be 

 difficult to distinguish between them. 



Of the blue marl. — In our general description 

 of the arrangement of the fossil iferous strata, men- 

 tion has been made of the bluish green or clayey 

 marl which occurs low down in the ravines and 

 near the water's edge on the river banks. This is 

 what is usually known amongst farmers as the 

 blue marl. From the soft condition of the shelly 

 matter which it contains, and the predominance 

 of clay in its composition, this has been (bund pe- 

 culiarly serviceable when applied to the more are- 

 nacious varieties of soil. In the quantity of cal- 

 careous matter which it contains, it is usually in- 

 ferior to the beds of a white or brown color, which 

 in many places rest above it, though it is not to be 

 inferred that in many instances it may not prove 

 equally advantageous to the land. The coloring 

 matter of the clay appears in part to consist of a 

 carbonaceous matter, derived probably from the 

 organic materials originally associated with the 

 shells, and often in part of a minutely divided 

 green sand, either of which ingredients might be 

 expected to aid the calcareous and clayey matter 

 in benefitting the soil. 



Of the hard Ferruginous marls. — In some lo- 

 calities the beds consist of shells more or less bro- 

 ken, intermixed with a brown ferruginous sandy 

 clay, and often cemented with these materials into 

 masses which are broken with some difficulty. 

 These, although rich in calcareous matter, must 

 obviously from their mechanical texture, prove less 

 valuable than either of the former. To this class 

 also, may be referred the shell rock, and fragmen- 



tary masses approaching to limestone, which oc- 

 cur in various places. 



From the large per centage of carbonate of lime 

 which these contain, there can be no doubt that by 

 burning, they might be converted into a highly 

 valuable lime. A specimen from the cliff at York, 

 yielded 87 per cent, of calcareous carbonate, as 

 large a proportion as most of the valley limestone 

 have been found to contain: computing the quan- 

 tity of caustic lime, corresponding to this, we find 

 that 100 pounds of the shell rock would yield 48.7 

 pounds of strong lime. It is, therefore, well wor- 

 thy of consideration, whether the conversion of 

 this material into lime, might not be an object of 

 profitable enterprise. In the neighborhood of York, 

 and other places, where it occurs, rock of sufficient 

 hardness might be obtained in great abundance, 

 and at comparatively little cost; and the cheapness 

 of fuel would render the operation of burning, one 

 of moderate expense. That much of this rock, 

 when exposed to intense heat, would fall to pieces, 

 and thus injure the value of the product for distant 

 use, is undoubtedly true. But there is also much 

 of it found in bends throughout the cliff, which 

 has almost as great solidity and permanency in 

 the fire, as a secondary limestone, and from this, 

 a lime of superior character might unquestionably 

 be produced. Owing to the great abundance of 

 shell marl in these places, and the general resem- 

 blance of this material to the constituents of a 

 marl bank, its probable utility in this point of view, 

 appears hitherto to have been overlooked. But 

 regarding it in its true light, as a tertiary lime- 

 stone, we see no reason why it should not become 

 a source of profitable manufacture in its immediate 

 vicinity. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



EXPERIMENTS ON GATHERING CORN EARLY, 

 AND DRYING IT IN VENTILATED PENS. 



[Subject continued from prge 52, Vol. I.] 



It is an old remark, of which the truth and value 

 are often admitted, but which is seldom acted on, 

 that the fair and correct reports of experiments 

 which have resulted in loss, and the exposure of 

 the mistaken and false opinions which induced 

 such experiments, would be often as valuable, as 

 any communications of successful practices. But 

 still, the soreness caused by the disappointment of 

 sanguine expectations, and the shame felt in con- 

 fessing that we had formerly entertained very er- 

 roneous opinions, and, perhaps had pursued some 

 very foolish practice, serve generally to close our 

 lips as to the experiments which produced disap- 

 pointment and loss. In consequence of such si- 

 lence being preserved, the same practices may be 

 repeatedly tried by different persons, each igno- 

 rant of what others had previously learned, and 

 thus each in his turn encountering the same risks, 

 and sustaining similar losses. These considera- 

 tions ought to be enough to induce me to make 

 known the disasters and losses which in some 

 years have attended a practice, which in other 

 years has been highly successful and advanta- 

 geous. And in addition, it is my duty to state 

 that there is much hazard, at least, in adopting a 

 practice, which I have formerly recommended in 

 this journal, as safe (with proper precautions) and 

 jrofitable. 



