1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



695 



average, whilst the liming does not come to hut 

 from 1 T S „~ to 2 (ranks — which doubtless shows, 

 for these soils, a great prejudice in favor of marl. 



The marlings upon the argilo-silicious plateau 

 of La Puisaye (Yonne) are made with a stony 

 marl, and they are heavy: they amount to 3000 

 cubic feet the hectare, and form a layer upon the 

 surface of four or five lines thick, of marl which 

 contains SO per cent, of carbonate of lime. This 

 lavish use is explained by the circumstances of the 

 marl being tbund almost every where under the 

 soil, and of its containing so much carbonate of 

 lime, that it is very slow in coming fine — -many 

 years being scarcely enough for that end. Marl- 

 ing, in this country, had taken place at some 

 points, from time immemorial; likewise, the doses 

 there are but a third or a quarter of this quantity; 

 they have not begun to be extended but since for- 

 ty or fifty years. Now, the surface is almost eve- 

 ry where entirely marled, and the soil has been 

 tripled in value, wherever it has received this im- 

 provement. 



The marlings of the environs of Momreuil, in 

 Picardy, cover the soil one line in thickness nearly, 

 of a stony marl, which is obtained from under the 

 soil itself, by pits. This marling, which is renew- 

 ed every twenty years, costs 20 franks the hectare. 



In nearly the whole extent of the basin of the 

 Seine' and its tributary streams, there is found, at 

 greater or less depth below the argilo-silicious sur- 

 face soil, a white stony marl, more or less friable, 

 and which seems entirely similar to that which is 

 found under the plateaux of the basin of the 

 Yonne, as are those of the Oise, the Eure, and of 

 the rest of Normandy. This marl is very rich 

 containing from 60 to SO per cent, of carbonate of 

 lime, is applied in the department of the Eure at 

 the rate of 50 to 100 hectolitres to the hectare — 

 which makes a layer upon the soil of one-third of 

 a line, to a line and a half in thickness.* The bed 

 of marl, which is sometimes found at the surface, 

 is worked in the neighborhood of Lisieux to the 

 depth of 350 feet. The marlings are repeated 

 every 15, 20, 30, or 40 years, accord intj to the 

 need, and the nature of the ground. In some 

 places, they have not been able to reach the stony 

 marl; they then content themselves with the 

 earthy marl, of which the doses are heavier, and 

 repeated more often. 



Marling appears to exist in Normandy of va- 

 rious and very ancient dates. It is seen recom- 

 menced in places where there was no tradition of 

 former applications, but where the existence of old 

 pits supplied the absence of memory — and which 

 perhaps have not been disturbed since the time of 

 Pliny. It then was probably applied to most of the 

 soils which marl suited, and the greater part of 

 the applications which are now made are second 

 marlings, or returns to marling after its cessation 

 for many generations — which will explain the 

 small doses. In some places, lime, and manures 

 of the sea [engrais de mer] cause marl to be for- 

 gotten; but the soil profits by the alternation of 

 manures, as well as by the alternation of crops. 



Marl is little used in the neighborhood of Pa- 

 ris: however, before reaching the bed ol stony 



* There is evidently a mistake in one of these num- 

 bers, though it is not important. Most probably, the 

 last should have been two-thirds of a line. 



mar], there are found, in the subsoil, sandy marls, 

 which I have seen used with success by M. Per- 

 rault de Jotemps upon the sandy soil of Croissy. 

 In the neighborhood of Grignon, I have seen 

 fields covered with stony marl. The great abun- 

 dance and low price of putrescent manures cause 

 the need of marl to be less urgent: but it is very 

 certain, that there, as much at least as elsewhere, 

 in much of the land, marl would add to the quali- 

 ty and abundance of the crop. 



The marlings of Isere may furnish us with use- 

 ful lessons. They are made upon silicious gravel, 

 with a gravelly marl, which belongs to the sub- 

 soil. This soil makes part of the great alluvion of 

 reddish silicious gravel, which covers three-fourths 

 of the ground of the basin of the Rhone, and 

 which is composed of the rolled ruins of the prim- 

 itive alps, connected by a reddish earth. The 

 marlings, directed by hazard, and made with but 

 little labor, are very heavy. The soil is covered 

 with a layer of four to five lines, of a sandy marl, 

 which contains from thirty to sixty percent, of car- 

 bonate of lime. This quantity of marl, thrown 

 upon an arid soil, doubles its products at least. 

 The cultivator, who, almost without manure, made 

 every two years a crop of rye, amounting scarce- 

 ly to thrice the seed, has reaped, during ten or 

 twelve years of the marling, eight for one of 

 wheat. However, the harvest has gradually di- 

 minished, and it is now, after forty years, reduced 

 to four for one. Those who have not seen the 

 crops before the marling, complain of the exhaus- 

 tion of their soil; but the gross product is still dou- 

 ble of what it was before. As for the rest, there 

 are found here all the circumstances which ought 

 to lead to'exhaustion: heavy dressings of very rich 

 and sandy marl, upon a soil, arid, gravelly, and 

 having little consistence; a cultivation without 

 forage [grass and root] crops, and a succession of 

 exhausting crops almost exclusively. It has also 

 resulted, that, upon the parts the most dry and 

 arid, which could scarcely support any tree, not 

 indeed even shrubbery, the ground has become 

 more dry — and that, though producing winter 

 grain in double the ancient amounts, it is true that 

 for the spring crops, and the clovers especially, 

 there is still more to fear from drought. The 

 proprietors have under their hands an argillaceous 

 marl which would suit their soil admirably, and 

 would give it the consistency and connexion 

 which it wants — but they do not use it, because 

 they do not find it strong enough. Notwithstand- 

 ing, since the marlings, the country has been at 

 least deubled in value, in products, and in fertil- 

 ity. 



The operation of marling — which mi'oht be 

 spread with such great advantage over at least a 

 ten-fold extent — from Geneva to the sea, upon the 

 Bugey, the Valbonne, the plains of Valence, the 

 garrigues of Comtat, the plain of Crau — scarcely 

 has begun to extend beyond some cantons of the 

 Isere; and the trials, attended by success in the 

 Ain and Drome, have been but little followed else- 

 where. 



The marls of the great argilo-silicious plateau 

 "Which cover a part of the department of Ain, of 

 Saone and Loire, and of Jura, contain from thirty 

 to fort)' per cent, of carbonate of lime. Their ef- 

 ficacy has been revealed forty years ago, by a 

 cultivator of Ain. The ancient practice there, 

 of improving the soil with large quantities of 



