1836.] 



FARMERS* REGISTER. 



697 



is supposed not to exist in other maris, anil to 

 which its superior quality is attributed. As min- 

 eralogist, I must nevertheless confess that I do not 

 know what is meant by ihisoil. 



Since the time of Bernard de Palissy, the firs' 

 who endeavored to explain i he action of m irl, till 

 the present time, the opinions respecting this ques- 

 tion have been much at variance. 



Bosc, in his Nouveau ours d? Agriculture^ dis- 

 tinguishes two modes in which the marl acts upon 

 the plants, l vdy, mechanically and chemically, 

 and says tln^ marl is not a manure properly 

 speaking, as is the opinion of many agriculturist*, 

 but that it is an amendment that only impr >ves the 

 soil without producing any food lor the plan's. 



Argillaceous marl, according to that philoso- 

 pher, acts mechanically, by rendering the calca- 

 reous or sandy soils, generally called light soi's, 

 more compact and susceptible of retaining longer 

 the water anil gases produced by the decomposi- 

 tion of vegetable and animal matter contained in 

 the humus or vegetable mould. 



Calcareous marl acts mechanically upon the ar- 

 gillaceous soils, or those generally called stiff loams, 

 by rendering them more loose or giving them i he 

 property of being more permeable to water and to 

 the roots of plants. 



Both these species, the argillaceous and calcareous 

 marls, act chemically upon the vegetable soil hv 

 means of lime, which has the property of dissolv- 

 ing a great part of the humus, and furnish-'? 'here- 

 by a more abundant food for the plants cultivated 

 in it. 



To make this more evident we must state the 

 experiments of Theodore de Saussure and Bracm- 

 not, Irom which it appears, 1st. That alkalies dis- 

 solve completely the humus, and that lime and 

 limestone dissolve it partly. 2d. That the plants 

 grow more vigorously in proportion as the humus 

 is in a state of solution. 



The latter result is besides supported by ihe nu- 

 merous facts which were till lately inexplicable. 

 These facts explain why the soil becomes steril 

 when the marl forms the surface or where it is too 

 near to the surface, as is the case in JVlcNuiry 

 county. These facts also teach that it is more ben- 

 eficial to use marl often and in small quantities 

 than to apply it in great abundance; lo useasmall 

 quantity on poor, and a larger quantity on rich 

 soils; that it is advantageous to manure a poor soil 

 before the mail is applied. In fine, these facts 

 show the utility of the use of lime for agricultural 

 purposes, and that calcareous marl and lime are 

 also excellently calculated to improve soils which 

 have been for a considerable lime the receptacle o' 

 stagnant water, which must be considered as the 

 greatest enemy to humus, as it renders it acid and 

 astringent, as we see in peat soils which, abound- 

 ing with vegetable matters from which water is 

 not properly drained, become sour as it is justly 

 said, and produce rushes and other useless and un- 

 palatable plants) In such soils the lime of the 

 marl neutralizes the acid, and ac f s at the same 

 time upon the humus, and by these means abun- 

 dant fertility will be restored. 



# * * # # 



Let us now turn our attention to the soils of the 

 etate of Tennessee. Although these soils are 

 much diversified in their appearance, texture, com- 

 position and quality, those, nevertheless, which 



Vol. III-8S 



compose the surface, of the three counties under 

 examination may be divided into two principal va- 

 rieties, namely: into the silico-argillaceous soil (con- 

 raining sand and clay) and the argillo-calcareous 

 (containing clay and limestone) and their origin 

 may generally be traced to the disintegration of 

 the racks which I hey cover, and to mat er which is 

 washed down from neighboring elevations, except 

 in the low grounds near the rivers, some of which 

 are still occasionally inundated, the soil of which, 

 is generally a very rich alluvion. 



The elevated level.--, which, as may be seen in 

 my geognostic description in previous reports, con- 

 sist of sandstone, are covered with a slight silicious 

 soil, whereas the lower situations, where the rocks 

 are limestone, are covered vv'hli a soil which is 

 mare diversified and generally of an argillo-calca- 

 renus nature, or of a s iff calcareous loam. 



The liiiht soi's which cover the high grounds, 

 and which are generally considered as unproduc- 

 tive, would, in several parts of Europe, be regar- 

 ded as tolerably good, and would remunerate the 

 farmer for the labor he bestows upon them. Our 

 Tennessean silicious soil is not to be compared with 

 some of the silicious or sandy soils of the old con- 

 tinent — of those extensive heaths, some of which 

 are composed of almost pure sand, and which, 

 nevertheless, in some parts, are cultivated.* They 

 are generally composed of a mixture of sand and 

 clay, easily adapted to tillage, and no doubt excel- 

 lently calculated for the culture of rye, tobacco and 

 all kinds of roots, as potatoes, turnips, beets and 

 similar plants. This kind of soil, nevertheless, as 

 long as in our state stiff argillaceous land is ob- 



* Any one who has visited the continent of Europe 

 must be award of this fact, and no where is it more per- 

 ceptible than in the Netherlands, where industry and 

 perseverance have changed the barren sandy plains in- 

 to cultivated fields. Some of the extensive heaths in 

 the vicinity of Arnheim, and thosj situated between 

 Breda, Bois le due and Antwerp, which thirty years ago 

 were merely moving sands, where the winds alternate- 

 ly created and Ijvelled hills and dal s, are now mostly 

 cultivated. Since the government of King William 

 I. the numerous orphans and poor which were kept in 

 charity houses in Amsterdam and other large cities, 

 have been colonized on these barren districts, r:nd by a 

 proper training, this unproductive class of beings have 

 not only b come productive for themselves and inde- 

 pendent, but they have rendered the ground they 

 dwelt upon productive also, and thereby rendered a 

 service to their country. 



There is not, I b dieve, a country upon the globe 

 where husbandry is brought to such a state of perfec- 

 tion as in some parts of the Netherlands. I spent a 

 few years in that part of Flanders, between Antwerp 

 and Ghent, in which the populous villages of Themst, 

 St. Nicolas ahd Lokeren are situated. There is in no 

 country more manual labor bestowed on husbandry 

 than there, and that it is not unprofitable, we conclude 

 from the wealth of the peasants, the comfort of the la- 

 borers, and the shek appearance of the cattle; in fact, 

 the whole country exhibits a garden cultivated on an 

 extensive scale. All the land is in tillage. The cattle 

 are mostly kept in stables, and fed with green food, cut 

 'and brought to them; by which means one acre cf clo- 

 ver, lucerne or other artificial grass, will maintain five 

 tim s as many beast or more, than an acre of the best 

 pasture. But the great object is to increase manure, 

 especially in a liquid s.ate, which is carefully preserved 

 in reservoirs without loss or waste till wanted for the 

 land. 



