264 



MAR 



MAR 



no owner's word, who is a party. 

 will (>e taken as evidence. 



The marking oC neat cattle on 

 the horn, with the branding iron, 

 is so easily done, and without giv- 

 ing them pan». and is so perrnaiient, 

 that it should never be neglected. 

 The brand should be made nearer 

 the pouit than the root of the horn, 

 on the outside vvhicii is most ex 

 posed to view, and not very deep, 

 especialiy on young cattle, which 

 have thinner horns tnan the older 

 ones. Burning a horn through to 

 the pith will hurt a creature, and 

 will spoil the horn lor certain uses 

 afterwards. 



Tlie same kind of mark wouid 

 be preferable for sheep, if the) aii 

 had horns ; as they have not, some 

 other mark, alike suitable for all, 

 should be used. Marking them on 

 the wool is a bad practice. Some 

 of the wool is spoiled and lost b) 

 it ; and, at longest, it can last only 

 to the next shearing ; oftentimes 

 not so long ; and an uncertain mark 

 is worse than none. The ear mark 

 must be used, though the opera- 

 tion gives some pain to the ani- 

 mals. I'hese marks may be dis- 

 tinct for a great lunnber of flocks. 

 And these marks should be matter 

 of record. 



MARLE. Although we do not 

 know that marie has been disco- 

 vered, or at any rate ever applied in 

 New-England, yet we reel it a duty 

 in a work like the present to in- 

 troduce a manure, which has had 

 so groat a reputation, and produced 

 so great etf' cts in Europe. 



Marie effervesces with acids ; 

 but this etierve^cfure does not dis- 

 tinguish it Irom other calcanous 

 fossils. 



It has been said that a most in- 

 fallible Way to distinguish marie 

 from other earths, is, to drop a 

 piece of dry marie, as big as a 

 nutmeg, into a glass of clear wa- 

 ter, where it will send up many 

 sparkles to the surface of the wa- 

 ter, and soon dissolve into a soft 

 pap. But I have found that some 

 clays exhibit nearly the same ap- 

 pearances. 



Soinetiaics the beds of marie arc 

 near the surface, but they are of- 

 tener found deep in the earth. 



It is sometimes found on the 

 banks of ditches, by means of the 

 rank growth of weeds and grass on 

 it. Borirg with a long auger, or 

 the screw borer, may di'^cover 

 where it is. Two kinds of ntarle 

 were lately found at Penobscot in 

 digging a well. Sometimes it is 

 very dry and compact in the earth, 

 but in some places almost liquid. 

 Earths, thrown out of wells, if they 

 have a clayey appearance, should 

 always be examined. 



Maries have been known to fer- 

 tilize all kinds of soil, but light 

 sandy ones more than any other. 

 But as Dr. A. Hunter, by decom- 

 pounding, has proved that marie 

 consists of particles of lime-stone, 

 mixed with clay or sand, or both; 

 according as either of these ingre- 

 dients is more predominant in it, 

 the soil will be indicated for which 

 it is most suitable. That which 

 contains the least proportion of 

 clav will be proper manure for a 

 stiff soil, being of the most absor- 

 bent kind ; that which has the 

 largest proportion of clay should 

 be applied to a sandy soil. To 

 disrover the proportion of these 

 substances in marles, the same in- 



