42 Orange County Manures. [Jan., 



which some eminent men have attributed its principal power. 

 But it is evident that it also establishes the condition of the soil, 

 for plants require lime as well as animal matter. Thus, the Eng- 

 lish agriculturists have for years been applying it in great profu- 

 sion, and within a few years in our own country considerable use 

 is made of it. An eminent French agriculturist says that the ap- 

 plication of marl doubled the produce of a piece of ground in the 

 department in which he lives: " Before the application of the 

 marl nothing but dwarfish crops of rye were gathered, yielding 

 at most three for one of the seed ; at present eight for one of seed, 

 and that wheat, are obtained, and the good effects are found to 

 continue for ten and even twelve years." It would be interestincr, 

 but consume too much time, to quote largely the evidences of the 

 use of lime from those who have tested it, we therefore proceed to 

 the practical uses of marl. 



It should be dug in the fall and laid in heaps on the land, to be 

 acted on and broken down by the frost before it is spread. JVIuch 

 of the marl of the county, such as that found in the towns of 

 Minisink and Wallkill, is so pure that after it has become dry, 

 after taken from the bed, it will easily fall into a fine powder. 

 But we have seen specimens of marl from the eastern parts of the 

 county, in Newburgh, which contains a very large amount of ve- 

 getable matter, and upon drying becomes hard and compact, and 

 cannot be reduced by any artificial means to such a state as to be 

 useful on the land. Hence the necessity of exposing it to the 

 action of frost. The water by which all the mass is filled, freezes, 

 and when it thaws separates the whole into a powder almost as 

 fine as the slaked lime. In this state, as soon as it has become 

 perfectly dry it should be spread upon the land. This should not 

 be done carelessly, but as evenly as possible. That which falls 

 into a fine dust without the action of frost, may be advantageous- 

 ly applied to fall crops and plowed immediately in, but not very 

 deep. 



Marl may be used very advantageously in mixture with stable 

 manure and in the compost heap. Indeed, it may be considered 

 as true that this is the best way to apply all manures. It is not 



