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On the Improvement of Land by the use of Shell-Marl. 

 Talbot County, Md. Dec. 31, 1817. 



Dear Sir, 



I received your letter of November 10th by mail, and 

 should have answered it sooner, but it has not been in 

 my power. For twelve months past my health has been 

 very precarious ; I have not, in that time, been as far as 

 Easton on any business. The whole, almost, that I am 

 capable of doing, is to ride out on my farm, in good wea- 

 ther, for exercise, and to see how the business is carried 

 on ; and I can scarcely at times even write my name le- 

 gibly, and very seldom can write a letter. Your good- 

 ness will therefore excuse my seeming inattention to you. 

 I will endeavour to answer your inquiries as well as I can, 

 and it will give me pleasure, if my answers are such as 

 may be satisfactory to you. 



Your first question is, whether what I use be marl, 

 or soil mixed with shells. 



Whether it be marl or not, I will not pretend to de- 

 termine, as I have seen no description of marl that an- 

 swers exactly to it ; but Mr. Tench Tilghman informed 

 me, he had seen a description of marl used in Scotland, 

 exactly similar to what I use on the farm on which I re- 

 side, and which is the improved land you mention, I 

 have not seen the account myself. However, this, and 

 all mixtures of broken marine shells, of which there is a 

 great variety, are now denominated marl, here. What 

 I consider the best, and which I most use, is composed 



