THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



21 



marl, but without findino; it. From my want of 

 success, I am led to believe the marl indicator 

 does not alwajs point out with absolute certain- 

 ty the presence of marl, as one would infer from 

 a communicaiion in your Farmers' Ivcgisier 

 vol. 6, page 454. As lar as I am inlbrmed, 

 marl has not been found in a single instance on 

 the South Anna river, above its junction with 

 the North Anna. 



Ith. and Sth. — There is some green-sand in the 

 marl I use, but what proportion I cannot say. 

 There are no hard masses of marl to diminish 

 its value.* 



9//t. — JMy constant aim is to apply about GOO 

 bushels of marl to the acre. 



\Qth. — 1 have never knowingly used less than 500 

 bushels. 



Wth. — I liave made no trial of any much hea- 

 vier dressings. I believe the carbonate of lime 

 is the chief lerlilizing principle contained in the 

 marl, and I endeavor to apply to each acre, as 

 near as I can, 300 bushels o( lime. Had I not so 

 great a distance to haul the marl, 1 would ap- 

 ply more than 600 bushels of marl to the acre. 



\2th. — Previous to my use of marl, the farm was 

 cultivated on the three-field system, corn, wheat 

 and pasture. 



13/A.— The same system was pursued until 1826, 

 when I commenced with the four-field rotation, 

 wheat, corn, wheat, and one year in clover, 

 which I still continue, and am very partial to it. 

 My firm has improved rapidly under this 

 course. I believe it yields greater fertility to the 

 land, and more profit to the owner, than any 

 other system. If your clover is not grazed, but 

 turned under for the wheat, all the materials 

 afforded by the crops converted into manure, 

 and due diligence used to get out marl, which 

 is one of the main, if not the chief pillar in the 

 system, I feel confident the land will improve 

 rapidly, and your fields be kept clear ol' blue 

 grass, which is often so prejudicial to wheat, af- 

 ter a clover lay of two years' standing. At pre- 

 sent this rotation appears to have lost some fa- 

 vor with Mr. Selden of Weslover, and Mr. 

 Carter of Shirley ; but 1 anticipate their return 

 to it, with additional encomiums, before many 

 years elapse. 



\Ath. — On the crops next following, when no ma- 

 nure was mixed with the marl, which was some- 

 times the case, when I first commenced the use 

 of it, the benefit was not so great. Its eflfect on 

 the clover which succeeded was very apparent. 

 It acts more immediately on stiff than on light 

 land. 



\5ih. — The earliest effects of the marl have in- 

 creased and continue to increase. 



\Qth. — 1 do not apprehend any diminution from 

 the increased product of my marled land. I es- 

 teem it a most valuable and lasting manure. 



* From three principal diggings of Mr. W. F. 

 Wickham, which are those also used by Mr. Edmund 

 F. Wickham, specimens deemed of average strength 

 were carefully selected, and reported at p. 684 of vol. 8. 

 The proportion of carbonate of lime ascertained accu- 

 rately, and also the green-sand as merely fixed by the 

 eye, were as follows: 



No. 1 No. 2 No. .3 

 Carbonateof lime in 100 grains .32.50 44 ?.(i 

 Green-sand 22 8 5 



Vlth. — My land has euKlained no damage by ap- 

 plying marl too heavily. 



18/A. — i find the manure from my farm- pen and 

 stable yard, when mixed with marl, (lecidedly 

 more efficacious on the first crop, and frel confi- 

 dent it is rendered more permanent. Wherever 

 manure is put out, marl should be spn^ad with 

 it, and both ploughed in together. Gypsum 

 acts well on clover. 



19iA.-^l should suppose the average productive 

 power of my land in corn before marling was 

 from three to three and a half barrels per acre. 



20th. — The present average is from six to seven 

 barrels per acre. 



21s^. — My crops of wheat have varied with the 

 season. They have increased at least in the 

 same proportion with the corn crop. 



22d. — I estimate the increased product of my 

 land, from the use of marl and other manures, 

 at an average of near 100 per centum. The 

 chief advantage has resulted fi-om the marl, as 

 it enabled me to extend my improvement the 

 more rapidly, and by the increase of my crops 

 has furnished more materials to enlarge the. 

 amount of putrescent manures. 



23c?. — My observation does not contradict any of 

 the important theoretical opinions advanced in 

 your 'Essay on Calcareous Manures;' but, on 

 the contrary, my experience every year con- 

 vinces me more and more of the great import- 

 ance of the views brouffht forward in that va- 

 luable work. The benefits already derived from 

 it have been great, and as yet they are but in 

 their infancy. I am firmly convinced your Es- 

 say is destined to work a vast improvement 

 throughout the whole marl region of the United 

 States, and, if the farmers will zealously work 

 on the principles there laid down, it will be the 

 means of converting an arid and sterile country 

 into one abounding in ever}^ thing that can de- 

 light, and reward the toils of the husbandman. 

 You have cause to congratulate yourself on the 

 great aid you have rendered to the agricultural 

 community. 



December 15th, 1840. 



ON THE SOILS, AND BIARLING IMPROVEMENTS 

 OF KING WILLIAM COUNTY. INTRODUCTO- 

 RY TO ANSWERS TO THE GENERAL QUERIES 

 ON MARLING. 



By the Editor. 



The county of King William is the lower part 

 of the peninsula formed by the Pamunkey and 

 Mattapony rivers. The soils of the county may 

 be classed in four general divisions, viz.: 1. the 

 Pamunkey low lands (described at piige 679 of 

 vol. viii.); 2. the Mattapony low lands, which are 

 still more sandy than the former, and of inferior 

 quality; 3, the level high land draining towards 

 the Pamunkey, which is most generally very 

 stiff, and 4. those draining into the Mattapony, 

 which are as remarkable fbr extreme sandiness. 

 The line of separation between these two last di- 

 visions is not precisely the ridge, or summit level, 

 which separates the water flowing in opposite di- 

 rections to the two rivers, but is nearly so. In my 



