THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



50 



(he use of marl, tiiose from the culiivaiion of 

 grasses promise mucli. I am convinced, lliat 

 without calcureous manures, ^rass cannot, on a 

 hirge scale, l)e ciihivaled profitably, except on 

 strong neutral soils. There are fine <frasjes al- 

 ready known and cultivated in various parts ol the 

 world. It is probable, however, that many more 

 are still to be discovered ; particidarly, such as are 

 adapted to the f)eculiar climate and soils olthc Uni- 

 led States. In this neiirhborhood, about the sites 

 of old settlements, which Jiave been rendered cal- 

 careous by ashes, the comir.on meiijot, a large 

 species of trefoil, grows wiih amazing luxuriance. 

 It has been con^^idered a nuisance, and unavailing 

 attempts have been made to exterminate it. i 

 Jbund some of it on this farm when I took posses- 

 sion ; and observing tiiat the crops, of wheat and 

 tobacco, following it, were asionishmgly produc- 

 tive, and, moreover, that I could easil}', when 

 necessary, turn it under my large Clule and Rea- 

 gie's ploughs, I have carefully cherished it, and 

 have sown some six or eight bushels of seed. 

 But, to my mortification, 1 find that it will not 

 prow on other than calcareous lands. JMay I 

 recommend a small trial of it to you on marled 

 land I I can assure you, that the crops of wheal 

 and tobacco, on the site of its growth, wiihout any 

 additional manure, surpass those on surrounding 

 Jands which are heavily manured. It affords 

 fine grazinir for cows and sheep in winter. I have 

 some exhausted second low-ground-^, in which 

 may occasionally be seen some small calcareous 

 nodules, and about eighteen inches beneath the 

 surface, is a stratum of clay marl, an inch or two 

 in thickness, lying on, what appears to be, moul- 

 dered horneblende rock. I sowed some melilol 

 seed on this ground last winter; and though the 

 land is so poor, that before, it would not produce 

 even poverty grass, and nothing else but a very 

 diminutive white clover, I (bund that the meliloi 

 eeed vecetaied, and grew quite well all the sum- 

 mer, i hope you will hear froiTj it again. 



INQUIRIES AND REMARKS UPON THE CAL- 

 CAREOUS ROCK AND SOILS OF SOUTH ALA- 

 BAMA. 



For the t-'armcrs' Register. 

 Claiborne, Monroe Co., Ocl. Jan. 1th, 1841. 

 I will now add a few lines on a subject o( 

 deep interest, and one likely to engage attention in 

 this region of countrj'^, at no very distant period, 

 the subject of marl or calcareous manures. Not 

 many years since, a Mr. McGuire wrote a trea- 

 tise on the geological formation of South Alaba- 

 ma, which appeared in Professor Silliman's 

 ' Journal of Science.' He describes a rock of lime- 

 etcne formation, abounding in the counties of 

 Monroe, Clark, Washington, and Marengo, which 

 he had seen quarried, and when dried, was exten- 

 sively used in building chimneys. This rock lines 

 the sides of the creeks and branches in my neigh- 

 borhood, and is composed, (apparently,) of innu- 

 merable email shells and sand, united into a ce- 

 ment. Masons, in building chimneys, use the 

 scrapings or shavings in mortar, and it seems to 

 answer almost as well as lime. In fact, but lor 

 the action of fire, which gradually decomposes 

 the back ol' the fire-place, the chimneys last re- 



markably well. There are some of twenty )'ear8' 

 standing, and they look neat, and when merely 

 white-washed, resemble marble. Some of n)y 

 neighbors have used the shavings as manure, and 

 describe its action as resemtilmtr marl. Fur in- 

 stance, there is little or no benefit perceptible the 

 first year; but the next, and succeeding, the soil 

 deepens, becomes dark, and loose, or etilf, (aa 

 clay or sand prevails,) resists drought, or the in- 

 tense heat of our summers ; and these qualities 

 are the more conspicious by the deep rich green 

 of the vegetables growing m such soil. I am no 

 chemist, and have not the means of fBcerlaining 

 the component parts of this rock ; but what pro- 

 portion or per cent, of lime is necessary to firm 

 cc?;ie;ii resembling rock"? A rapid and powerful 

 eiiervescence takes place when vinegar is added 

 !0 it: and would not this be the case with the car- 

 bonate of magnesia ai3 well as ol lime ? In ihe vici- 

 nity of creeks or branches, whose sides are walled 

 with this rock, mounds of lime-stone rock of every 

 imaginable shape or size, are to be seen, which, 

 when broken into fiagnients and burnt, makes ex- 

 cellent lime for mortar or coarse plastering ; and 

 would not this tfiake manure? Manuring has 

 been eniirely neglected in South Alabama for the 

 obvious reason that lands have been abundant 

 and cheap ; and for the same reason, the most 

 exhausting and careless cultivation have greatly 

 impaired the fertiliiy and productiveness of our 

 richest soils. Kmigration, that once threataned 

 to depopulate the old states, h'-ie already com- 

 menced here; and Texas, already the receptacle of 

 some of our best citizens, is often spoken of, as the 

 £'7i???ia TViuZe of wealth, ease, and luxuriant indul- 

 gea'e. Lorenzo James. 



The .oreging letter, proceeding as it evidently 

 does from an observing and inquiring mind, is a 

 striking illuetration of the great existing difRcullies 

 of dili'using agricultural facts and knowledge, even 

 after they have been laboriously gathered, and 

 published ; and of the immense loss of value suf- 

 fered by a vaet region of our country, in conse- 

 quence of ignorance of t-uch facts and instruction. 



Our correspondent is but a recent eubscriber to 

 the Farmers' Register, or he would have known 

 that, throughout the work, and especiallyin tlio 

 earlier volumes, much attention was paid to the 

 investigation of the remarkable calcareous eoils of 

 an extensive region of Alabama and other south- 

 western stales. The article to which he refers, by 

 Mr. McGuire, was there re-published, and many 

 more from correspondents, aa well as our own 

 elaborate essay 'On the formation of Prairies,' 

 in vol 3. The latter, as well as several copies of Ihe 

 ' Essay on Calcareous Manures,' for gratuitous 

 distribution, where they may render service, we 

 have sent to our correspondent. He will there 

 see that all his supposi'ions expressed above, as to 

 the action and va!ue of the rich marl, or " rol'cn 

 lime-eione,'' of South Aauama, are correct, and 

 he will correctly infer, from all the liicts, and Ihe 

 general reasoning, that by a proper practical ap- 

 plication of the theory of the action of calcareous 



