564 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



termed the ridge — though it is the most level 

 land, and not perceptibly more elevated than the 

 other tableland. 



The soil of all this body of land (disregarding 

 email exceptions on the river banks and other pe- 

 culiar localities,) may be divided into two gene- 

 ral classes, ol light sandy soil and the close and stiff 

 soil. Large tracts of there two kinds are inter- 

 mixed throughout the whole surface of table 

 land and gentle slopes ; and the transitions from 

 one to the other are ofien quiie abrupt. Many 

 farms are almost entirely of the one soil, and 

 others of the other; but most of those which are 

 more than 3 or 400 acres in size have a poriion of 

 each kind of these soils of very different texture. 



None of the land, of either kind, could have 

 been rich, before cultivation ; and all, alier long 

 and the usually exhausting cultivation, is quite 

 poor, or otherwise unproductive. The light land, 

 ii-om its greater ease of tillage, has been most 

 worked and most impoverished. 



The stiffest lands are there called pocosons, and 

 all inclining to stiff approach more or less to the 

 stronger characteristics by which a real pocoson 

 tract is known. Before being injured by cultiva- 

 tion, all this kind of land was abundantly supplied 

 with vegetable matter, but was rarely productive, 

 even under its earliest or best cultivation, because 

 of the want of draining, and the want of calca- 

 reous matter in the soil. The universal excess 

 of surface water, through winter and spring, ne- 

 cessarily caused bad tillage and poor products, 

 even where the Ibod for plants was present in 

 excess ; and the deficiency of calcareous ingre- 

 dient completed the destruction and waste of the 

 vegetable food of plants as early and completely 

 as possible. Yet both these defects might be sup- 

 plied with as much ease, and profit, as could 

 almost be desired. * 



The pocoson land, in its natural state, is covered 

 by a heavy forest growth, of large and excellent 

 pine timber, and of oak; the white oak being 

 most abundant as the land is stiffer or welter, and 

 red oak as the land is less stiff and wet. The 

 surface is closely covered with an undergrowth 

 of very tall whortle-berry bushes. These marks, 

 of themselves, would sufficiently indicate a highly 

 acid soil, greatly needing, and greatly to be im- 

 proved by, the application of calcareous matter. 

 But draining is absolutely ueceesary ; and, strange 

 to say, it is scarcely attempted, or thought of, as 

 a necessary general system, on these lands. 

 They are even generally cultivated flat, or with- 

 out ridges and waier-furrowe, which would alone 

 serve to vent much water, if merely run in a 

 proper direction. Some small parts of the pocoson 

 land are naturally drained, by having more inclina- 

 tion of surface, and being bordered by lower land, 

 serving aa channels to convey away streams. 

 And some of these spots have been very produc- 

 tive and durable under cultivation, though of pre- 

 cisely the usual texture and objectionable qualities 

 (except wetness) of the pocoson land in general. 



It is not subterraneous water or springs that 

 affect this land in the least. It is merely the ex- 

 cess of rain water, which cannot flow off, because 

 of the almost perfect level of the surface of the 

 land, and cannot sink, because of the perfectly 

 impervious nature of the subsoil. Hence, all this 

 land, though dry, and generally much too dry 

 in summer and the early part of autumn, is either 



saturated or inundated with rain water in winter 

 and spring, 'i'here could be no more effectual 

 causes for most laborious tillage, and unproduc- 

 tive and speedily exhausted fields; and also, as it 

 would seem, lor a sickly region — though this last 

 effect is not so apparent as ihe others. 



The soil of the stiff land is not clay, but a 

 gray loam, of which the sandy portion is so finely 

 divided as to render the soil stiH'er and closer than 

 clay alone would be. But this would not be a 

 cause of wetness, by retaining two much water, 

 if the subsoil were pervious. This is however 

 a yellowish, close and adhesive clay, for the depth 

 of 10 to 15 ieet, or more. Below lies quick-sand 

 (or almost pure sand filled with water,) into 

 which the shallow wells are sunk. If our climate 

 were as moist and cool as that of Scotland, these 

 lands could not be tilled at all, as is now done in 

 Surry, and would in time be converted into a great 

 peat moss, more like the Dismal Swamp than 

 arable land. 



The most valuable thing connected with this 

 region is the great quantity of very rich and easily 

 accessible shell marl ; with which most of the 

 the lower Surry lands might be covered at a 

 very small cost — and to the least accessible of 

 which it might be carried cheaply enough to make 

 Ihe operation profitable. The effiact would be 

 abundantly striking, even on the most worn and 

 impoverished lands, where the benefit of marling 

 would of course be the least. But if applied to 

 the wood or virgin land, before cultivation, and 

 combined with proper drainage and tillage, the 

 degree of permanent fertility induced would be 

 beyond the belief of those who are content to 

 work these lands without either means of im- 

 provement. 



The marl generally shows at the surface (or it 

 "crops out'') on the hill-sides of all the ravines 

 and valleys leading to James river, and is found on 

 almost every farm on the space between the sum- 

 mit ridge and the river. The ridge alone, making 

 a strip usually of 3 to 4 miles wide, has no marl 

 in sight, or other than lying too deep for use. 

 Between that strip and Blackwater, the marl is 

 also very abundant, though not often exposed 

 to view, owing to the absence of deep ravines 

 and steep hill-sides. But the general surface 

 is so level, and the marl to be had is so rich, that 

 it would be as cheap to apply marl to fields two 

 miles from the pits, as in many usual cases at 

 half a mile. Moreover, when the tract passes 

 through forest land, temporary wooden rail-roads 

 might be cheaply constructed, on which the labor 

 of draught would be greatly reduced. 



Though marl has been but little used in Surry, 

 in general, compared to the inducements for its 

 more extensive use, still particular individuals 

 have done enough, even if not the most judicious- 

 ly, to show excellent and remarkable effects, to 

 gain great increase of farming profits, and to in- 

 dicate clearly to those who understand the mode 

 in which marl acts, the much greater profits 

 which would be certainly gained from a more 

 judicious mode of application. Many proprietors 

 have marled extensively, and have been for years 

 reaping the profits. 



Both the light and the stiff soils have been 

 generally much improved in product by marling. 

 The former however are too light for wheat and 

 clover, even after being marled. On the stiftest 



