THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



607 



horse is generally suHered to run in iiis yard 

 where ihis grass is growin<j;. In a (ew years after 

 its introduction i his same grass was seen to spring 

 up all along the road from his house to town, and 

 has, at this linie, in some places spread over con- 

 siderable ground. 



Let this suffice, and let me close by saying, I 

 concur entirely in ihe high encomiums upon this 

 grass given it by my brother Clodho[)per, and 

 urgently recommend it to the attention ol all those 

 in our county who are desirous of" having fine 

 grass pastures, or who have old lands they wish 

 to turn out ol" cultivation. And I may here stale, 

 that the best method I have tbund of getting it tn 

 grow upon our lands, is during any rainy spell of 

 weather in the spring or summer, to dig patches 

 of it up, and then to chop it up fine, root, stem, 

 and all, and sow it broad-cast over the ground 

 where it is desired to be grown. In this way I 

 have succeeded in spreading it over Ihe whole 

 surface of a lot of ground in one summer, although 

 that summer was so dry that every other grass 

 died in our pastures. Very respectfully, yours, &c. 



Another Clodhopper. 



Jefferson county, Miss., Sept. 15, 1841. 



The specimen of Bermuda grass from Missis- 

 sippi is identical with our " wire grass," Cynodon 

 dadylon. 



The general appearance of the specimen, how- 

 ever, was so different from that of ilie C. dady- 

 lon gTow\ng on our cultivated land, that, at first 

 sight, I was inclined to believe it at least a variety 

 of that grass. But. on examining the C. dady- 

 lon growing where it has been mown or grazed, 

 1 find that it presents a similar habit to that of 

 this specimen of Bermuda grass. The leaves 

 are narrower, culms shorter, and the plant altoge- 

 ther more slender than when growing on plough- 

 ed land. 



The C. dadylon has in the United States a 

 wide range — extending as it does from New York 

 to Mississippi. 



M. TUOMEY. 



[We learned also from a private letter received 

 from Mr.' Curtis, that he considered Bermuda 

 grass and wire grass to be the same. It is very 

 remarkable that a grass so highly eulogized in 

 one region should be deemed one of the .worst 

 weeds elsewhere.— Ed. F. R.] 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE SECONDARY AND 

 TERTIARY FORMATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN 

 ATLANTIC STATES. BY JAMES T. HODGE. 



From Siliman's Journal. 



water several inches deep, by which the roads 

 are flooded. # # # » 



ill the very western part of Jones county, i 

 first met with the limestone of the ppcnndary (orm- 

 aiioii. . It is on tfie f)lant,iiiiin of Mr. Iliiin- 

 |ihivys, at the heads ol'New river and Trent river. 

 The rock lies in a heavy ledge on the borders of a 

 swamp; its surface is much worn and ratrged. It 

 is of a straw color, and afiparenily of good quality 

 lor making lime ; — on submitting a piece to 

 chemical examinaiion, I find it as yood as the 

 hmt'stone of this formation usually is. It yielded 

 in 100 pans : 



Water, 

 Silica, 



Iron and al 

 Carb. lime, 

 Carb. mag. 



1.00 

 5.60 

 5.60 

 87.00 

 trace 



99.20 



Near the Roanoke, some miles above William- 

 8lon, I observed the marl by the road-side, and 

 although it was hard frozen and nearly covered 

 with snow, I recognized in it many individuals of 

 our common recent shell, the Venus mercenaria. 

 This is a very poor part of North Carolina ; the 

 land is quite flat and sandy, and during the winter 

 eeasoD one frequently rides for miles through white siliceous sand. 



Several springs come out at its edge, which 

 bring up small fossil shells and pieces of coral. 

 Among the shells, which are generally very im- 

 perfect, may be recognized the Pecien membran- 

 osus, a cardium, and others common to the same 

 formation in New Jersey. The water seems well 

 adapted to the recent Planorbis trivolvis. Physa 

 heterostropha, and Paludina inlegra, which in- 

 habit it in profusion, and also to the luxuriant 

 water-cresses, which equally abound in it. 

 Around the limestone is a deposiie of calcareous 

 mnrl of a light yellow color, affording a very con- 

 venient and rich natural manure ; but it has been 

 entirely neglected, as well as the limestone, the 

 little lime required for the country being brought 

 from Thomaston, Maine, although they have 

 enough of (he rock, wood at the expense of cut- 

 ting it only, and a suitable sandstone for Kilna 

 scattered through this region. This stone belongs 

 to the same formation, and has been used some- 

 times lor making millstones. Having fortunately 

 some plans of kilns with me. I was happy to leave 

 them, with the advice that the people make the- 

 attempt at least to supply themselves with their 

 own lime. 



Not far from this place, is that interesting locali- 

 ty in Duplin county, called the " natural well.^' 

 It is two miles west of the rail-road, (forty-seven- 

 miles from Wilmington,) on the road from- 

 Kenansville to Elizabeth, Baden county. Before 

 reaching it, one may notice by the side of"the road 

 a large sink-hole, fifteen feet deep, overgrown by 

 trees and bushes ; a little beyond this, a path turns 

 off to the lefl: to the cabin of a Mr. John Smith, 

 within two hundred yards of which, in the woods, 

 is the well. It is a large circular basin, about 

 twenty yards across and sixteen feet deep to the 

 surface of the water ; its banks are nearly vertical, 

 although the strata are entirely obscured by the 

 loose sand, trees and bushes that have covered 

 them, excepting in one narrow spot, where a cor- 

 rect section may be obtained and specimens col- 

 lected. The soil, which is sand and yellow loam, 

 a little clayey al bottom, is from three to four feet 

 thick. It rests on the shell marl, which is about 

 four feet thick, and under this is a tough blue clay 

 from six to eight feet thick, overlying a sandstone 

 like the clay in color, the lowest visible rock. The 

 marl consists entirely of shells and fragments of 

 shells, with a very small quantity only of fine 

 The shells are of a great 



