Na8. 



77^6 barren Sands of Jersey. 



253 



from the Island to this country would be great, 

 but it is conceived that it might be accom- 

 plished at less cost and much more conve- 

 nience than has been sometimes incurred, in 

 vessels consigned to the Island on charter; 

 as preparations could be made for taking on 

 board a considerable number ; none of them 

 should, however, be more than a year and a 

 half old and in calf; they are then small, and 

 would bear close stowing. 



Your Subscriber, J. E. 



Darby. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 « The barren Sands of Jersey." 



Sir, — I have been much interested with 

 Mr. Gowen's communication relative to the 

 culture of his farm of 40 acres and its pro- 

 ducts; such an instance of devoted and un- 

 tiring industry is deserving the highest com- 

 mendations. To those who are acquainted 

 with the nature of the soil which he culti- 

 vates, his success must be surprising, for who 

 could contemplate the possibility of raising 

 such magnificent crops of roots — beets, car- 

 rots and parsneps — on a soil which, only five 

 years ago, was impenetrable to an iron bar, 

 at a depth of three or four inches from the 

 surface"! But so it is ; and truly has it been 

 said, "To do much, we must have much to 

 do" — witness also the agriculture of the 

 Eastern States, where the most perfect sys- 

 tems have been adopted, amidst the greatest 

 disadvantages of soil and climate, and the 

 triumph of mind over matter has received a 

 most decided illustration — I say, I have been 

 highly interested with Mr. Gowen's state- 

 ments, and rejoice in the instance which it 

 furnishes of the truth of your motto — "The 

 productions of the earth will always be in 

 proportion to the culture bestowed upon it." 



But there is a portion of our country, ly- 

 ing at present under the ban of sterility, 

 which would not, in such hands, be found a 

 whit behind the most favoured in point of 

 productiveness; at the same time, it enjoys 

 a facility for improvement which no other 

 country, perhaps, possesses — I mean New 

 Jersey, that country which is everywhere 

 epoken against, and whose barren sands have 

 passed into a proverb and a by-v/ord. Dur- 

 ing a day which I lately spent there, in com- 

 pany with the Cooper family, I had come to 

 the conviction, that there is no part of the 

 United States which ofiljrs a fairer field to 

 the view of the agriculturist than New Jer- 

 sey ; its perfectly inexhaustible beds of marl, 

 crossing, as they do, so great a portion of the 

 State, offering such facilities for improvement 

 as are quite incalculable, and its mild and 

 dry climate and proximity to the best mar- 

 kets, rendering it the most desirable of all 



situations for the agriculturist and horticul- 

 turist, particularly for the cultivation of flow- 

 ers, the soil having been ascertained to be 

 peculiarly adapted for their perfect blooming 

 — the dahlias especially. 



Various have been the estimates of the 

 importance of marl in the improvement of 

 the Jersey soil, but they have all fallen far 

 below the actual results. In my late visit I 

 became acquainted with some instances, 

 showing the most astonishing products that 

 have been reaped from the use of it and im- 

 proved tillage, and, with your permission, I 

 will mention one or two, which are, how- 

 ever, by no means solitary cases, 



Mr. John Gill cultivates a farm of 30 acres 

 in Haddonfield : a portion of the land is situ- 

 ated on a hill-side, and is, therefore, not so 

 highly improved, but upon these 30 acres he 

 kept the last year such a number of cattle, 

 and grew such quantities of produce as were 

 quite astonishing to every one ; would lie give 

 a statement for the pages of the Cabinet 1 



Capt. James Cooper said, "In the year 

 1793 I travelled eight miles before I could 

 find a farmer who had it in his power to sup- 

 ply me with a single ton of hay ; on going 

 over the same road at this time, I could pur- 

 chase more than two thousand tons ; many 

 of the farmers cutting inwards of a hundred 

 loads yearly. My friend S. R., whose farm, 

 a few years ago, yielded nothing but black- 

 berries, and was one uncultivated waste, pro- 

 duces the finest crops of wheat, and other 

 grain and corn, and yielded more than ICO 

 loads of hay the last year, at a cat of two 

 tons and a half per acre ; and all this is ow- 

 ing to the marl !" 



We visited Todd's pit, which is by many 

 supposed to contain the finest marl in New 

 Jersey ; the supply appears almost inexhausti- 

 ble, occurring in an unbroken bed of the 

 purest quality, from 8 to 10 feet thick. The 

 owner, Mr. Alexander Cooper, disposes of it 

 by the rod square to persons who dig it them- 

 selves; and at this price he is realizing about 

 1500 dollars per acre for the marl, the land 

 afterwards being more valuable than before. 

 This gentleman feeds his stock with corn and 

 cob-meal, and no where have I seen finer ani- 

 mals or in better condition. 



Your Subscriber. 



An acre of land contains^ — 

 4 roods, (or quarters) each containing 

 40 poles or perches or rods. 

 160 rods, 16J feet each way. 

 4,840 square yards of 9 feet each. 

 43,560 square feet, of 144 inches each. 

 174,240 squares of 6 inches each, each con- 

 taining 36 inches. 

 6,272,640 inches, or squares of one inch each. 



