348 



General character of the Carolinian Bed of Marl Vol. VIII. 



require more food to keep tliem in similar 

 condition. Moreover, mutton is and should 

 be but a minor consideration in the raising 

 of sheep; undoubtedly the wool is the great 

 object; and if the Southdowns do produce a 

 pound or two more wool, — and that is the 

 maximum difference — yet their whole fleece 

 is not worth more than three-quarters as 

 much as a Saxony fleece is worth. And I 

 contend that Saxony wool and mutton can 

 be produced as cheaply as any other kind, 

 and being finer and worth more per pound, 

 than any other, it undoubtedly is the most 

 profitable kind of sheep, farmers can have. 

 But farmers say wool is too low to be pro- 

 duced for sale; that the price does not pay 

 for production. In answer to that I say, 

 that neither has the price of wheat for the 

 last four years, paid for the labour and ex- 

 pense of production ; but farmers cannot quit 

 their business and do nothing, they will have 

 to be satisfied with a very small return for 

 their labour, and hope for better times. But 

 if they do not produce wool for sale, let them 

 at least not buy their cloth ; for low as im- 

 ported cloth is, they can raise Saxony wool 

 and get it manufactured into cloth at least 

 thirty per cent, cheaper than they can buy 

 imported cloth of similar fineness and 

 body. 



RUSTICCS. 



Strasbiirg, Pa. 



General Character, Position and Extent 

 of the Great Carolinian Bed of Marl. 



This bed extends from east of the Santee far across 

 the Savannah. Its western limit may perhaps bo 

 marked by a line running five and twenty, or thirty 

 miles below the falls of those rivers; eastwardly, it 

 stretches to the ocean, and runs in fact beneath 

 it.— Ed. 



Throughout the whole extent of this 

 great deposite, and not only within the 

 bounds of South Carolina, but also in the 

 adjacent parts of North Carolina and Geor- 

 gia, where I have seen parts of its exten- 

 sion, there is a remarkable uniformity of 

 texture, colour, general appearance and 

 qualities manifest to the senses, and also of 

 chemical composition. In these respects, 

 throughout the vast surface and depth of 

 this bed, there is less variation of appear- 

 ance and quality than is always found in the 

 different exposures of Virginia in the same 

 neighbourhood, and even in the same exca 

 vation. Still there are minor and well 

 marked differences, belonging to different 

 localities, and also to different depths in this 

 formation, which will be stated as each shall 

 come under consideration. 



In general, and with but few exceptions, 

 this marl, as seen in the bed, is of a dingy, 

 yellowish white colour, or pale buff, of dif- 

 ferent shades. The exceptions, showing the 

 greatest departure from this general charac- 

 ter, in some cases are parts almost white, 

 and others of brown, coloured by ferrugi- 

 nous matter. Sometimes a dull greenish 

 tint is added to the ordinary shades. The 

 texture is close and firm, and the fracture 

 something like that of chalk ; though the 

 mass is generally softer, and in some few 

 cases more indurated, or approaching to 

 stony, than of true chalk. The fossil re- 

 mains are very few, except in some particu- 

 lar localities ; and even there not of many 

 species, and mostly very imperfectly pre- 

 served. Indeed, except a few of the oyster 

 family, and others as remarkable for hard- 

 ness, the shells have been almost entirely 

 dissolved or disintegrated, leaving however, 

 in some cases their forms in perfect casts of 

 the firm marl, which had filled their hollows 

 as well as enveloped them closely around. 

 But so few are the fossils altogether, com- 

 pared to the great extent of marl already 

 exposed, and which was wholly formed by- 

 shells originally, that it is not surprising 

 that many persons to whom such localities 

 had been longest known, had not observed 

 the existence of any such remains, and that 

 but few others, either from that or any other 

 indication, had ever suspected the earth to 

 be calcareous. The general appearance to 

 the eye, or to ordinary loose observation, is 

 that of a poor clay, very largely mixed with 

 silicious sand ; though in fact there is usu- -i 

 ally but a very small proportion of sand. 



Whether the marl is hard or soft, it breaks 

 into lumps, or crumbles more or less as it is 

 dug. However moist in its bed, it is not 

 plastic like fine clay, or yielding in the 

 manner of moist clay to the blows of the 

 digging utensils, but rather as firm sandy 

 earth, and the hardest marl as very soft sand 

 stone, or very compact and dry clay. 



The proportion of pure carbonate of lime 

 in this marl, for much the larger number of 

 exposures yet seen, and of many analyses 

 made, — varies from fifty-five to eighty-five 

 per cent; and more of others rise above 

 ninety than fall below fifty per cent. This 

 is a degree of richness, compared to the 

 marls of other regions, as remarkable as is 

 the great extent of this bed. The ingredi- 

 ents of the marl, other than the carbonate 

 of lime, are mostly fine clay and silicious 

 sand, coloured by oxide of iron. No mag- 

 nesia has been found. In many specimens 

 there is a very small proportion of green- 

 sand, which alone may be considered as of 

 any notable fertilizing value in addition to 



