1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



101 



til encourao;ed by a spontaneous and luxuriant 

 growth of white clover. We may also slate a 

 fact, within our own knowledfre. It is a general 

 belief, that in iheneighhorhood of the sea, plaster 

 is useless, and it has been so Ibund in general on 

 the Island of New York and in the adjacent coun- 

 ty of Wesichesfer; yet upon a narrow ridge ol' 

 nuiijnesian marble, which lies between the lay- 

 ers'of o;neis3 and mica slate which form the 

 greater '^lart of this region, we have seen plas- 

 ter used with great success.* Yet clover, when 

 allied by putrescent manures, is a successful crop, 

 on theirnciss, without the artificial aid of plaster; 

 both tlTis is reaeiily accounted tor, as sulphuret of 

 iron is not rare, which being decomposed, and 

 thus yielding sulphuric acid to combine with the 

 lime of the leldspar, supplies the necessary Ibod of 

 the plant. In England, too, where a saline air, 

 prevailing ahiiost universal!}-, is generally sup- 

 posed toTbrbid the use of gypsum, there are cal- 

 careous soils on which it is beneficial, as in Kent, 

 which is as much exposed to the blast of the sea 

 as almost any part of the kingdom. Among the 

 many advantages of calcareous manures, then, 

 may'be mentioned, as not the least, that it will 

 prepare the way for the introduction of the clover 

 husbandry, in regions where it would otherwise be 

 impracticable. 



Mr. Ruffin's own experience is limited to the 

 regions of Virginia within reach of the tide, and 

 to these his remarks are, with a just philosophical 

 spirit, restricted; yet his extensive experience and 

 accurate observation furnish the ground tor a the- 

 ory which must be useful, if properly understood 

 and applied, in any district whatsoever. 



The soils of this region were, on examination, 

 found to be wholly destitute of calcareous earth, 

 except a few isolated spots enclosed within them, 

 which were observed to manifest, even to the eye, 

 fragments of shells, and yielded lime on analysis. 

 These spots were proverbial for their fertility, and 

 remarkable for the fact, that on some of them 

 a long continued succession of the same crop had 

 been annually cultivated, without, absolute ex- 

 haustion. On a careful examination, Mr. RufRn 

 found that these shells, supposed to be the relics of 

 Indian encampments, were the outcrop of fossil 

 layers, and he succeeded in tracing these layers to 

 his own land. 



"My use of calcareous earth, as a manure, has been 

 almost entirely confined to that form of it which is so 

 abundant in the nei<(hborhood of our tide waters, the 

 beds of fossil shells, together with the earth with 

 which they are found mixed. The shells are in various 

 states — in some beds g;enerally whole, and in others re- 

 duced nearly to a coarse powder. The earth which 

 fills their vacancies, and makes the whole a compact 

 mass, in most cases is principally silicious sand, and 

 contains no putrescent, or valuable matter, other than 

 the calcareous. The same elFccts might be expected 

 from calcareous earth in any other form, whether chalk, 

 limestone, gravel, wood ashes, or lime, although the 

 two last have other qualities besides the calcareous." 



"During the short time that lime can remain quick, 

 or caustic, after being applied as manure, it exerts (as 

 before stated) a solvent power, sometimes beneficial, 

 and at others hurtful, which has no connexion with its 

 subsequent and permament action as calcareous 

 earth." 



* It has been used, with entire success, on lands 

 washed by the sea, at Stamford, in Connecticut, by the 

 late Mr. Moses Rogers. — Ed. Journal of Science, 



"These natural deposits of fossil shells are common- 

 ly, but very improperly, call marl. These misapplied 

 term is particularly objectionable, because it induces 

 erroneous views ot this manure; otiier earthy manures 

 have long been used in England, under the name of 

 marl, and numerous publications have described their 

 general eti'ects and recommended their use. When 

 the same name is here given to a ditferent manure, 

 many persons will consider both operations as similar, 

 and perhaps may refer to English authorities fbr the 

 purpose of testing the truth of my opinions, and the re- 

 sults of my practice. But no two operations, called 

 by the same name, can well differ more. The process 

 which it is my object to recommend, is simply the ap- 

 plication of calcareous earth, in any form whatever, to 

 soils wanting that ingredient, and generally quite des- 

 titute of it; and the propriety of the application de- 

 pends entirely on our knowing that the manure con^ 

 tains calcareous earth, and what proportion, and that 

 the soil contains none." (p. 34.) 



This being his object, he enforces the use of 

 calcareous manures, both by example and a well 

 grounded theory. 



The comparative edects of the marl in various 

 proportions, of stable and cow-pen manure, and of 

 marl mixed with manure, were fairly tried, and 

 tested with the product of land without addition. 

 We have not time to enter into the detail of the 

 operations, and of the several products. It is suf- 

 ficient to say, that by the mixture of marl and 

 and manure, the crop of corn was raised from 

 twelve to thirty-six bushels per acre; by eight 

 hundred bushels of marl, from twelve to an eve- 

 rage of twenty-three; by lour hundred and fifty 

 bushels of marl, from twelve to somewhat less 

 than twenty seven; that the mixture and the last 

 named dressing of marl alone, showed a subse- 

 quent increase when corn returned in a four years' 

 rotation, while the others showed an average de- 

 crease; that the wheat crops were increased in 

 about the same ratio; but that clover, which be- 

 fore had not grown at all, became a good crop 

 on the marled patches. This was upon soil which 

 had before been in cultivation. Similar results 

 followed upon land newly reclaimed from the 

 forest. The next important inference to which 

 we shall refer, is the advantage derived from the 

 use of gypsum, upon soils which have been dress- 

 ed with marl. This inference was reached, by 

 observing the effect of a layer of the fossil shells, 

 which contained sulphate of lime. 



On one point only are we compelled to dissent 

 firom Mr. Ruffin. He states it broadly as his be- 

 lief, that a soil may be either so constituted natu- 

 rally, or so improved by the artificial application 

 of carbonate of lime, that it shall never thereafter 

 need a farther supply. There will no doubt be a 

 limit reached in both ways when an addition of 

 lime will be injurious, but as this substance is in 

 fact a necessary part of the nutriment of many 

 plants, their growl h will slowly remove it, and the 

 time may at last come when a new supply will be 

 necessary, to restore or retain the original natural 

 fertility. But soils, thus prepared by nature or 

 improved by art, may retain fbr long periods of 

 time their power of giving value to the original 

 vegetable matter in the soil, or the putrescent ma- 

 nures applied, either in the form of green crops or 

 of stable manure, and the English saying, that 

 no man need marl his field a second time, is found- 

 ed on sound observation. Soils of such a charac- 

 ter, either native or artificial, are to the husband- 



