90 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. HI, 1842. 



SORREL APPAREN'l'LY NOURISHED 15Y h^-d been dropped on «cu/ miV (subject to produce been formed. This led us to look for sorrel wher 



MARL. 



To the Editor of ihe Farmer's Register: 



My attention lias lately been called to a fact, 

 wliiuti bus surprised tne very nincli, so much in- 

 deed as to nit'.ko me very desirous to hear your opin- 

 ion on the subject, as well as that of some of your 

 correspondents who have most experience in the 

 use of marl. The fact is this : my nephew, Mr R. 

 M. T. Hunter, has been marlinar 'I's \B.n<i for two 

 years past, to a considerable extent, and nearly all 

 the piles deposited during the winter and spring 

 months, were covered by midsummer with a luxu- 

 riant growth of sorrel I This has happened both 

 years on each of his two farms, although the field 

 on one of them, upon which the murl was deposited 

 this year, has no sorrel on the greater part of it, 

 except upon the marl heaps. 



The universal opinion, I believe, is that marl 

 will kill sorrel ; but here is a fact which has been 

 witnessed by many, that appears directly and unde- 

 niably to disprove it. Can it be possible that tlie 

 same substance can produce and nourish a par- 

 ticular species of plant, the seeds of which must 

 either have been blown upon the mass by the winds 

 or deposited therein from time immemorial ; and 

 yet destroy tliese plants when plowed into the earth 

 wherein they previously grew ? To me the mat- 

 ter seems altogether incomprehensible. The fact 

 admits of neither doubt nor contradiction ; it is ab- 

 solutely certain ; for there were the piles of marl, 

 hundreds of them to be seen for weeks together, 

 covered with luxuriant sorrel, which continued to 

 spread and flourish until the marl was spread and 

 plowed in. Do let us hear what you think of this 

 matter; and continue to believe me 

 Yours, very sincerely, 



James M. Garnf.tt. 



[As we had given an answer to a similar inquiry 

 formerly, which has been forgotten by our corres- 

 pondent, and never seen by much the greater num- 

 ber of our present readers, we beg leave to repub- 

 lish it, together with the inquiry and statement of 

 facts which drew it forth. — Ed. Fur. Reg.] 



WiUiamsburg, Jan. 15, 1833. 



* * * On a recent visit to my farm, one fact 

 struck me with considerable surprise, as it seemed 

 to be inconsistent with one of your leading princi- 

 ples respecting calcareous manures. 'I'he marl 

 which I am now using is very strong, supposed to 

 contain 75-100 of lime, and is in heaps of from four 

 to live bushels. On these heaps I observed sorrel 

 was growing in bunches of c<msiderable size. 

 Will you have the goodness to account for this fact ? 

 It seems to me that I can never get clear of sorrel 

 by the use of marl, since it grows on a marl bed. 

 Your experience, however, may explain this effect, 

 and assist my future use of the manure. * • * 



Answer by Ihe Editor of the Register. 



* * * My own experience, more than ten 

 years ago, furnished me with several opportunities 

 of observing facts similar to those you describe — 

 and like yourself, I was alarmed at flrat, at what 

 seemed to bo a positive contradiction of my pre- 

 vious opinion, that calcareous manures in sufficient 

 quantity, rendered a soil incapable of supporting 

 the growth of sorrel. But further observation 

 served to remove these fears, and even afforded ad- 

 ditional proof of the general position before assum- 

 ed. Where I found sorrel growing on lieaps of 

 marl, it was under these circumstances : the loads 



sorrel) and had remained without beitig spread, per- : the barilla had 'been spread, but we there foun 

 haps twelve months. By carefully removing the little if any. We knew not how to account fc 

 marl from the plants, I found that they had sprung, the fact. Mr Ruffin's account above of the actio 



not from the marl, but from the acid soil below 

 and that the communication between the soil and 

 the air, where the leaves opened, was through a 

 single tap-root, which merely passed through the 

 heap of marl, without drawing any sustenance from 

 it. The plants were usually where the marl was 

 thin, near the edges of the heaps — but one of the 

 roots which I examined was of the remarkable 



of marl, lets us suppose that the barilla heap kille 

 the other plants, but not Iho sorrel. We have n 

 necessity then of supposing that the barilla pre 

 duced sorrel. Indeed our own observation of fact 

 had deterred us from such an inference; for w 

 had two other heaps of barilla of the same si2 

 and form, on other parts of the farm, where thei 

 was no sorrel on the surrounding land. One ( 



length of nine inches : it had thrown out a few hori- these heaps was spread out in September — tl 



zontal fibres of about an iuch in length, as if in 

 search of nourishment, but which were then (some 

 time in June) quite dead. The few plants then 

 observed, though full of the coverings for seeds, 

 yet were quite destitute of the seeds which should 

 have been within : but this remarkable abortion, 

 though often to be seen under like circumstances, 

 is not general. 



Calcareous earth alone is insoluble in water, and 

 can in no way affect growing plants except when 

 mixed with and acted on by other substances in 

 soils. A load of marl dropped on the surface of 

 the land and left undisturbed, can have no more 

 effect than so much silicioiis sand or any other 

 substance of like insolubility, weight and texture, 

 though perfectly worthless and inactive as manure. 

 Marl, if thinly spread though left on the surface, 

 in the course of time would have all its finer parts 

 carried down into the soil by rains ; and thus ulti- 

 mately would act as a manure. But even this slow 

 effect would be prevented by the thickness of a 

 cartload of marl, which would shelter the covered 

 soil from rain, except what it could imbibe slowly 

 by absorption. By thus calling to your mind the 

 existing circumstances, and the insoluble quality 

 of calcareous earth, you will see that in noway 

 could your marl exert its chemical power of neu- 

 tralizing the acid quality of the soil ; by which 

 means only it destroys the growth of sorrel. The 

 germination of the seeds at such depths, and the 

 rising of the plant through such a layer of dead 

 earth, (as marl is in such cases,) proves the remark- 

 able hardiness of sorrel ; but its growth in such 

 situations furnishes no proof whatever that marl 

 when acting as a manure is not destructive of sor- 

 rel. To produce this effect, it only requires that a 

 sufEcient quantity shall be applied, and equally 

 and thoroughly mixed with the soil by tillage. If 

 plants of sorrel are found on a field that has been 

 sufficiently marled, and the soil well stirred by 

 cultivation, it only proves that from careless spread- 

 ing, those spots were left without their share of 

 the dressing. But should my reasoning be not en- 

 tirely satisfactory, you may rely on the testimony 

 of my experience, which pronounces that sorrel 

 will never be found plenty enough to be injurious 

 after even a moderate marling, and that after a 

 proper application, the soil is found not only cleared 

 of sorrel, but incapable of producing it. 



(JJ^This article reminds us of a fact we noticed 

 on our own field in June. Last year, in the month 

 of August, we brought to the field an hundred bush- 

 els of barilla ashes and deposited them in one heap 

 near the border of a small piece of reclaimed mea- 

 dow land, upon which they were to be spread. In 

 September they were used as intended — but the 

 bottom of the heap was not very thoroughly cleaned 

 up. In June of this year we noticed much sorrel 

 and no other plant growing where the heap had 



other not until May. We have seen no sorrel o 

 these spots. But where the sorrel did appear, 

 was seen also, though not in very great quantit 

 among the surrounding clover. — Ed. N. E. F, 



LOAM FOR TOP-DRESSING. 



Now is the time to prepare the rich loam fro 

 the road -side, and excellent manure from hoh 

 where the wash accumulates from surrounding hil 

 and uplands, as a top-dressing for swales and lo 

 English mowing ground. 



One ot the best practical farmers we have evi 

 known, for a series of years, top-dressed much ■ 

 his English mowing ground with nothmg but con 

 men loam, and he assured us, that years of exper 

 ence had proved to his entire satisfaction that tl 

 practice was very profitable. 



Where this loam is thrown out by the plow c 

 to the adjoining mowing land, who has not seen i 

 good effects on the grasses .- — Bost. Cult. 



Wild Cherry Leaves — A correspondent of tl 

 Hartford Courant states that two cows died recent 

 in Kensington, Conn., in consequence of eatir 

 wild cherry leaves in a wilted state. The bus 

 had been cut about two hours, and one of the cov 

 died in about forty minutes after eating, and tl 

 other ill a little over an hour. The writer aa 

 that the leaves in a wilted state are a most dead 

 poison ; and cattle eat them with avidity, being 

 a sweetish taste. 



Burns. — A subscriber in Lowell has given i 

 the following recipe for the cure of burns : 



"Take any quantity of clover blossoms and be 

 them thoroughly in enough of water to cover the 

 well ; then strain off the water, and boil it dow 

 to a thick syrup of the consistence of molasse: 

 then bottle the syrup up for use, and it will kea 

 for years." 



Our informant, who has tried the remedy repea 

 edly, says that if applied to scalds or burns, it w 

 extract the fire almost instantly. — Bost. Merc. Jbi 



.Mayiual Labor. — The great Locke had the rig 

 notion of the salutary influence of moderate lab 

 upon the mind. Gardening, or husbandry in gen 

 ral, he says, and working in wood, as a carpente 

 joiner, or turner, are fit and healthy recreations f 

 a man of study or business. It is well understoi 

 by physiologists that to increase the vigor of tl 

 mind we should increase the vigor of the bod; 

 not by eating and drinking alone, but by healthf 

 exercise. — Selected. 



Rightly Served. — Three young men were recer 

 ly convicted of stealing fruit from an orchard 

 Worcester, and fined $10 each. 



