FARMERS' REGISTER—DISCOVERY OF MARL. 



country observed, that they owed it all to good 

 roads and lime. 



There can bo little doubt, but that all that sec- 

 tion so abundantly furnishing coal, in Goochland, 

 in the lower end of Powhatan, and in Chester- 

 field, contains also bountiful supplies of marl. — 

 We would also expect to find it in the level 

 swampy country to the south and south-Avest of 

 Manchester. 



In countries Avhere this kind of manure has been 

 fixirly tried, there would be little need of urging 

 its importance. Scotland, some thirty or forty 

 years ago, was remarkable for the sterih'ty of its 

 soil, for the poverty of its inhabitants, and the 

 scarcity of the means of subsistence. In agricul- 

 tural skill and prosperity, and the higli rate at 

 which its lands are rented, it now stands, if not 

 before all other countries in the world, at least in 

 the foremost rank. All the agricultural writers 

 of that country, ascribe to the instrumentality of 

 lime, the chief agency in effecting this change. In 

 our own state, until very recently, but little atten- 

 tion has been paid to this subject. Our forefathers 

 having an abundance of virgin soil before tliem, 

 thought little of troubling themselves about ma- 

 nures of any sort. Instead of lending to the earth, 

 with a view of drawing interest, we have been la- 

 vishly squandering the principal. And after the 

 stock was nearly exhausted, we have found pu- 

 trescent manures too unattainable in sufficient 

 quantities, and too transient in their effects, to re- 

 store to the soil its pristine vigor. In some states 

 of disease, diffusible stimulants serve, perhaps, 

 only to burn out more hastily tlie remnants of vi- 

 tality. The patient needs something permanent — 

 tonics, which will produce a constitutional change, 

 and afford scope for the action of stimulants. In 

 this light, lime, as a manure, may be viewed. It 

 is a necessary ingredient in the constitution of eve- 

 ry good soil — a constituent in tlie formation of eve- 

 ry vegetable, and we believe that scarcely a single 

 plant could be brought to maturity if entirely de- 

 prived of its agency. 



It is the common opinion of our geologists, that 

 all the strata of rocks in this district of country, 

 which pursue an extensive range, observe a course 

 parallel to that of the Blue Ridge mountains. — 

 This opinion is, in the main, correct. The ledge 

 of black rock, however, of Avhich we have spoken 

 above, so far as it has been traced, continues in 

 about a due north and south direction, intersecting 

 the general range of strata, at about an angle of' 

 forty-five degrees. This may readily be perceiv- 

 ed from its outrunnings, Avliich appear above 

 ground, for a distance of more tlian fifteen miles ; 

 from the lands of the late John W. Eppes, Esq. 

 of Buckingham, to several miles south of Prince 

 Edward Court House. This we believe to be the 

 case with others of the ledges of round black rock, 

 which occasionally traverse the country. They 

 appear to form braces, intersecting the ledges, 

 which run north east and south west. The strijie 

 of secondary land, of which we have been treat- 

 ing, seems generally to stretch from north to 

 south, but the strata of rocks imbedded in it go 

 north east and south west, and dip towards the 

 north west, at right angles to tlieir course. The 

 outrunnings of ledges which may be observed on 

 the western side of this stripe of land, though m- 

 (crrupted by it for some distance, may be found 

 again on the eastern side of it, preserving the same 



course, and having the same accompaniments. — 

 We thought it might not be amiss to record these 

 observations, thougli entirely unconnected with 

 our subject. 



The writer felt bound to furnish to the public 

 information v/hicli circumstances threw in his way, 

 hoAvever imperfectly he has performed the task ; 

 because, he hoped it might cause others, better 

 qualified, to investigate this important subject. — 

 To be placed before tlie public in this Avay, to him, 

 is a novel and impleasant predicament. But if he 

 can thus excite those living in the same range of 

 land Avith himself, or persons elsewhere, enjoying 

 the same advantage, to attend to the subject of 

 marl, lie Avill consider liimself liighly reAvarded. 



It only remains for liim to state that he has no 

 experience of the benefits of marling, having but 

 recently discovered the existence of marl on his 

 land. He has spread about a thousand horse cart 

 loads on about ten acres of land, dropping the loads 

 in squares of tAventy feet. Nearly all this land 

 Avas in tlie second groAvth of trees, having long 

 been considered totally exhausted, and very much 

 gullied. He proposes to cultivate a part of this 

 ground in corn and a part in cotton. Should it 

 produce good crops, it may be considered a trium- 

 phant proof of the efficacy of marl, as none Avho 

 view the land now, can be persuaded to augur fa- 

 A'orably concerning it. 



Our experience in marling, suffices to con- 

 vince us tliat it is not one of the expedients to 

 become rich Avithout trouble. The operation is 

 both expensive and laborious, especially in Avinter, 

 on a Avet soil and rotten substratum. And even 

 should its avails equal the repiesentations of wri- 

 ters on the subject, they are only to be attained by 

 industry and perseverance, directed by some de- 

 gree of skill. W. S. MORTON, 

 Near Farmvillc, February 22d, 1833. 



To the foregoing important communication, Ave Avill 

 take the liberty of adding some extracts from seve- 

 ral letters Avritten by Dr. Morton on the same sub- 

 ject, but without any expectation of their being pitb- 

 lished, and before he suspected that the Farmers' Re- 

 j^isterAvould have an existence. The more minute de- 

 scriptions Avhich these extracts furnish, Ave are sure Avill 

 be both interesting and useful to many who reside in the 

 region through Avhich our correspondent supposes this 

 calcareous formation may be found. In the infancy of 

 a discovery which promises to prove so important to an 

 extensive district, the directions to those who desire to 

 pursue the investigation, cannot be too full or minute. 

 We trust that this Aviil serve widi Dr. M. to excuse us 

 for thus extracting from his letters : our other patrons 

 will not consider that any apology is required. 



Di^CEMBER 17th, 1832. 



I presume it Avill excite in you as much pleasure 

 as surprise, to learn, that in this part of the state, 

 calcareous manures can be found, and possibly, in 

 considerable al)undance. The opinion has obtain- 

 ed currency, that hi geological structure a prima- 

 ry formation prevails from the Blue Ridge to the 

 head of tide-Avater. This is certainly correct in 

 the main. There is, hoAvever, at least one slight 

 exception. Having paid but little attention to ge- 

 ology, and been but a very moderate traveller, my 

 information cxfcnds not far from home. 



