270 



FARMERS' REGISTER— QUERIES IN MARLING, &c. 



QUERIES IN MARLING IMPROVEMENTS IN 



LO^VER VIRGINIA. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Reaister. 



jfugust 30th, 1833. 



I belong to that very small class of farmers, or 

 rather agriculturists, who arc not too wise in their 

 own conceits, to he l)oth willing and desirous of 

 being taught by their more experienced brethren; 

 and not knouing any person better qualified than 

 yourself to instruct us, — especially on the subject 

 of marling our lands, I take the liberty to sug- 

 gest the following queries, which I will thank 

 you to answer a^ soon as your convenience will 

 permit. 



1st. How often can the application of marl be 

 beneficially renewed : in other words, how long 

 will one marling, in the (juantities which you re- 

 commend, which I understand to be from 250 to 

 800 bushels per acre, according to the quality of 

 the soil, continue to produce an equal annual be- 

 nefit in similar seasons ? 



2d. What proportion of carbonate of lime sliduld 

 marl possess to pay for the expense of applying it, 

 where the cartage does not exceed 1 or 2 miles.' 



3d. Is there any other advantage in exposing 

 marl to the winter frosts, tiian to lessen the ex- 

 pense of pulverizing it by artificial means.' 



4th. Is it best to keep marl as near the surface 

 as possible by top dressing, or to plough it under 

 belore the crop, be it what it may, is sowed or 

 planted ? 



5th. Is marl equally beneficial to all our usual 

 crops in Virginia ; if not, what are the excep- 

 tions, so far as your experience enables you to 

 judge.' 



6th. Have you ever tried its influence upon such 

 vegetables and fruits' as are commonly cultivated 

 in our gardens.' If you have, what has been the 

 result in regard to each.' 



7th. Is it as beneficial to lowland as to upland.' 



I am sorry to trouble you with these inquiries ; 

 but believing that your answers will highly bene- 

 fit the agricultural public as well as your old 

 friend, I hesitate not to avail myself of this mode 

 of eliciting your opinion. 



At the same time, I beg you to accept my cor- 

 dial congratulations on the rapid success of your 

 Farmers' Register, which I hear every where 

 spoken of in the most favorable terms. This pa- 

 per, together with your book on marl and marling, 

 have already caused our mother earth to be so 

 perforated and pierced with marl augers, that I am 

 sure we should hear her groan most piteously, 

 were she capable of it. 'I'he worst of it too, I 

 fear, will be, that all this boring, and eviscerat- 

 ing, and vinegar effervescing, and wondering how 

 the strange shells which we dig up, found their 

 way into the places where we find them, will end 

 with most of us, like old George the Third's puz- 

 zle about how the apples got into the apple dump- 

 lings — in little more than mere talk. Out of the 

 many hundreds, perhaps thousands, who will make 

 what they call " marling experiments," very few 

 will perform them in a way to obtain any certain 

 and satisfactory results. No analysis will be made 

 either of the marl itself, or of the soil to which it 

 is applied; no measure, but by the eye, will take 

 place, of the quantity used, or of the space on 

 which it will be spread ; no marking off" the spots 

 for deposit, to secure equal distribution ; but the 



overseer, or most probably the cartman, will ge- 

 nerally be left to regulate the matter by his eye; 

 scarcel)^ any two parcels will be of the same size, 

 being carried out in whatever kind of vehicle — ' 

 from a wheelbarrow to an ox cart or wagon, can 

 most readily be obtained ; each w ill be loaded 

 according to the laziness or industry of the dri- 

 ver and those who fill for him ; and the whole 

 quantity carried out will probably fall far short of 

 the quantities which you recom.mend. Yet these 

 very experimentalists, although without a right to 

 expect much, if any benefit whatever, will be the 

 first and loudest after failure, in proclaiming marl 

 to be good for nothing. Otiiers again will proba- 

 lily reach no nearer point toAvards a trial of their 

 marls, than to carry selected shells as specimens, 

 to the nearest of those innumeral)le places of idle 

 resort, so baneful to our state, where the quid- 

 nuncs of every neighborhood, (and where is there 

 one witliout them,) resort to settle the affairs of 

 (he nation, and — to drink grog. I most sincerely 

 iiope that I may not prove a true prophet in this 

 highly interesting matter ; but that the most san- 

 guine of your expectations relative to the im- 

 provement of our tidewater country from the ex- 

 tensive use of marl, may be fully realized. That 

 something must speedily be done towards it, if the 

 present owners mean to escape ruin, is quite as 

 certain, I think, as any prospective event can be : 

 and that this something is, either your plan, or one 

 like it in all essentials, appears to me equally sure. 

 One of three things a large majority of us must 

 do : improve our lands extensively and constantly ; 

 or be content to live on them under rapidly increas- 

 ing privations; or troop off" to some new country. 

 I say a large majority of us must determine between 

 these courses; for an immense portion of our tide- 

 water lands is either utterly exhausted by reckless 

 cultivation, or never has been sufficiently fertile to 

 admit of profitable tillage, unless by manuring at 

 an expense twice or thrice as great as the selling 

 price of the land ilself. This I venture to affirm 

 from personal observation, — even at the risk of of- 

 fending the Virginianism of a certain correspond- 

 ent of yours, who seems quite as touchy in regard 

 to the character of our soil, as if it were identified 

 with that of our people themselves. But, Heaven 

 iielp us poor tidewater folks, say I, if land which 

 may literally be said to be "born poor," be any 

 disgrace to us ! In this respect, the only real dis- 

 grace which attaches to us, is one that all the 

 newspaper writers in the Ancient Dominion can 

 never wipe off". It is, — that so tew of us make any 

 adequate exertions, either to save our good lands 

 irom irretrievable impoverishment, or to render 

 the bad as productive as we might ; — would we 

 only abandon gadding about; would we study ag- 

 riculture instead of party politics ; and engage 

 with steady, unflinching zeal, in the pursuit of our 

 own proper business, rather than demagogueing 

 of it, (if I may coin such a phrase,) about the coun- 

 try, setting quiet neighbors together by the ears 

 about Jacksonism, and Clayism, and God knows 

 how many other kinds of isms ; and tempting in- 

 dustrious men to neglect agriculture, for populari- 

 ty-hunting. This is truly a miserable occupation 

 for the owners of lands exhausted by a century or 

 two of destructive cultivation, unaided by any 

 kind of ameliorating process whatever ; and can- 

 not possibly end but in ruin, or emigration to soils 

 of such natural fertility, as to yield good crops. 



