424 



FARMERS' REGISTER— DISCOVERY OF MARL. 



some instances so much above reason ; in other 

 respects, so far below it ! IMartins love to frequent 

 towns, especially if there are ;j;reat lakes and ri- 

 vers at hand ; nay, they even atfect the close air of 

 London. And I have not only seen them nesting; 

 in the Borouf^h, but even in the Strand and Fleet- 

 street ; but then it was obvious, from the dinp-iness 

 of their aspect, that their feathers partook of the 

 filth of that sooty atmosphere. Marlins are by far 

 the least agile ot the four species ; their wings and 

 tails are short, and therefore they are not capable 

 of such surprising turns, and quick and glancing 

 evolutions, as the swallow. Accordingly, they 

 make use of a placid, easy motion in a middle re 

 gion of the air, seldom mounting to any great 

 height, and never sweeping along together over the 

 surface of the ground or water. They do not wan- 

 der far for food, but affect sheltered districts, over 

 some lake, or under some hanging wood, or in some 

 hollow vale, especially in windy weather. They 

 breed the latest of all the sv/allow kind : in 1772, 

 they had nestlings on to October the 21st, and are 

 never without unfledged young as late as Michael- 

 mas. 



As the summer declines, the congregating flocks 

 increase in numbers daily by the constant succes- 

 sion of the second broods : till at last they swarm 

 in myriads upon myriads round the villages on the 

 Thames, darkening the liice of the sky as they 

 frequent the aits of that river, where they roost. 

 They retire, the bulk of them I mean, in vast 

 flocks together, about the beginning of October; 

 but have appeared, of late years, in a considerable 

 flight in this neighborhood, for one day or two, as 

 late as November the 3d and 6th, after they were 

 supposed to have^gone for more than a fortnight. 

 They, therefore, withdraw with us the latesl of 

 any species. Unless these birds are very short- 

 lived, indeed, or unless they do not return to the 

 district where they are bred, they must undergo 

 vast devastations somehow, and somewhere; for 

 the birds that return yearly bear no manner of pro- 

 portion to the birds that retire. 



House-martins are distinguished from their con- 

 geners by having their legs covered with soft 

 downy feathers down to their toes. They are no 

 songsters, but twitter in a pretty, inward, soft man- 

 ner in their nests. During the time of breeding, 

 they are often greatly molested with fleas. 



MARL DISCOVERED IN TUB GRANITE AND 

 COAL REGION OF VIRGINIA. 



Amelia, Nov. 12, 1833. 

 To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Dear Sir, — Your publications on calcareous 

 manures have awakened much interest in our 

 country, especially in Eastern Virginia ; in the 

 tidewater district of which, beds of marine shells 

 are numerous, and are at once recognized as the 

 material called marl in this country. But calca- 

 reous substances may, and certainly do exist in 

 our country in other shapes than common lime- 

 stone, shells, marble or gypsum, all of which are 

 strictly calcareous. 



According to BufFon's theory, these masses are 

 marine remains transmuted by the slow and silent 

 operations of nature. This view is sustained by 

 many interesting facts ; whilst we must consider 

 Darwin's " Omnia e Concha" rather extravagant. 



However, the curious and sceptical will be dis- 

 posed to concur with BuiTon on examining the 

 !)luffs at the Blowing Cave, Calaghan's, and the 

 Salt Sulphur Springs. [ have at hand several 

 specimens from the two first named places, hear- 

 ing the marks of shells as plainly as wax bears 

 the impress of a seal. But to return to the sub- 

 ject. 



As lime in its various combinations and condi- 

 tions is known to be a valuable ingredient in the 

 earthy constitution of the soil, independent of its 

 use in managing other manures, and as a cement, 

 it is desirable that we should be acquainted with its 

 various appearances and localities, as the value of 

 land is at once enhanced wherever it is discovered. 

 The price now demanded for the location of that 

 presently to be described, is advanced a third on 

 what was formerly asked, though not one pound 

 has been yet applied to the land as manure. 



You will herewith receive a just and beautiful 

 specimen of a calcareous mass, which, if you deem 

 worthy, please to analyze and describe. 



The credit of the discovery is due to our worthy 

 neighbor Major John H. Steger of this county, 

 who has in occupancy an estate called Bear Island, 

 lying between the first branches of Pamunky ri- 

 ver in Hanover county, where this article was 

 found — which, for want of a better name, 1 will 

 call rock marl. 



This gentleman havingobserved great improve- 

 ment from the use of marl on South-Wales, the 

 second estate below, determined to examine his 

 preiiiises for that article. Several persons made an 

 imperfect search, and no shells were discovered; 

 but a shark's tooth, lying on, or in a soft rock, was 

 found, which attrac'.ed attention. Common vine- 

 gar was poured on a portion of the rock without its 

 throwing up any fixed air; but on the application 

 of muriatic acid it effervesced actively, shewing 

 that it was certainly a carbonate ; and from the pre- 

 sence of the shark's tooth, that it was probably 

 calcareous. Subsequent but imperfect analysis 

 confirms the impression. 



Bear Island is situated on the first bed, and 

 within a short distance of the first cropping of gra- 

 nite in ascending the Pamunky, and is pretty 

 clearlv in the same geological range that the Ches- 

 terfield and Henrico coal mines are, being in a 

 northeastwardly course from them, and shewing 

 thin strata of coal in a bluff of free-stone which 

 overlooks Little river, a tributary of Pamun- 

 ky, and the northern boundary of the tract. The 

 calcareous mass, as exposed by a small rill passing 

 over and through it, is about three feet thick and 

 thirty or forty long; the spade and hoe will proba- 

 bly discover a much larger body. It is about fif- 

 teen or twenty feet below the general surface of the 

 adjacent table land, and about forty or fifty above 

 the bed of the neighboring river, between which 

 and the hill side where this mass is bedded, there is 

 a strip of flat land. The color is that of ashes, 

 with waving lines of lighter and darker shades 

 running in some places into confused curls or con- 

 volutions : its consistency is that of soapstone, the 

 firmest chalk, or the fossil clam shells ; but in no 

 place is the color or shape of a shell to be found. 

 Indeed, so singular is its location and appearance 

 tor marl or calcareous substances, so far as I am 

 acquainted with ihem, that I observed to Major S. 

 had he l)een acquainted with marl, he would not 

 have made the discovery : to this he facetiously ap- 



