FARMERS' REGISTER— RAPPAHANNOCK LANDS, &c. 



655 



conjecture bow such efficient ploughing had been 

 accomplished 



c 



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p a 



G 



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B 



D 



Shape of the Piuldh. 



H 



THOMAS MARSHALL. 



Richmond, January 23rd, 1834. 



RAPPAHANNOCK LANDS, AND MARL BEDS. 



To the Editor of the p'nnneis' Register. 



One of your subscribers, who is a very young 

 farmer, flatters liimself that he is desirous to learn 

 from every available source, the art and mystery 

 of cultivating the soil properly, and this desire, 

 and your invitation to all, however plain in speech, 

 to aid you in your noble and philanthropic under- 

 taking, has induced him to address you. 



I reside in that part of Virginia, which we term 

 the Rappahannock valley, a district lying imme- 

 diately on the Rappahannock river, comprising 

 with few exceptions, rich flat land, far better 

 adapted to the growtli of corn, than of wheat. I 

 have no doubt, that from ten to twenty feet below 

 the surface, this entire district rests on a thick and 

 inexhaustible stratum of marl ; and believe, that 

 this stratum is continued from river to river, as far 

 as the limestone region. Where\ er the banks of 

 our rivers are high, and breaks are met with in tlie 

 land (openings ibr springs to the river,) fine shell 

 marl is found, and frequently without being 

 searched for. I have it in great abundance along 

 the bank of tlie river, from one end of my farm to 

 the other ; and wherever tliere are breaks in the 

 land, the strata of marl, send off branches as it 

 were, which follow the breaks on each side, till 

 the latter disappear. 



I am sorry to confess to you, that this fine marl, 

 in many places so convenient, has been very little 

 used. Indeed, I know of but three farmers, within 

 tlie distance of twenty miles above and below me, 

 that have ever carried it on their lands. As fiir as 

 it was used in these instances, it had a highly be- 

 neficial effect. I am making preparations to be- 

 gin marling in the spring — to procure the marl, 

 from one spot, where it is convenient to a large 

 body of land, in the least expensive manner possi- 

 ble, is an object of inquiry with me. This marl 

 bank is directly on the river, and is about eight 

 feet below the surfiice, and ten above high water 

 mark. The bunk of the river here is perpendicu- 

 lar; so that it would be extremely dillicult to 

 make a tolerable road to it. My idea is that a 

 capstan worked by one or two oxen, would draw 

 up in a day, as much as two or three carts could 

 carry out. I would have a car with its wheels 

 running on a railway, attached to the rope of the 

 capstan. Could the crane be used with more ad- 

 vantage? 



I shall commence this year, the oi>eration of 

 marling, and continue it till I marl every acre of 

 my aralile land, though to do it, a few laborers 

 must be hired, for I have not more than sufficient 

 to work my land. 



[ have been informed by a person who has tried 

 it, that marl exhibits its effects on one crop, the 

 first year that it is applied — this crop is cotton. 

 From the description received, the size of the 

 stalk of cotton was increaseil two-fold. I account 

 for this on the suj)position, tliat the decomposition 

 of the marl produced some degree of warmth, 

 which would in this climate be ver}' beneficial to 

 cotton. 



The upper stratum of one of my marl banks is 

 composed of marl, which feels soapy, when rubbed 

 between the fingers, and in which the impression 

 of a shell is seen. When throv/n into strong vine- 

 gar, the carbonic acid escapes with a sensible 

 etfei vescence. The lower stratum contains a great 

 deal of shell. I cannot account ibr the absence of 

 shell in one case, and its presence in the other — to 

 what cause is its disappearance in the upper stra- 

 tum, attributable.^ 



We do not fallow for wheat on tlie Rappahan- 

 nock — indeed we do not consider ours a wheat 

 country. I have known as many barrels of corn 

 obtained from one shift, as bushels of wheat. The 

 system generally pursued is the three shift — a 

 system, which I am convinced can never improve 

 the soil, unless marl or standing pastures be used. 

 I am the only farmer in my neighborhood, who 

 pursues the four shift system, and I am about to 

 prepare a piece of meadow and highland adjacent, 

 for a standing pasture, intending never to graze 

 my lands, except for a short time after harvest. 



I have no doubt that when we have made our 

 lands stiffer by marling, they will be much better 

 for wheat, and that we shall find it to our advan- 

 tage to fallow for this crop. I hope tliat a spirit 

 of agricultural improvement is spreading through 

 the old dominion, and that, when a few have ren- 

 dered their soils highly productive by marl, their 

 example will be generally followed. And you, 

 Mr. Editor, have the enviable lot of reflecting, 

 that you are in a great measure, instrumental to 

 tliis spirit — "he^ho makes two blades of grass 

 grow , w hci-c one grew before, says a political econo- 

 mist, is a benefactor to his race." That you, may 



