572 



FARMERS' REGISTER— BLACK TOiNGUE IN HORSES. 



spectable farmer, that he considers one load of 

 marl equal to five of dung'. It is [)er'ec(Iy clean, 

 and will even destroy many weeds. This is a 

 great desideratum in fjarden truck. It does not 

 readily freeze, and will work well all weathers, 

 always ready for use, and may be spread any time 

 from September to March inclusive. It makes an 

 excellent compost; upon grass land it docs won- 

 ders; a thick bottom and heavy swarth of white 

 clover is its certain produce. Potatoes, both the 

 sweet and Irish, thrive well with it. Dung, it is 

 known generally, flies into the ioj)s of lliese, while 

 marl scarcely alters the top, but greatly increases 

 the size of the roots. Corn, buckwheat, cabbages, 

 turnips, all succeed with it. 



I am informed that five loads to the acre have 

 produced a fine crop of buckwheat upon very poor 

 land. It is used as a top dressing on grass land, and 

 may be spread from ten to twenty loads per acre, 

 as late as March. One large farmer. Judge C, 

 informed me he had used eighteen loads per acre ; 

 but there is some danger of using loo much, parti- 

 cularly with poor light land. 1 have heard of 

 some that was unproductive for five years, but last 

 year it began to recover, and it is expected the 

 produce will eventually make up ibr lost time, but 

 it is certainly better not to overdo the tiling. 

 Give a second dressing the second year, rather than 

 a surfeit at first. As iar as experimental informa- 

 tion enables us to determine, it continues its eifects 

 sufficiently nine or ten years. For corn and grain 

 it is scattered on the top after jiloughing, and well 

 harrowed in. I cannot learn tliat it has been tried 

 for peach trees, but I know one large grov.'cr who 

 is making preparations to try it this season. 



This marl is evidently a marine deposit: it is 

 found in hollows at two or three feet below the 

 surtiice, continuing downwards to sixteen. Its 

 upper strata is of a greenish blue color, the middle 

 more inclining to gray ; and the lowest is of an 

 ash color; this last is considered the strongest. 

 Observe, I speak of its color when dry; and I 

 ought further to observe that other pits are said to 

 vary much in color and quality : therefore, before 

 trial the quality ought to be known. This marl 

 has the appearance of sand, each little grain having 

 a thick coat of decomposed vegetable matter, 

 making them adhere together in Lumps occasion- 

 ally. 



Shells, sea-worn stones, sharks' teeth, &c. are 

 often found amongst it. The marl that is found in 

 some places further from the sea does not appear 

 to be so powerful. From the pits where I selected 

 you the samples, that accompany this, it is carted 

 by land forty miles, the farmer paying from 2s. 6d. 

 to 3s. per load by the pit side. A load is twenty 

 bushels ; a bushel weighs from one hundred to one 

 hundred and three pounds, Avhen dry. 



I am about having the marl analyzed, so as to 

 ascertain exactly where it will be most useful. I 

 Avill communicate to you the result with some other 

 experiments, for your next number ; and should 

 you wish to possess a larger sample for any of your 

 readers to make trial with, I have prepared you 

 some in barrels, with the price you can furaish it; 

 for I can see no reason why it should not become 

 an article of as much request as ashes, or plaster 

 of paris, and will, therefore, be of as much com- 

 mercial importance as coal. 



D. A. AMES. 



Neio Vork, September 24, 1833. 



[On account of our preconceived opinions of the 

 "Jersey marl," we felt anxious to learn the result of the 

 analysis promised above ; but having heard nothing 

 more on the subject for a considerable time, we wrote 

 to ask for small portions of the several specimens, and 

 have just received them from Mr. Fleet, the editor of 

 the New York Farmer, whose letter also states that no 

 analysis has been made, within his knowledge. Intend- 

 ing to place all the specimens in better hands than our 

 own for examination, we were unwilling to lessen the 

 samples (which were necessarily made small, being 

 sent by mail,) by taking more than a few grams from 

 each. But from those small quantities alone, we hate 

 no hesitation in asserting that there is not a particle ojT 

 carbonate of lime, in either the three specimens received, 

 which were taken from the upper, middle and lower 

 parts of the stratum. We had before subjected to a 

 more full trial two specimens of the Jersey " marl" de- 

 scribed by our correspondent from Long Island, in No. 

 5, page 272, and found a similar result. As had beea 

 supposed before seeing any specimen, and on the 

 grounds stated fully, page 209, No. 4, this earth seems 

 to be the same with what was there called gypseous 

 earth, and which is so abundant on James river. From 

 the experience of northern farmers there can be no 

 doubt of the Jersey earth's being a valuable manure, if 

 judiciou.sly applied, (though we cannot believe, with 

 Mr. Ames, that it will serve as a substitute for putres- 

 cent manures :) but its value is certainly not caused by 

 its containing carbonate of lime, (whicli only consti- 

 tutes the worth of marl,) and never has the term »nar£ 

 been more misapplied than in this case. But to what- 

 ever ingredient this Jersey earth owes its fertilizing ef- 

 fects, there in good reason to hojDe that the same may be 

 foimd to some extent in the gypseous earth of Virgi- 

 nia. We have attempted to draw attention to this 

 subject, and have succeeded in removing sometliing of 

 the prevailing fal.se opinions ; and it is hoped that the 

 labors of a more energetic and competent examiner will 

 show what constitutes the value of these earths, as 

 clearly as we have proved that it is not that which gives 

 value to marl, or to our beds of fossil shells.] 



THE BLACK TONGUE. 



From the Northamptcm Courier. 

 The black tongue disease in horses is becoming 

 so prevalent, and spreading with such rapidity, 

 that we are almost induced to believe it a species 

 of cholera. It is infecting horses, cows, oxen, 

 sheep, and even the feathered tribe ; and what is 

 most strange, a man near Deerfield, who has been 

 among horses suffering with it, has contracted the 

 disorder ! It is a species of putrid sore throat or 

 canker rash, eating otf the roots of the tongue, and 

 turning it black, at the same time diseasing the 

 glands of the throat. Cleanliness of racks and 

 mangers should be preserved, and as a preventive, 

 salt is said to be excellent. A piece of gum assa- 

 foetida placed in each manger, and another fasten- 

 ed to the water bucket, are indispensable to the 

 health of animals about these times. Another 

 preventive used in large stables in this town, is 

 putting a composition of tar and camphor on a- 

 piece of cloth, and winding it round the bits — fine 

 salt thrown into the mouth, and sulphur scattered 

 in the manger occasionally. 



