FALUNS AND FALUNAGE OF TOURAINE. 397 



scant notice is all that is taken of this kind of fossil manure, in that 

 author's voluminous Agricultural Survey of Suffolk, and of which 

 a large portion is devoted to marl and marling. It is manifest 

 from his expressions, that neither Young nor the Suffolk farmers 

 had any idea of this " crag" being marl. 



The other and more full accounts are by French authors. The 

 latest is by M. Puvis, who has written so extensively on lime and 

 marl, and whose views of calcareous manures are worth more than 

 those of any other European writer, previous to the general digest 

 in the recent Lectures of Prof. Johnston. Puvis' remarks on this 

 subject, of which all will be translated and given below, follow his 

 Essay on Marl in the Annales, but as one of several different though 

 connected subjects under the different divisions and titles of 

 " Platras, or remains of demolished buildings" " Falunaye, or 

 use of shells as an improver" "'Gypsum" and " Wood-ashes." 

 Under the head tf falunage the following remarks occur : 



"43. Of Falunage, or the use of shells, as an improver of soil. 



" The name/a^ns has been given to those beds of fossil shells which are 

 found, whether on the borders of the sea, or in the interior of the land. In 

 certain places the falun is used under the name of shell marl ;* but it is Only 

 the falun of Touraine [in France], of which the use in agriculture is well 

 known. The faluniere there forms a bed of three leagues in length, and of 

 variable width and thickness. The falun is taken out from many feet in 

 depth ; and as there is much water, it is obtained by tha force of many 

 hands, of which some draw off the water while others get out the falun. It 

 is put on the land at from 30 to 60 wagon loads to the hectare [nearly 2 

 acres] according to the nature of the soil. Its action appears at least as 

 efficacious as that of marl ; and the effects last long. 



" They use in England a much lighter dressing ; not more than one-half 

 of the lightest dressing in Touraine. The particular qualities and fertilizing 

 forces may be different, as the beds are composed of very different families 

 of shells ; so that each region may be right in its practice. The duration 

 of a falunage in England is longer than that of marl ; and its energy is re- 

 newed by a compost of barn-yard manure and shells, as in regard to marl 

 and lime. The soil is greatly meliorated ; still more, as it seems, than by 

 lime or marl. It may well be true that these shell beds may in fact contain 

 some albuminous substances, some animal parts, which add to the effect 

 of the carbonate of lime, which forms the principal base of the manure. 



" There are found in France these shelly beds in many places. They are 

 spoken of in the environs of Dax, of Grignon (Seine-et-Oise), of Courtag- 

 non (in Marne) ; but the conchologists seem to have made more use of them 

 than the agriculturists. Doubtless, they are to be found in many other 



* It is manifest that the author, in reporting this provincial and particu- 

 lar application of the name "shell marl" does not adopt it, or approve it. 

 He never himself uses the words marl (marne) or marling (marnage) applied 

 to this earth; but always falun for the substance, falunage for the applica- 

 tion of it as manure ; and faluniere for the bed, or deposit in its natural 

 place, or for the excavations therein, as understood in the next succeeding 

 article. E. R. 



34 



