402 PLINY'S ACCOUNT OP MARL AND MARLING. 



to try ? A -white clay [candida argilla\ which they use in Megaris, but 

 only on moist and cold soils, they call Leucargillon. 



" It is proper to describe with care that used to enrich the soils of Gaul 

 and Britain. At first there were two kinds, but of late several others have 

 begun to be used as their information increased. There is the white, red, 

 dove- coloured, argillaceous, porous [tophacea], and sandy. Its character 

 is two-fold, rough or unctuous [aspera aut pinguis~\. Specimens of both are 

 at hand. Its effect is likewise two-fold, either to bring grain alone, or also 

 to nourish grass. The white porous [tophacea alba] marl nourishes grain, 

 and if found among springs is immensely rich. It is rough to the touch, 

 and if applied in too large quantities it burns the land. The next is the red 

 marl, which they call capnumargos, from the stone being intermixed with fine 

 sandy earth. The stone is crushed in the field itself, and for a few years 

 the stalks (of grain) are cut with difficulty on account of the pieces of stone. 

 Yet in consequence of its lightness it is applied at very little expense, less 

 than one-half the cost of the others. It is spread thin, and is thought to be 

 mixed with salt. Each kind once applied will last for fifty years, increasing 

 the product both of grain and grass. 



" The white is the main variety of those which are known to be unctuous 

 \_pingues]. Of this there are several kinds. The most caustic [nordaces- 

 simum] is that of which we have spoken above. Another is a kind of white 

 chalk [alba creta~] used to -scour silver. It is brought up out of the earth, 

 shafts being sunk often a hundred feet deep, narrow at the mouth, but en- 

 larging within as in mines. This kind is principally used in Britain, and 

 lasts eighty years. Nor is there an instance of any one who has twice 

 applied it to the same land during his life. A third kind of white they 

 call glischromargon. It is a fuller's chalk (creta fullonia) mixed with unc- 

 tuous [pingui] earth, better for grass than grain, so that one crop being 

 taken off, before the next sowing, the richest grass can again be cut. 

 When it is in grain, it brings no grass in addition. It lasts thirty years, 

 but when too thick it stifles the land like siguinum [old cement of terras, 

 gypsum, &c.]. The dove-coloured the Gauls call by their name of Egleco- 

 pala. It is gotten out in clods like stones, but by exposure to sun and frost 

 it separates into very thin laminae. This is equally rich. The sandy is 

 used in default of other kinds ; iij wet, oozy [uliginosis] places, however, it 

 is used even when others can be had. The Ubii are the only people we 

 know, who when they cultivate very rich land, manure it by digging up the 

 earth more than three feet deep and spreading it on to a foot's thickness 

 [quacunque terra infra tres pedes ejfossa, et pedali crassitudine injecta Iwtifi- 

 cent\ But it does good for not more than ten years. 



" The Edui and Pictones* made their fields very rich with lime [calx\ 

 which likewise is found of the greatest benefit to both olives and vines. 

 All marl \marga~\ must be put on ploughed land ; so that its fertilizing pro- 

 perties may be quickly absorbed ; and that which at first is too harsh 

 \_aspera~] and does not at once produce an abundance of herbage [qua in 

 herbas non effunditur], requires a small amount of dung, or else by its fresh- 

 ness [novitate] it injures the soil, and is not fertilizing till after the first 

 year. It is also important to note the kind of soil on which it is to be put, 

 A dry marl, whether the chalk [creta'} or the dove-coloured [columbina,~\ is 

 best adapted to a moist soil, and an unctuous marl (pinguis) to an arid soil, 

 the one quality serving to temper the other." 



* The Edui and Pictones were the ancient Gaulish inhabitants of the 

 modern Autun and Poictiers, respectively, of France. London Quarterly 

 Revieu; 



