MR. SINGLETON'S MARLINO. 407 



that had been put on, in former cultivations, dividing each load into from 

 four to eight small heaps, for the greater ease in spreading, according to 

 the size of the load. Some is put on before, and some after the ground is 

 broken up, but it is all worked into the soil by the cultivation of the corn, 

 and it never fails of considerably improving the crop of corn, as also the 

 ground wherever the marl is, especially in largest quantity. There is a 

 small green moss, and black moist appearance, on the surface of the ground, 

 when not cultivated ; as you perceive about old walls, and in strong ground. 

 Though the preceding is the common mode in which I use the marl, I do 

 not think it the best ; I mix some in my farm-yard, with the farm-yard and 

 stable manure; and would prefer mixing and applying all that I use thus- 

 mixed, but for the labour of double cartage which I cannot as yet accom- 

 plish, manuring so largely as I do. I cultivate one hundred acres yearly, 

 and constantly manure the whole of what I cultivate ; employing only four 

 carts, and four hands with the carts, which do all the manuring and cart- 

 ing on the farm. 



" Your next question is, ' what has been my rotation of crops, and mode 

 of cultivating, since I have used this manure ?' 



" Since I began to use the marl, and bend my attention to improvement 

 by manure, I have cultivated only corn and wheat, sowing my ground in 

 clover, and using the plaster. Instead of cultivating all my ground in corn, 

 and sowing wheat on it as heretofore, I divided my cultivation into two 

 parts, of fifty acres each, putting one part into corn, which I was able to 

 accomplish manuring time enough for the corn, and making a fallow of the 

 other part, manuring as much of it as I could accomplish before the time 

 for sowing wheat ; and disregarding, in a degree, all smaller crops, which 

 I could not attend to, as an object, without increasing my number of hands, 

 and interfering with the main business. I went on in this manner, till I 

 found I could easily accomplish manuring one hundred acres and upwards, 

 per annum. Having got my ground to that state that I can risk making a 

 crop without manure, I am now about discarding fallow, being able to 

 manure my whole hundred acres time enough for cropping in the spring, 

 by beginning to manure for the next year as soon as the spring manuring 

 is finished. I shall in future have no wheat in fallow, but sow it after corn 

 and other crops, from which I am satisfied I can make more from my 

 ground than by naked fallow, which I always considered unprofitable, 

 though you made more wheat, except for the advantage of having more 

 time to manure. * * * 



" In saving my corn crop, I cut it up without pulling it from the stalk 

 as usual, and cart it in all together, then husk it out, leaving the husk to 

 the stalk : I lay these near my feeding yard, and throw them into it twice a 

 day : this gives us a large quantity of strong healthy food for the cattle, 

 which serves them all winter, and keeps them in good condition without 

 any other food ; makes a large quantity of excellent manure, and a fine dry 

 feeding yard. As opportunity can be found, we cart marl, fuller's earth, 

 clay, and any good soil that is convenient, into this yard, which being 

 mixed with the stalks, and straw, or anything else, penning the cattle on it 

 through the winter and summer, instead of penning on the field, in the 

 common way, we have a large quantity of manure to go out in the fall, and 

 next winter ; it is put into the field, in the intermediate rows, between the 

 rows of marl, as far as it will go, and they will get mixed in the cultiva- 

 tion. We also convert the scouring of our ditches, the head-lands of the 

 fields, and all waste-ground that, we can, into manure, by carting litter, 

 from the woods, yard manure, or litter, &c., and mixing with them; so 

 that I can nearly, or quite, now, accomplish making farm-yard and this 



