194 Old and New Homes. 



inducements to purchasers. It is true, the stumps were still in the ground, 

 and interfered somewhat with cultivation ; but these could be removed 

 when the virgin soil would be ready for the plough. All around it for many 

 miles were to be found inexhaustible beds of marl ; and the railroad inter- 

 secting this portion of the State from Camden, opposite Philadelphia, to 

 Cape May, afforded ready transportation to and from the settlement. It 

 would subsequently provide for the marketable productions which Nature 

 seems to have made peculiar to New Jersey, while supplying the principle 

 needed by her soil in these rich deposits of marl. The potatoes, whether 

 round or sweet ones, produced on land manured with marl, are much finer, 

 and command a far better price, than those sent to market from other sections 

 of the country where that fertilizer is not used. These marl-beds underlie a 

 vast extent of land, and it is estimated that a square mile will yield about 

 fourteen million tons. Of course, the farmer in this region can either purchase 

 his marl at a low rate, or buy a right to dig for himself A pit of a few feet 

 square will yield an incredible amount, and costs only a few dollars. There 

 are some enterprising land-owners who find it sufficiently profitable to do 

 nothing else but dig and ship marl to distant places. During our first 

 year's experiments, my father invested in this native fertilizer, and had 

 reaped rich returns from his potato-fields. About twenty-five loads per 

 acre is the usual allowance for very poor land ; but ours did not require so 

 much. An interior railroad brought it to us from the pits in our neighbor- 

 hood, and delivered it in heaps by the roadside, whence our own wagons 

 could move it to the farm. 



But to return to Vineland. To many who read this little histor}', it will 

 be a new name ; and, even to those who live within a short distance of it, 

 the story of its sudden rise and marvellous growth will appear like one of 

 the fairy tales of " The Arabian Nights." But we are telling of focts, not 

 fancies ; and let the incredulous reader visit Vineland, and judge of the 

 reality for himself The town, which now contains nearly ten thousand 

 inhabitants, was laid out only six years ago, in one of the most secluded 

 and desolate regions to be found in New Jersey. It lies in Cumberland 

 County, thirty-five miles below Philadelphia, directly on the Camden and 

 Cape-May Railroad : and is thus in close communication with fine markets 

 for its productions. The entire tract embraced in the original project con- 



