148 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Uses. Lime and portland cement may be made with marl in the 

 place of hard limestones. The possibilities of utilizing the extensive 

 deposits of the State for these purposes have received a good deal of 

 attention, but no attempt along this line has proved commercially 

 successful in the long run. The main drawback to such employment 

 is the large proportion of dead weight that has to be reckoned with 

 in the excavation and handling of the material. On this point the 

 following statement from a paper by J. C. RusselP is of interest: 

 "As has been determined by E. D. Campbell i cubic foot of wet 

 marl as it usually occurs in the natural deposits contains 47.5 pounds 

 of marl and 48 pounds of water." Eckel states^ that in making 

 cement from a mixture of marl and clay, it is necessary to excavate 

 and transport over 1000 pounds of raw material for each barrel 

 (380 pounds) of finished cement. The evaporation of this mositure 

 involves either a long period of exposure to the air or else an expendi- 

 ture of heat in kiln drying which is very large. 



The manufacture of lime from marl requires that the latter be 

 briquetted before entering the kiln, and this necessitates the evapora- 

 tion of most of the moisture. The employment of marl in this way 

 does not appear economically practical except in places where suitable 

 limestones are not to be had. 



The purpose for which marl seems best adapted is for the improve- 

 ment of soils, in which use it takes the place of crushed limestone 

 and calcined lime. It may be regarded no doubt as quite the equal 

 of crushed limestone for application on land since it is in sufficiently 

 fine condition to be soluble, at least slowly, in the soil waters and in 

 respect to content of the calcium oxide, the effective base, it is supe- 

 rior to most limestones. The wide distribution bf marl makes this 

 source of agricultural lime available in many places where suitable 

 limestones do not exist. Another factor in its favor is that the devel- 

 opment of a marl deposit is relatively inexpensive as compared with 

 cost of opening a quarry. Although very little marl is now produced 

 for this purpose, the total output amounting only to a few thousands 

 of tons a year, the wider use of this resource would both be an economy 

 and an advantage to agricultural interests. 



References 



Hall, James. Geology of New York. Report on Fourth District, 1843 

 Marshall, W. B. Report on Deposits of Marl and Peat in the Town of New 

 Baltimore, Greene county. N. Y. State Mus. 45th Ann. Rep't, 1892, p. 45-52 



1 U. S. Geol. Surv. 22d Ann. Rep't, pt 3, p. 657. 



2 U. S. Geol. Surv. Bui. 522, p. 59. 



