AGRICULTURE. 



375 



report of Professor Rogers to the Legislature of 

 New-Jersey. " When we behold," says he, " a 

 luxuriant harvest gathered from fields where the 

 soil originally was nothing but sand, and find it al\ 

 due to the use of a mineral sparsely disseminated 

 in the sandy beach of the ocean, we must look with 

 exulting admiration upon the benefits upon vegeta- 

 tion conferred by a few scattered granules of this 

 unique and peculiar substance. The small amount 

 of green sand dispersed through the common sand 

 is able, as we behold, to effect immeasurable bene- 

 fits, in spite of a great predominance of the other 

 material, which we are taught to regard as, by itself, 

 so generally prejudicial to fertility. This ought to 

 exhibit an encouraging picture to those districts not 

 directly within the limits of the marl tract, where 

 some of the strata possess the green substance in 

 sensible proportion. It expands most materially 

 the limits of the territory where marling may be 

 introduced, and points to many beds as fertilizing 

 which would otherwise be deemed wholly ineffica- 

 cious."* We may lay it down as a general rule, 

 then, that there is no soil which may not be made 

 productive by proper management. For such knowl- 

 edge, communicated in the most pleasing style, we 

 beg to refer to the work of Judge Buel on Agricul- 

 ture, which forms one of the series of Harper's 

 School District Library. 



* Mr. Rogers states that land which, previous to the discov 

 ery of the green sand, sold for $2 50 the acre, is now worth 

 $37 the acre, in consequence of the permanent increase in its 

 value from the marl, as marling costs but $5 per acre, and other 

 manure to produce an equal effect $200 



