The Agriculture of Staffordshire. 
2C7 
feet. These beds overlie the Keuper sandstones. They have 
been largely worked for agricultural purposes, as the numerous 
marl-pits in almost every part of the county testify. This marl 
contains sulphate of lime in a state of fine division, as well as in 
large masses, as shown in the famous gypsum quarries at Castle 
Hays, Fauld, and elsewhere.* 
It also occasionally contains carbonate of lime. Marl varies 
greatly in character and agricultural value ; in some cases it 
is by no means fertile, in others it is remarkably so. It some- 
times consists of a fat rich earth, at other times it contains a 
large quantity of sand or of poor clay. The leanest marl is 
generally blue ; the rich unctuous marls are more often red.t 
The other formations in the county are of insignificant extent ; 
they are named here out of their natural order. 
The Permians, consisting of breccias, sandstones, marls, and 
clays, occur on both the east and west flanks of the South Staf- 
fordshire coal-field, and occupy a considerable tract of country 
to the south and west of the Pottery coal-field, especially around 
Barlaston and thence to Trpntham. 
The lias appears on the Ordnance Map in two small patches 
at Christchurch-on-Needv/ood and on the Forest banks in the 
neighbourhood of Bagot's Park. It consists of sandstones, dark 
* The marl beds yield salt extensively in some parts of England, as at 
Droit\^ich, Shirleywich, &c. We learn from Mr. Brown, of Bm"ton-on-Trent, 
that some slightly brackish streams run from Dunstall, four miles above Burton, 
across the meadows at Bramstone, and that four sea-side plants are found near 
the Lily Pits on the banks of these rivulets. They are Juncus Gerardi, Scirpus 
maritimus, Apium graveolens, and Tr!glochin maritimum. Mr. Brown writes : — 
" It is a curious subject for inquiry whether these species have continued to exist 
where they now grow ever since the tidal waves" (at some former geologic period) 
" reached as high up the valley as Bramstone, or whether they have been developed 
in congenial soil from seeds accidentally carried by wild fowl up the course of the 
Trent from the sea-side, over a distance of one hundred and forty miles." 
t The use of marl, once universal, of this formation, is now entirely dis- 
continued, because other fertilizers can be obtained in a cheaper form. The 
following analysis of the brewing waters of Burton show some of the fertilizing 
constituents contained in red marl. It is taken from a very able paper on "The 
Geology and theMineral Waters of Burton-upon-Trent," by Edwin Brown, F.G.S., 
read to the members of the British Association, in 1865. 
Analysis of mineral matter contained in Water from a Well sunk through the Gravel 
and into the underlying Bed Marl. 
Grains in an Imperial Gallon. 
.. .. 70-994 
.. .. 9-046 
.. .. :j-880 
.. .. 9-170 
.. .. -966 
Carbonate of protoxide of iron 
.. .. 1-218 
.. .. 1-1-20 
124-234 
