138 The Agricultural Relations of the Western Portion 
dress the above 192,000 acres, supposinj^ them all to require it. 
There are in the Forest many square miles of these marls, tliat is, 
of clays more or less calcareous, south of the railway, rising to 
such an elevation that ten yards in depth of marl might be 
removed without reducing the surface below the level of the 
drainage, and without injuring the land either for cultivation or 
for planting — the surface-soil being replaced on the area dug out. 
The vast quantities of sea-sand transported into the interior of 
the county of Cornwall from its sea-coast furnish an example of 
the magnitude to which a traffic in mineral manures may extend, 
when once the use of them becomes an established practice. 
The subject is well worthy the serious consideration of railway 
companies, particularly those — of which there are many — not 
over-burthened with traffic of other kinds, as well as of land- 
owneis having poor lands lying contiguous to railways which 
pass through a country containing mineral manures. In 1811 it 
was estimated that Cornwall paid 30,000/. a year for the carriage 
of this sea-sand. It forms the chief article of commerce on the 
Bude and Launceston Canal. It is also carried abundantly by 
carts, to supply the adjoining portions of Devonshire and Corn- 
wall. Roads and tramroads have been constructed expressly 
for its conveyance into the interior. One hundred thousand 
tons per annum were estimated in 1836 as the produce of 
Padstow harbour alone, a great portion of which was transported 
into the interior from Wade Bridge by the Bodmin railway ; 
and the total quantity of this sea-sand, which consists chiefly of 
finely comminuted shells and corals, spread over the surface of 
the two counties, for the improvement of the soil, is computed 
by Sir Henry De la Beche, in his Report on the Geology of 
Devon and Cornwall, at from four to five times the yield of 
Padstow harbour. 
For the improvement of the poor soils which abound on the 
lower Bagshot series for several miles on each side of the Dor- 
chester railway, there are valuable internal resources, either in 
the natural marls of the New Forest, or artificial marls, which 
might be made by mixing the clays of the lotver Bagshot series 
with chalk or lime. Which of these marls, the natural or the 
artificial, would be the most economical, must depend upon local 
circumstances. 
Cultivation of Furze for Cattle food. — Among the internal 
resources for the improvement of these sandy and gravelly 
wastes the furze or gorse which they yield in such profusion 
must not be overlooked. 
Furze is often spoken of as a favourable indication of the 
quality of the soil on which it grows. I cannot subscribe to this 
