Reclaiming part of Forest of Dclamerc. 
379 
When a roadway lias been provided with due regard to in- 
clination and direction, the engine-tracks may often be made 
available afterwards for farm-roads; such has been the result at 
Delamefe in nearly every case where cuttings and embankments 
have been made for the tramway. 
A few remarks may not be inappropriate here upon the several 
items which make up the average cost per cube yard of marl 
spread, as shown by the tables. 
In comparing the expense of horse labour with that of the 
engine, as shown in the tabic, it should not be overlooked that 
when horses were employed at Delamere they did not, on an 
average, convey the marl more than one-third of the distance 
traversed by the locomotive ; at the same time it should be 
stated that the horse-line was occasionally more rugged and 
uneven than that of the engine. The locomotive in good weather 
led from 140 to 150 waggons per day. It could have taken a 
greater number, but that its efficiency was restricted by the 
number of waggons, namely 60, of which five or six were always 
under repair. It was not thought expedient to have a larger 
stock of them, from the uncertainty whether, though still service- 
able, they could be disposed of advantageously when the work 
should be finished. 
Another important and interesting question connected with 
this subject is the duration of the efficiency of the marl. The 
experience gained by long and extensive practice in Cheshire 
indicates, that where marling has been properly done, one appli- 
cation has sufficed to furnish an adequate supply of mineral 
fertilizers, and also to consolidate sandy lands. To quote an 
instance which has come under our own observation, the Old 
and New Pale Farms were reclaimed by marling at the latter 
end of last century, and are still profitable good farms. The same 
may be said of some thousands of acres elsewhere. There is no 
doubt but that the marl acted at first for several years, both 
chemically and mechanically ; after a while all traces of it dis- 
appeared, but not until by constant cultivation a more productive 
soil had by degrees been created. The Old Pale Farm has been 
in part marled a second time. 
Mr. H. S. Thompson concludes his excellent paper on ' Agri- 
cultural Progress ' in the last number of the Journal, by regretting 
that he had not time to complete his programme by touching 
on subjects of great interest, among which he alludes to the 
claying or marling of light lands, and the connection of railways 
with agriculture, he also states the great difficulty that exists in 
collecting any authentic statistics relating to agriculture. The 
writer hopes that the above description of the marling of parts 
