No. 275.] 
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tions of the ore are mixed with sulphuret of iron, which without roast- 
ing and exposure to the atmosphere, would form that variety of iron 
which is denominated cold short. Much of the bed is free from sulphur, 
and will undoubtedly form an excellent iron. Beds of iron of this spe- 
cies occur also in the Brant Lake tract. It presents a promising ap- 
pearance, and is located in a region of wood and water, circumstances 
quite favorable for its reduction. 
Other beds exist in Athol and Luzerne; they furnish a pure oxide, 
and would, if a demand existed for them, make an excellent iron. The 
beds of this variety of ore are generally less extensive in the gneiss than 
those belonging to the hypersthene rock. The latter in the northern re- 
gion seems to constitute the true ferriferous formation in which the de- 
velopment of this ore is on the largest scale. 
Another locality of magnetic iron is found in township No. 16, in 
the county of Essex. The quality of this bed also appears favorable to 
the production of good iron. It is an extensive deposit, but cannot be- 
come important until some better means of transportation shall be fur- 
nished than exists at the present time. 
MarL 
An extensive deposit of marl exists in Queensbury. It is on lands 
owned by Mr. Jenkins, an intelligent farmer, who well knows its 
worth. It is procured in several marshes in that vicinity, and is gene- 
rally associated with peat. It is a valuable substance, and well adapted 
to the soil of that region. 
Generally marl is not a product of the northern counties, and there 
are only a few localities at which it occurs. Ground limestone may be 
employed as its substitute, though its use is attended with a trifling: 
more expense than marl. Marl, however, is more valuable in itself 
than limestone, as it generally contains vegetable and animal matter in 
combination, and its immediate effects are more apparent; it is in a state 
of minute subdivision, and is duly prepared to become a constituent of 
the soil. 
Having spoken at some length of several substances which occur ge- 
nerally in the northern counties, it will not be expected that those sub- 
jects will be resumed again in this connection. Those substances are 
porcelain clay, feldspar and peat. They are each of them abundant pro- 
ducts of this county, bmt for particulars concerning them I refer the 
reader to those heads under which they are described. 
