"ECONOMIC AX, GEOLOGY. 
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stated that 50 to 75 bushels of Eocene, or white marl is sufficient for an 
acre. Of blue (or shell) marl an ordinary dressing is from 8 to 12 tons, 
(or 150 to 250 bushels), to the acre. And in each case it is better to 
apply it in two or three doses, in successive years. The quantity should 
vary with the .proportion of lime, ana the condition of the soil ; the more 
lime, or the poorer the land, the less the dose. The effects of over marling 
may be -corrected hy deep plowing, and by the application of muck or 
peat, or by turning under green crops, — weeds, peas, &c. 
Peat, Muck , cbc. — The value of peat as a fertilizer is scarcely apprecia- 
ted among ns. Dana has called attention in the u Muck Manual,” to its 
■remarkable similarity to the dung of the cow; and Prof. Johnson shows 
that it is rendered equal to stable manure by 7 the addition of one per 
•cent, of commercial potash, (or 5 of ashes), and one per cent, of a super- 
phosphate. And he further states it is often equal in practical effect to 
stable manure, and in some cases even superior; and this is doubtless 
due, in part at least, to the fact that it contains on an average, (deduced 
by him from the analyses of 30 specimens), 1-^ per cent, of nitrogen, — 
more than three times as much as stable manure, — and in some cases even 
gave 2|- per cent, and upwards. The term peat is not very precise, but is 
-applied to “ the substance which results from the decomposition of vegeta- 
ble in itter up. ler or saturated with water, whatever its appearance or pro- 
perties,” such as is everywhere accumulated in bogs, swamps and marshes, 
and in high latitudes, is found in any situation where moisture is abun- 
dant. Its characteristic constituent is humus, or vegetable matter in a 
state of decay. But owing to the various circumstances under which the 
accumulation takes place, the proportion of this substance to the earthy 
or inorganic matter, — the cosh, varies very widely. Of the 30 specimens 
•examined by Prut. J., some contained hut 2 per cent, of ash, and others 
20, 30, and even 60. A pure peat he considers as containing about 5 per 
cent. The composition of this .ash is important. The following is in 
round numbers the average given by the same high authority ; potash 
and soda nearly 1 percent, each lime 2d ; magnesia 3 ; alumina 6 ; oxide 
of iron ID; sulphuric acid 7% ; chlorine^-; phosphoric acid 2J ; sand 25. 
Muck is used generally to designate .smaller and more earthy and less de- 
cayed swampy deposits, an impure or unripe peat ; but it is not possible 
to say where peat begins and muck ends; the general nature and uses 
and value agriculturally are the same, the latter being less valuable, in 
proportion as it contains less humus. 
Peat and muck abound in the eastern portion of this State, and are so 
widely distributed, that a large proportion of the farms, and almost every 
■neighborhood have their own local supply within easy reach. But the 
