THE CULTIVATOR. 
139 
lowed sufficient time to sink, and eat itself into the surface, before it 
JS ploughed up. This, however, is by some persons carried to an ab¬ 
surd length, as they occasionally spread a coat of marl upon the green 
sward, and leave it there unploughed for many years, in whiSh case 
the grass receives considerable detriment, for the marl then sinks down¬ 
wards in a body, without incorporating with the soil ; though, when it 
has lain a long time in this state, the subsequent crops of corn have 
been found to be enormous. If laid upon grass, it may be carried out 
during all periods of the year in which the crop is not in a forward 
state of growth; but if applied to arable land intended for immediate 
cultivation, the months of June and July, or soon after the autumn 
seed-time, are considered the best for its application. If laid on a short 
time previous t owinter, its effect is also generally prompt, because, 
except it be of a very tenacious kind, the action of the cold and rain 
commonly divide it in time, to be thoroughly amalgamated with the 
soil by the tillage of a summer fallow. If, however, it be only applied 
during the spring months, this cannot be so properly carried into exe¬ 
cution, for it requires the winter’s rain and frost to crumble it, and it 
consequently has but little power upon the year’s crop, A complete 
summer fallow is, undoubtedly, the best mode of bringing it into per¬ 
fect operation: but not only is the expense often objected to, but there 
is also a strong prejudice entertained by many persons against fallow¬ 
ing—into which it is not our present object to inquire, although we 
necessarily shall have occasion to notice it hereafter. 
It is almost superfluous to add, that, in whatever manner it be ap¬ 
plied, it must be equally spread over the land; and if there should be 
any large lumps remaining, these should be broken with mallets, or 
clotting-beetles, in the same manner as chalk, before it is ploughed in. 
This, however, is not usually done until the marl has partaken of both 
one summer’s sun and one winter’s frost; and should the previous sea¬ 
son have proved unfavorable to the reduction of the marl to small par¬ 
ticles, the process, in some cases, costs so much, that, when laid upon 
grass or Clover, it is often found more advisable to leave the ground 
unbroken during another year. Then when well crumbled, dry wea¬ 
ther should be chosen for rolling and harrowing it—a first time with 
heavy rollers and drags, and a second, after it has been exposed to rain, 
and has been again dried: in short, until it has been rendered as small 
as possible; after which it should be lightly ploughed in, again har¬ 
rowed, and receive from two to four ploughings, according to the con¬ 
dition of the soil. The intermixture of the marl With the earth cannot, 
in fact, be too complete; for whatever proportion remains uncombined 
with the soil, will not alone fail of producing the intended effect, but 
will have one of an opposite and prejudicial tendency. 
The quantity of marl which it may be prudent to apply to the land 
depends entirely on the nature of the soil, and the properties of the 
marl; the more calcareous is the latter, the greater is the effect which 
it will produce, as a stimulant; and shell marl possesses, besides, the 
additional power of nourishing the soil by the vegetable and animal 
mould with which it is combined. ' This species was formerly profuse¬ 
ly used on every sort of ground, but at present the average amount ap¬ 
plied to land of the medium kind is from 30 to 40, or, if it be very 
light, only 25 cart-loads, or 16 cubic feet per acre. Land of the latter 
quality may, indeed, be readily over marled; ms by repeated marling,, 
in large quantities, the surface of poor ground may be rendered so loose! 
that, in some cases, it has not afforded a sufficient hold to the roots of: 
corn and grass.* Double the quantity may, however, be laid upon strong 
cohesive soils, for it is not so easy to give them too large a dose; but 
if cold, wet, or moorish, great circumspection is requisite in the appli¬ 
cation of this marl, for if the land be not previously well drained, it 
will only increase its tenacity. 
The earthy marls, if much mixed with clay, are only fit for light 
soils; and, if applied to them, the quantity must be increased in pro-! 
portion to the deficiency of calcareous matter. When of good quality , 1 
containing about 20 to 25 per cent of calcareous or chalky substance, 
they are commonly laid upon such land to the thickness of an inch; 
which will require 135 cubic yards, or about 200 single horse cart-loads 
per acre.t Sandy marl, though generally more calcareous; yet being 
dug up with less labor, is often used upon clays with greater freedom; 
and we have already seen the great extent to which stony marl is some¬ 
times applied.:): In many parts, however, where the effects of marl 
have been extensively experienced, these qualities have been diminish¬ 
ed one-half, with nearly, if not entirely, the same immediate effect up¬ 
on the crops, though its power has been less durable, and has in most 
cases altoget her ce ased at th e end of at most a dozen years ; but, then , 1 
* Perth Report; and Appendix to that of Cheshire, NoTa, 
f Clay-marl is not uncommonly laid upon light soils to the extent of two 
roods, each containing 64 cubic yards; but on heavy land, half that quantity 
per acre is c msidered a good covering.—Cheshire Report, p. 222. 
t See p. 308. Throughout many parts of Scotland it is applied at the rate 
of 200 to 300 small cart-loads per Scotch acre,—equal to 160 to 240 per impe¬ 
rial acre. It is there commonly applied to grass land, and allowed to remain 
one or more winters, on the surface, until completely reduced by the frost.— 
Survey of Moreyshire, pp. 21-320 ; Forfarshire, p. 407. 
it admits of the following advantages—a farmer may be able to afford 
half the expense, when the whole amount may be beyond his means; 
or, at the same time, he can marl double the extent of land, and he 
can reap all the probable benefit within the term of a moderate lease. 
Nor is this all; for, supposing him to have the freehold—it has been 
found, that when large quantities of marl have been laid upon the lahd, 
though its effects last longer, yet, unless cultivation be carried on with 
great intelligence and care, these are at length worn out, and by se¬ 
vere cropping to repay the expense, large tracts of marled land have 
been much exhausted. In such cases, too, a second application has 
been attended with very little benefit; whereas, when it has been laid 
on in moderate quantities, a second and further application have been 
successful; the reason of which evidently is, that, in the first instance, 
the fertility of the mould was either exhausted by the chemical effect 
of the marl, or that, the soil being of a heavy kind, and the marl con¬ 
taining too great a proportion of clay, this addition became injurious; 
while, in the second, dung had been applied in aid of the marl, or, its 
earthy properties being of a nature opposed to those of the soil, assist¬ 
ed in its amelioration. The latter of which suppositions is, indeed, 
supported by the fact, that when a second application of clay-marl has 
failed, lime has been laid upon the same land with sensibly good effects. 
It has also been observed, in those places where marl is applied to 
the land in small quantities at stated distances of time, and where a 
sufficiency of dung is likewise used, that when weeds of any peculiar 
species push forward with extraordinary vigor, marl, if accompanied 
by a clean fallow, not only destroys them, but produces better corn 
than when dung has been laid on alone, though also upon a fallow, 
and instead of marl; which has been thought to be accounted for 
by the exuberance of the weeds proving that the soil is already abun¬ 
dantly furnished with nutritive matter for the promotion of vegeta¬ 
tion, but that it is more appropriate to the production of the weed 
with which the ground is covered, than to cereal crops; whence 
it has been inferred, that the chemical action of the marl probably 
changes the nature of the mould. 
The durability of the effects of marl necessarily depends upon its 
power over the soil. A very large dose of argillaceous, or clayey marl, 
ameliorates sandy soils to such a sensible degree by the consistence 
Which it affords to the land, that, if proper attention be paid to its 
complete combination with .the surface, and to the prevention, by care¬ 
ful culture, of its sinking to the subsoil, as well as to the employment 
of putrescent manure, the improvement thus effected will be found per¬ 
manent. When laid on in smaller quantities, its effect and duration 
will, on those light soils, of course, be proportionate; but on clays, as 
its chief power consists in the calcareous matter which it contains, its 
greatest effect is apparent when the land is brought into the second 
course of tillage, after which it gradually begins to decline, and after 
six or eight crops have been grown, it usually ceases to operate. No 
rule can therefore be laid down for its value among tenants upon a 
change in the occupation of the land, and it can only be estimated by 
the opinion generally prevalent throughout those parts of the country 
where it is used. 
It is extensively employed throughout Cheshire, Lancashire, Shrop¬ 
shire, Straffordshire, and most of the midland counties, in almost eve¬ 
ry part of which it is found, bat in the greatest abundance where the 
prevailing soil is a clay, or a clayey loam. It is there generally red, 
dark brown, or bluish-gray, intersected with veins of light yellow, of 
a greasy touch when moist, and friable When dry: the land where this 
species of marl forms the subsoil is likewise very commonly found to 
be of first rate quality. There is also an excellent kind of marl some¬ 
times met with, which is vulgarly called dove-dung , from resembling 
that of pigeons. Under sandy or mixed soils it is also very frequently 
met with, but usually at a more considerable depth. It is sometimes 
laid on the green sward in winter; and after being acted upon by the 
frost, is ploughed in the following spring, usually for oats, If, how¬ 
ever, allowed to lie for twelve or eighteen months, it will have a still 
better effect; for the successive changes of the atmosphere moulder it 
down, and the roots of the grass combine it with the surface of the 
ground, by which means it becomes more beneficial to the following 
Crop than if stirred immediately by the tillage of a fallow. Marling on 
fallows is, however, practised to a very considerable extent, and is 
there found generally productive of great benefit to the soil. It is 
spread, immediately after being carted, upon the land, but its pulveri¬ 
zation is left almost entirely to the atmosphere. Some kinds are much 
more easily reducible to a powdry state than others, and the differ¬ 
ence determines, in many instances, the propriety of their respective, 
application. On the stiff clay lands, or where immediate crops are the 
direct object of marling, those marls which pulverize with the great¬ 
est rapidity on exposure to the weather contain the largest portion of 
calcareous matter, and are, therefore, found the most beneficial. On 
light sandy soil, or where marl is employed with a view of producing 
durable effects, the more tenacious kinds may also be used with even 
greater advantage. Under the latter mode of application,: the effects 
