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182 
Now-Jorsey Marl. 
Messrs. Gatlord & Ttjcker —A correspondent in the ninth 
number of the Cultivator, from Maryland, wishes some inform¬ 
ation touching New-Jersey Marl. I will endeavor to satisfy you 
both on that subject, as briefly as possible, hoping, however, 
that some other person may take upon himself the undertaking, 
whose acquaintance and knowledge is extensive, and whose 
graphic pen is more fertile in delineation than mine. Presum¬ 
ing that I may be able to present some facts not wholly uninte¬ 
resting, encourages me to proceed, although, for the want of 
uniform materials, I shall be unable to satisfy Mr. Boyle of the 
easiest and best modes of digging Marl, consequently my re¬ 
marks can be only congruously with our practices. My wherea¬ 
bouts is near the center of Burlington county, a county abound¬ 
ing with marl, and, through its agency, has attained a high 
state of productiveness. This substance is used as a general 
manure on all occasions by those farmers who can obtain it 
conveniently, and the great quantities that are annually raised 
and scattered broad-cast over our grass and grain fields, attest 
its importance and usefulness, while its fertilizing effects are 
daily seen among the growing crops. With the object of eluci¬ 
dating the subject, I will methodically arrange my remarks un¬ 
der appropriate heads, and speak first, of the methods employed 
in digging and hauling, the usual depth of the pits below the 
surface, how it is raised from the pits, etc.; secondly, the mode 
of application; thirdly, geological formation of the marl re¬ 
gion; and, lastly, analysis of greensand or marl, as furnished 
by Professor Rodgers, State Geologist. 
The methods employed in digging, etc., must necessarily with 
the farmer, depend on the season and his crops. Digging, how¬ 
ever, is carried on at all seasons of the year, although it is ob¬ 
viously improper, for the reason that in the winter and spring 
the inclemency of the weather and fullness of the springs, re¬ 
tards and exposes the operators. The proper period for dig¬ 
ging, and which is generally adopted, is immedietely after har¬ 
vest, in the month of August. Experience has abundantly pro¬ 
ven, that early in autumn, there is less water percolating 
through the marl, it is drier and digs easier, a greater quantity 
can be raised within a given period of time, and the pits carried 
to a much greater depth, than at any other season of the year. 
Another evil to be encountered in sinking pits when the springs 
are full, is the falling in of the walls, caving. Each farmer 
who is so fortunate as to be the owner of marl beds, or who can 
purchase them, endeavors to have as much raised as will sup¬ 
ply his wants for a twelvemonth. The digging is performed 
with small No. 1 semi-concave shovels, shaped by the smiths 
in the neighborhood; this peculiar form, it is said facilitates the 
digging, penetrating the marl easier, and overcomes the adhe¬ 
sion of the marl to the implement, which usually occurs with 
the common shovel. The secret of the operation no doubt lies 
in the peculiar form and shape of the instrument, the blade be¬ 
ing straight and not dished, inclined a little backwards from a 
straight line running through the handle. A slight movement of 
the shovel, with the operator in the pits, upwards, readily frees 
it from the marl, while the upward throw with the common 
shovel, in consequence of its bowl or dished like form, diverts 
it from a straight course and causes it to crumble. The pits are 
generally sunken along side-hills of ravines, or near the brinks 
of running streams, and their depths depend upon various cir¬ 
cumstances. From four to eight feet is the usual depth the pits 
are carried in the marl, yet, under some peculiar management, 
they have been carried down from tifteen to twenty feet; but 
these instances are very unfrequent. As a general rule, one 
which should be observed in all cases, they never should be 
carried farther into the marl, than the corresponding covering 
of earth. Where the excavations arc made for new pits, the 
waste earth to fill the old ones. This avoids waste laud, 
thwarts the danger of animals getting into them, to say nothing 
of the slovenly appearance which they present, and by a slight 
sprinkling of the marl over them, they are easily converted into 
grass. Whoever has an eye to his true interest,will never leave his 
marl pits open, a practice, lam sorry to say, has too many fol¬ 
lowers. The size of the pits depends upon the number of work¬ 
men employed, but seldom less than tvvo are allowed, nor more 
than four to work one out, while one or more stands on a plat¬ 
form level with the surface of the marl, to throw it back as it 
is cast out. The amount estimated for one person to dig in 
this manner per day, is from five to ten tons, and the cost of 
digging is graded by the localities and time of operation. Inge¬ 
nuity has not yet discovered uor art invented any other modes 
by which marl is raised, other than manual labor, although I 
do not imagine that the day is far off, when they will bring to 
our assistance, aid by which physical power will be more or 
less superseded. 
Hauling is performed at all times throughout the year, espe¬ 
cially by those who have to cart some considerable distance, 
but others generally adopt the winter months as affording more 
leisure and facility in its direct application, as our meadow 
lands can be better approached then by the team, than at any 
other time. Many are in the practice of casting it into heaps, 
should the land prove too soft to drive over loaded, and when it 
will permit to scatter it broad-cast. This is more expensive, 
yet, nevertheless, is much adopted. Winter, then, may be said 
to be the season for carting or hauling marl. It is sold by the 
ton where raised, (one bushel weighing one hundred pounds,) 
the price varying from twenty-five to thirty-five cents. 
The modes of its application to the crops or soil are numerous 
and no uniform system is followed; each one is governed by his 
caprice or fancy. It is applied to corn when planted or in its 
early grow r th ; to potatoes in the hill or row, before planting or 
after, (but generally covered with them;) to winter grain; in 
short with those farmers who have abundance of it, it is a 
“ panacea,” good for all kinds of crops. Apply it as best suits 
your convenience, you cannot use it amiss, which is saying a 
great deal, yet needs no qualification; but neglect not to use it. 
Peradventure you may think I claim too much for it. Try it. 
Since the introduction ofLime among us, (thanks to the genius 
of improvement,) many of our sandy loams, by a top dressing of 
the two together, have approximated in yield to the best wheat 
lands of Penn. It is spread broad-cast (marl and lime) over fal¬ 
low, at the rate of five tons of the former to thirty bushels of 
the latter per acre. Marl alone is applied at the rate of ten to 
twenty tons per acre. Experience has demonstrated that the 
combination is one of great usefulness; that the efficacy of the 
one contributes to the speedy action of the other; that the nox¬ 
ious agents contained in the clayey marl, when brought in con¬ 
tact with lime are rendered inert to vegetation, but more pro¬ 
perly speaking, by mutual affinities converted into efficacious 
substances. Pasture lands, whether meadow or upland, that 
have afforded but a scanty herbage, are astonishingly benefited 
by a slight application of marl; but the more general method 
of aplying it, is to spread it broad-cast over a grass sward fol¬ 
lowing a winter crop. Its most decided effects I am inclined to 
believe are on a clover ley; and so powerful are its fertilizing 
powers, that when scattered over those melancholy fields, so 
sterile as to produce only a stunted growth of wild weeds, a 
luxuriant crop of white clover follows. 
Geological formation. Whoever has traversed the marl re¬ 
gions, discovers at once the want of uniformity. It comprises, 
strictly speaking, several subordinate beds, all belonging, how¬ 
ever, to two principal varieties. These tertiary beds are com¬ 
posed of layers of clay, containing fossil shells, and other or¬ 
ganic remains, of sand containing oyster shells. “ The creta¬ 
ceous or greensand series, comprises beds of blue clay, which 
contain leaves, parts of trees, lignite, amber, and other vegeta¬ 
ble products, a brown coarse ferruginous sandstone and con¬ 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
glomerate, Crowning the tops of low hills; a yellow ferrugin¬ 
ous sand, sometimes cemented into soft rock, and sometimes 
occurring as loose sand, containing numerous cast-off shells ; a 
yellowish fossileferous limestone, often siliceous; and the 
greensand marl beds, consisting of beds of dark clay of the same, 
mingled with greensand ; of the greensand almost alone in a 
pulverulent state.” This lower bed of greensand is properly 
the purest and best marl; the ferruginous sand or rock, (call¬ 
ed iron ore,) coats the beds and varies much in its density and 
thickness. The clayey stratum or veins running through the 
marl, constitutes near fifty per cent of its whole bulk, and 
which gives to it its adhesiveness. This may be taken as the 
maximum per centage throughout the region, deduced from se¬ 
veral analyses made; for instance, a specimen of marl near 
Middletown, Monmouth county, gave but forty-six percent of 
greensand; another from Squankum, which marl heretofore has 
been deemed the best, gave but forty-eight per cent, while that 
taken from Mansington Hill, Salem county, gave eighty-eight 
per cent. 
Chemical composition of marl, as found in this vicinity, Pro¬ 
fessor Rodgers says, affords in 100 parts, 
Greensand, .• •••. 82-60 
Clav, .. 10-40 
Quartz sand,. 7-00 
100-00 
And the analysis of greensand gives.in 100 parts the following 
results: 
Silica,.••••.-•*. 60-75 
Alumina,. 6-60 
Protoxide of iron,. 22-14 
Potash,. 12-96 
Water, .. 7-50 
99-85 
“Besides the aluminous and silicious matters here recorded 
as usually present with the greensand in the general mass, there 
occurs occasionally several other substances, which, though 
comparatively minute in quantity, are possessed of active pro¬ 
perties. Some of these materials are deleterious, while some 
are undoubtedly beneficial in their action upon vegetation. 
They are sulphate of iron , sulphate of alumina, sulphate of lime, 
sulpha.te of magnesia , carbonate of lime , and also phosphate of 
iron.” These salts are derived principally from constituents 
found in the clayey stratum. Sulphuret of iron is found abun¬ 
dantly in the clay, and by the action of atmosphere and mois¬ 
ture upon this salt, the sulphate is formed ; sulphate of alumina 
arises from the union of sulphuric acid produced by the action 
with the argillaceous earths, sulphate of lime and magnesia 
occurs from a combination of the same acid with lime and mag¬ 
nesia, that is sometimes found interspersed in minute particles 
through the greensand. Carbonate of lime undoubtedly arises 
from the fossils and other organic remains found embedded in 
the clay, as well as the phosphate of iron, by the action of phos¬ 
phoric acid upon the same organic substances. 
Professor Rodgers says, “the total thickness of the green¬ 
sand formation, estimating it from the bottom of the lowermost 
layers, abounding in the green granular mineral to the overlay¬ 
ing yellow ferruginous sand or the limestone bed, when this 
is present, may be stated approximately at about one hundred 
feel.” In some places the relative depth is not more than thir¬ 
ty feet. 
I take great pleasure in transcribing Professor Rodgers’ re¬ 
marks and observations entire, on the “Economical Relations 
of Greensand Formation.” Those who have not profited by 
his judicious observations on this subject, will readily perceive 
the rationale of his reasonings, the wherefore of its turning ve¬ 
getation in partial drouths, when applied to corn or clover 
I sward, and cannot fail to perceive the vast importance the two 
, minerals exert, when applied to the wants of husbandry. 
| “ Abundant evidence might be adduced to prove that the true 
fertilizing principle in marl is not lime but potash. The analy¬ 
ses which have been made, give us in several cases no lime at 
all, and when a small proportion of lime is present in the green 
granular mineral, it is in a combined state, chemically united 
with other ingredients, and not traceable to the organic re¬ 
mains, which are in many of these instances not present in the 
stratum. Besides, the quantity of shelly matter, even where 
the shells are plentiful, is so disproportionately small, and the 
matter of the shells often so firm and unsusceptible of that easy 
disintegration necessary to form a calcareous marl, adapted to 
act speedily upon the crop, that the striking effects witnessed 
from the marl, can in no wise be attributed to the trivial amount 
of lime which the shells may occasionally furnish to the land. 
Nevertheless, as some feeble beneficial effects may possibly 
arise from this source, it may be of service to the agricultu¬ 
rist, in choosing between different fossiliferous marls, to attend 
to the nature of the particular fossils, and the state of more or 
less decomposition or change in which they are found. It must 
be borne in mind, that a large portion of the visible marl stra¬ 
tum is immediately overspread by a very porous layer of yel¬ 
low ferruginous sand, and that this introduces to it a perpe¬ 
tual supply of water, furnished with great regularity as from 
an immense filter. From the upper or ferruginous sand it 
must descend, charged often with a considerable amount of the 
oxide of iron, as may be seen in the abundant oeherous sedi¬ 
ment which it almost always deposits as it issues from the sur¬ 
face or upper part of the marl. It is ready, therefore, to pre¬ 
cipitate this oxide of iron upon any substance capable of dis¬ 
placing it from the water, and meeting with the more soluble 
carbonate of lime of the shells, an interchange of materials 
arises, and the calcareous matter of the shells is dissolved and 
carried away, while the oxide of iron takes its place. Hence 
we often see the shells of a dark yellow or brown color, and, 
upon inspection, they are found to consist less of carbonate of 
lime than oxide of iron. In such cases they are to be regarded 
wholly inert upon the soil, as in fact so much useless matter, 
occupying the place of a far more serviceable substance, the 
greensand or marl. But this is not the only change which seems 
to have been effected in the Yoreign materials of the marl by 
this unceasing infiltration of water. 1 have before alluded to 
the peculiar composition of the overlaying dark blue astringent 
clay, and to the fact that it frequently contains a sensible 
quantity of the sulphate of iron or copperas, and that both this 
clay and its astringent impregnations are very often mingled 
through the granular marl itself. Now the water from either 
must dissolve in its passage a considerable quantity of the cop¬ 
peras, (an easily soluble substance,) and when there are shells 
or calcareous fossils, it must carry with it a portion of the car¬ 
bonate of lime derived from them. These two substances 
coming together in a state of solution, a chemical reaction of 
course ensues ; both the sulphate of iron and carbonate of lime 
are decomposed by the mutual affinities of their ingredients, 
and the result is a precipitation of the oxide of iron of the for¬ 
mer, and a combination of the sulphuric acid and the lime to 
form sulphate of lime or gypsum. That such is the fact is ap¬ 
parent from our finding in many cases a sensible amount of 
gypsum, either in the earthy state or in minute crystals inter¬ 
mixed with the marl, and from our observing besides, that 
when gypsum is in greatest plenty, we can most generally dis¬ 
cover a strong sulphurous odor, an evidence upon grounds be¬ 
fore explained, of the existence of sulphuret of iron, undergo¬ 
ing a conversion into the sulphate of iron. It will suggest it¬ 
self to every one, that the existence even if in small quantities, 
of so potent a stimulant to vegetation as gypsum, must have a 
powerful influence in modifying the useful properties of the 
marl containing it; yet it must not be inferred from this, that 
the efficacy of the greensand is owing to the gypsum, which I 
have shown to be frequently present. The comparative inert¬ 
ness of plaster upon the sandy soils of parts of the region where 
the marl has been applied, as in several places near Salem, is 
a fact in itself sufficient to overthrow this notion, even if it 
were not true that very many marls which do not contain 
gypsum in any shape, are endowed with the highest fertilizing 
powers.” 
The same writer further observes : “ From the description of 
this stratum already presented, it appears that the action of 
this astringent mass upon the crop is decidedly pernicious, 
when the material is employed in any amount beyond the most 
stinted doses; and the cause of its poisonous property would 
seem, judging from the chemical analyses made, and from other 
evidences possessed, namely, the copperas and sulphate of alu¬ 
mina. Copperas, though a neutral salt, is well known to che¬ 
mists to exert an acid reaction, and hence we are not to be 
amazed that a clay containing it in obvious quantities should 
burn, or more strictly speaking, poison the vegetation. Know¬ 
ing as we do the deleterious properties of the clay, a few sim¬ 
ple correctives suggest themselves, and such as any one wish¬ 
ing to use this substance as a substitute for marl may adopt.” 
The correctives here alluded to, are, in the first place, to cast 
it into flat shallow heaps after digging, that the rains may car¬ 
ry away the copperas, it being soluble in water; and in the se¬ 
cond place that mixture of caustic lime in proportion of one 
bushel of lime to every hundred bushels of the substance, and 
that in this admixture the sulphuret of iron is converted into an 
oxide, and precipitated by the liberation of the sulphuric acid, 
which chemically unites with the lime and forms gypsum; in 
the third place to form a compost with the various matters of 
the farm and barn yard. J. N. KEELER. 
Mulberry Farm , N. J. 
Management of Bees— ETo. 6. 
(Continued from page 151.) 
But another method of renewing the combs of a hive of bees 
by the use of the subtended bee hive, may be recommended with 
considerable confidence, as experiment has already shown. 
This hive, according to Reaumur, was invented by Jaques I)! 
E. Gelieu, a gentleman of Newchatel; but according to Nutt! 
a late English writer, it was previously invented and patented 
to John Geddc,-about the year 1675. This hive, no doubt, has 
been variously modified. I have used it, and seen it in use, in 
a great variety of forms, and yet it is a poor hive, and must al¬ 
ways remain so, until the principles of ventilating hives are 
better understood. Nutt uses 14 pages of his book, octavo, in 
urging reasons argumentative against its use. M. D. E. Gelieu, 
a modern French writer, will not use it, even in honor of his 
father who invented it, and wrote two volumes in its praise, 
and on the management of bees. But, after all that has been 
said and written against this hive, it is believed that it is now 
so constructed as to render it one of the best, if not the very 
best hive in the world. It is indeed true, that it costs too much; 
but when it is considered that a hive that is well made and well 
housed will last an age, the objection will not W'eigh much 
with those w’ho are able to make, or purchase them. Some 
late improvements made on this hive I think will remove all 
objections that have been urged against it except the expense, 
which many who keep bees, feel unable to incur. As this hive 
is made in three sections, 15 inches square and seven and a half 
inches high each, including the top board, the distance of tra¬ 
vel for tlie bees to get into the upper sections from the entrance 
is much shorter than in any of the old plans that I have seen. 
Moreover, as there are twelve tw'o inch holes and eight one 
inch ones, through the top-board, near the sides, all around 
each section, the bees are not materially impeded in passing by 
each other and finding their way from one section to another, 
and as these apertures are so abundant, ventilation is most 
easily graduated, while at the same time, a perfect uniformity 
of heat diffuses itself through the whole hive. There should be 
a ventilator on one side of each section covered on the inside 
with wire screen to keep the bees from entering it which, will be 
otherwise described in the bottom board, and a window with 
a door or slide to cover it may be made on the other, to observe 
the state of the bees. These three sections are made by a work¬ 
man, perfectly exact and square, and set on the canal bottom 
board. This bottom board is made of plank at least two inches 
thick, sixteen inches wide, and two feet long. From the in¬ 
side of the hive’s bottom, which should be near one end, the 
plank is worked out in a quadruple inclined plane down to 
some less than an inch, like the hopper to a grist mill; in the 
center a hole is bored with a three inch center bit, and a tin 
tube made to fill the hole two inches long, which is inserted 
therein from below, with six half inch holes at equal distances 
near its lower edge. This tube is confined in the center of the 
bottom board by nails directly under the center of the hive, 
and projects an inch or more below the,under side of the bot¬ 
tom board, and is lined on its inside with wire gauze to prevent 
the entrance of any insect from without. A cap is made like 
the cover to a butter box to fit on the outside, with half inch 
holes in its rim corresponding with those in the projecting tube, 
so that when it is put on, it is made adjustable, and ventila¬ 
tion most easily graduated by turning the cap a little. A canal 
| or gutter is made in the top of the front part of the bottom 
board, six inches wide, one inch deep, and covered with aboard 
fitted in so as to form a tunnel one-fourth of an inch high, pla¬ 
ned off level on top. As the bees alight in the canal and enter 
the tunnel, they are about half way to the center of the bottom 
of the hive before they arc in it. This entrance may be con¬ 
tracted if found too wide, by fitting in a billet of wood, and have 
room only for passing bees in proportion to their number at 
work. It is a sovereign remedy against robbers, from bees of 
other hives. The advantages of this bottom board with the 
principles of ventilation here adopted by the adjustable caps, 
must be determined principally by future experiment. I con¬ 
structed this bottom board in 1S32, but used a sheet iron slide 
in the center for a ventilator. This did not prevent the entrance 
of the moths, and it was laid aside. In 1834 or 5, 1 constructed 
a wire screen bottom board, but this let in too much cold air, 
so as to chill the young broods, and that was laid aside except 
for temporary purposes; since wffiich I have used the suspend¬ 
ed bottom board with very good success. Last spring, howe¬ 
ver, I determined, and succeeded in obtaining, a patent on this 
principle of ventilation, and went into a course of experiments 
with several of these bottom boards, all made on the same prin¬ 
ciple, but varying in the power of ventilation and width of the 
canal, some without the adjustable caps, and others with ; all 
of which were new hives, new swarms, and new bottom boards, 
and all stand in a row together in the apiary. And here it. is 
proper to remark that, every hive that is placed on the canal 
bottom is infested with moths, more or less, except those which 
are ventilated by the adjustable caps ; these are not annoyedin 
the least; and, with my present views, I feel confident that 
with scrupulous good management, no moth will ever enter and 
deposit, her eggs in the interior of the hive, where this bottom 
board and adjustable cap is used with skill, and the apiary is 
not treated with neglect. In the use of these ventilators the 
effluvia escapes through the wire gauze, and attracts the mil¬ 
ler to those places where she surely cannot enter. Moreover, 
the tunnel to the canal extends so far into the hive that the en¬ 
trance is kept warm at that place, and the bees will keep a 
strong guard there to prevent intruders, as well the robbers of 
bees from other hives, as moths, until the w'eather is too cold 
for the millers to fly; and further, if in chilly nights the miller 
does enter the tunnel, the general atmosphere cannot dissipate 
