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ESSAY

CALCAREOUS MANURES

THIRD EDITION.

BY EDMUND RUFFIN,

PETERSBURG :
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR.

1842.

A ^\\V.|J5 v

Entered according' to act of Congress, by Edmund Ruffln, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the Eastern District of Virginia.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The object of this essay is to investigate the peculiar features and qualities
of the soils of our tidewater district, to show the causes of their general unpro-
ductiveness, and to point out means, as yet but little used, for their effectual and
profitable improvement. My observations are particularly addressed to the cul-
tivators of that part of Virginia which lies between the eea coast and the falls of
the rivers, ami are generally intended to be applied only within those limits. By
thus confining the application of the opinions which will be maintained, it is not
intended to deny the propriety of their being further extended. On the contrary,
I do not doubt that they mav correctly apply to all similar soils, under similar
circumstances; for tin' operations of ISaturc are directed by uniform laws, and
lik> causes must every where produce like ellects. Hut as 1 shall rely lor proofs
on such facts as are either sufficiently well known already, or may easily be
tested by any inquirer, I do not choose to extend niy around so far as to be op-
posed by the assertion of other facts, the truth of which can neither be esta-
blished nor oveithrown by any available or sufficient lestii

The peculiar qualities of our soils have been little noticed, and the causes of
those peculiarities have nei er been sought ; and though new and valuable truths
may await the first explorers of this opening for agricultural research, yet they
can scarcely avoid mistakes sufficiently numerous to moderate the triumph of
success. I am not blind to the difficulties of the investigation, nor to my own
unfitness to overcome them ; nor should 1 have hazarded the attempt, but for the
belief that such an investigation is all-important for the improvement of our soil
and agriculture, and that it was in vain to hope that it would be undertaken by
those who were better qualified to do justice to the subject. I ask a deliberate
hearing, and a strict scrutiny of my op:nions. from those most interested in their
truth. If a change, in most of our lands, from hopeless sterility to a high state
of productiveness, i* a vain fancy, it will be easy to discover and expose the fal-
lacy of my views ; but if these \ lews arc well founded, none deserve better the
attention of farmers, and nothing can more seriously atlect the future agricul-
tural prosperity of our country. An where ought such improvements to he more
highly valued, or more eagerly sought, than among 03, where so many causes
have concurred to reduce our product-, ami the prices to the lowest

state, and are yearly extending want, and its consequence, ignorance, among the
cultivators and proprietors.

In pursuing this inquiry, it tvill be necessary to show the truth of various facts
and opinions which as yet are unsupported by authority, and most of which have
scarcely been noticed by agricultural writers, unless to be denied. The number
of proofs that will be required, and the discursive course through which they
must be reached, may probably render more obscure the reasoning of an unprac-
tised writer. Treatises on agriculture ought to be so written a-
understood, though it should be al the exp( nse of some other requisites of good
writing ; and, in this respect, I shall be satisfied if I succeed in making my opi-
nions intelligible to every reader, though mam might well dispense with such
particular explanations. Agricultural works are seldom considered as requiring
very close attention; and therefore, to be made useful, they should be put in a
shape suited to cursory and irregular reading. A truth may he clearly established
— but if its important consequences cannot be regularly deduced for many |
afterwards, the premises will then probably havi been forgotten, so that a very
particular reference to them may be required. These considerations must serve
as my apology lor some repetitions— and for minute explanations and details,
which some readers may deem unnecessary.

The theoretical opinions supported in this essav. together with my earliest
experiments with calcareous manures, were published in the ' American Farmer.'
(vol. iii., page 313,) in ISiJI. No reason has since induced me to retract any of
the important positions then assumed. But the many imperfections in that pub-
lication, which grew out of my want of experience, made it my duty, at some

106096

future time, to correct its errors, and supply the deficiencies of proof, from the
fruits of subsequent practice and observation. Witfc these views, this essay was
commenced and finished in 1826. But the work had so grown on my hands, that
instead of being of a size suitable for insertion in an agricultural journal, it
would have filled a volume. The unwillingness to assume so conspicuous a po-
sition as the publication in that form would have required, and the fear that my
work would be more likely to meet with neglect or censure than applause, in-
duced me to lay it aside, and to give up all intention of publication. Since that
time, the use of fossil shells as manure has greatly increased, in mv own
neighborhood and elsewhere, and has been attended generally with all the im-
provement and profit that was expected. But from paying no regard to the theory
of the operation of this manure, and from not taking warning from the known
errors and losses of myself as well as others, most persons have used it injudi-
ciously, and have damaged more or less of their lands. So manv disasters of
this kind seemed likely to restrain the use of this valuable manure, and even to
destroy its repu'ation, just as it was beginning rapidly to extend. This addi-
tional consideration has at last induced me to risk the publication of this •
The experience of five more years, since it was written, has not contradicted
any of the opinions then advanced— and no change has been made in the work,
except in lorm, and by continuing the reports of experiments to the present time.

It should be remembered that my attempt to convey instruction is confined to
a single means of improving our lands, and increasing our profits : and though
many oiher operations are. from necessiiy. incidentally noticed, my opinions or
practices on such objects are not referred to as furnishing rules for good hus-
bandry. In using calcareous manure for the improvement of poor sods, my la-
bors have been highly successful ; but that success is not necessarilv accompanied
by general good management and economy. To those w-ho know me intimately.
it would be unnecessary to confess the small pretensions that I have to the cha-
racter of a good farmer : but to others it may be required, for the purpose of
explaining why other improvements and practices of good husbandry have not
more aided, and kept pace with, the effects of mv use of calcareous manures.

E. R.

Prince George county. J'irginia. January 20th,

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

When the first edition of this essay was published, it met with a reception
far more favorable, and a demand from purchasers much greater, than the
authors anticipations had reached ; and it is merely in accordance with the con-
current testimony of the many agriculturists who have since expressed and pub-
lished opinions on the subject, to say that the publication has already had great
and valuable effects in directing attention, and inducing successful eflorts, to the
improvement of land by calcareous manures. Experimental knowledge on this
head has probably been more than doubled within tire last two years; and the
narrow limits of the region within which marling had previously been confined,
have been enlarged to perhaps len-fold their former extent. Still, the circum-
stances no»v existing, however changed for the belter, present a mere beginning
of the immense and valuable improvements of soil, and increase of profits, that
must hereafter grow out of the use ol calcareous manures, if their operation is
properly understood by those who apply them. But if used without that know-
ledge, their great value will certainly not be found ; and indeed, they will often
cause more loss than profit. It is iherefore not so important to the farmers of our
country at large to be convinced of the general and great value of calcareous
manures — and to those in the great Atlantic tide- water region to know the newly
established truth, that their beds of fossil shells furnish the best and cheapest of
manures— as it is. that all should know in what manner, and by what general
laws, these manures operate — how they produce benefit, and when they may be

either worthless or injurious. And this more important end, the author regrets
to believe has as yet scarci'K been even partially attained, by the dissemination
and proper understanding of correct views of thi abject. OT course it is not to
be supposed thai this essaj has been read (if even heard of) by one in ten of
the many who have been prompted by verbal information to attempt the practice
it recommends ; and of those who have read, and . ren expressed

warm appro work,ithas seldom beenfound that their praise was

discriminating, or founded upon a thorough examination of its reasoning and
theoretical views, on which principally re-t- whatever value it may possess.
For all persons who n :ed, it may truly be Baid, that the volume

embraced Ui and was worth no more, than would be stated in these

few word- — " the application of calcareous manures will be found highly im-
proving and profitable." It is not tie refore at all strange, that the attentive read-
mi; of a volume to obtain this truth, was generally deemed unnecessary.

Though the first edition of this work has been nearly exhausted, the circulation
j et been almost confined to that small portion of the state of Virginia alone
in which the mode of improvement recommended had previously been success-
fully commenced, or had at least attracted much attention. But this district is
not hcttcr lilted !■' l,e thus improved than I In- remainder of the great tide-water
region stn tching from I 2 1 land to Mobile— and to a great part of which cal-
careous manures may be cheaply applied. It is only in parts of Maryland and
Virginia that many extensive and highly profitable applications of fossil shells, or
marl, have been yet made. In North Carolina the value of the manure has
been but lately tried ; in South Carolina and Georgia, no notice of it has yet
been taken, or at least has not been made known ", and in Florida and Alabama,
(l>an- of which are peculiarly suited to I '-.) it is most erro-

neously thought lhat such improvements are only profitable for lon-j settled and
impoverished countries. The farmers ol far ahead of

those of Virginia in manuring with Jimc — and il . but upon no certain

testimony) that in . use has been made of the calcareous manure

Which in Virginia is called marl, as » el! as of the green sand, which they even
slill more erroneously call by the same name. Dut whatever may have been the
extent of their use of calcareous manures of every kind, and however great their
success, it is believed that our northern brethren have been as little directed by
correct view- of the operation of these manures, as those of the south, who have

llii! r.-ulation of this work will be most useful through the great

tide v. hich is so g< nerally supplied with underlying beds of tossil

shells, and so much of the soil of which especially needs such manure, still the
assertion may be V( ntur <l that th rt of the country where the views

presented, if true, are not important to he known ; and, if known, would not be
bighh u It is to the general theory of the

of lertile and that the attentic re scrutiny of

both scientific and practical agriculturists are invited; and to the several minor
points there presented, which are either altogether new, or not established by
authority — such as the doctrine of acidity iu soils — of the incapacity ol poor and
acid soils to be enriched — and of the entire absence of carbonate of liine in most
of tlie gods "i this country.

The circumstances stated abov> d the publication of a second edi-

tion as a supplement to the 'Fa r,' (and suited to be bound with

cither volume of that work,) which, in lhat form, may have the facility of distri-
bution through the mail — and which may be ollered at so low a price as to reach,
as nearlv as rossible. that general circulation which is its author's main object.

^Jwfl,' 1835.

PREFACE TO THU THIRD EDITION.

The rapid progress of improvement made by the use of calcareous manures,
as well as the many misdirected and less effective attempts to obtain such re-
sults, together with the acquisition oi' much recent and extended information on
the subject, all concur in requiring the new and enlarged edition of the Essay on
Calcareous Manures, which the author now offers to the agricultural public.

In the few years which have passed since the issue ol the preceding edition,
it is believed that the use of mail and lime, in lower Virginia, has been ex-
tended over thrice as much land as bad been previously thus improved ; and the
previous clear income of the farmers thus fertilizing their lands has probably
been already thereby increased in amount by several hundreds of thousands of
dollars, and the intrinsic value of the lands raised by as many millions. These
great augmentations of annual profits and of the true value of landed capital,
from this single source, if they could be accurately estimated, would he seen to
have produced an important item of additional revenue to the treasury of the
commonwealth. Ami these additions of wealth to individuals and to the state,
would be obvious as well as real, but for the existence o> other circumstances
which have operated to counteract or to disguise the proper results. The most
important of such influences will be merely referred to here in the cursory man-
ner only that the occasion permits.

In the first place— besides the deservedly very low appreciation of all lands in
Virginia', founded on the smallness ol' their products, the market prices were
formerly still more .'educed by the almost universal urgent desire of proprietors
to sell, that they might be enabled then to emigrate to the new and rich lands of
the west. The impossibility of selling, even at the lowest valuation pric ■, was
the only thing which prevented the actual flood of emigration being so much
more swelled as to leave half our lands unoccupied and waste. If purchasers
had but presented themselves, fully half the farms in Prince George county (and
it is presumed of many other counties) might have been bought up at a considera-
ble deduction from the lowest estimated value ; and ail the sellers would have re-
moved, with all their capital, to the western wilderness, To the then actual and
regular flow of emigration from the now marling district, an effectual barrier has
been opposed by the introduction of iliat mode of improvement. All emigration
has ceased wherever by trial of this means the cultivators of the land found their
labors to be richly repaid. Thus, in estimating the gains of individual? and of
the state, on this score, the comparison should be made, not with the value of
property and population which remained twenty years ago, but with what would
have remained now, if the then existing inducements to emigration had conti-
nued to go on and to increase, as they would have done, with time.

Next— the actual increase of intrinsic value of mailed lands is far from being
even yet fully appreciated, because of the generally prevailing and very erroneous
mode of estimating the values of the increase of permanent net income Irom
land, (as ;will be made manifest in a part of this essay — ) and hut few even of
those persons who have obtained such values by marling their lands, would esti-
mate them at one-fourth of their true amount, 'the source of any permanent
net increase of only i}6 of annual income from land, adds .$100 to the intrinsic
value of the land. Am! this proposition is not the less true, and to the full ex-
tent asserted, even though the estimate of private purchasers and sellers, and of
public assessors of lands, may all count for the market price but a small propor-
tion of the increased real value.

Next— even whatever of new appreciation the foregoing influences might have
permitted to be exhibited in the increased market price of lands, and still more
their new real value, have been disguised, or altogether concealed, by the great
and frequent fluctuations of all market prices of property, and by the general mis-
directions of capital and industry, all caused by the universal individual and na-
tional gambling (whether voluntary or compulsory,) at the maddening and ruinous

game of paner-muiiey banking— lo which system of delusion and fraud this other-
wise most blessed country and fortunate people are indebti I foi to much ol disas-
ter, loss, and, still worse, of wide spread corruption of habits and morals. The
enormous apparent and illusory profits promised by this sj sti DO, and by the stock-
jobbers who alone have fattened upon the facilities it ottered for fraud and plunder,
served powerfully to depress the market price of lands and to discourage agri-
cultural investments ana pursuits. For, whatever actual pn G rovement
and cultivation ol the soil might ofTei to reward the care and I proprie-
tor, the stocks of various corporations, falsely appreciati of a bloated
paper currency and by the arts of stockjobbers, promised much higher profits,
without requiring either care, labor or risk. line , 1 1 1 < ■ higher thai fictitious divi-
dends of profits or the false values of slocks rose, and the stronger became the
inducements to make stork in vestments, the more the prices of lands sunk (compa-
ratively) below their true value, because of the general disposition to convert land-
ed capital to stock capital. But the real and solid increase of income and of wealth
to individuals and to ihe commonwealth, caused by the permanent improvement
of the soil, is not the less certain, or the less profitable, b i ause fictitious appre-
ciations of values, caused by the fraudulent banking system, and the consequent
speculations and madness ol its votaries and victims, have' been both so much

higher and lower, at different times, as to make the amount of actual improved

values appear small in comparison, even if they were not thereby entirely con-
cealed. Hut these delusive and ruinous causes of flucl and values
are now last showing their emptiness, and vanishing from view ; and whenever
the fraudulent paper system shall be completely exposed and entirely exploded,
then both lands and paper money system will be estimated at their true value.
May the consummation be speedy, complete, and final!

But even though, if properly and accurately estimated, the true value of the
lands already marled and limed in Virginia has been increased to the amount of
some millions of dollars, the gain is very small compared to that which yet re-
mains ready to be obtained. Marling has not yet been extendi d over the hundredth
part of the surface to which it may he profitably applied — and liming not to the
ten-thousandih part of the lands of the state to which lime may be brought.
And elsewhere, with the exception of a small part of Maryland, the beginnings
of inarling nulv have as yet been made. Neve, beginnings are the

widely scattered seeds which will spring up and spread, and herealter yield abun-
dant harvests. In South < irolina, l le> use of marl has been at
last commenced and is now regularly prosecuted und hich offer as-
surance that the rich resources of that state, in calcareous deposites, will not
much longer be permitted to lie as dead capital, of which the value was not
appreciated or known, and t lie existence scarcely suspected by the proprietors.

In preparing this new edition, the author has endeavored to avail himself of
all recent lights, and to present a full and clear view of the general subject, as
well as of all essential details. The general theoretical opinions, as presented in
the earlier editions, remain unaltered, and of course the facts of former practice ;
but in regard to both, while preserving the same substance, the treatment has
been enlarged, or the views and statement- extended Tor better illustration and
greater clearness. Whatever of other parts of the last edition could be well
spared, has been omitted; and much ol other additional and new matter intro-
duced. It has been the object of the author to render the work a lull and suffi-
cient guide for the conduct of novices in marling and liming, and he trusti that
he has not fallen very far short of attaining that object.

December, 1842.

ESS A \

O.N

CALCAREOUS MANURES.

PART FTRST— THEORY.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OK EARTHS AND SOILS.

It is very necessary that we should correctly distinguish earths and sails
and their many varieties; yet these terms are continually misapplied — and,
even among authors of hiurh authority, no two agree in their definitions, or
modes oft classification. Where such differences exist, and no one known
method is so free from material imperfections as to be referred to as a com-
mon standard, it becomes necessary for every one who treats of soils to
define for himself— though perhaps be is (hereby adding to the general
mass of confusion already existing. This necessity must be my apology
for whatever is new or unauthorized in the following definitions.

The earths important to agriculture, and which form nearly the whole of
the known globe, are only three— silicious, abtmmous and calcareous.

cms earth, in its state of absolute purity, forms rock crystal. The
whitest and purest sand may be considered as silicious earth in agriculture,
though none is presented by nature entirely free from other ingredients. It
is composed of very hard particles, not soluble in any common acid, and
which cannot be made coherent by mixing with water. Any di
coherence, or any shade of color that sand may exhibit, is owing to the
presence of other substances. The solidity of the particles of sand renders
them impenetrable to water, which passes betweea them as through a sieve
The hardness of its particles, and their loose arrangement, make sand inca-
pable of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, or of retaining any valu-
able vapor or fluid, with which it may have been in any 1.1 uii.'T supplied.
Silicious earth is also quickly heated by the sun, which adds to the rapidity
with Which it loses moisture.

AJum&naus or argillaceous earth, when d"ry, adheres to the tongue, ab-
sorbs water rapidly and abundantly, and when wet forms a tough piste,
smooth and soapy to the touch. By burning, it becomes as hard as stone.
Clays derive their adhesiveness from their proportion o! aluminous earth.
This also is white when pure, but is generally colored deeply and variously-
red, yellow, or blue — by metallic substaibes. When drying, aluminous
earth shrinks greatly, and becomes a mass of very bard lumps, of various
sizes,' separated by cracks and fissures, whii h become so many little reser-
voirs of standing water when filled by rains, and remain so, until the

D. H. HILL LIBRARY
North Carolina State College

]4 CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

lumps, by slowly imbibing the water, are distended enough to till the space
occupied before.

Calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime,* is lime combined with carbonic
arid, and may be converted into pure or quick-lime by heat ; and quick-lime,
by exposure to the air, soon returns to its former state of calcareous earth.
It forms marble, limestone, chalk, and shells, with very small admixtures of
other substances. Thus the term calcareous earth will not be used here to
include either lime in its pure state, or any of the numerous combinations
which lime forms with the various acids, except that one combination (car-
bonate of lime) which is beyond comparison the most abundant throughout
the world, and most important as an ingredient of soils. Pure lime attracts
all acids so powerfully, that it is never presented by nature except in com-
bination with some one of them, and generally with the carbonic acid.
When this compound is thrown into any stronger acid, as the muriatic,
nitric, or even common vinegar, the lime, being more powerfully attracted,
unites with and is dissolved by the stronger acid, and lets go the carbonic,
which escapes with effervescence in the form of air. In this manner, the
carbonate of lime, or calcareous earth, may not only be easily distinguished
from silicious and aluminous earth, but also from al! other combinations
of lime.

The foregoing definition of calcareous earth, which confines that term to
the carbonate of lime, is certainly liable to objections, but less so than any
other designation. It may at first seem absurd to consider as one of the
three principal earths which compose soils, one only of the many combina-
tions of lime, rather than either pure lime alone, or lime in all its combina-
tions. One or the other of these significations is adopted by the highest
authorities, when the calcareous ingredients of soils are described; and in
either sense, the use of this term is more conformable with scientific ar-
rangement, than mine. Yet much inconvenience is caused by thus apply-
ing the term calcareous earth. If applied to lime, it is to a substance which
is never found existing naturally, and which will always be considered by
most persons as the artificial product of the process of calcination, and as
having no more part in the composition of natural soils, than the manures
obtained from oil-cake, or pounded bones. It is equally improper to include
under the same general term all the combinations of lime with the fifty or
sixty various acids. Two of these compounds, the sulphate and the phos-
phate of lime, are known as valuable manures ; but they exist naturally in
soils in such minute quantities, as not to deserve to be considered as impor-
tant ingredients. A subsequent part of this essay will show why the oxa-
late of lime is also supposed to be highly valuable as a manure, and far
more abundant. Many other salts of lime are known to chemists; but
their several 'qualities, as affecting soils, are entirely unknown — and their

* Carbonate of lime is the chemical name for the substance formed by the combination
of carbonic acid with lime. The names of all the thousands of different substances
(neutral salts) which are formed by the combination of each of the many acids with
each of the various earths, alkalies, and metals, are formed by one uniform rule, which
is as simple, and easy to be understood and remembered, as it is useful. To avoid re-
peated explanations in the course of this essay, the rule will now be stated by which
these compounds are named. The termination of the name ol the acid is changed to the
syllable ate, and then prefixed to the particular earth, alkali, or metal with which the
acid is united. With this explanation, any reader can at once understand what is meant
by each of some thousands of terms, none of which might have been heaid of before,
and which (without this manner of being named; would be too numerous to be fixed in
the most retentive memory. Thus, it will be readily understood that the carbonate of
magnesia is a compound of the carbonic acid and magnesia — the sulphate of lime, a. com-
pound of sulphuric acid and lime— the sulphate of iron, a compound of sulphuric acid
and iron — and in like manner for all other terms so formed.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY. 15

quantities are too small, and their presence too rare, to require considera-
tion. If all trje numerous different combinations of lime, having perhaps
as many various' and unknown properties, had not been excluded by my
definition of calcareous earth, continual exceptions woi en neces-

sary, to avoid stating what was not meant The carbonatt ■</ time, to
which I have confined that term, though only one of many existing combina-
tions, yet in quantity and in importance, as an ingredient of soils, as well as
a part of the known portion of the globe, very far surpasses all the others.

But even if calcareous earth, as defined and limited, is admitted to be the
substance which it is proper to consider as one of the throe important earths
of agriculture, still there are objections to its name, which 1 would gladly
avoid. However strictly defined, many readers will attach to terms such
meanings as they had previously understood : and the word calcareous has
been so loosely and so differently applied in common language, and in
agriculture, that much confusion may attend its use. Anything " partaking
of the nature of lime" is " calcareous," according to Walker's Dictionary ;
Lord Karnes limits the term to pure lime;* Davyf and Sinclair} include
under it pure lime and all its combinations; and KirwanJ Roziei," and
Young,; whose example 1 have followed, confine the name calcareous earth
to the carbonate of lime. Nor can any other term be substituted without
producing other difficulties. Carhimat,- a/ Km would be precise, and it
means exactly the same chemical substance ; but there are insuperable ob-
jections to the frequent use of ohemieal names in a work addressed to or-
dinary readers. ( halk, or shells, or mild lime, (or what had been quick-lime,
but which, from exposure to the air, had again become carbonated,) all these
are the same chemical substance; but none of these names would serve,
because each would be supposed to refer to such certain form or appear*'
ance of calcareous earth, as they usually expresa If I could hope to revive
an obsolete term, and with some modification establish its use for this pur-
posa, I would call this earth cols — and from it derive colxvng, to signify the
application of calcareous earth, in any form, as manure. A general and
definite term for this operation is much wanting. Liming, marling, applying
drawn ashes, or the rubbish of old buildings, chalk, or limestone gravel, all
these operations are in part, and some of them entirely, that manuring that
I would thus call calxing. Hut because their names are different, so are
their effects generally considered— not only in those respects where differ.
ences really exist, but in those where they are precisely alike.

Calcareous earth in its different forms has been supposed to compose as
much as one eighth part of the crust of the globe.** Very extensive plains
in France and England are of chalk, pure enough to be nearly barren, and
to prove that pure calcareous earth would be entirely so. No chalk is to
be found in our country — and it is only from European authors that we
can know any thing of its agricultural characters, when nearly pure, or
when forming a very large proportion of the surface of the land. The
whiteness of chalk repels the rays of the sun, while its loose particles per-
mit water to pass through, as easily as sand ;ft and thus calcareous earth is
remarkable for possessin<j same of the worst qualities of both the other

• Gentleman Farmer, page 2f>l, (21 Edin ed.)

t Agr. Chem. page 223. "(Phil. r.l of 1821.)

t Code of Agriculture, page 134, (Hartford ert. 1818

|| Kirwan on Manures, eban I

^ " Term" — Cours Complet d'Agriculture Pratique.

§ Young's Essay on Manures, cliap. 3.

*• Cleaveland's Mineralogy — On carbonate of lime.

tf Cours Complet d'Agricnlture, etc. par I'Ahbe Rozier — Art.

]g CALCAREOUS MAM HES— THEORY.

earths, and which it serves to cure in them (as will hereafter be shown)
when used as a manure.

Most of those who have applied chemistry to agriculture consider mag-
nesia as one of the important earths.* Magnesia, like lime, is never found
pure, but always combined with some acid, and its most general form is
the carbonate of magnesia. But even in this, its usual and natural state,
it exists in such very small quantities in soils, and is found so rarely, that
its name seems a useless addition to the lists of the earths of agriculture.
For all practical purposes, gypsum (though only another combination of
lime,) would more properly be arranged as a distinct earth, or element of
soils, as it is found in far greater abundance and purity, and certainly affects
some soils and plants in a far more important manner than has yet been
attributed to magnesia in its natural form.

Magnesia (or, more properly speaking, the carbonate of magnesia) is
here treated as comparatively unimportant as an agricultural earth, be-
cause of its being rarely found, and in but inconsiderable quantities in
natural soils, and being unattainable as a manure. It was not thereby in-
tended to be asserted that magnesia would not be important as an ingre-
dient of soil and as a manure, if it were abundant as the one, or at command
for the other. From the great similarity in chemical properties of mag-
nesia to lime, it is most probable that their action in soils is also similar.
The alluvial soil of the Red-river bottom, in Arkansas, which is of the
highest grade of fertility, I have found by analysis to contain between one
and two per cent, of carbonate of magnesia, and two to three per cent, of
carbonate of lime. The mud deposited by the floods of the Nile, and which
forms the celebrated rich soil of Egypt, also contains carbonate of mag-
nesia. (Lydl, p. 223, vol. i.) Yet most writers have deemed magnesia in
soils a cause of sterility.

All the earths, when as pure as they are ever furnished by nature, are
entirely barren, as might be inferred from the description of their qualities;
nor would any addition of putrescent manures! enable either of the earths
to support healthy vegetable life.

The mixture of the three important earths in due proportions will correct
the defects of all; and with a sufficiency of putrescent animal or vegeta-
ble matter, soluble in water, a soil is formed, in which plants can extend
their roots freely, yet be firmly supported, and derive all their needful sup-
plies of air, water and warmth, without being oppressed by too much of
either. Such is the natural surfecaof almost all the habitable world; and
though the qualities and values of soils are as various as the proportions of
their ingredients are innumerable, yet they arc mostly so constituted that
no one earthy ingredient is so abundant but that the texture} of the soil
is mechanically suited to some one valuable crop; as some plants require a
degree of closeness, and others of openness in the soil, which would cause
other plants to decline or perish.

Soil seldom extends more than a (r-w inches below the surface, as on the
surface only are received those natural supplies of vegetable and animal
matters, which are necessary to constitute soil. Valleys subject to inun-
dation have soils brought from higher lands, and deposited* by the water,

* Davy's Agricultural Chemistry, p. 110. Phila. ed. 1821.

t Putrescent or enriching manures, are those formed of vegetable and animal matters,
capable of putrefying, and thereby furnishing soluble food to plants. Farmyard and
stable manure, and the weeds and other growth of the fields left to die and rot on them,
are almost the only enriching manures that have been used as yet in this country.

t The texture of a soil means the disposition of its parts, which produces such sensi-
ble qualities as being close, adhesive, open, friable, Stc.

I a< aki OUS mam RES -THEORY, |7

and therefore are of much greater depth. Below the soil is the subsoil,

which is also a mixture of two or i • earths, mil usually isahnoel as

barren as each of the unmixed or pure earths, because it contains very
little putrescent matter) tl tnta

The qualities and value of soils depend on the proportions of their in-
gredients. We can easily comprehend in what manner sOidons and
aluminous earths, by their mixture, serve to cure tin- defects of each other ;
the open, loose, thirsty, and hot nature of sand being corrected by, and
correcting in turn, the close, adhesive, and water-holding qualities of alumi-
nous earth. This curative operation is merely mechanical; and in that
manner it seems likely that calcareous earth, when in large proportions,
also acts, and aids the corrective powers of both the other earths. This, how-
ever, is only supposition, as I have met with scarcely any such natural soil.

lint besides the mechanical effects of calcareous earth, (which perhaps
are weaker than those of the other two,) that earth has chemical powers far
more effectual in altering the texture of soils, and for which a compara-
tively small quantity is amply sufficient The chemical action of calcareous
earth, as an ingredient of soils, will be fully treated of hereafter; it is only
mentioned in this place to avoid the apparent contradiction which might be
inferred, if, in a general description of calcareous earth, I had omitted all
allusion to qualities that will afterwards be brought forward as all-important.

Nothing is more wanting in the science of agriculture, than a correct
nomenclature of soils, by which the characters nlight be learned from the
names; and nothing has hitherto seemed less attainable. The modes of
classing and naming soils, used by scientific authors, are not only different,
and opposed to each other, but each one of them is quite unfit to serve the
purpose intended. As to the crowd of inferior writers, it is enough to say
that their terms are not fixed by any rule, convey no precise meaning, and
are worth not much more than those in common use among ourselves, and
other practical cultivators, which often vary in their meaning within forty
miles of distance. To enable us to judge of the fitness of the names given
to soils by others, let us examine those applied by ourselves. We gene-
rally describe soils by making a mental comparison with those we are most
accustomed to; and though such a description is understood well enough
through a particular district, it may have quite a different meaning else-
where. What are called day OT stiff soils, In Sussex and Southampton,
would be considered sandy or light soils in Goochland— merely because al-
most every acre <A~ land in the Conner counties is sandy, and in the latter.
clays are nearly as abundant.

The conflict of definitions, and consequent confusion of terms, cannot be
more plainly set forth, than by quoting from some of the highest authorities,
the various and contradictory explanations of a term, loam, which is so
common that it is used by every one who writes or speaks of soils— and
which, in some one or other sense, each writer probably considered
ing a very large, if not the greatest proportion of the cultivated soils of his
country, and of the world.

" /,0am denotes any soil moderately cohesive, and more so than loose
chalk. By the author of the Body of Agriculture, it is said to be a clay
mixed with sand." [Kirwanon Manures — chap. 1.]

•• Loam, or that species of artificial sail into which the others are gene,
ally brought by the course of long cultivation."—" Where a soil is mode-
rately cohesive, less tenacious than (lay, and more so than sand, it is known
by the name of loam. From its frequency, there is reason to suppose that
in some cases it might be called an " original sott." [Sinclair's Code of
Aerriculture—chap, I.]

|8 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

" The word loam should be limited to soils containing at least one third
of impalpable earthy matter, copiously effervescing with adds." [Davy*
Agricultural Chemistry — Lecture 4.] According to this definition by the
most scientific writer and highest authority in chemical agriculture, if we
except the small portion of shelly land, there is certainly not an acre of
natural loam between the sea-coast of Virginia and the Blue Ridge moun-
tains— and very few, if any, even in the limestone region.

" By loam is meant any of the earths combined with decayed animal or
vegetable matter." [Appendix to Agr. Chem. by George Sinclair.]

"Loam — fat unctuous earth — marl." [Johnson's Dictionary, Svo. ed.,
and also Walker's."]

"Loam may be considered a clay of loose or friable consistency, mixed
with mica or isinglass, and iron ochre." [Editor of American Farmer,
vol. Hi., page 320.]

It seems most proper to cla3s and name soils according to their predo-
minant earthy ingredients, by which term, I mean those ingredients which
exert the greatest power, and most strongly mark the character of the soil.
The predominant ingredient (in this sense,) is not always the most abun-
dant, and frequently is the least. If the most abundant were considered the
predominant ingredient, and gave its name to the soil,* then almost every
one should be called silicious, as that earth is seldom equalled in quantity
by all the others united. If the earthy parts of a soil were two thirds
silicious, and one third Of aluminous earth, the peculiar qualities of the
smaller ingredient would predominate over the opposing qualities of the
sand, and the mixture would be a tenacious clay. If the same soil had con-
tained only one twentieth part of calcareous earth, that ingredient would
have had more marked effects on the soil, than could have been produced
by either doubling, or diminishing to half their quantity, the silicious and
aluminous earths, which formed the great bulk of the soil. If soils were
named according to certain proportions of their ingredients, (as proposed
by Davy,f) a correct, though limited analysis of a soil would be required,
before its name or character could be given ; and even then the name and
character would often disagree. But every farmer can know what are the
most marked good or bad qualities of his soils, as shown under tillage, and
those qualities can be easily traced to their predominant ingredients. By
compounding a few terms, various shades of difference may be designated
with sufficient precision. A few examples will be sufficient to show how
all may be applied : —

A silicious or sandy soil has such a proportion of silicious earth as to
show more of its peculiar properties than those of any other ingredient. It
would be more or less objectionable for its looseness, heat, and want of
power to retain either moisture or putrescent manure— and not in the least
for toughness, liability to become hard after wet ploughing, or any other
quality of aluminous earth.

In like manner, an aluminous or clayey soil would show most strongly
the faults of aluminous earth, though much more than half its bulk might
be of silicious earth.

The term loam is not essential to this plan, but it is convenient, as it will
prevent the necessity of frequent compounds of other terms. It will be
used for all soils formed with such proportions of sand and aluminous earth,
as not to be light enough to be called sandy, nor stiff enough for clay soil.
Sandy loam and clayey loam would express its two extremes — and loamy

Which is the plan of the nomenclature of soils proposed by Rozier. See article
" Terres," Cours Complet d'Agriculture, etc. t Agr. Chem. p. 139.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. \Q

send would be still lightei than the former, and loamy clmj stiller than the
latter.

In all compound names of soils, the last term should be considered as ex-
preeaing the predominant earthy ingredient. Thus, a tandy bamg calca-

/ would be nearer to loam than sand, and more marked by its cal-
i .u«. his ingredient than either. Other ingredients of soils, besides the
eai thai ar any accidental or rare quality affecting their character considera-
bly, may be described with sufficient accuracy by such additional terms as
these — Si ferruginous graccllysilicioics loam—ov a vegetable calcareous clay.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE SOILS, AND STATE Or AGRICULTURE OF THE TIDE-WATER DISTRICT Of
VIRGINIA.

" During several days of our journey, no spot was seen that was not

covered with a luxuriant growth of large and beautiful forest trees, except
where they had been destroyed by the natives for the purpose of cultiva-
tion. The least fertile of their pasture lands, without seeding, are soon
covered with grass several feet in height; and unless prevented by cultiva-
tion, a second growth of trees rapidly, springs up, which, without care or at-
tention, attain their giant size in half the time that would be expected on the
best lands in England."

If the foregoing description was met with in a ' Journey through Cabul,'
or some equally unknown region, no European reader would doubt but
such lands were fertile in the highest degree— and many even of ourselves
would receive the same "impression. Yet it is no exaggerated account of
the poorest natural soils in our own poor country, which are as remarkable
for their producing luxuriant growths of pines, and broom grass, as for
their unproductiveness in every cultivated or valuable crop. We are so ac-
customed to these facts, that we scarcely think of their singularity ; nor of
the impropriety of calling any land barren, which will produce a rapid or
heavy growth of any one plant. Indeed, by the rapidity of that growth,
(or the fitness of the soil for its production,) we have in some measure
formed a standard of the poverty of the soil.

With some exceptions to every general character, the tide-water district
of Virginia may be described as generally level, sandy, poor, and free from
any fixed rock, or any other than stones rounded apparently by the attrition
of water. On much the greater part of the lands, no stone of any kind is
to be found of larger size than gravel. Pines of different kinds form the
greater part of a heavy cover to the silicious soils in their virgin state, and
mix considerably with oaks and other growth of clay land. Both these
kinds of soil, after being exhausted of their little fertility by cultivation, and
" turned out" to recruit, are soon covered by young pines which grow with
vigor and luxuriance. This general description applies more particularly
to the ridges which separate the slopes on different streams. The ridge
lands are always level, and very poor— sometimes clayey, more generally
sandy, but stiffer than would be inferred from the proportion of silicious
earth they contain, which is caused by the fineness of its particles. Whor-
tleberry bushes, as well as pines, are abundant on ridge lands— and nume-
rous shallow basins arc found, which are ponds of rain water in winter,
but dry in summer. None of this large proportion of our lands has paid
the expense of clearing and cultivation, and much the greater part still re-

20 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

mains under its native growth. Enough, however, has been cleared and
cultivated in every neighborhood to prove its utter worthlessness under
common management. The soils of ridge lands vary between sandy loam
and clayey loam. It is difficult to estimate their general product under cul-
tivation ; but judging from my own experience of such soils, the product
may be from five bushels of corn, or as much of wheat, to the acre on the
most clayey soils, to twelve bushels of corn, and less than three of wheat,
on the most sandy— if wheat were there attempted to be made.

The slopes extend from the ridges to the streams, or to the alluvial bot-
toms, and include the whole interval between neighboring branches of the
same stream. This class of soils forms another great body of lands, of
a higher grade of fertility, though still far from valuable. It is generally
more sandy than the poorer ridge land, and when long cultivated is more
or less deprived of its soil, by the washing of rains, on every slight declivity.

The washing away of three or four inches in depth exposes a sterile
subsoil, (or forms a " gall,") which continues thenceforth bare of all vegeta-
tion. A greater declivity of the surface serves to form gullies several feet
in depth, the earth carried from which, covers and injures the adjacent lower
land. Most of this kind of land has been cleared and greatly exhausted.
Its virgin growth is often more of oak, hickory, and dogwood, than pine;
but when turned out of cultivation, an unmixed growth of pine follows.
Land of this kind in general has very little durability. Its best usual product
of corn may be, for a few crops, eighteen or twenty bushels —and even as
much as twenty-five bushels, from the highest grade. Wheat is seldom a
productive or profitable crop on the slopes, the soil being generally too
sandy. When such soils as these are called rich or valuable (as most per-
sons would describe them,) those terms must be considered as only com-
parative; and such an application of them proves that truly fertile and
valuable soils are very scarce in lower Virginia.

The only very rich and durable soils below the falls of our rivers are
narrow strips of high-land along their banks, and the low-lands formed by
the alluvion of the numerous smaller streams which water our country.
These alluvial bottoms, though highly productive, are lessened in value by
being generally too sandy, and by the damage they suffer from being often
inundated by floods of rain. The best high-land soils seldom extend more
than half a mile from the river's edge — sometimes not fifty yards. These
irregular margins are composed of loams of various qualities, but all highly
valuable; and the best soils are scarcely to be surpassed in their original
fertility, and durability under severe tillage. Their nature and peculiarities
will be again adverted to, and more fully described hereafter.

The simple statement of the general course of tillage to which this part
of the country has been subjected is sufficient to prove that great impover-
ishment of the soil has been the inevitable consequence. The small portion
of rich river margins, was soon all cleared, and was tilled without cessation
for many years. The clearing of the slopes was next commenced, and is
not yet entirely completed. On these soils, the succession of crops was less
rapid, or, from necessity, tillage was sooner suspended. If not rich enough
for tobacco when first cleared, (or as soon as it ceased to be so,) land of
this kind was planted in corn two or three years in succession, and after-
wards every second year. The intermediate year between the crops of
corn, the field was " rested" under a crop of wheat, if it would produce
four or five bushels to the acre. If the sandiness, or exhausted condition
of the soil, denied even this small product of wheat, that crop was pro-
bably not attempted; and, instead of it, the field was exposed to close
grazing, from the time of gathering one crop of corn, to that of preparing

CALCAREOUS MANURES- THEORY. 21

to plant another. No manure was applied, except on the tobacco lots;
ami this succession of a grain crop every ye.ir, ami afterwards every
second year, was kept up as long as the field would proline live bushels of
corn to the. ii ■ i a U;»ii reduced below that product, ami to still more below
the necessary expense of cultivation, the land was turned out to recover under
a new growth of pines. After twenty or thirty years, according to the
convenience of the owner, the same land would be again cleared, and put
under similar scourging tillage, which, however, would then much sooner
end, as before, in exhaustion. Such a general system is not yet every
where abandoned; and many years have not passed, since such was the
usual course on almost every farm.

How much our country has hern impoverished during the last fifty years,
cannot be determined by any satisfactory testimony. But, however we
may differ on this head, there are but few who will not concur in the
opinion, that [up to 1831] our system of cultivation has hern every year les-
sening the productive power of our lands in general— and that no one county,
no neighborhood, and but few particular farms, have been at all enriched,
since their fust settlement and cultivation. Yet many of our farming ope-
rations have been much improved and made more productive. Driven
by necessity, proprietors direct more personal attention to their farms— better
implements of husbandry arc used —every process is more perfectly per-
formed—and, whether well or ill directed, a spirit of inquiry and enterprise
has been awakened, which before had no existence.

Throughout the country below the tails of the river, and perhaps thirty
miles above, if the best land be excluded, say one tenth, the remaining nine
tenths will not yield an average product of ten bushels of corn to the acre .
though that grain is best suited to our soils in general, and far exceeds in
quantity all other kinds raised. Of course, the product of a large propor-
tion of the land would fall below this average. Such crops, in very many
00868, cannot remunerate the cultivator. If our remaining wood-land could
he at once brought into cultivation, the gTOM product of the country would
be greatly inc reased, but the net product very probably diminished ; as the
genera] poverty of these lands would cause more expense than profit to
accompany their cultivation under the usual system. Yet every year we
are usintr all our exertions to dear wood-land, and in lad seldom increase

either net or gross products — because nearly as much old exhausted land

is turned out of cultivation as is substituted by the newly cleared Sound

calculations of profit and loss, would induce us even greatly to reduce the

extent of our present cultivation, in lower Virginia, by turning out and
leaving waste, (if not to be improved.) every acre that yields less than the
total cost of its tillage.*

No political troth is better established than that tin- population of every

country will increase, or diminish, according to its regular supply of I L

We know from the census of 1880, compared with those of 1820 and
18 10, that our population is nearly .stationary, and in some counties Is ac-
tually lesseninir: and therefore it is certain thai to Ifi ir agricultureis

not increasing the amount ol food, or the meat ag food— with all

--im.hu e of the new land annually brought under culture. In these eir*

•The Rftegoine description w.i- written In 1826, and lirsl publ If l. and

particular exceptions to the geneml tlien

''•■■I j .in.! . uiih the p

• " becomii I more, important, anil in a rapidly inert

These i .! I inda and increased production, as well as theii peculiar

causes, will b ibsequenth . Tl 1 ■ ., „t«i

in the remainder of this cba| , g statements)

on which they aie lunnded.

I

22 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

cumstances, a surplus population, with all its deplorable consequences, is
only prevented by the great current of emigration which is continually
flowing westward. No matter who emigrates, or with what motive — the
enterprising or wealthy citizen who leaves us to seek richer lands and
greater profits, and the slave sold and carried away on account of his
owner's poverty — all concur in producing the same result, though with very
different degrees of benefit to those who remain. If this great and con-
tinued drain from our population was stopped, and our agriculture was not
improved, want and misery would work to produce the same results.
Births would diminish, and deaths would increase; and hunger and disease,
operating here as in other countries, would keep down population to that
number that the average products of our agricultural and other productive
labor could feed, and supply with the other necessary means for living.

A stranger to our situation and habits might well oppose to my state-
ments the very reasonable objection, that no man would, or could, long pur-
sue a system of cultivation of which the returns fell short of his expenses,
including rent of land, hire of labor, interest on the necessary capital, &c.
Very true ; if he had to pay those expenses out of his profits, he would
soon be driven from his farm to a jail. But we own our land, our laborers,
and stock; and though the calculation of net profit, or of loss, is precisely
the same, yet we are not ruined by making only two per cent, on our capi-
tal, provided we can manage to live on that income. If we live on still
less, we are actually growing richer, (by laying up a part of our two per
cent.,) notwithstanding the most clearly proved regular loss on our farming.

Our condition has been so gradually growing worse, that we are either
not aware of the extent of the evil, or are in a great measure reconciled
by custom to profitless labor. No hope for a better state of things can be
entertained, until we shake off this apathy — this excess of contentment,
which makes no effort to avoid existing evils. I have endeavored to ex-
pose what is worst in our situation as farmers ; if it should have the effect
of arousing any of my countrymen to a sense of the absolute necessity of
some improvement, to avoid ultimate ruin, 1 hope also to point out to some
of their number, if not to all, that the means for certain and highly profitable
improvements are completely within their reach.

The cultivators of eastern Virginia derive a portion of their income from
a source quite distinct from their tillage — and which, though it often forces
them to persist in their profitless farming, yet also, in some measure, con-
ceals, and is- generally supposed to compensate for its losses. This source
of income is, the breeding and selling of slaves ; of which, '(though the
discussion of this point will not be undertaken here.) 1 cannot concur in the
general opinion that it is also a source of profit.

It is not meant to convey the idea that any person undertakes as a re-
gular business the breeding of slaves with a view to their sale; but whether
it is so intended or not, all of us, without exception, are acting some part in
aid of a general system, which taken altogether is precisely what I have
named. No man is so inhuman as to breed and raise slaves, to sell off a
certain proportion regularly, as a western drover does with his herds of
cattle. But sooner or later the general result is the same. Sales may be
made voluntarily, or by the sheriff— they may be met by the first owner,
or delayed until the succession of his heirs— or the misfortune of being sold
may fall on one parcel of slaves, instead of another ; but all these, are but
different ways of arriving at the same general and inevitable result. With
plenty of wholesome though coarse food, and under such mild treatment
as our slaves usually experience, they have every inducement and facility
to increase their numbers with all possible rapidity, without any opposing

C LLCARE01 8 MANl RES THEORY J3

check, either prudential, moral, "i physical These several checks to th«-
increase of population operate more or leas on all free persons, whether rich

or p ; and slaves, situated as oars are, perhaps are placed in the only

possible circumstances Id which no restraint whatever obstructs the pro-
pagation and Increase of the race; From the general existence of this
state of circumstances, the particular effects maybe naturally deduced;
and facta completely accord with what these circumstances promise, A
ping of slaves on a farm will often increase to four times their original
number, in thirty or forty years. If a farmer is only able to food and
maintain his slaves, their increase in value may double the whole of his
capital originally vested in farming, before he closes the term of an ordinary
life. But few farms are able to support this increasing expense, and also
furnish the necessary supplies to the family of the owner ; whence very
many owners of large estates, in lands and negroeS, are throughout their
lives too poor to enjoy the comforts of wealth, or to encounter the expenses
necessary to improve their unprofitable fanning. A man so situated, may
be said to be a slave to his own slaves. If the owner is industrious and
frugal, he may be able to support the increasing number of his slaves, and
to bequeath them undiminished to his children. But the income of few
persons increases as fast as their slaves; and if not, the consequence must
be, that some of them will be sold, that the others may be supported ; and
the sale of more is perhaps afterwards compelled, to pay debts incurred in
striving to put off that dreaded alternative. The slave first almost starves
his master, and at last is eaten by him — at least he is exchanged for his
value in food. The sale of slaves is always a severe trial to their owner.
Obstacles are opposed to it, not only by sentiments of humanity and of re-
gard for those who have passed their lives in his service — but every feeling
be has of false shame comes to aid ; and such sales are generally postponed
until compelled by creditors, and are carried into effect by the sheriff, or by
the administrator of the debtor. But when the sale finally takes place, its
magnitude makes up for all previous delays. Do what we will, the surplus
slaves vutst be sent out of a country which is not able to feed them ; and
these causes continue to supply the immense numbers that are annually sold
and carried away from lower Virginia, without even producing the poli-
tical benefit of lessening the actual number remaining. Nothing can check
this forced emigration of blacks, and the voluntary emigration of whites,
except increased production of food, obtained by enriching our lands, and
the consequent increase of farming profits, No effect will more certainly
follow its cause than this— that whenever our land is so improved as to
produce double its present supply of food, it will also have, and will retain,
double its present amount of population. The improving farmer who adds
one hundred bushels of corn to the previous product of his country, also
effectually adds, and permaaently, to its population, as many persons as
his increase of product will feed and support.

CH \PTER III.

THE DIFFERENT CAPACITIES OF SOILS FOR RECEIVING IMPROVEMENT.

As far as the nature of the subjects permitted, the foregoing chapters
have been merely explanatory and descriptive. The same subjects will be
resumed and more fully treated in the course of the following general argu-
ment, the premises of which are the facts and circumstances that have been

0^ CALCAREl-Us MANURES-THEORY.

detailed. The object of this essay wiU now be entered upon: and what is
desired to be proved will be stated in a series of propositions, which will
now be presented at one view, and afterwards separately discussed in
their proper order.

Proposition 1. Soils naturally poor, and rich soils reduced to poverty by
cultivation, are essentially different in their powers of retaining putrescent
(or alimentary) manures ; and. under like circumstances, the fitness of
any soil to be enriched by these manures is in proportion to the degree of
its natural fal

2d. The natural sterility of the soils of lower Virginia is caused by such
soils being destitute of caicareous earth, and their being injured by the pre-
sence and effects of vegetable acid.

3d. The fertilizing effects of calcareous earth are chiefly produced by its
power of neutralizing acids, and of combining putrescent manures with
soils, between which there would otherwise be but little if any chemical
attraction.*

4th. Poor and acid soils cannot be improved durably, or profitably, by pu-
trescent manures, without previously making such soils calcareous, and
thereby correcting the natural defect in their constitution.

5th. Calcareous manures will give to our worst soils a power of retaining
putrescent manures, equal to that of the best —and will cause more produc-
tiveness, and yield more profit, than any other improvement practicable in
lower Virginia.

Dismissing from consideration, for the present, all the others, I shall pro-
ceed to maintain the

First Propositiox. — Soils naturally poor, and rich toil* reduced to pocerty
by cultivation, are essentially different in th<ir powers of retaining- putres-
cent {or alimentary) manures ; and, under like circumstances, thejitness of
any soil to be enriched by these manures is in proportion to the degree of
its natural fertility.

The natural fertility of a soil is not intended to be estimated by the
amount of its earliest product, when first brought under cultivation, be-
cause several temporary causes then operate either to keep down or to
augment the product If land be cultivated immediately after the trees are
cut down, the crop is greatly lessened by the numerous living roots, and
consequent bad tillage — by the excess of unrotted vegetable matter — and the
coldness of the soil, from which the rays of the sun had been so long ex-
cluded. On the other hand, if cultivation is delayed one or two years, the
leaves and other vegetable matters are rotted, and in the best state to sup-
ply food to plants, and are so abundant that a far. better crop will be raised
than could have been obtained before, or perhaps can be again, without ma-
nure. For these reasons, the degree of natural fertility of any soil should

* When any substance is mentioned as combining with oae or more other substances, as
liifferent manures with each other, or with soil. 1 mean that a union is formed by che-
mical attraction, and nc. (tare. Milium are made by mechanical means,
and may be separated in like manner : bat combinations are chemical, and require some
stronger chemical attraction, to take away either of the bodies so ul

:ao substances combine, they both lose their previous peculiar qualities, or
:nem for each other, and form a third substance different from both. Thus, if
certain known proportions of muriatic acid and pure or caustic soda be brought together,
their strong attraction will cause them to combine, immediately. The strong corrosire
acid quality of the one. and the equally peculiar alkaline taste and powers of the other,
will neutralize or entirely destroy each other — and the compound formed is common
table salt, the qualities of which are as strongly marked, but totally different Irom
those of either of its constirutent parts

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY gg

be measured i>y its products after the causes have ceased ii>

act, whii'h will generally take place before the third or fourth crop is ob-
tained. According, then, to this definition, a certain degree of p< rmant my
in its early productiveness is necessary to entitle a soil to be termed na-
turally fertile. It is In this .sense thai I deny to any poor lands, except such
as were naturally fertile, the capacity of being made rich by putrescent

manures only.

The foregoing proposition would by many persons be so readily admitted
as true, that attempting to prove it would be deemed entirely superfluous:
Bui many others will as strongly deny its truth, andean support their op-
position by high agricultural authorities.

General readers, who may have no connexion with farming, must have
gathered from the Incidental notices in various literary ami descriptive
works, that some countries or districts that were noted for their uncommon
fertility or barrenness, as far hack as any accounts of them have been re-
corded, still retain the same general character, through every change of
culture, government, and even of races of inhabitants. They know that,
for some centuries at least, there has been no change in the Btrong contrast
between the barrenness of Norway, Brandenburg, and the Highlands of
Scotland, and the fertility of Flanders, Lombardy and Valencia. Sicily,
notwithstanding its government is calculated to discourage industry, and
production of every profitable kind, still exhibits that fertility for which it
was celebrated two thousand years ago. It seems a necessary inference
from the many statements of which these are examples, that the labors of
man have been but of little avail in altering, generally or permanently, or in
any marked degree, the characters anil qualities given to soils by nature.

Most of our experienced practical cultivators, through a different course,
have arrived at the same conclusion. Their practice has taught them the
truth of this proposition ; and the opinions thus formed have profitably di-
rected their most important operations. They arc accustomed to estimate
the worth of land by its natural degree of fertility ; and by the same rule
they arc directed on what soils to bestow their scanty stock of manure, and
where to expect exhausted fields to recover by rest, and their own unas-
sisted powers, Hut, content with knowing the fact, this useful class of farm-
ers have never Inquired for its cause; and even their opinions on this subject,
as on most others, have not been communicated so as to benefit others.

But if all literary men, who are not farmers, and all practical cultivators,
who seldom read, admitted the truth of my proposition, it would avail but
little for improving our agricultural operations; and the only prospect of its
being usefully disseminated is through that class of farmers who have re-
ceived their first opinions of Improving soils from books, and whose subse-
quent plans and practices have grown out of those opinions. If poor na-
tural soils cannot be durably or profitably improved by putrescent manures,
this truth should not only be known, but be kept constantly in view, by
every farmer who can hope to improve with success. Yet it is a remarka-
ble fact, that the difference in the capacities of soils for receiving improve-
ment has not attracted the attention of scientific farmers; and the doctrine
has no direct and positive support from the author of any treatise on agri-
culture, European or American, that I have been able to consult. On the
contrary, it seems to be considered by all of them, that to collect and apply
as much vegetable and animal manure as possible, is sufficient to ensure
profit to every farmer, and fertility to every soil. They do not tell US that
numerous exceptions to that rule will be found, and that many soils of ap-
parently good texture, if not incapable of being enriched from the barn-
yard, would at least cans.' e loss than clear pro/it. by being Improved

from that source.

D. H. HILL LIBRARY
North Carolina State College

26 CALCAREOUS MANURES -THEORY

When it is assumed that the silence of every distinguished author as to
certain soils being incapable of being profitably enriched, amounts' to igno-
rance of the fact, or a tacit denial of its truth — it may be objected that the
exception was not omitted from either of these causes, but because it was
established and undoubted. This is barely possible; but even if such were
the case, their silence has had all the ill consequences that could have grown
out of a positive denial of any exceptions to the propriety of manuring
poor soils. Every zealous young farmer, who draws most of his know-
ledge and opinions from books, adopts precisely the same idea of their di-
rections— and if he owns barren soils he probably throws away his labor
and manure for their improvement, for years, before experience compels
him to abandon his hopes, and acknowledge that his guides have led him
only to failure and loss. Such farmers as I allude to, by their enthusiasm
and spirit of enterprise, are capable of rendering the most important bene-
fits to agriculture. Whatever may be their impelling motives, the public
derives nearly all the benefit of their successful plans ; and their far more
numerous misdirected labors, and consequent disappointments, are produc-
tive of national, still more than individual loss. The occurrence of only a
few such mistakes, made by reading farmers, will serve to acquit me of
combating a shadow — and there are few of us who cannot recollect some
such examples.

But if the foregoing objection has any weight in justifying European
authors in not naming this exception, it can have none for those of our own
country. If it is admitted that soils naturally poor are incapable of being
enriched with profit, that admission must cover three fourths of all the high-
land in the tide-water district. Surely no one will contend that so sweep-
ing an exception was silently understood by the author of ' Arator,' as
qualifying his exhortations to improve our lands : and if no such exception
were intended to be made, then will his directions for enriching soils and his
promises of reward be found equally fallacious, for the greater portion of
the country for the benefit of which his work was especially intended. The
omission of any such exception, by the writers of the United States, is the
more remarkable, as the land has been so recently brought under cultiva-
tion, that the original degree of fertility of almost every farm may be
known to its owner, and compared with the after progress of exhaustion
or improvement.

Many authorities might be adduced to prove that I have correctly stated
what is the fair and only inference to be drawn from agricultural books,
respecting the capacity of poor soils to receive improvement. But a few
of the most strongly marked passages in 'Arator' will be fully sufficient for
this purpose. The venerated author of that work was too well acquainted
with the writings of European agriculturists, to have mistaken their doc-
trines in this important particular. A large portion of his useful life was
devoted to the successful improvement of exhausted, but originally fertile
lands. His instructions for producing similar improvement's are expressly
addressed to the cultivators of the eastern parts of Virginia and North Ca-
rolina, and are given as applicable to all our soils, without exception. Con-
sidering all these circumstances, the conclusions which are evidently and
unavoidably deduced from his work, may be fairly considered, not only as
supported by his own experience, but as concurriiii: with the general doc-
trine of improving poor soils, maintained by previous writers.

At page 54, third edition of ' Arator,' " inclosing" (i. e. leaving fields to
receive their own vegetable cover, for their improvement, during the years
of rest) is said to be " the most powerful means of fertilizing the earth"
— and the process is declared to be rapid, the returns near, and the gain
great.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 27

Page 61. "If these few means of fertilizing the country [corn-stalks,
straw, and animal dung,] were skilfully used, they would of themselves
suffice to change its state from sterility to fruitfulnees."— "By the litter of
Indian corn, and of small grain, and of penning cattle, managed with only
an interior degree Of skill, in union with inclosing, 1 will venture to affirm
that a (arm may in ten years he made to double its produce, and in twenty
to quadruple it."

No opinions could be more strongly or unconditionally expressed than
these. No reservation or exception is made. 1 may safely appeal to each
of the many hundreds who have attempted to obey these instructions, to
declare whether any one considered his own naturally poor soils excluded
from the benefit of these promises— or whether a tithe of the promised bene-
lit was realized on any farm composed generally of such soils.

In a field of mine that has been secured from grazing since 1814, and cul-
tivated on the mild four-shift rotation, the produce of a marked spot has been
measured every fourth year (when in corn) since 1820. The difference of
product has been such as the differences of season might have caused —
and the last crop (in 1S2S) was worse than those of either of the two pre-
ceding rotations. There is no reason to believe that even the smallest
increase of productive power had taken place in all the preceding fourteen
years. Nor has there been, since 1828, in the apparent products of this
ground, any manifestation that there has been any more of subsequent than
of previous improvement, from the vegetable manurings furnished by its
growth.

A still more striking proof, because of the much larger scale, as well as
long continuance of the experiment, has been very recently, (in 1842,)
as well as in former times, mentioned to me, as confirmation of my views
in this respect CoL George Blow, of Sussex, a highly respectable gen-
tleman, and intelligent and observant farmer, has adhered for nearly 30
years to Taylor's "inclosing system," and with a very mild rotation, on a
farm of GOO arable acres, of sandy soil, and originally poor ; and has
taken but one crop (corn) in every three years. A few spots only of bet-
ter quality, (the sites of old buildings, &c.,) were put in wheat or oats after
the corn ; the great body of the land having had regularly two years in
three to rest, and to manure itself by its volunteer growth of weeds and
grass. Very little grazing, and that but rarely, has been permitted. There
could have been no material mistake as to the general products and re-
sults; and the proprietor is confident that the land has not improved in
production in all this long time. Yet, on soil differently constituted, Col.
Blow has improved and increased the products, rapidly and profitably.
These two facts, though observed more particularly and for longer time
than any others known, agree with, and are but confirmatory of others
presented to some extent on almost every farm in the tide-water region of
Virginia.

It is far from my intention, by these remarks, and statements of facts, to
deny the propriety, or to question the highly beneficial results, of applying the
system of improvement recommended by ' Arator,' to soils originally fertile.
On the contrary, it is as much my object to maintain the facility of restoring
to worn lands their natural degree of fertility, by vegetable applications, as it
is to deny the power of exceeding that degree, however low it may have been.
One more quotation will be offered, because its recent date and the
source whence it is derived furnish the best proof that it is still the received
opinion, among agricultural writers, that all soils may be profitably im-
proved by putrescent manures. An article in the • bnoraan fhrmer,'1 of
October 14th, 1831, on "manuring large farms," by the editor, (G. B.

2g CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

Smith,) contains the following expressions. "By proper exertions, every
farm in the United States can be manured with less expense than the sur-
plus profits arising from the manure would come to. This we sincerely
believe, and we have arrived at this conclusion from long and attentive
observation. We never yet saw a farm that we could not point to means
of manuring, and bring into a state of high and profitable cultivation at an
expense altogether inconsiderable when contrasted with the advantages
to be derived from it." The remainder of the article shows that putrescent
manures are principally relied on to produce these effects ; marsh and
swamp mud are the only kinds referred to that are not entirely putrescent
in their action, and mud certainly cannot be used to manure every farm.
Mr. Smith having been long the conductor of a valuable agricultural jour-
nal, as a matter of course, is extensively acquainted with the works and
opinions of the best writers on agriculture; and therefore, his advancing
the foregoing opinions, as certain and undoubted, is as much a proof of the
general concurrence therein of preceding writers, as if the same had
been given as a digest of their precepts.

Some persons will readily admit the great difference in the capacities of
soils for improvement, but consider a deficiency of clay only to cause the
want of power to retain manures. The general excess of sand in our poor
lands might warrant this belief in a superficial and limited observer. But
though clay soils are more rarely met with, they present, in proportion to
their extent, full as much poor land. The most barren and worthless soils
in the county of Prince George are also the stiffest. A poor clay soil will
retain manure longer than a poor sandy soil —but it will not the less cer-
tainly lose its acquired fertility at a somewhat later period. When it is
considered that a much greater quantity of manure is required by clay
soils, it may well be doubted whether the temporary improvement of the
sandy soils would not be attended with more profit —or, more properly
speaking, with less actual loss.

It is true that, the capacity of a soil for improvement is greatly affected
by its texture, shape of the surface, and its supply of moisture. Dry, level,
or clay soils, will retain manure longer than the sandy, hilly, or wet. But
however important these circumstances may be, neither the presence or
absence of any of them can cause the essential differences of capacity for
improvement. There are some rich and valuable soils with either one or
more of all these faults— and there are other soils the least capable of re-
ceiving improvement, free from objections as to their texture, degree of
moisture, or inclination of their surface. Indeed the great body of our
poor ridge lands are more free from faults of this kind, than soils of far
greater productiveness usually are. Unless then some other and far more
powerful obstacle to improvement exists, why should not all our wood-land
be highly enriched, by the hundreds, or thousands, of crops of leaves which
have successively fallen and rotted there ! Notwithstanding this vegetable
manuring, which infinitely exceeds all that the industry and patience of
man can possibly equal, most of our wood-land remains poor ; and this one
fact (which at least is indisputable) ought to satisfy all of the impossibility
of enriching such soils by putrescent manures only. Some few acres may
be highly improved, by receiving all the manure derived from the offal of
the whole farm — and entire farms, in the neighborhood of towns, may be
kept rich by continually applying large quantities of purchased manures.
But no where can a farm be found, which has been improved beyond its
original fertility, by means of the vegetable resources of its own arable
fields. If this opinion is erroneous, nothing is easier than to prove my mistake,
by adducing undoubted examples of such improvements having been made.

But a few remarks will suffice on the capacity Ibr improvement of worn

CALCARE01 - MAM 11ES nil

•29

lands, which were originally fertile. With regard to these soils, i have
only to concur in the received opinion of their fitness for durable and pro-
fitable improvement by putrescent manures. After" being exhausted i>y
cultivation, they will recover their productive power, by merely being lefl
to rest for a sufficient time, and receiving the manure made by nature, ol
the weeds and other plants that grow and die upon the land Given ii
robbed of the greater part of that supply, by the grazing of animals, a still

longer time will .serve to obtain the same result. The better a soil Was at
first, the sooner it will recover by these means, or by artificial manuring.
< )u soils of this kind, the labors of the Improving former meet with certain
success and lull reward ; ami whenever we hear of remarkable improve-
ments of poor lands by putrescent manures, further inquiry will show us
that these poor lands had once been rich.

The continued fertility of certain countries, for hundreds or even thou-
sands of years, does not prove that the land could not be, or had not been,
exhausted by cultivation; but only that it was slow to exhaust and rapid
in recovering; so that whatever repeated changes may have occurred in
each particular tract, the whole country taken together always retained a
high degree of productiveness. Still the same rule will apply to the richest
and the poorest soils— to wit, that each exerts strongly a force to retain as
much fertility as nature gave to it —and that when worn and reduced, each
kind may easily be restored to its original state, but cannot be raised
higher, with either durability or profit, by putrescent manures, whether ap-
plied by the bounty o\' nature, or the industry of man.

CHAPTER IV.
EFFECTS OF THE PRESENCE OF CALCAREOUS EARTH IN -OILS.

Proposition 2. — The nature! sterility of the soi/.v of lower Virgim
caused l>y such soils bang destitute ctf calcareous earth, and their being in-
jured by the presence and effects <>f vegetable arid.

The means which would appear the most likely to lead to the can
the different capacities of soils for improvement is to inquire whether any
known ingredient or quality is always to be found belonging to improvable
soils, and never to the unimprovable — or which always accompanies the
latter, and never the former kind. If either of these results can be ol
ed, we will have good ground for supposing that we have discovered the
general cause of fertility, in the one case, or of barrenness, in the othei .
and it will follow that, if we can supply to barren soils tin- deficient bene-
ficial ingredient — or can destroy that which is injurious to them — their
incapacity for receiving improvement will be removed. All the common
ingredients of soils, as sand, clay, or gravel — and such qualities as moisture
or dryness — a level, or a hilly surface — however they may affect the value
of soils, are each sometimes found exhibited, in a remarkable degree, in
both the fertile and the sterile. The abundance of pul
matter might well be considered the, >, one who, jj]

only from Ian. Is long under cultivation. But though vegetable matter in
sufficient quantity is essential to the existence of fertility, yet will this sub-
also be found inadequate for the cause. \. ttter abounds

in all rich land, if i-. admitted . but il ha, als

quantities exceeding all, computation, to n <»».

1

30 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

But there is one ingredient of which not the smallest proportion can be
found in any of our poor soils, and which, wherever found, indicates a soil
remarkable for natural and durable fertility. This is calcareous earth, or
carbonate of lime. These facts alone, if sustained, will go far to prove
that this earth is the cause of fertility, and the cure for barrenness.

On some part of most farms touching tide-water, either muscle or oyster
shells are found mixed .with the soil. Oyster shells are confined to the
lands on salt water, where they are very abundant, and sometimes extend
through large fields. Higher up the rivers, muscle shells only are to be
seen thus deposited by nature, or by the aboriginal inhabitants, and they
decrease as we approach the falls of the rivers. The proportion of shelly
land in the counties highest on tide-water is very small ; but the small ex-
tent of these spots does not prevent, but rather aids, the exhibition of
the peculiar qualities of such soils. Spots of shelly land, not exceeding a
few acres in extent, could not well have been cultivated differently from the
balance of the fields of which they formed parts — and therefore they can
be better compared with the worse soils under like treatment. Every acre
of shelly land is, or has been, remarkable for its richness, and still more for
its durability. There are few farmers among us who have not heard de-
scribed tracts of shelly soil on Nansemond and York rivers, which are
celebrated for their long resistance of the most exhausting course of tillage,
and which still remain fertile, notwithstanding all the injury which they
must have sustained from their severe treatment. We are told that on
some of these lands, corn has been raised every successive year, without
any help from manure, for a longer time than the owners could remember,
or could be informed of correctly. But without relying on any such re-
markable cases, there can be no doubt that every acre of our shelly
land has been at least as much tilled, and as little manured, as any in the
country; and that it is still the richest and most valuable of all our old
cleared lands.

The fertile but narrow strips, along the banks of our rivers, (which form
the small portion of our high-land of first-rate quality,) seldom extend far
without exhibiting spots in which shells are visible, so that the eye alone
is sufficient to prove the soil of such places to be calcareous. The similari-
ty of natural growth, and of all other marks of character, are such, that
the observer might very naturally infer that the former presence of shells
had given the same valuable qualities to all these soils— but that they had
so generally rotted, and been incorporated with the other earths, that they
remained visible only in a few places, where they had been most abundant.
The accuracy of this inference will hereafter be examined.

The natural growth of the shelly soils (and of those adjacent of similar
value) is entirely different from that of the great body of our lands. What-
ever tree thrives well on the one, is seldom found -on the other class of soils
— or, if found, it shows plainly, by its imperfect and stunted condition, on
how unfriendly a soil it is placed. To the rich river margins are almost
entirely confined the black or wild locust, hackberry or sugar-nut tree,
and papaw. The locust is with great difficulty eradicated, or the newer
growth of it kept under on cultivated lands ; and from the remarkable ra-
pidity with which it springs up and increases in size, it forms a serious ob-
stacle to the cultivation of land on the river banks. Yet on the wood-land
only a mile or two from the river, not a locust is to be seen. On shelly
soils, pines and broom grass [Andropogon scoparius?~] cannot thrive, and
are rarely able to maintain even the most sickly growth.

Some may say that these striking differences of growth do not so much
show a difference in the constitution of the soils, as in their state of fertility;
or that one class of the plants above named delights in rich, and the other

CALCAREOrs MANURES-THEORY. 3[

in poor land. No plant prefers poor to rich soil— or can thrive better on a
scarcity of food, than with an abundant supply. Pine, broom-grass, and
sheep-sorrel, delight in a class of soils that are generally unproductive— but
not on account of their poverty ; for all these plants show, by the greater
or less vigor of their growth, the abundance or scarcity of vegetable matter
in the soil. But on this class of soils, no quantity of vegetable manure
could make locusts flourish, though they will grow rapidly on a calcareous
hill-side, from which all the soil capable of supporting other ordinary plants
has been washed away.

In thus describing and distinguishing soils by their growth, let me not be
understood as extending these rules to other soils and climates than our
own. It is well established that changes of kind in successive growths of
timber have occurred in other places, without any known cause ; and a
difference of climate will elsewhere produce effects, which here would in-
dicate a change of soil.

Some rare exceptions to the general fertility of shelly lands are found
where the proportion of calcareous earth is in great excess. Too much of
this ingredient causes even a greater degree of sterility than its total ab-
sence. This cause of barrenness is very common in France and England,
(on chalk soils,) and very extensive tracts ate not worth the expense of
cultivation, or improvement. The few small spots that are rendered bar-
ren here are seldom (if ever) so affected by the excess of oyster or muscle
shells in the soil. These effects generally are caused by beds of fossil sea-
shells, which in some places reach the surface, and are thus exposed to the
plough. These spots are not often more than thirty feet across, and their
nature is generally evident to the eye ; and if not, is so easily determined
by chemical tests, as to leave no reason for confounding the injurious and
beneficial effects of calcareous earth. This exception to the general fer-
tilizing effect of this ingredient of our soils would scarcely require naming,
but to mark what might be deemed an apparent contradiction. But this
exception, and its cause, must be kept in mind, and considered as always
understood and admitted throughout all my remarks, and which therefore
it is not necessary to name specially, when the general qualities of calca-
reous earth are spoken of.

In the beginning of this chapter, I advanced the important fact that none
of our poor soils contain naturally the least particle of calcareous earth.
So far, this is supported merely by my assertion— and all those who have
studied agriculture in books will require strong proof before they can give
credit to the existence of a fact, which is either unsupported, or indirectly
denied, by all written authority. Others, who have not attended to such
descriptions of soils in general, may be too ready to admit the truth of my
assertion —because, not knowing the opinions on this subject heretofore re-
ceived and undoubted, they would not be aware of the importance of their
admission.

It is true that no author has said expressly that every soil contains calca-
reous earth. Neither perhaps has any one stated that every soil contains
some silicious or aluminous earth. But the manner in which each one has
treated of soils and their constituent parts, would cause their read'
infer that neither of these three earths is ever entirely wanting— or at least
that the entire absence of the calcareous is as rare as the absence of sili-
cious or aluminous earth. Nor are we left to gather this opinion solely
from indirect testimony, as the following examples, from the highest autl.
rities, will prove. Davy says, " four earths generally abound in soils, the
aluminous, the silicious, the calcareous, and the magneslan"1 ; and the soils

• Daw- \:. Chi m., Lecture l

•.{2 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEOR1

dt which he slates the constitutent parts, obtained by chemical analysis, as
well as those reported by Kirwan, and by Young, all contain some propoi
tion (an ' a large proportion^ of calcareous earth.* Kirwan

the component parts of a soil which contained thirty-one per cent, of c
reous earth, and he supposes that proportion neither too little nor too mi
Young mentions soils of extraordinary fertility containing seventeen and
twenty per cent., besides others with smaller proportions of calcareous
earth— and says that Bergman found thirty per cent, in the best soil he ex-
amined.t Rozier speaks still more strongly for the general diffusion, and
large proportions of this ingredient of soils. In his general description of
earths and soils, he gives examples of the supposed composition of the
three grades of soils which he designates by the terms rick, good, and mid-
dling soils ; to the first class he assigns a proportion of one tenth, to the
second, one fourth, and to the last, one half of its amount, of calcareous
earth. The fair interpretation of the passage is that the author considered
these large proportions as general, in France —and lie gives no intimation
of any soil entirely without calcareous earth.';

The position assumed above, of the general or universal concurrence of
former European authors in the supposed general presence of calcareous
earth in soils, could be placed beyond dispute by extracts from their publi-
cations. But this would require many and long extracts, too bulky to in-
clude here, and which cannot be fairly abridged, or exhibited by a few ex-
amples. No author says directly, indeed, that calcareous earth is present
in all soils; but its being always named as one of the ingredients of soils
in general, and no cases of its absolute deficiency in tilled lands being di-
rectly stated, amount to the declaration that calcareous earth is very rarely,
if ever, entirely wanting in any soil. We may find enough directions to
apply calcareous manures to soils that are deficient in that ingredient ; but
that deficiency seems to be not spoken of as absolute, but relative to other
soils more abundantly supplied. In the same manner, writers on agricul-
ture direct clay, or sand, to be used as manure for soils very def cient in
one or the other of those earths; but without meaning that any soil under
cultivation can be found entirely destitute of sand or of clay. My proofs
from general treatises would therefore be generally indirect; and the
quotations necessary to exhibit them would show what had not been said,
rather than what hud— and that they did not assert the absence of calca
reous earth, instead of directly asserting its universal presence. Extract.-,
for this purpose, however satisfactory! would necessarily lie too voluminous.
and it is well that they can be dispensed with. Better proof, because it is
direct, and more concise, will be furnished by quoting the opinions of a few
agriculturists of our own country, who were extensively acquainted with
European authors, and have evidently drawn their opinions from those
sources. These quotations will not only show conclusively that their
authors consider the received European doctrine to be that all soils air
more or less calcareous— but also, that they apply the same general cha-
fer. Chem., Lect. 4 — Kirwan on Manures — and Young's Prize Essay on Manures.

t Kirwan on Manuies. article "Clayey Loam."

t Young's Essay on Manures.

§ " C Examples of the various composition of soils : Jtich soil ;

silicious earth, 2 parts; aluminous, 6 ; calcareous, 1; vegetable earth, [humus'] I; in
all,«ln parts, Good soil — silicious, :i parts; aluminous 4; calcareous 2J ; vegetable
earth, } of 1 part; in all, to parts. Middling soil [sol mediocre;] silicious. l parts;
aluminous, 1 ; calcareous, "> parts, less by Borne atoms of vegetable earth ; in all, 10
parts. We hp that it is the largest proportion of aluminous earth that constitutes the
greatest excellence of soils ; anil we know thai indi pendenlly of their harmony ol con
position, they require a sufficiency of depth " — Translated from the article ' 71
in* the "Cours Complet d'Agriculture Pratique, etc par PAbbe Rozier 1816

,(;i oi - mam RJ 8 THE0R1 .S3

lo tin- aoila of the Unit ssin£ a doil,,t '"

naming rhese writers, as all whi have heretofore written

,,r soils in this country, have uttered bi f»ol preceding English

criptions of soils, 'tfhey.seem notto have suspected thatany
i in this respect between i I Eng-

land and i>t" tins country, and certainly not one 1 test in-

ii ,i,n by any attempt at chemical analysis, to sustain the false charac-
ter thus given to our

1. From a ■■ Treatise on Agriculture," (ascribed to General Armstrong,)
published in the American Farmer. | I : '■'>■]

••Of sue or eight substances, which chemists have denominated earths,
,,,„,. ,,,, .-, and form the crust ol our

are silica, alumina, lime, and magnesia." — " In a pure or isolated
state, these earths are wholly unproductive? but when decomposed and

mixed, and to this mixture is added the residuum of dead animal or I
table matter, they become fertile,and take the general name ot soils, and
are again denominated alter the earth that most abounds in their composi-
tion respectively.*1

2. Address of R. H. Rose to the Agricultural Society of Susquehanna.
[Am. Far. Vol Up, 101.]

•'Geologists suppose our earth to have been masses of rock of various
kinds, hut principally silieious, aluminous, calcareous, and magnesian— from
idual attrition, decay, and mixture of which, together with an addi-
tion of vegetable and animal matter, is formed the soil; and this is called
sandy, clayey, calcareous, or magnesian, according as the particular primi-
tive material preponderates in its formation."

3. Address of Robert Smith to the Maryland Agricultural Society. LAm.
Far. Vol. Hi. P. 228.]

•• Xbe soils of our country are in general clay, sand, gravel, clayey

loam, sandy loam, and gravelly loam. Clay, sand, and gravel, need n
scription, &c"— •' Clayey loam is a compound soil, consisting of clay and
sand or gravel, with a mixture of calcareous matter, and in which clay is
predominant Sandy or graveUy loam is a compound soil, consisting oi
-and or gravel and ciay with a mixture of calcareou* mall, r, and in which
i gravel is predominant."

The first two extracts merely state the geological theory of the forma-
tion of soils, which is received as correct by the most eminent agriculturists
,ii Europe. How far it may be supported or opposed by the actual consti-
tution and number of ingredients of European soils, is not for me to decide,
nor is the consideration necessary to my subject. But the adoption ol this

al theorj bj American writers, without excepting Ameri<
an indirect, but complete application to them of the same character and
composition, The writer last quoted stales positively, that the various
loams (which comprise at least nineteen twentieths of our soils, and 1 pre-
sumealso of the soils of Maryland.) contain calcareous matter. Tl

ton of this opinion by Mr. Smith is sufficient to prove.tnat such was
the lair and plain deduction from his general rea

which source only could his opinions have ed, It the soils of

Maryland are net very unlike those of Virginia, I will venture to assert,
that not one in a thousand of all the clayey, sandy, and gravelly loams,
contains the smallest proportion of carbonate of lime— and that not a single
specimen of calcareous soil can be found, between the falls of the rivers
and the most eastern body of limestol

But though the direct testimony of European authors, as cited in a
foregoing page, concurs with the Indirect proofs referred to since to induce
the belief thai soils are very rarely destitute of calcareous earth, yet state

34 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

ments may be found of some particular soils being considered of that cha-
racter. These statemen.s, even if presented by the authors of general
treatises, would only seem to present exceptions to their general rule of the
almost universal diffusion of calcareous earth in soils. But, so far as I know,
no such exceptions are named in the descriptions of soils in any general
treatise, and therefore have not the slightest influence in contradicting or mo-
difying their testimony on this subject. It is in the description of soils of
particular farms, or districts, that some such statements are made ; and
even if no such examples had been mentioned, they would not have been
needed to prove the existence, in Europe, of some soils, like most of ours,
destitute of calcareous earth. These facts do not oppose my argument. I
have not asserted, (nor believed, since I have endeavored to investigate this
subject,) that there were not soils in Europe, and perhaps many extensive
districts, containing no calcareous earth. My argument merely maintains,
that these facts would not be inferred, but the contrary, by any general and
cursory reader of the agricultural treatises of Europe with which we are
best acquainted. It has not been my purpose to inquire as to the existence,
or extent, of soils of this kind in Europe. But judging from the indirect
testimony furnished by accounts of the mineral and vegetable productions,
in general descriptions of different countries, I would infer that soils
having no calcareous earth were often found in Scotland and the northern
part of Germany, and that they were comparatively rare in England and
France.

With my early impressions of the nature and composition of soils, de-
rived in like manner from the general descriptions given in books, it was
with surprise, and some distrust, that, when first attempting to analyze soils,
in 1817, I found most of the specimens entirely destitute of calcareous
earth. The trials were repeated with care and accuracy, on soils from
various places, until I felt authorized to assert, without fear of contradiction,
that no naturally poor soil, below the falls of the rivers, contains the small-
est proportion of calcareous earth. Nor do I believe that any exception to
this peculiarity of constitution can be found in any poor soil above the
falls ; but though these soils are far more extensive and important in other re-
spects, they are beyond the district within the limits of which I propose to
confine my investigation.

These results are highly important, whether considered merely as serving
to establish my proposition, or as showing a radical difference between
most of our soils, and those of the best cultivated parts of Europe. Putting
aside my argument to establish a particular theory of improvement, the
ascertained fact of the universal absence of calcareous earth in our poor
soils leads to this conclusion, that profitable as calcareous manures have
been found to be in countries where the soils are generally calcareous in
some degree, they must be far more so on our soils that are quite destitute
of that necessary earth.

CHAPTER V.

RESULTS OF THE CHEMICAL EXAMINATIONS OF VARIOUS SOILS.

Proposition 2. — continued.

The certainty of any results of chemical analysis would be doubted by
most persons who have paid no attention to the means employed for such
operations ; and their incredulity will be the more excusable, when such

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEOKY. 35

results are reported by one knowing very little of the science of chemistry,
and whose limited knowledge was gained without aid or instruction, and
was sought solely with the view of pursuing this investigation. Appearing
under such disadvantages, it is therefore the more incumbent on me to
show my claim to accuracy, >>r to BO explain my method as to enable others
to detect its errors, if any exist. To analyze a specimen of soil completely
requires an amount of scientific acquirement and practical skill to which 1
make no pretension. But merely to ascertain the absence of calcareous
earth, (or carbonate of lime,) or, if present, to find its quantity, requires
but little skill, and less science.

The methods recommended by different agricultural chemists for ascer-
taining the proportion of calcareous earth in soils agree in all material
points. Their process will be described, and made as plain as possible.
A specimen of soil of convenient size is dried, pounded, and weighed, and
then thrown into muriatic acid diluted with three or four times its quantity
of water. The acid combines with, and dissolves the lime of the calcareous
earth, and its other ingredient, the carbonic acid, being disengaged, rises
through the liquid in the form of gas, or air, and escapes with effervescence.
After the mixture has been well stirred, and has stood until all efferves-
cence is over, (the fluid still being somewhat acid to the taste, to prove
that enough acid had been used, by some excess being left,) the whole is
poured into a piece of blotting paper, folded so as to fit within a glass fun-
nel. The fluid containing the dissolved lime passes through the paper,
leaving behind the clay and silicious sand, and any other solid matter ; over
which, pure water is poured and passed off several times, so as to wash off
all remains of the dissolved lime. These filtered washings are added to
the solution, to all of which is then poured a solution of carbonate of potash.
The two dissolved salts thus thrown together, {muriate of lime composed
of muriatic acid and lime, and carbonate of potash, composed of carbonic
acid and potash,) immediately decompose each other, and form two new
combinations. The muriatic acid leaves the lime, and combines with the
potash, for which it has a stronger attraction— and the muriate of potash
thus formed, being a soluble salt, remains dissolved and invisible in the
water. The lime and carbonic acid being in contact, when let loose by
their former partners, instantly unite, and form carbonate of lime, or calca-
reous earth, which being insoluble, falls to the bottom. This precipitate
is then separated by filtering paper, is washed, dried and weighed, and thus
shows the proportion of carbonate of lime contained in the soil.*

In this process, the carbonic acid which first composed part of the calca-
reous earth, escapes into the air, and another supply is afterwards furnished
from the decomposition of the carbonate of potash. But this change of
one of its ingredients does not alter the quantity of the calcareous earth,
which is always composed of certain invariable proportions of its two
component parts ; and when all the lime has been precipitated as above
directed, it will necessarily be combined with precisely its first quantity of
carbonic acid.

This operation is so simple, and the means for conducting it so easy to
obtain, that it will generally be the most convenient mode for finding the
proportion of calcareous earth in those manures that are known to contain
it abundantly, and where an error of a few grains cannot be very material.
But if a very accurate result is necessary, this method will not serve, on ac-
count of several causes of error which always occur. Should no calcareous

• More full directions for the analysis of soils may be found in Kirwan's Essay on
Manures, Rozier's Cours Complet, &c, and Davy's Agricultural Chemistry.

36

CALCAREOUS MAM RES— THEORT.

earth be present in a soil thus analyzed, the muriatic acid will take up a
small quantity of aluminous earth, which will be precipitated by the car-
bonate of potash, and without further investigation, would be considered
as so much calcareous earth! And if any compounds of lime and vegeta-
ble acids are present, (which for reasons hereafter to be stated, I believe I"
be nut uncommon in soils,) some portion of them may be dissolved, and
appear in the result as carbonate of lime, though not an atom of that sub-
stance was in the soil. Thus, every soil examined by this method of solu-
tion and precipitation will yield some small result of what would appear as
carbonate of lime, though actually destitute of such an ingredient. The
inaccuracies of this method were no doubt known (though passed over
without notice) by Davy, and other men of science who have recommended
its use; but as they considered calcareous earth merely as one of the
earthy ingredients of soil, operating mechanically, (as do sand and clay.)
on the texture of the soil, they would scarcely suppose that a difference of
a grain or two could materially affect the practical value of an analysis, or
the character of the soil under examination.*

The pneumatic apparatus proposed by Davy, as another means for
showing the proportion of calcareous earth in soils, is liable to none of
these objections; and when some other causes of error peculiar to this
method, are known and guarded against, its accuracy is almost perfect, in
ascertaining the quantity of calcareous earth— to which substance alone
its use is limited. The following representation and description will make
the operation quite clear.

"A, B, C, D, represent the dill'erent parts of this apparatus, A represents the bottle
for receiving the soil. B the bottle containing the acid, furnished with a stop-cock.
C the tube connected with a llaccid bladder. IJ the graduated measure. E the bottle
for containing the bladder. When this instrument is used, a given quantity of soil is
introduced into A. B is Idled with muriatic acid diluted with an equal quantity of water ;
and the stop-cock being closed, is connected with the upper orifice of A, which is

* "Chalks, calcareous marls, or powdered limestone, act merely by forming a useful
earthy ingredient in the soil, and their elKcacy is proportioned to the deficiency of calca-
reous matter, which in larger or smaller quantities seems to be an essential ingredient oi
all fertile soils; necessary perhaps to their proper texture, and as an ingredient id the
organs of plants." [Davy's Agr. Chem. page 21— and further on he says] " Chalk and
marl or carbonate of lime onli/ improve the texture of a soil, or its relation to absorption .
it arts marl,/ asoneoj its earthy ingredunls."

IREOUti MANURES THEOR1 37

ground lotedeive it. The tube C ia introduced into the lower orifice ol A, and the

bladder conneclcil with it placed in it-. Baceid state into I'., which is filled with water.
The graduated measure is placed under the tube of E when the elop-cockol B ia
turned, the acid fiowa into A. m it* ,l paaaea

through C into the bladder, end diaplacea a quantity of water in E equal to it in bulk,
and this water flows through the tube into the graduated measure; and gives by its
volume the indication of the proportion of carbonic acid disengaged from the soil ; lor
every ounce measure of which two grains of carbonate of lime may be estimated." —
Davy't jSgr. I'/um.

The correctness of this mode of analysis depends on two well-established
facts 111 chemistry : 1st, That the component parts of calcareous earth al-
ways hear the same proportion to each other, and these proportions are as
forty-four parts (by weight) of carbonic acid, to fifty-six of lime. 2d,
That the carbonic acid gas which two grains of calcareous earth will yield
is equal in bulk to one ounce of fresh water. The process, with the aid of
this apparatus, disengages, confines, and measures the gas evolved ; and for
every measure equal to the bulk of an ounce of water, the operator has
but to allow two grains of calcareous earth in the soil acted on. It is
evident that the result can indicate the presence of lime in no other com-
bination except that which forms calcareous earth ; nor of any other earth,
except carbonate id" magnesia, which, if present, might be mistaken for
calcareous earth, but which is too rare, and occurs in proportions too small,
to cause any material error in ordinary cases, and in soils of this region.

But if it be only desired to know whether calcareous earth is entirely
wanting in any soil— or to test the truth of my assertion that so great a
proportion of our soils are destitute of that earth— it may be done with fat-
more ease than by either of the foregoing methods, and without apparatus
of any kind. Let a handful of the soil (without drying or weighing) be
thrown into a large drinking glass, containing enough of pure water to
cover the soil about two inches. Stir it until all the lumps have disappear-
ed, and the* water has certainly taken the place of all the atmospheric air
which the soil had enclosed. Remove any vegetable fibres, or froth, from
the surface of the liquid, so as to have it clear. Then pour in gently about
a table spoonful of undiluted muriatic acid, which by its greater weight
will sink, and penetrate the soil, without any agitation being necessary for
that purpose. If any calcareous earth is present it will quickly begin to
combine with the acid, throwing off its carbonic acid in g<u, which cannot
fail to be observed as it escapes, as the gas that eight grains only of calca-
reous earth would throw out, would be equal in bulk to a u ill measure.
Indeed, the product of only a single grain of calcareous earth, would be
abundantly plain to the eye of the careful operator, though it might be the
whole amount of gas from two thousand grains of soil. If no efferves-
cence is seen even after adding more acid and gently stirring the mixture,
then it is absolutely certain that the soil contained not the smallest portion
of carbonate of lime; nor of carbonate of magnesia, the only other substance
which could possibly be mistaken for it.

The examinations of all the soils that will be here mentioned were made
in this pneumatic apparatus, except some of those which evidently evolved
no gas, and when no other result was required. As calcareous earth is
plainly visible to the eye in all shelly soils, they only need examination to
ascertain its proportion. A few examples will show what
may find, and how greatly they vary, even in soils apparently of equal value.

1. Soil, a black clayey loam, from the top of the high knoll at the end of

Coggins Point, on James-river, containing fragments of muscle shells

throughout. Never manured and supposed to have been under scourging

cultivation and close grazing from the first settlement of the country ; then

5

38 CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

(1818) capable of producing twenty-five or thirty bushels of corn — and the
soil well suited to wheat. One thousand grains, cleared by a fine sieve of
all coarse shelly matter, (as none can act on the soil until minutely divided,)
yielded sixteen ounce measures of carbonic acid gas, which showed the
finely divided calcareous earth to be thirty-two grains.

2. One thousand grains of similar soil from another part of the same
field, treated in the same manner, gave twenty-four grains of finely divided
calcareous earth.

3. From the east end of a small island, at the end of Coggins Point,
surrounded by the river and tide marsh. Soil, dark brown loam, much
lighter than the preceding specimens, though not sandy — under like ex-
hausting cultivation — then capable of bringing thirty to thirty-five bushels
of corn — not a good wheat soil, ten or twelve bushels being probably a full
crop. One thousand grains yielded eight grains of coarse shelly matter, and
eighty-two of finely divided calcareous earth.

4. From a small spot of sandy soil, almost bare of vegetation, and inca-
pable of producing any grain, though in the midst of very rich land, and
cleared but a few years. Some small fragments of fossil sea-shells being
visible, proved this barren spot to be calcareous, which induced its exa-
mination. Four hundred grains yielded eighty-seven of calcareous earth
— nearly twenty-two per cent. This soil was afterwards dug and carried
out as manure.

5. Black friable loam, from Indian Fields, on York-river. The soil was
a specimen of a field of considerable extent, mixed throughout with oyster
shells. Though light and mellow, the soil did not appear to be sandy.
Rich, durable, and long under exhausting cultivation.

1260 grains of soil yielded
1 68 — of coarse shelly matter, separated mechanically,

8 — finely divided calcareous earth.
The remaining solid matter, carefully separated, (by agitation^nd settling
in water,) consisted of
130 grains of fine clay, black with putrescent matter, and which lost more

than one-fourth of its weight by being exposed to a red heat,
875 — white sand, moderately fine,
20 — very fine sand,
36 — lost in the process.

1061

6. Oyster shell soil of the best quality, from the farm of Wills Cowper,
Esq., on Nansemond river— never manured, and supposed to have been cul-
tivated in corn as often as three years in four, since the first settlement of
the country— now yields (by actual measurement) thirty bushels of corn to
the acre — but is very unproductive in wheat. A specimen taken from the
surface, to the depth of six inches, weighed altogether

242 dwt., which consisted of

126 — of shells and their fragments, separated by the sieve,
116 — remaining finely divided soil.
Of the finely divided part, 500 grains consisted of

18 grains of carbonate of lime,
330 — silicious sand— none very coarse,

94 — impalpable aluminous and silicious earth,

35 — putrescent vegetable matter— none coarse or unrotted,

23 — loss,1

500

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 39

It is unnecessary to cite any particular trials of our poor soils, as it has
been stated, in the preceding chapter, that all are entirely destitute of calca-
reous earth— excluding the rare, but well marked exceptions of its great
excess, of which an example has been given in the soil marked 4, in the
foregoing examinations.

Unless then I am mistaken in supposing that these facts are universally
true, the certain results of chemical analysis, as well as more extended ge-
neral observation, completely establish these general rules — viz. :

1st. That all calcareous soils are naturally fertile and durable in a very
high degree— and,

2d. That all soils naturally poor are entirely destitute of calcareous
earth.

It then can scarcely be denied that calcareous earth must be the cause
of the fertility of the one class of soils, and that the want of it produces the
poverty of the other, dualities that always thus accompany each other
cannot be otherwise than cause and effect. If further proof is wanting, it
can be safely promised to be furnished when the practical application of
calcareous manures to poor soils will be treated of, and the effects stated.

These deductions are then established as to all calcareous soils, and all
poor soils— which two classes comprise nine-tenths of all. This alone
would open a wide field for the practical exercise of the truths we have
reached. But still there remain strong objections and stubborn facts op-
posed to the complete proof and universal application of the proposition
now under consideration, and consequently to the theory which that pro-
position is intended to support. The whole difficulty will be apparent at
once when I now proceed to state that nearly all of our best soils, such as
are very little if at all inferior in value to the small portion of shelly lands,
are as destitute of calcareous earth {carbonate of lime") as the poorest. So
far as I have examined, this deficiency is no less general in the richest
alluvial lands of the upper country— and, what will be deemed by some as
incredible, by far the greater part of the rich limestone soils between the
Blue Ridge anil Alleghany mountains are equally destitute of calcareous
earth. These facts were not named before, to avoid embarrassing the dis-
cussion of other points — nor can they now be explained, and reconciled
with my proposition, except through a circuitous and apparently digressive
course of reasoning. They have not been kept out of view, nor slurred
over, to weaken their force, and are now presented in all their strength.
These difficulties will be considered, and removed, in the following chapters.

CHAPTER VI.

CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF RICH SOILS CONTAINING NO CALCAREOUS EARTH.

Proposition 2— continual.

Under common circumstances, when any disputant admits facts that
seem to contradict his own reasoning, such admission is deemed abundant
evidence of their existence. But though now placed exactly in this situa-
tion, the facts admitted by me are so opposed to all that scientific agiicul-
turists have taught us to expect, that it is necessary for me to show the
grounds on which my admission rests. Few would have believed in the
absence of calcareous earth in all our poor soils, forming as they do the

40 CALCAREOUS MAMRES— THEORY.

much larger part of all this region — and far more strange is it that the same
deficiency should extend to such rich soils as some that will be here cited.
The following specimens, taken from well known and very fertile soils,
were found to contain no calcareous earth. Many trials of -
have yielded like results — and. indeed, I hare never found calcareous earth
in any soil below the falls of the rivers, in which, or near which, some par-
ticles of shells were not v. 5

1. Soil from Eppes' Island, which lies in James-river, near City Point;
light and friable (but not silicious) brown loam, rich and durah'e. The sur-
face is not many feet above the highest tides, and, like most of the best river
lands, this tract seems to have been formed by alluvion many

which may be termed recent, when compared to the general formation of
the tide- water district.

2. Black siliriou= loam from the celebrated lands on Back-river, near
Hampton.

3. Soil from rich land on Pocoson-river, York county.

4. Black clay vegetable soil, from a fresh-water tide marsh or
river— formed by recent alluvion.

5. Alluvial soil of first-rate fertility above the falls of James-river— dark
brown clay loam, from the valuable and extensive body of bottom land
belonging to General J. H. Cocke, of Fluvanna.

The most remarkable facts of the absence of calcareous earth are to be
found in the lime-stone soils, between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany moun-
tains. Of these. I will report all that I have examined ; and none contained
any calcareous earth, unless when the contrary will be stal

Before the first of these trials was made, I supposed (as probably most
other persons do) that limestone soil was necessarily calcareous, and in a
high degree. It is difficult to get rid of this impression entirely— and it
may seem a contradiction in terms to sr.v mi is not calca-

reous. This I cannot avoid. I must take the te mil as custom

has already fixed it. But it should not be extended to any soils except
those which are so near to lime-stone rock, as in some measure to be there-
by affected in their qualities and value,

1 to 6. Lime-stone soils selected in the neighborhood of Lexington, Vir-
ginia, by Professor Graham, with the view of enabling me to investigate
this subject All the specimens were from first-rate soils, except one, which
was from land of inferior value. One of the specimens, Mr. Graham's de-
scription stated to be •' taken from a piece of land so rocky [with lime-stone]
as to be unfit for cultivation, at least with the plough. I could scarcely
select a specimen which I would expect to be more - ■•• -rnate'd

with calcareous earth." This specimen, by two separate trials.
only one grain of calcareous earth, from one thousand of soil. The other
five soils contained none. The same result was obtained from

7. A specimen of alluvial land on North-river, near Lexington.

S. Brown loam from the Sweet Spring valley, remarkable for its extra-
ordinary productiveness and durability. It is of alluvial formation, and be-
fore it was drained, must have been often covered and saturated by the
Sweet Spring and other mineral waters, which hold lime in solution. The
surrounding high land is of lime-stone soil. Of this specimen, taken from
about two hundred yards below the Sweet Spring, from land long culti-
vated every year, three hundred and sixty grains yielded not a particle of
calcareous earth. It contained an unusually large proportion of oxide of
iron, though my imperfect means enabled me to separate and collect only
eight grains, the process evidently wasting several more.

About a mile lower down, drains were then making (in 1 S26) to reclaim

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 4 |

more of this rich valley from the overflowing waters. Another specimen
was taken from the bottom of a ditch just opened, eighteen inches below
the sin 1. ice. It was a black loin, and exhibited to the eye some very dimi-
nutive fresh-water shells, (parriwinkles, about one tenth of an inch in
length,) and many of their broken fragments! This gave, from twotiun
dred grains, seventy-four of calcareous earth. Bui this cannot fairly be
placed on the same footing with the other soils, as it had obviously been
once the bottom of a stream, or lake, and the collection and depnsite of, so
1 unusual a proportion of calcareous matter seemed to be of ani-
mal formation. Both these specimens were selected at my request by one
of our best farmers, and who also furnisned a written description of the
soils, and their situation.

9. Wood-land, west of Union, Monroe county. Soil, a black clay loam,
lying on, but not intermixed at the surface with lime-stone rock. Sub-soil,
yellowish clay. The rock at this place, a foot below the surface. Principal
growth, sugar maple, white walnut, and oak. This and the next specimen
are from one of the richest tracts of high land that I have seen.

10. Soil similar to the last and about two hundred yards distant. Here
the lime-stone showed above the surface, and the specimen was taken from
between two large masses of fixed rock, and about a foot distant from
each.

1 1. Black rich soil, from wood-land between the Hot and Warm Springs,
in Bath county. The specimen was part of what was in contact with a
mass of lime-stone.

12. Soil from the western foot of the Warm Spring mountain, on a gen-
tle slope between the court-house and the road, and about one hundred ahd
fifty yards from the Warm Bath. Rich brown loam, containing many
small pieces of lime-stone, but no finely divided calcareous earth.

13. A specimen taken two or three hundred yards from the last, and
also at the foot of the mountain. Soil, a rich black loam, full of small frag-
ments of lime-stone of different sizes, between that of a nutmeg and small
shot. The land had never been broken up for cultivation. One thousand
grains contained two hundred and forty grains of small stone or gravel,
mostly lime-stone, separated mechanically, and sixty-nine grains of finely
divided calcareous earth.

14. Black loamy clay, from the excellent wheat soil adjoining the town
of Bedford, in Pennsylvania : the specimen taken from beneath and in con-
tact with lime-stone. One thousand grains yielded less than one grain of
calcareous earth.

1 ">. A specimen from within a few yards of the last, but not in contact
with lime-stone, contained no calcareous earth ; neither did the red clay
sub-soil, six inches below the surface.

1G. Very similar soil, but much deeper, adjoining the principal street of
Bedford— the specimen taken from eighteen inches below the surface, and
adjoining a mass of lime-stone. A very small disengagement of gas indi-
cated the presence of calcareous earth— but certainly less than one grain in
one thousand, and perhaps not half that quantity.

17. Alluvial soil on the Juniata, adjoining Bedford.

18. Alluvial vegetable soil near the stream flowing from all the Saratoga
Mineral Springs, and necessarily often covered and soaked by those wa-
ters, and

19. Soil taken from the bed of the same stream— neither contained any
portion of carbonate of lime.

Thus it appears that of these nineteen specimens of soils, only four con-
tained calcareous earth, and three^jf these four in exceedingly small' pro-

42 CALCAREOUS MANCRES— THEORY.

portions. It should be remarked that all these were selected from situation;
which, from their proximity to calcareous rock, or exposure to calcareous
waters, were supposed most likely to present highly calcareous soils. If
five hundred specimens had been taken, without choice, even from what are
commonly called lime-stone soils, (merely because they are not very distant
from lime-stone rock, or springs of lime-stone water,) the analysis of that
whole number would be less likely to show calcareous earth, than the fore-
going short list. I therefore feel justified, from my own few examinations,
and unsupported by any other authority, to pronounce that calcareous
earth will very rarely be found in any soils between the falls of our rivers
and the navigable western water's. In a few specimens of some of the best
soils from the borders of the Mississippi and its tributary rivers, I have
since found calcareous earth present in all— but in very small proportions,
and in no case exceeding two per cent.

When the total deficiency of carbonate of lime, in nearly all the soils of
Virginia, was first asserted, as above, in the earliest publication of this
essay, (1821, in American Farmer, vol. Hi.,) the proposition was so entirely-
new, and so opposed to all inferences from authority then existing, that
it was indispensably necessary t» adduce my facts, as is done above, to
sustain the otherwise unsustained doctrine. And such support, for the
same reason, continued to be wanting through the two next editions. Now
(in 1842) the case is altogether different. The fact of the absence of car-
bonate of lime, as generally as I had assumed, through the eastern or
seaward slope of the United States, and especially in New England, has
been confirmed by all the analyses of soils which have been since made
by Professor Hitchcock and other accurate scientific investigators ; and the
proposition, however untenable or incredible it might have been deemed
before, is now universally admitted, and indeed is placed beyond question
or doubt, as an important feature in the chemical constitution of soils.

The only soils of considerable extent of surface which, from the speci-
mens that I have examined, appear to be highly calcareous, and to agree in
that respect with many European soils, are from the prairies, those lands
of the south-west which, whether rich or poor, are remarkable for being de-
stitute of trees, and covered with grass, so as to form natural meadows.
The examinations were made but recently, (in 1834,) and are reported
because presenting striking exceptions to the general constitution of soils
in this country.

20. Prairie soil of the most productive kind in Alabama ; a black clay,
with very little sand, yet so far from being stiff, that it becomes too light
by cultivation. This kind of land is stated by the friend to whom I am in-
debted for the specimens, to " produce corn and oats most luxuriantly — and
also cotton for two or three years ; but after that time cotton is subject to
the rust, probably from the then open state of the soil, which by cultivation
has by that time become as light and as soft as a bank of ashes." One
hundred grains of the specimen contained eight of carbonate of lime. All
this prairie land in Alabama lies on a substratum of what is there called
" rotten lime-stone," (specimens of which contained seventy-two to eighty-
two per cent, of lime,) and which rises to the surface sometimes, forming
the "bald prairies," a sample of the soil of which (21) contained fifty -nine
per cent, of carbonate of lime. This was described as " comparatively
poor— neither trees nor bushes grow there, and only grass and weeds be-
fore cultivation— corn does not grow well— small grain better— and cotton
soon becomes subject to the rust." The excessive proportion of calcareous
earth is evidently the cause of its barrenness.

The substratum called lime-stone is^ soft enough to be cut easily and

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEOUY 43

smoothly with a knife, and some of it is in appearance and texture more
like the chalk of Europe, than any other earth that I have seen in this
country.

22. A specimen of the very rich "cane brake" lands in Marengo county,
Alabama, contained sixteen per cent, of carbonate of lime. This is a kind
of prairie, of a wetter nature, from the winter rains not being able to run
off from the level surface, nor to sink through the tenacious clay soil, and
the solid stratum of lime-stone below.

23. A specimen from the very extensive " Choctaw Prairie" in Missis-
sippi, of celebrated fertility, yielded thirteen per cent, of carbonate of lime.

Several other specimens of different, but all of very fertile soils from
southern Alabama, and all lying over the substratum of soft lime-stone,
were found to be neutral, containing not a particle of lime in the form of
carbonate. These specimens were as follows—

24. One from the valley cane land— " very wet through the winter, but
always dry in summer— and after being ditched is dry enough to be culti-
vated in cotton, which will grow from eight to twelve feet high."

25. Another from what is called the best " post-oak land," on which trees
of that kind grow to the size of from two to four feet in diameter— having
but little underwood, and no cane growth — " thought to be nearly as rich
as the best cane land, and will produce 1500 lbs., or more, of seed cotton,
or fifty bushels of corn to the acre."

26. Another from what is termed " palmetto land, having on it that plant
as well as a heavy cover of large trees growing luxuriantly. It is a cold
and wet soil before being brought into good tilth ; but afterwards is soft
and easy to till, and produces corn and cotton finely. The cane on it is
generally small : the soil from four to ten feet deep."*

One more prairie soil only will be adduced, from many analyses which
have furnished general results like the foregoing, (20 to 26); and this one is
given because it serves as a fair specimen of a very large class of the
prairie lands. It was selected by Dr. R. W. Withers, in 1835, and de-
scribed by him as follows : {Farmers' Register, voL Hi., p. 498.)

Soil of Greene county, Alabama, " from our open or bald prairie, [1. e.,
totally without trees,] which has been cultivated for seven or eight years —
produces corn very well — nearly fifty bushels to the acre are now stand-
ing on the ground ; but cotton does not produce so well on it as on poor
sandy soil. I feel very confident that this specimen is highly calcareous, as
there are many fragments of shells mixed with the soil, and the rock is not
two feet from the surface. Of all the specimens hitherto sent, this is the
one which will give the nearest approach to the general character of our
open prairie land in this part of the country." — This specimen was found
to contain 33 per cent, of carbonate of lime.

The foregoing details, respecting lime-stone lands, may perhaps be consi-
dered an unnecessary digression, in a treatise on the soils of the tide-water
district. But the analysis of lime-stone soils furnishes the strongest evi-

• It is proper to mention a circumstance which may have had some effect in remov-
ing the carbonate of lime from these Alabama soils, besides the more general causes
which will be traced in the next chapter. With these specimens of soil was sent a
collection of the small stones and gravel which were stated to be found generally through
these soils, and particularly in the clay sub-soil beuealh. Among these there were se-
veral fragments of sulphuret of iron. This mineral, when decomposing in the earth in
contact with carbonate oflime, also decomposes the latter substance, and forms sulphate
of lime, (gypsum,) instead. It is well worth inquiry whether sulphuret of iron is gene-
rally found in these soils. It may be known by its great weight, and metallic lustre
when broken, (which has caused it often to be mistaken for silver ore,) and by giving
out fumes of burning sulphur when subjected to strong heat under a blow pipe.

44 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

dence of the remarkable and novel fact of the general absence of calca-
reous earth — and the information thence derived will be used to sustain
the following steps of my argument.

All the examinations of soils in this chapter concur in opposing the ge-
nera] application of the proposition that the deficiency of calcareous earth
is the cause of the sterility of our soils. And having stated the objection in
all its force, I shall now proceed to inquire into its causes, and endeavor to
dispel its apparent opposition to my doctrine.

CHAPTER VII.

PROOFS OP THE EXISTENCE OP ACID AND NEUTRAL SOILS.

Proposition 2 — continued.

Sufficient evidence has been adduced to prove that many of our most
fertile and valuable soils are destitute of calcareous earth. But it does not
necessarily follow that such has always been their composition ; or that
they may not now contain lime combined with some other acid than the
carbonic. That this is really the case, I shall now offer proofs to establish ;
and not only maintain this position with regard to those valuable soils, but
shall contend that lime, in some proportion, combined with vegetable acid, is
present in every soil capable of supporting vegetation.

But while 'I shall endeavor to maintain these positions, without asking or
even admitting any exception, let me not be understood as asserting that
the original ingredient of calcareous earth was always the sole cause of
the fertility of any particular soil, or that a knowledge of the proportion
contained, would serve to measure the capacity of the soil for improvement.
Calcareous soils, not differing materially in qualities or value, often exhibit
a remarkable difference in their respective proportions of calcareous earth ;
so that it would seem that a small quantity, aided by some other unknown
agent, or perhaps by time, may give as much capacity for improvement,
and ultimately produce as much fertility, as ten times that proportion, under
other circumstances.

In all naturally poor soils, producing freely pine and whortleberry in
their virgin state, and sheep sorrel after cultivation, I suppose to have been
formed some vegetable add, which, after taking up whatever small quantity
of lime might have been present, still remains in excess in the soil, and
nourishes in the highest degree the plants named above, but is a poison to
all useful crops ; and effectually prevents such soils becoming rich, by
either natural or artificial applications of putrescent manures.

In a neutral soil. I suppose calcareous earth to have been sufficiently
abundant at some former time to produce a high degree of fertility— but
that it has been decomposed, and the lime taken up, by the gradual forma-
tion of vegetable acid, until the lime and the acid neutralize and balance
each other, leaving no considerable excess of either ; and that such are all
our fertile soils which are not now calcareous.

These suppositions remain to be proved, in all their parts.

No opinion has been yet advanced that is less supported by good
authority, or to which more general opposition may be expected, than that
which supposes the existence of acid soils. The term sour soil is frequently
used by farmers, but in so loose a manner as to deserve no consideration.
It has been thus applied to any cold and ungrateful land, without intending

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THBOM .].r,

that the term should be literally understood, and perhaps without attaching
to its use any precise meaning whatever. Dundonald only, of all those
who have applied chemistry to agriculture, has asserted the existence of
Vegetable acid in soils:' both red DO analysis of soils in proof,

nor any other evidence to establish the fact ; and his opinion has received
no confirmation, nor even the slightest notice, from later and more able in-
rators of the chemical characters of soils. Kirwan and Davy profess
to enumerate all the common Ingredients of soils ; and it is not intimated
by either that vegetable acid is one of them. Even this tacit denial by
l law mi ire strongly opposes ill" existence of vegetable acid, than it is sup-
ported by the opinion of Dundonald, or any of those writers on agricul-
ture who have admitted its existence. For it cannot be supposed that so
able and profound an investigator would have omitted all reference to an
Ingredient of soils so general, and therefore so important, as is here asserted,
even if its presence had been ever suspected by him, much less known.
Grisenthwaite, a late writer on agricultural chemistry, and who has the ad-
vantage of knowing the discoveries, and comparing tin- opinions, of all his
cssors, expressly denies the possibility of any acid existing in soils,
llis New * Theory ef Agriculture'' contains the following passage : "Chalk
has been recommended as a substance calculated to correct the sourness
of land. It would surely have been a wise practice to bave previously as-
certained this existence of acid, and to have determined Its nature, in order
that it might be effectually removed. The diet really is, that no soil was
ever yet found to contain any notable quantity of acid. The acetic and
the carbonic are the only two that are likely to l»- generated by any spon-
taneous decomposition of animal or vegetable bodies, and neither of them
have any fixity when exposed to the air." Thus, then, my doctrine is de-
prived n| even the feeble support it might have had from I lundonald's mere
opinion, it' that opinion had QOt been contradicted bv later and better
authority : and the only support that I can look lor, will be in the facts and
arguments thai I Bhall be able to adduce.

1 am not prepared to question whal Grisenthwaite states as a chemical
fact, " that no soil was ever yel found to contain any notable quantity of
.11 i,i.'' Wo soil examined by me for tins purpose gave any evidence of the
presence of uncombined acid, still, however, the term add may be ap-
plied with propriety to soils in which growing vegetables continually receive
from the decomposition oi others, (for which no "fixity" is requisite,) or
in which acid is present, not nee, but combined with some base, by which
it is readily yielded to promote, or retard, the growth of plants in contact
with it. It will be sufficient for my po ., that certain

tain some substance, or possess some quality, which promotes almost ev-
• lusively the growth of acid plants -that this powei is strengthened by
adding known vegetable acidBto the soil— and is totally removed by the
application of calcareous manures, which would necessarily destroy any
.11 nl. if it were present Leaving fl to chemists to determine the nature
and properties of this substance, I merely contend for its existence and
effects; and the cause "I these effects, whatever it may be, lor the want of
a belter ii. mie, I shall call acidity.

The proofs now to be offered in support ol the existence ol

neutral soils, Iniuever weak e.n Ii may be when Considered alone. \ el, 9 hen

taken in connexion, will together form a body of evidence not easily to be
resisted.
First proof. — Pine an 1 i ommOD sorrel have leaves well known to be acid

' Dundonald's Connexion of Chemistry and Agriculture.
6

46 CALCAHEOD8 -MAM RES— THEOKY

to the taste ; and their growth is favored by the soils which I suppose to
be acid, to an extent which would be thought remarkable in other plants
on the richest soils. Except wild locust on the best river land, no growth
can compare in rapidity with pines on soils naturally poor, and even greatly
reduced by long cultivation. Pines usually stand so thick, on old exhaust-
ed fields, that the increase of size in each plant is greatly retarded ; but if
the whole growth of an acre were estimated, it would probably exceed in
quantity the different growth of the richest soils, of the same age and on
an equal space. Even' cultivator of corn on poor light soil knows how
rapidly sorrel* will cover his otherwise naked field, unless kept in check by
continual tillage— and that to root it out, so as to prevent the like future
labor, cannot be effected by any mode of cultivation whatever. This weed
too is considered far more hurtful to growing crops, than any other of equal
size. Yet neither of these acid plants can thrive on the best lands. Sorrel
cannot even live on a calcareous soil ; and if a pine is sometimes found
there, it has nothing of its usual elegant form, but seems as stunted and ill-
shaped as if it had always suffered for want of nourishment Innume-
rable facts, of which these are examples, prove that these acid plants must
derive from their favorite soil some kind of food peculiarly suited to their
growth, and quite useless, if not hurtful, to cultivated crops.

2nd. Dead acid plants are the most effectual in promoting the growth of
living ones. When pine leaves are applied to a soil, whatever acid they
eontain is of course given to that soil, for such time as circumstances per-
mit it to retain its form, or peculiar properties. Such an application is often
made on a large scale, by cutting down the second growth of pines, on
land once under tillage, and suffering them to lie a year before cleaning
and cultivating the land. The invariable consequence of this course is a
growth of sorrel, for one or two years, so abundant and so injurious to the
crops, as to more than balance any benefit derived by the soil from the
vegetable matter having been allowed to rot. From the general experience
of this effect, most persons put pine land under tillage as soon as cut down,
after carefully burning (to destroy) the whole of the heavy cover of leaves,
•both green and dry. Until within a few years, it was generally supposed
that the leaves of pine were worthless, if not hurtful, in all applications to
cultivated land— which opinion doubtless was founded on such facts as
have been just stated. But if they are used as litter for cattle, and heaped
to ferment, the injurious quality of pine leaves is destroyed, and they be-
come a valuable manure. This practice is but of recent origin— but is
highly approved, and rapidly extending. Still later it has been found that
when these leares are applied unrotted, as raked up in wood-land, to calca-
reous land, they produce only and always beneficial results; and that this
is the best as well as cheapest mode of their application.

On one of the washed and barren declivities (or palls) which are so nu-
merous on all our farms, I had the small gullies packed full of green pine
bushes, and then covered with the earth drawn from the equally barren
intervening ridges, so as nearly to smooth the whole surface. The whole
piece had borne nothing previously except a few scattered tufts of poverty
grass, and dwarfish sorrel, all of which did not prevent the spot seeming
quite bare at mid-summer, if viewed at the distance of one hundred yards.
This operation was performed in February or March. The land was not

* Sheep sorrel, or Rumex actlota. The wood sorrel ( Ozalis aaixxiUa) is of a very
different character. Tbe latter prefers rich and even calcareous soils, and I have
seen it growing well on places calcareous to excess. It would seem, therefore, that
wood sorrel forms itj acid from the atmosphere, and does not draw it from the soil, as
I suppose to be the case with common sorrel.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 47

cultivated, ivir again observed, until the set d summer afterwards. At

that time, the piece remained as hare as formerly, except along the filled
irulf if-s:. which, throughout the whole of their crooked courses, were covered

by a (hick and inn imonly tall growth of sorrel, remarkably luxuriant for

any situation, and which, being bounded exaj Hy by the width of the nar-
row gullies, had the appearance of some vegetable sown thickly in drills,
and kept clean by tillage So groat an oiled of this kind has not been
produced within my knowledge— though facts of like nature, and leading
to the same conclusion, are of frequent occurrence. If small pines stand-
ing thinly over a broom-grass old-field are cut down and left to lie, under
every top will he found a patch of sorrel, before the leaves have all rotted.

'■'11I. The growth of sorrel is not only peculiarly favored by the application
of vegetables containing acids already formed, but also by such matters
as will form acid in the course of their decomposition. Farm-yard manure,
and all other putrescent animal and vegetable substances, form acetic acid
as their decomposition proceeds.* If heaps of rotting manure are left
without being spread, in a held but very slightly subject to produce sorrel,
a few weeks of growing weather will bring oat that plant close around
every heap; and for some time the sorrel will continue to show more bene-
fit from that rank manuring than any other grass. For several years my win-
ter-made manure was spread and ploughed in on land not cultivated until the
next autumn, or the spring after. This practice was founded on the mis-
taken opinion, that it would prevent much of the usual exposure to evapo-
ration and waste of the manure. One of the reasons which alone would
have compelled me to abandon this absurd practice was, that a crop of
sorrel always followed, (even on good soils that before barely permitted a
scanty growth of it to live,) which so injured the next grain crop as greatly
to lessen the benefit from the manure. Sorrel unnaturally produced by
such applications does not infest the land longer than until we may suppose
the acid to have been removed by cultivation and other causes.

It may be objected, that even if fully admitted, my authorities prove only
the formation of a single vegetable acid in soil, the acetic— that my facts
show only the production of a single acid plant, sorrel — and that the acid
which sorrel contains is not the acetic, but the oxalic, f In reply to such
objections, it may be said, that from the application of acids to recently
ploughed land, no acid plant except sorrel is made to grow, because that
one only can spring up speedily enough to arrest the fleeting nutriment.
Poverty grass (Aristida gracilis or . I. dichotoma) grows only on the same
kinds of soil, and generally covers them after they have been a year free
from a crop, but does not show sooner; and pines require two years before
their seeds will produce plants. But when pines begin to spread over the
land, they soon put an end to the growth of all other plants, and are abun-
dantly supplied with their acid food, from the dropping of their own leaves.
Thus they may be first supplied with the vegetable acid ready formed in
the leaves, and afterwards with the acetic acid formed by their subsequent
slow decomposition. It does not weaken my argument that the product
of a plant is a vegetable acid different from the one supposed to have nou-
rished its growth. All vegetable acids (except the prussic) however diffe-
rent in their properties, are composed of the same three elementary bodies,
differing only in their proportions} — and consequently are all convertible
into each other. A little more, or a little less of one or the other of these

• Agr. Chem. p. 1S7. (Phil, ed.)

t Agr. Chem. Lecture 3.

X Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Agr. Chem. Lecture 3, p. 78.

48 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

ingredients, may change the acetic to the oxalic acid, and that to any other.
We cannot doubt but that such simple changes may be produced by the
chemical powers of vegetation, when others are effected far more difficult
for us to comprehend. The most tender and feeble organs, and the mildest
juices, aided by the power of animal or vegetable life, are able to produce
decompositions and combinations which the chemist cannot explain, and
which he would in vain attempt to imitate.

■ith. This ingredient of soils, which nourishes acid plants, also poisons cul-
tivated crops. Plants have not the power of rejecting noxious fluids, but
take up by their roots every thing presented in a soluble form.* Thus the
acid also enters the sap-vessels of cultivated plants, stints their growth, and
makes it impossible for them to attain that size and perfection which their
proper food would ensure, if it were presented to them without its poi-
sonous accompaniment. When the poorest virgin wood-land is cut down,
it is covered and filled to excess with leaves and other rotted and rotting
vegetable matters. Can a heavier vegetable manuring be desired 1 And
as this completely rots during cultivation, must it not offer to the growing
plants as abundant a supply of food as they can require 1 Yet the best
product obtained may be from ten to fifteen bushels of corn, or five or six
of wheat, soon to come down to half those quantities. If the noxious
quality which causes such injury is an acid, it is as certain as any chemical
truth whatever, that it will be neutralized, and its powers destroyed, by
applying enough of calcareous earth to the soil ; and precisely such effects
are found whenever that remedy is tried. On land thus relieved of this
unceasing annoyance, the young plants of corn no longer appear of a
pale and sickly green, approaching to yellow, but take immediately a deep
healthy color, by which it may readily be distinguished from any on soil
left in its former state, before there is any perceptible difference in the size
of the plants. The crop will produce fifty to one hundred per cent more,
the first year, before its supply of food can possibly have been increased ;
and the soil is soon found not only cleared of sorrel, but absolutely incapa-
ble of producing it. I have anticipated these effects of calcareous manures,
before furnishing the evidence; but they will hereafter be established by
facts beyond contradiction.

The truth of the existence of either acid or neutral soils depends on the
existence of the other ; and to prove either, will necessarily establish both.
If acid exists in soils, then whenever it meets with calcareous earth, the two
substances must combine with and neutralize each other, so far as their
proportions are properly adjusted. On the other hand, if I can show that
compounds of lime and vegetable acid are present in most soils, it follows
inevitably that nature has provided means by which soils can generally
obtain this acid ; and if the amount formed can balance the lime, the opera-
tion of the same causes can exceed that quantity, and leave an excess of
free acid. From these premises will be deduced the following proofs.

5th. It has been stated (page 36) that the process recommended by chemists
for finding the calcareous earth in soils was unfit for that purpose, because
some precipitate was always obtained, even when no calcareous earth or
carbonate of lime was present. Frequent trials have shown me that this
precipitate is considerably more abundant from good soils than bad. The
substance thus obtained from rich soils by solution and precipitation, in
every case that I have tried, contains some carbonate of lime, although
the soil from which it was derived had none. The alkaline liquor from
which the precipitate has been separated, we are told by Davy, will, after

* Agr. Chem. Lecture 6, page 186.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 49

boiling, lot fall the carbonate "i magnesia, h any had 1 n in the soil ; but

when any notable deposite is thus obtained, it will often be found to con-
sist mure of carbonate of lime, than of magnesia The following am ex-
amples "i such products :

One thousand grains of tide-marsh soil, (page 40, No. I,) acted on by
muriatic add in the pneumatic apparatus, gave out no carbonic acid gas,
ami therefore could have contained no carbonate of lime. The precipitate
obtained from tin same weighed sixteen grains; which being again acted
on by sulphuric acid, evolved as much gas as showed thai three grains had
become carbonate of lime, in the previous part of the process.

Two hundred grains of alluvial soil from Saratoga Springs (page -II No.
18,) containing no carbonate of lime, yielded a precipitate of twelve grains,
of which three was carbonate of lime — and a deposite from the alkaline
solution weighing six grains, four of which was carbonate of lime.

Seven hundred grains of limestone soil from Bedford, Pennsylvania,
(part of the specimen marked II, page 41,) contained about two-thirds of a
grain of carbonate of lime— and its precipitate of twenty-eight grains, only
yielded two grains: but the alkaline solution deposited eleven grains of the
carbonates of lime and magnesia, of which at least live was of the former,
as there remained seven and a half of solid matter, after the action of sul-
phuric acid.*

From this process, there can be no doubt but that the soil contained a
proportion of some milt nf linn; (or lime combined with some kind of acid,)
which being decomposed by and combined with the muriatic acid, was
then precipitated, not in its first form, but in that of carbonate of lime— it
being supplied with carbonic acid from the carbonate of potash used to
produce the precipitation. The proportions obtained in these cases were
small; but it does not follow that the whole quantity of lime contained in
the soil was found. However, to the extent of this small proportion of
lime, is proved clearly the presence of enough of some acid (and that not
the carbonic) to combine with it. Neither could it have been the sulphuric,
or the phosphoric acid ; for though both the sulphate and phosphate of lime
are in some soils, yet neither of these salts can be decomposed by muriatic
acid.

6th. The strongest objection to the doctrine of neutral soils is, that, if true,
the salt formed by the combination of the lime and acid must often be pre-
sent in such large proportions, that it is scarcely credible that its presence
and nature should not have been discovered by any of the able chemists
who have analyzed soils. This difficulty I cannot remove, but it maybe
met (or neutralized, to borrow a figure from my subject,) by showing that
an equal difficulty awaits those who may support the other side of the
argument.

The theory of geologists of the formation of soils, from the decomposi-

• The measurement of the carbonic acid gas evolved was relied on to show the whole
amount of carbonates present— and sulphuric acid was used to distinguish between
lime and magnesia, in the deposite from the alkaline solution. If any alumina or
magnesia had made part of the solid matter exposed to diluted sulphuric acid, the com-
binations formed would have been soluble salts, which would of course have remained
dissolved and invisible in the fluid. Lime only, of the four earths, forms with sulphuric
acid a substance but slightly soluble, and which therefore can be mostly separated in a
solid form. The whole of thi^ Bubstance (sulphate of lime) cannot be obtained in tln<
manner, as a part is always dissolved ; but whatever is obtained, proves that at least
two-thirds of that quantity of carbonate of lime bad been present; as that quantity "I
lime which will combine with enough carbonic acid to make 100 parts (by weight 1 ..1
carbonate of lime, will combine with so moch more of sulphuric acid, as to form about
150 parts of the sulphate of lime, or g\ DSDD1

50 CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

tion or disintegration of rocks, is received as true by scientific agricul-
turists. The soils thus supposed to be formed, receive admixtures from
each other, by means of different operations of nature, and after being
more or less enriched by the decay of their own vegetable products, make
the endless variety of existing soils.* But where a soil, lying on and thus
supposed to have been formed from an}' particular kind of rock, is so situ-
ated that it could not have been moved, or received considerable accessions
from torrents or other agents, then, according to this theory, the rock and
the soil should be composed of the same materials ; and such soils as the
specimens, marked 1 1 and 16, (page 41.) would be, like the rock they touch-
ed, nearly pure calcareous earth, instead of being (as they were in truth)
destitute, or nearly so, of that ingredient. Such are the doctrines received
and taught by Davy, or the unavoidable deductions from them. But, with-
out contending for the full extent of this theory of the formation of soils,
(because I consider it almost entirely false,) every one must admit that soils
thus situated must have received, in the lapse of ages, some accessions to
their bulk, from the effects of frost, rain, sun, and air, on the lime-stone in
contact with them. All lime-stone soils, properly so called, exhibit certain
marked and peculiar characters of color, texture, and products, which can
only be derived from receiving into their composition more or less of the
rock which lies beneath, or rises above their surface. This mixture will
not be denied by any one who has observed lime-stone soils, and reasons
fairly, whether his investigation begins with the causes, or their effects. If
then all this accession of calcareous earth remains in the soil, why is it that
none, or almost none, is discovered by accurate chemical analysis 1 Or, if
it be supposed not present, nor yet changed in its chemical character, in
what possible manner could a ponderous and insoluble earth have made its
escape from the soil ! To remove this obstacle, without admitting the ope-
ration of acid in making such soils neutral, will be attended with at least
as much difficulty, as any arising from that admission being made.

7th. But we are not left entirely to conjecture that soils were once more
calcareous than they now are, if chemical tests can be relied on to furnish
proof. Acid soils that have received large quantities of calcareous earth
as manure, after some time, will yield very little when analyzed. To a
soil of this kind, full of vegetable matter, I applied, in 1818 and 1821,
fossil shells at such a known and heavy rate as would have given to the
soil (by calculation) at least three per cent, of calcareous earth, for the
depth of five inches. Only a small portion of the shelly matter was very
finely divided when applied. Since the application of the greater part of
this dressing, (only one-fourth having been laid on in 1818,) no more than
six years had passed before the following examinations were made (at end
of 1826); and the cultivation of five crops in that time, three of which
were horse-hoed, must have well mixed the calcareous earth with the soil.
Three careful examinations gave the following results:

No. I. — 1000 grains yielded 71 of coarse calcareous earth, (fragments of
shells,) ,

And less than 5 of finely divided.

• Agr. Chem. p. 131. Also Treatise on Agriculture, (by General Armstrong,) quoted
in a preceding page (33) of this essay.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORX 5]

No. 2. — 1000 grains yielded (tajfooane,

2 linoly divided.

No. 3. — 1500 grains yielded 15 of coarse,

■>\ finely divided.

m

The specimens, No. 1 and No. 2, were obtained by taking handfuls of soil
from several places, (four in one case, and twelve in the other,) mixing them
well together, and then taking the samples for trial from the two parcels.
On such land, when not recently ploughed, there will always be an over
proportion of the pieces of shells on the surface, as the rains have settled
the fine soil, and left exposed the coarser matters. On this account, in
making these two selections, the upper half-inch was first thrown aside, and
the handful dug from below. No. 3 was taken from a spot showing a full
average thickness of shells, and included the surface. I considered the
three trials made as fairly as possible, to give a general average. Small as
is the proportion of finely divided calcareous earth exhibited, it must have
been increased by rubbing some particles from the coarser fragments, in
the operation of separating them by a fine sieve. Indeed it may be doubt-
ed whether any proportion remained very finely divided — or in other words,
whether it had not been combined with acid, as fast as it was so reduced.
But without the benefit of this supposition, the finely divided calcareous
earth in the three specimens averaged only one and one-fourth grains to
the thousand, which is one twenty-fourth of the quantity laid on; and the
total quantity obtained, of coarse and fine, is eight grains in one thousand,
or about one-fourth of the original proportion. AH the balance had changed
its form, or otherwise disappeared, in the few years that had passed since
the application.

Another similar trial of this soil from the same ground was repeated in
July, 1842, which showed that the finely divided carbonate of lime, then
remaining, was in quantity so small as to be barely perceptible and ap-
preciable. The land had then remained undisturbed by tillage for nine
months; and some scattered fragments of shells were exposed to view on
the surface generally. For the obvious reasons stated in the preceding
paragraph, there will always appear an over-proportion of such fragments,
upon the surface of land not. recently ploughed ; for this reason, as on two
of the three former trials, the upper half-inch of surface soil was thrown
aside, and the sample for examination taken immediately below. Of this,
2400 grains yielded two grains only of small fragments of shells, and
less than one grain of finely divided carbonate of lime ; whereas seven-
ty-two grains had been the original quantity furnished to the soil. This
result, with those of the earlier trials, agree precisely with what would be
expected from the action of acid in soil, and cannot be satisfactorily ex-
plained by any other doctrine.*

* Even of this very small amount of fragments of shells found, (2 grains,) more than
half was of the very hard ?ray shells (oyster and scallop,) which seem almost
indestructible iu soil. They must contain some chemical ingredient which enables them
to withstand the acid or other corroding ;iction of soil, to which ;dl the W
shells, whether hard or soft, so readily yield in the course of time. 1 recently observed
a most striking proof of this well known general tact of the long durability of these
gray shells, and consequently their comparative worthli .ure. On like soil

to the subject of the above trials, and near the same spot, I recently ( 1842) founds small

52

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

The very smaJl proportions of finely divided calcareous earth compared
to the coarse, in some shelly soils, furnish still stronger evidence of this
kind. Of the York river soil, (described page 38 No. 5,)
1260 grains, yielded of coarse calcareous parts, - - 168 grains.
And of finely divided, 8

1044 of the rich Nansemond soil, (No. 6,) - - - 544 coarse.

IS fine.

As many of the shells and their fragments in these soils are in a mould-
ering state, it is incredible that the whole quantity of finely divided particles
derived from them should have amounted to no more than these small pro-
portions. Independent of the action of natural causes, the plough alone, in
a few years, must have pulverized at least as much of the shells as was
found.

8. In other cases, where the operations of nature have been applying
calcareous earth for ages, none now remains in the soil ; and the proof
thence derived is more striking than any obtained from artificial applications
of only a few years' standing. Valleys, subject to be frequently flooded
and saturated by the water of lime-stone streams, must necessarily retain a
new supply of calcareous earth from every such soaking and drying.
Lime-stone water contains the super-carbonate of lime, which is soluble ;
but this loses its excess of carbonic acid when left dry by evaporation, and
becomes the carbonate of lime, which not being soluble, is in no danger of
being removed by subsequent floods. Thus, accessions are slowly but
continually made, through many centuries. Yet such soils are found con-
taining no calcareous earth — of which a remarkable example is presented
in the soil of the cultivated part of the Sweet Spring V alley, (No. 8,
page 40.)

The excess of carbonic acid, which unites with lime and renders the com-
pound soluble in water, is lost by exposure of the calcareous water to the
air, as well as by evaporation to dryness. [Accunrs Chemistry — Lime.H
The masses of soft calcareous rock which are deposited in the rapids of
lime-stone streams are examples of the loss of cnrbonic acid from exposure
to the air ; and the stalactites in caves, the depusite of the slow-dropping
water holding in solution the super-carbonate of lime, are examples of the
same effect produced by evaporation. A similar deposite of insoluble car-
bonate of lime, from both these causes, is necessarily made on all land sub-
ject to be flooded by lime- stone waters.

9. All wood ashes contain salts of lime, (and most kinds in large propor-
tions,) which could have been derived from no other source than the soils
on which the trees grew. The lime thus obtained is principally combined
with carbonic acid, and partly with the phosphoric, forming phosphate of
lime. The table of Saussure's numerous analyses of the ashes of nume-
rous plants,* is sufficient to show that these products are general, if not
universal. The following examples of some of my own few examinations
prove that ashes yield calcareous earth in proportions suitable to their kind,
although the wood grew on soils destitute of that ingredient — as was as-
certained with regard to each of these soils.

andthin but well-marked oyster-shell, (Ostrea Virginiana,) apparently as perfect and
as well preserved as when it was dug up, and which was a good characteristic specimen
of the kind, and as such, has been placed in my cabinet. This shell was part of
the dressing spread upon the field for the crop of 1821, and lias been since exposed to
all the vicissitudes of tillage and of weather for nearly twenty-two years.
" Quoted in Agr. Chem. Lecture 3.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

.03

1

■

CARBONATE

PHOSPHATE

I ion oraihb of iflHia mow

WHAT SOIL TAKEN PROM.

or

or

1

i.i mi:.

LIME.

Whortleberry bushes, the

entire plants, except the

leaves,

Acid silicious loam,

•l grains.

4 grains.

Equal parts of the bark,

heart, and sap-wood of

an Old lOCUSt,

The same.

51 "

18 "

young locust bushea entire

Rich neutral clay loam,

ID "

30 "

*> oung pine bushes,

Acid silicious loam,

9 "

6 "

Body of a young pine tree.

Acid clay soil,

11 "

18 "

The potash was first carefully taken out of all these samples. The re-
maining solid matter was silicious sand and charcoal ; the proportion of
the latter varying according to the degree of heat used in burning the wood,
which was nut permitted to be very strong, for fear of converting thecalca-
reous earth into quick-lime.

It must be evident and unquestionable that all the carbonate of lime
yielded by the ashes had been necessarily furnished in some form by the
soil on which the plants grew ; and when the soil itself contained no carbo-
nate, as in all these cases, some other compound of lime must have been pre-
sent,'to enable us to account for these certain and invariable results. The
presence of a combination of lime with some vegetable acid, and none other,
would serve to produce such effects. According to established chemical
laws, if any such combination had been taken up into the sap-vessels of
the tree, it would be decomposed by the heat necessary to convert the wood
to ashes; the acid would be rehired to its elementary principles, and the
lime would immediately unite with the carbonic acid, (which is produced
abundantly by the process of combustion,) and thus present a product of
carbonate qf Unu newly formed from the materials of the other substances
decomposi i

On the foregoing facts and deductions, 1 am content to rest the truth ot
the existence of acid and neutral soils.

I have ( hosen to leave all the preceding part of this chapter (with the ex-
ception of a few merely verbal corrections and alterations) precisely as it
appeared in the Inst edition of this essay, (January 1832.)i But since that
time I have first heard of a discovery, and of consequent investigations by
men of science, which seem to furnish direct proof of what I have been
contending for, viz. : the existence of a vegetable acid substance in soils and
manures, generally diffused, and often in large proportions, and yet which
had not been known or suspected by chemists previously. The first intima-
tion of this discovery which reached me was in the l Alphabet of Scientific
Gar* Professor Rennie, published in London in 1833, from which

the part relative to Has subject will be quoted below. Since, I have
seen the French version of the late work of Berzelius, in which his
views of humic acid (or, as he names it, the geic acid,) are given more at

• The reasoning on (lie presence of the carbonate of lime li Tom acid

«oils, does not apply to the phosphate of lime which i-< also always present The latter

id by any known degree of heat, [Art Edin.Ency.~i

and therefore might possibly have remained unchanged, in passing from the soil to the

tree, ami thence to thi

t The general position and views taken as to acid and neutral soils are also, in sub-
5tanc, I . ared in my first publication on this subject in 1821.

54 CALCAREOUS .MANURES- THEORY

length, and from which an extract will be translated and given in the ap-
pendix. The facts respecting humic acid, as concisely stated in the follow-
ing quotation from Professor Rennie, furnish strong confirmation of some
of the opinions which I have endeavored to maintain. It will however be
left, without farther comment, for the reader to observe the accordance, and
to make the application.

"Humic acid and humin. — In most chemical books the terms vlmic acid
and ulmin are used, from ulmus, elm ; but, as its substance occurs in most,
if not all plants, the name is bad. I prefer Sprengel's terms, from humus,
soil.

" This important substance was first discovered by Klaproth, in a sort of
gum from an elm ; but it has since been found by Berzelius in all barks : by
M. Braconnot in saw-dust, starch, and sugar; and, what is still more in-
teresting for our present purpose, it has been found by Sprengel and M.
Polydore Boullay to constitute a leading principle in soils and manures.
Humin appears to be formed of carbon and hydrogen, and the Hi— ft, acid
of humin and ox}Tgen. Pure humin is of a deep blackish brown, without
taste or smell, and water dissolves it with great difficulty and in small quan-
tities ; consequently it cannot, when pure, be available as food for plants.

" Humic acid however, which, I may remark, i's not sour to the taste, readily
combines with many of the substances found in soils and manures, and not
only renders them, but itself also, easy to be dissolved in water, which in
their separate state could not take place. In this way humic acid iriU com-
bine with lime, potass, and ammonia, in the form of humates, and the small-
est portion of these trill render it soluble in water and Jit to be taken up by
the spongeltts of the root fibres.

'•It appears to have been from ignorance of the important action of the
humic acid in thus helping to dissolve earthy matters, that the older writers
were so puzzled to discover how lime and potass got into plants: and it
seems also to be this, chiefly, which is so vaguely treated of in the older
books, under the names of extractive, vegetable extract, mucilaginous mat-
ter, and the like. Saussure, for instance, filled a vessel with turf, and mois-
tened it thoroughly with pure water, when by putting ten thousand parts
of it by weight under a heavy press, and filtering and evaporating the fluid,
he obtained twenty-six parts of what he termed extract ,- from ten thou-
sand parts of well dunged and rich kitchen garden mould, he obtained ten
parts of extract ; and from ten thousand parts of good corn field mould,
he obtained four parts of extract.

- M. Polydore Boullay found that the liquid manure, drained from dung-
hills, contains a large proportion of humic acid, which accounts for its fer-
tilizing properties so well known in China and on the continent ; and he
found it also in peat earth, and in varying proportions in all sorts of turf.
It appears probable, from Gay-Lussac having found a similar acid, (techni-
cally azumic acid,) on decomposing the prussic acid, (technically hydro-
cyanic acid,) that the humic acid may be found in animal blood, and if so,
it will account for its utility as a manure for vines, &c. Dobereiner found
the gallic acid convertible into the humic.''

When the last edition of this essay was published, (in 1 835.) the above
annunciation had but just before been made, showing that there was indeed
high scientific authority for the very general existence of a vegetable acid
in soils. And since that time, the fact has been admitted by almost all
scientific writers, and has been treated of at length in sundry chemical works
and reports of geological surveys in this country. The* doctrine of the
existence of an acid of soil, of vegetable origin, which before had scarcely any
other authority for its support than minef humble and obscure as that was.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY. 55

Is now of universal acceptation. Still, notwithstanding all that has been
written on the subject, very little light has been thrown on it by the chemists
who have treated of it. Being myself too little informed to be able to pro-
perly digest these different speculations and to balance authorities, and to
separate the true and valuable from the erroneous or worthless of what
has been lately published, 1 deem it best still to rely on my own previously
published views and proofs only, as presented in the foregoing pages.
Therefore, leaving it to chemists to settle their present differences of opi-
nion in regard to the qualities, and even identity, as well as name of the
acid of soil, and to clear away the existing confusion and obscurity of their
Mews, I will, for the present, adopt nothing on their authority in this re-
spect. Still, I earnestly hope that their subsequent investigations may be
successful in eliciting and determining what is true of this acid — and also in
applying the truths ascertained to advance the knowledge of the composi-
tion and improvement of soils. For the same reason, I shall also decline
adopting any of the various terms which have been successively applied by
different, and even the same chemists, to designate the acid of suil ; as
Auntie, g-cic, erotic and apocratic acid, &c.

But without the aid of this recent discovery of the humic or geic acid,
if the foregoing examinations of soils, and the arguments which follow, re-
main unquestioned, these two remarkable and important facts may be con-
sidered as thereby established beyond dispute or doubt :

1st, That calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime, is in general as entirely
deficient in the soils of Virginia, as that ingredient had heretofore been sup-
posed, by agricultural writers, to be common in all soils ; and.

2d, That, notwithstanding this total absence of the carbonate of lime,
that lime in some other form of combination, and in greater or less quantity,
is an ingredient of every soil capable of producing vegetation.

Nor do these facts come in conflict with each other ; nor either of them
with the position which has been contended for, that calcareous matter ill
proper proportions is necessary to cause fertility in soils. Should some
other person, who may be aided by sufficient scientific light, undertake the
investigation, he may supply all that is wanting for the direct proof of this
theory of the cause of fertility, anil perhaps show that the value of a soil
(under equal circumstances) is in proportion to the quantity of the vegetable
salt of limr present in the soil. The direct and positive proof of this doctrine,
I confidently anticipate will hereafter be obtained from more full examina-
tions of the humic acid, and its compounds in various soils, and from cor-
rect and minute reports of the quantities and kinds of those ingredients.
in connexion with the degree of the natural fertility of each soil,
however interesting the recent discovery of humic acid may be to chemists,
it does not seem that they have suspected it to have any thing like the
important bearing on the fertilization of soil which I had attributed to the
supposed acid principle or ingredient of soils. . Berzelius seems scarcely
to have bestowed a thought on this most Important application of his in-
vestigation of the properties of geine and geic acid.

Supposing the doctrine to be sufficiently established by my own proofs
offered above, it may be useful to trace the formation and increase of acidity
in diileretit soils, according to the views which have been presented, and
to display the promise which that quality holds out for improvin
soils which it has heretofore rendered barren and worthless.

Every neutral soil at some former time must have contained calcareous
earth in sufficient quantity to produce the uniform effect of thai ingredient ol
storing up and fixing fertility. The decomposition of the successive growths
of plants, left to rot on the rich soil, continually formed vegetable acid, which.

56

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

as fast as formed, united with the lime in the soil. At last these two
principles balanced each other, and the soil was no longer calcareous, but
neutral. Instead of its former ingredient, carbonate of lime, it was
now supplied with a vegetable salt of lime. This change of soil does
not affect the natural growth, which remains the same, and thrives as well
as when the soil was calcareous ; and when brought into cultivation, the
soil is equally productive under all crops suited to calcareous soils. If the
supplies of vegetable matter continue, the soil may even become acid in
some measure, as may be evidenced by the growth of sorrel — but without
losing any of its fertility before acquired. The degree of acidity in any
one soil frequently varies ; it is increased by the growth of such plants as
delight to feed on it, and by the decomposition of all vegetable matters.
Hence the longer a poor field remains at rest, and not grazed, the more
acid it becomes ; and this evil keeping pace with the benefits derived, is the
cause why so little improvement, or increased product, is obtained from
putting acid soils under that mild treatment. Cultivation not only prevents
new supplies, but also diminishes the acidity already present in excess, by
exposing it to the atmosphere ; and therefore the more a soil is exhausted,
the more will its acidity be lessened.

We have seen from the proof furnished by the analysis of wood ashes,
that even poor acid soils contain a little salt of lime, and therefore must
have been slightly calcareous at some former time. But such small pro-
portions of calcareous earth were soon equalled, and then exceeded, by the
formation of vegetable acid, before much productiveness was caused. The
soil being thus changed, the plants suitable to calcareous soils died off, and
gave place to others which produce, as well as feed and thrive on, acidity.
Still, however, even these plants furnish abundant supplies of vegetable
matter, sufficient to enrich the land in the highest degree; but the antiseptic
power of the acid prevents the leaves from rotting for years, and even then
the soil has no power to profit by their products. Though continually
wasted, the vegetable matter is continually again forming, and always pre-
sent in abundance ; but must remain almost useless to the soil, until the
accompanying acidity shall be destroyed.

It may well be doubted whether any soil destitute of lime in every form
would not necessarily be a perfect barren, incapable of producing a spire of
grass. No soil thus destitute is known, as the plants of all soils show in
their ashes the presence of some lime. But it is probable that our sub-soils,
which, when left naked by the washing away of the soil, are so generally
and totally barren, are made so by their being entirely destitute of lime in
any form. There is a natural process regularly and at all times working to
deprive the sub-soil of all lime, unless the soil is abundantly supplied.
What constitutes soil, and makes the strong and plain mark of separation
and distinction between the more or less fertile soil and the absolutely sterile
sub-soil beneath ! The most obvious cause for this difference which might
be stated, is the dropping of the dead vegetable matter on the surface ; but
this is not sufficient alone to produce the effects, though it may be so when
aided by another cause of more power. When the most barren surface earth
was formed or deposited by any of the natural agents to which such effects
are attributed by geologists, it seems reasonable to suppose that the surface
was no richer than any lower part of the whole upper stratum so depo-
sited. If, then, a very minute proportion of lime had been equally dis-
tributed through the body of poor earth to any depth that the roots of
trees could penetrate, it would follow that the roots would, in the course
of time, take up all the lime, as all of it would be wanting for the
support of the trees; and their death and decay would afterwards leave

I LLCaJBBOl S M INURES I HEOH1 57

all this former Ingredient of the soil in general, mi the surface. This

process must have tl Sect, in the course of time, <>f fixing on and near

the surface the « hole of .1 scanty supply of lime, and of leaving the sub-soil
without any. Bol it' there Is within tin- reach of the roots more lime than

any one WOP OT gTOWth of plants needs, then the BUperflUOUS lime will be

permitted to remain in the sub-soil, which sub-soil v. ill then be Improvabli

by vegetable substances, and readily convertible to productive soil. The

manner in which lime thus operates will be explained in the next chapter.

Nearly all the wood-land now remaining in lower \ u ginia, and also much

of the land which lias long been arable, is rendered unproductive by
acidity, and -successive generations have toiled on such land, almost with-
out 1 enumeration, and without suspecting that their worst virgin land was
then richer than their manured lots appear to be. The cultivator
of such soil, who knows not its peculiar disease, has no other prospect
than a gradual decrease of his always scanty crops. But if the evil is
once understood, and the means of its removal is within his reach, he
has reason to rejoice that his soil was so constituted as to be preserved
from the effects of the improvidence of his forefathers, who would have
worn out any land not almost indestructible. The presence of acid, by
restraining the productive powers of the soil, has in a great measure
saved it from exhaustion; and after a course of cropping which would
have utterly ruined soils much better constituted, the powers of our
acid land remain not greatly impaired, though dormant, and ready to be
called into action by merely being relieved of its acid quality. A few crops
will reduce a new acid field to so low a rate of product, that it scarcely
will pay for its cultivation ; but no great change is afterwards caused, by
continuing scourging tillage and grazing, for fifty years longer. Thus our
acid soils have two remarkable and opposite qualities, both proceeding from
the same cause : they can neither be enriched by manure, nor impoverished by
cultivation, to any groat extent, dualities so remarkable deserve all cm-
powers of investigation ; yet their very frequency seems to have caused
them to be overlooked ; and our writers on agriculture have continued to
urge those who seek improvement to apply precepts drawn from English
authors, to soils which are totally different from all those for which their
instructions were Intended.

CHAPTER VIII.

TUP. MODE OP OPERATION BY WHICH CALCAREOUS EARTH INCREASES THE FERTILI-
TY AND PRODUCTIVENESS OP SOILS.

Proposition 3. The fertilizing effects of calcareous earth arc ch'njly pro-
duced in/ itt power of neutralizing acids, ami of combining putresi
nures with soils, between which there would otherwise be but little, if any,
ul attraction.

Proposition 4. Poor and acid soils cannot I ur ably, or profitably,

by putrescent manures, without previously making them calcareous, and
tin id')/ correcting tin defect in their constitution.

It has already been made evident that the presence of calcareous earth

in a natural soil causes great and durable fertility, lint it still remains to
be determined, to what properties of this earth its peculiar fertilizing effects
are to be attributed.

58 CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

Chemistry has taught that silicious earth, in any state of division, attracts
but slightly, if at all, any of the parts of putrescent animal and vegetable
matters.* But even if any slight attraction really exists when this earth is
minutely divided for experiment in the laboratory of the chemist, it cannot
be exerted by silicious sand in the usual form in which nature gives it to
soils ; that is, in particles comparatively coarse, loose, and open, and yet
each particle impenetrable to any liquid, or gaseous fluid, that might be
passing through the vacancies. Hence, silicious earth can have no power,
chemical or mechanical, either to attract enriching manures, or to preserve
them when actually placed in contact and intermixed with them ; and soils
in which the qualities of this earth greatly predominate, must give out freely
all enriching matters which they may have received, not only to a growing
crop, but to the sun, air, and water, so as soon to lose the whole. No
portion of putrescent matter can remain longer than the completion of its
decomposition ; and if not arrested during this process, by the roots of
living plants, all will escape in the form of gas (the latest products of
decomposition,) into the air, without leaving a trace of lasting improve-
ment. With a knowledge of these properties, we need not resort' to the
common opinion that manure sinks through sandy soils, to account for its
rapid and total disappearance.!

Aluminous earth, by its closeness, mechanically excludes those agents of
decomposition, heat, air and moisture, which sand so freely admits ; and
therefore clay soils, in which this earth predominates, give out manure much
more slowly than sand, whether for waste' or for use. The practical effect
of this is universally understood — that clay soils retain manure much longer
than sand, but require much heavier applications to show as much effect
early, or a^ once. But as this means of retaining manure is altogether
mechanical, it serves only to delay both its-use and its waste. Aluminous
earth also exerts some chemical power in attracting and combining with
putrescent manures, but too weakly to enable a clay soil to become rich by
natural means. For though clays are able to exert more force than sand
in holding manures, their closeness also acts to deny admittance beneath

• Davy's Agr. Chem. page 129.

t Except the very small proportions of earthy, saline and metallic matters that may
he in animal and vegetable manures, the whole balance of their bulk (and the whole of
whatever can feed plants,) is composed of different elements which are known only in
the forms of gases — into which manures must be finally resolved, after going through all
the various stages of fermentation and decomposition. So far from sinking in the earth,
these final results could not be possibly confined there, but must escape into the atmo-
sphere as soon as they take a gaseous form, unless immediately taken up by the organs
of growing plants. It is probable that but a small portion of any dressing of manure
remains long enough in the soil to make this final change ; and that nearly all of it is
used by growing plants, during previous changes, or carried off' by air and water. During
the progress of the many changes caused by fermentation and decomposition, every
soluble product may certainly sink as low as the rains penetrate ; but it cannot descend
lower than the water, and that, together with the soluble manure, will be again drawn
up by the roots of plants. One exception, however, seems probable. Should the soil
need draining, to take off water passing beneath the surface, the soluble manure may be
carried off by those springs ; anil this supposed result receives strong confirmation from
the complete loss of fertility which is often observed in spots over sub-soil that is
oozy in wet seasons, but which have been kept under tillage, without being drained.
We are as yet but little informed as to the particular changes made, and the various
new substances successively formed, and then decomposed, during the whole duration
of putrescent manures in the* soil — and no field for discovery would better reward the
investigations of the agricultural chemist. For want of this knowledge we proceed at
random in using manures, instead of being enabled to conform to any rule founded on
scientific principles ; nor can we hope, without such knowledge, so to manage manures
with regard to their fermentation, the time and manner of application, mixing with
other substances, &c, as to enable the crops la seize every enriching result as soon as it
is produced, and to postpone as long as possible the final results of decomposition— which
ought to be the ends sought in every application oi' putrescent manure.

AREOl'S MANURES-THEORY. 59

the surface to the enriching matters furnished by the growth and decay of
plants. And therefore, before being brought Into cultivation, a poor clay
soil would derive scarcely any benefit from its small power of combining
chemically with putrescent matter* If then it i.s considered how small is
the power of both silicious and aluminous earths to receive and retain pu-
nt manures, it will cease to cause surprise that such soils cannot be
thus enriched, with profit, if at all. It would indeed he strange and un-
luitable, if earths and soils thus constituted could be enriched by pu-
it manures alone.

Davy states that both aluminous ami calcareous earth will combine with
.my vegetable extract, so as to render it less soluble, (and consequently not
subject to the waste that would otherwise take place,) and hence "that the
soils which contain most alumina and carbonate of lime, are those which
act with the greatest chemical energy in preserving manures." Here is
high authority for calcareous earth possessing the power which my argu-
ment demands, but not in so great a degree as I think it deserves. Davy
apparently places both earths in this respect on the same footing, and allows
to aluminous soils retentive powers equal to the calcareous. Bui though
he gives evidence (from chemical experiments} of this power in both earths,
he does not seem to have investigated the difference of their forces. Nor
could he deem it very important, holding the opinion which he elsewhere
expresses, that calcareous earth acts " merely by forming a useful earthy
Ingredient in the soil," and consequently attributing to it no remarkable
chemical effects as a manure. I shall offer some reasons for believing that
the powers of attracting and retaining manure, possessed by these two
earths, differ greatly in their degrees of force.

Our aluminous and calcareous soils, through the whole of their virgin
. have had equal means of receiving vegetable matter; and if their
powers lor retaining it were nearly equal, so would he their acquired fer-
tility. Instead of this, while the calcareous soils have been raised to the
highest condition, many of the tracts of clay soil remain the poorest and
most worthless. It is true that the one labored under acidity, from which
the other was free. Jlut if we suppose nine-tenths of the vegetable matter
to have been rendered useless by that poisonous quality, the remaining
tenth, applied for so long a time, would have made fertile any soil that had
the power to retain the enriching matter.

Many kinds of shells are partly composed of gelatinous animal matter,
which, I suppose, must be chemically combined with the calcareous earth,
and by that means only is preserved from the putrefaction and waste that
would otherwise certainly and speedily take place. Indeed, the large pro-
portion of animal matter which thus helps to constitute shells, instead of
making them more perishable, serves to increase their firmness and solidity.
When long exposure, as in fossil shells, has destroyed all animal matter,
the texture of the calcareous substance is greatly weakened. A simple
experiment will serve to separate, and make manifest to the eye, the animal
matter which is thus combined with and preserved by the calcareous earth.
If a fresh-water muscle-shell is kept for some days immersed in a weak
mixture of muriatic acid and water, all the calcareous part will be gra-
dually dissolved, leaving the animal matter so entire, as to appear still to
be a whole shell— but which, when lifted from the fluid which supports it,
will prove to be entirely a flaccid, gelatinous, and putrescent substance,
without a particle of calcareous matter being left. Yet this substance,
which is so highly putrescent when alone, would have been preserved in
combination with calcareous matter, in the shell, for many years, if exposed
to the usual changes of air and moisture; and if secured from such
changes, would be almost imperishable

60 CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEORY.

Calcareous earth has power to preserve those animal matters which are
most liable to waste, and which give to the sense of smell full evidence
when they are escaping. Of this, a striking example is furnished by an
experiment which was made with care and attention. The carcass of a
cow, that was killed by accident in May, was laid on the surface of the
earth, and covered with about seventy bushels of finely divided fossil shells
and earth, (mostly silicious,) their proportions being as thirty-six of calca-
reous, to sixty-four of silicious earth. After the rains had settled the heap,
it was only six inches thick over the highest part of the carcass. The pro-
cess of putrefaction was so slow, that several weeks passed before it was
over ; nor was it ever so violent as to throw off any effluvia that the calca-
reous earth did not intercept in its escape, so that no offensive smell was
ever perceived. In October, the whole heap was carried out and applied
to one-sixth of an acre of wheat — and the effect produced far exceeded
that of the calcareous manure alone, which was applied at the same rate
on the surrounding land. No such power as this experiment indicated (and
which I have since repeated in various modes, and always with like results)
will be obtained, or expected from clay.

Quick-lime is used to prevent the escape of offensive effluvia from animal
matter ; but its operation is entirely different from that of calcareous earth.
The former effects its object by " eating" or decomposing the animal sub-
stance, (and nearly destroying it as manure,) before putrefaction begins.
The operation of calcareous earth is to moderate and retard, but not to
prevent putrefaction ; not to destroy the animal matter, but to preserve it
effectually, by forming new combinations with the products of putrefaction.
This important operation will be treated of more fully in a subsequent
chapter.

The power of calcareous earth to combine with and retain putrescent
manure, implies the power of fixing them in any soil to which both are ap-
plied. The same power will be equally exerted if the putrescent manure
is applied to a soil which had previously been made calcareous, whether by
nature, or by art. When a chemical combination is formed between the
two kinds of manure, the one is necessarily as much fixed in the soil as the
other. Neither air, sun or rain, can then waste the putrescent manure, be-
cause neither can take it from the calcareous earth, with which it is chemi-
cally combined. Nothing can effect the separation of the parts of this
compound manure, except the attractive power of growing plants— which,
as all experience shows, will draw their food from this combination as fast
as they require it, and as easily as from sand. The means then by which
calcareous earth acts as an improving manure are, completely prescri-ing
putrescent manures from vjaste, and yielding them freely for use. These
particular benefits, however great they may -be, cannot be seen very quickly
after a soil is made calcareous, but will increase with time, and, with the
means for obtaining vegetable matters, until their accumulation is equal to
the soil's power of retention. The kind, or the source, of enriching ma-
nure, does not alter the process described. The natural growth of the soil,
left to die and rot, or other putrescent manures collected and applied, would
alike be seized by the calcareous earth, and fixed in the soil.

This, the most important and valuable operation of calcareous earth,
then gives nothing to the soil ; but only secures other manures, and gives
them wholly to the soil. In this respect, the action of calcareous earth in
fixing manures in soils, is precisely like that of mordants in " setting" or
fixing colors on cloth. When alum, for example, is used by the dyer for
this purpose, it adds not the slightest tinge of itself— but it holds to the
cloth, and also to the otherwise fleeting dye, and thus fixes them per-

CALCAREOUS MANURES-THEuRY. 61

manently together. Without the mordant, the color might have been
equally vivid, but would be lost by the first wetting of the cloth.

Thus, reasoning a priori, &am that chemical power possessed by calca-
reous earth which is wanting to both sandy and clayey earths, would
lead to the conclusion that call th serves to combine putn

matters with the soil in general; and the known results of fertility being
therein so fixed, might serve for the like proof, even without theothei course
of reasoning. There is still another proof of this combination being formed,
which is obtained by a chemical process, but which is so simple that no
chemical science is requisite to make the trial. *

If a specimen of any naturally poor soil, after being dried and reduced
to powder, be agitated in a vessel of water, (as a common drinking glass,)
and then allowed to stand still, the coarser silicious sand will subside first, the
liner sand next, and last the clay. In this manner, and by pouring oil the
lighter parts, before their subsidence, it is very easy to separate with
sufficient accuracy the sand from the clay. But if a specimen of a good
rich neutral tail be tried in that manner, it will be found that the fine
sand and the clay" and putrescent matter hold together so closely that they
cannot be separated by mere agitation in water. Then take another
sample of the same soil, and pour to it a small quantity of diluted muriatic
acid ; and though no effervescence is produced, (the lime not being in the
form of carbonate,) the acid will take away the lime, or destroy its combi-
nation with the other earths, so that the sand and the clay may then be
separated by agitation in water, as perfectly and easily as in the case of
the poorest soils. This difference between good and bad soils, (whether
light or stiff,) or those naturally rich and those naturally poor, cannot
escape the observation of the young experimenter ; and the cause can be
no other than what I have supposed. This then serves as the third mode
of proof of the important position, that calcareous earth (or lime in some
other form) not only combines with vegetable and animal matters, but also
serves (as a connecting link) to combine these matters with the sand and
clay of the soil.

The next most valuable property of calcareous manures for the improve-
ment of soil is their poir, r ft m Uratizing adds, which has already been
incidentally brought forward in the preceding chapter. According to the
views already presented, our poorest cultivated soils contain more vegetable
matter than they can beneficially use; and when first cleared, they have it in
great excess. So antiseptic is the acid quality of poor wood-land, that be-
fore the crop of leaves of one year can entirely rot, two or three others
will have fallen ; and there are always enough, at any one time, to greatly
enrich the soil, if the leaves could be rotted and fixed in it at once.

This alleged antiseptic effect of vegetable acid in our soils receives strong
support from the facts established with regard to peat soils, in which vege-
table acids have been discovered by chemical analysis ; and though the
peat or moss soils of Britain differ entirely from any soils in eastern Vir-
ginia, (except that of the great Dismal Swamp, almost the only peat bog
known,) still some facts relating to the former class may throw light on the
properties of our own soils, different as they may be. Not only does vege-
table matter remain without putrefaction in peat soils and bogs, and serve to
increase their depth by regular accretions from the successive annual growths,
but even the bodies of beasts and men have been found unchanged under
peat, many years after they had been covered." It is well known that the
leaves of trees rot very quickly on the rich lime-stone soils of the western

• See Alton's Essay on Moss Earth, republished in Farmers' Register, vol. v., p. 462.

62 CALCAREOUS MANURES— TH1

states, while the successive crops of several years' growth, in the different
stages of their slow decomposition, may be always found on the acid wood-
land of lower Virginia.

The presence of acid in soils, by preventing or retarding putrefaction,
keeps the vegetable matter inert, and even hurtful on cultivated land ; and
the crops are still further injured by taking up this poisonous acid with
their nutriment A sufficient quantity of calcareous earth, mixed with such
a soil, will immediately neutralize the acid, and destroy its powers : and the
soil, released from its baneful influence, will be rendered capable, for the
first time, of using the fertility which it really possessed. The benefit
thus produced is almost immediate ; but though the soil will shmv a new
vigor in its earliest vegetation, and may even double its first crop, yet no
part of that increased product is due to the direct operation of the calca-
reous manure, but merely to the removal of acidity. The calcareous earth,
in such a case, has not made the soil richer in the slightest degree, but has
merely permitted it to bring into use the fertility it had before, and which
was concealed by the acid character of the soil. It will be a dangerous
error for the farmer to suppose that calcareous earth can enrich soil by
direct means. It destroys the worst foe of productiveness, and uses to the
greatest advantage the fertilizing powers of other manures ; but of itself it
gives no fertility to soils, nor does it furnish the least food to growing
plants.*

These two kinds of action are by far the most powerful of the means
possessed by calcareous earth for fertilizing soils. It has another however
of great importance — or rather two others, which may be best described
together as the poicer of altering the texture andabsorbency of soils.

At first it may seem impossible that the same manure can produce
such opposite effects on soils as to lessen the faults of being either too
sandy or too clayey — and the evils occasioned by both the want and the
excess of moisture. Contradictory as this may appear, it is strictly true
as to calcareous earth. In common with clay, calcareous earth possesses
the power of making sandy soils more close and firm — and in common
with sand, the power of making day soils lighter. When sand and clay
thus alter the textures of sols, their operation is altogether mechanical ;
but calcareous earth must have some chemical action also in producing
such effects, as its power is far greater than that of either sand or clay. A
great quantity of clay would be required to stiffen a sandy soil per-
ceptibly, and still more sand would be necessary to make a clay soil much
lighter — so that the cost of such improvement would generally exceed tin

* Perhaps it may be considered that there are exceptions to Hie above dortrine in the
well established facts that certain plants will not grow well, il at all, in soils containing
so little lime as to be classed as acid • : how rich they may be made for the

time by putrescent manures. Amoi .v. and hackberry have been

already named as plants of this kind; and red clover is as remarkable among grasses for
requiring lime in the soil. Sainfoin is still more remarkable, and cannot be pioduced
to profit, even if it will live, except on a highly calcareous soil. Lime then is certainly
a specific manure for these plants: that is. lime promotes their growth in a remarkable
and peculiar degree, and they can scarcely live without a considerable quantity in the
soil. Still it may be doubted whether it is that they require the lime as food, or for
some other unknown purpose, no less indispensable. Except as to sainfoin, (of which
I have no practical experience,) a moderate proportion of lime in a soil, such as will
merely make it neutral, seems to add as ranch vigor to the growth of the plants named,
as if it be given in ten-fold quantity. This would seem to contradict the supposition
of the lime serving as food, though it may be as indispensable to these plants as is their
food. It is certain that dung, or other rotten vegetable matter, acts as food to all crops
which it benefits ; and therefore it is. that, in every case of its use and benefit, a large
quantity will always produce effects perceptibly better than a small a/:

lREOI S mam RES—TH1 C,3

benefit obtained. Much greater effects on the texl tare derived

from much Irss quantities of calcareous earth, besides obtaining the more
ation of its other powers.

Every substance that is < >pi-n enough for air to enter, and the pai
which are not absolutely impenetrable >rb moisture from the at-

; in an impalpable powder, baa. strong
absorbing powers. Bui this is not the form in wl 'U can act —

an.l a dose and solid clay will scarcely admit the passage of air or water,
and therefore cannot absorb much moisture except by its surface. Thn
sandy soils, the ah* passes freely; but moat of its particles are impenetrable
by moisture, and therefore these soils arc also extremely deficient in ab-
ut power. Calcareous earth, by rendering clay more open to the
entrance of air. and closing partially the too open pores of sandy soils, in-
■ nt powers of both. To increase that power in any soil,
is to enable it to draw supplies of moisture from the air, in the driest
weather, and to [deist more strongly the waste by evaporation of light
rains. A calcareous soil will so quickly absorb a hasty shower of rain as
to appear to have received less than adjoining land of different character ;
and yet if observed in summer, when under tillage, some days after a rain,
and when other adjacent land appears dry on the surface, the part made
onus will still show the moisture to he yet remaining, by its darker
color. All the effects from this power ol manures may be observed

within a few years after their application — though none of them so strongly
marked, as they are on lat are, and in which

time has aided and perfected the operation. These soils present great
variety in their proportions of sand and clay ; yet the most clayey is friable
enough, and the most sandy firm and close enough, to be considered soils of
good texture; ;nid they resist the extremes of both wet and dry seasons,
better than any other soils whatever. Time, and the in< rease of vegetable
matter, will bring I 5 to the same perfection in soils made calca-

reous by artificial means, as they are in soils made calcareous by nature.

The subsequent gradual accumulation of vegetable' or other putrescent
matter in the soil, by the combining or fixing power of calcareous earth,
must have yet another beneficial effect on vegetation. The soil is thereby
made darker in color, and it consequently is made warmer, by more freely
absorbing the rays of the Bun.

Additional and practical proofs of all the powers of calcareous earth will
be furnished, when ils use and effects as manure will be stated. lam
persuaded, however, that enough has already been said both to establish and
account for the different ent byputre

manures. If the power of fixing manures in -oils has been correctly
ascribed to calcareous earth, that alone is enough to show that soils con-
taining that ingredient, in sufficient quantity, rausl h; and that
aluminous and siheious earths mixed in any proporl en with ve-
getable or other putrescent matter added, i in than a
sterile soil.

64 CALCARE0U8 MANURES-THEORY.

CHAPTER IX.

ACTION OF CAUSTIC LIME AS MANURE. CLASSIFICATION OF MANURES.

The object of this essay is to treat only of calcareous earth (as before
defined) as a manure, and not of pure lime, nor of manures in general.
Still the nature of that which is properly my subject is so intimately con-
nected with some other kinds of manures, and is so liable to be confounded
with others which act very differently, that frequent references to both
classes have been and will be again necessary. To make such references
more plain and useful, some general remarks and opinions will now be
submitted, as to the peculiar modes of the operation of various manures,
and particularly of lime.

Until now I have been careful to say as little as possible of pure or quick
lime, for fear of my meaning being mistaken, from the usual practice of
confounding it with calcareous earth ; or of considering both its first and
later operations as belonging to one and the same manure. The connexion
between the manures is so intimate, and yet their actions so distinct, that it
is necessary to mark the points of resemblance as well as those of dif-
ference.

My own use of quick or caustic lime as a manure has not extended be-
yond a few acres ; and I do not pretend to know any thing from experience
of its first or caustic effects. But Davy's simple and beautiful theory of its
operation carries conviction with it, and in accordance with his opinions
I shall state the theory, and thence attempt to deduce its proper practical
use.

By a sufficient degree of heat, the carbonic acid is driven off from shells,
lime-stone, or chalk, and the remainder is pure or caustic lime. In this
state it has a powerful decomposing power on all putrescent animal and
vegetable matters, which it exerts on every such substance in the soils to
which it is applied as manure. If the lime thus meets with solid and inert
vegetable matters, it hastens their decomposition, renders them soluble, and
brings them into use and action as manure. But such vegetable and ani-
mal matters as were already decomposed, and fit to support growing plants,
are injured by the addition of lime ; as the chemical action which takes
place between these bodies forms different compounds, which are always
less valuable than the putrid or soluble matters were, before being acted on
by the lime.*

This theory will direct us to expect profit from applying caustic lime to
all soils containing much unrotted and inert vegetable matter, as our acid
wood-land when first cleared, and perhaps worn fields, covered with broom-
grass ; and to avoid the application of lime, or (what is the same thing) to
destroy previously its caustic quality by exposure to the air, for all good soils
containing soluble vegetable or animal matters, and on all poor soils deficient
in inert, as well as in active nourishment for plants. The warmth of our
climate so much aids the fermentation of all putrescent matters in soils,
that it can seldom be required to hasten it by artificial means. To check
its rapidity is much more necessary, to avoid the waste of manures in our
lands. But in England, and still more in Scotland, the case is very different.
There, the coldness and moisture of the climate greatly retard the fermen-
tation of the vegetable matter that falls on the land ; so much so that, in
certain situations, the most favorable to such results, the vegetable cover is

* Davy's Agr. Chem. Led. vii,

CALCAREOVS M ANT RES- THEORY. 65

increased by the deposit? of every successive year, and forms those vege-
table soils which B /.and tog- lands. Vegetable matter
abounds in these Boils, and sometime* it even forms the greater bulk for
many feet in depth; but It la Inert, insnlul.lt', and useless, and the soil is
unable to bring any useful crop, though containing vegetable matter in
such- Many millions of acres in Britain are of the different
grades of peat sails, of which almost none exist In the eastern half of
Virginia, I , uud of the difference of climate, and its effects on
fermentation,] deduce the opinion that cauaticHme would be serviceable
much more generally in Britain than here; and indeed that there are very
few cases in which the caustic quality would not do our arable lands more
harm than good. This is no contradiction to the great improvements
which have been made on many farms by applying lime ; for its caustic
quality was seldom allowed to act at all. Lime is continually changing to
the carbonate of lime; and, in practice, no exact line of separation can be
drawn between the transient effects of the one, and the later, but durable
improvement from the other. Lime powerfully attracts the carbonic acid
of which it was deprived by heat, and that acid is universally diffused
through the atmosphere (though in a very small proportion,) and is pro-
duced by every decomposing putrescent substance. Consequently, caustic
lime, when on land, is continually absorbing and combining with this acid ;
and, with more or less rapidity, according to the manner of its application,
is returning to its former state of mild calcareous earth. If spread as a
top-dressing on grass lands— or on ploughed land, and superficially mixed
with the soil by harrowing— or used in composts with fermenting vegetable
matter— the lime is probably completely carbonated, before its causticity
can act on the soil. In no case can lime, applied properly as manure, long
remain caustic in the soil. Thus most applications of lime are, ill effect,
simply applications of calcareous earth but acting with greater energy and
power at first, in proportion to its quantity, because more finely divided,
and more equally distributed.

Some account of the mode of using burnt lime in lower Virginia by
many farmers who cannot as well avail themselves of cheaper means to
render their lands calcareous, and the effects produced, will be given in a
subsequent part of this essay.

By adopting the views which have been presented of the action of calca-
reous earth, and of lime, as manures, and those which are generally re-
ceived as to the modes of operation of other manures, the following table
has been constructed, which may be found useful, though necessarily im-
perfect, and in part founded only on conjecture. The various particular
kinds of manures are arranged in the supposed order of their power, under
the several heads or characters to which they belong ; and when one ma-
nure possesses several different modes of action, the comparative force of
each is represented by the letters annexed— the letter a designating its
strongest or most valuable agency, b the next strongest, and so on as to c
and d.

66

CALCAREOUS MANURES— THEORY.

PROPOSE!) CLASSIFICATION OF MANCRES.

[ Alimentary, or serving •{

as food for plants— as

Solvent of alimentary ■{
manures— as

f

Fixers, or Mordants —
serving to combine with
or set other manures in
soils — as

Stimulating— nx

Specific, or furnishing
ingredients necessary for
particular plants— as

I

r

Neutralizing acids — as {
i

r

Mechanical, or im-
proving by altering the \
texture of soil— as

I

Feathers, hair, woollen rags,

Pounded bones, (6)

All putrescent animal and vegeta-
ble substances, as dung,

Stable and farm-yard manures, (a)

Straw, (a)

Green crops ploughed in, and dead
grass and weeds left on the sur-
face, (a)

Quick-lime, (a)
Potash and soap lie ! (a)
Wood ashes not drawn ! (d)
Paring and burning the surface of
the soil, (a)

Calcareous earth, including
Lime become mild by exposure, (a)
Chalk, (a)

Lime-stone gravel, («)
Wood ashes, (b)
Fossil shells, (or shell marl,) (a)
Marl (a calcareous clay,) («)
Old mortar and lime cements.

All calcareous manures, (b)
Quick-lime, (6)
Potash and soap lie, (b)
Wood ashes, (c)

All calcareous manures, (c)

Marl, (b)

Clay,

Sand,

Fermenting vegetable manures, (b)

Green manures, (b)

Unfermented litter, (ft)

Nitre !

Common salt ! (//)

Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, (for

clover,)
Gypseous earth, (or green-sand

earth,) for clover.
( lalcareous manures (for clover)
Phosphate of lime, (for wheat) in
Bones, («.) and
Drawn ashes, (a)
Salt, for asparagus, (a)

ESSAY

CALCAREOUS MANURES.

PART SECOND— PRACTK K

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MARL ANI> LIME. REMARKS ON THE
EXPERIMENTS TO FOLLOW.

Propositions. Calcareous manures uriUgivc to our worst soils a power of
ntaemng putrescent manure*, equal to that of the best — and willcause
more productiveness, and yield more profit, Hum any other improvement
practicable in lower Virginia.

The theory of the constitution of fertile and barren soils, has now been
regularly discussed. It remains to show its practical application, in the use
of calcareous earth as a manure. If the opinions which have been main-
tained are unsound, the attempt to reduce them to practice will surely ex-
pose their futility; and if they pass through that trial, agreeing with and
confirmed by facts, their truth and value must stand on impregnable ground.
The belief in the most important Of these opinions, (the incapacity of poor
soils for improvement, and its cause,) first directed the commencement of
my use of calcareous manures-; and the manner of my practice has also
been directed entirely by the views which have been exhibited. Yet in
every respect the results of practice have sustained the theory of the action
of calcareous manures ; unless indeed there be claimed as exceptions the
injuries which have been caused by applying too heavy dressings to weak
lands; and also the beneficial effects of proper practice being found to
exceed in degree what the theory seemed to promise.

My use of calcareous earth as manure has been almost entirely confined
to that form of it which is so abundant in the neighborhood of our tide-
waters— the beds of fossil shells, together with the earth with which they
are found mixed. The shells are in various states— in some beds generally
whole, and in others reduced nearly to a coarse powder. The earth which
fills their vacancies, and serves to make the whole a compact mass, in most
cases is principally silicious sand, and contains no putrescent or valuable
matter, other than the calcareous.* The same effects might be expected
from calcareous earth in any other form, whether chalk, lime-stone gravel,

* From later observation I have lorroed the opinion that the coloring matter of blue
marls is vegetable extract, chemically combined with the calcareous matter, of which
opinion the grounds will be stated In ■ 'ill the amount ol this vegetable ad

mixture is too small to have much appreciable effect a* food for plants ; and, practical!)
the general position assumed abo> e ma] pel be con idered as .^together (rue.

68 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

wood ashes, or lime— though the two last have other qualities besides the
calcareous. During the short time that lime can remain quick or caustic,
after being applied as manure, it exerts (as before stated) a solvent power,
sometimes beneficial and at others hurtful, which has no connexion with it?
subsequent and permanent action as calcareous earth.

These natural deposites of fossil shells are commonly, but very impro-
perly, called marl. This misapplied term is particularly objectionable, be-
cause it induces erroneous views of this manure. Other earthy manures
have long been used in England under the name of marl, and numerous
publications have described their general effects, and recommended their
use. When the same name is given here to a different manure, many per-
sons will consider both operations as similar, and perhaps may refer to
English authorities for the purpose of testing the truth of my opinions, and
the results of my practice. But no two operations called by the same
name can well differ more. The process which it is my object to recom-
mend, is simply the application of calcareous earth in any farm whatever,
to soils wanting- that ingredient, and generally being quite destitute of it ;
and the propriety of the application depends entirely on the knowing that
the manure contains calcareous earth, and what proportion, and that the
soil contains none. In England, the most scientific agriculturists apply the
term marl correctly to a calcareous clay of peculiar texture; but most
authors, as well as mere cultivators, have used it for any smooth soapy
clay, which may or may not have contained, so far as they knew, any pro-
portion whatever of calcareous matter. Indeed, in most cases, they seem
unconscious of the presence as well as of the importance of that ingre-
dient, by their not alluding to it when attempting most carefully to point out
the characters by which marl may be known. Still less do they inquire into
the deficiency of calcareous earth in soils proposed to be marled— but
apply any earth which either science or ignorance may have called marl,
to any soils within a convenient distance— and rely upon the subsequent
effects to direct whether the operation shall be continued or abandoned.
Authors of the highest character, (as Sinclair and Young, for example,)
when telling of the practical use and valuable effects of marl, omit giving
the strength of the manure, and generally even its nature— and in no in-
stance have I found the ingredients of the. soil stated, so that the reader
might learn what kind of operation really was described, or be enabled to
form a judgment of its propriety. From all this, it follows that though
what is called marling in England may sometimes (though very rarely, as
I infer,) be the same chemical operation on the soil that I am recommending,
yet it may also be either applying clay to sand, or clay to chalk, or true
marl to either of those soils ; and the reader will generally be left to guess,
in every separate case, which of all these operations is meant by the term
marling. For these reasons, the practical knowledge to be gathered from
all this mass of written instruction on marling will be far less abundant
than the inevitable errors and mistakes. The recommendations of marl
by English authors, induced me very early to look to what was here called
by the same name, as a means for improvement. But their descriptions of
the manure convinced me that our marl was nothing like theirs, and thus
actually deterred me from using it, until other and more correct views in-
structed me that its value did not depend on its having " a soapy feel," or
on any admixture of clay whatever.

Nevertheless, much valuable information may be obtained from these
same works, on calcareous manure, or on marl, (in the sense that term is
used among us) — but under a different head, viz., time. This manure is gene-
rally treated of with as little clearness or correctness, as is done with marl ;

I \l.i 1RB01 6 4 \\\ RES PB \< l 1C£ 09

but tin- readei it least cannot be mistaken in this, that the ultimate effect

of every application ol lima must ho to make the soil more oatoar is;

ami i" that cause Bolely are in be impnted all tin- long-continued bi
consequences, and great profits, which have been derived from liming.
But excepting this one point, in which we cannot be misled by ignorance

ol precision, the mass of writings on lima, as well as <>n call
manures in general, will Deed much sifting to yield instruction. The opi-
nions published on the operation of lime are so many, so various, and o con-
tradictory, that it si in is as if each author bad hazarded a guess, and added
a n> a compilation ol those of all who bad preceded him. For a reader of
these publications to bo able to reject all that is erroneous in reasoning, ami
in statements of facts— or inapplicable, on account of difference of soil, or
other circumstances— and thus obtain only what is true, and useful— it
would be necessary lor him first to understand the sabjet I better than

those whose opinions he was studying. Indeed it was not possible
tin- them to bo correct, when treating (as most do) of lime as one kind of
manure, and every different form of the carbonate »/ lime as so many
others. Only one distinction of tins kind (as to operation ami effects)
should be made, and never lost sight of — and that is one of substance, still
more than of name. Pure or quick-lime, and carbonate of lime arc ma-
nures entirely different in their powers and effects, lint it should be re-
membered that tlio substance that wasjwre fime.when jnsi burned, often

bee s carbonate of linn before it is used, (by absorbing carl icacid

from the atmosphere,) — still more frequently before a crop is planted — ami
probably always before the first nop ripens. Thus, it should !"• borne in
mind that the manure spoken of as lime is often at first, and always at a
later period, neither more nor less than calcareous earth : that lime, which
at different periods is two distinct kinds of manure, is considered in agri
cultural treatises as only one; and to calcareous earth are given B8 many
different names, all considered to haw different values and effects, as there'
are different forms and mixtures of the substance presented by nature.

Lint, however incorrect and inconvenient the term marl may be, custom
has too strongly fixed its application for any proposed change to be adopt-
ed. Therefore, I must submit to use the won! marl to mean bed
slnl/s, notwithstanding my protest against the propriety of its being so ap-
plied.

The following experiments are reported, eithei on account ol baring
been accurately made and carefully observed, or as presenting such results
B8 have boon generally obtained on similar soils, from applications of fossil
shells to nearly six hundred acres of Coggins Point Sum (madi

it had been my habit to make written memoranda ol such things;
and the material circumstances of these experiments werepul in writing
at the lime they occurred, Or not long after. Some of I;

were, from their commencement, designed to be permanent, and their re-
sults to be measured as long as circumstani i might permit. These were;
made with the utmost care. But generally, when precise amount
stated, the experiments were less carefully made, and theii results reported
by guess. Every measurement stated, ol land or ol crop, was made in
my presence The average strength of the different marls used w
tained by a sufficient number of analyses; and the quantity applied was
known by measuring some ol tin- loads, and havingthem dropped at regular
distances. At the risk of being tedious, I shall state et ery circumstance sup-
posed to affect the results of the experiments; and i
tion. and of reference, lo use, will require a degree of ..

that few readers may be he B€ I to give, to enable them to derive

70 ( ALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE

benefit of these details. But, however disagreeable it may be to give to
them the necessary attention, I will presume to say that these experiments
deserve it. They will present practical proofs of what otherwise would be
but uncertain theory — and give to this essay its principal claim to be con-
sidered truly instructive and useful.

When these operations were commenced, I knew of no other experi-
ments having been made with fossil shells, except two, which had been
tried long before, and were considered as proving the manure to be too
worthless to be resorted to again.

The earliest of these old experiments was made at Spring Garden, in
Surry, about 1775, by Mr. Wm. Short, proprietor of that estate. The extent
marled was eight or ten acres, on poor sandy land. Nothing is now known
of the effects for the first twenty-five or thirty years, except that they were
too inconsiderable to induce a repetition of the experiment. The system
of cultivation was doubtless as exhausting as usual at that time. Since
1812, the farm has been under mild and improving management generally.
No care has been taken to observe the progress either of improvement or
exhaustion on the marled piece; but there is no doubt that the product
has continued for the last fifteen years better than that of the adjacent land.
Mr. Francis Ruffin, the present owner of the farm, believed that the pro-
duct was not much increased in favorable seasons ; but when the other
land suffered, either from too much wet, or dry weather, the crop on the
marled land was comparatively but slightly injured. The loose reports
that have been obtained respecting this experiment are at least conclusive
in showing the long duration of the effects produced.

The other old experiment referred to was made at Aberdeen, Prince
George county, in 1803, by Mr. Thomas Cocke. Three small spots (nei-
ther exceeding thirty yards square,) of poor land, kept before and since
generally under exhausting culture, were covered with this manure. He
found a very inconsiderable early improvement, which he thought altoge-
ther an inadequate reward for the labor of applying the marl. The ex-
periment, being deemed of no value, was but little noticed until after the
commencement of my use of the same manure. On examination, the im-
provement appeared to have increased greatly on two of the pieces, but
the third was evidently the worse for the application. For a number of
years after making this experiment, Mr. Cocke considered it as giving full
proof of the worthlessness of the manure. But more correct views of its
mode of operation, induced by my experiments and reasoning, induced
him to recommence its use; and no one has met with more success, or
produced more valuable early improvement.

Inexperience, and the total want of any practical guide, caused my ap-
plications, for the first few years, to be frequently injudicious, particularly
as to the quantities laid on. For this reason, these experiments will show
what was actually done, and the effects thence derived, and not what bet-
ter information would have directed as the most profitable course.

The measurements of corn that will be reported were all made at the
time a»d place of gathering. The measure used for all except very small
quantities was a barrel, holding five bushels when filled level, and which
being filled twice with ears of corn, well shaken to settle them, and heaped,
was estimated to make five bushels of grain; and the products will be re-
ported in grain, according to this estimate. This mode of measurement
will best serve for comparing results ; but in most cases it is far from giv-
ing correctly the actual quantity of dry and sound grain, for the following
reasons. The common large soft-grained white corn was the kind culti-
vated, which was always cut down for sowing wheat before the best

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

71

matured was dry enough to grind) or even to be stored for keeping; and
when the ears from the poorest land were in a state to lose considerably
more by shrinking. Yet, for fear of some mistake occurring if measure
rnents were delayed until the crop was gathered, then experiments were

measured when the land was ploughed for wheat in October. The subse-
quent loss from shrinking would of course be greatest on the corn from
the poorest and most backward land, as the must defective and unripe
ears would always be there found. Besides, every ear, however Imperfect or
rotten, was included in the measurement. For these several reasons, the
actual increase of product on the mailed land was always greater than will
appear from the comparison of quantities measured ; and from the state-
ments of all such early measurements, there ought to be allowed a deduc-
tion, varying from 10 or 15 per cent, on the best and most forward corn,
to 30 or 35 pel- cent, on the latest and most defective. Having stated the
grounds of this estimate, practical men can draw such conclusions as their
experience may direct, from the dates and amounts of the actual measure-
ments that will be reported. Some careful trials of the amount of shrink-
age in particular experiments will be hereafter stated.

No grazing had been permitted on any land from which experiments will
be reported, since 1814, (or since being cleared, if in forest at that time,)
unless the contrary shall be specially stated. The cropping had also been
mild, during that time, though previously it was the usual exhausting
three-shift and grazing course.

CHAPTEK II.

EFFECTS OF CAI.CAREOl'S MANURES ON ACID SANDY SOILS. NEWLY CLEARED.

Proposition 5 — contin uerf.

As most of the experiments on new land were made on a single piece of
twenty-six acres, a general description or plan of the whole will enable me
to be better understood, as well as to be more concise, by references being
made to the annexed figure. It forms part of the ridge or high table land
lying between James river and the nearest stream running into
creek. The surface is nearly level, but slightly undulating. The soil in its
natural state very similar throughout, but the part next to the line B<

7-2

( AIA'AREOU.S MANURES— PRACTICE.

somewhat more sandy, and more productive in corn, than the part next
to A D; and, in iike manner, it is lighter along A e, than nearer to D/.
The whole soil, a gray sandy acid loam, not more than two inches deep at
first, resting on a yellowish sandy sub-soil, from one to two feet deep, when
it changes to clay. Natural growth mostly pine— next in quantity, oaks
of different kinds— a little of dogwood and chinquepin— whortleberry
bushes throughout in plenty. The quality of the soil better than the ave-
rage of ridge lands in general, but yet quite poor. Judging from experience
of adjoining grounds and similar soil, this land would have produced as its
early and best crop, and under the best treatment, about 12 bushels of corn
to the acre, well ripened and fully shrunk. And if thereafter kept under
ordinary culture and management, the products would have gradually and
speedily sunk to 5 bushels to the acre. Being still less suitable to wheat,
that crop would have been scarcely worth being sown on the land in its
best natural state, (when the product might be C bushels,) and certainly
not at all after a few years of the usual downward progress. The effects of
putrescent manures were very transient, as on all such poor lands.

Experiment 1.

The part B C g h, about eleven acres, grubbed and the trees cut down
in the winter of 1814-15— suffered to lie three years with most of the
wood and brush on it. February, 1818, my earliest application of marl
was made on the smaller part B C m I, about 1\ acres. Marl, containing
33 per cent, of pure calcareous earth, and the balance silicious sand, ex-
cept a very small proportion of clay; the shelly matter finely divided.
Quantity of marl to the acre, one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred
heaped bushels. The whole space B C g h coultered, and planted in its
first crop of corn in 1818. This was my earliest experiment of calcareous
manures.

Results. 1818. The corn on the marled land evidently much better —
supposed difference, forty per cent.

1819. In wheat. The difference as great, perhaps more so — particularly
to be remarked from the commencement to the end of the winter, by the
marled part preserving a green color, while the remainder was seldom
visible from a short distance, and in the spring stood much thinner, from
the greater number of plants killed during the winter. The line of separa-
tion very perceptible throughout both crops.

1820. At rest. During the summer marled all B C g h, at the rate of five
hundred bushels, without excepting the space before covered, and a small
part of that made as heavy as one thousand bushels, counting both dress-
ings. The shells now generally coarse— average strength of the marl, 37
per cent, of calcareous earth. In the winter after, ploughed three inches
deep only, as nearly as could be; which however, shallow as it was, made
the whole new surface yellow, by bringing the barren sub-soil of yellow
sand to the top. One of my neighbors, an intelligent and experienced
farmer, who saw the land when in this state, pronounced that I "had ruined
the land for ever, by ploughing and turning the soil too deep."

Results continued, 1821. In corn. The whole a remarkable growth for
such a soil. The oldest (and heaviest) marled piece better than the other,
but not enough so to show the dividing line. The average product of the
whole supposed to have been fully twenty-five bushels of ripe and good
corn to the acre.

1822. In wheat— and red clover sowed on all the old marling, and one
or two acres adjoining. A severe drought in June killed the greater part

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. 73

or the clover, but left it much the thickest oa the oldest marled piece, so as
again to show the dividing line, and to field, in 1888, two middling .crops
to the scythe — the first that I had known Obtained from any add soil, with-
out high improvement from putrescent manures.

\t rest— nothing taken off, except (he clover on I! C Dl /.

1824. in com — product seemed as before, and its rate maybe inferred
from the actual measurements on other parts, which will be stated in the
next experiment, the whole twenty-six acres being now cleared, and brought
under like cultivation.

Experiment 2.

The part cfn 0, cleared and cultivated in corn at the same times as the
preceding— but treated differently in some other respects. This had been
deprived of nearly all its wood, and the brush burnt, at the time of cutting
down- and its first crop of corn (1818) being very inferior, was not fol-
lowed by wheat in 1819, because promising too little product to pay for the
cost of the crop. This gave two years of rest before the crop of 1821 —
and five years rest out of six, since the piece had been cut down. As I
fore stated, the soil rather lighter on the side next to 0 e, than nf.

March, 1821. A measured acre near the middle, covered with six hun-
dred bushels of calcareous sand, containing 20 percent, of calcareous earth,
the upper layer of another body of fossil shells.

R, suits. 1821. In corn. October— the four adjoining quarter acres,
marked 1, 2, 3, 4, extending nearly across the piece, two of them within,
and two without the marled part, measured as follows:
\ot marled, No. 1, 6f ) .. or>] , , , r

Do No 4 5i \ averaSe t0 tne acre ~~i bushels of grain.

Marled, No. 2,' 8£ i 001 . , .

Do. No. 3, 8* \ aVeraSe o3i bushels"

The remainder of this piece was marled before sowing wheat in 1821.
I--J.I. At rest.

1821. In corn — distance 5 A by 3\ feet, making 2430 stalks to the acre.
October 1 1th, measured two quarter acres very nearly coinciding with Nos.
2 and 3 in the last measurement. The products now were as follows :
No 2 brought 7 bushels 3J pecks, i

or per acre, - - -3l.lv average 3 1 .24

No 3 brought 8 bushels, - - 32 )

Average in 1821, .... 33.1

}'..rpcriment 3.

The part efg h was cut down in January, 1821, and the land planted
in corn the same year. The coultering and after-tillage very' badly exe-
cuted, on account of the number of whortleberry and other roots. As
much as was convenient was marled at six hundred bushels, 37 per cent,
and the dressing limited by a straight line. Distance of corn 5i bj
feet— 2262 stalks to the acre.

Results. 1821. October— on each side of the dividing line, a piece of
twenty-eight by twenty-one corn hills measured as follows :
No. 1, 588 stalks, not marled, 2 bushels, equal to 7 bushels 3 pecks the acre.
No. 2, 588 stalks, marled, 4} 16 bushels 2 { pecks.

I - J J. In wheat, the remainder having been previously marled.

1823. At rest. During the following winter it was covered with a
second dressing of marl at 250 bushels, 45 per cent., making 850 bushels to
the acre altogether.

74 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

1824. In corn. Two quarter acres, chosen as nearly as possible on the
same spaces that were measured in 1821, produced as follows:

No. 1 made 8 bushels, 2 pecks, or to the acre, 34 bushels.
The same in 1821, before marling, 7.3|

26.0|

No. 2 made 7 bushels, 2i pecks, or to the acre, 30.2
The same in 1821, after marling-, 16.2j

Increase average, 13.34

The second dressing of marl, or the larger quantity, had but little effect
in making the increase of crops greater than in 1821. The difference was
caused mainly by the greater length of time since the clearing of the land.
1825. The whole twenty-six acres, including the subjects of all these ex-
periments and observations, were in wheat. The first marled piece, in
Exp. 1, was decidedly the best — and a gradual decline was to be seen to
the latest. I have never measured the product of wheat from any experi-
ment, on account of the great trouble and difficulty that would be encoun-
tered. Even if the wheat from small measured spaces could be reaped
and secured separately, during the urgent labors of harvest, it would be
scarcely possible afterwards to carry the different parcels through all the
operations necessary to show exactly the clean grain derived from each.
But without any separate measurement, all my observations convince me
that the increase of wheat, from marling, was at least equal to that of corn,
during the first few years, and certainly greater afterwards, in compari-
son to the product before using marl.

It was from the heaviest marled part of Exp. 1, that soil was analyzed
to find how much calcareous earth remained in 1826, (page 50.) Before
that time the marl and soil had been well mixed by ploughing to the depth
of five inches. One of the specimens of this soil then examined consisted
of the following parts— half an inch of the surface, and consequently the
undecomposed weeds upon it, being excluded.
1 000 grains of soil yielded

769 grains of silicious sand moderately fine,
15 finer sand,

784

8 calcareous earth, from the manure applied,

180 finely divided gray clay, vegetable matter, &c.

28 lost in the process.

1000

This part, it has been already stated, was originally somewhat lighter
than the general texture of the remainder of the land.

Experiment 4.

The four acres marked ADno were cleared in the winter of 1823-4.
The lines p q and r s divide the piece nearly into quarters. The end nearest
A p o is lighter, and best for corn, and was still better for the first crop,
owing to nearly all that half having been accidentally burnt over. After twice
coultering, marl and putrescent manures were applied as follows ; and the
products measured, October 1 1 th, the same year,

GAtCARBOl 8 M \M'i;i's PRACTICE 75

sq not marled nor manured — produced on •! querta acre, (No 1, ol

soft and baary rilled corn,

Buflh.P.
3 bushels, or per acre 12.

7 »• and r p, marled 800 bushels (15 per cent.) l)y three mea-
surements of different pieces —

Uuarter acre (No. 1.) 5 bushels, very nearly, or per acre l'J.3i

Eighth (No. 2) ■;.:;', s average? 22.2

Eighth (No. 3) 3.1*$ 211 v 27.

• I manured at 900 to 1 100 bushels to the acre, of which,
Quarter acre (No. 5) with rutted corn stalks, from a winter

cow-pen, gave 5.2 i 22.2

Eighth (No. 6) with stable manure, 4.1| - - - 35.2

Eighth (No. 7) covered with the same heavy dressings

of stable manure, and of marl also, gave 4.2 36.

s V, marled at 450 bushels, brought not so good a crop as
the adjoining r p at 800.

The distance was 5j by 3J feet. Two of the quarter acres were mea-
sured by a surveyor's chain, (as were four other of the experiments of
1 824,) and found to vary so little from the distance counted by corn rows,
that the difference was not worth notice.

1825. In wheat, the different marked pieces seemed to yield in compari-
son to each other, proportions not perceptibly different from those of the
preceding crop— -but the best not equal to any of the land marled before
1822, as stated in the 1st, 2d and 3d experiments.

1S27. Wheat on a very rough and imperfect summer fallow. This was
too exhausting a course (being three grain crops in the four shift rotation,)
—but was considered necessary to check the growth of bushes that had
sprung from the roots still living. The crop was small, as might have been
expected from its bad preparation.

1828. Corn— in mws live feet apart, and about three feet of distance
along the rows, the seed being dropped by the step. Owing to unfavorable
weather, and to insects and other vermin, not more than half of the first
planting of this field lived — and SO much replanting of course caused its
product to be much less matured than usual, on the weaker land. All the
part not marled (and more particularly that manured) was so covered by
sorrel, as to require ten times as much labor in weeding as the marled
parts, which, as in every other such case, bore no sorrel. October 15th,
gathered and measured the corn from the several spaces, which were
laid off (by the chain) as nearly as could be, on the same land as in 1824.
The products so obtained, together with those of the previous and sub-
sequent courses of tillage, will be presented below in a tabular form, for
the purpose of being more readily compared.

On the wheat succeeding this crop, clover seed was sown, but very
thinly, and irregularly. On the parts not marled, only a few yards width
received seed, which the next year showed the expected result of scarcely
any living clover, and that very mean. On the marled portions, the growth
of clover was of middling quality. Was not mowed nor grazed, but seed
gathered by hand both in 1830 and 1831.

1832. Again in corn. It was soon evident that much injury wae
to the marled half q p o n, by the too great quantity applied. A considera-
ble proportion of the stalks, during their growth, showed strongly the
marks of disease from that cause, and some were rendered entirely barren.
A few stalks only had appeared hurt by the quantity of marl in 1828. «>n
the lightly marled piece, w p. and also on u t, when- the heaviest marling

76

i A.LCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTK 1

was accompanied by stable manure, there appeared no sign of injury
The products of the three successive crops were as follows:

MARKS .

1 PRODUCTS OF GRAIN PKR ACRE.

description. i 1st course.

2d course.

3d course.

1S24.

182*

1832.

October 11.

October 15

October 2fi

Bush, pecks

Bush. pks.

Bush. pks.

' 2

Not marled or manured, 12

21 1

17 3J

qr 1

Marled at 800 bushels, 19 3J

28 1}

28

rp 2
Tp 3

The same, 22 2 )
The same, 27 )

31 0\

27 3

st 5

Cow-pen manure only, 908 to 1100

bushels, 22 2

25 2

more than sq

st 6

Stable manure only, 900 to 1100

bushels, 35 2

29

2S 1

ID t 7

Marl and stable manure, both as

above, 36

33 2

37 3 J

wp

Marled at 450 bushels, Less than r }
P (800) 5

Equal tor/>

31 3

An accidental omission prevented the measurement of s t 5, in 1832.

This experiment has been made with much trouble, and every care be-
stowed to ensure accuracy. Still several causes have operated to affect
the correctness of the results, and to prevent the comparative products
showing the true rate of improvement, either from the marl or the putres-
cent manure. These causes will be briefly stated.

1st. The quantity of marl (800 bushels) on q r and r p is nearly double
the amount that ought to have been used ; and this error has not only in-
creased the expense uselessly, but has served to prevent the increase of
product that would otherwise have taken place. This loss is proved by
the gradual increase, and at last the greater product of w p, marled at only
450 bushels.

2d, The comparative superiority of all the marled ground to s q, not
marled, is lessened by this circumstance : most of the large logs, as well
as all the small branches, were burnt upon the land, when it was cleared
in 1 824, before the experiment was commenced ; and the ashes have dura-
bly improved a spot where each of these large fires was made on s q, but
have done no good, and perhaps have been injurious, to the marled pieces
that were made sufficiently calcareous without the addition of ashes. At
least, the good effect of ashes, on spots, is very evident in a q, and has
helped somewhat to increase all its measured products, and no such benefit
has been visible on the marled parts.

3rd. The quantity of putrescent manure applied to .it (900 to 1100
bushels) was much too great both for fair experiment and profit ; and the ex-
cess of quantity, together with the imperfectly rotted state of the stable
manure, has given more durability to the effect, than is to be ex pec ted from
a more judicious and economical rate of manuring on such land when not
marled. For these several reasons, it is evident that far more satisfactory
results than even these would have been obtained, if only half as much ol
either marl or manure had been applied.

There are other circumstances to be considered, which, if not attended
to, will cause the comparative increase or decrease of product in this ex-
periment to be misunderstood. It is well known that poor land put under
tillage immediately after being cleared, as this was in 1824, will not yield
near as much as on the next succeeding course of crops. This increase.

C \U UtEOl'S MANURES l'KAi I m i

77

which depends merely on the effei ts ol time, operates independently of all
other means for improvement that the land ma] audits rate, in

this experiment, may be fairly estimated by the increase on the |
from 1824 to 1828. The increase here, where time only acted, was from
12 to 21 j bushels, But as the corn gathered here was always n
most imperfectly ripened, and would therefore lose the most by shrinking,
I will suppose eight bushels tube the rate of increase from time, and thai
so much "i the product of all the pieces should be attributed to that
Thou to estimate alone the increased or diminished effects of marl, or ma-
nure "ii the other pieces, eight bushels should be deducted from all the
nt applications, and the estimate will stand thus:

1824. L828

1,|

1

1

Q

Ii P.
IS ::.'.
22 •> )

27 " )"' '-
22 2

H. I>.
28 li
31

25
29

B.

8

>

8
8

B P.

0 2

B P.

From 800 bushels of mm 1,

800 bushels of marl.

1000 bush, cow-pen manure
1000 bush, stable n

rp2
r p :t
s I ii
I t 6

1 11
5 2
14 2

Even the piece covered with both marl and stable manure (w t) shows
according to this estimate a diminished effect equal to 101 bushels; which
was owing to the marl not being able to combine with, and fix, so
quantity of manure, in addition to the vegetable matter left by its natural
growth of wood. The piece wp, marled at 150 bushels alone, has shown
a steady increase of product at each return of tillage, and thereby has
given evidence ol its b ing the only improvement made in such manner as
both judgment and economy would have directed.

Alter the crop and measurement of 1 832, it was inferred that the separate
products of such small spaces could no longei be relied on, owing to the
mixture of the surfaces ol . tillage

Therefore the previously omitted parts were marled before the next course
of crops i ame round.

CHAPTER III.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURE ON ACID Ol CENTLY CI EARED

The two next experiments were made on another field oi thirt) acres ol
very uniform quality, marled and cleared in 1826 and the succeeding
years. The soil is very stiff, close, and intractable under cultivation—
'contain scarcely any sand— but, in fact, about one-half of it is
composed of silicious sand, which is so fine, when separated, as to feel like
the finest flour, only a small proportion of tl irset than this

state of impalpable powder. Aluminous earth of a dirty fawn color hums
nearly all of its remaining ingredients. Before being cleared ol I
growth, and ploughed, the soil is not an inch deep: and all below, for many
feet, Is apparently compose, I of the like parts of clay and line sand. This

edly the most worthless kind of soil, In its natural state, >

district furnishes, it is better for wheat than for com, though its product

is contemptible in everj thing. II isdifficull to be made wet, or dry— and

ij - from both dry and wpi seasons, IjuI

l<>

78 CALCAREOUS MAM RES— PRACTICE.

especially from the former. It is almost always either too wet or too dry
for ploughing ; and sometimes it will pass through both states in two or
three clear and warm days. If broken up early in winter, the soil, instead
of being pulverized by frost, like most clay lands, runs together again by
freezing and thawing ; and by March, will have a sleek (though not a very
even) crust upon the surface, quite too hard to plant on without a second
ploughing. The natural growth is principally white and red oaks, a smaller
proportion of pine, and an under-growth of whortleberry bushes throughout.

Experiment 5.

On one side of this field a marked spot of thirty-five yards square was
left out, when the adjoining land was marled at the rate of five hundred to
six hundred bushels, (37 per cent.,) to the acre. Paths for the carts were
opened through the trees, and the marl dropped and spread in January,
1826, and the land cleared the following winter. Most of the wood was
carried off for fuel ; the remaining logs and brush burnt on the ground, as
usual, at such irregular distances as were convenient to the laborers. This
part was perhaps the poorer, because wood had previously been cut here
for fuel ; though only a few trees had been taken, here and there, each
winter, for a long time past.

Results, 1827. Planted in corn the whole recent clearing of fifteen acres
— all marled, except the spot left out for experiment : broken up late and
badly, and worse tilled, as the land was generally too hard, until the season
■was too far advanced to save the crop. The whole product so small, that
it was useless to attempt to measure the products. The difference would
have been only between a few imperfect ears on the marled ground, and
still less — indeed almost nothing— on that not marled.

1828. Again in corn— as well broken and cultivated as usual for such
land. October 8th— cut down four rows of corn running through the land
not marled, and eight others, alongside on the marled— all fifty feet in length.
The rows had been laid off for five and a half feet— but were found to
vary a few inches— for which the proper allowance was made, by calcula-
tion. The spaces taken for measurement were caused to be thus small by
a part of the corn having been inadvertently cut down and shocked, just
before. The ears were shelled when gathered ; and the products, measured
in a vessel which held (by trial) l-80th of a bushel, were as follows:

On land not marled,
4 rows, average 5 feet, and 50 in length, (500 square feet) 13? measures,

or to the acre, 7\ bushels.

On adjoining marled land
4 rows, average 5 feet 1? inches by 50 feet=512 square feet, 25| measures,

or to the acre, 13A bushels.

4 next rows, 5 feet 4i inches by 50=537 square feet, 27i measures,

or to the acre, 14 bushels.

1 829. In wheat.

1830. At rest — the weeds, a scanty cover.

1831. In corn. October 20th— measured by the chain equal spaces,
and gathered and measured their products. The corn not marled was so
imperfectly filled, that it was necessary to shell it, for fairly measuring the
quantity. The marled parcels, being of good ears generally, were mea-
sured as usual, by allowing two heaped measures of ears, for one of grain.

On land not marled,

363 square yards made 3 gallons,

or to the acre, 5 bushels.

. \l.( \Kl.ol - M \M'KI'.S- I'KA.I h I

79

On marled land, close adjoining on one side,
363 square yards made rather more than G gallons— to the acre, 10 bushels.
363 square yards on another side, made not quite 8 gallons,

or to the acre, 12 bushels.

The piece dot marled coincided with that measured in 1S28, as nearly
as their difference of size and shape permitted— as did the last named
marled piece, with the two of 1828. The Inst crop was greatly injured
by the wettest summer that I have ever known, which has caused the
decrease of product exhibited in this experiment— which will be best seen
in this form :

Product ol grain lo the acre.

1828— October 18. 1831— October 20.
Not marled, - - - 7 bushels 1 peck. - 5 bushels.
Marled, (averaged,) - - 13 " 3 " 1 1

Exp< rim* nt 6.

The remainder of the thirty acres was grubbed during the winter of
1826-7— marled the next summer at five hundred to six hundred bushels the
acre; marl 40 per cent. A rectangle (A) 11 by 13 poles, was laid off by
the chain and compass, and left without marl. All the surrounding land
supposed to be equal in quality with A— and all level, except on the sides
B and I!, which were partly sloping, hut not otherwise different. The soil
suited to the general description given before; no material difference known
or suspected between the land on which 5th experiment was made and this,
except that the latter had not been robbed of any wood lor fuel, before
clearing. The large trees (or all more than ten inches through,) were
belted, and the smaller cut down in the beginning of 1828, and all the land
west of the line e f was planted in corn. As usual, the tillage bad, and the
crop very small. The balance ly in lt east of i f, was coultered once, but as
more labor could not be spared, nothing more was done with it until the
latter part of the winter, 1820, when it was broken by two-horse ploughs,
oats sown and covered by trowel ploughs— then clover sown, and a
wooden-tooth harrow passed over to cover the seed, and to smooth down,
in some measure, the masses of roots and clods

idly— but yielded more for the
labor required than corn would have done The young clover on the marled
land was remarkably good, and covered the surface completely, In the
unmarled part, A. only two casts through had been sown, for comparison,
as I knew it would be a waste of seed. This looked as badly as had been
expected.

qq CALCAREOUS MANURES -PUA4 111):

1830. The crop of clover would nave lieen considered excellent even
on good land, and was most remarkable for so poor a soil as this. The strips
sown through A, had but little left alive, and that scarcely of a size to be
observed, except one or two small tufts, where I supposed some marl had
been deposited by the cleaning of a plough, or that ashes had been left, from
burning the brush. The growth of clover was left undisturbed until after
midsummer, when it was grazed by my small stock of cattle, but not
closely.

1S31. Corn on the whole field. October 20th, measured carefully half
an acre (10 by 8 poles) in A, the same in D, and half as much (10 by 4)
in E. No more space could be taken on this side, for fear of getting within
the injurious influence of the contiguous woods. Xo measurement was
made on the side B, because a large oak, which the belting had not killed,
affected its product considerably. Another accidental circumstance pre-
vented my being able to know the product of the side C, which however
was evidently and greatly inferior to all the marled land on which oats and
clover had been raised. This side had been in corn, followed by wheat,
and next (1S30) under its spontaneous growth of weeds. The corn on each of
the measured spaces* was cut down, and put in separate shocks— and on
Nov. 25th, when well dried, the parcels were shucked and measured, before
being moved. We had then been gathering and storing the crop for more
than fifteen da3-s —and therefore these measurements may be considered as
showing the amount of dry and firm grain, without any unusual deduction
being required for shrinkage.

Bushels. Pecks.
A (half acre) made 7$ bushels of ears, or of grain to the acre, 7 1
D (half acre) I63 ..."--- 10 3

E (quarter acre) 11 22

The sloping surface of the side E, prevented water from lying on it. and
therefore it suffered less, perhaps not at all, from the extreme wetness of
the summer, which evidently injured the growth on A and D, as well as of
all the other level parts of the field.
The field in wheat.

In clover, which was grazed, though not closely, after it had
reached its full growth.

[834. Corn, a year earlier than would have been permitted by the four-
shift rotation. The tillage was insufficient, and made still worse by the
commencement of severe drought before the last ploughing was completed,
which was thereby rendered very laborious, and imperfect withal. Tin
drought continued through all August, and greatly injured the whole crop
of corn.

Results continued. October 22d. Marked off by a chain half an aero
within the space A (3 by 10 poles) as much in D, and a quarter acre (10 by
4 poles) in each of the other three sides C, B, and E, having each of the
last four spaces as near as could be to the outlines of the space A. The
products carefully measured (in the ears) yielded as follows :

A, not marled, yielded G bush. 0i pock of grain, to the acre.
U, marled, " 19 " 3i •■

E, do. " 20 " 1 "

C, do. " 20 " 2 "

B, do. " 20 " li "

In comparing these products with those of the same land in 1831, stated
above, it should be remembered that the corn formerly measured was dry.
while that of the last measurement had yet to lose greatly by shrinking.
As after early gathering, the corn from the poorest land of course will lose

t U.i'AKKoi 9 MAN1 Rl riCE s|

most by drying, and as the ears on A were generally rery defective and
badly filled, if the measurement had been made in the sound and well dried
grain of each parcel, the product of A could nol h done-fourth

of that of the surrounding marled laud, and probably was less.

But though these differences of produi t present the improvement caused
by marling in a striking point of view, this close and stubborn soil at best
is very unlit for the coin c rop; audits highest value is found under clover,
and in wheat on clover, of which some proofs will he found in the next ex-
periment. The first crop of clover, however, after marling, has not
been equalled.

My subsequent distant residence prevented my onsen ing this field when
under any matured crop, until in 1842, when in wheat. The growth on
the unmarled space was certainly not more than one fourth as mm
thai of the surrounding ground.

Experiment 7.

Another piece of land of twenty-five acres, of soil and qualities similar
to the last described, (Exp. 5 and 0\) was cleared in 1818, and about six-
acres marled in 1819, at about three hundred and fifty bushels. The course
of cultivation was as follows:

1820— < lorn— benefit from marl very unequal— supposed to vary between
twenty-five and eighty per cent.

1821. Wheat— the benefit derived greater.

I - 22. At rest.

1823. Ploughed early for corn, but not planted. The whole marled at
the rate of six hundred bushels (40 percent.) again ploughed in August,
and sown in wheat in October. The old marled space more lightly
covered, so as to make the whole nearly equal.

1824. The wheat much improved.
1825 and 1 820, at rest.

1827. Corn.

lS-28. In wheat, and sown in clover.

1829. The crop of clover was heavier than any 1 had ever seen in this
part of the country, except in some very rare cases of rich natural
where gypsum was used and acted well. The growth was thick, but
unequal in height, (owing probably to unequal spreading of the marl,)
standing from fifteen to twenty-four inches high. The fust growth was
mowed for hay, and the second left to manure the land.

1830. The clover not mowed. Fallowed in August, and sowed wheat
in October, after a second ploughing.

1831. The wheat was excellent, almost heavy enough to be in danger of
lodging. I supposed the product to be certainly twenty bushels, perhaps
twenty-five, to the acre.

As it had not been designed to make any experiment on this land, the
progress of improvement was not observed with much care. Hut what-
ever were the intermediate steps, it is certain that the land, at first, was as
poor as that forming the subjects of the two preceding experiments in the
unimproved state, (the measured products of which have been given,) and
that its last crop was at least four times as great as could have been ob-
tained, if marl had not been applied. The peculiar fitness of this kind of
soil for clover after marling, and the supposed cause of the remarkable
heavy first crop of clover, will require further remarks, and will be again
referred to hereaiter.

i

82 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

CHAPTER IV.

THE EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS .MANURES ON ACID SOILS REDUCED BY CULTIVATION.

Proposition 5 — continued.

My use of marl has been more extensive on impoverished acid
soils than on all other kinds, and has never failed to produce striking im-
provement. Yet it has unfortunately happened that the two experiments
made on such land with most care, and on which I relied mainly for evi-
dence of the durable and increasing benefit from this manure, have had
their effects almost destroyed by the applications having been made too
heavy. These experiments, like the 4th and 6th, already reported, were
designed to remain without any subsequent alteration, so that the measure-
ment of their products, once in every succeeding rotation, might exhibit
the progress of improvement under all the different circumstances. As
no danger was then feared from such a course, marl was applied heavily,
that no future addition might be required ; and for this reason, I have to
report my greatest disappointments exactly in those cases where the most
evident success and increasing benefits had been expected. However,
these failures will be stated fairly, and as fully as the most successful re-
sults ; and they may at least serve to warn from the danger of error, if
not to show the greatest profits of judicious marling.

It should be observed that the general rotation of crops pursued on the
farm, on all land not recently cleared, was that of four shifts, (corn, wheat,
and then the land two years at rest and not grazed,) though some excep-
tions to this course may be remarked in some of the experiments to be stated.

Experiment 8.

Of a poor sandy acid loam, seven acres were marled at the rate of only
ninety bushels (37 per cent.) to the acre : laid on and spread early in 1819.

Results, 1819. In corn — the benefit too small to be generally perceptible,
but could be plainly distinguished along part of the outline, by comparing
with the part not marled.

1820. Wheat — the effect something better — and continued to he visible
on the weeds following, until the whole was more heavily marled in 1823.

Experiment 9.

In the same field, on soil as poor and more sandy than the last described,
four acres were marled at one hundred and eighty bushels, (37 per cent.)
March 1818. A part of the same was also covered heavily with rotted barn-
yard manure, which also extended through similar land not marled. This
furnished for observation, land marled only — manured only — marled and
manured — and some without either. The whole space, and more adjoin-
ing, had been heavily manured five or six years before by summer cow-
pens, and stable litter— of which no appearance remained after two years.

Results, 1819. In corn. The improvement from marl very evident — but
not to be distinguished on the part covered also by manure, the effect of
the latter so far exceeding that of the marl as to conceal it.

1820. In wheat. In 1821 and 1822, at rest.

1823. In corn— 5; by 3$ feet. The following measurements were made

•

I ALCAREOOS MAM RES PR \< I !' E

33

lining spaces on October I Oth. The attaj f the ground did not

til ii tit oi larger pieces, equal in all respects, being measured, as no com-
parlson ol products had been contemplated at first, otherwise than by
the eye.

From the part not marled, ill corn-hills made 75 quarts—

or per acre,

Marled only, III 100

Manured only, 190 - - - - 105

Marled and manured, 490 - - - 130

The growth on the part both mailed and manured was evidently inferior
to that of 1819. This was to be expected, as the small quantity of cal-
careous earth was not enough to fix half so much putrescent manure; and,
of course, the excess was as liable to waste as if no marl had been used.

Bush.

Quarts

13

26

18

12

15

5

20

20

Experiment It).

Twenty acres of sandy loam, on a sandy subsoil, covered in 1819 with
marl of about 30 per cent average proportion of calcareous earth, and the
balance silicions sand al 300 bushels to the acre. This land had b
cleared, and much exhausted by cultivation ; since 1814 not grazed,

and had been in corn only once in lour years; ami. as it was not worth
SOWing in wheat, had three years in each rotation to rest and improve by
receiving all its scanty growth of weeds. The same course has been con-
tinued from 1819 to 1832, except that wheat has regularly fallowed the crops
of corn, leaving two yean of rest in four. This soil was lighter than the
subject ni any preceding experiment, except the 9th. On a high level
part, surrounded by land apparently equal, a square of about an acre (A)
was slaked nil. and left without marl— which that year's work brought
to two sides of the square (C, D and K.)

Nj CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

Ilexults. 1820. In coin. October 13th, three half acres of mailed land
were measured, and as many on that not marled, and close adjoining, and
produced as follows :

Nottnarled. Marled.

Bush Pecks. Bush. Pocks.

Half acre in A, 7 1 adjoining in C, 12 3

The same in A, 7 1 " D, 13 33

Half acre in B, 7 2$ " " E, 10 04

The average increase being 12A bushels of grain to the acre, nearly 100
per cent, as measured, and more than 1U0 if the defective filling, and less
matured state of the corn not marled, be considered. The whole would
have lost more by shrinkage than is usual from equal products.

1821. The whole in wheat; much hurt by the wetness of the season.
The marled part more than twice as good as that left out.

1822 and 1823. At rest. A good cover of carrot weeds and other kinds
had succeeded the former growth of poverty grass and sorrel, and every
appearance promised additional increase to the next cultivated crop. No-
vember, 1S23, when the next ploughing was commenced, the soil was found
to be evidently deeper, of a darker color and firmer, yet more friable.
The two-horse ploughs with dilficulty (increased by the cover of weeds,)
could cut the required depth of five inches, and the slice crumbled as it
fell from the mould-board. But as the furrows passed into the part not
marled, an immediate change was seen, and even felt by the ploughman,
as the cutting was so much more easy, that care was necessary to pre-
vent the plough running too deep— and the slices turned over in flakes,
smooth and sleek from the mould board, like land too wet for ploughing,
which however was not the case. The marling of the field was completed
at the same rate, (800 bushels,) which closed a third side (B) of the marked
square. The fourth side was my neighbor's field.

1 824. In com. The newly marled (on B) showed as early and as great bene-
fit as was found in 1820 on C and D— but yet was very inferior to the old,
until the latter was 10 or 12 inches high, when it began to give the first
known evidence of the very injurious effects of using this manure too
heavily. The disease thus produced became worse and worse, until many
of the plants had been killed, and still more were so stunted as to leave no
hope of their being otherwise than barren. The effects will be known
from the measurements which were made as nearly as could be on the
same ground as the corresponding marks in 1S20, and will be exhibited in
the table, together with the products of the succeeding rotations. Besides the
general injury suffered here in 1824, there were one hundred and three
corn hills in one of the measured quarter acres (in C,) or more than one-
sixth, entirely barren, and eighty-nine corn, hills in another quarter acre
(D.) In counting these, none of the missing hills were included, as these
plants might have perished from other causes. This unlooked for disaster
diminished the previous increase gained by marling, by nearly one-half;
and the damage has since been still greater, at each successive return of
cultivation until some years after 1832.

Just before planting the crops of 1832, straw and chaff very imperfectly
rotted by exposure, and which contained no admixture of animal manure,
were applied at the rate of 800 bushels the acre to half the square without
marl (A, 1) and to the adjacent parts of the marled land. The vege-
table manure showed but slight benefit, until after all the worst effects of
excessive marling had been produced; and the later operation of the ma-
nure served barely to prevent a still farther diminution being exhibited by
the land injured by marl.

C vl C \i:i'."i - M WTKI's PRAC Hi r.

85

TRODLCT IN SHELLED CORN 1't.l.

3d course -till course

is:

0. 1824.

1S28. 1832.

Oct.

13. Oct.»!

i :. Oi '..!.. i I"

Hush

pk. Hush, pecks,

, h. peeks.

"

2 1C 1

11 i:A

Hi 3

16

1 g

19 2 not measured

1!)

IS is

^-7

:;;, 2i>

1!) Ill }

( SO

l not measured

ired. not measured

A \..t marled

\ I \lt.r manuring,

B .Not marled until

],tj Ma

r, t Willi iiiuir,

1819— manured
Stein 1832.

The cr<^>s of wheat were throughout less injured by the excess of mail
than the corn.

Forthecropof 1828, ploughed with thn-c mules to each ploo
■ i . to seven inches deep — seldom turning up any subsoil, (which was for-
merly within three inches of the surface,) and the soil appearing still darker
and richer than when preparing for the crops of I --.!!. The ploughing
of the Bquare not marled (A) no wher t that depth

must have injured the land, as 1 can impute to no other cause the remarka-
ble diminution of product, through lour courses of the mild four-shift rota-
tion. It was evident that a still greater depth of furrow was not hurt!
the marled land. A strip across the field, in another place, was in 1828
ploughed eight inches deep for experiment, by the side of another of four
inches, and the corn on the deepest ploughing was the best Another strip
was trench-ploughed twelve inr lies deep, without showing any perceptible
difference, either ol product or in lh< •nets of damage from the e
of marl.

luare left without marl was the land previously refen

liminished product through three surci -.1 il .

rotation recommended by the author ol 'Arator'as enriching. Since,
another crop has been made and measured, and found to be siiil sntollet
than any previous. To whatever cause Ll'iis contiitued falling off, Ibi It

.maybe attributed, it is at least a i mtradiction I" il.

lot trine of vegetable mattci en ing alone to make poor land i ich

Much trouble has been ■.. to this experirm nl

much loss ol product submitted to, since its pui

pose ol know ing 1 1 i and extent i I

of marl. But anothei portion of the field, led as heavil) in 1824

1 damage w .
lifting the cotn • rop ol '
with gypseous earth,™ jrreeii iand earth, al

I well, and which was let) . ■ il on Hie land The next growth

.I on this rat t ol it..' field

..I', amount to full twenl
An i rotation and management oi thi lii I

gular oi in. i . . and also, ni ing

somanj yearn marl had necessarilj i..

led I . u nil. in i marl. T?herefor<

The
unmarTed part, even with its slight .. sur-

rounding ground, and half the |

cent manure in 1832, ... itated a rj Little Impri

since I -

II

86

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

Experiment 11.

The ground on which this experiment was made was in the midst of
nineteen or twenty acres of soil apparently similar in all respects— level,
gray sandy loam, cleared about thirty years before, and reduced as low by
cultivation as such soil could well be. The land that was marled and mea-
sured was about two hundred yards distant from experiment 2, and both
places are supposed to have been originally similar in all respects. This
land had not been cultivated since 1815, when it was in corn— but had been
once ploughed since, in November, 1817, which had prevented broom grass
from taking possession. The ploughing then was four inches deep, and
in five and a half feet beds, as recommended in ' Arator.' The growth in
the year 1820 presented little except poverty grass, {Aristida gracilis,)
running blackberry briers, and sorrel— and the land seemed very little if at
all improved by its five successive years of rest. A small part of this land
was covered with calcareous sand, (20 per cent.,) quantity not observed
particularly, but probably about 600 bushels.

3l}

if > verj
'■iS

Results. 1821. Ploughed level, and planted in corn— distance 5£ by 3J
feet. The measurement of spaces nearly adjoining, made in October, was
as follows :
23 by 25 corn hills, not marled, (in A) made 2^ bushels, or '

per acre, - - ■ - - - - 8| J- very nearly.

23 by 25 corn hills, marled, (on the side B) 5| 22|

1822. At rest. Marled the whole, except a marked square of fifty yards,
containing the space measured the preceding year. Marl 45 per cent, and
finely divided — 350 bushels to the acre — from the same bed as that used
for experiment 4. In August, ploughed the land, and sowed wheat early
in October.

1823. Much injury sustained by the wheat from Hessian fly, and the
growth was not only mean, but very irregular; but it was supposed that
the first marled place (on the side B) was from 50 to 100 per cent, better
than the last marled, and the last superior to the included square not marl-
ed, (A) in as great a proportion.

1824. Again in corn. The effects of disease from marling were as in-
jurious here, both on the new and old part, as those described in experi-
ment 10. No measurement of products made, owing to my being from
home when the corn was cut down for sowing wheat.

1825. The injury from disease less on the wheat than on the corn of
the last year on the latest marling, and none perceptible on the oldest appli-
cation. This scourging rotation of three grain crops in four years was
particularly improper on marled land, and the more so on account of its
poverty.

1826. White clover had been sown thickly over forty-five acres, in-
cluding this part, on the wheat, in January, 1825. In the spring of 1826,

CALCAKKOl JS MANIKIN PRACTICE

87

it formed a beautiful green though low cover to even the poorest of the
marled land. Marked spots, which were so disea i marling as

not to produce a grain ofoprnor wheat, produced clover at le
as other places not injured by that cause. The square, which had
sown in the same manner, and on which the plants came up well, had
no clover remaining by April, I826\except on a few small spots, all of which
together would not have made three feet square. The piece not marled,
white with poverty grass, might be seen, and its outlines traced, at some
distance, by its strong contrast with the surrounding dai k weeds in winter,
or the verdant turf of white clover the spring before.

1827. Still at rest. No grazing allowed on the white clover.

1828. In corn— the land broken in January, five inches deep. October
Nth, made the following measurements:

In the square not marled, (A) 105 by 1041 feet (thirty-six square yards
more than a quarter of an acre.) made one barrel of ears-
Bushels, pecks.
Or of grain to the acre, 9 1 ij

The same in 1821, 8 I j

Gain. 1

"1

Old marling (in B)— 105 by 104$ feet— 24. barrels,

The same in 1821,

22
22

»i

Gain, 1 £

New marling, 105 by 104A feet, on the side that seemed to be the most
diseased, (D) l£ barrels — or nearly 12 bushels to the acre.

1832. Again in corn. Since 182G, the mild four-shift rotation had been
regularly adhered to. Ploughed early in winter live inches deep, and again
with two-horse ploughs just before planting, and after manuring the land
above the dotted line O x. The manure was from the stable yard, the
table part of it composed of straw, corn-stalks, corn-cobs, and leaves
raked from wood-land, had been heaped in a wet state a short time before,
and was still hot from its fermentation when carrying to the field. It was
then about half rotted. The rate at which it was applied was about B07
heaped bushels to the acre, which was too heavy for the best net profit.
The corn on the oldest marling (B) showed scarcely a trace of remaining
damage, while that on D 2 (not manured) was again much injured. On the
manured part, D l.and C, the symptoms of disease began also to show
early— but were so soon checked by the operation of the putrescent ma-
nure, that very little (if any) loss could have been sustained from that cause
The following table exhibits all the measured products for comparison :

DESCRIPTION

PRODUCT IN GRAIN, TF.H ACRE.

MARKS

1st course| 2d course |3d course|4lh course

1821. 1824. 1828. 1832.

Oct. — > Oct. It. Oct. 20,

Bush pk. None measured, Ilu-di. pk Bu?h. pk.

A

C Not marled, )
i Not marled & manured in 1*.:2 S

Ij but the product 9 Ij 0 2j )

A 1

of B much re ;the samel 23 3 J

c

Marled in 1822, and manured in

duccd by I

of marl, and 1), ' 31 11

1832.

B

Marled in 1321 (lightly)

22 OJ (cC equally in 11 1 25

S.j

Marled in 1822 (more heavilyl

Mured Irom th< u | 17 3 )
(same cause. (he same! 31 3 j

The same — and manured in 1882.

CA1

Tht , ted as

usual from the measurement of the corn in ears, (which estimated quanti-
ties are those in the table.) but they were also shelled i>n the day when
gathered, and the grain then measured, and a_-ain some months after, when
:t had become thoroughly dry. Care was taken that there should be no
waste of the corn, or other cause of inaccuracy. The result showed nearly
double the loss from shrinking in the corn not marled, and of course a pro-
portional greater comparative increase of product in that mailed, besides the
increase which appears from the earl}* measurement exhibited in the table.
The grain of A. not marled, when first shelled, measured a very little more
than the quantity fixed by estimate — made as usual by measurement of
the ears, and lost by shrinking SO per cent. The marled grain, from B.
measured at first above 4 per cent, more t;.an the estimate, and after
shrinking, fell below it so much as to show the loss to be i6per cent.
The loss from shrinking in this case was greater than usual in both,
from the poverty and consequent backwardness of the part not marled,
and the uncommonly large proportion of replanted and of course late
com on the whole.

The two last experiments, as well as the 4th, were especially designed to
test the amount of increased product to be obtained from marling, and to
show the regular addition to the first increase, which the theory promised
at each renewal of tillage. As to the main objects, all the three experi-
ments have proved failures — and from the same error, that of marling too
heavily. Although for this reason, theresuJt; so much of the in-

jurious effects, still, taken altogether, the experiments prove, clearly, not
only the great immediate benefit of applying marl, but also its continued
and increasing good effects when applied in proper quantities.

Experiment 1.'

On 9 acres of sandy loam, marled in 1S19 at 400 bushels, (25 per cent.)
nearly an acre was manured during the same summer, by penning cattle.
With the expectation of preserving the manure, double the quantity of
marl, or 800 bushels in all, was laid on that part- The field in corn in
1820— in wheat. Iv2l— and at rest 1822 and 1823.

Ben/O*, 1824. In corn, the second rotation after marling. The effects
i >f the dung have not much diminished, and that part shows no damage from
the quantity of marl, though the surrounding corn, marled only "half as
thickly, -rave signs of general, though very slight injury from that cause.

Experiment 1 3.

Nearly two acres of loamy sand were covered with barn-yard manure,
and marl. (45 per cent..) at the same time, in the spring of I S22, and the field
put in corn the same year, followed by wheat. The quantity of marl not re-
membered—but it must have been heavy (say not less than six hundred
bushels to the acre) as it was put on to fix and retain the manure, and 1
had then no fear of damage from heavy dressings.

Result, L825. Again in corn— and except on a small spot of sand almost
pure, (nearly a " blowing sand." or liable to be drifted by high winds in dry
weather,) no signs of disease from over-marlins were seen, then or after-
wards. '

( am w;i 01 \i INI I- PI CTII
CHAPTER v.

i,ll i I 01 m v Mil: ii MAH1 Rl »1 " FRE1 LI

Proposition 5— cent

The soil known in this part of the country by tin- name of "freeHght
land" has so peculiar a character that it deserves a particular notice. It
a to the slopes and undulating lands, between the : and

the water courses, but hasnothii of medium

fertility sometimes possess. In its wood-land state it would be called rich.
and may remain productive for a few crops after being cleared ; but it is ra-
pidly exhausted, and, when poor, seems as unimprovable by \<
mires as the poorest ridge lands. In its virgin state, this sod might be sup-
posed to deserve the name of neutral; but its productive power is so Meeting,
and acid growths and qualities so surely follow its exhaustion, that it must
be inferred that it is truly art acid soil.

Experiment 14.

The subject of this experiment presents soil of this kind with its pecu-
liar characters unusually well marked. It is a loamy sandy soil, (the sand
coarse,) on a similar sub-soil of considerable depth. The surface waving,
almost hilly in some parts. The original growth principally red-oak,
hickory, and dogwood, not many pines, and very little whortleberry. Cut
down in 1816 and put in corn the next year. The crop was supposed to
be twerity-five bushels to the acre. Wheat succeeded, and was still a bet-
ter crop for so sandy a soil ; making twelve to fifteen bushels, as it appear-
ed standing. After 18 months of rest, and not grazed, the next corn crop,
of 18.20, was evidently and considerably inferior to the first; and the wheat
of 1821 (which however was a very bad crop, from too wet a season) could
not have been more than five bushels to the acre. In January, 1820, a
piece of IA acres was limed, at 100 bushels the acre. The lime, being
caught by rain before it was spread, finned small lumps of mortar on the
land, and produced BO benefit on the corn of that year, but could be seen
slightly in the wheat of 1821. The land again at rest in 1822 and ^3,
when it was marled, at 000 bushels, (-'w per cent.,) without omitting the
limed piece— anil all sowed in wheat that fall. In 1824, the wheat was
found to be improved by the marl, but neither that, nor the next crop of 1828,
was equal to its earliest product of wheat. The limed part showed injury
in 1824, from the quantity of manure, but none since. The held was now
under the regular four-shift rotation, and continued to recover; but did
not surpass its first crop until 1831, when it brought rather more than
thirty bushels of corn to the acre (estimated by the eye.)- being five or six
bushels more than its supposed first crop.

Experirm nt 1 5.

Adjoining this piece, six acres of similar soil were grubbed and belted in
August, 182G— marl at bOO to 700 bushels (37 per cent) spread just before.
But few of the trees died until the summer of 1827. In 1828, planted in corn;
the crop did not appear heavier than would have been expected if no marl
had been applied— but no part had been left without, lor comparison.
1829, wheat. 1830, at rest. 1831, in corn, and the product supposed to
be near or quite thirty-five bushels, or an increase of thirty-five or forty

90 CALCAREOUS MANURE8— PRACTICE

per cent, on the first crop. No measurement was made — t>ut the product
was estimated by comparison with an adjacent piece, which measured
thirty-one bushels, and which seemed to be inferior to this piece.

The operation of marl on this kind of soil seems to add to the previous
product very slowly, compared with other soils; but it is not the less
effectual and profitable in fixing and retaining the vegetable matter accu-
mulated by nature, which otherwise would be quickly dissipated by cul-
tivation, and lost for ever.

The remarkable sandy and open texture of the soil on which the last two
experiments were tried, will be evident from the following statement of the
quantity and coarseness of the silicious sand contained.
1 000 grains of this soil, taken in 1 826 from the part that had been both

limed and marled, was found to consist of
811 of silicious sand moderately coarse, mixed with a few grains of

coarse shelly matter (the remains of the marl.)
158 finely divided earthy matter, part silicious, as well as aluminous, &c.
31 loss.

At the same time, from the edge of the adjoining wood-land which formed
the next described experiment, 15, and which had not then been marled, a
specimen of soil was taken from between the depths of one and three inches
— and found to consist of the following proportions. This spot was believed
to be rather lighter than the other in its natural state.
865 grains of silicious sand, principally coarse,
107 finely divided earthy matter (partly silicious.) &£.

28 loss.

CHAPTER VI.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES OX EXHACSTED ACID SOILS, UNDER THEIR
SECOND GROWTH OF TREES.

Proposition 5 — continued.

Not having owned much land under a second growth of pines, I can only
refer to two experiments of this kind. The improvement in both these
cases has been so remarkable, as to induce the belief that the " old fields" to
be found on every farm, which have been exhausted and turned out of
cultivation thirty or forty years, offer the most profitable subjects for the
application of calcareous manures.

Experiment 16.

May 1826. Marled about eight acres of land under its second growth,
by opening paths for the carts ten yards apart. Marl 40 per cent. ; put 500
to 600 bushels to the acre— and spread in the course of the summer. In
August, belted slightly all the pines that were as much as eight inches
through, and cut down or grubbed the smaller growth, of which there was
very little. The pines (which were the only trees) stood thick, and were
mostly from eight to twelve inches in diameter— eighteen inches where
standing thin. The land joined experiment 15 on one side; but this is
level, and on the other side joins ridge woodland, which soon becomes like
soil of experiment 1. This piece, in its virgin state, was probably of a
nature between those two soils — but less like the ridge soil than the " free
light land." No information has been obtained as to the state of this land

CALCAREOUS MANURES- PRACTICE. 91

*hen its cultivation was formerly abandoned. The soil, (that is, the depth
which lias sine.' been turned by the plough,) "a whitish loamy sand, on a
subsoil of the same; In fact, all was subsoil before the ploughing, except
half an Inch Of three quarters, on the top, which was principally composed
of rotted pine leaves. Above this thin layer were the later dropped and
unrotted leaves, lying loosely several inches thick.

The pines showed no symptoms of being killed, until the autumn of 1827,
when their leaves began to have a tinge of yellow. To suit the cultivation
with the surrounding laud, this piece was laid down in wheat for its first
crop, in October, R27. For this purpose, the few logs, the boughs, and
grubbed bushes were heaped, but not burnt— the seed then sowed on the coat
of pine leaves, and ploughed in by two-horse ploughs, in as slovenly a
manner as may be supposed from the condition of the land ; and a wooden-
tooth harrow then passed over, to pull down the heaps of leaves, and
roughest furrows.

Results. The wheat was thin, but otherwise looked well while young.
The surface was very soon again covered by the leaves dropping from the then
dying trees. <>n April 2d, 1828, most of the trees were nearly dead, though
but few of them entirely. The wheat was then taller than any in my crop
— and when ripe, was a surprising growth for such land, and such imper-
fect tillage.

1S29 and 1830. At rest. Late in the spring of 1830 an accidental fire
passed over the land— but the then growing vegetation prevented all of the
older cover being burnt, though some was destroyed every where.

1831. In corn. The growth excited the admiration of all who saw it,
and no one estimated the product so low as it actually proved to be. A
square of four (two-pole) chains, or four-tenths of an acre, measured on
November 25th, yielded at the rate of thirty-one and three-eighths bushels
1 1 grain to the acre.

Experiment 17.

In a field of acid sandy loam, long under the usual cultivation, a piece
of five or six acres was covered by a second growth of pines thirty-nine
years old, as supposed from that number of rings being counted on some of
the stumps. The largest trees were eighteen or twenty inches through.
This ground was altogether on the side of a slope, steep enough to lose soil
by washing, and more than one old shallow gully remained to confirm the
belief of the injury that had been formerly sustained from that cause.
These circumstances, added to all the surrounding land having been conti-
nued under cultivation, made it evident that this piece had been turned out
of cultivation because greatly injured by tillage. It was again cut down in
the winter of 182 1 -5. Many of the trees furnished fence-rails and fuel, and
the remaining bodies were heaped and burnt some months after, as well as
the large brush. In August it was marled, supposed at 600 bushels, (37 pet-
cent.,) twice coultered in August and September, and sowed in wheat— the
seed covered by trowel ploughs. The leaves and much of the smaller
brush left on the ground, made the ploughing troublesome and imperfect.
The crop (1826) was remarkably good— and still better were the crops of
corn and wheat in the ensuing rotation, after two yens of rest. < >n the
last crop of wheat (1830) clover was sown— and mowed for hay in 1831.
The growth stood about eighteen inches high, and never have I seen so
heavy a crop on sandy and acid soil, even from the heaviest dunging, the
utmost care, and the most favorable season. The clover grew well in the
bottoms of the old gullies, which were still plainly to be seen, and which no

92 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

means had been used to improve, except such as all the land had re©
Within two feet of the surface the subsoil of this land is of red clay, which
probably helped its growth of clover.

CHAPTER VII.

EFFECTS OF CALCARE0U8 .MANURE.- ALONE, OR WITH GYPSUM, ON NEITRAL SOILS.

Proposition 5 — continued.

Reason would teach that applications of calcareous earth alone to calca-
reous soils are so manifestly useless, that no more than two experiments of
that kind have been made by me, neither of which had any improving
effect that could be noticed, in the twelve ensuing years during which the
experiments were observed.

When calcareous manures have been applied to neutral soils, whether
new or worn, no perceptible and manifest benefit has been obtained on the
first crop. The subsequent improvement has gradually increased, as would
be expected from the power of fixing manures ascribed to calcareous
earth. But however satisfactory these general results were to myself, they
are not such as could be reported in detail, with any advantage to other
persons. It is sufficiently difficult to make fair and accurate experiments
where early and remarkable results are expected. But no cultivator of a
farm can bestow enough care, and patient observation, to obtain true results
from experiments that scarcely will show their first feeble effects in several
years after the commencement. On a mere experimental farm, such things
maybe possible; but not where the main object of the fanner is profit
from his general and varied operations. The effects of changes of season,
of crops, of the mode of tillage— the auxiliary effects of other manures, and
many other circumstances— would serve to defeat any observations of the
progress of a slow improvement, though the ultimate result of the general
practice might be abundantly evident.

Another cause for being unable to state with any precision the practical
benefit of marling neutral soils, arises from the circumstance that nearly all
the calcareous manure thus applied by me has been accompanied by a natu '
ral admixture of gypsum : and though I feel confident in ascribing some effe< i
to one, and some to the oilier of these two kinds of manure, yet this divi-
sion of operation must rest merely on opinion, and cannot be receivi I a
certain by any other than him who makes and carefully observes the ex
pcriments. Some of these applications will be described, that other per-
sons may draw their own conclusions hum them.

The cause of these manures being applied in conjunction was this I
singular bed of marl lying under Coggins Point, and the only one within
a convenient distance to most of the neutral soil of that farm, contains a
very small proportion (perhaps about one per cent.) of gypsum, .•-(alien .I
irregularly through the mass, seldom visible, though sometimes and very
rarely to be met with in small crystals. The calcareous ingredient "ii ,i
general average, carefully made, was fouflB to It o-j per cent. Ii this
manure had been used befoi red, all it

effects would have been ascribed to calcareous earth alone, and the most
erroneous opinions might thence have been formed "i its mode of operation.

What led me to suspect the presence of gypsum, in this bed of fossil
shells, was the circumstance that throughout its whole extent, of near a mile

CALCARE01 a .MAM 086 PRACTICE. g3

along the river bank, this bed lies on another earth, of peculiar character
and appearance, and which, in many places, exhibits gypsum in crystals of
various sizes. This earth lias evidently once i I fossil shells,

like what still remains above; but nothing now is left of the shells, except
numerous impressions of their forma No! the Btnallest proportion of cal-
careous earth can be found, and the gypsum into which it must have been
changed (by meeting with sulphuric acid, or sulpharet of iron.) has also
disappeared inmost places; and in others, it remains only in small quantities
— say from the smallest pen ■ irtion, to iilteen or twenty per

cent, of the mixed mass. In so ises, this gypseous earth is suffi-

ciently abundant to be used profitably as manure, as has been done, by
Mr. Thomas Cocke, of Tarbay, as well as myself It is found in the great-
est quantity, and also the richest in gypsum, at Evergreen, two miles be-
low City Point. There the gypsum frequently forms large crystals of va-
ried and beautiful forms. The distance that this bed of gypseous earth
extends is about seven miles, interrupted only by some bodies of lower
land, apparently of a more recent formation by alluvion.

In the bed of gypseous marl above described, there are regular layers of
a calcareous rock, which was too hard to use profitably for manure, and
which caused the greatest impediment to obtaining the softer part. This
rack contains i ninety per cent, of pure calcareous

earth, besides a little gypsum and iron. It makes excellent lime for cen
mixed with twice its bulk of sand, and has been used for part of the brick-
work, and all the plastering of my present dwellit 1 for several
of my neighbors' houses. The whole body of marl also contains a minute
proportion of some soluble salts, which possibly may have some influence
on the operation of the substance, as manure or cement.

Thus, from the examination of a single body of marl, there have been
obtained not only a rich calcareous manure, but also gypsum, and a valu-
able cement. Similar formations may perhaps be abundant elsewhere, and
their value unsuspected, and likely to remain useless. This particular body
of marl has no outward appearance of possessing even its calcareous cha-
racter. It would be considered, on slight inspection, as a mass of gritty
clay, of no worth whatever.

The last preceding paragraphs present, as in the previous editions, my
earliest views of this particular bed of marl. Further information has
taught that it is of the eocene, or more ancient formation ; and that the un-
derlying stratum, (which is usually not at all i which I formerly
named and treated of as "gypseous earth," is what geologists call " green-
sand," a term still less descriptive, and not at all more accurate. A full
account of both of these bodies will be given in the Appendix.

This gypseous marl has been used only on sixty acres, most of which
was neutral soil, and generally, if not universally, with early as well as
permanent benefits. The following experiments show results more striking
than have been usually obtained ; but all agree in their general character.

Experimi, '

1819. Across the shelly island numbered 3 in the examinations of soils,
(page 38.) but where the land was less calcareous, a strip of three quarters
of an acre was covered with muscle-shell marl, a deposite on parts of the
river banks supposed to have been made by the aboriginal inhabitants.
Touching this, through its whole length, another strip was covered with
gypseous marl, 53 per cent., at the rate of 250 bushels.

Results. 1819. In com. No perceptible effect fiom the muscle shells.
The gypseous marling considerably better than on either side of it.
12

94

CALCAREOUS MAM'RES-PK.'.

.1820. Wheat— less difference.

.;. Grazed. Natural growth of white clover thickly set on the gyp-
seous marling, much thinner on the muscle-shells, and still less of it where
no marl had been applied.

The whole field afterwards was put in wheat on summer fallow even-
second year, and grazed closely the intervening year— a course very unfavor-
able for observing, or permitting to take place, any effects of gypsum. Nothing
more was noted of this experiment until 1S25, when cattle were not turned
in until the clover reached its full size. The strip covered with gypseous
marl showed a remarkable superiority over the other marled piece, as well
as over the land which was still more calcareous by nature, and which had
produced better in 1 820. In several places, the white clover stood thickly a
font in heieht.

ritnaii 19.

A strip of a quarter acre passing through rich black neutral loam, co-
vered with gypseous marl at 250 bushels.

Results. ISIS. In corn. By July, the marled part seemed the best by
50 per cent., but afterwards the other land gained on it, and little or no
difference was apparent when the crop was matured.

IS 19. Wheat — no difference seen.

1820 and 1821. At rest In the last summer the marled strip could
again be easily traced, by the entire absence of sorrel, (which had been
gradually increasing on this land since it had been secured from grazing.)
and still more by its very luxuriant growth of bird-foot clover, which was
thrice as good as that on the adjoining ground.

Experimer, I .

. of neutral soil which had been reduced quite low, but
was well manured in IS 19 when last cultivated, gypseous marl was spread
on nine acres, at the rate of 300 bushels. This terminated on one side at
a strip of muscle-shell marl ten yards wide — its rate not remembered, but
it was certainly thicker in proportion to the calcareous earth contained, than
the other, which I always avoided laying on heavily, from a mistaken fear of
causing injury by too much gypsum. The line of division between the two
marls was through a clay loam. The subsoil was a retentive clay, which
caused the rain water to keep the land very wet through the winter, and
parly pnrt of spring.

In com. followed by wheat in 1S23 — not particularly no-
ticed, but the benefits must have been very inconsiderable. All the muscle-
shell marling, and four acres of the gypseous, sowed in red clover, which
stood well, but was severely checked, and much of it killed, by a drought
in June, when the sheltering wheat was reaped. During the next winter
(by neglect) my horses had frequent access to this piece, and by their tram-
pling in its wet state must have injured both land and clover. From these
^rs the clover recovered surprisingly: and in 1524. two mowings
were obtained, which, though not heavy, were better than from any of my
previous attempts to raise this grass. In 1S25. the growth was still better,
and yielded more to the scythe. This was the first time that I had seen
clover worth mowing on the third year after sowing — and had never heard
of its being comparable to the second- year's growth any where in the
lower countrj-. The growth on the muscle-shell marling was very inferior

CALCAREOUS MANl K l . PH .< I'M i: (j.j

to the other, ami was not mowed at all the last year, being thin and low,
and almost eaten out by wire-gn mdactylon.)

1826. In coin -and il was remarkable that the difference shown the last
year was reversed, the « having much the best

crop.

In those and other applications to neutral soils. I ascribe the earliest
. entirely to gypsum, as well as the peculiar benefit shown to clover,
throughout The later elicits, and especially on grain, are tine to the cal-
careous earth in the manure.

CHAPTEK VIII.

DIGRESSION TO THE THEORY OF THE ACTION" OF GYl'SUM AS MANURE. SUlTuSEU
CAUSE Of IIS WANT OF POWER AND VALUE ON ACID SOILS.

Proposition 5 — continued.

Another opinion was formed from the effects of gypseous marl, as stated
in the foregoing chapter, which may lead to profits much more important
than any to be derived from the limited use of this, or any similar mineral
compound — viz.: that gj/psum may be profitably used after calc<

. on anil.-! on finch it was totally inifficient before. I do not present
this as a fact fully established, or, even if established, of universal application ;
for the results of some of my own experiments are directly in opposition.
But, however it may be opposed by some i • iter weight of evi-

dence, furnished by my experiments and observations, decidedly suj
this opinion. If correct, its pqportam e to our low i ountry is inferior only
to the value of calcareous ma -which value may be almost

doubled, if tlx? land is thereby fitted I
gypsum and clover.

It is well known that gypsum has failed entirely as a manure on nearly
all the land on which it 1 >ur tide-water district; and we

may learn from various publications, that as little general success has been
met with along the Atlantic coast, as far north as Long Island. To account
for this general failure of a manure so efficacious elsewhere, some one of-
fered a reason, which was received without examination, and which is still
considered by many as sufficient, viz. : that the influence of salt vapors de-
stroyed the power of gypsum on and near the sea-coast, But the same

al worthlessness of that manure extends one hundred miles higher
than the salt water of the rivers — and the lands where it is profitably used
are much more exposed to sea air. Such are the rich neutral soils of
Curie's Neck, Shirley, Berkley, Brandon, and Sandy Point, on James river,
on all which gypsum on clover has been extensive!) and prol
On acid soils, 1 have never heard of enough benefit being obtained from
gypsum to induce the cultivator to extend its use further than makings
few small experiments. When any i I on an acid

soil, (so far as instructed by my own experience, or the inform.,
others.) it has been caused by applying to small sp

quantities; and even then, the effects were neither considerable, durable
nor profitable. Such have been the results of many small experiments
made on my own acid soils— and very rarely was the least i«rceptible
effect produced. Vet on some of the same soils, alter marling, the most
evident benefits have been obtained from gypsum on clover. The soils on
which the Istand 1 Oth experiments were made, (at some distance from these

96 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

experiments,) had both been tried with gypsum, and at different rates of
thickness, before marling, without the least effect. Several years after
both had been marled, gypseous earth (from the bed referred to, page 93,)
was spread at twenty bushels the acre, (which gave four bushels of
pure gypsum,) on clover, and produced in some pai ts a growth I have
never seen surpassed. It is proper to state that such results have been
produced only by heavy dressings. Mr. Thomas Cocke, of Tarbay,
in the spring of 1831 sowed nearly four tons of Nova Scotia gypsum on
clover on marled land, the field being a continuation of the same ridge
that my 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th experiments were made on, and very similar
soil. His dressing, at a bushel to the acre, before the summer had passed,
produced evident benefit, where it is absolutely certain, from abundant
previous experience, that none could have been obtained before marling.

On soils naturally calcareous, I have in some experiments greatly pro-
moted the growth of corn by gypsum, and have doubled the growth of
clover on my best land of that kind. When the marl containing gypsum
was applied, benefit from that ingredient was almost certain to be obtained.

All these facts, if presented alone, would seem to prove clearly the cor-
rectness of the opinion, that the acidity of most of our soils caused the
inefficacy of gypsum, and that the application of calcareous earth, which will
remove the acid, will also serve to bring gypsum into useful operation. But
this most desirable conclusion is opposed by the results of other experi-
ments, which, though fewer in number, are as strong as any of the facts
that favor that conclusion. If the subject were properly investigated, those
facts, apparently in opposition, might be explained so as no longer to con-
tradict this opinion, or perhaps might help to confirm it. Good reasons, de-
duced from established chemical truths, may be offered to explain why the
aciJity of our soils should prevent the operation of gypsum ; though it
may be deemed premature to attempt the explanation of any supposed fact,
before every doubt of the existence of the fact itself has been first removed.

One of the circumstances will be mentioned, which appears at first glance
most strongly opposed to the opinion which has been advanced. On the
poor acid clay soil, of such peculiar and base qualities, which forms the
subject of the 5th, 6th, and 7th experiments, gypsum has been sufficiently
tried, and has not produced the least benefit, either before marling, or after-
wards. Yet the first growth of clover on this land after marling is fully
equal to what might be expected from the best operation of gypsum. Now
if it could be ascertained that a very small proportion of either sulphuric
acid, or of the sulphate of iron, exists in this soil, it would completely ex-
plain away this opposing fact, and even make it the strongest support of
my position. The sulphate of iron has sometimes been found in arable
soil,* and sulphuric acid has been detected in certain clays.f I have seen,
on the same farm, a bed of clay of very similar appearance to this soil,
which certainly had once contained one of these substances, as was proved
by the formation of crystallized sulphate of lime, where the clay came in
contact with a bed of marl. The sulphate of lime was found in the
small fissures of the clay, extending sometimes one or two feet in perpen-
dicular height from the calcareous earth below. Precise!}' the same chemi-
cal change would take place in a soil containing sulphuric acid, or sulphate
of iron, as soon as marl is applied. The sulphuric acid, (whether free
or combined with iron) would immediately unite with the lime presented,
and form gypsum, (sulphate of lime.) Proportions of these substances, too
small perhaps to be detected by analysis, would be sufficient to form three

• Agr. Cheui p 141 t Kirwau on Manures.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE. 97

or four bushels of gypsum to the acre -more than enough to produce the
greatest known effect on stover—and to prevent any benefit being derived
from a subsequent application of gypsum ; bemuse there being already in
the soil more gypsam than could act, no additional quantity could be of the
slightest benefit

since the publication of the foregoing part of this chapter, in the first

edition, my use of gypsun i land formerly acid, has been more extended,

and the results have been such as to give additional confidence in the prac-
tice, and, indeed, an assurance of good profit, on the average of such ap-
plications. But still, as before, disappointments, cither total or nearly so, in
the effect of such applications, have sometimes occurred, and without there
being any known or apparent cause to which to attribute such disappoint-
ment in the results.

In 1832, nine acres of the same body of ridge land above referred to,
adjoining the piece on which the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th experiments were
made, and more lately cleared, were sown in clover in the early part of
1831, on wheat. The next spring, French gypsum was sown at the rate
of a bushel to the acre, except on four marked adjoining squares, each
about one third of an acre, one of which was left without plaster, and the
others received it at the several rates of 2, 3, and 4 bushels to the acre.
The whole brought a middling crop, and was mowed for hay, except the
square left without gypsum, which did not produce more than half as much
as the adjoining land where gypsum was applied at one bushel the acre.
The products of the other pieces were slightly increased by each addition to
the gypsum, but by no means in proportion to the increased quantity used ;
nor was the effect of the four bushels near equal to that formerly obtained,
in several cases, from 20 bushels of gypseous earth taken from the river
bank. Hence it seems that it was not merely the unusual quantity of gyp-
sum applied in this earth, which produced such remarkable benefit; and
we must infer that it contains some other quality or ingredient capable of
giving additional improvement to clover.

Since the first publication of the fori age, (in 1832,) and in ac-

cordance with the views there presented, more than 10 tons of good French
gypsum has been used, in different years and with less effect) in general,
than formerly, in the first few years after the marling. This general dimi-
nution, and more frequent total failures, may be owing to the longer time
that the land has been marled, and, by the increase of its vegetable sup-
plies serving as putrescent manure, the land being thereby changed from
calcareous to neutral, and perhaps in some cases even approaching to be-
ing acid. If this supposition be well founded, then a repetition of the marl-
ing would not only be profitable in other respects, but would increase or
restore the capacity of the soil to receive benefit from gypsum.

The following are my views n[' the general causes of the inertness and
worthlessness of gypsum as manure, on all acid soils, and for the different
and valuable results from gypsum, after the soils have been made calcareous,

I do not pretend to explain the mode of operation by which gypsum pro-
duces its almost magical benefits; it would be equally hopeless and ridicu-
lous for one having so little knowledge of the successful practice to at-
tempt an explanation, in winch so many g 1 chemists and agriculturists,

both scientific and practical, have completely tailed. There is no operation
of nature heretofore less understood, or of which the cause, 01 agent,
seems so totally disproportioned to the effect, as I - increase of

vegetable growth from a very small quantity of gypsum, in circumstances
favorable to its action. All other known manures, whatever may be the
nature of their action, require to be applied in quantities very far exceed-

98 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

iiig any bulk of crop expected from their use. But one bushel of gypsum
spread over an acre of land fit for its action, may add more than twenty
times its own weight to a single crop of clover hay.

But without pretending to account for the wonderful action of gypsum
as manure, and without entertaining any confidence in any of the nume-
rous theories heretofore presented, (not excepting the latest set forth, by
Professor Liebig,) I concur* in the general opinion expressed by Davy.
This accurate investigator, who took nothing upon trust which could be
subjected to the test of rigid experiment, pursued that mode to obtain light
on this obscure subject. He found by chemical analysis, that gypsum was
always present in the ashes of red clover, and in quantity, in a good crop,
amounting to three or four bushels to the acre. He inferred that gypsum,
thus always forming a portion of the clover plant, was essential to its healthy
existence— and that it is necessary to the structure of the woody fibre of
clover and other grasses. But it is enough if Davy was correct in the
main opinion, that a certain though very small proportion of gypsum is an
essential component part of certain plants, of which the clover tribe fur-
nishes the most noted examples. If this be so, no matter what may be the
office or function of the gypsum, the small amount necessary for the de-
mands of the plants must be present in the soil, or otherwise the plants need-
ing it ca?inot live, or maintain a healthy growth. It will follow, further,
that on soils well adapted for clover in other respects, but almost totally
deficient in gypsum, the application of so small a dressing as one bushel
of that substance to the acre may enable a full crop of clover to grow, and
twice or thrice as much as the land could have brought without this small
application. Such I suppose to be the circumstances of those lands of this
country on which gypsum exerts the greatest power. But in England,
though clover culture is universally extended, gypsum has shown scarcely
any benefit as manure, and though extensively experimented with, has not
been found sufficiently operative to be brought into ordinary practice on any
one farm in the kingdom. This may be accounted for by supposing the
soils generally to be supplied by nature abundantly with gypsum, so that
no more is required. Davy found gypsum in the soil itself of four farms,
examined with this view, and in one of them the very large proportion of
nearly one per cent. (See Agricultural Chemistry, Lecture vii.) But there
is another and numerous class of cases in which gypsum cannot be sup-
posed to be present, and yet when applied shows no benefit. These are
the poor acid soils of lower Virginia, (and elsewhere.) and the cause of
which it seems to me not difficult to explain.

However wonderful and inscrutable the fertilizing power of this manure
may be, and admitting its cause as yet to be hidden, and entirely beyond
our reach— still it is possible to show reasons why gypsum cannot act in
many situations, where all experience has proved it to be worthless. If this
only can be satisfactorily explained, it will remove much of the uncertainty
as to the effects to be expected ; and the farmer may thence learn on which
soils he may hope for benefit from this manure— on which it will certainly
be thrown away— and by what means the circumstances adverse to its ac-
tion may be removed, and its efficacy thereby secured. This is the expla-
nation that I shall attempt.

If the vegetable acid, which 1 suppose to exist in what I have called acid
soils, is not the oxalic, (which is the particular acid in sorrel,) at least every
vegetable acid, being composed of different proportions of the same three
elements, may easily change to any other, and all to the oxalic acid. This,
of all bodies known by chemists, has the strongest attraction for lime, and
will take it from any other acid which was before combined with it, and for

I VI. « Alii.' MANURES-PRAt Uci. 99

that purpose, the oxalic acid will let go any other earth or metal, which
It had before held in combination. Let ns then observe what worn
the effect of the known chemical action of these substances, on their meet-
ing in soils, if oxalic acid were produced in any soil, its Immediate affect
would be to unite with its proper proportion of lime if enough were in the
soil in any combination whatever. II' the lime were in such small quantity
as to leave an excess of oxalic acid, that excess would seize on the other
substances in the soil, in the order of their mutual attractive force; and
one or more of such substances are always present, as magnesia; or, more
certainly, iron and alumina. The soil then would not only contain some
proportion of the oxalate of lime, but also the oxalate of either one or more
of the other substances named. Lei US now suppose gypsum to be applied to
this soil. This substance (sulphate of lime) is composed of sulphuric acid
and lime. It is applied in a finely pulverized state, and in quantities from
half a bushel to two bushels the acre— generally not more than one bushel.
As soon as the earth is made wet enough for any chemical decomposition
to take place, the oxalic acid must let go its ba*e of iron, or alumina, and
seize upon and combine with the lime that formed an ingredient 0!
gypsum. The sulphuric acid left free, will combine with the iron, or the
alumina of the soil, forming copperas in the one case, and alum in the
other. The gypsum no longer exit/te — and surely no more satisfactory
reason can be given why no en'ect from it should follow. The decom
tion of the gypsum has served to form two or perhaps three other sul>-
stanccs. One of them, oxalate of lime, like all salts of lime, is probably valu-
able as manure, but the very small quantity that could be formed out of one
or even two bushels of gypsum, might have no more visible effect on a whole
acre, than that small quantity of calcareous earth, or farm-yard manure.
The other substance certainly formed, copperas, is known to be a poison
to soil and to plants— and alum, of which the formation would be doubtful.
I Mieve is also hurtful. In such small quantities, however, the poison
would be as little perceptible as the manure— and no apparent effect what-
ever could follow such an application of gypsum to an acid soil. So small
a proportion of oxalic acid, or any oxalate other than of lime, would suffice
to decompose and destroy the gypsum, that it would not amount to one
part in twenty thousand of the soil.

Why gypsum sometimes acts as a manure on acid soils, when applied in
large quantities for the space, is equally well explained by the same theory.
If a handful, or even a spoonful of gypsum is put on a space of six inches
square, it would so much exceed in proportion all the oxalic acid that
could speedily come in contact with it, that all would not be decomposed,
and the part that continued to be gypsum would show its peculiar powers
perhaps long enough to improve one crop. Dut as tillage served to scatter
these little collections more equally over the u hole space— or even as repeat-
ed soaking rains allowed the extension of the attractive powers— applications
like these would also be destroyed, after a very short-lived, limited, and
rarely profitable action.

's that are naturally calcareous cannot contain oxalic acid combined
with any other base than lime. Hence, gypsum applied there continues
to It gypsum— and exerts its great fertilizing power, as in the counties of
Loudoun and Frederick, r.ut even on these most suitable soils, this manure
is said not to be certain and uniform in its effects, and of course more cer-
tain results are not to be looked for with us. I have not undertaken to ex-
plain its occasional failures any more than its general success, on the lands
where it is profitably used in general but only Why it cannot act at all. on
lands of a different kind

100 CALCAREOls- MAXl KEss-PRACTICE.

The. same chemical action being supposed, explains why the power of
profiting by gypsum should be immediately awakened on acid soils after
making them calcareous— and why that manure should seldom fail, when
applied mixed with much larger quantities of calcareous earth.

CHAPTER IX.

THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY TOO HEAVY DRESSINGS OF CALCAREOUS MANURE, AND THE
REMEDY.

Proposition 5 — continued.

The injury or disease in grain crops produced by marling has so lately
been presented to our notice, that the collection and comparison of many
additional facts will be required before its cause can be satisfactorily ex-
plained. But the facts already ascertained will at least show how to avoid
the danger of such injury in future, and to find remedies for the evils al-
ready inflicted by the injudicious use of calcareous manures.

The earliest effect of this kind observed was in May, 1824, on the field
containing experiment 10. The corn on the land marled four years before
sprang up and grew with all the vigor and luxuriance that was expected
from the appearance of increased fertility exhibited by the soil, as before
described, (page 84.) About the 20th of May the change commenced, and
the worst symptoms of the disease were seen by the 1 1th of June. From
having as deep a color as young corn shows on the richest and best soils,
it became of a pale sickly green. The leaves, when closely examined,
seemed almost transparent, afterwards were marked through their whole
length by streaks of rusty red, separated very regularly by other streaks
of what was then more of yellow than green, and next they began to shri-
vel and die downwards from their extremities. The- growth of many of
the plants was nearly stopped. Still" some few showed no sign of injury,
and maintained the vigorous growth which they began with, so as by con-
trast more strongly to mark the general loss sustained. The appearance of
the field was such, that a stranger would have supposed that he saw the
crop on a rich soil exposed to the worst ravages of some destructive kind
of insects; but neither on the roots or stalks of the corn could any thing be
found to support that opinion. Before the first of August this gloomy
prospect had somewhat improved. Most of the plants seemed to have been
relieved of the infliction, and to grow again with renewed vigor. But be-
fore that time many were dead, and it was impossible that the others could
so fully recover as to produce any thing approaching a full crop for the land.
It has been shown in the report of the products of Exp. 10, what diminu-
tion of crop was then sustained— and that the evil was not abated in the
three succeeding courses of cultivation. Still, neither of the diseased
measured pieces has fallen quite as low as its product before marling;
nor do I think that such has been the result on any one acre together on
my farm, though many smaller spots have been rendered incapable of
yielding even so much as a grain of corn or wheat.

The injury caused to wheat by marling is not so easy to describe, though
abundantly evident to the observer. Its earliest growth, like that of corn,
is not affected. About the time for heading, the plants most diseased ap-
pear as if they were scorched, and when ripe will be found very deficient
in grain. On very poor spots, from which nearly all the soil has been
washed, sometimes fifty heads of wheat, taken together, would not furnish

CALC&.RE0U8 MAJSURE8— PRACTICE 101

as many grains of wheat. This crop, however, stilTois loss than corn on
the same land ; perhaps because itsjgrowthi '• bythatime

that the warm season begins, H which the ill effects of calcareous manures
serin confined. The injury to corn I drier

summer.

When these unpleasant discoveries were firs! made, two hundred and
fifty acres had already been marled bo heavily thai the same evil was to
be expected to visit the whole. My labors, thus bestowed for years, had
been greatly an.l unnecessarily increased— and the excess, worse than bc-
ing thrown away, had served to take away thai increase of crop which
lighter marling would have ensured But though much and general injury
was afterwards sustained from the previous work, yet it was lessened in
extent and degree, and sometimes entirely avoided, by the remedial mea-
sures which were adopted. My observation and comparison of all the
facts presented, led to the following conclusions, and pointed out the course
by which to avoid the recurrence of the evil, and the means to lessen or
remove it, where it had already been inflicted.

1st. No injury has been sustained on any soil of my farm by marling
not more heavily than two hundred and fifty heaped bushels to the acre,
with marl of strength not exceeding 40 per cent, of calcareous earth.

2d. Dressings twice as heavy seldom produce damage to the first crop
on any soil -and never even on the after crops on any calcareous, or good
neutral soil— nor on any acid soil supplied plentifully with vegetable matter.

3d. On acid soils marled too heavily, the injury is in to the

extent of one or all these circumstances of the soil— poverty, sandiness,
and severe cropping and grazing, whether indicted previously or subse-
quently.

4th. (lover, both red and white, will live and flourish on the spots most
injured for grain crops by marling too heavily. Thus, in the case before
cited of land adjacent to the pieces measured in experimenl 10, and equally
over-marled, very heavy red clover was raised in 1830, by adding gypseous
earth, and which v I by a good growth of corn, free from every

mark of disease, in 1832.

5th. A good dressing of putrescent manure removes the disease com-
pletely, (see Exp. 11, 12, 1 3.) All kinds of marl (or fossil shells) have some-
times been injurious— but such effects have been more generally experi-
enced from the dry yellow marl, than from the blue and wet.

The inferences to be drawn from these facts arc obvious. They direct
us to avoid injury by applying marl lightly at first, and to be still more
cautious according to the existence of (he circumstances staled as in<
ing the tendency (4" marl to do harm. Next, if the over-dose has already
been given, we should forbid -grazing entirely, and furnish putrescent ma-
nure as far as possible— or omit one or two grain crops, so as to allow more
vegetable matter to be fixed in the Iand>r apply putrescent manures— and
sow clover as soon as circumstances permit. One or more of these reme-
dies have been used on most of my too heavily marled land ; and with
considerable, though not always with entire success, because the means for
the cure could not always be furnished at once in sufficient abundance.
Other persons, who permitted close grazing, ami adopted a more scourging
rotation of crops, have Buffered more damage, from much lighter dressings of
marl than those of mine which were injurious.

But though the unlooked-for damage sustained from this cause produced

much loss and disappointment, and has greatly retarded the progress of my

improvements, it did not suspend my marling, nor abate my estimate of the

value of the manure. If a cover of 500 or 900 bushels was so strong as

13

■ Ag CALCAREOUS MA-\L.

to injure iaod of certain qualities, it seemed to be a fair deduction, thai
benefit especteJ from so heavy a dressing, might have been obtained from
half the quantity — if not on the first crop, at least on every one afterwards.
That surely is nothing to be lamented. It also afforded some consolation
for the evil of the too heavy mailings already applied, that the soil was
j fitted to seize upon and retain a greater quantity of vegetable mat-
ter, and would thereby ultimately reach a higher f fertility.

cause of this disease is less apparent than its remedies. It is certain
that it is not produced merely by the quantity of calcareous earth in the
soiL If it were so. similar effects, shown in diseased crops, would always
be found on soils containing far greater proportions of that earth. These
injurious effects have not been known, to any extent, except on soils for-
merly acid, and made calcareous artificially : and not on either neutral or
calcareous soils, even by the addition of a great excess of marl The small
spots of land that nature has made excessively calcareous, and also sandy
by marl beds cropping out at the surface of cultivated fields, (as the speci-
men 4, page 3S.) produce indeed a pale feeble growth of corn, such as might
be expected from poor gravelly soils— but whether the p. : a, or

are barren, they show none of those peculiar and strongly marked symp-
toms of disease which have been described. Some such places on my farm,
from which great quantities of poor sandy marl had been»removed for ma-
nure, and where the remainder still was of unknown depth, have been after-
wards cultivated with the surrounding land: and with no more aid than the
portion of the adjacent soil carried thereto necessarily by the plough, these
places have gradually improved to a product equal to 12 or 15 bushels of
corn per acre, and have never exhibited any mark of the man disease.

calculation, it appears that the heaviest dressing causing injurious
consequences, if mixed to the depth of five inches, has not given to the soQ
a proportion of calcareous earth equal to two per cent This proportion is
greatly exceeded in our best shelly land, and no such disease is found there,
even when the rich mould is nearly all washed away, and the shells mostly
left Soils of remarkable fertility from the prairies of Alabama and Missis-
sippi have been shown (page 43) to contain from 8 to 16 per cent of calca-
reous earth, all of which proportions were in the state of most minute divi-
sion, and therefore most ready to produce this disease, if it could have been
produced by the quantity of this ingredient The soil of the borders of
rbrated for its exuberant fertility through thousands of succes-
:rops, contains about 25 per cent of carbonate of lime. (/
Geologi,:) Very fertile soils in France and England sometimes contain '20
i :>ils of remarkable good qualities analyzed
by Daw. one is stated to contain about 2S per cent., and another, which
was eight- us sand, contained nearly 10 per cent of calca-

reous earth. Nor does he intimate that such proportions are very rare.
Similar results have been stated, from analyses reported by Kirwan, Young.
Bersnnan, and Rozier. .page 32,) and from all the same deduction is inevi-
table, that much larger natural- proportions of calcareous earth, than our
diseased lands have received, are very common in France and England,
without any such effect being produced.

From the numerous facts oi which these are examples, it is certain that
calcareous earth acting alone, or directly, has not caused this injury ; and
it seems most probable that the cause is some new combination of lime
formed in add soils only ; and that this new combination is hurtful to grain
under certain circumstances, which we may avoid, and is highly beneficial
to even- kind of clover. Perhaps it is the salt of lime, formed by the calca-
reous manure combining with the acid of the soil, which not meeting with

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. JQ3

enough \ *■■. etable matter to combine with and fix in the soif, causes, by its
ill these injui

CHAPTER X.

llir.MION OF THB EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES, AND r>IRE< TIONS FOR
rHEJR .MOST PBOl M'AUI.E APPLICATIONS

Proposition 5— continued,

I ■Ymi.i the foregoing experiments maybe gathered most of the efTects,
both injurious hit 1 beneficial; to be expected from calcareous manures, on
the several kinds of soils there described. Information obtained from state-
ments in detail of agricultural experiments, is far more satisfactory, to the
attentive and laborious inquirer, than a mere report of the general opinions
of the experimenter, derived from the results. But however preferable may
be this mode of reporting facts, it is necessarily deficient in method, clear-
hess, and conciseness. It may therefore be useful to bring together the
general results of these experiments in a somewhat digested form, to serve
as rules for practice. Other effects of calcareous manures will also be
stated, which ;l|'p equally established by experience, but which did not be-
long to any one accurately observed experiment.

The results that have been reported confirm in almost every particular
the chemical powers before attributed to calcareous manures, by the theory
of their action. It is admitted that causes and eflects were not always
proportioned— and that sometimes trivial apparent contradictions were pre-
sented. But this is inevitable, cv(i] with regard to the best establi
doctrines, an perfect processes in agriculture) There are many

practices universally admitted to be bene cial; yetther) which

are not found sometimes useless,. or hurtful, on account of some- other at-
tendant circumstance, wl id perhaps not discovered.
Every application ol calcareous earth to soil is a chemical operation on a
great scale. Decompositions and new combinations- are produced, and1 in
a manner generally conforming to the operator's expectations. But other
and unknown agents may sometimes have a share in the process, and thus
cause unlooked-for results. Such differences between practice and theory
have sometimes occurred in my use of calcareous manures, fas may be
.ed in some of the reported exp ill they have neither been
frequent, uniform, nor important.

But in nearly all such i ases of disproportion between causes and effects,
in the use of marl, the manner of variation ' the effects surpass-

ing thi er of the .causes, (as previously inferred from rea-

soning and in advance of my practice,

of the contrary operation, of the results falling short of what might have
been inferred from the theory of the appon of calcareous manures. 9m
such variation as this, it may be that no reader will require either exeuse oi
explanation ; nevertheless it is as much due to truth that it should best
as if the opposite kind of differeni

Before my earliest trials, or practical kno marl,

[ was well assured that this manure would con eel the nidi y of poor soil,
and enable it to be enriched by putrescent manures But I was still totally
at a loss to know, how much calcareous earth would be re-

quired for that result, or how much time might he required for the sufficient

104 CALCAREOUS MANl/KES-PKACTICE.

quantity to produce its full effect ; and there were grounds to fear that the
quantity of the manure and time for its operation, and consequently the
cost compared to profit, would be much greater than after-experience has
shown. If 1000 bushels of ordinary marl had been required for an acre,
and 10 years time for that application to raise the product to double its
previous rate, the theory of the action of calcareous manures would have
been sustained. But in fact, as great effect as this has been usually pro-
duced, (in judicious and proper practice,) by measures of marl and of time less
by three-fourths than those just stated. And thus, while effects have almost
universally exceeded in measure the supposed power of their causes, I may
safely assert that in not a single case, in the tide-water region, of a judi-
cious application of marl or lime, has it been known thaf the effect fell
short of what would be indicated by my theory of the action of calcare-
ous earth as manure.

But there is still another exception, if it be one, to admit, or of apparent
want of accordance between theory and practice; and unluckily, this
case is of the effects falling short of the supposed power of causes.
There has as yet been made but little use of lime in the region immediately
above the granite ridge which forms the lower falls of our eastern rivers.
But almost all the failures of lime to act that have been heard of, or of
effects falling much short of what were expected and are usual, are among
the few. experiments which have been made within fifty miles above the
granite ridge. While truth requires that the fact of these failures should
be stated, I pretend not to account for them. It may be the case, and proba-
bly is, that there is a general difference of chemical constitution between
even lands of like apparent texture and qualities, above and below the
falls. Of the lands above, my knowledge is but slight, and founded only
on general and slight personal observation, or the report and better inform-
ation of practical cultivators. But judging from such uncertain lights, I would
infer that the lands above the falls were much less acid than those below,
even when as poor. The growth of pine and of sorrel is more scarce on
lands above the falls; and gypsum often acts there on natural soils, and
lime (in some known trials) has produced but slight benefit. On the
contrary, gypsum is scarcely ever operative on any natural soil below the falls,
(that is on none of the great body of acid soil,) and lime never fails to act
on these same lands.

The most important observation to be made on the disproportion of
causes and effects, in the tide-water region, is in regard to good neutral
soils, and especially as to that best class known by 4he common name of
" mulatto land." On such soils, which constitute the chief value of the
best farms of James river, the applications of lime have been the most
extensive, and always highly effective.

The fact that the effects of calcareous manures so generally exceed in
measure the supposed power of their causes, would seem to indicate that
some other kind of action of calcareous earth as manure operates, in addition
to all those set forth in chapter viii. This I think is more than probable.

Dismissing then from further consideration such exceptions (whether
real or apparent) to general rules, I will return to stating Hie results of
applying marl as they have occurred almost without exception in my own
practice, and which are confirmed by the concurrence of all known and cer-
tain testimony in regard to practical operations in the marl region of
Virginia.

Under like circumstances in other respects, the benefit derived from marl-
ing will be in proportion to the quantity of vegetable or other putrescent
matter given to the soil. It is essential that the cultivation should be mild.

i INURES -PRACTICE. ]()5

and that no grazing be permitted on poor la tillage, and

which have no supply of putrescent manure, except th< weeds

growing on (hem, while a( rest. Wherever (arm-yard manure is-used, the
land should be marled heavily, and il Brst^ so much the

better. Tahe marl cannot ai ( by (ixiiiL.' the other manure, except so far fa
they are in contact, and when Both are well mixed with fhe sou.

When I irst asserted the agency i bus manures in

fixing alimentary manures in soilsi and maintained the great and indispen-
nccessity of that operation, the proposition was founded almost ex-
clusively on reasoning, and on of natural soils, and not at all on
practical effects experienced hum applications of marl or lime. From the
very nature of the case, such effects as these, however important and
valuable, coulJ not he seen at first, nor fully even in a very few years after be-
ginning to marl, nor their extent understood and appreciated. Moreover,
my earlier experience had shown so fully the incapacity of my acid or na-
turally poor soils to retain alimentary manures, and my labors and expendi-
tures to apply them had been so very unprofitable, that I was not myself
prepared for the full extent of the contrary operation, after marl had been
applied. And though the views and estimation of such new operation
have been yearly enlarging, from the experience oi practical results, yet
even when the last edition of this work was published, my estimate of the
facing value of marl fell short of what is now confidently believed, and
which is every season manifest, of the greater effect and permanency, and
far greater profit of alimentary manures, caused solely by the presence of
treous earth in the same soils. .Notwithstanding that the theory of the
action of calcareous manures, as set forth in this essay, and published as
early as 1821, made this fixing operation the first of the two most Import-
ant agencies, and though, that theoretical \i' • practice from the
beginning, still it was not until alter a long time, that gradually and slowly
I fully and truly estimated the value and profit of this operation. My early
and zealous efforts (before beginning to marl) to improve naturally poor
lands by the md animal manures of the farm, had been so much
disappointed, and the effects had been SO inconsiderable as well as so fleet-
ing, that it was long before 1 arrived at the conviction of the full extent of
the opposite and new condition of the soil. Cut during latter years, the
certain and profitable operation, and durable operation, of every kind of
vegetable or alimentary manure, no matter how or when applied, has been
made obvious; and now my estimate of value would be, that if marling
had no other operation whatever than this one of making other manures
much more active and durable, the profit from this one source alone would
amply reward all the usual labors and expenses of marling.

On "galled" spots, from w Inch all the soil has been washed, and where no
plant can live, the application of marl alone is utterly useless; at least,
until time and accident shall furnish some addition of vegetable matter
also. Putrescent manures alone would there have but little elicit, unless
in great quantity, and would soon be all lost. But marl and putri
matter together serve to form anew soil, and thus both arc brought into
useful action ; the marl is made active, and the putrescent manure perma-
nent. The only perfect cures, that I have been able to make, at one opera?
tion, of galls produced upon a barren subsoil, were by applying a heavy
dressing of both calcareous and putrescent manures together; and this
method may be relied on as certainly effectual. But though a fertile soil
may thus be created, and fixed durably on galls other v. itmable,

the cost will generally exceed the value ol ovefed, from the

great quantity of putrescent matter required. Much of our acid hilly land

106 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

has been deprived, by washing, of a considerable portion of its natural
soil, though not yet made entirely barren. The foregoing remarks equally
apply to this kind of land, to the extent that its soil has been carried off.
It will be profitable to apply marl to such land ; but its effect will be dimi-
nished, in proportion to the previous removal of the soil. Calcareous soils,
from the difference of texture, are much less apt to wash than other kinds.
Within a few years after marling a field that has been injured by washing,
many of the old gulleys will begin to produce vegetation, and show that a
soil is gradually forming from the dead vegetables brought there by winds
and rains, although no means had been used to aid this operation.

This newly acquired ability to resist the washing power of rains, is one
of the most beneficial effects of marling on hilly lands. And this effect is
no less certain, than it is conformable to the theory of the action of marl
and to reason. On soils containing very little lime, (or none, as in naked
sub-soils,) whether they be sandy or clayey, there is nothing to combine the
vegetable matter with the soil, nor the different ingredients of the soil whh
each other. Consequently they have no cohesion, and whenever made very
soft, or semi-fluid by rains, and there is any declivity, there is nothing to
prevent the soil, or upper surface, being washed off by excessive rain, though
falling gently. Of course, torrents of rain produce the same injurious effects
much more rapidly and effectually. But when such soils have been made
calcareous, a chemical combination and bond of union and coherence is
formed between the lime and the putrescent or organic matter, and of both
with the silicious and argillaceous parts of the soil, which combination is
able to resist any but an unusual degree of the washing action of rains.
Moreover, by the increase of productive power thus given, grass grows
more kindly and rapidly, and by its decay the vegetable mould is con-
tinually augmented, and thereby the power of resisting washing is still
more increased as the fertility of the soil is increased. This is but another
aspect and operation of the power of calcareous manure in soils to fix and
retain manures.

The effect of marling will be much lessened by the soil being kept under
exhausting cultivation. Such were the circumstances under which we
may suppose that marl was tried and abandoned many years ago, in the
case referred to in page 70. Proceeding upon the false supposition that
marl was to enrich by direct action, like dung, it is most probable that it
was applied to some of the poorest and most exhausted land, for the pur-
pose of giving the manure a " fair trial." The disappointment of such ill-
founded expectations was a sufficient reason for the experiment not being
repeated, or being scarcely ever referred to again, unless as evidence of
the worthlessness of marl. Yet with proper views of the action of this
manure, this experiment might at first have as well proved the early effica-
cy and value of marl, as it now does its durability.

When acid soils are equally poor, the increase of the first crop from
marling will be greater on sandy, than on clay soils ; though the latter, by
heavier dressings and longer time, may ultimately become the best land,
at least for wheat and for grass. The more acid the growth of any soil is,
or would be, if suffered to stand, the more increase of crop may be ex-
pected from marl ; which is directly the reverse of the effects of putrescent
manures. The increase of the first crop on worn acid soil, I have never
known under fifty per cent., and more often it is as much as one hundred ;
and the improvement continues to increase, under mild tillage, to three or
four times the original product of the land. [See Exp. 11, page 86, and
Exp. 4 and 6.] In this, and other general statements of effects, I suppose
the land to bear not more than two grain crops in four years, and not to

CAI.l AKI.nl S MANUfl I ICE. 107

be subjected to grazing during the other two; and that a sufficient
of marl has been laid on for use, and not i -case. It is

true, that it Is difficult, if not lm] i ix that proper mediiftn, vary-

ing as it may mi every change of BoO, ol cropping, an. I of .the kind of marl.
But whatever error may he made in the proportion of marl applied, let it
be on the side of light dre manures are also

laid on, pr designed to he laid ■

— and if less increase q| e,the • < >st and* labor of

marling will be lessened in a still greater proportion. If, when tillage has
served to mix the marl well with the soil, sorrel should still show to any
extent, it will sufficiently Indicate that not enough marl had been applied,
and that it may be added to, safely and profitably. If the nature of the
soil, its condition and treatment, and the strength pf the marl, all
known, it would be easy to direct the amount of a suitable dressing; but
without knowing these circumstances, it will be safest to give not more
than 200 or 2£0 bushels of marl, of say 40 per ceVlt to the aire of worn
acid soils. Twice or thrice as much might he given, safely and profitably,
to newly cleared wool land, or well man besides avoiding

danger, it is more profitable to marl lightly at first on weak lands. II a
farmer can carry out only ten thousand bushels of marl in a year, he will
derive more product, and confer a greater amount of improvement, by
■ ling it over forty acres of the land intended for his next crop, than

on twenty ; though the increase to the acre would probably he greatest in
the latter case. By the lighter dressing, the land of the wholejarm will he
marled, and be storing up vegetable matter for its progressive improvement,
in half the time that it could he marled at double the rate.

The greater part of the calcareous earth applied at one time cannot be-
gin to act as manure before several years have passed, owing to the coarse
state of many of the shells, and the want of thoroughly mixing them with
the soil. Therefore, if enough marl is applied to obtain its full effect on
the first course of crops, there will certainly be too much afterwards.

Perhaps the greatest profit to be derived from mailing, though not the
most apparent in the first few j such soils as are full of wasting

vegetable matter. Here the effect is mostly preservative, and the benefit
and profit may lie great, even though the increase of crop maybe very
inconsiderable. Putrescent manure laid on any acid soil, or the natural
vegetable cover of those newly cleared, without marl, would soon be lost,
and the crops reduced to one-half or less. Put when marl is previously
applied, this waste of fertility is prevented; and the estimate of benefit
should not only include the actual increase of prop caused by marling, hut
as much more as the amount of the diminution which would otherwise
have followed. Every intended clearing of woodland, and especially of
those under a second growth of pines, ought to be marled before cutting
down ; and it will be still better, if it can lie done several years Inline. If
the application is delayed until the new land is brought under cultivation,
though much putrescent matter will he saved, still more must be wasted.
By using marl some years before obtaining a crop from it, as many more
successive growths of leaves will be converted to useful manure, and fixed
in the soil; and the increased fertility will more than compensate for the
delay. By such an operation, the farmer makes a loan to the soil, at a d
time for payment, but on ample security, and at a high rate of compound
interest.

Some experienced cultivators have believed that the most profitable way
to manage pine old fields, when cleared of their second growth, was to cul-
tivate them every year, until worn out— because, as they said, such land

IQg CALCAREOUS MAN'UKES-PKAC 1 .

would not last mucli longer, no matter how mildly treated. This opinion,
which would seem at first so absurd, and in opposition to all the received
rules for good husbandry, is considerably supported by the properties
which are here ascribed to such soils. When these lands are first cut
down, an immense quantity of vegetable matter is accumulated on the
surface, which, notwithstanding its accompanying acid quality, is capable
of making two or three crops nearly as good as the land was ever be-
fore able to bring. But as the soil has no power to retain this vegetable
matter, it will begin rapidly to decompose and waste, as soon as exposed
to the sun; and will be lost, except so much as is caught, while escaping,
by the roots of growing crops. The previous application of marl, however,
would make it profitable in these, as well as other cases, to adopt a mild
and meliorating course of tillage.

Less improvement will be obtained by marling worn soils of the kind
called " free light land," than other acid soils which originally produced
much more sparingly. The early productiveness of this kind of soil, and
its rapid exhaustion by cultivation, at first view seem to contradict the opi-
nion that durability and the ease of improving by putrescent manures are
proportioned to the natural fertility of the soil. But a full consideration of
the circumstances will show that no such contradiction exists.

In defining the term natural fertility, it was stated that it should not be
measured by the earliest products of a new soil, which might be either
much reduced, or increased, by' temporary causes. The early fertility of
free light land is so rapidly destroyed, ns to take away all ground for con-
sidering it as fixed in, and belonging to the soil. It is like the effect of
dung on the same land afterwards, which throws out all its benefit in the
course of one or at most two years, and leaves the land as poor as before.
But still it needs explanation why so much productiveness can at fust be
exerted by any acid soil, as in those described in the 11th experiment. The
causes may be found in the following statement. These soils, and also their
sub-soils, are principally composed of coarse sand, which makes them of
more open texture than best suits pine, and (when rich enough) more
favorable to other trees, the leaves of which have no natural acid, and
therefore decompose more readily. As fast as the fallen leaves rot, they
are of course exposed to waste; but the rains convey much of their finer
parts down into the open soil, where the less degree of heat retards their
final decomposition. Still this enriching matter is liable to be further de-
composed, and to final waste ; but though continually wasting, it is also
continually added to by the rotting leaves above. The shelter of the upper
coat of unrotted leaves, and the shade of the trees, cause the first as well
as the last stages of decomposition to proceed slowly, and to favor the
mechanical process of the products being mixed with the soil. But there
■ is no chemical union of the vegetable matter with the soil. When the
land is cleared, and opened by the plough, the decomposition of all the
accumulated vegetable matter is hastened by the increased action of sun
and air, and in a short time every tiling is converted to food for plants. This
abundant supply suffices to produce two or three fine crops. But now,
the most fruitful source of vegetable matter has been cut off — and the soil
is kept so heated (by its open texture) as to be unable to hold enriching
matters, even if they were furnished. The land soon becomes poor, and
must remain so, as long as these causes operate, even though cultivated
under the mildest rotation. When the transient fertility of. such a soil is
gone, its acid qualities (which were before concealed in some measure by
so much enriching matter,) become evident. Sorrel and broom grass cover
the land, and if allowed to stand, pines will then take complete possession,
because the poverty of the soil leaves them no rival to contend with.

CALCAREOUS MANURES -PRACTICE. j Q9

Marling deepens cultivated sandy soils, even lower than the plough may
have penetrated. This was an unexpected result, and when first observed
seemed scarcely credible. But this effect also Is a consequence of the
power of calcareous earth to lix manures. As stated in the foregoing
paragraph, the soluble and finely divided particles of rotted vegetable mat-
ters arc carried by the rains below the soil ; hut as there is no calcareous
earth there to lix them, they must again rise in a gaseous form, after their
last decomposition, unless previously taken up by growing plants. But
after the soil is marled, calcareous as well as putrescent matter is carried
down by the rains as far as the soil is open enough for it to pass. This
will always he as deep as the ploughing lias been, and somewhat deeper
in loose earth; and the chemical union formed between these different
substances serves to fix both, and thus increases the depth of the soil.
This effect is very different from the deepening of a soil by letting the
plough run into the barren sub-soil. If, by this mechanical process, a soil
of only three inehes is increased to six, as much as it gains in depth, it
loses in richness. But when a marled soil is deepened gradually, its dark
color and apparent richness are tacri a ed, as well as its depth. Formerly,
single-horse ploughs were used to break all my acid soils, and even these
would often turn up sub-soil. The average depth of soil on old land did
not exceed three inches, nor two on the newly cleared. Even before marl-
ing was commenced, my ploughing had generally sunk into the sub-soil —
and since 1825, most of this originally thin soil has required three mules,
or two good horses to a plough, to break the necessary depth. The soil is
now from six to eight inches deep generally, from the joint operation of
marling and deepening the ploughing a little in the beginning of every
course of crops : and to that depth, or very nearly, the land is now ploughed
whenever preparing for corn, or for wheat on clover.

Since marling was begun, the deepening of the soil has much more
i than followed the deepening of the ploughing. How
destructive to the power of soil this present depth of ploughing would have
been, without marling, may be inferred from the continued decrease of the
crop, through four successive courses of a very mild rotation, on the spot
kept without marl ifi experiment 10. Yet the depth of ploughing there
did not exceed six inches, and depths of nine and even twelve inches were
tried, without injury, on parts of the adjacent marled land.

This remarkable and valuable effect of marling, in deepening the soil,
is increased in action by the sub-soil being sandy, which is commonly
deemed the worst kind of sub-soil. Land having a clay sub-soil, which is
known in common parlance as land with "a good foundation," is almost
universally prized ; and that impervious sub-soil is supposed necessary to
prevent the manure and the rains from sinking, and being lost And such
maybe among the disadvantages, before marline, of poor land having a
sandy sub-soil. But not so alter marling. While the open texture of
sucha sub-soil permits so much of the water as is superfluous and injurious
to sink and disappear, and the combined manures to sink enough to deepen
the soil, (by converting barren sub-soil to productive soil, i the attractive
of the calcareous earth, for both putrescent mutter and moisture, w ill much
more effectually prevent either from being lost to the s til, than the mei hani-
cal obstruction of a day siil>-.-.oil. (beat a lions entertained

by most farmers to sandy sub-soils, or to w ml any

foundation," l would decidedly prefer such to lam in impervious

clay sub-soil— supposing both to be equally barren. The subjects of all
my experiments stated as made on acid sandy loam.-, bad also sub-soils of
yellow and barren sand; and on such lands have been made my-greatest
and most profitable improvements by marling. However, a sub-soil (and
11

110

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

also a soil) more of medium texture, would no doubt have been as much
better than the very sandy, as the latter was better than the very stiff and
impervious clay sub-soils.

Besides the general benefit which marling causes equally to all crops,
by making the soils they grow on richer and more productive, there are
other particular benefits which affect some plants more than others. For
example, marling serves to make soils warmer, and thereby hastens the
ripening of every crop, more than would take place on the like soils, if
made equally productive by other than calcareous manures. This quality
of mailed land ts highly important to cotton, as our summers are not long
enough to mature the later pods. Wheat also derives especial benefit from
the warmth thus added to the soil. It is enabled better to withstand the
severe cold of winter ; and even the short time by which its ripening is
forwarded by marling, serves very much to lessen the danger of that crop
from the worst of all its diseases, the rust. Wheat also profits by the ab-
sorbent power of marled land, (by which sands acquire, to some extent,
the best qualities of clays,) though less so than clover and other grasses
that flourish best in a moist climate. Indian corn does not need more time
for maturing than our summers afford, (except on the poorest land,) and
can sustain much drought without injury , and therefore is less aided by
these qualities of marled land. Most (if not all) the different plants of the
pea kind, and all the varieties of clover, derive such remarkable benefit
from marling, that it must be caused by some peculiarity in the nature of
those plants. Perhaps a large portion of calcareous earth is necessary as
part of their food, to aid in the formation of the substance of these plants, as
well as to preserve their healthy existence.

On acid soils, without heavy manuring, it is scarcely possible to raise red
clover ; and even with every aid from putrescent manure, the crop will be
both uncertain and unprofitable. The recommendation of this grass, as
part of a general system of cultivation and improvement, by the author of
' Arator,' is sufficient to prove that his improvements were made on soils
far better than such as are general. Almost every zealous cultivator and
improver (in prospect) of acid soil has been induced to attempt clover cul-
ture, either by the recommendations of writers on this grass, or by the
success witnessed on better constituted soils elsewhere. The utmost that
has been gained, by any of these numerous efforts, has been sometimes to
obtain one, or at most two mowings, of middling clover, on some very
rich lot, which had been prepared in the most perfect manner by the pre-
vious cultivation of tobacco. Even in such situations, this degree of suc-
cess could only be obtained by the concurrence of the most favorable sea-
sons. Severe cold, and sudden alternations of temperature in winter and
spring, and the spells of hot and dry weather which we usually have in
summer, were alike fatal to the growth of clover, on so unfriendly a soil.
The few examples of partial success never served to pay for the more fre-
quent failures and losses ; and a few years' trial would convince the most
ardent, or the most obstinate advocate for the clover husbandry, that its
introduction on the great body of land in lower Virginia was absolutely
impossible. Still the general failure was by common consent attributed to
any thing but the true cause. There was always some reason offered for
each particular failure, sufficient to cause it, and but for which, (it was sup-
posed,) a crop might have been raised. Either the young plants were killed
by freezing soon after first springing from the seed — or a drought occurred
when the crop was most exposed to the sun, by reaping the sheltering crop
of wheat — or native and hardy weeds overran the crop — and all such dis-
asters were supposed to be increased in force, and rendered generally fatal.

CALCAREOUS MANURES -FHACTU'E. 1 ( |

by our sandy soil, and hot and dry summers. Hut after the true evil, the
acid nature of the soil, is removed by mnrling, clover ceases to be a feeble
exotic. It is at once naturalize I cm 0111 soil, and is able to contend with
rival plants, and in undergo every severity and change ol season, as safely
as our crop's of corn and wheat— and offers to our acceptance the fruition
of those hopes ni profit and Improvement from clover, with which pre-
viously we had only been deluded.

After much waste of seed and labor, and years of disappointed efforts,
I abandoned clover as utterly hopeless, But alter mailing the fields on
which the raising of clover had hern vainly attempted, there arose from its
scattered and feeble remains, a growth which served to prove that its cul-
tivation would then be safe and profitable It has since been gradually ex-
tended over all the fields. It will stand well, and maintain a healthy growth
on the poorest marled land ; hut the crop is too scanty for mowing, or per-
haps for profit of any kind, on most poor sandy soils, unless aided by gyp-
sum. Newry cleared lands yield better clover than the old, though the
latter may produce as heavy grain crops. The remarkable crops of clover
raised on very poor clay soils, after marling, have been already described.
This grass, even without gypsum, and still more if aided by that manure,
will add greatly to the improving power of marl; but it may do as much
harm as service, if we greedily take from the soil nearly all of the supply
of putrescent matter which it affords.

Some other plants, less welcome than clover, are equally favored by
marling. Unless both the tillage and the rotation of crops be good, green-
sward (poa pratensis,) blue grass (poa compressa,) wire grass (cynodon
dactylon,) and partridge pea (vicia tatwa,) will soon increase so as to be
not less impediments to bad tillage, or to the grain crops, than mani-
fest evidences of an entire change in the character and power of the soil.

The power of calcareous manures is still more strongly shown in the
eradication of certain plants, as has been before incidentally mentioned.
Sorrel (runiex acelosus,) is the most plentiful and injurious weed on the
cultivated acid soils of lower Virginia; an unmixed growth of poverty
grass {aristida gracilis and a. dichotoma) is spread over all such lands, a
year after being left at rest ; at a somewhat later time broom-grass (an-
dropogon) of different kinds covers them completely ; and if suffered to
remain unbroken a few years longer a thick growth of young pines will
succeed. But as soon as such land is sufficiently and properly marled,
there remains no longer the peculiar disposition or even power of the soil
to produce these plants. Sorrel is totally removed, and poverty grass no
more is to be found, where both in their turn before had entire possession.
The appearance of a single lull i f either of Ihese plants is enough to prove
that the acid quality of the soil on that spot still remains, and that either
more marl, or more complete intermixture, is still wanting. Thus, the pre-
sence of either of these plants is the most unerring as well as most conve-
nient and ready indication of a soil wanting calcareous manure. The most
laborious analyses, by the most able chemists, directed to ascertain the dif-
ferent characters of soils in this respect, are not to be compared for accu-
racy to the tests furnished by either the appearance or total absence of
sorrel or poverty grass. In regard to broom-grass and pines, the change
is not so sudden, nor complete; but still the soil will have been made mani-
festly unfriendly to both. Some striking apparent exceptions to these rules
have caused some persons to doubt of their correctness; when full exa-
mination of the circumstances would have confirmed my positions. I have
known a mere top-dressing of marl, left for some years on a worn-out old
field, to eradicate the before general srrowth of broom-grass, and substitute

112

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

a cover of annual weeds. Yet on other tillage land, after marling and one
crop of wheat on fallow, I have seen the growth of broom-grass return,
and seemingly with greater than its former vigor. But this return and
vigor were but temporary, and the land is now comparatively free from this
injurious weed. When soil, already filled with its seeds, is very imperfectly
mixed with marl by ploughing, these is nothing to prevent the broom-grass
springing from all the spots not touched by the marl, whether these spots
be above or below or between unmixed masses of marl. And the growth
being thin and scattered, and not covering the surface completely as for-
merly, will cause the separate tufts of broom-grass to be much more luxu-
riant, and greater impediments to tillage, than previously. But the next
course of tillage will serve to mix the marl and soil completely, and remove
all appearance of marl being favorable instead of destructive to broom-
grass. Sorrel may often be seen growing out of the heaps of pure marl,
dropped from the carts on acid land, and the heaps left thus, unspread,
through a summer. But this apparent and very striking exception may
be fully explained. The heaps of marl, thus left, had not as yet by any in-
termixture affected the original composition of the soil below ; and the
seeds or roots of sorrel therein were therefore free to spring and grow ;
and the great hardiness and remarkable vital power of that plant enabled it
to rise through the (to it) dead matter and great obstruction of several
inches thickness of pure marl above. On examining the roots of sorrel
thus growing out of marl, it will be seen clearly, and invariably, that they
drew all their support from the still acid soil below, and merely passed
through the marl, without drawing any thing therefrom.

CHAPTER XI.

RECAPITULATION OF EFFECTS, AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRACTICE CONTINUED.

Proposition 5 — continued.

If the foregoing views may be confided in, the general course most pro-
per to pursue in using calcareous manures may thence be deduced without
difficulty. But as I have found, since the publication of the previous edition
of this essay, that many persons still ask for more special directions to guide
their operations, and as all such difficulties may not be entirely obviated
even by the more full details now given, 1 will here add the following di-
rections, at the risk of their being considered, superfluous. These direc-
tions, like all the foregoing reasoning, may apply generally, if not entirely,
to the use of all kinds of calcareous manures, and to soils in various re-
gions; but to avoid too wide a range, I shall consider them as applied par-
ticularly to the poor lands of the tide-water region, and addressed to per-
sons who are just commencing their improvement by means of the fossil
shells or marl of the same region.

As the cheapest mode of furnishing vegetable matter to land intended to
be marled and cultivated, no grazing should be permitted. It is best to
put the marl on the grass previous to ploughing the field for corn, as the
early effect of this manure is greatest when it has been placed in contact
with the vegetable matter. But this advantage is not so great as to induce
the ploughing to be delayed, or to stop the marling after that operation.

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. | ] 3

W'lu'M the marl is spread upon the ploughed surface, it can be bettei mixed
with the snii by the cultivation ol the crop; and this advantage in some
measure compensates for the Ins* of that which would have been dbtained
from an earlier application oq the sod If marl is ploughed in, it should

net !"■ bo deeply as t< • prevent its being mixed with the soil, s|>eedily and
thorou-ilily, by the subsequent tillage. To make sure of equal operation,
the marl should be spaead regularly over the surface. From neglect in
this respect, a flroajilnn of marl is often too thin in many places to have its
proper effect, and In others, so thick as to prove injurious. Hence it is.
that marl-burnt stalks of corn and tufts of sorrel arc sometimes seen on
the same acre.

After the first year, the farmer may generally marl fast enough to keep
ahead of his cultivation ; and even though be should reduce the space of
his tillage to one-half, it will be best for him not to put an acre in corn with-
out its being mailed. Fifty acres can generally be both marled and tilled,
as cheaply as one hundred can be tilled without marling i and the fifty with
marl will produce as much as the hundred without, in the first course of
crops, and much more afterwards.

That rotation of crops which gives most vegetable matter to the soil, is
best to aid the effects of marl recently applied. The four-shift rotation is
convenient in this respect, because two or three years of rest may be given
in each course of the rotation at first, upon the poorest land ; and the num-
ber of exhausting crops may be increased, first to two, then to three in the
rotation, as the soil advances to its highest state of productiveness.

After marling, clover should be sown, and gypsum on the clover. On
pom. though marled land, of course only a poor growth of clover can be
expected; but wherever other manures are given, and especially if gyp-
sum is found to act well, the crop of clover becomes a most important part
of the improvement by marling. Without clover, and without returning the
greater part of the early product to the soil, the greatest value of marling will
not be seen. A small proportion of the clover may be used as food for cattle ;
and in a low years even this small share w ill far exceed all the grass that the
fields furnished before marling and the limitation of grazing. What is at
first objected to as lessening the food of grazing stock, and their products,
within a few years becomes the source of a far more abundant supply.

During the first few years of marling, but little attention can (or indeed
ought to) be given to making putrescent manures, because the soil much
more needs calcareous manure— and three or four acres may generally be
supplied with the latter, as cheaply as one with the former. But putrescent
manures cannot any where be used to so much advantage as upon poor
soils made calcareous; and no farmer can make and apply vegetable mat-
ter as manure to greater profit than he who has marled his pour fields, and
can then withdraw his labor from applying the more to the less valuable
manure. After the farm has been marled over at the light rate recom-
mended at first, every effort should be made to accumulate and apply vege-
table manures; and with their gradual extension over the fields, a second
application of marl may he made, making the whole quantity, in both the
first and second mailing, 500 or 000 bushels to the acre, or even more;
which quantity would have been hurtful if given at first, but which will now
be not only harmless, but necessary to fix and retain so much putrescent
and nutritive matter in the soil.

The above injunction, that -every effort should be made to accumulate
and apply vegetable manures," should not be limited, as most new improvers
would be apt to do, to the mere economical use of the vegetable materials
for manure furnished by the crops, and those only as prepared by being

1 |4 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

first used as litter for animals. Not only these, but every other vegetable
and putrescent material that is accessible should be saved and applied, and
even without any intermediate process of preparation, and at any time of
the year, and state of the fields, provided no growing or commencing crop
be thereby molested. Surplus straw, not needed for food or litter, is most
valuable and cheaply applied as top-dressing to clover or other grass ; though
it is an inconvenient and troublesome manure if immediately ploughed
under. Leaves from the woods of the farm may be used most profitably
in the same manner, to the full extent of the resources offered. And though
the manuring operations on the Coggins Point farm have not yet been ex-
tended beyond the last named putrescent material, it is believed that other
and abundant sources yet remain untried and unproductive on that and
most other farms, and to use which would be but a waste of labor or
money, if in advance of marling. Amgng the most abundant of such ma-
terials, may be mentioned marsh grasses and marsh or pond mud ; and also
the purchase of rich alimentary manures from towns, to be carried by land
or by water carriage to much greater distances than has yet been done,
or can be afforded to be done, on other lands. Even saw-dust and spent
tanner's bark, which, because of their insolubility, are generally deemed of
no value as manures, would form important and valuable materials for
fertilization, in situations where they can be obtained cheaply and in great
quantity. Mixing these or other insoluble vegetable substances with rich
putrescent matters, and still more if with some alkaline matter also, would
render them soluble, and convert them to food for plants.

But putting aside the consideration of all such unusual or untried re-
sources and operations for additional fertilization, and limiting the present
view merely to the ordinary materials furnished by every farm, the progress
and profit of improvement by such means only, after marling, will be greater
than will be at first believed by most cultivators of acid soils, not yet marled
or limed. If, on such soils, the general course above advised be pursued,
(and using merely the resources of the farm after marling,) the products of
crops on all the marled land usually will be doubled in the first course of
the rotation — often in the first crop immediately following the marling; and
the original product may be expected to be tripled by the third return of
the rotation. And this may be from merely applying marl in sufficient
(and not excessive) quantities, and giving the land two years rest in four
without grazing. But on the parts having the aid of farm-yard and other
putrescent manures, and of clover, still greater returns may be obtained.

When such statements as these are made, the question naturally occurs
to the reader, " Has the writer himself met with so much success, and what
has been the actual result of his labors in general, in the business so
strongly recommended !" This question I have no right to shrink from,
although the answer to be given fully will be objectionable, from the ego-
tism inseparable from such details, which are certainly not worth being
thus presented to public notice, and which are called for only because silence
on this head might be considered as operating against the general tenor of
this essay. It will be sufficient here to state generally, that my average
profits from marling, and the increased fertility derived from it, have not
been as great as are promised above, nor such as might be expected from
the most successful experiments of which the results have been reported —
and for these reasons. 1st. The greater part of my land was not of soil
the best adapted to be improved by marling. 2d. Having at first every
thing to learn, and to prove by trial, much of my labor was lost uselessly,
or spent in excessive and injurious applications. 3d. The fitness given to
the soil by marl to produce clover was not found out until after that best

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE. l 15

auxiliary to improvement ought to have been in full use. 4th. From the
want of labor and capital to use both calcareous and putrescent manures,
the collecting and applying of the latter were almost entirely neglected as
longasthere was full employment in marling. And, 5th. Thai general bad
practical management which I have to admit baa marked all my business,
has of course also affected injuriously this important branch— though in
a less degree, because it was as much as possible (until about 1826,) under
my personal and close attention. With all these drawbacks to complete
success, I am able to state the following general results of my operations.
Omitting the land on I loggina Point farm not susceptible of any considera-
ble or profitable improvement from marHng, the great body of the farm
was tripled in productive power from 181s, when my first experiment was
made, to 1834 Particular bodies of soil now produce four-fold the former
amount without any Other kind of manure; and the whole tarm, including
the parts least improved as well as the most, and allowing for the increase
of extent of surface, will now make more than double of its best product
before marling. Statements on this head, more in detail, will be given in
the Appendix.

With all the increase of products that I have ascribed to marling, the
heaviest amounts stated may appear inconsiderable to formers who till soils
more favored by nature. Corn yielding twenty-live or thirty bushels to
the acre, is doubled by many natural soils in the western states ; and ten
or twelve bushels of wheat, will still less compare with the product of the
best lime-stone clay land. The cultivators of our poor region, however,
know that such products, without any future increase, would be a prodi-
gious addition to their present gains. Still it is doubtful whether these re-
wards are sufficiently high to tempt many of my countrymen speedily to
accept them. The opinions of many farmers have been so long fixed, and
their habits are so uniform and unvarying, that it is difficult to excite them
to adopt any new plan of improvement, except by promises of profits so
great, that an uncommon share of credulity would be necessary to expect
their fulfilment. The net profits of marling, if estimated at twenty or even
fifty per cent, per annum, on the expense, for ever — or the assurance, by
good evidence, of doubling the crops of a farm in ten years or less — will
scarcely attract the attention of those who would embrace without any
scrutiny, a plan that promised five times as much. Hall's scheme for cul-
tivating corn was a stimulus exactly suited to their lethargic state ; and
that impudent Irish impostor found many steady old-fashioned farmers will-
ing to pay for his directions for making live hundred barrels of corn with-
out ploughing, and with the hand labor of two men only.

The products and profits derived from the use of marl as presented in
the preceding pages, considerable as they are, have been kept down, or
lessened in amount, by my then want of experience, and ignorance of the
danger of injudicious applications. My errors may at least enable others
to avoid similar losses, and thereby to reach equal profits with half the ex-
pense of time and labor. But are we to consider even tl known
increase of product that has been yet gained in a few years after marling,
as showing the full amount of improvement and profit to be deri
tainly not ; and if we may venture to leave the sure ground of practical ex-
perience, and look forward to what is promised by the theory of the opera-
tion of calcareous manures, we must anticipate future crops far exceeding
what have yet been obtained. To this, the ready objection may be oppos-
ed, that the sandiness of the greater part of our lands will always prevent
their being raised to a high state of productiveness— and particularly, that
no care nor improvement can make heavy crops of wheat on such soils.

116 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

This very general opinion is far from being correct ; and as the error is
important, it may be useful to offer some evidence in support of the great
value to which sandy soils may arrive.

We are so accustomed to find sandy soils poor, that it is difficult for us
to connect with them the idea of fertility, and still less of durability. Yet
British agriculturists, who were acquainted with clays and clay loams of
as great value, and as well managed under tillage, as any in the world,
speak in still higher terms of certain soils which are even more sandy than
most of ours. For example—" Rich sandy soils, however," says Sir John
Sinclair, " such as those of Frodsham in Cheshire, are invaluable. They
are cultivated at a moderate expense ; and at all times have a dry sound-
ness, accompanied by moisture, which secures excellent crops, even in the
driest summers."* Robert Brown (one of the very few who have deserved
the character of being both able writers and successful practical cultiva-
tors) says— " Perhaps a true sandy loam, incumbent on a sound sub-soil,
is the most valuable of all soils."f Arthur Young, when describing the
soils of France, in his agricultural survey of that country, in several places
speaks in the highest terms of different bodies of light or sandy soils, of
which the following example, of the extensive district which he calls the
plain of the Garonne, will be enough to quote : " It is entered about Crei-
sensac, and improves all the way to Montauban and Toulouse, where it is

one of the finest bodies of fertile soil that can any where be seen."

" Through all this plain, wherever the soil is found excellent, it consists us-
ually of a deep mellow friable sandy loam, with moisture sufficient for any
thing; much of it is calcareous."]: The soil of Belgium, so celebrated for
its high improvement and remarkable productiveness, is mostly sandy.
The author last quoted, in another work describes a body of land in the
county of Norfolk, as " one of the finest tracts that is any where to be

seen" " a fine, deep, mellow, putrid sandy loam, adhesive enough to

fear no drought, and friable enough to strain off superfluous moisture, so
that all seasons suit it ; from texture free to work, and from chemical quali-
ties sure to produce in luxuriance whatever the industry of man commits
to its friendly bosom." 5 Mr. Coke, the great Norfolk farmer, made on the
average 24 bushels of wheat to the acre, on an estate of as sand}' soil as
our Southampton, (where probably a general average of two bushels could
not be obtained, if general wheat culture were attempted)— and many other
farms in Norfolk yielded much better wheat than Mr. Coke's in 1804, when
Young's survey was made. Several farms averaged 3G bushels, and one
of 40 is stated; and the general average of the county was 24 bushels.y
Yet the county of Norfolk was formerly pronounced by Charles II. to be
only fit " to cut up into strips, to make roads of for the balance of the
kingdom"— and that sportive description expressed strongly the sandy na-
ture of the soil, as well as its then state of poverty.

Because certain qualities of poor clay soils (particularly their absorbent
power) make them better than poor sands for producing wheat, we most
strangely attach a value to the stiffness and intractability of the former.
Yet if all the absorbent quality and productive power of clay could be
given to sand, surely the latter would be the more valuable in proportion
to its being friable and easy to cultivate. The causes of all the valuable
qualities and productive power of the rich sands that have been referred
to, are only calcareous and putrescent manures, and depth of soil : and if

" Code of Agriculture, p. 12.

t Brown's Treatise on Agriculture, p. 218, of "Agriculture" in Edin. Ency.

t Young's To.ir in Fiance.

§ Young's Survey of Norfolk, p, 4.

|| Young's Survey ol Norfolk, p. 300 to 304.

CAIJ I ICE. J 17

the same means can "be used, our now poor sand ideas

productive and valuabfe. 1 do not mean t<> assert that the most highly im-
proved sandy soils can produce aa muoh wheat as the best Way soils ; but

they will not fall so far short as to prevent their being the mi

. for wheat as well as othei easily

cultivated, and less liable i management.

The greatest objection to tl ly lands of lower Virginia, as

subjects lor improvement by calcareous manures, is not their excess of
sand, nor yet their poverty— great as may be both I — but

it is the ahaUbumeae of the poor and sandy soil. The natural soil 6f a
large portion of these lands, before cultivation, is not more than from one
to two inches deep, lying on a barren sub-soil of sand. Now suppose

-hallow soil to be doubled or even tripled in fertility by marling, or a
productive power of 'J or '.' bushels of corn be raise! to Is; bushels, still it
would be but mean land. And a long succession of annual vet;
rs to be left on the land, or a great quantity of prepared putn
manure furnished a required to o oil both rich

and deep. If the original m ten inches. deep, the fertility before

marling might have been but little more than on the shallowest soil. But
heavy marling and deep and good tillage would have served speedily to
n.ike a rich and productive soil, approaching in value to those rich sands
of Europe mentioned aboi e.

Another large i la or lands of lower Virginia are the close

•lays, of whii Is still more shallow than the sands, Sim h laud

and formed the subjects 1 1|
This is the very worst soil known before being marled, and also ihe most
worthless of all known marled soils. And yet a thrce-f .Id product has been
usually obtained on these lands by m . within four or at most

years after the application ill marl. Still, this land, as well as the most
• il and abundance ni' ve
tar, to become fertile and vain ab

While then calcareous manures may be counted on to produce great im-
minent on all soils not naturally provided with them — and to show as
great a of increase on the worst as on better soils, and a remu-

nerating profit on all — still, it will be far more profitable to marl some soils
than others. Dung, or other alimentary manure in ihe best condition for
use, increases vegetation mainly in proportion to the quantity. .of the ma-
nure, and without regard or proportion to the previous product of the soil.
Thus, a wasteful ap I dung might in a single-year increase the

production of an acre of very poor land, from., bushels to 50 bushels of
corn. But calcareous manures improve production in proportion to the
previous power of the soil; and if the original product be very low, the
addition thereto of 100 or even 200 per cent., made on the first crops after
marling, will show still but a poor product. These remarks and illustra-
tions are designed for the instruction of those beginners who deem it import-
ant to learn on what kinds of soil to apply their marl. In more general
terms I would answer, "apply it to all soils not already calcareous;" for
however different may be the measure of profit, 1 have never known marl
applied unprofitably in regard to place, if applied judiciously in manner.
Of course 1 refer to soils having some previous productiye power and some
tenacity; and not to such naked sands, drifting with the wind-
in pan irolina, South Carolina ai

J |g CALCAREOUS MANURES-PK

CHAPTER XII.

THE PERMANENCY OF CALCAREOUS MANURES, AND OF ALlMENTAr.Y OR PUTRES-
CENT MANURES, WHEN COMBINED WITH THE CALCAREOUS.

Proposilicn 5— continued.

It was stated, (page 70) that the ground on which an old experiment
was made and abandoned as a failure, more than sixty years ago, still con-
tinues to show the effects of marl. Lord Karnes mentions a fact of the
continued beneficial effect of an application of calcareous manure, which
was known to be one hundred and twenty years old* Every author who
has treated of manures of this nature, attests their long duration. But
when they say that they will last twenty years, or even one hundred and
twenty years, it amounts to the admission that at some future time the
effects of these manures will be lost. This I deny — and from the nature
and action of calcareous earth, claim for its effects a duration that will
have no end.

If calcareous earth, applied as manure, is not afterwards combined with
some acid in the soil, it must retain its first form, which is as indestructible,
and as little liable to be wasted, by any cause whatever, as the sand and
clay that form the other earthy ingredients of the soil. The only possible
vent for its loss, is the very small proportion taken up by the roots of
plants, which is so inconsiderable as scarcely to deserve naming.

Clay is a manure for sandy soils, serving to close their too open texture.
When so applied, no one can doubt but that this effect of the clay will last
as long as its presence, or as long as the soil itself. Neither can calcareous
earth cease to exert its peculiar powers as a manure, any more than clay
can, by the lapse of time, lose its power of making sands more firm and
adhesive. Making due allowance for the minute quantity drawn up into
growing plants, it is as absurd to assert that the calcareous earth in a soil,
whether furnished by nature or not, can be exhausted, as that cultivation
can deprive a soil of its sand or clay.

But on my supposition that calcareous earth will change its form by
combining with acid in the soil, it may perhaps be doubted by some whe-
ther it will be equally safe from waste under its new form. It must be ad-
mitted that the permanency of this compound cannot be proved by its
insolubility, or other properties, because neither the kind nor the nature of
the salt itself is yet known. \ But judging from the force with which good
neutral soils resist the exhaustion of their fertility, and their always pre-
serving their peculiar character, it cannot be believed that the calcareous
earth, once present, has been lessened in durability by its chemical change
of form. It was contended that the action of calcareous earth is absolutely
necessary to make a poor acid soil fertile ; but it does not thence follow
that other substances, and particularly this sail of lime, may not serve as
well to preserve the fertility bestowed at first by calcareous earth. All that
is required for this purpose, is the power of combining with putrescent
matter, and thereby fixing it in the soil ; and judging solely from effects,

• Gentleman Farmer, page 266, 2d Edin. edition.

t This passage is left as it stood in the first edition, before the discovery of the humic
acid was known. Indeed no aid has been derived from that discovery, nor any change
of language made in consequence of it, except by inserting the quotation respecting
tbii lubstance, and the remarks thereon, at page 53.

CALCABBOUS MANURES— PRACTICE. jjg

this power seems to be possessed in an eminent degree by litis new com-
bination of lime. If this salt is the oxalate of li , aa there is most rea-

> believe,) it is insoluble in water, and consequently safe from waste;
ami the same property belongs to n mbinations of lime with

vegetable acid The acetate of lime is soluble in water, and while alone,
might be carried off by rains. But if it combines with putrescent matter,

arnica] affinity, its previous solubility will no longer remain. Sulphate
of iron pperas) is easily soluble; but when it forms One of the compo-
nent parts of ink. it can no longer be separately dissolved by water, or
taken away from the coloring matter combined with it. In rich limestone
soils, and some of our best river lands, in which no carbonate of lime now
remains, we may suppose that its change of form to some other salt of lime
took place centuries ago. Yet, however scourged; and exhausted by cul-
tivation, these soils still show, as Strqpgly as ever, the qualities which
were derived from their former calcareous ingredient When the dark color
of such soils, their power of absorption, an. I <>i holding manures, their friabi-
lity, and their peculiar fitness for clover and certain other plants, are no
longer to be distinguished, then, and not before, may the salt of lime be
considered as lost to the soil.

But though all persons would probably admit this general proposition,
that these natural quality tils, including a cerl > of, or

tendency to productive po but stating>in other

words, that the good effects of calcareous manures are permanent — )
still perhaps icw would grant the possibility of permanency of efTect to
putrescent manures also, when ifter. Yet this latter proposition

is as legitimate a deduction fro the former proposition is

from the theory which has been maintained o( the action of calcareous ma-
nures. The attention of the n [uested to the argument which
will now be Offered to sustain this important deduction. '

We have all been trained to consider farm-yard arid stable manures,
dui)g, and all vegetable and other putrescent matters, when applied to
as having temporary effects only; and whether the effects lasted for but
the first crop, as on acid sandy soils, or for four, six or even eight years
on well constituted natural soils, still the elicits were truly, as usually con-
sidered, only for a limited time, and would at some 'period be totally lost,
and the ground so manured would return to the same state of less produc-
tiveness, as of the surrounding land, previously equal, and which had re-
ceived no such manuring. Such views are almost universal ; and the utmost
that would be claimed by the most zealous and sanguine advocate for ex-
tending the use of such manun -. a protracted though still limited
and temporary duration of effect. And the actual results would always
accord with these opinions, (and also with my theory of the action of cal-
careous manures.) both on good and on bad soils, before making them
more calcareous. All natural soils (not excessively and injuriously calca-
reous.) have secured by their natural powers and facilities, and have had
fixed in them, as much alimentary matter as their natural ingredient of lime
could combine with. If that ingredient had been very small, the soil would
be poor; if large, then the soil would be rich. Hut in neither case would
there be power in the soil to combine with an additional supply of alimen-
tary manure; and if such were applied, it would be exhausted and pass
away, rapidly on the bad soil, and more slowly on the good; bul i Mainly.
in the end, on both.

Again, suppose the soils to be more or less exhausted by scourging cul-
tivation. Then their actual amount of alimentary matter would have been
reduced below what their respective shares of lime could combine with

120 CALCAREOUS MANURES*- PKACTICL.

and retain, under a state of nature, or of mild tillage. Then, if alimentary
manures were applied, so much as was required for combination by the
lime present would be as permanently fixed as if the original fertility had
never been abstracted ; and any additional quantity and excess of manure,
not being so combined and fixed, would be totally lost in more or less time,
as in the previously supposed case.

Lest these proposition.-; may not appear, because of their novelty, per-
fectly clear and unquestionable to every reader, an illustration will be
offered which can scarcely fail to induce their general and ready admission.
Suppose a cultivator to have two fields, one of bad and poor soil naturally,
and the other of the best natural quahty — and both having been brought
under cultivation together, and kept under the same rotation of crops and
other management. Suppose further that the equal and uniform course of
cropping has been such, (whether taking one or two or three grains crops
to one year of rest and resuscitation,) that both fields have neither been
reduced nor increased in average product, since brought under regular
tillage— and that such average product, when of corn, is equal to 10 bushels
per acre on the poor, and 50 bushels on the rich soil. Now, these different
products are derived from the different funds of alimentary and putrescent
manure originally supplied to the soil by nature, (which were just so much
as the lime of each soil could combine with,) and, under the supposed
degrees of exaction and relief counteracting each other under tillage, the
same rates of product may be obtained for ever. And the yielding of 50
bushels by the one soil operates no more to reduce its after power of pro-
duction, than the yield of the other of but one-fifth of that amount of crop.
The yield from each soil, at and for the time, is certainly so much reduction
of its productive power ; but the recuperative power of each (to seize
upon and hold to new supplies for fertilization) is in proportion to the yield ;
and the vegetable growth serving for manure, and atmospherical influences,
during a year of rest, will continually give to the good soil the renewed
power of producing again its large crop, as certainly as to the poor soil
the power of still continuing to produce its small crop. It is not that the
natural alimentary manure in the soil is not taken away in part, by the
growth and removal of every crop — but that such waste is continually
compensated by new acquisitions. And whether such new supplies of
alimentary matter be furnished in part during every day, or in every year,
or only during the one term of rest in the whole course of crops, the practi-
cal result is the same, of the natural or original amount of alimentary ma-
nure remaining finally undiminished.

So far as to the absolute permanency of putrescent or alimentary ma-
nures supplied by nature. Next let us see whether the same reasoning,
and also experience, so far as yet obtained, do not in like manner prove the
permanency of putrescent manures applied after calcareous manures. The
poor soil just presented for illustration, while having its natural alimentary
ingredient and its natural supply of lime thus balanced and proportioned
to each other, was supposed to produce at the rate of 10 bushels of corn
to the acre, and to remain at or near that rate of productive power.
Suppose then marl to be applied in such quantity as would give enough cal-
careous earth to combine with twice as much new alimentary matter as the
soil before held. Suppose further, that the soil so marled is not left to draw
and store up this now needed stock of alimentary manure by its newly
increased power, (and as would be done in due time, if under favorable
circumstances of tillage,) but that so much putrescent manure is applied
to the soil, gradually and judiciously, as can be combined with and held by
the supply of calcareous earth ; and that such addition of manure gives to

1 1 \ki.mi s , nci i-2i

Hi.- s..ii a power t.i produce 10 bushels ol corn. Issoonas this combina-
tion is completely made, the soil Is in precisely the sa condition as to its

newly increased rate a! product of 30 bushels, as before to that of 10
bushels; and the new and larger supply of putrescent manure must be as
permanent as was the natural and smaller supply.

Bat it is not contended that the mere application of vegetable or other
putrescent manure, under such circumstances, secures the permanency of
..f nil thus applied, but only ol somui and is combined

with the' calcareous earth. And many circumstances may and do usually
obstruct the immediate and complete combination taking place To ensure
the perfect and full result, the intermixture of the calcareous and the pu-
trescent matters, and in due proportions, must be perfect, and no excess of
the latter remain any where in the soil; the putrescent matter must also be
in the particular state of decomposition (whatever that may be) to enter
into combination ; and moreover there must be enough and equally diffused
moisture, without which no chemical combination can take place. Now as
some and probably all these conditions must necessarily be deficient in
every case of applying putrescent matters to marled land.it must follow
that much of the list remain uncombined for some length of

time; and during that time is as liable to be wasted and exhausted as if
in any other soil.' And hence, and the more as the dressing is lavish, farm-
yard and stable manure so applied must be expected fcd yield more fox the
first and second year, while the excess is wasting, than afterwards. But
after this first waste and exhaustion has been sulfercd, whatever of the
manure remains to the soils, say for the next ensuing rotation at latest,
must be fully combined with and fixed in tlie soil, and will be permanent
for all future time, under proper, judicious, and also the most profitable
course bf cropping. This first waste probably cannot be entirely prevent-
nt can be much lessened by care. And to this end, putrescent ma-
nure should not be applied heavily at once, but lightly, and repeated subse-
quently, and should be well scattered and equally diffused over the ground.
Its subsequent decomposition being Blow, and the ; dually

as well as surely presented I infused previously throughout

the soil, will also tend to remove as much as possible of the manure from
the condition of being fleeting and wasting, to that of being fixed and
permanent

Next let us see how far facts and experience sustain this reasoning. It
is readily admitted that the time since marling was commenced in Virginia.
and since correct views of the action of calcareous manures were enter-
tained and act.d on in any case, has been too short to furnish decided
proofs. But so far as accurate facts can thus be referred to, they fully
sustain the foregoing doctrine, not only of the permanency of calcareous
manures, but also of putrescent manures in combination therewith. Some
of these facts will I ally.

However in accordance with (be theory of the action of calcareous
manures, this absolute permanency of effect given thereby to putrescent
manures was not at first counted on or expected, and was not known
until it was forced on my observation by long continued results. My
own practice is not only the oldest, but is all that f can refer to for ,
And until all my marling was completed, and indeed for some time after,
but little care was used by me to make and apply putrescent manures.
This culpable neglect was the result of the habits caused by the disappoint-
ments and losses experienced in manuring long before. From the same
ignorance and c un ipect, no experiments on the durability

of putrescent manures were made until long after, and then injudiciously

122 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

Thus, in the three experiments 4, 9, and 11, the putrescent manure applied
was in quantity much too great for the calcareous earth to combine with at
once, even if the recent and irregular scattering of both kinds of manure
had not prevented their meeting in proper proportions. For like reasons, of
all the putrescent manures applied on the farm, and since larger quantities
have been used, there is much more of early than continued effect. Still, so
far as known and believed, there is always more or less of abiding effect,
and which I infer will be permanent.

But wider scope for. observation lias been afforded in the increasing pro-
ductiveness of all the marled lands, kept under what was deemed not too
frequent tillage. Neither has the tillage been always mild, nor the rotation
uniform, and latterly the grain crops have been made more frequent
than before, and much more grazing permitted. Still, even where no
prepared putrescent manures have ever been applied, and putrescent mat-
ters have been furnished only from the growth of the land itself during its
share of rest in each course of crops, there has been a regular increase of
productiveness of the grain crops, in every successive rotation. In one
connected clearing, of what I found as poor forest land, now making 85
acres, the marling was commenced in 1818, and has been continued, as the
successive clearings extended, to 1841. The earliest effects of the applica-
tions were always satisfactory, but they have regularly and largely increased
with time. Thus, when under the last crop of corn, (in 1839,) the crop on
the last finished marling, though perhaps thereby nearly doubled in product,
was obviously and considerably less than that of four to six years earlier —
that again as inferior to that of the marling of ten to fifteen years — and the
crop on the marling of 1821 and earlier, decidedly the best of all, under
circumstances otherwise equal. For the limited time of 23 years, and
without any careful and accurate experiment or observation having been
made for this special object, there could not well be stronger practical
proof of the permanency of the vegetable manures stored up by the marl.

If we keep in mind the mode by which calcareous manure acts, its
effects may be anticipated for a much longer time than my experience ex-
tends. Let us trace the supposed effects, from the causes, on an acid soil
kept under meliorating culture. As soon as applied, the calcareous earth
combines with all the acid then present, and to that extent is changed to
the vegetable salt of lime. The remaining calcareous earth continues to
take up the after formations of acid, and (together with the salt so pro-
duced) to fix putrescent manures, as fast as these substances are present-
ed, until all the lime has been combined with acid, and all their product
is combined with putrescent matter. Both those actions then cease. Dur-
ing all the time necessary for those changes, the soil has been regularly
increasing in productiveness ; and it may be supposed that before their
completion, the product had risen from ten to thirty bushels of corn to the
acre. The soil lias then become neutral. It can never lose its ability
(under the mild rotation supposed) of producing thirty bushels— but it has
no power to rise above that product. Vegetable food continues to form^
but is mostly wasted, because the salt of lime is already combined with as
much as it can act on ; and whatever excess of vegetable matter remains
in the soil, is kept useless by acid also newly formed, and left free and
noxious as before the application of calcareous earth. But though this
excess of acid may balance and keep useless the excess of vegetable mat-
ter, it cannot affect the previously fixed fertility, nor lessen the power of
the soil to yield its then maximum product of thirty bushels. In this state
of things, sorrel may again begin to grow, and its return may be taken as
notice that a new marling is needed, and will afford additional profit, in the

t U.CAREOUS MANUKAS— PRACTICE. J.^j

same manner as before, by destroying the last formed acid, and fixing the
last supply Of vegetable matter. Thus perhaps live or ten bushels more
may be added to the previous product, and a power given to the soil gra-
dually to increase as much "more, before it will stop again for similar rea-
sons, at a second maximum product of forty or fifty bushels. I pretend
not to lix the time necessary for the completion of one or mure of these
gradual changes; but as the termination of each, and the consequent ad-
ditional marling, will add new profits, it ought to be desired by the farmer,
instead of his wishing that his first labor Qf marling each acre may also
be the last required. Every permanent addition of five bushels of corn, to
the previous' average crop, will more than repay the heai that

have yet been encountered in marling. But whether a second application
of marl is made or not, I cannot imagine such a consequence, under judi-
cious tillage, as the actual decrease of the product once obtained. My
earliest marled land has been severely cropped, compared to the rotation
supposed above, and yet has continued to improve, though at a slow rate.
The part first marled, in 1818, had only four years of rest in the next fif-
teen ; anil yielded nine crops of grain, one of cotton, and one year clo-
ver twice mowed. This piece, however, besides being sown with gypsum,
(with little benefit,) once received a light cover of rotted corn-stalk ma-
nure. The balance of the same piece of land (Exp, 1 ) was marled for the
crop of 1821 — has borne the same treatment since, and has had no other
manure, except gypseous earth once, (in 1830,) which acted well. These
periods of twelve and fifteen years (even though now extended to and
confirmed by nine years more of experience) are very short to serve as
grounds to decide on the eternal duration of a manure. But it can scarce-
ly be believed that the effect of any temporary manure, would not have
been somewhat abated by such a- course of severe tillage. Under milder
treatment, there can be no doubt that there would have been much greater
Improvement

If subjected to a long course of the most severe cultivation, a soil could
not be deprived of its calcareous ingredient, whether natural or artificial :
but though still calcareous, it would be, in the end, reduced to barrenness,
by the exhaustion of its vegetable matter. Under the usual system of ex-
hausting cultivation, marl certainly improves the product of acid soils, and
may continue to add to the previous amount of crop, for a considerable
time ; yet the theory of its action instructs us, that the ultimate result of
marling, under such circumstances, must be the more complete destruction
of the land, by enabling it to yield all its vegetable food to growing plants,
which would have been prevented by the continuance of its former acid
state. An acid soil yielding only five bushels of corn may contain enough
food for plants to bring fifteen bushels — and its production will be raised to
that mark, as soon as marling sets free its dormant powers. But a calca-
reous soil reduced to a product of five bushels, can furnish food for no
more, and nothing but an expensive application of putrescent manures, can
render it worth the labor of cultivation. Thus it is, that soils, the improve-
ment of which is the most hopeless without calcareous manures, will be
the most certainly improved with profit by their use.

I '

124 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

CHAPTER XIII.

THE EXPENSE AND PROFIT OP MARLING.

Proposition 5 — concluded.

At this time there are but few persons among us who doubt the great
benefit to be derived from the use of marl : and many of those who ten
years ago deemed the practice the result of folly, and a fit subject for ridi-
cule, now give that manure credit for virtues which it certainly does not
possess; and from their manner of applying it seem to believe it a univer-
sal cure for sterility. - Such erroneous views have been a principal cause
of the many injudicious and even injurious applications of marl. It is as
necessary to moderate the ill-founded expectations which many entertain,
as to excite the too feeble hopes of others.

The improvement caused by marling, and its permanency, have been
established beyond question. Still the improvement may be paid for too
dearly — and the propriety of the practice must depend entirely on the
amount of its clear profits, ascertained by fair estimates of the expenses
incurred.

With those who attempt any calculations of this kind, it is very common
to set out on the mistaken ground that the expense of marling should bear
some proportion to the selling price of the land : and without in the least
under-rating the effects of marl, they conclude that the improvement cannot
justify an expense of six dollars on an acre of land that would not pre-
viously sell for four dollars. Such a conclusion would be correct if the
land were held as an article for sale, and intended to be disposed of as soon
as possible : as the expense in that case might not be returned in imme-
diate profit, and certainly would not be added to the price of the land by
the purchaser, under present circumstances. But if the land is held as a
possession of any permanency, its previous price, or its subsequent valua-
tion, has no bearing whatever on the amount which it may be profitable to
expend for its improvement. Land that sells at four dollars, is often too
dear at as many cents, because its product will not pay the expense of cul-
tivation. But if by laying out for the improvement ten dollars, or even
one hundred dollars to the acre, the average increased annual profit would
certainly and permanently -be worth ten per cent, on that oost of improve-
ment, then the expenditure would be highly expedient and profitable. We
are so generally influenced by a rage for extending our domain, that ano-
ther farm is often bought, stocked and cultivated, when a liberal estimate
of its expected products, would not show an annual clear profit of three
per cent. : and any one would mortgage his estate to buy another thousand
acres, that was supposed fully capable of yielding ten per cent, on its price.
Yet the advantage would be precisely the same, if the principal money was
used to enrich the land already in possession, (without regard to its extent,
or previous value,) with equal assurance of its yielding the same amount
of profit. i

Nothing is more general, or has had a worse influence on the state of
agriculture, than the desire to extend our cultivation and landed posses-
sions. One of the consequences of this disposition has been to give an
artificial value to the poorest land, considered merely as so much territory,

* This was in 1SS1, when these remarks were first printed. They are less applicant
now than formerly.

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. 125

while various causes h.e. I to depress the price of all good soils

much below their real worth. \\ hatever .1 farm will sell for fixes its value
as merchandise; but by no means ia it a fa of its value as per-

ineuria farming 1 apitaj.

Tiir true value of land, and also ofady permanent improvements to
land, 1 would estimate in the following manner. Ascertain as nearly as
possible the average cleai and permanent annua] incomp, and the land is
worth as much money as would securely yield thai amount ol income, in the
form of interest — which may be considered as worth six percent. For exam-
ple, if afield brings ten dollars average value of crops to the acre, in the
course of a four-shift rotation, and the average expense oi every kind neces-
sary to carry on the cultivation is also ten dollars, then the land yields no-
thing, and is worth nothing. If the average clear profit was but two dollars
and forty cents in the term, or only sixty cents a year, it would raise the
value of the land to ten dollars; and if six dollars could be made annually,
clear of all expense, it is equally certain that one hundred dollars would be
the fair value of the acre. Vet if lands of precisely these rates of profit were
offered for sale at this time, the poorest would probably sell for four dollars,
and the richest for less than thirty dollars. In like manner, if any field, that
paid the expense of cultivation before, has its average annual net product
increase. 1 six dollars for each acre, by some permanent improvement, the
value thereby added to the field is one hundred dollars the acre, without
rd to its former worth. L,et the cost and value of marling be com-
plied by this rule, and it will be found that the capital laid out in that mode
of improvement will seldom return an annual interest of less than twenty
percent.— that it will more often reach to forty— and sometimes exceed one
hundred per gent of annua] and permanent interest on the investment.
The application of this rule for the valuation of such improvements will
them to such an amount, that the magnitude of the sum may be
uffictent contradiction ol my estimates. Hut before this mode
of estimating values - rejected, merely for. the supposed absurdity of an
acid soil being considered as raised from one dollar, or nothing, to thirty
dollars, or more, per acre, by a single marling, let it at least be examined
and its tall, n |

If the reader will accompany me through some detailed estimates of va-
lues, and arithmetical calculations, in regard to the grounds of which we
cannot differ, the truth of the result which 1 claim will be made manifest,
however startling and monstrous they may appear to some persons at first
glance.

Assuming as sound and unquestii - timatmgthe

intrinsic value ol lai irally in the last paragraph, let us illus-

trate the position more particularly. The print iple of valuation is that the
land is worth to its proprietor and cultivator such sum of money as would

yield in annual in; amount as the net annual product of the

land, offer paying lor all labor, attention, expenses and risks, [further, to
simplify the calculation, and* also to suit the course of culture to the more
general practice of the country, let us suppose the laud in question to be
cultivated under the ordinary three-shift rotation, of 1st, corn. 2nd, wheat, (or
oats.i 3rd, at rest, with no grazing when the land is poor, and with but par-
tial .md : or mowing of clover) when improved or rich.

Then suppose a field of the poor und thin soil most common in lower
Virginia, under this treatment for some years previously, to produce, on
the general average, In bushels of corn to the acre, and j bushels of wheat,
or its equivalent value of oats; and the value of the coin, at the barn,
to be 50 cents the bushel, and of the wheat 91. And let the joint and total
16

J26 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

expenses of preparation, tillage, seed, harvesting, thrashing, Sec., for
market, (or for home use,) and of superintendence and care of both the
corn and wheat or oat crops, be counted as being over and above the value
of the offal (stalks, straw, &c.) of the crops, by SI 0 for the two years. Then
the full statement will be as follows :
First year, product in corn per acre, 10 bushels, at 50 cents - S5

Second year, wheat, 5 bushels, at t 1 , 5

Third year, no crop or profit, and no expense, .... 0

Total product of the three-years' rotation. - - - - S10
Cost of cultivation, &c., of the crop, 10

Xet profit, 00

However wretched may be the foregoing exhibition of products, it will
be admitted to be abundantly liberal by all persons acquainted with lower
and middle Virginia, for a very large proportion of the cultivated lands.
Yet such lands might sell at prices varying from S3 to S6 the acre, and that
without a view to their being improved, and even before calcareous ma-
nures were thought of as means for improvement. Yet the conclusion
is evident, that such land, no matter what may be its then selling price,
(or speculative appreciation caused by the effects of paper-money and
fraudulent bank issues,) is worth not one cent for cultivation, or for the be-
nefit of the proprietor and cultivator.

Next, suppose the land in question to be properly marled, and at the un-
usually heavy expense of S7 the acre. This rate is more than double the
usual expense for a full and sufficient dressing, when the marl is obtained
on the farm where applied. Suppose also that the increase of products.
as shown in the second course of the rotation, (beginning three years after
the application,) is equal to 100 per cent, on the production previous to
marling. This estimate is quite low enough, as all experience has shown.
Upon such land, and so treated, this degree of increase may very often be
obtained upon the first crop of the first course ; and, even if no auxiliary
means of enriching be afterwards used, the rate of increase will be more and
more for each of sundry succeeding courses of crops thereafter. Then let
us test the value of the returns by figures as before :
First year, product in corn per acre, 20 bushels, at 50 cents, - $10

Second year, wheat, 10 bushels, at $1, 10

Third year, clover most of it left as manure to the land, and no

profit counted here, -■---.... 00

20

Total expenses of cultivation, &c, as before, in two years, - 10

Net product, or clear profit of cultivation in the term of three

years, $10

This is all so much increase of net annual product upon the previous
rate; and the amount, S3.33 yearly, is the interest, (at 6 per cent.,) of
something more than a capital of 855. And therefore, according to these
grounds of estimate, S55 per acre is the increase of intrinsic value given
to the land by marling alone, or S4S the clear gain made by the operation,
after deducting S7 paid for the marling of the land; and this without regard
to what might have been its previous intrinsic value, or its former or its
present market price. The more rigidly this mode of estimate is scruti-
nized, the more manifestly true will be found the results. The premises as-
sumed, in the supposed effects and profits of marling, will not be objected to

•

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE. 127

(unless as being too low) by any person who is well informed by practice
and experience.

But there is one important apparent omission of a proper charge in the
last statement of expenses. This is the i tillage, har-

vesting, &C., caused by- the crop being ddubledin quantity. This is cer-
tainly a lair ground of charge; and, if estimated alone, would serve to
reduce considerably the statement of increased net product, and conse-
quently of increased value of lartd. But there were also omitted Sundry
items oif Increased production, which together would undoubtedly much
more than compensate for the Increase ol labor in tilling a deeper and
richer soil, and in harvesting, removing and preparing for sale or use,
a double quantity ol" crop. These items of gain are, first, the additional
oflal, in corn-stalks, fodder and shucks, and wheat or oat straw, and chaff"—
I, the limited proportion of clover grazed or mowed— and third, the
further gradual increase of crops, in subsequent time. Probably the first
class of items alone would balance the increased expense of labor; if not,
the addition o( the second (the clover) certainly would be enough. And
if that be doubted, the subsequent annual increase upon the first doubling
of the crops (which only is estimated above) will not only furnish a fund
to meet any such deficiency, but also will greatly, and beyond any calcula-
tion here attempted, augment the whole profit of marling, and consequently
the intrinsic value of the land to the proprietor.

I admit the practical difficulty of applying this rule for estimating the
value of land, or of its improvement, however certain may he its theore-
tical truth. It is not possible to fix on the precise clear profit of any farm
to its owner and cultivator; and any error made in these premises is in-
creased sixteen and two-third times in the estimate of value founded on
them. Still we may approximate the truth with most certainty by using
this guide. The early increase of crop from marling will, in most cases, be
an equal increase of clear profit, (for the subsequent improvement and the
additional offal will surely pay for the increase of labor— ) and it is not very
difficult to lix a value for that actual increase of crop, and thereby to esti-
mate the value of the improvement, as farming capital."

This mode of valuing land, under a dilferent form, is universally re-
I as correct in England. Cultivation there is carried on almost en-
tirely by tenants ; and the annual rent which any farm brings, on a long
lease, fixes beyond question what Is its annual clear profit to the owner.
The price, or value of land, is generally estimated at so many "years' pur-
chase," which means as many years' rent as will return the purchaser's
money. There, the interest of money being lower, increases the value of
land according to this mode of estimation ; and it is generally sold as hiL*h
as twenty years' purchase. My estimate is less favorable for raising the
value of our lands, as it fixes them at sixteen and two-thirds years' pur-
chase, according to our higher rate of interest on money.

Bat though this rule for estimating the true value of land, and of the
improvements made by marling, may be unquestionable in theory, still a
practical objection will be presented by the well known fact that the income
and profits of farmers are not increased in proportion to such improve-
ments, nor is there found such a vast disproportion as this rule of estimat-
ing values would show, between the profits of the tillers of poor and of
rich lands. These positions are admitted to be generally well founded —
hut it is denied that they invalidate the previous estimates A fanner may,

• No <l"erpc of uncertainty in the application, however, detract* from ita troth I
if the annual average net pfbfit derived from marling be considered as an unknown quan-
tity (x), it is not therefore the less certain that r X lfif = the increased intrinsic value of
the land.

J2f CALCAREOUS MAMM.--1 I..,, i K>.

and generally does, obtain less gross product from a large or a rich farm,
than his more necessitous, and therefore more attentive and economical
neighbor gets from a smaller or poorer farm, in proportion to the producing
power of each ; and even the same persons, when young and needy, have
often made more profit according to their means, than afterwards when
relieved from want, and having lands increased to a double power of
production. These, and similar facts, however general, are only examples
of the obvious truth, that the profits of land depend principally on the in-
dustry, economy, and good management of the cultivator ; and that many
a farmer, who can manage well a small or poor farm, is more deficient in
industry, economy, or the increased degree of knowledge required, when
possessed of much more abundant resources. In short, if these considera-
tions were to direct or influence our estimates, we should not be comparing
and estimating the value of lands, but the value of the care and industry
bestowed on their management by their proprietors.

Another objector may ask, '• If any poor land is raised in value, (accord-
ing to this estimate,) from one dollar to thirty, by marling, would a purchaser
make a judicious investment of his capita), by buying this improved land
at thirty dollars'" I would answer in the arfirmative, if the view was
confined to this particular means of investing farming capital. The pur-
chaser would get a clear interest of six per cent. — which is always a good
return from land, and is twice as much as all lower Virginia now yields.
But if such a purchase is compared with other means of acquiring land so
improved, it would be extremely injudicious ■. because thirty dollars expend-
ed in purchasing and marling suitable land, would serve both to acquire and
improve, to as high a value, five or six acres.

Estimates of the expenses required for marling are commonly erected
on as improper grounds as those of its profits. We never calculate the
cost of any old practice. We are content to clear wood-land that after-
wards will not pay for the expense of tillage — to keep under the plough
laDd reduced to five bushels of corn to the acre— to build and continue to
repair miles of useless and perishable fences — to make farm-yard manure,
(though not much of this fault,) and apply it to acid soils — without once
calculating whether we lose or gain by any of these operations. But let
any new practice be proposed, and then every one begins to count its cost ;
and that on such erroneous premises, that if applied to every kind of farm
labor, the estimate would prove that the most fertile land known could
scarcely defray the expenses of its cultivation.

According to estimates made with much care and accuracy, the cost of
an uncommonly expensive job of marling, 4036 bushels in quantity, in
1 5 - 4 . amounted to $5.35 the acre, for 595 bushels of marl. This quantity
was much too great ; 400 bushels would have been quite enough for safety
and profit, and would have reduced the whole expense, including every
necessary preparation, to $3.50 the acre. The earth which was taken off,
to uncover the bed of marl, was considerably thicker than the marl itself.
The road from the pit ascended hills amounting to fifty feet of perpendicu-
lar elevation — and the average distance to the field was S4T yards. The
full estimates of these operations will be presented in the next chapter.

It is impossible to carry on marling to advantage, or with any thing
like economy, unless it is made a regular business, to be continued through-
out the year or a specified portion of it, by a laboring force devoted to that
purpose, and not allowed to be withdrawn for any other. Instead of pro-
ceeding on this plan, most persons, who have begun to marl, attempt it in
the short intervals of leisure afforded between their different Arming
operations — and without lessening for this purpose the extent of their usual

CALCAREOUS MANURES PJiACTICE. i->;i

eultivatfbn. Let us suppose ih.it the preparations have been made, and, on
the first opportunity, a (arjner commences marling with zeal and spirit. But
ever} new laboi is attended by causes of difficulty and delay, and a full
share of these will be found In the first fewdayso! marling. There!

■oft, lor want of previous use, and, if the least wet, s becomes miry.

The horses, unaccustomed to carting, balk at the hills, or only carry half
loads. < Ither difficulties occur from the awkwardness of the laborers and
the Inexperience of their master, and still more from the usual Tin willing-
ness of his overseer to devote any labor to improvements which arc not
ted to add to the crop of that year. Before matters can get straight,
the leisure time is at an end ; and the work is stopped, and the road and pit
arc lefl ti> get "in of-order, before making another attempt, some six months
after, when all the same vexatious difficulties air again in be encountered.

If only a single horse is employed in drawing marl through
year, at the moderate allowance of two hundred working days, and one
hundred bushels carried out for each, his year's work will amount to
twenty thousand bushels, or enough for more than sixty acres. This alone
would be a great object effected. But, besides, this plan would allow the
profitable employment of any amount of additional labor. When, at any
time, other teams and laborers could be spared to assist, though for only a
few days, everything is ready for them to go immediately to work. The
pit is drained, the road is firm, and the field marked oil for the loads. In
this way much labor may be obtained in the course of the year, from
trams that would otherwise he idle, and laborers whose other employments
would lie of hut little importance. The spreading of marl on the field is
a job that will always he ready to employ any spare labor ; and throwing
oil the covering earth from an intended digging of marl may be done
when rain, snow, or severe cold has rendered the earth unfit for almost
every other kind of labor.

Another interesting question respecting the expense of this improvement
is, to what distance from tile pit may marl he profitably carried 1 If the
amount of labor necessary to carry it half a mile is known, it is easy to
calculate, how much more will be required for two or three miles. The
cost of teams and drivers is in proportion to the distance travelled, but the
pit and field labors are not affected by that circumstance. At present, when
so much poor land, abundantly supplied with fossil shells, may be bought
at from two dollars to four dollars the acre, a farmer had better buy and
marl a new farm, than to move marl even two miles to his land in posses-
sion.* But this would be merely declining one considerable profit, for the
purpose of taking another much greater. Whenever the value of marl shall
be properly understood, and our lands are priced according to their improve-
ment, or their capability of being improved from that source, as must
be the case hereafter, then this choice of advantages will no longer be
offered. Then rich marl will be profitably carted miles from the pits, and

* This statement of prices, though correct wlien tir-t published, is no longer so.
Borne htlle land may yet be so low; but, in genet of lands having marl

have already advanced front Si) to 100 p I cent within IS years. The lowest ol the
above named prices n • the former minimum rate. The various tracts of

land in Jatnea City county belonging to Mrs. ParadU in sold

some 12 or 14 years ago, brought prices that averaged only aboul 81 26 the acre. Most
of the lands were poor, but easily improvable, and all having plenty of rich marl. One
of the tracts of that description, of son acres, was bought it "."> cents the acre; and
after being held for three or four years, without being in any respect improved,
NSold by the purchaser for S'- Si) the acre. Where marl has been actuallj applii
increased intrinsic or productive value of the hind always considerably exceeds the in-
creased market price, even though II loubled of tripled

130 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACH

perhaps conveyed by water as far as it may be needed. A bushel 01
marl as the bed on James river, described page 92, is as rich in calcareous
earth alone, as a bushel of slaked lime will be after it becomes carbonateJ.
and the greater weight of the first is a less disadvantage for water car-
riage, than the price of the latter. Farmers on James river, who have
used lime as manure to great extent and advantage, might more cheaply
have moved rich marl twenty miles by water, as it would cost nothing but
the labor of digging and transportation.

Within the short time that has elapsed since the first publication of the
foregoing passages in the first edition of this essay, the transportation of
marl by water carriage has been commenced on James river, and has been
carried on with more facility and at less expense than was anticipated.
The farmers who may profit by this new mode of using marl will be in-
debted to the enterprise of C. H. Minge, esq., of Charles City, for having
made the first full and satisfactory experiment of the business on a large
scale.

Since the publication of the last edition, the transportation of marl by
water-carriage has been carried on much more extensively. But very re-
cently another source for obtaining calcareous manures has been opened to
the farmers of lower Virginia, which they think cheaper than either trans-
porting marl or burning shells, and they are availing of it to great extent.
This is northern stone-lime, which is brought in bulk, ready slaked, and
sold by the vessel load at prices varying from S to 10 cents the bushel.
Slaked lime, even if pure, from its extreme lightness, cannot be as much to
the bushel as rich marl contains of pure lime, even though the marl may
have 30 per cent, of other earths. Therefore the lime is much the most costly,
as marl may be procured and transported at from 3 to 5 cents the bushel.
Still, the lime is so much more readily obtained in large quantities, and a farm
can by that means be so much more speedily covered, that the purchase of
lime is often the more desirable and also the more profitable operation of
the two.

In making this improvement, more than in any other business. " time is
money." Marling is usually effected by the farmer's labor, whereas the ex-
pense of liming is mostly in the purchase. By the use of water-borne marl,
few farmers could dress a fourth of their tillage field in a year, whereas by
purchasing lime the whole field might be limed, and the whole farm cover-
ed in one-fourth of the time required for marling. If then the lime were
even thrice the cost of marl, (for equal quantities of pure lime,) it would
still be the cheapest mode of improvement, because yielding its products
in one-fourth of the time required for marling. The difference of amount
of net product in the first crop, between an acre marled or limed, and
another acre not so improved, would usually pay the cost of marling or
liming the acre. Therefore, on every acre cultivated by any farmer, and
not marled or limed until after making the crop, there is as much loss of
crop suffered by the delay, as would have paid for making the improve-
ment.

The objections to carrying marl unusual distances, admitted above,
apply merely to improvements proposed for field culture. But it would be
profitable, even under existing circumstances, for rich marl to be carried
five miles by land, or one hundred miles by water, for the purpose of being
applied to gardens, or other land kept under perpetual tillage, and re-
ceiving frequent and heavy coverings of putrescent manure. In such
cases, independent of the direct benefit which the calcareous earth might
afford to the crops, its power of combining with putrescent matters, and
preventing their waste, would be of the utmost importance. If the soil

i All AM nl s MANURES-PRACTICE. 1 3 ]

is acid, the making it calcareous will enable half tin- usual supplies of
manure to he more effective and durable than tin' whole had been. There
are other uses lor mar), about dwelling houses and in towns, which should
Induce its being carried much farther than mere agricultural purposes

would warrant. 1 allude to the use of calcan s earth in preserving pu-

ii matters, and thereby promoting cleanliness and health. This
important subject will hereafter he separately considered.

ESther lime or g I marl may hereafter lie profitably distributed over a

remote strip of poor land, by means of the rail-road now constructing from
Petersburg to the Roanoke [1831]; provided the proprietors do not imitate
the over greedy policy of the legislature of Virginia in imposing tolls on
manures passing through the James river canal. II' there were no object
whatever in view hut to draw the greatest possible income from tolls on
canals and roads, tine policy would direct that all manures should pass
from town to country toll free. Every bushel of lime, marl, or gypsum
thus conveyed, would lie the means of bringing hack, in future time, more
than as much wheat or corn; and there would be an actual gain in tolls,
besides the twenty-fold greater increase to the wealth of individuals and
the state. Wood-ashes, after being deprived of their potash, have calca-
reous earth, and a smaller proportion of phosphate of lime, as their only
fertilizing ingredients; and both together do not commonly make more
than there is of calcareous earth in the same hulk of good marl. Yet
drawn ashes have heen purchased largely from our soap factories, at five
cents the bushel, and carried by sea to be sold for manure to the farmers of
Long Island. Except for the proportion of phosphate of lime which they
in, drawn ashes are simply artificial marl — more fit for immediate
action, by being finely divided, hut weaker in amount of calcareous earth
than our best beds of fossil shells.

The argument in support of the several propositions which have been
discussed through so many chapters, is now concluded. However un-
skilfully. I Hatter myself that it has been effectually used ; and that the
general deficiency in our soils of calcareous earth, the necessity of supply-
ing it, the profit by that means to be derived, and the high importance of
all these considerations, have been established too firmly to be shaken by
either arguments or facts.

CHAPTER XIV.

ESTIMATES Ol' THE COST 0P LABOR APPLIED TO MARLINn.

Before we can estimate with any truth the expense of improving land
by marling, it is necessary to fix the fair cost of every kind of labor ne-
cessary for the purpose, and for a length of time not less than one year.
We very often hear guesses pf how much a day's labor of a man, a hi
or a wagon and team, may he worth — and all are wide of the truth, be-
they are made on wrong premise-, or no premises whatever. The
only correct method is to reduce every kind of labor to its elements — and
to fix the co>t of every particular necessary to furnish it. This I shall
attempt ; and if my estimates are erroneous in any particular, other persons
letter informed may easily correct my calculation in that respect, and make
the necessary allowance on the final amount. Thus, even my mistakes in

.

$38

00

7

80

78

9

IMI

$17
1

3

1

2

58
05

IS

00

44
75
50

53

7 19

|32 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

the grounds of these estimates, will not prevent true and valuable results
being derived from them.

The following estimates were made in 1828, according to the prices of
that year. I shall make no alteration in any of the sums, because there is
no considerable difference at this time, (January 1832,) and the least altera-
tion would make it necessary to change the after calculations founded on
them. But no one estimate will suit for years of different prices. If any
one desires to know the value of labor when corn (for example) is higher
or lower, he must ascertain the difference in that item, and add or deduct,
so as to correct the error.

Cost of the labor of a negro man in 1828.

I •' ire for the year, payable at the end,
Food— 19 J bushels of corn at 40 cents,

Add 10 per cent, for waste in keeping,

Meat and fish, &c.

Interest for one year on $17 58, paid for food,

Clothing— 6 yards coarse woollen cloth, at 50 cents,
12 yards cotton, for summer clothes and two

shirts, at 12 cents,
Blanket at SI 50, once in two years— yearly,
Shoes and mending,

Taxes — State, 47 cents— county 47 — poor 33— road,

suppose 1 dollar, 2 27

His share of expense of quarters, fuel, and

sending to mill, 4 50

Nursing when sick, (exclusive of medical aid,) 1 50 '

8 27

$72 09
Add 20 per cent, on the whole of the above for cost
of superintendence, waste, wanton damage
to stock, tools, &c. and thefts, 14 41

Total expense per year, $86 50

Time lost— Sundays and holidays, 58 days
Bad weather and half

holidays, suppose 20
Sickness, suppose 10

Making in all 88

From 365, deduct 88, leaves 277 working days; which makes the cost
of each working day 3 1 1 cents.

The hire was fixed at the average price obtained that year for ten or
twelve young men hired out at the highest bids, for field labor. According
to the established custom, all the expenses of medical attendance, and loss
of time from the death of a slave occurring when he is hired, are paid, or
deducted from the hire by the owner, and therefore are omitted in this es-
timate. By supposing the slave to be hired by his employer, instead of
being owned, the calculation is made more simple, and therefore more correct.

$12 00

12

95

6

50

7

19

7

78

$46

37

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE. 133

Cost of the labor of a negro woman.

Hire for the year,

Food,

Clothing, blanket, and shoes, ....

Taxes, quarters, fuel, mill, nursing, fto.

Add 80 per coat as before, for superintendence, &c,

Total yearly cost,

Suppose lost time, 100 days, leaves working days 265, at 17 J cents for
each.

Nearly all the women who are usually hired out are wanted by persons
having few or no other slaves, as cooks, or for some other employment at
which they are more useful than at field labor— and their price is nearer
fifteen dollars in these cases. But when there is no demand for such pur-
poses, women for field labor will not bring more than twelve dollars.

A boy of twelve or thirteen would hire for more than the foregoing
estimate of the hire of a woman, but would not lose half the time from
sickness and bad weather, and therefore may be supposed to cost the same
per day, or seventeen and a third cents. A girl of fourteen or fifteen years,
for similar reasons, may be put at the same price.

Cost of the labor of a horse.

First cost of a good work horse, $80 00— supposed to

last five years at work, makes the yearly wear, - $16 00
Interest for one year on $30 00—84 80— tax, 12 cents, 4 92

90 bbta. of corn at $2 00—3,500 lbs. of fodder at 50

cents the hundred,

Add 10 per cent for waste in keeping,

Interest on 969 25, for one year,
share of yearly expense for corn-house,

Total year]* cost,

95'

50

5

;:.

63

::<

>::

79

47

4

26

■-

188

IS

Lost time, '.is .lays, leaves 263 working days, at .S3 cents nearly.

A mule eats less corn than a horse, but more hay, and lives longer, and
may be considered as costing one-fifth less, or yearly cost, .«70 00, and
dairy, 26J cents,

A tumbrel for marling, « ill 1 est n hen new . 126 00
It will lasl two yean, or (what is the same thing) il thai mho will

pay for all repairs, fba two yean, its weai pel year, is
Interest on «^.r> 00 for a year, 1 50

' i.M 1 • ,

And at •.!<'>? working days— cost per day five cents.

1 1 the estimate of the cost ol horse labor, no charpe is made for attend-
ance, because that is part of the labor of the driver, and forms part ol
hit expense No charge is made for grousing, be ause enough corn and hay
17

j 34 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

are allowed for every day in the year— and when grass is part of his food,
more than as much in value is saved in his dry food. No charge is made
for stable or litter, as the manure made is supposed to compensate those
expenses.

It may be supposed that the prices fixed for corn, and fodder or hay, are
too low for an average. Such is not my opinion. The price is fixed at
the beginning of the year, when it is always comparatively low, because it
is too soon for purchasers to keep shelled corn in bulk, and the market is
glutted. Besides, the allowance for waste during the year's use (10 per
cent.) makes the actual price equal to two dollars and twenty cents on
July 1st. The nominal country price of corn in January is almost always
on credit— and small debts for corn are the latest and worst paid of all.
The farmer who can consume any additional portion of his crop, in employ-
ing profitable labor, becomes his own best customer. The corn supposed
to be used, by these estimates, is transferred on the first of January, with-
out even the trouble of shelling or measuring, from A. B. corn-seller, to A.
B. marler, and instantly paid for. Two dollars per barrel at that early
time, and obtained with as little trouble, from any purchaser, would be a
better regular sale than the average of prices and payments have afforded
for the last eight years.

Cost of marling, founded on the foregoing estimates of the cost of labor.

From the beginning of November, 1823, to the 31st of May, 1824, a re-
gular force, of two horses and suitable hands, was employed in marling on
Coggins Point, on every working day, unless prevented by bad weather,
wet and soft roads, or some pressing labor of other kinds. The same two
horses were used, without any change, and indeed they had drawn the
greater part of all the mar) carried out on the farm, since 1818. The best
of the two was seventeen years old— both of middle size, and both worse
than any of my other horses, which were kept at ploughing.

The following estimates were made on a connected portion of this time
and labor, and upon my own personal observation and notes of the work,
from the beginning to the end. It was very desirable to me to know the
exact cost of some considerable job of marling, attended with certain
known difficulties, and on any particular mode of estimating the expense ;
for although the same degree of difficulty, and of cost of labor, might never
again be met with, still, any such estimate would furnish a tolerable rule
to apply, in a modified form, to any other undertaking of this kind. These
estimates may be even more useful to other persons ; as they will ser ve
generally to prove that the greatest obstacles to the execution of this im-
provement are less alarming, and more easily overcome, than any inexpe-
rienced persons would suppose.

Both these jobs were attended with uncommon difficulties, in the unusual
thickness of the superincumbent earth, compared to that of the fossil shells
worth digging, and on account of the distance, and amount of ascent, to the
field. The first job was so much more expensive than was anticipated,
that it may perhaps be considered as a failure— but as the account of its
expense had been kept so carefully, it will be given just as if more success
and profit had been obtained. This work was commenced April 14th,
1824. The bed of marl for the upper six feet of its thickness is dry and
firm, though easy to dig, and rich. It has an average strength of 45 per
cent., the shells mostly pulverized, and the remaining earth more of clay
than sand. After being carried out, the heaps appear, to a superficial ob-
server, to be a coarse loose sand. Below six feet, the marl became so

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE. 135

poor as not to be worth carrying out, and was not used except when Use
distance was very short. Its strength was less than 2(1 percent. The bed
at first was exposed on the surface, near the bottom ofa steep hfll-side; but
as a large quantity bad been taken out, and several successive cuts made
into the face of the hill some years before, the covering earth was Increased
on the space now to be cleared, so as to vary between eight and sixteen
feet, and I think averaged between eleven and twelve. The situation of
the marl and road required that a clear cart-way should be made as low as
the intended digging ; and therefore nearly all of the earth was to be
moved by a scraper, and was thrown into the narrow bottom at the foot of
the hill. This earth served thus to form an excellent causeway across the
valley, which made part of the road in the next undertaking. All this marl
runs horizontally, and the layers of different qualities are very uniform in
their thickness. The greater part of the covering earth is a hard clay, or
impure fuller's earth, which was difficult to dig, and still more so for the
scraper to take up and remove. Part was thrown off by shovels, and
served to increase a mound made by former operations, within the circle
around which the scraper was drawn.

LaJ>or used in digging and tailoring earth.

■1 days' labor of 9 men, at 31 i cents each, ....

•1 <> women, i , ,-,

2 boys, j ^ Wi cents,

■1 1 young girl at 15, and 1 old man at 25,

l 8 oxen, (the scraper being drawn by I half the

day, which then rested and ".Mazed while the others worked

the other half of the day,) at I. r, cents each, ....

Add 80 cents for wear of scraper, boes, and shovels, -

$11

25

5

55

1

60

4

BO

80

Total, • $21 00

The price allowed for the oxen is much too high for the common work,
and so much rest allowed ; but they work so seldom at the scraper, that
both the men and the oxen are awkward, and the labor is very heavy, and
even injurious to the team.

Lnl>or of digging and carrying out the marl.

Three tumbrels were kept at work on this job and the next, a good mule
being added to the regular carting force— and no time was lost from April
20th to May 31st, except when carts broke down, (which was very often,
owing to careless driving, and worse carpentry,) or when bad weather
compelled this labor to stop. One man dug the marl and assisted to load ;
another man loaded, and led the cart out of the pit, until he met another
driver returning from the field, to whom he delivered the loaded cart and
returned to the pit with the empty one. Of the two other drivers, one was
a boy of sixteen, and the other twelve years old— the youngest only was
liermitted to ride back, when returning empty. The distance to the nearest
part of the work (measured by the chain) was nine hundred and two
yards, and to the farthest one thousand and forty-five adding two-tMi
tli'' different irest for the average distance, makes nine hundred

and ninety-seven yards. Tin' ascent from the pit, by a road formerly cut

1 35 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

and well graduated for marling, was supposed to be twenty-five feet in
perpendicular height ; and every trip of the carts, going and coming, crossed
a valley supposed to be fifteen feet deep, and both sides forming a hill-
side of that elevation.

When only four and a half feet of the marl had been dug, a large mass
of earth fell into the pit, covered entirely the remaining one foot and a half
of marl, and stopped all passage for carts. To clear away this obstruction
would have cost more labor than the remaining marl was worth, and
therefore this pit was abandoned. This happened on May 10th, when six
hundred and ninety-nine loads had been carried out, and the work done
was equal to thirty-six days' work ol one cart, (by adding together all the
working time of each,) which was nineteen and a half loads for the ave-
rage daily work of each cart, or fifty-eight for the three. The average size
of the loads, by trial, was five and a half heaped bushels; and the weight,
one hundred and one pounds the bushel. It was laid on at one hundred
and four loads, or five hundred and seventy-two bushels the acre.

Labor employed for 699 loads, or 3844 bushels.

2 men at 31i cents, .... 62A

2 boys at 19 cents, .... 38

2 horses at 33 cents, .... 66

1 mule at 26£ cents, .... 26£

3 carts at 5 cents. 1 5
Tools at 3 cents, 3

Daily expense, or for 58 loads, $2 1 1

Digging and carting 699 loads at the same rate, ... §25 43

Add the total expense of removing earth, - - - - 24 00

$49 43
Spreading at 50 cents the 100 loads, 3 50

Total expense, $52 93

Which makes the cost per bushel, 1 25-100 cents.
per load, (5J) 7
per acre, of 572 bushels, $7 85

This marl was laid on much too thick for common poor land, and one
fourth of the body uncovered was lost by the falling in of the earth. If
one fourth of the expense of uncovering the marl was deducted on ac-
count of this loss, it would reduce the whole expense nearly one eighth.

As soon as the carts were stopped in the work just described, they were
employed in moving earth from similar marl, across the ravine. The
thickness, strength, and other qualities of the marl, on both sides, are not
perceptibly different. A large quantity had also been formerly dug on this
side, but the land being lower, the covering earth was not more than ten
feet where thickest, and the average was eight and a half or nine feet. To
make room for convenient working, and a large job, an unusual space was
cleared, ten to fourteen feet wide, and perhaps fifty or more long. The
shape of the adjoining old pits compelled this to be irregular. The greater

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE. | 37

part of the earth was of the same hard fuller's earth mentioned as b
on the other side— and the upper part of this was still worse, being in
woods, and the digging obstructed by the roots and trees.

Labor used in digging and removing the earth.

. -

- 6 24

50
I 80
8 oxen, for the scraper as before, each team at rest half

the day, 5 days, at 15 cents, 6 00

3 horses and carts, li days, at 38 cents, - - - 171
Add for damages to scraper and other utensils, - - - Mi.j

ti men

G

days,

at 31 i cents,

5 women

G

)

1 woman

1

> at \~h cents,

2 boys

5

s

1 old man

2

25 cents,

2 girls

6

15 cents,

Total cost of moving earth, 827 48J

Enough of the earth was carried by the carts to the dam crossing the
ravine, to raise the road as high as the bottom of the intended pit. The
balance was thrown into the valley wherever most convenient. Only a
small proportion, perhaps one third, could be thrown off, without being
carried away by the earts and scraper.

The loads were carried to the same field, and by the same road as from
the former digging. The first hundred and ninety-one loads served to
finish the piece begun before, of which the average distance was nine
hundred and ninety-seven yards; all the balance was carried to land ad-
joining the former, eight hundred and forty-seven measured yards from
the pit.

The loads were ordered to be increased to six bushels, which was as
much as the carts (without tail-boards) could hold, without waste in ascend-
ing the hills; but as the loaders often fell below that quantity, I suppose the
average to have been five and three fourths heaped bushels, or five hundred
and eighty-one pounds.

The tumbrels were kept constantly at this work, except when some of
the land was too wet, or for some other unavoidable cause of delay. All
the space which the old pits occupied, and over which the road passed, be-
ing composed of tough clay thrown from later openings, and which had
never become solid, was made miry by every heavy rain, and caused more
loss of time, than would usually occur at that season. The same four
laborers, and two horses and one mule, employed as before, and their daily
work was as follows :

May 13th, began the new pit

1 3th, 2 carts all the day, and 1 for 2 hours only, (afterwards 1 i

otherwise employed,) 47 loads. I

1 lth, 2 " half the day, then employed otherwise— ( 1 horse

idle) 21 If

15th, 3 " 61

16th, Sunday.

17th, 3 " finished most distant work with - - -62 | •'•

191 ji

J38 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE

Brought forward, loads 191

And the same day began nearest work with - - - 4

May 18th, 3 carts for 4 hours (stopped by heavy rain,) - 22
19th and 20th, 3 carts at work elsewhere, on drier land.

21st, 3 " again marling, 75

22d, rain, no work done by horses.

23d, Sunday.

24th, 1 " at other work.

25th, 3 " asain marling, 74

26th, 3 " 75

27th, 3 " 72

28th, 3 » 72

29th, 3 " (shafts of one broken and repaired,) - - 64
30th, Sunday.

31st, 3 " until rain at 4 P. M. 53

511

702 J

After this stoppage, the horses were put to ploughing the corn, that the
cultivation might be sufficiently advanced to use all the laborers in harvest,
which began on the 1 1 th of June. As near as I could determine by in-
spection, and a rough cubic measurement, about one half of the uncovered
marl was then dug and carried out As the remainder was not dug until
August, when I was absent from home, I have no more correct means of
ascertaining these proportions ; and shall according to this supposition
charge half the actual cost of the whole uncovering of earth, to this sup-
posed half of the marl which formed this last operation.

The list of days' work shows that the average number of loads per day,
at eight hundred and forty-seven yards, was twenty-four and a half for
each cart, which made twenty-three and a half miles for the day's journey
of each horse. The first four days' work finished the farthest piece, of
which the average distance was nine hundred and ninety-seven yards— but
this part of the work was on the nearest side of that piece, and at less than
that average distance. I shall not make any separate calculation, for these
hundred and ninety-one loads, but consider all as if carried only eight hun-
dred and forty-seven yards.

The daily cost of the laboring force, 2 men, 2 boys, 2 horses,
and 1 mule, was before estimated at §2 11 — which served to
carry out 73£ loads, or 422 bushels. At that rate, (to May
31st,) 702 loads, or 4036 bushels, cost, ... - 320 15
Add half the expense of uncovering, (half the marl still remain-
ing not dug,) * 13 74

For spreading, at 3 \\ cents per hundred loads, ... 2 183

Total cost of 4036 bushels laid on, - - - 836 07 \

Which makes the cost per bushel, 9 mills nearly.
And per acre, at 104 loads, or 598 bushels. 85 34J

Or, at 400 bushels, which would have been a sufficient, and much

safer dressing, per acre, 83 57J

In 1828, at Shellbanks, Prince George county, a very poor, worn, and
hilly farm, I commenced marling, and in about four months finished 120$
acres at rates between 230 and 280 bushels per acre. The time taken up
in this work was five days in January, and all February and March, with

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE 139

two carts at work— and from the r.th of August to the 27th of September,
with a much stronger force. I kept a very minute journal of all these ope-
rations, showing the amount "I labor employed, and of loads carried out
during the whole time. It would be entirely unnecessary to state here any
thing more than the general amounts of labor and its expense, after the
two particular statements just submitted. At Shellbanks, the difficulties of
opening pits were generally less, the average distance shorter, and the re-
duced state of the soil, and the strength of the marl, made heavy dressings
dangerous. These circumstances all served to diminish the expense to the
acre. The difficulties, however, at some of the pits, were very great,
owing to the quantity of water continually running in, through the loose
fragments of the shells ; and almost every load was carried up some high
hill. Taking every thing into consideration, I should suppose that the labor
and cost of this large job of marling will be equal to, if not greater than
the average of all that may be undertaken, and judiciously executed, on
farms having plenty of this means for improvement, at convenient distances.
The whole cost of this large job was as follows :
Preparatory work, including uncovering marl, cutting and re-
pairing the necessary roads, and bringing corn (from another
farm) for the teams — digging, carrying out, and spreading
6892 loads of marl, (4 J heaped bushels only, because of the
steep hills, and sometimes wet marl,) on 120J acres, - g258 38

At the average rate of 57i loads, or 259 bushels per acre, the

average expense was, to the acre, 2 08

To the load, .... 3 cents and 63-100ths,
And to the bushel, ... 0 83-lOOths.

When the preceding edition of this essay was published, (in 1835,) the
transportation of marl by water had been but recently commenced. Since,
the business has been greatly increased. But still it is badly conducted in
general, and therefore is much more costly than it would be under better
and proper direction. Farmers are averse to being engaged in the manage-
ment of vessels, or any other business away from their farms, and therefore
they have always preferred to buy the marl from vessels, even at higher
prices, rather than to have it dug by their own laborers and transported in
their own vessels. And this division of labor would be right in all respects
if the owners of the river lighters were better managers of their business,
and their hands were industrious and sober. For rich marl thus obtained
and transported, the prices at the purchasers' landings have usually been
from 1 to 5 cents the heaped bushel. And at these high prices, the lazy
and worthless and illy provided navigators have rarely realized any pro-
fit The highest price charged for marl, in beds on the river banks, is a
half cent the bushel. Under existing circumstances, the cheapest and best
mode of obtaining water-borne marl is for the farmer to also carry on the
dicing and the navigating. And if the several operations were properly
conducted, the entire expense of water-borne marl, say 10 to 30 miles, will
rarely exceed three cents the bushel when landed, and under favorable cir-
cumstances may fall short of two cents. Collier H. Minge, Esq., of Charles
City, and Dr. Corbin Braxton, of KiiiL' William county, who have carried on
this business extensively, and for years in succession, for marling their own
Ecu 111s, have furnished me with careful and detailed estimates of their expenses,
which have been published at length in the Farmers' Register, p. .""» < > 7" vol. i.
and p 691, vol viii.) According to the estimate of Mr. Bftinge, the entire cost
of thus procuring marl, carried 15 miles on the broad water of James river,
amounted to less than two cents the heaped bushel, when landed. And

140 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

Dr. Braxton's total expense, the transportation being for eight miles on the
narrow and smooth Pamunkey, was but little more than half a cent the
bushel, placed at his landing. No charge was made for the marl in either
case, but every other charge or expense was included. The labor and
difficulties on James river, both of uncovering and digging the marl
(at Coggins Point) and unloading (on a shallow creek) were unusually
great; and on the Pamunkey these labors were very light. A vessel and
also a mode of loading, safe in strong winds, were necessary on James
river ; while no such danger had to be feared, or was guarded against, on
the well sheltered Pamunkey river. So much of the business in both these
cases, as was conducted from home, necessarily was wanting of proper
superintendence ; and, no doubt, both of these undertakings suffered for
that important deficiency, as in all cases where labor is on a small scale of
operations, and more especially when slave labor is employed.

CHAPTER XV.

THE USE OF CALCAREOUS EARTH RECOMMENDED TO PRESERVE PUTRESCENT MA-
NURES, AND TO PROMOTE CLEANLINESS AND HEALTH.

The operation of calcareous earth in enriching barren soils has been
traced, in a former part of this essay, to the chemical power possessed by
that earth of combining with putrescent matters, or with the products of
their fermentation — and in that manner preserving them from waste, for
the use of the soil, and for the food of growing plants. That power was
exemplified by the details of an experiment, (page 60,) in which the carcass
of an animal was so acted on, and its enriching properties secured. That
trial of the putrefaction of animal matter in contact with calcareous earth,
was commenced with a view to results very different from those which
were obtained. Darwin says that 7iiti-ons acid is produced in the process
of fermentation, and he supposes the nitrate of lime to be very serviceable
to vegetation* As the nitrous acid is a gas, it must pass off into the air,
under ordinary circumstances, as fast as it is formed, and be entirely lost.
But as it is strongly attracted by lime, it was supposed that a cover of
calcareous earth would arrest it, and form a new combination, which, if
not precisely nitrate of lime, would at least be composed of the same ele-
ments, though in different proportions. To ascertain whether any such
combination had taken place, when the manure was used, a handful of the
marl was taken, which had been in immediate contact with the carcass,
and thrown into a glass of hot water. After remaining half an hour, the
fluid was poured off, filtered, and evaporated, and left a considerable pro-
portion of a white soluble salt, (supposed eight or ten grains.) I could not
ascertain its kind— but it was not deliquescent, and therefore could not have
been the nitrate of lime. The spot on which the carcass lay was so strong-
ly impregnated by this salt, that it remained bare of vegetation for several
years, and until the field was ploughed up for cultivation.

But whatever were, the products of fermentation saved by this experi-
ment, the absence of all offensive effluvia throughout the process sufficient-
ly proved that little or nothing was lost, as every atom must be, when
flesh putrefies in the open air ; and I presume that a cover of equal thick-
ness of clay, or sand, or any mixture of both, without calcareous earth,

* Darwin's Phytologia, pp 210 and 224 Dublin edition.

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. j^j

would have had very little effect in arresting and retaining the aeriform
products ni putrefaction. All the circumstances 01 this experiment, and
particularly the good effect exhibited by the manure when put to use, prove
the propriety of extending a similar practice. In the neighborhood of

towns, or wherever else the carcasses of animals, or any other animal sub-
stances' subject i" rapid and wasteful putrefaction, can be obtained in
quantity, all (heir enriching powers might be secured, by depositing
between layers of marl, or calcareous garth in, any other form. < >n the1
borders ol the Chowan, ntities of Herrings are often usi

manure, When purchasers cannot take ofl the myriads supplied by the
seines. A herring is buried under each corn-hill, and fine crops are thus
made as far as this singular mode of manuring is extended. 13nt what-
ever benefits have been thus derived, the sense of smelling, as well as the
known chemical products of the process of animal putrefaction, make it
certain that nine-tenths of all this rich manure, when so applied, must.be
wasted in tin- air. II those who fortunately possess this supply of animal
manure would cause the fermentation to take place and be completely
mixed with and enclosed by marl, in pits of suitable size, they would in-
■ prodigiously both the amount and permanency of their acting ani-
mal manure, besides obtaining the benefit ol the mixed
with it.

But without regarding such uncommon or abundant sources for sup*
plying animal matter, every fanner may considerably increase his stock
of putrescent manure by using the preservative power of marl; and all
the substances that might be so ;aved are not only now lost to the land,
but .serve t" con tan i white putrefying, and perhaps to engender

ies< The last i of most importance to towns, though

worthy of attention every where, Whpever will make the trial will be
surprised to find how much putrescent, matter n 1,1 the

dwelling-house, kitchen, and laundry of a family i and which if accumu-
lated (without mixture With calcareous earth. 1 Wi itne SO offen-
sive as to prove the necessity ol putting an end to the practice. Yet it
must be admitted that when all such matte ed about, (as is
usual both in town and country 1 over an extended surface, the same putre-
faction must ensue, and the same noxious effluvia be evolved, though not
enough concentrated to be very dfiensive, or even always perceptible.
The same amount is inhaled — but in a very diluted state, and in small

But if mild calcareous earth in any
form (and fossil shells or marl present much the cheapest) is ii>-c<\ to cover
and mix with the putreso I, they will be prevented

firom d ! to enrich the soil. A

malignant and ever acting enemy will be converted to a hiend and bene'
factor.

The usual dispersioh and Waste Of such putrescent and e .a icmeiitilious

matters about a farm house, though a considerable loss (o agriculture, may
take p| ., e io the senses, or manifestly in-

jurious to health. But thi ly different in towns. There, unless

great care is continually used to remove or destroy filth of every kind, 11
soon becomes offensive, if not pestilential. During the summer ol
when that raosj horrible 1 e human race, the Lsiatl< cholera,

was desoiat: 1 nited States, and all exp 1 ted to

•ted by its fatal ravases, great and unusual exertions were
where used to remove and prevent the accumulation of filth, which, ii
iiiowed to remain, -.1 would in vittf the approach, and aid

pestilence. The efforts made for that purpose served to -how
IS

j 42 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

what a vast amount of putrescent matter existed in every town, and which
was so rapidly reproduced, that its complete riddance was impossible. Im-
mense quantities of the richest manures, or materials for them, were washed
away into the rivers — caustic lime was used to destroy them — and the
chloride of lime to decompose the offensive products of their fermentation,
when that process had already occurred. All this amount of labor and ex-
pense was directed to the complete destruction of what might have given
fertility to many adjacent fields — and yet served to cleanse the towns but
imperfectly, and for a very short time. Yet the object in view might have
been better attained by the previous adoption of the proper means for pre-
serving these putrescent matters, than by destroying them. These means
would be to mix or cover all accumulations of such matters with rich marl,
(which would be the better for the purpose if its shells were in small parti-
cles.) and in such quantity as the effect would show to be sufficient. But
much the greater part of the filth of a town is not, and cannot be accumu-
lated ; and from being dispersed- is the most difficult to remove, and is
probably the most noxious in its usual course of fermentation. This would
be guarded against by covering thickly with marl the floor of every cellar
and stable, back yard and stable lot. Every other vacant space should be
lightly covered. The same course pursued on the gardens and other culti-
vated grounds would be sufficiently compensated by their increased products
that would be obtained. But independent of that consideration, the ma-
nures there applied would be prevented from escaping into the air; and
being wholly retained by the soil, much smaller applications would serve.
The level streets ought also to be sprinkled with marl, and as often as cir-
cumstances might require. The various putrescent matters usually Jeft in
the streets of a town alone serve to make the dirt scraped from them a
valuable manure; for the principal part of the bulk of street dirt is com-
posed merely of the barren clay brought in upon the wheels of wagons
from the country roads. Such a cover of calcareous earth would be the
most effectual absorbent and preserver of putrescent matter, as well as the
cheapest mode of keeping a town always clean. There would be less
noxious or offensive effluvia than is generated in spite of all the ordinary
means of prevention ; and by scraping up and removing the marl after it
had combined with and secured enough of putrescent matter, a compost
would be obtained for the use of the surrounding country, so rich and so
abundant, that its use would repay a large part, if not the whole of the ex-
pense incurred in its production. Probably one covering of marl for each
year would serve for most yards, cellars, &c. ; but if required oftener, it
would only prove the necessity for the operation, and show the greater
value in the results. The compost that might be obtained from spaces
equal to five hundred acres, in a populous town, would durably enrich thrice
as many acres of the adjacent country ; and after twenty years of such a
course, the surrounding farms might be capable of returning to the town a
ten-fold increased surplus product. After the qualities and value of the
manure so formed were properly estimated, it would be used for farms that
would be out of the reach of all other calcareous manures. Carts bringing
country produce to market might with profit carry back loads of this com-
post eight or ten miles. The annual supply that the country might be fur-
nished with would produce very different effects from the putrescent and
fleeting manure now obtained from the town stables. Of the little durable
benefit heretofore derived from such means, the appearance of the country
offers sufficient testimony. At three miles distance from some of the prin-
cipal towns in Virginia, more than half the cultivated land is too poor to
yield any farming profit. The surplus grain sent to market is very incon-

CALCAREOUS MANOKES PKACTICE. 143

siderable— and the coarse hay from the wet natural meadows can only be
sold to tavern-keepers, or those who Feed horses belonging to other persons
— and to whom that hay is the st desirable that is least likely to be eaten.

But even if the waste and desti uction ol manure in tow ns were counted
as nothing, and the preservation ol health by keeping the air pure were
the only object sought, still calcareous earth, .is presented by rich marl,
would serve the purpose far better than quick-lime. It is true that the lat-
ter substance acts powerfully In decomposing putrescent animal matter,
and destroys its texture and qualities so completely, that the operation is
commonly and expressively called "burning" the substances acted on.
But to use a sufficient quantity of quick-lime to meet and decompose all
putrescent animal matters in a town would be intolerably expensive, and
still more objectionable in other respects. If a cover of dry quick-lime in
powder was spread over all the surfaces requiring it for this purpose, the
town would be unfit to live in ; and the nuisance would be scarcely less,
when rain had changed the suffocating dust to an adhesive mortar. Wool-
len clothing, carpets, and even living flesh, would be continually sustaining
injury from the. contact. No such objections would attend the use of mild
calcareous earth ; and this could he obtained probably for less than one-
fifth of the cost of quick-lime, supposing an equal quantity of pure calca-
reous matter to be obtained in each case. At this time the richest marl on
James river may be obtained at merely the cost of digging, and its carriage
by water, which, if undertaken on u large scale, could not exceed, and pro-
bably would not equal, two cents the bushel.*

The putrescent animal matters that would be preserved and rendered
innoxious by the general marling of the site of a town, would be mostly
such as are so dispersed and imperceptible that they would otherwise be
entirely lost. But all such as are usually saved in part would be doubled
in quantity and value, and deprived of their offensive and noxious qualities,
by beiim kept mixed with calcareous' earth. The importance of this plan
being adopted with the products of privies, fcc., is still greater in town than
country. The various matters so collected and combined should never be
applied to the soil alone, as the salt derived from the kitchen, and the potash
and soap from the laundry, might be injurious in so concentrated a form.
When the pit for receiving this compound is emptied, the contents should
be spread over other and weaker manure, before being applied to the field.

Towns might furnish many other kinds of rich manure, which are now-
lost entirely. Some of these particularly require the aid of calcareous
earth to be secured from destruction by putrefaction, and others, though
not putrescent, arc equally wasted. The blood of slaughtered animals,
and the waste and rejected articles of wool, hair, feathers, skin, horn and
bones, all are manures of great richness. We not only give the flesh of
dead animals to infect the air, instead of using it to fertilize the land, but
their bones, which might be so easily saved, are as completely thrown away.
Bones are composed of phosphate of lime and gelatinous animal matter,
and, when crushed, form one of the richest and most convenient manures
in the world. They are shipped in quantities from the continent of Europe,
and latterly even from this country, to be sold for manure in England.
The fields of battle have been gleaned, and their shallow graves emptied
for this purpose: and the bones of the ten thousand British heroes, who fell
on the tield of Waterloo, are now performing the less glorious, but more
useful purpose of producing, as manure, bread for their brothers at home.

* Such was the case id 1833 when this part was first published ; but now a half eenl
the bu<hrl is th<> usual price charged for th* best marl, a' it h»? in the river bank'.

» a

144 CALCAREOUS &LANORES— 1 I

There prevails a vulgar but useful superstition, that there is " bad luck"
in throwing into the lire any thing, however small may be its amount or
value, that can serve for the food of any living animal. It is a pity that
the same belief does not extend to every thing that as manure can serve ti i
feed growing plants— and that even the parings of nails and clippings of
beards are not saved (as in China) for this purpose. However small each
particular source might be, the amount of all the manures that might be
saved, and which are now wasted, would add incalculably to the usual
means for fertilization. Human excrement, which is scarcely used at all in
this country, is stated to be even richer than that of birds; and if all the
enriching matters were preserved that are derived not only from the food.
but from all the habits of man, there can be no question but that a town of
ten thousand inhabitants, from those sources alone, might enrich more land
than could be done from as many cattle.

The opinions here presented are principally founded on the theory of
the operation of calcareous manures, as maintained in the foregoing part
of this essay, but they are also sustained to considerable extent by facts
and experience. The most undeniable practical proof of one of my po-
sitions is the power of a cover of marl to prevent the escape of all offen-
sive effluvia from the most putrescent animal matters. Of this power I
have made continued use for about eighteen months, and know it to be
more effectual than quicklime, even if the destructive action of the latter
was not objectionable. Quick-lime forms new combinations with putrescent
substances, and, in thus combining, throws off effluvia, which, though
different from the products of putrescent matter alone, are still disagreea-
ble and offensive. Mild lime on the contrary absorbs and preserves every
thing — or at least prevents the escape of any offensive odor being perceived.
Whether putrescent vegetable matter is acted on in like manner by calca-
reous earth cannot be as well tested by our senses, and therefore the
proof is less satisfactory. But if it is true that calcareous earth acts by
combining putrescent matters with the soil, and thus preventing their loss,
(as I have endeavored to prove in chapter viii.) it must follow that, to
the extent of such combination, the formation and escape of all volatile
products of putrefaction will also be prevented.

But it will be considered that the most important inquiry remains to be
answered, to wit : Has the application of calcareous manures been found
in practice decidedly beneficial to the health of the residents on the land!
I answer, that long experience, and'the collection and comparison of nume-
rous facts derived from various sources, will be required to remove all
doubts from this question ; and ft would be presumptuous in any individual
to offer as sufficient proof, the experience of only ten or twelve years on
any one farm. But while admitting the insufficiency of such testimony, I
assert that, so far, [to 1S33,] my experience decidedly supports my position.
My principal farm, until within some four or live years, was subject in a re-
markable degree to the common mild autumnal diseases o( our low
country. Whether it is owing to marling, or other unknown causes, these
bilious diseases have since [to 1S33] become comparatively very rare.
Neither does my opinion in this respect, nor the facts that have occurred
on my farm, stand alone. Some other persons are equally convinced of
this change on other land as well as on mine. But in most cases where I
have made inquiries as to such results, nothing decisive had then been ob-
served. The hope that other persons may be induced to observe and re-
port facts bearing on this important point has in part caused the appear-
ance of these crude and perhaps premature views.

Even if my opinions and reasoning should appear sound, I am aware

CALl

that tin ipplication is not i< ind that the

scheme of using marl in towns is more likely to be me! by ridicule, ti.
receive a serious and attentive examination. Notwithstanding this an-
ticlpation, and however hopeless of m I Individuals

or of corporate bodies, I will ofifer a few concluding remarks on the
obvious objections to, and benefits of the plan. The objections will
all be resolved into one — namely, the exp ncoiintered. The

expense certainly would be considerable ; but it would I m pen-

sate l by the gains and benefits, (n the first place, the general use of marl
as proposed, for towns, would serve to insure cleanliness, and purity of the
air, more than all the labors of their hoards of health and their scaven
even when acting under the dread of approaching pestilence Secondly,
the putrescent manures produced in towns, by being merely preserved
from waste, would ed ten-fold in quantity and value. Thirdly,

all existing nuisances and abominations of filth would be at an end; and
the beautiful city of Richmond (for example) would not give offence to our
nostrils, almost as often as it offers gratification to our eyes. Lastly, the
marl, (or mild lime,) after being used until saturated with putrescent matter,
would retain all its first value as calcareous earth, and be well worth
purchasing and removing to the adjacent farms, independent of the enrich-
ing manure with whi( h it would be loaded. If these advantages can indeed
be obtained, they would be cheaply bought at any price necessary to be
encountered for the purpose.

The foregoing part of this chapter was first published in the Farmers'
-ter, (for July, 1833,) as supplementary to the previous edition of this
essay. That publication drew some attention from others to the subject,
served to elicit many important facts, of which I had been before
altogether ignorant, in support of the operation of calcareous earth in
arresting the effects of malaria, or the usual autumnal diseases of the
southern states and other similar regions. These facts, together with the re-
sult of my own personal experience, extended through two more autumns,
(or sickly seasons, as commonly called here and farther south.) since the
first publication of these views, will now be submitted. Most of the facts

derived from other pert ne regiqn, the "'rotten lime-stone

lands" of southern Alabama; but that region is extensive, is of remarkable
and well known character and peculiarities, and the evidence comes from
various sources, and is full, and consistent in purport. The facts will be
here presented in an abridged form. The several more full communica-
tions, from which they are drawn, may be referred to in the Farmers' Regis-
ter, vol. i., pp. 152, 214 an

The first fact brought out was that, in the town of Mobile near the
Golf of Mexico, the streets actually had been paved or covered with shells
— thus presenting precisely such a case as I recommended, though not with
any view to promoting cleanliness or health. The shells had been used
merely as a substitute fir stones, which could not be so cheaply obtained.
Nor had the greatly Improved healthiness of Mobile, sini • were

so covered, (of which there is the most ample and undoubted testing
been attributed to that cause, until the publii foregoing opinions

■■•I to connect them as cause and effect. This can scarcely be doubted
by those who will admit the theory of the action of calcareous earth ; and
the remarkable change from unhealthiness in Mobile, to comparative healthi-
iii'", is a very Strong exemplification of the truth of the theory. But
it is not strange, when so many other causes might (and probably did)
operate to arrest disease, that none should have considered the chemical
operation of the shelly pavement as one of them, and still less as the one

146 CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE

by far the most important. The paving of streets, (with an/ material,)
draining and filling up wet places, substituting for rotting wooden buildings
new ones of brick and stone — and especially the operation of destructive
and extensive fires— all, we know, operate (and particularly the last) to im-
prove the healthiness of towns ; and all these operated at Mobile, as well
as shelling the streets. Neither was the shelling so ordered as to produce
its best effect for health. The streets, alleys, and many yards and small
vacant lots were covered, and so far the formation and evolving of pesti-
lential effluvia were lessened. But as this was not the object in view, and
indeed the chemical action of shells was not thought of, the process was in-
complete, and must necessarily have been less effectual than it might have
been made. The shelling ought to have been extended to every open spot
where filth could accumulate — to every back yard, in every cellar, and
made the material of the floor of every stable, and every other building of
which the floor would otherwise be of common earth. In addition, after
a sufficient lapse of time to saturate with putrescent matters the upper part
of the calcareous layer, and thus to make it a very rich compound, there
should have been a partial or total removal of the mass, and a new coating
of shells laid down. The value of the old material, as manure, would pro-
bably go far towards paying for this renewal. If it is not so renewed, the
calcareous matter cannot combine with more than a certain amount of pu-
trescent matters ; and, after being so saturated, can have no further effect
in saving such matters for use, or preventing them from having their usual
evil course.

The burning of towns is well known to be a cause of the healthiness of
the places being greatly improved, and that such effect continues after as
many buildings, or more, have replaced those destroyed by fire. Indeed
this improvement is considered so permanent, as well as considerable, that
the most sweeping and destructive conflagrations of some of our southern
towns have been afterwards acknowledged to have proved a gain and a
blessing. The principal and immediate mode of operation of this univer-
sally acknowledged cause is usually supposed to be the total destruction,
by the fire, of all filth and putrescent matters ; and in a less degree, and
more gradually, by afterwards substituting brick and stone for wooden
buildings, which are always in a more or less decayed state. But though
these reasons have served heretofore to satisfy all, as to the beneficial con-
sequences of fires, surely they are altogether inadequate as causes for such
great and durable effects. The mere destruction of all putrescent matters
in a town, at any one time, would certainly leave a clear atmosphere, and
give strong assurance of health being improved for a short time afterwards.
But these matters would be replaced probably in the course of a few
months, by the residence of as many inhabitants, and the continuance of
the same general habits ; and most certainly this cause would lose all its
operation by the time the town was rebuilt. But there is one operation
produced by the burning of a town, which is far more powerful — which in
fact is indirectly the very practice which has been advocated — and the
effect of which, if given its due weight, furnishes proof of the theory set
forth, by the experience of every unhealthy town which has suffered much
from fire. If a fair estimate is made of the immense quantity of mild calca-
reous earth which is contained in the plastering and brick- work of even the
wooden dwelling-houses of a town, and still more of those built of ma-
sonry, it must be admitted that all that material being separated, broken
down, (soon or late,) and spread, by the burning of the houses and pulling
down their ruins, is enough to give a very heavy cover of calcareous earth
to the whole space of land burnt over. It is to this operation, in a far

i

CALCAKEOl'S MANURES-l'UACTICE.

147

greater degree than to all others, that I attribute the beneficial effects to
health of the burning of towns.

I proceed to the lacts derived from the extensive body of prairie lands in
Alabama which rest on a substratum of soft lime-stone, or rich indurated
clay marl. It was from these remarkable soils that the specimens were
obtained which were described at pp. 42, 48. Borne of these, indeed all that
have been examined by chemical tests, of the high and dry prairie lands,
contain calcareous earth in larger proportions than any soils of considera-
ble extent in the United States that I have seen or testeJ. The specimens
not containing free calcareous earth are of the class of neutral soils ; and
the calcareous earth, which doubtless they formerly contained, and from
which they derived their peculiar and valuable qualities, may be supposed
only to be concealed by the accumulation of vegetable matter, according
to the general views submitted in chapter vii. The more full descriptions
of the soils of this remarkable and extensive region before referred to
render it unnecessary to enlarge much here. It will be sufficient to sum
up concisely the facts there exhibited — and which agree with various other
private accounts which have been received from undoubted sources of
information. The deductions from these lacts, and their accordance with
the theory of the operation of calcareous matter, are matters of reasoning,
and, as such, are submitted to the consideration and judgment of readers.

The soil of these prairie lands is very rieh, except the spots where the
soft lime-stone rises to the surface, and makes the calcareous ingredient
excessive. In the specimen formerly mentioned, the pure calcareous matter
formed 59 parts in the 100 of this "bald prairie" land. The soil generally
has so little of sand, that nothing but the calcareous matter which enters
so largely into its composition prevents it being so stiff and intractable,
that its Ullage would be almost impracticable; yet it is friable and light
when dry, and easy to till. But the superfluous rain water cannot sink
and pass off, as in sandy or other pervious lands, but is held in this close
and highly absorbent soil, which throughout winter is thereby made a deep
mire, unlit to prepare for tillage, and scarcely practicable to travel over.
This water-holding quality of the soil, and the nearness to the surface of
the hard and impervious marly substratum, deprive the country of natural
springs and running streams; and before the important discovery was
made that pure water might be obtained by boring from 300 to 700 feet
through the solid calcareous rock, the inhabitants used the stagnant rain
water collected in pits, which was very far from being either pure or pala-
table. Under all these circumstances, added to the rank herbage of
millions of acres annually dying and decomposing under a southern sun,
it might have been counted on, as almost certain, that such a country
would have proved very unhealthy. Yet the reverse is the fact, and in a
remarkable degree. The healthiness of this region is so connected with
and limited by the calcareous substratum and soil, that it could not escape
observation ; and they have been considered as cause and effect by those
who had no theory to support, and who did not spend a thought upon the
mode in which was produced the important result they so readily admitted.
Their testimony therefore is in this respect the more valuable, because it
cannot be suspected of having any such bias.

To the time when this last publication is made, (1842,) there has been
no reason to doubt the actual facts of autumnal diseases (the effects of
malaria) being greatly lessened by even the partial use of marling; nor
the inference that they would almost cease to occur, (if no mill-ponds and
undrained lands remained,) if all the surface of a considerable extent of
country were made calcareous, and all rapidly putrescent and otherwisr

J 48 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

offensive matter were preserved and kept harmless by being combined
with marl, applied from time to time as required. But it should be re-
membered that, as yet, rapid and extensive as has been the progress of
marling in Virginia, there has been no instance of the greater part of any
whole neighborhood of so much as a few miles in extent being marled ;
nor even of all the surface of any one farm; and that, therefore, we have
no means of judging by experience of the full measure of benefit to be
derived from such a general change of the character of the soil. The
most that has yet been done any where is the marling of all the cultivated
and arable land ; leaving unmarled, and as much as ever the abundant
sources of vegetable decomposition and of disease, all the wood-land, hill-
sides, and the wet bottoms. Now, as the remaining wood-lands are
generally among the poorest of our soils, that is, (according to the theory
maintained,) soils incapable of combining with and retaining the products
of decomposition — and as they are covered annually with leaves, which in
time all rot and their gaseous products finally pass off into the air— it fol-
lows, that the lands so left are among the most fruitful of malaria. It is
obvious that the remedy is but partially and inefficiently in operation, so
long as from one third to one half of every farm is left unmarled, and as
free as ever to evolve the agent of disease. So sure does this opinion seem
to me, that I have commenced acting on it, by marling the wood-land that
is not designed to be cleared for cultivation — and shall continue, as more
necessary labors permit, to do so, until not an acre of the farm is left with-
out being changed in character by calcareous earth.

It is proper to add, as an opinion founded on but limited experience as
yet, that though the cases of sickness on Coggins Point farm have cer-
tainly diminished very greatly— there not being one case of late years of
bilious diseases, where there were twenty formerly— still that the diseases
seem to have changed in kind, and to have increased in severity and danger.
Formerly, there was almost no sickness except from ague and fever, (or,
very rarely, a case of mild bilious fever,) from which, though few persons
escaped through the autumn, and some suffered several relapses, the
attacks were rarely dangerous, and required little skill, and but a few
days to cure, for that time. Bad as was this state of things, it seemed that
the ague and fever acted as a safely- valve to the system, and while it sel-
dom permitted the enjoyment of long continued robust health, it prevented
the occurrence of more dangerous or fatal diseases, such as are the most
common among the fewer diseases of what are deemed healthy regions.
The fewer diseases of my adult negroes for the last twelve or thirteen
years have been of a more inflammatory kind, and are not confined to
autumn ; and there have been certainly more severe and fatal diseases, and
more that required medical aid, than formerly, when there was so much
more of sickness of one kind, and confined to one season. In short, it
seems that the diseases are no longer (or but in few cases) those of the
low country and of a bilious climate, but are more like those of the upper
country, which, though occurring but rarely, are generally of a more
serious nature. The facts on which this particular opinion has been formed,
are still too few, and of too short continuance, to attach to them much im-
portance ; and even if they were less doubtful, I have not the medical
knowledge to trace these new effects back to their causes. Still, it is
deemed due to candor, and to the desire for a fair and lull investigation of
the subject, even if making against my own views, that these opinions
should be stated. There is no other subject, than this, taken in general,
which more deserves and requires .investigation ; and in the present in-
choate state of the discussion, the expression of even erroneous opinions

I u.< AREOI - M \M RES) PR \' l [( i . 140

will not be useless, if" it should serve t" elicit more full or correct ones from
other sources.

Nothing better than this one aubjecl deserves Investigaton by medical
men, acting Under ; eminent Tl for informa-

tion are now abundant, iii.il> ibservation of the nume-

roos' farmers who have marled or lii I their lands long enough to judge

of the effects on health ; and whether upon tru \ false grounds, the opi-
nion among such persons seems now 1 18 12) almost universal, (so far as I
have beard opinions expressed,) thai the prevalence pf autumnal diseases,
the product of malaria, has been Invariably and manifestly lessened since
the lands were in past marled or limed. My individual experience and ob-
servations on this point, now of nine years' more extent than when the first
limits thereof were stated in a foregoing part of this chapter, concur with
the more general and loose Information derived from others, in confirming
my position. It sometimes happens that the very fact of an opinion being
universally admitted prevents the obtaining such proofs of its truth as
would certainly have been ready, if the opinion had been questioned and
denied by many skeptics. And stich is the state of the proposition now
under consideration. Kven in the lew years which have passed since I
first advanced the opinion that the use of calcareous manures served to
improve health, that opinion has become so general, and is deemed so cer-
tain and unquestionable, by those persons who have used those manures,
that but few facts can be learned of them sufficiently exact to serve as proofs ;
because no person hasdeemed i' netesaary to collect, and preserve proofs of

what none doubted. When asking lor such p fs, .is I have often done, of

cultivators and residents in various pints of the marl region, I have rarely
obtained any, except new declarations, frota every person interrogated, of
concurrence and entire faith in the general opinion that marling or liming
had served greatly to abate the prevalence of autumnal diseases. PUeh ge-
neral belief and confidence in an opinion so recently entertained and pro-
mulgated, cannot be altogether founded on error.

When my opinions of the beneficial operation of calcareous earth in soil,
or mixed with putrescent matter, in destroying or disarming the sources of
disease, were first published, and until after the last publication of the same
in 1835, I had no knowledge that similar grounds ha 1 been taken by any
other person. But since, in the recent publications of a French writer,
M. I'uvis, I have found the same general opinion expressed, and many im-
portant facts given In confirmation However, while] gladly accept the im-
portant aid of M. Puvis' beta, as proof, I do not admit the correctness of his
reasoning thereupon. Seme Of the. former will be quoted in the following
Lges. For his full views, see the translations of his essays 'On Lime
as Manure,' and 'On Marl,' both contained in vol. Hi. of the Farmers' Re-
gister.

"The results of marling may be considered in a point of view more ele-
vated, and still more important than that of the fertility which it gives to
the soil; they may perhaps have much influence on the healthiness of a
country where it becomes a general pra

" Although it may not have been yet uttered by others, this opinion ap-
pears founded on strong probabilities, on strong analogies and precise I
all of which appear to give it a sufficient certainty.

"It is known that the calcareous principle is one of the most powerful
agents to resist putrefaction. It is employed to make healthy places inha-
by men and animals, in which sickness or contagion is feared; it
serves to neutralize the emanations of dead bodies undergoing putrefaction ;
it destroys the deleterious exhalations which escape from privies, and which
sometimes cause the death of those who are employed to cleanse them.
19

I r)(j . CALCAREOUS MANURES-PRACTICE.

" It even seems that calcareous countries are unhealthy only when they
are interspersed by marshes, or when some causes, foreign to the soil and
climate, determine ihe unhealthiness, as in countries on the borders of the
sea, where the flowing of the tide and the mingling of salt and fresh wa-
ters infect the air, by the deleterious emanations of their combination.
This cause of unhealthiness is regarded as a certain fact ; for salubrity is
generally seen to appear whenever this mixture of waters is prevented.

'• In the valleys of rivers bordered by calcareous mountains, which enclose
unhealthy countries in their interior, insalubrity commences there only as
the calcareous soil, which is attached to the mountain, gives place to sili-
cious soil. In the same plain, and far from a mountain, salubrity is seen to
diminish in the same proportion that the calcareous soil of the surface does;
and the communes of Bresse, which have an abundance of marly or calca-
reous soils, are much more remarkable for their salubrity than those on
the white lands {terrain blanc*.) While the ponds of Dombe, which are
on the silicious soil, appear to be one of the greatest causes of unhealthi-
ness, those of Bresse, which are on calcareous lands, do not show such
effects in the country where they are found ; so, likewise, the ponds of the
country situated between the Veyle and the Reyssouze, to the north-west
of Bourg, which are generally on calcareous soil, do not appear to injure
the healthiness of the country in any manner.

"For the support of this system, we will also cite the ponds of Berri on
calcareous soil, whose emanations have nothing unhealthy; the laying dry
of the ponds of Parragay, in the canton of Lignieres, has added nothing to
the healthiness of a calcareous country naturally healthy. And in the same
canton, the pond of Villiers, which is said to be seven leagues in circum-
ference, does not cause diseases on its borders. Besides, during the month
of August, the water of the ponds on calcareous soil does not become
blackish, as often happens in silicious ponds. The water would then be
made wholesome by the calcareous principle, in the same way as their
emanations.

"In fine, Dombe and Sologne, and a" number of other countries are un-
healthy, and subject to intermittent fevers, without being marshy ; but their
soil is likewise silicious, and the land moist. Puisaye, and a part of Bresse,
in similar land, which contain little or no calcareous soil, have also many
autumnal fevers."— (Translation from ' Essai sur la Ma me.")

CHAPTER XVI.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE MECHANICAL OPERATIONS OF APPLYING MARL AS MANURE.

The great deposite of fossil shells, which custom has miscalled marl, is
in many places exposed to view in most of the lands that border on our
tide-waters, and on many of their small tributary streams. Formerly, it
was supposed to be limited to such situations; but since its value as a ma-
nure has caused it to be more noticed and sought after, marl has been
found in many other places. It is often discovered by the digging of wells,
but lying so deep that its value must be more highly estimated than at

* The reader of M. Puvis' essays on lime and marl, which were inserted in vol. iii.,
may remember that this provincial term and others (plateaux argillosilicieux, &c.) were
there used to designate a peculiar kind of soil, destitute of calcareous matter, stiff, in-
tractable and poor— and which seems precisely of the character of the poor ridge lands
of lower Virginia, to which calcareous manures are so peculiarly adapted. — Translator.

..

CALCAREOUS MANURES PRACTICE. |5|

present before it will be dug for manure. From ;ill the scattered evidences
of the presence of tins deposite, it may be inferred that it lies beneath
nearly every pari of our o itry between (he sea and the granite ridge

which forms tin' I'.ilis d all our rivers. It is exposed where it rises, and
where cut through by the deep ravine i of hilly land and by the courses of
rivers— and concealed by its dips, and the usual level surface1 of the coun-
try. The rich tracts of neutral soil on James-river, such as Shirley, West-
over, Brandon, and Sandy Point, seem to have been formed byalluvi

which may he termed recent compared to that of 'our .district In general;
and iii these no marl has been found, though it is generally abundant in
the adjacent higher lands. Fresh-water muscle shells are sometimes found
in thin layers, (from a lew inches to twe feet thick,) both on these lands and
ethers — but generally near the surface, and always far above the deposite
of sea shells, found under the high land. These two layers of different
kinds of shells are separated by a thickness of main- feel of earth, contain-
ing no shells of any kind. Muscle shells are richer than the others, as
they contain much gelatinous and enriching animal matter, t 'n this ac-
count, the earth with which muscle shells are found mixed is a rich black
mould. Most persons consider these beds of, muscle shells as artificially
formed by the Indians, who are supposed to have collected the muscles for
food, and left the shells where the fish were consumed. There are some
strong reasons which may be adduced both to sustain and to oppose this
opinion. But whatever may be the origin of these collections of muscle
shells, it does not affect their qualities as manure for the soils in which
they are found, or for others to which they may Be removed.

Neither the fossil sea shells, nor the earth mixed with them, are supposed
to contain any important OT considerable proportion of putrescent matter
— and this manure has been consi "lit this essay as being

valuable aiity a* containing calcareous earth. This, no doubt, is the only
Ingredient of any worth, in the great majority of cases. But sometimes
there are other Ingredients— which must be considered merely as excep-
tions to the general rule. One of these exceptions has already been staled
in the description of gypseous marl, (page 92 ..; and some others have been
discovered since the publication of that statement A kind of earth, contain
ing a large proportion of carbonate ol as well as of carbonate

nate of lime, has been found in Hanover county. Va. (Furmers'' Register,

rol. i. Rogers, of Willi and Mary College; has discovered, in

many of the marls of lower Virginia*, some proportion »f the "green

sand" of geologists, 01 What is itself called "marl," (another misapplication

of that name.) in Mew Jersey, and which has there been found highly va
luable as manure, I lining not a particle ofthe carbonate ol lin ,

which constitutes the sole value of shi manures in gene-

ral The foi matii m or body ol and distinct from

any marl, I had discovered long before, and of which a full account will be

given in a subsequent part of tbi i essay But however interesting may be
the discovery of these different ingredients of particular bodiaiBof marl,
and however valuable they may prove as manures, still they are net |
I' I'd as tieated of in this essay under any-general observatic
mart — which observations are « applied simply to manure of

which the only useful ingredient is the ' linn'.

1,111 a hundred kinds of sea shells are found in the beds of marl,

that I have worked, without counting any of very snail size. Many kinds

would escape common observation, and others would require the aid ol a

magnifying the shells, though fragile,

much broken by tl id after-operations. The

|52 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

white shells are rapidly reduced, after being mixed with an acid soil ; but
some aray kinds, as the scallop and the oyster, are so hard as to be very
long before they can act as manure. Some beds, and they are generally
the richest, have scarcely any whole shells, but are formed principally of
small broken fragments. Of course the value of marl as a manure de-
pends in some measure on which kinds of shells are most numerous, and
their state of division, as well as upon the total amount of the calcareous
earth contained. The last is however by far the most important criterion
of value. The most experienced eye may be much deceived in the
strength of marl : and still more gross and dangerous errors would be made
by an inexperienced marler. The strength of a body of marl often
changes materially in sinking a foot in depth — although the same changes
maybe expected to occur very regularly, in every pit sunk through the
same bed. Whoever uses marl ought to know how to analyze it, which
a little care will enable any one to do with sufficient accuracy. The me-
thod described, at page 35, for ascertaining the proportions of calcareous
earth in soils, will of course serve for the same purpose with marl. But as
more particular and minute directions may be necessary for many persons
who will use this manure, and who ought to be able to judge of its value,
such directions will be here given, and which any one can follow by mere-
ly applying sufficient attention and care. To perform this process will re-
quire no other chemical tests than muriatic acid and carbonate of potash,
and no apparatus, except small scales and weights, a glass funnel and
some blotting or very porous . printing paper— all of which may be bought
at any apothecary's shop.

Directions for analyzing marl by solution and precipitation.

1st. Take a lump of marl, fossil shells, &c, large enough to furnish a
fair sample of the particular body under consideration— dry it perfectly
near the fire— pound the "whole to a coarse powder (in a metal mortar,)
and mix the whole together. Take from the mixture a small sample,
which reduce to a finely divided state, and weigh of it a certain portion,
say 50 grains, for trial.

2d. To this known quantity, in a glass, pour slowly and at different times
muriatic acid diluted with three or four times its bulk of water — (any ex-
cept limestone, or hai-d water.) The acid will dissolve all the lime in the
calcareous earth, and let loose the carbonic acid, with which it was pre-
viously combined, in the form of gas, or air, which causes the effervescence,
which so plainly marks the progress of such solution. The addition of the
muriatic acid must be continued as long as it produces effervescence ; and
but very little after that effect has ceased. The mixture should be well
and often stirred, and should have enough excess of acid to be sour after
standing thirty or forty minutes. (So much of the acid as the lime com-
bines with loses its sour taste, as well as its other peculiar qualities.)

The mixture now consists of 1, the lime combined chemically with
muriatic acid, forming muriate «/ tone, which is a salt, and which is dis-
solved in the water— 2, a small excess of muriatic acid mixed with the
fluid — and 3, the sand, clay and any other insoluble parts of the sample of
marl. To separate the solid from the fluid and soluble parts is the next
step required.

3rd. Take a piece of filtering or blotting paper, about six or eight inches
square, (some spongy and unsized newspapers serve well.) fold it so as to
fit within a glass funnel, which will act better if its inner surface is fluted.
Pour water first into the filter, so as to see whether it is free from any hole,

CALCAREOUS MANUKES-l'KACTICE. 1 53

or defect; if the filtering paper operates well, .throw out the water, and
pour into it the whole mixture. The Quid will slowly pass through into a
glass under the funnel, leaving on the filter, all the stolid parts, on which

water must be poured once Dr twice, so as to wash out, and. convey to the
in, every remaining particle of the dissolved lime.

•lth. The solid matter left, alter being thus washed, must he taken out of
the funnel on the paper, and carefulrj My dried— then" scraped

off the paper and weighed. The wi l\ grains, being deducted

from the original quantity, 5Q, would make the part dissolved (50 — 27=
23) 46 per cent. Of the whole. And such may be taken as very nearly
the proportion o{' calcareous earth (or carbonate of lime) in the earth
examined. But as there will necessarily be some loss in the process, and
every grain taken from the solid parts appears in the result as a grain
added to the carbonate of. lime, it will be right in such partial trials to
allow about two per cent, for loss, which allowance will reduce the forego-
ing statement to 44 per cent of carbonate of lime.

5th. But it is not necessary to rely altogether on the estimate obtained
by subtraction, as it may 'be proved by comparison with the next step of
the process. Into the solution (and the washings-) which passed through
the filter, pour gradually a solution of carbonate of potash. The first
effect of the alkaline substance, thus added, will be to take up any
excess of muriatic acid in the fluid — and next, to precipitate the lime (now
converted again to carbonate of lime,) in a thick curd-like form. When
the precipitation is ended, and the fluid retains a strong taste of the carbo-
nate of potash, (showing it to remain in excess,) the whole must be poured
on another filtering paper, and (as before,) the solid matter left thereon re-
peatedly washed by pouring on water, then .hied, scraped off, and weighed.
This will be the actual proportion of the calcareous part of the sample, ex-
cept, perhaps, a loss of one or two grains in the hundred. The loss, there-
fore, in this part of the process apparently lessens, as the loss in the earlier
part increases the statement of the strength of the manure. The whole
may be supposed to stand then :

27 grains of sand and clay i

21 of carbonate of lime V=50.

2 of loss j

If the loss be divided between the carbonate of lime and the other worth-
less parts of the manure, it will make the proportion 28 and 22, which will
be probably near the actual proportions.

The foregoing method is not the most exact, but is sufficiently so for
practical use. All the errors to which it is liable will not much affect the
reported result— unless magnesia is present, and that is not often in ma-
nures of this nature. Magnesia is ijever found (1 believe) in the deposites
of fossil shells— nor have I known of its presence in any of the earthy ma-
nures, except lime-stone, and the inagnesian marl discovered inlJ'
If any con-' in of carbonate of magnesia should ever be

present in marl tried by the foregoing method, it may bo suspected by
the effervescence being very slow compared to that of carbonate of lime
alone; and the proportions of these two earths may be ascertained as fol-
lows. The magnesia as well as the lime wonld 1 by the mu-
riatic acid, (applied as above directed,) but the magnesia would not b
cipitated with the carbonate of lime, but would remain dissolved in the
alkaline solution, last separated by filtering. If this liquor is poured into a
Florence flask and boiled for a quarter of an hbiir, the carbonate of mag-
nesia will fall to the bottom, and may then be separated by filtering and
washing, and its quantity ascertained by being dried and weighed. This

154 CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

part of the process may be easily added to the foregoing — but it will very
rarely be required.

If desired, the proportion of silicious and aluminous earth may be ascer-
tained, with enough truth for practical use, by stirring well these parts
(minutely divided) in a glass of water, and after letting it stand a minute, for
the sand to subside, pouring off the fluid into another glass. The sand
will be left, and the finely divided earth and clay pass off with the water,
and may be separately collected and dried on filtering paper, and weighed.

For want of attention to the only safe guide, the chemical analysis of
marl, gross errors are often committed, and losses continually sustained.
By relying on the eye only, I have known marl, or rather a calcareous
sand, to be rejected as worthless, and thrown off at considerable cost of
labor, to uncover worse marl below, in which whole shells were visible ; and
on the contrary, earth has been taken for marl, and used as such, which
had no calcareous ingredient whatever. The best marls for profitable use
are generally such as show the fewest whole shells, or even large frag-
ments—and would be passed by unnoticed in some cases, or considered
only as barren sand, or equally worthless clay. But even if such mistakes
as these are avoided, every farmer using marl, without analyzing specimens
frequently and accurately, will incur much loss by applying it in quantities
either too great or too small.

If marl reaches the surface, or " crops out," any where, it may be found
most easily by examining the beds of streams passing through the lowest
land, or deepest ravines. A few of the smallest particles of shells found
there will prove that the stream passes through marl somewhere above;
and a careful examination continued towards the source, will scarcely fail
to discover where the bed lies. Its usual direction is horizontal, or very
little inclined; and therefore if discovered any where along the sides of a
narrow valley, it may generally be found by digging on the opposite side, or
elsewhere not very distant at the same elevation on the hill-side ; and it is
always nearer the surface on swells, or the convex parts of the hill-side, than
where it retreats and forms hollows. In the more level parts of the coun-
try, the marl sometimes is very near the surface of the lowest land, and yet
is not visible any where. In such situations, particularly, a cheap and con-
venient auger may be used with much advantage in searchh.g for marl;
and it is also useful to try the depth or quality of a bed, even when its sur-
face has been found. This tool may be made by welding a straight stem,
half an inch square and six or seven feet long, to a common screw auger
of about one inch and a half bore. If it has been so much worn as to be
useless as a carpenter's tool, it will serve for boring in earth. A cross-piece
for a handle should be fixed to slide over the stem, and be fastened by a
small screw at different elevations, as most convenient. Other pieces may
be added to the stem, attached by joints, so as to bore twelve or more feet
deep. Dr. Wm. I. Cocke, formerly of Sussex, to whom I am indebted for
this simple but useful tool, was enabled by its use to find a very valuable
bed of marl which was no where visible at the surface, and which he
used to great extent and advantage.

Mr. Williams Carter, of Hanover, has introduced a simple and useful
improvement which greatly facilitates the use of the cheap and light auger
just described. When one or more additional joints are required, (for bor-
ing to greater depth than seven or eight feet.) the process becomes much
more troublesome, because of the necessity for separating and re-uniting the
several joints every time the auger is drawn up to take off the earth, which
has to be done for every four or five inches of depth gained. This trouble
may be avoided by Mr. Carter's method. re a rough bench.

R HTIi k [55

or narrow tabic, made of a single plank, soi ' long, and haying

legs In or 12 feel in length, ft hole large enough for the stem of the an
tn turn in freely is in the middle of the bench. As soon as a second joint
is attached, the bench is si ring, with the hole immediately above,

so that when the auger is lifted perpendicularly clear of the boring, its upper
joint pusses through the hule, ami is hold up steadily by of the

Por siiil greater and unusual depths, another bench with
longer legs may he substituted, or a lower one placed upon and confined
to the first bench, (farmer*1 Register.) Such means as these, imperfect as
they are, will !*> found more convenient and more operative, as well as
much more cheap, than the heavy and costly augers used to search for coal.
By proper examinations marl may be found at or near the surface
through a vast extent of the tide-water region of the United States, where
it has not yet been noticed. But still, undermost lands it probably does
not approach within twenty-five or thirty feet of the surface, and if reached
by digging, would be covered by water, so as greatly to increase the diffi-
culty of obtaining it from such depths. Will these obstacles always debar
from the benefit of this treasure half the great region under which it lies?
1 think not. Though it would be ridiculous now to propose such under-
takings, it will at some future time be found profitable to descend still
greater depths for good marl; and shafts will be sunk and the water and
marl drawn out by horse-power or by steam engines, and the excavation
carried on in the same manner as is done in coal mines. When such
means shall be resorted to, it is probable that there will be bat a small por-
tion of the great tide-water region, or the region east of the granite range,
in which marl may not be found sufficiently convenient for use. For ex-
ample : from a mile south of Petersburg, along the line of the railway to
the Roanoke, no marl had been found either by the excavations for the
road, or in the much deeper wells dug long before in the vicinity of the
route. The well for the water-station nine miles from Petersburg did not
at all times supply enough water for the engines, and it was determined to
dig one deep enough for that purpose. 1 Ksregarding the small veins of water
usually reached at less than 20 feet, the digging was sunk to 50 feet, when
marl was reached. Its quality at top was rather poor; but it became more
and more rich, as well as of (inner consistence, (though never very hard,)
until the well had been sunk to >n feet, without reaching the bottom of the
marl, or finding any other vein of water. The lower part of this marl
was from 80 to 90 per cent, of carbonate of lime, as I found by several
analyses. It would have served to make good lime, by burning, for cement
or for manure, to be transported to a distance on the railway; besides
being of more value to be used unprepared to enrich the nearer land.
Though covered by 50 feet of earth, and the excavation impeded by the
water from above, this marl might have been profitably raised SO feet, or
as much lower as the bed may extend. And so firm was its texture, that
the excavation might have been safely enlarged gradually as it was
deepened, as is done in the chalk-pits of England, so as that the diggmg
should form a hollow cone, conununicatin'_r from its apex by the narrower
cylindrical well through the ,",i) feet of earth above to the surface. Thus
though the earth might have been twice the thickness of the marl l*low,
the greater diameter of excavation in the latter would have furnished
much the greater quantity of contents. Of this most valuable deposite,
found in a region before supposed destitute, and where its transportation to
a long line of destitute land was so convenient, no use has been made, ex-
cept of the quantity necessarily drawn up in digging this well. And this
means for enriching the undertaker, and fertilizing a vast extent of surface

156

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PKAC TICK

of acid and poor land, will probably remain totally neglected for the next
fifty years. It is most probable that this same thick and rich body of marl
may be found at many mi]es' distance on the line of rail-road, and indeed
wherever the surface is in the same position relative to the granite range.
For taking up marl from any depth, create;- than l'j feet, or more than
two casts with the shovel will serve for, it will be better to use horse-power
applied to machinery. A orane which has been used by Wm. Carmichael
Esq., of Queen Ann's county, Md., will serve the purpose. His description
of the crane was published in the 'Farmers' Register,' as follows:

"In your 'Essay on Calcareous Manures,' you give instructions for dig-
ging and carting marl. This method I pursued for several years, but found
the labor hard on my hands, and tedious. Marl here is generally found in
deep ravines or in wet grounds. My operations have been slow, from the
difficulty of making firm and lasting ways, and the labor of ascending
steep hills. Last winter I made a model, and this spring I built a machine
for raising marl, to be worked by a horse. I have been using it to advan-
tage, and now send you a draught of it, as it may be useful to those who
have wet marl pits like mine. By means of a pump to throw off the wa-
ter, pits may be worked at a considerable depth ; and even if marl is dry,
but lies deep, I think the crane may be used to advantage. I use two boxes,
and by means of hinges and a latch the marl is discharged from the bottom.
I have double blocks ; the rope passes through the swoop about eighteen
inches from the end, and runs down to the post which supports the swoop,
and passes through it on a small roller, and in like manner through the
next post to the cylinder, to which a reel is attached to increase the
motion. The post which holds the swoop and the cylinder, runs on iron
pins let into thimbles. The lever is in two pieces, one fastened in the
cylinder with a groove at the end, into which the other is let, and secured
by a sliding iron clamp. When the marl is discharged from the box, and
the swoop swung round over the pit, in nautical phrase, by unshipping the
end of the lever, the rope unwinds, and the box descends without moving
the horse. The circle in which the horse travels ought to be twenty-one
feet in diameter. The second and third posts supported by side braces.

" The cost of the machine is small, though I cannot make an exact esti-
mate. The carpenter who did the work was hired by the day on the farm.

«

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACT1 ]57

ami was taken ofi with . but his bill could not <

dollars. The cost of the Iran *ork was ten, and one hundred and sixty-
live feel of inch rope, at eighteen nnd 1 he timber,

taken from my nun w Is, may be estimated al The rope 1

find soon wean out, and I intend to supply its place with chain.

■• When the marl la uncovered, with one efficient hand in the pit and a
efficient one to discharge the boxes and drive the horse, five hundred
bushels may be raised in a day. The work is not to the labor-

era The teams stand on high, dry ground ; no sloughs to plunge through,
and no bill to cUm . by a small rope over the carta,

and the marl immediately discharged into them. 1 work four carta, with
two sets of oxen to each. Tl o! the winter lean and weak;

and now, with green clover for their food, at the distance of a half to three-
quarters of a mile l draw out from four to five hundred bushels a day,
and my oxen have impro with ease and expedition,

without stoppage t" mend roads, or to clear ditches."

our beds of marl are either of a blue, or a yellowish color. The color
of the first might be supposed to have some connexion with the presence
of water, as this kind is always kept wet by water OOzing slowly through
it. But the yellow marl is also sometimes wet, though more generally dry.
The blue color of mail therefore Is not caused by n erely the presence of
water, or there would be no wet yellow marl. When both blue and yel-
low marl an- seen in the same I al bottom; and the
line of di\ ision between the colors is well defined, and then gra-
dual change ol one t" the other, i observed, in the year 16
intense and perfect a blue rl has ever been known to have was
to what had been dry yellow marl, by il a thil k Boor-
rd, and kept covered with the rotting manure, and pene-
trated by its liquid oozinjjs, which the marl was I to save: It
may be Inferred i ; that blue marls I

from or other putrescent matter, dissolved in the

water passing through the bed.

The dry marls are of course much the easier t i be worke
very p ciently firm

and sniid for the sides of the pit to stand secure, when du nlariy.

Where a bed of marl is dry, and not covered by much earth, nod
tains are required for the pit work— except it I c, that the pit should be
long enough to allow the carts ■ to the bottom (when finished)

and to ris it on a slope sufficiently gradual. This will prevent the

tj ol twice handling the marl, by first throwing it out of the pi;
then into the or its

ends too steep, foi I > machine or contriv;

yet known Will raise mail from pit, era valley, SO well

as 'a horse cart; and no pains will be lost, in i r actu-

ating the ascent out <>i" it. to attain that i

Mm it is not necessary, nor often ■
I as low as the botti i
of the marl to be dug, it is generally

cientsizeto the top of that part,) to takeout this lowei part in small pits,
of about .". tiit w ■ ngth, with pel is well

I ts may be i re ved fn

ned oil foi i» very wet,

or unavoidab inundation from sti n by heavy rains,

it \ill be more sale to dig pits a^ small as the men employed can find -

158

CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE.

to dig in and throw out from, and to sink them to 15 or 16 feet, by throwing
the lower half oh a table, whence another man will throw it to the level
where the carts can stand to be loaded. Then each separate pit will soon
be completed, and out of danger of bad weather. And if flooded before
being finished, the loss of the marl, then remaining not dug, will not be
important in so small an excavation.

A.5 marl shows usually on a hill-side, but little earth has to be moved off
to uncover the first place for digging. But the next, and each successive
cover of earth, will be more thick, until it may be necessary to abandon
that place and begin again elsewhere. But the quantity of covering earth
need not be regarded as a serious obstacle, if it is not thicker than the
marl below it. While that is the case, one pit completed will receive all
the earth thrown from an equal space, for commencing another. When
this proportion of earth is exceeded, it is necessary to carry it farther, by
either wheel-barrows or scrapers, and the labor is thereby greatly increased.

For any extensive 'operation, it is much cheaper to take off a cover of
earth twelve feet thick to obtain marl of equal depth, than if both the co-
vering earth and marl were only three feet each. Whether the cover be
thick or thin, two parts of the operation are equally troublesome, viz. to
take off the mat of roots, and perhaps some large trees on the surface soil,
and to clean off the surface of the marl, which is sometimes very irregular.
The greater part of the thickest cover would be much easier to work. But
the most important advantage in taking off earth of ten or more feet in
thickness, is saving digging by causing the earth to come down by its own
weight. If time can be allowed to aid this operation, the driest earth will
mostly fall, by being repeatedly undermined a little. But this is greatly
facilitated by the oozing water, which generally fills the earth lying imme-
diately on beds of wet marl. In uncovering a bed of this description, for
one of my early operations, where the marl was to be dug fourteen feet,
and ten to twelve feet of earth to remove, my labor was made ten-fold
heavier by digging altogether. The surface bore living trees, and was full
of roots — there was enough stone to keep the edges of the hoes bat-
tered— and small springs and oozing water came out every where, after
diggmg a few feet deep. A considerable part of the earth was a tough,
adhesive clay, kept wet throughout, and which it was equally difficult to get
on the shovels, and to get rid of. Some years after, another pit was un-
covered on the same bed, and under like circumstances, except that the
time was the last of summer, and there was less water oozing through the
earth. This digging was begun at the lowest part of the earth, which was
a layer of sand, kept quite wet and soft by the water oozing through it.
With gravel shovels, this was easily cut under from one to two feet along
the whole length of the old pit, and, as fast as was desirable, the upper
earth, thus undermined, fell into the old pit ; and afterwards, when that did
not take place of itself, the fallen earth was easily thrown there by shovels.
As the earth fell separated into small but compact masses, it was not much
affected by the water, even when it remained through the night before be-
ing shoveled away. No digging was required, except this continued sho-
veling out of the lowest sand stratum ; and whether clay, or stones, or roots,
were mixed with the failing earth, they were easy to throw off. The nu-
merous roots, which were so troublesome in the former operation, were
now an advantage ; as they supported the earth sufficiently to let it fall
only gradually and safely ; and before the roots fell, they were almost clear
of earth. The whole body of earth, notwithstanding all its difficulties,
was moved off as easily as the driest and softest could have been by dig-
ging altogether.

CALCAREOUS MANURES- PRACTICE. 1 59

In working a pit of wel nun], no pains siinulil be spared to drain it as
effectually as poaaibla Very few beds are penetrated by reins of running
water which would deserve the name "I springs; bu( wafer oozes very
slowly through every part of wet marl, and bold springs often burst out
Immediately over its surface. After the form of the pit and situation of
the road are determined, a ditch to receive and draw off all the water
should be commenced down Ihe valley, as low as the bottom of the area
ulnar the carts are to stand Is expected to be made; and the ditch opened
up to the work, deepening a< it extends, bo as to keep the bottom of the
ditch on the same level with the bottom of the area. It may be cheaper,
and will serve as well, to deepen this ditch as the deepening of the pit pro-
(ii.is. After the marl is uncovered for the full size intended for the area,
(which ought to be large enough for carts to turn about on,) a little drain
of four or five inches wide, and as many deep, (or the size made by the
grubbing boe used to cut it,) should he carried all around to intercept the
surface or spring water, and conduct it to the main drain. The marl will
now be dry enough for the carts to be brought on and loaded. But as the
digging proceeds, oozing water will collect slowly; and, aided by the
wheels of loaded raits, the surface of the firmest marl would soon be ren-
dered a puddle, and next quagmire. This may easily be prevented by the
inclination of the surface. The first course dug off should be much the
deepest next the surface drain, (leaving a margin of a few inches of firm
marl, as a bank to keep in the stream,) so that the digging shall be the low-
est around the outside, ami gradually rise in level to the middle of the area.
Whatever water may find its way within the work, whether from oozing,
rain, or accidental burstings of the little surface drain, will run to the out-
side, the dip of which should lead to the lower main drain. After this form

has e been given to the surface of the area, very little attention is re-

quired to preserve it ; for if the successive courses are dug of equal depth
from side to side, the previous dip will not be altered. The sides or walls
of the pit should be cut, (in descending,) something without the pcrpendi-
CUl tr, so that the pit is made one or two feet wider at bottom than top.
The usual firm texture will prevent any danger from this overhanging
shape, and several advantages will be gained from it. It gives more space
for work — prevents the wheels running on the lowest and wettest parts —
allows more earth to the disposed of, in opening for the next pit — and pre-
vents that earth from tumbling into the next digging, when the separating
wall of marl is afterwards cut away. The next upper and larger drain of
the pit, which takes the surface water, will hang over the small one below,
kept for the oozing water. The former remains unaltered throughout the
job, and may still convey the stream when six feet above the heads of the
laborers in the pit. The lower drain of course sinks with the digging.
Should the pit be dug dee|>er than the level of the main receive;
be sunk, a wall should be left between, and the remainder of the oozing
water must be conducted to a little basin near the wall, and thence be
baled or pumped into the receiving ditch. The , ihe carts to

ascend from the pit should be kept on a suitable slope; and the marl form-
ing that slope may be cut out in small pits, after all the balance of the dig-
uing has been completed.

If the marl is so situated that carts cannot be driven as low as the bot-
tom, either because of the danger ol Hooding, or that the ascent would be
too steep for sufficiently area must be cut out in

small pita, as before stated, beginning at the back part, and extending as
they proceed, towards the road leading out of the pit.

On high ami hilly land, marl is generally found at the bottom of ra-

160 ca; iancres— practii

vines, and separated from the field to which it is to be carried by a big.
steep bill-side. The difficulty of cutting roads in such situations is much
less than any inexperienced pe: ippose We cannot get rid of

any of the actual elevation— but the ascent may be made as gradual as is
desired, by a proper location of the road. The intended course must be
laid off by the eye, and the upper side of the road marked,
through woods, it will be necessary to use grubbing hoes for the d:_
With : - .ould be begun at I r or five feet

below the marked line, and carried horizontally onward to it The earth
so dug is to be pulled back with broad h I over a width of

three or four feet 1 place from whic: pper

side of the road is formed by cutting down, and the lower side by filling
up with the earth taken f.

The annexed figure will prevent these directions being misunderstood.
The straight line from a to b represents the original slope of the hill-side, of
which the whole figure is a section. The upper end of the-dbtted part of
the line is in the mark for laying off the upper side of the road. The up-
per triangle is a section of the earth dug tc: - Je, and the lower
triangle of the part filled up by its removal. 1 :al line is the level
of the road formed by cutting in on the upper, and fiiiing up on the lower
side. After shaping the road roughly. I ;es will be seen, and may
be corrected in the finishing work, by deepening some places and
up others, so as to graduate the whole properly. A width
feet of firm road will be sufficient for carting marl.

If the land through which the road is to be cut is not very steep, and is
free from trees and roots, the operation may be made much cheaper by
using the plough. The first farrow should be run along the line of the
bwer aide of The intended road, and turned down hill: the plough then
returns empty, to carry a second furrow by In this manner it

proceeds, cutting deeply, and throwing the slices far, (both of which are
easily done on a hill-side.) until rather more than the required width is
ploughed. The ploughman then be^; st furrow, and

ploughs the whole over as at first, and this course is repeated perhaps once
or twice more, until enough earth is cut from the upper and put on the
lower side of the road. After the first ploughing, broad hoes should aid
and complete the work, by pulling down the earth from the higher to the
lower side, and particularly in those places where the hill-side is steepest.
After the proper shape is given, carts, at first empty and then with light
loads, should be driven over every part of the surface of the road, until it
is firm. If a heavy rain should fall before it has been thus trodden, the
road would be rendered useless for a considerable time.

These directions are mostly suited for greater difficulties than usually oc-
cur, though they are such as attended most of my labors in marling. In the

0ALCAREOU8 MAN1 Rl iCE. |gj

great majority ol oases, there will be much I I care ami skill re-

qnlred, ere will nol be encountei tacles as high and

steep hills to ascend, thick over-lying earth t" remove, or wet pits and i
to keep drained,

In large operations and In dry marl, much labor might be

ightly andermining a perpendicular body of marl, and then
splitting "i ; at onee, by driving In a line of wedgel on the

upper surface.

For bard or firm marl, narrow and heavy picks are the best digging
utensils. Gravel shovels, with rounded points and long handles, are the
cheapest and most effective For throwing out the marl ami loading the carts,
as well as for afterwards spreading the heaps on the field.

Tumbrel carts, drawn by a single horse or mule, are most convenient for
conveying marl short disl tv part of the cart should be light,

ami the body should be so small as only to hold the load it is intended to
carry, without a tail-board. This plan enables the drivers to measure every
load, which advantage Will be found on trial much more important than
would at lust be Supposed, It carts of common size are used, the careless
laborers will generally load too lightly, yet sometimes will injure the hoi ■
patting "ii a load much too heavy. The small sized cart-bodies prevent both
these faults. The load cannot be made much too heavy; and if too light, the
farmer can detect it at a glance Where there is a hill to ascend, live heap-
ed bushels of wet marl is a sufficient load for a horse or good mule. If the
marl is dry, or the road level and firm, six bushels will be not too much,
and may be put in the same carts, by using tail-boards.

Strong laborers are required in tin' pit for digging and loading; but boys
who are too small for any Othei i labor, are sufficient to drive

the carts. Horses or mules kept at this work si ion become so tractable
that very little strength or skill is required to drive them.

One of the ino^t general and injurious errors is the irregular and unequal
distribution of the marl over the fields. By this error, it often happens
that in the same acre there is both too much and too little marl, on many
different parts. It will save much time and trouble, and ensure far gi
accuracy in depositing the loads, and afterwards in spreading them, to
have the fiald marked off slightly by a plough, In checks or squares of sizes
suitable to the desired amount of the dressing. A load (or the half of a
load for very light marling) should be dropped in every square, and the
heap be required to be spread over that marked space precisely.

All these hints and expedients, or perhaps better plans, might perhaps1
occur to most persons before they are long engaged in marling. Still I
directions may help to smooth away .some of the obstructions in the way
of the inexperienced ; and they will not be entirely useless, if they serve to
prevent even small losses of time and labor.

]g2 CALCAREOUS MAMKES-PkaCTK'E

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PROGRESS Or MARLING IS VIRGINIA.

My task is at last completed. Whether I shall be able to persuade my
countrymen to prize the treasures, and seize the profits which are within
their reach, or whether my testimony and arguments shall be fruitless,
soon or late, a time must arrive when my expectations will be realized.
The use of calcareous manures is destined to change a large portion of
the soil of lower Virginia from barrenness to fertility ; which, added to the
advantages we already possess — our navigable waters and convenient
markets, the facility of tilling our lands, and the choice of crops offered by
our climate — will all concur to increase ten-fold the present value of our
land, and produce more farming profit than has been found elsewhere on
soils far more favored by nature. Population, wealth and learning, will
keep pace with the improvement of the soil ; and we or our children will
have reason to rejoice, not only as farmers, but as Virginians, and as
patriots.

Such, as appear in the last paragraph, were the concluding words of this
essay, as published in 1832, and precisely as the work had been prepared for
the press several years before that publication was made. Such was then
the language of hope and anticipation. It may now be both interesting and
useful to examine to what extent such hopes and sanguine anticipations
have been yet realized.

Every new and great improvement in agriculture has had to work its
way slowly and in opposition to every possible discouragement and ob-
stacle. It would seem that the agricultural classes were, of all classes and
professions, always the least ready to receive benefit from instruction — the
most distrustful of instructers and the least thankful for their services —
even after the benefit is the most completely proved, and established by ac-
tual practice and unquestionable facts. The novel improvement by marling
has not been an exception to this universal rule. But still, it may be con-
fidently asserted, that no other agricultural improvement has been so ra-
pidly extended, so widely and general!}' received in such short time, or
has been so generally and greatly profitable to all who have availed them-
selves of the benefits thereby offered to their acceptance. When my first
trials were made in 1818, so far as I then knew, I had no forerunner in
success. For the few and small known and long abandoned experiments,
and the opinions deduced therefrom, stood as warnings against, and not in
the least as inducements to repetition ; and the then actually proceeding
use of marl, silent and unknown, but successful, had not even been heard
of. A few more years served to dispel all doubts of those who had tried or
could witness the results of the applications of marl. Still, ignorance of
the mode of operation has not been dispelled by the knowledge of the great
benefits of marl ; and therefore the grossest errors of practice accom-
panied and greatly lessened the full advantages of the continually extend-
ing use of marl. It required but little time for all to learn and submit to
the one main and simple instruction, "apply marl ;" but few would consent
to learn any thing else, or would believe that there was any thing else
necessary to learn or to do, except merely to •• apply marl." They would
not learn from any thing but their own dearly bought experience of error.
And very many have thus learned, and have jxiid the cost to their own
pecuniary interest of thousands of dollars in value — whether <>f lelay. of

CALCAREOUS MANURES-PKACTICE. ]g3

misapplied effort, or of positive loss and injury sustained I >y wrong prac-
tice— which the out-lay of a few shillings, and the attentive reading for a
few hours, might have effectually guarded them against And so it still
goes on, and will go on, with all who are new beginners and learners, and
who have not yet paid each their hundreds or thousands of dollars in loss,
in prefereni in as many cents, in both money and labor, in ac-

quiring proper instruction, and security from all such loss.

Bdt with all such enormous .haw hacks of loss, which if avoided would
have doubled the actually achieved benefits, the extension of marling and
liming, and the amount of benefit thence derived and realized in lower Vir-
ginia, since 1818, have had no precedent in the annals of agricultural im-
provement by any mode o( manuring. The following extract from a more
il report, recently made by the writer to the State Board of Agricul-
ture, will present this branch of the subject in its proper aspect.

" Marling, or manuring from beds of fossil shells. — This mode of fertiliza-
tion, now so general through all the marl region of lower Virginia, was
not practised except on three or four detached farms, and that to but small
extent before 1820. Some few and generally small experimental applica-
tions of marl had indeed been made by different individuals, from 15 to as
far hack as 45 years before; but which applications, from total misconcep-
tion of the true mode of action of calcareous manures, had been deemed
failures ; and without exception, of course, had been abandoned by the ex-
perimenters as worthless; and the experiments had been almost forgotten,
until again brought to notice, after the much later and fully successful in-
troduction of the practice,

•• l [enley Taylor and Archer Hankins, two plain ami illiterate farmers, and
near neighbors in James city county, were the earliest successful and
continuing appliers of marl in Virginia. But at what time they began, and
which of them was the first, I have not been able to learn, though visiting
Mr. Hankins' farm lor that purpose, as well as to see his marling, and
making inquiries of him personally, in 1833. Mr. Taylor had then been
long dead, and his improvements said to he almost lost, by the then occu-
pant of his land. Mr. Hankins was unable to say when he and his neighbor
began to try marl. He was only certain that it was before 1816. Yet,
though these farms are within 12 or 15 miles of Williamsburg, to which
place I ha.l made visits once a year or oftener, yet I never heard an intima-
tion of their having begun such practice, until some time after my own first
trials in 18 IS. At that time, when led to the use, as I was, altogether by
theoretical views, and by reasoning on the supposed constitution of the
soil, as well as the known constitution of the manure, it would have been
to me the most acceptable and beneficial information to have heard that
any other person in Virginia had already proved practically the value of
marling. The slow progress of the knowledge of the mere fact of marl
having been successfully used before that time, was a strong illustration of
the then almost total want of communication among farmers, as well as
of their general apathy and ignorance, in regard to the means of improving
their lands.-

■ Much earlier than the commencement of marling in James i ity, the
practice bad been commenced, in 1-05,) in Talbot county, Maryland, by
Mr. Singleton. His account of his practice is in the 1th volume of the
•Memoirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.' dated December 31,
1817, and first published some time in 1818. But successful as was his

i more full account at i Farmers' Register.

1(54

CALCAREOVS M AM RKS-PKACT1CE.

practice, and also that of Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hankins, in connexion with
much worse farming, it is certain that neither of these individuals had the
least idea of the true action of marl ; and they were indebted to their good
fortune, more than to any exercise of reasoning, that they received profit-
able returns, and did no injury by marling. They all three applied their
putrescent manures with the marl. But though this was the safest and
most beneficial plan, the thus uniting them prevented the separate action
and value of putrescent and calcareous, manures being known, compared,
and duly appreciated.

•' My own application of mar), on Coggins Point farm. Prince George
county, which in 1818 extended only to 15 acres, (of which but 3 or 4
were under the crop of that year.) by 1S21 had been increased to above
SO acres a year, and so continued until nearly all the then arable land on
that farm requiring it, (more than 600 acres,) had been covered. In 1821,
my earliest publication on the subject was made. Though the facts and
reasoning thus made known by that time were beginning to attract much
notice, and to induce man}' persons to begin to marl, still it was some
years later before incredulity and ridicule had generally given place to full
confidence in the value of the "improvement Even at this time, when
nearly 25 years of my own experience of marling and its benefits have
passed, and the results are open to public notice and scrutiny, not half the
persons who could marl are engaged at it, or are marling to but little pur-
pose; and of all who are using marl, nineteen in twenty are proceeding
injudiciously, without regard to the mode of operation of the manure, and
therefore are either doing harm, or losing profit, almost as often, though in
less degree, as doing good. At this time, however, there are scarcely any
persons, however negligent in practice, who do not fully admit the great
value and certain profit of applying marl wherever it is found.

•• But with all the existing neglect of using this means of fertilization, and
with all the still worse ignorance of or inattention to its manner of ope-
rating, there never has been a new improvement in agriculture more ra-
pidly extended, or with such beneficial arid profitable results. In Prince
George county, there is not one farmer having Karl on or near his land,
who has not applied it to greater or less extent, and always with more or
less profit— and, in most cases, largely as well as profitably. In .'
City comity there has been perhaps the next largest as well as the
practice. In York county, as in James City, some of the most valuable
and profitable improvements by marling have been made. And some of
the farms of both counties, adjoining' Williamsburg, and having the benefit
of putrescent town manures, show, more strikingly than any others known,
the remarkable power of calcareous manure to fix the putrescent in the
soil, and make them more eihcient and far more durable. In Surry, Isle of
Wight. Nansemond, Charles City, New Kent, Hanover. King William, King
and Queen, Gloucester, and Middlesex counties, in the middle of the marl
region of Virginia, mail has been already extensively applied, and the pro-
fits therefrom are annually increasing. And in other surrounding counties.
worse supplied with marl, the practice has been canied on in proportion to
the facilities, and to the more scanty experience and degree of information
on the subject. It would be a most important statistical fact, il it could be
ascertained how much land in Virginia has already been marled. The
quantity however is very great; and all the land marled has been thereby
increased in net product, on the general average, fully S bushels of corn or
oats, or -1 bushels of wheat— and tue land increased in intrinsic value fully
'200 per cent on its previous value or market price. Where the marling
has been judiciously conducted, the- ( • ..•reaee have been more

I >l s MANURES - PRACTICE j 55

than doubled. From those data, might be calculated something like the
already prodigiously 1 and products due solely to m

and which will be still n ir. li not a

\ alue to tin' a nt of

millions of dollars having been thus created. II In this

iter into minute details of results, nor to prescribe rules
for practice, both of which have been given The

■ is bui to state improvem esults in general.

" It required the impr ■ and mi. idling

. or liming, which in final 1
der as generally available the best and but rarely found be

of the two 1 table manuring recommended by Taylor; M

such soils have been made calcareous, by marling or linung, then, and not
until then, all the benefits present and future, that bis leaders might have
been induced to expect, may be* confidently counted upon. In my own
earlier practice — and Taylor hail no Lrer, or more Implicit fol-

lower— I found my farm-yard manurings on acid soils scarcely to pay the
expense of application, and to leave no trace of the effect alter a very short
time. And land, allowed to receive for its support all its vegetable growth
(of weeds and natural grass) of two and a half years in every four, and the
products in corn having been measured and compared, showed no certain
increase in more than twenty yens of such mild treatment. Since, on the
same fields, farm-yard manures, in every mode of preparation and applica-
tion, always tell well, both in early ellect and in duration. And even the
leaves raked up on wood-land, spread immi 1 without any pre-

paration as top-dressing on clover, always produce most manifest improve-
ment, and are believed to give more net profit than any application of the
much richer farm-yard manure, per acre, made on like land before it is
marled. This utilizing and fixing of other manures, and the fitting land
to produce clover, which effects of marling arc in addition to all the direct
benefit produced, would alone serve to give a new face to the agriculture
of the country. Whatever ma by clover, and almost e\ery

thing that can be done to profit by vegeta le manures, on the much la
proportion of the lands of lower Virginia, will I"' due to the application of
marl or lime.

" Liming. — The kindred improvement by liming began to be extensively
practised on some of the best James river lam 1 marl was found,

soon after the use of the latter began to extend. Who may have n
the earliest and small applications of lime is not known, nor is it at all im-
portant. The earlier profitable nia, and the 1
earlier and more e in Britain, were known to every well-in-
formed or reading farmer. Such a one was Fielding Lewis, of Charles
City, as well ttentive, judicious, and successful practical cultiva-
tor and improver. He is believed to have been the earl ..able
limer, and the one who obtained the most n

whose example hid most effect in spreading the practice. Some of his
disciples and followers have sin© dity and wider extent of

operations, far surpassed their teacher and leader - to whom, however, they
award the highest meed of praise for bringing int
this srreat benefit to the agriculture ol 1 I the best

soils on James river are comparatively of low level, as it' of ancient alluvial
formation, and have no marl, with which the neighboring higher and 1
lands are mostly supplied. Of such rich lands are the farms of Weyanoke,
Sandy Point, Westover, and Shirley, &c in Charles City, and Brandon
(Tpper and Lower,) in Prince George — and on all these lands, as well is
21

]6Q CALCAREOUS MANURES— PRACTICE

some others, lime has been largely applied. The use is extending to the
lands on all the tide waters of the state ; and it has recently received a
new impulse from the low price at which northern stone-lime is now
brought and sold. It is ready slaked, and the vessels are loaded in bulk.
The lime is sold on James river at 1 0 cents the bushel, and even may be
contracted for at 5 cents, from vessels that come for cargoes of wood,
and would come empty but for bringing lime. The greater lightness and
cheaper transportation of lime will enable it to be applied where marl
eould not be carried with profit ; and with the two, there will be but little
of lower Virginia which may not be profitably improved by calcareous

* Extract from " Report to the State Board of Agriculture, on the most important
recent improvements of asriculture in lower Virginia, and the most important defects
yet remaining," Farmers' Register, p. 257, vol. x.

D. H. HILL LIBRARY
North Carolina State College

E s s \ \

CALCAREOUS MANURES.

PART THIRD— AH'r.MMV

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

h* the foregoing exposition of theory and practice, it lias been the object
and effort of the author to embrace whatever seemed necessary for proof
or for illustration ; and to omit every thing else, lest too much of amplifica-
tion or digression should weaken rather than strengthen the main positions.
Thus it is believed that the foregoing chapters, as argument and proof,
serve to establish the series of propositions which were at first advanced
and throughout contended for. Still there remained many minor but inte-
resting subjects more or less intimately connected with the investigation,
and which well deserved more extended discussion, and the consideration
of those readers who should desire to pursue farther the general object of this
essay. These subjects will be treated separately in the different arti-
cles of this appendix; which may be read, it is believed, with both interest
and benefit by the more inquiring class of readers ; or may be passed over,
by the more cursory and careless, without detriment to the arguments and
facts of the preceding portion and regular body of the work.

Among the most important of the subjects to be thus treated at length,
will be the remarkable and extensive deposites of gypseous earth, or green-
sand earth, in lower Virginia, and its action as manure— the formation of
prairies, (or lands divested of trees)— and the causes of, and remedies for
malaria, and its train of diseases, which serve, aided by the operation of the
evil legislative policy of Virginia, so grievously to afflict this now otherwise
most fortunate and highly blessed agricultural region. Various other arti-
cles will be presented, whirl) will be but extensions of different parts of the
foregoing text, and which will serve as additional proofs or illustrations of
some of the positions before presented and maintained.

NOTR I. — Extenrim of subject <ii page 54.

PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF Af'in snil.s, FURNISHED HY Tlir RECENT RBflEAl
or ( HI

The •Timii <1, cliiwi,' is a French translation, by Esslinger, of the volu-
minous and valuable work of the great Swedish chemist, lier/.elius. The
first edition of the original work, in the German language, and the Frencl

jgg CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

translation of it were in the course of publication at the same time ; and the
first volumes of the latter were published at Paris, before the latter volumes
of the original work had been sent to the press at Stockholm. The sixth
volume of the French translation, from which I have translated the follow-
ing: extract into English, was printed in 1632. It is not known to me whe-
ther the original work is in this country [1835.]

The following passages contain the opinions of Berzelius, and of other
chemists, on humin and humic acids, or as called here, geine and geic acid,
and which were referred to in the quotation from Rennie, at page 54. It
will be left to the reader to decide how far my views of acid soils are sup-
ported by these new opinions of chemists, founded upon chemical analyses
of the substances in question. It is proper to state that this new doctrine
of geic or humic acid has not passed uncontroverted. It is altogether
denied by Raspail, a French chemist, and who is a later writer than Ber-
zelius.

This article will offer scarcely any thing of interest to most readers,
and is one of those which will be generally passed over. Its substance
might indeed have been given more concisely, and perhaps in a more at-
tractive form, if my object had been merely to exhibit the opinions now ge-
nerally received among scientific men concerning acid in soil. But it was
also designed to exhibit what was the utmost possible extent of scientific
authority for this doctrine, so far as could have been known in this country
when the last preceding edition of this essay was published in 1835. When
my still earlier editions asserted the same doctrine, as then and now, there
was not only no scientific authority for acid in soil, but all authority was
opposed, either directly or indirectly.

[translation.]

Products of putrefaction at the surface of the earth.

Mould (terreau.)— The vegetable matters which rot at the surface of the
earth, finish by leaving a blackish brown pulverulent mass, which has re-
ceived the name of mould [humus.]

All the vegetation of a year, which dies at the arrival of winter, is con-
verted by degrees to mould, which is mixed with the earth in which the
plant grew ; whence it comes that the extreme surface of the earth con-
tains a greater or less proportion of mould, which serves for the nutriment
of the succeeding growth of plants. This mould, such as it is found in
the earth, is often mingled with the products of a less advanced putrefac-
tion, or even with vegetable parts not changed, principally a great quantity
of small roots. If we examine the mould, such as it is found in cultivated
soils, it is found to be in a mass very much mixed ; but it is always pos-
sible to extract the parts which characterize moujd.

During the transformation of the vegetable matters to mould, the fust
portion of their mass is changed into a brownish black substance, which
presents all the characters of apothem& when we have separated from it
the unaltered extract, which the apotheme draws with it. The salts of
such aoids as are of organic origin, contained in the vegetable matter, are
destroyed, so that the elements of the acid are resolved into water and
carbonic acid, whilst the base is combined with the substance analogous

* What Berzelius calls apotheme is " a deposite slightly soluble in water, produced
in an aqueous solution of vegetable extract during slow evaporation, and containing a
larger proportion of carbon, than does an equal weight of extract."

CALCAKEOI'n MANURES— APPENDIX Jgy

to apotheme, which makes part of the mould. The salts of acids of mineral
origin are preserved, unless they are soluble, in which case the rain car-
ries them off. In addition, mould contains a substance but slightly soluble
la water, which colors the liquid yellow, and a< is substance

which is entirely Insoluble, and which appears to be one of the products oi
miction, still more advanced, of organic matters.
To give an example of a completed formation ol l vegetable

origin, I shall here state the results of an analysis to which Braconnot sub-
I some wheat, which had remained during many centuries in a damp
vault, the issues from which were stopped up by earth, and of which the
existence was forgotten, until by chance it was again The

grains had preserved their form, and the brightness of their outside skin ;
but they were black, and were reduced by the slightest pressure to a black
powder. The water with which they were boiled was colored yellow, and
it left, after being evaporated, a saline mass Of a brownish yellow, which
burnt with slight explosion when heated, and which, besides the substance
cited soluble in water, contained nitrate of potash, nitrate of lime, and a
little of the muriates of potash and of lime. The nitrates were the Result
of the oxidation of the nitrogen contained in the gluten and vegetable
albumen, and of the combination of the nitric acid thus produced, with the
bases previously combined with vegetable acids. The weight of this mass
soluble in water, including the salts and all the other principles, did not
exceed 1J per cent, of the weight of the black grain. When the part in-
soluble in water was boiled in alcohol, a small trace of a brown substance
was taken up, which remained after evaporating the alcohol, and had the
consistence of wax. The mass, exhausted of its soluble parts by boiling
water and alcohol, was then heated slowly with a weak solution of caustic
potash, which became saturated and colored of a blackish brown ; and this
treatment was continued as long as new potash lie took up any thing.
This substance was precipitated from the solution by an acid ; it was the
body similar to apotheme which has already been mentioned, and of which
the weight amounted to :io£ per cent. The portion of matter insoluble in
the alkali preserved the same appearance. This, exposed to the action of
diluted muriatic acid, yielded to it a certain quantity of lime, of oxide of
iron, and of phosphate of lime. The residue was again acted on by potash,
which took up a new and very large proportion Of the body similar to
apotheme. This was after that combined with lime, and resisted in that
state the action of potash. This calcareous combination amounted to 42
hundredths. The 30 per cent, remaining consisted of a black carbona-
ceous matter, insoluble in the solvent used.

If cultivated soil is treated in the same manner, similar results will be
obtained, with this difference, that the earthy matter of the soil is found
mixed with the products which are obtained, whilst no soluble salts are
met with, they being generally carried off by the rains.

To describe the constituent principles of mould, it is necessary to desig-
nate them by particular names. I will then call extract of mould the body
soluble in water, and I will give the name of geitu to the matter similar
to apotheme, which constitutes the principal mass of mould. As to the
coally substance insoluble in water, alcdnol, acids and alkalies, I will desig-
nate it by the name of carbonaceous mould.

Extract of mould.— We obtain this substance by drawing it from the
mould by the action of cold water, which becomes thereby colored yellow,
and which leaves, after evaporation, a yellow extract of a bitter taste, and

• Or Aumtn, as termed by other authors.

170 CALCAREOUS MANUUKs-APPENDIV

from which some geine is separated when it is again acted on by water.
If this solution is left to evaporate spontaneously in contact with air, it
becomes covered with an insoluble pellicle, and when a certain degree of
concentration has been reached, the liquor becomes turbid. The solution
is precipitated by the salts of tin and of lead ; after the precipitation, the
liquor is without color. According to Korte, the sulphuretted hydrogen
gas precipitates it also. This extractive matter is contained in the water
of many springs and streams. The water of the springs of Porla, in West-
rogotha, contains so great a quantity that it is colored yellow. When the
iron contained in this water is oxidized from the air, the extract of mould
is precipitated with the oxide of iron, and the water becomes clear.

Geine. — This substance has received different names. Braconnot has
given to it the name of ulmin, for reasons which I have exhibited and op-
posed in a former part of this work. Dobereiner and Sprengel gave to it
the name of acid of humus, because it combines with the earths and alka-
lies. But for the same reason we might give the name of acid to more
than the half of all vegetable bodies.

Geine does not exist in vegetable earth only; soot contains it also, and
according to Braconnot, it is formed when the saw-dust of wood is ex-
posed to the action of caustic potash. It is almost impossible to obtain
geine in a state of purity. One part of geine which is met with in a natu-
ral state is in combination with bases ; but when we attempt to remove
these by an acid, the geine combines in part with the excess of acid, and
acquires itself (in part) the property or reddening vegetable blues. Geine
possesses all the properties of apotheme, and it is produced like other apo-
themes; that is to say, by the action of the air on dissolved extract of
mould. In the natural state it does not act chemically, either like the acids
or the alkalies. Nor does it have any effect on the color of vegetable blues.
It is but slightly soluble in water, which it colors of a pale yellow; is still
less soluble in alcohol, and insoluble in ether. Exposed to the action of heat
it takes fire, burns at first with flame, then without flame like spunk, spread-
ing a peculiar odor, something like that of burning peat. Submitted to dry
distillation, it is decomposed, gives half its weight of a charcoal having
a metallic lustre, of empyreumatic oil, an acid water containing acetic acid
and sometimes ammonia, some carburetted hydrogen, and a little carbonic
acid gas. If geine is held suspended in water, through which a current of
chlorine is passed, this whitens it, and precipitates a white resin-like sub-
stance. Iodine is without action on it. If we add an acid to aj} alka-
line solution of geine, the geine is precipitated. If the whole of the geine
is not precipitated, that part which is precipitated retains in combination a
small portion of the base, and leaves, when it is burnt, a small quantity of
alkaline ashes. If, on the contrary, an excess of acid is poured into the al-
kaline solution, the liquor is discolored, and the precipitated geine strongly
reddens vegetable blues, a property which cannot, be removed by placing
the geine on a filter, and pouring water upon it. So long as the liquor
which passes through the filter contains free acid it is not colored ; then it
begins to be colored, and finally it dissolves as much as two-thirds of its
weight of the precipitated mass. These acid properties belong in part to
the geine, which owes them to the action of the alkali, and which may, in
this case, be called geic acid ; they ought to be in part attributed to a com-
bination of the geine with the precipitated acid. According to Einhoff, it
is the latter case which is really presented, and the acid cannot be carried
off, but with the aid of an alkali. Sprengel. on the other hand, pretends
to have freed the geine, by prolonged washing, from the muriatic acid
which had served to precipitate it: and to make certain the absence of the

CALCAREOUS MANUKES-APPftrfDIX. \J \

muriatic acid, he has mixed the washed geine with a little nitrate "I silver.
After evaporation to dryness, and calcination, the residue, treated by nitric
acid, was dissolved, without leaving any muriate of silver. But as muriate

of silver, like the other salts of silver, is reduced to a u.etallic state by
containing carbon and I on itself effects the same

• ■ when disengaged along with water, this result proves nothing. In
eine, they have attributed the properties of
that which has been changed by the action of an alkali, to the geine which
has not been altered. The geine which reddens vegetable blues, is the
same, whatever may have been the acid which served for its precipitation.
Its saturated aqueous solution is of a yellowish brown, and the combina-
tion is precipitated anew by acids, excepting the carbonic, and the sulphur-
etted hydrogen. Collected upon aiilter.it is presented under the form of
a gelatinous mass, of a taste slightly acid, astringent— and by drying.it
contracts strongly, and forms clots of a deep brown, almost black, with a
vitreous fracture, and which are not dissolved again in water after being
once completely dried. The aqueous solution of the acid geine, is precipi-
tated by the salts of lead, of tin, and of iron ; but is not disturbed by gela-
tine, albumen, starch, gum, tannin, or solution of soap. According to
Braconnot, it is precipitated by a mixture of the solution of gelatine and
gallic acid. The dried geine is dissolved with difficulty, and incompletely,
in alcohol. The solution reddens i egetable blues, whilst the part not dis-
solved is without this power, though it still preserves the property of com-
bining with potash. Geine is destroyed by concentrated acids. The sul-
phuric acid dissolves it, taking at the same time a black color, carbonizing
it, disengaging sulphurous acid gas, and leaving for residue the ordinary
products which result from the action of this acid. By the addition of sur-
oxide (or black oxide) of manganese, carbonic acid gas is disengaged.
The nitric acid dissolves and decomposes geine, with a disengagement of
nitric oxide gas, and carbonic acid gas. If the solution is evaporated to
the consistence of syrup, and then mixed with water, there is precipitated a
peculiar bitter substance in powder, and there are found in the solution,
artificial tannin and oxalic acid.

Geine forms soluble combinations with alkalies. When an excess of
geine is used, the caustic alkalies are so neutralized by this substance, that
they lose their peculiar chemical action and properties. In this respect,
geine agrees with gluten, vegetable albumen, the brown of indigo, the sugar
of liquorice, apotheme, and other bodies not acid. During the evaporation
the solution furnishes a black mass, which acquires lustre by complete dry-
ing, and splits, and is easily reduced to a powder. It is redissolved in wa-
ter, its taste is weak, bitter and disagreeable. Caustic ammonia gives a
like mass, soluble in water, which gives up, during evaporation, the excess
of alkali employed. Geine is not dissolved always in alkaline carbonates;
when it is so dissolved, these carbonates are transformed, half into %
half into bi-carbonates. When the solution is boiled, the bi-carbonate is
decomposed with disengagement of carbonic acid gas, and in this manner
the geine drives off all the carbonic acid. If a solution of geine in car-
bonate of ammonia Is evaporated, a residue is obtained containing neu-
tralized geate of ammonia. The solution of geine in caustic potash, in ex-
cess, absorbs oxygen from the air, and at the end of some time, the alkali
is in part carbonated.

Geine firms with the alkaline earth* pulverulent combinations but little
soluble, which have an external resemblance to geine. The best means for
obtaining them is to mix a solution of the ceate of ammonia, with the solu-

J 72 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

tion of an earthy salt ; the combination of the geine with the earth is pre-
cipitated, and may be separated by filtration, from the supernatant fluid.
In the humid state, these compounds are slightly soluble in water. Accord-
ing to the experiments of Sprengel, one part of geate ofbarytes is dissolved
in 5200 parts of water, one part of geatc of lime is soluble in 2000 parts of
water, and one part of geate of magnesia in 100 parts of water, cold.
These same compounds require for their solution, rather smaller proportions
of boiling water. After having been completely dried they will no more
dissolve. In the air, the base is combined in part with carbonic acid, and
the carbonate which results therefrom remains in the state of mixture
with a combination of geine, and of a base analogous to a supersalt. The
alkaline carbonates decompose the earthy geates ; they dissolve the geine,
and leave the base in the state of carbonate. According to Sprengel, the-
geates of lime and magnesia are dissolved in the caustic fixed alkalies, and
in the carbonate of ammonia. Other chemists have not arrived at the
same result; and according to them, the geate of potash, acted on by the
hydrate of lime, precipitates all the geine. The geate of alumina is pre-
cipitated when a solution of alum is mixed with a solution of geate of pot-
ash, or of ammonia. This compound is dissolved in 4200 parts of cold
water. In the moist state it is dissolved easily, and in abundance, in the
alkaline carbonates and hydrates, and even in ammonia. According to
Sprengel, it resists the decomposing action of acids, so that it is difficult to
extract from it geine exempt from alumine. A combination is obtained
having an excess of alumine, by digesting a solution of the geate of am-
monia with hydrate of alumina. * * *

Carbonaceous mould. — The substance to which this name has been given
has been but little examined. It is insoluble in alkaline liquors. Its color
is a brown, almost black. Placed in contact with a body in combustion,
it takes fire, and burns without flame like spunk. According to the experi-
ments of Th. de Saussure, carbonaceous mould combines with the oxygen
of the air, and forms carbonic acid gas, and when it is left a long time
exposed to air and water, it becomes by slow degrees soluble in alkalies.
The acids precipitate it from the alkaline solution, in the state' of acid
geine. When cold, the sulphuric acid has but little effect on it. Accord-
ing to Braconnot, the nitric acid converts it at a gentle heat to a brown
liquor, in which water produces a precipitate of a chocolate color, which
possesses the properties of acid geine, and is dissolved without residue in
the alkalies.

Soil (Jterre vegetale). — It is the mixture of these several substances with
the upper layer of the surface of the earth, which constitutes the vegetable
earth or soil, properly so called. Arable land is a bed of this soil, placed
upon a bed of earth which contains no mould. Its fertility depends upon
the quantity of mould which it contains. Growing plants continually
diminish the quantity of geine contained in the soil ; and when the plants
are carried off from the soil on which they grew, which happens almost
always with cultivated land.it is finally exhausted to 'that degree as to
produce nothing. It is on this account that it is necessary to manure land.
The matters discharged and left by animals, or the barn-yard manure
which is used for this purpose, are by degrees converted into geine. and
thus replace the matters dissipated by vegetation. Botanists, who have
directed their attention to vegetable physiology, have remarked that the
plants vegetate well enough without geine, until the time arrives for them
to commence their sexual functions. But as soon as these are ended and
the fruit begins to be developed, the plants absorb a great quantity of the

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

173

nutritive principles contained in the soil, and if these are not in the soil,
the Bower (alia without forming any fruit. The experiments to which
In. de Saussure has submitted soil, [terre vegi tale] appear to demonstrate
that the three constituent principles of mould may be converted the one
to the other, under the alternately preponderating influence of air and
water. Water converts to the extract of mould a part of the insoluble
contained in the soil, and this transformation extends more and more
so that finally the greater part of the geine becomes soluble. In contaet
with the air, the dissolved matter passes again to the state of geine The
carbonaceous mould which changes a part of the air into carbonic acid, is
itsell changed by air into geine and into extract of mould, and it is upon
this transformation that appear to depend in part the advantages derived
from the tillage of the soil, which is divided by the action of the plough
and exposed to the immediate influence of the air. In this maimer all the
parts of the soil contribute to nutrition ; whilst it is probable that the solu-
tion of the extract of mould, that of the geate of lime, and perhaps also
that of the geate of alumine, are Immediately absorbed by the roots. Durin"
a heavy rain, this solution penetrates the interior, and often to very deep
beds of the sterile earth ; but notwithstanding that, it is not lost to vegetable
life ; for the roots of trees seek it, and bring it back as matter suitable
for their nourishment.

Experience has demonstrated that quick-lime and the carbonate of lime
mingled with the soil, favor the vegetation produced thereon. Chemistry
has not yet explained, in a satisfactory manner, the power which lime thus
exerts; however, it is known that when the soil contains this alkaline
earth, or, in its place, ashes only, the mould is quickly consumed, and vege-
tation becomes more rich in proportion. It has thence been conch..!, , I
that lime acts, partly in exciting the plant to greater activity, and partly in
rendering more soluble the principles of the soil, which are absorbed by
the roots when dissolved in the water which the earth has imbibed. Lime
is not then a true [or alimentary] manure, it contributes only to pro-
mote and hasten the absorption of the principles which serve to nourish
the plant ; and that lime may be serviceable, it is necessary to introduce
into the soil improved by lime, materials proper to furnish new quantities
of mould. The lime or alkali contained in ashes acts also in hastening
the change of organic matters to mould.

It is known by experience, that gypsum also augments the fertility of the
earth, especially when leguminous plants are cultivated. It is not probable
that this neutral salt acts in the same manner as lime, and we are ignorant
of what is its mode of acting.

Soil [terre vegetate] possesses the property of being able to retain as
much as three-fourths of its weight of water without appearing moist, and,
like charcoal, it condenses atmospheric humidity. It owes this property to
the geine which it contains, which is one of the substances that, of all
known, absorbs moisture with most energy. Mould [terreau] can absorb
double its weight of water, without appearing moist ; an. I alter being
dried, it draws from the air, in less than twenty-four hours, a quantity of
water, which may vary according to the humidity of the atmosphere, from
80 to 100 per cent, of its weight. This property depends upon Its light
and dust-like consistence; and geine, of which the fracture becomes vi-
treous from its course of chemical treatment, is deprived ol this physical
property, which is of the utmost Importance to vegetable life. For, in con-
sequence of this property, mould retains water in the earth and obstructs
its evaporation ; and it is probably this water which maintains the extre-
mities of the roots in the state to perform their functions.
22

174

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

It is usual to divide soil into fertile earth, and acid earth.* The first is
very common, the second presents itself but rarely. It produces nothing,
unless it be mosses ; it is in marshy places that it is ordinarily found. It
is in general composed in the same manner as fertile earth ; but whilst in
the latter the geine is united with lime, and perhaps with other bases be-
sides, it is in the acid earth combined with acids, which, according to
Einhof, are the phosphoric and acetic acids/- It is for this reason that it
has the property of reddening vegetable blues, and that it gives, by calcina-
tion, ashes which contain phosphoric acid. Todrydistillation.it yields a
great quantity of an acid liquid, containing the acetate of ammonia; and
when it is distilled, after having mixed it with water, a liquid product is
obtained, which reddens vegetable blues, and likewise contains acetate of
ammonia. In opposition to Einhof, Sprengel affirms that the acid geine is
produced only for the want of bases, and that its acid action proceeds
only from the geic acid which it contains, and not from the presence of a
foreign acid. De Pontin has made the analysis of an acidf soil taken from
the plain of Eckerud, in the government of Elfsburg, in Sweden, and found
that the geine had there combined with the malic, acetic, and phosphoric
acids. The dissolving of the soluble principles of the soil in boiling water.
left to be deposited when the hydrate of lime was mixed therein, these acids
as well as geine, so that there was found afterwards in the water only
traces of the acetate and hydrate of lime. But when a current of carbonic
acid gas was made to pass through this precipitate, steeped in water, the
geine remained, without dissolving, in combination with the carbonate of
lime produced, while there was formed a solution slightly yellowish, which
left after evaporation a residue of calcareous salts. This residue was
treated by alcohol, which took up a certain quantity of acetate of lime, and
left a salt of lime of a gummy appearance, which was soluble in water,
and possessed the properties of the malate ol lime. In burning the geate
of lime, and taking up the residue by muriatic acid, there was obtained a
solution which when treated by ammonia gave a small precipitate of phos-
phate of lime. The greater part of the acid geine was dissolved in the
carbonate of ammonia. Hydrate of lime was poured into the solution,
which precipitated the geine without leaving in solution a salt of lime.
But when after having washed the precipitate, it was calcined, and the
residue treated with muriatic acid, there was obtained a solution, which,
after the expulsion of the carbonic acid, gave with ammonia an abundant
precipitate of the phosphate of lime. 1 hese experiments confirm those
given by Einhof.
An acid soil becomes fertile when there is mixed with it lime or ashes

* It is not a little strange to say it is " usual [dans I'usage] to divide soils into fertile
earth and acid earth," when the acid nature of any has been treated by Berzelius as a
new discovery, and of which the truth is not admitted by all of those who had taken
the subject into consideration. II this division bad indeed been usual, there would
have been no want of numerous authorities (whatever might be their value) for the
acidity of soil. — Translator.

fin the French version, this word was "pride," and also in the two other places
where it is used below soon after. But though the context made it almost certain that
this was an error of the press, and that the word should have been ucide, I did not
venture to make the alteration in a preceding edition, but merely stated in a note, the
doubt, and probable grounds of error. Very lately, (1812,) I saw for the first time the
German work by Berzelius, in the library of Professor J. C. Booth of Philadelphia, and
by aid of his knowledge of the language, I was enabled to make sure that the error was
as 1 bad supposed. Though the book lately examined was the second edition, the ex-
tract was translated (through the French) from Berzelius' first edition, and there is no
difference in the above paragraph, except that in the latter he has added the term " un-
fruitful" to " acid soil," [unfruchtbnre saure Dammerdc] — Translator.

CALCAREOl S M PPF.NDIX. 175

and earth, inasmuch as tl Jta principal] The report

of Spi hi it 1 tills character of soil] is produced in

■ of the absence of the bases which are found in fertile earth,
is certainly true; but it does not follow from that, that it owes its acidity
solely d) the acid nature of the peine. The 1 soil always con-

tain a great quantity of silex.

NOTE II. — Extension of subject of pi

ADDITIONAL I'ROOF OFFERED, BV THE PRODUCTION AND EXISTENCE OF BLACK WA-
TERS, OF THE ACTION OF LIME IN i 0MB1NIITO VEGETABLE MATTERS WITH SOIL.

Every person who has seen much of the different parts "I lower Virgi-
nia, (to go no farther for examples,) must have remarked the dark perma-
nent color of the waters of many streams and mill-ponds ; and that Others,
whether when clear or when turbid, ies and entirely without

any tinge of this peculiar coloring matter. The waters thus colored by ve-
getable matter are more deeply tinted at some times than at others; but are
always strongly thus marked. These waters, when several feet in depth,
appear to the eye quite black or very dark brown. The same if viewed in
a drinking glass would appear of the color of Sherry wine, and might present
some shade between the palest and deepest tints of such wine. This color has
"•nothing of muddiness; for these waters are as clear from suspended clay or
mud as any other waters not so colored in the slightest degree. In the county
in which nearly all my life has been passed, Prince George, these different
kinds of waters are to be seen in stronger contrast, because of their close
neighborhood. All the streams which flow into Blackwater river, as well as
the main stream, which that name so well describes, bom its head to its out-
let, are colored deep!}', and it is believed without exception. ( in the contrary,
the streams which How into .lames river often rise from sources very near to
some of the others, the head-springs being on opposite sides of the same
dividing ridge of level table land, and in lands precisely alike. Some of
these lands are of close and stiff soil, and some more sandy and quite
light; but all are level, poor, and acid lands, and are mostly still under
lores! growth.

All persons, whether of the most or the least observant class, would
concur in the opinion that this color proceeds from vegetable matter. This
is obvious even in the waters of heavy rains, which when more than the
level ridge lands can absorb, flow off, and are sometimes for a day or more
thus passing in temporary streams to the nearest valley, or other descent.
These surplus waters, while yet on the highest woodland, are colored to a
greater or less depth of tint; and just as much in those which take their
course towards James river, as the others which flow in the opposite direc-
tion to the Blackwater. The difference is that the former soon lose all such
coloring matter, and in no case carry it to or even near James river, whilst
the other waters increase in depth of color with the length of their course,
or the duration of time they remain in the mill-ponds they pass through, or
in the sluggish Blackwater river.

The supply of coloring matter is principally furnished by the dead and
fallen leaves in the poor forest land, and is doubtless increased afterwards
both by the partial evaporation of the water, and by its dissolving still
more of the soluble vegetable extract in the Hat swampy grounds through
which the streams flow into the Blackwater. This might indeed satisfactorily

176 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

account for these waters being more deeply colored than those which pass
by a more rapid descent to James river. But these different circumstances
do not serve at all to explain why the latter waters should soon lose, if they
had it at first, the slightest trace of color.

The like circumstances are probably to be found to more or less extent
in most of the counties on our tide- water rivers, as most of them have poor
forest lands and some swampy streams in the interior.

As the opposite circumstances of the presence or absence of color in
different waters is certainly not caused by such difference in the sources of
supply, they must be caused by some subsequent action which serves to
clear the waters in one locality, by combining with and taking off the dis-
solved coloring matter, and which action does not take place elsewhere,
because there is no such efficient agent present. That agent I take to be
carbonate of lime, or some other salt of linie in the soil in the one case,
and which is present in quantity altogether insufficient for such action in
the other case. According to the views which were presented (page 58)
in regard to the power of calcareous earth to combine chemically with
vegetable matter, if the colored waters should flow over soils furnished with
calcareous matter, or into streams impregnated with any salts of lime, it
would follow that the suspended or dissolved vegetable extract would com-
bine with the calcareous matter of the soil in the water, and the new com-
bination be precipitated, and be given to the soil, as manure, either imme-
diately or remotely. This effect would be greatly aided if the streams
swollen by rains actually passed in contact with and washed away exposed
banks of marl. All recent rain water contains a small amount of carbonic
acid, and that impregnation enables water to dissolve a proportional quan-
tity of carbonate of lime, which is insoluble in water without this addition
of carbonic acid. Therefore, in such circumstances the swollen streams
and land floods would necessarily dissolve some carbonate of lime, which
would be thus placed immediately and fully in mixture and perfect contact
with the before dissolved vegetable coloring matter, and next must take
place the combination of the two, and precipitation of the compound ma-'
nure. The consequence must be, that the lands thus overflowed must be
more or less enriched by every heavy rain ; while the lands overflowed by
the colored waters receive, or retain, nothing of soluble vegetable matter from
this source, and may even lose part of what they had before received from
the decay of their own growth, or other sources, by its being dissolved
and carried off by such overflowing waters.

Now let us see how the actual results agree with these different causes,
so far as the causes are known to exist. In the limited region particularly
referred to above, the low grounds, subject to inundation by rains in a
state of nature, and having beds of marl which the stream cuts through,
are of much richer soil than any others, though the quantity of marl displaced
by the stream (if indeed any such displacing be perceptible) would seem
altogether too small in amount to produce such extent of fertilization by
direct action. And it is believed, whether marl beds be so exposed or not,
that the low-grounds on the streams of colorless water are always much
better 6oils, and of more durable fertility, than those washed by colored
waters. The latter soils being often swampy, are full of vegetable matter,
and of course would be very productive when first drained and cultivated.
But these soils are far from being among the most durable, and they are
even at first, and when in best condition, very inferior lands to most low-
grounds of prime quality ; and the latter are always penetrated by streams,
or had been sometimes covered by floods, which, however turbid at certain

CALCAREOUS MANURES -APPENDIX. 177

times with suspended clay and mud, are never colored by vegetable ex-
tractive or soluble matter alone.

If we go farther for examples, the effects will be found to be still more
striking. None of the lime-stone streams are ever colored; and their re-
markable transparency, very far surpassing that of the most pure and
limpid waters of the low country, show that the dissolved lime, which the
mountain. streams contain, serves to remove every thing of coloring m
These lime-stone waters, and land floods from rains which also necessarily
carry dissolved carbonate of lime, form the principal supply of the upper
.lames river. But long before the waters reach the head of tide, not a
particle of lime remains. The dissolved lime had been continually uniting
with the suspended or dissolved vegetable matter, until no lime was
left, and the precipitated compound had served to add more manure to the
extensive low-grounds along the whole course of the upper James river,
and which are so well known and deservedly celebrated for their great
and enduring fertility and high value.

When a resident of the lower country first visits our mountain and
lime-stone region, he cannot avoid observing and being forcibly impressed
by the remarkable clearness of the waters. Pools and basins in the
streams containing six feet depth of water, will appear to his unprac-
tised eye as not deeper than two or three feet. And it is only by com-
parison, and by becoming acquainted with this really and perfectly clear
lime-stone water, he learns that he had, in truth, never before seen a stream
or pond of perfectly clear water. Though the dissolved matters may be
in too small quantity to produce any appearance of color, they serve to
impair the transparency of the water. And when any such coloring or
vegetable matters are received into and intermixed with lime-stone streams,
the vegetable matter is immediately combined with lime, and the compound
precipitated ; still leaving in the water a great excess of dissolved lime,
scarcely diminished by the loss of the small part acting to clear the water
of all coloring and vegetable impregnation.

From the large proportion of lime held in solution by lime-stone springs,
and the streams proceeding from them, and also by rain floods passing
over lime-stone soils, it must be inferred, (according to my views,) that such
waters must very quickly combine with and precipitate all coloring matters,
and, when not turbid with earthy matter, be as transparent as water can
possibly be. Hence, the well known and remarkable transparency of such
water is not directly caused (as commonly understood) by lime be-
ing contained in them — but because of the other adTrTterations being
totally removed in combination with a part of that dissolved lime. Thus,
the water is not in the least made crystalline and transparent because of
what it contains, but because of what it has been deprived of. And, there-
fore, even after all the lime may have been precipitated, the water must
retain its previous perfect transparency, unless subsequently impregnated
with other coloring matter.

The additional supply of carbonic acid to water, which alone gives to it
the power to dissolve or to retain in solution even the smallest proportion of
carbonate of lime, is not strongly held. It is given off by the lime-stone
water in its partial evaporation, and to every contact of atmospheric air ;
and this operation is increased by such agitation of the water as exposes
a larger surface to the air. Hence, at all rapids of lime-stone streams,
there is a peculiarly rapid and large deposition of carbonate of lime, let
loose by the water because of the loss of the proportion of carbonic acid
which before served to hold the lime dissolved in the water. This pre-
cipitation and gradual accumulation of carbonate of lime, at the rapids and

178

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX

cascades of streams, is the formation called calcareous tufa or travertine,
and vulgarly called "marl" in our mountain region, and which is presented
in great quantity, and' sometimes in enormous masses.

As lime-stone water so easily parts with the carbonic acid which enables
it to hold lime in solution, it can scarcely be supposed that any ofthe acid
remains after the water collects and remains long in the great reservoirs
formed in lakes. But whether the water remains impregnated with car-
bonic acid, and of course with lime, or has lost both, the effect is the same,
and is exhibited most strongly in the remarkable transparency of lakes
so formed. Of such, I have never myself witnessed any but of Lake George,
in New York. And after the long lapse of time since my short visit to
this lake, I cannot remember to what extent the transparency of its waters
was asserted, or what my own personal observation ascertained. I only re-
member certainly that the depth of water through which very small objects
were distinctly visible was very great, and that no ground was left to doubt
what is generally asserted and received as true on that head.

To return to the lands and waters of Prince George county. The
water left by heavy rains, standing in shallow pools on the high level wood-
land, and flowing off in temporary rivulets, is seen to be colored by vegeta-
ble matter even within a mile of James river, just as it is found on the other
lands sloping towards the Blackwater. But in either and every known case
of such discoloration being caused, it is on poor and acid land. No such
effect takes place on calcareous or even neutral soil, no matter how abun-
dantly it is provided with dead leaves or other vegetable matter. There-
fore it is manifest that it is not difference of locality, but difference of soil,
which causes the different effects of the surplus rain water becoming
tinged, and remaining tinged with vegetable extract, or otherwise remain-
ing colorless. And also, after the water has been so tinged, that it depends
on the difference of chemical composition in the soils over which it passes, or
of the streams into which it is discharged, whether the color remains or is
quickly discharged. And, as already stated, this difference of action and effect
depends on the absence or presence of lime in the soils or waters to which
the colored excess of rain water flows.

It is only in the surplus quantity of rain water, or that which is more
than the soil can absorb, that this coloring matter is seen. But it is not the
less certain that all of the much greater quantity of water from more gentle
and more frequent rains which soak into the earth, must also be more or
less tinged with the coloring matter of the leaves and other dead vegeta-
ble matter through which the water passes, and must take up in passing all
that is then easily soluble, and not chemically combined with some other
body. Thus, every gentle and soaking rain probably carries into the soil
the greater part of all the then soluble vegetable matter, and that only
which is soluble is all that is then completely ready to act as food for plants.
The same rain, and the subsequent chemical action of air and warmth,
cause the decomposition of the before insoluble vegetable matter to recom-
mence, and in a few days there is a renewed supply of soluble or extractive
matter formed in the vegetable cover of the soil, ready to be dissolved and
to be carried into the earth by the next succeeding rain.

Such is Nature's process of furnishing alimentary manure, or the food of
plants, to soils. And the source of supply is unlimited ; for it is principally
from the atmosphere and water, and by fixing their elements, (oxygen, ni-
trogen, hydrogen and carbon,) that the vegetable growths of soils, and con-
sequently all alimentary manures, are formed.

As enormous then as is the continual waste of vegetable extractive mat-
ter and manure that is caused by every heavy rain, and which is always

I LL< Wu:OUS MANURES— APPENDIX. ] 79

in the black waters of so many ponds and streams, all
this lost fertilizing matter must be in very small proportion, compared to
the greater Quantity that is carried more gradually and frequently into
the earth. Much the greater part of the wood-land of lower Virginia is
most freely and abundantly thus supplied, not only because of the abun-
dant 1 ented in a thick layer of fallen leaves, the growth of
many successive years, but also beoause of the very level surface of the
land, which obstructs the Bowing off of the surplus rain water, and thi
neral sandy and open texture of the soil and sub-soil, which operate to
absorb quickly the water and its dissolved vegetable1 matter. Yet it is
iliy these lands that show the least remaining and abiding store
of this supply of vegetable manure. The soil, or all of the upper part
which shows any color from containing vegetable matter, is usually not
more than two inches thick on sandy soils, and still less on the stifTest; and
all the portion below, (though necessarily manured by being often soaked
to a foot or more with rain-water conveying all its dissolved vegetable ex-
tract,) is entirely barren and worthless. Such results would be as inex-
plicable as they are wonderful, but for the reasons afforded by the doctrine
of the combining and fixing powers of carbonate of lime and vegetable
salts of lime ; the absence of which ingredients is the sole defect in these
cases, and which, when present in soils, show results of fertilization altoge-
ther the reverse of these. Where lime is present in sufficient quantity, no
coloring or manuring matter is lost to the soil in the flowing off of surplus
water, nor in the wasteful and profitless decomposition of the greater
quantity of coloring and alimentary matter soaked into the earth.

My observation was not attracted to the cause of the existence of black
waters, and this application of the facts, until nearly the close of my resi-
dence in the country, and of my opportunities for personal and accurate
observation. And 1 am well aware, and ready to admit, that previous ob-
servations, made by mere chance and without object, are worth very little
comparatively. I therefore would be glad to ha\e the attention of other ob-
sei Mas drawn to this point, and any facts to be elicited that will either confirm
or disprove my positions. From inquiries made of persons who have had
ample opportunity to observe what waters were cither permanently black
or without tinge of such vegetable stain, I have heard the following general
statements of facts, on which my comments will be offered as the facts are
presented.

Streams and ponds of black waters are rarely seen above the falls of
the rivers; and are believed to be very rarely found even twenty to
thirty miles above. They are never seen in the still higher lime-stone
a. If this opinion be correct, then these waters are confined exclusively
(as they certainly are mainly) to the region of soil of the most dad quality.
At the distance above the (alls where black waters are never found, the
high land was naturally in general of good quality, and the bottom or
alluvial lands, on small streams, invariably of good soil. Of course these
qualities indicate more of lime in the soil ; and, according to my views, also
the inability of water to become black, or at least to remain colored.*

The waters of 1 Slack water river and its tributary streams and swamps
become darker in autumn, owing to the low level of the surface at that sea-
son. This is according to sound reason; as evaporation of the solvent fluid
necessarily increases the strength of the solution. But this cause is held

(tract translated from M. Puvis' • Ettaintr la Marne,' ami introduced .a pa,.

150 of this pssay, affords testimony that the facts in regard to the existence and localities

of black waters in France accord strictly with the views presented in this article. He

ihere that, "during the month of August, the water of the ponds on calcareous

soil does not become II 1 happens in silicious ponds."

]Q0 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

by most persons as secondary in force to another, viz: the dropping of the
leaves, and especially of the numerous black-gum trees, and their berries,
at that season, on the swamps and in the streams. Of course such is the
source of the coloring matter ; but it would produce no notable or abiding
effect, but for the want of lime both in the soil and in the water. The ex-
tensive tide swamps on the creeks of James river, are covered with a dense
growth of trees, of which a large proportion are black-gums. Yet in the
numerous rills trickling or oozing out of these soils, after some days of
low tides, I have never observed the water to be dark, or in the least dis-
colored. Yet the soil of these tide swamps is as much of vegetable forma-
tion as any capable of bearing trees, and is believed to be more so than the
swamp lands of Blackwater river and its tributaries. Therefore it is not
the abundance of dead vegetable matter in a soil, nor the quantity or kind
of leaves furnished by the trees growing on it, which alone or together
produce colored waters. The earthy portion of the soil of these tide
marshes and swamps, small as is its amount, is not acid, but neutral, and
the lime contained serves to prevent the water remaining discolored.

Yet this is not always the case on tide swamps. The waters of Poco-
moke river, flowing into the Chesapeake, are black, which I presume is
owing to the deficiency of lime in the water and in the surface soil of the
lands from which the waters flow.

The great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and its lake, and the still more ex-
tensive swamps and lakes of North Carolina, all present black waters, and
which may all be accounted for by the reasons here given.

Neither is it necessary that marl beds should be wanting to produce the
effect of black waters. It is only necessary that the marl (no matter how
abundant) should be so far below the surface as not to affect the overflow-
ing waters, and that the soil of the higher lands should be generally of acid
quality. Such are the lands on Blackwater river and its tributaries. And
though marl was scarcely known any where there twenty years ago, it is
now known to be abundant, and generally to be found, though almost al-
ways a few feet below the surface of the low lands.

Many persons who would concur with me as to the premises and results,
would yet ascribe the coloring of certain waters to the more level surface of
the land, and the more sluggish and stagnant state of the waters ; and would
suppose the absence of coloring matter in the waters of the upper country to
be caused by the rapidity of the descent and of the passage of the streams.
This would be a correct view, if the matter in question were the degree of
inte?isity of color, instead of the existence or entire absence of color. It is
true, and obvious, that if the colored waters which now creep and stagnate
over the level lands below the falls, had as rapid a descent and free discharge
as the mountain torrents, their color could not be made deeper by the long
infusion of the leaves, nor by evaporation of still waters. But though the color
would be much more pale, its existence would not be the less certain. The
source of coloring matter, the soaking of dead leaves, &c, in rain water, is as
abundant in the upper as in the lower country; and the more rapid discharge
of the waters, if no other cause of clearing them operated, would not pre-
vent their becoming and remaining colored, as generally, and, however more
pale in tint, would be seen as obviously, as in the most level lands. But this
is not all. Though there is almost no level land, and therefore no swamps
in the hilly or still less in the mountain region, there are mill-ponds in the
lower hilly country, and natural lakes in the mountain region. If there
was the slightest tint of dissolved coloring matter in the streams, the wa-
ters when collected in these deep reservoirs could not fail to exhibit the color
much more deeply. Yet no one such fact is known, or is believed to have
existence.

CAM AM. ol 9 MANURES— APPENDIX. Jg]

NOTE III.— Mention oj the subject of page 68.

THE STATEMENTS OF BRITISH AUTHORS ON M Mil., ASM I HEIR APPLICATION OF THE
NAME, GENERALLY [» OHREI l AMD CONTRADICTORY.

1 ustoni compels mc to apply improperly the name marl to our depo«>'£*
of fossil shells. But as I have defined the manuring by this substance, which
is called martini;, to be simply making a sou oolcareous, or more so than it
was before, any term used for that operation would serve, if its meaning
was always kept in view. But this term, unfortunately, is of old and fre-
quent use in English books, with very different meanings. The existence
of these differences and errors has been generally stated in the foregoing
pages of this essay, and I shall here present the proofs. The following
quotations will show that the term marl is frequently applied in Britain to
clays containing no known or certain proportion of calcareous earth — that
when calcareous earth is known to be contained, it is seldom relied on as
the most valuable part of the manure'— and that in many cases the reader
is lift in doubt whether the manure lias served to increase, or diminish, or
has not altered materially the amount of the previous calcareous contents
of the soil.

The passages quoted will exhibit so fully the striking contradictions and
ignorance generally prevailing* as to the nature and operation of marl, that
it will scarcely be necessary for mc to express dissent in every case, or to
point out the errors or uncertainty of facts, or of reasoning, which will ap-
pear so manifestly and abundantly.

1. Kir wan, on the authority of Arthur Young and the Bath Memoirs,
[1783,] states that,

•' In some parts of England, where husbandry is successfully practiced, any loose clay it
called marl : in others, mail is called chalk, and in others, clay ii called loam." — Kinuan
on Manures, p I.

2. The learned and practical Miller tlms defines and describes marl, in
the ttridgment o/ the Gardener's Dictionary, fifth London edition, at the
article marl :

" Marl is a kind of clay which is become fatter ami of a more enriching quality, by a
better fermentation, and by its bavins lain so deep in the earlh as no) to have spent or
weakened its fertilizing quality by any product. Marls are of diAeient qualities in dif-
ferent counties of England."

He then names and describes ten varieties, most of them being very mi-
nutely and particularly characterized — and in only two of the ten is there
any allusion to a calcareous ingredient, and in these, it is evidently not
deemed to constitute their value as manures. These are "the cowshut
marl" of Cheshire, which —

" Is of a brownish color, with blue veins in it, and little lumps of chalk or limestone," —
and " clay-marl ; this resembles clay, and is pretty near akin to it, but is faUer, and some-
times mixed with chalk stones.

•' The properties of any sorts of marls, by which tbe goodness of them may be best
known, are better judged of by their purity and onrompoundedness, than their color si
if it will break in pieces like dice, or into thin Bakes, or is smooth like lead ore, and is
without a mixture of gravel or sand; if it will ^lake like I shatter alter

wet, or will tumble into dust, when it has been exposed to the sun ; or will not bang and
stick together when it is thoroughly dry. like ton^h clay : but is fat and lender, and will
open the land it is laid on, and not bind : it may be taken for granted that it will be be-
neficial to it."

3. Johnson's Dictionary (octavo edition) defines marl in precisely the
words of the first sentence of Miller, ns quoted above.

23

182 CALCAREOu

4. Walker's Dictionary (octavo edu *ini-
tion — " Marl — a kind of clay much used .

5. A Practical Treatise on Husbandry, (2tl
which professes to be principally compiled from
Evelyn, Home, and Miller, supplies the following quo.

" But of all the manures for sandy soils, none is so good as man. I
different kinds and colors of it, severally distinguished by many writers
tue is the same ; they may be all used upon the same ground, without tht
ference in their effect. The color is either red, brown, yellow, gray, or inixe<..
be known by its pure and uncompounded nature. There are many marks to disdi.j'i.
it by ; such as its breaking into little square bits ; its falling easily into pieces, by II
force of a blow, or upon being exposed to the sun and the frost ; its feeling fat and oily,
and shining when 'tis dry. But the most unerring way to judge of marl, and know it from
any other substance, is to break a piece as big as a nutmeg, and when it is quite dry,
drop it into a glass of clear water, where, if it be right, it will dissolve and crumble, as it
were, to dust, in a little time, shooting up sparkles to the surface of the water." — p. 27.

— Not the slightest hint is here of any calcareous ingredient being neces-
sary, or even serving in any manner to distinguish marl. But afterwards,
in another part of this work, when shell marl is slightly noticed, it is said :

" This effervesces strongly with all acids, which is perhaps chiefly owing to the shells.
There are very good marls which show nothing of this effervescence: and therefore the
author of the New System of Agriculture judged right in making its solution in water the
distinguishing mark." — p. 29.

The last sentence declares, as clearly as any words could do, that, in
the opinion of the author, no calcareous ingredient is necessary, either to
constitute the character, or the value of marl. And though it may be ga-
thered from other parts of this work, that what is called marl generally
contains calcareous earth, yet no importance seems attached to that quality,
any more than to the particular color of the earth, or any other accidental
or immaterial appearance of some of the varieties described.

The "shell marl" alluded to above, without explanation might be sup-
posed to be similar to our beds of fossil shells, which are called marl. The
two manures are very different in form, appearance, and value, though
agreeing in both being calcareous. The manure called shell marl by the
work last quoted from, is described there with sufficient precision, and more
fully in several parts of the Edinburgh Farmer's Magazine,* and in the Me-
moirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.f It is still more unlike
marl, properly so called, than any of the substances described under that
name, in the foregoing quotations. This manure is almost a pure calca-
reous earth, being formed of the remains of small fresh-water shells de-
posited on what were once the bottoms of lakes, but which have since be-
come covered with bog or peat soil. If I may judge from our beds of mus-
cle shells, (to which this manure seems to bear most resemblance,) much
putrescent animal matter is combined with, and serves to give additional
value to these bodies of shells. This kind of manure is sold in Scotland
by the bushel, at such prices as show that it is very highly prized. It
seems to be found but in few situations, and though called a kind of marl,
is never meant when that term alone is used generally.

A much older work than either of these referred to furnishes in part
the definitions and even the words used above. This is the 'Systema Ag-
ricultural, the Mystery of Husbandry discovered, published in 1687; and the
author or compiler of that old work was probably indebted to others still
older for his description of marl. For new books on agriculture, more

* See Farmer's Register, vol. i., p. 90.
t Vol. iii. p. 206.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX. ]83

especially, have been mo-,i generally made by compiling and copying from
older ones.

" Marie is a very excellent thing, commended of all that either write or practise any
thing in husbandry. There are several kinds of it, some stony, some sojl, while, gray,
russet, yellow, blew, black, and some ,ed : It is of a cold nature and saddens land ex-
ceedingly ; nd very heavy it is, and will go downward, though not so much as lime
doth. The goodness or badness thereof is not known so much by the colour, as by trie-
purity and uncompoundness of it; lor if it will break into bits like a dye, or smooth
like lead-oar, without any composition of sand or gravel ; or if it will slake like slate-
stones, and slake or shatter alter a shower ol rain, or being exposed to the sun or air,
and shortly after turn to dust, when it's thoroughly dry again, ami not congeal like tough
clay, question not Ihe fruillulness of it, notwithstanding the difference ol colours, which
are no certain signs of the goodness of the marie. As for the slipper mess viscousness,
fattiness, or oyliness thereof, although it be commonly esteemed a sign ol good mane,
yet the best authors affirm the contrary- viz : that there is very good mar/e which is
not so, but lielh in the mine pure, dry and short, yet nevertheless if you water it you
will Sod it slippery. Hut the best and truest rule to know the richness and profit o
your mark, to to try a load or two on' your lands, in several places and in dillerent

^IheTusually lay the same on the small heaps, and disperse it over the whole field, as
they do their dung ;'and this mark will keep the land whereon it is laid in some places
ten or fifteen and in some places thirty yeais in heart : it is most profitable Iffli dry, Igbt.
and barren lands, such as is most kind and natural foi rye, as is evident by M.ffl "« j
experiment in his chapter of marie. It also adbrdeth not its verlue or *,renS,1,1,ne,™t
year, so much as in the subsequent years. It yields a very great increase and advantage
on high, sandy, gravelly, or mixed lands. Though never so barren, strong c ay ground
is unsuitable to it ; yet if it can be laid dry, marie may be profitable on that also.

The author then proceeds to direct the mode of application more parti-
cularly ; and if there were any doubt as to his total ignorance (or otherwise
denial) of calcareous earth being necessary to the constitution of marl,
that doubt would be removed by a subsequent sentence.

"You shall observe, (saith Markham,) lhat if you cannot get dry. P8**^^1*^
inarle if then you can get of that earth which is call-,; iuller's earth, (and where Ihe
one is not. commonly the other is,) then you may use it in the same manner as you
should do marie, and it is found to be very near as profitable.

Evelyn's Terra, or Philosophical Discourse of Earths, 4>c, delivered be-
fore the Royal Society in 1675, has the following passage :

"Of marie (of a cold sad nature, a substance belween clay and chalk,) seldom have
we such quantities in layers as we have of forementioned earth ; hut we commonly
meet with it in places affected to it, and 'tis taken out ol pits, at dilterent depths, and of
divers colours, red, white, gray, blue, all of them unctuous, and of a slippery nature,
and differing in goodness ; for being pure and immixt. it sooner relents alter a shower,
and when dryed again, slackens, and crumbles into dust, without induration, and grow-
in" hard again. They are profitable lor barren grounds, as abounding in nitre; and
sometimes There has been found in murle, dclfs, a v.lriohc wood, which will kindle like

coal."

The opinions expressed in the foregoing extracts, prove sufficiently that
it was not the ignorant cultivators only, who either did not know of, or at-
tached no importance to the calcareous ingredient in marl ; and it was im-
possible that, from any number of such authors, an American reader could
learn that either the object or the effect of marUng was to render a soil
more calcareous— or that our bodies of fossil shells resembled marl in cha-
racter, or in operation as a manure. Of this, the following quotation will
furnish striking proof— and the more so as the author refers frequently to
the works of Anderson, and of Young, who treated of marl and of calca-
reous manures, in a more scientific manner than had been usual. This
author Bordley, cannot be justly charged with inattention to the instruction
to be gained from books; for his greatest fault, as an agriculturist, is his

184 CALCAri

fondness for applying the prac
England, to our lands and situatio
which he carried to an extent that is
ruinous to the farmer who should so sha]v

S. " I farmed in a country [the Eastern Shore of Ma.
due attention to manures : but having read of the applicati
quired where there was any in the peninsula of the ChespeaK
had a grayish clay which to the eye was marl : but because it
acids, it was given Qp when it ought to have been tried on the lani...
pidly crumbled and fell to mud, in water, with some appearance of .
Bordley's Husbundry, 2nd ed., p. 55.

That peninsula, through which Mr. Bordley in vain inquired for men,
immense quantities of the fossil shells which we so improperly call by .
name. But as his search was directed to marl as described by Englisi.
authors— and not to calcareous earth simply — it is not to be wondered at
that he should neither find the former substance, nor attach enough impor-
tance to the latter, to induce the slightest remark on its probable use as
manure.

9. The Practical Treatise on Husbandry, among the directions for im-
proving clay land, has what follows:

"Sea sand and sea shells are used to great advantage as a manure, chiefly for cold strong
[i. e. clay] land, and loam inclining to clay. They separate the parts ; and the salts
which are contained in them are a very great improvement to the land. Coral, and such
kind of stony plants which grow on the rocks, are filled with salts, which are very bene-
ficial to land. But as these bodies are hard, the improvement is not the first or second
year after they are laid on the ground, because they require lime to pulverize them,
before their salts can mix with the earth to impregnate it. The consequence of this is,
that their manure is lasting. Sand, and the smaller kind of sea weeds, will enrich land
for six or seven years : and shells, coral, and other hard bodies, will continue many years
longer.

" In some rountries/ojsii shells have been used with success as manure ; but they are
not near so lull of salts, as those shells which aie taken from the sea shore ; and therefore
the latter are always to be preferred Sea sand is much used as manure in Cornwall.
The best is that which is intimately mixed with coral." — p. 21.

After stating the manner in which this "excellent manure" is taken up from
the bottom, in barges, its character is thus continued :

" It [i. e. the sea sand mixed with coral, as it may happen,] gives the heat of lime, and
the fatness of oil, to the land it is laid upon. Being more solid than shells, it conveys a
greater quantity of fermenting earth in equal space. Besides, it does not dissolve in the
ground ss soon as shells, but decaying more gradually, continues longer to impart its
warmth to the juices of the earth."

^lere are described manures which are known to be calcareous, which
are strongly recommended— but solely for their supposed mechanical effect
in separating the parts of close clays, and on account of the salts derived
from sea water, which they contain. Indeed, no allusion is made to any
suppased value, or even to the presence of calcareous earth, which forms
so large a proportion of these manures : and the fossil shells, (in which that
ingredient is more abundant, more finely reduced, and consequently more
fit for both immediate and durable effects,) are considered as less efficacious
than solid sea shells— and inferior to sea sand. All these substances, be-
sides whatever service their salts may render, are precisely the same kind
of calcareous manure, as our beds of fossil shells furnish in a different
form. Yet neither here nor elsewhere, does the author intimate that these
manures and marl have similar powers for improving soils.

The foregoing quotations show what opinions have been expressed by
English writers of reputation— and what opinion would he formed by a

.i'.NMV |Sf,

taral works, of the nature ol what
what is so named in this part of our
•r authors have not thought more cor-
J themselves with precision on this subject.
10 be a calcareous clay"— and in this correct
by Davy, and other chemical agriculturists. Such
and Sinclair also could not have been ignorant of the
, of marl— yet even they have used so little precision or
rhen speaking oi the effects of marling, that their statements,
. correct they may be in the sense they intended them,) convey no
.1 information, and have not served to remove the erroneous impres-
inns made by the great body of their predecessors. Knowing as Young
did [see first quotation] the confusion in which this subject was involved,
it was the more incumbent on him to be guarded in his use of terms so
generally misapplied. Vet BOnsidering his practical and scientific know-
is an agriculturist, his extensive personal observations, and the quan-
tity of matter he has published on soils and calcareous manures, his omis-
sions are more remarkable than those of any other writer. In such of his
works as 1 have met with, though full of strong recommendations of marl-
ing, in no case does he state the composition of the soil, (as respects its
calcareous ingredient,) or the proportion added by the operation— and ge-
nerally notices neither, as if he viewed marling just as most others have
done. These charges are supported by the following extracts and re-
ferences.

10. Young's Farmer's Calendar, 10th London edition, page 40. — On
marling. Through nearly four pages this practice is strongly recommended
— but the manures spoken of, are regularly called " marl or clay," and
their application, ••marling or claying." Mr. Rodwell's account of his
practice is inserted at length. On leased land he " clayed or marled" eight
hundred and twenty acres with one hundred and forty thousand loads, and
at a cost of four thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight pounds— and the
business is stated to have been attended with great profit. At last, the
author lets us know that it is not the same substance that he has been
calling " marl or clay"— and that tha_marl effervesces strongly with acids,
and the clay slightly. But wa^e^old nothing more precise as to the
amount of calcareous ingredieftW either in the manures, or the soil — and
even if we were informedon those heads, (without which we can know little
or nothing of what the operation really is,) we are left ignorant of how
much was clayed, and how much marled. It is to be inferred, however,
that the clay was thought most serviceable, as Mr. Rodwell says—

" Clay is much to be preferred to marl on those sandy soils, soint of which are loose,
poor, and even a black sand."

11. young's Survey of Norfolk, (a large and closely printed octavo vo-
lume,) has fourteen pages filled with a minute description of the soils of
that county- but without any indication whatever of the proportion, pre-
sence, or absence, of calcareous earth in that extensive district of sandy
soils, so celebrated for their improvement by marling— nor in any other
part of the county. The wastes are very extensive : one of them (page

eighteen miles across, quite a desert of sand, "yet highly improveable."
Of this also, no information is given as to it* calcareous constitution.

12. The section on marl (page 402, of the same work) gives concise
statements of its application, with general notices of its effects, on near

• Cleaveland's Mineralogy.

186 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

fifty different parishes, neighborhoods, or separate farms. Among all these,
the only statements from which the calcareous nature of the manure may
be gathered, are, (page 406,) of a marl that "ferments strongly with acids"
— another, (page 409,) that marling at a particular place destroys sorrel —
and (page 410) that the marl is generally calcareous, and that that contain-
ing the most clay, and the least calcareous earth, is preferred by most per-
sons, but not by all.

13. Young's General View of the Agriculture of Suffolk, (an octavo of 432
pages of close print,) in the description of soils, affords no information
as to any of them being calcareous, or otherwise ; yet the author mentions
(page 3) having analyzed some of the soils, and reports their aluminous
and silicious ingredients. Nor can more be learned in this respect, in the
long account afterwards given of the " marl" which has been very exten-
sively applied also in the county of Suffolk. We may gather however,
from the following extracts, that the "marl or clay" of Suffolk is generally
calcareous, but that this quality is not considered the principal cause of its
value ; and further, that crag, a much richer calcareous manure, (which
seems to be the same with our richest beds of fossil shells, or marl,) is
held to be injurious to the sandy soils, which are so generally improved by
what is there called marl.

" Claying — a term in Suffolk, which includes marling ; and indeed the earth car-
ried under this term is very generally a clay marl ; though a pure, or nearly a pure clay,
is preferred for very loose sands." — Young's Suffolk, p. 1S6.

14. After speaking of the great value of this manure on light lands, he
adds

" Bui when the clay is not of a good sort, that is, when there is really none, or scarcely
any clay in it, but is an imperfect and even a hard chalk, there are great doubts how far
it answers and in some cases has been spread to little profit." — p. 187.

15. •' Part of the under stratum of the county is a singular body of cockle and other
shells, found in great masses in various parts of the country, from Dunwich quite to the
river Orwell, &c." — " I have seen pits of it to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, from
which great quantities had been taken for the purpose of improving the heaths. It is
both red and white, and the shells so broken as to resemble sand. On lands long in
tillage, the use is discontinued, as it is found to Blake the sands blow more." [That is, to be
moved by the winds.] — p. 5. ^^

1 5. The Essay on Manures, by ArthurToung, for which the author was
honored with the Bedford medal, speaks distinctly enough of the value of
marl being due to its calcareous ingredient, (as this author doubtless always
knew, notwithstanding the looseness of most of his remarks on this head — )
but at the same time he furnishes some of the strongest examples of absurd
inferences, or of gross ignorance of the mode in which calcareous earth
acts as an ingredient of soil, and the proportion which soils ought to
contain. These are his statements, and his reasoning thereon:

" It is extremely difficult to discover, from the knowledge at present possessed by the
public, what ought to be the quantity of calcareous earth in a soil. The best specimen
analyzed by Giobert had 6 per cent. ; by Bergman, 30 per cent. ; by Dr. Fordyce, 2 per
cent.; a rich soil, quoted by Mr. Davy, in his lecture at the Royal Institution, 11 per
cent. This is an inquiry, concerning which I have made many experiments, and on soils
of the most extraordinary fertility. In one, the proportion was equal to 9 percent.; in
another 20 per cent.; another, 3 per cent. ; and in a specimen of famous land, which I
procured from Flanders, 17 per cent. But the circumstance which much perplexes the
inquiry is, that many poor soils possess the same or nearly the same proportions as there
most fer'iie ones. To attain the truth, in so important a point, induced me to repeat many
trials, and to compare every circumstance ; and I am disposed to conclude, that the neces-
sity of there being a large proportion of calcareous earth in a soil depends on the deficiency
of organic [i e. vegetable or animal] matter ; of that organic matter which is [partly]

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX 187

convertible into hydrogen gas If the farmer finds, by experiment, that his soil has but a
email quantity of organic lEatter, or knows by his practice that it is poor, and not worth
more than 10s.. 15*. or 20s. an acre, he may then conclude that there ought to be 20 per
cent, of calcareous earth in it ; but if, on the contrary, it abound with organic matter and
be worth it practice a much larger rent, in that case his marl cart will not be called for,
though tbere be but five percent, or even less, of calcareous matter."— Young's Euay on
Manures — Sect. 2.

U is scarcely necessary to show, that the opinion of calcareous matter
being needed in larger quantities in proportion to the deficiency of pu-
trescent matter, is directly opposed to the reasoning of this essay. If a
poor soil were made to dontain twenty per cent, of calcareous matter, by
applying lime, chalk, or marl, the quantity and the expense would be so
enormous as not to be justified by any possible return, and in truth, would
lessen rather than increase the product of a poor soil. The fact named
as strange by Young, that some rich soils contain very small, and others
very large proportions of calcareous earth, is easily explained. If a natu-
ral soil contains any excess of calcareous earth, even though but one per
cent., it shows that there is that much to spare after having served every pur-
pose of neutralizing acids and combining with putrescent matter. If there
were twenty per cent, more of calcareous matter, it would be useless,
until met by an additional supply of putrescent matter. Young's state-
ment that some poor soils agree precisely with other rich soils, in their
contents of calcareous earth, does not necessarily contradict my doctrine
that a proper proportion of calcareous earth will enable any soil to become
rich, either in a state of nature, or under mild cultivation, and for the fol-
lowing reasons:

16. 1st The correctness of Young's analyses may be well doubted;
and if he used the then usual process for separating calcareous earth, he
was obliged to be incorrect on account of its unavoidable imperfection, as
has been already explained at page 36. 2d. It cannot be known positively
what was the original state of fertility of most cultivated soils in England,
nor whether they were subjected to exhausting or improving cultivation,
for centuries before our information from history begins. 3d. Lime has
been there used for a long time, and to great extent ; and chalk and marl
were applied as manures during the time of the Roman conquest, as stated
by Pliny, (say 1700 years ago) so that it cannot be always known whether
a soil has received its calcareous ingredient from nature, or the industry
of man. 4th. It is known that severe cropping after liming, and also ex-
cessive doses of calcareous earth, have rendered land almost barren; of
which the following extracts offer sufficient proof: —

" Before 177S, [in East Lothian,] the out-field did not receive any dung except what was
left by the animals grazed upon it. In many cases, out-field land was limed ; and often
with singular advantage. The after management was uniformly bad ; it being customary
to crop the limed out-field with barley and oats successively, so long as the crop was
worth cutting. In this way numerous fields suffered so severely as to be rendered almost
sterile for half a century afterwards." Farmer's Magazine, p. 53, vol. xii.

" An overdose of shell marl, laid perhaps an inch thick, produces for a time large
crops. But at last it renders the soil a caput mortuum, capable of neither corn nor
grass ; of which, there are too many examples in Scotland, &c. Gentleman Far-
mer, p. 378.

1 7. Yet the last writer (Lord Karnes) elsewhere states, (at page 379,)
that as much clay marl as contains 1500 bolls, (or 9000 bushels,) of pure
calcareous earth to the acre, is not an overdose in Scotland.

18. "Marl. Of this substance, there are four sorts, rock — slate — clay — and shell
marl. The three former are of so heavy a nature that they are seldom conveyed to any
distance ; though useful when found befow a lighter soil. But shell marl is specifically

J gg CALCARj.

lighter, and consists entirely of calcareous «d

shells offish,) which may be applied as a lop-^

be less advantageous to use quick-lime." [This i

extract 5, and there more particularly described ] " *

or red marl, is the great source of fertilization, Ssc."— " 1 1,

in many cases about three hundred middling cart loads per aci.

times so thickly covered as to have the appearance of a red soiled

ed."— Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, American ed. (Hartford) p. ViS.

This account of the Lancashire improvements made by red i .
closes with the statement that "the effects are represented to be benei
in the highest degree," which is fully as exact an account of profit, or in
creased production, as we can obtain of any other marling. Throughout,
there is no hint as to the calcareous constituents of the soil or the manure,
or whether either rock, clay or slate marls, generally, are valuable for that
or for other reasons ; nor indeed could we guess that they contained any
calcareous earth, but for their being classed with many other substances,
under the general head of calcareous manures.

19. " The means of ameliorating the texture of chalky soils, are either by the applica-
tion of clayey and sandy loams, pure clay, or marl." — "The chalk stratum sometimes
lies upon a thick vein of black tenacious marl, of a rich quality, which ought to be dug
up and mixed with the chalk." — Code of Agriculture, p. 19.

20. Dickson's Farmer's Companion. — The author recommends " argil-
laceous marl" for the improvement of chalky soils ; and for sandy soils,
" where the calcareous principle is in sufficient abundance, argillaceous
marl, and clayey loams," are recommended as manures.

21. " Chalky loam. The best manure for this soil is clay, or argillaceous marl, if
clay cannot be had ; because this soil is defective principally in the argillaceous ingredi-
ent."— Kirwan on Manures, p. 80.

The evident intention and effect of the marling recommended in all the
three last extracts, is to diminish the proportion of calcareous earth in the
soil.

22. In a Traveller's Notes of an agricultural tour in England, in 1811,
which is published in the third volume of the Edinburgh Farmers' Maga-
zine, the following passages relate to Mr. Coke's estate, Holkham, and to
Norfolk generally.

" Holkham. — The soil here is naturally very poor, being a mixture of sand, chalk, and
flint stones, with apparently little mixture of argillaceous earth — the subsoil, chalk ot
lime-stone every where.'' Page 48fi. " As the soil of the territory [of Norfolk generally]
through which I passed, seems to have a sufficient mixture of calcareous earth naturally, I
learn they do not often lime their lands ; but clay marl has been found to have the most
beneficial consequences on most of the Norfolk soils." p. 487.

23. " In Norfolk, they seem to value clay more than marl, probably because their sandy
soils already contain calcareous parts." — Kirwan on Manures, p. 87.

From this and the preceding quotation it would .follow, that the great and
celebrated improvements in Norfolk, made by marling, had actually ope-
rated to lessen the calcareous proportion of the soil, instead of increasing it.
Or, (as may be deduced from what will foIlow,)tf so scientific and dili-
gent an inquirer as Kirwan was deceived on this very important point, it
furnishes additional proof of the impossibility of drawing correct conclu-
sions on this subject from European books— when it is left doubtful, whether
the most extensive, the most profitable, and the most celebrated improve-
ments by " marling" in Europe, have in fact served to make the soil mon
or less calcareous.

Most of the extracts which 1 have presented, are from British agricul-
turists of high character and authority. If such writers as these, while

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

189

giving long and (in some respects) minute statements of marl, and marl-
ing, omit to tell, or leave their readers to doubt, whether the manure or the
soil is the most calcareous-or what proportions of calcareous earth, or
whether any is present in either— then have I fully established that the
American reader who may attempt to draw instruction from such sources,
as to the operation, effects and profits of either marl or calcareous ma-
nures in general, will be more apt to be deceived and misled than enlight-
ened.

I have now to refer to an author, whose works, well known as they may
be to others, had not come under my view until after the publication of
most of the foregoing extracts. Otherwise, Marshall would have been
stated as an exception to the general silence of British authors as to the
true and precise nature of what they treated of as marl. But though he
has not been like others, so faulty as to leave in doubt what was the cha-
racter and value of the marls of which he spoke, and the nature of their
operation on the soils to which they were applied, still no other writer
furnishes stronger proof of the general ignorance and disregard of the
nature of marls and calcareous manures, and of their mode of operation ;
Mti even the author himself is not free from the same charge as will be
shown. I shall quote more at length from Marshall, because he presents
the strongest opposition to what I have stated as to the general purport of
publications on marling; and also, because whatever may be their charac-
ter, there is much to interest the reader in his accounts of the opinions and
practices of those who have used calcareous manures longest and most
extensively, although without knowing what they were doing.

In his Rural Economy of Norfolk, the "marls'" and " clays"' most used
in the celebrated improvements' of that county are minutely described,
and the chemical composition stated, showing that both are hichly calca-
reous. Of the "marls" or chalks, most used for manure in Norfolk, he
analyzed three specimens, and one of clay, and found the proportions of
pure calcareous matter as follows :
Chalk marl of Thorp-market, contained, per cent. - - - 85

Soft chalk of Thorp-next-\orwich, 93

Hard chalk of SwafTham, almost pure,— nearly - - . . 100

Clay marl of Hemsby, 43

24. Of these he spoke previously and in general terms, thus:

" The central and northern parts of Ihe district abound, universally, with a whitish-
colored chalk marl ; while the Fleg hundreds, and the eastern coast, are equally fortu-
nate in a gray-colored clay marl. n J

" The first has, in all probability, been in use as a manure many centuries ; there are
oaks of considerable size now going to decay in pits which have obviously been hereto-
fore in use, and which, perhaps, still remain in we, as marl-pits,

" The use of clay marl, as a manure, seems to be a much later discovery ; even yet,
there are farmers who are blind to its good effect ; because it is not marl, but " clay ;*•
by which name it is universally known.

"The name, however, would be a thing of no import, were it not indiscriminately
applied to unctuous earths in general, whether they cr„,'ain, or not, any portion of cal-
careous matter. Nothing is " marl" which is not white ; for, notwithstanding the county
has been so long and so largely indebted to its fertilizing quality, her husbandmen, eveo
in this enlightened age, remain totally ignorant of its distinguishing properties ; throu -h
which want of information much labor and expense is frequently thrown away.

" One man, seeing Ihe good effect of the Fleg clay, for instance, concludes that all
clays are fertile, and finding a bed of strong brick earth upon his farm, falls to work at
a great expense, to " claying"— while another, observing this man's miscarriage con-
cludes that all clays are unprofitable ; and, in consequence, is at an expense equally ill
applied, of letching " marl" from a great distance ; while he has, perhaps, in his own
farm, if judiciously sought after, an earth of a quality equally fertilizing with that he is
throwing away his time and his money hi (etching.— Martha'lf$ Norfolk, vol. i., p. 16.
24

190

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

Yet it is remarkable, that Marshall should not have intimated whether
the Norfolk soils were naturally calcareous, (as the two writers just before
quoted declare,) or not ; and therefore we are still left to guess whether
these manures served to increase the calcareous quality of soils already
possessing that quality in a high degree— or to give it to soils devoid of it
before.

Other passages will now be quoted from the same, and from other similar
works of Marshall's, to show the prevailing ignorance of the ingredients,
and operation of the marls sometimes prized, and sometimes contemned,
with as little reason in the one case as the other, by farmers in various
parts of England.

25. " The principal part of his estate, however, is of a much shallower soil, not deeper
than the plough goes ; and its preseut very amazing fertility he ascribes in a great mea-
sure to his having clayed it. Indeed to tiiis species of improvement tire fertility of the
Fleg Hundred is allowed to be principally owing.

" Mr. F. gave me an opportunity of examining his clay pit, which is very commodi-
ous ; the uncallow is trifling, and the depth of the bed or jam he has not been able to
ascertain. It is worked, at present, about ten or twelve feet deep.

" The color of the fossil, when moist, is dark brown, interspersed with specks of white,
and dries to a color lighter than that of luder's earth ; on being exposed to the air, it
breaks into small die-like pieces.

*' From Mr.F's. account of the manner of its acting, -and more particularly from its
appearance, I judged it to be a brown marl, rather than a clay ; and, on trying it in acidj
it proves to be strongly calcareous; effervescing, and hissing, more violently than most
of (he white marls of this neighborhood : and what is still more interesting, the Hemsby
clay is equally turbulent in acid as the Norwich marl, which is brought by water forty
miles into this country, at the excessive expense of four shillings a load upon the staith ;
besides the land carriage. [The strength of this Hemsby clay is stated above]

" It is somewhat extraordinary that Mr. F., sensible and intelligent as he is, should be
entirely unacquainted with this quality of his clay ; a circumstance, however, the less
to be wondered at, as the Norfolk farmers, in general, are equally uninformed of the na-
ture and properties of marl." — Marshall's NorJ'olk, vol. ii., page 192.

The following is a remarkable instance, in a particular district, of a clay
very poor in calcareous matter, being considered and used as valuable ma-
nure, and a very rich marl equally accessible, being deemed inferior.

26. " The marl is either an adulterate chalk, found near the foot of the chalky steeps
of the West Downs, lying between the chalk rock and the Maam soil, partaking of
them both — in truth, a* marl of the first quality, or a sort of blue mud, or clay, dug out
of the area of this district, particularly, 1 believe, on the south side of the river. This
is said to have been set on with good effect ; while the former is spoken of, as of less
value; whereas, the white is more than three-fourths of it calcareous; w-hile the blue
does not contain ten grains, per cent., of calcareous matter." — Marshall's Southern Coun-
ties, p. 175.

The greater part of what are called marls in the following extract, and
used as manure, contain so little calcareous earth, that whatever power
they may exert, must be owing to some other ingredient. Yet, without
Marshall's analysis, they would be considered to deserve the character of
calcareous manures, as much as any others before named.

27. "The red earth which has been set upon the lands of (his district, in great abun-
dance, as ' marl,'— is much of it in a manner destitute of calcareous matter ; and, of
course, cannot, with propriety, be classed among marls.

" Nevertheless, a red fossil is found, in some parts of the district, which contains a
proportion of calcareous matter.

" The marl of Croxall (in part of a stone-like, or slaty contexture, and of a light red
color) is the richest in calcareosity ; one hundred grains of it afford thirty grains of cal-
careous matter ; and seventy grains of fine, impalpable, red bark-like powder.*

* This marl is singularly tenacious of its calcareous matter; dissolving remarkably
«lowly. One hundred grains, roughly pounded, was twenty-four hours in dissolving;

CALCAK1 01 S MANUKES— APPENDIX 191

1 Ifonl (in color i various, but resembling those of the

Croxall marl) affords near twenty f rums.

" Yet the marl of Barton, on the opposite side of the Trent— though somewhat of a
similar contex l»y color — is in a manner destitute of calca-

reosiij I. ling little more than one grain — nol

pit, from which I took the | i /.erf, is

an immense excavation, out of which many thousand loads have been taken.

\ ince from those

describe I, having generally that of a bl l-red clay, interlay ercd, and sometimes inter-

I with i wrote qiially poor in calcareosily.

One hundred grains ol the may be taken as a fair

lie district) afford little more than two grains
of calcareous matter.* Vet tins i^ said to b" 'famous marl;' and from the pits which
now appear, baa been laid on in eroat abundance.

'•I do nol mean to intimal clays are altogether destitute of fertilizing

properties, on llieir find appltca i m. II is not likely that the large pits which abound
in almost every part of Ih ■ district, and which must haw been formed at a very great
expense, should have been dug, without their contents being productive of some evi-
dently, or at le.i^t apparently gor>d effect, on the lands on which they have been spread.
1 con but conjecture; and it may be, that the good effect

of the marls, first describ id being e» I , and tie distinguish-

ing quality being unknown, or nol attended to, marls and clays w-re indiscriminately
used.'' — Marshall's Midi vol. i, p. 1.V-'.

28. " On the southern bank ray marl; r mbling in gene-
ral appearance the marl of Norfolk, or rather the fuller's earth of Surrey. In contexture

"This earth is singularly pi I le acid bei§g dropped on its

surface, it flies into bl marl, this circumstance, added to that of

a striking improvement, which I was shown as being effected by this earth, led me to
i was of a tpiahly siin lai to the marls ol Norfolk.

•• But, fiom ih ■; results of Iwo experiments — one of them made with granules formed
hy the weather, and collected on the site of improvement, the other with a specimen
taken from the pit, it appear- that one hundred grains of this earth contain no more than
tix grains of calcareous matter ! the residuum a cream colored saponaceous clay, with
a 9in ill proportion ol coarse sand." — Marshall' I Midland Counties, vol. i: p. 155.

The last extracts suggested a remark which ought to have been made
earlier. When there is so much general ignorance prevailing among prac-
tical farmers as to what they call marl, it cannot be expected that the most
intelligent writers can be correct, when attempting to record their prac-
tices. When Arthur Young, for example, reports the effects of marl in
fifty different localities, as known from the practice of perhaps more than
several hundred individuals, it must be inferred that he uses the term,
generally, as they did from whom his information was gathered, and in
very few cases, if at all, as learned by his own analyses. Therefore, it
may well be doubted whether the uncertainty as to the character of marl
does not extend very generally to even the most scientific writers on agri-
culture.

As the foregoing extract exhibits the use of "marls" destitute of calca-
reous earth, so the following shows, under the name of sea sand, a manure
which is in its chemical qualities a rich marl (in our sense) or calcareous
manure.

29. •• Sea sand. This has been a manure of the district, beyond memory or tradition.
"There arc two species still in use: the one bearing the ordinary appearances of
sea sand, as found at the mouths of rivers; namely a compound ol the common sand
and mud; the other appears to the eye clean fragments of broken shells without mix-
ture ; resembling in color and particles, clean dressed bian of wheat.

~-

ilher hundred, though pulverized to m-rc dust, eontinui I to •n.\e.e. :.\.h
with water, Itook repeat -

dl the time ; notwithsl
its ex'reme baldness.

• ]. idged not in the substance ol the clay, but in its natural cracks or fissures.

192

CALCAREOUS MANtTRES— APPENDIX,

•• By analysis, ore hundred grains of the former contain about thirty grains of com-
mon silicious sea sand, with a few grains oi line sill or mud; the rest is calcareous earth
mixed with the animal matter of marine shells.

'• One hundred grains of the latter contain eighty-five grains of the matter of shells,
and fifteen grains of an earthy substance, winch resembles in color and particles,
minute fragments of burnt clay or common red brick.

"These sands are raised in different parls of Plymouth Sound, or in the harbor ; and
are carried up the estuaries in barges ; and from these on horseback, perhaps five or six
miles into the country; of course at a verv great expense, yet without discrimination,
by men in general, as to their specific qualities. The shelly kind.no doubt brought
them into repute, and induced landlords to bind their tenants to the use of them; but
without specifying the sort— and the bargemen, of course, brim; such as they can raise
and convey at' the least labor and expense. It is probable that the specimen first men-
tioned, is above par, as to qualitv : I have seen sand of a much cleaner appearance,
travelling towards the fields of ibis quarter of the country ; and near Beddifo.-d, in
North Devonshire, I collected a specimen under the operation of " melling" with mould,
which contains eighty grains per cent, of clean silicious sand !"— Marslmlis Wttt of
England, vol, i., page 154.

It might be inferred from all these proofs of Marshall's knowledge of
calcareous earth constituting the real value of marls, that he could scarcely
miss the evident corollary to that proposition, that the valuable operation
of calcareous manures is to render soils more calcareous, and that the
knowledge of the nature of the manure and the soil would sufficiently in-
dicate when the application of the one to the other was judicious or not.
But the following expression of opinion {Marshall's Yorlcshire, vol. i., p.
377) is not only strongly opposed to those deductions, but to the general
purport of all his truths which I have before quoted.

30. "Nothing at present but comparative experiments can determine the value of a
given lime, to a given soil; and no man can with common prudence lime any land
upon a large scale, until a mora] certainty of improvement has been established by ex-
perience."

If this be true, then indeed is there no true or known theory, or estab-
lished precepts, for applying either lime or any calcareous manure. It
amounts to saying, that every new application is a mere experiment, the
result of which cannot even be conjectured from any facts previously known
of other soils and other manures.

31. The next quotation, which is from an editorial article in the Farmers'
Journal of July 38, 1823, shows that the old opinion still prevails, that
marl is profitable only oa sandy lands ; which opinion carries with it the
inference that it is the argillaceous quality, rather than the calcareous that
operates. The editor is remarking on a new agricultural compilation by a
Mr. Elkinson, and ridiculing the author for his solemn annunciation of the
truism, (in the editor's opinion,) that " marling on sand is more useful than
on clay land." The reputation of Mr. Elkinson, says the editor

" May remain undisturbed among the farmers ol Lincolnshire for a long time, who
may never have chanced to meet with the old proverb, or have taken a journey into the
sandy district of Norfolk. We really do not know whether it be as old as Jarvais Mark-
ham or not : but we have seen the lollowing lines in black letter :

He that marls sand, may buy land ;

He that marls moss, shall have loss ;

He that marls clay, throws all away! '

The editor then passes to a subject on which his admitted ignorance
serves to prove that the improvement gained by marling could not be sim-
ply the making a soil calcareous— for, upon that ground, when marl has
once been' plentifully given, and the land afterwards worked poor, there
can be neither reason nor profit in a second marling. Yet, as if the mode
of operation was altogether unknown, this passage follows :

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX. 193

" It was once asked of the edilor by a very good practical Norfolk farmer, ' whether land
which had been once marled and worn out would receive the same benefit from a second
marling?' It was answered, that an experiment made on one field, or on one acre,
would decide the point, but conjecture ltd to nothing conclusive. It has olten been ob-
served that loose land, alter having been marled and outcropped, deposited ita marl in
the subsoil, which therefore became more retentive [of water;] audit has been sug-
gested, that deep ploughing ought to be tried, to bring this marl again to the top. We
hope that the point hare in question has before now been settled by practice in both
ways; though at the above period, (about 1806,) such facts had not reached the gentle-
man alluded to, although a very intelligent man."

The singular fact stated above, of marl, and also of lime, sinking and
forming a layer below the soil, is stated by other British writers. No such
result has been found in this country, so far as I am informed. Nor do I
believe that it can occur, except when the calcareous matter is too abun-
dant to form a chemical combination with the soil, or with the matters in
the soil. According to my views of the manner in which calcareous earth
acts, it must form such combination in the soil, to be useful — and if so
combined, it cannot be separated, and sink through the soil by the force of
gravity, or any other cause.

32. The next article is probably one of the latest publications on marl,
yet contains as little of truth, and for its length, as much that is false and
absurd, as if it had been written a century ago. It appeared (in English)
in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, (for Dec. 1834,) and is there
quoted from the Magazine of Gardening and Botany, and as written by
Count Gyllenborg. As no contradictory remarks are appended by either
of the editors of these highly respectable journals, it may be considered
as in some measure giving their countenance to the opinions here pre-
sented.

Though the writer speaks of " acid in the land," yet the succeeding part
of the sentence, which speaks of" imbibing it from stagnating water," shows
that no correct or definite idea was attached to the term " acid." The
entire piece is copied.

" How far marl contributes lo the fertility of soils, 1st. Not materially, for it is devoid
of every unctuous and saline matter. 2d. But instrumental!}' it promotes vegetation,
by attracting the moisture, ac-ids or oils in the atmosphere, which enrich the land. As
this quality becomes stronger by burning, how wisely would the farmers act in using it
after being calcined. It promotes vegetation, by destroying the acid actually in the
land, or removing that which it might be in danger of imbibing from stagnating water,
and bence, also, it may perhaps help to prevent a too acid disposition in the seeds. By
dissolving every unctuous substance in the land, whence arises a saponaceous mixture
soluble in water, and fitted to enter into the pores of vegetables. By destroying the
toughness of strong soils, for, by its quickly crumbling in the air, the cohesion of a
clayey soil is diminished, it is rendered easier to cultivate, and more fit to carry on the
growth of plants. It gives greater solidity and Grmness to loose or sandy soils ; and, as
before observed, it contributes to their fertility, by attracting into this dry soil the nutri-
tive contents of the air. There are some who think that marl should not be laid on
sandy soils ; but experience has taught us to conclude otherwise, having observed that
the most beneficial effects are produced from it on very light and sandy soils. Marl
may hurt land by too long and a too plentiful use of it ; for, from its calcareous quality,
it much resembles lime. It soon dissolves and consumes the fat of the land — and it
loosens a clayey soil, so that it becomes less retentive of moisture. Marl is, however,
very different, according to its being more or less calcareous or clayey ; and therefore
judgment is more or less necessary to adapt it to the nature of the soil. Some have re-
commended it chiefly for wet and cold soils, and many farmers have observed that it is
most useful when mixed with rich manures. Neither of these observations, however,
seems to be correct ; but a due care should be taken that this manure be adapted to the
soil on which it is laid."

194 CALCAREOUS MANTRES— APPENDIX.

*&). NOTE IV.

DESCRIPTION AM) ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MARL, AND OF THE GYP-
SEOUS EARTH, OF THE TIDE-WATER RECION OF VIRGINIA.

Report to the State Board of Agriculture, by Edmund Ruffin, Member and
Corresponding Secretary of the Board. 1842.

Within the last twenty-five years there have been produced from the ap-
plication of calcareous manures more improvement and benefit, both agri-
cultural and general, in lower Virginia, than from all other means and
sources, numerous and valuable as have been the agricultural improve-
ments made. And for the latter half of that time, no one agricultural sub-
ject has been treated of more at length in the publications of this state.
Still, there is much required to be known ; and it has very often, and not
less so recently than formerly, been required of the writer, who has furnish-
ed to the press the larger part of all that has thence proceeded on this sub-
ject, to give answers to inquiries, which, however variously worded, amount-
ed in substance to the question, " What is marl V— or " Is my marl, (.or what-
ever earth was so termed,) good marl, and likely to be profitable as manure !"
It has therefore appeared to the writer that it would be useful to prepare
something like a natural history or general and full description of the marls
of lower Virginia; and also of the kindred and yet very different mineral
manure, the gypseous earth, or " green-sand-' earth, concerning which latter
so much error and delusion have been spread and long maintained, and
so little of truth or useful information derived from the sources generally re-
spected as the highest authority.

The main difficulty in the treating of this subject is presented in the out-
set in the very term " marl," which is altogether misapplied now in this
country, though not so much as it has been and perhaps still is in England.
Since this general course of misapplication was set forth by the writer at
length in the ' Essay on Calcareous Manures,' there have become general
in this country still other misapplications of this always misapplied term.
For the " green-sand*' earth of New Jersey, which before had been called
" marl" by illiterate farmers only, has been since received under that name
by chemists and the scientific reporters of geological surveys : and thus
confusion has become still " worse confounded." In the following pages, I
shall be compelled, as heretofore, to yield in part to such misapplication of
the term ; but at the expense of some otherwise useless repetition, and fre-
quent explanation, shall hope to avoid misleading readers as to each of the
particular earths under consideration. And, in general, I shall in no case
apply the term marl to any but a calcareous earth, and of which the calca-
reous ingredient or proportion of carbonate of lime is deemed sufficient to
constitute the most important, if not indeed forming the only important or
appreciable agent of fertilization ; and therefore I shall not so designate
either the fine clays, (not calcareous, or very slightly so,) called marl in
England, or the green-sand earths of New Jersey, Delaware or Virginia,
when containing very little or no carbonate of lioie.

True marl, as correctly understood and described by mineralogists, is
a fine calcareous clay, containing very little silicious sand, and none coarse,
or separate; of firm texture— not plastic, or adhesive; does not bend
under pressure, but breaks easily. It is manifest, from its laminated ap-
pearance and fracture that this true marl has been originally suspended in ra-
pidly flowing waters, and deposited at the bottom by subsidence, when the
waters became comparatively still ; as when a rapid river, turbid with calca-
reous clay, reached a lake. Thus, from its manner of formation, such marl,
however argillaceous, was of a texture very different from the almost pure.

(.Al.t vREoUS MANURES -Al'PKNUlX.

195

or the most tenacious clays. The carbonate of linie also tends to preserve an
open anil mellow texture in true marls, disposing the lumps to readily yield
and crumble, or fall to powder or to thin Hakes, under atmospherical influ-
ences, which would only affect clay by making it an intractable sticky mortar
when wet, or lump-; of almost stony hardness when dry. Moreover, there
seem- a to believe that in true marl there is a cht mical combina-

tion (and not merely a mixture) of the argillaceous and calcareous ingre-
dients, induced by their suspension in water, when the particles of both
were in the finest possible state of division, ami most intimate intermixture,
while so suspended. Besides the crumbling quality just stated, so different
from clay, there is a still stronger reason for believing that the calcareous
and the silicious parts of true marl are chemically combined, which is, that
they cannot be separated by mechanical means, such as agitation and sub-
sidence in water. For the suggestion that the different earthy parts of true
marl are in a state of chemical combination with each other, I am indebted
to the ' Eaaai sur In Marne,' of M. Puvis, which work, in an abridged form,
1 translated and published in the third volume of the Farmers' Register.
The author there also states that the marls of France are principally, if not
always, of fres !:-v. ater formation, as is shown by the shells they contain be-
ing either such as belong to rivers and lakes or to the land. This is dif-
ferent from any thing known In lower Virginia; all our known marls, whe-
ther properly or improperly so termed, being deposites made in a former
sea, and the shells being those of sea-anil

But though it is proper to describe that which only is truly "marl," be-
fore speaking'of what is improperly so called, it is also true that there is
nothing to tell of the use of any true marl in Virginia, and scarcely of its
exist, in e in the tile-water region. I have as yet seen it in but few places,
and then overlying ordinary beds of fossil shells, and intermixed therewith.
This marl was thus found in two of my diggings, one on Coggins Point
farm and the other at Shellbanks. In both cases, though perfectly charac-
terized, the quantity of true marl was too small to be used separately from
the more calcareous and much thicker stratum of shell mar) below. This
true marl was in many horizontal layers, seldom more than an inch in thick-
ness, separated by other layers, sometimes very thin, of almost pure shells

• " It may be Of some interest to scientific investigators to knowmore particularly the
9hells of these marls of France. In a catalogue annexed to the original ' Etsai sur la
Matne,' the author names the following shells:

In a marl sent fioin St. Trivier — yellowish, compact, of homogeneous appearance,
and coming to pieces finely and easily in water —
Land shell — Turbo elegans.
Rircr shells— Helix fasicularis, Helix vivipara, (Helix tentacula, fMya Pictorum.

In ,i m.vri from Cuiseaux, Saone et Loire —
■ • II -- Mi lanopside (of Lamarck.)

In a mail from Leugi \ , id Sonne —
Land shell— fChassilie ndee (of Lamarck, and DraparnaudJ fHclix lubrica.

In a marl from St. Priest in Dauphiny — earthy, yellowish, very easy to crumble in
water —
Land shell— fAmbrette alongte (of Lamarck and Draparnaud, 'Helix bilpida.

In an analogous formation of marl, in (he basin of the Rhone, beween Meximieux
and Montluel, the Helix strict, a land species is found in great abundance."

51. Puvis states that among these, and among all the species of shells found in the
marls of the basins of the three gre.it rivers, Saone, Rhone and Yonne, there are no
remains of sea shells. All seem to have been fun sh water. "But (he

continues) as these marls contain land shells, oltcn in ;reat abundance, we most con-
clude, that the revolution which heaped up the marls, has been preceded by a time in
which the land was not covered by water, in \\hic!i the earth producing vegetables,
permitted the multiplication of the species of land shells which were found in these
marls."— Essai sur la Marne, p. 8 to p. 24, mid translation in t'armer't Register, iii.,
note to p. 692.

t Living species are still found in the same region similar to those marked thus.

196

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

broken very small, with some only of the very smallest entire. The pure
argillaceous marl is blue (though sometimes of buff color,) firm and compact
breaks easily, but does not bend however moist, and is cut smooth by a
knife, leaving a surface like that of hard soap. This marl contained, in
the argillaceous part, free from the shelly parts, only 10 per cent, of calca-
reous matter. Several other specimens, from other localities in the same
region, were about the same strength. Therefore, even if more plenty,
there would seem to be no inducement to use our true marl, where the
beds of fossil shells, called marl, and usually so much richer in calcareous
matter, can be drawn from. But in Europe, clay marl is reported as rich
as 40 to 60 per cent, of calcareous matter, and indeed richer, gradually
running into lime-stone. In our lime-stone mountain region, (and especially
in the places of ancient lakes and ponds, now drained or rilled up, there
probably may be found bodies of true or clay marl, comparing in strength
as manure, and in abundance, with the valuable European deposites.

But though it is proper to know, and to bear in mind, what is understood
by the term marl by mineralogists, and by the well informed English and
French agricultural writers, in regard to the extensive marlings in those
countries, yet it is necessary in Virginia to conform generally to the usage
which gives the name of marl to all earths mixed with fossil shells ; and as
the term is so far improperly extended, I would carry it still farther, and
make it embrace all natural calcareous earths not of stony hardness. This
arrangement then would indeed include true marl, but merely as one class,
and that one of the least noticeable for abundance or value of all in this
country. The following scheme of classification will conform to this view,
and serve to make more clear the descriptions that will follow.

f I. ARGILLO-
CALCAREOUS
MARL.

deposited in
and from
still water.

r

MARL, or
Shelly earth,
or earth
otherwise
calcareous in
part.

a. Yellow Mio-
cene Marl.

II. SHELL
MARL.

fl. FRESH-
WATER
SHELLS,
grown in &
deposited
at bottom of
lakes.

2. FOSSIL
SHELLS,
or Ancient
Sea Shells

f MIO-
CENE
MARL.

aa. Yellow
sandy marl.

bb. Yellow
clay marl.

cc. Blue sandy
marl.

EO-
CENE
MARL.

6. Blue Miocene j
Marl.

. Calcareous
Marl, with
very little if
any Green-
sand.

. Calcareous
matter and
green-sand,
both consi-
derable.

. Gypseous or
Green-sand
earth, with
very little if
any shelly or
calcareous
matter.

dd. Blue clay
marl.

CALCAREOUS MANURES APPENDIX \U/

Marl in this wide sense may then be first divided into the two folio
great classes :

f. Bine irgilto-calcarca " true marl," and which

is not of itself shelly, even when in alternate layers Old contains

no separate ailicious sand, or other coarse or heavy matters which could
not remain, in a finely divided state, suspended in water llowir
I nit a moderate current. This narl, as stated above, is abundant and rich
in some parts of Europe; but so rare and Incon quantity in

th naming for agricultural

ii. The seci nd great division is sheWmarL, which may be again divided
Into the two Kinds, of 1, recent fresh-water shell", and 2, fossil or an<
eeashella, left en and covered within what is now high land, up-heaved from
the former bottom ol thj ocean, by ancient convulsions, or other great
changes of the level ol the earth's surface.

1. The first of these kinds is common in some parts of Scotland, and is
found also in Vermont and probably other parts of the northern stales,
but is not known to exist in Virginia. It is formed by the gradual accu-
mulation of the shells of periwinkles or other small fresh-water shell-fish,
tit the bottoms of the small and shallow lakes ill which the animals had lived.
When the bottom had been raised by this accumulation, and by deposites
from this and other sources, nearly to the level of th <\ wa-
ter plants began to grow, and to form a nevi accumulate of vegetable and
earthy deposites; and finally the lake was thus changed to a peat-bog, wet
and miry, but free from standing water. II is under the peat, and some-
times at considerable dep rich marl is found
It is said to be almost pure calcareous matter, and has been sold by the
bushel, in great quantity for manure in Scotland. — {Edinburgh Fur

U

2. The second is for us the only important division of shell marl, em-
bracing all the imn inderlies nearly all
of the tide-water or tertiary region ol al > ol two hinds
designated by Pro I >l age and forma-
tion, a > 'i.ii agricultural
varieties and sub-varieties .and which will be
hereaiier described in order.

As the terms •• miocene" and -eocene" are now of universal acceptation
among scientific writers, and are generally understood by agricultural
readers on marl, and the convenient for designating the very

different descriptions of marls to which they have been applied, they Will
be here used. If the difference between these two kinds were merely
geological, or in regard to comparative ages of formation, or to the respec-
tive fossils of each, it would be useless to preserve it in writing on agricul-
ture, however marked the difference, and however interesting, I
geologist. But there is also a difference of agricultural character and value
in these two kinds of marl. In relation merely to each other, the terms

eocene and miocei maybe sufficiently undersl las the older and

formations. But it will not do as well tosul ter terms, because

they are not erally, or in relation logical

formations. For there an I others

• In the Edinburgh
(most of which was republished in the Farioi
body ol lias kind ol inell marl, u oil

the shells are ol" the water inai , I bivalves, (generallj

tellina, animal tttlu/s, Lin.) Kiotn lln- I- ,
manure as brought liiin £ 12,000 sterling, in the I- i-e had been begun

25

]9g CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

much more recently formed than the mioccne. With neither of these is it
necessary to encumber this article.

The different periods of time of these two different deposites of shells
were very remote from each other, and the latest of them was also very
remote4 from the present time. In the miocene mail of Virginia, or later
of the two, of the numerous species of shells found, there are but few kinds
belonging to animals known or believed to be yet existing; and in the
eocene marl of Virginia there are almost none that now exist, and very
few that belong also to the miocene marls. According to the highest geo-
logical authority, the race of animals whose remains formed the latest of
these deposites, were mostly extinct before the creation of man.

Although it might be more conformable to regular or scientific arrange-
ment to commence a general description with the older and lower deposite,
the eocene marls, yet it will better suit the purpose of agricultural instruc-
tion to reverse the order, by describing first the miocene marls, as the
highest in the series and the first reached, and by very far the most abun-
dant and extensively accessible, and which therefore, though usually less
powerful for fertilization, are much the most important to agriculture in
Virginia in general. I shall therefore proceed first to treat of the miocene
marls, which are the only kinds known in Virginia with the exceptions of
the two comparatively small districts of eocene marl which will be hereaf-
ter treated of in their order.

MIOCENE MARLS.

When my investigations and practical labors on this subject were com-
menced, more than 24 years ago, the existence of marl of any kind had
been noticed in lower Virginia at but a few places, where naturally exposed
along steep river banks, and where cut through by deep ravines, and thus
rendered conspicuous ; and the deposite was supposed to be very limited,
by the few persons who had ever cast a thought upon the subject. But
the attention and observation subsequently directed to the search, soon
showed that the quantity was very far more extensive ; and now, though
not generally near the surface of the earth, nor every where accessible, it
seems probable that beds of fossil shells under-lie much the greater part of
all the region between the falls of the rivers and the sea-shore. Except
at or near the places where exposed on the surface, as above mentioned,
the overlying earth is generally 20 or 30 and even sometimes 50 feet thick.
All the marl-beds appear to be nearly horizontal, and of course are the
most deeply covered under the highest lands, and are most easily accessi-
ble in deep depressions. The deposite dips gently towards the east, so that
it lies too deep to be visible near the sea-coast. At Norfolk, the marl has
been recently reached, in boring deep for water, at 40 feet below that low
surface.

The marl is formed by the deposite and gradual accumulation of sea-
shells, mostly left where the animals died ; and the vacancies between the
shells were filled by the sand or clay, or mixtures of both, with fragments
of older shells, brought by currents and deposited in what was then the
sea. The remarkably perfect state of preservation of many very thin and
always fragile shells, and still more the many pairs of bivalve shells that
yet are found connected or in contact, prove that such shells could not have
been transported, or even much agitated, by the force of the water. But
other beds of marl, and also frequently the upper layers of such as have
been just referred to, show as clearly the action of currents, or of water in
violent and long continued motion, which served to grind down the shells

LCAH120US • .IPENDIX. ] 99

to small fragments, arid which also left, in shaping the surface of the marl,
the marks of whirl-pools or other violent disturbance. From such sup-

iny of the various marl-
actually exhibit. 1 same
place, the shells and their fra mients are found of all sizes, and of all condi-
tions of preservation ; and intermixed, in various proportions, with such
clay, or fine stind, as mighl be suspended in 01 borne by 1 urrents; so as to
form beds of evei hade of color. The shells, and
their fragments, or the carbonate of lime, are fn various pi I quan-
tity, from 10 per cent, (or even less in rare

of the mixture, or whole mass. In different mes in eonti-

us layers of the same ells are in c\ preservation

or of decay ; from that ol m, and often entire in their calcareous

structure, and the most ir beautiful tonus preserved, to

that of beta iken down, and almost reduced to a coarse powder,

and sometimes even forming a homogeneous mass of still finer particles
In which the forms of but few if any shells are distinguishable. The ori-
ginal bright and various colors of the shells are lost, and they are nearly
all white — a few of the hardest only being brown or gray. The texture of
the mass also varies, from a ' 1 a firm body of almost stony

hardness. The earth intermixed with the shells is generally much
sandy than clayey, and □ Even when

the admixture of earth is clay.it rarely makes the marl appear the least
clayey in texture, or plastic or adhes but in small

proportion to the shelly matter. The color of the miooene marls is also
various— generally either pale1 yellow or dingy white or blue, sometimes
bright, but more often a dull blue, or ash color. The richest marls, of
homogeneous texture, are nearly white when dry, and approach in appear-
ance to a coarse or impure chalk. There is no true chalk known to exist
in this country.

The shell marls of Virginia are confined almost entirely to the tide-water
region, or the space eastward of the rhich forms the fulls of all

our eastern rivers. But near Petersburg (on the farm of Dr. William J.
Dupuy, and other adjoining lands.) there is an exception to this general
rule, the marl lu-inu found about a mile fa

eastern part of the granite, and passing under a small stream which emp-
ties Into the Appomattox, a mile above the lowest falls. A thick stratum
has also recently been f uind in Richmond, above the Penitentiary, and of
course above the lower falls of James river.

The only important fertilizing ingredient of the miocene marls is the
carbonate of lime, or shelly matl . some

slight additional benefit sometime-, by ai cidental or peculiar admixtures
of other substances; as, of animal matter still remaining, or of vegetable
extract in blue marls, of the oxide of iron, of a small proportion of green-
sand generally, and even of the clay or the sand respectively for soils de-
ficient in either. Bat either and all of these additional matters, though
giving some value as manure, are of but little importance in miocene marls,
in comparison to the main and great agent of fertilization, the shelly or
calcareous matter. According then to portiun of

this in nt, and to its si rioa or readiness to be reduced

to a state of minute division in the soil, may ] 1 live values

ef marls for manure. In regard to the much larger proportions ol iirecn-
sand in miocene marls, as asserted by other authority, some additional re-
marks will be hereafter submitted, in the proper order for consideration.

As might be interred from the obvious manner of the deposition of the
mail, as befol ■ waters of the sen in violent and yet varying

200 CALCAREOUS 11ANIRES-APPEXDIX.

degrees of motion, the different horizontal layers of marl, successively de-
posited in the same bed, and even within a few inches of perpendicular
distance of each other, sometimes exhibit remarkable differences of ap-
pearance, composition, and of value; while there is also generally as re-
markable a uniformity of character of each particular layer, (though differ-
ing much in thickness at different places) throughout not only the different
diggings of the same place, but sometimes for miles in extent. I have
seen often, in diggings on different farms, and several miles apart, layers of
marl so precisely alike, and so marked in peculiar character, that there could
be no doubt of their being parts of the same deposite, made at the same
time, and by the same operating natural causes. Under such circumstances,
a practised eye can by comparison lix very nearly ti>e chemical com-
position of similar varieties, and even more correctly, for general averages
of value, than would be usually obtained from the accurate chemical analy-
sis of one or two specimens For the usual danger of error is, not in the
chemical analysis, (which is easy enough made, and the mode very cor-
rect,) but in the selection of equal and fair specimens of marl to exhibit the
average strength of the whole body excavated ; which requires much more
experience and accuracy than are usually exercised by most operators,
and still more in regard to proprietors who send specimens of their marls
to be analyzed by other persons. It is highly important to the farmer to
know the strength of the marl he is using. And to this end, it is neces-
sary that every layer should analyzed, or what is better,
a specimen from an equal and continuous shaving of the whole vertical section
of a digging, so as to furnish a fair average of the whole body. But afier
this trouble is once taken, the general result will serve for all the future
diggings at the same place, and also for similar bodies more or less remote.
The layers of marls formed by shells left "in place," or where the ani-
mals died, are in general, the poorest; and for this obvious reason, that all
the hollows of and interstices between the shells are filled by what is most-
ly earth, (but mixed with more or less of shelly fragments,) and that earth
is principally silicious sand. Marl so formed, will not have more than 35
to at most 40 per cent of calcareous matter, and more often only from 25
to 35. The sand or earth that would be required to fill all the hollows and
chinks of a body of entire shells, of ordinary form, though touching each
other at their edges and points, would necessarily be as much as Go to 75
per cent, of the whole mass. And therefore, it is only because of, and in
proportion to, the quantity of shelly particles mixed and borne along with
the earth brought by currents and deposited among the whole shells, that
such marl is sometimes richer than 25 to 35 per cent, in ralcareous matter.
The degree of admixture of shelly fragments in this tilling earth, may be
easily judged ol by an experienced eye, and the proportion of shells and large
fragments will depend much on the forms of the prevailing kinds of shells.
It is easy to know the marls formed by sheHs left in their original place,
by the state of the shells. Either the shells being whole, and especially the
more fragile varieties, or the two sides of bivalve shells being found in
close contact, as when the animal was living, will show clearly that the
dead shells had not been agitated or borne along by currents. The beds
or layers formed by removal are as easily known by the broken and finely
reduced state of the shells. These marls are usually much the richest in
calcareous matter; for, by the grinding operation of the currents, and the
difference of specific gravity in the particles carried all mg, the calcareous
powder and clay arc deposited together, with but little silicious sand.
Among the richest marls are some having whole shells in their original places,
but of which the interstices are filled by such fine calcareous and clayey
earth as could have been deposited only in waters nearly still. Such are

CALCAREOUS Mam KE8 iPPENDlX. 201

the rich marls in and about Williamsburg, and in Surry and that belt of
.em-rally, containing 70 to 80 per cent, of carbonate of lime.
The different varieties o marls which will now lip more par-

ticularly described are not always separated In different beds, but Bome-
nt and even adjoining layers of the same
bed or digging. The i i &c., caused by the greatef or

intity "i vinous accidental ingredients, however striking to the eye,
are n. n often of much importance to the value of the marl; but only
(or principally) such differences as are caused by the greater or less pro-
portion of shelly matter, and its state of disintegration and division.

(</) Yellow marL— This kind, wherever lou the highest

layers of the particular body. That is, M-e be layers both of yellow
and blue marl in the sanv . is always al blue

, and never in the reverse position. But sometimes the yellow con-
tinues to the bottom, and sometimes the blue forms the top as well as the
bottom.

Yellow marl is usually found dry; that is, having no springs or oozing
waters, which are generally reached on digging lower in the body. But
the lower part, v, hue h el . ragh rarely, of the same yellow-

ish or dingy white tint, so as to make it manifest that the color is not de-
pendent on the degree of moisture or dryness. The yellowish tint is
owing to the presence of oxide of iron, and is pale or deep, approaching
sometimes to reddish brown, according to the cpjantity of that coloring
matter.

Yelloie sandymarl is the kind most abundant in Prince George county
on and at some miles distance from the banks of James river, and from
which some farms entirely, and others principally, in that neighborhood
have been marled. It is ol .-hells left in their original place, the filling
earth being mostly of coarse sand, and the « I body poor in calcareous
matter, varying in its proportion usually from 'M to '60 per cent, and rarely
richer than 35 per cent. But it is of such open and loose texture, (and
the more so as the sand is the more abundant,) that this marl is easily and
cheaply worked, and the labor so applied is therefore often better compen-
sated than in diggings of much richer marl. In this variety of marl, the
shells are usually entire, or in large fragments, but are not firm or well
preserved. Il miuic beds, or thick layers, they are so finely reduced that
the mass seems to the eye to be wholly, as it is indeed principally, a body
of silicious sand. From one bed of this kind which its proprietor supposed
from its appearance to be merely silicious, it was used as sand to mix in
lime mortar for masonry, and it was found to serve well for that purpose.
Subsequently this bed of sand was found to be enough calcareous to be
used as manure: and was so used, and t" such good profit, that the proprie-
tor supposed it to be rich marl. In that opinion, however, he was mistaken,
at least as to the ca ..tents.

Yellow day marl. — But most of the richest as well as of the poorest
miocene marls are yellowish. When rich, say containing proportions of
carbonate of lime h om 15 to sO percent., the marl is usually formed of
shells broken down, when under the sea, to small fragments or to powder,
by the grinding action of the water in violent motion, and left afterwards to
settle in stiller water, according to the specific gravity. Or it is the same kind
of rich and finely divided water-borne matter deposited on and filling the hol-
lows in and between whole shells remaining in their i iriginal place. In either
ease, the small quantity of earth first suspended in the current, and then de-
posited with the linely reduced shelly matter, is mostly if not entirely clay;
as silicious sand, having more specific weight, could not be suspended by

2(j2 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

the current so long, or carried so far, before being deposited. I lie few rich
clay marls of Prince George are of the first named variety, or composed
entirely of fine fragments of shells intermixed with clay. The much richer
marls in and about Williamsburg are of the other kind, there being also
numerous whole shells in place, as well as the interstices being filled almost
entirely by water-borne fragments, and fine powder of other shells. The
other contents, making from 15 to 25 per cent of the body, are principally
of a very fine clay of pale yellow, and much less of silicious or white quartz
sand, oxide of iron, and green-sand. Much of the same kind of rich marl
is also in other parts of James City and York, in the lower part of Sur-
ry, and in Isle of Wight, New Kent, and King William counties, which I
have seen— and probably thrpqghout the middle belt of the marl region
of Virginia. There has beeHKtie or none of these rich clay marls seen
by me in the upper range of marl counties, (these next the falls of the
rivers.) and not much more near to the eastern limits, or next to where
the marl dips so deeply, as to disappear from the surface and is accessible
only by deep digging. Perhaps observations more extended, and more ac-
curate than mine have been, might present different conclusions.

The marls just described, when separated mechanically, (by the sieve
and by carefully washing in water,) seem to consist, for the much greater
part, of pure sheliy matter, mostly in large or small fragments, slightly co-
lored by brown oxide of iron, and the remainder of a very fine and ap-
parently pure pale yellow clay. But this clay is also composed in part of
finely divided carbonate of lime ; and the fine shelly matter is intermixed
with some silicious sand and a little green-sand. The bed of marl near
Surry Court House, (which is similar to the marl at most other places
thereabout,) is of this kind and general character ; and from it, a large
body of land has been manured with great benefit. This body of marl was
leputed to be among the richest in green-sand. From a much larger
sample of the marl of this bed, carefully selected by the proprietor, at my
request and for my examination, an average portion taken was compos-
ed as follows :

1780 grains, separated mechanically, by the sieve and by washing in
water, consisted of

Carbonate Fine argillaceous Silicious Green sand,
oflime. earth. sand.

1036 grains of shells and coarse frag-
ments, nearly pure, and so counted, 1036
433 grains fine shellv fragments, &<:.,

which consisted of - - - 268 - - - 12

277 grains fine yellow clay, kc ,

which consisted of - 65 - 212

34 loss in the process.

17*0 1369 212 120 45

Which may be stated of parts to the hundred thus :

100 grains of marl contained of carbonate of lime, 77 grains.

Silicious or quartz sand, very p'ire and white, 6J "

Green-sand --------

Fine vtllow clay or argillaceous earth, (and the I6ss in the latter pro-
cess,) '- 13} "

The richest bodies of these marls show very few shells, or even frag-
ments, and have a homogeneous texture and appearance to the eye, like
a very impure chalk or sandy clay. Such marls are in James City. New
Kent. King William and Middlesex counties. The following are some of
them of which I have analyzed specimens :

CALCAREOUS MANURES APPENDIX. 203

From King William, (Lip me^teol lime.

i land)— 88
" Now Kent, (Col. Macon's land)— 88 " "

Middlesex, (Oaks' land) - 83 " " "

Somo of very similar appearance, but still more approaching in texture
to a very soft rock, from Lenoir county, N. ''.. and the bank of Neuse
river, contained 7~> per cent, of carbonate of lime. Sundry other speci-
mens, of still more homogeneous and firm texture, from the banks of the
Santee, S. C, contained about 95 per cent. Most of these marls are soft
enough to be used for manure as dug from the pits; but the hardest lumps
may need burning to lime. Any hard enougli to need burning, and as
rich as 85 per cent., will make good lime for cement, as well as lor manure.

Under a peculiar combination of circumstances, the great richness of
some marls operates to lessen the value of the body as manure. Rain
water, when just fallen, always contains some carbonic acid, which admix-
ture causes it to be a solvent of carbonate of lime. When rain water then
can descend by percolation into rich dry marl, in its passage it dissolves
some of the calcareous matter, which is again left solid, and in crystals, by
the slow evaporation of the fluid. These crystals of carbonate of lime are
slowly added to by every recurrence of the like causes, until the cavities of
large shells, and other openings into which the water had settled, are com-
pletely filled with crystallization. If layers of marl, less pervious to water
than in general, oppose the descent of the water, the crystallization forms
in connected horizontal layers, separated by the thicker layers of softer
marl. Such crystallized layers are found abundantly in the very rich marl
at Yorktown, serving by their stony hardness to impair the otherwise great
value of the manure. At BeOfield, Col. Robert McCandlish's farm, a few
miles higher on York river, the hollows of large shells have been tilled with
beautiful and brilliant crystals thus formed. In Surry also, on the land of
the late William Jones, such crystallization is abundant. For such effect to
be produced, there are several conditions necessary. The superincumbent
earth must be of open texture, and not very thick — or rain water couKI not
pass through. It must not be a hill-side — as the water would How off the
surface and not penetrate to the marl. And the marl must be dry — or eva-
poration could not take place, and of course not crystallization.

Gloucester, though one of the outside marl counties to the east, is most
abundantly supplied with marl, accessible on almost every farm, whether
of high or of low grounds. It is generally of the poorer yellow kind.
But three marked exceptions were seen, which as such deserve to be
named. One is the rich clay marl forming the north bank of Ware river
on the farm of Mr. Alexander Taliaferro. Another is the general sub-soil
(as it may considered from its position) of the lowest land of the larm of
Mr. Jefferson Sinclair, near the mouth of Severn river. This is an almost
pure body of coarse shelly powder, or fragments, seldom found larger
than two or three grains in weight, and a very few shells, of as minute size,
entire enough to be distinguished. This mass of shelly matter is as loose
and incohesive as coarse sand, yet is tinged slightly with green by the ad-
mixture of greenish clay. A specimen analyzed contained 72 per cent,
of carbonate of lime. (See more full account at page 181, vol. vi. Farmers'
Register.) The third is the marl used by Capt 1'. E. Tabb, and dug from
beneath the low grounds on North river. It is a mass of pulverized shells.
colored by red or brown oxide of iron.

(b) Blue marl— This i> the most common kind in the upper range, or
near the western In _rreat marl deposite. Thereabouts, blue marl

usually forms the whole thickness of the bed. More eastward, and lower

20-1 CALClBEOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

down the country, it sometimes forms the whole of low-lying beds, but
more usually only tl is

yellow.

Blue marl is general]}- such as remains '• in pta
were left by the death of the enclosed animals, and the
is mostly silicious sand; and therefore, (and not because of fts cole.
marl is rarely found as rich as 45 per cent, and is still n.
the yellow clay marls, though generally richer than

Blue marl in the bed
oozing from every part, though seldom fast any where,
or veins of running water. The blue color is not cause
some yellow marls are also peri

other dark-colored putrescent matter, brought in the perco.. _
This inference I have drawn from extensive observation of the natural
beds, and also from several accurate though accidental experiments, of
which the first that was observed will be here
yard was covered 6 to 10 inches thick with a rich

purpose of retaining by chemical combination the e putrescent

manure which was to be thrown there from the s hning

for this use a year or more, this flooring of marl was Jug up and carried
out for manure: when it was found to be chang- a deep and

vivid blue, and precisely like the natural color and appea: nder-

stratum of the same body of marl, which being an ope:. pure

mass of pulverized [and water-borne) fragments of
trated by and always fa

is that all marls for \ :ely under s.

table matter, are blue. And this coloring

merely intermixed with, but must be held in chemical combination by nH
calcareous matter : and serves, according to its quantity, in bl .
an an addition to the fertilizing power

particular body of marl above refer.. atum of y:

the most marke! or vivid blue

Prince George, and from which I dug and applied a la; . The

greater part, and all the richest layers seemed to be of shells brol
to a coarse powder, or e: an fine gr„

water rose and passed so freely as to forbid digging to the bottom,
small quantity of clay or lixed with the calcareous earth

of this marl is altogether insufficient to hold ^

moreover, if the coloring matter were not chemically combined with the
calcareous, the continued free passage of water must have dissolved and
washed off an}- uncombined vi ole body of mar),

both the dry and yellow ell as the blue and wet ;

was all brought and deposited by currents, as is manifest by the dh
layers of different specific gra-.

layers of a fine caleareov.- ore mentioned,) which ma;

dered as the true marl of mineralogists, though in very small qn
Ivses were carefully made of every different quality, and the results may be
interesting as showing how much one lay-
adjoining; and different specimens not m re I
Upper dry pan. yellow, and loo? . -

face) from 3 to 7 feet, contai] ■ 53 per cent.

Next layer below, brownish yel"

passes. - - - - - -

About 12 inches lower, in the blue, ...

men below
Layers of clay marl, inters; - - •

CA1 I ^06 '

And in a mi th of four specimens of the blu,e part

of the marl was us foficfv a :

Bi the first foot depth of blue under-stratum - - o2 per cent.

In the .....

reel - - - - - 76

At l loci, and lowest digging then effected - 70 "

It may readily be infern ese various results, that if one or two

specimens only had been analyzed, and these taken with no more care than
is commonly used, that a very deceptious report might have been furnished
iking even the most accurate analyses.
I oncholo'gists and geologists, who have treated so much'of marls but
merely in reference to the shells they furnish, or to their geological character,
speak of the blue marl as firmed by shells being imbedded in a blue day.
i:ut the earth is not generally a clay, nor any thing even approaching to a
clay, but is mostly of silicious sand. The ordinary blue marl contains
usually from three to four times as much pure silicious sand as of clay.
From various specimens of two diggings in such marl, from which more
than 300 acres were marie I .us' Point farm, the following

were found by analysis: '
Yellow marl (wet) thin layer at top, contained of carbonate of lime 24 grains.
Within of top, shelly matter finely divided, and the mass uni-

form dull blue color, 100 grains contai

mate of lime. - - - 34 grains.

White silicious si ii,, I. 4/

Clay, black- wHen moist, and dark gray when dried, - - 19

100
Like blue marl from another pit in the same body, 100 grains contained:

ol lime, - -34 grains.

Silicious ind, 52

'lay, 11

100
of another specimen from and of similar marl, 100 grains con-
tained of carbonate of lime

At 6 feet deep, (the shell not much reduced,) carbonate of lime 44
\t 13 feet deep, and one foot from bottom, 33

few hard lumps of conglomerated shells and earths
scattered thn 73

From a dig -fourths ofa mile distant, of mar] of the sarni

peaTano ired to be the same body as the preceding! the general

average ol sin several trials at different depths, wa-

in I0U grains ol marl, 85 of carbonate of lime. The thickness of this
b6dy, where penetrated, varied from II to II feet; where there was a
marked thougjj not entire shelly matter, and ini ious

sand of Ihc same blue tint, flhe deeper removal was stopped because
■ ft ho obvious poverty, and no further examination of more than a fool or two
in depth was made m this poor substratum. In but lew ><l~ all I OS

diggings made by myself, or ofi marl

been reached- i many, and most generally when j deeply

enough, it becomes so poor as to be not worth the labor of removing.
In the only known cases, when digging the marl for manure, that the bottom
of the niiocenc ,\ as \ roen-sand

earth, or eocene marl. In well, at Shellbanks in Prince George

my then resideno bed of firm blue marl,

206

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

of broken (or water-worn) shells, obviously the same kind dug at another
place for manure, and described at page 204, a sofi brown sand was reached,
apparently destitute of calcareous matter, and from which rose an abundant
supply of pure and soft waler to the height of 13 feet, which stood altoge-
ther in this blue marl, without its purity being affected either by the cal-
careous matter of the marl, or its coloring matter. The continued purity
of this water is an additional proof that the blue coloring matter is chemi-
cally combined with the carbonate of lime — and the combination is a
visible illustration of the manner in which marl holds to and fixes putres-
cent manures.

Mr. William Carmichael, of Queen Ann's county, Maryland, an intelligent
agriculturist and an experienced and observant mailer, is of opinion that
there is a perceptible superiority of efiect of blue marls over others of
equal (and even greater) strength in calcareous matter. (Farmers' Regis-
ter, vol. vii. p. 100.) This superiority of effect must be caused by the
vegetable or other putrescent and alimentary matter being combined with
the calcareous, and by its presence giving color to the blue marl. And
that the blue color is thus produced is fully proved by the facts stated at
page 204, and by my more genera! observation.

Excepting then the additional value in the vegetable extract which gives
the color, there is no difference between the blue and the yellow marls,
other than the difference, as cf any marls of similar color, in their re-
spective amounts of calcareous matter. And the same may be said of wet
and dry marls, which are generally, but not always, distinguished by the
above colors; and also of any other miocene marls, excepting for such
proportion of "green-sand" as is sometimes present. But there is reason
to believe that wet marls, in many cases, have lost some of their ancient
strength, by the continued though very slow percolation and subsequent
discharge of water through the mass. If recent rain water penetrates wet
marl, it dissolves some carbonate of lime, (by means of the carbonic acid in
the rain-water;) and, as the water slowly flows off, or oozes out, instead of
being evaporated, the dissolved lime is washed into the nearest stream, and
is lost, instead of being left, crystallized or otherwise, as in dry marl.
Again — if water flows over having sulphate of iron (copperas) in solution,
(which is not a very rare case,) that dissolved salt acts with the carl nmate
of lime to produce the decomposition of both the sulphate of iron and the
carbonate of lime, and from two of their component parts to form sulphate
of lime. And as this is slightly soluble in water, it must be carried off bj
the slowly oozing water, as long as any of these new salts remain. In this
case, the carbonic acid is evolved, and the iron is precipitated — and often
fills, or coats the interior of the spaces before filled by the shells which this
chemical process had decomposed and removed. This effect when pro
duced, is seen at the upper purl of the marl, where the copperas water first
touches the shelly matter. In Henrico, near the western limit of the marl,
there is generally over the present highest shells a body of earth of color
and general appearance verj similar to tjjfcniafl below, and full of hollow
impressions of shells, though no shelly nor even any calcareous matter now
remains. In other mails, there is often seen an upper layer colored brown
by this deposite of iron. Both these are different modes of the same ope-
ration; the waters charged with sulphate of iron having in the latter case
decomposed and removed but part, and in the former all the calcareous
matter, to some depth below the former top of the stratum of marl.
The marl, in the upper part of which the shells have been thus dissolved
and removed, has a decided sulphureous odor, which is left very perceptible
on the hands, after handling the marl as dug; and this odor is still more

QALCAR£< DS M iNl Rl v>()7

manifest in the marl when II he i I I ex] id

some days .to the weather. Such marl is within . llqjpnond,

at Dr. Chamberlayne's and Col. < . W. Gooch'a forma ft is pooi in calca-
reous matter.

The comparative values of marls are fixed by the comparative propor-
tions oi carbonate of lime Contained, other circumstances being alike; vet
if these circumstances ai rent, they may make a mail containing

but 2."i per cent, worth more than another of ."id per cent. The more linely
reduced, or the more rotten the shells, the quicker the action will he. and
the more profitable the marling. Cut all the while shells, however hard and
entire when applied, are dissolved in a \'c\v years, if the soil really needs so
much lime — that is, (according to my views,) if there be acid of soil en
to combine with the lime. But the brown or slate-colored shells seem to
be insoluble and almost indestructible, and do very littli nure.

These shells are the several species of scallop (pa-ten) and of fossil oysjter,
(ostreu,) and some few others, all fortunately being but in small proportion
to the numerous while and softer shells. Some beds of marl, however, or
layers, have mostly the.se hard shells, and therefore are worth very little
compared to what their chemical analysis would indicate.

A list of most of the shells found in the miocene marls, and also of the
eocene of Virginia, (and of which specimens are in my collection,) will be
annexed to this article, for which I am indebted to the scientific know
and kind assistance of Mr. M. Tu6mey. But as the scientific names will
be of but little use to many readers, it may be useful to describe in ad-
vance a few of the most common shells, peculiar to the miocene marls, and
which can scarcely be mistaken. Such are the various large scallop shells,
(pecten,) oysters, (oslrea Virginica, $c.) — hollow tubes, about the thickness
of a large pipe-stem, and open at both ends, (serptila,) and eliptical funnel-
shaped shells having a small hole at the bottom, [faaurella.) These refer-
ences will be enough for any person acquainted with the shells by sight, but
not acquainted with their scientific names If however even very slightly
informed in the latter respect, "the observer will not heed any such e
nations.

It is not necessary to speak otherwise than vcrj concisely as to the
practical applications and effects of mi marl ; for this is the kind

in general use throughout lower \ irginia and Maryland and to such small
extent as has been used in North Carolina, and thi ion is

well known. All the usual an nd highly beneficial effects ol

marl known, with but few exceptions in the limited district
marl, (hereafter to be described,) are due to the miocene marls. Vnd ol
such effects, there have lieen numerous staten raJ and particular.

The operation of the eocene mails, and especially those largely mixed
with " green-sand," is different, and superior^ bul theii i en so

limited, and so few statements of effects published, that nearly all the
particular results and general statements of effects yet laid before Die
public, in the ' Essay oja calcareous Manures' or elsewhere, have been in
relation to the miocene marls.'

i.w: MARL,

('•)— Cakafinux marl, containing but liltk grecn-san
in Virginia of the marl now kno ivercd

in 1 S 11) hy myself, in the south hank i'er, underlying the pjp

montoiy of Coggins Point; and in the same yen il was tried as ma-
nure. The texture and general appearance of this marl were obvious

208 CALCAREOUS MANVKES— APPEXMX.

ly peculiar ; and its effects as manure were soon also observed to be
in some measure different from those of the other marls, which I had then
used, and which were all of the kind now distinguished as miocene. Ai
that time these terms had not been introduced, and for perhaps fifteen
years afterwards, I did not so much as hear of the terms '-eocene" and
"miocene;" but their difference of age, appearance, and agricultural cha-
racter were not therefore the less evident and obvious to my observation.
The manifest difference of effects as manures was then ascribed by me
to the general if not universal presence of a small proportion of sulphate
of lime, or gypsum, in the eocene marl. The belief in the general presence
oi~ gypsum" was very early induced by my seeing in a few places small
crystals overlying and in contact with the surface of the bed of marl : and
also by the apparent results of such poor attempts as I subsequently made
to ascertain the presence *bf titt -substance, by means of chemical tests.
Upon such imperfect tests, ano^D^he still more imperfect knowledge and
skill which I could apply to the investigation, (amounting indeed to a
nothing.) very little reliance ought to have been placed. Nevertheli
thence inferred that there was universally present and diffused through the
body of this marl a small proportion of sulphate of lime, (say one or two
parts in the hundred.) and subsequent agricultural practice has supplied
the confirmation, which has not yet been sought for by the superior chemi-
cal knowledge and skill of any other and late investigator. In the earliest
publication of my views on calcareous manures in 1621, the gypt
character of this particular body of marl was affirmed, and the peculiar
character of the results of the first experiments with it stated.* And in
the edition of 1832 of the -Essay on Calcareous Manures,' the general
and full description of this marl was given precisely as it now stands
in pages 92 and 93 of the latest edition. My still earlier discovery of and
observations upon the peculiar character of the underlying bed of gypseous or
" green-sand' earth, (which will be treated of subsequently,
observe the peculiarities of the eocene marl, which being less distinctly
marked, might otherwise have escaped my notice.

As stated above.it was not from any knowledg . eal theories

of successive formations, and different ages and periods, of all which I
was profoundly ignorant, that my opinion of the peculiar character of this
marl was influenced. But judging solely from the more rotten and disinte-
grated state of the shells, and their entire disappearance generally, even
though their calcareous material remains — and from the total difference of
kind of the few shells remaining whole, or of which the shape is distinctly
marked, from any others of the many shells then known to me in any otber
marls, I very early formed the opinion that this bed was one of the re-
mains or ruins of a condition of the earth much more ancient than that
in which the ordinary marls had been formed. I remember having stated
this opinion to one of the earliest of the several geologi- liferent

times visited my dwelling place and my marl excavations. This was the
since notorious Mr. Featherstonhaugh, to whom I pointed out this curious
and to me highly interesting deposite, anWrequested his attention to the
more modern and very different (miocene) marl lying immediately upon
and in close contact with the much more ancient formation below. This
remarkable feature I also showed at a later time to Professor "William B.
Rogers, who was much struck with the fact, and attached so much impor-

* American Farmer, vol. Hi., p. 317, and also the satne experiments number? r.
20, of the present edition of ' Essay on Calcareous Manures.'

.. i'i \im\ 209

tance to it, that he
The most ready ui u-LJs by

ice to some of the this kind, and whi< h are never

found in miocene marls. The 13 such; but the n

and well marked are the two following: 1st, tl ata, a

bivalve whi 1 unnlng from

the point at the hinge of the \ e ol the out

rig parts, and widening as I alike, and

: outlines ap in more than three

inches across anil I ted valves nearly two inches through, but

illy of much smaller and formia,
or saddle oyster, a curiously and variously contorted brown ami very
hard bivalve shell, the larger valve of which ap shape and
This shell is sometimes found inure than
live inches in length. Both of these shells are abundant, especially the
ear (lit a planicosta, in this particular bed ol in the
upper part ui' all the other eocene marls since known elsewhere in Virgi-
nia. Without reference 1 1 these, or to soni

the eocene marl might not always he distinguishable by its texture or
general appearance from the miocene. And even these two shells, the

abundant and characteristic of the eocene formation generally, are

For some years alter the first discovery and application of this calcareous

marl on C< ins Point farm, it was not known to exist elsewhere.

For even h ble, and at later times used, its different eharactei

was neither know 1 ted by its proprietors. As chance furnished

tome opportunities ol seeing the beds, or as small specimens of the marl
were sent to me for examination, 1 gradually came to know the greater ex-
tent 1 11 is now known at various points in an area of about
twelve miles in length, from east to west, and eighl or ten miles wide, which
area takes in parts of the counties of Prim iich has much the
larger portion,) 1 lharlel City, and the lower point of < -hesterfield. And in
tliis,!i the broad bed of James river, and the lower parts of its
considerable tributaries, Appomattox river, and Bailey's, Powell's, and Her-
ring creek's. The marl is exposed to view on the southern side of James river,
at the following several points: ( 'oggins 1'oint. Maycox, (a mile below, and
the most eastern exposure known.) Tarhay. Wm. II. Harrison's farm, and
Beaver Castle, all above mi the river— Eelbank and llawksnest, (the most
southern exposure. 1 on Powell's creek— the < >ld 1 'ourt-house tract and Spring
Garden farm, both on Bailey's creek, and the latter from one to two miles
the head of its tide, and three miles south of the Appomattox where
ite. The lasl is the mosl weste Qn the northern side
of the, Appomattox, it is seen in the ri Bermuda Hundredfand
north of James river, and of Herring creek, at \eston and Evelynton.

Through nearly all this large area, this bed of marl \ mark-

able uniformity of appearance, texture, chemical character ai
tion, and even of the tbicknen of the stratum, and of the succession and
variations of character of the several smaller layers of the general body.
The bed lies nearly horizontal, but dips slightly and irregularly eastward
and northward. At 1 oggins Point, its lower part is 10 to 1-2 feet above
high tide, while at Maycox, a mile to the east, and at Evelynton three miles
north, it is Tower than high tide rnarl^. Yet not so mui <•!" ele-

een in all th< ..u I to Bermuda

Hundred. The stratum . feet to infect thick, being thinnest

•210 CALCAREOUS MANURI AD1X

at it.- south-western extremity, Spring Garden* and thickest at Ibe north-
eastern. Xeston and Evelynton. . t Coggna Point, where traced along the

face of the river cliff continuously for more than half a mile, it is usually
six feet thick, never more than eight, and never less than four feet, except
where terminating. The general and almost uniform color is a pale
dingy yellow. The few shells remaining arc not perceptible without
careful observation, and the whole mass, when dug down for use. is
scarcely distinguishable from many common and barren sub-soils, or clay
river cliffs, of like color. Two ;!an but continuous aud separate layers of
almost stony hardness extend through the whole bed-^hese contain from
'JO per cent, of carbonate of lime, and may be burnt to excellent
quick-lime for cement. The marl intervening with these hard layers is simi-
lar to them in color and general appearance: but is quite soft and mellow
in handling, and in that respect differs from all other known marls. The
very uniform calcareous proportion of this part is about 53 per cent. ; and
taking an equal section of the whole thickness of the bed, and with the
greatest care to obtain a fair average sample, the strength in carbonate of
lime was found to be &2 per cent. This is far less of calcareous matter than
is contained by many miocene marls which show less effect than this as
manure. But besides its calcareous matter, this eocene marl has some little
gypsum, some kind of saline matter which cattle are fonJ of licking, (be-
lieved to be sulphate of alumina,) and some amount of the granules of " green-
sand" — and more of this than most of the miocene marls. The other
earth of this marl is mostly of yellowish clay, and composed more of argil-
laceous than silicious matter. I confess that all these additional ingredients,
together, do hot seem to me sufficient to account for the superiority which
this marl exhibits as manure.

Though this peculiar kind of marl was so early known, and its value
appreciated, and, though it underlies the whole of Coggins Point, yet it is
covered there so deeply by the overlying earth, and is therefore so difficult
to work extensively, and. moreover, is so distant from the main body of
the farm, that this has not been applied to more than 05 acres, out of
some 700 marled on that farm. Other proprietors have elsewhere made
much more extensive applications of this marl. The peculiar effects of this
kind of marl were tested with the most accuracy by Messrs. Collier H. Ming*,
then of Walnut Hill, and Hill Carter, of Shirley; both of whom used this
marl from Coggins Point, water-borne to distances of 12 and 15 miles.
Though the marl was given to thorn, (in the bed.) it was yet very costly in
the labor of digging and transportation; and therefore they used it with
strict economy, and carefully estimated the results. But highly as they
both thought of, and have reported the effects,'* in comparison with either
lime or miocene marls, the expense and trouble were so great, that it is
now considered by the most judicious farmers on the tide water rivers, that
they can better afford to buy stone-lime, at its present low price. (8 to 10
cents the bushel,) than to transport marl of any kind by water

Since the foregoing pages were written, I have learned of two farther
exposures of this body of eocene marl. One is four miles north of Eve-
lynton, (in Charles City county.) where the marl was reached and pene-
trated by the digging of a well in f814. At about 30 feet deep, after
passing through the marl, and a layer of rock, water was reached, which
rose to the top of the well, and continues to flow over, forming the only
Artesian well known in this region. The other locality is in Henrico
county, on Turkey Island creek, its eastern boundary, and about S miles

• See Farmers' Regist' r, vol v . |<p 189! 217. ">1 1

f KlU HANI Kl'.s APPEN1UX jj | [

in lit I; of City Point. This mat 1 I recognized to be the same, by a specimen

rfecentl) b ghi mefoi examination i of swampy

id, and is colored .lark gray. K is much fuller ol green-sand, and
indeed m thai respei i makes some approach i" the green-sand mails ol the
Pamunkey, of which the nearest exposure is only 16 miles from this place,

li is probable that the ma m the place in the

other, ami may be found throughout the interval by deep di

((.') THE liyPSEOUS EAKTH OH UKEEN EAUTI1 OF JAMES RIVER.

Before pro consider the next and (ml)' remaining known

variety "i our marls, the eocene green-sand mail, ii is necessary to treal in
advance and separately ol the peculiar earthy' compound, called "green
sand"' by geological- writers, ol which the large admixture, and sometimes
own larger proportion, gives additional value, and peculiar character and
action to the greater number and quantity ol the eocene marls yet known.
But important and valuable as may lie tin- green-sand in itself, ami ii
sary to be considered in connexion with the subject ol eocene marl, with
which it is so inseparably connected, I wish especially to avoid confounding
tin- tun earths under one name in nut- character; and to be understood as
protesting against the prevalent error, in giving currency to which scientific
writers have concurred with the unlearned cultivators, of applying to the
non-calcareous green-sand earth the name ol •■marl," and thus adding ano-
ther, and the must important one, to the previous misapplications of this
wonderfully misused and misunderstood term. This misapplication is uni-
versal in New Jersey, where the green-sand earth is must abundant, and is
generally Very rich in its distinguishing ingredient, (usualfy'containing 75
to 90 |»r cent of pure green-sand—; and where tins earth has been long,
and is now extensively used as a manure, ami has been found to beoi
great value as a fertilizer. 1 shall hereafter refer to both the points of re-
semblance and ol diiierenee (both ol which are important and interesting)
earth "I New Jersey and that of James river; but, for
the present, my remarks will he confined to tin' latter, and its use 8
nine, as Known principally, and indeed almost entirely, Inan my own
observations and practical ] perience, there having as yet been but lew
trials ol it made by other persons.

It was mentioned in the foregoing section, thai the first notice or obser-
vation of the eocene mail mi James river was induced by the previous
discovery and examination of the green or gypseous earth— the latter
being the universal underlying bed ,,| the formed ami connected with it in
more respects than merely its subjacent position. It was my chance, or
the result of habits of observation of marls and other earths, and not of
any scientific knowledge or previous preparation for such investigations,
which led me, in 1617, to be the first to observe this bed of green earth in
the river banks of Evergreen and Ooggins Point, .and to trace il where
visible along the intermediate ground, a distance ol about eighl miles.
Since then, it is known to be much more extended j fol it not only under-
lies all the eocene marl of the same neighbor! I. wherever thai is found,

and part of the yellow sandy mipcene, but also extend nd is

found at various places where n cene or even miocene mail is [bund

The most western limit, seen after a tence

of this formation, is at Petersburg, where it shows in the ravines south ol
Poplar Lawn.

What first directed my attention to this earth was the existence in the

vi].2 CALl

river bank at Evergreen, (the place of my birth, and of residence in
life.) of curiously shaped and beautiful crystals, which subsequently 1 learned
were selenite or gypsum. The like i ich smaller in size,

1 soon after found in different places at i 'qggins Point, nij- own farm and
then residence. .And, in making examinations for this purpose, I observed
that wherevi sum could be is always in a peculiar

kind of earth, which, though varying much in appearance in diffeicnt places
and at different elevations at the same place, yet possessed characteristic
marks by which it could be easily distinguished from all others. This
was the earth in question. For want of a more appropriate

name, I at first a rm •■ </ypsei lis deposite; and

though 1 subsequently abandoned this name in (undeserved) deference
to scientific authority, ancLjbave used instea later publications, the

name "green-sand earth," 1 now believe that my original term (in refer-
ence to the more general and universal manuring qualities) was the better
of the two, for reasons which will appear in the course of these remarks.
And besides that "green-sand earth" is inconvenient for its length, it is not
truly descriptive ; for the entire granules from which the peculiar character
of the earth is derived, are not green, but black superficially, or«o appear;
nnd are not what is usually understood as i texture are like

fine and unctuous clay. Still worse is it to term the whole mass, "green-
sand," as is usually done, when the pure " green-sand," even if that were
properly named, may not form one fourth or even one tenth of the whole
mass of earth. 1 therefore would prefer for the deposite, and shall use in-
differently, either my first designation of gypseous earth, or the name of
earth, which latter is convenient, is sufficiently descriptive, and
moreover affirms nothing except as to the color, which is generally manifest
in the whole mass, and, if not, is certainly so in the separated and mashed
granules, which distinguish the earth.

As the lower part of the river bank is mostly exposed and kept bare by
the frequent washing by the waves driven by strong winds and high tides,
the bed of gypseous earth can be easily traced through nearly its whole
course along the river side. As thus expose:! to view, it has generally a
green color, most frequently intermixed and mottled with smaller streaks
and spots of bright yellow'. The earth, as seen firm in the bank, and with
a smooth washed surface, might be supp ed to be somewhat of a clay;
but, on handling it, and breaking down a lump, its texture is more like
sand; as indeed a large proportion of the mass is silicious sand. A very
general distinguishing mark of this earth is its containing numerous hollow
impressions of eocene shells, of which the forms remain perfect, though
neither the shells themselves nor any portion of their calcareous substance
remain, as the earth in this part, and where most generally seen, contains
not a particle of carbonate of iime. Among the yelloy spots there are also
other small spots and streaks of reddi

and unctuous to the touch. The blight yellow clay is doubtless largely
impregnated with iron, or is a true yellow ochre. Though soft within the
bed, this yellow ochre hardens when exposed to trie air o*h the outside, and
■ ven when under water. .Many of 'the yellow spots made by this ochre,
as seen on the surface of a smooth section of the- bed. have a rough resem-
blance to the shape of sections of bivab and these coagApted with
the general green ground, and, with the exception of the coIore*being dif-
ferent, give to such a section of the bank somewhat the appearance of the
beautiful black marbles US' S for mantel-pieces, in which the white
traces of what were formerly shells show throughout. In some places near
to and below the beach, the earth is seen much darker colored, indeed is

L RECTUS MANl RES- APPENDIX. 213

almost black when moist in the bank, though more of dark green when
dry. is awing to the green granules being present in

larger quantity; and generally, if nol always, the lower part of trie lied of
earth is richer in that Ingredient than' the upper. The empty impressions
which were II found in penetrating bejow;

but as the deptli increases, then « hole

shells. , and the parts having ai y coherence.

Still, generally, even below, where these shells are most abundant, their
quantity would not furnish as much as two per cent., and generally not one
per cent., to the .'mate

of lime, though of course useful in proportion to its quantity, can give no
, lition of value to the mass as manure.

Here and there, but rarely, in the upper and dry part of this bed, crystals

as to be barely distinguishable
by the eve. In the lower ami wet part, gypsum is never -visible! but it
is nevei 1

But the and most characteristic mark ol the green earth is

present in the black gran 'which give color to the

To ascerti in I mple of

nth or marl D them be dried, and then crumbled

between the fingei hard for that, by being rubbed in a mortar,

not too finely arid closely. Then take a pinch of between the

thumb and linger, and sprinkle it very thinly over a piece of white paper.
If any of the separated grains appear black, (or green,) mash one of them
with 1 knife; and if fl be " green-sand," the

granule will 1 a id make a vivid greet] smear.

greater accuracy, [et the earth well washed by agitation

in water, and pou c matters which will

in longer suspended in the fluid. The grains of. green-sand will then
be left with nothin 12 or silicious sand, and moreover the

former will he made more pero nee of being cleared by

the washing of any previi

My first published account 'in or about the

year 1828, in the old series of t n 1 aimer.' A much

more extended article "( n the Gyps is Earth of James River," I

afterwards published, July. 1833, in the first volume of the Farmers' Re-
inning at page 207. Though up to that time 1 had never so
much as heard of the term "green-eand," and though J adopted and used
the new and unauthorized designation of "gypseous earth,"' the earth in
questioil was described so minutely and accurately thai it was impossible
for any intelligent and attentive reader of the article, and subsequent ob-
server "i the kind of earth in question, to mistake the subject of descrip-
tion. I trust that I may be pardoned for thus specifying my claim to the
first discovery of this earth in Virginia, inasaaieh as that meril (n il
one) would be ascribed by every otherwise uninformed reader, of the fits!
report of the -mvcjfof Virginia, a the publica-

tions from tl ore, to the author of these pieces Upon this

Occasion, it would be improper to say mure oil this question than thus con-
cisely and explicitly t" assert my just rights.

Before pjooeedim: '" "'i''1 '<''' paore precise and re valuable informa-
tion concernfi 1 very recent investigations, K wiJI be
proper to state aqpething of th ind changes ol opinion on this
subject, which operated at different times either to encourage or to obstruct
the use of this earth as manure.

From 1818 to I . numerous trials, and in some cases

27

214 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

extensive applications of the Coggins Foint gypseous earth as manure.
The results of my general practice, and also of man)- particular experi-
ments noted at the times when made, were reported in a communication
to the Farmers' Register, commencing at page US, vol. ix. The effects
stated were very different and apparently contradictory — sometimes bene-
ficial and profitable in a remarkable degree, but more generally of little
value, or of no benefit whatever. The inferences which I drew from all
my experience, (and there existed scarcely any other facts or experiments,)
were that this earth as manure acted in the same manner as gypsum,
though more powerfully— and in no uther maimer than as gypsum would
under like circumstances; that like gypsum, on my land certainly, and as
I inferred in our tide-water region generally, this earth had no effect what-
ever (unless used in excessive quantity) on any acid soils -and rarely on
any other crop than clover, even when properly applied on neutral or
calcareous soils; and that when naturally acid soils were made calcareous
by being marled, this green earth then became generally operative thereon
as a manure for clover, (and for other plants o( the clover or pea tribe,)
in the same manner as is usual in regard to gypsum.* And though the
effects, when any were produced, were greater than those of any usual or
known dressings of gypsum, and sometimes in a very remarkable degree,
still the failures and disappointments •were so many that I did not deem the
practice worth being continued. In 1341, my son, the present occupant of
the Coggins Point farm, at my request, recommenced the applications of
gypseous earth, for experiment : and on the clover of this year, 1>4'2, he
has extended the dressings over more than 60 acres.f The results were,
as in former years, very unequal, and for the greater space of ground
covered, unprofitable, and barely if at all perceptible. But on 25 to 30
acres the benefit was remarkably great, and in some cases (of summer dress-
ings) improvement was obvious within ten days after the application. But
what was most interesting in the results was, that a clue seemed to be there-
by furnished to explain the frequent previous failures of this manure, even
when applied to clover growing on neutral or calcareous soil, which are
the only circumstances in which it has ever been found profitable in practice.
My former applications had been generally made from the upper and
greener stratum of the gypseous earth, (designated in a succeeding page
as C,) or if from the lower and blacker part, (£>,) the digging did not pene-
trate more than a foot, or, at most and rarely, two feet below the before
exposed outer surface. But in the recent larger operation, the digging
(made on the river beach) was so much more extensive as to furnish earth
from depths of three or four feet, a's well as of portions nearer to and at
the surface. I ascribed the remarkable differences of effect to the kind
and place of the earth ; inferring that the exposed parts, and all perhaps
near the surface, had, by exposure to air or water, lost a large proportion
of the soluble or decomposable fertilizing ingredients. As the applications
had not been made with any view to this question, the experiments are
not to be deemed as conchisive.and the correctness of this inference is yet to
be fairly tested by future experiments. But the benefits from some of the
dressings, and all of those supposed to be from the deeper digging, were
so great, and so speedily produced, that renewed and strong interest was

* See these views more fully set forth in the article above referred to, and also in an
other on the greensr.nd marls of Pamunkey, at pp. 679 and 600, vol. viii. Fanners'
Register.

t See the facts and results staled in two communications to Farui. -rs" Register pp. S6,
185 and 252, vol. x.

CALCAREOUS MANURES UTKMllX ^ 1 5

excited in regard to this manure. The quantity applied was generally 40

bushels "i the earth to the acre. And this quantity see I, (from an accu-

rate comparative experiment) to produce as much benefit sis 200 bushels.
The growth ol clover was increased In degrees varying from loo to o00
per cent And where the application was most successful, the increase and
profit were sufficient to compensate the expense, even I iirther

benefit shall be found than in this one crop— or that a new application shall
he required and he made for every succeeding crop of clover, or once in
each round of the rotation of crops.

An observation made by accident last sfiMng led to further chemical as
well as other examinations ol this earth, and to important results. Upon
heating a lump of it to red heat, I found that strong fumes were thereby
extricated, which were almost suffocating if inhaled incautiously. The
odor was manifestly sulphureous in part, and principally; hut it seemed
not altogether so, but to he mixed with some other, much like that of mu-
riatic acid gas. similar trials were made on many specimens, and all the
darker and I richer layers of the green earth at < 'oggins Point

showed the like result. From specimens of the upper and lighter green
stratum (C) when heated red, there was nothing of this suffocating odor
produced. And it pay be useful t-> state here, in anticipation of subjects to
be hereafter more filly considered, that I subsequently found that the New
teen-sand earths yielded n< t a p irticle of this gaseous product.

i far as il \ ous, was obviously the product of

the decomposition (by red heat) of sulphuret of iron — which was thus proved
to be universally diffused, though invisible, trirougli all the darker and bet-
ter kinds of this earth. Sulphur would haye shown like results, with a
much less degree of heat ; but it could not be that, because the heat suffi-
cient to decompose sulphur (and to evolve its ftfmi effect on the
earth, 1 also sarth after having been applied as
manure, and exp ised on the surface of the ground for some months, often
had a smell of sulphur; and. in some cases, the same effect was exhibited
in specimens taken from the diggings, and kept dry. The sulphuret of
iron, if universally present, would, by its decomposition in contact with
carbon (as when on calcareous land,) Ibrm sulphate of lime,
gypsum.) a s6urce"for the universal supply of that manure
to some extent. Further, Mr. M. Tuomey had found sulphate of lime
ready finned in specimens of wet earth which I supposed the least likely to
retain that Ingredient — and thus was indicated another general supply of
gypsum.

The increased interest excited by these new observations, and also the
new views as to the cause of the failures of mosl 'if the former applications
■ if this manure, induced the sulking of a pit in the gypseous earth, on the
river beach at Cogging Point; to the depth of 1J feet below ordinary high
tide. This digging for the lower 13 feel was in a very compact and fine
clay (/J) or clay marl, as it would have been designated in England, from Its
texture and sensible qualities, but which contained ho visible or apparent
fertilizing ingredient, except a very small spri d elsewhere

little sulphuret of iron in small lumps and In minute crystals, visible
ill a few detached spots only. The appearances promise.! so little of value
or remuneration, (and less so as the digging was sunk lower,) that the
work was suspended. But the blacker earth above {!)) and also the clay
(£.') were carried out for experiment on clover. May 'JOth,) of which the
first crop bad just been grazed off closely, and the cattle removed. As the
season was so far advanced, and benefit so little counted on, the covering
was made heavier than in the winter and early spring before (and of which

216

CALCAREOUS MANL'K! - APPENDIX

the full benefit had been already seen on the first or spring crop of cloi
100 bushels of the upper and better earth, and 150 of the clay, being ap-
plied to the acre. A good rain fell the next night ; and in less than ten
days there were visible and manifest beneficial effects from both kinds of
earth, hut better from the upper — which effects increased to fully the doub-
ling of the growth by the first of August. The hard lumps of the compact
clay soon split and crumbled when exposed to the air, and even without
rain. The remarkable benefits of these applications induced the resuming
of the digging, and another and much deeper pit was dug as early as the
other labors of the farm permitte 1. and a statement will presently be made
of the section thereby exposed. But previous to this, it is proper to de-
scribe another like operation, and its results, at a more interesting locality.
The same general appearance of the gypseous earth, and mostly of the
poorer kind of greenish color mottled with pale yellow clay, is exhibited all
along the river bank of Coggins Point and the lands above, to the Ever-
green farm— interrupted only by the parts of marshy or more ancient allu-
vial lands ; or where the stratum has been broken and concealed by the
ancient land-slips which have greatly altered the original levels and form of
the surface of that whole stretch of land bordering on the river and overlying
the green earth formation. This operation by the land slipping and sinking
continues, and some new effects are seen every year. At man}' places
along this stretch gypsum is perceptible in the green earth, either in crys-
tals or in powder, and sometimes, and rarely, in considerable proportion,
say from 5 to 15 percent, of the whole mass. At the upper part of the
river line of the Evergreen farm, (at the mouth of Bayley's creek, and two
miles below City Point,) the river bank has peculiar and remarkable fea-
tures, which deserve particular notice. It was here in 1617 that I first dis-
covered this green earth formation, and thence traced it to my own farm
and then residence, Coggins Point, and elsewhere in that neighborhood.

ihe lower visible part of the body of green-sand earth at Evergreen is
laid bare by the wasting inroads of the river, (by which it is rapidiy wash-
ing away,) for 200 yards in length.- The southern or upper extremity, for
some 20 yards, approaches nearly in appearance to the general character
of tr.e upper stratum before described. But all the remainder is different,
and much richer in the dark or green granules than generally elsewhere.

Since this article was commenced, Capt. H. H. Cocke, the present pro-
prietor of Evergreen, at my suggestion and request, had a shaft dug tor
examination, which, with an extension of my own after he had ceased
his operations, added to the natural and higher exposure of the section, 27
feet below the beach, and 25 below common high tide. The several strata
of the whole section, and their variations, will be described in their descend-
ing order.

At top —
1st. Surface soil (sloping back irregularly to the table land, which is much
higher,) on (2d) gravelly and sandy sub-soil, pervious to water, of various
depths— lying on strata nearly all horizontal. Xext,
10 feet of yellow sandy miocene mail.

8 feet of yellowish clay, (supposed eocene,) intermixed throughout with
very small crystals and powder of sulphate of lime— the clay not com-
pact or solid, but open and loose throughout. (Query : Is not this the
equivalent of the eocene marl at Coggins Point, with its former shells
and carbonate of lime completely changed to sulphate of lime, and the re-
mainder dissolved and lost !)
5 feet of gypseous earth — the general color, green mottled and streaked
with yellow ochre, and full throughout of very minute crystals of sulphate

OUi M \ M : JKIX. g 17

of lime, supposed to be about 10 to 15 per cent, of the whole mass. No
sts seen in the part expos amination.

ivnish iiu tiled < I ty, feeling smooth and soapy, containing bu-
dl crystals of sulphate of lima
9 feet very pure white clay or fuller's-earth, in horizontal layers, separated
by veins of the yellow day Cor iron ochre) before mentioned, other veins
of the same sometimes also inclined and crossing the horizontal veins —
the outsides of the lumps of clay colored by oxide of iron. The clay
all broken into irregular lumps, as if the fissures had been formed by the
contraction in dr I with wetness. No shells,

nor appearance of them, but" many pure and transparent and beautiful
ervst tls of sulphate of lime here and there, some weighing several
ounces. This stratum changing gradually into the next of

of dark bluish clay, the coloring matter being green-sand, mottled
with irregular streaks oi bright jteHow, becoming brown below where
oozing water begins to show and is reddish with sulphate of iron, or
other ferruginous ilution. This stratum full of large and solid

■ t Us of sulphate of lime, amounting apparently to from 25 to 35 per
cent, of the whole mass— the crystals colored dark gray, because of some
Impurities in small grains (green-sand I) being enclosed and diffused
through them. .No shells. This changing into the next, of

I 1 fei I irk or nearly black clay, nearly uniform color, and still

compart texture, and feeling smooth and soapy— with very few crystals,
I much less sulphate of lime than the rj ;ii many small and

scattered eocene white shells, quite rotten, and, being moist, as soft as
dough. The shells, mostly several kinds of very large turritellas. Fewer
shells as descending: At top of the stratum some large and very perfect
specimens of the ,,..■/,-,,, compreuiro»ird.(i) To level of the river at com-
mon high tide.
Below high tide.
14 feet very similar to the last, the shells very few for the greater
part, but increasing near the next. No crystals or other sulphate of lime
visible. The green-sand granules coarser— sometimes in small lumps
quite pure, or unmixed with any thing else. These granules breaking
easily, though as if bard ol like a soft soapy clay as usual

—though as green as before. Many small cylindrical tubes seen, which
seem to be formed on, or coated with pure green-sand in mass and green
in color, and the hollows filled with black granules.

I I feet of shells lying generally close together, and serving to make the
whole stratum a calcareous marl, of perhaps 30 per cent, or more of carbo-
nate of lime— the earth filling the shells and between them being the
same black earth, as rich as before in green-sand. At top, some very
large and perfect shells of ■'>•</, and another much
thicker ostrtu, not known.* The shells mostly very large turrilcllfB of
different species— near bottom fewer of these and mostly craaaatdUt,
The shells nearly as numerous as before, at this depth, at" which the dig-
ging was abandoned, at 25 feet below tide.

The whole section, from the top of the highest undoubted eocene
stratum to where the digging ceased, (without any indication of being
near the end,) is 01 feet — and if the clay and gypsum stratum below the

• One of these last (both valves) weighed 5 Ib-e Mr. M Tuomey, to vvhcsc much

better informal ion oi irge and heavy

shell jtressirvstra <-'( id growth. If so, however, it is cer-

ininly very different in api>. II, as usually seen higher up in this

u when wuli r than 'h* very 'hick and heavy ostrea

213 CALCAUEOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

miocene be added, which, though not certain, I believe to be eocene,
there would be 69 feet. And if this and the two other lower clay strata
be deducted, there will still remain 45 feet of strata exposed, all rich in
green-sand, anil of it 9 feet very rich also in suiphate of lime or gypsum,
and 1 1 feet moderately rich in carbonate of lime. Such a deposite is
well worth the examination of geologists and chemists, and the trial of
farmers.

It was remarkable that at this place only of all the usual strata of all the
then known deposites of green-sand or eqcene marl in Virginia, were found
exposed, the shells of the ostrea eompressirpstfa — and below tide the other
before unknown and very thick and heavy ostrea; and that at this place
there has jiot been found a single shell of either the ostrea sellmformis or
cardita planicosta, the latter of which is so abundant through all other
known eocene deposites, and the former in the calcareous eocene elsewhere.
These facts seemed to indicate (a? well as the general dip to the eastward,)
that the strata at Evergreen are much more elevated than the same at
Coggins Point — and that by digging deeper, the lower and all the strata
of the former might be found at other parts of the known area (before de-
scribed) of the eocene formation.

This inference added to other considerations caused to be sunk the se-
cond shaft above mentioned in the beach of Coggins Point, 130 yards dis-
tant from the first on'e, which by this time had been filled completely by the
sand driven by storms and high tides. The digging was made at a low part
of the bank, and which therefore did not show either the eocene marl or
the miocene, the former of which is seen in the higher bank at a short dis-
tance, and both together at the distance of a mile. The different strata
of the actual section at the new digging, taken descending from the top of
the bank, were as follows:

1 foot, surface soil— gray loam, ancient alluvial deposite.

7 feet of pale yellow clay, containing much coarse silicious sand.

4 feet rounded or water- worn pebbles, of all sizes, from 4 inches through
to coarse gravel, held together by enough clay and ferruginous earth to
fill the interstices between the pebbles. None calcareous.

2 feet of very thin layers of hard and gritty gray clay, alternating with
others of coarse ferruginous sand.

2 feet of poor greenish earth, more than half the surface of the section

brown in spots, and indurated with oxide of iron.

(Here should be, as elsewhere in the neighborhood, though absent at this
particular locality, either one or both, the miocene marl, (A,) and next be-
low the eocene calcareous marl (B) described in the preceding pages.)

(C) 9 feet of the ordinary upper layer of gypseous earth—green color, mot-
tled with spots of bright yellow clay, (or ochre,) and some other
spots of unctuous reddish brown clay. Very slight efflorescence of gyp-
sum on the surface. ,

(Z>) 3 feet of darker and nearly uniform color, almost black, from the greater
proportion of green-sand. This and the preceding, containing many
impressions of shells, but no shells or fragments, and no carbonate of
lime. More efflorescence of gypsum, and also on next —

(D) 3 feet of same, except that some shells are seen — and increase in the
next to level of river at common high tide.

(D) 6 feet of same (next below tide — ) the shells mostly cardita planieosta
— fewer of cytherea and corbula. No ostrea or turritella. .Small and
slender shark's teeth (so called) in perfect preservation, the points and
edges being as sharp as in teeth of the living animal.

(E) 15 feet bluish gray or lead-colored clay, (from 6 to 22 feet below tide,)

CALCARE0U8 MANUKES APPENDIX, o ] g

having nearly the texture ol clay mail. Very compact and firm in tex-
ture — unctnoua to* the touch, but not adhesive or tough - does not bend
to pressure, but breaks cuts smooth, except W or the knife

meets parts of shells, or grains ol siUcious Band, Which, .is well as gra-
nules of greervsnnd, are1 irregularly intern ighout. The shells
very rotten, and flattened by pressure. Somel ma ses, or tliin
bands <>r regular rayei i, in quantity as descend-
ing, and but few scon at and below 10 feet of this stratum. Numerous
particles of mica throug nging gradually to next At 12 to IS
feet of its depth, many hard lumps of sulphuret oj irpn. The upper three
or four feet of this penetrated by numerous hollow cylinders, of an inch
or more in diameter, an, I in every direction— obviously having been bored
by shell-fish. These hollows are filled by the green earth of the stratum
above, which thus makes nearly half the mass. (This clay and the layer
above (A?) were the kinds use 1 for manure from the first opened pit.)
3 feet (22 to 25 below tide) of brownish and more friable clay, intermixing
at first with the above. Green-sand much more abundant than in the
preceding, and partly in very large granules.
3i feet (25 to 28 below tide) of very smooth and firm clay, of delicate lilac
color at first, but bee f as descending, until nearly white.
Splits easily into Bakes like thick slate ; and still thinner lamina; show
that the earth was a depnsite in tranquil waters. Thin flakes (not
thicker than writing paper,) and sometimes a mere powder of pure sul-
phuret of iron visible between many of the layers of clay, and causing
them to separate easily. The upper foot of this every where penetrated
by small hollow tubes, (from an eighth to. the third of an inch in diame-
ter,) which are filled by the brown and green variegated earth of the
stratum above— causing a lump wneh cut smooth to appear like a con-
aferate of*differently"colbred marbles. Except in I :s, no
green-sand deposite, and no shelly matter. The sulphuret of iron, which
is through this Stratum Visible in powder,* or thill layers, and above in
small masses or lumps, is diffused ftirough all the strata containing green
sand, except the highest (C) Through this and the upper gray clay (E)
some small black pebbles seen, which appear as if formed by melting.
The same found in the eocene marl. A sudden change to the next-
Si feet (28A to 31 below high tide) of remarkably smooth and unctuous,
but firm clay of reddish brown color, (or dull brick red,) and homoge-
neous texture as well as color. Cuts as smooth as the best hard soap.
Deposited in thin laminae, and breaks or splits easily in straight lines
both in the direction of the lamina and lengthwise at right-angles to their
direction— the grain and fracture appearing like that of rotten wood.
Across these two directions, I i'i even. Near the bottom
of the richest gieen stratum {!)) there is a barely perceptible oozing of
water. All below dry, and the two last strata remarkably dry. They
could not be more so if within three feet of the surface of a high knoll.
1 foot (31 to 32 below tide) of same as the last in texture, but of pale blue

color.
1 foot (32 to 33 below tide) mixture of the last, in small lumps imbedded in
the next, as if broken up by a violent current, and deposited in rapid water.
17 feet (33 to 49 below tide, the lowest digging.) black earth— richest in
green sand (supposed to be 60 per cent) mixed with a i'cw fragments
(less than 2 percent, on an average) of shells— mostly small, and all very
rotten. Kinds, mostly of turritella (some of which are largOi) mutyltts
corlnda and crasiatdia. Many small and a lev. large shells of oatrea
comjpitssirostra near top of this .stratum and again near the lowest part,
where the work was stopped by the water rising from below

220 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

The whole, so far as dug, added to the before exposed bank, amounted
to 66 feet of the eocene deposite, of which 49 feet was below the level i't
high tide. The last stratum, of which was penetrated 17 feet before the rise
of spring water compelled the work to be. discontinued, was manifestly the
same with that at Evergreen which was even with high tide (and extend-
ing above and below,) and which was there 25 feet thick. It was.' a subject
of much regret, after so much labor, that .the still lower stratum, full of
shells, could not be reached, and which probably might have been done in
8 feet more of digging. However/enough was done to show that the quan-
tity is inexhaustible of the layers richest in green-sand, (whatever may be
that degree of richness, independent of the other layers.

Besides the main object of this laborious examination by digging as low
as possible, to learn more of the quality and quantity of the earth for manure,
and as a matter of curiosity, there was another inducement. The whole
bottom of the river across to Berkley (below the thin covering of loose
and soft mud,) according to its variation of depth, must be formed of one
or another of the same layers shown in this digging of 49 feet below the
water level; and, of course, Harrison's Bar, which lies between the Coggins
and Berkley shores, must be so formed. No earth more strongly resists
the washing action of water than the gypseous earth, even when the least
mixed with clay. This peculiar quality must be the cause of the existence
of this bar, which presents so serious an obstacle to the navigation of the
river ; and it may be thence inferred what would be the degree of difficulty
of its removal, and also that the removal if effected would be permanent.

Various and contradictory as had been many of the results of my ex-
periments of the green earth as manure, there had been perfect agreement
in some respects. Thus, as before stated generally, the earth has never
been beneficial as manure on acid soil— but rarely on corn, and never
(directly) on any other grain crops; and (on proper soils) generally and
greatly beneficial on clover, and perhaps all plants of the clover and pea
tribe— and the effects, when produced, have never been permanent, nor
even very durable. And the effects shown in these points of agreement
were nearly all the reverse of those ascribed to the New Jersey green-
sand. In regard to these effects, in the absence of a!) certain and particular
information to be obtained otherwise, I found it necessary to seek informa-
tion in person. The results of my inquiries and personal examinations,
in general, showed that the green-sand (called marl) of New Jersey, though
agreeing in some respects with ours in action as manure, is operative gene-
rally on the greater number- of soils and on most crops, and is also very dura-
ble in effect. On the other hand, much larger quantities are applied there,
(usually 200 bushels, and sometimes 400 or more to the acre) than I have
done with ours ; and something of the more general benefit, and longer
duration may perhaps be owing to that circumstance.* Whether the green-
sand is indeed the principal, or a very important manuring agent, of the
James river earth, or whether the other ingredients may not be still
more active than its green-sand, is yet undecided.

It is indeed strange that such doubts should exist at this late day as to
the manuring action and effect of this earth— and still more so that the
chemical composition and ingredients of the earth should not have been
long ago ascertained. Yet previous to the recent imperfect application of
tests above referred to, there had been no known full or correct chemical
analysis made of the earth in question ; nor even any partial examination
for and report of the ingredients, that was entitled to any respect for

• See report at length on the New Jersey gfeen-sand, and it? operation, at page 418
vol. x. Farmers' Register.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 22]

accuracy and fidelity. For these reasons, I engaged the valuab

of Professor C. U. Shepard, for the analyses of specimens which 1 selected

from the different strata of the earth al Col ins Point, cxposei

diggings, including several which had been tried as manure and

ed with remarkable power and benefit. I is report of the analysis, which

has been received since the preceding and subsequent portions of this article

were written, will now be presented. It enables me to furnish more of

what is valuable, because more certain than every thing else I could offer,

or than has before been offered to the public on this subject— prominent as

it has been made in the reports of the geological survey of Virginia.

AVic Bavm, October 26, 1842.
Dear sir — The specimens of green- saml and accompanying earths have, agreeably to
your request, received my particular attention; and I now proceed to apprise you ot the
results at which I have arrived.

Commencing with the mechanical analysis of the green-sand, I was not a little sur-
prised to find (Sat the green particles, when cleared by washing of a slight investment of
clay, assumed the aspect of chlorite and green earth, and more rarely of grains of ser-
pentine and tine scales of mica. _Thc other ingredients of the earth were chiefly grains
of quartz, (some ol which werelptnetrated by chlorite,) and | ■. ■> !>.- pi gar-

net, iron pyrites, and what appeared to be yellow phosphate of lime. Fragmi
shells, in .i very decayed state, occui :i the earth; and 1 detected

also small teeth and | 9. The propoitions of the leading ii

very difficult to establish with precision ; and alter all my examinations 1 can only give
them approximate Iv and within wide limits. Thus, the q -aid to

constitute from (iO to SO per cent., the chloritic and micaceous grains from 10 to 15 per
cent , and the fine clay from 3 to 5 percent.

Nothing is plainer than that the green particles possess the character lure attributed to
them; since the; pul on all the properties so common to chlorite, being sometimes in
r hexagonal plates, though usually in little granuli a made up of impalpable grains,
which under the pestle easily separate, with an oil] feel, into bright green specks. Sub-
jected to acids arid beat, it agrees with true chlorite.

The existence of such a mineral in the present formation offers nothing remarkable in
a geological point of view, since it may have originated in the decomposition of chlorite
slate rocks, or of veins in primitive rocks (in which chlorite often abounds,) and in both
cases iron pyrites is its common attendant. Besides, it may have been derived from the
metamorphosis of pyroxene, or from amyirdaloidal traps, a source of green earth very
often recognized in Europe and America" Indeed, chlorite (which is but another name
for green talc) is often interchanged for mica as an ingredient of primitive rocks, and is
every where little prone to decomposition, being, on tiie whole, one of the most persist-
ent of the simple minerals.

Neither can it be objected that its chemical constitution is incompatible with tl
suits obtained for green earth ; for here we must hear in mind, also, that it is impossible
accurately to separate the green particles from the mica, serp« ntme and other ingredients
with which they are associated.

M. Berthier iound the following composition in the green grains from the green-sand
of Havre (France) —

Silica -

Protoxide of iron - - - 21.00

Alumina ----- 7 (in

Potassa .... 10.00

Alumina ----- 11.00

9

Mr. Seybert found in that of New Jersey-
Silica ...

Alumina .... B.Q0

Magnesia .... 1.88

Potassa - - - - ' ' '-

Water . - . -

Protoxide of iron - -

Loss .... - 89

100 oot

• Geological Manual, by H. T. de la Beche, Phila., 1632, p. 25fi.
t American Journal of Science, vol. xvii., p. 277.
28

222 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

Prof. Wm. B. Rogers found in the green-sand of Virginia-
Silica 51.70

Protoxide of iron - - - 25.20

Potassa ----- 10.33

Water .... 10.

Magnesia, a trace.

97.23'
The foregoing may be taken as a fair exhibition of the composition of the green par-
ticles in green-sand ; and the following analyses may serve to show the constitution of
such chlorites and mica as may be presumed to be most analogous to the green substances
in the earlli under consideration.
M. Vauqueliu found in the green-earth of Verona —

Silica 52.00

Magnesia ... - 6.00

Alumina - - - - - 7.00

Protoxide of iron - - - 23.00

Potassa ----- 7.50

Water .... 4.00

99.50f
Dr. Thomson found in the chlorite-earth, from the highlands of Scotland —

Silica 4S.166

Magnesia ... - 2.916

Alumina .... 16.851
Oxide of iron - - - 19.000

Potassa ----- 6.558

Lime .... 2.675

Water 2.350

98.718J

The composition of the most common silvery mica from Zinwald (Bohemia) wa»
ascertained by M. Klaproth to be the foJlowing —

Silica - -. - - - 47.

Alumina ... - 20.

Potassa ..... 14.50

Ox. iron .... 15. 50

Ox. manganese .... 1.75

9S.75§

Having described the grounds on which I arrive at the conclusion that the green grains
of this earth are chlorite, or chlorite blended with mica, and rarely specks of serpen-
tine, I cannot but express the opinion, that as a nutritive manure the efficacy of the
green particles has been greatly overrated. As these particles are very little liable to
decomposition, their action, whatever it may be, must be slow, and, I should infer, nearly
imperceptible. Indeed, I am rather disposed to regard its favorable operation, if indeed
it lias any, as Mowing, from a mechanical agency, after the manner of a clay, than as
arising from the liberation of its potassa through chemical decomposition. Not that I
would call in question the usefulness of the earth taken as a whole, for happily this is
too well established. But when I find a decided content of sulphate of lime, with carbon-
ate and phosphate of lime in addition thereto, "together with distinct traces of organic
matter, it appears t6 me unnecessary to look any farther in order to account for the phe-
nomena in the case.

I now proceed to state my method of examination, together with the results obtained.

The specimens were kept in a dry room, exposed to air in shallow dishes, for several
weeks ; after which, portions free from crystals of sulphate of lime visible by the naked
eye, and large fragments of shells, were heated in a platina capsule to 300°, Fall., in
order to expel hygrometric moisture, and subsequently to low redness, to decompose or-
ganic matter. || The organic matter is very inconsiderable, and was in no instances rigidly
determined.

Having ascertained by experiment that the iron-pyrites was not decomposable by tepid
dilute hydrochloric acid, the following method was resorted to for the determination of

• Farmers' Register, vol. ii., p. 131.

t Shepard's Mineralogy, vol. ii., p. 225.

t Idem, ii., p. 225.

§ Idem, ii., p. 41.

jj This last step was »lw»ys attended with the extrication of a little sulphur.

CALCAREOUS MANUHES- APPENDIX.

223

the phosphate of lime. Two hundred grains of the triturated earth were suffered to stand
(with occasional agitation) in contact with a dilute hydrochloric acid for three hours.
The whole was then transferred lo a filler, and the earth well washed thtjcon, with
abundance of tepid water. The clear fluid and washings thus obtained \veMWipcr-53lu-
rated with UQmonia, and the precipitate sub >Iution

for the removal of the silica and the alumina. The per-oxide ol . pli ate of

lime dow remaining, after being well washed, were treated with a cold, dilute acetic
acid, whereby the phosphate alone was taken into solotion. It was then precipitated by
ammonia, dried, ignited and weighed. Having found reason to I
tion of finely divided phosphate of lime was pretty uniform in 11 .'linens

of the green-sand, I was only at the pains to determine its exact proportion in speci-
men No. I.* Having ascertained how much peroxide of iron each sample contained,
this amount was deducted from that yielded by the treatment ol the same specimen with
nitro-hydrochloric acid, (aided by gentle heat.) whereby the siilphuret of iron -.
composed. Thus the ezacl quantity of iron which was engaged by the sulphur (and
consequently the amount of bi-sulphuret of iron) was asceil

The carbonate of lime was determined in the usual way, viz., by treating the first obtained
solution in hydrochloric acid with ammonia, whereby the silica, alumina, peroxide of
iron, and phosphate of lime were thrown down, leaving the lime and magnesia alone in
a state of suspension. The former was precipitated by oxalate of ammonia, and subse-
quently the latter by phosphoric acid.

The sulphate of lime was ascertained by boiling a determinate quantity of Ihe green-
sand in water until the whole of4his salt present was taken into solution The clear
solution was treated with chloride of barium, and the sulphate of baryta ignited and
weighed. The sulphuric acid present in the earth was thus arrived at, and, by subse-
quent calculation, the sulphate of lime originally present was ascertained.

Sulphate of alumina (but no sulphate of iron) was found to exist, in traces, by the
precipitation of alumina, occasioned on the treatment of the water boiled on the earth
with ammonia. But in each case it was too inconsiderable for the determination ol its
proportion. Chloride of calcium (muriate of lime) was ascertained by treating the
same fluid with nitrate ol silver. Its proportion did not excetd that in which it exists
also in common soils.

Results obtained on specimen* of green saml earth from Coggint Point, James river.

"No. I. From 8 inches within the exposed side of a ravine, where a stream flowed
by, and 16 feet from the top of the green earth. "t [Middle part of stratum D,
see page 218]

Hygrometric moisture, (lost at 300°) - - 6.50
By heating to low redness, it lost in addition 2.03

Phosphate of lime 0.25

Carbonate of magnesia, in decided traces.
Sulphate of alumina, in traces.

"No. 3. Same a9 number 1, except from a deeper excavation.

Hygrometric moisture (lost at 300°) - - 4.600
By neating to low redness it lost in addition - 2.300
Carbonate of lime - - - - - 1

Bi-sulphuret of iron 3.06(5

Carbonate of magnesia and sulphate of alumina in traces.

Phosphate of lime, about as in number 1.

Sulphate of lime 0.618

" No. 6. Three feet below the river beach, [from pit, lower part of D, half a mile
distant from preceding.]"

Hygrometric moisture 5.400

By heating to low redness, it lost in addition - 2.060

Carbonate of lime 0.685

Bi-sulphuret of iron 3.060

Sulphate of lime 0.661

Carbonate of magnesia and sulphate of alumina in traces.
Phosphate of lime as in number 1.

• I will here observe that, by the process now described, it was ascertained that bad
the whole of the precipitate by ammonia from the hydrochloric acid solution been taken
for phosphate of lime, it would have involved the error of an over estimate of the phos-
phate by nearly 800 per cent.

t This specimen was not thoroughly analyzed, and therefore the contents are reported
but in part. The next (No. 3) was deemed the most important, and a more correct speci-
men of this layer, (D,) and therefore to it the examination of Prof. Shepard was especially

0-) 1 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

"No. 9. See loregoing, page 21? Having sulpliuret of iron in powder, or minufe
crystals ;" (taken from 14 feel below the beach, in E.~\

Carbonate of lime ..... 2.350

Bisulphuret of iron - 5.821

•Sulphate of lime 2.309

(Carbonate of magnesia not found.)
10. Several thin layers of compressed shells. 1 to 3 inches thick," [contained in
-.tratuio £.]

Carbonate of lime ..... 56.00
Phosphate of lime 0.S4

No. 2. [£>] from 4 feet lower than number I, was examined with results similar to
1 and 3.

No. 4. [D~\ from 4 feet below beach, and half a mile from number 1, was found to be
rich in sulphate of lime and to contain bisulphuret of iron.

No. 5. [Z>] "From another spot, and has bren exposed to the weather from last winter
to June on the field where applied as manure " Is richer than No. 2 or 4 in sulphate
of lime, but inferior to either in bisulphuret of iron. It likewise affords more sulphate
of alumina than any sample examined.

•- _\o. 11. The clay at 16 to IS feet deep ;" [supposed when selected to be the poorest
part of stratum £.]

Carbonate of lime - - 1.45

It is rich in sulphate of lime, and has traces of sulphate of alumina, and bisulphuret
of iron.

It is to be kept in mind that in these analyses no account is taken of such sized crys-
tals of sulphate of lime as readily meet the eye, or of large fragments of shells, the
occasional presence of both which must often essentially enhance the gypseous and cal-
careous contents of these samples. The proportions in which ihey may occur at different
depths and localities can readily be detei mined', however, by the practical agriculturist.
The same may be said of the phosphatic ingredient so far as the teeth and bones of fishes
are concerned.

If we assume the average proportion of bisulphuret of iron in these earths to be 2
per cent., and suppose the whole of the sulphate to become oxidized, it would give rise
to 2.722 per cent, of sulphuric acid : to saturate which would require 1.905 of lime, and
thereby produce 4.627 per cent, of (anhydrous) sulphate of lime. But 2.722 of lime
would demand 3.3S3 per cent, of carbonate of lime in the soil. Now in the three ana-
lyses (Nos. 3, 6 and 9) made, the bisulphuret of iron, by average, equals 3.649 percent.,
and the carbonate of lime in the same equals but 1.47S per cent. — a quantity too small
for the saturation of the acid, even after a liberal allowance is made for the increase of
calcareous matter from the occasional presence of large fragments of shells.

It would therefore appear to b- an obvious deduction from these inquiries, that dress-
ings of lime, and especially of calcareous bands, like No. 10, should be employed in con-
junction with the green-sand soil.

Having now replied in the best way I am able to your various inquiries, I leave it for
you to make such other practical inferences from the information afforded as in your
more experienced judgment it may seem to authorize— and remain, very respectfully,
your obedient servant, Chabi.es Upham Shepabd.

Edmund Ruffix, Esq , Petersburg, Va.

The specimens numbered above 1,2,3, were from one locality, and of
earth which was used as manure for clover of this year, with effect as
great as any ever known on marled land ; and with no certain benefit
on an adjoining space, (also in clover,) of the same soil naturally, but
not marled. Numbers 4, 5, and 6, were from the pit dug in the beach,
half a mile distant, apparently similar to each other, and to the preceding
specimens. All these are of the dark stratum (D) richest in green-sand,
(except the lowest, E,~) and all before rated by me as containing 50 per
cent, of the pure granules. Professor Rogers stated the same to contain
60 to 70 per cent. (See F. Register, vol. ii., p. T50, and 2d edition of 'Es-
say on Calcareous Manures,' p. 1 16.) Even if leaving the green-sand out of
consideration, and out of the estimate of value, there would still remain
enough of active manuring principles to produce a large share of all the
beneficial effects which I have found from the use of this earth ; and I have

requested, and was so directed. It is therefore that the contents of bi-sulphuretof iron, car
bonate of lime, and sulphate of lime are not stated of No. 1, as in No 3 — E. R.

CALCARBOU8 MANURES -APPENDIX 225

heard of but Tew other applications in Virginia, other than those made on
ins Point farm, and ol none with different or brttrr a rtain effects. With
the help of surplus carbonate of lime in the soil, (furnished by n attire or by
previous marling or liming,) inn bushels of this earth, averaging in
strength the ingredients of these specimens analyzed by Professor Shepard,
would furnish nearly 5 bushels of pure sulphate of lime (gypsum); and 40
bushels tor the- acre would furnish 2'tushel Not one

of these specimens contained any gypsum 'eye; and. but one

specimen (number 9) contained any visible sulpburet of iron; and therefore
these ingredients may be feirly supposed to be at least as abundant |n the
earth Jug in any considerable operation. What the green-sand or any
other ingredients may do in addition, I pretend not to estimate. Bui so
far as I have learned from my own experience and all known experience
of other persons, the whole operation of this earth, when used alone, is
precisely of such kind as I would anticipate from gypsum, though yielding
more of benefit in measure and value. Nor should I therefore be under-
stood as placing a low estimate on the value of the effects produced. Since
seeing the effects this year, and especially since having formed the opinion
that the upper and exposed parts (most generally used formerly) are com-
paratively worthless and should be avoided, I count on much benefit being
derived from this manure, and am desirous that it shall be largely used ;
as my son and partner, and the sole director of our farming, proposes to
do for the next year's growth of clover. Still, I am now as far as ever from
believing in or expecting such great and regular benefit as would be in-
ferred to be certain from views and statements which rest upon other au-
thority.

It may not be useless to note another pointMf recent resemblance be-
tween these two manures, both of which seem so capricious and uncertain
in operation in general. This year (1842) the applications of the green
earth on the f'oggins Point farm, whether made in the beginning of the winter
preceding, in March, of in the beginning of summer, havaacted more quick-
ly anil powerfully than any known before. This I had ascribed to the earth
beiqg mostly obtained from deeper excavations. But I have lately heard,
from Messrs. Hill Carter and John A. Selden, both extensive and experi-
enced and successful users of gypsum, that they have never before known
the good effects of that manure to be so remarkable as in all their applica-
tions of this year.

(J.) EOCENE GREEN-SAND MARL.

Except in the lower stratum exposed in the pit recently dug at Ever-
green, this peculiar valuable kind of marl has not yet been known in
Virginia elsewhere than on and near .the borders of the Panmn key river;
though there can be but little doubt that this or other eocene deposites are
to be found elsewhere than within the limits here stated of the now known
localities. It is more than probable that other rivers cnt through and ex-
pose some of the eocene as well as miocene deposites; and that deep
diggings would reach them also in the intervening high lands. The
Pamunkey eocene marl is seen first, or most eastward, at Libert}' Hall,
(Mr. Waring's farm,) in King William county ; and it is found on nearly
every farm above, to South Wales, in Hanover, the farm of Mr. William
F. Wickham, just below the junction of the .North Anna and South Anna
rivers, and on the farm of Mr. Williams Carter, acrossjhe Pamunkey, in
Caroline county. This distance in a straight line is about 28 miles; and
the very winding course of the Pamunkey serves to make the exposure

226 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

of the bed of marl show an average width of three or more miles.
Throughout this area, it is found in great abundance at numerous points —
though of great variety of appearance and of value at different elevations,
and in very different degrees of accessibleness, or ease of working.

This marl every where has its calcareous portion (which is usually small
in comparison to good miocene marls,) intermixed with a large proportion
of green-sand, 'i he calcareous earth varies from 10 to 40 per cent, at
different diggings, or different layers at the same locality; and the green-
sand perhaps from 20 to 40 per cent, as estimated by the eye.* In some
places, the one ingredient predominates in quantity, and elsewhere the other.
No one specimen has been found rich in both of these ingredients. So far
as known, the remainder of the whole mass, (as in miocene marls,) is of
silicious sand and clay.

Below this green-sand marl lies a bed of brownish green earth, slightly
sprinkled with small eocene shells and their fragments, but which, or all the
calcareous matter present, would very rarely amount to 5 per cent., and
sometimes not 2 per cent. To this lower stratum is also applied the term
marl by the proprietors, as is done in New Jersey. But this term should
not be given where the calcareous earth is so small in amount as 5 per
cent. Though it may be impossible to draw a precise line of demarkation,
either on the banks, or to distinguish them by definition in words, still these
two earths ought to be known by different terms. By green-sand earth or
green earth, will be here understood the lower stratum, or any other having
green-sand in considerable quantity, and not more than 5 per cent, of cal-
careous earth, if any. And I would not consider any as green-sand marl,
that did not have as much as 10 per cent, of carbonate of lime— leaving as
doubtful and debatable, suj^i as had more than 5 and less than 10 per cent.

The Pamunkey river is very narrow and yet deep, and its high banks,
or cliffs, formed generally of green-sand marl and green-sand earth, are
nearly perpendicular. The remarkable power which green-sand has of
resisting the washing of water, is doubtless the cause of the narrowness
of this river, and of the forces of its strong ordinary tides and violent current
in freshes having operated to deepen the channel, instead of wearing away
the banks. Slides of the banks, or land-slips, are frequent ; large masses
of the upper stratum of soil breaking loose, and, with the growth of large
trees, slip down the steep bank into the river, scraping clean the exposed
parts of the. strata in the descent. In this way, sections of the bank 40 feet
or more in height are exposed more completely to view than would be
done by the progress of any diggings for marl, however rapid or extensive.

The general appearance of any one of such sections, taken at one of
the several exposures from one to five miles below Newcastle ferry, is as
follows: At top, below the soil and ordinary sub-soil, (or diluvial earth,) of
say 10 to 20 feet, there is generally,. though not always, a stratum of some
4 or 5 feet of olive colored earth, so called, and which term is descriptive
of the appearance. This earth is of a greenish brown color, contains
small sharks' teeth and fishes' bones, but no shells. Its appearance so nearly
resembles the marl below, that it has been sometimes dug and used instead,
either from the ignorance of the conductor or the carelessness of the la-
borers. It is entirely worthless as manure, as has been proved by careful
experiments. A well dug (to obtain water) at Piping Tree ferry, pene-
trated very deep into this olive earth without reaching marl. The earth
thus removed was used as manure, without any benefit being produced.

* Tliese and all others named supposed proportions of green-sand wore written before
receiving Professor Shepanl's report. Hi? analyses make it seem probable that all my
guesses of such proportions were too high.

if

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 227

Mr. Conrade Webb informed me that on his estate in New Kent lie had
made very careful comparative trials of applications of this olive earth,
on land with and without man: to like pieces without the olive

earth ; and in neither case did its application show any effect.

under this olive earth, is green-sand marl; sometimes the upper
part has livers full of the saddle Oyster shells, in place, which also occur
scattered throughout all this marl. Sometimes, as above Newcastle terry,
there are Inl ird lumps much richer in calcareous matter than

the surrounding body. The matrix in which these accidental bodies are
imbedded, or the whole body when they are absent, is a dark gray marl,
of nearly homogeneous texture, containing green-sand in large proportion,
and very few shells or fragments. This sometimes continues down to the
green-sand earth. But at and a little above the ferry, (on Mr. Carter Brax-
ton's farm,) there occurs between them a stratum of larger shells, mostly
the cardita planicosta, as close together as they can lie, well preserved in
form, though very rotten, as all the white shells are. The shells of
this layer are often stained superficially of a deep and vivid green, by the
green-sand. This layer of shells lies on the brownish green earth before
mentioned, having very little calcareous matter, and of which the depth is
unknown, as its bottom has never been reached in any of the diggings. This
layer of whole shells was not seen elsewhere.

Such is the succession of strata at the fine bank of Mr. Carter Braxton,
Hanover, a little above Newcastle ferry ; and specimens of the several
kinds, analyzed carefully, afforded the following results of calcareous matter.
The proportions of green-sand were merely guessed at by the eye, but
by careful examination, and with the aid of a magnifying glass.
Upper stratum furnishing the greater proportion of all used for manure:
1 00 grains contained of carbonate of lime - - - - 37 grains.

100 grains of lower stratum only 2

Another specimen of upper stratum, carbonate of lime - - 10

and green-sand moderately coarse (supposed,) - - - 40
At the ferry :
100 grains of upper stratum, carbonate of lime, - - - 15

and (supposed) of green-sand 35

Lower stratum of same, carbonate of Jime . - - - 6
Masses of stony hardness, interspersed in same, contained of

carbonate of lime 67

and green-sand 3

At Mr. J. \V. Tomlin's land, Hanover, about a mile below the ferry, the
visible section of marl and green-sand earth together is 32 feet high, above
low tide mark, and tbe green-sand earth making only 7 or 8 feet of the
lowest part. All is eocene — as I found saddle oyster shells at the top of the
light colored upper layer, next to the diluvial sandy sub-soil.* Specimens
taken from different heights on this bank yielded the following proportions
of carbonate of lime :
From 7 feet above low tide, 1 00 grains contained of carbonate

of lime 35

At 14 feet 31

At 29 feet '- - 15

Upper light-colored stratum — (not including in the specimen

any of its few large saddle oyster shells) 6

Thin stratum of hard shelly marl, low in the section - - 45

• This light colored upper layer is stated by the state geologist, in big report, to be
mioceoe. See first report, of 1835, and same copied at p. 670, vol. hi., Farmers' Re-
gister.

ggg CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

' The green-sand stratum (brownish color) of 7 or S feet above the water
was not analyzed ; but. as at all other places on this river, was evidently
very poor in calcareous matter.

On the land of Mr. George W. Bassett, Hanover, about 5 miles below
Newcastle ferry, the marl appears rich and of more homogeneous texture
and uniform appearance than generally elsewhere. Yet it is variable, and
on the average is poor in calcareous matter. However, this marl, which
has been largely used by Dr. Corbin Braxton, water-borne to Chericoke,
8 miles below, has been wonderfully efficacious. Still it has not been used
at all, or considered worth being applied, by its proprietor. Specimens
analyzed at different times showed the following proportions of calcareous
matter :

Stratum a few feet above the level of river, 100 grains contain-
ed of carbonate of lime, - - - - - 10 grains.

And green-sand (supposed,) 35

Another (furnished and analyzed in 1S40) carbonate of lime, 1 1

And green-sand, 27

Another, from different part of same bank, carbonate of lime, 45.50

This body was examined personally by the state geologist, and his esti-
mate of its contents of carbonate of lime and of green-sand was 34 per
cent, of each.

C'ver this marl is a regular stratum, perhaps 5 feet thick, of the olive
earth. The marl descends to the level of the river, and therefore the green-
s'- r.d earth below is not here visible.

iu the river bank of Northbury, in New Kent, one of the farms of Mr.
Conrade Webb, the green-sand marl presents the usual appearance, and
is overlaid by the olive colored earth. To my eye this marl was rather
poor in the calcareous ingredient, and, as Mr. Webb supposed, in use was
often adulterated by the carelessness of overseers and laborers, by admix-
tures of the worthless olive earth. Still, the application as manure has
had very good effect. A large quantity of this particular body has been
dug and used; but it has since been abandoned, because of the greater
value of and more convenient access to other more recently discovered
beds, which will presently be noticed. At Northbury, as Professor Rogers
supposed and reported in 1S35, "the precise point was determined at
which the eocene first makes its appearance above the water line" of the
Pamunkey. But it has been since found at Mr. Waring's farm, about 4
miles lower, as well as at AVaterloo, another part of Mr. Webb's estate.
about two miles lower than the first diggings at Northbury.

By using the borer in low places, but where no sign of marl was visible
on the surface, Mr. Webb has since discovered the eocene marl which will
be next described, at various points in a line stretching through the middle
of his large estate, and furnishing a convenient supply to each of the three
farms. At several distant points, large pits have been dug, which are sunk
from 16 to 20 feet deep in the solid marl, without reaching bottom or show-
ing any change of the lower of the two kinds of marl. The pits are work-
ed quite dry; but no marl having been dug for some time before my visit
(May 1842) the pits were then all full of water to the brim, and there was
but little opportunity to examine the marl, except at the upper edges, and
in the heaps still remaining unspread over a part of one of the fields.
However, Mr. Webb had before selected and kept for me, at my request,
fail- specimens in two large lumps of marl from one of the largest and
deepest pits, from which my analyses were made. The one, a specimen of
the upper 8 or 10 feet of depth, is full of large fragments of shells, gene-
rally Very soft and much decayed, and with very few whole shells, except

CALCABEOI S MANURES-APPENDIX.- Dog

those of the oyster kind. Below this stratum, the marl ;as shown by the
sample) has no shells or considerable fragments, is'oi dark pray color and
homogeneous texture, like coarse sand united in a mass by barely enough
of clay to serve for that purpose. This apparent texture belongs ^most
of the Pamunkey marls, and is caused by the shelly matter being so pul-
verized as to be in facta coarse calcareous sand. The specimen of this
lower stratum, of which 8 or Id fret depth had been Exposed, contained in
100 grains, 35.50 of carbonate of lime; and the upper (shelly stratum) 35.
The green-sand in both kinds appeared to be in less proportion than in the
marl of the river bank at Northbury, and elsewhere along the river
generally. Probably there was not more than 20 per cent, at mo^t. The
upper stratum, and larger part as used, of this marl, through a line of
several miles in length, is very different in appearance from all the other
marls seen on the river. And it must also be different in geological age or
manner of original deposition, as the shells show much difference. Very
few of the cardita planicosta were found in the heaps of marl, (which al-
ways offer the best exhibition of shells for collection,) and those of very
small size, and no saddle oysters. On the other hand, several shells were
found, not observed by me at any other place ; and one of them, an oyster
shell of large size, of remarkable and peculiar form, and in excellent pre-
servation, is very abundant. Though various in form, as are all the ostreas,
this, or the more convex of its two valves, has a general peculiarity in a
large and sharp hump on the back, and sometimes two such humps. Ano-
ther ostrea, of which the shell is very thin and very convex, and the out-
line of the valves nearly circular, is here abundant, and as large as two
inches across. No specimen of the same had ever been seen by me, ex-
cept perhaps a few at Newcastle of size so small that the identity was
doubtful. The striking differences of kind and of proportions of the shells
at Mr. Webb's more recent diggings would be highly interesting to any
person possessing that knowledge of geology, and its auxiliary science, fossil
conchology, to which I have no claim, and make no pretension. I have
done, however, all in my power, to increase the facilities of future com-
petent investigators, by collecting and preserving specimens for their
examination. My cabinet eontaftW not only some of all the shells that I
have found, or have been able to obtain from the several kinds of marl, but
also specimens of ail the marls of peculiar and marked character, with their
localities accurately distinguished. And the time and the labor which
I have given to making the collection, with opportunities possessed by but
few other individuals, may thus serve greatly to advance the pursuits of
scientific and truly competent investigators.

In the river bank of Mr. Carter Braxton's farm, immediately above the
Newcastle ferry, there commences a rapid decrease of the thickness of the
calcareous or marl stratum proper, which is substituted by an equal in-
crease or rising of the under-lying green-sand earth. A little above the
ferry, the marl is at least 10 feet thick ; at less than a mile above, the thick-
ness of the marl is only 5 feet ; and at the next large exposure, on the
adjacent farm of Mr. B. Tomlin, the marl is not more than 2 or 3 feet
thick, over-lying green-sand earth marked with a few scattered and small
shells, rising to nearly the full usual height of the marl, say 25 feet or more
visible above the water. This was as far in regular connexion along the
river as I personally examined ; but I learned that still higher, the calca-
reous stratum almost ceases, the lower stratum of green-sand earth occupy-
ing nearly the whole visible section. The lower stratum of the body at
Spring Garden, Hanover, (Mr. William II. Uoane's farm,) next above, is
stated in Professor Rogers' Report as containing, in 100 parts —
29

230 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

< 'arbonate of lime - - - - - - -*

Green-sand 46

Gypsum •-• °

Silica and alumina - - - 50

100
The next important locality of marl, and perhaps the most interesting,
is South Wales, Hanover, the farm of Mr. William F. Wickham, and which
is the highest point of its known existence. Here, as at the western ter-
minationof the green-sand in Petersburg, the bottom is seen, the under-ly-
ing stratum being gravelly sand mixed with rounded pebbles. This marl,
asseen in several places where very large excavations had been made to
marl both the South Wales and North Wales farms, differs altogether in
appearance, and greatly in constitution, from all the kinds below. The
bed is about 10 feet thick, is generally of uniform dark (nearly black) color,
except for being intermixed throughout with large fragments of white
shells. At one place, the upper stratum of the marl is yellow or pale
reddish instead of black, but similar in the appearance of shells. Speci-
mens of these marls carefully selected on the places in 1840, and analyzed,
gave the following results:

From South Wales, (William F. Wickham's land,) Hanover county,
100 grains of upper stratum, yellowish, consisted of

Carbonate of lime - - 36

Silicious sand and green-sand together 47 — of which green-sand

appeared to be one-tenth or ■ 4.70

and silicious (or quartz) sand 42.30

Yellow clay and loss 17

100 grains blackish marl, lying below the last —

Carbonate of lime 44

Green-sand 8

100 grains similar to the last, from a different digging —

Carbonate of lime 32.50

Green-sand 22

From North Wales, Caroline county, Williams Carter's land,
100 grains of like blackish marl contained —

Carbonate of lime 37

Green-sand 24

These specimens, which were supposed to present a fair average of the
whole body, show an unusually large proportion of carbonate of lime for
the Pamunkey eocene beds, and a less proportion of green-sand. To the
happy combination of the two manures, I cannot but ascribe the remark-
able success of Mr. Wickham in fertilizing his land. Still, he deems the
green-sand ingredient of so little worth, compared to the calcareous, that he
he would prefer that his marl should have had none of the former substance,
provided an equal quantity of calcareous matter could be substituted.

In a former publication, I have presented at length both the facts and
my opinions of the peculiar operation of the green-sand marls of the Pamun-
key.* It is therefore enough to say here, that the operation of this compound
manure is greater than of any quantity of either one of the two enriching
materials of which it is composed. In smaller quantity than is usually applied
of calcareous marl, it produced equal or greater effect, and was more espe-
cially beneficial to clover. The heaviest quantities also applied (as in the
practice of Mr. Wickham,) caused no los9; though the like large quantities

♦ See more full statements at pp. 670 to 691, vol. viii. Farmers' Register.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX 93]

of merely calcareous marl would have been certainly eithei « isteful of the
manure, or injurious to the land.

Many specimens of these Pamunkey marls and of the lower-lying green -
sand earth were subjected to a partial red heat, for the purpose ol showing
whether suffocating sulphureous fumes were disengaged, as was stated
above fp ige 3 1 5 ) to be the case with some of the James rivei gi een-sand
earth. The lower stratum (very slightly calcareous) of the Pamunkey
mails, from Newcastle ferry, and at J. W. Tomlii ul such

fumes, but not so powerfully as the dark gypseous earth of 1 logging Point.
The next higher calcareous and green-sand stratum of J. W. Tomlln's, and .
the same kind at Piping Tree ferry, and the blackish marl at South Wales,
all yielded these strong fumes, but in a still le.-- Sundry other

specimens of calcareous green-sand marl which were thus treated, yielded
no fumes. The latter results were found in specimens from the several
diggings at .Newcastle, (both sides of the river.) and at G. W. Bassett's
bank. It may not be useless to repeal here, and thus to place in connexion
with these results, that all the dark green or blackish earth (/)) of Ooggins
Point gave out these suffocating fumes, and also the fray clay (/?) below,
and most powerfully — and that no such product was found from any of the
very shelly bands. Thus it would seem that most generally the non-calcareous
earths (or nearly non-calcareous") gave out fumes, and the calcareous not.
But exceptions were found to both. And of the A'ew Jersey green-sands,
containing no carbonate of lime, six specimens were tried at red heat, of
earths most esteemed for manure, and not the slightest disengagement of
such fumes was produced.*

Of green-sand as an ingredient of miocene marls.

In a previous page, (199,) the presence of green-sand in miocene marls,
as an important and general ingredient, was denied ; and the subject then
passed by, with the promise of its being subsequently resumed. Having
treated of the gypseous earth and of eocene green-sand marls, of both of
which green-sand forms large and important proportions, it is now most
appropriate to inquire into the alleged extent and operation of this sub-
stance in miocene marls.

In 1834, Professor William B. Rogers (then a resident of lower Virgi-
nia) announced that he had discovered green-sand to be a considerable
ingredient of nearly all the many ordinary miocene marls which he had
examined either in place or by specimens; and from which observations he
inferred the same admixture to be general as to other miocene marls ; and
that the proportions of green-sand so contained were large enough to form
useful additions to, and in some cases the most valuable portion of the ma-
nuring ingredients of such marls, (Farmer's Register, vol. ii., p. 129.) At
a later time, he added to like general opinions and statements the following ;
" In some of these deposites [marl beds in the vicinity of Williamsburg,] so
large a proportion as thirty and in some specimens forty per cent, [of pure
green-sand] has been found ; and in cases like this, if we are to trust to
the experience of New Jersey, a very marked addition to the fertilizing
power of marl must be ascribed to the presence of this ingredient." (Farm-
er's Register, vol. ii., p. 717.) In a subsequent communication to the Phi-

' The New Jersey " marls" lhu> ; ril r from (he pits of

Josiah Heritage and Thomas Bee of Gloucester, and II my alien, Allen Wallace. J,
Riley, and J. Cauley, Salem county Thesaine results were found as tothe poorer (0
valued) overlying strata ol Heritage, R, Dickenson, I CaoJey, and also of the barren
green clay or subsoil. See all described in my report 01 --y green-sand earths,

Farmers' Register, vol. x. p. 12'i

232 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

losophical Society of Philadelphia in 1835, and again in the first report
of the geological survey of Virginia, the material parts of the above state-
ments are re-asserted, in substance, and nearly in the same words. These
statements and opinions were received, when announced, as undoubted,
and they have not since been questioned in any publication ; nor have they
since been either confirmed by any additional proof or testimony, nor have
they in direct terms been modified or retracted by their author. Yet the
correctness or incorrectness of the assertion of such abundance and general
diffusion of green-sand in the miocene marls of Virginia is a matter of great
interest — and, in its bearing on the application of marl and the rationale of
its operation, of great importance to agricultural improvement. It is certain
that to this day, many proprietors consider that their marls are peculiarly va-
luable because of the supposed large proportions of green-sand therein —
such opinions being founded either on the publications, or, with still more
confidence, upon the personal examinations and verbally expressed opinions
of the state' geologist.

My own personal examinations of marls in place, and analyses of speci-
mens of other beds, have been very extensive ; and my attention has been
given especially in regard to this point to sundry specimens, including
several of the particular bodies of marl which it is understood that Pro-
fessor Rogers had pronounced to be very rich in green-sand— containing,
say, 20 to 30 per cent, of the black granules so called. I have found
some green-sand (but generally in very small proportion,) in nearly all the
specimens examined particularly for this substance ; and believe that Pro-
fessor Rogers was correct so far as inferring that it is a very frequent
ingredient. And for the first observation of this curious and interesting
fact he is justly entitled to the entire credit. To such extent as green-sand
is present, and according to the manner of the operation of that earth,
(whatever that may be,) the green-sand in the miocene marls must be
effective and useful. But whether such effect be of any distinguishable
and appreciable value, or not, depends on the quantity and proportion of
green-sand in the marl ; and, so far as all my experience and observation
enable me to judge, I cannot but believe that the above stated estimates
of quantities and proportions of green-sand are greatly exaggerated,
and extremely incorrect and delusive. I do not mean to assert, and can-
not be expected" to prove, the negative of the assertion of such abundance
of green- sand. But, from all my means for arriving at conclusions, it is
my confident belief that but few of the bodies of miocene marls in Vir-
ginia contain as much as 2 per cent, of green-sand — if even as much
as 1 per cent. ; and that an average proportion, throughout any con-
siderable digging for manure, of as much as 5 per cent, of green-
sand is extremely rare. The largest proportion (estimated by the
eye) that I ever found was supposed to be 5 per cent. ; and that was in a
very peculiar marl, found at Coggins Point farm and elsewhere in that
neighborhood, or rather a ldose calcareous sand, which forms the over-lying
layer of compact blue marl. This sand contains only about 20 per cent,
of finely divided shelly matter, and the whole mass would appear, to slight ob-
servation, similar to and as poor and as loose as the deep sands of the roads
through a sandy country. But few persons would have used this sand for
manure — or would have dignified it by the name of marl. However, the
ease with which it could be worked, and the necessity for removing it to
uncover the better marl below, induced me to carry out and apply it as a
second dressing to an adjacent part of a field which had been just before
marled. The effects were so marked, and so superior to the single marling,
that I was ready to believe that the green-sand caused the difference.
The loose calcareous sand mentioned at page 201, which one of my neigh-

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX. 233

bors supposed (from its good effects) to be rich in calcareous earth, is pre-
cisely like mine in general appearance, and in position in the bed; and
appears to have a like unusually large proportion of green-sand, which no
doubt served to produce part ol the benefit which was ascribed wholly to the
carbonate of lime. This peculiar deposite furnishes the only cases known to
me of a miocene marl being rich enough in green-sand for the benefit from
the latter to be known. And even this benefit would not have been distin-
guished or suspected, but that the poverty of the earth in calcareous matter
required it to be applied very heavily. The much thicker body of compact
marl, lying under this poor calcareous sand, contains (by supposition) not
so much as 2 per cent, of green-sand.

But it is true, that when attention was not particularly directed to green-
sand, proportions not exceeding 5 or G per cent, might have escaped the notice
of one who had handled and examined the specimens of marl, or who even
analyzed them, merely with a view to their proportions of calcareous matter.
But proportions so large as 40, 30, or even 20 per cent, of green-sand could
not thus escape even careless and superficial observation; for even the
smallest of these proportions would give a very manifest greenish or gray
tint to any otherwise light-colored marl. Knowing the great uncertainty
of the g-ue.tsimrs at proportions of green-sand naturally intermixed with marl
or other earth, I did not rely on them except as to the absence of any very
large proportion. For more accurate testing, the clayey parts were washed
off in water; in others the calcareous parts were also removed by weak
acid. And for still better means of judging by comparison, 1 mixed toge-
ther, in different known proportions, measured quantities of light-colored
marl (such as arc all those about Williamsburg,) and pure green-sand pre-
pared by washing some obtained from the richest beds in New Jersey. And
of such artificial compounds, examined by the eye both when dry and in
powder, and wet, and also alter being again dried in mass, the admixture of
green-sand, even when as small as 10 per cent., was obviously more abun-
dant than in the miocene marls reputed to be among the richest in green-
sand. Under these circumstances, without denying the possible existence
of such cases, it is proper to wait for and to require further proof of such
large proportions as 20 to 40 per cent.

But there is much better support for my position, of the general scarcity
of green-sand in miocene marls, than any proofs, positive or negative, that
I can adduce, presented by Prof. Rogers himself in his ' Report of the pro-
gress of the Geological Survey' for 1837. He therein gives a tabular state-
ment of 148 specimens selected by his assistants, and their analyses made
under his own direction. It is to be presumed that so many specimens, and
thus obtained, must present a fair and correct average of general quality of
the marls of the region in which they were found ; or at least that their con-
tents would not be too little favorable to the geologist's preconceived opinions.
The specimens were from 18 counties, viz. : Lancaster, Westmoreland, Rich-
mond, Northumberland, King George, Mathews, Middlesex, Gloucester,
King and Queen, King William, Essex, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Elizabeth
City, Surry, Prince George, James City, and Warwick. Of these 148 speci-
mens, of one only (S. Downing's, Lancaster,) is the quantity or proportion
of green-sand stated with any approach to precision. This is said to contain
" 10 or 12 per cent, of green-sand," and only 17 per cent of carbonate of
lime. Of five others, the green-sand would seem to be in notable quantities,
but as no numbers or proportions are named, it may be inferred that the
proportions were deemed loss than the one just stated. These five are
described as follows, in regard to this ingredient : Callahan's, Lancaster,
"large grains of gfeen-sand in considerable quantity ;" Gloucester Town,
" richJy specked with green-sand ;" Saunders", Isle of Wight, (one only of

234

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

three strata,) "considerable green-sand." Stith's, Surry, '-quite richly
specked with green-sand." A. C. Jones', Surry, and at Kingsmill, James City,
"intermixed with green-sand." Now what proportions these descriptions
designate, it is not for me to determine ; but 3 or 4 per cent., at most, would
abundantly serve to meet all their requisitions. There are also 7 other of the
specimens named marked in less degrees by the presence of this ingredient,
and which are described in this respect in such phrases as these : containing
"a little green-sand"— " specked with green-sand"— " quite perceptibly
specked with green-sand" — "tinged with green-sand" — and "slightly inter-
mixed with green-sand." There remain of the list 135 other specimens,
of which 48 are stated to contain of " green-sand a trace" (by which term
chemists understand a proportion so small that its presence is barely cer-
tain,) and of the other 87 specimens no green-sand is mentioned, and
therefore it may be inferred that not even "a trace" could be found.

If this list of marls and statements of their fertilizing contents had been
presented by the author distinctly as a designed refutation of his previously
and repeatedly published opinions of the frequent abundance and general
presence in useful quantity of green-sand in miocene mails, nothing could
have been more to the purpose, or more conclusive.

Nevertheless, few and rare as may be the cases in which the value and
beneficial effects of marls are increased in any considerable degree by the
presence of green-sand, or of any other ingredient than carbonate of lime,
it is important that such auxiliary fertilizing matters should be searched
for, and their absence or presence known. The great value and uni-
form fertilizing effects of carbonate of lime will be the most highly appre-
ciated by those farmers who understand and estimate them separately
and alone; without confounding the operation of that manuring earth with
those of any other intermixed and unknown substances, no matter what
increase of benefit such intermixture may produce in particular cases.

KNOWN SHELLS OF THE MARLS OP LOWER VIRGINIA.*

Miocene.

Astarte undulata, Say. Crepidula aculeata, Lamarck.

" concentrica, Conrad. " fornicata "

" vicina, Say. Conns ?

Artemis acetabulum " Dentalium thallus, Con.

Area incile, Say. Dispota^a costata, Say.

" centenaria, Say. Fusus quadricostatus, Say.

'• limula, Con. " cenereus "

" idonea " " exilis, Con.

Ballanus ? Fissurella, ?

Buccinum porcinuin, Say. Fasciolaria mutabilis, Con.

" obsoletum " Gnathodon cuneatum, Gray.

" laqueatum " Isocardia rustica, Sowerby.

" altile, Con. Lucina divaricata, Lam.

Cardium laqueatum, Con. ' " contracta, Say.

" Virginianum " " anodonta, "

Chama congregata, Con. " cribaria, "

" corticosa, " •' squamosa, Lam

Corbula cuneata, " Lithodendron lineatus, Con.

" inequale, Say. Murex uinbrifrr, Con.

Crassatella undulata, Say. Mactra delumbis, "

Carditamera arata, Con. Marginella ?

Cardita granulata, Say. Natica lieros, Say.

Cytherea reposta, Con. " duplicata, Say.

* I am indebted to my friend M. Tuomey for this list of the known tertiary shells in
my collection. There are also sundry other species or varieties which are doubtful or
undetermined, and therefore are not here enumerated.

CALCARE0H8 MANURES— APPENDIX. 23-*)

Uslrea Viraioiaaa, t.'meJ. Pecten Clintoniim, Soy,

■■ subfalcata, Con. " eboreus, Con.

Oliva littemta, l.mn. Pectuoculus subovatus, Say.

Pandora arauideoa. " pulvioatue, Lam.

Panopea rtflexa, Peru maxillata,

Petncola eentenaria, I Pleurotoma 1

Plicalula marginata, Soy. Serptila ?

Pecten Jeflersoni ■ Teredo 1

■■ Hadiaonius Turritella,

" seplemnarius " Venus tridacnoides, Lam.

■• dacejoanarius, Con. " Rileyi, Con.

" Virginiann- " alveata. Con.

Eocene.

Cardila planicosta. Pecten Lyelli, tea.

Corbula Alabamienges, Lea, Paiiopa-a oblongata, Con.

C'rassatclla ? Rostellnria velala. "

1 1 -( i-.-.i -. Il.rt. .icnis. dm. Turritella Moroni.
" compressirostra, Con.

Erratum in Professor Shepanl'a loiter, p. 939,1 IB,f0I " noiritrn ." read misirac..

NOTE V.

HIE EARLIEST KNOWN SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS OF FOSSIL SHELLS AS MANURE.

The two old experiments described at page. 70, though the only applica-
tions of fossil shells known to me previous to the commencement of my use
of this manure, were not all that had been made, and, which being deem-
ed failures, had been abandoned and forgotten. Another, within a few
miles of my residence, was brought to light and notice afterwards, by an
old negro, who was perhaps the only person then living who had any
knowledge of the facts. After I had found enough success in using this
manure to attract to it some attention, Mr. Thomas ' !ooke of Aberdeen was
one of those who began, but still with doubt and hesitation, to use marl
to some considerable extent. One of his early applications was to his
garden. The old gardener opposed this, and told his master that he knew
" the stuff was good for nothing, because, when he was a boy, his old
master (Mr. Cocke's father) had used some at Bonaccord, and it had. never
done the least good." Being asked whether he could show the spot when'
this trial had been made, he answered that he could easily, as he drove the
cart which carried out the marl. The place was immediately sought.
It was on the moat elevated part of a very poor field, which had been clear-
ed and exhausted fully a century before. The marled space (a square of
about half an acre) though still poor, was at least twice as productive as
the surrounding land, though a slight manuring from the farm-yard had
been applied a few years before to the surrounding land, and omitted on
this spot, which was supposed, from its appearance, to have been the site
of some former dwelling house and yard, of which every trace had
disappeared except the permanent improvement of the soil usual from that
cause. A close examination showed some fragments of the hardest shells
remaining, so as to prove that the old man had not mistaken the spot.
This, like other early applications, had been made on ground too poor for
the marl to show but very slight early effect ; and as only one kind of opera-
tion of any manure was then thought of, (that which dung produces,) it is
not strange that both the master and servant should have agreed in the
opinion that the application was useless, and that all persons who knew of

236 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

the application remained under that opinion until almost all remembrance of
the experiment had been lost

Since the printing of the previous pages in which references were
made to the earliest application of marl in Virginia, I have obtained some
further information thereupon, which, however imperfect, may yet be
interesting. In a recent conversation (1842) with William Short, esq., now
of Philadelphia, the son of Major William Short who made the experiment,
he told me that he well recollected when his father's first and acciden-
tal discovery of marl was made on the Spring Garden farm in Surry,
(in digging a ditch across a wet swamp,) and his sanguine and con-
fident anticipations of deriving from its use great improvement and profit.
Mr. Short further stated that he was then so young, and always so litttle
acquainted with agriculture, that he did not know what were the precise
facts in regard to the failure of his father's experiment and hopes ; but he
well remembers that the result was deemed an entire failure, and that it
caused total disappointment.

Such a conclusion I had supposed before being so informed. I had also
inferred, and no doubt correctly, that the supposed failure and truly slight
benefit, and the mistaken deductions from the results, were such as have
been stated. I have since written to the present proprietor of the land,
Francis Ruffin, esq., to obtain the latest information concerning the results
of this application, now some sixty-five years old ; and the most recent
effects, as learned from him, will be here stated in connexion with the earlier,
which will be repeated.

It was before said (page 70) that this old marling (of about 10 acres)
was done on poor sandy land, kept (as was the then universal course of
tillage) under exhausting culture and close grazing for many years there-
after; that from 1812 the treatment had been lenient; and that in 1819,
the superiority of the marled part was visible, and that part of the outline
could be then distinctly traced. In 1834, Mr. F. Ruffin applied to this and
some acres of adjoining land, pine leaves at the rate of 75 one-horse cart loads
to the acre. The benefit from this vegetable cover was so much greater
on the marled part, that the superior growth of the next crop of corn and
of the succeeding crop of wheat, "marked out the limits of the old marling
very conspicuously." The whole was sown in clover in the spring while
under wheat ; that on the marled part lived and stood pretty well, while
nearly every plant of clover on the part not marled died in the course of the
year. In 1837, the whole field was marled, without excepting the old marl-
ed part ; and the whole was again littered with pine leaves. The crops of
corn and wheat since have shown less improvement from these applications
on the piece thus re-marled, than on the adjoining land then marled for the
first time. Indeed, the recent and additional increase of corn and wheat,
since re-marling has been very little. These results, early and late, are pre-
cisely such as might have been anticipated from the action of calcareous
manures, and the condition of this land and its management.

Another experiment of marling, made earlier than my first, by Mr. Rich-
ard Hill, in King William county, has been heard of since the publication of
the last edition, and of which the circumstances were given at length at
pages 22 and 27 of vol. ix. Farmers' Register, to which the reader is
referred. It is enough here to state, that the effects were beneficial at first ;
but so injurious (because of the excessive quantity) on several succeeding
crops, that this trial also was deemed a failure, and the marling a source of
loss; and there was no repetition of marling in that neighborhood until
about 1820, when other and better views began there to be first entertained.

There was also successful and continued use of this manure in Jame»

OaACAREO 237

city county, in Virginia, made earlier than mine; and still earlier by the
Rev. John Singleton, In onty, Maryland. It appears that the

early (though cbance-dl bination of putrescent manures witli

marl, in both these place the value of the latter, and per-

haps tu prevent it being there also abandoned as i ih the other

cases. Bui "ccess

an<l profit, the knowledge of these facts and the exsjnple extended very
slowly; and the then wanl of communication am
norant of these practices for years, except in the immediate vicinity of the
commencement of each. 1 have since endeavored to ascertain the i
the first applications in James City, and have been Informed that it ..
1816. Mr. Singleton's, in Maryland, were begun as early as ISU5. His
own account of his practice (which will be annexed, as an interestin.tr state-
ment of the earliest profitable use of this manure.) was first published in
IMS in the Ith volume of the Memoir-: of the Philadelphia Agricultural
Sociel - i The ii.it. . 31, 1817.

periment was made the following month, (Jan! I^ltf.) but more than a year
before I met with Mr. Singleton's publication, or had heard of any applica-
tion of fossil shells, except the two failures mentioned In page 70. But,
howevi ial may have been found the operation of mart in Talbot

and in .lames (ity.it is evident, from Mr. Singleton's letter, and from all
other sources of information, that the mode of operation ren ained ;<
ther unsuspected by those who used it ; and this was perhaps the prii
cause why the praol slow in spreading. It is now [ISo5] thirty

years since the first proofs were exl

yet, according to the report of the geological survey of the lower part of
Maryland, (submitted to tin' legist] itui ol Maryland at its recent session of
1834-5.) it appears, though the value of marl is well understood, and
much use of it made in Talbot, county, and part of Queen Ann's county,
yet that almost no use has been made of it on the other and much
more extensive parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland— and none what-
ever west of the < hesape. Ice in thai il is found in abundance.
Such at least are the inferences from Mr, Ducstel's report, though in part
drawn from indirect testimony, more than direct and particular assertions.

The slight, and almost contemptuous manner, in which mail Is i
by so well informed an agriculturist as Taylor, as late as 1814, -when his

/■ was published, (and which remained unaltered in his -'•'
1817,) proves that almost nothing was then known of the value of this
manure. All that seems to relate to our abundant deposites of fossil shells,
or to marl generally, in the two following passages:

•■ Without new accessions ofve etable n dress-

ings with lime, gypsum, and even marl, have been frequently found to ter-
minate in impoverishment Hence it is inferred, that minerals operate as
an excitement only to the manure furnished by the i From this

fact results the impossibility of removing an exhausted soil, by resorting to
fossils, which will expel the poor remnant of life; and indeed it is hardly
probable that divine wisdom ha-* lodged ;''■■ thi
neeeuary for its aurj ace." — AreU B

"Of lime and marl we have an abundance, but ex]
entitle me to say any thing Of either."

From the P-r. Joht

" Your first question it, • whether •vlmt 1 u* .nit- •'

•• Whether it be marl or not, I will not pretend to determine, as I have seen no Je-

30

238

CALCAREOUS MANU11ES— APPENDIX.

scription of marl that answers exactly to it ; but Mr. Tench Tilghinan informed me he
had seen a description 01 marl used in Scotland, exactly similar to what 1 use on the farm
OB which I reside, and which is the unproved land you mention. I have not seen the
account myself. However, this, and all mixtures of broken marine shells, ol which
there is a great variety, are now denominated marl, here. What I consider the best,
and which I most use, is composed of small parts of marine shells, chiefly scallop SQi II.
about one eighth of an inch square, or somewhat longer or smaller, with scarce any sand
orsoil wilh it : some of it seems to be petrified, . in lumps, like stone,

from four or five, to forty 01 6ft) pounds in weight, hard to break even with the edge of
an axe, and will remai nbled about with the plough, before it is euurely

broken to pieces, and mixed with the soil ; indeed you may observe it in some parts of
the bank, where ihe soil has been washed from it, appearing like rock stone ; but if
broken Snd pulverized a little, il very much with acids. " * •

" I have applied it to all the soils on my farm, some of which i? a cold white clay, and
wet; others a light loam, and sandy. I find it useful to each kind, and manure my land
all over with it, without distinction, and to advantage ; putting a smaller quantity upon the
looser soils. I have applied it as a top dressing on clover, and also where cloier has not
been sown, with a view to improving the grass, and also lo be satisfied whether it would
not be best for the ground, to let it he spread on the snrface, for a year belore the ground
was put into cultivation. But il has not answered my expectation. I could not perceive
any advantage from that mode of application. I now constantly apply it to the grouud
cultivated in corn ; carting it out in the winter and spring, and putting on from twenty to
forty cartloads per acre, according to the ground, and the previous quantity that had been
put on, in former cultivations, dividing each load into from four to eight small heaps, for
the greater ease in spreading, according to the size of the load. Some is put on before,
and some after the ground is broken up, but it is all worked into the soil by the cultiva-
tion of the coin, and it never fails of considerably improving the crop ol corn, as also the
ground wherever the marl is, especially In largest quantity. There is a small green moss,
and black moist appearance, on the surface of ihe ground, when not cultivated ; asyoii
perceive about old walls, and in strong ground. Though the preceding is the common
mode in which 1 use the marl, I do not think it the best ; 1 mix some in my larm yaid,
with the farm yard and stable manure ; and would prelei mixing and applj mg all that I
use thus mixed, but for the labor of double carl 1 1 cannot i I yet accomplish,

manuring; so largely as I do. I cultivate one hundred acres yearly, and constantly man-
ure the whole ol what I cultivate; employing only four carts, and lour hands with the
carts, which do all the manuring and carting on the farm.

•' Your next question is, 'what has been my rotation of crops, and mode of cultivating,
since I have used this manure :'

" Since I began to use the marl, and bend my attention to improvement by manure, I
have cultivated only corn and wheat, sowing my ground in clover, and using the plaster.
Instead of cultivating all my ground in corn, and sowing wheat on it as heretofore, I
divided my cultivation into two parts, of fifty acres each, putting one part into corn,
which I was able to accomplish manuring time enough for Ihe coin, and making a fallow
of the other part, manuring as much of it as I could accomplish belore the time for sow-
ing wheat; and disregarding, in a degree, all smallercrops, which I could not attend to,
as an object, without increasing my number of hands, and interfering with the main
business. I went on in this manner, till I found I could easily accomplish manuring one
hundred acres and upwards, per annum. Having got my ground to that stale that t tan
risk making a crop without manure, I am n aiding fallow, being able to

manure my whole hunched acies time em ugh for cropping in the spring, by beginning to
manure for the next year as soon as the spring manuring is finished. I shall in future
have no wheat in fallow, but sow it alter corn and other crops, from which I am satisfied
I can make more from my ground than by naked tallow, which f always considered un-
profitable, though you made more wheat, except for the advantage of having more time
to manure. •«•*•«

" In saving my corn crop, I cut it up without pulling it from the stalk as usual, and cart
it in all together, tiien husk it out, leaving the husk to the stalk : I lay these near my
feeding yard, and throw them into it twice a .1 1\ ; this gives us a large quantity of strong
healthy food for the catlle, which serves tbem : d keeps them in good condi-

tion without any other food ; makes a large quantity ol i xcellent manure, and a fine dry
feeding yard. As opportunity can he found, we cait marl, luller's earth, clay, and any
good soil that is convenient, into this yaid, which being mixed with the stalks, and
straw, or any thing else, penning the cattle on it through the winter and summer, instead
of penning on the field, in the common way. we have a large quantity of manure to go
out in the fall, and next winter ; it is put into the field, in the intermediate rows, be-
tween the rows of marl, as far as it will go, and they will get mixed in the cultivation.
We also convert the scouring of our ditches, the headlands of the fields, and all waste-
ground that we can, into manure, by carting litter, from the woods, yard manure, or

CALCAREOUS MANURES -APPENDIX. o;ji.

litter, 8tc., an- 1 mixing with them ; so Unit 1 can nearly, or quite, now, accom-
plish making fexm-yard and this kind ol manure, sufficient I whole hundred
r file two last yeai ,1 ■ ■■• than 1 could accom-
pli h or effect carrying out, tl n to twenty acres more than
my hoi r. with part marl and pari [arm-yard, hut not the whole with both,
us I hope to he able to ilu in liiture : but it will he necessary to inci ing force
ly see I can raise sufficient-manure to I
my corn-ground, fifty acres, with marl, ami my fallow with pari t inn yard
manure, anil part marl, as mentioned before ; so that \ ou «
made on my soil has not been effected by marl alone, but in conjui

manure, clover and plaster, ■-.. it a point to m ■ all' the

ground I put into cultivation ; so that every time I cultivated a field, thai Geld .■

SI, and not many degree impoverished by Ibe cultivation. B ind the

ivine assistance, 1 have effected that improvement of my farm, which is so very strik-
ing lo the observation ol acquainted with it. ...

" In August, 1805, i vn a bank on the side of a cove, for the purpose of

making; a causeway, 1 >, wbicb it struck improve

clay soil ; I took some of it immediately to the house, and putting it into a glass, with
vinegar, (bund it effervesced very much ; this determined me to try it as a manure ;
accordingly, in September, I carted out about eight} and put it on a piece of

ground, fallow, preparing for wheat, trying it in different proportions, at the rat? of from
twenty-Seven to about a hundred loads per acre, and the ground was sown in wheat. I
could not, myself, be satisfied that there was eu through the winl

spring, although General Lloyd,,who I with me in the spring, thought be

could perceive some difference in favor of the marl ; but at harvi wheat,

not more luxuriant ingrowth, 6r better bead; wasconsid on the

ground ; and after tl i . go put

was set with white clover, no ■ either side of il The next

year, 1S06, I discovered it in the drain into cove, which I immediately

ditched, and from the ditch put out seven hundred loads, on the fallow ground, fhe
eii'ei't. us to the wheal and cl< at the

: was not
ot the same kind as the other, but more mixed "ill

from the low ground, by ditching, and all mix n corn "ground,

spread oul as above m immediate, as to the com ; ,

the same manner as above described, as to the wheat sown on the coin ground. This
induced me to persevere in the use of it, which I ! ever since, adopting the

mode I mentioned before, and putting it at first from forty ; per acre, till

I have now come down as low as eighteen or twenty loads per acre, going the third time
over the ground with it. •••....

NOTE VI.

riRST VIEWS WHICH LEU TO MM1LINT, l\ PRINCE CEORGE COUNTY.

{From the Farmers' Register, Nov., 1539.)

Among the persons who have' read with Inl ssay on ( lalcareens

Manures' and have received as sound the novel I
maintained, several have expressed their furiosity which had

to learn tl artiest facts, or the train of reasoning, which led to the

gestion of the cause of the defect of natural! . and the ren

Such inquiries have been made of the writer by persons of investigating
and wi minds, but of very different education and pursuits; and

they were pleased to say, in regard te thi
to their inquiries, that they da
many, and that If given to the public, theV might

consideration and enforcement of the doctrines, than had, been done by the
mere arguments which had hem already published, convincing as they con-
sidered the arguments to be.

240 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

Though, without these reasons and solicitations, the writer might have
still refrained from touching this subject, it was not that he had not held the
same opinion, and, except in his own case, would have urged the same course.
It is certain, that the tracing of the steps by which any new discovery or
improvement is reached, must always be interesting in proportion to the
admitted importance of the results; and indeed such a statement seems
almost necessary "to induce the reader to accompany the author from his first
premises to the remote conclusion, and which otherwise is only reached
;h a devious and tedious passage, and by a course of reasoning which
is wanting in interest, because the application and tendency of the argu-
ments and pi oofs a>e not seen when they are first presented. The objection
which restrained the writer from before pursuing a course which he would
have highly approved in others, was, that such a narrative of opinions and
facts would be entirely a personal narrative, and therefore obnoxious to the
charge of egotism throughout. The statement of the reasoning which led
to the successful use of fossil shells on the poor lands of lower Virginia,
would be incomplete if not accompanied by a narrative of early labors, and
the early as well as latest results and effects. In the whole of this, there
would be scarcely an)' thing but statements of what the writer thought, and
reasoned, and performed. But the subject must be so treated, or not at all ;
and having consented to give the narrative, the writer will throw aside all
scruples and objections, and endeavor to enter as much into detail, as he,
if a reader of others' agricultural improvements and practical operations,
would desire there to find.

With the beginning of the year 1813, when barely nineteen years of age,
the easy indulgence of my guardian gave to me the possession and direction
of my property ; which consisted of the Coggins Point farm, with the neces-
sary and yet very insufficient stock of every kind. It is scarcely necessary
to add that, at my very early commencement, I was totally ignorant of prac-
tical agriculture ; and such would have been the case, according to the then
and now usual want of training of farmers of Virginia, even if my farming
labors had been postponed to a mature age. But I had always been fond of
reading for amusement, and the few books on agriculture which I had met
with had been studied, merely for the pleasure they afforded, at a still ear-
lier time of my boyhood. The earliest known of these works was an
English book, in four volumes, the 'Complete Body of Husbandry,' of which
I have not seen the only known copy since I was fifteen years old. This
work was probably a mere compilation, and of little value or authority ; but
it ^ave me a fondness for agricultural studies, and filled my head with
notions which were, even if proper in England, totally unsuitable to this
country. ' Bordley's Husbandry' next fell into my hands, and its contents
were as srreedily devoured. This was indeed written in America, and by
an American cultivator ; but as he drew almost all his notions from English
writers, his work is essentially also of foreign materials.

Thus prepared, I commenced farming, ignorant indeed, but not in my
own conceit. The agriculture of my neighborhood, like all that I had ever
witnessed, was wretched in execution, and as erroneous as well could be in
system, whether subjected to the test of sound doctrine, or the improper
notions which I had formed from English writers. I was right in condemn-
ing the general practice of my neighbors ; but decidedly mistaken in my
self-satisfied estimate of my own better information and plans.

Just about the time that my business as a cultivator was commenced,
Col. John Taylor's 'Arator' was published; and never has any book on
agriculture been received with so much enthusiastic applause, nor has any

CALCARKoi g man; RES— APPENDIX. '2 41

Other bad such wide-spread early effects in affecting opinion, and stimulating
to exertion and attempts for improvement The groun i had before no occu-
pant, and therefore this work had to contend with no rival. The li
land-owners, of lower Virginia especially, had previously treated their own
proper I Hal neglect; and

very few country gentlemen took any personal and regular direction of
their farming operations. It was considered enough for them to hire over-
seers, [and that class then was greatly inferior in grade and respectability to
what it is now,) and to lily s iperintendence to them entirely.

The agricultural practices, and also the products, were consequently, and
almost universally, at a very low ebb. The work of Taylor appeared when
these evils had become manifest ; and it was received with a welcome which
in warmth was proportioned to the magnitude of the evil, and to the exag-
geration of the promises of speedy and effectual remedy which the author
. with entire good faith no doubt, but which proved any thjng but
true to the great majority of his sanguine followers.

of course, I was among the most enthusiastic admirers of ' Arator :' and
not only received as sound an 1 true every opinion and precept, but even
went beyond the author's intention, (perhaps,) and applied his rules for
tillage to lands of surface and soil altogether different from the level and
originally rich sandy soils of the Rappahannock, where his labors and system
had been so successful. However, this error was by no means confined
to myself; for his other disciples fully as much misunderstood the directions,
and misapplied the practices.

It was my main object to enrich my then very poor land; and for that,
Taylor offered means that seemed to be sure and speedy. According to his
. it was only necessary to protect the arable land from all grazing, and
thus let the vegetable cover of the land, when resting, serve as manure— to
plough deep, and in ridges— to convert all the corn-stalks and other offal
to manure, and plough it under, unrotted, for the corn — to put the farm
under clover as fist as manured— and the desired result would be sure. I
hoped at first to be able to manure, say 10 or 12 acres a year very heavily,
with the barn-yard manure, and expected that such manuring would give
a crop of 50 bushels of corn to the acre. The space, so enriched, when in
the succeeding crop of wheat, would be laid under clover— and its acquired
productiveness be made permanent, by the lenient rotation of two crops
only taken from the land in four years. But utter disappointment followed.
The manure was put on the poorest (and naturally poor) land ; and it
produced very little of the expected effect in the first course of crops, and
in the second. Glover could not be made to
live on land of this kind ; and even on much better, or where more
enriched, it was a very precarious crop, and which, where the growth was
best, was certain to yield the entire occupancy of the ground to natural
weeds after one year. The general non-grazing of the fields under grass,
or rather under weeds, produced no visible enriching effect, and the
ploughing of hilly land (as mine mostly was) into ridges, caused the most
destructive washing away of the soil by heavy rains. These results were
not speedily made manifest; and before being convinced of their certainty,
1 had labored for four or five years in using these means of supposed im-
provement of the soil, but all of which proved either profitless, entirely
useless, or absolutely and in some cases greatly injurious. And even after
trying to avoid the first known errors, and using all other supposed means
for giving durable and increasing fertility to my worn and poor fields, at
the end of six years, instead of having already achieved great improve-
ment, I was compelled to confess that no part of my poor land was more

242 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

productive than when my labors ommenced, and that on much of it, a
ten-fold increase had been made of t le previously large space of galled and
gullied hill-sides and slopes.

When more correct opinions had been formed in after-time of the actual
condition and requirements of such poor soils, it seemed an astonishing delu-
sion, which wuuld have been altogether ludicrous but for its serious effects,
that I should have counted so much on improving such a soil, and by such
means. With the exception of a smsll part near the river banks, (perhaps
one-fifth of the then cleared and cultivated land,) which had been originally
of very fine quality, and, however abused and exhausted, was still good
land, the farm generally consisted of a soil of sandy loam, usually about
three inches deep, and through which a single-horse plough could easily
penetrate and turn up the barren and more sandy subsoil. Grazing the
fields, when not under tillage, had been the regular practice ; and under it
very little growth was to be seen except the light and diminutive " hen's
nest grass," which formed the almost universal cover of the poor fields of
lower Virginia, in the intervals between tillage. Add to these circumstances
of very poor and shallow soil, and barren and sandy subsoil, and almost
no vegetable cover to turn under, that every field was more or less hilly,
and liable to be washed by heavy rains— and the judicious reader will see
nothing but false confidence and ignorance displayed in my bold adoption
of Taylor's system. Nor was I convinced of my error until after nearly
all the fields had been successively thrown into ridges by two-horse ploughs,
and all the hilly and more slightly inclined surface had been awfully washed
and gullied, by the exposure of the loose sub-soil to the action of the
streams of rain-water.

While these my supposed measures of improvement were in progress,
I was in habits of frequent and familiar intercourse with my oldest and best
friend, and former guardian, Thomas Cocke, who resided then on his Aber-
deen farm, and since and now, on Tarbay, adjoining my own land. .'. y
friend wras a man for whose mind and mental cultivation I could not but
entertain a very high estimation. But though all his life a practical and
assiduous cultivator, and finding his greatest pleasure in his farming labors,
he yet was a careless, slovenly, and bad manager, and of course an un-
profitable farmer. Therefore, on this subject, I held in but light esteem the
opinions which he maintained, which were opposed to my own. One of
these, (and which he had first gathered from some old and ignorant, but
experienced practical cultivators of his neighborhood,) was the opinion that
our land which was naturally poor could not "hull manure," to any extent
or profit, and therefore could not be enriched. For years I heard this
opinion frequently expressed by him, and the evident inference therefrom,
that the far greater part of our lands, and of the whole country, was doomed
to hopeless sterility; and as often as heard, I rejected it as a monstrous
agricultural heresy— as treason, indeed, to the authority of Taylor, and of
every other author on agriculture whom I had read or heard of. But at
last I was compelled, most reluctantly, to concur in this opinion.

What was then to be done ! I could not bear the idea of pursuing the
general system of the country in continuing to lessen the aheady small
productiveness of my fields, by their course of cultivation. The whole
income, and more, was required for the most economical support of a then
small but fast growing family ; and fir any increase of income or net profit,
there was no hope, save in the universal approved resort, in all such cases,
of emigrating to the rich western wilderness. And accordingly such be-
came my intention, fully considered and decided upon, and which was only
prevented being carried into effect by subsequent occurrences.

CALCAB1 01 M \ ■' 2 13

Just before this time Davy's 'Agricultural chemistry' had been published
in this country ; sod 1 read it with delight, notwithstanding my then total
ignorai imical names, except as

learned bytbat perusal. There wasoni this author which seenMR

to pro ipe on the point in h hich disappoint-

ment had lt\l me to despair. imical

constitution of soils, and ol lich proper investigation!

point out, he adduced life fact of a soil "of good apparent texture,"
was sterile, an ile of being enriched. The fact which struck

on my mind was presented in the following • ta ire of

Lect iv. "If on wi inalyzing , a sterile soil, it is mtain

.i of iron, or any acid matter, il

tion of quick-lime. A soil of good apparent texture re, was

put into my bands by Sir Joseph Banks as remarkable for sterility, on

ining it, 1 found that it contained sulphate of iron: and I offered the

ius remedy ol top-dressing with lime, which converts the sulphate into

a manure."

iMuch the greater part oC my ret Virginia,

seemed to me just such as Davy descried in this single and peculiar soil.
It was certainly oi parent texture," that is.it was neither much

t «i clayey or too sandy, nor had it any other apparent defect to forbid its
being fertile in a very high degree. Yet it was and always had been sterile,
and, as my experience now concurred with tl at of my older friend in show-
ing, it could not be either durably or profitably em utrescent ma-
nures. CoDld it be possible Lhat-I of iron (copperas i which Uavy
found in this soil, and which lie evidently spoke of as a rare example of pe.
culiar constitution, could exist in nineteen twentieths of all the lands of
lower Virginia ! This could scarcely be; and yet, in despair of finding other
causes, I set about searching for this one.

It was not difficult, even for a reader so little instructed in chemistry, to
apply the test for copperas. It was only necessary to let a specimen of the
suspected soil remain soaking in pure water, until any copperas, if present,
would be dissolved; then to separate tin- fluid by pouring off and filtra-
tion, and then to add to the lluid some of the infusion of nut galls. If
copperas had leei#ield in solution, the mixture would produce a true ink,
of which the smallest proportion would he made visible in ti.e before per-
fectly transparent water. But all these first attempts were fruitless, and I
was obliged to conclude that the great defect, or impediment to improve-
ment, in most of our soils, was sehce of the salts of iron. But
though not a salt, of which one of the component parts was an acid, might
not the poisonous quality be a. pure or uncombined add} This question
was raised in my mind, and the readiness produced to suppose the affirma-
tive to be true, by several circumstances. These were, 1st, that certain
plants known to contain acid, as sheep-sorrel and pine, preferred these soils,
and in almost confined to I iw there with luxuriance
and \i. 'iied to the unfitness of the land for producing cultivated
crops. 2nd. That of all the soils supposed to be acid which I examined by
chemical tests, not one contained any calcareous earth.* 3rd. That the
small proportion of my land, and of all within the range of my observation,

" I was not then aware, of the important and novel fact which I afterwards ascertained
and established, and which U now folly received (will) very slight acknowledgment
of its source) by the geologists of this country, that almost all the soils on the Atlantic
slope of this country, and even including Marti -M limestone soils, are also cut 1 1
slilute of carbonate of lane. I! j edient seems nearly if not quite Snivel

all the gnod soils of England and the continent of Europe.

244 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

which was shelly, and of course calcareous, was entirely free from pine and
sorrel, and moreover was as remarkable for great and lasting fertility, as
the lands supposed to be acid for the reverse qualities. Shells, or lime,
would necessarily combine with, and destroy, all the previous properties of
any acid placed in contact; and therefore, if acid were present universally,
and acting as a poison to cultivated plants, it seemed plain enough why the
shelly lands were free from this bad quality, and by its absence had been
permitted to grow rich, and to continue productive. Every new observa-
tion served to add strength to this notion ; and in our tide-water region
generally, and even in my own neighborhood, there were plenty of subjects
for observation and comparison, both in small shelly and fertile spots, and
a vast extent of poor pine and sorrel-producing lands. Still, 1 could obtain
no direct evidence of the presence of acid, either free or combined, by ap-
plying chemical tests to soils, (as was tried in many cases,) nor was there
any authority in my oracle, Davy's 'Agricultural Chemistry,' nor in any
other work which I had read, for supposing vegetable acid to be present in
any soil. Though Davy adds to the supposition, of the , presence of the
" salt of iron," " or any acid matter," it is clear from the whole context that
he had in view the possible and extremely rare presence of a mineral acid
(as the sulphuric,) and not vegetable acid, which my views required, and my
proofs were afterwards brought to maintain. Sulphuric acid is sometimes
found in certain clays, and in combination with iron is also in peat soils ;
but these facts have no application to ordinary soils of any country. Of
course, this absence of authority would, to most inquirers, have seemed
fatal to the position of an acid principle being generally present in the soils
of Virginia, and in great quantity and power of injurious action. This
was, indeed, a great obstacle opposed to the establishment of my newly-
formed opinion ; but it was not yielded to as insuperable. Diffident as I
then was of any such views of my own, and holding the dicta of Davy as
the highest authority, and even his omission of any position as evidence
that it was untrue, or unknown, still I was not daunted, and supposed it
possible that the soils of this country might vary essentially in composition
in this respect, from those of England ; or barely possible that even the
great chemical philosopher might not have observed the presence of
vegetable acid in the comparatively few cases of itsVxistence in English
soils. The later observations of subsequent years added much to my
evidences of the existence of acid in soils ; and still later and scientific in-
vestigations of chemists have served to establish that there is an acid
principle in most soils, in the fiumic or geie acid. But these discoveries of
chemists had not been published in 1817, (if indeed known to any) nor iiad
my own ohservations reached to all the proofs which 1 afterwards (in 1832)
published in the first edition (in book form) of the 'Essay on Calcareous
Manures,' and which were still in advance of the publication of the now
generally received opinions of the geic or humic acid. It must therefore,
be confessed, that if I reached a correct conclusion, it was not on sufficiently
established premises, and known chemical facts. However, reached it was,
whether by right or by wrong reasoning; and however little supported by
direct proof or authority, I was almost sure, in advance of any known
experiment, first, that the cause of the unproductiveness and unfitness for
being enriched of most of our lands, was the presence of acid — and secondly,
and consequently, that the application of lime, or calcareous earth, would,
by taking up and destroying the poisonous principle, leave the soil free to
receive and to profit by enriching manures.

But even if this theoretical position had been demonstrated, still it might
furnish no ■profitable practical remedy. For admitting that the application

I'M.' I INI RK8 245

Icareoua matters would n ! evil, and«aake it

ble of receiving subsequent improvement, >■■ I
the land, I supposed, would be still b would requi

the manure, labor and time necessary to enrich any very poor soil; and
these might be so expensive, that the improvement of the land would Boat
more than it would afterwards he worth.. These considerations served
to lessen my estimation of the practical utility of the theoretical truth, ami
to make my earliest applications of the theory tn practice hesitating, ami
very limited in extent.

[hiving settled that calcareous matter v, . icine to he applied

to the diseased or illy constituted soil, I was luckily at no loss to find
materials. In some of the many ravines which passed through my land,
and on sundry parts of the river hank, were exposed some portions of the
beds of fossil shells which underlie nearly all the eastern parts of Virginia ami
several other southern states; the deposite which then had obtained in this
region, though improperly, and still retains the name of marl. I began
operations in February l-l I, at one of the spots most accessible to a cart.
The overlying earth was . and a few feet in width of the marl

exposed, in which a pit was sunk to the depth of but three or four feet.
When night stopped the digging and throwing out of the marl, the slowly
oozing water filled the pit; and as no proper pi in of draining had been
adopted, the fust shallow pit was abandoned, and another opened. In this
laborious and wasteful manner there was as much marl obtained as 1 was
then willing to apply. It served to give a covering i f 1 25 t" 200 husheJs
per acre, to 2i acres of new-ground. The wood on the land had been cut
down three years before, and suffered to lie and rot until cleared up for
ition in 1818. Though poor ridge laud, and of what I deemed of
the most acid class of soils, still the previous treatment had given to it so
much decomposed vegetable matter, that its product would necessarily be
made the best which such a soil was capable of bringing. And because
of the superabundance of food fir plants then ready to act, this was not a
good subject to show the earliest and greatest benefit of neutralizing the
acid. However — notwithstanding this circumstance, and the small amount
and poverty of the marl, (which contained but one-third of calcareous
matter,) the improvement produced was greater and more speedy in show-
ing than I had dared to hope for. When the plants were but a few inches
hfgh, and before I had expected to see the slightest improvement, (indeed
had hern expected to show in the first year,) the superiority of the marled
corn was manifest, and which continued to increase as the growth ad-
vanced. My hicrh gratification can only be appreciated by a schemer
and projector ; but such a one can well imagine my feelings and sympa-
thize in my triumph. The increase of the first crop, corn, I stai<
in reporting the experiment, to he fully 10 per cent., and that of the wheat
which succeeded was much greater. Subsequent measurements of other
products of experiments induced me to believe that I had under-rated the
amount of increase in this first application. (This experiment is the first
stated, and at length, at page 72 of ' Essay on Calcareous Manures,' 3d
edition. Throughout this republished article, the references to the
of the ■ .us Manures, will be phanged from the previous to

the present edition]

it as had been the labor ol this applii ation, and sm
product, (comparing both with later operations,) the result -;>!ete-

ly to sustain my theoretical vii o showed the remi

general evil to he far more quick, and more profitable, than I had
counted on. Another person would probably have despised this small

31

246 I ALCAEEOUS MANUEES— APPEWMX.

increase to the acre, if supposing the effect to be but temporary : and this
all would have inferred, whether judging by comparison with all other
manures known in practice, or even if by the authority of books. For the
best informed of the old writers, (even Lord Kanies, for example,) while
claiming for the effects of marl great durability, still consider that at some
period, say 20 or 100 years, the effects are to cease. L'ut my views were
not limited within any practical experience, or authority, but by my own
theory of the action ; and that theory taught me to infer that the !
gained would never be lost, and that under proper cultivation, the increase
of product would still more increase, instead of being lessened in the course
of time. In thus fully confiding in the permanency of the improvement,
I was at once convinced of the operation being both cheap and profitable.
All doubt and hesitation were thrown asiae, and I determined to increase
my labors in marling to the utmost extent of my views. Still the want
of spare labor, and the established routine of farm operations which
occupied all the force, retarded my operations so much, that no more than
12 more acres (for the next year's crop) were marled in that year.

It forms an essential part of the character of an enthusiastic and suc-
cessful projector, and especially an agricultural projector, to be as anxious
to inform others as to profit himself. Of course I tried to bestow upon and
share my lights with all my neighbors and other farmers whom my then
secluded life permitted me to meet. This disposition also caused my earliest
attempt at writing for even so small a portion of the public as constituted
a little agricultural society of which I had induced the establishment in my
neighborhood. To show my earliest opinions and statements on this sub-
ject, I will here quote the material part of a communication made to that
society, and which was written in October of the year of my first experi-
ment in IS 18. I copy the extract just as it then stood, and with ail its
defects of form and of substance. I then shrunk in fear from the greater
publicity which the press would have afforded, and had not the remotest
anticipation that my first effort, then made, would lead me to the extent of
intercourse since established and maintained with the public, both by writ-
ing and printing.

■• We should be induced to infer from the remarks of those writers who
have treated on the improvement of land, that a soil artificially enriched is
equally valuable with one which would produce the same amount of crop
from its natural fertility; and that a soil originally good, but impoverished
by injudicious cultivation, is no better than if it never had been rich. If
this conclusion be just (and the contrary has not been even hinted by them)
it is in direct contradiction to the opinion of man}- intelligent practical farm-
ers, with whom my own observations concur, in pronouncing that soils na-
turally rich, (although completely worn out.) will sooner recover by rest —
can be enriched with less manure— and will longer resist the effects of the
severest course of cropping, than soils of as good apparent texture and
constitution, and in similar situations, but poor before they were brought
into cultivation. Should the latter opinion be correct, it is of the utmost
importance that the subject should be investigated : as the only conclusion
that can be drawn from it is, that such land must have some secret defect
in its constitution, some principle adverse to improvement : and until this is
discovered and corrected, it is an almost hopeless undertaking to make a
barren country permanently fertile, by means of animal and vegetable
manure.

"That inclosing* has but little effect in improving land naturally barren,

" The non-frazing system of Taylor.

CAECAREOl a MAM RES APPENDIX. 0-17

is sufficiently proved by poor wood-land. This has had the benefit of inclos-
ing foi perhaps thousands of yeurs, and is yel miserably poor. It may
be said that leaves are not to be compared In valu ■ woods; but

surely leaves ought to improve as much in a thousand years,
weeds in twenty. Besides, it is well known, that leaves taken from this
very land, and applied elsewhere, have produced nrdeh benefit; and the
advocates of inclosing must agree with me in ascribin use the

natural fertility of the most valuable land.

•■ \- i" manuring, there are but few farmers who have not, like mo, expe-
rienced complete disappointment in endeavoring to improve land so little
favored by nature, in the usual method of summer manuring, by movable
cow-pens, the must negligent farmers give tl g, by suffer-

ing their pens to remain stationary sometimes six or eight weeks, I have
known tho surface in this manner to be covered an inch thick with tho
i of manures, and yet, after going through I urse of crops

and grazing with the adjoining unmanured land for six years, it could not be
distinguished." **********

••II any one principle should be always found in one kind of soil, and as
invariably absent in the other, we might reasonably infer that thai was tho
cause of fertility or barrenness. Judging from my very limited observa-
tions, it appeals evident that calcare

soil rieh in its natural state, and thai whenever a soil is entirely or nearly
deficient, it never can become rieh of itself, ami if made so by heavy doses
of doflg, will soon relapse into il i'ity.

" Let us observe h.ow facts coincide with this opinion. The lower part
of Virginia la generally poor ; narrow rivers and smaller

water i nearly all the high lands that are valuable, and in this

class, exclusively, shells are seen so frequently, and in such abundance, that
thai they are universally present, but so finely
divided as not to he visible. 'U hen we kno luced by cal-

careous earth in the color and texture of soil, and in a field of an hundred
. all of the same dark-colored mellow soil, shells may be seen in only
a lew detached spots, yet we cannot but attribute the same effects to the
same cause, and allow calcareous malt. a' to he present in every part.

"The durable fertility of land which contains .shells in abundance is so
wonderful, that 1 should not dare to describe it, were not the facts supported
by the best authority. The calcareous matter for ages has beerrcollecting
and fixing in the soil such an immense supply of ve tter, thai near

two centuries of almost continual exhaustion have not materially injured
its value. I have seen -fields on Vork, James," ai I fansemond rivers, now
extremely productive, which are said to have been under cultivation for
thirty and forty years, without any aid worthy mentioning, from rest or
manure.

" The same cause operates on low lands, formed by alluvion, and situated
on streams accustomed to overflow. Such land is, with very few exceptions,
of the first quality; audit is made so by tho calcareous matter which the
currents must necessarily convey from the strata of marl through which
they pass ; and which being Intimately mixed with sand, clay, and vegeta-
ble matter, is sufficient to form the finest and deepest soil. All the rich low
grounds which I have had an opportunity of observing, have marl on some
of the streams which fail into them, and 1 have not heard of any on those
few which are poor, v i i solitary instanci eing found in poor

land of any description has come to my know:

» If these premises are correct, no other conclusion can bo drawn from
them but that a proportion of i toil a capacity for

248 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

improvement which it has not without ; and it also follows, that by an ap-
plication of shell-marl, the worst land would be enabled to digest and retain
that food, which has hitherto been of little or no advantage." * *

" The property of fixing manures is not more important in marl, than
that of destroying acids. The unproductiveness of our lands arises not so
much from the absence of food as the presence of poison. We are so much
accustomed to see a luxuriant and rapid growth of pines cover land on
which no crop can thrive, that we cannot readily see the impropriety of
calling such a soil absolutely barren.

" From the circumstance of this soil being so congenial to the growth of
pine and sorrel, (both of which are acid plants,) it seems probable that it
abounds in acidity, or acid combinations, which, (although destructive to
all valuable crops,) are their food while living, and product when dead.
The most common forest trees are furnishing the earth with poison as libe-
rally as food, while it depends entirely on the presence of the antidote, whe-
ther one or the other takes effect. I have observed a very luxuriant growth
of sorrel on land too poor to support vegetables of any kind, from green
pine brush having been buried to stop gullies; and it is well known how
much land on which pines have rotted is infested with this pernicious plant.
Marl will immediately neutralize the acid, and this noxious principle being
removed, the land will then for the first time yield according to its actual
capacity. Sorrel will no longer be troublesome; and, by a very heavy co-
vering, I have known a spot rendered incapable of producing it, although
the adjoining land was thickly set to the edge. Pines do not thrive on shelly
land, whether fertile or exhausted. To this cause I attribute the great and
immediate benefit I derived from marl on new-ground. The acid produced
by the pine leaves is destroyed, and the soil is capable of supporting much
heavier crops, without being (as yet) at all richer than it was." — Communi-
cation lo Prince George Agricultural Society.

Before proceeding to state later experiments, and general practice and
results, it will be necessary to recur to some other connected branches of
the subject. The reader will pardon the apparent digression.

So well established and general has the opinion now become that this
marl is a manure, and a most valuable one, that it may seem strange that
I should have only arrived at such an opinion indirectly, by the train of
reasoning indicated above. There were hundreds of persons who after-
wards said, "Oh! / never doubted that marl was a good manure;" but
not one of whom had been induced to try its operation. But passing by
these postpo7iing believers, and all others who confessedly never attached
any value to this great deposite, it may require explanation why I had not
learned its value from English works which treat so extensively on marl,
even though I had then had access to but few of them. It was precisely
because I had read attentively some of the English accounts of marl that I
was deterred from using our mart, which agreed with it (apparently) in
nothing but name. Struck with the importance attached to marl in
England, I had earnestly desired to find it, and had searched for it in vain,
years before the early beginning of my farming. The name induced a
close examination of what was called marl here ; but the " soapy feel,"
the absence of grit, the crumbling and melting of lumps in water, &c,
which, were the most distinguishing characteristics of the marl of the
English writers, were in vain looked for in our shell beds — of which the earth
was generally sandy, never " soapy," and of which the lumps were often
of almost stony hardness, and if not, at least showed nothing of the
melting disposition of the English marls. I had before this found, however,
in the American edition of the ' Edinburgh Encyclopaedia,' more modern

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX £49

and correct views of marl) and had thereby learned to prize cakm
matter in general as an ingredient of soil, whether natural or artificial.
But still, even admitting that the shelly portion ol our marl would slowly
decompose, and gradually furnls inure to the soH, still it seemed

that there was little prospect of its operating as the English marl, of such
very different texture and. qualities, 1 then sopposed that the shells which
had resisted decomposition, even where exposed on the surface of the beds,
for centuries, would be as slow to dissolve, and loan as manure if laid
upon the fields. Still, notwithstanding these grounds of objection, the
ral idea of the value of calcareous manures would have induced

hells, but for being deti rred therefrom by the only actual
facts then known of the use. When speaking of my thought of trying
marl to my friend Mr. 1 tocke, he told me that it was not worth the trouble;
that he (attracted merely by the name,) had made several small applications,
in 1803, on soils of different kinds, and that he had found almost no visible
benefit; and he had attached so little importance to the trial, that he had
never thought to mention it, until induced by my remark. This com-
munication wa< enough to check my then slight disposition to try marl.
The old experiments of Mr. Cocke, as well as some much older, and, like
his, considered worthless by tiie makers and almost forgotten, are stated
at page To ,,i this edition of • Essay on Calcareous Manures.'

As soon as 1 was satisfied that 1 had found in marl a remedy for the
general and fixed disease of our poor lands, it became very desirable to
know the strength of different beds, and of the different parts of the same
bed. The rules ol Davy for determining the proportion of carbonate of lime
were easy to apply; and having provided myself with the necessary tests
and other means. 1 was BOOh enabled to analyze the specimens with ease
and accuracy. This was a delightful and profitable direction of my very
small amount of chemical acquirements, and served to stimulate to further
study. The amount ef knowledge was indeed very small— and is still so

with all later ai quire ats added. But little as 1 had been enabled to learn

of chemistry, the possession led me to adopt my views of the constitution
of soils, and enabled me to double the product, and to much more than
double the clear profit and pecuniary value of my land, in the course of a
few years thereafter.

Though my own doubts as to the propriety and profit of marling had
been removed by my first experiments, it was not so with my neighbors.
Small applications were indeed made by two of them only, in the next
year after my first trial. But either because the land had been kept too
much exhausted of its vegetable matter by grazing as well as by cropping,
or because the experimei 1 not think of the operation of the ma-

nure as different from thai of dung, or for both these reasons, it is certain
that they were not encouraged by the results to persevere. They
stopped marling with their first trial, until several years alter, when
both recommenced, then fully convinced of the benefit, and wen- af-
terwards among the I most successful marlers. One of
these persons was the late Edward Marks, of old Town, and the other
my old friend Thomas Cocke— who, though he had led aero find the dis-
ease, could not be speedily convinced >>i' its true nature, or of the value of
the remedy. As late indeed as 1822, when he walked with me to an
enormous excavation which 1 was then soaking in carrying out marl, he
said to me, "In future time, if marling shall then have been abandoned
as unprofitable, this place will probably be known by the name of ' Kufftn'n
Folly.' " For some years, my marling was a subject lor ridicule with some
of my neighbors; and this was renewed, when in after-time the great

250 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPlSnoiX.

damage caused by improper applications began to be seen, and which will
be described in due order.

Having bad in view from the beginning the true action of marl, and fully
believing that its good effects would be permanent, and even increasing
with time, under a proper system of tillage, I was no more discouraged by
what some deemed small profits, than I was annoyed by the incredulity and
ridicule of other persons. Almost all the farms in the neighborhood, except
mine, were regularly and closely grazed when not under a crop, and of
course they had not stored up in the soil much either of inert vegetable
matter, or its acid product. Mine had not been grazed since 1814, and
had been rested two years in every four; and the poorest land three
years in four. And though, in truth, no increased production had been
obtained by this lenient treatment, inasmuch as the increase of acid coun-
terbalanced the increase of vegetable food, still, when marl was applied, the
acid was immediately destroyed, and the food left free to act. The effect
of marling was generally shown most plainly on the first crop of corn, and
the limits could be easily traced by the deep green color of the plants
before they were five inches high ; and the increased product of the first
crop on acid soils rarely fell under 50 per cent., was most generally 100,
and has been known to be 200 per cent. But even such increase was not
satisfactory to many persons, until the action of marl came to be better
understood, and the permanency of the effects were credited. In five or
six years after my commencement, there were few if any of those of my
neighbors, who had marl visible on their lands, who had not begun to apply
it. And though it has been injudiciously as well as insufficiently applied
since, and not one-fourth of the full benefit obtained, still the general
improvement and increased products of the marl farms of Prince George
have been very great. The existence of marl too, which was known at first
but on a few farms in my own neighborhood, has been since discovered in
many and remote parts of the county; and wherever accessible it is valued
and used. The like observations will now apply to most of the other
counties of lower Virginia. Wherever the effects of marling could be
seen for a few years, the early incredulity not only disappeared, but most
persons were even too ready to believe in marl possessing virtues to which
it has no claim. Thus, ignorant or careless of its true mode of operation,
they crop the marled lands more severely than before ; and if they are not
thereby soon reduced as low as. their former state of sterility, they are
made to approach it as nearly as possible, and at a sacrifice of nine-tenths
of the profit from marling which a more lenient and judicious system of
cultivation wTould have insured.

In 1819, the second year of my operations, my marling was increased to
62 acres, but most of it at too thin a rate. In 1S20, only 25 acres, though
at 600 heaped bushels or even more to the acre. Up to this time I had
done as most other persons have, that is, attempted to marl " at leisure
times," and without making it a regular employment for a certain additional
force, or reducing the amount of cultivation, or of other operations on the
farm. No person will ever marl to much advantage who does not avoid
this error; and this year's labors showed the necessity of an alteration. The
next year, two horses and carts, with the necessary drivers and pit-men,
were appropriated to marling at all times when weather permitted, except
during harvest, thrashing, and wheat-sowing times. Viewing marling too
as the most profitable operation, except the saving of a crop already made,
it was made a fixed,rule of the farm that marling was to be interrupted for
nothing else. My corn shift for that year was reduced in size one half— so
that one half could be marled while the other was under cultivation. By

( U/CARE01 S MAM KKS-AITKNDI.V ->5 |

these means, 1 marled 80 acres this year, 1821, (and that much t
and had all the lessened corn-field on marled land. The product of the hall
was equal to what the whole had brought before, and I was enabled i
after to have every field marled over In advance of its next cultivation, in
1822, the land marled was 93 acres, phi in 1823, and 80 In 1824, which
served to cover nearly all ol the then cleared land i .u-iing. The

next three years' marling amounted respectively to 50 acres, 24 acres, and
a, being principally upon land su ! and brought itito

cultivation, since then, there has been nom , excepl on

wood-land, not yet cleared, and on small spots formerly omitted, and of
which mi account was taken. With the exception of such spots, (and some
such still remain, because of their inconvenien all the land which

was nut naturally calearei his, ur tin.) wet 01 too Steep for" carting mi, had
been marled by 1827; and none has required any additional dose, though
some of the thinnest covered places had been re-marled long before thai
time, so as to bring them to a proper constitution.

In 1824, 1 first observed, (and had never cted such effect,)

tin- injury caused by having marled acid soil too heavily. To show my first
impressions, I will copy the words ol my farm journal, written on the very
day on which the discovery was fully made.

-June 13th, 1S-.M. Observed a new and alarming disease in a large pro-
portion of my corn ; and, what makes the matter much worse, the evil is
certainly caused by marling. The disease seems to have commenced when
the corn was from 0 to 10 inches high, and to have stopped its growth. Its
general color is a pale sickly green, and tl» «ar so thin as to be

almost transparent: next they become Streaked with rusty red. and then
begin to die at the upper ends. Several pu iwed no defect, or

injury from insects, among the roots. All the land marled from pits A'os. 7
and 9 (both yellow) from I820'to Is;-,', is so much diseased as to promise
not more than halt a crop. The corn is twice as large as on the spaces left
for experiment without marl, yet looks much worse; though three weeks
ago its superiority in color and even more than in size. AVith

but few exceptions, the land newly marled from the same pits, and the old
marling from Nos, I and 8, (both bine,) as well as that not marled, are free
from this disease. The parts most affected are those which were driest and
poorest, and of course were least covered with vegetable matter. Yet
though the corn on this old marling is generally so bad, it is yet evident that
the land is more benefited by the manure than at first: flourishing stalks of
corn, 18 to 24 inches high, are seen frequently within a few feet of those
most hurt by this disease."

Subsequently, when the whole extent of injury could be seen, the follow-
ing remarks were written in the journal, at the date helow.

"October 15th. The damage caused by marl to this crop I suppose to be
about one third of what the land would otherwise i from

the present and former measurements of the same land, where experiments
were made.

"Nearly all the heavy marling in Finnies, (at 800 bushels,) about 20
acres,* suffered by it ; the poorest and lightest most injured, here and in
Court-House field. The few rich spots escaped; as did most of the
plastered (on the heavy marling) in 1820. The marks of this experiment
were destroyed, and the superiority was not so regular a
trace the outlines of the gypseous earth — hut an acre of corn might be
taken which certainly was | better than any other acre in t!

• See F.xp 1U. p sj, Essay on Cat. Man

252 ' CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

land. This at least proves that gypsum contained [if any] in the marl has
not caused the disease. The poor land, lightly marled in 1819, showed but
little of the disease, and none was found in the piece not marled, nor in any
marled since the last crop [or now first cultivated since being marled.]

" In Court-House field the injury was confined to 19 acres, the poorest
part of the field, which was in corn in 1821, : marled and fallowed, 1822,
and in wheat 1823, corn 1524. The remainder of the old land, which had
not been cropped so severely, and was covered as heavy with blue marl,
brought a fine crop, quite free from the disease. The new ground was
mostly marled very heavy (800 bushels of 45 per cent.)t and this and all my
former clearings, (some marled equally heavy,) were also quite free. These
facts satisfy me that it was not the quality, but the over quantity of marl
which has caused the evil ; and that the land which has escaped, owes its
safety to its containing more vegetable matter. I forgot to state that on
some of the lightest spots of South Field the wheat was much injured,
though blue marl was used there.

" If I had followed my own advice to others, " to put no more marl at
first than would but little more than neutralize the soil, and repeat the dress-
ing afterwards," this evil would, not have fallen on me. The present loss is
not much ; but it makes me expect the same on all similar land, marled as
heavily. I shall endeavor to avoid it, by giving vegetable matter to the soil;
either by manuring, or by allowing one or two more years of grass in the
first term of the rotation. Why the quantity of marl applied should do harm
in any case, is more than I can tell ; but I draw this consolation from the dis-
covery—if a certain quantity, (say 500 bushels per acre,) is too much for
present use of the soil, it proves that it will combine with more vegetable
matter, and fix more fertility in the soil, than I had supposed. That the
second crop should be injured, and not the first, is owing to the unbroken
state of the shells at first, and, by their being reduced, twice as much calca-
reous matter is in action after a few years."

Thus it will be seen, from these entries made at the time, that I took a
correct view of this great and unlooked-for evil, and was by no means dis-
couraged, or induced to lessen my efforts in marling. But in all after
operations on poor land, the quantity was lessened from 500 and 600
bushels, (and even more of the poorest marl,) to about 300 bushels. With
this alteration, the operation was continued with as much zeal as before;
and also at a later time on another farm (Shellbanks) purchased afterwards,
and where I marled upwards of 400 acres.

"When this injury was first discovered, about 250 acres of very similar
land had been marled so heavily that the like mischief was to be looked for
in the next crop, and thenceforward, if not guarded against. For a more
full account of this disease, and my opinions thereon, I must refer to what
has been before published. { It is sufficient here to say that by pursuing the
means there advised— in allowing more rest from grain crops, furnishing
vegetable matter to the land, in its natural cover of weeds, in clover and
farm-yard manure so far as the limited supply sufficed — that no very great
loss was subsequently suffered, except in the field where the disease was
first discovered, and which was marled in 1819. This field was too remote
and inconveniently situated, to be manured from the barn-yard ; and from
that and other causes, (including the failure of the first seeding of clover,)
that field only still shows injury from marling in the present crop (1839;)

* Exp. n, p. S6

t Exp. 1 to 4, pp. 72 to 77.

} Essay on Calcareous Manures ante.

I U.CAREOUS MAM UK- Al'I'KMUX 253

so much diminished however, that its general average product this year
is fully twice as much as the land could have brought before being marled.

The results of many particular experiments made during the progress of
marling this farm were stale. 1 in the ' Essay on Calcareous Manures,' and
the general benefits and improved products wi I in a later

publication.* It is not necessary here to repeat these statements. But as
this article may come under the notice of some nailers who have not
a to the others, the general results, as produced in the whole period
of twenty-two years, from the earliest experiment to the last product, will
• very concisely and generally stated.

The many and extensive old galled parts of sloping land, wherever
dressed with marl, and even without the further help of barn-yard manure,
are now nearly all skinned over by a newly formed soil ; and though such
soil is still both poor and thin, and may yet long remain so, the whole of its
present productive power is due to marling; as such galled land was before
naked, entirely barren, and irreclaimable by other manures. Where much
or rich putrescent matter has been also applied to galls, with or after marl,
both rich and durable soil has been formed, though at great cost.

The more level parts of the old and greatly exhausted fields, and the
newly cleared wood-land, (both kinds being naturally poor, thin, and acid
soils,) are the only lands which have enjoyed anything like the full bene-
ficial effects of marling. These have been increased in product from 5
and 10 bushels of corn per acre (which may be considered the usual
minimum and maximum rates,) to at least 20, and in some cases to 30
bushels, even without the aid of barn-yard manure. Where putrescent
manures have been also applied, they have raised the products much
higher; and these manures are now as durable and as profitable as formerly
they were fleeting and profitless in effect.

The before poor and light soil which formed the gi eater part of the old
arable lands, and which was not above three inches in depth, (and scarcely
two inches when in its natural forest state,) is now seven inches or more,
and requires three-horse ploughs to break it to proper depth, where the one-
horse ploughs formerly would frequently reach and bring up the barren
subsoiL

The fertilizing opcration-of marl has Increased with time, even where the
effects were also the most speedy, and most profitable on the first crop after
the application.

The soil, which before was totally unable to support red clover, is now
(except on the most sandy spots) well adapted to the growth, and capable,
according to the grade of fertility, of receiving the great benefit which is
offered by that most valuable of improving en

And generally — notwithstanding all the many and great errors committed
in my marling, (for want of experience,) and of still worse general farm
management— and though a considerable proportion of the old land was
either but little or not at all fit to be improved by marling— and though the
land added since by new clearings was all very poor, and worthless for its
natural producing power— still the general annual grain products of the
farm have been increased from thr"e to four-fold, and the net profit of culti-
vation and the intrinsic value of the land have been increased in a still greater
proportion.

• See p IU, \ul. in. ot Fan

32

254

CALCAREOUS .MAM'RLs— APPENDiX.

Addendum, 1842.

The following table of crops, with the annexed remarks and notes, will
perhaps be more satisfactory than the preceding statements of general
results, besides serving to bring the report down to the present time.

It is proper to premise, that after 1827 I ceased to keep a regular farm
journal, and neglected even to preserve accounts of the amount of crops. Ill
health and other circumstances had caused me several years before that time
to withdraw much of my personal attention from my farming. In 1830, my
residence was permanently removed from the farm, and thereafter my
superintendence was more and more withdrawn, until it ceased entirely
at the end of 1838. Hence the blanks which will be seen in this part of
the table. At the close of 1838, my eldest son became the part owner and
occupant, and since has been sole director of the farm. Though it was
then placed in charge of a new beginner, who had every thing to learn of
farming, the management has since been much improved, and consequently
also the condition and production of the farm, as shown by the table.

The quantities and other facts, stated below, are taken from careful
memoranda noted at the times of the occurrences, and are precise wherever
presented as such, according to the best lights possessed by the cultivator.
But the volume of my former journal, which embraced the transactions of
1824 to 1827 inclusive, has been lost; and for want of recent reference to
it, there may be some inaccuracy in the dates only of operations within that
time, as well as in the next few succeeding years.

TABLE OF CROPS ON COGGINi POINT FARM.

-

< =

1813

1814

1815

1816

1817

1818

f 15

1819

62

1S20

25

1821

80

1S22

93

1S23

100

1824

80

1826

50

1826

24

1827

§§27

1S2S

0

1829

0

1S30

50

1831

0

1832

0

1836

10

1837

0

183S

0

1S39

2

1S40

d2

1841

c32

1S42

30j

145 810

110 550

78 520
104 896

79 595
63 450

132 1015
119 1020
160 1049
154 1627
139 1475

194 1850

195 1452
170 1390
151 1366
153 936
134 90S

394e
2056
2117
167 12521
22S 1942
212 2475
2.50,3377

5,;,

5

6?5

St'tii

-

I

<»rjj

ill

134

125 2250 IS

1340 sjyv

1955 14Tyj
2300 16 "
2050 in'".
»160 2670* 16)11
al372000' 14 .

1«- ; -27->0- 17
» 77 17755 23

aiwteaso* 19ja

158 3000*19
156(3405* 214

70 1251 17.
13S 227 ."•
104,1665* 16
112 1750 15r.,
1332300

126

2S30 22Ty:.

- 4415

- 2620

- 2070|

190 4500 23{-
143 3540 24*
146 3S00 25}
155 3.500yg2T95i

37
55

600
1000

200
1000

5e
10e

10^

i:ndix

Explanatory remark* on the land and it

itity ol land lor cultivation | irts. ) at first, 172 acn

w clearings to 602 bj 1826; lo662in 1832; an. I no more in 1*12 though

30 more acres have since been cleared and tilled, because a- much in 1886 converted to a

inent pasture. -All the new land added by clearing was poor, and very few acres

of it would have produced more than 10 bushels of corn, or ."> ol ivhi it (without the marl-
ing) after the :i or I first crops. Of course the new land added served to reduce instead
ot increasing the genet i luct per acre.

Rotation at first of three-shifts, viz.: 1 corn, 2 wheat on the richer half, 3 at
rest, and alter 1814 not glazed. This changed gradually to I shifts (by 1823) of i corn,
2 wheal, 8 and I at r->t. 1820 began to tallow for wheat, in part and only in some
1 U low the wheat fields generally in clover, -and about i-

■ apart (say one-fourth to one-third) of each clover lull for wheal the ye
ceding the crop of corn. This changed in 1* 10 to a five-shift rotation, one-filth of the
arable land being in corn, two-fifths in wh.-at (and oats) and two-fifths in clover, or other
or manuring crops.

ol wheat lor first six years (1 used on the richer parts of each

shift, making about one-half the land only; the other hall being then much too poorto be
sown. As these poorest parts were marled, all were sown in wheat, in their turn.
Therefore, the earlier average products of v. as stated, were for the

halt of the land, while since 1822 the average is lor the worst as well as the best laud of
each shilt.

Grazing the clover fields commenced partially about ls:iO, and increased since. Lat-
terly about 20 head of cattle and 100 ol hogs on the clover during the grazing season.

The crops of hay, corn-todder, 8cc, being all consumed on the farm, their products
have not been estimated.

Notes on particular o

a 1818 to '22 inclusive, '27 acres of rich embanked marsh in corn every year, which
served to increase these crops, and their average— which land sunk too low alter 1823
for corn, and has since been under the tide.
1 In 1818, the first marling.

Is on 17 acres.
1829 to 1*30, a succession of bad seasons for wheat, or of crops — made much worse
(as I afterwards believed,) by the land having been so long kept from being grazed and
trodden by cattle.

• These crops not actually measured, but amounts otherwise estimated. All other
quantities measured, unless slat, d otherwise.
§ The richer half of the shift only cultivated in corn this year (1S21.)
§$ Marling nearly extended over all the cleared arable land requiring it, and injurious
where too

From 1825 to 1«30 inclusive, (he richest land of the f.rm kept under cotton, which
served greatly to less n the general products, and still more the average product per acre
of the wheat crops, during that time.

■ ight as sold, or 170 lbs. to the acre.
•5, the wheat crop nearly destroyed by rust, as was general through eastern Vir-
ginia.

t Corn crop of IS.-N and wheat crop of l-:!lt very much lessened bv the ravages of
the chinch-bug.
c, c, On 26 of these acres the marling was a second application.

<l The crops of oats being consumed on the farm, were never measured, but the quan-
tities estimated by the land sown, at 2o bushels lo the acre.

e The root crops, (turnips and beets,) and pumpkins and cymblins, occupied part of
the most highly enriched land— all consumed on the farm, and products not estimated.

•> The crop of corn of 1848 stated upon supposition, it not being half gathered when
this article was prepared.

256 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

NOTE VII.
{From the Farmers' Register of Oct- 1835.)

INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF THE FORMATION OF PRAIRIES, AND OF THE PET-
LIAR CONSTITUTION OF SOIL. WHICH FAVORS OR PREVENTS THE DESTRUCTION
OF THE GROWTH OF FORESTS.

Introductory remarks.

The views which will be presented in the following pages are in part
founded on others which were maintained, and are considered as establish-
ed in the 'Essay on Calcareous Manures'— as, for example, the doctrine of
the existence and causes of acid and still more of neutral soils— the chemi-
cal power of calcareous earth to combine with and to fix vegetable or other
putrescent matter in soils— and that a certain proportion of lime, in some
form, is essential to every productive soil, and without which ingredient
the land would be barren, and incapable of being enriched. As the repeti-
tion here of the whole train of argument by which those doctrines were
sustained would be both unnecessary and improper, it may be permitted
merely to refer to the work named for these positions, as premises esta-
blished, and either known, or accessible to every one who may feel inte-
rest in the further extension and consideration of the same general sub-
ject, which is here designed.

The necessity of making frequent reference to a previous and avowed
work, and also the having elsewhere stated the general purport of this, will
prohibit the writer from presenting this continuation anonymously; which
otherwise would have been preferable, both on account of the writer's
connexion with the journal in which this will appear, and because the sub-
feet is one which will derive no support from its origin, being a matter of
general argument resting on facts and authorities within the reach of every
reader. But as these circumstances made it necessary that the piece
should not be anonymous, for convenience the ordinary form of a com-
munication to the Farmers' Register has been adopted. Whatever of oppo-
sition to editorial usage may appear in these respects, it is hoped will be
sufficiently accounted for, and held excused by the existing circumstances.
However confident the writer may be of the main positions which he will
aim to establish in the following pages, he is sensible that he is venturing
upon a new field of investigation, which is as yet unexplored— and indeed
almost untouched, except by those who have paid no attention to the pro-
blem to be solved, or of others who, with better lights of science, have fallen
into gross and manifest errors and mistakes. Under such circumstances,
he cannot expect to avoid being misled in many particulars; and he will
be gratified at having such errors corrected, and the subject fully and
properly treated by any other person possessing better means for receiving
information, and pursuing this interesting subject of inquiry.

General and erroneous opinions respecting- the growth or absence of trees on
land in a state of nature.

There exists a wide-spread and strongly marked difference between the
lands of different regions of the globe, in their being covered, or not, with
trees, before being subjected to cultivation. But striking and strongly con-
trasted as are these different aspects of parts of the earth's surface, and
much as each kind, when a novel scene, has drawn forth expressions of
wonder and admiration from travellers, the causes have not been sought —

CAECARE0U8 MANURES— APPENDIX. 257

indeed have scarcely attracted any attention. Vet, even If considered as
a mere matter of curiosity, not likely to bring to lisrtit any thing of practi-
cal use, there is scarcely one of Nature's riddles which would .seem better
calculated to interest philosophical, and especially agricultural investigators.
These very different kinds of garb which are worn by different regions of
the earth, extend over vast spaces, and of course arc accompanied with
many remarkable changes both of climate and soil. It follows that there
are not many persons who have been accustomed to more than one of
these conditions of the face of the earth ; and those who have been, were
not of the class the best qualified for investigating the subject. The first
European settlers of North America were, by the contrast to their native
lands, the more forcibly impressed by the magnificent forests of which there
seemed to be no end, and no change, except from the greater abundance
of one luxuriant and gigantic growth to that of others. But this universal
cover of the land, so different from any thing before known, was merely
described with admiration by Europeans. No cause was sought for, or
thought wanting ; and they remained content with most erroneously attri-
buting the luxuriant growth of trees to the fertility of the soil, and the
want of the labors of tillage.*

The children of the early settlers grew up among forests, and they and
their children, judging from all they saw, learned to consider that almost
all soils, rich or poor, naturally would be covered by trees ; and while
falling into this error, they at least got rid of that of their forefathers, in con-
necting the idea of a luxuriant forest growth with great fertility. When
the spread of population finally brought the latter descendants to the borders
of the Mississippi, and the great prairies of the west first opened to their
astonished view, this change was as great as unaccountable, and yet the
cause as little sought, as that of the universal forest state had been by the
first emigrants from Europe. But ignorant wonder soon ceases, and leads

* The words of the founder of Virginia, C ipt. John Smith, show that the noble growth
of trees which he and the other first European visiter* found, gave them a very high and
certainly mistaken opinion of the general fertility of Lower Virginia. "Within [tin
capes of Virginia.] is a countrey that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant
places knowne, foi large and pleasant navigable rivers: heaven and earth never. ._
better to frame a place for man's habitation, wero it fully manured and inhabited by
industrious people. Here are mountains, hils, plaines, valleyes, rivers, and brookes, all
running most pleasantly into a faire bay, compassed, but for the mouth, wi'h fruitful and

delightsome land." " The vesture of the earth in most places doth manilestly proue

the nature of the soy I to be lusty and very rich. The colour of the earth we found in
diverse places resembleth bole jlrmoniac, terra a sigillata, and Lemnia, fuller's earth,
marie, and divers other such appearances. But generally for the most part it is a
blacke sandy mould, and in some places a fit slimy clay, and in other places a very
barren graved. But the best ground is knowne by the vesture it beareth, as by the
greatnesse of trees, or abundance of weeds, 8cc." " Virginia doth afford many ex-
cellent vegetables, and living creatures, yet giasse there is little or none, but what jrenv-
eth in low marishes : for all the countrey is overgrowne with trees, whose droppings
continually tumetli their grasse to weeds, by reason of the ranckness of the ground,
which would soone be amended by good husbandry. The wood that is most common
is oke and walnut, many of their okes are so tall and straight that they will beare two

foote and a halfe square of good timber for 20 yards long." (Second Booke of the Tut

TraieU, .idventvres, and Observations of Captaine lohn Smith, Sfc. London, 1629.) Cap-
tain Smith was altogether unskilled in agriculture, and it may be presumed that when
he spoke of the need of such rich land being " fully manured," as well as inhabited, he
meant nothing more than that it should be properly cultivated — of which, manuring was
deemed a general and necessary part. But this accidental (and according to his views,
erroneous) expression, was much nearer the truth than the opinion of fertility being
proved by the " greatnesse of trees ;" for much the greater part of the land bearing the
largest and most magnificent growth of oaks, pines, and other common trees, was in
truth poor then, and will ever remain so, without the application of calcareous matter.

258 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

to no profitable search for causes, or for truth. The children of the first
settlers of the west have grown up among prairies ; and when another
century shall have passed, and our frontier settlements shall have reached
the base of the Rocky Mountains, it may begin to be believed there, that
the forest state is rarely known to nature, and is only produced by the
labors and care of man. So the Bedouin Arab thinks the world is made of
naked sand — and the Shetlander's world is of wet peat.

Of course these general remarks apply to those who are acquainted only
with some one region of the world, and who have not been informed of
others by books, any more than by travel. Among the more learned, there
has been no lack of causes assigned for these opposite appearances ; but
they are such as to show a strange disregard of all the requisites of sound
reasoning, and of accurate investigation. Any reason that was first ad-
vanced, however insufficient, however absurd, seems to have been readily
admitted, and to have passed current from one traveller, or writer, to ano-
ther. Thus, to the annual fires alone has been attributed the destruction
of trees, and the formation of the great prairies of the west ; and this cause
has been deemed sufficient by both the learned and the ignorant. The ob-
jection to it is, that all the Atlantic slope was burned over as often as the
west, before the settlement of the country, and in the former (at least east
of the mountains) not one acre of prairie had been produced.

Philosophical writers have maintained supposed causes of the destruction
of the forests which formerly covered England, which are very plausible
when considered alone. But precisely similar causes have been operating
long and generally in this country, and our forests not only do not decay
and die, but continue to defy every agent of injury, except the thorough use
of the axe and plough. Even where long continued tillage has the most ef-
fectually eradicated the natural and original forest growth, if the impover-
ished land is merely let alone for thirty years, it will (in most cases) be
better covered with a new growth of trees, than the utmost care could raise
in England. Examples of the facts and reasoning referred to are presented
in the following passage from Davy. •' In instances where successive gene-
rations of vegetables have grown upon a soil, unless part of their produce
has been carried off by man, or consumed by animals, the vegetable matter
increases in such a proportion, that the soil approaches to a peat in its
nature ; and if in a situation where it can receive water from a higher dis-
trict, it becomes spongy, and permeated with that fluid, and is gradually
rendered incapable of supporting the nobler classes of vegetables.

"Many peat-mosses seem to have been formed by the destruction of
forests, in consequence of the imprudent use of the hatchet by the early
cultivators of the country in which they exist: when the trees are felled in
the out-skirts of the wood, those in the interior are exposed to the influence
of the winds ; and having been accustomed to shelter, become unhealthy,
and die in their new situation, and their leaves-and branches, gradually de-
composing, produce a stratum of vegetable matter. In many of the great
bogs in Ireland and Scotland, the larger trees that are found in the out-skirts
of them bear the marks of having been felled. In the interior, few entire
trees are found ; and the cause is, probably, that they fell by gradual decay ;
and that the fermentation and decomposition of the vegetable matter was
most rapid where it was in the greatest quantity." — \_Lec. 4.] In Virginia
no one forest tree has been known to die, or even to decline, from being
exposed in the manner above described as so fatal : and such effects being
produced in England would only prove that the soil was unfavorable to trees.
and their life therefore feeble and sickly, and ready to yield to any new and
considerable cause of injury.

CM A INI RES— APPKNDI1 2/J9

The entire trross the Pampas between Bu-

enos Ayres and the Andes, lias been still more absurdly attributed to the
winds across those w ide plains with

such violence, that no trees could withstand their power. I have seen in
our forests where a hurricane had uprooted or broken off every tree of size
in its course. Hut no wind could 3 uil' and flexible under-

wood; and if such winds swept the same track every year, or every
month, they would not prevent it being thickly covered with youn<r sapling

The downs in England, which have not been tilled for hundreds of years,
and are only valuable lor sheep pasture, show no rising growth of trees.
This is not held strange there, but would l» niliciently account-

ed for by the poverty of the soil, and the (supposed) impossibility of young
trees growing, even if planted on ofx-n pasture land, without any care, and
where they were always exposed to the attacks of live stock. But in
Virginia, no degree of poverty, no exposure to grazing, will prevent unfilled
land growing up in wood. Annual fires, grazing animals, and poverty,
wetness or sandiness of soil, all may prevent the growth of trees, as
alleged In different countries j but all these are but secondary causes which
would have little or no effect, without the more powerful operation of some
other and primary cause. This cause will be found m the peculiar constitu-
tion of the noil; and I will proceed to state my reasons for believing that
the cause of the different conditions of land as to being naturally covered
with trees, or not so in general is merely the deficiency of lime in the soil, or
its abundance— the former state being friendly to forest growth, and the
latter being as unfriendly. Or — in terms so general as to cover all the ex-
ceptions which will hereafter be admitted to the foregoing position— it may
ted, that the formation of prairies. &e., is caused by Me existence of
sucli i ,ater degree

than the growth aftrmi — and of all such circumstances, the abundance of
■ous matter in the soil is the most efficient.

In addressing readers residing in, or otherwise well acquainted with the
Atlantic states, it is unnecessary to adduce facts to prove the general and
strong disposition of the soil to prodm ■ trees, In vigor and luxuriance— to
the labors of man for their destruction— and to return to the state of
forest whenever tillage is intermitted. No unfilled land will long remain
naked, or in grass ; and even under a regular rotation of crops, the labor of
grubbing to destroy young trees is continually required on most lands, and
particularly on those originally of inferior quality. Our poorest lands in
lower Virginia, are generally covered with young pines in four or five years
after being left without tillage, and their after-growth is as rapid and heavy
as European timber growers would expect on the best lands, and with every
care bestowed for that end. Hut it is not only to pines, (though that is the
most striking case.) that this applies. In the higher and suffer lands, where
pines are rare, the sprtaging of other young trees shows the same general
tendency of the soil. If this tendency can be said to be feeble any where
in lower Virginia (and it may be presumed that the i f things ex-

ists in all the Atlantic states,) it is on the few naturally rich soils on the
rivers, some of which are the only lands naturally calcareous in the country,
and all of which derived their natural fertility and permanent value from
sing lime in some form as an ingredient In the ' Essay on Calcareous
Manures' proofs have been exhibited of this supposed quality of such lands,*
and therefore they will not !*■ repeated here. It . maintaned

• Part I . chapter vii. — On neutral soils.

260 CALCARF.OUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

in the same work, and the proofs exhibited at length, that in Virginia and
the Atlantic states generally there are few soils containing naturally any
portion whatever of carbonate of lime — and all the vast region which is so
peculiarly constituted in being destitute of this ingredient, is precisely that
which so strongly favors the growth of trees.

Over all this great extent of country, we may suppose that the aboriginal
inhabitants sent fires every year to aid their hunting. Indeed it would have
been scarcely possible to avoid it, when almost the whole country was un-
der one great forest, and the entire surface covered with dry leaves. For
more than a century after the settlement of the present race of civilized in-
habitants, fires passed over the wood-land almost every spring — caused
either by the carelessness or design of hunters, or by the farmers to forward
the growth of grass for their cattle. It required legal prohibitions, added to
the general extension of tillage, and the great damage of burning fences,
&c, to put a stop to this practice of burning the woods. Even in these
latter times we hear of fires of tremendous fury sweeping hundreds of
square miles in Maine, destroying timber, and every combustible matter on
the few small farms in this yet wild region. Yet no where below the moun-
tains, nor in any poor region, has the wood growth been destroyed— nor
has an acre of prairie been thus formed, whether on land rich or poor.
This is enough to prove that no violence or frequency of fires can destroy
' and keep down the growth of trees, unless aided by some other and more
efficient agent.

The most general cause of the absence of trees.

The next position that will be assumed is, that most of the prairies, pam-
pas, steppes and downs, which are bare of wood, though never tilled, are
highly calcareous, and therefore unfriendly to the growth of trees.

The proofs necessary to maintain such wide ground, directly and abso-
lutely, would require more of time, and labor of investigation, than the la-
bors and life of any one individual would suffice for; therefore the facts that
will be offered are considered only as specimens of the thousands which the
world could furnish, and to be taken as fair samples of all, only while they
remain uncontradicted by other opposing facts. No traveller having (to my
knowledge) sought to learn or to report any particular information as to the
constitution of such soils, or having attached any importance to the pre-
sence or absence of calcareous ingredients, I have only been able to gather
indirectly from their observations the scattered testimony which will be ad-
duced. Unfortunately no traveller has been a scientific agriculturist ; and
though many have been mineralogists, geologists, or chemists, they have
given no attention to the constitution of the soils over which they passed,
nor did any seem to consider that the composition of the soil had any bear-
ing on its strange external features, which were the theme of their admira-
tion. Dr. Clarke, distinguished as he deservedly was as a man of science,
has told as little of the nature of the soil of the Russian steppes, as most of
the least uninformed of the observers of our prairies.

Proofs— derived from the general description of prairies, pampas, steppes, Sfc.

Before entering more upon particulars, in addressing readers who are ge-
nerally (like the writer) accustomed only to soils favorable to trees, it is pro-
per to describe generally the features of the great regions which are bare of
such growth, and which, under the different names of prairies, barrens, and
sai'annas in North America, pampas in South America, and steppes in

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 2<j 1

Russia and Tartary, form a very large portion of those parts of the globe-
All of these, with various grades of fertility, and many points of difference
in other respects, agree in being, or having been at some time when in a
state of nature, bare of trees, or nearly so, and in being clothed with grass
of greater or less luxuriance.

The word "prairie" was first applied by the French colonists, and means,
in their language, a meadofe. Tin' nam'' therefore plainly enough designat-
ed all land covered only with grass. The name of" barrens," so strangely
applied in Kentucky to very rich lands, of this kind, was owing to the re-
semblance of the dry grass on these lands to the broom grass which covers
and grows luxuriantly on the naturally poor soils of lower Virginia, when
left out of cultivation. This resemblance caused the surveyors who w ere
sent to lay off the Virginia military lands, to reject these as barren soil, and
the term then so erroneously applied to an extensive region, has still con-
tinued to be used, and even has been extended to similar lands elsewhere.

It will" be most sure and satisfactory to use the language of the writers
who have seen and described these regions, rather than to attempt a more
general and condensed description, at the risk of changing the purport of
their expressions. None of these writers, nor any that I have been able to
consult, give any direct and positive testimony derived from analysis, as to
the soil being supplied, or not, with calcareous ingredients. It is only from
incidental observations of the nature of the rocky subsoil, the kinds of grass,
&c, that any information of this kind has been indirectly gathered. All that
can be said is, that such testimony, so far as it goes, is in favor of the calca-
reous composition of such soils generally. Such expressions as most
strongly (though indirectly) support my views of the constitution of prairie
soils, or show a resemblance of one of these regions to some other better
known, will be put in italics.

The first extracts will be from the Views of Louisiana, by H. M. Breck-
enridge, a writer intimately acquainted with the western country, and who
describes what he had travelled over and seen. The Louisiana of which
this work treats includes not only the state as now bounded, but all the vast
region lying west of the Mississippi, formerly held under that general name
by the French and Spanish governments.

"This extensive portion of North America, has usually been described
from the inconsiderable part which is occupied by the settlements, as though
it were confined to the immediate borders of the Mississippi, as Egypt is to
those of the .Nile. By some, it is represented in general description as a
low, flat region, abounding in swamps and subject to inundation ; which is
the same thing as if the Netherlands should furnish a description for all the
rest of Europe. Others speak of Louisiana as one vast forest of wilderness:

" Missouri marches through the world of wood? ;"

which is far from being the case, for excepting on the banks of this river,
and that not more than one-half its course, the country through which it
passes is deplorably deficient in woods. If, then, we are to describe. Lou-
isiana, not from a small district, important berause already the seat of
population, but from the appearance of the whole, combined in a general
view, we should say, that it is an extensive region of open plains and mea-
dows, interspersed with bare untillable hil/x, and with the exception of some
fertile tracts in the vicinity of the great rivers by which it is traversed, re-
sembling the grassy steppes of Tartary or the Saharas of Africa, but with-
out the numerous morasses and dull uniformity of the one, or the dreary
•terility of the other. The fertile tracts are chiefly to be found In the
33

Vg2 CALCAREOUS MANURES— Al'PENBlX.

narrow valleys of the great rivers Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Red
river, and some of their principal tributaries; the two largest bodies of
fertile soil are the delta of the Mississippi, which is much interspersed with
lakes, marshes, and sunken lands, that will require ages to reclaim, and the
territory of the Missouri, as limited by the boundaries lately agreed on with
the Indians, which bears a strong resemblance to the AVest Tennessee in
some of its features.'' — pp. 6

"A remarkable feature in this western side of the great valley [of the
Mississippi] is its deficiency of wood, while the opposite (with the excep-
tion of some parts on the north side of the Ohio, where the woods have been
burnt,) is a close and deep forest. The woods continue for a short distance
up the Mississippi before they disappear, and the grassy plains begin. The
banks of the Missouri are clo: bed. with luxuriant forest trees for three or
four hundred miles, after which they gradually become bare, and the trees
diminish in size ; at first we find thin groves of the kind of poplar called
cotton wood, but of a diminutive growth, intermixed with willows ; next
the same tree, reduced to half its height, and resembling an orchard tree ;
after this a thin border of shrubbery is almost the only ornament of the
margin of the river. The same thing may be said of the Arkansas and
Red river.

" Taking the distance to the mountains to be about nine hundred miles,
of the first two hundred, the larger proportion on the Missouri and its
waters is well adapted to agricultural sett'ements, its soil and conveniences
are equal if not superior to those of Tennessee or Illinois; this tract will
include the greater part of the White and Osage rivers, the lower Missouri,
and for at least one hundred and fifty miles north of this last river. The
proportion of wood gradually lessens to the west, and still more to the
north, with the addition that the lands become of an inferior quality. For
the next three hundred miles, the country will scarcely admit of compact
settlements of any great extent; the wooded parts form trifling exceptions
to its general surface, and are never met with but on the margin of the
rivers. We may safely lay it down, that after the first two hundred miles,
no trees are found on the uplands, save stinted pines or cedars ; the rest
of the country consists of open plains of vast magnitude, stretching beyond
the boundary of the eye, and chequered by numerous waving ridges, which
enable the traveller to see his long wearisome journey of several days before
him. Yet, it does not seem to me, that the soil of this tract is any where
absolutely unproductive ; it is uniformly covered with herbage, though net
long and luxuriant like that of th3 plants nearer the centre of the valley;
it is short and close, but more nutritious to the wild herds, than the coarse
grass of the common prairie. This tract has not the dreary barrenness
described by Johnson in his Tour to the Hebrides ; the green carpet which
covers, and the beautiful shrubberies which adorn it, afford relief to the
eye. But again, it is very doubtful whether trees could be cultivated ; for
I observed that the trees which by accident are permitted to grow, are but
dwarfs ; the oak for instance, is not larger than an orchard tree, the plumb
is nothing more than a shrub, in some places not exceeding a currant bush.
There are, however, scattered over the immense waste, a number of spots
which greatly surpass in beauty any thing I have ever seen to the east of the
Mississippi. But there are others, again, barren in the extreme, producing
nothing in the best soil but hyssop and the prickly pear." — pp. 69, 7 1 .

"Thus it appears, that with the exception of a belt of one hundred and
fifty, or two hundred miles in width, at most, stretching from the Missouri,
in a line parallel with the course of the Mississippi, across the Arkansas and
Red river to the Sabine, about twice the territory of New York, but not a

iREOl s mani ki - VPPJ

tenth part of the western section of the valley, the ; Louisiana is

little better than a barren waste, and that the eastern side will alwaj
tain a tnoch greater population."— p!

"This western region, it is certain, can never become agricultural; but it
is I" many hly favorable for the multiplication of floe!.

herds lightful spots, where the beauty and variety of the land-

scape might challenge the fancy of the □ pastoral life.

How admirably adapted to the interesting little animal, the sheep, are those
clean smooth meadows, of a surface so infinitely varied by hill and dale,
covered with a short sweet grass, Intermixed with thousands of the most
beautiful (lowers, undeformed by a single w<

"I confess that, to me, nature never wore an aspect so lovely as on the
'"'"''y P]»tas "' the west Krom their dry and unsheltered surface, no
damp and unwholesome vapors rise to lessen the elasticity of (he ,
dim the brilliant blue of the heavens. So transparent is the
that a slight smoke can be discerned at the distance of many miles, which
curiously exercises the caution and sagacity of the fearful sa\
the watch to destroy, or to avoid destruott n, that sublii

mensity which surrounds us; the sea in motion is a sublime object, but n .t
to be compared to the varied scenes which here present themselves,
over which the body, as well as the imagination,

beams of the sun appeared to me to have . .,.S) ,„• perhaps this

might be owing to the cool breezes which continually Km the air, bringing

their wings the odors of millions of fl mind appe

tion, when i : fted up bo much

higher than the centre of the valley. There was to me something like the
rabies of Bury land, in pas country where for hand]

I saw no inhabitants but the buffalo, deer, the elk, and antelope: I have
called it the paradise of hunters, for to them it is Indeed a paradise. There
are, however, some important drawbacks oil th.- advantages ofthis country
even considered as a pastoral district. To the north of the Missouri, rains
are extremely rare, but when they are set in, pour down in torrents while
to the south their place is chiefly supplie I In the dry

season, which is from the month of Joj , September

at a distance from the great riv<
The buffalo at this time leaves the plain

Indians in their excursions to any conside ,.; ,,,

shape their courses by Some known pond, and to es a quantity

iter in bladders. It is possible, that wells might be sunk, but it is cer-
tain, that at this se .,„, n/
vote*; one may frequently pass the beds(

i in the sands, bul after rains, or on tl , i e snows ii

ab'etorrehfc lown in turbitl

Rightful floods. ' -pp. ;:;, ;.,.

trad of country north of the Missouri is

ater proporti in of prairie. It has a waving
surface, varied by those dividing ridg ms, which in Kentucky

prairies, it is well known, are caused by repi
and desolating fires, and the soil is extn

"The plains of Indiana and Illinois have been mostly , i„ced by the

sarae,' are very different from the savannas on the sea board

and the immense plains of the Upper Missouri, in j of [ndiana

I have been assured that the woods in places nave he,-,, known to recede'
and in others to increase, within the recollection of the old inhabitants In'
moist places, the woods are still standing, the fire meeting there with obstruc-

£g4 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

tion. Trees, if planted in these prairies, would doubtless grow. In the
islands, preserved by accidental causes, the progress of the fire can be traced ;
the first burning would only scorch the outer bark of the tree ; this would
render it more susceptible to the nest, and the third would completely kill.
I have seen in places, at present completely prairie, pieces of burnt trees,
proving that the prairie had been caused by fire. The grass is usually very
luxuriant, which is not the case in the plains of the Missouri. There may
doubtless be spots where the proportion of salts, or other bodies, may be
such, as to favor the growth of grass only.

" Such woods as remain are fine, but the quantity of adjoining prairie is
usually too great. There are large tracts, however, admirably suited for
settlements : a thousand acres or more of wood land, surrounded by as
much of prairie. It is generally well watered with fine streams, and also
interspersed with lakes. There is an extensive strip of land along this side
of the Missouri, of nearly thirty miles in width, and about one hundred
and fifty in length, altogether woods, and of excellent soil. An old gentle-
man, who has seen Kentucky a wilderness, informed me that the appear-
ance of this tract is similar, with the exception of its not being covered with
cane, and a forest so dark and heavy. The "Forks of the Missouri"
^such is the name given to the northern angle formed by the two great
rivers) daily increases in reputation, and is settling faster than any part of
the territory.

" The Missouri bottoms, alternately appearing on one side or other of
the river, we have already seen, are very fine for three hundred miles up,
generally covered with heavy timber; the greatest part of which is cotton
wood of enormous size. The bottoms are usually about two miles in
width, and entirely free from inundation. The bottoms of the Mississippi
are equally extensive and rich, but not so well wooded. They are in fact
a continued succession of the most beautiful prairies or meadows. The
tract called Les Mamelles, from the circumstance of several mounds,
bearing the appearance of art, projecting from the bluff some distance into
the plain, may be worth describing as a specimen. It is about three miles
from St. Charles ; I visited it last summer. To those who have never seen
any of these prairies, it is very difficult to convey any just idea of them.
Perhaps the comparison to the smooth green sea is the best. Ascending
the mounds, I was elevated about one hundred feet above the plain ; I had a
view of an immense plain below, and a distant prospect of hills. Every
sense was delighted, and every faculty awakened. After gazing for an
hour, I still continued to experience an unsatiated delight, in contemplating
the rich and magnificent scene. To the right, the Missouri is concealed by
a wood of no great width, extending to the Mississippi, the distance of ten
miles. Before me, I could mark the course of the latter river, its banks
without even a fringe of wood ; on the other side, the hills of the Illinois,
faced with limestone, in bold masses of various hues, and the summits
crowned with trees; pursuing these hills to the north, we see, at the distance
of twenty miles, where the Illinois separates them, in his course to the Mis-
sissippi. To the left, we behold the ocean of prairie, with islets at intervals.
The whole extent perfectly level, covered with long waving grass, and at
every moment changing color, from the shadows cast by the passing clouds.
In some places there stands a solitary tree of cotton wood or walnut, of
enormous size, but from the distance diminished to a shrub. A hundred
thousand acres of the finest land are under the eye at once, and yet, on all
this space, there is but one little cultivated spot to be seen." — pp. 204,206.

" Nothing else was visible — not a deer, not a tree— all was prairie

—a wide unbroken sea of green— where hollow succeeded hollow, and the

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX 265

long grass waved on the hills with a heavy surf-like motion, until at last-it
ended with the hazy atmosphere, which met the horizon. The power
of sight was shut out by nothing; it had its full scope, and we gazed around
until our eyes ached with the very yastness of the vfew that lay before
them. There waa a degree of pain, of loneliness, in the scene. A tree
would have been a companion, a friend. It would have taken away the
very desolation which hung round us, and would have thrown an air of
sociability over the fare of nature; but there were none. The annual fires
which sweep over the whole lace of the country during the autumn of every
year, effectually destroy every thing of the kind. There will be no forest
as long as the Indians possess these regions; for every year, when the
season of hunting arrives, they set fire to the long dry grass. Once fairly
on its errand, the destructive messenger speeds onward, licking up every
blade and every hush ; until some strip of timber, whose tall trees protect
the shrubbery, by the dampness which they diffuse beneath, or some
stream, stops it in its desolating path.

" The object of burning the grass is to drive the deer and elk that are
roving over the broad extent of the prairies, into the small groves of tim-
ber scattered over the surface. Once enclosed within these thickets, they
fall an easy prey to the hunters." — Irvinir's Indian Sketches, 1835.

The next extracts are from an article in Silliman's Journal, by W. W.
Mc< Juire, on the prairies of Alabama.

" In speaking of the prairies, the rock formation claims particular atten-
tion. It is uniformly found below the prairie soil, at various depths,
ranging from ten to fifteen feet, and it sometimes projects above the ground.
This rock is generally known by the name of rotten limestone; when re-
moved for several feet on the top, and exposed to the action of the atmo-
sphere for some time, it assumes a beautiful white color. In its soft state it
is easily quarried, and blocks of almost any dimensions can be procured.
It has been dressed by planes and other instruments, and used in building
chimneys, some of which have stood twelve or fifteen years without injury
or decay. A summer's seasoning is requisite to fit it for building. This
rock has been penetrated by boring to depths varying from one hundred to
five hundred and fifty feet; after the first six or seven feet, it is of a bluish
or gray color, but still soft except in a few instances, where flint strata of a
foot thick or more have been met with. On perforating the rock, a full
supply of good water is always obtained, which uniformly flows over the
top. I have heard of no constant running stream of water over this rock,
except one in Pickens county, near the lower line. The superincumbent
earth is for a few feet composed principally of stiff clay, of whitish color;
then comes the mould of soil, which is very black— in wet weather it is
extremely miry and stiff, and in dry, very hard and compact.

"Shells, such as the oyster, muscle, periwinkle, and some other kinds, are
found in great quantities throughout almost all the prairies nf Alabama and
Mississippi ; the first named being the most numerous, mixed in every pro-
portion with the others. The oyster shells are perfectly similar to those
now obtained from the oyster banks on the shores of the Atlantic. The
largest beds of shells in the open prairies seem to occupy rather elevated,
but not the highest places. They have probably been removed from the
more elevated situations by torrents of rain. It may be that the lowest
places never contained any shells; or if they did, as vegetable matter ac-
cumulates in greater quantities in low situations, they may have been thus
covered. In some instances I believe they have been found in such places,
several feet below the surface. They are not found in very large quanti-
ties in the timbered prairies ; and indeed, so far as I have observed, where-

266 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

ever the shells are numerous, vegetation is not so luxuriant as where there
is a proper admixture of the decomposed or decomposing shells and vege-
table matter.

•• These shells and other decomposing materials appear to have given a
peculiar character to the prairie soil, which causes it to adhere so strongly
to the legs of horses and to the wheels of carriages as to remain several
days in travelling, unless washed or beaten off. Yet, when well broken up.
at the proper season, and regularly ploughed, it remains quite mellow,
producing corn and cotton equal to the best alluvial bottoms, with, so far as
it has been tried, increased fertility ; although, from the compact nature of
the rock beneath, and the tenacity with which it retains moisture, crops are
injured sometimes by rains, but seldom by drought.

" There being no opening or fissures, except above the rock, by which to
convey the water directly to the channel of creeks and rivers, there are
consequently no reservoirs to contain supplies for fountains and springs. In
the winter and spring seasons the streams overflow and the land is literally
submerged. In the summer and autumn neither springs nor wells are to be
found, except below the rock ; yet, notwithstanding this scarcity of water,
there is seldom a lack of moisture for the purpose of vegetation. And at
times when the drought is such as to produce fissures two or three inches
wide, and as many feet deep, the earth will be found quite moist at the depth
of tiro or three inches.

" There are open prairies of every size, from one hundred to one thousand
or twelve hundred acres, mixed and interspersed in every form and mode
with timbered land of all kinds ; some producing only black-jack and post
oak, not exceeding fifteen or twenty feet in height; others again covered
with the most majestic oak, poplar, elm, hickory, walnut, pacaun, hackberry,
grape-vine and cane, equal in size and beauty, I understand, to similar kinds
in the Mississippi alluvions.

" The extent of this country may not be unimportant. I am informed
that traces of prairie soil may be seen in Georgia, perhaps as far east as Mil-
ledgeville. It is indeed said to exist in North Carolina; but of this I have
not evidence such as to warrant the assertion. That it stretches nearly
five hundred miles eastward from the vicinity of the Mississippi on the west
almost to Milledgeville, there is no doubt ; and if it extends, as is said to be
the fact, to North Carolina, it reaches four hundred or five hundred miles
farther, being perhaps nine hundred or one thousand miles long, and from
forty to sixty in breadth."

In addition to the foregoing extracts, several communications to the
Farmers' Register, (which are before its readers.) confirm these statements,
and (independent of the aid of chemical analysis, which will be referred to
hereafter,) show that the prairie soils of Alabama generally are intermixed
with calcareous earth, and universally underlaid with that substance in a
much more pure form, yet soft enough to be penetrated by roots.* 'i he
letter of N. D. Smith, Esq., in the last number gives a like account of the under-
lying stratum of the prairies of Arkansas. Such is also the account of Mr.
Featherstonhaugh in his geological report of that region— and in addition to
the calcareous character of the underlying soft rock, he speaks (though not
in very definite terms) of the black rich soil above, as being substantially
calcareous."! Another similar fact in a remote locality, has recently been
published. A tract of prairie land in the northwest part of Pennsylvania,

* See Farm. Reg. pp. 276,277. 367, of vol. i.— and pp. G37, 716, 717, vol. ii, and
p. 140. Essay on Calcareoous Manures.

t See extract from the report at page 147, vol. iii. Farm. Reg.

CALCAREOOS MAMRK.s- APPENDIX. 267

lies on calcareous earth, so pure as to he converted, by being burnt, to
lime of the best quality. This earth reaches to within a foot of the
surface.*

The next extracts present sufficient ground for considering the steppes
and prairies as belonging to the same class.

" In all parts of the river [Don] above Kasankaia, it seems to flow over "
bed of chalk : audits banks, gently swelling upwards from the water, rise
like the South Downs of Sussex ; often disclosing the chalk, of which they
consist. Farther down, and near the water's edge, low copses of wood al-
most always accompany its course ; but they diminish as it draws nearer
to Tscherchaskoy, the inhabitants ol which town derive all their wood from
the Volga.

" As soon as we left Kasankaia, we entered the steppes in good earnest,
with a view to traverse their whole extent to Tscherchaskoy. These are
not cultivated ; yet, bleak and desolate as their appearance during winter
must be, they have in summer the aspect of a wild continued meadow.
The herbage rises as high as the knee, full of (lowers, ami exhibiting a most
interesting collection of plants No one collects or cuts this herbage. The
soil, though neglected, is very fine. We passed some oaks in the first part
of our journey, which had the largest leaves I ever saw." — Clark's Travel*
in Russia, p. 189.

" Leaving this encampment, we continued traversing the steppes in a
south-westerly direction, and passed a very neat village belonging to a rich
Greek, who, to our great surprise, had established a residence in the midst of
these desolate plains. As we advanced, we perceived that wherever rivers
intersect the steppes, there are villages, and plenty of inhabitants. A manu-
script map at Tscherchaskoy confirmed the truth of this observation. No
maps have been hitherto published in Europe which give an accurate notion
of the country. A stranger crossing the Cossack territory, might suppose
himself in a desert, and yet be in the midst of villages. The road, it is true,
does not often disclose them ; but frequently, when we were crossing a
river, and believed ourselves in the midst of the most uninhabited country,
which might be compared to a boundless meadow, we beheld villages to the
right and left of us, concealed, by the depth of the banks of the river,
below the level of the plain ; not a single house or church of which
would have been otherwise discerned." — p. 198.

" From Acenovkaia, we continued our route over steppes apparently des-
titute of any habitation. Dromedaries were feeding, as if sole tenants of
these wide pastures."— p. 199.

Dr. Clarke, though traversing a vast extent of steppes, says very little
more of them than is presented in the short quotations above. They give
a clear though indirect indication of their chalky formation, and similarity
to the downs of Sussex in England. Yet the author seems to have attached
no importance to these facts, nor does he take any other notice, direct or
indirect, of the nature, or chemical composition of the soil. Yet, in addi-
tion to his scientific attainments as a chemist and mineralogist, his botanical
knowledge, if properly applied, would have thrown much light on this sub-
ject I have no doubt but hereafter the character of soils, as to possessing
calcareous matter abundantly, or being destitute of that ingredient, will be
determined with certainly by the presence or absence of many different
plants. Dr. Clarke gives a catalogue of many of the plants observed in
his journey, and of them a few are stated to have been found on the steppes.

" See Farmers' Regitter, page 169, vol iii.

268 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

These are copied below,* that others who have some knowledge of botany,
may be able to state whether these plants are confined to calcareous soils or
not. If the author had stated that sheep sorrel was a common growth of
the steppes, I would at once admit, from that solitary fact, that the soil must
be destitute of calcareous earth. In like manner, if the soil is highly calca-
reous, some of the plants which he observed there, or which may be found
on the prairies, would afford as certain proof of that fact, as the presence of
sorrel would of the reverse. These suggestions are thrown out for the
consideration of investigators who have the knowledge and opportunities
requisite to put them to use. It is a new field for botanists, which promises
a sure and valuable harvest.

The next extracts, which are from Tooke's View of the Russian Empire,
will give more full information of the steppes.

"Arable land.— Under this head we must reckon various tracts of land,
especially, 1. Those that are kept in constant cultivation and tillage, such
as are every where seen in Great and Little" Russia, in the provinces bor-
dering on the Baltic, and many others. 2. Such as are only used at times,
and left quiet for a great length of time. In some regions, for instance, in
Little Russia, about the Don,j &c where they are looked upon as steppes,
which if merely ploughed and then sown, would be productive ; in others,
for example, in Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, where they are rendered
fertile by fire, and are called by the countrymen bush-lands.f On such par-
cels of ground, which are either allotted into particular possessions, or with-
out a proper owner, villages might be gradually erected. In uninhabited
districts these tracts are most frequent. 3. Those that are proper for agri-
culture, but lie totally unemployed : they- wait only for industrious hands.
There are still plenty of these vast tracts where millions of men might find
work and profit, especially in fruitful steppes, and in numberless large forests.

" The fertility of all these tracts is very different according to the quality
of the soil. In Livonia and Esthonia, from good fields they reap 8. and in
successful years from JO to 12 fold ; from indifferent ground about only 3,
but from better, at times 1(5 or even more than 20 fold. The harvests about
the Don are commonly 10 fold ; but towards Tomsk on the Tshumush, and
in the whole region between the Oby and the Tom, many fields afford an
increase of 25 to 30 fold, 5 and at Krasnoyarsk the failure of a crop was
never heard of; of winter corn they reap 8, of barley 12, and of oats 20
fold. ||

" In Little Russia, on the Don, and in many other places, the fields are
never manured, only ploughed once, just to turn up the earth, afterwards har-
rowed, and then sown : more culture, especially dunging, would push the

• " Centaurea fri°ida, northern knap weed — on the steppes " " Centaurea radiala,
rayed knap weed — on the steppes near Koslof. The sheep feed on it in winter, and it is
supposed to give them that gray wool so much valued by the Tartars." " Crocus sativus,
autumnal meadow-saffron — steppes near Achmetchet." " Geranium sylraticum, wood
crane's bill — steppes." " Silene guadrifida, four-cleft catch-fly — steppes, near Perecop,"
" Sisymbrium Locselii, Loesel's hedge-mustard — steppes near Perecop." Slatice trigona,
three-sided lavender — in the steppes, very frequent." " Vcscia pannonica, Pannonian
vetch — steppes. " Slipa Pennaia — in all the steppes." Many other plants are named
in different parts of the work, as found in the region of steppes, but it is not certain that
they were always from such soil, and therefore are not added to this list.

t The Don Kozak takes, in whatever part of the steppe he chooses, a piece fit for
cultivation, and, bestows his labor upon it as long as he thinks proper or as long as its
visible fertility will amply reward his labor.

X See Hupel Liefl. and Esthl. vol. ii.

§ Pallas, vol. ii p. 650 et seq.

|| Ibid. vol. Hi. p. 6.

CALCAREOUS MAM RES APPENDIX

corn up ton luxuriantly or parch it, and so hurl the harvest, as the soil is
sufficiently fertile of itself Of equal goodness is the ground In great part
of Siberia , for example, on the Samara, on the I mntry of the

Bashkirs, here and. therein the Baraba\orthe Barabinian stepp
Kama, whence a great quantity ofcorn is sent t<> the northern cornless
dwelling-places on the Dvina and Petshora. In like manner too

in itMi t of Isetsk the isists of a black earth, I

depth of an ell, consequently is proper for tillage, for meadow-land, and gar-
den ground. On the Oby near Barnaul; the black earth does not indeed go
very deep, but lit c marly elm/' thai Hi rtilizes it nt> much as to

make it, in d plentiful harvests, without manurii

twenty years successively, f At Krasnoyarsk, the fields will bear no manure
whatever, and yet continue fruitful for 10 or 15 years, if only suffered to
lie fallow every third year.) When the fertility ceases, the boor takes a fresh
from the steppe. On the Selenga, in the district of Selenghinsk, the
fields an- hilly, and yet will bear no manure, as it is found on repeated trials
to spoil the corn.*",

Speaking of the meadow land, the same author says—

"Some steppes produce the i»-st meadow-grass for provender, and yield
seed for making artificial meadowB; such as the t spared! e, the alpine body
sarium, clorer, various kinds of artemisia, pulse, Star-flower plants," and fine
grasses that will bear any climate."

There was i to believe that other plants mentioned as grow-

ing on these lands, as clover, vetches, &c. indicated a calcareous soil ; but
here is one mentioned, which alone is a positive and sufficient proof.
Esparcettc, which is stated as one of the natural grasses of some of the
steppes, is the French name of sainfoin— ami the fact of its growth, alone,
proves, as well as any chemical analysis could, that all the soils bearing it
arc highly calcareous. Sainfoin not only delights in calcareous soils, but it
will scarcely live, an 1 cann it thrive, on any other. It is a valuable grass
on chalk soils in England, which would be almost barren under grain
tillage; and it has never been raised in Virginia, and indeed will scarcely
produce a few feeble and scattering stalks on our best lands. The bald and
least productive prairies of our western country would be the proper place
for this grass.

meadows may be reduced to these four kinds: 1. Fine produc-
tive meads that have a a <• 1 black, but somewhat moist soil: these yield the
greatest crops, of hay ; to them belong the luchtcn [overflowed land. J 2.
Dry, whereof the soil Is lit for agriculture, and at times is so employed ;
they commonly yield a short but very nutritious hay. 3. Watery and
marshy; these do not produce the best, but gi\e a very serviceable hay in
cases of scarcity in parching summers and dry places. 4. Fat steppes,
where the grass in some parts grows to the height of a man: they are sel-
dom mown."

" Steppes. — This term does not properly denote low and watery places, or
morasses, but dry, elevated, extensive, and for the most part uninhabited
plains. Some of them being destitute of wood and water, are therefore
uninhabitable ; others have shrubs growing on them, and are watered by
streams, at least have springs or wells, though they are void of inhai

• A darkojray eartb, about a foot tvhirh runs a I«jt of etay, -i

held in manv places to be fine arablt
t Pallas, vol ii. p. oil.

• j Ibid. vol. iii. p. 6. .
<) Ibid, r 169.
t Ibid. vol. ii. p. 76.

270 CALCAREOUS MAMJRES— APPENDIX

yet in these, nomadic people wander about with their herds and Hocks, and
thus make them, if not (heir constant, yet their summer residence, in
many of them are seen villages. Some occupy a very large space: thus it
is calculated that the steppe between Samara and the town of Uralsk'
amounts in length to upwards of 700 versts ; but, as every twenty or tiiirty
versts we come to a lake or river, the Ural Kozaks traverse them when they
fetch their meal from Samara. Probably hereafter several of these steppes,
at least in some places, will be cultivated, if they wish to raise forests upon
them.

"In regard to the soil an extreme variety prevails, either being very fruit-
ful and proper for agriculture or for meadow-land, or indiscriminately for
both. Accordingly in the steppe about the Don, the Kozaks of those pails
employ themselves in agriculture, as well as in the breeding of cattle.
Some of them furnish excellent pasture by their fine herbage, as the south-
ern tract of the Isetskoi province, and the steppe of the middle horde of the
Kirghistzi.f Or the soil is unfruitful : whether it be the sand, the salt, or the
stone it contains that is the cause of it. Among these are to be reckoned
the sandy steppe on the Irtish near Omsk; in general, we find about the
mountains up the Irtish pure arid steppes, and therefore no villages. Also
the Krasno-ulimskoi, between the rivers Belaia, Kama, and Tchussovaia,
towards the Ural-chain, is mostly sandy ; and that on the Argoun towards
the borders of China, is of a still worse soil, consisting of rocky particles
and flint. The whole of the steppe along the river Knshum, towards the
town of Uralsk, is described by Prof. Pallas^ as dry, poor, saline, and unfit
for any kind of agriculture, for the breed of cattle, and even for permanent
inhabitants; there is not even a solitary shrub to be seen, much less any
wood. In general saline spots are not unfrequent in the steppes ; and here
and there we also meet with salt-lakes: however, such districts may invite
to camel-pasture."— pp. 81, 83.

" The steppes axe frequently fired either by the negligence of travellers,
or on purpose by the herdsmen, in order to forward the crops of grass ; or,
it may be, out of malice, as some years since the Kozaks of the Yaik did ;
when, having risen in rebellion, a small corps of Russian troops advancing
against them, they saw themselves all at once almost entirely surrounded by
the high grass on fire. Such a catastrophe often occasions great mischief;
the flames spread themselves far and wide, put the dwellings of the inhabi-
tants in imminent danger, consume the corn on the ground, and even seize
on the forests. Many prohibitions under severe penalties have accordingly
been issued against this practice, but they seldon have any effect. \ All the
iteppesmay be considered as asort of common land."— p. 84.

" The steppe of the Don and the Volga comprises the whole space be-
tween the Don, the Volga, and the Kuban, and is a large, very arid steppe,
altogether destitute of wood and water; it has few inhabitants, and contains

several salt-lakes and salt-plots." " Within the confines of this steppe

lies what is called the Kuman steppe" " this, it is said, has all the ap-
pearance of a dried-up sea: it is a sandy, part clayey salt plain, without trees.
Many circumstances render it probable that it might really have been the
sea bottom, as the flat shores of the Caspian and Azof Seas, the shallowness
of their coasts, the low situation of the steppe, the saline lakes, and the sea
shells" 4-c. — Rees' Cyclopaedia.

Of the extensive Kamyk steppe, it is said, in the same work, that " the
soil consists of sand, marl, and clay, often mixed with sea shells."

' Formerly Yaik.
t Pallas, vol. ii. p. 75
t Travels, vol. iii. p. 525.
() See Pallas, vol. ii. p 378

CALCAKKUI S MAM KES-- APPENDIX 27 1

The latter passages include under the general name of Bteppes, sterile de-
serts of altogether a different character. In like manner, some great tracts

of naked s 1 11 1 in South America are called pampas— and s f what are

called prairies, west of the Arkansas territory, are of somewhat similar
general character to those descri ed above. These are mentioned ii
avoid the appearance of omitting what might be considered n
my positions. But these regions are altogetl Crop} the land

perly called prairies or steppes; and have no more connexion with our
I than if they hail been inure properly called sandy, stony, or salt
deserts.

" Pampas, a province in South America, in the vice-royalty of Buenos

-, consists of vast plains, which extend from the sea coast on the east,

to that great chain which forms the beginning of the Cordilleras of Colli,

i in leagues weal from the city oi Buenos Ayres. Towards the south,

100 leagues, to a chain proceeding W. N. W. frorn the

Atlantic. The northern boundaries are not distinctly known, but the

of Pampas is chiefly applied to the territory on the sfluth of Buenos Ayres,

. ,i. and Mend'oz t. These vast plains, like the steppes of ! ussia, bav-

nvely any elevation, the view, as at sea, is terminated by the horizon

ii iiv diversified with paths and ditches, which collect the rain

Watei s, an I which commonly end in lakes, as there is no declivity ; ye i
are wide tracts in which or is that element pur < ; and the

trees arc extremely rare, except a few shrubs round the lakes. Hence this
region is only inhabited by a few wandering savages. The soil is generally
ii black earth of little depth, and is followed by </ kind of coarse chalk, so that
it is difficult to form wells, as the water can scarcelypass ■ a sub-

stance. The chief pi-.iui.eje is clover, and in the be8l parts', sometimes so
strong as to resist the .step of a horse : it is much liked by the cattle, which,
when there is water, multiply prodigiously in the pampas."— Bees' Cypl

•• i In |e ivujg Buenos Ayres. the fit -' ei ed for 180 miles with

icona region i producesMong grass, with-

out a weed t and the third, 'reaching to the base of the < 'ordilleras, is a
of low trees and shrubs, in which such beautiful order is i it one

i Hop between them in every direction." " The climate of the

pis is subject to great ure, though the gradual

changes are very regular! The winter is as cold as an English November.
The summer is oppressively hot. But tli

sphere as beautiful </..■'/ salubric >st healthy pat c and

Italy, without their malaria." — Malt, BrutCs G'eog-.

■■ r ie whole plain nearest | to the fool of the I prdilleraj is a loose sandy
[ready impregnated with saline matter, which is inimical to vegetation
in the natural way. Tins Immense tracl is called the Traversia, or the
Desert, resembling similar tracts in Africa. When assist tion,it

is tli, '.' 1 1 note.)

Am. Ed.

A late traveller from Buenos Ayres to the Andes, Temple, speaks thus of
the first and second regions of pan

•'The country for leagues round is covered with thistles, which at this

season are to be seen growing to the prodigious height of eight, and, in some

'in amongst them i ide from the

sun, and to i- ith, are completely i These

i* form almost the only fuel for the lew inhabitants who are scattered

in periods of the year, when

272 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

over this vast wilderness : not a tree is to be seen, with the exception of a
few peach trees, which have been planted in the immediate neighborhood of
the huts.-' ********

" We now bade adieu to the region of thistles, through which we travelled
for upwards of one hundred miles, and which, on each side of the road, ex-
ton. led as far as the eye could reach. At this season of the year, in conse-
quence of these gigantic weeds being parched by the sun, the country, at
a distance, had the appearance of being covered with ripe corn; but the
scene was too monotonous to afford any agreeable impression. Madame
de Stael, on her journey into Paissia, remarks, [of the steppes,] '• there is so
much spare that every thing is lost—" "nseme les chateaux, meme la popula-
tion. On diroit qu'on traverse un pays dont la nation rient de s'en aller."
Here, on the contrary, the traveller would say that he traverses a country
where the nation is yet to come ; for every thing exists as nature first formed
it. unimproved, uncultivated, untouched." * * * *

" After leaving the region of thistles before mentioned, we travelled for
about 120 miles through a country of more agreeable aspect, though not a
tree as vet appeared to our view, the whole being one vast field of rich
pasture. This is the true pampa of South America of which we have of
late vears read and heard so much in Europe." * * * *

"Innumerable herds of cattle, the progeny, it is said, of six cows and a
bull imported rather more than two centuries ago from Spain, range at
larsre over this ever verdant surface of inexhaustible luxuriance. I have
been credibly informed that their numbers at the present day bear no pro-
portion to what they were before the devastating havoc of the late civil
war: still they appear to a European eye in countless multitudes, and leave
the traveller no longer cause to wonder that such fine animals should, at
one time, have been slaughtered in thousands, merely for their hides." * *
" This noble plain, entirely covered with pasture, extends many hundred
miles into the regions of Patagonia, where it is yet unexplored. M. Hum-
boldt calculated its area at 70,000 square leagues. 'This area,' he ob-
serves. ' of the pampas of Tucuman, Buenos Ayres, and Patasronia, (they
are all united,') is consequently four times as large as the area of all France.'
"No lawn was ever laid down with greater precision by the hand of
man. than this vast interminable plain has been by nature. Not a stone is
to be seen on its surface." — Temple's Travels.

" In the whole of this immense region, there is not a weed to be seen.
The coarse crass is its sole produce, and in the summer, when it is high, it
is beautiful to see the effect which the wind has in passing over this wild
expanse of waving grass: the shades between the brown and yellow are
beautiful. The scene is placid beyond description: no habitation or human
beine is to he seen, unless occasionally the wild and picturesque outline of
the graucho on the horizon, his scarlet poncho or cloak streaming horizon-
tally behind him. his balls flying round his head, and as he bends forward
towards his prey, his horse straining every nerve." — Head's Rough
Notes, >S:o.

Nature of prairie soils, so far as ascertained by chemical tests.

After I had ascertained the truth of the novel and strange fact that
•carcely any soils in Virginia, or of the other Atlantic states, of which I had

impenetrable barrier. Mr. Head remarks : " The sudden growth of these plants is quite
astonishin? : and though it would he an unusual misfortune in military history, yet it it
rea'lv noe.ible. that an invadine nrmv. unacquainted with this countrv. might be impri-
soned bv these thistlo, before they had time to escape from them."— Htad't Noitt.

S MANURES— APPENDIX

273

opportunity to examine specimens, contained any calcareous matter (car-
bonate of lime,1*) it became a new subject of surprise to learn from articles
which have been published in the Farmers' . . . vol. i.)

that many of the prairie lands of Alabama « i us according

> observations of those who judged merely from appearances. Com-
bining this fart with my own personal experience that old cleared lands, even
slightly calcareous, were much more easily kept clear of young bi
than naturally poor and acid soils-ami with what 1 had ren
kedness of chalk downs in England- and the L-eneral difficulty of rearing
trees in calcareous parts of Europe— all served p> build up the opinion
which I now aim to establish, that the abundance of calcareous earth in
prairie soils was the principal, and is a sufficient cause of the absence of
trees. Still there had never been an analysis made of any such soil, to my
knowledge, and there was no other kind of evidence (however slisrht) of
such quality of any prairie soils, except of a part of Alabama ; and reports
of the constituent parts of soils, judged solely by the eye, or by the mere
close neighborhood of calcareous rocks, I knew from experience, deserved
but little credit or respect. In 1834, I first obtained some such proofs from
a few specimens of prairie and wood-land soils from Marenao county, Ala-
bama, and one from Mississippi. The prairie soils were all calcareous,
containing from B to 59 per cent, of carbonate of lime; and these were the
first specimens of highly calcareous soils that I had ever examined, except
from shelly spots on the banks of our tide- water rivers. The wood-land
soils, like our lime-stone and other rich n< atral BOitef contained no carbonate
of lime. Since then, other specimens have been received and examined
from various parts of Alabama — and also the reports of analyses of others,
made by Pr. Cooper and Dr. Gibhes of South ' larolina, have been received,
and '■ ave been published in this journal. t Most of these soils are highly
calc i oiis, /: ,/ also ■tome specimens of prairie toils contain i«<t a particle of
car'* at,' of lime. This apparent contradiction will be considered hereafter.
It is proper to observe here that I do not extend the term prairie to any
land hearinc trees, unless of new growth, or land known to have formerly
been without them. Flu' I ness of this term is much impaired by

its heimr now applied in Alabama (and perhaps elsewhere) to soils having
the same peculiar texture, appearance, and sensible qualities, though covered
with trees. Thus "wooded prairies" are spoken of in the pieces formerly
published in this journal, and referred to in this piece.

In addition to new facts of the same kinds, for the convenience of the
reader, an abridged statement will here be given of the calcareous ingre-
dients of all the prairie soils which I have formerly examined, or which
have been analyzed by other persons, and the results communicated for
publication to the Farmers' Register: and also of other neighboring soils,
sometimes improperly called " prairie." though covered with growing trees.
It is proper to observe, that my own examinations were confined to lime in
one form of combination only — the carbonate— and that the silicious, alumi-
nous, and vegetable ingredients, when mentioned, were judged of by the
senses, and not by accurate chemical tests. My own trials and results will
be siven first.

Specimens of soils from Marencro county. Alabama, furnished and select-
ed by Richard Coqke, Esq. (Described more fully at page 41 of 'Essay on
Calcareous Manures.'

• E«3ay on ( nun ■-. p 3 i

♦ FN- ■.-

t See page* US, vol. ii, anil 272, vol ni Farmers' 1

9

274 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

No. 1. Prairie soil of the most productive kind in Alabama — a black clay
with scarcely any sand, yet so far from being stiff, becomes too light by be
ing tilled. Bears luxuriant crops of corn, oats, and cotton— but the last
after a few years, becomes subject to rust. Contained 8 per cent, of car
bonate of lime. All this kind of soil lies on a substratum of " rotten lime
stone," (specimens of which contained from 72 to 82 percent of carbonate
of lime) and which rises sometimes to the surface, forming the " bald
prairies."

No. 2. Bald prairie soil—" comparatively poor— neither trees nor bushes
grow there, and only grass and weeds before cultivation — corn does not
grow well — small grain better— cotton crops soon become subject to rust."
Contained 59 per cent, of carbonate of lime. The general substratum of
rotten limestone in texture and appearance, as well as in chemical charac-
ter, approaches the chalk of Europe more nearly than any other earth known
in the United States.

No. 3. Very rich cane brake land — a kind of prairie of a wetter nature,
from the winter rains not running off freely, and the tenacious soil not per-
mitting the superfluous water to sink through — contained 16 percent.

No. 4. From the valley cane land— very wet through winter, but always
dry in summer; after being ditched dry enough, and brings fine cotton,
&c. Contained no carbonate of lime.

No. 5. From what is called the best " post oak land." on which trees of
that kind stand from two to four feet in diameter — but little underwood, and
no cane — nearly as rich as the best cane land. No carbonate of lime.

No. 6. " Palmetto land," having that plant as well as a heavy and luxuriant
growth of large trees. A cold and wet soil before being brought into tilth,
but afterwards soft and easy to till, and produces corn and cotton finely.
The cane on it generally small. Soil from 4 to 10 feet deep. No carbonate
of lime.

Selected by Dr. "W. J. Dupuy—

No. 7. Soil from the Choctaw Prairie in Mississippi, an extensive body
of fertile land. Contained 13 per cent, of carbonate of lime.

Selected and sent by Dr. R. Withers, of Greene county, Alabama-
No. 8. From Kemper county, Miss., part of a " considerable body of
similar land, extending into Neshobak and Winston counties. Chocolate co-
lored sandy loam, very friable and easily worked— produces corn and
cotton well— growth, hickory, black-jack and some other oaks, principally
red oak, interspersed with a few pines." Contained no carbonate of
lime.

No. 9. " Prairie soil from near Demopolis, Alabama, taken from the road
near the surface. The rock here is within a few inches of the surface, and
many small fragments are mixed with the soil. It is a dark calcareous
mould— produces corn finely ; but there is too much lime for cotton."
Contained 60 per cent, of carbonate of lime.

No. 10. Subsoil of the common " open prairie" of Greene county, taken
from a foot or more below the surface. " The soil above is dark, and proba-
bly less calcareous. The rock is not more than two feet below the surface
Lime was perceptible in this specimen in powder, in detached masses, be-
fore being pounded." Contained 50 per cent, of carbonate of lime.

No. 11. "From the southern part of Noxubee county. Miss.— taken 4
inches below the surface, of land cultivated two years. It is a prairie coun-
try, but different from ours on this side of the Tombeckbe, in having the
elevated parts of it, which hardly amount to hills, covered with hickory
trees, interspersed with some black-jacks. Hence it is often called a
" hickory barren" country. Between the timbered portions, there are long

&»

cai i mix 275

savannas, or open prairies, which are very level and rich. This specimen

lie of them. It is covered with a very heavy eras*
very much resembling U iss: and some of it iili.it

species. It is al Brsl very difficult to eradicate; but when this is once <
ed, the soil Is as easily ploughed as other prairie soils, and produces corn
very finely ; say from 50 i" 60 bushels to the acre. ( lotton however is pre-
disposed to rust at first} and probably will be more so after the undeconv
posed vegetable mattei existing in the primitive soil hefiomes exhausted. Im-
mediately on ihe outskirts of the hickory hammocks, where they join the
open prairie, the cotton is inucii more disposed to rust, even the first year,
and it is from such a locality that it was selected."

\.>. 12. "This soil is very loose and friable, and it is generally in such land
that I have observed the cotton to rust most. It grows off at first more
luxuriantly than in other plates, but as the heat of summer comes on, begins
to look scorched, sheds its shapes, then the bolls, and leaves, until nothing is
left but the dead stalks. These two specimens, Nos. 11 and 12, do not
effervesce perceptibly with diluted sulphuric acid, but 1 presume yon will find
them strongly impregnated with lime. There is a considerable tract of
country of this Kind of soil in Mississippi, and the lime-stone rock frequently
shows itself near the surface. Detached masses of sand-stone are also fre-
quently seen about tiie hill-sides and hickory hammocks."

Neither of the last two \ oa 11. 12,) contained any carbonate

of lime. The descriptions have been emoted at length, because the facts are
among those that most oppose my argument. A similar deficiency of calca-
reous earth was found in the lour next specimens, which were sent byC'apt.
John Symington, U. S. A., of St. Louis.

No. I 3. From a small prairie in the neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri.
Fertile, hut not equal to the best prairie soils. "This is high and rolling, and
consequently dry— and never subject to inundation. Specimen taken about
4 inches below the surface, and just below the fibrous grass roots."

■\i>. II. ■I'lnm the surface of a ridge of rolling prairie, in Macoupin
county, Illinois— high and dry, and never subject to inundation."

No. Is •• From Macoupin county, Illinois. Also higb prairie, and never
subject to inundation, but quite level, and therefore the rain water does not
flow off rapidly enough. Still il cannot be called a wet soil. It is consi-
dered rich, and produces well grain of all kinds. Taken 2 feet below the
surface."

No. 16. Sent by George Churchill, Esq. Sample of the soil of the
"Ridge Prairie," Madison, Illinois — "taken from 4 inches below the surface,
where it has never been ploughed, and three-quarters of a mile from the
nearest wood-land. Surface dry and rolling."

Neither of the four last specimens contained a particle of carbonate of
lime. All were very black (therefore supposed full of vegetable matter) and
contained but a very small proportion of finely divided silicious earth! For
any practical and useful purpose, this essential ingredient might almost be
said to be entirely wanting.

No. 17. Prairie soil from Madison county, Ohio — contained no carbo-
nate of lime.

No. 18. Prairie soil from Pickaway county, Ohio, contained a very
small portion only of carbonate of lime. The amount was not ascertained
precisely.

The three next, selected and sent by Jas. Deas, Esq., were all taken from
different depths below the same field of " unwooded prairie," in Lowndes
•ounty, Alabama. The surface soil black.

No 19 Taken 4$ feet below the surface, where very fertile — stiff clay

A*

276 CALCAREOUS MANURES—APPENDIX.

of dark olive color when dry, and pounded for trial— very little silicious
earth, and that very finely divided. Contained 1 1 per cent, of carbonate of
lime.

No. 20. " At 1 J feet below the surface, where the soil is rather thin"
[or poor]— nearly white— contained S4 per cent, of carbonate of lime.

No. 21. At 3 feet below the surface of another place, "a'so rather thin
soil." Color darker than the preceding. Carbonate of lime, 2~ per cent.

No. -2-2. Of the celebrated fertile alluvial soil of Red River, Arkansas, a
specimen of 300 grains contained 12 grains of earthy carbonates, of which
rather more than one third was found to be carbonate of mag teste*-*- the re-
mainder carbonate of lime. So far a> I am informed, this is the first known
fact of magnesia being found in a notable proportion in any soil in this
country. It is hoped that this peculiarity of the Red River land will receive
further investigation. The presence of magnesia was indicated by the very
slow effervescence of the soil in acid. The separation of the two carbo-
nates was made according to Davy's method, (directed in his " Agricultural
Chemistry,") which, however, is not very accurate.

The results of analyses of prairie soils (and some which, though so called,
are covered with trees,) made by Drs. Cooper, Nott, and Gibbes, will now
be adduced. See the more full report. Farmers' Register, p. 716, vol. ii.

No. 23. Bald prairie on Big Swamp, Lowndes, Alabama. Plantation of
Col. James Deas. Carbonate of lime 25 per cent.

No. 24. Slue prairie— same plantation— 15 per cent.

No. 25. From plantation of Messrs. Elmore and Taylor, on Pintlala creek,
Montgomery, Alabama— open prairie — taken 6 inches below the surface.
Carbonate of lime 38 per cent.

Xo. 96. From same spot, taken IS inches below the surface. Carbonate
of lime 48 per cent.

The balance were very late examinations of Alabama soils made by Dr.
R. W. Gibbes. July 1835, and published in the Farmers' Register, vol. vi.

No. 27. slue prairie, (Col. Elmore's plantation)— 6 or 8 inches below the
surface— Carbonate of lime 26 per cent.

No. 28. Hammock prairie, carbonate of lime 22 per cent.

No. 29. Open prairie, mahogany col" id, no limestone^ and vegetable
matter as much as 38 per cent.

No. 30. Hog-bed prairie, carbonate of lime 8.

No. 31. Post oak prairie, jio limestone, and vegetable matter 3S per cent.
[From the name, it is presumed that this is such wooded land as No. 5, and
therefore improperly called prairie land.]

No. 32. Black slue prairie, (Moulton plantation of Dr. J. H. Taylor.)
Carbonate of lime 12 per cent.

No. 33. Prairie, (scattering large post oak.) mingled with red clay. Car-
bonate of lime 6 per cent— and vegetable matter 32.

No. 34. Open prairie— from a hill or ridge. 18 per cent.

No. 35. White open prairie, (Chisolm's)— from near surface— soil not more
than 1 8 inches deep. Carbonate of lime 42 per cent. Vegetable matt'

Formation of prairies, fyc. accounted for, and apparent exceptions to the rule
explained.

My views of the manner in which prairies are formed will now be sub-
mitted.

There are some few trees, as wild or black locust, papaw, and hackber-
ry, which thrive best on soil moderately calcareous, and will scarcely live
in soils very deficient in lime. But most forest trees prefer soils having so

CALCAREOUS MANUBF.S-APPENDIX. 277

little lime, as to be, if tint naturally poor, at least unfriendly to the growth
of grass. Hence such lands are covered naturally by an unmixed growth
of trees, and are almost destitute of grass. Calcareous soils are, on the
contrary, favorable to the growth of grass, and unfavorable to the growth
of trees, and the more so (other circumstances being alike) in proportion to
the excess of lime in the soil. Supposing such a soil to have been so pro-
tected as to be covered with trees, the first passage over it of fire, which
would be harmless to the more hardy growth of acid soil, would here serve
to scorch and damage the trees, feeble and tender, because unnaturally
placed. This effect would be the greater because such calcareous wood-
land would have some growth of rank grass, which, as dry fuel, would add
to the violence of the fire, and to its efTect. The next winter, the crippled and
stinted condition of the trees would prepare them to be still more damaged
by the like passage of fire, and its violence would be increased by the greater
quantity of dead and dry wood, and the increased growth of grass less ob-
structed now by shade. Every year these circumstances would serve the
more to augment the destructive power of the fires, and to diminish the
power of resistance in the still living trees. In the course of time all the trees
would be killed, and burnt, and then the seeds and reots after springing in
vain many succeeding summers, would finally have to yield to destruction
also. The surface is then covered with the growth of grass most suitable
to its composition, which growth is luxuriant according to the fertility of the
soil. So long as fires sweep every year over such land, the prairies can
never be covered with wood ; and on the contrary will be extending every
year so long as there is wood which the fires can destroy, and land that
will yield grass to furnish the fuel for still more extended ravages.

It may well happen also, that a soil not at all calcareous, if bordering on
a prairie, would be so exposed to the power of fire, when driven in all its
violence by strong winds, that its trees would be damaged, and finally
killed, and the land brought likewise to the prairie state. Such land, however,
would be making continual efforts to return to its more natural state of
wood-land ; and whether under young wood, or a meager cover of grass,
would, by refusing fuel, serve to check the farther extension of the ravages
of fire.

This would be one means of land not calcareous being brought to the
prairie state. There are two other means for the formation or extension of
prairies on Jand not calcareous, both of which are probably more often
operative. These will now be considered.

It may be inferred that the destruction of trees on calcareous soils is not
so much caused by their absolute unkindliness to trees, as by their far
greater suitableness for grass, which serves when dry as fuel to burn the
trees. Now if any thing other than the presence of calcareous earth will
produce an equally rank growth of grass, the same destructive end will be
produced, and as completely in time, though perhaps with less facility and
quickness. Moisture in the soil will in this manner serve as well as calca-
reous matter— and if the surface is only dry enough at some time in every
year to permit full force to the fire, similar effects must be produced in de-
stroying and keeping down the growth of trees. In this manner are formed
the rich alluvial prairies or savannas on the great western rivers, which are
covered by floods sometimes, and perfectly dry at others.

Again— a soil may be free from floods, and from all water except from
the clouds, and yet without being calcareous, may be so constituted as to
attract and retain moisture, with great force, and thus be very favorable to
the growth of grass, and consequently to the formation of prairies. This
constitution is produced when a soil is formed almost entirely of fine alu-

35

278

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

minous, or argillaceous earth, and decomposed vegetable matter— and this
is precisely the composition of even* specimen of prairie soil which I have
examined, and which \V3: .careous. Examples of some such soils

are preseute -1 st The sol's contained very little silicious

earth, and that little so fine as only to be made sensible to trial between the
teeth. Tbe ordinary mode of separating silicious from aluminous earth, by
agitation in - the! purpose. Though no car-

bonutc of lime at, it is cercain that the soils were neutral*— that is,

that they contained in some other combination enough lime to make fer-
tile and absorbent soils. This, added to the quantity of finely divided vege-
table mould. Em ne clay coo posing nearly the whole earthy portion,
forms a soil thai ho!ds water like a sponge, and must be peculiarly favora-
ble to the growth cf grass.j This alone wiil suffice to account for prairies
being formed on such soils — even if soils so destitute of silicious parts are
not (as I think to be very ..: do not know them to be) as unfavo-
rable to the growth of trees as are dry calcareous soils.

Practical application of the foregoing view*, far the improvement and belter
* cultivation of pruirit lands.

The calcareous prairie soils, as well as all those not calcareous, are in
general remarkably deficient in sand, and would be far more valuable but for
this deficiency. This excess cf aluminous earth (or pure clay) and not the
calcareous matter, causes the remarkable and troublesome adhesiveness of
these soils. Is it also not like';- ; defect of constitution is owing

the great prevalence on prairie soils of the rust in cotton ! It cannot be
caused by the calcareous earth, as two of the specimens which were sent
by Dr. Withers from land peculiar!}* subject to produce that disease, con-
tained no carbonate of lime. But whether or not the rust is one of the evil
effects of a great deficiency of sand, there are enough others, to make it
very desirable to remedy this defect in soils otherwise so valuable. This
might be don? by the process of paring and burning the surface, as is often
done in England, when a new or sod-covered field is brought from pasture
into tillage. The firs: preparing of prairie soil for tillage, by the plough, is
very laborit ips it would not be much more troublesome to pare

and burn the sod. This would be the most perfect preparation for tillage :
and the unrottedand redundant vegetable matter would be converted from
a nuisance to a benefit ; and the fine clay, burnt to brick-like particles, would
form an artificial coarse sand, serving to open and cure the previous close
texture of the soil. If the turf had already been conquered by tillage, burn-
ing clay in kilns, as wzs practised for manure in Europe, and by some in
the Atlantic states, would serve the same purpose of providing a durable
earth)* ingredient acting mechanically like coarse sand. By paring and
burning the surface of the soil, prairie lands might also be made more
healthy. It is true that they are now considered generally healthy — the cal-
careous prairies especially. Bui .e may be lime enough, in most
cases, to hold in combination the immense quantity e matter, still
the latter must be greatly in excess in many cases ; and when so, must be
rapidly decomposing, after being ploughed, and evolve effluvia injurious

* Essa\ do Cal. Ma'.

| Mould [Ita-emi] can absorb double its weight ol water without app
and after being dried, il draws from ihe atmosphere in le>» than twentj
quantity of water, which may vary, according to the humidity of the atmi
80 to 100 per cent Essay oa Cal. .

CALCAREOUS MANUHES— APPENDIX. ^79

to health, li the prairie lands could by a miracle !»■ suddenly and com-
pletely deprived of all their lime, the decomposition and waste in the air of
their putrescent matter, now he!, I combined and harmless, would make
them as sickly as the western coast of Africa.

/.' ptiona ami apparent contrddictions explained.

Supposing these general causes to operate in the formation of prairie
lands, the least reflection will show that their power an<l effects will he
often greatly modified by other circumstances. It is well known that in
prairie regions, the borders of rivers and small streams are generally
clothed with trees. They are protected from the fires in some measure by
the dampness of the earth, and because low bottoms are more sheltered
from winds. The river also is a secure barrier against the flames, and
therefore always guards one of its banks, at- least Even the close neigh-
borhood of those exempted pla ; lence of the
flames; and spots abundantly calcareous, and lying high, might thus retain
their wood growth. It would re [uire that the flames should pass over a
considerable space, and with a full supply of dry fuel; to requi-
site force and rapidity for producing destruction. Therefore the vicinity of
the wooded banks of a river would not probably I from wood-
land to prairie, by any fires driven by winds firm 1 the river. To produce
this effect, the winds which prevail in dry seasons must drive the flames
tnirurds the rivers, and downward between their forks. The existing state
of things on the borders of the Mississippi and Missouri (as 1 have been
told) accords well with this position. The north-west winds are generally
dry, and blow with great violence; and wherever their direction is between
the forks of streams and down their course, the prairie extends nearly or
quite to the water's edge. But streams running from the opposite slope of
the great valley, oppose the course and obstruct the effects of these fires —
and the easterly winds, which would bear on them in like manner as to di-
rection, are generally accompanie I by rain. Therefore, in the last situation
calcareous soils may retain their growth of trees, and in the former, soils
well constituted to nourish and anppi rt them, may 1» brought to the state
■ »f" pour prairie land.

If these general views are well founded, the manner in which prairies are
formed can no longer be mistaken ; and though a highlj calcareous soil is
deemed the most general and the must important means, the theory serves
as satisfactorily to Explain the existence of prairies on various other situa-
tions, though the soil be not calcareous.

/ finin. lands in tht linn atom region oj Vii

In the foregoing observations I have limned the total absence ol prairies
m the Atlantic states to the eastern slope from the mountains to the sea,
and to all poor land even among the mountains. In the rich Umestone
lands ol Rockbridge and Clarke counties, -and perhaps on aimilai soils etoe
where between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains, there certainly
were prairies at an earfy period. When that part ol \ irgtnia was firs!
settled by the e of inhabitants, large bodies of land were covered

entirely by young sapling w I, and there were other indisputable proofs

that at an earlier time few trees, if any, had been there growing I'.ul
though these lands are enough impregnated with lime (in some form) to be
very rich, and to be favorable to the growth of grass, they contain no

280 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

bonate of lime* — and therefore the land must have been brought to the
prairie state slowly and with difficulty, under the long continued operation
of annually repeated fires — and their intermission for a few years was
enough to enable the soil to again throw up a new growth of young trees.
These appearances were so well known in Rockbridge, that some very in-
telligent persons, born and reared in that county, have thence inferred that
the wood cover of our country was every where comparatively recent,
and that at some former and not very remote time, every part of this con-
tinent had been without trees; which is an example of very erroneous rea-
soning from particular to general facts.

Of soils rendered barren by excess of calcareous matter— and the fertility
produced on them by irrigation.

The " bald prairies" of Alabama present the only known cases in the
United States of bodies of land so highly calcareous as to be thereby
lessened in productiveness. This effect will increase as exhausting culti-
vation shall lessen the vegetable ingredients of the soil ; and probably
(under a continuation of such tillage) the barren spots will extend widely
into what now form their fertile margins. The quantity of vegetable matter
accumulated in the highly calcareous prairie soils is now so great, that a
very long course of exhausting tillage will be borne before sterility can be
produced. Nevertheless, however remote may be that result, its occur-
rence is not the less sure, if exhausting tillage is pursued. Similar to our
rich prairies probably was the original state of the now poor chalk downs
of England, the almost barren plains of "Lousy" Champagne in France—
and some of the still more hopeless deserts of Asia and Africa. The fur-
nishing or retaining of a sufficiency of vegetable matter would cure this
kind of barrenness, and more easily will prevent its extension beyond its
present limits, in our own new country. In other countries, water alone,
used for irrigation, has had the effect of making highly fertile, and keeping
it so, land so calcareous that it would otherwise have been altogether bar-
ren. Many facts of this kind may be gathered from the writings of travel-
lers; but their notices are very slight, and merely incidental, as unfortu-
nately, none who have viewed and described these lands, possessed any
agricultural knowledge. Some of these passages will be quoted. In some
far remote future time, perhaps the overflowing wells of southern Alabama,
may be used to irrigate the excessively calcareous soils, and to retain or
restore their fertility.

Denon, in his Travels in Egypt, (Am. Ed. vol. ii., p. 4,) when at Siut, or
Lycopolis, 2^ degrees south of Cairo, speaks thus of the Lybian range of
mountains. " I found this, as I had supposed, a ruin of nature, formed of
horizontal and regular strata of calcareous stones more or less crumbling,
and of different shades of whiteness, divided at intervals with large ma-
millated and concentric flints, which appear to be the nuclei, or as it were,
the bones of this vast chain, and seem to keep it together, and prevent its
total destruction. This decomposition is daily happening by the impression
of the salt air, which penetrates every part of the calcareous surface, de-
composes it, and makes it, as it were, dissolve down in streams of sand,
which are at first collected in heaps at the foot of the rock, and are then car-
ried away by the winds, and encroaching gradually on the cultivated plains
and the villages, change them into barrenness and desolation." The Lybian
chain of mountains which runs nearly parallel with the Nile, there ap-

* Eisay on Calcareous Manures, p. 51.

CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX £81

proaches very close to it, and the narrow strip of fertile and irrigated land
between must necessarily have been deeply though gradually covered by
the same calcareous sand ; (indeed the continued operation of the like
causes is raising, not only the borders, but even the bed of the Nile ;) yet
Denon mentions particularly the high state of cultivation seen in his next
day's journey up the river. It is well known that wherever the waters of
the .Nile have been conveyed to irrigate these sands, an astonishing degree
of fertility has been the immediate consequence ; and that wherever the
canals for this purpose have been permitted to become dry, (often the effect
of political causes on this wretched population,) there is as sure a return to
the former state of naked and barren sand. There is reason also to be-
lieve (though upon slighter foundation,) that portions of the great deserts of
both Asia and Africa also are excessively calcareous, and owe their ste-
rility to that cause, combined with the general absence of water. The only
direct testimony as to this character of the soil, is in the following passage
from Madden's Travels. He was in the desert between Egypt and Judea.
"Next day we travelled all day long without seeing a single tree, or the

smallest patch of verdure, or laying our eyes on any human being."

" The soil was no longer sandy, but of a hard gravel, on which a carriage
might be rolled Irom Salehie to Suez. At night we stopped at a well with-
out water, and here I examined the soil, three feet below the surface ; [for]
two feet deep there is a superficial stratum of calcareous pebbles, and
below that, a solid bed of limestone, which I believe to be the basis of the
soil of all Egypt."— [p. 122, vol. ii., Am. Ed.]

" One thing is certain that wherever there is water, no matter in what
part of the wilderness, there vegetation is to be found. The stopping up
of the canals, and the want of irrigation, are the great causes of desolation
which favor the extension of the desert. The country from San to Salehie,
and probably to Suez, was formerly a cultivated country : the ruins of
palaces, such as those of Zoan and that of Beit Pharoon, now in the middle
of the desert, prove that the country around then must have been cultivated,
and that at a very short period before our era."— lb. p. 126.

Lieut. Burnes, who has recently published the very interesting account of
his travels across central Asia, after describing, in various detached passages,
the barren and often naked sands of the great Tartarian desert, over which he
had been many weeks passing, and of the great scarcity of water even in the
few wells, and the total want of it elsewhere, thus describes the approach to
the river Moorghab, or Merve, and the effects of irrigation. "By the time the
sun had set, we found ourselves among the ruins of forts and villages, now
deserted, which rose in castellated groups over an extensive plain. I have
observed that we were gradually emerging from the sand-hills, and these
marks of human industry which we had now approached, were the ancient
remnants of civilization of the famous kingdom of Merve, or Meroo. Be-
fore we had approached them, we had not wanted signs of our being de-
livered from the ocean of sand, since several flocks of birds had passed
over us. As the mariner is assured by such indications that he nears land,
we had the satisfaction of knowing that we were approaching water, after a
journey of 1 50 miles [from the last habitable spot] through a sterile waste,

where we had suffered considerable inconvenience from the want of it."

'• This river was formerly dammed above Merve, which turned the principal
part of its waters to that neighborhood, and raised that city to the state of
richness and opulence it once enjoyed. The dam was thrown down about
45 years ago by Shah Moorad, a king of Bokhara, and the river now only
irrigates the country in its immediate vicinity. The inhabitants cultivate by
irrigation, and every thing grows in rich luxuriance" and where the

2S2 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPKNBIX.

waters have been withdrawn, as stated above, the country is againa desert,
and the former habitations are tenantless ruins. Another inhabited and culti-
vated spot iii the desert is afterwards thus mentioned. "The country around
Shurukhs is well watered with aqueducts, from the rivulet of Tejend, which
is a little brackish, but its waters are usefully employed in fertilizing the
fields. The snil is exceedingly rich, and possesses great aptness of agricul-
ture; the seed is scattered and vegetates almo<J without labor. The harvest

is rich." -The inhabitants repeat a tradition that the first of men tilled

in Shurukhs, which was his garden, while Serendib or Ceylon was his
house ! There is not a tree or a bush to enliven the landscape."

But these speculations, however plausible, would require many additional
facts and proofs, to place them on as sure ground, as I flatter myself, the
earlier part of this essay has done for the cause of the formation of prairies.
However interesting it may be to the inquiring mind to extend views so far
upon unexplored ground, prudence admonishes that in that way I have al-
ready exceeded the proper limits of argument sustained by known and
undoubted facts.

\ddendum.

Since the first publication of this piece (in 1835) there have come under
my notice many statements of facts serving to confirm the positions as-
sumed, and none to oppose them. Most of these statements are of more
extended observations of other prairie soils and prairie regions, which are
unnecessary to recite, as they agree generally and fully with the numerous
particular examples cited in the foregoing pages. Some other of such
evidences, on a different branch of the subject, will be here added, in con-
firmation of some of the positions before presented.

It was stated above, on the authority of Denon, that the soil of part of
the sandy desert of Egypt (near Lycopolis) which is encroaching on and
covering the rich borders of the Nile, consists of almost pure carbonate of
lime, in calcareous sand formed by the continual disintegration of the range
of Lybian mountains, there close adjacent. Also, on general authority
and understanding of the facts, that this calcareous sand, though forming
a barren and naked desert wiien dry, was made fertile wherever moistened
naturally or artificially, by the waters of the Nile. Other facts were stated
of places which are now and have long been naked deserts of dry sand,
which are known to have been formerly watered by the industry of man,
and were then highly fertile. And hence my inference that, wherever
watering of barren sands had induced fertility, such sands must have
been highly calcareous ; and that the great abundance of the calcareous
ingredient is both a cause of the barrenness of such soils when dry, and of
their immediate change to productiveness and subsequent great fertility,
when supplied with water. If, (to suppose a case.) instead of 70 per cent.
of finely divided carbonate of lime in the soil of what is now a desert, there
had been but 10 percent, of that ingredient, and all the other parts had
been silicious sand and clay, it may be presumed that the land would be
much less barren than it is in these highly calcareous deserts, and with
a moderate share of rain might be actually and highly fertile. In Egypt
rain is a very rare occurrence ; and therefore, except where watered
naturally or artificially from the .Nile, the highly calcareous sands are with-
out moisture, and must necessarily constitute a perfectly barren desert.

The Lybian mountains being composed of calcareous rock, continually
disintegrated and blown away by the winds in fine sand, would also alone
serve to prove that the vast extent of desert sand thus spread over Egypt

CALCARE0D8 MAM HI - AEPENDIX

must be largely composed of carbonate <>f lime. Hut il.at is not all.
Malte-Bran says— "The analysis Of the mud ol the Nile irives nearly one
half of argOlaoeoni earth, about om fourth ■ ■/ carbonaU q) lime the remain-
der consisting "I water, oxide of iron, anil carbonaU Univer-
sal Geography, book Lc.) This is the deposite of the overfl i wings of the boun-
teous Nile, and which annually manun -t state
of fertility, all the sands to which it is conveyed by the inundations. The
s.inii' high authority furnishes si une additional testimony, confirmatory of
Demo's, as to the calcareous composition of soils of or near the deserts,
or of rooks which by their disintegration must help to form the neighboring
soil. " The mountains on the west side of the Vile seem to consist of lime-
stone containing many shells. In those on the east side, serpentine and
granite seem to form the highest ridges." -The valley leading to CosSehr
[on the Red Sea] is covered with a sand partly calcareous, partly quartz-
ose. Th* mountains are of limestone and sandstone." ' Oeog.booklx.
" At the distance of eight miles from Cosseir the n oiiritains suddenly change
their character; a great pari <>f them are limestone, or alabaster in strata.
Here are found the debris of the nana." — -Towards the valley
of Suez, the mountains are calcareous, and in several places composed of
concreted shells." (//>. book fcr.l

The same author speaks thus of the country and desert of Barca, which
is south of a part of Barbery, and north of the Zahara or great African
desert. "Some call Barca a di sett, and the interior certainly merits that
name." — " The coast of B in a, once famed for its three-fold crops [as-stated
by Herodotus and Strabo] is now very ill cultivated ; the wandering tribes
of the desert allow no rest to the inhabitants, or security to their labors." —
"A sandy plain at the bottom of the mountains [a part of the desert from
Siwah to Andelah] presents on its surface an immense calcareous bank,
which contains no traces of petrifaction, while the adjacent mountains are
full of the remains of marine animals and shells. These are also met with
here in large isolated heaps." (lb. book I

Kezzan is surrounded by the desert, and seems to partake of the character
of the desert in all respects, except in the close neighborhood of abundant
water under-ground, and of its consequence, the exuberant fertility for
which this country is celebrated. Malte-Bran says of Fezzan, -In the
whole country t'.ere is no river or stream worthy of notice. The soil is a
deep sand covering rocks, and sometimes a calcareous or argillaceous earth.
There are numerous springs, which supply water for the purposes of agri-
culture. The whole of Fezzan, indeed, abounds in water at a moderate
depth underground, derived, no doubt, from the rains which fall on hills
more or less distant, perhaps on the confines of the desert, and though ab-
sorbed by the sand, find their level among the loose strata, across a broad
extent of desert, till they becom e in Fezzan, and impart to the

country its characteristic fertility." (lb. book I. rr.) Though the author (or
his translator) has used the word " springs," it is evident from the context
that the sources of water are not what we here understand by springs, but
are wells, requiring to be dug to reach the water to be thence drawn,
and not furnishing flowing streams.

But even if there were no direct or positive evidence of these sands be-
ins calcareous, enough of indirect evidence would be presented in the well
known fact that exuberant productiveness i> induced wherever watering
is applied. And wherever such results are stated by travellers to be pro-
duced on barren sands anil in deserts, in any part of the world, it may be
safely assumed that calcareous earth must form a sufficient, if not a
mperabundant portion of the soil. Unfortunately, no travellers through

234 CALCAREOUS MANURES-APPENDIX.

sandy deserts and irrigated regions have been competent, and enough
observant, to describe the agricultural qualities of the soils. I have not
heard of there having been brought away any specimens of such remark-
able soils, except in a single case ; and for which one opportunity for obtaining
direct proof of the ingredients we are indebted to the enlightened curiosity
and investigating mind of an American lady. "When I was lately (in 1842)
at the Patent Office in Washington, I saw among many other collected
subjects of curiosity, a small bottle labelled " Sand from the desert of
Barca." It had been obtained and was presented by Mrs. Macauley, the
wife of David S. Macauley, the American consul at Barca. I asked for and
obtained a small portion of it, for the purpose of ascertaining its com-
position in regard to calcareous matter. Upon trial I found it to contain
49 per cent, of carbonate of lime ! This sand is very fine, of a pale yellow
color, and would offer to the eye, or to slight observation, no indication of
being any thing else than almost pure silicious sand, slightly tinged by
ferruginous matter.

It may 6eem to some readers that these speculations on sandy deserts,
upon such few data furnished in positive facts, are a wide departure from the
investigation of prairie soils ; and that the deductions, even if established,
are more curious than useful, and can lead to no practical result. But it is
not so, if the lights thus obtained are properly applied. The facts here
presented in connexion with others previously discussed, serve to show
that the same cause, (a very large proportion of calcareous earth,) according
to the existence or changes of other circumstances, may produce in soils
either the highest degree of fertility, or the most complete sterility. These
modifying circumstances are the presence in the soil of much putrescent
matter, the accumulation of ages of repose under grass, or of abundance of
water — or of the absence or great deficiency of both. It may be merely a
matter of curious speculation, however correctly deduced from the positions
here maintained, that it is possible, and perhaps would be profitable, merely by
raising water to the surface, .to bring to a state of productiveness most of
the naked and burning deserts of Africa. But another deduction is not
merely a matter for idle and amusing speculation, but is a most important
truth, and strictly applicable to practice ; which is, that the rich prairie
regions of the west and south-west of the United States and of Texas, if
continued to be scourged unremittingly by exhausting tillage, will finally
become deserte as barren as those of Lybia and Barca.

I \\.> IREOUS MANURES APPKNUIX 285

NOTE V!l. — /:.i-.' • t from pp. 57 and 110.

. I. lit 1NCHEASINO THE PRO-
> Till: HBALTHPOLNB8S OF THE ATMOSPHERE.

It was stated at pages 103-4, that though the practical results of applica-
tions of calcareous manures conformed strictly to the theory of their action as
previously laid down, yet thaaexceeded the measure or amount of effect

which would have been anticipated from the theory alone, since a
• portion of this work has been printed, 1 have I of the dis-

covery, by Dr. William L. Wight, of ■ i a before unknown pro-

perty of calcareous earth, which operates to increase in an important
degree its fertilizing power, anil also ils health-pri lower, I was

favored by a mutual friend with the perusal ol a rough draught of an i
in which these views were incidentally pn which Dr. Wight

had designed for publication in a medical journal. I immediately re-
teff him to communicate these particular and interesting views, in such
form as would suit agricultural and general readers, for publication in the
Fanners' Register. To this he assente 1 ; and I had hoped before this time
to have been enabled thus to present the article entire to t lie public, in
which case, it might here be merely rfil alreadyin the possession

of my readers. The communic ition has been received ; but too late to be
included in the (ew remaining pages] of the i uners'

ter, or to prei e of this note; though it will appear

at length in the first number of the second set una!.

Before stating the newly discovered iove referred to, it is

necessary to introduce t'lem by some general sta -tablished or

received opinions of vegetable and animal life and functions.

The atmosphere is composed mainly or oxygen and nitrogen gases,
(and which two alone are de< il to the constitution of atmo-

spheric air) with a very small bul i occurring admixture of

carbonic acid gas. The o-.v;eii .jas (formerly termed " vital air." from its
admitted quality,) is that part of the which is essential to the

life of breathing animals, and which is diluted to form atmospheric air by the
mixture of nitrogen gas, and also by the sm ps accidental, but

always present carbonic acid gas, either of « i i not only incapa-

ble of supporting life, but to breathe which is deadly, and immediate in its
fatal effects. Hence it has been supposed, and it is difficult to deny the
positions, thai is to the atmosphere must

render it more healthful, and to increase the quantity of carbonic acid gas
must render it less so. It must be admitted, however, that these deductions,
though In accordance with the known and opposite qualities of these
different gases, and with reason, are not sustained by the analyses which
have o atmospheric air in various places. For it 'these analyses

are to be entirely confided in, they wouid show that in all situations, the
highest or the lowest, the most pu d and

fatal to human life, the pri

By the respiration of animals, the atmospheric air is partially decom-
posed, and the relative amounts of its ingredients altered, at least for the
time. Some of the oxygen gas of the air inhaled is retained by the lungs and
given to the blood; and some nearly formed carbonic a. i en out

from the lungs continually, and added to the atmosphere. Thus, the breath-
ing, or the existence of animals, if acting alone, or not counteracted, would
serve continually to deteriorate the purity of the atmosphere, and to render
it less conducive to the support of healthy animal life.
36

286 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

But to this very general operation of animal life, there is as general and
as operative a 'countervailing action in vegetable life. Carbonic acid gas
is essential to the health and growth of plants, and serves to furnish them
with a very large if not indeed their larger proportion of bulk and sub-
stance. All that part of every vegetable substance which can be converted
to charcoal (or carbon) has been furnished to the plant from the atmo-
sphere in the shape of carbonic acid gas, which is a combination of oxygen
gas and carbon. The leaves of growing plants absorb this ingredient
from the atmosphere, and retain and fix the carbon as part of their sub-
stance, and evolve the pure oxygen ; thus taking from the air some of its
poisonous ingredient, and adding to it new supplies of the purifying or
health-supporting gas.*

It follows necessarily from these premises that if by any means these
universal powers and continual action of plants, to absorb carbonic acid
gas and evolve oxygen gas, be in any manner increased, that proportional
increase must be given by the first to the growth of the plant, and by the
second, proportional purification and healthiness to the atmosphere.

To these general views and positions the recent observations of Dr.
Wight apply admirably. He ascertained, by a series of careful and well
conducted and repeated experiments, that the diffusion of carbonate of lime
in water with which plants were nourished, caused in the plants a great
and remarkable increase of both the above named actions ; so that they
absorbed much more, in some cases a quadrupled quantity, of carbonic
acid, and evolved as large an increased quantity of oxygen gas. If this be
so— and the manner of the experiments stated leaves no ground to doubt
the accuracy of their conduct, or of their results— then there can be no
question of the following important. deductions : that besides all other modes
and powers of fertilizing action of lime in soil, as maintained in this essay,
it also causes plants to draw from the atmosphere a very large accession
of nutriment ; and to increase in proportion the measure of their ordinary
purification of the atmosphere. And therefore, these interesting and new ob-
servations serve to confirm and' to show additional and important reasons
for the operation of calcareous manures both for increasing the productive-
ness of lands, and of lessening the amount of disease among the residents
thereon and in the vicinity.

NOTE VIII.— Extension of subject from page 161.

DIRECTIONS FOR BURNING AND APPLYING OYSTER-SHELL LIME.

The following directions and remarks may be useful to some of those
persons to whom shell-lime will be cheaper than either marl or stone lime.

Oyster-shells are brought by vessels to the landing places of the purchasers
on the James river, and sold on board usually at G2A cents the hogs-
head, of 18 heaped bushels. Where fuel is plenty, the shells and dry pine
wood, in alternate layers, are built up in a heap of cubical form for burning.
In this manner, if judiciously executed, 12 cords of wood are sufficient to
burn 100 hogsheads of shells to quick-lime. A more careful mode of burn-
ing was used by the late Fielding Lewis, of Weyanoke, which was de-
gcribed in an account of his farming in the Farmers' Register, for June, 1333,
and which will be copied below, together with his mode of application ;

* As this is the greatly preponderating action of vegetables, the smaller reverse opera-
tion (which takes place at night) is passed over, as unnecessary to be referred to more
fully than in this manner.

1 IX 287

which is still deemed I rest foi parating the particles of lime and
log it equally over the land; arifl also (I u another important

lin combined
with oarbonic acid i | time

lose kilns, with walls of brick or stone, have not yet been used to burn
r shells for manure ; and until fuel becomes more costly than th
ditional transportation of the Ume.it will be cheaper to use wooden Kilns.
What are commonly called lime kilns are merely heaps of wood and shells,
built up in a somewhat cubical form, by which the burning is imperfectly
performed at great expei ugh without much trouble. Mr. Lewis

burns" his shells in the following manner. A pen of sixteen or seventeen
, is built of round green pine : i where they lock,

so as i r as their farm will allow,) and with a fl

similar logs, chinked with ent the shells

ping through. The botl aer blocks, of

twelve Inches, so as to leave a vacancy Of twelve or fifteen inches between
the earth and the bottom of the floor! which is to I • ly with dry

wood. The walls of the pen are raised a!. out nine feet ; and about one
hundred logs of six to eight inches through (which these now put up seemed
to be,) usually sen ir and side walls. The shells are thrown in,

and in layers of different degrees of thickness, according to their order, and
separated by thin layers of pine wood, cul og, and split to the

usual size for fuel. The size of the last kiln burnt by Mr. L., according to
his memorandum ba ' illows:

Kiln 17 feet square and 9 feet high, inside me

The lowest bed of shel e thinks it might as well have been

1 2 inches.)
The second bed of shells 12 in
third 16

fourth
fifth

sixth C>

The layers of wood bet |Ua), and about six inches. The kiln

took one hundred I , shells, and consumed ten od in

the layers, ami three kiln should

be fired in calm weather; and if the wind iSes.it should be

kept oil' as much as p oi whatever may be most

convenient.

The burning (in preference) is done in March, or as soon alter as may be.
The newly burnt shells are carte 1 fothi i as th( yare i

and deposited in small ,

distances of sis yards. The field is previously ploughed, and marked off
carefully in checks of si: ,.. These small heaps of shells are

immediately ipletely, but not heavily, by the surrounding earth

being drawn over them with broad hoes. If a heavy rai h the

lime before this covering, much of it woo'! mortar,

difficult to manage, and impossi ired in

'ure absorbed from the earth will usua I lime

in forty-eight hour- n and mixed with '

and carefully spread so a- and is then

well harrowed, more effectually to distribute and mix the lime with the soil.
The quantity applied to the aoe Is about si e burnt and

unslaked shells, which quantity by burning 6 hogsheads ( 108

9) of shells; and the same, if well burnt, will swell in slacking t
or 130 bushels. The lime is always put on a part of the field of the fourth

2yy CALCAREOUS MAN' LUES— APPENDIX.

year, and is put under field pens the same year. The red, or cow pea, is
preferred, being considered must profitable ibr live stock ; and as that is a
late kind, it should be planted as soon as possible after the 20th of .April,
that the crop may mature. Two after plouglungs and one slight Land weed-
ing serve to cultivate the crop; and its product, Mr. L. thinks, though, with-
out having made any e>;periment or careful estimate, usually pays the whole
expense of the liming.'- — F. Register, coL »'. p. 18.

The shells sold to the farmers are obtained at the various landings on
York and the lower James river and their tributaries, where oysters are
opened in great quantities for sale. On some of the lands bordering the
Potomac, there are much cheaper and universal sources of supply, in ancient
accumulation, of shells called " Indian banks," and which are now used to
burn lime from for manure for farms in the Northern Neck. Very recently
there has been brought into use a new source of supply on James river.
This is the young living oysters and old shells which together form entire
shoals in some parts of the river, and which are raked up in mass to load
the vessels. These shells are s r less. As

these are mostly small and thin shells, they could more easily than ordinary
shells be pulverized by a mill-stone running on its circumference, as in a
tanner's bark mill; and in this manner all fie rich animal matter would be
preserved, which is destroyed by burning.

NOTE IN.

• N THE 10URCES or MALARIA, OR OP AUTUMNAL DISEASES, IN VIRGINIA, AND THE
MEANS OF REMEDV AND PREVENTION.

{From the Farmers' Resist: r of Jult;- 1838.)

Throughout the course of publication of the Farmers' Register, it has
been one of the main objects of the editor to attract attention to the causes
and effects of malaria, or unhealthy marsh effluvia, and to enforce his views
as to the means of restraining or preventing this greatest of the evils under
which the eastern half of Virginia suffers. To forward this end, every fit
opportunity has been availed of; and the subject has been treated, directly
and at length, or incidentally and slightly, in various articles in these vo-
lumes. But there has been found but little if any encouragement to perse-
vere in this course. The editor has, alone, and without any certain evidence
of approval of his views and his course, and certainly without any practical
adoption of his recommendations, labored in this cause, which, to his un-
derstanding, demands the support of all, on considerations of economy and
agricultural improvement and profit, as well as on the more important
grounds of the strength or frailty of the tenure by which the people of half
of our entire territory possess and enjoy health, happiness, and even life.
It is under such impressions of the high importance of the whole subject,
that the readers of this journal are again invited to its consideration ; and,
probably, for the last time, by the present writer, if there continues to be no
more interest excited, and action produced, in regard to the evils existing,
and which are multiplied ten-fold in power by the ignorant and careless
legislation of this commonwealth.

The views of the writer on this subject were presented generally, and at
some length, in an editorial article (pp. 41 to 43) in vol. v., Farmers' Regis-
ter, on the causes of and means for preventing the formation and the effects
of malaria in eastern Virginia ; and also in sundry shorter incidental pas-

CALCARE01 B M\M RES A.PPEN1HX.

sages in each of all the volumes, in connexion with articles on marshes,
mill-ponds, and canals, &<•. But as it would be requiring loo much of read-
ers that they should either* remember! or carefully refer to these various
articles, a general, though slight view of the whole subject will be here
presented, sustained by additional facts, which have been recently learned
by personal Inquiry and observation.

That the common autumnal or bilious diseases of eastern Virginia, and
especially of tin- tide-water portion, which is most subjected to them, are
principally cause,i by the efliuvia rising from wet lands, is a matter in
which all concur. between the presence of these

disorders, in low, wet, or marshy countries, and their absence, or scarcity,
in mountainous and dry regions, is so great, thai none can mistake, or
differ about, the gmtrai causes and effects. .But from this general opinion,
which is true in the main, (though having numerous and important excep-
tions,) there is deduced the erroneous 1 gene-
ral effects produced on health, in extensive regions either generally low and
wet, or generally hilly and dry, are produi e opposite natural
features, and cannot be very materially altered by art ; as art cannot mate-
rially alter the natural character of the land. Or, in other words, that
nature has made one great region low and sickly, and another high and
healthy; and that man cannot do much to counteract the law of nature in
either case. Perhaps none may maintain this position, in argument, without
admitting partial I in numerous particular cases and localities.
Indeed, every man will say that care may lessen the causes and mitigate
the operation of malaria, in a sickly region, or increase both in a healthy
one. But. judging from the action of both the people and their laws, which
speaks more strongly than words, it may be inferred that it is a general
belief that such headings of nature from her course can be but slight, in
particular cases, and scarcely worth estimating on a broad scale, or through
an extensive country. In entire conformity with this supposition, it is a
notorious fact that very few individuals in Virginia have done any thing
considerable, or on system, to protect their dwelling places from malaria;
and the government has not only done nothing for general protection, but
has actually caused the worst of the existing evils, and is encouraging their
continued increase and aggravation, by the olicyofthe country;
which permits the raising of mill-ponds, that are productive of little else
than malaria and disease; and indirectly, but effectually, forbids the drain-
age of extensive swamps. The production and deadly effects of malaria,
in eastern Virginia, fir the greater part, is to be charged, not to the laws of
God, but to the laws of man ; which, in this respect, operate to put away or
sacrifice some of the most precious of God's blessings, offered to all, to
gratify the whims, or the blind and often mistaken avarice, of a few indivi-
duals. There are, doubtless, great natural differences as to the sickliness
of differently situated regions; as between the low tide-water region of
Virginia, the central or hilly, and also the mountainous region. But, in
their natural state, before damaged by mill-ponds and other of man's mis-
called improvements, the low-country was probably less afflicted by malaria
than the hilly parts now are, or may be rendered by the full extension of
these injurious operations of man. This is a matter of mere supposition,
and cannot possibly be subjected to the rigid test of proof by known facts.
But, from reasoning, and inferences from such facts as are known, it seems
most probable that some of the now most sickly counties on tile-water
were, at the first settlement of the country, less sickly than the hilly and
originally very healthy county of Brunswick, for example, has been in
latter years.

290 L AI.CAKtOUS MANLKEs-APPENUIX.

Even the very important fact of increased and increasing sickliness in tins
country, is entirely without support from any known written authority ; and
the whole subject has been so little examined, or thought of, that to most
readers the position here assumed may be entirely new. There are no sta-
tistics of health to which we can refer for proof. But general and historical
facts, few as they are, if fairly considered, will suffice to place the question
beyond dispute.

Before proceeding further in this part of the argument, let me remark that 1
am opposed in the outset, and shall be opposed throughout, by the reluctance
felt by every individual to believe, or if believing, to admit, that his particular
property, or place of residence, is more sickly than others, or has become more
so than in former times. This self-delusion, and consequent, though per-
haps undesigned effort to deceive others, is almost universal. Each man
claims for his own place more healthiness than in truth ought to be admit-
ted ; and the combined effect of all these individual claims, is to maintain
that the whole country is more healthy than is true, and more so than each
individual would have claimed for it, with the exception of his own farm and
his own neighborhood. It is against this universal prejudice and obstruction
that I have had to -contend in seeking for facts, and shall have to contend in
argument ; and. with such opposition, there is but small hope of maintain-
ing my ground, or producing conviction of the soundness of my views, in
the minds of those who have so prejudged the case.

One of the strongest proofs of the greater former healthiness of the low
country, was the settlement of our English ancestors having been made
and continued at Jamestown. It was on May 13th, when they landed; and
now, a residence on that spot, or in that region, continued for five months
after that time of the year, would be fatal to half of the strangers from a
northern climate, even though provided with all the comforts and necessaries
which a long-settled country1 affords, and all of which the first settlers most
deplorably needed. It is true, that for some years after the first settlement,
there was much sickness, and numerous deaths ; and that in fact the infant
colony was more than once on the point of extinction. But these diseases
and deaths do not seem, from the direct and the still stronger indirect testi-
mony of history, to have been attributed by the sufferers to an unhealthy
location ; and there were sufficient other causes for all that was suii'ered, in
the usual and unavoidable privations of the first colonists of a new and sa-
vage country, added to the extreme improvidence and mismanagement of
these settlers, and their government, as detailed in history. Even after
several years had passed, and though cultivating a very fertile soil, and
aided by annual supplies of food from England, and with all the resources
of trade with the savages, hunting and fishing, still, want of food was one
of the greatest causes of disease and death. Of course, there must have
been, under any circumstances, more or less of disease caused by malaria;
and although any predisposition to such disease, naturally induced, must
have been violently urged to action, and aggravated to ten-fold malignity,
by hunger, intemperance, exposure of every kind, depression of spirits, and
every other painful emotion of the minds of men in such desperate straits,
still, even with all these aids, the prevalence of autumnal diseases, the effect
of malaria, was not so conspicuous as to stamp the character of sickliness
on the location, or to induce even the proposition to remove the colony, or
afterwards its seat of government, to a much higher or more healthy situa-
tion. The unavoidable inference seems t<> be, that the great sickliness of
the early settlers was not attributed by themselves to the climate. Yet, this
was a question on which they could not possibly have been deceived. And
even if most others had been deceived, by ignorance, and the want of ex-

i a* \ui hi - M .\i RES \iti:.\mx 291

perience ol the effects ol malaria, (his could not have own the ease with
smith, the moat efficient director, and (he true fdhnder of the colony ; who
would have known better, not only by bis general inteltigi nee, but also by
his experience of such- effects, gained in his camps I the Turks.

it may be alleged, that fear of tin- savi ■ i than the dread of dis-

ease, caused the choice <>f. and alter continuance on, an unhealthy spot, bo-
it was more easily guari and perfectly acce

to ships. I i defence, and on deep water,

might have been selected at lir t up the river; and'yel James-

town and its Immediate neightx chtel place in Vlr-

; ements had

been extended tn distant and inland places. The proof ol my position
would he sufficiently proved by any attempt made nowto settle Englishmen'
just arrived, on the border of almost any of our tide-wati lecially

nbout the junction of the salt and fn Several such trials have

been made with foreign laborers; but the first autumn was enough to put
an end to each experiment, by inllieting so much disease and death as to
prevent any of the uother season, who could

possibly move away.

There can be but little doubt also, but there was much less of autumnal
diseases, or at least of violent and fatal diseases, before the revolutionary
war than now. There was no such thing then, as the healthy residents leav-
ing home in summer, as is so usual now. to spend the sickly season among
the mountains, or at the north; nor does it appear that there was much
suffering for want of such resources, although the climate must even then
have become very far more unhealthy than in the early times of the colony.

Another striking proof of the increased tendency of the country to pro-
duce, disease, even within the last sixty years, is presented by history, in the
circumstances of the occupation of Yorktown by the British army in 1781,
and the siege carried on by the American army; and especially in regard
to the hastily-levied militia from the mountail and healthy

parts of Virginia. Cornwallis chose his position first in Portsmouth, and
afterwards In Yorktown, with a view to health, as well as defence, to await
the arrival of reinforcements from New York. His army was concentrated
at Yorktown shington reached Williamsburg, Sept<

14, and the American army moved on thence to invest Yorktown, Sept
30, and the surrender of the British army was made on Oct 1'Jth. Thus,
both armies were exposed to the Worst part of the malaria season, and the
British army to the whole of it. Among the besiegers were raw militia,
just raised for the occasion, from Rockbridge county, (of which portion I
have been more particularly informed,) and probably from sundry others
of the mountain counties. There was certainly much sickness, and espe-
cially among the British troops; but not more than is usual in camps, and
especially in I all the privations incidental to the

confined situation. It does not appear, from the very slight notices in his-
tory, that there was more sickness than might have been expected if the
same circumstance had occurred in the hilly n ) of \ irgiui.i. Yet,

if the like circumstances could occur now, it can scarcely be doubted but
that every soldier, not already acclimati d, and accustomed to malaria, would
be made sick; and that probably half of those just brought from breathing
the pure mountain air, would never return home.

Another indirect proof is presented in the > decline of

most of the lower counties of Virginia in wealth, and in the usual accom-
paniments of wealth, which formerly i nee delightful in many
neighborhoods in which there is nothing now lelt to invite any one n> ri

292 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

main. It is true that other causes, political and economical, have concurred
to produce this result. But the most potent of the several causes was the
slow and silent, but continual and increasing warfare on the health of body
and mind, made by the action of malaria. By its operation, when scarcely
amounting in effect to positive and known disease, the mind is sickened
even more than the bod}'. The buoyant spirits are tamed — energy is re-
laxed— the keen appetite for enjoyment (which is the greater part of hap-
piness) is lost; and the victims of malaria cease to strive, or to enjoy; and
either sink into apathy and listlessness^ or, urged by discontent, more than
by any remains of energy, take the final step of emigration to the western
wilderness.

But the upper country furnishes still stronger evidence, because of posi-
tive and unquestionable facts, to prove an increase of the product and effect
of malaria. The hilly country between the falls of the rivers and the
nearest mountain-range, with the exception of some comparatively small
spots, on swamps and rivers, was formerly as free from this scourge as is
now the mountain region. But the number and the extent of the unhealthy
places have greatly increased within the memory of those now living; and
some large districts have been, in particular seasons, as subject to bilious dis-
eases, and still more to violent ones, than the tide-water region. Indeed, in
very many places, universally believed (unless by the mill-owners; to be in-
juriously affected by the neighborhood of mill-ponds, these effects of malaria
are of as regular recurrence in autumn, as on places near to any of the
marshes of the low country : and are much more dangerous.

The third and highest region seems destined, notwithstanding its better
defence in mountain sides and peaks, and the rarity of flat surface on which
to form wide and shallow ponds, to take its turn next, as the victim of ma-
laria. Already, in that part of the mountain region in and about Frederick
county, there have been particular autumns which seemed almost pestilen-
tial. And though such cases of general and virulent disease are rare,
particular cases of autumnal diseases are now frequent in many such places
where they were rarely heard of thirty years ago.

These statements may be considered by some as exaggerated or unfound-
ed—and, by others, if admitted to be true, considered as showing the want
of both patriotism and policy, in the writer's thus exposing the enormous
existing and still growing evils under which the country suffers. In regard
to the former point, I admit, in advance, the scarcity of particular and posi-
tive facts, to serve as proofs, which is found throughout the whole subject ;
and that among the existing difficulties of obtaining such facts, (and still
more by a single and unaided individual, who has had little opportunity to
make proper researches,") I have to rely mostly upon general and loose
opinions, and deductions from general facts. Hence there is much liability
of mistake. But if the public can in any way be driven to the examination
of this subject, and numerous individuals be excited to search for facts,
whether to sustain or to oppose my views, the arrangement and presentation
of such facts will serve as materials, which are now almost totally wanting,
and will enable this all-important question to be hereafter properly discussed
and correctly determined.

If there were no hope for relief, there would certainly be no use in e*
posing or dwelling upon these distresses of our people. But, though no-
thing yet has been done for relief, nor does it seem to have entered the
imagination of our legislators, and though all they have yet done has been
to add strength to the evil, still it is my confident opinion, that relief may
be furnished for this sorest evil of the land, and furnished easily and pro-
fitably ; and that it is perfectly within the power of man to dry up the most

CALCAREOUS MAM Kl ID1X.

fruitful sources of malaria, and to bring the whole, or very nearly Ihc
whole el Virginia, to a si |Jjy us that of any oj

world. II' Mch a result is

ertiofl for1! and nothing will tandu
by ili'- people ir 11 ...ity of

the evil which presses upon the country.
It is not rhy purpose to attempt to investigate the cause a;:d trace the
e of operation i i malaria. Though worthy of every ca,
as a scientific question, it is one which as yd has entirely I

-;tinn. IJ111 • as yet unknown whal

Viracter of this subtle iluid, and what are the prei |
stances under wliich it

aneftil influence*"-1 still the hiain and most ini]
of no question. Tims, and in general, all persons, from the m
to the most learn

mpsphere in hot weather, from m irshy ground and stagnant •
tends to produce tin- common autqm

ture.
Though I speak of malarl i as an api ifor a fluid, or gas . it is.

notdesignad to found my argument uptin.fhe truth
for convenience, as well as because inclining to the belief, malaria i i
spoken of as a material aeriform product, yet, it may I
term to designate the particular <v

certain causes, which condition operates to | : strengthen .

nal diseases. Still less do I mean to maintain '... in ifjnr. ate rial,

is of any one kind pf gas, or any p Idnds.

Besides tii. niaiiy other common points on which the le

investigators o| malaria totally j insist

upon deducing general principles from his own particu
posed facts,) and so slightly and incorrectly have sui h fai ts bi
that the general mes lost in the contra

different instructors. Thus, flying from particular and isolated ob
tionSj with some writers, there is no condition of circumstances whii
not sometimes in a warm climate produce malaria j and with
equally partial and imperfect observation of other facts, the • r
denied to lie usually caused by any of the circumstances which are
rally deemed the most certain and fruitful sources. One wril
has known an exemption from disease in those who lie
marsh, or a stagnant pond; and hencft he denies I
materia, and accordingly scare, in other circumstanci

hafV known the effects of malaria on troops encamped in a high di
the mountains of Spain, wtiere the soil was dry and stony,:;.
except rapidly flowing rivulets, and the place sonic null
nearest marsh or lake. Hence be •

this, in certain (unknown ices, throws out abundance of m

Considering the circumsl which most

have been written, it would be si

The authors of most of them were army-surgeons an
«, observed the effects of malaria in s
at all acclimated. Perhaps the author was confined ton
limited in his observations to the line

in a country to which he was totally a Strang' r, an.l among .1
whose opinions he could not learn, and whose I;

not understand. If a physician ' 'ha ' merely

accompanied his inarch through \ irginia, and been cooped up in Yorktown
27

294 CALCAREOUS MANWiES— APPK^IHX

during the siege, had written a treatise on the diseases ry, he

would have been better prepared to treat i I most of those

have essayed such tasks; and lie probably vfou as a

regular disease of swept off in

numbers the absconding s were

crowrod together in Yorktown Until the surrender, i
disease has never been known in

All agree that decaying and putrefying \ itter is one of the

greatest, if not the only source of malaria. I en. in addition to

the sufficient abundance of the material, the circu: - luciee

to its putrefaction must lie the most favorable to the production of malaria.

The presence of moisture, a cert.,
air, are circumstni ■ , to putrefaction", and of course to the pro-

duction of malaria : and neither can take pi three

0/ these ess favorable than a less quan-

tity ; and entire covering by water would, by excluding air, nearly prevent
fermeir - consequence, the formation an

It is also qne of [he few settled poin ■
malaria is ve east when wa i sun : and hence the fact

known to r. lers of

marshes, and of mill-ponds, sometimes escn exhala-

tions, when others, who Jive on high hills, and at much greater distances
from the sources, suffer greatly by | produced! 5

kind are numerous, and uf regular annual occurrence, in Gloucester county.
The whale of the wide and very levii s furnish residences very

health)-, compared to the tide-water region in genera!; tiiouch intersected
in every direction by tide-waters, and though there s"i!l remains much
swamp land unreclaimed, such as the .:! was when

in awSte of nature. Bit the high, dry and hilly land, which fori - I
of the county, is less healthy; and t! ■ ited and beautiful sites of

mansion-houses overlooking the low-grounds are universally sickly in
autumn.

If all the facts in regard to the action of malaria were as regular and
uniform as this one just stated is in Gloucester, there would be far less
doubt on the subject It is the uniform character of that county, in its
high-land, low-ground, and also the water, and the long extent of
ts to be so uniform there. Owing to causes -
in the dose, >mds of Gloucester. (Far; . oaL'e

178, vol. vi.,) there is but little malaria evolved there;, and if that as sup-
posed, rises by its greater levity, 'the regular daily sea-breeze must
it to float towards the high-lands; and the loni: and recukir line of]
cannot fail to receive it, and in not ve noportions. But in most

other situations, even though malaria should he produced in crreat quantitv
and' with direful effects, ; cts are so -extremely irre

places, the times, and the intensity of their operation, ti lot be

certainly traced to their true source-; and their. jrce. may re-

main scarcely suspected, while il ■

every season. Away from the vicinj • ... nothing can be

irregular than the winds; yet, supposing a mill-pond to produ
and large supply of malaria every autumn, (though that supply is
extremely irregular,) it depends upon the direction, force, and continuance
of every change of wind, whether and where, and to what extent the
malaria will produce disease. It is therefore not at all strange, nor opposed,
as is thought by some, to the regular annual production of malaria or
Buses of sickness by each mill-pond, that the visitations of sickness, at any

. "is MAM KKS .\ITl.\l>t\ 290

ulgr, and the d often totally inex-

iat.ion of cii! i

Qaria

11 111,)

etfble matter to forwent,

climate to carry cm fermentation. But, In the

, such temp

ts .•-cfiiiii) lie harmless. Pa/taps a small

quant.: j i aids the produc-

il operation i
quality u as true. This is, that tl i « ■ ■

a is s i hi as to rise above the lower air, still it remains

on the surface or the earth in til'' night, after being exti
descends again from abi • ■ i l ol

that Ijbeping on the groin !. or in t. e lowest apartments, and bi

to the injht-aiv, inv i \s and incre

and i

weather, has been . useful to health, in places much subject to

autumnal levers.

Thou en*be theoretically true that evei

tempi-: out malaria to a certain extent, it is

es that are hurtlul; ;uul in practice, we have only, if po§s
to avoid the fbr,mation of the hurtful excess of tiie ; . rmaotation.

It', in loner Virginia; we the existing and there.

in- situation would be one of the healthiest In the world.
For v. - many and fatal i

the Iuiil's to which the inhabitants of northern, and what are usually and
improperly c coy tries are peculiarly subjeet, v.e have no

■cuiiar to e i ive this one, which, I fully be-

lieve, it is within mil

Putrefying animal

table matter is Us source, i there

i<*h materi d. :i>:ed

• i produce
nftlaria in gjept quantity^ or «

nd autumn, or whi n
■ :p,M .... • oft, as was formerly t: e general practice in lo\ i r \ irgima
..ii all f 11 ii.- ■• re manure « as know n 1 1

irm. I loubti'ess,
malaria, • hut I haw^

never known

eilhel (Vas

carried out and app

on malaria, one well-tilled yard iiin^

. the^
•n so
disastrous, and so sure, al and

of the absolu'

But the putrelai i gs, as

earth and water, and un Mgh neither (hr

admixture nor the circumstances are knowi

0Q;; CALCAREOUS MANURES- APPENDIX.

such extent, that there is no doubting or mistaking the connexion of causes
and cllects. Such sure and abundant sources of malaria are the following
materials: 1st, The putrid and slinking wafer of stagnant ponds, partially-
dried by the heat of summer. 2d, The mud bottoms of such ponds, or of
streams reduced by drought, rich in decomposed vegetable matter, and left
bare of water only in summer. 3d, Fresh-water marshes, of vegetable
soil, frequently, but not regularly, covered by the tides. 4th, Fresh-water
marshes, laid dry by embankments, and thereby permitted to rot away ra-
pidly. 5th, The meeting of salt and fresh waters on land full of vegetable
matter. Of these several and most important sources of malaria, 1 deem
the third (fresh-water marshes in their natural state) to be the least hurtful;
and that the sources numbered 1st, 2d, 4th, and 5th, increase in virulence
in the order in which they are named. The greater evils produced by the
last are universally admitted, but still by an erroneous deduction from the
premises. The belt of the tide-water region of Virginia, in which the fresh
water flowing down the rivers mingles with the refluent salt water from
the ocean, is well known to be more subject to autumnal diseases than any
other extensive space in the country. The breadth of this belt varies much
in different seasons. The parts of the rivers in which the fresh and salt
waters meet, and where each alternately has possession as the tide ebbs or
flows, ma}? be but a i'cw miles wide, and even that space is not stationary.
But if the limits of this belt be fixed by the highest points to which the
rivers have been known to be brackish in driest summers, and by the
lowest points where they are fresh in winter, then this belt .may be consi-
dered for the time as 40 or 50 miles wide, and, in length, stretching across
all the tide-waters of the state. But in the much narrower space where this
mingling of the salt and fresh waters usually takes place during the heat of
summer, malaria acts with most intensity. Hence the general opinion, that
it is simply the meeting and mingling of the fresh and salt waters which
cause disease. This is not so, or but in a very slight degree. It is either
the passage of fresh-water over salt-water* marshes, or of salt-water over
fresh-water marches, that causes the great production of malaria, and
disease. ■ This is ah important distinction, and the truth or error of the
position deserves the most careful investigation. If the mere mingling of
the waters were the cause of sickliness, any relief for this part of the evil
would be hopeless, as the waters mitst meet and mix' together somewhere.
But if it be as I suppose, the evil may be greatly restrained by works of art,
or by simply preventing the unnatural accumulation of vast reservoirs of
fresh water in mill-ponds, which when discharged, by breaches in the dams,
or*by opening the flood-gates, overflow salt-marshes, which the natural or
unobstructed stream never could have covered.

Salt-water marshes, not touched by fresh-water streams, are not un-
healthy to any considerable extent. This is susceptible of proof by innumera-
ble examples in Virginia on the borders of the ocean, or of the waters of
the Chesapeake bay. It is rare, however, to find a large salt-marsh at-
tached to extensive high-land, which is not reached by some small stream;
and every salt-marsh of course must sometimes be well washed and fresh-
ened by the heaviest falls of rain. Therefore all must, slightly and at some
times, be prejudicial to health. These, however, are exceptions of but
small practical or sensible operation.

The view here taken of the manner in which malaria is produced most
certainly, and acts most injuriously, though not sustained by any known
authority in this country, nor by any other precisely as stated here, is not
therefore presented as original. 1 derived it, and thence deduced my ap-
plication to this country in a modified form, from the interesting report on

CALCAUKUl'S , MAM Ills AI'VKMUIX. 297

tin- malaria of I Ml mo i lieorgini, of whicb the substance was pub-

Ifshed in tw i different p ipers In of vol! iv.,

and 46t>of vol. y.j In 'this repast the author sljow

argument an 1 fads, that ir irruptions of sea-water over tracts

of marshes, or other low-groun alluvial formation, caused

the long continued and w"i n*ia: an I that by simply guard-

perma-
nently to he i lion, the irre-
gnlar Qoodings with fresh-water ol salt-marshes. But what Is produced
..I to in> as well produced in the other ease. The
mode in winch the eff< vt is. produced is ii"t attempted to be <-\ i >1 iim- 1 by
the learned author quoted above; nor dues any explanation seem sufficient
to my poind. The rapid and abundant production of malaria may perhaps
be aided, if not entirely caused, by the luxuriant cover of liesh-water
plants, in tl le Mg partly killed, and made ready for putrefaction,
by being covered by salt water; and in the in this country, by
a like Injurious operation on the pladts peculia to salt marshes, produced
by the overflowing of fresh wah ,-. We kriow that certain plants flourish
best in salt and wet so in wet soil entirely fr%e from salt ; and
that respectively with the rdwths, the salt and the fresh marshes
are heavily covered. It must follow from a sadden change in the condition,
from salt to fresh, • ■. that the health of the entire growth must

My injured, and much ol it subjected to death and decay.
The next must fertile source of malaria, (or perhaps what is even of

er malignity, for the small space occupied,) is presented in what is en-
tirely the Work Of man — the miscalled imj r inking
and partially or entirely dryim: tide-marshes. The softs of these* marshes,
as I have ascertained by careful analyses, are composed, for about half their
'. of vegetable' matter, and probably nine-tenths of their bulk is of
aterial, destructible by decpmpositlon, when tircumstances are lavor-

to that result; and drainage and cultivation produce precisely the con-
dition which is most favorable. When covered twice every day by flood-
tide, a marsh soil of th I ist putrescent
materials, is but little subject to decomposition; because, being always tho-
roughly water-soaked, even when hot entirely covered, and by water con-
tinually changed, the air is too much excluded, and the wetness is toq much
in excess, to favor thjg progress of decomposition. When the marsh rises so
high as not to be covered by daily or frequent tides, then decomposition
fc more favored by. the drier- state of the surface, and, to a greater extent,
malaria is evolved, and health injured. Hence the inference, that the higher
"and drier the marsh, the mure it is injurious to health/ But as soon as such
a vegetable and putrescent soil is made nearly dry, and still more when
cultivated and exposed to be penetrated by the air, decomposition proceeds
under the most favorable circumstances. The soil sinks annually and ra-
pidly, not so much by drying (as commonly si by actually rotting
away ; and, in a k\v years, it is reduced to so low a level as again necessa-
rily to pass under the dominion and shelter of the water. The more com-
plete the drainage, and the more perfect the management as arable or tilled
land, the more rapidly is that end reached. In the progress to this end, a
layer of the whole soil, of from one to three feet in thickness, will have passed
off into the air in the gaseous products of putrefaction, of which enormous pro-
ducts, a large proportion will be malaria, and the effects produced by it on
the health of some of the neighboring population are generally so evident as
to leave no doubt of the source of the evil More full details on the effects

^98 CALCAKEOlS MAM "KES— AITEND1X.

of embankments of tide-marshes are to be found id previous articles in this
work.*

The production of malaria by the last named operation, the embanking of
marshes, however, is necessarily of very limited extent— and, moreover, of
very limited duration. .Nature soon asserts and enforces her rights; and
the hopes of the improver, and the land so iuaprqvedj,are together ovef-
whelmed by the reinstatement of the waters, and this source of disease is
thereby cut off.

Tide-marshes, however extensive and injurious in their operation on
health, still are limited to a comparatively small proportion of our broad
territory. But there is another source which spreads disease gver half the
state, and which is entirely of artificial fofiiiafion", and of which the ey.il ef-
fects have been becoming more and more extensive, and more and more
virulent, from the early settlements of the country to this time. This wide-
spread and generally operating source of disease and death is furnished by
the numerous mill-ponds, of variable height of surface, which aie now, scat-
tered over the whole face of eastern Virginia, and of widen every indivi-
dual case adds something to the general and enormous amount of injury to
health and to life.

The law of Virginia in regard to the erection of mill-ponds, with perhaps
the exception of the fence-law, is one -of the most stupid, and most regard-
less, both of private rights and general interests, of all in our code: and it is
far more objectionable than the former, inasmucn as while the one merely
robs individuals and destroys public wealth to an enormous an.ount, the
mill-law permits and encourages also the destruction of health and of life
throughout the whole land. It is true, unfortunately, that this Opinion is not
entertained by many persons; and that even with those who admit that
all such mill-ponds are injurious to some extent, their estimate of the
amount of evil is much below mine. It is my object to awaken the com-
munity to a sense of the enormity of the evil, and thereby to induce the
commencement of measures of remedy and prevention. The universal ac-
quiescence in this policy of our country, and the almost universal ignorance
of the evils which it produces, requires strong language to enfo ce novel
views in opposition to long established opinions. But it is confidently be-
lieved that my denunciations will be justified by reason and by facts, and by
the magnitude of the existing evil-.

There has long prevailed in Virginia a mania for building water-mills,
which was not restrained by insulin ient regular supplies of water to fill the
ponds, nor by the insufficient prospect of business and of pro!;!, even if
there were no failure of water. In consequence, there have been not only
erected mills on every stream barely sufficient to keep a common corn-mill
■ in operation, but also on as many others where the water-power was either
insufficient, or totally failed, during the driest season of every year. In the
tide-water region, the mills for grinding wheat-flour, or any thing else for
sale abroad, are limited to the falls of the rivers. All the others, (and
probably there is" on an average one for every square of five miles.) art
merely designed to grind for toll the corn used for bread in the immediate
neighborhood; and, considered merely in regard to money-cost and profit,
it is most likely that half the mills in the country do not cret enough toll-
corn to pay for more than the costs of maintenance and repairs of their
establishment. . The more worthless the mill, on account of the insufficient
supply of water, the more productive it necessarily is of malaria, diseases,
and death. It will be difficult for me to make those who are unacquainted

* See Farmers' Ke-ish r, p. 107, nncl 120. vol i., and p. 41, ■!-, vol. v.

#

. \l.('.\!:i I M'lTM'IX 2P9

with our country believe that hundreds b( nulls have been (mill, an. 1 that
niiisi of ore new ones will probably yet

tire eio .

and the country at

extend thi ou m ppn-

dents of the • as JHanj; others raise ra ic lor

amusement ent and to -. lives, than

lor profit. But tl

mischief to'ttie country i bred by the

under
the law, any man v

P in : tl e tfater on some of his neighbors' ! rig to do but to ap-

11 ;in order of tjie cdiinty-coort, by w | a jury

to meet on the spot, to judge ol and assess the d I will be sus-

tains,I by the b\\ nere of the las : > be covered by the pond

jury i en as ignorant and unfit fo» sacfi1

- and estimates as I c lb furnish — and they iio-

\ guejs as to hbw much land will be i e will

in- sustained m the Joss of the use of the land. Bhere is no question enter-
tained as to whether a mill is at.«H required i ni the neighbors
for meal; and if tin' question! of the effect on health is even named, it la id-
entirely unacquainted with, and regardless or the whole
t. In fact t f «.. i to health has ran'' lered in any
sui-ii e ise ;— ami qever duly considered. If the land that ered by
a jiond, though very rich, is then in the state of swamp, and totally repro-
ductive, such an uninformed jury astl submitted to will he
it such land Is |3 an acre is
given (pr the land actually to be covered by the pnnd, it will
be deemed a liberal will rarely refuse to sustain the
■ jury.
Though the use of the land thus covered is for ever taken from the
owner, or, for as long as the mill-owner ma pond,
still the fight of |ii',,;i,.,iy is not This small reservation of

ble homage to justice1, serves as a still further injury to the community.
and is not' of the least value tb those to v.

»;,••! i land was thus cpndemne I to I e co-
il by a mill-pond, th
pmpared to thi i

the purchase-room md the absolute right of property vi i

the mill-owner. If this were the case now, there me many
Virginia wh^ch would be forthwith laid dry, evi tl mi's should

necessarily go down : because the land - - known

I" lie worth more for cultivation than the hundreds df

other mills, of l'i eater profit an I value, also, in that case, won
supplied with water by canals than by their present ponds, l.y which iheir

ublic, and
ibate I. but. as the law now -
if a mill, which will not brine in of net rent *r>(l a y< ir, c vers by Its pond
500 acres of rich land . vner hjano

interest whatever in drain I. because ii

belong to those persons. In anj ig to 'his. and in which

there would be a gain to all the individuals concerned, by draining the

••♦.

300 CALCAKEOUS MA Nl HES-APPENDlX.

pond, still it is not done, and the nuisance continues long after it is well
known to be such, because there is a contest between the several owners
of the pond and of the land covered by ir, in regard to their respective
shares of profit to be gained by emptying the pond. Many such cases still
exist inlKirginia; although many oi the most unprofitable ponds, from pro-
per views of economy, have been drained, an eaper
and more efficient canals, or the mills put down entirely. An old mill-pond
in Dinvviddie county, which covered 1J00 acres of land, has been drawn
off, and thereby an indifferent rhill exchanged for a large fertile fartn. This
would not have been done, even if the mill was worthless, but for the
ownership of the mil! and the land covered By the pond falling into the
same hands. There is a mill-pond now kept op In Prince George comity,
which is supposed to cover nearly ICO acres ( . land : and there are :.
others not djU' anches of swamps in lower Virginia.
The larger the pond, in genera1. proportion of bottom is lefl
in autumn, and the more disease is therefore produced ; and
draining of such jarj bJd be si much the . gain,
there is the less chance for its being done, Lecause of the many separate
ownerships and Interests.

Almost all the miils throughout the lower part of Virginia, and also a
large proportion of those in the more hilly -middle county, are worked by
streams which are inadequate to the daily supply of the mill and evaporation
from the pond, even if the grinding suspended or di-

minished at any time. To guard against the temporary failure in dry wea-
ther, the full " head" of the pond, (or the-level of water for which damages
were assessed, and to which the water may Lfwfitffy be raised.) is much
higher than the lowest level that will work the mill. The land covered
is also usually very nearly level, so that to raise tire water 10 or 15 feet at
the dam, will often back the water from one to two miles up the low-
grounds. If the variation between a full head of water, and the lowest
level, be 5' feet perpendicular, it will often cause the uncovering of many
acres of the bottom of the pond to the hot sun, and thereby furnish a most
fruitful source of malaria in every such case. Rich alluvial mud. as this al-
ways is, thus exposed in hot weather, cannot be otherwise than very inju-
rious to health; and there is not a pond-mill in Virginia, with a variable
head, which has not more or less of the pond every summer thus converted
to a fruitful seed-bed and nursery of disease.

Besides this, there is the not rare occurrence of the pond being entirely
drawn off in summer, by the breaking of the dam, and its being suffer
so to remain for weeks or months, before being again repaired and
pond filled. In this case, a double quantity of bottom is exposed to putre
faction, and fitted for the discharge of unhealthy miasma.

At all times, in ponds supplied by streai as most of those

used for mills in Virginia, tne water approaches to a stagnant state; and
therefore of itself is a producer of malaria. In dry seasons, when unus-
ually low, the putridity of the water of such ponds is percepi
sense of smell ; and it must be then far from harn

Another, and in certain situations, the greatest evil of mill-ponds, remains
to he stated. The others above-mentioned are the effects of the scarcity
of the supply of water ; this ft from the excess, which is found in all
streams, at some times, even though the most deficient at others.

To guard as much as possible against the expected scarcity of water, the
mill-owner aims to hold, when rains increase the usual supply, as "full a
head" as he has a right to maintain. When this supply is exceeded, as it
frequently is, and greatly, if the dam be not actually broken, and the whole

•*.♦

CALCAREOUS MAMK!..-. APPENDIX ;;u;

emptied, in one prodigious flood, at least the flood-gates are opened widely,
and a discbarge mam ten-fold greater than would have occurred during
equal time, if the stream had n rncted by a Dam, and had dis-

charged as regularjy as the supply « I. It will be evident, on

considering these circumstances, that water from a mill-pond, whether

otl ei n Ise, must be fai more
height, and In extent of inundation on the land below, than ihe natural
stream unobstructed by ail ; and still more than the stream bpened and im-
proved and Its course fsjeililated by art An ordinary natural stream, which
might have a very unif irm discharge In dry weather, and would rarely over-
ilnw its hanks in wet, if dammed across for a mill, wi uld often have 11
below the dam left almost dry; and, at rare and irregular times, would be
converted to a trei iod, which would sweep over hundrei

acres more than the floods of the natural stream could have reached.
nsr-,1 tn cultivati d land by these Hoods, (and
which kind of dai Imated or thought of by juries when

mills are established above.) there are numerous hollows made, ami filled
with water, which, on the retn is hasty as its inroad,) re-

main so many stagnant pools until made dry by evaporation. The « hole
land, thus covered, is saturated with water; and, from the nature of the rich
alluvial soil, is throughout, as il dries, made a producer of malaria.

But the worst part of this evil, by far, is when these ods of

fresh-waters pass over salt-ma .ill the country in

which the fresh and sail waters meet; and this coml in ol causes I con-
sider the i ienl producer of disease in thai pari of the country, and
die thing which ought mo j linsL According to
the views before pi e of fresh water over salt-marshes, no
matter to what extent, is i .and of

a particularly malignant kind. The mill-pond l far

more extensive, if weak-, ol the

two, the mill-ponds exert all their usual bad influence above the dams, and
spread ten-fold more pestilential effects below, by inundating the wide salt-
marshes, which by natural streams would scarcely have been affected.

On Nansemond river there are lands already rich, and having inexhausti-
ble supplies of the best marl, which have been sold re. There
are hundreds of estates in the same heit of country which cannot be sold
for as i i cost and present vali i tl other-
wise fine country, so accursed by disease, owes its rmcipally to
the mill streams which flow iters, and which are so nume-
rous, and their sources so interlocked, thai there is no spot safe, by remote-
ness of position, from these combined efli cts of mill-ponds and salt-marshes.
It is therefore sufficiently evidi I otherwise finest part of the
state, for agricultural improvement and profit, should stand among the low-
est in both these respects. Ye I \ irginia might he rendered both
healthful and fruitful, and the delightful region wh :h God I, a* permitted it to
be made, if man would accept and avnil of his bounties by merely using
half the expense for improving which lias been lavished to inflict pestilence
and poverty on the country.

statements and expressions of opinion will be unpalatable, if not
offensive; and perhaps may subject the writer t" the charge of being witt-
ing to injure the residents of the regii relief in this respect he
• anxious, and of tl I cheapness of obtaining relief, by the
use of proper means, he feels most confident. If the exposure and probing
of the nicer be never so painful, let it be remembered that it is done solely
for the purpose of seeking for, and applying, a sure remedy.
33

-q^ CALCAREOUS MANURES -APPENDIX

There is still another source of malaria, which il is necessary to touch on
in connexion wilh the above-mentioned, though it has been already treated
more fully elsewhere, and therefore "ill be but slightly mentioned here*

From the vegetable matter upon the driest land, as it ferments and de-
cays, there must be extricated more or less of the gaseous matter which,
when in excess, is injurious to health. According to this view, the whole
surface of the country, and especially that most heavily covered with vege-
table matter, may furnish malaria. The degree of hurtfulness of this pro-
duct will depend on the power of growing vegetables to feed on, and of
the soil to absorb and fix in it this matter, which, according to its direction
and quantity, may either enrich land, Iced plants, or poison men. In earlier
publications 1 have stated at large my reasons for believing that all the
products ol vegetable decomposition, on naturally poor lands, are lost to
the land ;f and as the ultimate results of decomposition are gaseout, «>r
aeriform, they must go oft' into the air. These products constitute or cause
malaria, and its injurious effects on the health of the inhabitants. But cal-
careous matter serves effectually to fix in the soil the enriching principles of
decaying vegetable matter, until they serve as food for growing plants.
Hence the deduction that a naturally poor soil, made calcareous, will no
longer throw oft' gaseous products, or malaria, into the air; but will store it
up as fertilizing manure. The sure remedy for the irregular and gene-
rally slight decree of sickliness thus caused, is to marl or lime all the land
that requires calcareous earth. Lint that remedy would not be sufficient, if
mill-ponds or marshes in the neighborhood continued to send out large ad-
ditional supplies of the aeriform poison. f

The correctness of my deductions as to the very injurious effects o{ mill-
ponds on health, will be denied on several grounds, which, so far as ex-
pected, I will anticipate as objections, and state with the answers, as fol-
lows:

Objection 1. — Admitting generally, and to some extent, the ill effects of
mill-ponds in producing noxious exhalations and autumnal diseases, it does
not appear that these effects can be either so great, or so sure, as is charged
above. The residents on the farms nearest to mill-ponds are not always,
and often not at all, more sickly than those who reside several miles distant.
The house of the slave who acts as miller, is usually near the mill, and close
to the pond; yet families so situated are generally as health)' as any others,
and sometimes are healthy in a remarkable degree, compared to the neigh-
borhood generally.

Answer. Near the mill-dam, or the lower end of the pond, may well be
less affected by the exhalations from it, than places a mile or two more dis-
tant. That part is the deepest of the pond, and of which also the banks
are steepest ; and perhaps half a mile in length of the bottom of the upper
and shallowest part of the pond, and of alluvial mud, might be left naked
in drought, before a margin of steep hill-side of three feet width could be
exposed near the mill. Further — from the greater lightness of the malaria,
it will rise high in the air, and would soon be carried far away by a mode-
rate breeze. If the wind be moderate, and steady to one direction, and
still more if its course be confined to an opening by or between woods, or
to a narrow valley between high hills, it may well be imagined that the
poisonous air might injuriously affect persons perhaps five miles from the
pond, and who would not suspect the operation of so distant a source;

* See ' Essay on Calcareous Manures,' 3d ed., chapter xv , and ' Essay on the Police
of Health" commencing p. 154., vol. v., of Farmers' Begister.
f Essay on Calc. Man., pp. 23, 57 and 89.

C'ALCARI.OIS MAM MUX 3(J3

while otliers, close to its border, bat in a differonl direction, or on a different
level, in its influence.

0 -There is Dot enough difference in the usual or average

-i exposed, an ■ «ed to

mill-ponds, to am iiniic ii nelgh-

■ autumns are very healthy, and In others very sickly,

without either condition 1 with any certain and

known state of the nearest mill-ponds.

i r. — The extrei ious air, ami great and fre-

quent variations in thei •.■•winds on

. make it get known from

which particular pond or ] r where it is carried. It

Is mosl probable that the exhalations of twenty ponds, of which the most
remote may be thirty miles apart, may be mingled together by the winds

Further,
if all the mi county furnish ; the active and injurious

malaria, and the other half is I y, by the whole

surface of the land, (though some puts wo doses,

and others escape with having it would be impossible

tn understand the mode, and i intensity ol i n ol the

kno.i : ,r to refer, wil i ce I to its

us, a farm 1 1 i all malaria of Its

own product, by i I by drying its mill-pond, thofagh evidently

showing the beneiit iii i i be sorely

visited i y the seeds of dis ted and

trated by a steady wind.

II iving p esented these views of the origin, action and effects of malaria
in this country, I can better i es which I

belie-..- i I, and winch .ne still continuing to ope, ate, to pro-

e change from a healthy to an un

When our ancestors Grst reached this shore, whole country

was m a state ul nature I n bul a few

fertile spots on the banks land was

under one great forest Tl had not been obstructed by the cutting

down of tret eir beds, (by which in many cased streams have

ended.) No
dams had obstructed the I i, and there-

fore i.o great artificial floods were formed, The soil not having been
cultivate, i, was not exp ised to be washe I away by the ra i ivers.

The clear, instead o| being generally

mudd . 'I. In this former

state of thihgs there could ha vi I lew sources of malaria,

ation "i sot i making

pond- > e yet few iii number, the con-

strue je the best and most unl (is; and the

', a long time, surrounded by dense and tall forests. Such
hilly land as the margins of the ponds would certainly n 1 1 into

cult i\ Iter, and easier to till, remained

unoccupied. Hence, such ponds produ ed til Ii ■. I tliat little

was warded off from the settlers, or taken up by the forest growth. The
general wooded state of the • I enderad the

supplies of water more regular, and . . which

woull usual now. tl e levels of the ponds.

The clearing, cultivation, and i Is of the

upper country, greatly increased the muddineas, and quantity of alluvial

304

CALCAREOUS MANURES -APPENDIX.

deposite of the rivers, and thereby increased the marshes both in breadth
and in height. More mills continued to be built, and on streams worse
and worse for water power, as the choice became less open, and the mill-
mania- began to grow ; and, in the general, each successive construction of
a pond was less productive of profit, and more productive of disease, than
its predecessors. The number of mills not only continued to increase, and
is increasing to this day, and in the oldest settled parts of this state, as well
as the newest, but gradual changes also took place in the condition of the
old mills which greatly increased their fitness to produce disease. By the
long continued deposite of mud from the streams, and the washing of the
now cleared and tilled hill-sides, the ponds became more shallow, and the
waste of water by evaporation therefore became greater ; while the supply
was lessened, in consequence of the extended clearings of the great forest
which had before covered the whole country. To remedy the increasing
deficiency of water, the owners of old mills, who were not prohibited by
circumstances, raised the level of their ponds ; which, by increasing their
surface and their contents, still more increased the daily evaporation, and
also the violence of floods, and the variable height and surface of the water ;
all of which again combined to increase, still more than before, the product
of malaria. The consideration of the progress of all these circumstances,
and their bearing on each other, will serve to explain why a particular
neighborhood might formerly have been healthy, though having two or
three mill-ponds within or around it; and why it might gradually have be-
come very unhealthy, in the course of time, by the malaria produced by
the ponds of the same mills, or perhaps bj' the addition of one more pond
only to the former number. But, in such cases, so gradual would be the
general chanee, and so irregular and variable the attacks and virulence of
the autumnal diseases, that the sufferers would not attribute the change,
(even if the}' admitted it to have taken place,) in their average degree of
health, to causes which had so long existed without being charged with
doing mischief; and in which causes no change of condition had been
observed. Add to this, that self-love makes every man reluctant to believe,
and to confess, that his own farm, or his own neighborhood, has become
more sickly ; and the change for the worse is attributed to transient causes,
until the former state of things is almost forgotten, and the present is re-
ceived as if it had always been the usual condition of circumstances.

Durinsrall this time, other causes were working to produce other nurse-
ries of disease, and impediments to agricultural products and improvement.
The wet alluvial bottom-lands, bordering on small rivers and still smaller
streams, were for a long time neglected, and deemed of little value, except
for their fine white-oak, cypress, and other noble timber trees. These were
cut down so as to fall into or across the streams, when in reach, more often
than otherwise; and in consequence of such obstructions, continually in-
creased in number for more than a century, the before open streams were
choked, and the bordering low-grounds converted to swamps; and those
which had been swampy at first were made still more so, by obstructing
the sluggish streams, and spreading them over the whole surface, and
causing that surface continually to rise by fallen trees and alluvium. But
wet as are such swamps for the greater part of the year, most of the surface
is dry in autumn ; and the scanty water is then stagnant in numerous pools,
until added to by the first heavy rain, or a flood from a mill-pond discharged
above. Of course all these circumstances added enormously to the pre-
vious annual decomposition of vegetable matter, and consequent production
of malaria. Such swamps as these, formed by nature and increased by
art, are those on the Chickahominy, Blackwater, and many other long but

CALCAREOUS MANURES-" APPENDIX 305

gentle streams. To form or increase their evil qualities and tendencies, the
law has given full permission, and no small aid; but it positively, though
indirectly, forbid* th teqsive swamps, and preKrvea

them stiil as mere nurseries of disease. A general law for permitting and
facilitating, under proper regulations, the draining of these great swamps,
ire which won . iii it only for improving

the healthiness, but for increasing the agricultural products of the country.

But though the tendency of the general changes in the physical condition
of the country was to increase the causes of autumnal diseases, there
were numerous particular exceptions, in works serving to promote health.
ci' this kind were the opening and straightening of the choked channels
of small rivers, and many large streams, in the hilly country, where there
was enough descent to enable each individual proprietor of flooded low-
ground tu relieve it by operations confined to his own land. The effectual
drainage of much land of this kind has produced so much benefit to health
as in many cases to balance and even exceed the increasing pestiferous
effects of the neighboring mill-ponds. Such facts would be taken by most
persons as proofs that the increase of mill-ponds had not increased disease.
Such benefits have been produced by the gradual draining of the ex-
tensive low-ground of Gloucester, which in its former and natural swampy
state must necessarily have been an abundant source of malaria. This
chance, together with other circumstances stated in the recent description
of that part of the country, has operated to render the Gloucester as free
from bilious disorders as any part of the tide-water region — save the ad-
joining county of Matthews.* The remarkable general state of healthiness
of all these very low lands at present, as well as the exceptions and evident
causes of the exceptions, furnish the most clear and important evidence of
the truth of the position, that mill-ponds and floods of fresh-water discharged
over salt-marshes are the great sources of malaria in Virginia. As stated
formerly,! there are but few fresh-water streams discharged on salt-marshes
in these two counties, and not a pond-mill on the low-grounds, nor indeed
in the whole county of Matthews, save one on its border nearest the high-
land. The facts presented here alone will prove the great and certain
benefit to be obtained by even a partial and imperfect avoidance of the
action, separate and combined, of these two greatest sources of malaria.

But although the general and average degree of sickness may have been,
and certainly is, much lessened of late years by the better drainage of very
many of the smaller swamps — the introduction and increase of more perfect
tillage, which includes better drainage of arable land — and, still more by
far, by the now extensive applications of marl and lime — yet it would be a
great and dangerous error thence to infer that the mill-ponds and the still
remaining irreclaimable swamps had become less injurious to health. Their
malignant effects are not only not lessened in the slightest degree, but must
continue to increase with time, as long as the present destructive legal
policy of Virginia remains. The crowing beneficial operation of the other
and opposite influences, have indeed served to neutralize, counteract, and
even (in the most thoroughly marled districts) to greatly overbalance the
continually increasing disease-producing operation of the mill-ponds and
swamps ; but not to prevent its existence or power. The greatly beneficial
operation of calcareous manures especially in improving health, (which
operation has been so fully treated of in preceding parts of this work as

• S<"e the facts ami reasons stated more fully at p, 179 and 190, in vol. vi. of Farmers'
it-ei^er

t The same p. 190.

306 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX.

to be unnecessary to enlarge more upon here — ) instead of blinding us to
tiie unabated though more concealed effects of remaining sources of malaria,
should urge the more strongly, and encourage every effort, to destroy all
such sources. For if the mere counteraction of opposite influences has
so much improved the healthiness of a large portion of lower Virginia, it
may be safely inferred, that the removal of the remaining sources of disease,
and leaving the beneficial influences to operate freely and absolutely, in-
stead of merely by counteraction, would serve to make this region as
healthy, in general, as any part of our whole country."

The most important part of this subject is the consideration of the reme-
dies for the evils described. But although the means available for this end
in my opinion are ready, cheap, and sure, still it is needless at present to
argue in their favor at great length. Unless the people are aroused to a
proper sense of the evils under which the country suffers, no regard will
be paid to the consideration of proper remedies ; and if the former object
can be gained, the latter will then necessarily 1"

The most important of these remedies, and of which the proper use, I
maintain, will remove nearly all the existing sources of malaria, and make
lower and middle Virginia healthy, will be merely here stated concisely and
distinctly.

1st. To prevent the continuance of any mill-ponds of very uncertain
supply, and variable "head," or height of water.

2d. To furnish to the land-floods, of streams swollen by rains or by any
mill-ponds still left, the quickest and best possible discharge to tide-water
by open canals, so as to prevent the fresh-waters passing over any salt-
marshes.

3d. To drain the great flat swamps; all of which require a continued
•canal to be extended from the lowest outdet up to the head of the supply
of water, in the most effective course, and on a general plan, through the
lands of many different proprietors. The drainage of lands so s.tuated is
effectually forbidden by the existing laws ; as there is no power to act,
unless all the proprietors concur in every particular of the execution and
expense of the drainage; which is obviously impossible.

4th. To refrain from embanking from the tide any marshes of the usual
putrescent and perishable soil.

5th. To apply marl or lime to all lands needing calcareous manures, and
on which they can be furnished at not too great cost for even such great
improvement of soil and product as would certainly be obtained in all such
cases.

The two last means of prevention are altogether within the power of
individuals, and will be used, or not, according to the views of different in-
dividuals as to the agricultural profit to be expected from such operations.

The three first-named means of remedy would each require the action of
the legislature, to enable them to be used to any considerable extent.

The necessity for a general plan being authorized by law for inducing
and compel I 1 operations to drain swamps on long and sluggish

streams, though merely for agricultural improvement and profit, is already
evident to most intelligent farmers; and perhaps nothing is now wanting to
procure such lesislation but the proper exertion of some of the individuals
who are most interested on the subject.!

The giving free vent to land-floods, also, by wide and straight canals, and

" Thi« paragraph is an addition to this article, as it was first published in 1S3S. The
only other changes made, are the correction of a few verbal inaccuracies, and the marks of
references to this Essay being made to suit the present insiead of the previous edition

1 See Farmers' Register, vol. i., pp. 232. 386, 518, 733, 734.

CALCAREOUS MANURES APPENDIX. ;j(jy

preventing them, by dikes, from overflowing the sail marshes, though a kind
of work requiring public money as «vi ority, still may be

hoped for, « hen thi - the measui i . ident

But there hi no such prospect pf succi ss as to the most important reform
needed, in the putting down of all fever-breeding mill-ponds; and he who
will ventura to adi I, by most of

those whom he aims to serve, as more an enemy tl an a friend to their inte-
rests, and more desei ving to be treated as a lunatii

a ju.lu'iiius ad\ ocata. for valuable publii ot in the vain

hope of new enl irein : i expla-

nations, and then pointy

that -.nine further remarks will now be offered.

Even If the p id ha I I n prepared for a full li I in of

the policy of mill-p inds, and for the laying d

health, there would benoaccon ecessity for injuring the private
interests of mill-owners, nor of causing man rial loss or incoi
the customers of the mills. In the first place, in Justice to the vested rights
of the millers, (however unjust to 01 to the public may
have been the original creation of their rights,) I would advocate full com-
pensation being made for every sacrifice of value in their ponds, which
should be required and compelled for the general benefit. But not more
than full compensation lor all value thus destroyed should be '..'ranted; and
many of the fever-breeding ponds are really of no pecuniary value to their
owners or to the public; and most others may, to reater a I Vantage, be
supplied with water by canals, instead ol !■■ Even if one-third of
all the mills should be thus put down entirely, thi ie would be such as now
always fail in dry seasons; and the more permanent and regular supplies of
water, which all the remaining mills would receive from the canals substi-
tuted foi ponds, would rendei i furnish the whole country with
meal, with regularity, cert linty, and in abundance, and therefore more suit-
ably and conveniently to the consumers, than oil the mills, ■: I and bad,

now in operation. By an important innovation in the law in regard to
mills, (enacted March 2d, 18260 every owner of a mill is authorized to cut
a canal through the lands of other persons, if required by the nature of the
locality, so as to substitute the pond by a canal. Before this amendment of
the old law, no mill-owner could provement, unless in the

rare case of his own land esfending under the whole c iurse of the desired
canal. The privileges offered by this new provision have
availed of in many cases, in Charlotte and the neighboring counties, and to
great advantage in regard to health as well as to increased power to the
mills, and with great value gained in the rich drain of the ponds

beingput under cultivation. Slowly as such lessons are usually learned, and
slowly as new agricultural improvements are brought into extended use,
this highly beneficial and profitable improvement cannot fail to be Adopted
generally in the course of time* The I Ie to the early and gene-

ral substitution of canals for ponds, wherever I . ;^ the

absurd legal distribution of rights in the mill-ponds and the land which they
cover, as stated on a preceding page; one person being vested with the
perpetual riuht to keep the land overflowed and worthless, while others
have the right of property in that land, to be exercised only in the never-
expected event of the owner of the pond drawing it off and draining the
rich bottom, and that for the gain of others more than himself Now I

* See facts and statements on this subject at p. 231, vol. v., Farmers' Register, pp. 1
to >. ; p. 679, vol. ii. ; p 874, vol. It.

308 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

would get rid of this absurd conflict of rights, by vesting the full property of
the land covered in every mill-owner who would draw off the pond ; or
if he did not avail of the privilege offered, the land should be given up to
its former owners, or to any one else, who would construct a canal, and
thereby secure to the use of the mill an equally good supply of water-power.

Each of the several remedies proposed and stated above would alone
furnish a fruitful subject for investigation and discussion. But more ex-
tended remark from this source is as yet uncalled for. Other persons,
having better practical information, and thereby prepared to confirm or to
disprove the positions here assumed, are invited to aid in the discussion.
Let the truth be made known, on whichever side it may be found ; and
shoulJ all facts and deductions presented serve to show that the present sys-
tem greatly needs reformation, ami to awaken the public to the importance
of the object, then will be the suitable and propitious time to ask attention
to remedies proposed for the then acknowledged evils, inflicted by the ac-
tion or permission of the government. Whenever the legislature is prepared to
act decisively on this whole question, there will be before them a subject for
the "internal improvement" of Virginia far more important in beneficial re-
sults than the roads and canals which have cost millions of dollars to the
treasury; and yet which will be cheaper, compared to the profit to be cer-
tainly counted on, than the most humble or contemptible job for private
objects, which has yet been carried through by public expenditure, and as
a public improvement.

But even under the existing law, any single individual who clearly sus-
tains injury to health from any particular mill-pond, has now the legal
power to have that particular nuisance abated, by means of suit for da-
mages f< >r the injury thereby sustained. It has been judicially settled that
such ground of suit for damages is not prevented by any previous assess-
ment by the first jury, nor by any lapse of time during which the mill has
been standing; nor is the ground removed by the new damages awarded
for injury already sustained and sued for. No matter how often damages
may have been given to the plaintiff by successive verdicts, and paid by
the defendant, there will continue ground to sue, and recover, as long as the
pond remains, and is hurtful. It is surprising that the law, so favorable to
the interests of mill-owners, and regardless of all conflicting interests and
rights of other persons, should have permitted, in this particular, so much of
remedy for the previous injustice and injury inflicted by the law. And it is
still more surprising after legal decisions have so clearly shown the
remedy, that, of so many thousands of individuals who are unquestionably
suffering every autumn from the neighborhood of stagnant miil-ponds, so
few should have availed themselves of the offered means of relief.

If the importance of this general subject were duly appreciated, its in-
vestigation would become an object of the care, and be conducted at the ex-
pense of government. If the legislature of Virginia (for example) would
institute a "General Board of "ealth," or '-Commission of Sanitary Police,"
for the purpose of investigating the subject of malaria thoroughly, and of
reporting the sources and proper remedies, the body of evidence which
would be collected, and the after-results, might be made worth many mil-
lions of increased pecuniary value to the state, besides the far greater
benefit to be produced to the health, the physical and moral qualities, and
the general happiness of the people. At any possible cost of such an in-
vestigation, and of the system of measures founded thereon, the public
improvement and benefit produced thereby would exceed the expenses a
hundred-fold.

C sXCAJtEOUB MANURES— APPEMMX.

309

Xote X — Extension of subject from page 150.

A MACHINE I'ROI'OSED TOR RAISING MAUL.

The machine which will be described below is used at Fortress Monroe
for raising sand from the fosse to fill the ramparts; and has been found by
experience to be the best contrivance of ;ill which have been tried for
iperation, and for which an immense amount of labor was necessary
in constructing the defences ol the fortress. Precisely the same manner of
operation is required for raising marl from deep pits, and there can be no
doubt el this beta ' than any

heretofore applied. Tl e Ms the Weight of the laborers, on the

principle of the tread-mill, which is the most effective manner in which the
power of men can be applied. 1 am indebted for the suggestion of this
machine for raising marl to the observation and scientific knowledge of
mechanics of my friend M. Tnomey, and also for the following description
and the drawings ived figures. Mr. Tnomey, when making a

transient visit to the, fortress, bad seen the machine at work; and recently,
after reading in the foregoing part of this work the remarks on the differ-
ent modes of raising mail, and having witnessed some of the usual modes
in practice, this machine and what he had seen of its power appeared
greatly superior, whenever circumstances may require any use of ma-
chinery. Upon being thus informed, 1 applied to Dr. Robert Archer, I".
S. A. Surgeon at Fortress Monroe, I agri-

cultural public, have been frequently and much indebted,) for a rough plan,
and accurate statement of the dimensions of the machine, 1) itTl of which
he kindly famished; and with the aid of these, Mr. Tuon ena-

bled to give such particular description and correct delineat
serve for full instruction for the building and working of the machine.

"^Figure 1 is a side view, in persp

'. WThe base, consisting of 3 pieces of scantling, each 12 feet lone, and 11 inches by 6,
notched on to each other about 6 inche9 from the end, so as to be flush on top, form-
ing- an equilateral triangle.

e. The principal post 8 feet, 8 by 6 inches, secured to the base, and braced by the
braces f. IVear the top of this post 2 iron sheeves or pulleys are placed, one on each
side, and secured by pieces spiked over them. The chains pass over these pulleys.

/, 2 braces 11 feet long, 4 inches by G.

h, h. Two uprights, in which the gudgeons of the wheel turn, th*y are bolted to the base
and connected at top by the piece g, 10 feet 6 inches long, -1$ by 6 inches, which also
serves as a hand rail for the men to steady by when working on the wheel Tbest
39

310

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX

uprights are further secured by cross pieces connected with the braces, and bearinj in
front aDd rear of the wheel two steps on which the men stand as they go on or off the
wheel.

«•. The wheel 4 feet in diameter, the steps 3 J feet long 8 inches wide, made of 1J inch
plank. The ends of the wheels are formed of two thicknesses of inch plank placed
crosswise, the inside being grooved to receive the steps which are placed about 8
inches apart. The axle ot the wheel is 10 feet G inches long and 8 inches in diameter,
the portion around which the chain winds is enlarged, so as to suit the force employed
on the wheel, or the weight to be raised, by nailing on strips of plank, over which a
few turns of old rope may be placed to prevent the slipping of the chain.

To prevent confusion, only one crane (or arm) is represented in this figure.

The crane post is represented as turning on two iron pivots in pieces s, s, one bolted to
the principal post e, and the other spiked to the base. The crane post is 6 inches
square.

a. The crane jib, 7 feet 6 inches long G by 7 inches.

b. The strut to the jib, 8 feet 6 inches long 4 by 6 inches. Near the extremity of the
jib an iron sheeve is fixed over which the chain p:

c. Is a three-quarter inch rod of iron secured to a by means of a staple, and having a
hook at the other end which drops into a staple at i. This rod serves the double pur-
pose of a stay and a guide, by which (when unhooked,) the arm is drawn to one side
for the purpose of landing the box. When fixed, as represented in the drawing, it
serves to retain the crane in its proper position. When the box is raised the rod is
unbooked, and by means of it the box is landed.

rig 2

rijure 2 is a front view, showing the relative position of the crane?, which are repre-
sented as turned aside. The chain is seen winding around the axle. It is evident
that the men must pass to the opposiv eel as each box is drawn up.

i,j. Represent 2 views of the boxes, which are square and may be each about 21 inches
every way, they will then contain nearly 6 cubic leet each. They are suspended by
two pins placed a little below and to one side of the centre so as to turn over and
empty themselves when a small iron pin seen at j, figure 2, is withdrawn. Three
men can be employed to advant.r I, two remaining on whlUt ihe third

gets oil' to land the box. Should the box not be heavy enough the diameter ot the
axle can be enlarged so as to make up in time wl jht. Should it be too

heavy for the force employed the diameter may be lessened."

The above dimensions of timbers were those of the particular machine
measured by Dr. Archer; but they vary in all the machines of this kind
used at the fortress. The length of the arms of course should be propor-
tioned to the height to which the loaded buckets are to be raised. For
marl, any sized timbers on hand, or logs, that are long enough, would serve
for the base (;', ?'.) It is however desirable that the machine should be as

CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 3]]

light ;is Is consistent with strength fi>r the greater facility of moving it;
anil li>r strength alone, (as in all other machines,) the lai
Is of less importance than their being well pul d nar-

row planks, firmly spike.; I with a space lefl

size for the Bheeve to play in at the upper end, would be
tute for the jib a. When carts are removing the marl at the san e time it
is raised, there WOl

such size as to he emptied into the earls, and the measure or load of both '
being made the same.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Preface to first trillion
Preface to second ediuor
Preface to third edition

PART FIRST-THEORY.
Chapter I. — General description of earths and soils.

The necessity for distinguishing etch, 13. Description of sUfclOU, aluminous nnd calcareous earths, 13.
Guide to the chemical nomenclature of neutral lalu, 1 1 Re ins foi confining the term " calcareous
earth" to carbonate of lime, II. Mafneala.16. Bolls ere formed by mixtures of earths, 16. Inaccu-
racy of ordmaiy detiniin-u-t of soils, 17. Plan of nomenclature ofaoUfl proposed, 18.

Chapter II.— On the soils and state of agriculture of the tide-water district of

Virginia.

General features of the district, and character of its soils, 19. Ridges, 19. Slopes, 20. River hanka
and alluvial lands, 20. Destructive Ullage, 20. Products, 21. Slavery in connexion With the general
system of ftgrlCOltC

Chapter III. — The different capacities of soils for receiving improvement.

First principal propositi!.:;- i -ion, 21. Natural M ]'■ rmancney of either

laroli .1 naturally poor'not capa-

bafnsj enriched by putrescent manoi , 90, 27. Kvi-

dem . The degree of original Icrtility Is the limit of profitable improvement by putres-

cent mnm-

Chapter IV.— Effects of the presence of calcareous earth in soils.

Calcareous earth not found in poor soils, 30. Its presence alwnys accompanied by great fertility, 30.
Exceptions in soils overcharged, .'ll. Authors have erroneously taugbl that calcareous soil* were ge-
ueral, 31. Evidences of such opinion.*, 32, 33. Erroneous us to Virginia, 34.

Chapter V. — Results of the chemical examination of various soils.

Different mod^s of finding calcareous earth in soil?, or to show it-* absence, 3.".. Davy's pneumatic appa-
ratus and its operation described, 30. Proportions of calcareous earth in sundry species of rich soils,
37. Calcareous soils fertile, and poor soils not calcareous, ..-. and i ran hmc-stone

soils contain no carbonate of lime, 39.

Chapter VI. — Chemical examination of rich soils containing no carbonate of lime.

Rich river lands, 40. Limestone soils, 40. 41. Soils from Pennsylvania and West York, 11. Prairie
soils ot Alabama generally highly i

Qiapler VII. — Proofs of the existence of acid and neutral soils.

Lime in some form present in even Mfl. 1 1. Arid not considered an Ingredient of soil by any writer of
authority, and denied by others. 1 1. Proofs of the existence of acid it I plants,

46. Nourished best by dead acid plants, 40. By other potreeoani manor nous to

cultivated planus, 43. Disappearance of carbonate of lime In setts, and their becoming neutral, 48.
All wood allies contain carbonate of Ihns, S3. The recent discovery ol bumic add hi soils, S3. De-
duction-, o6. Supposed gradual and natural changes of sous Iron calcareous to neutral, and next to
acid, :o.

Chapter VIII — The mode of operation by which calcareous earth increases the
fertility and productivejiess of soils.

Silicious and aluminous earths have no rhemie&l power to retain putrescent manure, 56. Calcareous
earth has such power and how, 59. fertilizing power eiertcd in neutralizing acid, 61. And in alter-
ing the ifcxture and absorbency of toils, CJ.

3^4 CALCARRO0B MANURES— rONTENTS.

Chapter JX. — Action of caustic lime as manure. Classification of manures.
I -,.

Davy's theory of liming slated, 64. Applied'tcTpractice, 65- Actioa injurious on soils generally, 65
Plan of cias'sincation of inaau. i .

PART SECOND— PRACTICE.
Chapter I. — Introductory and general observations on marl and lime. ■

Fossil shells, or marl, so called improperly, G7. Improper use of ihe lerm " marl"* in England, 6S.: Lime
is, in tact, generally the carbonate in operation, 69. Oldest trials of marl in^Yirginia. fu. Preliminary
remarks on experiment*, TO

Chapter II. — Effects of calcareous manures on acid soils recently cleared.

Experiments stated, and the Grst and subsequent results on light loam,Jnewly brought under cultiva-
tion, 71 to 77.

Chapter III. — Effects of calcareous manures on acid clay soils, recently cleared.

Chapter IF. — The effects of calcareous manures on acid soils reduced by cultivation.

Marling always effective on such soils, S2. Causes of disappointment and lo^s. S3. 'Experiments show-
ing best and worst results, the evil in heavy marling and the remedy, G 3

Chapter V. — Effects of calcareous manures on "free light land."

Peculiar character of this land, 69. Effects of marl thereon, 89. Analysis of the soil, 90.

Chapter VI. — Effects of calcareous manures on exhausted acid soils under their
second growth of pines.

Experiments snowing remarkable benefits from marling land in this state 90

Chapter VII. — Effects of calcareous manures alone, or with gypsum, on neutral
soils. ■

Experiments difficult lo conduct, and unsatisfactory* 92. Gypseous {eocene) marl described 93. Expe-
riments and their results, 93.

Chapter VIII. — Digression to the theory of the action of gypsum as nmnure.
Supposed cause of its want of effect on acid soils.

Gypsum of no effect on acid soils 95. When operative, on neutral and calcareous soils 96. Generally
operative on acid soils after marling P6. Reasons for these results 97. Illustrations 98.

Chapter IX. — The damage caused by too heavy dressings of calcareous manure, and
the remedy.

The disease caused by over-marling described, 100. How prevented or removed 101. The mere quan
tity of calcareous earth not the cause of Una disease, HB.

Chapter X. — Recapitulation of the effects of calcareous manures, and directions
for tluir most profitable use.

Results of practice generally sustain the theory of the action of calcareous manures, 103. Less effica-
cious above the .alls of the rivers, and more so on *• mulatto land" than the theory would indicate,

104. Effect in fixing putrescent manures, 106. Lt ssa benefit on most exhausted and u called" land,

105. Effects of mail En resisting the washing by nuns, and in curing galls. 106. Benefits' lessened by
exhausting tillage, 106. Light u le, 107. Marlins of wood-lands, 107— on "free lieht
land," 108. Soils deepened by marling, and the mode, 109. Sandy sub-soils not objectionable, 109.
Peculiar benefits of marl on certain plants— and especially on clover, 110. Eradication of sorrel and
other acid plants, 111.

Chapter XI. — Recapitulation of effects and directions for practice continued.

Direction! for improving by marling, 113. Prohibiting grazing, 112. The four-shift rots lion suitable, 113.

CALCAREOUS MANURES— CONTENTS 3 | r,

ClOTCl 1 :ird niamir-'. ) >:: u-oona

1 ■ tnluneai

/ nr pu-

: III (ipC.

calcareous.
Chapter XIII. — 7'

Mistake .

True rain 1 inrl, tn mating

Un oxpra r martins,

Chapter XH'.—E lunr.l. s of 1 applied tn mailing.

Propel ROOndl i :irl and

;-i 140.

AT. — The use of c ve putrescent

manures, and tn promoU cleanliness and health.

Effects of calcareo

. Ui.tit-

. Proofs
addur. from the

calcati , ,jy pro-

duced by marllnf,

Chapter A VI. — Directions for the mc , f applying marl as

man

concern ■

157. Ken
hilli, 160. 'Hi.
erroi in unequal

Chapter AT//. — The progress of marling in Virginia.

Obstar-I.- lot rand progress of

mullnfc and praei . ,„.. |63. Blona

PART THIRD— APPEN

Introductory remarks - - - - 167

Note I. — Proofs of : of acid soils j irches

Brrecllus' work MooM or

»m»ii . id ci lie or liumic

mould, i;.'. Boll, 173 Acid IjlW.

I ' II. — ./diliti'nuil prooj <f black wa-

,tir*. if the action th suit.

Biack 01 dark c I

r i" different circa
Proof and ilhi- * nation of colonng

mfrialilv matter with toe soB, the natural i «

3]6 CALCAREOUS MANURES- -CONTENTS.

Note III.— The statements of British authors on marl, and their applications of
the name generally incorrect and contradictory.

Proofs in quotations from Kinvan. ; Johnson nod Walker, 1S3 : Practical Treatise on

Husbandry. 182; l Sjstema Agriculture,' 1-2; Evelyn's 'Terra,' \?3; Eordky 1*4; ' Practical
Treatise," &c. in regard 1 - : Lord Kames '. -

John Sinclair, M ikaiid Holkham soils and marling, 188. Proofs and quota-

lions from Mar- L armors* Journal,1 192; Couai Gylleuburg,"and lat^ E

tural journals, 193.

Note IP. — Description and account of the different ki:.ds of marl, and of the
gypseous earth, of the tide-water region of Pirginia.

Object of the report, 194. Tnie marl. 194. French marls, 195: Classification of marls, 196- Argillo-
calcareous eanh or true ruarl. 197. Shell -marl 197, U marl,
of the tertiary formation. 197. Miocene ka.K.1 s— General position, characters, kc. l&r ; comparative
value. 200. Yellow sandy maris S91; yellow clay mail, 301 ; crystals of carbonate of lime. 203; blue
maris, 909; cause ofci Accidental ingredients of
mar!- - neral operaliou of mioceue maris
nsmai b,ls— Is, containing bat ir disco-
very, and known extent, and peculiar operation as > - tarth of James

river* — Its first Descrip ion of appearance and general character,

212; operation as manure, -214; sulphureous ga< extricated from by .'ion of the Ciiff

at Evergreen, and section of same and of pit, 216. Statement ot strata exposed Ly deepen..
Oovjgins Point, 3 B, . Bar forme* of this matenal, 220. Effects a,= manure, compared with

the New Jersey green sand "mart," 220. Analysis i.f gypseous eartii is? Cjesiiia Point, by .
Sbepard,221. K ndmarl of Pamunkey, 225. General dese ifieient

kinds. 227. Green-sand in miocene maris, 331. Known shells ot marls of lower Virginia, 234.

Note P. — The earliest known successful applications of fossil shells as manure.

Old experiment at Bonaccord, Prince George county, 235. At Spring Garden, Surry. 236. In King
William, 236. In Talbot :ouou .

Note PI. — First views which ltd to marling in Prince George county.

Early erroneous opinions and practices of the author in regard to fertilization of land, 241. Mistakes
discovered, 243. Indications of correct views, 214. t'iisi tri .is and results of opinions of marling,
245. Obstacles to the mod-* of improvement, 216. Errors of practice and injury therefrom, 251.
Corrections and remedies, 252. General rc^u.lSj 253. Particular results and table of crops, Stc. 354. j

Note PH. — Inquiry into the causes of the formation of prairies and of the peculiar
constitution of soil whichfavors or prevents- the destruction of Vie growth of in es.

General and erroneous opinions on thi3 subject, 256. Most general causes of absence of trees, 260.
Proofs of positions asserted, derived from general descnpUous of prairies, pampas, st^ppps, itc. 260,
272. Analyses ofpraiii ■ •mauon of prairies d-?duc«-d and exp!ained, 276. Application

of the views to improvement or preservation of It and apparent con

tradictions.279. Ancient prairies of * irginia, S79. - reoby excess of carbonate of lime,

and fertilize d by irrigation. 2; J. Tae Bandy deserts of Asia and Africa supposed to be excessively cal-
careous.

Note PII. — Recently observed powers of calcareous earth, for increasing the pro-
ductiveriess of land, and Vie hcailhfulness of the atmosphere.

Composition of atmosplicr ■ t ike from the purity of the atmosphere 385.

Opposite operations of plants, 386, which are greatly increased by the presence of carbonate oi 'lime
in tlie bc

Note Pill. — Directions for burning and applying oystcr-shdl lime, 286.

Note IX. — On the sources of malaria, or of autumnal diseases, in Pirginia, and
the means of remedy and prevent

Mistaken opinions of tlie sources prevent attempts to avoid malaria, 2S9. The effects have in-
creased in Virginia from the first settlement until recently, 290. Proofs, 290-2. Nature of malaria,
293. Certain causes of the production, 296. Meeting of salt and fresh waters, 296. Embankment and
drying of marshes, 297. Law of mills and mill-ponds, 29*. Absurd operation ot, and evil effects on
bealtn, 399) 300. Discharge of floods irom mill-ponds over salt marshes, 351. Malaria produced from
high lands. 303. Objections and exceptions considered, 302. Causes of general increase of malaria
with time, 303. The causes of decrease in particular cases, 305. Means of prevention, 306. Benefit
to bc expected, 307. Remedy now afforded by law against mill-pon .

Note JE — A machine proposed for raising marl.

Description and figures of a machine used at Fortress Monroe for raising sand, and which it is supposed
will be well adapted for raising marl, 309- 1 1.