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CALCAREOUS MANUBES.

By Edmund Ruffin.

SECOND EDITION.

SHELLBANKS, VA. g Vie
PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF THE FARMERS REGISTER.

1835.

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PREFACE.

? Tue object of this Essay is to investigate the peculiar features and qualities of the soils of our tide-water
district, to show the causes of their general unproductiveness, and to point out means as yet but little used,
for their effectual and profitable improvement. My observations are particularly addressed to the cultivators
of that part of Virginia which lies between the sea coast and the falls of the rivers, and are generally in-
tended to be applied only within those limits. By thus confining the application of the opinions which will
be maintained, itis not intended to deny the propriety of their being further extended. On the contrary, I
do not doubt but that they may correctly apply to all similar soils, under similar circumstances; for the opera-
tions of nature are conducted by uniform laws, and like causes must every where preduce like effects. But
asI shall rely for 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 my ground so far, as to be opposed by the assertion of other facts,
the truth ef which can neither be established nor overthrown by any available or sufficient testimony.

The peculiar qualities of our soils have been little noticed, and the causes of those peculiarities have never
been sought—and though new and valuable truths may await the first explorers of this opening for agricul-
tural research, yet they canscarcely avoid mistakes sufficiently numerous to moderate the triumph of success.
T am not blind te the difficulties of the investigation, nor to my own unfitness to overcome them—nor should
T have hazarded the attempt, but for the belief that such an investigation is all important for the improve-
ment of our soil and agriculture, and that it wasin vain to hope that it would be undertaken by those who
were better qualified todo justice to the subject. I ask a deliberate hearing, and a strict scrutiny of my
opinions, frem those most interested in their truth. If a change, in most of our lands, from hopeless sterility
to a high state of productiveness, isa vain fancy, it will be easy to discover and expose the fallacy of my
views: but if these views are well founded, none better deserve the attention of farmers, and nothing can
more seriously affect the future agricultural prosperity of our country. No where ought such improvements
to be more highly valued, or more eagerly sought, than among us, where so many causes have concurred to
reduce our products, and the prices of our lands, to the lowest state, and are yearly extending want, and its
consequence, ignorance, among the cultivators and proprietors.

In pursuing this inquiry, it will 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
tobe 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 unpractised writer. Treatises on
agriculture ought to be so written as to be clearly understood, though it should be at the expense of some
other requisites of good writing—and in this respect, I shall be satisfied if I succeed in making my opinions
intelligible to every reader, though many might well dispense with such particular explanations. Agricul-
taral works are seldom considered as requiring very close attention; and therefore, to be made useful, they
should be put in ashape suited to cursory and irregular reading. A truth may be clearly established—but if
its important consequences cannot be regularly deduced for many pages afterwards, the premises will then
probably have been forgotten, so that a very particular reference to them may be required. These consider-
ations must serve as my apology forsome repetitions—and for minute explanations and details, which some
readers may deem unnecessary.

The theoretical opinions supported in this essay, together with my earliest experiments with calcareous
manures, were published in the American Farmer, (vol. 3. page 313,) in 1821. No reason has since induced
me to retract any of the important positions then assumed. But the many imperfections in that publication,
which grew out of my want of experience, made it my duty, at some future time, to correct its errors, and
supply the deficiencies of proof, from the fruits of subsequent practice and observation. With 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 unwilling-
ness to assume so conspicuous a position, 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, induced me to lay it aside,
and to give up all intention of publication. Since that time, the use of fossil shells as a manure has greatly
increased, in my own neighborhood and elsewhere, and has been attended generally with all the improvement
and profit that was expected. But from paying ne 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 injudiciously, and have damaged more or less of their lands. So many disasters of this kind, seemed
likely to restrain the use of this valuable manure, and even to destroy its reputation, just as it was beginning
rapidly toextend. The additional consideration has at last induced me to risk the publication of this essay.

lv. PREFACE.

The experience of five more years, since it was written, has not contradicted any of the opinions then ad-
vanced—and no change has been made in the work, except in form, and by continuing the reports of experi-
ments to the present time.

Itshould 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 other operations are, from necessity, incidentally no-
ticed, my opinions or practices on such objects are not referred to as furnishing rules for good husbandry. In using
calcareous manure for the improvement of poor soils, my labors have been highly successful—but that success
is not necessarily accompanied by general good management and economy. To those who know me intimate-
ly, it would be unnecessary to confess the small pretensions that I have to the character of a good farmer—but
to others, it may be required, for the purpose of explaining why other improvements and practices of good

husbandry haye not been more aided by, and kept pace with, the effects of my use of calcareous ma-
nures,

Be R,
Shellbanks, Virginia, January
20th, 1834.

ADVERTISEMENT

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 author’s anticipations had reached: and it is merely in accordance
with the concurrent testimony of the many agriculturists who have since expressed and published opinions
on the subject, to say that the publication has already had great and valuable effeets in directing attention, and
inducing successful efforts, to the improvement of land by calcareous manures. Experimental knowledge on
this head has probably been more than doubled within the last two years; and the narrow limits of the region
within which marling had previously been confined, have been enlarged to perhaps tenfold their former
extent. 6till, the eireumstances now existing, however changed for the better, present a mere beginning of
the immense and valuable improvements of soil, and increase of profits, that must hereafter grow out of the
use of calcareous manures, if their operation is properly understood by those who apply them. But if used
without that knowledge, their great value will certainly not be found; and indeed, they will often cause more
loss than profit. It is therefore notso 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 bene-
fit, and when they may be either worthless, or injurious. And this more important end, the author regrets to be-
lieve has as yet scarcely been even partially attained, by the dissemination and proper understanding of correct
views of the subject. Of course it is not to be supposed that this Essay has been read, (if even heard of,) by
one inten of the many who have been prompted by verbal information, to attempt the practice it recommends;
and of those who have read, and who have even expressed warm approbation of the work, it has seldom been
found that their praise was discriminating, or founded upon a thorough examination of its reasoning and theo-
retical views, on which, whatever value it may possess, principally rests. For all persons who are so easily con-
vinced, it may be truly said, that the volume embraced nothing more, and was worth no more, than would be
found in these few words—the application of calcareous manures will be found highly improving and profit-
able.” Itis not therefore at all strange, that the attentive reading of a volume to obtain this truth, was gene-
rally deemed unnecessary.

Though the first edition of this work has been nearly exhausted, the circulation has as yet been almost con-
fined to a small portion of only the state of Virginia, in which the mode of improvement recommended had
previously been successfully commenced, or had at jeast attracted much attention. _ But this district is not bet-
ter fitted to be thus improved than the remainder of the great tide-water region, stretching from Long Island
to Mobile—and to a great part of which, calcareous 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

ADVERTISEMENT. v.

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 been yet taken, orat least has not been made known—and in Florida and Alabaina,
(parts of which are peculiarly suited to receive these benefits,) it is most erroneously thought that such im-
provements are only profitable for old settled and impoverished countries. The farmers of Pennsylvania have
gone far ahead of those in Virginia in manuring with lime—and it is believed (but upon no certain testimony)
that in New Jersey, use has been made of the calcareous manure which in Virginia is called marl, as well as
of the green sand, which they even still more erroneously call by the same name. But whatever may have
been the extent of their use of calcareous manures of every kind, and however great their success, it is be-
lieved that our northern brethren have been as little directed by correct views of the operation of these ma-
nures, as those of the south, who have neglected them entirely.

But though the circulation of this work will be most useful through the great tide-water region, which is so
generally supplied with underlying beds of fossil shells, and so much of the soil of which especially needs
such manure--still the assertion may be ventured that there is no part of the country, where the views present-
ed, if true, are not important to be known—and if known, would not be highly useful to aid the improve-
ment of soils. Itis to the general theory of the constitution of fertile and barren soils, that the attention and
severe 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
in soils—of the incapacity of poor and acid soils to be enriched—and of the entire absence of carbonate of
lime in most of the soils of this country.

The circumstances stated above, have induced the publication of a second edition as a supplement to the
Farmers’ Register, (and suited to be bound with either volume of that work,) which, in that form, may
have the facility of distribution through the mail—and which may be offered at so low a price as to reach, as
nearly as possible, that general circulation which is its author’s main object.

This edition will contain nearly three-fourths more print than the first, (each page of this, containing as
much as four and a half pages of that,) and yet will be sold at but little more than half the price. The new
matter consists principally of more full explanations—additional and new proofs—and more full and minute
directions for practical operations, designed especially for the use of those who are beginning to apply marl,
and have every thing on the subject to learn.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAIR Io—Pheory.

Cuaprer I.

General descryption of earths and soils, : :

The necessity of distinguishing each 9. Description of si-
licious, aluminous and calcareous earths, 9. Guide to
the chemical nomenclature of neutral salts, 9. Magne-
sia, 10. Soils formed by the mixture of earths, 10.
Plan of a nomenclature of soils proposed, 10, 11.

CHaprTer II..

On the sous and state of agriculture of the tide-
water district of Virginia, : : : :
Geiieral features of the tide-water region, and character of
its soils, 11. Ridges, 11. Slopes, 11. River banks and
alluvial bottoms, 12. General sterility, 12. Unproduc-
tive cultivation, 12, 13.

Cuaprer Il.

The different capacities of soils for receiwing im-
provement, C A : 4 5 4

Propositions stated for discussion, 13. Natural fertility
defined, 13. Permanency of the steril or fertile charac-
ters of different countries, and of particular soils, 14.
Land naturally poor not capable of being enriched by
putrescent manures, 14. Denied by theorists and au-
thors, 14. By Arator, 14,15. Evidence in favor of the
position, 15. The degree of original fertility, the limit
of profitable improvement by putrescent manures, 16.

CuarrTer IV.

Effects of the presence of calcareous earth in soils,

Caleareous earth not found in poor soils of Lower Virgin-
ja, 16. Its presence connected with fertility, 16. Ex-
amples in shelly soils, 16. Their richness and peculiar
qualities, 16. Barrenness of soils excessively calca-
reous, 17. Both European and American writers sup-
pose calcareous earth generally present in soils, 17.
The opinion mistaken as to Virginia, 18.

CHAPTER V.

Results of the chemical examination of various

soils, - - - - - -

Different methods of finding caleareous earth in soils, or
to show its absence, 18. By solution and precipitation,
18. Objections to its accuracy, 18. Method by Davy’s
apparatus, 19. A more simple and easy method, 19.
Soils examined, 19. Caleareous soils are fertile, 20.
Poor soils not calcareous, 20. Many fertile soils al-
so, 2nd most limestone soils not calcareous, 20.

CuHarter VI.

Chemical examination of rich soils containing no
calcareous earth, - = - -

Rich river lands, 20. Various limestone soils, 21. Soils
from Pennsylvania and New York, 21. Very few soils
found to contain caleareous earth, 21. Prairie soils in
Alabama, highly calcareous, 22.

CHarrmr VII.

Proofs of the existence of acid and neutral soils,

Page.

13

16

18

20

22

Lime in some proportion in every soil capable of sup-
porting vegetation, 22. Enunciation of the doctrines of
acid soils and neutral soils, 23. Acid not considered an
ingredient of soil by any writers of authority, and de-
nied by others, 23. Proofs of the existence of acid and
neutral soils, 23. Growth of sorrel and pine, 23. Dead
acid plants most favor the growth of living ones,
24. Acid in farm-yard manure, and its effects, 24. Chan-
ges of one vegetable acid to another, 24. Acid of soil
poisonous to valuable crops, 25. Indireet proofs of
acid from the analysis of neutral soils, 25. Difficulties
attending the geological theory of the formation of
soils, and the denial of acidity, 26. Disappearance of
calcareous earth known once to have been present, 26,
27. Lime in all wood ashes, 27. Proof from the recent
chemical discovery of humic acid, 27, 28. Deductions—
Supposed natural formation and progress of neutral and
acid soils, 28. Dormant and concealed fertile power of
the poor acid wood land, 29. Difference from most Euro-
pean soils, 29.

Cuarrer VIII.

The mode of operation of calcareous earth in soils,

Silicious earth has no chemical power to retain putres-
cent matters, 29. Aluminous earth but litde—and much
mechanical power to prevent giving food to plants, 30.
Objections to the common opinion that manures are
lost by sinking, 30. Chemical power of caleareous earth
to combine with and retain putrescent matters, 30.
Different proofs exhibited, 30, 31. Power of calcareous
earth to destroy acidity in soils, 31. The sure and sud-
den benefit found from this action, 32. Power of cal-
careous earth to make clay soils more light, and sandy
soils more stiff, 32—of increasing the ability of soils to
absorb and retain moisture, 32. Davy’s theory of the
action of quicklime as manure, 32, 33. Application of
the theory, and particularly to the soils of Virginia, 33.
Quicklime, applied as manure ,soon changes to carbo-
nate of lime, and its effects then only are such as belong
to calcareous earth, 33. Proposed classification of ma-
nures under the heads of alimentary, solvent, mor-
dants, neutralizing, mechanical, stimulating, ad specific
manures, 34,

TDA TRIN Ttitp>-Practice.

CuHarrer IX.

General observations on marl and lime. Effects
of calcareous manures on acid sandy soils, new-
ly cleared, - - - 2 =

The theory of the constitution of soils sustained by practi-
cal proof, 35. Fossil shells, improperly called marl, 35.
Improper use of the term marl in England, 35. Written
instructions on marl serve to discourage the use of fossil
shells, 35. Their ‘directions for liming, a better guide,
36. Earliest known use of fossil shells in this country,
36. General remarks introductory to the details of ex-
periments, 36, 37. Experiments on newly cleared sandy
soils, early and late results, 37, 38. Others early and

late, compared with effects of putrescent manures, 39,
40.

CHaprrrer X.

Effects of calcareous manure on acid clay soils, re-

cently cleared, - - = 2
Description of the worst known class of clay soils, 40. Re-

29

CONTENTS.

markable effect on stich froin marling, in grain crops and
clover, 41, 42. Products increasing with time, 42.

CHarpTer XI.

The effects of calcareous manures on acid soils
impoverished by cultivation, - -

Marling always very effective on these soils, 43. Causes
of disappointment and loss experienced, 43, Early and
late effects of light dressings, 43. Of marl applied too
heavily on’such land, 43, 44. Remedy afforded by clover
and gypsum, 45. Other results of heavy dressings, with
and without the addition of putrescent manures, 45, 46.

Cuarter XII.

Effeots of calcareous manures on “free light land,”
Peculiar characters of this kind of soil, 46, Analysis of
the soil, 47. Effects of marl on, 47.

CuarpTer XIII.

Effects of calcareous manures on exhausted acid

soils under their second growth of trees, -
Experiments showing remarkable effects of marling land
in this state, 47, 48.

CHAPTER XIV.

Effects of calcareous manures alone, or with gyp-

sum, on neutral soils, - - - -

Experiments of this kind difficult to make, and unsatisfac-
tory, 48. Gypseous marl described, 48, 49. Gypseous
eurth, 49. Lime and cement obtained from marl, 49.
Effects of gypseous marl on calcareous and neutral soils,
49,50. Gypsum effective on land after marling, though
of no effect before, 50 Proofs offered, 50, 51.

CHAPTER XV.

The damage caused by calcareous manure, und its

remedies, - - - - -

The injurious effects of marl on corn and wheat describ-
ed, 51. How prevented, or removed, 52. Clover not
hurt by any excess of marl, 52. Cause of the disease
not certainly Known, 52. The mere quantity of calca-
reous earth in soil not the cause, 52. Supposed to be
newly formed salt of lime, 52.

CHAPTER XVI.

Recapitulation of the effects of calcareous ma-
nures, and directions for their most profitable ap-

plication, - - - - -
Conformity of the results of practice to previous theoret-
ical views, 53. Marling most effectual in conjunction
with putrescent manures and on acid and sandy soils,
. 53. Lessened in effect by exhausting tillage, 53. Unu-
sual increase of products obtained, 53. Rules for fixing
safe and proper quantities of marl to be applied, 53, 54.
Advantage of marling woodland before clearing, 54.—
Cultivation of ‘‘pine old fields? with and without marl-
ing, 54. Less improvement from marl on exhausted
‘free light land? 54. Supposed causes of the peculiar
qualities of such soils, 54,55, Marling deepens sandy
soils, 595. Peculiar benefits of marling to certain crops
—cotton, wheat and clover, 55. The impossibility of
raising red clover on acid soils before marling, and the
certainty afterwards, 55. The causes to which former
failures were erroneously attributed, 55. What weeds
encouraged by marling, 56. Practical directions for new
beginners at marling, 56. Permitting grazing at first, 56.
Reasons for early disappointments experienced, 57, Ob-
stacles to the extension of marling, 57. Anticipations,
57. The usual objections to sandy soils unfounded, and
proofs of their fitness for profitable improvement and
tillage, 57, 58.

@uarpter XVII.

The permanency of calcareous manures, - -
Known long continued effects of marl, 58. Reasons for

46

AZ

48

51

52

their permanency, 58, 59. Supposed progress of action
of marl and of its effects on soils, traced, 59. Difference
in the rhdnner, and difficulty of improving exhausted
calcareous and acid soils, 59,

CHaptrer XVIII. .
- 43] The expense and profit of marling, - -

The former general incredulity respecting the value of
marl now charged to too ready and erroneous belief, 59.
Improper mode of estimating the value of land, and of
improvements of the soil, 60. True mode of estimating
values, 60. Objections answered, 61. Statements of
actual expenses incurred in marling, 61. Faults in the
usual course of persons commencing to marl, and ad-
vantages of a different course,61. The distant transpor-
tation of marl, 62. The cost may be advantageously in-
curred for gardens, and town lots, 62. Rail roads and
canals considered as means for conveying marl, 62.

CuHaptTrer XIX.

The use of calcareous manures recommended to pre-
serve putrescent manures, and to promote clean-
liness and health, especially in towns, - .

Effect of calcareous earth in preventing the waste of the

products of putrifying carcasses, 62, 63. Cases in which
this power might be usefully employed, 63. Considered
as a means of saving manures, and for guarding health,
63. In towns, 63, 64. Difference of the preservative
action of marl, in thisrespect, and the destructive action
of quicklime, 64. Greater cost and inconvenience of
lime, 64,65. Practical effects of calcareous earth in
preserving health, 65. Advantages of its use in towns,
65. Shelled streets of Mobile, 65. The burning of
towns, how operating to improve health, 66 Healthi-
ness of the calcareous prairies of Alabama, 66, 67. Ex-
perience of such effects from matling, 67.

CHAPTER XX.

Directions for digging and carting marl,

Description of deposites of fossil shells in Virginia, 67, 68,
69. Green sand, 68. Directions for searching for marl
—a cheap borer, 69. Removing the cover of earth, 69.
Working marl pits, 69, 70. Draining wet pits, 70. Ma-

Vil.

59

62

67

king roads up hills, 70, 71. Marl carts, 71. Conclusion, 72.

PAIR Titi, Appendix.

Nore A.
The different improper significations of the term
“calcareous earth,” - “ “ “

Impropriety of the most general applications of this term,
and reasons for limiting its use to the curbonate of lime,
72, 73.

Nore B.

The names given to soils by writers on agriculture
often incorrect and contradictory, - -

Nore C.

Some of the effects of slavery on agricultural pro-
jits, - - . - - -

Causes of the rapid increase of slaves, 73. Their sale and

transportation the necessary consequences, 74. Effect
of increased fertility of soil on population, 74.
Nore D.
Opinions that soils are generally calcareous, -

Proofs drawn from the language of writers on agriculture,
74, Gross errors in this respect as to American soils, 75.

Nore E.

Directions for analyzing marl and other calcareous

substances,
Davy’s apparatus, 75, Superior advantages, and particu-

72

13

73

74

7a

Vili.

lar description of Rogers’ apparatus, 75, 76. Plain direc-
tions for analyzing marl by solution and precipitation,
76, 77.

Nore F.
Proofs of the existence of acid soils, furnished by
the recent researches of chemists, “ -

Extracts translated from Berzelius—chemical characters
of mould, 78. Of extract of mould, 78. Of geine (or
humin,) 79. Of carbonaceous mould, 80. Of soil, 80.
Acid soil, 81.

Nore G.
The statements of British authors on marl gener-
ally incorrect and contradictory, - -

Proofs exhibited in extracts from various authors on this
subject, 82 to 90.

Norte G—2.
The earliest known successful applicainns of fos-
sil shells as manure, - a

Old experiment and supposed Avs in Prince George,
Virginia, 89. Earliest marling in Talbot County, Mary-
land, and James City County, Virginia, 89. Col. Tay-
lor’s low estimate of the value of marl, 89. Letter of
Mr. Singleton, describing the commencement and pro-
gress of his marling operations, 90 to 92.

Notre H.

Gypseous earth of James River and the green marl
of New Jersey, both belonging to the “green
sand formation,” - - - -

Discovery of this deposite in Prince George, and in James
City, Virginia, 92.

Norte I.

The cause of the inefficiency of gypsum as @ ma-
nure on acid soils, - - -

The mode of operation of gypsum as yet unknown, 92.
Gypsum would be decomposed by oxalic acid, and the
probability of such effect in all acid soils, 92. The sup-
posed chemical action when these substances meet in
soil, and the results, 93,

Note K.
Estimates of the cost of labor applied to marling,

The only proper grounds for such estimates, 93. Cost of
the labor of a negro man by the year and day, 93. Ofa
woman—boy—girl, 94. Of a horse—mule—utensils,

77

82

89

92

CONTENTS:

§4—applied to marling operations, 94 to 96—and on
a large seale, 97.

Nore M.
Estimates of the expense of using water-borne
marl, and lime for manure, - > ne

Cost of shells, and the labor of burning and applying the
lime, 97. Of transporting marl by water, actual opera-
tions through 1833, 97, 98. Comparative value and ex-
pense of lime and marl, 98. Expense of a second year’s
operations in transporting marl by water, 99. Effects of
liming and marling compared, as tested by experiment,
99.

Nore N.
Proofs of the effect of calcareous earth in pre-
venting disease, - - * a

The streets of Mobile shelled, 100. Healthiness of the
southern calcareous prairies, 100,101. The former un-
healthiness of Mobile, and the change produced by shelk
ing the streets and other causes, 101, 102.

Nore O.
Discovery of magnesian marl in the granite and
coal region of Virginia, - - -

Discovery, description, and chemical composition of the
magnesian marl, 103.

TABLES showing the number of spaces contained
in an acre, at various distances, - x

For regulating the quantity of marl, lime, or other ma-
nures applied, 103. For planting, 104.

Nore S.
Discoverves of the “‘Gypseous earth,” or green send.
formation of Virginia, - - - =

92 First discovery of gypsum and gypseous earth in Prince

92

George, Va. 105. Supposed origin, and chemical compo-
sition, and effects as manure, 106, 107. Reasons for
supposing the gypseous earth and green “‘Jersey marl,*?
to be the same, 108, 109. Discovery of green sand in
James City, and York, 109. Description of, 110. Chem-
ical composition of New Jersey green sand [called
marl,] and effects as manure, 111,112. Further obser-
vations on the green sand and the lower tertiary forma-
tion of Virginia, 112, 113. General description and ko-
calities, 114,115. Fossils belonging to this formation,
116.

97

100

103

103

106

ESSAY

12)

CALCAREOU

N

Ss MANURES.

PART I—Theory.

CHAPTER If.

GRNERAL DESCRIPTION
SOILS.

OF EARTHS AND

It is very necessary that we should correctly
distinguish earths and soils and their many varie-
ties: yet these terms are continually misapplied—

and even among authors of higk autherity, no
_ two agree in their definitions, or modes of classifi-

— eation.

Where suck differences exist, and no one
known method is so free from material imperfec-
tions, as to be referred to as a commen standard, it
becomes necessary for every ene who treats of
soils, te define fer himself—though perhaps he is
thereby adding to the general mass of confusion
already existing. This necessity must be my
apolegy for whatever is new or unauthorized in
the following definitions.

The earths important to agriculture, and which
form nearly the whole ef the known globe, are
anly three—silicious aluminous, and calcareous.

Silicious earths, 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 degree of coherence, or any
shade of colorthat 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 between them as through a
sieve. ‘The hardness of its particles, and their
loose arrangement, make sand incapable of ab-
sorbing moisture from the atmosphere, or of re-
taining any valuable vaper or fluid, with which it
may have been in any mannersupplied. Silicious
earth is alse quickly heated by the sun, which
adds to the rapidity with which it loses moisture.

Aluminous or argillaceous earth, when dry, ad-
heres to the tongue, absorbs water rapidly and
abundantly, and when wet, forms a tough paste,
smooth and soapy to the touch. By burning it
becomes as hard as stone. Clays derive their ad-
hesiveness from their proportion of aluminous
earth. This also is white when pure, but is gene-
rally colored deeply and variously—red, yellow, or
blue—by metallic substances. When drying,
aluminous earth shrinks greatly—it becomes a
mass of very hard lumps, of various sizes, sepa-
rated by cracks and fissures, which become so
many little reservoirs of standing water, when
filled by rains, and remain so, until the lumps, by
‘2

|slowly imbibing the water, are distended enough
to fill the space eccupied before.

Caleareous earth, or carbonate of lime,* is lime
combined with carbonic acid, and may be convert-
ed into pure or quick-lime by heat—and quick-
lime, by exposure to the air, soon returns to its
former state of caleareousearth. It forms marble,
limestone, chalk, and shells, with very small ad-
mixtures of other substances. Thus the term
calcareous earth will not be used here to include
either lime im its pure state, or any of the numer-
ous combinations which lime forms with the va-
rious acids, except that one (carbonate of lime)
which is beyend comparison the most abundant
throughout the world, and most important as an
ingredient of soils. Pure lime attracts all acids so
powerfully, that itis never presented by nature ex-
cept in combination with some one of them, and
generally with the carbonic acid. When this
compound is thrown into any stronger acid, as
muriatic, nitric, or even strong 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 caleareous earth, may not only be easily
distinguished from silicious, and aluminous earth,
but also from all ether combinations of lime. [See
Appendix A.f]}

* Carbonate of lime is the chemical name for the
substance formed by the combination of carbonic acid
with lime. The names of allthe thousands of different
substances (neutral salis) which are formed by the
combination of each of the many acids with each of
the various earths, alkalis, and metals, are formed by
one uniform rule, which is as simple and easy to be un-
derstood and remembered, as it is useful. To avoid
repeated explanations in the course of this essay, the
rule will now be stated by which these compounds are
named. The termination of the name of 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 heard of be-
fore, and which (without this manner of being named)
would be too numercus to be fixed in the most reten-
tive 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
compound 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.

+ The note referred to in the appendix A, will sup-
ply some remarks and explanations which a scientific
reader would correctly consider as a deficiency if en-
tirely omitted, but which, if added to the text above,

|

10

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 Euro-
pean 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 permit water to
pass through, as easily as sand:} and thus calca-
reous earth is remarkable for possessing seme of
the worst qualities of both the other 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 magnesia as one of the im-
portant earths.t 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 list of the earths of agricul-
ture. For all practical purposes, gypsum (though
only another combination of lime,) would more
properly be arranged as a distinct earth, or ele-
ment of soils, as itis found in far greater abun-
dance 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.

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 ve-
getable life.

The mixture of the three earths in due propor-
tions, will correct the defects of all, and with a
sufficiency of animal or vegetable matter, putres-
cent, and 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 na-

tural surface of almost all the habitable world: and

though the qualities and value of soils are as va-
rious as the proportions of their ingredients are in-
numerable, yet they are mostly so constituted, that
no one earthly ingredient is so abundant, but that
the texture of’ the soil is mechanically suited to

would have been useless and perhaps embarrassing to
readers in general.
* Cleaveland’s Mineralogy—On Carbonate of Lime.

+ Cours Complet d’Agriculture, ete. par Abbé
Rozier— Terres.

t Davy’s Agr. Chem. page 110. Phil. Ed. 1821.

§ Putrescent or enriching manures, are those formed
of vegetable and animaij matters, capable of putrefy-
ing, and thereby furnishing soluble food to plants.
Farm-yard and stable manure, and the weeds and other
growth of the fields left to die and rot on them, are al-
most the only enriching manures that have been used as
yet in this country.

4] The texture of a soil means the disposition of its
parts, which produces such sensible qualities, as being
close, adhesive, open, friable, &c.

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.
is

i

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 few inches be-
iow 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 inundation have soils brought
from higher lands, and deposited by the water,
and therefore are of much greater depth. Below
the soil is the subsoil, which is also a mixture of
two or more earths, but is as barren as the unmix-
ed earths, because it contains very little putrescent
matter, the only food for plants. 4,

The qualities and value of soils depend on the
proportions of their ingredients. We can easily
comprehend in what manner silicious and alumin-
ous earths, by their mixture, serve to cure the de-
fects of each other—the open, loose, thirsty, and
hot nature of sand being corrected by, and correct-
ing in turn, the close, adhesive, and water holding
qualities of aluminous earth. This curative ope-
ration is merely mechanical—and_ in that manner
it seems likely that calcareous earth, when in large
proportions, also acts, and aids the corrective pow-
ers of both the other earths: This however is
only supposition, as I have met with scarcely any
such natural soil.

But 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 comparatively 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, ina general description. of calcareous
earth, I had omitted all allusion to qualities that:
will afterwards be brought forward as all import-
ant.

It seems most proper to class and name soils ac-
cording to their predominant 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 ingre-
dient (in this sense, ) is not always the most abun-
dant, and frequently is the least. If the most
abundant was considered the predominant ingre-
dient, 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. Ifthe 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 contained 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 pro-
posed by Davy,t) a correct, though lim:ted ana-

* Which isthe plan of the nomenclature of soils”
proposed by Rozier—See article “Terres,” Cours:
Complet d’ Agriculture, etc. + Agr. Chem. p. 139,

PART I—THEORY. .

1]

ee ————————————————————————————_———___——___ TT

lysis of a soil would be required, before its name
orcharacter 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 predominent ingredients. By compounding
a few terms, various shades of difference may be
designated with sufficient precision. A few ex-
amples 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 pro-
perties than those of any other ingredient. It
would be more or less objectionable for its loose-
ness, heat, and want of power to retain either
moisture or putrescent manure—and not for tough-
ness, liability to become hard alter wet ploughing,
or any other quality of aluminous earth.

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

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 lowm would ex-
press its two extremes—and loamy sand would be
still hahter than the former, and loamy clay stiffer
than the latter.

In all compound names of soils, the last term
should be considered as expressing the predomi-
nant earthy ingredient. Thus, a sandy loamy cal-
careous soil, would be nearer to loam than sand,
and more marked by its calcareous ingredient than
either. Other ingredients of soils besides the
earths, or any accidental or rare quality aflecting

their character considerably, may be described

with sufficient accuracy by such additional terms
as these—a ferruginous gravelly silicious loam—
or a vegetable calcareous clay. [Appendix B.]

CHAPTER II.

ON THE SOILS, AND STATE OF AGRICULTURE

OF THE TIDE-WATER DISTRICT OF VIR-
GINIA.

—-—*“ During several days of our jour-
“ney, no spot was seen that was not covered
* with a luxuriant growth of large and beautiful
“ forest trees, except where they had been de-
*¢ stroyed by the natives for the purpose of culti-
“vation. The least fertile of their pasture lands,
“ without seeding, are soon covered with grass
“ several feet in height; and unless prevented by
“ cultivation, a second growth of trees rapidly
*‘ springs up, which, without care or attention, at-
“tain their giant size in half the time that would
“ be expected on the best lands in England.’?——

If the foregoing description was met with ina
* Journey through Hindoostan,” or some equally
unknown region, no European reader would doubt
but such lands were fertile in the highest dearee—
and even many of ourselves would receive the
same impression. Yet itis no exaggerated ac-

count of the poorest natural soils in our own poor
country, which are as remarkable for their produ-
cing luxuriant growths of pines, and broom grass,
as for their unproductiveness in every cultivated or
valuable crop. We are so accustomed to these
facts, that we scarcely think of their singularity;
nor of the impropriety of calling any land barren,
which will cence a rapid 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 charac-
ter, the tide-water district of Virginia may be de-
scribed 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,
afier being exhausted of their little fertility -by cul-
tivation, and “turned out” to recruit, are soon co-
vered by young pines which grow with vigor and
luxuriance. This general description applies more
particularly to the redges 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.
Whortleberry bushes, as well as pines, are abun-
dant on ridge lands—and numerous shallow basins
are found, which are ponds of rain water in winter,
but dry insummer. None of this large propor-
tion of our lands, has paid the expense of clearing
and cultivation, and much the greater part still re-
mains under its native growth. Enough however
has been cleared and cultivated in every neigh-
borhood, 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, oras much of wheat, to the acre, on the most
clayey soils, to twelve bushels of corn, and 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 bottoms, 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 steril subsoil (or forms a
“oall”) which continues thenceforth bare of all
vegetation: a greater declivily 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 vir-
ein growth is often more of oak, hickory, and dog-
wood, than pine—but when turned out of cultiva-
tion, an unmixed growth of pine follows. Land

12

of this kind in general has very little durability; its
usual best 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 persons would describe them,) those
terms must be considered as only comparative—
and such an appheation 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 highland
along their banks, and the lowlands 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 highland soils seldom extend
more than half a mile from the river’s edge—
sometimes not fifty yards. These irregular mar-
gins 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 our part of the country bas been
subjected, is sufficient to prove that great impover-
ishmentof the soil has been the inevitable conse-
quence. The small portion of rich river margins,
was soon all cleared, and was tilled without cessa-
tion 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 soon-
ersuspended. If not rich enough for tobacco when
first cleared, (or as soon as it ceased to be so,)
land of its kind was planted in corn two or three
years in succession, and afterwards 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
~ theacre. If the sandiness, or exhausted condition
of the soil, denied even this small product of
wheat, that crop was probably 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 to plant another. No
manure was applied, except on the tobacco lots;
and this rotation of a grain crop every year, and
afterwards every second year, was kept up as long
as the field would produce five bushels of corn to
the acre. When reduced below that product, and
to less than the necessary expense of cultivation,
the land was turned out to recover under anew
growth of pines. After twenty or thirty years,
according io the convenience of the owner, the
same land would be again cleared, and put under
similar sccurging 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 been impoverished
during the last fifty years, cannot be determined
by any satisfactory testimony. But however we

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

a

may differon this head, there are but few who will
not concur in the opinion, that our system of cul-
tivation has been every yearlessening 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 first
settlement and cultivation. Yet many ofour farming
operations have been much improved within the last
fifteen ortwenty years. Driven by necessity, propri-
etors direct more personal attention to their farms—
better implements of husbandry are used—every
processis more perfectly performed—and whether
well or ill directed, a spirit of inquiry and enter-
prise has been awakened, which before had no ex-
istence.

‘Throughout the country below the falls, and per-
haps thirty miles above, itthe best land be excluded,
say one-tenth, the remaining nine-tenths will not
yield an average product often bushels of corn to the
acre; though that grain is best suited to our soils in
general, and farexceeds in quantity all other kinds
raised. Of course, the product of a large proportion
of the land, would fall below this average. Such
crops, in very many cases, cannot remunerate the
cultivator. If ourremaining woodland could be at
once brought into cultivation, the gross product of '
the counury would be greatly increased, but the
net product very probably diminished—as the
general poverty of these lands would cause more
expense than prolit to accompany their cultivation
under the usual system. Yet every year we are
using all our exertions to clear woodland, and in
fact seldom increase either net or gross products
—hbecause 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 to reduce the extent of |
our present cultivation, by turning out every acre
that yields less than the total cost of its tillage.

No political truth is better established than that
the population of every country will increase, or’
diminish, according to its regular supply of jood. ,
We know from the census oft 1830, compared with |
those of 1520 and 1810, that our population is;
nearly stationary, and in some counties, is actually
lessening; and therefore it is certain, that our ag--
riculture is not increasing the amount of food, or
the means of purchasing iood—with all the assis-
tance of the new land annually brought under cul-
ture. In these circumstances, a surplus popula-.
tion, 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, ,
concur in producing the same result, though with)
very different degrees of benefit to those who re--
main. If this great and continued drain from . our:
population was stopped, and our agriculture was:
not improved, wani and misery would work to pro-
duce the same results. Births would diminish,
and deaths would increase—and hunger: and dis-.
ease would keep down population to that number, .
that the average products of our agricultural and |
other labor could feed, and supply with other:
means of living.

A stranger io our situation and habits might)
well oppose to my statements the very reasonable:

bjection, that no man would, or could, long pur-.

PART I—THEORY.

13

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 ajail. But we own our land, our laborers, and
stock—and though the calculation of net profit,
or of loss, is precisely the samie, yet we are not
ruined by making only two per cent. on our cap-
ital, provided we can manage to live on that in-
come. If we live on stillless, 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 arein a great measure reconciled
by custom to profitless labor. No hope for a bet-
ter state of things can be entertained, until we
shake off this apathy—this excess of contentment
which makes no ettort to avoid existing evils. I
have endeavored to expose what is worst in our
‘situation as farmers: if it should have the effect of
Tousing any of my countrymen to a sense of the
absolute necessity of some improvement, to avoid
ultimate ruin, I hope also to point out to some of
their number, if not to all, that the means for cer-
tain and highly profitable improvements, are com-
pletely within their reach. [Appendix C.]

CHAPTER III.

DIFFERENT CAPACITIES OF SOILS FOR
RECEIVING IMPROVEMENT.

THE

As far as the nature of the subjects permitted,
the foregoing chapters have been merely explana-
tory and descriptive. The same subjects will be
resumed and more fully treated in the course of
the following argument, the premises of which,
are the facts and circumstances that have been
detailed. What I wish to prove will be stated in
a series of propositions, which will now be pre-
sented at one view, and afterwards separately dis-
cussed in their proper order.

Proposition 1. Soils naturally poor, and rich
soils reduced to poverty by cultivation, are essen-
tially different in their powers of retaining putres-
cent manures: and under like circumstances, the
fitness of any soil to be enriched by these manures,
is in proportion to what was its natural fertility.

2. The natural sterility of the soils of Lower
Virginia is caused by such soils being destitute of
calcareous earth, and their being injured by the
presence and etiects of vegetable acid.

3. 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.*

| *When any substance is mentioned as combining

with one or more other substances, as different manures
| with each other, or with soil, I mean that a union is form-
jed by chemical attraction, and not by simple mixture.
| Mixtures are made by mechanical means, and may be
\separated in like manner; but combinations are chemi-
‘eal, and require some stronger chemical attraction, to
) take away either of the bodies so united.

4, Poor and acid soils cannot be improved du-
rably, or profitably, by putrescent manures, with-
out previously making them calcareous, and there-
by correcting the defect in their constitution.

5. Caleareous manures will give to our worst
soils a power of retaining putrescent manures,
equal to that of the best—and will cause more pro-
ductiveness, and yield more profit, than any other
improvement practicable in Lower Virginia.

Dismissing from consideration, for the present,
all the others, I shall proceed to maintain the

FIRST PROPOSITION.

Soils naturally poor, and rich soils reduced to
poverty by cultivation, are essentially different in
their powers of retaining putrescent manures: and
under like circumstances, the fitness of any soil to
be enriched by these manures, is in proportion to
what was its natural fertility.

The natural fertility of a soil is not intended
to be estimated by the amount of its earliest pro-
duct, when first brought under cultivation, because
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 tillave—the excess of
unrotted vegetable matter, and the coldness of the
soil, from which the rays of the sun had been so
long excluded. 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 supply food to plants, and are so abundant, that
afar better crop will be raised than could have
been obtained before, or perhaps will be again,
without manure. For these reasons, the degree
of natural fertility of any soil should be measured<
by its products alter these temporary causes have
ceased to act, which will generally take place be-
fore the third or fourth crop is gathered. Accord-
ing, then, to this definition, a certain degree of per-
manency in its early productiveness, is necessary
to entitle a soil to be termed naturally fertile. It
is in this sense, that [ deny to any poor lands, ex-
cept such as were naturally fertile, the capacity of
being made rich by putrescent manures only.

The foregoing proposition would by many per-
sons be so readily admitted as true, that attempting
to prove it would be deemed entirely superfluous.
But many others will as strongly deny its truth,
and can support their opposition by high agricul-
tural authorities.

General readers, who may have no connexion
with farming, must have gathered from the inci-
dental notices in various literary works, that some
countries or districts that were noted for their un-
common fertility or barrenness, as far back as any
accounts of them have been recorded, still retain
the same general character, through every change
of policy, government, and even of the race of

previous peculiar qualities, or neutralize them for each
other, and form a third substance diiferent 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 imme-
diately. The strong corrosive 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 salt, the quali-
ties of which are asstrongly marked, but totally differ-

When two substances combine, they both lose their | ent from those of either of its constituent parts.

14

inhabitants. They know that for some centuries
at least, there has been no change in the strong
contrast between the barrenness of Norway, Bran-
denburg, and the Highlands of Scotland, and the
fertility of Lombardy and Valencia. Sicily, not-
withstanding its government is calculated to dis-
courage industry, and production of every profita-
ble 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 perma-
nently the characters and 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 directed their most impor-
tant operations. They are accustomed to estimate
the worth of land by its natural degree of fertility
—and by the same rule they are directed on what
soils to bestow their scanty stock of manure, and
where to expect exhausted fields to recover by rest,
and their own unassisted powers. But content
with knowmg the fact, this useful class of farmers
have never inquired for its cause—and their opin-
ions 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 dissem-
inated, is through that class of farmers who have
received their first opinions of improving soils,
from books, and whose subsequent plans and prac-
tices have grown out of those opinions. If poor
natural soils cannot be durably or profitably im-
proved 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 itis a remarkable fact, that the
difference in the capacities of soils for receiving
improvement, has not attracted the attention of
scientific farmers—and the doctrine has no direct
and positive support from the author of’ any trea-
tise on agriculture, English or American, that I
have been able to consult. On the contrary, it
seems to be considered by all of them, that to col-
lect and apply as much vegetable and animal
manure as possible, is sufficient ro 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 apparent
good texture, if not incapable of being enriched
from the barn-yard, would at least cause more loss
than clear profit, by being improved from that
source.

When itis assumed that the silence of every
distinguished author as to certain soils being inca-
pable of being profitably enriched, amounts to ig-
norance 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 was the case, their si-
lence has had all the ill consequences that could
have grown out of a positive denial of’ any excep-
tions to the propriety of manuring poor soils.
Every zealous young farmer, who draws most of

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

his knowledge and opinions from books, adopts
precisely the same idea of their directions—and if
he owns barren soils he probably throws away his
labor and manure for their improvement, for years,
before experieuce 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 enter-
prise, are capable of rendering the most important
benefits 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 dis-
appointments, are productive 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 Kuropean 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 allthe high-
land in the tide-water district. Surely no one will
contend that so sweeping an exception was silent-.
ly understood by the author of rator, as qualify-.
ing his exhortations to improve our lands: and if
no such exception was 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, to benefit
which his work was specially 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 brou@ht under cultiva-.
tion, that the original degree of' fertility of almost’
every farm may be known to its owner, and com-.
paired with the after progress of exhaustion or;
improvement.

Many authorities might be adduced to prover
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 im-
provement. 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
doctrines in this 1mportant particular. A large
portion of his useful life was devoted to the suc-
cessful improvement of exhausted, but originally
fertile lands. His instructions for producing simi-
lar improvements are expressly addressed to the
cultivators of the eastern parts of Virginia and
North Carolina, and are given as applicable to all
our soils, without exception. Considering 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 concurring with the
general doctrine of improving poor soils, maintain-/f
ed by previous writers.

At page 54, third edition of Arator, ‘inclosing”’
(i. e. leaving fields to receive their own vegeta-
ble cover, for their improvement during the years
of rest,) is said to be “the most powerful means 0
fertilizing the earth’’—and the process is declarec’
to be rapid, the returns near, and the gain great. _

Page 61. “If these few means of fertilizing

PART I—THEORY.

* the country [cornstalks, straw, and animal dung, ]
* were skilfully used, they would of themselves
“ suffice to change its state from sterility to fruit-
“ fulness. ”>—‘‘ By the litter of Indian corn, and of
“small grain, and of penning cattle, managed
“ with only an inferior degree of skill, in union
“with inclosing, I will venture to affirm that a
*‘ farm may in ten years be made to double its
“¢ produce, and in twenty to quadruple it.”

No opinions could be more strongly or uncondi-
tionally expressed than these. No reservation or
exception is made. I may safely appeal to each
of the many hundreds who 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
lithe of that benefit was realized on any farm
composed generally of such soils. Ina field of
mine that has been secured from grazing since
1814, and cultivated on the 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 1828) was worse than those of either
of the two preceding rotations. There is no rea-
son to believe that even the smallest increase of'
productive power has taken place. |

It is far from my intention, by these remarks, to
deny the propriety, or to question the highly ben- |
eficial results, of “applying the system of’ improve- |
ment 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 ap-
plications, 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
Tecent 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 improved, by putrescent ma-
nures. An article in the merican Farmer, of
October 14th, 1831, on manuring large farms,”
by the editor, contains the following expressions.
6 By proper exertions, every farm in the
** United States can be manured with less expense
* than the surplus profits arising from the manure
‘would come to, This we sincerely believe, and
f we have arrived at this conclusion from long
* and attentive observation. We never yet saw
* atarm that we could not point to means of ma-
“ nuring, and bring into a state of high and pro-
fitable cultivation at an expense altogether in-
considerable when contrasted with the advan-
“tages to be derived from it.” The remainder of
the article shows that putrescent manures are
orincipally relied on to produce these effects:
marsh and swamp mud are the only kinds referred
‘o that are not entirely putrescent in their action,
nd mud certainly cannot be used to manure
every farm. Mr, Smith, having been long the
sonductor of a valuable agricultural journal, as a
matter of course, is extensively acquainted with
the works and opinions of the best writers on ag-
tieulture; and therefore, his advancing the fore-
oing opinions, as certain and undoubted, is as
uch a proof of the general concurrence of pre-
eding writers, as if the same had been given asa
ligest of their precepts.

Some persons will readily admit the great differ-

15

ence 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
siiffest. A poor clay soil, will retain manure long-
er than a poor sandy soil—but it will not the less
certainly 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 improve-
ment 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 improve-
ment is greatly affected by its texture, shape of
the surface, and its supply of moisture. Dry, faved
clay soils, will retain manure longer, than if they
were sandy, hilly, or wet. But however import-
ant these circumstances may be, neither the pre-
sence or absence of any of them can cause the
differences of capacity for improvement. ‘There
are rich and valuable soils with one or more of all
these faults—and there are soils the least capable
of receiving improvement, free from objection as
to their texture, degree of moisture, or inclination
of their surface. Indeed the great body of our
poor ridge lands, is more free from faults of this
kind, than soils of’ far greater productiveness usu-
ally are. Unless then some other and far more
powerful obstacle to improvement exists, why
should not all our woodland 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 pa-
tience of man can possibly equal, most of our
woodland 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 re-
sources of its own arable fields. If this opinion is
erroneous, nothing is easier than to prove my mis-
take, by adducing undoubted examples of such
improvements having been made,

But a few remarks will suffice on the capacity
for improvement of worn lands, which were ori-
ginally fertile. With regard to these soils, I have
only to concur in the received opinion of their fit-
ness for durable and profitable improvement by
putrescent manures. After being exhausted by
cultivation, they will recover their productive pow-
er, by merely being left to rest for a sufficient time,
and receiving the manure made by nature, of the
weeds and other plants that grow and die upon the
land. Even if 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. On

16

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

soils of this kind, the labors of the improving far-
mer meet with success and reward—and when-
ever we hear of remarkable improvements of poor
land 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 thousands of years, does not
prove thatthe 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 _to-
gether always retained a high degree of produc-
tiveness. Still the same rule will apply to the
richest and the poorest soils—that each exerts
strongly a force to retain as much fertility as nature
gave them—and that when worn and reduced,
each may easily be restored to its original state,
but cannot be raised higher, with either durability
or profit by putrescent manures, whether applied
by the bounty of nature, or the industry of man.

CHAPTER IV.

EFFECTS OF THE PRESENCE OF CALCAREOUS
EARTH IN SOILS.

Proposition 2. The natural sterility of the
soils of Lower Virginia is caused by such soils
being destitute of calcareous earih, and their be-
ing injured by the presence and effecis of vegeta-
ble acid.

The means which would appear the most likely
to lead to the causes of 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 un-
improvable—or which always accompanies the
Jatter, and never the former kind. If either of
these results can be obtained, we will have good
ground for supposing that we have discovered the

eneral cause of fertility, in the one case—or of
barrenness, in the other: and it will follow, that if
we can supply to barren soils the deficient bene-
ficial ingredient—or can destroy that which is in-
jurious to them—that 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 va-
jue of svuils, are each sometimes found exhibited in
a remarkable degree, in both the fertile and the
steril, The abundance of putrescent vegetable
matter might well be considered the cause of fer-
tility, by one who judged only from lands long un-
der cultivation. But though vegetable matter in
sufficient quantity is essential to the existence of
fertility, yet will this substance also be found inad-
equate, as its cause. Vegetable matter abounds
in all rich land, it is admitted; but it has also been
furnished by nature, in quantities exceeding all
computation, to the most barren soils we own.

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. 'These facts alone, if sus-
tained, 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 sheils are found
mixed with the soil. Oyster shells are confined to
the lands on salt water, where they are very abun-
dant, and sometimes extend through large fields.
Higher up the rivers, muscle shells only are to be
seen thus deposited by nature, and they decrease
as we approach the falls of the rivers. The pro-
portion of shelly land in the counties highest on
tide-water, is very small—but the small extent of
these spots does not prevent, but rather aids, the
investigation of the peculiar qualities of such soils.
Spots of shelly land, not exceeding a few acres in
extent, could not well have been cultivated differ-
ently from the balance of the fields of which they

|formed parts—and therefore they can be better

compared with the worse soils under like treat-
ment. 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 described tracts of shelly soil on
Nansemond and York Rivers, which are cele-
brated for their long resistance of the most ex-
hausting system 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 but 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 land.

The fertile but narrow strips along the banks of |
our rivers, (which form the small portion of our’
highland of first rate quality,) seldom extend far’
without exhibiting spots in which shells are visi--
ble, so that the eye alone is sufficient to prove the:
soil of such places to be caleareous. 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 differ-.
ent from that of the great body of our lands.
Whatever 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 con-.
dition, 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 diffi-.
culty eradicated, or the newer growths kept under;
on cultivated Jands; and from the remarkable ra-
pidity with which it springs up, and increases ini
size, it forms a serious obstacle to the cultivation:
of the river banks. Yet on the woodland only a:
mile or two from the river, not a locust is to be
seen. On shelly soils, pines and broom grass can-,
not thrive, and are rarely able to maintain even
the most sickly growth.

Some may say that these striking differences of

PART I—THEORY.

17

i

zrowth do not so much show a difference in the
constitution of the soils, as in their state of fertility
—er that one class of the plants above named de-
lights in rich, and the other, in poorland: No
plant prefers poor to rich soil—or can thrive better
on a scarcity of food, than with an abundant sup-
ply: Pine, broom grass, and 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 plants, has been washed away.

n thus describing and distinguishing soils by
their growth, let me not be understood as extend-
ing those rules to other soils and climates than our
pwn. It is well established that changes of kind
in. successive growths of timber have occurred in
sther places, without any known cause—and a
difference of climate will elsewhere produce ef-
tects, which here would indicate a change of soil.

_Seme 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 absence. "This cause of bar-
renness 1s very common in France and England
(on chalk soils,) and very extensive tracts are not
worth the expense of cultivation, or improvement.
The few small spots that are rendered barren 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 bene-
ficial effects of calcareous earth. This exception
to the general fertilizing effect of this ingredient of
our soils, would scarcely require naming, but to
mark what might be deemed an apparent contra-
diction. But this exception, and its cause, must
be kept in mind, and considered as always under-
stood and admitted throughout all my remarks,
and which therefore it is not necessary to name
specially, when the general qualities of calcareous
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 cre-
dit to the existence of a fact; which is either un-
supported, or indirectly denied, by all written au-
thority. 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
received 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 calcareous earth. Neither has
any one stated that every soil contains some sfli-
cious, or aluminous earth. But the manner in
which ek has treated of soils and their constitu-

|

ent parts, would cause their readers to infer, that
neither of these three earths is ever entirely want-
ing—or at least that the entire absence of the cal-
careous, 1S as rare as the absence of silicious or
aluminous earth. Nor are we left to gather this
opinion solely from indirect testimony, as the fol-
lowing examples, from the highest authorities,
will prove. Davy says, “four earths generally
abound in soils, the aluminous, the silicious, the
calcareous, and the magnesian’’*—and the soils
of which he states the constituent parts, obtained
by chemical analysis, as well as those reported by
Kirwan, and by Young, all contain some propor-
tion (and generally a large proportion) of calca-
reous earth. Kirwan states the component parts
of a soil which contained thirty-one per cent. of
calcareous earth, and he supposes that proportion
neither too little nor too much.{ Young mentions
soils of extraordinary fertility containing seven-
teen 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 examined.{ Rozier speaks still more
strongly for the general diffusion, and large pro-
portions 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 rich,
good, and middling soils: to the first class he as-
signs 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 he gives
no intimation of any soil entirely without calca-
reous earth.§

American writers also suppose the general pre-
sence of this ingredient of soil: but their opinions
on this subject are merely echos of European de-
scriptions of soils. They seem neither to have
suspected that so important a difference existed,
nor to have made the least investigation by actual
analysis, to sustain the false character thus given
to the soils of our country. [Appendix D.]

With my early impressions of the nature and
composition of soils, derived from the general de-
scriptions given in books, it was with surprise, and
some distrust, that when first attempting to ana-
lyze soils, in 1817, { found most specimens desti-
tute of calcareous earth. The trials were repeated
with care and accuracy, on soils from various
places—until I felt authorized to assert without

*Davy’s Agr. Chem. Lecture 1.
+ Agr. Chem. Lect. 4.—Kirwan on Manures—and

| Young’s Prize Essay on Manures.

{ Kirwan on Manures, article Clayey Loam.
| Young’s Essay on Manures.

§ * Composition of soils. Examples of the various
composition of soils: Rich soil; silicious earth, 2 parts;
aluminous, 6; calcareous, 1; vegetable earth, [humus]
1; in all, 10 parts. Good soil—silicious, 3 parts; alu-
minous 4; caleareous 24; vegetable earth, 4 of 1 part;
in all, 10 parts. Middling soil [sol niediocre;] silicious,
4 parts; aluminous, 1; calcareous, 5 parts, less by
some atoms of vegetable earth; in all, 10 parts. We
see that it is the largest proportion of aluminous earth,
that constitutes the greatest excellence of soils; and
we know that independently of their harmony of com-
position, they require a sufficiency of depth.”—From
the article «Terres,” in the “Cour Complet d’Agricul-
ture Pratique, etc. par L’Abbé Rozier, 1815.

18

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

fear of contradiction, that no naturally peor soil,
below the falls of the rivers, contains the smallest
proportion of calcareous earth. Nor do I believe
that any exception to this peculiarity of constitu-
tion can be found in any poor soil above the falls:
but though these are far more extensive and im-
portant in other respects, they are beyond the dis-

trict within the limits of which I propose to con- |

fine my investigation.

These results are highly important, whether
considered merely as serving te establish my pro-
position, or as showing a radical difference be-
tween most of our soils, and those of the best cul-
tivated parts of Europe. Putting aside my argu-
ment to establish a particular theory of’ improve-
ment, the ascertained fact of the universal absence
of calcareous earth in our poor soils leads to this
conclusion—that profitable as caleareous manures
have been found to be in countries where the soils
are generally caleareous 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.

Provosirtion 2. Continued.

The certainty of any results of chemical an-
alysis 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 results are reported by
one knowing very little of the science of chemis-
try, and whose limited knowledge was gained
without aid or instruction, and was sought solely
with the view of pursuing this investigation. Ap-
pearing under such disadvantages, it is therefore
the more incumbent on me to show my claim to
accuracy, orso to explain my method, as to ena-
ble others to detect its errors, if any exist. To an-
alyze a specimen of soil completely, requires an
amount of scientific acquirement and practical skill,
to which I make no pretension. But merely to
ascertain the absence of calcareous earth—or if
present, to find its quantity—requires but little
skill, and less science.

The methods recommended by different aari-
cultural chemists for ascertaining the proportion of
calcareous earth in soils, agree in all material
points. ‘Their process wili be described, and made
as plain as possible. A specimen of soil of con-
venient 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 cal-
careous earth, and its other ingredient, the car-
bonic acid, being disengaged, rises through the |i-
quid in the form of gas, or air, and escapes with
effervescence. After the mixture has been well
shaken, and has stood until all effervescence 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
apiece of blotting paper folded so as to fit withina
glass funnel. 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 seve-

|

ral times, so as to wash off all remains of the dis-
solved lime. ‘These filtered washings are added!
to the solution, to all of which is then poured a:
solution of carbonate of petash. "The two dis=
solved salts thus thrown together, (muriate of;

lime, composed of muriatic acid and lime—and!
carbonate of potash, eonyposed 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 contaet, wher |
let loose by their former partners, instantly unite,

which being inseluble, falls to the bettom, is sep—
arated by filtering paper, is waslied, dried ang
weighed, and thus shows the propartion contained
by the soil.* |

In this process, the carbonie acid which first(
composed part or the caleareous earth, escapes inter)

the air, and another supply is afterwards furnished]

from the decomposition ef the carbonate of potash.
But this change of one of its ingredients does now
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 gener—
ally 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. Butif a very accurate result is neces—.
sary, this method will not serve, on account of sev-.
eral causes of error which always oceur. Should!
no calcareous earth be present in a soil thus an-.
alyzed, the muriatic acid will take up asmall quan-:
tity of aluminous earth, which will be precipitated:
by the carbonate of potash, and without further)
investigation, would be considered as so much cal-
careous earth. And if any compounds of lime and
vegetable acids are present, (which for reasons:
hereafter to be stated, I believe to be not uncom-
mon in soils,) some portion of them may be dis-
solved, and appear inthe result as carbonate of
lime, though not an atom of that substance was
in the soil. Thus, every soil examined by this
method of precipitation, will yield some small re-.
sult of what would appear as calcareous earth,
though actually destitute of such an ingredient,
The inaceuracies of this method were no doubt
known (though passed over without notice) by:
Davy, and other men of science who have re-
commended its use: but as they considered calca
reous 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 searce-
ly suppose that a difference of a grain or two
could materially affect the practical value of ar)
analysis, or the character of the soil under exam.
ination.t

Se |
*More full directions for the analysis of soils may
be found in Kirwan’s Essay on Manures, Rozier’
Dictionary, and Davy’s Agricultural Chemistry):
and of calcareous manures in Appendix E. |
}*Chalks, calcareous marls, or powdered limestone

and form carbonate of lime, or calcareous a

eT et Ey

2a

PART I—THEORY.

19

—e————seesSsS8=8®@$™—$MN0®@ammmM997€30@0@090909080.0SSSSooSsSSaSaSaSSSSSSSSSSSS

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 ascertain-
ing the quantity of caleareous earth—to which
substance alone, its use is limited. The correct-
ness of this mode of analysis depends on two well
established facts in chemistry—Ist. That the
component parts of calcareous earth always bear
the same proportion to each other—and these pro-
portions are as forty-three parts (by weight) of
carbonic acid, to forty-seven of lime. Qnd.

‘That
the carbonic acid gas which two grains of calea-
reous 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
was evolved—and for every measure equal to the
bulk of an ounce of water, the operator has only
to allow two grains of calcareous earth in the soil
acted on. It is ewident that the result can indicate
the presence of lime in no other combination ex-
cept that which forms calcareous earth—nor of
any other earth, except carbonate of magnesia,
which, if present, might be mistaken for calcareous
earth, but which is too rare, and occurs in propor-
tions toosmall, to cause any material error.

But if it is only desired to know whether calca-
reous earth is entirely wanting in any soil—or to
test the truth of my assertion that so great a pro-
portion of our soils are destitute of that earth—
it may be done with far 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 drink-
ing glass, containing enough of pure water to
cover the soil about two inches. Stir it until all
the lumps have disappeared, and the water has
certainly taken the place of all the atmospheric
air which the soil had enclosed. Remove any ve-
getable fibres,or froth, from the surface of the li-
quid, 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 pene-
trate the soil, without any agitation being neces-
sary for that purpose. If any calcareous earth is
present it will quickly begin to combine with the
acid, throwing off its carbonic acid in gas, which
eannot fail to be observed as it escapes, as the gas
that only eight grains of caleareous earth would
throw out, would be equal in bulk to a gill measure.
Indeed, the product of only a single grain of cal-
eareous 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 effervescence is seen even alter adding
more acid and gently stirring the mixture, then it
is absolutely certain that the soil contained not the

“ act merely by forming a useful earthy ingredient in the
*¢ soil, and their efficacy is proportioned to the deficien-
* cy of caleareous matter, which in larger or smaller
«© quantities seems to be an essential ingredient of all
ec fertile soils; necessary perhaps to their proper texture,
“and as an ingredient in the organs of plants.’ [Da-
« vy’s Agr. Chem. page 21—and further on he says]

“Chalk and marl or carbonate of lime only improve ihe |

“texture of a soil, or its relation to absorption;
‘merely as one of its earthy ingredients.”

*See the plate and description in Lecture IV of
Agricultural Chemistry.

|

it acts

smallest portion of carbonate of lime—nor of the
only other substance which might be mistaken for
it, the carbonate of magnesia.

The examinations of all the soils that will be
here mentioned, were made in the pneumatic ap-
paratus, except some of those which evidently
evolved no gas, and when no other result. was re-
quired. As caleareous earth is plainly visible to
the eye in all shelly soils, they only need examma-
tion to ascertain its proportion. A few examples
will show what proportions we 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 Coggin’s Point, on
James River, containing fragments of muscle
sheils throughout. Never manured and supposed to
have been under scourging cultivation and close
grazing from the first settlement of the country: then
(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 an-
other 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 Coggin’s Point, surrounded by the river, and
tide marsh. Soil, dark brown leam, much lighter
than the preceding specimens, though not sandy
—under like exhausting 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 yield-
ed 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 incapable of producing
any grain, though in the midst of very rich land,
and cleared but a few years. Some small frag-
ments of fossil sea shells being visible, proved this
barren spot to be calcareous, which induced its ex-
amination. Four hundred grains yielded eighty-
seven of calcareous earth—nearly twenty-two per
cent. ‘This soil was afterwards dug and carried
outas manure.

5. Black friable loam, from Indian Fields, on
York River. The soil was aspecimen 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 un-
der exhausting cultivation.

1260 grains of soil yielded

168 — of coarse shelly matter, separated me-
chanically,
8 — _ finely divided calcareous earth’

The remaining solid matter, carefully separated,
(by agitation and — settling in water,) consisted of
139 erains of fine clay, black with putrescent
7 matter, and which lost more than
one-fourth of its weight by-being ex-

posed to a red heat,

875 — white sand, moderately fine,
20 — _ very fine sand,
36 — lost in the process.

20

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

eee

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 firstsettlement of the country—now yields (by
actual measurement) thirty bushels of corn to the
acre—but is very unproductive in wheat. A spe-
cimen taken from the surface to the depth of six
inches, weighed altogether

242 dwt., which consisted of

126 — _ of shells and their fragments, separa-
ted by the sieve,
116 — __ remaining finely divided soil.

Of the finely divided part, 500 grains consisted of
18 grains of carbonate of lime,

330 — _ silicioussand—none very coarse,
94 — impalpable aluminous and silicious
earth,
35 — _ putrescent vegetable matter—none
coarse or unrotted,
23 — loss.
500

It is unnecessary to cite any particular trials of
our poor soils, as it has been stated in the pre-
ceding chapter that all are entirely destitute of cal-
careous earth—excluding the rare, but well marked
exceptions of its great excess, of which an éxam-
ple has been given in the soil marked 4, in the fore-
going examinations.

Unless then Iam mistaken in supposing that
these facts are universally true, the certain results
of chemical analysis completely establish these
general rules—viz:

That all calcareous soils are naturally fertile and
durable in a very high degree—and

That all soilsnaturally poor are entirely destitute
of calcareous earth.

It then can scarcely bedenied 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. Qualities 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 their effects stated.

These deductions are then established as to all
calcareous soils, and all poor soils—which de-
scriptions 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 re-
main strong objections and stubborn facts opposed
to the complete proof of the proposition now under
consideration, and consequently to the theory which
that proposition 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 caleareous earth 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 and Alleghany Mountains are
equally destitute of caleareous earth. These facts
were not named before, to avoid embarrassing the |

discussion of other points—-nor can they now be
explained, and reconciled with my proposition, ex-
cept 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 CON-
TAINING NO CALCAREOUS EARTH.

Prorvositrion 2. Continued.

Under common circumstances, when any dis-
putant 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 situation, the facts admitted
by me are so opposed to all that scientific agricul-
turists have taught us to expect, that it is necessa-
ry for me to show the grounds on which my ad-
mission rests. Few would haye believed in the
absence of calcareous earth in all our poor soils—
and far more strange is it that the same deficiency,
should extend to such rich soils as some that will
be cited. ‘

The following specimens, taken from welll
known and very fertile soils, were found to contain’
no calcareous earth, Many trials of other rich!
soils have yielded like results—and indeed, I have
never found calcareous earth in any soil below the
falls of the rivers, in which, or near which, some
particles of shells were not visible.

1. Soil from Eppes’ Island, which lies in James
River, near City Point; light and -friable (but not
silicious) brown loam, rich and durable. 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 ages ago,
but which may be termed recent, when compared
to the general formation of the tide-water district,

2. Black silicious 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 on James River—formed by the mos}
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 langjj
belonging to General J. H. Cocke, of Fluvanna, Jp

The most remarkable facts of the absence 0};
calcareous earth, are to be found in the limestone}}
soils, between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany
Mountains, Of these, I will report all that I havefj
examined, and none contained any calcareou:
earth, unless when the contrary will be stated.*

* Before the first of these trials was made, I supiff
posed (as probably most other persons do,) that lime.
stone soil was necessarily calcareous, and in a high de:
gree. It is difficult to get rid of this impression en/
tirely—and it may seem a contradiction in terms t
say that a limestone soil is not caleareous. ThisI can)
not avoid: I must take the term limestone soi] as cus

‘

PART I—THEORY.

21

nn | ESS ee

1 to 6. Limestone soils selected in the neighbor-
hood of Lexington, Virginia, by Professor Gra-
ham, 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 in-
ferior value. One of the specimens, Mr. Gra-
ham’s description stated to be “taken from a piece
of land so rocky [with limestone] as to be unfit for
“ cultivation—at least with the plough. I could
** scarcely select a specimen which I would expect
*‘ to be more strongly impregnated with calcareous
“earth.” This specimen, by two separate trials,
yielded only one grain of calcareous earth, from
one thousand of soil. The other six soils contain-
ed none. The same result was obtained fiom

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

8. Brown loam from the Sweet Spring Valley,
remarkable for its extraordinary productiveness
and durability. It is of alluvial formation, and
before it was drained, must have been often co-
vered and saturated by the Sweet Spring and
other mineral waters, which hold lime in solution.
The surrounding highland is of limestoné soil. Of
this specimen, taken from about two hundred
yards below the Sweet Spring, from land long cul-
tivated every year, three hundred and sixty grains
yielded not a particle of calcareous earth. It con-
tained an unusually large proportion of oxide of
tron, 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 1826) to reclaim more of this rich
valley from the overflowing waters. Another spe-
cimen was taken from the bottom of a ditch just
opened, eighteen inches below the surface. It
was a black loam, and exhibited to the eye some
very diminutive fresh-water shells, (perriwinkles,
about one-tenth of an inch in length,) and many
of their broken fragments. This gave, from two
hundred grains, seventy-four of calcareous earth.
But 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 deposite of so large and unusual a
proportion of calcareous matter, seemed to be of
mimal formation. Both these specimens were
selected at my request by one of our best farmers,
ind who also furnished a written description of
the soils, and their situation,

9. Woodland, west of Union, Monroe County.
Soil, a black clay loam, lying on, but not inter-
nixed at the surface with limestone rock. Sub-
soil, yellowish clay. The rock at this place, a
oot below the surface. Principal growth, sugar
naple, white walnut, and oak. This and the
1ext specimen are from one of the richest tracts of
aighland that I have seen.
| 10. Soil similar to the last and about two hun-
red yards distant. Here the limestone showed
bove the surface, and the specimen was taken
rom between two large masses of fixed rock, and
\bout a foot distant from each.

11. Black rich soil, from woodland between the
ot and Warm Springs, in Bath County. The

om has already fixed it. But itshould not be extended

any soils except those which are so near to lime-
tone rock, as in some measure to be thereby affected
a their qualities and value.

specimen was part of what was in contact with a
mass of limestone.

12. Soil from the western foot of the Warm
Spring Mountain, on a gentle slope between the
court house and the road, and about one hundred
and fifty yards from the Warm Bath. Rich brown
loam, containing many small pieces of limestone,
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
fragments of limestone of different sizes, between
that of a nutmeg and small shot. The land had
never been broken up for cultivation. One thou-
sand grains contained two hundred and _ forty
grains of small stone or gravel, mostly limestone,
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 Pennsylva-
nia: the specimen taken from beneath and in con-
tact with limestone. One thousand grains yielded
less than one grain of calcareous earth.

15. A specimen from within a few yards of the
last, but not in contact with limestone, contained
no calcareous earth: neither did the red clay sub-
soil, six inches below the surface.

16. Very similar soil, but much deeper, adjoin-
ing the principal street of Bedford—the specimen
taken from eighteen inches below the surface, and
adjoining a mass of limestone. A very small dis-
engagement of gas indicated the presence of cal-
careous earth——but certainly less than one grain
in one thousand, and perhaps not half that quan-
tity.

17. Alluvial soil onthe Juniata, adjoining Bed-
ford.

18. Alluvial vegetable soil near the stream flow-
ing from all the Saratoga Mineral Springs, and
necessarily often covered and soaked by those
waters, and

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

Thus it appears, that of nineteen specimens of
soils, only four contained calcareous earth, and
three of these four, in exceedingly small propor-
tions. It should be remarked that all these were
selected from situations, which from their proximi-
ty to calcareous rock, or exposure to calcareous
waters, were supposed most likely to present high-
ly calcareous soils. If five hundred specimens
had been taken without choice, from what are
commonly limestone soils, (merely because they
are not very distant from limestone rock, or springs
of limestone water,) the analysis of that whole
number would be less likely to show calcareous
earth, than the foregoing short list. I therefore
feel justified, from my own few examinations, and
unsupported by any other authority, tv pronounce
that calcareous earth will very rarely be found in
any soils between the falls of our rivers, and the
navigable western waters. In a few specimens
of some of the best soils from the borders of the
Mississippi and its tributary rivers, I found calea-
reous earth present in all—but in small propor-
tions, and in no case exceeding two per cent.

The only soils of considerable extent of surface
which, from the specimens that I have examined,
appear to be highly calcareous, and to agree in
| that respect, with many European soils, are from

22

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

the prairies, those lands of the west which,
whether rich or poor, are remarkable for being
destitute of trees, and covered with grass, so as to
form natural meadows. ‘The examinations were
made but recently, (in 1834) and are reported be-
cause presenting striking exceptions to the general
constitution of soils in this country.

20. Prairie soil of the most productive kind in
Alabama, is a black clay, with very little sand,
yet so far from being stif!, that it becomes too light
by cultivation. ‘This kind of land is stated by the
friend to whom I am ifidebted for the specimens,
to “produce corn and oats most luxuriantly—and
also cotton for two or three years; but afier 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 spe-
cimen contained eight of carbonate of lime. All
this prairie land in Alabama lies on a substratum
of what is there called ‘rotten limestone,”’ (speci-
mens of which contained seventy-two to eighty-
two per cent. of lime,) and which rises to the sur-
face sometimes, forming the “bald prairies,” a
sample of the soil of which (21) contained fifty-nine
per cent. of carbonate of lime. This was de-
scribed 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 limestone is soft enough
to be cut easily and smoothly with a knife, and
some of it is im 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 six-
teen 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 sur-
face, nor to sink through the tenacious clay soil,
and the solid stratum ot’ limestone below.

23. A specimen from the very extensive ‘“‘Choc-
taw Prairie” in Mississippi, 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 soit limestone, were
found to
lime in the form of carbonate.
were as follows:—

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

25. Another irom 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 beavy cover
of large trees growing luxuriantly. It is a cold
and wet soil betore being brought into good tilth;
but afterwards is soft and easy to till, and pro-
duces corn and cotton finely. The cane on it is

These specimens

he neutral, containing not a particle of

generally small: the soil from four to ten feet
deep.”’*

The foregoing details, respecting limestone
lands, may perhaps be considered an unnecessary
digression, in a treatise on the soils of the tide-
water district. But the analysis of limestone soils
furnishes the strongest evidence of the remarka-
ble 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 general application of the
proposition that the deficiency of calcareous earth |
is the cause of the sterility of our soils: and hav-.
ing 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 VIL. |

PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF 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 neces--
sarily follow that such has always been their com-
position—or that they may not now contain lim
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 con-
tend that lime in some proportion, combined with!
vegetable acid, is present in every soil capable op
supporting vegetation.

But while [ shall endeavor to ‘maintain these)
positions, without asking or admitting any excep)
tion, let me not be understood as asserting thay
the original ingredient of calcareous earth was!
always the sole cause of the fertility of any par:
ticular soil, or that a knowledge of the proportion
contained, would serve to measure the capacity 0!
the soil for improvement. Caleareous soils no
differing materially in qualities or value, often ex)
hibit a remarkable difference in their respective
proportions of calcareous earth: so that it would
seem, that asmall quantity, aided by some othe
unknown agent, may give as much capacity fo:
improvement, and ultimately produce as much fer

*It is proper to mention a circumstance which majfi
have had some effect in removing the carbonate cH
lime from these Alabama soils, besides the more gene
ral causes which will be traced in the next chapter},
With these specimens of soil, was sent a collection ¢
the sinall stones and gravel which were stated to bi
found generally through these soils, and particularly i
the clay subsoil beneath. Among these there wer
several fragments of sulphuret of iron. This mineri
when decomposing in the earth in contact with carbo
nate of lime, also decomposes the latter substance, ar)
forms sulphate of lime, [gypsum,] instead. It is weif{i
worth inquiry whether sulphuret of iron is generall
found in these soils. It may be known by its gre;
weight, and metallic lustre when broken, (which hi
caused it often to be mistaken for silver ore,) and f/f
giving out fumes of burning sulphur when subjecte
to strong heat under a blow pipe.

PART I—THEORY.

23

ee

tility, as ten times that proportion, under other
circumstances.

In all naturally poor soils, producing freely, in
their virgin state, pine and whortleberry, and sor-
rel after cultivation, | suppose to have been formed
some vegetable acid, which, atter taking up what-
ever small quantity of lime might have been pre-
sent, stillremains in excess in the soil, and nour-
ishes in the highest degree the plants named above,
but is a poison to all useful crops; and effectually
prevents such soi!s becoming rich, from either na-
tural or artificial applications of putrescent ma-
nures.

In a neutral soil, I suppose calcareous earth to
have been sufficiently abundant to produce a high
Jegree of fertility—but that it has been decom-
posed, and the lime taken up, by the gradual for-
mation of vegetable acid, until the lime and the
acid neutralize and balance each other, leaving no
considerable excess of either. Such are all our
ertile soils that are not calcareous.

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

No opinion has been yet advanced that is less
supported by good authority, or to which more ge-
1eral 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
oose a manner as to deserve no consideration: it
12as been thus applied to any cold and ungrateful
and, without intending that the term should be
iterally understood, and perhaps without attach-
ng to its use any precise meaning whatever.
Dundonald only, of all those who have applied
themistry to agriculture, has asserted the exist-
nce of vegetable acid in soils:* but he has ofter-
:d no analysis, nor any other evidence to establish
he fact—and his opinion has received no confirm-
ution, nor even the slightest notice, from later and
nore able investigators ol the chemical characters
¥ soils. Kirwan and Davy profess to enumerate
dl the common ingredients of soils, and it is not
timated by either, that vegetable acid is one of
hem. Even this tacit denial by Davy, more
trongly opposes the existence of vegetable acid,

an it is supported by the opinion of Dundonald,
rany of those writers on agriculture who have
mitted its existence. Grisenthwaite, a late wri-
r on agricultural chemistry, and who has the ad-
antage of knowing the discoveries, and compar-
ag the opinions of all his predecessors, expressly
enies the possibility of any acid existing in soils.
lis New Theory of Agriculture contains the fol-
ywing passage: “ Chalk has been recommended
"as a substance calculated to correct the sourness
of land. It would surely have been a wise
f practice to have previously ascertained this ex-
istence of acid, and to have determined its nature,
: in order that it might be effectually removed.

The fact 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
i likely to be generated by any spontaneous de-

‘composition of animal or vegetable bodies, and
neither of them have any fixity when exposed
to the air.” Thus, then, my doctrine is de-
ved of even the feeble support it might have
d from Dundonald’s mere opinion, if that opin-

*Dundonald’s Connexion of Chemistry and Agricul-
Te,

ion had not been contradicted by later and better
authority: and the only support that I ean look for,
will be in the facts and arguments that I shall be
able to adduce.

Tam not prepared to question what Grisenth-
waite states as a chemical fact, “that no soil was
ever yet found to contain any notable quantity of
acid.” No soil examined by me for this purpose,

| gave any evidence of the presence of uncombined

acid. Still, however, the term acid may be appli-
ed with propriety to soils, in which growing vege-
tables continually receive acid from the decompo-
sition of others, (for which no ‘‘fixity” is requi-
site,) or in which acid is present, not free, but
combined with some base, by which it is readily
yielded to premote, or retard, the growth of plants
in contact withit. It will be sufficient for my pur-
pose to show that certain soils contain some sub-
stance, or possess some quality, which promotes
almost exclusively the growth of acid plants—that
this power is strengthened by adding known vege-
table’ acids to the soil—and is totally removed by
the application of calcareous manures, which
would necessarily destroy any acid, if it were pre-
sent. Leaving it to chemists to determine the na-
ture and properties of this substance, I merely
contend for its existence and eflects: and the cause
of these effects, whatever it may be, for the want
of a better name, [ shall call acidity.

The proofs now to be offered in support of the
existence of acid and neutral soils, however weak
each may be when considered alone, yet when
taken in connexion, will together form a body of
evidence not easily to be resisted.

1st Proof: Pine and common sorrel have leaves
well known to be acid to the taste; and their
growth is favored by the soils which I suppose to
be acid, to an extent which would be thought re-
markable in other plants on the richest soils. Ex-
cept wild locust on the best river land, no growth
can compare in rapidity with pines on soils natu-
rally poor, and even greatly reduced by long culti-
vation. Pines usually stand so thick on old ex-
hausted fields, that the increase of size in each
plant is greatly retarded—but if the whole growth
of an acre is estimated, it would probably exceed
in quantity the different growth of the richest
soils, of the same age and on an equal space.
Every cultivator of corn on poor hght 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 fu-
ture labor, cannot be effected by any mode of cul-
tivation 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 Jands. Sorrel cannot even
live ona calcareous soil—and if a pine is some-
times found there, it has nothing of its usual ele-
gant form, but seems as stunted and ill shaped as
if it had always suffered for want of nourishment.
Innumerable facts, of which these are examples,
prove that these acid plants must derive from their

* Sheep sorrel, or Rumex acetosa. The wood sorrel
(oxalis acetocella) is of a very different character.
This prefers rich and calcareous soils, and I have seen
it growing on places calcareous to excess. It would
seem, therefore, that wood sorrel forms its acid from
the atmosphere, and does not draw it from the soil, as
is evidently the case with common sorrel.

24

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

favorite soil some kind of food peculiarly suited to
their growth, and quite useless, if not hurtful, to
cultivated crops.

2. 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 contain is of course given to that soil, for
such time as circumstances permit 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 clearing and
cultivating the land. The invariable consequence
of this course, is a growth of sorrel for one or two
crops, so abundant and s0 injurious to the crops,
as to nfore than balance any benefit denved by the
soil, from the vegetable matter having been allow-
edto rot. From the general experience of this
effect; most persons put pine land under tillage as
soon as cut down, after carefully burning the whole
of the heavy cover of leaves, both green and dry.
Until within a few years, it was generally-sup-
posed 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.

On one of the washed and barren declivities (or
galls) which are so numerous 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 sor-
rel, all of which did not prevent the spot seeming
quite bare at midsummer, if viewed at the distance
ef one hundred yards. This operation was per-
formed in Febraary or March. ‘The land was not
cultivated, nor again observed until the second
summer afterwards. At that time, the piece re-
mained as bare as formerly, except along the filled
gullies, which throughout the whole of their crook-
ed courses, were covered by a thick and tall growth
of sorrel, remarkably luxuriant for any situation,
and which being bounded exactly by the width of
the narrow gullies, had the appearance of some
vegetable sown thickly in drills, and kept clean by
tillage. So great an effect of this kind has not
been produced within my knowledge—though
facts of like nature and leading to the same con-
clusion, are of frequent occurrence. If small pines
standing thinly over a broom-grass old field, are
cut down and left to lie, under every top will be
found a patch of sorrel, before the leaves have all
rotted.

3. The growth of sorrel is not only peculiarly
favored by the application of vegetables contain-
ing acids already formed, but also by such matters
as will form acid in the course of their decomposi-
tion. Farm-yard manure, and all other putres-
cent animal and vegetable substances, form acetic
acid as their decomposition proceeds.* If heaps
of rotting manure are left without being spread, in |
a field the least subject to produce sorrel, a few

weeks of growing weather will bring out that
plant close around every heap—and for some time,
it will continue to show more benefit from that rank
manuring than any other grass. For several years
my winter-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 mistaken opinion, that it would prevent much
of the usual exposure to evaporation and waste of
the manure. One of the reasons which alone
would have compelled me to abandon this absurd
practice, was, that acrop of sorrel always followed,
(even on good soils that before barely permitted a
scanty growth 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 tham
until we may suppose the acid to have been re-.
moved by cultivation; and other causes. |

It may be objected that my authorities prove:
only the formation of a single vegetable acid in|
soil, the acetic—that my facts show only the pro-,
duction of a single acid plant, sorrel—and that the;
acid which sorrel contains is not the acetic, but the;
oxalic:* From the application of acids to recent-
ly ploughed land, no acid plant except sorrel is!
made to grow, because that only can spring up;
speedily enough to arrest the fleeting nutriment
Poverty grass 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 thein
seeds will produce plants. But when pines beginy
to spread over the land, they soon put an end to
the growth of all other plants, and are abundantly j
supplied with their acid food, from the dropping o
their own leaves. Thus they may be first suppii-
ed with the vegetable acid ready formed in the
leaves, and afterwards with the acetic aeid, formec}
by their subsequent slow decomposition. It does
not weaken my argument, that the product of <
plant isa vegetable acid different from the one sup;
posed to have nourished its growth. Alt vegeta,
ble acids (except the prussic) however different ii}
their properties, are conposed of the same three,
elementary bodies, ditlering only in their propor)
tionst—and consequently are’ all convertible int
each other. A little more, or a little less of one o
the other of these ingredients, may change th,
acetic to the oxalic acid, and that to any other}
We cannot doubt but that such simple change:
may be produced by the chemical powers of vege
tation, when others are effected, far more difficu’
for us to comprehend. The most tender and fee},
ble organs, and the mildest juices, aided by thi
power of animal or vegetable life, are able to pra
duce decompositions and combinations, which th
chemist cannot explain, and which he would i
vain attempt to imitate. i

4, This ingredient of soils which nourishes aci,
plants, also poisons cultivated crops. Plants hav
not the power of rejecting noxious fluids, but tak)
up by their roots every thing presented in a solubl
form.t Thus the acid also enters the sap-vesse
of cultivated plants, stunts their growth, and make

=

* Agr. Chem. Lecture 3.
+ Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen.

* Agr. Chem. p. 187.

Lecture 3, p. 78.
¢{ Agr. Chem. Lecture 6, page 186.

FAWL I—LMbwOnY.

Se ee eS eT |

impossible for them to attain that size and per-
sction, which their proper food would ensure, if it
yas presented to them without its poisonous ac-
ompaniment. When the poorest virgin wood-
uid is cut downy it is covered and filled to excess
vith leaves and other rotted and rotting vegetable

aatters. Can a heavier vegetable manuring be
esired? And as it completely rots during cultiva-

ion, must not it offer to the growing plants as
bandant a supply of food as they can require ?—
Yet the best product obtained may be from ten to
fteen bushels of corn, or five or six of wheat,
oon to come down to half those quantities. If the
oxious quality which causes such injury is an
cid, itis as certain as any chemical truth what-
ver, that it will be neutralized, and its powers de-
troyed, by applying enough of calcareous earth
) the soil: and precisely such effects are found
vhenever that remedy is tried. On land thus re-
eved of this unceasing annoyance, the young
orn no longer appears of a pale and sickly green,
pproaching to yellow, but takes immediately a
eep healthy color, by which it may readily be
istinguished from any on soil left in its former
tate, before there is any perceptible difference in
he size of the plants. ‘The crop will produce fifiy
9 one hundred per cent. more, the first year, be-
ore its supply of food can possibly have been in-
reased—and the soil is soon found not only cleared
f sorrel, but incapable of producing it. IT have
nticipated these effects of calcareous manures,
efore furnishing the proof—but they will hereaf-
or be established beyond contradiction.

The truth of the existence of either acid, or
eutral soils, depends on the existence of the other
—and to prove either, will necessarily establish
oth. If acid exists in soils, then wherever it
neets with calcareous earth, the two substances
nust combine and neutralize each other, so far
s their proportions are properly adjusted. On
he other hand, if I can show that compounds of
ime and vegetable acid are present in most soils,
t follows inevitably that nature has provided
neans by which soils can generally obtain this
cid: and if the amount formed can balance the
ime, the operation of the same causes can exceed
hat quantity, and leave an excess of free acid.
“rom these premises will be deduced the following
roots.

5. It has been stated (page 18) that the precess
ecommended by chemists for finding the calca-
eous earth in soils was unfit for that purpose, be-
ause a precipitate was always obtaibed even
vhen no calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime
vas present. Frequent trials have shown me that
his precipitate is considerably more abundant from
rood soils than bad. The substance thus obtained
rom rich soils by solution and precipitation, in
very case that I have tried, contains some calca-
eous earth, although the soil from which it was
lerived had none. The alkaline liquor from which
he precipitate has been separated, we are told by

Javy will, after bouling, let fall the carbonate of

nagnesia, if any had been in the soil: but when
iny notable deposite is thus obtained, it will often
re found to consist more of carbonate of lime,
han of magnesia. The following are examples
£ such products: —

One thousand grains of tide marsh soil (de-
cribed page 20) acted on by muriatie acid in the

meumatic apparatus, gave out no carbonic acid:
ri

gas, and therefore could have contained no carbo-
nate of lime. ‘The precipitate obtained from the
same weighed sixteen erains—which being again
acted on by sulphuric acid, evolved as much gas
as showed that three grains had become carbonate
of lime, in the previous part of the process,

Two hundred grains of atiuvial soil from Sara-
toga Springs (page 21, No. 18,) containing no car-
bonate 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 grams of limestone soil from
Bedford (part of the specimen marked 14, page
21,) contained about two-thirds of a grain of car-
bonate of lime—andits 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 five was
of the former, as there remained seven and a half

| of solid matter, after the action of sulphuric acid.*

From this process, there can be no doubt but
that the soil contained a proportion of some salt of
lime (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 enrbonate of lime—it be-
ing supplied with carbonic acid from the earbonate
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. i

6. The strongest objection to the doctrine of
neutral soils is, that if true, the salt formed by the
combination of the linie and acid must often be
present in such large proportions, that it is scareely
credible that its presence and nature should not
have been discovered by any of the chemists who
have analyzed soils. This difficulty I cannot re-
move: but it may be met (or neutralized—to bor-
row a fioure from my subject,) by showing that
an equal difficulty awaits those who may support
the other side of the argument.

* 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 alumine or magnesia had
made part of the solid matter exposed to diluted sul-
phurie acid, the combinations 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 this substance
(sulphate of lime) cannot be ebtained in this manner,
as a part is always dissolved: but whateveris obtained,
proves that at least two-thirds of that quantity of car-
bonate of lime had been present: as that quantity of
lime which will combine with enough carbonic acid
to make 100 parts (by weight) of carbonate of lime,
willcombine with so much more of sulphuric acid, ag
to form about 159 parts of the sulphate of hime, orgyp-
sum.

26

The theory of geologists of the formation of|'Three careful examinations gave the following re- don

soils from the decomposition, or disintegration of
rocks, is received as true by scientific agriculturists.
The soils thus supposed to be formed, receive ad-
mixtures from each other, by means of different
operations of nature, and after being more or less
enriched by the decay of’ their own vegetable pro-
ducts, make the endless variety of existing soils.*
But where a soil lying on, and thus supposed to
have been formed from any particular kind of rock,
is so situated that it could not have been moved,
or received considerable accessions from torrents,
or other causes, then, according to this theory,
the rock and the soil should be composed of the
same materials—and such soils as the specimens
marked 11 and 16 (page 21) would be, like the
rock they touched, 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 without
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 ef
fects of frost, rain, sun, and air, on the limestone
in contact with them. All limestone soils, pro-
perly so called, exhibit certain marked and pecu-
liar 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 surtace.
mixture will not be denied by any one who has
observed limestone soils, and reasons fairly, whe-
ther his investigation begins with the causes, or
their effects. If then all this gain of calcareous
earth remains in the soil, why is none, or almost
none, discovered by accurate chemical analysis ?
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 operation of acid in making
such soils neutral, will be attended with at least as
much difficulty, as any arising from that admission
being made.

7. 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 quan-
tities of calcareous earth as manure, after some
time, will yield very little when analyzed. To a
soil of this kind, full of vegetable matter, T applied,
in 1818 and 183], 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 di-
vided when applied. Since the application of the
ose part of this dressing, (only one-fourth

aving been laid on in 1818,) no more than six
years had passed before the following examina-
tions were made—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.

* Aor. Chem. p. 131. Also Treatise on Agriculture
(by General Armstrong) in vol. I. of American Far-
mer, quoted in Appendix D.

This |

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

ee

sults.
No. 1.—1000 grains yielded 74 of coarse calcare-

6
ous earth, (frag-)
ments of shells.) hr

And Jess than 4, of finely divided. hi

a lot

3 ia

No. 2.—1000 grains yielded 5 of coarse, fo

2 finely divided. Vi

8 |!

7

an

No. 3.—1509 grains. yielded 15 of coarse, 4

24 finely divided. a

1 seq

wee on

but!
The specimens No. 1 and No. 2 were obtained!

by taking handfuls of soil from several places, (fou)
in one case, and twelve in the other) mixing them

well together, and then taking the samples for tria!
{rom the two parcels. On such land, when not
recently ploughed, there will always be an oversy
proportion of the pieces of shells on the surface, as
the rains have settled the fine soil, and left exposed) ih
the coarse matters. On this account, in making) ,
these two selections, the upper half inch was firstly,
thrown aside, and the handful dug from belowily,
No. 3 was taken from a spot showing a full averjp,
age thickness of shells, and included the surface:

I considered the three trials made as fairly as posdf=
sible, to give a general average. Small as is the} j
proportion of finely divided calcareous earth ex}
hibited, it must have been increased by rubbing}
some particles from the coarse fragments, in the
operation of separating them by a fine sieve. Innjj
deed it may be doubted whether any proportion},
remained very finely divided—or in other words}y,
whether it was not combined with acid, as fast aa
it was so reduced. But without the benefit of this},
supposition, the finely divided calcareous earth inf,
the three specimens, averaged only one and one,
fourth grains to the thousand, which is one twen:|jj
ty-fourth of the quantity laid on: and the totaijq,
quantity obtained, of coarse and fine, is eigh fp
grains in one thousand, or about one-fourth of the 2
original proportion. All the balance had changec}jy
its form, or otherwise disappeared, in the few year},
that had passed since the application.

The very small proportions of finely divided cal
careous earth compared to the coarse, in som¢
shelly soils, furnish still stronger evidence of thi,
pnd “i the York River soil, (described page 19),

o. 5,

nt
1260 grains, yielded of coarse calca- {to
reous parts, - - - 168 grains)li

And of finely divided, - aie 8

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

18 fine.

As many of the shells and their fragments 1).
these soils are ina mouldering state; it is incredi}!
ble that the whole quantity of finely divided pan y
ticles derived from them should have amounte
tono more than these small proportions. Inde},
pendent of the action of natural causes, the plougl},

PART I—THEORY.

27

SSS

lone, in a few years, must have pulverized at
east as much of the shells, as was found.

8. In other cases, where the operations of nature
1ave been applying calcareous earth, for ages,
1one now remains in the soil; and the proof thence
lerived is move striking, than any obtained from
tificial applications, of only a few years standing.
Valleys subject to be frequently overflown and
saturated by the water of limestone streams, must
iecessarily retain a new supply of calcareous earth
rom every such soaking and drying.

Limestone water contains the super-carbonate of
ime, which is soluble: but this loses its excess of
arbonic acid when left dry by evaporation, and
yecomes the carbonate of lime, which not being
oluble, is in no danger of being removed by sub-
equent floods. Thus accessions are slowly but
ontinually made, through many centuries. Yet
uch soils are found containing no calcareous earth

—of which a remarkable example is presented in
the soil of the cultivated part of the Sweet Spring
Valley, (No. 8, page 21.)*

9. All ‘wood ashes contain salts of lime, (and
most kinds in large proportions,) which could
have been derived from no other source than the
soil on which the trees grew. The lime thus ob-
tained is principally combined with carbonic. acid,
and partly with the phosphoric, forming phosphate
of lime. ‘The table of Saussure’s analyses of the
ashes of numerous plants,t is sufficient to show
that these products are general, if not universal.
The following examples of some of my own ex-
aminations, prove that ashes yield calcareous earth
in proportions suitable to their kind, although the
wood grew on soils destitute of that ingredient—
ae ee ascertained with regard to each of these
soils.

100 grains of ashes from.

Whortleberry bushes, the entire
plants, except the leaves,

Equal parts of the bark, heart,
and sapwood, of an old locust,

Young locust bushes entire,

Young pine bushes,

Body of a young pine tree.

The same,

Rich neutral

What soil taken from.

Acid silicious loam,

Acid silicious loam,

Acid clay soil.

Carbonate of |Phosphate of

Lime. Lime.
4 grains. 4 grains.
51 18
clay loam, 40 30
9 6
14 18

—--

_ The potash was first carefully taken out of all|
hese samples. The remaining solid matter was
ilicious sand, and charcoal: the proportion of the
atter varying according to the degree of heat used
n burning the wood, which was not permitted to
ye very strong, for fear of converting the calca-

eous earth into quick-lime.
- All the carbonate of lime yielded by ashes, was
recessarily furnished in some form by the soil on
vhich the plants grew—and when the soil itself
‘contained no carbonate, some other compound of
ime must have been present, to enable us to ac-
‘ount for these certain and invariable results. The
presence of a combination of lime with some ve-
retadle acid, and none other, would serve to pro-
luce such effects. According to established chem-
cal laws, if any such combination had been taken
1p into the sap-vessels of the tree, it would be de-
composed by the heat necessary to convert the
vood to ashes; the acid would be reduced to its
‘lementary principles, and the lime would imme-
liately unite with the carbonie acid, (which is
»roduced abundantly by the process of combus-
ion,) and thus present a product of carbonate of
ime newly formed from the materials of the other
substances decomposed. f

On the foregoing facts and deductions, I am
‘content to rest the truth of the existence of acid
und neutral soils.

t The reasoning on the presence of the carbonate of
ime found in ashes from acid soils, does not apply to
e phosphate of lime whichis alwaysalso present. Ihe
atter salt is not decomposed by any known degree of
leat, [Art. Chemistry, in Edin. Eney.| and therefore
ight have remained unchanged, in passing from the
il to the tree, and thence to the ashes.

{ have chosen to leave all the preceding part of
this chapter (with the exception of a few merely
verbal corrections and alterations) precisely as it
appeared in the first edition of this essay, (January
1832.) 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 chenusts previously. The first inti-
mation of this discovery which reached me was
in the AIphabet of Scientific Gardening, by Pro-
fessor Rennie, published in London in 1833, from
which the part relative to this subject will be
quoted below. Since then [ have been enabled to
consult the late French work of Berzelius, in which
his views of humic acid are given more at length,
and from which an extract will be translated and
given in the appendix. [See F.] The facts res-
pecting humic acid,as concisely stated in the follow-

* The excess of carbonic acid which unites with lime
and renders the compound soluble in water, is lost by
exposure of the calcareous water to the air, as well as
by evaporation to dryness. [Accum’s Chemistry—
Lime.] The masses of soft calcareous rock which
are deposited in the rapids of limestone streams, are
examples of the loss of carbonic acid from exposure
to the air; and the stalactites in caves, the deposite of
the slow-drepping water holding in solution the super
carbonate of lime, are examples of the same eflect
produced by evaporation. A similar deposite of in-
soluble carbonate of lime, from both these causes, is
necessarily made on all land subject to be overflowed
by limestone waters.

+ Quoted in Agr. Chem. Lecture 3.

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

ing quotation from Professor Rennie, turnish strong
confirmation of some of the epinions which I have
endeavored to maintain. It will however be left,
without farther comment, for the reader to cbserve
the accordance, and to make the application,

‘Fumie Actp anp Humin,—tIn most chemi-
cal books the terms Ulmic Acid and Ulmin are |
used, from Ulmus, elm; but, as its substance oc-
curs in most, if not all plants, the name is bad, I
prefer Sprengel’s terms, from /fumus, soll,

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 interesting for our present pur-
pose, it has been found by Sprengel and M, Poly-
dore Boullay, to constitute a leading principle in |
soils and manures, /Zumin appears to be formed
of carbon and hydrogen, and the humic acid of
humin and oxygen. 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 avail-
able as food for plants.

Humic acid however, which I may remark, is
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 hwmic acid will
combine with lime, potass, and ammonia, in the form
of humates, and the smallest portion of these will
render it soluble in water and fit to be taken up by
the spongelets 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 matter, and the like. Saussure, for
instance, filled a vessel with turf, and moistened 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 ex-
tract; from ten thousand 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 paris of extract.

M. Polydore Bouilay found that the liquid ma-
nure, drained irom dung hills, contains a large pro-
portion 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, (technically Mzumic acid,) on de-
composing the prussic acid, (technically Aydro-
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.”

But without the aid of this recent discovery of
the humic acid, if the foregoing examinations of
soils, and the arguments which follow remain un-

uestioned, these two remarkable and important
facts may be considered as established:

ginia, as that ingredient has heretofore been sup- \Il"
posed by agricultural writers, to be common in all jm
soils: and |

other; nor either of them with the position which }ti
has been contended for, that calcareous matter inj
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 full proof of this theory of the cause oft
fertility, by showing that the value of a soil (under f
equal circumstances) is in proportion to the quan- li
tity of the vegetable salt of lime present in thejt
soil. The direct and positive proof of this doc-|#
trine, I confidently anticipate will hereafter be ob-\#
tained from more full examinations of the humicis
acid, and its compounds in various soils, and from:
correct and minute reports of the quantities and@}
kinds of those ingredients, and of the rate objé
natural fertility of each soil. As yet, however in-
teresting the recent discovery of humic acid may)))
be to chemists, it does not seem that they havejd
suspected it to have any thing like the important
bearing on the fertilization of soil, which T hadjt
attributed to the supposed acid principle or ingre21
dient. ti

Supposing the doctrine to be sufficiently proved)
it may be useful to trace the formation of acidity)?
in different soils, according to the views whichilt
have been presented, and to display the promise}
which that quality holds out for improving those(t
soils, which it has hitherto rendered barren andis
worthless. {

Every neuiral soil at some former time contained}
caleareous earth in sufficient quantity to produces!
the uniform effect of that ingredient of storing up}
and fixing fertility. The decomposition of the},
successive growth of plants left to rot on the rich
soil, continually formed vegetable acid, which)
slowly and gradually united with the lime in the
soil, At last these two principles balanced eacht
other, and the soil was no longer calcareous, butt
became neutral, Instead of its former ingredient)
carbonate of lime, it was now supplied with a ve-
getable salt of lime. This change of soil does not
effect the natural growth, which remains the same,
and thrives as well as when the soil was ealca-|!
reous—and when brought into cultivation, the soil
is equally productive under all crops suited to|
calcareous soils, If the supplies of vegetable matz|i
ter 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 quantity of acidity in any}!
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}
erazed, the more acid it becomes—and this evil!
keeping pace with the benefits derived, is the
cause why go little improvement, or increased pro:
duct; is obtained from putting acid soils under that
mild treatment. Cultivation not only prevents

ist. That calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime,

new supplies, but also diminishes the acidity ab

PART I—THEORY.

29

eady present in excess, by exposing it to the at-
nosphere—and the more a soil is exhausted, the
nore will its acidity be lessened.

We have seen from the proof furnished by the
unalysis of wood ashes, that even poor acid soils
‘contain a little salt of lime, and therefore must
1ave been slightly calcareous at some former time.
But such small proportions of calcareous earth were

out remuneration, and without suspecting that
their worst virgin land was then richer than their
manured lots appeared 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 un-
derstood, and the means of its removal within his
reach, he has reason to rejoice that his soil was so

soon equalled, and then exceeded, by the formation } constituted as to be preserved from the eflects of

vegetable acid, before much productiveness was
aused. The soil being thus changed, the plants
suitable to calcareous soils died off, and gave place
o others which produce, as well as feed ‘and thrive

mn acidity. Still, however, even these plants fur-
veh abundant supplies of vegetable matter, sufhi-
‘ient to enrich the land in the highest degree: but
he antiseptic power of the acid prevents the leaves
rom rotting for years, and even then, the soil has
10 power to profit by them. 'T hough continually
vasted, the vegetable matter is always present in
:bundance; but must remain almost useless to the
oil, until the accompanying acidity shall be de-
stroyed.

It may weil be doubted whether any soil desti-
ute of lime in every form, would not soon become
1 perfect barren, incapable of producing a spire of
trass. No soil thus destitute is known, as the
ants of all soils show in their ashes the presence
f some lime. But it is probable that our subsoils,
vhich when left naked by the washing away of
he soil, are so generally and totally barren, are
nade so by their being entirely destitute of lime
nany form. There is a natural process regularly
ind at all times working to deprive the subsoil of
ul lime, unless the soil is abundantly supplied.
W hat constitutes soil, and makes the strong and
ain mark of separation and distinction between
he more or less fertile soil and the absolutely
steril subsoil beneath? The most obvious cause
or this difference which might be stated, is the
lropping of the dead vegetable matter on the
surface: but this is not sufficient alone to pro-
luce the effects, though it may be when aided by
nother cause of more power. When the most
yarren soil was formed or deposited by any of the
jatural agents to which such effects are attributed
xy geologists, it seems reasonable to suppose that
he surface was no richer than any lower part,
hen a very minute proportion of lime had been
equally distributed through the body of poor soil
fo any depth that the roots of trees could pene-
rate, it would follow that the roots would in the
course of time take up all the lime, as all would
9e wanting for the support of the trees: and their
Jeath and < decay would afterwards leave all this
former ingredient of the soil in general, on the sur-
face. This process must have the effect, in the
course of time, of fixing on and near the surface
the whole of a scanty supply of lime, and on leav-
ng the subsoil without any. But if there is within
he reach of the roots more lime than any one crop
or growth of plants need, then the superfluous
lime will be permitted to remain in the subsoil,
which will then be improvable by vegetable sub-
stances, and readily convertible to productive soil.
The manner in which lime thus operates, will be
explained in the next chapter.

Nearly all the woodland now remaining in
Lower Virginia, and much of what has long been
arable, is rendered unproductive by acidity, and
successive generations have toiled on them with-

If

the improvidence of his forefathers, who would
have worn out any land not almost indestructible.
The presence of acid, by restraining the produc-
tive 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 cons stituted, 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 forits cultivation—but no great
change is afterwards caused, by continuing scourg-
ing tillage and grazing for fifty years. longer.
Thus our acid soils have two remarkable and ¢ op-
posite qualities, both proceeding from the same
cause: they cannot be enriched by manure, nor
impoverished by cultivation, to any great extent.
Qualities so remarkable deserve all our powers of
investigation: yet their very frequency seems to
have caused them to be overlooked—and our wri-
ters 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.

MODE OF OPERATION OF CALCAREOUS
EARTH IN SOILS.

Proposition 3. The fertilizing effects of cal-
careous 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, uf any, chemical attraction.

THE

Proposition 4. Poor and acid soils cannot be
improved durably, or profitably, by putrescent ma-
nures, without previously making them calcareous,
and thereby correcting the defect in their consti-
tution,

It has already been made evident that the pre-
sence of calcareous earth in a natural soil causes
great and durable fertility: but it still remains to
be determined, to what properties of this earth its
peculiar tert tilizine effects are to be attributed.

Chemistry has taueht 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 slicht attraction really
exists when the earth is minutely divided for ex-
periment in the laboratory of the chemist, it can-
not be exerted by silicious sand in the usual form
in which nature gives it to soils—that is, in parti-
cles comparatively coarse, loose, and open, and
yet each particle impenetrable to any liquid, or ga-
seous fluid that might be passing through the va-
in SO lel See BV lel WAR i Fears aia CEL...

* Agr. Chem. page 129.

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

cancies.
er, chemical or mechanical, either to attract en-
riching manures, or to preserve them when actu-
ally placed in contact: and soils in which the
qualities of this earth greatly predominate, must
give out freely all they 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 putres-
cent matter can remain Jonger than the comple-
tion of its decomposition—and if not arrested dur-
ing this process, by the roots of living plants, all
will escape in the form of’ gas, into the air, with-
out leaving a trace of lasting improvement. With
a knowledge of these properties, we need not r--
sort to the common opinion that manure sinks
through sandy soils, to account for its rapid disap-
pearance.*

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 predomi-
nates, 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 re-
quire much heavier applications to show as much
effect at once.
manure is altogether mechanical, it serves only
to delay both its use and its waste. Aluminous

* Except the very simall proportions of earthy, sa-
line and metallic matters that may be in animal and
vegetable manures, the whole balance of their bulk
(and the whole of whatever can feed plants,) is com-
posed of diiierent eleinents, which are known only in
the forms of gases—into which they must be finally re-
solved, after going through all the various stages
of fermentation and decomposition. So far from sink-
ing in the earth, these final results could not be posst-
bly confined there, but must escape into the atmos-
phere as soon as they take a gaseous form, unless im-
mediately 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 is used by grow-
ing plants, during previous changes, or carried oi 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 excep-
tion, however, seems probable. Should the soil need
draining, to take oif water passing beneath the surface,
the soluble manure might be carried off by those springs;
and this supposed result receives strong confirmation
from the complete loss of fertility which is often ob-
served in spots over a foundation that is springy in wet
seasons, but which have been kept under tillaxe, with-
out bemg 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 re-
ward 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 so to manage manures with regard to their fer-
mentation, the time and manner of application, mixing
with other substances, &c., as to enable the crops to
seize every enriching result as soon as tt is produced,

and to posipone as long as possible the final results of : Laue,
decomposition—which ought to be the ends sought in| fest to the eye, the animal matter, which is thus h

every application of putrescent manure.

Hence, silicious earth can have no pow- | earth also exerte some chemical power in attract |

?

But as this means of retaining | degree as I think it deserves.

ing and combining with 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 close- |
ness also acts to deny admittance beneath the sur- |
face 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 |
matters. If then it is considered how small is the

power of silicious and aluminous earihs to receive’
and retain putrescent manures, it will cease to
cause surprise that such soils cannot be thus en-

riched, with profit, if at all. |

Davy states that both aluminous and cal-.
careous earth will combine with any vegetable ex-
tract, so as to render it less soluble, and consequent-
ly not subject tothe waste that would otherwise |
take place, and hence “that the soils which con- |
‘tain most alumina and carbonate of lime, are’
“those which act with the greatest chemical en- |
“ ergy in preserving manures.” Here is high au--
thority for calcareous earth possessing the power ¢
which my subject requires, but not inso great ai
Davy apparently |!
places both earths in this respect on the same foot-- h
ing, and allows to aluminous soils retentive powers }{P
equal to the calcareous. But though he gives ev-/!
idence (from chemical experiments) of this pow-;
er in both earths, he does not seem to have inves- 4
tigated the difference of their forces. Nor could}
he deem it very important, holding the opinion)
which he elsewhere expresses, that calcareous;}®
earih acts ‘merely by forming a usetul earthy in--
gredient in the soil,” and consequently attributing"
to it no remarkable chemical eflects as a manure. |
I shall offer some reasons for believing that the}!
powers of attracting and retaining manure, pos-
sessed by these two earths, differ greatly in force.

Our aluminous and calcareous soils, through the:
whole of their virgin state, have had equal means:
of receiving vegetable matter; aud if’ their powers+|!
for retaining it were nearly equal, so would be/!
their acquired fertility. Instead of this, while the |
calcareous soils have heen raised to the highest!
condition, many of the tracts of clay soil remain |f
the poorest and most worthless. It is true that)
one labored under acidity, from which the otheri™
was free. But if we suppose nine-tenths of the|li
vegetable matter to have been rendered useless by\™
that poisonous quality, the remaining tenth, ap-M!
plied for so long a time, would have made fertile, la
any soil that had the power to retain the enrich-
ing matter.

Many kinds of shells are partly composed of ge-'
latinous animal matter, which I suppose, must ber
chemically combined with the calcareous earth,
and by that means only is preserved from the pu-
trefaction and waste that would otherwise certainly;
and speedily take place. Indeed, the large propor-
tion of animal matter which thus helps to consti-
tute shells, instead of making them more perisha- il
ble, serves to increase their firmness and solidity, }th
When long exposure, as in fossil shells, has de-
stroyed all animal matter, the texture of the cal-'
careous substance is greatly weakened. A simple:
experiment will serve to separate and make mant-:

‘an
af

}
th

combined with and preserved by the calcareous

FART I—loawOnyY.

31

earth. Ta fresh water muscle shell is kept for
some days immersed in a weak mixture of muri-
atic acid and water, all the calcareous part will be
pradually 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 calca-
reous. matter being left. Yet this substance which
is so hiehly 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 se-
sured from such changes, would be almost impe-
rishable.

Caleareous 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 ex-
ample is furnished by an experiment which was
made with care and attention. The carcass of a
sow that was killed by accident in May, was laid
gn the surface of the earth, and covered with
about seventy bushels of finely divided fossil shells
and earih, (mosily silicious,) their propositions

being as thirty-six of calcareous, to sixty-four of

silicious earth. Afier the rains had settled the
neap, 1t was only six inches thick over the highest
part of the carcass. The process of putreiaction
was so slow, that several weeks passed before it
was over; nor was it ever so violent as to throw off
uny effluvia thatthe calcareous earth did not inter-
‘ept in its escape, so that no offensive smell was
aver 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 ap-
lied at the same rateon the surrounding land.
No such power as this experiment indicated (and
which I have repeated in various modes, and al-
ways with like results,) will be expected from
lay.

Quicklime is used to prevent the escape of of-
ensive effluvia from animal matter; but its opera-
ion is entirely diiferent from that of calcareous
sarth. The former effects its object by ‘‘eating”’
yw decomposing the animal substance, (and nearly
lestroying it as manure,) before putrefaction be-
ins. The operation of calcareous earth is to
noderate and retard, but not to prevent putrefac-
ion—not to destroy the animal matter, but to pre-
serve it effectually, by forming new combinations
with the products of putrefaction. This impor-
ant operation will be treated of more fully ina
subsequent chapter.

The power of calcareous earth to combine with
ind retain putrescent manure, implies the power
of fixing them in any soil to which both are ap-

lied. The same power will be equally exerted if

he putrescent manure is applied to a soil which
iad previously been made caleareous, whether by
aature, or by art. When a chemical combination
s formed between the two kinds of manure, the
yne is necessarily as much fixed in the soil as the
yther. Neither air, sun or rain, can then waste
the putrescent manure, because neither can take it
rom the calcareous earth, with which it is chemi-
tally 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 preserving putrescent manwres from
waste, and yielding them freely for use. These
particular benefits, however great they may be

cannot be seen very quickly afer asoil 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
manure, does not alter the process described. The
natural erowth of the soil, left to die and rot, or
other puirescent 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, gives nothing to the soil—but
only secures the other manures, and gives them
wholly to the soil. In this respect, the action of
caleareous earth on soils, is precisely like that of
mordants in “setting” or fixing colors. When
alum, lor example, is used by the dyer for this pur-
pose, it adds not the slightest tinge of itself{—but
it holds to the cloth, and also to the otherwise fleet-
ing dye, and thus fixes them permanently together.
Without the mordant, the color might have been
equaily vivid, but would be lost by the first wet-
ting of the cloth. :

‘The next most valuable property of ealcareous
manures for the improvement of soil, is their pow-
er of neutralizing acids, which has already been
incidentally brought forward in the preceding chap-
ter. According to the views already presented,
our poorest cultivated soils contain more vegetable

matter than they can beneficially use—and when
first cleared, have it in great excess. So antisep-
ticis the acid quality of poor woodland, that before
the crop of leaves of one year can entirely rot, two
or three others will have fallen—and there are al-
ways enough, at any one time, to greatly enrich
the soil, if the leaves could be rotted and fixed in
it, at once.* ‘The presence of acid, 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
the poisonous acid, with their nutriment. A suf-
ficient quantity of caleareous earth mixed with
such a soil, will immediately neutralize the acid,
and destroy its powers: the soil, released from its
baneful influence, will be rendered canable, for the
first time, of exerting the fertility which it really

*The antiseptic effect of vegetable acid in our soils
receives some support from the facts established with
regard to peat soils, in which vegetable acids have
been discovered by chemical analysis: and though the
peat or moss soils of Britain differ entirely from any soils
in this country, 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 vegeta-
ble matter remain without putrefaction in peat soils
and bogs, and serve to increase their depth by regular
accessions 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. [Aiton’s Essay on Moss Earth.} It is well
known that the leaves of trees rot very quickly on the
rich limestone soils of the western states, while the
successive crops of several years’ growth may be al-
ways found on our acid woodland, in the different

| Stages of their slow decomposition.

32

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

||

possessed. The benefit thus produced is almost
immediate: but though the soil will show a new
vigor in its earliest vegetation, and may even dou-
ble its first crop, yet no part of that increased pro-
duct is due tothe direct operation of the calcareous
manure, but merely to the removal of’ acidity.
The calcareous earth, insuch 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 thie
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 furnishes 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 power of al-
tering the texture and absorbency of soils.

At first it may seem impossible that the same
manure could produce such opposite effects on
soils, as tolessen the faults of being either too san-
dy, or too clayey—and the evils occasioned by
both the want, and the excess of moisture. Con-
tradictory as this may appear, it is stnctly true as
to calcareous earth. In common with clay, cal-
careous earth possesses the power of making san-
dy soils more close and firm—and in common with
sand, the power of making clay soils lighter.
When sand and clay thus alter the textures of'soils,
their operation is altogether mechanical; but calca-
reous éarth must have some cliemical action also,
in producing such effects, as its power is far great-
er than that of either sand or clay. A very great
quantity cf clay would be required to stiffen a
sandy soil perceptibly, and still more sand would
be necessary to make aclay soil much lighter—so
that the cost of such improvement would generally
exceed the benefit obtained. Greater effects on
the texture of soils are derived from less quantities
of calcareous earth, besidesobtaining the more valu-
able operation of its other powers.

Every substance that is open enough for air to
enter, and the particles of which are not absolute-
ly impenetrable, must absorb moisture from the
atmosphere. Aluminous earth reduced to an
impalpable powder, has strong absorbing powers.
But this is not the form in which such soils can
act—and aclose and solid clay will scarcely admit
the passage of air or water, and therefore can-
not absorb much moisture except by its surface.
Through sandy soils, the air passes freely; but
most of its particles are impenetrable by moisture,
and therefore these soils are also extremely defi-
cient in absorbent power. Calcareous earth, by
rendering clay more open to the entrance of air,
and closing partially the too open pores of sandy
soils, increases the absorbent 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 resist more strongly the
waste by evaporation, of light rains. A calca-

reous soil will so quickly absorb a hasty shower of

rain, as to appear to have received less than ad-
joining land of different character: and yet if ob-
servedin summer when under tillage, some days
after a rain, and when other adjacent land appears

reous manures may be observed within afew years |
after their appiication—though none of them so),
strongly marked, as they are on lands made cal- |}
careous by nature, 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 encugh, and the
most sandy, firm enough, to be considered soils |
of good texture: and they resist the extremes of
both wet and dry seasons, better than any other
soils whatever. Time, and the increase of vege-
table matter, will bring those qualities to the same’
perfection, in soils made calcareous by artificial
means.

The subsequent gradual accumulation of vege-
table matter in soils to which calcareous manures’;
have been applied, must also aid the improvement:
of their texture and absorbing power. The vege- ff
table matter also darkens the color ofthe soil, which \j
makes it warmer by more freely absorbing the
rays of the sun. ie

Additional and practical proofs of all the powers
of calcareous earth will be furnished, when its use »i
and effects as manure will be stated. I flatter
myself however, that enough has already been ik
said both to establish, and account for, the difler--)

cent manures. HH the power of fixing manures
in soils, has been correctly ascribed to calcareous ¥
earth, that alone 1s enough to show that soils con-i
taining that ingredient in sufficient quantity, mustili
become rich—and that aluminous and silicious:ill
earths mixed in any proportions, can never forms

other than a steril soil.

careous earth (as before defined) as a manure;
and not of pure lime, nor of manures in general. ii
Still the nature of that which is properly my sub--tit
ject, is so intimately connected with some other

kinds of’ manures, and is so liable to be confound--i

quent references to both elasses have been, ands
will be again necessary. To make such refer-
ences more plain and useful, some general remarks
and opinions will now be submitted as to the pe-4
culiar modes of the operation of various manures,,
and particularly of lime-

Until now, I have been careful to say but little
of pure lime, tor fear of my meaning being mis-.
taken, from the usual practice of confounding it)
with calcareous earth—or of considering its first!
and later operations, as belonging to one and the
same manure. ‘The connexion between the ma-
nures is so intimate, yet their actions so distinct,
that 1t is necessary to mark the points of re-.
semblance as well as those of difference.

My own use of lime as a manure has not ex-
tended beyond a few acres; and F 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 ity
and in accordance with his opinions [ 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, limestone, or chalk, and:
the remamder is pure or caustic lime. In this:
state is has a powerful decomposing power on all!

PART I—THEORY.

33

SS A a |

itrescent animal and vegetable matters, which
exerts on every such substance in the soils to
hich it is applied as manure. If the lime thus
ets with solid and inert vegetable matters, it
astens their decomposition, renders them soluble,
ad brings them into use and action as manure.
ut such vegetable and animal matters as were
ready decomposed, and fit to support growing
lants, are injured by the addition of lime—as the
1emical action which takes place between these
odies, forms different compounds which are al-
rays less valuable than the putrid or soluble mat-
rs were, before being acted on by the lime.
Aer. Chem. Lecture 7.|

This theory of Davy’s, will direct us to expect
rofit from liming all soils containing much unrot-
.d and inert vegetable matter, as our acid wood-
ind when first cleared, and perhaps worn fields,
overed with broom grass—and to avoid the ap-
lication of lime, or (what is the same thing,) to
estroy previously its caustic quality by exposure
) the air, on all good soils containing soluble ve-
etable or animal matters, and on all poor soils
eficient in inert, as well as active nourishment
yr plants. ‘The warmth of our climate so much
ids the fermentation of all putrescent matters in
ails, that it can seldom be required to hasten it by
rtificial means: to check its rapidity is much more
ecessary, to avoid the waste of manures in our
ands. But in England, and still more in Scotland,
ae case is very different. There, the coldness
nd moisture of the climate greatly retard the fer-
1entation of the vegetable matter that falls on the
und—so much so, that in certain situations the
10st favorable to such results, the vegetable cover
; increased by the deposite of every successive
ear, and forms those vegetable soils, which are
alled moor, peat, and bog lands. Vegetable mat-
2r abounds in these soils, sometimes it even forms
ae greater bulk for many feet in depth—but it is
iert, insoluble, and useless, and the soil is unable
9 bring any usetul crop, though contaming vege-
able matter in such excess. Many millions of
cres in Britain, are of the different grades of peat
oils, of which not an acre exists in the eastern
ialf of Virginia. Upon this ground of the differ-
nce of climate, and its effects on fermentation, I
educe the opinicn that lime 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 of the
great improvements which have been made on
some farms by applying lime—because 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 powerlully attracts thescarbonic acid,of which
it was deprived by heat, and that acid is univer-
sally diffused through the atmesphere (though in
a very small proportion, ) andis produced by every
decomposing putrescent substance. Consequently
caustic lime 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 pro-
bably completely carbonated, before its causticity
can act on the soil. Inno case can lime, applied
properly as manure, long remain caustic in the
soil. ‘Thus most applications of lime are simply
applications of calcareous earth, but acting with
oreater power at first, in proportion to its quantity,
because more finely divided, and more equally
distributed.

By adopting the views which have been pre-
sented of the action of calcareous earth, and of
lime, as manures, and those which are generally
received as to the mode of operation of other ma-
nures, the following table has been constructed,
which may be found’ useful, though necessarily
imperfect, and in part founded only on conjecture.
The various particular kinds of manures are ar-
ranged 1n the supposed order of their power, under
the several heads or characters to which they be-
long; and when one manure possesses several dif-
ferent modes of action, the comparative force of
each is represented by the letters annexed—the
letter a designating its strongest or most valuable
agency, 6 the next strongest, and so on.

Substances which form manures are either

De ea

Alimentary, or serving as food
for plants—as

Solvent of alimentary ma-
nures—as

Mordants—serving to fix
other manures in soils—as

Neutralizing acids—as

Mechanical, or improving by
altering the texture of soil—as

Stemulating—as

Specific, or furnishing ingre-
dients necessary for particular
plants—as

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

CLASSIFICATION OF MANURES, g .

)
|
|
|
:
|

Feathers, hair, woollen rags, i

Pounded bones, (6) |

alt putrescent animal and vegetable substances, as |)
ung, |

Stable and farmyard manures, (@)

Straw, (¢@)

Green crops ploughed in. (@)

Quicklime, (a)

Potash and soap lie? (a}

Ashes not drawn? (d)

Paring and burning the surface of the soii. (@}

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

Limestcne gravel, (@)

Wood ashes, (0)

Fossil shells, (@)

Marl (a caleareous clay,) (a)
Old mortar.

All calcareous manures, (6)
Quicklime, (b)

Potash and soap lie, (6)
Wood ashes. (c)

All calcareous manures, (c}

Marl, (6)

Clay,

Sand,

Fermenting vegetable manures, (6)
Green manures, (d)

Unfermented litter. (6)

Nitre?
Common salt?

Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, (for clover, }
Phosphate of lime, (for wheat) in

Bones, (a) and

Drawn ashes, (@)

Salt?

PART [J—Practice.

a

CHAPTER IX.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MARL AND LIME.
EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES ON
ACID SANDY SOILS, NEWLY CLEARED.

Proposition 5. Calcareous manures will give
to our worst soils a power of retaining putres-
cent manures, equal io that of the best—and will
cause more productiveness, and yield more profit,
than any other improvement practicable in Lower
Virgina.

The theory of the constitution of fertile and
yarren soils, has now been regularly discussed: it
‘emains io show its practical application, in the
ise of calcareous earth as amanure. If the opin-
ons which have been maintained are unsound,
fhe attempt to reduce them to practice will surely
2xpose their futility: and if they pass through that
rial, agreeing with, and confirmed by facts, their
ruth and value must stand unquestioned. The
selief in the most important of these opinions,
‘the incapacity of poor soils for improvement, and
ts cause;) directed the commencement of my use
of calcareous manures; and the manner of my
ractice has also been directed entirely by the
views which have been exhibited. Yet in every
espect the results of practice have sustained the
heory of the action of caleareous manures—unless
here be found an exception in the damage which
1as been caused by applying too heavy dressings
o weak lands.

My use of'calcareous earth as manure, has been
almost entirely confined to that form of it which
s so abundant in the neighborhood of our tide-
waters—the beds of fossil shells, together with the
2arth 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
90wder. The earih which fills their vacancies,
2nd serves to make the whole a compact mass, in
most cases is principally silicious sand, and con-
ains no putrescent or valuable matter, other than
he calcareous. The same effects might be ex-
ected from calcareous earth in any other form,
whether chalk, limestone gravel, wood ashes, or
ime—though the two last have other qualities be-
sides the calcareous. During the short time that
ime can remain quick or caustic, after being ap-
qlied as manure, it exerts (as before stated) a
solvent power, sometimes beneficial and at others
aurtful, which has no connexion with its subse-
juent and permanent action as calcareous earth.

These natural deposites of fossil shells are com-
monly, but very improperly, 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 toa different manure, many

persons 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 opera-
tions called by the same name, can well differ
more. The process which it is my object to re-
commend, is simply the application of calcareous
earth in any form whatever, to soils wanting that
ingredient, and generally quite destitute of it: and
the propriety of the application depends entirely
on our knowing that the manure contains cal-
careous earth, and what proportion, and that the
soil contains none. In England, the most scien-
iific 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 of calcareous matter. Indeed, in most
cases, they seem unconscious of the presence, as
well as of the importance of that ingredient, by
not alluding to it when attempting most carefully
to point out the characters by which marl may be
known. Stillless do they inquire into the deficiency
of caleareous earth in soils proposed to be marled
—but apply any earths which either science or
ignorance may have called marl, to any soils within
a convenient distance—and rely upon the subse-
quent effects to direct. whether the operation shall
be continued or abandoned. Authors of the high-
est character, (as Sinclair and Young, for exam-
ple,) when telling of the practical use, and valua-
ble effects of marl, omit giving the strength of the
manure, and generally even its nature—and in no
instance 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 judgement 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 [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 know-
ledge to be gathered from all this mass of written
instruction on marling, will be far less abundant,
than the inevitable errors and mistakes. The re-
commendations of marl by English authors, in-
duced me very early to look to what was here
called by the came name, as a means for improve-
ment: but their descriptions of the manure con-
vinced me that our marl was nothing like theirs,
and thus actually deterred me from using it, until
other views instructed me that its value did not
depend on its having “a soapy feel,” or on any
mixture of clay whatever. [Appendix. G.]
Nevertheless, much valuable information may
be obtained from these same works, on calcareous
manure, or on mazrl, (in the sense it is used among
us)—but under a different head, viz. lime. This

36

manure is generally treated of with as little clear-
ness or correctness, as is done with marl: but the
reader at least cannot be mistaken in this, that the
ultimate effect of every application of lime, must
be to make the soil more calcareous—and to that
cause solely are to be imputed all the long-continu-
ed beneficial consequences, and great profits, which
have been derived from liming. But excepting
this one point, in which we cannot be misled by
ignorance, or want of precision, the mass of writ-
ings on lime, as well as on caleareous manures in

eneral, willneed much sifting to yield instruction.

he opinions published on the operation of lime,
are SO many, so various, and contradictory, that it
seems as if each author had hazarded a guess,
and added it to a compilation of those of all who
had preceded him. Fora reader of these publica-
tions to be able to reject all that is erroneous in
reasoning, and in statemente of facts—or inappli-
cable, on account of difference of soil, or other
circumstances—and thus obtain only what is true,
and valuable—it would be necessary for him first
to understand the subject better than most of those
whose opinions he wasstudying. It was not pos-
sible for them to be correct, when treating (as most
do) of lime as one kind of manure, and every dif-
ferent form of the carbonate of lime, as so many
others. Only one distinction of this kind (as to
operation and effects) should be made, and never
lost sight of—and that is one of substance, still
more than of name. Pure or quicklime, and car-
bonate of lime, are manures entirely different in
their powers and effects. But it should be remem-
bered that the substance that was pure lime when
just burned, often becomes carbonate of lime before
it is used, (by absorbing carbonic acid from the at-
mosphere, )—still more frequently before a crop is
planted—and probably always, before the first crop
ripens. Thus, it should be 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 carih: that lime, which at different
periods, is two distinct kinds of manure, is con- |

sidered in agricultural treatises as only one: and to
calcareous earth are given as many diflerent
names, all considered to have different values and
effects, as there are different forms and mixtures
of the substance presented by nature.

But 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 word marl
to mean beds of fossil shells, notwithstanding my
Se against the propriety of its being so ap-
plied.

The following experiments are reported, either
on account of having been accurately made, and
carefully observed, or as presenting such results as
have been generally obtained on similar soils, from
applications of fossil shells to nearly six hundred
acres of Coggin’s Point Farm. It has been my
habit to make written memoranda of such things;
and the material circumstances of these experi-
ments were put in writing at the time they oc-
curred, or not long after. Some of the experi-
ments were, from their commencement, desiened
to be permanent, and their results to be measured
as long as circumstances might permit. These
were made with the utmost care. But generally,
when precise amounts are not stated, the experi-
ments were less carefully made, and their results

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

SS eeeEeEoEoE>Da>ananBhA9B9aDapDapana)an)aEaEaeaBhanBamaaBaBapaBEyEoEoooaaaoySESaEaEaEEEEEEEEEEEE—SESESESSS——E——ESSSEESESaSaSESL—SEaaaaaaaSaSSSSSSSSSSEEESESEESSS SS es

reported by guess. - Every measurement stated
of land, or of crop, was made in my presences
The average strength of the manure was ascer
tained by asuflicient number of analyses—and thy
quantity applied was known by measuring some o
the loads, and having them dropped at certair
distances. At the risk of being tedious, I shall
state every circumstance supposed to affect thi
results of the experiments—and the manner o
description, and of reference, necessary to use, wil};
require a degree of attention that few readers may}
be disposed to give, to enable them to derive thi,
full benefit of these details. But however disa\}j
greeable it may be to give to them the necessary\y
attention, I will presume to say that these experijg
ments deserve it. They will present practicay,
proofs of what otherwise would be but uncertain]
theory—and give to this essay its principal clai
to be considered useful and valuable. |
When these operations were commenced, jy
knew of no other experiments having been madi
with fossil shells, except two, which had been triec
long before, and were considered as proving thoy
manure too worthless to be resorted to again.’ }
Inexperience, and the total want of any practica:};
guide, caused my applications, for the first few
years, to be frequently injudicions, particularly as
to the quantitiés laid on. For this reason, these
experiments show what was actually done, anc
the effects thence derived, and not what bette
information would have directed, as the most pro:
fitable course.
The measurements of corn that will be reportee
were all made at the time and place of gathering:

* The earliest of these old experiments was made ai
Spring Garden in Surry, about 1775. The extent marl
ed 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 inconsideraa
ble to induce a repetition of the experiment. . The
system of cultivation was as exhausting as was usuai
during 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 ima
provement or exhaustion on the marled piece: but there
is no doubt but 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 product was not much increased it
favorable seasons; but when the other land sufferec¢
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
permanency of the effects produced.

The other old experiment referred to, was made af,
Aberdeen, Prince George county, in 1803, by Mr
Thomas Cocke. Three small spots (neither exceeding
thirty yards square,) of poor land, kept before ano
since generally under exhausting culture, were coveri
ed with this manure. He found a very inconsiderablé
early improvement, which he thought altogether an
inadequate reward for the labor of applying the marl
The experiment being deemed of no value, was bul
little noticed until the commencement of my use of the
same manure. On examination, the improvement ap.
peared to have increased greatly on two of the pieces;
but the third was evidently the worse for the applica-!
tion. Fora number of years after making this ex-
periment, Mr. Cocke considered it as giving full proot
of the worthlessness of the manure. But more correct
views of its mode of operation have since induced him!
to recommence its use, and no one has met with more’
success, or produced more valuable improvements,

PART I—PRACTICE.

37

“he measure used for all except very small quan-
ties, was a barrel holding five bushels when filled

»vel, and which being filled twice with ears of

orn, well shaken to settle them, and heaped, was
stimated to make five bushels of grain—and the
roducts will be reported in grain, according to
nis estimate. This mode of measurement will
est serve for comparing results—but in most cases
-is far from giving correctly the actual quantity
f dry and sound grain, for the following reasons.
“he common large soft grained white corn was
he kind cultivated, and which was always cut
own for sowing wheat before the best matured
vas dry enough to grind, or even to put up in cribs;
nd when the ears from the poorest land were in
state to lose considerably more by shrinking.
‘et, for fear of some mistake occurring if measure-
ents were delayed until the crop was gathered,
1ese experiments were measured when the land
ras ploughed for wheat in Qctober. The subse-
uent loss from shrinking would of course be great-
st on the corn from the poorest and most back-
yard land, as there, most defective and unripe ears
rould always be found. Besides, every ear, how-
ver imperfect or rotten, was included in the mea-

surement. For these several reasons, the actual
increase of product on the marled land was always
greater than will appear from the comparison of
quantities measured: and from the statements of
ali such early measurements, there ought to be
allowed a deduction, varying from ten per cent.
on the best and most forward corn, to thirty per
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
measurements that will be reported. Some careful
trials of the amount of shrinkage in particular
experiments will be hereafter stated.

No grazing has been permitted on any land
from which experiments will be reported, unless it
is specially stated.

As most of the experiments on new land were
made on a single piece of twenty-six acres a ge-
neral 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 lying between
James River and the nearest stream running into
Powell’s Creek, The surface is nearly level. The

oil in its natural state very similar throughout, but

2e part next to the line B C somewhat more sandy, |evidently much better—supposed difference, forty

ad more productive in corn, than the part next
9 A D—and in like manner, it is lighter along A
, than nearer to D f. The whole soil, a gray
licious acid loam, not more than two inches deep
t first, resting on a yellowish sandy subsoil from
ne to two feet deep, when it changes to clay.
Vatural growth mostly pine—next in quantity,
aks of ditlerent kinds——a little of dogwood and chin-
uepin—whortleberry bushes throughout in plenty.
he quality of the soil is better than the average
f ridge lands in general.

Experiment 1.

Results. 1818. The corn on the marled land,
per cent. :
1819. In wheat. The difference as great, per-

haps 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 by the spring, stood much thinner,
from the greater number of plants having been
killed. The line of separation very perceptible
through both crops.
1820. At rest. During the summer marled
all B C gh, 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

The part B C gh, about eleven acres, grubbed|bushels, counting both dressings. The shells now
nd cut down in the winter of 1814-15—suffered|generally coarse—average strength of the marl,
0 lie three years with most of the wood and brush} ;, of caleareous earth. In the winter afier,
mit. February 1818, my earliest application of|ploughed three inches deep as nearly as could be,
parl was made on B C m 1, about 24 acres. Marl,}which made the whole new surface yellow, by
33. of calcareous earth, and the balance silicious| bringing barren subsoil to the top.
and, except a very small proportion of clay: the] Results continued. 1821. Incorn. The whole
helly matter finely divided. Quantity of marl to}a remarkable growth for such a soil. The oldest
he acre, one hundred and twenty-five to two hun-|(and heaviest) marled piece better than the other,
lred heaped bushels. The whole BC gh coul-|but not enough so to show the dividing line. The
ered, and planted in its first crop of corn.

38

average product of the whole supposed to have
been fully twenty-five bushels 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
of the clover, but left it much the thickest on the
oldest marled piece, so as again to show the di-
viding line, and to yield in 1823, two middling
crops to the scythe—the first that | had known ob-
tained from any acid soil, without high improve-
ment from putrescent manures.

1823. At rest—nothing taken off, except the
clover on B C ml.

1824. In corn—product seemed as before, and
its rate may be inferred from the actual measure-
ments on other parts, which will be stated in the
next experiment, the whole being now cleared,
and brought under like cultivation.

Experiment 2.

The part e f n o, 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
followed by wheat in 1819. ‘This gave two years
of rest before the crop of 182l—and five years
rest out of six, since the piece had been cut down.
As before stated, the soil rather lighter on the side
next to oe, than n ff.

March, 1821. A measured acre near the mid-
dle, covered with six hundred bushels of calea-
reous sand (,%.,,) the upper layer of another body
of fossil shells.

Results. 1821. In corn. October—the four
adjoining quarter acres, marked 1, 2, 3, 4, extend-
ing nearly across the piece, two of them within,
and two without the marled part, measured as
follows:

Not marled, No. 1, 6} average to the acre
Do. No. 4, 54 22% bushels of grain.
V > 1
Matied, Ne: 2 8 ‘ average 331 bushels.
. . 5 g

The remainder of this piece was marled before
sowing wheat in 1821.

1823. At rest.

1824. In corn—disiance 5} by 33 feet, making
2436 stalks to the acre. October lith, measured
iwo quarter acres very nearly coinciding with Nos.
2 and 3 in the last measurement.
made

No 2. 7 bushels 34pecks,

or per acre, - - 31.1

No 3. 8 bushels, - - 32

Average in 182], - - - 33.1]

Experiment 3.

The part e f g 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
matrled at six hundred bushels (,8.) and the dress-
ing limited by a straight line. Distance of corn
55 by 34 feet—2262 stalks to the acre.

Results.*_ 1821.
dividing line, a piece of twenty-eight by twenty-
one corn hil's measured as follows:

They now |

yer 1;
average 31.23

October—on each side of the |

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

| 250 bushels

No. 1. 588 stalks, not marled, 2 bush-
els, equal to 7% the acr
No. 2. 588 stalks, marled, 44 163 1
1822. In wheat, the remainder having beer}
previously marled. 1
1823. Atrest. During the following winter i
was covered with a second dressing of marl aij,
;°,) making 850 bushels to the aer
altogether. }
1824. Incorn. Two quarter acres, chosen @
nearly as possible on the same spaces that were
measured In 1821, produced as follows: |
No. 1. 8 bushels, 2 pecks, or to the acre, 34 ff
The same in 1821, before marling, 7.34

pe
Ly
mn
(0

No. 2. 7 bushels, 24 pecks, or to the acre, 30.2.
The same in 1821, after marling, 16.1

1825. The whole twenty-six acres, including}
the subjects of all these experiments and observa:
tions, were in wheat. The first marled piece ir
Exp. 1, was decidedly the best—and_ a gradua}
decline was to be seen to the latest. I have ne:
ver measured the product of wheat from any exx),
periment, on account of the great trouble and diffi:
culty that would be encountered. Even if the
wheat from small measured spaces could be reap»)
ed and secured separately, during the heavy laaj
bors of harvest, it would be scarcely possible aft,
terwards to carry the different parcels through al},
the operations necessary to show exactly the clean
grain derived from each. But without any sepayy
rate measurement, all my observations convince}
me, that the increase of wheat from marling, is at},
least equal to that of corn, during the first few),
years, and is certainly greater afterwards, in com},
parison to its product before using marl.

It was from the heaviest marled part of Exp. Ij,
that soil was analysed to find how much calcaaj,
reous earth remained in 1826, (page 26.) e

Before},
that time the marl and soil had been well mixeé,
by ploughing to the depth of five inches. One of
the specimens of this soil then examined, consist+}:
ed of the following parts—the surface, and conse
quently the undecomposed weeds upon it, being)
excluded. ;
1000 grains of soil yielded

769 grains of silicious sand moderately fine, |

15 finer sand,
784 ii
8 calcareous earth, from the manure!
applied, uy
180 finely divided clay, vegetable mat+ f
ter, &c. ih;
28 lost in the process. fs

1000

=

This part, it has been already stated; was _ori-
ginally lighter than the general texture of the
land.

1h
Hi!
; ‘qt
The four acres marked A D n 0 were cleared ini
the wmter 1823-4. The lines p q and rs dividegy
the piece nearly into quarters. The end nearest}
A p ois lighter, and: best for corn, and was still}
better for the first crop, owing to nearly that hak}

Experiment 4.

' having been accidentally burnt over. After twice h

PART I—PRACTICE.

39

_——oaeaeaeaeaeas=«=«=«=«=$=qsqououqquqqqqqqeee 0000S

oultering, marl and putrescent manures were ap-
lied as follows; and the products measured, Oc-
aber 11th, the same year.

'sq not marled nor manured—produced on a
uarter acre (No. 4.) of’ soft and badly filled corn,
j Bush. P.

} bushels, or per acre - - 12.
qrand rp, marled at 800 bushels (,5%

ry three measurements of different pieces—

Quarter acre (No. 1.) 5 bushels, very near- =a

"ly, or - - . - - - 19.34

ighth (No. 2.) 2.34 ? average 22.2

Zighth (No. 3.) 3.149 24.13 27.

s ¢ manured at 900 to 1100 bushels to the

icre, of which,

Quarter acre (No. 5.) with rotted corn
stalks, from a winter cow-pen, gave 5.2} 22.2

fighth (No. 6.) with stable manure,
| 4.13
fiehth (No. 7.) covered with the

same heavy dressings of stable manure,

and of marl also, gave 4.2

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

The distance was 54 by 31 feet. Two of the
juarter acres were measured by a surveyor’s
hain (as were four other of the experiments of
824,) and found to vary so little from the distance
ounted by corn rows, that the difference was not
vorth notice.

1825. In wheat: the different marked pieces
eemed to yield in comparison to each other, pro-
ortions not perceptibly different from those of
he preceding crop—but the best not equal to any
f the land marled before 1822, as stated in the
st, 2nd, and 3rd experiments.

1827. Wheat on avery rough and imperfect
ummer fallow. This was too exhausting a
ourse (being three grain crops in the four shift
otation, —but was considered necessary to check
he growth of bushes that had sprung from the

roots still living. The crop was small, as might
have been expected from its preparation. %

1828. Corn—in rows five feet apart, and about
three feet of distance along the rows, the seed be-
ing 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 case, bore no sorrel. October 15th, wather-
ed and measured the corn from the following
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 subséquent courses of tillage,
will be presented below, in a tabular form, for the
purpose of being more easily compared.

On the wheat succeeding this crop, clover seed
was sowed, but very thinly, and irregularly. On
the parts not marled, only a few yards width re-
ceived seed, which the next year showed the ex-
pected result of scarcely any living clover. 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 was caused to the marled half
qp on, by the too great quantity applied. A con-
siderable 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. On the lightly
marled piece w p, and where the heaviest marling
was accompanied by stable manure, there has ap-
peared no sign of injury. The products were as
follows:

PRODUCTS OF GRAIN PER ACRE.

fARK. DESCRIPTION. Ist course. | 2nd course. | 3rd course.
. 1824 1828 1832
October 11. | October 15. | October 26.

Bush. Pecks.|Bush. Pecks.|Bush. Pecks.

q Not marled or manured,_— - - - - - - | 12 21 1 17 34

yr 1 |Marled at 800 bushels, . - - - - - 19 3k 28 14 28

p 2 |The same, - - - - - . - - | 22 2

p 3 |The same, - - - - - - . - | 27 a 04 aM dete

t 5 |Cow-pen manure, 900 to 1100 bushels, - - - 22 2 25 2 Better than sq

t 6 |Stable manure, 900 to 1100 bushels, - - - - 35 2 29 28 1

»t 7 | Marl and stable manure, both as above, - - - 36 33 2 37 34
Less than r 5

p Marled at 450 bushels, - . - - ; p (800) : eauel tor p | 81 3

An accidental omission prevented the measurement of s 7’5, in 1832.

This experiment has been made with much {creased the expense uselessly, but has served to
‘ouble, and every care bestowed to insure accu-|prevent the increase of product that would other-
acy. Still several causes have operated to affect|wise have taken place. This loss is proved by the
he correctness of the results, and to prevent the |gradual increase, and at last the greater product
omparative products showing the true rate of|of wp marled at only 450 bushels.
nprovement either from marl, or the putrescent} 2nd. The comparative superiority of all the
manure. These causes will be briefly stated. marled ground to sg not marled, is lessened by
Ast. The quantity of marl (800 bushels) on q r|this circumstance: most of’ the large logs, as well
nd r p is nearly double the amount that ought to/as all the small branches, were burnt upon the
ave been used: and this error has not only in-|land, when it was cleared in 1824, before the ex-

40 ON CALCAREO

US MANURES:

ns}

periment was commenced; and the ashes have
durably improved a spot where each of these
large fires were made on s q, but have done no
good, and perhaps have been injurious, to the
marled pieces that were made sufficiently calca-
reous without the addition of ashes. At least, the
good effect of ashes is very evident on s q, and
has helped somewhat to increase all its measured
products, and no such benefit has been visible on
the marled parts.

8rd. The quantity of putrescent manure applied
tos t (900 to 1100 bushels) was much too. great
both for experiment and profit: and the quantity,
together with the imperfectly rotted state of the
stable manure, has given more durability to the
effect, than is to be expected froma more judicious
and economical rate of manuring.

For these several reasons, it is evident that far
more satisfactory results than even these, would
have been obtained if only half as much of either
marl or manure had been applied.

There are other circumstances to be considered,
which if not attended to, will cause the compara- |

‘

tive increase or decrease of product in this experi|,

ment to be misunderstood. It is well known tha},
poor land put under tillage immediately after being!"
cleared, as this was in 1824, will not yield near as a
much as on the next succeeding course of crops:
This increase, which depends merely on the ef'|
fects of time, operates independently of all otheif
means for improvement that the land may possess}
and its rate, in this experiment, may be fairly es:f
timated by the increase on the piece s g from 1822
to 1828. The increase here, where time only
acted, was from 12 to 214 bushels: but as the corr
gathered here was always much the most imper
tectly ripened, and would therefore lose the mosi}
by shrinking, I will suppose eight bushels to bef
the rate of increase from time, and that so much,
of the product of all the pieces should be attributec
to that cause. Then to estimate alone the in
creased or diminished effects of marl, or manure
on the other pieces, eight bushels should be de: ‘
ducted from all the different applications, the esti
mate will stand thus: t

(
i

ol

)

1824 1828 DEDUCT FOR|INCREASE.|DECREASE. hy

TIME. I,

Serre RTS cL ii e a Dr nat as CY b|
B. P. BoP B. Bo wP 9B. ee, r'

gr 1 19 33 28 15 8 0 2 From 800 bushels of marl. |
39 «

a 2 bog 13| 31 8 1 14 800 bushels of marl. '
si 5 |22 2 25 8 ene 5 2 |—— 1000 bushels of cow-pen manure.i}i
si 6 |35 2 29 8 —- | 14 2 \|—— 1000 bushels of stable manure. ||
f

Even the piece covered with both marl and sta-
ble manure, (wt) shows according to this esti-
mate a diminished effect equal to 103 bushels;
which was owing to the marl not being able to
combine with, and fix so great a quantity of ma-
nure, in addition to the vegetable matter left by its
natural growth of wood. ‘The piece w p marled
at 450 bushels alone, has shown a steady in-
crease of product at each return of tillage, and
thereby has given evidence of its being the only
improvement made in such manner as both judge-
ment and economy would have directed.

CHAPTER X.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURE ON ACID
CLAY SOILS, RECENTLY CLEARED.

The two next experiments were made on ano-|
ther field of thirty acres of very uniform quality,
marled and cleared in 1826, and the succeeding

ears. ‘The soil is very stiff, close, and intracta-
le under cultivation—seems to contain scarcely
any sand—but in fact, about one-half of it
is composed of silicious sand, which 1s so
fine, when separated, as to feel like flour. Only
a small proportion of the sand is coarser than this
state of impalpable powder. Aluminous earth of

rently composed of the like parts of clay and fine}
sand. ‘This is decidedly the most worthless kina}!
of soil, in its natural state, that our district fur
nishes. It is better for wheat than for corn, though
its product is contemptible in every thing: it is dif,
ficult to be made wet, or dry—and therefore suf.
fers more than other soils from both dry and we:
seasons, but especially from the former. It is al
most always either too wet or too dry for plough
ing—and sometimes it will pass through both
states, in two or three clear and warm days. I§
broken up early in winter, the soil, instead of be:

ing pulverized by frost, like most clay lands, runs

together again by freezing and thawing—and byg
March, will have a sleek (though not a veryf
even) crust upon the surface, quite too hard t¢
plant on before a second ploughing. The natura
growth is principally white and red oaks, a smalleiy

|proportion of pine, and whortleberry bushel!
throughout.

Experiment 5. 1

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) to the acre. Paths for the
carts were opened through the trees, and the mar}
dropped and spread in January, 1826: the lanc)
cleared the following winter. Most of the wooo

a dirty fawn color forms nearly all of its remaining |
ingredients. Before being cleared, the soil is not.
an inch deep, and all below for some feet is appa-|

was carried off for fuel—the remaining logs ane!
brush burnt on the ground, as usual, at such dis)
tances as were convenient to the laborers. Thi

|

PART II—PRACTICE.

——

4}

wt was perhaps the poorer, because wood had
eviously been cut here for fuel; though only a
w trees had been taken, here and there, without
1y thing like clearing the land.

Results. 1827, Planted in corn the whole re-
nt clearing of fifteen acres—all marled, except
e spot left out for experiment: broken up late
id badly, and worse tilled, as the land was gene-
lly too hard, until the season was too far ad-
anced to save the crop. The whole product so
mall, that it was useless to attempt to measure
e products. The difference would have been
ily between a few imperfect ears on the marled
‘ound, and still less—indeed almost nothing—on
at not marled.

1828. Again in corn: as well broken and cul-
vated as usual for such land. October 18th—cut
wh four rows of corn running through the land
9t marled, and eight others, alongside on the
arled—all fifty feet in length. The rows had
2en laid off for five and a half feet—but were
und to vary a few inches—for which the proper
lowance was made, by calculation. The spaces
‘ken for measurement were caused to be so small,
y apart of the corn having been inadvertently
it down and shocked, just before. "The ears were
ielled when gathered; and the products, mea-
ired in a vessel which held (by trial) 4, of a
ishel, were as follows:

On land not marled

rows, average 5 feet, and 50 in length, (500
square feet) S - 134 measures,
‘to the acre, - - 74 bushels.
On adjoining marled land

rows, average 5 feet 1} inches by 50 feet — 512
square feet, - - 253 measures,
‘to the acre, - . 135 bushels.
next rows, 5 feet 43 inches by 50 = 537 square
feet, - - - 274 measures,
‘to the acre, - - 14 bushels.

1829. In wheat.

1830. At rest—the weeds, a scanty cover.
1831. In corn. October 20th—measured by
.e chain equal spaces, and gathered and measured
eir products. The corn not marled was so im-
irfectly filled, that it was necessary to shellit, for
irly measuring the quantity. The marled par-
is, being of good ears generally, were measured

i; usual, by allowing two heaped measures of

ws, for one of grain.

On Jand not marled

's square yards made - 3 gallons,
tothe acre, - - - 5 bushels.

On marled land close adjoining on one side,

id square yards made rather more than 6 gal-
lons—to the acre, - - 10 bushels.
i3 square yards on another side, made not quite
8 gallons, or to the acre, - 12 bushels.

The piece not marled coincided with that mea-
(red in 1828, as nearly as their difference of size
id shape permitted—as did the last named mar!-
piece, with the two of 1828. The last crop
S$ greatly injured by the wettest summer that I
ve ever known, which has caused the decrease
, product exhibited in this experiment—which
ll be best seen in this form:

| a

Q.

Product of grain to the acre.

1828. 1831.
October 18. | October 20.
Bush. Prets. Bush. Heckal
Not marled, = c= wml) 1 5 0
Marled, (averaged,)} 13 3 11 0
Experiment 6.
e | D |
| |
Steg A E
=
|
Seri B |

The remainder of the thirty acres, was grubbed
during the winter 1826-7—marled the next sum-
mer at five hundred to six hundred bushels the
acre: marl 4"... 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, ex-
cept on the sides D and B, which were partly
sloping, but not otherwise different. The soil suit-
ed to the general description given before—no
natural difference known or suspected, between
the land on which Exp. 5 was made, and this, ex-
cept that the latter had not been robbed of any wood
for fuel, before clearing. ‘The large trees (all
more than ten inches through,) were belted, and
the smaller cut down in the begmning of 1828,
and all the land west of the line e f was planted
incorn. As usual, the tillage bad, and the crop
very small. The balance lying east of ef, was
coultered once, but as more labor could not be
spared, nothing more was done with it until
the latter part- of the winter 1829, when it was
broken by two-horse ploughs, oats sowed and
covered by trowel ploughs—then clover sowed,
and a wooden-tooth harrow passed over to cover
the seed, and to smooth down, in some measure,
the masses of roots and clods.

Results. 1829. The oats produced badly—but
yielded more for the labor required, than corn
would have done. The young clover on the marl-
ed land was remarkably good, anc covered the
surface completely. In the unmarled part, A, only
two casts through had been sown, for comparison,
as [ knew it would be a waste of seed. This
looked as badly as had been expected.

1830. The crop of clover would have been con-

42

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

sidered excellent for good land, and most extraor-
dinary for so poor a soil as this. The strips sow-
ed througly A, had but little left alive, and that
scarcely of a size to be observed, except one or
two small tufis, 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. ~

1831. 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. No measurement was
made on the side B, because a large oak, which
belting had not killed, aflected its product consid-
erably. Another accidental circumstance preven-
ted my being able to know the produet of the side
C, which however was evidently and greatly in-
ferior to all the marled land on which oats and clo-
ver had been raised. This side had been in
corn, followed by wheat, and then under its spon-
taneous 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 gath-

ermg and storing the crop, for more than fifteen
days—and therefore these measurements may be
considered as showing the amount of dry and firm
grain, without any deduction being required for
shrinkage.

Bushels. Pecks.

A (Half acre) made 7} bushels of

ears, or of grain to the acre, =< 1
D (Half acre) 163 - - 16 3
E (Quarter acre) = I1 =, = 1g

The sloping surface of the side E, prevented
water from lying on it, and therefore it sutlered
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.

1832. ‘The field in wheat.

1833. In clover, which was grazed, though
not closely, after it had reached its full growth.

1834. Corn, a year earlier than would have
been permitted by the four-shilt rotation. The
tillage was insufficient, and made siill worse by
the commencement of severe drought before the
last ploughing was completed, which was thereby
rendered very laborious, and imperfect withal.
The drought continued through all August, and
greatly injured the whole crop of corn.

Results continued. October 22d. Marked off
by a chain half an acre within the space A (8 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 pro-

ducts carefully measured, (in the ears) yielded as
follows:

Buhe.
A, not marled, yielded 6 04 of grain, to the acre.
D marled, . «......... 19 33
Be a0 2s). sdaksaees 20 1
cdo! eUentetee Ee
B do. Bake teeaesae 20 1%

In comparing these produets with those of thy
same land in 1831, stated above, it should be ‘re
membered that the eorn formerly measured wail
dry, while that of the last measurement had ye}!
to lose greatly by shrinking. As after early ga
thering, the corn from the poorest land of cours:
will lose most by drying, and as the ears on 4 |
were generally very defective and badly filled, i)!
the measurement had been made in the sound and
well dried grain of each parcel, the product of AiR
could not have exceeded one-fourth of that of thilff!
surrounding mariled land.

But though these differences of product presenifit
the improvement caused by marling in a striking
point of view, this close and stubborn soil at best
is very unfit for the corn crep—and its highest vail
lue is found under clover, and in wheat on clover}
of which some proofs will be found in the next ex
periment.

Experiment 7. fi

Another piece of land of twenty-five acres, oifl
soil and qualities similar to the last described (Expyfl
5 and 6,) was cleared in 1818, and about six aererf
marled in 1819, at about three hundred and fiftyl
bushels. ‘The course. of cultivation was as fobili
lows. :

1820—Corn—benefit from marl very unequai
—supposed to vary between twenty-five and eigh#
ty per cent.

1821. Wheat—the benefit derived greater. |

1822. Atrest. f

1823. Ploughed early for corn, but not planted! fl
The whole marled atthe rate of six hundred bush.
els (42,,)again ploughed in August, and sowed inf!
wheat in October. The old marled space, more!
lightly covered, so as to make the whole nearly,
equal.

M824. The wheat much improved.

1825 and 1826—at rest.

1827. Corn.

1828. In wheat, and sowed in clover.

1829—The crop of clover was heavier than any
I had-ever seen in thus part of the country, excep)
on rich natural soil, where gypsum was used, ano}y
acted well. The growth was thick, but unequai
in height, (owing probably to unequal spreading)h
of the marl,)—it stood from fifteen to twenty-fou)
inches high. The first growth was mowed fo
hay, and the second left to improve the land.

1830. The clover not mowed. Fallowed in|
August, and sowed wheat in October, after a sei
cond ploughing. 1.

1831. The wheat was excellent—almost heavy}!
enough to be in danger of lodging. I supposet/;
the product to be certainly twenty bushels—per}
haps twenty-five, to the acre. hi

As it had not been designed to make any exper
iment on this land, the progress of improvemen'|’
was not observed with much care. But whateve'!
were the intermediate. steps, it is certain that thi|
land, at first, was as poor as that forming the sub)
jects of the two preceding experiments in thi
unimproved state, (the measured products ¢,
which have been given)—and that its last cro}!
was three or four times as great as could have beei|
obtained, if marl had not been applied. The pe}
culiar fitness of this kind of soil for clover afte
marling, will require further remarks, and will b
again referred to hereafter.

PART IT—PRACTICE.

43

CHAPTER XI.

fe EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES, ON
ACID SOILS REDUCED BY CULTIVATION.

. Preposrrion 5. Continued.

My use of fossil shells has been more extensive
1 impoverished acid soils, than on all other kinds,
id has never failed to produce striking improve-
ent. Yetit has unfortunately happened, that
e tyyo experiments made on such land with most

re, and on which I relied mainly for evidence of

e durable and increasing benefit from this ma-
ire, have had their effects almost destroyed, by
e applications having been made too heavy.
hese experiments, like the 4th, and 6th, al-
ady reported, were designed to remain without
iy subsequent alteration,so that the measure-
ent of their products once in every succeeding
tation, might exhibit the progress of improve-
ent under all the different circumstances. As
» danger was then feared from such a cause,
arl was applied heavily, that no future addition
ight be required: and for this reason, I have to
port my greatest disappointments exactly in
jose cases where the most evident success and
creasing benefits had been expected. However,
ese failures will be stated as fully as the most
iccessful results—and they may at least serve to
arn from the danger, if not to show the greatest
ofits of marling.

It should be observed that the general rotation
“crops pursued on the farm, on all land not re-
ntly cleared, was that of four shifts, (corn, wheat,
id then theland two years at restand not grazed, )
ough some exceptions to this course will be re-
arked in some of the experiments.

Experiment 8.

Of apoor silicious acid loam, seven acres were
arled at the rate of only ninety bushels (,3%) to
1e acre: laid on and spread early in 1819.

Resulis. 1819. In corn—the benefit too small
be generally perceptible, but could be plainly
stinguished along part of the outline, by com-
aring with the part not marled.

1820. Wheat—something better—and the ef-
ct continued to be visible on the weeds following,
ati! the whole was more heavily marled in 1823.

Experiment 9,

Inthe same field, on soil as poor and more
undy than the last described, four acres were
arled at one hundred and eighty bushels (,3,4,)
larch 1819. A part of the same was also cover-
| heavily with rotted barn-yard manure, which
so extended through similar land not marled.
his furnished for observation, land marled only—
anuréd only—marled and manured—and some
ithout either. The whole space, and more ad-
ining, had been manured five or six years before
y summer cow-pens, and stable litter—of which
) appearance remained after two years.

Results. 1819. In corn. The improvement
om marl very evident—but not to be distinguish-
1 on the part covered also by manure, the effect
‘the latter so far exceeding that of the marl,

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

1823. In corn—5} by 34 feet—The followmg
easurements were made on adjoining “spaces on

October 10th. The shape of the ground did not

admit of larger pieces, equal in all respects, being

measured, as no comparison of products had been

contemplated at first, otherwise than by the eye.
Bush. Qts.

From the part not marled—
414 corn-hilis made 75 quarts--or per acre, 13. 26
Marled only—

414 100 18 12
Manured only—

490 105 1 5
Marled and ma-
nured—

490 130 20 20

The erowth on the part both marled and ma-
nured was evidently inferior to that of 1819: this
was to be expected, as this 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,

Experiment 10.

Twenty acres of sandy loam, on a sandy sub-
soil, covered in 1819 with marl of about 53; aver-
age proportion of calcareous earth, and the ba-
lance silicious sand—at eight hundred bushels to
the acre. Thisland had been long cleared, and
much exhausted by cultivation: since 1813 net
erazed, and had been in corn only once in four
years, and as it was not worth sowing in wheat,
had three years in each rotation to rest and im-
prove by receiving all its scanty growth of weeds.
The same course has been continued since 1819,
except that wheat has regularly followed the crops
of corn, leaving two years of rest, in four. This
soil was lighter than the subject of any preceding
experiment, except the ninth, On a high level
part, surrounded by land apparently equal, a
square of about an acre (A) was staked off, and
left without marl—which that year’s work brought
to two sides of the square (C and D.)

a ;
pe
ae / Nagas pias 1
2 |
B E

|

Results. 1820. In corn: October 13th, three
half acres of marled land were measured, and as
many on that not marled, and close adjoining, and

produced as follows:—

44

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

Not marled,

Bush. Pecks.

Marled.
Bush. Pecks.

Halfacrein A, 7 1 adjoininginC, 12 38
The sancin Ale OP... , 13 33
Fialfacre in B, "7° 2800 v.02. BE, 15 0%

The average increase being 123 bushels of grain
to the acre: nearly 100 per cent. as measured, and
more than 100, if the defective filling, and less
matured state of the corn not marled, be consider-
ed. The whole would have lost more by shrink-
age 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 ap-
pearance promised additional increase to the next
cultivated crop. Nov. 1823, when the next plough-
ing was commenced, the soil was found to he evi-
dently deeper, of a darker color, and firmer, yet
more friable. The two-horse ploughs with diffi-
culty (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 im-
mediate change was seen, and even felt by the
ploughman, as the cutting was so much more
easy, that care was necessary to prevent 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 how-
ever was not the case, ‘The marling of the field
was completed, at the same rate, (eight hundred
bushela,) which closed a third side (B) of the

The fourth side was my neighijjl
bor’s field. 5 jot
1824. In corn. The newly marled part showec}
as early and as great benefit as was found in 182Ujy
—but was very inferior to the old, until the lattejj|
was ten or twelve inches high, when it began te}td
give evidence of the fatal effects of using this man
nure too heavily. ‘The disease thus produced bei
came worse and worse, until many of the plant
had been killed, and still more were so stunted, aijh
to leave no hope of their being otherwise than
barren. The effects will be known from the mea |
surements, which were made nearly on the same
ground as the corresponding marks in 1820, ane ;
will be exhibited in the table, together with thi
products of the succeeding rotations.—Besides thi}
general injury suffered here in 1824, there were),
one hundred and three corn hills in one of thaj,
measured quarter acres (inC) or more than one},
sixth, entirely barren, and eighty-nine corn hills it}.
another quarter acre (D.) In counting these}
none of the missing hills were included, as thes¢
nlants might have perished from other causes}
This unlooked for disaster diminished the pre:
vious increase gained by marling, by nearly onet¢
half; and the damage has since een still meatal
at each successive return of cultivation. 4
Just before planting the crops of 1832, straw),
and chaff very imperfectly rotted by exposure, ana}.
which contained no admixture of animal manures
were applied at the rate of 800 bushels the acre t¢),
half the square without marl (A 1) and to all thet,
surrounding marled land. The vegetabie manure}
showed but slight benefit, until after all the wors4
effects of excessive marling had been produced'}"
and the later operation of the manure served bare:
ly to prevent a still farther diminution being exhi|
bited by the land injured by marl. |

marked square.

rol

0

| PRODUCT IN SHELLED CORN, PER ACRE.

ba pa eas eee 2 UY ay aS fo SE ee
& DESCRIPTION. Ist course 2Qnd course 3d course 4th course
= 1820 1824 1828 1832
Oct. W132: Oct. 16. Oct. 13. Oct. 19.
‘« - a Bush. pecks. | Bush. pecks. | Bush. pecks. | Bush. pecks.
Not marlec 14 16 1 11 32 9 3
All| After manuring, : 16 3
B Not marled until 1823, 15 1 28 19 2 {not measured.!
in I=
S Marled in 1819—manured with = 31 ee 2 ne ~ a
chaff &c. in 1832, =2 2
EK 30 1 not measured. | not measured.|not measured.)

The crops of wheat were less injured than the
corn.

For the crops of 1828, ploughed with three
mules to each plough, from six to seven inches
deep—seldom turning up any subsoil (which was
formerly within three inches of the surface,) and
the soil appearing still darker and richer than when
preparing for the crops of 1824. The ploughing
of the square not marled (A) no where exceeded
six inches: yet that depth must have injured the
land, as [can impute to no other cause the re-
markable diminution of product, through four
courses of the mild four-shift rotation. It was
evident that a still greater depth of furrow was not
hurtful to 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 plough-

i
ing was the best. Another was trench-plougheeyh
twelve inches deep, without showing any percepti-)
ble difference either of product, or in the eflects ol
damage from the excess of marl.

This square left without marl is the land formers,
ly referred to (page 13) as showing a diminished!
product through three successive courses of the!
rotation recommended by the author of @rator as
enriching. Since, another crop has been madeég
and measured, and found to be still smaller than)
any previous. ‘To whatever cause this continued}
falling off for 16 years may be attributed, it is at}
least a remarkable contradiction to the power ol
vegetable matter alone making poor land rich. __

Much trouble has been encountered in attend-)
ing to thisexperiment, and much loss of produet
submitted to, since its commencement, for the pur-|
pose of knowing the progress and extent of the

mit

il caused by the excess of marl. But another
irtion of the field, marled as heavily in 1824, and
ere equal damage was expected to ensue, has
en entirely relieved by intermitting the corn crop
1828, sowing clover, which (by using gypsum)
oduced well, and which was left to full and rot
theland, The next growth of corn (1832) was
“he from disease, and though irregular, seemed to
‘llFe eye to amount to full twenty-five bushels to the

Experiment 11.

‘The ground on which this experiment was
ade, was in the midst of nineteen or twenty
Eres of soil apparently similar in all respects—
vel, gray sandy loam, cleared about thirty years
fore, and reduced as low by cultivation as such
il could wellbe. The land that was marled and
easured was about two hundred yards distant
om Experiment 2, and both places are supposed
| have been originally similar in all respects.
Jbis land had not been cultivated since 1815, when
J was in corn—but had been once ploughed since,
J Nov. 1817, which had prevented broom grass
ym taking possession. The ploughing then was
ur inches deep, and in five and a half feet beds,
srecommended in rator. The growth in the
sar 1820, presented but little except poverty grass,
ganing blackberry, and sorrel—and the land
femed very little if at all improved by its five suc-
bssive years of rest, A small part of this land
Pas covered with calcareous sand Tan quantity
ot observed particularly, but probably about six
jundred bushels.

C
1 Ji
Dns ee YASS dace foes | eae x
2 2
B

Resulis. 1821—Ploughed level, and planted in
orn—distance 54 by 3} feet. The measurement
f spaces nearly adjoining, made in October, was
s follows:

3 by 25 corn hills, not marled, (A)

made 2! bushels, or per very
| acre, - - - 83 nearly
3 by 25 cornhills, marled, (B) 53 221 |

1822. At rest. Marled the whole, except a
aarked square of fifty yards, containing the space
aeasured the preceding year. Marl 42, and fine-
y divided—three hundred and fifty bushels to the
cre—from the same bed as that used for Experi-
zent 4. In August, ploughed the land, and sow-
d wheat early in October.

1823. Much injury sustained by the wheat from

PART TI—PRACTICE.

45

cent. better than the last, and theflast superior to
the included square not marled, in as great a pro-
portion.

1824, Again in corn. The effects of disease
from marling were as injurious here, both on the
new and old part, as those described in Experiment
10. No measurement of products made, owing
to my absence when the corn was cut down forsow-
ing 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 po-
verty.

1826. White clover had been sown thickly over
forty-five acres, including this part, on the wheat,
in January 1825. In the spring of’ 1826, it form-
eda beautiful green though low cover to even the
poorest of the marled land. Marked spots, which
were so diseased by over-marling, as not to pro-
duce a grain of corn or wheat, produced clover at
least as good as other places not injured by that
cause. ‘The square, which had been sowed in the
same manner, and on which the plants came up
well, had none remaining by April 1826, except
on afew 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 con‘rast with the surrounding dark weeds
in winter, or the verdant turf of white clover the
spring before.

1827. Still at rest.
white clover.

1828. In corn—the land broken in January, five
inches deep. October 14th made the following
measurements.

In the square not marled 105 by 104} feet (thir-
ty-six square yards more than a quarter of an

No grazing allowed on the

fessian fly, and the growth was not only mean,
ut very irregular—but it was supposed that the
rst marled place was from fifty to one hundred per

acre,) made one barrel of ears—or of grain, ta
the acre,
Bush. pecks.

2 13
The same in 1821, 8 1k
Gain, 1 01

Bush. pecks.
Old marling—105 by 104} feet—21

barrels, 22 2
The same in 1821, 22 Os
Gain, 13

New marling, 105 by 1044 feet, on the side that
seemed to be the most diseased, (D) 14 barrels—
or nearly twelve bushels to the acre.

1832. Again in corn. Since 1826, the four-shift
rotation had been regularly adhered to. Plough-
ed eariy in winter five inches deep, and again with
two-horse ploughs just before planting, and after
manuring the land above the dotted line D z.
The manure was from the stable yard, the vegeta-
ble part of it composed of straw, corn-stalks,
corn-cobs, and leaves raked from woodland—had
been heaped in a wet state ashort time before, and
was still hot from its fermentation when carrying
to the field. It was then about half rotted. "The

46

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

rate at which it was applied was about 807 heaped
bushels to the acre, which was much too heavy
for profit. ‘The corn on the oldest marling (B)

disease began also to show early—but were sj
soon checked by the operation of the putrescen)
manure, that very little (if any) loss could ha

showed scarcely a trace of remaining damage,|been sustained from that cause. The followin
while that on D2was again much injured. On|table exhibits all the measured products for cong)
the manured part of D, and C, the symptoms of| parison. 4
: 0
ne
PRODUCT IN GRAIN PER ACRE. i
)
MARK. DESCRIPTION. Ist course 2nd course 3d course ,; 4th course \'
1821 1824 1828 1832 ‘hi
Oct.— Oct. 14. Oct. 20. ke
oy (a aa Se = ‘pn
Bush. pecks.| None measured,|Bush. pecks.|Bush. pecks. |}
A Not marled, 8 14 |but the product of| 9 13 S 2k i
Al ——_——_—Manured in 1832, B much reduced| the same 23 3 |
C Marled in 1822 and manured by excess of marl, 31 1} ;
in 1832, ind D and C equal- ‘a
B Marled in 1821, 22 04 |-yinjured from the| 22 2 25 vie
D Marled in 1822, same cause. 12 V7 3 ip
Dik ; The same—& manured in 1832} the same 34 3 ‘inl
Hh ‘
The products of the spaces A and B, in 1828,| Results. 1824. In corn, the second rotation afteyfl
were not only estimated as usual from the mea-|marling. The effects of the dung has not muck

surement of the corn in ears, (which estimated|diminished, and that part shows no damage fro

quantities are those in the table,) but they were
also shelled on the day when gathered, and the
grain then measured, and again some months after,
when it had become thoroughly dry. Care was
taken that there should be no waste of the corn,
or other cause of inaccuracy. ‘The result shows
nearly double the loss from shrinking in the corn
not marled, and of course a proportional gain in
that marled, besides the increase which appears
from the early 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, and lost by shrinking 30 per cent.
The marled grain, from B, measured at first above
four per cent. more than the estimate—and after
shrinking, fell below it so much as to show the loss
to be 16 per cent. ,

The loss from shrinking in this case was more
than usual, from the poverty and consequent back-
wardness of the part not marled, and the uncom-
monly large proportion of replanted corn on the
whole.

The two last experiments, as well as the 4th,
were especially designed to test the amount of in-
creased 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 ex-
periments have proved failures—and from the
same error of marling too heavily. Although for
this reason, the results have shown so much of
the injurious effects, still, taken altogether, the ex-
periments prove clearly, not only the great imme-
diate benefit of applying marl, but also its con-
tinued and increasing good eflects, when applied
in proper quantities.

Experiment 12.

On nine acres of sandy loam, marled in 1819 at
four hundred bushels (#3,) nearly an acre was

vt

a

the quantity of marl, though the surrounding corni|
marled only half as thickly, gave signs of generahi
though very slight injury from that cause, |
i
Experiment 13. D
“ {lo

‘|

Nearly two acres of loamy sand, was eke
with farm-yard manure, and marl (45,) at th
same time, in the spring of 1822, and tended inj
corn the same year, followed by wheat. Them
quantity of marl not remembered—but it must)
have been heavy (say not less than six hundredy
bushels to the acre) as it was put on to fix and rea}
tain the manure, and I had then no fear of day
mage from heavy dressings. : i

Result. 1825. Again in corn—and except on aij
small spot of sand almost pure, no signs of diseasi
from over-marling. h

ii
i

|

CHAPTER XII.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES ON “FREE
LIGHT LAND.” i

Experiment 14.

4
The soil known in this part of the country by.)
the name of ‘free light land” has so peculiar ai}
character, that it deserves a particular notice. It}
belongs to the slopes and waving lands, between)
the ridges and the water courses, but has nothing:
of the durability which slopes of medium fertility)}
sometimes possess. Inits woodland state it would |
be called rich, and may remain productive for a |,
few crops after clearing—but it is rapidly exhaust-_
ed, and when poor, seems as unimprovable by))
vegetable manures as the poorest ridge lands. Inj)

its virgin state, thissoil might be supposed to de-

i

manured during the same summer, by penning|serve the name of neutral—but its productive(!
cattle: with the expectation of preserving the ma- power Ig so fleeting, and acid growths and qualities |

nure, double the quantit
bushels in all, was laid on that part.
in corn in 1820—in wheat, 1821—and at rest 1822
and 1823.

y of marl, eight hundred|so surely follow its exhaustion, that it must be in-
The field|ferred thatit is truly an acid soil.

The subject of this experiment presents soil of
this kind with its peculiar characters unusually |

|

PART II—PRACTICE.

47

|
‘ll marked. It is a loamy sandy soil (the sand
se) on a similar subsoil of considerable depth.
e surface wavine—almost hilly in some parts.
e original growth principally red oak, hickory,
d dogwood—not many pines, and very little
nortleberry. Cut down in 1816 and put in corn
B next year. The crop was supposed to be
enty-five bushels to the acre. Wheat succeed-
and was still a better crop for so sandy a soil—
aking twelve to fifteen bushels, as it appeared
inding. After a year of rest, and not grazed,
2 next corn crop of 1820, was evidently consi-
(rably inferior tothe first—and the wheat of 1821,
rhich however was a very bad crop from too wet
season) could not have been more than five
shels tothe acre. In January 1820, a piece of
acres was limed, at one hundred bushels the
re. The lime being caught by rain before it was
read, formed small lumps of mortar on the land,
d produced no benefit on the corn of that year,
it could be seen slightly in the wheat of 1821.
eland again at rest in 1822 and 23, when it
is marled, at six hundred bushels, (27) without
itting the limed piece—and all sowedin wheat
atfall. In 1824, the wheat was found to be im-
oved by the marl, but neither that, nor the next
1828, was equal to its earliest product of wheat.
he hmed part showed injury from the quantity of
anure in 1824, but none since. The field was
yw under the regular four-shift rotation, and con-
ued to recover—but did not surpass its first crop
atil 1831, when it brought rather more than thir-
‘bushels of corn to the acre—being five or six
ore than its supposed first crop.
| Adjoining this piece, six acres of similar soil
ere grubbed and belted in August 1826—mazrl at
x hundred toseven hundred bushels (+37) spread
st before. But few of the trees died until the
immer of 1827. 1828, planted in corn: the crop
dnot appear heavier than would have been ex-
cted if no marl had been applied—but no part
ad been left without, for comparison. 1829—
‘heat. 1830,at rest. 1831, in corn, and the pro-
uct supposed to be near or quite thirty-five bush-
ls—or an increase of thirty-five or forty per cent.
u the first crop. No measurement was made—
ut the product was estimated by comparison with
n adjacent piece, which measured thirty-one
shels, and which seemed to be inferior to this
iece.
The operation of marl on this kind of soil,
2zems to add to the previous product very slowly,
ompared with other soils—but it is not the less
ffectual and profitable, in fixing and retaining the
egetable matter accumulated by nature, which
therwise would be quickly dissipated by cultiva-
ion, and lost forever.
The remarkable open texture of the soil on
vhich.the last two experiments were tried will be
»vident from the following statement of the quan-
ity and coarseness of the silicious sand contained.

(000 grains of this soil, taken in 1826 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.

-158—finely divided earthy matter, &c.

_ 31—loss.

I

1000

At the same time, from the edge of the adjoin-
ing woodland which formed the next described
clearing, 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 con-
sist of the following proportions. 'This spot was
believed to be rather lighter than the other in its
natural state. i

865 grains of silicious sand, principally coarse—
107—-finely divided earthy matter, &c.

28—loss,

1000

CHAPTER XIE.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES
HAUSTED ACID SOILS, UNDER
COND GROWTH OF TREES.

ON EX-
THEIR Sic-

Proposition 5. Continued.

Not having owned much land under a second
growth of pines, I can only refer to two experi-
ments 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 15.

May 1826. Marled about eight acres of Jand
under its second growth, by opening paths for the
carts, ten yards apart. Marl 54", put five hundred
to six hundred 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 di-
ameter—eighteen inches where standing thin.
The land joined Exp. 14 on one side—but this is
level, and on the other side joins ridge woodland,
which soon becomes like the soil of Exp. 1. ‘This
piece, in its virgin state, was probably of a nature
between those two soils—but more like the ridge
soil, than the “free light land.” No information
has been obtained as to the state of thisland when
its former cultivation was abandoned. The soil,
(that is, the depth which has since been turned by
the plough,) a whitish loamy sand, on a subsoil of
the same: in fact, all was subsoil before ploughing,
except haif'an inch or 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 symptom 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 land, this piece was laid
down in wheat for its first crop, in October 1827.
/For this purpose the few logs, the boughs, and
|grubbed bushes were heaped, but not burnt—the

48

= =

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. |

grain 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.

Resulis. The wheat was thin, but otherwise
looked well while young. ‘The surface was again
soon covered by the leaves dropping from the
now dying trees. On 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 whien ripe, was a surprising growth
for such land, and such tillage.

1829 and 1830. Atrest. 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 destroy- |

ed every where.

1831. In corn. The growth excited the admi-
ration 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 of

grain to the acre.
Experiment 16.

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 aslope, steep enough to lose soil by washing,
and more than one old shallow gulley remained to

confirm the belief of the injury that had been for- |

merly sustained from that cause. These circum-
stances, added to all the surrounding land having
been continued 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 1824-5—many of the
trees furnished fence rails, and fuel—and_ the re-
maining bodies were heaped and burnt some
months after, as well as the large brush. In Au-
gust it was marled, supposed at six hundred bush-
els (77, )—1twice coultered in August and Septem-
ber, and sowed in wheat—the seed covered by trow-
el ploughs. The leaves and much of the smaller
brush left on the ground, made the ploughing trou-
blesome and imperfect. The crop (1826) was re-
markably good—and still better were the crops of
corn and wheat in the ensuing rotation, after two
years of rest. On the last crop of wheat (1830)
clover was sowed—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 are still plainly to be seen, and which no
means had been used to improve, except such as all
the land had received. Within two feet of the sur-
face the subsoil of this land is of clay, which pro-
bably helped its growth of clover.

iin many places, exhibits gypsum in crystals of

CHAPTER XIV.

EFFECTS OF CALCAREOUS MANURES ALON#!
OR WITH GYPSUM, ON NEUTRAL SOILS.

Prorvosirion 5. Continued.

Applications of caleareous earth alone, to cal!
careous soils, are so manifestly useless, that on
two experiments of that kind have been made}
neither of which has had any improving effe¢!
that could be observed, in the twelve years tha!
have since elapsed.

When calcareous manures have been applied ff
neutral soils, whether new or worn, no perceptibh
benefit has been obtained on the earliest crops}
The subsequent improvement has gradually in
creased as would be expected from the power @
fixing manures, attributed to calcareous earth. Bul
| however satisfactory these general results are
|myself; they are not such as could be reported ij
detail, with any advantage to other persons. It
| sufficiently difficult to make fair and accurate exif!
periments, where early and remarkable results ani
expected. But no cultivator of a farm can bestow}
enough care and patieut observation, to obtaiii
true results from experiments that scarcely wil
show their first feeble effects in several years afte
the commencement. On a mere experimentai
farm, such things may be possible—but not wher
the main object of the farmer is profit from hij
general and varied operations. The effects
changes of season, of crops, of the mode of tillagep
—the auxiliary effects of other manures—angl’
many other circumstances, would serve to detea
any observations of the progress of a slow im
provement, though the ultimate result of the gen
eral practice might be abundantly evident.

Another cause of being unable to state with any
precision the practical benefit of marling neutra
soils, arises from the circumstance that nearly al
the calcareous manure thus applied, has been ae
companied by a natural admixture of gypsum: ane
though I feel confident in ascribing some effects té
one, and some to the other of these two kinds o}
manure, yet this division of operation must rest
merely on opinion, and cannot be received as cer-
tain, by any other than him who makes and care-
fully observes the experiments. Some of these,
applications will be described, that other persons}:
may draw their own conclusions from them.

The cause of these manures being applied inj.
conjunction was this. A singular bed of marl ly-
ing under Coggin’s Point, and the only one within,
a convenient distance to most of the neutral soil,
contains a very small proportion (perhaps about):
one per cent.) of gypsum, scattered irregularly)}
through the mass, seldom visible, though some-}
times to be met with in small crystals. “The cal-|
careous ingredient is generally about ?3;—some-)
times $0,. If this manure had been used before;
its gypseous quality was discovered, all its effects)
would have been ascribed to calcareous earth alone,
and the most erroneous opinions might thence:
have been formed of 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:
along the river bank, this bed lies on another earth, |
of peculiar character and appearance, and which, ,

i

PART I1-PRACTICE.

49

Se OS Ee ee eee

rious sizes. This earth has evidently once been
ed of fossil shells, like what still remains above
but nothing now is left of the shells, except nu-
rous impressions of their forms. Not the
allest proportion of calcareous earth can be
ind—and the gypsum into which it must have
2n changed (by meeting with sulphuric acid, or
phuret of iron,) has aiso disappeared in most
ces; and in others, remains only in small quan- |
es—say from the smallest perceptible proportion, |
fifteen or twenty per cent. of the mixed mass.
some rare cases, this @ypseous earth is suffi-
ntly abundant to be used profitably as manure,
has been done, by Mr. ‘Mhomas Cocke of Tar-
y, as well as myself. [tis found in the great-
quantity, and also the richest in gypsum, at
rergreen, two miles below City Point. There
» gypsum frequently forms large crystals of va-
dand beautiiul forms. ‘The distance that this
1 of gypseous earth extends is about seven miles, |
errupted only by some bodies of Jower land,
parently of a more recent formation by alluvion.
1 the bed of gypseous marlabove described, there
regular layers of a calcareous rock, which was
yhard to use profitably for manure, and which
ised the greatest impediment to obtaining the
ter part. This rock contains between eighty-
e and ninety per cent. of pure calcareous earth,
sides a little gypsum andiron. It makes excel-
t lime for cement, mixed with twice its bulk of
id—and has been used for part of the brick-
rk, and all the plastering of my present dwell-
; house, and for several of my neighbors’ houses.
ie whole body of marl also contains a minute
portion of some soluble salts, which possibly
ry have some influence on the operation of the
bstance, as manure, or cement.
Thus, from the examination of a single body of
ul, there have been obtained not only a rich ca!-
reous manure, but also gypsum, and a valuable
ment. Similar formations may perhaps be abun-
nt elsewhere, and their value unsuspected, and
ely toremain useless. This particular body of
ul has no outward appearance of possessing
en its caleareous character. It would be consider-
, on slight observation, as a mass of gritty clay,
no worth whatever. [Appendix H.]
This gypseous marl has been used on fifty-six
res, most of which was neutral soil—and gener-
y, if not universally, with early as well as per-
anent benefits. The following experiments show
sults more striking than have been usually ob-
ned, but all agree in their general character.

Experiment 17.

1819. Across the shelly island numbered 3, in
¢ examinations of soils, (page 19,) but where the
id was less calcareous, a strip of three quarters
an aere was covered with muscle-shell marl.
duching this through its whole length, another
‘ip was covered with gypseous marl, (,%3,) at
e rate of two hundred and fifty bushels.
Results. 1819. In corn. No perceptible effect
mm. the muscle shells. The gypseous marling
nsiderably better than on either side of it,

1829. Wheat—less difference.

1821. Grazed. Natural growth of white clover

The whole field afierwards was put in wheat
on summer fallow every secend year, and grazed
the intervening year—a course very unfavorable
for observing, or permitting to take place, any ef-
fects of gypsum. Nothing more was noted of this
experiment until 1825, 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
the land which was still more calcareous by na-
ture, and which had produced betterin 1820. In
several places, the white clover stood thickly a
foot in heiwht.

Experiment i8.

A strip of a quarter acre passing through rich
black neutral loam, covered with gypseous marl at
two hundred and fifty bushels.

Resulis. 1818. In corn. By July, the marled
part seemed the best by fifty per cent., but after-
wards the other land gained on it, and little or no
difference was apparent, when the crop was ma-
tured.

1819. Wheat—no difference.

1820 and 1821. Atrest. 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.

Experiment 19.

1822. Ona body of neutral soil which had been
reduced quite low, but was well manured in 1819
when last cultivated, gypseous marl was spread on
nine acres, at the rate of three hundred bushels.
This terminated on one side at a strip of muscle-
shell marl ten yards wide—its rate not remem-
bered, but it was certainly thicker in proportion to
the calcareous earth contained, than the other,
which I always avoided laying on heavily, for fear
of causing injury by too much gypsum. The
line of division between the two marls, was
through aclayloam. The subsoil was a retentive
clay, which caused the rain water to keep the land
very wet through the winter, and early part of
spring.

Results. 1822. In corn, followed by wheat in
1823: not particularly noticed—but the benefits
must have been very inconsiderable. All the
muscle-shell marling, and four acres of the eyp-
seous, sowed in red clover, which stood well, but
| yvas 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, ana by
their trampling in its wet state, must have injured
both land and clover. From these disasters the
clover recovered surprisingly; and in 1824, two
mowings were obtained, which though not heavy,
were better than from any of my previous attempts
toraise thiserass. In 1825, the growth was siill bet-
ter, and yielded more to the scythe. ‘Phis was the
first time that [ had seen clover worth mowing on
the third year after sowing—and had never heard

ickly set on the gypseous marling, much thinner
the muscle-shells, and still less of it where no
a had been applied.

7

| of its being comparable to the second year’s growth
/any where in the lower country. The growth on
the muscle-shell marling was very inferior to the

50 -

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

CS SS a

other, and was not mowed at all the last year,
eing thin and low, and almost eaten out by wire
Tras.

1826. In corn—and it was remarkable that the
difference shown the last year was reversed, the
rouscle-shell marling now having much the best
crop.

In these and other applications to neutral soils, I
ascribe the earliest eflects entirely to gypsum, as
well as the peculiar benefit shown to clover,
throughout. The later effects on grain, are due
to the calcareous earth in the manure.

Another opinion was formed from the eflects of
gypseous marl, which may lead to profits much
more important than any to be derived from the
limited use of this, or any similar mineral com-
pound—viz: that gypsum may be profitably used
after calcareous manures, on soils on which tt was
totally inefficient before. Ido not present this as
an established fact, of universal application—for
the results of some of my own experiments are
directly in opposition. But however it may be op-
posed by some facts, the greater weight of evidence
furnished by my experiments and observations,
decidedly supports this opinion. — If correct, its
importance to our low country is inferior only to
the value of calcareous manures—which value,
may be almost doubled, if the land is thereby fit-
ted to receive the wonderful benefits of gypsum and
clover.

It is well known that gypsum has failed entirely
as a manure on nearly all the land on which it has
been tried in the tide-water district—and we may
leara from various publications, that as little @en-
eral success has been met with along the Atlantic
coast, as far northas Long Island. ‘To account for
this general failure of a manure so efficacious else-
where, some one offered a reason, which was re-
ceived without examination, and which is still con-
sidered by many as sufficient, viz, that the influ-
ence of salt vapors destroyed the power of gypsum
on and near the sea coast. But the same general
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 neu-
tral soils of Curle’s Neck, Shirley, Berkley, Bran-
don, and Sandy Point on James River, on all
which gypsum on clover has been extensively and
profitably used. On acid soils, f have never heard
of enough benefit being obtained from gypsum to
induce the cultivater to extend its use further than
making a few small experiments. When any ef-
fect has been producedon an acid soil, (so far as
instructed by my own experience, or the infor-
mation of others, ) it has been caused by applying
to small spaces, comparatively large quantities—
and even then, the effeets were neither considera-
ble, durable nor profitable. Such have been the
results of many small experiments made on my
own acid soils—and very rarely was the least per-
ceptible effect produced. Yet on some of the same
sous, after marling, the most evident benefits have
been obtained from @ypsum on clover. The soils
on which the Ist and 10th experiments were made,
(at some distance {from the measurements, ) had
both been tried with gypsum, and at different
rates of thickness, before marling, without the least
effect. Several years afier both had been marled,
zypseous earth (from the bed describled pp. 48, 49, )
was spread at twenty bushels the acre, (which

gave four bushels of pure gypsum, ) on clover, ani
produced in some parts, a growth I have neve
seen surpassed. It is proper to state that such re
sults have been produced only by heavy dressings’
Mr. ‘Thomas Cocke of 'Tarbay has this last spring
(1831) sowed nearly four tons of Nova Scotij)
gypsum on clover on marled land, a_ continuatioy
of the same ridge that my Ist, 2d, 3d, and 4th ex:
periments were made on,and very similar soil
His dressing, at a bushel tothe acre, before th
summer had passed, produced evident benefit
where it is absolutely certain that none could hav)
been obtained before marling.

On soils naturally calcareous, I have in so
experiments greatly promoted the growth of corr
by gypsum, and have doubled the growth of cla
ver on my best land of that kind. When the map
containing gypsum was applied, benefit from the
ingredient was almost certain to be obtained.

All these facts, if presented alone, would seen
to prove clearly the correctness of the opinior
that the acidity of our soils caused the inefficac:
of gypsum, and that the application of caleareou
earth, which will remove the former, will als:
serve to bring the latter into useful operation
But this most desirable conclusion is opposed b
the results of other experiments, which thoug:
fewer in number, are as strong as any of the fact
that favor that conclusion. If the subject wai
properly investigated, those facts, apparently i
opposition, might be explained so as no longer t.
contradict this opinton—perhaps even help to cop
firm it. Good reasons, deduced from establishe:
chemical truths, may be offered to explain whl
the acidity of our soils should prevent the opere
tion of gypsum: but it may be deemed prematun
to attempt the explanation of any supposed fac
before every doubt of its existence has been fir
removed. ‘This subject well deserves a more fui
investigation from those who can be aided by mop
information, whether practical or scientific. [A]
pendix [.]

One of the circumstances will be mentionee
which appears most strongly opposed to the opin)
ion which has been advanced. On the poor aei’
clay soil, of such peculiar and base qualitiey
which forms the subject of the 5th, 6th, and 71!
experiments, gypsum has been sufficiently triec
and has produced not the least benefit, either be
fore marling, or afterwards. Yet the growth 1
clover on this land after marling, is fully equal |
what might be expected from the best operation)
gypsum. Nowif it could be ascertained that a ver
small proportion of either sulphuric acid, or of tk
sulphate of iron exists in this soil, it would com
pletely explain away this opposing fact, and mak
it the strongest support of my position. The su)
phate of iron has sometimes been found in arab!
soil,* and sulphuric acid has been detected in ce‘
tain clays.t I have seen, on the same farm, .
clay of very similar appearance to this soil, whic
had once contained one of these, substances, ¢
was proved by the formation of crystallized su:
phate of lime, where the clay came in conta
with calcareous earth. The sulphate of lime wé
found in the small fissures of the clay, extendin
sometimes one or two feet distant from the calee
reous earth below, Precisely the same chemici

= ee oe ee

*Ag. Chem. p. 141. +Kirwan on Manures. ~

PART II—PRACTICE.

eeeeaoaoaoooaooooooooaoqQqQq~=$qaooe SSS

51

Whange would take place in a soil containing sul-
‘huric acid, or sulphate of iron, as soon as mar!
vas applied. The sulphuric acid, (whether free
yt combined with iron) would immediately unite
vith the lime presented, and form gypsum, (sul-
ihate of lime.) Proportions of these substances
ijoo small perhaps to be detected by analysis,
vould be sufficient to form three or four bushels of
Wrypsum to the acre—more than enough to pro-
ifluce the greatest effect on clover—and to prevent
finy benefit being derived from a subsequent ap-
lication of eypsum.
Since the publication of the foregoing part of
his chapter, in the first edition, my use of gypsum,
mn land formerly acid, has been more extended,
nd the results have been such as to give addition-
1 confidence in the practice, and, indeed, an as-
murance of good profit, on the average of such ap-
Plications. But still, as before, disappointments
@ither total or nearly so, in the effect of such ap-
olications, have sometimes occurred, and without
Where being any apparent cause to which to at-
§ribute such disappointment in the results.
In 1832, nine acres of the same body of ridge
gand above referred to, adjoining the piece on
#vhich the Ist, 2nd, 3rd and 4th experiments were
#nade, and more lately cleared, were sowed in clo-
wer in the early part of 1831, on wheat. The
Hext spring, French plaster was sowed at the rate
of a bushel to the acre, except on four marked ad-
Joining squares, each about one-third of an acre,
pne of which was left without plaster, and the
thers received it at the several rates of 2, 3, and
bushels to the acre. The whole brought a mid-
dling crop, and was mowed for hay, except the
‘quare left without @ypsum, which did not pro-
luce more than half as much as the adjoining
and where gypsum was applied at one bushel the
ucre. The product. of the other pieces was slight-
iv increased by each addition to the gypsum, but
y no means in proportion to the increased quan-
ity used: nor was the effect of the four bushels
Near equal to that formerly obtained, in several
pases, from 20 bushels of gypseous earth taken
rom the river bank. Hence it seems, that it was
jot merely the unusual quantity of eypsum appli-
td in this earth, which produced such remarkable
benefit; and we must infer that it contains some
other quality or ingredient capable of giving addi-
ional improvement to clover.

CHAPTER XV.

THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY CALCAREOUS MA-
| NURE, AND ITS REMEDIES.

Prorvositrion 5. Continued.

| The injury or disease in grain crops produced
dy marling has so lately been presented to our no-
ice, that the collection and comparison of many
idditional facts will be required before its cause
san be satisfactorily explained. But the facts al-
eady ascertained will show how to avoid the dan-
yer in future, and to find remedies for the evils
uready inflicted by the injudicious use of calca-
‘eous manures.

The earliest effect of this kind observed, was in |

May 1834, on the field containing experiment 10.
The corn on the land marled four years before,
Sprang up and grew with all the vigor and luxu-
riance that was expected from the appearance of
increased fertility exhibited by the soil, as before
described, (page 44.) About the 20th of May
the change commenced, and the worst symptoms
of the disease were seen by the 11th of June.
From having as deep acolor ag young corn shows
on the richest soils, it became of a pale sickly ereen.
The leaves, when closely examined, seemed al-
mosttransparent—afierwards were marked through
their whole length by streaks of rusty red, separated
very regularly by what was then more of yellow
than green—and next they began to shrivel, 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 maintain-
ed the vigorous growth which they began with,
so as by contrast more strongly to mark the gen-
eral loss sustained. The appearance of the field
was such, that a stranger would have supposed
that he saw the crop of a rich soil exposed to the
worst ravages of some destructive kind of insect:
but neither on the roots or stalks of the corn could
any thing be founc to support that opinion. Be-
fore the Ist of August, this gloomy prospect had
improved. Most of the plants seemed to have
been relieved of’ the infliction, and to grow again
with renewed vigor. But before that time, many
were dead, and it was impossible that the others
could so fully recover as to produce any thing ap-
proaching a full crop for the land. It has been
shown in the report of the products of Exp. 10,
what diminution of crop was then sustained—and
that the evil was not abated by the next cultiva-
tion. Still, neither of the diseased measured
pieces has fallen as low as to its product before
marling—nor do } think that such has been the
result on any one acre on my farm, though many
smaller spcts have been rendered incapable of
yielding a grain of corn or wheat.

The injury caused to wheat by mazrling 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 appear as if they were scorch-
ed, 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 as many
grains of wheat. This crop, however, suffers less
than corn on the same land—perhaps because its
growth is nearly completed by the time that the
warm season begins, to which the ill effects of cal-
careous manures seem confined.

When these unpleasant. discoveries were first
made, two hundred and fifty acres had already
been marled so heavily, that the same evil was to
be expected to visit the whole. My labors thus
bestowed for years had been greatly and unneces-
sarily increased—and the excess, worse than being
thrown away, had served to take away that in-
crease of crop, that 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

52 ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

by which to avoid the recurrence of the evil, and
the means to lessen or remove it, where it had
already been inflicted.

Ist. 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 4", of calca-
reous earth.

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

3d. Gnacid soils marled too heavily, the injury
is in proportion to the extent of one or all these
circumstances of the soil—poverty, sandiness, and
severe croppingand grazing, whether previously or
subsequently.

4th. Clover, 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
Exp. 10, and equally over-marled, very heavy red
clover was raised in 1830, by adding gypsum, and
which was succeeded by a good growth of corn,
free from every mark of disease, in 1832.

5th. A good dressing of putrescent manure re-
moves the disease completely, (see page 46.) All
kinds of marl (or fossil shells) have sometimes
been injurious—but such effects have been more
generally experienced from the dry yellow maul,
than from the blue and wet. [t is possible that
some unknown ingredient in the former may add
to its hurtful power.

The inferences to be drawn from these facts are
evident. They direct us to avoid injury, by ap-
plying marl lightly at first, and to be still more cau-
tious according to the existence of the circum-
stances stated as increasing the tendency of mar!
todoharm. Next, if the over-dose has already
been given, to forbid grazing entirely, and to fur-
nish putrescent manure as far as possible—or to
omit one or two grain crops, so as to allow more
vegetable matter to be fixed in the land—to apply
putrescent manures—and to sow clover as soon as
circumstances permite One or more of these reme-
dies have been used on most of my too heavily
marled land—and with considerable, though not al-
ways with entire success, because the means for
the cure could not always be furnished at once in
sufficient abundance. Other persons, who per-
mitted close grazing, and adopted a more scour-
ging rotation of crops, have sutlered more damage,
rom lighter dessings of marl than mine.

But though the unlooked for damage sustained
from this cause produced much loss and disappoint-
ment, and has greatly retarded the progress of my
improvements, it did not stop my marling, nor
abate my estimate of the value of the manure.
If acover of five hundred or six hundred bushe!s
Was so strong as to injure land of certain qualities,
it seemed to be a fair deduction, that the benefit
expected 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 marlings already applied, that the soil was
thereby fitted to seize and retain a greater quan-
tity of vegetable matter, and would thereby ul-
timately reach a higher degree of’ fertility.

| reous manure with the acid of the soil, which not

The cause of this disease is less apparent than
its remedies. It is certain that it is not produced |
merely by the quantity ef calcareous earth in the
soil. ff it were so, similar effects would always
be found on soils containing lar greater proportions
of that earth. Such effects are not known to any 4}
extent, except on soils formerly acid, and madé
calcareous artificially. The small spots of land
that nature has made excessively caleareous and
sandy (as the specimen 4, page 19,) produce a pule
feeble growth of corn, such as might be expected
from a poor gravel—but whether the plants yield
grain, or are barren, they show none of those pecu-
lar and strongly marked symptoms of diseasepf
which have been described.

By caiculation, it appears that the heaviest#
dressing causing injurious consequences, mixed tom
the depth of five inches, has not given to the soil
a proportion of calcareous earth equal to wo per i
cent. ‘Fhis proportion is greatly exceeded in our
best shelly Jand, and no such disease is found theregy!”
even when the rich mould is nearly all washedgf"
away, and the shells mosily leit. Soils of remarkan}!
able fertility from the prairies of Alabama and
Mississippi have been shown (page 22) td
contain irom 8 to 16 per cent. of calcareous earthy
all of which proportions were in the state of most]
minute division, and therefore most ready to pro=
duce this disease, if it could have beea produced

AI

’

|
by the quantity of this ingredient. Very fertile
sols in France and England sometimes contain
twenty or thirty per cent. of calcareous earth 1
Among the soils of remarkable good qualities 4
analyzed by Davy, one is stated to contain about
7°,, and another, which was eighi-ninths of sili-)
cious sand, contained nearly 744, of calcareous i
earth. Nor does he intimate that such proportion
are very rare. Similar results have been stated, J
from analyses reported by Kirwan, Young, Berge!
man, and Rozier, (page 46, ) and from all, the same?
deduction is inevitable, that much larger natura
proportions of calcareous earth, than our disease
lands have received, are very common in France:
and England, without any such effect being pro--
duced. ay
From the numerous facts of which these are ex-
amples, 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 acid soils only—and ™
that this new combination is hurtful to grain under
certain circumstances which we may avoid—and)}"
is highly beneficial to every kind of clover. Per=
haps it is the salé of lime, formed by the calcas}™

Mm
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N
el
alt
f
0
0
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I

yy

meeting with enough vegetable matter to combine
with and fix in the soil, causes by its excess,
these injurious effects.

CHAPTER XVI.

RECAPITULATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CALs |
CAREOUS MANURES, AND DIRECTIONS FOR! ,

THEIR MOST PROFITABLE APPLICATION. a
ny

i
th
i

a}

+

Proposition 5. Continued.

From the foregoing experiments may be gas!

'thered most of the effects, both injurious and }™

neficial, to be expected from calcareous ma-
ies, ou the several kinds of soils here described.
formation obtained irom statements in detail oi
wicultural experiments, is far moresatisiactory io
e@ attentive and laborious inquirer, than a mere
port of the general opinions of the experimenter,
srived from the results. But however preierable
lay be this mode of’ reporting facts, it is necessa-
y deficient in method, clearness, and concise-
pss. It may thereiore be useiul to bring together
e veneral resulis of these experiments in asome-
hat digested form, to serve as rules for practice.
ther eifects of calvareous manures will also be
ated, which are equally established by expe-
nee, but which did not belong to any one accu-
tely observed experiment.

The results that have been reported confirm in
most every particular the chemical powers beiore

eiraction. Ivis admitted that causes and etiects
lere not always proportioned—and that some-
mes trivial apparent contradictions were present-
1. But this is inevitable, even with regard to
e best established doctrines, and the most per-
ct processes in agriculture. There are many
ractices universally admitted to be beneficial—
t there are none, which are not found sometimes
seless, or hurtiul, on account of some other at-
endant circumstance, which was not expected,
md perhaps not discovered.
alcareous earth to soil, is a chemical operation on
great svale: decompositions and new combina-
ons are produced, and in a manner generally con-
brming to the operator’s expectations. But other
nd unknown agents inay sometimes have a share
athe process, and thus cause unlooked for results.
uch differences between practice and theory have
ometimes occurred in my use of calcareous ma-
lures (as may be observed in some of the repori-
id experiments) but they have neither been fie-
uent, uniform, nor important.

Under like circumstances in other respects, thé
enefit derived from marling will be in proportion
> the quantity of vegetable or other putrescent mat-
ergiven to the soil. It is essential that the culti-
vation should be mild, and that no grazing be per-
nitted on poor lands. Wherever farm-yard manure

s used, the land should be marled heavily, and ii’

he marl is applied first so much the better. The
me manure cannot act by fixing the other, except
o far as they are in contact, and both well mixed
vith the soil.

On galled spots, from which all the soil has been
vashed, and where no plant can live, the applica-
ion of marl alone is utterly useless. Putrescent
nanures alone would there have but little effect,
inless in great quantity, and would soon be all
ost. But marl and putrescent matter together
erve to form a new soil, and thus both are brought
nto uselul action: the marl is made active, and
he putrescent manure permanent. ‘The only per-
ect cures that [ have been able to make, at one
peration, of galls produced upon a barren subsoil,
vere by applying a heavy dressing of both calca-
eous and putrescent manures together: and this
nethod may be relied on as certainly effectual.
sut thouzh a fertile soil may thus be created, and
ixed durably on galls otherwise irreclaimable, the
ost will generally exceed the value of the land
ecovered, from the great quantity of putrescent
hatter required. Much of our acid hilly land,

- . PART M—PRACTICE.
a Eee

tributed to calcareous manures, by the theory of
? J B

Every application of

53

has been deprived by washing of a considerable
portion of its natural soil, though not yet made
entirely barren. ‘The ioregoing remarks equally
apply to this kind of land, to the extent that its
soil has been carried off. It will be profitable to
apply mat! to such land—but iis effect will be di-
minished, in proportion to the previous removal of
ithe soil. Calcareous soils are much less apt to
wash than other kinds, trom the difference of tex-
ture. When a field that has been injured by
washing is marled, within a few years alter many
o! the oid gulleys will begin to produce vegetation,
and show a soil gradually forming irom the dead
vegetables brought there by winds and rains, al-
though no meansshould have been used to aid this
operation.

‘The effect of marling will be much lessened by
the soil being kept under exhausting cultivation.
Such were the circumsiances under which we may
suppose that marl was tried and abandoned many
years ago, in the case relerred to in page 37. Pro-
ceeding upon the false supposition that marl was
to enrich by direct action, itis mest probable that
it was applied to some of the poorest and most
exhausted land, for the purpose of giving the ma-
nure a “fair trial.” The disappointment of such
ill-founded expectations, was a suilicient reason
for the experiment not being repeated, or being
scarcely ever reterred to again, except as evidence
of the worthlessness of marl. Yet with proper
views of the action of this manure, this experi-
ment might at first, have as well proved the early
eficacy and value of marl, as it now does its du-
rability.

When acid soils are equally poor, the increase
of the first crop trom marling will be greater on
sandy, than on clay soils; though the latter, by
heavier dressings and longer time, may ultimately
become the best lanc, at least ior wheat and tor
vrass. ‘The more acid the growth of any soil is,
or would be, if suffered to stand, the more increase
of crop may be expected from marl; which is di-
rectly the reverse of the effects of putrescent ma-
nures. The increase of the first crop on worn acid
soil, [ have never known under fiity per cent., and
more often is as much as one hundred—and the
improvement continues to increase, under mild til-
lage, to three or four times the original product of
the land. [See Exp. 11, page 46, and Exp. 4
and 6.] In this, and other general statements of
effects, T suppose the land to bear not more than
two grain crops in four years, and not to be sub-
jected to grazing—and that a sufficient cover of
marl has been laid on for use, and not enough to
cause disease. It is true, that it is difficult, if not
impossible, to fix that proper medium, varying ag ©
it may on every change oi’ soil, of situation, and
of the kind of mar]. But whatever error may be
made in the preportion of marl applied, let it be
on the side of light dressing, (except where pu-
trescent manures are also laid on, or designed to
be laid on before the next course of crops begins)
—and if less increase of crop is gained to the acre,
the cost and labor of marling will be lessened in a
still greater proportion. [f} after 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, saiely and profitably. If ihe
nature of the soil, its condition and treatment, and

the strength of the marl, all were known, it would

54

be easy to direct the amount of a suitable dress-
ing: but without knowing these circumstances, it
will be safest to give two hundred and filty, or
three hundred bushels to the acre of worn acid
soils, and at least twice as much to newly cleared,
or well manured land. Besides avoiding danger,
it is more profitable to marl lightly at first on weak
lands. Ifa farmer can carry out only ten thousand
bushels of marl in a year, he will derive more pro-
duct, and confer a greater amount of improve-
ment, by spreading it over forty acres of the land
intended for his next crop, than on twenty: though
the increase to the acre, would probably be great-
est in the latter case. By the lighter dressing, the
land of the whole farm will be marled, and be
storing up vegetable matter for its progressive im-
provement, in half the time that it could be marled
at double the rate.

The greater part of the calcareous earth applied
at one time cannot begin to act as manure before
several years have passed, owing to the coarse
state of many of the shells, and the want of tho-
roughly 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 |
marling, though not the most apparent, is on such
soils as are full of’ wasting vegetable matter. Here
the effect is mostly preservative,and the benefit and |
profit may be great, even though the increase of |
crop may be very inconsiderable. Putrescent ma-
nure 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. But when marl! is previously applied, this
waste of {fertility is prevented; and the estimate of
benefit should not only include the actual increase
of crop caused by marling, but as much more as
the amount of’ the diminution, which would other-
wise have followed. very intended clearing of
woodland, and especially of that under a second
growth of pines, ought to be marled before cutting
down—and it will be still better, if’ it can be done
several years before. Ifthe application is delayed
until the new land is brought under cultivation,
though much putrescent matter will be 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 convert-
ed to useful manure, and fixed in the soil—and the
increased fertility will more than compensate for
the delay. By such an operation, we make a loan
to the soil, with a distant time for payment, but on
ample security, and at a high rate of compound
interest.

Some experienced cultivators have believed that
the most prcfitable 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 would not last much long-
er, no matter how mildly treated. This opinion,
which seems so absurd, and in opposition to all
the received rules for good husbandry, is consider-
ably supported by the properties which are here
ascribed to such soils. When these lands are first
cut down, an immense quantity of vegetable mat-
ter is accumulated on the surface-—which, not-
withstanding its accompanying acid quality, is
capable of making two or three crops nearly or
quite as good as the land was ever able to bring. |

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. -4
But as the soil has no power to retain this vege a=
ble matter, it will begin rapidly to decompose ana

|

Waste, as soon as exposed to the sun, and will be.

lost, except so much as is caught while escaping, si

by the roots of growing crops. The previous a

plication of marl, would make it profitable i

these, as well as other cases, to adopt a mild and
meliorating course of' tillage.

worn soils of the kind called ‘free light land,”
than other acid soils which originally produced
much more sparingly. The early productiveness)

Ve

it

ni
Less improvement will be obtained by marlingyp

(
\

of this kind of soil, and its rapid exhaustion byyp

cultivation, at first view seem to contradict the
opinion, that durability and the ease of improving

by putrescent manures are proportioned to them
)
il
l

natural fertility of the soil. But a full considera

tion of circumstances will show that no such con

tradiction exists. a
In defining the term natural fertility, it w 31

stated that it should not be measured by the earss

]

i
rT

dl

liest products of a new soil, which might be either#e
much reduced, or increased, by temporary causessii

The early fertility of free light land is so rapidly

destroyed, as to take away all ground for considers

ing it as fixed in, and belonging to the soil. [ti
like the eflect of dung on the same land afterwards
which throws out all its effect in the course of’ one
or two years, and leaves the land as poor as b
fore. But still it needs explanation why so mucht
productiveness can at first be exerted by any aci

soil, as in those described in the 14th experiment.
The cause may be found in the following reasonss
These soils, and also their subsoils, are principally}

4
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il
if

composed of coarse sand, which makes them ofl
more open texture than best suits pine, and (whenill

rich enough) more favorable to other trees, the

leaves of which have no natural acid, and there=")

fore decompose more readily. As fast as the fallem

f]

leaves rot, they are of course exposed to waste—j

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 decomposed,|
and to final waste: but though continually wast-
ing, it is also continually added to by the rotting:
leaves above. The shelter of the upper coat
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 mechanicaby
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 converts every thing into food for plants.
This abundant supply suffices to produce two op
three fine crops. But now, the most fruitfub)
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

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PART II—PRACTICE.

ke complete possession, because the poverty of
e soil leaves them no rival to contend with.
Marling deepens cultivated sandy soils, even
wer than the plough may have penetrated. This
as an unexpected result, and when first observed,
emed scarcely credible. But this effect also is a
nsequence of the power of calcareous earth to
manures. As stated in the foregoing para-
aph, the soluble and finely divided particles of’
tted vegetable matters are carried by the rains |
low the soil: but as there is no calcareous earth
ere to fix them, they must again rise in a gase-
us form, after their last decomposition, unless pre-
iously taken up by growing plants. But after
e soil is marled, calcareous as well as putrescent
atter is carried down by the rains as far as the
Hil is open enough for them to pass. ‘This will
ways be as deep as the ploughing has been, and
1 loose earth, somewhat deeper—and the chemi-
1 union formed between these different sub-
‘ances, serves to fix both, and thus increases the
pth of the soil. This effect is very different
m the deepening of a soil by letting the plough
in into the barren subsoil. If by this mechani-
al process, a soil of only three inches is increased
five, as much as it gains in depth, it loses in
chness. But when a marled soil is deepened
adually, its dark color and apparent richness is
icreased, as wellas its depth. Formerly single-
orse ploughs were used to break all my acid soils,
nd even they would often turn up subsoil. The
verage depth of soil on old land did not exceed
ree inches, nor two on the newly cleared. Even
efore marling was commenced, my ploughing
ad generally sunk into the subsoil—and _ since
25, most of this originally thin soil has required
iree mules, or two good horses to a plough, to
reak the necessary depth. ‘The soil is now from
ve to seven inches deep generally, from the joint
peration of marling and deepening the ploughing
little in the beginning of every course of crops.
How destructive to the power of soil this depth
f ploughing would have been, without marling, |
ay be inferred from the continued decrease of
he crop, through four successive courses of a very
ild rotation, on the spot kept without mar! in ex-
eriment 10. Yet the depth of ploughing there did
ot exceed six inches, and depths of nine andeven
welve inches were tried, without injury, on parts
f the adjacent marled land.
Besides the general benefit which marling
auses equally to all crops, by making the soils
ey grow on richer and more productive, there
re other particular benefits which affect some
lants more than others. For example, marling
erves to make soils warmer, and thereby hastens
he ripening of every crop, more than would take
lace on the like soils, if made equally produc-
ive by other than calcareous manures. This
uality of marled land is highly important to cot-
on, as our summers are not long enough to ma-
ure the later pods. Wheat also derives especial
yenefit from the warmth thus added to the soil: it |
s enabled better to withstand the severe cold of |
inter; and even the short time by which its
‘ipening is forwarded by marling, serves very
uch to lessen the danger of the crop from rust.
Wheat also profits by the absorbent power ot |
marled land, (by which sands acquire, to some ex-
tent, 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 mucn
drought without injury; and therefore is less aided
by these qualities of marled land. Most (it not
all) the different planis 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.
Perhapsa large portion of calcareous earth is ne-
cessary as part of their food, to aid in the forma-
tion of the substance of plants, as well as to pre-
serve their healthy existence.

On acid soils without manure it is scarcely pos-
sible to raise red clover—and even with every aid
from putrescent manure, the crop will be both un-
certain and unprofitable. ‘The recommendation of
this grass as part of a general system of cultiva-
tion and improvement, by the author of rator, 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 culture, 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
periect manner by the previous cultivation of’ to-
bacco. Even in such situations, this degree of
success could only be obtained by the concurrence
of the most favorable seasons. 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 fa-
tal to the growth of clover, on so unfriendly a soil.
The few examples of partial success never served
to pay for the more frequent failures and losses;
and a few years’ trial would convince the most
ardent, or the most obstinate advocate for the clo-
ver husbandry, that its introduction on the great
body of land in Lower Virginia, was absolutely
impossible. Still the general failure was by com-
mon consent attributed to any thing but the true
cause. ‘There was always some reason offered for
each particular failure, sufficient to produce it, and
but for which, (it was supposed) 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 shel-
tering crop of wheat—or native and hardy weeds
overran the crop—and all such disasters were sup-
posed to be increased in force, and rendered gene-
rally fatal, by our sandy soil, and hot and dry sum-
mers. But after the true evil, the acid nature of
ihe sotl, is removed by marling, clover ceases to be
a feeble exotic. Itis at once naturalized on our
soil, andis able to contend with rival plants, and to
undergo every severity and change of’ season, as
safely as our crops of corn and wheat—and offers
to our acceptance the fruition of those hopes of
profit and improvement from clover, with which
heretofore we have only been deluded.

After much waste of seed and labor, and years
of disappointed efforts, I abandoned clover as
utterly hopeless. But after marling the fields on
which the raising of clover had been vainly at-
tempted, there arose from its scattered and feeble

56

remains, a growth which served to prove that its
cultivation would then be safe and profitable... It
iias since been gradually extended nearly over all
the fields. It will stand well, and maintain a
healihy growth on the poorest marled land: but
the crop Is too scanty for mowing, or perhaps s ior
profit of any kind, on not sandy soils, unless aided
by gypsum. Newly cleared lands yield bette
clover than the old, though the latter may a
as heavy grain crops. The remarkable crops
clover raised on very poor clay soils, afier marling,
have’ been already described. This grass, even
without gypsum, and still more if aided by that
manure. may «dd greatly to the improving power

of marl: but it will do more harm than service, if
we greedily take from the soil too large a share of |

the supply of putrescent matter which it affords.
Some other plants less welcome than clover, are
equally favored by marling. Greensward, blue
grass, wire grass, and partridge pea, will soon in-
crease so as to be not less impediments to tillage,

_ than evidences of an entire change in the charac-
ter and power of the soil.

_ Jf the toregoing views may be confided in, the
general course most proper to pursue in using cal-
careous manures may thence be deduced w ithout
difficulty. Butas I have found, since the publi-
cation of the first edition of this essay, that many
persons stillask for more special directions to @uide
their operations, and as ail such difficulties | may
not be entirely obviated even by the more full de-
tails now given, I will here add the following di-
rections, at the’ risk of their being considered su-
perfluous. These directions, like all the { foregoing
reasoning, may apply generally, if not entirely, to
the use of all kinds of-caleareous manures, and to

soils in various regions: but to avoid too wide a)

range, I shall consider them as applied particularly
to the poor lands, and to the fossil shells, or marl,
of the tide-water region, and addressed to persons
who are just commencing their improvemenis.

As the cheapest mode of furnishing vegetable
maiter to land intended to be marled and _ cultiva-
ted, no grazing should be permitted. It is best to
put the marl on the grass previous to ploughing
the field fer curn, as the early effect of this manure
is greatest when it has been placed in contact with
the vegetable matter. But this advantage i = not
sO great as to induce the ploughing to be delayed,
or to stop the marling after that operation. When
the marl is spread upon the ploughed surface, it
can be better mixed with the soil by the cultiva-
tion of the erop—and this advantage in some mea-
sure compensates for the loss of that which would
have been obtained from an earlier application on
the sod. If marl is ploughed in, it should not be
so deeply as to prevent its being mixed with the
soil, speedily and thoroughly, by the subsequent
tillase To make sure of equal distribution, the
marl should be spread regularly over the surface.
From neglect in this respect, a dressing of marl is
often too thin in many plac es to have its proper el-
fect, and in others, so thick as to prove injurious.
Bence it is, that marl-burnt s'alks of corn, and
tufts of sorrei are 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 thou: ait he should reduce the space of

his til! lace to one-half f it will be best for him not to

put an acre in‘corn without its being marled. Fir

8 of

convenient in this respect,
years of rest
rotation at first, upon the
number of exhausting crops may be increased} },
first
soil advances to its highest state of productiveness,

sum on the clover.

used as food for cattle—and in a few years. this}

fields furnished before marling, and the limitation {

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

ty acres can generally be both marled and tilled, 2 i
cheaply as one hundred can be tilled without marl
ing; aud the fiity will preduce as much as the hun
dred, in the first course of’ crops, aud much more},
aiterwards.

‘Phat rotation of crops which gives most veges),
table matter to the soil, is best to aid the effect of,
marl recently applied. The four-shift rotation ig f

because two or three
may be given in each course of the
poorest land; and the

st to two, then to three in the rotation, as the}
Afier marling, clover should be sown, and gyps I
On poor, though marled landg|
of course only a poor erowth of clover ean be ex I.
pected: but wherever other manures are givenylh,
and especially if gypsum is found to act well, the a
crop of clover becomes a most important part of
the improvement by marling. Without clover,
nd without returning the greater part of its pros}
uct to the soil, the great value of marling will notm
eseen. A small proportion of the clover may bei

h
=i

small share will far exceed all the grass that th ‘I

of grazing. What is at first considered as lessens
ing the food of grazing stock, and their Mora tall
within a few years becomes ‘the source of a far
more abundant supply. |
During the first few years of marling, but mt
attention can (or ought to) be given to making pu}
trescent manures, because the soil much mores)
needs calcareous manure—and three acres may
generally be supplied with the latter, as cheaply aa
one with the former. But putrescent manures
cannot any where be used to so much advantage,

| as epon poor soils made calcareous: and no farmer]

can make and apply vegetable matter as manure

to greater profit than he who has marled his poop},

fie ‘lds, and can then withdraw his labor from ap-;
plying the more to the less profitable manure. Af’ |
ter the farm has been maried over at the light rate}
recommended at first, every effort should be made}
to accumulate and apply vegetable manures—and.
with their gradual extension over the fields, a se-
cond application of marl may be made, making)
the whole quantity in both the first and second

marling 500 or 600 bushels to the acre, or even)
more, which 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. }

If the conrse here advised is pursued on poor
and acid soils, the products will be generally dou
bled in the first course of the rotation—often in the;
first crop immediately following the marling: and
the original product may bee apected to be tripled
by the third return of the rotation. This will bet
from merely applying marl in sufficient (and nob |
excessive) quantities , and giving the land two
years rest in four, without grazing. But with the! |
aid of farm- yard Hee other putrescent manures,
and of clover, both of which should be largely ing
use during the second course of crops, still greater’
returns may be obtained.

When such statements as these are m ade, the!
question naturally occurs to the reader, “Has the
writer himself met with so much success, nih what
has been the actual result of his labors in general,

|

PART 1i—PRACTICE,

57

the business so strongly recommended?” This
uestion I have no right to shrink from, although
e answer to be given fully, will be objectionable,
om the egotism inseparable from such details,
thich are certainly not worth being thus presented
public notice, and which are called for only be-
ause silence on this head might be considered as
erating against the general tenor of thisessay; It
vill be sufficient here to state generally, that my
verage profits from marling, and the increased
artility derived from ii, have not been as great as
re promised above, nor such as might be expected
om the most successful experiments of which the
sults have been reported—and for these reasons.
st. ‘The greater part of my land was not of soil
ie best adapted to be improved by marling. 2nd.
Taving every thing to learn, and to prove by trial,
auch of my labor was lost uselessly, or spent in
<cessive and injurious applications. 3d. ‘The
tness given to the soil by marl to produce clover
ras not known until long atier that auxiliary to
mprovement ought to have been in full use. 4th.
‘rom the want of labor and capital to use both
alcareous and putrescent manures, the collecting

d applying of the latter were almost entirely
eglected as long as there was full employment
amarling. And 5th. That general bad practical
qanagement, which I have te admit has marked
Il my business, has of course also affected inju-
iously this important branch—though in a less
egree, because it was as much as possible under
ay personal and close attention. With all these
rawbacks to complete success, I am able to state
ae following general results of my operations.
Jmitting the land on Coggin’s Point farm not sus-
eptible of any considerable or profitable improve-
aent from marling, the great body of the farm,
as been tripled in productive power since 1818,
vhen my first experiment was made. Particular
iodies of soil now produce fourfold the former
mount without any other kind of manure: and
he whole farm including the parts least improved
s well as the most, and allowing for the increase
if extent, will now make more than double of its
vest product before marling.

With ali the increase of products that F have
scribed to niarling, the heaviest crops stated may
ippear inconsiderable to farmers who till soils more
avored by nature. Corn yielding twenty-five or
irty bushels to the acre, is doubled by many nat-
iral soils in the western states; and ten or twelve
yushels of wheat, will still less compare with the
roduct of the best limestone clay land. The cul-
ivators of our poor region, however, know that
uch products, without any future increase, would
ye a prodigious addition to their present gains.
Still it is doubtful whether these rewards are sufli-
ently hich to tempt many of my countrymen
speedily to accept them. The opinions of many

ese

reso uniform and unvarying, that it is difficult to
*xcite them to adopt any new plan of improve-
nent, except by promises of profits so great, that
in uncommon share of credulity would be neces-
sary to expect their fulfilment. he net profits of
narling, if estimated at twenty or even fifty per
sent. per annum, on the expense, forever—or the
assurance by good evidence, of doubling the creps
of a farm in ten years or less—will scarcely at-
tract the attention of those who would embrace
Without any scrutiny, a plan that promised five

8

armers have been so long fixed, and their habits |

|

times as much. Hall’s scheme for cultivating
corn was a stimulus exactly suited to their leth=
argic state: and that impudent Irish impostor
found many steady old-fashioned farmers willing
to pay for his directions for making five hundred
barrels of corn, with only the hand labor of two
men

The products and profits derived from the use of
marl as presented in the preceding pages, consid-
erable as they are, have been kept down, or lessen=
edin amount, by my then want of experience; and
ignorance of the danger of injudicious applications.
My errers may at feast enable others to avoid sim-
ilar losses; and thereby to reach equal profits with
half the expense of’ time and labor. But are we
to consider even the greatest increase of product
that has been yet gained in a few years after marl-
ing, as showiag the full amount of’ improvement
and profit to be derived? I think not: and if we
may venture to leave the sure ground of practical
experience, and look forward to what is promised
by the theory of the operation of calcareous ma-
nures, we must anticipate future crops far exceed-
ing what have yet been obtained. ‘To this, the
ready objection may be opposed, that the sandi-
ness of the greater part of our lands will always
prevent their being raised to a high state of pro-
ductiveness—and particularly, that no care, nor
improvement can make heavy crops of wheat
on such soils. ‘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 ar-
rive.

We aré so accustomed to find sandy soils poor,
that it is difficult for us to connect with them the
idea of fertility, and stillless of durability. Yet Brit-
ish 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 ef certain soils, which are
even more sandy than most of ours. For exam-

ple—‘‘Rich sandy soils, however,” says Sir John

| Sinclair, “such as those of Frodsham in Cheshire
5) 3

are invaluable. They are cultivated at a moder-
ate expense; and at all times have a dry sound-
ness, accompanied by moisture, which secures ex -
cellent crops, even in the dryest summers.”* Ro-
bert Brown, (one of the very few who has de-

/served the character of being both an able writer,

and a successful practical cultivater,) says—‘Per-
haps a true sandy loam incumbent on a sound sub-

'soil, is the most valuable of all soils.”t Young,

al
es

when describing the soils of France,in his agricultu-
ral 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 en-
“tered about Creisensac, 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,
‘“~vherever the soil is found excellent,it consists
“usually of a deep mellow friable sandy loam,
‘with moisture sufficient for any thing; much of
“it is caleareous.”{ The soil of Belgium so cele-
2 ei at BPRS REP ADCO Fi aoe eo a ll aN

* Code of Agriculture, p. 12.

+ Brown’s Treatise on Agriculture, p. 218, of “Ag-
riculture” in Edin. Ency.

{ Young’s Tour in France-

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

58

brated 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
¢ qualities sure to produce in luxuriance whatever
‘‘ the industry of man commits to its friendly bo-
“som.”’* Mr. Coke, the great Norfolk farmer,
made on the average 24 bushels of wheat to the
acre, on an estate of as sandy soil as our South-

ampton, (where probably a general average of

two bushels could not be obtained, if general wheat
culture was 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 36 bushels, and one of 40
is stated: and the general average of the county
was 24 bushels.t Yet the county of Norfolk was
formerly pronounced by Charles If. to be only fit
** to cut up into strips, to make roads of'for the ba-
lance of the kingdom”—and that sportive descrip-
tion expressed strongly the sandy nature of’ the
soil, as well as its then state of poverty.
__ Because certain qualities of poor clay soils (par-
ticularly their absorbent power) make them better
than poor sands for producing wheat, we most
strangely attach a value to the stiffness and intrac-
tability 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 qual-
ities and productive power of the rich sands that
have been referred to, are only calcareous and pu-
trescent manures, and depth of soil: and if the
same means can be used, our sands may also be
made as productive and valuable. I do not mean
to assert that the most highly improved sandy
soil can produce as much wheat as the best clay
soils; but they will not fall so far short as to pre-
vent their being the most valuable land, for wheat
as well as other crops, on account of their being
so easily cultivated, and less liable to suffer from
bad seasons, or bad management. [Appendix K.]

CHAPTER XVII.

THE PERMANENCY OF CALCAREOUS
NURES.

MA-

Provosition 5. Continued.

It wasstated, (page 36) that the ground on which
an old experiment was made and abandoned as a
failure, more than fifty years ago, still continues to
show the effects of marl. Lord Kames mentions
a fact of the continued beneficial eflect of an ap-
plication of calcareous manure, which was known
to be one hundred and twenty years old.{ Every
author who has treated of manures of this nature,

*Young’s Survey of Norfolk, p. 4.
} Young’s Survey of Norfolk, p. 300 to 304.
tGentleman Farmer, page 266, 2d Edin. Ed.

attests their long duration: but when they sa)
that they will last twenty years, or even one hun
dred and twenty years, it amounts to the admis,
sion that at some future time the effects of thes:
manures will be lost. This l deny—and from thi
nature and action of calcareous earth, claim fd)
its eflects a duration that will have no end. )

If calcareous earth applied as manure is not aj
terwards combined with some acid in the soil, |
must retain its first form, which is as indecent
ble, and as little liable to be wasted by any caus)
whatever, as the sand and clay that form the othe!
earthy ingredients of the soil. ‘The only possibl)
vent for its loss, is the very small proportion take
up by the roots of plants, which is so inconsidera
ble as scarcely to deserve naming.

Clay is a manure for sandy soils, serving to clos
their too open texture. When so applied, no on
can doubt but that this eflect of the clay will lasi
aslong asits presence. Neither can calcareoul
earth cease to exert its peculiar powers as a me
nure, any more than clay can, by the lapse of time
lose its power of making sands more firm and adj
hesive. Making due allowance for the minut
quantity drawn up into growing plants, it is as atl
surd to assert that the calcareous earth in a sob
whether furnished by nature or not, can be ex}
hausted, as that cultivation can deprive a soil «|
its sand or clay.

But on my supposition that calcareous eart!
will change its form by combining with acid i!
the soil, it may perhaps be doubted whether it j|
equally safe from waste under its new form. |
must be admitted, that the permanency of’ thi
compound cannot be proved by its insolubility, ¢/
other properties, because neither the kind nor thi
nature of the salt itselfis yet known.* But judein
from the force with which good neutral soils re
sist the exhaustion of their fertility, and their aj
ways preserving their peculiar character, it cari
net be believed that the calcareous earth one
present, was lessened in durability by its chemice
change of form. It has been contended that thi
action of calcareous earth is absolutely necessar)
to make a poor acid soil fertile: but it does ne
thence follow that other substances, and particu’
larly this salt of lime, may not serve as well 1)
preserve the fertility bestowed by calcareov
earth. All that is required for this purpose, is thi
power of combining with putrescent matter, ani
thereby fixing it in the soil: and judging soleb
from effects, this power seems to be possessed i}
aneminent degree by this new combination (
lime. If this salt is the oxalate of lime, (as ther
is most reason to believe, ) it is insoluble in wate
and consequently safe from waste—and the sam}
property belongs to most other combinations «
lime with vegetable acid. The acetate of lime |||
soluble in water, and while alone, might be cai
ried off by rains. But if it combines with putrer
cent matter, by chemical affinity, its previous solv!
bility will no longer remain. Copperas is easil!
soluble: but when it forms oneof the componel |
parts of ink, it can no longer be separately dis)

*This passage is left as it stood in the first editio”
before the discovery of the humic acid was know)

Indeed no aid has been derived from that discovery
nor any change of language made in consequence ||
it, except by inserting the quotation respecting th!
substance, and the remarks thereon, at page 28.

olved by water, or taken away from the coloring
atter combined with it. In rich limestone soils,
nd some of our best river lands, in which no cal-
areous earth remains, we may suppose that its
hange of form took place centuries ago. Yet how-
ver scourged and exhausted by cultivation, they
till showas strongly as ever, those qualities which
ere derived from their former calcareous ingre-
ient. When the dark color of such soils, their
ower of absorption, and of holding manures,
heir friability, and their peculiar fitness for clover
ind certain other plants, are no longer to be dis-
inguished, then, and not before, may the salt of
ime be considered as lost to the soil.

If we keepin mind the mode by which calca-
eous manure acts, its eflects may be anticipated
ora much longer time than my experience ex-
ends. Let us trace the supposed effects, from the
auses, on an acid soil kept under meliorating cul-
ure. As soon as applied, the calcareous earth
iombines with all the acid then present, and tothat
»xtent, is changed to the vegetable salt of lime.
Che remaining calcareous earth continues to take
ip the after formations of acid, and (together with
e salt so produced, ) to fix putrescent manures,
hs fast as these substances are presented, until all
he lime has been combined with acid, and
ul their product combined with putrescent mat-
er. Both those actions then cease. During all
he time necessary for those changes, the soil has
een regularly increasing in productiveness; and
t may be supposed that before their completion,
he product had_-risen from ten to thirty bushels of
sorn to the acre. The soil has then become neu-
ral. It can never lose its ability (under the mild
‘otation supposed, ) of producing thirty bushels—
put 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 com-
9ined with as much as it can act on; and whate-
ver excess of vegetable matter remains on the
oil; is kept useless by acid also newly formed, and
eft free and noxious, as before the application of
valeareous earth. But though this excess of acid
may balance and keep useless the excess of vege-
able matter, it cannot affect the previously fixed
ertility, nor lessen the power of the soil to yield
ts 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,
nthe same manner as before, by destroying the
ast formed acid, and fixing the last supply of ve-
zetable matter. ‘Thus perhaps five or ten bushels
more may be added to the previous product, and
a2 power viven to the soil gradually to increase as
much more, before it will stop again for similar
reasons, ata second maximum product of forty or
fifty bushels. I pretend not to fix the time neces-
sary for the completion of one or more of these
gradual changes: but as the termination of each,
and the consequent additional marling, will add
hew profiis, it ought to be desired by the farmer,
instead of his wishing that his first labor of macrl-
ing 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
heaviest expenses that. have yet been encounter-
ed in marling. But whether a second application
of marl is made or not, I cannot imagine such a
consequence as the actual decrease of the product

PART II—PRACTICE.

Ea
o

©

once obtained. My earliest marled land hag been
severely cropped, compared to the rotation suppo-
sed above, and yet has continued to improve,
though at a slow rate. The part first marled in
1818, has since had only four years of rest in ff.
teen; and has yielded nine crops of grain, one of
cotton, and one year clover twice mowed. This
piece, however, besides being sown with gypsum,
(with little benefit,) once received a lieht cover of
rotted corn-stalk manure. 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 gypsum
once, (in 1830,) which acted well. These periods
of twelve and fifteen years, are very short to serve
as grounds to decide on the eternal duration ef a
manure. But it can scarcely be believed thatthe
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 but there would have been much greater
improvement.

If subjected to a Jong course of the most severe
cultivation, a soil could not be deprived of its calea-
reous ingredient, whether natural or artificial: but
though still calcareous, it would be in the end, re-
duced to barrenness, by the exhaustion of’ its ve-
getable 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 uliimate result of marling under such circum-
stances, 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
fifleen bushels—and its production will be raised
to that mark, as soon as marling sets free its dor-
mant powers. But a calcareous 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 most hopeless without calcareous
manures, will be the mosi certainly improved with
profit by their use. ;

¥VAUI.

CHAPTER

THE EXPENSE AND PRCIIT CF MARLING.

Prorosition 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 ridicule, now give that manure credit
for virtues which it certainly does not possess; and
from their manner of applying it, seem to believe
ita universal cure for sterility. Such erroneous
views have been a principal cause of the many
injudicious and even injurious applications of maul.
It is as necessary to moderate the ill-founded ex-
pectations which many entertain, as to excite the
too feeble hopes of others. '

The improvement caused by marling,and its per-

60

manency, have been established beyond question.
Still the improvement may be paid for tco dearly

—and the propriety of the practice must depend |

entirely on the amount of its clear profits, ascer-
tained by fair estimates of the expenses incurred,

With those who attempt any calculaticns of

this kind, it is very common to set out on the mis-
taken ground that the expense of marling should
bear. some proportion to the selling price of the
land: and without in the least underrating the ef-
fects of marl, they conclude that the improvement
cannot justify an expense of six dollars on an acre
of land that would not previously sell for four dol-
lars. Such a conclusion would be correct if the
Jand was held as an article for sale, and intended
to be disposed of as soon as possible: as the ex-
pense 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 pre-
sent circumstances. But if the landis held as a
possession of any permanency, its previous price,
or its subsequent valuation, has no bearing what-
ever 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

cujtivation. But if by laying out for the improve-
ment 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 cost of improvement, then the ex-
penditure would be highly expedient and _ profita-
ble, We are so generaliy influenced by a rage for
extending our domain, that another farm is often
bought, stocked and cultivated, when a liberal es-
timate of its expected products, would not show
an ennual 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 ad-
vantage would be precisely the same, if the prin-
cipal money was used to enrich the land already
in possession, (without regard to its extent, or
previous value, ) with equal assurance of its yield-
ing the same amount of profit,

Nothing is more general, or has had a worse
influence on the state of agriculture, than the de-
sire to extend our cultivation, and landed posses-
sions. One of the consequences of this disposi-
tion, has been to give an artificial value to the
poorest land, considered merely as so much terri-
tory, while various causes have concurred to de-
press the price of all good soils much below their
real worth. Whatevera farm will sell for, fixes
its value as merchandise; but by no means is it a
fair measure of its value as permanent farming
capital, za

‘The true value of land, and also of any perma-
nent improvements to land, I would estimate in
the following manner. Ascertain as nearly as
possible the averave clear and permanent income,
and the land is worth as much money as would
eecurely yield that amount of income, in the form
of interest—which may be considered as worth 6
percent. Wor example, if’ a field brings ten dol-
lars average value of crops to the acre, in every
course of a four-shift rotation, and the averace
expense of every kind necessary to carry on the
cultivation, is also ten dollars—then the land yields
nothing, and is worth nothing. If the average
clear profit was two dollars and forty cents in the

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

AP

term, or only sixty cents a year, it would raise the jul
value of the land to ten dollars—and if six dollarg)}s
could be made annually, clear of all expense, it is
equally certain that one hundred dollars would be
the fair value of the acre. Yet if lands of pres
cisely these rates of profit were offered for sale
this time, the poorest would probably sell for two)
dollars, and the richest fer less than thirty dollars,
In like manner, if any fieid that paid the expense}
of cultivation before, has its average annual neff
product increased six dollars for each acre,
some permanent improvement, the value thereby
added to the field is one hundred dollars the acre,)
without regard to its former worth. ’
and value of marling be compared by this rule,
and it will be found that the capital laid out in thai
mode of improvement will seldom return an annusk
al interest of less than twenty per cent.—that hii
will more often equal forty—and sometimes reach

lon

of this rule for the valuation of such improve b
ments, will raise them to such an amount, thatil
the magnitude of the sum may be deemed a suffi
cient contradiction of my estimates, But before
this mode of estimating values is rejected, merely
on the supposed absurdity of an acid soil bein
considered as raised from one dollar to thirty doley
lars per acre, by a single marling, let it at least bem
examined, and its fallacy exposed. ‘
I admit the practical difficulty of applying thisit
rule, however certain may be its theoretical truth
it is not possible to fix on the precise clear profit off
any farm to its owner and cultivator; and any er-|h
ror made in these premises, is increased sixteen
fold in the estimate of value founded on themih
Still we may approximate the truth with most
certainty by using this guide. The early increaset
of crop from marling, will in most cases be antl
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

crop, and thereby to estimate the capital value of)
the improvement.

This mode of valuing land, under a different
form, is universally received as correct in England.}}
Cultivation there is carried on almost entirely by
tenants: and the annual rent which any farmj
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);
“vears’ purchase,” which means as many years)
rent as will return the purchaser’s money. There,
the interest of money being low, increases the va-/
lue of land according to this mode of estimation;
and it is generally sold as high as twenty years’)
purchase. My estimate is less favorable for rais-
ing the value of our lands, as it fixes them at six--
teen and a half years’ purchase, according to our#
hieher rate of interest on money. But 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 improvements, nor is there’
found such a vast disproportion as this rule of es-_
timating values would show, between the profits
of the tillers of poor and of rich land. These po-
sitions are admitted to be generally well founded— >

|

PART IT—PRACTICE.

61

t it-is denied that they invalidate the previous |

timates. A farmer may, and generally does,

tain less gross product trom a large ora rich

rm, than his more necessitous, and therefore
ore attentive and economical neighbor gets from
smaller or poorer farm, in proportion to the pro-
ucing power of each; and even the same persons,
hen young and needy, have often made more
ofit according to their means, than atierwards
when relieved from want, and having land in-
reased to a quadruple power of production.
‘hese, and similar facts, however general, only
e examples of the obvious truth that the profits
f land depend principally on the industry, econo-
y, and good management of the cultivator—and
at many a farmer who can manage well a
1all or or farm, is more deficient in industry,
onomy, or the increased degree of knowledge
quired, when possessed of much more abundant
Fesources. In short, if these considerations were
}> direct or influence our estimates, we should not
e comparing and estimating the value of’ lands,

t the value of the care and industry bestowed
n their management.

Another objector may ask, “If any poor land is

ised in value (according to this estimate) from

e dollar to thirty by marling, would a purchaser
1ake a judicious investment of his capital, by buy-
g this improved land at thirty dollars?’ I would
nswer in the affirmative, if our view was confined

this particular means of investing farming cap-
al.

X per cent.—which is always a good return from
ind, and is twice as much as all Lower Virginia
ow yields. But if such a purchase is compared
vith other means of acquiring land so improved,

would be extremely injudicious—because thirty
ollars expended in purchasing and marling such
and, would serve both to acquire and improve five
r six acres.

Estimates of the expenses required for marling
re commonly erected on as improper grounds, as
hose of its profits. We never calculate the cost
f any old practice. We are content to clear
voodland that afterwards will not pay for the ex-
ense of tillage—to keep under the plough, land
educed to five bushels of corn to the acre—to
mild and continue to repair miles of useless and
erishable fences—to make farm-yard manure
though not much of this fault,) and apply it to
cid soils—without once calculating whether we
se or gain by any of these operations. But let
ny new practice be proposed, and then every one
legins to count its cost-—-and on such erroneous
remises, that if applied to every kind of farm la-
or, the estimate would prove that the most fertile

and known, could scarcely deitay the expenses of

ts cultivation.

According to estimates made with much care
ind accuracy, the cost of an uncommonly expen-
ive job of marling, four thousand and _ thirty-six
uushels in quantity, in 1824, amounted to five dol-

rs and thirty-five cents the acre, for five hundred
ind ninety-eight bushels of marl. This quantity
vas much too great: four hundred bushe!s would
ave been quite enough for safety and profit, and
vould have reduced the whole expense, including
‘very necessary preparation, to three dollars and
ifty-eight cents the acre. The earth which was
aken off, to uncover the bed of marl, was consid-
| sag thicker than the mar] itself. "The road trom

The purchaser would get a clear interest of

the pit ascended hills amounting to forty feet of
perpendicular elevation—and the average distance
to the field was eight hundred and torty-seven
yards.

In 1828, I began to marl another tract of land,
where the diiliculties were less. The labor be-
stowed served to carry out and spread six thousand
eight hundred and ninety-two tumbril loads, on
one hundred and twenty acres of land, being an
average of two hundred and fifiy-nine bushels to
the acre, ‘The exhausted state of the soil made
heavier dressing unsafe. 'The whole expense of
the operation, including all the preparatory labor,
amounted to two dollars and eight cents for each
acre marled—or ei@hty-three hundredths of a cent
for each heaped bushel of’ marl. [Appendix L.]

It is impossible to carry on marling to advan-
tage, 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 proceeding on this plan, most persons who
have begun to marl, attempt it in the short inter-
vals of leisure, aflorded between their different
farming operations—and without lessening for this
purpose, the extent of their usual cultivation. Let
us suppose that preparations have been made,
and on the first opportunity, a farmer commences
marling with zeal and spirit. But every new labor
is attended by causes of difficulty and delay, and
a full share of these will be found in the first few
days of marling. The road is soft for want of
previous use, and if the least wet, soon becomes
miry. The horses, unaccustomed to carting, balk
at the hills, or only carry half loads, Other dif=
ficulties occur from the awkwardness of the labor-
ers, and the inexperience of their mmaster—and
still more from the usual unwillingness of" his over-
seer to devote any labor to improvements which
are not expected to add to the crop of that year.
Before matters can get straight, the leisure time is
at an end: the work is stopped, and the road and
pit are left to get out of order, before making
another attempt some six months after, when all
the same vexatious difficulties are again to be en-
countered.

if only a single horse was employed in drawing
marl throughout the year, at the moderate allow-
ance of two hundred working days, and one hun-
dred bushels carried out for each, his year’s work
would 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 anyamount of additional labor. When at any
time, other teams and laborers could be spared to
assist, though for only a few days, every thing is
ready for them to go immediately to work. ‘The
pit is drained, the road is firm, and the field
marked off for the loads. In this way, much
labor may be obtained in the.course of the year,
from teams that would otherwise be idle, and la-
borers whose other employments would be of but
little importance. The spreading of marl on the
field, isa job that will always be ready to employ
any spare labor: and throwing off the covering
earth from an intended digging of marl, may be
done, when rain, snow, or severe cold, have ren-
dered the earth unfit tor almost every other kind
of labor.

62

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

Another interesting question respecting the ex-
pense of this improvement is, to what distance

from the pit may marl be profitably carried? 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 tbree miles. The
cost of teams and drivers is in proportion to the
distance travelled—but the pit and field labor, is
not aflected 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 marla new farm, than to move marl even
two miles to his land in possession. But this
would be merely declining one considerable profit,
for the purpose of taking another much greater.
Whenever the value of marl is properly under-
stood, and our lands are priced according to their
improvements, or their capability of being im-
proved from that source, as must be the case here-
alter, then this choice of advantages will no longer
be offered. Then rich marl will be profitably
carted miles from the pits, and perhaps conveyed
by water as far as it may be needed. A_ bushel
of such marlas the bed on James River, described
page 49, is as rich in calcareous earth alone, as a
bushel of slaked lime will be after it becomes car-
bonated—and the greater weight of the first, is a
less disadvantage “for water carriage, 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 no-
thing 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 indebted to the enterprise of C.
H. Minge, "Esq. of Charles City, for the making
a full and satisfactory experiment of the business
ona large scale. [See Appendix M.]

The ‘objections to carrying marl unusual dis-
tances, admitted above, apply merely to improve-
ments 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 per-
petual tillage, and receiving frequent and heavy
coverings of putrescent manure. In such cases,
independent of the direct benefit which the calca-
reous earth might afford to the crops, its power
of combining with putrescent matters, and pre-
venting their we aste, would be of the utmost im-
portance. If the soil was acid, the making it

caleareous would enable half the usual supplies of

manure, to be more effective and durable than the
whole had been. There are other uses for marl,
about dwelling houses and in towns, which should
induce its being carried much farther than mere
agricultural purposes would warrant. I allude to
the use of calcareous earth in preserving putres-
cent matters, and thereby promoting cleanliness,
and health. This important subject will here vatter
be separately considered.

Either lime or good marl may hereafter be pro-
fitably distributed over a remote strip of poor land,

by means of the rail road now constructing fi
Petersburg to the Roanoke: providing the pre
prietors do not imitate the over greedy policy 4)
the legislature of Virginia, in imposing tolls ¢
manures passing through the James River cana)
If there was no object. whatever in view, but 4,
draw the greatest possible income from tolls ¢
canals and | roads, true policy would direct that ¢
manures should pass from town to country ‘a
free. Every bushel of lime, marl, or gypsun
thus conveyed, would be the means ef bringin
back in future time, more than as much whe:
or corn—and there would be an actual gain };
tolls, besides the twenty fold e@reater increase ©
the wealth of individuals and the state. Woe
ashes, alter being deprived of their potash, hax
calcareous earth, “and a smaller proporti@n ef pho;
phate of lime, as their only fertilizing ingredient
and both together do not commonly make moi
than there is of calcareous earth in the same bul
of good marl. Yet drawn ashes have been pu
chased largely from our soap factories, at foy
cents the bushel, and carried by sea to be sold fi
manure to the farmers of Long [sland. | Excey
for the proportion of phosphate ‘of lime which the
contain, drawn ashes are simply artificial marl
more fit for immediate action, by being fine:
divided, but weaker in amount of calcareous eart
than our best beds of fossil shells.

The argument in support of the several pry
positions which have been discussed through
many chapters, is now concluded. However w
skilfully, I flatter myself that it has been effectual.
used; and that the general deficiency in our soi
of caleareous earth—the necessity of supplyir
it—the profit by that means to be derived—au
the high impertance of’ all these considerations-
have been established too firmly to be shaken |
either arguments or facts,

CHAPTER XIX.

THE USE OF CALCAREOUS EARTH RECON
MENDED TO PRESERVE PUTRESCENT M1
NURES, AND TO PROMOTE CLEANLINE}|
AND HEALTH, ESPECIALLY IN TOWNS.

The operation of calcareous earth in enrichin’
barren soils, has been traced, in a former part (
this essay, to the chemical power possessed by thi
earth of combining with putrescent matters,
with the products ‘of their fermentation—and
that manner, preserving them irom waste, for t))
use of the soil, and for the food of growing plami|
That power was exemplified by the details of #)
experiment, (page 31,) in which the carcass of i)
animal was so acted on, and its enriching prope
ties secured. That trial of the putrefaetion ofan,
mal matter in contact with calcareous earth, wy
commenced with a view to resulis very differe:
from those which were obtained. Darwin saj
that nitrous acid is produced in the process of f€
mentation, and he supposes the mula aie a of lime
be very serviceable to vegetation.* As the 1
trous acid i Is a Gas, it must pass olf into the a

*Darwin’s Phytologia, pp. 210 and 224. Dublin Ei
tion.

nder ordinary circumstances, as fast as it is form-
d, and be entirely lost. But as it is strongly at-
'Practed by lime, it was supposed that a cover of
Wialcareous earth would arrest it, and form a new
Sombination, which, if not precisely nitrate of lime,
lvould at least be composed of the same elements,
ough in different proportions. To ascertain
vhether any such combination had taken place,
vhen the manure was used, a handful of the marl
as taken, which had been in immediate contact
With the carcass, and thrown into a glass of hot
ater. After remaining half an hour, the fluid
as poured off, filtered, and evaporated, and left a
sonsiderable proportion of a white soluble salt (sup-
yosed eight or ten grains.) [ could not ascertain
Nts kind-—but it was not deliquescent, and there-
ore could not have been the nitrate of lime. ‘The
spot on which the carcass lay, was so strongly im-
®)regnated by this salt, that it remained bare of ve-
lijretation for several years, and until the field was
libloughed up for cultivation.

But whatever were the products of fermenta-
ion saved by this experiment, the absence of all
fensive effluvia throughout the process sufficient-
iy proved that little or nothing was lost—as every
Mitom must be, when flesh putrefies in the open
iiuir: and I presume that a cover of equal thick-
ress of clay, or sand, or any mixture of both,
without calcareous earth, would have had very lit-
Je effect in arresting and retaining the aeriform
broducts of putrefaction. All the circumstances
‘of this experiment, and particularly. the good ef-
Vect exhibited by the manure when put to use,
prove the propriety of extending a similar prac-
Mice. In the neighborhood of towns, or where-
lever else the carcasses of animals, or any other
aimal substances subject to rapid and wasteful
fermentation, can be obtained in great quantity,
Il their enriching powers might be secured, by
|lepositing them between layers of marl, or calca-
jreous earth in any other form.
he Chowan, immense quantities of herrings are
ten used as manure, when purchasers cannot
‘ake off the myriads supplied by the seines. A
herring is buried under each corn-hill, and fine

anuring is extended. But whatever benefits may
Yaave been thus derived, the sense of smelling, as
jwell as the known chemical products of the pro-
cess of animal putrcfaction, make it certain that
inine-tenths of all this rich manure, when so appli-
ed, must be wasted in the air. If those who fortu-
Inately possess this supply of animal manure,
would cause the fermentation to take place and be
completed, mixed with and enclosed by marl, in
pits of suitable size, they would increase prodi-
giously both the amount and permanency of' their
lacting animal manure, besides obtaining the bene-
fit of the calcareous earth mixed with it.

But without regarding such uncommon, or
abundant sources for supplying animal matter,
every farmer may considerably increase his stock
lof putrescent manure, by using the preservative
power of marl, and all the substances that might
be so saved, are not only now lost to the land, but
serve to contaminate the air while putrefying, and
ipethaps to engender diseases. The last conside-
ration is of most importance to towns, though
erty of attention every where. Whoever will
make the trial will be surprised to find how much
putrescent matter may be collected from the dwel-

PART II—PRACTICE.

On the borders of

props are thus made as far as this singular mode of

63

ling house, kitchen, and laundry of a family: and
which if accumulated (without mixture with cal-
careous earth, ) will soon become so offensive as to
prove the necessity of putting an end to the prac-
tice. Yetit must be admitted that when all sueh
matters are scattered about (as is usual both in town
and country, ) over an extended surface, the same
putrefaction must ensue, and the same noxious ef-
fHuvia be evolved, though not enough concentrated
to be very offensive, or even always perceptible.
‘The same amount is inhaled—but ina very diluted
state, and in small, though incessantly repeated
doses. Butif mild calcareous earth in any form
(and fossil shells or marl present much the cheap-
est,) is used to cover and mix with the putrescent
matters so collected, they will be prevented from
discharging offensive effluvia, and preserved to en-
rich the soil. A malignant and ever acting ene-
my will be converted to a friend and benefac-
tor.

The usual dispersion and waste of such putres-
cent and excrementitious matters about a farm
house, though a considerable loss to agriculture,
may take place without being very offensive to the
senses, or certainly injurious to health. But the
case is widely diflerent in towns. There, unless
great care is continually used to remove or destroy
filth of every kind, it soon becomes offensive, if not
pestilential. During the last summer, (1832) when
that most horrible scourge of the human race. the
Asiatic cholera, was desolating some of the towns
of the United States, and all expected to be visited
by its fatal ravages, great and unusual exertions
were every where used to remove and prevent the
accumulation of filth, which if allowed to remain,
it was supposed would invite the approach, and
aid the effects of the pestilence. The eflorts made
for that purpose served to show whata vast amount
of putrescent matter existed in every town, and
which, was so rapidly reproduced, that its complete
riddance was impossible. Immense 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 fer-
mentation, when that process had already occur-
red. All this amount of labor and expense 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 fora very shorttime. Yet the object in view
might have been better attained by the previous
adoption of the proper means for preserving these
putrescent matters, than by destroying them.—
These means would be to mix or cover all accu-
mulations of such matters with rich marl, (which
would be the better for the purpose if its shells
were in small particles,) 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 accumulated; 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 thick-
ly 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 cultivated
grounds, would be sufficiently compensated by the
increased product that would be obtained: but. in-
dependent of that consideration, the nianures

64

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

there applied would be prevented from escaping, rain had changed the suffocating dust to an adhe-|

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 circumstances might require. ‘The va-
rious putrescent matters usually lefi in the streets
of a town alone serve to make the mud scraped
irom them a valuable manure; for the principal
part of the bulk of street mud is composed merely
of the barren clay, brought in upon the wheels of
wagons fromthe country. Such a cover of cal-
careous earth would be the most effectual absorb-
ent 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 ofall 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 expense in-
curred in its production. Probably one covering
of marl for each year would serve for most yards,
&c., but if required oftener, it would only prove
the necessity for the operation, and show the great-
er value in the results. ‘Phe 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 surround-
ing 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 pro-
duce to market might with profit carry back loads
of this compost eight or ten miles. ‘The annual
supply that the country might be furnished with,
would procuce very ditterent effects {from the pu-
trescent and fleeting manure now obtained from
the town stables. Of the little durable benefit
heretofore derived from such means, the appear-
ance of the country offers sufficient testimony. At
three miles distance from some of the principal
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 inconsidera-
ble—and the coarse hay from the wet meadows
can only be sold to those who feed horses belong-
ing to other persons—and to whom that hay is
most desirable that is least likely to be eaten.

But even if the waste and destruction of ma-
nure in towns was counted as nothing, and the pre-
servation of health by keeping the air pure was
the only object sought, still calcareous earth, as
presented by rich marl, would serve the purpose
far better than quicklime. It is true, that the
latter 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 touse a sufficient quan-

tity of quicklime to meet and decompose all pu- |

trescent animal matters in a town, would be intol-
erably expensive, and stij! more objectionable in
other respects. Ifa cover of dry quicklime 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

| for fertilization.

sive mortar. Woollen clothing, carpets, and even}
living flesh would be continually sustaining injury
from the contact. Nosuch objections would ati
tend the use of mild calcareous earth: and thig\}
could be obtained probably tor less than one-fifth
of the cost of quicklime, supposing an equal quans
tity of pure calcareous mutter to be obtained in}
each case. At this time the richest marl on James)
River may be obtained at merely the cost of dige
ging, and its carriage by water, which if undertas|
ken on a large scale, could not exceed, and probas}
bly would not equal three cents the bushel. 1,
The putrescent animal matters that would be
preserved and rendered innoxious by the general
matrling of the site of a town, would be mostly}
such as are so dispersed and imperceptible that they
would otherwise be entirely lest. But all such as
are usually saved in part, would be doubled inf
quantity and value, and deprived of their offensive!
and noxious qualities by being kept mixed with]
calcareous earth. ‘The importance of' this plan}
being adopted with the products of privies, &e:
is still greater in town than country. The val
rious matters so collected and combined should nev
er be applied to the soil alone, as the salt derivedd
irom 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 tal)
the field. ;
Towns might furnish many other kinds of rich
manure, which are now lost entirely. Some of thesef
particularly require the aid of calcareous earth tef
be secured from destruction by putrefaction, and:
others, though not putrescent, are 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 in-
tect 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 com)
posed of phosphate of lime and gelatinous ani
mal matter, and when crushed, form one of the
richest and most convenient manures in the world
They are shipped in quantities {from the continen’
of Europe to be sold tor manure in England. The
fields of battle have been gleaned, and their shal
low graves emptied for this purpose: and the

| bonesof the ten thousand British heroes who fell or)

the field of Waterloo, are now performing the lest
glorious, but more useful purpose of producing)

|as manure bread for their brothers at home.

There prevails a vulgar but useful superstition’
that there is “bad luck” in throwing into the fire
any thing, however smal! may be its amount of
value, that can serve for the food of any living anh
mal. It is a pity that the same belief does not ex)
tend to every thing that as mamure can serve ti
feed growing plants—and that even the parings 0
nails and clippings of beards are not used (as i)
China) in aid of this object. However small each,
yarticular source might be, the amount of all thi
manures that might be saved, and which are nov
wasted, would add incalculably to the usual mean]
Human excrement, which 1
scarcely used atallin this country, is stated to bi
even richer than that of birds; and if all the en
riching matters were preserved that are deriver

)

PART II—PRACTICE.

65

t only from the food, but from all the habits of
n, there can be no question but that a town of
1 thousand inhabitants, from those sources alone,
ight enrich more land than could be done trom
many cattle.
The opinions here presented are principally
anded on the theory of the operation of calca-
us manures, as maintained in the foregoing part
this essay: but they are also sustained to con-
erable extent by jacts and experience. ‘The
st undeniable practical proof of one of my po-
ions, is the power of a cover of marl to pre-
nt the escape of all offensive effluvia from the
st putrescent animal matters. Of this power
nave made continued use for about eighteen
mths, and know it to be more eflectual than
icklime, even if the destructive action of the
ter was not objectionable. Quicklime forms
w combinations with putrescent substances, and
thus combining, throws off effluvia, which
ugh different from the products of putrescent
ptter alone, are still disagreeable and offensive.
ild lime on the contrary absorbs and preserves
ry thing—or at least prevents the escape of
y offensive odor being perceived. Whether pu-
scent vegetable matter is acted on in like man-
by calcareous earth, cannot be as well tested
our senses, and therefore the prool’ is less satis-
tory. But if it is true that calcareous earth
ts by combining putrescent matters with the
|, and thus preventing their loss, (as [ have en-
avored to prove in Chapter ViII.) it must follow
t to the extent of such combination, the forma-
and escape of all volatile products of putrefac-
an will also be prevented. ’
ut it will be considered that the most impor-
it inquiry remains to be answered: Has the ap-
tion of caicareous manures been found in prac-
2 decidedly beneficial to the health of the resi-
ats on the land? [ answer, that long experience,
dthe collection and comparison of numerous
ts derived from various sources, will be re-
ired toremove all doubts from this question; and
vould be presumptuous in any individual to of-
as sufficient proof, the experience of only ten
twelve years on any one farm. But while ad-
tting the insufficiency of such testimony, I as-
t that so far, my experience decidedly supports
position. My principal farm until within some
i or five years, was subject in a remarkable de-
Be to the common mild autumnal diseases of our
country. Whether it is owing to marling, or
runknown causes, these bilious diseases have
e become comparatively very rare. Neither
28 my opinion in this respect, nor the facts that
ve occurred on my farm, stand alone. Some
er persons are equally convinced of this change
other land as well as on mine. But in most cases
ere I have made inquiries as to such results,
thine decisive had been observed. The hope
wt other persons may be induced to observe and
ort facts bearing on this important point, has in
t caused the appearance of these crude and per-
iS premature views.
iven if my opinions and reasoning should ap-
ar sound, f am aware that the practical appli-
jon is not to be looked for soon; and that the
eme of using marlin towns is more likely to
‘Met by ridicule, than to receive a serious and
entive examination. Notwithstanding this an-
mnen, and however hopeless of making con-

verts either of individuals or of corporate bodies, I
will offer a few concluding remarks on the most
obvious objections to, and benefits of the plan. The
objections will all be resolved into one—namely, the
expense to be encountered. The expense cer-
tainly would be considerable; but it would be am-
ply compensated by the gains and benefits. In the
first place the general use of marl as proposed for
towns, would serve to insure eleanliness, and pu-
rity of the air, more than all the labors of their
Boards of Health and theirscavengers, even when
acting under the dread of approaching pestilence.
Secondly, the putrescent manures produced ifi
towns, by being merely preserved {rom waste,
would be increased 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 gratifica-
tion to our eyes. Lastly, the marl after being used
until saturated with putrescent matter, would re-
tain all its first value as calcareous earth, and be
well worth purchasing and removing to the adja-
cent farms, independent of the enriching manure
with which it would be loaded. If these advan-
tages can indeed be obtained, they would be
cheaply bought at any price necessary to be en-
countered for the purpese.

The foregoing part of this chapter was -first
published inthe Farmers’ Register,(for July 1833)
and as supplementary to this Essay. ‘That pub-
lication drew some attention from others to the
subject, and served to elicit many important facts,
of which 1 had been before altogether ignorant,
in support of the operation of calcareous earth in
arresting the effects of malaria, or the usual au-
tumnal diseases of the southern states and other
similar regions. These facts, together with the
result 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 submit-
ted. Most of the facts derived from other persons
relate to one region—the “rotten limestone lands”
of Southern Alabama: but that region is exten-
sive, of remarkable and well known character and
peculiarities, and the evidence comes from various
sources, and is full, and consistent im purport. ‘The
facts will be here embodied, and the more impor-
tant statements from which they are drawn, will
be presented more fully inthe Appendix. [See N.]

The first fact brought out, was, that in the town
of Mobile, near the Gulf of Mexico, the streets
actually had been paved with shells—thus present-
ing precisely such a case as I recommended,
though not with any view to promoting cleanli-
ness or health. The shells had been used merely
as a substitute for stones, which could not be so
cheaply obtained. Nor had the greatly improved
healthiness of Mobile since the streets were so
covered, (of which there is the most ample and
undoubted testimony,) been attributed to that
cause, until the publication of the foregoing opin-
ions served to connect them as cause and effect.
This can scarcely be doubted by those who wili
admit the theory of the action of calcareous earth
—and the remarkable change from unhealthiness
in Mobile, to comparative healthiness, is a very
strong exemplification of the truth of the theory.
But it is not strange, that when so many oiher
}causes might (and probably did) operate to arrest

66 ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

—

disease, that none should have considered the )—and the effect of which, if given its due weigh

chemical operation of the shelly pavement as one
of them, and still less as the one by far the most
important. ‘The paving of streets, (with any
material) draining and filling up wet places, sub-
stituting for rotting wooden buildings new ones of
brick and stone—and especially the operation of
destructive and extensive fires—al! we know oper-
ate, (and particularly the last,) to improve 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 pestilential ef-
fluvia were lessened. But as this was not the
object in view, and indeed the chemical action of
shells not thought of, the process was incomplete,
and must necessarily be less eflectual 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, atier
a sufficient lapse of time to saturate with putres-
cent matters the upper part of the calcareous
layer, and thus to make it a very rich compound,
there should be a partial or total removal of the
mass, and a new coating of shellslaid down. The
value of the old material, as manure, would pro-
bably go far towards paying for this renewal: and
if it is not so renewed, the calcareous matter can-
not combine with more than a certain amount of
putrescent matters—and afier being so saturated,
can have no farther efiect in saving such maiters
for use, or preventing them from having their usual
evil course.

The burning of towns is well known to be a
cause of the healihiness of the places being great-
ly improved, and that that eflect continues afier as
many buildings, or more, have replaced those des-
troyed by fire. Indeed this improvement is con-
sidered so permanent, as well as considerable,
that the most sweeping and destructive conflagra-
tions 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 universally acknowledged
cause, is usually supposed to be the total destruc-
tion, 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
decaying state. But though these reasons have
served heretofore to satisfy all, as to the beneficial
consequences 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 assu-
rance of health being improved fora 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 con-
tinuance 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 indi-‘

rectly the very practice whish has been advocated

furnishes proof’ of the theory set forth, by the e:
perience of every unhealthy town which has su
fered much from fire. If any estimate is made
the immense quantity of mild calcareous ear
which is contained in the plastering and brie
work of even the wooden dwelling houses of
town, (and still more from those built of masonm
it must be admitted that all that material bein
separated, broken down, (soon or late, ) and sprei
by the burning of the houses, and pulling doy
their ruins, is enough to give a very hea
cover of calcareous earth to the whole space
land burnt over. Itis to this operation, in a 1
greater degree than to all others, that [ attribt
the beneficial effects to health of the burning.
towns.

I proceed to the facts derived from the extensi
body of prairie lands in Alabama which rest
a substratum of soft limestone, or rich indurat
clay marl. It was from these remarkable sc
that the specimens were obtained which were «
scribed at page 22. Some of these, indeed
that have been examined by chemical tests of 1
high and dry prairie lands, contain caleareg
earth in larger proportions than any soils of cc
siderable extent in the United States that I he
seen or tested. The specimens not containi
free calcareous earth are of the class of neut
soils; and the calcareous earth, which doubtl
they formerly contaimed, and from which they ;
rived their peculiar and valuable qualities, may)
supposed only to be concealed by the accumulat
of vegetable matter, according to the gene
views submitted in Chapter VII. The more |
descriptions of the soils of this remarkable and ||
tensive region which will be placed in the App;
dix, [at N] render it unnecessary to enlarge mu
here. It will be sufficient to sum up concisely '
facts there exhibited—and which agree with
rious other private accounts which have been:
ceived from undoubted sources of informat}
The deductions from these facts, and their acce
ance with the theory of the operation of calcare
matter, are matiers of reasoning, and as such, |
submitted to the consideration and judgemeni
readers. :

The soil of these prairie lands is very rich, ,
cept the spots where the soft limestone rises to
surface, and makes the calcareous ingredient |
cessive: in the specimen formerly mentioned, |
pure calcareous matter formed 59 parts in the b)
dred of this “bald prairie” land. The soil ge’
ally has so little of sand, that nothing but the |
careous matter which enters so largely inte
composition prevents it being so stiff and intra’
ble, that its tillage would be almost impractice
yet it is friable and light when dry, and eas:
till. But the superfluous rain water cannot |
and pass off, as in sandy or other pervious la’
but is held in this close and highly absorbent |
which throughout winter is thereby made a ¢
mire, unfit to prepare for tillage, and scarcely f;
ticable to travel over. This water-holding quit
of the soil, and the nearness to the surface of
hard marly substratum, deprive the countr!
natural springs and running streams: and be!
the important discovery was made that pure w
might be obtained by boring from 300 to 700)
through the solid caleareous rock, the inhabit
used the stagnant rain water collected in

- PART II—PRACTICE.

67

lich was very far from pure, or palatable.
der all these circumstances, added to the rank
irbage of millions of acres annually dying and
composing under a southern sun, it might have
¥2n counted on as almost certain, that such a
“Sintry would have proved very unhealthy: yet
‘l> reverse is the fact, and in aremarkable degree.
ne healthiness of this region is so connected with,
‘Wd limited by, the calcareous substratum and soil,
iat it could not escape observation: and they have
fen considered as cause and effect by those who
iid n0 theory to support, and who did not spend
‘hought upon the mode in which was produced |
‘fe important result which they so readily admit-
ili. heir testimony therefore is in this respect
e more valuable, because it cannot be suspected.
jhe intelligent author of the extract from the
kiputhern Agriculturist, which will be given in the
‘ijppendix [N] is altogether unknown to me—and |
tijis presumed that he had never heard of this es-
‘Wy, nor of these views of the action of calcareous

i} Atter deducing the foregoing mass of evidence,
‘Wir which I am indebted to others, it will appear

ersonal observation—especially, as the opinion
Was been expressed abeve, that the experience of
ljay one individual, on any one farm, or in any one
llteation, though continued for ten or twelve years,
iiast be very insufficient as proof of a permanent
dhangve of healthiness, and of the actual causes of
yjach changes. But, as in the absence of more
iiriking facts, and of practical proofs, my own li-
tited experience was formerly brought forward—
I is proper here to add, that the two autumns that
fave since passed have brought no circumstances
#9 Weaken the opinions advanced, and many that
itave served, on the contrary, to strengthen them.
§ On my principal farm, Cogein’s Point, the po-
ition of the homestead was always most inconve-
liently situated, and became ihe more so as the
Wearing and improvement of the poorer and more
wemote parts of the land wereextended. for this
eason, in addition to others, the farm buildings,
ind negroes’ dwellings had been gradually re-
moved, as the expense could be best encountered,
intil the old homestead was entirely abandoned in
831, for a more eligible location. This would

revent the different degree of healthiness found
re, before and since marling, from presenting

a fair statement or proof. But still, there is no
doubt of the general results showing a great and
decided improvement in respect to health—and this
Was evident, before as weil as since the removal of
the dwelling piace of the slaves. The greater
number of these had been moved to an interme-
diate location, (with a view to health) before these
benefits of marling were either felt, or anticipated
—where a portion of them remained until within
the last few years: and the circumstances attend-
ing this location, furnish ground for the opinion
maintained, which is not liable to the objection re-
ferred to.

The poor farm (Shellbanks) which was made
a summer residence for my family in 1828 and the
two succeeding years, and a permanent dwelling
place since 1831, was marled to the extent of 120
acres, including ail the land around the houses, in

1828; and in a few succeeding years, the space
marled amounted to more than 300 acres. During
this time, the yard was covered heavily with marl

—and in 1832, when the approach of Asiatic cho-
lera caused such alarm, the floor of the cellar of
the house, (which is very damp,) the stable floor,
and stable yard, were also covered, and every other
vacant spot. In addition, the plan of collecting
for manure all putrescent animal matters in a pit
and covering or mixing them frequently with marl,
has been pursued for several years, though not
with as much care and economy as ought to be
used. In this pit, fer experiment as much as for
profit, the carcasses of animals have been several
times placed, and preserved (as before) from giving
out any offensive odor, until their very slow decom-
position was at an end, merely by the covering of
marl. The healih of the family, during the first
two or three autumns, was about as good as on
what are considered healthy places in the tide-wa-
ter region of Virginia—all of which are more or
less subtect to bilious disorders in autumn, though
deserving well (as indeed does the whole country)
to be considered more than usually exempt from
all other diseases. We had among the members
of a large family, some intermittents, and some
more severe bilious fevers during that time. But
there has been a still greater and unlooked for im-
provement since—and for the last two years, I be-
lieve that all residing permanently at this place,
have enjoyed as good healih, as could be hoped
for in any situation in the United States. Among
the domestic servants and their young children,
last autumn, there were a few slight agues, (which
were attributed to some of those acts of impru-
dence to which negroes are so notoriously addict-
ed, even if not necessarily exposed,) and which
were scarcely worth notice, but as exceptions to
the general healthiness. The land not being then
tilled, there were no field laborers. Among my
own family and other white persons who were

| permanent residents, there was not a single ague,

or the slightest disease to be counted as one of
climate, or proceeding from malaria. But [ repeat,
that many such facts are necessary, and much
time, and the testimony of many diflerent persons
from various places to be brought together, before
the eauses can be fully admitted of such myste-
rious effects, as disease and its removal. It is to
be hoped that the facts and deductions here pre-
sented, however defective, may, at least, serve to
attract the attention of many other and more com-
petent investigators to this highly important sub-
ject.

CHAPTER XX.

FOR DIGGING AND CARTING
MARL.

DIRECTIONS

The great deposite of fossil shells, which cus-
tom has miscalled marl, isin 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 limit-
ed 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 present, before it will be dug for
manure. From ail the scattered evidences of the

Coe ee ee ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. |

presence of this deposite, it may be inferred, that
it lies beneath nearly every part of our country
between the sea and the granite ridge which forms
the falls of all our rivers. It is exposed, where it
rises, and where cut through by the deep ravines
of hilly land, and the courses of rivers—and con-

cealed by its dips, and the usual level surface of

the country. The rich tracts of neutral soil on
James River, suchasShirley, Westover, Brandon,
and Sandy Point, seem to have been formed by
alluvion, which may be termed recent, compared
to that of our district in general: and in 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 few inches to two feet thick) both
on those lands, and others—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 many feet of earth, containing no
shells of any kind. From these appearances, it
would seem that this tract of’ country was, for ages,
the bottom of the sea—then covered by earth—
then the bottom of a fresh-water lake—and finally
made dry land. Muscle shells are richer than the
others, as they contain much gelatinous and en-
riching animal matter. On thisaccount, 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 rea-
sons 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 putrescent
matter—and this manure has been considered
throughout this essay as being valuable only as
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
exceptions to the general rule. One of these ex-
ceptions has already been stated, in the descrip-

*It seems however, from facts learned since the pub-
lication of the passage above, that marl is, or has been,
below these alluvial lands, though only at considerable
depths. This does not contradict the opinion express-
ed that no marl is to be found in such land. The de-
posites referred to were of much more ancient forma-
tion, and have been covered by the very different and
peculiar bodies of land which now form not only the
surface, but a depth as low as the level of the river.
Benjamin Harrison, Esq., of Berkley, (a tract of such
land as is above described,) has found on the river
beach, and dug deeply into, a body of the earth described
at page 49, which evidently was once full of shells,
though now retaining neither shells nor any trace of
carbonate of lime, except some few stony and insulated
masses. It has also been very recently stated, that
fossil shells have been found at the level of the river
at Curle’s Neck in Henrico. These are interesting
facts, which ought to encourage searches for such de-
posites in every part of the Jow country,

tion of gypseous marl, (page 48:) and some othi
have been discovered since the publication of thi
statement. A kind of earth containing a_ lanl
proportion of carbonate of magnesia, as well as¥
carbonate of lime, has been found in Hanoy'f
Professor Rogers, of William and Mary Collec}
has discovered in many of the marls of Lower V¥
ginia, some proportion of the “ereen sand” of ¢
ologists, or what is itsell’ called “marl,” (anottl
misapplication of that name,) in New Jersey, a’
which has there been found highly valuable
manure, though containing nota particle of the cif
bonate of lime, which constitutes the sole value'f
shells and calcareous manures in general. Elf
however interesting may be the discovery of the
different ingredients, and however valuable thi}
may prove as manures, still they are not to be ce
sidered as treated of in this essay under any ger]
ral observations on marl, which are intended to)
applied simply to manure, the only useful ingy)
dient of which, is the carbonate of lime. [Appel
dix O.]

More than forty kinds of sea shells are found
the beds of marl that I have worked withe
counting any of very small size. Many kin
would escape common observation, and still mc
would require the aid of a magnifying glass to)
distinguished. Generally the shells are whos
but are much broken by digging, and the after of|
rations. The white shells are rapidly reduce
after being mixed with an acid soil—but son
gray kinds, as scallop, and a variety of oyster, a’
so hard as to be very long before they ean act |
manure. Some beds, and they ave generally ti!
richest, have scarcely any whole shells, but a‘
formed principally of small broken fragmeni/
Of course the value of marl as a manure depeni|
in some measure on what kinds of shells are mo
numerous, and their state of division, as well :
upon the total amount of the calcareous ear}
contained. The last is however by far the mo‘
important criterion of its value. ‘Phe most ea
perienced eye may be much deceived in tl!
strength of marl, and still more gross and dange'
ous errors would be made by an inexperience
marler. The strength of a body of marl ofte!
changes materially in sinking a foot in depth—a’
though the same changes may be expected to o//
cur very regularly, in every pit sunk through tl!
same bed. Whoever uses marl, ought to kno
how to analyze it, which a little care will enab)
any one to do with sufficient accuracy. TE!
methods described in Chap. V. for ascertain!
ine the proportions of calcareous earth in soili’
will of course serve for the same purpose wit!
marl. But as more minute directions may be ne’
cessary for many persons who will use this me!
nure, and who ought to be able to judge of its ve!
lue, an additional article on this subject will b
given in the Appendix. [See P.]

For want of’ attention to this only safe guidd)
eross errors are often committed, and losses con!
tinually sustained. By relying on the eye only, |
have known marl, or rather a calcareous sand, re’
jected as worthless, and thrown off at considerabl)
cost of labor, to uncover worse mar! below, wher!
whole shells were visible: and on the contrar)
earth has been taken for marl, and used as such!
which had no calcareous ingredient whatever’
The best marls for profitable use are generally suel)
as show the fewest whole shells, or even larg

i

|
I
}

PANEL LI—PRAC LICH,

agments—and would -be passed by unnoticed
if some cases, or considered only as barren sand,
i equally worthless clay. But even if such mis-
ikes as these are avoided, every farmer using
arl, without analyzing specimens frequently
(pd accurately, will lose by applying it in quanti-
es either too great or too small.
(a If marl reaches the surface any where, it may be
Bost easily found by examining the beds of streams
gassing through the lowest land, or deepest ra-
james. A few of the smallest particles of shells
gund there, will prove that the stream passes
; ough marl somewhere above; and a careful ex-
Hmination continued towards the source, will
@arcely fail to discover where the bed lies. Its

sual direction is horizontal, or very little in-

lone the sides of a narrow valley, it may gene-
lly be found by digsing on the opposite side, or
msewhere not very distant at the same elevation
qn the hill-side: and it is always nearer the surface
n swells, or convex parts of the hill-side, than
j7here it retreats and forms hollows. In the more
Wivel parts of the country, the marl sometimes is
wery near the surface of the lowest land, and yet
} not visible any where. In such situations par-
ycularly, a cheap and convenient auger may be
sed with much advantage in searching for marl:
yodit is also useful to try the depth or quality of

bed, even when its surface has been found.

his tool may be made by welding a straight stem,
#alf an inch square and six or seven feet long, to

common screw auger of about one inch and a
walf bore. If it has been so much worn as to be
iseless as acarpenter’s tool, it will serve for boring
jaearth. A cross-piece for a handle should be
jexed to slide over the stem, and be fastened by a
imallscrew at different elevations, as most con-
fenient. Other pieces may be added to the stem,
jittached by joints, so as to bore twelve or more
get deep. Dr. W. Cocke of Sussex, to whom I
indebted for this simple but useful tool, was

mabled by its use to find a very valuable bed of

marl which was no where visible at the surface,
nd which he has since been using to great ex-
ent and advantage.

By proper examinations marl may be found at
r near the surface through avast extent of the
ide-water region of the United States, where it
las not yet been noticed. But still, under most
ands it probably does not approach within twenty-
jive or thirty feet of the surface, and if reached by
ligging, weuld be covered by water, so as greatly
10 increase the difficulty of obtaining it from such
lepths. Will these obstacles always debar from
whe benefit of this treasure half the great region
ander which it lies? I think not: and though it
would be ridiculous now to propose such under-
akings, it will at some future time be found profit-
uble to descend still greater depths for good marl:
and shafts will be sunk and the water and marl
lrawn out by horse power, or by steam engines,
ind the excavation carried on in the same manner
1S is done in coal mines.
_ Our beds of marl are either of a blue, or a yel-
owish color. The color of the first seems to have
some connexion with the presence of water, as
his kind is always kept wet, by water slowly ooz-
ng through it. The yellow marl is sometimes
wet, but more generally dry, and therefore easier

to work.* Unless very poor, all marls are suffi-
ciently firm and solid for the sides of the pit to
stand, when dug perpendicularly.

Where a bed of marl is dry and not covered by
much earth, no directions are required for the pit
work—except it be, that the pit should be lone
enough to allow the carts to descend to the bottom
(when finished) and to rise out on a slope sufli-
ciently gradual. ‘This will prevent the necessity
of twice handling the marl, by first throwing it out
of the pit, and then into the carts, which must be
done, if the pit is made too short, or its ends too
steep, for the loads to be drawn out. No machine
or coutrivance will raise marl from the bottom of
a pit, or a valley, so well as a horse-cart—and no
pains will be lost, in enlarging the pit, and gradu-
ating the ascent out of it, to attain that object.

As marl usually shows on a hill-side, but little
earth has to be moved to uncover the first pit. But
the next, and each successive cover of earth, will
be more thick, until it may be necessary to aban-
don 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 carts or scrapers, and
the labor is greatly increased.

For any extensive operation, itis much cheaper
to take off a cover of earth, twelve feet thick, to ob-
tain marl of equal depth, than if both the covering
earth and marl were only three feet each. Wheth-
er the cover be thick or thin, two parts of the op-
eration 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 advan-
tage 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, where the marl was to be dug
fourteen feet, and ten to twelve feet of earth to re-
move, my labor was made ten-fold heavier, by dig-
ging altogether. The surface bore living trees,
and was full of roots—there was enough stone to

*The blue color of marl is not caused by merely
the presence of water, or there would be no wet yel-
low marl. When both blue and yellow marl are seen
in the same bed, the blue is always at bottom—and the
line of division between the colovs is well defined, and
there is seen no gradual change of one to the other.
I have lately observed (in 1834) that as intense and
perfect a blue color as marl has ever been known to
have, was given to what had been dry yellow marl, by
its being used as a thick flooring for a stable yard, and
kept covered with the rotting manure, and_ penetrated
by its liquid oozings, which the marl was there placed
‘o save. It may be inferred from this fact, that blue
marls have received their color from some vegetable
extract or other putrescent matter, dissolved in the
water passing through the bed.

69

70

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

keep the edges of the grubbing hoes battered—
and small springs and oozing water came out
every where, after digging afew feetdeep. A
considerable part of the earth was a tough, sticky
clay, kept wet throughout, and which it was equal-
ly difficult to get on the shovels, and to get rid
of. Some years aiter, another pit was uncovered
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
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 under-
mined, 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 aflected by the water, even when it
remained through the night before being shoveled
away. No digging was required, except this con-
tinued shoveling out the lowest sand stratum, and
whether clay, or stones, or roots, were mixed with
the falling earih, they were easy to throw off. The
numerous 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 almostclear of earth. The whole body o
earth, notwithstanding allits difficulties, was moved
off as easily as the driestcould have been by digging
altogether,

In working a pit of wet marl, no pains should
be spared to drain it as effectually as possible.
Very few beds are penetrated by veins of running
water, which would deserve the name of springs
—but water oozes very slowly through every part
of wet marl, and bold springs often burst out im-
mediately over its surface. Alter 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 the valley, as low as the bottom
of the pit is expected to be, and opened up to the
work, deepening as it extends, so as to keep the
bottom of the ditch on the same level with the
bottom of the marl. It may be cheaper, and will
serve as well, to deepen this ditch as the deepen-
ing of the pit proceeds. After the marl is uncover-
ed the full size intended for the pit, (which ought
to be large enough for carts to turn about on,) a
little drain of four or five inches wide, and as ma-
ny deep, (or the size made by the grubbing hoe
used to cut it,) should be carried all around to in-
tercept the surface or spring water, and conduct it
to the main drain. The marl will now be dry
enouch for the caris to be brought on and loaded.
But as the digging proceeds, oozing water will
collect slowly; and aided by the wheels of loaded
carts, the surface of the firmest marl would soon
be rendered a puddle, and then 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 mar-
gin of a few inches of firm marl, as a bank to keep
in the stream) so that the digging shall be the
lowest around the outside, and gradually rise 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 surtace

drain, will run to the outside, the dip of whie.
should lead to the lower main drain. After thi
form is given to the surface of the area, very littl]
attention is required to preserve it; for if the suc
cessive courses are dug of equal depth from side t!
side, the previous dip will not be altered. 'Th)
sides or walls of the pit should be cut somethin)
without the perpendicular, so that the pit is mad)
one or two feet wider at bottom than top. Th
usual firm texture will prevent any danger fro1
this overhanging shape, and several advantage
will be gained from it. It gives more space fi
work—prevents the wheels running on the lowei|
and wettest parts—allows more earth to be dis
posed of, in opening for the next pit—and preven
that earth tumbling into the next digging, whe;
the separating wall of marl is cut away. Th
upper drain of the pit, which takes the surface!
water, will hang over the one below, kept for thi
oozing water. The former remains unaltere}
throughout the job, and may still convey the strean
when six feet above the heads of the laborers j
the pit. The lower drain of course sinks wit}
the digging. Should the pit be dug deeper tha‘
the level of the receiving ditch can be sunk, a wai
should be left between, and the remainder of th
oozing water must be conducted to a little basi
near the wall, and thence be baled or pumped inti
the receiving ditch. The passage for the carts 1
ascend from the pit should be kept on a suitab),
slope—and the marl! forming that slope may t
cut out in small pits, after the balance has bee
completed.

If the marl is so situated that carts cannot tl
driven as low as the bottom, then the area mui
be cut out in small pits, beginning at the back pari
and extending as they proceed, towards the roa:
leading out of the pit.

On hich and broken land, marl is general]
found atthe bottom of’ ravines, and separated fron}
the field where it is to be carried, by a high ani
steep hillside. The difficulty of cutting roads i)
such situations, is much less than any inexpe
rienced person would suppose. We cannot ov
rid of any of the actual elevation—but the ascerj
may be made as gradual as is desired, by a propo!
location of the road. The intended course mui
be laid off by the eye, and the upper side of th!
road marked. If it passes through woods, it wi)
be necessary to use grubbing hoes for the digging:
With these, begin at the distance of four or fiv)
feet below the marked line, and dig horizontal],
onward to it. That earth is to be pulled back wit)
broad hoes, and laid over a width of three or fov,
feet below the place from which it was take

a

‘Thus the upper side of the road is formed by eu!
ting down, and the lower side by fillmg up, wil!
the earth taken from above.

FAN LE—PeULIC,.

71

i), The annexed figure will prevent these directions
jeing misunderstood. 'The straight line from a to

which the whole figure is a section. ‘The upper
nd of the dotted part of the line is in the mark
pr laying off the upper side of the road. ‘The up-
iper triangle is a section of the earth dug out of the
will-side, and the lower triangle, of the part formed
its removal. ‘The horizontal line is the level
mf the road formed by cutting in on the upper, and
mdling up on the lower side. Afier shaping the
foad roughly, the deficiencies will be seen and may
pe corrected in the finishing work, by deepening
jome places and fille up others, so as to gradu-
jite the whole properly. A width of eight or nine

geet of firm road, will be sufficient for carting marl. |

My Af the land through which the road is to be cut is
wot very steep, and is iree from trees and roots,
je operation may be made much cheaper by using
whe plough. ‘The first furrow should be run along
jphne line of the lower side of the intended road, and
yjurned down hill: the plough then returns empty,
ijO carry a second furrow by the first. In this
qynanner it proceeds—cutting deeply, and throwing
ithe slices far, (both of which are easily done on a
aill-side,) until rather more than the required
iwvidth is ploughed. The ploughman then begins
again over his first furrow, and ploughs the whole
ver as at first—and this course is repeated per-
jaaps once or twice more, until enough earth is cut
irom the upper and put on the lower side of the road.
#Afier the iirst ploughing, broad hoes should aid
and complete the work, by pulling down the earth
irom the high to the low side, and particularly in
ose places where the hill-side is steepest. Afier
the proper shape is given, carts, at first empty, and
then with lieht loads, should be driven over every
part of the surface of the road, until it is firm.
a heavy rain should fall before it has been thus
jtrodden, the road would be rendered useless for a
considerable time.
( ‘Tumbril carts drawn by a single horse or mule,
fare most convenient for conveying marl short dis-
tances. Kvery, part of the cart should be light,
and the body should be so small as only to hold
the load itis intended to carry, without a tail-board.

l§) represents the original slope of the hill-side of

if

load, which advantage will be found on trial much
more Important than would at first be supposed.
if’ carts of common size are used, the careless la-
borers will generally load too lightly—yet some-
times will injure the horse by putting in 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 far-
mer can detect it at a glance. Where there isa
hill to ascend, five heaped bushels of wet marl is
asuflicient load for a horse. 1f the marl is dry, or
the road level, six bushels may be put in the same
carts, by using tail-boards.

Strong laborers are required in the pit for dig-
ging and loading: but boys who are too small for
any other regular farm labor, are sufficient to
drive the carts. Horses or mules kept at this work
soon become so tractable, that very little strength
or skill is required to drive them.

All these hints and expedients, or perhaps bet-
ter plans, would occur to most persons before they
are long engaged in marling. Still these direc-
tions may help to smooth 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.

My task isat last completed. Whether I shalt
be able to pursuade my countrymen to prize the
treasures, and seize the profits which are within
their reach, or whether my testimony and argu-
ments 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
alarge portion of the soil of’ Lower Virginia from
barrenness to fertility—which, added to the advan-
tages we already possess—our navigable waters
and convenient markets, the facility of tilling our
lands, and the choice of crops offered by our eli-
mate—will all concur to increase ten-fold the pre-
sent 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,

This plan enables the drivers to measure every [and as patriots,

APPE

Part F&F.

Most of the articles which will be given in this

Appendix, are deemed important to the parts of

the Essay to which they refer, as furnishing more
full explanation, or proof, of positions there main-
tained: but they are not absolutely essential to the
text—and have therefore been thrown into this
place and form, both for convenient reference, and
to avoid interrupting the train of argument, or the
connexion of facts, to those readers who may not
need views so extended. But, though a regu-
lar recurrence to these notes may not be ne-
cessary as they are referred to in the foregoing
text—and generally had better be postponed for
an after and separate reading—still it is believed
that most of them will be found either useful or in-
teresting to those who may have read with appro-
bation what precedes them. This form will be
convenient both to those who may choose to pass
over, as superfluous, any particular portions, and
and to attract tothese notes the attention of other
readers, who may want the more fullstatements and
proofs offered.

®

[NOTE A. Page 9.]

THE DIFFERENT IMPROPER SIGNIFICATIONS
OF THE TERM “CALCAREOUS EARTH.”

The definition of caleareous earth, which con-
fines that term to the carbonate of lime, is certainly
liable to objections, but less so than any other
mode of arrangement. It may at first seem ab-
surd to consider as one of the three principal
earths which compose soils, one only of the many
combinations of lime, rather than either pure lime
alone, or lime in all its combinations. One or the
other of these significations is adopted by the
highest authorities, when the calcareous ingre-
dients of soils are described—and in either sense,
the use of this term is more conformable with
scientific arrangement, than mine. Yet much in-
convenience is caused by thus applying the term
calcareous earth. If applied to lime, it is to a sub-
stance which is never found existing naturally, and
which will always be considered by most persons
as the product of the artificial process of calcina-
tion, and as having no more part in the composi-
tion 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, the sulphate, and
the phosphate of lime, are known as valuable
manures; but they exist naturally in soils in such
minute quantities, and so rarely, as not to deserve
to be considered as important ingredients. A sub-
sequent part of this essay will show why the oxa-

NEES.

late of lime is also supposed to be higlily valuabl}
|as a manure, and far more abundant. Man

| 74° .
lother salts of lime are known to chemists: bu

‘their several qualities, as aflecting soils, are entire
ly unknown—and their quaritities are too small
and their presence too rare, to require considera
‘uon. Hf all the numerous different combination
of lime, haviag perhaps as many various and ur
‘known properties, had not been excluded by m
definition of calcareous earth, continual exception
would have been necessary, to avoid stating whe
‘was not meant. ‘The carbonate of lime, to whic
[have confined that term, though only one ¢
‘many existing combinations, yet in quantity anil
in importance, as an ingredient of soils, as well ai
a part of the known portion of the globe, very fui
exceeds all the others. :

But even if calcareous earth, as defined an
limited, is admitted to be the substance which it i
proper to consider as one of the three earths ¢|
agriculture, still there are objections to its nanis!
which I would gladly avoid. However strict] |
defined, many readers will attach to terms gue:
meanings as they had previously understood: an:
the word calcareous has been so loosely, and ss
differently applied in common language, and i/
agriculture, that much confusion may attend if!
use. Any thing “partaking of thé nature of lime:
is “calcareous,” according to Walker’s Dictionary)
Lord Kames limits the term to pure Ame*—Davy,
and Sinclair,f include under it pure lime sachet
its combinations—and Kirwan,|| Rozier,‘ an
Young,§ whose example I have followed, confin
the name calcareous earth to the carbonate ¢
lime. Nor can any other term be substitute:
without producing other difficulties. Carbonate ¢
lime would be precise, and it means exactly thi
same chemical substance: but there are insupera’
ble objections to the frequent use of chemice/
names ina work addressed to ordinary readers,
Chalk, or shells, or mild lime, (or what had bee:
quicklime, but which from exposure to the air, ha)
again become carbonated, ) all these are the sam)’
chemical substance—but none of these name
would serve, because each would be supposed t7
mean such certain form or appearance of caleay
reous earth, as they usually express. If 1 coul
hope to revive an obsolete term, and with som)

*Gentleman Farmer, page 264, (2d Edin. Ed.)
tAgr. Chem. page 223, (Phil. Ed. of 1821.)

1818.)
|| Kirwan on Manures, Chap. 1.
<< Terres”—Cours Complet d’ Agriculture Pratique. |
§ Young’s Issay on Manures, Chap. 3.

aodification establish its use for this purpose, I
vould call this earth calz—and from it derive calx-
ng, to signify the application of caleareous earth,
n any form, as manure. <A general and definite
erm for this operation is much wanting. Limine,

id buildings, chalk, or limestone gravel—all these

hat manuring that [ would thus call ca/zing. But
}pecause their names are different, so are their ef-
ects generally considered—not only in those re-
pects where differences really exist, but in those
where they are precisely alike.

[NOTE B. Page 11.]
era
i0 THE NAMES GIVEN TO SOILS BY WRITERS ON
AGRICULTURE OFTEN INCORRECT AND
CONTRADICTORY.

),, Nothing is more wanting in the science of ag-
wticulture, than a correct nomenclature of’ soils, by
which the characters might be learned from the
;jnames—and nothing has hitherto seemed less at-
tainable. The modes of classing and naming
jjsoils, used by scientific authors, are not only dif-
ferent, 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—
jconvey no precise meaning, and are worth not
| much more than those in common use among
j Ourselves, and other practical. cultivators, which
jotten 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, Jet us examine
those applied by ourselves. We generally de-
j scribe 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 elsewhere. What are called
clay or stiff soils in Sussex and Southampton,
would be considered sandy or light soils in
Goochland—merely because almost every acre of
Jand in the former counties is sandy, and in the
latter, clays are nearly as abundant.
' The conflict of definitions, and consequent con-
fusion of terms, cannot be more plainly set forth,
than by quoting from some of the highest authori-
ties, the various and contradictory explanations of
aterm, which isso 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 as forming a very large, if not
the greatest proportion of the cultivated soils of
his country, and of the world.

“Loam 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.” [Kirwan on Manures—
Chap. 1.]

“Loam, or that species of artificial soil, into which
“the others are generally brought by the course
** of long cultivation.” —“Where a soil is mode-
* rately cohesive, less tenacious than clay, and
‘more so than sand, it is known by the name of
‘loam. From its frequency, there is reason to

narlinge, applying drawn ashes, or the rubbish of’)

yperations are in part, and some of them entirely, |

PART III—APPENDIX.

* suppose that in some cases it might be called an

CC”!

73

“ original soil.”
— Chap. 1.]

“The word loam should be limited to soils con-
‘* taining at least one-third of impalpable earthy
“matter, copiously effervescing with acids.” [Da-
vy’s Agricultural Chemistry—Lecture 4.] Ac-
cording to this definition by the most scientific
writer and highest authority in chemical agricul-
ture, if we except the small portion of shelly land,
there is certainly not an acre of natural loam be-
tween the sea coast of Virginia and the Blue
Ridge Mountains—and very few, if any, even
in the limestone region.

“By loam is meant any of the earths combined

[Sinclair’s Code of Agriculture

“ with decayed animal or vegetable matter.” [Ap-
pendiz to Agr. Chem. by George Sinclair.)
“ Loam—fat unctuous earth—marl.” [John-

son’s Dictionary, 8v0. Ed., and also Walker’s.]

‘Loam may be considered a clay of loose or
“friable consistency, mixed with mica or isinglass,
‘and tron ochre.” [ditor of American Farmer,
Vil. If, page 320.)

[NOTE C. Page 13.]

SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY ON AG-
RICULTURAL PROFITS.

The cultivators of astern Virginia derive a
portion of their income from a source quite distinct
from their tillase—and which, though it often
forces them to persist in their profitless farming,
yet also, in some measure, conceals, and is ge-
nerally 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, ) I cannot concur
in the general opinion that it is also a source
of profit.

It is not meant to convey the idea that any per-
son undertakes as a regular business the, breeding
of slaves with a view to their sale: but whether it
is intended or not, all of us, without exception, are
acting some part in aid of ageneral system, which
taken altogether, is precisely what 1 have named.
No manis so inhuman asto breed and raise slaves,
to sell off a certain proportion regularly, as a west-
ern drover does with his herds of cattle. But sooner
or later the general result isthe same. Sales may
be made voluntarily, or by the sheriff—they may
be met by the first owner, or delayed until the suc-
cession 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 ar-
riving at the same general and inevitable result.
With plenty of wholesome, though coarse food,
and under such mild treatment as our slaves usu-

_ally experience, they have every inducement and

facility to increase their numbers with all possible
rapidity, without any opposing check, either pru-
dential, moral, or physical. These several checks
to the increase of population operate more or less
on all free persons, whether rich or poor—and
slaves, situated as ours are, perhaps are placed in
the only possible circumstances, in which no re-
straint whatever prevents the propagation and in-
crease of the race. From~ the general exist-
ence of this state of circumstances, the particular
effects may be naturally deduced: and facts com-
pletely accord with what those circumstances pro-
mise. A gang of slaves on a farm will often in-

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. |

crease to four times their original number, in thirty
or forty years. If afarmer is only: able to feed
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 iew farmsare able to support this increas-
ing 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 com-
forts of wealth, or to encounter the expenses ne-
cessary to improve their unprofitable farming. A
man so situated, may be said to be a slave to his
own slaves. If the owner is industrious and fru-
gal, he may be able to support the increasing num-
ber of his slaves, and to bequeath them undimin-
ished to his children. But the income of few per-
sons 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 dread-
ed 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. Ob-
stacles are opposed to it, not only by sentiments of
humanity, and of regard for those who have pass-
ed their lives in his service—but every feeling he
has of false shame comes to aid; and such sales
are generally,postponed, until compelled by credit-
ors, 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 previousdelays. Do what we will, the sur-
plus slaves must 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, with-
out even producing the political benefit of lessen-
ing the actual number remaining. Nothing can
check this ferced emigration of blacks, and the vol-
untary emigration of whites, except increased pro-
duction 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, effectually adds also to its population, |
ia a persons as his increase of product will
eed.

[NOTE D. Page 17. ]

OPINIONS THAT SOILS ARE GENERALLY CAL- |
CAREOUS.

It was asserted that the inference to be drawn |
from all the descriptions of soils, in the most es-
teemed treatises on agriculture, is that calcareous
earth is a very general, if not a universal ingre-
dient. This assertion can be proved beyond all
doubt, from European authors: but it would re-

Er
ly that calcareous earth is present in all soils—buf,
its being always named as one of the ingredient},
of soils in general, and no cases of its absolute de;
ficiency being directly stated, amount to the declajf,
ration that calcareous earth is very rarely, if ever
entirely wanting in anysoil. We may find enough
directions to apply calcareous manures to soils tha
are deficient in that ingredient: but that deficiency}
seems to be not spoken of as absolute, but relativ
to other soils more abundantly supplied. In th
same manner, they direct clay, or sand, to be user
as manure for soils very deficient in one or th
other of those earths—but without meaning tha}
any soil under cultivation, can be found entirel!f
destitute of sand, or of clay. My proofs from ge
neral treatises, would therefore be generally indil
rect—and the quotations necessary to exhibit them
would show what had not been said, rather that
what had—that they did not assert the absence a
calcareous earth, instead of directly asserting it
universal presence. Extracts for this purpose
however satisfactory, would necessarily be too vo
luminous, and it is well that they can be dispense¢
with. Better proof, because it is direet, and mori
concise, will be furnished by quoting the opinion;
of a few agriculturists of our own country, whe
were extensively acquainted with European aw
thors, and have evidently drawn their opinions
from those sources. These quotations will no
only show conclusively, that their authors conside¢
the received European doctrine to be that all soil,
are more or less calcareous—but also, that they’
apply the same general character to the soils oj
the United States, without expressing a doubt of
naming an exception.

Ist. Froma “Treatise on Agriculture,” (ass
cribed to General Armstrong,) published in the
American Farmer. [ Vol. 1 page 153.}

“ Of six or eight substances, which chemisti
“have denominated earths, four. are widely and
abundantly diffused, and form the crust of ou
globe. ‘These are silica, alumina, lime, ana
magnesia.”’—‘In a pure or isolated state, these
earths are wholly unproductive; but when ded
composed and mixed, and to this mixture ij
added the residuum of dead animal or vegetabli’
matter, they become fertile, and take the ge
neral name of soils, and are again denominatec
after the earth that most abounds in their com)
“ position respectively.—” |

2. Address of R. H. Rose to the Agricultura:
Society of Susquehanna. [4m. Far. Vol. I. p:
101.) |

“ Geologists suppose our earth to have beer:
masses of rock of various kinds, but principally
silicious, aluminous, calcareous, and magnesiar
—from the gradual attrition, decay, and mixture
of which, together with an addition of vege-
table and animal matter, is formed the soil; anc
this is called sandy, clayey, calcareous, or mag:
nesian, according as the particular primitive ma.
‘“ terial preponderates in its formation.”

3. Address of Robert Smith to the Maryland
Agricultural Society. L4m. Far. Vol. HID p.228.)

Ke The soils of our country are in general
“clay, sand, gravel, clayey loam, sandy loam,
‘Cand gravelly loam. Clay, sand, and gravel,
“need no description, &c.”’—‘‘ Clayey loam is a

quire many and long extracts, too bulky to include
here, and which cannot be fairly abridged, or ex-

“ compound soil, consisting of clay, and sand ot
“ gravel, with a mixture of calcareous matter, and

hibited by a iew examples. No authorsays direct- |“ in which clay is predominant. Sandy, or gra-

predominant.”

fil theory of the formation of soils, which is re-
aived as correct by the most eminent agricultu-
sts of Kurope. How far it may be supported or

gredients of Huropean soils, is not for me to
scide, nor is the consideration necessary to my
Ybject. But the adoption of this general theory,
American writers, without excepting Ameri-
mn soils, is an indirect, but complete application
» them, of the same character and coniposition.
he writer last quoted, states positively that the
arious loams, (which comprise at least nineteen-
ventieths of our soils, and I presume also of the
pils of Maryland,) contain caleareous matter.
he expression of this opinion by Mr. Smith, is
ifficient to prove that such was the fair and plain
duction from his general reading on agriculture,
om which source only could his opinions have
een derived. If the soils of Maryland are not
ery unlike those ol Virginia, I will venture to as-
art, that not one in a thousand of all the clayey,
indy, and cravelly loams, contains the smallest
portion of carbonate of lime—and that not a
ngle specimen of calcareous soil can be found,
etween the falls of the rivers, and the most eas-
rn body of limestone.
| But though the direct testimony of European
uthors, (as cited in the essay,) concurs with the
direct proofs referred to in this note, to induce
alcareous earth, yet statements may be found of
ome particular soils being considered of that cha-
acter. ‘These statements, even if presented by
ne authors of general treatises, would only seem
> present exceptions to their general rule of the
Imost universal diffusion of calcareous earth in
oil. But so far as I know, no such exceptions
re named in the descriptions of soils in any gene-
al treatise, and therefore have not the slightest
fect in contradicting or modifying their testimony
nthis subject. It is in the description of soils of
ardcular farms, or districts, that some such state-
gents are made: and even if no such examples
fad been mentioned, they would not have been
ieeded to prove the existence, in Europe, of some
oils like most of ours, destitute of calcareous
arth. ‘These facts do not oppose my argument. I
lave not asserted, (nor believed, since I have en-
leavored to investigate this subject,) that there
Vere not soils, and perhaps many extensive dis-
Mets, containing no calcareous earth.” My areu-
hent merely maintains that these facts would not
ie inferred, but the contrary, by any general and
ursory reader of the agricultural treatises of Hu-
ope, that we are best acquainted with. It has
lot been my purpose to inquire as to the existence,
tT extent, of soils of this kind in Europe. But
udging from the indirect testimony furnished by
iccounts of the mineral and vegetable produc-
ions in general descriptions of diflerent countries,
would suppose that soils having no calcareous
‘arth were lien found in Scotland and the north-
ra part-of Germany, and that they were compar-
“ively rare in fingland and France.

The first two extracts merely state the geologi-

ie belief that soils are very rarely destitute of

PART IJTI—APPENDIX.

velly loam, is a compound soil, consisting of
sand or gravel, and clay, with a mixture of cal-
careous matter, and in which sand or gravel is

dposed by the actual constitution, and number of

793

[NOTE E. Page 18.]
DIRECTIONS FOR ANALYZING MARL, AND
OTEER CALCAREOUS SUBSTANCES.

It is unnecessary here to describe Professor
Davy’s apparatus for measuring the carbonic acid
gas evolved from any given quantity of calcareous
soil, (and of course of marl,) and thus ascertain-
ing the proportion of the carbonate of lime con-
tained. Without a plate, the description could
not be made plain—and the expense of’ the appa-
ratus would be a sufficient prohibition of the pur-
chase to every reader who cannot, easily refer to
the original description in the Elements of Agri-
cultural Chemistry.

Prof: W. B. Rogers, has recently invented, and
has used successfully, a much cheaper apparatus,
and which for trials of very small quantities of marl,
is also much more correct. His description of’ this
apparatus will be copied from the Farmers’ Re-
gister, Vol. II. p. 364.

“The apparatus which Iam about to describe, is
intended to give greater accuracy and facility to
the usual process for determining the quantity of
carconic acid in marl, orin any of the carbonates.
By the common method, the two vessels contain-
ing severally the marl and the muriatic acid are
placed in one of the scales of a delicate balance,
and there counterpoised by weights put into the
other scale. ‘The acid is then poured upon the
marl, and afier all the carbonic acid has been dis-
charged, the equilibrium is restored by adding
weights fo one, or abstracting them from the other
scale. In principle, this method is entirely free
from objection: but as usually conducted, it cannot
be relied upon as accurate. This want of preci-
sion arises, in the first place, from the escape of
aqneous vapor, along with the carbonic acid which
is discharged, thus making a greater weight ne-
cessary for restoring the equilibrium, than is due
to the quantity of carbonic acid which has escaped
—and secondly, from the greater weieht of the
vessels containing the marl and acid impairing
the sensibility of the balance, and thus rendering
it impossible -to estimate the carbonic acid to small
fractions of a grain. ‘The first of these objections
has long been obviated in. the chemical analysis
of the carbonates, by causing the gas, asit escapes,
to pass through a tube containing dried muriate of
lime; and the latter has been in some measure re-
moved, by a contrivance of the great »practical
chemist Rose; which, however, as it is inconve-
nient and uncertain in the manipulation, [ shail not
here describe.

“The apparatus which I have devised, is, Ithink,
free from these objections, and enables the opera-
tor to proceed with great accuracy and despatch.
It has the advantage of being very easily con-
structed, and of being used with a balance that
can be procured at a very moderate price. More-
over, the quantity of marl which is necessary for
experiment in no case exceeding ten grains, spe-
cimens for analysis may very easily be forwarded
by leiter.

“Phe balance which I use with this apparatus,
is asmall goldsmith’s balance—such as may be
procured for a few dollars in New York. Itis very
light, and turns, when unloaded, with the ;4,th of

106

fa grain. My set of weights obtained from Mil-

76

lington in Philadelphia, extends to tenths and hun-
dredths of the grain.

“The accompanying figure will convey a distinct
idea of the apparatus and mode of using it. “One
of the scales is removed to admit of suspending
the apparatus by a double thread over the hook of
the beam. The other is made of something light,
asa piece of card. In this way all unnecessary
weight upon. the beam is avoided, and its sensi-
bility preserved.

ist

—=—s

“A, isalight bulb of glass, blown very thin from
acommon piece of tube, and about one inch in
diameter. A corkis fitted toits mouth, and threuch |
this, the tapered ends of the bent glass tubes, B |
and C, are passed air tieht; the extremity of the |
latter extending some distance into the vessel. The
tube B, through which the gas escapes, is filled
with fragments of muriate of lime. The tube C, |
which contains the muriatic acid, is furnished with |
a light piston of cork or cotton, in the centre of
which is fixed a rod or handle, made of a small
stiff straw. This instrument, when charged with |
marl and acid, does not weigh more than 120
grains. The whole load of the beam is therefore |
240 grains, and it is still sensible to the 2, th of a
grain.

“The mode of procecding with the analysis is as
follows. Five or ten grains of the finely powdered
marl is introduced into the vessel A, and then two
or three drops of water added, to ass'st the diffu-
sion of the acid. The small end of the tube C,
new removed from the cork, is dipped into some
muriatic acid in a wine glass, and the piston
moved backwards and forwards until the necessary
quantity of acid has been drawn in. The tube is
then replaced in the cork, and in this state the in-
sirument is counterpoised by weights in the oppo-
sitescale. The piston being then gradually forced
in, the acid is injected, drop by drop, upon the marl,
and the gas escapes by the tube B, depositing the
aqueous vapor in its passage, on the muriate of
lime. Allowing the apparatus to rest until the
gas has entirely escaped, and the decomposition is
complete, the equilibrium is restored by placing
weights upon the clear top olf'the cork, or by re-
moving weights from the scale. In this way the
weight of the disengaged gas is accurately deter-
mined, and the proportion of carbonate of lime
thence computed.

“An analysisof aspecimenof mar! from James
City, just completed, will serve as an illustration
of the method. ‘Ten grains of’ the finely powdered
marl was introduced with a little water into the
vessel A, the instrument was then charged and
equipoised. The acid being injected, the whole
was allowed to rest for an hour. ‘The weight
lost was 2.91 grains. Increasing this in the ratio

rk,

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

; chemical terms and -processes.

of 44 to 100, gives 6.61 grains of carbonate of lime

in the 10 grains of marl—or almost precisely
per cent. i
“The frequent calls upon me for the analysis 6)
specimens of marl, first led me to the construe
tion of this apparatus; and I have since found
so convenient and accurate, that [can recomme
its adoption to such of your readers as may h
a taste for chemical inquiries connected with ag!
riculture. Any ordinary workeg in glass will cof
struct the instrument, and skill in manipulatin
with it may be soon and easily acquired. 4
WM. B. ROGERS.” |

The principle upon which the apparatus work
is the same as that of the more expensive any
complicated apparatus of Davy, (described in ht
Agricultural Chemistry) which I had previousk
considered the best—that is by separating alll
ascertaining the weicht of the carbonic acid com}
bined wiih the lime of the manure, Every hur!
dred grains of calcareous earth or carbonate (}
lime, is composed always of similar proportions (
lime and of carbonic acid—which proportions,
weight, are 56 parts of lime, and 44 of carbon}
acid. Of course, if we know how much weig
is lostin 100 grains of earth partly of carbonate t}
lime, (as marl,) by driving off its carbonic acit
the rule of proportion will show what was th]
amount of carbonate of lime contained in the san
ple of earth. {
When the muriatic acid reaches the earth 1}
tie bulb, it immediately combines with the lime bj
its greater attraction, and the weaker (carboni¢)
acid is disengaged in the form of was, and escape}
into the air through the tube containing the dil
muriate of lime—which substance attracts mot}
ture so powerfully, as to retain all that mig
otherwise pass out with the gas. ‘The same mt
riate of lime will serve for many experiments, é}
by being heated in the tube, its dryness is restore}
previous to every trial, This salt is formed by tk}
combination of muriatic acid with lime—and thera}
fore every experimenter may provide it for himse}}
by filtering and evaporating the fluid left in thl
process of decomposing carbonate of lime. |
Mr. Rogers has since informed me that a smé
portion of dry and lightly carded cotton wiil serv}
as well as the muriate of lime for arresting th)
moisture.
The mode of analyzing by solution and precij}
itation, though not to be trusted for operation
where great exactness is required, and althoug!
much more troublesome than the using of eithi
Davy’s or Rogers’ apparatus, is sufficiently co
rect for testing the strength of marl: and it hig}
the advantage of requiring no apparatus, exce ff
a glass funnel, some blotting paper, and a set
small physic scales and weights—and no oth)
tests than muriatic acid and carbonate of potash
all of which may be cbtained at any apothecary)
shop. The directions which follow, will be give
with so much minuteness, that any attentive reai
er may both understand and follow them in pra
tice, though totally unacquainted previously wi
These direction§
also first appeared in the Farmers’ Register, Vi
[. p. 609. ; j
“Ist. Take alamp of marl, fossil shells, &
large enouch to furnish a fair sample of the pai
ticular body under consideration—dry it perfectli}
near the fire—pound the whole to a coarse poy)
der (in a metal mortar,) and mix the whole t

|

PART III—APPENDIX.

77

ther. Take from the mixture a small sample,
hich reduce to a finely divided state, and weigh
it acertain portion, say 50 grains, for trial.

2nd. Tothis known quantity ina glass, pour
»wly and at different times, muriatic acid diluted
th three or four times its bulk of water—(any
ccept limestone, or hard water.) The acid
ill dissolve all the lime in the calcareous earth,
1d let loose the carbonic acid with which it was
eviously combined, in the form of gas, or air,
hich causes the effervescence, which so plainly
arks the progress of such solution. The addi-
on of the muriatic acid, must be continued as
ng as it produces effervescence; and but very
tle, after that effect has ceased. The mixture
ould be well and often stirred, and should have
nough excess of acid to be sour after standing
irty or forty minutes. (So much of the acid as
e lime combines with, loses its sour taste, as
rell as its other peculiar qualities.)

§ 3rd. The mixture now consists of 1. the lime
ombined chemically with muriatic acid, forming
uriate of lime, which is a salt, and which is dis-

cid, mixed with the fluid—and 3. the sand, clay

aarl. ‘To separate the solid from the fluid and
‘uble parts, is the next step required.
Take a piece of filtering or blotting paper,
Gout six or eight inches square, (some spongy
nd unsized newspapers serve well,) fold it so as
fit within a glass funnel, which will act better
“its inner surface is fluted. Pour water first into
he filter, so as to see whether it is free from any
ole, or defect—if the filtering paper operates well,
hrow out the water, and pour into it the whole
nixture. ‘The fluid will slowly pass throuch into
igiass under the funnel, leaving on the filter all
he solid parts, on which, water must be poured
mnce or twice, so as to wash out, and convey to
he solution, every remaining particle of the dis-
solved lime.
| 4th. The solid matter left, after being thus
washed, must be taken out of the funnel on the
aper, and carefully and thoroughly dried—then
scraped off the paper and weighed. The weight,
say 27 grains, being deducted from the original
quantity, 50, would make the part dissolved (50—
27—23,) 54°, of the whole. And such may be
taken as very nearly the proportion of calcareous
earth (or carbonate of lime) in the compound ex-
amined. 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 foregoing state-
ment to ;4,4, of carbonate of lime.
5th. But itis 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, (salts of tartar.)
The first effect of the alkaline substance thus add-
ed, 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
carbonate of potash, (showing it to remain in ex-

Ived in the water—2. a small excess of muriatic |

nd any other insoluble parts of the sample of

cess,) the whole must be poured on another filter-
ine paper, and (as before, ) the solid matter repeat-
edly washed by pouring on water, then dried,
scraped off, and weighed. ‘This will be the actual
proporuon of the calcareous part of the sample,
except, perhaps a loss of one or two grains in the
hundred. ‘The loss, therefore, in this part of the
process apparently lessens, as the loss in the earlier
part increases the statement of the strength of the
manure. ‘Fhe whole may be supposed to stand
thus—

27 grains of sand and clay.

21 of carbonate of lime.

2 of loss.

If the loss be divided between the carbonate of
lime and the other worthless parts of the manure,
it will make the proportions 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 manures of this nature.
Magnesia is never found (1 believe.) in the col-
lections of fossil shells—nor have F known of its
presence in any of the earthy manures, except
limestone, and the magnesian mat! lately diseover-
edin Hanover. If any considerable proportion of
carbonate of magnesia should be present in marl
tried by the foregoing method, it may be suspect-
ed by the eflervescence being very slow, compared
to that of carbonate of Jime alone: and the pro-
portions of these two earths may be ascertained
as follows. ‘The magnesia as well as the lime
would be dissolved by the muriatic acid, (applied
as above directed, ) but the magnesia would not
be precipitated with the carbonate of lime, but
would remain dissolved in the alkaline solution,
last separated by filtering. If this liquor is peured
intoa Florence flask, and boiled for a quarter ofan
hour, the carbonate of magnesia will fali to the
bottom, and may then be separated by filtering
and washing, and its quantity ascertained, by be-
ing dried and weighed, This part of the process
may be easily added to the foregoing—but it will
very rarely be required.” ?

If desired; the proportions of silicious and alu-
minous earth may be ascertained, with enough
truth for practical use, by stirring well these parts
(minutely divided,) ina 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 alaminous earth, or pure
elay, pass off with the water—and each may be
collectedand dried onfiltering paper, and weighed.

=—=5) 05

[NOTE F. Page 27.]

PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF ACID SOILS,
FURNISHED BY THE RECENT RESEARCHES
OF CHEMISTS.

The 7'raité de Chimie isa French translation
by Esslinger, of the voluminous and_ valuable
work of the great Swedish chemist Berzelius.
The original work and the French translation
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

78

ON CALCAREOUS. MANURES.

work had been sent to the press at Stockholm.
The sixth volume of the French translation, from
which the following extract is translated into Eng-
lish, was printedin 1832. It is not known wheth-
er the original work is in this country.

The following passages contain the opinions of |
Berzelius, and of other chemists, on humin, and
humie acids, or as called here, geine and geic acid,
and which were rejerred to in the quotation from
Rennie, at page 28. It will be left to the reader
to decide, how far my views of acid soils are sup-
ported by these 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 Berzelius.

Extracts translated from the Trae de Chimie.

PRODUCTS OF PUTREFACTION
FACE OF

Mould [terreau.]

AT THE SUR-|

THE EARTH.

The veectable matters which rot at the surface
of the earih, finish by leaving a blackish brown |
pulverulent mass, which has received the name
of mould, [humus.]

All the vegetation of a year, which dies
at the arrival of winter, is converted by de-
grees to mould, which is mixed-with the earth in
which the plant grew: whence it comes that the
extreme surface of the earth contains a greater or
less proportion of mouid, which serves fur the nu-
triment of the succeeding growth of plants. This
mould, such as itis found in the earth, is often
mingled wiih the products ofa less advanced putre-
faction, or even with vegetable paris not changed,
principally, a great quantity of small roots. It)
we examine the mould, such as it is found in cul- |
tivated soils, it is found to be in a mass very much
mixed; but it is always possible to extract the
parts which characterize mould.

Daring the transformation of the vegetable
matters to mould, the first portion of their mass is
changed into a brownish black substance, which
presents all the characters of apotheme,* when we
have separated from it the unaltered extract, which
the apotheme draws with it. The salts of such |
acids as are of oreanic origin, contained in the ve-
getable matter, are destroyed, so that the elements
of the acid are resolved into water and carbonic
acid, whilst the base is combined with the sub-
stance analogous to apotheme, which makes part
of the mould. The salts of acids of mineral ori-
gin are preserved, unless they are soluble, in which
case the raincarries them off. In addition, mould
contains a substance but slightly soluble in water, |
vhich colors the liquid yellow, and acarbonaceous |
substance which is entirely insoluble, and which |
appears to be one of the products of a destraction, |
sfill more advanced, of organic matters.

To give an example of a completed formation
of a mould of vegetable origin, I shall here state
the results of an analysis to which Bracannot sub-
mitted some wheat, which had remained during

|

* What Berzelius calls apotheme, is ‘a deposite
slightly soluble in water, produced in an aqueous solu-
tion of vegetable extract during slow evaporation, and

| form, and the briehtness of their outside skin;

/potash lie took up any thing.

[similar to apotheme.

| names.
| soluble in water, and I will give the name of geine*}

containing a larger proportion of carbon, than does an
egual weight of extract.” !

many centuries ina damp vault, the issues ff
which were stopped up by earth, and of whi
the existence was forgotten, until by chance it 1
again discovered. The grains had preserved t

they were black, and were reduced by the slightest!
pressure to a black powder. The water with}!
which they were boiled was colored yellow, anda}!
lefi, after being evaporated, a saline mass of 7?
brownish yellow, which burnt with slight explo
sion when heated, and which, besides the sub
stance cited, soluble in water, contained nitrate 0 |
potash, nitrate of lime, and a Jittle of the muriate
of potash and of lime. The nitrates were th
result of the oxydation of the nitrogen containee?
in the gluten and vegetable albumen, and of thi?
combination of the nitric acid thus produced, with
the bases previously combined with vegetabk
acids. The weight of this mass soluble in water}
including the salts and all the other principles, di
not exceed 14 per cent. of the weight of the blac ii
grain. When the part insoluble in water waif
boiled in alcohol, a small trace of a brown subi
stance was taken up, which remained after evapo
rating the alcohol, and hadthe consistence of wax
The mass, exhausted of its soluble paris by boil}
ing water and alcohol, was then heated slowly!
vith a weak solution of caustic potash, which bed
came saturated and colored of a blackish brown
and this treatment was continued as long as new)
This substance!
was precipitated from the solution by an acid: 1
was the body similar to apotheme which has al!
ready been mentioned, and of which the weigh
amounted to 263 per cent. ‘The portion of matter
insoluble in the alkali preserved the same appear
ance. ‘This exposed to the action of diluted mu
riatic aeid, yielded to it a certain quantity of limes
of oxide of iron, and of phosphate of lime. ‘Tha
residue was again acted on by potash, which tooh
up anew and very large proportion of the bods
This was, ailer that, combinec}
with lime, and resisted in that state the action of
potash. This calcareous combination amountee
to 42 hundredths. The 30: per cent. remaining
consisted of a black carbonaceous matter, insoluble}
in the solvent used.
If cultivated soil is treated in the same manner
similar results will be cbtained, with this difference
that the earthy matter of the soil is found mixed]
with the products which are obtained, whilst nej
soluble salts are met with, they being generally)
earried off by the rains.
To describe the constituent principles of mould!
it is necessary to designate them by pariiculan
I will then call extract ef mould the body!

io the matter similar to apotheme, which consti-i
tutes the principal mass of mould. As to the
coally substance insoluble in water, alcohol, acids
and alkalis, 1 will designate it by the name ol
carbonaceous mould.

Extract of mould.

We obtain. this substance by drawing it from
the mould by the action of cold water, which be-|
comes thereby colored yellow, and which leaves’
afier evaporation, a yellow extract of a bitter taste;
and from which some geine is separated when it

i

*Or humin, as termed by other authors.

- PART IIJ—APPENDIX.

ae a

again acted on by water. If this solution is
to evaporate spontaneously, in contact with
it becomes covered with an insoluble pellicle,
l when a certain degree of concentration has
n reached, the liquor becomes turbid. ‘The
ution is precipitated by the salts of tin and of
4: after the precipitation, the liquor is without
or. According to Korte, the sulphuretted hy-
gen gas precipitates it also. This extractive
iter is contained in the water of many springs
streams. The water of the springs of Poria
Westrogotha, contains so great a quantity that
colored yellow. When the iron contained in

s water-is oxydized {rom the air, the extract of

uld is precipitated with the oxide of iron, and
| water becomes clear.

Geine.

his substance has received diflerent names.
acannot has given to it the name of win, tor
sons which I have exhibited and opposed in a
mer part of this work. Dobereiner and Spren-
gave toit the name of acid of humus, because
sombines with the earths and alkalis. But for
)same reason we might give the name of acid
more than the halt of all vegetable bodies.
yeine does not exist in vegetable earth only;
it contains it also, and’ according to Bracannot,
3 formed when the saw-dust of wood is exposed
the action of caustic potash. It is almost im-
ssible to obtain geine in a state of purity. One
tof the geine which is met with in a natural
te, is in combination with bases; but when we
pmpt to remove these by an acid, the geine
abines in part with the excess of acid, and ac-
res itself (in part) the property of reddening
retable blues. Geine possesses all the proper-
s of apotheme, and it is produced like other
»themes; that is to say, by the action of the air
dissolved extract of mould. In its natural state
joes not act chemically, either like the acids or
alkalis, nor does it have any effect on the color
vegetable blues. It is but sliehtly soluble in
ter, which it colors of a pale yellow; is still less
ble in alcohol, and insoluble in ether. Hx-
sed to the action of heat it takes fire, burns at
t with flame, then without flame like spunk,

eading a peculiar odor, something like that of

Pnine peat. Submitted to dry distillation, it is
Homposed, gives half its weight of a charcoal

ing a metallic lustre, of empyreumatic oil, an
jd water containing acetic acid and sometimes
}monia, some carburetted hydrogen, and a little
}bonic acid gas. UH geine is held suspended in
ter, through which a current of chlorine is pas-
}, this whitens it, and precipitates a white resin-
e substance. T[odine is without action on it.
five add an acid to an alkaline solution of geine,
geine is precipitated. Ifthe whole of the
Ine is not precipitated, that part which is pre-

tated retains in combination a small portion of’

»base, and leaves, when it is burnt, a small
intity of alkaline ashes. If; on the contrary,
texcess of acid is poured into the alkaline solu-
1, the liquor is discolored, and the precipitated
ine strongly reddens vegetable blues, a property
hich cannot be removed by placing the geine on
Iter, and pouring water upon it. So long as
4 liquor which passes through the filter contains
2 acid, it is not colored; then it begins to be
yored, and finally it dissolves as much as two-

| geine with a little nitrate of silver.

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 atiributed to a combination of
the geine with the precipitated acid. According
to Minhoff, it is the latter case which is really pre-

sented, 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 muriatic acid, he has mixed the washed
After evapo-
ration to dryness, and calcination, the residue,
treated by nitric acid, was dissolved, without leav-
ing any muriate of silver. But as muriate of
silver, like the other salts of silver, is reduced to a
metallic state by bodies containing carbon and
hydrogen, and carbon itself eflects the same
change when disengaged along with water, this
result proves nothing. In general, in the descrip-
tions of @eine, they have attributed the properties
of that which has been changed by the action of
an alkali, te 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 combi-
nation is precipitated anew by acids, excepting
the carbonic, and the sulphuretted hydrogen. Col-
lected-upon a filter, it is presented under the form
of a gelatinous mass, of a taste slightly acid, as-
trmgent—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 compleiely 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 gelatine, albumen, starch, gum,
tannin, or solution-of soap. According to Bracan-
not, it is precipitated by a mixture of the solution
of gelatine and. gallic acid. ‘Phe dried geine is

idissolved with difficulty, and incompletely, in al-

coho]. The solution reddens vegetable blues,
whilst the part not dissolved is without this power,
though it still preserves the property of combining
with potash. Geine is destroyed by concentrated
acids. The sulphuric acid dissolves it, taking at
the same time a black color, carbonizing it, disen-

| gaging sulphurous acid gas, and leaving for resi-

due the ordinary produets 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 de-
composes geing, with a disengagement of nitric
oxide gas, and carbonic acid gas. If the solution
is evaporated to the consistence of sirop, 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 alkalis.
When an excess of geine is used, the caustic al-
kalis 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 liquor-
ice, apotheme, and other bodiesnot acid. During
the evaporation, the solution furnishes a_ black
mass, which acquires lustre by complete drying,
and splits, and is easily reduced toa powder. It

80

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

is re-dissolved in water, 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 trans-
formed, half into geates, half into. bi-carbonates.
When the solution is boiled, the bi-carbonate is
decomposed with diseneagement 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 neutralized geate of ammonia.
The solution of geine in caustic potash in excess,
absorbs oxygen from the air, and at the end of
some time, the alkati is in part carbonated.

Geine forms with the alkaline earths pulverulent
combinations but little soluble, which have an ex-
ternal resemblance to geine. The best means for
obtaining them, is to mix a solution of the geate
of ammonia, with the solution 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. Inthe humid state, these
compounds are slightly soluble in water. Accord-
ing to the experiments of Sprengel, one part of
geate of barytes is dissolved in 5200 parts of water,

one part of geate of lime is soluble in 2000 parts of |

water, and one part of geate of magnesia, in 160
parts of water, cold. ‘These same compounds re-

quire 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 super-salt. 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 alkalis, and in the carbonate of am-
monia. Other chemists have not arrived at the
same result; and according to them, the geate of
potash, acted on by the hydrate of lime, precipi-
tates allthe geine. The geate of alumina is pre-
cipitated when a solution of alum is mixed witha
solution of geate of potash, or of ammonia. ‘This
compound is dissolved in 4200 parts of cold water.
In the moist staie it is dissolved easily, and in abun-
dance, 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 ammonia with hydrate of alumina. *

Carbonaceous mould.

The substance to which this name has been
given has been but litthke examined. It is inso-
luble in alkaline liquors. Its color is a brown,
almost black. Placed in contact with a body
in combustion, it takes fire, and burns with-
out 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, 1t becomes by slow de-
grees soluble in alkalis. ‘The acids precipitate it

from the alkaline solution, in the state of
geine. | When cold, the sulphuric acid ha
little effect on it. According to Bracannot,
nitric acid converts it, at a gentle heat, to a br
liquor, in which water produces a precipitate
chocolate color, which possesses the propertie
acid geine, and is dissolved without residue, in
alkalis.

4
j

It is the mixture of these several. substane
with the upper layer of the surface of the ear
which constitutes the vegetable earth, or soil, p)
perly so called. Arable land is a bed of this s¢
placed upon a bed of earth which contains”
mould. Its fertility depends upon the quantity,
mould which it contains. Growing plants e¢
tinually diminish the quantity of geine contair
in the soil; and. when the plants are carried |
from the soil on which they grew, which happe
almost always with cultivated land, it is fina
exhausted to that degree as to produce nothiy
It is on this account that it is necessary to man)
land. The matters discharged and left by anima
or the barn-yard manure which is used fort
purpose, are by degrees converted into geine, é
thus replace the matters dissipated by vegetatit
Botanists who have directed their attention to ||
vetable physiology, have remarked that the pla
vegetate well enough without geine, unul ©
time arrives for them to commence their sex)
junctions. But as soon as these are ended, i
the fruit begins to be developed, the plants abs:
/a great quantity of the nutritive principles ¢
tained in the soil, and if these are not in the s,
the flower falls without forming any fruit. T]
experiments to which Th. de Saussure has s;
initted soil, [terre vegetale] appear to demonstilf
that the three constituent principles of mould, ni}
|be converted the one to the. other, under
alternately preponderating influence of air}
water. Water converts to the eatract of mouif
part of the insoluble gene contained in the soil, ,
this transformation extends more -and more,
that finally the greater part of the geine becop
soluble. In contact with the air, the dissol/f
matter passes again to the state of geine. ‘Ff
carbonaceous mould which changes a part of)
air into carbonic acid, is itself changed by air’
geine, and into the extract of mould, and it is ul
this transformation that appear to depend in}
the advantages derived from the tillage of the»
which is divided by the action of the plough, |
exposed to the immediate influence of the air. ff
this manner all the parts of the soil contribut/
nutrition; whilst it is probable that the solutio
the extract of mould, that of the geate of lil
and perhaps also that of the geate of aluminer
immediately absorbed by the roots. — Durin;
heavy rain, this solution penetrates the inte:
and often to very deep beds of the steril earth;
notwithstanding that, it is not lost to veget|#
life: for the roots of trees seek it, and bring it 1}
as matter suitable for their nourishment.

Experience has- demonstrated that quickl#
and the carbonate of lime, mingled with the?
favor the vegetation produced thereon. Chem
has not yet explained, in a satisfactory mar
the power which lime thus exerts; however,
known that when the soil contains this alk

Soil [terre végétale.]

earth, or, in its place, ashes only, the moul|

PART IIT—APPENDIX.

8]

uickly consumed, and vegetation becomes more
ch in proportion. It has thence been concluded
at lime acts, partly in exciting the plant to great-
activity, and partly in rendering more soluble
Me principles of the soil, which are absorbed by
he roots when dissolved in the water which the
arth has imbibed. Lime is not then a true [or
‘imentary] manure. It contributes only to pro-
rote and hasten the absorption of the principles
hich serve to nourish the plant; and that lime
ay be serviceable, it is necessary to introduce
to the soil, improved by lime, materials proper
furnish new quantities of mould. ‘The lime, or
ne alkali contained in ashes, acts also in hastening
Bie change of organic matters to mould.
It is known by experience, that gypsum also
uoments the fertility of the earth, especially when
®euminous plants are cultivated. It is not proba-
le that this neutral salt acts in the same manner
BS lime, and we are ignorant of what is its mode
e acting.
B Soil [terre végétale] possesses the property of
ing able to retain as much as three-fourths of
§s weight of water without appearing moist, and
e charcoal, it condenses atmospheric humidity.
t owes this property to the geine which it con-
Bins, which is one of the substances which, of all
Bnown, absorbs moisture with most energy.
Tould [terreaw] can absorb double its weight of
vater, without appearing moist; and after being
ried, it draws from the air, in less than twenty-
our hours, a quantity of water, which may vary
ecording to the humidity of the atmosphere, from
0 to 100 per cent. of its weight. This property
epends upon its light and dust-like consistence;
nd geine, of which the fracture becomes vitreous
om its course of chemical treatment, is deprived
this physical property, which is of the utmost
mportance to vegetable life. For, in consequence
this property, mould retains water in the earth
nd obstructs its evaporation; and it is probably
ais water which maintains the extremities of the
dots in the state to perform their functions.

It is usual to divide soil into fertile earth, and
cid earth.* The first is very common—the se-
ond presents itself but rarely. It produces no-
ing, unless it be mosses: it is in marshy places
hat it is ordinarily found. It is in general com-
osed in the same manner as fertile earth; but
vhilst in the latter the geine is united with lime,

d perhaps with other bases besides, it is, in the
icid earth, combined with acids, which, according
0 Hinhof, are the phosphoric and acetic acids. It
s for this reason that it has the property of red-
lening vegetable blues, and that it gives, by cal-
imation, ashes which contain phosphoric acid.
To dry distillation, it yields a great quantity of an

*It is not a little strange to say it is ‘‘uswal [dans
usage] to divide soils into fertile earth and acid earth,”
vhen the acid nature of any, has been treated by Ber-
elius as a new discovery, and of which the truth is
lot admitted by all of those who had taken the sub-
ect into consideration. If this division had indeed
een usual, there would have been no want of numer-
us authorities (whatever might be their value) for
he acidity of soil.

ll

jacid 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 Kinhof, Sprengel af=
firms 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 arid* soil taken from
the plain of Eckerud in the government of Elfs-
burg in Sweden, and found that the geine had
there combined with the malic, acetic, and phos-
phoric acids. The dissolving of the soluble prin-
ciples of the soil in boiling water, left to be de-
posited, 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 caleareous salts.
This residue was treated by alcohol, which took
up a ceriain 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 of 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 phosphate
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 pre-
cipitated 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 cf lime. 'These experiments con-
firm those given by Kinhof.

An arid* soil becomes fertile when there is
mixed with it lime, orashes and earth, inasmuch
as the soil consists principally of geine. The re- -
port of Sprengel, according to which, it [this cha-
racter of soil] is produced in consequence 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 to the acid na-
ture of the geine. The ashes of arid* soil always
contain a great quantity of silex.

*'Phis is still more strange, that so abrupt a transla-
tion should be made from acid, to avd soils—and in such
manner as to induce the belief that the change was not
owing to the author—but to an error of the press. But
though this mistake would be as likely to occur in
French as almost any other, (only one letter be-
ing different in the words acide and aride—) still it is
difficult to believe that this same error should have
been made and left to stand three times in this and the
next page, where “arid” soils are named, and are
marked * as above. The French translation is said to
contain numerous typographical errors. I leave others
to decide whether these are among the number or not.

82

[NOTE G. Page 35.]

THE STATEMENTS OF BRITISH AUTHORS ON
MARL, GENERALLY INCORRECT AND CON-
TRADICTORY.

Custom compels me to apply improperly the
name mari to our deposites of fossil shells. But
as I have defined the manuring by this substance,
which is called marling, to be simply making a
soil calcareous, or more so than it was before, any
term used for that operation would serve, if its
meaning was always kept in view. Butthis term,
unfortunately, i is of old and frequent use in Eng-
lish books, with very different meanings. 'T he
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 contain-
ing 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 valu-
able part of the manure—and that in many cases
the reader is left in doubt whether the manure has
served to increase, or diminish, or has not altered
materially, the amount of the former calcareous in-
gredient 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 me to express
dissent in every case, or to point out the errors or
uncertainty of facts, or of reasoning, which will
so abundantly appear.

1. Kirwan, on the authority of Arthur Young,
and the Bath Memoirs, [1783] states that

“in some parts of England, where husbandry is suc-
cessfully practised, any loose clay is called marl: in
others, marl 2s called chalk, and in others, clay is called
loam.”—Kirwan on Manures, p. 4.

2. The learned and practical Miller thus de-
fines and describes marl, in the abridement of the
Gardener’s Dictionary, fifth London edition, at
the article marl.

«“Marl is a kind of clay which is become fatter and
of a more enriching quality, by. a better fermentation,
and by its having lain so deep in the earth as not to
have spent or weakened its fertilizing quality by any
product. Marls are of different qualities in different
counties of England.—”

He then names and describes ten varieties, most
of them being very minutely 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 lit-
tle lumps of chalk or limestone’’—and “clay- marl;
this resembles clay, and is pretty near akin to it, but is
fatter, and sometimes mixed with chalk stones.

“The properties of any sorts of marls, by which the

oodness of them may be best known, are better
Judged of by their purity and uncompoundedness,
than theircolor: as if it will break in pieces like dice,
or into thin flakes, or is smooth like lead ore, and is
without a mixture of gravel or sand; if it will shake
like slatestones, and shatter after wet, or will tumble

ON CALCAREOUS ‘MANURES..—

into dust, when it has been exposed to the sun;
will not hang and stick together when it is thoroug
dry, like tough clay; but is fat and tender, and y
open the land it is laid on, and not bind; it may b,
taken for granted that it will be beneficial to it.”

3. Johnson’s Dictionary (Octavo edition) de)
fines marlin precisely the words of the first sen;
tence of Miller, as quoted above. |

4. Walker’s Dictionary (Octavo edition) give)
only the following definition—“marl—a kind ¢
clay much used for manure.”

5. d Practical Treatise on Husbandry, (2n%
London edition 4to, 1762,) which professes to bj
principally compiled from the writings of Duha,
mel, Evelyn, Home, and Miller, supplies the fol
lowing quotations.

«But of all the manures for sandy soils, none is yl
good as marl. There are many different kinds ani
colors of it, severally distinguished by many writen’
but their virtue is the same; they may be all use!
upon the same ground, without the smallest ditferenc)
in their effect. The color is either red, brown, yet
low, grey, or mixed. It it to be known by its put
and uncompounded nature. ‘There are many markst
distinguish it by; such as its breaking into little squau,
bits; its falling easily into pieces, by the force of |
blow, or upon ‘being exposed to the sun and the fras:
its feeling fat and oily, and shining when ’tis dry. Bo
the most unerring way to judge of marl, and know )
from any other substance, is to break a piece as bigé ‘
a nutmeg, and when it is quite dry, drop it into)
glass of ‘clear w ater, where, if it be right, it will diti
solve and crumble, as it were, to dust, ‘in a little tima
shooting up sparkles to the surface of the water.
p- 27.

—Not the slightest hint is here of any calcareov
ingredient being necessary, or even serving }
any manner to distinguish marl. But afterward:
in another part of this work, when shell marl!
slightly noticed, it is said, |

‘this effervesces strongly with all ae which is pe‘
haps chiefly owing to the shells. There are very gow
marls which show nothing of this effervescence: an
therefore the author of the New System of Agricultw)
judged right in making its solution in water the dil
tinguishing mark.”’—p. 29.

The last sentence declares, as clearly as ani
words could do, that, in the opinion of the authi
no calcareous ingredient is necessary, either
constitute the character, or the value of marl. Ar
though it may be gathered from other parts:
this work, that what is called marl generally co!
tains calcareous earth, yet no importance seen)
attached to that quality; any more than to the pa|
ticular color of the earth, or any other accident’
orimmaterial appearance of some of the varietiv
described.

The “shell marl” alluded to above, without e2)
planation might be supposed to be similar to o»
beds of fossil shells, which are called marl. TT}
two manures are very diflerent in form, appea‘
ance, and value, though agreeing in both bein
caleareous. The manure called shell marl by tl
work last quoted from, is described there wil
sufficient precision, and more fully in several pan
of the Edinburgh Farmer’s Magazine,* and |
the Memoirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural Ss
ciety.— It is still more unlike marl properly |

* See Farmers’ Register, Vol. I. p. 90.
t Vol. 3. p. 206.

alled, than any of the substances described under
vat name, in the foregoing quotations. This
vanure is almost a pure calcareous earth, being
med of the remains of small fresh-water shells
eposited on what were once the bottoms of lakes,
ut which have since become covered with bog or
at soil. If I may judge from our beds of mus-
le shells, (to which this manure seems to bear
ost resemblance, ) much putrescent animal mat-
ris combined with, and serves to give additional
alue to these bodies of shells. This kind of ma-
ure is sold in Scotland by the bushel, at such |
rices, as show that it is very highly prized. It |
eems to be found but in few situations, and |
hough called a kind of marl, is never meant
vhen that term alone is used generally.

The opinions expressed in the foregoing ex-
racts, prove sufficiently that it was not the 1gno-
‘ant cultivators only, who either did not know of,
pr attached no importance to the caleareous ingre-
lient in marl: and it was impossible, that from
ny number of such authors, an American reader
sould learn that either the object, or the effect of
arling, was to render a soil more caleareous—or
{hat our bodies of fossil shells resembled marl in
character, or in operation, as a manure. Of this,
the following quotation will furnish striking proof
—and the more so, as the author refers frequently
o the works of Anderson, and of Young, who
treated of marl and calcareous manures, in a more
scientific mannerthan had been usual. This au-
hor, Bordley, cannot be justly charged with inat-
tention to the instruction to be gained from books:
for his greatest fault, as an agriculturist, is his
ondness for applying the practices of the most
improved husbandry of England, to our lands and
situations, however different and unsuitable—
which he carries to an extent that is ridiculous as
theory, and would be ruinous to the farmer who
should so shape his general practice.

6. “I farmed in acountry [the Eastern Shore of
Maryland] where habits are against a due attention to
manures: but having read of the application of marl
as a manure, I inquired where there was any in the
ee ipsule of the Chesapeake, in vain. My own farm

ada grayish clay, which to the eye was marl: but
‘because it did not effervesce with acids, it was given
bup, when it ought to have been tried on the land, es-
pecially as it rapidly crumbled and fell to mud, in wa-
ter, with some appearance of effervescence.’’—Bord-
ley’s Husbandry, 2nd ed. p. 55.

|
“That peninsula, through which Mr. Bordley in
‘vain inquired for marl, has immense quantities of
‘the fossil shells which we so improperly call by
‘that name. But as his search was directed to marl
as described by English authors—and _ not to cal-
careous earth simply—it is not to be wondered at
‘that he should neither find the former substance,
nor attach enough importance to the latter, to in-
duce the slightest remark on its probable use as
manure.
7. ‘The Practical Treatise on Husbandry,
among the directions for improving 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,
andloam 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 beneficial to land. But as

PART ITI—APPENDIX.

83

these bodies are hard, the improvement is not the first
or second year after they are laid on the ground, be-
cause they require time to pulverize them, before
their salts can mix with the earth to impregnate it.
The consequence of this is, that their manure is last-
ing. 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 long-
er.

“Insome countries fossil shells have been used with
success as manure; but they are not near so full of
salts, as those shells which are taken from the sea
shore; and therefore the latter are always to be prefer-
red. Sea sand is much used as manure in Cornwall.
The best is that which is intimately mixed with
coral.”"—p. 21.

Afier 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 hap-
pen,] gives the heat of lime, and the fatness of oil, to
the land itis 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 so soon as shells, but decaying more gradually,
continues longer to impart its warmth to the juices of
the earth.”

Here are described manures which are known
to be calcareous, which arestrongly recommended
—but solely for their supposed mechanical effect
in separating the parts of close clays, and on ac-
count of the salts derived from sea water, which
they contain. Indeed, no allusion is made to any
supposed value, or even to the presence of calca-
reous earth, which forms so large a proportion of
these manures: and the fossil shells, Gn which
that ingredient is more abundant, more finely re-
duced, and consequently more fit for both imme-
diate and durable effects,) are considered as less
efficacious than solid sea shells—and inferior to
seasand. All these substances, besides whatever
service their salts may render, are precisely the
same kind of caleareous manure, as our beds of
fossil shells furnish in a different form. Yet nei-
ther here nor elsewhere, does the author intimate
that these manures and marl have similar powers
for improving soils. a

The foregoing quotations show what opinions
have been expressed by English writers of repu-
tation—and what opinion would be formed by a
general reader of these and other agricultural
works, of the nature of what is called marl, in
England, as well as what is so named in this part
of our country. I do not mean that other authors
have not thought more correctly, and sometimes
expressed themselves with precision on this sub-
ject. Mineralogists define marl, to be a calcareous
clay*—and in this correct sense, the term is used
by Davy, and other chemical agriculturists. Such
authors as Young, and Sinclair, also could not
have been ignorant of the true composition of
marl—yet even they have used so little precision
or clearness, when speaking of the effects of marl-
ing, that their statements, (however correct they
may bein the sense they intended them, ) convey
no exact information, and have not served to re-
move the erroneous impressions made by the
ereat body of their predecessors. Knowing as
Young did [see first quotation] the confusion in

* Cleaveland’s Mineralogy.

aa = 5 i RI yy b> by CLO hos Ye wy I Sos

which this subject was involved, it was the more
incumbent on him to be guarded in his use of terms
so generally misapplied. Yet considering his
practical and scientific knowledge as an agricul-
turist, his extensive personal observations, and
the quantity of matter he has published on soils
and calcareous manures, his omissions are more
remarkable than those of any other writer. In
such of his works as [ have met with, though
full of strong recommendations of marling, in no
case does he state the composition of the soil, (as
respects its calcareous invredient,) or the propor-
tion added by the operation—and generally no-
tices neither, as if he viewed marling just as most
others have done. These charges are supported
by the following extracts and references.

8. 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 insertedat length. On leased land he ‘“‘clayed
or marled” eight hundred and twenty acres with
one hundred and forty thousand loads, and ata
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 ealling “marl or clay” —and that the
mar! effervesces strongly with acids, and the clay
slightly. But we are told nothing more precise
as to the amount of calcareous ingredients, either
in the manures, or the soil—and even if we were
informed on 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, how-
ever, that the clay was thought most serviceable,
as Mr. Rodwell says—

*clay ismuch to be preferred to marl on those sandy
soils, some.of which are loose, poor, andeven a black
sand.”

9.. Young’s Survey of Norfolk, (a large and
closely printed octavo volume, ) has fourteen pages
filled with a minute description of the soils of’ that
county—but without any indication whatever of
the proportion, presence, 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 385) eighteen
miles across, quitefa desert of sand, ‘‘yet highly
improveable,”’ Of this also, no information is
given as to its calcareous constitution.

10. The section on marl (page 402, of the
same work) gives concise statements of its appli-
eation, with general notices of its effects, on near
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 containing the most clay,
and the least calccreous earth, is preferred by most
persons, but not by all.

Young’s General View of the Agriculture of
Suffolk, (an octavo of 432 pages of close print,)

| singular body of cockle and other shells, found in

in the des¢ription of soils, affords no informa
as ta any of them being calcareous, or otherwis
yet the author mentions (page 3) having analyze
some of the soils, and reports their aluminous and}
silicious ingredients. Nor can more be learned,
in this respect,in the lone account afterwards
given of the ‘marl’ which has been very exten-jy
sively applied also in the county of Suffolk. We
may gather however from the following extracts,)
” of Suttolk, is generally

that the “marl or clay
calcareous, but that this quality is not considered
the principal cause of’ its value—and further, thay)
crag, a much richer calcareous manure, (which
seems to be the same with ourrichest beds of fos«
sil shells, or marl,) is held to.be injurious to the},
sandy soils, which are so generally inproved by§,
what is there called marl. |

11. “Claying—a term in Suffolk, which includes
marling; and indeed the earth carried under this term
is very generally a clay marl; though a pure, or near-
ly a pure clay,is preferred for very loose sands.”—-§
Young’s Suffolk, p. 186.

12. After speaking of the great value of this!
manure on light lands, he adds— |

‘but when the clay is not of a good sort, thatis, wher
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 beer},
spread to little profit.””—p. 187.

13. ‘‘Part of the under stratum of the county is :

ereat masses in various parts of the country, from!
Dunwich quite to the river Orwell, &c.”—‘‘I havejf
seen pits of it to the depth of fifteen or twenty feetif
from which great quantities had been taken for the)
purpose of improving the heaths. It is both red ane
white, and the shells so broken as to resemble sand
On lands long in tillage, the use is discontinued, as it isi]
found to make the sands blow more.” [That is, to belf
moved by the winds.]—p. 5. ; 1

13. The Zssay on Manures by Arthur Young, fon,
which the author was honored with the Bedfore
medal, speaks distinctly enough of the value o
marl being due to its calcareous ingredient, (as this
author doubtless always knew, nv
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 0)
gross ignorance of the mode in which calcareous;
earth acts as an ingredient of soil, and the pro-|
portion which soils ought to contain. ‘These are
his statements, and his reasoning thereon:

|
“It is extremely difficult to discover, from the knows
ledge at present possessed by the public, what ough}
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 inquiryy
concerning which I have made many experiments:
and on soils of the most extraordinary fertility. Ir)
one, the proportion was equal to 9 per cent.; in ano-
ther, 20 percent.; another, 3 per cent.; and in a speci} :
men of famous land, which I procured from Flanders)
17 per cent. But the circumstance which much per-)
plexes the inquiry is, that many poor soils possess the!
same or nearly the same proportions, as these most fer-/
tile ones. Toattain the truth in so important a point)
induced me to repeat many trials, and to compare eve:
ry circumstance; and Iam disposed to conclude, tha!
the necessity of there being a large proportion of calcas
reous earth in a soil, depends on the deficiency of organt

—

ie ne PART IJI—APPENDIX.

85

v "
». vegetable or animal] maticr; of that organic mat-
which is [partly] convertible into hydrogen gas. If
farmer finds, by experiment, that his soil has but a
Jl quantity of organic matter, or knows by his prac-
that it is poor, and not worth more than 10s., 15s. or
-an acre, he may then conclude that there ought to be
er cent. of calcareous earth in it; butif, on the con-
yy, it abound with organic matter, and be worth in
etice a much larger rent, in that case his marl cart
/ not be called for, though there be but five per cent.
-ven less, of calcareous matter.””— Young’s Essay on
ures—Sect. 2.

't is scarcely necessary to show, that the opin-
of calcareous matter, being needed in larger
ntities in proportion te the deficiency of pu-
cent matter, is directly opposed to the reasoning
this essay. If a poor soil were made to contain
mty per cent.of calcareous matter, by applying
e, chalk, or marl, the quantity and the expense
uid be so enormous as not to be justified by any
‘sible return—and in truth, would lessen, rather
‘n increase, the product of a poor soil. The fact
ned as strange, by Young, that some rich soils
itain very small, and others very large propor-
as of calcareous earth, is easily explained. Ifa
ural soil contains any excess of calcareous earth,
hn though but one per cent., it shows that there
that much to spare after serving every purpose
neutralizing acids and combining with putres-
it matter. If there were twenty per cent. more
balcareous matter, it would be useless, until met
1 an additional supply of putrescent matter.
ming’s statement that some poor soils agree pre-
ely with other rich soils, in their contents of cal-
‘eous earth, does not necessarily contradict my
‘trine that a proper proportion of calcareous
‘th will enable any soil to become rich, either in
state of nature, or under mild cultivation—
d for the following reasons:
4. Ist. The correctness of Young’s analyses may
well doubted——and if he used the then usual
cess for separating calcareous earth, he was
figed to be incorrect, on account of its unavoida-
h imperfection, as has been already explained at
we 18. 2d. It cannot be known positively
hat was the original, state of fertility of most
{tivated soils in England, nor whether they were
jected to exhausting or improving cultivation,
f centuries before our information from history
Igins. 3d. Lime has been there used for a long
ie, and to great extent; and chalk and marl
we applied as manures during the time of the
yman conquest, as stated by Pliny, (say 1700
ars ago)—so that it cannot be always known
nether a soil has received its calcareous ingredient
m nature, or the industry of man. 4th. It is
own that severe cropping after liming, and also
tcessive doses of caleareous earth, have render-
Jand almost barren: of which the following ex-
iets offer sufficient proof:—

jBefore 1778, [in East Lothian] the outfield did not
seive any dung except what was left by the animals
fazed upon it. In many cases, outfield land was
ned; and often with singular advantage. The after
‘agement was uniformly bad; it being customary to
‘op the limed outfield with barley and oats successive-
1, so long as the crop was worth cutting. In this way
jmerous fields suffered so severely as to be rendered
inmost steril for half a century afterwards.” Farmer’s
agazine, p. 53, Vol. 12.

\ An overdose of shell marl, laid perhaps an inch
ick, produces for a time large crops. But at last it

re

renders the soil a caput morluum, capable of neither
corn nor grass; of which, there are too many exam-
ples in Scotland, &c. Gentleman Farmer, p. 378.

15. Yet the last writer (Lord Kames) elsewhere
states, (at page 379) that as mutch clay marl as
contains 1500 bolls, (on 9900 bushels) of pure cal-
careous earth to the acre, is not an overdose in
Scotland.

16. “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 below a
lighter soil. But shell marl is specifically lighter, and
consists entirely of calcareous matter, (the broken
and partially decayed shells of fish,) which may be
applied as a top dressing to wheat and grass, when it
would be less advantageous to use quicklime.” [This
is the kind of manure referred to in extract 5, and
there more particularly described.] ‘In Lancashire
and Cheshire, clay, or red marl, is the great source
of fertilizatio, &c.”,—“The quantity used is enormous;
in many cases about three hundred middling cart loads
per acre, and the fields are sometimes so thickly cover-
ed as to have the appearance of a red soiled fallow,
fresh ploughed.’’—WSinelair’s Code of Agriculture,
American Ed. (Hertjord) p. 138.

This account of the Lancashire improvements
made by red clay marl, closes with the statement
that ‘the effects are represented to be beneficial
inthe highest degree” —which is fully as exact an
account of profit, or increased 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.

17. “The means of ameliorating the texture of
chalky soils, are either by the application 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 cught to be
dug up and mixed with the chalk.’’— Code of Agricul-
ture, p. 19.

18. Dickson’s Farmer's Companion.—The au-
thor recommends “argillaceous marl” for the im-
provement of chalky soils: and for sandy soils,

‘where the calcareous principle is in sufficient
abundance, argillaceows marl, and clayey loams,”
are recommended as manures.

19. “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 argilla-
ceous ingredient.”—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.

20. In a Traveller's Notes of an agricultural
tour in England,in 1811, which is published in
the third volume of the Edinburgh Farmer’s
Magazine, the following passages relate to Mr.
Coke’s estate, Holkham, and to Norfolk gene-
rally.

«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 or limestone every where.” Page 486.

86

Se Se ee Le! ws cee
ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

«As the soil of the territory [of Norfolk generally]
through which I passed, seems to have a sufficient mix-
ture of calcareous earth naturally, | 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.

21. “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 1t 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 follow,) if so scientific and diligent
an inquirer as Kirwan, was deceived on this very
important point, it furnishes additional proof’ of the
impossibility of drawing correct conclusions on
this subject from European books—when it is left
doubtful, whether the most extensiye, the most
profitable, and the most celebrated improvements
by “marling,” in Europe, have in fact served to
make the soil more or less calcareous.

Most of the extracts which I have presented,
are from British agriculturists of high character
and authority. If such writers as these, while
giving long and (in some respects) minute state-
ments of marl, and marling, 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 in-
struction 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 enlightened.

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 afier 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 pre-
cise 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 character 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; and even the author
himself is not free from the same charge, as will be
shown. I shall quote more at length from Mar-
shall, because he presents the strongest opposition
to what I have stated as to the general purport of
publications on marling: and also, because, whate-
ver may be their character, there is much to in-
terest 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 improve-
ments of that county are minutely described, and
the chemical composition stated—showing that
both are highly calcareous. Of the “marls,”’ or
chalks, most used for manure in Norfolk, he analy-
zed three specimens, and one of clay, and found
the proportions of pure calcareous matter as fol-
lows:

Chalk marl of Thorp-market, contained,

Soft chalk of Thorp-next-Norwich, |
Hard chalk of Swaffham, almost pure— .
Clay marl of Hemsby, a

22. Of these he spoke previously and in gene)
terms, thus:

“The central and northern parts of the dist| |
abound, universally, with a whitish-colored chalk me
while the Flee Hundreds, and the eastern coast, i}
equally fortunate in a gray-colored clay marl. I

“The first. has, in all probability, been in use as}
manure many centuries: there are oaks of considera, .
size now going to decay in pits which have obviou\}
been heretofore in use, and which, perhaps, still remy
in use, as marlpits. |

“The use of clay marl, as a manure, seems to b
much later discovery; even yet, there are farmers w
are blind to its good effect; because it is not marl, |}
“clay;’’ by which name itis universally known.

«The name, however, would be a thing of no impe)
were it not indiscriminately applied to unctuous earthi§
general whether they contain, or not, any portion of ¢
careous matter. Nothing is ‘‘marl”’ which is not whi;
for, notwithstanding the county has been so long ano
largely indebted to its fertilizing quality, her husbadf
men, even in this enlightened age, remain totally 7
norant of its distinguishing properties: through wh
want of information much labor and expense is if
quently thrown away. |

«One man seeing the good effect of the Fleg chi
for instance, concludes that all clays are fertile, ||
finding a bed of strong brick earth upon his farm, f}
to work, at a great expense, to “‘claying:’”-—while »
other observing this man’s miscarriage, concludes t
all clays are unprofitable; and, in consequence, is ati
expense, equally ill applied, of fetching ‘marl’ fron
ereat distance; while he has, perhaps, in his own fai
if judiciously sought after, an earth of a quality equi
fertilizing with that he is throwing away his time
his money in fetching. Marshall’s Norfolk Vol.)
p. 16.

Yet it is remarkable, that Marshal] should |
have intimated whether the Norfolk scils w
naturally calcareous, (as the two writers just j
fore quoted declare,) or not—and therefore we }
still left to guess whether these manures serve
increase the calcareous quality of soils alre:
possessing that quality in a high degree—or)
give it to soils devoid of it before.

ther passages will now be quoted from
same, and from other similar works of Marsha:
to show the prevailing ignorance of the ingredie\
and operation of the marls sometimes prizj
and sometimes contemned, with as little reaso)
the one case as the other, by farmers in vari
parts of England,

23. «The principal part of his estate, however, |
a much shallower soil, not deeper than the plough g§
and its present very amazing fertility he ascribes :@
great measure, to his having clayed it. Indeed to ]
species of improvement the fertility of the Fleg El
dred is allowed to be principally owing.
“Mr. F. gave me an opportunity of examining’
clay pit, which is very commodious; the uncallo is
trifling, and the depth of the bed or jam he has not bay
able toascertain. Itis worked, at present, about)
or twelve feet deep.
“The color of the fossil, when moist, is dark brejft
interspersed with specks of white; and dries
color lighter than that of fuller’s earth; on being
posed to the air, it breaks into small die-like pict” |
“From Mr. F’s. account of the manner of its acij
and more particularly from its appearance, I judg)

a PART III—APPENDIX. |

87

»e a brown marl, rather than a clay; and, on trying
in acid, it proves tobe strongly calcareous; effer-
icing, and hissing, more violently than most of the
site marls of this neighborhood: and what is still
re interesting, the Hemsby clay is equally turbu-
t in acid as the Norwich marl, which is brought by
ter forty miles into this country, at the excessive
bense of four shillings a load upon the staith; be-
Bes the land carriage. [The strength of this Hems-
clay is stated above. ]
‘Itis somewhat extraordinary that Mr. F., sensible
1 intelligent as he is, should be entirely unacquaint-
@with this quality of his clay; a circumstance, how-
®r, the less to be wondered at, as the Norfolk farmers,
general, are equally uninformed of the nature and
Poperties of marl.” Marshall’s Norfolk, Vol. I, page
2.

he following is a remarkable instance, ina par-
Gular district, of a clay, very poor in calcareous
utter, being considered and used as valuable ma-
re, and avery rich marl equally accessible, being
Yemed inferior.

24. ‘The marl is either an adulterate chalk, found
ar the foot of the chalky steeps of the West Downs,
§ing between the chalk rock and the Maam soil, par-
fing of them both—in truth, a marl of the first qual-
ij; or a sort of blue mud, or clay, dug out of the area of
Hs district, particularly, I believe, on the south side
the river. This is said to have been set on, with
od effect; while the former is spoken of, as of less va-
; whereas, the white is more than three-fourths of it
#lcareous; while the blue does not contain ten grains,
§rcent., of calcareous matter.”? Marshall’s Southern
yunties, Vol. p. 175.

|The greater part of whatare called marls in the
jllowing extract, and used as manure, contain so
jtle calcareous earth, that whatever power they
jay exert, must be owing to some other ingre-
fent. Yet without Marshall’s analysis, they. would
» considered to deserve the character of calca-
re as much as any others before
ued.

‘5. ‘The red earth which has been set upon the lands of
is district, in great abundance, as ‘‘marl,””"—is much
/it ina manner destitute of calcareous matter; and,
peeourse, cannot, with propriety, be classed among
jarls.

)Neverthless, a red fossil is found, in some parts of
poet which contains a proportion of calcareous
atter.

(“The marl of Croxall (in part, of a stonelike, or
faty contexture, and of a light red color) is the
ichest in calcareosity: one hundred grains of it afford
tly grains of calcareous matter; and seventy grains
[ fine, impalpable, red-bark-like powder.*
| “And a marl of Elford (in color and contexture va-
jous, but resembling those of the Croxall marl) affords
jear twenty grains:

, “Yet the marl of Barton, on the opposite side of the

rent—though somewhat of a similar contexture, but

/ adarker more dusky color—is in a manner destitute

f calcareosity! one hundred grains of it yielding little
ore than one grain—not two grains of calcareous
atter. Neverthless, the pit, from which 1 took the

* This marl is singularly tenacious of its calcareous matter;
‘ssolving remarkably slowly. One hundred grains, roughly
dunded, was twenty-four hours in dissolving; and another hun-
ed, though pulverized to mere dust, continued to effervesce
velve hours; notwithstanding it was first saturated with water,
ad afterward shook repeatedly. The Breedon stone, roughly
[i dissolved in half the time; notwithstanding its extreme
ardness, 5

specimens analyzed, is an inmense excavation, out of
which many thousand loads have been taken.

“And the marls of this neighborhood (which mostly
differ in appearance from those described, having gen-
erally that of a blood-red clay, interlayered, and some-
times intermingled, with a white gritty substance) are
equally poor in caleareosity.

One hundred grains of the marl of Statfold (which
I believe may be taken as a fair specimen of the red
clays of this quarter of the district) afford little more
than two grams of calcareous matter.* Yet this is
said to be ‘‘famous marl;”’ and, from the pits which now
appear, has been laid on in great abundance.

“IT do not mean to intimate, that these clays are alto-
gether destitute of fertilizing properties, on their first
application. It is not likely that the large pits which
abound, in almost every part of the district, and which
must havebeen form ed at a very great expense, should
have been dug, without their contents being productive
of some evidently, or at least apparently, good efiect,
on the lands, on which they have been spread.

I confess, however, that this is but conjecture; and
it may be, that the good effect of the mars, first de-
scribed being experienced, the fashion was set; and,
the distinguishing quality being unknown, or not at-
tended to, marls and clays were indiscriminately used.”
Marshall’s Midland Counties, Vol. I. p. 152.

26. “On the southern banks of the Anker, is found a
grey marl; resembling, in general appearance, the marl
of Norfolk, or rather the fuller’s earth of Surray. In
contexture, it is loose and friable.

‘This earth is singularly prodigal of its caleareosity.
The acid being dropped on its surface, it flies into
bubbles as the Norfolk marl. This circumstance,
added to that of astriking improvement, which I was
shown as being effected by this earth, led me to ima-
gine, that it was of a quality similar to the marls of
Norfolk.

«But, from the results of two experiments—one of
them made with granules formed by the weather, and
collected on the site of improvement, the other with a
specimen taken from the pit it appears that one hundred
grains of this earth contain no more than six grains
of calcareous matter! the residuum a cream colored
saponaceous clay, with a small proportion of coarse
sand.” Marshall’s Midland Counties, Vol. I. p. 155.

The last extracts suggest 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, itcannot be
expected that the most intelligent writers can be
correct, when attempting to record their practices.
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 agriculture.

As the foregoing exhibits the use of ‘‘marls”
destitute of calcareous earth, so the following
shows under the name of sea sand, a manure
which is in its chemical qualities a rich marl (in
oursense) or calcareous manure.

27. “Sea-sand. This has beena manure of the district
beyond memory, or tradition. j

‘“‘There are two species still in use: the one bea‘ing

the ordinary appearances of sea sand, as found at the

* Lodged not in the substance of the elay; but in ifs natural
cracks or fissures.

88

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. _ ove

mouths of rivers; namely a compound of the common
sand and mud: the other appears, to the eye, clean
fragments of broken shells, without mixture; resemb-
ling, in color and particles, clean-dressed bran of wheat.

‘«<By analysis, one hundred grains of the former con-
tain about thirty grains of common silicious sea sand,
with a few grains of fine silt or mud; the rest is calea-
reous 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, which resembles, in color and
particles, minute fragments of burnt clay, or common
red brick.

«These sands are raised in different parts of Plymouth
Sound, orin the harbor; and are carried up the estua-
ries, in barges; and from these, on horseback, perhaps
five or six miles, into the country; of course at a very
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 land-
lords to bind their tenants to the use of them; but with-
out specifying the sort—and the bargemen, of course,
bring such as they can raise, and convey, at the least
labor and expense. Itis probable that the specimen
first mentioned, is above par, as to quality: I have
seen sand of a much cleaner appearance, travelling to-
wards the fields of this quarter of the country: and, near
Beddiford; in North Devonshire, I collected a specimen,
under the operation of ‘‘melling’? with mould, which
contains eighty grains per cent. of clean silicious sand !””
—Marshall’s West of England, Vol. I. page 154.

It might be inferred from all these proofs of
Marshall’s knowledge of calcareous earth consti-
tuting the real value of marls, that he could scarce-
ly miss the evident corrollary 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 indicate when the applica-
tion of the one to the other was judicious or not.
But the following expression of opinion (JJar-
shall’s Yorkshire, Vol. I. p. 377) is not only
strongly opposed to those deductions, but to the
general purport of all his truths which I have be-
lore quoted.

28. «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 moral certainty of
improvement has been established by experience.”

If this be true, then indeed is there no true or
known theory, or established precepts, for apply-
ing 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.

29. The next quotation, which is from an edi-
torial article in the Farmer’s Journal of July 28,
1823, shows that the old opinion still prevails, that
marl is profitable only on sandy lands; which opin-
ion carries with it the inference that it is the ar-
gillaceous quality, rather than the calcareous, that
operates. The editor is remarking on a new
wricultural compilation by a Mr. Elkinson, and
NMiculing the author for his solemn annunciation
of the truism (in the editor’s opinion, ) that, ‘“marl-
in@on sand is more useful than on clay land.”
The xeputation of Mr. Elkinson, says the editors,

“may remain undisturbed among the farmers of Lin-
colnshire for a long time, who may never have chanced

es

to meet with the old proverb, or have taken a jourm
into the sandy district of Norfolk. We really do
know whether it be as old Jervais Markham, or
but we have seen the following 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 whiff
his admitted ignorance serves to prove that
improvement gained by marling could not be sir
ply the making a soil calcareous—for upon thip
ground, when marl has once been plentifully giv
and the land afterwards worked poor, there can
neither reason nor profit, in a second marling. Yq
as if the mode of operation was altogether uj
known, this passage follows.

“Tt was once asked of the editor by,a very good pray
tical Norfolk farmer, ‘whether land which had been oF} "
marled and worn out, would receive the same benef
from a second marling?’? It was answered, thatan él
periment made on one field, or on one acre, wovg,
decide the point, but conjecture led to nothing conclf
sive. It has often been observed that loose land, a | |
having been marled and out cropped, deposited its mi
in the subsoil, which therefore became more retentilf,
[of water;] and it has been suggested, that deli
ploughing ought to be tried, to bring this marl aguf
to the top. We hope that the point here in questuly
has before now been settled by practice in both way
though at the above period, (about 1806) such fa’
had not reached the gentleman alluded to, although
very intelligent man.” L
The singular fact stated above, of marl, and ai
of lime, sinking and forming a layer below t
soil, is stated by other British writers. No su
result has been found in this country, so far asi
am informed. Nor do I believe that it can oceid
except when the calcareous matter is too abugf
dant to form a chemical combination with the sf
or with the matters in the soil. According to 1}
views of the manner in which calcareous ea‘
acts, it must form such combinations in the so
to be useful—and if so combined, it cannot be |
|

parated, and sink through the soil by the force
gravity, or any other cause.

30. The next article is probably one of the lati}
publications on marl, yet contains as little)
truth, and for its length, as much that is false aj
absurd, as if it had been written a century ago. |
appears in the last number of the Quarterly Jui
nal of Agriculture, (for Dec. 1834) and is thie}
quoted from the Magazine of Gardening and J]
dany, and as written by Count Gvllenborg.
no contradictory remarks are appended by eit}
of the editors of these highly respectable journey)
it may be considered as in some measure giv)
countenance to the opinions here presented.

Though the writer speaks of ‘‘acid in the lan:
yet the succeeding part of the sentence whi
speaks of “imbibing it from stagnating wat
shows that no correct or definite idea was attach
to the term “acid.” The entire piece is copi

“How far marl contributes to the fertility of som
Ist, Not materially, for it is devoid of every unctu!
and saline matter. 2d, But instrumentally, it promes
vegetation, by attracting the moisture, acids or oils)
the atmosphere, which enrich the land. As this qu)
ty becomes stronger by burning, how wisely would}
farmers act in using it after being calcined. It q}
motes vegetation, by destroying the acid actually in)
land, or removing that which it might be in danger

PART IJI—APPENDIX. .

89

bibing from stagnating water, and hence, also, it may
rhaps help to prevent a too acid disposition in the seeds.
7 dissolving every unctuous substance in the land,
fence arises a saponaceous mixture soluble in water,

d fitted to enter into the pores of vegetables. By de-
voying the toughness of strong soils, for, by its quick-
crumbling in the air, the cohesion of a clayey soil is
minished, it is rendered easier to cultivate, and more
‘to carry on growth of plants. It gives greater solid-
yand firmness toloose or sandy soils; and, as before
Piserved, it contributes to their fertility, by attracting
0 this dry soil the nutritive contents of the air. There
esome who think that marl should not be laid on
mdy soils; but experience has taught us to conclude
herwise, having observed that the most beneficial ef-
ets are produced from it on very light and sandy soils.
larl may hurt land by too long anda too plentiful use
‘it; for, from its calcareous quality, it much resem-
eslime. It soon dissolves and consumes the fat of
e land—and it loosens a clayey soil, so that it becomes
ss retentive of moisture. Marl is, however, very
i iferent, according to its being more or less calcareous
> clayey; and therefore, judgement is more or less
fecessary to adaptit tothe nature of the soil. Some
ave recommended it chiefly for wet and cold soils, and
any farmers have observed that it is most useful when
lixed with rich manures. Neither of these observa-
ons, however, seems to be correct; buta due care should
e taken that this manure be adapted to the soil on
thich it is laid.’

[NOTH G2. Page 36.]
‘HE EARLIEST KNOWN SUCCESSFUL APPLI-
“CATIONS OF FOSSIL SHELLS AS MANURE.

The two old experiments described at page 36,
hough the only applications of fossil shells known
9 me, previous to the conmencement of my use

‘this manure, were not all which had been
nade, and which being deemed failures, had been
bandoned and forgotten. Another, within a few
niles of my residence, was brought to light and
lotice afterwards, by an old negro, who was per-
aps the only person then living, who had any
mowledge of the facts. Atter I had found enough
juccess in using this manure to attract to it some
ittention, Mr. Thomas Cocke of Aberdeen was
me of those who began, but still with doubt and
lesitation, to use marl to some considerable ex-
ent. One of his early applications was to the
yarden. The old gardener opposed this, and told
as master that he knew ‘the stuff was good for
tothing, 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
where this trial had been made, he answered that
le could easily, as he drove the cart which carried
gut the marl. The place was immediately sought.
if was on the most elevated part of a very poor
jeld, which had been cleared and exhausted fully
1 century before.
ibout half an acre) though still poor, was at least
Wice as productive as the surrounding land,
hough a slight manuring from the farm-yard had
geen applied a few years before to the surround-
ng land, and omitted on this spot, which was sup-
yosed to have been, from its appearance, the site
f some former dwelling house, of which every
idence had disappeared except the permanent
ae of the soil usual from that course.

The marled space (a square of

A close examination showed some fragments of
the hardest shells, so as to prove that the old man
had not mistaken the spot. This, like other early
applications, had been made on a spot too poor for
maul to show but very small early effects—and as
only one kind of operation 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 appli-
cation was useless, and have remained under that
opinion until almost all remembrance of the expe-
riment had been lost.

There were also successful and continued uses
of this manure in James City County, if Virginia,
made earlier than mine; and still earlier by the
Rev. John Singleton, in Talbot County, Mary-
land. It appears that the early (though chance
directed) combination of putrescent manures with
marl in both these places, served to prove the va-
lue of the latter, and perhaps to prevent it being
there also abandoned as worthless, as in other
cases. But though the application was continued,
and with great success and profit, the knowledge
of these facts, and the example, extended very
slowly: and the then want of communication
among farmers, for years kept all ignorant of
these practices, except in the immediate vicinity
of the commencement of each. I have since en-
deavored to ascertain the time of the first applica-
tions in James City, and have been informed that
it was in 1816. Mr. Singleton’s, in Maryland,
were begun as early as 1805. His own account
of his practice (which will be annexed entire, as
an interesting statement of the earliest profitable
use of this manure, ) was first published in 1818,
in the 4th volume of the Memoirs of the Phila-
delphia Agricultural Society, (page 238.) The
date of his letter is Dec. 31, 1817. My first ex-
periment was made the following month (Jan.
1818,) but more than a year before I met with
Mr. Singleton’s publication, or had heard of any
application of fossil shells, except the two failures
mentioned in page 36. But however beneficial
may have been found the operation of marl in
Talbot and in James City, it is evident, from Mr.
Singleton’s letter, and from all other sources of in-
formation, that the mode of operation remained
altogether unsuspected by those who used it: and
this was perhaps the principal cause why the
practice was so slow in spreading. It is now thir-_
ty years since the first proofs were exhibited on
the land of Mr. Singleton: yet, according to the
report of the geological survey of the lower part of
Maryland, (submitted to the legislature of Mary-
land at its recent session of 1834-5,) it appears,
that though the value of marl is well understood,
and much use of it made in Talbot county, and
part of Queen Anne’s, it also appears that almost
no use has been made of it on the other and much
more extensive parts of the Eastern Shore of Ma-
ryland—and none whatever west of the Chesa-
peake in that state, where it is found in abun-
dance. Such at least are the inferences from Mr.
Ducatel’s report, though in part drawn from indi-
rect testimony, more than direct and particular as-
sertions.

The slight, and almost contemptuous manner, in
which marl is mentioned by so well informed an
agriculturist as Taylor, as late as 1814, when his
Arator was published, (and which remains un-
altered in his 3d edition of 1817,) proves that al-

90

most nothing was then known of the value ofthis
manure. All that seems to relate to our fossil shells
is contained in the two following passages :

«Without new accessions of vezetable matter, suc-
cessive heavy dressings with lime, gypsum, and even
marl, have been frequently found to terminate in im-
poverishinent. Hence it is inferred, that minerals ope-
rate as an excitement only to the manure furnished by
the atmosphere. From this fact results the impossibility
of renovating an exhausted soil, by resorting to fossils,
which will expel the poor remnant of life; and indeed
it w hardly probable that divine wisdom has lodged in the
bowels of the earth, the manure necessary for its sur-
Sauce.” —Arator p. 52, 2nd Ed. Baltimore.

“Of lime and marl we have an abundance, but ex-
perience does not entitle me to say any thing of
either.”’—p. 89.

From the Rev. John Singleton, tothe Hon. Wm. Tilghman.

* * * * *

“Your first question is, ‘whether what I use be marl,or
soil mixed with shells?’

«Whether it be marl or not, I will not pretend to deter-
mine, as I have seen nodescription of marl that answers
exactly to it; but Mr. Tench Tilghman informed me,
he had seen a description of marl used in Scotland, ex-
actly similar to what I use on the farm on which I re-
side, and which is the improved land you mention. I
have not seen the account myself. However, this, and
all mixtures of broken marine shells, of 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 shell,
about one-eighth of an inch square, or somewhat |
longer or smaller, with scarce any sand or soil with it:
some of itseems to be petrified, and is dug up in lumps,
like stone, from four or five, to forty or fifty pounds in
weight, hard to break even with the edge of an axe,
and will remain for years, tumbled about with the
plough, before it is entirely broken to pieces, and mix-
ed with the soil; indeed you may observe it in some
parts of the bank, where the soil has been washed from
it, appearing like rock stone; but if broken and pulver-
izeda little, iteffervesces very much with acids. Itlies
from three to five and six feet deep, from the surface
of a light or sandy soil, on the banks of the cove; but
how deep the marl, or bed of shells goes, we cannot
ascertain, having never dug through it. When we get
from two to four feet deep into it, the water springs, |
so that we have never gone deeper, but fill up the hole
with the surface soil, and open another. It does not
lie level, but waving, sometimes dipping so deep that
we lose it; nor is it of one color, but some white, like
dry mortar, some the color of yellow ochre, some red,
like red ochre, and some blueish: but I do not know
any difference in the quality, from the color. In dig-
ring, it is generally loose and crumbly, but mixed with
pie lumps as above described: we find sometimes whole
shells of scallop, oyster, and barnacles. The kind I
estimate most, is of the foregoing description, and I am
of opinion it lies at different depths, under the whole
of this peninsula, which has been gained from the
water, and that the shells are of the diferent kinds of
fish which inhabited the waters while they covered
the land. In some places, at heads of coves, I have
traced the shells by cutting a ditch from three to five
feet deep, down the valley, and even through the
marsh, till I came to tide water; butin this kind of low
ground there were more whole, and large shells, and
‘none of the large stone-like lumps above mentioned.
It appears as if it had been the bottom of the creek,
and as if covered by the water more lately than the
first described. All these are on this farm. At my other
farm, where my uncle formerly lived, and which is at
the head of this creek, I find it by digging deep into
the ditches, in the meadow ground, which empty into
the head of the creek: but that kind differs from’ what |

*

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

Thave here; as, besides the scallop shells, which ar,
not so much reduced as here, there is, for perehe}
together, the clam shell, perfectly whole, but so sof jj
that when thrown out of the ditch and exposed to thif
air, they soon fall away to powder: but the scallolfy
shell seems most abundant; and of this kind of shel hy
fish we have no knowledge. The beds of shell are 4
be discovered in many places, on the edges of th}
creek, and even out into the water; and are foun]
throughout the county, in most places where carefu
sought for, but generally, I believe, a good deal mixe}
with sand. However,I have no doubt they may ajk
be usefully applied as improvers of the soil: they anfy
now coming into the use of many persons in fl
county, who have discovered them on their land, a
have adopted a regular system of manuring.
of soils, an},

«Your next question is, ‘to what kind
how it is applied; as a top dressing or ploughed in

‘T have applied it to all the soils on my farm, som;
of which is a cold white clay, and wet; others a ligt]
loam, and sandy, I find it useful to each kind, anh
manure my land all over with it, without distinction,
and to advantage; putting a smaller quantity upon thik
looser soils. J have applied itas a top dressing on elt
ver, and also where clover has not been sown, withif,
view to improving the grass, and also to be satisfielh,
whether it would not be best for the ground, to let it hij
spread on the surface, for a year before the ground wal,
put into cultivation. But it has not answered my expee
tation. Icould not perceive any advantage from tha
mode of application. I now constantly apply it 1h
the ground cultivated in corn; carting it out in the wit,
ter and spring, and putting on from twenty to fort),
cart loads per acre, according to the ground, and thf
previous quantity that had been put on, in former cw},
tivations, dividing each load into from four to eighf
small heaps, for the greater ease in spreading, accore
ing tothe size of the load. Some is put on before, ar
some after the ground is broken up, but it is all workel,
into the soil by the cultivation of the corn, and it neve}
fails of considerably improving the crop of corn, if}
also the ground wherever the marl is, especially 3
largest quantity. There isa small green moss, aril
black meist appearance, on the surface of the erouni| I
when not cultivated; as you perceive about old walliff
and in strong ground. Though the preceding is tk
common mode in which I use the marl, I do not thin)
it the best; I mix some in my farm yard, with the far,
yard and stable manure; and would prefer mixing ar
applying all that I use thus mixed, but for the labi
ot deuble cartage, which I cannot as yet accomplish
manuring so largely as Ido. I cultivate one hundre
acres yearly, and constantly manure the whole of wh!
I cultivate; employing only four earts, and four hang)
with the caris, which do all the manuring and cartin(
on the farm. |

“Yournext question is, ‘what has been my rotation «
crops, and mode of cultivating, since I have used thi]
manure?”

‘Since I began to use the marl, and bend my atte1
tion to improvenrrent by manure, I have cultivated onl}
corn and wheat, sowing my ground in clover, an)
using the plaster. Instead of cultivating all my grou
in corn, and sowing wheat on it as heretofore, I divide
my cultivation into two parts, of fifty acres each, pu
ting one part into corn, which I was able to accomplis:
manuring time enough for the corn, and making a fa
low of the other part, manuring as much of it as
could accomplish before the time for sowing whea
and disregarding. in a degree, ajl smaller crops, whic
I could not attend to, as an object, without increasit |
my number of hands, and interfering with the ma,
business. I went onin this manner, till I found I cou.
easily accomplish manuring one hundred acres and uj,
wards, per annum. Having got my ground to that sta
that I can risk making a crop without manure, I ai”
now about discarding fallow, being able to manure m)
whole hundred acres time enough for cropping in th

PART Ii—APPENDIX.

ng, by beginning to manure for the next year as
nas the spring manuring ts finished. I shall in fu-
re have no wheat in fallow, but sow it after corn and
ner crops, {rom which jam satisfied I canmake more
m my ground than by naked fallow, which I always
nsidered unprofitable, though you made more wheat,
leept for the advantage of having more time to ma-
re. ‘Ine standing annual force on my farm is eight
nds, (men,) with one hired by the month.Of these
Inds four are employed with the carts; two in plough-
z, harrowing, &c. for the cultivation of the crop;
the other two or three, as may be, do the black-
ith’s and carpenter’s work, as also the fencing and
her work necessary on a farm: the six hands employ-
_with the carts and ploughs, are not taken oti for
her business, except in the time of harvest, and sow-
= wheat, when they are probably stopped.
fork so mucn with the plough as formerly, but more
ith the harrow, which lessens and quickens the labor
cultivation, keeps the ground cleaner, and, I think,
| better tilth. Occasionally I hire or employ some
omen, for hoeing work and spreading manure. I
sh my ground in large Jands, and harrow and roll as
may require; then, instead of listing, as common,
iark it out each way with a plough, very shoal, so as
ot to disturb the grass ploughed down, and after drop-
ng the corn, cover it with the plough or harrow, and
mediately pat in the harrow, keeping it going, as
je weather will permit, till just before harvest,
hen we plough the ground, and finish the culti-
tion with the harrow, except something should
cur, making it necessary to plough again after

arvest. ‘This ] have found the best mode of cultiva-
on for corn. _ J plant my corn about four feet apart

ach way, and have from three to five stalks in a hill,
r cluster, for | endeavor to keep down the hill, and
ave the ground as levelas possible. In saving my
orn crop, I cut it up, without pulling it from the stalk
$s usual, and cartitin all together, then husk it out,
eaving the husk to the stalk: flay these near my feed-
ag yard, and throw them into it twice a day: this gives
isa large quantity of strong healthy food for the cattle,
ich serves them all winter, and keeps them in good
fondition without any other food; makes a large quan-
ity of excellent manure, and a fine dry feeding yard.
S$ opportunity can be found, we cart marl, fuller’s

arth, clay. and any good soil that is convenient, into this |
ard, which being mixed with the stalks, and straw, or |

A

iny thing else, penning the cattle on it through the
Winter-and summer, instead of penning on the field,
nthe common way, we have a large quantity of ma-
hure to go out in the fall,and next winter; it is put into
ine field, in the intermediate rows, between the rows
mafl,as far as it will go, and they will get mixed

{a the cultivation.
pur ditches, the head-lands of the fields, and all waste-
uad that we can, into manure, by carting litter from

he woods, yard manure, or litter, &c. &c. and mixing

with them; so that I can nearly, or quite, now, accom-
lish making farm-yard and this kind of manure, suf-

ficient to go over my whole hundred acres, annually.
For the two last years, I have made more manure than
t could accomplish or effect carrying out, though I
have manured from ten to twenty acres more than my
hundred, each year, with part marl and part farm-yard,
but notthe whole with both, as I hope to be able to
flo in future; but it will be necessary to increase my
carling force to effect it, and I clearly see, I can raise
sufficient manure for the purpose; heretofore I have
manured my corn-ground, fifty acres, with marl, and
my fallow with part farm-yard manure, and part marl,
as mentioned before; so that you wiil perceive the im-
provement made onmy soil has not been effected by
marl alone, but in conjunction with farm-yard manure,
Clover and plaster, and by making it a point to manure
with something all the ground I put into cultivation; so
that every time I cultivated a field, that field was im-
proved, and not in any degree impoverished by the cul-

I do not |

We also convert the scouring of

tivation. By this means, and the divine assistance, I
have effected that improvement of my farm, which is so
very striking to the observation of every person ac-
quainted withit. I cansay nothing as to the compari-
son of crops, before and since my improvement: it has
been a progressive thing for many years, and, till I
adopted the present plan, I was an experimental farm-
er, trying every thing J met with in books, or heard of;
so that there is scarce any rotation of crops, or mode ol
cultivation, but what I have tried.

‘This I believe, will answer all your questions, ex-
cept as to the time when I began to use the marl, and
how soon I experienced the beneficial effect of it?—
being your fourth question.

“In August, 1805, in digging down a bank on the
side of a cove, for the purpose of making a causeway,
I observed a shelly appearance, which it struck me
might improve clay soil; [ took some of it immediately
to the house, and putting it into a glass with vinegar,
found it effervesced very much; this determined me to
try it as a manure; accordingly, in September, I carted
out about eighty cart loads, and putit on apiece of
ground, fallow, preparing for wheat, trying it in dif-
ferent proportions, at the rate 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 any difierence through the winter and spring,
although general Lloyd, who was viewing it with me
in the spring, thought he could perceive some ditier-
ence, in favor of the marl; but at harvest time, the
wheat, though not more juxuriant in growth, or better
head, was considerably thicker on the ground; and after
the wheat was taken otf, the ground where the marl
had been put was set with white clover, no clover be-
ing on the ground on either side of it. The next year,
1506, I discovered it in the drain into the head ot the
cove, which I immediately ditched, and from the ditch
put out seven hundred loads, on the fallow ground. The
effect, as to the wheat and clover, was the same, (this
was put, for experiment, at the rate of from forty to a
hundred and twenty cart-loads per acre,) though the
marl was not of the same kind as the other, but mere
mixed with sand and surface soil, being taken from the
low ground, by ditching, and all mixed together. I
also tried it on corn ground, spread out as above men-
tioned, and found the etfect immediate, as to the corn;
and in the same manner as above described, as to the
wheat sown on the corn ground. This induced me to
persevere in the use of it, which I have done ever since,

| adopting the mode I mentioned before, and putting it at

first from forty toseventy loads 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.

«J believe I have now answered all your inquiries,
as well as I can, except as to the average comparison
of the past and present crops, which 1 cannot well do,
for the reasons above given, and also that my fields are
entirely changed, neither containing the same grounds,
nor the same quantity of ground ineach; but] believe 1
shall not be much out of the way, if Isay, that I think
the soil now capable of producing between two and
three times as much, per acre, asit would before I be-
gan to use the marl; and though the marl has not solely
produced the improvement, yet the improvement would
have been far short of whatit is, if it had not been for
the marl, which has contributed, in a very large degree,
towards it; and no small matter in favor of the marl is,
that, by the blessing of God on my endeavors, I have,
in twelve years, been enabled to improve three hundred
acres of ground, to the pitch that these are, and am
now ina fair way of increasing in the same ratio thata
snow- ball increases as it is turned over.

“I fear you will not be able to read, and hardly to
understand, this tedious letter,in many parts;if you
can, and itis in any degree satisfactory to you, I shall
be compensated, and will cheerfully answer any 1n-

uiries, in future, that you may wish to make. The

first favorable opportunity, which may probably be by

92

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

some friend, in the spring, I propose sending you a
small bag of marl, which may be more satisfactory than
any description.

JOHN SINGLETON.

Talbot County, Md. Dec. 81, 1817.

[NOTE H. Page 49.]

GYPSEOUS EARTH OF JAMES RIVER, AND THE
GREEN MARL OF NEW JERSEY, BOTH BE-
LONGING TO THE “GREEN SAND FORMA-
TION.”

Tke passage in the text describing generally
the gypseous earth of Prince George county, is
left as it stood in the first edition, though much
more full developements have since appeared.
The first piece on the subject, to which the read-

er is referred, commences at page 207 Vol. I. of

Farmers’ Register. It is a full and minute ac-
count of the beds in my neighborhood of what I
have called gypseous earth, and the reasons stated
at length for believing it to be the same earth
known in New Jersey under the name of marl.

At that time I had never met with a specimen of

the latter substance, and only inferred its qualities
and its chemical constitution (in certain respects)
from the loose and general, and very unsatisfac-
tory statements previously published respecting
that earth, Other subsequent notices in the Far-
mers’ Register, at pp. 272, 572,) present addition-
alfacts or reasons in support of the identity of these
formations, Afterwards Professor William B. Ro-
gers discovered what geologists call green sand,
intermingled with many of the bodies of marl near
Williamsburg, and in an interesting communica-
tion to the Farmers’ Register, page 129, Vol. IT.
in which this discovery is announced, he shows
what the green sand is, and that it constitutes the
valuable portion of what has been erroneously
called marl in New Jersey, Mr. R. had not then
seen my earlier account of g@ypseous earth—but
reasoning upon geological grounds he inferred that
the true green sand formation would probably be
found higher up the country. He has since visit-
ed and examined the bed of what I had called
gypseous earth, at Coggin’s Point, Tarbay, and
Evergreen, (in Prince George county,) and has
found it to be the green sand formation, as was an-
ticipated, and at the same time, confirmed my
opinion of the identity of this earth with the New
Jersey “marl,” 'The green sand however in Vir-
ginia, so far as yet exposed to examination, is not
to compare in richness with the best of New Jer-
sey. ‘The very little as yet known of the practical
use, or measure of the value of this earth as ma-
nure, is in the paper first referred to above. The
length of that piece and of Mr. Rogers’, and their
having been already published in the Farmers’
Register, forbid their being again presented in
this place: and in addition, it is expected that Mr.
Rogers’ more recent examinations will enable him
to lay before the public a more correct and full ac-
count, which will of course be more interesting
than the early views taken when the existing facts
were but partially known—and so far as my own
invesfigations went, were known to one who had
nothing of the geological knowledge necessary to
make proper use of the facts observed,

[NOTE I. Page 50.]

THE CAUSE OF THE INEFFICACY OF GY PSU}

AS A MANURE ON ACID SOILS. |

I do not pretend to explain the mode of opera;
tion by which gypsum produces its almost magi
benefits: it would be equally hopeless and ridicu
lous for one having so little knowledge of the sue
cessful practice, to attempt an explanation, ij
which so many good chemists, and agriculturist)
both scientific and practical, have completely fail}
ed. There is no operation of nature heretoforj
less understood, or of which the cause, or agentj
seems so totally disproportioned to the effect, as thi)
enormous increase ef vegetable growth from ||
very small quantity of @ypsum, in circumstance}
favorable to itsaction. All other known manures
whatever may be the nature of their action, re|
quire to be applied in quantities very far exceed
ing any bulk of crop expected from theiruse. Bu
one bushel of gypsum, spread over an acre ¢j
land fit for its action, may add more than twentj
times its own weight to a single crop of clover.

However wonderful and inscrutable the fertil)p
izing power of this manure may be, and admittin:
its cause as yet to be hidden, and entirely beyonif
our reach—still it is possible to show reasons wh)
gypsum cannot act on many situations, where aj
experience has proved it to be worthless. Tf thii
only can be satisfactorily explained, it will removy
much of the uncertainty as to the effects to be ex}
pected: and the farmer may thence learn on whe}
soils he may hope for benefit from this manure—f
on what it will certainly be thrown away—and b:
what means the circumstances adverse to its acif
tion may be removed, and its efficacy thereby sej
cured. This is the explanation that I shal! ati
tempt.

If the vegetable acid, which I suppose to exis
in what I have called acid sels; is not the oxalia
(which is the particular acid in sorrel,) at leas
every vegetable acid, being composed of differen
proportions of the same elements, may easil,
change to any other, and all to the oxalic acid
This, of all bodies known by chemists, has th
strongest attraction for lime, and will take it fron;
any other acid which was before combined with i
—and for that purpose, the oxalic acid will let oj
any other earth or metal, which it had before hel)
incombination. Let us then observe what woul\
be the effect of the known chemical action of thes:
substances, on their meeting in soils. If oxalilj
acid was produced in any soil, its immediate efiec
would be to unite withits proper proportion of lime?
if enough was in the soil in any combination what
ever. If the lime wes in such small quantity aij
to leave anexcess of oxalic acid, that excess woul!
seize on the other substances in the soil, in the or
der of their mutual attractive force; and one o
more of such substances are always present, ay
magnesia, or more certainly, iron and alumina’
The soil then would not only containsome propor}
tion of the oxalate of lime, but also the oxalate ¢)
either one or more of the other substances named)
Let us suppose gypsum to be applied to this soil).
This substance, (sulphate of lime) is composed 9
sulphuric acid and lime. It is applied in a finely)
pulverized state, and in quantities from half:
bushel to two bushels the acre—generally no|
more than one bushel, As soon as the earth ij

PART ITI—APPENDIX.

93

ade wet enough for any chemical decomposition
take place, the oxalic acid must let go its base of
n, or alumina, and seize upon and combine with
e lime that formed an ingredient-of the gypsum.
he sulphuric acid lelt free, will combine with the
¥)n, or the alumina of the soil, forming copperas
the one case, and alum in the other. Zhe gyp-
im no longer exists—and surely no more satisiac-
ry reason can be given why noeflect from it
ould follow. Thedecomposition of the gypsum
s served to form two or perhaps three other sub-
ances. Oneof them, oxalate of lime, I suppose
‘be highly valuable as manure: but the very
“@#nall quantity that could be formed out of one or
‘iven two bushels of eypsum, could have no more
llfisible effect on a whole acre, than that small
1antity of calcareous earth, or farm-yard manure.
lithe other substance certainly formed, copperas, is
nown'to be a poison to soil and to plants—and
‘lum, of which the formation would be doubtful, I
ifslieve is also hurtful. In such small quantities,
Mfowever, the poison would be as little perceptible
‘ils the manure—and no apparent eflect whatever
yuld foliow such an application of @ypsum to an
tid soil. So small a proportion of oxalic acid, or
y oxalate other than of lime, would suffice to
ecompose and destroy the gypsum, that it would
ot amount to one part in twenty thousand of the
il.
’ Why gypsum sometimes acts as a manure on
id soils, when applied in large quantities for the
ace, is equally well explained by the same theo-
lif. If a handful, or evena spoonful of gypsum is
ton a space of six inches square, it would so
‘ihuch exceed in proportion all the oxalic acid that

would not be decomposed—and the part that-con-
Rnued to be gypsum, would show its peculiar pow-
}rs perhaps long enough to improve onecrop. But
Ws tillage scattered these little collections more
ifqually over the whole space—or even as repeat-
#d soaking rains allowed the extension of the at-
active powers—applications like these would also
ive destroyed, afiera very short-lived and limited
).ction.
lp Soils that are naturally calcareous, cannot con-
ain oxalic acid combined with any other base than
me. Hence, gypsum applied there, continues

wo be gypsum—and exertsits great fertilizing pow- |

ir as in the counties of Loudoun and Frederick. But
liven on these most suitable soils, this manure is said
viot to be certain and uniform in its effects—and of

ourse more certain results are not to be looked for |

(vith us. TI have not undertaken to explain its oc-

#hasional failures any more than its general success, |

yn the lands where it is profitably used—but only }
tvhy it cannot act at all, on lands of a different |

xind.

/ The same chemical action being supposed, ex-
Mains. why the power of profiting by eypsum
thould be awakened on acid soils after making
them calcareous—and why that manure should
ieldom fail, when applied mixed with very large
Juantities of calcareous earth.

[NOTE K. Page 61.]

STIMATES OF THE COST OF LABOR APPLIED
ai TO MARLING.

_ Before we can estimate with any truth the ex-
nense of improving land by marling, it is neces-

sary to fix the fair cost of every kind of labor ne-
cessary for the purpose, and fora length of time
not less than one year. We very olten hear guesses
of how much a day’s labor of a man, a horse, or
a wagon and team, may be worth—and all are
wide of the truth, because they are made on wrong
premises, or no premises whatever. ‘The only
correct method is to reduce every kind of labor to
its elements—and to fix the cost of every particu-
lar necessary to furnish it. This Ishall attempt:
and if my estimates are erroneous in any particu-
lar, others better informed’ may easily correct my
calculation in that respect, and make the necessary
allowance on the final amount. ‘Thus, even my
mistakes in the groands of these estimates, will
not prevent true and valuable results being derived
from them.

The following estimates were made in 1828, ac-
cording 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 alteration would make it ne-
cessary 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.

Hire for the year, payable at the end, - $38 00
Food—194 bushels of corn at 40
cents, - - 7 80
Add 10 per cent. for
waste in keeping, 73
Meat and fish, &c. 9 00
$17 58
Interest for one year on $17 58,
paid for food, - - 1 05
18 63
Clothing—6 yards coarse woollen
cloth, at 50 cents, - $300
12 yards cotton, for sum-
mer clothes and two
shirts, at 12 cents, - 1 44
Blanket at $1 50, once in
two years—yearly, - 75
Shoes and mending, - 2 50
dale
Taxes—State, 47 cents—county 47
—poor 33—road, suppose
1 dollar, - - = bp Diba
His share of expense of quar-
ters, fuel, and sending to
mill, - - - - 4 50
Nursing when sick, (exclu-
sive of medical aid,) = 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, &e., and thefts, 14 41
Total expense per year, $86 50

Time lost—Sundays and
holydays,
Bad weather
and half ho-
lydays,
Sickness,

58 days

20
10

From 365, deduct 88, leaves 277 working days;

94 |
NNN SS 8SSSSS$$$8555§5§5§5§868686—s0a00 SoS SoS SSS eee

whichmakes the cost of each working day 31} cents.
Remarks.

The hire was fixed at the average price obtain-
ed that year for ten or twelve young men hired
out at the highest bids, for field labor. According
to our 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 oriitted in this estimate. By
supposing the slave to be hired by his employer,
instead of being owned, the calculation is made
more simple, and therefore more correct.

Cost of ihe labor of a negro woman.

Hire for the year, - - - ee 00
Tood, - - - - 12 95
Clothing, blanket, and shoes, - iS 6 50
Taxes, quarters, fuel, mill, nursing, &c,. 7 18

Add 20 per cent. as before, for superinten-
dence, &c., - - - 7 53
Total yearly cost, $44 67

Suppose lost time, 108 days, leaves working
257, at 174 cents for each.

days

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 wil not bring more
than ten dollars.

A boy of thirteen or fourteen 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 one-third cents. A girl, fifteen or sixteen
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 $80 ee RET 80
—tax, 12 cents, - - - 4 92
20 92
20 bbls. of corn at $2 00—8,590 Ibs. of
fodder at 50 cents the hundred, - $57 50
Add 10 per cent. for waste in keeping, 5 75
——-- 63 25
Interest on $63 25, for one year, - $3 79
Share of yearly expense for corn-house, 47
—--- 4 26
Total yearly cost, se 44

Lost time, 93 days, leaves 267 working days, at 33
cents.

A mule eats less corn than a horse, but more
hay, and lives idered as
costing one- fifth eae yearly cost—$70 00—
and. daily, 263 cents.

A tumbril for marling, will cost when new, $25 00

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

It will last two years, or (what is the same
thing) if that sum will pay for all repairs, for
two years—its wear per year, is

Interest on $25 00 for a year,

Cost per year,

And at 267 working days—cost per day five cents.

In the estimate of the cost of horse labor,
charge is made for attendance, because that }
part “of the labor of the driver, and forms part f
his expense. No charge is made for grazing, bi
cause enough corn and “hay are allowed for evel}
day in the ‘year—and when grass is part of hij
food, more than as much in value is saved in hi
dry food. No charge is made for stable or litte
as the manure made is supposed to compensa’
those expenses.

It may be supposed that the prices fixed f
cern, and fodder or bay, are too low for an averag
Such is not my opinion. The price is fixed at tl |
beginning of the year, when it is always compari
tively low, because it is too soon for purchasers ;
keep shelled corn in bulk, and the market is glu
ted. Besides, the allowance for waste during th)
year’s use (0 per cent.) makes the actual pri
equal to two dollars and twenty cents on July Is’
The nominal country price of corn in January, |
almost always on credit—and small debts for co
are the latest and worst paid of all. The farm:

|who can consume any additional portion of hi

crop, in employing profitable labor, becomes |}

own best customer. ‘The corn supposed to }}
used, by these estimates, is transferred on the fin}
of January, without even the trouble of shellir!
or measuring, from A. B. corn-seller,
B. marler, and instantly paid fer.
per barrel at that early time; and obtained with ij
little trouble from any purchaser, would be a bett
regular sale, than the average of prices and pat
ments have afforded for the last eight years.

COST OF MARLING,

Founded on the foregoing estimates of the cost
. labor.

From the beginning of November 1823, to tll

| 31st of May 1824,a Tegular force, of two horsy

and suitable hands, was employ ed in marling ¢
Coggin’s Point, on every working day, unless pr
vented by bad weather, wet and soft roads, ,
some pressing labor of other kinds. The sani
two horses were used, without any change, ar
indeed, they had drawn the greater part of “all th
marl carried out on the farm, since 1818. TI)
best of the two was seventeen years old—both
middle size, and both worse than any of my oth
horses, which were kept at ploughing.

The following estimates were made on a co:
nected portion of this time and labor, and upc
my own personal observation and notes of t]|
work, from the beginning to theend. It was ve:
desirable to me, to know the exact cost of son}
considerable job of marling, attended with certa/
known difficulties, and on any particular mode |
estimating the expense: for although the san’
degree of difficulty, and of cost of "labor, migy
never again be met with, still, any such estima
would furnish a tolerable rule, to apply, ina moc|
fied form, to any other undertal cing of this kin

"PART IJI—APPENDIX.

95

ese estimates may be even more useful to other
rsons—as they will serve gencrally to prove
at the greatest-obstacles to the execution of this
iprovement, are less alarming, and more easily
ercome, than any inexperienced persons would
ppose.
Both these jobs were attended with uncommon
ficulties, in the unusual thickness of the super-
cumbent earth, compared to that of the fossil
ells worth digging, and on account of the dis-
nee, and amount of ascent to the field. The
st job was so much more expensive than was
ticipated, that it may perhaps be considered asa
ilure—but as the account of its expense had
ren kept so carefully, it will be given, just as if
lore success and profit had been obtained. ‘This
ork was commenced April idth, 1824. ‘The bed
‘marl for the upper six feet of its thickness, is
ry and firm, though easy to dig, andrich. It has
h average strength of ;4°—the shells mostly
filverized, and the remaining earth more of' clay
van sand. After being carried out, the heaps
ppear, to a superficial observer, to be a coarse
fose sand. Below six feet, the marl became so
or as not to be worth carrying out, and was not
sed except when the distance was very short. Its
rength was less than 5. ‘The bed at first was
cposed on the surface, near the bottom of a steep
IL-side—but as a large quantity had been taken
yit, and several successive cuts made into the
ice of the hill, some years before, the covering
darth was increased, on the space now to be clear-
Ii, soas to vary between eight and sixteen feet,
dad I think averaged between eleven and twelve.
Whe sifuation of the marl and road required that a
wear cartway should be made as low as the in-
gnded digging: and therefore nearly all of the
firth was to be moved by a scraper, and was
Atrown into the narrow bottom at the foot of the
gl. ‘This earth served thus to form an excellent
fiuseway across the valley, which made part of
he road in the next undertaking. All this marl
ms horizontally, and the layers of different qual-
ies are very uniform in their thickness. The
jreater part of the covering earth is a hard clay,
timpure fuller’s earth, which was difficult to dig,
ad still more so for the scraper to take up and re-
ove. Part was thrown off by shovels, and
Prved to increase a mound made by former ope-

| Labor used in digging and removing earth.

«
f

days’ labor of 9 men, at31}centseach, - 11 25
6 women, iL
2 boys, } at 174 cents, - 5 58
1 young girl at 15, and 1 old
man at 25, - - - 1 60

8 oxen, (the scraper being
drawn by 4 half the day, which then
rested and grazed while the others
worked the other half of the day,)—at

| 20 cents each, - 4 80
jidd 80 cents for wear of scraper, hoes, and
gy) shovels, - - = = 3 = 80
i =
| Total, $24 03

The price allowed for the oxen is much too high

r the common work, and so much rest allowed:
ut 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.

Labor of digging and carrying out the Marl.

Three tumbrils were kept at work on this job
and the next, a good mule being added to the reg-
ular carting foree—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 weath-
er compelled thislabor 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 deliver-
ed 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 permitted to ride back,
when returning empty. The distance to the near-
est part of the work (measured by the chain, )
was nine hundred and two yards, and the farthest
one thousand and forty-five: adding two-thirds of
the difference to the nearest for the average dis-
tance, makes nine hundred and ninety-seven yards.
The ascent from the pit, by a road formerly cut
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 and half feet
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 there-
fore this pit was abandoned. This happened on
May 10th, when six bundred and ninety-nine
loads had been carried out, and the work done
was equal to thirty-six days’ work of one cart (by
adding together all the working time of each)—
which was nineteen and a half Joads for the aver-
age 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 3680 bushels.

2 men at 31} cents, - - - 624
2 boys at19 cents, - - - 38
2 horses at 33 cents, - - - 66
1 mule at 265 cents, - - - 264
3 carts at 5 cents—
tools at 3 cents, - - - 18
Daily expense, or for 58 loads, $2 11
Digging and carting 699 loads at the
saine rate, - - - - - $25 25
Add the total expense of removing earth, 24 28
$49 03
Spreading at 314 cents the 100 loads, - Zee lo
Total expense, $51 47

Which makes the cost per bushel, 1 34-100 cents.
per load, (54) 7 36-100
per acre, of
572 bushels, $7 66.

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

This marl was laid on much too thick for com-
mon poor land, and one-fourth of the body un-
covered was tost, by the falling in of the earth.
one-fourth of' the expense of uncovering the marl,
was deducted on account of this loss, it would re-
duce the whole expense eciah one- eight h.

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 w fee thickest, and
the average was eight and ahalfor 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 part of the earth was
of the same hard fuller’s earth mentioned as being
on the other side—and the upper part of this w as
still worse, being in woods, and the digging ob-
structed by the roots and trees.

Labor used in digging and removing the earth.

: sate z days, at 314 cents, #8 433
5 women 5
1 woman 1 at 174 cents, 6 24
2 boys 5
1 old man 2 25 cents, 50
2 girls 6 15 cents, 1 80
8 oxen, for the scraper, as before, each
team at rest half the cay, 5 days, s, at
20 cents, - - - 8 00
3 horses and carts, dar, 8, oe 38 cents a yal
Add for damages to uae and other utensils, 80
Total cost of moving earth, $27 483

Enough of the earth was carried by the carts to
the dam ¢ crossing the ravine, to raise the roads as
high as the bottom of the intended pit. The balance
was thrown into the valley wherever most conve-
nient. Only a small proportion, perhaps one-
third, could be thrown off, without being carried
away by the carts, 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 dis-
tance was nine hundred and ninety-seven yards:
all the balance was carried to Jand adjoining 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 (with-
out tail-boards) could hold, without waste, in as-
cending the hills: but as the loaders often fell be-
low that quantity, I suppose the average to have
been five and three-fourths heaped bushels, or five
hundred and eighty-one pounds.

The tumbrils 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, being 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 usu-
ally occur at that season. The same four laborers,

If

23d, Sunday.
24th, 1 “ at other work. |
25th, 3 ‘ again marling, - - 74
26th, 3 <* - - - - -
Zithy,.<3s) oS - - - - - 72
DS tiny ese - - - - - 72
29th, 3 “* (shafts of one broken and
repaired, ) - - - 64
30th, Sunday.
8ist, 3 “ until rain at 4 P, M. =intoe
— 511
702

loads, but consider all as if carried only eight hui

and two horses, and one mule, employed as be
fore—and their daily work was as follows :— —o5

May 13th, Began the new pit
13th, 2 carts all the day, and 1 for 2 hours
only, (aiterwards otherwise

ployed,) - - - 47 loads.

14th, 2.“ halt the day, then employ-
ed other Maro 1 horse idle) 21
loth, 3“ - - - - 61
16th, Sunday.
17th, 3 finished most distant work
with - - - - 62
— 191
and began nearest with 4
18th, 3 “ for 4 hours Bee iee 2 oe
WY rain, ) 22
19th and 20, 8 carts at work elocwtiedes on
drier land,
21st, 3“ again marling, - - - 75

22d, rain—no work done by horses.

After this stoppage, the horses were put 1
Plouenae the COED, that the cultivation might Ef

vest, Son began on the Lith of June. As neeft
as I could determine by inspection, and a roug;
cubic measurement, about one-half of the uncoy
ered marl was then dug and carried out. As th!
remainder was not dus” until August, when I wef!
absent from home, I have no more correct mean}!
of ascertaining these proportions; and shall ag ;
cording to this suppesition charge “half the actuil)
cost of the whole uncov ering of “earth, to this su
posed half of the marl which formed this last oj
eration. |
The list of days’ work shows that the averag|
number of Joads per day, at eight hundred ar
forty-seven yards, was twenty- -four and a half fi
each cart, which made twenty-three and aha
miles for the day’s journey of each horse. TI}
first four days’ work finished the farthest piece, —
which the average distance was nine hundred ar
ninety-seven yar rds—but this part of the work wi!
on the nearest side of that piece, and at less tha
that average distance. I shall not make any sej
arate calculation for these hundred and ninety-onj

dred and forty-seven yards.

The daily cost of the laboring force, 2 men, 2
boys, 2 horses, and 1 mule, was before esti-
mated at $2 11—which served to carry out

734 loads, or 422 bushels. Atthat rate, (to
May aist,) 702 toads: or 4036 bushels,
cost, - - $20 15)

Add half the expense of uncovering, (half
the marl still remaining not dug,) - 13 74

For spreading, at 315 cents per hundred
loads, - - - -

j 7
I

2° 18

$36 07'|

Total cost of 4036 bushels laid on,
Which makes the cost per bushel, 9 mills nearl)

PART IJI—APPENDIX.

97

$5 344

400 bushels, which would have been a

d per acre, at 104 loads, or 598 bushels,
$3 STA

§In 1828, at Shellbanks,a very poor, worn, and
ly farm, [ commenced marling, and in about
ar months, finished one hundred and twenty and
half acres at rates between two hundred and
itty and two hundred and eighty bushels per
re. The time taken up in this work, was five
ys in January, and all February and March,
th two carts at work—and from the 5th of Au-
‘stto the 27th of September, with a much strong-
force. I kepta very minute journal of’ all these
erations, showing the amount of labor employ-

®, and of loads carried out during the whole time.
would be entirely unnecessary to state here any
ng more than the general amounts of labor and
expense, after the two particular statements just

mitted. At Shellbanks, the difficulties of open-

pits were generally less—the average distance
orier, and the reduced state of the soil, and the
rength of the marl, made heavy dressings dan-
‘rous. ‘These circumstances all served to dimin-

the expense to theacre. The difficulties, how-
er, at some of the pits, were very great, owing
the quantity of water continually running in,
rough the loose fragments of the shells—and al-
ost every load was carried up some high hill.
aking every thing into consideration, I should
ppose that the labor and cost of this large job of
arling will be equal to, if not greater, than the
rerage of all that may be undertaken, and judi-

sulficient, and much safer dressing -

ously executed, on farms having plenty of this
eans for improvement, at convenient distances.

Cost of marling 1203 acres at Shellbanks.

‘eparatory work, including uncovering marl,
cutting and repairing the necessary roads,
and bringing corn for the team— Digging,
earrying out, and spreading 6892 loads (44

heaped bushels) of marl, - - $250 38
t the average rate of 574 loads, or 259 bush-

els per acre, the average expense was, to

the acre, - - - - - 2 08
To the load, - - 3 cents and 63-100ths,

And to the bushel, - 0 83-100ths.

[NOTE M. Page 62.]
STIMATE OF THE EXPENSE OF WATER-BORNE
MARL AND LIME, FOR MANURE.

The following extracts from different communi-
tions to the Farmers’ Register present interest-
@ and valuable facts, which show the actual
gst incurred in procuring and applying water-
orne marl, and comparisons of the cost, and of re-
ims, of the use of marl and lime. To those
tho know the two gentlemen whoselettersare here
published, it is surperfluous to say that on none
ught more reliance to be placed as farmers of
‘ood judgement. Both have had much expe-
lence of the use of oyster-shell lime as manure,
nd none value it more highly.

To the Editor of the Farmers’ Register.
| Charles City, December 2d, 1833.

_“f am sorry to have delayed sending you the es-
imate pees of the cost of applying oyster

CG

—=

shell lime as a manure: it was however unavoid-
able. I might have given it before this, on my
own responsibility; but preferred to have others of
as much experience to assist me in making it.

In the first place then, the cost of shells brought
to our landing places, is per hogshead of eighteen

bushels, 624 cts.
To cost of getting them from the craft, ;

if very convenient for landing, 2h
To cutting wood, allowing 12 cords for f

one hundred hogsheads, 3
To hauling shells to the wood, or wood

to the shells, as may be most conve-

nient, hauling out the shells after

burning, slaking, scattering, &c. 32

100

Thus making the sum of one dollar the hogshead.
To afford then five hogsheads to the acre after
burning, (which has been the quantity applied by
myself and my brother, on very stiff land,) one
third more must be added, as the loss by that pro-
cess; and I am inclined to the opinion that a frac-
tion more may be added, which will make seven
hogsheads, the cost of which I have shown above
to be seven dollars. On a lighter soil, four hogs-
heads are deemed sufficient, which will diminish
the expense one dollar. If there is any error in
this estimate, Iam satisfied that it isin the low
rate of charges: and I am confirmed in this opinion.
by one of my tenants, who is a man of considera-
ble experience, having refused to accept the offer
of thirty-five cents per hogshead, as full compen-
sation for all the trouble and expense of liming,
save the purchase and delivery of the shells.

Charles City Jan. 1, 1834.

*‘T arm now enabled to complete the comparative
estimate of the expense of lime and water-borne
marl, for manure, which you requested me to fur-
nish. If the statements submitted are not full in
every respect, they may at least be relied on so far
as they go.

“T commenced regularly to work about the 15th
May to transport marl from Coggin’s Point to my
farm, a distanee of fifteen miles by water, and
ended on the 25th of December, a period of seven
months. I had engaged inthe business three hands,
two of them at eight dollars per month, and the
other a boy worth about two dollars and_ fifty
cents. I purchased a craft, and when provided
with all the necessary fixtures for commencing
work, the cost was three hundred dollars. Onthe
supposition, that this craft will at the end of ten
years be entirely worthless, I will estimate the
“wear and tear’ or loss of capital therein, at
thirty dollars per annum, the average annual re-
pairs at thirty dollars more, and the expense of
provisions for the hands at ninety dollars for the
year. With these preliminaries, J think I may
now fairly make out my account for the transpor-
tation of the marl, as follows:

To cost of vessel, in “wear and tear’
for seven months,

To average expense of repairs,

To average interest on $300, for
seven months,

G17 50
17 50

10 50

——- 45 50

98

Amount brought forward 45 50

Hire of three hands for seven

months, 122 50
Provisions for seven months, 52 50
Paid for uncovering marl, and for

putting on board a part of the

whole quantity, 70 00

290 50

CR.

By 15,000 bushels of marl, at 1}4 cents the
bushel (very nearly,) 290 50

“This makes the whole cost of the marl, put out
at my landing, less than two cents the heaped
bushel. The estimate for hauling, scattering, &c.
I will leave for you to add; that depends however
on the distance; and I can only say, that a single
horse cart was fully sufficient to keep way with
the crafi, a distance of one thousand yards. I
think I can safely say, that no one can meet with
more difficulties than I have myseli encountered
in this undertaking; my landing place being so
bad, that I have known the hands frequently en-
gaged for a whole week in unloading the craft,
because of very low tides; when if the water had
been sufficient to admit then: to the wharf, they |
might easily have accomplished the work in half’
the time. I feel also perfectly justified in saying,
that had I been so situated as to have the advan-
tages of a landing place which no tide could inter-
fere with, that five thousand bushels more of’ mar!
could have been brought during the seven
months.

C. H. MINGE.”’

“The foregoing estimate may be implicitly relied
on, so far as it rests on actual expenditures and
operations—and in the items which are necessarily
conjectural, we have every assurance of correct-
ness, that can be furnished by the practical and
business-like habits which characterize the writer.
But as the estimate is not completely carried out,
we will attempt to supply the deficiency, and will
add some observations on the comparative ex-
pense of water-borne marl and lime.

According to the estimates of the cost of labor
used for marling given in the Essay on Calcareous
Manures,

A horse for a year’s work, and in-

cluding every expense, costs $88 44
Boy to drive, 44 67
Cart and tools, 14 00

$147 11

‘At which rate, the carting of 15,000 bushels of
marl 1,000 yards, from the landing to the field, in
seven months, cost $85 81
Spreading the loads, in the field, at ten

cents the 100 bushels. 11 50

$97 31
Cost of transportation, &c. before stated, 290 50

Whole expense of applying 15,000 bu-

shels, $387 81

Or rather more than 23 cents the bushel.

‘This estimate includes no charge for the marl,
asnone had been made. If half acent was added

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

|

for this, it would increase the cost to about. thri
cents the bushel. On the other hand, the,priif!
paid for hire was unusually high, as free han}
only were employed, and only such as could}
relied on. The difficulty of obtaining this me!
was very considerable, on account of the grel}!
thickness of superincumbent earth to be remove!
Many other causes of difficulty and loss were ell
countered by Mr. Minge (all serving to increa'f!
his estimate to what it exhibits, ) on account of F :
having commenced a perfectly new business, }
every part of which, he and his laborers we t
alike strangers. But without making any dedu
tion for any of the peculiar difficulties which ¢!!
tended the operations, and supposing half a ce}
a bushel, a fair price to pay the owner of the mail
the entire cost will be counted at three cents ti}!
bushel. By the preceding estimate the entire ce
of lime, at #1 the hogshead of shells was 544%, si
53} cents the bushel. Now we will compa
values. f
“Oyster shells are not pure carbonate of limi
They contain a portion (how much we know ne}
of animal matter, destructible by fire, and whi'p
is entirely lost in burning the shells. Whatever!
this proportion of animal matter, it ought to #
deducted from the weight and value of the sheb'
but not knowing this proportion, the shells will
here estimated as if they consisted of pure carbl
nate of lime. The marl, carefully averaged, a)
analyzed, was found to contain 61 per cent. of ce!
bonate of lime.
“A peck measure of oyster shells, which h:
been well washed and dried, heaped about
inches, (supposed to be fully equal to selling mei
sure,) weighed 163 pounds. The marl (an avp
rage of the whole thickness of the bed,) dried pe
fectly over the fire, and pounded, and pressed
the hands only in the same peck measure, weighif
204 pounds, even, and 24 pounds heaped. Tif
measure and weight were supposed to be fixed |
correct instruments—but the same were used, a)
at one time, so that the relative weights, at lea#

are correct.

{i
|

One hundred bushels of oyster shells, weighing 4
Ibs.=6,700 lbs. making of carbonate
of lime the same,

One hundred bushels. of dried marl,
weighing 96 lbs. = 9,600 Ibs. and con-
tain of carbonate of lime, Ibs. 5,8%

Ibs. 6,7)

Thus the marl which costs only a small fracti!
over one-half as much as the total expense of t
shells, contains about 6 sevenths as much of pu
calcareous matter.

“But one of these manures is applied mild, or
the form of carbonate of lime, and the other:
caustic, or quicklime: and some may doubt whet}
eran additional value is not gained by the burni)
of the latter. This, we leave to others to decic|
In most cases, in this climate, we should consic
the causticity of lime as more likely to be injurio|
than beneficial. The minutely divided state’)
quicklime, however, certainly enables every par!
cle to come into immediate operation; whereas)
might require two or three years before the fi
benefit of marl could be obtained. This som)
what slower action at first, is the only reason w//
marl should not be rated, according to its prope
tion of calcareous matter, full as high as lime. |

‘These results, which we have arrived at "

ite a different route, do not differ materially from
se obtained by Wm. B. Harrison, Esq. (No 7,
396, Farm. Reg.) from his practice and expe-
nce. He applied burnt but unslaked shells, at the
te of seventy bushels, and mar! at 140 bushels the
#re; on adjoining and equal land, and found the
ps of the firstand second years equally increased
both manures, but that of the third year much
itter on the marled part. To make seventy
shels of burnt and unslaked shells, 108 would be
quired, (according to Mr. F. Lewis’ estimate,
l. f.p. 19, Farm. Reg.) so that according to the
egoing mode of calculation, Mr. Harrison’s ap-
ications were at the rate of 108 bushels of oys-
r shells to the acre, and 140 of marl. His mar!
as from a bed of quality similar to that used by
r. Minge, but was mixed with much worthless
rth, and was transported at heavier expense.
“This comparative estimate of values, has been
ade to apply to a particular body of marl, be-
iuse the actual labor was there employed, and it
as desirable to estimate as much as possible by
cis, rather than on conjecture. But there are
Pubtless many bodies of marl on tide-water,
ther richer, or more accessible, or perhaps pos-
‘ssing both those advantages in a higher de-
ree.’ — Ed. Farm. Reg.

Jharles City County, Feb. 4th, 1835.

“T have delayed much longer than I intended,
giving you an estimate of my last year’s work
ithe transportation of marl.
siness which is usual with me at the commence-
1ent of every year, must be my apology.

farch, and ended on the 24th December, a period
eight months. The labor employed was the
me as the preceding year two men and a boy,
rith the exception of the first two months, when
le assistance of the boy was unavoidably with-
rawn. The wages of the men were eieht dol-
rs per month, and the boy’s three dollars and
ity cents. The quantity of marl transported was
eventeen thousand bushels. Our business was
ecessarily suspended for twenty days in repair-
@ our frail bark, in the month of October. The
istance is fifteen miles. JT shall not attempt to
live any estimate of the expense of hauling from
ay landing, and scattering the marl, as you have
t already at hand, and can easily add it if you
ink it necessary,

To hire of laborers, Shy Hie $152 50
Food for laborers, = - = 60
Repairs of vessel, - - 40
Interest on first cost and fixtures, 18

a @270 50

y 17000 bushels of marl 2 B
at 1 5° cents per bushel, § * el See
me . 1 50

“Thus showing that the expenseof transportation
vione falls under one cent and six-tenths per
yushel. It seems to me wonderful, that so much
preference should be given to oyster shells, by
hose convenient to water. I have used both, and
greatly prefer the marl; first as being the cheapest
—and secondly, as yielding a more immediate
return for the labor, which is one of the most
desirable objects to be attained in all improvement.

PART II—APPENDIX.

| Er ee

The pressure of

“Our work began on, or about, the 25th of

-99

I am still laboring under great disadvantage in
regard to the landing of the marl on my shore.
Nearly one-third of each load requires to be shift-
ed to a smaller vessel, to enable the larger one to
reach the wharf with the remainder, which still
convinces me that the digging and water carriage
could be reduced, under more favorable circum-
stances, to one cent per bushel.
C. H. MINGE.”

‘According to the previous estimate of the cost
of the preceding year’s labor, the carting of these
17,000 bushels of marl from the landing to the
field, (1000 yards) and spreading, would amount
to $110 28—to which add the cost above stated
for digging and water carriage $270 50, and it
appears that the total cost was $380 78, or not
quite 24 cents the bushel. These facts well de-
serve the attention of all land-holders on naviga-
ble water, who have not mar! on their own farms.
The marl this year was brought from a different
bed (in Surry) recently bought by Mr. Minge and
others, to obtain marl for transportation, but at as
great a distance as that which he worked in 1833.”
—Ed. Farm. Reg.

Upper Brandon, Prince George
Co. Va., Nov. 1, 1833.

“The two following experiments to test the
comparative value of lime and marl, were made
on adjoining pieces of land of the same original
quality, and previously manured from the same
heap. ‘The soil on which the first experiment was
made, was a fine loam, rather stiff! I applied
seventy bushels of unslacked lime per acre, and
one hundred and forty of the marl, or two mea-
sures ior one. ‘The land was put in corn, succeed-
ed by wheat, and is now in clover. The two
former crops were equally and manilestly benefit-
ed by the caleareous matter, but the clover exhi-
bits a much more flourishing appearance on the
marled part, although it is very fine where the lime
was applied.

“The land on which I tried the second experi-
ment is now in corn. The soil is light. The
quantities of lime and marl, and the previous im-
provement the same as before. The corn on the
marled part is equally as good as where the lime
was used, and strikingly better than on the ad-
joining land which had received the same dressing
of putrescent manure.

‘The mail used was brought by water 12 miles;
and I applied only 140 bushels per acre, because
the cost of this quantity, and of 70 bushels of un-
slacked lime, was found to be nearly the same,
and from the tried efficacy of the lime, I well know,
that, if the effect proved to be equally great, I
could extend the use of it to great advantage.
Contrary to my expectation, the results of the ex-
periments stated, fully establish the fact that the
140 bushels of marl are at teast as efficacious as
half the quantity of lime. You ask how much
the crop was increased by *the marl? I regret
that I did not ascertain by measurement, and can-
not therefore say precisely—but it may be confi-
dently affirmed, that the increase of the first crop

of corn and wheat will repay the whole cost of

ithe marling, and the land will be left permanently
improved. ‘

WM. B. HARRISON.”

‘

100

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

[NOTE N. Page 65.]

PROOFS OF THE EFFECT OF CALCAREOUS
EARTH IN PREVENTING DISEASE.

«The perusal of the “Supplementary Chapter’’ to
the Essay on Calcareous Manures, (in No. 2 of the
Farmers’ Register,) and the inquiry with which it
closes, as to the efiects of marl in purifying the air and
contributing to healthfulness, induces me to mention a
case somewhat in point. If I can give you no very
satisfactory information, I may be the cause of elicit-
ing it from others.

“The streets of Mobile are generally unpaved, and as
a substitute for stone or gravel, which are not to be ob-
tained, shells, (which have long been untenanted,) are
strown over the carriage ways and side walks to the
depth of several inches. These soon become a firm
mass, and form a smooth surface, so as to resemble a
Macadamized road. The streets have a remarkably
neat and clean appearance, and are much more plea-
sant than the paved ones.

«The shells, which are of various kinds, generally
small, are raked up in great quantities in the shal-
low lakes, and brought to the city in large light-
ers.

‘Mobile is much more healthy now than it was be-
fore this plan of improving its streets was adopted. It
was proposed to “‘shell” some of the streets of New
Orleans, but whether it was carried into effect, 1 am
unable to inform you. The suggestion you have
made may call the attention of its citizens to the
subject. Mm,” Farmers’ Register, Vol. p. 152.

«In the 3d No. of the Register, a writer, under the
signature of ‘‘M,’’ has told us, that since the town of
Mobile was paved with shells, it has become much
more healthy. This is strong probable testimony in
favor of the principles advanced. A few days ago,
and before I saw the third No. of the Register, I saw
a near connexion, who has just returned from a settle-
ment which he has made on the Black Warrior, about 50
miles below Tuscaloosa. He spoke of the fact that
Mobile had become much more healthy within a few
years, without, however, assigning any cause. He
also represented a very large portion of that country,
between Tuscaloosa and Mobile, as calcareous, and
abounding in shell marl, [or softlimestone.] He says,
the country, if not more healthy, is certainly not more
sickly than this part of Virginia,* and that it appears
to be generally understood there, that the marl pre-
serves it from disease. As one evidence of the fact,
that the country owed its healthiness to the marl, he
stated that the more northern parts of the state, where

that deposite was not found, the country was more |

siekly,’’-—Iarmers’ Register, Vol. I. p. 214. | lime rock in lumps, which, on calcination, makes ex

“The fine rich prairie soil is calcareous manure it-
self, tempered by nature with the most happy combi-
_ nations of silicious earth and vegetable mould: and the

quality of the soil rises just in proportion to the just-
ness of these combinations. In some places the calca-
reous formation approaches quite to the surface, and
makes what are called “bald prairies.’ These sometimes
cover as muchas an acre, perhaps more, perfectly white
and thick; but they are rendered productive by the addi-
tion ef sand, and by ploughing—(being eenerally soft
enough to yield to the plough—) and as soon as grass and |
weeds, or a crop of corn or cotton can take root, and
eave a vegetable deposite, these bald plains grow
black, or at least of a much darker shade. It is as-
tonishing with what facility vegetable substances are
decomposed in the prairies, and rendered subservient
to the improvement of the soil. There is another fact |
connected with this part of the subjeet, that strongly |

* Nottoway county—part of the middle and hilly region of |
Virginia.

| large timber.

| rust.

corroborates your views regarding the healthy actio i)
of calcareous earths on putrescent matter, containe fl
in a “Supplementary Chapter,” on that subject, in tt

second No. of the Farmers’ Register, This fact ip
that the prairies have proven to be the healthiest paryfi
of the state—notwithstanding the water is to all apf
pearance bad, and is unquestionably very unpleasaiil
to the taste of those most used to it. The caleareouyp
formation forms a substratum for the whole extent «ji
the prairie country, and is accessible at the banks «ft
every creek and gulley, and I have discovered it ip
various places at considerable distances from the praii
ries. In most instances it is white as chalk—someli
times it is blue—and in all cases it abounds with small
sea shells almost decomposed. By cutting it with \\
saw and planing it, (as is often done tor building pug
poses,) you see the lines, or sections, of the shells: bifi
breaking it, you often see the impression of the sui
faces of the shells. It grows harder by dry exposurif
but it is not very good for building. It absorbs mueffi
water and scales by freezing. With sufficient heat, jf
turns to lime, which is good for building, but is tei
coarse and dark for plastering. The best lime is macift
from that which has been exposed perhaps for ages itt
the action of the sun and air; and that kind presenip
itself in various places, and in large tracts, exhibitini

avery singular, craggy appearance, resembling largi
bones of animals, and other grotesque shapes.” —Faik
mers’ Register, Vol. I. p. 276. Ef

|i

Extract from the Southern Agriculturist of Aug. 1833.)

“I have only seen the prairies of Alabama, in ttl}
counties of Montgomery and Lowndes, and have triej
to ascertain the composition of the soil, and the efiecd
produced on it by heat, drought, and moisture, so fil
as connected with their productions. The prairicj
mean the lime lands, and cover a large portion of thf
surface of the middle parts of that State, and are dd
vided into the wooded and bald, (or unwooded prairie
which are so interspersed, that in one thousand acre)
together of the most wooded, there will be from one
third to one-fifth of bald prairie, and in the most bali
a similar proportion of wooded prairie. ‘To speak gi!
nerally, the prairies are healthy, high, dry, and ver)
undulating, presenting but few levels and no savan
nals; the hills bald or unwooded, and covered with ||
dense growth of grass and weeds, furnishing coars]}
but excellent pasturage; the sides of the hills, begit]
ning at about one-half of their declivities, with the in)
tervening valleys (there called slues) wooded, wit!
the soil of jet black color, which sometimes extenc
over the whole hill, though very often the bald par]
are the color of lime; the crown of many of the hil!
to the space of half an acre, covered with the pun

cellent lime, and in great abundance, The sides «|
the hills and slues are very properly considered the be;
lands as to fertility, durableness and exemption fro):
The black soil, and that growth which show
rich land here, is considered the best, and the close ¢
stiff soils, if such a term can properly be applied |
lands so very loose, are to be preferred as being mot,
certainly free from the rust, a disease to which cottc:
is very liable in the bald, and in some kinds of tk!
wooded prairie, afterlong use.

“There are also some prairie swamps, or levels (
considerable width, very rich indeed, and very closel
covered with a dense growth of canes, (much of thei)
more than thirty feet high) and a heavy growth 1
These lands, as wellas some other!
often present uniform inequalities over their gener)
levels, resembling the lairs of large animals. The Ih)
dians say they are buffalo beds; they are called th)
hog-bed lands, and are considered the evidence of st
perior quality. But small portions of these lands hav)
fallen under the stroke of the axe, from their difficult
of clearing, and being liable to be overflowed by th

|

PANT MI—APPENDIX,

uantity of water which is precipitated on them from
‘“@he very broken country about them,

') «This embraces the general character of the surface
\§f the country. The soil presents on and below its
@urface, oyster and other sea-shells, and the petrified
\@>mains of fish, and shows evidently that it was once
@overed by the ocean. Itis for many feet in depth a
‘@nass of rotten limestone, in all the various situations
li. which it has been placed by the chemical action oi
eat and moisture, and by the decomposed vegetable
latter. Those soils are best where there is the most
legetable matter: hence the woodlands that pay for
l@ieir tenancy in the soil the annual contribution of
Wneir leaves, are better than the bald prairies which re-
eive only a scanty contribution from their decayed
li@rasses. ‘The soil is a powder which dries quickly on
‘Ws surface for an inch or two, and in dry weather is all
ver in small cracks, and looks very dry and husky and
infit for vegetation; but below its surface two inches,
ir below where. the plough has reached, there is a per-
iWetual moisture. The soil works up under the fingers
Without grit,and very much like putty. From a
asual observation of the black light inland swamps of
ne lower country of this state, I would say, there was
uch resemblance between them as to appearance,
ut to appearance only. This quality in the soil
auses the prairie to bear drought surprisingly, and
food crops of cotton and corn are made on them, in
easons that cut short the product of other lands.

“This fineness of soil prevents the percolation of

auch water through it: hence, in the rains of winter,
vhen but very littie evaporation is going on, it makes
he worst roads imaginable; so much so, that it isa
aaterial deduction from the value of any plantation,
at should be more than ten miles from navigation.
_ “This fineness of soil, which prevents its absorp-
ton of water to any depth, I think the cause of ano-
jher mischief. It prevents the gradual feeding of the
ells and springs, and in dry summers they go dry to
jn extent on soine few plantations, to require water to
ve hauled to the people in the fields, and in extraordi-
lary years to be hauled to their settlements. It is
rery common for stock to suffer much for the want of
ater. So soon as the warmth of spring is felt, and
‘vaporation begins, the roads improve surprisingly and
yecome good, and the lands become dry; and when
nee well ploughed up in the spring, become as light
is an ash-heap, or as lime itself, which it is, and no
jubsequent weather ever puts them out of order, ex-
sept for a day or two, from some greatrain. You can
enerally plough the day aftera hard rain.

“The soil being so loose and light, makes it very lia-
ale to run its surface off with every rain, and I do not
ak that horizontal ploughing would save it, nor the

eans usually considered etfectual here. I have tried
totton stalks, and bushes, up a slope without effect, that
would have been sufficient here.* You cannot ditch
with the spade in the prairie: you would make as
much and very similar progress in a barrel of pitch.
With all this liability of your lands to wash, it will be
a long time before you will lose its soil, for it is very
deep. I find the opinion entertained by intelligent
gentlemen, that the fertility may be restored by the
shemical action of the sun and air without putting ve-
zetable matter there. This looseness of soil and want
yf retention of moisture at the surface, during the crop
season, makes the prairies the kindest and the easiest
and to work. I would prefer to make a crop on them
nan ordinarily good year, to preparing for one here.*
You can very well cultivate one-fifth more land to the
aborer, and gather two-thirds more of cotton. The
reason why you can gather more, is, beeause the cotton
90d in that soil and climate matures perfeetly, and
ypens so wide, that the whole contents of the boll
somes out ata touch of the fingers; when here, it is
irawn out at two pulls, and sometimes a third; another

reason is, that you commence picking about a fortnight
earlier than here, and this time in the long days of Au-
gust, is equal to one bale, of our Weights, to each la-
borer: and yet another reason is, that knowing that the
amount of the crop depends on the gathering, all other
works are so arranged as not to intertere with it.

“1 think the country more healthy than this, owing
in part to its being more high, dry, and broken, and
more under the strong influence of the trade winds;
but there must bea iarther reason, because I have
seen local causes enough to produce sickness here, in
spite of the general causes of salubrity, that did not
produce it there. Families reside with security on
their prairie plantations allsummer, in the midst of ex-
tensive clearings of rich land. I think it must come
{vom some purification of atmosphere arising trom the
immense quantity of lime on and near the surtace of
the soil. ‘he other lands in that country under similar
circumstances, are net more healthy than here.* The
waters on the prairie do not corrupt; it is disagreeable
to the taste, and both cathartic and diurectic in its ef-
fects on anew settler, but aftera few weeks he be-
comes reconciled to its taste, and many prefer it to
other good water.”

Mobile, Aug. 28, 1833.

“Agreeably to my prémise, 1 proceed to detail to
you some particulars about the former situation and
present condition of this place, in regard to its health,
as connected with the system of shelling the streets,
and in support of the position assumed in a ‘Supplc-
mentary Chapter to the tussay on Calcareous Manures,’
recommending calcareous earths as promotive of health
aud cleanliness in cities and towns—(p.76, Farmers’
Register, No. 2.)

“*f settled in Mobile in 1819, and have resided here
ever since. Mobile is situated at the head ot Mobile
bay, just where the river of the same name enters it.
The plain on which the city stands extends back five
miles, and covered by a pine forest. The region of
hilly pine woods then sets in, and atiords fine healthy
summer retreats. Summer retreats have been formed
over the plain, quite from the city to the hill land; and
they prove to be healtiiy. In 1819, Mobile wasa small
wooden built town—the streets narrow and deep with
light sand, except under the bluil, (which was eight to
twelve feet above the level of the river,) where the
streets were muddy—the tide ebbing and flowing over
a margin of marsh from 4 to 600 feet wide, the edge
of the marsh next the bluif at all times wet springy
land. The rapidly increasing trade of the place, ear-
ly drew those engaged in it towards the river, and soon
covered the flat with store-houses, built on lots so badly
filled up, that water stood under all of them, without
exception—under some 6 inches, some 1 to 2 feet: and
encroachments were made quite into the water, by
laying timbers horizontally, to give sufficient elevation.
High tides brought in floating logs—marsh grass—and
all small substances that were borne on the waves,
depositing them in the streets and over the flat. There
were only one or twostreets at all filled in this flat, and
they were very partially done. My first visit was in
July, 1819, about the middle of the month: then it was
healthy. About the last of that month, a violent S. E.
storm cast animmense quantity of trash and filth over
the flat, and a long drought followed, with prevailing
north winds, which kept the water of the bay unusual-
ly low. The place that summer was visited with the
yellow fever, to the extent of a pestilence. In 1820, there
was no prevailing epidemic, though the place could
not be said to be healthy; perhaps there were some
cases of yellow fever. I was absent three or four
months this year on business. In 1821, there was less
sickness than the previous year. That year, the gov-
ernment sold the site of fort Charlotte, (now near

-*In South Carolina.

.

*In South Carolina.

S MANURES.

—eeaes=@»aqeqquouonan eS SSS ij

the centre of the city,) and the citizens thus came in
possession of an immense quantity of material for fill-
ing up. The ifort was a very strong Spanish built one,
with walls 20 to 25 feet high, and 15 to 18 feet thick,
made of brick and stone, strongly cemented with mortar
of shell lime. Ithad an outer wall, and a glacis sur-
rounding the whole, of pure earth. All this, during
the latter part of 1821, and in 1822 and 1823, was carted
and spread over the flat, together with an immense
quantity of earth taken from the back parts of the
town, which went very far towards filling up the flats
above high water. But this filling was put in the streets
and lots, and the foundations of houses already built,
were thus made lower than the surrounding land. In
1824, similar improvements were carried on, and up
to (and including) that year, there was no epidemic
diseases: but bilious fevers were common, and tiie place
was counted unhealthy.

“In 1825, similar improvements went on, and the
place was healthy up to the 25th of June, when a wet
spell occured that lasted through the most of July—
showery, with intervening hot suns. That year, the
old burying ground, which is now in the heart of the
city, and interinents in which had been discontinued the
previous year, being the property of the Catholic
Church, was laid oif in building lots, and let out on
long leases; and many who had friends and relatives
buried there, were permitted to disinter them, and re-
move them to the new grave yard. This operation
was carried on during the months of June and July,
aod the old graves were left open to the influence of the

rain and hot sun, to evolve the noxious efiluvia that had |

ben engendered by the decomposition of the bodies
they had contained. Most of the subjects that were re-
moved were of those who had died in 1819 and sub-
sequently; and I doubt not the miasmata that were ex-
hated partook of the nature of that which produced the
disease of which the subject died—it may be it was
identical. This year the yellow fever raged again like
a pestilence, and, unless I have already assigned the real
cause of the fatal sickness of this year, Iam at a loss
how to account for it from any local cause that
would not have operated as powerfully any previous
or subsequent year, anterior to the shellingsystem. It
is to be admitted, that the deep loose sandy streets, and
back yards, would serve as recepticles for an immense
amount of animal and veg2table matter, thrown out
from kitchens and shops, which, in a dry time, was
trodden in and hid, and yet the substance remain to be
operated on by heat and moistnre: and that the effluvia
taus created would co-operate with the cause before as-
signed, ‘There is another collateral cause worthy of
notice, that exposed many a poor creature to the influ-
ences of the general causes of sickness, and no doubt
accelerated its progress. That year is rememberedas
the “gambling year.” The legislature, by careless
legislation, ina very laudable zeal to suppress that per-
nicious vice, by a sweeping clause so framed a Jaw, as
that it admitted a construction to license gambling, in-
stead of suppressing it. Many gambling houses were
opened under a $1000 license, as public as taverns; and
such scenes of dissipation have rarely been witnessed
in any country: Exposure to night air, loss of sleep,
loss of fortune, loss of character, drunkenness and de-
bauchery, (all fruitful exciting causes,) no doubt had
their full eitect in swelling the listof mortality.

“In 1826 and 1827, many brick buildings were in
progress, and the sites of them exposed by removal of
the old wood buildinys. This, with the general ab-
sence of cleanliness produced by the capacity of sandy
streets to retain filth, as remarked above, caused sick-
ness these two years. There were several cases oi
yellow fever in both years; but nothing to be com-
pared with 1825. In October, 1827, a fire occurred
that swept the whole business part of the town, aad
hardly left a house standing, wood or brick, in all the
flat below the bluff. he legislature, at the next ses-
sion, which commenced soon afterwards, passed a law

prohibiting the building of any other than fire-prog
buildings within certain limits that included the busi
ness part of the town; and here begins a new erai.
the history of Mobile. In 1826, a brother of mine§?
who is aphysician, then residing here, urged the im] ©
portance of improving the health of the city, (whie.
he deemed perfectly practicable,) both through th] J
medium of the press, and in conversations, upon ai};|
suitable occasions. Nothing was done while he reside fyi)
here; but his opinions took root, and were finally acte/}),
on. The shelling the streets was the prominent mean
with various details regarding police and individual atifi,
tention to cleanliness of yards, &e. Since 1827, thi]”
improvements in filling up, building, graduating, an)
shelling the streets, and paving the side-walks, hay
gone on so rapidly as to dety details; but the effect o
the comfort and health of the place is abundantly ob
vious. In 1822, the first brick tenement was erectee
and most of those that were afterwards built prior t
1827, were then burnt down. Now there are betwee
300 and 400. One entire new street in front has bee:
made, having encroached on the river to the depth ¢
six or eight feet of water: and from thence back to thi
bluff, the ground is well filled up—every street shelle
—all the alleys—many of the yards—all the publil
warehouse yards, and the tavern yards, are shelled-
everal of the streets are shelled for half a mile back
and one that meets a leading road is shelled over’
mile—many of the cross streets are shelled, and eri
long, every street in the city will be shelled—it is, ini
deed, the settled policy, and without any constitutione|
bar to its exercise. Mobile has been uniformly health
since 1827—and I have been particular in my details!
that you might the better judge whether it resulted
from the shelling system. You will, no doubt, giv)
due weight to the circumstances of all the flat beini
well filled, and mostly covered with fine brick build!
ings. Last fall and this summer, while the choler!
raged so fatally in New Orleans, Mobile was visite:
with very few cases, and they excited little or m
alarm. In the first instance, nine or ten cases were re
ported: the deaths were four or five. In the last in!
stance, no public reports were deemed necessary, anii/\y
I cannot say, with any precision, how many cases ool},
curred. I heard of some few deaths among the black!
—and the city continues perfectly healthy up to thi)
time. The shells that are used are cockle, or sea mus)
cle, as some call them. They are the size of a hail).
dollar, to that of a dollar, of the form of a clam shell)/
and they are pretty thick and solid. They aboun
about the shores of the bay, and are contained i
large banks upon the marsh islands opposite and abov
the citv; perhaps having been the nuclei upon whic)
those islands were formed. ‘The shells are brought i) §
large lighters, as your correspondent ‘M.’ informs you) |
[Farmers’ Register Vol. I. No.3, p. 152.] When th!’
street is graduated after the manner of turnpiking, th!
shells are carted and spread over the street to thi
depth of four or five inches. The spreading hardl)
forms a moment’s obstruction to the passage along th
street: as soon as they are spread, which is done b!
scattering them with a spade, carriages and horses pas)
over them, and they very soon form a crust, so we
cemented asto be difficult to dig up with a pickax«
They wear out, by very constant use on the most fre’
quented streets, but, by a little attention to’ breaks ani
thin places, when astreet is once shelled, it is ver!
easily kept in repair.

«J have been informed the shelling system has bee:
attempted in New Orleans; but it will not answer fe
that place, owing to the ground being so much saturate:
with water as not to sustain the shells. Ilearn that.
is difficult to make the deepest paving stand well, fron
that cause. If it will answer. I doubt not that Nev
Orleans would find its account in covering every inc)
of its whole area. H.’°—Sarmers Register Vol. I. Nb
D> DP. 2tae |

tt

PART III—APPENDIX.

103

NOTE O. Page 68.

ISCOVERY OF MAGNESIAN MARL IN THE

of the subject, and obtained very nearly the same
proportions of thesecarbonates. From sixty grains
of earth he obtained of

GRANITE AND COAL REGION oF virGINIA |Carbonate of lime, 31 grains | = per cent. f O13
Carb. of magnesia, 18 te 30
The magnesian marl of Hanover was discover- ee . . : she Lge 163
ed by John H. Steger, Esq. in 1833. Very mi- L reel whe | ;
ute accounts of its appearance, and of its chem-| 40S : . yep 1%
ical composition, were given soon afterwards in ae
Phe Farmer’s Register, Vol. I. pages 424, 425, 60 100

462. It had the appearance of a hard chatk, ex-
zept in color, which was ash color when wet, and
a dark or dirty white when dry. No shells, nor

The locality of this earth was as singular as its
composition. According to the account furnished
of its discovery, (by Dr. Meaux, in the Farmers’

any appearance of their having been present, could Register, Vol. I. p. 424,) Bear Island, where the

fbe seen. but a fossil tooth, of the kind called the
fshark’s, was found, which directed to the discove-

bed was found, “‘lies between the first branches of
Pamunky River in Hanover county,” and “is sit-

iry, and sufficiently attests the marine formation of|uated on the first bed, and within a short distance

jthe bed. With muriatic acid its eflervescence was
jso uncommonly slow, as to induce, at first, the be-
llief that its caleareous proportion was very small—
and upona more full trial, this circumstance caused

e to suspect the presence of carbonate of mag-

esia, (which had not been met with in any other
fearth,) and which, in fact, was found, to the
amount of thirty-one per cent., besides the very
Harge proportion of fifty per cent. of carbonate of
jlime.
ithe same specimen, by a different and more accu-

frate process, as well as with far more knowledge

of the first out cropping of granite, in ascending
the Pamunky, and is pretty clearly in the same
geological range that the Chesterfield and Henrico
coal mines are, being ina northeastwardly course
from them, and showing thin strata of coal in a
bluff of free-stone which overlooks Little River, a
tributary of the Pamunky, and is the northern
boundary of the [Bear Island] tract.”

No late information has been received, showing

Mr. Rogers afterwards analyzed part of|whether any use has since been made of this earth

as manure, or whether further discoveries of the
extent of the bed have been made.

A TABLE

SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SPACES CONTAINED IN AN ACRE OF LAND, AT VARIOUS GIVEN
DISTANCES.

} The following table will be found useful for fixing the proper distances to place marl, lime, or other ma-

‘nures,so as to give any desired quantities to the acre.

The last table though not relating strictly to the sub-

ject of manures, is convenient for fixing proper distances for planting, and other operations.

Abridged from the American Farmer of 1820.

Feet Ft. Ft. Ft. it. Et. Ft.

40 by 40 27) 20 by 16 136/96) by? “43 $86°/°15,- “hy. 13, "938
139 & 39 28 | do & 15 145 | do “ 12 | 2011} do «“ 12 | 242
438 ‘“ 38 30 | do ‘ 14 155 | do ‘6 11 220 | do ‘6 11 | 264
137 ‘“ 37 31 | do & 13 167 | do ‘“ 10 242 | do ‘“ 10 | 290
136 “ec 36 33 | do ‘ 12 181

135 ‘e 35 35 | do ‘“ 11 1985) ae | Bye. 1s 150 | 14 ‘“ 14 | 292
£34 6“ 34 37 | do ‘6 10 217 | do “ 16 160 | do ‘ 13. | 239
133 ‘“ 33 40 do ‘“ 15 170 | do ‘“ 12 | 259
1 32 6 32 42| 19 ‘“ 19 120 | do ‘< 14 180 | do ‘ 11 | 282
131 « 31 45 | do ‘6 1d 127 | do ‘ 13 197 | do ‘“ 10 | 311
/ 30 ‘ 30 48 | do “ 17 134 | do «“ 12 213

{29 & 29 51 | do ‘ 16 143 | do & 11 232 | 13 ‘“ 13 | 257
28 “ 28 55 | do é 15 152 | do ‘ 10 256 | do ‘“ 12 | 279
1 27 “ 27 59 | do ‘ 14 163 do cc 11 | 304
96 “« 696 64 | do ‘< 13 176 | 16 ‘“ 16 170 | do ‘“ 10 | 335
195 «“ 25 69 | do « 12 191 | do ‘< 15 181

} 24 ‘ 24 75 | do ‘“ 11 208 | do ‘< 14 194 | 12 ‘6 12 | 302
23 ‘“ 23 82 | do 6“ 10 229 | do ‘“ 13 209 | do ‘ 11 | 330
| 22 “ 8699 90 do ‘“ 12 | 2261 do ‘6 10 | 363
(21 & 21 98 | 18 ‘ 18 134 | do ‘“ 11 247 a
; 20 ‘sc 20 108 | do ‘6 17 142 | do ‘“ 10 | 2721 11 &“ 11 | 360
, do &< 19 114 | do &< 16 151 do sc 10 | 396
, do ‘ 18 121 | do ‘ 15 161} 15 ‘“ 15 | 193

do ‘ 17°! 128' do « 14 172 | do ‘“ 14 | 207! 10 ‘“ 10 | 435

104
ON CALCAREOUS MANURES '

Oe? Oo—
Table of planting distances. 4

a4 _ Ft. In. aa
9 9 -in. Benhen :
do “ 8 aa BG). by: 3, 9.) 2112 Ft In. Ft. In. |
do & 05 | do rf OWN Ma Pet 5 oer ;
7 3 6 | 2262 y 2 0) 4840 Ft. In. |
do 6c 691 | do 3 262 |ilo a; Fins Haak
ae a, oe ge De See go. mee rare laa Raed 22 4194
8 ‘ 5 968 | do tc 3 0 | 2640 |do 6c ; 6| 6453 |do IT; 99 4818
do & 680 | do “ 2 9 | 2880 |do « 1 3} 7744 |do Ts 26 sa
do “ 7 777 | do ce 26/3168/43 « 0} 9680 |do ne on 5361
do E 905 | do ‘ 2 3 | 3520 |do 3 4 3} 2411 |do 6c 20 |
do ce S 1089 | do &c 2 0 | 3960 | do ‘6 ako 2562 | do “ 1 6701
do ‘ s 1361 | do « 1 9 | 4525 |do “ 3 9} 2733 |do “ a ia
7 3 | 1815 | d i | soee laa staat HOS! 2 Rees Ne aie 16| 8938
« 7 0| 888 | do “1:3 | 6336 ic 3313153 ldo 1 3 | 10722
do “ 6 6.| 957 do & 10 pane - 66 3 0] 3416 | 3 ‘ 1 0 | 13403
= ‘6 6 0 | 1037 # éc BO lsagee ao é Soh erayiee 3 20 | 46m
oe 6 56} 1131 His “ 49 1934 o 9 6| 4099 Ido : 29 5989
ee ene te meee lage do 2.3) 4555 Jdo 26| 5808
cae gaol Meee reece 49: VoRne Lad ae oe cheeses \ae ae 2.3 |. 64ag
A 4 0 | 1555 | d 40/2178 |do | ot bake a a 0| 7260
e 66 3611777 66 39 | 9393 4G . 1 6| 6832 |do i 19| 8297
a i 3 0 | 2074 ote 3 3 6 | 2489 io 1 3] 8199 |do # 16] 9680,
pee sine |assalian 84 SG ger ace Dee vo te | eee ae 13 | 11616
- op lee Fe RR aaah Ge at ahuignn a9 \o9 « ap 14520
29 | 316 9| 29 60
ry ae ee ae Soa Nice Mumene Ser baa crannies 6336
(ye 66 (aah = “c 2 3| 9979 oO ts 3 | 3350 |d 7 23} 704
do & 6 0 | 1116 oN “ 2 0 | 4956 do “ 3 0| 3630 ae : 301 79261
Berke ge geen Tare aes meee do) 2 0) ae ae 19| 9051
de &< 5 0 | 1340 a Pa 1 6 | 5808 |do be 2 6| 4356 |do tc 1 6 | 10560
GOB cence OH mee ete. Oe help we ee ee 1 3 | 12676
do cc 40/1675|;49 « 1 0 | 8712 |do 6s 20} 5445/26 “* 1 0 | 15846
Gin io Sig Bal BONE 0. oct £9 Vee Nee rae ieee eee 26| 6966]
eta a0 2233 |do « re 9037 do « a 7260 ie ee a
2 6 | 2680 2157 712 | zo
ae there 3350 = | #0) 2292 ie aaa sip 10890 je ee 9956!
do 5 I 6 | 4467 | do : 39 | 2445 |do cc 3.9} 3097 |do 66 1 6 | 11616)
Fs ee ali a ett Be © 36 | 2620 |do 3 6| 3318 ldo 1 3| 13936!
ia 1 ite 60/1210} do « 33/9821 ldo « 33| 3574/23. « 1 0| 17424
do &< 5 9 | 1262 | do Me 3 0 | 3056 |do :e 3 0| 3872 |do i 23} 8604)
1 5 6 | 1320 | a 2 9 | 3334 |d 29| 4994 |do 20} 9686
Cre caer uly ABD ee A ey Mae do.” So) pees) Abb idee 1 9| 11069
6 | 1613 4075 3| 5162 |d vs
do ce do &c do “ oy) 1
40 | 1815 2 0 | 4585 20) 5808 3 3 | 15488)
a ea UL ae eae eee Mi for) geet oO ee 19366
0 | 2420 6113 6| 7744 |d i;
do “ do “ do “ a 1 ]
2 6 | 2904 1 3 | 733 1 3/ 9272 |« ie g | 1244
lorem Pea yarn) Mee SL Be 78 /ieae
6| 4 2 55 24
Bae peer 0 eet ak ae Se Ate eee 3608 dey <i
56 56) 1417 Sm aie le dof 8 0} 4148 do « 1 9| 14228
a : 28 1508 | do a 3581 |do 3 a 4525 |do bs 1659
0 2765 497. 3
do 49] eer} a 8a B03 io 33) boat T's 1 aaa
6 | 1760 3226 6222 |do
dos)... do <« rite £
43 29 | 352 19; 711 1 3 | 23232
do 43/1803 /ao «26 | aera lo 15 THI do, 10 20040
2.3) + 4302: do « 1 3; 9956 |do “ 1 3 | 2787
1 0! 12445 !1 eee 348.48
1 0 | 43566

Errata.—Th
-—The reader is reques
wen.” P quested to correct }
age 81, col. 2, 1st line of the note—for pe ae errata: Page 19, col. 1, 14th]
translation,’? read “t qcaeeen. 8 ine—for “fc
ransition.?? ‘orty-seven” read “fifty
-8E)

PART ITI—APPENDIX.

[NOTE S. Page 68.]

ISCOVERIES OF, AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE
“GYPSEOUS EARTH,’ OR GREEN SAND FOR-
‘MATION, OF VIRGINIA.

After the preceding sheet, which was intended
i close this work, was in the press, and part of
e impression finished, the continuation of Mr.
ogers’ observations on the green sand of Virgi-
a, was received for the Farmers’ Register. It
ould be improper to omit this piece; and yet to
fsert it alone would not do justice to the views of
‘author, nor to the statements presented in the
ticle on gypseous earth, to both of which the
st communication makes frequent reference.
n this account (though contrary to the previous
ientions expressed in note H.) the first two
feces will be here republished, in the order they
}ppeared, as a necessary introduction to the piece
st received, and which will appear in the Farm-
's’ Register, as well as here, to preserve the pro-
vr order and connexion of the subject entire in
ath publications.

From the Farmers’ Register of Sept. 1832.
The gypseous earth of James River.

As far back as I can remember, crystals were
}ymetimes found on the river shore at Evergreen,
jiwo miles below City Point,) which attracted no

rther notice than being admired for their perfect
fansparency. At that time it is probable that no
Ine in the county had ever noticed crystalized
fypsum, or even the lump gypsum of commerce,
Ind no one had given the slightest attention to mi-
feralogy. It is therefore not strange that the na-
ire of these crystals was not suspected before

17, when some person better acquainted with
he subject, supposed them to be pure gypsum.
he expression of this opinion attracted some no-
Fee at that time, but was received with general

credulity, founded upon the supposed impossibil-
y of gypsum existing in this region, where it had
lever been heard of before. A lump was sub-
kitted to the inspection of a French apothecary in

etersburg, who had “chemist” painted on his
en: he at once pronounced that the substance
as not gypsum, but isinglass.

The interest which I had felt with regard to
Fhis substance was soon after much increased by
finding some small specimens on my own land,
}Coggin’s Point.) Having no prospect of having
the question decided by any person possessing a
¥cientific acquaintance with the subject, I consulted
hooks, and found such instructién as enabled me to

nalyze the substance, and ascertain that it was

yure sulphate of lime, or gypsum. But however
hhatisfactory to myself, it must be confessed that my
shemical proof was not much valued by others;
pecause it was thought impossible that a process
yelieved to be so mysterious, could be accurately
derformed by one who confessedly was ignorant of
shemistry, and who had only resorted toits aid for
his particular object. To settle all these doubts,
sent collections of choice specimens to two of
‘he most distinguished chemists in the United
lbs with the request that they would give their
i]

lestimony as to the nature of the substance. To

have complied fully with my wish would not have

required fifteen minutes of the valuable time of

either of those gentlemen: yet neither paid the
14

105

slightest attention to the subject nor even returned
my specimens. ‘These were certainly the strong-
estamong the very many proofs I have known of
how little aid chemists are disposed to offer to ag-
riculture. As these applications had been made
to remove the doubts of others, and not mine, and
to attract the public attention to what I considered
an interesting and perhaps important subject, the
results did not discourage the progress of my own
investigations.

1 had previously ascertained that the gypseous
formation was of much greater extent and impor-
tance, than the crystals alone would indicate. In
all the different places where the crystals had been
found, they were imbedded in the same kind of
earth, having a very peculiar appearance, and
which extended along the south river bank, with
but few interruptions, from Bayley’s creek to Cog-
gin’s Point, a distance of eight or ten miles.—
Having so markeda guide for examination as this
earth presented, I found gypsum in it in various
places, but in such small quantities, that alone it
would never have attracted observation. It was
evident that gypsum either was, or had been at
some former time diffused through the whole body
of this earth, and therefore I distinguish it by the
general name of gypseous earth, although in most
cases there may be no gypsum now remaining.
This term of courseis not always indicative of the
present construction of the mass. ‘The gypseous
earth is of a dull greenish color, mottled with streaks
of bright eee clay. Where gypsum is visible, it
is generally in numerous small crystals; sometimes
in coarse white powder. At one spot only (where
first discovered) are the crystals large. Here they
are sometimes several pounds in weight, and of va-
rious and beautiful forms. Some are as transpa-
rent as glass‘ but generally, they are of a dark
gray color, owing to a small quantity of dark
earthy particles being enclosed between the lamine
of the crystals. Except at this place, the solid
crystals seldom exceed ten or twelve grains in
weight, and generally are less than one grain.
The mest usual appearance in which they are pre-
sented in the bank, is that of a star, formed by nu-
merous rays (each a solid crystal) shooting out
from a common centre. As these rays are very
slightly attached to each other, they generally fall
asunder when removed.

In much the greater part of the sypseous earth
which has been yet examined, no gypsum is visi-
ble; nor is it believed that even the smallest parti-
cle remains. But whether gypsum is present or
not, the earth is filled with numerous hollow forms
or impressions of shells, so as to prove that this
was once part of a bank of fossil shells, (or marl
as it is here called) of which the upper part, un-
changed, still forms the cover of the gypseous
earth, through its whole extent. The yellow clay,
before spoken of, is very often presented in the
form of shells, as if; when fluid, it had filled their
vacant places. Masses of hard marl, coated over
with crystalized gypsum, are also found here and
there in gypseous earth. A close examination
of the bed, and comparing the impressions of shells
with the appearance of those still existing in the
upper stratum, or in the neighborhood, will leave
no doubt on the mind of the observer, of the change
having taken place from a bed of fossil shells to
e@ypseous earth.

This conclusion is attended with two difficul-

106

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

ties: In the first place, we are at a loss to know by

what agency or means could so extensive, regular, | nions will be stated. |

and complete a chemical chanve have been made,
as converting all the shelly matter (carbonate of
lime) to gypsum, (sulphate of lime.) Secondly,
admitting the means to exist, and the change to
have taken place, it is still more difficult to guess
what has become of the gypsum so formed—as
not one-tenth ofits proper quantity remains. When
sulphuric acid takes the place of carbonie acid in
combination with lime, the greater weight of the
former, (together with the water chemically com-
bined,) serves to increase the weight of the new
compound about fifty per cent: or, in other words,
one hundred grains of shells, or pure calcareous
earth, if aliowed to combine with sulphuric acid,
will form at least one hundred and fifty grains of
gypsum. Sothe mere change of acids being made,
ought to give us an earth much richer in gypsum
than it before was in calearcous matter. Instead
of this, the gypsum is no where so plenty as we
may suppose the shells formerly were; and by
far the greater part of this bed now is entirely
destitute of both gypsum and calcareous earth.
What has become of it is beyond my power to
explain,

The access of waters containing sulphuric acid,
or sulphate of iron, would suffice to produce the
change of carbonate to sulphate of lime—and the
exposure to sufficient water, and for sufficient
time, might dissolve and carry off the greater part
of the gypsum. Sulphate of iron is perceptible
on the surface of some of’ this earth near the head
of tide water on Powell’s creek, and was abundant
enough to greatly injure the land on which some of
that earth was applied thickly, for manure. Swl-
phuret of iron has also been found intermixed with
the gypseous earth: and this mineral in contact
with carbonate of lime, would also by chemical
decomposition and new combination, form e@yp-
sum, It was at Berkley, in Charles City, that
sulpburet of iron was found by Mr, Benjamin
Harrison, near the bottom of a pit of thirty six
feet depth, which he caused to be sunk in the
beach and through gypseous earth. Many isola-
ted masses of marl were reached, (such as I descri-
bed above,) and Mr, H. thinks that the gypseous
earth also was still calcareous. In either case,
the chemical change from the carbonate to the
sulphate of lime must be still going on, as the agent,
sulphuret of iron, still remained in considerable
quantity.

The discovery of the existence of gypsum caus-
ed the hope to be entertained at first that it would
be found in large bodies, and pure enough to form
a valuble commodity for sale, and distant trans-
portation. But the examination which led to the
foregoing conclusions, also served to dissipate
these expectations. As the shelly bed which was
the origin of the gypseous earth, was composed
principally of worthless sand and clay, the new
gypseous formation must have the same deeree of
adulteration, which would forbid its sale for trans-
portation.

The only remaining use for the application of
the new discovery, was as manure in the neigh-
‘borhood where it was found: and circumstances
then existing, and opinions almost universally en-
tertained, prevented much profit being expected
from this source, and discouraged even the expe-
riments necessary to test fully the value of the

||
earth as manure. These circumstances and opt

When the wonderful effects of gypsum as ma
nure in Pennsylvania, and in parts of the moun
tainous region of Virginia, were first made ase |
the reports excited as much of incredulity as as,
tonishment, or of hope to reap the same rewards!
But as a few pounds of pulverized gypsum wer
sufficient for the purpose, almost every farmer i)
lower Virginia, who was either enterprising or in
quisitive, made some small applications for experi)
ment. ‘This was thirty five or forty years age
and perhaps there was not one of these experiment
recorded, or the precise result kept in remem
brance, But as to the general result, there couli
be no mistake. The failure was so general, tha
every one of the experimenters agreed that eypsun
was worthless in lower Virginia; and in that opin
ion all others concurred. Some marked instance
of success presented on Berkley in Charles City
Curle’s, Brandon, and some other fine soils o
James River, when the use of gypsum was resum
ed fifteen or twenty years after, did not shake thi
opinion of the general unfitness of our land for the,
manure. In this opinion I fully concurred—and ¢
course could not expect to find our own impun
gypseous earth more efficacious, than the pure
substance from France or Nova Scotia,

But without expecting profit ftom the manuré
the desire to prove its identity with gypsum caus
ed me to make many small experiments with thi
pounded crystals, and with the earth in which the(
were found, in 1817, and afterwards. ‘The resuli
were not such as to promise profit from the ey
tended use, but served to remove all remainin
doubt as to the nature of the substance, On th
several kinds of clover it sometimes produced re
matkable benefit—but more generally, very litth
On corn, it was totally inert, except in a very fev
cases, and in one of these exceptions, the benef.
was remarkable. On other grain crops, no eflee
was ever found, These very different effects, in
stead of being imputed to the nature of the soi
and the crop, (as I have since ascertained to be th!
true causes, ) were supposed to be evidences of th!
capricious manner in which this manure acte¢
and of its general worthlessness for this region. |
saw indeed that its best effect was on caleareov
soil—and even then began to entertain the opinic
which since has been established by facts, that th
want of calcareous ingredients in our soils, cause
their unfitness to be improved by gypsum. J fe
the less inducement however to continue my aj
plications, because my own gypseous earth we
poor, and limited in quantity: and 1 wished to rw
serve what there was of it forfuture use, when
land should be made calcareous, and more fit fi
clover. For these reasons, my use of the eypseor
earth was almost abandoned for six or seven yean
and no other person had then made any exper
ments to test its value as manure.

Inthe winter of 1825-6, I found on my land,
small body of gy pseous earth containing at least on)
tenth of pure gypsum on the average—and po.
tions of it had as much as one-fourth. This caw
ed me to resume itsuse. In 1826, 565 heape
bushels were applied, about 20 to the acre, (su!
posed to give from 2 to 3 of pure gypsum, ) to v
rious soils, and to different crops. In 1827, b
iween 7 and 800 bushels were applied. The effe
on clover, on land calcareous by nature, or mai

=a

PART IiI—APPENDIX.

107

30 by art, was as great generally, as gypsum lias
ever produced elsewhere. On cotton, and on corn,
the effects were irregular, and taken altogether,
Were not equal to the cost of the application. But
hough the use of this earth was now confirmed to
and made calcareous, (as it was evidently worth-
ess elsewhere, ) I again lost the greater part of its
value by another improper mode of application,
which it may be useful to others to state more
fully.
Judge Peters, to whom we are indebted for
making known and establishing the value of gyp-
um, was of opinien that one of its operations is
to hasten the rotting of vegetable matter when
both are in contact: and thence he deduced the
opinion of the propriety of mixing gypsum in heaps
{' compost, or of other coarse putrescent manure.
Besides gaining this particular benefit from mix-
ing the gypsecus earth with my stable and farm
yard manures, (which I was ready to believe on
the high authority of Judge Peters, ) I expected to
derive from the practice a still greater benefit, in
‘distributing easily and equally the earth over the
land, which was very troublesome to spread alone.
‘For these reasons, the greater part of my gyp-
seous earth was spread over the litter in the farm
yard and stable, in such quantities as was supposed
would give about 20 bushels ef the earth to every
acre covered by the manure. The heapme of the
manure to ferment, then cutting it down to load,
‘and spreading it over the field, no doubt divided
and distributed the gypseous earth very equally.
it showed no effect on the succeeding crop, corn,
(at least none that could be distinguished from that
of the putrescent manure, ) and none on the wheat,
which followed. I had not expected much better
results on these crops, but relied confidently that my
clover, sown on the wheat, would show the eflect
om the gypseous earth equal to any on other land,
here it had been applied alone. In this I was to-
tally disappointed. Not the least effect of gypsum
could be discovered on the clover—and thus the
whole of this application was thrown away, as
well as the greater part of the succeeding win-
ter’s application, which in like manner had been
mixed with my other manure, and which had not
then arrived at the time to prove its uselessness.
The cause of this inefficiency is now plain enough.
Fermenting manure, (and probably all ferment-
ing vegetable matter,) forms oxalic acid, which
attracts lime so powerfully as to take it {rom all
other combinations in which it can be presented.
“This acid thus meeting with the sulphate of lime
in the gypseous earth, at once decomposed it, and
destroyed the peculiar manure before existing.
No particle of gypsum remained to be carried out,
‘and act on the land. It is useless here to extend
my remarks on the operation of oxalic acid, as it
thas been done at length elsewhere:* it is sutli-
cient to show by this statement that miy obstinate
adherence to this mode of application, for two win-

ters, caused the loss of the greater part of gyp- |

seous earth, as well as the labor of applying it.
The rich seam was by that time exhausted, and
my later use has been with the poorer body, which,
it is possible, may not be cheaper than to buy the im-
ported gypsum. However, within the last year,
my friend and neighbor Thomas Cocke of Tar-

3

* Essay on Cal. Man. pp. 143, 224. [2d Ed. p. 92.]

bay, by applying earth apparently still poorer in
gypsum, has produced such remarkable benefit
on clover, that I am encouraged to return again to
this kind of manure. The earth he uses is brown,
and differs much from the general appearance ag
described above. We are both satisfied that the
gypseous earth possesses some power to aid the
growth of clover, independent of the pure gypsum
contained. Last year, (1832) to test this opinion,
[sowed French gypsum on clover at the different
rates of 1, 2,3 and 4 bushels to the acre on marked
spaces. The benefit of the smallest application
doubled the crop of clover—and it was increased
by the heavier dressings, though not at all propor-
tioned to the quantities applied. But the clover on
the heaviest application (of 4 bushels,) was not to
compare to the effect seen on neighboring and
similar land, from 20 bushels of my best gypseous
earth, and which was not greater than had often
been iound elsewhere. Mr. Cocke finds equal
benefit, on clover made on poor light land, (thatis,
it is made as heavy as it can well stand,) from 40
bushels of his earth which appears so poor. It is
necessary to observe that all these instances of
benefit are on land made calcareous by fossil shells:
and on my own, last spoken of, before that opera-
tion, the gypseous earth had been used, in heavy
as well as light applications, and without the least
effect. The very rich bed of gypseous earth at
Evergreen has only just now been opened for
use.

The statements made of my own practice show
that [cannot boast of having derived much (if
any) profit from the use of gypseous earth. Ne-
vertheless, my experience may be more useful to
others than it “has been to myself; and the misap-
plications caused by my inexperience and igno-
rance may serve to show others, who have access
to such manure, how to make proper use of it.
Within the last year, circumstances have attracted
attention, and been made public, which induce the
belief that this formation of gypseous earth is much
more extensive than was before supposed. The
marl beds in Hanover and Henrico, not far below
the granite ridge, are covered by an upper bed of
clay, which is very different in appearance from
our gypseous earth, but agrees with it in being
full of impressions of shells, and being destitute of
any portion of the carbonate of lime, with which
it was evidently so well furnished at some former
time. No ¢ypsumis visible. This earth also dif-
fers from that of Prince George in containing pure

;sulphur generally diffused throughout, as made
!evident by its strong sulphureous scent.

I do not
know that this singular and extensive forraation is
valuable as manure—but it is at least worth exam-
ination and trial. The clay bank through which
Governor’s street in Richmond is eut,is full of
such impressions of shells, though it does not con-

i tain, and is not known even to cover, any remain-

ing caleareous matter. If shells are below, as is
probable, this is very near their termination in that
direction. '

In the bed of Howard’s Creek, at the point
where it flows nearest to to the White Sulphur
Spring, (within a few hundred yards distance,)
there are many pebbles, varying greatly in form,
appearance, and chemical composition, but agree-
ing in containing (like the earth before described)
numerous hollow forms of small shells, of which
nothing of the substance now remains, nor any

108

trace of carbonate of lime. ‘These stones are as
solid and hard as those of similar external appear-
ance usually are. which makes still more strange
and unaccountable the entire disappearance of the
shells which have at a former time been enclosed.
T have mentioned this fact because it may possibly
attract the attention of some of the men of’ science
who visit that place, and induce them to observe
and explain these singular facts. ‘The silicious
fixed rocks lying close by the Sulphur Spring also
have many star-like impressions on their surfaces,
(but not within, as in the other cases,) which
from their similarity and regularity of form, must
have been caused by small shells of one particular
species. [ found a similar impression on a pebble
in the bed of the Calf Pasture River—and per-
haps such facts may be numerous, and well
known to others. In all these cases, there was not
the least particle of carbonate of lime remaining in
these stones, (as proved by chemical tests,) nor
any appearance (to the eye) of any other salt of
lime, to which the carbonate might have been
changed.

The highland which lies over the whole extent
of the gypseous formation in Prince George pre-
sents a surface and qualities of very peculiar ap-
pearance, and which may possibly-nave some con-
nection with the g@ypseous bed below. If so, my
description may direct more successfully the search
for eypseous earth elsewhere. ‘The land from Bay-
ley’s Creek to Coggins’ Point, except where in-
terrupted by some low alluvial tracts, seems as if
it had been originally a high and level bluff, or
abrupt termination of table land, which had sunk in
successive slices, the lowest next the river, so as
now to present somewhat the appearance of’ a hill
side cut into terraces. Of course, this form is ex-
tremely irregular. ‘The broken strata cause the
greatest variety of surface: fossil shells fit for use
as manure, barren clay, barren calcareous sand,
and rich black soil, were all to be found in almost
every acre, and remained distinct, until mixed by
the cultivation of the surface. It does not rest on
mere conjecture that this land took its present
form and depression by sinking or slipping, as a
similar natural operation to considerable extent,
has taken place on the Tarbay farm within a few
years, the progress and consequence of which are
still visible. i

The rich gypseous bank, at Evergreen, is at a
place where the river is encroaching on the land,
and every storm, or very high tide, adds to the
acres which have doubtless been already swept
away. In this manner was formerly exposed the
remains of the trunk of a tree, lying even with
the beach, and which when wet, presented the
same spongy and soft texture on the surface,
smooth and even yielding to the touch, as is usu-
ally seen in rotten and water-soaked logs. But
except the surface, where water had probably dis-
solved the substance, every pore and cell of the
log was filled with gypsum, though the form and
grain of wood remained distinct. This complete
filling of the cells could only have taken place
when the gypsum was in a fluid state. The cir-
cumstance of a tree being found beneath a bank
of shells, or what had been shells, might seem to
be a proof that the shells were the later deposite
of the two. But it is easier to believe that the
whole body of earth, (though perhaps 50 feet
high) was formerly thrown in‘o its present place,

/my little oat field; and it has [this year] throwr

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.
eooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooOoDWnT]UTEmmmmmeme eee

by one of those land-slips which have been al-
ready spoken of. i

‘There is a kind of earth in New Jersey which!
was cailed marl, (as almost every earthy manure)
has been) but which seemed to me, from the im-
perfect descriptions given of it, to be the same
kind of eypseous earth that I have described. Al-
though this Jersey manure excited attention, and:
was bought, and tried, and reported on, by Judge
Peters, there was no certain indication given to
the public of the component parts of the earth, or
what constituted its fertilizing power. Judge Pe-'
ters speaks thus of it. “It is said by some that
the Jersey pyritous earth, called marl, is of this de-
scription, [i. e. a mere stimulant;] and by others
that it is permanently fertilizing. Nothing deci-
sive can yet be pronounced, as its many varieties
differ in their respective eflects. There are facts
both ways; so that this earth when applied, and
the soil it is intended to assist, should be carefully
scrutinized, and the qualities practically known.
Some English chemists to whom it has been sent,
style itan hydrat of iron; while others designate
its composition, as a collection of decomposed
granite, schorl, silex, alumine, tron; in some spe-
cimens (no doubt those mixed with shells,) lime
and magnesia, with sulphur. A more accurate:
knowledge of its parts and properties, is still re-
quired; and itis tobe wished that our own chem-
ists will give us their assistance. Broom grass!
and other pests on worn lands, may be destroyed
by a top dressing of this earth and chloritic sand¢
of a similar, though not so potent a nature; which!
substitute a natural growth of white clover.”* Ty)
acommunication of later date, Judge Peters made
the following incidental remarks. “Four years
ago, I procured 40 tons of Jersey manure, and
spread it as a top dressing on many parts of the
Belmont farm, on sand, clay, loam, and in every
variety of exposure, as well as on moist and dry)
grounds. But in no instance any profitable efleet
appeared. <A broad strip of the lawn, light anc
sandy, had been top dressed, and showed no signs
of melioration heretofore. ‘This strip is part 0}

up a most luxuriant growth, far exceeding any
other part, (though the -whole was good, having
been well limed throughout,) and aflords a proo:
that this manure agrees with and co-operates wit!
lime. Tnever saw, inthe richest soil, stronger:
better headed, or more promising plants. It woule
have been incompatible with my objects, or |
should have suffered it to ripen, for experiment 0
its product. Mr. Mark Reeve, who is very intel
lizent on this subject, (and to whom I sent a sam-
ple of the manure,) informed me that I had beer
imposed on by the person from whom I procured it}
the article used by me being only the cover of the
true kind. Its effect, luxuriant as it is, must have
been more so, if the perfect manure had beer
used.”t I have seen it stated elsewhere, (though
I am not able now to refer to the authority) tha
the Jersey earth was particularly beneficial to clo.
ver, and that it was used in small quantities, com:
pared with other manures.

This description of the Jersey earth, and the

|

* Notices for a Young Farmer—by Judge Peters.—
Phil. Memoirs, vol. 4. |
} Phil. Memoirs, vol. 4.

}
\
|

effects imputed to its use, agree very closely with
hose of our gypseous earth. But it also seems,
that no one entertained a suspicion that its value
as owing to its containing, or forming gypsum.
therefore infer that the earth there used was s!-
ilar to the great body and poorest kind of ours,
having nota particle of gypsum remaining. If so,
ithe effects produced as manure, were probably
wing to either sulphate of iron, or sulphuret of
iron remaining in excess in the earth—which,
hen meeting with lime in the soil, formed gyp-
um—and if no lime was present, remained either
as the sulphuret,) an inert, or (as the sulphate of
¢ron,) a poisonous ingredient of the soil. ron
i (sulpburet of iron) have been used with
uch benefit as manure—though thateffect would
| probably depend on whether the soil was calca-
| reous or otherwise.
| From the publication of the passages quoted
| above, and many others on the same manure that
ppeared about 1819, and soon after, it might be
upposed that the attention and labors of chemists
| would have been drawn to this manure, and its
omposition and value clearly settled; and that
ractical farmers would have fully profited by this
instruction. On the contrary, all notice of the
manure soon ceased, and no information thereon
has since been given to the public. It may there-
fore be inferred that the manure was used s0 ig-
| norantly, as not to be found profitable in general,
nd that even the solicitations of Judge Peters,
| and the influence of his venerable name, could not
obtain this small aid from men of science, which
‘might have shown when and why the manure
vas useful, or otherwise. If my views of its con-
stitution are not mistaken, it is certain that this
manure will be found useless on most poor soils,
unless calcareous earth is used previously, or in
onjunction.

uo

EDMUND RUFFIN.
Shellbanks, dug. 9, 1833.

On the discovery of green sand in the calcareous
deposite of Eastern Virginia, and on the proba-
ble existence of this substance in extensive beds
near the western limits of our ordinary marl.

William and Mary College, June 26, 1834.

Since my attention was drawn to the nature and
properties of the New Jersey green sand, by the
| specimens which you sent me for analysis, and by
our more recent conversations on the subject, I
have made a visit to the region in which it is
found, and have witnessed the most striking evi-
_dences of its utility as a manure. During this
excursion, I examined the marl in all its varieties,
and learned many interesting particulars respect-
ing its use, from intelligent farmers, long expe-
rienced in applying it to the soil. I have moreo-
_ ver analyzed several specimens collected on the
spot with the view, if possible, of throwing some
light upon its agency when applied to the soil.

Since my return, [ have made diligent search
for this substance in our marl beds and the accom-
panying strata, and am at present directing my in-
juiries to that region of Lower Virginia in which,
according to geological laws, as well as from some
indications of which I have heard, this deposite

PART IT—APPENDIX. ©

109

may reasonably be expected to occur. As far as
relates to the marl beds of this vicinity, my search
has been unexpectedly successful. With scarce
a single exception, [ have discovered particles of
the green sand, mingled with the ordinary sand,
clay, and shells; and in some instances, in so large
a proportion as no doubt greatly to enhance the
useful agency of the calcareous matter. Indeed,
I am inclined to believe, that in some cases, the
agricultural efficacy of the marl is chiefly owing
to the green sand which it contains. In this con-
clusion I think I shall be sustained by facts hereafter
to be noticed.

The general occurrence of this substance in our
marl beds, is certainly a discovery of some inter-
est; and though I may perhaps exaggerate its im-
portance in a practical point of view, I cannot but
think that it is worthy of the attention of our far-
mers. I speak of its general occurrence, because,
although I have examined but few specimens from
adistance, the general resemblance of our mari
deposite throughout, together with the almost in-
variable presence of the green particles in such as
I have inspected, would seem to justify the conclu-
sion that it is a usual accompaniment of our mar!
formation, though by no means in equal propor-
tions in all localities. Out of more than forty spe-
cimens which I have examined, there were only
two in which the green particles could not be dis-
covered; and as they frequently occur in patches,
andnot generally diffused throughout the bed, it
is probable that even in the beds from which these
two specimens were procured, the green sand
might be elsewhere found. Some of the most ef-
ficient marls in the neighborhood of Williams-
burg, contain a marked proportion of this sub-
stance. At Burwell’s Mill, (three miles below
the city towards Yorktown) the intermixture is so
large, that the sand and detritus of shells washed
down by the spring freshet display a very distinet
greenish olive tinge, which even travellers observe
as they pass through the valley in which the de-
posite exists. At this place, the shells, as they
are taken out of the extensive bank recently ex-
posed by the torrent, are frequently filled with a
dark mass containing as much as thirty per cent.
of the green particles. In fact the whole bank is
strongly tinged by them andthe stratum which
overlies the shells, in some places five feet in
thickness, is precisely similar to some of the poor-
er deposites in New Jersey, and contains upwards
of thirty per cent. of this substance. In Judge
Semple’s marl beds, in the same vicinity, the green
particles are equally abundant—and, as in the
former case, extend into the incumbent stratum of
non-caleareous matter. In many instances, this
layer of overlying earth has been found even more
efficacious on the soil than the subjacent marl—a
fact which might naturally be inferred, when the
green particlesabound chiefly in the upper stratum,
from the extraordinary efficiency of the green sand
as experienced in New Jersey. But by far the
most interesting locality of this substance in point
of extent, which I have examined, occurs on the
shore of James River, adjacent to King’s Mili
and Littletown. Here the banks rise perpendicu-
larly to the height of from forty to sixty feet, and
for about three-fourths of this elevation are com-
posed of shells and earth mingled with a large
proportion of the green sand which in some places
imparts a distinct color to the surface. The sand

110

of the beach is also filled with these particles
which the rains have washed down, and which,
at first view, present the appearance of the com-
mon black sand of our river, though in much
larger quantity. At Bellefield, and other places
on the York river, the banks and beach are simi-
larly impregnated.

The green particles may be readily recognised
by their want of lustre, the ease with which they
may be bruised with the point of a penknife, and
the bright green stain which they then produce.
In examining earth or marl in which they are
very sparsely scattered, the particles are some-
times difficult to separate {rom the other matter.
My method is to moisten the end of the knife
blade by applying it to the tongue, and then to re-
move several of the particles by adhesion. When
ylaced upon a card and bruised, they leave a_bril-
[iat stain. This test may be confidently relied
on.

The occurrence of the green sand so extensive-
ly through our marl region, affords strong grounds
for hoping that valuable beds of this substance,
like those of New Jersey, almost entirely unmin-
oled with other matters, may be brought to light
by a judicious and enterprising examination of the
district on the western limits of our marl. And
should such a discovery be made, the agriculture
of Lower Virginia would become possessed of a
new and powerful auxiliary in furthering its al-
ready rapid career of amelioration. Even the fact
that the green sand often exists in considerable
quantities in and above our ordinary marl beds,
which is I think now sufficiently established, may
furnish no unimportant aid in the improvement of
our lands, by leading to a more varied and judi-
cious adaptation in the application of our ma-
nures.

Independently of the existence of the green
sand ina scattered state in our calcareous strata,
there are other and stronger reasons for believing
that a deposite similar to that in New Jersey will
be found in the appropriate region. In a geologi-
cal arrangement of our various formations, the
marl beds of Eastern Virginia and Carolina, as
well as those of Maryland, belong to a later pe-
riod in the physical history of our country, than
the green sand formation of New Jersey—the

former being referred to the tertiary—and_ the’

latter to the secondary epoch of geologists. Now
this tertiary deposite extends into New Jersey,
and is found in many places in the latter state
nearly contiguous to the green sand. Moreover,
indications of the New Jersey formation have been
found in Maryland—and such is the general regu-
larity with which the different geological de posites
are arranged, that we may fairly infer the exis-
tence in Eastern Virginia of the green sand, or
some deposite equivalent in a geological point of
view—though at the same time it by no means
follows that the green sand, if actually found,
would be sufficiently near the surface to render it
extensively available asa manure. The object
however is of such magnitude, as to justify a very
diligent examination, and I am therefore desirous
of enlisting in this research all those readers of
the Register who reside in the region which has
been alludedto before. As however the success
of this investigation will be greatly promoted by
an acquaintance with the indications by which the
green sand, or its geological equivalents are to be

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.
a

recognised, and some knowledge of the propertiey
and constitution of the substance itself; I shal
here give a brief account of the New Jersey for,
mation which I visited, together with the re:
sult of several chemical analyses of the sand care:
fully executed by myself and others: and furthe:
to interest your readers in this important inquiry,
I shall add a statement of such facts bearing upor
the application and agency of the marl, as I was
enabled to collect during my visit to the beautifu.
region which it has so largely contributed to fer:
tilize and adorn.
_ The New Jersey green sand is apparently iden:
tical with that series of deposites recognised ir,
Europe by the name of the green sand formation;
characterised by a predominance of minute greer|
particles in many of its strata. In Europe these
strata are generally found alternating with beds of
chalk; but in this country no chalk is found, unless)
in the region west of the Mississippi. The fos-
sils embedded in the green sand on both sides of)
the Atlantic, are however so strictly alike, that the:
geological equivalence of the American and Eu-
ropean beds can scarcely admit of question, and
is therefore generally conceded as an established
point. It is relevant here to remark that in tracing:
cotemporaneous or equivalent geologieal forma.
tions in different regions, geologists are accustorii-
ed to rely almost exclusively upon the fossils,
whethershells, bones, or vegetable remains, which
the strata may contain—a procedure to which they,
have been led by the whole tenor of modern de-
velopements in geology. Now with reference ta
the New Jersey formation, though it would be:
impossible without numerous drawings, and mucli
descriptive matter, uninteresting to general rea-
ders, to convey a knowledge of even the principah
shells and other fossils existing in the green sand,
some account of a few of these fossils may possi-.
bly be useful in the inquiries which [ trust many)
of your readers will be prompted to undertake.

Ist. Lignite, or carbonized wood, often asso+
ciated with iron pyrites of a bright yellow lustre,.
frequently occurs in the beds overlying the greem
sand formation, though it sometimes occurs im
other situations. ;

Qnd. Amber is often found in a similar position, §
as was the case at the Delaware and Chesapeake
Canal.

3rd. Belemnites—a fossil of a yellow or browny
color, in shape somewhat like a cigar, but rather)
thicker—very brittle, and usually found ie
transversely so as to exhibit its tubular character
within.

4th. Ammonites—a fossil presenting the appear-
ance of a snake coiled up ina flat coil, and fre-.
quently large and ponderous.

5th. The Echinus, or Sea Urchin—sometimes:
globular, at other times much flattened, having:
numerous little warty prominences, and minute:
perforations symmetrically arranged on its surlace,,
and when entire, occasionally furnished with
spines or prickles. ;

6th. Gryphea—a shell having one valve very)
deep and convex, and the other flat. It somewhat!
resembles the small shell (ehama) very abundant-.
ly found in our marl beds. This latter is smaller)
—has a rougher exterior, and has two muscular!
impressions in each valve—whereas the Gryphea
has but one.

7th. Exogyra—a shell like the former, with one

—*

‘t

[SS

‘convex and one flat valyve—but a erent deal
rougherand more irregular in aspect, and of large
dimensions.

Sth. The Falcated Oyster—a beautiful shell
about one and a half‘ or two inches in length, and
bent like a Turkish scimetar.

These rude descriptions, which have no preten-
sions to scientific accuracy, are designed to draw
attention to such fossils as may be brought to light
in the region in which the green sand may be ex-
pected to occur—and in this point of view may
prove of real value in examining for that deposite.
Of course a scientific inspection of the fossils
would be necessary to establish their identity, but
this can readily be procured by transmitting them
to the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia, or

by sending them to William and Mary, where

they would be carefully examined and compared
with the New Jersey fossils as collected and de-
scribed. Indeed there is reason to believe that
some of the characteristic fossils have already been
found in Eastern Virginia. A bed of Lignite has
been lately discovered on the Rappahannock, a
few miles below Fredericksburg, the very point at
which it might be expected to appear, and from
information recently received, [ am disposed to be-
lieve that Belemnites may be found near the mouth
of Potomac Creek. It has been said also that the
Gryphza has been found, but I have not heard in
what vicinity. These facts.should furnish an ad-
ditional stimulus to inquiry, and literally no stone
should be left unturned in pursuit of so important
a discovery.

The New Jersey green sand is generally found
inthe valley and meadows, though occasionally
it rises tosome height in the surrounding hills.
Its depth in many places is very great, and several
strata occur, separated by luyers of shells, or blue
clay, or sand colored by iron. The general aspect
of the green sand is that of a bank of moist bluish
clay—though in some places the green tint is very
perceptible. ‘This however only occurs where the
earth is dry. When thrown into heaps by the
side of the pit, the masa falls into a coarse pow-
der, in texture and color very closely resembling
eS on which account it is very commonly

nown by the name of gunpowder marl. This
mass consists in very large proportion of the pure
green sand, having aslight admixture of clay, and
in many places cf minute fragments of’ shells.
Occasionally, the bank presents a mass of the pure
green sand itself—and again, in some places the
shells predominate. In one of the beds in the vi-
einity of New Egypt, I discovered small spicule
of gypsum, or sulphate of lime: but this occurred
at no other locality—and in this place the crystals
Were so minute and few in number as to require
the use of a microscope to be seen distinctly. The
moist marl when warmed in the hand exhales a
strong phosphoric odor, a fact which I believe has
not been hitherto remarked,

As already observed, the marl frequently con-
tains shells both in an entire and broken condition.
This however is by no means universal. In fact,
the great majority of those beds in actual use con-
tain either no calcareous matter, or a very minute
proportion of it. This Fascertained by chemical
examination. -In the vicinity of Arney’s Town,
Crosswick’s Creek, and Shrewsbury, as well as
other places, much of the marl which the farmers
spread over their land, contains no carbonate of

PART 171—APPENDIX.

111

lime; while at New Keyptthe calcareous and non-
calcareous marls are both extensively employed.
The same is true likewise, of the beds farther
south at Mullica Hill. The green particles them-
selves have an invariable composition—and those
of our Virginia marl beds are perfectly identical
with those of the New Jersey deposite. Thirty
grains of the green sand yielded by careful analy-
sis—

Silica, 15.51 ers.
Protoxide of iron, Zig Re
Potash, aati. 6
Water, 3.00 «

Magnesia, a trace.

These results agree very closely with the deter-
mination of Berthier of France, and Seybert of
Philadelphia. The former operated upon the
green sand of Europe, the latter upon that of
New Jersey. Itappears therefore that the pre-
dominant constituents are silica and oxide of iron.
The potash, amounting to about ten per cent. is
most probably the ingredient chiefly concerned in
the agricultural agency of the marl, though in
what way its connexion with the other ingredients
is severed when the marl is spread upon the land,
I am at a loss to conjecture.

Throughout all the district in which this depo-
site occurs, it is extensively employed in agricul-
ture. Inthe neighborhood of Arney’s Town, one
of the points which I visited, it has been used as
a manure for the last thirty years—but its general
introduction is of more recent date. In the region
in which the marl chiefly abounds, the soil is
loamy, having in some places a large intermixture
of tenaciousclay. ast of this tract, which isa
narrow band nearly parallel to the Delaware Ri-
ver, the country assumes an appearance very si-
milar to that of the sandy lands of Eastern Virgi-
nia, covered with a thick growth of pine, and com-
paratively unproductive. On both these varieties
of soil the green sand is continually used with the
most striking benefit. For the clay soils, the more
sandy marls are of course preferred; and for the
sandy soils, those which contain some clay along
with the marl. The proportion in common use
near Arney’s Town, is from ten to twenty loads
per acre. In other places five loads or even less
is found to be sufficient. The action of the marl
appears to be very permanent, as will be evinced
by the following statement. Ina large quadran-
gular field over which I walked, four successive
applications of the marl had been made at inter-
vals of four years—commencing about twenty
years ago. The first dressing was applied to the
north side—the second to the south—the third to
the east, and the fourth to the west—while a small
space in the centre, was left without any marl. All
four sides were covered with a very heavy crop of
clover, which was nearly, if not quite as luxuriant
on the north as either of the other sides—while
the space in the middle was almost bare. The
action of the marl appears to be most powerfully
felt by clover and grass—but it is very conspicu-
ous also with small grain andcorn. <A very intel-
ligent farmer told me that it more than tripled his
clover and grass crop, and doubled his small grain.
In general it is spread upon the clover every fourth
year, and ploughed in for the next crop. ‘That it
is very efficient upon sandy soils is evinced by the
following striking fact. Some years ago an en-

112

ON CALCARE OUS MANURES.

terprising farmer near New EKeypt, purchased
two hundred acres of the Pine Barren, which, by
marling, he has converted into pasture sufficient
for one hundred head of cattle. Such is the de-
mand for the marl,even ata considerable distance,
that it has become an article of great profit to the
proprietors of the pits, and more than one individ-
ual was pointed out to me who had risen to wealth
by the sale of marl.

From what has been stated it will at once be
evident, that the discovery of extensive and acces-
sible beds of this manure in Virginia would be a
most important accession to the resources of the
state, and that an active and diligent search ought
forthwith to be commenced throughout all the re-
gion in which there is a probability that it exists.
Every aid which it is in my power to give, will be
cheerfully bestowed in furtherance of this inquiry:
and as I feel the double interest of a scientific cu-
riosity, and a sincere solicitude for the agricultural
prosperity of our state, 1 shall gladly receive all
fossils and other specimens which may be trans-
mitted for inspection or analysis, giving thema
prompt attention, and communicating in reply such
hints as may promise to be most useful in this
deeply interesting and important investigation.

WM. B. ROGERS.

Extract from editorial remarks.

Among the most valuable of these discoveries
we believe will be found that of the green sand,
announced in the communication of Professor Ro-
gers in the first part of this number. We rejoice
that this and other kindred subjects have been un-
dertaken by an investigator having suitable scien-
tific attainments, as well as zeal for the pursuit.
"This discovery is as yet but dawning, and the ex-
aminations of many persons guided by the direc-
tions given in Mr. Rogers’ communication, may
be usefully employed to aid him in the pursuit.
These aids we earnestly hope will be atlorded:
and those who may offer them, will no doubt
serve their own private interests, as well as that
of the public, by such labors.

These latter remarks would have appeared bet-
ter placed immediately after the piece to which
they refer. But our silence then was caused by
the expectation (which unavoidable circumstances
have compelled him to disappoint) that the author
would add the result of an examination of the
stratum of ‘@ypseous earth,” which we have be-
lieved to be very similar to, if not identical with
the green sand or Jersey marl. ‘This examination
will yet be made: and we feel confident that there,
and still nearer the falls of the rivers, will be found
in the greatest quantities the earth described as
green sand.

From the Farmers’ Register of May, 1835.*

Further observations on the green sand and ealca-
reous marl of Virginia.

In a communication published in the 3rd No.

of the Register, I announced the discovery of

the green sand, or silicate of iron and potash, in the
ordinary tertiary marl in Lower Virginia. Geo-
Jogical considerations, taken in connexion with this

*This has received the author’s corrections of some
slight errors in the first impression, and others in his MS.

discovery, led to the inference that an older de
posite, consisting in much larger proportion of this
peculiar substance, would be found in a region
more remote from the seaboard, and not far below
the head of' tide; and from the great agricultural
value of this substance, as proved by the expe-

rience of the farmers in New Jersey, I was indu-

ced to point out its probable position, and to give
such hints and directions with reward to its accom-
panying indications as might prove useful in any
researches which might be undertaken by persons
residing in the region in which it was supposed to
exist. Since the publication of the paper referred
to, as far as other engagements would permit, this |
important inquiry has been actively*continued, not
only in reference to the presumed deposite above >
mentioned, but also to the extensive calcareous
formation of our lower counties.

Besides the practical importance of this investi-—
gation to the agriculture of alarge district of the |
state, in a purely geological aspect, it was calcula-_
ted to excite the highest interest. In the vast re-_
gion of our tide-water country, at farthest, only
two members of the tertiary group of forma-_
tions had been hitherto discovered, and no decided |
indications of a secondary deposite likely to prove
interesting to men of science, had been found. |
At the mouth of the Potomac, and at some other
points, a deposite had been detected by Mr. Con-
rad of Philadelphia, which from the great pre-
dominance of shells of existing species, was re-
garded by him as belonging to the upper or newer
tertiary. 'The same eminent conchologist by an ex-
amination of numerous fossils from York town, —
Suffolk, the James River, near Smithfield, and
other localities, had clearly proved that this por-
tion of the teritary series was of greater antiquity

than the former, and accordingly he has recently |

applied to it the title of middle tertiary—which,
as some geologists in Europe divide the tertiary

group into four periods, would include both the |
second and third of these subordinate formations. |
The lower tertiary, which Mr. Conrad had so |

successfully investigated in Alabama, had not as

yet been brought to light within the limits of Vir-

ginia.

Thus, therefore, these inquiries appeared |

fraught with the lively interest of scientific discov- |

ery, while at the same time they inspired the ani-
mating hope, that in some of their results, they
might eventually be found conducive to the inter-
ests of an important district of the state.

From the great extent of the middle tertiary

of Lower Virginia, it was to be expected that, —

notwithstanding the diligence and learning of those
who had visited several of its interesting localities,
with the view of studying its fossil contents, an ex-
tensive field of future discovery would be opened
to the scientific explorer—and a wath: variety of
new and peculiar fossils would be

To acertain extent this anticipation has been re-
alized; and the occasional examinations which I

rought tolight.

have made in this vicinity, and at some remote |

points, have been rewarded by an extension of the
list of fossils, and the discovery of a number of
new and interesting species. To the readers of

the Register, generally, the details of these ob- |

servations would appear. unimportant, if not use-
less, and must therefore be omitted. At the same
time, I may be allowed to add, that such facts are
frequently invested with a practical interest, by the
aids which they furnish to other and more impor-

PART IJI—APPENDIX.

tant discoveries; and that, however little value, in
the abstract, would attach to an enumeration and
description of the shells, zoophytes, and other re-
mains of our marl banks, they are absolutely es-
sential in studying the physical history of this por-
tion of the globe, and may prove of some assist-
ance not only in guiding the researches of the
farmer after marl, but in directing his choice of cal-
careous manure, when various deposites of’ this
substance are offered for his selection. Of the
latter point, several striking illustrations might be
adduced—but I shall content myself, for the pre-
sent, with the statement of'a single fact. A small
shell of rough exterior, and rather irregular form,
aspecies of chama, is frequently found in very
extensive beds in this vicinity and at other points,
forming nearly the entire calcareous portion of the
deposite. From its peculiar form and friable
“character, it is most generally in a condition to be
eminently serviceable as a manure. As the strata
both above and below are often of a very differ-
ent texture, though perhaps nearly equal to it in
regard to their caicareous contents, a choice is at
once presented to the farmer, in which, he will be
euided even more by the nature of the shell em-

bedded, than by the comparative abundance of

earbonate of lime. But so little attention has been
paid to the characters of the fossils contained in
our marl-banks, that even in places where the
manure has been longest and most successfully in
use, a less valuable stratum is sometimes selected
in preference to one of superior fertilizing power.
A more minute observation of such particulars,
can scarcely be expected, in the absence of some
popular guide, in the form of delineations and de-
scriptions of the more prominent shells, exempted
as much as possible {rom technical or merely
scientific phraseology. Some such illustrations
may hereafier be furnished in a cheap form in the
progress of a geological examination of the east-
ern region of our state.

Since the publication of my former paper, a
great number of additional observations have been
made with regard to the green sand contained in
our ordinary middle tertiary marl. Its uniform
presence in this deposite, in a greater or less pro-
portion, seems now to be sufficiently established.
That itis generally present insufficient quantity
to enhance in any important degree the agricultu-
ral utility of’ the manure, it would be going much
too far to assert; but thatin many cases the propor-
tion is such as cannot fail of producing highly
beneficial effects upon vegetation, would seem to
be demonstrated not only by the long experience
of the farmers of New Jersey with the green sand

estates in this vicinity, are peculiarly rich in this
ingredient, and are hence, as well as from their fri-
able texture, generally selected in preference to
all others. Insome of these deposites, as large a
proportion as thirty, and in some specimens forty
per cent., has been found; and in cases like this, if
we are to trust tothe experience of New Jersey,
a very marked addition to the fertilizing power of
the marl must be ascribed to the presence of this
ingredient.

In alluding thus to the influence of the green
sand as an auxiliary manure, the inquiry naturally
arises, to which of its ingredients are its meliora-
ting effects to be ascribed, or do they arise from the
conjoint action of the potash and oxide of iron
which it contains? To this inquiry, perhaps, it
would be premature to attempt to respond. At
all events, the rationale of its action cannot be
given with that certainty, which in such matters,
itis desirable to attain. As stated in the former
communication, its components are protoxide of
iron, potash andsilex; the latter ingredient appear-
ing to act, as it is known to do in many rocks, in
the capacity of an acid. In virtue of the potash
contained in the green sand, we would naturally
infer an agency in neutralizing acids, similar to
that of lime, or its carbonate—and the extent to
which the manure possesses this property, must
appear still further increased when we advert to
the chemical nature of the protoxide of iron.

Tron, like most other metallic bodies, combines
with oxygen in more than one proportion. ‘These
compounds, or oxides as they are termed, are two
in number, and in accordance with the general rule
adopted by chemists in designating this class of
substances, that which contains the least propor-
tion of oxygen, is called the protoxide--that contain-
ing the most, the peroxide. The rust of iron, and
the red coloring matter of ochreous clays, and of
bricks and tiles, are impure specimens of the per-
oxide of iron. The protoxide is never found in
an uncombined condition; and such is the avidity
with which it imbibes an additional quantity of
oxygen, or unites with carbonic and other acids,
that it undergoes a rapid change whenever disen-
-gaged. Hence, under favorable circumstances,
a strong neutralizing action might be anticipated
from this ingredient of the green sand. We may
therefore, for the present, rest our explanation of
the agency of this manure upon the alkaline pro-
perties of these two constituents, the potash and
the protoxide of iron. But in suggesting this ex-
planation, it must be freely confessed that, espe-
cially as relates to the action of the protoxide of
iron, it must be looked upon as problematical,

itself, but by the observations of individuals; and requiring for the establishment of its truth, an
amongst ourselves who have been in the habit of ;experimental knowledge of the influence of this

applying a calcareous marl in which this sub-
stance is peculiarly abundant. In the vicinity of
Williamsburg, almost every variety of the com-
mon marl may be found; but that which has been
observed to produce the most striking effects as a
manure, has uniformly yielded to chemical exam-
ination a comparatively large proportion of the
green sand. When therefore, it is in the power
of the farmer to make the selection, such marl

substance upon the growing vegetable, of which
nothing has as yet been positively determined.
As already indicated, when these inquiries
were entered upon, and at the time when my first
communication appeared in the Register, the ex-
istence of a lower tertiary deposite in Virginia
had not been ascertained. The industry of Mr.
Conrad had brought to light a formation of this
nature in Alabama, and had led to the probable in-

should be chosen, as, along with a large propor-| ference that it existed at Fort Washington in Ma-
tion of ; calcareous matter in a suitable state of|ryland. Moreover one ortwo of the fossils obtain-
subdivision, contains also as great an amount as|ed from the editor of the Register encouraged the
possible of this auxiliary manure. The beds of| hope that it might be found in our own state. The
chama aed referred to, as abounding on some! observations of that gentleman respecting the gyp-

AB

:

114

seous earth of James River* had appeared some
time before, and though nothing positive could be
gained from them, in relation to the geological
character of the deposite, to which he affixed that
name, they threw out the important and saga-
cious sugeestion, that this earth was the same
with the green sand of New Jersey, or atleast a
substance of analogous character. We shall in
the sequel, learn that though geologically the two
formations belong to periods which are distinct,
the gypseous earth contains a large proportion of
that particular ingredient, (the green silicate of
iron and potash,) of which the Nev Jersey de-
posite almost exclusively consists. We are there-
fore indebted to the editor of the Register, for the
announcement of the important fact, that the
green sand, or a substance analogous to it, existed
in certain localities on the James River.
Following up the suggestions of geological
analogy, alluded to in my first paper, and stimu-
lated by the observations and statements of Mr.
Ruffin, [ have been enabled by personal inspec-
tion, and through the kindness of correspondents,
to ascertain with certainty, the existence of a
lower tertrary deposite, throughout an extensive
district of Eastern Virginia, and moreover to deter-
mine what is far more important to the agriculture
of this region, that the deposite in question com-
prises immense strata of green sand, perhaps near-
ly equal in value to that which is in use in New
Jersey. The reader, however, is by no means to
infer from the existence of the green sand so
abundantly, both in this lower tertiary and in the
New Jersey formation, that. the two deposites be-
long to the same geological era. I have already
stated that the New Jersey green sand, is a se-
condary deposite—and of course anterior to the
_formation here designated as lower tertiary. The
shells and other fossils, entombed in the two de-
posites are strikingly different, and characteristic of
difference of geological antiquity. As it is desira-
ble that clear ideas should be entertained, in rela-
tion to the distinction here drawn, I would claim
the indulgence of the reader, in presenting such
explanations, and illustrations, as are calculated
to throw light upon a subject in which, at least in
some particulars, all are obviously interested.
The term primary having been adopted by geo-
logists as designating that extensive class of rocks
which from various indications, appeared in gene-
ral to have originated first, and which are destitute
of all traces of animal or vegetable existence—
the title of secondary, was of course appropriated
to aclass, apparently of more recent origin, usu-
ally overlying the former, and in which, in many
cases, an enormous accumulation of organic re-
mains had been discovered. A minute examina-
tion of these remains, consisting of shells, the
bones of animals, &c., disclosed the curious fact
that they belonged to races of beings of which, at
present, there are only very few living represen-
tatives, Subsequent observations, first systemati-
cally made by Cuvier and Brogniart in the vicini-
ty of Paris, further demonstrated that overlying
the secondary formation of that region, there ex-
isted an extensive series of deposites of great
thickness, the fossil contents of which were, on
the whole, very dissimilar from those of the form-
er—not only all the species, but many of the most

* Article on ‘“‘Gypseous Earth,” page 105.

ON CALCAREOUS MANURES.

remarkable animal and vegetable forms being dis-
tinct, while at the same time many of the species
were observed to be identical with others now alive.
The difference thus marked between the two se-
ries of deposites, uniformly prevailing wherever
they were observed, led to the introduction of the
term tertiary, to designate the upper and more re-
cent. By scrutinizing in detail the tertiary series,
it was soon discovered to consist of several dis-
tinct subordinate formations, characterized by pe-
culiar fossils, and becoming more assimilated in
their organic contents to the existing living world,
in proportion as their position in the series ap-
proached nearer and nearer to the surface. The
most recent systematic writer on geology, and one
of the most learned and able geologists of the
day, has distinguished four subordinate formations
in the tertiary series—and has given to each a
specific name, expressive of its relative period of
deposition. Though unwilling to perplex the
reader with the terms of science, 1 may perhaps
be excused on this occasion for introducing the
names here referred to, on the ground that they
are likely to be met with frequently hereafter in
geological descriptions of the tertiary deposites of
this country—and as they are distinctive of things
which are characteristically different, and which
have received no other denominations so appropri-
ate, they have a just claim to be received. The
terms thus employed by Mr. Lyell, the distin-
guished geologist above alluded to, are—

Ist. Pliocene, indicating a majority of the con-
tained fossils to be recent, and divided into newer
and older Pliocene. Under this head are com-
prised some of the shell deposites near the mouths
of our rivers.

Qnd. Miocene, indicating a minority of the con-
tained fossils to be recent. ‘To this formation be-
lone most of our calcareous strata which have
previously been referred to under the title of mid-
dle tertiary.

3rd. Eocene, signifying the dawn; indicating
the presence of a few fossils analogous to living
species, or in other words a dawning of that condi-
tion of the animated world which now prevails.
Examples of this are furnished in the lower ter-
tiary of Alabama, and the lower tertiary here al-
luded to as recently discovered in Virginia.

The nature of the materials in which the fossils
of these different deposites are embedded is very
various. Sometimes the formation is a soft sand
or clay—sometimes a sandstone or limestone of
comparative hardness. In some cases the deposi-
tion appears, from the nature of the fossils, to have
been made beneath the ocean—sometimes at the
bottom of an extensive lake. In the vicinity of
Paris, there are three marine formations alter-
nating with two of fresh water or lake origin; and
from one of the latter, the celebrated gypsum or
plaster of Paris is extensively quarried. In Virgi-
nia, no traces of afresh water tertiary have as yet
been discerned. The general direction of the
deposite is horizontal, and the whole appears to
have been formed at successive eras beneath the
waters of the ocean. ‘

From what has now been said, it will at once
appear that strong features of resemblance are
presented in the geology even of the more recent
formations in this country ant Europe. The most
striking similarity exists between the secondary of
New Jersey and that of many places in Europe—

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as faras fossil contents are concerned. Butin Eu-
rope a great proportion of these fossils are embed-
ded in chalk; whereas, in New Jersey, no chalk
has been discovered, and its place is occupied by
green sand, very similar to that, which, in the for-
mer localities, alternates with the layers of chalk.

The lower tertiary or eocene of Virginia is found
in a band of variable, and as yet unascertained
breadth, traversing the state nearly in a direction
from north to south. It makesits appearance on
both sides of the Potomac, in a line a little east of
Fredericksburg. It then crosses the Rappahan-
nock near Port Royal, the Pamunkey probably:
near Piping Tree, and the James River at Coggin’s
Point. ith regard to its course further south,
though its existence is probable, additional data

are required.

In general character, this formation may bethus
described. At the base of the cliff or bank, there
usually exists a stratum of what at first sight ap-
pears to be a blue or black clay, but which, on fur-
ther examination, is found to consist principally of
particles of the silicate of iron and potash, which
when dried, becomes of a lively green color.
Mingled with this substance are portions of com-
mon clay and sand, and numerous minute shining
scales of mica. Hmbedded in the mass, and usu-
ally ina very friable condition, numerous shells
chieily of small dimensions will be found. Some-
times however, the matter of the shell has entirely
disappeared, leaving a distinct cast or impression
in the earth, by which its specific character may
often be ascertained. Immediately above this
stratum is a heavy deposite of what Mr. Ruffin
has described as gypseous earth.* Large masses
of crystalized gypsum, and sometimes the most
beautiful groups of perfect crystals of this sub-
stance, are disseminated throughout this layer. It
was this portion of the formation which Mr. Ruf-
fin conceived to be identical with the green sand
of New Jersey. In color, this stratum varies
from a greenish yellow to a brown. Besides a
considerable proportion of green sand, it contains,
in addition to the crystalized gypsum, a notable
amount of this substance ina subdivided state,
and seemingly occupying fhe place of the shells
which were formerly present, and have been de-
composed under the chemical agency of some
substance which filtrated in solution through the
mass. Incumbentupon this bed is a thin layer of
very pure wiiite clay, of a texture which would
recommend it to various useful purposes. Over-
lying the clay in some places, is a stratum of shell
marl in a very subdivided state, containing masses
of casts and shells approaching to the hardness of
rock. ‘This is the uppermost layer of the eocene

* The term “gypseous earth,” used in the article re-
ferred to above, was applied not to a part, (as here sup-
>) but to the whole of that formation which Mr.

ogers has since shown to be of “green sand.” But
it was also stated, that by the general application of
that term to the extensive beds which seemed to have
had a common origin, (and formerly, the same chemi-
cal composition,) it was not intended to convey the
opinion that all this earth contained sulphate of lime,
either in crystals, or finely divided. On the contrary,
that ingredient. was said not to be present, in any per-
ceptible quantity, in but very few parts of the great
_ body of what was there called “sypseous earth.””—See
_ Farmers’ Register, Vol. I. p. 208.—Ep.

or lower tertiary formation. Yet at some points a

stratum of the ordinary middle tertiary marl rests

almost immediately upon the former, and would

not by an ordinary observer be recognized as dis-

tinct. At Tarbay, where this succession of strata

was observed, a thin and scarcely distinct lay-

er of small brownish red pebbles intervenes be-

tween these two layers of shells, seeming to

mark a comparatively violent action of the wa-

ters in the interval of the two deposites. But
an examination of the shells, in these two contigu-
ous strata, affords abundant evidence of their
belonging to distinct geological epochs. In the
upper stratum the large scallops, the common oys-
ter of our marl, and all the usual ingredients of
our middle tertiary or miocene formation, may be
recognised. Inthe lower bed few or noneof them
exist, but certain characteristic shells belonging to
the eocene period are entombed. Similar fossils
appear below, in the green sand beneath the gyp-
seous earth; and here a great variety of beautiful
specimens may be discerned. An enumeration of
these fossils in this place would of course be at-
tended neither with utility nor interest, and in-
deed, were it advisable in the present stage of the
inquiry, it could not be made, on account of the
necessity of comparing the specimens with shells
from other localities in Europe and this country,
in order to identify species, and to decide upon
those which are new, or peculiar to our own for=
mation. That many such exist, I have every rea-
son to believe, and with future leisure it is hoped
that they will be named according to the fashion
of the day, and described in the appropriate place.
It will however be of real value to the reader, in
any inquiries which he may institute, in reference
to this formation, to obtain some general idea of
the characters of two or three of the more conspic-
uous and characteristic shells. The observer will
perhaps be able to recognize the following:—

Ist. The cardita planicosta. This shell is of
various sizes, rarely however equalling that of the
clam. In form it bears some resemblance to that
shell; but on the convex sidea number of flattened
ridges run from the knobbed extremity near the
hinge, spreading from each other and enlarging as
they approachthe margin. The hinge part of the
shell is very thick. This shell, occurs abundantly
in the eocene or lower tertiary of Europe, and al-
so in that of Alabama.

2nd. Ostrea selleformis, or saddle-shaped oys-
ter. ‘This shell is very peculiar, having, when
full grown, such alateral extension on each side as
to present, when the hollow of the shell is turned
down, a very distinct resemblance to asaddle with
its two depending flaps. It is found abundantly in
the eocene of Alabama.

3rd. Fusus longaevis, a small shell less than
an inch in length, and resembling in general form,
those which are commonly called conchs. It is
however flattened down on one side as if it had
been subjected to pressure. This shell occurs abun-
dantly in the eocene of Europe—but I believe has
not until now been discovered in the corresponding
formation of this country.

These three fossils, which are all found in great
numbers in such of the eocene localities in Vir-
ginia as [ have examined, are sufficient to iden-
tify the formation wherever they may be discov-
ered. But as already indicated, they are accom-

| panied by a variety of other shells, a large pro-

110

portion of which, would appear to be peculiar to
this particular region. It would seem that the
eocene of Virginia though agreeing in most re-
spects with that of Alabama, contains some
fossils found also in the Paris eocene, and which
are absent from that of Alabama.

In most of the specimens of mar! from this re-
gion hitherto examined, besides a large amount of;
green sand, I have found a considerable propor-
tion of gypsum, and in some of them as much as
forty or fifty per cent. of carbonate of lime. Spe-
cimens received from Dr. Corbin Braxton, at
the Piping Tree, were found to contain, along with
much green sand, a great amount of the carbo-
nate of lime, and some gypsum. Judging from
its composition and texture, it must be looked up-
on as a very valuable manure. At Coggin’s
Point, the lower stratum before described, contains
from sixty to seventy per cent. of the green sand,
with a small proportion of carbonate of lime, and
occasionally a little gypsum. The next deposite
above, (the gypseous earth) abounds in gypsum,
but contains less ¢feen sand than the former. Of
this ingredient, however, it still possesses a very
considerable proportion. In alluding to the power-
ful effects of the gypseous earth, in a trial which
he made, the author of the Zssay on Calcareous
Manures describes them as much greater than
could be accounted for by the proportion of gyp-
sum present, and hence throws out the suggestion
ihat some other fertilizing ingredient was contain-
ed in the earth. This additional effect must doubt-
less be ascribed to the presence of the green
sand.

In prosecuting the geological survey of Ma-
ryland, Professor Ducatel has been enabled to ascer-
tain the existence of a green sand deposite through-
out an important district of that state. Of its ex-
istence on both sides of the Potomac I was al-
ready fully aware—and it affords me much satis-

YUN LALUARHOUS WANURES,

\

faction to find that the suggestions based Sponi|
general geological considerations, which were.
presented in my former paper,

edand diligent observer. Of the identity of some |
of the green sand deposites described in his report,
with that now ascertained to exist in the eocene.
of Virginia, Tam as yet by no means convinced;
but a minute geological examination, such as that.
already instituted in Maryland, and that which is _
looked to with some interest in Virginia, cannot
fail to throw very useful light on this, as well as all
the other important deposites in the tide-water
region of the two states. Mutual benefit would
arise from the co-operation of surveys, conducted |
at the same time in the two adjoining territories,
and in this way the interests of the states, as well
as those of science, would be most eflectually“and
speedily promoted. t

To the very meagre details, in relation to the
green sand, presented in this communication, I
may hope ere long to be enabled to add the results
of extensive and minute personal observation in
the interesting region in which the eocene forma-
tion has been detected. In the mean time, the

have already been |
so actively and ably followed up by this enlghten- }

progress of inquiry may be greatly furthered by

the friendly aid of those who, from their residence |

in the region in question, will have itin their pow-

er readily to collect specimens of shells or earth, |

and to transmit them to me for inspection. £
would therefore, earnestly solicit assistance of this
kind, and in return, I will gladly communicate the
results of any observations I may be thus enabled
to make.

To urge the importance of this, and —

other similar inquiries, would now-no longer seem |

to be necessary—since a large portion of the in-
telligence and enterprise of our state appears
prompt to recognise their value, and interested
in furthering their active and successful prosecu-
tion. ;

WM. B, ROGERS,

ERRATA.

Page 4, in date of preface, for “1834” read ‘1832.7
5, at the end of the advertisement to 2d ed. insert date, “April 1835.77
19, col. 1, 14th line—for “forty-seven” read “fifty-seven.”
49, col. 1, line 47, after “Appendix H.?? add “and S.??
68, col. 2, line 60, for ““.Appendiz P.” read “Appendix E.*
81, col. 2, 1st line of the note—for “‘translation,”’ read “‘transition.”?

Ff mi i

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