Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1832-11-06

of III sdnu OF clay, " CTdC, as ~ ~
sometimes termed in EDglandJ must attribute the i'm
provement OF their farms. II, then, the Ingredient of marls
on which their fitness for agricultural purposes depends,
is the carbonate OF lime. and by the addition of an acid, no
lime can be discovered in this earth, which has various
impressions of shells in it, it would seem that it cannot
have the same tendency to Iertilize the soil that lime
would. Ii being a clay, il would have the effect with any
other clay, without impressions, TO alter and improve the
texture OF siiicious soils, which have too little adhesion.-
| know OF no gentleman having used pure clay with this
view il there he any in this part of the country. he would
confer a favour by communicating the result of his expe-
rimcnt TO the public.
"A word 10 Mr.. Rufin-I consider his Essay on calcare
Gus manures as a most valuable work, and one that ought
to be IN the possession of every farmer. From it l have
derived much information and satisfaction, and beg 10 ten
der him my thanks. There is one subject, however,
which | wish he had treated with more precision, and have
cleared away some of the mist which surrounds it: 1 al
lude to maring in England. In note q, appendix, page
2O7 of his essay, he says, " the following quotations will
show that the term mari is frequently applied in Britain
10 clays containing no known or certain proportion of cal
careous earth-that when calcareouS earth Is known TO be
contained, i. is seldom relied OH a. the most valuable part
Of the manure" Now, although admit great obscurity
prevails in most Of the English authors, who treat OH the
subject of mari, yet on the whole, il seems clear TO nv
mind, they value such mari and clay as efIerycsce with
acids, more highly than such as do not. If the appIcu-
ton OF clay, which contains no lime 10 a silicious soil. will
produce more benefit than the application of shell marl, /
should like 10 be certainly informed OF the fact; Tor, | am at
tins moment using every eXeriion TO apply she'll mari AZ
extensively as can to my land, and reject the use of the
clay with numerous impressions OF shells which - Henri
co" speaks OF, and pure clay free from impressions, both
oil which | have III great abundance, aud shall continue to
use the shell mari, until L am convinced that the other
substances would produce a greater Improvement. l hope
MIR. lu1in will allow me to call his attention TO one n iva
quotations. AT page 2l5, appendix, he says, :" it is to be in.
ierred, however, that the clay was thought most serviceablc,
as Mr.. Rodwell says: Clay is much to be preferred to mari
ON those sandy soils, some OF which are loose, poor, and even
ao'acK s""u. In me very next sentence, which MIR. X.
does not quote, this Nj. Rolwell goes ON to observe: "Bv
clay Is TO DC understood a grey claycy loan, some Of il brick
eafth, anu dH has with CiiegdT a small efeTpesceuce."
Thereby showing that the clay contains lime, aud is in eli.
feet, a genuine mari; for, Thompson in his chemistry de
limos mari TO be "a mixture of carbonate OF lime and claw -
Al page oOl, \ Dung ) Farmers Calendar. twelfth clition
London, 1922, IL is observed: "Nlarl is of various SORTS. and
hes III various strata; in soue places, itis a soft, fat, soapy
substance; III others, ii Is hard as chalk, which are called
stone marl'; sometimes you find il white, sometimes grey:
also, blue, yellow and a dark brown. In some counties
you have shell mari, which is composed of nothing but
decayed shells; but the general circumstances ia which
all true marls agree, and which denote them TO be real, is
the eiiervescence with acids" and farther on, the same
page, young observes: "When mari is not to be had,
clay in many places is 10 be found at a moderate DEPTH.
This manure has few Of tho qualities by which mari is to
be known, but yet il works wonderful improvements an
many soils. In some light lands, it has been preferred bI
many very good farmers TO Indifferent sorts of mari. But
me great point concerning clay is not so much the com
pari'on with, as the use OF it, where no mari is TO be had.
About sixty or seventy loads an acre, at The same expense
as oi mari, VIII work an improvement great enough 10
SUI" much mistaken those men are, who think no
ulhS Out the hnest marls worthy of attention." In An
derson,s Essays relating to Agriculture, 3d edition, Dub
lin, 1873, vol. LIST, page 800, he observes: 'Tho reader
may ascertain the proportion OF calcareous matter contain
ed in the mari by the same process already described for
trying lmestone; and thus compare the intrinsic value of
.ne lue ana mari III any case. For, this is always in pro-
portion 10 the calcareous matter contained in eithcr.r
Farther on, tho same author remarks, page 1926: "Shell
mari Is always found III low places, that either are or
nave been covered with water. 1t is, therefore, a pure
calcareous matter, without any other mixture than the
mud and other sediments that may have sunk TO the bot
tom oil the water, in the ponds where it has been formed
As the proportion OF tho sediment that may have mixed
VITA the shells may be very different in different situations,
this kind OF mari, nAo ali v,,IUss, .@.@y be moro Q: les
pure, ando oil consequence OF greater or smaller value TO
the farmer" Here we are told that the she'll mari itself.
which Mr.. Runin uses, is OF greater or smaller value in
proportion to the carbonate OF lime it contains. In Sin.
ciair' on Hus6andry' 81 edition, Edinburgh, page 2O3, he
says 'Dr. Coventry remarks, that the value Of most
marls is nearly in proportion 10 the quantity of lime
or caIcareous earth in their composition. "-FaFther oil,
Clay marls, however, are often very weak and impure
hence IL often requires sixty, and in some cases even
eighty tons OF mari, to supply seven, or eight tons OF the
carbonate OF line" Here the object must be, 10 add lime
10 me soil, and not clay. But, enough of quotations. Mr..
kunin IN his note, and III the body ofhis Essay, page 100,
L apprehend, rather adds TO the doubt, whether CLAY or
marIis preferred in England; aud NAV perhaps be the nm
willing instrument oil leading some of his Brother Farmers
asiray, which, am sure, is far from his int ntion. And
although Young says, in the above extract, ''In some liyht
lands, clay has been preferred by many very good farmer,
10 WdiUeFelt s0I Is OF mari, yet ! think, the whole tenor
oil the passage would lead one 10 prefer good mari, to a
clay, That did not cnervesce.-Clay may render a ehaIky
soil less calcareous, but we have no such soils in this
country; all our lands hereabouts at least are deficient jn
lime; moreover, pure clay is a manure for light land alone
while mari improves both still and light soils. / should
suppose that g Henrco'' would do well, TO direct his at
tehlion chiefly TO those beds Of mari, where the shells arc
iound IN the greatest abundance. This he may do wi "A
the most perfect confidence, that his land will rapidly i'm
prove by The application. Atsome leisure time, he nigh
cover an acre or two, with the blue earth, in which the
prints OF various shells are TO be found; LET him wait the
result, and watch the effect; for, after all, actual experiment.
VIII prove the most satisfactory test.-I commenced with
The intention OF being as brief as possible, bur find have
got into a long dissertation, and must apologize 10 you, for
The waste Of Your time aud space. NJ.
A