The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1877-07-18

4 ukeu.
The marl-bed, above described, Is one Of a
chain Of beds tending northeast and SOUTH
west across our State, extending from Sandy
Hook bay, on the northeast, to a point on the
Delaware a few miles above Salem Cove To
tho northwest Of this chain, is a belt Of soil'
OF ciayAmarl easy Of tillaye, and when prop
orly dressed with mari, very fertile. Hereou,
IS we have observed ii Our trip the last few
days corn, rye, oats and potatoes thrivs better
than any other crops. 70 be sure, timothy
and red clover grow here but We Huusaf-
domains think any fields Of grass that We
have seen upon this soil very inferior 10 the
grass fields Of our red-shale valley. This
quality of the soil that does not tend to af-
ford excellent sods, forms the basis Of the ex-
PLANTATION of the sparseness Of herds Of cattle.
as noticed by us during much of our journey.
Those soils only which favor dense sods JUST.
~ the owners thereof in keeping many COWS
and sheep. Upon our redshale pastures and
grass fields, the vegetation is SO dense as to
completely cover the ground, even in early
Spring. But upon this belt of clay mari, al
though each individual spear may attain a
laudable height before 1t ripens yet the spears
stand apart so as to disclose the ground un-
~ - - e.1o'v "o's"''
I ~ ss.sss y 'o' .'o'' " snoo'-
ly strong. The grass here does not bear mu-
''as'oA W.T. . ''oo' :. grass o''e o''een on
grows no more ; or, at least, it becomes Sc
verely stunted and dwarfed. In the clay mari
ies'on' perhaps IRON an acre Of GROUND, II the
young grass 's wen pro'ec.eo as many tons 81
nay may 20 ou' as from Tue sauie area Oh red
snale' nue cattle must nave pasture IN the
oaiiy pA'' - 'io se'son' AN" 20 anofo pas
'aao 'non' 'ne'e 'huss DO quaisy aooue the
sou 1nas pushes FORWARD curing the spring
especially Tue growth q grass 70 such an ex-
tent 'na1 y oVefoomcs the snocN sustained ID
inc ace Oh cropping so That when tho central
stems Oh the seoois are n'ppea on tho lateral
ones spring up as II 70 eako sne'r paces' Up
on one occasion we asked very inteliigen.
iarner' TINS farm was large ana ms helds OF
rye su'n az one might DC proud OF why
wneas Is not sowh upon TINS eel. OF ianu.-
ne rep'iea' y does not grow wen oue rye
hout'snes. we cultivate wha' seems pese SUIT
60 70 our SOIL.
beds, and Joining up against them. extending
"lmoss Or en''reiy across tue osase' Is oeis OF
very fertile. In this belt In the township Of
Upper Freehold. is Cream Ridge. uuon this
ridge, ON Friday evening, we pitched our tent.
We concluded that this title !. Cream Ridge, =
is a name APPLY applied. And when we think
upon It's general fertility and the accessible
means Of making It more so, We think that
this whole belt is worthy Of the title .sCrearn
Belt.r Everywhere that we have had an op-
portunity to see any Of the soil of this strip
the fields Of corn, rye, oats and potatoes have
flourished most exuberantly. Upon this belt
is Frcehold. the county town of Monmouth,
surrounded by the very finest Of farming
lands. And we might mention other locali-
ties. perhaps not inferior. along the south.
east border Of this belt, extending from the
Atlantic. south of the Shrewsbury River to