The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-12-04
VOL. xxII.-No. =.

lsaryland and Virginia into close oo,n
"tSr'n 4 ss1 I. 1ne 10 food markets of Baltimore
a sutSton, Philadelphia and New YorI5
i:I ugns aIu .i N2der competent superinten
P,' ellSn .tn',I 'ne W.T. assistants, could accom-
' ,,o",. so,nanJoroJ ;e ;; season, at a cost of n
islation." n ainost every
The use of green-sand h. harmful leg
has been confined to very
and has been tested by only feSjState
in that limited section. In the soutfU.
ern part of Cecil county, and western Sec,
ton of Kent county, where the mari is
found, experiments were made many years
ago with samples taken from the surface
or upper stratum of the deposit This part
of the mari, it is believed, has been so
leached by the action of the elements as to
have lost much of its agricultural value;
but even these tests satisfied those who
used it that, properly applied, it would
greatly benefit and permanently improve
the lands. Biologists have suggested that
the richest deposit will be found below the
sea level, and beyond the risk of teaching;
but no one has yet explored these deposits
to any great depth with view to their
application to the soil, such exploration in
volving more expense for proper machinery
than the average farmer is willing to as
sumo, involving, as it would, in addition,
the time, labor and personal attention of
himself and his farm hands,
The only recent experiment made in
Kent county was that made by G. B. West
colt, Esq. on his lands near Battershell
Hill, about two miles from Colchester
Beach. Mr. Westcott, about five years
ago, spread on his lands at this point, en-
bracing some FIVE hundred acres in all,
dressing of green-sand mari from the de-
posit which underlies his lands. He ap-
piled about three hundred bushels to the
acre Of the upper stratum, or leached por-
ton, of the mari bed-not digging lower
than sixteen feet in his mari pits, and this
is believed to be as deep as any exploration
yet made. The result has been that the
lands have put on a new face since this ap-
plication to them of mari, and the owner
has realized about double the crop in grain
that he made prior to the spreading of the
mari, whilst the effect of this fertilizer still
remains, and shows itself in the succeeding
crops of each year. The experience of
New Jersey farmers, collected some years
ago through official sources, showed that
the application of from six to ten tons per
acre of this mari produced double, treble,
and in some cases quadruple, the amount
of grass realized prior to its use, whilst its
effect on both grass and grain was found to
be continuous, and largely remunerative
also. For fruit trees, also, when spread
literally around the roots, its effect was
commenced in the increased vigor of the
trees and their greater immunity from in
sect depredations. With the modern ap-
pliances for raising this mari from the
depths below, there is no reason why it
could not be lifted and sold at 81 per ton
at the pits, ready for transportation. The
facilities for shipment by rail and by water
in this State are so favorable, that at so
nominal price this valuable aid to agri-
culture would soon find its way into all
counties where the lands are depleted, and
prove itself to be a cheap, safe and perma-
nent means for the restoration and improve
ment of Maryland lands The high cost
of fertilizers, increased cost of labor, in
crease of taxes, increase of personal ex-
penses, copfhipfd With the low price Of
z,s,Ss-eesss9e llE'sss
owner and renter renter 10 search for some
method to increase the present meager re-
suits of the toll of the husbandmen Then
we may expect to see unearthed and put to
good use the buried treasure of Maryland.