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24
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DE NATURA FOSSILIUM
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are
the best of all since they yield the finest produce. Porous earths
require the least work and afford the greatest yield. Intermediate
earths occupy the second place since they require a moderate amount of
work while the dense ones which are most abundant in nature are third.
However, any fertile soil will produce abundantly.
Wheat,
winter wheat, beans, kidney beans, small chick-peas, flax and hemp grow
best in rich earths. Wheat, barley, peas, lentils and sesame do best in
rich, porous earths. If these are not available the farmer cultivates
intermediate earths that, with moderate care, can be worked profitably.
The porous intermediate ones are the best while the dense intermediate
are inferior. The intermediate produce the same grains as the rich but
not in the same quantity. Only turnips do best in loose, plowed,
intermediate soils and mustard in similar loose, poor soil. Barley is
not planted in intermediate soils, as Columella states, but in the very
richest which cannot be injured by intensive cultivation or in poor
soils in which nothing else is planted. Intermediate soils, sprinkled
with marl or manure, can acquire the fertility of rich soils. No other
grain except barley is planted in poor soil and of all the leguminous
plants only lupine thrives in a poor, compact soil.
Poor soils are improved by manure and marl (marga, lime).
A discussion of manures is outside the scope of this work. Marl is
nothing other than a very rich, compact earth. It does not matter if it
is hard^ intermediate, or soft. When dried it changes into sand, tofus, or a harder rock and when moistened, into some sort of juice that is known by the same name, marga. In
regions where the soil is intermediate to poor they use marl as a
fertilizer, sprinkling the crushed rock over the plowed fields. Where
the soil is fertile as in Campania, Italy, Bohemia, and Thuringia,
Germany, marl is never used even though it is abundant in these
localities. The word marga is derived from medulla, marrow
of bones, for sometimes the water which flows from marl is as white as
marrow and hence has been given this name by the Germans and the Gauls
who speak the same language. The white solution is called Steinomarga by
our German miners. Marl is sometimes found along fractures and joints
of rocks but more commonly enclosed within the rock itself. It is
usually hard. When drunk it will stop profuse bleeding from wounds and,
in general, has the same medicinal properties as Samian earth. The
variety of marl found in mines and quarries is not used by farmers
since it occurs in small quantities.
Pliny
has given an excellent description of this mineral. He emphasizes its
aid in increasing the productivity of soils. It is a sort of soft fat
of earth and, like the glandular organs in the body, there thickens
itself with a nucleus of richness. There are many varieties, the best
being found in characteristic veins. It occurs as an earth, usually
hard, somewhat sandy, in part tufaceous, in part as hard as solid
stone. All of these varieties vary in color being either white, brown,
dark red, iridescent, green, gray, yellow, etc. As a rule the
tufaceous, arenaceous, and stony varieties feel rough
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