On the nature and property of soils [electronic resource] : their connexion with the geological formation on which they rest, the best means of permanently increasing their productiveness, and on the rent and profits of agriculture

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Robert E. Gross
Collection

A Memorial to the Founder
of the

Business Administration Library
Los Angeles

ON THE

NATURE AND PROPERTY

OF

SOILS:

THEIR CONNEXION WITH THE

GEOLOGICAL FORMATION ON WHICH THEY REST;

THR
BEST MEANS OF PERMANENTLY INCREASING

THEIR PRODUCTIVENESS.

AND ON

THE RENT AND PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE,

BY JOHN MORTON.

Second Edition.

LONDON :

JAMES RIDGWAY, PICCADILLY.

MDCCCXL.

CONTENTS.

Introduction. — Earth's Surface, of the same nature,
properties, and colour as Subsoil, with decayed vegetable
and animal matter superadded — Rocks decomposed by
action of atmosphere — Connection between Soil and Sub-
soil of great importance.

Outline of principal Geological Formation in England, how
treated of.

All attempts in classifying Soil, as yet useless to Practical
Agriculturists— To prove identity of character between
Soil and Subsoil, would lead to great practical improve-
ment in Agriculture.

Earths of Transportation. — How formed — Universal
Deluge considered a principal agent in their formation.

Alluvial Soil. — How formed — where richest — mode of
artificially forming it — extent, where greatest — its other
localities — composition, different in different localities,
and why — district where it exists often to be protected —
Agricultural character.

Diluvium. — Formation, geological and agricultural cha-
racter— where resting on Chalk formation — localities —
state of culture — how rendered productive — when rest-
ing on the new Red Sand formation — its surface— locali-
ties— Agricultural cliaracter — state of culture — good
crops, but expensive in management — Diluvial deposits
noticed on other formations, but of limited extent — Soil
in Norfolk and Suffolk, to which Geologists have given
this name— its correctness doubted —its Geological and

IV CONTENTS.

Agricultural character— \i^ extent — best cultivated dis-
trict in the kingdom.

7. Peat Moss or Bog. — Its composition, character, and

formation — antiseptic — its Subsoil — where of greatest
extent— other loc&Wiies— Agricultural character— capa-
bilities— most productive of all soils, when properly
managed — management recommended.

8. London Clay. — Its situation, localities, and geological

character — extent — surface— no spruig« — Agricultural
character — capabilities — waste land of this formation
easily improved, and how.

9. Plastic Clay. — Situation — composition — Geological

character— surface — peculiar junction with London clay
and chalk — internal reservoirs — Agricultural character,
different in different localities — drainage— has all the
materials of a good soil— extent — management.

10. Chalk Formation. — Division — Geological character —

composition — surface — localities — extent quality of

water — Yi2ii\ive oi^oW— Agricultural character — fitted for
every sort of crop — proper mode of culture — character of
valleys — extensive sheep walks — might be rendered more
valuable — climate variable — an eai'ly soil —unenclosed
portions of great extent — soil on the downs, thin and.
sandy, how to be remedied and made more productive.

11. Green Sand Formation. — Position— formation —

colour —chlorite, peculiar to it — composition — varieties —
surface— extent — quality of soil — Agricultural character
— very productive — localities — means of improvement.

12. Gault. — Position — colour — solid and impervious to
water— external aspect— Geological situation — locality
and extent — Agricultural character — variable in quality,
colour, and composition— boundary, not well defined —
commingles with lower chalk and quaUty of soil formed
— sometimes poor and sometimes rich — peculiarity of sur-

CONTENTS. '

face — subject to floods — great portion unenclosed — course
of cropping — pasture, rich — best mode of improvement.

13. Weald Clay. — Its nature, composition — surface — ex-
tent— impervious to Water — void of Springs, yet wet ;
and why — Agricultural character — peculiarities — hard
and expensive to cultivate — much of it planted— best
mode of management.

14. Iron or Hastings' Sand. — Composition— sometimes

indurated into Sandstone — surface — locality and extent
— porous and wet — Springs nnmerons— A gi'icultiiral
character — variable in different localities — best mode of
Culture.

15. Coral Rag — Calcareous Grit — Aylesbury, and

Portland Stone.— Coral Rag — composed of different
members, all of them calcareous, and most silicious and
gritty — true Coral Rag — character and composition— de-
clivity toward south-east, and dips under the Gault— all
its members effervesce with acids — extent — peculiarity of
valleys, and supposed cause — Carbonate of Lime formed
under the Peat ; its character at the surface as a Soil —
Marl, not a proper manure for this soil, and why — Agri-
cultural character — nature of the Soil — produces large
crops under certain circumstances — chiefly arable, and
probable cause.

16. Oxford Clunch or Fen Clay. — Composition — colour

— surface — extent and locality — close and impervious to
Water — no Springs — Agricultural character — in some
districts this Soil is rich and productive, in others the re-
verse— these pointed out — deceptive in appearance —
difficult and expensive to cultivate — Peat, duly mixed
with this Clay, becomes the richest Soil in the kingdom
— where this Soil abounds — chiefly in pasture — noted for
yielding fine Cheese— Ant-hills — Beds of Gravel, and con-
sequent quality of Soil — best means of improvement.
b

Tl CONTENTS.

17. Oolite Formation. — Composed of various members —
materials of all nearly alike, as well as the Soil which
rests on them — therefore considered under one head —
Shelly Oolite — its various names — formation when next
the Oxford Clay — use — thickness of beds — calcareous
partings— colour — when next the Bath Stone— beds of
greater thickness— use — Fuller's Earth in these beds —
Great Oolite — formation — thickness of beds — openings
— no Springs till Clay is met with — Geological composi-
tion— external aspect of Oolite district— extent — localities
— source of many Rivers — Agricultural character — vari-
able, according to nature of Rock below — quality — occa-
sionally good, more frequently poor and unproductive —
very deceptive in appearance — chiefly arable, and mostly
enclosed with stone walls — Soil much ameliorated, and
why — Soil on the Shelly Limestone generally wet-
mode of rendering it dry — Water excellent for Water
Meadows — Inferior Oolite^ and calcareous ferruginous
Sand — lowest member of this formation — rests on blue
Lias — external appearance, and materials of composition,
much varied — these described — locality, extent, and sur-
face— hilly and picturesque — traces of it everywhere under
great OoMie— Agricultural character — very variable —
Geological composition — colour — quality, generally good,
and why — mostly enclosed, and under arable culture.
8. Blue Lias — Formation — alternate beds of argillaceous
Limestone, Clay, and Marl — nature, colour, and quality
— position — surface— extent — localities— impervious to
water, and of great thickness — Lias Limestone, in thin
parallel beds, closely united with beds of clay — no
Springs, yet wet, and why — Agricultural character —
Soil of various quality — mostly cold, poor, and unprofit-
able, but when long under good management sufficiently
productive — on Limestone, yields rich herbage, and,

CONTENTS. Vii

under favourable cirourastances, great crops — naturally
adhesive, impervious to damp, and difficult to cultivate-
mostly in pasture, from which the finest Cheese is ob-
tained— best mode of improving this Soil.

19. New Red Sandstone, or Red Marl.— Silicious and
frequently indurated sufficiently for building— where it is
so — Clay beds of this formation — their character and co-
lour— often induratedinto Limestone — numerous varieties
described— the conglomerate— its composition—frequent-
ly burnt as Lime— Salt Mines in Worcestershire in a rock
of this formation— Red Clay and Marl— its appearance
and feel— surface beautifully varied— extent, greatest in
England— localities— naturally dry, though it abounds in
Springs, and sends forth numerous myeTs—Agriculiural
character— oi the finest quality, and yields the most lux-
uriant crops of any Soil in the kingdom— Lime, the only
Manure requisite— much variety in the Soil— its general
character and composition— mostly under arable culture,
and easily rendered productive— meadows, rich, nutri-
tious, and luxuriant— detached portions of diluvial Gravel
often occur — management recommended.

20. Magnesian LixMestone.— Its position— colour— solid
crystalline Rock— fit for building and ornamental archi-
tecture—blocks of any size -beds of various thickness-
used for making roads— its composition— peculiar forma-
tion in Northumberland— surface, extent, localities-
porous and dry, but yields fine Springs, which are thrown
out by the Clay helov^— Agricultural character— Mag^
nesian Limestone said to be pernicious to Vegetation, yet
the Soil on the formation is sufficiently productive— Soil
in general light, but with manure produces good crops-
varies much in quality— varieties pointed out— in some
places the pasturage poor and short, in others rich and
abundant -peculiarity in the colour of the Soil— mostly
under arable culture.

Vlii CONTENTS.

21. Coal Formation. — Geological composition — alternate
beds of various thickness — sometimes level, but generally
dip towards the centre — decomposed at the surface, and
converted into Clay, &c. — surface — Coal Fields in de-
tached portions — localities — extent — wet, with numerous
Springs — Agricultural character — Soil derives its cha-
racter from perishable nature of Coal formation — clayey
in general — colour — unproductive— Lime beneficial —
fitter for arable culture than for pasture — ^jvhen dry, with
proper culture, good crops may be obtained — quality,
various in diflferent localities — generally under arable cul-
ture, but much is poor pasture land — benefited by draining.

22. Millstone Grit. — Lowest member of Coal formation
— Geological composition— excellent building Stone —
beds of different thickness — exceedingly hard and difficult
to work — surface — extent — follows the Coal and Moun-
tain Lime — localities — wet, and full of Springs— ^^ricw/-
tural character — much inclined to Moss, and why —in
some places it yields scanty crops of Corn, but has a
natural tendency to pi'oduce Heath — mostly in a state of
nature — position — climate — when drained and well limed
it becomes tolerable pasture, but it is too elevated for
arable culture — its produce always late and scanty.

23. Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone— Solid
compact rock — beds thick, and inclined to horizon-
position— beds, by what separated — Rents, Caverns, sub-
terraneous Rivers and Lakes — bituminous Shale where
formed — petrified remains— used as a Marble — effer-
vesces with acids, and burns into quick lime — Geological
composition — not easily decomposed by the atmosphere
— surface — localities— porous, and abounding in large
Springs — Agricultural character — colour, composition,
and quality— large portions without Vegetable Mould —
some with a thin covering, which produces short sweet

CONTENTS. ix

pasture — where Shale abounds, the Soil is strong and
cold, and when well limed, yields great crops— mostly in
pasture, and so strongly contrasted with that on the Sand-
stone as to be distinguishable at a great distance — in the
counties of Somerset, Gloucester, &c., this Soil is of con-
siderable depth , m uch under arable culture, and productive
of good crops — though rocky and elevated, the harvest is
early.

24. Old Red Sandstone. — Position— internal structure —
composition — beds — use— surface,localities, and extent —
Agricultural character — nature, composition, colour and
quality of soil — varieties, and what each is best adapted
to — crops of the finest quality — similar to Soil on the new
Red Sandstone — great portion under arable culture —
crops abundant, and pasture rich and luxuriant — harvest
early — almost wholly enclosed — mode of management
recommended.

25. Greywacke and Clay Slate. — Nearly alike in mate-
rials, and in the Soil which rests upon them — internal
structure — layers at every angle, from horizontal to per-
pendicular— water easily descends, and rock easily quar-
ried— Clay Slate — its composition— Grey waeke — its com-
position— sometimes it affords good building stones ;
sometimes it appears as a conglomerate — colour — surface
and extent — localities — Lakes and Rivers — Agricultural
character — nature and quality of Soil, variable from cir-
cumstances— generally moorish, and of little value — ex-
tent and localities — too elevated for arable cultivation —
sometimes great crops of Turnips and Oats are obtained ;
and when laid down again the pasturage greatly amelio-
rated.

26. Granite Gniess, Sienite — Granite, its structure— com-

ponent parts, vary greatly as to their proportions—surface
of the highest elevation — localities and extent— scarcely

X CONTENTS.

ever cultivated—an exception to this_Spring9, not of
great magnitude — Agricultural Character— QoW, its for-
mation, compositions and names— varieties— some inde-
structible, some easily decomposed — Soil, generally very
productive — when composed of Peat resting on Granite,
of little value— Dartmoor Forest — great elevation will
ever prevent its productiveness — planting, the most pro-
fitable— Larch, best suited to soil and elevation.

27. Basaltic Rocks— Formation— composition, irregular un

connectedjoints— varieties— colour— Amygdaloid and Clay
stone — Porphyry, easily decomposed — Clay stone variety
chiefly composed of Felspar — Amygdaloid sometimes por-
ous like honey-comb — its base angite blended with felspar
— cavities sometimes empty, sometimes filled, and with
what — surface — extent, great in Scotland, limited in Eng-
land— localities — waterpassesreadily— springs.— 4 grrict^Z-
tural character — most varieties of Basalt easily decom-
posed, and why — composition — colour — with what mixed
— quality of soil— in Scotland mostly arable, in England
chiefly in pasture, an exception, and where.

28. Classification OF Soils — Whether a connexion between

the Soil and Subsoil has been established — classification
intended — its advantage — its distinguishing features.

29. Aluminous Soils. — On what clays resting — subdivided,

predominant feature of each division — their produce, when
fertile and well cultivated — when poor or badly managed
— what manure is best fitted for them.

30. Calcareous Soils. — On what clays resting — subdivided,

predominant feature of each subdivision — general cha-
racter— what crops they are best fitted to produce — proper
mode of cultivation.

31. SiLicious Soils — Predominant mineral — on what clays

resting— subdivided — predominant feature of each sub-
division— what crops best fitted to produce — general cha-
racter— how improved — what manure proper for them.

CONTENTS. IX

32. Diluvial Soils. — On what clays resting — their compo-

sition— what crops best fitted to produce— manure most
suitable.

33. Soil on the Greywacke and Clay Slate.— Nature

and composition — how improved— what crops fitted for,
and why.

34. Soil on Basaltic Formation. — Its nature— Lime bene-

ficial as a manure — what crops it will produce when well
cultivated — proper management.

35. Soilson the Alluvial, the Green Sand, New Red

SanDj &c. — Mixed with Clay, Silex and Lime in every
proportion — of the finest quality — two exceptions — gene-
ral character — produce all crops in greatest luxuriance —
greatly benefited by Lime.

36. Principles of Vegetable Life. — Composition of ve-

getable bodies — on what their growth depends — oxygen
and hydrogen, when given out and when absorbed — mat-
ter of plants not dependant on the soil— query as to the
source from whence they derive their matter — leaves neces-
sary to growth — sap modified and transmitted by leaves —
how plants are supplied with matter, and from what source
— on what their life and vigour depend.

37. Effects of the Sun and Air on Vegetables.—

Affected by state of atmosphere — fermentation of Soil pro-
duced by heat, this necessary to vegetable life — oxygen
necessary to fermentation — what Soils most easily affected
by heat — what Soils retain it longest.

38. Water. — Its composition— the medhim of nourishment to

Plants — hence its importance — received by Plants from
Soil only when adhering to it by capillary attraction, and
not when chemically combined with it — Sap principally
composed of water.

39. Air. — Vegetable matter, when decomposed into what re-

solved—its original elements— composition of Air— Carbon
in the Air readily given up to Plants— quantity of vapour

XU CONTENTS.

in the Atmosphere, when greatest — its proportion — cause
of clouds, dew, rain, &c.

40. Vegetables.— Of what substances composed — these re-

solvable into elements which compose water and air —
Carbon and Hydrogen copiously evolved by vegetable
and animal bodies when in a state of decomposition.

41. Nature and Properties of Minerals which com-

pose DIFFERENT SoiLs. — What Soilis, and how formed
— Silex, Alumina, and Lime, the three principal primitive
earths — in what state frequently found— in some states
they hasten, in others they retard decomposition.

42. SiLEX- — In what state found in the soil— its particles
rather repulsive than attractive — nature of silicious soils
— not retentive of moisture — Silex powerfully aids decom-
position— with what generally combined — pure silicious
Sand, barren — a sandy soil, what — Calcareous when it
effervesces with acids — Sandy Soils easily cultivated—
when called loam — excess of Sand less inj urious than ex-
cess of Clay.

43. Alumina. — Its general character— attracts and obsti-
nately retains moisture — retards decomposition — barren
when alone — Silex and Clay commonly combined — a
clayey Soil, what.

44. Lime.— Generally found as a Carbonate — attracts mois-
ture, and chemically combines with it — weight of water
taken up by burnt Lime in slaking — when exposed ab-
sorbs moisture, and again becomes a Carbonate — in a
caustic state, it powerfully promotes, as a Carbonate it
retards decomposition— Calcareous Soil, its character —
pure Carbonate of Lime, barren — Calcareous soil reten-
tive of carbonaceous matter.

45. Loam. — Its composition — component parts of various
proportions. — Mould. Its characteristics — Soils rich in
proportion to the mould they contain.— Garden Mould
black, and why.

CONTENTS. Xlil

46. Properties and Use of Soil and Subsoil.— Produc-

tiveness of Soil chiefly dependent on mechanical admix-
ture of its parts, and why — proper admixture may be
made artificially.

47. SiLicious Sandy Soils.— Called " Hungry Soils," and

why — sandy soil, when most productive.

48. Best constituted Soil. — Its composition and proper-

ties, and on what its productiveness depends.

49. Productive Powers of Nature. — These never dimi-

nish— when Nature is left to herself, production, decay,
and reproduction alternately succeed each other — no loss
is sustained by this process — how artificially to keep up
these productive powers by proper cropping, suitable
Manure, and depasturing of stock — what requisite to
maintain vegetable life — mixture of soils of an opposite
character often beneficial — proper mechanical texture of
Soil to be attended to and how.

50 Means of Increasing the Fertility of Land.— >
Productiveness of soil on what dependent — how soil is
made productive permanently — means of doing this some-
times expensive, but soon repaid — when Soil has most
available moisture — power of Vegetation in soil increased
and how — mode of operation not well understood — Mine-
ral Manure acts merely as an alterative — bad effects of
Sulphate of Iron counteracted — converted into a Manure,
and by what means — how and when alteratives should be
applied.

.51. Perfect Subsoil Drainage and Deep Ploughing.
— Every good Soil has a porous Subsoil — what injures land
most— retentive soil made porous, and how — mode adopt-
ed by Gardeners in potting their Plants — the result of
this mode — same principle should be adopted by the
farmer — how he ought to apply it — its advantages — Na-
ture points out the same method — the principle to be

XIV CONTENTS.

thoroughly understood before it be put in practice. — Mr.
Smith of Deaneston, first gave publicity to this mode of
proceeding.

52. Best Means of Permanently Improving the Class

OF Clay Soils. — Their nature peculiarly adhesive — to
till them in a proper state of great importance — thin
Clays, when most unprofitable— their natural produce,
what — what best calculated to produce — no improvement
in Clay soils for a century — supposed by some to be in-
capable of improvement — a better system might be
adopted than that now pursued — causes why Clay Soils
have been neglected — what encouragement should be
given to improve them, and by whom — their improvement
expected — Pasture, produced in what proportion, and
by what means — Pasture on Clay Soils not to be conver-
ted into Arable Land, unless their produce repay the
labour, &c. — much may be learned from Gardeners ip
cultivating Clay Soils — their mode explained and recom-
mended— how to be applied to Clay Soils by the farmer —
how redundant moisture is to be carried ofi" — tenacity,
how reduced, and Soil made light and porous — abun-
dant crops then obtained— Clay Soil become loamy, when
and how — and then yields rich herbage and luxuriant
crops — substances recommended as alteratives — mode of
culture to be adopted— poor thin Clay Soils, how amelio-
rated and rendered friable, porous, and capable of pro-
ducing luxuriant crops of every kind.

53. Improvement of Silicious, or Sandy Soils. — Cha-

racteristics— decompose manure rapidly — rain readily
passes through them — when deep they obtain moisture
by capillary attraction from below — for what best fitted
— crops scarcely ever fail — mode of culture — clayey mat-
ter added to render them adhesive — this practised in
Norfolk and Suffolk— quantity there applied— in Hamp-

CONTENTS. XV

shire and Berks, Chalk applied — the quantity and how
obtained — this with deep ploughing, has a surprising
effect — the expense — should be rolled, if adhesive matter
cannot be obtained.

54. Improvement of Peat or Fen Soils. — Their compo-
sition— hold water in excess, with iron and tanin — not
improvable till these are got rid of — Clay applied as an
alterative —uot profitable as pasture— sheep do not thrive,
cattle do uot feed, and a good dairy cannot be formed on
these soils — difficult to clear of weeds — the cause — Clay-
ing once in six or eight years — how converted into arable
land in Lincolnshire — most productive — course of Crop-
ping— two methods — how managed during the course —
average produce.

65. Improvement by Paring and Burning the Sur-
face.— This process said to injure the land unless cal-
careous— not confirmed by experience — destroys weeds
and insects — Soil said to lose its Carbon by process — this
improbable — makes soil more friable — burnt matter im-
parts enriching quality — large crops in consequence —
farmers in Somerset and Devon dress newly burnt land
with lime and sow it to turnips — analysis of 200 grains
of ashes from calcareous Soils in Kent — the result.

56. Improvement of Worn-out Land. — Sheep pasturage
the best mode — how rendered most effectual — time re-
quired—generally applicable— economical and profitable.
57. Use of Fallowing. — Objected to by Sir H. Davy
— weeds, how best eradicated— used as manure— object
of fallow — process, merely mechanical — proper manage-
ment— beneficial result.

58. Manures, their Nature and Application. — "What
so named — object of — success of farmer chiefly depends
on their proper application — how to be obtained and
managed — chemical composition of — manures required

Xyl CONTENTS.

for particular Soils— manure from stubble deficient in
quantity and quality — preparing and application of— how
to realize the greatest quantity — forming of compost —
materials of— manure used in Flanders — time proper for
manuring fallows, meadows, &c. — manures used in Berk-
shire—quality of manure always adapted to nature of
Soil — manure recommended by Lord Meadowbank—what.

59. Nature and properties of Lime.— Quick Lime said
by Sir H. Davy to be injurious to Plants — the cause as-
signed—Carbonate of Lime beneficial, and why — Com-
position of quick Lime or Hydrate of Lime — absorbs Car-
bonic Acid Gas from Atmosphere, and becomes a Car-
bonate— becomes a Carbonate when mixed with soil —
considered merely as an alterative— Dr. Anderson's and
Du Hamel's opinions on Lime as a Manure, and its effects
upon soil — Kames, Young, Brown, and others say Lime
is as efficacious in its effete as in its caustic state — Soil
not affected by Lime so much, when first applied, as a
year or two afterwards — Queries respecting the effect of
Lime en Soil — is the effect directly or indirectly? — Effect
depends on the Nature of the Soil — converts Sulphate or
Oxid of Iron into good Soil or neutralizes its pernicious
influence — Lime has no effect on Soils of oolitic forma-
tion, and why — highly valued as Manure in Somerset-
shire— how used there — Vegetable power of Roots and
Seeds not destroyed by Lime as an ingredient in Compost
— retards decomposition.

60. Summary of what has been stated or proved, and conclu-
sions deduced therefrom.

61. Economy in Labour and Improvement of System
— Improvement in Agriculture not proportionate to other
Arts and Sciences, and why — System wrong when Soil is
not improved — Sands of Norfolk and Suffolk, examples

of improvement ; Vales of White Horse and of Gloucester,

CONTENTS. Xvii

of nou-improvement— Norfolk System of Ploughing —
when and by whom introduced into Scotland — its effect
there— Ploughing in other Districts — Number of Horses
to a Plough — Work performed — Causes of non-improve-
ment—Produce increased, and Expense diminished.

62. System of Culture. — Equal distribution of Labour —
best Mode of cultivating Arable Land — alternate system
recommended — its utility and profit — Green food, how to
be consumed— Weeds to be eradicated — feel culture sooner
than Crops, and why — Green Crops, their advantage—
Culture must be adapted to Soil — Effects of Frost — Crops
best fitted for various Soils — Plants nourished in two ways
— Effect of these on Soil — Crops when allowed to seed
impoverish Soil — Inference drawn — Corn kept in straw a
loss— what necessary, besided proper cropping, to ensure
success.

63. Course OF Crops.— Philosophy of a rotation — four-field
course — the merits of it — by what to be regulated— chief
value of rotation — what indispensably requisite — what
rotation suited to Clay, and what to friable Soil— its
advantages— Folding of Sheep of great benefit on light
Soil.

64. Effects of Climate ox Vegetation. — Increase of

Temperature hastens Vegetation — Climates, what so
called — their number — Height of Snow-line and Tem-
perature at Equator, at 23°, and at 73<»— Inference deduced
— Peculiarity of Mountains in Torrid Zone — what Far-
mers mean by Climate — Value of Climate — how mea-
sured, and on what dependent — Temperature, by what
modified — Humidity of Atmosphere regulated by Tem-
perature— Annual depth of Rain in certain Latitudes —
variable, and why — Climate artificially altered— Ex-
amples given —Causes which hasten or retard Harvest —

Xviii CONTENTS.

Advantage of certain Soils in!|this respect — at what alti-
tude Arable Laud in England ceases to be Profitable.

65. Value of Land. — On wliat dependent— relative and
local Value, how ascertained, and from what arising —
Fertility of Grass Lands, how determined, particularly in
Lincolnshire — intrinsic and general value of Land, to
what owing, and how known — Produce of Agriculture,
how divided, and to whom the divisions belong.

66. Rents. — In the rudest state of Society, what first Rent
recorded — Peasants' Rent in Russia, the Metayer in
France, Ryot Rent, and Rent by Cottagers in Ireland,
how paid — Farmers' Rent, how paid, and in what pro-
portion to Produce — Rent of Arable Land less in propor-
tion to Produce than that of Pasture, and why — on what
the amount of Rent depends, and when at the maximum —
Adam Smith's opinion — Explanatory Example — on what
the Money Value of free Produce ought to depend — Limi-
tation of Rent — Price of Land, by whom kept up — who-
ever permanently improves the Soil should reap the
benefit arising therefrom.

67. Profits of Agriculture. — What profit is— easily
known in some cases, in others ascertained with difficulty
— on what dependent, and by what affected— Agricultural
and Mercantile Profits compared — Soil must either be
profitable or cease to be cultivated — what Expenses
necessary before Rent can be paid — what Rent includes
—Soil productive in proportion to Capital employed, in-
dustry of Man not so— Causes which often prevent the
Farmer from realizing due Profit — Landlords ought to lay
out Capital freely to encourage Agricultural Improve-
ment; why and when — Leases of 21 years should be
granted— High state of Culture in Scotland attributed to
long Leases — Two general ways of increasing Profit, what

CONTENTS. XIX

these are — Mode of Ploughing in most parts of England
bad and expensive— Government ought to protect Agri-
culture equally with other interests, and Taxes should be
equally borne by all classes of the community.
68. Means Proposed for Promoting Agricultural
IMPROVEMENT.—Example-Farms established, and where
— their probable effect— should be open to Public Inspec-
tion— Number and Distance from each other — Extent —
Manager, his duties and qualifications — Buildings — Ad-
vantages of such Farms— easily established and made
profitable— same mode of Cultivation would be adopted
by neighbourhood — their probable and general effects —
Capital necessary for their establishment, how to be raised
— Leases to be 21 or 14 years — Emoluments of Director,
on what to depend — his abilities and qualifications — ac-
countable to Proprietor, and Manager accountable to him
— Director to give a written and detailed account of every
operation and its result — Manager to reside on the Farm
— Daily Account to be kept of all work done, and a
Monthly Report made— Monthly Inspection of Farms
recommended, and the Public, especially Farmers, in-
vited to attend and give their opinions — these to be re-
corded— Emulation produced in each locality, and neigh-
bourhood influenced — Reports to be published Quarterly
— would afford materials for an Agricultural Journal of
extensive circulation and influence — Director might take
Pupils — their examination weekly or monthly, highly
advantageous both to themselves and to the public.

Appendix I. Report of Whitfield Example-Farm— pa^e 249.

II. A Letter to the Tenants of Philip Pusey, Esq.

M. P. for Berkshire. - 329

ON THE

NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

1. Introduction.

The surface of the earth partakes of the nature
and colour of the subsoil or rock on which it rests.

The principal mineral in the soil of any district,
is that of the geological formation under it ; hence,
we find argillaceous soil resting on the various clay
formations — calcareous soil, over the chalk, and
oolitic rocks, ai^ silicious soils, over the various sand-
stones. On the chalk, the soil is white ; on the
red sand stone, it is red ; and on the sands and
clays, the surface has nearly the same shade of
colour as the subsoil.

The lime, potash, and iron, existing in various
proportions in the rock, are acted on by the atmo-
sphere, and the rock is decomposed ; some of it
into fine impalpable matter, some into sand, and
some into coarse gravel or rubble.

The surface is composed of the same materials

B

I NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

as the subsoil, with the addition of vegetable and
animal matter, in every state of decay, intimately
mixed with it ; and we perceive a change in the
external appearance of the surface, whenever there
is a change in the subsoil below.

The similarity of the materials which compose
each of the geological formations, with those which
compose the soil resting on it, will be easily dis-
cerned ; and their seeming diflference may be owing
to the vegetable, and colouring matter in the soil.
Iron, on being exposed to the atmosphere, becomes
oxidized, forming the oxid of iron, and gives a
redder colour to the soil than that which is exhibited
by the subsoil.

The connection which subsists between the soil
and the subjacent rock or subsoil is, in our opinion,
of great importance, as a knowledge of it would
form the best foundation for a classification of soils;
and would always convey some idea of the nature
and quahty of the materials of which the soil is
composed.

2. We shall therefore give an outline of the main
body of each of the geological formations in Eng-
land, and their connection with the surface, without
entering into a detail of all the ramifications and
outlaying or detached portions of each ; and be-
ginning with the Tertiary formation, and descend-
ing in succession across the whole range of the

INTRODUCTION.

geological formation in the kingdom, we shall take
a short view of their internal structure — the nature
of the materials, and the extent of each formation
— the agricultural character — the nature and com-
position of the soil — the state of culture — and the
means of improvement.

In doing this, we shall use the terms by which
the different soils are known in the several localities
where they occur.

3. There have been many attempts to form a
classification of soils, but these have universally
failed in conveying to the mind, either of the practi-
cal farmer, or the scientific agriculturist, any correct
idea of their nature or properties.

If we can shew an identity of the materials which
form the soil, with those of the subsoil upon which
it rests, we shall obtain a key to a more correct and
satisfactory classification of soils than at present
exists ; and their nature and properties, the kind
of crops which they are best calculated to produce,
and the materials necessary for their permanent im-
provement, will be more evident.

4. Earths of Transportation.
These are formed by extraordinary floods which
tear up the soil and subsoil from the higher land,
and deposit them on the land below. These tor-
rents, when increased by continued rains, are so ini-

4 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

petuous as to cany down with them every thing
that impedes their passage. The Hghtest substances
are carried the farthest, and the heaviest the short-
est distance ; consequently, we find on the side,
and at the bottom of high hills, stones and large
gravel ; farther on, towards the lower part of the
country, we find beds of gravel of a smaller kind,
mixed with sand ; and where the river becomes
nearly level, we have sand, sandy loam, and fre-
quently deep rich loam, with a considerable portion
of clay minutely disseminated through the mass.

Whatever may have been the form of the surface
of the earth before the universal deluge, that awful
catastrophe must have been a powerful agent in
forming its present surface.

The figure used by Moses in describing the in-
tensity of the rain, " And the windows of heaven
were opened," shows us that we have no idea of
the quantity of rain fallen in a given time, nor of
the effects which it produced ; but if we suppose
that the rains equalled only what is frequently seen
in the tropics, and judge of its effects from the
length of time which "the windows of heaven
were open," we may easily conceive the effects
were most terrific. Tearing up, and carrying
away every thing before it, the surface would first
give way — the vegetable mould would be carried
down — and as the level of the sea arose, the lighter

EARTHS OF TRANSPORTATION. 0

parts would be deposited where the rapidity of the
current was stopped by meeting the level surface
of the water ; and this would go on, till the water
arose to the highest point.

5. Alluvial Soil consists in the accumulation
of minute particles of soil and light vegetable mat-
ter washed away from the surface of higher ground
by the water of rivers in the time of floods, where
their motion is rapid ; and which, when they be-
come sluggish, they deposit on the level ground
which they overflow.

The richest alluvial soils are to be found at the
junction of large sluggish rivers with the sea, or
where they meet in the valleys through which they
pass ; and the soil is most varied and heterogene-
ous in the composition of its parts, when these are
in minute divisions and intimately blended toge-
ther. The finest natural soils are thus formed of
numberless thin layers of mud by the overflowing
of rivers, and left to dry till the next overflow brings
a fresh supply.

The artificial mode adopted in Lincoln and York
shires of warping land is precisely the same as the
natural way in which alluvial soils are formed, and
may be seen in full operation every summer. The
motion of the tide disturbs the sediment deposited
in the beds of the rivers, and carries it either back
into the rivers, or forward towards the sea ; and

6 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

such is the quantity of minute particles of earthy-
matter in the water, that a depth of eighteen inches
of the water of those rivers which run into the
Humber, will deposit one inch of mud in the course
of a day. Advantage is taken of this deposit, and
the low worthless land within the reach of the tide
is, during one summer, covered to the depth of
from twelve to eighteen inches, and in some hollow
places, to the thickness of three or four feet. The
land to be warped is surrounded by a bank suffi-
ciently high to hold all the water that is allowed to
come in during each tide, which is admitted and
di-awn off by sluices, as the tide falls. During the
period it remains, a deposition of the sediment takes
place ; and this operation goes on twice every
twenty-four hours. It is found that the warping
in dry summers produces a greater thickness of
deposit than when the season is wet.

The greatest extent of alluvial formation in Eng-
land is along the east coast, commencing east off
Lynn in the county of Norfolk, and continuing
northwards by Wisbeach, Holbeach, Spalding, Boston,
Wainfleet, Saltfleet, Grimsby, and Barton, in Lincoln-
shu'e ; from thence to where the Don, the Aire, the
Wharfe, and the Ouse, join and form the Humber;
and from the north side of that river along the York-
shire coast, to the neighbourhood of Bridlington.
This extent varies in breadth from a mile to four

EARTHS OF TRANSPORTATION. /

or five ; and, following the course of most of the
rivers for a very considerable way, it decreases in
width as the rivers recede from the sea.

On both sides of the Thames, there is a consider-
able extent of Alluvial Soil, which is of a clayey
nature, and forms rich pasture land. In the neigh-
bourhood of Sandwich, there is alluvial or marshy
land of considerable extent, which separates the Isle
of Thanet from the county of Kent. Romney Marsh
in the same county extends from Hythe to Rye, is
several miles in width, and consists mostly of alluvial
sand and marshy soil. On both sides of the Bristol
Cliannel, there are also considerable alluvial forma-
tions, but particularly from Bridgewater through
Axbridge to Weston-super-Mare, in Somersetshire.
The soil there is generally of great richness, and
extends up the rivers Parret and Yeo, Axe and Brue,
for many miles. The same soil is also found in
Gloucestershire from the mouth of the Avon to
Frampton-on-Severn ; and in Lancashire along the
coast from Liverpool to Lancaster. These are the
principal localities ; but there are many other por-
tions to be found along most of the rivers, as the
meadows on the Trent, in Nottingham and Derby
shires ; on the Thames, in Berks and Oxford shire ;
on the Severn, in Gloucester and Worcester shires ;
on the Dee and Mersey, in Cheshire and Lancashire;
on the Tees, in Yorkshire ; and in Scotland, the

O NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

alluvial soil is of great extent on the banks of the
rivers Forth and Tay.

But though the banks of all these rivers consist
of alluvial soil, yet as the materials of which it is
composed depend entirely on the geological forma-
tions through which the rivers flow ; of course, the
nature and properties of the alluvium in one river
or one country, may differ entirely from that of
another.

Wherever this formation appears, it forms a low
level district ; and most frequently little or nothing
elevated above the level of the river which passes
through it, or of the adjoining ocean at high water.
Indeed, it is found necessary to protect many large
and fertile tracts of this formation by embank-
ments ; otherwise, they would be continually over-
flowed by the rivers during floods ; or by the sea,
when the spring-tides occur at the full and change
of the moon.

Agricultural Character and Nature of the Soil.

At the mouth of the Ouse, the alluvium is a rich
marshy land, formed of marine silt on a basis of
clay ; and when these are mixed, they form rich
grazing land. Along both sides of the river, the
soil is a deep hoUow putrid sandy loam, full of vege-
table matter in a state of decay, sufficiently adhesive
to resist drought, and porous enough to strain off"

EARTHS OF TRANSPORTATION. 9

superfluous moisture. Generally speaking, this is
also the nature of the soil along those parts of the
coast of Norfolk, Lincoln, and Yorkshire, where the
Great Ouse, the Nen, the Glen, and the Witham, are
emptied into the sea ; and where the Trent, the Don,
the Aire, the Wharfe, and the Ouse, join the Hum-
ber. At Gainsborough on the Trent, and in the Isle
of Axholme, it is called a rich warp loam ; at Salt-
fleet, it forms a dark brown loam of admirable tex-
ture, varying to a black and brown sandy loam,
soapy and tenacious from warping ; a friable sandy
loam ; a clayey loam, not adhesive ; and a marine
clay loam. At Boston, it is a rich loam upon clay
and silt, and varies from three to six feet in depth.
The soil is best where every variety of substance
brought down by the river, is intimately mixed with
those marine or clay substances brought up by the
tide. This is almost the constant character of soils
formed by natural, as well as artificial warping ; and
is by Geologists called Alluvium.

It is always fertile, free in its nature, and easily
cultivated ; is fitted for the production of every
variety of crop, which it brings to the highest per-
fection, and produces in the greatest abundance.

This formation is perfectly dry, and the only
attention required from the cultivator is to keep the
banks good ; so as to prevent the sea or the rivers

10 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

from overflowing the land, particularly that which is
arahle.

About one-half of all the alluvial accumulations
may be in tillage, and the remaining half in meadow
and pasture land. We consider that this soil pro-
duces a greater quantity of grain, and more luxu-
riant and nutritious herbage for feeding stock per
acre, than the soil on any of the other geological
divisions in England.

6. Diluvium.

Geologists have given this name to accumula-
tions of sand, gravel, and other materials, which are
found covering in masses some of the older and
continuous geological formations to a greater or less
extent.

There is generally a connection between these di-
luvial tracts, and the formations under or near them;
yet this is not universally the case, for we find in
that which rests on the new red sand-stone, not only
rolled fragments of that stratum, but also of most
of the primitive rocks. These are principally in the
shape of boulder stones or large gravel, and the sand
and earthy parts are mostly from the red sand-stone.
This accumulation in the neighbourhood of Notting-
ham and Mansfield is, in many places, upwards of
one hundred feet in depth.

DILUVIUM. 11

The diluYium resting on the chalk and tertiary
formations, is composed of rolled flints and reddish
clay. This appears to have been produced by the
breaking up, or disintegration, of a portion of the
upper chalk and plastic clay strata, at a period after
all the formations had taken place, on which the
diluvium rests. In some places, there is little else
but flints ; and when these are of a dead white
colour, the soil is of little or no value. In other
places, as in Dorsetshire, the diluvium is a sandy
flinty gravel, naturally producing heath and furze.
In many districts, as in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hants,
Berks, &c. it is mostly composed of red tenacious
clay with rolled flints, varying in some instances to a
loamy clay, or to sand and gravel. We are of opi-
nion that much of the earthy matter in this diluvial
district, is of the same nature as some of the beds
of the plastic clay.

The general aspect of the surface of this formation
is uneven, and presents rounded insulated hills of
moderate elevation.

That in Dorsetshire is the most extensive, and the
most worthless. There is seldom much water in the
diluvium, unless where it is a sandy gravel ; for the
rain, which percolates through it, is thrown out
where it rests on the London or plastic clay ; and
when it rests on the chalk it disappears, from being
quickly absorbed by that stratum.

12 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Agricultural Character,

The nature of the soil on this diluvium, which
rests on the chalk and tertiary formation, is of the
same character as that of the diluvium on which it
rests. When clayey, or when mixed with sand and
flinty gravel, as at Hatford, in Bedfordshire, the
rolled flints are sometimes equal to one-half of the
soil ; and at Highclere, in Hants, even more than
two-thirds of the soil are flints. At some places, a
greater portion is of clay or sand ; and the clay,
which is mostly of the colour and nature as already
described, is exceedingly adhesive, and sticks like
birdhme when wet. In other parts, the flints are
mixed with loam.

State of Culture.

Most of this soil is in arable culture, and produces
turnips, barley, oats, wheat, clover ; and, when
under proper management, it becomes a useful soil.
The tenacious clayey gravel is expensive in the cul-
tivation, as it is most difiicult to work, except be-
tween wet and dry. The greatest improvement
which has been made in this soil, is by the apph-
cation of chalk ; for, with a good coating of this
calcareous substance, it becomes sufiiciently produc-
tive ; and if this be repeated, with the addition of
sand and good tillage, it produces good crops of

DILUVIUM. 13

wheat, oats, barley, turnips, and clover. Even the
soil at Highelere, which is composed of at least two-
thirds of flints, produces, with a proper coating of
chalk, good crops of wheat, turnips, and clover.

The diluvium on the new red sand is furrowed into
vales with hills of small elevation. It is found in
detached portions over the new red sand, and even
over the coal formation to a considerable extent.
From Nottingham through Mansfield, Welbuck,
and Worksop, it consists of a sandy gravel, which
gives a ready passage for the moisture to descend
to the clay or marl of the new red sand below,
which throws out the water in springs at the bottom
of the hills.

Agricultural Character.

The nature, as well as the composition, of the
soil of this diluvial district is very various, depend-
ing entirely on the predominance of clay or sand
with gravel ; and its colour changes from white to
grey, yellow, brown, and red.

State of Cultivation.

The most part of this soil is under arable culture,
and produces, if well managed, good crops of wheat,
barley, oats, turnips, and clover. When it is of a
clayey nature, it is generally under fallow once in
five or six yer^rs ; for, being of a close and tenacious

14 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

nature, it requires great care and attention, and, of
course, is expensive in management. Drainage,
when wanted, and deep ploughing, produce wonder-
ful effects on this soil. There are other diluvial
deposits resting on several of the other formations,
but these are of limited extent. From Huntingdon
to Farringdon in Berks, along the lower edge of the
gault or oak-tree clay, where it joins the choral rag
or the Fen or Oxford clay, are deposits of a small
flinty gravel, the greater part of which is of an an-
gular form, and not larger than the size of beans.

There is a deposit of calcareous gravel on the
lower edge of the Fen or Oxford clay, which we
have traced through Lincolnshire and Northampton-
shire, into Gloucestershire and Wilts. This sometimes
rests on the edge of the shelly oolite, but mostly on
the clay. At the bottom of the oolite hills, resting
on the blue lias, and the lower edge of the lower
oohte, there are other deposits of calcareous gravel,
evidently formed fi'om the washing out of the valleys
in the north-west of these hills. These are always
found at the mouths of the deep valleys which inter-
sect the oohte hills. All these deposits are very
limited and detached portions, and filling up hollows
in the surface, never assume the form of hills. The
surface takes the general sweep of that of the for-
mation on which they rest : when, therefore, they
rest on an impervious subsoil, they form reservoirs

DILUVIUM. 15

for water ; but these are veiy easily drained by
tapping them at the lowest level. The nature of
the soil on them varies materially, being either of
a calcareous or silicious gravelly character, according
as the diluvium has been brought from a calcareous
or silicious formation.

The greater part of Norfolk and Suffolk has a
sandy surface on the chalk or marl ; to this sand
geologists have given the name of diluvium.

They suppose it to be the remains of the degraded
portion of the tertiary formation ; we are, however,
rather inclined to view this as one of the sandy
members of the plastic clay.

The sand is siHcious, and is found in various spots
of considerable thickness ; in some places, there
are small rounded flints amongst it ; in others frag-
ments of chalk in a rolled state ; whilst in some
spots, the soil consists of strong clay, and in others
of a deep rich loam.

The surface may be described as an extended
plain, as there are no hills on it, but merely sHght
depressions in the districts through which the rivers
take their course. The extent is considerable,
stretching from Sudbury to Bungay in Suffolk ;
from thence, through Norwich to Cromer ; with a
breadth from Thetford to Southwold, and from
S waff ham to Yarmouth. This extent, however, is
not continuous, as the chalk and challc-maii pierce

16 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

through it in many places, in portions of consider-
able size. Indeed, it is a question whether this
district ought not to be called the plastic clay or
chalk formation, rather than a diluvium. Water is
near the surface of the soil, where it rests on the
chalk-marl, and the ditches are kept deep, in order
to draw it off.

The nature of this sand is siHcious, and when un-
mixed with chalk-marl, it is frequently so Hght as
to be blown in heaps by the wind ; in other places,
where mixed with flints, it produces heath and
furze. The lightest sand in this formation is from
Woodbridge to Beccles.

J(/ricultural Character.

The whole district may be termed a sandy loam,
varying from a good rich loam to the lightest sand.
There is a considerable portion of it in poor sheep
walks, which present a desolate and dreary aspect.
This is the best cultivated district in the kingdom ;
being level, it is easily worked at comparatively
little expense, and is perhaps the most profitable to
the cultivator. The subsoil being chalk, chalk-marl,
or plastic clay, the means of permanently improving
it are to be found under the soil at various depths,
and this may be done at little expense; for 100 cubic
yards per acre of chalk, or chalk and clay, dug in
the corner of the field, may be wheeled over the

PEAT, MOSS, OR BOG. 17

surface and spread on the land, at the expense of
50*. per acre.

Most of this district has been improved from a
rabbit warren of httle or no value, and made to
produce from 30 to 40 bushels of wheat, and from
40 to 60 bushels of barley per acre ; and the rental
has been increased from 1*. to 20^. per acre. When
the chalk-marl or clay lies near the surface, it is
wet ; but when drained, it is very productive in
wheat, beans, turnips, barley, and clover.

7. Peat, Moss, or Bog,

Is composed of an accumulation of vegetable
matter in a half decayed state, which has undergone,
and is undergoing changes, different from the ordi-
nary decay of vegetable substance. It consists of
a soft, light, spungy substance, holding water in
excess by capillary attraction : but when dry, it is
inflammable, burns with little or no flame, and
changes its colour on being exposed to the atmos-
phere, from a brown or yellow to a blackish colour.
It is formed by the growth and partial decay of
aquatic plants in a cold wet soil, or in stagnant
water in hollow or shallow basins, either on low or
on high land ; in many instances, it is semifluid,
and so soft, that neither man nor beast can pass
over it. The water is antiseptic from the tannin

18 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

principle of the plants of which it is composed ;
and as the tannin principle of moss has the power
of preserving animal and other substances for a
great length of time, their decay is gradual and
very slow.

In the transactions of the Royal Society there
is an account of the body of a woman found six
feet deep in a moss in Lincolnshire, in June, 1/47 ;
her hair and nails were unaltered, her skin tanned,
soft, strong, and phable ; and, from the antique
sandals on her feet, she appeared to have been a
Roman lady.

The nature of the materials which compose
peaty soil is a vegetable substance in a partial state
of decay, containing the tannin principle in a con-
siderable degree, and also oxid of iron dispersed
through the whole mass. The subsoil of peat
must necessarily be close and retentive ; it is gene-
rally clay.

The greatest extent of peat moss, or black fen
land, under cultivation, is in the fens of Lincoln,
Northampton, Huntingdon, Norfolk, and Cam-
bridge shires, and extends from near Cambridge
through Ely, March, Thorny, Crowland, Spalding,
Donnington, and Tattershall, to Lincoln; in length
being about 70 miles, and varying greatly in breadth,
though the average maybe about 10 miles. The
greatest breadths are those from Ramsey to Down-

PEAT, MOSS, OR BOG. 19

ham, from Peterborough to Wisbeach, from Bourn
to Holbeach, and from Wainfleet, through Tatters-
hall, to Merton. This line is perhaps equal to 25
miles; but this peat or black fen land is not conti-
nuous, being intercepted by alluvial soil deposited by
the rivers which pass through it. The whole of this
district rests on the Oxford clunch, or fen clay for-
mation.

In Somersetshire, there is a considerable extent of
peat, moss, or fen land between Bridgewater and
Wells. Part of this is cultivated, but most of it is
still too near the level of the water in the ditches,
from the imperfect state of the drainage.

In Lancashire, there are extensive peat mosses or
peaty land in the neighbourhood of Manchester and
Liverpool. Trafford and Chats mosses are under
improvement; and in time, when the drainage is
perfected, and the surface covered with clay or marl,
these will be productive of corn and vegetables.

The above are the most extensive deep mosses, or
peaty lands in England; besides these, however,
there are, in most of the middle and northern coun-
ties, portions of low peaty lands, of which some
parts have been cultivated, and are at present most
productive. There is another kind of moss or moor
land, which, on the sides and tops of the high hills
or mountains, in Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cum-
berland, Northumberland, and Yorkshire, is of great

20 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

extent, but of very little value, from its elevation ;
and the humidity of the atmosphere in so cold and
spongy a soil, prevents the profitable culture of such,
even although it was perfectly drained.

Agricultural Character.

When the low peat, moss, or fen land is perfectly
drained, so as to carry ofi" not only all the surface
water, but also that which the spungy nature of the
peat holds by capillary attraction, it naturally sinks
down and becomes more firm; and when the surface
is pared ofi" and burned, and pulverized by the in-
fluence of the frost, it becomes a soft black soil,
composed entirely of vegetable matter, with the
oxid of iron, and the tannin principle intimately
blended through the mass. It naturally produces a
coarse grass not of much value, and abundance of
straw, when under arable culture, but very little
grain, and that of a weak fight nature ; when, how-
ever, it is brought under a proper system of culture,
and when, by the application of clay, the nature of
the soil is changed, it becomes a most productive
soil, easily cultivated, and yields the most abundant
crops of oats and wheat. So great has been the
effect of this mode of culture, that even 14 quarters
of oats, and 6 quarters of wheat, have been known
to be produced upon an acre of land, which, not
many years before, was of little or no value. As

PEAT, MOSS, OR BOG. 21

the Oxford or clunch clay is found at various depths
under the peat in Lincolnshire, it is lifted up and
spread over the surface, and, when incorporated with
the black or peat earth, it forms the most productive
of all soils. This is done by making trenches three
feet wide, at the distance of eleven yards from each
other, quite across the field : the black mould or
peat is taken out and thrown forwards, the clay is
then lifted up to the depth of two feet, throwing
one half on each side ; then another portion of the
peat is taken off in the line of the trench, and
thrown into the place where the last portion of clay
was taken out. This operation is extended over all
the field. When all these trenches are deprived of
clay to the depth of two feet, the clay is then regu-
larly spread over all the surface, except where the
trenches are ; it is then ploughed when dry, and
sown to oats, and when the system is continued once
every six or eight years, the capability of the land
is increased in a most wonderful manner.

8. London Clay.

This may be said to be the uppermost of the geo-
logical formations of any extent in England, for the
upper marine and fresh water formations are very
limited, and are only to be found in the Isle of
Wight, and on a small portion of the east of Suffolk.

22 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This clay is a bluish or blackish colour when wet,
and brown or grey, near the surface, when dry.
The whole is very tough and tenacious, the upper
stratum in dry weather opens into peqDendicular
cracks for a considerable depth, and at a certain
depth below, there are horizontal layers of nodules
of a feiTuginous clay limestone, called septaria.
These layers are repeated at intervals of several feet;
this is the substance from which Parker's, or the
Roman cement, is made.

The lower portion, in which the septaria are found,
has fine grains of mica in it, and is more slaty than
that which is nearest the surface. It seems indeed
to be a clay more or less pure, having mica in the
lower, and fine sand in the upper portion ; and, in
some places, it is found of a marly nature, effer-
vescing with acids, with white specks on it of a
calcareous kind.

The external character of this formation may be
termed a low, uneven, gentle-waving surface, with
sufficient slope for drainage ; having small risings,
but no abrupt or great deviations. The most ele-
vated land may be about 400 feet above the level of
the sea, although in Essex there are several hills up-
wards of 600 feet high ; yet the general character
of the surface is that of low land, without any great
or striking feature.

This formation extends, with little interruption^

LONDON CLAY. 23

from Orford in SuiFolk to Manningtree in Essex ;
and, in a continued course, south of Colchester,
through Maldon, Billericay, Rumford, and Barking,
to London, Richmond, and Staines ; then through
Windsor Park to Oakingham in Berkshire ; and fi'om
thence, to Strathfield Saye, to Rotherwick in Hamp-
shire. Its greatest breadth is from Croydon through
London to Barnet, a distance of about 20 miles ;
from the Thames, near Rochford, to Chelmsford, its
breadth is about 15 miles ; and from Guildford in
Surrey to Windsor, its breadth is about the same.

There are some portions of the London clay on
the coast of Kent, at the Isle of Shepey, High Alslow,
and Reculver CliiF ; but there are interruptions in
its course. The rolled flinty gravel, before men-
tioned as the diluvium of the flint, chalk, and plastic
clay, is formed between the river Boding and the
New River, east of London, filling up a breadth of
perhaps five or six miles ; and at Bagshot and Pur-
bright heaths, where it is said to be covered with
the sand of the upper marine formation, it again
appears. There is also a considerable extent of this
formation, in what is called the Isle of Wight Basin,
from Christ Church and Ringwood to Southampton
in Hampshire ; and this continues in a line through
Titchfield, Portsmouth, to near Worthing in Sussex.
The greatest breadth of this field is in the New
Forest, from the sea side at Lymington to near

24 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Romsey, where it is perhaps 16 miles in extent ;
but from Southampton to Worthing, it becomes a
very narrow strip indeed, and is in some places not
more than a mile in breadth.

It thus forms a considerable portion of the south-
east of Suffolk, a large portion of Essex, and nearly
the whole of Middlesex, as weU as portions of Kent,
Berkshire, and Hampshire.

There are no springs in this formation. It is so
close and compact as to be completely impervious to
water ; it therefore prevents the water, which is in
the plastic clay below, from coming up through it.
The perpendicular rents made in it in dry weather,
are filled and soaked with the water in time of rain;
and this, with the natural tenacity of the clay,
keeps it much longer wet than it would otherwise be.

Agricultural Character,

The soil on this formation is generally of a
brownish colour ; though in some places it is grey,
pale, and yellowish. It is naturally a strong, heavy,
wet, tenacious, clayey soil, on a brown or bluish
subsoil. The dense and compact nature of this
soil is owing to the minute and impalpable nature of
the materials of which it is formed. It seems
chiefly to be clay, and a very small portion of very
fine, impalpable, micacious, and silicious sand, with

LONDON CLAY. 25

the oxid of iron. In some instances, the soil is
slightly calcareous, adhering to the feet in wet
weather, although not shppery ; shrinking very
much in dry weather, and cracking into perpendi-
cular fissures to the depth of three or four feet.
It sticks to the plough like pitch ; and its cultiva-
tion is consequently difficult and expensive. If
ploughed when wet, it rolls before the plough in a
broken and muddy state, and chokes it.

In some places, there is a considerable portion of
sand in this soil ; this is the case near the rivers,
where it forms rich, friable, fertile, sandy loam,
composed of fine sand and vegetable matter with
the clay. AVhen this soil gets dry after heavy rains,
it assumes a whitish appearance.

The tenacity of this soil is great, and a little rain
makes it work like mortar.

Where it is allowed to remain in a natural state,
the pasture is covered with ant hills. There is a
very great portion of the land on this formation in
pasture ; that which is under arable culture is too
strong for turnips and barley ; but, under proper
cultivation, it produces large crops of wheat, beans,
and clover. The system pursued in its cultivation,
is to summer-fallow it once, in four or five years.

The fissures made in this formation during the
time of great drought, form cavities for holding
water ; and, although there are no springs in this

26 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

soil, yet, from this cause, it becomes necessarily a
wet soil ; it is, however, easily kept dry by having
the ditches and the furrows always kept clear, so
as to let the water drain off as it runs through
these fissures into the furrows, and from thence to
the ditches.

Almost the whole of the soil in this formation is
enclosed, except some in the New Forest, and in
Bagshot and Purbright heaths. These wastes are
capable of great improvement, merely by draining
off the surface water, and burning the heath or
other natural productions on the surface. The
whole of this clay is much improved by a well-
regulated system of cultivation and manure ; the
sand of the plastic clay is to be found near to it,
and is an excellent material for altering its texture,
by giving it a greater degree of friability, and by
forming it into a clay loam. With repeated dress-
ings of London manure, it is converted into very
rich dry meadow land, and produces large crops of
excellent hay.

9. Plastic Clay.

This formation occupies the space between the
London clay and the upper chalk, and is composed
of an indefinite number of beds of clay and sand of
every variety of colour ; white, black, blue, purple,

PLASTIC CLAY. 11

bright yellow, orange, and red. The sand alternates
with partings of clay, both of which are sometimes
as thin as pasteboard ; although, in some places,
the beds, both of the sand and of the clay, are
several feet in thickness. The component parts of
the formation are clay and silex, with iron as a
colouring matter. The sand is formed of very mi-
nute particles of silicious matter ; the clay is
unctuous, tenacious, and, in some of the beds, par-
ticularly the white, is nearly pure, and is used for
making tobacco pipes ; but the other varieties are
mixed with very fine sand, without any calcareous
matter in the composition, either of the sand or
clay. A bed of rounded or water-worn flints, with
yellow sand, occasionally forms some of the members
of this formation.

The surface of the plastic clay in some places is
rather hilly, but not of great elevation ; in others,
it is a low level surface, as in Essex, Suffolk, and
Norfolk.

It embraces the outline of the London clay, and
presents a very irregular junction both with it and
with the chalk. Its extent and direction may be
traced along the middle of its course, from near
Lavenham in Suffolk, by Halstead, Braintree, and
Sawbridge, to Waltham Cross in Essex. This por-
tion of it has a greater breadth than any other

28 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

part of it in England, averaging about 10 miles
over the whole of this distance, the length of which
may be about 50 miles. Its course then turns
north to Hatfield, proceeds by St. Albans and Wat-
ford in Hertfordshire, to RedhiU and Salthill in
Buckinghamshire, and then to Maidenhead, Reading,
and Hungerford in Berkshire.

In this circuitous line, its breadth is sometimes
not more than a mile. From Reading through
Newbury and Broxfield, beyond Hungerford in
"Wilts, along the Kennet, its course southward is
through East Woodhay, Banghurst, and Odih^m, in
Hants, to Guildford, Leatherhead, and Croydon, in
Surrey ; where it is again of considerable width,
and continues onward through Bromley as far as
Dartford in Kent. There is another field of this
formation, embracing the London clay of the Isle
of "Wight Basin, which may be traced from near
Dorchester, through Poole and Wimborn in Dorset-
shire, to Fordingbridge, Romsey, Chilworth, and Fare-
ham, in Hampshire ; and then through Chichester
and Arundel, to Worthing in Sussex. The alter-
nations of sand and clay when the beds are of con-
siderable thickness, particularly when beds of gravel
exist, form large reservoirs for water ; and hence,
water is to be found over the. whole extent of
this formation.

PLASTIC CLAY. 29

Agricultural Character.

The soil on this formation in Dorsetshire is a poor,
barren, sandy, flinty, gravel, generally of a yellowish,
though sometimes of a brown red, and blackish,
colour ; and, producing nothing but heath, is of
very little value : from Ringwood, however, in the
whole of its course eastward, it is a dark coloured
gravelly loam, or sandy loam on clay, mixed with
reddish brick earth and gravel, and forms a very
rich loam, of an agricultural character, similar to
that of the London clay, when the sand is absent.
In Hampshire near Newbury, it is very wet and
springy, forming sometimes a quicksand, and some-
times a strong brown or grey loam with a great deal
of moisture in the soil, causing boggy places in the
hollow, and under the peat is to be found a tough,
sour, clayey gravel.

In Essex, the soil is a strong, heavy, wet, reddish,
or brown loam, on a clay subsoil, which becomes,
with rain, strongly adhesive and close ; in other
places, as at Chelmsford, it is a sandy loam, and a
good turnip soil.

Indeed, every variety of soil may be met with, in
a short distance, over the whole of this formation,
which is owing to the rapid succession of sand and
clay, and the other materials of which it consists.

After rain, this land, when in fallow, has a whitish

30 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

appearance, from the minute particles of white sand
left on the surface, after the clayey parts have been
washed out ; in some places, there is a rich, pale,
reddish, sandy loam, which is deep, moist, and fri-
able ; adhesive without tenacity, friable without
looseness, and which produces large crops of wheat,
turnips, and carrots.

The greatest portion of this soil is under arable
culture ; the remainder is in heaths, and extensive
wastes, as in Dorsetshire, Hants, and Berks near
Newbury. The clay soil in Essex and Herts is well
cultivated : one crop of corn, and a fallow crop, is
the system, and the corn is sown on two-bout ridges.

The light soil produces turnips, carrots, barley,
and wheat.

The character of the soil on this formation being
wet and springy, and producing peat in those hol-
lows where the water is allowed to lie, the whole
requires to be weU drained, before any system of
culture is adopted. From the nature of the subsoil,
there seems to be considerable difficulty in effecting
this ; but by carefully attending to the nature of the
stratum out of which the water comes, a complete
drainage can be easily effected.

The only difficulty is, that the soil is easily
carried off by the stream, which forms deep gullies
when the water is in any quantity.

There are in the sod of the plastic clay formation

PLASTIC CLAY. 31

all the materials at hand for making a good friable
loam, by simply mixing the sand and clay together,
and pulverizing the soil well by the addition of
manure.

In Norfolk and Suffolk, although the sandy soil,
(which we believe to be the sand of the plastic clay),
is of great extent, yet it is not of great depth ; and
being near the clay, or chalk, or chalk marl, there is
the means at all times of increasing its tenacity by
a covering of this clay or chalk marl.

So convinced are the farmers of Norfolk and Suf-
folk, of the value of the clay or chalk marl as an
alterative to the sandy surface, that they generally
chalk or clay their land once in eight years at least,
and sometimes oftener ; and, by allowing 100 cubic
yards to an acre, incur an expense of 50s. per acre,
for digging, wheehng, and spreading. It is solely
by this process, that the Norfolk sandy soil, which
naturally was of the most worthless kind, and pro-
duced nothing but heath and bent for a few starving
sheep, is now converted into good sandy loam, which
yields large crops of turnips, barley, and wheat.

When this soil rests on the chalk, as in Berkshire,
&c. and is reddish and clayey, with yellow sand beds,
nothing improves it so much as a good dressing of
chalk. This is done in Hampshire and Berkshire,
by allowing 9 baskets or 18 bushels to a perch, or
2880 bushels to the acre, at an expense of 42*.

32 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This is frequently done by sinking pits down through
the subsoil to the chalk, sometimes to the depth of
20 or 30 yards ; but when the chalk is near, it is
taken from a pit in the side of the field. The effects
produced by the apphcation of chalk or lime to the
soil are most astonishing ; so much so, that rich
crops of wheat are obtained where nothing grew
before, and sterile worthless land is converted into a
productive district. Hounslow heath, a portion of
this formation, used to produce nothing but heath ;
and now, it produces the most luxurious crops of
every kind of grain.

10. The Chalk Formation.

This formation is divided by geologists into the
upper and lower chalk, and both these are formed of
numerous beds of various thickness.

The upper chalk has beds of flint and dry open
partings ; the lower chalk has no flints in it ; the
beds are separated by open partings ; and in both,
are numerous perpendicular divisions, which give an
open and pervious nature to the whole formation.

Chalk is a white earthy limestone, being a car-
bonate of lime more or less pure.

The constituent parts of it are lime and carbonic
acid in nearly equal portions ; though some varieties
of it have a small portion of silica, alumina, and iron.

THE CHALK FORMATION. 33

The chalk district is elevated, broken into many
irregular parts, and intersected by numerous deep
winding vallies. On the north-west side, it presents
an abrupt elevated range of hills, which bound the
valley of Pewsey in Wilts, the vale of the AVhite
Horse in Berkshire, and the low ground from Wal-
lingford in Berkshire to the vale of Aylesbury, and
which run eastward to Royston in Cambridgeshire.
The lower chalk forms a range of low hills, in front
of the elevated range of upper chalk. These hills
are of considerable elevation, particularly in the
counties of Dorset, Wilts, Hants, Berks, and Bed-
ford, as well as in Yorkshire ; but in Norfolk, Suf-
folk, and Cambridgeshire, the formation is nearly a
level plain.

The features of the chalk hills are large, their
sides are very steep, and frequently very abrupt ;
but being always smooth and rounded, they never
present a rugged aspect ; and the vallies adjoining
are deep, and generally without water in summer.

This formation extends from Bridport in Dorset-
shire, by Dorchester, Salisbury, Hungerford, Hen-
ley, High Wycombe, Beck Hempstead, Stevenage,
Saffi-on-Walden, Newmarket, Thetford, and SwafF-
ham, to Docking in Norfolk, along the north side
of the London Basin, and crossing the Wash, it
enters Lincolnshire at Burgh, and extends through
South Binbrook to Barton ; and after crossing the

D

34 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Humber, it proceeds from Hull, through Beverly
and Ganton, to Foxholes. That which forms the
south side of the London Basin begins at Dover, and
extends through Chilham, Stockbury, Chatham,
Farmingham, Mertsham, Guildford, Farnham, and
Winchester, to Sahsbury. There is another branch
which forms the north side of the Isle of Wight
basin, beginning at Beachy Head, in Sussex, and
extending through Shoreham, Arundel, north of
Fareham, Bishops-Waltham, to Winchester ; there is
also a very small portion along the middle of the
Isle of Wight. The greatest breadth of this forma-
tion is from Bishops-Waltham in Hampshire, through
Winchester and Whitechurch, to Wantage, in Berk-
shire, being upwards of 40 miles ; between St. Al-
bans and Dunstable, its breadth is about 15 miles ;
between Dunmow and Royston, about 20 miles ; and
it may be said to extend over nearly the whole of
Norfolk and Suffolk, from Woodbridge, through
Stowmarket, Eye, Attlebury, Hingham, Dereham,
and Fakenham, to Burnham, a distance of about 70
miles ; and from Yarmouth to Stokeferry at right
angles to this Hne, it is upwards of 50 miles in ex-
tent. The chalk, if not at the surface, is within a
few feet of it.

In Lincolnshire, its greatest breadth, from Castor
to Ludborough, is only about 1 5 miles ; the broadest
part of it in Yorkshire, from Bridlington to North

THE CHALK FORMATION. 35

Malton, is about 25 miles ; in Kent, the greatest
breadth, from Folkestone to Canterbury, is about
15 miles.

The water, which comes from below the lower
chalk, is pure and limpid, and delicious to drink.
It contains carbonate of lime, and is of the best
quahty for water meadows ; hence, the best water
meadows are in the chalk valleys.

The openness of this formation keeps the whole
of the surface very dry ; indeed the whole of the
chalk soil is dry, and there are no springs in it, ex-
cept those that are thrown out by the clay below the
lower chalk.

Many of the valleys, which in the winter have
rivers flowing in them, are left perfectly dry in the
summer, owing to the openness of this formation,
which allows the rain to run through it to the clay
below. These valleys are called bournes.

Agricultural Character.

The soil of this formation is made up of decom-
posed chalk, with or without flint ; that in the upper
chalk has a large portion of flints in the soil, and is
composed of angular fragments of chalk, mixed
with vegetable mould of a sandy nature. It is a
dry, loose, chalky mould, a light hazel mould, dry
and friable, with a small portion of sand in its com-

36 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

position ; or a deep, dry, chalky loam, called white
land.

All of these soils contain flints in more or less
abundance, and naturally produce pasture of an ex-
cellent quality for sheep, although very short ; and
under proper arable cultivation they yield good
crops of barley, turnips, wheat, and sain-foin. If
the farmer can obtain a good crop of straw, he is
sure of getting a good crop of corn of excellent
quality.

The soil on the lower chalk is also called white
land. It is without flints, and has fewer fragments
of chalk in it than the soil on the upper chaJk.
This may be owing to a portion of clay or alumina
in the lower chalk, on which the frost and the air
have a great effect, and reduce it to a powder ; or
dissolve it into minute particles, so as to form, with
vegetable matter, a chalky loam. This soil is a deep,
strong, grey, loam, a chalk marl, or a calcareous
loam of a white colour, from the quantity of chalk
in its composition.

White marl, malm, or marme, are names which
are given to it in different districts.

It is a most productive soil of the finest quality,
and when it is blended with the green sand on which
it rests, the mixture forms a rich, friable, deep, loam,
fit for the production of every kind of crop.

This is a much richer and more productive soil

THE CHALK FORMATION. 37

than that on the upper chalk, being stronger and
more adhesive ; it is better calculated also for the
production of wheat, beans, and clover ; but not so
well fitted for turnips as the other : for although it
produces great crops both of turnips and barley, the
land is injured by the trampling of the sheep in con-
suming them on the ground.

When wet, this soil is tough and adhesive, plough-
ing up into a close tough furrow shce, which when
dry becomes extremely hard and difficult to reduce,
and is therefore expensive to cultivate ; but if
ploughed in proper seasons, when neither too wet,
nor too dry, it is easily managed and reduced into a
loose and friable tilth.

A considerable portion of Norfolk and Suffolk,
and a portion of Lincolnshire, seem to be formed of
rubbly or rolled chalk, as if it had undergone the
wearing process of moving water. The soil on this
partakes more of the nature of the lower chalk or
chalk marl, being strong and adhesive, and without
flints in it. A large portion of the upper chalk in
the counties of Dorset, Wilts, and Berks, is in downs
and sheep pasture, and most of the remainder is
under the plough. Little of this district in these
counties is inclosed, though almost the whole course
of the lower chalk is under arable culture. The val-
leys, in which there is any water, are universally
formed into rich water meadows.

38 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

There is a great portion of the upper chalk, which
is covered either with a thin coating of sand, (the
sand of the plastic clay, we think), or vegetable
mould, in a state of nature, having been occupied as
a sheep-walk for ages ; and it has been kept in the
same state, instead of being increased in value by the
improved state of agriculture.

The climate of the chalk soil varies with its posi-
tion. In the north and east, it is cold and much
exposed to the east wind ; in the middle and south-
west, it is dry ; and although much exposed from
the absence of hedges and woods, it is earlier than
could be expected from its high elevation above the
ground on either side of it. The air is mild and
healthy, although keen, on the hills, but warm in
the valleys ; and the white nature of the soil and
roads considerably injures the eyes.

The sui-face, from being much undulated, from the
low level of the east coast in Norfolk and Suffolk
to the high hills of Hants, Wilts, and Dorsetshire,
makes a considerable variation in the climate. In
Norfolk and Suffolk, the harvest is much earher than
in Hants, Wilts, and Dorsetshire. The sides of the
hills are skirted with woods and coppice, but these
are of very limited extent.

The open and porous nature of the subsoil leaves
the surface perfectly dry ; indeed, so much so, that
yearly expense is incurred by the farmers in making

THE CHALK FORMATION. 39

and repairing ponds for catching rain water for their
stock ; and wells have occasionally been dug through
the chalk to a great depth for water. A great im-
provement would be made in the chalk district by
inclosing the whole.

It is curious that the land on every other forma-
tion should be almost wholly enclosed, and that this
should be almost entirely an open extensive plain ;
this is the case, whether you take Dorset, Wilts,
Hants, and Berkshire, on the west ; or Cambridge-
shire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Lincolnshire, on the east.
Is this to be considered as the cause, or the effect of
the sheep-fold, as a manure to fallows ?

The soil on the downs is a very thin covering of a
sandy vegetable mould, which is soft, weak, and fidl
of fibres.

This extensive portion of land might be much im-
proved, by the means which has produced so great
a change on the Lincoln wolds ; and in Norfolk and
Suffolk, by an admixture of the surface with the
subsoil. This would not only give depth to the soil,
but the calcareous matter of the chalk would make
the inert vegetable matter more active ; and, with a
well regulated cultivation, a succession of good crops
of turnips and barley would be the result, and a
much greater quantity of food would be produced
for sheep, than is at present got from the short grass
which it affords.

40 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This would also have the effect of returning the
manure produced from the crop, to the land which
produced it : and the present robbing system of
folding on fallow, at the expense of the down, would
soon disappear.

The improvement effected on the sandy and chalk
soil in Lincolnshire, by the application of bones, has
been great.

11. Green Sand Formation.

The green sand is found under the chalk, and
takes the same direction, following it up the valleys,
between the hills of the lower chalk formation. It
is composed of various beds ; the upper beds, next
to the chalk, are those that have the truest character,
being green or greyish in colour, and having in their
composition most of the green earth or chlorite,
which is peculiar to this formation. The lower beds
are frequently of much greater thickness ; and are
of every variety of colour, from yellow to a deep
red. This formation is composed of silicious sand,
intermixed in some places with scales of mica, and
a large portion of a green earth or chlorite. These
form a soft species of sand-rock, but are so slightly
united together that they are easily displaced with
the finger or nail.

In the upper or true beds of the green sand, beds
of schist, passing into coarse chalcedony, are some-

GREEN SAND FORMATION. 41

times found ; and also beds of bluish limestone, as
in Kent : tbe colour of these varies from white, light
grey, green, yellow, orange, and brown, to dark red,
and even black.

The surface of this formation has, in general, a
low and level aspect ; but in some places, as in Kent
and Surrey, Dorset and Lincolnshire, it forms a con-
tinuous range of hills in front of the chalk.

The extent of this formation, though not of great
breadth, may yet be said to follow the outer Une of
the lower chalk through all its windings ; but, in
some places, it is so veiy narrow as scarcely to be
seen, or is covered by the malm or lower chalk.
This being of a loose porous nature, the water easily
passes through it ; and it may, therefore, be said to
be dry, and without water ; but, in some places,
where it joins the clay below, there are large springs
forced up through it ; and, when the surface of the
clay on which it rests is nearly level, as in Wilt-
shire, between Devizes and Pewsey, the surface may
be said to be wet.

Agricultural Character.

The soil of the green sand formation and that of
the chalk, marl, or malm, are frequently so blended
together as to render it diflacult to perceive the Hne
that separates them.

42 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This soil is composed of chalky matter, clay, and
silicious sand, with the green earth.

The sand increases as we recede from the chalk, and
the calcareous matter increases as we approach it.
This soil is of a greenish mottled colour, of a friable
crumbling nature, and rich and productive of every
kind of crop, especially turnips, potatoes, wheat,
and barley. Where the sand abounds, and is mixed
with sufficient portions of calcareous matter, a deep
loam is formed of a greenish colour, which, under
good turnip husbandry, is most productive.

In Kent, every variety of the soil on this formation
may be seen from Maidstone to Tunbridge ; at
Sandey and Biggleswade, in Bedfordshire, this soil,
which is mostly sand, is under the highest degree of
cultivation, and forms the best garden land, and is
the most productive in the kingdom ; but the pro-
ductiveness of the soil in this place is more owing
to the mode of culture employed than to the soil,
for it is of a very weak, sandy nature. The black
sand and white silvery sand are the worst soils, and
naturally produce nothing but heath.

From Biggleswade, through the vale of Aylesbury,
under the chalk hills, to Dorchester and Wantage,
in Berkshire, there is a tract of sandy loam, which
is soil of this formation.

It is of considerable width, and extends in Wilt-
shire from Pewsey, by Devizes, and Warminster, to

GAULT. 43

Mere ; and in Dorset and Devonshire, it is of con-
siderable width in many places, and forms a rich
tender loam of a brown colour, called /ox-la?id, and
is very fertile. In Dorset and Devonshire, there is
a great portion of this soil in pasture, as well as in
some parts of Wilts, and in the vale of Aylesbury ;
but, for the most part, it may be said to be under
arable culture.

The means of permanently improving this land,
after it is drained and inclosed, (if for pasture), are
so immediately within the reach of the farmer, that
he can at little comparative expense improve its tex-
ture, and permanently increase its productiveness
by chalk or chalk marl on the one hand, and the
oak-tree or clunch clay on the other ; but even
without the application of these substances, deep or
double ploughing or trenching have the effect of
deepening the soil, and increasing its capability.
When mixed with the chalk marl above it, it has
the power of receiving and transmitting moisture
more freely, and is neither so easily injured by
wet weather, nor by excessive droughts, as other
soils are.

12, Gault.

This clay has the same position on the north
and west of the great range of chalk hills, as the
weald clay has under the chalk hills, which form

44 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the south side of the London, and the north side
of the Isle of "Wight, basin, but has a very different
appearance and texture. It is mostly of a bluish
or grey aspect, although in some places it changes
into a brown and even yellow colour ; it appears
likewise to be of a coarse nature, and has not the
tliin slaty appearance which the weald clay has, but
is a solid compact mass of impervious clay. In
many places it contains calcareous matter, but ge-
nerally the subsoil does not effervesce with acid ;
and when brought to the surface, the clay gradually
grows of a darker colour from the influence of the
atmosphere.

The external character of this formation, like the
weald clay, forms a wide valley along the foot of
the chalk hiUs ; and in Cambridge and Hunting-
donshires, where it joins the Oxford or Fen clay, it
takes the form of low hills and wide valleys.

As the geological position of this formation is in
the centre of the green sand, that is, under the true
green sand and above the lower members of it, which
take such a variety of colours, it may be supposed
to have as great an extent as that of the chalk ; but
this, like the green sand, is not found to be conti-
nuous ; or, at least, it thins out so as to become
imperceptible on the surface.

There are two great deposits of it ; the one in
Berkshire, in the vale of the White Horse, the other

GAULT. 45

in Cambridge and Huntingdon shires ; and these
two are joined together by a continued line of less
breadth.

In some places, where the green sand abounds,
this formation is either wanting or covered with
it; and where the green sand is wanting, it evi-
dently bears the marks of the green sand in its
structure, as it has a greenish colour, with a por-
tion of the green earth in its composition. Its
course is from South Marston, in Wilts, by Shil-
lingford, north of Wantage, to Abingdon in Berk-
shire; it then proceeds by Thame, in Oxfordshire,
and passing through the vale of Aylesbury, it con-
tinues through Bedfordshire to Caxton in Cam-
bridgeshire, and St. Ives, in Huntingdonshire. Its
greatest breadth is from Wallingford to Abingdon
in Berkshire, on the west, and from south of Cax-
ton to Huntingdon on the east. There is also a
narrow strip in Norfolk, from Downham, east of
Lynn, to Hunstanton; and another in Lincolnshire,
from Bolingbroke, by Horncastle, Wragley, Market-
Barsin, Caiston, and Brigg, to Barton; but this, in
some places, is not a mile, while at others, it swells
out into several miles in breadth.

This formation, like the weald clay, is so imper-
vious that no water is retained within it, and of
course there are no springs; but it is kept in a wet
state by the surface water, which runs over it from

46 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the green sand on the one side, and the coral rag,
and Portland or Aylesbury stone, on the other.

Agricultural Character.

The soil on this formation varies much in its
qiiahty. In tlie vale of the White Horse, in Berk-
shire, this clay is overlaid with a thin covering of
the malm and green sand, which, being mixed with
the soil, form a rich friable clay, with a considerable
portion of calcareous matter in it.

There is also a mixture of very small, rolled, and
angular flints in the soil; which are whitish exter-
nally, and give to it a greenish grey colour, through
Oxford, Berks, and Bedford.

In these counties, it is nearly of the same nature;
although in some places, its colour changes from
bluish to brown, and even to yellow. It is a mild
clay, of a friable nature, and forms an excellent
and very productive soil, with marl or calcareous
matter abounding in it. In Cambridge and Hun-
tingdon shires, however, this soil forms a thin cold
clay, and when slightly wet it becomes as sticky
as glue, while heavy rains wash away the furrows,
and frost opens up the soil and makes it porous as
a honeycomb.

The line which separates the lower chalk or green
sand from the gault is not weU defined; these pass
into each other, and gradually assume the nature

GAULT. 47

of argillaceous loam, with fragments of the green
earth, even where the green sand formation is want-
ing. It has a greenish grey colour, and forms a
friahle clayey soil.

The coral rag, or Aylesbury stone, is wanting in
Bedford, Huntingdon, and Cambridge shires, so that
the soils being so much alike, the Hne of separation
cannot be distinguished. From Caxton, in Cam-
bridgeshire, through Huntingdon, to Stilton, the
soil seems to be of the same nature; although from
Huntingdon to Peterborough, it is called the Oxford
or Fen-clay. There is a district around Arrington,
in Cambridgeshire, and all the way to near Hun-
tingdon, where this soil is of a grey or yellow colour,
on a yellow subsoil. It is of the poorest quality,
most difficult and expensive to cultivate as arable
land, and naturally produces poor coarse pasture of
little value.

The whole surface is covered with ant-hills, and
this is the most worthless district, as the vale of
the White Horse in Berkshire, is the most productive
of the soil, on this formation.

There is a great extent of this soil, from near
Shilhngford in a hne north of Wantage to Abing-
don, in common field and in arable cultivation,
which produces rich crops of wheat and beans; but
the land lies so low, is so much divided, and so
imperfectly drained, that it is difficult to keep the

48 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

ditches clean; indeed, in many places, it is com-
pletely drowned with the surface water, which comes
from the green sand or malm that rests on it, as
well as by the flood from the rivers or brooks.

Over the whole extent of this formation, there is
a great portion of the land in common field under
arable culture, and the course of cropping is summer
fallow and two crojDs, consisting of wheat and beans
or oats; but where the land is enclosed, it is in
pasture, and produces very rich herbage, particularly
in the vale of the White Horse.

The first step towards the improvement of the
soil on this formation would be to enclose the com-
mon field, or divide the several allotments; so that
each proprietor might have all his land together,
and be enabled to use the best means of keeping off
the surface water from his land, without being in-
terrupted by that of his neighbour. The straighten-
ing of the river, particularly in the vale of the
White Horse, would prevent the surface from being
injured in the time of floods; and enclosing the cold
land in Cambridgeshire, and laying it down to pas-
ture, would much improve it. Furrow-draining, in
order to draw off the water that falls on the surface,
might encourage the growth of the better sort of
grasses, and thus improve the herbage.

49

13. Oak Tree, or Weald Clay.

The clay of whicli the wealds of Kent, Surrey, and
Sussex, are in part composed, has got these names.

It is a close compact substance, formed of various
layers of a whitish, yellowish, fawn, or buff-coloured
clay. These beds are sometimes of a thin slaty
nature, and some of them have the appearance of
tile or shale in their composition.

They are composed of very minute particles of clay
and sand, in an impalpable state of division, but in
close mechanical contact ; so minute indeed are the
parts, that no particle can be perceived by the touch,
and there are neither stones, gravel, nor calcareous
matter, in any of the beds of this formation.

The surface of this clay is very uniform, and there
being few spots which are raised above the weald, it
forms a low level valley between the green and the
iron sand.

It extends in the form of a horse-shoe, from Bon-
nington, in Kent, by Tunbridge, Crawley, Haslemere,
Pitworth, Clayton, and Huilsham, to Peversly-beach,
in Sussex, with a breadth of perhaps four miles.
This formation is of so close and impervious a nature,
that no water can penetrate it, either up from below
or downwards; yet, from its impervious nature, it
throws out the water which passes through the green
sand on the one side, and on the other, the water of

E

50 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the iron-sand is forced up by it, and overflows it at
its junction ; and thus it is kept wet on both sides,
although there are no springs within it.

Agricultural Character.

The soil is in every respect hke the subsoil, al-
though of a darker fawn or hazel colour, and has a
pale, whitish yeUow, sickly appearance in some places.
When ploughed, it cuts hke a piece of soap, and the
furrow turns over unbroken.

It does not adhere much to the feet, but is unc-
tuous and slippery, and close and adhesive to the
particles of which it is composed.

They are of a very fine impalpable nature, more of
a fine sand than clay, mixed with Httle or no vege-
table matter ; and so close and retentive is the soil,
that when once it is soaked with wet, it requires a
very long time before it becomes dry, as the atmos-
phere has httle or no effect on it, from the whiteness
of its colour and the closeness of its texture.

The peculiarity of this soil is the minuteness of the
division of its parts ; the siliceous matter being so
very fine, and the clayey particles being equally
minute, they form a close finn paste, which dries
into a substance almost as hard as brick, and which
the roots of vegetables are unable to penetrate. From
the great expense in cultivating this soil, a conside-
rable portion of it is in woods ; some is in poor wet

IRON-SAND, OR HASTINGS* SAND. 51

pasture for young horses and oxen, and the remain-
der is under the plough.

There is a diluvial deposit on some parts of this
soil, composed of a flinty iron-sand and gravel, but
of very hmited extent. A perfect surface drainage
could be easily efiected by forming this soil into nar-
row ridges and small inclosures, with deep ditches to
carry off the sui-face water ; but nothing would tend
to improve it more than subsoil ploughing, after it
has been perfectly furrow-drained, so as to take off
all the water that soaks through the moved subsoil ;
this process, with chalk or lime added, would tend to
ameliorate this close soil, open its texture, and make
it plough up and become friable.

14. Iron-sand, or Hastings' Sand.

The formation to which geologists have given this
name is composed of very fine grains of silicious
matter, and very soft, white, yellow, or red sand with
clay. The sand is sometimes indurated, and becomes
a sand-stone. When this is the case, it appears in
layers in successive repetitions ; and in the Isle of
Wight, it has the appearance of a loose grit-stone, of
a dark brown or reddish colour.

The surface is undulated, and the hiUs in Sussex
rise to the height of several hundred feet.

The greatest extent of this formation is in Sussex,
extending from Hastings to the river Arun, being

52 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

about 50 miles in length, and about 10 or 12 miles
in breadth. There is also a small portion in the Isle
of Wight, and the sand in Bedfordshire has been
called iron- sand, which, however, we believe to be
the members of the green sand, and in every respect
like those in Surrey and Kent. Many of the mem-
bers of this formation being porous, the rain readily,
sinks to the bottom, or till it meets one of those
beds of clay (which are so numerous in that part of
Sussex), and is then thrown out by it ; so that there
is a large proportion of springs in this formation,
which keeps the surface wet.

Agricultural Character.

The soil on the iron-sand in Sussex is of a very
soft substance, being composed of fine silicious sand,
mixed with clay, and a large portion of ochre of fer-
ruginous matter, and thus forming a yellowish fawn-
coloured or brown sandy-loam, which is very weak,
and naturally produces heath, furze, broom, and other
brush-wood. It yields good early crops, however,
and when under proper cultivation, it is productive
in turnips, barley, and clover. In the Isle of Wight,
it is of a dark brown colour, more of a gritty nature,
from having a greater quantity of iron in it, and
forms a sandy loam of a harsh gritty quality.

There is a large portion of this soil under pasture
in Sussex, which is greatly improved by the depas-

CORAL RAG, CALCAREOUS GRIT, &C. 53

turing of sheep ; and that which is under arable cul-
ture produces good crops of turnips, barley, oats,
clover, and wheat.

Complete drainage, and deep ploughing, would
greatly improve the soil on this formation ; and as
an alterative to improve its texture and increase its
productiveness, chalk, hme, or clay, would have an
excellent effect. Turnips, vetches, and clover, fed off
■with sheep, and the land laid down permanently to
pasture, and grazed by sheep for the first three years,
would at least greatly increase the productiveness of
this soil.

15. Coral Rag, Calcareous Grit, Aylesbury
AND Portland Stone.

The coral rag formation is composed of several
members, all of which are calcareous, and most of
them siUcious and gritty, at their partings. The
true coral rag consists of a rough, irregular, calca-
reous mass, the irregularities of which are filled up
with calcareous clay ; but some of the other mem-
bers are of a thin, shelly, calcareous, gritty, flag-
stone, from one to four inches in thickness ; and
these generally have a ferruginous, siUcious, gritty
appearance externally, and strike fire with steel.
The partings are of silicious yellow iron-sand, while
the upper members of the Aylesbury or Portland

54 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

stone have partings of calcareous sand. The coral
rag has a gentle inclination to the south-east. All
the members of this formation effervesce with acids,
and have more or less of silicious matter in their
composition.

The surface of this formation, although it appears
level to an observer from the chalk hills, yet forms a
range of low hills, in front of those of the chalk,
when viewed from the Oxford clay. This formation
begins on the west of Devizes, in Wilts, and passes
by Calne and Highworth to Farringdon and Abing-
don in Berks, and continuing to the south of Oxford,
it stretches beyond Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire,
with an average breadth of about four miles. The
flat thin beds of this rock, which are in a continued
and unbroken line for a great extent, and the thin
partings of clay, throw out water ; and from the
level nature of the surface, its broad shallow valleys
or troughs, where the springs burst out, have uni-
versally a considerable portion of peat or bog-earth
in them. This may be owing to the ferruginous
nature of the water, which passes through the iron-
sand.

Below the peat, there is a white substance which
is locally denominated soft white earth ; this is car-
bonate of hme under the appearance of a Hght, soft,
white marl; and from the minute divisions of its
parts, it forms a soft wet clay whenever it comes to

CORAL RAG, CALCAREOUS GRIT, &C. 55

the surface. It is a most worthless soil, and pro-
duces nothing but very coarse carnation grass.

These bogs can easily be drained by cutting off
the springs below. This marl, which when dry is so
light that the wind carries it away, is of little or no
value as a manure on this soil, which is already of
too light a nature, and contains too much calcareous
matter in its composition.

Agricultural Character.

The sandy partings of this rock give to the soil its
peculiar character, and these, with the natural decay
or broken portion of the rock, form the whole depth
of the soil, which is therefore light, thin, and sandy;
and the sand being both calcareous and silicious, the
soil partakes of the same nature. In some places,
there is a large portion of iron-sand or ferruginous
matter in the soil, which from its thin and sandy
nature is easily and early affected by continued
droughts; but under good culture, it produces great
crops of turnips, barley, clover, and wheat: and
when the seasons are moderately damp, the crops
are very large.

Almost the whole of the soil on this formation is
in arable culture. This is probably owing not only
to the little expense in cultivating it, but also to the
poor, benty herbage, of little or no value, which it
produces either in its natural state, or when it is

56 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

laid down to pasture; it is, therefore, of much more
value under arable culture than in pasture.

The best and most profitable mode that can be
adopted with this thin soil, is to have large flocks of
sheep to consume the produce on the land, and
never to have more than half of it in corn. The
four-field, or Norfolk system of husbandry, is best
suited to it.

The wet and boggy troughs have, in many places,
been drained by merely cutting through them into
the rock below, where the water rises; and by this
simple mode, they become dry, and consequently
are much more valuable than they were before.

16. The Oxford, Clunch, or Fen Clay.

This formation is composed of a strong bluish
clay, with septaria and beds of bituminous shale,
some of them of considerable thickness; from which
circumstance, inexperienced persons have been de-
ceived into the idea that coal may be found there,
and have been at considerable expense in searching
for it. This clay is of a dark blue colour, but turns
brown by exposure to the atmosphere, and becomes
strong and adhesive. It forms the foundation of
the hills which are capped by the coral rag; and, in
some places, it rises into low round-headed knolls,
at the foot of those of the coral rag. The extent

THE OXFORD, CLUNCH, OR FEN CLAY. 57

of this formation is considerable. From near Crew-
kerne, in Somersetshire, it passes east of Sher-
bourne, near Shaftsbury, to Mere; where it thins
into a narrow strip in its course through Christian-
Malford, Cricklade, Lechlade, Bampton, Oxford,
Bicester, Fenny-Stratford, Newport-Pagnel, near
Bedford, Kimbolton, to Sutton and Peterborough.
It then disappears under the fen-land, but is found
every where under the peat, at the distance of a few
feet. At Bourn, it again comes to the surface, and
continues its course to Folkingham, Heckington,
Blankney, Lincoln, Market-Barsin, Carston, Brigg,
and Barton, in Lincolnshire. Its greatest width is
from Huntingdon to Thrapston, and from Lincoln
to beyond Wragley. At these two places, it is not
less than 15 miles wide; though the average width
of the whole line may be from six to eight miles.

This formation is so close and impervious that no
springs are found in it; yet the surface is wet,
either from the rain or from the water that comes
out of the coral rag above it, or from that which
arises from the stone brash upon which it rests.

Agricultural Character.

The richest and most productive pastures are on
the soil of this formation. It is a brownish clayey
loam; the herbage is most luxuriant in Wilts,
Gloucester, and Oxford shires, but in some places of

58 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Bedford, Huntingdon, and Northampton shires, and
over portions of this formation, there is every shade
of quality, from the rich pasture land of Christian-
Malford and Dancy in Wilts, to a cold, stiff, wet,
yellow clay — a thin, cold, hungry, clay soil, or soft
vegetable mould — a tender, cold, loose clay, lying
upon a wet yellow clay.

In Bedford and Northampton shires, it is a close,
heavy, compact clay, and difficult to plough, except
between wet and dry. The frost has a great effect
on it, by reducing it to a fine powder ; in wet wea-
ther, it is dirty ; but extremely loose and dusty in
spring, when dry. It is very deceptive in its ap-
pearance, and though it looks like a good loam, it
is very thin and poor. The frost loosens the roots
of the clover and wheat in spring, and the dry winds
blow the plants out. The corn comes up luxurious,
but looks yellow in May, if the season be wet. This
land, under good culture, produces good crops of
wheat, beans, oats, and clover.

This soil is not only difficult to work, but is per-
haps the most expensive of all the clays to cultivate;
particularly that portion of it which is found in Bed-
ford, Huntingdon, and Northampton shires. It is
sometimes covered with peat or black mould, as in
the fens of Lincolnshire, where it forms a rich fund
for improving the peat, which, by an admixture with
this clay, becomes the most productive soil in the

OOLITE FORMATION. 59

kingdom. In the vale of North Wilts, the greater
portion of this formation is in pasture; and pro-
duces the richest herbage for the extensive dairies
in this district, where the rich North Wiltshire
cheese is made. In Gloucester, Oxford, Buckingham,
and the vale of Bedfordshire, this sod is chiefly in
pasture; but in part of Bedford, Huntingdon,
Northampton, and Lincoln shires, there is a con-
siderable portion of it under the plough.

It produces, beans, wheat, oats, and clover. The
poor pasture land on this clay is, in some places, so
completely covered with ant-hills, that a person may
walk across the whole field by stepping from one
ant-hdl to another.

On the surface, there are frequently beds of gravel
formed of very small rounded gravel, sometimes
agglutinated together with a calcareous cement; and
where this is the case, the soil is more friable. The
best means of improving this soil is to drain it
perfectly, and then to deepen its surface by subsoil
ploughing, to carry off the water from the surface to
the furrow-drains, and to adopt the alternate system
of cropping.

17. Oolite Formation.

This formation is composed of various members;
the shelly oohte, (which is sometimes called forest

60 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

marble,) cornbrash, stonebrash, a bluish rubbly
limestone, weatherstone or shelly limestone, and
the great ooHte or Bath-stone. The nature of the
materials of which these are formed, as well as the
soil on the surface, is so nearly alike that we intend
to take a view of the whole series under this head,
from the Oxford clay, down to the lower oohte.
That portion of the series next to the Oxford clay is
formed of various beds of a thin, oohtic, shelly
stone ; frequently so thin, indeed, as to be used for
covering houses and for paving stones. These beds
are from one to three or four inches thick, very hard,
and generally almost entirely composed of shells;
they are of a brown colour externally, but when
broken they appear internally of a dark colour.

Between these beds, there are partings of calca-
reous clay, sometimes of a much greater thickness
than the beds themselves ; but in other places, the
partings are thin, and sometimes of a calcareous
sand instead of calcareous clay. The members of
the shelly oolite, next to the Bath-stone, are formed
of beds of much greater thickness, being frequently
two or three feet ; and are excellent building stones,
as they stand the weather : hence the name of
weatherstone. Between this and the great oohte,
there is a thick bed of clay in some places, as at
Bath, in which the fuller's earth is found. The
great oohte is formed of beds of considerable thick-

OOLITE FORMATION. 61

ness, with open partings between the beds, and also
perpendicular partings, which generally pass through
all the beds to the bottom of the formation. These
openings are from an inch to a foot wide, and
form a ready passage for the rain that falls on the
surface; so that there are no springs in the great
oolite, till it meets with a bed of clay.

This rock is composed of an oviform substance,
like the roe of a fish, being a carbonate of Kme.
The shelly oohte has some clay and iron in its com-
position. Many of the members, particularly the
great oohte, is much affected by the air, the rain,
and frost, which tear it to pieces and reduce it to
minute fragments.

The external aspect of the oolite district is a flat
table land with a broken edge, presenting a high
elevated terrace at its baset edge on the west. In
some places, the shelly oohte is formed into small
risings, and very shallow valleys, in which begin the
rivulets that carry off the water to the clay valley.

From the baset edge of the great oolite, there is a
gradual descent over the shelly oohte, to the valley
formed by the Oxford clay.

This formation has a very extensive range from
Crewkerne in Dorsetshire, to Bruton, Frome, and
Bath, in Somersetshire ; through Tetbury, and
Cirencester, in Gloucestershire ; Burford, and Wood-
stock, in Oxford ; Buckingham, and Towcester,

62 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Olney, Thrapston, Arundle, and Stamford, in North-
amptonshire; Corby, Sieaford, and Lincoln, where
it thins out to a very narrow strip to the Humber, in
Lincolnshire. It again appears at Pockhngton in
Yorkshire, and widens out from New Malton to
Kerby, near to Stokesby, and from near Scarborough
to Maugerpark, near Gisborough.

The wddth of this formation is about 10 miles
from Sturminster to Yeovil in Dorsetshire ; and over
the whole course to Grantham, its breadth may
average 14 miles, though in many places it is 20
miles broad ; and in Yorkshire, from Kirby Moor-
side to Kerby near Stokesby, it is where widest 15
miles.

From the nature of the perpendicular and lateral
open partings in the great ooHte, there are no
springs in it, except where the water is thrown out
by the clay of the fuller's earth on the clay below ;
but from the numerous thin clay partings between
the beds of the upper or shelly oolite, the surface is in
many places wet, and, in some places, large springs
appear, which form the beginnings of rivers, most of
which flow to the east. The Thames takes its rise
in this formation, near to Cirencester; and the
Avon, near to Tetbury; which, after crossing the
whole of the formation of the Oxford clay at Chris-
tian-Malford, returns across it in a deep opening of
the formation at Bath.

OOLITE FORMATION. 63

Ayricultural Character.

The nature of the soil on the ooHte formation
varies with the nature of the rock. Where the corn-
brash or forest marble exists, the soil partakes largely
of clay, owing to the clay partings between the beds
of rock. These clay partings give to the soil its
nature and character ; it is therefore a wet, tenacious,
calcareous, argillaceous soil, with thin slaty frag-
ments of the rock on which it rests intermixed with
it. This soil is of a good quality when dry, not too
strong for turnips, and in many places strong enough
for beans ; but there are instances where this clay
abounds with loose petrified shells, and when this is
the case, the soil is thin and of the most worthless
kind, and forms a close, calcareous, adhesive clay,
which, without any other mixture, produces nothing.
On the great oohte or Bath stone, the soil is thin,
loose, and diy ; and formed of small fragments of
the rock on which it rests. Part of it, being so de-
composed as to form the earthy part of the soil; it is
therefore stony and friable, and consists of calcareous
matter, intermixed with a very httle vegetable matter
in a state of decomposition.

The soil is best when it is mixed largely with frag-
ments of the formation ; and when these do not occur
in the soil, it is generally what the farmers call dead
or sleepy sand, and forms a close, brownish soil,

64 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

composed of very minute particles of a brown earth ;
which, when reduced to a fine powder, resists heavy
rains, and forms a close impervious crust, aggluti-
nated together by the rain, so that the water lies in
the hollows or runs off without penetrating into the
soil. The air is thus excluded, and vegetation ceases.
The soil is of little or no value, although to look at,
it has every appearance of a good quahty, and of
considerable depth, yet it is unproductive and worth-
less.

The soil over the whole series is chiefly arable, and
produces wheat, barley, oats, turnips, and clover, and
when stony, it is most productive of sainfoin. It is
almost w^holly enclosed with stone walls, and the
fields are large.

The quantity of turnips, vetches, clover, and sain-
foin, which is now produced on this soil, gives food
to large flocks of sheep, which, by the enriching
nature of their manure, have increased the produc-
tiveness of this district greatly beyond what it used
to be, when few sheep were kept.

Where the clay of the fuller's earth is, and in
other places in the upper members of this formation,
the land is mostly in pasture. The soil on the sheUy
limestone or forest marble, when the beds are sepa-
rated by partings of clay, is wet and adhesive, and
difficult to drain ; but, by cutting through many of
these beds, we may cut off the source from which the

OOLITE FORMATION. 65

water arises. The water from this formation contains
a large portion of carbonate of lime, and is excellent
for water-meadows.

Inferior oolite, and calcareous ferruginous sand.

This is the lowest of the oolite formation, and rests
on the blue lias. It presents a variety of external
appearances, and varies much in the nature of the
ingredients of which it is composed.

In the counties of Gloucester and Somerset, and
in part of Dorsetshire, it is a brownish snuff-coloured
sand, with mica, and forms the base of the hills top-
ped by the great oolite ; in other places, it forms a
concrete of calcareous matter and petrified shells,
with brownish earthy sand and mica. This sub-
stance is very soft when first quarried, but it hardens
by exposure to the atmosphere. It it occasionally
met with as a brownish or yellow rubbly oolite, com-
posed of loose fragments of calcareous stone, with
incrusted matter, surrounded by loose or gritty
loam ; it is also found as a reddish, loose, soft,
calcareous sand, and sandstone highly ferruginous,
with veins of iron, is iiTegularly disposed through
it ; and beds of soft ferruginous, micacious loam,
alternate with indurated beds of sandstone, which is
used for building.

The lower beds in Oxfordshire are of a greenish-
coloured sand. Calcareous, micacious, siHcious,

F

66 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

and ferruginous substances in various proportions,
compose this formation. Where this formation is
broadest, as in the counties of Oxford, Northamp-
ton, Rutland, and the north of Gloucestershire, it
forms a chain of rounded, conical-shaped hiUs, over-
looking t?ie valley of the has, and the table-land of
the great oohte ; and these hills are surrounded by
deep valleys, which open into the blue lias below.
The hills about Daventry are of considerable eleva-
tion, and form pleasing and picturesque scenery.

The whole of the surface of this formation is very
uneven.

Some trace of it is to be found under the great oolite
throughout the whole of its length. From Bridport
to Yeovil in Dorsetshire, it has a considerable
breadth ; but from this place to Cheltenham, it is
sometimes so narrow as not to exceed 100 yards in
breadth, while at other places it widens out to per-
haps a mile or two. The principal body is from
Cheltenham to Stamford, where it again thins out
to a narrow strip, wliich continues through Lincoln-
shire to the Humber. Its width in Dorsetshire is
about 7 miles ; in Gloucestershire, from Stow to
Winchcombe, it is about 1 2 miles ; and this is
about the average of its width through Oxford, Nor-
thampton, and Rutland shires, to Arbury. Near
Daventry is the highest ground in this part of the
kingdom. The water from HelUdon goes to Lea-

OOLITE FORMATION. 67

mington, and is conveyed by the Avon to the Bristol
Channel ; from Sudbury Hill, by the Nen to Peter-
borough, and the German Ocean ; and from the hill
north-west to Chawellton, by the Charvrell to the
Thames. All these springs arise within one mile of
each other in this formation. This, however, hke
the great ooHte, is a dry and porous substance, so
that the water sinks through it, and is thrown out
by the beds of clay, or by the blue lias below.

Agricultural Character,

The soil on this formation varies much in its
nature- It is calcareous, ferruginous, and mica-
cious, and forms a soft sandy soil of a deep brownish
colour, of a good depth; friable, yet having tenacity
sufficient to adapt it to the production of every kind
of crop.

The soil is composed of loose fragments of the
stone brought up by the plough. The soil dn the
rubbly calcareous subsoil is stronger, and of a better
quality than that which is on the soft micacious
sand or gritstone ; it is dry and healthy, and strong
enough for beans and wheat. The red land contains
most sand, and is best for turnips and barley.

The general good quahty of the soil may be
owing to its depth, as well as to the loose, open,
porous nature both of the soil and subsoil, which

68 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

readily admits the roots of plants in search of
moisture and nourishment, and drains off all super-
fluous water. The red soil, when combined with
calcareous earth, is sufficiently retentive of moisture,
and is fertile. The grey or black soil is more tena-
cious, less sandy, more calcareous, and produces
better and more nutritious pasture than the red
land. Most of this district is enclosed, and a great
part of it, from Cheltenham to Stamford, is under
arable culture ; but there is a considerable portion
of it in pasture on the side of the oolitic hills, and
particularly when it is of a clayey nature.

18. Blue Lias.

This formation is composed of a blue clay of
great thickness, having thin beds of argillaceous
limestone, which bear this name. These beds alter-
nate Vith beds of clay and marl, and are often so
thin as not to be more than an inch in thickness ;
and the beds of lias limestone are seldom more than
four or five inches thick.

At a distance, these alternate beds give a ribband-
like appearance to the strata, where they are ex-
posed. The clay is of a strong stubborn nature,
and sometimes calcareous ; its colour is generally
blue, but in some places, it is yellow or brown ; it

BLUE LIAS. 69

is very tenacious, and principally composed of clay
and some calcareous matter.

This lias forms the valley at the bottom of the
lower oolite ; and, although it is sometimes found
a considerable way up the side of the hills, topped
by the lower oolite, yet it may be said to take the
form of a low valley, the surface of which is undu-
lated, but not hilly.

The extent of this formation is equal to that of
the ooHte, and is found at the bottom of the oolitic
hills, in the whole of their course from Lynn Regis
in Dorsetshire, to Whitby in Yorkshire.

Between Chard and Taunton, Somerton and Ship-
ton Wallet in Somersetshire, there is a considerable
extent of this blue lias ; from thence it passes be-
tween Bath and Bristol to Wotton-under-Edge, in
connected patches of greater or less breadth ; from
this place, it proceeds to Gloucester, Tewkesbury,
Evesham, Shipston, Kineton, Southam, and Rugby
in Warwickshire ; to Lutterworth, Melton Mow-
bray, and Barrowby, in Leicestershire ; to the east
of Newark and Gainsborough, to Burton in Lincoln-
shire. On the other side of the Humber, it appears
at Market Wighton, and continues its course to
Porkington, Thirsk, Black Inn, Stokesley, Gis-
borough, and, after reaching the coast, comes round
by Whitby to Robin Hood's bay.

The breadth of this formation over the whole of

70 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

its extent is various, as it follows up all the valleys
in the lower oolite ; its greatest breadth is the dis-
trict extending from Shipston in Wai'wickshire to
Melton Mowbray in Leicester, the average of which,
maybe 14 or 16 miles.

This clay is an impervious body of several hun-
dred feet in thickness ; and, where the lias lime-
stone is formed, the beds are thin and parallel, and
closely joined together with thin close beds of clay
between them. Although this may be said to be a
damp wet soil, yet there are no springs found in it;
the water is, therefore, only surface water, which,
from the level nature of the surface, does not run
quickly off, as the water from the lower oolite runs
over it, and keeps it wet for a considerable distance^

Agricultural Character.

The nature of the soil in the blue lias is mostly of
a calcareous clay, intermixed with some minute par-
ticles of sand. It is very various ; in some places,,
it is a poor cold tenacious clay soil ; cold, sour, and
unproductive strong wet clay ; harsh, unproductive
land, and difficult to convert into good permanent
grass ; but in other parts, where it has been long
under good management, either as arable or pasture
land, it bears the character of a strong clayey marl^
of a retentive nature, but at the same time suffi-

BLUE LIAS. 71

ciently productive. On limestone, it becomes a rich
clay loam, and affords very rich herbage in old
pasture ; it is very tenacious, and holds the rain as
it falls. When the soil is of a good depth, it is
friable and porous, and very fertile. At Melton
Mowbray, it is a rich heavy loam. The whole of it
is naturally adhesive, impervious, and damp ; diffi-
cult to cultivate as arable land ; and, as pasture, it
is more or less productive, according to the quantity
of dead or decaying vegetable matter which it con-
tains. In some places, where it has been long pas-
tured, and where a considerable portion of vegetable
matter is mixed with the soil, it produces rich and
nutritious pasture ; and where it is under the
plough, and properly cultivated, it produces great
crops of wheat, beans, clover, and oats.

From the great expense which attends the culture
of this soil as arable land, the greater portion of it
is in pasture, and forms the dairy districts in
Somerset, Gloucester, Warwick, and Leicester shires,
where the finest cheese is made, and where great
numbers of cattle and sheep are fattened.

The greatest improvement that can be effected in
this soil, is to keep the surface perfectly dry, by
carrying off the water as fast as it falls ; and where
the ridges are high, which is almost universally the
case in this district, to have under ground drains in
each furrow to let the water sink into the subsoil,

72 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

artificially made porous, and be carried off under
ground to the ditches.

19. New Red Sandstone, or Red Sand.

This is a reddish sandstone, or clay marl, tole-
rably compact, but more frequently of a friable tex-
ture, or a conglomerate. The sandstone is siHcious,
and is frequently so indurated as to be fit for build-
ing, as at WelHngton in Somersetshire, Warwick,
Coventry, Nottingham, and many other places ; but
it is sometimes a loose red or yellow sandstone, too
friable and soft to be of any use as a building stone.

The clay beds of this formation are generally
marly, or clay of a red colour intermixed with blue,
white, and green spots or stripes. These are fre-
quently hardened into stone, and form a calcareous
stone or limestone.

The chief varieties which this clay exhibits are a
red argillaceous marl, a rocky loam or slaty marl, a
reddish rock, and clay with spots or stripes of a
whitish and greenish coloured matter, highly calca-
reous.

In Sherwood Forest, there are large masses of red
and yellow sand belonging to this formation. The
conglomerate is composed of beds of sihcious peb-
bles, agglutinated with calcareous matter, and beds
of rounded limestone pebbles, called popple-stones in

NEW RED SANDSTONE. 73

Somersetshire, which are agglutinated by calcareous
matter, and are frequently burned as lime. These
beds are sometimes in successive repetitions : in
other places, beds of silicious pebbles only exist;
when this is the case, these rest on the indurated
sandstone. The salt mines in Cheshire and Wor-
cestershire are in this formation ; and the water, in
many places, is saltish.

This formation is composed of red clay, red marl,
red sand, and silicious pebbles. The red clay and
marl have a glossy appearance, and the latter has a
soapy feel, which is pecuHar to it.

The surface, which is much furrowed into hill and
dale, forms a low uneven valley with a continued
course of small risings, and exhibits a variety of
beautiful undulations, consisting of httle flats and
gentle swells.

This is the most extensive formation to be found
in England. It begins at Torbay in Devonshire,
and passes through Exeter, Honiton, CoUumpton,
WeUington, Taunton, to Watchet and Bridgewater,
in Somersetshire; then, in detached portions, to
Gloucester, where it again widens out in its direc-
tion to Worcester, Birmingham, Nottingham, York,
and Darhngton, to the mouth of the Tees; it
branches off" from Birmingham to Stafford, Nant-
wich, Liverpool, Preston, Lancaster ; and, narrow-
ing round the coast to AUonby, where it is of con-

74 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

siderable extent, and forms a triangle with Long-
town and Appleby. Its greatest breadth is from
Loughborough in Leicestershire to Shrewsbury, a
distance of about 80 miles ; from Chester to Mac-
clesfield, it is 35 miles wide; from Bridgenorth
to beyond Coventry, it is 45 miles ; from Weatherby
through York, near Porkington, it is upwards of 30
miles ; from Brampton, through Carhsle, to beyond
Wigton, it is 20 miles ; and the average of its
breadth in Devon and Somerset shires may be about
10 or 12 miles.

Wherever this formation is sandy or friable, and
porous, the rain water descends till it meets some of
the clay, and is then thrown out. This district,
although it may be said to be dry, has many springs
in it, and in the centre of the kingdom, the Severn,
Trent, Mersey, and their tributaries, rise in this
formation.

Agricultural Character,

In Devon and Somerset shires, this is an unctuous
friable clay or red marly soil, of the first quality. It
is friable enough for turnips, yet sufiiciently tena-
cious for beans and wheat, and produces the richest
and most luxuriant crops of any soil in the kingdom ;
and the only manure that seems necessary is the
application of lime, with which it produces increased

NEW RED SANDSTONE. 7^

crops on every repetition. The effects of lime on
the red marl, are much greater in Somerset and
Devonshire, than in any other portion of the soil on
this formation.

Whenever the red marl clay comes to the sur-
face, it forms a rich red friable loam, highly fertile
both as arable and meadow land; but on the porous
red sandstone or loose sandy gravel, the soil is
a light sandy gravel, or good sandy loam, produc-
tive of turnips and barley, but too light for beans.
In other places, it is a soft light sand, and forms
large sandy tracts in Nottingham and York shires,
which are poor and barren, and produce scarcely
any thing but heath and furze ; there is, however,
little of this poor soil, when compared with the great
extent of rich productive soil on this formation.

The general character of the soil is a red rich
friable clay^ a marly loam, or a sandy loam, and
these are found in every variety of colour and of
texture, from a loose sandy soil to a strong red clay.
The nature of the soil is clay, sand, calcareous mat-
ter, or marl, slippery and greasy when wet, and of
a soapy feel when dry : if ploughed wet, it cuts up
like soap, and does not push before the plough like
the calcareous clay of the oolite formation. A large
proportion of the soil on this formation is in arable
cultivation, and is sufficiently productive under
tolerable management. The meadows are rich, and

76 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

produce abundant crops of nutritious herbage ; and
the arable land is productive of every kind of crop
that is adapted to the soil. There is over the main
body of this formation, in detached portions, a con-
siderable extent of the diluvial gravel before men-
tioned. This gravel is formed of rounded portions
of the same rock with gravel and boulder stones,
belonging to most of the primitive rocks. When-
ever this soil is wet, the drainage of it is easily
accomplished ; and deep ploughing with a good
dressing of lime, and, where it is of a strong clay,
a summer fallow to get the land perfectly clean,
may be necessary.

Sand, or soft loose vegetable matter, as a manure,
is of use to keep it open ; and when it is loose
sand, clay marl would have the effect of making it
more tenacious and firm.

20. Magnesian Limestone.

The magnesian limestone is found under the new
red sandstone, and is believed to rest on the coal
measures. It is a strong solid crystalline rock, of a
grey, or buff colour, and of which large blocks of
almost any dimensions may be raised. It is easily
cut into ornamental architecture, and extensively
used in building.

The beds are of various thickness, and generally

MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE. 11

form a firm, solid, building stone ; though not un-
frequently it breaks into small pieces, and is used
for making roads. Some of the beds are of a gritty
sihcious sandstone, intermixed with beds of silicious
sand and small gravel.

The materials which compose this rock are, Hme
or calcareous matter, magnesia, silex or silicious
sand, and gravel, with perhaps a portion of clay and
iron. In Northumberland, some of the beds have an
oolite form, with grains as large as sparrow eggs,
sometimes much larger, and grouped together like
chain-shot. It is also found cellular and crystalline.
The aspect of this formation is rather plain and
level ; for although there are some risings and some
vaUeys in it, yet there are no hiUs nor elevated ground
of any magnitude. The extent of this is much less
than any of the formations we have mentioned ; it
begins near Nottingham, and extends through Mans-
field, Doncaster, Ferrybridge, Weatherby, Borough-
bridge, Bedal, and Darlington, to Sunderland. The
average breadth of this range may be about 5 miles.
The porous nature of the rock, and of the new red
sandstone which rests on it, allows the water to
descend till it meets with some beds of clay, or im-
pervious matter, which throws it out in fine springs ;
but most of the soil on this formation is dry, except
some in the most northern part of the district,
where the rock is covered with a yellowish clay
formed from the decomposed rock.

78 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Agricultural Character.

From statements, which have been repeatedly
copied, that magnesian Hme is pernicious to the
growth of vegetables, we would naturally expect the
soil of this formation, if it partakes in the smallest
degree of the nature of the substance of the rock,
to be sterile and barren ; this, however, is not the
case, for although the soil is in general very thin on
the magnesian Hme, yet it is a good light soil for
arable culture, and with manure produces good
crops.

From Nottingham to Boroughbridge, the soil is
profitably cultivated as arable land, and produces
good turnips, potatoes, barley, and wheat ; and
when a good supply of manure can be had, abundant
crops of these are obtained in moderately moist
seasons. The soil is thin and generally dry, and
the pasture, in general, is short, poor, sheep grass.

From near Sunderland to Sedgefield, the soil which
covers the magnesian limestone is ocherous clay,
producing poor crops of grass : but from Standrop
to Darlington the soil is fertile, and may be consi-
dered the best and richest grazing land in the north.

The soil has fragments of the rock in it, has
rather a reddish fawn colour, although the rock
under it is whitish, and has very much the appear-
ance of the soil on some of the oolite.

COAL FORMATION. 79

The most of this soil is cultivated as arable land,
and produces good crops of turnips and barley.

21. Coal Formation.

The strata forming the coal measures, are sand-
stone, millstone grit, micacious sand, and every
variety of shale and argillaceous matter. These are
in beds of various thickness, resting on, and alter-
nating with, each other in every variety of succession ;
sometimes they are level, but more frequently they
form a basin, which dips towards the centre : thus,
the edges of all these strata have a tendency upwards,
and as all kinds of shale, whether argillaceous, bitu-
minous, or in the form of limestone, when exposed
to the air, rain, and frost, are perishable ; so when
these strata come to the surface, they fall down
and are converted into different kinds of clay or
loam.

The surface of the coal formation, although uneven,
is very seldom hilly ; the ground has an undulated
and smooth rounded aspect.

The coal fields are in separate and detached por-
tions. There is the Northumberland, the Durham,
the York, and Derbyshire coal fields in the north ;
the Lancashire, in the west ; the Stafford, Leicester,
and Warwickshire, in the centre ; the Gloucester,
the Somersetshii'e, and the Welsh coal fields, in the

80 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

south, including the counties of Monmouth, Gla-
morgan, Carmarthen, and Pembroke. The Northum-
berland, Durham, York, Derby, and South Wales
coal fields, occupy a surface of nearly equal dimen-
sions, averaging about 60 miles in length, by 15
miles in breadth, for each ; the other fields are
much smaller, and are also in several detached por-
tions. The varied nature and the inclination of the
strata, which form the coal measures, naturaUy tend
to throw the superabundant moisture to the surface ;
which is thus kept in a moist or wet state, and it
sends forth more springs than any other formation
we have mentioned.

Agricultural Character,

The perishable nature of the strata of the coal
formation , gives to the soil its matter and character.
The soil inclines much to clay, owing to the perish-
able nature of the shale and argillaceous bind, when
these members abound ; but where the members
are micacious or silicious sandstone, these produce
a loose, soft, and wet sandy soil. In some places,
where it is wet, it is of a clayey nature, although it
seems sandy in its nature when dry ; but the coal
formation is almost universally covered with clay,
and the soil is generally of a yellowish colour ; and
being wet, poor, and cold, it produces naturally a
very bad herbage, principally composed of heath

COAL FORMATION. 81

and carnation grass. It is more fit for arable cul-
ture, than for pasture. Lime has a great effect on
these soils, and when well cultivated, by its aid
they produce good crops of oats, wheat, and clover.
The clayey nature of the soil on the coal formation,
as has already been observed, is owing to the perish-
able nature of the strata ; the argillaceous beds of
bind, clunch, shale, black or bituminous shale, de-
compose or fall down into clay, or strong loam ;
and when dry, these, with good culture, form a
good productive soil ; but when the clay is wet,
with micacious or silicious sand in high situations,
as in the north, the soil being soaked with water
forms peat on the surface, becomes a moor, and
produces heath.

In some places, however, the coal measure is
covered with a reddish sandy clay, formed from the
reddish sandstone or Pennanent stone, as in the
Somerset and Gloucestershire coal field, which pro-
duces a good friable soil with fragments of the rock
in it. In Durham, the soil is weak and wet, being
a moist, soft loam, on yellow ocherous clay, and is
called water shaken. The soil is very thin, the
water is near the surface, and when the yellow clay,
which is mostly composed of fine minute silicious
clay, is turned up, nothing will grow.

On the central coal field, there is a strong clay
loam, which is sufficiently productive; a white sandy

G

82 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

clay on bastard iron-stone, which forms a poor
and barren soil ; a white and yellow clay soil, on a
yellow clay subsoil, which is poor and worthless.
When the soil is friable and dry, it is mostly under
arable culture ; but there is a great part of it in
poor pasture land, used as stock farms for rearing
young beasts ; if this soil, however, were well
drained, it would greatly increase its value.

22. Millstone Grit.

The millstone grit is the lowest member of the
coal formation. In the northern coal fields, it is
sometimes found in thin beds in the form of a sand-
stone, fine in texture ; that is, the grains of silex
are small, with minute plates of mica; in other
cases, the stone is of a coarse texture, made up of
large grains of sihcious sand of the size of mustard
seed and even larger, agglutinated so closely toge-
ther with an argillaceous cement as to resist the
efiects of the atmosphere, and to form one of the
strongest and most durable stones for building.

The beds are from a few inches to several feet in
thickness, and they are generally separated with
partings or thin beds of bind or shale.

The constituent parts of this rock is sihcious
sand, cemented together with clay. Sometimes the
cement easily gives way, and then it forms loose

MILLSTONE GRIT. 83

sand; but this is seldom the case; most of the beds
are so solidly agglutinated together, and so exceed-
ingly difficult to work, as to destroy the edge of the
tools employed in quarrying, or in boring holes to
split the rock with gunpowder.

The surface of this formation is hilly, and gene-
rally rises into high mountainous districts, which
frequently present a precipitous front.

It is of great extent, and follows the course of the
coal, and the mountain lime. From Alnwick, there
is a narrow strip about three or four miles wide
through Northumberland, to the west of Wolsing-
ham in Durham; it then widens out to perhaps
twenty miles, and continues its course to Bernard
Castle, Scaleknowle, Middleham, Middlesmore,
Paitly Bridge, Otley, Keighley, Halifax, and Holme;
it then branches off on the west side of Panistone to
Ughill, and west of Chesterfield, to Ashover; and
from Holme on the west, to Kettles Hulme; and on
the east of Macclesfield and Congleton, it approaches
to near Cheadle.

There is another large portion of it in Lancashire,
which begins at Pendleton hill near Clithero, and
after taking its course down the river Ribble to
Preston, it then proceeds through BoUand Forest to
Ingleton. Its average breadth, from its commence-
ment to its termination, may be equal to about ten
miles.

84

NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

The numerous beds of this formation, from their
being frequently separated with bind or shale, have
a wet surface, and send forth numerous springs.

Agricultural Character.

The high elevation of the whole of this formation,
the wet state of the surface, and the sandy gravelly
nature of the decomposing rock, give life and vigour
to the aquatic plants, which are so productive of
peat moss by their decay; hence, over the whole of
this formation, there is a much greater extent of
moss, either in large flats or on the tops and sides
of the mountains, than is to be found on any other
formation in England.

Almost through the whole of the length and
breadth of this formation, peat moss is to be found;
although in some places, where it has been di*ained
and cultivated, it produces scanty crops of corn.
It is a hungry, sandy, gravelly, or clayey soil ; and
where it is covered with peat moss, it has a natural
tendency to produce heath.

The most of the soil in this district is in a state
of nature, and forms extensive tracts of waste or
heath. Some of them are called Forest, without
having a single tree to entitle them to the name ;
there are, however, some portions near the towns
and villages, which were originally in pasture, but
are now under cultivation.

MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE. 85

From the great elevation of the whole range,
which forms a mountainous district, the climate is
cold and bleak, and the harvest in general very late.
When the peat is completely drained, it subsides,
and in process of time the vegetable mould gradually
decays, and the subsoil is very clayey or gritty.
When this is mixed with the soil and well limed, it
will, when laid down to grass, produce herbage for
young oxen or horses, but the climate is too cold
and elevated for arable culture.

23. Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone.

This is a solid compact rock, formed of thick
beds of hmestone, inclined more or less to the hori-
zon, and on which the millstone grit of the coal for-
mation rests. There are seldom any partings of
clay between these beds ; they are generally open,
although sometimes they are filled with rubble and
calcareous spar.

There are also perpendicular rents or openings in
the rock, which frequently forms caverns in its
centre, and sometimes even subterraneous rivers and
lakes of great extent. Between this rock and the
millstone grit, there is frequently interposed the
bituminous shale, which is a member of this forma-
tion. It is a black clayey substance, easily decom-
posed, and forms a blackish calcareous clay.

86 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This formation contains petrified organic remains.
It is frequently so close and solid in its texture, as
to be used as a marble.

It effervesces with acids, and burns into quick-
lime. Its constituent parts are lime and carbonic
acid ; but some varieties have also silica, iron, and
alumina. It is not so hable to be decomposed by
the effects of the atmosphere as the other limestones
we have mentioned, although the limestone shale is
easily decomposed.

The surface of this formation extends to a consi-
derable elevation, and presents, in many places, a
craggy and rocky aspect, forming precipices, rocky
valleys, and hills or mountains, which are generally
studded with large blocks of stone on the surface ;
hence it has obtained the name of the mountain
limestone.

This formation is of great extent. There is a
narrow strip about thirty miles long and about a
mile wide, from near Alnwick in Northumberland
to Brigfield, where it extends to a great width, and
continues through Durham to Brough in Westmore-
land, a distance of about thirty-five miles in length,
with an average breadth of about twenty-five miles.

From Brough, it continues by Stephen-Kirby to
Sedbergh in Yorkshire, and by Norton, Settle, and
Skipton, to Clitheroe in Lancashire, a distance of
forty-five miles, with an average breadth of fifteen ;

MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE. 87

but across from Middleham in Yorkshire, to the Bay
of Morcambe in Lancashire, it is forty miles broad
at least. From Brougb, there is a branch extending
through Clifton in Westmoreland, by Heskett, Ul-
dale, and Cockermouth, in Cumberland, to Middle-
Town, on the coast, a distance of sixty miles ; but
the breadth of this range averages perhaps about
five miles only. There is another large portion of
this formation, which begins at Midhope in York-
shire, and extends by Darwell, Chapel-in-le-Frith,
Tideswell, Bakewell, Matlock, and Winksworth, to
Ashbourne, in Derbyshire. The width of this por-
tion, from Lech to Bakewell, is about twenty miles.
There is another smaller field in North Wales, from
Wrexham in Denbighshire, through Mold, and Holy-
well, to Llanasa, in Fhntshire.

Besides these, there are several smaller fields in
Gloucester, Somerset, Monmouth, Glamorgan, Bre-
con, and Carmarthen shires ; but these, although of
great length, are of Httle breadth, scarcely averaging
two or three miles, except on the Mendip Hills in
Somersetshire.

The cavernous nature of this rock, with its nume-
rous fissures, and the porousness of its beds, gives
to the rain that falls on it a ready passage, till it
meets the bituminous shale or clay, which throws it
out at the bottom of the limestone hills, where the
springs are larger than in any other formation.

88 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS-

Agricultural Character.

The soil on the mountain limestone formation is
generally very thin, of a brownish or dark appear-
ance, and composed of small angular fragments of
the rock, with mould from decayed vegetables, and
the detrition of the rock itself ; it is, therefore, a
dry, loose, friable, rubbly soil and very thin, from
the nature of the rock, which resists the effects of
the weather. There are extensive portions of this
rock without any vegetable mould on its surface,
and these present nothing but the bare rock, with-
out the least vegetation. Other parts have a thin
covering of mould, and produce naturally sweet,
short pasture ; but where the limestone shale is of
considerable extent, as in Derbyshire, it decomposes
so readily as to form a strong, deep, blackish, cold,
wet, clay soil ; which, however, when drained, well
limed, and properly cultivated, produces good crops.
The contrast between the pasture on this, and on
the sandstone, is so great, as to be perceived at a
considerable distance.

Most of the soil on this formation is in pasture ;
but in some places, as in Somerset, Gloucester,
Derby, and Cumberland, where the soil is of a consi-
derable depth, it is productive of good crops of
wheat, barley, turnips, and grass. The high eleva-
tion and rocky nature of the carboniferous lime-

OLD RED SANDSTONE. 89

stone, give to this district a cold and bleak appear-
ance ; and, if it were not for the dry and porous
nature of the rock, the harvest on it would be late,
but this is not the case ; indeed, when we take into
account its elevation above the level of the sea, the
harvest is earlier than we could expect.

24. The Old Red Sandstone.

This formation occupies the place under the
mountain limestone, and above the grey wacke. Its
internal structure is very like some of the members
of the millstone grit. In Hereford and Monmouth-
shires, it is a sandstone composed of very minute
particles of sihcious sand and mica, of a reddish
colour, and forms thin beds with partings of a red-
dish clay. Some of the beds are of a considerable
thickness, and make good building stones; and being
a micacious sandstone slate, are not only used for
flags, but are also fit for millstones. Some are
found agglutinated together by calcareous matter,
but most of them are separated by partings of clay.
The surface is uneven, and forms numerous risings
of no great height ; although, in some cases, it
rises on the grey wacke to a very considerable ele-
vation.

The greatest extent of it in England is in Here-

90 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

ford, Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Carmarthen shires,
where it forms a sort of triangular figure.

Its length from Wenloek in Shropshire, through
Tenbury, Leominster, Hereford, Old Castle, Crick-
howell, nearly to Mishye Sydwill, is about sixty
miles; and its greatest breadth from Newport, Aber-
gavenny, Crickhowell, Brecon, nearly to Builth, is
about forty-five miles; and across from the Malvern
hills, through Broomyard and Leominster, to Pem-
bridge, its breadth is twenty miles. This formation
is of little extent in any other part of England, un-
less some of the millstone grit in the north be of
this formation, and we do not think it is ; but it is
of great extent in Scotland, both in the south and
north. When there are partings of clay between the
beds of micacious sandstone, the water, that perco-
lates through the sand above, is thrown out in the
form of springs at the bottom of the hill ; but gene-
rally speaking, this formation cannot be called wet,
as there is a great portion of soft sandy subsoil,
which allows the water to sink through to the for-
mation below.

Agricultural Character,

Many of the members of this formation seem to
fall rapidly into decay, and to form a loose, red,
sandy soil ; and when mixed with the clayey part-
ings, it has a glossy, greasy, appearance, and is slip-

OLD RED SANDSTONE. 91

pery when wet. Those parts, which are composed
of coarse pebble stone, form, on decomposition, a
sandy gravel full of small pebbles. The soft crum-
bhng red stone, or dunstone, easily falls to pieces by
exposure to the air and frost, and forms a good Hght
red sandy soil ; when mixed with the red marl or
clay, it is of great fertility, from having such a
portion of calcareous matter in it. The dunstone
soil is excellent for the growth of hops, but the red
clayey soil produces the heaviest crops of wheat.

Where the beds of the rock are thin, with partings
of clay, the soil is of a clayey nature, red, some-
times grey in colour ; and when resting on a broken
or rubbly subsoil, it forms rather a strongish clay
soil ; which, under good culture, is capable of pro-
ducing large crops of wheat, beans, oats and clover.
The soil formed by the detrition of the pudding-
stone or gritty dunstone with sand, is of a loose
gravelly nature ; and, when there is a mixture of
some of the partings of clay marl, it forms an ex-
cellent light soil for turnips and barley.

The open and loose nature of the subsoil affords
an easy passage for the roots of trees ; it is there-
fore perhaps the best fitted for the production of
fruit trees, and hence the whole of the county of
Hereford, and portions of the adjoining counties,
are full of orchards of apple and pear trees, and
these produce the finest cider and perry. The barley

92 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

and wheat, which this red soil produces, are of the
finest quahty. This soil meets the new red sand in
Gloucester and Worcester shires, and is in many
places very like it, not only in external appearance,
but also in the nature of the materials of which it
is composed.

There is a great portion of the soil on this forma-
tion in arable culture, and it yields large crops of
barley, wheat, turnips, and clover ; the pasture too
forms an excellent herbage for stock, and the Here-
ford breed of oxen have a high character for feed-
ing. Hops {ire also cultivated to a considerable
extent in Hereford and Worcester shires on the red
sand.

The warm and dry nature of the sandy soil on
this formatioE, hastens the harvest even where the
hills are of cc asiderable elevation; and the Welsh
mountains, wjiich are near, and have a considerable
effect in cooling the atmosphere around them, would
retard the lurvest ; but as most of this formation
is rather low and of a sandy nature, it may be said
to have a good, dry, and early climate. Almost the
whole of this formation is enclosed with hedges and
ditches.

The principal means of improving the soil on this
formation is c omplete drainage, and deepening the
soil by deep or subsoil ploughing. This mode, with
a dressing of lime, greatly increases its fertile

GREY WACKE AND CLAY SLATE. 93

power, and makes it produce large crops of every
kind of corn.

25. Grey Wacke and Clay Slate.

As these two formations are so nearly alike in the
materials of wliich they are composed, and also in
the soil which rests on them, we have associated
them under one head.

The internal structure of the grey wacke has a
slaty texture generally, and much resembles the ap-
pearance of the clay slate, lying at every angle with
the horizon, from level to perpendicular ; and, al-
though it appears to be closely joined together, yet
water easily descends between the joints, and it is
easily quarried, from the facility with which the rock
is spht in the direction of the lamina.

Clay slate is of a fine grained slaty structure, and
composed of clay and iron.

Some varieties have carbon in their composition ;
that which passes into mica slate; or grey wacke
slate, has mica in very thin plates.

The mica slate has email grains of quartz or fel-
spar in its composition, besides the clay and mica.
The grey wacke is composed of angular portions of
quartz, felspar, mica, earthy angite, earthy felspar,
and clay slate, cemented together by a base which
partakes of the nature of clay slate. When the

94 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

embedded portions are very small, the rock is of a
slaty structure, and gradually passes into mica slate
or clay slate : but when the embedded portions are
larger, the mass of rock or beds are thicker, and
form gocd build j; stones. In some instances, it
passes into a kind of pudding-stone or conglomerate,
composed of angular portions of granite, clay stone,
or prophyry, embedded in a base of clay stone.
Both the clay slate and wacke are of a greenish,
grey, bluish, reddish, or brownish colour, and some
varieties are white.

The external aspect of both formations is much
alike. They present an elevated series of hills
grouped around, vith lofty ridges, the summits of
which are sometimes covered with broken craggy
rocks ; but they have generally smooth and rounded
sides, with conical tops, and rise abruptly from deep
valleys below. In many instances, in Somerset and
Devon, these conical hiUs are so near each other,
that the spaces between them exhibit deep chasms
or guUies, which have obtained the local name of
coo7nbes»

The greatest extent of this formation is in Wales,
which commences at Abergavenny in Monmouth-
shire, and terminates at St. David's head in Pem-
brokeshire ; with a breadth from Ludlow in Shrop-
shire to Aberystwith, and thus including two-thirds
of the principality. In Somerset, Cornwall, and

GREY WACKE AND CLAY SLATE. 95

Devon, it is of great extent, commencing near
Bridgewater in Somersetshire, and continuing its
course through Devon to Landsend in Cornwall, with
very Httle or no interruption. There is also a small
portion to be found in Westmoreland and Cumber-
land, which extends from near Penrith to Morcambe
bay in length, and in breadth from Kirby-Lonsdale
to Broughton.

The porous nature of the rock, the high elevation
of the hills and mountains, and the deep ravines or
valleys between them, give out a large quantity of
water, which is formed into lakes of considerable
extent, or carried away by numerous brooks and
rivers.

Agricultural Character.

The soil on these formations is almost universally
of a thin shelloty nature, and formed of loose frag-
ments lying between the solid rock and the soil,
which are every where embedded in a reddish or
grey shivery kind of substance formed by the de-
composition of these fragments, which composes the
basis of the soil. The upper soil is only a further
decomposition of these parts, with the decaying
vegetable matter that has grown in it ; the soil is
therefore a loose, free, tender loam, formed of the
small fragments of the rock.

When, the lamina of the clay slate is nearly pa-

96 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

rallel with the horizon, the surface is more retentive
of moisture : but when it is much incUned, the rain
carries with it all the manure into the open rock,
from which circumstan'ce, it is then called a greedy
or hungry soil. In the valleys or gullies, however,
the decomposition seems to be more complete ; and
perhaps this is owing to the fragments being always
kept in a damp state. It is formed into a brownish,
whitish, or reddish clay ; and the soil, which is the
result of this decomposition, is cold and wet, and of
little value. The moors have frequently this clay on
the surface of the rock, and are of great extent in
Wales ; and in Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, West-
moreland, and Cumberland, they are also very exten-
sive, but of little value. The high elevation and
mountainous nature of this formation prevent its
being brought into arable culture ; it is therefore
mostly in pasture.

In Somerset, Devon, and in some parts of Wales,
however, it has been cultivated ; and when the wet
parts are drained, the surface pared, burned, and
well hmed, great crops of turnips and oats have
been the result ; and if enclosed, after being well
pulverized and burned a second time, it were laid to
permanent pasture, where the climate is good and
the elevation not too high, it would pay a good in-
terest for the expense incurred, and afford good pas-
ture for sheep and young beasts.

97

26. Granitic Formation.

Granite is of a close, compact, crystalline struc-
ture, and said to be without beds or partings of any
foreign substance ; there are, however, numerous
veins in it of quartz, felspar, and porphyry, but these
are so intimately connected with it as to make along
with it one solid substance ; and this is said to be
the case even for a great extent. The component
parts of rocks of this class are felspar, quartz, and
mica ; in sienite, the mica is replaced by hornblende.

These several substances are always found in dis-
tinct, and in separate crystals intimately joined to-
gether without any agglutinating substance ; and in
the combination they vary greatly in proportional
quantity, for sometimes the one and sometimes the
other abounds.

The surface of this formation rises into high
mountains, and is therefore mountainous and uneven.

They are not of great extent in England ; in
Wales, they take a high elevation ; in Devonshire
and Cornwall, however, they do not take so elevated
a station, and are therefore brought more immedi-
ately under our observation, as being, perhaps, the
only locahty of this formation, the surface of which
is cultivated.

At the bottom of the high hills, springs are to be
found, but these are not of great magnitude.

H

98 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Agricultural Character,

The soil of tliis formation is evidently of tlie de-
composed rock. It is composed of gravel from the
granite, and is called a light brown mould, a loose
tender gravel, a light peaty earth on granite, or a
granite gravel.

Some varieties of the granite are indestructible,
whilst others, as in Cornwall, are speedily decom-
posed into gravel or sand. The felspar in Cornwall,
from the potash which it contains, is decomposed by
the influence of the atmosphere on the potash, into
a white clay ; and when it is mixed with the quartz
of the granite, it forms a good soil, which when pro-
perly cultivated, and well manured with calcareous
matter, sea shells, or lime, becomes most productive
of wheat and barley.

The most productive, is that which has a large
portion of clay from the decomposition of felspar.
On the granite rock in Devonshire and Cornwall,
peat is found resting on a basis of granite gravel and
clay ; but this is of httle value, and difficult to
improve.

The soil of Dartmoor forest is of this character.

The elevated nature of this formation, where the
humidity of the atmosphere is great, together with
the thinness of the soil, will for ever prevent it from
being ameliorated otherwise than by planting, which

BASALTIC ROCKS. 99

is the only way of turning it into a profitable
property.

It would, however, tend much to improve the dis-
trict around it, if these high mountains were covered
with larch, a hardy tree and well suited for such an
elevation.

27. Basaltic Rocks.

The internal structure of these rocks, being of
igneous origin, is much alike, except those which
take the columnar form. They have been forced
from below through the old red sandstone princi-
pally, although some are found through the coal for-
mation also. Basalt is unstratified, being a granular
aggregate rock of angite and felspar, which varies
from a coarse granular, to a compact, ferruginous,
and amygdaloidal character. On the whole, it pre-
sents an irregular mass, unstratified and closely
joined together, but having numerous, irregular,
close joints, which continue in the same direction
only for a few feet, where they terminate in the solid
mass, and where others are found to begin, and to
proceed in different directions.

These joints or backs seem to have no connection
with each other, and the rock may therefore be said
to be of a solid compact nature.

The materials of which these rocks are composed,

100 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

are at least the elements of quartz, hornblende, fel-
spar, and angite. The clinkstone, trap, and green-
stone, are of a greenish, blue, or black colour ; and
small grained, hard, and brittle. These are not so
readily decomposed as the other varieties. The
amygdaloid and claystone porphyry are easily decom-
posed, particularly the latter, which seems to be
wholly felspar crystals embedded in a base of decom-
posing felspar. The amygdaloid is sometimes formed
of a hard porous substance, like honeycomb, the base
of which is angite and felspar intimately blended ;
and the cells or round cavities are sometimes empty,
and sometimes filled with pebbles, agates, horn-
blende, zeolite, chalcedony, quartz, jasper, onyx, or
calcareous spar.

When the matrix is easily decomposed, which is
often the case, the pebbles fall out, and are found in
the soil.

The surface of this formation takes the form of
round topped hills of considerable elevation.

They are found over a great part of Scotland, but
their extent is very limited in England ; and only
found in a few places in the counties of Cumberland,
Northumberland, Derby, Caernarvon, Pembroke,
Hereford, Gloucester, Devon, Cornwall, &c.

This formation having many joints in the mass,
gives a ready passage to the rain water, but there
are not many instances where the springs are of any

BASALTIC ROCKS. lOl

magnitude ; althougli, where the surface is covered
by the clay of their decomposition, tlie soil is fre-
quently damp at the bottom of the hills where the
springs arise.

Agricultural Character.

Most of the varieties of basalt are easily decom-
posed, from the iron and potash which they contain .
The basaltic soil is composed of the elements of the
variety of the rock upon which it rests ; it is there-
fore either of a reddish, brownish, or greyish coloured
cast, with fragments of the rock, Scotch pebbles,
topaz, agate, and chalcedony mixed in it. It is fri-
able, and, if well drained, may be easily kept, by
manure and good culture, in a state, which would
gradually increase its productiveness. It is, indeed,
of considerable fertihty, and under proper manage-
ment, becomes a soil of great fruitfuhiess.

Tlie greater part of this soil in Scotland is under
arable culture, and produces, in Lothian and Fife-
shire, the richest and most abundant crops. It is,
however, of an extent so limited in England, that
there is little of it cultivated, and, except in North-
umberland, Derby, and Cornwall, the most of it is in
hill pasture.

102 nature and property of soils.

28. Classification of Soils.

It will be seen from the foregoing statements,
how far we have succeeded in establishing an inti-
mate connection between the soil and subsoil ; how
far the matter which composes the soil is identified
with that which composes the subsoil, or geological
formation on which it rests ; and how far this con-
nection may be useful in forming a classification
which will be advantageous to the agriculturist.

A classification and arrangement of soils, which
will identify their peculiar properties, shew the kind
of crops they are best fitted to produce, and the
mode of culture best calculated for each, is what we
think will be most satisfactory and most advantageous
to the agriculturist.

The advantage of such a classification will enable
us at once to see what materials are superabundant,
and what are deficient or altogether wanting, in a
soil. This wall direct us to the kind of materials,
which, when applied, will produce the alteration of
texture which, we think, will permanently improve
the soil, and wiU also prevent us from employing
those materials which would be injurious, by their
tendency to increase the substances with which the
soil already abounds ; and we think it may also have
the effect of directing the agriculturist to a more
minute study of the nature and properties of the soil

CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS. 103

he cultivates, and tend to prevent the error, which
he may have fallen into, in adopting one system of
culture for all kinds of soil.

We shall, therefore, associate together the soils on
those formations, the nature and properties of whose
materials are nearly alike ; although they may differ
in the proportion of the materials of which they are
composed.

It will be seen that the materials of which the
several formations are composed, namely, clay, lime,
and silex, may with propriety be used as the distin-
guishing feature in any association of soils ; and
making use of these peculiarities, we shall associate
the soils of those formations together, whose predo-
minant minerals have a close alliance to any of these
substances.

When we consider the nature of the materials of
which the soils of the several associations are com-
posed, we shall be led to adopt a mode of culture
suited to each association — with due regard to every
circumstance which may be peculiar to the soil and
the situation. Thus, a mode of culture could be
marked out for each association, and the means of
permanently increasing the productiveness of each
would also be shown.

104 nature and property of soils.

29. Aluminous Soils.

The soils resting on the following formations
may be associated together, whose superabounding
mineral is clay or alumina, and the silicious matter
in them, as well as the clay, is in an impalpable
state.

1. The London clay. No. 8.

2. The plastic clay, No. 9.

3. The weald clay. No. 13.

4. The clay of the coal formation, No. 21.
There is little or no calcareous matter in the soils

resting on these formations.

5. The blue has, No. 18.

6. The gault, No. 12.

There is a considerable portion of calcareous mat-
ter in the soil of these, but less silicious matter than
in the others.

The principal feature of the soils resting on these
formations, is the minute division of the minerals
that compose them, from which is formed a close,
adhesive, and retentive soil.

When these soils are rich and well cultivated,
they will produce large crops of wheat, beans, oats,
and clover, and the richest and most feeding hay or
pasture when in natural grass : but they are too
close and retentive for the growth and consumption
of turnips on the soil by stock, and are not, there-

CALCAREOUS SOILS. 105

fore, fit for turnip husbandry. WTien these soils
are poor or badly cultivated, the produce is naturally
very poor coarse grass ; or when in tillage, oats is
the only crop that will pay for cultivation, until the
subsoil is perfectly drained, and their texture altered
by the application of hme, sand, gravel, or burned
clay, with long or unfermented farm -yard manure,
to open up the soil and keep it porous.

30. Calcareous Soils.

In the soils of the following formations, lime is
in excess ; and there is in some of them a consider-
able portion of clay, but little or no silicious matter.

1. The lower challc-marl. No. 10.

2. Some of the gault. No. 13.

3. The clay of the oolite, No. 17.

The soils resting on these formations are formed
of impalpable matter.

4. The diluvium on the Oxford clay, No. 6.

5. The diluvium on the blue lias. No. 6.
These are calcareous gravelly soils.

6. The upper chalk. No. 10.

7. Some of the lower chalk, No. 10.

8. The sheUy oolite, No. 17.

9. The great oohte, No. 17.

The soils on these formations are composed of

106 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

fragments of calcareous rock, with little or no
silicious matter in tlieir composition.

10. The coral rag, No. 15.

11. The lower oolite. No. 17.

12. Themagnesian Hme, No. 20.

13. The carboniferous lime. No. 23.

The soils on these formations are composed of
fragments, and have a considerable portion of sili-
cious matter in their composition.

The nature of the materials which compose these
soils being calcareous, they bind closely together
when ploughed wet, or if trampled upon in that
state; particularly those of the lower chalk, the
gault, and the clay of the oolite. These are unfit for
the production of turnips to be consumed on the
ground by stock, as the trampling greatly injures
them when wet. All the other soils of this asso-
ciation are well calculated for the turnip system of
husbandry, which greatly improves them ; they are
also well fitted for the growth of wheat, barley, oats,
turnips, vetches, potatoes, clover, and sainfoin ; and
some of them that have a considerable depth of soil
will, when well cultivated, produce good crops of
beans. All these soils, except the shelly oolite, are
easily drained, and if deep or subsoil-ploughed will
be greatly improved.

107

31. SiLicious Soils.

The superabounding mineral in the soil of the
following formations is silex : in some of them, it
is fine sand ; in others, it appears as gravel. Clay
is the other prevaihng mineral, although in some,
lime is also present.

1. The sand of the plastic clay, No. 9.

2. The iron sand. No. 14.

3. The sand of the coal formation, No. 21.

4. The millstone grit. No. 22.

5. The old red sand. No. 24.

6. The granite formation. No. 29.

The soils on these formations are composed of
very friable, loose, dry sand, with very little alumi-
nous, and no calcareous matter in their composition.

7. The diluvium on the plastic clay. No. 9.

8. The diluvium on the gault. No. 13.

9. The diluvium on the new red sand. No. 19.

10. The diluvium on the coal formation, No. 21.
These form gravelly strong soils, with a consider-
able portion of clay in their composition.

11. The grey wacke and clay slate, No. 25.

12. Some of the basalt. No. 2/.

These soils are composed of fragments.

13. The aUuvial, No. 5.

108 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

14. The green sand. No. 11.

15. The new red sand, No. 19.

16. The old red sand, or red marl of Hereford,
No. 24.

17. Some of the basalt, No. 27.

All these soils have calcareous matter, with silex
and clay in their composition, and are of the first
quality.

The nature of the soils on the first six formations
mentioned in this association is a sihcious sand, dry
and porous, without any lime in its composition.
They are greatly improved by the application of
lime, which not only gives a degree of tenacity to
the soil, but also acts powerfully on the irony
matter ; rotten manure too is highly beneficial.

These soils, under proper culture, produce good
crops of turnips, barley, vetches, and clover, and
are well calculated for sheep consuming the produce
on the ground.

32. All the soils on the diluvial formations, which
are found resting on the plastic clay, gault, and
clunch clay, the new red sand, the coal formation,
and the old red sand, are composed of gravel of
every size, from fine sand to large boulder stones,
mixed with silicious clay. They are therefore strong
tenacious soils, which bind together if ploughed or
trampled on by cattle when in a wet state ; and
some of them are too strong for turnip husbandry,

SILICIOUS SOILS. 109

but under good culture are productive of wheat,
oats, and clover, and are permanently improved by
the apphcation of Hme and loose vegetable matter.

33. The soil of the grey wacke and clay slate is
of a tender nature, being composed entirely of frag-
ments of the rock on which it rests. It is much
improved by Hme, which adds calcareous matter to
the soil of which it is deJScient. From the elevation
of this formation, its soil is only fit for oats, barley,
turnips, and grass.

34. The soil on the basaltic formation is of a
rubbly nature, from the decomposition of the rock
on which it rests, and lime has a powerful and bene-
ficial effect on it. Under good culture, it pro-
duces large crops of wheat, barley, oats, turnips,
vetches, and clover. Furrow draining and deep
ploughing are necessary to keep this soil dry, and
increase its productiveness more than any other ex-
pedient.

35. The soils on the alluvial, the green sand, the
new red sand or red marl, the old red sand or red
marl of Hereford, Gloucester, and Glamorgan shires,
and on some of the basaltic formations, have a mix-
ture of clay, silex, and lime, in every proportion.
These form soils of the finest quahty. They all have
a somewhat gritty or rubbly texture, except the first
two, sufficiently porous to let the water fall through
them, and sufficiently adhesive to give a proper de-

110 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

gree of firmness for the production of every kind of
crop in the greatest luxuriance. They are not too
strong and adhesive for barley, turnips, and pota-
toes ; nor too loose and friable for the production of
wheat and beans. Lime acts powerfully on the soil
of the new and old red sand ; and on the basalt, it
is believed to act on the iron contained in the soil,
and produces increased crops on every application.

36. The Principles of Vegetable Life.

It is most desirable to trace the rudiments of the
science of vegetable physiology, to explore the first
source, and determine the principles of vegetable
life.

Nature is universally simple and uniform in all
her operations; there is no complexity in any of
the causes which produce so wonderful effects.

We find, from analysis, that vegetable bodies are
composed of the various substances of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, &c. ; and their growth and in-
crease may be traced to the influence of rain-water,
air, and the heat of the sun, which they decompose
and appropriate by a secret operation, which is as
yet but little known to man. When the rays of the
sun fall on the leaves of plants, oxygen is given out,
and hydrogen is absorbed, forming within the plant
the carbonaceous matter of which plants are com-

PRINCIPLES OF VEGETATION. Ill

posed. The materials of whicli the soil is composed
only seem to afford the plant a proper supply of
moisture to the roots for its nourishment. The mat-
ter of which each plant is composed is not to be
attributed to the peculiarities of the soil in which it
grows, but to that peculiar property which nature
has given to each plant to produce its kind, in
whatever sort of soil it may be planted; and so
varied are the nature and colours of plants grown in
the same soil, that we may see the yellow prim-
rose, the blue violet, the white snow-drop, and
the red rose, produced on the same soil where the
carrot, the onion, the potatoe, the apple, the cherry,
the wheat, the bean, and the oak and fir trees, are
growing in the greatest perfection.

Vegetation cannot proceed without water, air, heat,
and light ; two of these without the other will not
produce it in a healthy state. Water and heat, with-
out light, may in some plants, in some stages of
their growth, produce an unnatural kind of vegeta-
tion, but it is never brought to perfection without
the presence also of light and air. Water, however,
without heat, will not produce it, neither will heat
without water, although, in both cases, air and
light should be in abundance. In the absence,
therefore, of any one of these agents, vegetation
fails, so that, whatever may be the food of plants,
these must be the principal ingredients. Accord-

112 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

ingly, a full and plentiful supply of them produces
the most luxuriant growth of all plants, and, with a
limited supply, a limited growth takes place. Thus,
vegetation is most rapid in summer, when the earth is
moist, or in warm weather after rain, and it is almost
entirely at a stop during the winter season. With
all the plants which the farmer cultivates abundance
of any one of these principles without the others causes
poverty and death. A superabundant supply of
water, when it becomes stagnant, causes the death
of all vegetables that are not aquatic, though there
should be abundance of light, heat, and air.

The circulation of air and water through the soil
and subsoil gives life and energy to the growth of
plants. A porous subsoil draws off the redundant
water from the soil as it falls on it, thus, not only
displacing the stagnant air existing in the soil and
subsoil, but drawing fresh air after it, as it passes
through it.

Humboldt informs us that dry earth, when moist-
ened, has the property of decomposing atmospheric
air, and of conveying its oxygen to the roots of
plants, which vegetate therein.

May we not therefore infer that the water, the
air, and the influence of the sun, have much more
to do in producing these effects, than the mineral
matter which composes the soil in which they grow ?
We would not say that a plant takes up so much

PRINCIPLES OF VEGETATION. 113

flint from the soil, because the earth of flint or silex
is one of the component parts of such a plant, no :
it may be supplied from the water, or the air, which,
with the influence of the sun, is carrying on a pro-
cess which is only known from its eff"ects. Plants
breathe, says Ellis, that is, they give out oxygen,
when the light of the sun is on them, retaining the
hydrogen, and forming carbon for the increase of the
plant; but when the light is absent, they receive
oxygen, and hydrogen is given out. The leaves are
so necessary to the healthy growth of plants, that, if
they are injured or destroyed in the early part of
their growth, the plant dies ; and the free access of
light to the leaves is also necessary, that they may,
by the influence of the atmosphere, prepare the sap
and return it through the whole of the plant to the
root. In the leaves, the sap is combined with new
principles, and prepared for increasing the organs
of the plant. On the lower side of the leaf, the
moisture and elements of the atmosphere necessary
to vegetation are absorbed.

This flow of sap from the root to the leaves, and
from the leaves through the whole plant, goes on
till the plant is perfected, or till the winter checks
its progress. In sunshine, carbon is received by
growing plants from the air, and oxygen is given
out, and this process is performed by the leaves ;
but in the dark, carbonic acid gas is thrown out
I

114 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

into the atmosphere, and oxygen is absorbed. The
decomposition of water and carbonic acid gas is per-
petually going on during yegetable life, and forming
the organs and the materials of plants.

The sap, which flows from the roots to the leaves
of plants, consists of various ingredients chemically
combined with water. All matter that enters into
the composition of plants, when in a state of growth,
must have been volatilized or chemically combined
with water or air, so as to be taken up from the soil
or atmosphere. Vegetables growing in the sunshine
decompose the carbonic acid of the atmosphere,
which they absorb and form into part of their
organized matter.

The sun, air, and moisture, give life, health, and
vigour to vegetables j and electricity is also a power-
fully aiding cause in promoting their vigorous
growth.

No manure can be taken up by the roots of
plants in its gross state. Animal and vegetable
matter deposited in the soil is decomposed, and fur-
nishes the elements of vegetable life ; and the water
in the soil as it were digests it, and forms a solution,
which it* conveys to the plant.

The sap taken up by the roots of all plants is a
perfectly transparent Hquid. We think, therefore,
that water, air, light, and heat, are the original ele-
ments ; the universal principles of vegetable life.

115

37. The Effects produced by the Sun and
Air on Vegetables.

The progress of vegetation necessarily depends
much on the state of the atmosphere. The heat
and coldness, the dryness and humidity of the air,
have certain effects on every soil, and on every plant,
and either encourage or retard the progress of
vegetation.

Heat, or the influence of the sun, is the prin-
cipal agent of fermentation ; and the hest soil, even
with the addition of animal and vegetable matter,
would be unproductive without the vivifying rays
of the sun, to produce fermentation amongst its
parts. A rapid supply of fresh air or oxygen from
the atmosphere is necessary for the continuance
of fermentation, either in the earth, or in any
other body. Black loam, ferruginous sand, and
gravelly soils contaiuing much carbonaceous and
soft vegetable matter, are easily heated by the rays
of the sun ; and those that contain the greatest
portion of vegetable and animal matter, if dry,
retain the heat the longest. Chalks, being of a
white colour, are, comparatively speaking, little
affected by the rays of the sun ; but, from being
uniformly dry, they retain the heat much longer
than a damp soil.

IIG NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

The sun makes very little impression on clays
or damp retentive soils, because the heat is soon
carried off by the evaporation of their moisture.

38. Water.

Water is composed of two elastic gases ; namely,
inflammable gas or hydrogen, and vital gas or oxy-
gen, in the proportion of two volumes of hydrogen
to one of oxygen. Water is the only vehicle by
means of which plants receive nourishment from
their roots ; and every substance mixed with the
soil as a manure must be dissolved, and form a
chemical combination with water, before the organs
of the roots can receive it.

It is therefore of the greatest importance to have
at all times a proper supply of it, adhering by ca-
pillary attraction to the earthy materials which
compose the soil ; for that portion of water which
is chemically combined with the soil, or which the
soil has a stronger affinity for, cannot be taken
up by the roots ; and it is that portion only, which
is adhering to it by cohesive attraction, which the
roots receive, and which produce luxuriant and
healthy vegetation : but water in too great abun-
dance in the soil gets stagnant, checks vegetation,
and destroys the roots of plants.

Water forms the principal part of the sap of

AIR. 117

plants ; but its elements, being altered by prin-
ciples received from the atmosphere through the
leaves, constitute in combination with these, the
materials of which the plant is composed.

39. Air.

During the natural decay and decomposition
of vegetable matter, the whole of its substance
passes into a liquid or aerial state, and resumes its
original elements, which are those of air and water.
Water, carbonic acid, oxygen, and azote or ni-
trogen, are the principal elements which compose
the atmosphere. The air readily gives up its carbon
to the leaves of plants, or to the soil, which has
the greatest affinity for it.

The water existing in the atmosphere, as vapours,
varies with the temperature, and its quantity is
greatest when the weather is hottest ; at 50 degrees,
it constitutes about one-fiftieth of its volume,
and almost one-seventyfifth of its weight ; at 100
degrees, it constitutes about one-fourteenth of its
volume, and one-twentyfirst of its weight.

The condensation of vapour, by a diminution of
the temperature, is the cause of the formation of
clouds, dew, mist, rain, snow, and hail.

118 nature and property of soils.

40. Vegetables.

The analysis of organized vegetable matter
gives mucilage, starch, sugar, albumen, gluten, and
a small portion of various other substances. All
these substances are composed of carbon, oxygen,
and hydrogen, and some have azote in addition ;
and when these are reduced to their primitive ele-
ments, they are found to be the same, which com-
pose water and air.

Vegetable and animal bodies, in a state of decom-
position, give out carbon and hydrogen in great
abundance.

41. Nature and Properties of the Minerals

WHICH compose different SOILS.

The cultivated part of the earth's surface is
called soil, and is formed by the combination of
two or more of the primitive earths, united with
organic matter in a state of decay. The three
principal primitive earths are silex or sand, alumina
or clay, and lime. These are frequently in a state
of minute di^dsion, forming impalpable matter ; and
they occur also in the form of sand, gravel and
rubble. Some of these materials are capable of
retaining moisture, and of preserving organic mat-

SILEX. 119

ter from decay ; while others hasten the decay of
vegetable and animal matter, but possess little
power to absorb and retain moisture.

42. SiLEX.

When silex is the principal ingredient of a soil,
it is in the form of fine or coarse sand or gravel,
with some of it reduced to an impalpable powder.
The particles of silex, being hard and flinty, have
no cohesion or attraction towards each other, but
are rather of a repulsive character. The nature of
this soil is porous and friable, and incapable of re-
taining moisture. Water, when poured on this soil,
passes through it hke a sieve to the subsoil; it also
readily gives it up to the atmosphere by evaporation.
It powerfully promotes the decomposition of vege-
table and animal substances. Silex is generally
combined with oxid of iron and clay, and forms a
sandy or gravelly soil. Silicious sand, unmixed
with clay or lime, is barren; and a sandy soil is that
which contains at least seven-eighths of siHcious
matter. (Sir H. Davy.) When a sandy soil effer-
vesces with acid, the sand is calcareous, which is
better able to withstand the injurious effect of great
droughts than a silicious sand.

The friable nature of sandy soils make them
easily cultivated; and where they are mixed with

120 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

clay, lime, and vegetable matter, tliey are called
loam. An excess of sand, is much less injurious
tlian an excess of clay, in any soil.

43. Alumina.

Clay is a tenacious, compact, adhesive substance;
its particles are in minute divisions, and have a
strong attraction for each other. It attracts moisture,
combines with it, and retains it with the greatest ob-
stinacy; and it retards the progress of decomposition
in vegetable and animal matter.

Clay unmixed with silex, is barren and unfruitful.
Silex, in an impalpable state, is generally combined
with clay; and forms an unctuous, clammy, and
adhesive clayey soil, of a white, yellow, gray, brown,
or reddish colour.

Clay retains moisture, when poured on it, more
obstinately than other earths.

A clayey soil is that which contains at least one-
sixth part of impalpable clayey matter. (Sir H.
Davy.) When it is saturated with water it fonns a
plastic clay; the water combines chemically with it
to a certain degree, and it gives up the remainder
very slowly; and its parts are left in close contact,
like a well tempered brick dried for the kiln.

121

44. Lime.

Calcareous matter, forming a soil, is generally
a carbonate of lime. It attracts moisture, and che-
mically combines with it. When burnt lime is
slacked, it takes up one-fourth part of its weight of
water, and is as dry and powdery as the finest flour;
and when it is exposed to the atmosphere in this
state, it soon absorbs the carbon which was expelled
from it by burning, and becomes of the same na-
ture as it was before it was burned, — namely, a
carbonate of lime, but only finely divided. In its
caustic state, it is a powerful decomposer of animal
and vegetable matter; but when a carbonate, it pre-
serves these substances from decay much longer than
sands.

"WTien the surface is of this substance, it is either
in a fine impalpable state, as clay marl or chalk
marl, forming a close calcareous clay; or in a hard
rocky or rubbly shape, forming a dry, porous, friable,
chalky gravel, or rubbly calcareous soil.

Soil that is formed of pure carbonate of lime is,
like pure clay and silex, barren and unfruitful; but
when mixed with sand and a little clay, it forms a
calcareous loam. Soils, which have the most cal-
careous matter in them, are said to have the greatest
affinity for carbon; we may infer, therefore, that
such a soil will retain the carbonaceous matter it

122 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

receives from manures, longer tlian either sand or
clay.

45. Loam.

Loam is a mixture of clay and sand, and some-
times lime, with vegetable and animal matter. This,
formed by nature, is compounded of an infinite
variety of proportions, giving all the diversity of
texture found in soil.

Mould is that which contains the remains of pu-
trified organic matter, which has grown and decayed
on the surface. The richness of soils is in propor-
tion to the quantity of the mould they contain, if in
an actual state of decomposition, and in a properly
constituted soil. The remains of this matter, after
its dissolution, is a soft, light, black substance; the
abundance of which is the cause of blackness in
garden mould, which has been long in cultivation :
the French have given to this substance the name
of Humic acid.

46. The Properties and Use of Soil and
Subsoil.

Although it has been shewn that there is an
intimate connexion between the nature and pro-
perties of the soil, and those of the subsoil upon
which it rests J yet we would wish it to be under-

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 123

stood, that the nature and quality of the materials
of which the soil is composed, have not so much to
do with its productiveness, as the mere mechanical
mixture of its parts, by which it is brought into such
a state of friability, as to enable it to retain moisture
in dry seasons, and give off, by filtration, its redun-
dant moisture during a continuance of wet weather.
The soil only affords support to the roots of plants
while they are growing, it does not in any way give
nourishment to them. The most important elements
of vegetation being water, air, hght and heat, man
without these, may spend his strength for nought; it
is, therefore, necessary to get the soil in the best
state for receiving, retaining, and transmitting just
such a portion of them to the growing plants as,
under the peculiar circumstances of soil and chmate
in which they grow, is best fitted for the kind of
plants cultivated. The soil being, therefore, merely
the reservoir of water, air, and heat, and of decom-
posing organic matter, it may be rendered either
fertile or sterile by giving it the power of storing
up and retaining these elements for use in a much
greater quantity than before, or by abstracting from
it, or depriving it of the power of receiving, retaining,
and transmitting these to plants. Every operation
which tends to give or to facilitate the free ingress
and egress of water, air, light and heat to plants,
and to the soil in which they grow, will facihtate

124 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

their growth. Organic matter in the soil should
always be kept in an active state of decomposition,
for it is only when in this state that it can do any
good to growing vegetables. This is generally ef-
fected by frequently moving or cultivating the soil,
and by keeping the land perfectly dry and porous,
for if it be kept wet the vegetable matter will become
antiseptic, and capable Hke peat of preserving vege-
table and animal matter from putrifying.

47. SiLicious SANDY SOILS soou dccomposc the
manure bestowed upon them, which is carried off by
water and evaporation.

These are called hungry soils.

Soils on a dry porous subsoil, are more easily
dried by evaporation, than when the subsoil is clay
or marl.

A dry, light, sandy soil on a clay subsoil, is more
productive than on a sandy, gravelly subsoil ; and it
also supplies the means of its permanent improve-
ment, by mixing some of the subsoil with the soil.

48. — '^ The best constituted soil is that in which
the earthy materials, the moisture, and manure are
properly associated ; and on which the decomposable
vegetable or animal matter does not exceed one-fourth
of the weight of the earthy constituents."

Putrefaction goes on very slowly in strong adhe-

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 125

sive clays ; while in sand and gravel, the process is
very rapid. In quick lime, it is more so than in
sand ; but carbonate of lime, or effete lime, retards
the process of putrefaction more than sand or clay.
All earths have an affinity for, or the power of, re-
taining the gas or effluvia from the fermentation of
animal and vegetable matter, which takes place on
or near their surface.

None of the primitive earths, when pure or un-
mixed with others, are capable of supporting vege-
table life ; they are neither convertible into the ele-
ments of plants, nor into any new substance, by any
process naturally taking place in the soil. When
they are component parts of the soil, they merely
act as mechanical agents for the support of the plant,
and prepare a bed in which the roots sink and extend
themselves for the purpose of fixing their position ;
thus forming a natural laboratory, in which the de-
composition of organic matter is carried on, and
where it is reduced to its original elements for the
reproducing of plants.

A soil that is formed of nearly equal parts of the
three primitive earths, namely, sand, clay, and hme,
with a mixture of decomposing vegetable and animal
matter, imbibes moisture from, and gives it out to,
the atmosphere, and has aU the principles of fertility
which give life and vigour to the plants that grow
in it.

126 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

The properties of a good soil should be so friable
and porous as to permit the roots of plants to strike
freely in every direction in search of nourishment,
and to allow the superfluous water readily to pass off
through the subsoil, but to be sufficiently tenacious
to retain moisture for the support of plants when in
full vigour.

Fertile soils must be composed of silicious sand,
clay, and calcareous matter. "The proportion,"
Kirwan says, "where rain to the depth of twenty-
six inches falls per annum, is fifty-six per cent, of
sand, fourteen of clay, and thirty of calcareous mat-
ter." But these proportions depend entirely on the
climate, the situation, the nature of the subsoil, and
other local circumstances. More silicious sand, is
required in proportion as these circumstances tend
to make the soil wet ; and more clay, if they tend to
make it dry.

The constituent parts of a fertile soil should bear
a certain relative proportion to each other : but if
any of these prevail or fall short to a certain degree,
the soil becomes less productive.

The proper proportion of the primitive earths, to
form a productive soil under these circumstances,
may vary, from 50 to 70 per cent, of silicious mat-
ter ; from 20 to 40 of clay or aluminous matter, and
from 10 to 20 of calcareous matter.

According as the climate is moist, the soil should

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 12/

be friable and porous ; according as it is dry, the
soil should be adhesive and retentive.

The most productive soil is that which is so con-
stituted as to maintain such a degree of moisture in
very dry, and in very wet seasons, as only to give a
healthy supply of it to the plants. Such a soil gives
to plants the means of fixing their roots sufficiently
deep to support them during the period of their
growth ; and allows them to ramify in eveiy direc-
tion in search of nourishment, where they may easily
abstract the elements of vegetable life without being
injured by a redundant or a deficient supply of mois-
ture, during any period of their growth. A constant
supply of air and water is necessary to make, and
keep the soil, permanently productive ; when the
soil is easily made and kept friable, it will also have
the power of absorbing, retaining, and decomposing
the water, the air, and the organic matter, which
may be in its composition, by insensible fermenta-
tion ; and give up a constant supply of the results of
this decomposition for the growth of plants, either
at seed time, when they are merely vegetating, — in
summer, when they are growing with the greatest
luxuriance, — or in autumn, when they are ripening
their seed for hardest.

4 9 . The productive powers of nature.
The po^^ ers of nature to create vegetable produc-

128 NATURE A.ND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

tions appear never to diminish ; the process goes on
year after year with increasing energy, and brings
forth an increase of vegetable matter, to be again
decomposed and returned to the soil. This is the
natural process, by which the decomposing vegetable
matter, which we find in the soil, is formed ; and
there has been a continual succession of production,
decay, and reproduction of vegetable matter going
on, ever since nature first sprung into existence, pro-
ducing vegetables which, when dead, are decomposed
into the elements of which they were originally
formed.

No loss is sustained by the decomposition of vege-
table or animal matter in the soil ; all is reduced to
the first elements of plants, which give fresh energy
to vegetation, by again entering into vegetable com-
position.

Thus, the process of the growth and decay of ve-
getable matter goes on in a continual succession, and
the decay of one crop becomes the nourishment of
the next.

When nature is left to herself, the accumulation of
decomposing vegetable matter on the surface becomes
great ; and if the soil is not possessed of the property
of hastening their decay, the vegetable matter is
merely increased on the soil, without adding to its
productive powers.

On a careful examination, we think, it will be

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 129

found that the production of vegetables never ex-
hausts any soil : the yearly growth of grass with its
decay, adds yearly to its productiveness, and even a
plentiful crop of weeds, when allowed to decay on
the land which produced them, has the same effect :
and thus it is, that land, which has been worn out
by cross cropping, is by slovenly farmers left for
nature to improve.

It is believed by observers of nature, that plants
do no injury to the soil while they are producing
their stems and leaves, but that it is only when the
blossom and the seed require nourishment that the
plants exhaust the soil.

They do little or no injury to the soil unless they
produce their seed, and they may be kept for years
in a growing state, if they are not allowed to blossom.
Experiments have shown us that the nourishment
required for the perfecting of the seed is most inju-
rious to the soil.

When the natural pasture is consumed by stock,
it is converted into animal food for man : and the
excrement of the stock being left on the soil forms a
rich decomposing animal manure, which gives to the
soil increased energy to reproduce an increase of ve-
getable food, for an additional quantity of stock.

Pasture land is full of vegetable fibre, from the
surface down as low as the roots of plants descend.
Some are the recent roots of grasses, others are those

K

130 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

of every stage of decomposition. In arable land,
scarcely any vegetable fibre is to be found : this cir-
cumstance should teach us, that to form a good pas-
ture, we should fill the soil with vegetable fibre as a
manure, where we convert arable into pasture land.

The very small proportion of vegetable matter,
which is contained in the most productive arable
soils, would almost seem to indicate, that their rich-
ness does not depend on the decomposing vegetable
matter, but on something else ; for if all the straw or
refuse of the crops which the soil produced, was re-
turned to it after it had passed through the stomach
of some animal, this would scarcely be equal to one-
third of the whole produce.

A judicious succession of crops, and a profitable
consumption of the produce by sheep on the ground,
return to the soil such a quantity of manure, as to
give an additional means of increasing its produc-
tiveness.

*' Water is necessary to the growth of plants. It
is essential to the juices or extract of vegetable mat-
ter which they contain, and unless the soil, by
means of commutation, be fitted to retain the quan-
tity of water requisite to produce those juices, the
addition of manure will be useless. Manure is in-
efi'ectual towards vegetation, until it becomes soluble
in water; and it would even remain useless in a
state of solution if it so absorbed the water as en-

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 131

tirely to exclude the air : for in that case the fibres
or mouths of the plants would be unable to perform
their functions, and they would soon drop off by
decay." 179, Steward.

It is necessary that the animal and vegetable
matter in the soil should have this decomposing
disposition, and the soil have it in proportion to the
proper admixture of the materials of which it is com-

A certain degree of heat, the influence of the
atmosphere, and water, are necessary to carry on
the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter
in the soil. The best constituted soil, therefore, has
the power of imbibing, retaining, and giving up to
plants, a proper degree of heat, air, and moisture.
When the atmosphere is warm, moist, and sultry,
vegetable life is in the greatest vigour; w^hich would
indicate these to be necessary to vegetable hfe, if not
the very principles on which it depends.

Soil should not only have an affinity for the
moisture of the amosphere, but it should also have
the property of readily transmitting it to the vege-
tables which grow in it.

The soil, therefore, which is best adapted for
retaining and transmitting, in all circumstances of
wet and dry weather, the necessary quantity of
moisture to growing plants, may be reckoned the
best and most productive.

132 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

If we impart to any soil that which induces vege-
tation, we improve it and increase its productiveness;
but if we in any way withdraw from it that which
tends to produce vegetation, we injure it, and may
make it sterile. Barrenness in soil is produced
when the component parts of it are so firmly united,
that air, water, and the influence of the sun, cannot
enter into combination with it. When a soil is pure
clay, it is sterile and worthless; and so is that
w^hich is pure sand. The former, resists effectually
the enriching influence of the rains and dews, Avhich
merely fall on its surface, and either run off" or he
there, without penetrating into it. The sun and
vrind also may beat on it and blow over it, but they
can never penetrate its mass to awaken up the dor-
mant energy that lies within ; they only have the
effect by their repeated attacks to dry and harden
the surface, crack it into irregular portions, and
more firmly to lock up any languid and dormant
principles of vegetable life that may be within the
mass. The latter, is so porous and loose in its
texture, that the rain and dews no sooner fall on it,
than they pass through it rapidly like water through
a sieve ; the rays of the sun and the wind evaporate
and dry up the last particles that remain, producing
only a transitoiy effect on vegetation ; and because
they have no regular supply of moisture the plants
soon wither and decay.

USE OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 133

The energies of the soil are frequently held in
bondage by some pernicious quality inherent in it,
or imparted to it, which if neutralized or extracted,
the soil would become productive.

When light, sandy, and vegetable soils are artifi-
cially made lighter, they possess little of the prin-
ciples of vegetation. The mechanical disposition of
a clayey soil is also deranged by improper treatment,
such as trampling or ploughing it in wet weather ;
and although the soil has a full supply of animal and
vegetable manure in it, yet the mechanical derange-
ment so totally locks up all its energies, that the
necessary fermentation is altogether stopped, and
complete barrenness is the result.

This we have frequently observed to occur, from
land being trampled by sheep in eating oiF turnips
from strong clay soil during wet weather, in the
early part of spring.

They convert the surface into a complete puddle,
and when it becomes dry, the parts composing the
Boil are so thickly united together, that it is like
bricks dried for the kiln, and is entirely unfit for the
production of plants. It is evident that the causes
of sterility in these soils are opposed to each other ;
each, therefore, will require a mode of treatment
peculiar to its case. The light, sandy, and vegetable
soils, that are too friable, must be artificially ren-
dered more firm ; and the too tenacious clay soils

134 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

must be made artificially friable and kept so, and be
pulverized and mechanically altered before we can
expect them to become productive. It is evident, if
these two soils could be mixed together, the mixture,
with a proper quantity of vegetable and animal
manure, would make a good productive soil.

50. On the Means of Increasing the
Fertility of Land.

The productiveness of any soil, we think, depends
entirely on its natural or artificial capability of re-
taining or transmitting its moisture, the vehicle at
least by which nourishment is conveyed to plants.
This productive power may therefore not only be
continued in its greatest vigour, but greatly increased
by proper management. When we by any means
give to the soil a permanently increased vegetative
power, we also increase the yearly produce which it
yields.

Some soils produce large crops often repeated
without manure ; five crops of corn and a fallow are
the conditions entered in some leases in the neigh-
bourhood of Wisbeach in Lincolnshire, while other
land will produce nothing without great expense of
culture and manure, nor will an excess of manure
make such land permanently productive ; but if we
change its constituent parts by the addition of those

MEANS OF INCREASING FERTILITY. 135

earthy materials of which it is deficient, so as to
bring it nearer to the nature of those soils which we
know to be fertile, then we shall permanently in-
crease its productive powers.

Water being the vehicle by which nourishment is
conveyed to plants, the soil, whose constituent parts
are best adapted for retaining a sufficient supply and
transmitting a proper portion in very dry weather to
the plants growing in it, without holding it in
injurious quantities in the time of very wet weather,
is possessed of the principle of vegetation, and will
be found to be of the most productive nature. Such
a soil will give not only firmness to support the
plants, but will facilitate the growth of their roots
in search of moisture and nourishment to the greatest
depth.

There is not an individual who cultivates a gar-
den, and who exercises his judgment in its culture,
but knows that the addition of clay gives cohesion
to sandy or gravelly soils, and that sand and gravel
when mixed with a clayey soil diminishes its tena-
cious property; and that these changes, thus
effected, permanently increase the productive powers
of both.

In our endeavour to improve barren soils, we
should examine them in connection with fertile soils
in their neighbourhood, on the same geological for-
mation; and the difference of their constituent

136 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

parts may lead us to the means of their improve-
ment. If the cause of sterility be owing to some
defects in their composition, these defects should be
supplied. An excess of silicious sand is improved
by the application of clay, peat earth, or calcareous
matter, cold well rotten manure, and rolling or
trampling with sheep or other stock, to consolidate
its texture.

When clay is in excess, it is remedied by the ap-
plication of sand, chalk marl, or burned clay, light
unfermented manures, and perfect pulverization, to
make the soil friable. An excess of vegetable mat-
ter in a dormant state, as in peaty soils, is corrected
by burning, by the application of clay, sand, calca-
reous matter, gravel, rubble, or any thing heavy, to
give firmness to the soil. Lime not only destroys
the injurious effects produced by sulphate of iron,
which abounds in some soils, particularly in those
of a peaty and silicious gravelly nature, but is said
to convert the sulphate of iron into a manure. None
of these applications, however, will have the desired
effect, unless there be first a perfect subsoil drainage
of all superfluous moisture, conjoined with a perfect
tillage.

Stagnant water, in any soil, melts down the par-
ticles of matter which composes it, and joins them
together in close contact ; it prevents the air and
water from circulating amongst the roots of the

MEANS OF INCREASING FERTILITY. 137

plants, and they therefore die. When a clayey soil
has been thus closed together by stagnant water, it
requires to be perfectly drained, and it can only be
recovered by repeated ploughings and harrowings,
together with the pulverizing influence of frost to
bring it into a fit state for vegetation, and if it has
been long under water, it acquires a pernicious
quality, which can only be got quit of with great
difliculty, — fallowing, and the application of lime,
has a great effect in reviving it.

The first principles of agriculture, which are shewn
by the best practice, are few ; they may be stated to
be these: — make and keep the land perfectly dry,
and clean, or free from weeds ; make and keep the
soil, which is too adhesive or too loose, of such a
friable nature, as will make it receive, retain, and
transmit moisture, and thus fit it to produce the
most luxuriant state of vegetation ; restore to the
soil, as a manure, in a state of decay, the greater
part, if not the whole, of the produce after it has
been consumed by sheep or other stock. Never
manure any land till every weed is exterminated, for
weeds grow most luxuriantly in the soil to which
they are natural : if any of them are left, they will
outgrow the plant you intend to cultivate, and take
up the greatest quantity of the manure laid on the
land.

The properties of the mineral matter of which

13S NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

soils are composed, are very various, this variety
depending on the nature of the subsoil, as we have
elsewhere shewn ; but as it is only where soils have
the mineral ingredients in a certain proportion, that
they are capable of imbibing moisture from the
atmosphere, of holding the rain which falls on it,
and transmitting it to plants as they require it. Of
imbibing and retaining heat, and of readily decom-
posing vegetable matter, which makes up the most
valuable soil. A knowledge of these particulars is
of the greatest moment to the agriculturist ; by it
he will be able to improve the texture of the soil, by
adding to it the mineral substance of which it is
deficient, so as permanently to improve it.

To alter the nature and properties of the con-
stituents of any soil, may be more expensive than to
manure it ; but the effect of the former will be last-
ing, while that of the latter is transitory ; the one
permanently improves the nature and quality of the
soil, the other only imparts a temporary excitement
to force a crop for a year or two.

The materials necessary for the permanent im-
provement of the soil are seldom far off, and the
expense, though in some instances considerable, is
soon repaid by the permanency of its increased fer-
tility ; the manure apphed afterwards has a much
greater effect, the expense of cultivation is greatly
diminished, and the capital laid out is soon restored

MEANS OF INCREASING FERTILITY. 139

by its yearly increased produce. By these altera-
tions, we store the earth with hidden and inex-
haustible treasures, which, invisible to the eye, put
forth their strength, and give us the evidence of
their presence by the effects produced on vegetation.

In the process of vegetation, nature supplies soil,
water, hght, and heat ; but the matter composing
the soil may not be in such a state as to receive, and
transmit these in such quantities, as will produce a
healthy vegetation.

]\Ian may regulate the supply by cultivation, and
by altering the texture of the soil.

When the materials of which the soil is composed
are in proper proportion, the soil is most productive;
when any one of the ingredients is in too great a
proportion, the soil is unproductive.

Pure clay, silex, or lime, when alone, we have
before stated, is barren ; but if they are mixed toge-
ther, having a due portion of water, the influence of
the sun, and a proper admission of air, (which are
the prime movers in vegetable life), a fermentation
amongst the materials is created; and if vegetable
and animal manure in a state of decomposition be
combined with these, the soil, which was sterile
when separate, will become productive when com-
bined, and this mixture of materials and mechanical
alteration will change the texture, and improve the
quality of the soil.

140 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Neither the clay, the silex, nor the lime is decom*
posed by this process; but the soil, composed of
these materials in proper proportion, has the power
of combining with, and decomposing the vegetable
and animal matter, the water, and air which it con-
tains, and produces results which aiford the neces-
sary food for the growth of plants.

Wlien the particles of earth which compose the
soil are separate from each other, or well pulverized,
it holds the greatest quantity of free or available
moisture, and readily transmits it to the plants
which are growing in it ; but when the particles of
the earth are closely packed together, hke new made
bricks, it neither can receive moisture, nor will it
give out that which it already possesses.

Good soils are naturally possessed of certain
powers, with which, by the aid of husbandry, we can
produce certain effects ; on poor sterile soils, these
powers may be conferred by artificially altering their
texture.

When the fluid in the soil is so connected with
the fluid in the plant, and gives out to it a constant
and healthy supply, then we say the soil is in good
condition.

Manure applied to the soil increases its vegetative
powers, but the way in which it acts is not well un-
derstood. The processes of the small rootlets are so
very minute, that no crude substance can pass

MEANS OF INCREASING FERTILITY. 141

through them ; it can therefore only be taken up by
them in the form of water or gas, and be absorbed
by the leaves.

Well rotten manure gives an unctuous or cohesive
property ; but, when in a loose or strawy state, it
gives a porousness or looseness to the soil.

All mineral manures, as Hme, chalk, marl, sand,
gravel, ditch mould, road scrapings, and other earthy
matter, act on the soil merely as an alterative, by
changing the constituents of the soil and improving
its texture ; and by giving it an increased power of
imbibing and decomposing water, air, and organic
matter.

The most abundant ingredients in soil are sand
and clay, and as a mixture of the one with the
other tends to improve both, nature has so ordered
it that these are generally found in great abundance,
near to each other.

In the plastic clay formation, extensive tracts of
sandy soil are found lying upon the brick clay; the
soil of which is greatly improved by hfting up the
clay, and spreading it over the sand, at the rate of
100 cubic yards to the acre.

There is also a considerable extent of this for-
mation covered with flinty gravel, mixed with clay
and sand, with a thin covering of black mould or
peat earth for its surface, which produces heath and
furze.

142 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This lies near the clay, and the whole of this dis-
trict may be greatly improved by trenching, or other-
wise mixing the sand and gravel with the clay below.
The most of this is near the chalk, and would be
greatly improved by an admixture of 80 or 100
cubic yards of it per acre. Chalk or lime destroys
the pernicious effects of the sulphate of iron in the
gravelly soil, and makes the soil which was worth-
less so productive as to pay the whole of the ex-
pense in a year or two.

Soil that is chiefly composed of finely divided
or impalpable matter, is greatly improved by the
application of small stones, gravel, or coarse sand;
as this prevents the soil from collapsing or consoli-
dating during continual rain.

All alteratives should be put on the land in small
quantities at a time, or if in large quantities, it should
be when the land is in fallow; and these should be
well mixed by repeated ploughings, or by Finlay son's
harrow, which is an excellent implement for loosen-
ing and breaking the furrow sHce. The best way of
putting on small quantities of materials for altering
the texture of the soil, is to make a mixture of them,
with the manure you intend to apply to the field;
and these ought to be well mixed by laying them
loose together, turning them several times, and fer-
menting them in the mass. When this is properly
done, it should be carted and spread on the soil when

SUBSOIL DRAINAGE, &C. 143

in fallow, and be ploughed in and well mixed, so as
to be completely incorporated with the soil.

51. Perfect Subsoil Drainage, and deep
Ploughing.

Every variety of good soil has a naturally dry
porous subsoil, being either a deep, friable, porous
earth, sand, or gravel, or open rock; so that rain
water will not rest on its surface, but readily pass
through the stratum below.

The greatest injury which the land receives is from
stagnant water on the surface, or between the soil
and the subsoil.

Bad and worthless clay soil is generally that,
which is saturated by stagnant water.

If water be allowed to remain on good land, it will
soon convert it into bad or worthless soil ; a retentive
subsoil has generally a soft or clayey surface, and is
universally a bad and unproductive soil.

When the subsoil is retentive, the rain finds its
way through the cultivated portion of the surface to
the subsoil, and passes on slips between them to the
furrows, keeping the cultivated portions of the soil
wet and unfit for vegetation ; but if the subsoil be
porous, either naturally or artificially, it then goes
directly through the subsoil or porous passage to the
drains that are formed to draw off the redundant
water.

144 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

It is the constant practice of the most scientific
gardeners, when about to pot any plants, to put
some broken tiles or gravel in the bottom of the pots
to drain off the superfluous moisture from the plants
to the hole in the bottom of the flower pots ; and
when they use a strongish or clay soil, instead of
passing the soil through a sieve as formerly was the
custom, they now chop it into small pieces, and thus
give to strongish clay soils an artificial porousness
which they naturally do not possess.

On examining the roots of plants growing in pots
with soil thus prepared, we find the crevices between
the broken pieces of earth full of roots, because they
have not only a more easy passage where the soil is
friable, in consequence of the lumps keeping the
earth loose and porous between them, but here the
drainage is most rapid and complete.

Land is not perfectly drained which, during the
wettest weather, has any spots on it which the water
rests upon, and gets stagnant for a short period ; the
rain should have a free course to sink down through
the subsoil below the roots of plants, and then run
off by the furrow-drains to the open ditches.

Complete subsoil drainage of the retentive soils
can only be effected by having a drain in every fur-
row, or about one or at most two perches apart ; and
then by subsoil ploughing across the drains, and
making an artificial porous stratum under the culti-

SUBSOIL DRAINAGE, &C. 145

vated surface, to within an inch or two of the stones
in tlie drains, that the rain-water may fall through
the surface and run in the subsoil to the drains.
The effect produced on the crops of close retentive
soils, after they have been perfectly drained and sub-
soil ploughed, is most astonishing.

The produce is so much increased that it will, in
many instances, pay the expenses in a year or two ;
and wet soils, which seemed to be strong clay when
wet, become friable and even light when completely
sub soil- drained, are easily cultivated, and light
enough for producing turnips to be fed off with
sheep.

Perfect drainage and deep ploughing is the true
principle of giving to the soil an increased fertility ;
by this means, the plants are enabled readily to
push their roots farther and deeper in search of
food, which they obtain of a more healthy kind,
than when the soil is imperfectly drained and
ploughed shallow. All tenacious clay soils should
be trenched or subsoil- ploughed once in every course
of crops, or when they are in fallow ; this practice
not only gives to the roots of plants a greater scope
to go in search of food in dry weather, but also
furnishes a depth of porous substratum under the
soil to draw off the superabundant moisture during
continued wet weather, and transmits moisture to
the roots of plants in continual drought.

L

146 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

The utility of trencliing or subsoil-ploughing
these soils, particularly such as have retentive sub-
soils, must be evident ; for if the soil on such a
subsoil be well pulverized merely to the depth of
the furrovr slice, in continued wet weather it soon
gets into a state unfit for vegetation ; the water
becomes stagnant, and all the soluble matter in the
soil is either washed out, or locked up in the soil,
from being so thoroughly soaked as to exclude the
air ; and when it again becomes dry, it is as hard
and solid a mass as bricks ready for the kiln.

In either of these states, it is impossible for any
plants to vegetate ; the soil being at one time as
soft and smooth as well tempered mortar, and at
another, almost as dry and hard as a stone.

But when the soil is artificially deepened by
deep ploughing, and the subsoil is also made
porous to a much greater depth by the subsoil-
plough, the rain gradually sinks down to the
whole depth of the porous substratum, and from
thence to the furrow drains ; and in time of great
drought, the deep moved ground will hold, by
capillary attraction, a much greater supply of
moisture for the nourishment of plants ; thus drain-
ing oflf the abundant water during heavy rains,
and supplying the means for healthy vegetation at
all times.

Complete or perfect drainage is the foundation of

SUBSOIL DRAINAGE, &C. 147

all improvements in husbandry ; it should therefore
be the first step which we take in attempting to
improve or ameliorate the soil.

Land wet from springs should be drained by
deep drains, so as to tap the porous stratum which
contains the water at the lowest level if possible.
But much the greatest part of what is called wet
land, is so from its retentive subsoil, and the
retentive adhesive nature of the soil, which so
obstinately retains the rain that falls on it ; so that
the drying process is effected very slowly, when
compared with soil whose subsoil is either naturally
or artificially porous. The working of such land is
kept back, and is frequently not effected in proper
time. Nature furnishes us with the principles which
should direct all our operations in permanently im-
proving soil, or in cultivating it.

As we have seen that the richest and most pro-
ductive soil has always a subsoil pervious to water,
which carries it off as it falls, by imbibing it or
filtering it to a considerable depth below the active
soil ; so we ought artificially to make as complete a
drainage of subsoils to produce the same effect, by
having drains from one to two perches apart, and
by deep or subsoil ploughing across these drains to
draw off the water to them which falls on the sur-
face, so that the whole of the active soil may be
always kept so dry as to be fit for the purposes of
vegetation.

l48 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

These drains must be sufficiently near each other,
to allow the redundant moisture to be speedily and
effectually carried off, by the artificial passage made
at the bottom of the moved subsoil.

The distance of these drains must be regulated
by the nature of the subsoil ; if this be very close
and impervious, they should be only about one
perch, but if it be to a certain degree pervious,
they may be two perches apart.

Before we attempt perfectly to drain any land,
we must first understand the principles of the
system thoroughly ; or we may only adopt certain
general rules, without considering that the various
kinds of subsoil will require particular modes to
effect our object.

Mr. Smith of Deaneston first gave publicity to
the mode of perfect drainage, and subsoil plough-
ing ; he says, " The principle of the system is the
'providing of frequent opportunities for the water
rising from helow, or falling on the surface, to pass
freely and completely off, and therefore the more ap-
propriate appellation for it, seems to be, * TJie fre-
quent drain system.'' '*

The most perfect and permanent mode of under-
ground draining is the following ; make parallel
drains from the highest to the lowest end of the
field, the distance between each being regulated by
the nature of the soil and subsoil, and, at the bottom
of the field, at the distance of about 1 6|- feet from

SUBSOIL DRAINAGE, &C. 149

the ditch, there should be an underground main
drain into which the parallel drains empty them-
selves. This main drain should be large enough to
take all the water from the drains, even though the
field be 20 acres in size, and convey it to the ditch,
with which it is connected at its lower end. The
principal reasons for having all the underground
parallel drains to empty themselves into the main,
and through that into the ditch, instead of each
emptying itself into the ditch, are, that while in the
latter case a hundred mouths would require to be
kept open and clear of rubbish, in the former only
one has to be attended to, and also, that during the
summer months some of the parallel drains would
become dry and allow the entrance of moles and
rats which would soon stop them up, but that the
quantity of water which always issues from a main
drain would forbid their entrance, and, thus hinder
them from injuring it or the others.

The best time to drain surface or rain water from
land is from September to April. The mode of pro-
ceeding should be first to lay out the directions of
all the drains, and mark out the position of the
whole, both the parallel and the main drains. The
digging of the main drain should then be com-
menced at the lowest end of the field, and it should
be finished before any of the parallel drains are
touched. When the uppermost end of the main is

150 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

at length arrived at, the lower end of the furthest of
the parallel drains should be commenced, and the
others should be completed one after another. The
direction of the parallel drains should be from the
top to the bottom of the field, and if there be high
ridges they should be in the furrow ; they may be
from one to one and a half or two perches apart>
varying according to the nature of the subsoil. The
fall should be as uniform as possible, it may vary
from one in six to one in thirty, and it should be
greatest just where it joins the main drain. The
depth of the parallel drains should be three feet,
never less than 30 inches. Their width at top
should be about 15 inches, but at bottom it must be
regulated by the size of the soles for the draining
tiles, and may vary from four to five inches. Their
length may be from 250 to 300 yards, but if they
cross springs of water it should never exceed 200.
The mode which we have adopted is to begin by
putting in the tiles at the top of the highest parallel
drains, and the order in which each drain is com-
pleted is exactly the reverse of that in which they
were commenced, only the main drain is finishing
as the others are completing, {i. e.) after the first
parallel is completed, the main is commenced to,
and completed as far as the second, which being
finished, the main is carried on to the third, and so
on till the whole is finished. A sole is put in for

SUBSOIL DRAINAGE, &C. 151

each tile, or rather the soles should be put close to-
gether and the draining tiles should rest on one-half
of two soles, the middle of each tile being over the
junction of two soles. The width of the soles
should be about one inch greater than that of the
tiles, so that it may project half an inch on either
side. The bottom sole of the parallel drain, at its
junction with the main, should rest upon the top of
the main draining tile, and care should therefore be
taken to make it sufficiently high for that purpose ;
a distance of an inch between the tiles of the main
drain should be left at that place, so that the water
from the parallel drains may fall into the main, and
as each tile rests on two soles, this opening would
be covered by the projection of the last tile in the
parallel drain, and no entrance would thus be allowed
to earth which would otherwise fall in.

The position of the main should be at the lowest
part of the field to be drained, its dimensions will
be regulated by the size of the field, and the amount
of water it is expected to discharge. A fall of one
in 200 is the least that can be advised, one in 140
or one in 100 would keep the bottom clear of sedi-
ment. A main drain for a field of 10 acres should
have tiles of at least four by six inches in size, or if
two tiles side by side be employed, they may each
be about three inches by four. The soles for the
former should be seven inches in width, and for the

152 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

latter five. The main drains should have double
the capability of carrying off water that it is ex-
pected to require. The depth of the main should
be greater than that of the parallel di'ains by the
height of the tiles used in it, so that, as was before
stated, the soles of the latter may run over those of
the former, and allow the water they convey to drop
through an opening made for the purpose. Two
tiles and two soles abreast are more preferable for
the main drain than a large one of each.

The parallel drains should be covered by cinders
or turf^ or by the best soil. When the last of
these is used nothing but the very best vegetable
mould should be employed; clay or tile ought never
to be used for the purpose. Tiles are rather dearer
than stones, but they are better when the land has
a very slight declivity. If however the field has a
considerable descent stones are preferable and more
durable. They should be broken till they can be
passed through a two inch ring, and should then be
filled in to the depth of 12 inches. The course of
the main drain should be directed to where it would
be most convenient for watering the stock so as to
supply two or four adjoining fields. A large cistern
ought to be used for the purpose, as if the stock get
access to the mouth of the drains they would soon
stop them up by trampling on them.

153

52. On the best Means of permanently
Improving the Class of Clay Soils.

Clay soils are distinguished by their adhesive-
ness. They stick to the feet when damp, they
imbibe moisture slowly, but do not transmit it
freely for the use of plants ; and when strong clay
soils are brought quickly from a wet to a dry
state, they approach to the state of bricks previous
to their being burned. Clay soils are tilled with
difficulty when too dry, and when too wet this ope-
ration has the same effect as the tempering of clay
has, in the art of brick-making.

The tillage of such land in a proper state is
therefore of the greatest importance, and this is
best performed when it is neither too wet nor too
dry.

Poor thin clays upon a retentive subsoil are the
most unprofitable ; the expense of their cultivation,
under the present system is great, being frequently
equal to the value of the produce, and sometimes
far above it. Their natural produce is coarse grass
of very httle value, fit only for young beasts.

Clay soils are best calculated for the production
of plants that have fibrous roots, particularly wheat,
beans, oats, vetches, clover, cabbage, grass, &c.

While the light sandy soils have been greatly im-

154 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

proved by the adoption of a new system of culture,
the poor clays remain in the same state they were
in a century ago, without any increase to their pro-
ductiveness ; indeed, they are rather in a worse
state than formerly. It is therefore supposed by
some agriculturists, that, as there have been no
improvements in the clay soils, while there has
been so great an increase in the productiveness of
sandy soils, the clays are not susceptible of improve-
ment with the least chance of a proper return.

There is no doubt but a better system could be
adopted for the cultivation of strong clay soils, than
that which is pursued in the common fields, and on
the clays of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Cambridge ;
and in other counties, on the malm, gault, oak-tree,
clunch, Oxford, and blue lias clays.

The course of cropping adopted in the common
fields and on thin clay, is summer fallow if dunged,
wheat, and then beans ; or without dung, barley,
then oats, then fallow again ; and this is the same
as it was 100 years ago.

The chief cause of thus neglecting the clay soils
is the difficulty and expense of cultivating them,
and of converting them into pasture, after having
been long kept under this system of arable cultiva-
tion. It is difficult to convert such land into good
pasture, but it has been overcome, and the best and
most profitable results have foUowed.

IMPROVEMENT OF CLAY SOILS. 155

There is a much greater difficulty in getting a
poor, cold, clay farm let, than one consisting of a
poor sandy soil. The capital and ability required
for the former being not only much greater, and of
a higher order ; but the risk is also much more in
cultivating the clay, than the sand ; as the mode of
improving the land and securing good crops on
sandy soils by claying, is easy and certain, and the
turnip and sheep husbandry cannot be adopted on
clays.

Besides, the system of cultivating light sand or
loamy soils has been so long estabhshed, and the
Norfolk or four-field system has now become so
much the beaten track, that it would be difficult
for the farmers who have been brought up to it,
to leave it off, although a better one were shown
them.

The turnip, and sheep system, however, cannot
be adopted on clay soils, till they are completely
drained and subsoil-ploughed, and till sand or
light and porous matter be added to alter their
texture.

Some new impulse must be given to agricultural
speculations, before the cold wet clay soils will ever
attain that degree of improvement which they are
capable of, and which has been effected in the sandy
and peaty soils.

The landlords should encourage tenants with

156 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

capital and talent, by letting farms at low rents
under improving leases, similar to the building
leases granted in great towns ; and binding them,
by certain covenants, to improve the land by com-
plete subsoil drainage and the application of alter-
atives ; and by a proper mode of culture, to convert
a certain portion of the arable land into pasture,
under SC particular mode found to be the best and
surest for effecting its amelioration. The best and
most profitable mode for permanently improving
land, is to intrust it to the care of an intelligent and
industrious farmer, under the security of an im-
proving lease.

Perhaps Lord Kames's mode of letting land for
this object is the best, with additional covenants
binding the tenant to improve, by altering the tex-
ture of such soils as would be improved by it. It
ought ever to be kept in mind, that the only true
and systematic stimulus to improvement of any kind,
is the certainty of profit in the outlay of capital.
This is the main spring to all our exertions ; with-
out the certainty of occupying his improvements
for such a length of time as will enable him to reap
the advantage of his outlay, we may be assured that
no man will either invest his own capital, or be in-
clined to borrow money, to be laid out in the im-
provement of another man's estate.

There is no doubt, however, but thin clay soils

IMPROVEMENT OF CLAY SOILS. 157

could be easily improved, and, perhaps, in a much
greater degree than the sandy soils have been, during
the last 40 years; and their surface may yet be seen
clothed with a rich herbage, which shall vie with
that of the other soils in producing the best cheese,
beef, and mutton.

Clay soils will produce pasture, just in proportion
to the quantity of decaying active vegetable matter
in their composition. If this be abundant, the crop
will be rich and luxuriant; and the decaying fibrous
roots will form a dry, porous soil, giving a sufficient
depth for the rain to sink through the subsoil,
where it will run off by the furrow drains. If there
be little vegetable matter in the soil, the moisture
wiU make the earthy matter in it collapse and ad-
here together ; and it will form a cold, wet, sterile
clay, producing only carnation grass or nothing else
of any value.

Pasture on clay soils should never be converted
into arable culture, unless the application of skill and
capital will not only repay the additional expense of
the culture, but also tend to increase the permanent
productiveness of the soil. Without a proper appli-
cation of skill, capital, and industry on such land,
the converting of it into arable culture wiU only tend
to diminish the produce, if the free produce under
the artificial culture fall short of that which nature
itself afforded.

158 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

Much may be learned from the practice of market
gardeners, in the neighbourhood of London and
elsewhere. They have two methods of trenching
their land. When the soil and subsoil are good to
a great depth, they turn the surface under, and
fetch up a fresh spit from below, to constitute the
surface for so many years ; but when the subsoil is
poor or strong clay, they bastard-trench it, as they
call it ; that is, they throw the surface spit forward,
always keeping it uppermost, and dig the subsoil by
turning it over in the trench, without moving it
from its place.

Their object in thus trenching their clay soils is
to get depth for the rain water to descend, to give a
greater depth of moisture to the roots of plants in
dry weather, and for the superabundant moisture in
wet weather to descend below the roots of plants,
and run off to the drain.

If we perfectly drain thin clay soil by furrow
draining, and deepen the subsoil by trenching with
the spade or the subsoil plough, making it pervious
to the moisture which falls on it, that it may imme-
diately sink to a depth below the reach of the roots
of the plants, the cultivated surface will be dry ;
and if we reduce the tenacity of the soil by applying
to it those light or sandy substances, which, when
well incorporated witb it, will make and keep the
soil permanently porous and friable, then the land

IMPROVEMENT OF CLAY SOILS. 159

which before produced only a poor crop of carnation
grass, or if arable, of oats, will now produce an
abundant crop of wheat, beans, oats, clover, and
even turnips ; and if properly laid down, and full
of manure, will form a rich pasturage for any kind
of stock.

When clay soils have dry pervious subsoils, they
become darker in colour from the repeated applica-
tion of manures, and under a proper system of cul-
tivation they lose their adhesiveness, and become a
loamy soil, producing the most fruitful crops of
wheat, beans, clover, vetches, cabbage, and the best
and richest herbage for dairy cows. The millc from
cows fed on such pasture produces more cheese and
butter than the milk from cows fed on a sandy soil,
and is also of a better quality.

Any thing which will produce permanent friabihty
in clay soils, such as sand, lime, burnt clay, loose
light vegetable matter, or long unfermentcd manure,
will alter its texture and improve its quahty.

"When tenacious soils are completely subsoil-
drained, and a system of deep or subsoil-ploughing
is adopted every time when the land is in summer
fallow, if the soil be deepened and the subsoil made
more porous, and if never ploughed when too wet,
and a full portion of vegetable manure be given to
the soil, and well mixed with it, a mechanical eifect
will be produced, which will change the nature and
texture of the soil, and give to it that friability

160 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

which is so essential in all productive soils. The
rain that falls on it will now percolate through it to
the depth of the new formed subsoil, and thence to
the furrow drains.

The soil now receives the circulation of the air,
which is carried on by the rains filling up the inter-
stices which the air previously occupied, and the
complete drainage draws off all the superabundant
water as it falls. By this operation, the earth again
receives a fresh supply of air from the atmosphere,
which promotes a chemical as well as mechanical
action in the soil, and hastens the decomposition of
the air and water, as well as the vegetable and ani-
mal manure it contains, and thus a liberal supply of
the nourishment necessary for the growth of plants
is obtained.

Soil that is principally composed of calcareous
matter, in minute divisions, becomes a most tena-
cious stubborn soil ; and, under certain circum-
stances, as sterile as the most worthless clay.
Calcareous matter, therefore, although reckoned a
valuable constituent in a soil, becomes an evil when
it composes the greater part of it.

Calcareous clay when thoroughly dried, falls to
pieces like burnt lime, whenever it is again wetted.
Every poor clay soil may be much improved by
paring and burning the surface, after it has been
completely drained.

This is the first step that ought to be taken

IMPROVEMENT OF SANDY SOILS. 16l

towards ameliorating such a soil, and the more
clayey the soil is, the deeper ought the soil to he
burnt. When the burnt surface is mixed with the
soil to the depth of the furrow, it acts as a coarse
sand, and makes it more friable and porous, by con-
verting the matter, which was before damp and ad-
hesive, into a dry, friable, warm soil, permanently
improved, and capable of producing luxuriant crops
of every kind.

If we can get depth and friability to the subsoil
of strong adhesive clay, we thereby prevent stagnant
water from injuring the roots, and give to the plants
the liberty of sending these roots to a greater depth
in search of nourishment.

In all rich soils, there is vegetable matter in every
state of decay, and the greater this portion of de-
caying vegetable matter is in strong clay soils, the
greater is its productive powers. Besides this, de-
composing vegetable matter will tend to keep strong
clay land loose, friable, and porous.

53. Improvement of the Class of Silpcious
OR Sandy Soils.

Sandy and gravelly soils are distinguished by the
hardness of their parts, however minutely they may
be divided, and by their friability, and the want of
adhesion, which is a characteristic of all sandy soils.

162 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

They do not stick to the feet even in wet weather.
Gravelly soils may be termed coarse sand. All
sandy and gravelly soils are termed hungry soils ;
that is, manure is decomposed and gone much sooner
in them than in tenacious soils ; and rain readily
sinks through a sandy or gravelly soil, and soon
leaves it parched and thirsty as before ; but plants
grow most luxuriantly in such soils in the time of
wet warm weather, although they are soon burnt up
in the time of continued drought. Deep sandy or
silty soils, however, when there is water in the sub-
soil within two or three feet of the surface, are less
affected by long drought than strong clays in^he
like situation.

This is owing to the capillary attraction of the
minute parts of the silt or sand which compose the
subsoil. Sandy soils are best fitted for garden
ground and spade culture ; hence, such a soil is
generally chosen for this purpose, although at a dis-
tance from the place where the produce is to be
consumed. At Sandy near Biggleswade in Bedford-
shire, and at Evesham in Worcestershire, there is a
large extent of ground under garden culture to raise
vegetables for the London and Birmingham markets.
They are much earlier and better fitted for the
growth of garden vegetables, peas, carrots, turnips,
potatoes, barley, and rye, than clays ; and although
a deep sandy loam is not the most productive, yet

IMPROVEMENT OF SANDY SOILS. 163

it is generally the most profitable, as the crops
never fail on it, and the expense of its culture is
much less than that of the clays. It is also more
accessible to rains, and the vegetable and other
manures applied to it are much sooner decomposed,
and the effects produced are much more evident
than on adhesive clays. The greatest improvement
that can be made in a sandy soil is by the applica-
tion of clay, calcareous matter, or cold tenacious
manures. These tend to alter its texture and im-
prove its quality, by giving to it a greater degree of
tenacity, which enables it to retain moisture longer
for the use of plants.

The sandy soils of Norfolk and Suffolk have been
greatly improved by the application of clay, chalk,
or clay marl, which is found under the surface.
From 50 to 80 loads of 36 cubic feet per acre, but
generally 100 cubic yards per acre, are wheeled
regularly over the ground from a spot in or near
the field, at the expense of sixpence per cubic yard
or fifty shillings per acre.

In Hampshire and Berks, the sandy and reddish
gravelly soil of the plastic clay is greatly improved
by the application of chalk, which is got by sinking
through the gravel to it, and lifting it up by a
windlass. 2880 bushels per acre are applied with
great advantage at the expense of 425.

Deep ploughing, moving the subsoil so as to mix

164 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

with it some of the soil, and tenacious matter put
on the surface to alter its texture, have a most
wonaerful effect of retaining the moisture, and of
making the soil much more productive. Even deep
ploughing the poorest sand is greatly beneficial,
without the addition of any tenacious matter.

When a sandy soil is ploughed, or is otherwise
pulverized, it should soon afterwards be either rolled,
or trampled by sheep, &c. to render it firm, and to
give it, by mechanical means, that degree of close-
ness which is necessary, when we cannot give it a
due degree of adhesiveness by the addition of clay.

54. Improvement of Peat or Fen Soils.

Peaty soil is composed of an excess of vegetable
matter in a sponge-like state, holding an excess of
water, which is the chief cause of its growth. It is
therefore incapable of improvement, till it is de-
prived by thorough draining of the water it thus
holds like a sponge.

There is a large portion of iron and tannin in its
composition, which must also be got rid of : it is
generally, however, but of httle value for arable
culture, till the texture of it be altered by the appH-
cation of clay, silt, gravel, lime, or any other heavy
tenacious substance, which gives a firmness and a
body to it.

IMPROVEMENT OF PEAT OR FEN SOILS. 165

Black peaty soil is never profitably employed as
pasture, as sheep do not thrive well on it. The
milk of cows pastured thereon is thin and watery ;
hence, a good dairy cannot be found on this soil.
In breeding them, there is great risk ; and stock
brought from other soils do not feed well ; it is
therefore much better adapted for arable culture.

The continual ploughing and fallowing too of this
black mould or fen land produces a minute division
of the roots of couch, which so abounds in the soil,
that the land is stocked with plants for the next
course, unless the season be so dry that they can be
all picked out of the ground ; but this is a very dif-
ficult task, for, from the softness of the soil, the
horses' feet send down, below the reach of the
plough, a portion of the couch at every footstep ;
so that fen land, in its natural state, without being
hardened by the application of clay, defies the ut-
most exertion of the most industrious farmer to get
quit of the weeds. Nothing will enable the farmer
to destroy the weeds, the couch, the harift' and the
chickweed, and many others, so well as a constant
system of claying, once in six or eight years at
farthest.

In the extensive fens in Lincolnshire, the black
mould lies on clay or silt ; and, in some instances,
within one or two feet of it.

As an alterative, this clay is lifted up and spread

166 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

over the soil ; and, when well incorporated with the
black peat earth, it forms a most productive soil,
and yields the most luxuriant crops of oats, wheat,
cole, and turnips. The best and most profitable
mode of cultivating black peaty or fen land, is first,
by a fallow, to get it perfectly clear for cole or
turnips. This crop ought to be consumed on the
ground by sheep, in the early part of the winter ;
and in January or February at farthest, the surface
should have a covering of clay.

When this is dry enough, it should be ploughed
and sown with oats ; then, with wheat as a crop for
the following year ; with clover for the fourth crop,
which may be made to hay or cut green for horses,
and after being well dunged and sown to wheat for
the fifth crop, then fallow for cole or turnips suc-
ceeds and then clayed as before. Thus, by claying
once in every course, it is calculated to produce one,
if not two quarters of corn more, per annum, than
without it. The average produce, under this mode
of culture, is equal to eight quarters of oats, and
four and a half of wheat.

Mr. Wingate's plan is perhaps more profitable
than the above. He fallows for cole or turnips after
the land has been well cleaned and dunged, and this
crop is eat off with sheep on the ground.

It is then clayed and sown to oats, after which is
a crop of wheat for the third year, the whole of the

PARING AND BURNING THE SURFACE. 16/

straw is consumed by oxen, with a portion of oil
cake along with it, which gives a great degree of
richness to the manure. The land is clayed every
second course, or once in six years. The crops on
this part of the east fen are equal, on an average, to
70 bushels of oats, and 40 of wheat. This system
has been used for many years ; the soil has lost its
blackness, is now of a greyish colour, and has be-
come a fine, friable, deep loam.

55. Improvement by Paring and Burning the
Surface.

It is said that the plan of paring and burning the
surface injures land which is not calcareous, and that
it increases the fertility of calcareous soils. We have
not seen any injury arising from this practice, but
on the contrary have witnessed great advantages fi'om
it in every kind of soil.

It destroys all the roots and seeds of noxious plants,
and kills the slugs and all other insects, with their
eggs, that are amongst the turf.

It is said, however, that burning disengages the
carbon in the soil, and that it flies off" into the at-
mosphere ; but we think from its heavy nature, that
it is more Ukely to fall to the earth, and again incor-
porate with the new soil.

The ashes of burnt soil are said to be best, when

168 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

they are blackest ; black ashes are produced by slow
combustion ; an d red ashes, by a strong fire . The burnt
surface, when mixed with the soil, makes it work
more easily, renders it more friable, and less tena-
cious ; and tends to make strong, thin, sterile, clay
soils less tenacious, and more productive. The vege-
table matter, which was burned, is quickly converted
into an enricliing property, which in some soils may
He dormant for ages. Wherever there is an excess
of inert vegetable matter, the destruction of it by
fire is most beneficial ; the ashes, being mixed with
the soil, produce large crops on land which before
was unproductive ; burning, therefore,^ destroys the
inert vegetable matter, and converts it into a valu-
able manure. It is a good practice to give newly
burnt land a dressing of lime when there is no cal-
careous matter in the soil, as the farmers do in
Somerset and Devon, when they convert waste land
into tillage ; they plow the lime in with the ashes,
and sow the land to turnips.

"An analysis of 200 grains of ashes, by Sir H.
Davy from a calcareous soil in Kent, produced the
following result.

IMPROVEMENT OF WORN-OUT LAND. 169

per acre in lbs

Carbonate of lime 80

.

. 69160

Sulphate of lime 1 1

.

. 9509.5

Charcoal 9

.

. 7780.5

Saline matter say

Sulphate of potash 3

.

. 2593.5

Oxid of iron 15

.

. 12967.5

The remainder was finely

divided

Alumina and silica 82

•

. 70889

200 172900 lbs.

or 79 tons 8 cwt. and 44 lbs. per acre." (Boys)

56. Improvement of Worn-out Land.

The cheapest and most efficacious mode of re-
storing and improving land that is worn out by any
mode of culture, under which it has been for any
length of time, is that of pasturing it for several years
with sheep.

If the sheep be folded over the ground with no
more food at a time than they can consume in one
day, they will, by a daily change to a new portion of
pasture, be of the utmost benefit to the land. Thus,
a regular system of consuming the pasture by sheep
as well as by manuring, continued for several years,
cannot fail to improve any soil, and it is applicable
to every soil that does not rot sheep. This is also
the most profitable and economical way of consuming
the grass on every kind of land.

1/0 nature and property of soils.

57. The Use of Fallowing.

Sir H. Davy says, "that summer fallow, by re-
peated exposure of the soil to the air without a crop
injures the soil." It is evident that if land were
always kept in a proper state of culture, it would
never require to be fallowed to clean it. Against
weeds of every kind, there should be a constant
warfare ; none should be allowed in the field to come
the length of blossoming, not even in the hedge rows
or by the road sides should this be permitted. If
cut before they blossom and put into a stagnant pool,
they would furnish a rich fund for manure.

The object of summer fallowing land may be,
either to clean it from annual and perennial weeds,
to give it rest when it has been worn out by over
cropping, and to expose its parts repeatedly to the
influence of the sun and air ; or, to alter the nature
of its constituent parts, by the addition of matter of
which it may be deficient.

The process of fallowing is merely a mechanical
operation by which the soil is repeatedly exposed to
the influence of the air and sun, and reduced by the
repeated application of the plough, drag, roller, and
harrow, till it is sufficiently pulverized. When rain
falls on land that is well pulverized, it displaces the
air that is mechanically held either between or in
the body of the clods ; and when the moisture is all

USE OF FALLOWING. 171

drained off or evaporated, the soil then receives a
supply of fresh air from the atmosphere.

The process of fallowing therefore gives to land a
supply of fresh air and water, thereby increasing its
power of absorbing and retaining moisture and air
from the atmosphere, and of decomposing the mate-
rials it holds in solution.

As the object of fallowing is not only to clean the
land from all roots and annual weeds, but to pul-
verize stubborn and clayey soils, it ought to have the
first ploughing in October or November, that it may
receive the influence of the frost to pulverize the fur-
row slice. The second ploughing ought to be given,
if possible, before the root-weeds begin to vegetate in
the spring, and always when the land is so dry as not
to be injured by the trampling of the horses.

If the soil be retentive of moisture, it should be
ploughed in the direction of the ridges ; and the fur-
rows should be cleaned out, so as to allow any water
to run off, if there should be wet weather in the spring.

By this plan, there will be less chance of dividing
the roots of couch into a number of plants, than there
will be by ploughing the land for the first time, when
it is dry in May or June, and after the weeds have
taken fast hold of the ground. It is then not only a
most laborious business, but it is almost impossible
either to reduce the soil, or to take out the root-weeds ;
as all the labour only tends to cut the roots of the

172 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

weeds in pieces, and leave them in the ground as
plants for next year. When the land is well pulve-
rized in the winter by frost, and early reduced by the
plough in the spring, the root-weeds are easily drawn
out by the di-ag and harrow. The land should never
be ploughed in a wet state, nor should the weeds be
ever allowed to put forth their leaves above ground in
the spring ; but a series of operations ought to be
adopted, to get all the weeds out of the soil as soon
as possible. This will be best accomplished by early
pulverizing the soil, by dragging out and picking up
all the roots, carrying them off the ground, and burn-
ing them.

The object of fallow is, therefore, to break down
and pulverize strong, clayey, and stubborn soils ; not
only for the purpose of getting rid of all the weeds,
but to give a new and friable texture to the soil by a
mixtiu'e of horse dung, or some other soft, loose, and
porous matter, which will permanently alter its con-
stitution by giving it a greater degree of friability,
and consequently increase its productiveness.

58. On Manures, their Nature and
Application.

We give the name of manure to all substances 1
which are apphed to land for the purpose of increas-
ing the crops we intend to cultivate, and we are satis-

ON MANURES. 173

lied that, by the application of manures to our land,
greater crops are produced, until the strength of the
manure be exhausted ; and then we apply another
quantity to keep up its productiveness, without even
inquiring into the nature of the manure which we
apply, or the way in which it produces these effects on
the soil.

The importance of manure to the farmer is such,
that his success, in the production of the crops he
cultivates, will mainly depend on its quantity, and
the application of it to the crops he raises as food for
sheep and other stock ; as those crops wdiich are con-
sumed on the farm, are much more productive of an
additional quantity of manure than the crops of
grain, a great part of which is carried off the land.

Vegetable and animal matter in a state of decay or
manure, is composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydro-
gen, as we have before stated, the elements of which
are the elements of growing vegetables. "By the
laws of chemical attraction, vegetable and animal ma-
nure is changed by the action of air and water, and
made fluid or seriform." (Davy.) Vegetable and
animal manure, when well mixed in the soil, gives to
it the power of absorbing and transmitting moisture
for the use of plants that grow in it ; therefore, im-
provement in some soils, and increased energy in
others, will be given by the application of manure. —
The effects produced will continue much longer in

174 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

some soils than in others ; in some, it will be of long
duration ; in others, it will be transitory. The dung
of animals, kept on the farm with Utter, is the princi-
pal manure on which the farmer should depend, as he
has it in his power either to increase or diminish it. —
Other manure he can have recourse to, when an addi-
tional quantity is wanted. As straw and green crops
are the foundation of manure, the increase of these
raw materials is, therefore, of great importance with
a view to future crops. Wlien straw is left in the
field as stubble, we are deprived of one-fourth at least
of the means of producing manures ; we therefore see
the propriety of collecting all the straw which our
crops produce, for the purpose of converting it into
manure.

In the experiment we have made to ascertain the
weight of a crop of straw, we find that the quantity
of wheat straw will average double the weight of the
wheat produced ; so that if all the straw be converted
into manure, by part of it being consumed by som^
animal as food, and the remainder as htter, it would,
with proper care, produce manure sufiicient to keep
up, and with good culture increase, the productiveness
of the soil.

Well fed cattle or sheep, whether in the field or
stall or yard, produce an abundant supply of the best
and most valuable manure, which wall again produce
an abundant crop of green food for stock. We hold

ON MANURES. 175

it to be an axiom in agriculture, that all the manure
which can be produced, should be applied to the pro-
duction of green food, such as turnips, mangel wurtzel,
potatoes, cabbage, vetches, or clover, for stock. By
the appHcation of all our manure to the production of
food for stock, a very large quantity of food can thus
be obtained on a small quantity of land, when com-
pared with the old system of applying all our manure
for the production of corn for the market. The pro-
duce of food for the feeding of stock ought to be our
first object — that of corn for sale the second: if we
secure the first, the second will follow of course.

A proper and unremitting attention to the accumu-
lation of the dung-hill ought to be one of the first
objects of the farmer ; he ought to add to its contents
by every means in his power, and adopt every plan
for increasing its magnitude by the kind of crops he
cultivates, and not only to add to its bulk, but also to
its richness. The dung of beasts fed on straw only is
of little value when compared with the dung of those
fed on turnips : but the dung of those beasts fed on
corn is better than either ; and the dung of those fed
on oil-cake is the most valuable of all the others.

An acre of clover is said to keep three 3-year old
beasts for six months, from April to November ; and
an acre of tui-nips wiU keep three 3-year old beasts
from 1st November to the 1st of May : the quantity of
manure which these three beasts will produce, while

176 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

being thus fed in the house or yard for twelve months,
will be about thirty tons.

If we have a cistern or a pool into which the urine
and all the water from the dung-hill runs, and if we
regularly return it to the dung-hill by pumping it
upon it, or if we mix the liquid with earth, or if we
cart it out in water-carts and spread it over our arable
or pasture land, none of the richness of the dung will
go to waste ; but if this water runs to waste, this
liquid, being the essence of the manure, it must ne-
cessarily be of less value ; the whole of the dung-hill
will run away in a liquid state, if allowed to remain
long enough. — We have seen this to be the case in
numberless instances ; indeed, there are very few
farmers who pay a proper attention to this circum-
stance ; all let theu' hquid manure run away to the
brook, without ever attempting to stop it. If I were
to make an estimate of the loss which the farmers in
general sustain in this way, I would say that he loses
at the very least one-fourth part, and in some in-
stances, much more of the means he has of procuring
a good crop of turnips. An ox or a cow fed in the
house throughout the year, will produce as much
dung as will be sufficient for half an acre of turnips.

The manufacture of manure or the art of preparing
it for every kind of land, ought to be more attended
to than it is, and if farmers saw the advantage which
they would derive from having their manure prepared

ON MANURES. 177

for their particular kind of soil, they would pay more
attention to it than they do at present : this is one of
the most necessary branches of the agricultural busi-
ness,— not only the preparation of it, but the means
of increasing its quantity, and preserving its quality.

Then, again, there ought to be more consideration
paid to the apphcation of manure to particular land :
large quantities are frequently put on land, and the
result is the production of an overabundance of straw
and less corn. Dung, we think, should never be put
on land but for the production of green crops. If
the effects produced on these crops are so great, that
the consumption of the whole will tend to make the
next crop over luxuriant, then part of the crop should
be taken from the land, and consumed in the yard.

When dung is mixed with the soil, it produces a
certain degree of fermentation in the vegetable matter
which the earth contains, separating its parts, dividing
and pulverizing it, making it friable and porous, and
in a certain degree performing what is done by tillage.
This putrid fermentation of vegetable and animal
matter in the soil has a great effect on the portions
of earth which it comes in contact with ; the putrid
matter is disseminated through it, altering the nature
and texture and colour of the soil, and making it
friable, clammy, and of a dark colour.

The production of turnips, vetches, and clover, by
a large proportion of the farm, and the consumption

N

1/8 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

of these by sheep and oxen, will, under almost every
circumstance, produce a sufficient quantity of manure
to keep the land in a highly productive state ; and, if
sufficient attention be paid to this part of agricultural
business, a much greater quantity of corn will result
from it, even when a less breadth of land is sown to
corn, and a greater proportion to turnips, vetches,
and clover.

As manure is of such vital importance to the
farmer, every attention should be paid to the collection
of the materials necessary to form it ; every vegetable
substance, together with the waste earth of ditches,
road sides, sides of the fields, yards, &c. will add to
the compost heap, not only in quantity, but also in
quality, if proper care in the mixture be attended to.

Weeds of every kind will be available before they
come to seed, or rather before they blossom, as the
seeds of many of them are perfected before the blos-
som drops off ; and it should be kept in mind, that
no fermentation in the dunghill will destroy the
vegetative power of a single seed.

When vegetable matter is fermenting in a dung-
hill, it should be mixed and covered with earth, which
will imbibe the volatile or gaseous matter that is
thrown ofi" during its fermentation ; and if there be
a large portion of animal manure in the compost, it
should have a bed of earth to imbibe all the carbon-
aceous matter that runs from it : and on every turn-

ON MANURES. 1/9

ing over which -we think it right to give the mass, we
should add an additional quantity of earth to cover
it with.

Much earth should be used in all dunghills, as the
earth that is thus impregnated is nearly, if not alto-
gether, as valuable as the dung itself, in altering
and improving the soil to which it is applied.

But in these composts, regard should be had to
the nature of the soil, to which we intend to apply
them ; for we should regard manure more as an al-
terative, than as food, for plants. A compost for a
hght soil should be formed of cold manure, the dung
of animals which chew the cud, of clayey or tenacious
earth, and the clearing of ditches or other water-fed
earths. The compost for strong tenacious soils
should, on the other hand, be formed of hot manure,
the dung of animals that do not chew the cud, such
as horses and pigs. These should be mixed Avith
light, sandy, or rubbly earth, the sides of roads, or
sandy dry porous earth from rich yards or other
places.

Road scrapings, being the produce of stone re-
duced by friction, is of a gritty sandy nature, what-
ever be the nature and properties of the materials of
which it is composed ; and from its gritty quality it
forms an excellent alterative for clayey soils, and
when mixed with a large portion of horse dung, it

180 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

forms an excellent compost for all clay or strong
soils, as it tends to keep the soil open and porous.

In Flanders great attention is paid to manure, par-
ticularly to the urine of animals, and water that runs
from the dunghill. These are collected and oil-cake
dissolved in them, and they are drawn out in water
carts and spread over the pasture land ; or mixed
with earth and formed into a compost, they become
an excellent manure for turnips as well as pasture.
An ox is said to make 12 cart loads of dung per an-
num, if fed on grass in the stall, and 1400 gallons of
urine. " The urine of 44 head of cattle, with the
aid of 2400 lbs. of rape cake, is sufficient to manure,
in the best manner, 21 acres."

Manure should be always apphed to fallows so
early, as to be well mixed with the soil before the
crop is sown ; it then combines with it not only
mechanically, but chemically, and thus increases the
powers of the soil to combine with the water and
air, and to decompose their substances, from which
plants receive their nourishment.

The whole of the manure, however, ought yearly
to be applied to the production of those crops, which
furnish food for animals kept on the farm ; such ar,
turnips, cabbage, potatoes, vetches, carrots, and
clover for sheep and oxen.

Meadow land should be manured soon after the

ON MANURES. 181

crop of hay is carried off, and before the end of
August. A compost, with at least one-third of
earthy matter in it, is the best manure for meadow
or pasture land ; and the land should be pastured
the year after manuring.

Ashes from burnt peat are used largely both in
Berkshire and in Hampshire, as a top dressing for
young clover, and have so great effect on the crop as
to increase it perhaps fully one-fifth; 50 bushels is
generally the quantity used, per acre, although more
will have a greater effect. Ashes are had at New-
bury in Berkshire at 2d. per bushel ; this costs only
125. 6d. per acre, and a day of a waggon, besides
the spreading.

In the application of manure, the nature of the
soil should be considered. If the soil be a strong
clay, and very tenacious, the manure should be of a
light, or loose porous nature, such as stable unfer-
mented dung ; and if a compost, it should be made
of a light, sandy or porous nature : but if the soil is
light and porous, the dung should be of a cold
nature, such as well rotten cow or cattle dung.

Compost made of cattle dung and clayey loam, or
any heavy tenacious substance, is the best manure
for light land ; long straw, or unfermented dung, as
stable dung or any substance which is loose and
friable, should never be used on sandy soils.

Peat mixed with green dung and fermented, is

182 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

formed into an excellent vegetable manure : the
mode of doing this, in the most perfect way, is that
recommended by Lord Meadowbank.

The principal artificial manures are bone-dust,
soot, rape, and oil cake ; these produce wonderful
results on the turnip crop.

59. On the Nature and Properties of Lime.

Sir H. Davy says, that " quick lime (Hydrate of
lime) in the pure state, is injurious to plants; that
when mixed with moist fibrous vegetable matter,
there is a strong action between the lime and the
vegetable, and they form a kind of compost of which
a part is usually soluble in water; but, that carbo-
nate of lime is a useful ingredient in soil, that it acts
upon the decomposing vegetable and animal matter
in the soil, so as to render it more fitted for the pur-
poses of vegetation, that it prevents the too rapid
decomposition of substance already dissolved, but
has no tendency to form soluble matter."

Quick lime is a combination of lime with one-
third of its weight of water, in which state it is
called Hydrate of hme; when it is exposed to the
atmosphere a sufiicient time, it reabsorbs from the
atmosphere the carbonic acid gas which it lost
during the process of burning, and, in this state, it
re-assumes all the properties it had before it was

ON LIME. 183

burnt. This effect is soon produced after it has
been slaked and spread on the land in a dry state,
and it has very little time, in its caustic state of
quick lime, to effect any alteration on the soil; it
must therefore be in its original carbonaceous com-
minuted state, when intimately mixed with the soil,
that it can have any effect, either on the soil, or on
the decaying vegetable matter therein.

The effect which it produces on the soil must
therefore be as an alterative in changing its texture,
by the addition of so much carbonate of lime to it,
in a very finely divided state.

Dr. Anderson and Du Hamel are of the opinion
that powdered marble or powdered limestone has a
good effect on grass land.

Anderson says, " that lime is no sooner slaked
than it immedately begins to absorb its air, and re-
turn to its former mild state; or in other words, it
becomes effete, in which state it possesses the same
chemical qualities in every respect as limestone.

" If this be spread out thinly upon the surface of
the earth, it absorbs its air in a very short time. A
few hours in this situation are sufficient to restore
a large proportion of its air; and, in a day or two
at most, it becomes perfectly effete, as masons ex-
perience when they sweep together the scattered
particles that have lain round their heaps of Hme
and attempt to use it in mortar by itself, for it is

184 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

then no more coherent than sand, or moistened
earth.

" Hence then it must follow, that in every case,
lime is converted into the same state with limestone,
in a few days after it is mixed with the soil ; so that
if it produces any effect at all as lime, or a saline
substance, it must only be at the very first when it
is applied, and must act ever afterwards merely as
powdered limestone.

** But it is weU known, that lime produces scarcely
any sensible effect as a manure, at the beginning.
Even the first year after it is applied to the soil its
effects are inconsiderable, in comparison of what it
produces in the second and succeeding years. From
whence we must conclude, that it operates upon the
soil, merely as a mild calcareous earth ; and that its
calcination is of no further utility in preparing it for
manure, than as a cheap and efficacious method of
reducing the limestone to a fine powder." Other
chemists say that it requires exposure to the atmos-
phere for a considerable time to render it completely
effete, or to receive its full quantity of carbonic acid
gas. Kames, Young, Brown, and others say, that
long experience has convinced them, that lime is as
efficacious in its effete, as in its caustic state; and
Kames thinks it produces little effect on vegetables,
till it becomes effete; it therefore appears not only
from their opinion, but also from the experience of

ON LIME. 185

practical farmers, that the efficacy of lime on some
land does not arise from any effect it may produce
when in a caustic state, but from those qualities
■which it possesses in common >Yith all other calca-
reous matter. It must be evident that lime, in a
dry, slaked, or pulverized state, can be more easily
and intimately mixed with the soil, than when it
becomes wet, and in a state like mortar.

Is lime only a stimulant exerting its influence on
something that is already in the soil ? and if so, does
its influence tend to exhaust this something ? or, is
it an enriching manure which gives nourishment to
plants ? or does it, by becoming a portion of the
soil, improve its texture and composition, by making
the soil more capable of supplying the food neces-
sary for the production of vegetables ? Dr. Ander-
son says, " Writers on agriculture have been long in
the custom of dividing manure into two classes;
viz. enriching manures, or those that tended directly
to render the soil more prolific, however sterile it
may be, among the foremost of which was reckoned
dung; and exciting manures, or those that were
supposed to have a tendency to render the soil more
proHfic, merely by acting upon those enriching ma-
nures that had been formerly in the soil, and giving
them a new stimulus, so as to enable them to operate
anew upon that soil, which they had formerly fer-
tilized. In which class of stimulating manures,

186 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

lime was always allowed to hold tbe foremost
rank/' " In consequence of this theory, it would
follow that Hme could only be of use as a manure,
when apphed to rich soils; and, when applied to
poor soils, would produce hardly any, or even per-
haps hurtful effects." '* I will frankly acknowledge,
that I myself was so far imposed upon by the beauty
of this theory, as to be hurried along with the ge-
neral current of mankind, in the firm persuasion of
the truth of this observation ; and, for many years,
did not sufficiently advert to those facts that were
daily occurring to contradict this theory. I am
now, however, firmly convinced, from repeated ob-
servations, that lime and other calcareous manures,
produce a much greater proportional improvement
upon poor soils, than on such as are richer ; and
that lime alone, upon a poor soil, will, in many
cases, produce a much greater or more lasting de-
gree of fertihty than dung alone.

"In direct contradiction to the theory, I must
add. that I never yet met with a poor soil in its
natural state, which was not benefited in a very great
degree by calcareous matters, when administered in
proper quantities.

*' But I have met with several rich soils that
were fully impregnated with dung, and therefore
exactly in that state in which the theory supposes
that Hme would produce the greatest effect, — ^but

ON LIME. 187

upon which Kme, applied in any quantities, pro-
duced not the smallest sensible effect."

And again, in another place^ he says : — "I have
often heard it urged, as an objection to the use of
lime as a manure, that although it does indeed pro-
mote the fertility of a soil in a higher degree at
first, yet, in the end, it renders it much more sterile
than formerly.

*' This, like many other objections to useful prac-
tices, takes its rise entirely from the avarice and
unskilfulness of those who complain. It is chiefly
heard of in those parts of the country, where it is not
uncommon for a farmer, after once liming a poor
soil, to take fifteen or sixteen crops of oats succes-
sively, without any other dressing or alteration of
crops. It must be a good manure that enables these
soils to produce such a number of successive scourg-
ing crops of any sort ; but it would be a marvellous
one indeed, if it should prevent those fields from
being exhausted by them.

" But is it not well known, that in all the richest
and best improved parts of the country, lime has been
long employed as a manure ? — yet so far are these
soils from being rendered sterile by it, that it is
doubtful if any art, without the assistance of lime or
some calcareous matter, could ever have brought these
fields to their present degree of fertility. Those,
therefore, who complain of the hurtful effects of Hme

188 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

as a manure, proclaim what tliey ought to conceal,
that they have had in their possession a treasure,
which might have enriched their posterity, but
which they have idly squandered away in their own
lifetime." Although lime produces a great effect on
certain poor land which has been in a state of na-
ture, yet where lime is applied to poor worn out
arable land which has been limed and exhausted by
severe cropping, it has, from practical experience, no
effect whatever.

If Hme be a stimulant, there are roots in the soU
of poor land in a state of nature for it to act upon ;
but, in poor worn out land, exhausted by severe
cropping, there are none.

Again, such worn out land may, from the veiy
circumstance of its worn out state, be so loosened,
that an application of lime may, as an ingredient in
the composition thereof, only tend to increase the
evil by making it more loose and friable. Brown
says, " It is sufficiently understood, that land, which
has been long in grass, contains much vegetable
matter; and that the trouble and expense of liming
it would be amply repaid to the cultivator : but the
propriety of applying lime on old arable lands has
been questioned, and with much justice by the
most part of practical agriculturists, and their
doubts on that head are confirmed by the fullest
experience.

ON LIME. 189

" Were lime a manure, it would be a noble sub-
stance, for enriching, and restoring fertiUty to lands
worn out by a succession of corn crops ; but as
worn out land is not restored to fertility by the ap-
plication of lime, we are warranted to consider it in
a different light ; or, in other words, as an article
to bring certain principles into action, previously
possessed by the soil. This conclusion is sanctioned
by experience ; and experience is a far better guide
than the most plausible theory.

*'When lime duly operates, the whole powers of
the soil are put in a state of requisition, and may be
forced to act till the very soul of vegetation is ex-
tracted. It is scarcely practicable to restore fertihty
to land, even of the best natural quality, which has
been thus abused ; at least, a considerable period
must elapse, before it can be restored to its original
fertihty ; but thin moorish soils, after being ex-
hausted by lime, are not to be restored. To hme
them a second time, is not only a useless expendi-
ture of labour and money, but also productive of
serious mischief. Soils of this description, after a
second liming, are apt to singe and burn the grain
that is sown upon them ; and, even when dunged,
not to make such a return as would have been ren-
dered under different circumstances.

*' Lime has been long applied by British husband-
men, as a stimulus to the soil ; and in consequence

190 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

of such an application, luxuriant crops have been
produced, even upon soils of apparently inferior
quality, and which would have yielded crops of
trifling value, had this auxiliary been withheld. In
fact, the majority of soils cannot be cultivated with
advantage till they are dressed with lime ; and,
whether considered as an alterative, or as a stimu-
lant, or as a manure, it will be found to be the
basis of good husbandry, and of more use than all
the other manures put together. Wherever hme
has been properly applied, it has constantly been
found to prove as much superior to dung, as dung
is to the rakings of the roads, or the produce of a
peat mire.

" From a pretty long experience, and considerable
attention to the operation of lime, we are inclined to
think that it acts both as an alterative and as a
stimulant ; operating in the one case, as a medicine
that changes the nature of the soil ; and in the
other, as arousing or bringing into action the vege-
table powers contained in the soil, which without
such an application would have remained dormant
and inactive. These opinions, we know, are diffe-
rent from those maintained by several ingenious
men, but they are supported by the result of nume-
rous trials, undertaken to ascertain how, and in
what measure, lime operated upon the soil."

It is evident that lime, when applied to land in

ON LIME. 191

However small quantities, will tend to change its
texture ; and when there is vegetable matter in the
soil, it may produce a greater decomposing dispo-
sition in it than before. In this case, it will act as
a stimulant hastening the decay of vegetable matter,
and thereby furnishing the elements of vegetable
life. Lime also acts powerfully on any irony matter
in the soil ; and on the gravel sands, and clay soils,
of the diluvial formation, and on the soil of the
plastic clay, the new and old red sandstone, and the
basaltic formation, the effect produced by the apph-
cation of lime is very great. This may be owing,
as we have said before, to neutralizing the pernicious
effects of the sulphate of iron, and converting it
into a useful soil ; and every fresh application of
lime may therefore convert an additional portion of
sulphate or oxid of iron into an additional portion
of good and useful soil. When there is a deficiency
of carbonaceous matter in the soil, a fresh portion
of lime must increase the productive powers of the
soil.

The effects which lime as an alterative has on the
soil, must depend, in a great measure, on the com-
position of that article, and also on the composition
of the soil to which it is to be applied ; for the
composition both of the various limestone forma-
tions, and also of the chalk and marls varies greatly.
The nature of the ingredients being different, the

192 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

lime from the silicious limestone contains a consider-
able portion of silicious particles, and may answer
best on strong clay soils, as it will furnish both
silicious and calcareous matter to the clay soil ; and
the lime burnt for the lias limestone, which contains
a considerable portion of clay, will produce the best
effect on hght sandy soils. But there are some soils
on which lime when applied has never produced any
beneficial effect. This is the case with the soil on
the oolitic formation, and other calcareous soils.
This is evidently owing to the superabundance of
lime already in the soil, so that an addition of cal-
careous matter only increases the evil ; but where
there is no calcareous matter in the soil, and also a
great quantity of iron, as is the case in the soil of
the new red sandstone formation, the lime has an
increased effect on every fresh application. This is
so well known in the neighbourhood of Taunton in
Somersetshire, and over all the soil of the new red
sandstone, that the farmers lime theu' land every
ime it comes in course of fallow for turnips, and
this produces excellent crops, even without dung.

It is most astonishing that writers on agriculture
have retailed an opinion, that quick lime, when
mixed in a mass of earth containing the live roots
and seeds of weeds, will destroy them. Any attempt
of this kind will meet with a complete failure ; for
the roots and the seeds of weeds cannot be destroyed

SUMMARY. 193

by the fermentation or any heat that can be pro-
duced in such a compost. The same writers have
also stated, that lime hastens the decay of vegetable
matter ; whereas the fact is, that it retards the pro-
cess of the decomposition of vegetable matter. If
straw of long dung be mixed with slaked hme, it
will be preserved ; while, if mixed with an equal
portion of earth, the earth will hasten its decay.

60. Summary.

It has been shewn that although vegetables are
composed of mucilage, starch, sugar, albumen, glu-
ten, and various other substances, yet all of them
are reducible into carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen ;
and that water and air are composed of these sub-
stances ; — that vegetable and animal manures are
decomposed into the same elements, as those of
water and air; — that any of the simple minerals
which compose the surface of the earth when un-
mixed with any other mineral, is unfit for the growth
of vegetables; but that, when these simple materials
are intimately mixed together, this compound, when
exposed to the influence of the sun and atmosphere,
produces an abundant crop ; — that there is no pro-
cess going on at the surface of the earth, amongst
the materials which compose the cultivated soil,
o

194 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

which changes any of the mineral component parts
of it into a new substance ; — that none of the ma-
terials composing the soil, enter into the composition
of the plants ; — and that the apphcation of manure,
does not always cause productiveness in soils.

We therefore conclude, that to change the con-
stituents of the soil by the admixture of mineral or
other matter, and so give to it that peculiar texture
which will enable it to absorb and transmit the
moisture which it receives, is the best and most ef-
fective mode of permanently improving the soil, and
increasing its productiveness ;— that the food of
plants is not so much any particular substance, or
any combination of substances, as a condition of the
soil ; and that manure, as we have said before, may
tend to give it this condition for a time, but its
effects will be transitory, compared with other
mineral matter applied to alter its texture. Where
this peculiar condition does not exist naturally in
the soil, we have shewn that it can be made so, by
giving it this peculiar texture artificially.

From all that has been said, it must appear evi-
dent, that what has been called the food of plants,
does not consist in any one substance, or in any
combination of substances, in the nature of a spe-
cific ; but in that peculiar condition of soil, which
it either has naturally, or which may be given to it
by artificial means, and which will enable it to im-

SUMMARY. 195

bibe and transmit, for the use of plants, the mois-
ture it receives.

The reason why the food of plants has not been
found out long ago is, because it has been sought
for in the nature of a specific ; and we feel assured
that any attempt to put forth any substance or any
combination of substances, such as those of which
plants are composed, as the specific food of plants,
will universally meet with a complete failure ; for,
as no crude matter can enter into the small rootlets,
and the sap vessels of the plants, therefore, neither
carbon, oil, mucilage, starch, sugar, albumen, gluten,
nor any of the other substances, can be of any use
to the growth of plants, till they are completely de-
composed, and the elements of such decomposition
become chemically combined with the water and air
of the soil. If, however, in attempting to acquire a
knowledge of what the food of plants is, we examine
into the nature and constituents of the soil in which
plants grow ; and if, over the whole of the geologi-
cal formations, we shall find some soils of a peculiar
texture which are most productive, and that there
are also some soils of another peculiar texture which
are the least productive, on each of the geological
formations, we may by a closer examination discover
the reason why one is productive and the other com-
paratively barren; and thus we may have a greater
chance of getting at the true principle of vegetable

196 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

life, and we think the result of our researches will
convince us, that the food of plants or the principle
of vegetable life, will appear to consist more in the
condition or constitution of the soil, than in any
single or compound specific.

Beheving this to be the true state of the question,
we would advise agriculturists to pay more attention
to the nature and state, or condition of the com-
ponent parts of the soil ; and whenever they find it
too loose and light, to give it the addition of some
substance that will make it more adhesive and firm ;
and when it is too tenacious, to apply to it some
light, porous substance that will make it more friable
and open ; and to adopt that system of culture,
which will make and keep the soil in the condition,
which will best promote the absorption and trans-
mission of moisture for the use of plants.

61. Economy in Labour, and Improvement
OF System.

While every other class of the community are using
all the means within their power to lessen the ex-
pense of producing the articles of their manufacture,
the farmer still goes on in his old beaten track, never
enquiring whether he cannot accompUsh his labour
with lees actual, but more efiicient strength of horses

ECONOMY AND IMPROVEMENT. 197

and men ; or whether other implements are not pre-
ferable to those he has now in use.

Thus, while the expense of all other occupations
has been reduced from one half to a tenth part of
what they used to be, the expenses of the farmer
have, in many instances, been increased.

Most farmers hmit their expenditure to the ab-
solute necessaries required in their mode of culture,
instead of laying out fresh capital in attempting to
increase the productiveness of the soil. Their views
have extended no farther than the next crop, a quick
return being their only object, even where it would
not pay the expense of production ; or looking
perhaps to the chapter of accidents, or waiting to
see what Government will do for their relief.

This they continue to do, obtaining only a scanty
crop, which is dear to the buyer, and unprofitable to
the grower ; instead of producing, by an outlay of
additional capital on improved culture, a plentiful
crop, which would be cheap to the consumer, and
profitable to themselves.

But farmers in general adopt the custom of the
neighbourhood in which they live, in the course of
husbandry and general management of their farms ;
and they follow the footsteps of their fathers in this
respect more pertinaciously than any other class of
society; and while improvements in all other arts
and manufactures are going on at so rapid a rate,
that of agriculture lags far behind.

198 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF S0IL5»

When a farmer does not improve the land he cul-
tivates, it is evident that something is wrong in the
system he adopts ; it may be owing to his ignorance
of the best mode of cultivating the particular soils
of which his farm consists — the want of capital, or
even a determination not to lay out his capital to
improve another man's land, which we have often
heard expressed, and by those that are reckoned
intelligent and Hberal farmers ; although we cannot
perceive the mark either of intelligence or hberality
in persons who hold such sentiments.

The sands of Norfolk and Suffolk have been so
much improved by the application of clay, marl, or
chalk, and the alternate system of husbandry, that
a crop of turnips is now produced on some land
equal in value to the previous fee simple of the same
soil ; while the rich clay land in the vale of the
White-horse in Berks, and in the vale of Gloucester,
remains without any increase of its productive powers,
and is still cultivated with from three to six horses
in a plough.

The Norfolk system of ploughing with two horses
abreast was introduced into Roxburghshire in 1762,
by Mr. Dawson of Frogdon ; it soon spread over the
greater part of Scotland, and has been continued as
the most efficient mode of cultivating every kind of
soil, from the lightest sand to the strongest and
most tenacious clay.

TuU's system of drilling turnips, as well as

ECONOMY AND IMPROVEMENT. 199

ploughing with two horses abreast, was carried by
Mr. Dawson into the Northern counties of England ;
but to the present day, these improvements in agri-
culture have made very little progress in the Southern
counties. Two horses are very seldom to be seen at
work abreast in a plough ; we generally observe three
or four at work in a plough even on the lightest soil
in Berks and other counties, and these of a heavy
description of animals, whose natural pace is seldom
more than one mile an hour ; so that it is with con-
siderable exertion that these three or four horses
with a man and a boy, and a most cumbersome
plough, turn over three-fourths of an acre a day ;
while two hght active horses plough, with the greatest
ease, upwards of an acre every day, and even two
acres in the faUow field.

The reason why improvement in agriculture pro-
ceeds at a much slower rate than improvements in
many other sciences, is in fact owing to the very
little intercourse there is amongst farmers themselves.

The English farmers in general are not readers,
they therefore lose all the recorded improvements of
individuals, or of agricultural societies. There is no
system of education adopted in England, whereby
the first principles of agriculture may be acquired ;
the only agricultural education, therefore, which the
farmer receives, is from the practice of his father,
and that of the neighbourhood in which he dwells ;

200 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

and which has been handed down unadulterated and
unimproved through many generations, and adhered
to with an obstinacy which no reason can induce
him to give up or change.

The prejudices of the farmer in favour of the
mode of culture which he follows, and against all
those whose modes are different, although they are
performed at one-half of the expense, and produce
as much or a greater return, and although only a
few miles distant from him, are of the most pertina-
cious kind, and will never be got rid of, till some
dire necessity compels him to open his eyes to see
his own interest ; nothing but this we are persuaded
will ever induce many to change their present habits.

The produce of agriculture may be easily increased,
even doubled ; and in almost every instance, the ex-
pense of production may be diminished. By reducing
the expense of production, we set free an additional
portion of the produce, and this is just the same as
if, with the original expense, we produced a greater
crop ; therefore none but the most efficient labour,
either of man, or beast, or implements, should ever
be employed.

If farmers would adopt this plan, it is evident that
the greater the amount of productive and efficient
labour they use, the greater will be their return : all
useless expenses should be extinguished, and the
most efficient mode of accompHshing any labour
should be adopted.

201

62. System of Culture.

, " In every system, it is absolutely necessary to
attend to the equal distribution of labour throughout
the year ; so that the work, which the system requires
to be performed in each month, may be easily accom-
plished by the means the farmer is provided with.
The different operations should never be allowed to
encroach on each other. If these are properly ad-
justed, the business of each week will be confined
to the time in which it is required to be performed."

The best mode of cultivating arable land is that,
which produces the greatest quantity of green food
for sheep and other beasts, and which they should
eat on the ground.

This prepares the land for a crop of grain or corn
for the use of man. The alternate system of grain
and green food for stock, is that which never should
be deviated from.

It produces not only a much greater return of
corn and other food for the use of man, but also a
much greater quantity of green food and straw
which sheep and other animals consume, and gives
at the same time a proportionally greater return of
vegetable and animal manure. By this means, the
farmer has not only the power of reproducing the
same quantity of grain, &c. but of increasing the

202 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

capability of the soil to produce an additional quan-
tity. The production of turnips and green food for
sheep, gives perhaps ten times the quantity of
manure, that the old system did. Increased produc-
tiveness given to the soil, is genuine agricultural
improvement.

Crops of corn, as food for man, alternating with
crops of vegetables, as food for sheep or other stock,
is the foundation of all good husbandry.

Such a mode of culture should be adopted as will
not only increase the quantity of manure, but hasten
its decomposition,, and thus increase the productive-
ness of the soil by raising an increased quantity of
food for sheep to be again consumed on the land
that produced it ; and when the soil is thin, poor,
light sand, this may be repeated year after year, on
the same land, whether it be arable or pasture. The
consumption of the produce by sheep on the land is
the best, the cheapest, and the most effectual means
of improving pasture, as well as arable land.

Vetches, rye, clover, and buck wheat, are some-
times grown on land, and ploughed in as a manure ;
but if these crops were converted into a manure by
passing them through the stomach of sheep, the
effects produced would not only be much quicker,
but of much greater value.

When the farmer is convinced that his corn crops
are productive, just in proportion to the quantity of

SYSTEM OF CULTURE. 203

sheep he keeps on his arable land ; and when he is
experienced in the best mode of cultivating the va-
rieties of grain and vegetable which are best adapted
to the soil of his farm, he may then calculate with
certainty on the result of his operations.

As the weeds which grow in the land are the
natural plants of the soil, they much sooner feel the
influence of the weather, the manure, and the cul-
ture, than the artificial crops we cultivate, and con-
sequently take the lead of the crop ; we ought,
therefore, to eradicate every weed out of the land,
and when once we get it clean, to keep it so.

"We should never take a crop of corn, if by taking
it, we give an opportunity for the weeds to spring
up in the soil ; for this would be only sowing the
seeds of future labour and expense, as well as in-
curring loss to us in preventing their increase. The
repetition of corn crops in succession tends to
increase the stock of weeds in the soil, without
giving to the farmer either the time or the power to
diminish them, and their growth necessarily retards
or prevents the growth of the crop we cultivate ;
but the production of green crops, such as turnips,
potatoes, vetches, and clover, gives to the farmer
time and power to clean out any weeds that may be
in the soil ; and the growth of these crops prepares
the land for the production of a crop of corn.

It should be remembered, however, that whenever

204 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the weeds have got ahead of us, we must then have
recourse to sumiaaer fallow to get rid of them. What-
ever gives nourishment and life to weeds would, if
no weeds were in the ground, give hfe and nourish-
ment to cultivated plants ; and that land which has
a dry porous subsoil is most productive, and much
easier cultivated than that which has a retentive
subsoil ; therefore if the land have not a porous dry
subsoil naturally, one should be given to it artificially,
and this the farmer should do whatever be the ex-
pense,— it win repay him with compound interest.

Different modes of culture must be adopted on
different soils ; for it is evident, that the same cause
will have very different effects upon soils of a dif-
ferent nature.

The effect produced by rain on clay soils, has been
shewn to be very different from the effect which it
produces on sandy soils; and the effect of drought
on a dry sandy soil, is equally different from the
effect which it has on a wet clay soil.

Frost expands the water in the soil about one-
twelfth ; hence during a thaw, the water is contracted
to its original bulk, leaving the soil in a loose open
state, and well prepared to receive the influence of
the atmosphere. Sandy soils are easily penetrated
by water and air ; but clay, unless well pulverized, is
impenetrable to either.

The best soil for any kind of plant is that in

SYSTEM OF CULTURE. 205

■which it naturally grows with most luxuriance ; and
a quicker repetition of such plants may be made
than of those to which the soil is not naturally so
well adopted.

Clay soils having a proper mixture of sand and
lime will produce wheat, beans, clover, and cab-
bages, in the greatest perfection.

Light sandy loam is best fitted for the production
of barley, rye, pease, turnips, potatoes, vetches, &c.

Every different soil requires a peculiar management,
and a different course of cropping.

Light sand and gravel are early soils, and should
be early planted in the spring, that their growth
may shut out the influence of the sun from the
ground at an early period of the summer.

All succulent plants, and those that are not allowed
to ripen their seed, such as clover, rye grass, vetches,
turnips, cabbages, carrots, potatoes, &c. are said to
receive a great part of their nourishment fi'om the
atmosphere ; and therefore do less injury to the land
than wheat, barley, rye, oats, pease, beans, or any of
the succulent plants, when they are allowed to bring
their seeds to perfection.

Vetches, pease, and beans, seem only to injure the
land they grow on, when they are permitted to
perfect their seed ; for, if they grow so luxuriantly
as to produce nothing but straw, which is sometimes
the case, or if, hke vetches, they be cut green, their

206 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

growth does not injure the land but is an advantage
to it ; we may therefore presume that it is only in
ripening the seed, that the soil is injured by such
crops.

When clover, vetches, turnips, cabbages, &c. are
produced and consumed on the land without per-
fecting their seed, the soil is not at all injured by
their production, and they may be repeated and con-
sumed every year not only without the least injury
being sustained by the soil, but an actual yearly
increase is thereby made to its productive powers ;
if any one of these crops, however, be allowed to
perfect its seed for two consecutive years on the
same soil, the land would be injured for many years
to come. The inference to be drawn from this fact
is, that the soil is injured more in producing the
seed, than in producing the stem and fohage, or
leaves. The fohage may receive more of its nourish-
ment from the air than the seeds ; or, the seeds may
receive more of their nourishment fi'om the soil than
the fohage.

The injury that land sustains from converting
grass into hay is, that the production of seed, either
of grass or of corn, is that which injures the land
more, than the most luxuriant growth of leaves or
straw.

Pasture prevents the production of seeds and
encourages the growth of the roots, which are thus

COURSE OF CROPS. 207

promoted, and are constantly pushing out in search
of nourishment all the year round ; so that there is
no period when they he dormant, as is the case when
seed is produced.

AU perennial plants that produce seed He dormant
for several months after they have produced it ; and
annual plants, if prevented from yielding their seed,
either by mowing or pasturing, become biennial or
even triennial.

There is a great loss sustained by land fi'om the
keeping of com in the straw for a year or two ; as
the farmer is thereby prevented from keeping stock
to consume the straw, and of course the land sus-
tains the loss of manure from its non-consumption.

The adoption of the best rotation of crops will net
secure, at all times and under all circumstances, the
improved result : no ! the rotation must be accom-
panied with the most sedulous attention to the
minute detail of all the operations, and these must
be executed at the proper time to insure the result
required.

63. Course of Crops.

The philosophy of a rotation consists in a proper
distribution of the various crops which are best fitted
or most natural to the soil in question. On a clay
soil such crops should be planted as grow best on

208 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

clays ; and so with calcareous soils ; and so with
sihcious and peaty soils : but always to have one
green crop at the least between two corn crops,
having the crops of each kind (whether of corn or
green crops), at the greatest distance apart.

Tlie cultivation of arable land on the four field, or
rather on the alternate system of corn and green
crop, is by universal consent acknowledged to be the
best and most profitable. The value of the alternate
mode of husbandry does not rest, as some have stated,
on the antipathy which annual plants have to grow
the succeeding year in the same soil in which they
have ah'eady hved the natural course of their existence,
that is, having produced their seed and died.

The merits of this system is the great increase of
green summer and winter food for stock, wliich gives
a large supply of manure whether the stock be fed
in the field or in the yard ; and as it is universally
acknowledged that the produce in corn increases with
the increased quantity of sheep kept on the farm, —
hence the system produces a great increase of both
corn and animal food, at the same time the pro-
ductiveness of the soil is also yearly increased.

" The course of cropping should be regulated by
various circumstances. The kind and quahty of the
soil, and its pecuhar properties, the seasons, the
most profitable apphcation of manures, and the fact
that no wliite or corn crops should be repeated in

COURSE OF CROPS. 209

too rapid succession, are circumstances that always
govern the prudent farmer in the adoption of a
system.

" But the value of every rotation depends chiefly,
if not entirely, on the quantity of food that is pro-
duced during the course, for sheep and cattle, but
particularly for sheep ; and on its consumption on
the farm, either in the fold or in the stall. " No
food, no cattle ; no cattle, no dung ; no dung, no
corn ;" is a maxim that ought to be fixed in every
farmer's mind.

*' Turnips, vetches, rye, clover, and sainfoin, are
indispensable, in every good course, as winter, spring,
and summer food ; and the greater the crops of
these are, the greater and more productive will be
those of corn. These crops, of which the turnip
crop is the principal, may therefore be considered as
the foundation of all good husbandry."

We have before stated that the succession of crops
should be determined by the nature of the soil, the
proper distribution of labour throughout the year,
the greatest quantity of food for stock, particularly
sheep, that can be kept, and that a crop of corn
should never be succeeded by a crop of corn. The
alternate system of culture ought to be rigidly
adhered to, unless a repetition of green crops should
be thought an advantage to the land, and produce a
greater profit to the farmer in animal than vegetable

210 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

food. Keeping the above principles always in view,
the rotation of crops may be changed in endless
variety on deep, friable soils ; but on heavy tenacious
clay, they are more circumscribed.

Clover, vetches, and cabbages, are the only crops
which can be raised as food for sheep or cattle on
the latter ; and cabbages cannot be eaten off by
sheep on such land. There is more expense in the
production and consumption of the crops on wet
clay land, than on dry friable soil ; and therefore the
expense of improving such land is greater. The
crops must be carted to be consumed in the yard by
stock, and the dung carted again into the field ;
besides, the injury done to the land in wet weather,
by carting off the crops, is great. Vetches and
clover may, however, be folded by sheep in the
summer months, on clay soils.

On good strong rich clay land, the following rota-
tion is productive.

1. Clover, to be consumed on the land by sheep.

2. Wheat.

3. Beans, to be dunged on the wheat stubble.

4. Wheat.

5. Winter vetches, to be dunged on the wheat
stubble and folded off by sheep.

6. Wheat, sown with seeds. Oats may be substi-
tuted for any of the wheat crops, and cabbages may
be planted instead of the vetches or beans.

COURSE OF CROPS. 211

The following is an excellent rotation for a friable
turnip soil, where it is necessary to guard against
reducing the soil into a too loose or friable state ;
and it also gives food for a great stock of sheep.

1 . Turnips, or Swedes manured with dung, bones,
and rape cake ; and fed off by folding sheep on the
land.

2. Barley, with a variety of seeds.

3. Seeds, pastured by sheep or other stock.

4. Second year seeds, also pastured by sheep and
other stock.

5. Oats.

6. Potatoes, mangel-wurzel, beans, or winter
vetches, dunged to the oat stubble.

7. Wheat.

Here the different crops of corn are only once in
seven years, and these we may reckon to be the most
productive. The quantity of food produced by
turnips, and by the two years clover, and vetches,
will enable the farmer to keep and fatten a large
quantity of sheep on the ground ; which will, by
their trampling and by the manure left on it, give
to this kind of soil the best preparation for the suc-
ceeding crops of corn. We are satisfied that the
land, while producing food for sheep or other stock,
if the stock be properly managed, will give fully as
great a return of profit to the farmer, as by pro-
ducing corn, it can possibly do, without having the
advantage of the results of the sheep fold.

212 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

This mode of folding sheep is the foundation of a
continuance of productive crops, and also of a gra-
dual reduction of the expense of labour, conjoined
with a gradual increase of the productive powers of
the soil.

64. The Effects of Climate on Vegetation.

The effects of climate or temperature on the pro-
ductive powers of the earth must be evident to every-
one, who has given the least attention to the subject.

An increase of temperature hastens the growth of
vegetables, brings them earlier to maturity, and ren-
ders the produce more perfect and the crop more
abundant.

From the equator to either polar circle, the dif-
ference of half an hour in the length of the longest
day, forms what is called a climate : and the longest
day, at these circles being 24 hours, there are, there-
fore, 24 chmates between the equator and each polar
circle. Within the polar circles, however, the dif-
ference of a month in the length of the longest day,
constitutes a climate ; and being six in each, the
climates, from pole to pole, amount to 60 in number.

At the equator, the lowest line of perpetual snow
is 15,691 feet above the level of the sea; and at
19** it is 15,020, according to Humboldt. Now if
we take the hne of perpetual snow to be 15,000 feet
above the level of the sea at 23° of latitude, and if

EFECTS OF CLIMATE ON VEGETATION. 213

at 73^ where the longest days and nights are three
months, the Une of perpetual snow becomes level
with the sea, we shall have an extent of 50"^ of lati-
tude with a gradual elevation of the line of perpetual
snow from the level of the sea to the height of
15,000 feet. Again, if we take the average tem-
perature of 23^ of latitude to be 82^ of Farenheit,
we shall have a corresponding increase of one degree
of temperature to a degree of latitude as we proceed
towards the equator, and a loss of one degree of
temperature for every 300 feet of elevation in any
given latitude.

On the mountains of the torrid zone, we have
every cUmate, and every degree of temperature as
we ascend to the line of perpetual snow.

These chmates follow each other as regularly as
we find them do in passing from the torrid to the
frigid zones, and they have the same circumstances
attending them. The meaning which farmers attach
to climate, is the effect produced by heat and cold,
rain and drought, on the crops which they cultivate.
The value of climate to the farmer may be measured
by the difference of the produce of land, under
similar circumstances, in two given locaHties ; say,
the one situated in the latitude of 52, and the other,
in the latitude of 55 degrees.

The meaning, however, which is here given to cli-
mate, depends as much on elevation as on latitude ;
and we shall find by our measure that the difference

214 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

between the crop under the same circumstances in
latitude 52 at the level of the sea, and the crop in
the same latitude at an altitude of 900 feet, will be
as great as in the case above stated.

There are many local causes which alter and
modify the temperature; amongst these, we may
mention the humidity of the soil and atmosphere —
large tracts of pasture land — and the neighbour-
hood of forests, wastes, bogs, lakes, and mountains;
all of which have the effect of decreasing the tem-
perature of the place; whereas dry silicious sandy
soil and subsoil — a dry atmosphere — a well drained
and cultivated district — and a southern aspect, have
all a tendency to increase the temperature of any
locality.

The atmosphere contains aqueous vapour in quan-
tities proportionate to its temperature, as we have
before stated. If its temperature be raised, its
capability of absorbing and retaining moisture is
also increased; but if its temperature be lowered,
it instantly parts with some of the moisture it
possesses.

Humboldt calculates the proportional quantity of
rain in different latitudes to be as follows : —
Latitude. Mean annual depth of rain.

Oo 96 inches.

19« 80 "

450 29 "

6O0 17 "

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON VEGETATION.

215

But local causes have the effect of greatly altering
this quantity. A greater quantity falls on moun-
tains, and in their immediate neighbourhood, than
on low level land; and on the sea coast, than on
inland plains.

The humidity of the atmosphere decreases accord-
ing to its distance from the sea.

At Keswick and Kendal in Cumberland, the quan-
tity of rain is about 67 and 60 inches per annum;
while at places in the interior, only about 24 inches
faU.

The greatest quantity of rain in England, gene-
rally falls in September, October, and November,

But climate may be greatly altered by agricul-
tural improvement; such as the drainage of lakes,
bogs, and morasses — the clearing away of forests —
the perfect drainage of the cultivated soil — and the
conversion of pasture into arable land. In locaHties
where such improvements have been effected, evapo-
ration is not so great, and the atmosphere is conse-
quently drier and warmer.

This has been particularly exemplified in the fens
of Lincolnshire, since they have been drained. But
the nature of the soil, and especially of the subsoil,
hastens or retards the perfecting of the crops.
The harvest is much earlier on silicious sandy or
gravelly soils, and much later on aluminous or clay
soils, than we would expect from the climate, and
their elevation above the level of the sea.

216 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

The harvest is always later when the cultivation
is neglected, or improperly or carelessly executed,
than it is on a soil which is improved and well cul-
tivated.

The crops are never so good or so early on cold
tenacious clay soils on the gritstone formation, or
on the moor lands in Yorkshire at the elevation of
500 feet, as they are on the chalk wolds in the
same county at 800 feet high. This difference gives
to dry, calcareous, and silicious soils, a very great

In England, land at an elevation of 1000 feet
above the level of the sea, becomes unprofitable to
the arable farmer; as the crops do not ripen except
in very particular seasons, and therefore it ought
only to be used as pasture at such an altitude.

65. On the Value of Land.

Although we have shewn that the soil, on each
of the geological formations, is composed of the same
materials as the subsoil on which it rests; yet we
do not wish to infer from this circumstance, that the
soil over the whole of each formation is of the same
value.

This is by no means the case, for the quahty of
the soil on each, is infinitely varied; and increases
in value according to the degree of cidture it re-
ceives, and according to the quantity of active vege-
table matter it may happen to contain.

ON THE VALUE OF LAND. 21/

In attempting to ascertain tlie value of any com-
modity, we try all the means, and use all the tests
within our power which ingenuity can devise.
These tests, however, are only apphcable to ar-
ticles of merchandise, and cannot, properly speak-
ing, be applied to the quality or productiveness of
the soil.

The productive powers of land cannot he mea-
sured, or weighed, or tested; hut can only he per-
ceived hy the results produced.

In some instances, the produce arises sponta-
neously from the soil; in others, it has to be drawn
from it by culture.

The productiveness of land, in most cases, de-
pends on the kind of culture which it receives ; and
the cultures best adapted to it can only be ascer-
tained by a knowledge of the effects produced by
particular modes of cultivation.

A knowledge of the component parts of the soil
is not of so much importance, in ascertaining its
productiveness, as a knowledge of its capabilities of
imbibing, retaining, and transmitting moisture and
air, and of decomposing those substances, which
furnish the elements of plants.

The principal circumstances, to which our at-
tention must be directed, are — the nature of the
soil and subsoil; whether they are retentive or
porous, dry or wet, warm or cold; the situation,
whether it is exposed or sheltered, elevated or near

218 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the level of the sea; — and the chmate, whether it is
dry or humid.

We may compare one soil with another, the
value of which we already know ; and from this
comparison, draw an inference of its value, but
this will be a very incorrect and fallacious way of
proceeding.

The local value of land increases, in proportion
to the deficiency of the supply to fill up the demand
of the particular locahty; and this can only be ascer-
tained, by a knowledge of the demand and the supply
of the place.

The fertility of grass lands, and, of course, their
value, may be distinguished by the variety and
quality of their natural grasses, and the quantity of
stock per acre they will keep throughout the year.
This is determined in Lincolnshire by the weight to
which a field will feed an ox. " This field wiU only
feed an ox of 60, but that will feed one of 80, or 90,
or 100 stones," is the language used by the most
intelhgent graziers of that county.

The relative value of land, we have before said,
is owing to the power it possesses of retaining and
transmitting a regular supply of moisture for the
use of plants; which, by being duly retentive, it
affords in very dry weather, and which, by being
sufficiently porous, it gives not in too great abun-
dance, when the weather is wet.

The intrinsic value of land is in proportion to the

RENTS. 219

yearly return which it makes, from a given quantity
of labour, properly applied.

This is ascertained by a knowledge of the differ-
ence between the expense of cultivation, and the
price of produce.

There is no other way by which we can determine
the value of land, but by a knowledge of its yearly
produce, under the system of cultiu'e best adapted
to the particular soil; from which must be deducted
the expense of cultivation.

The produce of agriculture is naturally divided
into the price of labour, and the interest of the
capital employed, which belong to the farmer who
pays the labourers ; and into the rent of the land,
which is the difference between the price of the pro-
duce and the expense of cultivation, and this belongs
to the landlord.

66. Rents.

There has been no period in the history of any
nation, when rent has not been paid by the culti-
vator to the sovereign, the chief, or the proprietor;
and various modes have been adopted, in satisfying
the claims of those, who exercised a right to the
superiority of the soil.

In the rudest state of society, rent may be defined
to be that portion of the produce, which remained

220 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

after maintaiDing the labourer and his family, during
the time they were employed in producing it.

The first rent we read of, is Ryot-rent, paid to
Pharaoh, King of Egypt, by the whole of the Egyp-
tian proprietors, after the seven years of famine ;
and this amounted to one-fifth part of the produce.

The peasant's labour-rent in Russia amounted to
from three to four days' labour per week, for the use
of as much land as was sufiicient to produce food
for his own maintenance and that of his family.

The Metayer gave from one-half to two-thirds of
the produce, as rent to his landlord, who furnished
him with stock and implements to cultivate the soil.

The Ryot paid from one-fifth to three-fourths of the
produce of the land to his sovereign. The cottagers
in Ireland pay in money, frequently more than the
money value of three-fourths of the whole produce,
for their small farms, when they have, in most in-
stances, been at all the expense of the buildings and
other accommodations.

The farmer's rent is paid in money, and may be
reckoned at from one-tenth to one-half of the
money value of the produce, according to the kind
and quality of the soil.

Arable land pays a much smaller portion of the
produce than pasture or meadow land. The latter,
indeed, when very productive, and in the neighbour-
hood of a populous district, sometimes pays more

RENTS. 221

than three-fourths of the produce ; and even then, it
leaves a greater return to the farmer than that which
he derives from arable land of the same quality.

The difference arises chiefly fi'om the greater ex-
pense which arable land necessarily requires in its
cultivation.

The fertile powers of the earth, aided by appli-
cation and experience, yield, to the industry of the
husbandman, more than is necessary for the expense
of cultivation.

The portion of the produce which remains, after
the expense of production is defrayed, the farmer is
enabled to pay to the proprietor for the use of the
land ; and tliis overplus varies, according to the
nature and fruitfulness of the soil. The amount of
rent, therefore, depends on the natural fertihty of
the soil ; but as permanent improvement has the
effect of increasing the productive powers of the
soil, it must also tend to increase the rent.

Rent, therefore, depends not only on the natural,
but also on the artificial, and permanently improved
fertihty of the soil ; and when these two are joined
together in the highest degree, there will be the
greatest difference between the value of the produce
and the expense of production ; or in other words,
the soil will then yield the greatest rent.

Adam Smith, after asserting "that in more ancient
times nearly the whole of the produce belonged to

222 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

the landlord/' goes on to say that, *' In the present
state of Europe, the share of the landlord seldom
exceeds one-third, sometimes not one-fourth, of the
whole produce of the land. The rent of the land,
however, in all the improved parts of the country,
has been tripled and quadrupled since those ancient
times, and the one- third or one-fourth part of the an-
nual produce is, it seems, three or four times greater
than the whole had been before. In the progress
of improvement, rent, though it has increased in
proportion to the extent, diminishes in proportion
to the produce."

Rents have therefore risen in England, although
the proportion of the produce given originally to
the landlord in the shape of rent has diminished :
this increase of rent has resulted from an increase
of produce, and this increase of produce has been
produced by a better system of farming, by a better
application of additional capital to the dormant, or
latent powers of the soil, bringing forth an additional
produce sufficient to cover all the expenses, besides an
additional portion of the produce in the shape of rent.

The increase of rent is therefore entirely owing to
the increasing improvement of agriculture, and not
owing to an increase of the price of farm produce,
as the political economists would have it. The
industry, the activity, the mental energy of the
farmers, and the judicious apphcation of their capital.

RENTS. 223

is the true source of the rent of the landlord, and of
the wealth of any nation. It is this that gives to a
nation all its resources, and every thing that gives a
spur, and a spring to fresh energy. Every fresh
application of capital gives an addition to the wealth
of the landlord, and to the nation ; and every thing
which tends to check or paralyse these exertions,
abstracts the capital of the tenant, and lowers the
rental of the landlord and the resources of the nation.

The natural produce of pasture land, however
poor it may be, is worth something for sheep ; or
young beasts will grow on such land, without any
other expense than that of attendance and the origi-
nal price of the stock : but land under arable culture
cannot pay any rent, till the price of the produce
exceeds the ex}3ense of production. Under a proper
system of cultivation, however, it has been shown,
that the productiveness of the soil may not only be
increased, but the expense of its cidtivation may be
diminished ; and we shall find, that the free produce
is increased in nearly the same proportion, as the
produce itself is increased.

Thus, if the price of 12 bushels be the expense
of cultivating a particidar soil, and the produce be
only 12 bushels, there cannot be any rent paid in
this case ; but, if the produce be increased to 14
bushels without an increase of the expense of pro-
duction, there will be 2 bushels of free produce, out

224 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

of which the rent may be paid ; and if the produc-
tiveness of the soil is increased, so as to bring forth
20 bushels, then there will be 8 bushels of free
produce, and the rent may likewise be increased
to nearly the price of 8 bushels. When improve-
ment of the soil has doubled or trebled the free
produce, without any increase in the expense of
cultivation, the rent may also be doubled or trebled ;
but if the land has undergone no improvement, the
rent must fall as the price of the produce falls, or as
the expense of production increases ; — and, although
the price of produce may fall, and the expense of
production be increased, yet the rent even in this
case may be increased too, if the productiveness of
the soil be increased in a greater ratio.

The average price in the kingdom, of all the pro-
duce of the land in question, should be taken as the
principle for fixing the money value of the free pro-
duce ; and if the rent is fixed at a certain portion
of the produce, and the money value of it regulated
by the average price of such produce for the last
five years ; — this, we think, would be the best and
most equitable mode of fixing the rent either of
arable or pasture land.

We therefore conclude, that the rent of every
quality of soil is necessarily limited by the surplus
or free produce, over the expense of cultivation,
which includes the interest or profit on the capital
which the farmer employs.

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 225

But the price of land is kept up, by the small
farmers treading on the heels of those above them ;
the occupiers of a hundred acres out-bid those who
occupy two hundred, and these again out-bid those
who occupy still more extensively, as the smaller
farms are always in the greatest demand.

The rent or value of land in every situation may
be illustrated by the detail of farming operations for
a certain period ; and the difference between the
price of the produce, and the expense of culture,
will shew the profits and the rent.

If landlords permanently increase the produc-
tiveness of their land, they will reap the profits
arising from the improvement, by a yearly increase
of rent ; and if the tenant is at the expense of per-
manently improving the land he occupies, he is en-
titled to reap the fruits of his own industry, by
having as many years of the increased free produce
allowed him, as will repay his exertions and sunk
capital with compound interest, before his landlord
takes the advantage of the improvement, either by
re-occupying the land, or by increasing the rent.

67' Profits of Agriculture.

Profit is defined to be the difference between
what the article costs, and that for which it is sold.
In some things, the difference is easily ascertained ;
Q

226 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

iu others, it is with difficulty that we discern it.
In the one case, there is merely the purchase and
the sale of the commodity, and this may be done
without capital; in the other, there is a complexity
of accounts of expense ; such as the tear and wear
of machinery — wages of labour — expense of build-
ings— and interest of capital — all of which must
be reckoned before we balance the accounts to see
the amount of profit.

Profits always increase as the demand for the ar-
ticle increases, and according to the risk or difficulty
in producing it. A\Tiere great ingenuity is required,
and when there is great risk to the body or the
health of the operators, there are but few individual
competitors.

The necessaries of life are produced at less profit
than its luxuries ; and those that are engaged in
enployments, which, when compared with others,
that require great exertion of body and mind, may
be regarded as a pleasure, are content with less profit
on their capital.

But the amount of profit also depends on the num-
ber of times, which we can turn over the capital
in any given period.

The merchant may do this once a month, and even
oftener ; and if he gains two per cent, on each trans-
action, this will amount to 24 per cent, per annum
on his capital.

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 227

The manufacturer may be able to do this only
three or four times in a year, and therefore he will
require a greater profit on each transaction than the
merchant ; but the farmer can only bring to market
once a year the goods which he produces, and there-
fore, from the price of these goods, must arise the
whole of the profits on his capital employed.

The merchant or speculator buys the commodity
at or below the market price, or what he thinks he
can sell it for, or he would not make the purchase ;
and so does every one through whose hands any com-
modity passes, till it comes into the hands of the
consumer ; he alone buys it for consumption, he
therefore not only pays the first cost price of the
article, but also all the expense and all the profits of
every one who has had possession of it.

It is evident that the production of any commodity
must yield a fair per centage on the capital employed
in producing it, or it would soon be given up ; so
must it be with agriculture. The reduction of the
price of agricultural produce, may have the effect of
reducing the rents : but the profits, or returns which
the farmer receives on the capital employed, cannot
fall below the average per centage of capital em-
ployed in the production of other commodities.
Other trades may fail, but agriculture which supplies
the first necessaries of life must continue, as its

228 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

profits and its rents are the true and genuine source
of all other employments.

In cultivating the soil, labourers must be em-
ployed ; and the natural value of profitable labour,
is the maintenance of the labourer and his family,
during the period which they are profitably engaged.
*' The husbandman must first eat of the fruits of
the soil."

The agriculturist must also get as great a per cen-
tage on the capital he invests in the cultivation of
his farm, as that which he would obtain if he em-
ployed it in any other way ; to this must be added
the value of his skill and abilities, which he could
otherwise profitably employ. All these demands
must first be satisfied, and the remainder of the
produce being free, will naturally form a fund out of
which the rent must be paid.

The rent, includes tithe, poor rate, church rate,
road and county rate, and all parochial and parHa-
mentary taxes on the land. The only object of the
farmer is simply a profitable employment of his time
and capital.

The natural quahties and powers of the soil, as we
have already shown, are permanently improved by a
proper application of capital ; and it is susceptible
of a continued improvement by every fresh applica-
tion of capital judiciously employed.

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 229

The produce of any soil is in proportion to the
capital and skill employed in the cultivation ; but
the industry of man is not alike productive.

By superior ingenuity, contrivance, and skill, one
man renders his exertions much more productive
than those of another man, who is not possessed of
these resources ; and with the addition of the results
of past labour, or in other words, by money or im-
plements, he may yet effect a still more productive
application of his strength.

The cultivator, however, frequently fails in his
speculations, from the want of a judicious arrange-
ment in the rotation of his crops ; from expensive or
unskilful application of labour in the cultivation of
the soil ; from the want of economy in consuming
the produce by stock ; and often from a want of
capital, as well as from giving too high a rent for
the land he occupies.

But if the farmer has capital sufficient for his
undertaking, and is possessed of skill and ability to
apply it to the best advantage, the result will be pro-
fitable to himself, to his landlord, and to the commu-
nity.

He will use the most effective mode of bringing
the powers of the soil he cultivates into immediate
action; knowing that the greater return he can
make of food for man and beast at the least expense
in the production, the greater will be his own profit,

230 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

and the more advantageous will it be to the consumer,
as this increased produce will tend to lower the
price of the article ; and the landlord also will have
the prospect of an increase of rent, according to the
increased capabilities of the soil, at the end of the
farmer's lease.

The landlord should by every means encourage
the perfect drainage and deepening of the subsoil,
the altering and improving the texture of the soil
by the application of those materials of which it is
deficient, and all other permanent improvements of
which the soil is capable.

This he ought to do even by a large outlay of ca-
pital, provided he has a fair prospect of getting a
better return for such outlay, than he can expect to
realize from any other speculation that holds out
equal security, or in which there is no more risk.

Capital applied to increase permanently the pro-
ductive powers of the soil, has the same effect as if
we added so many acres to the breadth of the estate ;
it does more, indeed, for it gives us the power of
cultivating this increased energy, at the same, or at
a less expense than before, as highly productive land
is universally cultivated at less expense per acre,
than that which is poor and unproductive.

The landed proprietors of England must arouse
themselves from that apathy and indifference with
which they have so long regarded the permanent

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 231

improvement of their estates, and endeavour to give
to their land an increased power of producing a
much greater return. This, we think, may be easily
attained by giving to their tenantry leases of 21
years, and binding every farmer to effect at his own
expense all the permanent improvements of which
the soil is capable, and in such a way as shall be
pointed out to him, by some skilful and experienced
agriculturist capable of directing such permanent
improvements.

The high state of culture which exists in the
Lothians and other parts of Scotland, and in the
north and east of England is, we think, entirely
attributable to the leases, which the farmers have of
the land they occupy, for the terms of 19 or 21
years.

That very great improvements in agriculture are
going on much faster in some parts of the kingdom,
and in some parts of the same county, than in others,
every one who has a personal knowledge of the state
of agriculture in the kingdom will admit, and if we
trace out the cause of the great improvement on the
one hand and of the indifference or neglect on the
other, we may be led to the point which may direct
us how to effect generally what is at present so very
partially practised.

The tenant at will who on the good faith of his
landlord lays out his capital on the improved culture

232 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

of the land he occupies, knows that he has no se-
curity that the money he may lay out in the perma-
nent improvement of his farm will, in the case of
his death or of accident which may derange his pecu-
niary affairs, ever be returned to him or his family,
and, therefore, he limits the expenditure of his ca-
pital to the natural and yearly expense of cultivating
the crops he yearly puts into the soil, and of course
never expends a single shilling in attempting to
permanently increase the productiveness of the soil.
The farm in this case is only well cultivated land,
the productive powers of the land have not increased —
good crops are produced under his management, but
the soil under this good culture has not doubled
the produce nor in any great measure increased the
number of bushels it used to produce ; the fact is
the capital has only been expended to produce the
yearly return — none has been laid out to perma-
nently increase the yearly produce.

The yearly tenant is constantly in a state of un-
certainty, he therefore jogs on in the beaten tracks,
anxious to be able to clear his way, but never anxious
to increase the productive powers of the soil he cul-
tivates, lest his rent should be raised, or lest he
should be turned out to give place to some one in
greater favour with his landlord.

The tenure from year to year, being the act of
the landlords, they only and solely are the cause of

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 233

the listlessness and slovenliness of the tenant at will,
and to the landlord alone is to be attributed the
absence of permanent improvement in the agricul-
ture of the south and west of England, for to obtain
the greatest yearly return without adding anything
to increase the productive powers of the soil, is the
only object of the tenant at will.

Give to the English farmer, who has a sufficient
capital, a certain term in the soil which he cultivates,
and then he will not only be justified in laying out
his capital in its improvement, but he will exert all
his energy in increasing its productiveness, so as to
insure the greatest return to him for his outlay.
The length of term to be given should be in connec-
tion with the improvements which the land re-
quires.

When land is let for building on, a term of 60,
80, 90, or even 999 years is granted to idemnify the
speculator for the expenses of brick and mortar,
and the risk he is subject to, just so should it be with
the farmer when there are extensive improvements,
and risk to be sustained, if the land is wet, and has
to be thoroughly di-ained, and subsoil ploughed ; — if
the nature of the soil requires to be altered, so as
permanently to improve its texture ; — if roads have
to be made ; — if additional buildings for the accom-
modation of stock, to consume the increased produce,
are necessary ; — if foreign manure be required, and

234 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

a new and more perfect modeof culture be necessary,
such a length of lease according to the particular
circumstances of the farm should be granted, as will
induce an enterprising tenant to embark his capital
in the permanent improvement of his farm.

We hold it to be a principle to be acted on in all
cases where the farmer either by his capital, or skill
and industry, or by both, has increased the produc-
tive powers of the soil, that he should enjoy the
fruits of his labour as a patent right for 14 years
at the least, and that the only condition required by
the landlord, which should be imperious, that this
increased productive power should be left entire^ and
not destroyed at the end of the term ; but if great
outlay of capital, as in perfect drainage of the subsoil,
and the deepening and altering the texture of the
soil, then the patent right should extend over a period
of 21 years.

It is a very weak reason to say that the lease is
only binding against the landlord when the prices are
high, and of no use when the prices are low, as the
landlord must then either reduce the rent or take
possession of the farm, for if the land be fairly
rented^ and if the tenant is bound to lay out his ca-
pital in the permanent improvement of the estate, the
amount thus laid out will be a sufficient guarantee
that the tenant will be able to pay the rent however
low the prices may be, if they are caused by the

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 235

natural effects of the season. The tenant will be
always able to give to the landlord the same quantity
of farm produce in the shape of wheat, barley, oats,
beans, beef, mutton, cheese and wool, which he at
first contracted to pay in the shape of rent, but if an
artificial change caused by Government lowering the
prices below what natural causes would, then we
think the landlord ought to suffer from these, because
he ought to have protected himself and his tenant
from them.

Wherever long leases have been granted with pro-
per clauses to enforce the particular kind of perma-
nent improvement which is necessary to increase the
productive powers of the soil, there is not only an
improvement in the state of culture, but a rapid
augmentation to the capabilities of the soil, enabling
it to produce a further increase of produce, so that
the crop in the course of a 21 years lease may have
been doubled and even trebled with a much less an-
nual expense for the cultivation of the crop than was
required at the beginning of the lease, when the
land did not make half the return.

Improvements in the culture and management of
land may take place on some estates by tenants at
will ; generally speaking, however, it will be effected
very slowly ; but any improvement for the permanent
increase of the productive powers of the earth for

236 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

doubling the crops will never be effected unless under
a lease or by the landlord himself.

There is something more necessary than merely
keeping up the fertility of the soil. — Unless the fer-
tnity of the soil be increased — -permanently increased^
we do not attain to that character as agriculturists
which we think every farmer should strive to arrive
at, and which eveiy landed proprietor ought to
make it his bounden duty to enforce as a condition
in every lease he grants ; indeed the principal advan-
tage to the landlord in granting leases is the in-
creased productiveness which the soil will derive from
the state of culture and improvement which he
binds the farmer to put in force during the whole
period of the lease, and which will leave the land at
the end of the lease increased in its productive
powers.

The j5rst expense of the new order of things is the
greatest, the most hazardous if not properly laid
out by one who from his experience knows the effects
which it will produce, but at the same time, it is the
most profitable, in as much, as all the other opera-
tions of agriculture can be accomplished at much
less expense, perhaps at three-fourths, or even one-
half the previous expense, so that by the first outlay
in draining, subsoil ploughing, deepening and alter-
ing the texture of the cultivated soil, one half of the

PROFITS OF AGRICULTURE. 237

yearly expense of cultivation is saved, and a much
greater certainty of crops secured than before.

Improvements in agriculture may be effected
either by an increase of produce at little additional
expense ; or, by reducing the expense of cultivation,
without diminishing the produce.

If we save a fraction of the expense of cultivation,
that fraction will be as much in the nature of free
produce, as if the original expense of cultivation
brought forth so much additional produce. When
we see the most expensive modes of cultivation
adopted over a great portion of the kingdom, where
a man and a boy with from three to five horses are
employed in doing less work with the plough, than
a man and two active horses perform in other parts,
there can be no difficulty in resorting to the means
of lessening the expense by reducing the number of
working cattle.

Government should give the same impartial pro-
tection to the agricultural community which it gives
to the manufacturing and commercial interests ; and
the taxes, both parochial and parhamentary, on the
capital employed in agriculture, should be after the
same rate as those on capital employed either in
trade, manufactures, commerce, or Government se-
curity. Those too, that are now called money capi-
talists, a new branch of society sprung up since land,
parochial, and commercial taxes were enacted, should

238 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

also be taxed in the same ratio as every other class
of the community.

68. Means proposed of introducing
Agricultural Improvement.

We have for many years been convinced, that very
great advantage would result from a chain of example
farms spread over the several Geological formations,
to put into active operation the system which we have
ventured to suggest for increasing the productive
powers, and for permanently improving each of the
several classes of soil, and to afford a practical
specimen to the diligent farmer of the best mode to
be adopted iii its cultivation.

The situation of these farms should be on that
portion of the geological formation, where the pe-
culiarity of the soil is most evident, and, if possible,
where the formation is the broadest. These farms
should be so near to each other, as to give to the
whole of the agricultural community, the power of
a personal examination into aU the details of their
management.

Two or three should be situated on each of the
formations, or at least on each of the soils which we
have classed together, and their distance from
each other should not be greater than 15 or 20
miles.

. AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 239

These farms should vary in extent from 200 to
300 acres, according to the nature of the soil.
Those on soft sandy soil shoidd be the largest, aud
those on clay the smallest; because a greater de-
gree of attention is necessary to the details of every
branch in the cultivation and management of clay
than of sandy land, and more capital is also re-
quired.

As the manager too must see the various opera-
tions accomplished, and be accountable for the pro-
per execution of each and every one of the plans
laid down, a farm of larger dimensions, than that
which we have stated, could not be grasped by a per-
sonal attendance upon every separate operation :
and the personal attendance of the manager is abso-
lutely necessary to insure complete success.

The buildings on these farms should be conveni-
ently arranged, and of such an extent as would give
every accommodation that is necessary. Where new
ones are to be built, these ought to form specimens
of farm-offices for farms of the same extent ; not
expensive erections, but, on the contrary, economi-
cally arranged, as well as erected. We cannot help
observing that much capital has been wasted in
the erection of farm-buildings, particularly of barns.
Many are the advantages which landlords, as well
as farmers, would derive from the estabhshraent of
SLich a chain of example-farms, carried on under the

240 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

most scientific and improved mode of culture, and as
examples to be followed by farmers of the same kind
of soils.

Such an association of example-farms over the
various geological formations, we tliink, could be
easily carried on with profit to the proprietor, and
would be of the greatest advantage to all those who
are occupants of such kinds of soil.

These farms would exhibit the best means of per-
manently improving the soil, and of increasing its
productive powers ; — the best and most profitable
mode of cultivation ; — the kind of crops best suited
for each class of soils, as well as the amount of
capital per acre, necessary for carrying on the ordi-
nary operations of farmers ; — the amount of extra-
ordinary capital sunk in altering and improving the
texture, for the purpose of increasing the productive
powers of each class of soils ; — and the reduction of
the yearly expense of culture, after the texture of
the soil has been changed. They would also show
what portion of the produce it required to defray
the expense of cultivation, what, for the interest on
extraordinary capital sunk, and what, for profit and
rent.

All new modes of culture which would be proved,
from the practice adopted on these farms, to be the
best and most profitable for any particular soil, would
have the stamp of authority fixed on them, and the

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 241

best, the cheapest, and the most profitable, for every
soil of this character.

These example-farms being over every class of soil,
the mode of culture best calculated for each would,
in like manner, soon be confirmed and held up to
the agriculturist, as the one which should be adopted
under similar circumstances.

Every operation should be shown in the most
public manner, all the details explained, and the
result should be self-evident to every observer, and
proved to be a well substantiated fact.

By the continuance of such a system, and by such
an exhibition of its details, we may be able by the
result to put to flight the unprofitable and expensive
mode of culture, the customs, and the prejudices, of
the farmers in the several locahties.

The best mode of culture would soon be established
for every particular class of soils, from having the
test of the example-farm seal to it ; and the landlord,
or manager of estates, would have an undeniable
authority for enforcing the adoption of it. Prejudice
would be shamed out of her old practice, and land-
lords and tenants would cordially join their exertions
in every plan which was thus found to be the most
profitable, whether the profit was quickly returned,
or obtained only after a lapse of years. The per-
manent improvement of the land v^ould be gradually
increased, and its productive powers would be soon

R

242 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

doubled and even tripled ; and thus, by increasing
its capabilities, the tenant would have a better chance
of secure and ample profits on his outlay of capital,
and the landlord of his rent.

The relative portion of the produce necessary for
the interest of the natural capital, and the expense
of cultivating the soil; — for the extraordinary interest
on the capital sunk for its permanent improvement ;
— for the farmer's talent, exertion, and profit, as
well as for the landlord's rent, would be clearly esta-
blished, by the result of such example-farms. The
proprietor, therefore, and the farmer of land of any
class of soil, would have the test of experience for
fixing the portion of the produce as rent ; the
amount of capital required for the proper cultivation
of such land would also be known ; and thus, the
landlord would have it in his power to ascertain,
whether the capital of an apphcant for his estate,
was sufficient for the undertaking, and he would
consequently be less liable to disappointment.

In estabhshing these example-farms, capital to a
considerable amount would be required, and although
in this day of speculation and of joint-stock com-
panies, a joint-stock agricultural society for the per-
manent improvement of land might be formed, with
as many 56100. £50. or even £5. shares, as would
make up the sum required ; yet we think this would
not meet the view which we take of the subject:

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 243

speculative shareholders would only be a drag to
such an undertaking, and it would soon fall to the
ground, if the landed proprietors themselves, did not
see the advantage of such a plan, and come forward,
either as individuals, or as a body, and take up the
matter.

An individual landlord, possessed of a consider-
able extent of land on any one class of soils, might
himself take in hand one of his own farms, afford
the necessary capital, and appoint a director to carry
into active execution all that is proposed ; or several
landlords might join and form themselves into a
society, in the several localities where they reside ;
and if such a number of individuals, or of suqh small
societies, could be formed to furnish the necessary
materials for setting the thing a going, even on a
small scale, were it on the plastic clay formation
only, we have no doubt but the plan would soon
extend.

If the farms be rented, they should be on a lease
for 21 years, and the occupier should pay all the
expenses of permanent improvement ; or if the land-
lord paid the amount of the money sunk, the lease
might then be only for 14 years, and the occupier
should then pay 5 per cent, interest, on all money
sunk, beginning to pay the interest from and after
the end of the second year after the outlay.

As a profitable outlay of the sunk capital, and

244 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

increased profits on the ordinary capital from the
mode of culture, are the only objects, their attain-
ment must be rendered evident by the result, or
the system is of no value ; and as this must depend,
in a great measure, on the director, we would
propose that he should be paid out of, and have a
certain portion of the profits ; and any fixed yearly
allowance given to him, should be barely sufiicient
to cover his necessary expenses.

The proprietor, in choosing a person to direct
and superintend all the various proceedings on these
example-farms, must be satisfied that his abihties
and qualifications are equal to the undertaking; as
on him would devolve the direction of all the va-
rious operations, which he thought necessary to carry
out the system of improvement and culture, to its
full and complete extent.

The director should be accountable to the pro-
prietor for the success of the system which he pro-
posed, for the contemplated permanent improvement
of the soil, and for the better cultivation of each
of these example-farms.

The plan adopted by him, should be founded on
some regular and scientific principle, and he should
be required not only to give a written account of it,
but to enter minutely into all the details, and to give
an estimate of the expense of perfectly draining, and
altering, the texture of the soil of each field, and

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 245

also to state what effect such, improvement might
be expected to produce after a certain period of
time.*

The person appointed by the director to undertake
the management shoidd reside on the farm, be com-
pletely under his control, and accountable to him
only for the proper and timely execution of all the
various operations.

The director, of course, must be convinced of his
fitness and qualifications for such an undertaking.
His mind should be free from prejudice and open to
con\'iction, he should be capable of adopting and
executing any plan proposed, and should have a prao-
tical knowledge of the details, which are necessary
on a farm of such a soil as that which he is to
manage,

A daily account of aU. the work done in every field
must be entered in the day book, which should be
a record of the most minute particulars of all cir-
cumstances attending it.

The state of the weather, too, should be noticed,
as favourable, or adverse, to such operations, and all
the effects produced should be carefully observed and
registered.

From these minutes, daily recorded, a monthly re-
port should be drawn up by the director and mana-
ger, and read to those who attended at the monthly

* A report of Whitfield Ex ample -Farm is appended to this
work.

246 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

meetings on each farm. Such a report, should of
course, enter into every minute circumstance, point
out what has been effected, in -what the plans have
failed, and where they have succeeded.

Although the example-farms of each locahty might
belong to one proprietor in the neighbourhood, or to
several, yet, as the objects would be to disseminate
the principle of permanently improving and increas-
ing the capabihties of the land ; as well as to put
forth an increased produce by adopting the best mode
of culture for each class of soils ; a monthly inspec-
tion of each should be offered to the pubhc, and
every farmer particularly invited to attend, and to give
his opinion, on every operation, which should be
taken down in writing as the inspection proceeds.
This inspection should not only be of the field ope-
rations, but of the books, the state of the accounts,
and the expenses.

Each separate locahty would thus be interested in
the proceeding of its own example-farm, and be emu-
lous for its success; and the effects produced in its
immediate neighbourhood would spread, till it met
with the extended influence produced by the sur-
rounding locahties ; so that the whole agriculture of
the kingdom would soon feel, and be influenced by
the power of such an improved system of culture.
These reports should be pubhshed at least once a
quarter, and embody every thing that has had, either
directly or indirectly, any relation to the subject.

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 24/

This publicity would court examination and enquiry;
and this circumstance alone would do much in era-
dicating prejudice, and in begetting a spirit of im-
provement amongst agriculturists.

The proceedings on the whole range of these ex-
ample-farms, and the reports of the inspector, would
afford materials for a pubhc agricultural journal,
which would find a ready circulation over the whole
range of the several locahties ; and afford materials
for information, or discussion, on every branch of
agriculture, as well as on any particular mode of ex-
ecuting the various details of cultivation.

An agricultural journal with such a ground work,
would be sure of commanding a most extensive cir-
culation ; as the matter put forth in the reports of
the various farms, would be the result of what had
previously taken place in the example-farms, wliich
had been examined, and reported on, by those who
had no personal interest in them.

These example-farms, by affording the best agri-
cultural information, would form the best school for
the practical education of those, who intended to
spend then- hfe in agricultural pursuits. The mana-
ger or director might take a hmited number of
pupils, and educate them in every practical branch
necessary to make them capable of fulfilhng the
duties of their station, with advantage to society, as
well as profit to themselves.

248 NATURE AND PROPERTY OF SOILS.

If such an establishment for the education of
young gentLmen, in all the branches of science in-
dispensable or tributary to agricultural knowledge,
could be formed in connexion with several of these
example-farms, so as to have the advantage of a
weekly or monthly examination; then, much useful
and practical information might be gained, by such
a hberal, judicious, and practical mode of instruc-
tion.

APPENDIX.

REPORT

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE FARM,

JOHN MORTON.

MOTTNTAIK

APPENDIX.

When any defect exists in the conduct or ope-
ration of others, the best mode of correcting it is to
show by example the superior advantages of a better
plan of proceeding. If we reason with them on the
foolishness of any part of their proceedings, we may
be able to convince, though we should have to pierce
through a host of objections raised by selfishness
and prejudice ; but even should we succeed so far,
pride will not allow them to adopt our suggestions,
because, by so doing, they would acknowledge their
own inferiority. The case is, however, materially
altered when their imperfections are displayed by
the result of an example daily placed before their
eyes; they will then insensibly fall into the plan
which expediency teaches them is preferable, because
they may do so without any personal acknowledg-
ment of inferiority.

To no class of people does this remark so strictly
apply as it does to farmers; for in none, generally
speaking, is there such a degree of prejudice, and
such a strict adherence to custom. The only way

252

APPENDIX.

in which an improvement is to be effected in their
mode of cultivation is by keeping a practical specimen
of the best farming constantly under their view.

We have elsewhere stated that " a general asso-
ciation of example-farms over the various geological
formations could not only be carried on with profit
to the proprietor, but would be of the greatest
advantage to all those who are occupants of each
kind of soil. These farms would exhibit the best
means of permanently improving the soil, and of
permanently increasing its productiveness ; the best
and most profitable mode of cultivation ; the kind of
crop best suited for each class of soils ; the amount
of capital per acre necessary for carrying on the
ordinary occupation of the farm ; and the reduction
of the annual expense of culture after the texture of
the soil has been changed. They would also show
the relative portion of the produce necessary for the
interest of the natural capital, and the expense of
cultivating the soil — for the interest on the extra-
ordinary capital sunk in its permanent improvement —
and for the farmer's talent, exertion, and profit, as
well as for the landlord's rent. Every operation
would be shown in the most public manner, all the
details explained, and the results would be self-
evident and proved to be well-substantiated facts.
The test of pubhc opinion, which would then be
stamped on each of the several operations, would be

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 253

the surest way of fixing its value ; the success or
failure of each would be made known to all ; the
valuable portion would be adopted and acted upon,
and the worthless rejected."

In many cases an attempt has been made by land-
lords to institute farms of this kind ; but their prin-
cipal object has been the improvement of live stock,
in which they have deservedly merited approbation
and reward. The great fault, however, of these has
been, that though different modes of cultivation have
been compared, and, in some cases, their relative
value ascertained, yet the expense and return of each
operation and the general money accounts of the
farms have never been kept distinct and separate.
In many cases economy has not been an object, so
that however excellent each operation may have been,
yet the fact, so often the case, that the expensive
mode in which they have been performed has ren-
dered it a losing concern to the proprietor, affords
just the strongest argument to the farmer against the
adoption of any of the proposed plans, and strength-
ens his prejudice in favour of his old habits.

With the sanction of the Earl of Ducie, and his
son Lord Moreton, an example-farm is to be formed
in the parish of Cromhall ; and it is intended that
the above remarks, as to the general objections against
those of the kind as yet formed, shall not apply to
this. It is intended that every thing shall be brought

254 APPENDIX.

to the book, aud the merits or demerits of each
operation determined only by a reference to the cash
account, in which the expense attending it, and the
return from it, will appear. The agricultural public
are invited to inspect and report their opinion on
each and every operation, so that, by the whole being
placed before them, it is hoped that an interest may
be excited.

REPORT

On the present state of Whitfield Farm, situated in
the Parish of Cromhall, in the County of Glouces-
ter, belonging to the Right Honourable the Earl of
Ducie, and the plan proposed for improving it.

This Report will consist of three parts: — 1st. The
present state of the farm, under the mode of manage-
ment adopted by the present tenant, Mr. Thomas ;
2nd. The plan which I purpose to adopt in attempt-
ing permanently to increase the productiveness of
the soil ; and 3rd, The system of culture which I
think is best calculated for such a soil after it has
been improved.

I. The present state of the farm under the mode of
management adopted by Mr. Thomas.

1 . This farm has been in the occupation of Mr.
George Thomas, as a yearly tenant, for the last
twenty-one years. It consists of 232 acres, 164 of
which are pasture, and 68 arable. The rent is 56200.
a- year ; the poor-rate ^£28 ; the tithe 5^33 ; and the
road-rate a84; which, including all parochial taxes,
amounts to j6265 per annum.

2. The buildings on this farm are very hmited.
A dwelling-house, 45 by 35 feet, consists of a kitchen,

256 APPENDIX.

back-kitchen, dairy, and parlour below, witb four
bedrooms above; a small barn, a stable for four
horses, a shed with four bays, sufficient for eight
cows, a house for four cows, and a calves' house,
form the whole of the buildings on the estate ; and
these are in a very bad state of repair.

3. One is struck with the forest-hke appearance
which the pasture-land presents, when viewed from
the high ground at Abbot-side. The immense number
of oaks, and other trees in the hedgerows, are so
crowded together as to injure the pasture greatly, by
occupying the surface, preventing the circulation of
the air, destroying the fences, preventing the drainage,
and shading the grass, thus making it unpalatable to
stock {souring it).

4. Mr. Thomas keeps a pack of twenty-five cows
on this farm, and rears seven calves a year, which he
keeps till they have calves, when three years old, to
fill up the place of seven cows, which, together, in
some cases, with some of the heifers and calves, are sold
every year. Thus seven heifers or cows in calf being
sold in the spring of the year, his Hve stock consists
of twenty-five cows, seven heifer calves, seven year-
old heifers, and seven two-year-old heifers. These,
together with four working horses, a riding horse,
and some pigs, are the whole of the hve stock which
have been kept for the last twenty -one years.

5. The produce of the 164 acres of pasture-land

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 257

is wholly consumed by the above fifty head of stock.
There are generally about 100 acres of it mown, and
made into hay for the maintenance of the stock
during the winter and spring, and the remaining 64
are pastured during the spring and summer, till the
cattle can be turned into the latter-math. That
portion of the grass land which is pastured, has been
always pastured, and the remainder has been gene-
rally made into hay. One would naturally expect from
this mode of management, a gradual improvement
in the land wliich has always been pastured ; but
this is not the case, owing to the wetness of the soil,
and in consequence of the land being so shaded and
covered with trees. The natural result, however, of
mowing land every year, and carrying off the produce,
shows itself in the most evident light ; unless manure
is laid abundantly on, such a treatment must neces-
sarily injure any land, and particularly this, wliich is
so wet and spongy. The crops of hay which are
produced, are sometimes not worth the expense of
making, seldom averaging more than half a ton
per acre; and then it is composed of anything
but grasses of a good quality. The principal
plants which grow in the pasture-fields — besides
a mixture of the common grasses. Meadow Fescue
{Festiica pratensis). Rough-stalked Meadow-grass
(Poa trivialis), Rough Cock's-foot (JDactylis glome-
rata), and Perennial Rye-grass {Lolium perenne) — are

258 APPENDIX.

the common yellow Cow Wheat {Melampyrum pra^
tensis), which, in many cases, completely yellows the
pasture; the Moon-flower (Chrysanthemum leucan-
themum), which, on the other hand, is frequently so
luxuriant as to give it a white appearance ; the Corn
Marygold {Chrysanthemum seyetum), the common wild
Basil {Clinopodium vulgar e)^ Rest Harrow Cammock
(Ononis Arvensis), Dyer's green weed or Wood waxen
(Genista tinctoria)^ Common Agrimony (Agrimonia
Eupatoria), Corn Woundwort (Stachys arvensis),
yellow Meadow Veitchling (Lathyrus Aphaca),
Greater Knapweed (Frustranea Cyanus), Common
Feverfew (Pyrethrum Tartheniurn). Besides these,
there are many other plants which prefer the wetter
parts of the ground, such as several species of Orchis,
the Meadow Lychnis (Lychnis Jloscuculi), and the
Water Flag (Iris Pseudocorus), which only grows
where it finds standing-water, as in the bottom of
ditches, &c.

6. There might be some manure got from the
consumption of 1 00 acres of hay ; but it is all carried
to the arable land, and nothing but a little earth
taken from the grips (surface or open drains), mixed
with a httle lime, is put on the grass land.

7. There never has been any underground, and
very little surface draining done on this farm ; the
fences are, therefore, in a bad state, and most of the
ditches are full of the roots of the hedgerow trees.

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 259

brambles, and rubbish. There is a prejudice existing
against underground draining ; " Gripping " (that is,
surface draining) "will do good on this land, but
underground drains never do good on this land, sir."
This is a common saying, not only of Mr. Thomas
and the workmen, and all those who have any con-
nection with it, but also of some of the neigh-
bouring tenants, without any reason being given for
it. From Mr. Thomas it may be taken as an apology
for his conduct. I think they might have found a
good reason in the immense number of trees, the
roots of which would soon stop the best and most
efficient underground drainage that could be effected.
8. The mode of managing the arable land, is that
which is used amongst most of the dairy farmers in
the neighbourhood, potatoes and wheat for the family
being the chief crops. As, however, there is a much
greater proportion of arable land on this farm than
is generally the case with dairy farms in this neigh-
bourhood, Mr. Thomas sometimes has part of the
land in barley and clover, and has lately had some
of the poorest of it planted with teasels. At present
I find fourteen acres in wheat, which raay produce
twelve bushels per acre ; seven acres in barley, which
may produce twenty bushels per acre ; seven acres
in teasels, worth, perhaps, 30*. per acre ; eight acres
in clover, which may produce eighteen cwt. of hay
per acre ; and twenty-four acres in potatoes, which

260 APPENDIX.

may produce 5 J tons per acre. Of the potatoe land,
eight acres are dunged, and let to the labourers at
£1 . per acre, and sixteen acres are not dunged,
"which are let to the labourers at 364. per acre, and
the remaining acres are for the use of the family.
The whole of the arable land is full of couch, thistles,
and every other weed which such land is subject to.

9. There is no fixed system of cropping, nor is
there any plan for executing the work which must
be performed. No arrangement is made for the per-
formance of any one act of husbandry ; all is left to
chance ; if the work be done soon after his neigh-
bour's, the farmer thinks that all is well. We need
not be disappointed, therefore, at the result of such
management.

10. The whole of the potatoe crop belonging to
the labourers is of course carried off the land, and
the little straw which the wheat crop produces is
made into hulm, as it is called, for thatch ; some of
this is kept for thatching ricks, and the remainder
is sold. The only part, therefore, of the produce of
the arable land which is consumed on the farm is
the barley straw, the hay from the clover, and the
potatoes and wheat which the family consumes ; all
the rest is taken off the land.

1 1 . The expenses attending this mode of farming
are not very great. The workmen employed are two
men (a cowman and ploughman), a boy, and two

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 261

women in the house to manage the dairy. In har-
vest there are sometimes two mowers and two men
to make the hay. There may thus be four additional
men for ten or twelve weeks during the hay, corn,
and potatoe harvests. The expenses of the labourers
may, therefore, be stated as follows : —

£. s. d.
Two men by the year at 9*. each per week ;

one boy at 3s. ; two women at 45. each 75 8 0
Say four men in harvest for ten weeks at

12*. each 24 0 0

Tradesmen's bills — carpenter, black-
smith, &c.; house and cows doctor's

biU 15 0 0

Housekeeping — say for four at 4*. per

week each 41 12 0

Forty bushels of malt at 7s 14 0 0

^170 0 0

12. The value of the produce of this farm may be
taken as under, which is as near as can be obtained: —

£. s. d.
For the last twenty-one years the cows
have not averaged 2^ cwt. of cheese
each, which gives 62 J cwt. for 25 cows,
which, at 50*. per cwt. is .... 156 5 0

Carried forward . . ^61 56 5 0

262 APPENDIX.

£. 5. d.

Brought forward . . .156 5 0
The butter of twenty-five cows at 305.

per cow 37 10 0

A fat pig sold for every five cows — five

pigs at ^3 15 0 0

Eighteen calves at IO5. each .... 900
Seven old or young heifers and calves

at 569 63 0 0

Sold :—

Wheat, 168 bushels at 7^. .... 58 16 0

Barley, 80 bushels at 45 16 0 0

Eight acres of potatoes, dunged, at ^7 5Q 0 0

Ten acres of ditto, not dunged, at £4 . 40 0 0

Eight acres of teasels at 305 12 0 0

56463 11 0

This estimate of the expense and of the produce
is taken from Mr. Thomas's statements and my
opinion of the crops.

13. The amount of capital which Mr. Thomas may
have employed on this farm can only be estimated
by calculating the value of his live and dead stock,
and the expense of labour for one year ; and it may
be stated thus : —

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 263

£.
Twenty-five cows at ^10 each . . . 250
Seven two-year-olds at £>1 .... 49

Seven year-olds at j64 28

Seven calves at 562 14

Five horses at 5615 1^

Two sows and pigs, say 10

Two waggons, two carts, two ploughs,
one drag, two harrows, one roller,

harness, &c. 60

Dairy and household furniture, say . 70
One year's expense of labour, see §. 1 1 . 1/0

f.

d.

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

56726 0 0

14. The profits, if any, will appear by deducting
from the value of the produce (§. 12)
The expenses of labour (§. 11) 56170
The rent and taxes (§. 1) . £2^

435 0 0

Leaving only as interest on the capital

employed 28 11 0

56463 11 0

II. The plan which I purpose to adopt in attempt-
ing permanently to increase the productiveness of
the soil.

264 APPENDIX.

15. In noticing the principle on which I propose
to improve this estate, I would observe that, whether
the land be arable, pasture, or meadow, unless it can
be perfectly drained, little can be done to improve it ;
for of whatever kind of soil it may be, whether clay,
loam, or sand, it is very much injured by a super-
abundance of moisture : vegetation is retarded, and
when the water becomes stagnant, the plants die.
It is, therefore, my intention to drain all the wet and
moist land.

16. There being a large portion of the estate on
the clay subsoil, with alternating beds of sandstone,
this must be broken up, not only to give depth for
the roots of plants, but to enable the surface-water to
sink to the depth of sixteen or eighteen inches, before
it meets "wdth an impervious bottom, along which it
may run or slip over to the underground drains, by
which it will be carried off to the main-drain, and
thence to the open ditches.

17. Before I enter into a detail of the plan which
I purpose to adopt, it will be necessary to examine
the nature and properties of the subsoil and of the
soil resting upon it, the present state of the surface,
the roads, and the buildings.

18. This farm is about fourteen miles from Bristol,
near to, and on the right-hand side of the road from
that city to Gloucester. There is a valley in the
middle of it, down which a small brook runs in a

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 265

northerly direction, dividing the farm into two
nearly equal parts, one of which has an eastern and
the other a western exposure.

19. I have annexed a plan of the farm, with two
sections, one across it and the other down the valley,
showing the inclination of the surface and the dip
and direction of the geological formations, and its
elevation above the level of the sea. These will
enable me to show the principle which ought to be
adopted, and the mode of drainage which will be
most effectual.

20. The geological formations of this estate are
the mountain or carboniferous lime and the old red
sandstone. The highest on the east side of the
brook is the mountain limestone, which dips to the
east at an angle of 50° to the horizon. This rock
extends about eighteen chains across the farm, occu-
pying the top of the hill on the east side, and stretch-
ing about half-way down towards the brook. The
magnesian breccia overlays the lower edge of this
formation, and has a breadth of about five chains.
Immediately under the limestone, the old red sand-
stone commences, with the gritty member of it called
the pudding-stone. This, we think, extends about
fifteen chains down the hill and across the brook.
In this pudding-stone are many fine springs of water,
which are thrown out by clayey beds, which frequently
alternate with the members of this formation. Under

266

APPENDIX.

the pudding-stone, and on the west side of the brook,
the subsoil is composed of alternate beds of sand-
stone and red clay, the clay being the thicker member.
These dip under the pudding-stone, at nearly the same
angle as that of the mountain limestone. This for-
mation occupies nearly all the land on the west side
of the brook. The water which fills up the porous
reservoir between the beds of clay, keeps the whole
of the surface wet, so that the whole of this part of
the farm is rendered a complete puddle, by the feet
of the stock in the winter and spring months. The
breadth of this clayey section may be about eighteen
or twenty chains.

21. The soil on the mountain limestone, and the
magnesian breccia, is very thin, and is composed of
angular fragments of the rock with some vegetable
matter. It is dry and healthy for sheep, and, when
the season is moist, it would produce good crops of
barley and turnips, and sweet pasture. The rock is
80 near the surface that the soil cannot be deepened
by the subsoil plough. The whole of the soil on
the lime rock is under arable culture. Some of the
hedges here are two or three perches in width, and
are composed of thorns, hazel, and brambles, together
with the stones that have been carried off the land,
and thrown in among the rubbish.

22. The soil on the pudding-stone, immediately
under the limestone, partakes of the nature of the

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 267

rock on which it jests. It is of a silicious sandy
nature ; from the disintegration of this stone, the
soil is composed of rounded pebbles. About half of
the breadth of this, on the east side of the brook, is
dry, but in the other half there are many springs,
some of them very large ; these keep the surface for
a considerable distance from the brook very wet.
The dry portion of the soil on this formation is under
arable culture, and would, if it were under proper
management, produce good crops of wheat, barley,
turnips, and grass ; but that portion in which the
springs are so abundant is in pasture, and the sur-
face, in many places where it is constantly wet, is
covered with bog earth. This is caused by the water
being stagnant on the surface. The soil must, there-
fore, be perfectly drained before any means can be
taken to improve it.

23. The soil, on that part of the estate which
rests on the alternating beds of clay and sandstone,
is of an adhesive clayey nature, partaking more of
the clayey than the sandy members. It is a wet
reddish clay soil, but, if perfectly drained, would form
the most productive land on the farm. It would be
strong enough for wheat or beans, not too adhesive
for barley or turnips, and would answer well to be
laid down in grass, or to be cultivated as an arable
farm.

24. The state of the fences on tliis farm are as

268 APPENDIX.

bad as can be imagined. The fields are very small,
eight of them are under three acres each, eight are
between tliree and four acres each, twenty-seven are
between four and eight acres each, and only three
fields are above eight acres each, so that the quantity
of ditches and fences is very great for such an extent
of land. The hedges, being so crowded with trees,
and being frequently a perch or two in width, give
to the pasture land of this estate more the appearance
of a forest than that of a dairy farm. It is thus
scarcely possible to keep the fences good, and the
ditches in a condition to enable them to carry off"
the water, from the immense number of roots and
leaves of the hedgerow trees. The number of trees is
in some cases so great as twenty to an acre. The
land is thus completely shaded on account of the
smallness of the fields, and the great amount of
timber growing in them and the hedgerows.

25. The roads on this farm are, as might be ex-
pected, of the very worst description. Some of them
being filled with rubbish, and now forming broad
hedgerows, and others being made through the fields
instead of them. The length of these is the distance
between the gateways, and their breadth is in many
cases the width of the fields through which they
pass. It is thus impossible for a load to be taken
from the farm in a cart or waggon in wet weather,
without the wheels sinking down to the sock. Roads

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 269

must therefore be made through the farm, requiring
two or three bridges in their course, before anything
can be done towards improving it.

26. The first step to be taken in attempting to
improve this farm, is to clear it of all the trees which
are so injurious to the surface, and which will pre-
vent the perfect drainage of the soil. These we find
amount to 618 oak, 662 elm, 388 ash, 63 beech,
40 alder, and a large quantity of hazel and rubbish.
The value of the timber I estimate at 563200. This
being accomphshed, I shall then lay out the whole
of the land into such a number of fields as shall be
best suited for a farm of such an extent and situa-
tion, and having such a soil. Advantage wHl be
taken of any of the existing fences whose situation
will aid the perfect drainage of the land, and new
ones will be made where ditches are required, or in
other places where they are necessary for the con-
veyance of the water from the drains.

27. From the number of small fields of which this
farm is composed, there will be a great extent of old
hedgerow fences to be removed; and before the
drainage and subsoil ploughing of the land can be
effected, these and all the oak, elm, ash, beech, and
alder trees must be grubbed up, and the ground dug
to the depth of at least sixteen inches. The removal
of about 3000 perches in length and at least one and
half in width, of hedgerows, will thus be required to

270 APPENDIX.

be effected, and the ground must then be cleared of
roots and dug over sixteen inches deep. The expense
of this at l5. a perch will amount to about ^225.
The timber to be cut, as it has caused the injury,
should defray this expense. The ditches required
for the perfect drainage of the land, after quicks have
been planted on their edges, will do for the division
of the farm into fields. The draining and fresh
fencing of the whole will be effected under my super-
intendence. The whole may be performed at the
same time, (i. e.) the forming of ditches to carry off
the water from the drains to the brook, and the
execution of the underground di'ains, to empty their
water into the ditches.

28. But before these operations can be effected the
brook must be deepened ; and where it is necessary
to effect the drainage of the lowest part of the fields
which are next to it, its course must be altered.
Although there be not much water in it in the sum-
mer season, yet in winter there is a considerable
stream ; it wiU, therefore, be necessary to give it the
following dimensions : nine feet wide at top, two feet
at bottom, and five feet deep at least.

There will thus be seventeen cubic yards in the
length of every perch, which, at 3d. per cubic yard,
is 4*. 3d. per perch. The length of the brook being
about 300 perches, the expense of deepening, and,
when necessary, altering it, will be about s$<55.

whitfield example-farm. 271

Drainage.

29. We have abeady stated that part of the soil
restmg on the pudding-stone, and all the red clayey
portion on the west side of the farm, is very wet and
requires to be drained. The extent of this wet land
may be about 160 acres, 90 of which on the red clay
win require the underground drains to be about a
perch or a perch and a half apart, and the remaining
70 acres of low ground, resting on the lower member
of the pudding-stone, will do, we think, with one and
a half, or two perches between the drains. All the
rest of the farm is dry, and does not require draining.

30. The ditches, to carry off the water from the un~
derground drains, and to answer the purpose of fences,
should not, we think, be less than four feet deep, six
inches wide at bottom, and seven feet wide at top.
There will thus be nine cubic yards in the length of
every perch, and the expense of removing it, at 3c?.
the cubic yard, will be 2^. Sd. per perch. If the
1 60 acres of wet land be divided into ten-acre fields,
about 640 perches of deep ditches wiU be requu-ed to
carry off the water. The expense of this, at 2s. 3d.
a perch, amounts to £74. I3s. 3d.

3 1 . The most perfect and permanent mode of under-
ground draining, is to make parallel drains from the
highest to the lowest end of the field, the distance
between each being regulated by the nature of the

272 APPENDIX.

soil and subsoil ; and at the bottom of the field, at
the distance of about sixteen feet and a half from
the ditch, there should be an underground main
drain, into which the parallel di^ains empty themselves.
This main drain should be large enough to take aU
the water from the drains, even though the field be
twenty acres in size, and convey it to the ditch with
which it is connected at its lower end. The prin-
cipal reasons for having all the underground parallel
drains to empty themselves into the main, and
through that into the ditch, instead of each emptying
itself into the ditch, are, that while, in the latter
case, a hundred mouths would require to be kept
open and clear of rubbish, in the former, only one
has to be attended to; and also, that during the
summer months, some of the parallel di'ains would
become dry, and allow the entrance of moles and rats,
which woidd soon stop them up, but that the quan-
tity of water which always issues from a main drain
would forbid their entrance, and thus hinder them
from injuring it or the others.

32. The best time to drain surface or rain water
from land is from September to April. The mode of
proceeding should be, first, to lay out the directions
of all the di'ains, to mark out the position of the
whole, both the parallel and main di'ains. The dig-
ging of the main drain should then be commenced
at the lowest end of the field, and it should be finished

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 2/3

before any of the parallel drains are touched. When
the uppermost end of the main is at length arrived
at, the lower end of the farthest of the parallel drains
should be commenced, and the others should be com-
pleted one after another. The direction of the
parallel drains should be from the top to the bottom
of the field, and if there be high ridges they should
He in the furrow ; they may be from one to one and
a half or two perches apart, varying according to the
nature of the subsoil. The fall should be as uniform
as possible ; it may vary from one in six to one in
thirty, and it should be greatest just where it joins
the main. The depth of the parallel drains should
be three feet, never less than thirty inches. Their
width at top should be about fifteen inches, but at
bottom it must be regulated by the size of the soles
for the draining tiles, and may vary from four to five
inches. Their length may be from 250 to 300 yards,
but if they cross springs of water, it should never
exceed 200 yards. The mode which we have adopted
is to begin by putting in the tiles at the top of the
highest parallel drain, and the order in which each
drain is completed is exactly the reverse of that in
which they were commenced, only the main drain is
done as the others are completing ; that is, after the
first parallel drain is completed, the majn is ctrm-
menced, and completed as far as the second parallel,

T

274 APPENDIX.

which being finished, the main is carried on to the
third, and so on till the whole is finished. A sole is
put in for each tile, or rather the soles should be put
close together, and each of the draining- tiles should
rest on one-half of two adjacent soles, the middle of
each tile being over the junction of two soles. The
width of the soles should be about one inch greater
than that of the tiles, so that it may project half an
inch on either side. The bottom sole of the parallel
drain, at its junction with the main, should rest upon
the top of the main draining-tile, and care should,
therefore, be taken to make it sufficiently high for
that purpose; a distance of an inch between the tiles
of the main drain should be left at that place, so that
the water from the parallel drains may fall into the
main; and, as each tile rests on two soles, this
opening would be covered by the projection of the
last tile in the parallel drain, and no entrance would
thus be allowed to earth, which would otherwise
faU in.

33. The position of the main should be at the
lowest part of the field to be drained; its dimension
will be regulated by the size of the field and the
amount of water it is expected to discharge. A fall
of 1 in 200 is the least that can be advised; 1 in 140
or 1 in 100 would keep the bottom clear of sediment.
A main drain for a field of ten acres should have tiles

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 2/5

of at least four by six inches in size, or if two tiles,
side by side, be employed, they may each be about
three inches by four. The soles for the former should
be seven inches in width, and for the latter five.
The main drain should have double the capability of
carrying off water that it is expected to require.
The depth of the main should be greater than that
of the parallel drains by the height of the tiles used
in it, so that, as was before stated, the soles of the
latter may run over those of the former, and allow
the water they convey to drop through an opening
made for the purpose. Two tiles and two soles
abreast are much preferable for the main drain to a
large one of each.

34. The parallel drains should be covered by cin-
ders or turf, or by the best soil. When the last of
these is used, nothing but the very best vegetable
mould should be employed. Clay or till ought never
to be used for the purpose. Tiles are rather dearer
than stones, but they are better when the land is
nearly flat. If, however, the field has a considerable
descent, stones are better and more durable. They
should be broken so small that they can be passed
through a two-inch ring, and then filled in to the
depth of twelve inches. The course of the main
drain should be directed to where it would be most
convenient for watering the stock, so as to supply

2/6 APPENDIX.

two or four adjoining fields. A large cistern ought
to be used for this purpose, as if the stock get
access to the mouth of the drains, they would soon
stop them up by trampling on them.

35. The depth of the drains is of the greatest
importance. It has been found by experiment that
a drain five feet deep will keep strong clay grass
land perfectly dry to the distance of eight feet on
each side of it, while one of the depth of three feet
will keep it in the same condition to the distance
of scarcely five feet.

36. The parallel drains should be at least thirty
inches deep, fourteen inches wide at top, and five
inches wide at bottom. There will thus be nearly
33 cubic feet of earth to be removed in the length of
every perch, and the expense (there being so little
room for a man to work in) may be about fourpence
per perch. If stones are used instead of tiles, they
should, as we have already said, be broken so as to
pass through a two-inch ring, and then be filled in
(without any mixture of earthy matter) to within
eighteen inches of the top. They should then be
covered with a turf, and the earth filled in and
pressed hard down.

37. Drains of these dimensions would require
about ten cubic feet of broken stones to fill up the
length of a perch to the depth of twelve inches ; so

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE- FARM. 2/7

that a cart-load, which is generally about a cubic
yard, will be enough for three perches. The expenses
connected with the parallel drains will, therefore,
stand thus: —

Digging 33 feet of cubic earth, say . . .
Quarrying and breaking one-third of a load

of stones

HauHng stones and filling into the drain .
Covering with turf and fiUing in the earth .

1 2

If, however, draining tiles were used, it would be
2M. more.

s.

d.

0

4

0

.5

0

^

0

Oi

Per Acre.

38. The sum of I5. 2c?. per perch, would,
if the drains were 16^ feet apart,

amount to £9 6 8

If ly perch, or 24 feet apart, it would be 7 0 0
If 2 perches, or 33 ft. apart, it would cost 4 13 4

If, however, tiles were used (the expense being
Is. 4yc?.), a perch would, if the drains were 1 6y feet
apart, cost £l\ per acre; if they were 24 feet apart,
it would amount to ^8. 5*.; and, if two perches from
each other, it would cost j85. lOs.

278 APPENDIX.

39. The main drains require to be of much larger
dimensions than the parallel drains, because they
convey the water from all these into the ditch ; it
must, therefore, be at least three feet deep, 22 inches
wide at top, and eight inches wide at bottom.
There are thus about 62 cubic feet of earth in the
length of a single perch, which may be removed for
about sevenpence. These must have either a stone-
built drain, or, what is cheaper, either one large or
two small tiles, which may cost 2s. a perch. The
expenses wOl thus amount to

s. d.

Digging 62 cubic feet of earth 0 7

Draining tiles .20

Putting in draining tiles and filUng in earth 0 1

Total per perch

If the fields consist of ten acres each and be of a
square form, the extent of the main drain will be
about four perches per acre, which, at 25. 8c?. per
perch, is equal to IQs.Sd. per acre. The expenses
of the main drain for 160 acres will, therefore,
amount to 5685. 6*. 8c?.

40. There are in Whitfield Farm about fifty acres
of wet land, which has a considerable declivity, and
in which broken stones may, therefore, be used in

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 2/9

the parallel drains; and they would require, I think,
to be about one perch apart : so that the expense of
draining this part of the farm will be j69. 6s. 8d. per
acre.

4 1 . There are about sixty acres of the remaining
wet land which will be perfectly drained, though the
distance between the drains is 24f feet ; the incli-
nation, however, is so small that tiles will be required.
The expense of draining this will, therefore, be ^8. ds.
per acre.

42. The remaining fifty acres wiU do, I think,
with the drains two perches or 33 ft. apart. In these,
however, the tiles will be employed, as the ground is
nearly level. The expense of draining this will
amount to £5. lOs. per acre.

43. The expense of dividing the farm into fields
will depend much on their size and form. This
cannot be well ascertained till the plan for the perfect
drainage of the whole be laid down. Supposing,
however, the fields be square and averaging ten acres
in extent, there would be about 2000 perches of
fencing required — say 1500 of hedge and ditch, and
500 of stone wall. The deep ditches for the drain-
age of the land will amount in length to about 860
perches. Their dimensions may be as fbUows : 3 feet
deep, 5|- feet broad at top, and six inches at bottom.
There wlQ thus be 5j cubic yards to be removed in

280

APPENDIX.

the length of every perch, which, at 3d. per yard,
will amount to 1*. 4^d. per perch; and the expenses
of 860 perches, at\s.4^d. each, will be 5659.25.66?.
There would also be required 1500 perches of hedge,
which, supposing there to be two rows of quick,
will require 100 plants in the perch, or in all 150,000
quicks, which, at IO5. per 1000, will amount to 56/5.
The expense of putting them in, at say 2c?. per perch,
would be 3612. lOs.

44. The 500 perches ofwaUing, quarrying the stone,
and building the wall 4^ feet high, would cost, say
OS. per perch, or in all 56125.

45. The next step, after the land is properly
drained, is to pare and burn the surface. This is
the easiest, cheapest, and most perfect plan of re-
ducing the tough sward and getting rid of all the
roots and rubbish growing and lying upon the land.
This may cost 30*. an acre.

46. The whole of the 160 acres which require
draining, having been so long in such a puddle every
winter and spring, the earth has become so closely
rammed together that it will require to be stirred to
the depth of sixteen inches at least by Smith's sub-
soil plough. The expense of this will not be less
than 30*. per acre.

47. After all these operations are completed, the
whole of the 160 acres should be summer fallowed

£. s.

d.

1 10

0

0 15

0

0 4

0

0 8

0

£2 17

0

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 281

the first year, that the surface maybe well cultivated.
The expense, however, of this must be paid by the
farmer : it may be stated as follows: —

Three ploughings, 1 0*. each ....
Six turns of Finlayson's harrow, 2*. 6d. each

Four rollings, at I5. each

Eight turns of harrow, at 1 5

48. As the whole of the soil is greatly deficient of
calcareous matter, I should, during the operation of
summer fallowing, give it a good dressing of lime,
which can be had near the farm. The quantity per
acre which I think would be advisable for such a soil
is two bushels to a perch, or 320 per acre. The
expense of liming would amount to £3. 10s. per acre.

49. Recapitulation of the expense of improving
Whitfield farm: —

£. s. d.
Roads (see §.25) 200 perches in length,

at say 8s. per perch 80 0 0

Three bridges 20 0 0

Straightening and deepening the brook

(§.28), 300 perches, at 4s. S^/.perperch 65 0 0

Carried forward . . ^165 0 0

282 APPENDIX.

£. 5. d.

Brought forward . . 165 0 0
The grubbing of the roots of the
trees must be paid by the sale of
the trees, as they have done the
injury to the land, see §.27.
Drainage : —
640 perches of deep ditching, at 2s. 3c?.

per perch (§. 30) 74 13 3

Main drains for 160 acres, at 10*. 8c?.

per acre (§.39) 85 6 8

Parallel drains: —
Fifty acres with stones, 1 perch apart, at

^69. 65.8^. per acre (§.40) . . .466 13 4
Sixty acres of tile draining, 1^ perch apart,

at ae8. 5*. per acre (§.41) . . . 495 0 0
Fifty acres with tiles, at 2 perches apart,

at £d. 10<?. per acre (§. 42) ... . 275 0 0
Dividing the farm into fields of ten
acres each: —
860 perches of ditching, at \s. A\d. per

perch (§.43) . . 59 2 6

15,000 quicks, at IO5. per 1000 (§. 43) 75 0 0
Planting 1500 perches of quicks, at 2c?.

per perch (§.43) 12 10 0

Building 300 perches of wall, A\ feet

high (§.45) 125 0 " 0

Carried forward . . j61675 3 3

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 283

£. s. d.
Brought forward . . 1675 3 3
Subsoil ploughing 160 acres at SO*, per

acre (§.46) 240 0 0

1 60 acres limed, at the rate of 320 bushels
per acre, which would cost 563. 10*.

per acre (§.48) 560 0 0

Buildings, say 859 16 9

^63500 0 0

£. s. d.
50. The present rent and taxes (see

§. 1) are 265 0 0

To 5 per cent, on the j$3500 sunk in

permanently improving the estate, from

and after the first two years after the

sum is expended 1/500

5^440 0 0

Thus, if the whole of the 5^3500 is laid out the
first year, the rent and taxes would be j6265
for the first three years, and for the fourth
year it w^ould be increased 361/5 (the interest
of the ^635 00 which is sunk in improving
the estate), so that then the rent and taxes
would be ^6440 a-year aftei-wards, that is,
36375 the rent to the landlord, and £^^ the
parochial taxes.

284 APPENDIX,

51. On entering into any speculation we look
forward to the result, and, if the risk be great, we
must have some prospect of a large return on the
capital invested; but, if there be little or no risk,
and ample security, we are contented with a much
smaller interest. In every case, however, it should
be greater than what we receive from government
securities.

52. In the purchase of land, we think it is a good
investment when we have a clear rental, which will
pay 3| per cent on the purchase money; land is
very seldom brought to produce 4 per cent; indeed,
it frequently produces only 3, and often not more
than 2h per cent.

53. The only thing to be looked at in considering
the propriety of investing a large sum of money in
permanently improving any kind of soil, is simply
what interest we expect on the money expended,
and, whether the increased return ivill be jpermanent
or not. If we are convinced that it will be perma-
nent under the kind of management it is likely to
receive, and that it will pay a greater interest on the
capital sunk, than if, with the same amount, we had
purchased an additional number of acres, then, I
think, it must be evident that it is not only more
prudent, but more profitable to improve the land
which we have, than to buy more.

54. From the above estimate, it appears that

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 285

^3500, is required to be sunk in the improvement

of Whitfield farm, consisting of 232 acres. Now,

if I can make it appear, that after the first two

years, the increased produce of the land will enable

the farmer to pay the interest of this 563500., at

the rate of five per cent, for the next five years, and an

increased permanent rental afterwards in addition to

this, I think there will be every reason to say that

the money is better employed in improving the

estate, than in buying a fresh quantity.

55. Estimate of capital sunk by the farmer,

before he can bring the 160 acres of land from a

state of nature to a state of cultivation.

of. s. d.
To paring and burning 160 acres at

30^. (§.45) 240 0 0

To fallowing 160 acres of land one year,

at^2. 175. (§.47) 476 0 0

To rent and taxes on 160 acres for one

year, at 5621. J 05. (§.2) . ... 174 13 4

56890 13 4

III. The distribution of the fields and the course
of cropping, which I purpose to adopt on Whit-
field example-farm.

56. The system of culture which I think is best
for such a soil, after it has been improved, will
necessarily embrace the rotation which I purpose to

286 APPENDIX.

adopt ; a detail of all the several operations neces-
sary in the cultivation of each crop; the necessary
expense of such cultivation, separating the yearly
expense from that which is sunk, to be reaped
several years after; an estimate of the capital re-
quired for dead and live stock; the return in corn,
beef, mutton, and wool, and the profits of farming.

57. The principle of good farming is to adopt
such a system as will produce the greatest quantity
of food for stock, and, whatever be the nature of
the soil, the alternate system of a seed-producing
crop, and one as food for stock, should never be
departed from under any circumstances, unless two
or more successive green crops, as food for cattle,
should be thought adviseable.

58. The repetition of any of the seed-producing
crops will be regulated by the nature of the soil.
That on the clayey member of the old red sandstone,
is, we think, the most favourable for the production
of wheat, beans, and oats ; that, on the pudding-
stone, which is a sandy loam, or, that on the lime-
stone, which is a very thin light rubbly soil, which
is soon burned or dried up in summer by continued
drought, is much more favourable for barley than
either of the other two corn crops, and would pro-
duce better crops of wheat once in six, or even
four years, if under proper cultivation, than of oats,
which require a greater degree of adhesiveness and

i

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 28/

moisture than the soil on this part of the farm
possesses.

5£. We have seen that the present farm consists
of 232 acres; to make the farm more compact, we
purpose to take in five small fields, occupied by
Slade Baker, (No. 130, 139, 140, and 148,) two
by J.Daniels, (No. 138 and 141). The farm wiU
then consist of about 250 acres; 37 of which are on
the limestone — this soil is full of fragments of the
limestone rock; 105 acres are on the pudding-stone
—a silicious sandy loam; these are good turnip and
barley soils; and 108 acres on the clayey members
of the old red sandstone, the soil of which is suffi-
ciently strong for beans and wheat, without being
too adhesive when drained for barley and turnips.

60. The rotation which I purpose to adopt is the
six or eight-field course, because, in it we have a
greater range than in the four-field course, and we
can, therefore, put the crops two or four years
further apart. This, I think, is of the greatest
importance, as some soils soon get tired of the same
crops — as turnips and clover for instance, when
repeated at short intervals.

61. There being three kinds of soil on the farm,
(§. 59), it will be necessary to adopt such a course
of cropping on each, as will be best suited to it.
I intend, therefore, to divide the clayey soil into six
fields of 15 acres each, thus leaving 18 forpasture;

288 APPENDIX.

the sandy soil into six fields of 15 acres each, leaving
1 5 acres for pasture ; and the soil on the limestone,
into six fields of five acres each, leaving seven acres
of it for pasture.

62. The course of cropping which we purpose to
adopt for the clay soil is the following: —

No. 1 . Seven and a half acres of Swedes (manured
with dung and bones). This crop to be consumed
on the land by sheep. Seven and a half of mangel-
wurtzel (with dung and bones). This crop to be
carted off the land and consumed in the yard.

No. 2. Seven and a half acres of wheat, after
mangel-wurtzel. Seven and a half of beans, after
Swedes. Clover and seeds to be sown amongst
the wheat and beans.

No. 3. Fifteen acres of clover and seeds. One
half to be carted off the land and consumed in the
yard ; the other half to be consumed on the land
by sheep.

No. 4. Seven a and half acres of wheat, on that
portion which provided the beans the previous year.
Seven and a half of oats, after that which was wheat
the year before.

No. 5. Seven and a half acres of turnips, (early
tankard,) after oats. Seven and a half of winter
vetches, after wheat ; both crops to be manured and
consumed on the ground by sheep.

No. 6. Fifteen acres of wheat.

"WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 289

63. The course of cropping we propose for the
sandy loam is as follows : —

No. 1. Seven and a half acres of Swedes, dunged.
This crop to be consumed on the ground by sheep.
Seven and a half of mangel-wurtzel, dunged. This
crop to be carted to, and consumed by stock in the
yard.

No. 2. Fifteen acres of barley, sown with grass,
and clover seeds.

No. 3. Fifteen acres of seeds, to be consumed on
the ground by sheep.

No. 4. Fifteen acres of oats.

No. 5. Seven and a half acres of cabbages, on that
part where the mangel-wurtzel previously was, to be
manured. This crop to be consumed on the ground
by sheep. Seven and a half of potatoes, to be
dunged and consumed in the yard.

No. 6. Fifteen acres of wheat.

64. The course of crops I intend for the limestone
soil is as follows : —

No. 1. Five acres of vetches and rye, to be fol-
lowed by late cole seed, to be dunged. This crop to
be consumed on the land by sheep.

No. 2. Five acres of barley, with clover and grass
seed.

No. 3. Five acres of clover, to be consumed on
land by sheep.

No. 4. Five acres of oats.

290 APPENDIX.

No. 5. Five acres of globe and tankard turnips,
dunged. This crop to be consumed on the land.
No. 6. Five acres of wheat.

65. If the system be strictly adhered to, we shall
have 7 J acres of cabbages, 12|- of turnips, 15 of
Swedes, 15 of mangel-wurtzel, 7| of vetches, 35
of clover, 5 of rye, 5 of cole, and 7 J of potatoes,
besides the 40 acres of pasture as food to be con-
sumed by sheep and other stock. We shall also
have, as seed-producing crops, 50 acres of wheat,
271 of oats, 20 of barley, and 7| of beans. The
oats and beans, and part of the barley may be con-
sumed by stock on the farm .

66. We shall now enter into a particular account
of the mode of cultivating each crop, shewing
the quantity of labour necessary, distinguishing
horse from manual labour ; the expense of seed and
manure. We shall also give an estimate of the
value of the seed producing crops, as well as of the
number of sheep which the green crops will main-
tain, specifying the months in which each may be
consumed.

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

291

67. Clay Soils.
The first year of the course : — Fifteen acres to be in
mangel-wurtzel and Swedes, which would naturally
come after wheat.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the labour

quired of

of labour

Expenses

should be

man and

and

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

manure.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First ploughino- .

Oct. or Nov.

15

Carting 15 load of

February or

dung per acre .

March

15

Second plougiiing

ending . . .

Ditto

15

Finlayson's harrow

Mar.orApr.

5

Second ditto

.Apr. or May

5

Harrow . .

Ditto

2

Rolling . . .

Ditto

2

Drilling . . .

Ditto

7

15 bushels of bones

per acre, at 2s.6cf.

per bushel . .

28 2 6

6 cwt. of rape cake

per acre, at 11 0.v.

per ton . . .

24 15 0

Drilling in manure

2

andsowini; seed.

2

50 lbs. at Is. 6rf.

3 15 0

Horse-hoeing

June

4

Hand-hoeing, at

6s. per acre

4 10 0

Horse-hoeing

June & July

4

Pulling and storing

mangel-wurtzel

at 6s. per acre

2 5 0

Carting 30 ton

mangel per acre

Oct. Nov.

15

93

59 12 6

3 15 0

292

APPENDIX.

Taking the average of the crop of Swedes and
mangel-wurtzel to be 25 ton per acre, this would
give food for the keep of 1 2^ sheep for six months,
at 25 lbs. per day 187 sheep.

68. Second year of the course : — one-half wheat after
the mangel-wurtzel, the other half beans after the
Swedes ; both to be sown with seeds : 7i acres
wheat after the mangel-wurtzel.

Culture.

Ploughing after the
mangel-wurtzel
is taken off

Twice double-har-
rowing . . .

Drilling the seed

18^ bushels of seed
wheat at 7s. .

Hoeing twice, 6s.
per acre . .

Harvesting 7i acres
at 10*', per acre

Carrying in wheat
and stacking .

Threshing, say 30
quarters at 2s 6d

Carting to market

Time when

the work

should be

done.

Days re-
quired of
man and
2 horses.

H

Expenses

of
manual
labour.

October or
November.

£. s. d.

Ditto

1

Ditto

1

Feb. March,
or April

2 5 0

August

3 15 0

Ditto

2

Dec.to May

6

3 15 0

m

9 15 0

Expenses
of seed.

£. s. d.

6 9 0

6 9 0

The produce, I estimate, at not less than four qrs.
per acre; 30 quarters at 56.s. per quarter is ^€84.

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

293

The straw, equal to 30cwt. per acre, 10 tons; say
2|- ton for litter and 7^ ton for winter food (being
cut into chaff), for stock, equal to the keep of eighteen
sheep for six months at the rate of 5 lbs. each per
day 18 (winter).

69. Second year of the course: — 7^ acres of beans
after the Swedes.

rime when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d

£. s. d.

Ploughing . .

December

n

Drilling seed . .

February

1

18| bushels of seed

beans at 45. 6d.

4 10 4

Harrowing twice

February

1

Horse-hoeingtwice

Aprils May

2

Hand-hoeing, 3s.

per acre

Do. or Do.

12 6

Harvesting at 10*.

per acre . .

September

3 15 0

Carting home from

field . . .

Ditto

2

Threshing 30 quar-

ters at 2s . .

3 0 0

Carting and mar-

keting 30 qrs.

July

6

19i

7 17 6

4 10 4

The produce of 30 quarters of beans at 365. is 5854.

The straw would be equal to the keep of 26 sheep

for six months during the winter . 26 (winter).

294

APPENDIX.

70. Third year of the course: — 15 acres clover after
the beans and wheat.

Culture.

lOlbs of red clover,

ISOlbs. £4p.c\vt

7 lbs. white ditto,

100, £5. per cwt.

7 lbs. yellow ditto,

100, £3. per cwt.

Rolling . . .

Mowing twice for

stock, 3s p. acre

Hauling one-half

of the clover, 7^

acres home to

stock in the yard

Time when , Days re-

the work quired of

should be

done.

March

man and
2 horses.

9i

Expenses

of
manual
labour.

£. s. d.

2 5 0

Expenses
of seed.

£. *. d.

6 0 0

5 0 0

3 0 0

14 0 0

This crop is estimated to produce food for fourteen
sheep per acre for six months, from April to No-
vember 210 (summer).

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

295

71. Fourth year of the course:
wheat, the other half in oats:-

-one-half to be in
-7i- acres of wheat

on that part of the field which was beans the second
year of the course.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

r'nifiirp

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

^^Uliurfc!.

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

f . s. d.

Ploughing . .

September

n

Double-harrowing

twice . . .

Ditto

1

Drilling the seed

Ditto

1

18.^ bush, of wheat

seed at Is.

6 9 0

Hoeing twice, at

Feb. March

6.9. per acre ..

or April

2 5 0

Harvesting?^ acres

at 10s. per acre

August

3 15 0

Carrying; wheat

and stacking .

Ditto

2

Threshing, say 30

quarters . .

3 15 0

Carting to market

Dec. to May

6

m

9 15 0

6 9 0

The produce I estimate at not less than four quar-
ters per acre ; 30 quarters at 565. per acre is j684.

The straw, at 10 ton, 2^ for litter and 7y ton for
winter food (being cut into chaff) for stock, equal to
eighteen sheep for six months in winter, at 51bs. per
sheep per day 18 (winter).

29^

APPENDIX.

72. 7 1 acres of oats on that part of the field which
was in wheat during tlie second year of tlie
course.

Culture.

Ploughinsr .

Four double har-
rowing . ,

Drilling . . ,

38 bushels oats, at
35

Rolling . . ,

Hoeing, 3*. p. acre

Harvesting . .

Hauling crop to the
rick ...

Threshing 52 qrs,
at 25. . . .

Hauling to market,
say 52 qrs. . .

Time when
the work
should be

Days re-
quired of
man and

Expenses

of
manual

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

Jan. or Feb.

n

Feb. or Mar.

4

Ditto

1

April
Apr. or May

1

12 6
3 15 0

September

2

5

3 4 0

201

10 7 6J

Expenses
of seed.

£. s. d.

5 14 0

Tlie produce of 52 quarters of oats, at 24*.

The straw equal to 15 ton, which is equal to the
keep of 37 sheep for six months . . 37 (winter)

i

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

297

73. The fifth year of the course : — one-half to be
winter vetches and Italian rye-grass after the
wheat, and the other half to he early or tankard
turnips after the oats ; both to be dunged and the
crops fed off the land by sheep : — 7J acres of
winter vetches and Italian rye-grass.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. *. d.

£. s. d.

Carting 10 loads of

dung, per acre .

September

5

Ploughing . . .

Ditto

n

4^ busiiels of seed,

at 4*

6 15 0

Three times double

harrowing . .

3

Weeding, 25. per

acre . . . .

0 15 0

Mowing, 3^. p. acre

1 2 6

151

1 17 6

6 15 0

The produce of this crop may be equal to the keep
of twelve sheep per acre, for six months, from the
15th of May 87 (^summer)

298

APPENDIX.

74. The fifth year of the course : — 7| acres of early
or tankard turnips.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

r^.nlfn rp

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

Vy tl.ILU.i C*

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First Ploughing .

Nov.orDec.

n

Second ditto . .

Feb. or Mar.

n

Finlayson's harrow

April

2i

Second ditto . .

May

n

Harrowing double

April, May

1

Rolling . . . .

May

1

Drilling for dung .

Ditto

3

Carting 10 load

manure, p. acre

Ditto

5

Drilling to cover

manure . . .

Ditto

3

25 lbs. of seed at l5.

] 5 0

Sowing . . . .

1

Hoeing . . . .

2 5 0

Horse hoeing . .

July

2

36

2 5 0

15 0

Crop equal to 25 ton per acre, and will keep 94
sheep for six months 94 (winter)

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

299

75. The sixth and last year of the course :-
15 acres of wheat.

Time when

Days re- Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

dune.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First Ploughing &

Vetches . . .

July ^

7^

Finlavson's harrow

Ditto

n

Ditto\ . . . •

August

n

Ditto

September

2i

Ploughing after

turnips . . .

Ditto

n

21 bushels of wheat

p. Here, 37 bush.

at 7s

12 19 0

Drilling wheat . .

2

Hoeing, Gs. p. acre

Feb., Mar.,
"^and April

4 10 0

Harvesting,15acres

at 105. . . .

7 10 0

Carting crop home

to yard . . .

August

4

Threshing 60 qrs.

at 2s. 6d.. . .

7 10 0

Carrying to mar-

ket 60 qrs. . .

Dec. to May

12
40^

19 10 0

12 19 0

The produce, I estimate at four quarters per acre,
60 quarters at 56*. per quarter is ^168.

The straw equal to 20 ton, 5 ton for litter, and
15 (being cut into chaff) for stock, would be equal
to the keep of 36 sheep for six months, at the rate
of 5 lb. per day for each . . . . 36 (winter)

300

APPENDIX.

76. The amount of horse-labour required to be per-
formed, during each month, on 90 acres of clay soil.

es

0)

<1

Sj

s

S

l-S

s

<

02 O

^ Q

First Crop,

—

—

15 acres turnip &

man^elwurtzel

15

15

10

11

8

4

10

12

8

Second Crop,

7^ acres wheat .

6

2

3

61

7^ ditto beans .

2

1

1

6

O

7^

Third Crop, •

Id acres clover .

2

2

2

2

u

Fourth Crop,

7^ acres wheat .

6

2

91

7^ ditto oats .

n

5

1

5

2

Fifth Crop,

7^ acres vetches

151

7^ turnips . .j

H.

3

^

121

4

2

74

Sixth Crop,

15 acres wheat .

12

10

9

91

311

211

25

141

Ui

u

29

17

38

13

26

15^

77' The quantity of food for stock produced from
the 90 acres of clay soil sufficient to keep sheep,
of 20 lbs. per quarter, in a fattening state for six
months in summer, and six months in winter.

Number of "l
sheep ^
during J

the six

the six

summer

winter

months.

months.

1st Crop 15 acres of Swedes and mau-

187

gel-wurtzel

18

2nd 7^ ditto wheat straw, 10 tons

26

7^ ditto bean straw 15 —

3rd 15 ditto clover . . .

210

18

4th 7^ ditto wheat straw . 10 —

37

7^ ditto oat straw . . 15 —

5th 7^ ditto vetches . . .

7^ ditto tankard turnips

87

94

6th 15 ditto wheat straw . 20 —

37

70 tons

297

417

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

301

78. The particulars of the cultivation of 90 acres of

silicious sandy soil.

The first year of the course; — 15 acres of Swedes
and mangel- wurtzel.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First Ploughing .

Oct. or Nov.

15

Carting 15 load of

duns, per acre .

Feb. or Mar.

15

Second ploughing

ending . . .

Ditto

15

Finlayson's harrow

Mar. or Apr.

5

Second ditto . .

Apr. or May

5

Harrow . . . .

Ditto

2

tolling . . . .

Ditto

2

Drilling . . . .

Ditto

7

15 bushels of bones

j>eT acre Sit '2s. Gd.

per bushel . .

28 2 C

6cwt. of rape cake

per acre, at 110s.

per ton . . .

24 15 0

Drilling in manure

2

Sowing seed, oOlbs.

2

SOlbs of seed, at

Is. 6d. . . .

3 15 0

Horse hoeing . .

June

4

Hand hoeing at 6s.

per acre . . .

4 10 0

Horse hoeing .

June k, Jul}

4

Pulling and storing

the mangel wurt-

zel.at 6i\ per acre

2 5 0

Carting off the

mangel wurtzel

Carting manure, 25

ton per acre . .

Oct. Xov.

15

93

59 12 G

3 15 0

302

APPENDIX.

The crop may average 25 ton per acre, and this
would furnish food for the six winter months for
187 sheep 187 (winter)

79. The second year of the course : — 15 acres of
Barley.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

Ploughing after

mangel-wurtzel

Dec. to Jan.

15

Finlayson's harrow

February

5

Hoeing . . . .

March

2

60 bushels seed,

at 45

12 0 0

Drilling . . . .

Ditto

2

Rolling . . . .

April

2

Hand hoeing,p.acre

2 15 0

Harvestingl5 acres

at 10s. . . .

August

7 10 0

Carting home crop

to yard . . .

Ditto

7

Threshing 07^ qrs.

at 2s

6 15 0

Carting 67 qrs. to

Dec. Jan.

market . . .

&Feb.

12

45

16 10 0

12 0 0

Crop 67^ quarters barley, SitSOs. — 36IOI. 5*.

The straw may be equal to 15 tons, which (cut
into chaff) would give food for the six winter months
to 39 sheep, at the rate of 5 lbs. per day to each,

39 (winter).

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

303

80. The third year of the course : — 15 acres of clover
to be consumed on the ground by sheep.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

10 lbs. red clover

per acre, 150 lbs.

£4. per ewt.

6 0 0

7 lbs. white ditto,

100 lbs. £5. . .

5 0 0

7 lbs. vellovv ditto,

100 lbs. £3. . .

3 0 0

Rolling . . . .

March

2

Mowing twice for

stock, 3s. p. acre

2 5 0

Hauling one half of

the clover, at Is.

per acre . . .

9h

2 5 014 0 0

This crop will produce food for 1 6 sheep per acre,
for six summer months .... 210 (summer)

304

APPENDIX.

81. The fourth year of the course: — 15 acres of
oats.

Culture.

Ploughing . .
Four double har

rowings . .
Drilling ...
38 bushels of oats

at 3*. . . .
Rolling ...
Hoeing, 3s. p. acre
Harvesting . .
Hauling crop to

the ricks . .
Threshing 62 qrs

at2.s. . . .
Hauling to market

say 52 qrs. .

Time when

the work

should be

done.

Jan. or Feb

Feb. or Mar,
Ditto

April
Apr. or Mav

September

Days re
quired of
man and
2 horses.

10

41

Expense!

of
manual
labour,

£. s. d.

2 5 0

7 10 0

10 8 0

20 3 0

Expenses
of seed.

£. s. d.

11 8 0

II 8 0

Crop 7 quarters per acre, 105 quarters at 24*.
^126.

The straw will be equal to 30 tons, which will
keep 74 sheep for six months ... 74 (winter)

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

305

82. The fifth year of the course : — 15 acres, one-half
in cabbages after the mangel-wurtzel, and the
other half in potatoes after the turnips
of cabbage.

7 J acres

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First Ploughing .

Nov.orDec.

71

Second ditto . .

Feb. or Mar.

n

Finlayson's harrow

^

Second ditto . .

2^

Harrowing double

1

Rolling . . . .

1

Drilling for dung .

3

Carting 10 load of

manure, p. acre

5

Drilling to cover

ditto . . . .

3

Plants . . . .

1 5 0

Planting . . ,

1

1 15 0

Hoeing . . . .

2 5 0

Horse hoeing . ,

2

37

4 0 0

1 5 0

The crop, to be consumed on the land early, may
be equal to 25 ton per acre, equal to the keep of
94 sheep for six months . . • . . 94 (winter)

306

APPENDIX.

83. 7 J acres of potatoes.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First ploughing .

Oct. to Jan.

n

Carrying 10 load of

dung, per acre .

Jan. to Mar.

5

Ploughing . . .

Feb. to Mar.

n

Finlayson's harrow

Mar. to Apr.

2

Ditto

April

2

Rolling . . . .

Ditto

1

Seed, 8 sacks per

acre, 5s. per sack

15 0 0

Planting, 6s. p.acre

2 5 0

Hoeing, 6s. do.

2 5 0

Earthing up, 8s. do.

3 0 0

Taking up, 20s. do.

7 10 0

Carting do. to pits

5

Pitting, say 8s. per

acre . . . .

3 0 0

30

18 0 0

15 0 0

This crop may produce 100 sacks of pota-
toes per acre (750), 250 to be consumed by
stock for six months, at 10 lbs. per day, per
sheep, 38 sheep

500 to be sold, and hay to be purchased
with the proceeds, say at 55. per sack, £\2b.
which will purchase 40 ton of hay, and thus
keep 90 sheep for six months during winter .

Winter.

38

90

128

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

307

84. The sixth year of the course: — 15 acres of
wheat.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the w ork

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. 5. d.

Ploughing after

cabbage . .

September

n

Ploughing after

potatoes . .

Ditto

74 ,

Drilling . . .

October

2

'2i bushels of seed,

37 bushels at 7s.

12 19 0

Hoeing, 6s. per

Feb. March,

acre ....

and April

4 10 0

Harvesting, 15acrs.

at 185. per acre

7 10 0

Carting home

August

4

Threshing 2^ qrs.

at 2s. 6d. . .

6 11 6

Carting to market

Dec.to May

12

33

18 11 6

12 19 0

The produce of this crop may be only 3^ quarters
per acre; 52|- quarters of wheat at 56«. is j8147.

The straw, equal to 20 tons, 5 for litter and 15
cut into chaff will keep 36 sheep six months . 36
(winter).

308

APPENDIX.

85. The amount of horse labour required to be per-
formed during each month on the siHcious sandy
soil.

5

^
^

"-5

o

>

o

1

First Crop,

—

—

—

—

15 acres swedes &

mangel-wurtzel

15

15

10

10

9

4

10

12

8

Second Crop,

15 acres barley

5

12

7

&

15

Third Crop,

15 acres clover

2

2

2

2

U

Fourrh Crop,

15 acres oats .

15

10

2

6

4

4

Fifth Crop,

7^ acres cabbage

n.

7

6

6

2

7^

7^ acres potatoes

6

Gi

2

3

3

5

4^

Sixth Crop,

15 acres wheat

4

4

4

15

2

4

24

321

40132

19

19

6

13

231

28i

221

27

86. The quantity of food for stock produced from
the 90 acres of silicious sandy soil, sufficient to
keep sheep of 20 lbs. per quarter in fattening state
for six months in summer and six months in winter.

Number of "^
sheep >
during j

1st Crop, 15 acres of mangel-wurtzel and

swedes

2nd 15 acres barley straw 15 tons

3rd 15 ditto clover . .

4th 15 ditto oat straw . 30 —

5th 7^ ditto cabbage

7^ ditto potatoes hay 40 —
6th 15 ditto wheat straw 20 —

the six

the six

summer

winter

months.

months.

187

36

210

75

94

128

36

210

556

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

309

87. The particular cultivation of the thirty acres on
the limestone rock.

The first year of the course : — rye eaten off in May,
afterwards sown to cole-seed or late turnip.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

Carting 15 load of

dung per acre

3

Ploughing . .

Aug.or Sep.

5

Harrowing . .

September

2

Seed 4 bushels per

acre, 20 bushels

at 4s. 6d. . .

4 10 0

Mowing 2s. p. acre

0 10 0

Ploughing . .

May

5

Finlay son's harrow

June

1

Ditto ....

Ditto

1

Harrow drill

1

Drilling . . .

2h

15 bushels of bones

per acre, 75 bus.

at 2s. 6d. . .

9 7 0

Drilling seed and

bones . .

n

Seed, 15 lbs. at Is.

i 0 15 0

Horse-hoeing .

July

K

Ditto . . • .

August

2

Hoeing twice, 6s.

per acre . .

1 10 0

25

11 17 0 5 5 0

The rye crop may be sufficient for the keep of ten
sheepperacrefor 6 months in the summer 50 (summer).

The turnip crop may be sufficient for the keep of
six sheep per acre during the winter six months

30 (winter).

310

APPENDIX.

88. The second year of the course: — five acres of
barley.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

•2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

Ploughing . .

Dec. to Jan.

5

Finlayson's harrow

February

n

Hoeing . . .

March

f

20 bushels of seed

4 0 0

Drilling . . .

March

f

Rolling . . .

April

f

Hoeing weeds, at

3i\ per acre .

0 15 0

Harvesting, 5 acres

August

2 10 0

Carting home crop

to yard . .

Ditto

2i

Threshing . .

2 5 0

Carting to market

Dec. to Feb.

4

15

5 10 0

4 0 0

The crop, say 4 quarters of barley, per acre, equal
to 20 quarters at 305. a quarter, would be ^630.

The straw, say 5 ton, would keep nine sheep for
six months 9 (winter).

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

311

89. The third year of the course: — five acres of
clover and seeds to be consumed by sheep on the
ground.

Culture,

Time when
the work
should be

Days re-
quired of
man and

Expenses

of
manual

Expenses
of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

Red clover, 3^ lbs.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

per acre . .
White ditto, 2^ lbs.

2 0 0
1 13 0

Yellow ditto,2^ lbs.
Rolling . . .

March

f

1 0 0

Mowing . . .

0 15 0

Hauling one-half

home . . .

t

0 15 0

4 13 0

The keep equal to seven sheep per acre for six
months 35 (summer).

312

APPENDIX.

90. The fourth year of the course : — 5 acres of
oats.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£, s. d.

£. s. d.

Ploughiug . . .

Jan. or Feb.

5

4 double harrow-

ings . . . .

Feb. or Mar.

h

Drilling . . . .

Ditto

12J bushels oats .

3 16 0

Rolling . . . .

April

1

Hoeing . . . .

Apr. or May

0 15 0

Harvesting . . .

2 10 0

Hauling crop to the

rick . . . .

September

H

Threshing 17 qrs. .

3 9 4

Hauling to market

H

13i

6 14 4

3 16 0

Taking the produce at 4 qrs. per acre, 20 qrs.
equal to 5624.

The straw equal to the keep of 20 sheep for six
months 20 (winter)

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

313

91. The fifth year of the course : — 5 acres of globe
turnips to be fed off the land by sheep.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

First ploughing

Nov. or Dec.

5

Second ditto . .

Feb. or Mar.

5

Finlayson's harrow

April

n

Second ditto . .

May

H

Harrowing double

Apr. or May

1

Rolling . . . .

Ditto

f

Drilling for dung .

May

2

Carting manure .

Ditto

3^

Drilling to cover

manure . . .

Ditto

1

Ditto, seed . . .

16 8 0

Sowing . . . .

i

Hoeing . . . .

1 10 0

Horse hoeing . .

July

1^

23

1 10 0

16 8 0

This crop may keep 8 sheep per acre for six
months, 40 sheep 40 (winter)

314

APPENDIX.

92. The sixth year of the course: — 5 acres of
wheat.

Time when

Days re-

Expenses

Culture.

the work

quired of

of

Expenses

should be

man and

manual

of seed.

done.

■2 horses.

labour.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

Ploughing . . .

September

5

Drilling . . . .

October

2

Seed

4 6 0

Hoeing . . . .

Feb., Mar.,
and April

1 10 0

Harvesting 5 acres

at lO*. . . .

2 10 0

Carting home . .

August

2

Threshing . . .

2 3 10

Carting to market

Dec. to May

4

13

6 3 10

4 6 0

This crop may be equal to 3 quarters per acre, or
15 quarters at b^s. — £A\. 12s. ^d.
And the straw may winter 8 sheep for six months.

8 (winter).

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

315

93. The amount of horse-labour required, during
each month on the 30 acres of the limestone rock.

a

X2

0)

a

>>

"S
^

<

02

1

o

i

First Crop,

—

—

—

—

—

— -

— -

5 acres rye and

turnips . . .

4

6i

10

2

Second Crop,

6 acres barley .

2i

f

f

n

4

5

Third Crop,

5 acres clover .

1

Fourth Crop,

5 acres oats . .

5

7

H

H

Fifth Crop,

5 acres turnips

2

3

^

3

6

H

5

Sixth Crop,

5 acres wheat .

2

5

2

4

5

H

4f

iH

3

9

n

14i

8i

lOi

8

5

94. The quantity of food for stock produced from
the 30 acres of the limestone soil, sufficient to keep
sheep, of 20 lbs. per quarter, in a fattening state,
for six months in summer and six months in winter.

Ist Crop, 5 acres rye . . . .
turnips . .
2nd Crop, 5 acres barley straw
3rd Crop, 5 acres Swedes
4th Crop, 5 acres oats straw .
5th Crop, 5 acres turnips . .
6th Crop, 5 acres wheat straw

5 tons

7 —

5 —

17 tons

Number of sheep
during

the si:

summer

months.

50
35

85

the six
winter
months.

30
9

20
40

107

316

APPENDIX.

95. The 40 acres of pasture land may
be able to keep six sheep per acre,
during the summer months . . .240 summer
And two per acre, the winter ones . 80 winter.

96. Abstract of the amount of labour required, during
each month, on the whole of the arable land.

,6

03

^
^

c

<

t

i

i

acres
90 clay . . .

311

211

25

141

241

14

29

17

38

13

26

15

90 sandy soil .

•24

m

401

32

19

19

6

13

231

281

221

27

.30 limestone .

5

4i

H

111

3

9

71

14i

81

:oi

8

5

210 acres . .

601

581

70

58

46^

42

42f

441

70

52

56i

47

From the above table it appears that 655 days'
labour, of a man and two horses, are required to be
done during the year, and that the greatest quantity
of labour, required in any month, is in September
and March.

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

317

97. The following table will show the number of
working days, in which land that is perfectly
drained, will be in a proper working condition in
each month in the year : and also the quantity of
work which a man and two horses is capable of
doing each month.

Months.

Working
days.

■

Working

hours
each day.

Acres
per day.

Acres
ploughed
per month

January . . . .

14

8

14

February

14

8

14

March .

18

9

n

20

April .

20

10

H

25

May .

20

10

u

25

June .

20

10

H

25

July . .

20

10

4

25

August

20

10

n

25

September

20

10

li

25

October .

18

10

u

22

November

16

9

H

18

December

16

8

16

216

254

By this table it appears, that there are 216 work-
ing days in the year, and that a man and two horses
can, in that time, plough 254 acres of land. From
the table, § 96, it appears, that there are 70 days'
work to be done in March ; and, as a team commonly
does 22 days' work in this month, that is, plough
22 acres, there must be four pair of horses to per-
form that work in proper time.

318

APPENDIX.

98. Abstract of the quantity of food for stock, in
summer and winter.

Weight
of Dry
Food.

Summer.

Winter.

On the 90 acres of
clay soil . . .

90 sandy soil,
XT S 65
Hay. . J 40

30 limestone . •
•40 pasture . . .

70 ton

105 „
17 ,.

297

210

85
240

417

556

107
80

192

832

1160
832

2)1992

996 for 12 months.

99. As there are other stock to be kept on this farm
besides sheep, we must determine the relative con-
sumption of food which each of the several kinds
of stock require. From various experiments which
have been made, we have the following result :
A horse will consume as much food, besides

corn, as 8 sheep.

A cow ditto ditto . .12 „

A fattening ox ditto ditto . .10 „

A three-year old heifer ditto . . 8 „

A two-year ditto ditto . . 6 „

A one-year ditto ditto . . 4 „

A calf ditto ditto . . 2 „

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

319

100. The quantity of each kind of stock which may
be kept on the food produced. There must be
nine horses kept to cultivate the farm, and we in-
tend to keep ten cows, and breed ten calves, and
have ten fat beasts to turn off every year, besides
the flocks of sheep, so that the following stock
may be kept on this farm:

9 horses will require the keep of

10 cows ditto

10 calves ditto

10 one-year old ditto

1 0 two-year old ditto

10 three-year old ditto

220 ewes

220 lambs

110 one-year old fattening sheep

72

sheep.

120

j>

20

if

40

33

60

33

80

33

■550

942 „

101. An estimate of the stock and implements re-
quired to cultivate this farm of 250 acres, of which
210 acres are to be arable culture, under the six-
field course :
9 horses, say at j630 each . . . 562/0

Implements ;
4 ploughs, say at £3. I5s. each . . 3$15

2 Finlayson's harrows 20

4 pair of harrows 8

4 horse hoes 12

Carried forward

£55 £270

320 APPENDIX.

Brought forward . . .£55 £270

2 rollers 15

1 turnip-sowing machine .... 6
8 single-horse carts, 38 10 each . . 80

3 three-sparred carts for the wheels

and axles 24

Cart Harness for 8 horses, at £3. lOs. 28
Plough-harness for 8 horses . . 8
Saddle-horse furniture .... 6
Winnowing machine and riddlers . 15

2 turnip slicers 8

2 chaff cutters 10

Cake bruiser 5

3 wheel barrows 3

3 ladders 3

Weighing machine 30

Corn chest 2

Racks, forks, axe, saw, spades, sho-
vels, grapes, hoes, &c. say, . 5
10 staddles for corn, at £4. ... 40
6 curry combs, 8 mouth bags, lanthom 7
Riddle, sieves, bushel, load barrow,
and 2 straw barrows for carry-
ing corn 5

80 sacks (4 bushels) 12

50 dozen hurdles, at 12^ 30

dairy utensils, say 10

407

Carried forward 5^677

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM.

321

Brought forward ^677

102. Dairy Stock.

10 cows, at 5612. each 120

10 calves, at £3. ditto 30

10 one-year old, at £5. ditto . . .50

10 two-year old, at £8. ditto ... 80

10 three-year old, at ^612. ditto . .120

A sow and six pigs 8

103. Stock of Sheep.

220 ewes, at 255. each 385

220 lambs, at 20s. ditto .... 220
110 tegs, at 305. ditto . . . . .165

408

770

£1855

104. Abstract of the expense of labour, manure, and
seed required on this farm. — Clay soil, 90 acres.

1. Swedes and mangel-

wurtzel

2. Wheat .
Beans .

8. Clover .
4

Wheat . . .
Oats . . .
Vetches, Rye .
Early Turnips
Wheat . . .

Acres.
15

15

7^
'2

H

n

15

Labour. Manure. Seed.

£. s.

6 18
9 15

7 17
2 5
9 15

10 1

1 17

2 5
19 10

£.

052 17

0

el
01
0'

6
6
0
0:

3 15
6 19

4 10
14 0

6 19

5 14

6 16
1 5

12 19

90 70 1 652 17 661 8 61

322

APPFNDIX.

105. Sandy soil.

Acres.

Labour.

Manure.

Seed.

£. s.

d.

£. s. d.

£. s. d.

1. Swedes and inangel-

wurtzel . . . .

15

6 15

0'52 17

3 15 0

2. Barley

15

16 10

0

12 0 0

3. Clover

15

2 5

o'

14 0 0

4. Oats

15

20 3

0,

5 14 0

5. Cabbage . . . .

n

4 0

0

3 5 0

Potatoes . . . .

n

18 0

0

15 0 0

6. Wheat

15

18 11

e!

12 19 0

20

85 4

652 17 6 66 13 0

106. Limestone soil, 30 acres.

1. Rye and Turnips

2. Barley . . . .

3. Clover . . . .

4. Oats . . . .

5. Turnips . . .

6. Wheat . . . .

Limestone Soil
Landy Soil
Clay soil . .

Acres. Labour. Manure. Seed.

£. s. d.

2 0 0

5 10 0

0 15 0

6 8 0

1 10 0
6 10 0

£.

9 7 0

30
90
90

,23 13

'85 4

0 9 7 0
6 52 17 6

£. s. d.
5 6 0

4 0 0

4 12 0

2 0 0

0 87 0

4 6 0

21 1 0
m 13 0

70 1 6 52 17 e; 61 18 6

210

178 19 0 115 2 0,149 13 0

107. Recapitulation of one year's expenditure of
seed, maliure, and labour: —

Seed ^149 13 0

Manure 115 2 0

Day labourers 1/819 0

Carried forward £U3 14 0

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 323

Brought forward . . 3^443

14

0

Yearly servants: —

Superintendent . .

80

0

0

Foreman ....

39

0

0

Three ploughmen

at 105. a week

78

0

0

One shepherd . .

125. —

32

0

0

One cowman . , .

105. —

26

0

0

Two boys ....

55. —

26

0

0

One dairy maid . .

85. —

20

0

0

One other maid . .

Qs. —

15

0

0

One old man for jobs

65. —

15

12

0

Corn for nine horses for 36 weeks, at a

peck a day per horse,

from October 1

till June 8, is equal to 64 bushels for

each horse— 576 bushels at 35. . .

86

8

0

Tradesmen's bills: —

Carpenter's bill . .

305. per horse

13

10

0

Smith's ....

305. —

13

10

0

Saddler's ....

105. —

4

10

0

Hurdles for sheep

8

0

0

^901 4 0

108. Abstract:— £. ^ ^

Capital required (§. 103) 1855 0 0

First year's expenses — cultivation, seed,

manure 901 4 0

Capital sunk in fallowing, &c. (§. 55) . 890 13 4

Household furniture 100 0 0

5^3746 17 4

324

APPENDIX.

109. Hecapitulation of the capital required for Whit-
field Farm, consisting of 250 acres, and the yearly
expense of cultivation : —

Yearly ex-

Capital

re-

pense

quired

attending
this farm.

£. s.

d.

£. *. d.

The sunk or dormant capital (§. 55)

890 13

4

To liquidate this sum in fifteen

years, there must be charged

5 per cent, at least ....

44 10 6

Working horses (§.101) ....

270 0

0

To insure against accident, 10 per

cent. ••.

407 0

0

27 0 0

Implements (§.101)

To keep this dead stock of the same

value, 10 per cent

40 14 0

Dairy stock (§. 102)

408 0

0

To insure this stock against accident,

5 per cent

20 8 0

Sheep (§. 103)

770 0

0

To insure this stock against accident.

5 per cent

35 0 0

Seeds and seed corn (§.106) . .

149 13

0

149 13 0

Manure (^. 105)

115 2

0

115 16 0

Expense for labour (§.107) . . .

510 11

0

510 11 0

Horse corn ($.107)

86 8

0

86 8 0

Tradesmen's bills ($. 107) . . .

39 10

0

39 10 0

Household furniture and expenses,

(§.108)

100 0

0

To interest on the capital of

£3746. 16^. required in culti-

vating this farm, at 10 per cent.

374 14 0

3746 16

4

1444 4 6

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 32

110. Abstract of the produce: —

Wheat:— £. s, d'

7i acres — 30 quarters, at 565. . . 84 0 0

7i ditto— 30 ditto at 56*. . . 84 0 0

15 ditto— 60 ditto at 5Qs. . . 168 0 0

15 ditto— 5 2i ditto at 56«. . ., 147 0 0

5 ditto— 15 ditto at 5 65. . . 41 12 6

Beans : —

7i acres —30 quarters at 365. . . 54 0 0
Oats: —

7i acres — 52 quarters at 245. . . 62 8 0

15 ditto— 105 ditto at 245. . . 126 0 0

5 ditto— 20 ditto at 245. . . 24 0 0
Barley: —

15 acres — Q7 quarters at 305. . . 101 5 0

5 ditto— 20 ditto at 305. . . 30 0 0

Seed producing crops worth ^6922 5 6
Return from stock: —

For sale: 220 fat sheep at 505. . . 550 0 0
330 fleeces of wool, four to a tod —

82 tods at 345 140 0 0

Cheese, &c. from ten cows, ^10 each 100 0 0

Ten fat beasts, say ^620 each . . 200 0 0

Carried forward . .561912 5 6

326

APPENDIX.

Brought forward .
^duct-

. . ^1912 5 6

Expenses of cultiva-
tion (^.109) . 581444
Present rent and taxes 265

4 6
0 0

5 per cent, on ^3500
sunk in permanently
improving the land 175

0 0

1881 4 6

Clear profit

. . . 5628 1 0

Besides 10 per cent, on capital employed.

111. Of the capital employed on the
farm, 5 per cent, is charged on the
^890. of sunk capital, to liquidate it
in fifteen years, which it will do if the
annuity (3644. \0s.) be invested yearly
at 5 per cent, compound interest . ^644 10 0

Ten per cent, is charged on the cost
price (j6270) of the working horses to
insure their value, which, owing to
accident or death, is supposed to de-
crease at this rate annually . . . 27 O O

Ten per cent, is charged on the value of
the implements, so that their value is
supposed to decrease at the rate of
3640. Us. yearly 40 14 O

Carried forward . . 36112 4 0

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE-FARM. 32/

Brought forward . . 56112 4 0
Five per cent, is cliarged on the value of
the dairy stock (^6408) to insure
against accident or death .... 20 8 0
Five per cent, on the sheep stock (^6700)

to insure ao;ainst accident or death . 35 0 0

£167 12 0

112. The income of the farmer will be as follows: —

£. s. d

Ten per cent, on the whole capital em-
ployed, £3747 (§. 109) .... 374 14 0

The allowance of ^680 per year to the

superintendent 80 0 0

Clear profit (§. 110) 28 1 0

^482 15 0

113. In this report, the estimated value of the
produce in animals is 5^70 more than the value of
the produce in corn, and the estimated value of the
whole is upwards of four times that of the produce
of the farm for the last twenty-one years.

The labourers employed are estimated at seven
men, two boys, and two women, yearly servants,
besides 36174. 9s. paid for piece-work, which maybe
equal to the employment of four men, three women.

328 APPENDIXr

and two boys in addition throughout the year, thus
giving employment throughout the year to eleven
men, four boys, and five women, while at present
Mr. Thomas only employs three men, two women,
and one boy.

JOHN MORTON.

Chester Hill, 1839.

A LETTER

TO THE

TENANTS OF PHILIP PUSEY, ESQ. M.P.

FOR BERKSHIRE.

Gentlemen,

From my connexion with you and with your
landlord, I have taken the liberty of presenting to
your notice the substance of many conversations
which I have had with you, on the necessity of agri-
Cultural improvements — on the absolute necessity of
adopting the best and most efficient means of culti-
vating your land, and of managing all your farming
operations.

It is my intention m this letter to lay before you
some observations on the mode of culture which you
adopt, and I wish you to go along with me, and let
us enter into a tliorough examination of the whole
economy of your establishment — the cultivation of
your arable land — and the mode yoa have so long
practised of converting your crops into money ; and
see whether the system you have so long practised be

330 APPENDIX.

the best for such a soil, or whether there may not be
a better one, that will produce a much greater return
for the expense of cultivation, and a more profitable
way of converting your green crops than the one
which you at present adopt.

But unless we go about this examination with a
desire to get at the truth, and endeavour to divest
our minds of all our prejudices, and all our previ-
ously acquired opinions, and lay our minds open to
conviction, we shall be sure to fail in our object.

That the most profitable system of culture is that
which will produce the greatest per cent, on the
money laid out in cultivation, while the land is yearly
increasing in its productive powers, is a truth which
none will attempt to deny : we shall therefore take
this as a rule to guide us in our inquiry.

The rotation which you adopt is called the Norfolk
or four-field course : the first year wheat, after one
year clover made into hay ; the second year is turnips
after the wheat ; most of your dung is laid on for
this crop, but part of the field intended for turnip is
sown in September, with winter vetches or rye, or
white and yellow clover sown amongst the wheat,
and these crops are fed off" by sheep in April, May,
and June, after which the land is sown to winter
turnips ; there is also a part sometimes sown to
white peas, and when they are harvested the land is
sown with turnip seed ; the third year the whole is

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 331

in barley, with clover seed ; and tlie fourth year the
whole is in clover, which is made into hay : this I
believe is the system of culture which you strictly
adhere to.

Now, before we examine the several members of
this course of cropping, let us see how the economy
of your live stock goes on ; they consist wholly of a
flock of sheep, and these principally of breeding
ewes, (I beheve there are very few of you that ever
fatten any of your ewes or lambs for the butcher,)
and that you dispose of your lambs and old ewes in
summer or autumn, and that the price you get for
them, with the price of the wool from your ewes, is
the amount of money you yearly receive from your
sheep ; this is all the return they make for the whole
of the food they consume in twelve months. The
only other stock you have is working horses ; some
of you may breed a colt to keep up his team, others
have some cows for the use of the family. These re-
marks are not intended to apply to the dairy farms.

All your live stock may therefore be said to be
your working horses and your flock of sheep, and all
the return they make you is the value of your lambs,
old ewes, and the wool from your ewes, besides the
value of the manure from the sheep when folded on
your turnips, or on your land for wheat, either before
or after it is sown.

The whole of your wheat, and barley, and peas

332

APPENDIX.

you take to market, and the price you get for these,
with what we have before mentioned as the return
from your Hve stock, make up the total amount of
return from your farm.

From this system it is evident that the several
crops come around in rotation once in every four
years ; this quick repetition of the same crop, on the
same ground, is the greatest objection to the Norfolk
system. It has been found that land soon gets tired
of any particular crop, when repeated in so short a
period.

The first member of the course that fails is the
clover, which is by no means so sure or productive a
crop now as it used to be ; it is very frequently a
failing crop, dying when it comes up, or blighting
oflf in the spring or early part of the summer ; in-
deed, the land seems to be so completely tired of it,
that we can scarcely ever see a good crop of clover :
a remedy for this evil has been attempted on your
stronger land, by dividing the clover field in- o two,
and taking a crop of beans or peas over one half of
it, and clover on the other half, so that if these crops
be taken on the alternate sides of the field, that
which was beans last turn comes in course for clover
next turn, — so that it will be eight years before
either the clover or the beans come round on the
same ground : this is a great improvement, so far as
the crop goes, and it will remedy the evil, and I have

no doubt but an increased crop of clover will be the
result ; but it must be remembered, that by this
change one-fourth part of the green crop, as food for
sheep, is given up, and this fourth part is added to
the corn producing crop, not to be consumed on the
farm, hut to he sold and carried off the land. This
is an evil equal in magnitude to the failure of the
clover crop : thus a fourth part of the food for
sheep is gone, and with it, of course, the means of re-
turning the manure it would have produced to the soil,
for the reproduction of food for stock.

That which we have already noticed as to the
failure of the clover crop, also takes place with the
turnip, which is of much more consequence to you :
how often do we see the turnips to be a failing crop,
indeed how seldom do we see a good crop of turnips
on the fine turnip soil of which your farms consist.

This failure is, we think, partly owing to the same
cause as that of the clover — the too frequent repeti-
tion of them on the same land. If the crops were
farther apart, say six or eight years, we have no
doubt that the crops would not only be more certain,
but also more abundant.

About the first of this century the turnip crops in
Norfolk began to fail ; great complaints were heard
in every quarter, that the turnips, instead of pro-
ducing large bulbs as they used to do, produced roots
like fingers and toes, without any bulbs ; and much

334 APPENDIX.

was written on the cause of the failure, and on the
remedy ; but every remedy failed, till some one, by
claying a field a second time, (that is, putting on a
100 cubic yards of clay or chalk marl to the acre)
found that, after this, the sandy soil, having a much
greater degree of tenacity or adhesiveness than be-
fore, produced good crops of turnips, as well as good
crops of clover, barley, and wheat.

When I mentioned to some of you this mode of
recruiting your land which is tired of turnips, (and
which is still continued in the sandy parts of Norfolk
and Suffolk, of claying their land every eight years),
you expressed your approval of the plan, and stated,
*' We have no doubt of it, for if we take any earth
from the sides of the field or road, and put it on our
land in course for turnips, we are sure to see turnips
where the earth was laid, if there be any in the field."
Now there is scarcely a field, particularly in C barney,
but what has accumulations of earth at the end of
the old ridges, left by the turning of the plough, and
it would be an advantage to the field to have these
accumulations removed ; and it would be of great use
if carted over the field, or if mixed with the dung,
and forty or fifty cart loads of such a mixture put on
the acre would be sure to secure a good crop of
turnips ; besides this, there are the sides of the field,
the road sides, and the sides of the ditches would
furnish as much matter as would give a covering to

LETTER TO MR. PUSEY's TENANTS. 335

the whole of your arable land, and there is clay
within a mile I think of any field on the estate ; a
covering of which would produce' as good an effect
on the sands of Berks, as it does on those of Norfolk
and Suffolk.

But in some instances there may be another cause
for the complete failure of the turnip crop ; indeed I
have seen very good reasons for believing it.

Before we attempt the cultivation of any plant, it
is quite necessary for us to be well acquainted with
the nature and habits of the plant, and the mode of
culture which suits it, to be able to cultivate the
plant with success.

If the nature and the habits of the turnip, and the
kind of culture necessary for the developement of its
natural character be unknown, or neglected, we shall
very seldom succeed in producing good crops ; but if
we know something of the nature and habits of the
plant, and attend strictly to the mode of culture ne-
cessary, under every circumstance, we shall seldom
fail in producing good crops.

The turnip seed and the habits of the young plant
are in every way like those of the wild mustard and
charlock, which is to be seen growing in the spring
very abundantly and luxuriantly, on land which has
been pulverized or reduced to a very fine tilth, and is
so injurious to early sown barley, or oats, or spring
sown wheat on some soils ; but these plants very

3,36 APPENDIX.

seldom grow on tlie same field, if the land he left in
a rough, or cloddy state y not finely pulverized ; here
then is a key to the production of these plants,
hence the necessity of having the land well pulve-
rized in the early part of the spring, and then to
keep it so for the perfect developement of the turnip
plant, whose habits in the early stages of its growth,
are in every respect like those of the wild mustard
and charlock.

We think, therefore, to secure a good crop of
turnips, the land must be early reduced to a fine
tilth, and when in this fine pulverized state, it must
also he kept moist ; for a fine pulverized soil, recently
made so by mechanical means, is dry and without
moisture in it to vegetate the seed. This is univer-
sally the case with land (however hght and sandy it
may be) which is ploughed the first time for turnips
in the spring, and we have seen the first ploughing
given to turnip land in the month of May, and the
result was, what was predicted, a complete failure of
the whole crop of turnips.

Here let us stop for a httle, and try if we can
ascertain the amount of loss sustained by the failure
of the turnip crop ; for this is a most important
question, and it is right that we should have a clear
view of it, for it is universally beheved by every
turnip farmer, that if they get a good crop of
turnips, there is no fear of good crops during the

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 337

remainder of the course, and this we beheve to be
the case.

But before we can ascertain what loss we sustain
from not having a good crop of turnips, it will be
necessary for us to know the value of such a crop :
well then, a good crop of turnips may be reckoned
at 20 tons of bulbs per acre, and it has been ascer-
tained by many experiments on a large scale, that
sheep, when fattening on turnips, will consume as
great a weight of turnips per day as the quarter
weight of their mutton ; that is, if a sheep weighs
80 pounds of mutton when dead, the same sheep
will have consumed about 20 pounds of turnips per
day while fattening, if no other food was given to it,
and if it had as many as it could eat. Fattening
cattle consume about the same quantity in propor-
tion to their weight ; thus, if an ox weighs when
dead 8 cwt. of beef, it will while fattening have con-
sumed about 2 cwt. of turnips per day, if no other
food was given to it, and if it had as many turnips as
it could consume.

From the above facts, we find that an acre of
turnips weighing 20 tons will keep in a fattening
state 12^ sheep, weighing 20 pounds per quarter,
six months, from the 20th day of October till the
20th day of April ; but if the sheep are kept in a
store state, the same acre of turnips may keep 16
sheep for the same period.

z

338 APPENDIX.

Now, from the above facts, let us see what loss

we sustain from not producing a good crop of

turnips.

£. 8. d.

The increased value of the 1 2\ sheep which
an acre of turnips will keep for 6 months,
in a fattening state, we cannot reckon
at less than 135, per head, this is after
the rate of 6^?. per week per head, or
16 store at 10s. per head 8 2 6

There is also the loss of the manure (dung
and urine) which the sheep would have
made from the consumption of 20 tons
of turnips, this must be equal to 1 5 tons
at 5s. per ton, or if we take the opinion
which farmers have of the value of the
fold, which is, that 200 sheep will, du-
ring the night » in a week, go over an
acre, and that this is worth £>\. 10s. this
folding mil be equal to 325 sheep for
a week both night and day, instead of
200 sheep at night only, after this rate
the manure would be worth . . . .4 16 0

£\2 18 6

Thus a clear loss of £\2, 18*. (dd. per acre, is the
result of a failure in our crop of turnips.

LETTER TO MR. PUSEY's TENANTS. 339

But although we have now come to the end of our
course, with a loss of 36 12. I85. Gd. per acre, during
the course of four years, yet the evil does not termi-
nate here ; for it cannot be expected that the land
will be in so good a state for the production of a
crop of turnips now, as it would have been had a
good crop of turnips been produced on it four years
ago, and by their consumption on the land leaving
such a quantity of manure of the most excellent
kind. There is, therefore, not such a prospect of
your getting a good crop of turnips now as you had
four years ago when you failed. The evil is there-
fore perpetuated, and a diminution of the productive
powers of the land is the result, — and all this evil
has arisen from your failing to produce a good crop
of turnips.

Most of the land you occupy is an excellent barley
soil, and your mode of culture and time of sowing is,
in my opinion, in every respect what it ought to be,
and it almost universally ensures a good crop ; by
early sowing, the ground is covered with the leaves
of the plants early in the spring, and this prevents
the sun from having such an effect on it as it would
have had if it had been sown in May. The barley
crop is therefore a more certain crop than any other
which you cultivate.

Wheat is always sown after your clover, and also
after beans, where they are introduced into the

340 APPENDIX.

clover break ; but some of yonr land is naturally
so soft and loose, and in many cases weak, — I do
think that wheat once in four years is too often for
such soft land, although that portion of the property
wliich is strong enough might produce a crop of
wheat every other year, under good culture, without
any diminution of crop or injury to the land.

The plan which you adopt to give an artificial
fimmess to the land sown to wheat, when there i»
naturally a deficiency of adhesive matter in the soil,
by the press, drill, the trampling of sheep, and fold-
ing of your sheep on it, shews that you can find
the means of accomplishing the end you wish, when
you think it is for your interest to do so, and as it
has long been considered by farmers that the wheat
crop should pay the rent, no means are left untried
by you to increase the quantity of wheat per acre,
knowing that every bushel of it goes to the market,
and is returned to you in the shape of money j but
there is one part of the management of your wheat
crop which I am not sure you are right in ; that is,
the folding of your sheep on your wheat after it is
sown. I do not mean the trampling of your land
by sheep to firm it, but the folding of the sheep at
night ; this is for the express object of leaving the
dung of the fold to enrich the land, and as you
think to secure a better crop, this is the object you
have in view from this practice. I think the effect

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 341

produced frequently tends to give an unliealthy luxu-
riance to the straw without making it productive in
corn : the straw gets soft and weak, and frequently
falls down, not from its length nor from the weight
of corn in the ear, but from the softness and weak-
ness of the straw. My opinion is, that no animal
manure should be put on your land for a corn crop ;
it should be in such heart as to produce a good crop
of wheat fi'om the effects of the manure put on the
land to produce your turnips and other green crops,
and from their consumption on the land by sheep ;
and if the clover were all consumed by sheep on the
ground instead of being made into hay, the crops of
wheat would be greatly increased, and the land
would be much firmer, and the straw would be
bright and much stronger.

But let us again return to the turnip crop. It
is evident to you, that the increasing evil which
you sustain from the loss of the turnip crop must
be stopped, or there is no knowing where it will
end.

I think a remedy would have been found before
this if you had been in the habit of disposing of
your turnips in the market, at, say 15s. a ton, (in-
stead of consuming them by sheep,) for then the
actual money value of the crop would have come
into your calculation, and into your pockets in a
direct line from the turnip field, and not through the

342 APPENDIX.

circuitous line, first from the wool, then from your
ewes and lambs, theyi from your barley crop, and last
from your wheat crop.

But I said that the greatest objection to the four
course system is the quick repetition of the same
crop on the same land. I would, therefore, endea-
vour to put before you a plan whereby each kind of
crop of green food for sheep or other stock, shall
be at a greater distance than four years, without
disturbing the present arrangement of your fields,
so far as they regard your barley and wheat crop.

First, then, we shall begin with the land after
the crop of wheat has been harvested, which in
your present course comes in for turnips. I would
therefore advise you to divide the field into two
equal parts, on one of these parts I would advise
you to have the common globe turnip, the Swedish
turnip, and cabbage in equal parts, as these are all
of the same class of plants, and their nature and
habits are nearly the same ; on the other half of
tliis field I would ad\ise you to plant mangel-wurt-
zel, potatoes and carrots, these plants being very
different in their nature and habits from the tur-
nips ; when this field therefore comes round in the
course of four years, these crops should be trans-
posed : the turnips, swedes, and cabbage, should be
sown on that part which produced the mangel- wurt-
zel, potatoes, and carrots, and these, on that part of

LETTER TO MR. PUSEY's TENANTS. 343

the field which produced the turnips, swedes, and
cabbage, so that by this arrangement, these crops
would only come round on the same land once in
eight years. All the manure that you can by any
means procure should be put on the crop of turnips,
&c., which follow the wheat crop, and even bone
dust should not be withheld from the turnips, swedes,
cabbage, and mangel- wurtzel.

As we have seen the loss which you sustain from
the failure in the turnip crop, to be equal to ^13 per
acre, let me suggest to you a mode of culture which
I think will produce a good crop, equal to what we
have mentioned, if not considerably more ; but it
must be remembered, that all the operations of
ploughing, dragging, harrowing, putting on the
manure, covering it, sowing the seed, and hoeing,
must be executed not only in a proper manner, but
also in a proper time.

Tlie land intended for turnips or other green crop,
must be ploughed the first time in autumn, at least
before Christmas, and that with a very deep furrow,
and if the subsoil plough follows, loosening the bot-
tom of the furrow to the depth of sixteen inches
from the surface, so much the better ; this ploughing
to remain for the frost to pulverize it during the
winter ; in February or March it should be ploughed
across, and soon afterwards dragged and harrowed
to get out any weeds that may be in it, and then the

344 APPENDIX.

land should be left smooth to keep in the moisture.
It may be gone over with the Finlayson's harrow, as
often as necessary to destroy the annual weeds and
keep the land loose.

All the manure you have, should be put on the
land before the second plougliing, if it is long un-
fennented straw yard dung, as it mil then get better
rotted, and incorporated with the soil, but if your
dung be well rotted, it should be put into drills or
what you call trenches, but in doing this, much in-
jury will be sustained if the work is not gone about
quickly, so as to prevent the manure and soil from
getting dry during the operation.

In making the one-bout drills (or trenches as you
caU them) — carting and spreading the manure in
the drills, — splitting them so as to cover the ma-
nure, and sowing the seed, — all these several opera-
tions must be simultaneously performed, that is, the
whole of these operations must be gone about at the
same time, and aU the drills that are made to receive
the manure must be dunged, the dung spread and
covered, and the seed sown before the evening, so
as to preserve the moisture of the manure and the
moisture of the soil from evaporating if left till to-
morrow, which moisture it is absolutely necessary to
retain to vegetate the seed, the crop frequently fails
from letting the land remain for a day after it is
ploughed before the seed is sown.

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 345

Tlie advantage of bone dust in turnip husbandry
which you have seen to be so great,* will naturally
induce you never^ to sow any without giving fifteen
or twenty bushels of it per acre, even although you
have dung to go over the whole breadth of your
turnip break.

The advantage of sowing turnips early, is as great
as that of sowing barley early, on your light sandy
land. I would therefore advise you to sow your tur-
nips much earlier than you have been in the habit
of doing. Swedes should be finished by the first of
May, and the common turnip by the tenth of June
at farthest, if we expect a large crop ; " to sow early
and to drill turnips is to put in for a fair chance of
doubhng the worth of the crop," — is the opinion of
practical farmers. If you follow the plan which I
have laid down, I think there vrill be less complaints
of the failure of your turnip crop.

The whole of the field after these crops to be sown
to barley as you do now; but after the barley, instead
of sowing the whole to clover as you do at present,
I would again divide the field into two equal parts,
as I advised -with the turnips, and on the half which
was in turnips, swedes and cabbage, I would sow
broad clover seed ; but on the other half I would,

* From experiments made by Mr. Pusey's tenants with
bone-dust in 1837.

34G APPENDIX.

after the barley is harvested, have the land ploughed,
and sow it to winter vetches, and Itahan rye-grass
together, which would furnish the earhest and the
finest food for your stock in the spring, after the
mangel, potatoes and carrots are consumed.

The clover field being thus divided, that part of
it which produced clover this year, would produce
winter vetches and Itahan rye-grass the next time
it came round, and that part which produced vetches
and Itahan rye-grass, would produce clover, these
of course would only come round on the same land
once in eight years as in the turnip field, but the
barley and wheat would come round once in four
years This arrangement we think would cure the
evil arising fi'om the quick succession of green crops
on the same ground.

We shall now look into the mode you adopt to
consume your straw. Those of you that have not
dairies, have no cows, or other beasts except your
working horses, a flock of sheep, and a few pigs, so
that your wheat and barley straw is thrown out into
the court yard to be trodden under the feet of your
horses, and turned over by your pigs tiU it receives
a certain degree of wetness, and then it is taken out
into the field where it is intended to be used, and
thrown up in a heap to lie till the time arrives when
it is to be put on the land : this is the only prepa-
ration you give to your dung, and the only animal

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 347

manure mixed with the straw is the dung and urine
of your working horses and pigs.

There is either a want of knowledge of this part
of the farming business, or an apathy and indiffe-
rence about the matter, out of which you should
rouse yourselves.

The real value of manure to a farm seems not to
have entered your head ; for had you a right idea
of its value, one would have thought that you would
be more anxious about its increase and more careful
of it, so as to prevent it from running to waste ; for
we have seen dung-hills on the road side with the
rich liquid manure running out of them into the
ditch or sinking into the rock ; we have also seen
them covered with docks, nettles, and every kind
of weed, and we have seen a stream of water, in wet
weather, from the yard, carrying off all the most
valuable parts of the manure, without any attempt
being made to stop it, or to mix it with the earth,
&c. : this is a very common case over all the country.
It would be difficult to calculate how much is lost
yearly throughout the country by inattention to this
subject ; perhaps a quarter, if not one-third, or even
a half of the value of all the dung is thus allowed to
go to waste, thus exhausting the soil by negligence
instead of increasing its productiveness by attention
to the subject.

The old maxim that "muck is the mother of

348 APPENDIX.

gold," conveys a truth wliicli you really seem to
have lost sight of, but which I hope you will be more
familiar with for the time to come, as it is for your
own pecuniary advantage, for without manure we
seldom succeed in procuring good crops of any
kind, and with a Hberal supply of it of a good qua-
hty, properly apphed, we can produce the most
luxuriant crops of every kind, you should therefore
use every means in your power to increase its quan-
tity, and improve its quality, and make every exer-
tion to produce the largest quantity per acre of those
crops which by their consumption with sheep on the
land, or with stock in the house or yard, will return
the greatest quantity of so valuable an article.

The manure from your straw yard, as we have
before stated, is merely straw in a state of decom-
position, there is little or no animal dung amongst
it, but some of you have told me " that you think it
is much better for your land than the dung of animals. ''
Let us consider the point ; well then, the manure
which you prefer, consists wholly of rotten straw,
which is a Hght, loose, porous substance, with no
adhesiveness or tenacious property in it, to make
it stick together, so that when it is dry, it is like
so much chaff, and when it is mixed with the soil,
it must make it more light and porous than before,
and tend to make it, and keep it loose and open,
for the drought to have a greater effect upon it.

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 349

The dung of horses partakes in a great measure of
the same nature, it is of a dry light warm nature,
in summer when it gets dry, it seems to be a mass
of bruised strawy matter, you might almost from its
appearance detect the kind of food of the animal
which produced it, it is so light, that you might
kick it about with your foot, without soiling your
shoe. The dung of the ox or cow, and of all animals
that chew the cud, is very diiferent in its nature,
there is no vestige of the nature of the food which
the animals consume, to be seen in their dung, it is
a mass of close adhesive cold excrement, in summer
it drys into a hard compact substance, very unhke
the dung of the horse or of rotten straw.

From the light and sandy nature of your land,
we have seen that you very properly use artificial
means to press it together with the press drill and
the roller, and to trample it with the sheep to harden
it, and to make it firmer, knowing from experience,
that if this were not done, there would be much less
certainty of a good crop; but a light, loose, friable
substance, mixed with your light land, would have a
tendency to make it more hght and porous than it
was before, and a tenacious adhesive substance of
the nature of clay, being mixed with your light
soil, would have the effect of making it more tena-
cious and firmer than before it was applied : your
light strawy dung will therefore have the effect of

350

APPENDIX.

making your light sandy land more light and porous,
tending to let the drought into the land, when it is
mixed with it ; but the dung from ruminating animals
well mixed with the soil has a contrary effect, it
tends to make it closer and firmer, and thereby
enables it to resist the drought better; you will
therefore perceive that the notion which some of
you have got about your rotten straw being the best
sort of dung for your light land is quite ej'roneows,
and this strawy dung may be one of the principal
causes of the failure of your turnip crop, the evil
effects of which we have already considered. But
let it be remembered, that although long strawy
unfermented dung may be of little advantage to
loose soft sandy land, compared with well rotted
animal manure, yet upon strong adhesive clay, such
as that of Bedlam and Hanney farms, the strawy
dung will be most advantageous, as it will tend to
make and keep the tenacious clayey soils of these
farms loose, friable, and porous.

From what has been said on this subject, I think
you will see the propriety of preparing the manure
for your turnip crop, so as to get it well rotten, and
well mixed with some heavy earth or clayey matter.
I would therefore advise that you should, every
week or two, clear out all your dung from your
yards, etc. and lay it in heaps either near the yard
or in the field where it is to be used, and have it

351

mixed with earth, first making a layer of earth
about six inches thick, then a layer of clung about
six inches thick upon it, and repeat this four or five
times, covering the edges of the dung with earth,
and when it has remained in this state for some time
it will ferment, but not violently, when it has been
in a state of fermentation for some weeks, turn the
whole over, carefully mixing the earth and the dung
as perfectly as you can, and form it into a heap in
the form of a potatoe pit, or like the roof of a
house ; after it has remained in this state for so^ie
time, it will again heat, but not so much as at first,
and when it begins to cool it ought again to be
turned over ; this second fermentation and turning
will have di\ided and blended the earth and the
dung together, so that it will have the appearance
of a dark rich earthy substance, this will form an
excellent compost to put into the drills for turnips
but the oftener these compost heaps are turned over,
the better prepared they will be for your light sandy
soil, and you will have a much greater certainty of
a crop of 20 or 25 tons of turnips per acre, after a
dressing of 20 or 25 loads of this compost, than
you now have after 20 or 25 loads of rotten straw.
We were next to consider the state of your live
stock ; these w^e have before observed to consist of
a flock of sheep besides your working horses, and
this is the state of the matter on all the arable

352 APPENDIX.

farms, except those of you who have dairy farms
also. AVell then, this flock of sheep is what you
call a working fiock, that is, in some seasons of the
year they work very hard all day to get their belly
full, and in the evening they are driven to a fallow
field, to be in the fold all night, that they may leave
the dung on the land for the next crop.

I cannot think that this is the best kind of stock,
or the most profitable way of managing them on
such farms as you occupy. I cannot see the advan-
tage of forcing a flock of sheep — ewes and lambs —
to wander all the day long, day after day, over all
the poor pasture land on your farm, to pick up what
food they can get, and then to be shut up at night
on some portion of the arable land, to deposit the
result of their hard day's earnings, this I think is
really "robbing Peter to pay Paul." The only
acknowledged object of your flock of sheep is the
value of the fold, to enable you to raise good crops
of barley and wheat: "without the fold, sir, we
cannot expect to get a crop of corn on this land."
Let us see if we cannot find a better reason for
having a flock of sheep, than merely to make them
work hard, and live hard all day, and then force
them to lie on ploughed land for ten hours at
night, that they may there empty themselves to
please us.

Suppose then, that instead of the hard working

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 353

sheep, you should have a flock of sheep of an im-
proved kind of Southdown, Hke those of Messrs.
Twynham, of Whitechurch, in Hampshire, these I
am told are not only excellent feeders, but good
folders : well then, let our object be not only to
breed, but to fatten for the butchers all the stock
that we breed, and that our flock of sheep should
also be folded on our arable land, that the full value
of the fold may be given for the production of our
corn crops ; keeping these objects in view, let us, in
the first place, have always a sufficient quantity of
nutritious food for them, and all the other stock
which we keep, for every day in the year ; we should
carefully avoid giving our flock any more trouble
than is necessary ; we should therefore always fold
them on the ground which produced the crop they
are consuming, and give it to ihem fresh and fresh
every day : thus, while they are consuming turnips,
&c. in the autumn, winter, and spring, if our turnips
are 20 tons or more per acre, then we should carry
one-half the crop off the ground, either to be con-
sumed by other kinds of stock in the straw yard, or
by sheep on another part of the field, where the
whole of the crop of mangel-wurtzel, potatoes, and
carrots were taken off, so as to give the whole field
the same advantage of the dung, and the trampling
of sheep in the fold, but by no means to drive the
sheep to be shut up at night in a field or ground
2 A

354 APPENDIX.

where there is no food for them, and for no other
object but for them to carry their dung, to save us
the trouble of carting their food to the j)l(ice where
we wish the advantages of the fold to be applied.
The expense of carting the turnips, and of cutting
them where we wish to fold the sheep, is a much
more reasonable mode, and, in my opinion, a much
more profitable one than the one which is at present
adopted, because the sheep improves more when they
are allowed to feed and rest when they like.

In spring, summer, and autumn, we should pro-
ceed in the same way with our winter vetches, Ita-
lian rye-grass, clover, &c., folding our sheep on them,
giving them a fresh piece every day, and never allow
them to run aU over the field, but when you add the
length of a hurdle of fresh food to them at one end
of their fold, take off the length of a hurdle from
the fold at the other end : thus they v^ill gradually
proceed over the whole field, and the end at which
they began first may be ready for them again by the
time they have finished at the other end. But part
of the winter vetches, Italian rye-grass, and clover
should be cut and carted to the cattle and other
stock in the straw- yard and house.

I am fully convinced that an arable farmer cannot
make the most of his crops, unless he has oxen or
other beasts to consume the greatest part of his
straw, and convert it into manure. I would there-

LETTER TO MR. PUSEy's TENANTS. 35.5

fore advise you to keep, according to the extent of
your farm, some breeding cows, and to rear up so
many calves, and keep them till you fatten them off
at three or four years old for the butcher ; you can
easily do all this if you succeed in producing 20 or
25 tons of turnips, &c. per acre on the fourth part
of the farm, of which I have not the least doubt, if
you set about the work in right earnest ; this will,
in the winter and early part of the spring, give you
at least double the quantity of such food as you have
had for these many years past, of course you will be
able to spare nearly half of these for your beasts in
the yard, but if you should not have sufficient turnips
for them, oil cake is a good substitute ; and in the
summer you will have another fourth part of your
farm producing clover, vetches, and Italian rye-
grass, and if half of this was cut and carted to your
straw-yard to your beasts, there would be food for
: hem in the summer months : and be assured, that
the larger the quantity of food you can raise for
your stock, and the greater quantity of stock you
keep in the house or yard, so much the greater
quantity of manure of a richer quahty will be pro-
duced, and the additional quantity of manure being
put on the land for green crops, will again produce
an increase of these, and this increased produce will
appear in every crop of the course.— Larger crops of
barley and wheat of a better quahty wi]l follow as a
natural consequence.

356 APPENDIX.

By adopting this mode, I think you would be able
to get more corn to take to market, and receive a
much greater return for your stock than you do at
present. Indeed, I think it quite possible for you
to keep as much stock on your farm as will produce
as great a return as you now receive from your corn
crop, without diminishing your crop of corn.

We have now come to the last thing which we
have to consider, that is, the agricultural imple-
ments, and the expenses of your horse-power, which
you require to use them. The kind of horses you
use is the heavy, dull, slow animal, like the waggon
or London dray-horse, the natural pace of these
animals is about a mile in the hour. Of these heavy,
powerful horses you universally put three to the
plough which you use, but then such a plough : the
most clumsy, lumpiest, antiquated implement in the
kingdom, with two wheels, and a carriage to carry
the end of the beam of the plough, which rises up at
an angle of about thirty degrees to the horizon, with
a wooden mould board, of from four to five feet long,
and this is the plough that most of you use, with,
I beUeve, only a single exception, and it is generally
used in the Vale of the White Horse.

Such is the overpowering effect of habit and cus-
tom, that although you have had an example for
many years at Buckland, within a mile of you, of a
man and two active horses, with a light plough,
doing more work in a day than you can with your

three heavy horses, a man, and a boy, on the same
light land, yet you still drag on this unwieldy ma-
chine, without even calculating the additional expense
you are at in ploughing your land, which the Buck-
land farmer saves. I must say that, from the natural
slowness of your horses, I have never seen them
plough an acre a day, while I have seen a man and
two horses, with a hght plough, in Lincoln, Norfolk,
and Suffolk, plough an acre and a half, with the
greatest ease, daily ; and in the fens of Lincolnshire
two acres a day is frequently performed. But the
mode in which you work your horses is not the best,
in my opinion ; they start to work in the morning,
and finish their day's work before they come home :
that is, they take eight hours at a spell, and when
the man and boy are eating their dinners, the horses
stand in idleness and hunger, waiting till they have
finished ; would it not be much better to take two
spells a day, of four hours each, and make the horses
go briskly while they are at work in the morning,
and then come home and rest for two hours in the
middle of the day, and the horses get something to
eat, and then take them back and work them other
four hours ? This would be making it more easy
for the horses, by dividing the time and doing more
work per day ; but these heavy horses are not so fit
for doing light quick work, as active horses that
have some blood in them, and it would be well for

358 APPENDIX.

you to form the design of gradually getting out of
them, and of the plough and your heavy carts also,
and to get light ploughs — swing ploughs, not wheel
ploughs, and hght carts, &c., so. that you may be
able to cultivate your land at a much less expense
than you do at present ; for, if it be true, that an
acre and a half of your light land can be ploughed
by a man and two horses in a day, while you at pre-
sent are scarcely able to plough one acre a day with
three horses, a man, and a boy, it is evident to me
that you might, by the change which I propose, save
one-half of the expense of ploughing your land, and
the saving in every other work would \^e after the
same rate.

I have placed my ideas on your mode of farming
before you, that you may have it in your power,
whenever you think proper, seriously to consider the
value of any statement which I have made : if you
are convinced that they are right, you will of course
adopt them, but reject any wliich you believe not to
be apphcable to the peculiar circumstances under
which you and your farms are placed.
I am. Gentlemen,

Your most obedient servant,

JOHN MORTON.
Chester Hill, January 18, 1838.

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