it made up of these stones, and Mr. Marshall describes it as beyond dispute, one of the finest corn soils in the kingdom*.' He likewise mentions instances which we have also witnessed in some parts of Kent-of great quantities of these stones having been gathered off as an incumbrance to the soil, by which its productiveness was much lowered; but the stones having been returned, it was restored to its former state of fertility.

LOAM

is the name given to that kind of soil which appears to be an intimate mixture of all the other earths reduced to a fine and equable state. It is of different colours. On elevated table-lands, it is mostly red; on gradual slopes, it is yellow or hazel; and in the bottom of valleys, it is almost black. The two first appear to be deposits from the general, the last from partial, floods. It is found reposing on stone, on clay, or on gravel, of various depth, sometimes in deep beds, but, in general, always deep enough for every purpose of the farmer. Its consistence is friable; readily admitting air and rain, and as readily discharging all excess of the latter, only retaining or imbibing from the air as much as is necessary to vegetation; and neither liable to be parched in summer, nor drenched and chilled by surface water in winter.

Loam, in its uncultivated state, always contains a notable proportion of that nameless peculiar quality, so nourishing and stimulating to plants, known only as the constituent of virgin or maiden earth-i. e., unexhausted earth. Whatever this quality may be, it is not only more abundant, but also much more permanent in loam than in any other description of arable land. Besides this property, the facility of its culture must not be forgotten. Except in hard frost, or immediately after a heavy fall of rain, it is ploughed at any time with ease and regularity; harrowed, scarified, hoed, by horse or hand, and rolled effectually. Such a soil rarely suffers from drought, nor are floods ever dreaded. If, from neglect, it be overrun with weeds, they are soon extirpated; and if impoverished by mismanagement, it is quickly recovered. It is suitable for every kind of crop, and every system of husbandry; and whether for corn or grass, yields the greatest profit to both landlord and tenant.

Such being the history of a loamy soil, it is coveted by every cultivator, and every industrious one endeavours to bring his land of an opposite character as near to the standard and nature of loam as possible. The expediency of such attempts is universally admitted; but it is only under particularly favourable circumstances it can be accomplished to any great extent. Covering a large field of sand with clay, or of clay with sand, is a formidable affair, which but few can undertake. Still, as there can be no doubt of immediate advantage and ultimate success, such an amelioration should never be lost sight of by the farmer of either a too light or too heavy a soil. Sometimes the opposite qualities lie contiguous, and in a course of years may be brought to improve each other. And though, in many cases, the desired quality may not be on the surface, it may happen to be found at no great distance below, sand and clay being often found stratified with each other.

There is also a species of rich loam which, under the name of alluvial soil, is understood to mean land which has been gained in low situations by deposits laid by the overflowing of streams from higher grounds, or by the artificial process of warping from the turbid waters of muddy rivers, as well as by slimy matter, thrown up by the tides, and afterwards embanked. This

* Rural Economy of Yorkshire, 2nd Ed., vol. i., U. p. 280.

contains a large proportion of vegetable and animal matter, which gives it a dark colour, and produces almost inexhaustible fertility; but the quality of its products, though luxuriant to the eye, are not, as we have already had occasion to remark, equal in nutriment to those grown on drier land. This is not alone observable throughout our own country, but in every other part of the known world: thus, in Valencia, one of the most highly-culti-" vated and the richest districts in all Spain, the soil, though rendered wonderfully fertile through a regular command of water by tanks constructed in the time of the Moors, and appropriated to irrigation, yet its products are found so deficient in real nutriment as to have passed into a proverb expressive of their inferiority in the power of imparting vigour. So, also, in a large lowland quarter of the island of Martinique, called the Lamentin, nothing can exceed the apparent richness of the vegetation: the canes grow to an immense size, but the sugar, though beautifully white, is almost an impalpable powder, so scantily possessed of those crystals which constitute its saccharine strength, that it decomposes when carried across the Atlantic, and is almost useless to the refiner.

PEAT.

Besides the above-mentioned earths, there is a class of others called inflammables, from their property of being combustible. These are coal, bitumen, peat, &c., which, when reduced to powder and incorporated with, or even spread on, the surface, act beneficially on vegetation. The ashes, too, of these minerals are a good dress, especially for cold moist soils.

That which falls under the denomination of peat, is distinguished in its natural state from every other kind of soil. It is formed of successive layers of heath and other coarse herbage, which spring up and decay upon the sward, without having a temperature of sufficient heat to effect their entire decomposition; but being aided by a certain degree of humidity, they continue to produce other plants which at length constitute that mass of vegetable matter, which is so common in Ireland and Scotland and our northern counties, under the names of bog and peat. It is of a dark colour and spongy texture; full of fibrous particles in a partial state of decay; tough and elastic; and when dried, becomes inflammable. From this description, it might be supposed that it contains the chief elements of fertility; yet experience proves the contrary: for it is found, when in a state of nature, to be so completely barren as hardly to deserve the name of soil, until art and labour have been exerted to bring it into a state fit for tillage. By these means it has, in some instances, been brought to the consistence of a light kind of land, extremely well adapted to' the culture of potatos and other tuberous roots, as well as the lighter species of grain and flax, and somewhat resembling loam. It indeed wears the appearance of a rich mould, and may thus deceive an inexperienced eye; but, unless greatly ameliorated by the mixture of some solid earth, it is found, on closer examination, to be

*It is not very expressive of gallantry, and runs thus:

"En Valencia, la yerva es agua,

La carne es yerva,

Los hombres son mugeres,

Y las mugeres-nada."

In Valencia, the grass is water,

The flesh is grass,

The men are women,

And the women-nothing.

loose and porous, quickly saturated with water, and too easily discharged from it.

A late writer on the subject remarks, "that when we consider the vast extent of the masses of this bog, which, in the cold and temperate regions, overspread so great a portion of the surface of the earth, and which, though full of vegetable matter, is yet little friendly to vegetable life, we may believe that in its history, in its nature, and in its uses, it presents many materials to the agriculturist for inquiry, which may illustrate the means of either converting it into a soil or into manure, for the improvement of other lands: but it must be confessed that these important inquiries have not all been so perfectly answered as is to be desired; and that much yet remains to be learned of the nature and the uses of peat-moss*."

It only remains to be noticed that there are two other constituents of soils, namely, salts and metals, and which, where they abound, have a powerful effect on plants. Of the latter, iron is the most frequent, and, when in excess, is prejudicial, especially to corn crops. The ores of other metals, as lead and copper, are also hurtful to vegetation; but this only appears in the near neighbourhood of mines.

Of salts, there are many descriptions found in land springs, and usually recommended for medical purposes. Their existence in arable land is, however, imperceptible, unless very near salt springs. Sea, or common mineral salt, though not a food of plants, is, notwithstanding, a useful ingredient, particularly in dry soils. Its great affinity for water assists summer crops wonderfully. It is also an excellent cleanser and renovator of exhausted soils. Slugs will not live where it is in any sensible quantity; and while it is grateful to cultivated plants, it appears to be offensive to moss and all diminutive weeds. Its use as a dress is too much neglected by farmers.

There is thus an endless variety in soils, and those of apparently equal fertility are almost all differently composed. A certain knowledge of chemistry is necessary to ascertain in what those differences consist; for it is in the accuracy with which they are described that the best modes of remedying their defects, and improving them by the application of either lime, clay, sand, or other fossil substances, can be discovered. Farmers, however, generally contrive to obtain a tolerably correct notion of their imperfections by a comparison with the soils of their neighbours, and thus experience in such cases supplies the want of science. The sure indications of a good soil are commonly to be found in the state of the hedges and timber, especially oak and ash-full, wide-spreading tops presenting an appearance of luxuriant growth; whereas, if stunted, it is a certain sign that the land is poor. The weeds, natural to peculiar soils, are also strong proofs of either poverty or fertility. Land is, in certain cases, also to be distrusted, although the crops upon it may be fine; for they may have been forced by over manuring, and thus brought to a condition which it may be found very difficult to continue: while, on the contrary, good land, though exhausted by improper cropping, may be easily restored by judicious management.

Few soils are so ungrateful as not to pay the expense of improvement, provided the money laid out upon them be applied with judgment. Many tracts of the poorest sand have been rendered fertile by judicious dressings of clay, loam, or marl, and other thin and hungry soils have been improved by the application of similar substances; while those of the sourest description have had their acidity corrected by lime, chalk, and ashes. It should, however, be borne in mind, that land, of any description, which is retentive of water, can never be rendered fit for the plough until it has been

* Mr. Low, on the Classification of Soils, Quart. Jour. of Agri., N. S., vol. i. p. 30,

completely drained; for, otherwise, the operations of tillage cannot be accomplished in due season. Its state will have a direct and prejudicial effect upon its productive powers; and manures can never communicate their full benefit to any soil which rests upon a wet bottom.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

OF EMBANKING AND DRAINING."

In order that the surface of the earth should be in a fit state for the suc cessful culture of every useful plant sowed or planted thereon, it is above all other circumstances necessary that it be free from superfluous moisture. The surface is liable to be too wet from various causes, viz., floods, tides, land and main springs, or from its local or constitutional liability to retain water which falls from the clouds. From whichever of these causes a field or a farm is deteriorated, the remedies are either by embankments or by drainage.

Floods, it is hardly necessary to observe, are caused by heavy and in→ cessant rain, or a deep snow suddenly melted. The rivers swell and over flow their banks, and much damage ensues. The water thrown out of its natural channel remains in hollows from whence there is no outlet; and the herbage or crop which it covers suffers till it is drained or evaporated off. All countries are more or less subject to floods; more especially those whose surface is undulating, and soil composed of fine loam or clay. Such soils do not readily absorb water-it running off rather than sinking into the ground. The contrary is the case on light, sandy, or gravelly land, which drinks up rain almost as fast as it falls, and consequently is less subject to injury from floods.

EMBANKING OF RIVERS.

In districts where a sluggish river winds its way through a wide extent of level meadow, confining the former to its own channels is often a work of great difficulty and expense. It can only be accomplished by making the river an aqueduct between raised banks; and when this is the case, machinery is necessary to raise the back-water over the unnaturally raised banks. This, however, has been successfully done in many places in the fens of England; and is always a commendable undertaking when the advantage to be gained is commensurate with or exceeds the expense.

There are many situations where judiciously-formed embankments would be of infinite service, and which may be executed at a moderate charge,— often by only widening the channel, and raising the banks with the excavated earth. In flood-times those places where the water first flows over the banks should be marked and raised; especially those outlets nearest the head of the stream. Repairing and raising the low places in the banks of a river liable to overflow should be a never-to-be-forgotten part of a superintendent's duty who has the charge of contiguous lands. Raising the banks may be executed at once, either by deepening the shallows or widening the channel to obtain earth for the purpose; or such raising may be done at different times as convenience allows. The material of the bank should be of an uniform solid consistence, such as puldded clay or loam

assumes when dry. No decomposable vegetable or mineral should be employed; the mass must be impervious to water; both back and front should have a good slope, the latter covered with a turf of aquatic grasses, with flags at the base, to prevent the bank being undermined by the current. Constant inspection is necessary in preserving river banks; the least slip or breach should be instantly repaired; a hole made by a mole or waterrat may lead to much damage, and consequent expense. Clearing the river of weeds, bushes, shoals, or other obstructions, often prevents an overflow; and where a river is not a boundary of two properties, removing promontories which jet out into the stream is a good plan to facilitate the course of the current.

On rivers of magnitude it is of course absolutely necessary to employ an engineer to construct the embankment; but small brooks are also very subject to overflow their bounds in rainy weather, thus occasioning considerable damage to the neighbouring land, which, however, may be in a great degree guarded against by the properly-directed efforts of the farmers through whose grounds they run. Where mills occur, and the fall of the water does not exceed six feet in a mile, the dams that are erected across for the purpose of securing a supply, are also in many cases productive of great injury to the adjacent fields; and there are even many instances where the mills have not only a dam for throwing the water into the main sluice, but also other dams farther up the river for collecting the water in dry weather, thus completely preventing the drainage of the surrounding country.

When these shallow streams take a winding course, if the proprietors can agree among each other to straighten them, that object can be generally effected with moderate expense, and their encroachments be thus permanently prevented; but when different estates are bordered by the same stream, insurmountable objections are often raised regarding the limits of the new boundary. The cutting of the new channel however requires but little ingenuity, and is attended with no other difficulty than mere manual labour, which may be easily calculated by the size of the intended canal, and the nature of the soil to be cut through; and although the stuff taken out of the new channel may not be quite sufficient, after raising its banks, to fill up the old water-course, it yet will in most instances go far to effect it, for the new cut should always be made of a good width. It has, indeed, been justly remarked by an eminent water-drainer, who has lately written on the subject, that "one great mistake which is often connected in the straightening of water-courses is, in not giving the new channel sufficient dimensions, whereby the water is forced over its banks into its former course; and in not giving the sides sufficient slope, whereby the banks are undermined."*

To give particular directions for forming the slopes, depends on the kind of land through which the stream is to pass; but it has been usually found that from one and a half to two feet on each side, for every foot in depth, is sufficient: the greater the slope, however, the better. The passage for the water should be made as smooth as possible, in order to prevent the accumulation of rubbish; and a covering of sound turf—especially if it has been taken from a place abounding with rushes, rib-grass, or other aquatic plants, and gets time to grow and become firm before the floods come on is the best protection to the bank. Every precaution should, however,

"The Practical Irrigator and Drainer, by George Stephens." Edit. 1834, p. 125. A work in a small compass, but containing numerous plans, and much information on the subjects of which it treats; from which we have obtained some valuable hints.