Dr Davy's Agricultural Discourse. 369 



lime and magnesia iu small quantity, and the phosphate of lime, 

 rather in the manure than in the soil. This is a fact which sug- 

 gests another train of inquiry in connection with the first, viz., what 

 are the proportions in which certain inorganic elements, when re- 

 quired, should be introduced into a soil, with a view to economy and 

 the greatest profit ? 



As regards the improvements of the soils of Barbadoes, whether 

 in relation to physical condition, or chemical composition ; many of 

 the circumstances of your estates are highly favourable, and may, I 

 think in truthfulness, be adduced as matter of congratulation. Sea- 

 sand, composed chiefly of comminuted shells, containing besides car- 

 bonate of lime, a little phosphate of lime and animal matter, such as 

 it is constituted on two-thirds of the shores of this island ; — marl, con- 

 taining the majority of the inorganic elements of the sugar cane, is 

 of such common occurrence, that hardly an estate in the larger por- 

 tion of Barbadoes is without its marl pit; — chalk, which in chemical 

 composition is very little different from marl, and might be superior 

 to it were it reduced to powder, in certain situations existing in vast 

 quantities ; — these are some of the happy means with which, I may 

 say, nature has provided you, capable of effecting, I believe, most of 

 the improvements required in the constitution of the more tenacious 

 and too argillaceous soils, which are the most important and exten- 

 sive, and with a probability, at the same time, of having their com- 

 position improved. And then for the lighter and too sandy soils, of 

 which I believe the proportion is small, the abundance of clay at 

 hand in moist situations affords ready and ample means of ameliora- 

 tion. Of the good effect of such an addition on a small scale, a 

 striking example offers at the Crane, a spot in many respects re- 

 markable ; where we witness an apparent retiring of the sea, owing 

 to a vast accumulation of sand on the shore, and there, in this sand, 

 below the cliff, where once the waves broke, of which their effects 

 are manifest in the manner the base of the cliff is worn away, there, 

 now, fruit trees are flourishing, a garden has been formed, and all 

 that has been found necessary in the planting of the trees, has been 

 to introduce about their roots a little ordinary soil, the cocoa-nut, 

 when deposited, not even requiring this. And not only do most 

 fruit trees flourish there, such as the orange, the lime, the bread- 

 fruit tree, &c., but even the sugar cane I I was informed by the 

 proprietor, that it is difficult to get it to grow, but that when it 

 passes its early stage, its growth is of extreme luxuriancy. 



Such means as these I have mentioned, such facilities for the im- 

 provement of your soils, are unquestionably great advantages, and, 

 with the qualities of your soils generally, as I have already said, a 

 matter for congratulation ; and they are advantages which will be 

 even increased when rendered more available, as it is to be hoped 

 they soon will be, by railway communication encircling the whole, or 

 at least the greater part of the island, — an undertaking which, if 



