368 THE FLORIST. 



upon the new elements they introduce into the soil. It is a subject of 



general remark that in cur climate soils are fertile — clayey or loamy 



soils, that is — only when they contain an appreciable quantity of lime. 



In whatever way it acts, therefore, the mixing of lime witb a soil in 



which httle or none exists, is one of the surest practical methods of 



bringing it nearer in composition to those soils from which the largest 



return of vegetable produce is usually obtained. Clayey soils are also 



much improved by burning. Charred matters of any kind, such as 



charred peat, tan, &c., are valuable improvers of the soil when mixed 



with it. Decayed vegetable matters are amongst the best improvers of 



the soil. They are generally supposed to serve two purposes when added 



to the soil : they loosen the land, opens its pores, and make it lighter ; 



and they also supply organic food to the roots of the growing plant. 



They also serve a third purpose ; they yield to the roots those saline 



substances and earthy matter which it is their duty to find in the soil, and 



which exist in decaying plants in a state more peculiarly fitted to enter 



readily into the circulating system of new races. The decay of vegetable 



substances beneath the surface of the earth fertilises the soil, which 



nourishes the growth of other plants and other vegetables ; and these, 



in their turn, form the nutriment of animals ; and these, iigain, in their 



turn, become the food of other vegetables. Thus there is a perpetual 



change from death to life, and as constant a succession in the tbrms and 



places which the particles of matter assume. iS'othing is lost, and not 



a particle of matter is struck out of existence, although it may disappear 



from our immediate observation. Under certain circumstances the 



particles of matter may be collected into a body without a change of 



form. ' When bodies suffer decomposition their elementary particles are 



never destroyed or lost, but only enter into new arrangements or 



combinations with other bodies. When a piece of wood is heated in a 



closed vessel, such as a retort, we obtain water, an acid, several kinds 



of gas, and there remains a black porous substance called charcoal. The 



wood is thus decomposed or destroyed, and its particles take a new 



arrangement, and assume new forms, but that nothing is lost is proved 



from the fact that if the water, acid, gases, and charcoal be collected 



and weighed, they will be found exactly as heavy as the wood was 



before distillation. In the same manner the substance of the coal burnt 



in our fires is not annihilated : it is only dispersed in the form of smoke, 



or particles of culm, gas, and ashes, or dust. Bones, flesh, or any animal 



substance, may in the same manner be made to assume new forms 



without losing a particle of matter they originally contained. These are 



all matters that demand the attention and consideration of every 



gardener. There should be no waste of anything that comes out of 



gardens ; the pruning of trees should be charred and restored to the 



soil. It is vain to expect vegetables of first-rate quality unless the land 



is in the highest state of fertility, and this is maintained by continually 



restoring to it not only those matters of which it is most wanting, but 



every substance which will in any way improve its physical and chemical 



condition. 



M. S. 



