during tlie last Four Years. 183 



beneficial. In Mecklenburg sandy marl* is used as well as clay 

 marl. In the county of Suffolk there is a loose rubble called 

 craig now largely used by farmers as a dressing for land. The 

 account of its discovery, given in a prize-essay of the East Suffolk 

 Agricultural Society^ by Captain Alexander^, is so remarkable, 

 that I will quote it at length : — 



" I now come to the shelly deposit denominated red craig : it con- 

 sists of shell mixed with sand and gravel. It is barren in its own 

 nature, and is therefore used, instead of gravel, to form garden-walks ; 

 it contains much oxide of iron, and was first discovered to be useful as a 

 stimulus to soils overcharged with sour, black, vegetable deposits, from 

 the following accident. A person was carting some of this craig for a 

 garden-walk, and, in conveying it over a black barren soil, the cart broke 

 down and scattered the contents ; the driver, instead of collecting the 

 craig, spread it over the surface where it lay. The field was after this 

 prepared for turnips in the usual way, and, much to the surprise of the 

 occupier, there was a good crop of full-sized turnips where the craig 

 had been cast, while the rest of the field afforded only a miserable crop 

 of stunted growth. By this accident was the application of craig first 

 made efficient ; and it is almost impossible to calculate the increase 

 added to our agriculliiral produce by this discovery in the craig 

 districts.^' 



Such is the origin of a widely-spread provincial practice. On 

 the same loose earth my own neighbours have observed that, where 

 limestone -rubble has lain, or a road has passed, the turnips are 

 better, and they spread rubble upon such land. Mr. Charnock f 

 not only applies clay to sand, but he adds, " I have attempted to 

 improve my farm by an admixture of soils, and have found it by 

 far the most certain way of making permanent improvements. 

 The calcareous (limestone) sand here mentioned, which in the 

 neighbourhood has been considered perfectly poisonous to plants, 

 I have found, by mixing liberally with the soil, to contribute to a 

 considerable increase of my crop." 



There is another ancient practice of the kind, which I 

 mentioned in a former Number % — the application of chalk 

 brought up from pits dug 20 feet deep, on the chalk hills 

 of Hampshire, and wheeled over the land in barrows to the 

 extent of 2000 bushels per acre; but I was mistaken in calling it an 

 expensive operation, for the usual price is wonderfully low, only 

 45.5'. per acre, and I believe I was also misinformed in stating 

 that it is useful where the soil contains chalk already. It is 

 remarkable that the red clay of these hills, though very thin, and 

 resting upon chalk which is pure lime, contains, so far as I can 

 ascertain, no lime at all. Hence the chalk acts probably in two 

 ways, — chemically by supplying the lime which was wanting ; me- 



* See Mr. Handley's paper in this Number, 

 t Journal, vol. iii. p. 162. % Ibid., vol. i. p. 1. 



