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JOURNAL OF HOETICULTTJEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



[ December 29, 1863, 



it would be well to still further investigate the matter, and 

 ascertain what are the various conditions in which vegetation 

 is found when in contact with sand in greater or less abund- 

 ance. In the first place we may examine the sandy beech 

 subject to the heavy spray of salt water ; a certain description 

 of vegetation exists ihere, more or less vigorous as it is 

 ali'orded shelter ; but the sand having been so repeatedly 

 saturated with salt water is unfit to gi-ow anything in but 

 what deliglits in abundance of salt. Certain plants seem to 

 relish large quantities of salt, and to such the sand of the 

 seashore is at all times acceptable. Asparagus and Sea-kale 

 both delight in a salted medium, and they, of com-se, cannot 

 well have too much ; while with many of the hardwooded 

 plants inhabiting stations more inland, sand strongly im- 

 pregnated with saline matter is almost fatal to them. Sand 

 from the seashore has, therefore, been in a gi-eat measure 

 banished from the pottiug-shed, and is, perhaps, only re- 

 eommeudable as a substance in which to pack Can-ots, Beet, 

 and other roots which require to be kept from withering, 

 and also from the action of worms. Celery taken up on the 

 approach of severe weather, may also be safely stowed away 

 in such sand, and the same may be said of Horseradish. It 

 is also very convenient, when in a frame or pit, to receive 

 the balls of EniUve plants that may have been transported 

 thither prior to hard weather setting in. I am not certain 

 but that a due proportion of sea sand might also be added 

 to the Peach-border if the latter be dry ; but there, except in 

 a few other cases, its utility as a gardening agent may be said 

 to end, and another kind of sand must be used for the other 

 purposes for which sand is required. 



Perhaps the next abundant supply of sand which a district 

 contains will be what is usually called pit sand, such as is 

 met with in layers, oitcn of great thickness, under the 

 surface. Sand-beds, or pits, exist in most districts. Even 

 the great breadth of clayey lands we hear of existing for 

 several mUes at a stretch have, nevertheless, now and then 

 a break in their strata, and sand in one Ibrm or other is 

 found. Of the various kinds of sand thus met with, colour 

 is, perhaps, the least important point of merit, although it 

 is much looked at, and if it should be white its presence is 

 the more consjjicuous ; but yellow, brown, and grey sands 

 are, nevertheless, equally good in theii- way, and may each 

 be used when they possess the necessary qualities fitting 

 them for the purposes for wliich they wanted. 



White pit sand is a favourite with the propagator of hard- 

 wooded plants, wiien it is free from all pernicious chemical 

 substances, and has been sufficiently exposed to the action 

 of the atmosphere to sweeten and prepare it for the roots of 

 delicate plants first forming rootlets in it. Pit sand, how- 

 ever, is sometimes anything but favourable to the plants 

 growing in it, some chemical substance entering into the 

 mixture at once fatal, or, if not, certainly hiirtful to vege- 

 table life. Generally speaking, the merits of a sand ibr the 

 purpose of mixing with other substances, maybe guessed at 

 by the condition of such herbage as exists upon it where it 

 is found. The most pernicious substances, it is true, acquire 

 a certain amount of fertility by exposure to the atmosphere, 

 but the long period which must elapse before tliey attain 

 this condition must be taken into account. If a few spade- 

 fuls of sand ai-e taken from a considerable depth below the 

 surface and spread thinly on the gi-ound, it will more speedily 

 part wdth its noxious qualities, and acquire those necessary 

 to make it a fit agent to support vegetation, than if a larger 

 quantity were brought to the surface and then piled up in a 

 heap. 



Some pit sands contain salts of various kinds, others iron, 

 and some — for instance, those found in certain places in the 

 south-west of England — a large amount of copper, and tliese 

 last are, perhaps, the most pernicious of all, killing vege- 

 tation when they come in contact with it. Thus, unless the 

 amateur has some knowledge of the component jiarts of pit 

 sand, or has the means of judging of its effects on vegetation 

 at the jjlacos where it is to be had, he had better refrain 

 from using it and adopt the next kind that will be described, 

 which is 



Rivci- or Drift Sand. — By this I mean not sand from a 

 tidal river, and containing more or less salt in proportion to 

 its proximity to the ocean, but sand washed by some clear 

 fi-esh-water stream, not poisoned by any chemical agent 

 that unfits it for the purpose for which it is wanted. Gene- 



rally speaking, most fresh-water streams throw up beds of 

 sand at places along their course, and these, having received 

 repeated washings, have parted with all deleterious matter, 

 and are fit to apply to the roots of anything requiring an 

 open, coarse, gi'itty sand. This kind of sand may, there- 

 fore, be used without fear. Perhaps, however, a sand con- 

 taining more fine matter may be wanted, especially for the 

 finer work of striking cuttings of such hardwooded plants 

 as are slow and difficult to propagate. In this ease another 

 kind of sand may be advisable, but for general pui'poses of 

 mixing the sharp gritty sand wUl be found the best. Drift 

 sand, however, is not confined to that found by the sides of 

 rivers and streams, but in many instances the sides of 

 public roads present it in quantities more or less abundant 

 as the character of the material the road is formed of differs, 

 but the beneficial effects of the rains which fall, coupled 

 \vitli its exposure, purify it to a certain degi'ee of most of 

 its hurtful constituents. Eoad sand may, therefore, in 

 most cases be safely used. Perhaps, however, it ought 

 to be only sparingly applied to Heaths and similar plants 

 when it is taken from a road composed of flinty or chalky 

 matter ; but such roads afford much less sand than those 

 made of stones of a contrary description, and in both cases 

 it is materially improved by the action of the atmosphere 

 and the rains that wash out much of the foreign matter. 

 Sand, also, abounds in some soils to such an extent as 

 to make them appear all sand, and the surface sand of 

 such places may be used with advantage for plants re- 

 sembling in character, or rather in theu- wants, those found 

 wild there. We have seen a sandy hill covered with Rhodo- 

 dendrons in the most luxuriant health, and, of course, such 

 a sand might bo safely transported elsewhere for their use ; 

 but, generally speaking, these jjlaces do not exist in suffi- 

 cient abundance to supply the wants of those who may 

 require a few baiTowloads of sand ; and such as have no other 

 means of ascertaining the quality of the article found in 

 their neighbourhood cannot well do better than procure 

 some from the edges of a stream, or, in the absence of that, 

 let them try the road sand. The weeds which the latter 

 will produce from its contact with hedge plants, &.C., is one 

 Ijroof of its fertility. 



Having described charcoal, burnt clay, peat, and sand as 

 substances used in the formation of artificial compounds 

 suited to the wauts of plants for which a soil exactly to 

 theu- liking did not previously exist in the same proportions, 

 I shall now take a step in another direction, and point out 

 some substances which, perhaps, ought properly to be re- 

 garded as manures, and, consequently, as stimulants. These 

 substances are in themselves so numerous that any attempt 

 at fully describing them would occupy more space than 

 could he afforded, and l)esides. most of them are so well 

 known that a repetition of their jiroperties is needless 

 here. There is, however, one point which is not, in gene- 

 ral, sufficiently thought of when manures are applied to 

 a plant, and which it would be well to point out here. It 

 is. Whether such manure when applied is intended merely 

 as a stimulant to benefit the plant for a short time only, 

 or is wanted to supply that plant with a store of food on 

 which it may rely for a considerable period. Attention 

 to the latter requirement has only recently been acknow- 

 ledged as of imjjortance, and is yet far from being so general 

 in prepai'ing compounds in which plants are to be grown, 

 that I cannot but advert to the matter ; in fact, it is this 

 esjiecial subject that has induced me to conceive this article. 

 Quickly decaying substances are, no doubt, of great ser- 

 vice to plants of rapid growth requfring strong stimulating 

 assistants when yoving, but their nourishing properties ai-e all 

 expended by the time the plant has attained matiu-ity, or, 

 perhaps, before, and the residuum is incorporated with the 

 soil whether there is any chemical affinity between the two 

 or not Now, some plants, such, for inst.ance, as the Vine 

 and aU fruit trees, and even plants of a more herbaceous 

 character, have a prolonged growth, and, consequently, re- 

 quii-e long-continued and well-sustained feeding during that 

 time. They consequently require a soU or substance open 

 enough to receive such foreign matters as may be supplied : 

 hence the large quantities of inert matter which enter so 

 largely into the composition of so many of the best Vine- 

 borders of the country ; Vjut as many of tliese substances 

 are indestructible, or nearly so, we wiU pass them by, and 



