July 17, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



3!) 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



SAND FOR CULTURAL PURPOSES. 



LTHOUGH simple, and to 

 be met with almost every- 

 where, yet few tilings are 

 either less understood or so 

 disregarded as sand — that 

 indispensable adjunct to the 

 compost-ground and pottLng-bench. 



Sand, with scarcely an exception, is a necessary ingre- 

 dient in every mixture, and whatever the class of plant 

 operated with, and whether it is dissected for the purpose 

 of obtaining an increased number of subjects, or it is only 

 treated to a larger share of the good things of this world 

 to enable it to expand itself into larger dimensions, sand 

 seems as necessary a material to help out either of these 

 works as mother earth herself ; and in giving directions as 

 to the mixtures best adapted to the wants of each plant, 

 sand is sure to be one of the ingredients. Let us, there- 

 fore, see what is the action of sand on the soils we deal 

 with, and reason from that whether much of the material 

 called sand is not improperly used. At all events, let us 

 determine what ought to be understood by the term sand 

 as used in horticulture, the mode of employing tliis sub- 

 stance, and other matters bearing on the subject. 



In the first place it will be generally admitted that sand 

 forms a component part in all soils ; even the stiffest clays 

 are not without a trace of it, but its presence in some other 

 descriptions of soil is more apparent, and the term sand}' 

 soil is applied, perhaps, to a soil that contains a large per- 

 centage of that material, wliich soil nevertheless differs 

 widely from another that contains quite as much sand, the 

 difference in the sand constituting in fact the difference 

 in the character of the two soils. Let the traveller take a 

 stroll along the seashore on some of the coasts that are 

 characterised as sandy, and he will see abundance of a 

 material that has by the action of time and a little mixture 

 of othpr ingredients formed itself into a sort of natural 

 embankment, repelling the waves of the ocean, and becom- 

 ing a fitting receptacle for the roots of maritime herbage. 

 The sand has been so often steeped in salt water that, for a 

 time at least, it seems to be so charged with salt as to be 

 unfit for some of the purposes for wliich sand is used, as 

 the making of mortar ; and in horticulture those for wliich 

 it can be employed are few. It is " sand," however, and 

 when that term is used an inexperienced person might 

 possibly suppose that any kind would do. and that existing 

 in some places in great abundance might be used when it 

 would be hurtful. Sands of other lands are also to be had 

 in more or less abundance, and some of these having a 

 wide reputation are, perhaps, more likely to do harm than 

 sea sand, whose saline qualities being known is received 

 with caution by the great bulk of horticulturists. 

 No. 277-Vol. XI., New Series. 



Sand from the banks of rivers has certainly many ad- 

 vantages over that from the side of the ocean, if such I 

 are not tidal ones, and the stream of water is free from all 

 noxious qualities. I am rather disposed at all times to 

 give the preference to river sand over all others, as being 

 more free from mineral matters : audits exposure t>i the 

 atmosphere, when it has been lying some time on the side, 

 of the banks, sweetens it and tits it better fur vegetation. 

 than sand taken from a pit or cutting. Possibly some 

 very exact and expert propagator of Epacrises, Boronias, 

 and other hardwooded plants may find fault with its being 

 too coarse for his use, because his tiny little cuttings can- 

 not be properly fixed in it, and a finer and closer-grained 

 material has to be obtained ; but for mixing with the ordi- 

 nary soils of the potting-bench river sand will generally be 

 found preferable to any other, as well as for mixing more, 

 largely still in the open ground when it can be had in 

 sufficient abundance. 



Next in importance to sand obtained from the sides or 

 channels of running streams is the kind not unusually 

 called drift sand, which is to be had by the sides of roads, 

 composed of stones grinding into an open sand, which, how- 

 ever, all road stones do not. On the contrary, some of 

 them furnish a kind of mud, which hardens into the con- 

 sistency of cement, and is of course inadmissible for pur- 

 poses where sand is wanted. By the sides of some roads, 

 however, and in districts where sand forms an important 

 ingredient in the composition of the soil, the heavy rains 

 washing the more muddy and soluble parts away iuto the 

 valleys or ditches, carry with them a portion of the sand,, 

 and leave it not unusualty midway in their course, inter- 

 mixing with it, perhaps, more or less gravel and other- 

 refuse ; but in ordinary rural districts, free from the taint 

 of factories or mines, such admixtures seldom unfit this 

 kind of sand for cultural purposes, and drift sand may In- 

 set down as being tolerably pure and suitable for horti- 

 cultural use. 



We now come to the class of sand most difficult to dear 

 with, and that certainly in which the greatest mistakes are 

 made — pit sand, which is also more extensively used than 

 any other. Being good in appearance, handy, and abun- 

 dant, it has acquired a reputation which it is questionable 

 if it deserves as a promoter of vegetation ; besides, it differs 

 so widely in its character that it would not be prudent to 

 pass other than a qualified opinion on its merits. Certain- 

 kinds of sand, however, have fur many years had a reputa- 

 tion for cultural purposes which it is almost treason to 

 assail. Many years ago, when it was very common, as- 

 indeed it still is, to admire things most that came from a- 

 distance, Calais sand had the reputation of being the best, 

 although it seems to be less plentiful there than at Bou- 

 logne ; eventually, however, it was found out that there was 

 plenty of good sand in England, and Reigate sand was in 

 most request. This sand has all the properties likely to 

 captivate buyers, being pure white in colour, and sufficiently 

 open to render the soils with which it is intermixed more 

 porous, while it is fine enough to close in around a cutting 

 that can only be inserted from a quarter to half an inch 

 deep. Reigate sand is, therefore, in great demand, and it 



No. 929.— Vol. XXXVI., Old Seiubs. 



