of iron, combineil with carbonate of lime, is the great secret of 

 the rich soil of the county. Nothing is more certain than that 

 Herefordshire apple trees, when transplanted to another soil, will 

 7iot grow Herefordshire cider. The cider of the Old Red Sandstone is 

 altogether a different affair to the cider of the New Red, and no one 

 ever saw a Dormington or Marden hop-yard upon the New Red 

 Sandstone. You will remember that our late lamented friend, Mr. 

 Strickland, stated at tho Eastnor meeting last year, in opposition to 

 an opinion advanced by the well known botanist, Mr. Lees, that he 

 did not believe plants affected any limestone soil in particular, but 

 he evidently supposed that lime was a mineral they much required. 

 An active botanist of our society (Mr. Edmunds) must allow 

 me to quote his opinion upon the same subject. He says, — 

 " I attribute the number of wild flowers to be found on the Old 

 Red, to the fact that the Silurians protrude in so many places, 

 and tliat the soil and subsoil in all parts contain an unusual 

 amount of lime, as compared with the New Red for instance. 

 You have thus a gi'eater variety of soils in the district, according to 

 the varying proportion of lime in different parts of it." It appears 

 to me that lime is not the only ingredient that conduces to the 

 fertility of Herefordshire. All limestone soils, the upper Silurian 

 for instance, are not as fertile as the Cornstoncs. I believe, therefore, 

 •with Dr. Rowan, that the iron oxides, combined with the lime, make 

 the soil of this part oi the county the rich and fertile land it is; and 

 for this reason, I have always in my addresses and lectures on the 

 geology of Worcestershire, endeavoured to induce our farmers to use 

 more lime. We have the same iron oxides, but the Worcestershire 

 New Red contains little carbonate of lime, and I therefore feel 

 convinced that our agriculturists would gain by its addition,- and 

 that if a regular system of well liming the soil were persevered in 

 for a few years, we should have finer croj)s, less squashy cider, and 

 better beer. 



As regards fossils, the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire is 

 remarkably poor, there are no fossil shells, for the peroxide of iron 

 lias destroyed every vestige of their remains, and the relics of the 

 tish of that period, so numerous in Scotland, and so celebrated 

 through the works of Mr. Hugh Miller and Agassiz, are with us 



