| ae, ‘ 
af MANURING THE mae 
The most priimanse soils are those in sehich several ingredients 
“are combined in proper proportions; and if any of the primitive 
earths preponderates, the soil becomes compfatenvehy unfertile.. 
_ Thus the best soil for gardening purposes is generally allowed to be 
-_ ~* Ps calcareous loam on a chalky sub-soil; and this sort of soil is com- 
posed of nearly equal parts of lime, ait and clay, enriched by de- 
positions of decayed animal and vegetable matter. The next best 
soil is a sandy loam, composed of clay and sand, enriched by de- 
cayed animal and vegetable substances, and resting on a sandy or 
gravelly sub-soil. The worst soils are black peat, and loose sand. 
A poor sandy soil is necessarily a nearly barren one; because it will 
not retain either water, or the nutritious juices from manure, long 
enough to afford nourishment to the plants grown upon it; and it is 
obvious that a soil of this kind can only be rendered fertile by mix- 
ing it with clay, which would change it into a sandy loam. 
A stiff clay is unfertile from its attracting moisture and retaining 
it round the roots of the plants till they become swollen and un- 
healthy. It also retards the decomposition of manure, and obstructs 
the progress of the roots, which waste their strength in the efforts 
they make to penetrate, or twine round, its adhesive clods. Soils of 
this description are improved by a mixture of sand, gravel, road grit, 
or any substance which tends to separate the particles of the clay, 
and to render it light and friable. 
Chalky soils succeed better unmixed, than any of the other kinds; 
| & but chalk being a carbonate of lime, can hardly be called a primitive 
soil. The chalk, however, from its whiteness, is colder than any 
whe other soil; as it does not absorb, but reflects back the rays of the 
sun. Rain also penetrates into it very slowly, ar d not to any great 
depth. Chalk mixed with sand forms a kind of calcareous loam ad- 
*  mirably adapted for growing vegetabies; and chalky soils are pecu- 
liarly susceptible of improvement from manure. 
Black peat, though it abounds in vegetable matter, 1s not, in its 
natural state, favourable for the growth of plants; as it abounds in 
tannin, which prevents the decomposition of the vegetable fibre. 
Thus peat bogs can only be rendered fertile by the addition of linie, 
ws or some other material, which will absorb or neutralise the tannin 
Ais with which they are imbued, and thus permit the vegetable sub- 
stances which they contain, to decompose, so as to form nutritive 
we for the growing plants. This, however, is only the case with 
a > ; a. 
, Mee + * 
