310 Chronicles of Science. [ April, 
for several years we have walked over hundreds of acres of stiff clay 
land—land needing four horses to the plough—drained and smashed 
up by steam power before winter, between whose surface and the drains 
no such floor exists. It has trodden dry, and has then been lying in 
as wholesome a condition as it is possible for land to exhibit at this 
season. The only tillage which it has had has been a one-way culti- 
vation, or grubbing by steam power 8 or 9 inches deep during 
the previous dry weather of October or November. And this land has 
thus been left a treasure-box whose lock has been effectually picked, 
of whose stores, made thus accessible, it only needs that use be made 
by planting well-selected living seed, in order that the utmost fertility 
may be exhibited at harvest time. Steam cultivation, after drains have 
been dug and placed, is the way to ensure good drainage. Tillage by 
steam power, under such circumstances, is the true picklock by which 
the exhaustless stores of food for plants present in all clay soils, lying 
now inaccessible, may be laid open to the roots of plants. The break- 
ing up of the floor, which horse cultivation lays immediately below 
the surface, and the breaking up of soil and subsoil, with the exposure 
of the whole to air and rain on its way downwards to the drain, will 
yet exert a marvellous influence on fertility. Hitherto the progress of 
events has been all to the advantage of the lighter soils. The use of 
guano and of artificial manures, and the extension of liberal feeding 
in the sheep-fold, have all been especially to the advantage of our 
sands and lighter loams. The application of steam power as the 
auxiliary of land drainage gives now the turn of advantage to the 
owners and occupiers of our clays; and whereas by marling, sheep- 
feeding, and artificial manuring the lighter soils have till now been 
foremost in the march of agricultural improvement, thus contributing 
more than any other to that increased produce of food which English 
fields have of late provided, we may now expect that by drainage and 
effective tillage the stiffer lands will take their turn in front, making 
the most rapid progress, yielding the largest produce, the most profit, 
and the highest rent. 
All these considerations, and others connected with the best rota- 
tions of cropping for clay soils, were discussed at the meeting of the 
English Agricultural Society on March 16th, when Mr. A. Hughes of 
Thorness, Isle of Wight, read a paper on the Cultivation and Ma- 
nagement of Clay Farms. 
2. At a previous meeting of the same Society, Mr. Lawes of Roth- 
amstead had read a paper on the Value of common Salt as a Manure. 
Its reputation as a fertilizer has, as he believes, hitherto stood too high. 
It has been said to increase the production of grain, and to improve 
the quality of straw. It is believed to have great effect especially 
on crops, such as mangold-wurzel, which are of marine origin. It is 
said to fix ammonia in the soil, and also to preserve moisture in dry 
seasons. Mr. Lawes’s own experiments have satisfied him that it is of 
little use. 
The two plots of land, A and B, on which these experiments had been 
tried had both received exactly the same amount of artificial manure, 
but A, unlike B, reecived, during 1851,1852, and 1853, 3 ewt. of common 
