THE 



FLORICULTURAL CABINET, 



JULY 1st, 1836. 



PART I. 

 ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



ARTICLE 1. — ON SOILS, &c— By a Foreman of a London Nursery. 



Loam, peat and sand, seem to be the three simples of nature, if I 

 may so call them, most requisite for our purpose ; to which, we occa- 

 sionally add as mollifiers, vegetable mould and well rotted dung; 

 from the judicious mixture and preparation of which, composts may 

 be made to suit plants introduced from any quarter of the globe : 

 first of Loam, which is a loose friable kind of earth, the constituent 

 particles of which crumble and separate easily in the hand; it is of 

 various textures, the strongest approaching to clay, and so down in 

 several shades, until the lightest becomes nearly similar to strong 

 sandy peat. It is found of different colours, viz. black, yellow, red, 

 &c. &c; sometimes also, it partakes of a saponaceous quality 

 approaching to a marie; this when predominant is not recommend- 

 able for general use ; yet there are some articles for which it may be 

 used with considerable success. 



Yellow or red seems to be the natural colour of maiden loam, as 

 either will change to black as they become more or less mixed with 

 other extraneous substances, such as dung, &c Therefore, to have 

 it pure, which is very material, one should prefer either of these, 

 if they can be conveniently procured. The places to look for this 

 kind of earth, is generally in fields, that have not been broken for a 

 long series of years ; also sheep downs, or commons most frequently 

 running in dry banks perhaps throughout the whole; its strata is of 

 various thicknesses, sometimes being little more than that which 

 forms the turf or upper sward, and at other times lying from one or 

 two, to three or four feet under the surface. That is generally the 

 beat which is of a moderate depth, being more within the ameliora- 



vni.. iv. T 



