ON SOILS AND MANURES. 269 



Loams, peals, dungs, vegetable decayed substances, and sands, 

 are the principal kinds used in floriculture ; but various are tbe 

 different mixtures and composts that may be obtained from them 

 by admixtures, or adding one kind to another. 



1 . Loams are of various kinds, and go by different names, as 

 stiff loam, sandy loam, yellow hazel loam, loam of a soapy texture, 

 &e. These differences are caused by the loam being got out of 

 different pastures, and sometimes from being got from different 

 depths. Yellow hazel loam is the kind that I should recommend 

 for fiorieultural purposes, owing to the openness of its nature, and 

 the rich mellow qualities it possesses. It should be obtained from 

 some neighbouring pasturage that has not been broken up for some 

 vears. As Air. Pkick has given, in page 185 of Vol. I., some 

 excellent remarks concerning the nature of soils, I thought it 

 would be unnecessary for me to notice that subject. 



2. Peat is in the same respect as loam in having different names 

 according to its kinds, which are, peat, sandy peat, and bog earth. 

 Peat is that collected from commons of a fine loose nature, but 

 destitute of silvery sand. Sandy peat is that collected from where 

 the Erica vulgaris grows spontaneously, and which is plentifully 

 supplied with the above sand : it is most congenial to the growth 

 of tender exotics, with fine librous roots, as Ericas, Epacris, Phe- 

 noconia, &c. Bog earth is that obtained either from below the 

 others, or from some moss or uncultivated place ; it may be dis- 

 tinguished from the above by the blackness of its colour, and the 

 closeness of its nature ; it is sometimes found saturated with water : 

 this kind, after being duly prepared, answers very well for what 

 are commonly called bog plants, such as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 

 Kalinias, Andromedas, &c. 



3. Dungs ami manures arc also of various kinds, as those pro- 

 duced from horses, rows, pigs, and fowls, and each lias a different 

 nature — as, for instance, dung from cows being the coldest, froin 



tin hottest, and from fowls the richest; but I should recom- 

 mend to horticulturists well decomposed hot-bed dung, made from 

 the produce of the horse-stabJe; and at least two years old, which, 

 iii my opinion, v.ill prove tli' best, as this kind of manure cm - 

 braces none of the above extrenv 



4. / egelable decayed $ubstan<m are also various, as leaf mould, 

 rotten willow wood, wood ashes, and also the refuse of the regu- 

 lable or kitchen garden. 



