FURNISHIira THE GARDEN. 167 



that is, loam which cnimbles to pieces in working it, and yet is retentive of 

 moisture. But it does not follow that other soils are not suitable for growing 

 good crops : I have grown good vegetables on a light black loam with a 

 gravelly subsoil, and also on heavy clay. Both may be worked advantageously 

 by adopting the necessarji" tillage ; a light gravelly soil, for instance, quickly 

 loses moisture, the principal support of all vegetation ; the surplus water 

 Quickly percolates through the soil or escapes by evaporation. But excessive 

 evaporation may be prevented, and the plants invigorated at the same time, 

 by a sj-stem of manuring the ground by mulching, that is, by spreading a 

 liij-er of long stable-dung over the light soils, and a good crop of vegetables will 

 be insured. Where the soil is heavy and retentive, as all clay lands are, it is 

 necessary to dig or trench the ground a few weeks before cropping it ; if it 

 is laid in ridges in November or December, for instance, or dug level and 

 left in coarse lumps, round which the air permeates, after a frost it will all 

 crumble to a coarse powder under the March winds ; while in summer, when 

 it is sometimes necessary to dig and crop it, the ground is dug or trenched, 

 and left in a rough state ; the first drpng day will render every lump as hard 

 as granite, but a shower of rain makes them fall to pieces. If cropped while 

 in this state, before the surface gets quite dry, it will work easily enough. 

 This is of some importance ; for in sowing small seeds it is necessary that the 

 ground should be smooth and well pulvei-ized, otherwise the seed will remain 

 uncovered. Again, light soils quickly lose moisture, which is absorbed by the 

 air ; but quickly revive again, and the air is rendered mild and genial, as 

 has been explained before ; it is therefore evident, that certain crops which 

 come in early, and are of short duration, are most suitable for such soils. 



394. In the early spring months, a few sunny days, which would make no 

 impression on cla}^ land, make the light gi*ound quite warm, and vegetation 

 starts into growth at once. On a warm sunny border of light soil early salads 

 and vegetables may be produced a month or six weeks earlier than on heavy 

 retentive soils ; on the other hand, heavy ground receives both heat and 

 moisture slowly, and is very retentive of the moisture, retaining it after many 

 weeks of dry weather : the heaviest and grossest-feeding crops are therefore 

 most suitable for it during the summer, and will continue growing on it 

 further into the winter if the water is not allowed to stagnate. Heavy 

 summer and autumn, and late winter crops, will therefore repay the culti- 

 vator on such soils ; but it is always advisable, where the soil is in either 

 extreme, to dress it so that the light soil shall become more tenacious and 

 the heavy more porous : this is done by mixing light soil with equal parts of 

 fat unctuous loam, and the manure and mulching recommended above. The 

 loam should feel doughy in the hand, and is best obtained from meadow land, 

 taking the whole top spit, herbage and all, which is itself an excellent 

 fertilizer. Where the common buttercup flourishes, there will mostly be found 

 loam suitable for the purpose. Where the soil is a heavy clay, and there is no 

 light soil available, bm-n a portion of the clay and mix it with the rest : this 

 may be done either by mixing the buiiit soil with the dung and applying it 



