118 PRIN'CIPLES OF GARDENING. [CH. 11. 



rapidly and to a large size, it is well kno\^-n that the 

 soil is rich and open, and capable of producing 

 abundant crops of almost any plant subject to the 

 Fanner's care. 



If the birch (Betula alba J be the most flourishing 

 tree upon the land, it is most certainly light and poor. 



Where the oak flourishes, wheat and beans, with 

 good tillage, are sure to succeed, for the staple of 

 the soil must be hea^7 and deep. A very marked 

 illustration of this is to be seen in a valley be- 

 tween East Grinsted and Lewes, near the resi- 

 dence of the Earl of Shefiield. In this valley the 

 oak, the wheat, and the beans, flourish, whilst not 

 one of the uplands around peld any thing approach- 

 ing to an average growth. Again, near Littleton, the 

 residence of Captain Dunn, not far from Himgerford, 

 in Berkshire, I know an oak standing in a hollow, 

 probably an old clay pit. The tree is of gigantic 

 gro^nh, and the field itself almost invariably grows 

 better beans and wheat than any other inclosure on 

 the estate. 



Wherever the common way tliistle, or saw-wort 

 fCarduus arvensis of Smith, Serratula arvemis of 

 Linnseus) grows luxuriantly, it is usually an intima- 

 tion that the soil is fertile, and that the plant is 

 rejoicing in its being rather aluminous. This weed 

 will live and annoy the cultivator on almost any soil, 

 but if a vein of soil somewhat heavier than the rest 



