AGRICULTURE. 



ccs amount to one hall'. When of this 

 quality, it may be regarded as the most 

 substantial of all manures, converting the 

 weakest ground nearly into the most pro- 

 ductive. It is the best of manure for clay 

 soils, in which all agricultural writers are 

 perfectly agreed. Before its application, 

 the land should be cleared of weeds, and 

 smoothed, that it may be evenly spread ; 

 after which it should remain all winter on 

 the surface. Its usefulness depends on 

 its pulveri/ation and close union with the 

 soil to which it is applied. Frost, and a fre- 

 quent alternation of dryness and humidity, 

 contribute greatly to reduce it to pow- 

 der, on which account it should, as much 

 and as long 1 as possible, be exposed to 

 their influence. The proper season for 

 marling' land is summer. The best grain 

 for the first crop after marl is oats. But, 

 whatever be the crop, the furrow should 

 be always ebbed, as otherwise the marl, 

 which is a heavy body, sinks to the bot- 

 tom of it. 



Gypsum, or plaster of Paris, is com- 

 monly used in Switzerland and North 

 America as a manure, and has been tried 

 in this country with stated results of a 

 very different description. Experiments, 

 however, respecting its efficacy and ad- 

 vantages, do not appear yet to have been 

 made with sufficient accuracy to justify 

 a final opinion respecting it. In Cornwall 

 and other counties, sea sand is laid upon 

 the land in considerable quantities, and 

 found extremely useful in softening stiff 

 clays, and rendering them pervious to the 

 roots of plants. Chalk, or powdered lime- 

 stone, will also answer this important end; 

 and sand, together with lime perfectly 

 extinguished, will, more effectually than 

 any tiling else, open its texture, and pre- 

 pare it for whatever is intended to be 

 sown on it 



The true nourishment of vegetables 

 consists of water, coal, salts, and differ- 

 ent kinds of earths, which are ascertained 

 to be the only substances common to ve- 

 getables, and the soils in which they grow. 

 In favourable weather, grasses and corn 

 absorb and perspire nearly half their 

 weight of water every day. The great 

 problem with respect to manuring or fer- 

 tilizing a soil appears to be, how to ren- 

 der coal soluble in water for the purpo- 

 ses of vegetation, and to discover that 

 composition of the different earths, which 

 is best adapted to detain the due pro- 

 portion of moisture. With respect to the 

 former, the fermentation of dung appears 

 to be the best method hitherto discover- 

 ed ; and as to the different kinds of earths 



to be applied for the improvement of 

 particular soils, the experiments of Mr. 

 Kirwan, to whom the world is indebted 

 for much elaborate and ingenious analy- 

 sis on the subject, have led him to seve- 

 ral conclusions, which will be briefly no- 

 ticed. Clay soils, being defective in con- 

 stitution and texture, want the calcare- 

 ous ingredient, and coarse sand. The 

 former is supplied by calcareous marl, 

 and both are furnished by limestone gra- 

 vi-1. Marl and dung are still more bene- 

 ficial, as dung supplies the carbonaceous 

 principle. Sand, chalk, or powdered lime- 

 stone, will either of them answer this pur- 

 pose, though less advantageously. Coal 

 ashes, chips of wood, burnt clay, brick- 

 dust, and even pebbles, may be applied 

 with this view. For clayey loam, if defi- 

 cient in the calcareous ingredient, chalk 

 is an excellent manure ; if in the sandy 

 ingredient, sand is the obvious and easy 

 remedy ; a deficiency in both will be best 

 supplied by siliceous marl, limestone gra- 

 vel, or effete lime with sand. The most 

 effectual application for the chalky soils, 

 which want both the argillaceous and the 

 sandy ingredients, is clayey or sandy 

 loams. For chalky loam, the best ma- 

 nure is clay, because this soil is chiefly 

 defective in the argillaceous ingredient. 

 Calcareous marl is the best manure for 

 sandy soils. For sandy loams, chalk 

 should be followed by clay ; and for vi- 

 triolic soils, lime, or limestone gravel, or 

 calcareous clay, is peculiarly applicable. 



Not only sea-sand, but sea-weeds also, 

 maybe employed to considerable advan- 

 tage as manure. For lands on the coast 

 it may be procured, not only in any quan- 

 tities, but at a trifling expense. The 

 weeds of rivers are also extremely use- 

 ful for the same purpose. The refuse of 

 slaughter-houses and oil cakes are well 

 adapted to fertilize the soil, but in most 

 situations not easily to be obtained at a 

 reasonable rate. 



In almost all circumstances, the indus- 

 try and ingenuity of the occupier must be 

 depended onforraisingonthe spot an ade- 

 quate quantity of dung for its manure ; 

 and for this purpose it is expedient that, 

 in such circumstances, as little as possi- 

 ble of the hay and straw raised upon the 

 premises should be sold from them. This 

 tenaciousness on the part of the farmer 

 will prove the constant source of improve- 

 ment. With a view to turn his means of 

 manure most advantageously to account, 

 he should draw into his farm yard, at the 

 most leisurely season of the year, before 

 the time of confining his cattle to fodder, 



