394 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOP.EOIA. 



by it. A large proportion of the soils of Great Britain are thus INDIGENOUS 

 or SEDENTARY, and rest upon the parent rock. Hence an important connec- 

 tion is at once evident between the geology and the agriculture of that 

 country. The student is able to a certain extent to predicate the general 

 character of a soil when he knows the main geological features of the 

 district. 



On the other hand, we cannot fail to observe that over large tracts the 

 surface soil does not present any similarity of appearance or character 

 when compared with the underlying rock. Here the surface soil has been 

 TRANSPORTED from a distance. Sometimes it is superior in quality to 

 what we might have expected, and in that case it is probably alluvial mat- 

 ter deposited by some river in its course or at its estuary ; and there are 

 cases in which the river that deposited those fertile plains has long ceased 

 to flow. Or we may be standing upon an old lava field which covers 

 and renders fertile an area that would otherwise have been comparatively 

 barren. 



At other times the soil is of lower quality than we thought to find, and 

 in such cases its poverty may be due to the growth of peat or the accu- 

 mulation of " drift." " Drifted " material masks, or covers, many localities 

 in Ontario and other countries, giving a poorer soil than the underlying 

 and masked rock would have yielded. 



There are then two great classes of soils, the first baaring the stamp of 

 its origin, and exhibiting a close relationship to the underlying rock, from 

 which, indeed, it was formed. In studying these soils, the main geologi- 

 cal features of the country are exceedingly useful guides. 



The second class comprises all alluvial, drifted, lava, and peaty soils, 

 which, having been deposited, spread, or, in the last case, produced upon 

 the spot at a later period, do not exhibit any correspondence with the 

 main geological features of the district in which they occur. In these, 

 minute geological study is requisite if we wish to trace their origin. 



3. DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 



The bearings of geology upon agriculture are abundantly illustrated in 

 the distribution of soils. It would be irrelevant to our subject to enter 

 into the geological aspect of this subject at great length. The student 

 who wishes to do so will find it necessary to study geology. It will, how- 

 ever, greatly assist him to grasp the plan of soil distribution if he keeps 

 in memory the order of succession of the main beds or formations which 

 constitute the explored crust of the earth. 



