86 FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



adhesive quality, so troublesome in tillage, mostly disap* 

 pears, and the soil assumes more of the qualities of loam. 



The marley soil is merely a clay with a mixture of more 

 or less lime. It is a strong, durable soil, and is more easily 

 fited for crops than clay, as it has little or none of the ad- 

 hesion of that earth, being more loose and crumbly. It is 

 better fited for those crops for which clay is not so well 

 adapted; but, at the same time, is best for those which are 

 best suited for clays. 



It is a kind of soil that is not often found in any consider- 

 able extent, as far as our observations have extended. In 

 point of color, it probably corresponds with those of clays ; 

 and, no doubt, has different degrees of fertility, according 

 to the qualities of the clay, and of the lime, of which it is 

 composed. 



The chalky soil is very rare in this Country. We never 

 have seen any of it, except in small quantities. It abounds 

 considerably in England ; and in some parts of that Country, 

 where the surface is wholly chalk, it is, of course, entirely 

 barren. Pure chalk is principally lime, saturated with car- 

 bonic acid. In appearance, it does not essentially differ 

 from the white marie, with which some bog-swamps are 

 underlaid. 



The mucky soil appears to be almost entirely the remains 

 of vegetable matter. It forms the upper stratum of bog- 

 meadows and other rich swamps; and many rich tracts of 

 our wild arable lands have a surface, of a greater or less 

 depth, of this earth. In lands of this latter description, it 

 seems to decompose, and disappear, in a greater or less de- 

 gree, when the ground has been tilled fifteen or twenty 

 years. 



Mucky soil is best, when mixed with a due proportion 

 of other suitable earth; and in that case it forms a fine rich 

 soil for tillage, and is well adapted to the growth of almost 

 every kind of crop. The soil of bog-meadows, though very 

 rich to appearance, may, nevertheless, be greatly increased 

 in fertility, by having a suitable quantity of other earth 

 mixed with it. 



See MANURES. 



Of turf soils we cannot say much, if we speak of the 

 surface, or cultivable part of the earth, further than that all 

 rich swards are frequently called turf, and with some 

 degree of propriety; as such swards, when cut up and 

 dried, will answer tolerably well for fuel. But that which 

 is here intended to be particularly spoken of is a fossil, that 

 is generally found in low grounds and boggy places; some- 

 times extending as high as the surface ; but generally lying 

 underneath. 



