1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



275 



were it posssible that we should be led blind-folded 

 to a spot in which we should open our eyes upon a 

 rividet nvifiiined wiih bri<Tlit irreen moss, ainouii' 

 which sarifraga stcUaris (starry saxil'rage) alchc- 

 vxilla alpina (-.iiplne lady's mantle), silcne acaulls 

 (n\ll^?^^ cani|)ion), appeared hero and there, we 

 niiujht assuredly pronounce ourselves in an alpine 

 rcivjon; but what the peculiar soil ol'the spot niiijhl 

 be, we would require to remove the turf to discover, 

 and thus trust to the color, texlure, adhesion, and 

 other qualities of the soil itself ti)r a disclosure of its 

 nature, rather than to any thing growing upon its 

 surface/' 



Little reliance can, at best, be placed on a mode 

 of determining the nature of a soil which involves 

 n consideration of so many elements, all calculated 

 fully more than the soil itself' to control the vegeta- 

 tion on its surlace. All that the most santruines ad- 

 vocate for the possibilityof (ietermining the compo- 

 sition of the soil by the plants which it (jives rise to 

 can advance in its lUvor, may be shortly sum- 

 med up from the labors of Messrs. Macgillivray and 

 Gorrie ; and even the liitlet hat those gentlemen 

 have, after much labor, managed to adduce in 

 proof of its utility, tends to diminish the value of 

 the method. As already shown by the extracts 

 we have furnished from their essays, neither ol' 

 them regard the criteria which they have atlbrded 

 as certain in their indications, and, therefore, look 

 upon the opinions which they have given to the 

 public, rather as incentives to a further examina- 

 tion of the subject, than as observations of occur- 

 rences that are undeviating in their course. Any 

 part of their papers might be selected, in order to 

 alFord the reader a knowledge of the connection 

 between certain plants and soils, as what has oc- 

 curred once, may occur again, and what has fallen 

 under their notice, may at some period or another 

 come under the observation of others; but, as the 

 extent to which the farmer may be warranted in 

 making use of their deductions ought obviously to 

 be determined by the points m which they coin- 

 cide, we shall only select, in our analysis, those 

 paits in which they have arrived at nearly paral- 

 lel conclusions. Both Mr. Macijillivray and Mr. 

 Gorrie have seen fit to class the soils to wliich 

 they refer, under a greater number of heads than 

 is usually thought advisable, and doubtless with a 

 view of giving a precision to their remarks, which 

 would not he otherwise obtainable; but the majo- 

 rity of readers are averse to a prolixity of detail, 

 which some would condenm as a piece of useless 

 straw-splittincj ; and, therelbre, we shall be content 

 to build our reinarks on the classificaiion that we 

 have already adopted in our primary division of 

 soils. A tabular arrangement of the plant is em- 

 ployed by Mr. Gorrie, who is by that mean? ena- 

 bled to give the maximum and minimum height, 

 in feet, at which each plant is found above the le- 

 vel of the sea, so as to insure a degree of accuracy; 

 but he is very far wrong in assigning so high an 

 altitude to the lowest elevation of several of the 

 plants. He justly observes that — "In ascertain- 

 ing the elevation, any thins: like mathematical ac- 

 curacy cannot be attained;" but- he might have 

 made a nearer approximation to the minimum al- 

 titude than he has done. He makes the lowest 

 level of some of the plants as follows. The mea- 

 surement is given in feet. Common whin, forty; 

 wild mustard, one hundred; bladder champion, one 

 hundred; comirion rest-harrow, one hundred; scar- 



let pimpernel, one hundred; eye-bright, three hun- 

 dred; purple (lead nettle, two hundred. Now, those 

 who are in the habit of looking about them, while 

 in the (ieliis, even without having had tht-ir atten- 

 tion much directed to botanical pursuits, will agree 

 with us that all these come closer to the level of the 

 sea than what is here stated, and that twenty (ect, 

 though still notlow enough for mostofihem, would 

 yet be a nearer approach to the mark. Forty feet 

 is also given as to the lowest elevation of 'vihep- 

 herd's purse," a plant that is fi-equently found 

 growing upon the shore. These remarks are cer- 

 tainly a slight departure from our subject, but worth 

 attention, as they affect the general harmony of Mr. 

 Gorrie's conclusions. 



Clay is scarcely worthy of notice in an agricul- 

 tural point of view, as it rarely exists in a state of 

 purity at the surface, and, even where it does oc- 

 cur tolerably free fi'om mixture with other earths, 

 is rather to be known by the peculiar scantiness, 

 or entire absence of vegetation, than by any plants 

 which can be shown to be indigenous to it. Mr. 

 Macgillivray and Mr. Gorrie differ more in regard 

 to the indications of clay, than they do in respect to 

 those of any other soil — the latter enumerating no 

 less than twenty-three plants capable of aflbrding 

 an index to this earth; while the former con; ents 

 himself with allusions to a lew varieties of grasses. 

 Koth place some reliance on the indications afford- 

 ed by conunon colt's foot (iussilago farfara); but 

 Mr. JMacgillivray, though he admits that it may 

 be depended upon when existing in great profii- 

 sion by streams, (on whose banks surliice-clay is 

 most generally found,) qualifies the observation, 

 t)y adding, in another part of his essay "I know 

 no plant peculiar today-soil; nor is even iussilago 

 farfara, for 1 have often seen it in its natural situ- 

 ation, by running water, in every variety of soil 

 excepting peat, although it is certainly more abun- 

 dant in clayey, or rather in gravelly soil mixed with 

 clay, than any other." 



Sand, when loose and shifting, is devoid of ve- 

 getation: but when so situated as to remain for a 

 length of time at rest, it slowly becomes impreg- 

 nated with vegetable matter, and acquires, in or- 

 dinary circumstances, a luxuriant herbage. Along 

 the west coast of Scotland, according to Mr. Mac- 

 gillivray, this soil gives rise to some of our most 

 valuable grasses and leguminous plants, (plants 

 resembling vetches), on the abundance of which 

 !)astnres are always dependent for their riches; but 

 in the east of Scotland, there is a decided inferiority 

 in its productions, the whin appearing to choke up 

 and supplant more useful vegetables. "On sandy 

 and gravelly soils," according to Mr. Gorrie, "the 

 broom, as a shrub, is found to preponderate, par- 

 ticularly above free-stone rock;" and "where the 

 sand or gravel is of a calcareous nature, the whin 

 acquires an establishment." In this district, sand, 

 combined with gravel, is usually covered, near pools 

 of water, with species of the willow-tribe, and the 

 yellow water-tris or corn-flag. The gravel mounds 

 in the bendings of the Nith above Dumfries, fur- 

 nish examples of this combination. "Of the soils 

 which occur in Scotland," says Mr. Macgillivray, 

 "sand and peat are those which are the most dis- 

 tinctly characterized by the plants that grow upon 

 them;" and yet the plants which he speaks of as 

 in a manner peculiar to sand — sea-bent, hollow 

 bed-straw, and common yarrow — are not so much 

 as alluded to by Mr. Gorrie. Bioom, in fact, is the 



