226 



SOIL. 



Schwertz has given a summary of the opinions of Thaer upon the 

 value of different soils from an eminently practical point of view. 

 Agreeing with this distinguished agriculturist, that it is well to judge 

 of the soil by its produce, he also forms a scale of comparison aftir 

 the different kinds of grain, taking as extreme terms wheat and bar- 

 ley, the first succeeding in bad argillaceous soils, the second still 

 growing in sandy soils of the poorest description. In these extreme 

 or boundary soils, wheat and barley succeed very indifferently in- 

 deed ; but between the two extremes are comprised every variety of 

 sod which results from the fusion of the strongest or stiffest with the 

 lijjhlest soils, from the most tenacious clay up to loose sand. Ii; 

 these mixed soils of intermediate qualities, wheat and barley gradu- 

 ally approach one another, taking ihe place su'.'cessively of barley, 

 oats, and buckwheat, until they meet in the middle of the scale in 

 a kind of neutral soil, upon which every variety of gram may be 

 grown. 



Schwertz arranged his scale in the following manner :* 



0. Moving sand 0. Stiff clay. 



1. Rye l:ind 1. Wheat l:ind. 



2. Uye and huckwheat land 2. Wheat and oat land. 



3. Rye, buckwheat, and oat land 3. Wheat, o;il, and barley land. 



4. Rye, oat, and small b-trley land 4 A'heat and large barley land. 



5. Wheat, r)e, barley, t:^ imI land. 



The species of soil which suit these different crops are : 



1. Light dry sand 1. Cold stiff cliy. 



2. .Miii-^t, very slightly argillaceous sand. 0.2. A lichter nioist clay. 

 J. Argillaceous sand 3. ,\ warm dry clay 



4. Sandy clay 4. Rich clay. 



5. Clay. 



♦ Prec«pu of Practical .Agriculture, (in French.) p. 49 



