20 O F M A N U R E S. Part I. 



out tillage. This. [lait, reaches but little lower than the furface of 

 the earth : the other extends/to the M'liole depth of the ilaple. 



Dung, without tillage, can;do very little ; with fome tillage, it 

 does fornething ; with much tillage, it pulveriles the foil in lefs 

 time than tillage aloiiiej can .do : but tillage alaaa, v/ith inore time, 

 and much lej's expence, can pulveafc;,>it as well, and avoids all the 

 inconveniencies of dung. ; . 



We cannot help joining with the author of the new Syjiem of Agri- 

 culture, in his fcvere cenfure en our country gentlemen, p. 114, 

 " It is to me," lays he " a furprizing proof of our gentlemen's 

 " inaptitude to this noble art, (agriculture) to fee fo many hundred 

 " thoufand acres peftered, and corrupted, by common dung, the 

 *' bowels of which very land are loaded v/ith inexhauftible quanti- 

 " ties of rich and wholefome phyfick for its own diieaies. — Dung 

 '■\_ is not only prejudicial to fome foils, but inferior to the word of 

 *i?- other compoils, upon any. One would wonder to iee, how peo- 

 ^:\ pie put themfelves to extraordinary charges, and the inconveni- 

 " ence of fending to great diflances for borfe-dung, to manure thofe 

 " very lands which never fail of being verg'd, or bottom'd, by a 

 *' fubfiance of one kind or other, by far more proper for the end 

 " they aim at : And, therefore, I lay it down as a rule, almoft 

 " without exception, that every foil, of what nature, fituation, or 

 " condition foever, abounds with natural and fufficient helps for its 

 " peculiar imperfcSfions." 



It will be right to inquire next, what are the properties and ufes 

 of thefe natural manures, fo much recommended by this author, 

 and what foils they are fuitsd to. To this end, we fliall divide 

 foils into three forts, "vi-z. clay, fand, and loam ; and, in feparate 

 articles, propofe the improvements of each. 



I. Of Clay. 



" f^LAY," fays Mr. Evelyn, p. 22, of his Terra, " is of all 

 " ^ other a curft flep-dame to almoft all vegetation, as having 

 " few or no meatus s for the percolation of the alimental Ihowers, 

 " or expanfion of the roots ; whether it be the voracious, hungry, 

 " weeping, or cold fort. In tliefe cafes laxatives are to be pre- 

 " fcribed, fuch as drift /and, fmall gritty gravel, faw-dujl, with 

 " 7narl or chalk, and continually vexing it with the fpade or plow; 

 " but above all, with fea-fand, w^here it may be procured, and the 

 " burning of the ground to ajhcs, and all that it bears, the more 



" the 



