36 O F M A N tr R E S. Parti. 



a very confiderable advantage to barren lands. — Where any of thefe 

 chalks are found, Mr. Worlidge advifes proving their natures, by 

 laying them on feme fmall portion of land, crude as they are, or by 

 burning them into lime, if fewel be plenty, or to half burn them ; 

 by which, fays he, you may experimentally know^ the true effedis 

 and benefits that fubjcdt will yield. — And although, continues he, 

 chalk, fimply of itfelf, either burnt or unburnt, may not prove fo 

 ' advantageous as many have reported, yet it is of very great \\{q to 

 be mixed with earth and the dung of animals, by which may be 

 made an admirable, fure, and naturally fruitful compofition for 

 ahnoft any fort of lands; and it raifeth corn in abundance. 



Chalk ought never to be plowed in, either too foon or too deep. 

 It fhould have time to crack and wafte on the furface of the earth, 

 and not be turned down to the bottom of the furrow, let it fliould 

 fubfide there in a mafs, and not be ftirred by fubfequent plowings. 

 Twelve or fourteen loads upon an acre will make fome lands pro- 

 duce extraordinary crops of corn for fourteen or fifteen years toge- 

 ther. — In the Ifle of Wight, they fometimes lay twenty-five wag- 

 gon loads of it on an acre. Their chalk is of a fat foapy kind, and 

 they call it marie. The farmers in the hundreds of Eflex bring 

 their chalk as far as from Gravefend, but lay not half fo much on 

 an acre, as thofe of the Ifle of Wight. — It fhould always be fpread 

 as foon as poflible after it is dug, becaufe it is apt to harden and 

 grow ftoney in the air. 



Mr. Worlidge fays, you may deal with chalky land as with clay 

 land, though in a moderate way : for chalky land is naturally cold, 

 and therefore requires warm applications. It is alfo fad, and will 

 therefore the better bear with light compofts ; which is the reafon 

 that chalk is fo great an improver of light, hot and dry grounds, 

 efpecially after it has fi.iffered a calcination. 



If chalk be laid on clay, fays Mr. Lifle, vol. I. p. 66. it will in, 

 time be loft, and the ground again return to its clay: and if clay be 

 laid on chalk, in time the clay will be loft, and the ground return 

 again to its chalky fijbftance. Many people, continues he, think the 

 land on which the other is laid for a manure, being predominant, con- 

 verts the manure into its own foil : but I conceive in both cafes the 

 chalk and clay is, in time, filtrated through the land on which 'tis 

 laid, and being Ibluble by rain into fmall corpufcles, is waftied thro' 

 the land on which 'tis laid ; for neither of thefe manures is able to 

 unite in its fincft corpufcles, with the corpufcles of the land on which it 

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