2 68 TRAVELS THROUGH 



improving the foil, is, lingly, an excellent 

 effea." 



Upon my afking, if, in the profecution 

 of his improvements, he had made any par- 

 ticular obfervations on the heft methods of 

 conducting fuch works, or of particular 

 crops fuitable to fuch foils more than others, 

 he replied that he had made fo many errors, 

 and afterwards retrieved them, by a differ- 

 ent conduct, that certainly thofe points 

 could by no means be indifferent ; and then 

 he explained fome parts of his fyflem in the 

 following manner : 



* c That wafte foil, which I find the bed 

 far arable crops, is the black peat or puffy 

 land, which feems a collection of roots of 

 different vegetables, quite dry in its natural 

 {late, of the depth of about a foot, and 

 under it a loam ; it is an extraordinary foil, 

 for the fpontaneous growth is fo contempt- 

 ible, that one would think it flerillity it- 

 felf. This foil improved, and laid down 

 to grafs, does not anfwer ; the paflure is 

 very poor, but in arable it is excellent for 

 feveral produfts : firft, it does beyond any 

 oth-.r 1 have ever feen for potatoes; the 



crops 



