ON FALLOWING. 181 



" brick earth be applied to the tongue, it will ad- 

 " here to it very strongly, in consequence of its 

 " power to absorb water ; but after it has been 

 " burnt, there will scarcely be a sensible ad- 

 " hesion." 



" The process of burning renders the soil less 

 " compact, less tenacious, and retentive of moist- 

 " ure ; and when properly applied, may con- 

 " vert a matter that was stiff, damp, and, in 

 " consequence, cold, into one powdery, dry, and 

 " warm, and much more proper as a bed for 

 " vegetable life." 



" The great objections made by speculative 

 " chemists to paring and burning is, that it de- 

 " stroys vegetable and animal matter, or the 

 " manure in the soil ; but in cases in which the 

 " texture of its earthy ingredients is permanently 

 " improved, there is more than a compensation 

 "for this temporary disadvantage. And in some 

 " soils, where there is an excess O/^INERT VEGETA- 

 " BLE MATTER, the destruction of it must be 

 " beneficial, and the carbonaceous matter re- 

 " maining in the ashes may be more useful to 

 " the crop than the vegetable fibre from which 

 " it was produced." 



As Sir Humphry very justly observes, whe- 

 ther the operation of burning increases or dimi- 

 nishes the soluble carbonaceous matter, is of 



N3 



