ON THE COMPOSITION OF SOILS, &C. 199 



" lands there, that such grounds as had been 

 " long cultivated, were so much exhausted, as 

 " to b worse than the generality of ground in 

 " this country. Here then we have an example 

 " of one species of poor soil, namely, one that 

 " has been formerly very rich, but has been 

 " deprived by repeated cropping, of the greatest 

 " part of vegetable food it contained. The 

 " farmer who is in possession of such ground, 

 " would no doubt willingly restore it to its 

 " former state ; the present question is, what 

 " must be done in order to obtain this 'end ? 

 " We have mentioned several kinds of manures, 

 -" which long practice has recommended as ser- 

 " viceable for improving ground. We shall sup- 

 " pose the fanner tries lime or chalk ; for, as has 

 << been seen, their operations upon the soil must 

 " be precisely the same. This substance being 

 ** of a septic nature, will act upon such parts of 

 " the soil as are not putrefied or but imperfectly 

 "so; in consequence of which, the farmer will 

 " reap a better crop than formerly. The sep- 

 " tic nature of the lime is not altered by any 

 " length of time. In ploughing the ground the 

 " lime is more and more perfectly mixed with 

 " it, and gradually exerts its power on every 

 " putrescible matter it touches. As long a* 

 " any matter of this kind remains, the farmer 



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