ESSEX SOCIETY. 79 



would be capable of supporting vegetation. The mixture of 

 them, when any one predominates, will correct and improve 

 thcni, for the fertility of soils depends upon the proportion 

 of their constituents. In some marls the clay predominates. 

 These should be used on the light sandy soils. In others the 

 sand predominates. These are adapted to stiffer lands. Here 

 the judgment must be exercised. The practice of mixing soils 

 has always been attended with success when judiciously man- 

 aged. 



Nor is this application of mud and clay any new fact to the 

 practical agriculturist. It was practised in England nearly two 

 thousand years ago. The county of Norfolk in England, is 

 said to owe much of its great fertility to this source. The 

 greatest European improvements in sandy soils, have been 

 made by these means, in Belgium. They do not operate so 

 rapidly as quick lime, but their effect is far more lasting. So 

 lasting, indeed, that our Anglo-Saxon fathers thought they 

 were felt for eighty years. As intimated in the experiment al- 

 luded to, it has always been found best to expose the mud or 

 clay to the action of the frost. It becomes mellowed so that it 

 may be spread evenly upon the ground. Peat mud is composed 

 of vegetable matter which has been accumulating for ages. 

 When taken fresh, it is found to contain an amount of acid 

 which would make it improper for immediate use. Exposure 

 to the frost, wind and rain, entirely neutralizes the acid proper- 

 ties. Ashes, or potash would have the same effect. 



These substances may be said rather to ameliorate and im- 

 prove the texture of soils than to furnish immediate sustenance 

 to the plant. And in this view, they cannot be too strongly 

 recommended, for we have never known them to fail of having 

 the most beneficial effects, both on pasture and mowing lands. 

 And besides, the application of them is so simple, so much 

 within the reach of every farmer, that it is well worth the trial. 

 If the soils are much worn, or very barren from a great prepon- 

 derance of any particular earth, a liberal allowance will be re- 

 quired. Ordinarily, as in the experiments which have come 

 under our notice, some twenty-five or thirty cart loads to the 

 acre have been found sufficient to increase very greatly the 



