102 The soil cmd the cotmtryside 



and other celebrated packs have their homes in the 

 broad, clay, grassy vales of the Midlands. The vale of 

 Blackmoor and other clay regions are equally famous. 

 The plantations and hedgerows are fine places for 

 primroses and foxgloves, while in the pastures, and 

 especially the poor pastures, are found the ox-eyed 

 daisy and quaking grass, that make such fine nosegays, 

 as well as that sure sign of poverty, the yellow rattle. 

 But many of these poor pastures have been improved 

 by draining, liming, and the use of suitable manures. 

 Although the roads are better than they were (see p. 30) 

 they are still often bad and lie wet for weeks together 

 in winter, especially where the hedges are high. 

 jS"umerous brick and tile yards may be found and iron 

 ore is not uncommon : in some places it is worked now, 

 in others it is no longer worked and nothing remains 

 of the lost industry save only a few names of fields, of 

 ponds, or of cottages. 



A sandy soil is in so many ways the opposite of a 

 clay soil that we shall expect to find corresponding 

 differences in the look of the country. A sandy soil 

 does not hold water : it may get water up from the 

 subsoil to supply the plant (see p. QQ), or, if it happens 

 to lie in a basin of clay, it may even be very wet : other- 

 wise it is likely to be too dry for ordinary plants. We 

 may therefore look out for two sorts of sand country, 

 the one cultivated because there is enough water for 

 the crops, and the other not cultivated because the 

 water is lacking. These can readily be found. 



We will study the cultivated sands first. As sand 

 is not good plant food (p. 43) these soils want a lot of 

 manure, and so are not good for ordinary farmers. But 

 they are very easy to cultivate — for which reason they 



