CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPKNDIX. ^bl 



lies on calcareous earth, so pure as to be converted, by being burnt, to 

 lime of tiie best quality. This earth reaches to within a foot of the 

 surface.* 



The next extracts present sutRcient ground for considering the steppes 

 and prairies as belonging to the same class. 



" In all parts of the river [Don] above Kasankaia, it seems tojlovj over a 

 bed of chalk; audits banks, gently swelling upwards from the water, rise 

 like the South Downs of Sussex ; often disclosing the chalk, of tvhich they 

 consist. Farther down, and near the water's edge, low copses of wood al- 

 most always accompany its course ; but they diminish as it draws nearer 

 to Tscherchaskoy, the inhabitants of which town derive all their wood from 

 the Volga. 



" As soon as we left Kasankaia, we entered the steppes in good earnest, 

 with a view to traverse their whole extent to Tscherchaskoy. These are 

 not cultivated ; yet, bleak and desolate as their appearance during winter 

 must be, they have in summer the aspect of a wild continued meadow. 

 The herbage rises as high as the knee, full of flowers, and exhibiting a most 

 interesting collection of plants. No one collects or cuts this herbage. The 

 soil, though neglected, is very fine. We passed some oaks in the first part 

 of our journey, which had the largest leaves I ever saw." — Clark's Travels 

 in Russia, p. 189. 



" Leaving this encampment, we continued traversing the steppes in a 

 south-westerly direction, and passed a very neat village belonging to a rich 

 Greek, who, to our great surprise, had established a residence in the midst of 

 these desolate plains. As we advanced, we perceived that wherever rivers 

 intersect the steppes, there are villages, and plenty of inhabitants. A manu- 

 script map at Tscherchaskoy confirmed the truth of this observation. No 

 maps have been hitherto published in Europe which give an accurate notion 

 of the country. A stranger crossing the Cossack territory, might suppose 

 himself in a desert, and yet be in the midst of villages. The road, it is true, 

 does not often disclose them ; but frequently, when we were crossing a 

 river, and believed ourselves in the midst of the most uninhabited country, 

 which might be compared to a boundless meadow, we beheld villages to the 

 right and left of us, concealed, by the depth of the banks of the river, 

 below the level of the plain ; not a single house or church of which 

 would have been otherwise discerned."— p. 198. 



" From Acenovkaia, we continued our route over steppes apparently des- 

 titute of any habitation. Dromedaries were feeding, as if sole tenants of 

 these wide pastures."— p. 199. 



Dr. Clarke, though traversing a vast extent of steppes, says very little 

 more of them than is presented in the short quotations above. They give 

 a clear though indirect indication of their chalky formation, and similarity 

 to the doivns of Sussex in England. Yet the author seems to have attached 

 no importance to these facts, nor does he take any other notice, direct or 

 indirect, of the nature, or chemical composition of the soil. Yet, in addi- 

 tion to his scientific attainments as a chemist and mineralogist, his botanical 

 knowledge, if properly applied, would have thrown much light on this sub- 

 ject. I have no doubt but hereafter the character of soils, as to possessing 

 calcareous matter abundantly, or being destitute of that ingredient, will be 

 determined with certainly by the presence or absence of many different 

 plants. Dr. Clarke gives a catalogue of many of the plants observed in 

 his journey, and of them a few are stated to have been found on the steppes. 



* See Farmers' Register, page 169, vol. iii. 



