268 CALCAREOUS MANURES— APPENDIX. 



These are copied below,* that others who have some knowledge of botany, 

 may be able to state whether these plants are confined to calcareous soils or 

 not. If the author had stated that sheep sorrel was a common growth of 

 the steppes, I would at once admit, from that solitary fact, that the soil must 

 be destitute of calcareous earth. In like manner, if the soil is highly calca- 

 reous, some of the plants which he observed there, or which may be found 

 on the prairies, would afford as certain proof of that fact, as the presence of 

 sorrel would of the reverse. These suggestions are thrown out for the 

 consideration of investigators who have the knowledge and opportunities 

 requisite to put them to use. It is a new field for botanists, which promises 

 a sure and valuable harvest. 



The next extracts, which are from Tooke's Jl'eiv of the Russian Empire, 

 will give more full information of the steppes. 



" Arable Zand— Under this head we must reckon various tracts of land, 

 especially, 1. Those that are kept in constant cultivation and tillage, such 

 as are every where seen in Great and Little Russia, in the provinces bor- 

 dering on the Baltic, and many others. 2. Such as are only used at times, 

 and left quiet for a great length of time. In some regions, for instance, in 

 Little Russia, about the Don,f &c, where they are looked upon as steppes, 

 which if merely ploughed and then sown, would be productive ; in others, 

 for example, in Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, where they are rendered 

 fertile by fire, and are called by the countrymen bush-lands.J On such par- 

 cels of ground, which are either allotted into particular possessions, or with- 

 out a proper owner, villages might be gradually erected. In uninhabited 

 districts these tracts are most frequent. 3. Tiiose that are proper for agri- 

 culture, but lie totally unemployed : they wait only for industrious hands. 

 There are still plenty of these vast tracts where millions of men might find 

 work and profit, especially in fruitful steppes, and in numberless large forests. 



" The fertility of all these tracts is very different according to the quality 

 of the soil. In Livonia and Esthonia, from good fields they reap 8, and in 

 successful years from 10 to 12 fold ; from indifferent ground about only 3, 

 but from better, at times 16 or even more than 20 fold. The harvests about 

 the Don are commonly 10 fold ; but towards Tomsk on the Tshumush, and 

 in the whole region between the Oby and the Tom, many fxclds afford an 

 increase of 25 to 30 fold,^ and at Krasnoyarsk the failure of a crop was 

 never heard of; of winter corn they reap 8, of barley 12, and of oats 20 

 fold. II 



" In Little Russia, on the Don, and in many other places, the fields are 

 never manured, only ploughed once, just to turn up the earth, afterwards har- 

 rowed, and then sown : more culture, especially dunging, would push the 



* " Centaurea fri^ida, northern knap weed — on the steppes." " Centaurca radiata, 

 rayed knap weed — on the steppes near Koslof. The sheep feed on it in winter, and it is 

 supposed to give them that gray wool so much valued by the Tartars." " Crocus sativus, 

 autumnal meadow-saffron — steppes near Achmetchet." " Geranium, sylvaiicum, wood 

 crane's bill — steppes." " Silenc quadrijida, four-cleft catch-fly — steppes, near Perecop," 

 " Sisymbrium Loeselii, Loesel's hedge-mustard — steppes near Perecop." Slatice trigona, 

 three-sided lavender — in the steppes, very frequent." " Vescia pannonica, Pannoniaii 

 vetch — steppes. " Slipa Pennaia — in all the steppes." Many other plants are named 

 in different parts of the work, as found in the region of steppes, but it is not certain that 

 they were always from such soil, and therefore are not added to this list. 



t The Don Kozak takes, in whatever part of the steppe he chooses, a piece fit for 

 cultivation, and, bestows his labor upon it as long as he thinks proper or as long as its 

 visible fertility will amply reward his labor. 



X See Hupel Liefl. and Esthl. vol. ii. 



§ Pallas, vol. ii. p. 650 et seq. 



II Ibid. vol. iii. p. 6. 



