620 



FARMERS' RE G I S T E R . 



[No. iu 



Chenopodiummaratimum, (salt lamb's quarter.) I exists between certain plants and certain soils we 



Arenaria maratima, (salt sand-wort.) 



Atriplex laciniata, (orache.) 



7th. Plants indicative of an aquatic or marshy 

 soil. 



Caltha palustris, (American cowslip, marsh 

 marygold.) 



Hi[)puri3 vulgaris, (common mare's tail.) 



Pmguicuhi viiii^ariH, (Ixiilerworl.) 



Valeriara dioica, (wild valerian,) 



Viola paluptris, (marsh violet.) 



Samolus valerandi, (t)rook-weed, water pimper- 

 nel.) 



Lythrum salicaria, (milk willow-herb.) 



Ranimculus lingua, (great spearwort.) 



Epilobium telragonum, (no common name 

 known.) 



Thysselium palusfre, " 



Lycopus europeus, " 



8th. Plants indicative of a very dry soil. 



Arenaria rubra, (red sandwort.) 



Rumex acetosella, (sheep sorrel.) 



Thymus serpillum, (mother of thyme.) 



Trifolium arvense, (rabbit- foot clover.) 



Acynos vulgaris, (no common name known.) 



The above is a catalogue of those plants which 

 are considered peculiar to certain kinds of soil in 

 Europe. Some lew of them are plants which 

 have never as yet been discovered in this country, 

 others are common here. That some of thesft 

 plants do indicate peculiarities in the soil in which 

 they grow, seems to have been noticed in very 

 early times, long belbre botanists had attempted to 

 assign any reason why it should be so, as we may 



learn from the conmion names which they bear, , ( j 



and by which they have been known for a time so the character of their natural vegetable product- 

 loner "ihat the memory of man runneth not to the ions, would seem to be a lar more natural one lor 

 contrary"— for instance, sall-wort, (wort is a word I a^nricultural purposes, than one based upon their 

 of Saxon origin, and means plant,) sand-wort 



may learn the character uf any soil by observing 

 the plants which voluntarily spring up and flour- 

 ish upon it. Hence the use of the veronica spic- 

 ata or marl indicator in pointing out the^prc'ence 

 of calcareous matter in the soil in which u grows. 

 The lact that soils may be distinguished in this 

 way seems to have been noticed by practicable 

 iarmers for a long time if we may judge from some 

 of the terms in common uae for the |)urfiose of de- 

 signating soils : thus we speak of whortleberry 

 swamp?°cypress swamps, pine barrens, scrub-oal: 

 lands, chinquapin lands &c.— And why may not 

 this system, suggested as it has b^en by the ob- 

 servation of praciical men, be carried out, and the 

 different kinds of soil be designated by the char- 

 acter of the vegetable covering which is naturally 

 spread over them, as well as by the substances 

 wiiich enter into their composition; or by the me- 

 chanical texture of the soil itself. I would by no 

 means banish from use a chemical or mechanical 

 nomenclature of soils, but simply introduce, what 

 may be called a botanical nomenclature to supply 

 their deficiences. That our present systems have 

 such deficiences every one must be aware. It is 

 truly remarked m the 'Essay on Calcareous Man- 

 ures' "that," nothing is more wanting in the science 

 of agriculture, then a correct nomenclature of soils, 

 by which the characters might be learn^^d from 

 the names, and nothing has hitherto seemed less 

 attainable. The modes of classing and naming 

 soils, used by scientific authors, are not only dif- 

 ferent and opposed to each other ; but each of them 

 is quite unfit to serve the purpose intended." 

 A system of nomenclature lor soils, based upon 



marygold, brook-lime, &c. There can be no doubt 

 that these names have been given to them in con- 

 sequence of their having been observed to grow 

 in such situations as would be pointed out by their 

 names. 



A knowledge of the peculiar habits of plants in 

 this respect, will admit of a praciical application in 

 two ways. 



1st. If we know the nature of the soil which 

 any plant naturally prefers, wo may learn the char- 

 acter which we must give to the soil in which we 

 wish to cultivate it, if we would cultivate it to the 

 best advantage. Tims, the asparagus is a native 

 of the saline lands along the sea-board, and natu- 

 rally preltjrs a soil containing a large portion of salt. 

 It is true that the asparagus will grow, and that 

 to some degree of perfection in a .«oi! containing 

 little or no salt; but, at the same time, it is true, 

 that nothing improves the growth and the flavor 

 of that vegetable more than the free use of salt as 

 a manure, on the ground in which it grow?. Our 

 best gardeners have long been aware of this fict, 

 and are in the habit every spring of emptying the 

 old brine from their meat barrels upon their aspa- 

 racus beds. In no other way can we have a 

 more striking illustration of the adaptation of dif- 

 ferent plants to difli^rent kinds of soil, than is af- 

 forded in the operation of brine when thus used ; 

 for whilst it will increase the luxuriance of the as- 

 paragus, it will kill almost every other plant which 

 may be growing amongst it. 



2nd. From a knowledge of the connexion which 



chemical composition or mechanical texture. The 

 praciical agriculturist wishes to know the nature 

 of a soil, not for the purpose of using its elements 

 for any chemical or mechanical operation, but in 

 order that he may learn what will be its action 

 on vegetation, and any information respecting its 

 chemical or mechanical composition is of use, no 

 further than as it throws light upon this matter. 

 In the character of the plants which spontaneously 

 spring up a>Hl thrive upon any portion ol' land, he 

 lias precisely this kind of information embodied in 

 a palpable form by the hand of nature herself. I 

 know that there are objections to this system, and 

 not the least of these, is the uncertainty or entire 

 want of common names for most plants, accom- 

 panied as it is with an utter want of a knowledge 

 of systematic botany. Hut then there are still 

 greater and more insuperable objections to any 

 other system which has yet been proposed;— And 

 perhaps, upon examination, the dilliculiy in the 

 way of the adoption of a botanical nomenclature, 

 will not be Ibund to be so great as it would at first 

 sight appear. ' , 



Among plants which might be used for this pur- 

 pose are : 



The Whortleberry— Vacc'meum 



Dewberry — Ruhus trivialis 



iMullein — Ferbascum ihapsiis 



Sorrel — Rumex aceiosa 



Pine — Pinus 



Scrub-oak — Qnercus illc'ifolia 



Eroom grass — Bromus pubesceiis 



Cypress — Ckipressus 



