SAN 



SCR 



375 



mixed, tvil! make it fruitful for 

 many years after, as I have foun;- 

 by experience. It brings the soil 

 to the right consistence, renders it 

 less porous, and causes it to retain 

 its moisture. At the same time it 

 is more retentive of manures ap- 

 plied to It : Perhaps the benefit re- 

 ceived ^rom the clay will never be 

 wholly lost. Though the clay is 

 continually sinking further into the 

 earth, by means of every rain, deep 

 ploughing will return it to the sur- 

 face ; so much of it at least as is 

 necessary. And repeated dress- 

 ings of clay may be needed. 



" Rich sandy soils, under a re- 

 gular course of husbandry, are in- 

 valuable. They are cultivated at 

 a moderate expense ; and at all 

 seasons, have a dry soundness, ac- 

 companied by moisture, which se- 

 cures excellent crops, even in the 

 driest summers. 



" The management of sandy 

 land, according to the system adopt- 

 ed by the celebrated Ducket of 

 Petersham and Esher, in Surrey, 

 has been strongly recommended by 

 an eminent author. It was found- 

 ed on three principles:—!. Plough- 

 ing very deep : a due degree of 

 moisture was thus preserved in his 

 light land, by means of which his 

 crops were flourishing in seasons 

 of drought, which destroyed those 

 of his neighbours. 2. Ploughing 

 seldom, but effectually, by a trench 

 plough, or what he called a skim- 

 coulter plough, with which he bu- 

 ried the weeds that grew on the 

 surface ; he has been known to put 

 in seven crops with only four 

 ploughings : and 3. Occasionally 

 raising a crop of turnips the same 



season, after a crop of wheat or of 

 jiulse.'" — Code of JigricuUnre. 



SAP, the fluid contained in 

 plants, which is drawn from the 

 earth and atmosphere, by which 

 plants are nourished, augmented, 

 and rendered fruitful. It answers 

 the same purposes as the blood 

 and other circulating juices in ani- 

 mals. It conveys nourishment to 

 all the parts. 



In all plants there exists a system 

 of tubes or vessels, which in one 

 extremity terminate in roots, and 

 at the other in leaves. It is by 

 the capillary action of the roots 

 that fluid matter is taken up from 

 the soil. The sap, in passing up- 

 wards becomes denser, and more 

 fitted to deposit solid matter; it is 

 modified by exposure to heat, light, 

 and air in the leaves ; descends 

 through the bark ; in its progress 

 produces new organized matter; 

 and is thus in its vernal and autum- 

 nal flow the cause of the formation 

 of new parts, and of the more per- 

 fect evolution of parts already 

 formed." — Jlgricultural Chemis- 

 try. 



SCRATCHES, or Seienders, a 

 disorder between the hinder pas- 

 tern joints and hoofs of horses, 

 consisting of cracks and soreness, 

 with suppuration. It is trouble- 

 some commonly in the winter sea- 

 son only. 



" Nothing tends so much to pre- 

 vent grease and swelling of the 

 legs, as frequent hand-rubbing, and 

 washing the heels carefully with 

 soap suds, as soon as a horse comes 

 in from exercise. In inveterate 

 cases, where the disease appears 

 to have become habitual in some 



