4/ti HIRING FARMS. [oCT. 



spring, by its binding with hasty showers. It rarelv 

 breaks up in a crumbly state, or shews a mellowness 

 under the spade. Very expensive drains greatly cor- 

 rect its ill qualities, but it requires a prodigious quan- 

 tity of manure to fertilize it. 



Some gravels are so sharp and burning, that they 

 produce nothing except in wet summers ; but such 

 are known at any season of the year. Sands are as 

 various as gravels, and are all easily discoverable in their 

 natures. The rich, red sand, is, I believe, as profitable 

 a soil as any in the world. It. has at all seasons a 

 dry soundness, and at the same time a moisture with- 

 out wetness, which secures crops even in dry sum- 

 mers. The spade is sufficient to try it, at any season 

 of the year. 



The light sandy loam is, likewise, an admirable 

 Soil : it will bear ploughing, like the preceding, all 

 winter long, and appears quite sound and mellow when 

 tried with the spade. If it lies under a winter fallow, 

 the best way to judge of its richness, is to remark the 

 state of the furrows, and the degree of adhesion in 

 the soil. Stiff land, being dry and crumbly, is a gre; 

 perfection, and sand, being adhesive, is an equally 

 good si 



When, therefore, the farmer views a light sandy 

 loam, whose sound dnness is acknowledged, he may 

 pro-mrm* thr soil As rich, in proportion to its adhesion. 



If it falls Hat in powder, and has no adhesion, it is 



'. The white chalky -warm- is often cold 



nnd wet, will not bear ploughing in winter, unless the 



weather is very dry or frosty ; runs excessively to 



mortar with a lieory shower when in a pulverized 



state. 



