w 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BliKCK &. CO., NO. 52, iNOKTH MARKET 6IUEET, (Agbicultural Warehouse.) 



* OL. -\A I. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANU.ARY 31, 1838. 



NO. 30. 



Ve car. havo no doubt tlint we sliall bolli gr.it- 

 and instruct many of our ngncnltural readers 

 the subjoined selection from the Code of Agri- 

 ture of Sir John Sinclair, on the subject of 

 is. The treatise is not unluiown among us ; 

 to many it is not easily accessible Every 

 ig that came from his pen on the subject of 

 ricultnre is of higli auiliority and praclical iin- 

 tance. He treats the subject in that |)luin, 

 )ular manner, which renders it intelligible to 

 readers. 



— t 



SOIL, 

 riie surface, or outward coating of land, usu- 

 r consi.sts of various earthy matters, with a niix- 

 e of animal and vegetable substances in a state 

 partial decomposition, together with certain 

 ne and mineral ingredie Us. Where favorably 

 ibined, it is adriiirably calculated [o afford sup- 

 t to plants, to enable them to fix their roots, 

 gradually to derive nourishment by their t.ibes, 

 n the soluble and dissolved substances cop- 

 ied in the soil, (as this mixed mass is called,) 

 jassing into it. The strata on which it is in- 

 ibent, are known under the general name of 



!0»7. 



rhe importance of the soil has been described 

 'arious ways. By some it lias been called the 

 ;her, or nurse of vegetation. By others it is 

 resented as discharging functions to plants, 

 ilar to those which the stomach docs to ani- 

 s, in preparing their food, anil fitting it for nb- 

 jtion by their roots. It furnishes the plant 

 ' with heat; for a well cultivated, and highly 

 lured soil, is much warmer than the surround- 

 atmosphere. The (ariner, it is said, oiigiit to 

 ly the relative value of the different soils, as 

 merchant does the worth of the several com- 

 lities he deals in. In short, a favorable soil 

 climate, are declared to bt^, the first riches of 

 )untry. 



^Iie importance of a farmer's paying particular 

 ntion to the nature and quality of the soil he 

 ivates, need not therefore be dwelt upon. By 

 iling himself of the qualities it possesses, or by 

 oving its defects, his profits arernuch increas- 

 ile must, in general, regulate his tneasures 

 irdingly, in regard to the rent he is to offer, 

 ca|)ital he is to lay out, the stock he is to keep, 

 crops he is to raise, and the improvements he 

 ) execute. Indeed such is the importance of 

 soil, and the necessity of adapting his system 

 :s peculiar propertie.s, that no general system 

 Miltivation can be laid down, unless, all the 

 umstauces regarding the nature, and situation 

 he soil and subsoil, be known ; and it rarely 

 pens if a farmer has been long accustomed to 

 species of soil, that he is equally successful in 

 mauageinent of another. 



Soils 



may 



be considered 



general heads: Sand 



under the followins? 

 ■-Gravel : C 



■ly ;— 

 Chalk ; — Peat ; — Alluvial ; and,-_Loam, or that 

 species of arliliciai soil, into whicli the others are 

 generally brought, by the effects of manure, in 

 the course of long cultivation. After descriiiing 

 each sort, it is proposed to state, the modes of im- 

 proving their texture ; the crops for whicli tli -y 

 are respectively calculated ; and the districts 

 where they are cultivated with the greatest suc- 

 cess. 



1. Sand. — A soil that consists entirely of small 

 graiws of a hard nature, (silex,) Which neither co- 

 here together, nor are softened by water, nor so- 

 ji.ibl'j in .".rids, !l:o!!j;!i it ought not to be totally 

 abandonedj yet is too poor to be cultivated with 

 advantage. It would indeed be hazardous in the 

 extreme, from the risk of having il*e covering 

 mould Vtlown offthe new-sown grain, in the spring, 

 Jiy high winds. Sandy soils, however, gentraKy 

 hav(! a considerable n ixture of other substances, 

 by which their qualily is greatly ameliorated. 



The best mode of improving the texture of such 

 a soil, deficient in retentive or adhesive properties, 

 is, by a mixture of clay, marl, sea-ooze, sea-shells, 

 peat, or vegetable earth; and it frequently liaji- 

 jiens, that under the sand itself, or in its immedi- 

 ate neighborhood, the v ry n;alerials may be found, 

 so essential for its improvement. 



In some parts of Norfolk, they have availed 

 themselves of these auxiliaries, for improving a 

 sandy soil, in an eminent degree; by means of 

 which they have created a new soil ; and by the 

 continuation of jiidii-ious management, they have 

 given a degree of fame to the husbandry of that 

 district, fiir surpassing that of others naturally 

 more fertile. 



TJie improvement of a sandy soil, is generally 

 accomplished by fossil manures ; but vegetable 

 substances are likewise effectual; A top dressing 

 of peat has been tried for that purpose, and the 

 experiment was attended, not only with immedi- 

 ate good effects, but with permanent benefit. 



Sandy soils are valuable, being so easily culti- 

 vated, and so well calculated for sheep, that most 

 profitable species of stock. Where the land is 

 hilly, rabbits are frequently kept, for the rabbit 

 can easily throw down the light soil from the hole 

 he excavates, where there is a declivity. Hence 

 it has been remarked by some that loose-soiled 

 hills, will pay better in rabbit-warrens, tlian under 

 any other mode of occupation. Others consider 

 planting to be a more profiiable appropriation of 

 such hills. 



Rich sandy soils, however, such as tliose of 

 Frodsham, in Cheshire, under a regular course of 

 husbandry, are invaluable. They are cultivated 

 at a moderate expense ; and at all seasons, have 

 a dry soundness, accompanied by moisture, which 

 secures excellent crops even in the driest sum- 

 mers. 



The crops mised on sandy soils are numerous, 

 as the common turnip, — potatoes, — carrots, — bar- 

 ley, — rye, — buckwheat, — pease, — clover, sain- 



loin, and other grasses. This species of soil, in 

 general, has not strength enough for the produc- 

 tion of Swedish turnip, beans, wheat, flax, or 

 hemp, in any degree of perfection, without much 

 improvement in its texture, the addition of great 

 qi:antiiies of enriching manure, and the most skif- 

 ful management. 



When under a course of cultivation, it is a great 

 advantage to sandy soils, either to fold sheep upon 

 them, or to consume the crops of turnips upon 

 the ground where they are raised. These prac- 

 tices greatly contribute to the ini|)rovement of 

 such soils, not only by the dung and urine thus 

 deposited, but by the consolidaiion and firmness 

 of texture which the treading of the sheep occa- 

 sions. 



The carrot I'.usbandry, in the "Sandlings" of 

 Suffolk, as rliey are. called, is one of the most in- 

 teresting objects to be met with in the British ag- 

 riculture. After defraying all expenses, the clear 

 profit, by feeding horses in the stables, is consid- 

 erable, {51. 93. 6cl. per statute acre.) Some prefer 

 lo fatten bullocks with them ; while others, who 

 have the advantage of water-carriage, think it 

 most beneficial to send their carrots to the Lon- 

 don market. Carrots are likewise an admirable 

 preparation for other crops. 



la Norfolk and Suffolk, it is found that poor 

 sandy soils, not worth 5s. per acre for any other 

 purjiose, under sainfoin, will produce, after the 

 first year, about two tons per acre, of excellent 

 hay, for several years, with an after-grass, ex- 

 tremely valuable for weaning and keeping lambs. 

 How much more beneficial than any crops of 

 grain that such soils usually yield ! 



In the neighborhood of Dunbar in Scotland, 

 there are some farms originally of a light sandy 

 soil, which have bfien rendered uncommonly pro- 

 ductive ; but they are situated on the co.-.st, and 

 accommodated with immense quantities of sea- 

 weed. For many years they were cultivated in 

 the following course of severe cropping. 1. Tur- 

 nips; 2. Drilled wheat; 3. Clover ; 4. Drilled 

 wheat. By cultivation, the soil has now become . 

 a species of I'ght loam. 



The management of sandy land, according j^ 

 the system adopted by the celebrated Ducket j ^y 

 Petersham anil Esher, in Surrey, has been sf ,oiig. 

 ly recommended by an eminent author. it was 

 founded on three principles : 1. Ploughi- ,]„. j,g^_ 



preserv- 

 his cropsr. 



were flourishing in seasons ol drought _ which de- 

 stroyed those of his neighbors; — 2.. Ploufffijnir 

 seldom, but effectually, by a Irenc^i plouc-h or 

 what he called a skim-coulter pious)), with whith 

 he buried the weeds that grev,r or, the stiriiMj:; • he 

 has been known to put in sevjn crops with only 

 four ploughings; and, 3. Occasionally rai.sing a 

 crop of turnips the same, season, aftet a crop of 

 wheat or of pulse. 



In the Pays de Waes in Flanders, sand is like- 

 wise cultivated to great perfection. The soil of 

 that district^ which was ori^'inaily a barren whjte 



ileep: a due degree of moisture was ihua 

 ed in his light land, bv means of which 



