No. 8. 



Farming in Holland, 



237 



iiig down and enriching' the loosened earth 

 below; and in time this becomes good soil, 

 which in proportion to its depth increases 

 the area from which the roots derive their 

 nutriment. So manifest are the advantages 

 which have followed the use of subsoil 

 ploughs, that they have been extensively 

 introduced of late years among the indis- 

 pensable tools of the better class of agricul- 

 turists. 



When the subsoil is loose and leechy, 

 consisting of an excess of sand or gravel, 

 thereby allowing the too ready escape of 

 moisture and the soluble portions of ma- 

 nures, the subsoil plough is not only unne- 

 cessary, but positively injurious. In this 

 case the surface soil sliould be somewhat 

 deepened by the addition of vegetable ma- 

 nures, so as to afford a greater depth, through 

 which they must settle before they can get 

 beyond the reach of the roots; and the sup 

 ply of moisture is thereby greatly augment 

 ed. It is better, however, to keep lands of 

 this character in wood, or permanent pas- 

 ture. They are at best ungrateful soils, 

 and make a poor return for the labour and 

 manure bestowed upon them. 



If there be a diversity in the character of 

 the sub and surface soil, one being inclined 

 to sand and gravel, and the other marl or 

 clay, a great improvement will be secured 

 by allowing the plough to reach so far down 

 as to bring up and incorporate with the soil 

 some of the ingredients in which it is want- 

 ing. This admixture is also of remarkable 

 benefit in old or long cultivated soils, which 

 have become deficient in inorganic matters 

 and in their texture. 



The effect of long continued cultivation, 

 besides exhausting what is essential to the 

 earthy part of plants, is to break down the 

 coarser particles of the soil, by the mechani- 

 cal action of the plough, harrow, &c., and 

 in a much more rapid degree, by the chemi- 

 cal combinations which cultivation and ma- 

 nuring produce. A few years suffice to ex- 

 hibit striking examples in the formation and 

 decomposition of rocks and stones. Stalac- 

 tites and various specimens of limestone, in- 

 durated clays, sandstone and breccias or 

 pudding stones, are found in favourable cir- 

 cumstances, almost under our eye; while 

 some limestones, shales, sandstones, &c., 

 break down in large masses annually, from 

 the combined effect of moisture, heat and 

 frost. The same changes on a smaller scale, 

 are constantly going forward in the soil, and 

 much more rapidly while under cultivation. 

 The general tendency of these surface 

 changes is towards pulverization. The par- 

 ticles forming the soil, from the impalpable 

 mite of dust to the large pebbles, and even 



stones and rocks, are continually broken up 

 by the combined action of the vital roots and 

 the constituents of soils, by which new ele- 

 ments of vegetable food are developed and 

 become available, and in form so minute, as 

 to be imbibed by the spongioles of the roots, 

 and by the absorbent vessels, they are after- 

 wards in their appropriate places in the 

 plant. Where this action has been going 

 on for a long period, a manifestly beneficial 

 effect has immediately followed from bring- 

 ing up and mixing with the superficial earth, 

 portions of the subsoil which have never be- 

 fore been subject to cultivation. 



A subsoil which is permeable to water, is 

 sometimes imperceptibly beneficial to vege- 

 tation, not only by allowing the latent moist- 

 ure to ascend and yield a necessary supply 

 to the plants, but a moisture frequently 

 charged with lime and various saline mat- 

 ters, which the capillary attraction brings 

 from remote depths below the surface. It 

 is probably from this cause that some soils 

 produce crops tar beyond the yield which 

 might be reasonably looked for from the fer- 

 tilizing materials actually contained in them. 

 This operation is rapidly going forward du- 

 ring the heat of summer. The water thus 

 charged with saline matters ascends and 

 evaporates at and below the surface, leaving 

 them diffused throughout the soil. After 

 long continued dry weather, a thin white 

 coating of these salts is frequently discern- 

 ible on the ground. 



Where rain seldom or never falls, this re- 

 sult is noticeable in numerous and sometimes 

 extensive beds of quiescent — not shifting — 

 sand. Deposits oftimes occur several inches 

 in thickness. Such are the impure muriate 

 of soda and other salts in the arid deserts of 

 California; in the southern parts of Oregon; 

 the nitrates found in India, Egypt, Peru, and 

 various parts of the world. — Allen's Ameri- 

 can Agriculture. 



From the Cultivator. 



Farming in Holland. 



Antwerp is not at a very great distance 

 from the Dutch frontier. The border land 

 between Holland and Belgium, is a wide 

 desolate looking tract of sandy moor, for the 

 greater part entirely neglected. There was, 

 however, in many places, a considerable 

 thickness of organic matter above the sand, 

 which would go far towards making an ex- 

 cellent soil. In some places I saw holes 

 where a substance resembling marl or clay, 

 had been raised to the surface and laid in. 

 heaps. Were it either marl or clay, it 

 would be highly useful on such light sandy 

 soils. Great improvements are commencing 



