No. 7. 



Earths and Soils. 



203 



that its name is a useless addition to tl»e lists 

 of the earths of agricuUiire. 



All the earths individually, when as pure 

 as thoy are ever furni.siied by nature, are en- 

 tirely barren, nor would any addition of 

 putr scent manures, enable either of the 

 earths to support healthy vegetable life. — 

 The mixture of tl>e three earths, in due pro- 

 portion, will correct the defects of all, and 

 with a sutFicienicy of animal or vegetable 

 mitter a soil is formed. Such is the natural 

 .surface of almost all the habitable world, and 

 though the qualities and value of soils, are as 

 various as the proportions of their infrredients, 

 yet they are mostly so constituted, that no one 

 earthy in!jredient is so abundant but that the 

 texture of the soil is mechanically suited to 

 the production of some valuable crop. Some 

 plants require a degree of closeness, and 

 others of openness in the soil, which would 

 cause other plants to decline or perish. — 

 As the qualities and value of soils d.-pend 

 on the proportions of their ingredients, and 

 the grand desideratum in agriculture, is to 

 obtain a mixture of the earths, bes-t calcu- 

 lated to produce the greatest variety of the 

 most valuable crops, we can satisfactorily 

 comprehend in what manner that object may 

 be obtained. Silicious and aluminous earths, 

 by their mixture, serve to cure the defects of 

 each other. The open, loose, thirsty and hot 

 nature of sand, being corrected by and cor- 

 recting in turn the close adhesive and wet 

 qualities of aluminous earth. This curative 

 operation, however, is merely mechanical, and 

 itseems probable thatcalcareous earth, when in 

 large proportion, also aids the corrective power 

 of the other earths. In addition also to the 

 mechanical effects of calcareous earth, it pos- 

 sesses chymical powers more effectual in alter- 

 ing the texture of soils, and for which a com- 

 paratively small quantity is sufficient. The 

 chemical action of calcareous earth, as an in- 

 gredient of soils, will be particularly noticed 

 hereafter, when we come to the consideration 

 of the food of plants. From what has been 

 said, it would appear reasonable to class and 

 name soils according to their predominant 

 earthy ingredients, which exert the greatest 

 power, and most strongly mark the character 

 of the soil. The predominant ingredient is 

 not always the most abundant. If the most 

 abunrlant was considered the predominant in- 

 gredient, and gave its name to the soil, then 

 almost every one should be called silicious, as 

 that earth is seldom equalled in quantity, by 

 all the others united. If the earthy parts of a 

 Boil were two-thirds silicious, and one-third 

 aluminous earth, the peculiar qualities of the 

 smaller ingredient would predominate over 

 the opposing qualities of the sand, and 

 the mixture would be a tenacious clay. — 

 If the same soil had contained only one 



twentieth part of calcareous earth, that in- 

 gredient would have had more marked ef- 

 fects on the soil, than could have been pro- 

 duced by either doubling or diminishing to 

 half their quantity, tl^e silicious and alumi- 

 nous earths which formed the great bulk of 

 tlie soil. But every farmer can readily dis- 

 cover what are the mn.st marked gofxl or bad 

 qualities of his soi', as evinced imder tillage, 

 and ilioso (lualities can be easily traced to 

 their predominant ingredients. A silici- 

 ous, or sandy soil, has such a pro[)ortion 

 of silicious earth as to show more of its pecu- 

 liar propi:rtiea than of any other ingredient. 

 It woulil be, more or Ics?:, objectionable for 

 its loo.'^eness, heat or want of power to retain 

 moisture and not for toughn ^ss, liability to be- 

 come hard after wet ploughing, or any other 

 quality of aluminous earth. In like maimer 

 an aluminous, or clayey soil, would show 

 strongly the faults of aluminous earth, though 

 more than half its bulk might be of silicious 

 earth. Hence every tarrner can readily judge 

 of the perfection and of the defects of his soil, 

 which, from a knowledge of the distinctive 

 properties of the earths, he will be enabled to 

 correct by the addition and mechanical mix- 

 t\ire of such earth as may appear to be defi- 

 cient, thereby produce a soil, the best calcu- 

 lated to promote the growth and perfection of 

 vegetation. 



Joseph Clovd. 



Food for Sheep — Caution. 



To tlie Edrtor of tlie Panner&' Cabinet : 



Dear Sir, — I have sometimes observed 

 potatoes recommended as food for sheep du- 

 ring winter. I have no doubt they are 

 highly nutricious, but they should be used 

 with caution, as I have found that they are 

 injurious to ewes before they have dropped 

 their lambs, as they cause such a flow of 

 milk, that the udder becomes so hard and the 

 milk caked or thick, that the young lambs 

 are unable to draw it out, and witliout the 

 precaution of milking it out, the lambs must 

 perish. After the lambs have come, potatoes 

 may be fed to the ewes without danger, and 

 will cause the lambs to grow rapidly. Tur- 

 nepa may be fed to sheep at any time without 

 injury to the lambs. Yours. &c. 



S. 



Chesterfield, N. J. Jan. 8tti, 1839. 



Sir Humphrey Davy says, — There are no 

 accidents in nature; what we fancy so, is the 

 offspring: of ignorance, and because we can- 

 not comparatively embrace her laws, we con- 

 sequently apply general rules to every pur- 

 po.se, and do not perceive her minute devia- 

 tions. 



