1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



487 



No tivo farms can indeed be found precisely sit- 

 uated, in point of soil situation, climate, and ex- 

 posure; and a very small difference in any of these 

 circumstances will occasion a great diversity in 

 their fertility ; consequently no rules can be strictly 

 applied to then- management. It has, however, 

 been jusily observed, 'that larnis thus variously 

 soiled are spurs to ingenuity — obliging their oc- 

 cupiers to break through those confined opinions 

 and narrow prejudices which arc too frequently 

 contracted in countries where a unilbrmity of soil 

 and regular routine of management prevail.'* 



From the vague manner in which soils are fre- 

 quently described, and the various acceptation of 

 llie same terms in diliercnt counties, it is ditucult 

 lor a farmer who reads an account of the agricul- 

 ture in any other district than that in which he re- 

 sides, to judge what relation such a soil may bear 

 to that which he himself occupies. In some parts 

 of England, any loose clay is called marl, and in 

 others it is called loam : while this is defined by 

 one to be a fat earth ; and by another, a nnxture 

 of clay, sand, and calcareous earth, without sla- 

 ting the proportions. Regarding the latter, it has 

 indeed been remarked by the late Mr. G. Sinclair, 

 that, on referring to books on husbandry and gar- 

 dening, we are directed to a hazel loam, a brown 

 loam, clayey loam, or to a humid sandy soil, peat 

 earth, garden mould, &c. ; but the want of pro|;cr 

 definitions of those terms is so perplexing, that it is 

 really impracticable to determine what kind of soil 

 is meant: thus, of upwards of fifty diflferent kind? 

 of soil and composts examined by him in various 

 parts of the kingdom, those under the same name 

 were found to differ greatly in their respective qual- 

 ities. The method of determining the nature of 

 soils by chemical analj^sis has, however, been of 

 late years so much simplified by Sir Humphrey 

 Davy, that it is now in the pouter of every practi- 

 cal person to ascertain their properties, without 

 much risk of being mistaken.! 



apparently equal quality, is usually estimated, is that 

 of the weight in proportion to its cubical measure; 

 and when the corn is to be manufactured into meal, 

 this must ever be a primary object, though subject to 

 many deductions, which also enter into the considera- 

 tion of the miller. But among those who require it 

 for the purpose of brewing, the saccharometer is a 

 more certain criterion — as, whatever the weight of the 

 grain may be, its strength, or nutritive power, will be 

 in proportion to the quantity of the saccharine matter 

 which it contains. 



* Marshall's Rural Econ. of Yorkshire, 2nd edit., 

 vol. i. p. 281. 



t All soil contain sands of various degree of fineness, 

 and impalpable earthy matter; when, therefore, the 

 exact proportions in which these are combined in a 

 soil arc ascertained, it shows directly to what class it 

 belongs — whether the loamy, claye)^, calcareous, san- 

 dy, peaty, 8cc. Sir H. Davy, however, states, in his 

 Agricultural Chemistry, 'that the term saiidy should 

 never be applied to any soil that does not contain at 

 least seven-eighths of sand. Sandy soils that effer- 

 vesce with acids should be distinguished by the name 

 of calcareous sandy soils, to note the ditference which 

 exists between them and those that are silicious. The 

 term clayey should not be applied to any land that con- 

 tains less than one-sixth of impalpable earthy matter, 

 not considerably elfervescing with acids. The term 

 loam should be limited to soils containing at least one- 

 third of impal[)able earthy matter ; and a soil to be 

 considered as ;;ea/j/ ought to contain at least one-half 



Composition of Soils. 



The gurfacc of the earth is composed of various 

 descriptions of matter, chiefly minerals — viz., clay, 

 lime, marl, gyps, fluor, talc, sandstone, slate, 

 quartz, and barytee. These are 'he names by 

 which geologists distinguish the diflcrent kinds of 

 rock (whether in solid masses or pulverized) which 

 compose the superstratum, and which, when re- 

 duced to an incoherent mass, forms the soil, or 

 what we call the arable staple of land. 



In order to convey clear ideas of the compo- 

 nents of arable soils, brief notices of the dilferent 

 eartb.s may in the first place, be given— in order 

 to lead to a right understanding of how one kind 

 of soil is more lertile than another, and also how 

 any one may be improved by admixture with an- 

 other. 



Clay is an earth consisting of several varieties, 

 differing in color, tenacity, and some other parti- 

 culars. Blue clay is Ibund in immense beds, un- 

 der the channel of rivers, in the' bottom of valley.?, 

 or forming the superstratum of hills over chalk or 

 limestone. Almost every kind of clay contains 

 qualities favorable to vegetation : more especially 

 those varieties which are decomposable by the ac- 

 tion of frost, or the alternate effects of showers 

 and sunshine. A surface of pure clay requires to 

 be long under cultivation before it becomes liivora- 

 ble for the operations of husbandry ; but when 

 thoroughly reclaimed, no description of sod yields 

 more abundant crops. 



Calx is lime combined with acids. To this de- 

 scription of earth, chalk, powder-chalk, and all 

 the different sorts of marble, belong. The two 

 former are found in vast masses forming some of 

 our highest hills on the south of England. They 

 no where constitute the arable surface, except on 

 the margins of the hills formed ot" them ; but are 

 discoverable, in a reduced or powdery state in al- 

 most all our best soils. A portion of lime earth is 

 an useful addition to all soils, particularly claj's and 

 dried gravel. Being attractive of moisture, it as- 

 sists the effect of fi-ost on clay, and gives consis- 

 tence and coolness to light land in summer. 



3Iarl is calcareous, or lime earth, mixed with 

 clay. The common marl lias a soft unctuous feel, 

 and is found in thin strata, or in beds of conside- 

 rable thickness, in various parts of the kingdom. 

 A marl-pit of this description is a valuable source 

 of riches to the light-land farmer: a good coat of 

 it bestowed on a sandy or gravelly field effects the 

 greatest improvement — not only by giving consis- 

 tence to the stapde, but also adding a fresh acces- 

 sion of vegetable food; and that called shell- 

 marl acts powerfully upon the improvement of 

 clays. 



Gyps is calcareous earth saturated with vitriolic 

 acid. This peculiar earth is ibund in a loose state 

 at Glipston Quarry, in Northamptonsire, and in se- 

 veral places on the continent. In its solid forms it 

 recives the names of alabaster, plaster-stone, or 

 selenites. Being heated, it falls to a fine powder 



of vegetable matter. These may be considered as the 

 genuine characters of soils, and determined by a very 

 simple process — that of washing the impalpable earthy 

 matter of the soil from the sandy portion, and by diy- 

 ing and ascertaining their respective weiglits- — when 

 the application of an acid shows whether it belongs to 

 the calcareous or the silicious kind of soil.' — Sinclair's, 

 Ilort. Gram. Woburn., p. 118. 



