1838.J 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



491 



our own country, but in every other part of (he 

 known world : thus, in Valencia, one of the most 

 hijihly-cultivaleJ and the richest districts in nil 

 Spain, tlie soil, though rendered wonderfully fer- 

 tile through a regular command of water by tanks 

 constructed in the time of the JMoors, and ap|jro- 

 priated to irrigation, yet its products are for.nd so 

 deficient in real nutriment as to have passed into 

 a proverb expressive of their inferiority in the 

 power of imparting vigor.* So, also, in a large 

 lowland quarter of the island of Martinique, call- 

 ed the Lamentin, nothing can exceed ihe appa- 

 rent richness of the vegetation: the canes grow 

 to immense sL-^e, but the sugar, though beautiful- 

 ly white, is almost an impalpable powder, so scan- 

 tily possessed of those crystals which consiitute its 

 saccharine strength, that it decomposes when car- 

 ried across the Atlantic, and is almost useless to 

 the refiner. 



Peat. 



Besides the above-mentioned earths, there is a 

 class of others called inflammables, from their pro- 

 pert}' of being combustible. These are coal, bitu- 

 men, peat, &c., which, when reduced to pou'der 

 and incorporated with, or even spread on, the sur- 

 face, act beneficially on vegetation. The ashes, 

 too, of these minerals are a good dress, especially 

 for cold moist soils. 



That which falls under the denomination of 

 peat, is distinguished in its natural state fi-om 

 every other kind of soil. It is formed of succes- 

 sive layers of healh and other course herbage, 

 which spring up and decayupnn the sward, without 

 having a temperature of sufficient heat to effect 

 their entire decomposition; but being aided by a 

 certain degree of humidity, they continue to pro- 

 duce other plants which at length constitute that 

 mass of vegetable matter, which is so common in 

 Ireland and Scotland and our northern counties, 

 under the names of bog and peat. It is of a dark 

 color and spongy texture ; full of fibrous paritcles 

 in a partial state of decay ; tough and elastic; 

 and when dried, becomes inflammable. From 

 this description, it might be supposed that it con- 

 tains the chief elements of fertility; yet expe- 

 rience proves the contrary: for it is found, when 

 in a state of nature, to be so completely barren as 

 hardly to deserve the name of soil, until art and 

 labor have been exerted to bringit into a state fit for 

 tillage. By these means it has, in some instances, 

 been brought to the consistence of a light kind of 

 land, extrecnely well adapted to the culture of po- 

 tatoes and other tuberous roots, as well as the 

 lighter species o[' grain and flax, and somewhat 

 resembling loam. It indeed wears the appearance 

 of a rich mould, and may thus deceive an inex- 

 perienced eye ; but, unless greatly ameliorated by 

 the mixture of some solid earth, it is found, on 



* It is not very expressive of gallantry, and runs 

 thus : — 



"En Valencia, la yerva es agua. 

 La came es yerva, 

 Los hombres son mngeres, 

 Y las mugeres—nada." 



In Valencia, the f^rass is water, 

 The flesh is grass, 

 The men are women. 

 And the women — nothing;. 



closer examination, to be loose and porous, quickly 

 saturated with water, and loo easily discharged 

 from it. 



A late writer on the subject remarks, "that 

 when we consider the vast extent of the masses 

 of this bog, which, in the cold and temperate re- 

 gions, overspread so great a portion of the surfiice 

 of the earth, and which, though full of vegetable 

 matter, is yet little friendly to vegetable life, we may 

 believe that in its history, in its nature, and in its 

 use-, it piesents many materiiils to the agricn.lturist 

 tor inquiry, which may illustrate the means of either 

 converting it into a soil or into manure, for the im- 

 provement of olherlands : but it must be confessed 

 that these important inquiries have not all been so 

 perlectly answered as is to be desired ; and that 

 nmch yet remains to be learned of the nature and 

 the uses of peat-moss."* 



It only remains to be noticed that there are two 

 other constituents of soils, namely, salts auAmetals, 

 and which, where they abound, have a powerful 

 eli'ect on plants. Of the latter, iron is the most 

 li-cquent, and, when in excess, is prejudicial, es- 

 pecially to corn crops. The ores of other metals, 

 as lead and copper, are also hurtful to vegetation ; 

 but this only appears in the near neighborhood of 

 mines. 



Of salt?, there are many descriptions found in 

 land springs, and lisually recommended for medi- 

 cal purposes. Their existence in arable land is, 

 however, imperceptible, unless very near salt 

 springs. Sea, or common mineral salt, though not 

 a food of plants, is, notv.'iihstanding, a useliil in- 

 gredient, particularly in dry soils. Its great affin- 

 ity for water assists summer crops wonderfully. 

 It is also an excellent cleanser and renovator of 

 exhausted soils. Slugs will not live where it is in 

 any sensible quanlity; and while it is grateful to 

 cullivated plants, it aj^pears to be offensive to moss 

 and all diminutive weeds. Its use as a dress is too 

 much neglected by llirmers. 



There is thus an endless variet}' in soils, and 

 those of apparently equal fertility are almost all dif- 

 ferently composed. A certain knowledge of chem- 

 istry is necessary toascerlain in what those differ- 

 ences consist ; for it is in the accuracy wilh which 

 they are described that the best modes of remedy- 

 ing their defects, and improving them by the appli- 

 cation of either lime, clay, sand, or oiher fossil 

 substances, can be discovered. Farmers, however, 

 generally contrive to obtain a tolerably correct no- 

 tion of their imperfections by a comparison with 

 the soils of their neighbors, and thus experience 

 in such cases supplies the want of science. The 

 sure indications of a good soil are commonly to 

 be found in the state of the hedges and timber, 

 especially oak and ash — full, wide-spreading tops 

 presenting an appearance of luxuriant growth; 

 vvliereas, if stunted, it is a certain sign that the 

 land is poor. The weeds, natural to peculiar soils, 

 are also strong proofs of cither p.ovcrly or ferlilily. 

 Land is, in certain cases, also to be distrusted, al- 

 though the crops upon it may be fine ; for they 

 may have been forced by over manuring, and thus 

 brought to a condition which it may be found very 

 difficult to continue : v/hile, on the contrar}', good 

 land, though exhausted by improper cropping. 



* Mr. Low, on the Classification of Soils, Quart. 

 Jour, of Agri., N. S., vol. i. p. SO. 



