24 Soil. 



scent manures. It is this which renders clayey soils, in the 

 neighbourhood of towns, so extremely fertile. Burning part 

 of the clay, to be afterwards incorporated with the soil, to 

 render it more friable, has likewise been attended, in some 

 instances, with advantage, more especially if there, is any 

 marie in its composition. 



Clay soils require much labour and expense to render 

 them productive ; but, under proper culture, they are well 

 calculated for growing crops of beans, wheat, oats, clover, 

 and winter tares. They are not, however, adapted for 

 barley, unless immediately after a fallow; nor for pota- 

 toes, unless under very peculiar management ( 79 ). Turnips 

 do not usually thrive so well in clays, as in soils which are 

 more free and open. But it is now ascertained, that the 

 Swedish ( 8o ), and above all, the yellow turnip, may be raised 

 in them with advantage ; that the quality is superior ; that 

 if they are taken up early, the soil is not injured ; and that 

 there is no difficulty in preserving them. Clays become good 

 meadow lands, and answer well for hay, or soiling, when in 

 grass ; but from their aptitude to be poached, they are, in ge- 

 neral, unfit to be fed by heavy cattle in wet weather. In dry 

 seasons the after-grass may be used to feed young or lean cat- 

 tle till October, and sheep till March ( 8l ). A stiffclay also, 

 when not cold or wet, with a strong marie under it, is pre- 

 ferred in Cheshire and Derbyshire, for the dairy ( 8z ) ; and in 

 Ayrshire, with a less favourable subsoil, cows are pastured 

 in clay soils with profit. 



Ploughing previous to winter setting in, is of great use to 

 clays, by exposing the surface to the frost, which mellows 

 and reduces it in a manner infinitely superior to what could 

 be accomplished by all the operations of man. In this state, 

 the soil may remain till spring-seed time, when it ought to 

 be either ploughed with a shallow furrow, or merely scari- 

 fied, (which is the superior practice), and sown( 83 ). 



The fallowing of strong clay, (a subject to be afterwards 

 more fully discussed), is by some eminent farmers deemed 

 to be unnecessary, provided particular attention be paid to 

 the bean crop, and to sowing early, horse-hoeing regularly, 

 and weeding completely. Yet there are certainly many clay 

 soils, both in England and Scotland, so tenacious and ob- 

 durate, so adhesive to every thing that comes in contact 

 with them when wet, and assuming, when dry, such a stony 

 hardness, that they are but ill calculated, in that stubborn 

 state, for the purposes of vegetation ( 84 ). With such soils, 

 a summer-fallow is indispensably necessary every six, or 



