EARTHS AND SOILS. 35 



next proceed to speak of some of its principles and prac- 

 tices.* 



CHAPTER V. 



EARTHS AND SOILS. 



Earths are merely the decomposed rocks which are 

 exposed on the surface of the globe, and are as various as 

 the rocks of which they are made. They consist mainly 

 of sand, clay, and lime, with, occasionally, an admixture 

 of magnesia, iron, &c. They are considered more or 

 less fitted to become the basis of a good soil, in propor- 

 tion to the quantity of organic remains w^hich the rocks 

 contain from which they originate — primitive rocks afford- 

 ing the poorest, and secondary rocks the best basis. 

 Hence the utility of geological surveys. But the earths 

 alone, however blended, do not possess fertility. 



Soils consist of earths, with more or less of the de- 

 composed organic matters afforded by dead plants and 

 animals, — which latter constitute the true food of plants, 

 as much as hay, grain, roots, and herbage constitute the 

 true food of farm-stock. 



Earths are found in the ashes of plants ; and silex is 

 apparent in the epidermis of Indian corn, wheat, oats, 

 and the hollo v/ grasses ; and, although the earths seem 



* " The man who makes agriculture not merely productive, but 

 honorable ; who surrounds his farm with the images of the most at- 

 tractive happiness ; who dwells in a neat abode, such as a republican 

 might build, and republican simplicity ought to desire ; who, in addi- 

 tion to the song of the robin, can make the music of contentment flow 

 around his calm abode ; can unite it with the intelligence of a citizen 

 who knows his rights, and is determined to defend them ; who shows 

 that tills bxisiness is favorable to mental culture, and as fair a road as 

 any to political eminence ; — such a man does more to encourage the 

 profession, than all other causes combined. He touches the springs 

 of action in their centre, and blesses his country and mankind. He 

 plants the laurel beside the plough, and allures thousands to come, 

 and, after having toiled within its fragrance, to sit beneath its shade.'* 

 — Whitington's Address before the Essex Agricultural Society. 



