EARTHS AND SOILS. 47 



it is applied. It corrects the adhesive qualities of clays, 

 and augments the absorbent and retentive qualities of sands. 

 Hence the advantage of applying lime to clayey, and 

 clay-Hiarl to sandy lands. 



The means of ameliorating, or rendering productive, 

 a soil too calcareous, are, to mix with it sand or clay 

 loams, or pure clay ; or, where the vegetable matter is 

 deficient, to blend with it quantities of peat or swamp 

 earth, or yard dung. 



Tillage crops are best adapted to calcareous soils, as 

 peas, turnips, barley, clover, wheat, and Indian corn. It 

 is difficult to bring these soils into permanent pasture or 

 meadow. 



5. Peaty soils, are those of our swamps and marshes, 

 in which vegetable matter exists in excess, in consequence 

 of their being habitually saturated with water, which has 

 prevented its decomposition. On being thoroughly drained, 

 some of these soils, in which the vegetable has been re- 

 duced to something like soft, black powder, or where the 

 earths constitute a considerable portion of the surface 

 stratum, have become very productive. But where the 

 vegetable matters greatly preponderate, or are coarse and 

 woody, it has been found necessary, in order to render 

 them valuable, after draining, to bring on a decomposition 

 by paring and burning the surface, or by the application 

 of lime, or barn-yard manure ; and sometimes a good 

 dressing of sand, or loam, has induced fertility. The 

 cause of sterility is not the want of vegetable food, but 

 the want of this food in a soluble or cooked state, pre- 

 pared for the mouths and the nourishment of plants. 



An author who has successfully explained the nature 

 of peat, says Sinclair, has adopted the following classifi- 

 cation : 1. Fibrous; 2. Compact; 3,. Bituminous; 4. 

 Peat mixed with calcareous matter ; 5. with sand or 

 clay; 6. with pyrites ; 7. with marine salt. Tliese, he 

 contends, differ essentially in their composition and chem- 

 ical qualities ; and, above all, each species requires a pe- 

 culiar treatment, in order to convert it either into a soil 

 or into a manure. 



The crops best calculated for reclaimed swamps, or 



