50 EARTHS AND SOILS. 



'' Loams are of four sorts : 1. Sandy; 2. Gravelly ; 

 3. Clayey ; and, 4. Peaty. 



"1. A sandy soil and a sandy loam, are easily distin- 

 guished. A sandy soil is always loose and crumbling, 

 and never gets into a clod, even in the driest weather ; 

 whereas a sandy loam, owing to the clay which is mixed 

 with it, retains a degree of adhesion or cloddiness, after 

 wetness or drought, and will not suddenly crumble down, 

 without the application of machinery for that purpose.^ 



" A mellow, rich, crumbling, sandy loam, adhesive 

 enough to fear no drought, and friable enough to strain 

 off superfluous moisture, if incumbent on a good sound 

 subsoil, is the most profitable of all soils, being managed 

 with much less expense than any other soil, and raising, 

 with advantage, every species of crop that the climate 

 will admit of. 



" 2. Gravelly loams, where warm, sound, and dry, or 

 free from springs, are useful soils, more especially in wet 

 seasons and climates. 



''3. A clayey or stiff loam, is nearly allied to brick 

 earth. Though the soil might originally have been poor, 

 cold, and hungry, yet, if it be well drained and highly 

 manured, it will yield great crops. It is found well 

 adapted for the dairy. 



"4. Peat, in some of its varieties, may likewise be 

 converted by culture into a species of black, soft loam, 

 and, in that state, it becomes highly fertile and produc- 

 tive." — Sinclair's Code of Agriculture. 



It has been already mentioned, that mould containing 

 a mixture of animal and vegetable remains, is an essential 

 ingredient in all fertile soils ; that the effect of cropping 

 is to diminish this fertilizing property ; and that if vegeta- 

 ble and animal matters are not returned, to make up for 

 the exhausting influence of the crops taken off, the soil 

 will ultimately become sterile and barren. 



The offices of the soil are, 1. To receive and digest the 

 food designed for the growing plant. 2. To serve as a 

 medium for conveying to the spongioles or mouths of 

 plants, the water holding in solution the different sub- 

 stances which pass into and nourish them. And, 3, 



