NORFOLK SOCIETY. 469 



well known as a writer on the applications of chemistry to 

 agriculture, are worthy special attention iu this connection. 

 He says, — " Fallow is only a legitimate operation of farming, 

 when the soil, as generally is the case in clay, contains a prac- 

 tically inexhaustible amount of alkaline silicates. In poor soils, 

 the process must be one of rapid impoverishment ; and unless 

 the ingi'cdients thus removed from the soil be fully restored by 

 manure, the operation of fallow can only be characterized as 

 an exhaustion of the capital of the land, and not as the use of 

 interest." 



Having in view, therefore, the principles alluded to, we 

 should strive to give to sandy soilmore firmness and solidity, 

 rather than more looseness. Instead of aiming to produce the 

 greatest amount of pulverization, we should try to disturb the 

 particles of the soil as little as practicable, or even to make them 

 more compact in ploughing. The complete inversion of the 

 furrow-slice, so that it shall lie flat, the edges closely fitting in, 

 is here important, because it offers less exposure to the air. 



A shallow furrow, too, is preferable to a deep one, except for 

 root crops, and particular cases where a large quantity of ma- 

 nure is to be applied. . Shallow ploughing for this kind of soil 

 best accords, also, with the principles before laid down as a 

 general guide, and practical experience corresponds to the prin- 

 ciples. There is very little natural fertility in soils of this de- 

 scription ; all their richness is near the surface, and has been 

 formed either by the slow accumulation and decay of indige- 

 nous vegetation, or by the artificial application of manure. It 

 is obvious that the advantages in favor of deep ploughing, as 

 before described, do not apply here. On the contrary, the deep 

 furrow is not only objectionable by disturbing the tolerable 

 compactness which, especially for the wheat crop, it is desira- 

 ble to preserve, but it would bury all the good soil too low for 

 the crop to derive the full benefit of its elements, and would 

 bring to the surface in its stead, the inert, sterile earth, which 

 is incapable of nourishing plants tintil made fertile by manure. 



One of the most sensible English agricultural writers, M. M. 

 Milburn, has made the following just observations on this sub- 

 ject. After showing that deep ploughing is highly beneficial 

 on deep soils, he says, — " But on poorer and thinner soils this 

 process would be unavailing. The subsoil below is poorer 



