ON THE USE OF LIME, MARL, AND SHELL-SAND. 



49 



from the neighbourhood of Bude. 

 Hockin : 



They were sent to me by Mr. 



Composition of five Soils from the neighbourhood of Bude, Cornwall. 



Moisture 



Organic matter and water ofi 



combination [ 



Oxides of iron and alumina . . 



Carbonate of lime 



Magnesia and alkaline salts (de-1 



termined by loss) . . . . . . J 



Insoluble silicious matter 



No. IV. 

 1-10 



5-77 



10-62 



4-87 



27 

 77-37 



No. V. 



14-84 



7-35 

 95 



47 

 76-39 



100-00 100-00 



Soil No. I. came from Newhouse, near Bude, and is an aver- 

 age sample of the clay of the district ; depth of soil about 12 

 inches below yellow clay. This field has not been sanded for 

 the last five years, and as it still contains nearly 5 per cent, of 

 carbonate of lime, a further dressing of sea-sand would be of no 

 use except as a mechanical ameliorator. 



Soil No. II. is a soil from a field on Halls. This field has been 

 a furze-brake for the last 30 years, until 1855, and consequently 

 cannot have been sanded for that time. About 30 years ago, 

 Mr. Hockin informs me, it was in wheat and was probably sanded. 

 The soil is light and on a porous rock, in some parts stony ; 

 depth of soil from 4 to 8 inches. There is much less carbonate 

 of lime in this soil than in the preceding, and I have no hesita- 

 tion in saying that a good dressing of shell-sand would now do 

 good to this soil. 



No. III. is from a field at Well. This is a light soil, has been 

 most liberally sanded every two or three years for many years. 

 Naturally the light soils in this district are almost destitute of 

 lime, and a simple inspection will show that the carbonate of 

 lime shown in the above analysis is all due to the shell-sand 

 added to the land, evidently in enormous quantities, at one time or 

 the other. On land treated like No. III. it may be safely asserted 

 the further application of shell-sand must turn out a complete 

 failure. 



No. IV. is a soil from Broomhill Field, Berry Park. This 

 field, I am informed, is a fair specimen of the soil in this district ; 

 it rests on a porous rock, and is in a good state of cultivation. 

 Depth of soil about 8 inches ; has not been sanded for the last 

 10 years. 



It will be seen that this soil still contains nearly 5 per cent, of 

 carbonate of lime. On this soil likewise a further application of 

 shell-sand would not be attended with any benefit. The analysis 



