10 On Paring and Burning. 



need to be entertained that soils become impoverished by paring 

 and burning, if this operation is performed as a preparation for 

 root crops to be consumed on the land. 



Srdly. The third objection against paring and burning, raised 

 on the ground of expense, being a purely practical one, might be 

 fairly left for settlement with those more directly interested in 

 this matter. I may observe, however, that I have been at con- 

 siderable pains to ascertain the opinions of practical men on this 

 subject, and have received reliable evidence that paring and 

 burning, in the judgment of the best farmers on the Cotswold 

 hills, is the most economical means of raising on land of certain 

 descriptions a good crop of turnips ; and that it has been followed 

 for ages with the most successful results. Numerous personal 

 inquiries lead me to confirm the opinion expressed by Mr. Caird, 

 who says that the best farmers on the Wold burn the most. 



Mr. Caird rests his opinion on the testimony of several practical 

 men; amongst other things he mentions "a field which had been 

 broken up from its natural state exactly fifty years ago ; it was 

 then pared and burned, and so started the first crop of turnips, 

 which supported the other crops of the course. The same 

 process had since been seven times repeated ; no manure of any 

 kind had ever been applied, except such as arose from the con- 

 sumption of its own produce on the ground, and the crops in 

 each succeeding rotation had shown no sign of decreasing. The 

 soil, which lies on the lower oolite formation, is very thin, but as 

 it is not more so than when first broken up, its depth must have 

 been maintained by the ploughman, perhaps imperceptibly, 

 bringing up some fresh subsoil after each burning." 



It affords me peculiar pleasure to show the perfect agreement 

 of this practice with scientific principles ; and I hope likewise to 

 be able to show that the money laid out in paring and burning is 

 much more economically spent than by purchasing guano, super- 

 phosphate, or other manures for root-crops. 



ON THE CHANGES PRODUCED ON PARING AND BURNING. 



In order to enable the reader fully to understand the advan- 

 tages resulting from paring and burning, it now devolves upon 

 me to explain briefly the changes which take place in the con- 

 stituents of the soil submitted to this operation. 



These changes are of a twofold character. 



The first relates to the action of fire on the organic matters, 

 the second to that of fire on the mineral substances of the soil. 

 Let us consider each separately. 



1. Action of Fire upon the Organic Matter of the Soil. 



All cultivated soils contain organic matter, some in smaller, 

 others in larger proportions, in the shape of decaying or decayed 



