On Paring and Burning. 21 



character of a soil on which a practice like that of paring and 

 burning answers very well. 



Were a farmer to burn light sandy soils, he would, as a rule, 

 do decidedly wrong, for sandy soils are naturally open and 

 porous ; they readily admit atmospheric air, and consequently 

 the decomposition of organic matters in the soil proceeds rapidly 

 enough. It would thus be not only a needless expenditure to 

 pay for the cost of paring and burning, but the destruction of 

 vegetable remains in most sandy soils would also be followed 

 with evil consequences ; for it is evident that the destruction of 

 constituents which possess the power of absorbing moisture and 

 ammonia from the atmosphere must do harm in soils which do 

 not contain, like clay soils, mineral matters which are capable of 

 fulfilling this useful function. 



ON BED OR (SO-CALLED) VEGETABLE ASHES. 

 ( Vegetable Ashes and Burnt Soil.) 



The favourable opportunity I had of collecting the red ashes 

 produced on paring and burning both soils, the composition of 

 which has just been stated, induced me to examine the ashes of 

 each separately. In one instance, moreover, I ascertained the 

 total amount of the red ashes per acre, and, having made a 

 careful analysis of a well-prepared average sample, I am enabled 

 to state in exact numbers how much phosphate of lime was con- 

 tained in these ashes. 



Composition of Red Ashes from a Field on the Farm attached to 

 the Royal Agricultural College. 



The physical characters of the soil of this field, as well as its 

 chemical composition, have been described already ; I need not, 

 therefore, repeat the analysis expressing its chemical composi- 

 tion. The season, on the whole, was favourable for burning, and 

 the soil, which, it will be remembered, contained, in an air-dry 

 condition, about 13 per cent, of organic matter, was sufficiently 

 dry to allow of its being burned in a fair average quantity. The 

 probable produce in red ashes, as estimated by inspection of the 

 number and size of heaps of ashes on the field, did not appear 

 very great ; this soil, it will be remembered, had no depth, and 

 therefore could not give, on paring and burning, a very large 

 quantity of ashes. In many instances I have seen, on the hill- 

 lands in our neighbourhood, double the quantity of ashes per 

 acre. The soil in the field was burned in small heaps, varying 

 somewhat in size. Each little heap produced from 2 to 4 

 bushels or, on an average, about 3 bushels of red ashes. On 

 an acre of land I counted 146 such heaps. Weighed in their 



