6Q MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



"There are certainly strong reasons, in such cases, for 

 paring and burning fields of this description ; but they do 

 not apply to those lands where the vegetable matter is of a 

 different description, and would, by being covered over, be 

 speedily brought into a state of decomposition. In the 

 process of burning, it is evident that none of the earthy or 

 mineral constituents, or what are called inorganic portions of 

 the soil, are consumed. But all the vegetable matter, with 

 the exception of that portion which has become charred in 

 the process, is destroyed." 



" The humus of the soil serves to render it more friable ; 

 it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere,. and it retains heat, 

 and, in these respects, if in no other, contributes to vegeta- 

 tion. In dissipating this matter, then, by burning, we must 

 look for some compensation in the ashes which are produced, 

 or in the mechanical effects which this burning operates upon 

 the soil. The ashes themselves are powerful absorbents and 

 retainers of moisture, and they answer a valuable purpose in 

 the disintegration, or loosening, of the soil. They certainly, 

 in many cases, operate as an efficient manure." 



"The expediency of paring and burning land must, as I 

 have remarked, depend upon the nature of the soil which is 

 to be subjected to the process. On light, sandy, or gravelly 

 soils, where the vegetation is thin and sparse, it is strongly 

 objectionable." 



After having given Mr. Colman's instructive analysis of the 

 subject, we shall only add that we would suggest to Mr. 

 Horton that the ploughing under of several green crops, like 

 clover, would be likely to restore any loss of vegetable matter 

 which may have been incurred in the process of burning. 



J. D. "W. French, Chairman. 



Statement of Joseph Horton. 



As the land that I have offered for the society's premium, 

 having been inspected by you, received the same treatment 

 as a parcel offered last year, I quote in full from the 

 "Transactions" of 1875, my method in detail of treating 

 such lands : — 



