CHALK IN SOILS. 105 



turists take care to save and dig into their 

 fields and gardens all the refuse vegetable 

 matter they can, such as manure and 

 stable refuse, dead leaves, twigs and grass. 

 We shall have to refer to these later when 

 dealing with the question of manures. 



ti. In the West Indies the very wasteful 

 habit is often adopted of burning a great deal 

 of refuse vegetable matter instead of bury- 

 ing it in the soil to form humus. It is not un- 

 common to find a man busily engaged in 

 burning bush, leaves, and refuse, and at the 

 same time lamenting that his soil is becoming 

 worn out. Instead of being burnt these 

 things should be dug into the soil, or, if that is 

 inconvenient or impracticable, they should be 

 thrown into heaps and allowed to partially de- 

 cay. Loss of valuable plant food may be pre- 

 vented by covering the heap with layers of soil, 

 which also prevents the production of any 

 offensive smell or other unpleasantness. Such 

 heaps are known as compost- heaps, and if 

 adopted in every garden or provision ground, 

 the laments about worn-out soil would cease. 



CHALK IN SOILS. 



1. Carbonate of lime, or chalk, is present, 

 in some soils, in such quantities, that they are 

 distinguished as chalky or calcareous. Other 



