ON SOILS. 33 



the blessings which Providence has so bounti- 

 fully placed at the disposal of its creatures, 

 may in some measure be appreciated. 



There are many other branches into which 

 this subject would lead us, had we the inten- 

 tion to pursue it; for instance, the character of 

 the sub-soil, whether chalk, gravel, clay, or 

 stone, are all matters of paramount importance 

 to the agriculturist. The colour also of a soil, 

 and its capabilities thereby of absorbing and re- 

 taining the rays of the sun, is another circum- 

 stance, to which perhaps too little attention is 

 paid; again, its local position, whether it lies 

 open to the genial south, or is exposed to the 

 north, should be, and is a matter of importance 

 in determining the crops, and the seasons for 

 sowing them ; and another feature is the quality 

 of the water which exists in the neighbour- 

 hood, and its influences, as well on the mea- 

 dows which it irrigates, as on the cattle and 

 stock of the farm. 



All these are subjects of inquiry and of im- 

 portance, which require a careful considera- 

 tion in adapting the crops, best suited to the 

 capacity of the soil to perfect them, and we 

 may feel assured that those persons who pay 

 the greatest attention to these minutiae will be 

 amply rewarded, in the increased produce of 

 their farms, or certainly in not being disap- 

 pointed in the results they may have anti- 

 pated. 



