276 SOIL TYPES [chap. 



season but can be proceeded with very readily, they are 

 especially suited to market gardening, wherever situ- 

 ated sufficiently near to a large town to enable large 

 quantities of manure to be obtained cheaply. Where 

 the water table is close to the surface, sandy soils can 

 become very fertile, roots range freely in them, and appli- 

 cations of manure have their full effect. Like all light 

 soils, they are apt to become very weedy. Of the crops 

 suitable to soils of this type, spring wheat is often better 

 than the autumn-sown variety; the quality of wheat 

 is, however, generally inferior on sandy soils; barley 

 is better than oats, and maize is worthy of attention 

 as a fodder crop. Swedes, cabbages, and the cruciferous 

 crops generally, are subject to " finger-and-toe," in conse- 

 quence of the poverty of the soil in lime and soluble 

 mineral constituents. 



With certain exceptions, leguminous plants do 

 not grow well on sandy soils, and require considerable 

 supplies of lime and mineral manures ; there are, how- 

 ever, some leguminous plants which are characteristically 

 calcifuges — i.e., intolerant of lime in the soil — lupins, 

 serradella, and gorse belong to this class. Allusion has 

 already been made to the reclamation of sandy land in 

 Prussia by means of lupins, and probably more use 

 might be made of the crop in this country on similar 

 soils. Experiments made with gorse on the coarse 

 sandy soil of the Royal Agricultural Society's farm 

 at Woburn, indicate that it may become a profitable 

 fodder crop on such soils. 



Potatoes are perhaps the best crop on the sandy 

 soils, but require considerable expenditure of manure, 

 including large dressings of potash, to do well. Carrots 

 are another crop particularly appropriate to sandy soils, 

 as they need a deep, fine tilth. 



The manuring of sandy soils must be based upon a 



