366 On the Cultivation of American Plants. 



eluding these we have nothing left except sand, very sandy 

 loam, and decayed vegetable matter ; and those substances 

 intermingled form, in fact, the very soil that American 

 plants demand. The idea of peat being essential is a mis- 

 take ; it is a very good material, because it consists of sand 

 and decayed vegetable matter, and so will any other mix- 

 ture of the kind be also a good material. Decayed leaves, 

 fragments of rotten branches, dead roots, (probably char- 

 coal,) and such matters mixed with sand, in order to prevent 

 the soil from becoming too compact, replace it perfectly. 

 The only value of peat consists in its being a good natural 

 mixture of what is wanted, and readily procurable in large 

 quantities, in many districts. As to the addition of loam, 

 the necessity of that depends, we imagine, upon little except 

 its power of retaining moisture longer than dead or decayed 

 vegetable matter. Provided the requisite moisture can be 

 constantly secured, loam ceases to have value. As to ma- 

 nure, no mistake can be greater than to suppose that, be- 

 cause plants happen to grow in poor barren soil, they prefer 

 it. With the single exception of conifers, we believe that 

 all known plants are improved by manure skilfully applied, 

 provided it is not in too recent a state. Phosphates, sul- 

 phates, and azotised matter in small quantities are the all 

 but universal food of plants, and "Americans" like them as 

 well as their neighbors. If any one doubts it he has only 

 to drench them now and then with weak liquid manure ; 

 that made from Peruvian guano, or cow-dung, is the most 

 active, apparently in consequence of its abounding so much 

 in phosphates. 



There must be free and constant access of moisture, with- 

 out stagnation. In this respect " Americans" offer no ex- 

 ception to the general rule ; the roots of all plants, if to be 

 kept in high health, must have free and constant access to 

 moisture, and without stagnation. That is the law. What 

 then is peculiar in American plants is merely this, that their 

 roots are much more quickly dried up than the roots of other 

 plants. They are not thick, fleshy, cellular masses, coated 

 with a spongy bark capable of detaining moisture with great 



