NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



91 



There are but four kinds of earth which con- 

 stitute the globe. These are Clay, Sand, Lime 

 and Magnesia. Lime and magnesia are so far 

 similar in their properties, that lor my purpose, 

 it may not be necessary to treat of them separ- 

 ately. Stones are composed of these earths in 

 a concrete and hardened state. Gravel is either 

 aluminous (or clayey^ gravel, silicious (or sandy) 

 gravel, calcareous (or limy) gravel, or a mix- 

 ture of two or more of these. Loam and marl, 

 likewise, are composed of different proportions 

 of these two or three sorts of earth. Clay, sand 

 and lime, together with vegetable and animal 

 remains, and comparatively minute quantities ol 

 salts and acids compose the vast varieties of 

 soils which are denominated good, bad, wet. 

 dry, cold, warm, light, heavy, rich, poor, bar- 

 ren, fertile, &c. Sic. Every soil is more or less 

 <letective in proportion to the scarcity or entire 

 absence of one or more of these ingredients. 

 Clay without sand, or sand without clay, and 

 both of these without lime, are like a stool in- 

 tended for a tripod, with but one or two legs, 

 worth little or nothing till the missing part or 

 parts are supplied. The addition of manure, 

 when clay, san<l and lime are not all present, 

 and properly mixed, will prove of very little 

 service, except so far as the manure may chance 

 to contain the kind of earth wanted to complete 

 the composilionof the soil. Considerable lati- 

 tude, however, may be allowed in the propor- 

 tions in which these earths may be mingled. A 

 soil, composed of three eighths clay, two eighths 

 sand, and three eighths of tinely divided lime 

 stone, is very proper for wheat. Likewise, 

 eight ninths of calcareous marl, which is a com- 

 pound of clay and marl, and only one ninth of 

 sand, will produce good wheat. Sir Humphrey 

 Davy found that a soil, containing eleven parts 

 out of twelve of sand, would yield tolerable 

 crops of turnips. A greater proportion of sand, 

 however, produced absolute barrenness. Clay 

 and sand may be mixed in any proportion"" trnm 

 one ninth to eleven twelfths. That is to say, a 

 soil may consist of clay except a ninth |)art 

 sand, or of sand except a twelfth part cla}'. 

 These two extremes, so wide from each other, 

 leave a vast intermediate space to be tilled up ; 

 and this accounts lor the almost iniiaite variety 

 of loams, all productive, which are met with in 

 our globe. Lime is required, but smill quanti- 

 ties will answer. A soil, however, whicii does 

 not contain a porti.on of liine has a defect, which 

 .can be remedied by no other substance.* 



To apply these rules we will suppose a soil 

 lo consist of pure clay and it is necessar3' that 

 it should contain at least one ninth part of sand. 

 It will then be proper to spread sand over it 

 one inch deep, and mix it well with the barrow 

 or cultivator. This will give one ninth sand, 

 provided the tillage be nine inches deep.-^ 

 Again, if the soil be pure sand, and it is neces- 

 sary that it be mixed with at least one twelfth 

 part of clay, spread over 3'our field one half 

 inch of clay, and the culture may be carried to 

 the depth of six inches, and 3'our soil will be 

 curtd of its barrenness. The constitution of 

 your soil being thus changed, you may feed it 

 with njanure vvith a certain prospect of benelit 

 result ing.t 



* Pee Letters of Agricola. 



tThe following mode of ascertaining; the constituent 

 {larts of soils is from the " Letters of ,\»ricola," and ■• 

 /•commended for its simplicity, aud the J'acilil/ yii 



ill 



Lime is not only a necessary ingredient in 

 every soil, whicli is intended to produce a vig- 

 orous vegetation, but it is wanted (0 compose a 

 ftart of the substance of certain plants, and -^skcai 

 is one of the number. No plant can grow in a 

 soil which is utterly destitute of the earthv in- 

 gredients which must constitute its substance. 

 Lime then is as necessary to raise wheat, as it 

 IS to make lime mortar ; and unless that sub- 

 stance or something like it is found native in 

 the soil, it must be supplied by art, or wheat, 

 and some other plants of which it composes a 

 part, cannot be perfected. 



My opinions on this subject do not rest upon 

 abstract theory alone, but high authorities and 

 facts indiS|>utal)le and unequivocal can he pro- 

 duced to corroborate them. The author of 

 Letters of Agricola says, '■'■ It is fact that lime is 

 indispensable to the production of superior 

 wheat crops. The rye lands of Herefordshire, 

 which were reported by Dr. Beale in the year 

 lG3l3, as incapable of producing wheal, have 

 been so much fertilized by the subsequent in- 

 troduction of this fossil manure as to be suc- 

 cessfully applied to the growth of that and eve- 

 ry other grain. This and similar effects may 

 be referable m part to the subserviency of this 



which it may be accomjilished, ivithout having recourse 

 to costly materials or implements of analysis. 



'■ In the field to be examined, take earth a little be- 

 low the surface from four separate places, about one 

 tburth rjf a pound, avoirdupois, from each. Kxpose it 

 to the sun, or before the tire, till it is complttely dry ; 

 and turn it over frequently that it may be well mixed 

 togethiT. Krom the heap take exactly four ounces, 

 and pass this through a fine sieve, whicli will allow all 

 panicles of sand and gravel to escape, but which will 

 hold back stones, small fibrous roots, and decayed 

 wood. Weigh the two parts separately, and take a 

 note of each. I'he stones and other bulky materials 

 are then to be examined apart from the roots and wood. 

 If they are hard and rough to the touch, and scratch 

 glass easily, they are silicious or flinty ; if they are 

 without much ditficulty broken to pieces by the fingers, 

 and can be scraped by a knife to powder, they are alu- 

 minous or clayey ; or if when put in a wine glass and 

 common \iiiegar poured upon them, small air bubbles 

 asc< nd to the fop of the liquid, they are calcareous, 

 i he findy divided matter which ran through the sieve, 

 must next undergo the test of experiment. After being 

 weighed, agitate tiie whole in water, till the earth be 

 taken up from the bottom, and mechanically suspend- 

 ed, adding water till this efi'ect be produced. Allow 

 the mass then to settle for two or three minutes, and in 

 that time the sandy particles shall have all sunk to the 

 bottom. I'our off the water, which will then contain 

 the clay in sus]iension, and the insoluble earth arising 

 from animal and vegetable decomposition. T he sand 

 should first be attended to, and if from inspection, it be 

 tliouglit * ither silicious or calcareous in its nature the 

 requisite tests may be instantly applied. By this lime 

 the niixturi' will have deposited at the bottom of the 

 vessel th:- clay, and other earths, with the insoluble 

 aninial and v(g< table matter. After pouring off the 

 water, diy thi seiliment, and apply a strong heat by 

 placing it on the bottom of a pot, ignited to redness, 

 [heated red hot,] and the animal and vegetable matter 

 will burn, and lly off in aeriform products. The re- 

 mainder, lying in the bottom, will be found to consist 

 of clay, magnesia or lime. To obtain accuracy, anoth- 

 er one fourth [lound of earth should be taken from the 

 same heap, and th*- whole process gone over a second, 

 a third, and even a fourth time, Uiat the operator mav 

 rectil'y anyjplunders he had previously committed, and 

 be satisfiecHis to the results of his experiment. He 

 should provide himself with a pair of fine scales and a 

 set of weights, divided at least into ounces and drachms. 

 Although vinegar will defect lime by effervescence, it 

 does not dissolve it so eiTectually as the nitric or muri- 

 atic acid, [aqua forfis, or spiiits of sea salt] small quan- 

 tities of which may be procured from tlio druggists at 

 no great expense," 



earth to the more perfect formation of the veg- 

 etable structure ; for we know that birds, if 

 confined to a cage, will lay eggs with soft shells 

 So wheat may labor under some antilogous im- 

 perfection, unless the carbonate of lime cotncs 

 within reach of its roots." 



1 might multiply authorities on this subject, 

 but shall content myself with one more quota- 

 tion from •• Anderson's Recreations,"' a work 

 held in high estimation in Kurope. 



" 1 had." says Dr. Andeiv:on, "a litdd of good 

 arable land, a mellow loam iu Aberdeenshire, 

 which had been long in culture, often dressed 

 with animal and vegetable manure*, aud was of 

 course eudoived with a considerable degree of 

 fertility; but being full of weeds it was subject- 

 ed to a thorough summer fallow in order to get 

 rid of these aud bring it to proper tilth in other 

 respects ; aud as lime is tuund to be an active 

 manure in that district, it had a moderate dres.s- 

 mg of lime put upon it, and some dung at the 

 same time. The whole field was sown with 

 ivheat at the proper season, which sprang up 

 equally thick on every part of it. For some 

 time no diflcrence was perceivable in the . ap- 

 pearance of the crop over the whole ; but b^- 

 and bye, it was observed that the wheat on a 

 small jiortion of the field, which by accident had 

 not had any lime put upon it, became pale and 

 sickly. ^^ bile the crop in other parts of the 

 field advanced luxuriantly, it dwindled in this 

 particular (lalch more and more, till towards the 

 beginning of May, t-ie whole had died quite out, 

 and not one stalk of wheat was to be found upon 

 it, though the weeds inconsequence of the rich- 

 ness of the soil at that time grew there with 

 extreme luxuriance. Perhaps the proportion 

 of calcareous matter did not. in this case amount 

 to more than one thousandth part of the whole, 

 vet the qualities of the soil were thereby total- 

 ly altered, insomuch that though before the ap- 

 l)l:calion of that dressing, the soil was incapable 

 of producing wheat at all, it was found at all 

 times after that period well adapted for the rais- 

 ing of this crop. Nature has formed many soils 

 with a similar proportion of calcareous matter, 

 blended imperceptibly in them, over large dis- 

 tricts of land.""* 



By this article it appears that small quantities 

 of lime will proJuce a permanently beneficial 

 effect, if a|)plied to land which is destitute of 

 that kind of earth. A quantify equal to one 

 thousandth part of the whole mould Within reach 

 of the roots of the plants commonly cultivated 

 would not be a dear dressing even in Massa- 

 chusetts, where lime is not remarkably cheap 

 nor very jilenty, yet that small quantity was 

 found by Dr. Anderson, to be suflicient to eflect 

 a permanent change in the constitution of a 

 certain soil, and enable it to produce good wheat, 

 although previous to its application it would not 

 ripen a single stalk. Larger quantities, how- 

 ever, would probably be beneficial. English 

 farmers apjily from tiU to 4(.iU bushels of lime to 

 an acre, as it measures when Iresh from the 

 kiln. 



It may perhaps be asked, why new huids, or 

 lands recently cleared from their native woods 

 will at first jiroduce good crops of wheat, but 

 alter having been cropped for a series of years, 

 although made rich with manure, will lose the 

 faculty of producing that vegetable ? To this 



j * Anderson's Recreations, Vol. 1. p. 16. 



