AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 429 



tliis valuable property depends upon its porousness and capacity 

 of containing deliquescent salts, this faculty becomes less apparent 

 as the soil absorbs moisture. Humus is particularly hygrometric, 

 perhaps more so than any other substance. We know that sili- 

 cious sand does not absorb a large quantity, therefore a soil rich 

 in humus would be ray choice, and this should be deeply plowed, 

 that the interstices of the soil may become thoroughly aerated, 

 to induce the growth of vegetables, and by so doing we bring up 

 the sub-soil into the arable surface, the fertility of which will 

 inevitably be retarded for a season, in spite of all the enriching 

 substances he may draw on, as the sub-soil must be exposed to 

 atmospheric influences, before it can produce the desired effect, 

 but the advantages afterwards will be great. 



You have all probably noticed that when white clay is brought 

 to the surface, and exposed to the oxygen of the air, it turns blue 

 in the process of condensing oxygen, this superoxidation is the 

 means by which our soils become ameliorated. I never would 

 consent on any consideration to work a clay soil, becaiise in wet 

 seasons, they absorb an immoderate quantity of water, assuming 

 the appearance of mortar, and during drought are so dried, and 

 become cracked lo such an extent that the roots of vegetables 

 cannot penetrate them, and if they have been successful before 

 the dry weather, the roots perish for the want of covering. Frost 

 has the same effect as drought upon a clay soil, therefore it cannot 

 be tilled in early spring, being a mass of mud, nor in the fall, as 

 it is nearly as hard as rock, and being an oxide of a metal is a bad 

 conductor of heat, which is so necessary to vegetable growth. It 

 would cost one hundred and fifty dollars per acre to convert a 

 clay soil into a productive loam. From a niggardly economy, the 

 resources of clay lands, have never been half developed, and 

 never will until legislative enactments convert sterility into pro- 

 ductive fruitfulness by endowing agricultural colleges and model 

 farms. 



Unless a clay soil contains at least thirty-five per cent of sand, 

 it will be so tenacious as to render the labors of the husbandman 

 diflicult, and the growth of a crop precarious; still with this per- 

 centage, and a fair share of humus, wheat will succeed. Barley 

 will do pretty well if there is twenty-eight per cent, and oats 

 thirty eight per cent. Light soils seldom accumulate too nuuh 

 moisture, they are worked early and late, with great ease, and at 

 small expense; vegetation springs immediately, and the harvests 

 are early. 



