67 



sods, scourings of ditches, <S:c.) lime mixed with it 

 will prepare it for becoming food for plants : but if 

 rich earth lie taken from arable fields or the liottom 

 of dimgpits, &c. and mixed with quick lime (which 

 is the kind I am supposing), the whole mass, for 

 certain reasons (depending on chemistry), will be 

 less fertilizing ; so that making composts of rich soil 

 of this description, with dung or Hme, mixed or se- 

 parate, is, to say the best of it, a waste of time and 

 laliour. 



Limestone powdered makes an excellent manure. 

 The road scrapings in the limestone counties is a fine 

 substitute for burnt lime. Three pounds of unburnt 

 lime by burning are reduced to two pounds of shell 

 lime, yet nothing is expelled by the fire but the gas 

 that was in the limestone — the calcareous earth re- 

 mains entire. 



Malt dud laid on the surface of a meadow, howe- 

 ver old or poor, will cause the rankest vegetation. 



No. xvni. 



A novel plan to make old soil 

 Repay tlie skilful tiller's toil, 

 Is here from Mr. Radcliffe sent, 

 And Martin thinks it excellent. 



The hanking to which the above Unes so critically 

 apply, is the collecting of old lay sods into banks, as 

 first tried, three years ago by the Reverend Richard 

 Radcliife on a small farm near Enniscoi'thy, in the fol- 

 lowing manner : 



He lightly ploughed half an acre of old grass land, 

 employed boys and girls to collect the sods into Iianks 

 tAventy paces asunder, by which the expense of car 

 work was saved. When this was done, the spaces 



