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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



£ August 11, 1870. 



mastery. At the mouths of our great rivers we hare islands or deltas 

 constantly increasing, -which are destined some day, perhaps, to be 

 rich pastures, where prize stock will fatten, or fair gardens where cham- 

 pion Grapes will win future medals. 



But the sea is sometimes generous, and gives tribute to the land. 

 This is attested by the rich alluvial tracts along our eastern coast, for 

 ■where the land slopes smoothly to the ocean, and the waters roll over 

 a shallow strand, every tide leaves a deposit which, increasing thus, is 

 at last embanked, and forms the rich alluvial fields that Lincolnshire 

 delights in. 



I have already referred to the operation of the forces of the atmo- 

 sphere on the exposed surfaces of the earth. In the comparatively 

 Equable climate of our own country such causes as heat and cold, wind 

 and rain, are in constant operation, aud, aa we all know, assist us greatly 

 in the preparation of land, and the labour we bring to bear upon the 

 earth's surface assists the process of disintegration. 



HaviDg thus cursorily glanced at the causes which have contributed 

 in the greatest degree to the accumulation, dispersion, and deposition 

 of the earthy matters that result in soils, before proceeding to trace 

 out in detail the various deposits of soil, spread like a garment over 

 the stony framework of the earth, it will be as interesting as it is im- 

 portant to our inquiry to examine the great rock system of England. 

 We shall by so doing be better able to trace back to their natural beds 

 or formations some of the drifts or accumulations of 6oil which are 

 found to occur, more or less abundantly, on different places. 



From the western end of the Cheviots a mountain range commences, 

 iermed the Pennine Chain. It stretches due south through North- 

 umberland, Cumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and with 

 a break terminates in the small mountain range of Charnwood, in 

 Leicestershire. A great part of this range is composed of carboni- 

 ferous rocks, lying in an anticlinal ridge, and having the lower series 

 of rocks in the centre and the upper in the flanks. Connected with 

 ihis chain is a group of mountains, occupying part of Cumberland, 

 "Westmoreland, and Lancashire ; these form the Cambrian group of 

 the lake district, and present the highest summits in England (Hel- 

 ■wllyn, 3,055 feet). The stratification of these rocks has been dis- 

 turbed by intrnsive masses of granite and igneous rock. The old red 

 aandGtone or Devonian has a considerable development in Hereford- 

 shire. That important section of the carboniferous system, the coal 

 measures, occurs extensively in the north of England, Yorkshire, 

 Lancashire, Derbyshire, Notts, Lincoln, and Stafford. The lower red 

 sandstone fringes the northern coal field, and appears in Shropshire 

 associated with the coal formation. The magnesian is found in North- 

 umberland, Durham, Yorkshire, and Nottinghamshire. The new red 

 sandstone spreads from the foot of the rocks already described into 

 great rolling plains which occupy a large part of some of tho midland 

 counties ; an extension of this system runs down the valley of the 

 Severn, through Somerset and Devon, to the mouth of the Teign. A 

 similar extension runs through the county of York to the Tees, while 

 a third occupies nearly the whole of Cheshire. 



The secondary rocks, from the lias to the chalk, strike regularly 

 across it in a S-W. and N.E. direction, and presenting escarpments to 

 the W. and N.W. The softer portions of these formations make plains 

 or valleys, and the harder and stronger rocks long ridges of hills. "We 

 iave thus the plain or valley of the lias running from Lyme Regis to 

 Whitby. Over this comes the oolitic escarpment. As the chalk dips 

 towards the east, it becomes overlaid by tertiary beds, which extend 

 from Norfolk to Hampshire, with one remarkable interruption. This 

 is a broad and elevated ridge of chalk that extends from Salisbury 

 Plain to the N.E. of Winchester, where it divides into two ridges, one 

 She North Downs, the other the South Downs. In the centre of this 

 valley rises a ridge composed of Hastings sand, the beds of which 

 bave been largely removed by denudation. 



The tertiary beds of the south-east of England are separated into 

 two parts, occupying two basin-shaped depressions, called the London 

 and Hampshire basins. Every rock formation which I have described 

 has been more or less denuded by the operation of the various causes 

 incident to the drift; period, but notably by glacial action, and by the 

 great boreal and the subsequent eastern drift. Had the carboniferous 

 and red sandstone formations been composed only of rock, however 

 powerful the action of the agencies brought into play during the 

 pleistocene period, the resulting detritus would have been great plains 

 of gravel and boulders — fragments, in fact, " confusedly hurled like 

 Telics of an earlier world." The preparation for the great events that 

 caused the dispersion of soil had preceded the time of their occurrence. 

 The ancient seas of the carboniferous period had formed from the 

 vaste of the granite, silurian and Devonian systems, immense beds 

 eomposed of shales, clays, Blates, and sandstones, while the profuse 

 7egetation of the period added the coal beds. The displacement, 

 amalgamation, and dispersion of these matters is evidenced throughout 

 She system. The deep valleys that intersect the mountain masses of 

 •he carboniferous rocks show the amount of denudation they have 

 suffered ; and the debris are scattered far and wide over the land. 

 Some of the best soil in the northern counties is composed of the 

 matters borrowed from those ancient rocks. 



Chatsworth, amongst other places, owes some of its deep-loam beds 

 to the degradation of the neighbouring rocks ; and the feeding meadows 

 that surround ancient Haddon have lost none of their fertility al- 

 though they fattened beeves for the hospitable owners of the "Hall 

 centuries ago. 



The upheaval of the millstone grit in Derbyshire, and the subse- 

 quent waste of the stone, has formed over a wide extent of surface a 

 poor, siliceous soil, which sustains heath and endless moors. This is 

 an example of what I call a primitive soil, one obtained directly from 

 the wash or decay of rocks or marl beneath. This, too, is first in my 

 list of peat soils, on which I shall comment presently. The mountain 

 limestone, which is one of the divisions of the carboniferous, is associ- 

 ated, but not intermixed, with grit. Its purely calcareous character 

 separates the vegetation of the two rocks as widely as the poles ; and 

 while on your right you see the purple Heather blooming, on your 

 left you have woods and corn fields. 



The next important soil-producing formations to be noticed are 

 those derived from the permian and triassic systems. These, by their 

 subordinate elevation and central position, the previous character of 

 their shells and marls, suffered greatly Jrom the denuding action of 

 the various drift currents to which they were exposed, and, con- 

 sequently, contributed an immense amount of earthy matter over the 

 whole face of the midland and south-eastern counties. The red 

 loams, of which, fortunately, we have many examples, are derived 

 from these marls, intermixed with gravel and vegetable debris. The 

 Bunter conglomerate of this system gave rounded pebbles, the gypseous; 

 beds of the lower series sulphate of lime ; altogether the mineral 

 matters from this system are of incalculable value in fertilising vast 

 tracts of land. 



An example is offered in this formation of benefits conferred but 

 not enjoyed. The pebbly beds of the conglomerate remain undis- 

 turbed, a poor siliceous gravelly soil is the result, the marl beds below 

 being out of reach. This affords some of the least profitable land ia 

 Nottinghamshire. A crystallised form of magnesian limestone occurs 

 at Mansfisld, but this is overlaid to a depth of 10 feet by beds of 

 marl, interstratified with a band of limestone. As a rule, it is not 

 safe to assume that the surface soil partakes exclusively of the 

 character of the substrata, and contains its essential principles ; and 

 in recent discussions some eminent gardeners have made the mistake 

 of supposing the surface soil above the dolomite rocks to be invariably 

 made up of their dtbri-s, when in reality the rocks are too far below 

 the surface to affect vegetation. 



Descending in the series, we find the upper beds of the oolite, the lias, 

 have suffered extensive denudation; an immense quantity of limestone, 

 clay ironstone, has been swept away from the oolites throughout Leicester 

 and the adjoining counties. The sweeping effects of the currents of 

 the drift, as the land gradually rose, are very evident. The relics of 

 our rocks, in fragments of stone, fossils, and ironstone nodules, may 

 be found scattered through the gravel beds of the counties south-east 

 of us, as well as filling some of our own valleys. 



"We hear occasionally of great agricultural as well as of horticultural 

 achievements in our eastern counties. Sporting gentlemen tell of 

 Turnips whose growth reaches the knees, and gardens eminent for the 

 excellence of their products are known to ns all; but while conceding 

 a great deal to skill, I must, as a faithful chronicler of soils, attribute 

 not a little to their influence in securing such favourable results. 

 Throughout the northern and midland counties we find, as I have de- 

 scribed, the great rock system scored, and rent, and abraded of a por- 

 tion of the mineral treasures of the red sandstone, the oolite lias, 

 chalk, swept away, and this grand compost spread as a dressing over 

 the limy, craggy beds of Norfolk and Suffolk. Can we wonder that 

 Turnips grow? "or that "Mrs. Pollocks" are evoked? or that man has 

 been rendered eloquent, when half a country has been broken up, and 

 its fertile stores given to these happy lands in the east? 



The cretaceous groups which comprise the chalk and the gTeensand 

 are not very extensively developed, although the white chalk cliffs have 

 given a name to our country. We are all more or less acquainted with 

 one of the products of the Downs, which have given us a breed of sheep 

 (Southdown) few fail to appreciate. 



But little drift rests on our chalk hills, and the sparse flinty soil, 

 though fertile with management, requires good farming or good garden- 

 ing to bring it up to the mark. The numerous valleys which intersect 

 the formation contain deposits of detrital loam, while beds of clay and 

 gault occur in the system. The associated greensand formations are 

 developed largely in Surrey, Bedfordshire, and Kent. The greensand 

 of the latter county forms a base for the peat 6cils, which, according to 

 certain notions, produce a wonderful effect on the growth of Heaths. 

 The upper and lower greensauds are, under good cultivation, valuable 

 for early cropping and for seed lands. The two well-known examples 

 of the tertiary system which I shall instance, are the London clay and 

 the Bagshot sand. I cannot speak in terms of very high commendation 

 of the horticultural capabilities of London clay. It is very hard to 

 work, and, like a doll boy, requires a good deal of keeping up when it 

 reaches the friable point. It does not equal the lias, plastic, or gault 

 clays, when made into a soil. 



I have spoken a little regretfully of the waste of some of the form- 

 ations, but when I approach the Bagshot sand, that dreary waste 

 of comminuted silica that runs through parts of Surrey, Sussex, and 

 Hampshire, I can only say that it is a matter for regret that some of 

 it at least was not overwhelmed, like Norfolk, and either its sandy 

 wastes swept away or covered over with a few feet of loam, which, 

 were it spread upon these heathy barrens, would make this tract of 

 country smile like a garden. The pebbly beaches and sand beds, poor 

 and hungry as they seem, are gradually submitting to reclamation, 

 and being healthy, are attracting the smoke-dried Londoner, who may 



