22 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



These three expressions mean about the same. 

 Sandy soils have little consistency, are easily perme- 

 ated by water, and freely absorb the sun's heat, 

 which makes them very subject to drought. 



"The name of granite is given to a rock composed 

 chiefly of silica and which forms whole mountains, 

 as in central France and in Brittany. The soil 

 formed by the gradual disintegration of this rock is 

 sometimes called granite soil. It is not very good 

 for agriculture. Chestnut trees prosper in it, as 

 well as certain wild plants characteristic of this kind 

 of land. The principal ones are the various species 

 of heather and the purple digitalis. Heather, with 

 its dainty little pink blossoms, carpets in richest 

 abundance the poorest of sandy soils. The purple 

 digitalis is a large-leaved plant whose flowers, red 

 on the outside, striped with purple and white inside, 

 are arranged in a long and magnificent distaff reach- 

 ing almost to the height of a man. The flowers are 

 in the shape of long tun-bellied bells or, rather, glove- 

 fingers; hence the plant is sometimes called fox- 

 glove, sometimes lady's fingers. 



"The soil composed of substances thrown up by 

 volcanoes is also sandy, and is called volcanic soil. 

 It is generally black and sometimes very fertile. 



"Sandy-clay soil is found in the valleys of great 

 rivers. It is the most fruitful and the easiest to 

 cultivate. Such are the soils of the Ehone valley, 

 the valley of the Loire, and that of the Seine. It is 

 still more fertile if it is flooded by the stream at 

 high water. Then the river deposits a rich slime 



