24 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



ments. Once wet, it is cold, that is to say it dries 

 very slowly. A spade can only divide it into dense 

 clods slow to crumble in the air and not fit for re- 

 ceiving seed. The farmer must be careful to drain 

 off the water and break up the ground by working 

 it before and during frosts. It is improved by mix- 

 ing with it sand, coal-ashes, and lime. Wheat flour- 

 ishes better in a clayey soil than in any other kind. 



"Clayey soils are recognized by their vegetation. 

 The wild plants peculiar to this kind of soil are 

 colt's-foot and danewort. Colt's-foot is also called 

 horse-foot from the shape of its leaves, the outline of 

 which reminds one of a horse's hoof. The leaves 

 are white underneath. The flowers are yellow like 

 little marigolds, and they appear at the beginning of 

 spring before the leaves. Danewort is a kind of 

 herbaceous elder of about half the height of a man. 

 Its small white flowers are succeeded by berries full 

 of a violet-red juice." 



