26 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



needs considerable calcareous matter for the forma- 

 tion of bones, which are to us what its solid frame- 

 work is to a building. This material, so necessary to 

 us, is not created by us ; we obtain it from our food 

 and drink. Water plays its part in furnishing this 

 limestone, which it furnishes also to plants ; they all 

 contain a greater or less proportion of this mineral 

 matter. 



"Calcareous soils are whitish from their chief con- 

 stituent, chalk. Entirely sterile when the propor- 

 tion of limestone is excessive, they are tolerably pro- 

 ductive when clay is added. They are especially 

 suitable for vineyards and for raising lucerne, sain- 

 foin, and clover. Champagne and the south of 

 France offer examples of this kind of soil. Its prin- 

 cipal varieties are chalky soil, which is nearly ster- 

 ile, containing as much as ninety-five per cent of 

 chalk, and marly soil which is composed of clay and 

 chalk. 



"The plant-life characteristic of calcareous soils 

 comprises the box-tree, whose compact and fine- 

 grained wood is so esteemed by turners; the wild 

 cornel, whose red, olive-shaped fruit is one of the 

 best-liked autumn products that nature offers us; 

 and the alkekengi, or winter cherry, whose yellow 

 berries are used for coloring butter. These berries 

 are encased in a large, gorgeously red membranous 

 bag. 



"Wood, leaves, herbage, left a long time in contact 

 with air and moisture, undergo a slow combustion ; 

 in other words, they rot. The result of this decom- 



