CHAPTER III. 



ON DJSINTEGKATING THE SOIL AND PERMEATING IT 

 WITH VEGETABLE MATTER. 



ONE of the most important points to be considered 

 in the whole subject of laying down land to grass 

 IS the disintegrating or finely bi*eaking up the soil, and 

 the intermingling with it of a sufficient proportion of 

 vegetable matter, so that the soil may provide a good 

 nest for the plant; for, as Sir John Lawes has well 

 pointed out, it is the physical condition of the soil, 

 its permeability to roots, its power of absorbing and 

 radiating heat, and its power of absorbing and i-etain- 

 ing moisture, that is of more importance than its, strictly 

 speaking, chemical composition. This is a sentence, I 

 need hardly say, that every agriculturist should learn 

 by heart, and keep constantly before his attention, and 

 especially in connection with laying down land to grass; 

 for it is in consequence of the neglect of what Sir John 

 has so well pointed out that failures so often occur, 

 and the power to which he alludes of absorbing and 

 retaining moisture is probably of supreme " importance, 

 for however abundant plant food may be, it must be 

 remembered that it cannot enter the plant except 

 through the medium of water. In this connection I 

 may quote the following advice given by my late friend, 

 Mr. Faunce de Laune, to a correspondent, under the 

 following circumstances. 



The land, as to which his opinion was sought, was 

 thus described to him : — 



" The land is desperately poor land. It has been let lately 

 at 2s 6d an acre, and the tenant is leaving ; before that it was 



