SOIL. 



«J laintfoin, and fome others, but they are capable of bear- 

 ing moll kinds in their different qualities and ftates. See 

 Stonebrash Land. 



Soils of this kind, though they have a barren and un- 

 .promifing appearance, are fometimes very produftive. 



4. Gravelly Soils. — It may be noticed, that in the gravelly 

 materials, which conititute loils of this defcription, there is 

 much difference in the fize of the (tony particles, from 

 that of the fmalleil pea, to that of the egg of a pullet. 

 But when they become of ftill larger dimenlions, they are 

 denominated llony or rocky foils, according as they arc in 

 detached or conneftcd maffes. But the gravelly beds, of 

 whatever kind, confril in general of filiceous or flinty, or 

 thofe of the calcareous or chalky kinds, while the rocky 

 and llony fubllances are of feveral different qualities. Vari- 

 ous other matters are mixed with thefe, fo as to conftitute 

 foils of this kind, which have much diverlity in different 

 rcfpefls. Thefe are principally matters of the loamy or 

 earthy kind, arifing from the putrefaftion and decay of dif- 

 ferent animal and vegetable materials. It is alfo remarked, 

 that the gravelly mixture is fometimes found to appro.ich 

 nearly to the furface, while at others it recedes confiderably 

 from it. In Middlefex, Mr. Middleton found, that when 

 the llratum was very near the top, a full crop of yellow 

 bloffomed broom covered the ground ; if in a itate of grafs, 

 and when ploughed, an equally full crop of forrel. This 

 was feen in the old inclofures. In fome inllances fprings 

 arilc immediately underneath ; in others they are at a great 

 depth. The bottom or fub-foil is likewife various ; in 

 fome cafes it is llony and rocky, in others it is clayey, or 

 a rocky gravel, and fometimes fand, &c. And it is added, 

 that the open porous nature of gravelly foils difpofes them 

 to admit moilture very readily, as well as to part with it 

 with equal facility ; from the latter of which circuraftances 

 they arc fubjeft to burn, as it is termed, in dry feafons, 

 which is not the cafe in the heavier or more retentive fort 

 of foils. 



It is evident that the differences of thefe foils mull be 

 remedied according to their nature, by the ufe of different 

 forts of matters of the marie kind. In cafes where the 

 gravel is of the calcareous kind, clay, or clayey loam, may be 

 properly employed ; and a mixture of the carbonate of lime, 

 or lime in its effete Hate, and clay, may be found beneficial ; 

 alfo chalk, as being of the fame nature, may be made ufe 

 of in the fame way. For thefe kinds of gravel, which, from 

 their contiguity to fprings, are apt to lie wet in the winter, 

 there is no manure more properly adapted than chalk ; 

 which, although it does not abound with vegetable matters 

 in any large proportion, like yard-dung, and fome other 

 dreffingi, is, however, an excellent preparation for them, 

 and will, iw fome meafure, fupply the place of fuch fub- 

 llances. It is found, from its abforbent nature, to have a 

 good effetl, not only in counteraAing the fuperabundant 

 moillure of fuch foils, but in leffening their heat ; by which 

 means the difpofition to burn in the fummer, fo inimical to 

 the growth of various crops, and to which all gravels are in 

 fome degree liable, is prevented : and in tliis lall view, 

 chalk, though particularly adapted to thofe of the wet and 

 fpringy kind, may be applied with fuccefs on gravels of 

 almolt every denomination, with the profpetl of advantage. 

 Where there exills any deficiency in the vegetable and animal 

 earthy materials, it may be properly fupplicd by dung of 

 the farm-yard kind in its more reduced Itate, and various 

 other animal excrementitious matters, which may probably 

 ke employed with the greatcll benefit in the torm of com- 

 pollfl, with good loamy mould, afhes, the mucilaginous 

 ^nJ clayey di-pofitions of rivers and ponds, and other lub« 



ftances of a fimilar kind. Several of thefe materials, and 

 fome others of the animal clafs, are, however, often ufed 

 feparately to the furface of foils of tliis fort, with the moft 

 evident advantage. 



Alfo much benefit ni:y be derived to fuch lands by a 

 proper alteration of green vegetables, and other crops that 

 arc ufually grown upon them ; as by fuch means the moif- 

 ture is more preferved, and the foils more guarded againtt 

 injury. In the Agricultural Survey of Hertfordfhire, Mr. 

 Young fpeaks of a poor fort of gravelly loil, the charafter- 

 iftics of which are wetnefs, or fpewinefs, as the farmer terras 

 it, from many fprings ; moll of which are fulphury, and 

 extremely unfriendly to vegetation, abounding more or left 

 with fmooth blue pebbles, which, at various depths, are 

 conglomerated by fulphury clay into plum-pudding Hones ; 

 in fome places fo near the furface as to impede the plough, 

 if fet but for an inch or two at a greater depth than the old 

 fcratchings of bad ploughmen : it is lliff, without a matrix 

 for the roots of plants ; and (harp and burning even in the 

 immediate vicinity of fprings : it has much llicky clay in the 

 compofition, but of a mod llerile nature. He hollow- 

 drained many acres ; but as he was obhged to employ the 

 pick-axe, the expence was too great ; and he found that the 

 ploughing it into high ridges was confiderably the bell way 

 of draining it. When it has been drained, manures have 

 then a great effeft for a time ; but fuch was the voracity of 

 the foil, that the benefit of manuring was foon loll, even 

 when it had been laid down for pallure lome years, as a 

 preparation for corn ; the beft improvement that can, he 

 fuppofes, be made on it, when cultivated for fuch a pur- 

 pofe. But it is fuggelled by Mr. Walker, that this foil is 

 beft adapted to wood ; for he was furprifed to fee the 

 hedges thriving with great luxuriance on land not worth 

 cultivation. 



Lime, in mixture with good mould, has been found ufe- 

 ful in Oxfordlhire, on hot gravelly land. It does very well 

 alone, but not equal to where it is employed in combination 

 with fome fort of earthy reaterial. In the lighter kinds of 

 gravels, the clayey marlcs are alfo frequently of very great 

 utihty ; and in thofe of the heavier defcription, the cal- 

 careous fort may often be employed with equal benefit. 

 When well mixed up, and blended with different earthy ma- 

 terials, they may both be laid upon gravelly foils with the 

 bell effefts, in many cafes. 



By thefe different means of improving the textures and 

 qualities of tlicfe kinds of foils, they have been fo much al- 

 tered and amended in the nature and arrangement of their 

 parts, as to be capable of affording good crops of many 

 different lorts, as well as of enduring the fummer lieats, 

 without being fubjeft to become too dry or burnt up by 

 them. 



5. Sandy Soils. — It is ftated that thefe arc a drfcription 

 of foils, which feem to have been formed gradually by the 

 reduftion of different forts of hard bodies in nature, parti- 

 cularly thofe of the calcareous, filiceous, and llony forts, the 

 particles being brought into different Hates of finenifs, being 

 in fome cafes extremely minute. Tin y vary equally iu their 

 colours in different inilances, being fometimes pcrfeftly 

 white, browiulh, yellow, and red. The differences in the 

 quantities in which other forts of matter enter into their 

 compofitions, allord confiderable variety in their weights, 

 tenacity, and different other properties. In fome dillridls, 

 foils ot tliis fort cxill of different kinds, from the lightell 

 fpecies of loam to the naked fand compofed entirely of fmall 

 flints, and in all of them there is a mixture of earth; ac- 

 cording to the proportion of whuh, liny are more or lefs 

 favourable to vegetation. 



Mm r And 



