1921.] The Improvement ok Pe\ty Soils. 3B 



Surface Soils Subsoils 





Wilsey Down 



_ _ _ ■ i 



LiiiiCiifit 

 Down 



David- 

 stow ] 

 Moor 



t'ar^tiii- 



haiii 

 Down 



WiNey 

 Down 



1 



Lan< ast 

 Down 



David- 

 stow 



Culti- ' 

 vated 



Wild ' 



Wild 



Wild 



Wild 



Wild 



Wild 



Wild 



27 

 1-7 

 14 1 

 341 

 18-8 

 11-2 



Fine gravel 

 Coarse sand 

 Fine sand 



Silt 



Fine silt 



Clay 



3-2 

 9-5 

 26-3 

 18-1 

 2o'8 

 2-4 



2r, 



G-3 



31-:) 



20-5 

 19-1 

 1-8 



12-5 



3- '.) 

 1-8 



20- 2 



21- 3 

 25-2 



4- 5 



1-6 



ir, 



15-4 

 33-9 

 17-0 

 31 



Kil 

 ITS 

 16-4 

 13 (; 

 11-0 

 3-5 



2-1 



t;-3 



32-4 

 17-0 

 240 

 6-0 



61 

 3-9 

 19-2 

 18-2 

 28-4 

 91 







Stones 





12-4 













Organic matter 

 Nitrogen 

 Carbonates 

 Acidity 



Lime requirement 

 Total potash 



(K3O) 

 Phosphoric acid 



(P.O.) 



91 



0-31 



nil 



11-9 



0-35 

 nil 

 present 

 0-48 



0-21 



004 



151 

 0-46 

 nil 

 present 

 0-67 



0-53 



0-10 



1 



19 5 

 0-63 

 trace 



! 



i 

 ! 



17-0 

 0-48 

 nil 



6-2 



0-15 



nil 



8-6 

 0-23 

 trace 



121 

 0-29 



trace 



difficulty about reclamation; some has been carried out already 

 on Wilsey Down. The first ploughing is heavy because of the 

 broken stones, sometimes the work proves even dangerous when 

 done with a horse plough ; there is less difficulty with a tractor. 

 More important perhaps than anything else in these high districts 

 is the selection of suitable varieties of crops. The Cornish oat — 

 " American " — is still grown on the old moorland farms as it 

 has been for 40 years past. Preliminary trials indicate, how- 

 ever, that some of the newer sorts such as " Yielder " and 

 " Golden Rain " may prove distinctly better. Phosphates 

 (superphosphate or perhaps basic slag) should be liberally used to 

 hasten ripening of the cereals and to improve the feeding value 

 of the rape and seeds grown for sheep feeding. Nitrogenous 

 fertilisers and lime are also likely to be efi^ective. There is 

 much room for carefully considered experiments on the improve- 

 ment of these soils. 



Another group lies at lower altitudes and under a smaller 

 rainfall ; it offers even better prospects of reclamation ; examples 

 are found in the Staddon grits of the Lower Devonian series at 

 Newlyn Downs and St. Brioch's, Cornwall. Analysis of the soils 

 gave the results shown in the next table (there are no important 

 differences between the waste and the cultivated soils'). 

 An example of reclamation of this type of land is seen on Tre- 

 mollet Down where a tract of 280 acres was taken into 







