TH E 



Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of 

 — -Xenoplion. | the State. — Sully. 



FRANK. G. RUFF IN, Editor. F. G. RUFFIN & N, AUGUST, Prop'rs. 



Vol. XVII. RICHMOND, VA., JULY, 1857. No. 7. 



From the Cyclopedia of Agriculture. 

 The Soil. 



CONCLUDED. 



A point of great practical importance' 

 is the state of division in which the con- 

 stituent parts of soils are mixed together ; 

 and as chemical analysis gives no infor- 

 mation in this respect, the necessity for 

 submitting the soil to a mechanical exam- 

 ination becomes apparent. Such an ex- 

 amination enables us to ascertain whether 

 its mechanical condition is such as to 

 render its cultivation economical or ex- 

 pensive, and at the same time allows us 

 to recognize the nature of the stones 

 which are found in the soil. An ac- 

 quaintance with the composition of the 

 stones affords a good criterion as to its 

 probable state of productiveness, and in 

 many cases suggests either the propriety 

 of leaving the stones on the land or re 

 moving them. 



In hot climates, or in dry seasons, the 

 crops are often injured on account of the 

 want of the necessary supply of moisture ; i 

 in many localities, indeed, cultivation 

 would become impossible, if all soils did 

 not possess the property of absorbing 

 water, either in the form of vapours or in 

 25 



the state of dew, from the atmosphere. 

 This property, consequently, has a mate- 

 rial influence upon the productive char- 

 acters of soils, and contributes to explain 

 the superiority of one soil over another, 

 since different soils possess this property 

 in a very unequal degree. Thus Sir Hum- 

 phry Davy found, that when made per- 

 fectly dry, 1000 lbs. of a 



Very fertile soil, from East Lotljian gained in one 



hour, IS !bs. 



Very fertile soil from Somersetshire, gained 



in one hour, 16 " 



Soil worth 25s. per acre, from Mersea, in 



Essex, gained in one hour, 13 " 



Sandy soil, worth 28s. from Essex, gained 



in one hour, 11 

 Coarse sand, worth only 15s., gained in one 



hour, 8 " 



Soil of Bagshot Heath, gained in one hour, 3 " 



It thus appears that fertile soils possess 

 this property in a very considerable de- 

 gree, whereas a purely silicious soil ab- 

 sorbs but a small amount of water on ex- 

 posure to a moist atmosphere. We must 

 not, however, estimate the comparative 

 state of fertility of different soils by the 

 amount of moisture which they are capa- 

 ble of absorbing in a dry state from a 

 moist atmosphere ; for peaty soils, which 

 possess this property in a still higher de- 

 gree than the best vegetable moulds, 



