536 



The Scouring Lands of Somerset. 



[OCT., 



many points in Somerset. Here often, by crossing a stream 

 or a ditch, it is possible to step from very "teart " to perfectly 

 mild land which yields excellent pasturage for dairy cows. 

 The surface soil on the two sides is usually entirely different, 

 being much looser and better in texture on the good land, 

 though often, not far below the deposit of Alluvium, there 

 is the sticky blue or yellow clay subsoil, just as in the adjoin- 

 ing scouring land. Where the Alluvium occurs the land is 

 usually known as "moor" land, and nearly all of it is liable 

 to be flooded in winter. 



The manner in which mild "moor" land and "teart" land 

 occur intermixed is well seen at Kingsdon, near Somerton, 

 where there is a patch of sound fields quite surrounded by 

 scouring land ; also near Meare, where there is an area of 

 Lias clay, the pastures on which are nearly all "teart," sur- 

 rounded by sound, mild, alluvial land, and here the deposit 

 of Alluvium is peaty and of great depth. The scouring 

 pastures are situated on rising land which is not covered by 

 Alluvium, and which is not liable to flood. 



It is not only where the Lower Lias gives place to Alluvium 

 that the change from "teart" to sound land can be seen; 

 the same thing occurs at the boundary between Lower Lias 

 and Inferior Oolite in several places. Usually, however, the 

 change is not so marked as at places where the Lias and 

 Alluvium adjoin; "teart" land gives place to sound 

 before the actual boundary (as marked on the geological map) 

 is reached, probably because the Lower Lias formation 

 begins to be obscured by Drift. 



The chief characteristic common to the surface soil of all 

 "teart" pastures is its stiff, unyielding, essentially "clayey" 

 nature. Moreover, a superficial examination of the soils of 

 many "teart" pastures of var} T ing degrees of "teartness" 

 leads to the conclusion that in the fields in which scouring 

 is worst the surface soil is found to be most "clayey" and 

 closest in texture. These points made it of importance to 

 investigate the physical nature of the soils and the results 

 forthcoming are of some interest. 



It is important in discussing the physical nature of a soil 

 to distinguish between its mechanical structure, as revealed 

 by a mechanical analysis, and the actual physical condition 



