116 



ON ASCERTAINING THE 



When stout plants of tlie common broom grow 

 abundantly among thriving heath, they fornish an 

 unequivocal criterion of superior fertility. In land 

 that produces this plant, we may expect the larch 

 and the Scots fir to attain a very large size. We 

 may also plant in it the oak, if it is situate on a de- 

 clivity, and in addition to these, the beech, if it lies 

 in a hollow or ravine, with every prospect of suc- 

 cess. 



Furze or whin is a much less unequivocal indication 

 of the qualities of soil than any of the plants we have 

 yet mentioned. It springs up on the best as well 

 as the worst of soils, and it is rather from its size 

 than its mere presence that we can draw any con- 

 clusion as to the quality of the land where we find 

 it. When it is dwarfish, and has no large stems or 

 branches, although it be, at the same time, green 

 and healthy, we may take it for granted that the 

 soil is very poor ; but if, on the contrary, the stems 

 are large and gigantic, they indicate a quality of 

 land not inferior to that which produces broom. 

 Furze, however, is on the whole a very uncertain 

 criterion by which to judge of soils. 



Wherever we find any of the species of fern or 

 broken in pretty large quantities, we may safely con- 

 clude that the soil is of the most fertile quality of any 



