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THE planter's GUIDE. 



than one sort of soil, especially in the mineral districts. 

 In the park here three different species are found, namely, 

 tenacious clay, strong loam, and light sand ; and, fortu- 

 nately, also peat-moss in abundance near at hand. My 

 practice, therefore, has been diligently to collect and make 

 up masses or heaps of compost in different parts of the 

 grounds, adjacent to where the trees might be wanted, 

 and to have them always ready for use, of not fess than 

 six months old. These masses are compounded usually 

 in the following manner : first, quicklime recently burnt 

 (called in Scotland " lime-shells") with clayey matter 

 for the light land ; secondly, mild lime with sandy soil 

 for the aluminous ; and thirdly, quicklime with peat- 

 moss for the loamy. To each of the two soils first men- 

 tioned I usually give an addition of about a third part of 

 the peat compost ; and by procuring the peat in rather 

 an advanced state of decomposition, its speedy prepa- 

 ration is more easily brought about. 



In this way, I conceive, I have succeeded, with the 

 least possible expense of manure and labour, in preparing 

 materials for improving the different soils for the recep- 

 tion of the fibrous roots of trees. The clay compost, by 

 means of the lime, being brought into a state of decom- 

 position, surprisingly improves the silicious soil by giving 

 it greater consistency, in the same way that the same soil 

 is benefited by marl or calcareous matter. The sand 

 compost, in like manner, still more powerfully acts on the 

 aluminous soil. As all soils are meliorated by lime, that 

 do not effervesce with acids, and sands most remarkably, 

 so the hard and adhesive qualities of the clay are sub- 

 dued by the action of the sand and lime united, its parts 

 are comminuated, and the inert vegetable matter is 

 brought into operation. The peat compost, for similar 

 reasons, and by means of the lime which it contains, is 



