INTRODUCTION. 35 



gives mellow compactness, and no more of the 

 latter than makes it sufficiently absorbent of 

 water and receptive of every influence from the 

 atmosphere. It is usually found of considerable 

 depth, and reposing on rock, or clay, and some- 

 times, though more rarely, on gravel. Loam, in 

 its natural state, is of various colours ; on some 

 elevated situations it is red; in valleys, it is 

 almost black ; but on gentle declivities, pale 

 brown or hazel. That best suited to the culture 

 of flowers is found in old pastures, on commons, 

 and in natural woodlands ; either composing the 

 surface, or in pits of considerable depth. When 

 obtained pure from such wastes it is called 

 maiden loam, because it has not been exhausted 

 by crops, and because it contains a certain quality 

 which has yet no name among cultivators ; a 

 quahty, which is, beyond all others, favourable to 

 vegetation — this luxuriating when that is pre- 

 sent, and failing when it is fled. This maiden 

 quality exists in different degrees in all kinds of 

 loam, and indeed in all kinds of soil when first 

 broken up. 



D 2 



