52 



On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. 



far decomposed as to be readily assimilated to tlie substance of 

 the plants. When vegetation is active, and the organs of plants 

 vigorous, there is every reason to suppose that water is decom- 

 posed by the action of the leaves ; but this does not take place in 

 the infancy of the plant. The roots must find some nourishment, 

 ready prepared and easily assimilated. This has a strict analogy 

 with animal life. The infant finds its earliest nourishment in its 

 mother's milk, or, by the admirable contrivance of nature, in some 

 similar substance. The body of a young chicken is formed from 

 the white of the egg in which it was enclosed ; and the yolk is 

 a provision for the period which intervenes between its being 

 hatched and the time when its little bill is so hardened as to enable 

 it to peck and take up insects or small seeds. The seed committed 

 to the ground may be compared to an egg : the first expansion of 

 the embryo is entirely from the substance of the seed ; and, until 

 the seed-leaves are fully formed, it takes little or nothing from 

 the soil, except pure water. But after the real leaves expand, it 

 requires more nourishment, and if this is not found in the pores 

 of the soil, or if the roots cannot penetrate to it, the plant lan- 

 guishes and dies. It is of no use that plenty of rich manure is 

 somewhere in the soil, if it be not accessible, or if it be not in a 

 proper state to be absorbed by the tender fibres of the roots. 

 The plant v.dll die, as an animal would by the side of a chest full 

 of provisions, v/hich are locked up, or unfit for his organs of diges- 

 tion. These principles lead naturally to the best practice in 

 improving or cultivating the soil; and we shall find that the 

 mode pursued by the Flemings admirably accords with the 

 theory. 



The trenching and mixing prepares the soil for receiving the 

 additions of organic m.atter. The roots are fed with a liquid 

 manure readily taken up, and greatly invigorating, until a suffi- 

 cient portion of humus is formed, which gives the most gradual 

 and regular supply of nourishment. At the same time solid 

 particles are deposited v/hich fill some of the pores, and begin 

 that accumulation of humus v/hich in time will convert the whole 

 into a rich and fertile soil. 



It must be observed, that the smaller the particles of sand the 

 better the soil will be after being improved. Coarse sand, each 

 particle of which is a visible crystal, allows the humus to be 

 readily washed out. It must be mixed with clay or marl to fill 

 up some of its pores ; and if this is not already done by nature, it 

 must be done by art, or all the labour bestowed on the cultivation, 

 and all the manure expended, will never be repaid by the produce. 

 It is, therefore, of the greatest consequence to all improvers of 

 barren lands to know, not only what proportion of silicious and 

 argillaceous earths there is in the soil, but also what is the actual 



