Agriculture in England, 7 



hare succeeded at Heckfield.* A considerable portion of the 

 stony soils belongs to the great chalk formation which;, resting on 

 the basis of Hampshire^ flings its arms widely^ in four directions, 

 as far as the sea, through Dorsetshire, Sussex, Kent, and York- 

 shire. On this extensive tract another, and singular, mode of 

 permanently improving the texture of the soil, by blending with 

 it a part of the subsoil, has been long and successfully, though 

 very partially, practised. Pits, like wells, are sunk in the field, 

 by workmen used to the business, and from the bottom of these 

 the best sort of chalk is brought up with a Avindlass, to be after- 

 wards spread over the surface ; which thus, in the winter months, 

 when the operation should take place, that the lumps of stone 

 may be shaken to pieces by the frost, presents at a distance the 

 aspect of a field covered with snow. The benefit of this rather 

 expensive operation has been long acknowledged, though its mode 

 of action has not been explained. It is less surprising, indeed, 

 where the upper soil of the chalk formation consists of a thin layer 

 of reddish clay, left behind by the Plastic Clay formation ; but 

 even where that soil is a shallow sheet of earth, that appears to 

 be made up of fragments of the stone upon which it rests, this 

 ancient practice of laying on a fresh coat of that very stone is 

 stated to be equally advantageous. Enough, however, has now 

 been said to prove how much remains to be done for the per- 

 manent improvement of the English soil. Indeed, while it may 

 with truth be affirmed that our husbandry, on the large scale, 

 stands in the first rank, as far as the surface of the ground is 

 concerned, it must equally be admitted, as regards the subsoil, 

 to be yet in its infancy. There is scarcely a situation where, 

 however wet, or dry, or stony may be the natural ground, a 

 kitchen- garden, with a bed of mould two spades deep, may not 

 gradually be formed by the constant, long-continued care of the 

 gardener. While the sand is stiffened, and the clay mellowed, 

 and both deepened, the very stone is probably, by length of culti- 

 vation, worn down into soil. Nor can British husbandry be con- 

 sidered complete in this department until all the farms of this 

 country, like those of Flanders, are brought into the same condi- 

 tion of garden-like temper and depth. 



If we suppose the soil of a farm to have been provided with a 

 free and healthy subsoil, the next subject to which the inquiry of 

 agricultural science may be directed is the manner in v,dnch that 

 soil should be prepared for the reception of the intended crops ; 

 but it is unnecessary to do more than to touch upon one or two 

 of the principal heads. The most simple and ancient of rural 

 instruments, the plough, though probably much more than 



* See the letter of Mr. Shaw Lefevre, No. V. of this Journal. 



