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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



for lime than the upper chalk. It produces thin, white, light soils, well 

 adapted to barley, roots, clover, lucerne, and sainfoin. 



The Upper Chalk is harder than the lower. The soils are more or less 

 mixed with flints. It produces a very short but excellent sheep pasture. 

 The abundance of earth worms in chalky pasture is noteworthy. A great 

 portion of the chalk land in Dorset, Wilts, and Berks is "sheep walk " ; 

 the narrow valleys are usually devoted to water meadows, sometimes 

 watercress beds. Down pastures are said to range in rent from 5s. to 14s. 

 the acre ; arable land on this formation from 12s. to 35s. Chalk is very 

 favourable to the growth of beech trees, as seen in Savernake Forest and 

 on the Chiltern Hills. The box tree is common on the chalk in Surrey. 



The yew also thrives on it. Many kinds of orchids grow on the chalk 

 downs in Kent, as well as dogwood, spindle, maple, wild cherry, thyme, 

 juniper, burnet, and kidney vetch. In Kent much fruit is grown over 

 chalk or where the chalk adjoins the Thanet sands, or is overlaid by clay. 

 Where the soil is not too thin and it is kept well dunged, strawberries, 

 raspberries, and bush and top fruit grow well over it. Much fruit in 

 the neigbourhood of Southfleet, Swanley, Crocken Hill, St. Mary Cray, 

 Orpington, ( h< lslidd, and Halstead is over chalk, though probably the 

 best land in this district is over Thanet sands. Chalk soils if manured 

 grow cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, peas, and runner 

 beans exceedingly well, nitrate of soda and salt being valuable manures 

 for the cabbage tribe on this soil. In Cambridgeshire, in the neighbour- 



