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would be the cheapest and best. Half a cwt. of this per acre, 

 mixed with a little common salt and sulphate of ammonia, 

 would be probably attended with success ; half of this should 

 be applied in the beginning of January, and the remainder 

 in the beginning of April. We should then have a sufficient 

 quantity of potash in the soil to carry the plant to maturity, 

 as little or none after this time would be lost by drainage. 



There is but one other method I can suggest, in concluding 

 this essay, of supplying potash to clover; it is that of exposing 

 the subsoil, which in the sands of Sherwood Forest and most 

 other soils, generally contain more potash than the surface ; 

 this, in fact, is always the case where the surface is grey and 

 the subsoil red. In the case now before us there is no less 

 than double the quantity of this valuable matter in the sub- 

 soil; if, therefore, this was subjected more extensively to the 

 action of the atmosphere — of lime, or other decomposing 

 agents, which it might be by bringing it to the surface, there 

 would be much less risk of the clover plant dying away than 

 at the present. It is entirely owing to this portion of the 

 soil not being exposed to the atmosphere, or the action of 

 manures, that its potash is not rendered soluble; and it is 

 owing to the surface soil having been so exposed that its 

 potash has diminished in quantity. In every case where 

 vegetable matter of any kind has flourished, and where the 

 decay of the fallen leaves or mosses has gone on for ages, we 

 find the silicate of potash has been entirely decomposed and 

 washed away. In all those patches of dark grey sand which 

 abound in Sherwood Forest, scarcely a trace of this substance 

 can be found; it cannot, consequently, be surprising that 

 these places should be poor and barren, and that red clover 

 can never come to maturity. If these, however, be carefully 

 examined, the dark grain of which they are composed will 

 be seldom found to extend more than ten or twelve inches in 

 depth. Below this we generally find a fine red sand, com- 



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