No. 101.] m 
•out fissures, the soil, however good in its texture and other quali- 
• ties, will pi'obably be " cold" and wet. If the subsoil be gravel 
or sand, the surface soil is frequently too dry, unless it be a loam 
so heavy as to retain a sufficient quantity of moisture for vegeta- 
tion. Where a clay subsoil occurs, it often alternates with beds 
of gravel and sand. Advantage may often be taken of this geo 
logical fact to drain wet soils, either by boring, or by sinking wells 
through the clay, into the gravel or sand below, so that the water 
will find an outlet in springs at a lower level, where these strata 
emerge on the sides of hills or ravines. In this way, stagnant 
ponds and marshes may be drained, not only so as to reclaim un- 
productive lands, but to render the surrounding country more 
healthful. These principles may be practically applied in many 
parts of my district, 
However poor the texture of a soil, it can always be brought 
to a proper state for cultivation by art; but unfortunately the va- 
lue of produce and the price of labor will not often justify the ex- 
pense. Light and heavy soils may always be benefitted by a pro- 
per admixture of clay or sand, as the case may require. That 
clay and sand are almost always associated, is a geological fact of 
much practical value in agriculture, as well as in the arts. The 
occurrence of one, (unless from the effect of some local cause,) is 
a pretty sure indication that the other maybe found in the vicinity. 
Light dry soils are often injured by removing the small loose 
stones, which, instead of being an injury, are in reality an advan- 
tage, as they not only, by shading the ground, prevent the evapo- 
ration of moisture below the surface; but, by their slow decompo- 
sition, furnish stimulants and food for vegetation, thus acting as a 
permanent manure. 
2d. Chemical composition of soils. 
The chemical, as well as the mechanical composition of soils, ex- 
erts a powerful influence over vegetation. Salts, alkalies and alka- 
line earths, act as stimulants if used moderately, but if in excess, are 
injurious. Many soils contain calcareous rocks, stones or pebbles, 
which are continually undergoing disintegration and solution by at- 
mospherical agents, and thus serve as permanent mineral manures. 
Other soils abound in stones from such rocks as contain potassa 
as a constituent, and by their decomposition furnish this alkali in 
solution to the roots of plants, by which it is absorbed and carried 
into the circulation, and there, acting as a stimulant, remains com- 
