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as it is termed, run down, and at an expense, too, in the reach of every 
land-holder; still, the systems of improvement must be adapted to the 
state and circumstances of the country. It must not be too expensive. 
It is necessary to learn the cause of the failure of lands, whether it is 
the want of vegetable and animal matter, or whether the essential ele- 
ments of the soil are wanting. The remedy of the latter defect is ge- 
nerally close at hand; sands, clays and marls are usually in proximity, 
and they are naturally the correctives of each others defects. 
In resuming the subject of the soils of St. Lawrence, I remark, that 
a soil is to be considered as formed or made up of rocks, broken down 
to different states of fineness, in part by the action of streams and cur- 
rents, and in part by frosts and atmospheric agents. The soil formed 
of each stratum of rock, possesses a certain character, depending, in this 
respect, on the mineral character of the stratum itself. Owing, how- 
everj to the manner in which detritus, or the matter abraded from rocks, 
is carried down to the lower levels, there is necessarily an intermixture 
of materials from different rocks, so that a soil formed purely from a 
single stratum, is never found except in very limited districts; a re- 
sult very important and fortunate to the interests of agriculture, as the 
productiveness of soils is greatly promoted by such intermixtures. The 
parent rock of the soil of St. Lawrence, is evidently gneiss, as out of 
seventeen specimens of soil collected in different parts of the county, 
more than half contain small pieces of this rock. 
The character of a soil formed from primitive rocks, is always siliceous, 
notwithstanding there are alternations of calcareous, and to some extent, 
argillaceous rocks. This is owing, not wholly to the predominance of 
silex in the former rocks, but partly to the softness of the latter, which 
are reduced to a state of greater fineness, and consequently are trans- 
ported farther from the primitive formations, and perhaps do not find a 
resting place until deposited at the bottom of the ocean. 
The soil of St, Lawrence might, with propriety, be divided into two 
classes, sandy and clayey; the mixture of these two frequently occur. 
Clay may be found beneath the sand at a greater or less depth. It 
is, therefore, the basis on which the soil properly reposes. It exerts 
an important modifying influence on the character of the materials it 
supports. From what has been said on the preceding page, it is evi- 
dent that it is not sufficient to say simply, that a soil is sandy or clayey, 
or a mixture of these materials; there are other questions of importance 
to be answered, viz: whether the clay is marly, or clay mixed with 
carbonate of lime, or if siliceous, whether it contains any quantity of 
