340 Retention of Moisture in the Soil of 
after autumn-dungecl land, the weight of dung applied in both 
cases having been the same. 
Many light soils have a most voracious taste for manure, and 
appear to digest it so rapidly that it is unprofitable to feed them 
long before expecting them to do some work. Even loamy soils 
dissipate manure in a rather quick and mysterious way. 
JVlr. Lawes's experimental plot, dunged every year at the rate 
of 13 tons of dung per acre, does not appear to have much in- 
creased in fertility, neither as judged by the crops it has carried 
nor by finding the elements of the dung contained in the soil 
itself. When neither the crops nor the drains, so far as known, 
have carried away the manure, it must be concluded that a good 
deal has been lost by evaporation. 
According to Liebig, the subsoil cannot be manured, therefore 
loss from the surface by washing downwards could not take place. 
In the main this may hold good ; but when it is so well known 
that drain-water is frequently discoloured and has been found to 
contain the elements of manures washed from the surface, through 
the pores of the soil, surely the soil itself must retain something 
when acting as a filter. Indeed this property of most soils has 
been proved ; and I am inclined to think that a large proportion 
of manures is actually washed away by rain-water passing through 
the soil, whether by artificial drains or on such soils as naturally 
drain themselves. At all events, as light soils do get rid of 
manure very quickly, in some way or other, it is advisable to 
apply the dressing in spring or summer, rather than early in 
autumn. The deeper the land is cultivated, the more manure, 
as a rule, it requires ; but this is, of course, soon repaid by the 
extra crops which it will produce. 
Long fresh dung should be applied to the stiffest description 
of soils, and this only in autumn. Short rotten dung is best for 
both heavy and light soils, for root-crops, when the manure is 
applied just before the seed is sown. Green dung, without fer- 
mentation, keeps the land too loose and permits moisture to 
escape too rapidly. 
The application of lime or marl to light sandy soils enables 
them to retain moisture. Gas-lime, which has been mixed with 
any kind of refuse-soil for some time, is also useful for light soils. 
Gas-lime, in a fresh state, at the rate of 10 to 15 quarters 
per acre may be safely applied in autumn to land intended for 
root-crops the following summer. Soap-boilers' refuse is also very 
good. Burnt-clay ashes, applied to any soil, have a good effect. 
It is seldom, however, that these can be economically taken from 
the heavy-land portion of a farm and applied to the lighter. 
For the very lightest and poorest sandy soils, in which it is so 
difficult to retain moisture, there is nothing so useful as clay or 
