Fanning of Oxfordsldre. 
195 
The extraordinary luxuriance of the wild hop seems to indicate 
that it is the natural soil of that plant, and peculiarly adapted for 
its firowth. 
Descendinjif this second ridjje tlie gault-clay presents a con- 
siderable surface, and, where it is not covered over by thin beds 
of gravel, it is for the most part under grass. Such are the dairy 
grounds of Tetswortb, Clare, and Ciolder. In other spots, such 
as are the lower parts of Chalgrove Field, there is a slight 
admixture of gravel which fits it for arable cultivation. Some 
detached portions of this formation are seen at Nuneham Park, 
where the gault caps the lower greensand in the same way as 
the chalk is capped by the plastic clay. This clay is of a bluish 
grey colour, though sometimes it is of a yellow hue. It is an 
impervious mass of clay, wet from surface water and the water 
that flows over it from the greensand. It contains no springs, 
and has been penetrated to the depth of a hundred feet without 
finding any water. Near the surface are seen angular rolled 
flints, but below is nothing but a bed of black or blue clay. 
The meadows are generally poor and wet, growing coarse, back- 
ward herbage, and covered with a great quantity of ant-hills and 
hassock grass {^Aira cccspitosd). 
Passing from the gault, the lower greensand rises in a low 
undulating ridge as seen near Hazeley Court, and, with more or 
less development, extends to the limit of the county at Nuneham 
and Culham. Though interrupted and broken off at various 
points, it is to be traced again as covering the heights of Shotover 
and Forest Hill. This formation embraces soils of the most 
variable quality. On it are found the fertile loams of Water- 
stock and Latchford, and the sterile sands of Horsepath. The 
colour also varies. In some parts the soil is brown, in others 
red, and in some spots it is a yellow sand. This formation being 
of a loose and porous nature may be considered dry, yet in many 
places where the surface is flat, or where the clay beneath forces 
up springs, draining is required. The outcropping of this 
stratum is marked by the disease in the root-crops called "fingers 
and toes and near Oxford is celebrated as producing large 
quantities of ochre. Although the lower greensand is greatly 
deficient in calcareous matter, the gravel which covers a large 
portion of it has been found to contain 50 per cent, of lime, and 
the road scrapings when applied to the soil in sufficient quan- 
tities will cure the prevailing club-root in turnips. This gravel, 
with which part of the gault-clay as well as the lower greensand 
is covered, is of a character entirely different from that before 
spoken of as consisting of broken chalk, flints, &c. These beds, 
which extend to the north of Oxford, are formed of the breaking 
up of various strata, and consist of broken shells, teeth, bones, 
o 2 
