322 
Farming of Hampshire. 
treated, put to turnips : the crop where tlie rails originally 
stood was not one-fifth of that in the rest of the field," said 
another informant. Now, as to the description and quantity of 
chalk which should be applied, and as to the frequency of 
application : the best for manuring purposes is the free, white, 
friable, soft-natured chalk, easily pulverising, such as is pro- 
curable at Arreton in the Island, at Portsdown in the south, 
and at Odiham in the north of the mainland.* The Odiham pit 
is well worth a visit ; it is the property of Sir H. St. John Mild- 
may of Dogmersfield, and is the largest pit in the county, and 
possibly in the kingdom. The area at the bottom is 6 acres, and 
on the top the circumference is 1 mile. It is a feat of strength 
for a man standing at the bottom to throw a cricket-ball out of 
it. The price used to be Is., but is now Is. 6c?. per four-horse 
waggon-load. The chalk is carted to a distance of 15 miles — to 
Heckfield, Swallowfield, Yately, Blackwater, Eversleigh, Finch- 
hampsted, near Wokingham, and all round the London-clay 
country. The quantity taken from it varies according to the 
occurrence of frosts ; when the roads are hard, 20 or 30 waggons 
a day are loaded ; the annual average may be put at 2000 loads, 
carts and waggons together. Last year, however, less than 1600 
loads left the pit, and altogether the use is not now so great as it 
was ten or fifteen years since, either because the land within reach 
of the pit is already chalked, or from the increased charge. The 
proper quantity for application, and the necessity of renewal, 
depend on the nature of the soil ; where chalk is wanted as a cor- 
rective of acidity in the soil, as after an oak or ash coppice has 
been grubbed, one good dose of 20 or 25 tons an acre may effect 
a complete cure, and no renewal be required. On heavy clay 
lands the use is mechanical as Avell as mineral, and here as much 
as 30 tons may be applied at a time. From personal inquiries 
made throughout the county, I arrived at this rule — that 1 ton per 
acre per annum is the usual allowance ; that is, if 20 tons are 
applied, the renewal must be in twenty years, and so on ; but 
this rate does not apply to peaty soils, as near Romsey, and 
about Pagham in the Island. Chalk is wanted near the surface, 
* An analysis of the Odiham chalk by Messrs. "Way and Paine has appeared in 
the Society's Journal, vol. xii. p. 554. The two following analyses of, 1. Ports- • 
down, 2. Carishrook, chalks, both dry, are by Dr. Voelcker, and have been kindl) 
given by Mr. Hughes of Thorness : 
I. II. 
Oxides of iron and albumina "24 '23 
Carbonate of lime 98'06 97*83 
Sulphate of Lime "35 '4^ 
Pliosphoric acid *10 '10 
Siliceous matter (chiefly silica) 1*25 1*38 
100-00 
100-00 
