On the Agricultural Geology of the Weald. 245 
ment, where exposed on the side of valleys, it is generally arable 
land. 
Large quantities of chalk are dug from the lower beds for 
lime-burning. All round the Weald, at intervals, there are huge 
excavations in the hill-sides, from whence chalk for this purpose 
is or has been taken. Chalk for " chalking " is generally got 
from the upper beds with flints. 
The deposits upon the chalk are not shown on the map, and 
do not come within the Wealden area ; to which the escarpment 
• is a well-defined boundary. They may, however, be briefly 
described. The most abundant is a stiff, red or black clay, con- 
taining large quantities of flints, often entire, or, if broken, never 
at all rounded or watervvorn. This is called by geologists, 
" clay-with-flints ;" it is probably a result of the decomposition 
of the chalk, and not a " deposit." It is an exceedingly stiff, 
adhesive clay, very difficult to work. The thickness is very 
variable, and it generally rests upon an uneven surface of the 
chalk, having been let down into " pipes " or " pot-holes." This 
occurs all along the North Downs from the coast to the neigh- 
bourhood of Guildford. It occurs again in Hants, but in a less 
continuous manner than in Kent, Only small areas of the Sussex 
chalk are thus covered. 
There are patches of sand, making a light soil, on the Downs 
near Folkestone, and as far west as the River Stour, beyond 
which the sand chiefly occurs in " pipes," and scarcely influences 
the soil. Still further west, near Guildford, there are deposits of 
flint-gravel, which make a light and barren soil. 
Water is scarce on the chalk. The wells are deep, being often 
sunk 200 or 300 feet before reaching the water-level. Rain- 
water is therefore carefully stored, and puddled ponds are made 
at various points on the farms. There are frequently strong 
springs at the base of the escarpment. 
The valleys which begin near the top of the escarpment and 
flow outwards, are nearly always dry for the first few miles of 
their course, and often for much longer distances. After very 
wet seasons, when the water-level rises in the chalk, streams run 
for a time in some of the deepest of these valleys ; such incon- 
stant streams are called " Nailboarns " in Kent, " Winterbourns " 
in Dorset and Hampshire, and " Gipsies " in Yorkshire. At the 
bottom of these " dry valleys " there is a bed of flints, often of 
considerable thickness, intermixed with a chalky loam. This 
forms an excellent soil, although, to one walking over the field, 
it appears little but flints. The flints are rarely picked off the 
field, this being found to impoverish the land ; they probably 
not only afford shade to the young plants, but serve to increase 
