310 
Agriculture of Norfolk. 
cient index of the result to be expected from the trial of the 
same means to a greater extent. 
Some soils are so very difTerent from what they ought to be, as 
to justify a greater quantity per acre of clay, chalk, or marl, as the 
case may be, than would be proper on other soils : therefore, those 
unaccustomed to the consideration of the matter ought to have 
that circumstance strongly impressed on their minds, before they 
try new experiments on their own soil. Even supposing the 
only object is to obtain a soil of the most perfect texture and 
quality, whatever the cost of doing so may be, yet the quantity to 
be conveyed must not be a certain number of loads per acre, but 
should be regulated in each case, not only by the nature of the 
original soil, but also of that which is carried upon it. In some 
cases a smaller quantity would be sufficient ; and, if more were 
taken, the excess might become- a positive injury, in addition to 
the cost of labour. Having discovered what proportion is most 
beneficial to apply, those who design to make improvements 
on the soil for the purpose of profiting by them at once, first 
endeavour to ascertain whence it can be brought at the least com- 
parative cost; then, whether the maximum quantity would, if 
brought, pay the largest profit, or whether a smaller quantity 
might not pay better, bearing in mind the distance it has to be 
brought. Many considerations affect the proper settlement of 
this last question, as appears from the experience of the Norfolk 
farmers ; but they generally agree in thinking that it is better to 
clay more frequently than to run any risk of putting on too large 
a quantity at once. It generally happens that the required 
remedy may be found very near where it is wanted, and a bed of 
clay in one part of a field may be at once the ready means of 
improvement to all the rest of it, which was before a blowing 
sand. The tenacious soil taken out of a ditch, as a matter of 
necessity in improving the drainage, may at the same time be 
applied as a valuable means of correcting the texture of a sandy 
soil within a short distance of it, whilst part of the too sandy soil 
may be brought, in returning, to the low tenacious land, so as to 
furnish its quota to the general improvement. In some cases, 
that which is most required lies buried under the very soil itself, 
and I have no hesitation in saying that the value of many millions 
sterling is buried under what is now comparatively unproductive 
soil, in England alone. As an instance, 1 was shown in Norfolk, 
what a gentleman called " his hid<len jewel," so near the surface, 
that one plunge of his walking-stick convinced me it would be 
practicable to bring up sufficient by merely ploughing deeply 
with the common plough, the first time he broke up the land, 
which he said he intended doing immediately after the tithe-rent 
charge was apportioned. On the surface was light " fen," to a 
