Indications of Fertility or Barrenness of Soils. 583 
benefit from the application of manure. About 10 or 12 years 
since another large tract, containing 1700 acres, was embanked, 
reclaimed, and cultivated, somewhat of a triangular shape, which 
was effected by making an embankment to extend from the east- 
ern extremity of the part first reclaimed, in a north-eastward 
direction, to or near to a small inlet called Patrington Haven. 
The whole of this land, containing about 6000 acres, is undoubt- 
edly an alluvial deposit, and forms an exceedingly productive soil. 
It is sometimes rather difficult to cultivate, and requires a power- 
ful team to plough up the seeds and stubbles. It is customary 
with the farmers to fallow for wheat, and the fallows are very 
difficult to reduce to a fine state. After being baked in the sun 
until the clods become as hard as bricks, should a day or two of 
heavy rain ensue, the large lumps, which had resisted the pres- 
sure of the heaviest roller, melt and fall down, like slaked lime, 
into a fine powder. The land then becomes as easy to plough 
as the ash-heap, and does not readily run together and set on the 
surface. 
2. Diluvium. — This deposit is found spread over almost all 
the other formations, in patches of variable extent ; but the 
greatest portion of it is found on the tertiary formation. It con- 
sists of large quantities of sand, gravel, and rubble, apparently 
the broken-down portions of all, or most of the known geological 
formations, and is often found near to the rocks from which it 
has, by the action of water and the influence of the atmosphere, 
become separated. It varies in some degree with the character 
of the parent rock, and is observed frequently to ameliorate the 
texture of the clay soils where it is found, and actually to render 
soils which would produce only beahs, wheat, and broad clover, 
capable of producing any crop the farmer may wish to cultivate : 
but without cultivation this soil cannot be said to be generally 
fertile. The arable is easy to cultivate ; the pasture generally 
produces poor, unprofitable herbage, and is liable to suffer from 
drought in dry seasons. 
There is a large quantity of this soil in Norfolk and the ad- 
joining counties, which is proverbial for being naturally poor and 
barren, but which is very much improved by cultivation. The 
diluvium on the lias and Oxford clay, when deep and not too 
gravelly, is very productive. The towns of Cheltenham in Glou- 
cestershire, and Cricklade in Wiltshire, are situated on diluvium, 
and I do not know of better land anywhere than some in the 
neighbourhood of those tovv ns. 
3. London Clay. — This division of the tertiary series is com- 
posed of a strong clay, which is chiefly of a bluish-brown colour, 
but varies, like all other clay formations, and appears sometimes 
to be yellow or grey. It forms a very wet, tenacious soil, and in 
