Indications of Fertility or Barrenness of Soils. 
589 
V. — The New Red Sandstone Formation. 
This important formation is subdivided into upper and lower. 
It is the most extensive geological series of deposits in the 
kingdom. 
1. Upper New Red Sandstone. — Sometimes called the saliferous 
system, because of its containing large quantities of gypsum, soda, 
and common salt. The soil consists, chiefly, of an unctuous clay, 
or red marl. In some parts of the formation it forms sandy tracts 
of land, and such, without cultivation, are barren ; but by far the 
greatest portion is very fine rich meadow, or very fertile arable 
land. The crops on the red marl are always fine and of luxuriant 
growth. 
2. Lower New Red Sandstone. — This division is separated into 
two portions, one forming the deposit called the magnesian lime- 
stone. 
The magnesian limestone is considered excellent for architec- 
tural purposes, and is rendered notorious by having been selected 
to form the masonry of the New Houses of Parliament. The soil 
is thin, lightj and dry, and the pasture-land barren. The arable 
is nice light working land, producing crops of a medium descrip- 
tion under excellent cultivation. 
VI. — The Carboniferous Formation. 
This highly valuable formation is subdivided into three series of 
deposits, called — 1, Coal- Measures; 2, Millstone Grit; and 3, 
Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone. 
1. The Coal- Measures. — The coal-measures consist of shale, 
sandstone, and grit, with occasional seams of coal and layers of 
ironstone. The coal-measures, or coal-basins, as they are some- 
times named, do not form a regular stratum extending across our 
island, like the chalk, the Oxford clay, the oolite, the lias, and the 
new red sandstone, but lie in detached beds, having mostly the 
magnesian above, and the carboniferous limestone below. The 
soil of these deposits is of a wet clayey description, producing 
herbage of an unproductive kind ; and the arable, without very 
superior cultivation, is very poor and barren. 
2. The Millstone Grit. — This deposit is composed of coarse 
quartzose sandstone, used for millstones, and often reaches a high 
elevation above the sea. It is very poor and unproductive, whe- 
ther in arable or pasture. 
3. Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone. — This deposit is a 
calcareous rock, and is always present in the neighbourhood of 
coal-fields. The soil is very thin, dry, loose, and barren. The 
rock is perfectly naked in many parts of the kingdom, without 
vegetation of any kind, is situated at a great elevation above the 
