. Aug. 1, 1001. J Supplement to the " 
The great black and red soil plains are not 
formed in the same manner. Most of them are 
vfhat is called volcanic soils. Their great fertility 
is not derived from decomposed vegetable sub- 
stances, but from decomposed mineral matter. 
This also -will form a subject for future lessons. 
The soil which lies below the surface is often 
very difi'erent to that on the surface. It is called 
the "subsoil" from a Latin word which means 
"under." So remember that the soil immediately 
below the surface is called the subsoil. This 
subsoil consists sometimes of stiff clay, sometimes 
of gravel, and in very rich lands is as good as the 
surface soil when it is turned up by the plough 
and allowed to sweeten in the air. Well, the 
farmer who is looking for good land will lirst of all 
examine the surface, and will then look below it 
to see what the subsoil is like. Perhaps he finds 
a stiff clay close to the surface. This he passes by, 
because a shallow soil, no matter iiow rich it i-', 
resting on stiff clny will not yield good crops 
without a great deal of labour. When heavy rains 
come, the water sinks through the shallow upper 
soil, but it cannot sink through the clny, so, if the 
laud is at all flat, the water lies upon the clay, and 
when the roots of the plant pass into it they begin 
to turn sickly, and if the root is sick the w.hole 
plant suffers and at last dies. Just think how 
you would feel if you had to sit all day with your 
feet on a cold wet floor. You would soon become 
ill, and if something were not dofie to dry and 
warm the floor, you would die. So it is with the 
plant. If its roots are resting on a cold, wet, sour, 
clay subsoil, it soon turns yellow and die?. But 
clay soils can be cultivated and made to yield large 
crops, especially of turnips. The worls of making 
such soils fertile is, however, very e.xpensive, and 
only farmers with plenty of money can afford to 
cultivate them. You will learn as we go along 
how these soils are treated. ISTow, I am not going 
to tell you at this stage all about subsoils, because 
it is a very difficult subject, and there is no need 
for you to know much about it at present. All 
you need learn now is that a good farmer will 
always try and find out what lies below the sur- 
face, and by knowing that, amongst other things, 
lie knows whether the land he is examining will 
be suitable for growing good crops or not. 
You have seen farms which are perfectly flat, 
and others which lie on a hillside. Land which 
is flat is exposed to the sun all diiy kuig, and it is 
also exposed to every wind that blows. But land 
on hillsides running north and south can only 
receive the sun's rays either in the early morning 
and during a great part of the day, or else it doe- 
not receive the morning sun until late, owing to 
the bright of the hills towards the east in which 
direction the sun rises. 
On the other hand it has the benefit of the even- 
ing sun. The position of the hind with regard to 
the sun is called its " aspect." If it faces the 
rising sun, it; is said to have an easterly aspect, 
and if it laces the setting sun, the aspect is called 
westerly. 
Thea.-pect of a farm is a' very important matter, 
lu cold countries like Scotland and Denmark and 
North America, farmers always try to avoid a 
northern or a uorth-westera (sometimes a Qorth- 
Tropical Agriculturist." 139 
« 
eastern) aspect. The reason for this is that the 
cold cutting winds from those directions cause 
injury to the crops. The soil remains cold and 
wet until far into the spring, when the farmers 
should be sowing his crops, and the cold winter 
sets in earlier than it does in more sheltered local- 
ities. You will easily understand how this comes 
about. When a strong, cold, westerly wind is 
blowing, place yourself on that side ot the house 
facing the wind. You soon begin to feel cold. 
Now go to the opposite side of the house. Here 
you are sheltered from the cutting wind and you 
do not suffer from the cold. Now imagine the 
house to be a range of hills. The hillsides facing 
the west are exposed to the full force of the cold 
wind, whilst the opposite slope is entirely shel- 
tered. From this you can at once see that a farm 
on the western side in this State must be much 
colder than one on tlie eastern side in the winter 
time, and that consequently the planting season 
will be later, and the hot weather of shorter dura- 
tion on the western than on the eastern slopes. 
There is one more little thing I may mention to 
you in connection with aspect. The rays of the 
morning sun are more beneficial to plant growth 
than those of the setting sun, and in case I may 
forget to tell you later on, it is always well in 
sowing a crop of corn or potatoes, or in planting 
any crop in rows, to arrange the rows so that the 
rays of the mornfng sun may pass along them. 
Such an arrangement has been funnd to result in 
better crops than if the rows cross the sun's rays. 
Wliy this is so is not for us to consider here. 
Now, we will close this lesson, and I will, as 
before, give you some questions to answer. 
Questions on Lesson 3. 
1. Of what materials is a rich scrub soil com- 
posed ? 
2. What is meant by a sandy loam ? 
3. Why should a farmer want to know the kind 
of soil beneath the surface ? 
4. What is a "subsoil"? Why is it called a 
subsoil ? 
5. Of what does a subsoil usually consist ? 
6. Why is clay subsoil bad for field plants ? 
7. Can land with a clay subsoil be cultivated.' 
8. What is meant by the aspect of land ? 
9. What aspect is the best with respect to crops P 
10. Why is this so ? 
— Queensland Agricultural Journal. 
POULTRY NOTES, 
{Culled from various sources.) 
When poultry are at liberty, animal food need 
not be given them, especially in warm weather. 
Indeed, it is quite out of place. The birds get as 
much healthy insect and animal food as they 
require, and a sufficiency of nutritious green food 
to balance it and act as a corrective. Birds kept 
always in confinement may have an occasional 
allowance, even in warm weather, as they have no 
chance of securing insect life for themselves, and 
when there is an abundance of green food supplied 
at the same time no harm is likely to result. 
But the animal food should not be too strong and 
coarse for use in warm weather. Boiled aud grated 
