MH. H. B. WOODWARD ON TIIE SOILS AND SUBSOILS OF NORFOLK. 401 
XXI. 
THE SOILS AND SUBSOILS OF NORFOLK. 
By Horace B. Woodward, F.R.S., F.G.S. 
Read 25th March , 1902. 
The subject of Soils seems to become more complex according to 
the attention bestowed upon it. To estimate fully the agricultural 
capabilities of an estate, it is not enough to know the general 
characters and depth of the soils, to have chemical analyses ol 
them, and to be acquainted with the nature of the subsoils, while 
due heed is given to the conditions of elevation, aspect, and 
rainfall. We must also have “mechanical analyses” of the soils, 
or a determination of the size and composition of their finer 
constituents, as the available plant food, or, in other words, the 
natural fertility of the soil, is largely dependent upon its texture. 
Thus many matters have to be considered by those who judge of 
the changes likely to be brought about by the application of 
manures and the influence of micro-organisms. 
In justification of this detailed research, it has been urged that 
the results give us “complete control over the fertility of a soil in 
so far as this depends on manuring ; ” and that, consequently, “ our 
views as to the value of agricultural land have completely changed, 
for whereas, formerly, sandy soils were generally considered poor, 
they are now, by means of a system of intelligently directed 
manuring, made to give yields which are scarcely inferior to those 
of the best soils.”* 
Views of this kind are not altogether new in Norfolk where the 
system of marling the land was adopted two centuries ago with 
conspicuous advantage in certain areas; and as Arthur Young 
remarked : “ A country of rabbits and sheep-walk has been covered 
with some of the finest corn in the world.”! Circumstances, 
* Address by Professor Maercker to the German Chemical Society 
reported in * Nature,’ Nov. 30th, 1899, p. 116; see also ‘Lectures on some 
of the Physical Properties of Soil,’ by R. Warington, 1900. 
t ‘General View of the Agriculture of Norfolk,’ 1804, p. 3. 
