302 
SCOURING LANDS OF CENTRAL SOMERSET. 
A large quantity of carbonate of lime enters into the com¬ 
position of this extremely tenacious clay marl, but nothing 
peculiar, or in any way remarkable, occurs in it. 
Lastly, an analysis of a peat soil from Meare gave the 
following results: 
Composition of Peat-Land at Meare which does not scour . 
*Organic matter .... 97.760 
Oxides of iron and alumina . . . ‘536 
Carbonate of lime .... ‘855 
Magnesia . . . . . '144 
Potash ..... ‘131 
Soda ...... ‘065 
Phosphoric acid .... ‘053 
Sulphuric acid . . . . ‘051 
Silica ...... ‘405 
100-000 
^Containing nitrogen .... 1-428 
In its natural state this soil contained no less than 87*95 per 
cent, of water, which shows how large a quantity of water 
peat is capable of absorbing. 
This soil does not scour. It contains a very large propor¬ 
tion of organic matter and a very small quantity of mineral 
substances ; the latter consist of the constituents usually 
found in soils of that description. Apart from the excess of 
organic matter in the peat land, no essentially characteristic 
difference can be said to separate the scouring soil from the 
healthy peaty soil. In the immediate neighbourhood of 
Cirencester there are hundreds of healthv fields which, in 
composition, closely approach the three first-mentioned soils. 
It cannot, therefore, be said with propriety, that lias soils 
possessing scouring properties contain anything injurious, 
or an excess of a constituent likely to produce an unhealthy 
growth of herbage. Nevertheless, I am inclined to regard 
the soil of scouring land as the source from which the mis¬ 
chief proceeds; but the evil arises from its bad physical con¬ 
dition, and certainly not from the presence of any injurious 
matter in the surface or subsoil. I shall offer a few addi¬ 
tional remarks on this point after having considered the 
character of the herbage of scouring pastures. 
2. Examination of the Drainage Theory. 
In the opinion of some who are well acquainted with the 
subject, inefficient drainage must be considered as an aggra- 
