266 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
of clay and decayed roots, which is of a dark color, and 
is necessarily more loose and friable than the original 
or*subjacent unmixed clay. 
2. But this admixture of roots affects the chemical com¬ 
position, as well as the state of aggregation of the soil. 
The roots and stems of the grasses contain much inor¬ 
ganic—earthy and saline—matter, which is gathered 
from, beneath wherever the roots penetrate, and is by 
them sent upwards to the surface. A ton of hay con¬ 
tains about 170 lbs. of this inorganic matter. Suppose 
the roots to contain as much, and that the total annual 
produce of grass and roots together amounts to four 
tons, then about 680 lbs. of saline and earthy matters 
are every year worked up by the living plants, and in a 
great measure permanently mixed with the surface soil. 
Some of this, no doubt, is carried off by the cattle that 
feed, and by the rains that fall, upon the land—some 
remains in the deeper roots, and some is again, year af¬ 
ter year, employed in feeding the new growth of grass 
—still a sufficient quantity is every season brought up 
from beneath, gradually to enrich the surface with va¬ 
luable inorganic matter, at the expense of the soil be¬ 
low. 
3. Nor are mechanical agencies wanting to increase 
this natural difference between the surface and the un¬ 
der soils. The loosening and opening of the clay lands 
by the roots of the grasses, allow the rains more easy 
access. These rains gradually wash out the fine parti¬ 
cles of clay that are mixed with the roots, and carry 
them downwards, as they sink towards the subsoil. 
Hence the brown mould, as it forms, is slowly robbed 
of a portion of its alumina, and is rendered more open, 
while the under soil becomes even stiffer than before. 
This sinking of the alumina is in a great measure ar¬ 
rested when the soil becomes covered with so thick a 
sward of grass as to break the force of the rain-drops, 
or of the streams of water by which the land is period¬ 
ically visited. Hence the soil of some rich pastures 
contains as much as 10 to 12, of others as little as 2 
to 3 per cent, of alumina. 
4. The winds also here lend their aid. From the 
naked arable lands, when the weather is dry, every 
blast of wind carries off a portion of the dust. This it 
suffers to fall again, as it sweeps along the surface of 
the grass fields—the thick sward arresting the parti¬ 
cles and sifting the air as it passes through them. Eve¬ 
rywhere, even to remote districts and to great eleva¬ 
tions, the winds bear a constant small burden of earthy 
matter; but there are few practical agriculturists who, 
during our high winds, have not occasionally seen the 
soil carried off in large quantities from their naked 
fields. Upon the neighboring grass lands this soil fails 
as a natural top-dressing, by which the texture of the 
surface is gradually changed, and its chemical constitu¬ 
tion altered. 
5. Another important agency also, must not be over¬ 
looked. In grass lands insects, and especially earth¬ 
worms abound. These almost nightly ascend to the 
surface, and thro\y out portions of finely divided earthy 
matter. On a close shaven lawn the quantity thus 
spread over the surface in a single night often appears 
surprising. In the lapse of years, the accumulation of 
#he soil from this cause must, on old pasture-fields, be 
very great. It has often attracted the attention of 
praotical men,* and so striking has it appeared to some, 
that they have been inclined to attribute to the slow 
but constant labor of these insects, the entire formation 
of the fertile surface soils over large tracts of country. 
I have directed your attention to these causes chiefly 
* The^permanence of a fine carpeting of rich and sweet grass 
Tarpon a portion of his farm, is ascribed (by Mr. Purdie) to r ‘ the 
apewings of the worms, apparently immensely numerous, which 
mcessamly act as a rich top-dressing.”—Priae lissays of the 
I&igfclaud Society, p. 1SI. 
Sept. 
in explanation of the changes which by long-lving in 
grass, the surface of our stiff clay land is found to un¬ 
dergo. But they apply equally to other soils also—the 
only difference being that, in the case of such as are al¬ 
ready light and open, the change of texture is not so 
great, and therefore does not so generally arrest the at¬ 
tention. 
Upon this subject I may trouble you further with two 
practical remarks— 
1. That the richest old grass lands—those which 
have remained longest in a fertile condition—are gene¬ 
rally upon our strongest clay soils. This is owing to 
the fact that such soils naturally contain, and by their 
comparative impermeability re-tain, a larger store of 
those inorganic substances on which the valuable grass¬ 
es live. When the surface soil becomes deficient in any 
of these, the roots descend further into the subsoil, and 
bring up a fresh supply. But these grass lands are not 
on this account exempt from the law above explained, 
in obedience to which all pastured lands, when left to 
nature, must ultimately become exhausted. They must 
eventually become poorer; but in their ease the deteri¬ 
oration will be slower and more distant, and by judi¬ 
cious top-dressings may be still longer protracted. 
2. The natural changes which the surface soil under¬ 
goes, and especially upon clay lands when laid down to 
grass, explain why it is so difficult to procure, by 
means of artificial grasses, a sward equal to that which 
grows naturally upon old pasture lands. As the soil 
changes upon our artificial pastures, it becomes better 
fitted to nourish other species of grass than those which 
we have sown. These naturally spring up, therefore, 
and cover the soil. But these intruders are themselves 
not destined to be permanent possessors of the land. 
The soil undergoes a further change, and new species 
again appear upon it. We cannot tell how often differ¬ 
ent kinds of grass thus succeed each other upon the 
soil, but we know that the final rich sward which cov¬ 
ers a grass field, when it has reached its most valuable 
condition, is the result of a long series of natural chan¬ 
ges which time only can bring about. 
The soil of an old pasture field, which has been 
plowed up, is made to undergo an important change 
both in texture and chemical constitution, before it is 
again laid down to grass. The same grasses, there¬ 
fore, which previously covered it, will no longer flourish, 
even when they are sown. Hence the unwillingness 
felt by practical men to plow up their old pastures— 
but hence, also, the benefit which results from the break¬ 
ing up of such as are old, worn-out, or covered with 
unwholesome grasses. When again converted into pas¬ 
ture land, new races appear, and a more nourishing 
sward is produced. 
Systematic -Jlgriculturc. 
Importance of Farm Accounts. 
Editors Cultivator— -With a desire to make my 
subject more attractive to my brother farmers, a few 
facts have been presented in connexion with the leading 
and most important implements and machines used in 
our farming operations—-facts which exhibit the advan¬ 
tages we possess at the present day, over those of our 
predecessors, in a strong light; and it seems to me so 
conclusive, that no prudent man, with a farm of over 
one hundred aeres, should omit the constant use of 
them in their proper season. 
Figures have been used to show the benefits actually 
derived by farmers in this region,-and though the wa¬ 
ges may vary in different localities, in some degree af¬ 
fecting the results; yet among thinking, oareful men, 
