18 THE FLORIST. 
These were Enchantress, Flower of the Day, Lady Taunton, Gladiator, 
Mrs. Col. Vyse, George Elliott, and Scant. The remaining twelve were 
old kinds of- several seasons, the oldest being Robert Bruce, sent out in 
1854. The rest were Col. Windham, Mrs. Church, King, Mrs. 
Trotter, Village Gem, Sir J. Paxton, Lord Cardigan, Cherub, Lord 
Fielding, Lady Franklin, and Lady Popham. 
The number of good seedlings that came under our notice last autumn 
was above the average. 
SOILS, FRUITS, AND MANURES. 
THE ever varying nature of the soil which forms the surface of the 
earth is one among thousands of other evidences of the all-wise Creator 
for supplying a suitable pabulum for the growth of the vegetable king- 
dom. The disintegration and decomposition of underlying rocks in 
some instances form the only soil, but a much larger area of surface 
soil is the result of deposition, and may differ widely in composition 
from the stratum which it overlies. 
The examination of the soil from various parts of the globe shew that, 
as regards their component parts, they do not materially differ from each 
other—all consist of 8 or 10 ingredients, the great bulk of which, how- 
ever, 1s composed of alumina, silex, lime, and organic matter; and it is 
in proportion as these vary in their composition that soils are termed 
clayey, sandy, calcareous, or peaty, names sufficiently explicit for our 
present purpose, but the many modifications in which these are met 
with are too numerous to be mentioned here. We may, however, add 
that a due admixture of sand, clay, lime, and organic matter, is indis- 
pensable for forming a fertile soil, which in addition should also contain 
the phosphates and alkalies necessary for furnishing vegetation with a 
portion of their inorganic food. 
The mechanical composition of soil is of the greatest importance to 
the cultivator. Soils which contain too much clay are so far im- 
pervious to the action of atmospheric agency as to be ill suited for 
the growth of plants until their cohesive particles are broken up and 
divided by exposure to the atmosphere. To such soils the addition of 
any mineral substances which will keep the clayey particles from again 
uniting after disintegration are of the highest value, as they permit.the 
passage of water through the soil, and admit also the air to follow—an 
important agent in liberating the pent-up gases, and thereby effecting 
new combinations forming plant food. It must be obvious from this 
that the more frequently soils which contain clay in excess (clayey and 
heavy loams) are turned over and exposed to the atmosphere, the more 
fertile they will become, and the knowledge of this furnishes us with 
the best means of cultivating heavy soils. On the contrary, soils 
containing too much sand suffer from the opposite law—the rains pass 
through them too quickly, hence they frequently suffer from drought ; 
and the ease with which the roots of plants penetrate such soil, and the 
facility they afford to the action of the atmosphere, cause a rapid 
