shall here give two sets of indications, the one 
in an extract from a paper by Professor Macgil- 
livray, and the other in a digest of a paper by Mr. 
Gorrie,—the former showing in a general way 
the peculiar vegetations of different kinds and 
conditions of British soils, and the latter show- 
ing the characteristic wild vegetation of each 
principal kind of soil in respectively its natural 
and its cultivated states. 
““ Loose sand requires no indications by vegetables, 
its nature being rendered too obvious by other cir- 
cumstances. Luxuriant tufts of Arundo arenaria, 
either by itself, or mixed with Triticum junceum, 
Galium verum, and some other vegetables, fre- 
quently occur in this soil. Caleareous sand and sili- 
cious sand are not distinguished apart by any peculiar 
plants. They may, however, be readily distinguish- 
ed by simple inspection. Intermixture of pasture 
plants, and especially Galium verum, Achillea mil- 
lefolium, and grasses, with Arundo arenaria, indicate 
that the sand is more or less fixed, and that it is 
tolerably well secured against drifting. ‘The exist- 
ence of peat is invariably indicated by Calluna vul- 
garis, Erica cinerea, E. tetralix. It is to be suspected 
also wherever Myrica gale, Droserz, Eriophora, nu- 
merous Carices, and Melica ccerulea appear. Soft, 
friable, scaly or laminar peat, is indicated by a vege- 
tation consisting chiefly of Calluna vulgaris, Erica 
cinerea, Melica coerulea, intermixed with Carices, 
Junci, Scirpi, Mosses, and Lichens. Fibrous, tena- 
cious, spongy peat, is indicated by a vegetation con. 
sisting chiefly of Cyperacee, Carices, Scirpi, and Junci, 
especially Juncus cespitosus and Eriophorum vagi- 
natum, with comparatively little heath. Compact, 
brittle, hard peat, is indicated chiefly on declivities 
and in elevated situations by a vegetation consisting 
in a great part of Graminez, such as Melica ccerulea, 
Aira flexuosa, together with Cyperacez and heath. 
The softish friable peat in which remains of ligneous 
vegetables occur, is not indicated by any peculiarity 
of vegetation differing from that indicative of the 
first kind of peat mentioned. It is almost always to 
be found in low and level places, and is frequently 
swampy at the surface, with great tufts or islets, 
covered with heath. Calluna vulgaris or Erica ci- 
nerea, when luxuriant and close, indicate a gravelly 
soil at no great depth. Pinus sylvestris growing in 
peat indicates that it is thin, and that the subsoil is 
sandy or gravelly. Scirpi, Carices, and Eriophora, 
thriving in peat, indicate an abundant supply of 
moisture, owing either to a subsoil of clay or solid 
rock. On the contrary, a vegetation stunted, and 
liable to be burnt up in dry weather, indicates, in 
general, dryness arising from a subsoil of sand. The 
cessation of Erica and Calluna upon mountains indi- 
cates either the cessation of peat soil, or approxima- 
tion to the line of snow. On open heaths, Trientalis 
europea and Anemone nemorosa indicate great dry- 
ness, and manifest a disposition favourable to the 
growth of Pinus sylvestris, if planted on them. 
Heath overgrown or much intermixed with lichens, 
indicates too great an elevation for the successful 
cultivation of corn. The same indication is made 
by the existence of alpine plants, such as Saxifraga 
stellaris, Veronica alpina, ‘Thalictrum alpinum, &c. 
Great profusion and luxuriance of Scirpus ceespitosus 
in low heaths, indicate that, although excellent for 
summer pasturage, they are unfit for wintering, from 
their great wetness. The existence of any other 
tree than Pinus sylvestris in peat soil, shows that 
the subsoil comés very near the surface. With re- 
spect to cultivation of peat soil, some indications are 
also furnished by the plants growing init. Peat, of 
which the surface is even, and continuously covered 
SOIL. 
with Calluna or Erica, is in general capable of being 
taken in, because the gravel comes so near the sur- 
face that it may be reached by the plough. On the 
other hand, low tracts of peat, with great tufts of 
heath, separated by bogs, are ineapable of being re- 
claimed, without previous draining, and, after all, 
the peat is too deep to form a tolerable soil. Spongy, 
fibrous peat is the most intractable of all the varie- 
ties, because, from its tenacity, it cannot be made to 
mingle with gravel or sand. The great mass of ve- 
getation, or, as it may be called, the standard vege- 
tation of the country, being diffused over every sort 
of soil, sandy, gravelly, gritty, clayey or vegetable, 
no particular indications are afforded by it of the na- 
ture of the soil, unless with respect to its luxuriance, 
which yet depends upon other circumstances, more 
than upon the quality of the soil. Trifolia, Vicie, 
Lathyrus pratensis, mixed with grasses, forming the 
principal part of the vegetation, and growing luxuri- 
antly, indicate a good vegetable soil, well supplied 
with moisture. Abundance of Thymus serpyllum 
indicates not so much any particular soil, as dryness 
of soil, or great thinness. Senecio Jacoba, in 
general, indicates a good depth of good soil. Linum 
eatharticum, Thymus serpyllum, Apargia autumna~ 
lis, Hieracium pilosella, indicate dry, if not gravelly 
or sandy soil, in pasture grounds. Iris pseudacorus, 
Juncus acutiflorus, Cardamine pratensis, and Lych- 
nis flos-cuculi, in such, indicate a good soil, with a 
plentiful, or more frequently an overabundant, sup- 
ply of moisture. In pasture-grounds, in general, the 
existence of Poa trivialis, Triticum repens, Poten- 
tilla anserina, Plantago lanceolata, P. media, Senecio 
Jacobea, indicate a soil of good quality, capable of 
being cultivated with advantage. A stunted and, 
in hot weather, burnt-up herbage, indicates the ap- 
proximation of the rock to the surface, or extreme 
dryness of soil. Sandy pasture-grounds are always 
characterized by a peculiar fineness of vegetation, 
producing a comparatively large portion of the most 
nutritious species, excepting when furze or broom 
has got into them, in which case these plants fre- 
quently banish or choke up the more useful kinds. 
An intermixture, however small, of Erica or Calluna 
with pasture plants, indicates that the soil is more 
or less peaty; Orchidex, and especially Orchis ma- 
culata, abundant in pasture-grounds, affords the same 
indication. Pteris aquilina, in such grounds, espe- 
cially when the other vegetation consists chiefly of 
grasses, affords a very favourable idea of the soil, 
which has commonly a large proportion of vegetable 
earth in it, where this plant grows luxuriantly. 
Gravelly or gritty soil is indicated by the poverty of 
the vegetation. Aira caryophyllea, A. precox, 
Rumex acetosella, are among the ordinary inmates 
of such soil. When intermixed with clay, the vege- 
tation is scanty, and consists chiefly of grasses. 
Clayey soil is indicated by the depressed and strag- 
gling nature of the vegetation, which consists chiefly 
of grasses of the genera Poa, Agrostis, and Festuca. 
By streams, a great profusion of Tussilago farfara 
generally indicates a clayey soil, and of T. petasites 
a deep rich vegetable soil. In the natural unculti- 
vated state, vegetable soil is indicated, near the habi- 
tation of man, by Urtica dioica, Rumex obtusifolius, 
Artemisia vulgaris, Poa annua, P. pratensis, and 
Tanacetum vulgare, although nevertheless all these 
species may be found so situated in many varieties 
of soil; in pastures, by Trifolium repens, T. pra- 
tense, Poa annua, Plantago media, P. lanceolata, 
Vicia Cracca, Bellis perennis.” 
Rich alluvial soils recently deposited by the sides 
of low winding rivers are characterized, in their un- 
cultivated state, by the growth of common reed, 
Arundo phragmites, round-headed rush, Juncus con- 
glomeratus, white bent, Agrostis alba, reed meadow- 
grass, Poa aquatica, and floating meadow-grass, Poa 
