hills attract clouds, and bring down rain. A climate possessing a due proportion of moisture and warmth, of sunshine and clouds, is best adapted for vegetation.

Grain crops will ripen well in a moist climate, provided there has been a dry seed-time, and that the soil be well worked and open, to allow the superabundant moisture to escape. This, in fact, involves one of the great principles of modern husbandry; for the effects of an over-wet climate may in great measure be obviated, by adopting proper methods of draining the land. Draining imparts dryness and warmth to the soil, and will thereby serve to improve a naturally cold and moist climate; and to this very important branch of agriculture too much attention cannot be paid. In proportion as the land is cleared and drained, the climate becomes drier, more regular and more equable in temperature: but if moisture is allowed to accumulate in bogs, morasses, and stagnant ditches, it thence rises in clouds and fogs, obscuring the sun, and chilling the atmosphere.

In countries where the frosts of winter are long and severe, a correspondingly large quantity of snow falls, to cover and shelter the ground. Without these deep snows, the plants and vegetables would probably be destroyed by the intensity of the cold. Snow is therefore most valuable as a winter covering for the herbage, and for preventing the escape of its natural heat from the earth. This is very apparent, on the melting of snow, after it has lain any time on grass lands.

SOILS.

The soil or surface of the earth consists, for the most part, of the crumblings and decayed portions of rocks, and its quality depends on the nature of the substances whence it is derived. Rain, sunshine, frost, the action of the atmosphere in all its stages, are constantly effecting the decomposition of rocks, and separating minute particles from their surface, to form a soil above and around them; whilst the rivers and running waters

transport portions of the matter so separated, to lower levels. By this process, during a long course of years, our fertile valleys and rich meadow lands have been gradually formed.

Sand, clay, and lime, are the principal constituents of all the different kinds of soil; and it is by ascertaining the nature of the soil in every case, and so managing the land as to bring out and improve its capabilities, that the profit of the farmer is to be secured.

Each soil has its natural limits, beyond which the application of manure alone will not carry its powers of production. The farmer's object must therefore be to raise the quality of the soil, by infusing into it new elements of fertility, in which it was before deficient; such as the mixture of clay and marl with sandy and peaty soils, chalk with the clays, and lime with loamy and alluvial soils. In this way the qualities of each description of soil may be improved, and its productive powers greatly augmented.

Soils differ greatly in colour. Some are nearly black, others white, red, and brown, according to the nature of the subsoil, or the rocks out of which they have been formed. Peaty soils are invariably black, or a very dark brown, whilst combinations of iron impart a red colour to the soil, without, however, impairing its fertility.

Soils may be classed under the following general heads, viz-sandy, gravelly, clayey, chalky, alluvial, loamy, and peaty.

Sandy soils. Pure sand or silex is the earth of flints, and in its simple state is incapable of retaining moisture or promoting vegetation; but when clay, marl, loam, or other soil possessing adhesive qualities, are mingled with it, it may be cultivated with advantage. The Norfolk farmers have, by means of such applications, improved their sandy and naturally sterile soil, and rendered it eminently productive.

When properly prepared, a sandy soil is one of the most profitable which can be worked. It is easily cul

tivated, and is well adapted for occasional pasturage, and for turnip feeding of sheep. The crops to be raised on sandy soils, are-turnips, potatoes, carrots, mangelwurzel, barley, rye, peas, clover, and all the grasses; but this species of soil is not, generally speaking, sufficiently strong for beans and wheat.

Gravelly soils, are in their nature very similar to the sandy, and require nearly the same treatment. They are in general considered hungry soils; for being of an open texture, the moisture sinks rapidly through them, and their fertility depends on frequent falls of rain, as well as upon a liberal application of manure. They are adapted to the production of potatoes, turnips, and the grasses, and are well suited to a moist climate.

Clay soils. Clay or argillaceous earth, in its ordinary condition, is one of the most difficult kinds of soils with which a farmer can have to deal; but it may be greatly improved by the application of sand, lime, marl, chalk, and all kinds of calcareous matter. Ashes, peat, farmyard manure, the sweepings and scrapings of streets and roads, are all suitable for clay soils; and by a liberal use of these materials, with draining and careful working the land, such soils may be rendered highly productive.

Clay soils are often of so stiff and adhesive a nature, that they continue moist throughout the summer. The plough turns up the soil in strong clods, which are with difficulty broken by the roller. It requires both labour and expense to put such soils into a good state of cultivation, but it may be done, and will in general well repay the outlay.

This soil is adapted for beans, wheat, oats, peas, clover, and tares. Formerly potatoes and turnips were little cultivated on clay soils; but under the modern system of draining and improvement, these roots may now be grown on them to advantage. They are well adapted for hay or clover, but do not generally produce good pasture. Ashes, peat earth, and all other light substances, are useful for lightening and mellowing clay soils, and chalk can hardly be applied in too large quantities.

Chalky soils, consist for the most part of calcareous matter, but often mixed with other substances, in greater or less proportion. When much clay and other earthy substances are found mingled with the chalk, the soil is heavy and productive; when sand and gravel abound in it, the soil is light and not very fertile. The crops chiefly cultivated on chalky soils are peas, turnips, barley, clover, and wheat; and however much the soil may be exhausted, it will produce sainfoin, which indicates that when exhausted by other crops, the growth of sainfoin will serve to recruit the soil; and it is accordingly extensively grown in the chalk districts of the south of England.

Alluvial soils, are composed of the finest parts of earth and clay, washed off by rain and running waters, and deposited in low-lying situations, in valleys through which the rivers flow, and on the shores of estuaries, where they are increased by the flowings of the tide, and enriched by the deposit of marine productions. Alluvial lands have generally a level surface, and yield abundant crops of grass, as well as of wheat, oats, barley, beans, peas, clover, and tares; but from their being for the most part low and consequently damp, they require the occasional application of lime, and the ditches and drains should be carefully attended to and kept open.

Loamy soils, consist of clay, sand, and calcareous matter, with a certain portion of vegetable mould, and may be described as being less tenacious than the clay, and more so than the sandy. Loams are the most desirable of all soils for the farmer; the clods are easily broken, and the land can be worked at any season of the year. Loams are ploughed with greater facility than clays, and bear better the vicissitudes of the seasons. They are well adapted for convertible husbandry, and may be changed generally with benefit, from grass to tillage, and from tillage to grass.

Bog, moss, or peaty soil. This soil prevails to a great extent in Ireland and Scotland, and to some ex

tent also in England, especially in the western districts, which are the most humid; and moisture is necessary to the growth of peat. Peat is supposed for the most part to have had its origin in the destruction of ancient forests -the trees, felled by the tempest, or brought down by natural decay, and left upon the ground, became covered with moss and lichens; and the free passage of the water being thus obstructed, aquatic plants, such as reeds, rushes, horsetail, marsh trefoil, &c., spring up and decay, leaving a stratum of vegetable matter, which we call peat, and which increases every succeeding year.

The aquatic plants grow in greater or less abundance, according to the quantity of moisture, and this accounts for the bogs being deeper in some places than in others. The hollows retain moisture, and here the aquatic plants are most prolific, and the hollows gradually become filled up. The peat or moss thus formed is essentially a vegetable substance, which has undergone a certain change, without being entirely decomposed. Water is indispensable to the formation of peat, whether on high or low lands, on the summit or sides of mountain ranges, or in valleys or hollows; and as the ground is more or less wet, different plants will be produced.

Peat possesses an astringent quality, and preserves bodies immersed in it, which probably arises from the decayed bark of trees, and the vegetable gum and resin which it contains. It is also probable that the plants themselves of which the bog is composed, by the action of natural agents, may have acquired an antiseptic property, checking their own decay.

In some cases, lakes and deep pools have been filled up, by the gradual accumulation of the peat; and it has been observed that fermentation occurs where this has taken place. Gaseous matter is then thrown off, and the neighbourhood of such a moss is often found to be unhealthy; but dry peat soils are always considered healthful.

Subsoils. In the selection and management of any of the foregoing soils, the nature of the under or subsoil should not be overlooked by the farmer; for it always