64 solid yards, is reckoned a good covering for a statute acre. On strong retentive clay land, one rood is generally found sufficient for the same extent of surface."

The application.-P. 222. "The usual time of marling is in the summer months; beginning in May, when the ploughing is over, and continuing till the commencement of harvest. It is sometimes laid on the green sward in winter; and, after being acted upon by the frost, is ploughed in the following spring, generally for oats. Marling on fallows is also practised to a very considerable

extent.

"

The expence of marling, in Cheshire, Mr. Holland makes out (p. 223) to be "five pounds per statute acre."

An ample detail of the marls; marl pits; method of working them; state of the land to receive them; the season of marling; the quantity set on; spreading them; and the expence attending those operations; in LANCASHIRE; may be seen in the REVIEW of the NORTHERN DE PARTMENT, p. 286.

Those who are desirous of being more fully acquainted with the marls of this kingdom, may find in my registers of the nature and practice of its several departments, different species and varieties described and analyzed.

For general remarks on marls; the methods of searching for them; and that of employing them;-see the TREATISE ON LANDED PROPERTY, p. 222; or the ABSTRACT of it,-p. 242.

Lime.-P. 226. "Lime is used to very considerable extent as a manure in most parts of Cheshire, but more particularly on the eastern side of the county, where it is procured in great abundance, and at a tolerably cheap rate, from Derbyshire. The lime kilns at NewboldAstbury, near Congleton, likewise supply a large district, to the south-east of the county, with this valuable article. The larger proportion of the lime stone used in the middle and western parts of Cheshire, is procured from the Welch coast, and burnt at the different kilns in the County: some of it also is procured from Staffordshire, In the hundred of Wirrall, a comparatively small quantity is used as a manure; a circumstance which may be attributed principally to the nature of the soil in this district."

Of the qualities, or descriptions, of those several limes, -or of the limestones, whether of Cheshire or Wales, that are burnt in the county, we are not informed; either in a scientific, or a popular, way.

P. 227.

P. 227. "The quantity of lime laid on an acre varies, in this county, from 70 to 140 bushels. There is likewise a considerable variation in the price at which it is pro cured. The average price may perhaps be stated at seven-pence or eight-pence per bushel. Good lime, brought by the Staffordshire canal, in iron boats, from the neighbourhood of Leek, may be purchased, at the wharf at Acton bridge, at sixpence the bushel."

Dung.-I am happy to hear that the Cheshire farmers are beginning to bed their dung yards, with mold, &c.; as a foundation for their farm yard manure.-p. 227.

The average price of dung, in Cheshire-" may, perhaps, be stated at seven shillings per ton."-p. 229.

Sand. Here, the reader must prepare himself for something new.-P. 229, "One of the principal agricultural improvements which has taken place of late years in Cheshire, is the introduction of sand as a manure for stiff clay lands. This practice is, indeed, still in its infancy in the county, but the success which has invariably attended its adoption, will, in all probability, render it much more general. The value of sand as an improvement to the soil was formerly little known; a few loads were sometimes carried into the farm yard, but even these instances were rare till about thirty years ago, when T. Corbett, Esq., of Darnhall, began to use very considerable quantities; sometimes mixing it with dung, sometimes laying it raw on his grass lands. The success which attended these experiments induced several farmers in the neighbourhood to follow the example of Mr. Corbett; and the practice has since been introduced on a number of the principal dairy farms in the middle of the county, where opportunities for its adoption occur. Such opportunities are by no means uncommon; deep beds of sand being frequently met with under the clay, which predominates as a superficial stratum.

"The kind of sand esteemed most favourable for laying on clay lands, is usually of a red colour, derived from an oxide of iron contained in its substance, and is soft and unctuous to the feel. No very accurate analysis has hitherto been made of it; but it certainly contains a considerable proportion of aluminous earth, combined with the siliceous particles of the sand. In none of the specimens, which I procured for the purpose of experiment, have I been able to detect the presence of any calcareous matter."

Let not, however, the occupiers of other districts run

at

at sand, "as a manure," from what is above stated. The "sand," used in Cheshire, appears, in the Reporter's unsatisfactory description of it, to be a rich silt ;-perhaps of marine origin,-formed at the mouth of some muddy estuary of former times;-of a kindred nature (but disfigured by time) with the "sea mud" that will presently be mentioned.

Mr. Manley of Merton corroborates Mr. Holland's statement. He says, p. 231.-"It is excellent management in the farmer, before he ties up his cattle for the winter, to lay a coat of sand, at least a foot in thickness, where he intends to throw his dung out of the cow houses. The dung should be repeatedly levelled on the sand, and a second coat of the latter laid on toward the end of February; upon which should be put the remainder of the dung procured before the cattle go to grass. As soon after this time as possible, the compost should either be turned, and mixt well where it lies, or cut down in breasts, filled into the dung carts, and taken away to some situation near the land on which it is intended to use it. Here it should be laid in a heap of at least two yards in thickness. After remaining two or three months in this state, it is in excellent condition for putting upon the land; and will be found upon the whole, one of the most advanta→ geous manures the farmer can employ, particularly on soils where there is a considerable predominance of clay."

This, it is highly probable, may be strictly true, with respect to the Cheshire "sand;" but let not any sand be thus applied, on a large scale, on the strength of what is above reported. Let it, nevertheless, be the business of every occupier of strong tenacious lands, who can procure sand of any sort, in his neighbourhood, to try its effects, on a moderate or smaller scale; and in Mr. Manley's manner. But let him not "poison" his whole dung hill with the meagre sandy grout, which is frequently found in cold clayey districts.

I recollect an instance, in Surrey, of an ingenious and well experienced practitioner (Mr. Arbuthnot) mixing ordinary infertile sand with his strong clayey land, by way of forming it into sandy loams. But he desisted; because he found, or fancied he found, that his soil, instead of being encreased in friability, became more binding than it was in its natural state; even as the purer clays, by adding sand to them, are rendered more eligible, as brick earths.

This circumstance, and the foregoing precautions are

not

not brought forward to damp the spirit of experimenting; but as hints that may tend towards rendering it the more successful; and, of course, the more alert and durable. Grass land would seem to be the most eligible site of experiment.

Peat earth.-P. 232. "This substance, made into a compost with lime or dung, has been employed in several instances with great success."

The Reverend Croxton Johnson forms his compost on the spot,-upon the moss-(it does not appear that he cuts through it).-P. 232. "In the beginning of January the moss is trenched, and thrown up into ridges, that it may be dried and pulverized by the frost. Towards the latter end of February, it is turned over and laid flat, when it is usually found considerably lighter than when it was first dug up. It is then covered with dung, in the proportion of a fourth or fifth part of the weight, and left in this state for a fortnight or three weeks; after which it is turned over, mixed thoroughly with the dung, and thrown into heaps. A fermentation generally commences in a few days, which varies in continuance according to the degree of moisture in the moss. After it has subsided, the compost is turned over, as before, and the moss at the same time broken very small, that it may mix the more intimately with the dung. In consequence of this process a second fermentation usually takes place, and often to a more considerable degree than in the first instance. The compost is ready to put on the land about the middle of April. Where lime is used instead of dung, the proportion added to the peat moss is considerably smaller. The remainder of the process is conducted in a similar way." In what manner the dung or lime is got upon the moss, or how the compost is removed from it, is not reported; and, of course, no practical information is conveyed.

Ashes.-P. 234. "An intelligent farmer informs me that he has been in the habit, for some years, of burning gorse" (furze-whins) "upon his summer fallows, and spreading the ashes over the land."

Salt, as a manure.-Notwithstanding what Mr. Wedge has advanced, on this subject, (see p. 25.) Mr. Holland doubts, at least, its efficacy, as such. Experiments are detailed; but their results contradict each other. He attempts to account for this disagreement, and to reconcile them; but without success. He, therefore, prudently leaves the matter nearly where he found it. The following natural facts, however, are worth registering.

P. 239.

P. 239. "On the banks of the Weaver, above Namptwich, several brine springs break out upon the surface, which have the effect of destroying all vegetation, for several yards round. On the marshes in the neighbourhood of Frodsham, the natural application of the muriate of soda seems to produce effects of a somewhat contrary nature. A considerable extent of these marshes, is overflowed by the salt water, every spring tide: and in the intervening period, is used as a pasture for horses, cattle, &c. The vegetation here is by no means deficient in vigour; the cattle are extremely partial to the grass, and very speedily fatten upon it."

All the world know the value of the herbage of salt marshes, for the feedage of livestock. And the value of the EARTH of SALT MARSHES, as a manure, for other lands, appears to be well attested; tho not generally known. In Lancashire," sea slutch" is successfully used as manure."-(See NORTH. DEPART.) And, in the Appendix to the Report of Cheshire, now under consideration, is a circumstantial and satisfactory account of its efficacy, as such, in that county.

4

It has long been understood, or believed, that salt on its application, in quantity, is inimical to vegetation; but that time changes its effect. And this popular idea, it is possible, may be founded in fact. Mixing it with wet soil, or pouring it upon dry mold, in a liquid state, and letting such saline earth remain for a length of time, before it be used (repeatedly moving it, and thereby exposing fresh surfaces to the air) may perhaps be the most eligible mode of applying it. Has it been tried as a liquid manure, as urine and yard liquor have not unfrequently been ap plied?

--

After all, while salt is forbidden to be used as a manure, it may seem to be a waste of words to treat of it, as such. Let us hope, however, that a time may come when more political regulations, than at present would seem to exist, may be instituted, respecting it.-And, until such a measure take place, let us turn our attention to what is here termed " sea mud," or the earth of salt marshes.

Marsh mold.-This, it is probable, may be found at the mouths of many or most of the estuaries of the kingdom,of a sufficiently rich quality to be profitably used as manure. The evidence of its extraordinary effect, as such, in Cheshire, is given by Mr. Orred of High Runcorp, in the following words.-P. 368. "After experiencing, for fifty years, the advantage of the use of sca-sludge as a

manure,