/} Philosophical Discourse

and yet for that not much the better; for either it dismisses, and lets thempass too soon, and lo contracts no ligature, or retains it too long, e sp e 'daily where the bottom is of Clay; by which it parches, or chills, p r f'*ducing nothing but Moss, and disposes to Cancerous Infirmities: But “jas sometimes it fortunes, that the Sand have a Surface of more g eniaXMould, and a fund of Gravel or loose Stone; though it do not longmaintain the virtue it receives from Heaven^ yet it produces as forvvarspringing, and is Parent of sweet Orals, which, though soon burnt upin dry Weather, does as soon recover with the first Rain that falls.

Of pure and fheere-Sand , there’s white, black, bluilh, red, yellowharsher and milder, and seme meer Dust in appearance, none of themto be desired alone ; butthegrey-black, and alh-coloufd, and that wind 1frequently is found in heathy Commons, or of the travelling hw",volatile, and exceeding light, is the most insipid, aud worst of albdo not here speak of the Drift and Sea Sands, which is of admits,virtue and use in mixtures, and to be spread on some Lands; because !thas been delcrib’d so accurately already in a just Discourse upon anotheroccasion, by an experiene’d Gentleman , dwelling in the Western Parts*where this Manure is perfectly understood, and recommended to moregeneral use. . iss

As of Sands, so are there as different sorts of Clays , and of as di» e 'rent Colours, whereof there is a kind so obstinate and ill-natured, ^almost nothing will subdue it, and another so voracious and greedy* ^nothing will satiate, without exceeding Industry, because it ungratefully devours all that is applied to it, turning it into as arrant Cl0 .it self: Some Clays are more pinguid than other; some more flippy*all of them tenacious of Water on the Surface, where it stagnates anchills the Plant," without penetrating; and in dry Seasons costive,hardning with the Sun and Wind; most of them pernicious, andtractable. 'I

The unctuous and fatter Clay, frequently lies upon the Other, h aV ) \oftentimes a basis of Chalk beneath it; but neither is this worth ^thing, ’till it be loosened, and rendred more kind, so as to admit of * /Air and Heavenly Influences; in a word, the blue, •white, and rClay, (if strong) are all unkind; the stony, and looser sort sstsometimes tolerable; but the light Brick-Earth does very well with &Fruit-trees.

I had almost forgotten Marjh-Earth , which though of all oWJseemingly, the most churlish, a little after ’tis first dug, and dtf ?( when it soon grows hard, and chaps, ) may with labour, and c ° nV Lctent exposure, be brought to an excellent Temper; for being the P s . nSof rich Slime, and the Sediment of Land-Waters, and Inundate 'which are usually fat, as also the rotting of Sedge, yea, andof prostrated Trees, formerly growing in or near them, and Y^ t0cess of time rotted (at least the spray of them ) and nowcohV clte.Mould, becomes a very profitable Land: But whether I may reCthis among the natural Earths, I do not contend.

Ot Loams and BrickEarths, we have several forts, and some appro ^*ng to - Clay ; others nearer Marie ; differing also in colour; anC * 1 ct ,be not too rude, mingled in just proportion with other Mould, aI L pcellent Ingredient in all sorts - of Earth, and so welcome to the ^bandman, and the Gardiner especially, as nothing does well with©'little dash of it. 4 T Of