t/EARTH, &c. !■?

And therefore stwere profitable, if in the using Lime with Turf arid vSty arth, it W cre laid alternatively, Turf on Lime, and Lime on Turfin Heaps for six Months, by which Means it will become so mellow(and rich in Nitrons Salts ) as to dissolve, and run like AJhes, andcarry a much more cherishing Vigor, than if amassed in greater Quan-tity ; and so, by a too violent Application, burn out, and exhaust thevegetative Virtue which it should preserve. There is ( by the way )this Caution to be used in burning of Earth, that though what istorrified into Blackness, will exceedingly fructify; yet, if it proceedto adustion beyond that Degree, it consumes the Nitre, which is thePrinciple would be preserved; as we shall come to shew, when we speakof Salts, which we are the most carefully to keep entire, in all ourAnimal or other Compojls: If once the Nitrous Spirit be quite mor-tssy’d, the Earth produces nothing, still being long expos’d, ithave attracted a fresh Supply to give it Life, and prepare it for Gon-teption : For otherwise, all moderate Burnings, yea, and even some-times (to Appearance ) immoderate ( as that of Rose-trees, Reeds tand some other, which makes them bear, and come the better, ) isexcellent Manure, as we fee it in Straw and Stubble, enrich’d as theyAre with Salts ; and if the very Earth be roasted with the Fire, itsolves Obstructions, laxes the Pores, renders them attractive of the In-fluences, and to cherish with its Warmth ; and the more simple andUnmix’d the AJhes be, in relation to what the Ground produces, it isthe better: For as Weeds bring Weeds, so the AJhes of Fruits andBerries (being burnt ) dispose to bring forth the same; nay, Hono -rat. Faber affirms, that Wheat burnt to AJhes, produces Wheat ; lbas no Treatment of the Seminal Rudiments whatsoever, seems totallyof Power to annihilate their Virtue; so strict is the Union of theParts from whence their Forms result. The Calcination then ofEarth alone, not only disposes it to produce great Variety, but if itbe intense, increases the very Weight of the Mould; whether from acertain Magnetism which it thereby contracts, ( which fortifies it todraw the proper Aliment more powerfully ) or upon what other Ac-count, let the Curious examine. In the mean Time, whilst we are onthis of burning the Earth, and that many think the fixed Salts to bethe lame in all Vegetables, ( and their great Virtue included in thisFolatile, totally lost by Calcination ) the ‘Powder of Plants is by somepreferable to the. AJhes: Which Husbandry, (after the Romans hadlong since used, even in Britain , for near Five Hundred Years, butdiscontinued by their Expulsion, and Depopulation ) was reviv’d againin FlaUders, and thence brought into Devonjhire , and about SixtyYears after cultivated more generally, with great Success at first,

( especially on Chalky and barren. Grounds ) but sensibly diminish-ing, occasion’d the Proverb, That what is good for the Father, issometimes naught for the Son ; however it is found restor’d again tofertility, by feeding Sheep on the Ground, above all other Dresssings.

Lime is excellent for cold, wet Grounds, ( and stiff Clays) a littlefleck’d, as over -burning the Drier, and the very best Destroyer of Moss,apd Rujhes; as Quick-lime does Furzes, being first extirpated : TwoLoads of Turf will make a Load of AJhes , and so for greater Quanti-ty) spread on steril Lands, spontaneously producing the Cinq-foil.

I come