20 A Philosophical Discourse

I come next to Marl, (amongst other Parts of Agriculture Intro-due’d by the lame Romans ) of excellent Use to fix light Sand, anddry Grounds ; some are for the White and Gray, others the Bin fand Red, (which I think the best) according as ’tis more or k| sapt to resolve after wetting; but neither of them discovering thenVirtue for the first Year: It does incomparably on Rastures ; some onArable, a good Coat of Compost, suitable to the Land, being 6rnspread where you will lay it: If your Marl be very unctuous andrich, apply it less copiously; the too thick Covering is the worst E*"tream; nor is it always to be'us'd without Allay and Mixture withother proper Soil; for some Marl is more sandy and gritty than othehand should be qualified with a Contrary: Give lean and emaciateEarth , a Covering of the fattest Marl ; hot and dry, to the cold anmoist: And this is also to be observed in the Applications of all otherComposts and Medications.

Marjh and churlish Earth will be civiliz’d by the Rigor and Eh'cipline of two Winters; Bis Frigora, is the old Method to make thestubborn Clod relent; and with the Mixture of a little Sand, if st ^too close of Body, it will become excellent Mould.

Clay is of all other a curst Stepdame to almost all Vegetation, aShaving few or no Meatus’s for the. percolation of the alimental Showedor expansion of the Roots; whether it be the Voracious, HunWeeping or Cold Sort: In these Cases, Laxatives are to be prescrih >such as drift Sand , small gritty Gravel, Saw-dust, with MathChalk, and continually vexing it with the Spade or Plough; but aboall, with Sea Sand, where it may be procur’d, and the burning of tGround to Ashes, and all that it bears, the more the better; f° r Jno less Severity will this ill-natur’d Mould be subdu’d: Rotten-u' 60 \and the bottom of Bavine-stacks, is a good Ingredient to this Man u1 ^ ’and if it be a cold and wet Sort, Strewings of Soot are good ; if vC s cstiff, Rubbish of Brick, Limestone , and such Trash, may propels ^laid at the bottom, and on the upper part Composts of Dung '■>otherwise no Limings ( which being Sleek'd, is raw and cold )any Hand be applied, especially to the hungry Sort, which ( aS ^most kinds of Marsh-Earth) is subject to Chasm, and gape > nSeasons; to prevent which, a discreet Mixture of Ashes and hufus’d; for if it be in Excess, it over-heats the latter. ^iit

I do not reckon Loams among the Clays, though it seem to bea succulent kind of Argiila, imparting a natural Ligament toEarth where you mix it, especially the more Friable; and is thereof all other, the most excellent Mean between Extreams,and uniting that which is too loose or stony, cooling that which lS ^and gently entertaining the Moisture. The Flower-Garden can ^/^r-without a Mixture of it, nor well any Fruit, especially the bestApples, so it be accompanied with a lighter Soil.

To sum up all we have said concerning Natural ImproV eI1 tby Mixtures of Earth with Earth, rather than Dungs ; letmy Lord Bacon-. He reckons up Marl, Chalk, Sea-sand> ^

upon Mould, Fond-earth with Chalk, and the several Blending ^Tempering of them ; among all which, Marl we find to earry ^Preeminence with his Lordship, as the most pinguid, rich)

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least over-heating; next to this, Sand, as the most aboundSalt; Chalk more heating, and therefore proper for C luy > ^<1

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