Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/329

Rh SOILS, ETC.] AGRICULTURE 307 sandstone and arenaceous beds, we shall find the soil sandy; in one of limestone, more or less calcareous ; in one of schistose rocks, more or less clayey. But even in tracts of the same geological formation, there exist great differences in the upper stratum, arising from the prevalence of one or other member of the series, or from the greater or less inclination of the strata, by which the debris of the different beds are more or less mixed together on the surface. The action of water, too, in denuding the surface at one part, and carrying the debris in greater or smaller quantity to another, exercises everywhere an important influence on the character of soils. Thus the fertility of a soil on the higher ground, from which the earthy particles are washed, is found to be very different from that of the valley to which the?e particles are carried. It is seen accordingly, that within the limits of the same geological formation, soils are greatly varied, and that the mere knowledge of the formation will not enable us to predicate the character of the soil of any given tract, either with respect to its texture, its composition, or its productiveness.&quot; 1 Even a very limited acquaintance with the geology of Great Britain serves, however, to account for the exceed ingly diversified character of its soils. The popular defini tions of soils and to these it is safest for practical farmers to adhere have respect to their most obvious qualities. Thus they are designated from their composition, as clays, loams, sands, gravels, chalks, or peats; or from their texture, in which respect those in which clay predominates are called heavy, stiff, or impervious; and the others light, friable, or jjorous. From the tendency of the former to retain moisture they are often spoken of as wet and cold, and the latter, for the opposite reason, as dry and warm. According to their measure of fertility, they are also described as rich or poor. The particular crops for the production of which they are respectively considered to be best adapted have also led to clays being spoken of as wheat or bean soils, and the friable ones as barley and turnip soils. This latter mode of discriminating soils is, however, becoming every day less appropriate ; as those of the lighter class, when sufficiently enriched by suitable manuring, are found the most suitable of all for the growth of wheat ; while the efforts of agriculturists are now successfully directed to the production of root crops on soils so strong as heretofore to have been reckoned unfit for the purpose. But still, such extreme diversities as we everywhere meet with in our soils must necessarily lead to a corresponding diversity in their agricultural treatment, and hence the necessity for keeping this fact prominently in view in every reference to British agriculture as a whole. Section 2. Influence of Climate. But if diversity of soil necessarily modifies the practice !&amp;gt;f the husbandman, that of climate does so far more powerfully. The soils of the different parts of the globe do not very materially differ from each other, and yet their vegetable products vary in the extreme. This is chiefly owing to difference of temperature, which decreases more or less regularly as we recede from the equator, or ascend from the sea-level. Places in the same latitude and at the same elevation are found, however, to vary exceedingly in temperature, according to their aspect, the prevailing winds to which they are exposed, their proximity to seas or mountains, and the condition of their surface. The different parts of Great Britain are accordingly found to possess very different climates. In passing from south to north, its mean temperature may be taken to decrease one degree Fahrenheit for every 80 miles of latitude, and the same 1 Low s Practical Agriculture, p. 42. for every 300 feet of elevation. The temperature of the west side of our island also differs materially from that of the east, being more equal throughout the year. This is owing to the prevalence of mild westerly winds charged with moisture, which, while they equalise the temperature, cause the average fall of rain on the west side of Britain to be in many cases double, and in some nearly three times that on the opposite side. In the central parts of England cultivation is carried on at 1000 feet of elevation, but 800 may be taken as the ordinary limit. In Scotland the various crops are usually from two to three weeks later in coming to maturity than in England. In both divisions of the island the western counties, owing to their mild and humid climate, are chiefly devoted to pasturage, and the eastern, or dry ones, to tillage. As compared with the continent of Europe, our summers are neither so hot, our winters so cold, nor our weather so steady. We want, therefore, many of its rich products, but, on the other hand, our milder winter and moister climate are eminently favourable to the production of pasturage and other cattle crops, and admit of agricultural operations being carried on more regularly throughout the year. Indeed, looking to the immense varieties of the products of our soil, there is probably no other country so favourably circumstanced for a varied and successful agri culture. Section 3. Influence of Population, &amp;lt;&a Besides those variations in the agricultural practice of this country which arise from diversities of soil and climate, there are others which are due to the distribution of the population. The proximity of cities and towns, or of populous villages, inhabited by a manufacturing or mining population, implies a demand for dairy produce and vege tables, as Avell as for provender and litter, and at the same time affords an ample supply of manure to aid in their reproduction. Such commodities, from their bulk or perish able nature, do not admit of long carriage. The supplies of these must therefore be drawn from comparatively limited areas, and the character of the husbandry pursued there is determined apart from those general influences previously referred to. From these and other causes there is a diversity in the practice of British agriculture which increases the difficulty of describing it accurately. Indeed, it is so well known that there are peculiarities of cha racter attaching to almost every individual field and farm, and still more to every different district or county, which demand corresponding modifications of treatment in order to their successful cultivation, that a prudent man, if required to take the management of a farm in some district greatly inferior in its general system of farming to that which he may have left, will yet be very cautious in innovating upon specific practices of the natives. To such peculiarities it is obviously impracticable to refer in such a treatise as the present. They are referred to now because they suggest an explanation of some of those discrepancies in the practice and opinions of farmers, equally successful in their respective localities, which we constantly meet with ; and because, in proceeding to deli neate the practice of Berwickshire, where our personal experience has been gained by upwards of forty years of actual farming, we would deprecate the idea of claiming for its modes a superiority over those of other districts. Its geographical position, and the mixed husbandry pur sued in it, would justify, in some measure, its being referred to as a fair sample of the national agriculture. But it is on the specific ground that it is best to speak from actual experience as far as that will serve, that we vindicate this selection.