Page:The plains of Long Island.djvu/16

 to the evidences of these results, it is sometimes urged, that these crops were raised in peculiar and favored localities, which are exceptions to the general character of the soil. The error of this position will be most apparent to any one who will make the proper investigation. These localities will be found in no respect superior to the average of plain lands and precisely similar to the soil of the wilds, which is only separated from them by a simple fence. I will now briefly notice some of the objections which are advanced to the culture of these lands. I have already incidentally discussed some of the most prominent.

—One of the most prevalent objections which is often urged, rests on the idea that the porosity of this soil renders it too dry for cultivation and incapacitates it for the retention of manure. The instances I have already introduced, such as the heavy crop of grass upon the land of Mr. Taylor, with no application of any manure for the five preceding years, seems, by practical results, to disprove this theory. I have not space to discuss the question so much controverted, whether manure is wasted by evaporation or leaching, but will assert without hesitation, that a soil made so adhesive by a preponderance of clay, as characterizes the plain lands, is in danger of being too compact rather than too open. A superficial soil of this kind, from twenty inches to three feet in depth, can scarcely suffer from porosity, and that it does not, is evident from the heavy crops of grain and grass it yields, and the luxuriant growth of fruit trees on the improved spots, as well as the immense burthen of forest trees and vegetation it bears in its native condition. I believe that the under stratum of coarse gravel which must cause this porosity, if it exists, has no greater effect upon the superficial soil than would be produced on any earth by a thorough system of under-draining. It is this agency that carries off the surface water and renders the soil dry and warm. That the influence of this formation is useful and its effects similar to that of under-draining, appears from the fact mentioned by Mr. Bridger, that on removing the earth with a hoe, in the dryest weather, he always found moisture beneath. He stated that his crops never suffered from the drought. This moisture is doubtless the effect of capilliary attraction, which, it is contended, is an agency that causes one of the peculiar benefits secured by under-drainage.

—There is, I believe, little difference of opinion in reference to the fact, that the bush plains are affected by an innate acidity which imparts a certain degree of coldness and infertility to the land in its natural state. It is not greater, however, than might exist in any earths which have been shrouded for ages from the influence of the sun and air, by a heavy foliage, where leaves accumulate in deposit on the surface and are in various processes of decomposition. The application of alkalis, or quickening manures and the effect of cultivation alone, rapidly relieve the soil from this property. When it is turned up to the action of the sun and feels the influence of the elements, this acidity soon disappears. This result is apparent from the circumstance, of which I am amply assured, that