sed of ingredients, capable of supplying a sufficient portion of
vegetable food; of retaining a due portion of moisture, when placed under
powerful evaporation; and of securing the free passage of water through
its mass: the former of these conditions would be secured, by the use of
mould from the decaying leaves of trees, in the proportion of about
three-eighths; the latter would be ensured, by employing about one-fourth
part of turfy heath mould, and one-eighth part of clean coarse sand; and
the remaining quality, would result by combining these ingredients with
one-fourth part of good turfy loam. The preparation of this soil should
take place in the dry weather of the summer months, just previous to its
being used, so that it can be frequently turned and mixed, without
incurring the danger of reducing it to an adhesive consistency, which
would at once render it ungenial for the roots of plants: the turfy
portions both of the loam and heath soil should be piled up reversely,
until the herbage and roots of the grass, become partially decayed; when
required for use, it should be chopped into pieces of from two to four
inches square, by the spade, and then adding the other ingredients _in a
rough state_, the whole should be well mixed, without sifting, or any
other mechanical operation which would have the effect of destroying its
open texture. It should always be prevented from becoming saturated with
water; and moreover, should never be applied to the roots of plants which
are growing in a warm medium, without having been previously submitted to
a high temperature, for a sufficient length of time, to have absorbed at
least an equal degree of heat, with that in which the plants might be
already growing.

The admixture of charcoal with the soil, is said to be a means of adding
to its nutritive qualities. Charcoal, which is nearly pure carbon, may be
supposed continually to give off a portion of this gaseous substance
during its decomposition, and this uniting with a portion of the oxygen
contained in the air, would furnish a supply of carbonic acid gas, to the
atmosphere immediately about the plants. It should however be borne in
mind, that charcoal, is a substance whose decomposition except under the
influence of heat, proceeds very slowly indeed, and therefore its chemical
influence must not be overrated: doubtless however, the small portion
which does combine with the oxygen of the air, is directly beneficial to
the pl