INDIANA FARMER.
DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, MECHANICS, AND THE USEFUL ARTS.
VOL.1.] RICHMOND,   IND.,   APRIL 1,    1852. [NO. 16;
COMMUNICATIONS. )     But there is another  exception  to the gen-
For tha Indiana Farmer.      eral rule of the origin of soils,   which presents
SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE—No. 3.        j itself to us over a largo part of Indiana,  Ohio,
BV PROFESS^Z LAWRENCE. ^ I1Hn°'1S' 0n  a VaStl>' ^S" SCale    than that
  of bottom lands.    I refer to the  northern drift.
Origin of Soils  C^tmuea.---Of   Transported  About  tw0.th*rJs  0f these three   States,   (the
In the proceeding number, I endeavored to|northern portion,) are covered, at various
give an account of the origin of soils in gcner-5dePths* with sand* g™vel, pebbles and bould^
al, to show that they were derived, except a crs' much of which has been transported many
small portion of vegetable matter, from thej hundreds of miles from the north, and has con-
slow decay of the rocks that lie immediately i !e(luent*>' bcen de"vcd from a great variety of
beneath them; and that consequently they (rocks, most of which are totally different from
would partake of the character of the rock out these rock formations which belong to these
of which they were formed, and would be rich States* The thickness of this drift is such, in
or poor in the mineral elements, which admin- most Places> as entirely to prevent the decay
isterto the support of vegetable life, according of tlie rocks underneath, and hence there is no
as the rock itself abounded, or was deficient in, rclation between thc soil and the underlying
these necessary ingredients. strata.    On the contrary, the soils produced by
But there are many exceptions to this rulo, the dr*ft> derive the*r character from the rocks
which it will be the object of the present num- from wllich 5t has been derived- In conse-
ber to point out. The bottom lands along our; 1ucnc0 of this distant and heterogeneous ori-
water courses, are not derived from, nor do they; Sin of the soil over a larSe portion of these
have any relation to the rocks in their imme-1 States, it must be very different, both in its mediate neighborhood. These soils having been Ichanical structure, and its chemical composi-
deposited by the water in times of freshets, it is jtion' from that of their southern portion, where
easy to see that they are the produce of thejthere is n0 drift- and where the soil is the di-
destruction of rocks that lie higher up the rect product of the disintegration ofthe rocks
stream, all the way to its sources.    And upon ^in Pe*
the character of theso rocks, will depend in a 1 The former abounds in sand and gravel,
great measure, the composition, and consequent jw**ich renders it light, and less liable to injure
fertility of these lands. fa--1 crops, by the winters' freezing; while tho
One of the principal reasons of the superior! latter abounds more in clay, on which the frosts
fertility of bottom lands, is, that, having been-of winter are often very destructive. The for-
derived from different sources, they are more]mer abounds more in these articles, which form
apt to have a full supply of all the mineral;the growth and perfection of wheat; while tho
elements of fertility, than those which have* latter are better suited to the production of
been derived from the disintegration of only \ maize. Accordingly let any person travel from
one kind of rock. For although the rocks con-) the Ohio river to the northern lakes; and as
tain all the mineral elements that administer! soon Bs he arrives within the region of the drift,
to the growth of plants, yet it seldom happens! he will find that wheat begins to be the leading
that any one formation contains them all in! article of culture among the farmers, and that
the exact proportions, which are demanded by i it becomes more so, as he proceeds northward ;
growing vegetables. Some kinds of rocks will* "whereas Indian corn is decidedly the staple ar-
be rich in particular kinds of matter demanded j tide south of the region of the drift,
by vegetable life, while they will be poor, or The truth of this doctrine will more clearly
perhaps entirely destitute of other kinds equal-manifest itself as thc country grows older, and
ly important. This deficiency is very apt to be the gradual exhaustion ofthe soil begins to
supplied by materials from another source,? call for a more enlightened method of culture,
whether applied by ihe hand of industry, or J to arrest its failing process, or to restore it again
by currents of water. \ to its primeval state.