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;	will	i (tie I. vv i >.ik, while a little further inland, on the elevations, we
tiud 11 if I.'in.'-lea! I’iiie, and in the wet, Hat depressions or “hollows intervening In-lwveu thi'in, there is a growth of I:iy, l’lack (rum, Water, Willow, and Live ii.ik^, some 11 ickory and Magnolia. In these depressions, the soil, and especially the Mib'uil. is somewhat heavier than on the ridges, and the land, when drained, do^s very well for to <iyears, but then liecomesexhausted.
s.ii*. Iin'jiui'rui'at iif th* SuikI Iloiiim'icks.—Lin;'is as sandy a.s these cannot under any circimistuncos be expected to be productive lor any considerable length of time, without manure of the most comprehensive kind ; lor the soil is naturally j>oor in everything but sand. tIioiiltIi wliat tliore is in them of nutritive ingredients appears to be in a very available condition. Ilcncc such manures ns guano or ammoniated guano are thrown away on them ; they do not require stimulants, but nutritive matters; and what is very important, they require to be corrected, first of all, with reference to their relations to moisture. Thorough draining of the level lands is the first necessity ; after this is done, it would be best to allow them a season’s fallowing, after thorough tillage, inasmuch as they are usually bluish at first (from the presence of protoxide of iron—*383l). Wherever there i9 a clayey subsoil of svmt thickness, the tillage ought to be as deep as practicable ; but care must be taken in this case, that there be some clay subsoil left between the tilled layer and the yellow sands which generally underlie ; for if the plow were to penetrate to these, the land would be rendered incapable of improvement, as all the manure which could be applied would sink beyond the reach of plants in a short time (V510).
The high market value of the sea-shore lands might render it practicable in not a few cases, to improve the soil by hauling on it clays occurring in the neighborhood. Each one most, however, judge for himself as to the practicability, in his own particular case, of this mode of improvement, which is generally too expensive to be practiced on the large scale.
851. Origin of the Shell Ihmmock Soil.—The mode of improvement most practicable at the present time is probably that of tho joint application of lime and vegetable matter to the soil. This is precisely what has been done by nature, assisted by the Indians, in the ease of the " hommoeks”.
All of these were at one time, undoubtedly, “sand hoinmoeks”. The action of the lime of the shells at tirst induced a more vigorous vegetation ; the latter, when dead, was rapidly decomposed by the action of the lime, and the healthy humus thus formed, prevented the return of the nutritive matters of the plants to depths beyond ihe reach oi liie roots. 10very year’s growth lluls deposited on the surface an additional supply of nutritive ingredients, which the roots, penetialiiu in L-reat dep’hs in Uu loos.' soil, had brought up from below ; and thus tin illy we hive Ind a s ,;| finned, which is essentially a mixture of sand and humus, with bat verv 1 i111-• claw It contains the accumulated wealth of many yens v• ■ _T'■! 111->‘i t • which is a id 'd the lime, phosphoric acid, and animal matter of ihe shells.
s.*»2. II’, there!.av. w; w mid eite.'l a similar transition of the present “ *and tiom>ii-)-\-s". w • n.u-r aiiute what ’ntufe h is done, as nearly as wo <-nn
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Shell lime alone, applied to the sandy soil, mi^it increase its productiveness for a short time, hut would kill it very sonn (as guano is known to do), if (he (rr,ps trrrf rrux.rr ! /n,„i fhr .*■„7. — We must add vegetable matter n! the $</»>? time with lime: and Me' vegetable mutter ought to lie in a considerably advanced state of (K-c.ty.
In clay Soils, which are very retentive of moisture . •'■iTs'), umlecayed vegetable matter, when brought into the soil in company with l ine, will very soon decom]ioso. 1’ut in sandv soils, which are sulject to continual, abrupt changes fro:n wet to dry ami >•/•;/• vent, the decay is exceedingly slow ; and licsides, the presence of much lindecayed straw, leaves, etc., is liable to increase the “opcn-ne-.s ” of the light soil to an injurious exlent. Vegetable matter ought always, therejjire, to bo well “ rotted ’’ in the compost or manure pile, liefore being applied to 'oils of this kind. (In reference to this sulject, see * 7:»>, II'.).
No-'!, Mir*h Mm/; iii a Fertilizer.—There is a some-; of vegetable matter already decayed, very generally available 011 the Coast—viz: the Mmhof the marshes, especially those occupied by the “ Jonc coupant ' (.* s-!o, tflt.i). It ia doubtful whether this muck, if applied to the hoinmoeks hj {l\ in its naturally acid condition, would he much of an improvement, although (as the analysis of Mr. Lewis’ Marsh soil shows) it is rich in the nutritive ingredients of plants. Hut when applied conjointly with a due proportion of lime (shell lime or any other), it would undoubtedly form a highly valuable addition to the soil (V142), and improve it permanently by correcting its defects in relation to the retention
of moisture and manure.
It would probably lie found most convenient in practice to mix the muck with a certain (not excessive) proportion of Time when freshly thrown out; leaving it afterwards to lose the greater part of its water, tp diminish the cost of hauling; before applying it to the land Moro lime may then be added by sowing it broad-cant, after the muck is turned under. If too much lime were added while the muck is in a moist condition, by itself, a portion of the valuable ammonia it contains might be driven off and lost.
851. Plaster C1T436), would not probably answer very well in the place of lime ; but in most cases, an admixture of this substance, when lime is chiefly used, would tie highly advantageous. Ground bones, super-phosphate of lime, and “ Columbian Guano” (T432), would be very useful in conjunction with the muck ; and in most cases, by themselves alone also, though not to the same extent.—All kinds of ashes will be especially beneficial when mixed with th« Muck.
Pine strata is oftentimes a valuable fertilizer, where muck is not. It ought to be well rotted before application. (In regard to its use, composition, etc., see
*790, ff.).	HU-.,-----------
S;Vi. In the sandy soils of the "hommoeks”, as well as in those of the inland Meadows (f821, 824), there are Sometimes “clay ridges". Athough termed riilgen, they are not necessarily elevated above the general level of the sandy lands; perhaps in the majority of instances, this is, however, the case ; so much so that any unusual elevation of the ground, away from the shore, is rather indicative of a clay subsoil. These “ ridges'” do not seem to conform very sensibly to the direction of the present drainage of the country. Thus, at llandsboro’, we find a heavy, orange-yellow clay forming the subsoil on a part of Mr. T. J. Humphries' land, at an average depth of 12 inches ; the surface soil Icing quite light and sandy, so as to allow of an undergrowth of galllierry and dwarf palmetto, while the timlier 'S formed by Long-leaf l’ine, Sweet Gum and Black •lack—the last two, as a general thing, denizens of a heavy soil.*
We have, in this instance, a striking example of the difference which may
♦At least—so far as the ISIack -lack is concerned—when its trunk is high and itsbranches spreading ; while a short trunk and small, bushy tops are characteristic yf a sandy soil.