Note py Dr. VoELCKER ON COMPARISON OF THE SOILS OF
OLD CHEVIOT TURF AND FIVE-YEAR-OLD PASTURE.
An examination which I made of two samples of soil from the
Clifton-on-Bowmont farm—the one being from old hill-side
Cheviot turf, which has been unploughed from time immemorial,
and the other from a spot only a few yards off the other, but on
which Mr. Elliot has adopted his new system—yields results
which may have some interest.
The new pasture was five-year-old.
The old hill-side turf showed on the surface some coarse, mostly
dead, tufty grass, which could in great part be pulled up easily
with the hand. Then came a top-layer of black peaty matter
extending 4-5 inches deep, and in this was a mass of roots
crowded together, but not passing down freely and regularly into
the subsoil. On testing the peaty portion with litmus paper, it
was found to be extremely acid. It also held a considerable
quantity of moisture. The soil below this retained to some extent
the acid character, and then a more stony subsoil was reached.
The five-year-old pasture, on the other hand, had on the
surface a very fair covering of good grasses, cocksfoot being
prominent. The roots from these grasses and other plants did
not collect together in a matted form, as was the case with the
old Cheviot turf; but they went down into the subsoil strongly
and regularly. There was no accumulation of humus matter in
excess, true soil being formed almost to the very top. The
re-action of the topsoil to litmus paper was only slightly acid,
and this disappeared entirely in the subsoil. The soil was not
nearly so spongy and moisture-holding as was the Cheviot turf,
but seemed in a good physical condition throughout.
