164 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



of their dry weight of water without dripping, cla}' still more, and 

 peat nearly twice its dry weight. Experiments seeaa to prove that 

 plants thrive best when about ten per cent of water is present in the 

 soil. This shows the importance of draining, for if the excess of 

 water must escape by evaporation, it not only remains too long in 

 the soil, but, as a large amount of heat is carried off by evaporation, 

 it makes the land cold. 



The color of the soil indicates its capacity for absorbing the heat 

 of the sun, and is an important factor in promoting the growth of 

 plants The color of soils mostly depends on the amount of decom- 

 posed vegetable matter they contain and various oxides of iron. 

 The soil under the direct rays of the sun will become much warmer 

 than the neighboring air, often rising to one hundred and ten 

 degrees when the air is only seventy or eighty. This heat greatly 

 assists and stimulates plant giowtli. The color of the soil may be 

 changed materially by adding muck in considerable quantities It 

 must be remembered, however that no physical condition, however 

 favorable, will produce crops unless all of the elements required by 

 the plants are present and in condition to be available to the plants. 



The depth of the soil is an important point to be considered. Few 

 farmers who have not given the subject special attention are aware 

 to how great depth the roots of plants will go for food if the nature 

 and condition of the soil permits. I have found in mellow loam the 

 roots of Timothy abundant, two and one-half feet below the sur- 

 face. Deep mellow soil seldom suffers either from excess or lack of 

 water, and good crops ma}' be grown on such land almost any season 

 if properly cultivated. It is in the power of %e farmer to deepen 

 most of the soils he cultivates. Not only are deep soils less affected 

 by excess of rain and drought, but the roots have more soil from 

 which to obtain their food and it often happens that the subsoil con- 

 tains elements in which the surface is entirely wanting. In such 

 cases if the roots are not excluded from the subsoil by water or by 

 its being too hard for them to penetrate good crops may be grown 

 where nothing could be produced if the subsoil was impervious to 

 the roots. It is difficult to classify soils as they are always more or 

 less mixed with each other. But to assist in presenting the different 

 kinds and qualities we will divide them as follows : Gravels, sandy 

 loams, clays, peats, and alluvial soils. These when mixed in dif- 

 ferent proportions form the various loams known as gravell}' loam, 

 sandy loam, clay loam, &c. 



