44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The diflfcrencc ia the mechanical texture of stiff and loose 

 soils is familiar to every one. The fertility of many stiff clays 

 may bo seriously impaired by ploughing too wet, rendering them 

 touih and impenetrable to the tender rootlets of plants. In 

 this case, as no cliemical change takes place, the chemist in his 

 laboratory would seek in vain for the cause of the difficulty. 



Every attempt to improve tlic character of a soil must there- 

 fore be preceded by a judicious consideration of its mechani- 

 cal texture, its power of absorbing and retaining water, and its 

 capacity for heat. Hence it is important that the agricultural 

 chemist should, if possible, himself examine the locality, in order 

 fully to estimate the wants of the soil. The employment by 

 every State of an agricultural chemist, who should visit in per- 

 son every part of the State, is therefore strongly to be recom- 

 mended. 



In tlie next place, it is requisite that an analysis of the soil, 

 in order to be of much value, should be thorough. It must in- 

 clude separate estimations of the parts soluble in water and in 

 acids, and the insoluble portion. For the portion soluble in 

 water represents what is available for the wants of the growing 

 crop, while the portion soluble in dilute acids, is the index of 

 what may by decomposition become the food of plants. This 

 uudecomposed portion of the soil may often, by the application 

 of lime, aslies, and other caustic manures, be more speedily de- 

 composed and rendered available. 



The analysis should include also, if possible, the sub-soil as 

 well as the surface soil, in order to guide the farmer in the pro- 

 cess of deepening his soil. There are, of late, many advocates 

 of indiscriminate deep ploughing. But a fertile soil may be 

 underlaid by a barren subsoil, by throwing up large quantities 

 of which, the fertility of a field may be destroyed for years. The 

 subsoil, not unfrequently, contains large quantities of protoxide 

 of iron and other substances which are not injurious to vegeta- 

 tion until they have been subjected to the action of the atmos- 

 phere. On the other hand the sub-soil often contains elements 

 of fertility which are not so abundant in the surface soil, in 

 ■which case deep ploughing will improve both. It is important 

 that the agriculturist should know these differences, in order 



