72 STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 



vince me that the great army of farmers and gardeners in this 

 State have not yet felt the importance of a better knowledge of 

 the soil, and its most thorough preparation, before anything like 

 success can crown their efforts in raising an orchard. The very 

 few who have succeeded have quite frequently passed through a 

 very bitter experience. 



Origin and Classification of Soils. 



I am not aware that any classification of the various soils such 

 as would indicate their origin, composition and adaptation to 

 orchard culture, has ever been made. There is now so much 

 intelligence among Pomologists, that such a standard arrangement 

 seems absolutely necessary for intelligent work. I will, therefore, 

 venture to present before you such a classification, which is simple 

 and easily remembered. 



As all our soils are made up of rocks which have been worn 

 down or decomposed, it will be very natural to classify them with 

 reference to their origin and composition. Let us then arrange 

 them in the following order : 



I. — Soils of Granitic Origin, or Gravelly Soils. 

 II. — Soils of Schistose, or Slaty Origin, or Schistose Soils. 

 III. — Soils of Limestone Origin, or Calcareous Soils. 

 IV. — Soils of Clays and Sands, or Loamy Soils. 



I. — Gravelly Soils are composed of essentially the same elements 

 as the coarse granites which are so common in Maine west of the 

 Kennebec river. We may then know at once the composition of 

 such a soil, when we know that of granite. The granites of this 

 State are composed of three essential substances, — sand, clay and 

 potash, and less than five per cent, of iron, lime, and magnesia. 

 The potash, so essential in all agricultural operatons, is so locked 

 up in granite by the sand and clay, that it is not in a soluble condi- 

 tion, and is of no value. If there were no other agencies at work, 

 nothing valuable could grow in a granitic soil. How then is it 

 made available ? 



There is one substance found everywhere in the air, water and 

 soils, which needs to be more carefully studied. It is called 

 carbonic acid. In very recent books it is called carbon di-oxide. 

 You are all familiar with it as a gas, in the sparkling babbles from 

 soda water ; in the bubbles formed in raising dough fur bread ; in 

 the impure air which you expire 14:0 gallons from your lungs every 



