REPORT OF THE CHEMIST 151 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



OXTARIO. 



Neiv Lislccard, Kipissing District. — A yellowisli-red, coarse-grained, sandy loam, 

 showing a fair amount of root fibre and underlaid by clay at a dcptli of from G inches 

 to 2 feet. This soil, onr correspondent states, has never been cropped, manured or burnt 

 over and is covered -with * spruce, cedar, red pine, and Cyprus.' ' Possibly the area 

 covered by this soil is 20 square miles,' 



From an inspection of the soil one would judge it to be deficient in humus and apt, 

 in seasons of drought, to rapidly dry out. 



Analysis of (air-dried) Soil. 



Per cent. 



Moisture I'-io 



Organic and volatile matter 4'57 



Insoluble matter (sand, &c.) Sl'OT 



Oxide of iron and alumina 7,74 



Lime "oG 



Magnesia '55 



Potash '10 



Phosphoric acid .... '10 



Undetermined, . *16 



lOO'OO 



Nitrogen '072 



These results indicate that in all the essential elements of plant food — nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, potash and lime— this soil is considerably below the average of 

 our productive virgin soils. 



Whether it will prove profitable to work &uch a soil ss a farm is certainly doubtful, 

 but that can only be definitely determined by actual trial. The possibilities, however, 

 are that it would yield a larger return in timber, if carefully husbanded and managed 

 according to the priniciples of forestry. Such soils as the one under consideration may, 

 of course, be improved, and made to give fairly good yields if the requisite amount of 

 plant food be supplied. They are responsive and under favourable climatic conditions 

 with a sufficiency of manure are to a certain degree suitable for potatoes, hay and oats, 

 and perhaps a few other crops. But it must be remembered that soils such as the one 

 under consideration rapidly deteriorate when worked (owing to loss of humus) unless 

 continually replenished with organic matter from one source or another. It seems, 

 therefore, desirable, if employed agriculturally, to use them largely for grazing or to 

 adopt such a rotation aa will every few years give the soil a crop of clover or some 

 other legume, and thus keep up the store of humus and nitrogen. 



Shallow ploughing should be adopted for a number of years, in order to make prac- 

 ticable the enrichm.ent of the upper few inches of the surface soil. The drainage is 

 possibly good, but if not, it should be made so. The turning under of clover or pease, 

 ia addition to the application of such barnyard manure as is available cannot be too 

 strongly recommended, and wood-ashes or a mixed fertilizer containing phosphoric acid 

 and potash, could no doubt be used to advantage to supply the necessary mineral ele- 

 ments. 



FERTILIZEPvS AXD AMENDMENTS. 



WOOD ASHES FROM SAW-Mir,LS AT PORT MOODY, BO. 



We have in a former publication (see p, 156, Report, 1901) endeavoured to correct 

 the impression prevalent in parts of British Columbia that there is but little fertilizing 



