152 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



64 VICTORIA, A. 1901 

 Analysis of Soils (water-free), Xorth-west Territories, 1900. 



Plot No. 1. — Surface soil, marked ' Cultivated ' : It has the appearance of a 

 rich loam of good tilth and one capable of 3/ielding good crops when supplied with a 

 sufficiency of water. It is quite black from the presence of organic matter and pre- 

 sents very many features in common with the fertile, black loam of the prairie. 



Plot No. 2. — Surface soil, marked ' Virgin prairie ' : Very similar in appearance 

 to that of Plot 1, but its organic matter is more fibrous and consequently less 

 humified. 



Since in all essential particulars these soils are of the same nature and character, 

 it will be of advantage to discuss their data together. 



Both soils may be considered as light to medium loams, sand predominating, rich 

 in plant food and especially so in organic matter and nitrogen. Tested with litmus 

 paper, neither show acidity or alkalinity. A careful examination proves the absence 

 of all deleterious and alkaline matter. 



We cannot be said rs yet to have established standards of fertility for Canadian 

 virgin soils, but from the examination of a number of such soils we have arrived 

 at certain limits between which most good agricultural soils are to be found. These 

 limita as legards nitrogen, potash, phosphoric acid and lime, are discussed at length 

 in the report of this Division for 1897, and in brief on pages 148, 149 of the present 

 report. A reference to these figures and to the data presented in the foregoing table gives 

 evidence of the excellent quality of both of these soils ; they are undoubtedly well sup- 

 plied in all the essential elements of plant food, a very fair proportion of which 

 appears to be in a more or less immediately available condition. 



Though the soil from Plot 1 is stated to be cultivated, and from Plot 2, as virgin 

 prairie, a comparison of their data does not reveal any exhaustion of fertility in the 

 former due to cropping ; indeed, in several important features No. 1 is the better of 

 the two. In potasli, only is No. 2 the richer. It is quite possible that these soils 

 •wei'e not originally identical; but whether such be the case or not it is quite evident 

 that they do not serve to illustrate that truth of which we have in past reports brought 

 forward several instances, namely, that there is a marked decline in both ' total ' and 

 * available ' plant food, due to successive cropping in cases where no form of manuring 

 has been practised. 



A special inquiry in regard tn these soils was with respect to their richness in lime. 

 Though not ranking with calcareous soils, they certainly show a very fair percentage 

 of this constituent and probably at present quite sufficient for the best returns. There 

 is no reason to suppo-e that the herbage would be deficient in this element or that 

 cattle and horses grazed thereon would be lacking in bone-forming elements. Evi- 



