No. 0. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 361 



disc'ussiuu, awaiting opportunity, tiierefoi', perchance, in tlie future, 

 or leaving the same to tlie gentlemen, who, as specialists, have had 

 more direct and actual experience in these matters, as relating to 

 Agriculture or Practical Farming. 1 oftimes observe, however, the 

 varying qualities, diverse origin and apparent composition of soils, 

 as I make investigations through various portions of the State and 

 in many counties, and it is a query wdth me, what experiment may 

 determine as to their use or adaptability for special or general cul- 

 tivation; that is, in the several shifting stages of deposit as de- 

 rived by erosive processes from the most recent to the mo^t remote 

 geological formations, exposed in the State, with their diverse chem- 

 ical constitution or structure. It seems to me, that the work of the 

 analyst or chemist, alone, will solve the true genesis of Soils and 

 their actual utility and adaptability; in connection, also, with con- 

 tinuous experiment. From the head waters, the springs or fountain 

 heads, of our rivers, and, especially, in the coal measures, I have, in- 

 cidentally, observed the detritus, the debris and the alluvium, pro- 

 duced by erosion, weathering and the slow disintegration, from 

 which our soils are derived, with their components of Silicia, Alum- 

 ina, Lime, Carbon, with traces of Iron, Soda, Potash, Magnesia and 

 other elements, for the most part mechanical and inert, and yet how 

 much is soluble, as these soils, apart from their vegetable matter, 

 are produced by the action of water and the atmosphere, and all of 

 the chemical elements are not entirely inactive. Following the 

 course of the various streams, or tributaries, and of our rivers, their 

 entire length, from the Coal measures, through the successive forma- 

 tions, to the Gneissic or Azoic Rocks, as exposed, and including sand- 

 stone, shale, slate, limestone, clays and the other deposits of i\ock 

 and minerals, represented by the numbers, from I to XIV, of our 

 State Geological Survey, with some even more recent as well as re- 

 mote strata; the differentiation of soils, whether as alluvium or 

 permanent deposit, would be an interesting and useful study, and 

 by the application of chemistry and experiment, thereto, some new 

 facts may be derived that will contribute, more directly, to their 

 practical availability. 



I have thought much on this subject, while making a study of the 

 geological aspects of the several counties, and have wondered what 

 the outcome would be, if the composition of these soils, from the 

 source of the rivers to the shores of the sea, would be divulged or 

 determined. For instance, the superior crops of buckwheat, in cer- 

 tain districts which will hardly produce other grains so well, and 

 the excellent growth of vegetables on the hills^ of the northwest 

 counties, defective in some cereal crops or growth, and. indeed, 

 surpassing in some respects, the product of the lower counties, are 

 suggestive of some queries and experimentation which may reveal 

 other important facts, that will be a direct guide to the farmer in 

 the use of these varying soils, and enable him, more certainly and 

 intelligently, to cultivate the same. But, to my mind, a more ur- 

 gent and insistent subject and one of more import directly to the 

 farmer, is the preservation and restoration of the forests — our tim- 

 ber and trees; for what farm is a home without woodland, and what 

 so much enlivens the hill valley, mountain or ])lain, as trees, — 

 abundant timber, in its native or even its cultivated production or 

 growth. Deforestation is desolation, and without trees we are with- 

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