CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 405 



security and civilization to seek in the far west their resting place amid 

 the alternate parching heat and deadly cold, and the wild disorder, discom- 

 fort and insecurity of border life. They reached for sunset and grasped a 

 shadow. The great mass of these restless wanderers have rejected Michi- 

 gan for a home because they were ignorant of this region — of its soil, pro- 

 ductions, capabilities for cultivation, and it adaptedness to make desirable 

 homes. 



ANALYSIS OF MICHIGAN SOILS. 



Desirous of obtaining reliable data for estimating the value of our soils, 

 I sent out a circular fifteen years ago asking for representative soils from 

 all the counties of the State, for chemical analysis, calling for soils that 

 would be fairly representative of the locality, and not soils of exceptional 

 quality. In response to this circular, thirty-one samples of soil were 

 received, analyzed and the results of analysis published in the report of 

 the State Board of Agriculture for 1878. Some attention was also directed 

 to the physical properties of the soil, especially as related to water. 



When chemistry was first applied to agriculture, it was supposed that 

 the greatest benefit which chemistry could confer upon agriculture was to 

 be derived from the analysis of the soil. The striking results which Sir 

 Humphrey Davy obtained by analysis of a soil, barren from excess of the 

 sulphate of iron, and the removal of the barrenness by adding lime to 

 decompose the sulphate, confirmed the impression of the signal benefit to 

 be derived from a chemical analysis of the soil. It was supposed that the 

 fertility of any soil, the kind of crop it was fitted to raise, or the material 

 which must be added to the soil to develop its greatest productiveness, 

 were each and all to be determined simply by a chemical analysis of the 

 soil. These extravagant expectations have not been realized. It was found 

 that chemical analysis will not always distinguish between a fruitful and 

 an unfruitful soil. A soil may be unproductive for physical reasons, though 

 it may still contain all the chemical elements of fertility. The complete 

 failure of Liebig's mineral theory of manures when put to the test of 

 experience rang the knell of mere soil analysis. 



But if chemical analysis failed when so much was demanded of it, we 

 are not to go to the other extreme and conclude that because it is not good 

 for so many things it is good for nothing. Chemical analysis of the soil 

 is of value in determining whether a soil is capable of fertility or the con- 

 trary; also in determining the measure of its possible fertility. There are 

 certain ash elements which are absolutely necessary for plant growth, in 

 the absence of any one of which vegetable growth is impossible; if the 

 supply is relatively limited, plant growth will be limited correspondingly. 

 If all the ash elements are present in sufficient amount and in available 

 form, such soil is capable of fertility. Hence, chemical analysis of a soil 

 is of importance in determining possibility of fertility and of the relative 

 fertility which may be secured under favorable conditions. 



CLASSIFICATION OF MICHIGAN SOILS. 



No minute and technical classification of soils is attempted. The soils 

 are classed rather for their agricultural uses than their chemical composi- 

 tion; the geographical position and climatic conditions in some cases 

 affording a basis for classifying, e. g., the peach lands. 



