82 REPORT OF THE CHEMIST OF 



open to all, and not involve very large expenditure. It is well known that 

 the deficient supply of moisture in the soil during the growing season is a 

 serious difficulty in cultivating these sands. One writer suggests a plan of 

 irrigation by using the rivers of this region for that purpose. But when we 

 consider the large use of these streams for lumbering enterprises, the expense 

 involved in irrigating works on the large scale, and that only a part of these 

 plains could thus be irrigated, this plan does not seem feasible at the present 

 time. 



As in most undertakings where time is required for working out results so 

 as to reach reliable data, many persons are crying out for quicker results, 

 and intimating that time is squandered and money wasted without benefit to 

 the public. While all would be delighted to arrive at the true solution of 

 these questions with all celerity, thoughtful persons will concede that little 

 is to be gained by impatient haste for immediate results. 



If these lands can be brought to such a condition of productiveness that 

 they can be converted into stock-feeding farms, where only wool, meat and 

 dairy products are sold off the land, and all the rest of the produce is 

 returned to the soil to further increase its productiveness, the problem of 

 the sands will be in a fair way for solution. 



II. RELATION OF CULTIVATION TO SOIL MOISTURE. 



The influence of the condition of the surface soil on the content of moist- 

 ure in the soil has attracted the attention of thoughtful observers. Some 

 investigation has been made on this subject, both at the experimental farm 

 at Grayling and at the College. Specimens of soil were carefully examined 

 for the per cent of moisture they contained at different periods during the 

 growing season from May to October, 1889. Five plats of ground at each 

 station were selected of uniform character and in close proximity. The soil 

 at the College was sandy loam ; at Grayling, sand. One plat was cultivated 

 repeatedly during the season, viz: at each time of gathering the specimen 

 for analysis. A common one-horse cultivator was used. A second plat was 

 raked over with a garden rake at each time of collecting the specimens. A 

 third plat was left without treatment, or in naked fallow with nothing 

 growing on it. A fourth plat was in meadow (timothy sod), but raked with 

 an iron rake at each time of gathering specimens. The fifth plat was 

 timothy meadow, with no treatment. Two sets of specimens were gathered 

 each time, a surface soil, taking the upper eight inches in each case, and an 

 under soil, taking the soil between eight and sixteen inches from the sur- 

 face. The soil was at once placed in quart fruit jars, closed air tight, 

 packed in boxes with sawdust to screen them from any possible drying influ- 

 ence, and taken to the laboratory for analysis. The soil from both stations 

 was treated substantially in the same way, but the soil from Grayling had to 

 be sent 170 miles by railway. 



It was designed to have the soils gathered at the same dates, but the cor- 

 respondence of time failed to be realized. The following tables give the 

 results: 



