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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



THE SOIL 



The soil is Ihe fanner's capital — to make it pay 

 liim good profits, his business. His iiieaus are iu- 

 vested in land, and from its generous bosom he must 

 draw support for himself and family — house, food 

 clothing, fuel, books, papers, education for liis 

 children— all the necessaries of life, without which 

 man cannot live, and all those luxuries without 

 which life is hardly worth the having. The Presi- 

 dent in the White House, our ministers at foreign 

 courts, the American loungers in Paris or Rome, 

 the missionary on the burning sands of Africa, the 

 merchant in his counting-room, and the mechanic at 

 his bench, all derive sustenance from American soil. 

 Truly do the Scriptures say, "The profit of the 

 earth is for all ; the king himself is served by the 

 field." This fact no political economist can deny, 

 no sophism can conceal. To keep his capital from 

 depreciation, and in such a condition that it may be 

 able to honour his many and necessary drafts, so as 

 to be in no danger of a panic, and that no suspen- 

 sion may become necessary, is the great business of 

 the farmer. It is, then, of the greatest importance 

 that we should know the character of the soil which 

 a kind Providence has provided for our sustenance, 

 and the best method of securing this desirable 

 result. 



We need not tell American farmers that our soil 

 differs in character, that we have claijetj, loamy, and 

 sandij soils — nor that these different soils require a 

 different treatment, and are suited to different crops. 

 And yet we often think those important matters are 

 forgotten; for how few, who send us reports of their 

 crops, of their success, or their failures, give even a 

 hint as to the nature of the soil in which the crops 

 were grown, or the experiments tried ! Then there 

 is much need of information as to the best manner 

 of cropping and manuring the different varieties of 

 soil. We know of land in this section, that ten or 

 fifteen years ago was considered so entirely un- 

 suited to agricultural purposes that it was thought 

 no sane man would buy it for farming purposes. 

 Starvation or retreat was supposed to be the sure 

 fate of any one bold enough to try the experiment. 

 These lands are now the most productive and valua- 

 ble of any in this part of the State. Tliis change 

 has been brought about by skilful culture and a 

 wise adaptation of crops to the soil. 



Every farmer should possess a general knowledge 

 of the formation, composition, character, and classi- 

 fication of soil, and on these points we shall en- 

 deavour to make the whole subject so plain that 

 it will be understood and remembered by all. 



CHARACTER AND rORMATION OF .SOILS. 



Soils are those portions of the earth's surface 

 tvhich contain a mixture of mineral, animal, and 

 vegetable substances in such proportions as to adapt 

 them to the support of vegetation. We quote from 

 a valuable article in Morton's Encyclopaedia \ 



" On examining the various soils in this or any 



other country, they will be found to consist generally, 

 1. Of larger or smaller stones, sand or gravel. 2. Of 

 a more friable, lighter mass, crumbling to powder 

 when squeezed between the fingers, and rendering 

 water muddy. 3. Of vegetable and animal remains 

 (organic matter.) 



" On further examination of the several portions 

 obtained by means of washings, we find, 



"1. That the sand, gravel, and fragments of stones 

 vary according to the nature of the rocks from which 

 they are derived. Quartz-sand, in one case, will be 

 observed as the predominating constituent ; in 

 another, this portion of the soU consists principally 

 of a calcareous sand ; and, in a tliird, a simple in- 

 spection will enable us to recognize fragments of 

 granite, feldspar, mica, and other minerals. 



" 2. In the impalpable powder, the chemist will 

 readily distinguish principally fine clay, free silica, 

 free alumina, more or less oxyde of iion, lime, mag- 

 nesia, potasi), soda, traces of oxyde of manganese, and 

 phosphoric, sulphuric, and carbonic acids, with more 

 or less organic matter. 



" 3. The watery solution of the soil, evaporated to 

 dryness, leaves behind an inconsiderable residue, 

 generally coloured brown by organic matters which 

 may be driven off by heat. In the combustible or 

 organic portion of this residue, the presence of am- 

 monia, of humic, ulmic, creuic, and apocrcnic acids 

 (substances known under the more familiar name of 

 soluble humus), and frequently traces of nitric acid, 

 will be readily detected. In the incombustible por- 

 tion, potash, soda, lime magnesia, phosphoric, sul- 

 phuric, and silicic acid, chlorine, and occasionally 

 oxyde of iron and manganese, arc present." 



All cultivated soils present a great similarity in 

 composition, all containing the above chemicaf con- 

 stituents ; and yet, notwithstanding this similarity of 

 compositi:m, we observe a great diversity in their 

 character. This is caused by the different propor- 

 tions in which the constituents are mixed together, 

 the state of combination in which they occur, and 

 the manner in which the different soils are formed. 

 All arable soils contain organic matter, varying from 

 half to twelve per cent. Good garden mould fre- 

 quently contains from twenty to twenty- four per 

 cent, of its own weight, and in peaty pogs from 

 sixty to seventy per cent, is not uncommon. It was 

 once thought that the richness of a soil was plainly 

 indicated by the proportion of organic matter it con- 

 tained ; but careful analyses of seven specimens of 

 the best wheat soils of Scotland, and yielding about 

 alike, being made, they were found to range from 

 three to ten per cent. The poorest peaty bogs, also, 

 contain the greatest amount of organic matter, while 

 they are notoriously unproductive. 



The organic matter iu the soil is due, for the 

 greater part, to the vegetable remains of former crops. 



