82 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[March, 



spinning, weaving and similar machinery. Birch — 

 shoe-pegs, veneering and furniture. Cherry — same 

 purposes as apple. Elder — for imitation of bone, 

 box and ebony, and for printing blocks. Elm — 

 very great demand for railway carriage building, 

 and for almost anything where no paint is desira- 

 ble. Hazel— hoops for barrels. Holly — mathemat- 

 ical instrument makers. Hornbeam — millwrights, 

 especially for the cogs of wheels. Horse-chestnut — 

 packing boxes and mould patterns for castings. 



Laburnum — fancy turnery. Larch — boat building, 

 mining, fencing, pumps, and such like. Linden — 

 railway carriages, carving, shoemakers' and sad- 

 dlers' work, packing boxes. Maple (Acer campes- 

 tre) — machinery, furniture, musical instruments — 

 high priced and profitable. Oak — ship building, 

 and for every purpose where extreme strength is 

 desirable. Scotch Fir — everything where our pine 

 wood would come into use. It is the "deal" of 

 their commercial trade. 



Natural History and Science. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



SOIL ANALYSIS. 



BY RUSTICUS. 



In this article I wish to speak of soil analysis as 

 helpful in determining what manures to apply to 

 land. It is a plain proposition. If by analysis we 

 can discover the constituents of soil, we can 

 equally as readily detect the absent elements. 

 Primary soil always contains potash, phosphorus, 

 soda, magnesia, lime, sulphur, chlorine, silica, 

 manganese, iron ; hence, tests indicate which are 

 not present, and the appropriate fertilizers can be 

 applied. Science must be brought to bear in 

 agriculture, or the highest success cannot be at- 

 tained. 1 desire to treat of soil analysis, to give it 

 the credit I think it merits. I by no means claim 

 for it that it answers every purpose, so far as the 

 ascertainment of the exact character of an ex- ' 

 tended area of land is concerned, though an ap- 

 proximation may be arrived at. Ground varies so 

 in its composition, considered in its entirety. Says 

 Prof. Robert Peter, chemist of the State College of 

 Kentucky, " It has been found by experience, that 

 the direct chemical analysis of the soil and of the 

 fertilizer is the most economical method of ascer- 

 taining the deficiencies of the one and ilhe compo- 

 sition of the other ; and, as this is necessarily ! 

 somewhat costly, but can be more economically 

 done by the community than by the individual, 

 many governments in Europe and States in our 

 own country have provided for this public want 

 by the establishment of so-called agricultural sta- 

 tions. The State of Kentucky, by providing for 

 an extensive chemical analysis of her soils, has 



rendered great service to the future of her agricul- 

 ture." Soil analysis, though certainly showing all 

 the elements which are present, yet may prove 

 deficient in determining the fertility of the land, 

 from the soil elements being in insoluble combin- 

 ations. Says Morris Copeland, "Each man's 

 farming may be much improved by his clearly 

 comprehending the principles of analysis, and the 

 mutual relations between crops, manures and soils, 

 the general physical character of different fields. 

 He may then apply to each soil that kind of 

 manure which is richest in the elements in which 

 the soil in question is deficient ; he will not waste 

 it on a soil compounded in the same proportions 

 as itself." 



Soil tillage, to be worth anything, necessitates 

 thorough familiarity with the constituents of land. 

 How can we proceed intelligently otherwise ? 

 Says Dr. Lawes, the world-noted agricultural ex- 

 perimenter, " It is quite true that all investigations 

 concerning the compositionof the soil are attended 

 with great difficulties, but when once the fact is 

 clearly recognized, that our advance in the path of 

 scientific agriculture lies in a more complete 

 knowledge of what is taking place in our soils, 

 some, at all events, will be found who will not be 

 deterred from such investigations because of the 

 difficulties to be encountered in their pursuit." 

 Dr. I. R. Nichols asserts, " Difficult and delicate 

 as is the labor of determining the fertilizing princi- 

 ples in soil, it is quite within the power of the 

 chemist to correctly determine their amount. If 

 chemistry had no more difficult service to per- 

 form, we would not complain." Here is a very 

 important feature in soil analysis. Suppose you 

 are trying to raise a particular crop on certain 



