Ruporf of fJt.e Chemist for Agriculture. 213 



MINERAL DEPOSITS. 



These included : — 



S samples of Carbonate of Lime 



7 ,, ,, Minerals 



I ,, ,, Whiting 



1 ,, ,, Phosphate of Iron 



Total .. 17 



MISCELLANEOUS SAMPLES 

 These included : — 



14 samples of Grasses, Weeds and Fodder Plants 



2 ,, ,, Calves Food and Cattlelick 



1 ,, ,, Blood in connection with death of pigs 



41 ,, ,, Bluestone 



1 ,, ,, Solder used in tinning preserves 



1 „ „ Tin 



1 ,, ,, Spirit 



1 ,, ,, Sand from Mining Battery 



1 ,, ,, Slime from Mining Battery 



1 ,, ,, Scrub Exterminator 



2 ,, ,, p'ruit Wrappers 



Total .. m 



Remarks on the Analytical Work. 



My remarks on the analytical work contained in the special report 

 already referred to, will apply with equal force to the operations under 

 present review. I there wrote : — 



" The work of a laboratory is hardly to be judged by the number 

 of samples received, it depends upon the number and the nature of 

 the determinations involved in the analysis of each sample, A com- 

 plete soil analysis, to take an instance, involving over twenty 

 operations, is a vastly diiferent thing from the determination of one or 

 two ingredients in a sample, although both may be classed as samples. 

 The most of the work of the nature of that carried out in an institution 

 of this kind is, the world over, carried out in duplicate as an absolute 

 guarantee of accuracy, and this naturally greatly increases the work. 

 The number of samples that reached our laboratories last year is 

 greatly in excess of what it ever was before. The wonderful effect of 

 the manures on the soils of the North has influenced considerably the 

 analytical work of the laboratory. With the vast sums of money now 

 spent on fertilizers, it is natural the farmer should begin to clamour 

 for some guarantee of the value of the material he buys. A chemical 

 analysis alone can furnish this guarantee, and it is natural the farmer 

 should look to the Agricultural Chemist for this. The news of the 

 successful use of manures in the North has reached the ears of the 

 farmer in the South, and daily applications are pouring in from this 

 quarter for information as to the probable deficiencies of the soils 

 in that portion of Victoria, and the manures which might most 

 suitably supply them. Conjecture is useless in this case, and soil 

 analysis, where an immediate answer is required, must attempt the 

 answer. The Chemical Branch is endeavouring to properly engage 

 in both laboratory and field investigation, which will allow of answers 



