Action of the Aimoq)here upon neiohj-decpened Soil. 



451 



Vineyard soil 



Sterile sandy 



Vineyai'd soil 



Very fertile arable 



Vineyard soil 



Sandy soil, pine forest 

 Superior vineyard soil 



Vineyard soil 



Fertile arable soil 



Ditto 



Sterile clay soil 



Fertile arable soil 



Vineyard soil 



Fertile arable soil 



Ditto 



Good meadow-land 



Ditto 



Very fertile black soil 

 Light garden-mould . . 



Ditto 



Very light soil 



Vegetable garden-mould 

 Black sterile turf 

 Vegetable leaf soil 

 Wood soil from decayed trees 

 Very light sterile l)rown turf 



Percent AGE. 



Humus 



and 

 Volatile 

 Matter. 



3-3 

 4-2 



11-2 



S-8 

 5-7 

 5- 



4-4 



30- 

 76' 

 33- 

 47- 



89- 



much 

 88- 

 66-5 

 64-8 

 54' 

 77- 

 60- 

 44' 

 28*8 

 83-3 



77*8 

 25-2 

 50- 

 17-2 



Lime 



and 



Calcareous 



Sand. 



Power 

 I of 

 containing 

 Alumina. 1 Water. 



little 



some 



37- 



20-1 



24-4 



.56- 



62- 



70' 

 46' 

 64' 

 63- 

 46' 

 48- 

 47- 



much remainder 

 remainder 



10-8 I 42-7 

 remainder 



remainder 

 remainder 



19- 

 9-7 

 9- 

 some 

 12-7 

 0-4 

 3-4 

 1-8 



none 



1-2 



3- 

 16-4 



4-1 



3* 

 29'6 

 33-8 



1-6 

 1.5-5 



5-7 



5*1 



Oxide 

 of Iron. 



8.1 



38- 

 11- 



16- 

 10- 



20' 

 25" 

 35- 

 35' 

 37- 

 38 ■ 

 40' 

 42. 



46 < 

 49' 



49'i 

 50* 

 53- 



61-; 

 67*: 



78'] 

 85- 

 91'( 

 100- 

 106* 

 124- 

 155- 

 179- 

 203* 

 210- 

 366- 



took up eleven grains. As regards the humus, its absorbent 

 power would appear to vary according to its origin, Schubler 

 having found that derived from vegetable substances inferior in 

 this respect to the humus arising from the decay of animal matter. 

 It would seem, then, that tliis property of absorbing gases and 

 vapours from the atmospJiere, which must not be confounded with 

 the property of removing substances in solutitm by means of filtra- 

 tion, is prol)al)ly similar in its nature to the power of condensing 

 substances within them which has been long known to reside in 

 porous or finely divided bodies, such as charcoal or platinum 

 black. 



With regard to the comparative extent to which this power 

 may reside in old and newly-raised soils, 1 think tliere can be 

 little doubt that long-cultivated dry soil, highly charged as it 

 generally is with humus, and having its particles continually 

 pulverized by the operations of tillage and the roots of plants, 

 will greatly exceed in this respect raw, newly-raised soils which 

 have long lain in a dead compact state beneath the furrow. The 



