REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



179 



heavy crop of grass; wheat does fair; the com is not as good as claj 

 lands yield. 



The analyses show that an abundant supply of the necessary plant 

 constituents are present, and that the soil should be very fertile. The 

 aniount of nitrogen in the soil is very large. 



SOILS FROM WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT, OSWEGO, N. Y. 



2553-25G1. Samples taken from three distinct fields on which an acre 

 of sugar beet was grown in 1883, were sent December 24, 1883. Samples 

 Xos. l'553-2556, marked "A, 1, 2, 3, and 4," were taken from "a square 

 tvvo-thirds-acre plot at different points, SE., SW., NE., NW. of the field." 

 Samples Xos. 2557-2559, marked " B, 5, 6, and 7," were from " a triangu- 

 lar one-third-acre plot^' taken at the different angles. The Wo remain- 

 ing samples, ^os. 2560, 2501, marked " C, 8 and 9," were from "a field of 

 sugar beet a mile distant " from the other two fields, " cultivated by 

 another party, on a rectangular plot of half an acre; the samples being 

 taken at the ends, E. and W. of the rectangle." 



"The general character of all the fields was a gentle slope, enough to 

 turn water readily. The samples were cut out with a spade a couple 

 of weeks after the crop was gathered, each about 6 inches wide and deep; 

 the soil of field A was 8 to 10 inches deep ; that of field B i)robably 1 

 foot ; field C was rather stony soil, 8 to 12 inches deep. The subsoil of 

 all the fields was hard-pan, with large stones and bowlders imbedded. 

 A subsoil plow was used in preparing fields A and B. No timber was 

 grown on the fields ; the woods adjacent, I believe, were maple. The 

 land has been under cultivation for years. Fields A and B had been 

 heavily manured in the spring of 1882 with barn-yard manure, and an 

 excellent crop of corn and beans gathered that year. A succession of 

 rotating crops had' been taken previously from these two fields, but I 

 have not the statistics concerning them. Ko manure was directly ap- 

 plied previous to beet planting on A and B, but I was informed that on 

 field C barn-yard manure was strewn midway between the beet rows, 

 which were 30 inches apart. In fields A and B, after harrowing and 

 rolling, the seed, sugar beet was sown, part by hand and part with a 

 wheelbarrow drill, in rows 18 and 20 inches apart on the 4th and 9th of 

 May, 1883. AU work after hoeing, thinning, and weeding was entirely 

 by hand. The crop weighed nearly 18 tons." 



The analysis of the beets grown on these different fields is as foUows :* 



AnaJysia of sugar icetsfrom William CariicrigJit, Osicego, N. Y. 



' A kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds. 



t Not taken. 



The analyses of these soils show the great difiiculty of obtaining a 

 sample of soil from a field which shall represent its average quality, 

 unless the greatest care is taken. 



* Chemical division, Bulletin No. 3, 1884, p. 26. 



