588 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



also their relative power of absorbing and holding matters dissolved in 

 the water of the soil and their shrinkage in drying : 



Characteristics. 



P.TTiioftbility tn liqijid -(rater 



' ■a])illiirity or imbibition of moisturo- 

 ii;i|)i'lity of cvniioration. 



Sand. 



Greatest . 



Lt-ast 



Greatest . 



Clay. 



Ti;\vf-r of bi-foniinf; warm „ I do 



l{.'t^-i,tion of lic;it 



Uo-'idciisaiion of jiascs from the atmosphere. 



Ab^otptivi- pturor of ni.ittcrs in si.lution 



Shrinkage in drying 



...do.... 

 Lrast ... 

 ...do.... 

 ...do.... 



Least Les<> 



Less ...... (in 



. . . do Least. 



Least Lt- 



Less > Lci 



... do ..i «rre;itrs; 



Greatest ; Less. 



Less (in a'.<j,--t,. 



Ilotnaa. 



It will be si'cii from tlie relation of the soil to benr that one consisting 

 principally of sand will necessarily be conducive to rapid growth, and, 

 earlincss being indispensable to success, it Ibllows that a soil of such 

 consistency would be for this reason preferred by the truck farmer. In 

 point of fact a light sandy loam, with a considerable admixture of dccay- 

 iug vegetable matter, is the best adapted to this branch of agriculture. 

 If the soil be deficient in the latter it may be most readily, most cheaply, 

 and most expeditiously su]>plied by green manuring. 



A light rain of half an inch is erpiivalent to a fall of 14,000 gallons, 

 or oG tons to tlie acre. Each pound of a manuring of 16 tons of stable 

 manure would be supplied with h;ilf a gallon of <iish-olving water, and in 

 case of the application of 1 ton of commercial fertilizer each pound 

 would be furnished with 8 gallons of water. On a soil readily per- 

 meable to water the manure would be quickly dissolved, as it passes 

 through in an aggregated form, thus bringing their food in an available 

 form more quickly to the roots of vegetation. In consequence of its 

 greater porosity the air is more readily admitted when sand is a con- 

 stituent of a soil in considerable predominance, thus facilitating decompo- 

 sition, solubility, and hence availability. In such a soil manure acts 

 more quickly and more effectively; hence such a one is capable of pro- 

 ducing a satisfactory crop with less manure tban a heavy clay, notwith- 

 standing the latter is naturally richer in all the elements of plant- food. 

 As proven by Professor Way, chemist, of the Koyal Agricultural Society 

 of England, and others, clay not only possesses a wonderful power ot 

 absorption but actually suspends or prevents putrefaction. In his in- 

 vestigation on the "Power of soils to absorb maniu'e," Professor Way 

 says: 



Three quantities of fresh nriue, of 2,000 grains each, were nieasnred out into similar 

 glasses. With one portion its own weight of sand was mixed, with another its own 

 wiight of white clai/, the third being left without admixture of any kind. When 

 siiicll immediately after mixture the sand appeared to have had no etlect, whilst the 

 ■ lay mixture had entirely lost the smell of urine. The tliree glasses were covered 

 hglilly with paper and put in a warm place, being examined from time to time, lu 

 a few hours it was found that the urine containing sand hud become slightly putrid ; 

 ilu-n followed the natural urine; but the qu.intity with which clay hud been mixed 

 (Ihl not become 2mtrid at all, and at the end of seven or eight weeks it h.ul only the pe- 

 •Miliar smell of fresh urine, without the slightest putridity. The surface of the clay, 

 however, became afterwards covered with a luxuriant growth of confervse, which did 

 not happen in the other glasses. 



Professor Way also found that putrefaction of urine would be ]"ire- 

 vented by merely filtering it through clay or shaking the two together 

 and pouring off the liquor after it had settled. This action and its won- 

 derful absorptive power is not attributable to the clay itself, but to the 

 double silicate of alumina and lime or soda which it contains. 



The remarkable and world-reuowned experiments of that great agri 



