100 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
No. 7 was imperial beet, of our own importation, and No. 8 was electoral beet, seed 
raised by ourselves. It will be seen from the above that the best results were obtained 
in every case from the electoral seed, but it must also be acknowledged that the seed 
of the other kinds was, much of it, impure, or mixed. The polarization was made No- 
vember 24, after they had made their full growth, and were sufficiently touched by frost 
to develop their full amount of saccharine matter. 
WESTERN, OR “ ALKALY” SOILS. 
C. P. Huntington, Vice-President of the Union Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany, forwarded to the Department three samples of soil, marked Nos. 1, 
2, and 3, from the neighborhood of the Truckee River,in Western Nevada. 
Although presenting some difference in physical texture, they are soils 
of the same character, and derived from the same mineral source. They 
arrived in two barrels and ove box, and were selected from different 
though not distant lecations, near White Plains Station, on the Union 
Pacific Railroad, in 118° 48/ west, and latitude 39° 54’ north. Klevation 
of the White Plains Station, 3,291 feet above sea level. The station lies 
north of the Mirage Lake, a body of water a little over one mile long, and 
of square figure, occupying a portion of the level p!ain called alkali fats, 
along which the wagon-road and railroad run their course. The soils 
of the locality present some features which are interesting, because 
they are soils which may be considered primitive and not yet brought 
into cultivation. They are also in a locality where the annual fall of 
rain is small and the evaporation so much greater, that not only is the 
superficial soil deprived of its water, but also the overflow of basins 
of water situated on a higher level, on the base of the Sierra Nevada, 
is unable to run any continuous course without drying up completely, 
as do the rivers and streams farther south, in the Mohave and Gila 
Basins, and along the Mexican border. 
The examination of these soils has been conducted in three directions: 
1. As regards their physical properties. 2. As regards their chemical 
constitution. 3. As regards their capability of sustaining vegetable 
growth. 
Ist. Physical properties.—The three soils are all of a greenish color. vary 
ing to light yellow or darker brown, in proportion as the amount of clay 
of a fine yellow texture, or reddish sand-rock, or greenish amphibole pre- 
vails. No. 1] is the darkest, then No. 2, and No. 3 is of the lightest tint. 
Taking ordinary water at 60° I. as the standard, a given volume of the 
three soils weighed as follows. The method adopted was to pulverize 
the soil very finely, and to fill a beaker to a given line with the powder, 
‘ not shaking down auduly in any of the samples. The weight thus ob- 
tained was contrasted with the weight of the same bulk of water. 
VW SEs soe SoS So dees seSee5 Bad soe Sb 9 Sons ae eso Soc 83.500 grams. 
ING ale bet stealer Cielo 2 aierapee ee cici2n!b Naeem ete pieem ete stele = wnat a ete 106. 370 grams. 
WO), (Ul chSts SERS LS BRAS SSSA ba seb oseoocboadoe sacs tagued gomaaercacs 2 °93. 850 grams. 
INGHome seme roel see amicis's o sin.s c's = olla cee See eels. aclciee hee aaa 89.701 grams. 
This, while it does not give the relative weight exactly, shows still the 
light character of the pulverized soil. 
Soil taken from barrel No. 1 is the least clayey of the whole, falling to 
powder very readily when dry; the color is a dark gray and yellow green. 
When the finer clay has been washed away by elutriation from the heavier 
particles, there remains, 1. Angular quartz grains, hornblendic grains. 
2. Reddish sand-rock, scales of mica. 3. Shields of eypris, comminuted 
shells of testacea. . 
The soil from barre] No. 2 is lighter in color, does not fal! into fine 
powder so readily, and the soil in drying aggregates into nodules capa- 
ble of passing through a mesh of 1Jinch. The plan of elutriation yielded: 
