CONTINENTAL NOTES GERMANY. 215 



including 1,700,000 acres of moorlands and 1,600,000 acres of 

 mineral soils ; of the former about 500,000 acres have been 

 classified as ultimately fit for agricultural purposes, and of the 

 latter 600,000 to 700,000 acres have been set aside for 

 afforestation, leaving about 900,000 acres for agricultural 

 purposes. 



It is only possible to realise the magnitude and character of 

 Dr Albert's work by foUovk^ing his labours in some detail. He 

 began his soil investigations in Ebstorf, a forest division which 

 he considers to be one of the most instructive and most interest- 

 ing in the whole heather area. Here are somewhat extensive 

 areas which have been under forests for hundreds of years, 

 afforestations of various ages, untouched heather waste, and 

 intensively cultivated fields. Most of the North German species 

 of trees are represented here, and the soils range from the 

 heaviest loam to the lightest sand, Albert made his analysis 

 (hundreds in each locality) at a depth of o-io, 20-30, and 

 50-60 cm. in respect of clay, oxide of iron, lime, magnesia, 

 soda, potash, phosphoric acid, and humus (Knop's method). 

 He divided the soils into stones upwards of 2 mm. : sands down 

 to 0*05 mm. ; clay-bearing portions 0*05 down to 001 mm., 

 and to finest dust below this. He also ascertained by Knop's 

 method their power of absorption of nitrogen. 



It would lead us too far to reprint even the summaries of his 

 mechanical and chemical soil analyses, and these form but a 

 portion of his work, which includes researches regarding the 

 chemi-biological activity of the soils, their porosity and the water 

 and air circulation within them. These experiments and 

 analyses are, moreover, not confined to the Ebstorf division, but 

 are spread over numerous centres in various parts of the 

 heather regions. 



With the knowledge of soils that Albert discloses before me, I 

 marvel at the many mistakes we made in the cultivation of these 

 lands, in several of which I assisted as a junior assistant some 

 48 to 50 years ago ; but exact forest science has made enormous 

 strides since then. 



Albert made interesting investigations in Axstedt regarding 

 the bleaching of the surface layers of poor inactive soil under 

 dry peat, of which a lo-cm. thick bed had already formed in 

 a 55-year-old Pi III/ s silvestris forest, and calculated, on the 

 basis of comparative analysis, that during this time 8100 kg. of 



