NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE SOlt. 5^ 



necessary ingredient of its fertility which the vegetative prin- 

 ciple has provided. But it is of great importance to learn 

 what proportions of the simple earths and vegetable manure are 

 requisite to create a ^rtile soil. Much useful information on 

 this subject may be derived from the result of a late investiga- 

 tion. A quantity of soil, of a supposed average quality, was ta- 

 ken from a farm in the vicinity of Albany, in the State of New- 

 York; and on being analyzed, was found to be composed of the 

 following constituent substances : 



Sand, - - - 56-lOOths. 



Clay, - - - - 26-lOOths. 



Vegetable manure, - 12-lOOths. 



Soluble Salts, - - 6-lOOths. 

 The farm containing this soil is supposed to be one of the most 

 productive in the northern states. It should be here remark- 

 ed, that salts soluble by water, in greater or less quantities, are 

 one of the necessary constituent ingredients of plants. With 

 respect to the practical use of the above analysis, it may be ob- 

 served, that in every part of our country where any considera- 

 ble improvements have been made, there are many tracts of 

 land which are barren beyond what the general complexion of 

 the soil would indicate, and which cannot be made fertile by 

 the application of any vegetable manure which can be obtained. 

 In many of those soils it will be found that the defect may be 

 Ihe want of a proper apportionment of the primitive eartiis. 

 For, from what has been asserted and proved too, by actual ex- 

 periment, it is evident there may be such great proportions of 

 some of the primitive earths, in some soilsj as to render them 

 birron, without ihe application of more proper manure iiiari 

 the occupant can procure : when by increasing the quantity' 

 of some of the primitive earths, a great degree of fertility may 

 be produced in some soils, with the application of but a very 

 small portion of vegetable mariure. Suppose, for instance, the 

 soil of the farm, the analysis of which has been given, had con- 

 sisted of 02 parts clay, and 20 parts, instead of 58 parts, sand, 

 and 2Ct clay; the inference is very obvious that the 12 parts of 

 vegetable manure, which was found in that soil, would not have 

 rendered it fertile, as it was, unless the proportion ofthesandto 

 the clay had been greatly increased. May we not then con- 

 clude from that analysis, that the proper apportionment of the 

 sand and clay, had as important an agency in the fertility of the 

 soil, as that of the vegetable manure. For although it would 

 seem from the experiment of Giobert, referred to above, that 

 the primitive earlhs are not productive without the application 

 of vegetable manure ; yet it is found, also, by experhncnt, that. 



