44 



when moderately moistened should not become plastic. In 

 a fairly damp condition a mass of good Virgin soil will 

 crumble in the hand upon pressure being applied and even 

 after having been wetted will still manifest a tendency to 

 retain its granular form. The structure of a sample will 

 evince visible porosity. The particles should be aggregated 

 but not conglutinated together. There is a vast difference 

 between suitable coherence, which is necessary, and persistent 

 viscosity, which is pernicious, and witli a very little practice 

 one can easily discriminate between them. 



Silica gives friability, and alumina tenacity, while the 

 organic particles temper, as it were, the .whole. Professor 

 Anderson of Glasgow says at page 133 of his instructive 

 work on Agricultural Chemistry " Humus is a substance 

 t( of the very highest importance for it confers on the soil 

 * ( in a high degree the power of absorbing and retaining water, 

 rt diminishes its tenacity and permits its being more easily 

 " worked, adds to its hygrometric power and property of 

 (( absorbing Oxygen from the air,and by its dark color causes 

 "the more rapid absorption of heat from the Sun's rays, 

 " But it is important to observe that it must not be present 

 " in too large a quantity, for an excess does away with all 

 " the good effects of a smaller supply and produces soils 

 "notorious for their infertility.*' Further on the same 

 eminent authority says (e For ordinary purposes it might 

 <( be sufficient to determine the specific gravity of the soil 

 "in the dry and moist state the power of imbibing and 

 " retaining water its hygrometric power its tenacity and 

 "its color." A planter's requirements demand that- the soil 

 be moderately compact porous, and rich should be of a 

 dark color should not become saturated with a moderate 

 amount of rain and should not shrink in the process of 

 drying. Such a soil offers every advantage to the practical 

 cultivator, will always be warm and sweet and will with a 

 minimum of mechanical manipulation retain an adequate 



