276 



FARMERS REGISTER 



[No. 5 



only plant agreed upon by hoih; and, therefore, is the 

 only one that can be looked upon as atlbrding sa- 

 tisfactory indications; but it is, unfortunately, not 

 peculiar to sandy soil, being also placed by Mr. 

 Gorrie at the head of his list of those which grow 

 upon light black loam on an open sub-soil. 



Peat is, in reality, the only soil that carries 

 plants peculiar to iiself — its presence being invari- 

 ably indicated hv common line, fiue-leaved heath, 

 and cross-leaved heath; and, though not absolutely 

 essential to the growth of" cotton [qu :] grasses, a 

 proportion of it may be looked lor in soils on which 

 they are found. 



Loam. — "On taking a general view of vegeta- 

 ble soil," says Mr. Macgillivray, "one would be 

 apt to inti^.r that it assuredly possesses a multitude 

 of' plants peculiar to itself. * * * But, on more 

 minute examination, we find that many, or most 

 of these, are rather plants of peculiar situations, 

 than plants of vegetable soil, growing in certain 

 places or stations, whatever the soil of those places 

 may be. And, in reality, I do not find a sinirle 

 species that I could name as peculiar to this soil." 

 Both Mr. Macgillivray and Mr. Gorrie bring for- 

 ward a long catalogue of plants which are found 

 on this soil; and yet artemisia vuls^aris (mugvvort) 

 is the only one that they unite in naming! 



The fact is, there is a poverty of information on 

 matters of the kind, which must for a time prevent 

 the drawing of conclusions otherwise than unfavo- 

 rable to this method of arriving at a knowledge of 

 the main ingredients of a soil. At best, too, the 

 plan promises to be but a rough one, and likely 

 rather to bewilder, than to pit those anxious to 

 gain an inkling of the chemical constitution of the 

 ground on the road to obtain it. The farmer is 

 certainly not usually desirous of making a very 

 nice or searching examination, nor is it in general 

 required; but when a soil is suspected, from a fai- 

 lure in the quantity or quality of the crop, to be 

 wanting in something which is essential to the 

 production of a vigorous plant, it becomes a mat- 

 ter of importance to ascertain even by a coarse 

 analysis, the nature and extent of the deficiency. 

 When such is the case, a better mode of proce- 

 dure than that just detailed, will be to test the soil 

 by a series of mechanical and chemical trials, and 

 having thus found the general nature of its con- 

 tents, to compare the result with some soil of ac- 

 knowledged excellence, so as to determine by the 

 contrast the particular ingredients which it wants. 

 Lengthy processes for the analysis of soils, are 

 described by chemists, with the view of facilitat- 

 ing their acquisition; but the simplest of ihem re- 

 quire, in their performance, apparatus which i'ew 

 can procure, and a degree of consent between the 

 head and hands that does not fall to the lot of 

 twenty in the hundred. Fortunately, however, 

 these tedious manipulations can be dispensed with 

 in the ordinary run of cases, where the exact quan- 

 tity in which a particular earth or salt exists in the 

 matter to be tested is not required, all that is ne- 

 cessary to be known being merel)^ — "is this or 

 that ingredient present, or is it absent?" — and 

 where, accordingly, a process, as devoid of pro- 

 h'xity as the information sought for, is better suited 

 to the purpose, and much more likely to be put in 

 practice. On obtaining, then, a sample of earth, 

 the contents of which we wish to estimate, we 

 may make our inquiries in the following man- 

 ner: — 



Has it an earthy smell when breathed upon; or, 

 having adhesive properties, does it retain for any 

 time the i()rm into which we knead or press iti 

 Then it contains clay. 



Does it scratch glass when rubbed upon it? 

 Then it contains sand. 



Does it effervesce — that is to say, are bubbles 

 of air extricated from it, when a lew drops of 

 vinegar are poured upon it? Then it contains chalk. 

 Does it, when exposed to heat in a small quantity 

 in a shovel or tobacco pipe, exhale an odor similar 

 to that of burnt feathers, or does it catch fire and 

 burn with a pale ft?eble flame? Then it contains 

 animal and vegetable matters. 



Two or three trials with different earths will 

 soon enable the experimenter to obtain, even by 

 this rouirh method, a tolerable idea of the propor- 

 tion in which each ingredient exists ; and l)y then 

 comparing the indications he has obtained with 

 the residts which professed chemists have arrived 

 at, fiom the aiialyses of soils of known ttTtility, he 

 can ti)rm a jrood notion of the value of his ground, 

 and be in tlie fi^ir way of remedying its defects. 

 Take Ibrgiiities the fbllowinc: — 



An excellent whea soil, from the neighborhood 

 of West Drayton, Middlesex, jrave, (according to 

 Sir H. Davy. 2d edit., p. 176,)— 



Alumina, (clay.) - - - 29 

 Silicious sand, - - - 32 



Carbonate of lime, (chalk,) - 28 



Animal and vefjelable matter, - 11 

 A good turnip soil, fiom Holkham, Norfolk, af- 

 forded, when examined by the same chemist, [eight 

 parts out of nine, siliciows sand ; and the finely di- 

 vided matter consisted of] 



Alumina, (clay,) - - - II 

 Silicious sand, - - - 15 



Carbonate of lime, (chalk,) - 63 



Vegetable and saline matter, - 8 



The fertility of a great many soils of known 

 qualities, subjected to analysis by Tliaer, of Ber- 

 lin, was always in proportion to the quantity of 

 clav, chalk, and humin (vegetable and animal 

 matter.) which they contained; and therefore, ac- 

 cording to the coherence when pressed, the effer- 

 vescence when tested with vinesiar, anJ the odor 

 when burned, will be the value of any soil we may 

 undertake to analyze. This is the sum and sub- 

 stance of the business, and all, in fact, that is ap- 

 plicable tmder ordinary circumstances. Minute 

 directions for the furtherance of the objeet might 

 be given, and in a few instances would doubtless 

 prove of service; but the number of cases in which 

 they could be brought to bear upon the subject, 

 would be i'ew indeed, compared with those in 

 which they would serve only to perplex. The 

 benefits that might be derived from the union of 

 chemical skill with the observation of agricullural 

 facts, are perhaps incalculable; but how seldontj. do 

 we find individuals capable, frorn early training, of 

 reaping advantage from chemical experiments. 



[The foregoing articles are upon an important gen- 

 eral subject, and contain facts and statements well' 

 worth notice and consideration. Still we think that the 

 writer's reasoning, on the most interesting branch of 

 what he treats, is opposed, rather than sustained, by 

 the facts adduced as his proof's. 



We have not met with the writings referred to, of 

 Gorrie and Macgillivray, and know nothing of them 



