ANNUAL REPORT FOR 1873. 43 



has beea taken from it, to detect the substances that had been ab- 

 stracted, and thus indicate what should be artificially supplied to 

 stimulate the growth of the next crop; but such is the minuteness of 

 the quantity of plant-food compared with the mass of the soil, that 

 chemical science has not yet, except to a limited extent, been able to 

 accomplish this task. Consequently no general effort will be made to 

 analyze the soils of the state; but if any are found, that, from any 

 special peculiarity or other reason, seem, to require it, such analysis 

 will be made. 



Geology is now very properly included among the studies to be 

 pursued in agricultural colleges, with a view to its special advan- 

 tages in the proper cultivation of the soil a cultivation which shall, 

 without the least diminution of its annual product, perpetually main- 

 tain its fertility. Every farmer should know whether his land is un- 

 derlaid by rocks whose disintegration is beneficial or otherwise; 

 whether these rocks are of the granitic kinds, or whether they consist 

 of sandstone, limestone or shales. He should also be able to deter- 

 mine the nature of the pebbles, small and large, abounding in his 

 fields, the gradual decay of which, from year to year by reason of ex- 

 posure to weather changes frost, rain, sunshine and alternate ex- 

 posure to heat and cold will add useful or useless, or even delete- 

 rious qualities to the soil. Limestone pebbles especially, by their 

 gradual disintegration, are of the greatest value by restoring fertil- 

 izing substances to the soil that would otherwise soon be exhausted 

 by continual cropping. If these pebbles are of such quality as to be 

 thus beneficial, the land possesses additional value; if otherwise, a 

 larger annual expense for fertilizers will be required. The system of 

 farm management, suited to the one case, would require modification 

 for the other. Hence it is sufficiently apparent that some knowledge 

 of geology is quite essential to the intelligent farmer, and that it is 

 wise to include it in a course of studies to be pursued in our agricul- 

 tural colleges. 



The several reports to be made to the governor annually in Janu- 

 ary, though chiefly intended to make known the progress and results 

 of each year's work, will be found to contain much that is of interest 

 to the farmer. The publication and general distribution of reports 

 of geological surveys always prove beneficial, by calling public atten- 

 tion, in an official and reliable manner, to the resources and advan- 

 tages of the district surveyed, for the agricultural, manufacturing 

 and other interests. 



