64 SCIENCE AND SOIL 



absence or inactivity of soil organisms, or the presence of injurious 

 substances) . 



Compared with the average crust of the earth (Table 7), these 

 two fertile soils are both characterized by their high phosphorus 

 content. The Holland soil is low in magnesium, and the Scotland 

 soil is low in potassium, when compared with the earth's crust, 

 although when compared with the phosphorus supply and with 

 crop requirements, a somewhat different view is presented. It is 

 fair to raise the question whether the sulfur reported for the 

 Scotland soil represents the total or only the nonvolatile, because 

 this soil contained more than 10 per cent of organic matter, and it 

 is now known that most of the sulfur may be lost in the ignition 

 of such a soil. 



The analysis of the German soil reports " insoluble silicates," 

 and probably the amounts given are for plant food soluble in strong 

 acid, but Veitch's analysis of the Maryland soil represents total 

 amounts, determined by the fusion process. It will be seen that 

 the Holland soil contains eight times as much potassium, twenty- 

 three times as much phosphorus, and a hundred times as much 

 calcium as the Maryland soil. 



The first requisite for a good soil is that it shall be rich in plant 

 food, but it should always be remembered that that provision 

 alone does not insure large crops, nor does a large stock of goods 

 in the merchant's store to-day insure a good business for him 

 to-morrow. 



In this connection, we may refer to the analysis of residual clay 

 from slightly phosphatic limestone, shown in Table 5, with i.n per 

 cent of phosphorus, which amounts to 22,200 pounds, or more than 

 ii tons, of phosphorus per acre in a 6f-inch stratum of 2 million 

 pounds' weight. Other soils abnormally high in phosphorus are 

 found in the phosphate regions of Tennessee and Central Ken- 

 tucky. Thus, Mooers (Tennessee Bulletin 78) reports the analysis 

 of an upland soil and a bottom-land soil, from near Pulaski, Giles 

 County, Tennessee, showing 13,200 and 14,800 pounds, respec- 

 tively, of phosphorus per acre in a 6f-inch stratum (2 million 

 pounds) ; and analyses by Peter and A veritt (Kentucky Bulletin 1 26) 

 show 12,100 pounds and 12,400 pounds of phosphorus in 2 million 

 pounds of the surface and subsurface, respectively, of soil from 



