140 Jigriculture of JYew York. [Sept., 



quite powerful absorbers and retainers of water, being even supe- 

 rior to clay and the argillaceous compounds, oi' to alumina in a 

 state of great purity. This result was quite unexpected; as the 

 common and pievailing opinion is, and has been, that clays are 

 the most active and energetic in their powers of absorbing and 

 retaining moisture. 



In accordance, then, with these observations, we found that the 

 materials which are most influential in soils, may be arranged in 

 the following order, when their relations to water or moisture 

 are considered: 1. Peat, or pure organic matter; 2. Marl, or, to 

 be explicit and definite, freshwater or shell marl; 3. Clay, and 

 argillaceous compounds, in which this element is in excess; 4. 

 Loam, or the common soils as they usually occur; 5. Sandy loam; 

 6. Sand. Each of these kinds of earth is influenced, and its power 

 of absorption depends upon the presence of vegetable or animal 

 matter. This statement seems to receive support from the fact 

 that when the organic matter is burned off', or the soil fully ignited, 

 the different varieties agree in both their retentive and absorbing 

 powers. Even the marl which was so retentive is reduced to al- 

 most the same power as that of ignited clay. 



Carbonate of lime when obtained from rocks by the ordinary 

 process of abrasion differs but little from sand in its absorptive and 

 retentive powers. 



In conclusion, we copy substantially, a summary of the leading 

 facts which have been ascertained respecting the soils of New 

 York. 



" 1. The soils of New York are often modified by the rock upon 

 which they rest. Their composition, however, always differs from 

 the rock, even when it is apparent that they were derived directly 

 from the strata upon which they repose, or are in immediate con- 

 tact. The differences are found to consist principally in the pre- 

 sence of those matters which are soluble in water when aided by 

 carbonic acid, as carbonate of lime and magnesia. The soluble 

 organic matters exist in a proportion greater in the soils than in 

 the rocks; though all sedimentary rocks contain soluble organic 

 matters, especially the decomposable shales and slates. The 

 hard limestones exert but little effect or influence upon the com- 

 position of the soils: the most important office which they perform 

 is mechanical, and the soil upon them is usually drier than upon 

 the compact sandstones and shales. 



2. The composition of the soils of the eastern or Taconic district 

 differs from that of Central and Western New Yoik, or those which 

 belong to the wheat district. The first contain a greater amount 

 of the phosphates of lime, alumina, iron and magnesia; the last, a 

 greater amount of nitrogenous matters. The derivation of the 

 first may be traced to the rock upon which they rest; the same 



