1846.] European ^'Agriculture. 253 



bonate of lime in the soil as essential to the growth of a crop of 

 wheat, on which the public mind has been so long, so generally, 

 and so confidently made up. 



" Von Thaer says, " The richest argillaceous soil that I ever 

 analyzed, the fertility of which w^as regarded as of the very rich- 

 est quality, was taken from the right bank of the Elbe, some few 

 miles from its mouth; it contained eleven and a half parts in a 

 hundred of humus, four and a half of lime, a great quantity of clay, 

 a little coarse silica, and a considerable portion of very fine silica, 

 which could onl} be separated from it by ebullition. It certainly 

 possessed a great degree of cohesion, but, when moderately mois- 

 ened, it was not very tenacious. It was made to bear the richest 

 crops, as cabbages, w'heat, autumnal corn, beans, &c. ; but every 

 sixth year it was necessary to manure it thoroughly, and to give 

 it a fallow." 



" On the preceding page, he says, "The richest land I ever ana- 

 lyzed, and which was taken from the marshes of the Oder, con- 

 tained 19| parts in 100 of humus, 70 of clay, a little fine sand, 

 and an almost imperceptible quantity of lime; but the situation of 

 this land was too low, and it was too damp, to admit of a correct 

 estimate being formed of its fertility." 



" Boussingault says, " I may remark generally, that, from the 

 whole of the analyses of good w^heat lands which have hitherto 

 been made, it appears that carbonate of lime enters in consid- 

 erable quantity into their composition; and theory, in harmony with 

 practice, tends to show that it is advantageous to have this earthy 

 salt as a constituent in the manures which are put upon soils that 

 contain little or no lime." 



" On the next page, he says, "M. Berthier's analysis is still far 

 from proving that the presence of lime in a soil is indispensable, 

 inasmuch as beautiful wheat crops are grown in the neighborhood 

 of Lisle without lime. In proof of this fact, I shall here cite the 

 analysis of one of the most fertile soils in the world, the black soil 

 of Tchornoizem, which Mr. Murchison informs us constitutes the 

 superficies of the arable lands comprised between the 54th and 57th 

 degrees of north latitude, along the left bank of the Volga as far 

 as Tcheboksar, from Nijni to Kasan, and stretching over a still 

 more extensive district upon the Asiatic side of the Ural Moun- 

 tains. Mr. Murchison is of opinion that this land is a submarine 

 deposit formed by the accumulation of sands rich in organic mat- 

 ters. The Tchornoizem is composed of black particles, mixed with 

 grains of sand; it is the best soil in Russia for wheat and pastur- 

 age; a year or two of fallow will suffice to restore it to its form- 

 er fertility after it has been exhausted by cropping; it is never 

 manured. 



"M. Payen found in this black and fertile soil. 



