HUMUS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE SOILS. 



BY FRED W. MORSE. 



Introduction. 



In Xew Hampshire there are few large continuous areas of 

 an}' single type of soil, but on the contrary, within the limits 

 of almost every farm, the soil expert would find it necessary 

 to classify the soils under several different types. By a thor- 

 ough investigation of those of the New Hampshire College farm, 

 it is possible to determine their properties and the relations be- 

 tween the soils and crop production. Thus some fundamental 

 principles may be brought out which will be applicable to sim- 

 ilar soils on all farms, and improvements in farm practice can 

 be developed. 



Conditions of soil and surface change sharply within short 

 distances, therefore each farmer must observe carefully for 

 himself the character of his soils, the fertilizers required and 

 the crops which are best suited to his land. These observations 

 will need to be based in part on field experiments with fertiliz- 

 ers, but largely on comparisons with the soils and surface of 

 other farms. A farm well suited to hay production does not 

 usually have the types of soil adapted to early vegetables. 



Some soils are of considerable depth while others are shallow. 

 Some soils are classified by practical men as "strong," thereby 

 meaning that they retain manures or fertilizers, while others 

 are called "leachy," since heavy dressing with manures does 

 not seem to last as in the "strong" soils. One broad general- 

 ization may be made between these two types of soils. The 

 "leachy" soils in our state are usually underlain by gravel and 

 sand, while the "strong" soils have a clay subsoil. The durabil- 

 ity of the two classes will depend in part on the depth of the 

 true soil, in part on the depth to the gravel or ledge, and in 

 part on the drainage. 



