THE FAKMIiHS KEGISTER. 



637 



be rendered still more productive, before we can 

 expect to realize much profit Iroiu ii. Despairing 

 iherelbre ol restoring leriiiity by the meuns hi rc- 

 lolore pursued, it has been an object ol conatani 

 incjuiry and itrsearch with me to ascertain iht; 

 btst mode ol increasing the [)roduciivfetiess and 

 lertility ot' this pan of ilie larm. Tlie fiisi siep 

 in ilie improvement ot" any soil, is to obtain an 

 accurate analysis ol its component ingredients. 

 Accordingly 1 sent a specimen ol the soil, taken 

 Irom ihe middle of acniiivated tieid, to my Iriend, 

 Dr. J. L. Kiddell, whilst he was employed m 

 making a geological survey ol' the norih-vvesiern 

 part ot the state; and by a care ul analysis he 

 ibund that one hundred grains contained the Al- 

 lowing substances : 



Water, . _ . _ 6 grains. 

 Organic maiter, - - 3 " 



Silicious " - - - 80 " 

 Aluminous " - /- - 8 " 

 Per-oxyde of iron, - - 3 " 



Total, 100 " 



He likewise observes, that lime could not be de- 

 tected in this soil ; and tlie amount of saline mat- 

 ters was inappreciably small. He lurther slates 

 that the soil seems to be a sediment Irom turbid 

 water. Ii has usually a dark brown, or reddisli 

 brown color, consisis of rather fine particles, and 

 exhibits to the naked eye numberless giimmenng 

 grains of eand.* 



Having procured the foregoing analysis, ihe 

 next step in this inquiry was to ascertain which 

 of the component paits of the soil required to be 

 increased or diminished, or whether any other 

 substances were required to be added in order 

 to increase the lertiliiy of the soil. The prosecu- 

 tion of this inquiry led me into the extensive 

 and almost inexhaustible subject of agricultural 

 chemistry; and the pages of Davy, Chapial, 

 RufRn, and Professors Hiichcock, Dana, Jackson, 

 Liebig, and several others, have been consulted 

 during my investigations. 



Ail lertile soils throughout the known world, 

 are compoied essentially ol the following ingre- 

 dients: — 



Water, by absorption. 



Humus, decomposed animal and vegetable 

 matter. 



Silicious maiter, or sand. 



Aluminous maiter, or clay. 



Calcareous matter, or lime. 



Magnesia, manganese, and oxyde of iron, are 

 likewise frequenily lound in soils; but they are 

 not deemed essential to (ertiliiy ; and in certain 

 states of combinaiion with other substances may 

 be either injurious or beneficial to the growth Oi 

 plants. 



The greatest degree of lertility which it is pos- 

 sible for any soil to attain, may be produced by 

 a proper admixture in cerlain proportions, of the 

 five substances above named ; but the proportions 

 of the various ingredients may be infinitely 

 varied, (avoiding extremes in any one substance,) 

 and still the soil may be deemed fertile ; but, 

 nevertheless, there is a limit beyond which the 

 fertility of a soil cannot be carried. What the 

 exact proportions are, and what degree of ad- 



♦ See Riddell's Geological Rep. to the Gen. Assem- 

 bly of Ohio. 



mixture and combination of the panicles are 

 requisite, to obtain the greatest produciiveness,. 

 has never yet been precisely ascertained ; and 

 Ml order to lorm some idea of this point, it is use- 

 lul lo have recourse to the analysis of toiis of 

 acknowledged leMiliiy and produciiveness. 



Prolessor Charles T. Jackson, m his ilcport 

 on the geological survey of Rhode Island, has 

 given the analysis ol ninely-lour diilereni culti- 

 vated soils, taken Irom various localities iti nearly 

 all pane of the state, and in eighly-nine of them . 

 lime was present as one of the ingredients. Se- 

 lecting, promiscuously, the results of ten dilferent 

 cultivated soils, Irom the tables in the geological 

 report, and making an average, we find that the 

 proporiions of the live essential ingredients com- 

 posing the soils, are in one hundred grains, ad 

 lollows : 



Water, 2.0 grains. 



Humus, - - . . . 5Q (( 

 Silicious maiter, (soluble,) - 3.5 «« 



Silicious " (insoluble,) - 85.0 '« 



Aluminous " and iron, - - 3.5 »' 

 Calcareous " (salts ol'lime,) - 1.0 " 



Total, 100.0 " 

 A cultivated alluvial soil, taken from the banks 

 of iheMiciSissippi, 100 miles above New Orleans, 

 gave the lollowing results by analysis of 100 

 grains : 



Water, - . . . 

 Humus, - . _ . 

 Sdicious matter, - 

 Aluminous matter and iron. 

 Calcareous " (sails of lime,) 



3.9 grains. 

 3.6 " 



81.4 " 

 7.0 " 



2.8 " 



Total, 98.7 " 



The analysis of one hundred grains of dried 

 soil from the banks ol the Nile in Egypt, a soil 

 celebrated from the remotest anliquiiy~ior its lux- 

 uriant vegetation, aflorded the li^llowinj? results 



Water, - - . . - - 



Humus, - _ _ . 



Silicious matter, 



Aluminous " - - . 



Calcareous '•' - 



iron - . _ . 



0.00 



6.90 



47.39 



32.10 



2.02 



11.20 



Total, 99.61 

 The following is an analysis of a very rich soil 

 from Batavia. The analysis was made by Mr. 

 Henry Sumner, of Boston, under the direction of 

 ProC Jackson. 100 grains of this soil yielded, 

 Water of absorption, - . 7.8 grains. 



Humus, 24.9 « 



Silicious maiter, - - . 43,0 « 



Aluminous " - _ . . 14*3 n 

 Calcareous " (phos. and crenate of 



lime,) 2.0 " 



Per-oxyde of iron, ... 7.9 n 

 Magnesia, . . . . 0.3 '< 



Total, 100.7 <' 

 The foregoing analysis of some of the most 

 lenile soils of the world, will serve to instruct us 

 as to the nature and amount of different matters 

 that ought to be introduced into a given soil, in 

 order to render it more fertile. It is not expected 

 that this will be done at a single operation : but 

 it IS important that we should know the proper 



