8 



the mineral plant foods into a soluble condition. (2.) Humus is necessary 

 as food for the bacteria in the soil, which are necessary in building up and 

 breaking down food material. (3.) It keeps the soil in better mechanical 

 condition. (4.) It increases warmth in the soil. (5.) Its water-holding 

 capacity is increased. These reasons should be enough to convince the most 

 pessimistic as to the value of a plentiful supply of humus in these new 

 soils. 



Picture 5. View of part of Kitsumkalum district taken from across the river. 

 Skeena River in foreground. 



Accordingly, to bring land of the foregoing description into condition, the 

 following practices will be found remunerative: To correct acidity where it 

 is tu'-nd, good deep cultivation and underdrainage, if necessary, is advisable 

 (acidity can be determined by the use of blue litmus-paper placed in the 

 moist soil, and this paper will be turned red if acids are present in any 

 quantity). An application of ground stone-lime, 800 to 1,000 It), per acre, 

 will quicken results where the soil is very acid. An application of a mixed 

 chemical fertiliser for the first year, where it can be obtained at a reasonable 

 cost, will often give good results by supplying available plant-food. In the 

 use of these chemical fertilisers it is always advisable to leave check- 

 rows (where no fertilizer has been applied), so as to determine whether 

 the yield has warranted the cost of the fertiliser. The ploughing-under of a 

 green crop, especially on the higher bench land, will be one of the first 

 essentials to bringing the soil into condition. This might seem a waste of 

 a profitable crop to the owner of land, but he will find that he will be repaid 

 for this crop many times over in the succeeding years. A crop sown in the 

 fall (after early maturing vegetables, etc.. are taken off) will often make a 

 good growth before winter, and in ploughing it down either in the fall or 

 early spring it will supply the much-needed humus. Of the green crops, 

 a leguminous crop such as clover, vetches, peas, beans, etc., is the best, as 



