138 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 162. 



Soil Analyses. 



Examination of the table sliows that there are but two counties in 

 which the percentage of potash exceeds that of phosphoric acid by any- 

 considerable amount, — Berkshire and Franklin. In Berkshire there is 

 about 90 per cent, more potash than phosphoric acid; in Franklin, about 

 44 per cent. more. The soils analyzed from Berkshire County have all 

 come from three towns, — Lenox, Washington and North Adams. Those 

 from the two former are of about the usual character, but those from 

 North Adams are unusually rich in potash. 



Eight different towns are represented in the Franldin analyses. The 

 samples excessively rich in potash are more generally distributed. Nearly 

 every town shows samples in which the per cent, of potash is nearly or 

 quite double that of phosphoric acid. 



The average for the State shows the proportion of the two compounds, 

 phosphoric acid and potash, to be nearly equal, — .214 per cent, phos- 

 phoric acid and .252 per cent, potash. These figures pertain to the sur- 

 face soil, the depth of which, of course, varies greatly. Assuming, however, 

 that the average depth is 8 inches, and that the average weight of surface 

 loams is about 80 pounds to the cubic foot, the total number of pounds 

 of surface soil in an acre is approximately 2,300,000. The table below 

 shows in round numbers the number of pounds each of phosphoric acid 

 and potash in an acre of the average composition of Massachusetts soils, 

 and for comparison the number of pounds, in most cases as indicated by 

 analyses made here, of each of these compounds contained in the sup- 

 posed product of one acre of some of our leading crops: — 



