THE COMPOSITION OF FERTILE AND BARKEN SOILS. 59 



valuable to roots. From this you will observe how the compo- 

 sition of soils influences the practice of the farm, and the adminis- 

 tration of artificial as well as natural manure. I will take an 

 instance. It may be asked should the systems of liquid or solid 

 manuring be followed ? I have no hesitation in saying that 

 liquid manure is the worst form of manure you can use on some 

 land, while on others it is the best. If you have a soil that con- 

 tains little else but sand, and you apply liquid manure, not merely 

 water, but the constituents of farmyard manure in a liquid state, 

 you gain advantage from it, because by using solid manure you 

 cannot prevent the rain washing a great portion of the fertilising 

 matter, which is lost, but which might be saved by using liquid 

 manure from time to time. Instead of doing it once for all, it 

 should be applied in small quantities three or four times, for it 

 gets to the plant in the most prepared state, which in poor sandy 

 soils is attended with no inconvenience, but it would be very in- 

 convenient to apply liquid manure on a stiff retentive soil where 

 excess of water ought to be drained off. A sandy soil drains itself; 

 therefore you can administer to its wants by liquid manure, but 

 the liquid is not useful on clay soils, because in districts which 

 are visited by much rain, it is a great object to drain off the 

 excess of rain, and by applying food in the form of liquid ma- 

 nure to heavy land you injure it in a mechanical way. At any 

 rate, liquid manuring does not answer on clay soils. Other de- 

 scriptions of soils might be mentioned ; but enough has been said, 

 I hope, to show how important it is to consider the composition 

 of soils, and how important it is that the chemist should gain the 

 confidence of the practical man. Finally, the important advan- 

 tages that have been secured to the farmer during the last few 

 years will be increased if he heartily joins the man of science, 

 and gives practical testimony of his belief in the truth announced 

 in the motto adopted by the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England which intimates the secret of progress Practice and 

 Science a term often used without a consciousness of all it 

 implies. 



The Analysis of Soils. 



The Kev. Mr. WOLSTON thanked the Professor for his lecture, and asked 

 whether there was any test whereby a farmer could ascertain the composition 

 of soils. 



Professor VOELCKER. I would caution my audience against expecting too 

 much from the analysis of soils : it has been made far too much of by men im- 

 perfectly acquainted with the subject ; for it must be remembered that it is not 

 merely the presence of certain substances in the plants that must regulate our 

 course of cultivation, for other circumstances should be taken into account. 

 The minute analysis of soils is not attended with so much benefit as it was 

 once believed it would confer on the agricultural community ; but an analysis 

 which gives us the amount of the chief ingredients, clay, organic matter, lime 

 and sand, will in many instances enable the agriculturist and chemist to give 



