58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



entered into the further formation of rock, there to be safely 

 locked up for the future needs of the plant and animal life 

 of the world. 



At a later period in the world's history, great mountains 

 of ice began, in their movements, the further work of soil- 

 making. Thej^ plowed their way through the earth, grind- 

 ing and pulverizing the rocks, leaving high mountains in 

 their pathway, and dropping off and scattering the soil, 

 rocks and stones of all sizes and periods of formation over 

 wide plains, and leaving hills and valleys and rolling coun- 

 try, in all degrees of variation, behind them. 



At this point I want to show you the difterence in soils. 

 The clay soils are made up of a large proportion of fine 

 grains, and they are usually termed "heavy;" while the 

 sandy soils are more largely composed of coarser grains, 

 and are spoken of as " light." Clay loams and sandy loams 

 are variations of clay and sand in the proportion and size of 

 their soil grains. Silt is still finer in its soil particles than 

 the clay, while muck is the product very largely of decom- 

 posed vegetable matter. 



There is another kind of soil, known as hardpan. This is 

 composed of fine particles of clay, and is deficient in humus 

 or vegetable matter. The soil grains, being cemented to- 

 gether, arc impervious to water, and nearly as hard as rock. 



I here show you, by way of illustration, these different 

 types of soil upon the chart. 



It is of great importance, in all our operations in agricul- 

 ture, that we have more definite knowledge regarding the 

 soil with which we are working ; and in the absence of this 

 knowledge is to be found the reason for so many unsatisfac- 

 tory results in agriculture. 



This side of the chart represents what I have already 

 spoken of as the clay types ; this represents the fine soil 

 particles ; and this re})resents, below the clay, what is 

 known as the clay loam, the dilference being merely in the 

 size of the soil grains. Upon the opposite side of the chart 

 is the representation of the sandy types, — first the sandy 

 soil, as we recognize it generally, and below the sandy loam 

 here is the representation of the hardpan of which I spoke. 



