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ploughing will give better results and so will liming for a time, 

 but these processes are exhausting and it is for the farmer 

 to judge whether his soil is capable of such exhaustive opera- 

 tions. For exhausting and valuable crops, deep ploughing, 

 burning, liming and other exhausting processes are advisable 

 if the soil is rich, but by bringing too large a quantity of 

 food into a soluble state and by letting chiefly rain to wash 

 it out of your land, though you may get one or two 

 heavier crops, you only impoverish your soil in the long run. 

 Chemical analysis is therefore a reliable guide for ascertaining 

 the value of rocks and soils, as the farmer has it in his 

 power to utilise that value slowly or quickly according to 

 his needs by the judicious application of tillage and by 

 manuring. 



37, Though chemical analysis alone gives one the right 

 clue as to the composition and nature of rocks and soils, their 

 external characters often give a rough idea as to what they 

 are and what to expect of them. Indeed the scientific farmer 

 depends more on rough and ready tests than on careful chemi- 

 cal analysis for judging soils, rocks and minerals. He looks at 

 a dark coloured soil and concludes it is rich in Nitrogen and 

 Potash and suitable for growing corn. He looks at a yellow 

 soil and concludes it is rich in phosphorus and lirae and 

 other mineral matters, and suitable for growing root-crops, 

 fruits as well as corn. He looks at a light coloured soil and 

 concludes it is chiefly sand and will grow only mustard and 

 rape and kalai to perfection. He looks at a field overgrown 

 with rich and wild vegetation of various kinds, rank grasses, 

 leguminous plants, and creepers, he digs it with his spud 

 and finds he can easily manage that, and while digging he 

 notices dead shells and channels made by earthworms and 

 he concludes, it is rich friable loam, and he prefers it to all 

 the others. The dark coloured soil, first mentioned, though 

 rich, and though it may show on chemical analysis to contain a 

 larger proportion of phosphorus, lime, and other mineral plant 



