l >399- The sample should be taken from different parts 

 of the field, mixed up well, and must be thoroughly 

 representative. It should be finely divided, spread out to 

 dry in shade, and powdered with pestle and mortar, before 

 it is bottled up or used for analysis. A steel box 9" deep 

 and 6" square is hammered down and then dug out for 

 getting representative samples of the top soil. In Bengal for 

 ordinary crops, a steel box 6"x6"x6", would answer. 



(1) Moisture : Three grams of the soil should be 

 weighed out in a watch glass, and left in a water-oven, 

 over-night. It is weighed next day when cool in the 

 desiccator, and weighed again, after having been again 

 left in the water oven for a few hours, and then cooled in 

 the desiccator. The weight should then be found to remain 

 constant. The loss of weight is due to moisture in the 

 three grams of the soil. 



(2) Organic matter. Ten grams of the soil should be 

 weighed out in a Platinum crucible, and gradually heated 

 to a low redness. The heat is maintained till all blackness 

 disappears. It is then left to cool in the desiccator, and 

 afterwards weighed. The loss of weight is due to organic 

 matter and combined water as also to the moisture in 

 10 grams of the soil. 



(3) Matters soluble in water. Ten grams more of the 

 soil should be weighed out, placed in a flask, 200 c.c. of distil- 

 led water added, and the whole boiled for a quarter of an hour 

 with occasional shaking. The mixture is then kept aside for 

 about 10 minutes, and the supernatant liquid decanted off into 

 a beaker. The process of boiling with another 200 c. c. of 

 water is repeated, and the second portion of the supernatant 

 liquid is decanted off in the same way as before. This is 

 repeated a third and a fourth time. The combined portions 

 of the decanted liquid are passed through a double Swedish 

 paper filter. If the filtrate is still turbid, it should be boiled, 

 and passed through the filter again. This may have to be 



