JOHN P. NORTON'S ADDRESS. 231 



Among these are potash, soda, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, 

 &c. Phosphoric acid for instance, is necessary, because it forms 

 a large part of the ash in all of the grain crops, being chiefly 

 concentrated in the seed. This acid, in combination with lime, 

 is the principal material from which the bones are formed. It 

 is thus essential in a soil, for the ultimate end of building up 

 the animal framework through the plant. Now a quantity of 

 this substance, which would not be detected in the soil, except 

 by a skilfully conducted analysis, might still be amply sufficient 

 for any crop. Many of the bodies contained in soils are difll- 

 cult to separate entirely from all impurities, and a person not 

 thoroughly conversant with chemical analysis is always liable 

 to the most gross errors. Those who devote themselves to the 

 science of chemistry, aided by accurate instruments, and pure 

 substances for testing, frequently find it necessary to retrace 

 and revise their steps. Unforeseen exigencies constantly arise, 

 not mentioned in any printed formulas for analysis, which re- 

 quire extended experience in order to avoid serious mistakes. 

 Owing to such difficulties, all efforts by uninstructed analysts 

 are to be looked upon with distrust, when they clash with what 

 is ordinarily supposed to be the truth. 



From my own experience, both as a student and teacher, 1 

 should say that two years of study and practice is a time quite 

 limited enough for the fitting of a student to make thorough and 

 accurate analyses. Many men would not learn to do so in four 

 years, or even longer ; the business of a chemist requiring a pe- 

 culiar talent and habit of mind, quite as much as that of a law- 

 yer or physician. The gentlemen, then, who propose, as some 

 have done, to turn out our young farmers finished analysts at 

 the end of six weeks study, are surely more sanguine than well 

 informed. 



Farmers may learn to make some simple and useful testings, 

 may determine some of the leading ingredients of the soil, or 

 make mechanical analyses by finding the proportions of sand and 

 clay ; beyond this, few will have inclination or ability to go. 

 Nor do I think it, in most cases, necessary to go farther. A gen- 

 eral knowledge of the constituents of a soil in any district, is, in 

 ordinary experience, quite sufficient. Should difficulties occur 



