86 Samples and Sampling [119 



box, and so be sent by post or rail ; or the sample may be 

 wrapped in tinfoil or in oiled silk, and be enclosed in a box or 

 in a stout linen lined envelope. This latter is a very conve- 

 nient form for nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, kainit, and 

 similar salts. The tin is, on the whole, the most satisfactory, 

 as it is easy to send from \ lb. to 1 lb. of manure in it, whilst 

 if a bottle or tinfoil or oiled silk be used it is not easy to send 

 so large a quantity. If a smaller quantity be sent, the heap 

 must be mixed still more carefully, and the sample be taken 

 from different portions of it. In no case, however, should less 

 than 4 oz. be sent as a sample, and when the material is at all 

 uneven in character, or lumpy, or of a mixed nature, it is not 

 satisfactory unless a i-lb. sample, or in some cases as much as 

 2 lbs., be sent. The more uneven the manure, the larger the 

 sample must be ; the finer and more even it is, the smaller 

 may be the quantity sent for analysis. 



1 One caution further is necessary. Whilst care must be 

 taken to ensure a fair example being drawn, care must also be 

 exercised not to let the portion that is being sampled lie about 

 exposed too long. The sampling must be done carefully but 

 also quickly, or the material may dry considerably during the 

 process. 



* In the absence of a special sampling tool, such as that 

 described, the best way is, after selecting several bags as 

 directed, either to turn them out one after the other upon a 

 floor, and, taking a few shovelfuls from each, to mix these 

 shovelfuls well together for one sample, or (which is not so 

 good) to drive a spade into each of the selected bags and, 

 after a little mixing, to draw out from as near the centre as 

 possible a couple of spadefuls from each bag, subsequently 

 mixing these lots together, flattening the lumps down, and 

 dividing and subdividing the heap until only three or four 

 pounds are left. From this the tins and bottles may be filled 



