GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH PLANT FOOD 75 



their value is most noted when judiciously weighed and 

 interpreted. 



Investigation along this line indicates that a most im- 

 portant character in soil analysis is calcium carbonate, 

 the lime carrier. 



The following suggestions seem in accordance with 

 this fact: 



1. When calcium carbonate is scanty in the soil, liming 

 the land is advisable. 



2. When calcium carbonate is scanty in the soil, acid- 

 made manures, like acid phosphate, super-phosphate, 

 ammonia sulphate, are inadvisable, and manures, neutral 

 in nature, like basic slag, ground bone, wood ashes, and 

 nitrate of soda, should be used. 



3. When calcium carbonate is plentiful in the soil, then 

 the acid-made manures may be used. 



4. When calcium carbonate is abundant in the soil, 

 nitrification of organic matter will take place rapidly. 



5. When calcium carbonate is abundant in the soil, use- 

 ful bacteria will develop with ease. 



Analyses should be extensive. An isolated soil anal- 

 ysis is seldom satisfactory for the simple reason there is 

 no standard of comparison. All values result through 

 their measure with other standards. We get the great 

 bulk of our knowledge by comparison. Every isolated 

 subject is valueless unless it can be compared with some 

 known quantity. For this reason, an isolated soil anal- 

 ysis is without value unless it can be compared with the 

 known value of some other soil analysis. For this rea- 

 son, then, soil analyses ought to be extensive and gen- 

 eral, rather than isolated and haphazard. Such a system 

 will give us general standards that will be valuable with 

 every comparison. 



Analyses of soil and subsoil should be made. When 



