PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 195 



analysis and what may be called an examination of 

 soils. An exact chemical analysis, one that shall de- 

 tect all the ingredients of a soil, and report them in 

 their true proportions, can be made by a profound 

 analytical chemist only. He must have studied pro- 

 foundly, and practised with a patience that few pos- 

 sess. Probably there are not yet twenty men in the 

 whole world who can do it reliably. An examination 

 of soils is a very different thing. Almost any one can 

 do something of this. An observing farmer can 

 hardly walk across a field without forming an esti- 

 mate of its value. His estimate will, in most cases, 

 be very nearly correct ; and let it be observed, that 

 the better he can judge of a soil by a partial examina- 

 tion, the better he is prepared for his profession. The 

 better his judgment in this respect, the less likely will 

 he be to expend labor in vain, or without an ade- 

 quate return. 



THE CHEMIST ALONE CAN ANALYZE SOILS- 

 THE PARMER CAN EXAMINE THEM. 



868. The farmer should be advised, therefore, tc 

 leave the analysis of soils to the chemist, assured that 

 great good will come from it to his profession, when- 

 ever it can be done reliably^ by State patronage, or at 

 such reduced cost as he can afford to meet. In the 

 mean time, he should be encouraged to examine soils, 

 and to cultivate the most accurate judgment possible 

 of their capabilities. That good judgment, which I 

 have already ascribed to farmers, with regard to the 



