flTE All; OI' IITE SOIL. 



210 



Boussingault and Lewy. {Memoires de Chlmie Ayricole^ 

 etc., p. 3G9.) 



Cmnposilion of the 



air ill tibe soil in 100 



imris by volume. 



£«";.- Ox- Nitro- 

 aJid. y^'"- sen. 



Sandy subsoil of lorost 4410 



Loamy '• " " 



Surface soil " " 



Clayey " of artichoke field 



Soil o"f asparagus bed not manured lor one yeari 11182 



newly manured \ 11182 



Sandy soil, six days after manuring [of rain 



" " ten " " " three days 

 Vegetable mold-compost 



11783 

 11783 

 21049 



172 

 257 

 1144 



772 





0.24 

 0.79 

 0.87 

 O.fifl 

 0.74 

 1.54 

 2.21 

 9.74 

 3.64 



79.55 

 79.52 

 79.35 

 19.02} 80.24 

 18.80J 79.66 



10.35 79.91 

 16.45 79.91 



air 



above the soil in 100 

 ■parts. 



Nitro- 

 gen. 



The percentage, as well as the absolute quantity of car- 

 bonic acid, is seen to stand in close relation with the or- 

 ganic matters of the soil. The influence of the recent 

 apjjlication of manure rich in organic substances is strik- 

 ingly shown in case of tite asparagus bed and the sandy 

 soil. The lowest percentage of carbonic acid is 10 times 

 that of the atmosphere a few feet al)ove the surface of the 

 earth, as determined at the same time, while the highest 

 percentage is 390 times that propoi'tion. 



Even in the sanily subsoil tlie quantity of free carbonic 

 acid is as great as in aji equal bulk of the atmosphere ; 

 and in the cultivated soils it is present in from 6 to 95 



