238 ANALYSES OF SOILS. 



in Elizabethtown, is made up of coarse and fine grained particles of light-colored hyper- 

 sthene rock. The finer portion was separated from the coarse by a sieve, giving about 

 twenty per cent of finely divided mailer. The analysis gave 



Water 2-00 



Organic matter 1-00 



Silex O-l-OO 



Peroxide of iron and alumina 2-50 



Carbonate of lime 0-50 



Magnesia trace. 



This soil had never been cultivated, and seemed almost valueless, but it contains about 

 as much lime as many very good soils now under cultivation. It is a sample of the coarsest 

 and poorest soil of the granitic district, but which might bear one, two or three crops of 

 potatoes, or grass for a few years only, if removed from the field. 



Another specimen of soil was examined from Lewis county, which gave a better result : 

 there was less sand and silex, a greater percentage of iron and alumina, and about the 

 same proportion of carbonate of lime. All the trials made with the granitic soils of this 

 district yielded carbonate of lime, but only a mere trace of magnesia. 



A specimen of uncultivated sandy soil from Westport, gave the following result : 



Water.. 4-00 



Organic matter 3-25 



Peroxide of iron and alumina , 5-00 ' 



Silex - .- 85-25 



Lime I'OO 



Magnesia , _..,_ 0-12 



98-62 



This specimen was derived also from granite or gneiss, as, rmder the microscope, it was 

 found to be composed of quartz and schorl, with a few particles only of felspar, mica and 

 garnet. 



Another specimen of the sandy soil of this place gave 



Water 1-00 



Organic matter 2-50 



Silex... 94-00 



Alumina and iron 2-00 



Lime 0-25 



Magnesia 0-00 



99-75 



It is a gray sand, composed of quartz, garnet, and black schorl. The specific gravity of this 

 soil is 2- 573. We give it as an example of the weight of a soil in which sand predomi. 

 nates ; and alhough sand is considered one of the easiest varieties to work, still it is the 



