1897] F. T. Shutt. — Composition of Can. Virgin Soils. 103 



ture, sunshine, &c., are factors that must receive careful con- 

 sideration. 



Pot or plot experiments with the various fertilizers are at 

 present the only means of gaining reliable or accurate knowledge 

 of a soil's needs, but the incentive given by Dr. Dyer in 1894 in 

 publishing his results by the one per cent citric acid solution has 

 resulted in many agricultural chemists on this continent direct- 

 ing their attention to this important subject, and the probabilities 

 are that ere long we shall be agreed upon laboratory methods 

 for determining available plant food in soils. 



The standards of fertility as suggested by Dr Hilgard, of 

 the California Experiment Station, arc stated and deductions 

 made from Canadian data are given. The latter show that good 

 agricultural soils possess usually between "25% and '5% of pot- 

 ash — less than ■ 15% indicating the value of potassic fertilizers ; 

 phosphoric acid is usually between "15% and 22% but the 

 adequacy of this element depends largely on the amount of lime 

 associated with it. In lime, less than 1% in clay soils indicates 

 that iheir productiveness will be increased by an application of 

 a calcareous fertilizer. Peaty soils have always responded well 

 to a dressing of lime. Richness in nitrogen invariably indicates, 

 in Canada, loams of excellent jiroductiveness. Omitting prairie 

 soils the large number of our good soils contain between ■ 125% 

 and "225 of nitrogen ; many, however, reach ■•5% and some 

 exceed i " 0%. 



British Columbia. 



As far as our investigations in this province have carried 

 us, the soils fall into three well marked groups : (a) Deltaic, as 

 at the mouth of the Fraser and Pitt Rivers, very rich in plant 

 food ; (d) Valley soils, of alluvial origin, of more than 

 average fertility ; and [c) Bench and plateau soils at varying 

 altitudes — frequently light and sandy, ranging from very poor to 

 soils of medium fertility. 



