218 • AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [1398, 399, 400 



nutritive elements to be present in notable quantities, the} 7 can be " brought 

 out," or rendered available to plants, by stimulant manures ; and that the soil 

 can be improved by fallowing. 



On the other had, when analysis shows one or several ingredients to be 

 scarce or absent, we know that those ingredients require to be added ; while 

 the rest, if abundantly contained, may be developed by stimulants, and need not 

 be supplied from without, for the present. And if analysis, finally, shows a soil 

 to be absolutely poor from the outset, in all, or most nutritive ingredients : we 

 shall thereby know that (allowing and stimulants will be of little use, and that 

 we must use stable manure, or its equivalents. 



A glance at the table of analyses (No. 2) will show that so far as the analysis 

 of Mississippi soils has progressed, there is a very close and obvious corres- 

 pondence of their fertility as ascertained by experiment, with the respective 

 amounts of the most important ingredients they contain, as shown by the 

 analyses — which are comparable amongst themselves, inasmuch as the soils 

 were treated, as nearly as possible, in precisely the same manner (see preface). 



398. The analysis rf crops, i e, the determination of the kind and quantity 

 of the mineral ingredients which they Withdraw from the soil, is at 1 ast equally 

 important with that of soils themselves. It informs us directly what and how 

 much the s>>1 has lost in cultivation, and thus enables us to select judiciously the 

 most economical mode of replacing the drain ; provided, of course, that the 

 composition of the fertilizers at our command be also known to us. It is not 

 enough, however, in these investigations, to examine single specimens of each 

 crop, for, as has been stated (^[392), there are several ingredients which can, to 

 some extent, replace each other, and it is of the highest interest to determine 

 the extent of these variations, the circumstances under which they occur, and 

 the influence they exercise on the quality and quantity of the crops. And in 

 order to render the results positive and comparable, it is further to be desired 

 th it in these analyses, as in those of soils, the same, well-devised methods should 

 invariably be employed. 



399. Analyses of Southern Crops — The analyses which, thus far, we possess 

 of the different parts of the cotton plant, are so utterly discrepant amongst 

 themselves, as given by different observers, that it is hard to form from them 

 any definite idea concerning the character of the plant — which is either suscepti- 

 ble of variations in an extraordinary degree, or has been sadly misiepresented 

 in results obtained by some analists, without the extreme care requisite to 

 insure correctness in this difficult department of analytical chemistry. — Of corn 

 also, the analyses are thus far kw, and widely discrepant ; in this case, however, 

 the extraordinary adaptability ol the pl*nt to a great variety of soils and clmates 

 would seem to render a wide range in chemical composition more likely, than it 

 is with reference to cotton. The other crops usually raised in the South, have 

 received still less attention. 



400. Physical Constitution of Soils ; Means of Modifying it. — The 

 productiveness of soils is not, however, dependent alone upon the presence and 

 available condrtion of the substances which form the nourishment of plants. It 

 is also necessary that the soil should have the proper physical constitution, viz: 

 that it should be neither too "heavy" nor too "light;" and that under all circum- 

 stances, it bo properly drained. In either of ttie two first mentioned cases, 

 crops growing on it wrll be liable to injury by drouth, and in the case of a "heavy" 

 soil, by excessive wet also ; while a certain intermediate character of the soil 

 renders the crops comparatively safe with reference to either of these influences. 

 I need haidly mention, that the former fault ("heaviness") is usually caused by 

 an excessive admixture of clay with the soil, while its opposite (" lightness") is 

 due to an excess, i iiher of sand, or of some other substance which breaks up 

 thecontmuty of the clayey portion, such as undecayed vegetable matter, "black 

 pebble" or bog ore, or the undecomposed detritus ol rocks. 



It is a matter of the highest importance, that the soil be sufficiently porous 



