292 AGRICULTURAL RErORT. [T620, 621, 622 



Insoluble Matter (as above) 83.993 



Potash 0.700 



Soda 0.049 



Lime 0.139 



Magnesia 0.579 



Brown Oxide of Manganese 0.332 



Peroxide of Iron 3.862 



Alumina 7.279 



Phosphoric Acid 0.236 



Sulphuric Acid 0.054 



Organic Matter and Water 2.716 



100.399 



620. The analyses show the important fact, that the subsoil of the Mar- 

 shall table-lands is, generally speaking, richer in the most important nutritive 

 ingredients of the plants (Potash and Phosphoric Acid, also Magnesia), than 

 the surface soil, and that those which are deficient in the subsoil as compared 

 with the surface soil (Soda, Lime, and Sulphuric Acid) arc those most readily 

 supplied by artificial means. The determination of the absorbing power for 

 moisture shows, moreover, that no important change will be effected in this 

 respect, by bringing the subsoil to the surface — which, by exposure and tillage, 

 soon becomes equally mellow with the present surface soil. Deep plowing and 

 subsoiling, in the sense of turning up the subsoil (H503, if.), is therefore clearly 

 indicated as the means of bringing into action, the great native fertility of this 

 soil ; in addition to which, the use of lime, both as a stimulant and nutritive 

 ingredient, is to be primarily recommended. In view of the deficiency of Soda, 

 in both the surface soil and subsoil, an addition of common salt to any manure 

 used, would be found useful ; and plaster (gypsum) would greatly benefit the 

 soil, not only as a stimulant, of which the subsoil stands in need, but also as 

 supplying two important ingredients in which, otherwise, the soil is somewhat 

 deficient. 



621. It is important to observe that, as a convenient source of lime, the marl 

 (Tll8, ff ; 141), and limestone (1[91, ff.), region of Tishomingo is very accessible 

 by Railroad to this section of the country. 



The nearest mail deposit on the railroad, with which I am acquainted, occurs 

 near Chawalla Station on the M. & C. R. R. It is probable, however, that 

 deposits of blue marls and glauconitic limestones, occur near at hand, on Muddy 

 Creek, and Hatchie, in Tennessee. The marl at Chawalla (if 141), is of the 

 Rotten Limestone character, yellowish and clayey ; a specimen yielded on 

 analysis, twenty-one per cent, of carbonate of lime ; but it is likely that marls 

 richer in lime than the one analyzed, and which would pay better for transport- 

 ation, may be found between Chawalla and Farmington. If the impure green- 

 sandy limestone of the Ripley Group ( IT 150, ff.), should appear anywhere on 

 Hatchie or Muddy Creek, near the railroad, it might pay well to burn it into 

 lime for agricultural purposes. 



Further east, near the Mississippi line, and in particular where the railroad 

 crosses Bear Creek, the gray limestone of the Carboniferous formation is found 

 («f[82); which if burnt, on account of its greater purity, might pay better for 

 transportation, notwithstanding the greater distance from the point where it is 

 to be employed. 



622. The Table-land soils of North- West Tippah, such as they 

 are found north of Salem, do not differ much, apparently, from 

 those of Marshall ; in their growth, the Spanish (" Red "), true Red, 

 and Black Oak are rather more prevalent, alongside of the Post 

 Oak, than is the case on the soils analyzed, where the Black Jack 

 is very abundant : the color of the loam, also, inclines less towards 



