WESTERN DISTRICT. 295 



. Inalysis of a sandy soil from Jllbion, Orleans county. 



Water of absorption 1*50 



Organic matter 1 "70 



Silicates and sand 92-82 



Carbonate of lime 2-10 



Phosphate of alumina 0-17 



Peroxide of iron and alumina 1-49 



99-78 



The soil of Orleans county contains usually more sand than that of Genesee, Livingston 

 or Onondaga. 



A question which I have attempted to solve in the analyses which have been recently 

 made, is the constitution of the soils of the west, which are well known wheat soils ; and 

 how they differ from those of the Taconic system, which are well known producers of maize. 

 I consider the question a difficult one to solve, and I deem it quite doubtful whether the 

 facts which have been obtained will justify me in the adoption of an opinion. There are 

 facts which may be still brought out, which will bear upon the question, and serve to 

 elucidate it more fully. 



The following results have been obtained in relation to the two classes of soils, which 

 seem to be important, especially when taken in connexion with elements which enter into 

 the composition of wheat on the one hand, and those which constitute maize on the other. 

 Thus wheat is by no means rich in the phosphates, while corn or maize is ; and hence the 

 former will come to maturity in soils poorer in phosphates than the latter. Both grains, 

 however, requite silica, which must necessarily be in a soluble state. The straw, in one 

 . must be supplied with silex, or it will be weak and imperfect. Corn stalks require 

 silex also, but a less amount than wheat. If then wc search for the phosphates, and for 

 soluble silica, I had hopes that some light would gleam upon the question. For illustra- 

 tion of this point, I took 400 grains of Harmon's wheat soil, and tested it for the phosphates ; 

 but not a trace of them appeared. The soil from Mr. Geddes's farm gave scarcely a trace 

 of any in 100 grains. The same was observed in a good wheat soil, though not the best, 

 on Manlius hills. The subsoil, or clay on Cayuga lake, near Aurora, gave no evidence 

 of phosphoric acid in one hundred grains. 



It is not designed to convey the impression that the phosphates are entirely wanting, 

 but that they are contained in a proportion less than in soils, which, in New-York and 

 New-England, bear good crops of maize, but are not so productive in wheat. 



The following analysis of the soil of the Genesee flats is instructive, and bears upon the 

 subject. It was taken fiom near Mountmorris, and may be considered as illustrating the 

 composition of a large tract of country, that particularly which is of an alluvial kind. 



