FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT. 343 



Avii.i m. 

 100 grains, in drying, lost 6- 16 grs. 100 grs. of the dried soil gave 



Organic matter 15*92 



Silica... 72-76 



Peroxide of iron and alumina 7*76 



Potash 1-26 



Carbonate of lime 0-86 



Magnesia 0*28 



Soluble silica 0-35 



• Phosphate of alumina, and phosphate of the per- 

 oxide of iron 0-43 



99-62 



The formations which succeed the Marcellus slate are much coarser ; and we often, or 

 perhaps generally, are able to detect mica in the strata, and distinct grains of quartz. The 

 soil also contains occasionally primary rocks ; and it is possible to recognize, by the aid of 

 the microscope, comminuted hornblende ; but this is by no means a common ingredient, in 

 a form which can be distinguished, as in those soils which are derived more immediately 

 from the primary ranges. 



We believe the phosphates are derived from the formation upon which the soil reposes, 

 inasmuch as they appear to be composed of materials similar to those of the formation itself. 

 That the phosphates, as has been maintained, are generally distributed, there can be no 

 doubt ; but some formations are richer than others. We believe that those wheat soils 

 which give but a moderate crop of maize, require only the addition of those manures that 

 furnish the phosphates, particularly ground bones, and the ashes of vegetables. The same 

 fact, we believe, holds good also in relation to the cultivation of wheat in the slate district 

 upon the western slope of the Green mountains. This opinion is supported by the frequent 

 occurrence of good crops in this district, when the soil is properly prepared. Even a part 

 of the range furnishes a true wheat soil, and quite similar to that of Western New-York. 

 We refer to the Albany and Champlain tertiary clay, which is a homogeneous formation, 

 extending through the vallies of Lake Champlain and Hudson river, and even onward 

 northerly through the St. Lawrence basin. 



A few soils only upon this formation have been critically examined. A single example 

 of a soil upon this clay, and largely mixed with it, we annex, for the purpose of adding 

 something to the few examinations we have as yet made of this particular formation. The 

 soil was selected from the farm of the Rev. David Lamb, of Bridport, Addison county, 

 Vermont. The slope was gently to the west. Soil rather light-colored, and a portion of 

 taconic slate is mixed with it, undergoing disintegration. 



The yield of this piece of ground was at the rate of 53i bushels of winter wheat to the acre. The 

 soil gave, on analysis, soluble silica, and the phosphates were distinctly appreciable in 100 grains. 



