from Washington Territory. 241 



Analyses by fusion of rock, soil and sediments. 







03 Js5 



> o 



03 O 



Si 



□1 





s 



a 

 CO 



1 • 



> 



1 

 > 



l> 









1 1 







5 > 









o 



o 



Ph 

 u 



03 

 O 



At3 



% W 



is 



'3 

 xn 



£ 



00 j£ 

 ■J) 



-^> 



P 



03 



a 



03 



w 



™ So 



a 



03 



B 



03 



w. 



V 



"3 



03 



a 



'<£ 



03 



e3 



5 



Si0 2 



50-85 



48-42 



58-16 



57-07 





55-94 



4152 



P 2 5 * 



•76 



•78 



•43 



•33 



•24 



•42 



•11 



so 3 



■05 



•03 



•07 



•04 





not determ. 



•08 



H 2 



•34 



1-20 



1-77 



•21 













K 2 



1-13 



1-16 



1-08 



1-53 





1-76 







Na 2 



2-37 



2-29 



2-56 



2-90 





1-67 







CaO 



9-33 



8-98 



4-57 



6-55 





3-07 



•41 



MgO 



5-57 



4-58 



1-99 



2-59 





1-72 



1-57 



FeO 



7-11 



4-77 







2-80 













Fe 2 3 



10-03 



10-80 



10-59 



8-24 





11-98 



17-93 



A1 2 3 



12-54 



16-00 



1503 



17-57 





16-32 



17-18 



Org. matter 



---- 



.... 



3-52 



---- 





7-40f 

 100-28 



18-86f 





100-08 



99-01 



100-37 



99-83 







Discussion of the analyses by fusion of the sediments obtained by 

 mechanical analysis. 



I. Clay : M. Th. Schloesing, the celebrated French agricul- 

 tural chemist, in speaking about "clay," says :\ " Clay derives 

 its origin from the decomposition of siliceous rocks. Under 

 atmospheric influences, such as humidity, oxygen, carbonic 

 acid, these rocks are slowly decomposed. Their alkalies and 

 alkaline earths are transformed into carbonates. These are 

 leached out by water ; the calcium carbonate with the help of 

 free carbonic acid ; at the same time a part of the silica is set 

 free and becomes soluble. The silicate of alumina remains in- 

 tact ; by taking up water it becomes clay. The iron which be- 

 comes insoluble, changing into peroxide, remains with the clay. 

 The clay retains besides small quantities of other substances, 

 such as alkalies and alkaline earths, in a sense as the witnesses 

 of its origin." 



It is interesting to hear another agricultural chemist upon 

 the same subject. In the chapter on soil investigation^ which 

 forms a part of the " General Discussion of the Cotton pro- 

 duction of the United States " Prof. E. W. Hilgard says : " The 

 concentration of the available portion of the plant-food of soils 

 in their finest portions is almost a maxim already, scarcely need- 



*By extraction with HN0 3 . f Organic matter and water. 



\ P. 62, Chimie Agricole. (Fremy. Eucyclopedie Chimique.) 

 § Tenth U. S. Census. 



