116 



An inspection of the above and many other similar soils would lead 

 to the conclusion that the contents of valuable ingredients in the aver- 

 age soils of the sugar belt would be about as follows : — Lime . 5, potash 

 ,4, phosphoric acid . 1, and nitrogen . 1 per cent. In an acre to th» 

 depth of 12 inches, estimated to weigh 5,000,000 pounds, there would 

 be 25,000 pounds lime, ^0,000 pounds potash, and 5,000 pounds each 

 of phosphoric acid and nitrogen. An average cane crop of 25 tons in- 

 cluding tops and fodder, will contain about the following : —Lime 20 

 pounds, potash 60 pounds, phosphoric acid 35 pounds, and nitrogen 75 

 pounds. Hence there is lime enough for 1,250 crops of cane, potash 

 for 333, phosphoric acid for 150 and nitrogen for 70. 



There is, therefore, no deficiency of plant food in our average sugar 

 soil, and the aim of every planter should be to extract yearly the maxi- 

 mum amounts, which can be obtained only with proper drainage, supply 

 of water (irrigation) in summer, and proper preparation and cultivation 

 cf the soil. 



Table No. 2 gives the mechanical analysis of the soils whose chemical 

 analyses have been given. Additional soils characteristic of many 

 localitieB are also given. 



Table No. 2. 

 Mechanical Analyses of Soils 



Locality. 



Ivan Hall cwt. No. 9 

 No. 26 

 No. 37 

 " No. 44 



" No. 52 

 Andubon Park (dark soil) 

 " " (light soil) 



" plat VI. A. 



" plat YIII. D. 

 Home Place, (front) 



(back) 



State Exp. Station (blufE soil) 

 " " " (subsoil) 



(white iioil) 

 " " " (subsoil) 



5 -r 



o.co u. 



0.00 lO 



0.00 ;o 



0.00 |o 

 0.00 lO 

 0.082 



0.00 

 ,0.00 



jo.oo 



0.00 

 0.00 

 01 



0.05 

 0.00 !0 

 0.31 iO 



i a 



O) o 



0.140. 

 0.340. 

 0.23:1. 

 0.28;1. 

 0.280. 

 064 0.11 0. 

 0550.110. 

 084 0.58 0. 

 0700. 18!0. 

 06 0.07'0. 

 05 0.0610. 



08 0.40iO. 

 14 0.31|0. 



09 0.500, 

 26 0.31 0, 



6447.28 

 76 22.40 

 39 33.051 

 00,22.151 

 58 23.55: 

 62 11.49! 

 71 26.221 

 3637.82! 

 78' 4.72! 

 22:61.431 

 21136.41 

 5521.65 

 3715.751 

 7119.99 

 43il7.82| 



25.66 

 39.88 

 23.58 

 25.93 

 37.73 

 19.54 

 34.99 

 28.04 



a 

 a 



i 



<D 



a 



4. 



8.30 

 8.14 

 9.12 

 7.51 

 14.94 

 6.95 

 6.83 



19.16 12.68 



26.37 

 42.78 

 55.44 



2.08 

 4.2( 

 9.4.- 



47.281 9.33 

 55.521 8.78 

 48.69i 9.50 



a 

 a 

 t— t 



8 



o 



r 



&8 



13.404 

 19.28,4 

 24.40i5 

 31.25|6 

 22.4414 

 41.2916 

 22.v8i4 

 20.643 

 47.00i7 

 6.65il 

 9.06 2 

 10.900 

 21.12,2 

 9.74:1 

 17.21,2 



2.96 

 4.45 

 4.10 

 3.91 

 3.51 

 6.50 

 4.64 

 3.49 

 5.61 

 1.90 

 3.33 

 1.58 

 2.17 

 2.29 

 2.62 



From table No. 2 it will be seen that very few of these soils can pro- 

 perly be called sandy. They are loamy silts or silty clays. Their 

 water capacity is great, requiring special attention to drainage in order 

 to reduce it to the amount most favourable to soil ferments. The clayey 

 content of several suggests the propriety of breaking at exactly the right 

 time — neither too wet nor too dry — throwing it into ridges to relieve 

 it of excessive moisture and providing for escape of flood waters. 



The red river soils, particularly the front lands, are largely composed 

 of very fine sand, with small portions of clay, while the bluffs i.nd 

 prairie soils are mainly silt. 



Numerous experiments have been made at the Sugar Experiment 



