58 Essay on the Analysis of Soils, 



now repeatedly stirred and poured into a filterer, and more water 

 was passed through the earth to wash out all the soluble matter. 

 All the water was boiled down and evaporated, and left two grains 

 of a substance which had the appearance of a gum with a little 

 lime in it. Thus the loss was reduced to eight grains, a very small 

 quantity, considering the means used in analysing the soil. 

 The corrected account therefore is as follows : — 



Specific gravity, 2.358. 



[Coarse 20gi\s.'j 

 Siliceous sand ..< Finer 1*7 „ >199u;rs. 

 [Very fine 162 „ j 



{Coarse 4 „ "j 

 Finer 3 „ > 25 „ 

 Very fine 18 „ J 



fCiay 182.5 



Impalpable earth< Carb. of lime. . . . 51.5 



[Humus 26 



Soluble matter 2 



Loss 8 



500 



Or, in round numbers— 



40 per cent. Sand, 

 36 „ Clay, 

 17 „ Calcareous earth, 



5 „ Vegetable earth, or humus, 



0.5 „ Soluble matter. 



From the composition of this soil, it is evident that it is a most 

 excellent loam, capable of producing, with good tillage and regular 

 manuring, every kind of grain, artificial grasses, and roots com- 

 monly cultivated. The field from which the soil was taken was 

 always considered to be of superior quality. 



This example will suffice to enable any one to analyse any soil 

 of which he desires to know the component parts, so far as they 

 aflfect the general fertility. To ascertain minute portions of salts 

 or metals, or any peculiar impregnation of the waters, must be left 

 to practical chemists. 



To those who may be inclined to try the analysis of soils it may 

 be interesting to compare the results of their own experiments 

 with some which have been obtained with great care. Thaer, in 

 his very excellent work on rational husbandry, written in German 

 and translated into French, has given a table in which different 

 soils analysed by him are classed according to their comparative 

 fertility, which is expressed in numbers, 100 being the most 



