Annual Report for 1913 of the Consulting Chemist. 359 
At a time such as the present, when a good deal is written 
as to the chemical analysis of a soil being of comparatively 
little value, it is satisfactory to note that there are those who 
find the Reports issued from the Society’s Laboratory of 
decided use to them. I do not maintain that chemical analysis 
of a soil will tell everything about it ; considerations as to the 
physical and mechanical nature of a soil have to be taken into 
account ; also — a point to which importance has been lately 
attached — the conditions of the organic life in soil. If a soil 
be not well drained, it may be ever so rich in constituents of 
fertility, as shown by chemical analysis, but it may not be 
productive. All such points as these have to be taken into 
consideration in conjunction Avith the chemical analysis. But 
long experience tells me that, in capable hands, the results of 
chemical analysis, when properly interpreted, may afford very 
useful guidance, and may also save a great deal of expense in 
the matter of manuring. It is quite true that, in a soil analysis, 
much turns upon very small differences in the analytical 
figures; a rise ' of *1 per cent, on the dry soil means, for 
example, the application of a great deal of a particular con- 
stituent in order to effect this rise. This, however, only 
emphasises the need of extreme accuracy, such as is not 
found except in skilled hands. If this provision be secured, 
then it is clear to me that certain definite conclusions can be 
drawn from a chemical analysis of soil by one who is well 
experienced in such matters. To give a single instance : it 
has long been knoAvn that lime is a necessary constituent of 
the soil, but it is only within recent years, and as an outcome 
of work done at the Woburn Experimental Station, that it has 
been ascertained that it is not sufficient to consider the amount 
of lime by itself, but that it is necessary also to take the 
contents of the soil in magnesia into account. Numerous 
instances might be adduced in which, judging from the figures 
for lime alone, one would be induced to say that there was a 
sufficiency of this constituent, but crops have remained poor, 
and it has ultimately been found that magnesia has been 
present in excess of the lime. Such instances have occurred, 
not only in soils of Great Britain, but also in those from the 
Colonies, where such crops as sugar, coffee, tobacco, &c., are 
concerned. * 
I have myself found, when going over farms to advise upon 
them, that a knowledge of the composition of the soil is 
frequently absolutely essential to my being able to give 
recommendations with regard to the proper treatment of the 
land. 
While there has been a tendency for the number of staple 
analyses, such as those of linseed cake, superphosphate and the 
