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mixed with larger or smaller quantities of the re- 
mains of vegetables and animals in different stages 
of decay. 
It will be necessary to describe the processes by 
which all the varieties of soils may be analysed. 
I shall be minute in these particulars, and, I fear, 
tedious ; but the philosophical farmer will, I trust, 
feel the propriety of full details on this subject. 
The instruments required for the analysis of 
soils are few, and but little expensive. They are, 
a balance capable of containing a quarter of a 
pound of common soil, and capable of turning 
when loaded with a grain ; a set of weights from 
a quarter of a pound troy to a grain ; a wire sieve, 
sufficiently coarse to admit a mustard seed through 
its apertures ; an Argand lamp and stand 5 some 
glass bottles ; Hessian crucibles ; porcelain, or 
queen’s ware evaporating basins ; a Wedge wood 
pestle and mortar ; some filtres made of half a 
sheet of blotting paper, folded so as to contain a 
pint of liquid, and greased at the edges ; a bone 
knife, and an apparatus for collecting and measur- 
ing aeriform fluids. 
The chemical substances or re-agents required 
for separating the constituent parts of the soil, 
have, for the most part, been mentioned before ; 
they are muriatic acid ( spirit, of salt), sulphuric 
acid, pure volatile alkali dissolved in water, solu- 
tion of prussiate of potash and iron, succinate of 
ammonia, soap lye, or solution of potassa, solu- 
tions of carbonate of ammonia, of muriate of am- 
monia, of neutral carbonate of potash, and nitrate 
of ammoniac. 
L 
