158 
ANALYSIS OF SOILS, MANURES, ETC. 
risen towards the surface. The milk to be tested 
should be taken from the middle of the pail, which 
may be done by dipping a small pot below the 
froth. 
To persons interested in the affairs of a dairy, 
the utility of such an instrument as the above, is 
too obvious for further comment. Price, $5 for 
six tubes, including frame, or a less number in pro¬ 
portion. 
PROFITS OF FARMING-. 
The following are the proceeds and kind of crops 
raised, the past year, on 70 acres of land, belong¬ 
ing to Mount-Airy Agricultural Institute, German¬ 
town, Pa., by John Wilkinson, Esq. :— 
41 acres maize, 50 bush, per acre $146.94 
61 “ rye, 27 “ “ . 163.80 
12 “ wheat, 12 “ “jj |. 297.36 
9 “ oats, 53 “ “ . 153.60 
5 “ potatoes, 250 “ “ . 937.50 
1 “ turnips, 350 “ “ . 87.50 
l£*§ carrots, 720 “ u . 345.60 
sugar parsnips, 80 “ “ . 40.00 
b “ early potatoes, 100 “ “ . 75.00 
12 barrels apples,.18.00 
40 bushels pears, ... . 40.00 
Pork sold,. 338.50 
“ preserved for the use of family, . 98.50 
Milk and butter sold, . . . .45.00 
Surplus hay, straw, and stalks, besides 
keeping 2 oxen, 3 horses, 13 cows, . 150.00 
Calves sold, ..50.00 
$2,987.30 
Deduct expenses . . . 2,245.60 
Net proceeds, . . . $741.70 
ANALYSIS OF SOILS, MANURES, ETC. 
The accompanying analysis of soils made in the 
laboratory of the American Agricultural Associa¬ 
tion, since it has been opened to the public, may 
not be devoid of interest in the eyes of an intelli¬ 
gent agricultural community. Out of a larger 
number, I have selected those derived from sources 
distant from each other, which present, in some 
degree, the characteristic soils of those counties 
from which they have been forwarded. 
The first sample, belonging to Mr. R. L. Pell, from 
Pelham, Ulster county, N. Y., was kept above two 
years in paper, previous to analysis, which ac¬ 
counts for the small per centage of water. The 
ingredients of 100 grains was as follows :— 
Water, . . . 1.00 
Vegetable matter, . . 3.40 
Silica and silicate of iron, . 88.85 
Alumina and oxide of iron, 4.40 
Lime, .... 0.30 
Magnesia,.... 0.20 
Sulphuric acid, . . . 0.68 
Lime with sulphuric acid, . 0.28 
Potassa, . . . . 0.38 
Common salt, . . . 0.65 
100.14 
The last four-named substances are those which 
dissolve readily in water, and, existing in large 
quantity endow the soil with great fertility. 
The second sample, forwarded by Mr. Archibald 
Russell, from the same county, was raised off the 
field immediately before analysis. It contains 
much less soluble, saline matter than the foregoing, 
and also less lime, being of a more sandy cha¬ 
racter :— 
Water, 2.56 
Vegetable matter, . . . 5.53 
Silica and silicate of iron, . . 88.36 
Alumina and protoxide of iron, . 1.61 
Lime as silicate, . . .0.78 
Magnesia, do., . . . 0.14 
Soluble saline matter, sulphate of 
lime, 0.30 
Common salt, .... 0.47 
Potassa, 0.25 
100.00 
The third sample was from Staten Island, from a 
field of Mr. D. A. Comstock :— 
Silicates of iron, lime, and magnesia, 83.40 
Alumina and peroxide of iron, . 5.90 
Lime,.2.94 
Magnesia, . . . . .0.78 
Potassa with sulphuric acid, . . 0.32 
Lime with vegetable acid, . . 0.18 
Common salt, .... 0.40 
Traces of phosphoric acid, ; . 0.00 
Vegetable matter, . . . .4.44 
Water,.1.64 
100.00 
Phosphoric acid was found in all the foregoing 
soils, but in smaller quantities in that from Staten 
Island than in the others. Bone dust was recom¬ 
mended to that soil. 
The fourth sample is of a different character 
from Westchester county, a richer soil than any of 
the foregoing. It contains a very remarkable 
quantity of magnesia, perhaps derived from the 
mica, small spangles of which occur in the fine 
sand left after repeated washings :— 
Water, . . . . . 3.86 
Vegetable matter, . . . . 6.25 
Alumina and peroxide of iron, . . 79.25 
Carbonate of lime, .... 6.68 
Carbonate of magnesia, . . .1.67 
Common salt, . . . . .0.32 
Magnesia as carbonate and phosphate, 0.76 
Sulphuric acid with lime and potash, . 0-21 
100.00 
This soil had been forwarded for analysis, as 
being supposed to contain some ingredient inimical 
to the growth of pear trees, numbers of which had 
large excrescences growing on the bark. The 
chemical examination showed the soil to contain 
no noxious element, and the excrescences were 
produced by the irritation of the wood and bark 
round the spot where it had been punctured by an 
insect and the eggs deposited. 
The fifth sample is that of a substance forwarded 
and marked u sulphate of lime,” and sold as such 
by a respectable druggist. Being the residuum of a 
soda-water manufactory, it had the following con¬ 
stitution. It may be necessary to state that it pre¬ 
sented the appearance of a thick cream or paste, 
