HIGHLAND DISTRICT. 
241 
The following is the result of an analysis of the subsoil to the preceding, taken twelve 
inches below the surface : 
Water of absorption..___ 1*76 
Organic matter.__ 4*12 
Silex.__.80-79 
Peroxide of iron and alumina __ 12-00 
Carbonate of lime__________ 0-85 
Magnesia ..... 0-60 
100-13 
It will be observed that the principal difference between the soil and subsoil consists in 
a greater amount of organic matter in the former, and more silex and less lime in the latter. 
This result, as it regards lime, has often happened; and in many instances where a deep 
subsoil was analyzed, and where it was expected that a greater amount of lime would be 
obtained, the reverse has been the fact. It appears that in the process of a natural vege¬ 
tation, the lime and other alkalies are retained at the surface ; but when the crops are 
removed, or the soil ploughed and frequently stirred, the alkalies are both removed and 
filtered deeper in the soil. 
Another soil in the same neighborhood, taken twenty inches below the surface, gave 
Water of absorption.... 1-13 
Organic matter______ 3-00 
Silex....... 81-67 
Peroxide of iron and alumina ____12-21 
Carbonate of lime__________ 0*83 
Carbonate of magnesia_____... 1-16 
100-00 
A granitic soil, near Peekskill, gave of matter soluble in water, in 200 grains, 1 * 26; of 
which 0*71 was organic matter: the solution contained chlorides and sulphates in addi¬ 
tion to the organic salts. Another gave 0‘87 soluble matter, of which O'46 was organic. 
Since the above analyses were made, the precipitate by caustic ammonia has been 
examined carefully for phosphates; and in each of the Peekskill soils, and several whose 
origin was derived from primary rocks, they have been found. The mode of proceeding 
for the phosphates was as follows : The precipitate, consisting of alumina, peroxide of iron, 
etc., was redissolved in chlorohydric acid, and filtered to free it from any silex which it 
might contain. This solution was neutralized by ammonia. Acetate of potash was then 
added, which gave a yellowish precipitate, consisting of the phosphate of the peroxide 
of iron, which becomes darker by exposure to light. The quantity was sufficient to have 
been weighed ; but as the object was merely to ascertain the fact of the existence of this 
substance in the soil, the quantity was only estimated. 
[Agricultural Report.] 31 
