A Soil Study : 
Part III. THE SOIL. 
By WILLIAM P. HEADDEN, A. M., Ph. D. 
[For convenience of reference the principal paragraphs are numbered , and 
a table of contents placed at the end of the bulletin .] 
§ 1. Bulletins 46 and 58 contain the results of our observa¬ 
tions upon the effects of the mechanical condition, the “ alkalis ” 
contained in, and the general properties of this soil upon the crops 
grown on it. This bulletin forms the continuation of our study, 
and will treat of the soil itself. The preceding bulletins have treated 
of the crops; this will have nothing to do with them. 
The crops grown were, with one exception, sugar beets. This 
soil, judged by the crops it has yielded, is abundantly rich in plant 
food. The crops obtained are more conclusive in regard to this 
point than the indications of the chemical analyses. In this case, 
however, the two methods of judging lead to the same conclusion, 
i. e ., that any failure of plants to grow is not due to a lack of fertility. 
REASONS FOR CHOOSING THIS PLOT OF GROUND. 
§ 2. The choice of this particular piece of ground for study 
was determined by the fact that it was considered to be the most 
strongly alkalized plot to be found on the College Farm. It had 
been cultivated previously, but no crop was obtained. It was next 
set to forest trees, but tne most of them died, only a very few sur¬ 
viving the first season, and the surviving plants were unhealthy. 
The roots of the young trees which were set out in the spring of 
1896 were blackened by the soil, and did not seem to have grown 
at all. There is no reason to doubt but that this was due to the 
soil conditions, for the mortality among the plants varied with the 
soil in which they were set. In portions of this forestry plot, which 
included the plot made the subject of this study, the young trees 
lived well, whether they made trees or not. The soil and its condi¬ 
tion, however, was quite different. This fact eliminates several 
questions, such as the condition and vitality of the young trees at 
