167 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 21, 1850. 
will conic when mahures will be distributed in greater variety 
| and witll biore discrimination than stable manure and chalk are 
at present by the load; and when science, confirming him in the 
judicious application of manures, and the necessity of a clean 
course of cultivation, will, at the same time, demonstrate that 
even dungs and composts may be selected and compounded with 
beneficial discrimination ; and that economy is not misplaced in 
regulating abundance. 
The following sketch represents the apparatus we have found 
the best for ascertaining the retentive and absorbent power of 
soils, a Represents a small lamp; 6, a tripod for supporting a 
small tin vessel c, which has a small hole and plug at g, for the 
purpose of filling it with water; and a small pipe d for the 
escape of the steam when the water is brought to a boiling 
temperature; h is a small pair of grain scales. To ascertain the 
moisture-retentive power of a soil, put ten grains of it, previously 
dried by exposure to a temperature of 212° (the boiling point of 
water) for half an hour, by having it laid upon c, whilst the 
water within it is kept boiling for that period. On the ten grains 
of previously dried soil put, by means of a small quill, three drops 
of clean water; ascertain the exact weight of these, usually four 
grains; then suspend the beam, so that the pan of the scales 
containing the soil may rest upon c, as represented in the 
sketch, the weight of the water having previously been removed 
from the other scale-pan, /. The water in c must be kept 
boiling, and the exact number of minutes noted that is required 
to evaporate the added moisture, so as to return the beam into 
equilibrium. 
Two hundred grains are as eligible a quantity of any soil to 
analyse as can be selected. Previously to analysis a proportion 
should have been kept, slightly covered, in the dry atmosphere 
of a room for several days, to allow it to part with all the moisture 
that can be obtained from it by mere atmospheric exposure. 
Two hundred grains of the soil thus dried should then be placed 
on a small plate, and held, by means of a pair of pincers, over 
the flame of a candle or lamp, with a small shaving of deal upon 
it, until this shaving begins to scorch. The process is then to 
cease, and the loss of weight, sustained by the soil being thus 
dried, ascertained. We will suppose that it amounts to thirty 
grains and a half. The residue must then be gently triturated 
in a mortar, which, properly, should be of agate, and sifted 
through a piece of fine muslin ; what remains in the muslin will 
consist of stones and vegetable fibres ; the weight of these must 
be ascertained, and this we will suppose amounts to fifteen grains 
and a half and five grains respectively. The stones must be 
examined by dropping some sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) upon 
them: if they effervesce, they contain chalk; if not, they are 
siliceous, and will be sufficiently hard to scratch glass, and will 
feel gritty; or they are clay stones, will feel soft, and be with 
little difficulty cut with a knife. That part which passed through 
the muslin must now be boiled in a small teacup full of clean 
water for about five minutes ; being allowed to cool, and a piece 
of clean blotting-paper, previously dried before the fire and its 
weight ascertained, employed to strain the liquor through, care 
must be taken to get every particle of the soil into the strainer 
from the vessel in which it was boiled by repeated washings with 
clean water. When the liquor is all strained away, place the 
blotting-paper on a plate over the candle, with a shaving of deal 
on the plate, and dry it until the shaving begins to scorch. 
When perfectly dry, weigh the whole ; and then, the weight of 
the paper being subtracted, the weight.of the residue, and, con¬ 
sequently, the quantity of matter dissolved by the water ; will be 
afforded; this, which consists of salts and vegetable extract, we 
will suppose, amounts to four grains and a half. The watery 
oolution must be carefully set on one side, and the analysis of 
the solid parts proceeded with. Half an ounce, by measure, of 
muriatic acid (spirit of salt) must be poured upon this in a 
saucer, and allowed to remain for full an hour, being occasionally 
stirred "with a piece of glass or porcelain; this must now be 
strained by means of a piece of blotting-paper as before, the 
matter left upon it being frequently washed with clean water, 
and the washings allowed to pass through the paper to mingle 
with the other acid liquor; the matter left upon the paper being 
perfectly dried and weighed, and the loss ascertained—we will 
suppose this to be twenty grains. Into the liquor muBt be 
dropped, gradually, a solution of prussiate of iron. The blue 
precipitate which this will occasion being collected by filtering 
through paper, and washed as before, heated red-hot by means 
of an iron spoon in the fire, and then weighed—we will suppose 
it to weigh two grains and a half; this is oxide of iron. Tliis- 
deducted from the twenty previously ascertained to be in the 
solution, leaves seventeen grains and a half, which may be con- 
sidered as carbonate of lime (chalk), though probably with the 
admixture of a little carbonate of magnesia. The solid matter 
must now be heated to redness in a spoon, until, upon cooling, 
it does not appear at all black; this must then be weighed, and 
the loss noted ; that loss consisted of animal and vegetable 
matters—we will suppose it amounted to seven grains. The 
remainder must be boiled for about two hours with two drachms, 
by measure, of sulphuric acid, mixed with eight drachms of water, 
and, when cooled, strained through blotting-paper as before, and 
washed ; when dried at a red heat in the iron spoon, the loss 
sustained will be alumina (clay) ; what remains will bo silica 
(flint). We will suppose the first to weigh fifteen grains, and 
the latter a hundred and two grains and a half. 
The analysis will then stand thus 
Water ....... 
. 30.5 
Stones and coarse sand .... 
. . 15.5 
Vegetable fibres ..... 
. 5.0 
Saline matters ..... 
. . 4.5 
Oxide of iron ...... 
. 2.5 
Carbonate of lime .... 
. . 17.5 
Decomposing matter, destructible by heat . 
. 7.0 
Alumina ...... 
. . 15.0 
Silica. 
. 102.5 
200.0 
The first watery lixiviation, employed to obtain the saline 
matter, may now be evaporated to dryness ; if of a brown colour, 
it is chiefly vegetable extract; if of a whitish colour, it is princi¬ 
pally saline, and probably consists of chloride of sodium (common 
salt), with the admixture of a little sulphate of lime (gypsum). 
The above mode of analysis wc have made as simple as possible, 
and it requires no other apparatus than a set of grain scales and 
weights, a little sulphuric and muriatic acids, and some prussiate 
of potash—the whole of which, sufficient for examining every 
soil upon a large estate, may be obtained for 30s. 
In the above are no processes requiring adroitness in the 
manipulation, extreme nicety in the operation, or the practised 
eye of science and experience to conduct. All is simple, requiring 
nothing but the employment of the ordinary carefulness, and the 
common sense, of the experimenter. 
The portion of soil which it is proposed to analyse should be 
taken at about three inches from the surface. Neither should 
the surface soil only be examined, but the substratum also. For 
it often will occur that the subsoil is of a better staple than that 
which reposes on it; or is of a quality that is capable of correct¬ 
ing some deficiency in it. Thus a light siliceous soil will often 
lie upon a stratum abounding in alumina, which, by digging or 
trenching, may be brought to the surface and mingled with it- 
The foregoing plan of analysis, it must be observed, is not one 
so particular as a practised chemist would pursue; but it is one 
eusy and capable of affording all the facts usually required to be 
