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First, procure the following articles, necessary—or, I might say indis¬ 
pensable—to analyze soils ; they can be procured at any drug establish¬ 
ment, and will cost about tw r elve shillings. A pair of scales and troy 
weights, sufficient to weigh one quarter of a pound—you can make a few 
extra ten and twenty grain weights—a glass funnel, a small bottle (with 
a glass stopper) full of muriatic acid, a few sheets of filtering paper, 
(newspaper will answer,) two or three four ounce vial-bottles, a few cents 
worth of prussiate of potash. These, with what any farmer has about 
his house, will answer our purpose. There are, however, a number of 
other articles that would be highly convenient to have; such as a wedge- 
wood-ware morter and pestle, and sett of Hessian crucibles, but our ob¬ 
ject is to get along with as little expense as possible, for economy must be 
the farmer’s motto. 
Taking Samples of Soils to Analyze. —If you have an old musket bar¬ 
rel with the breecli-pin out, grind the muzzle around to an edge, this will 
make a good “borer” for our purpose—if you have not such an article, 
you can dig down w r ith a spade—get your samples from the side of the 
hole, not from the pile of dirt thrown out; for the surface and subsoil will 
he mixed. Let us commence at home—thrust down your gun barrel about 
two feet here where the soil is in its primitive state ; take a rod that will 
fill the bore, and push out the soil on a board—there it is, a long column— 
and on inspection its appearance is of a light, reddish color, and feels 
sharp and gritty, with but little adhesive properties ; near the surface it 
is a little darker, containing a small quantity of vegetable mould, w r hich 
diminishes as you descend; under, and at the bottom of the bore it ap¬ 
pears to be little else than sand. Take a small parcel from near the sur¬ 
face, lay it on a plate, or bit of glass, and pour on a few drops of muri¬ 
atic acid, if it effervesces or bubbles up it is a proof of its containing lime; 
should the effervescence be slight, the soil contains a small quantity of 
lime—how much w r e shall know when analyzed. This is what is called 
a “silicious soil,” (i. e., sandy.) Take about a quarter or half a pound 
from the top; if you dig with a spade, take your sample from about two 
inches of the surface—carefully wrap it up in paper, or what is better, 
put it in a clean bottle and cork tight; label it, “No. 1, surface soil from 
school section, Racine—character, sandy. 
We will bore down for our next samples, in your low flat and rather 
moist piece of land, as yet uncultivated—at the depth of tw r o and a half 
