322 Wisconsin - State Agricultural Societal 
which its life, and fertility is maintained. But these properties, 
natural though they may he, are capable of being expanded and 
strengthened almost indefinitely by suitable cultivation. 
The power of the soil to absorb water, will depend, in the first 
place, upon its chemical constitution, that is upon the kind of 
material entering into its formation. The lowest absorbing power is, 
no doubt, represented in a strictly silicious sandy-soil. Let us take 
this as the zero of our scale: 
Silicious sand being. 0 
Gypsum will be. 1 
Calcareous sand. 3 
Common soil. 23 
Sandy clay. 28 
Pure clay. 48 
Carbonate of lime. 35 
Carbonate of magnesia. 80 
Humus. 110 
Here we have the comparative absorbing power of material en¬ 
tering into the formation of soils, or of some of them. I call 
attention to these facts for the purpose of showing that the absorb¬ 
ing power of the soil depends to a great extent upon the absorbing 
power of the substances composing it, and that this power can be 
increased or diminished as these and such like substances are added, 
or otherwise. But there is another phase to this question that we 
must not overlook, and that is, the soil has other relations, running 
in other directions, with which its relation to water must har¬ 
monize. 
The power of the soil to admit the free circulation of atmos¬ 
pheric air, and to absorb the moisture and gasses that it contains, 
another of its essential properties. In order to have a clear con¬ 
ception of these facts, we must learn to separate in our minds the 
soil from the substances of which it is composed. In doing this, 
we shall find that the power to admit the circulation of the air be¬ 
longs especially to the soil, while the power to absorb water be¬ 
longs more especially to the separate substances. Or I may, per¬ 
haps, simplify this subject still further by noticing that the soil is 
made up of finely-divided particles of organic and inorganic mat¬ 
ter; but however finely divided they may be, they are particles of 
matter nevertheless, and that between these particles there are 
open spaces through which the air with its load of invisible vapor 
