Brookings County sentinel. (Brookings, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1890, 1883-02-08
SOIL ANALYSIS.

An article by Prof. Z. w. Hilgard
upon the "Obiects and interpretations
of Soil Analysis, is printed in the Ag-
ricultural Review, and contains som
sensible ideas on a subject which is a
vexation to those practical agriculturists
who despise a book farmer" Prof.
Hilgard acknowledges, as he could not
but do, that soil analysis has hitherto
failed to meet the expectations which it
formerly y raised concerning discoveries
in the art of agriculture, and the larger
part of his paper is devoted to an expla.
nation of the reasons why chemists have
hitherto failed to tel from the compost
ton OF soil whether it would raise
crops or not. He thinks that in Europe
the principal obstacle to the success of
analysis has been the lack OF virgin soils,
nearly all being changed from their
original composition by frequent crop
ping and the use of manui"s. In the
United States, also, there has been a
record Of failures in the attempt to make
the analysis of soils Of precticsl benefit
TO farmers, and one scleLiifc man is
quoted by Professor Hilgard as saying
that he "would rltler tIust an old
farmer to tell him about IL" value Of q
soil than the best "a, mist alive Never
theless, practical faImeIs a,a not always
infallible judges OF t. value Of soils, as
many who have moved west and taken
up government land, have iouud TO their
cost. There are spots even in California,
young as is the state AID fe, tile AZ her
soil generally is, which are marked with
reminders of former occupation. but are
now deserted or given up to sheep pas.
turage. On some of tue alkah plains
there are ruins of cabins, built by the
original settlers who took mp
the land under the belief that j t
could be cultivated, but dis
covered their error, and had TO move
away. These mistakes are made by the
pioneer settler, and the scientist, with
his chemical analysis, will perhaps
never get near enough to the front Of
civilization to prevent their cJmmission.
But in spite of this. there are adyan-
tages which may be realized from soil
analysis of practical value, sufficiently
important to Justify any amount of re-
search and experiment in the effort to
obtain them. One such advantage is
that of knowing what kind Of manure is
required to bring an exhausted or infer
tile soil up TO productivity, TO learn
which the farmer ought not to he re.
duced to the necessity of going and try.
ing first one kind and then another,
until he strikes The one needed. Pro.
fessor Hilgard finds that the first mis-
takes are made in taking representative
soil specimens. They may be taken in
spots which do not resemble the rest of
the soil, and they may be exclusively
from the surface soil, aud, therefore,
constitute no test of the subsoil. Again,
physical conditions may determine the
degree Of fertility OF soil as much
rs the character of It's ingredients.
A heavy alluvial soil may be improved
In crop-bearing qualities by being di-
luted with pure sand, though the per-
centage of plant food is thereby re.
duced. II is apparent that unless these
and other conditions are duly daken into
account no analysis of soil will be OF
value, and that, Professor Hilgard says,
IL not usually done. He further says
that by approaching the question in an
indirect hne-by observing what forms
OF vegetation soil naturally produce.
In its virgin state, and then ascertaining
what elements produce this result, a
true science of soil analysis may be es-