The Red Cloud chief., 1895-03-08
About ~SubsOiiing.
MECHANICAL ANALYSIS.

Chas. W. Dandy Jr., Assistant Secre-
,ary of Agricu'ture.-Dcar Sir; Il
have the honor to report TO YOU the
results of the physical examination Of
the samples of coil and subsoil sent
to this division on July % through
the honorable secretary of agriculture.
At your request | prepared .uG-sam.
pies of these for chemical cxamina.
ton and transmitted them to you to
be sont q, er % the CHI, IN cal div sion.
You will see from these analyses
that these samples are composed
largely Of silt and have comparativel
little sand, fine sir or clay. They
contain no course grains OF sand
from IL per cent to II per cent of
very fine sand; from 80 per cent to 60
per cent of SILL; from / per cent to 5
per cen of fine silt, aud from 10 per
cent to ID per cen Of clay. The sub
soil contains a larger percentage If
clay and a smaller percentage of Ill,
than the soil.
Soils compos d largely Of sill, hav
ing very little clay in their compost.
ton, are MS a rule not very dificnlt to
manage. They very readily drteror-
ate through improper m,thods of cnl.
t'va,ion aud cropping, AS 'hey are
liable to bee me very hard and com.
pact and the circulation Of moisture
aud air IN the soils is liable to become
impaired and unsuitcd to the need Of
the crops. When in this condition
til. soils are very refractory and yer,
difficult t" improve. They are, how
ever, greatly benefited by de:p aud
thorough cultivation. ia whirh ia"
sub.oil Is looscned up as well as the
soil
Soil. If this character are very 1t.
able to become very close and mi e .
vlou. TO water partaking Of the nature
OF heavy clay lands, although they
have little zeal clay in their compost.
tion, In THIS CONDITION the %o,ls al-o
hecom" yer. uneven in their p'oduc.
tiven's- and crops are much aft c'rd
by unf,v0rablc climatic conditions
In favorable seasons rhny may produce
LARGE crops: in unfavorable SEASONS
III" crops suffer excessively.
We have hardly any so Is in the
east which are similar IN I. xture Ia
these, and | have never had the opp.,.
tunity 20 examine soils Of tins charac.
ter Ms they exist in the field. | have
made mechanical anal srs Of n fe
samples SIMILAR IN texture to tn, Sc
from Illinois and Of a single sample
from Cheyenne county, Nebraska.
There is a high percentage Of loss
on ignition, showing a large amount
Of organic matter in these samples
This indicates that there is an Insult
cient supply Of air in the soil. for un
der normal conditions in a soil Of thi.
texture, with an adequate supply o.
air, the greater part Of this "rgani'
matter would have been oxid zed
The fact that there is upwards Of sew
en- per c'nt of Organic matter show
I that there is an insu iicicnt supply q
air in the soil, and probably indicate
y some deficiency in the circulate, o
y water.
:, 1t would be impossible to tell no,
!. far the subsoil has become compa. ie,
O or to Judge Of the circulation of III
Is moitture in ar and in soil witl.on
v personal examination of the sell i
the field or AN examination of a lum
of the material in its natural and ~
disturbed condition: or without a sci
les of moisture determinations upo
samples taken every day ia sma'
brass tubes and s-nt to the deparr
ment.
BENEFIT OF DEF CULTIVATION.
You say that it is commonly b,
lieved that the subsoil is in the uatur
Of a 'marl,' as 1t improves the so
when turned up by deep blowing. ]
q is not a lime mari, as it shows no , fe
vescence with h%ydrcchloric aci,
Whether it contains usually lare
1t quantities Of potash or phosphori
acid, which would give it a pecul,s