Black soil

“ The black material is known as humus. Farmers and gardeners like a black soil containing a good deal of humus because they find it very rich, and we shall see later on why this is so. Vast areas of such soils occurring in Manitoba, in Russia, and in Hungary are used for {37} wheat growing, while there are also areas in the Fen districts of England.
There is something known as peat that looks rather like mould, but is really so different that you must be careful not to confuse the two. Peat is not good for plants, and does not make the soil fertile, but quite the reverse. ”

“ The preponderance of sand in a soil tends to produce a light yellow or whitish tint, while certain kinds of clay have a bluish tint probably due to the presence of ferrous salts. The influence of the color of the soil upon the color of the vegetation is also well-marked, the black soils as a rule producing a much deeper green tint of foliage than the light colored soils. This effect should not be attributed to color alone for as a matter of fact highly colored soils are usually very close and very retentive of moisture, which is one reason, probably, for their not being more highly oxidized. ”

“ The work when completed with the silvery joint and jet black borders appears to the uninitiated very artistic and neat, but when the black soil is worn away the uneven edges of the joint appear, disclosing the reason for using a black soil that covers all defects. The mechanic of today who takes pride in his ability for good workmanship will not cover his work with black soil. ”

“ For a few years, perhaps a decade, or even twenty years if the soil carried a higher level of mineralization than the average, crops from forest soils grew magnificently. Then, unless other methods were introduced to rebuild fertility, yields, crop, animal, and human health all declined. When the less-leached grassy prairies of what we now call the Midwest were reached, even greater bounties were mined out for more years because rich black-soil grasslands contain more mineral nutrients and sod accumulates far more humus than do forests. ”

“ This work is furthered by the specialists of the U. S. Soil Conservation Service. The soil experts constantly remind the farmers, and others, that America possessed an average top “black” soil depth of nine inches when settlement was first started. They now estimate the average to be between six and seven inches. Soil conservationists hasten to 225 point out that rocks disintegrate slowly, and that ages, not centuries, are required for the growth and decay of plants needed in the production of rich humus soil. Soil scientists do not simply call attention to dangers. ”

“ On these little rises, for they are not hills, trees grow, and grass also; but grass and weeds are the only occupants of the soil where there is no rise of ground. The soil is alluvial to greater or less depth in these barrens, though on some of the highest rises there is little or none; the lower the ground the deeper the alluvion. On these gentle rises, where there is no alluvion, we find stiff, blue clay, and no pebbles. Under the alluvial black soil, in the lower grounds, we find pebbles similar to those in the prairies, owing to similar causes. ”

“ This is the first cause which, in this country, renders brick allowable.
Again, wherever the soil breaks out in simple blue country, whether in the river shore, or the broken roadside bank, or the ploughed field, in nine cases out of ten it is excessively warm in its colour, being either gravel or clay, the black vegetable soil never remaining free of vegetation. The warm tone of these beds of soil is an admirable relief to the blue of the distances, which we have taken as the distinctive feature of the country, tending to produce the perfect light without which no landscape can be complete. ”

“ In digging 725 canals through the morass for the purpose of obtaining timber, much of the black soil has been thrown out from time to time, and exposed to the sun and air, in which case it soon rots away so that nothing remains behind, showing clearly that it owes its preservation to the shade afforded by a luxuriant vegetation and to the constant evaporation of the spongy soil by which the air is cooled during the hot months. ”

“ It requires several years before a tree is entirely reduced to dust.’ [1554] This quotation has a direct bearing on that which follows. It is clear that the surface-soil was forming during the occupancy of the country by the Indians. The entire area of the State was covered with a dense forest, which century after century was increasing the black soil to which Kalm refers. If, now, an opportunity occurs to examine a section of virgin soil and underlying strata, as occasionally happens on the bluffs facing the river, the limit in depth of this black soil may be approximately determined. ”

“ If the soil is loose, drying quickly after rain, and if it can be scattered about by the hand like sand on the sea shore, we know we are on a sandy soil and can look for pits where builder's sand is dug. But it may very likely happen that the soil is something in between, and that neither sand pits nor {2} clay pits can be found; if we ask what sort of soil this is we are told it is a loam. A gravel soil will be known at once by its gravel pits, and a chalk soil by the white chalk quarries and old lime kilns, while a peat soil is black, sometimes marshy and nearly always spongey to tread on. ”

“ I sadly observe what happens when farmers allow soil organic matter to run down every time I drive in the country. Soil color that should be dark changes to light because mineral particles themselves are usually light colored or reddish; the rich black or chestnut tone soil can get is organic matter. Puddles form when it rains hard on perfectly flat humusless fields and may stand for hours or days, driving out all soil air, drowning earthworms, and suffocating crop roots. ”

“ The sands of the desert may be very white and shiny, but I would much rather sow my seeds in black soil, where I can expect a return." ”

“ The nitrogen of the soil exists in the organic matter; that is, in such materials as plant roots, weeds, and stubble, that may have been plowed under, or any kind of vegetable maker incorporated with the soil, including all sorts of crop residues, green manures, and the common farm fertilizers from the stables. When these organic materials are decomposed and disintegrated to such an extent that their structure is completely destroyed, the resulting mass of partially decayed black organic matter is called humus. ”

“ This clay is used in making bricks and coarse earthen ware, and also for claying the sugar. Red earth is occasionally met with upon the sides of hills near to the coast; but this description of soil belongs properly to the cotton districts. Black mould is common; and likewise a loose and brownish soil, in which a less or greater proportion of sand is intermixed. It is, I believe, generally acknowledged that no land can be too rich for the growth of the sugar cane. ”

“ Dark-mixed and russet moulds are considered the next best. The worst are the dark-gray or ash-colored. The deep-black alluvial soils of the Western prairies are an exception to all other soils, possessing, under proper treatment, great powers of production. Soils do not, to any considerable extent, afford food for plants. A willow-tree has been known to gain one hundred and fifty pounds' weight, without exhausting more than two or three ounces of the soil, and even that might have been wasted in drying and weighing. ”

“ Our supposition explains why, in the case of soils, the less the blackness, the less the loss on burning. If the {36} brown or black combustible part is really mould formed by the decay of plant roots, etc., then we should expect that as the percentage of mould in the soil increased, so its blackness would increase and its loss on burning would become greater. ”

“ The low ground has a fertile soil of rich black loam, and contains a considerable quantity of timber, with the bullrush and cattail flag very abundant in the moist parts, while the drier situations are covered with fine grass, tansy, thistles, onions, and flax. The uplands are barren, and without timber: the soil is a light yellow clay intermixed with small smooth pebble and gravel, and the only produce is the prickly-pear, the sedge, and the bearded grass, which is as dry and inflammable as tinder. ”

“ There are not hands enough here to mow it. The soil is a rich, black mould, which is superb for the growth of potatoes and grain, but not so agreeable for pedestrians in white stockings and petticoats. A fine black dust soils everything. ”

“ Dark-coloured soils have a greater heat-absorbing capacity than light-coloured soils; and experiments carried out for the purpose of determining the extent of this influence have shown that under certain conditions the difference between a soil covered with a black substance, and one covered with a white substance, amounted to from 13° to 14° Fahr. ”

“ Black peaty earth is the most prevalent soil in the mountainous districts; but dry loams occur in the lowlands, and are well adapted to green crops, grain and pasture. Wheat and barley are practically neglected, but large crops of oats are grown. ”

“ The surface soil is a rich, black alluvion; it yields abundant crops of corn, and, so far as they have been tried, all the cereal gramina. I have never, either in the west or out of the west, seen a richer soil, or more stately fields of corn and oats, than upon one of the plateaux of the Blue mound. ”

“ This black land has long been recognized as the most fertile of the mountain soils. It can be worked year after year without apparent impairment of its fertility. Wheat winter kills, the loose soils heaving badly under influence of frost. The areas lie at too high elevations for corn. Oats do well, making large yields. Irish potatoes, even under ordinary culture, will yield from two hundred to three hundred bushels per acre. It seeds in blue grass naturally, which affords excellent pasturage. Clover and other grasses will also grow luxuriantly upon it. ”

“ Color.—The color of a soil depends chiefly upon the proportion of organic matter and iron compounds which it contains and the state of subdivision of its particles. When a soil contains a large amount of organic matter, especially when this organic matter is in an advanced state of decay, it assumes more or less a black color when moist. ”

“ The gravelly soil along the coasts requires heavy manuring to make it fruitful, and in the higher arable quarters a rocky soil prevails, better adapted for grass and green crops than for grain. A large extent of the surface is black top reclaimed from the moors, and in some districts loam and clay are found. ”

“ Examination of typical examples of black soils from all parts of the world, the prairies of North America, the steppes of Russia and the Argentine, New Zealand and Indian soils, showed in all of them the Azotobacter organism and a working proportion of carbonate of lime. Now, as we know, all virgin soils are not rich, and only in a few parts of the world are to be found those wonderful black soils that are often several feet in depth and contain 10 to 20 per cent, of organic matter and 3 to 5 parts per thousand of nitrogen. ”

“ Here are some results that have been obtained at Harpenden:—
Amount Percentage Colour before of loss on Colour of burning smouldering burning residue Leaf mould dark brown much 78.3 light grey Mould from dead tree black much 60.6 light grey Soil from wood dark brown less 43.4 [1] white Soil from garden almost black less 10.1 red Soil from field brownish still less 5.4 red Subsoil red none 2.0 red
The mould nearly all burns away and its dark colour entirely goes, so also does the dark colour of the soil. ”

“ Mankind, exclusive of their original mould, as issued from the mint of the Creator, are afterwards diversified by climate, soil, diet, government, religion, association, occupation, and habit.
By Civilization, mankind are arranged and connected into an infinite series of descending and dependent links. In a state of nature there are few gradations in society ”

“ Now as the wine from grapes raised on one soil is inferior to wine from grapes produced on another, so every farmer, from experience, will tell you, that such and such soil is not fit for barley; and there can be no doubt that barley grown on certain soils will make inferior malt. In such cases the water used in brewing is often blamed, while the inferior malt, which is the real cause, is blameless. ”

“ All this is so simple and natural that we cannot fail to believe in the reality of Auburn, or Lissoy, or whatever the village may be supposed to be. We visit the clergyman's cheerful fireside; and look in on the noisy school; and sit in the evening in the ale house to listen to the profound politics talked there. But the crisis comes. Auburn delenda est. Here, no doubt, occurs the least probable part of the poem. Poverty of soil is a common cause of emigration ”

“ The alluvial flats are covered with a luxuriant crop of grasses. But on the table lands the grass is not abundant. There has now been a year's experience of the capability of the soil, and there is no doubt that it can abundantly produce any grain, fruit, vegetable, tree, or shrub, which belongs to its parallel of latitude. The sandy loam is considered the best for present purposes, the stiff clay lands being difficult to break up, and requiring more time and labour than many are willing to bestow. ”

“ Dry sands and clays, and blackish garden mould, become warmed to nearly an equal degree under the same sun; brownish red soils are heated somewhat more, and dark-coloured peat the most of all. It is probable, therefore, that the presence of dark-coloured vegetable matter renders the soil more absorbent of heat from the sun, while the colour of the dark-red marls of the new and old red sandstones may, in some degree, aid the other causes of fertility in the soils which they produce. ”