xt7v416sz97d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7v416sz97d/data/mets.xml Peter, Robert, 1805-1894. 1885  books b97-22-37599522 English Yeoman Press, : Frankfort : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Geology, Economic Analysis. Chemical report of the soils, coals, ores, clays, marls, mineral waters, rocks, &c., of Kentucky  / by Robert Peter. text Chemical report of the soils, coals, ores, clays, marls, mineral waters, rocks, &c., of Kentucky  / by Robert Peter. 1885 2002 true xt7v416sz97d section xt7v416sz97d 


GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.
             JOEHN P. PROCTER, Director.






CHEMICAL ANALYSES.


                     A

                 VOC. II



FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH CHEMICAL REPORTS, AND COM-
    PARATIVE VIEWS OF THE COMPOSITION OF SOILS,
       COALS, ORES, LIMESTONES, CLAYS, MARLS,
           MINERAL WATERS, ETC., ETC.





 BY ROBERT PETER. M1. D., ETC.. ETC., CHEMIST TO THE SURVEY,
            AND A. M. PETER, ASSISTANT.





            ELECTROTYPED FOR THE SURVEY BY
    JOHN D. WOODS, PUBLIC PRINTER AND BINDER. FRANKFORT. Ky.
                     1885.

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                  CONTENTS.




FOURTH CHEMICAL REPORT ..................... 5
COMPOSITIONS OF SOILS, LIMESTONES, ETC .4... . . . .  . . . . 14
FIFTH CHEMICAL REPORT ...................... 157
SIXTH CHEMICAL REPORT.2........... ... .... ...26:3
APPENDIX .:......... ... .... .. .... .........311
SUPPLEMENT TO APPENDIX ......... .. .. ... .. . . 317

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.

          JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.



          CHEMICAL REPORT

                     OF IHE

SOILS, COALS, ORES, CLAYS, MARLS, MINERAL
            WATERS, ROCKS, &C.,



           'OF KENTUCKY,

      BY ROBERT PETER, M. D., ETC., ETC.,
                CHEMIST TO THE SURVEY.


THE FOURTH REPORT IN THE NEW SERIES AND THE EIGHTH SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE
               GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

        PART XIII.VOL. V. SECOND SERIES.



STEREOTYPED FOR THE SURVEY

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              INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

  CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF KENTUCKY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, l
                   LEXINGTON, Ky., June io, 1879.   j
Prof. JOHN R. PROCTER, Director of Kentucky Geological Survey:
  DEAR SIR: Herewith I respectfully submit to you the results
of the chemical work performed in this Laboratory for the
Geological Survey since the publication of my last report.
                             Yours, &c.,
                                   ROBERT PETER.

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                      CHEMICAL REPORT.


  Of the one hundred and fifty-two new            analyses reported on
the following pages, there are of_
     Soils, subsoils, and under-clays......    ............          . go
     Clays and marly clays and shales ................. . 25
     Limestones.........................                             13
     Waters........................                               . 8
     Iron ores.............. '                                         6
     Coals .................. 5
     Silicious residues of soils. . .................                  5
  The soils examined       show, as usual, a great variety of com-
position, as may be seen in the following table of their ex-
tremes of variation:


                               Pi. cl-nLl No.  County.  Percent.  No.  County.
         1     ___     _
Oganic and volatile maete-s vary from  g.9s i in 2123 from Fulton . to 1.84o in 2212 from M'Cr'k'n
Alumina and iron ann mwneanese -wides vay
from .................... . . 34.368 in  221 5 fromNelson . to 2.932 in  2112 from Clinton.
                                                               22X2  McCrackeii
Lime carbonate varies from..   . . . . . 2. 46.. if' 22C6 from Madison. to  .7o  and  and
                               1                      to      2252)  Wayn
Magnesia varies from.9g89 in 22o6 from Madison  to .052 in 2221 from Pulaski
Phosphoric acid varies fromn.387 in 2206 from Madison to .029 in 2253 from Wayne.
Potash extracted by acids varies from. . .  1.097 in 2154 from H'nd'rs'n to .021 in 2253 from Wayne.
Soda extracted by acids varies from.  .657 in 2215 from Nelson . to traces in sever al.
Water expelled at 38o0 F. varies from . . .  . 3tto in 2123 from Fulton . to .420 in 2353 from Hnda'n
Sand and insoluble silicates vary from . . .  76.715 in 2206 from Madison. to 94.590 in 2253 from Wayne.
Water expelled at 2120 F. varies from . . .  . 4.104 in 2123 from Fulton. to  444 in 2253 from Wayne.
Potash in the insoluble silicates vaies from.  2.742 in 2215 from Nelson . to .327 in 2112 from Clinton.
Soda in the insoluble silicates varies from .  2. 2081 in 2og, from Ballard . to .1o in 2110 from Clinton.
Gravel varies from.. . . . . . . . . . . None in most of these soils . to 34. 70 in 2220 from Pulaski.

   Columns (a) and (6) give the chemical composition of very
rich and very poor soils; but being made up of extremes from
the various soils, they do not represent the composition of any
one of them. As may be seen by reference, these extremes
are not quite so great as those reported in Volume IV and
in the first part of this volume of these Reports.
  Summing up all the soil analyses which have been made
and reported, by the writer, for the Geological Survey of
Kentucky, since its commencement in 1854, under the late
David Dale Owen, M. D., to the present time, he finds them
to number seven hundred and seventy-two; including soils,

 

CHEMICAL REPORT.



subsoils, and under-clays from eighty-seven counties of the
State.
  Of these, there were only one sample each from ten counties,
two samples each from six counties, and three each from fifteen
counties. From twenty-nine counties no samples of soils have
as yet been collected.  Of those reported in the following
pages, nearly one half were collected in the year 1859, from
the eastern coal field of our State, by Joseph Lesley, jr., then
Geological Assistant in the Survey under Dr. Owen. These
specimens of soils, having been carefully preserved in a dry
place since the time of their collection, have remained un-
changed, and their analyses are interesting, as proving that
even in this sparsely settled mountainous region of Kentucky
the soil is generally susceptible of profitable cultivation.
  It is to be specially noted that, as the greater part of the
soils of our State have been, produced, in the localities in which
they are found, by the disiateggration of the superficial rock
strata, and are not, like most of the soils of the'great territory
north and west of us, made up of mixed. detituls which has
been brought from other iegions by the moving force of ice
and water, the local character oi our various soils is more
dependent on that of their rock substrata than in the great
territory in question. Hence we generally find our soils to be
much richer lying on soft limestone or shaly rock strata than
on the hard sandstones or conglomerates of the coal-measure
formation  Moreover, we find in some of the coal-measure
soils a considerable proportion of angular gravel or fragments
of soft ferruginous sandstone or sandy-ferruginous concre-
tions; and in some the rounded quartzose pebbles of the mill-
stone grit; while on the extended low plains, called in some
parts of the State the " Barrens," because in former recent
times they were destitute of trees, the smaller proportion or
absence of gravel indicate formation of the soil under compar-
atively quiet water, by the wash of the finer earthy materials
from the adjoining higher lands.
  So far as our investigation has been carried, the soils of
Kentucky, with the exception of some of those which lie on



6

 

(CHEMICAL REPORT.



7



the mountain slopes and valleys, especially in the coal-fields,
are composed of materials in a state of very fine division; so
fine, indeed, that the so called "d sand and insoluble silicates,"
left after the digestion of the soils in chlorohydric acid (spe-
cific gravity=i.i), wvill pass almost entirely through the fine
sieve employed, which has i,6oo meshes to the centimeter
square. Nowhere in the State have we found soils containing
coarse sand, like some of those in the north or northwest of
our continent. Hence, in the examination of our soils, "silt
analysis," or the separation of the finer from their coarser
materials, so useful when applied to some soils, has not been
deemed of great importance, and has been seldom resorted to
in the processes used.
  This high state of comminution of our soils, by increasing
the porosity and extent of surface of their materials, also
increases their power of absorbing and retaining the fluid,
dissolved solid, or the aeriform materials of plant-food, and
greatly improves their fertility. Soils of this character could
only be formed under quiet waters, or under water at a dis-
tance from its shores, or by the disintegration in place of rock
strata which had been deposited under these conditions.
  In the process of the analysis of these soils, they were
digested for seven to ten days, on the sand bath, at a temper-
ature below boiling, in five times their weight of chlorohydric
acid, of specific gravity=I.i, a little nitric acid having been
added to decompose the organic matters. In all of the soils
reported in this, as well as in the two preceding Chemical
Reports, the quantities of potash and soda which remained
in the silicious residue, after digestion in these acids, was
determined by a separate process, viz: that of ignition with
a mixture of calcium carbonate and ammonium chloride,
&c., according to the method of J. Lawrence Smith. These
quantities, as may be observed by reference to the several
analyses, are generally quite considerable.
  On comparing the proportions of these two alkalies, sev-
erally, in the "sand and insoluble silicates" of the soils above
mentioned, in number amounting to more than two hundred
    VOL. V.-26

 

CHEMICAL REPORT.



and fifty, we find their extremes to be as follows, calculated
into the weight of the original soil:
   The percentage of potash in the silicious residues varies
from 2.910 per cent. in No. 2037, from Harlan county, to
0.327 per cent. in No. 2112, from Clinton county.
   The percentage of soda varies from 1.2o8 per cent. in No.
2099, from Ballard county, to o.oi8 per cent. in No. i678, from
Bell county.
  The general composition of several of these silicious resi-
dues, as ascertained by complete analyses, by fusion with the
alkaline carbonates, &c., is reported under the heads of Fulton
and Nelson counties, to which the reader is referred for proof
of the statement frequently made by the writer, that in this
silicious skeleton of our soils a considerable proportion of
silicates are found, which, while they may resist for a time the
action of even moderately strong mineral acids, may yet, by a
slow process of natural "weathering," measurably renovate
the fertility of the soil from their reserved store of essential
mineral elements of plant food.
  In what form do these silicates exist in our soils, is a ques-
tion of some interest. It has been known for some little time
that silicates of the Zeolite group are found in soils, and that
they perform a very important office in that selective, absorp-
tive power which the soil possesses, by which it can withdraw
from watery solutions, and hold for the benefit of growing
vegetables, many essential elements of plant nourishment
which else would be washed away in the drainage. Such
silicates, no doubt, exist in our Kentucky soils; but they are
known to be readily soluble in, or decomposable by, acids.
It would seem probable, therefore, that the silicates, or the
partly-weathered remains of silicates, in the silicious residue
of our Kentucky soils, which had, to a certain extent, resisted
the prolonged digestion in acids, were more of the nature of
the minerals constituting the Feldspar group than the Zeolites.
  As has been frequently stated in the reports, this silicious
residue of our soils frequently left upon the fine sieve more or
less of small particles, sometimes rounded, but often some-



8

 

CHEMICAL REPORT.



what angular in form, which were generally soft enough to be
crushed by the fingers into a powder fine enough to pass
through the fine sieve.  Until recently, the writer believed
that these small particles represented, in their form at least,
those silicates in the soil which had undergone a partial de-
composition in the acid digestion, and which still retained, in
their soft silicious skeletons, some of those alkalies which were
found in the silicious residues.
  But observing that the proportion of these residual soft
particles did not bear any constant relation to that of the
alkalies in the silicious residue, he was induced to examine,
by washing with water, some of these soils, which left, after
digestion in acids, the largest quantity of these so-called
"-partly decomposed silicates," and he was somewhat sur-
prised to find that, in these soils at least, these soft particles
were derived from little concretions in the soil, of the nature
of so called "shot iron ore," which probably had their origin in
the infiltration of dissolved oxides of iron and manganese, or
of calcium carbonate, or may have been originally o6litic
aggregations in the rocks from whence the soils had been
derived. Be this as it may, however, the important fact re-
mains, that in the fine sandy or silicious residue of our soils,
after prolonged digestion in acids, there exist potash, soda,
lime, magnesia, and even a little phosphoric acid, which mate-
rials, although held in pretty firm combination as silicates in
the insoluble residue, may prolong the productiveness of the
soils under the slow decomposing action of the atmospheric
agencies. Another fact is, that these silicates are in a state
of as minute division in our soils as the fine silicious sand
itself.
  Of the eighteen new analyses of Clays herewith reported,
fourteen are of clays from the tertiary formation, and one from
the quaternary of the southwestern extremity of Kentucky,
called the " Jackson Purchase." Three are from the Lower
Silurian formation in Madison county.
  The tertiary deposits of the first-mentioned region show con-
siderable variety in their composition and properties. Some



9

 
CHEMICAL REPORT.



are highly silicious or sandy; some are quite calcareous; and
others, containing more alumina, exhibit different varieties of
clay, some being of the nature of good fire-clay. Those which
contain a considerable proportion of silicious matter, some of
which may be in the form of fine sand, and which contain but
small quantities of iron oxide, lime, potash, or soda, deserve a
trial as glass-pot clay, provided they are sufficiently plastic, or
burn sufficiently hard. Others may be available as fire-clay
for many other purposes, and several would answer well for
the manufacture of different sorts of pottery-ware, terra-cotta,
drain-tiles, bricks, &c., according to their nature.
  Some of these beds, their material being in a finely-divided
state and friable, might be made useful in the manufacture of
artificial hydraulic cement, of the character of Portland cement,
whenever such an industry may be profitable in this region.
Some of these deposits are so highly quartzose that they could
be employed in the manufacture of glass. The - loess" from
the quaternary may be locally useful as a top-dressing on heavy
clay soils, &c.
  The clays reported from Madison county are too readily
fusible to be used as fire-clays, yet are good plastic clays for
the manufacture of hard stoneware or some forms of terra-
cotta, &c. The marly clays and shales from the Silurian lime-
stone strata are remarkable for their large proportions of
potash; the one from the Lower Silurian in Fayette county
giving nearly eight per cent. of that alkali. They also have
considerable quantities of lime, iron oxide, &c., and no doubt
all contain phosphoric acid, so that their use as fertilizing top-
dressing on exhausted light soils might be locally beneficial.
They are too fusible for some kinds of pottery, yet might
be made into drain-tiles and similar products, or, in some
cases, into stone-ware.
  The thirteen limestones reported in the following pages are
mostly from Madison county; one only from Franklin county;
and are interesting mainly because the composition of several
of them indicates their probable availability for the manufac-
ture of hydraulic cement. It is true that imperfect trials made



IO

 
CHEMICAL REPORT. I.



of some of these, in the laboratory, with insufficient appli-
ances, did not give decidedly favorable results in this relation;
yet, probably, by a more perfect mode of calcination, adapted
to their nature, the hydraulic properties might be developed.
   For the purpose of comparison, the writer has appended to
the table of the composition of these limestones, at the end of
this Report, that of two undoubtedly good hydraulic linie-
stones, copied from previous volumes of Reports of Kentucky
Geological Survey.
  It seems, however, that although we may learn much from
the ultimate chemical composition of limestones, as to their
availability for hydraulic cements, there are some necessary
conditions to the production of these useful compounds not
yet fully understood or appreciated, as is proved by the cir-
cumstance that while two different limestones may show, by
analyses, nearly similar chemical compositions, they may yet
give products, when calcined, which differ greatly in their
value as hydraulic cements.
  These conditions may possibly be physical, or what is more
probable, the silica in the two limestones may be under differ-
ent chemical relationships. Probably the impure limestone,
which gives the best cement by calcination, has its silica
already more or less naturally combined with lime or other
bases, as silicates or hydrated silicates; while in the other, of
similar ultimate composition, the silica may be more in a sep-
arated, insoluble state, or in firmer combination with other
elements. This supposition is rendered probable by the fact
that there are natural hydrated silicates which possess, to
an eminent degree, the property of forming good hydraulic
cements by simple mixture with pure quicklime and water.
The best known of these, the volcanic tufa found near Naples,
called Pozzuolana, is found to contain a large proportion of
soluble silica in the form of hydrated silicates; and it has been
found by experience, that when the water of its silicates is
driven off by calcination, it loses its valuable hydraulic prop-
erties. Most of these Pozzuolanas contain a considerable pro-
portion of alkalies, varying from more than one to about ten



I I

 
CHEMICAL REPORT.



per cent., and in the artificial compounds of this kind made by
calcining certain marly clays, at a heat sufficient to burn lime,
it is probable that the well-known large proportion of alkalies
generally found in these clays is essential in bringing the silica
into a soluble condition.
  It is now pretty generally acknowledged by men of science
that the property of hardening uender water depends on the
presence or formation of silicate of lime in the cement. In
this connection it may be well to observe, that in the analysis
of the hydraulic limestone from Indiana, No. io68, referred to
above, it was found that as much as three per cent. of silica,
soluble in a boiling solution of carbonate of soda, was contained
in this uncalcined limestone. This amount of silica undoubt-
edly existed in the rock, in the form of silicate easily decompos-
able by acids, having been separated by the acids in the soluble
or gelatinous form. After the calcination of this limestone, the
proportion of the soluble silica was increased to more than
fourteen per cent. of the calcined rock. In some of the Ohio
Falls hydraulic cement, which had been hardened under water
about twenty-eight years before it was analyzed by the writer,
he found more than six per cent. of the silica yet in a soluble
condition. (See Vol. IV, 0. S. Ky. Geol. Reports, p. i90.)
  As the property of hardening under water seems to depend
on the formation of a silicate of lime, probably also sometimes
of silicates of magnesia or of iron, the essential conditions for
hydraulic lime are not only the presence of a sufficient amount
of silica to form the hard compound which resists the solvent
action of water, but also that the silica should be in a form
favorable to its combination with the lime or other bases,
as well as. most probably, the presence of substances which,
like the alkalies, may aid in bringing about this combination.
The alkalies, potash, and soda seem to be the best agents in
promoting this action, and it has been found by experience, in
the manufacture of the celebrated artificial Portland cement,
by calcining a mixture of chalk and clay. that the addition of
a half to one per cent. of soda is greatly beneficial. Magnesia
also seems to exert a favorable action; indeed, some mag-



I 2

 
CHEMICAL REPORT.



nesian limestones, which contain but a small proportion of
silica, make good hydraulic cement, if calcined at a moderate
red heat only; and most of our hydraulic limestones are mag-
nesian. Pure calcined magnesia, one of the most insoluble of
the earths, will set quite hard with a proper quantity of water.
It is probable, as already hinted, that the oxide of iron may be
useful in hydraulic cements, by increasing their hardness and
durability, as may also alumina.
  In the manufacture of the artificial Portland cement, a mix-
ture of impure carbonate of lime, chalk, and clay from various
sources, is finely powdered and intimately blended, and then
calcined at a heat sufficient to cause a commencement of vitri-
fication; and the best proportions are found to be from twenty-
one to twenty-three of clay to seventy-nine to seventy-seven
of chalk. Clay from different localities varies in its proportion
of silica as much as from less than fifty to nearly eighty per
cent., causing variations in the properties and value of the
cement.
  A very good cement, of the kind employed at Boulogne,
France, is reported to have the following composition.
         Lime. .. .  .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . 65.oo
         Magnesia... .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .trace.
         Alumina and iron oxide ............ . .. 8.70
         Alkalies...... .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .  .45
         Silica..... .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . 24.45
         W ater... . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .  .80

                                                 99.40
  It is generally said, that if the proportion of lime falls below
39.8 per cent.-equal to 70 per cent. of carbonate of lime in
the uncalcined mixture -the obtained cement may harden
quickly, but will not be durable.
  Another very good artificial cement of this kind, reported
by scientific writers, is that made by M. St. Leger, near Paris,
France, by calcining an intimate mixture of the chalk of Meu-
don with 14.3 per cent. of the clay of Vannes. The compo-
sition of this, after burning, is reported to be-lime, 75.60;
silica, I5.86; alumina, 7.93, and iron peroxide, i.62 per cent.
It is said to be wholly soluble in acids.



I 3

 
CHEMICAL REPORT.



  These remarks and quotations may aid in estimating the
probabilities of the utility of our impure limestones, &c.

                       BALLARD COUNTY.
                     SOILS AND SUBSOILS.
NO. 2096-SOIL LABELED "T op soil fi-om the ' Barrens; 'four
  years in cultivation ia tobacco, three years in corn, and four in
  wheal/; the last and present year (1878) iv tobacco.  Farm of
  W. H. Reeves, about six miles north of BMandville." Col-
  lected by john R. Procter.
  The dried soil is in friable lumps, of a dirty yellowish-brown
color. The coarse sieve separated a few soft, ferruginous
concretions and a small quartz pebble.

No. 2097-" Subsoil of thefield above described. Sample taken
  twelve to eighteen inches below the surface."  Collected by John
  R. Procter.
  The dried subsoil is in friable clods; its color is somewhat
lighter than that of the preceding. The coarse sieve removed
from it only a few small, rounded ferruginous concretions.

No. 2098-"1 Subsoil of the ufplands around Blandville. Taken
  from eighteen to twenty-four inches below the surface. Char-
  acteristic of most of the upland subsoil in the Jackson Pur-
  chase. A silzicous loam above the Paducah gravel." Collected
  byJno. R. Procter.
  The dried subsoil is in pretty firm lumps, of a handsome
brownish-buff or ochreous color, mottled with lighter and
darker tints. All passed through the coarse sieve.
No. 2099-" Subsoil or under-clay of the uplands around Bland-
  ville.  Taken severalfeet below the surface. It crops out just
  below the gravel bed, and is several feet thick. It is observed
  nearly all over the 'Jackson Purchase' where there is much
  soil." Collected by John R. Procter.
  The dried subsoil is of a brownish-buff color, mottled with
somewhat lighter colored, and showing some thin, dark-colored
 The coarse sieve used has about 64 meshes to the centimetre square.



14

 

CHEMICAL REPORT.



infiltrations of iron and manganese oxides. All of it passed
through the coarse sieve.

No. 2100-" Virgin soil. Top soil of bottom land, near Shelton
  and Moore's Mill, on Mayfield creek. Said to produce good
  hay, but to be otherwise unproductive.          Primitive growth, black,
  white, and red oak, sweet gum, elm, persimmon, and hickory."
  Collected by John R. Procter.
  Dried soil of an umber-grey color, in quite friable clods,
apparently containing much fine sand. The coarse sieve re-
moved from it only a few small, partly-rounded quartz par-
ticles.

No. 2 I1o   -" Top soil from    an old field long in cultivation.     Bot-
  tom land, on Mayfield creek." Collected by John R. Procter.
  The dried soil is slightly lighter colored than the preceding,
and more yellowish. The coarse sieve removed only a few
small silicious particles.

No. 2102-" Subsoil of the next preceding. Bottom land on
  Mayfield creek." Collected by John R. Procter.
  Clods more firm than those of next preceding, and lighter
colored, mottled with lighter colored and ochreous tints. The
coarse sieve removed from it a small quantity of small silicious
gravel.
   COMPOSITION OF THESE BALLARD COUNTY SOILS, DRIED AT 2120 F.

                         No. 2096 No- 2097 No. 2098 No. 2099 No. 2100 No. 2101 No. 2102

Organic and volatile matters .  .  4.065  2.790  2.1185  1 565  3.210  2.565  2-125
Alumina a iron s manganese oxides.  5.904  7 597  8- 557  7.835  6. too  3.864  5.088
Lime carbonate...... ..       ..    95 x295     .195    .645   .155   .385    .245
M agnesia..        ........         - 394  .308   .544   .E6o    .268   .. 63   .184
Phosphoric acid (P205)...  ...  .246    .093   .093    .140   .115   .o6i    .077
Potash, extracted by acids...    .289   .449   .131    .175   .203    319    .276
Soda, extracted by acids..242            .148   .653    .309   .364   .362    .129
Water, expelled at 38cP F...    .935   . 760   450.    435  .065    .635    .675
Sand and insoluble silicates.  87. -20  87 395  87.X1o  87. 495  88.890  92.010  91.570
  Total...... ... .. ..    2oo.29299.83599.918 99.200 100.420100. 3641oo 369

H ygroscopic moisture.                 2..30   .75    2.300  1. 865 1.075   1.125
Potash in the insoluble silicates. . .  z.6g  1.482  1.055  2.138  1.659  1.358  1.401
Soda in the insoluble silicates..68o .674   .536   1.208  1.150   .6j6 _   91I

Character of the soil .. . . . . . . Surface  Subsoil. Subsol. Subsoil or Virgin soil Old field Subsoil.
                          soil.               under.cly       soil



I 5

 
6  CHEMICAL REPORT.



  Some differences were observed in the silicious residue or
sand and insoluble silicates of these several soils, when sifted
with fine bolting-cloth, which had about 9oo meshes to the
centimetre square. For example, while that of Nos. 2096,
2097, 2098 all passed through except very few small hyaline
or reddish quartz particles, Nos. 2099 and 2100 left upon the
bolting-cloth a considerable proportion of small particles of
partly decomposed silicates or concretions; the silicious skel-
etons, as it wvere, of these substances, from which most of their
soluble ingredients had been removed by the acids in which
they had been digested, were generally so soft as to be easily
crushed under the finger; after which crushing, they readily
passed through the bolting-cloth. The bolting-cloth also sep-
arated from them a few small quartzose particles, hyaline,
opake, and reddish. No. 2IOI left none of these soft remains
of decomposed concretions on the bolting-cloth, but a few
small quartzose particles; while No. 2102 gave a few of these
soft, partly-decomposed particles, and rather more of the small
quartzose granules than the next preceding soil.
  These Ballard county soils, if well drained, 110 doubt are
good productive soils under good management. In all of
them, however, except, perhaps, No. 2096, the proportion of
organic and volatile matters is quite small, and this, as might
be expected, is particularly to be noticed in the deep subsoil
or under-clay, No. 2099; but this deficiency might be supplied
by the culture of clover or other green crops. to be plowed
under after or without grazing. They all contain enough of
lime and magnesia, as well as of potash and soda; some of
them, indeed, contain more than the average proportion of
these essential alkalies, not only in a condition to be imme-
diately available for plant nourishment, but also as a consid-
erable reserve in the insoluble silicates.  Nos. 2097, 210I,
and 2I02, containing but a moderate proportion of phospho-
ric acid, would no doubt be greatly increased in fertility by
the use of phosphatic fertilizers, such as ground bone, super-
phosphate, guano, &c. Nos. 2Ioi and 2102 contain more
than the average proportion of fine sand and insoluble sili-



I 6

 
CHEMICAL REPORT.



cates, and but a small quantity of alumina, &c., &c., and
consequently may be less durable naturally than some of the
others; but the state of very fine division of their silicious
constituents compensates, measurably, the paucity of the clay
ingredients.  The so-called "barrens" soil is one of the
richest of them all.

                 CLAYS OF BALLARD COUNTY.
No. 2103-" Ochreous Clay, from southern part of Ballard
  county." Collected by John R. Procter. " Will it make a
  good and durable paint Found in several parts of this
  county. "
  In friable lumps of a yellow ochre color, with some little
infiltration of whitish material. It becomes soft and plastic
when placed in water. Mixed up with a large quantity of
water, and allowed to stand at rest for a few minutes, a por-
tion of fine sand, equal to about twenty-six and a half per
cent., settles to the bottom of the mixture, while the ochreous
material remains suspended in the water for a considerable
time in consequence of its fine state of division.
  This fine sand is composed of small, rounded grains of trans-
parent quartz, colored light buff by a little adhering ochreous
material; it contained a few small spangles of mica.
  It would be easy, by this simple process of washing, to sep-
arate the ochre from the fine sand with which it is naturally
mixed. The washed ochre, although not very bright, is of a
good color, and could be very well used for a cheap and dura-
ble paint for outside work. Calcined in the fire, it becomes
of a good Venetian red color.

No. 2104-" Clay, at least four feet thick, from near Moore's
  Mill. Base of hill on the north side of the Columbus and
  Blandville road; one mile southwest of Blandville." Col-
  lected by John R. Procter.
  Clay in friable lumps; generally of a very light grey color,
nearly white; mottled somewhat with ochreous material. It
is quite plastic with water, and calcines of a light salmon color.



1 7

 

CHEMICAL REPORT.



Quite refractory before the blow-pipe. Washed several times
with water, allowing ten minutes each time for subsidence, it
left nearly 48 per cent. of quite fine white sand, which was so
fine, indeed, that it was somewhat plastic while wet, and ad-
herent when dry.
  On comparing the composition of this clay with that of the
celebrated German Glass Pot Clay, so extensively imported
by our glass manufacturers, a remarkable resemblance is ob-
servable. That the comparison may be made by our readers,
we copy here the results of two