xviii APPENDIX.

dies, and men have turned away from the pursuit in disgust, or they have only applied themselves to the study when they may have been professionally em- ployed.

The soils of Prince Edward Island may be divided1 into two classes. The varieties ofthe first class have been derived from the rocks ofthe Island, and occupy the greater part of the surface, and from the presence ofthe oxide ofiron, they are almost universally red, or of a chocolate color. The other is of foreign origin, having been brought in during the boulder formation already adverted to. The soils are almost universally ofthat description called sandy loam, but probably in no part of British America can a district of equal size be found where the soils are so similar to each other, and where they are so generally fertile. I have divided the soils of the Island into five varie- ties, namely:

Silicious. or sandy soil. Argillo—silicious—sandy loam. Argillaceous—clay loam. Ualcareous—or marly soil. Peaty soil.

For the purpose of illustration, it may be stated, that if 100 parts ofdry soil contain 10 parts of clay, it may be called a. sandy soil. Ifit contain from 10 to 30 per cent. of clay, a sandy loam—and if from 30 to 60 per cent. of clay it may be denominated a clay loam. The latter proportion of clay was not seen in any of the soil ofthe Island. The calcareous or marly clay soils contain from 5 to 10 per cent. of lime, either in the phosphate or carbonate, or both, and it has been chiefly derived from the decomposi— tion of shells. Besides these, there are small tracts of peaty soil in which vegetable matter predominates. These divisiuns may be considered arbitrary, yet they are useful until some general scale shall be es-

tablished, by analytical chemists.

The simple operations of analysis may be perform- ed by the farmers. All the roots, with the gravel and