| SAMPLE A. | |
| Organic matter (Humus) | 5.5 |
| Soluble inorganic matter | 11.75 |
| Insoluble silica and silicates | 82.75 |
| -------- | |
| 100.00 | |
| SAMPLE B. | |
| Organic matter (Humus) | 4.25 |
| Soluble inorganic matter | 14.45 |
| Insoluble silica and silicates | 81.30 |
| -------- | |
| 100.00 | |
| SAMPLE C. | |
| Organic matter (Humus) | 5.25 |
| Soluble inorganic matter | 16.75 |
| Insoluble silica and silicates | 78.00 |
| -------- | |
| 100.00 | |
| SAMPLE D. | |
| Organic matter (Humus) | 3.5 |
| Soluble inorganic matter | 12.0 |
| Insoluble silica and silicates | 84.5 |
| -------- | |
| 100.00 | |
The organic matter is available for plant growth.
The inorganic matter, soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid, is (with the exception of the alumina it may contain) composed of fertilising material. The substances found in the soluble inorganic matter of soils are lime, magnesia, alumina, silica, phosphoric acid, oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, potash and soda. The insoluble mineral matter is nearly all silica. There is very little clayey matter in any of the soils—not more than about five per cent. All the soils are remarkably free from stones or pebbles, or even coarse sand.
From the above it will be seen that these soils, while possessing a large amount of matter available for plant growth, are exceedingly friable, and would be very easily worked. They would absorb heat quickly, and from their porosity would require little drainage, and so would be both warm and dry soils, and form fertile land suitable for almost all kinds of agricultural and horticultural produce.
THE POSITION OF MY CLIENTS, THE VENDORS.
My clients, the owners of the land called "British Colony," at Merced, are well-known persons—well-known as men of great wealth, and as gentlemen of undoubted integrity, the Hon. Charles Crocker and Mr. C.H. Huffman, whose enterprises in railway, canal, and other public works, have been of gigantic proportions.