76 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Ijoth cases, the gross amount of minerals and ammonia con 

 tained in the crops may be the same, or even greater in the 

 enriching crops. 



"Are there certain periods of plant growth which may be 

 called the enriching period, and others, as the fruit season, 

 the exhausting ? 



" Is not wheat, the prince of cereals, the greatest exhauster 

 of the soil for the product taken from a given area? 



" Tobacco should not be a very exhausting crop ; yet from 

 the fact, that for the particular purpose for which we cultivate 

 it, a very luxuriant growth is required, do we not need to fur- 

 nish more plant food than can be assimilated, much of which 

 is lost in the air, and washes away ? 



" The physical condition of the soil as it is left by different 

 crops is worthy of notice. 



" Wheat grows well after peas and clover, also after tobacco ; 

 but is not this last owing to the manure left over by the 

 tobacco and the good preparatory culture? 



" Corn does not do well after buckwheat, but potatoes do 

 well. 



" Perhaps my facts may not be facts, but they are believed 

 by a great many farmers, and we want the whole subject 

 overhauled and explained." 



After getting here on the ground, and looking over the 

 material which ought to be considered in connection with 

 these questions, Mr. Gold has promised me that I shall have 

 another hour to-morrow, and I will occupy this morning with 

 a part of the subject. 



I cannot promise, however, to answer all the questions 

 which Mr. Gold has proposed. Our knowledge is not suffi- 

 cient for that. Mr. Gold's admission that some of his " facts 

 may not be /aeis," shows that investigation is needed to es- 

 tablish fully what is, and to distinguish that from what appears 

 to he, before we can reasonably expect to give explanations. 

 But the very investigations which shall serve in any given case 

 to identify \X\Qfact will also assist in understanding the reason 

 of it, and in seeing clearly its bearings upon the other facts 



