July 2, 18S3.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



47 



other manures containing no nitrogen are supplied ; but, 

 according to the saying, "nitrogen for corn," the plots treated 

 with that manure n-iU yield an additional 1001b. of wheat and 

 wheat straw for each" pound of niti'ogen taken up by the 

 crop. The future of our farming therefore hinges mainly on 

 nitrogen ; and we can now understand the lesson of exhaus- 

 tion written on the face of evei-y corn tlistrict in Europe, or 

 any other old corn-producing region where nitrogen is not 

 easily obtained, and only scantily appUed to the land in 

 the ordinary practice of husbandry. AVe can now under- 

 stand Su- H.arry Thompson's remarks that 



•'Land has a natural store of the materials reqired for 

 the production of grain, which confers upon it a certain 

 moderate standard ofjfertihtj'." 

 And also his assertion that 



■' Nothing short of the most wilful and long-continued 

 cropping, without any return whatever, can materially in- 

 jure the staple of the soU. It is scarcely possible to de- 

 stroy the natural productiveness of the soil, since its con- 

 dition can be quickly restored by mamure of the right Mud." 

 It is harcUy correct that land can be " quickly restored " 

 when the loss of " condition " includes the usual con- 

 sequences of neglect, such as filling the farm with weeds ; 

 but, so far as •' condition " is dependent on manure, the 

 assertion is strictly true. 



Enough has now been said to estabhsh the importance of 

 nitrogen. The careful study which this substance required 

 beyond all other constituents of plant food, is further 

 explained in the extent of its loss by drainage, especially 

 when injudiciously appUed. It is most soluble and most 

 easily lost in the form of nitrate of soda, when sown in 

 the rainy season, and therefore nitrate should be employed 

 as a spring dressing; and, as the yellow colour of corn 

 in spring is one of the signs of impoveri-shment too often 

 observed after imusual rains, a dressing of nitrate at that 

 season is advisable, as the right remedy for the malady 

 of innutrition. Light nitrogenous dressings should be ap- 

 pUed in spring when the drains have ceased running, as 

 they should do with the advent of March winds; but 

 farmyard dung may be applied at any period without the 

 occurrence of any loss by the washing-out of nitrogen. 

 Another group of facts surrounds this p-irt of the inquiry 

 into the conduct of nitrogen, and they should be mast- 

 ered by every practical farmer. 



According to the old-school farmer, " There is nothing 

 like farmyard dung ;" but the adept in light manures who 

 has grown capital crops of all the cei-eals, %vith only 1 cwt. 

 or 2 cwt, of nitrate of soda per acre sown in April, might 

 prefer another saj-ing quite as true, " There is nothing 

 hke nitrate of soda." Unnumbered contradictions in farm- 

 ing are due to varieties in weather, soil, and climate, 

 but many of them must be attributed to ignorance of the 

 nature and use of maniu-es. 



As Dr. A'oelcker told the Farmers' Club, the unexhausted 

 value of manures depends upon their permanence, and he 

 seemed to have in mind those political theorists who have 

 sometimes claimed heavy payments for the advantage of 

 that great favourite of theirs, the outgoing tenant, on 

 account of maniu-es for which experienced agricultiunsts 

 would certainly refuse to pay anjrthing under the circum- 

 stances of their application. We have seen how rapidly 

 nitrate of soda may be washed out of the land, and how 

 valueless pho.sphates and other minerals may prove to be 

 unless they are applied with skill. Light manures are 

 valueless even in the iirst year, except when applied in 

 proper quantities at the right time. They are rarely worth 

 anything in the second year. Enormous sums of money 

 are annually thrown away through the improper applic- 

 ation of artificial maniu-es, because, says Dr, Voelcker. "the 

 man who appUes artificial manures shoiUd have a good deal 

 of experience — which is not so general amongst farmers 

 as it ought to be." The essays we have enumerated supply 

 this much needed knowledge, and, it should be added, 

 they contlrm to some extent the time-honom-ed prejudice 

 in favour of farmyard manure. Dung, at any rate, has 

 the merit of reliability. It is a safe manure, on account 

 of the comparatively permanent form in which its nitro- 

 gen is combined with carbon, so that nitrification takes 

 place slowly, and only in those portions of the substance 

 which are near the surface, and exposed to the immediate 

 action of the oxygen of the atmospheric air. Grast^ land, 

 too, is safe from a scientific point of view. The moment 



the surface of the soil is covered with vegetation, per- 

 manent or otherwi.se, the preservation of nitrogen com- 

 mences. A clover layer a year old will have had time 

 to collect a useful amount of nitrogen, while a top spit 

 of old turf — prairie land or common pastui'e — forms a rich 

 storehouse of the same precious substance. 



In these various essaj's and lectures sound advice is 

 offered on the use of weeding stuffs and their value in 

 manure, and the whole subject of dung and purchased 

 manures will be found to have been exhaustively treated. 

 But agriculture does not rely alone on the instruction con- 

 veyeil in its Uterature, and those who are seeking know- 

 ledge can always turn from lecturing to farming; from 

 the discussion of details to the details as carried out in 

 the field. It will be found on exannnatiou that in this 

 respect the practice of farming is taking the direction 

 which theory indicates. In these bad times, the safe 

 method offered in the increase of permanent pastures has 

 been resorted to, and in the " use of artificials " the necess- 

 ary caution has been exercised, and there are many signs 

 that the necessary knowledge is being sought wherever it 

 may be deficient. The law of " survival," hard as it may 

 be for those who suffer, appUes to agriculture, and our 

 best systems in every generation ai-e "survivals of the 

 fittest." As nothing can survive in practical farming which 

 is not founded on scientific teaching, these various essays 

 deserve, and will no doubt receive, general attention — 

 H. K—Fidd. 



THE CULTIVATION OF THE POPPY IN EUROPEAN 

 TLTRKEY. 

 The following is a translation of instructions as to the 

 cultivation of the poppy and the method of extracting 

 and preparing opium, which have been ch-awn up under 

 the authority of the Turkish Government, and distributed 

 throughout the agricidtural districts of Macedonia, with 

 a view to promote development of the opium industry in 

 that province: — 



"If we take into consideration the fact that poppy seed 

 is capable of yielding 6 okes [22§lb.]* of opium and 10 

 kilos of seed to every dunum [100 sq. metres] of laud 

 sown; that an oke of opium realizes 400 pias [£3 12.*.], 

 and a kilogram of poppy seed 40 pias, and therefore tliat 

 altogether a dunum of land sown witli poppy seed may 

 be worth as much as 2,640 pias [£23 15s.l; if "at the same 

 time we bear in mind that a dunum of land sown with 

 wheat seed yields at most 10 kilos of wheat and 2 000 

 okes of straw, and that ivith wheat realizing 2.5 pia,s'the 

 Mlogi-am, and with straw being only worth 30 pias per 

 200 okes, the total possible value of a dunum of laud 

 sown with wheat is 280 pias [£,2 I0.«.], we see at once that 

 in comparison with wheat and other similar products the 

 cultivation or the opium poppy is a most lucrative iudusb-y. 



"Seemg then how productive of wealth the cultivation 

 of the opium poppy has been to the agricultural popul- 

 ation of the sandjak of Broussa, the following is a short 

 treatise supplying information on this point. 



" Tlie I'urions Species of Poppy Seal aiui the Proper 

 Season for Sowiiii/. — Poppy seed is also sometimes styled 

 ■■Khashkash' seed. It is very .small and it is of two 

 kinds. One is white and the otiier is of a 'darker hue 

 both lieing contained within shells or pods, which are 

 sometimes termed cocoons. These cocoons are globular in 

 shape, and of the size of a Jerusalem artichoke, havijig 

 on the upper side a roundish mark which is termed the 

 •comb.' 



"The darker-hued seed is of two species. The outer 

 shells or cocoons of the first .species are small, and may 

 be distingui.shed by a row of small holes, through which 

 if great attention be not paid, as soon as the outer shells 

 are fully matured and ready to receive the produce of 

 the seed the latter drops and is lost. The flowers of tliis 

 first species are generally of a red or purple hue. .So also 

 are the flowers of the second species, but the outer shells 

 of the latter are larger and of an oval shape, and they 

 have no holes in their combs. 



"The white poppy seed is also of two kinds, of which 

 I though one is white the other is yellow. In other rc- 



! • The figures between brackets are insei ted as appro.xim- 

 I ately correct. — Ed. Fa, J. 



