AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY. 163 



Experiment with Nitrate of Soda and Guano on a Peat-Bog 1 . 



The land on which the following experiment was made, was a peat-bog, reclaimed in 

 1850, thoroughly drained, and six inches of clay applied over the whole surface ; the only 

 crops raised upon it had been oats, turnips, and again oats sown out with grass. In March 

 last, I sowed on one portion of the new grass two hundred and twenty-four pounds of nitrate 

 of soda, with one hundred and twelve pounds of salt ; on another portion, four hundred and 

 forty-eight pounds of guano ; and on the remainder of the field no manure was applied. 



The nitrate gave, per imperial acre, 6600 pounds of hay, at $56.00 



Guano gave 5940 pounds, value 50.40 



Nothing gave 3080 pounds, " 26.13 



Independently of the increase of weight of hay from nitrate, I prefer that manure for 

 either new or old grass, as it appears to require little moisture to put it down to the roots 

 of the plants. A strong dew in the course of one night appeared sufficient for that purpose, 

 and in about thirty-six hours after its application the grass turned to a luxuriant dark-green 

 color ; whereas the guano requires a good shower of rain to put it down : unless it gets such 

 fall of rain, it does little good. 



My trial of nitrate on oats and barley last year leads me to prefer guano for these crops. 

 I applied one hundred and sixty-eight pounds of nitrate on one portion, and three hundred 

 and thirty-six pounds of guano on another ; but the oats, top dressed with nitrate, kept a 

 blueish sort of color throughout the season, did not ripen equally, and left the ear soft ; 

 while those which had guano ripened equally, had a harder, crisper ear, and weighed better. 

 The land upon which that experiment was made, had not been previously cropped, and was 

 of a mossy loam, with a mixture of clay. — James Dyce Nicol, in Journal of Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society. 



Experience in Land Drainage. 



The London Agricultural Gazette gives the following results of the experience in draining 

 on several of the largest estates in Great Britain : — 



Mr. G. Guthrie states : During the last thirty yeai-s I have drained many thousand acres ; 

 the result in all cases was highly satisfactory, the tenants being generally willing to pay 

 6£ or 7 per cent, on the expense, and the advantage to them, I am aware, greatly exceeds 

 that interest. The drainage I have adopted is the parallel system. For some years I have 

 allowed no drainage under 3£ feet deep in hard land, and in moss or bog, 4 J or 5 feet. At 

 one time (twenty years ago) our drains were only 27 or 30 inches ; but experience has shown 

 us the great advantage of deeper drains. Our present drains are 3| feet deep, at 24 feet 

 distance. The direction of our minor drains is with the fall. We do not regard the furrows, 

 the land in this district being sown out flat. I have used 2-inch and 2£-inch pipes for minor 

 drains, and 4-inch to 6-inch tiles with soles for leaders. Collars or socket-pipes have 

 not been used in this district, although I believe they ought to be. We have generally 

 stones thrown out of drains, with which we fix the joints of pipes very firmly. I have not 

 tried the practice of giving air at places to drains, and do not consider it at all necessary. 

 The average number of acres to one outlet I cannot accurately say ; perhaps 8, 10, or 12 

 acres, according to circumstances. In conclusion, I believe there is no expenditure of capital 

 more profitable than that of drainage. 



The agent of the estates of Lord Yarborough states, that until within the last four years 

 the drains were put in from 16 to 24 inches from the surface ; but during the last four years 

 a great part of these have been taken up, and put in not less than 3 feet. No difference is 

 made between arable and grass land. The soil generally is clay, with the subsoil of the 

 same character ; where the latter has sand veins, or is at all gravelly, a greater depth is 

 adopted — in some few cases they are 5, 6, and even 8 feet deep, the object being to go wherever 

 the water is. On the strong soils, 3 feet draining is found so far to be effectual ; the system 

 is to drain down each furrow, the lands being generally about 8 yards wide. Egg-shaped 

 pipes, 2| inches by 1^, without collars, have been partially used; but open tiles (with sides 



