206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



consisting of soluble phosphate of lime and sulphate of lime. Still 

 more is the product a compost if bone is used in place of phos" 

 phate of \iihe alone ; for only half of bone is phosphate — the rest 

 being chiefly animal matter. This animal matter, while decom- 

 posing in the soil, yields ammonia from the nitrogen it contains, 

 and this is as far as possible from being an objection, for we find 

 that a superphosphate, the value of which consists solely in its 

 phosphoric acid, is only a special manure, and fitted for certain 

 crops, as turnips, peas, clover, &c., and for soils particularly des- 

 titute of this substance. But let it contain also a fair proportion 

 of ammonia, or of nitrogen in any form useful tO plants, and it is 

 adapted to many crops — Indian corn, grains generally, and vegeta- 

 bles generally, and to a great majority of soils. In other words, 

 it is no longer a special but more nearly a general manure. You 

 see also, that the term "Superphosphate" is a commercial and 

 not a chemical term. Formerly chemists used the term super- 

 phosphate to indicate the salt now known as monophosphate, but 

 it is obsolete at present and only retained in commerce. It is 

 equally shown that a superphosphate is, and necessarily must be, 

 a compost, and one the value of which depends wholly upon the skill 

 and fidelity with which suitable materials are combined in suitable 

 proportions. 



Many commercial manures sold under other names are simply 

 superphosphates, such as "Ammoniated Guanos," " Soluble Pacific 

 Guano," " Phosphoric Guano," and many others. The change of 

 title is probably due to the odium attached to the word superphos- 

 phate in the minds of many, and this in its turn is due to the vast 

 amounts of trash which have been palmed off for Superphosphate. 



The first general remark offered regarding the use of commercial 

 manures is, that I would never recommend their substitution in 

 place of farm-yard manures, nor in place of any manurial resources 

 which can bo procured at home. 



The first business of every farmer should be to secure ways and 

 means to preserve fully all the excreta of his cattle, liquid and 

 solid ; — and I would here remark, that the liquid portions are rarely 

 sufiiciently thought of. For, where some kinds of food are em- 

 ployed, as clover hay for example, or cotton-seed cake, the value 

 of the liquid far exceeds that of the solid portions. 



I would have him by the employment of dry earth, daily applied, 

 preserve fully the manurial value of the excreta of his family ; — 

 and this is a resource, the importance of which to the farmer is 



