102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



parts of the Commonwealth, that the estimates of the costs 

 of producmg corn differ from twenty cents to a dollar. 

 Now, we are told by chemists, that there are but three 

 elements taken out of the soil, — nitrog-en, potash, and 

 phosphoric acid. I should like to inquire just how much of 

 those elements one bushel of shelled corn and its stover 

 will take from the soil, and what it will cost the farmer, at 

 present prices, to rejDlace those elements in the soil? 



Dr. Sturtevaijt. I could answer that question very 

 easily by turning to a table of analyses ; but I do not carry 

 the figures in my mind. But I can give you some statistics 

 of actual cost, if j-ou like, upon the blackboard, and then you 

 can remember them. 



PER ACRE. 



Labor and harvesting ^12 56 



Husking- (ten cents a bushel) . . ... 9 98 



Stock bridge manure ...... 33 27 



$55 81 



This is the account of Mr. Bowditch's field, including 

 labor at a dollar and a half a day charged for the men, and 

 seventy-five cents a day charged for each horse. The credit 

 to be taken out of that is the stover, at eight dollars a ton, 

 $23.44; leaving the cost for a hundred bushels of corn, 

 $32.37, or thirty-two cents and a half a bushel. 



Mr. . That does not meet my point. The question 



is, whether that $33.27 worth of Stockbridge manure has 

 replaced all the essential elements taken from the soil by the 

 hundred bushels of corn. When a man tells me that I can 

 raise corn for twenty cents a bushel, I want to know whether 

 I can go into the market, and bu}' the essential elements, 

 and put them back into the ground for twenty cents. 



Dr. Stuetevant. If you will force me to advertise the 

 Stockbridge manures, I can answer the question ; but I don't 

 want to advertise any thing here. Deduct the stover, .$23.44, 

 from the cost of the manure, 833.27, and 3^ou have the 

 balance, $8.93. You can do it. The question answers itself. 

 But I am not here to advertise any fertilizer manufacturer, 

 and I want to keep as free from it as I can. The land has 

 probably gained by it. 



Mr. . Have you continued the system long enough 



to prove that to be the fact in practical agriculture ? 



