266 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the cost of them is frequently less than the expense of carting out 

 and applying stable manures. 



To test these fertilizers on the State Farm, some of the crops have 

 been planted on the same land for three years in succession, the 

 results of which will be seen in the subjoined statements. Let none 

 however imagine, that we underrate the importance of stable manures. 

 They are the natural and appropriate fertilizers of the soil, and should, 

 therefore, be sedulously accumulated and carefully preserved ; and 

 here let us instance the great advantage of keeping manures under 

 cover. By an experiment in England, such manures produced 30 per 

 cent, more in the first crop, (potatoes,) and in the succeeding one, 

 (wheat,) 25 per cent, more than manure exposed to the weather. 

 Stable manures are adapted to all soils ; but, in relation to guano 

 and other concentrated fertilizers, we are inclined to believe that 

 much of their influence and future eff'ect depend upon the season, and 

 physical condition of the soil. Some soils are organically better able 

 to retain the elements of fertility than others, and consequently will 

 be less depreciated by continued cropping. Such, for example, are 

 clayey, deep, loamy lands, of a close texture. It is upon them we 

 may expect more lasting benefits, than upon soils of a light, silicious 

 character. But to both of these soils, stable manures are well 

 adapted ; to the former for their mechanical eff"ect, and to the latter 

 in adding materials which serve as absorbents of the dews, rains and 

 ammonia. Much depends, no doubt, on meteorological and other 

 influences not well understood, varying in difl'erent seasons ; nor can 

 experiments be fully confirmed in one, two, or three years. Some 

 inferences, however, may be drawn from the trials already made, as 

 will appear by this report. 



In the following experiments it will be seen that the stable com- 

 posts have generally taken the lead ;••' also that a mixture of these with 

 guano, used before heating, has operated favorably; and that liquid 

 manure from the reservoir has proved the cheapest fertilizer used. 

 The committee regretted exceedingly that the means to be expended 

 did not permit of a more extensive use of this liquid, believing as 

 they do, that if it could be properly distributed over the fields with 

 suitable carriages, or conduits, the quantity made at the institution, 

 would in time not only completely restore the exhausted condition 

 of the farm, but would impart to the lands a high state of fertility 

 and largely increase the crops. 



* The barnyard compost was composed of 120 bushels of loam, 40 bushels of swamp muck and 

 J20 bushels of stable manure, and when composted was estimated to be worth three dollars per 

 cord of 102 bushels. 



