FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. 259 



Central Agricultunil Society of France. 1 quote from his Eural Economy : 

 ''This rejjort shows in a striking manner the advantage that maybe derived 

 from the liglits of practical men ; in a single line or sentence we frequently find 

 a summary of twenty or thirty years of experience. It is, however, indispensa- 

 ble to go to these gentlemen for their information ; tlie agriculturists who devote 

 themselves to cultivation, it is notorious, write very little, and those who spend 

 very little time in tliis way, on the contrary, write a great deal. It may be 

 that the reason for the silence of the one, is that also for the eloquence of the 

 other. 



" The following series of questions and ansAvers I believe to embrace most of 

 the points connected with the employment of gypsum that are of interest : 



1. ''Does j^laster act favorably on artificial meadows? i. e., meadows of clo- 

 ver, sainfoin lucern, &c. Forty, yes ; three, no, 



2. ''Does it act favorably on artificial meadows, the soil of which is very 

 damp? Unanimously, no. 



3. AVill it supply the place of organic manure, or of vegetable mold? i. c, 

 will a barren soil be converted into a fertile one by the use of plaster? No, 

 unanimously. 



4. Does gypsum sensibly increase the crops of cereals? Thirty, no ; two, yes." 

 — Eural Economy, p. 320. 



With the excejjtion of tlie fourth question, I presume the farmers of this 

 country will agree with the views of the farmers of France. 



Boussingault for two successive years made some very careful experiments to 

 determine the influence of plaster on Avheat, oats, and rye, and found that it 

 had no influence to increase the yield of grain. lie thus sums up the value and 

 uses of gypsum : "that it acted beneficially on a certain, and that a very small 

 immber of plants ; that it w^as upon artificial meadows, constituted by clover, 

 lucern, and sainfoin, that it produced its best effects ; its action, on the con- 

 trary, being scarcely perceptible upon natural meadows, doubtful in connection 

 with hoed crops, and null on cereals. These negative results cannot be called 

 in question ; they were come to by parties who were every way interested in hav- 

 ing the decision otherwise." — Rural Economy, ji. 319. 



I think it is the general verdict of farmers in this State, that on the proper 

 kinds of soil in the right condition, plaster is very beneficial to all kinds of the 

 ■clover family, red clovers, white clover, alsike, etc. ; that it does not directly 

 increase the yield of our summer grains, wheat, oats, barley, rye, etc. ; but in 

 regard to corn there is less unanimity of opinion. 



The farmer applies plaster to his clover field and he sees a marked increase 

 in growth, and when he gathers his hay he finds his crop doubled ; the after 

 growth is also heavier for the plaster, and when he ploughs up his field and 

 sows wheat he gets a better croj) than from another similar field to which no 

 plaster has been applied. He is well satisfied with the result, and well he may 

 be. "]S"ow," he reasons, "if j^laster has helped my clover so wonderfully, 

 why will it not help my corn? " He applies plaster and seems to see a corre- 

 sj^onding benefit in an increased vigor of growth. A while ago I had a talk with 

 neighbor BroAvn on this point, " Do you use plaster on your corn? " "I never 

 fail to use it ! " "Do you get any benefit from it? " " If I can believe my 

 own eyes, I do ! I aim to put it on every hill of corn ; sometimes by mistake a 

 row is missed, and I can tell that row clear across the field by its paler color. 

 My neighbor uses it — sometimes in very small doses, only a teaspoonful to a 

 hill — but the corn just climbs right up after him ! " " No doubt you get more 



