398 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



Carbonate of lime, ) o- 

 Carbonate of magnesia, f """ 



Phosphate of lime - - -- 1 



Organic matter 3 



Sand and insoluble materials - 1 



100 



This shows the value of this marl for use on the sandy soil. 



The objection to marl is the cost of getting it out of the lake and into a 

 condition for distributing on the land. It is taken out of the water with a 

 long handled scoop, loaded into a boat, carried to the shore and placed on a 

 platform to dry, before it is carted to the field. It is thus handled three 

 times before reaching the field. The best marl has so little cohesion that 

 when it is stirred up with water it forms a creamy semi-liquid mass which is 

 very difficult to handle with scoop and shovel. The marl used in these 

 experiments costs $3.50 a cubic yard, delivered on the field, and the men 

 only make fair wages. The marl is not worth $3.50 a cubic yard for 

 manure. Some cheaper means must be contrived to land the marl. The 

 fact that the marl stirred up in water becomes a semi-fluid mass, suggests a 

 quicker and cheaper way of handling it. A large rotary or chain pump 

 fastened to the side of a scow, the lower end slipping down into the marl, 

 the pump geared to a tread-mill horse power on the scow, could raise the 

 pulpy marl and water to a gutter to carry them to the land, where they 

 could be received in a bed made with sides of board and a bottom of the 

 sandy soil. The water would soon leach away and leave the marl in fit con- 

 dition for carting. I believe a chain pump run by hand would land more 

 marl in a day, than a man could land by scoop and scow, in the old way. 

 I throw out the hint and leave you practical men to fix the details for 

 cheaper marl. 



Plaster. — The benefit from the use of plaster on most of the crops was 

 marked. Comparing the benefit with the cost, I think it was the cheapest 

 manure used in these experiments ; yet, the cost is excessive in consequence 

 of high price for freight. To pay $10 a ton for plaster that only costs $2.50 in 

 Grand Kapids, looks as if somebody was making money faster than the 

 farmer. You must find some cheaper way to transport plaster. Perhaps 

 the immense deposits of plaster at Alabaster bay may be brought into use 

 for this section. The plains will yet consume a large amount of plaster. 



Salt. — In the dry season just passed, I could see no benefit from the use 

 of common salt — further trial needed. 



RESULTS IN GROWING PLANTS. 



We turn our attention to the results attained in growing plants on the 

 plains under these discouraging conditions of climate. You will note the 

 prominence that is given to this subject in the year's work. A condition 

 of first importance is to know what plants will succeed under the peculiar 

 conditions of soil and climate on these plains. The direct effort to raise 

 ordinary crops at this stage of experimenting seemed to be of secondary 

 importance. A large number of seeds have been sown, not with the expec- 

 tation that all would make a successful growth, but to find what would grow, 

 and how complete development each one would reach. It is worth much to 



