404 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



loss will vary with the seasons and other causes at present 

 unknown. In consequence of the severe competition to 

 which the British farmer is now exposed, the question of 

 artificial fertility has recently been occupying my attention ; 

 and I have come to the conclusion, that, as artificial manures 

 can be purchased quite as cheaply in this country as in the 

 United States, the crop grown by their aid cannot be pro- 

 duced more cheaply in one country than in the other. What 

 we are suffering from in Great Britain is the competition of 

 crops grown by means of natural fertility, which is cheaper 

 than the fertility that can be supplied in any other form. 

 The views of Mr. George Ville with regard to the sources of 

 nitrogen, and the properties possessed by the various crops 

 for gathering it from the atmosphere, appear to have found 

 much favor in some parts of the United States. We have 

 not thought it necessary to bring forward any formal evi- 

 dence to disprove these views ; but I may say, that, as ex- 

 pressed by Mr. Ville, they are entirely opposed to the facts 

 that have been established by the result of the experiments 

 at Rothamsted. 



THE CULTURE OF CORlSr. 

 MR. H. Stewart's reply to dr. j. b. lawes of rothamsted. 



When I comj)lied with the request of the secretary of the 

 New Jersey State Board of Agriculture to give him my views 

 upon the culture of corn, for publication in the Annual Report 

 of the Board, I little expected that it would bring me into 

 conflict with the world-renowned agricultural chemist and 

 experimenter. Dr. J. B. Lawes. But that I feel some con- 

 fidence in the truth of my views, and perceive from my point 

 of view that they do not conflict very much, if at all, with 

 those of Dr. Lawes, and that he may, perhaps, miss some im- 

 portant element in this question through want of familiarity 

 with this especially American crop, under its special character- 

 istics in American fields, and under some special conditions, 

 I should scarcely care to discuss this question under the cer- 

 tain disadvantages which Dr. Lawes's greatly superior position 

 throws upon me. I would take this opportunity of acknowl- 

 edging very gratefully the obligations under which, in com- 

 mon with the many American admirers and students of 



