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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Agriculture has ceased to be a practice of mere routine ; 

 and it knows how to fulfil the task imposed upon it. 

 It has suffered too much from the scourge to which M. 

 Deooste believes he has discovered a preventive, not to 



submit to attempts conclusive, by their importance, the 

 easy means which is recommended to it by a conscientious 

 experimenter, and, better still, by a wealthy man. 



(Signed) Eug. Gavot. 



WENLOCK FARMER'S CLUB. 



LECTURE ON ARTIFICIAL MANURES, BY PROFESSOR VOELCKER. 



A meeting of the membera of the Weulock Farmers' Club 

 was held at the Raven Ina, on Monday, Dec 21, to hear a 

 lecture on the " Agricultnral and Commercial Vahie of Arti- 

 ficial MaiiureB," by Dr. Augustus Voelcker. 



Dr. VoELCKEK. coajmeuced by observing that there are two 

 classes of persona who, upon the subject of the utility of agri- 

 cultural ciiemistry, enlertaiu diametrically opposed opinions. 

 One of them tluuk nothing more is uectssary for successful 

 farming than to read one or two books upon agricultural che- 

 mistry, and perhaps Mr Mechi's ietters, or some similar 

 popular treatise, containing a strange admixture of science and 

 practice ; and this kind of knowledge they believe will enable 

 a man to dispense with that vast amount of experience which 

 every one who has tried his hand at farming knows is requi- 

 site, no matter how clever a man may be, if he would make a 

 living by farming ; while the other class think that agricul- 

 tural chemistry, like all other sciences, is, to use a plain word, 

 all " humbug." The truth here, as in many other things, lies 

 in the middle. A mere knowledge of science will never make 

 a man a good farmer ; but at the same time, it is of very great 

 advantage if, in addition to practical experience, he has a 

 knowledge of the principles of science. Moreover, young men 

 with a scientific knowledge would make much jjreater progress 

 in useful experience than others who were ignorant of the 

 principles of chemistry. The great utility of science to farm- 

 ing is not so much direct as indirect— it does not dispense 

 with that practice, without which no excellency could be 

 acquired, but enables the farmer to make better use of it. 

 Very frequently, in lectures of that description, the mistake 

 was made of aiming at too much — a large number of subjects 

 were mixed up together, and the audience went away more or 

 less muddled. It was also not uufrequently thought that in 

 order to make an impression a little exaggeration was neces- 

 sary. The very fact, however, that this club had existed, and 

 kept up with spirit for a number of years, was a sufficient 

 reason, if he had no other, why he should not attempt in this 

 way to create a little temporary excitement. He should 

 confine himself to one very important subject — that of artificial 

 manures, and attempt to convey some views on the subject, 

 which he trusted would be of some use in their practice as 

 farmers (Hear, hear). There could be no question as to the 

 great improvements which have taken place since artificial 

 manures have been introduced into farming. Tue great 

 demand for anificial manures is the best proof that in many 

 instances they have not been misapplied, for no man will 

 spend money for a succession of years upon something which 

 brings him no useful result. The fact, therefore, that new 

 companies and new businesses are started almost everywhere, 

 proves that artificial manures, when judiciously applied, are a 

 great boon to the agricultural community. Within the last 

 three or four years manufacturers of artificial manures have 

 sprung up like mushrootus, and it was therefore not to be 

 wondered at that some inferior descriptions have been offered 

 to the notice of the farmer. It must also not be forgotten 

 that in many instances artificial manures have proved complete 

 failures. The question, therefore, arose. What is the reason 

 of these failures ? It was not always easy to discover 

 the reason. lu some cases artificial manures have been 

 injudiciously applied; i. e , in too large or too small quanti- 

 tie?. He had seen guano used in quantities that would cer- 

 tainly do more harm than good — too large, that was, for 

 the soils or cropj to which it was applied, to the exclusion of 

 farm-yard manure and other manures more suited for root 

 crops. In passing, he observed that guano should not be 

 used general y upon any soils for crops dependent upon the 

 development of the roots. For turnips, mangolds, and other 

 root crops, the manure should have a large proportion of bone 



material — phosphates, as the chemists called them. In some 

 cases again, the failure must be attributed to the artificial 

 manure which has been supplied ; and he grieved to say that 

 in the present day there was a much larger number of mferior 

 than fcuperior kinds of manures sold. The diagrams would 

 show the analyses of different kinds of manure. One of 

 them was the London Economical, which at one time made a 

 great noise, and was used in different parts of England and 

 Scotland. It was accompanied by a small volume of testimo- 

 nials, all speaking of it as a most efficient manure ; whereas it 

 contained nothing which was known as possessing fertilizing 

 properties in a very high degree. If any good effect had 

 therefore been produced by its application, it must be attri- 

 buted rather to the good farming, or to an uncommi)nly good 

 season, which, as was «eil known, often was more effective 

 than the best raauure (Hear, hear). And indeed it was almost 

 impossible by experiments, continued even for two or three 

 seasons, to a "certain the practical value of a manure ; but in 

 the long run a really good maHure will be found out. He 

 remembered the time when there were almost as many people 

 against gn.ano as there were uow for it. Not very long ago 

 hardly any purchaser for hones could be found ; and even now 

 no bones w ere used on the continent, hence the large impor- 

 tations of that article to this country. Everybody knew that 

 artificial manures were more eflScacious under some circum- 

 stances than others ; and why ? Because the effect produced 

 by artificial manure would be just in proportion as it supplied 

 the ingredients which were deficient in the soil. Artificial 

 manures sometimes failed too, by reason of the mechanical 

 condition of the land being such that it could not produce its 

 legitimate results. For instance, fresh bone-dust does not act 

 upon the soil at all for the first year, very little the second, 

 and only a partial effect the third. For want of sufficient air 

 the material remains very much in the condition after the first 

 six or twelve months in which it is put in. Excess of mois- 

 ture was often another reason why manures were unproductive. 

 Without good draining no amount of artificial or natural 

 manure would produce a very large crop. It would be seen 

 then that the practical efiScacy of artificial manures is known 

 by a variety of circumstances ; and it wou'.d also be clear 

 that the commercial value of artificial manure does not neces- 

 sarily coincide with its practical etiScacy — the commercial value 

 of artificial manure being much moie fixed in its character 

 than the practical value. For instance, under some circum- 

 stances lime produced an astonishing effect upon the land ; in 

 other cases none whatever. In the neighbourhood of Ciren- 

 cester uo good farmer limes ; and upon examination the soils 

 are found to contain sufficient lime to meet the requirements 

 of the growing crop. In the generility of cases, however, the 

 soil does not partake of the character of the subjacent rock 

 — most of our soils being soils of transportation, and do not 

 belong exactly to the rock on which they rest. Hence a 

 general geological knowledge will not be a sufficient prac- 

 tical guide — nothing short of an examination of the surface 

 will decide when a man should lime and when not. The prac- 

 tical effiuiency of artificial manure is determined by expe- 

 rience, and does not uecessarily coincide with the price at 

 which it is bought in the market, but ou its particular adapta- 

 tion to the land where it is applied. In most soils phosphoric 

 acid was deficient, and hence really effective manures contained 

 a very considerable proportion of phosphates. Again, in some 

 descriptions of produce— corn, &c.—ammoniacal matter was of 

 very grett utility, because amraoniacal ingredients were gene- 

 rally deficient in the soil. It was also found that alkaline 

 matter, potash and soda, produced very great effects when ap- 

 plied to the land. This was the couclusiou, then, to which 

 they must arrive : phosphates, and substances which, on de- 



