THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Hi 



Dr. VoELCKER 9ai(], the value of the boues would be re- 

 duced just iu proportiou as the nitrogen was taken out of 

 them ; but inasmuch as the phosphate was made more available 

 the deterioratiou was more than made up. He would therefore 

 rather have boiled bones. 



Mr. TiiuusFiELD inquired how it was when he put lime 

 upon a field for bat ley, after it had been manured by guauo 

 aud superphosphate for turnips, the crop was not so good in 

 that part of the field as in the portion where he put no 

 Urae? 



Dr. VoELCKER thought the land did not require lime after 

 beirg well manured with superphosj-'hate. In answer to the 

 Chairman the learned Professor further said, that he did not 

 iuteud to convey that no aramoaia was beneficial to root 

 crops ; but generally speaking the plant absorbed enough of 

 atmospheric ammonia, and any large amount applied would do 

 harm, in speaking of coprolites he meant to say that al- 

 though they were useless to the farmer, they were of the 

 greatest use to the manufacturer. All soils more or less stored 

 up with great care the ammonia— the only exception being 

 loose soils. If, therefore, he had his choice of manures for root 

 crops he should take nothing but phosphates, for in most cases 

 animals were fed on the roots and supplied, with other sources, 

 sufficient ammonia. 



The Chairman said, his land would be iu a pitiable mess 

 if he were to feed on it, aud it would take some time to bring 

 the land into a proper state. Strong land, in his opinion, was 

 the best for turnips — of course he did not mean wet land, be- 

 cause land not drained, with a quantity of sour water upon it, 

 was not conducive to the health of any plant. But those lands 

 which were most favourable for growing swedes and turnips 

 were just those which the farmer could not eat off. He pre- 

 sumed, however, that the Professor meant that if the turnips 

 were taken to the stall, and consumed there, the land ultimately 

 received the manure. 



Dr. Voelcker: Certainly; for, to eat off some soil would 

 be to ruin the land. With respect to top-dressing, he had 

 always looked upon this as patch-work, which on a fjood farm 

 should be dispensed with, although it was very useful now and 

 then. But when the farmer had been prevented prosecuting 

 his regular work, aud the land was not iu a good state, a top- 

 dressing of nitrate of soda and salt — applied in the spring — 

 was very beneficial. To manure well in rotation however 

 would enable them to dispense in a great measure with top- 

 dressing, although on grass land this was of the utmost 

 utility. 



Mr. Thursfield appealed to one or two gentlemen pre- 

 sent to whom he had recommended his plan of top-dressing, 

 aud they said it had answered. 



Rev. H. W. Wayne mentioned that some soils, upon which 

 very poor crops of grain were given, were extremely deficient 

 in alumina. He wished to know whether alumina could be 

 applied to the the land in a concentrated form, or must it 

 be carted in the shape of clay ? 



Dr. Voelcker answered in the negative. 



Rev. H. W. Wayne said there were some springs in that 

 neighbourhood, which contained in solution a large amount of 

 lime; now he should like to know if it would be worth while 

 to mix salt with this water, where it could easily be con- 

 veyed over the land, and thus have a deposit of carbonate of 

 soda. 



Dr. Voelcker replied that ordinarily there was in water 

 auf&cient lime to answer all practical purposes ; and the ex- 

 periment would not in his opinion produce any marked result. 

 In reply to another question the learned professor said, super- 

 phosphate by being diluted was not made more fit to apply to 

 plants but inasmuch as it could by being diluted be so much 

 better distributed over the land, immense benefit resulted from 

 using the liquid manure-drill. 



Rev H. W. Wayne then in very complimentary terms 

 proposed a vote of thanks to the learned lecturer; and after 

 makiog some remarks upon the utility of these gatherings, 

 referred to the curious fact that, according to an old Roman 

 writer, the ancient Britons were in the habit of using as manure 

 what they took out of the mines, thus showing that from a 

 very early period our ancestors had been accustomed to enrich 

 the surface of the laud. 



Mr. Blakeway seconded the proposition with much plea- 

 sure. The meeting ought to be much obliged to the taleuted 

 fecturer for the important knowledge he had communicated, 

 for there was not a farmer present who would no!; be able to 



see that he could buy a manure to answer his purpose better 

 than guano at half the coat. 



Dr. Voelcker in a-'knowledgiug the conipliuient said, the 

 difference in price was uot|the only advantage gained ; for in an 

 experiment which he had made upon some poor laud, he found 

 that guano produced about six tons per acre, while superphos- 

 phate produced double — nearly 12 tons. 



Mr. Fowler proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Benson for 

 the able manner iu which he had presided over the meeting. 



Mr. Evan Davie s seconded it. It was often the case that 

 farmers prided themselves upon the amount of money they 

 had expended in top-dressing, without, he was afraid, care- 

 fully weighing the results. Last year he top-dres=ed part of 

 a field ; and he must confess that, so far as he could observe, 

 there was no difference in the crop between that which was 

 top-dressed and that which was not. The harvest came upon 

 them rather suddenly, aud he was not able to weigh carefully 

 the product of each portion as heintetideil to do, otherwise he 

 should have been better prepared to give the results than he 

 was at present. The remarks of the Profeasor upon the sub- 

 ject of soluble phosphates should be carefullj' considered, for 

 it was now clear that they should secure those manures which 

 had not only phosphate in their composition, but having that 

 valuable iugredient in a soluble form. 



The Chairman, after thanking them, asked what protec- 

 tiou the farmer had that he was supplied with real phospliates ? 

 Clearly but one — to make the manure himself, by buying the 

 bones and dissolving tlicm in acid. 



Dr. Voelcker thought it was certainly rot the best plan 

 for the farmer to make his own superphosphate. Upon their 

 farm, up to within the last three jear?, they had manufac- 

 tured their own superphosphate, but they had now discovered 

 that it was much better to buy it ready manufactured, in 

 addition to the inconvenience of doing so. If the buyer 

 obtained a guarantee that the manure contained a certain 

 quantity of soluble phosphate, he wanted nothing more. 

 This constituent was a distinct chemical substance, and how 

 the manufacturer produced it was nothing to the farmer. 

 The manufacturing of artificial manures v/as now quite an 

 art ; and the superior appliances at the disposal of the large 

 manufacturer rendered it easy for him to produce a good 

 manure at a price not far above what the farmer would have 

 to pay for the crude material. Thus many intelligent manu- 

 facturers make a better superphospate thau can be made from 

 bones aud acids alone. 



After a little further conversation, the meeting broke up. 



DR. VOELCKER ON THE COMPARATIVE VALUE 

 OF ARTIFICIAL AND FARM-YARD MANURES. 



On Tuesday Professor Voelcker delivered a lecture on the 

 above subject, in the Lion Rooms, Shrewsbury. Mr. Joseph 

 Meire, of Berrington, presided. 



The attendance was not large. 



The Chairman said the subject upon which they were 

 about to hear a very interesting leeture was a very important 

 one to the farmer. 



Dr. Voelcker said there had been a good deal of talk 

 about the relative merits of farm-yard manure aud artificials. 

 Some would have nothing but the former, while others evi- 

 dently thought the perfection of good farming was to use an 

 unlimited quantity of artificial manure. Mauy of the latter 

 gentlemen troubled themselves very little about what they 

 really bought; it sufficed for them to expend a certain amount 

 of money on some description of artificial manure, « hich might 

 be entirely valueless for their particular purpose. Such, for 

 instance, as the London Economic, the Essence of Guauo, 

 and others. Now, farm-yard manure was an excellent thing 

 in its proper place, and so was any other description of 

 manure. Some artificial manures, which were exceedingly 

 valuable, lost their efficacy from being improperly applied, and 

 a great quantity of valuable manure at the present day was 

 wasted on farms for the want of knowledge necessary for its 

 application. Those who had not sufficient intelligence or 

 general knowledge on the subject of plants would be less 

 likely to go wrong if they followed the old-fashioned routine 

 and used farm-yard manure, than by using artificial manure, 

 which at least would be of no use to them. Some knowledge 

 ought to be had of the wants of the different crops that grow 

 iu rotation. Those wants could not well be laid before his 



