THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



30;: 



At the end of three weeks, it was easy to perceive the fa- 

 vourable effect of the phosphoric acid iipou the buckwheat. 

 Where the superphosphate of lime, of aairaahzed phosphates, 

 and of the mixture of blood and powdered nodules were used, 

 the vegetation was both luxuriant and precocious. The anioaal 

 charcoal was distanced, and owing to the poverty of the earth 

 the pure phosphate of lime gave wretched results. The follow- 

 ing, however, is the complete summary of the observations, 

 made with the greatest care : — 





o o 

 o =^3 - 



3' -a _,t3 



B - 3 5 



o 3 ft 



':* n ro 



2.(w £, 



a- = a- 





•^ ~^ 

 SLOP? to 



o 5 ET 



3 B8 n> 

 ? S.ra 



■S o =.• 



to -o 3^ 



" S's' 

 re O rs 



3 S 

 " a-o 



O tt 



— • ft <^ 



sr „ a- =r_ O 

 g D g S 3-2 

 ■3 S'-a 13 o — 

 JO p p » ^"rt 

 ff*- :n --^ s^ -'^ ^ 

 ro eg Q re p o 



E S.3 a'" 'S, 

 — • E. _., o ^ 



rt = — S" 

 ».» S'™ 



55 o <» o 



?;■ ^ 



p- CI. 



o o 



o ^ 



»*^ o 



pop JO l-" ►-'1-1 



^ ^ bo i-' CD ►(.. jo 



O <0 ^I ^ I— ' tn 00 



000 O O 00 O 



p •-' 

 ^ in 



It' 00 



^ 1-1 p 

 CO CO bo 

 CO M ^ 



poo 



bo to to 



00^ 



p p p 



o 00 



I I 



K O 



2 O 



W 



tti s 



a 2 

 w r 



S " 



In examining these figures it is important to state that they 

 clear up a particular point of the question, without constitut- 

 ing on that account a scale of return applicable to the condi- 

 tion of an extensive cultivation. Indeed it is very evident that 

 the impulsive action produced by the azote was not applied 

 Sere to the phosphate of the animal charcoal a; to that of the 



nodules mixed with blood. I wculil, however, remark that the 

 experiment No. 3, the results of which are very fiue, were pro- 

 duced under the influence of weak doses of animal substances. 

 Had the porous vegetable charcoal iu this case a coudensing 

 action immediately utilized ? It appears very probable. 



Let it therefore be \»ell understood that the figures ex- 

 pressed iu this table are applicable only to the special circum- 

 stances of the experiment, and it is requisite, in order to study 

 more completely the action of the nodules, to make new essays 

 in which the organic matter of the soil determined will perform 

 a part which is wanting here. Under these reserves I think I 

 am able to establish the following facts: — 



1. The nodules of phosphate of lime of the Ardennes, re- 

 duced to fine powder, and exposed some mouths to the air, 

 are assimilable by vegetables. 



2 Their favourable action on granitic and schistose soils, in 

 the clearings of lands and heaths, may be variable accordmg as 

 we employ them alone or associated with ort;auic substances. 



3. As this is also remarked iu the employment of the phos- 

 phates of charcoal of clarification, and charcoal powder of the 

 filters, there is agreement sometimes in associating organic 

 substances with the nodules in fertilizing poor soils by dis- 

 solvent agents, and sometimes, on the contrary, in employing 

 them alone on clearings in which vegetable substances abound. 



4. The addition of blood to the powdered nodules gave ex- 

 cellent results in the triple point of view, of return in grain, of 

 vigour of the straw, and of precocity, 



5. The employment of the action of acids, in order to pro- 

 mote the assimilation of phosphates, will only take place in 

 lands unci cuUures in which the superphosphate is actually 

 found useful by the arjriculturists. In all cases, on the con- 

 trary, in which bone-black in grains is rapidly dissolved, the 

 nodules finely powdered will themselves be assimilated.* 



6. Lastly, and as a consequence useful to point out, it is 

 ence more established that from the search for co-efficients of 

 solubility in the laboratory, to the agricultural verification, 

 there is all the distance that separates an extremely simple 

 effect from one extremely complex. 



Adolphe Bobibrre. 



BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY. 



A Monthly Council was held on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 

 Waghorn'a Hotel, Taunton, John SiUifant, Esq., in the chair. 

 The Cardiff Meeting. — Mr. Widdicorabe (Director), 

 brought up a report on the subject of the tenders received from 

 the various contractors for the erection of the hoarding, for the 

 show-yard, offices, aud works for the meeting at Cardiff in 

 June next. The tender of Mr. George Pollard, builder, of 

 Taunton, was accepted. The report of the committee (under 

 the guidance of Mr. Gooch, the consulting engineer of the 

 society), on the terms upon which steam-engines would be per- 

 mitted to exhibit iu the show-yard, was introduced and dis- 

 cussed. The report was adopted, and ordered to be printed 

 and circulated among intending exhibitors in this department. 

 The Meeting in 1859.— The deputation appointed to 

 visit Barnstaple reported that they went to that town on 

 Thursday last, and inspected three sites offered for the ex- 

 hibition next year. They now recommended a piece of land 

 about a mile from the Barnstaple Station, on the North Devon 

 Railway, in every way suitable, provided the requirements of 

 the society were complied with. It was also reported that eli- 

 gible fields for the trial of implements would be offered to the 

 council on advantageous terms. 



New Members. — The following new members were 

 elected : — 



Mr. R. F. Jenner, Winvoe Castle, Cardiff 



Mr. Blackburrow, Tower Head, Banwell 



Mr. N. Cook, Ayshford Court, Somerset 



Mr! F. T. Allen, West Kington, near Chippenham 



Mr. J. Spurway, Spring Grove, MiWertou 



Mr. J. P. Spurway, Spring Grove, Milverton 



Capt. F. Spurway, 2nd Somerset Militia. 



* This is, on the whole, what practice has already demon- 

 strated iu the last harvest with the greatest clearness. 



Y 



