518 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



the experiments : — "The only objection to the field as a trial- 

 field for manure was its high condition. It was feared 

 that the lots might be too much alike, and this auticipation 

 has proved correct. In the experiments as much as 7 cwt. of 

 Peruvian guaao and 14 cwt. of super-phosphate were 

 employed, and ia all instances about the same quantity of 

 produce was obtained." Then, very naively, the experimenter, 

 in remarkiag upon these results, says, " It is to be regretted 

 that one or two lots were not left without any manure 

 whatever, although we have little doubt that such lots would 

 have yielded next to notiiicg." Well, if they yielded 

 next to'nothiug, the laud could not be in a highly cultivated 

 state. It is evident, 1 think, that the land was in a 

 state super-saturated with mauure, and experiments made on 

 such land are not calculated to throw much light on the 

 efficacy of manuring constituents. I have alluded specally to 

 the question of the efficacy of phosphates and ammonia, in 

 illustrating the direct utility of a knowledge of chemistry to 

 farmers, and I might also have illustrated the same thing by 

 alluding to the various forms in which manuring substances 

 ought to be applied to the land in order to produce the maxi- 

 mum effect. Thus, for instance, I might have alluded to the 

 question. In what state phoiphate ought to be used in agri- 

 culture ? It is plain that for a quick-growing crop, like the 

 turnip crop, food ought to be present in a readily-soluble con- 

 dition; but, at the same time, I think we cannot lay down a 

 general rule that, under all circumstances, phosphates, which 

 we apply in the shape of artificial manures, should be always 

 perfectly soluble, I make this remark, not because I think it 

 is a question with which the theoretical man has much to do, 

 but it is a question which can be decided in a purely practical 

 manner. Supposing the farmer finds that his land is of such a 

 porous character that bone-dust when used in a finely-divided 

 state becomes sufficiently available to yield him a good crop of 

 turnips, then he would be wrong to go to the expense of buying 

 super-phosphate. What we can use in a raw, unprepared state 

 must evidently be cheaper than what has undergone the manu- 

 facturing process. There are some soils in which the most eco- 

 nomical way of using phosphatic manures is simply by bone- 

 dust, to ferment it with the farm-yard manure, and, when the 

 heap is set up in the field, to put the bone-dust between the 

 layers, as it is carted. By this mode of fermentation the phos- 

 phates become sufficiently soluble in the soil to answer all the 

 practical purposes for which the manure is used. There is no ne- 

 cessity of using phosphates in any other shape in very light sandy 

 soils. But, under other circumstances, if the farmer, for mstance, 

 has to deal with heavy land in which the decomposition of phos- 

 phates proceeds very slowly, it is of the utmost importar.ce to 

 use phosphate of lime in a soluble form. What I would ad- 

 vise is the purchase of a super-phosphate, in which the farmer 

 gets just what he cannot readily make himself, i. e. soluble 

 phosphate of lime. If he wants insoluble phosphate, let him 

 use it in the shape of bone-dust. Then he may be sure in what 

 form he gets it, and does not run the risk of getting an insolu- 

 ble phosphate in the shape of coprolite powder, in which con- 

 dition it is of no utility whatever. But, in most instances, 

 the advantages of applying phosphates in a soluble condition 

 have been clearly established. The very term " super-phos- 

 phate" shows the practical use to which chemistry is applied 

 at the present time. There are, indeed, in the common daily 

 experience of the farme-, terms used at the present time which 

 would greatly astonish our ancestors. Chemistry will more 

 and more become the common property of the agricultural 

 community, and the more carefully the principles of this new 

 science are studied by the rising generation, the greater will 

 be the practical advantages that will flow from the possession 

 of such knowledge. 



On the motion of Lord Feversham, seconded by 

 Mr. Wren IIoskyns, the thanks of the meeting were 

 voted to Dr. Voelcker for the able lecture he had then 

 delivered. 



Special Council (after the lecture) : Lord Berners, 

 President, in the chair. 



On the motion of Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, seconded 

 by the Hon. A. Leslie Melville, the Council decided 

 that memorials and other documents received from Ox- 

 ford in reference to the Country Meeting of next year 

 should be taken into consideration on the 5th of 

 May next, when memorials and other documents would 

 also be taken into consideration from Coventry, Read- 

 ing, and Warwick. 



Adjourned to May 5. 



A Monthly Council was held on Wednesday, the 

 5th of May. Present : Lord Berners, President, in the 

 Chair; Earl of Powis, Lord Camoys, Lord Feversham, 

 Lord Walsingham, Hon. A. Leslie Melville, Hon. CqI. 

 A. Nelson Hood, Hon. William George Cavendish, 

 M.P. ; Sir John Villiers Shelley, Bart, M.P. ; Sir 

 Philip Egerton, Bart., M.P. ; Sir Charles Morgan, 

 Bart.; Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; Sir 

 Archibald Macdonald, Bart. ; Sir Edward Kerrison, 

 Bart., M.P. ; Mr. Dyke Acland, Mr. Raymond Barker, 

 Mr. Barnett, Mr. Hodgson Barrow, [vI.P., Mr. Bram- 

 ston, M.P., Mr. Barthropp, Mr. Brandreth, Mr. Cald- 

 well, Colonel Challoner, Mr. Druce, Mr. Foley, M.P., 

 Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, Mr. Hamond, Mr. Fisher Hobbs, 

 Mr. Holland, M.P., Mr. Wren Hoskyns, Mr. James 

 Howard, Mr. Hudson (of Castleacre), Mr. Humberston 

 (Mayor of Chester), Mr. Huskinson, Mr. Jonas, Mr. 

 Kinder, Mr. Langston, M.P., Mr. Lawes, Mr, Law- 

 rence, Mr. Miles, M.P,, Mr. Milward, Mr. Pain, Mr. 

 Shuttleworth, Mr. Slaney, M.P., Mr. Thompson, Mr. 

 Torr, Mr. Turner (of Boston), Professor Voelcker, Mr. 

 Burch Western, and Mr. Jonas Webb. 



His Grace the Duke of Marlborough, of Blenheim 

 Park, Oxfordshire, was elected a Governor of the Society. 



The following new Members were elected : — 

 Brad'ourne, John Hanbury, Pipe-place, Lichfield, Staffs. 

 Brogden, Jchn, Priory-gate, Sale, Cheshire. 

 Cawtoa, William, Somersa'l Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. 

 Clay, Charles, Walton Grange, Wakefield, Yorkshire. 

 Corbet, Dryden, Sundorne Castle, Shrewsbury 

 Crane, Edward, Foston, Montford, Shrewsbury. 

 Forshaw, Thomas, Latus Hall, Goosnargh, Lancashire. 

 Game, Robert, Northleach, Gloucestershire 

 Gaskell, Henry Loraax, Kiddington Hall, Woodstock. 

 Hill, L. Broadbent, Back Hall, Chester. 

 Holland, Charles, Keele, Newcastle, Staffordshire. 

 Howard, Robert, Broughton Hall, Wrexham. 

 Howell, John, Ewen, Cirencester. 

 Laing, Samuel, Hordle Manor, Lymiugton, Hampshire 

 Legau, John, Maindree House, Newport, Monmouthshire. 

 Matthews, Henry, Montford, Shrewsbury. 

 Mcin, William, Home Farm, Blenheim, Oxfordshire 

 Millard, James, Rugeley, Staffordshire. 

 Perry, Samuel, Shipley, Bridgenortb, Shropshire. 

 Sisson, Robert James, Talardy, St. Asaph. 

 Sugden, David, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. 

 Thomas, James, Lidlington, Ampthill, Bedfordshire 

 Woods, James, Stowmarket, Suffolk. 

 Woods, Edmund Freeman, Stowmarket, Suffolk. 



