THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE 



195 



tons.cwts.qrs. 

 (). 375 lbs. nitrate of soda (one year) 1 ] J !5 



7. 550 lbs. nitrate of soda (equal in 



nitrogen to the ammouiacal salts 



of plot 1). . . (one year) 1. 11 3 



8. Mixed mineral manure, composed 



of— 



Superphosphate of lime : 

 200 lbs. bone ash 



150 lbs. sulphuric acid'''" . / 



' potash . > 1 1- 



5 ] 



300 lbs. sulphate of potash . , 

 200 lbs. sulphate of soda . i 

 100 lbs. sulphate of magnesia J 



9. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



and 2,000 lbs. sawdust . .115 3 



10. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



and 200 lbs. each sulphate and 



muriate ammonia . . . 2 19 1 



11. Mixed mineral manui'e, as plot 8, 



200 lbs. each sulphate and mu- 

 riate ammoni I, and 2,000 lbs, 

 sawdust 2 IS 2 



12. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



200 lbs. each sulphate and mu- 

 riate ammonia, and 2,000 lbs. cut 

 wheat- straw . . . . 2 14 



13. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



and 400 lbs. each sulphate and 



muriate ammonia . . .3 3 2 



14. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



and 275 lbs. nitrate of soda 



(one year) 1 17 3 



15. Mixed mineral manure, as plot 8, 



and 550 lbs. nitrate of soda (equal 



iu nitrogen to the ammouiacal 



salts of plots 4, 10, &c., (one year) 2 10 1 

 IG. 14 tons farmyard dung . .2 

 17. 14 tons farmyard dung, and 100 



lbs. each sulphate and muriate 



ammonia 2 8 2 



The result of these varied applications, in in- 

 ducing the growth of different kinds of grasses, is 

 thus summed up by the institutors of these valuable 

 experiments : That the effect of a mixed, but purely 

 mineral manure upon the complex herbage of per. 

 maneut meadow land was chiefly to develope the 

 growth of the leguminous plants (clovers &c,) it 

 contained, and scarcely to increase at all the produce 

 of the graminaceous plants, or commonly called 

 natural grasses. That the action of purely nitrogen- 

 ous manures upon the permanent meadow, was to 

 discourage the growth of the leguminous herbage, 

 and to increase the produce of the graminaceous 

 hay. 



That by the comhination of both nitrogenous and 

 proper mineral manures, the produce of gramina- 

 ceous hay was very much increased. In the parti- 

 cular soil and seasons in question, the increase ob. 

 tained by the combination was far beyond the sum 

 of the increase yielded by the two descriptions of 

 manure, when each of them was used separately. 



* (sp. gr, 1,7) 



That farmyard manure gave a considerable in- 

 crease of chiefly graminaceous hay. In the soil and 

 seasons iu question, however, the artificial combina- 

 tion of nitrogenous and mixed mineral manure 

 yielded a very much larger increase than an annual 

 dressing of 14 tons of farmyard manure. 



That peculiarly carbonaceous manures had little 

 or no beneficial effect on the amount of produce of 

 the hay. That the little effect (if any) which the 

 carbonaceous manures did exhibit, seemed to be 

 favoured by admixture with mineral manures ; and 

 then (as when the mineral manures were used alone) 

 it appeared to be the leguminous, rather than the 

 graminaceous herbage, that was encouraged. 



That the beneficial action of farm-yard manure on 

 the grass crop is to be attributed chiefly to its min- 

 eral and nitrogenous constituents, and comparatively 

 little to its large amount of carbonaceous substance. 



That the large increase of produce obtained by 

 the combination of nitrogenous and mixed mineral 

 manure, being almost entirely graminaceous, the 

 miueral manures, when in this combination, did not 

 act as when used alone, in developing the highly 

 nitrogenous leguminous herbage. The great in- 

 crease in the produce of hay obtained by the con- 

 junction of the mineral with the nitrogenous manure 

 is to be attributed to the supply, within a limited 

 range of the soil, of a sullicient amount of the ne- 

 cessary mineral constituents, to enable the gramina- 

 ceous plants to turn to the account of growth the 

 nitrogen at the same time artificially supplied. 



The very agrarian weeds, which haunt as it were 

 the footsteps of the farmer of arable soils, seem also 

 to show the influence of manure on the growth of 

 certain plants. Every cultivator is aware of these 

 things. He sometimes, however, may have as- 

 signed to one cause, what more properly belongs to 

 another. Professor Buckman has given same excel- 

 lent notices in more than one of his valuable papers 

 on the Natural Grasses. Thus he remarks {ibid, 

 vol. xvi., p, 368) : " Chickweed, sandworts, ground- 

 sel, spurge, and dead-nettles are nowhere found in 

 unbroken grounds ; but in land newly brought under 

 tillage, they soon make their a])pearance," And in 

 the next page he adds : " But there appears to be a 

 most important point conueeted with agrarian weeds, 

 namely, that weeds common to good cultivated soil 

 appear to possess some of the most important chem- 

 ical principles in great quantities," The mere re- 

 ference to the analysis of some of the most common 

 weeds proves the truth of this assertion. Mark, 

 for instance, the large amount of phosphoric acid 

 which the ashes of some of these contain. The 

 stem and leaves of the ivy-leaved speedwell 14.0 per 

 cent,, of its seeds and capsules 44.0, the seeds of 

 the dandelion 41.9, the whole plant of the corn 

 cockle 7.2, and of the greatev celandine 15,7 per cent. 



