THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



137 



expense of manufacturing this bulky and ponderous 

 commodity, and applying it to the land, not less than 

 7s. Gd. per ton. Thus, then, a manuring with farm- 

 yard dung, at the medium rate of 15 tons per acre, 

 costs £b 12s. 6d. The cost of extraneous manures used 

 in the Rothamsted experiment, at the rate in point of 

 quantity assumed above, was shown to be (Table VI.) 

 £9 lis. 9d. Excess in cost of tlie extraneous manures 

 £3 19s. 3d. 



But when the intrinsic merits of the two are taken 

 into consideration, the following very striking facts pre- 

 sent themselves : 1st. That of the 15 tons of the indi- 

 genous manure upwards of 9 tons consists of absolutely 

 innutritions M'rt/er; and upwards of other 3^ tons of 

 organic constituents, which, except in their contained 

 nitrogen, are, in thoroughly improved soils, of little or no 

 value. This leaves no more than 2^ tons of available 

 mineral composition. And from whence have these 

 2j tons been obtained ? Are they when deposited to 

 be deemed a fresh acquisition received by the soil ? 

 Certainly not, since it is beyond all question that they 

 form in reality bxit a small portion (the major part 

 sent to market in corn and fatted stock) of the identical 

 ingredients abstracted from the land, by the roots, clover, 

 and straw, whose remains form the contents of the dung- 

 court. As such, therefore, the use of homestead 

 manure can no more sustain a farm in heart, than any 

 one can keep a good balance at his bank credit 

 who habitually pays in less than he draws out ; while 

 he who makes liberal use of extraneous fertilizers, may 

 be likened to the thriving customer whose drafts are 

 counterpoised by equivalent deposits. In laying out 

 £5 12s. 6d, in growing cattle crops, and converting them 

 into 15 tons of homestead manure applied to the land 

 from which it was obtained, the farmer who does so is 

 making restitution of a mere fractional part of what that 

 laud had itself yielded ; and since it is but too true, that 

 coincident with this unreciprocal and exhaustive system, 

 two at least of the four members of rotation husbandry 

 have been running an unprosperous course of pro- 

 gressive disease and degeneracy, can any question, 

 therefore, be more worthy of the attention alike of landlord, 

 agent, and tenant, than these ? — whether, on the one 

 hand, it is or is not an agricultural fact, that a farm 

 could be kept in fall and permanent bearing by means 

 of adequate periodical supplies of extraneous manures ? 

 and, on the other hand, whether, also, it could or could 

 not be so, without derogation from wjiat hitherto has 

 been the profitable returns of tillage husbandry ? 



In proceeding next to argue these two points of en- 

 quiry, we will reverse their order, and first take up the 

 financial query, and present the/oUowing table, with no 

 further preface than this, that its figures are the ex- 

 ponents of a very considerable amount of carefully 

 collected and digested statistical information. 



Table VII. 

 Showing the AcreaLle Expenses of Working a Turnip 

 Soil under a Four-course Rotation of mixed Corn 

 and Cattle Crop Husbandry ; Capital invested ^£10 

 per acre. Kent 32s. per acre ; including Tithes, 

 Kates, Sza. 

 Expenses of pvoducing the turnips and clover, 

 converting tbem into manure, and carting and 

 applying it to the ground, as before stated .... ^5 12 6 

 Note. — This is to be held as including 

 every expense connected with the cattle crops 

 and cattle (including a proportion of rent, &c. ), 

 after deduction of the yearly returns from the 

 fatted animals sant to market. 

 Expenses of cultivating and liandling the barley 

 crop, including a proportion of the general 



£ 3 U 



charges connected with the cleaning of the land I 11 

 Expenses in like [manner connected with the 

 tillage of the wheat crop 4 1-1 1 



Acreable yearly mean .... 



Eetdiins. 



Average market price of 40 bush, 

 of barley, at 3s. Cd. per bush, 

 equal to i£7, and straw charged 

 against manure, 1 J ton at 2' Is,. ^8 10 



Average market price of ;i8 bush, 

 of wheat, at Os. Cd per bush, 

 equal to £'9 2s., and straw, l^ 

 tou,at20s 10 12 



Acreable yearly mean . . 



Average acreable nett profit, being at the 

 rate of 10 per cent, on the capital invested 



(i'lO per acre), viz. 



On cattle and cattle crops .... ^2,704 

 On cornjcrops 1,290 



4 i:> 



1 C 



i'4.000 J 



The next table will give a monetary view of a sup- 

 posed management analogous to the Rothamsted rotation 

 experiment, and based on the assumption that, as in that 

 tentative instance, a full manuring of superphosphate of 

 lime, alkalies, amraoniacal salts, and rapecake is used, 

 and the root crop carted off. The computations will 

 assume, also, that a market could be obtained for the 

 roots, hay, and straw, and that by the withdrawal of 

 cattle from the management, the capital required would 

 be reduced to £Q per acre. 



Table VIII. 



Expenses of tilling and liandling the turnips, in- 

 cluding rent, &c., and a proportion of the ge- 

 neral expenses of cleaning, the land but 

 exclusive of manuring i£3 2 G 



Expenses connected with the clover crop 3 1 



Expenses connected with the barley crop as be- 

 fore ( Table Vll.) 4 11 9 



Expenses connected with the wheat crop as be- 

 fore (Table Vll.) 4 14 1 



Mean ajiniwZ expense of tillage .. 3 17 4 

 Quadrennial expense of extraneous manures, as 

 computed before (Table VI.) ^'9 lis, 9d. 

 equal yearly to 2 7 11 



Acreable yearly mean of expenses . . 6 S 3 

 Eetdens. 

 1. Green Crops and Straw, 

 Value of 15 tons of turnips, exclu- 

 sive of leaf, at 3s. 4d. per ton . . ^£2 10 

 Value of clover-hay, 1^ ton, at 

 53s. 4d., equal to ^'4 ; I^ ton of 

 aftermath,at39s.,eqLial to =£2 9s, C 9 

 Value of I5 ton of barley straw, at 



l(js. 8d. per ton 15 



Value of Ir, ton of wheat straw, at 



16s, 8d. per ton 15 



11 9 



2. Com. 

 Average market price of 40 bush. 



of barley, at 3s. Od. per bush. . . 7 

 Average market price of 28 bush, 



of barley, at 6s, 6d, per bush... 9 2 



Average yearly mean of returns ,. C17 3 



Nett acreable profit, being at the rate of 10 

 per cent, on the capital invested, now re- 

 duced by the withdrawal of the cattle from 

 the management to £<o per acre 12 



