On the Manurinr/ of Grass Land. 245 



■2/. 15s. 6(7. X 70 = 194/. 5s. 



£297 10 

 194 5 



Profit on manuring . . .. £103 5 



Is it commercially worth a farmer's while to lay out 194Z. 55. 

 to make a profit of 103/. 5^. ? The whole matter may in truth be 

 reduced to this. 



I will put another case also within my own Icnowledj^e, and 

 which diffei's from the former ones in being in all its details such 

 that it is within the power of any farmer, wherever situated. A 

 meadow (ten acres) had been mown annually for a long period. 

 For five years no manure of any kind had been put upon it, but 

 prior to that time it received (I believe) six sacks of soot per 

 acre. It was much impoverished, and in 1855 produced barely 

 half a ton of hay per acre ; indeed, to get this quantity, I think it 

 was not mown until the reapers had begun to work in some 

 neighbouring wheat-fields. In 1856 it received a ton per acre of 

 clay, which had been saturated in the purifiers of some gas-works 

 in a neighbouring town. The clay was dried and pulverized, and 

 sprinkled over the surface of the field very early in January. In 

 1856 a crop of \\ ton of hay per acre was carried by the first 

 week in July, and subsequently the after-grass was sold to the 

 tenant of an adjacent farm, to be eaten by his sheep and cattle till 

 Christmas, for the sum of 30.>>. per acre ! As soon as cleared, the 

 field was again dressed with the same manure. On the 27th of 

 June, 1857, a crop of hay, estimated at If ton of hay per acre, 

 was stacked, and the after-grass was again purchased by the 

 farmer who bought it the year before, for 305. per acre. Will 

 this pay ? 



£. s. d. 



1 ton of hay per acre, at 4/. 4 



Half of after-grass, at 303 15 



£4 15 



1 ton of manure 1 1 



Cartage 2 G 



Spreading 016 



£15 



4 15 

 Deduct cost of manure, &c 15 0, 



Gain per acre .. .. £3 10 

 3/. 10s. X 10 = 35/. gain on 10 acres. 



Is it commercially worth while to expend 255. to oljtain a re- 

 turn of 4/. 155. per acre, leaving a profit of 3/. 10s. ? 



