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Mr. Wii.LiMOTT thought this probable because ia its action it 

 wotikl resemble the valuable fertilizer ground bones. 



In reply to Mr. Fletcher, who asked if there was any official 

 statement on the point, Mr. Small cited the r.^port of the Department 

 of Agriculture on tests made at the Agricultural College, Gnelph, 

 showing that good effects followed its use in the third year after appli- 

 cation when applied to I'oot crops, but not to cereals. He found this 

 opinion endorsed in leading Scotch agricultural papers, and stated there 

 was a large demand for the ground, untreated apatite in Bilgium to 

 fertilize the sugar beet farms. 



Mr. Fletcher thought if this were true the farms in the apatite 

 district should b3 particularly fertile, v/hich, from wha*-. he had seen 

 in this district, did not appeir to be the case. 



Rev. Mr. Marsan instanced some particularly fertile patches on 

 the upper Gaiiueau, wliich had been worked for thirty years without 

 manuring and still remained fertile. This success he attributed to the 

 vicinity of phosphate deposits. He thought the two theories as to the 

 best means of using the phosphate reconcilable. Roots require little 

 phosphate, while fruits must hav^e it. In spring it is found that all 

 the phosphorus in a jdant is contained in the root, in July it is in the 

 straw, while at harvest time it has found its way into the fruit ; conse- 

 quently cereals would require it in such a form as would favor rapid 

 assimilation, while i-oot crops could get it from the more slowly disinte- 

 grating ground apatite. In the reports of the French agricultural 

 schools preference was given to the raw material, and the French news- 

 papers were advising the same treatment. 



The lecturer's remarks on all points he considered most exact. He 

 (Father Marsan) had studied the neighborhood of the Desert, which 

 was very similar to the formation at Chelsea. No tract is so uniform 

 as the crystalline limestone band. The observations of the survey had 

 e.Ktended 60 miles up the Gatineau ; 90 miles farther up the river the 

 same foimatiou was found. 



He had found gold on Trout Creek, which emi)ties into Eagle 

 River. Although the geological formation would lead one to expect its 

 existence he had paid little attention to the first reports of its presence, 

 because farmers often confused mica and pyrites with the precious 



