71 



same is reported from Norfolk, Mass., except that those which " teud to- 

 drive special garden-crops, may pay." In New London County, Connecti- 

 cut, guano is liked for garden-crops, and superphosphates deemed bene- 

 ficial on most crops ; in New Haven, a great variety is used, which " pay 

 well if of good quality and properly applied;" in Hartford they are used 

 largelj' in connection with stable-manure. 



About one-half the returns from New York report the profitable use 

 of gypsum, particularly on clover. In Seneca it is deemed by far the 

 cheapest commercial fertilizer 5 in Onondaga, in dry seasons, it nearly 

 doubles the crop of clover. Lime is used in a similar way, though not 

 so extensively, with like results. Exclusive of these, correspondents 

 express the opinion, based upon experiments, that commercial fertilizers 

 are not profitable. There are a few exceptions. In Broome they are 

 considered profitable to drill in with wheat ; profitable in some localities 

 of Sufiblk, and Chautauqua predicts that they will be more used in the 

 coming than in any previous season. 



In New Jersey, lime excepted, no county reports them unqualifiedly 

 profitable. In Burlington, while marl, guano, and phosphates are largely 

 used in some crops, the main dependence is on manure either made on 

 the farm or purchased in Philadelphia. Guano only is used in Camden, 

 and " less and less each season ;" in Gloucester they are only profitable 

 for special crops. 



In Pennsylvania, lime holds the foremost place among commercial fer- 

 tilizers. It is considered one of the cheapest, most reliable, and effectual. 

 It is extensively used with uniformly favorable results. It is most used 

 on clover or to facilitate decomposition in green-manuring. In Bucks, 

 •plowing under clover with the liberal use of lime is the cheapest and 

 quickest way to renovate poor soil. Lehigh reports that to keep up a 

 luxuriant growth of clover and other grasses a field should be limed 

 every five or six years. Lebanon, that " the only practice of soil-improve- 

 ment is with lime and barn-yard manure, repeated about once in seven 

 years ; 50 to 100 bushels of lime per acre is put on land for corn, and 

 manure on oats-stubble for wheat. This process has doubled produc- 

 tion on all crops Avithin the last twenty years." Gypsum is used, less 

 extensively, in the same way, and with a single exception like results 

 are reported. Butler County reports that it is now much less used than 

 formerly, being " deemed only stimulating in its effects by which one 

 crop is benefited at, the expense of the next." Returns are almost 

 unanimous against the general use of compounded commercial fertilizers. 

 High ijrices, frauds, and uncertainty of effect compared with farm-yard 

 manure are the principal objections. One says " it increased the crop 

 for one year, but had the effect to make the land more sterile after that." 

 Another, " Guano has become so adulterated that its use has been dis- 

 continued by many." "Farmers have generally come to the conclu- 

 sion that barnyard manure pays best." These are illustrations of the- 

 general tone. The only marked exception is from Adams, which reports. 

 that the better kinds are used by many of the best farmers, and that 

 " the rapidlj^-increasing demand by intelligent farmers is evidence of 

 their utility." In Bucks they are used advantageously to supply defi- 

 ciencies in barn-yard manure, since the farmers, after having been 

 extensively humbugged, are now more careful in selecting. Hence it is. 

 reported that the farmers in that and the adjoining counties control a 

 large manufactory for phosphates and bone-dust, now in operation in 

 Philadelphia, worked on th« co-operative plan. 



In Delaware they are less used than formerly. 



In Maryland the current of opinion runs in the opposite direction. In 



