258 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



the exact quantity of minerals and nitrogen, which we estimate to be taken out of the soil 

 by one ton of hay. It is not easy to find any basis for comparison in this case, as the fertility 

 of the unmanured land had already been reduced by the removal of nine crops. If, however, 

 we take the produce of the last ten years of the unmanured land for comparison, we find that 

 we have only obtained 1,453 Ibs. by materials which were competent to furnish 2,240 Ibs. of 

 hay; this is about two-thirds of what we should have obtained if all the manure had been taken 

 up. The nitrogen contained in the increased produce amounts to 15 Ibs., which is nearly one-half 

 of that supplied in the manure. It may be mentioned also that there was a considerable de 

 cline in produce in the last ten years of the unmanured land, which we took for the basis of 

 comparison. 



I have now pointed out some of the most prominent of the experiments, and will con* 

 elude this part of the subject with a few remarks on the practical knowledge which may be 

 derived from them. 



In the remarks which I have made up to this point, I have purposely abstained from 

 saying anything about the difference of the quality of the herbage produced by the different 

 manures; as this point will be more appropriately treated when I have done with hay as an 

 article of sale. 



Whatever may be the case in New York, in Great Britain the value of hay depends 

 upon its being of good color, and got in without injury from rain, than from any difference 

 in its feeding qualities. Hay is sold in the London market by the load of eighteen trusses, 

 weighing 56 pounds each; this is as nearly as possible the United States ton of 2,000 

 pounds. The price of a load of meadow hay is from $20 to $25, which does not differ much 

 from the New York quotation of from $1 to $1.25 per 100 pounds. 



The price of the most important ingredients in manures would not, I conclude, differ 

 very much in the two localities. With regard to the effect produced by manures here and 

 in the state of New York, possibly we may lose more of the soluble portion of our manures 

 by drainage, while in New York, want of sufficient rain, combined with a higher tempera- 

 ture, may prevent the crop from making use of all the elements of plant-food which are 

 readily available. 



Let us now endeavor to estimate the cost of the hay grown by the manure applied. In 

 Plot 1 8 the exact ingredients contained in one ton of hay are applied as a manure. And as 

 these ingredients are not specified in the table of manures, I will give them here: 



38 Ibs. Potash. 



Chloride of Potash, 76 Ibs. { 7 Ibs. Soda. 



36.7 Ibs. Chlorine. 



, , , ,, . OK ( 5.6 Ibs. Magnesia. 



Sulphate Magnesia, 35 Ibs. -j n l ]bg&amp;gt; Sul p huric acid&amp;gt; 



11. Ibs. Lime. 

 8.2 Ibs. Phosphoric acid. 



&amp;lt; 



T&amp;gt; A T, o n J 11- Iks. Lime. 



Bone Ash, . 26 Ibs. &amp;lt; 



Sulphuric Acid, ....... 26 Ibs. 



Silicate Soda, ....... 50 Ibs. 



ci T -r ff\ 11 



Silicate Lime, ....... 50 Ibs. 



o i* * i . KM n 34 Ibs. Nitrogen. 



Salts of Ammonia, ...... l64 lbs - j 90.6 Ibs. Chlorine and Sulphuric Acid. 



It is somewhat difficult to estimate the cost of this manures, but I do not think it could 

 be bought and sown upon the land for much less than $16; with a produce of 1,453 pounds 

 of hay there would be little or no profit. 



Plot 7. The manures used in this experiment could be probably bought and spread upon 

 the land at a cost of from $12 to $13; the increased produce amounts to 1,500 pounds of 

 hay ; there would, therefore, be a small profit upon this transaction. But it must be remem 

 bered that the success of a purely mineral manure depends upon the amount of nitrogen 

 liberated from the store in the soil; and in the course of time this store will be reduced by 

 the process of exhaustion to the same level as that which we now have in our arable land. 



