FERTILIZKES. 67 



Prof. Atwater said that man}' samples of fertilizers came to him 

 for examination, and that many farmers pa}' too much for them, 

 because they fail to discriminate not merely between good and bad, 

 but between those which are most appropriate to their soils, and 

 those which are not. 



Prof. Atwater's lecture was illustrated b}' specimens of fertilizers, 

 and by diagrams of Dr. Nobbes' experiments with plants in solu- 

 tions, and of experiments made by the lecturer in barren sand, and 

 by tabular views of the experiments made under the direction .of 

 the Connecticut Experiment Station. It was listened to with great 

 interest throughout, and at the close Mr. Moore moved a vote of 

 thanks to Prof. Atwater for his able and instructive address, which 

 was unanimousl}' passed. 



MEETING FOR DISCUSSION. 



Saturday, February IG, 1878. 



A meeting for discussion was holden at 11 o'clock, W. C. Strong, 

 Chairman of the Committee on Publication and Discussion, pre- 

 siding. The discussion was a continuation of that of last week on 

 Fertilizers. 



Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant opened the discussion. He had had no 

 time to prepare a paper, but said that he had careful!}' considered 

 the subject, and that the facts he should present would be correct, 

 and the opinions given such as he had deliberately formed. 



He referred first to the history of fertilizers, and claimed that a 

 substance had been extensively used during ages, and had, on the 

 average, always produced crop-results. This substance was dung. 

 In 1840, Liebig first brought the subject of artificial fertiUzers 

 vividly before the public, in his masterly writings, and his views 

 had received such currency that their few errors had become diffi- 

 cult to eradicate from the public comprehension. He, however, 

 proved one true and important fact : that the elements of the 

 plant were taken ' as such from the soil, and that plants could 

 receive into their structure mineral food artificially supplied. Hon 



