MANURES. 299 



It is almost unnecessary to give any explanation of the uses that 

 may he made of the preceding table : I shall, however, give a few il- 

 lustrations from instances which have actually occurred in my ex» 

 perience. 



Oil-cake is cheap at this time, (1842 ;) and the question is, whether 

 it couki be advantageously employed in connection with the culti- 

 vation of wheat. The presumption is, that wheat obtains the whole 

 of its azote in the soil, that it acquires none from the atmosphere ; 

 and again, I assume that the whole of the azote put into the ground 

 w^ould be used up by the crop. Under the mo^t favorable circum- 

 stances of heat and moisture, this would probably be the case ; were 

 it not so to the letter, the active matter which remained in the 

 ground would operate advantageously in succeeding years. The 

 following, then, are the elements of the question : 



1st. In the wheat grown at Bechelbronn there is on an average 

 0.025 of azote. 2d. In the straw of 1841, I have just found 0.003 

 of azote. 3d. The oil-cake which I propose to employ coi.lains 

 0.055 of azote, and its actual price, crushing included, is 3^. 4d. per 

 cvvt. 4th. The relation in point of weight of the grain to the straw 

 is as 47 : 100. 



A sheaf or bundle of wheat, 220 lbs. in weight, consists of: 



Wheat 70.4 lbs., containine 1.760 of azote, and is worth 4s. 8d. 



Straw 149.6 lbs. " '^ 0.415 " •' Is. 8d. 



Total of azote 2.175 Total value 6s. 4d. 



Diiference of value 5s. 4d. 



To grow which, 39 lbs. of oil-cake would be required, of the 



value of Is. 2d. 



So that 39 lbs. of oil-cake, converted into a sheaf of wheat, would 

 be increased in intrinsic value to the extent of 5.?. 2d. Supposing 

 that but one-half or one-third of this amount, as indicated by theory, 

 is realized in practice, it is obvious that the addition of the oil-cake 

 might be made with advantage ; and that no means should be 

 neglected to ensure the success of its application as a manure.* 



The production of oil-cake in France, the Netherlands, and other 

 countries of Europe, is very considerable ; in round numbers, 100 

 of oleaginous seeds yield 60 of cake ; but it has been calculated, 

 with rare ability, and from authentic documents, by M. Leroy de 

 Bethune, that not only is the whole of the oil-cake, which is the 

 produce of the soil of France, exported, but that likewise of the 

 oleaginous seeds which she imports from other countries. This M. 

 de Bethune looks upon as a very lamentable agricultural fact. I 

 have shown, indeed, from the example which I have quoted, that 

 every pound of cake represents a primary material, which, properly 

 treated, may be transformed into nearly 6 pounds vi^eight of wheat- 

 grain and straw, having a value infinitely greater than that of the 

 oil-cake originally employed. 



* Our author hns of course left many other elements very necesstiry to be included 

 out of his calculation here, such as labor, seed, rent charge, interest on capital, k* 

 Eva. Ed. 



