SECRETARY'S REPORT. 281 



plain, that if the cost of pumping were two or three times 

 greater than this, it would' still be an insignificant item in the 

 expenditure. 



" The cost of applying liquid manure at Vaujours by the 

 cart and barrel is as follows : — 



Cost of a boat-load of 40 tons, . . . $8 20 



Canal charges, 2 12 



Average cost of emptying boat (3 dollars,) 

 and carting, 800 yards, 11 87 



122 19or40^8oCts. 

 per ton. When the roads were bad we had to harness 3 horses 

 to a cart. When every thing was in good order we emptied a 

 boat-load a day with two carts, but in the winter of 1857-8, it 

 took a day and a half," 



A boat load, free from solid matter, was emptied, when the 

 pumps worked well, in two hours. It was found that 20 tons 

 was all that could be applied judiciously to an acre of cereals, 

 but on forage crops, when one dressing is applied in winter and 

 another in summer, this quantity could be exceeded. The 

 summer dressing, it has been found from experience, must be 

 diluted with three or four times its bulk of water. A given 

 quantity is lifted by the pumps into a reservoir, then diluted 

 and distributed through the pipes. 



The enterprise had many drawbacks during the first three or, 

 four years from bad seasons. Cold and wet, dry and hot 

 weather alternated, and well-nigh swamped the whole experi- 

 ment. Sometimes the applications burnt the whole first crop 

 of grass and carried the haymaking along into October. 



A flock of sheep was started, but they were bought when 

 everybody else was buying, and sold when everybody wanted 

 to sell, and so resulted in a pretty large loss. Rye grass and 

 water were found an unprofitable winter feed. 



It was found that the crops lodged badly from over-feeding 

 with a too stimulating application. Wheat was nearly aban- 

 doned on this account. Then the oats lodged about as bad, 

 and increased the cost of harvesting. Then the crops of rape 

 and rye grass began to show symptoms of weakness from the too 

 abundant winter application, and it was found that the contract 



to apply 10,000 tons a year would lead to certain loss from this 

 36* 



