242 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



The fact that guano, like the mineral water, 

 occurrin? in nature, may be advantageously re- 

 placed by artjticial preparations, has long been 

 acknowledged. Such a manure, " applicable to 

 all descriptions of soils." should contain, accord- 

 ing to Professor Liebig, earthy and alkaline 

 phosphates, ihe alkalies, sulphate, muriate of 

 potash, common salt salts of lime, especially 

 gypsum, and salts of ammonia. Tlie propor- 

 tion, however, in which these should occur in 

 manure must differ according to the crop it is to 

 be applied to ; for — and this is a fact which has 

 been illustrated to a great extent during the past 

 few years, and to which, doubtless, the attention 

 of chemists will be devoted for many years to 

 come — the mineral food required by one plant is 

 different from that needed by another. 



•• Hundred weights of the ashes of the follow- 

 ing plants, contain — 



Beans 



Straw of 



. IPota- 

 Peas toes. 



Alkaline Carbonates. 

 Carbonate of Lisie. 

 Phosphate of Lime, 

 Phos. of Maenesia... 

 Sulphate of Potash \ 



or Soda. 3 



Magnesia, 



Chloride of Sodi- ) 



um or potassium, j 



Ph. of Iron, Ph. of? 



Alumina, to... S 



23.3;« 1-2.43 



39.50147. 81 



6.43 5.15 



6.66| 4.37 



12.40J10.15 



0.28| 4.63 



Clo- 

 ver. 



4T34'.31.63 



43.68 

 5.73 



7.82 



2.8 



41.61 

 11.80 

 0.91 



2.23 



Ash- 

 es of 

 Hav. 



3.0 

 6.9 

 40.8 



8.84 

 21.8 

 3.06 



1.27 



'• In these analyses Silica has not been taken 

 into account as it is found in all soils, and need 

 not be supplied. One hundred weight of the 

 ashes of Potatoes, and the seeds of the following 

 plants, contains — 



•'What is wanting of the 100 in the above 

 analyses is sand, coal, or loss. From these re- 

 searches it appears, that for stalks and leaves we 

 require other elements than for seeds. The for- 

 mer contain no alkaline phosphates, bat they 

 require for their development and growth, a 

 rich supply of alkaline carbonates and stilphates. 

 On the other hand, the carbonates are entirely 

 wanting in the seeds, which, however, are veiy 

 rich in phosphates. It is sufficiently obvious 

 that a rational farmer must supply both, as well 

 as all the others. If he supplies only phosphates, 

 and does not restore the alkaline carbonates, his 

 soil win become gradually barren — it wUl be 

 exhausted in those nece.ssary elements for the 

 development of .stalks and seeds, without which 

 no formation of seed can be expected. If he 

 supplies the alkalies, lime, and sulphates alone, 

 in a given time he will get no more grain. All 

 constituents of the manure, if they are supplied 

 alone, have this great defect that by them the 

 soil is impoverished in other equally important 

 substances. No one of itself can maintain the 

 fertility.' 



The theory of artificial manuring seems to be 

 now perfect ; but it is questionable, if a perfect 

 practice can yet be founded upon it What we 

 want to enable this, is a perfect knowledge of 

 f494) 



the mineral and organic constituents of plants, 

 ^ and fiia-t we do not yet possess, as any one may 

 a.scertain by comparing the statements of chem- 

 i ists on that head. However, Professor Liebig 

 : is certainly one of the best existing authorities 

 j on the subject ; and. if in the present stage of 

 I chemistry in its application to agriculture, farm- 

 : ers are to trust to chemists at all. we knov.- not 

 ' to whom they should give more of their confi- 

 dence than to him. He has prepared prescrip. 

 : tions for manures to be used for the different 

 : caltivated plants, and he has intrusted the exe- 

 cution of them, under competent superintend- 

 ' ence, to Messrs. Muspratt of Liverpool 

 I There is much very useful information in tliis 

 pamphlet which these gentlemen are circulating 

 as an advertisement of their connection with 

 Professor Liebig. and which wDi doubtless inte- 

 I rest the reader e%en though he should not test 

 I its accuracy by the ptirchase and use of Profes- 

 sor Liebig's manure. In saying this, we do not 

 mean to cast any doubt upon the soundness cf 

 the principles on which this manure is prepared 

 — that is unquestionable — but there may be va- 

 riable circumstances connected with the action 

 of manures with which we are yet unacquaint- 

 ed. Certain it is, that though we may know 

 hovs' to manufacture a successful manure, we 

 have not yet the means of making a perfectly 

 economical one. Ability to adopt true economy 

 in the art of mammug, depends not only on a 

 knowledge of what plants require in order to 

 their full development in all the different stages 

 of tlieir growth ; but also on a knowledge which 

 we do not possess, of the stores which Nature has 

 read}" for their use, both in any particular soil 

 and in the air. It would be wasteful to supply 

 them with all they want independently of these. 

 [London Agricultural Gazette, Sept. 20, le45. 



The Giant Ox. — This noble and extraordina- 

 ry animal of the Devon breed, of which we have 

 several times spoken— nineteen hands high, and 

 upwards of 3,700 pounds weight — was dispo.sed 

 of by rafBe, on Friday last at Pratt's Old Lon- 

 don Inn, iu this city. There were 120 subscri- 

 bers at a guinea per share, and it was agreed 

 that the last ticket drawn should be the prize 

 ticket or in other words, the person to whose 

 lot it fell, should be the winner of the giant ox. 

 118 tickets had been drawn, and the subscribers 

 whose tickets had not been drawn, were — Mr. 

 Burgoin, of Sowton, bailift' and hind to ,Tohn Gar- 

 ratt Esq. of Bishop's Court and Mr. Hodge of 

 Plj-moutli, horse dealer, who \vas represented 

 by deputj-. These no\v agreed to go shares, 

 and consequently the ox is theirs. The winner 

 had to spend £5, and those by whom the ox was 

 put up, a similar stun. [Taimton Courier. 



Red Deer. — It is well kno\\'n that the red 

 deer in some districts arrive at a larsrer size than 

 in others. As an instance, we have just heard 

 of two magnificent stags, lately killed in Ard- 

 gour, of the respective weights of 408 lbs. and 

 353 lbs., a-s killed. AVhen cleaned, including 

 skin, head, and horns, they weighed 333 lbs. and 

 295 lbs. The fat on the haunches of the.'* ani- 

 mals measures in depth above three inches. The 

 head of the smallest though not so fine a head 

 as tlie former, has twelve good points; the other 

 ten. [Inverness Cour. 



