farmers' miscellany. 115 



Grain. Straw. 



Potash, 2.25 lbs 0.20 lbs. 



Soda, 2.40 " 0.29 " 



Lime, ...0.96 " 2.40" 



Silica, 4.00 " 28.70 " 



Phosphoric acid, ... .40 " 1 .70 " 



Here can be seen at a glance, the greater quantity of potash and 

 soda in the grain, whilst the straw abounds in lime, silica and 

 phosphoric acid. The silica, as might be expected, is vastly more 

 abundant in the straw than in the grain, being, in fact, the back bone 

 of the plant, by which it is enabled to bear its burden of grain 

 erect. And experiment has demonstrated that upon whatever soil 

 the plant is grown, if it attains a healthy growth and ripens its 

 seed well, the quantity and quality of the ash is nearly the same. 



As we said before, this has a very important practical bearing. 

 It show^s the process by which soils become impoverished, and also 

 serves to point out the method by which they may be continued 

 fertile or improved and restored when exhausted. And we have 

 been led to these remarks by having often heard it said, and lately 

 by a highly intelligent farmer, that if the straw was every year 

 restored to the ground from which it was taken, the soil would 

 produce good crops of wheat forever. An examination of the 

 above table speaks a different language from this. The straw and 

 ibe grain: deprive the soil of very different substances. By resto- 

 ring the straw, the lime, silica and phosphoric acid would be mostly 

 returned, but the potash and soda would be taken away. Thus 

 gradually these would be diminished, and although from year to 

 year little difference might be noticed, yet after a number of years, 

 if the extremes are compared, w^e do not doubt that a vast change 

 would be discovered. The practice of returning the straw to the 

 land is a good one, but at the same time it will be perceived that 

 other manures, and those containing the substances taken off in the 

 grain, are necessary to keep the soil in a really productive state. 

 And well conducted experiments will determine exactly what those 

 manures should be ; and this is one great aim of agricultural sci- 

 ence. 



We would recommend, in this connection, to all who are en- 

 gaged in agricultural pursuits, to study the 2d No. of Johnston's 

 Agricultural Chemistry. The whole work is one which should be 



