ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 159 



superphosphates, and other artificials, have no effect at all, 

 or very little effect. That is certainly another point in favour 

 of farmyard dung. If we contrast the climate of Scotland 

 with that of the south of England, we will find that we can 

 apply much larger quantities of artificial manure with good 

 effect in the north than we can in the south. We can 

 apply half-ton to an acre of well compounded substances, 

 as, for example, dissolved bones, guano, and superphosphate. 

 On asking a Northumberland farmer of great experience why 

 he used very heavy artificial dressings for his turnip crops, 

 his reply was that he could grow them in that way at the least 

 cost per ton. But in the south of England two or three 

 hundredweight is quite sufficient I do not know that we 

 can do much better than apply from two to three hundred- 

 weight of superphosphate ; it is sufficient for the require- 

 ments of the climate. Now in Scotland the climate is 

 capable of producing fifty tons per acre of turnips, but in the 

 south of England from ten to twelve or twenty tons is more 

 like what we can produce in favourable circumstances. 

 Therefore the capabilities of the crop in a suitable climate 

 enable it to take up a vast amount of fertilizing matter. The 

 turnip crop has not got the constitution to do it in the south 

 of England. The case is this : in Scotland, where turnips 

 can be grown to a weight of fifty tons to the acre, they will 

 ike up any amount of materials we choose to give them ; 

 but in the south, where we only look for ten to twelve or 

 twenty tons, it is no use putting on heavy dressings. But in 

 the south of England we may manure mangold as much 

 we like, because there we have a crop suitable for the 

 climate, and capable of assimilating whatever is given it. 



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