8 OF TURNIPS. [Api)endix~ 



2**. That horn shavings are a more powerful manure than bones, — since 

 horn contains only one or two per cent, of earthy matter.* 



3°. That before the introduction of crushed bones, the ashes of burned bones 

 had been long employed to a small extent in agriculture, but have since fallen 

 almost entirely into disuse. 



4°. That old sheep skins cut up and laid in the drills, have been found to 

 yield as good a crop of turnips and after-crop of corn, as the remainder of the 

 field which was manured with bones. 



5°. That "40 lbs. of bone dust are sufficient to supply three crops of wheat, 

 clover, potatoes, turnips, &c., with phosphates,"t while one to two-thirds of a 

 ton of bones, containing from 400 to 800 lbs. of phosphates, is the quantity usu- 

 ally applied to the land. 



On the other hand, the quantity of animal matter present in a ton of bonea 

 (746 lbs.) is so small, and its decomposition so rapid during the growth of thd 

 turnips — while at the same time the effects of the bones are so lasting and so 

 beneficial to the after-crop of corn — that many persons hesitate in considering 

 the great excess of phosphates applied to the land, as really without any share 

 of influence in the production of the crops. 



Thus Sprengel, an authority of the very highest character, both in theoretical 

 and practical agriculture, is persuaded that the phosphates are the soleTerlilizing 

 ingredients in bones, and he explains the want of success from the use of crush- 

 ed bones in Mechlenburg and North Germany, on the supposition that the 

 soils in those countries already contain a sufficient supply of phosphates, while 

 in England generally they are deficient in these compounds. 



Further, if the animal matter be the fertilizing agent in bones, why are not 

 they of equal efficacy on grass land as upon turnips '? 



With the view, therefore, of leading to some rational explanation of the rela- 

 tive effects of the several constituents of bones, it would be desirable to insthute 

 comparative experiments of the following kind — 



1°. With half a ton of bones per acre. 



2°. With three or four cwt. of horn shavings or glite per acre. 



3°. With two cwt. of burned bones per acre. 



4°. With six or seven cwt. of burned bones per acre. 



The quantity of burned bones in No. 4 is that which is yielded by a ton of 

 fresh bones ; that in No. 3 is upwards of five times what should be taken up by 

 the crops — as great part of what is added must be supposed to remain in the 

 soil, while some must be dissolved and carried off by the rains. 



The result of such experiments as these, if made accurately on different soils, 

 will lead us sooner to the truth than whole volumes of theoretical discussion. 



II. Nitrate of soda has also been applied with great benefit in the culture of 

 turnips. Some experiments, exceedingly favourable in an economical j^oint of 

 view, have been made by Mr. Barclay, of Eastwick Park, Surrey,| who found 

 that one cwt. per acre, drilled in with the seed, gave as great a return of Swedes 

 as 15 bushels of bones with 15 of wood ashes per acre, and when the nitrate of 

 soda was sown broadcast, from 20 to 25 per cent. more. In every part of the 

 country, therefore, this substance ought to be tried. And as this nitrate is very 

 soluble in water, and may therefore be readily earned off by the rain, and as 

 that only which is within reach of the plant is of any avail, I would suggest 

 that not more than one-fourth of the whole should be drilled in with the seed, 

 for the purpose oi bringing away the plant; and that after the thinning by the 

 hoe, the rest should be strewed along the r ows by the hand or by the drill. In 



* This, I believe, is rather a matter of opinion than the result of a sufficient number of ac- 

 tual trials. Some trials made by Mr. Hawden (British Husbandry, I. p. 395) gave result* 

 very unfavourable to horn shavings. 



t Liebig, p. 84. The acre here spoken of is the Hessian, about three-fifths of the English 

 acre. The English, therefore, will require 66 lbs. 



t ffournal of the English Agricultural Society, I. p. 428. 



