THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Ill 



others are deciJeilly unfavorable. One of these 

 reports, indeed, which is both minute and appa- 

 rently accurate, stales that it was tried upon crops 

 ol' potatoes, cats, barley, and turnips, as well as 

 upon natural and cultivated ijrass. Refuse salt 

 was applied, mixed wiih ashes in the proportion 

 of three-lburtiis ot ilie (brmer to one ol' the latter, 

 and laid on at various rales Iron) sixteen to thirty 

 bushels per acre, both drilled in, and as a surlace 

 dressinij upon land in some parts unmaiiured, 

 and in others well spread with the best larm-yard 

 manure. On the oats and barley, however^^ no 

 perceptible diHierence was occasioned by its use ; 

 and on all the other crops it appears to have been 

 injurious. 'I'he deficiency in the amount of pota- 

 toes produced upon that part of the ground which 

 was only salted was indeed comparatively enor- 

 mous ; for, in two instances in which it was laid 

 in the drills, (he crop was only one-third of that 

 upon which dung was used alone*. 



In a paper published in the second volume 

 of the Communication to the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, the writer relates several experiments, in all 

 which the application of salt, in various cjuanii- 

 ties, bothon arable and pasture, was either com- 

 pletely or in a great measure unsuccessful. 



Some statements to the same eflect have like- 

 wise been lately published in the British Farmer's 

 Magazine,t which show — 



1st. That 24 bushels, equal to 1 Ion of rock- 

 ealt, were ground into powder,f and on the 

 10th of April were sown on four separate roods 

 of meadow land, at the rate of one-lourih, one- 

 fifih, one-sixth, and one-seventh of a ton to the 

 acre : on the 21st it appeared to have destroyed 

 the grass on that part where the greatest quan- 

 tity had boen, but that was not the case even- 

 tually, as it afterwards recovered. 



2nd. On the 14ih of April it was sown on 

 three equal portions of land, at the rale of one- 

 fourth, one-fifth, and one-sixth of a ton per 

 acre, on fallow, and on wheal growing, which 

 was afterwards sown with red clover: on the 

 21st the weeds appeared to be destroyed, but 

 at harvest time were like the rest. 



3rd. At the same time it was laid at the rate 

 of one-sixth of a ion per acre, on some fallow, 

 which was afterwards sown with oats and 

 clover. 



4th. On the 25ih of April, on the tliird 

 ploughing for fallow, it was spread at the rale 

 of one-lburth and one sixth of a ion per acre 

 worked and manured as the rest. 



6th. At the same lime, and the same rale, 

 on the same ploughing, on some land that 

 was sown with rape. 



The above experiments were tried on a strong 

 loamy clay, with a clay subsoil, and the result 

 of the whule proved that they were not attend- 

 ed with any advantage. 



6th. On the fifth ploughing of a good loam. 

 It was laid at the rate of one-lburth and one- 

 Bixth of a ton for turnips, which had been re- 

 gularly dunged, some of it being placed in the 

 ridges be'ore, and some after the manure. 



K * ^fon^! Pi:°'^^edings of the Society, from Novem- 

 ber, 1820, to December, 1823, vol. vi. 



t No. ix. vol. ii. p. 427. 



i When broken into small pieces, it runs through 



bJ^desiJ^d ^"'^ '^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^"^^"^ ^^ ^"*" ^^ ""^y 



Some potatoes, on the same land, were also 



similarly treated ; but no diU'erencii wiiatever 



was api)aretit in their fiivor. 



These trials ajipear to have been made under 

 the personal superintendence of the writer, and 

 the editor vouches iUr the accuracy of the state- 

 ment. The result is certainly in ex'raordinary 

 contradiction to those of other experimenis, nor 

 is ii possible lo account for it in any other way 

 than by attributing it lo the nature of the soils on 

 which they were made. If to be finally relied on, 

 if would prove ' that the use of salt, as a manure, 

 is of no value on strong or loamy soils ;' but we 

 are so liir from agreeing to that conclusion, that 

 we think it only atibnls additional proof of the 

 propriety of every farmer judging only lor himself, 

 throuiih his own experienre. 



yipplicaiion of Salt. — From what we have thus 

 stated, it must be apparent that nothing decisive 

 has been ascertained regarding either the quantity 

 or the season in which salt should be laid upon 

 the land. It appears, however, that its efl'ecia 

 are most visible and satisfactory when applied 

 to hot, dry soils, and in very warm summers ; but 

 on cold, wet land, and in rainy seasons, or under 

 a humid climate, its powers seem to become 

 neutralized, and of little value. We are of opi- 

 nion that, on arable land, it will be Ibund more 

 advisable to lay it on before sowing, than eithef 

 with the seeds, or afterwards as a top-dressing. 

 If applied, lor instance, to a clover ley, either^a 

 lew weeks belbre seed-time, or immediately after 

 the first crop is o(i', it would efi'ectually banish the 

 slug ; and ii has been justly observed that, if all 

 stuhliles (not laid down vviih seeds) were to 

 receive a slight dressing of salt belbre winter, it 

 would not only tend lo keep the land free from 

 the slug, but probably also otherwise benefit the 

 soil*. 



In preparing the land under the fallow-process, 

 il has been recotnmended lo spread from 30 lo 40 

 bushels per acre for the purpose of destroying the 

 I roots and insects in the soil, and breaking alT the 

 tough and adhesive clods which are lound lo be 

 so troublesome in working the ground. This 

 should be done in autumn,some time before the 

 first ploughing'; as the salt being thoroughly 

 incorporated with the soil during the spring "and 

 summer following, its strength will be so°mate- 

 rially reduced by the time when the seed is eown^ 

 that instead of injurini?, it has been found to pro- 

 mote vegetaiionj. With regard to the destruction 

 of insects, that object can, however, be attained 

 vyith half the quantity ; and we must a^ain cau- 

 tion our readers against the indiscriminate recom- 

 mendation given of the use of salt, without dis- 

 tinguishing whether it is fml or pure : on ihe 

 application of 40 bushels of the latter, vegetation 

 ceases. 



When applied in composts, it is said to have 

 been found more effectual than lime. It has 

 been tried in Cheshire on barley and seeds, and 

 greatly exceeded the most sanguine expectations 

 that had been formed of it. A quantity of refuse 

 salt having been also mixed up with earth, and 

 another portion of the same earth with lime, the 

 vegetation of that part of the field upon which 



* British Farmers' Maf,azine, No. xiv. p. 66. 



tHoIlinshead on Salt ?.s a Manure, 2nd edit., p. 17. 

 Sir John Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, 3rd edit., 

 p. 38. 5 > . 



