140 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



thus furnished an increased quantity in an available 

 form for assimilation by the plants— a conclusion, 

 which the results with superphosphate alone ou_ 

 Plot 5, and with superphosphate and suli)hate of 

 ammonia, combined on Plot 6, do not sustain. 



On Plot 12, half the quantity of sulphate of 

 ammonia, was used as on Plot 4, and the increase 

 is a little more than half what it is where double 

 the quantity was used. Again, on Plot 13, 200 lbs. 

 of Peruvian guano per acre, gives nearly as great 

 an increase of sound corn, as the 150 lbs. of sul- 

 phate of ammonia. Now, 200 lbs. of Peruvian 

 guano, contains nearly as much ammonia as 150 

 lbs. sulphate of ammonia, and the increase in both 

 cases is evidently due to the ammonia of these ma- 

 nures. The 200 lbs. of Peruvian guano, contained 

 about 50 lbs. of phosphate of lime ; but as the sul- 

 phate of ammonia, which contains no phosphate of 

 lime, gives as great an increase as the guano, it fol- 

 lows, that the phosphate of lime in the guano, had 

 little if any effect ; a result precisely similar to that 

 obtained with superphosphate of lime. 



We may conclude, therefore, that on this soil, 

 which has never been manured, and which has 

 been cilltivated for many years with the Ceralia — 

 or in other words, with crops which remove a large 

 quantity of phosphate of lime from the soil — the 

 phosphate of lime, relatively to the ammonia, is not 

 deficient. If such was not the case, an application 

 of soluble phosphate of lime would have given an 

 increase of crop, which we have shown was not the 

 case in any one of the experiments. 



Plot 10, with 400 lbs. of unleached wood ashes 

 per acre, produces the same quantity of sound corn^ 

 witli an extra bushel of "nubbins" per acre, as Plot 

 1, without any manure at all; ashes, therefore, 

 applied alone, may be said to have had no effect 

 whatever. On Plot 3, 400 lbs. of ashes, and 100 

 lbs. of plaster, give the same total number of bush- 

 els per acre, as Plot 2, with 100 lbs. of plaster alone. 

 Plot 8, with 400 lbs. ashes, and 150 lbs. of sul- 

 phate of ammonia, yields three bushels of sound 

 corn, and live bushels of " nubbins" per acre, less 

 than Plot 4, with 150 lbs. sulphate of ammonia 

 alone. This result may be ascribed to the fact pre- 

 viously alluded to — the ashes dissipated some of 

 the ammonia. 



Plot 11, with 100 lbs, of plaster, 400 lbs. ashes, 

 800 lbs. of superphosphate of luue, and 200 lbs. 

 Peruvian guano (which contains about as much 

 ammonia as 150 lbs. sulphate of ammonia,) pro- 

 duced precisely the same number of total bushels 

 per acre, as Plot 4, with 150 lbs. sulphate of ammo- 

 nia alone, and but 4 bushels more per acre, than 

 Plot 13, with 200 lbs. Peruvian guano alone. It is 

 evident, from these results, that neither ashes nor 

 phosphates had much effect on Indian corn, on this 

 impoverished soil. Plot 14 received the largest 

 dressing of ammonia (500 lbs. Peruvian guano,) 

 and produced much the largest crop; though the 

 increase is not so great in proportion to the guano, 

 as where smaller quantities were used. 



The manure which produced the most profitable 

 result, was the 100 lbs. of plaster, on Plot 2. The 

 200 lbs. of Peruvian guano, on Plot 13, and which 

 cost about $G, gave an increase of 14 bushels of 

 shelled corn, and 6 bushels of "nubbins." Tliis 

 will i^ay at the present price of corn in Rochester, 

 although the profit is not very great. The super- 



phosphate of lime, although a very superior article, 

 and estimated at cost price, in no case paid for itself. 

 The same is true of the aslies. 



But the object of the experiment was not so 

 mucli to ascertain what manures will pay, but to 

 ascertain, if possible, what constituents of manures 

 are required, in greatest (juantity, for the maximum 

 growth of corn. All our agricultural plants are 

 composed of precisely the same elements ; the only 

 difference being in the relative proportions in which 

 they exist in the plants. Thus, wheat and turnips 

 contain precisely the' same elements, but the ash of 

 wheat contains five times as much phosphoric acid 

 as the ash of turnips, while tlie turnips contain 

 much more potash than wheat. This fact being 

 ascertained by chemical analysis, it was supposed 

 that wheat required a manure relatively richer m 

 phosphoric acid, than was required for turnips.—- 

 This is certainly a plausible deduction ; but careful 

 and numerous experiments have incoutrovertibly 

 proved that such is not the case — in fact, that an 

 ordinary crop of turnips, requires more phosphoric 

 acid, in an availal)le condition in the soil, than an 

 ordinary crop of wheat. From this fact, and several 

 others of a similar character, the conclusion is irre- 

 sistible, that the chemical composition of a plant — 

 the relative proportion in which the several ele- 

 ments exist in the i)lant — is not a certain indication 

 of the manurial requirements of the plant ; or in 

 other words, it does not follow, that because a plant 

 contains a relatively larger proportion of any par- 

 ticular element, that the soil or manure, best 

 adapted for the growth of tliis plant, must con- 

 tain a relatively larger proportion of this element. 

 Wheat, rye, barley, oats, and Indian corn, all con- 

 tain a relatively large quantity of phosphate of 

 lime ; but it is not safe to conclude from this, that 

 a soil or manure, best adapted for their maximum 

 growth, must also contain a relatively large quan- 

 tity of phosphate of lime. We know positively 

 from numerous experiments, that such is not the 

 case with wheat ; and, it is therefore at least doubt- 

 ful, whether such is true of Indian corn. On the 

 other hand, we know from repeated experiments, 

 that wheat reqiiires a large quantity of ammonia 

 for its maximum growth, and as Indian com is 

 nearly identical in composition to wheat, it is 

 somewhat probable that it requires food sunilar in 

 composition to wheat. This, however, is merely a 

 deduction, and deduction is never a safe rule m 

 agriculture. We can obtain no positive knowl- 

 edge in regard to the manurial requirements of 

 plants, except from actual experiments. Hitherto, 

 no experiments have been made in this country, on 

 Indian corn, that afforded any certam information 

 on this point. Indeed, we believe no satisfactory 

 experiments have been made on Indian corn, in 

 any country, that throw any definite light on this 

 interesting and important question, A few years 

 ago, Mr, Lawes made similar experiments to those 

 given above, on his farm, at Rothamsted, Eng- 

 land; but owing to the coolness of the English 

 climate, the crop did not arrive at maturity. 



Numerous experiments have been made in this 

 country, with guano and superphosphate of lime; 

 but the superphosphates used were commercial 

 articles, contammg more or less ammonia, and if 

 they are of any benefit to those crops to which they 

 are applied, it is a matter of uncertainty whether 



