138 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



former; and though the oulay was heavy, yet it soon 

 paid back and iiroved the better economy. lu the 

 three vears alluded to, two of cultivation and one of 

 rest, tiie whole cost of improvement was repaid with 

 intere-^t on land and improvements, and left a net 

 balance on liand of ^15.05. AVhercas the net value 

 of the products of acre No. 3 amounted to oiilj; $9M 

 for the .same period, being less than No. 1 by $')A'->. 

 "The same liold has been in cultivation twice^ since; 

 once in corn and once in wheat, making up the f) years 

 through which the experiment has been conducted 

 and the results noted. The crop of corn in 1852 was 

 on the separate acres not measured. The crop from 

 the entire field averaged .53 bushels per acre, and that 

 on acre No. 1 was decidedly best. The crop of wheat 

 on that portion of the field where the lots were situ- 

 ated w^as injured bv the winter, fly, rust, and other 

 disasters, and ilid not make a full yield. The product 

 from acre No. 1 was only about 17 bushels. Add 

 these resuly to the above statement, and we have the 

 result of the five years: 



Net balance, ns alwve shown, for 3 years, -;.---- ^^^-^^ 



Crop of corn, 1852, 5." bushels, at 60 cents, $31.80 



Crop of wheat, 1353, now on baud, estimated at $1.50,. 25.60 



$57.30 

 Deduct for seed, interest, cultivation, harresting, and 

 other expenses, 20.90 36.40 



$51,45 



" We have thus, as final results of the five years 

 since the first improvement was made, after deducting 

 all expenses, charges and interest, the net sum of 

 $51.4.5 per acre against ^19.20 per acre without the 

 improvement — thus showing most conclusively the 

 value of lime and ashes, in union or separately, as fer- 

 tilizers for wheat and corn grown on such soils as I 

 have described. 



" Other experiments I tried with various manures 

 for sugar beets and mangel wurtzel. Two years in 

 succession T planted my crop of these roots on a soil 

 similar to the one just described, except that it con- 

 tained more iron ; I manured heavily with hog dung 

 and human excrement in the hill, but reaped very poor 

 crops, yet the same land had produced very fine corn 

 a year or two before. But the last year of the two 

 a portion of the crop was pitched on the spot where 

 a pile of ashes had lain for a month or two, until 

 they could be removed to the field, and the crop on 

 that spot waa magnificent; some of the roots measured 

 5.96 inches in diameter. I consulted Boussingault, 

 and the mystery was solved at once. Your analysis 

 proved that the land contained but a small portion 

 of potash, and the analysis of the ash of the beet 

 showed an unusual quantity was consumed by that 

 plant, and that for the successful cultivation of the 

 crop on my soil an extra supply was absolutely neces- 

 sary. The next year I manured a few rows as usual; 

 but on the balance ashes were apphed on the drill 

 after planting, and some before, at the rate of about 

 100 bushels per acre. The result was as I expected. 

 The crop was very fine where the ashes were applied, 

 and very sorry where they were not. But it seems 

 from these results to require a large supply of potash 

 in the drill for a heavy crop, not only because of the 

 ■lemand for consumption, but from their inability to 

 push out their roots laterally in search of food, but 

 a e confined to a small space. 



" Thus it seems that liine is a necessary applicatii ■: 

 on my soil for the production of heavy crops of whL-.\t 

 and com, and potash for crops of beets; both a!«a.ly 

 siB and experiments prove this, and tJiey have bn ■ 

 proven to be the best applications respectively for th 

 respective crops. Without lime, as well as other t'io- 

 ments, in a soil in proper proportion, wheat can not 

 be n-rown; neither can beets without an adequate sujh 

 ply'^of potash in proportion with other elements, if 

 there be enough of all other substances and none nf 

 these, the crop nniat fail; or if not enough in propfir- 

 tion to others, the crop must be starved. As w-" 

 might a manufacturer expect to make a piece of e 

 siuet with cotton warp alone; wool must be suppli* - 

 in proportion to the cotton used. If either is wanting, 

 or in too great an abundance, or out of proportioii. 

 the product must fail, or the surplus be unprofitaijlc. 

 Farming is a great system of manufacturing. The 

 farmer must have his proper materials in sufficioi;' 

 abundance and proper proportions, if he expects ;-; 

 realize satisfactory results. It is the business of 

 chemistiy to investigate these matters, to reveal the 

 constituent parts of plants, to show their wants, aJid 

 the proportion necessary for their life and liealtliiul 

 developments, to show where they can be found, whew 

 in abundance and where not. But carefully couduct;i i 

 experiments, I am aware, arc necessary to the support 

 of science, and the absence of them is the cause of 

 the many errors learned men commit in deducing their 

 theories. With the view of contributing my humb!'^ 

 efforts to shed light on a profession not properiy my 

 own, I have undertaken the experiments above de- 

 tailed, and give the results for what they may be 

 worth. I remain yours, &c,, James Wallace." 



We in-vite attention to the fact that so much as 33 J, 

 bushels of wheat may be grown by the use of linie 

 and ashes alone, without any ammonia, or organic 

 manure of any kind. With cheap mineral fertilizers, 

 one may grow clover and other renovating crops so 

 as to attain a high degree of fruitfulness, without 

 either guano or the manure of the stable or barn-yard. 

 In one sense, all organic manures may be regarded us 

 themselves valuable crops ; for whether produced on 

 the farm or purchased from abroad, they may cost 

 the value of an ordinary crop. To escape this heavy 

 expense, the farmer has only to provide such ingre- 

 dients as form the ash of cereals, clover, and other 

 agricultural plants, to avail himself of the peculiar 

 benefits of rotation of crops, and the resom-ces of the 

 atmosphere. 



On many poor soils, lime alone has the poorer to 

 bring out latent potash, soda, magnesia, chlorine, phos- 

 phoric and sulphuric acids enough to supply the wants 

 of several good crops. These minerals are always 

 more or less locked up in earthy masses in an insolu- 

 ble, and therefore unavailable, condition. The farmers 

 of New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland 

 and Virginia, experience great advantages from th« 

 free use of calcareous manure ; and the comparative 

 neglect of lime in other States, and in the longest 

 cultivated portions of the British Provinces, invoIvo,-i 

 a loss which ought to be removed. We have recently 

 -iisited the States in which fanners use most lime, and 

 every where found them well satisfied with the prac- 

 I tical results of this system. 



