THE GENESEE FARMEK. 



171 



the mineral phosphate. Eleven ship-loads of it 

 were sent to Euglund, and being held at less per 

 ton than the bone phosphate, it found a ready mar- 

 ket, and was applied to the growing crops but gave 

 no increased yield. The next year a much larger 

 ainouut was shipped, but found no sale, and to-day 

 is wasting on English docks, or is used for ballast 

 on board ships." 



A few years since, at the request of an English 

 gentleman who wished to purchase it, we visited 

 tins phosphate mine at Dover, N. J. We found 

 that a large shaft had been dug, and considerable 

 Nioney expended in trying to obtain the phosphate; 

 but the operations had been stopped, not because 

 there was no demand for the article, but because it 

 was not found in sufficient quantity to pay for 

 working the mine. The owners of the mine want- 

 e<l to sell us " shares ;" but though we were author- 

 ized to purchase the phosphate there was none to 

 be had, and we came to the conclusion that the 

 whole thing was got up by Wall St. speculators. The 

 story of the " inexhaustible supply," the " eleven 

 ship-loads sent to England," and its "wasting to- 

 day on English docks," is a sheer fabrication. If 

 Mr. Mapes will furnish us, either in New York or 

 on any of the "English docks," a mineral phos- 

 phate, from Dover or any where else, that contains 

 "98 per cent, of this material," or even 80 per 

 cent., we will take 5,000 tons of it at $10 per ton. 

 This will be better than using it as " ballast," er 

 letting it lie " wasting on English docks." 



The assertion that " repeated experiments " show- 

 ed that surperphosphate made from bones "pro- 

 duced good results," while that made from mineral 

 phosphate " produced no result, or a positive injury," 

 may be taken for what it is worth. We can only 

 6ay that we have seen superphosphate, obtained 

 from the mineral phosphate, produce just as good 

 an effect as that made from burnt bones — the crop 

 in either case being about three times as great as 

 when no manure of any kind was used. 



The assertion that " upon analyzing the soil after 

 a crop had been grown, he [Mapes,] found that the 

 plant had in all cases taken up the bone phosphate, 

 but had left the mineral phosphate," staggers our 

 credulity. Certainly no process of analysis known 

 io the general chemical world would enable any 

 one to ascertain this fact. Of this there can be no 

 doubt. A crop of wheat of 50 bushels per acre 

 would contain about 80 lbs. of phosphate of lime ; 

 and no chemist, by analysis, can tell the difference 

 between two soils, one of w^hich contained 80 lbs. 

 of phosphate more than the other. How Mr. 

 Mapes, then, can tell, by analyzing the soil, that 

 the plant had taken up the bone phosphate but had 



rejected the mineral phosphate, we are utterly at a 

 loss to determine. Beside, if the plants grew they 

 obtained all the phosphate they required either 

 from the manure or from the soil ; and if, after re- 

 jecting the mineral phosphate, they continued to 

 grow, it is evident that the soil contained a suffi- 

 cient quantity, and that the application either of 

 bone or mineral phosphate was unneccessary. This 

 whole statement, in regard to analyzing the soil, 

 is contradictory and absurd. 



THE CULTIVATION OF RUTA BAGAS OE SWEDISH 

 TUKNIPS. 



We do not believe that either the Swede or the 

 common white turnip wUl ever be as extensively 

 grown in this country as in Great Britain. Our 

 climate is too dry and hot, and our winters too se- 

 vere. The best turnip seasons in England are those 

 which are cool and moist; and those which are hot 

 and dry, while highly favorable for the production 

 of wheat, are unfavorable for the growth of the 

 turnip crop. Now, when we consider that the hot- 

 test and driest seasons of England are never as hot 

 and dry as our average seasons here, it is evident 

 that this climate is not well adapted for the exten- 

 sive culture of the turnip family. 



In England, too, the winters are so mild that the 

 turnips, on all the light soils, can be eaten off on the 

 land by sheep during the winter ; whereas here it 

 is necessary to put them in a cellar for protection. 

 Turnips contain so much water (say white turnips 

 from 90 to 92 per cent., and ruta bagas from 88 to 

 90 per cent.,) that the labor of thus securing a giv- 

 en quantity of food is very great. A ton of com- 

 mon white turnips does not contain more than 200 

 lbs. of dry matter, equal perhaps to 300 lbs. of 

 good clover hay. A ton of ruta bagas does not 

 contain more than 240 lbs. ; and a ton of mangel 

 wurzel not more than 280 lbs. When we have to 

 hoi;se these root crops, then, it is questionable 

 whether their extensive culture as a principal food 

 for stock is profitable. 



On the other hand, it may be very profitable to 

 raise an acre or two of roots to give to cattle and 

 sheep in the winter or early spring as a condiment. 

 Many excellent farmers think this is the case ; and 

 in Canada especially, nearly all good breeders raise 

 more or less turnips and ruta bagas for their stock. 



While our climate is not so well adapted to the 

 prodiiction of turnips as that of England, we might 

 raise far better crops than we do by taking even 

 one-half the pains with the crop that is considered 

 indespensable in England. More labor and expense 

 are bestowed in Great Britain on the turnip crop 



