THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



209 



growth, from coming in immediate contact with 

 plant food tiiat it wonld otherwise either not find 

 in the soil, or have to send out roots to some dis- 

 tance in order to collect as much as Avould be ad- 

 hering to, or absorbed by, the seed itself. In fact, 

 this mineral food, perhaps, but acts as a stimulant 

 to the young plant, and is not expected to produce 

 any further ditt'erence in its productiveness J;lian 

 would be produced by the earlier maturing of the 

 plant, and the giving it a better chance to get the 

 start of the weeds. 



There is no doubt Peruvian guano is a powerful 

 stimulant to potatoes; but, unfortunately, its ap- 

 plication is ahuost certain to result in the entire 

 loss of the heavy crop thus grown, from the potato 

 rot — wliich always seems to aliect the plant where 

 any ammoniacal manures are used, (d.) 

 ' Nobody complains of the pea-hug now-a-days — 

 in this section, at least. The kind chiefly grown 

 here^s the Golden Drop Pea^ which has never yet 

 been known to have bugs in it. 



Root crops will be extensively grown this year 

 in Canada. The turnip crop last year was so pro- 

 ductive that turnips were unsaleable, and but little 

 hay was given to either cattle or sheep last winter. 

 Many of our farmers are sowing an acre or two 

 each of carrots this year, hoping to find them more 

 saleable than turnips, which are not liked in or near 

 towns for horses or milch cows. A great many 

 would like to grow the Kohl-Rabi this year, but 

 can not get the seed. It is to be lioped that some will 

 be imported next winter in time for early sowing. 



Father says the statements so frequently put 

 forth by difl'erent agricultural chemists on the vakie 

 of dilfereut animal foods as regards the manure 

 produced from them, are greatly at variance with 

 the principles of animal physiology ; and that it 

 would be well for chemists to know more about 

 physiology. Had Mr. Lawes actually proved, by 

 experiment, on wheat for instance, that each of 

 the manures so made as given in his table, gave an 

 increase of crop equal to the estimated value he 

 puts upon it, it would have been a point of im- 

 portance; but it does not ajipear that he did so. {e.) 

 The value of a manure produced from any kind of 

 food depends on the amount of animal secretions 

 it absorbs while passing through the animal frame; 

 and this again greatly depends on the power re- 

 quired to enable the animal to digest and decom- 

 pose them. A fat animal gives off a larger amount 

 of secretions than a lean one. If a fat animal is 

 fed on straw, the straw will absorb a large amount 

 of secretions, and the animal soon becomes poor 

 and the manure dhuinishes in value ; but the addi- 

 tion of three bushels of turnips per day to the 

 straw and given to the animal will keep up its con- 

 dition by giving the requisite supply of nitrogen 

 and carbon, then the manure made will still con- 

 tinue to be rich. Again, an ox will consume 200 

 lbs. or more of turnips per day, and produce near- 

 ly that quantity of manure; while if fed* on oil- 

 cake, it will, perhaps, not consume more than 20 

 or 3u lbs. per day, and produce but a small quan- 

 tity of manure. Consequently, the value of cer- 

 tain foods to produce manure does not depend on 

 the nitrogen they contain ; as, whether that is 

 more or ktes, it must be all taken up by the animal 

 frame, and enters into the blood and structures 

 before it is given off in the manure. The easier the 



food is to digest, the more of it the animal can 

 pass through its frame, and the manure it can 

 make. I will, perhaps, have more to say on this 

 subject another time. J. mackelcan, jk. 



Hamilton, C. W. 



Remaeks. — (a.) "What we said was that, " unlike 

 barley, spring wheat will succeed on a clover sod 

 plowed up fresh." This we know to be the case. 

 We said, however, that it would do better on land 

 that had been summer-fallowed, or at least plowed 

 the previous fall and cultivated in the spring. Our 

 correspondent misunderstood our remarks if he sup- 

 posed that we preferred a clover-sod. We only 

 wished to say that while barley would not succeed 

 on a clover sod, plowed up fresh, spring wheat 

 would — intimating at the same time that it suc- 

 ceeded better on land plowed the previous fall. 



(b.) The so-called Golden Drop is a comparatively 

 new variety of spring wheat, and, however much it 

 may be esteeme'd by the few who are acquainted 

 with it, it has not been sufficiently introduced to 

 warrant us in saying it is a " popular " variety in ^ 

 Canada. On the other hand, as we stated, the Fife 

 is a well known and popular kind. 



(c.) We did not. We only said that the small 

 quantity of such matter which a seed could absorb 

 could have little influence on the future growth of 

 the plant. We think so still. 



(d.) We have not found it so in our experiments. 

 We have repeatedly used Peruvian guano, and also 

 sulphate of ammonia, with great advantage to the 

 crop, and never could perceive that the potatoes so 

 manured were any more diseased than those having 

 rio manure of any kind. 



(e.) He did this. He has ascertained, from twen- 

 ty years' actual experimenting on wheat, what is 

 the manurial value of certain ingredients that enter 

 into the composition of plants. He has also ascer- 

 tained what proportion of the food is retained in 

 the bodies of animals, and what is voided in the 

 excrements. Knowing the composition of the 

 food, then, he is able to tell what will be the com- 

 position of the manure made from it ; and conse- 

 quently its manurial value. Our correspondent 

 will find an article on another page, in which this 

 subject is more fully, though briefly, discusssed. It 

 is too plain to need much discussion. Allowing that 

 an ox edting 200 lbs. of turnips per day produces a 

 large quantity of manure, does our correspondent 

 attach any great value to the 175 or 180 lbs. of 

 water which the turnips contain, and which goes 

 to increase' the weight of the manure? The man- 

 ure made from 80 lbs. of oil-cake would certainly 

 be worth more than that from 200 lbs. of turnips. 

 There can be no doubt on this point. eds. 



