THE GENESEE FARMER. 



363 



ing renders some portion of the food soluble that 

 would otherwise be improperly digested. It also, 

 in some cases, removes unwholesome matter, and 

 renders that savoury which would otherwise be dis- 

 tasteful. A case of this kind is mentioned in a re- 

 cent number of the French Journal cV Agriculture 

 Practique. The refuse of immature sugar-beets, 

 that proved deleterious to cattle, was rendered 

 wholesome by steaming it. Mouldy hay, that cat- 

 tle will eat only when starved to it, is devoured 



heartily after it has been cut into chaff and 

 steamed. 



In regard to the best apparatus for cooking food, 

 there can be no doubt that steaming is much more 

 convenient and economical than boiling, except in 

 the case of grain. Dry steam will not cook sound, 

 hard grain, unless it has been previously soaked in 

 water ; but for all other purposes steam is better 

 than boiling water. There are quite a variety of 

 steaming apparatus, but they all consist essentially 

 of a boiler for generating the steam, and of a pipe 

 for conveying it to the reservoir containing the 

 food. It is convenient, for the purpose of filling 

 and unfilling, that this reservoir should be slung 

 upon bearings, so that it shall hang freely in any 

 position, whether full or empty ; and if the nozzle 

 of the steam-pipe itself be one of these bearings, 

 the mode of applying the steam to the material is 

 greatly simplified. 



We annex a cut of one of the best forms of 

 •teaming apparatus used in Great Britain. 



EXPEBIMENTS WITH ARTIFICIAL MANXTEES ON 

 OATS. 



Wk have made some experiments this year with 

 a few artificial manures as a top-dressing for oats. 



The land was a clover-sod, plowed about the 

 middle of May, and the oats sown May 20th. On 

 the 2Gth of May, just as the oats were coming 

 through tlie ground, the laud was top-dressed with 

 the following manures per acre : 



No. 1 — No manure. 



•' 2—600 lbs. of Plaster. 



" 3 — oOO lbs. Superphosphate of Lime. 



" 4 — 300 lbs. Sulphate of Ammonia. 



" 5 — 800 lbs. Superphosphate of Lime, and 300 

 lbs. of Sulfihate of Ammonia. 



The oats were sown too late to obtain the best 

 results. On another field of the same character 

 where the oats were sown, about two weeks 

 earlier, the crop was decidedly better. The 

 experiments, however, were made with care, and 

 are worthy of being put on record. The oats were 

 cut August 28th. The straw and grain were both 

 accurately weighed. This was done by weighing 



the whole crop — hay and straw — at the time it was 

 drawn into the barn. After thrashing, the grain 

 was weighed, and the amount deducted from the 

 total weight of the orop. Tlie chatf, therefore, is 

 included v»'ith the straw. The result was as follows : 



straw, Giii'm. Bnsliels Weight, Total, 



per acre. per acre, per acre, per bus. straw ife grain 



No. 1— 1,95S ll)s. 7!)2 36 22 2,750 



" 2—2,475 '• 1,225 47 26 3,701) 



" 3— 2,47o " 1,U50 f.O 21 3,625 



" 4—2,750 " 1,1. 50 22 8,8.50 



" 5—2,575 " 1,150 61 22^ 3,725 



The most striking result is the effect of plaster, 

 (gypsum or sulphate of lime,) on the quality of 

 the grain. The oats on all the plots, owing to the 

 late seeding, were very light, but where the plas- 

 ter was used they were 4 lbs. per bushel heavier 

 than on the unmanured land. In addition to this 

 there was an increase of 11 bushels of oats and 950 

 lbs. of straw per acre from the use of plaster. 



It is very evident that phosphate of lime had 

 very little effect on oats on this land. The super- 

 phosphate used was a very superior article,* but 

 contained — as a good article of superphosphate of 

 lime always mu.'it contain — about 50 per cent, of 

 plaster. Now this mixture of soluble phosphate of 

 hme and j^laster, (in other words, " superphosphate 

 of lime,") did no more good than the plaster alone 

 on No. 2, and therefore we may conclude that the 

 addition of phosphate of lime was not needed on 

 this soil for the oat crop. True, the plaster was 

 applied in much larger quantity, but still it furnish- 

 ed DO phosphates. Then, again, on No. 5, the 

 superphosphate and ammonia together produced 

 no more total produce than the ammonia alone on 

 No. 4 — in fact, not quite as much, though there is 

 a slight increase of grain. 



As we have before remarked, the oats on No. 2, 

 where plaster was sown, weighed more per bushel 

 tlian on any other plot. Taking the weight per 

 bushel on the unmanured plot (22 lbs.) as the 

 standard, the result would be as follows : 



No. 1 — No manure, - - - - 36 bus. per acre. 

 " 2— With Plaster, - - - 55i " " 

 " 3— With Superphosphate, - 47f " " 

 " 4— With Sulphate Ammonia, 50 " " 

 " 5 — With Suj^erphosphate and 

 Sulphate of Ammonia, together 52 " " 



There are several points in these results which 

 we do not understand, and further experiments are 

 needed to enable us to come to anything like sat- 

 isfactory conclusions. 



* We had two tons of superphosphate of lime manufactured 

 from burnt bones last Spring under our own directions, expressly 

 for experimental purposes. A better article could not be made, 

 and yet on oats, potatoes and corn, it Las done little good — not as 

 much as plaster. This is in accordance with our former experi- 

 ments. There may be soils where a direct application of phos- 

 phates is needed for corn and other cereals, but we think this ia 

 not the case, as a general rule, in Western New York. 



