184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Of course, in contrasting the cost of fertilizers, a great many 

 little things should be taken into account. The difficulty and 

 cost of placing bulky manure upon swampy lands and high 

 elevations must not be overlooked, and the expense of handling 

 or distributing it after it is deposited is considerable. Nearly 

 one third of my tillage lands are so low they cannot be entered 

 upon by any vehicle drawn by oxen or horses, and consequently, 

 it is extremely difficult or well-nigh impossible to distribute 

 heavy manures upon these fields. With the concentrated fer- 

 tilizers employed, the men have been able to carry in a farm 

 basket an amount of plant nutriment equal in value to that 

 found in a cartload of animal excrement. 



Upon my reclaimed meadows no farm dung has been used, 

 excepting on a small patch for the purpose of experiment, and 

 I have secured large crops of redtop and timothy during the 

 past five years. The method of treatment has been varied 

 with the view of ascertaining the best way of bringing them 

 into condition to produce upland grasses. I have dressed cer- 

 tain parcels with the farm-made superphosphate, with a mixture 

 of bone and ashes, with guano, fish pomace, combinations of 

 salt and lime, and with sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of 

 soda. It must be remembered that my lowlands are pure peat 

 bogs, of such a nature, if the water was withdrawn and the 

 deposits allowed to become dry, fire would consume the whole 

 to ashes. The elevation of the bog above the level of Lake 

 Kenoza, upon wiiich it borders, is only nine inches in the win- 

 ter and spring, when the lake is at its highest altitude ; con- 

 sequently, it is an unpromising and difficult field upon which 

 to experiment with the view of driving out worthless meadow 

 grasses. Indeed, no one in whose judgment I placed confidence 

 would afford me any encouragement to expect success. It was 

 regarded as impossible to renovate meadows which for so large 

 a part of the year were almost submerged, and which could not 

 be drained. Nevertheless, the experiment has proved success- 

 ful, and crops already secured have paid all tiie expenses of 

 renovation and treatment. Upon two acres of the six which 

 are now producing upland grasses, a coating of sand three inches 

 in thickness was placed, after thorough spading and pulverizing 

 the bog ; upon this, a dressing made of equal parts of fine bone 

 and ashes, two thousand pounds in quantity, was evenly distrib- 



