8 Artificial Manures for Swedes. 



or even if it is applied two to three months before that period. 

 But if the same refuse is added to the land long before the 

 sowing of the crop which it is intended to benefit, or if by some 

 means or the other it is brought into a state in which it will 

 readily ferment, in which case it may be applied at once to the 

 young wheat, a very marked effect will be observed to follow the 

 application of shoddy to corn crops. For under these circum- 

 stances shoddy, which contains from 3 to 5 per cent, of nitrogen, 

 gradually will give rise to the formation of ammonia, which it is 

 well known benefits cereals in an especial manner. In light arid 

 porous soils this necessary preparation proceeds much more 

 rapidly than in stiff heavy soils, and consequently the condition 

 of the land will likewise modify the action of this refuse manure. 

 Under the most favourable circumstances, however, shoddy ought 

 to be used in an unprepared state, for the interval between the 

 ingathering of a green crop and the preparation of the land for 

 the corn crop is generally too short to allow the wool refuse to 

 enter into decomposition ; its effects consequently are lost upon 

 the crop which it is intended to benefit, and unless a second corn 

 crop is grown, shoddy will but little benefit the second crop in 

 the rotation, for it is a refuse which owes its fertilising effect 

 almost altogether to the nitrogen it contains, and which furnishes 

 on decomposition ammonia, and as ammonia does not exhibit the 

 same powerful effect on other crops which it does on the cereals, 

 the chief advantages which may be derived from the application 

 of shoddy are lost. 



These examples, I hope, will be sufficient to prove the cor- 

 rectness of the remarks which have been made. They are 

 remarks founded on actual facts which have come under my per- 

 sonal notice. 



I might easily point out other cases, with which I have become 

 personally acquainted, as bearing on this subject, but this will 

 perhaps be superfluous, and I will therefore merely observe, in 

 addition to the remarks already made, that when all care, at- 

 tention, and labour have been applied, uncontrollable circum- 

 stances often interfere which spoil the experiments in the field. 



It affords me, therefore, much pleasure to have the privilege 

 of giving an account of some experimental trials which were 

 made last season, under peculiarly favourable circumstances, 

 on the farm attached to the Royal Agricultural College. These 

 experiments were made on Swedish turnips, with the following 

 fertilisers : 



1. Guano. 



2. Mixture of guano and dissolved coprolites. 



3. Bone-dust. 



4. -Home-made superphosphate of lime. 



