A MATTER OF OPINION. 161 



have harvested one hundred and fifty-eight bushels of ears, though 

 that yield was lessened one-fifth by smut. On my corn land, I 

 applied eighteen dollars' worth of fertilizers per acre. On grass, I 

 sowed ten dollars' worth per acre in the spring, and obtained my 

 money's worth the first crop. The drought nearly destroyed the sec- 

 ond crop. I used it on three acres of tobacco, mixing it with loam 

 and applying it in the hill. I have the best crop I ever raised, and 

 I think the fertilizer had something to do with it. I think this is 

 the best fertilizer that can be used in a .dry season, for it is actual 

 plant-food, and no mistake." [That is nothing but his opinion.] 

 "I have not been able to note a single failure among my neighbors 

 where this fertilizer has been used upon their crops, and I think I 

 have observed very closely." 



The next experiment is one which is taken from the " Provi- 

 dence Journal." I know nothing about the man. I do not 

 know what his initials mean, or anything about it ; but it is 

 an experiment that has found its way into the papers, and so 

 I accept it. It is as follows : — 



" Greenville, R. I., August 21, 1876. 

 " To the Editor of the Journal: — In April last, I purchased of 

 Messrs. Rice & Co. of your city Stockbridge fertilizers for several 

 crops, and for the benefit of farmers generally, I wish' to state my 

 experience with them. I used them on about an acre and a half 

 of ground, where there had been no stable manure of any kind put on 

 for six years, where the soil had been completely exhausted, and 

 under these unfavorable circumstances, I raised as good a crop as 

 any of my neighbors who used plenty of barn-yard manure and ashes ; 

 and for some unexplained reason, mine stood the severe drought 

 equally as well, if not better, than theirs, and it has 'certainly 

 exceeded my expectations in every way. While with many barn- 

 yard manure may be considered 'king,' in view of its high cost 

 and trouble of application, I shall continue to use the Stockbridge 

 fertilizers, for I have great faith in them for special crops. I 

 believe the Stockbridge theory is the correct one. j. a. b." 



The next is from Raymond, Me., under date of November 

 7:— 



" According to request, I send statement of my crop with these 



fertilizers. I planted one acre of corn with these fertilizers — sandy 



interval land — which .had not been ploughed for sixteen years. I 



bought the land last spring. It had been mowed every year for the 



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