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of Ames ground bone and flesh, which was all raked in just 

 before the seed was sown. 



The small portion referred to was part of an acre to which, 

 by a mistake of the man in charge, a ton of Peruvian guano, the 

 guaranteed, was applied. The results on the guano-manured 

 portion were no better than on that which received the ashes 

 and Ames manure. This can be satisfactorily explained by 

 the fact that the three great elements of plant food must be 

 supplied in the proportion needed by the plant; consequently 

 any excess of these will not increase the crop. To apply this 

 truth to the case in hand, if in addition to the large quantity 

 of ammonia contained in the guano, I had made a proportionate 

 increase in the phosphoric acid and potash fed to the plant, 

 without doubt the effect on the portion of the crop so treated 

 would have been very evident in the increase. 



Allow me here to remark that on one portion of the large 

 bed on which Mangolds were raised last season and onions for 

 the first time this, the crop was just about as good as on the 

 average of the bed, which I account for by the same principle 

 as the above, viz.: knowing that Mangolds are great potash 

 feeders, I gave this part an extra feed of the ashes. If our far- 

 mers will give the land on which either beets or cabbages 

 were raised the year previously an extra quantity of un- 

 leached wood ashes or potash in any other form, over and 

 above the usual manure, when planting to onions, instead of 

 the failure usual when following these crops with onions, they 

 will be likely to have success. 



The land had a shallow ploughing, about four inches deep, 

 when it was first harrowed and then raked with a new variety 

 of rake run by horse power. This rake consisted of four 

 cylinders of wood, on which were fastened circular discs of 

 steel, much like those in the Randall harrow ; these discs cut 

 between each other making the soil or ground free from stones 

 the size of one's fist, as fine as when hand raked. As the 

 space raked was about six feet in width, there was a great 

 saving of time. 



