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tliink these results have settled the question of the value of 

 unleached ashes, especially for some crops, and on certain 

 lands. The ashes used in these experiments were the hard- 

 wood ashes from Canada ; but the superintendent of the 

 farm is of the opinion that leached ashes are as profitable 

 to the farmer as unleaclied, if you can purchase them at 

 one-half the price of the unleached ; that is, when the un- 

 leached cost thirty-three cents per bushel, the leached are 

 worth sixteen cents per bushel. 



Notwithstanding the favorable results reached by these 

 experiments, your committee would not recommend to the 

 farmers of the county a free and indiscriminate use of 

 ashes; for, on much of our land, no such results would 

 have been realized. We know of lands that are now so 

 rich in potash that a dressing of ashes would not make any 

 perceptible difference in the crop, unless it would be to 

 diminish it. Every farmer must test the quality of his 

 lands, and ascertain the need of the soil, and then must 

 supply that need in the most economical way possible to 

 him. We have no doubt that many thousand dollars are 

 worse than wasted, by our farmers, by feeding their land 

 with the very substances that are there now, and that in 

 great abundance. 



But the experiments in the use of ashes, made under the 

 direction of the committee, on tlie Treadwell farm, the past 

 year, prove conclusively that the judicious use of ashes is 

 an economical investment for our farmers who are com- 

 pelled to purchase fertilizers in the market. 



Your committee would request the members of the 

 Society to suggest any experiments they would like to have 

 made on the Treadwell farm the coming year. 



O. S. Butler, for the Commillee. 



