104 CHEMICAL MANURES. 



then, to see why the farmers who occupied it preferred to use what 

 little manure was at their disposition in the field, rather than bring 

 any. Now to attempt the cultivation of wheat under such conditions 

 seemed impossible so impossible that our laborers undertook it with 

 extreme repugnance. 



However, by the aid of 888 Ibs. of the incomplete fertilizer the 

 acre, I obtained a harvest worth $61.01, of which the following are 

 the elements : 



Quantity of grain 37 bu. 



Weight of grain 1733 Ibs. 



Weight per bushel 46 " 



Weight of straw 7200 " 



Here is a return of products amounting in value to.. $61.01 

 From which must be deducted the whole value of 



the fertilizer 17.73 



Leaving $43^28 



Certainly, gentlemen, this is an enormous return, considering the 

 land in question ; but I am convinced that it would have been greater 

 if the ploughing had been deeper, if the fertilizer had been more 

 deeply turned under than it was, and lastly, if the season had been 

 better. Is not 37 bushels the acre an admirable return from the soil 

 where it was realized, when in the neighboring valley, from the 

 alluvial soils, worth $506.66 the acre, the yield was but 23 bushels ? 



I had so organized my experimental fields as to compare the returns 

 of wheat with those treated with fertilizers and those without them. 

 Unfortunately, the servant charged with spreading them forgot my 

 orders, and threw the fertilizer over the reserved squares. If I had 

 been told of the mistake in time, I could have repaired it, but the 

 servant kept silent, convinced he would not be found out. It was not 

 until later, when the presence of the manure was evident in the 

 growth of the plants, that he acknowledged his fault. 



His fault, although it resulted in depriving me of a comparison in 

 the culture of wheat, could not hinder me from comparing the results 

 obtained from the chemical fertilizers with those by the old methods 

 in the culture of rye without fertilizers. 



This experimental field was near the field of rye without fertilizers 

 of which I have just spoken, and which had yielded 15 bushels of 

 grain and 1422 Ibs. of straw the acre. 



Now, in the estimate of the cost of all the fertilizers, which I think 

 excessive, and valuing the grain and straw as here below, we find as 

 the result of the two methods a profit of $30.61 in favor of the har- 

 vest with the fertilizer. 



Value of harvest of rye without fertilizer $16.88 



Value of harvest of wheat with fertilizer 65.23 



Excess in favor of harvest of wheat $48.35 



Deduction of value of fertilizer $17.74 



Net profit in favor of the culture of wheat with 



the chemical fertilizers. . . $30.61 



