176 TALKS OX MANUKES. 



4 bushels of grain an unusually large proportion of straw to grain ? 

 I have heard you say that 100 Ibs. of straw to each bushel of 

 wheat is about the average. And according to this experiment, 

 the carbonate of ammonia produced over 200 Ibs. of straw to a 

 bushel of grain. How do you account for this." 



" It is a general rule," said 1, "that the heavier the crop, the 

 greater is the proportion of straw to grain. On the no-manure 

 plot, we have, this year, 118 Ibs. of straw to a bushel of dressed 

 grain. Taking this as the standard, you will find that the increase 

 from manures is proportionally greater in straw than in grain. 

 Thus in the increase of barn-yard manure, this year, we have 

 about 133 Ibs. of straw to a bushel of grain. I do not believe there 

 is any manure that will give us a large crop of grain without a 

 Btill larger crop of straw. There is considerable difference, in this 

 respect, between different varieties of wheat. Still, I like to see a 

 good growth of straw." 



"It is curious," said the Doctor, " that 3 cwt. of ammonia-salts 

 alone on plots 9 and 10 should produce as much wheat as was 

 obtained from plot 2, where 14 tons of barn-yard manure had been 

 applied two years in succession. I notice that on one plot, the 

 ammonia-salts were applied at once, in the spring, while en the 

 other plot they were sown at four different times and that the 

 former gave the best results." 



The only conclusion to be drawn from this, is, that it is desirable 

 to apply the manure early in the spring or better still, in the 

 autumn. 



" You are a great advocate of Peruvian guano," said the Deacon, 

 "and yet 3 cwt of Peruvian guano on Plot 13, only produced an 

 increase of two bushels and 643 Ibs. of straw per acre. The guano 

 at $60 per ton, would cost $9.00 per acre. This will not pay." 



This is an unusually small increase. The reason, probably, is to 

 be found in the fact that the manure and seed were not sown until 

 March, instead of in the autumn. The salts of ammonia are quite 

 soluble and act quickly ; while the Peruvian guano has to decom- 

 pose in the soil, and consequently needs to be applied earlier, 

 especially on clay land. 



" I do not want you," said the Deacon, " to dodge the question 

 why an application of 14 tons of farmyard-manure per acre, every 

 year for over thirty years, does not make the land too rich for 

 wheat." 



" Possibly," said I, " on light, sandy soil, such an annual dressing 

 of manure would in the course of a few years make the land too 



