MANURE FOK BAELEY. 241 



and thrown off in the liquid excrements, is in such a form that it 

 will readily ferment and produce ammonia, while the nitrogenous 

 matter in the undigested food and in the straw used for bedding, 

 decomposes slowly even under the most favorable conditions ; and 

 if buried while fresh in a clay soil, it probably would not all de- 

 compose in many years. But we will not discuss this at present. 



" The superphosphate does not seem to have done much good," 

 saicl the Deacon ; " 3 cwt. per acre gives an increase of less than 

 two bushels per acre. And I suppose it was good superphosphate." 



There need be no doubt on that point. Better superphosphate 

 of lime cannot be made. But you must recollect that this is pure 

 superphosphate made from burnt bones. It contains no ammonia 

 or organic matter. Commercial superphosphates contain more or 

 less ammonia, and had they been used in these experiments, they 

 would have shown a better result than the pure article. They 

 would have done good in proportion to the available nitrogen they 

 contained. If these experiments prove anything, they clearly indi- 

 cate that superphosphate alone is a very poor manure for either 

 wheat or barley. 



The second year, the unmanured plot gave 25 bushels per acre. 

 Potash, soda, and magnesia, (or what the Deacon calls "ashes,") 

 27f bushels ; superphosphate 33, and " ashes " and superphos- 

 phate, nearly 36 bushels per acre. 



50 Ibs. of ammonia, alone, gives nearly 39 bushels, and ammonia 

 and superphosphate together, 40 bushels. 



The superphosphate and " ashes " give a better account of them- 

 selves this year ; but it is remarkable that the ammonia alone, gives 

 almost as good a crop as the ammonia and superphosphate, and a 

 letter crop than the ammonia and u ashes," or the ammonia, super- 

 phosphate, and ashes, together. 



The 14 tons farm-yard manure gives over 36 bushels per acre. 

 This plot has now had 28 tons of manure per acre, yet the 50 Ibs. 

 of ammonia alone, still gives a better yield than this heavy dress- 

 ing of manure. 



The third season (1854), was quite favorable for the ripening of 

 wheat and barley. The seed on the experimental barley-field, was 

 sown Feb. 24, and the harvest was late ; so that the crop had an 

 unusually long season for growth. It was one of the years when 

 even poor land, if clean, gives a good crop. The unmanured plot, 

 it will be seen, yielded over 35 bushels per acre of dressed grain, 

 weighing over 53 Ibs. per bushel. The total weight of grain, was 

 1,963 Ibs. This is over 40 bushels per acre, of 48 Ibs. per bushel, 

 which is the standard with us. 

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