258 TALKS ON MANTJKES. 



will have to raise his own stock. He can rarely buy well-bred ani- 

 mals to fatten. A good farmer must be a good farmer throughout. 

 He can not be good in spots. His land must be drained, well- 

 worked, and free from weeds. If he crops heavily he must manure 

 heavily, and to do this he must feed liberally and he can not 

 afford to feed liberally unless he has good stock. 



" I have, myself, no doubt but you are right on this point," said 

 the Doctor, " but all this takes time. Suppose a farmer becomes 

 satisfied that the manure he makes is not rich enough. To tell him, 

 when he is anxious to raise a good crop of potatoes next year, that 

 he must go to work and improve his stock of cattle, sheep, and 

 swine, and then buy bran and oil-cake to make richer manure, is 

 somewhat tantalizing." 



This is true, and in such a case, instead of adding nitrogen and 

 phosphoric acid to his manure in the shape of bran, oil-cake, etc., 

 he can buy nitrogen and phosphoric acid in guano or in nitrate of 

 soda and superphosphate. This gives him richer manure ; which 

 is precisely what he wants for his potatoes. His poor manure is 

 not so much deficient in potash as in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 

 and consequently it is nitrogen and phosphoric acid that he will 

 probably need to make his soil capable of producing a large crop 

 of potatoes. 



I have seen Peruvian guano extensively used on potatoes, and 

 almost always with good effect. My first experience with it in this 

 country, was in 1852. Four acres of potatoes were planted on a 

 two-year-old clover-sod, plowed in the spring. On two acres, 

 Peruvian guano was sown broadcast at the rate of 300 Ibs. per acre 

 and harrowed in. The potatoes were planted May 10. On the 

 other two acres no manure of any kind was used, though treated 

 exactly alike in every other respect. The result was as follows : 



No manure 119 bushels per acre. 



300 Ibs. Peruvian guano 205 " 



The guano cost, here, about 3 cents a lb., and consequently nine 

 dollars' worth of guano gave 84 bushels of potatoes. The potatoes 

 were all sound and good, but where the guano was used, they were 

 larger, with scarcely a small one amongst them. 



In 1857, 1 made the following experiments on potatoes, in the 

 same field on which the preceding experiment was made in 1852. 



In this case, as before, the land was a two-year-old clover-sod. It 

 was plowed about the first of May, and harrowed until it was in a 

 good mellow condition. The potatoes were planted in hills 3i 



