26 TALKS ON MAXCRKS. 



from t^li^^, tliat wiicn mily llic ;,'r;iiii is sold oil' the farm, it tiikcs 

 more than tliirlet'U crops to remove as imuh mineral mallLr from 

 the soil as is contained in the whole of one crop. Airain, the ash 

 of the irrain contains less than 3 per cent of sulphuiic acid, so 

 that the 4(5 Ihs. of ash, in 7.} i)ushels of corn, <H)nlains less than li 

 lbs. of sulphuric acid, and thus, if an a;re of soil contains 2,()()() 

 lbs. of sulphuric acid, we have sullicient for an annual croj) of To 

 bushels per acre f(;r fifteen hundred years ! 



"As I said before," continued the Doctor, " intelligent farmers 

 sellom sell their straw, and they frequently purchase and consume 

 on the farm nearly as much bran, shorts, etc., as is sent to market 

 with tlie ijrain they sell. In the ' Natural History <tf New York,' 

 it is stated that an acre of wheat in Western New York, of 30 

 bushels per acre, including straw, chaff, etc., removes from the 

 soil 144 lbs. of mineral mattrr. Gene.'jec wheat usually yields 

 about 80 per cent of flour. This tlour contains only 0.7 per cent 

 of mineral matter, while tine middlings contain 4 per cent; coarse 

 middlings, ok per cent; sliorts, 8 per cent, and bran 8J per cent 

 of mineral matter or ash. It follows from this, that out of the 144 

 <bs. of mineral matter in the crop of wheat, le.ss than 10 ll)s. is 

 contained in the flo;:r. The remaining 134 lbs. is found in the 

 straw, chaff, bran, :-horls, etc., which a good farmer is almost sure 

 to feed out on his farm. Hut even if the farmer feeds out none of 

 his wjieat-bran, but sells it all with his wheat, the 30 busliels of 

 wheat remove from the soil only 20 lbs. of mineral matter; and it 

 would take more than five crops to remove as much mineral mat- 

 ter as one crop of wheat and straw contains. Allowing that half 

 the as'.i of wheat is plios[ihoric acid, 30 bushels remove only 13 

 lbs. from the soil, and if the soil contains 4,000 lbs., it will take 

 three hundred and seven crops, of 30 bushels each, to exhau.st it." 



" That is to say," said Charier, " if all the straw and chaff is re- 

 tained on the farm, and is returned to the land without loss of 

 phosphoric acid." 



" Yes," said the Doctctr, " a id if .ill f.;e bran and short."?, etc., 

 were retained on the f.irm, it wo:dd take eight hundred crojis to 

 exhaust the soil of phosphoric acid; and it is admitted that of all 

 the elements of plant-food, phosphoric acid is the one first to be 

 exhausteil from the soil." 



I have sold some timothy hay this winter, and propose to do so 

 whenever the price suits. But some of my neighbors, who do 

 not hesitate to sell their own hay, tliink I ought not to do so, 

 because I " write for the ]iapors"! It ought to satisfy tliem to 

 know that I bring back 30 cwt. of bran for every ton of hay I 



