MANURE FOR nARLET. 249 



It is not necessary to make any nuimu'nts on this table. It 

 speaks for itself; but it iloes nut tell h:ilf the story. For instance, 

 in the case of wheat and barley, it pvcs tbe average result for 20 

 years. It shows that when 100 lbs. of nitrogen in a soluble and 

 available form, are applied to wheat, about 6>t lbs. are lejt in the 

 toil. But you must recollect that 100 lbs. was api>]ii'd again the 

 next year, and no account is taken of the 6S lbs. left in tlie soil — 

 «\nd so on for 20 years. In other words, on plot 8, for instance, 

 2,460 lbs. of nitrogin have been applied, and only llh lbs. have 

 been recovered in ihc total produce of grain, straw, and chaff, 

 and 1,685 lbs. have been left in the soil. 



Mr. Lawes estimates, from several analyses, that his farm-yard 

 manure contains 0.637 per cent of nitrogen, 2.76 per cent of mineral 

 matter, and 27.24 per cent of organic matter, and 70 per cent of 

 water. 



According to this, the plot dressed with 14 tons of manure every 

 year, for 20 years, has received 3,'.>y.* lbs. of nitrogen, of which 58;H 

 lbs. were recovered in the produce, and 3,411J lbs. were left in the 

 soil. 



In the case of barley, 3,995 lbs. of nitrogen was applied dur- 

 ing the 20 years to the plot dressed with farm-yard manure, of 

 which 427* lbs. were recovered in the crop, and 3,567J lbs. left in 

 tbe soil. 



*' I see," s;iid the Deacon, " that barley gets less of the goodness 

 out of farm-yard manure than wheat, but that it gets more out of 

 the salts of ammonia and nitrate of soda. How do you account 

 for that?" 



" I sui pose, because the manure for wheat was applied in the 

 autumn, and the rains of winter and spring dissolved more of tbe 

 plant-food than would be the case if the manure was applied in 

 the spring. If tbe manure had been applied on the surface, in- 

 stead of plowing it under, I believe the effect would have been 

 Btill more in favor of the autumn-manuring." 



When the nitrogen is in an available condition, spring barley 

 can take up and utilize a larger proportion of the nitrogen than 

 winter wheat. Neither tbe wheat nor the barley can get at and 

 take up half what is applied, aid tliis, notwithstanding the fact 

 that a heavy dew or a sliirht rain furnishes water enough on an 

 acre to dissolve a liberal dressin;; of nitrate of soda or sulphate 

 and muriate of ammonia. The truth is, the soil is very conserva- 

 tive. It does not, fortunately for us, yield up all its plant-food in 

 a year 



We have seen that when wheat or barley is dressed with sol- 



