258 lALKS ON MAJJUEES. 



■will have lo 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 d(i this he must feed liberally — and he can not 

 atford to feed iilxTuUy unless he has good stock. 



" 1 have, my.self, no doul)t but you are right on this point,'' said 

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

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

 when he is an.xious to raise a good crop of potatoes next year, that 

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

 swine, and then l)ny bran and oil-cake to make richer manure, is 

 somiwhal tantalizing." 



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

 phosplioric acid to his manure in tlic shape of bran, oil-cake, etc., 

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

 soda and sni)erpliospliate. This gives him richtT manure ; which 

 is precisely what he wants for his potatoes. His potir manure i3 

 not so much deficient in poLa.sh as in nitrogen and jjliosphoric acid, 

 and consetpirntly it is nitrogen and plios|)horic 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 pf)tatoes, and 

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

 country, was in 18o'2. Four acres of pot:itoes were planted on a 

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

 Peruvian guano was sown broalcast at the rate of 300 lbs. 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 11^ bushels per acre. 



30t» ll)s. Peruvian gtiano S*^ 



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



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



were all .'^ound and good, but where the guano was used, they were 



larger, with scarcely a small one amongst tiiem. 



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

 same field on which the preceding exiieriment was made in 18.')2. 



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 

 gootl mellow condition. The potatoes were planted in bills 3i 



