488 Transactions of the American Institute. 



white chaff Mediten'auean, the production of Diehl wheat, some 

 Tuscan wheat, and a sack of the white hominy corn, which those 

 present took home to plant. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn read the following paper on 



MANURES. 



It would be recklessly turning aside from the well-trodden path, 

 if, at the outset of my remarks, I did not assert that the suliject of 

 manures is closely allied to the wealth, prosperity and happiness 

 of the American farmer. Nor must I lose so tiiir an opportunity 

 of declaring that some if not all of the ancients were familiar with 

 what we term the most approved and economical methods of col- 

 lecting, composting, and appl3'ing fertilizers. However, it is not 

 a part of my plan in this present paper to give a detailed account 

 of the history of manures, but to present to your consideration 

 instead, some plain practical remarks on the application of manures, 

 their uses and abuses. 



There is no doubt that a thorough system of deep culture will 

 loaterially reduce the annual outlay of fertilizing material. It is 

 equally certain that our drafts on the soil are larger and more 

 frequent than our deposits. Sooner or later the over-taxed and ill- 

 used soil will refuse to produce annual and paying crops. 



To fully illustrate this important subject and the close relations 

 manures bear to the producing capacity of our country, I will direct 

 /our attention for a few moments to the consideration of soils, their 

 origin, formation and composition. All soils are the debris of 

 underlaying or adjacent rocks, and, when speaking in general terms, 

 are classed as clay, limestone, sand, or a mixture of two or more 

 of these substances. 



Soils naturally fertile (or capable of producing maximum crops, 

 without manures), are found to contain not only the above-named 

 substances, but also a certain percentage of decayed vegetable 

 matter, and several mineral ingredients, in minute quantities, which 

 ingredients are always in combination with other substances, and 

 are known as phosphates, sulphates, carbonates, etc. Although 

 these foi-m but a comparatively small proportion of the weight of 

 loose soil on an acre, still their total absence would render it 

 barren, and when any or all of them are not available to the grow- 

 ing plants, maximum crops cannot be produced. 



It is no longer a disputed point among intelligent agriculturists, 

 that in order to make farming profitable, the mineral ingredients 



