PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB, 421 



bones red hot, before shipping them, and when the farmer bought 

 fifty pounds of calcined bones, in England, he had the represen- 

 tative of one hundred pounds in the natural state, so far as the 

 phosphate of lime was concerned. These calcined bones, treated 

 with sulphuric acid, constituted the superphosphate of lime as 

 originally used in England. 



I commenced experiments with this superphosphate of lime on 

 Long Island, at the head of Newtown creek, about the year 1830, 

 and found that $100 worth of that preparation fully represented 

 in effect, $500 worth of barnyard manure, at $2 a cord, which 

 was the selling price for it in that locality. When I removed to 

 New Jersey, I commenced manufacturing phosphate of lime for 

 my own use. I was also experimenting on potash, and finally 

 tried a combination, which produced a better result than that 

 effected by either when used separately. Subsequently Peruvian 

 guano was received in the country, and I tested that faithfully. 

 I found that it contained, by its analysis, all the constituents of 

 plants. I ascertained that Peruvian guano would start a crop, 

 and sustain it up to a certain point extremely well, but would 

 often fail before the crop was half perfected. Therefore I con- 

 cluded that, though the guano contained the proper constituents 

 of plants, it did not contain them in the requisite relative pro- 

 portions to each other. Then, by experimenting with glass pots 

 I found that I could raise sudden crops by it, but at the same 

 time was putting the soil in such a condition that I would require 

 more guano for a second application, to be able to repeat those 

 crops ; in other words, the soil became exhausted of its recupe- 

 rative power. Then I commenced a protracted series of experi- 

 ments, by dividing a piece of ground 200 feet square, into strips 

 of 20 feet wide each, and applying to these strips severally, 20, 

 30, 40, 50, 60 pounds of guano. I then mixed the guano with 

 fifty times its bulk of soil, using a sieve in doing it, so as to get 

 it equally divided. Then I subdivided these twenty feet strips 

 in the other direction, so that they were blocked, like the squares 

 on a checker board, and, in these strips, I sowed each of the 

 constituents of Peruvian guano, as ascertained by chemical 

 analysis. 



I put the whole 200 feet square down to oats, and when they 

 were up, could readily detect a square better than all th6 others. 

 By referring to my map, on which each operation was recorded, 

 and calculculating the quantity of guano going in one direction, 



