INTRODUCTION. l,ii 



11. 75 pounds of pcarlash, 50 pounds of soda-ash. 25 pounds of sulphate of lime, and 25 pounds of sulphate 



of magnesia. 



12. As No. 11, with 100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, 

 l. i. As No. 11, with 100 pounds of superphosphate of lime. 



14. As No. 11, with 100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, and 100 pounds of superphosphate of lime. 



15. As No. 11, with 50 pounds of sulphate of ammonia, 

 lij. 50 pounds of sulphate of ammonia. 



17. GO pounds of superphosphate of lime. 



18. 4 tons of barn yard manure, 50 pounds each of sulphate of ammonia, superphosphate of lime, pcarl 



ash, soda-ash, sulphate of magnesia, and sulphate of lime. 



19. Without manure. 



If potash, soda-ash, and magnesia cannot be readily obtained, unleached hard-wood ashes may be 

 substituted for them. 



The superphosphate of lime should be made from calcined bones, and should be placed in direct con 

 tact with the seed. The sulphate of ammonia should be applied in the hill, with a little soil intervening 

 between it and the seed. The pearlash or soda-ash must not be mixed with the superphosphate or sul 

 phate of ammonia before sowing. The other substances can be applied as convenience or custom dictates. 



Superphosphate oj lime from calcined bones, ground quite fine before admixture with acid, may be 

 made as follows : Grind the calcined bones very fine; then to 100 pounds of bone-dust add 75 pounds 

 of water, and mix thoroughly; then add 100 pounds of&quot; brown or chamber&quot; sulphuric acid and mix 

 completely, and repeat the process until the quantity required is made. (Such a superphosphate can 

 be sown with the smallest seeds without fear of injuring the germinating principle.) 



Hitherto the only experiment that has been made in rei erence to this prize was conducted by 

 JOSEPH HARRIS, near Rochester, New York. The society awarded him the prize, although the precise 

 conditions of the experiments were not adhered to. As the first, and indeed the only experiments of 

 the kind ever made in this country, we need offer no apology for embodying them in this report. 



The soil on which the experiments were made is a light sandy loam. It has been under cultiva 

 tion for upwards of twenty years, and, so far as could be ascertained, had never been manured. It had 

 been somewhat impoverished by the growth of cereal crops, and it was thought that for this reason, and 

 on account of its light texture and active character, which would cause the manures to act immediately, 

 it was well adapted to the purpose of showing the effect of different manurial substances on the corn 

 crop. The land was a clover sod, two years old, pastured the previous summer. It was ploughed 

 early in the spring and harrowed till in excellent condition. The corn was planted May 23, in hills 

 three and one-half feet apart each way. Each experiment was made on the one-tenth of an acre, 

 and consisted of four rows, with one row between each plot, without any manure. The manures 

 were applied in the hill immediately before the seed was planted. With the superphosphate of lime, 

 and with plaster, (gypsum, or sulphate of lime,) the seed was placed directly on top of the manure. 

 The ashes were dropped in the hill and covered with soil, upon which the seed was planted, that it 

 should not come in contact with the ashes. Guano and sulphate of ammonia were treated in the same 

 way. On the plots where ashes and guano or ashes and sulphate of ammonia were both used, the 

 ashes were first put in the hill and covered with soil, and the guano or sulphate of ammonia placed 

 above, and also covered with soil before the seed was planted. The ashes and superphosphate of lime 

 were treated in the same way. It is well known that unleached ashes, mixed either with guano, sulphate 

 ot ammonia, or superphosphate of lime, mutually decompose each other, setting free the ammonia of the 

 guano and sulphate of ammonia, and converting the soluble phosphate of the superphosphate of lime 

 into the insoluble form in which it existed before treatment with sulphuric acid. All the plots were 

 planted on the same day, and the manures weighed and applied under Mr. Harris s immediate super 

 vision. Everything was done that seemed necessary to secure accuracy. 



