Iviii INTRODUCTION. 



As before stated, the land was of a stronger nature than that on which the first set of experiments 

 was made, and it was evidently in better condition, as the plot having no manure produced twenty 

 bushels of ears of corn per acre more than the plot without manure in the other field. 



On plot 4, 300 pounds of superphosphate of lime gives a total increase of eleven bushels of ears 

 of corn per acre over the unmanured plot, agreeing exactly with the increase obtained from the same 

 quantity of the same manure on plot 5, in the first set of experiments. 



Plot 3, dressed with 150 pounds of sulphate of ammonia per acre, gives a total increase of 28 

 bushels of ears of corn per acre over the unmanured plot, and an increase of 22| bushels of ears per 

 acre over plot 2, which received twenty loads of good, well-rotted barn-yard dung per acre. 



Plot 5, with 400 pounds of Peruvian guano per acre, gives the best crop of this scries, viz : an in 

 crease of 33 bushels of ears of corn per acre over the unmanured plot, and 27 over the plot manured 

 with twenty loads of barn-yard dung. The 400 pounds of &quot;cancerine,&quot; an artificial manure made in 

 New Jersey, from fish, gives a total increase of 18 bushels of ears per acre over the unmanured plot, 

 and 12 J bushels more than that manured with barn-yard dung ; though 5 bushels of cars of sound 

 corn and 10 bushels of &quot;nubbins&quot; per acre less than the same quantity of Peruvian guano. 



At the present price of Indian corn, artificial manures can be used with considerable profit, but 

 the main dependence of the farmer must still be on barn-yard manure. The light, concentrated fertil 

 izers should be used as auxiliaries to barn-yard manure. In this way they will prove of great advan 

 tage. Anything which increases the crop of Indian corn increases the means of making more manure, 

 and that of a better quality. 



The great bulk of our farmers, however, will still rely on natural sources for their manure; and, 

 happily, there are comparatively few soils on which Indian corn will not produce a fair return if the soil 

 is thoroughly cultivated. With our improved horsehoes and cultivators, there is no excuse for those 

 farmers who neglect to keep their corn land mellow and entirely free from weeds. When this is done, 

 we can, in ordinary seasons, and on the majority of soils, be sure of a good crop of Indian corn. It 

 must be confessed, however, that there are too many farmers who fail to practice this thorough culti 

 vation. One of the greatest advantages of the corn crop is, that, being planted in rows at from three 

 to four feet apart, the horsehoe can lie used to clean the land. In this respect Indian corn is a &quot;fallow 

 crop;&quot; and it is much to be regretted that so many farmers neglect to avail themselves of this means 

 of cleaning their land. They would find that the repeated stirring of the soil would not only destroy 

 the weeds, but would make the soil moister in dry weather, and increase its fertility by developing 

 the plant-food locked up in the land. Thorough cultivation alone, would double the average yield of 

 Indian corn in the United States, besides leaving the land cleaner and in much better condition for 

 future crops. 



