J* 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



II 



fbbh ■ 



b y www»»r;- h the pebbles 

 SI- ^ermrtetooc than the former. When 





olites 



010 



C£K^«^^" "CSS chocolate, and 



f which affords a onstit uents. 



ion of their °<;™«™ these Coprolites are the 



"T^.ce was that increase sufficient to reimburse the cost. ] 4 cwt. per acre, without manure. The second and 



instance »« »•" . „„i„ rt „f ti, UJ of npr mpnts eppm tn shnw that nn nnorlandas much 



eri &p, than the iou»gi. 



^^^tnor.istaUe.theCopr 



&&" **■ surfite » i^ e ° f 



VI. 1 cwt, 16 bushels 



of wood - ashes, 

 and 8 of salt £\ 



VII. 240 lbs. . . 1 



2 11 

 11 4 



^proportion of to*. «.,»■ thege Coprollt es are me 



em at Fi 



nial e; 



&h yield*. the fosi 



Yemeni, of a J&XTKJ • fossilised bone ori- 

 SlWcting them • ;»£ ; hale . it improbable that the 



rea«T 



- ot -V „eeo. pelade by giving the analysis 



-*£ S- • : : : : 



Carbuateot» ,ra f '., t * mur iaticacid . . 



g; ^Uw^mseparaMoat.OOO 



56 

 15 



19 



8 

 2 



Wti« 



100 



ArRICULTimLExSMENTS. 



AGRICU Li t f of any partlcu iar 



TnE argument by mduaio multiplie d experi- 



« "tw^edoas errors we may be led by taking 



^ al rons to infer that this or that manure is good or 

 W MS the one or the other may have succeeded or 

 SW in some solitary trial Thus for instance in the 

 Wn.l of the Scotch Agricultural Society, Mr. 

 Si his reeled the results of 28 trials of different 

 manures as to,>-dres,in ? s upon Grass ; two of them were 

 lilt and suinhate of ammonia, but with both of them onl> 

 .in-le experiments were made, and the conclusions to 

 which thev lead are directly the reverse of those to which 

 hit experience of them conducts me. With him, salt was 

 the most successful of all the manures, and gave the 

 ltrgest increase of Grass ; sulphate of ammonia was the 

 least incci if, with the exception of the muriate, and 

 give the tallest increase of Grass. With me, salt is 

 useless, and sulphate of ammonia is very valuable when 

 used in the right proportion. To ignorance of this 

 proportion Mr. Maclean's failure may be ascribed ; he 

 used too much ; for if I recollect right, he laid it on at the 

 rate of about three cwt. per acre. His muriate of am- 

 monia must have been applied in still greater excess ; for 

 there, and there alone, he suffered loss, the Grass being 

 injured by the application. On the other hand, my failure 

 with salt is no argument against its value as a manure in 

 other situations ; for it may be accounted for by my prox- 

 imity to the sea. In any situation where the trees are killed 

 orstunted in their growth by the sea-breeze, as they are here, 

 in l fcMtie aunt exposure on high ground, it is evident that 

 the atmosphere must sometimes be saturated with muriate 

 of soda, and probably enough of that material is thus con- 

 veyed to the grass. We must therefore bear in mind, not 

 only that the failure of solitary experiments is not to be 

 considered conclusive evidence against any new manure, 

 but that even their success is to be distrusted till confirmed 

 by repeated and various experience. Against the latter 

 Class of errors, however, I have no great reason to stand 

 ipon my guard ; for all mv single experiments proved 

 •if nally unsuccessful. They were made with six different 

 minor* and in all of them I have no doubt that the dose 

 wai too large. Two of them bear ridiculous names, and 

 are very expensive; but that would be of little conse- 

 quence if it could be proved that small quantities of them 

 would more than repay the cost. 



It will be seen that in two instances the application of 



we manure was 1 : ---- * -■ 



was 



fanfe JJ ! ,T" S the increased value of the produce 

 m the cost of ">• manure upon an acre. 



i. a» lbs. „f nrate 



v S-'Vasr - alkali " with 2o 



The price of the nitrate was 1/. per cwt., and the value ot 

 the increase being deducted from the expense, gives the 

 following table of loss sustained : — 



I. 1 CWt. . . ^"0 2 3 



II. liewt. . . . o io 9 



III. Do. in another place 11 9 



IV. Do. do. .026 

 V. 14 cwt. . .076 



In the two last instances the land was in better con- 

 dition, and might seem not to want manure at all, for 

 without any it yielded more than two tons of hay per 

 acre. It is to be observed that where the smallest quan- 

 tity was used, the loss, too, was the smallest ; and it is 

 evident that if only a small proportion of manure is 

 needed to supply the grass with the nutriment of that 

 sort which it requires, every addition of it beyond that 

 proportion must be expended in vain, for the action of 

 frequent rains would not allow it to remain m the soil 

 stored up for future use. Perhaps 50 or GO lbs. would 

 have produced the same effect as a larger quantity, and 

 then there would have been, in the two last instances, a 

 clear profit of about 7 or 8 shillings. The same conclusion 

 is very strikingly indicated by the experiments with sugar 

 scum, an article much used in France in the cultivation 

 of the Vine, and imported for the vineyards at consider- 

 able expense. Its cost to me was 1/. 5s. per ton. The 

 application of it invariably produced a greater quantity ot 

 hav, but almost in an inverse proportion to the quantity 

 em'ployed ; there can be no doubt, therefore, that it is 

 beneficial as a manure on grass, if only the right propor- 

 tion can be discovered ; but it must be owned that the 

 admixture of a small quantity of wood-ashes in each case 

 keeps its own specific virtue somewhat in the dark. The 

 cost of the wood-ashes is estimated at Hd. per bushel. 



third experiments seem to show that on poor land as much 

 as 2 cwt. may be usefully employed ; for in the former 

 case, the unassisted land yielded only 15 cwt. 521bs. of 

 hay ; and in the latter, 19 cwt. 22 lbs. ; but that 3 cwt. i& 

 too much is the only inference to be drawn from the first,. 

 for there too the natural produce was only 10 cwt. 105lbs. ; 

 in all the rest it exceeded 2 tons. It will also be seenthat 

 in the two last experiments, where the quantity .used was- 

 smallest, the profit was largest. It will be a pleasant 

 doctrine for farmers if it can be proved that the less ex<- 

 pense they incur in the use of an artificial manure, the 

 larger profit they will gain ; and this rule, it seems, 

 applies equally to a temperate use of their own farmyard- 

 manure ; for two portions of equally good land being 

 watered with drainings,— the first once, and the second' 

 twice— the first gave an increase of the value of lis. 4tf. 

 above the adjoining land ; the second fell below it nearly 

 to the same amount. Some uncertainty, however, attends 

 this experiment, because the liquid may not in both cases 

 have been of equal strength.— L. Vernon Harcourt, 

 IVestdean House. 



(To be continued.') 



Increased 

 value of Hay. Gain. 



11*. 3rf. 



8 6 

 14 

 14 

 14 3 

 14 3 



2s . gd. 



Loss per 

 Acre. 



£16 9 



19 



14 

 2 

 

 



6 







6 



3 

 



I. 24 cwt. and 8 bushels of ashes . 



II. 20 cwt. and 8 do 



III. 16 cwt. and 8 do 



IV. 12 cwt. and 4 do. . e 

 V. 8 cwt. and 4 do 



VI. 8 cwt. and 4 do. in another field 



In the last case the land was poorer than in the pre- 

 ceding, the produce of Hay per acre in the adjoining 

 unmanured part being 1 ton 12 cwt. 34 lbs. ; whereas in the 

 other it amounted to 2 tons 3 cwt. There was also a 

 mot difference between the 1st and 2nd experiments 

 in the qualitv of the land. On the first the q^ity 

 of hay without the manure was only lo cwt. oOlbs., 

 while the other produced without manure 2 tons 6 cwt. 

 •28 lbs. It thus appears that sugar-scum^ is most 

 effective where manure is most wanted. It is a great 

 mistake, however, to suppose that the more you use the 

 more you will get from it, for the maximum of produce 

 was obtained from the smallest quantity. It remains to 

 be tried whether a still smaller quantity may not produce 

 the same effect; and whether, under any circumstances, 

 it benefits the succeeding crop. At present there is no 

 great encouragement to persevere in its use as a top- 

 dressing for Grass. The experiments with guano were 

 more successful; but though up to a certain point an 

 increased quantity of manure gave an increased quantity 

 of produce, yet they still bring us to the same conclusion, 

 that, as the proverb says, too much of anything is good 

 for nothing. The cost of this manure was 12s. per cwt. 



Increased 

 Value of Hhv. Loss. Gain. 



8s. gd. 

 11 5 



2 

 3 



1 

 1 

 1 











15 



13 



4 



4 



7 

 9 

 9 



5 



1G*. Od. 

 15 8 



£0 1 4 



I. 3} cwt. and 20 bush, of ashes £1 

 II. 3* cwt.. 1 year old, and 20 do. 1 



III. 3 cwt. and 1 cwt. of nitrate 



of soda . 



IV. 2 cwt. and 4 bushels of ashes 



V. 2 cwt. e . • 



VI. 12 cwt. . 

 VII. 14 cwt. . . 

 VIII. l cwt., 6 bushels of salt, and 

 16 bushels of ashes . 



In the last instance, it may be that the soil was almost 

 saturated with as much nutriment as the Grass required ; 



2 15 

 11 

 12 



6 



1 



9 



9 

 5 



5 8 18 



^nurev m j ur ious instead of beneficiaY; "hi one "it forTts produce without any manure amounted to 2 tons 

 \nltl 1! ; e, ? cacious ' *•» the rest the amount of loss is 7 cwt. <J0 lbs., and thus 18s. worth of the manure produced 



IcQ QV rfer ':r>rini* fl. n : i . _ . 



Expense. 

 4l 4 



Loss. 



jfc°0 11 3 



3 13 7 2 17 3 



3 12 1 3 16 1 



4 5 1 4 9 1 

 6 5 4 5 16 10 



In the Wi '"f™ U " ttSUeS • • • 1 5 6 106 15 10 

 ^o* is exS 6 thC ab ' olate neutralit y of the appli- 

 ^^^^Z:T y '. th ^ d[d l not know the very 

 } 'Wld be temnt*l * ln C0llJu <-'ting the experiments, 



lnt0 the account if US , PCCt that SOme error had cre P* 

 ^Perimentsisof'^ t •' com Pfcte accuracy in these 

 ceed wit* .v. °/. 80 much importance. tW W™« T «,.,.. 



4 1 "ave neirV • • more inst ructive series to 



tbe *°de ia S k 1QVlte Mention, I 



wmoh t h ey were conducted 



"edtromlhe trial of sc 

 t^e manure?^ 8 ^! e ?» each plot of ground to which 



which fu« w «M*uwun, i must explain 

 r «** ^ compute? ^ cond " ct eu- The produce 

 ^rtain length of aw , \° m lhe trial of smaller quantities. 



gheel 



b °' hin tbe 8t9te I y li ** "as measured and wei 

 !" d thi » op eratio ° n ' P««. and after it was made into Lay; 



S? d °[ tbe re S uV,L r * peated tUree times . a » d «>e 

 °t*»med f rom ™» *»£ then compared with the mean 



and ad- 



*rfmV h r ea mark ^l th o e f \ a z ltt f, 0f the nay, it wa^kTn 

 g^euti were triedwlL J*' l**' P er tou * Seven ex- 

 ^* ace ^creased thtlr^lu^J ^' whic > in ever y 



no effect at all. The contrary fact will account for the 

 great success of the 4th experiment, for there the weight 

 of hay on the unmanured part was no more than \l cwt. 

 :Ulbs From a comparison of the two first it appears 

 that guano loses much of its efficiency by being kept, its 

 volatile parts being dissipated in the air, and that even 

 the best, applied to good land in large quantities, will not 

 yield anv adequate return. The weight of hay in this 

 case, without the manure, was 2 tons 1 cwt. /Olbs. From 

 the experiments upon sulphate of ammonia it is not so 

 easy to deduce any certain conclusions, some of the results 

 being verv anomalous. The moistness of the spring was 

 favourable to its action generally ; but as it was not all 

 laid on af the same time, the fact of the weather being 

 different at different times may account for some ot the 

 variations. The cost was 17s. per cwt. 



Increased 

 Value of Hay 



I. 335 lbs. sown at twice . .^"2 0*. 5d. 

 II. 224 lbs. from the bottom of 

 the cask . 



III. 224 lbs 



IV. lBOlbff. sown at twice 

 V. 120 lbs. sown at twice . 



VI. 120 lbs., and 4 bush, of aahes 

 VII. 80 lbs. . 



VIII. 73lbs. and 640 pallons of 

 drainings from the farm- 

 yard . . • • 

 IX. 60 lbs., and 4 bush, of ashes 



It is remarkable that in two out of the only three cases, 



where the application was made at ^0 different tunes 



loss ensued/and in the third a very insignificant p ok . 



ON MINERAL& INORGANIC MANURES.— No. I.- 



By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



{Translated from the German.) 



It has been previously observed that the substance* 

 used for manures are composed of earths, oxides, alkahes r , 

 and acids, and that the last mentioned occur always com- 

 bined with the first into salts. 



Although agriculturists make now-a-days ur more 

 use of mineral manuring substances than in former 

 times, having become convinced that they take as active a 

 part in the nourishment of plants as organic manures do,. 

 still several, which besides those hitherto used may be 

 of avail, have been as yet entirely neglected. The cause 

 of this neglect probably rests on the insufficient know- 

 ledge of mineral manures, as most believe that they only 

 act by improving the texture of the soil, or that they 

 promote vegetation merely by dissolving the humus ; in. 

 fine, that they are only so far useful as they excite 

 plants to a more energetic vegetation. It may, however. 

 be now assumed with certainty, that ,they are a real food 

 of plants, and as essentially necessary to their constitution 

 as the oxygen, hvdrogen, carbon, or nitrogen contained m 

 the organic manures. It is not less true, that to this- 

 mistaken view of the action of mineral manures, many 

 real advantages have been hitherto sacrificed, because the 

 culture of plants would have been carried on more- 

 effectively, if the principle had been acknowledged that 

 plants have to obtain a necessary quantity of those- 

 mineral substances from the soil which are found in them, 

 by chemical analysis. Even the phenomenon ha on- 

 each kind of soil some particular tribe of plants will locate 

 itself spontaneously, ought to have ^^f Z™* " 

 opinion different from that hitherto entertained. Sandy 

 soil, for instance, will produce other plant; 1 than marl, anu 

 this again other than a peaty soil, &c. Thence we may 

 learn that the growing of plants is dependent, generally 

 speaking, on certain mineral substances contained ^in the ■ 

 soil, and that it is working in opposition to the very 

 nature of crops to plant them in localities, where (accord, 

 ing to their chemical constitution) it is impossible for 

 them to grow. We find every day that many wild plants- 

 only come up in spots where the soil abounds m potash 

 or gvpsum, common salt, manganese, &c ; and why 

 liJJ we doubt that cultivated plants also ^ find- 

 some particular mineral substance abundantly in the » soil 

 where they are found to grow luxuriantly ? Accord „ g t^ 

 the opinion of several Naturalists, carbon, hydrogen, 

 ox%en and nitrogen alone constitute the proper nounsh- 

 mnt of plants, so that if mineral substances occur m 

 them they are to be considered merely accidental But 

 w th \he ^same plausibility it might be assumed hat 

 nitrogen, &C are the merely accidental ingredients of 



ants and that the minerals are their real nourishment 

 P Some others assert that plants possess the power of 

 forming the mineral substances which they contaio .out 

 of carbon, nitrogen, &c, transforming th en by ^ their 

 vital powers into mineral substances ; and they refer to 

 some experiments made long aso 5 but, « * can be 



F ^r Z; 6 ha. been mad^ very imp^l^ 

 do not deserve any credit, and though JheJ were ^ or thy 

 of confidence, they do not prove what it is intended they 

 should. Very lately, a believer m this doctrine of the 

 n ulhment 'of plants asked the .M^^W; 

 (vide the preface to •« Schiibler's Agricultural Chemistry 

 B -How is it, that after 100 crops ^ -a red on 



Loss. 



10a". btf. 



Gain. 



2 

 2 18 

 1 * 



14 

 2 3 

 11 



3 











4 







3 



£0 15 

 1 4 

 



9 

 



D 



3 10 



11 



1 2 11 



2 8 

 1 14 



9 



y 



1 

 1 



17 



4 





 9 



ern»\k r ., "^ WU1CU m everv loss ensued, and in the third a very .n.'b»— - r-~- 

 growth of the grass, but in no In the other case of failure, the land produced 2 tons, 



of "0 vears contain m i^h 8 w«.~ -..---- 



pLpha'e of lime than any soil in the word con tarns 

 for phosphate of lime is nowhere an or. 4 .na con utuent 

 of the soil." The same author W^W 

 stadt obtained 93G lbs. of calcined potash, from «-bl lbs. 

 of the common Mngwort, (which he grew on 8 000 

 square feet of a sandy soil), each cub<c foot of the soil 

 must have contained more than 340 grams of potash for 

 the use of the plants. But as th.s could not be 

 assumed to be the case with the and sandy so 1 

 of Berlin on which Hermbstadt made his «£"»"£ 

 the great amount of potash in the planU ■ to be 

 ascribed to their luxuriant vegetation, not to the ^ com 



position of the soil." To th.s I "W'*^™ 



o eeve.al of my experiments, made with great accuracy, 



everll even sterile sods, which have never been manured 



^h dung and where, consequently the ••-f^f.^ 



stances were originally inherent » the son, contain X-l* 



