THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



363 



ucb 



Why Miu'contoio originally not only m 

 qnencc, " neatny ~' ,_ c ; i; ^ A of so d a . And then 





&***" STbcalao manured with heath-ashes, &c, by 

 wc V*thev will also obtain much potash and soda, 

 r^htth-so , however, which is rich in coal of humus, 

 Kto Tand magnesia of the marl are always the most 

 ^ 1„ s generally there is plenty of gypsum, phos- 

 2K sa * X.1 salts in the soil. This is con- 

 5 •? hv the analysis of the next following marl, which 

 ? r m uch u sed in oLabriick, for the bringing into cultiva- 

 !Ln and the improving of heath-soils, and is, in fact, 



!Li_- #>I«e but a sort of lime tuffa, 

 n / Marl from Osnabruck (granular). 



7 6,680 parts silica and quartz sand 



alumina 

 oxide of iron 

 oxide of manganese 

 potash united with silica 

 sulphuric acid combined with lime into 



gypsum 

 carbonate of lime 

 carbonate of magnesia 

 common salt 



100,000 parts 



0,312 

 0,416 

 0,880 

 0,030 

 0,016 



M 



11 



If 



11 



It 

 11 



100,000 parts. 



Of this marl (like that marked a) no more than 100 

 cubic feet are required for the Magdeburg acre, and this 

 will produce a powerful effect for the space of eight or 

 nine years. On heathy soils it will act so powerfully 

 that the farmers convey it (like a) from a distance of two 

 to three German miles on their fields. It, however, ex- 

 hausts the soil very soon, if it be not also manured with 

 dung ; and this exhaustion will take place the sooner, the 

 less there is of coal of humus. The above marl is found 

 on the slope of a range of calcareous hills, where it is 

 constantly formed, being, as stated before, nothing but 

 lime tuffa. Used on the spot, it is of no use to the soil. 

 I have found the same to be the case in other places, 

 where a similar marl, or rather lime tuffa, did not produce 

 any effect, the soil containing always enough of lime, 

 whilst there was but a very small quantity in it of coal of 

 humus, gypsum, phosphate of lime, and other important 

 mineral substances, which are required for the nourish- 

 ment of plants. These not being supplied to the soil by 

 the marl, it could not produce any effect. 



g. Marl from Brunswick (loamy). 100,000 parts con- 

 sist of 



73,423 parts silica and quartz sand 



li l 



10 

 10 



IS 



7 



7 

 6 



88 



16 



i,d80 

 3,160 

 0,2 7 2 

 0,7.50 

 0,090 

 0,120 

 0,710 

 0,01-2 

 1,520 

 18,055 



)i 

 11 

 11 



n 



ii 

 ii 

 ii 

 ii 

 ii 

 ii 



alumina 



oxide and protoxide of iron 



oxide of manganese 



potash united with silica 



soda ditto 



gypsum 



phosphate of lime 



common salt 



carbonate of magnesia 



carbonate of lime 



100,000 parts. 



* This marl is a very good manure for both heath and 

 sandy soils. It has not been yet sufficiently long in use 

 for knowing from actual experiment how many years 

 small quantities will act ; but this may be ascertained by 

 calculation. Its manuring qualities, as far as gypsum, 

 soda and potash are concerned, cannot go a long way, as 

 it possesses so very little of them* Its contents of common 

 salt are not worth speaking of. It will act best on heath 

 soils, as it will find there a great amount of coal of humus 

 for decomposition. The sandy soils, on which it has 

 been hitherto used, contain, according to my analysis, 

 very lijtle lime or magnesia, somewhat more coal of 

 humus, phosphate of iron, silicate of potash, silicate of 

 soda, and common salt ; so that, when the action of the 

 marl has ceased, it will merely require to be manured 

 "with gypsum, in order again to become productive, as 

 then the plants will again find all mineral substances in 

 the soil, which they require for their nourishment. As 

 it is, however, chiefly from dung that plants obtain ni- 

 trogen, tliis sort of manure also is not to be neglected. 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS. 

 I almost scruple to send you an account of the ex- 

 periments which I made last year, as to the action of the 

 artificial manures upon root crops, on account of my 

 conviction that they were tried in quantities too small to 

 insure accuracy in the averages on a more extended scale. 

 th*™*' the qviAiitities of produce that were weighed; for 

 xne influence of accidental circumstances is too much 

 multiplied in calculating the quantity per acre. The 

 anomalous results which have been obtained, at least in 

 Drod a8e ° f Turni P s > are the best proof of this fact ; the 

 com* a* f ° Ur l )erches was weighed, and the average 

 arr-Pf ^° m these dat!1 > together with the expense per 

 oi each manure, is shown in the following Table :—- 



6 £r"t*of ur a a T°' and ,0 busheJs of Mh*» 

 IS i bushels o? pJSI 10 . busll <^ of «** • 

 bushels f°a f s h P e ° 3 ,ttevins ' N °- 3o, *»& ** 



y^?^^ No. rV.. and 20 



have occasioned a local difference in the growth of the 

 plants which similar experiments on other portions of 

 the same ground would have served to correct ; or the 

 unmanured part might chance to be of a better quality, 

 or to have received more manure in the preceding year 

 than the rest ; or the various insects which attack the 

 Turnip crop may have been more active in one part 

 of the field than another ; in the next place, a por- 

 tion, at least, of the value of the manures may remain 

 in the soil, to promote the fertility of succeeding 

 crops ; lastly, the fault may have been not at all in 

 the manures themselves, but in the misapplication of 

 them ; it may be not a defect but an excess of power, 

 for if the plauts were forced into full maturity too soon, 

 the texture of their roots would begin to decay before the 

 season arrived when they were wanted for use. An in- 

 stance of this occurred in some other experiments with 

 the same sort of Turnip (the red Tankard) in another 

 field; two of the same manures were used, and in the 

 same proportions as before, with very little variation of 



produce : — Ton. cwt. lbs. 



6 cwt. of urate, and 10 bushels of ashes, gave . 9 6 68 



20 bushels of ashes 9 17 1<* 



But the same quantities applied to other Turnips 

 in the same field, which were sown a month 



earlier, gave only . . • • • . 6 7 36 



and 6 Hi 108 



The roots grew well, and looked well, but the process 

 of decomposition had begun before they were taken up 

 in the autumn, and they had become light and soft. But 

 when applied to Swedes, which are of a much firmer tex- 

 ture, and less liable to decay, the same quantity of one 

 of the same manures was found to be more than equiva- 

 lent to ten loads of farm-yard dung. Ton. cwt. lbs. 



The latter produced 12 15 80 



The urate and ashes produced . . . . 13 3 104 



In the same field 20 bushels of bone-dust produced in 12 2G 



In two other fields two of the salts most beneficial to 

 Wheat were not found to answer at all either with Swedes 



or with Dale's Hybrids. Ton. cwt. lb 



Without extra manure the weight of Swedes was 13 19 32 

 With 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia . . . 12 13 104 



With 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda .... 



On Dale's Hybrids— 



Without manure the weight was 

 With 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia at 17*. • 



With 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda at 1/. 

 But manured with farmyard drainings it was less, 

 being only ...••••• 



This shows that whatever might be the cause of failure 

 in the other cases, it is not necessary to attribute it to 

 any want of fertilising power in the salts, since the liquid 

 manure, containing nearly all the principlse of fertility, 

 failed still more. The uncertainty of these trials was 

 exemplified in two other instances : where 1£ cwt. of 

 guano, 10 bushels of bone-dust, and 5 of wood ashes were 

 applied, the produce weighed 17 tons 14 cwt. 72 lbs. ; 

 which seemed to be a considerable increase above another 

 equal portion sown broadcast, without manure, the 

 weight of which was 15 tons 1 cwt. 8 lbs. ; but on an- 

 other portion of the same field where the seed was 

 drilled, and no manure given, the apparent advantage 

 was materially reduced, for the weight was 17 tons 1 cwt. 

 48 lbs. : the difference in this case would not repay the 



cost, which was 1/. 18s. Id. 



In two trials, which were made with a view to com- 

 pare the value of the old Swede with that of Skirving's in 

 the ordinary course of husbandry, the first was unfavour- 

 able to Skirving's, the weight being less by 1 ton 4 cwt. 

 58 lb. ; but on a second trial it was more by 2 tons lb 

 cwt. 01b. ; the difference, therefore, on the whole, being 

 in favour of Skirving's, to the amount of 1 ton 11 cwt. 

 G8 lb per acre; but though the bulk of produce was 

 greater, it is material to remark that they were not so 

 firm in their texture, and were less able to resist the 

 frosts of winter. One more experiment was made with 

 these roots, the results of which were equally unsatis- 



factor y- Ton cwt lbs 



2* cwt. of sugar-scum, with U"of guano, gave. .15 8G 

 2|cwt.of sugar- scummy ith icwt.of sulphate of ammonia U 16 

 And without manure lb l di 



Thus, in the first case, with an expense of 1/. Is. 2d., 

 the produce was less, and in the second the increase was 

 not enough to pay the expense,—!/. 0s. 2d. But in order 

 to do justice to the sugar-scum, I will now take it first 

 in detailing another series of experiments made on Man- 

 gold Wurzel. The produce of the manured portions were 

 in every instance compared with the produce of un- 

 manured portions in adjoining rows, and 1 shall designate 

 the increase or decrease of weight by the algebraic signs, 

 plus -h and minus — . 



loss was incurred from some accidental cause, in one out 

 of these seven trials with guano : — 



Wt.ofcrod. Difference 



Sort of root. 

 1. Long red 



Quantity of manure. ton cwt lb 

 1 j cwt. + bushel of tttma 12 li 10 



»» 



3. Yel. globe 



4. Red globe 



5. Long yellow 

 G. Long red 

 7. Yel. globe 



2* „ 



24 „ 



24 



24 

 24 



ff 



+ 24 



m 24 



1» 



-i 



>» 



»» *4 tt n 



m 2f „ , f 



»» 



n 



ft 



■ 

 M 



M 



ri 



ton cwt lb 

 • 6 32 



12 64 



1 1146 

 1 10 48 

 1 14 64 

 1 5 16 

 4 4 96 



16 8 4 

 19 1 96 



of charcoal 20 80 



17 15 64 

 17 16 48 

 13 IS 



In this case it so happened that while the manured row" 

 produced less than usual, the unmanured produced more; 

 and when we look at the issue of the other trials, it is 

 probable that both were the effect of accident ; but when 

 this accidental difference of 27 lbs. in the scale on which 

 the trial was made, becomes multiplied by 350 in com- 

 puting the average, it is evident that a very erroneous 

 view of the action of the manure must be the necessary 

 consequence ; the same objection might be urged against 

 any other single experiment that tells the other way. But 

 the argument in favour of the manure relies upon the 

 number of experiments which show its effects to he so far 

 good, that in general no loss is sustained by using it, if 

 there is not much profit. From four experiments made 

 with bone-dust, it would seem that this manure is far 

 more beneficial to this crop : — 



Quantity of manure. 

 . 2 cwt. of bone-dust. 



. 2 

 . 2 



»» 



t» 



It 



M 



Wt. ofp I. Diflcrenc* 



ton cwt lb ton cwt lb 



.17 7 32 — • 9 48 



.14 1 32 + 1 2 



. 17 16 .SO „ 3 9 16 



.18 3 „ 5 3 80 



10 81 



rt of root. 



1. Red globe 

 •J. I. mig yellow 



3. I nd. 



4. \ el low globe 



The mean, then, of the differences in favour of bone- 

 dust, is 3 tons l cwt. 10G lbs. against which is to be set the 

 loss of 9 cwt. 48 lbs ; but this is evidently the effect of some 

 accidental richness in the soil of the unmanured row which 

 was made the subject of comparison, for the absolute 

 produce falls very little short of that which exceeded, 

 by 3 tons, the produce of the adjoining unbone-dusted 

 row ; on the other hand, in another part of the same 

 field, the application of the same quantities of the 

 same manures four times repeated, gave a difference 

 upon the whole, of 23 tons 11 cwt. 4P» lbs. in favour of 



the guano and charcoal. 



° tons cwt. rbs. 



For 4 portions manured with 24 cwt. of guano and 



do. or charcoal, gave . . • • ' „ „ J« 



For 4 manured with 2 cwt. of bone-dust, produced ,9 OO 



The first was more expensive, but not at all in proportion 

 to the increase of produce ; it cost 31 «i. per acre — 

 the bone-dust only 7* 6</. I have only to add upon the 

 subject of these roots, that the Globe varieties seemed to 

 be much superior to the long ; a cartload of the former 

 weighing about a hundred weight more than a cartload of 

 the latter. Poittevin's manure was tried, but its action 

 was so irregular, that it is useless to record the results ; 

 so also in its application to Potatoes; in one case it 

 failed, in another it succeeded. The subjoined table will 

 show its effects upon this crop, together with those of 



three other manures : — 



Cost per Produce Difference. 



acre. per acte. 

 £ s. d. tons cwt. lbs. tons cwt. lbs. 



Quantity of Manure, a 



8 



17 



0—0 



66 + 1 



17 

 U 



65 



o 



17 



13 



6 



66 „ o 



55 „ 1 

 43 „ 2 



IS 

 3 

 I 



90 



65 







Sort of root. Quantity of manure. 



1. Red globe 4 cwt. of sugar-scum' 



2. Long red 4 „ • 



3. „ 4 i do. + 00 lbs. of Sul- 



phate of ammonia 



4. „ . 4 do. + U cwt. of guano 



5. Red Globe 4 do. + do of guano 



Wt. of prod. Difference 

 Ton cwt lbs Ton cwt lbs 



9 



12 



12 

 11 

 6 



10 

 16 



6 

 4 



13 



16+ 1 

 16 .. 1 



it 



80 „1 

 80 ,, 

 64—4 



II 

 17 



17 



15 



f 



M 



So 



80 



SO 

 96 





tons.cwt.lbs. £ s. d. 



8 

 9 



17 

 5 



7o 



•20 



1 

 1 



19 



13 



9 11 68 



l 6a 



9 



9 



l 9 3 



2 5 



9 

 9 



9 

 



13 



7 



12 

 O 



41 



1% 



36 







2 











10 



6 



7 

 



1 



' bushels nf n..-i I ' ' 



m *o.h*li' oi ^hef C ° mp0St ' aDd 36 



T< **extin y <t m ? nure .... 



Is it « mauures on 6 acres . 



this 10/ ^o 8 ^ 17 ' then ' t0 COQ cIude __ 



motion of haS been tbr0WI1 awa 7» besides a dimi " 



2 Uma ? t P {"? duce » amounting, on the whole, almost to 



• * Uunk not; for, in the first place, accident may 



6 

 6 

 o 



9 



that the whole of 



The failure in the last case cannot fairly be attributed 

 to the manure, for the same quantities in the preceding 

 instance produced an increase of weight, small indeed, 

 but more than sufficient to repay the cost, which was 

 17s. Gd. The sulphate of ammonia seems to have been 

 utterly useless, and to have produced no effect at all, it it 

 can be taken for granted that the soil was the same, 

 which, though both were in the same field, is not certain, 

 and that no accidents had affected the one part more tban 

 the other; but setting aside the last experiment, which 

 from some local peculiarity is inadmissible, the evidence 

 upon the whole tends to show that sugar-scum may be em- 



l.2cwt. ofPoittcvin'sNo. 36 6 9 Hi 



2. 2 cwt. of Do., No. 170 • 15 10 



3. 2 cwt. of Clarke's desic. 



compost . . . .07510 



4. 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda . 2 II 



5. 3 cwt. of guano . . 1 lfi 12 



These are but contributions towards a more perfect 

 knowledge of the effects of artificial manures upon 

 Potatoes ; for it has been already shown that little 

 reliance can be placed upon solitary experiments made 

 on a small scale : in this case the quantities actually 

 weighed were the produce of 10 yards of a row. lne 

 last series of experiments which 1 have to mention was 

 with white Carrots j and, making a similar allowance for 

 possible errors from the same cause, the results appear to 

 be highly satisfactory. Out of 14 trials there is but one 

 failure, and these, the produce of 11 yards without 

 manure, weighed only half a pound less than that ot 

 11 yards manured with nitrate of soda ; the respective 

 quantities being 40 and 40£ lbs. computed by the acre, 

 tne statement stands thus : — 



Cost per Produce Difference. 

 Quantity of Manure. acre. per acre. 



£ s. d. tons cwt. lbs. tons cwt. lbs. 



1. 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda 1 



2. 21gails.ofPt)ittevin , s,30 4 



3. 7 cwt. of bone-dust . 1 o 



4. 1 cwt. ofsuiphateofam. I? 



5. 24 cwt. of guano . . i JJ 



6. Farmyard dung . • « l - 

 7.2lgails.ofPoittevin'sl,0 9 



8. 21 galls, of Clarke's de.ic. 



compost . • • • ° 

 o. 3 cwt. of guano . • J 



10. 1 cwt. of oxygen aikah l 



11. 1 J cwt. of guano . .0 



12. l cwt. of am. alkali. . 2 



13. 6 cwt. of guano . • 3 



14. 3 cwt. of urate . . 



It is remarkable that there are only three instances m 

 which the absolute produce ranges higher than with 

 farmyard dung at acost of 12s., and that 6 cwt. of guano, 

 costing 3/. more, only exceeds it by about three cwt. ; and 

 yet relatively, that is to say, compared with the •djommg 

 unmanured portion, it stands only ninth in value. M 



lso worthy of notice that in the Ilth e *Pf rl "^Vom 

 absolute produce of U cwt. of guano exceeds that . rro^ 

 four times the amount of the same manure, oy m ^^ 

 a ton, and though the comparative laluewie >> ht of 

 the expense of each is deducted, »« ^^ i nC rease of 



4 



\6 



8 

 18 



2 

 12 

 15 





 5 

 3 

 

 

 

 10 



10 

 

 

 

 

 

 



11 

 It 



11 

 11 



14 

 U 



13 

 12 

 13 



15 



11 



14 



17 



12 82 — 



19 62+0 



4 62,, 1 



12 82 „ 1 



1 II » 1 



8 „ 1 



18 102 „ 1 



13 



13 



10 



14 



6 



10 



3 



52 „ 2 



10,, 3 



61 „ 3 



22 ,. 4 



5 

 5 

 6 



N 



?» 



ft 



103 „ 



103 „ 



32 „ 



2 

 2 



9 



9 



9 



9 

 14 



6 



4 



9 

 16 



4 



7 

 6 



102 



102 



102 

 10 

 10 

 10- 



102 



6l 







92 



82 



73 



52 



a 



a 



ight upo 



oWdcting 



ST**? • be .f: ,c "L a "°" 



upon the whole tends to show mat sugar-...- -, ,i 1(1 first f InPr i men t an*l eicludmg '™'" ,M ,r ~ rr , etM 



,, oyed with benefit to this crop, and it it no small recom- the first experiment an£ <. 27 lbs., the expense 



Lndation that the risk in using it is no more than a*, the farmyard dupa ,» therefore , ,t u> reasonable 



per acre ; it is remarkable that precisely the same 16.. 3s. -i V por, 



