474 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETT 



w*$s tue to nitrogen (ammonia). For Turnips, Mr 

 Law >ves it to be due to carbon, the matter^ of 



wood. Carbon appears to be the distinctive acting 

 principle of dung for Turnips. The upshot of the 

 whole (of Mr. Lawes's experiments), is, that practi- 

 cally, so far as artificial manures are concerned, we 

 need not dwell upon mineral ingredients, but must 

 give ammonia to Wheat, and to Turnips phosphorus. 

 Uude& what circumstances of soil, and whether 

 ammonia ever injures. Turnips, remains for further 

 inquiry ; for good farmers give them guano, rape- 

 cake — nay, near Manchester, sulphate of ammonia 

 itself" From this last passage, it is quite evident 

 that Mr. Pusey's mind is still practically open upon 

 this question, $nd does not very firmly believe what 

 he states Mr. Lawes to have "proved? 



No one will deny that phosphorus is just as 

 essential to Wheat as it is to Turnips, and to every 

 other plant which ministers to the sustenance of 

 the human nice. We have found phosphate of lime a 

 valuable manure for Wheat, and have had an increase 

 of four quarters of Oats per acre from the same appli- 

 cation. On the other hand, on land naturally rich 

 in phosphates, phosphoric manures of themselves do 

 not increase the yield of Wheat ; but under certain 

 conditions of soil and atmosphere, they increase the 

 weight of Turnips, enormously. This property is 

 not confined to Turnips, but, under certain circum- 

 stances, it* is seen in some of the other cereals, such 

 as Oats and Bailey, as will be afterwards shown. 

 The wild Mustard plant requires a soil somewhat 

 rich in phosphate, and then it freely grows. It is a 

 pretty good practical test that where this weed pre- 

 vails, the application of phosphate of lime to the 

 Wheat plant will not produce an increase in the 

 yield. Some years ago we recollect dressing with 

 bones, digested in sulphuric acid, part of a field sown 

 with Tares ; and so far as this application extended, 

 wild Mustard came up quite thick, and when in 

 flower marked out thia application from a great 

 distance. But on soils where Wheat is not increased 

 by phosphates, the vigour of wild Mustard will not be 

 increased by the same means. When growing in a 

 dry atmosphere this weed must have nitrogen, and 

 thus it is a most exhausting plant amongst corn. It is 

 only when Turnips are grown under a moist at- 

 mosphere that they can be looked upon as nitrogen- 

 collecting plants. In practice the Turnip is a plant 

 which gives us a beautiful example of the states in 

 which it is able, and which it is not able to appro- 

 priate its nitrogen and carbon from the atmosphere. 

 It is both a nitrogen-consuming and a nitrogen- 

 collecting plant, and by overlooking this circumstance 

 much useless refinement of theory has arisen. Let 

 any one who thinks that there is a constitutional 

 difference in the Turnip and the Wheat, so far as 

 manuring matters are concerned, sow Turnips early 

 in spring with superphosphate of lime, on land which 

 is only capable of growing 17 bushels of Wheat, and 

 the results would immediately dispel the delusion. 

 There will then be no tendency of manure rich in 

 nitrogen to produce an "unprofitable habit" in the 

 Turnip. What says Mr. Cothill on this subject in 

 his thoroughly practical articles on Market Garden- 

 ing ?— u The reason why a farmer cannot raise 

 Turnips like a gardener, is owing to the 

 poverty of the land; so small a seed wants 

 immediate and available nourishment the moment 

 it vegetates. Late Turnips are not cultivated on 

 the dear land about London, thev generally come 

 from 10 to 12 miles off. Early and forced Turnips 

 fetch 2d. or Zd. a-piece in Covent Garden Market." 

 In market-gardening no one believes that the value 

 of the manure applied to the Turnips depends upon 

 its phosphates and carbon alone, both are no doubt 

 essential ; but they are quite as powerless in grow- 

 mg a Turnip against a cold dry atmosphere, as they 

 are in increasing the y Id of Wheat, or any other 

 ero p grow or matured in the same circumstances. 

 The conditions under which Turnips, with the aid 

 of phosphates, have the power of collecting nitrogen 



the atmosphere, depend upon their 

 grown as an autumn crop, 

 and the day 



of bulbs would then be rather diminished than in- 

 1 creased, by adding ammoniacal manures to the super- 

 phosphate of lime. Guajio is well known to promote 

 ; an undue growth of the stems of late sown Turnips 

 in moist seasons, and in this case superphosphate 

 is much preferable. The conclusions which Mr. Lawes 

 as arrived at, in regard to the effects of nitrogenous 

 manures on Turnips, cannot be defended on any 

 other grounds than that his experiments were made 

 at a season too far advanced to give the nitrogenous 

 dressings the necessary conditions to increase the 

 weight of bulbs. This supposition appeal's to us to 

 afford the only way of escape from the dilemma 

 about which so much ingenuity has been wasted, li. 



REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTION 



OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 



Division I. Miscellaneous Implements used in 

 Agriculture. — We have not been very strict in 



from 



_ . being 



The moist atmosphere, 



constantly shortening, encourage 



^l Kl n *!* bulbs ' and couu teract any tendency 

 which the plants would have had when grown with 

 a small quantity of manure in the early part 

 of the year to run to seed. If we wished to 

 raise 12 tons of Turnips in the first part of the 

 year a much larger quantity of nitrogenous manures 

 would be required than at a later period. In fact, 

 the quantity would diminish as the season advanced, 

 until we arrived at a certain time when ammoniacal 

 manures would be hurttul as far ^s bulbing was con- 

 cerned ; far in the words of Mr. Uwes thev would 

 tend to an unprofitable habit in the plant." On land 

 that would be capable of raising 17 bushels of Wheat 

 without manure, we have no hesitation in saying 

 that this period would closely appn imate in 

 oidmary seasons to the 20th June, in Scotland, and 

 perhaps about 12 days later in England. The weight 



not 

 our classification of the great assemblage of imple- 

 ments, so that we find in our note-book scarcely 

 any articles which cam be said to belong to 

 this head. One useful article that we have not 

 yet noticed, is an "irrigator, liquid-rmanure pump, 

 garden and fire-engine/* invented, manufactured, an 

 exhibited by E. Weir, of Oxford-street, It consists of 

 a lever pump and air-vessel, upou wheels, aijid is for the 

 purpose of pumping fluid direct from the tank or reser- 

 voir, and distributing it at once on the land by means of 

 a branch pipe and spreader. With the power of one 

 man at the pump, and another to direct the nozzle of the 

 pipe, it will throw 25 gallons per minute through any 

 moderate length of pipe, without a considerable rise in 

 the ground between the site of the tank and the part to 

 be irrigated ; so that by its use, land in the vicinity of 

 the supply may be irrigated to the extent of some hun- 

 dred feet in all directions. It may be of great use also 

 as a farm fire-engine, as it will throw more than 20 gal- 

 lons a minute to a height of 40 feet from the end of the 

 nozzle, which would enable it to reach every portion of 

 the usual farm-buildings, ricks, &c. The whole of the 

 fittings are of brass, and there is no leather or oth^r 

 matter which will decay from alternations of moisture 

 and dryness, or bo injured by the acids and salts of the 

 manure. The delivery-pipe is of the best canvas, lined 

 with gutta percha ; the suction-pipe is of gutta percha ; 

 and should this meet with any accident, be cut in two 

 by a cart-wheel passing over it, or any other mischance, 

 a farm labourer, with a pail of hot water, can repair as 

 strongly as if sent back to the manufacturer. Thisi 

 maker also exhibits a draining-level, perhaps un- 

 equalled for simplicity and cheapness, combined villi 

 accuracy. 



Though bee-management belongs more to the horti- 

 | cultural thai* the agricultural portion of this Paper, 

 and the probability that the " Temple Bee-hive," an 

 various others will be there noticed, we cannot help 

 saying a word about one bee-hive, which struck us as 

 right in its principle, and most simple in its construction. 

 It is called the " Multiple Box Hive," and was invented 

 by W. Keene, of Har pur- street, Bioouisbury. These 

 hives ax'e merely cubical wooden boxes, having a slit for 

 entrance on one side near the top, below which is a 

 sloping ledge passing all round the outside. A hive 

 ought to allow the bees access at points convenient for 

 the labour to be performed; the work always begins 

 from the top, and natural hives chosen by bees hav< 

 generally the entrance from the top. The common hive 

 gives the bee labour in carrying his load upwards ; it 

 has been found by experience that when the bees enter 

 at the top, the hive fills much more rapidly with comb 

 and honey. In the multiple hive ail the boxes are 

 alike ; when one is filled, another is added— the bees 

 taking to it because just like the other ; swarming being 

 thus prevented. 



The last division of Class 9, viz.," J., Garden Engines 

 and Tools," appertains to the other side of this news- 

 paper. Hitherto we have scarcely mentioned the 

 portable steam-engines, though they might, perhaps, 

 have been considered under the head • Barn Ma- 

 chinery." We will offer a few words respecting these 

 next week. 





ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY, 

 Especially in Relation to the Mineral Theory of 

 Baron Libbzc ; by J. B. Lawes, of UaraAMsriiAo, 

 a» Dr. J. Ii. Gilbert. 



(Read in Section B., in part on Monday, July 7th, and 



concluded on Tuesday, the 8th.) 

 Abstract.— Mr. Pusey had, in a recent article in the 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, on the pro- 



agriculture during the last right years, quoted 

 the expenmeuts of Mr. Lawes and Dr. Gilbert, as being 

 conclusive against the « mineral theory w of Baron ' 

 Liebig, which asserts that the crops upon a farm ;e 

 and fail according to the supply within the soil of t 

 mineral constituents indicated by an analysis of the 

 ashes of the plant. To these observations by Mr 

 Pusey, Baron Liebig has replied at some length in the 

 new edition of his " Letters on Chemistry," just pub- 

 lished ; and m doing so, has asserted that the experi- 

 ments alluded to are without value, and that the ite- 

 ment, oi the authors could only be made in ignorfUBe 

 t the rationale f agricultural practices i the larg- 

 d*. The question at issue was an important one, i 



'mineral theory; in its development anH 

 fection, lies the whole future of w ^ d L 

 The authors have SS&S^f 



paper, an outline of their in vest£ a til' : 1_ 

 chemistrv. comnrisin,, «, Z^ ilom » agrw 



to 



stry comprising an extensive 



ments in the field, on the growth of the™* ° f «l 



S2XSL? rotation > !■ ™u « upoX •* - 



** 



in 1843. 



of the feeding of animals, andl^ £ , 

 action of plants generally, i u re l ati J £**** 

 atmosphere; in connection with aU f Jki V* - * 



oratory labour has constantly £ * ***** 



MMMemunl of the experim^ i£2* 

 The results selected byMpU^S 

 Gilbert, in justification and illustration of tt ** ^ 

 were those of the field experiments on Vw ' " ' 

 continuously on*a previously exhausted soil lor t^ 

 eight years, and m each season, by means of 7 ** 

 nncal manures, by the side alwavs of one or H£H£ 

 unmanured, and one manured continuously bv W* 

 manure. J • **#4 



Some of the results thus obtained were illuatnbl l 

 a diagram from which it appeared that mineral ZL5 

 had scarcely increased the produce at all * 

 alone, whilst the effects of ^ammoniacal salts wei* 12 

 marked, even when repeated year after yearuLiZ 

 same space of ground from which the entire crTfJ? 

 and straw) had been removed. Indeed in th 

 produce had been obtained, even in the sixth and 

 successive years of the experiment, exceeding by jZk 

 two-thirds that from the unmanured plot, ft waste 

 shown that the mineral constituents of the soiicoiuuS 

 to be in excess, relatively to the nitrogen avaiUhk f» 

 hem from natural sources. The history of smn; 

 plots was then traced down to the last harvest (l$i 

 and it was argued that the statements assailed (j» 

 liebig, namely, that ammonia was specially a 

 a manure for Wheat, was fully borne out whoa ^fo 

 of agriculture as generally practised in Gre, iintak 

 In other words, that in practice it was the defect 4 

 nitrogen rather than of the mineral constituent* vhii 

 fixed the limits to our produce of corn. 



The authors next called attention to the fact of tin 

 exhalation of nitrogen by growing plants, as proved I 

 the experiments of De Saussure, Daubeny, and Drape: 

 and they referred to some experiments of their own, 

 with the view of showing that there is more oi u» 

 nitrogen derived from manure given off during tie 

 growth of the cereal grains, than by leguminous mi 

 other crops ; and hence might be explained the put 

 demand for nitrogenous manures observed in the growlk 

 of grain. The authors suggested that here was &a im- 

 portant field of study, and that we have in the fjicfc 

 alluded to much that should lead us to suppose that the 

 success of a rotation of crops depended upou the Ape* 

 in which the restoration of the balance of the oipnie 

 constituents of the crops was attained by its mem, 

 rather than on that of their mineral constituents, ward- 

 ing to the theory of Liebig ; while the means && 

 to secure the former were always attends viunai* 

 ficient supply of the latter. 



Again, Professor Liebig has quoted the processes 

 fallowing and liming, as being in their known mm 

 consistent with the views of Mr. Lawes and Dr. G 

 but these gentlemen considered that the expennwaM 

 Mulder, and of Mr. Way, on the properties of a* 

 justiiud'them in supposing that the processes oi tallow* 

 and liming owed their efficacy more to the accumuW* 

 «»f nitrogen in the soil from natural sources, than toi* . 

 of available mineral constituents; tlic latter d^» | 

 ever, undoubtedly accumulate by these pwet 

 this fact should give us more confidence 1U ^/^ 

 on independent evidence, supposed that they we 

 so easily liable to be found in defect in ptom™** 

 necessary supplies. , ^ g 



It was next shown, by reference to what MR*" 

 actual practice, as generally followed in WM ^ 

 where corn and meat constitute almost tne 

 exports of the farm, that the mineral constuufim* ^ 

 crops taken collectively— that is, as sh ?* H J^ 

 analysis of their ashes— could not be consiaert 

 hausted. Of these, however, phosphoric aci ^ 

 to the farm in much larger proportion than iu» 

 whilst the latter would generally, by tw ,^ 

 agencies of disint ration of the native son,- ■» 

 in cattle food, be liable to a diminution m .^ 

 insignificant degree, if not in some cases w m 

 tion. Practical agriculture had, indeed ' ' ^ * 

 phosphoric ackl must be returned to J*® ggt* 



--_ . ~ J» farm itself, i«, ^>J 



or other meaas ; but on the other naa > rfB 

 alkaline mannrea h*d generally hee* t( g^j flll ti 

 effect. Indeed, taking into, eareM ^^^ 

 tendency of all exp< ri< nc* in P racU ^ 1lO n r i usex^ 

 well as the collective results of a most iau« ^^ 



<r&£ 



,,cu **» »■■««? wiicuuvc iwuiw ~* - . ^ele- 



mental investigation of the subject, bota ^ 



in the laboratory, it wa* the author* **» ^i&wi* 

 that the analysis of the crop is no uiie^ ^^ 

 ever as to the nature of the manure re<j - 0gisa tf# 

 ided, in the ordinary course of ^^^L^tyt'** 

 extraneous to the home manures of tUe 



practi 



Btfo* 





when 



Cht Hiry," » of the agriculturists of England, that 

 sooner or later, they must see that in tins so-called , 



attain an artificial mixture to s"^ 1 ^ jLj fti 



manure 



admitted *** m * ^ it *ti 



plant* The very practice of "Pfjr ^^ 

 lowed in this country, necessitated .w r $ho gfci 

 fctrni-yard n aure ; ai*d all our c ^ u f ^ t it was & 

 made on the supposition of its use. 



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