280 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



grain crops must prove beneficial, and 

 there should be a smaller quantity for 

 mangold-wurtzel and other root crops. 

 As to the analysis of soils previous to the 

 application of manures, no doubt it would 

 be well to know the nature of the soils in 

 different parts of the kingdom, but at pres- 

 ent he thought it was more desirable for 

 them to consider what crops they should 

 grow than the nature of the soil. The 

 analyzation of soils often reminded him 

 of the man who, having a house to sell, 

 came with a brick in his pocket as a sam- 

 ple of the house. (Laughter.) They 

 had to consider what drains there were in 

 the soil, and what was their direction, 

 what subsoiling there had been, and so on. 

 There might be almost fifty kinds of soil 

 in the same field. The question, what 

 was the nature of the soil of any particu- 

 lar farm ? was, in fact, a complicated ques- 

 tion ; and, with one exception, he thought 

 the farmers of the present district had 

 better confine their attention to the crops 

 which they had to grow. The exception 

 to which he referred had reference to 

 lime. It was very easy to ascertain 

 whether there was sufficient lime in the 

 soil ; if there were not, lime should be 

 supplied ; if there were, it would not be 

 of the slightest use to add more. 



A Gentleman said, that as it was now 

 generally understood that plants derived 

 their nourishment partly from the soil and 

 partly from the air, he had often been 

 puzzled at finding that the mangold with 

 a small top was generally the largest. 



Mr. Nesbit observed that that fact was 

 very easily explained ; there was' such a 

 thing as over-manuring. This would pro- 

 duce a large amount of foliage and a great 

 development of the cellular tissue of the 

 plant; and if the season should not be 

 favorable, the plant would not fill up the 

 cells with the proper amount of starch, 

 sugar, or other similar materials. The 

 large amount of foliage would have pro- 

 duced a large root had the circumstances 

 been such as the plant required. 



Mr. Huxham wished to repeat that a 

 friend of his who sat near him, stated 

 that some wheat which he sowed after 

 clover, in a light soil, did exceeding well 

 for a time, but that the benefit afterwards 

 died away, and eventually the crop was 

 not half so good as it had been. 



Mr. Nesbit said it was impossible for 



him to state exactly what was the cause 

 of that. It might be the wireworm, or 

 some Cornish insect with which he was 

 not acquainted. He could not undertake 

 to give a receipt for every eyil in the soil. 

 (Hear, hear.) 



The Chairman said, the time having 

 come for terminating the discussion, he 

 wished to make one or two observations 

 before they separated. With regard to 

 clover — in the management of which he 

 took very great interest — he confessed he 

 still entertained some doubts whether 

 what Mr. Nesbit recommended should 

 answer in the West of England, on ac- 

 count of the moisture of the climate, 

 which was better adapted for grass than 

 for grain ; and whether, in fact, the clo- 

 ver-root manure might not make more 

 straw than grain. The experiment has 

 never been fairly tried in the district. It 

 must be borne in mind that in that part of 

 the country clover was what he might 

 call the last crop. Wheat, barley, tur- 

 nips, and barley, had been taken from the 

 land before they put into it clover. To 

 make the experiment fully, he thought 

 nothing but clover should be sown with 

 the barley, and then some lime, or other ma- 

 nure, should be given to the land. The lime 

 acting on the roots of the clover, would con- 

 tribute to the kerningor formingof the grain, 

 and in that way, perhaps, counteract the 

 tendency of the land to produce straw 

 rather than grain. At all events he hoped 

 the experiment would be fairly tried. 

 There was another ^oint which occurred 

 to him. The lecturer recommended that 

 in forming a dung-heap, the dung should 

 be laid several feet thick, and that it 

 should be covered with eartji, which he 

 said was the best deodorizer they could 

 possibly have. That is, no doubt, true ; 

 but then another question naturally arose, 

 whether there is any occasion for a dung- 

 heap at all. This question might startle 

 the farmer, who prided himself on his 

 dung-heap ; but still he repeated, it was 

 worth while to consider whether it would 

 not be better, after all, to cast the dung 

 direct to the land, and thus prevent any 

 escape of what in the discussion they 

 had heard so much about, viz : ammonia. 

 Now, he was sure that all present were 

 very much gratified by the lecture which 

 they had heard that, evening; and he 

 hoped that the Launceston Agricultural 



