THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



283 



good farmer would wish it to be laid ; making a 

 clear and distinct drain, with the smallest pos- 

 sible loss of land. It is drawn by two horses in 

 line, both walking in the furrow. It is difficult 

 to describe, because we have no other plough 

 which bears the smallest resemblance to it ; its 

 form is that of a small boat cut off from gun- 

 wale to keel, six feet distance from the head. 

 It is partly decked in the front. The keel, shod 

 with iron, is five feet in length ; and the extreme 

 width of the planking is three feet eight inches, 

 though the top is contracted to five feet two 

 inches. The height of the side is two feet two 

 inches, having a curve of three inches with its 

 concavity outwards. The hales and beam re- 

 semble those of a common plough, the former 

 are six feet ten inches, and the latter seven feet 

 ten inches in length. Farmers, not within eco- 

 nomical reach of the inventor, might procure 

 the implement from " Mr. William Stamford, 

 millwright. Burton Pidsea, near Iledon,^' who 

 has made them for Mr. Stickney and others; 

 the price is supposed to be about 3Z. 10s. deliv- 

 ered at Hull ; and it should be accompanied by 

 the simple sledge which Mr. Stickney uses for 

 removing it from one field to another. This 

 plough has been particularly noticed, because 

 the reporter is of opinion that it is valuable and 

 but little known ; and that if its merits were 

 understood it would soon be used in all the clay 

 districts in the kingdom. Mr. Stickney has had 

 a similar one made upon a larger scale, to which 

 he attaches four horses, for the purpose of form- 

 ing the surface-drains ("grips") across the 

 ridges, which it effects in the same excellent 

 manner and to a very considerable depth. A 

 man follows with a tool, for the purpose of 

 spreading the mold raised on the sides equally 

 over the land. 



EXPERIMENT ON THE ELEMENTARY 

 PRINCIPLES OF MANURE AS APPLIED 

 TO THE GROWTH OF WHEAT. 



Such is the title of the last contribution to 

 agricultural knowledge from the pen of the 

 late Philip Pusey, editor of the Journal of 

 Royal Ag. Society, Eng. In addition to the 

 inherent value of the facts reported, and of 

 the inferences deducible therefrom, some- 

 what of a melancholy interest will be felt 

 by some in perusing this report, on ac- 

 count of its being the last communication 

 to his agricultural brethren by one who 

 held such a high place in the esteem of 

 the public. 



In this brief article we shall submit to 

 our readers all the more important items of 

 the original report, in a much condensed 

 form. 



The experiment was made on a field of 

 eight acres, set apart from common culti- 

 vation for the purpose of accurate experi- 



ment. The soil was of no great depth' 

 resting upon marble rock, and was ex- 

 hausted by five previous . crops of grain 

 grown in succession to an extent as to 

 be an accurate test of artificial manures. 

 Mr. Pusey thought that the most interest- 

 ing use that could be made of it might 

 consist in the separate application of those 

 elements which are supposed to constitute 

 conjointly the efficacy of farm-yard ma- 

 nure, and separately to act as fertilizers of 

 the soil. 



These elements, according to the received 

 theory of agricultural science, may be com- 

 prised under four heads : 1. Nitrogenous 

 substances; 2. Phosphorous; 3. Alkalis 

 and principally Potash; and 4, That which 

 constitutes the bulk of farm-yard manure, 

 the strawy matter, or, in chemical lan- 

 guage, carbon. 



The nitrogenous matter employed was 

 nitrate of soda, which has been proved to 

 be tantamount to ammonia for agricultural 

 purposes. 



JThe experiment was made by drilling 

 separately superphosphate and peat-char- 

 coal with wheat in the autumn, and top- 

 dressing a portion of each lot in the spring 

 with the nitrate of soda. The fourth ele- 

 ment, potash, was also applied in the 

 spring. 



The question of the efficacy of the su- 

 perphosphate on wheat, seemed to be es- 

 pecially interesting because of its vigorous 

 efficacy when applied singly to the growth 

 of turnips. 



The result of the trial is given in the 

 following table : 



Quantity of Manure per 

 Acre. 



Bushels of 

 Wheat per 

 Acre. 



Ditto with a top 

 dressing of 170 

 lbs. of Nitrate 

 per Acre. 



4 cwt. of Superphosphate, 

 6 cwt. of Peat-charcoal, 

 No application, 



7 



7i 



18 



19 3-10 



From the result of this experiment Mr. 

 P. thought it evident that the superphos- 

 phate, though all important for roots, had 

 done nothing for the wheat, even on such 

 very poor and exhausted soil, on which the 

 efficacy of concentrated fertilizers is most 

 easily discernible. The charcoal would ap- 

 pear in the first column to have done some- 

 thing, but as that result was not confirmed 

 by the combined trial, the difference was 

 very probably accidental. 



The fourth element, potash, was tried 

 by top-dressing an acre of wheat with 1 



