Agricultural Chemistry — Turnips. 545 



Percentage of Dry Matter in Norfolk White Turnip Leaf. 



Plot Numbers. 



Description of Drilled Manures. 



Drilled 

 Manures 

 only. 



Drilled 

 Manures, 

 and Top- 

 dressing of 

 Sulph. Am. 



Drilled 

 Manures, 

 and Top- 

 dressing' of 

 Rape-cake 

 and Sul])h. 

 Ammonia. 



9 

 11 

 18 



21 



22 



400 lbs. calcined bone-dust, hydrochloric acid ) 

 — 268 lbs sulphuric acid 1 



11 cwt. superphosphate of lime (land trenched 1 

 18 inches deep in 1844) ) 



'^UU lbs. calcined bone-dust, 4zU lbs. sulpnvnici 

 acid, 105 lbs. soda ash, 74 lbs. magnesian) 

 limestone, and 157 lbs. pearlash . . . .| 



400 lbs. calcined bone-dust, and 400 lbs. sul-1 



13-63 



13-93 



13-79 



13-33 

 13-97 



13-23 

 13-19 



13-48 



13-12 

 13-55 



12-57 



12- 74 



13- 46 



12-68 

 12-91 







13-73 



13-31 



12-87 



(or almost past that point), give the highest percentage of dry 

 matter in the leaf as well as in the bulb. Those under the addi- 

 tion of ammoniacal salt give in the leaf a percentage uniformly, 

 but not so far relatively lower as in the case of the bulbs; but it 

 must be remembered that the leaves were gathered much later, 

 and indeed, when, in these cases as well as in those by the purely 

 mineral manures, the point of maturity and exhaustion of soil- 

 supplies for organic food had been approached or past. We 

 fmd again that the more vigorous plants under both rape-cake 

 and ammoniacal salt have, coincidently with the greater preva- 

 lence of vascular 'action, a less percentage of dry matter. 



Whilst we are writing, the specimens of the present season's 

 growth are being operated upon in the drying bath, but as v»^e 

 have not given any account of our experiments since 1845, we 

 need only say that succeeding results indicate the same general 

 facts on the subject of dry matter as those to which we have 

 drawn attention. 



Having argued that, supposing the dry matter in the turnip 

 were of uniform composition, a high percentage can only indi- 

 cate the amount of solid substance in a given amount of produce at 

 the period of growth at which the determination is made, and 

 does not by any means unconditionally show the efficiency of the 

 manures employed, we shall turn our attention to the composition 

 of the dry substance itself. It has been stated that dry vegetable 

 produce contains the so-called vegetable or ''organic'' consti- 

 tuents, and the " mineraV or '"inorganic,'" the latter being that 

 portion which remains after the former is burnt away. 



