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XXI n. — Some Account of the Cultivation of a Farm in Silesia hij 

 Artificial Manure alone for fourteen years. Bj Mr. Rotsciike. 



[Tlio followino- letter has just been written in answer to inquiries from Mr. Thaer, son of tlie ^reat a},'ricul- 

 tural writer, whose fi^randson liavins: obli;'ingly phiced it in my hands, I tlioni;ht it worth translation, 

 not, of course, from the slightest idea of recomniendin<^ such a system in l'2nt;land, but because the 

 system tlierein destnibed appears to throw some light on the scientific question whether it is necessary 

 upon all soils to supply carbonaceous matter as food for plants. — Ph. Pusey.] 



To Mr. Timer, Director of the Royal Agricultural School at Moeglin. 



SiK, — In compliance with request I beg to inform you that my farm at Wohla, 

 in the north-west part of Silesia, distant nine rriiies from Bautzen and two miles from 

 Lobau, consists of 546 Prussian morgen, of which 410 are arable, 45 meadow, and 

 the rest woodland, with a southern exposure, the soil a free loam, the subsoil granitic. 

 It has been in my family for TOO years. Notwithstanding its good soil and favourable 

 situation, the income arising from it was very moderate under the original manage- 

 ment in which three crops of rye were talcon successivel}''. Nor was it much more 

 profitable when the three years course was substituted, namely, two white crops and 

 a naked fallow. Hence arose a state of embarrassment which obliged me to loolc, 

 about lor new resoiu'ces. After many anxious consultations with my then ncighboiu'. 

 Baron A. von Gablentz, we were convinced that very great profits would accrue if 

 the whole produce were yearly sold off without passing thrcugh the intestines of stock 

 kept on the farm. The (jucstion arose how to supply the place of the dung, a very 

 difficult one, since at that time hardly any artificial manure was used in Lusatia, and 

 none in Wohla, except lime, gypsum, and horn-i)arings. It was evident that neither 

 lime nor gypsum would answer, while horn-parings were both scarce and dear. Rape- 

 cake, how(!ver, was abundant and cheap, costing only 305. per ton, and in this I 

 determined to trust. 



Every one denounced the project, saying that in three years the soil would be 

 exhausted. Nor was I myself without dread, that the ground, missing the mechanical 

 separation produced by the dung, would close its pores, and losing the influence of 

 the atmosphere become unfruitful. This fear, ho-wever, was groundless, for my teams 

 being at liberty from dung- cart were able to till the land at all times, and more 

 thoroughly, while the artificial manure produced increased crops that shaded the land 

 better in simimer, keeping it porous. 



I retained a rotation which I had just introduced, and which had been as follows : — 

 1. Wheat or rye dunged; 2. Potatoes; 3. Barley; 4. Clover mowed :^ 5. Rye 

 dunged ; 6. Oats, partly with white clover; 7. Clover ploughed early, peas and flax. 

 But instead of tlie dung I applied to the ploughed land ()§ cwt., and to the grass 

 land 8 cwt, ox rapecake per morgen.* The yield was most satisfactory. I now, 

 therefore, sold everything— corn, hay, potatoes, straw, green clover, for which last I 

 sometimes obtained 4Z, 10s, per morgen, parted with most of my teams every winter 

 to save their keep, and realized more than double my previous income. 



I was not, however, satisfied with the rapecake, as its action, which is strong in 

 the first year, abates much in the next; and when its price doubled, rising to 3Z, per 

 ton, I abandoned it for bone-dust, taking care that the bones had passed through the 

 hands neither of the soap-boiler nor the glue-maker, and applying 7 cwt. to the 

 morgen. The bone-dust stood me in from 4/. 10s. to 6/. per ton, and though it acted 

 less rapidly, was more lasting. On the whole, I prefer bone-dust for winter, and 

 rapecake for spring crops. Latterly, I preferred Peruvian guano to either, to rape- 

 cake especially. 



I thus farmed Wohla for fourteen years without dung, except what was produced 

 by two cows kept for others, and by the teams in the summer half year. The system 

 continued to pay me thoroughly. I do not at all contest the superiority of farmyard 

 dung, but simply state that in such a country as this, without demand for fresh meat, 

 but with a suitable soil, facility for obtaining manure, and facility for selling the 

 produce, my own system pays decidedly best. 



Being now more enjiaged in the Grand Duchy of Posen, I have just let my farm 

 at a good rent, ICs. QcL per morgen. The tenant continues very much the same 

 system, keeping the teams on his adjoining farm, having no stock on Wohla but some 

 sheep for feeding the grass-land, and paying his chief attention to the growth of 

 rapeseed and of potatoes, from which last he distils spirits at his own residence. 



Yours obediently, Rotsciike. 



* A morgeu is about tvro-thirds of an English acre. 



